Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Day 31 part I: Travel Fun
We had a rough start today in Cosenza. What we thought was going to be a simple 5 minute ride to the train station turned into 20 minute confusing conversation with multiple cab drivers trying to convince us to take a 3 hour cab ride and us missing our train. I (Kevin) thought the driver was being helpful and simply trying to get us to the right train, not trying to sell us on a cab ride. Funny how we were having two completely different conversations with each other (he probably thought he was getting close to a sale, while I thought we were getting close to the correct train).
It's easy to look back and see how a cab driver was trying to swindle you, but in the moment while he's speaking Italian and waving his hands around, not so easy, although Brooke picked up on it sooner (Brooke told me to write that, there's still some ongoing disagreement on that point). So now we're trying to kill 2 hours in the no frills cafe at the barren Cosenza train station. This gives us plenty of time to discuss whose fault it was that we missed the train. I think this is as neutral as I can tell the story, but Brooke may write a counter post.
It's easy to look back and see how a cab driver was trying to swindle you, but in the moment while he's speaking Italian and waving his hands around, not so easy, although Brooke picked up on it sooner (Brooke told me to write that, there's still some ongoing disagreement on that point). So now we're trying to kill 2 hours in the no frills cafe at the barren Cosenza train station. This gives us plenty of time to discuss whose fault it was that we missed the train. I think this is as neutral as I can tell the story, but Brooke may write a counter post.
Day 31 part 2: Capo di Rizzuto (ok, Crotone, but close enough)
After our travel fun (2 hours in a train station) and a 3 1/2 hour train ride, we made it to Crotone for our 24 hours on the beach. First off, it doesn't make much sense to fit Capo Rizzuto in the few remaining days in Italy. However, the city has my last name in it, so how could we not go? (Special thanks to Brooke for letting me indulge...)
We ended up in a secluded resort just outside Crotone city center, about a 25 minute walk away along a narrow two lane road. A little pricey, but it was the cheapest option, and it was nice to have a pool and balcony with sea views.
At night we headed into Crotone, mostly to find an ATM, but also to look around the city and eat dinner. Our waiter informed us that the buses stopped running for the night (it was only about 8:30), and he gave us directions to find a taxi, which did not work. The walk was dangerous enough during the day, we didn't want to risk getting hit by a car in the dark.
So we're walking up the main strip and see the Italy vs. Germany soccer game is on at an outdoor bar. We stop for a drink and the bartender quickly realizes we speak English. Turns out he's from the UK and he and his wife run the bar.
We ask him to call us a cab and he says he doesn't have any phone numbers, but he'll see what he can do. He then offers us a ride home in his car when they shut down for the night if they can't get us a cab because they live by our hotel. He manages to get us a cab, his wife helps us negotiate with the driver, and we waved goodbye while saying thank you a lot. These nice people have restored our faith in humanity after the jerk taxi drivers in Cosenza.
We ended up in a secluded resort just outside Crotone city center, about a 25 minute walk away along a narrow two lane road. A little pricey, but it was the cheapest option, and it was nice to have a pool and balcony with sea views.
At night we headed into Crotone, mostly to find an ATM, but also to look around the city and eat dinner. Our waiter informed us that the buses stopped running for the night (it was only about 8:30), and he gave us directions to find a taxi, which did not work. The walk was dangerous enough during the day, we didn't want to risk getting hit by a car in the dark.
So we're walking up the main strip and see the Italy vs. Germany soccer game is on at an outdoor bar. We stop for a drink and the bartender quickly realizes we speak English. Turns out he's from the UK and he and his wife run the bar.
We ask him to call us a cab and he says he doesn't have any phone numbers, but he'll see what he can do. He then offers us a ride home in his car when they shut down for the night if they can't get us a cab because they live by our hotel. He manages to get us a cab, his wife helps us negotiate with the driver, and we waved goodbye while saying thank you a lot. These nice people have restored our faith in humanity after the jerk taxi drivers in Cosenza.
Day 30: Cosenza, Italy
We ended up staying here in Cosenza another day. Not because of the many things to do, but because we couldn't find a hotel in Capo di Rizzuto area for under $300 (sometimes the last minute action comes back to haunt us). We did book a room for tomorrow in Crotone (town next to Isola di Rizzuto) after 45 minutes of help from our very nice and patient hotel staff. It would have gone a lot smoother if only we spoke just a little more Italian.
After all that, we decided to explore Cosenza. We asked the hotel for a map, but only got 3 directions: left for new town, right for old town, and behind the hotel for shopping.
We headed for old town, knowing there was a castle on top of a hill. Sounds easy, just keep walking up and we should get there right? Wrong. An hour later we still had not reached the top, and the only way higher was through narrow a street/sidewalk with big dogs barking at us when we got close (there didn't seem to be enough holding them back to convince us to go further up). We started following a road down, which finally led us to the path up to the castle and we arrived about an hour and a half after starting.
The castle was a weird experience. We reach the top, walk in, and the only person to be found is one park-type employee/security guard at a card table. So we walked around this very neglected castle for a half hour all by ourselves, which was pretty cool.
Old town Cosenza reminded us of Ogdenville in the Simpson's Monorail episode. It's like a ghost town. Basically, it seems like they tried to become a tourist town ten or twenty years ago, but abandoned the plans half way through (possibly after no one came) and there are only remnants left. This made walking around a unique experience relative to previous Italian cities.
On the way down from the castle at about 11, it seemed that the city started to come alive. After stopping for a beer we went to the shopping district, arriving at about 1. We found another ghost town. A huge pedestrian street with all its shops closed (shut with what look like garage-doors). Turns out, it was a siesta time. We headed back at about 5 and it seemed the entire city, from teens to senior citizens were slowly walking up and down the street.
We ended the day with a 4 course meal at our hotel (amazing what we get ourselves into because we don't speak the language). A bottle of wine later, it's bed time.
PS - Major development today, we bought plane tickets home. We'll be flying a Boeing 767 (not Airbus) from Dublin to Chicago on August 5th.
After all that, we decided to explore Cosenza. We asked the hotel for a map, but only got 3 directions: left for new town, right for old town, and behind the hotel for shopping.
We headed for old town, knowing there was a castle on top of a hill. Sounds easy, just keep walking up and we should get there right? Wrong. An hour later we still had not reached the top, and the only way higher was through narrow a street/sidewalk with big dogs barking at us when we got close (there didn't seem to be enough holding them back to convince us to go further up). We started following a road down, which finally led us to the path up to the castle and we arrived about an hour and a half after starting.
The castle was a weird experience. We reach the top, walk in, and the only person to be found is one park-type employee/security guard at a card table. So we walked around this very neglected castle for a half hour all by ourselves, which was pretty cool.
Old town Cosenza reminded us of Ogdenville in the Simpson's Monorail episode. It's like a ghost town. Basically, it seems like they tried to become a tourist town ten or twenty years ago, but abandoned the plans half way through (possibly after no one came) and there are only remnants left. This made walking around a unique experience relative to previous Italian cities.
On the way down from the castle at about 11, it seemed that the city started to come alive. After stopping for a beer we went to the shopping district, arriving at about 1. We found another ghost town. A huge pedestrian street with all its shops closed (shut with what look like garage-doors). Turns out, it was a siesta time. We headed back at about 5 and it seemed the entire city, from teens to senior citizens were slowly walking up and down the street.
We ended the day with a 4 course meal at our hotel (amazing what we get ourselves into because we don't speak the language). A bottle of wine later, it's bed time.
PS - Major development today, we bought plane tickets home. We'll be flying a Boeing 767 (not Airbus) from Dublin to Chicago on August 5th.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Pompei
Day 29: Cosenza, Italy
Today we headed to Cosenza, a city of about 70,000 people where Kevin's family supposedly originates. We decided to take the scenic route, which included a 4 hour bus ride along the Amalfi coast ending in Salerno. The ride was amazing, scary, but amazing. The only things between our plunging hundreds of feet straight down a cliff into the sea were the driver's skill and a knee-high cement barrier.
The views reminded us of the Cinque Terre hike. The bus would come around a bend and we would see a town clinging to the cliff all the way down to the water. We decided the Amalfi Coast may be worth a return trip someday (Brooke says definitely) and we'll spend a little more time in these towns.
We transferred to a train in Salerno and arrived in Cosenza 3 hours later (a long travel day). Although it was dark and the station was basically shut down for the night, a few taxis were outside and we got a ride to our hotel. Our hotel, which was a cheap 2 star, is awesome. It has a huge room and bathroom, satellite tv, and an actual queen size mattress (not the usual twin beds pushed together). The dollar goes far here.
The staff does not speak much English, but we managed to get a restaurant recommendation (although our request for a place with a tv to see the US vs Spain soccer game apparently wasn't understood). The restaurant confirmed our thinking that there wasn't going to be a lot of English around here, but it makes even the smallest interactions a bit more fun.
We got back to our room and we heard loud bangs outside. Turns out, a firework show at 10 at night on a Wednesday was going on. We still don't know why, but an interesting end to our night.
The views reminded us of the Cinque Terre hike. The bus would come around a bend and we would see a town clinging to the cliff all the way down to the water. We decided the Amalfi Coast may be worth a return trip someday (Brooke says definitely) and we'll spend a little more time in these towns.
We transferred to a train in Salerno and arrived in Cosenza 3 hours later (a long travel day). Although it was dark and the station was basically shut down for the night, a few taxis were outside and we got a ride to our hotel. Our hotel, which was a cheap 2 star, is awesome. It has a huge room and bathroom, satellite tv, and an actual queen size mattress (not the usual twin beds pushed together). The dollar goes far here.
The staff does not speak much English, but we managed to get a restaurant recommendation (although our request for a place with a tv to see the US vs Spain soccer game apparently wasn't understood). The restaurant confirmed our thinking that there wasn't going to be a lot of English around here, but it makes even the smallest interactions a bit more fun.
We got back to our room and we heard loud bangs outside. Turns out, a firework show at 10 at night on a Wednesday was going on. We still don't know why, but an interesting end to our night.
Day 28: Pompei
Today we took the Circumvesuviana train (train that -circles Mt. Vesuvius- along Naples Bay) to Ercola (sp?), which is the jumping off point to head up Mt. Vesuvius. We were greeted at the station by a guy pointing to a tourist info shop (still not sure if it was official) where we were sold tickets for a taxi ride and entrance to the path to the crater.
A small van pulls up and the driver directs us to sit 4-deep in each row when there is clearly only 3 seats. We pile in clown-car style and take off for the volcano (the only remaining active volcano on mainland Europe).
We start up winding narrow streets in the city, but soon reach the even narrower and more winding road to the crater. The road doesn't faze our (what we hope is an experienced) driver; he zips around corners with a honk to warn anyone coming from the other direction.
Then the driver, a thirty year old tattooed guy, pops in a CD. This is where the trip turns surreal. As we fear for our life climbing Mt. Vesuvius, dodging buses coming at us and passing (yes, passing) those buses traveling to slow, the emotional ballad "All by Myself" (I think that's the title) is blasting. One love ballad after another was played (including Whitney Houston's "If You Believe"). It was a crazy 25 minute journey.
At the drop off point, we stepped out into the chilly air and followed the half hour hiking path to the crater. We weren't sure what we'd see exactly (a pit of lava, ash, nothing, etc.) When we got there, it was like someone lopped off the top of the mountain and used a giant ice cream scooper, there was just rocks and debris at the bottom of the pit. However, there were pockets of steam rising up and we smelled sulfur. Then behind us is the entire Naples Bay (Naples, Sorrento, and Capri were all in view). Unfortunately for our pictures, it wasn't that clear out, and there was an occasional raindrop.
We also stopped at Pompeii, the city buried by Mt. Vesuvius in 79 AD. The ruins surprised us by how much there was. It wasn't just a building here and there, the 20,000 person city was frozen in time. We walked down the streets 0d saw where the rich people lived, went to court, and watched gladiators duke it out. We also saw a brothel including a number of small rooms with stone beds and kama sutra-style wall paintings above the doors. It was a cool stop, we were glad we didn't skip out to go sit by the pool.
We ended the night eating a 4-course dinner at our hotel. We met an interesting couple (Dave, 67, and Catherine, 45) from Nottingham (Robinhood country, as he put it). We ended up spending the next hour talking and drinking a glass of wine with them by the pool while Dave chain smoked home-rolled cigs. Always fun to meet people on the road.
A small van pulls up and the driver directs us to sit 4-deep in each row when there is clearly only 3 seats. We pile in clown-car style and take off for the volcano (the only remaining active volcano on mainland Europe).
We start up winding narrow streets in the city, but soon reach the even narrower and more winding road to the crater. The road doesn't faze our (what we hope is an experienced) driver; he zips around corners with a honk to warn anyone coming from the other direction.
Then the driver, a thirty year old tattooed guy, pops in a CD. This is where the trip turns surreal. As we fear for our life climbing Mt. Vesuvius, dodging buses coming at us and passing (yes, passing) those buses traveling to slow, the emotional ballad "All by Myself" (I think that's the title) is blasting. One love ballad after another was played (including Whitney Houston's "If You Believe"). It was a crazy 25 minute journey.
At the drop off point, we stepped out into the chilly air and followed the half hour hiking path to the crater. We weren't sure what we'd see exactly (a pit of lava, ash, nothing, etc.) When we got there, it was like someone lopped off the top of the mountain and used a giant ice cream scooper, there was just rocks and debris at the bottom of the pit. However, there were pockets of steam rising up and we smelled sulfur. Then behind us is the entire Naples Bay (Naples, Sorrento, and Capri were all in view). Unfortunately for our pictures, it wasn't that clear out, and there was an occasional raindrop.
We also stopped at Pompeii, the city buried by Mt. Vesuvius in 79 AD. The ruins surprised us by how much there was. It wasn't just a building here and there, the 20,000 person city was frozen in time. We walked down the streets 0d saw where the rich people lived, went to court, and watched gladiators duke it out. We also saw a brothel including a number of small rooms with stone beds and kama sutra-style wall paintings above the doors. It was a cool stop, we were glad we didn't skip out to go sit by the pool.
We ended the night eating a 4-course dinner at our hotel. We met an interesting couple (Dave, 67, and Catherine, 45) from Nottingham (Robinhood country, as he put it). We ended up spending the next hour talking and drinking a glass of wine with them by the pool while Dave chain smoked home-rolled cigs. Always fun to meet people on the road.
Behind the Blog
For our many, many loyal followers, I (Kevin) thought I would post on how we're doing the blog. This behind the blog will hopefully not include a vh1-style collapse of the BK duo at the 45 minute mark (or in our case, the 45 day mark).
First, all the posts our typed on a cell phone keyboard. After discussing what to write with Brooke, I usually type them up before going to bed at night or on a train/bus the next day. Although the cell phone keyboard is not ideal, it usually keeps me from writing longer posts (believe it or not). I think this is a good thing. As you may have noticed, proofreading rarely occurs, but I do have a spell check.
Once written, I save the email and the hunt for wifi (or "wee-fee" in France) begins. Usually we find a bar or restaurant that offers free wifi, or our hotel has it. Occasionally a few days pass without any free wifi and we have to break down and pay at an internet cafe. When we find wifi, I send the email to a particular email address that automatically posts the message to the blog.
Finally, a note on pictures. Since the only way we've been posting is through phone emails, that is also where the pictures come from. Since the cell phones are not very user friendly for pictures, we don't ask others to take pictures of us with them. That's why all our pictures are of only one person, with the exception of when Brooke's parents were here.
But don't fret, we have taken over a thousand pictures on our real camera. We'll definitely try to force everyone we know to sit through a multi-hour, multi-day, projector-style slide show including every picture of every church we went in. Expect the invitations in the fall.
First, all the posts our typed on a cell phone keyboard. After discussing what to write with Brooke, I usually type them up before going to bed at night or on a train/bus the next day. Although the cell phone keyboard is not ideal, it usually keeps me from writing longer posts (believe it or not). I think this is a good thing. As you may have noticed, proofreading rarely occurs, but I do have a spell check.
Once written, I save the email and the hunt for wifi (or "wee-fee" in France) begins. Usually we find a bar or restaurant that offers free wifi, or our hotel has it. Occasionally a few days pass without any free wifi and we have to break down and pay at an internet cafe. When we find wifi, I send the email to a particular email address that automatically posts the message to the blog.
Finally, a note on pictures. Since the only way we've been posting is through phone emails, that is also where the pictures come from. Since the cell phones are not very user friendly for pictures, we don't ask others to take pictures of us with them. That's why all our pictures are of only one person, with the exception of when Brooke's parents were here.
But don't fret, we have taken over a thousand pictures on our real camera. We'll definitely try to force everyone we know to sit through a multi-hour, multi-day, projector-style slide show including every picture of every church we went in. Expect the invitations in the fall.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Week 4 top 5
In no particular order
1) Mt. Vesuvius (mostly because of the cab ride)
2) Il Campo scene (tower and restaurants)
3) Roman Forum (empty in the early morning)
4) Vatican (top of St. Peter's, inside St. Peter's, and the crypt below St. Peter's)
5) Wine tasting tour in Siena (despite the long rides and no lasagna at the end)
1) Mt. Vesuvius (mostly because of the cab ride)
2) Il Campo scene (tower and restaurants)
3) Roman Forum (empty in the early morning)
4) Vatican (top of St. Peter's, inside St. Peter's, and the crypt below St. Peter's)
5) Wine tasting tour in Siena (despite the long rides and no lasagna at the end)
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Day 27: Isle di Capri
Today we took the 25 minute ferry ride to the island of Capri. The ferry ride itself was fun. We were sitting on top with big open windows and the boat was moving fast. When we'd hit a big wave your stomach would end up in your throat like a roller coaster.
The island is not that big. In the middle area, if the island was flat, it'd probably only take 15 minutes to walk to the other side. But the island shoots up vertically in Naples Bay. When we arrived, we took a tram that goes up a few hundred feet to a mid-point of the island. It's a pretty remarkable view; you can see Mt. Vesuvius and the Italian coast, the cliffs of Capri to either side, and the bay down below (the picture hardly tells the tale).
We then walked down to the other side of the island (about a 20 minute walk) to get to the public beach. The beach was made up of rocks again (seems to be a theme here), and it was a pretty cramped area; these limitations would have been easier to get over if the clouds hadn't rolled in as soon as we got there.
On the way back to the top where the tram originally let us out, we planned on avoiding the hike by taking one of the local buses. This was an interesting trip. The roads are so tight, the buses and cars honk when they approach corners so people coming the other way stop.
At one point a bus was coming the other way, both drivers slow to idling speed. The two buses were actually touching as they squeezed by each other.
We took a few more pictures from the top, the took the ferry back to Sorrento. We didn't do much else other then grab dinner the rest of the night.
The island is not that big. In the middle area, if the island was flat, it'd probably only take 15 minutes to walk to the other side. But the island shoots up vertically in Naples Bay. When we arrived, we took a tram that goes up a few hundred feet to a mid-point of the island. It's a pretty remarkable view; you can see Mt. Vesuvius and the Italian coast, the cliffs of Capri to either side, and the bay down below (the picture hardly tells the tale).
We then walked down to the other side of the island (about a 20 minute walk) to get to the public beach. The beach was made up of rocks again (seems to be a theme here), and it was a pretty cramped area; these limitations would have been easier to get over if the clouds hadn't rolled in as soon as we got there.
On the way back to the top where the tram originally let us out, we planned on avoiding the hike by taking one of the local buses. This was an interesting trip. The roads are so tight, the buses and cars honk when they approach corners so people coming the other way stop.
At one point a bus was coming the other way, both drivers slow to idling speed. The two buses were actually touching as they squeezed by each other.
We took a few more pictures from the top, the took the ferry back to Sorrento. We didn't do much else other then grab dinner the rest of the night.
Day 26: Sorrento, Italy
Today we left Roma and headed to the Naples-Sorrento-Almalfi Coast area. We thought about heading into town in Naples for a slice of pizza when we changed trains, but abandoned the plan because we didn't feel like hauling luggage through town.
Sorrento is around the bay on an hour metro-style train ride from Naples, and you pass by Mt. Vesuvius on the way. After a little difficulty finding our hotel (particularly because everything was closed for Sunday and there was no one to ask or get a map from), we walked the 20 minutes to the center of Sorrento.
Sorrento feels like Disneyland-Italy. Everyone speaks English, prices are high, but the people and buildings look Italian. It's not bad, just different, and probably a good last hurrah with English before heading further south in Italy.
At night we lucked out being able to watch the Italy vs. Brazil soccer game at a bar. Unfortunately, in the final ten minutes of the first half, Brazil scored 3 goals and the game was pretty much over (no more goals scored). It is still fun to catch a futbol game with people that are passionate about it.
After the game we caught a late dinner, and half way through it began to absolutely pour. It wouldn't have been too big a deal to take a cab home, except that we spent our last Euro on a beer and the ATM machines decided they weren't going to give us any money. So we walked/ran twenty minutes home in a thunderstorm in flip flops sharing our small travel-size umbrella. We made it home, soaked, but we made it.
Sorrento is around the bay on an hour metro-style train ride from Naples, and you pass by Mt. Vesuvius on the way. After a little difficulty finding our hotel (particularly because everything was closed for Sunday and there was no one to ask or get a map from), we walked the 20 minutes to the center of Sorrento.
Sorrento feels like Disneyland-Italy. Everyone speaks English, prices are high, but the people and buildings look Italian. It's not bad, just different, and probably a good last hurrah with English before heading further south in Italy.
At night we lucked out being able to watch the Italy vs. Brazil soccer game at a bar. Unfortunately, in the final ten minutes of the first half, Brazil scored 3 goals and the game was pretty much over (no more goals scored). It is still fun to catch a futbol game with people that are passionate about it.
After the game we caught a late dinner, and half way through it began to absolutely pour. It wouldn't have been too big a deal to take a cab home, except that we spent our last Euro on a beer and the ATM machines decided they weren't going to give us any money. So we walked/ran twenty minutes home in a thunderstorm in flip flops sharing our small travel-size umbrella. We made it home, soaked, but we made it.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Mt. Vesuvius
Sorrento, Italy
Day 25: Roma
Today was our last day in Roma. We started early to have breakfast and say goodbye to Brooke's parents. Our early start had an unintended benefit too. We toured the Coliseum & Roman Forum before the crowds, so we were up close and alone to see where the Roman senators met and where Julius Cesar was killed.
Although we were up and ready to go at 8 am, our tour guide of the Coliseum appeared to be combatting a hangover or something, and his English wasn't quite on the mark. We ditched the tour half-way through and showed ourselves around. This tour was in stark contrast to our hyper (and free) guide at the Pantheon the day before.
Next we went to the Vatican Museum to see the Sistene Chapel (sp?). Again, we're not real big on the art, but with the help of a Rick Steve's audio guide on our iPod, it was very interesting.
We also made the 581 step trek to the top of St. Peter's, where you can see all of Roma.
For our last night, we got a final meal by the Spanish Steps and walked by the Trevi Fountain one more time.
Off to Sorrento tomorrow.
Although we were up and ready to go at 8 am, our tour guide of the Coliseum appeared to be combatting a hangover or something, and his English wasn't quite on the mark. We ditched the tour half-way through and showed ourselves around. This tour was in stark contrast to our hyper (and free) guide at the Pantheon the day before.
Next we went to the Vatican Museum to see the Sistene Chapel (sp?). Again, we're not real big on the art, but with the help of a Rick Steve's audio guide on our iPod, it was very interesting.
We also made the 581 step trek to the top of St. Peter's, where you can see all of Roma.
For our last night, we got a final meal by the Spanish Steps and walked by the Trevi Fountain one more time.
Off to Sorrento tomorrow.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Day 21: Siena, Italy
We caught an early train to Siena, which required a transfer at Pisa and Empoli, but was still only 3 hours away. Siena is a small tuscan hill town that once rivaled Paris and Florence until the palgue and the Medici family took over Tuscany.
After checking in at our B & B with a hotel lady that didn't speaka the English (and we don't parlo much Italiano), we walked to Il Campo. Il Campo is the center of the town; the paved sloping semicircle has lots of restaurants surrounding it, is the location of the Palio horse race where the neighborhoods have competed for centuries, and has a huge tower and city hall/museum. Brooke and I climbed the tower's 400 steps to get a view of the whole city, which has very Tuscan looking brick apartment buildings, an occasional giant church, and rolling hills in the background.
We also went to the Duomo, a huge church with black and white stripes covering the outside made out of marble. Brooke and her mom were given paper skirts to cover up (they were wearing shorts) and the guys had to take off their hats. It was another impressive church. Every square inch of the inside seemed to have a some detail, whether a painting, a sculpture, grave, etc.
After that church, we decided to pay homage to our high school's patron saint, St. Catherine. We skimmed some tourist maps and read that the St. Domenico Basillica held the only portrait painted when she was alive.
When we got their, we were taken back not by the portrait of St. Catherine, but her actual head (body not included) that was on display in a glass case. Creepy. The "relic" was in good shape, not just a skull or anything, her face was mostly intact 700 years later. The next building, which was built in the 1930s after St. Catherine was named the patron saint of Italy, held the crucifix from which she received the stigmata.
There wasn't too much more site seeing, more of just wandering the narrow, hilly streets. We looked in shops and had a late dinner in Il Campo.
We like Siena. We were happy to find our memory of Siena from visiting 6 years ago was spot on. It's a small city, just enough touristy stuff to keep busy, but not overcrowded or too big to walk.
After checking in at our B & B with a hotel lady that didn't speaka the English (and we don't parlo much Italiano), we walked to Il Campo. Il Campo is the center of the town; the paved sloping semicircle has lots of restaurants surrounding it, is the location of the Palio horse race where the neighborhoods have competed for centuries, and has a huge tower and city hall/museum. Brooke and I climbed the tower's 400 steps to get a view of the whole city, which has very Tuscan looking brick apartment buildings, an occasional giant church, and rolling hills in the background.
We also went to the Duomo, a huge church with black and white stripes covering the outside made out of marble. Brooke and her mom were given paper skirts to cover up (they were wearing shorts) and the guys had to take off their hats. It was another impressive church. Every square inch of the inside seemed to have a some detail, whether a painting, a sculpture, grave, etc.
After that church, we decided to pay homage to our high school's patron saint, St. Catherine. We skimmed some tourist maps and read that the St. Domenico Basillica held the only portrait painted when she was alive.
When we got their, we were taken back not by the portrait of St. Catherine, but her actual head (body not included) that was on display in a glass case. Creepy. The "relic" was in good shape, not just a skull or anything, her face was mostly intact 700 years later. The next building, which was built in the 1930s after St. Catherine was named the patron saint of Italy, held the crucifix from which she received the stigmata.
There wasn't too much more site seeing, more of just wandering the narrow, hilly streets. We looked in shops and had a late dinner in Il Campo.
We like Siena. We were happy to find our memory of Siena from visiting 6 years ago was spot on. It's a small city, just enough touristy stuff to keep busy, but not overcrowded or too big to walk.
Day 23 & 24: Roma
Yeah, this is a combo post, two days in one, but it gets difficult to fit in the writing sometimes.
Roma is Brooke's parents' last city, and we saved the hottest for last. It's been about 90 degrees both days and there's no relief via swimming around here. Instead we dart inside every church and museum we find to cool off, even if just to go to the gift shop.
We've basically been walking most of Rome. It's got a big European city feel, but it's not that spread out (at least the sites aren't). It's about a 30 minute walk from the Vatican to the Coliseum, and you can pass by a hundred different sites on the way. It seems every corner has something 2000 years old on it.
If you can dodge the Vespas and Smart cars and reach whatever old thing you've found, the next trick is looking for plaques and guidebooks to tell you what it is and why it's important. Sometimes you can't believe something so old, big, etc. is just another shop or gov't building that is not considered noteworthy. The density of sites has encouraged our wandering around the city without a set plan on what we're looking for (which is fun), but it has been exhausting.
The churches are starting to all look the same, with the exception of St. Peter's (huge!) and St. Maria's (has part of the manger). We also got to see the tomb of Pope John Paul II below St. Peter's, which had a weird way of connecting the long history of St. Peter's and the Catholic church to our recent history. It's hard to describe, I guess.
In two days we've pretty much hit all the major spots (Vatican, Coliseum, Pantheon, Spanish Stairs, Trevi Fountain, and a bunch we haven't figured out yet) but we're saving the actual tour of the coliseum and Vatican museum until Brooke's parent's leave, since the activities are time consuming and they've already done it. Tomorrow's plan is to say goodbye to Brooke's parents, switch hotels (the 4 star treatment has come to an end...), then finish up Rome site seeing while dodging the heat. We'll see how we do.
PS - Thanks to Brooke's parents for everything!
Roma is Brooke's parents' last city, and we saved the hottest for last. It's been about 90 degrees both days and there's no relief via swimming around here. Instead we dart inside every church and museum we find to cool off, even if just to go to the gift shop.
We've basically been walking most of Rome. It's got a big European city feel, but it's not that spread out (at least the sites aren't). It's about a 30 minute walk from the Vatican to the Coliseum, and you can pass by a hundred different sites on the way. It seems every corner has something 2000 years old on it.
If you can dodge the Vespas and Smart cars and reach whatever old thing you've found, the next trick is looking for plaques and guidebooks to tell you what it is and why it's important. Sometimes you can't believe something so old, big, etc. is just another shop or gov't building that is not considered noteworthy. The density of sites has encouraged our wandering around the city without a set plan on what we're looking for (which is fun), but it has been exhausting.
The churches are starting to all look the same, with the exception of St. Peter's (huge!) and St. Maria's (has part of the manger). We also got to see the tomb of Pope John Paul II below St. Peter's, which had a weird way of connecting the long history of St. Peter's and the Catholic church to our recent history. It's hard to describe, I guess.
In two days we've pretty much hit all the major spots (Vatican, Coliseum, Pantheon, Spanish Stairs, Trevi Fountain, and a bunch we haven't figured out yet) but we're saving the actual tour of the coliseum and Vatican museum until Brooke's parent's leave, since the activities are time consuming and they've already done it. Tomorrow's plan is to say goodbye to Brooke's parents, switch hotels (the 4 star treatment has come to an end...), then finish up Rome site seeing while dodging the heat. We'll see how we do.
PS - Thanks to Brooke's parents for everything!
Day 22: Siena & San Jimmy Johns
We woke up in our B & B and enjoyed a nice continental breakfast with both warm and cold milk (this confirmed that our conversation with our Italian B&B owner the day before went as poorly as we suspected).
Today we took a day trip from Siena to Chianti Classico country (aka, black rooster country), for a wine tour and stop in San Jimmy Johns (actually, San Gimignano).
After a very hot, hilly, and winding drive in an 8-person van, we arrived at small winery run by a chemist that is a consultant for other wineries. He gave us a tour of his small facilities and taught us how to evaluate a wine (look, sniff, and taste). The winery was called Poggio Amorello.
After five samples, we were feeling good to move on to San Gimignamo. This town is also in Tuscany, it is smaller than Siena, but is known for its towers (14 of 70 or so are still standing). They were built, basically, to show off. We didn't get much time in the city, unfortunately, but we did get to have delicious gelato from world champion gelato makers, which was nice. We also got a 'tour' of the main strip, but we're pretty sure the guide was making most of it up ("listen to the walls and doors, they speak to you").
We left and went to a second winery about 20 minutes away. It was a bigger winery, but family run for centuries. The head honcho was a very colorful, older guy. He was showing us again how to taste the wine, but with a much, much more relaxed attitude (e.g., to smell it, he told us to hold the glass below your nose, look down at you pee-pee area, and whiff). We were disappointed not to get the lasagna promised at the ticket sales office, but we got some sort of tasty carrot & potato Italian stew/soup instead.
We finally loaded up in the van for the trip home 7 hours after we started the tour. One thing about these tours, you can't pick the other tour members. The other 4 passengers were like, literally all 20 year old girls from NY and, like, literally, the tour changed their lives because the literally did not like red wine before, literally.
All in all, a fun day. The drives were long, but we got to do a few things on the tour that we otherwise wouldn't have done on our own.
Today we took a day trip from Siena to Chianti Classico country (aka, black rooster country), for a wine tour and stop in San Jimmy Johns (actually, San Gimignano).
After a very hot, hilly, and winding drive in an 8-person van, we arrived at small winery run by a chemist that is a consultant for other wineries. He gave us a tour of his small facilities and taught us how to evaluate a wine (look, sniff, and taste). The winery was called Poggio Amorello.
After five samples, we were feeling good to move on to San Gimignamo. This town is also in Tuscany, it is smaller than Siena, but is known for its towers (14 of 70 or so are still standing). They were built, basically, to show off. We didn't get much time in the city, unfortunately, but we did get to have delicious gelato from world champion gelato makers, which was nice. We also got a 'tour' of the main strip, but we're pretty sure the guide was making most of it up ("listen to the walls and doors, they speak to you").
We left and went to a second winery about 20 minutes away. It was a bigger winery, but family run for centuries. The head honcho was a very colorful, older guy. He was showing us again how to taste the wine, but with a much, much more relaxed attitude (e.g., to smell it, he told us to hold the glass below your nose, look down at you pee-pee area, and whiff). We were disappointed not to get the lasagna promised at the ticket sales office, but we got some sort of tasty carrot & potato Italian stew/soup instead.
We finally loaded up in the van for the trip home 7 hours after we started the tour. One thing about these tours, you can't pick the other tour members. The other 4 passengers were like, literally all 20 year old girls from NY and, like, literally, the tour changed their lives because the literally did not like red wine before, literally.
All in all, a fun day. The drives were long, but we got to do a few things on the tour that we otherwise wouldn't have done on our own.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Week 3 Top 5 (Special M & D Edition)
M & D top five (BK concur)
1. Scenery from the trails of Cinque Terre
2. Miracle bar between cities 3 and 4
3. "Bean bag" beach in Monaco
4. Swimming in Vernazza (city 4)
5. Walking at night along the pedestrian strip in Nice with street performers (musicians, artists, and those guys who pretend their statues)
Runners up: Italian food of Cinque Terre (focaccia bread, lasagna, spaghetti, and pesto anything), the croissants in Nice every morning, listening to M & D try to pronounce focaccia, and actually 1) catching the right trains to Cinque Terre from Nice and 2) meeting Brooke's parents in Nice at the hotel at the specified time
1. Scenery from the trails of Cinque Terre
2. Miracle bar between cities 3 and 4
3. "Bean bag" beach in Monaco
4. Swimming in Vernazza (city 4)
5. Walking at night along the pedestrian strip in Nice with street performers (musicians, artists, and those guys who pretend their statues)
Runners up: Italian food of Cinque Terre (focaccia bread, lasagna, spaghetti, and pesto anything), the croissants in Nice every morning, listening to M & D try to pronounce focaccia, and actually 1) catching the right trains to Cinque Terre from Nice and 2) meeting Brooke's parents in Nice at the hotel at the specified time
Day 19: Cinque Terre
After a 9 am breakfast, we hit the trails of Cinque Terre. Although Brooke has been here before, the rest of us weren't quite sure what to expect. For those that don't know, Cinque Terre (literally the "Five Lands") consists of five small villages along about a 5 mile stretch of the coast of Italy. The cities are conneted by rail (which tunnels through the mountains separating the villages), a ferry, and hiking trails of various difficulties attached to the mountain sides. Our hotel is in Rioggmiore, the farthest south of the five villages (city 1).
Our first task was to find the start of the trail out of our village. We found a path and started climbing steps almost immediately. After about 10 minutes, we knew were were on the right path (finding the toll booth lady with a map helped). As we rounded the corner of the first cliff jutting out, we thought we had done it, we were at city #2. (one of us, who shall remain nameless, yelled "we made it!") Turns out, we were only at our city's train station that we arrived at yesterday...
After a good laugh (although I think we were all slightly concerned about what lied ahead after we had only reached the train station), we continued on.
The first stretch was actually quite easy. We made it to (the real) city 2, Manorola, in about ten minutes after an easy walk along the paved walk. We barely stopped, except to notice the swimmers in the clear waters and sun bathers on the huge rocks nearby. The walk to city 3, Corniglia, was similarly flat, until we reached the cliff that the city is set on top of. 382 steep and hot steps later, we reached the city. The stairs were a good taste of what was to come, and the city gave us an opportunity to break for a cappucino and beer (and we found an internet cafe).
We pressed on to city 4, Vernazza, knowing we had a challenge in front of us. What a hike. We walked uphill (way uphill) for about 45 minutes, but had many short breaks for water, shade, and an occasional breeze. All the sweat was worth it, as we had probably the most amazing views of our lives. We could see cities 2 and 3 each on their valley and cliff, respectively, and the Mediterranean stretching out to the horizon.
Just as we thought it couldn't get hotter and we couldn't go higher, a bar (what we have coined the miracle bar) appeared. We stopped and had a beer at a table next to a window where you could peek your head out and see straight down to the sea (not sure how the miracle bar was hanging on that cliff) and city 3 in the distance far below (yeah, city 3, which was on a cliff 382 steps up, was far below us).
After the miracle bar, it was pretty much down hill. We reached city 4 and had lunch, then caught the ferry to city 5 (Montorosso) for some swimming. Unfortunately, the beach was like Nice. It was made up of rocks that hurt to stand on (we think rejects from Monaco). Even so, the sea was so refreshing, it was hard to linger on about the rocks. We made do walking out as if on hot coals or scooting out of the water backwards on our behinds.
We took the ferry back from city 5 to city 1, looking back at the mountains and valleys pointing at and debating about where the hiking trails we just trecked were (they were high up and hard to spot because they were hidden by the trees). We also couldn't figure out which of the sky high, cliff hanging buildings was the miracle bar.
We got back home, cleaned up, and got a drink at a bar on the sea to watch the sunset. As we were walking back to find dinner, we noticed an alter placed at the boat launch and candles lining the main street and all the ledges (100s of them). We had conflicting opinions. Some thought wedding, others baptism, but we were all wrong, it was for a ceremony for the Feast of Corpus Christi. We saw a procession of about 100 villagers with the priests carrying the Eucharist and singing songs pass by. Very Godfather-ish.
It was a good finale for the day. After dinner, we didn't even have the energy to play rummy and drink the bottle of wine on our balcony. We watched about 15 minutes of Italian news (in Italian) and, exausted, went to bed.
PS - Happy Birthday Deven!
Our first task was to find the start of the trail out of our village. We found a path and started climbing steps almost immediately. After about 10 minutes, we knew were were on the right path (finding the toll booth lady with a map helped). As we rounded the corner of the first cliff jutting out, we thought we had done it, we were at city #2. (one of us, who shall remain nameless, yelled "we made it!") Turns out, we were only at our city's train station that we arrived at yesterday...
After a good laugh (although I think we were all slightly concerned about what lied ahead after we had only reached the train station), we continued on.
The first stretch was actually quite easy. We made it to (the real) city 2, Manorola, in about ten minutes after an easy walk along the paved walk. We barely stopped, except to notice the swimmers in the clear waters and sun bathers on the huge rocks nearby. The walk to city 3, Corniglia, was similarly flat, until we reached the cliff that the city is set on top of. 382 steep and hot steps later, we reached the city. The stairs were a good taste of what was to come, and the city gave us an opportunity to break for a cappucino and beer (and we found an internet cafe).
We pressed on to city 4, Vernazza, knowing we had a challenge in front of us. What a hike. We walked uphill (way uphill) for about 45 minutes, but had many short breaks for water, shade, and an occasional breeze. All the sweat was worth it, as we had probably the most amazing views of our lives. We could see cities 2 and 3 each on their valley and cliff, respectively, and the Mediterranean stretching out to the horizon.
Just as we thought it couldn't get hotter and we couldn't go higher, a bar (what we have coined the miracle bar) appeared. We stopped and had a beer at a table next to a window where you could peek your head out and see straight down to the sea (not sure how the miracle bar was hanging on that cliff) and city 3 in the distance far below (yeah, city 3, which was on a cliff 382 steps up, was far below us).
After the miracle bar, it was pretty much down hill. We reached city 4 and had lunch, then caught the ferry to city 5 (Montorosso) for some swimming. Unfortunately, the beach was like Nice. It was made up of rocks that hurt to stand on (we think rejects from Monaco). Even so, the sea was so refreshing, it was hard to linger on about the rocks. We made do walking out as if on hot coals or scooting out of the water backwards on our behinds.
We took the ferry back from city 5 to city 1, looking back at the mountains and valleys pointing at and debating about where the hiking trails we just trecked were (they were high up and hard to spot because they were hidden by the trees). We also couldn't figure out which of the sky high, cliff hanging buildings was the miracle bar.
We got back home, cleaned up, and got a drink at a bar on the sea to watch the sunset. As we were walking back to find dinner, we noticed an alter placed at the boat launch and candles lining the main street and all the ledges (100s of them). We had conflicting opinions. Some thought wedding, others baptism, but we were all wrong, it was for a ceremony for the Feast of Corpus Christi. We saw a procession of about 100 villagers with the priests carrying the Eucharist and singing songs pass by. Very Godfather-ish.
It was a good finale for the day. After dinner, we didn't even have the energy to play rummy and drink the bottle of wine on our balcony. We watched about 15 minutes of Italian news (in Italian) and, exausted, went to bed.
PS - Happy Birthday Deven!
Day 20: Cinque Terre
After yesterday's work out, we slept in a litttle (despite telling ourselves to wake up early to do the last trail before it got too hot). After a quick and light breakfast, we hopped on the ferry to city 4 to pick up the trail where we left off yesterday.
The last section was a 3 km hike that was about 2 hours long. It seemed to go straight up for about an hour before leveling off and eventually descending. This was the longest of the trails, and we noticed. This hike had two distinguishing features. First, and most importantly, there was no miracle bar. Second, the path got very narrow at points and railings were not always provided. Brooke's Dad descibed these sections as cliff hanging.
We managed to survive the hike and we stopped at the first establishment we could find in city 5. We had a refreshing beer and split a focaccia sandwich (Cinque Terre is also known for focaccia bread).
We wanted to do some swimming, and since we swam at city 5 yesterday, we took the ferry to city 4. After the hot ferry ride, we basically walked down the man-made stone pier and jumped right in the clear water.
We dried off and ate lunch at a restaurant that had photos of the owners and my bud and travel companion Rick Steves on the wall. If Rick ate there, it was sure thing (and it was).
We took the ferry back to city 2 and had another swim (narrowly avoiding a jelly fish situatuion) before walking back to our home city 1 along the easy trail D'Amore.
Tonight we had enough energy to play cards and drink our remaining wine while listening to Lou Prima softly playing through the headphones of an iPod turned all the way up. I (Kevin) am not sure it can get much better that this (then I got my first victory in Rummy with a last-hand comeback, and I was sure of it).
We all enjoyed Cinque Terre; tomorrow it's off to the Tuscan city of Siena.
The last section was a 3 km hike that was about 2 hours long. It seemed to go straight up for about an hour before leveling off and eventually descending. This was the longest of the trails, and we noticed. This hike had two distinguishing features. First, and most importantly, there was no miracle bar. Second, the path got very narrow at points and railings were not always provided. Brooke's Dad descibed these sections as cliff hanging.
We managed to survive the hike and we stopped at the first establishment we could find in city 5. We had a refreshing beer and split a focaccia sandwich (Cinque Terre is also known for focaccia bread).
We wanted to do some swimming, and since we swam at city 5 yesterday, we took the ferry to city 4. After the hot ferry ride, we basically walked down the man-made stone pier and jumped right in the clear water.
We dried off and ate lunch at a restaurant that had photos of the owners and my bud and travel companion Rick Steves on the wall. If Rick ate there, it was sure thing (and it was).
We took the ferry back to city 2 and had another swim (narrowly avoiding a jelly fish situatuion) before walking back to our home city 1 along the easy trail D'Amore.
Tonight we had enough energy to play cards and drink our remaining wine while listening to Lou Prima softly playing through the headphones of an iPod turned all the way up. I (Kevin) am not sure it can get much better that this (then I got my first victory in Rummy with a last-hand comeback, and I was sure of it).
We all enjoyed Cinque Terre; tomorrow it's off to the Tuscan city of Siena.
Monday, June 15, 2009
Day 18 part II: Cinque Terre, Italy
We made it!
After a few delays and transfers, we made it to Cinque Terre. We had to pull out our directions emailed from our hotel lady in Italian/broken-English to find our room/apartment (walk through the train tunnel, find the mural, go through the pedestrian walkway, behind the ristorante...)
We met our lady and she walked us up 55 stairs (some narrow sidewalk stairs between buildings, some indoors) to our apartment. We had two separate bedrooms, each with a bathroom and kitchen area, and an awesome balcony. Don't get me wrong, we was sure the cheap plastic furniture would break at any moment. But from the perch, we could see the Mediterranean poking through, the "main" city street, and the rows of houses stacked on one another. It felt very "Italy."
We ate some pesto pizza and pasta at the nearby restaurant (the area is known for their pesto) and bought some vino rosso from the grocer. We went over to the bay to watch the sunset before spending the remainder of the night playing rummy until the bottle was empty.
France was great, but I (Kevin) am happy to be in Italia, and can't wait for the morning.
After a few delays and transfers, we made it to Cinque Terre. We had to pull out our directions emailed from our hotel lady in Italian/broken-English to find our room/apartment (walk through the train tunnel, find the mural, go through the pedestrian walkway, behind the ristorante...)
We met our lady and she walked us up 55 stairs (some narrow sidewalk stairs between buildings, some indoors) to our apartment. We had two separate bedrooms, each with a bathroom and kitchen area, and an awesome balcony. Don't get me wrong, we was sure the cheap plastic furniture would break at any moment. But from the perch, we could see the Mediterranean poking through, the "main" city street, and the rows of houses stacked on one another. It felt very "Italy."
We ate some pesto pizza and pasta at the nearby restaurant (the area is known for their pesto) and bought some vino rosso from the grocer. We went over to the bay to watch the sunset before spending the remainder of the night playing rummy until the bottle was empty.
France was great, but I (Kevin) am happy to be in Italia, and can't wait for the morning.
Day 18, part I: Nice to ??
This will be a two-part post today, so you can have some of the suspense we did.
Today the plan was to get to Cinque Terre on the Italian Riviera. We bought our tickets last night to make the trip as smooth as possible and to make sure we'd arrive before 5 pm (the latest check-in before the hotel lady goes home and we end up scrambling to find a room). We woke up early to get in a load of laundry and still arrived at the train station an hour early at 9 am.
Since we had time, we stopped for a cappuccino at the train cafe. We had noticed on the departure board that our train was not "en le houre" (on time) nor "le retard" (late), but "suprime." Brooke & mom decided to do some investigating to find out what "suprime" meant, while Kevin & dad took care of getting the cappuccinos.
The cappuccinos were delivered steaming hot, we paid the waitress, and before our first sip, Brooke & mom come running in frantically saying "we gotta go, now!" We abandoned our 4 full cappuccinos and took off, finding out as we ran that our train had been cancelled because of a French strike.
Our only chance of making it to Cinque Terre on time was to catch a train leaving right then and to do a couple transfers. We made it to the crowded platform (only to find out it too was delayed), eventually pushed our way on to the train and found a few spread out seats.
I write this post (part I) from that train. We're not very confident we'll make our connection, and were not sure what city we'll end up in tonight. Should be fun!
Today the plan was to get to Cinque Terre on the Italian Riviera. We bought our tickets last night to make the trip as smooth as possible and to make sure we'd arrive before 5 pm (the latest check-in before the hotel lady goes home and we end up scrambling to find a room). We woke up early to get in a load of laundry and still arrived at the train station an hour early at 9 am.
Since we had time, we stopped for a cappuccino at the train cafe. We had noticed on the departure board that our train was not "en le houre" (on time) nor "le retard" (late), but "suprime." Brooke & mom decided to do some investigating to find out what "suprime" meant, while Kevin & dad took care of getting the cappuccinos.
The cappuccinos were delivered steaming hot, we paid the waitress, and before our first sip, Brooke & mom come running in frantically saying "we gotta go, now!" We abandoned our 4 full cappuccinos and took off, finding out as we ran that our train had been cancelled because of a French strike.
Our only chance of making it to Cinque Terre on time was to catch a train leaving right then and to do a couple transfers. We made it to the crowded platform (only to find out it too was delayed), eventually pushed our way on to the train and found a few spread out seats.
I write this post (part I) from that train. We're not very confident we'll make our connection, and were not sure what city we'll end up in tonight. Should be fun!
Day 17: Monaco
We took a train to Monaco today, a rich country with a population of about 7000 people. We've never seen so many Ferraris, Lamorginis, Aston Matins, Bentleys, or Rolls Royces, or other cars that cost as much as a house.
In addition to expensive cars, it had a great public beach, with pebbles. Although we were initially skeptical after the rock beach at Nice, the pebble beach was awesome. It didn't hurt your feet (imagine the inside of a bean bag chair) and, unlike sand, it didn't stick to or get on everything. It was our favorite beach so far, we figure it has to do with the rich people (even if they don't use the public part).
Our time in Monaco didn't include much other than the beach and beach restaurants. However, the walk to the beach from the train station and back was scenic, and we did catch allusions to the big Grand Prix race they have (although it was hard to imagine race cars on those narrow, curvy, and hilly streets).
We took the train back to Nice, grabbed dinner and stopped at the grocery store to stock up on food for tomorrow's train rides. We also ran into a UW Madison student and her boyfriend, which was random. They helped us find our way to the grocery store, which was nice.
We finally returned to our hotel at about ten, only to find that the laundry facilities were closed for the night. So with that, we packed up what we could and went to bed (after watching some cricket highlights and the Iranian election results, of course).
PS - One last thing about Nice, there's dog poop everywhere. We usually walk with a "scout" in front to warn the rest of any upcoming sidewalk mines.
In addition to expensive cars, it had a great public beach, with pebbles. Although we were initially skeptical after the rock beach at Nice, the pebble beach was awesome. It didn't hurt your feet (imagine the inside of a bean bag chair) and, unlike sand, it didn't stick to or get on everything. It was our favorite beach so far, we figure it has to do with the rich people (even if they don't use the public part).
Our time in Monaco didn't include much other than the beach and beach restaurants. However, the walk to the beach from the train station and back was scenic, and we did catch allusions to the big Grand Prix race they have (although it was hard to imagine race cars on those narrow, curvy, and hilly streets).
We took the train back to Nice, grabbed dinner and stopped at the grocery store to stock up on food for tomorrow's train rides. We also ran into a UW Madison student and her boyfriend, which was random. They helped us find our way to the grocery store, which was nice.
We finally returned to our hotel at about ten, only to find that the laundry facilities were closed for the night. So with that, we packed up what we could and went to bed (after watching some cricket highlights and the Iranian election results, of course).
PS - One last thing about Nice, there's dog poop everywhere. We usually walk with a "scout" in front to warn the rest of any upcoming sidewalk mines.
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Delay
We made it to Cinque Terre and it is great! The problem: they don't have WiFi, so there will be a delay of a few days before we can post again.
Caio!
Friday, June 12, 2009
Day 16: Nice & Cannes, France (a.k.a. "Yes we Cannes" - taken from a t-shirt)
Our morning routine didn't change much with Brooke's parents in the mix; we started the day with cafe and croissants. After breakfast, we took a 20 minute train ride to Cannes with no plan for what to do on arrival.
Having no plan has its ups and downs, and our afternoon in Cannes had a few examples of both. Walking without much of a plan towards and then along the beach until we got hot and tired, then another half hour trying to find a place to stop for a drink. The up parts are getting the drink and the time after until you get too hot/tired. The down parts are the last half hour looking for a place to stop.
Cannes had more than walking and the occasional drink, it also has beaches with sand! We took about an hour to catch some rays and jump in the surprisingly cold Mediterranean until it was just too hot (it was 90 today) and we needed some food.
After our late lunch, we walked around and cooked on the pavement. Towards the end, we were darting into shops just for the A/C (including the fancy ones with $85 T-shirts). We were particularly excited about finding the grocery store with a freezer section. We also happened upon a everything's a dollar store (which here is everything's a 1.90 euro store). A half hour later we had flip flops, shirts, and enough A/C to make it to the train station.
We went back to the same area in Nice as yesterday for dinner, which is a strip of restaurant after restaurant. It had finally cooled down outside, and it was easy to relax. On the way home we accidentally found a pedestrian walkway with street artists and musicians, which was a good cap on the day.
When we got back, we watched our 20 minutes of CNN International news, and hit the sack.
Tomorrow it's on to Monaco.
Having no plan has its ups and downs, and our afternoon in Cannes had a few examples of both. Walking without much of a plan towards and then along the beach until we got hot and tired, then another half hour trying to find a place to stop for a drink. The up parts are getting the drink and the time after until you get too hot/tired. The down parts are the last half hour looking for a place to stop.
Cannes had more than walking and the occasional drink, it also has beaches with sand! We took about an hour to catch some rays and jump in the surprisingly cold Mediterranean until it was just too hot (it was 90 today) and we needed some food.
After our late lunch, we walked around and cooked on the pavement. Towards the end, we were darting into shops just for the A/C (including the fancy ones with $85 T-shirts). We were particularly excited about finding the grocery store with a freezer section. We also happened upon a everything's a dollar store (which here is everything's a 1.90 euro store). A half hour later we had flip flops, shirts, and enough A/C to make it to the train station.
We went back to the same area in Nice as yesterday for dinner, which is a strip of restaurant after restaurant. It had finally cooled down outside, and it was easy to relax. On the way home we accidentally found a pedestrian walkway with street artists and musicians, which was a good cap on the day.
When we got back, we watched our 20 minutes of CNN International news, and hit the sack.
Tomorrow it's on to Monaco.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Day 14: Avignon, France
We arrived at 10 am, dropped off our bags at the hotel (which we looked up before we left, unlike in Lyon), and walked through the town. Why Avignon you ask? Well, mostly because it's on the way to Nice where we're meeting Brooke's parents tomorrow. In addition, however, it's a preserved city within big, old city walls and was where nine different popes were based while there were some disagreements within the church back a few centuries.
The main attractions are the pope's palace (which is essentially a castle, not a church) and the St. Benezet Bridge (of which only half remains). Avignon was a perfect one-day stop. We arrived at 10:30, and by 1:30 we were basically done with site-seeing. We didn't pay the 20 Euro to tour the palace, because both our guidebooks said it was a waste. We also didn't go into the museum with religious art. We were content to just roam the streets, stopping in shops and for occasional drinks or ice cream.
The city felt a little like Lyon in that there are old narrow roads and lots of restaurants, but its more touristy, despite only a fourth of the population at about 90,000 people.
That's it for today.
The main attractions are the pope's palace (which is essentially a castle, not a church) and the St. Benezet Bridge (of which only half remains). Avignon was a perfect one-day stop. We arrived at 10:30, and by 1:30 we were basically done with site-seeing. We didn't pay the 20 Euro to tour the palace, because both our guidebooks said it was a waste. We also didn't go into the museum with religious art. We were content to just roam the streets, stopping in shops and for occasional drinks or ice cream.
The city felt a little like Lyon in that there are old narrow roads and lots of restaurants, but its more touristy, despite only a fourth of the population at about 90,000 people.
That's it for today.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Week Two Top 5
There was a lot to choose from this week, but here's what we went with:
1) D-Day adventure (In addition to everything we posted, we forgot to mention how nice the French were to Americans (particularly vets) in Normandy. Restaurants had signs "Welcome Liberators!" and the people came out of their shops to wave at the buses driving by on their way to the beaches, it gives you goosebumps.)
2) Effiel tower (from the ground at Tracadero, in the elevator with the WWII vet, and on top)
3) The grilled cheese bagguettes in the Latin Quarter (Paris), seriously.
4) In Lyon, drinking a 2 euro beer out of a plastic cup on the steps of St. John's Cathedral bought from a church festival with a medieval theme, watching the locals toss each other in the fountain and play soccer.
5) Ice cream in a Glasgow park with celebrating University students.
Runners-up (there was a lot to choose from): Glasgow cathedral and cemetary, Avignon as a whole, Paris' Church on the Hill, and Paris' Arc de Triomphe.
1) D-Day adventure (In addition to everything we posted, we forgot to mention how nice the French were to Americans (particularly vets) in Normandy. Restaurants had signs "Welcome Liberators!" and the people came out of their shops to wave at the buses driving by on their way to the beaches, it gives you goosebumps.)
2) Effiel tower (from the ground at Tracadero, in the elevator with the WWII vet, and on top)
3) The grilled cheese bagguettes in the Latin Quarter (Paris), seriously.
4) In Lyon, drinking a 2 euro beer out of a plastic cup on the steps of St. John's Cathedral bought from a church festival with a medieval theme, watching the locals toss each other in the fountain and play soccer.
5) Ice cream in a Glasgow park with celebrating University students.
Runners-up (there was a lot to choose from): Glasgow cathedral and cemetary, Avignon as a whole, Paris' Church on the Hill, and Paris' Arc de Triomphe.
Pope's Palace
Happy Birthday from Avignon
Monday, June 8, 2009
Day 13: Lyon, France
Today was like a day off from our vacation. Except for (yet another) ridiculous morning climb to a hill top church and some roman-built theaters, we didn't do any tourist-y stuff today. We walked around town shopping and stopping for drinks and food, and that was about it.
We went to some supposedly American restaurant for a late dinner and I ordered two tacos (I know, I'm in France, and in a part of France known for their food). What was funny was their salsa, which was just ketchup.
Some final points on Lyon: 1) everywhere we looked, people were making out, lots of PDA; 2) all the menus had tripe, tripe sausage, and carpaccio (raw beef), and we didn't try any of it; and 3) lots of skate boarding and break dancing on street corners.
Well that's it. This is our day off, after all, and tomorrow is going to be busy because we're traveling to Avignon and we only have one day there (then we meet Brooke's parents for the beaches in Nice!).
We went to some supposedly American restaurant for a late dinner and I ordered two tacos (I know, I'm in France, and in a part of France known for their food). What was funny was their salsa, which was just ketchup.
Some final points on Lyon: 1) everywhere we looked, people were making out, lots of PDA; 2) all the menus had tripe, tripe sausage, and carpaccio (raw beef), and we didn't try any of it; and 3) lots of skate boarding and break dancing on street corners.
Well that's it. This is our day off, after all, and tomorrow is going to be busy because we're traveling to Avignon and we only have one day there (then we meet Brooke's parents for the beaches in Nice!).
Day 12: Lyon, France
Today's post should be short.
We woke up in Paris, took a train to get one last grilled cheese baguette in the latin quarter, and on to Lyon. We got an important lesson on the French TGV train, you need a reservation despite having a Eurail Pass. As we were riding, the train staff asked us for our reserved tickets, our passes wouldn't cut it. When we couldn't produce a reservation, they asked us for 245 Euros (that's about $400). Our flabergasted faces and pleas for another way convinced the train employee that we unintentionally failed to make the 15 Euro reservation at the station. He gave us a break, and charged us 40 Euro, we were relieved.
Once we were in Lyon, we found our hotel (an hour and a half adventure because we forgot to look it up before we left Paris), and then went out to relax with some drinks and food. We were surprised to find a lot of people drinking beer. We thought we'd join in, and we did a little bar hop intermixed with ice cream and paninis. It was a relaxing day, in contrast to yesterday.
PS - the beers we had included two Abbeys (Grimbergen and Affligem), a Meteor (similar to a Stella), and a Wilfort Kronenburg dark.
We woke up in Paris, took a train to get one last grilled cheese baguette in the latin quarter, and on to Lyon. We got an important lesson on the French TGV train, you need a reservation despite having a Eurail Pass. As we were riding, the train staff asked us for our reserved tickets, our passes wouldn't cut it. When we couldn't produce a reservation, they asked us for 245 Euros (that's about $400). Our flabergasted faces and pleas for another way convinced the train employee that we unintentionally failed to make the 15 Euro reservation at the station. He gave us a break, and charged us 40 Euro, we were relieved.
Once we were in Lyon, we found our hotel (an hour and a half adventure because we forgot to look it up before we left Paris), and then went out to relax with some drinks and food. We were surprised to find a lot of people drinking beer. We thought we'd join in, and we did a little bar hop intermixed with ice cream and paninis. It was a relaxing day, in contrast to yesterday.
PS - the beers we had included two Abbeys (Grimbergen and Affligem), a Meteor (similar to a Stella), and a Wilfort Kronenburg dark.
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Beer & wine
For my Dad.
We've gotten to try a few beers and wines on the trip so far. This post will be a recap.
In Ireland (Northern and the Republic) I had a few stouts. Obviously, the first was a Guiness, and it was delicious. I also had a Murphy's and one I can't remember, but I know I've had it in the US. We also had a few Harp and Smithwicks, made by the same people that make Guiness.
In the UK a lot of people seemed to drink ciders (pear and apple). A popular brand is Magners. We tried a few, but they weren't really our thing.
As for other beers, we had some Tennets (made in Scotland, a good Lager) and some Stella Artois (a good go-to beer when you can't find a menu or see the taps).
In Scotland I tried a Belhaven's Best, which was good. It was kind of like a Boddington's (light in color, but more full/thicker like a Guiness).
We also tried a local Scotland IPA (can't remember the name), which was good, but not very hoppy at all.
One last drink in Scotland was, of course, a scotch. It was hot the whole time, so scotch never sounded appetizing, but i got one the last night anyway. I had a Glenfidich 12 year and it was good, and cheap. It was about 6 US dollars at the bar, where a beer was $4, not bad.
In France it's been mostly about the wine, but the first night we randomly found a local brew pub called "The Frog" (it is a Parisian chain that clearly catered to Brits). You can probably google it. Brooke had a pint of Ginger Twist (very ginger-y and citrus-y). I had a dark beer that had a very smokey flavor, similar to a Wisconsin beer I had right before leaving.
Wine
So far in france, we have stuck to either the red house wine or the cheapest Bordeaux red wine. We figure we don't have the taste buds to really tell the difference, and we can pronounce "Bordeaux."
That's about it so far, I don't see our drink choices changing much until Italy early next week when we get to Cinque Terra. I believe they're known for their sweet, white dessert wine.
We've gotten to try a few beers and wines on the trip so far. This post will be a recap.
In Ireland (Northern and the Republic) I had a few stouts. Obviously, the first was a Guiness, and it was delicious. I also had a Murphy's and one I can't remember, but I know I've had it in the US. We also had a few Harp and Smithwicks, made by the same people that make Guiness.
In the UK a lot of people seemed to drink ciders (pear and apple). A popular brand is Magners. We tried a few, but they weren't really our thing.
As for other beers, we had some Tennets (made in Scotland, a good Lager) and some Stella Artois (a good go-to beer when you can't find a menu or see the taps).
In Scotland I tried a Belhaven's Best, which was good. It was kind of like a Boddington's (light in color, but more full/thicker like a Guiness).
We also tried a local Scotland IPA (can't remember the name), which was good, but not very hoppy at all.
One last drink in Scotland was, of course, a scotch. It was hot the whole time, so scotch never sounded appetizing, but i got one the last night anyway. I had a Glenfidich 12 year and it was good, and cheap. It was about 6 US dollars at the bar, where a beer was $4, not bad.
In France it's been mostly about the wine, but the first night we randomly found a local brew pub called "The Frog" (it is a Parisian chain that clearly catered to Brits). You can probably google it. Brooke had a pint of Ginger Twist (very ginger-y and citrus-y). I had a dark beer that had a very smokey flavor, similar to a Wisconsin beer I had right before leaving.
Wine
So far in france, we have stuck to either the red house wine or the cheapest Bordeaux red wine. We figure we don't have the taste buds to really tell the difference, and we can pronounce "Bordeaux."
That's about it so far, I don't see our drink choices changing much until Italy early next week when we get to Cinque Terra. I believe they're known for their sweet, white dessert wine.
Day 11: D-Day
We figured today would be a bit nuts.
Today was our D-day adventure. We were to leave Paris at 7:45 am, pass through Caen, arrive in Bayeux, and find a bus to Omaha beach and Point du hoc. Then, because we couldn't find a hotel anywhere nearby, we were going to catch a 5 pm train to Mount St. Michel 2 hours away.
Here what actually happened. We woke up at 6 am and caught our morning train and when we arrived in Bayeux at 10 am we were told there were no buses or any way to the beaches today without a 65th anniversary ticket. We remembered seeing signs to the celebration on our transfer at Caen, so we decided to take the next train back. We asked anyone we could find about getting to the beaches without a ticket and met the same denying respone in Caen. So at noon, dejected and feeling we wasted a day, we went to a nearby cafe (as the next train to Mt. St. Michel was hours away).
As we drank our coffee, we noticed some more buses pulling up and thought we'd give it one more try. A French bus driver suggested we look for an American embassy woman. We saw a lady in white running around seeming to have some authority. After several attempts to interrupt her, we finally got her attention and asked for tickets. She quickly asked if we were American (us - 'yes') and what state we were from (us - 'Wisconsin'). She responded, "Wisconsin's an ok state, here's two tickets, you can get on the last bus with me but we have to run to drop off your bags. Follow me!"
She took off running in heels and got us to a baggage room, asked our name and scribbled a bag tag for us, then hurried us back to the last bus. We boarded with her, with nothing but what we had in our pockets, and two invitations. Then we embarked on a 45 minute police escorted bus ride.
We made it to the memorial cemetery by Omaha beach for a ceremony with the French president, Canadian and British prime ministers, and Obama, and about 7000 invitees. We had a few minutes to look around the cemetery and out to Omaha beach, but were directed back to our seats for a long 4 hour ceremony.
It was boring at parts (particularly those in French), but it was cool to see the presidents land in their helicopters, Obama's speech, the 21 gun salute (BIG guns), and 3 flyovers (4 US, 4 UK, and 4 French jets). All the while, we were getting colder, wetter, and hungrier (we left in such a rush that we never ate, so by 7 pm all we had that day were 2 breakfast bars, water, and some crackers).
The one true negative to our decision to take the tickets is that we missed the last train to Mount St. Michel, where we had already booked and paid for a hotel. We figured our best bet was to take a train back to Paris. We arrived at 9:30 pm (still light out) and wandered around the train station's neighborhood looking for wifi or a hotel. Within a half hour, we found hotel that was suitable, we dropped off our bags, and went to the nearest restaurant and ate the best darn lasagna ever (it wasn't that great, but we were very hungry).
So that was our D-day adventure, we never thought we'd be in a police-escorted bus with embassy folks or see presidents/prime ministers on this trip. Now, back in Paris, we'll get some rest and hope for a more easy going day in Lyon tomorrow.
Today was our D-day adventure. We were to leave Paris at 7:45 am, pass through Caen, arrive in Bayeux, and find a bus to Omaha beach and Point du hoc. Then, because we couldn't find a hotel anywhere nearby, we were going to catch a 5 pm train to Mount St. Michel 2 hours away.
Here what actually happened. We woke up at 6 am and caught our morning train and when we arrived in Bayeux at 10 am we were told there were no buses or any way to the beaches today without a 65th anniversary ticket. We remembered seeing signs to the celebration on our transfer at Caen, so we decided to take the next train back. We asked anyone we could find about getting to the beaches without a ticket and met the same denying respone in Caen. So at noon, dejected and feeling we wasted a day, we went to a nearby cafe (as the next train to Mt. St. Michel was hours away).
As we drank our coffee, we noticed some more buses pulling up and thought we'd give it one more try. A French bus driver suggested we look for an American embassy woman. We saw a lady in white running around seeming to have some authority. After several attempts to interrupt her, we finally got her attention and asked for tickets. She quickly asked if we were American (us - 'yes') and what state we were from (us - 'Wisconsin'). She responded, "Wisconsin's an ok state, here's two tickets, you can get on the last bus with me but we have to run to drop off your bags. Follow me!"
She took off running in heels and got us to a baggage room, asked our name and scribbled a bag tag for us, then hurried us back to the last bus. We boarded with her, with nothing but what we had in our pockets, and two invitations. Then we embarked on a 45 minute police escorted bus ride.
We made it to the memorial cemetery by Omaha beach for a ceremony with the French president, Canadian and British prime ministers, and Obama, and about 7000 invitees. We had a few minutes to look around the cemetery and out to Omaha beach, but were directed back to our seats for a long 4 hour ceremony.
It was boring at parts (particularly those in French), but it was cool to see the presidents land in their helicopters, Obama's speech, the 21 gun salute (BIG guns), and 3 flyovers (4 US, 4 UK, and 4 French jets). All the while, we were getting colder, wetter, and hungrier (we left in such a rush that we never ate, so by 7 pm all we had that day were 2 breakfast bars, water, and some crackers).
The one true negative to our decision to take the tickets is that we missed the last train to Mount St. Michel, where we had already booked and paid for a hotel. We figured our best bet was to take a train back to Paris. We arrived at 9:30 pm (still light out) and wandered around the train station's neighborhood looking for wifi or a hotel. Within a half hour, we found hotel that was suitable, we dropped off our bags, and went to the nearest restaurant and ate the best darn lasagna ever (it wasn't that great, but we were very hungry).
So that was our D-day adventure, we never thought we'd be in a police-escorted bus with embassy folks or see presidents/prime ministers on this trip. Now, back in Paris, we'll get some rest and hope for a more easy going day in Lyon tomorrow.
Saturday, June 6, 2009
D-day
Day 11: Paris
Today is our last full day in Paris so we woke up early to try to fit in a few last sites. We started at the cemetery where Jim Morrison and Oscar Wilde were buried (we saw his birth place in Dublin, so why not?). The cemetery was huge, with creepy graves and winding paths. Every square inch seemed to be filled, with slight exceptions for central monuments. We found Jim's grave, but without a map, we never saw Oscar's. Ah well, we got the gist after a half hour walking around.
After the morbid part, we went to the church on the hill. After climbing the hill to enter the big white church, we climbed another 300 steps to have a view of Paris from the top of its tower. As seems to be the theme in Europe, we were exhausted, but the view was great.
After the church, we walked down to what appeared to be an Italian intersection with a restaurant on all corners. Italian food has been a great default choice for the times where we don't want to experiment, we're just hungry and want some pizza, lasagna, etc., that can't be screwed up (by them or by our ordering ability).
We chose one of the restaurants and, unfortunately, the waiter forgot about our order. We waited 45 minutes before asking because, we thought, maybe that's how it is here. I wouldn't mention delayed food except that it caused us to arrive at the Catacombs late. We could have waited in line, but there was a risk we'd wait for an hour only to have the doors shut right before entry. Instead, we walked down the street to get a cappuccino and some wine. Kevin got a giant glass of wine because he has yet to figure out how many centi-liters is appropriate for a single serving/glass of wine.
So Brooke's hopped up on caffeine and Kevin's tipsy, and we head back to the Latin Quarter for a snack. There we split the most amazing grilled cheese ever (more of a grilled baguette with mozzarella and tomatoes). We ate as we walked away and ten minutes later we headed back to get another one. Brooke says it was like the chicken salad sandwiches the Louvre used to have.
We headed back to our place early so we could begin the saga of the laundry. On the subway ride home we met an Appleton native who wanted to talk Packers, pretty random. But that's why I like to where my Milwaukee shirt.
To find a place to do laundry, we had to stop in a dry cleaner shop and ask directions (this was the approach suggested by our hotel staff). The dry cleaner did not speak English. Remember, all we know how to say in French is hi, bye, thank you, and do you speak English (and some assorted foods). But to my surprise, we were able to get the point accross somehow, and he gave directions by pointing off to the right (although he said 'left').
We got to the laundremat and, go figure, everything is in French. We took a few pictures of the signs and walked back to our hotel to get our clothes and ask the staff to interpret the signs. From there on, the laundry was smooth sailing (we even got to grab a glass of wine while it was in process at a nearby cafe). We'll have clean clothes for at least another ten days
Friday, June 5, 2009
Relaxing in Paris
Day 10: Paris
Brooke has always liked Paris. I'm adjusting after my bumpy intro yesterday, and starting to really like it myself. We're slightly more confident in our bonjours and mercis, and our transit around the city is much smoother.
We slept in a little (we lost an hour from Scotland, which didn't help), so our breakfast was a cappuccino and croissant to go from a corner store. It's nice to order things we already know how to pronounce.
We held onto the breakfast and ate it in a park near the Louvre, our first stop of the day. We spent a few hours wandering, and wondering what the significance was for all the works we were seeing. All in all, art really isn't our thing, but some of the paintings are cool regardless. I (Kevin) liked one of lady liberty leading French revolutionists. Brooke liked the entire Greek sculptures section. Kevin, not Brooke, was underwhelmed by the Mona Lisa and we both were by the chicken salad sandwiches, which have changed; thus, they did not live up to the hype of Brooke's mom.
After the Louvre, we saw the Arc de Triomphe (see pic) and then Notre Dame (where some service was taking place in French). We grabbed dinner in the Latin Quarter, followed by an ice cream dessert up the street, before heading back for the night.
We got into a new, odor-free hotel room, bought a bottle of wine from the corner store, opened the French windows and relaxed for the rest of the night (putting off laundry one more day...).
One last thing. The sun never seems to set over here. Since day one, the sunset doesn't occur (or at least it is bright) until after 10 every night. It is deceiving and makes it hard to turn in early at night, but it's nice for site-seeing.
We slept in a little (we lost an hour from Scotland, which didn't help), so our breakfast was a cappuccino and croissant to go from a corner store. It's nice to order things we already know how to pronounce.
We held onto the breakfast and ate it in a park near the Louvre, our first stop of the day. We spent a few hours wandering, and wondering what the significance was for all the works we were seeing. All in all, art really isn't our thing, but some of the paintings are cool regardless. I (Kevin) liked one of lady liberty leading French revolutionists. Brooke liked the entire Greek sculptures section. Kevin, not Brooke, was underwhelmed by the Mona Lisa and we both were by the chicken salad sandwiches, which have changed; thus, they did not live up to the hype of Brooke's mom.
After the Louvre, we saw the Arc de Triomphe (see pic) and then Notre Dame (where some service was taking place in French). We grabbed dinner in the Latin Quarter, followed by an ice cream dessert up the street, before heading back for the night.
We got into a new, odor-free hotel room, bought a bottle of wine from the corner store, opened the French windows and relaxed for the rest of the night (putting off laundry one more day...).
One last thing. The sun never seems to set over here. Since day one, the sunset doesn't occur (or at least it is bright) until after 10 every night. It is deceiving and makes it hard to turn in early at night, but it's nice for site-seeing.
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Day 9: Paris
Bonjour from Paris! Man, this french language is tough. I (this is Kevin) have had the deer in the headlights look at least a half dozen times today when someone has spoken French at me. I'm wishing I had just a basic french course so I could pronounce the words I'm reading (e.g., on a menu). Ah well, we've managed to order food (pointing at the menu works, although I don't like to do it) and navigate the metro.
So not to be all gloomy, but I'll get the complaining out in the beginning. First, it took 3 hours to get to our hotel even though the airport is about 10 miles away. We found out on landing that the airport bus drivers are on strike. Then, 12 of 15 ticket booths at the metro were out of order, and the other 3 booth's credit card machine's were broken. Add in our inexperience, and it was heck of a travel day.
Our hotel is below our (pretty low) standards, smelly bathroom, overall dirtiness, etc. At least the staff has been very friendly, and more importantly, able to speak English.
Alright, if you made it through that rant, cool. Just like our day, things will eventually turn positive. Our first stop (after some wine, of course) was the Tracedero area, which opens up into an amazing view of the Eiffel Tower (see pic below). We got closer to check it out, and decided the queue was too long, so we took a Seine River boat tour. It was just what we needed. We could sit back and get acquainted with the city, and not have to expel much effort.
After being recharged a bit, we walked back and got in the much shorter line at Eiffel Tower. A half hour later we were on a (what Kevin would describe as 'freaky') 300 meter elevator ride to the top. It was worth the wait. Even though it's Brooke's 3rd trip up, we both enjoyed the breezy views of the whole city. We met a few Americans on the elevator (it's a long ride) including a WWII vet here for the D-Day anniversary. He was a paratrouper in the 82nd airborne. He made 285 drops, 3 in combat (Sicily, D-Day, and didn't catch the last one), with no broken bones. He was, as he put it, "lucky to be alive."
After coming down, we killed the next few hours eating in Tracedero and waiting for the Eiffel Tower to be lit up. While we were waiting, there were probably 50 sidewalk venders walking around trying to illegally sell mini-towers and other trinkets. What was entertaining was seeing a cop walk into the square and watching the vendors run like underage college kids at a party being busted.
That was pretty much it for day one. We didn't cross too much off our list, but given our late start at about 3:30 pm, not too bad.
So not to be all gloomy, but I'll get the complaining out in the beginning. First, it took 3 hours to get to our hotel even though the airport is about 10 miles away. We found out on landing that the airport bus drivers are on strike. Then, 12 of 15 ticket booths at the metro were out of order, and the other 3 booth's credit card machine's were broken. Add in our inexperience, and it was heck of a travel day.
Our hotel is below our (pretty low) standards, smelly bathroom, overall dirtiness, etc. At least the staff has been very friendly, and more importantly, able to speak English.
Alright, if you made it through that rant, cool. Just like our day, things will eventually turn positive. Our first stop (after some wine, of course) was the Tracedero area, which opens up into an amazing view of the Eiffel Tower (see pic below). We got closer to check it out, and decided the queue was too long, so we took a Seine River boat tour. It was just what we needed. We could sit back and get acquainted with the city, and not have to expel much effort.
After being recharged a bit, we walked back and got in the much shorter line at Eiffel Tower. A half hour later we were on a (what Kevin would describe as 'freaky') 300 meter elevator ride to the top. It was worth the wait. Even though it's Brooke's 3rd trip up, we both enjoyed the breezy views of the whole city. We met a few Americans on the elevator (it's a long ride) including a WWII vet here for the D-Day anniversary. He was a paratrouper in the 82nd airborne. He made 285 drops, 3 in combat (Sicily, D-Day, and didn't catch the last one), with no broken bones. He was, as he put it, "lucky to be alive."
After coming down, we killed the next few hours eating in Tracedero and waiting for the Eiffel Tower to be lit up. While we were waiting, there were probably 50 sidewalk venders walking around trying to illegally sell mini-towers and other trinkets. What was entertaining was seeing a cop walk into the square and watching the vendors run like underage college kids at a party being busted.
That was pretty much it for day one. We didn't cross too much off our list, but given our late start at about 3:30 pm, not too bad.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Day 8: Glasgow, Scotland
Glasgow is only an hour train ride from Edinburgh. We didn't have high expectations, as we met people both in the US and in Edinburgh telling us Glasgow wasn't that great. It had a cheap flight to the main Paris airport, however, so we went anyway.
We started by heading to St. George's Square (recommended by our hotel and all the guide books), and were not that impressed. It has about 15 statues around it and a big statue of Walter Scott again (Scotland apparently loves their writers) on top of a 100 foot pedestal in the square center, and some big building at the end. It felt a little dirty and at that point, we were realizing Glascow is very city-like, it was missing the natural beauty of Edinburgh. We kept an open mind and were rewarded at the cathedral. It was giant, impressive, a little musty, and a little dirty, but it felt more authentically old than other churches we've been seeing. It seemed like it hadn't undergone tons of rehab, and we liked that.
We noticed that in all the UK cathedrals, there are lots of war memorials and military people buried. Kind of weird if you ask me, but maybe it has something to do with the state involvment in the church (I'm admittedly out my expertise here).
Behind the cathedral was a creepy cemetary, keeping in step with the feeling of the cathedral. But after a climb to the top (Glasgow hasn't provided the reprieve from Edinburgh's hills we had hoped for) it offered pretty cool views of the city. At the top, we realized we were in need of a break, whether beer, coffee, snack, whatever, but because we only had the 1 day in town, we decided to soldier on to Glasgow University.
Like in other cities, it's always an adventure figuring out the local public transportation. After getting 3 different suggestions on how to reach the university from 3 different people, we weren't exactly confident when stepping on the bus. This is making us a little nervous for the remainder of our trip in non-'English' speaking countries, but we figured them out before, and we will again (albeit probably not very smoothly). We managed to work the bus system and make it to the school, which was cool, but the real fun part was walking through the park nearby and running into a few hundred students letting off steam after final exams. We got some ice cream cones and just soaked it up. It was funny to watch Scottish people toss around an American football, I'll give them an A for effort, but their technique grade would be a bit lower.
I guess that's it for the UK, on to Paris!
We started by heading to St. George's Square (recommended by our hotel and all the guide books), and were not that impressed. It has about 15 statues around it and a big statue of Walter Scott again (Scotland apparently loves their writers) on top of a 100 foot pedestal in the square center, and some big building at the end. It felt a little dirty and at that point, we were realizing Glascow is very city-like, it was missing the natural beauty of Edinburgh. We kept an open mind and were rewarded at the cathedral. It was giant, impressive, a little musty, and a little dirty, but it felt more authentically old than other churches we've been seeing. It seemed like it hadn't undergone tons of rehab, and we liked that.
We noticed that in all the UK cathedrals, there are lots of war memorials and military people buried. Kind of weird if you ask me, but maybe it has something to do with the state involvment in the church (I'm admittedly out my expertise here).
Behind the cathedral was a creepy cemetary, keeping in step with the feeling of the cathedral. But after a climb to the top (Glasgow hasn't provided the reprieve from Edinburgh's hills we had hoped for) it offered pretty cool views of the city. At the top, we realized we were in need of a break, whether beer, coffee, snack, whatever, but because we only had the 1 day in town, we decided to soldier on to Glasgow University.
Like in other cities, it's always an adventure figuring out the local public transportation. After getting 3 different suggestions on how to reach the university from 3 different people, we weren't exactly confident when stepping on the bus. This is making us a little nervous for the remainder of our trip in non-'English' speaking countries, but we figured them out before, and we will again (albeit probably not very smoothly). We managed to work the bus system and make it to the school, which was cool, but the real fun part was walking through the park nearby and running into a few hundred students letting off steam after final exams. We got some ice cream cones and just soaked it up. It was funny to watch Scottish people toss around an American football, I'll give them an A for effort, but their technique grade would be a bit lower.
I guess that's it for the UK, on to Paris!
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Top 5
It's been one week since our trip began, and we thought we'd mark the occasion with a list of the top five places we visited (who doesn't like a list?). So here goes:
1) Edinburgh Castle
2) Black Taxi Political/Mural Tour in Belfast
3) Kilmainham Gaol (Irish Prison)
4) King Arthus Seat (cliff in Edinburgh)
5) Walter Scott Monument in Edinnburgh (we'll never forget the 287 narrow, spiralling stairs)
Runners-up: all the pubs and soccer games along the way
1) Edinburgh Castle
2) Black Taxi Political/Mural Tour in Belfast
3) Kilmainham Gaol (Irish Prison)
4) King Arthus Seat (cliff in Edinburgh)
5) Walter Scott Monument in Edinnburgh (we'll never forget the 287 narrow, spiralling stairs)
Runners-up: all the pubs and soccer games along the way
Day 7: Edinburgh
Our second day in Edinburgh had more steep climbs, and more amazing views. There are basically 3 peaks here: one for the castle, one is King Arthur's Seat, and on the third is the unfinished monument. We did the first two yesterday, and today we went to the top of the unfinished monument (a bunch of columns in the shape of a U).
We also climbed the Walter Scott Monument (built for the Scottish author), which is positioned near the middle of the three peaks of Edinburgh. It was a ridiculously cramped spiral staircase of 287 stairs (there were 3 breaks during the climb), it's not for those that can't handle tight spaces or get dizzy easily. The views at the top, however, were worth the hike and the awkward squeezing-by of fellow climbers going the opposite direction on the stairs.
After all that climbing, we spent the rest of the day trying to walk level ground from pub to cafe to restaurant. We also stumbled upon 3 old cemeteries with huge grave markers and crypts that are open to the public. While we thought it was weird to sunbathe and each lunch on top of a grave, apparently the Scots don't feel the same.
So far, Edinburgh is our favorite town. We took about 250 pictures in 2 days, but we don't think they'll really show how cool the city is. Our legs are looking forward to a flatter city, we'll see if Glasgow delivers tomorrow.
We also climbed the Walter Scott Monument (built for the Scottish author), which is positioned near the middle of the three peaks of Edinburgh. It was a ridiculously cramped spiral staircase of 287 stairs (there were 3 breaks during the climb), it's not for those that can't handle tight spaces or get dizzy easily. The views at the top, however, were worth the hike and the awkward squeezing-by of fellow climbers going the opposite direction on the stairs.
After all that climbing, we spent the rest of the day trying to walk level ground from pub to cafe to restaurant. We also stumbled upon 3 old cemeteries with huge grave markers and crypts that are open to the public. While we thought it was weird to sunbathe and each lunch on top of a grave, apparently the Scots don't feel the same.
So far, Edinburgh is our favorite town. We took about 250 pictures in 2 days, but we don't think they'll really show how cool the city is. Our legs are looking forward to a flatter city, we'll see if Glasgow delivers tomorrow.
Day 6: Edinburgh, Scotland
Back to the UK today after a quick 45 minute flight. Getting to our hotel was easy, thanks to a helpful airport information lady. She was excited to learn we were from Wisconsin ('you make cheese!', she says), but was very disappointed neither of us could tell her the state flower (she said she'd google it later).
Today was a day pictures and this blog won't do justice for what we saw. Our first stop was Edinburgh Castle set on top of a cliff on one end of the Royal Mile, and right in the middle of the city. We spent 2 hours roaming around finding new views of the city, old prison cells (some that held americans from the revolutionary war), and the scottish crown jewels (along side was the coronation stone, which is a stone scottish kings were sworn in on, but dates back so long even they don't know why they do it).
After the castle, we wandered down the Royal Mile towards Scottish Parliment and the Holyroad House (where the royal family stays when visiting). When we got there, we saw people climbing a huge cliff (called King Arthur's Seat). We thought we'd give it a go, and it was a great decision. It took about an hour to get to the peak of our path (we chickened out and didn't take the path to the absolute top) but it was amazing anyway.
After the two climbs, we were spent. We grabbed a beer, some food, and hit the sack in our less-than-nice hotel. So far, nice people and great sites, can't wait for tomorrow.
Today was a day pictures and this blog won't do justice for what we saw. Our first stop was Edinburgh Castle set on top of a cliff on one end of the Royal Mile, and right in the middle of the city. We spent 2 hours roaming around finding new views of the city, old prison cells (some that held americans from the revolutionary war), and the scottish crown jewels (along side was the coronation stone, which is a stone scottish kings were sworn in on, but dates back so long even they don't know why they do it).
After the castle, we wandered down the Royal Mile towards Scottish Parliment and the Holyroad House (where the royal family stays when visiting). When we got there, we saw people climbing a huge cliff (called King Arthur's Seat). We thought we'd give it a go, and it was a great decision. It took about an hour to get to the peak of our path (we chickened out and didn't take the path to the absolute top) but it was amazing anyway.
After the two climbs, we were spent. We grabbed a beer, some food, and hit the sack in our less-than-nice hotel. So far, nice people and great sites, can't wait for tomorrow.
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