Well, this was our last day in Munich and Europe as a whole. We had planned to rent a car and drive down to see one of the castles in Bavaria, but Jason hadn't really gotten to do everything he wanted the day before so we decided to just stay in Munich instead. We slept in and then went and grabbed some breakfast before heading on the subway back to the BMW factory. Jason had wanted to buy something the day before, but the store closed before our tour was over. So he went back and got a cool BMW hat, then we headed to the English Gardens.
Now, I am not sure why they call them this. Jason said he thinks they are modeled after the types of parks they have in the UK? Not really sure though. The gardens are basically a big park with a beer garden in the middle with lots of yummy food. They also had a German band playing and the weather was heaven so it was really nice and relaxing. We ate some more delicious German food and beer and then walked through the parks for a bit and finally just laid on the grass and took a nap.
After that we went to the Haufbrau house. This is the big hall that every tourist that has ever gone to Munich goes to, but we are no different so we head that way. We had some refreshments, including more beer (I swear we do not drink this much on a regular basis for anyone who is concerned), and some seriously delicious apple strudel. Then we headed back to the hotel. We had to pack since we were leaving the next day (sniff sniff).
The Munich airport is about the most secure place I have ever been. We had to show our passports like five times. First to get our bags checked and get tickets. Second at the security station where we also sent our bags through the xray. Third to some customs guy who let you in to the International gate section. Fourth another customs type person who gave you the forms you needed to fill out and fifth at the SECOND xray station where we sent our bags through. It is seriously secure. I felt safe.
On the flight home I watched The Golden Compass and 27 Dresses, neither of which I would highly recommend, and we caught a connecting flight in Chicago and got back in around 5:30 Saturday night. My friends Tamra and Michael were kind enough to pick us up and take us home, but not before a quick dinner at Chili's. I was CRAVing some chips and salsa. We slept so hard that night and Sunday we had a day of Mexican food, massages and Iron Man planned in case we got sad about being home.
The trip was seriously awesome overall, even with a few snags here and there. At first I was kind of ready to be home, but now I feel like I am already ready to go back. Oh well. It will be a long time before we take a trip like this again and I feel really lucky to have gotten to go in the first place. We don't have any trip plans in the future right now, which is honestly kind of unusual for us. Austin for ACL in September, but not sure that really counts since we aren't leaving the state. =) We will have to plan something for this summer!!
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Munich...the end of the trip
After leaving Venice we were on a train for a looong time. We had stocked up on snacks, but didn't have time for a real lunch before we left so by the time we got to Rosenheim (the stop where we had to get off the train to get a connection to Munich), we were STARVING. We have 20 minutes until our next train so I run in to the station to find something to eat. What do I find? Chicken schnitzel sandwiches. I love Germany. They were quite tasty and we ate them standing on the platform while waiting for the train. Then we wait. And wait some more. Turns out our first delayed train was in Germany, not Italy! (I know there was a strike one day, but that totally doesn't count). From what I had heard about Italy trains were dirty, unreliable, etc. I never found those things to be true. The trains were just as good as anywhere else I have been and they were always on time. But our train finally came and we finally got to Munich about an hour later. We had decided to make sure and have a nice hotel for the last city we were in so we stayed in the Le Meridian which was great. It was right across the street from the train station so that was nice, and we would have a king size bed! We pretty much checked in and konked out.
The next day we slept in, then got up and went to the Paulaner brewery, which is one of Jason's favorite beers. We show up to the brewery to find out that we are the only people on the tour. There was supposed to be another couple, but they didn't show up. So it was us and the tour guide, who was totally cool. This tour was by far the best value of our entire trip. For 8 Euro a person we got an hour and a half tour - one on one with the tour guide =) - a huge lunch of this stuff called leberkase that was delicious with German potato salad and huge pretzels. Then we got as much beer as we wanted. No joke. We sort of sloshed out of there around 3 or so and then went to the BMW factory for a tour of their plant.
Now Jason had pretty much suffered through Italy for me - that country is not made for his lengthy appendages - and had been awaiting this part of the trip for the last two weeks. Him at the BMW headquarters was like a kid in a candy store. They had all sorts of cars on display and a huge shop where you could buy all sorts of BMW paraphernalia. I was sort of tired so I found the cafe and ordered some espresso. I should have known better because we were no longer in Italy and it wasn't nearly as tasty. That's right, I have become a coffee snob. However, it if had been just as good I may have felt a little hoodwinked by Italy. Better that they keep the good stuff there I guess. Just one more reason to go back!
So the BMW factory tour was actually pretty awesome. We got to see basically from start to finish how they make these cars and it is honestly amazing. There are tons of robots that do all this crazy stuff and it astonishes me that they all know what to do. Being a computer programmer I am dorky and think about bugs in the software and what if they all went crazy and attacked the city of Munich. That is how smart they seemed.
After BMW we headed back toward the hotel and found this restaurant Jason knew of for dinner. We both got a version of schnitzel (basically because that was the only thing we understood on the menu) and they were both delicious. After that we headed to the hotel and went down to the spa to soak our tired feet in the hot tub, then it was off to bed before our last full day.
The next day we slept in, then got up and went to the Paulaner brewery, which is one of Jason's favorite beers. We show up to the brewery to find out that we are the only people on the tour. There was supposed to be another couple, but they didn't show up. So it was us and the tour guide, who was totally cool. This tour was by far the best value of our entire trip. For 8 Euro a person we got an hour and a half tour - one on one with the tour guide =) - a huge lunch of this stuff called leberkase that was delicious with German potato salad and huge pretzels. Then we got as much beer as we wanted. No joke. We sort of sloshed out of there around 3 or so and then went to the BMW factory for a tour of their plant.
Now Jason had pretty much suffered through Italy for me - that country is not made for his lengthy appendages - and had been awaiting this part of the trip for the last two weeks. Him at the BMW headquarters was like a kid in a candy store. They had all sorts of cars on display and a huge shop where you could buy all sorts of BMW paraphernalia. I was sort of tired so I found the cafe and ordered some espresso. I should have known better because we were no longer in Italy and it wasn't nearly as tasty. That's right, I have become a coffee snob. However, it if had been just as good I may have felt a little hoodwinked by Italy. Better that they keep the good stuff there I guess. Just one more reason to go back!
So the BMW factory tour was actually pretty awesome. We got to see basically from start to finish how they make these cars and it is honestly amazing. There are tons of robots that do all this crazy stuff and it astonishes me that they all know what to do. Being a computer programmer I am dorky and think about bugs in the software and what if they all went crazy and attacked the city of Munich. That is how smart they seemed.
After BMW we headed back toward the hotel and found this restaurant Jason knew of for dinner. We both got a version of schnitzel (basically because that was the only thing we understood on the menu) and they were both delicious. After that we headed to the hotel and went down to the spa to soak our tired feet in the hot tub, then it was off to bed before our last full day.
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Venice
So we had to wake up kind of early to catch the 7:30 train to Venice. We would be heading back to Milan and switching trains to get there. No major issues and we got to Venice around 11:30. Our hotel was right by the train station which was nice, and they said our room would be ready in 30 minutes if we wanted to leave our bags, grab a bite and come back. They promised they were giving us one of the best rooms with the nicest bathroom in the whole hotel so it was worth the wait. The staff was incredibly nice too. I think the further north we get in Italy, the nicer the people get. Not sure why.
So we just went and found a sandwich then came back. The guy got us our key and then asked which one of us worked for Travelocity. I said I did and he said if I had time later his boss wanted to talk to me about selling rooms on our website! I was wondering how they knew, but apparently I had emailed them from my work email at some point. So I am thinking THAT is why they were saving a great room for us, and they weren't lying! I think this was the biggest room and bathroom we had yet. My job has finally handed me some travel perks!! Yea! We saw a map of the rooms and ours was easily twice as big as the rest. Nice. =)
We hopped on a vaporetto (the taxi boats) and took the long route to St. Mark's Square. I had cut out this whole 'history of the canal' thing that pointed out things along the way so we got a little history of the canal as we went down. It is pretty crazy to get out and see St. Mark's Sqaure and the Doge's palace. I mean how many movies, commercials, etc are filmed here? You see it so much, to actually be there was pretty cool. Until you get close to the pigeons. I do not like pigeons, or blackbirds, or crowes. Most other birds are ok, but something about watching The Birds a thousand times as a child has turned me off to these. They are dirty and gross and they harass you for food. Ick. So I am skirting as far around them as possible, but kids love them and they are throwing bird feed around for them. I guess some got scattered near me and they sort of all dart my direction. I freeze and kind of freak out, feeling like Tippi Hedren and thinking I am about to get my eyes pecked out. I think Jason was laughing at me, but I just got out of the pigeon fest as fast as possible.
We walked around the square, went in to St. Mark's Basilica, and then just sort of shopped for a while until our appointment to see the Accademia of art. Shopping is good everywhere in Italy I find. There is no shortage of awesome purses, shoes, etc. Love it!
We saw the Accademia and it was pretty cool. Way better than the Uffizi I thought. They had a cool Titian that I liked as well as some Pietro Longhi's that were really cool. After that we went back to the hotel to drop off our packages, rest a bit, then we headed back down to the St. Mark's area for dinner. We just grabbed a couple sandwiches and a salad and then set out for what Rick Steve's dubbed, the best gelato in Venice. I HAD to have some of that right? I had a wonderful chocolate and Jason had a tiramisu that was good, but mine was better. =)
After that we just walked around a bit and then made our way back to St. Mark's after dark. They have several cafe's that have bands and so we listened to music, danced a little and finally headed back to our hotel.
The next day we had to be back at the Doge's palace by 10:45 for this Secret Itineraries tour that our friends Gaby and Jarrett had told us about. They went on their honeymoon and said it was cool. It definitely was neat. The guide takes you behind these secret doors that the public usually doesn't get to see. You get to go inside the cell that held Cassanova and they show you how he claims to have escaped from that jail. It was pretty cool. We had to leave right after that to catch our train to Munich, which is where we are now. We have two more full days and then we head back home. I can't believe it has gone by so fast!
Today we are going to the Paulaner brewery, then to the English gardens for beers and brats, then to the BMW factory for a tour, then to the Haufbrau house. Any guesses to who planned this day? =)
So we just went and found a sandwich then came back. The guy got us our key and then asked which one of us worked for Travelocity. I said I did and he said if I had time later his boss wanted to talk to me about selling rooms on our website! I was wondering how they knew, but apparently I had emailed them from my work email at some point. So I am thinking THAT is why they were saving a great room for us, and they weren't lying! I think this was the biggest room and bathroom we had yet. My job has finally handed me some travel perks!! Yea! We saw a map of the rooms and ours was easily twice as big as the rest. Nice. =)
We hopped on a vaporetto (the taxi boats) and took the long route to St. Mark's Square. I had cut out this whole 'history of the canal' thing that pointed out things along the way so we got a little history of the canal as we went down. It is pretty crazy to get out and see St. Mark's Sqaure and the Doge's palace. I mean how many movies, commercials, etc are filmed here? You see it so much, to actually be there was pretty cool. Until you get close to the pigeons. I do not like pigeons, or blackbirds, or crowes. Most other birds are ok, but something about watching The Birds a thousand times as a child has turned me off to these. They are dirty and gross and they harass you for food. Ick. So I am skirting as far around them as possible, but kids love them and they are throwing bird feed around for them. I guess some got scattered near me and they sort of all dart my direction. I freeze and kind of freak out, feeling like Tippi Hedren and thinking I am about to get my eyes pecked out. I think Jason was laughing at me, but I just got out of the pigeon fest as fast as possible.
We walked around the square, went in to St. Mark's Basilica, and then just sort of shopped for a while until our appointment to see the Accademia of art. Shopping is good everywhere in Italy I find. There is no shortage of awesome purses, shoes, etc. Love it!
We saw the Accademia and it was pretty cool. Way better than the Uffizi I thought. They had a cool Titian that I liked as well as some Pietro Longhi's that were really cool. After that we went back to the hotel to drop off our packages, rest a bit, then we headed back down to the St. Mark's area for dinner. We just grabbed a couple sandwiches and a salad and then set out for what Rick Steve's dubbed, the best gelato in Venice. I HAD to have some of that right? I had a wonderful chocolate and Jason had a tiramisu that was good, but mine was better. =)
After that we just walked around a bit and then made our way back to St. Mark's after dark. They have several cafe's that have bands and so we listened to music, danced a little and finally headed back to our hotel.
The next day we had to be back at the Doge's palace by 10:45 for this Secret Itineraries tour that our friends Gaby and Jarrett had told us about. They went on their honeymoon and said it was cool. It definitely was neat. The guide takes you behind these secret doors that the public usually doesn't get to see. You get to go inside the cell that held Cassanova and they show you how he claims to have escaped from that jail. It was pretty cool. We had to leave right after that to catch our train to Munich, which is where we are now. We have two more full days and then we head back home. I can't believe it has gone by so fast!
Today we are going to the Paulaner brewery, then to the English gardens for beers and brats, then to the BMW factory for a tour, then to the Haufbrau house. Any guesses to who planned this day? =)
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Lake Como
So we left Riomaggiore and headed to Varenna on Lake Como. We figure if it is good enough for George Cloony...good enough for us! =) But FIRST, we had a stop to make. We hadn't really even planned on going to Lake Como and certainly not to Milan, until we saw a special on the travel channel about the two. Turns out, the Last Supper painting by Da Vinci is on the wall of a church in Milan. I thought it was just a painting that was in some museum somewhere! Turns out you have to go to Milan to see it or you never will. Plus an earthquake could destroy it at any given time! Then they went on to talk about Lake Como, Varenna in particular, and we just decided we had to go.
So I booked us a time to see the Last Supper - they do 15 minute viewings with a tour guide to explain. We basically got off the train in Milan and took the subway to the church. The painting was incredible. The church was almost totally destroyed during WWII but luckily not this wall. The painting was almost totally covered up at one point as well, so it is pretty much a miracle that it was ever found, recovered, restored, etc. It was very interesting and I was glad we had taken the time to see it.
After that we had a little over an hour until the train to Varenna and we were starving. I have decided that Milan, being the fashion capital of the world, also thinks everyone should be skinny models able to wear those fashions, because we could not find ANYTHING to eat. Maybe we were in the wrong areas, or maybe because it was Sunday, but the only thing we could find was McDonalds, but I swear that was the best Big Mac I have ever had. =)
So anyway, we finally catch the train and head to Varenna. The train ride was beautiful. We were getting up close to the Alps and the mountains were gorgeous. Most still had snow on the top. The train went sort of around the lake as we got there so we got to see a couple of the towns, and then we got to Varenna. I think they said the population was about 800 people so you can imagine how small it is. Not as small as Riomaggiore, but still small and so cute. We had a hotel right on the water and we were given a room in the 'villa' which basically meant another house next to the hotel with a few other rooms in it, bed and breakfast style. Our room was awesome. So charming. We had two balconies that opened out to the waterfront and a really nice bathroom. It was great.
We got there around dinner time and I had heard the restaurant at our hotel was amazing so we ate there. And it was. I had heard they made home made ravioli so I tried this ricotta and spinach ravioli that was ridiculously good and then I had local fish as my main course. It was SO good. I am sure they probably caught it out of the lake that day and I ate the whole thing. Jason had a potato pasta - the closest thing we could find so far to gnocchi...apparently the Italians don't love it as much as we do - with ragu sauce that was delicious and a steak.
Oh by the way. Did I mention that day was my birthday? My 30th birthday to be exact. Pretty cool way to spend the day if you have to turn 30. So my husband, being the wonderful man that he is, told the lady who owned the hotel and also ran the restaurant, and she brought me out a tiramisu with a birthday candle and then gave me a kiss on the cheek! I was thrilled and the tiramisu was delish! =)
After that we pretty much crashed and then slept for over 12 hours I think. The next day was planned to be a take it very easy day. We had been going at full speed and needed a break. So we got up around 10:30, mosied on down the waterfront, had pizza for lunch and just sat by the water for a while. Then we had some gelato. Then we went to the internet cafe for a while. Then we made dinner reservations at this other place I had heard was good. Then we took a nap. For almost 4 hours. =) It was a very relaxing day.
Then it was time for dinner again (does it seem like I put a lot of emphasis on meals? Sorry they are just all sooo good!). We were escorted down the waterfront by a little gray snake. I freaked when I saw it, but he just happened to be heading the same way as us and was paying us no mind, so we just followed him down the path a ways until he slithered off in to the water.
We had the BEST tomato soup I have ever had. It was barely creamy and served with a shot of vodka. Yes, vodka. Jason and I just assumed you put it in your soup so we did. For the main dish I had risotto with gorgonzola, scamorza and radicchio. SO GOOD. I was pretty full by this time, but I managed to scarf down a strawberry gelato as well. We just knew we would never make it to sleep after such a long nap. But we did and slept for a good 8 hours. It was a much needed rest for us for sure.
Next up, Venice. A very cool and different city that we were in for all of 24 hours, so stay tuned!
So I booked us a time to see the Last Supper - they do 15 minute viewings with a tour guide to explain. We basically got off the train in Milan and took the subway to the church. The painting was incredible. The church was almost totally destroyed during WWII but luckily not this wall. The painting was almost totally covered up at one point as well, so it is pretty much a miracle that it was ever found, recovered, restored, etc. It was very interesting and I was glad we had taken the time to see it.
After that we had a little over an hour until the train to Varenna and we were starving. I have decided that Milan, being the fashion capital of the world, also thinks everyone should be skinny models able to wear those fashions, because we could not find ANYTHING to eat. Maybe we were in the wrong areas, or maybe because it was Sunday, but the only thing we could find was McDonalds, but I swear that was the best Big Mac I have ever had. =)
So anyway, we finally catch the train and head to Varenna. The train ride was beautiful. We were getting up close to the Alps and the mountains were gorgeous. Most still had snow on the top. The train went sort of around the lake as we got there so we got to see a couple of the towns, and then we got to Varenna. I think they said the population was about 800 people so you can imagine how small it is. Not as small as Riomaggiore, but still small and so cute. We had a hotel right on the water and we were given a room in the 'villa' which basically meant another house next to the hotel with a few other rooms in it, bed and breakfast style. Our room was awesome. So charming. We had two balconies that opened out to the waterfront and a really nice bathroom. It was great.
We got there around dinner time and I had heard the restaurant at our hotel was amazing so we ate there. And it was. I had heard they made home made ravioli so I tried this ricotta and spinach ravioli that was ridiculously good and then I had local fish as my main course. It was SO good. I am sure they probably caught it out of the lake that day and I ate the whole thing. Jason had a potato pasta - the closest thing we could find so far to gnocchi...apparently the Italians don't love it as much as we do - with ragu sauce that was delicious and a steak.
Oh by the way. Did I mention that day was my birthday? My 30th birthday to be exact. Pretty cool way to spend the day if you have to turn 30. So my husband, being the wonderful man that he is, told the lady who owned the hotel and also ran the restaurant, and she brought me out a tiramisu with a birthday candle and then gave me a kiss on the cheek! I was thrilled and the tiramisu was delish! =)
After that we pretty much crashed and then slept for over 12 hours I think. The next day was planned to be a take it very easy day. We had been going at full speed and needed a break. So we got up around 10:30, mosied on down the waterfront, had pizza for lunch and just sat by the water for a while. Then we had some gelato. Then we went to the internet cafe for a while. Then we made dinner reservations at this other place I had heard was good. Then we took a nap. For almost 4 hours. =) It was a very relaxing day.
Then it was time for dinner again (does it seem like I put a lot of emphasis on meals? Sorry they are just all sooo good!). We were escorted down the waterfront by a little gray snake. I freaked when I saw it, but he just happened to be heading the same way as us and was paying us no mind, so we just followed him down the path a ways until he slithered off in to the water.
We had the BEST tomato soup I have ever had. It was barely creamy and served with a shot of vodka. Yes, vodka. Jason and I just assumed you put it in your soup so we did. For the main dish I had risotto with gorgonzola, scamorza and radicchio. SO GOOD. I was pretty full by this time, but I managed to scarf down a strawberry gelato as well. We just knew we would never make it to sleep after such a long nap. But we did and slept for a good 8 hours. It was a much needed rest for us for sure.
Next up, Venice. A very cool and different city that we were in for all of 24 hours, so stay tuned!
Monday, May 12, 2008
Cinque Terre
So we finally get to the Cinque Terre and we are immediately met with this beautiful view of the Mediterranean and are feeling much better after that. The Cinque Terre is called that because there are basically five small towns up and down the sea. We are staying at Riomaggiore, the southern most of the towns. We are renting a room right on the sea with windows that open out to it. It is just what we need after Florence. It is already pretty late so we set out for dinner. We stop at a place in the middle of town for a mojito because we have heard they have great ones and Jason loves mojitos. It was definitely great...the guy grows the mint right at the bar! Then we settle on a restaurant just down from that (really everything is just down from everything because this town has all of like two streets). Being right on the ocean, I know what I am eating. Seafood!! I had a spaghetti with mussels, clams and prawns and then swordfish for my main course. Jason had tagliolini pasta with pesto sauce and a pizza with spicy salami on it. It is pretty much the closest thing we have seen to pepperoni. =) My food was so good! I mean they pretty much caught it fifty feet away and put it on my plate. So fresh and delicious. Jason's pasta was also amazing. This is the region of Italy that invented pesto and I have never tasted any as good as this. After that we had a tiramisu. It was good, but different than what we have in the states. More puddingy stuff on top and I love pudding.
So the next day's main event was going to be a hike from our town to the northern most town of Monterosso. It is seven miles one way and then we would take the train back. I had heard that the last two legs were very hard and that the whole thing would take about 5 hours. So I put on my walking shoes and we headed out. The first leg was short and easy. The second leg got a little harder but was still pretty short. It ended with us walking 393 steps (yes I counted) to the top of Corniglia. The next leg was hard. Period. Lots of steps up and down and not nice pretty steps, like step carved in to the side of a mountain or made of piles of stones. My legs were aching by the time we got to Vernazza. We stopped there for lunch atop the town overlooking the ocean. It was gorgeous and delicious. I had petso lasagna and Jason had regular lasagna. So my head is thinking, great. A rest and some food and we will be ready to go again. But it was met with much resistance from my body who was apparently thinking 'thank goodness we are done!'. We start out on the last leg of the hike which was described in my guidebook as 'trecherous' and my legs, as well as Jason's, were not happy. The first part was the hardest, thank goodness, so we climbed and climbed, but after that it wasn't so much hard as, like my book said, treacherous. There were parts of the path where it was a foot wide with a cliff wall on your right side and a cliff on your left. You just prayed you didn't meet someone coming the other way.
We finally made it to Monterosso which has a beach. So we had worn our bathing suits and we were all set to jump in for a refreshing swim. Well, one toe in and I knew that wasn't happening. It was freezing!! But it did feel good on my feet until they went numb. =) We layed on the beach for a bit and then finally caught a train back to the room.
Now I learned something about my husband that day. He does not like hiking. I am not sure what part of seven mile hike sounded relaxing to him, but he was not a happy camper at the end of the day. He thought it would be a more casual stroll I guess. I promised him he would never have to go hiking with me ever again.
Jason went and did our laundry and then I went and got us pizza to go and we had a dinner in the room before crashing. We were totally exhausted but I thought the hike was awesome. The scenery was beautiful and after doing it, looking back you could see our town and how far we had come. It felt pretty good to know I had done it.
That bring us up to yesterday. Our legs were sore and we were tired, but we had stuff to do so we were off again, sad to leave Riomaggiore. I would definitely love to go back there again and would stay in that town again out of all the towns.
I will say Arrivederci for now. Tomorrow I will continue on, assuming I have internet in our room in Venice....Ciao!
So the next day's main event was going to be a hike from our town to the northern most town of Monterosso. It is seven miles one way and then we would take the train back. I had heard that the last two legs were very hard and that the whole thing would take about 5 hours. So I put on my walking shoes and we headed out. The first leg was short and easy. The second leg got a little harder but was still pretty short. It ended with us walking 393 steps (yes I counted) to the top of Corniglia. The next leg was hard. Period. Lots of steps up and down and not nice pretty steps, like step carved in to the side of a mountain or made of piles of stones. My legs were aching by the time we got to Vernazza. We stopped there for lunch atop the town overlooking the ocean. It was gorgeous and delicious. I had petso lasagna and Jason had regular lasagna. So my head is thinking, great. A rest and some food and we will be ready to go again. But it was met with much resistance from my body who was apparently thinking 'thank goodness we are done!'. We start out on the last leg of the hike which was described in my guidebook as 'trecherous' and my legs, as well as Jason's, were not happy. The first part was the hardest, thank goodness, so we climbed and climbed, but after that it wasn't so much hard as, like my book said, treacherous. There were parts of the path where it was a foot wide with a cliff wall on your right side and a cliff on your left. You just prayed you didn't meet someone coming the other way.
We finally made it to Monterosso which has a beach. So we had worn our bathing suits and we were all set to jump in for a refreshing swim. Well, one toe in and I knew that wasn't happening. It was freezing!! But it did feel good on my feet until they went numb. =) We layed on the beach for a bit and then finally caught a train back to the room.
Now I learned something about my husband that day. He does not like hiking. I am not sure what part of seven mile hike sounded relaxing to him, but he was not a happy camper at the end of the day. He thought it would be a more casual stroll I guess. I promised him he would never have to go hiking with me ever again.
Jason went and did our laundry and then I went and got us pizza to go and we had a dinner in the room before crashing. We were totally exhausted but I thought the hike was awesome. The scenery was beautiful and after doing it, looking back you could see our town and how far we had come. It felt pretty good to know I had done it.
That bring us up to yesterday. Our legs were sore and we were tired, but we had stuff to do so we were off again, sad to leave Riomaggiore. I would definitely love to go back there again and would stay in that town again out of all the towns.
I will say Arrivederci for now. Tomorrow I will continue on, assuming I have internet in our room in Venice....Ciao!
Florence
So I am going to breeze through Florence pretty quick. Florence was not my favorite. It seems it is good for two things. Seeing the David - which was definitely impressive - and shopping, also impressive. We got in to Florence kind of late on...Wednesday?...I am losing track of days. So we got up early and went in to town to go to the Uffizi Gallery. After seeing the works of art in Rome, the Uffizi sort of fell a bit short. I mean there were a couple Michelangelo's and Bodicelli's, but mostly very old 14th century type stuff. And once you have seen a hundred Mary and Jesus paintings...they sort of all look the same.
After the Uffizi we had a few hours to kill before seeing the David at the Accademia. So we (and by we I mean I) shopped....a lot. Florence has TONS of that authentic Italian leather you hear so much about. There are so many leather shops with shoes, purses, gloves, journals, bookmarks, wallets - you name it - made in this awesome leather. You just smell the leather walking by the stores and it is lovely. Now, having said this, Florence is only so big and if you get outside the main shopping area, you are quickly in one of those 'should I be here?' areas, and you quickly turn around. I never felt unsafe or anything in Rome anywhere, but in Florence I feel like I need to watch my back. We saw a couple guys trying to steal stuff from a store window and there is a heavy police presence for vendors selling fake purses, sunglasses, etc. Apparently you get fined 1000 Euro (that's over 1500 dollars!) for buying a fake Gucci bag. Might as well buy a real one!
Anyway, we finally saw the David and that is pretty much the only thing to see at the Accademia. I mean there are a few paintings, but not many. The David is HUGE. And all proportionately sculpted, which is one reason it is such a masterpiece. That Michelangelo knew what he was doing.
After that we headed back to the hotel to deposit our bags and rest before dinner. We went to a place recommended in my guide book - we had very good luck with that so far - but heading that way we were soon in a 'should we be here' neighborhood. However, we found it and it was really cool inside and the place was actually really big and completely empty except for one other American couple...who they sat us right next to. Haha. If you are hungry before about 8:30 or 9 in Italy, expect to be eating only with other Americans. Italians do not eat before then. We are trying to adapt to their culture, but by about 7 we are usually hungry!
Dinner was really good. Jason had this penne type pasta with ragu sauce (not the brand, much better I promise!) and I honestly cannot remember mine, but I know it was good...hmmm. For our second course I had veal and Jason had this chicken stuffed with ham and mozzarella. Both were super delicious. After that we rolled ourselves back to the hotel.
Now, the next day was trying to say the least. I don't really get homesick at all, except for these kind of days when things start going wrong or are difficult. We needed to mail some packages home from all the shopping we did, so I took the packages, and was going to go to the UPS place and meet Jason at the train station. This is about 9:30 in the morning. So I go to the UPS place, but there is not one where it said it was. I even go to an internet cafe and look it up. Yes, I have the right address, but there is nothing there. It is a closed up place. Oh wait, there are two number 11's on this street, but neither are UPS? By now I am very frustrated, but I know I have seen several Italian post offices, and though I would rather not send them Italian mail (I hear about packages never received etc) it seems I have no choice. I won't bore you with my adventures of the Italian post, but let's just say you would have thought I was applying for Italian citizenship with the amount of paperwork I had to fill out to get these packages sent. I did not get to the train station until about 12:30 and by this time Jason thought I had been mugged or something. He was worried, I was stressed, and to top it all off, there was a strike on the train system today! I had heard this happened frequently, but just didn't think it would happen to us. Isn't that always what people think? =) So some trains are running but not all and you have to sort of just figure it out a minute or two before the train leaves. We start to panick thinking we are not going to make it out of Florence that day and I want to cry. I need to get OUT of Florence. Finally we do make it to Pisa - but no time to see the tower with the next train leaving soon - but we do make it to the Cinque Terre. Whew!
I will stop here for now and write about Riomaggiore in the Cinque Terre next. It was awesome.
After the Uffizi we had a few hours to kill before seeing the David at the Accademia. So we (and by we I mean I) shopped....a lot. Florence has TONS of that authentic Italian leather you hear so much about. There are so many leather shops with shoes, purses, gloves, journals, bookmarks, wallets - you name it - made in this awesome leather. You just smell the leather walking by the stores and it is lovely. Now, having said this, Florence is only so big and if you get outside the main shopping area, you are quickly in one of those 'should I be here?' areas, and you quickly turn around. I never felt unsafe or anything in Rome anywhere, but in Florence I feel like I need to watch my back. We saw a couple guys trying to steal stuff from a store window and there is a heavy police presence for vendors selling fake purses, sunglasses, etc. Apparently you get fined 1000 Euro (that's over 1500 dollars!) for buying a fake Gucci bag. Might as well buy a real one!
Anyway, we finally saw the David and that is pretty much the only thing to see at the Accademia. I mean there are a few paintings, but not many. The David is HUGE. And all proportionately sculpted, which is one reason it is such a masterpiece. That Michelangelo knew what he was doing.
After that we headed back to the hotel to deposit our bags and rest before dinner. We went to a place recommended in my guide book - we had very good luck with that so far - but heading that way we were soon in a 'should we be here' neighborhood. However, we found it and it was really cool inside and the place was actually really big and completely empty except for one other American couple...who they sat us right next to. Haha. If you are hungry before about 8:30 or 9 in Italy, expect to be eating only with other Americans. Italians do not eat before then. We are trying to adapt to their culture, but by about 7 we are usually hungry!
Dinner was really good. Jason had this penne type pasta with ragu sauce (not the brand, much better I promise!) and I honestly cannot remember mine, but I know it was good...hmmm. For our second course I had veal and Jason had this chicken stuffed with ham and mozzarella. Both were super delicious. After that we rolled ourselves back to the hotel.
Now, the next day was trying to say the least. I don't really get homesick at all, except for these kind of days when things start going wrong or are difficult. We needed to mail some packages home from all the shopping we did, so I took the packages, and was going to go to the UPS place and meet Jason at the train station. This is about 9:30 in the morning. So I go to the UPS place, but there is not one where it said it was. I even go to an internet cafe and look it up. Yes, I have the right address, but there is nothing there. It is a closed up place. Oh wait, there are two number 11's on this street, but neither are UPS? By now I am very frustrated, but I know I have seen several Italian post offices, and though I would rather not send them Italian mail (I hear about packages never received etc) it seems I have no choice. I won't bore you with my adventures of the Italian post, but let's just say you would have thought I was applying for Italian citizenship with the amount of paperwork I had to fill out to get these packages sent. I did not get to the train station until about 12:30 and by this time Jason thought I had been mugged or something. He was worried, I was stressed, and to top it all off, there was a strike on the train system today! I had heard this happened frequently, but just didn't think it would happen to us. Isn't that always what people think? =) So some trains are running but not all and you have to sort of just figure it out a minute or two before the train leaves. We start to panick thinking we are not going to make it out of Florence that day and I want to cry. I need to get OUT of Florence. Finally we do make it to Pisa - but no time to see the tower with the next train leaving soon - but we do make it to the Cinque Terre. Whew!
I will stop here for now and write about Riomaggiore in the Cinque Terre next. It was awesome.
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Dinner in Siena
Ok. So it is apparent to me now that I fell in love with Rome too quickly. I am like Romeo and Rosaline before he has met his Juliet. And like Romeo and Juliet, Siena and I had too little time together. I love Siena. Jason and I have decided we are moving there as soon as we can afford to buy a house. (Don't worry mom and dad, that means we are never moving there). =) But it was wonderful and we ended up staying today and shopping and walking around before heading to Florence. I had a list of things to do today in Florence, but we decided we needed to give Siena some more attention before leaving so soon.
And now, the best part. Dinner.
We had the best dinner so far last night. I had heard of this place in a guide book and so we decided to try it out. Oh man. It was beyond delicious. To start with I had a ravioli filled with radicchio and scamorza in a butter and leek sauce and Jason had bacon and cheese wrapped in an egg noodle. In Italy that is just like a first course unless you have an antipasti first, but I cannot eat all four courses in an Italian meal. Anyway, for our main course I had this sirloin topped off with some sort of lettuce and a few tomatoes. I would never have thought to put lettuce on top of steak, but the Tuscans KNOW what they are doing because it was like this perfect pairing of simple ingredients. Jason had a filet of beef that was so good and salty it was almost like a very fine jerky, but that description really doesn't do it justice.
To go with dinner we also got a bottle of this Brunello wine. I have been reading Under the Tuscan Sun (which by the way is NOTHING like the movie) while we are here and yesterday on the way to Siena I was reading it as we were litereally passing through all the towns she was talking about. Brunello is a Tuscan wine (I think) that she talks about in the book as their favorite thing to have and I kept seeing signs for tours to see wineries of it and such. So we HAD to have some. We asked our waiter and he started talking about the different years and which he thought was the best so we took a 1993. Ok, picture this. He comes out with a tray with the bottle of wine covered in dust. Two big red wine glasses. One small glass pitcher and a candle stick with a red candle that was dripping wax. He wipes off the bottle, opens it and pours about an ounce in to one of the wine glasses. He swirls it then pours it in to the other red wine glass. Swirls it again then pours it in to the pitcher. Then he smells it to make sure jit smells ok. THEN he pours us a glass of wine. This is a serious business this fine wine stuff.
So anyway, dinner was delicious then we walked back through the piazza after dark where people were lingering over their dinners and espressos and then went back to our hotel. Today we shopped and bought a bunch of stuff and then we headed to Florence. Our hotel here is another Sheraton, gotten for free on Starwood points!, and our room is HUGE. Even big compared to American rooms. Also, we are convinced that queen beds here are like between the size of Queen and King. The rooms are queen beds, but they seem way bigger. Anyway, just a random observation.
So we are about to turn in for the night and tomorrow we have a LOT to see in Florence. Will update everyone later and I will talk to you later!!!
And now, the best part. Dinner.
We had the best dinner so far last night. I had heard of this place in a guide book and so we decided to try it out. Oh man. It was beyond delicious. To start with I had a ravioli filled with radicchio and scamorza in a butter and leek sauce and Jason had bacon and cheese wrapped in an egg noodle. In Italy that is just like a first course unless you have an antipasti first, but I cannot eat all four courses in an Italian meal. Anyway, for our main course I had this sirloin topped off with some sort of lettuce and a few tomatoes. I would never have thought to put lettuce on top of steak, but the Tuscans KNOW what they are doing because it was like this perfect pairing of simple ingredients. Jason had a filet of beef that was so good and salty it was almost like a very fine jerky, but that description really doesn't do it justice.
To go with dinner we also got a bottle of this Brunello wine. I have been reading Under the Tuscan Sun (which by the way is NOTHING like the movie) while we are here and yesterday on the way to Siena I was reading it as we were litereally passing through all the towns she was talking about. Brunello is a Tuscan wine (I think) that she talks about in the book as their favorite thing to have and I kept seeing signs for tours to see wineries of it and such. So we HAD to have some. We asked our waiter and he started talking about the different years and which he thought was the best so we took a 1993. Ok, picture this. He comes out with a tray with the bottle of wine covered in dust. Two big red wine glasses. One small glass pitcher and a candle stick with a red candle that was dripping wax. He wipes off the bottle, opens it and pours about an ounce in to one of the wine glasses. He swirls it then pours it in to the other red wine glass. Swirls it again then pours it in to the pitcher. Then he smells it to make sure jit smells ok. THEN he pours us a glass of wine. This is a serious business this fine wine stuff.
So anyway, dinner was delicious then we walked back through the piazza after dark where people were lingering over their dinners and espressos and then went back to our hotel. Today we shopped and bought a bunch of stuff and then we headed to Florence. Our hotel here is another Sheraton, gotten for free on Starwood points!, and our room is HUGE. Even big compared to American rooms. Also, we are convinced that queen beds here are like between the size of Queen and King. The rooms are queen beds, but they seem way bigger. Anyway, just a random observation.
So we are about to turn in for the night and tomorrow we have a LOT to see in Florence. Will update everyone later and I will talk to you later!!!
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Pictures...
Just an FYI on those of you who would like to see pictures. We are uploading them as often as possible to Flickr. Here is the link to them if you want to check it out...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/soonertrent
Ciao!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/soonertrent
Ciao!
Day 4: Mamma Mia! Train to Siena
Well today has been kind of hectic again, but nothing major. Basically we took the rail to Chiusi to catch a bus to Siena and we missed the bus by literally 20 seconds. So we had to wait an hour and a half for a train to Siena, but I think that was better anyway maybe. We got to read and watch the gorgeous scenery. Tuscany looks exactly like you would think it does. Wineries everywhere!
We got to Siena later than expected and HAD to do laundry. (I brought two pairs of pants, five shirts and five pairs of socks in a backpack for those who don't know). My diva of a husband's backpack, however, is totally packed to the brim with lots of clothes. =)
Siena is so cool. It is a city on a hill with a wall around it. Cute long windy corridors for streets and the most amazing Piazza in the middle. I just had a huge Caramel gelato that rocked my world. SO delicious. I will write more about today later, but we have to get moving. Tomorrow is Florence and we have already decided we should have stayed here more then 18 hours. See you soon!
We got to Siena later than expected and HAD to do laundry. (I brought two pairs of pants, five shirts and five pairs of socks in a backpack for those who don't know). My diva of a husband's backpack, however, is totally packed to the brim with lots of clothes. =)
Siena is so cool. It is a city on a hill with a wall around it. Cute long windy corridors for streets and the most amazing Piazza in the middle. I just had a huge Caramel gelato that rocked my world. SO delicious. I will write more about today later, but we have to get moving. Tomorrow is Florence and we have already decided we should have stayed here more then 18 hours. See you soon!
Monday, May 5, 2008
Day 3: Our last day in Rome
Well today was our last day in Rome. It is just after 11 here and I am really tired. I must have walked 20 miles in the last three days and my feet hurt something awful. But it was worth it.
Today was Vatican City day. That is all I had planned for today, which is lucky since we had so much backtracking to do from losing all our great photos from Saturday. We had a guide on Saturday for the Palantine Hill who was great and she said she was doing tours on Monday at the Vatican so we got up early and met up with her. Her name was Jill and she was from North Carolina. She is in Rome doing a Theology PhD and so obviously knows a bunch about the Vatican. We met up with her and she told us to meet up at this cafe across the street to meet up with the group. While Jason got us all signed up, I got us some cappuccino. I am so proud of Jason for drinking coffee with me!
Just a funny random thing...when I was at the bar getting coffee, I am listening to the music. Most of the time they play American music everywhere, but I am listening thinking 'what song is this? I know this!'. Then I suddenly realize it is the Never Ending Story song! Do you guys know what I am talking about? "Never ending stooooorrrryyyyyyy. Ahhhhhhhhhhh...." Anyone? I used to love that movie. Just was so random to hear that song at a cafe in Rome.
Anyhow...we then went on our tour of the Vatican Museum. Now, I said before, tours are the way to go and this just confirmed my thoughts. I would totally recommend tours for anywhere you have never been that has lots of info and history. First, we got to skip the line. =) Second, there is SO much to learn about all the paintings and the painters themselves. There is no way I would have learned half of what I learned today without this guide. There are even tons of scandalous stories about the 'behind the scenes' stories of the paintings and their muses. After the museum we went through the Sistine Chapel. It was AMAZING. I mean to think that Michelangelo did this almost all on his own over six years is crazy. It is so beautiful and interesting to learn the different meanings of each scene. You aren't supposed to take pictures, but we sneaked a couple. Our tour guide said the pope himself told her he didn't care. Apparently some Japanese company paid for the restoration and have the copyright so they don't want you taking pictures. Which is why the pope doesn't care. =) She also told us the Pope loves to watch the Simpsons. I thought that was hilarious.
After that we went to St. Peter's Basilica. Oh. My. Gosh. This church is huge and that is an understatement. I think she said it was the biggest church in the world. I don't care what religion you are, this is literally awe inspiring. You think Prestonwood Baptist is big? Forget it. It would fit in St. Peters pulpit. It also holds Michelangelo's famous Pieta. Beautiful.
Next up was lunch, cause we were super hungry. We went back to the Colosseum area and had a panino. I have eaten my weight in Salami so far. It is so delicious. =) Then we basically retraced our steps from Day 1 and took a bunch of pictures hoping to recoop our loss. After that we grabbed an espresso and dessert then headed back to the hotel to make dinner out of the rest of our feast from the night before. Did we do that backwards? =)
So basically to recap, we have seen a LOT of Rome in three days. For those who know me, you know I am sort of a plan everything out type of girl and those who have been to Disney World with me think that is an understatement. We only got a little over 1/2 of what I had planned accomplished, BUT we still saw a lot and had a great time and I am not sweating it. We will just have to come back is all. Not that I need an excuse for that. After all, Rome and I are in love. =)
Today was Vatican City day. That is all I had planned for today, which is lucky since we had so much backtracking to do from losing all our great photos from Saturday. We had a guide on Saturday for the Palantine Hill who was great and she said she was doing tours on Monday at the Vatican so we got up early and met up with her. Her name was Jill and she was from North Carolina. She is in Rome doing a Theology PhD and so obviously knows a bunch about the Vatican. We met up with her and she told us to meet up at this cafe across the street to meet up with the group. While Jason got us all signed up, I got us some cappuccino. I am so proud of Jason for drinking coffee with me!
Just a funny random thing...when I was at the bar getting coffee, I am listening to the music. Most of the time they play American music everywhere, but I am listening thinking 'what song is this? I know this!'. Then I suddenly realize it is the Never Ending Story song! Do you guys know what I am talking about? "Never ending stooooorrrryyyyyyy. Ahhhhhhhhhhh...." Anyone? I used to love that movie. Just was so random to hear that song at a cafe in Rome.
Anyhow...we then went on our tour of the Vatican Museum. Now, I said before, tours are the way to go and this just confirmed my thoughts. I would totally recommend tours for anywhere you have never been that has lots of info and history. First, we got to skip the line. =) Second, there is SO much to learn about all the paintings and the painters themselves. There is no way I would have learned half of what I learned today without this guide. There are even tons of scandalous stories about the 'behind the scenes' stories of the paintings and their muses. After the museum we went through the Sistine Chapel. It was AMAZING. I mean to think that Michelangelo did this almost all on his own over six years is crazy. It is so beautiful and interesting to learn the different meanings of each scene. You aren't supposed to take pictures, but we sneaked a couple. Our tour guide said the pope himself told her he didn't care. Apparently some Japanese company paid for the restoration and have the copyright so they don't want you taking pictures. Which is why the pope doesn't care. =) She also told us the Pope loves to watch the Simpsons. I thought that was hilarious.
After that we went to St. Peter's Basilica. Oh. My. Gosh. This church is huge and that is an understatement. I think she said it was the biggest church in the world. I don't care what religion you are, this is literally awe inspiring. You think Prestonwood Baptist is big? Forget it. It would fit in St. Peters pulpit. It also holds Michelangelo's famous Pieta. Beautiful.
Next up was lunch, cause we were super hungry. We went back to the Colosseum area and had a panino. I have eaten my weight in Salami so far. It is so delicious. =) Then we basically retraced our steps from Day 1 and took a bunch of pictures hoping to recoop our loss. After that we grabbed an espresso and dessert then headed back to the hotel to make dinner out of the rest of our feast from the night before. Did we do that backwards? =)
So basically to recap, we have seen a LOT of Rome in three days. For those who know me, you know I am sort of a plan everything out type of girl and those who have been to Disney World with me think that is an understatement. We only got a little over 1/2 of what I had planned accomplished, BUT we still saw a lot and had a great time and I am not sweating it. We will just have to come back is all. Not that I need an excuse for that. After all, Rome and I are in love. =)
Day 2: Rome Tests my Patience
So, Day 2 will be known on our trip as our 'bad day in Rome'. Because the day before and after were awesome. Here is the lowdown...
It was Sunday and I had planned to see the Borghese Gallery and the National Museum. That was it really and then maybe shopping, seeing anything we missed the day before etc. Our reservation is at 10:30 at the Borghese, so we get up early, catch the early shuttle in to town with PLENTY of time to get there, and head that way. So, first mistake, not actually finding out where the gallery was but assuming it was in the Piazza Borghese. Well there is really only one mistake actually.
So we get to the Piazza and there is no gallery. So we walk around assuming it MUST be close by. I ask for and receive directions (ALL in Italian thank you very much), and we head that way. Then we get lost (ok maybe my Italian isn't so good). So we ask for directions again and I am pretty sure this guy had no idea. So we find a taxi stand and ask again. She gives good directions so we head off. We walk, and walk, and walk and finally assume we have passed it so we ask a polizia. They tell us we are headed the right way, it is only about TWENTY MINUTES MORE in the park up the hill! WHAT? We are already late, but we keep going. By the time we get there we are tired and sweaty and of course they have already canceled our reservation and we are out of luck. We sit and pout for a bit before trekking all the way back across the park to the Metro and decide to go ahead to the National Museum.
So this park is big by the way. Like the Central Park of Rome. Really pretty and hilly with lots of Romans lazing around. So we stop to look at the map and realize we are right by the Piazza we were at the day before and we decide to get some pizza cause we are starving. So we sit, have pizza and are just hanging out when I decide I need a picture of this. Well I ask Jason for the camera. He thought I had the camera. But I don't. So we both get that panicked look on our faces and he takes off back in to the park and is gone for about 30 minutes. You know that sick feeling in your stomach when something like this happens? That went on with me until Jason walks back shaking his head at me. Nope, no luck. We must have set it down when we looked at the map and now it is gone forever. And no, there is no happy ending to this story. There was no park lost and found, we hadn't dropped it under the table (I looked about ten times) and yes, those pictures we took inside the Colosseum and Forum etc were gone. Period.
So we are not happy people at this point. Obviously. I am very sad about the pics we will never recover. They can have the darn camera, I want those pictures! =( Very sad time in Rome for me. So my day has gone from bad to worse and we wander aimlessly down the Via Del Corso until I sneak in to a public WC, have a good cry, then realize there is nothing I can do about it and we just need a new camera. So after that things got better. We ditched our plan for museums, went ALL over Rome looking for a digital camera (you would think they don't take pictures) and finally ended up with a new camera that I was very excited about. It is cute and little and blue. =) We also met this really nice Italian guy who was excited to learn we were from Dallas because he LOVES Dirk Nowitzki and the Mavs in general.
So we go by the Parthenon and get some pics and decide that the next day we will just go back to the Colosseum and Forum etc and get more pics. The main part of Rome is not really huge and we have walked it ten times already anyway, why not a couple more?
So we go to a market, get some wine, cheese, crackers and this fantastically delicious olive spread and take it back to the hotel to gorge on. After some good food and a long bath I felt much better and we were asleep before 9 o clock.
So basically Day 1, I fell in love with Rome. Day 2, Rome and I had our first fight. But you know when you have a fight with your mate and you want so bad to blame them, but then you realize it is your own fault for a)not planning and b)setting your camera down and leaving it? Oh, you haven't done that before? Well you get my point right? Point is, I can't be mad at Rome for my own carelessness and I still love it at the end of the day.
Now today is Day 3 and I am happy to say Rome and I are going strong. I am going to try to write the rest later tonight, but now I need a break and more cheese. =)
It was Sunday and I had planned to see the Borghese Gallery and the National Museum. That was it really and then maybe shopping, seeing anything we missed the day before etc. Our reservation is at 10:30 at the Borghese, so we get up early, catch the early shuttle in to town with PLENTY of time to get there, and head that way. So, first mistake, not actually finding out where the gallery was but assuming it was in the Piazza Borghese. Well there is really only one mistake actually.
So we get to the Piazza and there is no gallery. So we walk around assuming it MUST be close by. I ask for and receive directions (ALL in Italian thank you very much), and we head that way. Then we get lost (ok maybe my Italian isn't so good). So we ask for directions again and I am pretty sure this guy had no idea. So we find a taxi stand and ask again. She gives good directions so we head off. We walk, and walk, and walk and finally assume we have passed it so we ask a polizia. They tell us we are headed the right way, it is only about TWENTY MINUTES MORE in the park up the hill! WHAT? We are already late, but we keep going. By the time we get there we are tired and sweaty and of course they have already canceled our reservation and we are out of luck. We sit and pout for a bit before trekking all the way back across the park to the Metro and decide to go ahead to the National Museum.
So this park is big by the way. Like the Central Park of Rome. Really pretty and hilly with lots of Romans lazing around. So we stop to look at the map and realize we are right by the Piazza we were at the day before and we decide to get some pizza cause we are starving. So we sit, have pizza and are just hanging out when I decide I need a picture of this. Well I ask Jason for the camera. He thought I had the camera. But I don't. So we both get that panicked look on our faces and he takes off back in to the park and is gone for about 30 minutes. You know that sick feeling in your stomach when something like this happens? That went on with me until Jason walks back shaking his head at me. Nope, no luck. We must have set it down when we looked at the map and now it is gone forever. And no, there is no happy ending to this story. There was no park lost and found, we hadn't dropped it under the table (I looked about ten times) and yes, those pictures we took inside the Colosseum and Forum etc were gone. Period.
So we are not happy people at this point. Obviously. I am very sad about the pics we will never recover. They can have the darn camera, I want those pictures! =( Very sad time in Rome for me. So my day has gone from bad to worse and we wander aimlessly down the Via Del Corso until I sneak in to a public WC, have a good cry, then realize there is nothing I can do about it and we just need a new camera. So after that things got better. We ditched our plan for museums, went ALL over Rome looking for a digital camera (you would think they don't take pictures) and finally ended up with a new camera that I was very excited about. It is cute and little and blue. =) We also met this really nice Italian guy who was excited to learn we were from Dallas because he LOVES Dirk Nowitzki and the Mavs in general.
So we go by the Parthenon and get some pics and decide that the next day we will just go back to the Colosseum and Forum etc and get more pics. The main part of Rome is not really huge and we have walked it ten times already anyway, why not a couple more?
So we go to a market, get some wine, cheese, crackers and this fantastically delicious olive spread and take it back to the hotel to gorge on. After some good food and a long bath I felt much better and we were asleep before 9 o clock.
So basically Day 1, I fell in love with Rome. Day 2, Rome and I had our first fight. But you know when you have a fight with your mate and you want so bad to blame them, but then you realize it is your own fault for a)not planning and b)setting your camera down and leaving it? Oh, you haven't done that before? Well you get my point right? Point is, I can't be mad at Rome for my own carelessness and I still love it at the end of the day.
Now today is Day 3 and I am happy to say Rome and I are going strong. I am going to try to write the rest later tonight, but now I need a break and more cheese. =)
Sunday, May 4, 2008
Day 1: I Fall in Love
Whew! The last 48 hours have been crazy and fast paced. I have so much to write about and I am seriously exhausted so I will see what I can do right now...
So after sleeping for 12 hours and waking up around 9 am on Saturday, we drag ourselves out of bed, get ready and get a cab in to the city. We go straight to the Colosseum and go about finding out how to get tickets and such. Well, the line is FOREVER long so we finally decided to join a tour instead of waiting in a 3 hour line. That way we get right in and learn something in the process. The Colosseum is awesome. It is sort of amazing to see in person after having seen it a million times in pictures or movies or whatever. The tour was really interesting. I didn't realize that gladiators were slaves and were forced to compete. He talked about the movie Gladiator and then talked about who those people were really and it was all very intriguing. Amazing that people once thought it was fun to watch animals tear people apart. I got a little queasy in the sun hearing about it, especially since we had sort of skipped breakfast.
The tour we took included a tour of Palantine Hill as well, so after a break, some water and splitting a half can of Pringles we were feeling much better. The line for Palantine was also crazy long, so we were very glad that our tour group got to go straight to the front. I really didn't know much about this, but it was basically the place where Rome started. The rich and famous made their homes on these hills, then it turned in to a mall of sorts, then a church, then a palace, etc. Then it was abandoned, filled with trash and not seen again for centuries until people rediscovered it in about the 1800s I think. So all around the hill is where people worked and lived and the Roman Forum are the ruins of the life that took place there. So we saw all those ruins and then we finally decided it was time to eat and grabbed a panino from a little stand by the Forum (FYI - I ordered totally in Italian! Very exciting). It wasn't great but I was starving so we scarfed that down and then went to the Mamertine Prison. It is said that Peter was held here for being a Christian and there is an upside down cross inside to signify his crucifixion upside down. We went down in to the cell and Jason couldn't even stand up. It made me claustrophobic being there for 2 minutes. Can't imagine being imprisoned there.
After that we walked up to Capitol Hill Square and went to the Capitoline Museum. There is tons of art and frescoes in this museum, a lot of them having to do with Romulus and Remus and their she-wolf mother. The beginning of Rome is a myth that the two boys were raised by her and I think Romulus began Rome or something. Can't remember the whole story.
By this point it was sort of getting late in the day and I realized I had yet to have any coffee all day! No wonder I had a headache. So we decided to get a cafe, see the Peter in Chains basilica, then take the Metro over to this huge Piazza at the start of the Via Del Corso, which is this long straight street with tons of shopping. Now, Jason had been 'practicing' to drink coffee for months. He doesn't like coffee but he wanted to have cafe in the cafes in Italy so he started with Mochas at Starbucks, then went to soy lattes, then double lattes, etc so he could get used to coffee. So this is when he had his first espresso. Now, espresso to ME is strong, but he was hilarious trying to get it all down. You would have thought he was eating a lemon. After that we went to the St. Peter in Chains basilica. This church holds the chains that Peter was chained with in Jerusalem as well as Michelangelo's famous sculpture of Moses.
After this we hopped the Metro to the Piazza del Poppolo. Now up until this point I hadn't really had a ton of time to just stroll and enjoy things. Sort of rushing around up until this point. But this piazza is huge and beautiful and everyone is out and the weather is perfect. We just sort of strolled down the Via Del Corso for a couple of hours shopping and such. We finally made our way over to the Spanish Steps and just sat and people watched for a bit. I am totally in love with Rome. I have heard so many bad things about it that I guess I just expected to go, see the historical stuff, but really enjoy Italy in other cities. SO not the case. First of all, it is just beautiful. The buildings and streets and sights are beautiful! It is also not dirty. Everyone told me to expect Rome to be really dirty. I would say it is probably cleaner or at least as clean as any other city I have ever been to. We have gotten lost about a dozen times so far, but we just have fun finding our way around and seeing what their is to see. It is wonderful. Definitely my favorite city so far =). Haha.
So finally it is late and we haven't had dinner and haven't really eaten anything good so far so we try to find a place that isn't too touristy looking that has a good menu and we go in. Oh. My. Gosh. We had some seriously tasty food. We had a caprese salad to start with with tomatoes that actually tasted like tomatoes and such good mozzerella. Also, every table was given this bowl of stuff that we were both a little timid to try. Turns out it was a soup with chick peas and cuttle fish, but I just slathered my bread in it. It was the tastiest thing yet. By the time we get our pasta I am almost full but still manage to shovel down quite a bit of my tagliolini pasta with artichokes and tomato and Jason had this awesome Rigatone type pasta with tomato and bacon. So delish. Well, after dinner we decide we need what else for dessert but gelato! There is literally a gelateria on every stinkin corner, but we wanted good gelato so we stopped at a hotel to ask for some really good stuff. He directed us to a restaurant and I ordered a cup of pistacchio (again totally in Italian - feeling pretty proud of myself at that time ;) ) and holy cow it was good. I am not really an ice cream girl, but gelato is just different. Tastes so fresh and good. Yummy.
So by this time it is about 11 o clock and we are not tired. That's right those of you who know me. I was up past ten o clock! We were having so much fun and congratulating ourselves for being such night owls. We decided we like Rome Kelli and Jason better than Dallas Kelli and Jason. Dallas Kelli and Jason are kind of boring. =)
So we stayed out just walking around and stopped at a pub for a pint before calling it quits and heading back to the hotel.
Whew! Doesn't that sound like an active day? Well it was. However, tomorrow goes downhill and we got absolutely nothing accomplished. Peak your interest? Good. Stay tuned...
So after sleeping for 12 hours and waking up around 9 am on Saturday, we drag ourselves out of bed, get ready and get a cab in to the city. We go straight to the Colosseum and go about finding out how to get tickets and such. Well, the line is FOREVER long so we finally decided to join a tour instead of waiting in a 3 hour line. That way we get right in and learn something in the process. The Colosseum is awesome. It is sort of amazing to see in person after having seen it a million times in pictures or movies or whatever. The tour was really interesting. I didn't realize that gladiators were slaves and were forced to compete. He talked about the movie Gladiator and then talked about who those people were really and it was all very intriguing. Amazing that people once thought it was fun to watch animals tear people apart. I got a little queasy in the sun hearing about it, especially since we had sort of skipped breakfast.
The tour we took included a tour of Palantine Hill as well, so after a break, some water and splitting a half can of Pringles we were feeling much better. The line for Palantine was also crazy long, so we were very glad that our tour group got to go straight to the front. I really didn't know much about this, but it was basically the place where Rome started. The rich and famous made their homes on these hills, then it turned in to a mall of sorts, then a church, then a palace, etc. Then it was abandoned, filled with trash and not seen again for centuries until people rediscovered it in about the 1800s I think. So all around the hill is where people worked and lived and the Roman Forum are the ruins of the life that took place there. So we saw all those ruins and then we finally decided it was time to eat and grabbed a panino from a little stand by the Forum (FYI - I ordered totally in Italian! Very exciting). It wasn't great but I was starving so we scarfed that down and then went to the Mamertine Prison. It is said that Peter was held here for being a Christian and there is an upside down cross inside to signify his crucifixion upside down. We went down in to the cell and Jason couldn't even stand up. It made me claustrophobic being there for 2 minutes. Can't imagine being imprisoned there.
After that we walked up to Capitol Hill Square and went to the Capitoline Museum. There is tons of art and frescoes in this museum, a lot of them having to do with Romulus and Remus and their she-wolf mother. The beginning of Rome is a myth that the two boys were raised by her and I think Romulus began Rome or something. Can't remember the whole story.
By this point it was sort of getting late in the day and I realized I had yet to have any coffee all day! No wonder I had a headache. So we decided to get a cafe, see the Peter in Chains basilica, then take the Metro over to this huge Piazza at the start of the Via Del Corso, which is this long straight street with tons of shopping. Now, Jason had been 'practicing' to drink coffee for months. He doesn't like coffee but he wanted to have cafe in the cafes in Italy so he started with Mochas at Starbucks, then went to soy lattes, then double lattes, etc so he could get used to coffee. So this is when he had his first espresso. Now, espresso to ME is strong, but he was hilarious trying to get it all down. You would have thought he was eating a lemon. After that we went to the St. Peter in Chains basilica. This church holds the chains that Peter was chained with in Jerusalem as well as Michelangelo's famous sculpture of Moses.
After this we hopped the Metro to the Piazza del Poppolo. Now up until this point I hadn't really had a ton of time to just stroll and enjoy things. Sort of rushing around up until this point. But this piazza is huge and beautiful and everyone is out and the weather is perfect. We just sort of strolled down the Via Del Corso for a couple of hours shopping and such. We finally made our way over to the Spanish Steps and just sat and people watched for a bit. I am totally in love with Rome. I have heard so many bad things about it that I guess I just expected to go, see the historical stuff, but really enjoy Italy in other cities. SO not the case. First of all, it is just beautiful. The buildings and streets and sights are beautiful! It is also not dirty. Everyone told me to expect Rome to be really dirty. I would say it is probably cleaner or at least as clean as any other city I have ever been to. We have gotten lost about a dozen times so far, but we just have fun finding our way around and seeing what their is to see. It is wonderful. Definitely my favorite city so far =). Haha.
So finally it is late and we haven't had dinner and haven't really eaten anything good so far so we try to find a place that isn't too touristy looking that has a good menu and we go in. Oh. My. Gosh. We had some seriously tasty food. We had a caprese salad to start with with tomatoes that actually tasted like tomatoes and such good mozzerella. Also, every table was given this bowl of stuff that we were both a little timid to try. Turns out it was a soup with chick peas and cuttle fish, but I just slathered my bread in it. It was the tastiest thing yet. By the time we get our pasta I am almost full but still manage to shovel down quite a bit of my tagliolini pasta with artichokes and tomato and Jason had this awesome Rigatone type pasta with tomato and bacon. So delish. Well, after dinner we decide we need what else for dessert but gelato! There is literally a gelateria on every stinkin corner, but we wanted good gelato so we stopped at a hotel to ask for some really good stuff. He directed us to a restaurant and I ordered a cup of pistacchio (again totally in Italian - feeling pretty proud of myself at that time ;) ) and holy cow it was good. I am not really an ice cream girl, but gelato is just different. Tastes so fresh and good. Yummy.
So by this time it is about 11 o clock and we are not tired. That's right those of you who know me. I was up past ten o clock! We were having so much fun and congratulating ourselves for being such night owls. We decided we like Rome Kelli and Jason better than Dallas Kelli and Jason. Dallas Kelli and Jason are kind of boring. =)
So we stayed out just walking around and stopped at a pub for a pint before calling it quits and heading back to the hotel.
Whew! Doesn't that sound like an active day? Well it was. However, tomorrow goes downhill and we got absolutely nothing accomplished. Peak your interest? Good. Stay tuned...
Friday, May 2, 2008
Buona Sera!
Well, we MADE IT. After 12 hours on two planes with a 7 hour layover in between and only two 30 minute naps on the first flight, I have been up for closing in on 31 hours now. I am surprisingly not tired...probably because I am in Rome and really super excited. However I am quite sure that after I write this I will pass out.
So we left what feels like this morning but was actually yesterday afternoon from DFW on Lufthansa to Frankfurt. The plan was to sleep as much as possible so that when we landed in Frankfurt at 9 am I could pretend like I had slept all night and could avoid jet lag as much as possible. That didn't quite happen. The main reason being that the youngest person on our flight was in the seat right next to us, and yes, he did cry (screech?), the whole flight. I felt bad because the mom and grandma were doing everything to console him and even the flight attendant from first class came back to try to do something, but to no avail. My only saving grace was that I had gotten some earplugs that worked surprisingly well, which was why I got any sleep at all, even if only short naps.
We got in to Frankfurt and headed to the train station and headed downtown. We walked around for a bit through a bunch of shops, restaurants and a really pretty park before deciding to eat at this outdoor cafe that looked pretty cool. Plus the weather was awesome and it was in the sun. So we had some schnitzel, fried potatoes and fried Pork sausage (I love German food), and it was DELISH. After that we headed back to catch our flight to Rome. This is about the time we both started to crash and Jason slept while I read over my Italian lessons in the airport. For those who don't know I took a short few weeks Italian lessons course for travelers. It was really helpful and since we have been here I can recognize about every 20th word someone says. =-) As useless as that might sound, I get really excited and tell Jason everything I hear. I am pretty sure he thinks it is annoying, but oh well! At least I know enough to be polite and read some signs etc.
Anyway, so we fly to Rome and as we begin our descent, I seriously began tearing up. I am pretty sure it was partly to do with my lack of sleep, but I also get excited about things really easily so the combination of the two resulted in me almost weeping watching us get closer to Rome. As I was watching it, the little girl sitting behind me says 'But Mom, it is just so beautiful!' like she has never seen anything to compare. Amen little girl! I almost lost it.
Anyway, we got here safe and sound and finally found the shuttle to take us to our hotel. The driver did shut the door on me - yes literally on me - because he didn't see me, but who cares? I'm in Italy! I have been planning for months and months and I am finally here. Tomorrow we are going to see the Colosseum, the Roman Forum and all that historical jazz. Jason has seen it all before so I hope he doesn't get bored, but it is all new to me! I will write more later. Until then...Arrivederci!
So we left what feels like this morning but was actually yesterday afternoon from DFW on Lufthansa to Frankfurt. The plan was to sleep as much as possible so that when we landed in Frankfurt at 9 am I could pretend like I had slept all night and could avoid jet lag as much as possible. That didn't quite happen. The main reason being that the youngest person on our flight was in the seat right next to us, and yes, he did cry (screech?), the whole flight. I felt bad because the mom and grandma were doing everything to console him and even the flight attendant from first class came back to try to do something, but to no avail. My only saving grace was that I had gotten some earplugs that worked surprisingly well, which was why I got any sleep at all, even if only short naps.
We got in to Frankfurt and headed to the train station and headed downtown. We walked around for a bit through a bunch of shops, restaurants and a really pretty park before deciding to eat at this outdoor cafe that looked pretty cool. Plus the weather was awesome and it was in the sun. So we had some schnitzel, fried potatoes and fried Pork sausage (I love German food), and it was DELISH. After that we headed back to catch our flight to Rome. This is about the time we both started to crash and Jason slept while I read over my Italian lessons in the airport. For those who don't know I took a short few weeks Italian lessons course for travelers. It was really helpful and since we have been here I can recognize about every 20th word someone says. =-) As useless as that might sound, I get really excited and tell Jason everything I hear. I am pretty sure he thinks it is annoying, but oh well! At least I know enough to be polite and read some signs etc.
Anyway, so we fly to Rome and as we begin our descent, I seriously began tearing up. I am pretty sure it was partly to do with my lack of sleep, but I also get excited about things really easily so the combination of the two resulted in me almost weeping watching us get closer to Rome. As I was watching it, the little girl sitting behind me says 'But Mom, it is just so beautiful!' like she has never seen anything to compare. Amen little girl! I almost lost it.
Anyway, we got here safe and sound and finally found the shuttle to take us to our hotel. The driver did shut the door on me - yes literally on me - because he didn't see me, but who cares? I'm in Italy! I have been planning for months and months and I am finally here. Tomorrow we are going to see the Colosseum, the Roman Forum and all that historical jazz. Jason has seen it all before so I hope he doesn't get bored, but it is all new to me! I will write more later. Until then...Arrivederci!
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