I realized today that I failed to mention why I decided to go to Vienna and join Brendan on his later part of the trip rather than follow my original plan and go spend time in Greece. Well if you have seethe news recently, things have not been going the greatest in Greece. It is very expensive to get to Greece as it is relatively remote so it did not seem prudent to spend a lot of money to get there...and then realize I was uncomfortable with the situation. Things may be just fine, or if I would be traveling with another person the debate may have turned out differently, but with the way things are not going to Greece seemed like the better choice. I figure down the road it is very feasible to do Greece in a week so I will just need to keep the attitude of "I'll be back someday". Brendan is the only other person I know traveling at the moment and since he was going to visit quite a few places I have not been to, I am quite excited to see where all we end up.
Today we woke up and had breakfast at the hostel before walking to the main square and meeting a free walking tour after some wandering. Free Walking Tours are quite popular since the guides are always young, enthusiastic and are often native English speakers. We really enjoyed our tour as we got a good feel of the history of what we were seeing as well as seeing a large quantity of things. It was a good starting off point for the city certainly. After the tour ended around 2 we headed to a recommended wurst stand and stopped by the Hofbrahaus for some Heiffelweis half liters at the foes beer hall before it got too crowded. After that we grabbed a sweet from the beer garden, some English books and headed to the hostel to get off our feet for a little while and get some lau dry done. Tonight the plan is to pick some fixings for a picnic and head to one of the beer gardens for dinner.
All in all, it's good to be back in Germany!
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Monday, June 27, 2011
Cinque Terre meets Austria and Germany
So the last time I left you I was about to embark on the epic hiking of Cinque Terre. And let me tell you, it was not a disappointment. The Cinque Terre is a series of five small towns which are linked by hiking trails and trains..all of which are perched precariously upon the ledges of small mountains on top of the water.
Karl and I began from our home base (La Spezia) and took the train to the southern most town, Riomaggiore. The town itself was quite low key, but the trail that linked it to Manarola is the most famous of the hikes: a 20 minute walk on Via della Amore. It is the most picturesque and family friendly of the hikes. It has recently been paved for easier acces and graffitti covering it's canyon walls from lovers looking for eternity. Manarola was an interesting town built upon the former bed of a stream. In Manarola we spent our time wandering, meeting up with the boys we took the train with to La Spezia and going for a swim off the rocks where we met some sort of aquatic bird. The hike from Manarola to Corneglia was unfortunately closed so we had to take the train to the next town. Corneglia is the only town not on the water and provided our starting out point for Verazza, which was the most precariously perched town. The hike took about 90 minutes including picture and water breaks, but it was rewarding in that it offered beautiful views. The last town was Monterosso, but as it was the most touristy we did not spend much time there; we decided to go watch the sunset from Riomaggiore instead. After a Doner Kebab dinner we called it an early night once we returned to La Spezia.
The following day (the 23th) was spent traveling from La Spezia to Venice for the most part. It required a connection which was actually quite convenient as it broke things up during the day. Once we arrived in Venice (or rather just outside of) we went wandering, looking for an internet cafe and a place for dinner. Three locals being asked later we still had not found a (working) internet cafe nor a place for dinner. We did however, stumble upon a communist party rally (/facist as they didn't seem to realize what the difference between the two was) which considering my company was quite entertaining. One shmorgasbord dinner later (baguette, meat, cheese, nutella and two bottles of wine) we made some friends at the hostel and managed to feel full as well.
Venice (24th) was spent wandering around the big sights and all in all enjoying getting lost in the city. We spent some time shopping, then managed to see St. Stephen's Basilica, but we did not spend the money on the castles. While the canals are quite beautiful, Venice was a very expensive city without too too many sights. We did enjoy a nice dinner near the main attractions, met a very kind second-hand book seller and finally found an internet cafe for Karl. That evening we picked up a quick dinner at the train station as I boarded an overnight train to meet Brendan in Vienna and Karl took a train to Milan.
25: Around 8:30am I arrived in Vienna to meet Brendan and we spent our morning seeing some of the big sights. First things first we checked out the main pedestrian drag with large amounts of shopping and then moved on to the Hapsburg's old palace. Nearby are many beautiful (architectually) museums as well Parliament and the Hall of Justice. We managed to be in the area in time to see the famous Lipizzaner Stallions which have been around for over 430 years. I was very happy we were able to make it to the show. While I may not have fully appreciated it, I know Brendan did and it was quite interesting/beautiful. That afternoon we grabbed the best quick lunch I have ever had (sausage place on the square) and then caught a train to Haltaat. Our hostel was very quaint and in a quieter part (not that any part of Halstaat is loud) of town. Our host was also quite entertaining and ran a pizzaria and restaurant in the sam building.
The 26th was spent hanging out in Halstaat, though it was quite muggy/raining most of the day. Halstaat is so small the main sites are seeing the Salt Mine, hiking and wandering around. As we would not have been able to see great views with the weather we decided to pass on the mine (and the funicular ride) and spent most of the day wandering and seeing one or two local spots. We did manage to find an out of the way park where it seems the locals went to sun bathe. We also were able to find some limited internet acess where we could book the rest of the trip's hostels.
Today we woke to a beautiful morning, but unfortunately we were leaving Halstaat. Since it was so gorgeous we decided to take the later bus and enjoy the morning as we could. This involved a luxurious breakfast at the hostel, stopping by a bakery, a quick review of town and in Brendan's case: a refreshing lake water swim. We also managed to stop by the grocery store and pick up a loaf of bread so I could feed the many ducks nearby. All of our days/nights in Halstaat included delicious food and I stuck to local Austrian food for the most part. After two buses and a train we made it to Munich this afternoon and went to Augustian Brauhauss for dinner, which is very much like the Hofbrahaus, but less touristy. There we met a couple who is currently living in South Africa, but are from California. He is a civil engineer, she a speech therapist.
Seem to be running out of my alloted time. More later!
Much Love,
Marisa
Karl and I began from our home base (La Spezia) and took the train to the southern most town, Riomaggiore. The town itself was quite low key, but the trail that linked it to Manarola is the most famous of the hikes: a 20 minute walk on Via della Amore. It is the most picturesque and family friendly of the hikes. It has recently been paved for easier acces and graffitti covering it's canyon walls from lovers looking for eternity. Manarola was an interesting town built upon the former bed of a stream. In Manarola we spent our time wandering, meeting up with the boys we took the train with to La Spezia and going for a swim off the rocks where we met some sort of aquatic bird. The hike from Manarola to Corneglia was unfortunately closed so we had to take the train to the next town. Corneglia is the only town not on the water and provided our starting out point for Verazza, which was the most precariously perched town. The hike took about 90 minutes including picture and water breaks, but it was rewarding in that it offered beautiful views. The last town was Monterosso, but as it was the most touristy we did not spend much time there; we decided to go watch the sunset from Riomaggiore instead. After a Doner Kebab dinner we called it an early night once we returned to La Spezia.
The following day (the 23th) was spent traveling from La Spezia to Venice for the most part. It required a connection which was actually quite convenient as it broke things up during the day. Once we arrived in Venice (or rather just outside of) we went wandering, looking for an internet cafe and a place for dinner. Three locals being asked later we still had not found a (working) internet cafe nor a place for dinner. We did however, stumble upon a communist party rally (/facist as they didn't seem to realize what the difference between the two was) which considering my company was quite entertaining. One shmorgasbord dinner later (baguette, meat, cheese, nutella and two bottles of wine) we made some friends at the hostel and managed to feel full as well.
Venice (24th) was spent wandering around the big sights and all in all enjoying getting lost in the city. We spent some time shopping, then managed to see St. Stephen's Basilica, but we did not spend the money on the castles. While the canals are quite beautiful, Venice was a very expensive city without too too many sights. We did enjoy a nice dinner near the main attractions, met a very kind second-hand book seller and finally found an internet cafe for Karl. That evening we picked up a quick dinner at the train station as I boarded an overnight train to meet Brendan in Vienna and Karl took a train to Milan.
25: Around 8:30am I arrived in Vienna to meet Brendan and we spent our morning seeing some of the big sights. First things first we checked out the main pedestrian drag with large amounts of shopping and then moved on to the Hapsburg's old palace. Nearby are many beautiful (architectually) museums as well Parliament and the Hall of Justice. We managed to be in the area in time to see the famous Lipizzaner Stallions which have been around for over 430 years. I was very happy we were able to make it to the show. While I may not have fully appreciated it, I know Brendan did and it was quite interesting/beautiful. That afternoon we grabbed the best quick lunch I have ever had (sausage place on the square) and then caught a train to Haltaat. Our hostel was very quaint and in a quieter part (not that any part of Halstaat is loud) of town. Our host was also quite entertaining and ran a pizzaria and restaurant in the sam building.
The 26th was spent hanging out in Halstaat, though it was quite muggy/raining most of the day. Halstaat is so small the main sites are seeing the Salt Mine, hiking and wandering around. As we would not have been able to see great views with the weather we decided to pass on the mine (and the funicular ride) and spent most of the day wandering and seeing one or two local spots. We did manage to find an out of the way park where it seems the locals went to sun bathe. We also were able to find some limited internet acess where we could book the rest of the trip's hostels.
Today we woke to a beautiful morning, but unfortunately we were leaving Halstaat. Since it was so gorgeous we decided to take the later bus and enjoy the morning as we could. This involved a luxurious breakfast at the hostel, stopping by a bakery, a quick review of town and in Brendan's case: a refreshing lake water swim. We also managed to stop by the grocery store and pick up a loaf of bread so I could feed the many ducks nearby. All of our days/nights in Halstaat included delicious food and I stuck to local Austrian food for the most part. After two buses and a train we made it to Munich this afternoon and went to Augustian Brauhauss for dinner, which is very much like the Hofbrahaus, but less touristy. There we met a couple who is currently living in South Africa, but are from California. He is a civil engineer, she a speech therapist.
Seem to be running out of my alloted time. More later!
Much Love,
Marisa
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
...(It Was) The Worst of Times Meets the Best of Times
(iPhone update disclaimer, so please forgive the difficulty in writing/spelling being a rough cut)
The Most Horrifying Thing I Have Ever Seen a Tourist Do:
So there have been a few things in my traveling experiences that have been quite terrible to witness. The woman from the south yelling about "y'all speak-o the English-o?" followed by "But how much is that in dollars?!?", the various hostel experiences coming across a whole variety of people...but by far the worst of thing I have ever witnessed was at St. Peter's Basilica.
By definition Vatican City is the center of the Catholic world. Even those who are not Catholic flock to see it and can find refuge/peace in it'sassive scale and innate religious center upon which it operates. St. Peter's therefore is something I believe even the most agnostic person can respect in terms of it's value of religious terms and historical value if nothing else. It is St. Peter's and I don't think I know any Christian who doesn't appreciate its importance.
As such, when they say there is a dress code it is quite ridiculous to see people try to get around it. It is nothing over the top, shoulders covered and knees covered (aka no short shorts and women should at least get a shawl). I find it ridiculous to see people be shocked by such, but such should be expected from tourists I suppose.
But then we saw someone else. Two someone else's to be exact actually. A couple who managed to fit the dress code, yet completely miss the point of their visit. As we were leaving they were entering...and usuing the Holy Water to clean/wash/cool their neck, face and hands.
Brendan, Karl and I were so shocked we didn't even get a chance to react. First of all, the Holy Water basin had been roped off so it wasnt easily accessible to the "average tourist" so they were already crossing lines. Guess they really went there to see some big buildings and religious artwork they will clearly get no deeper value out of.
Monday (20th): Yesterday was spent in Sorrento after having the best pizza in the world the night before. I could describe it myself, but Karl is a bit more articulate and I will allow his words to describe our overall feeling towards Sorrento and the location of the place we went to eat:
"We got there late in the evening, just as the sun disappeared behind clouds on it's way to the horizon. Everything was lit up in hues of azure and red, and you could hear the seagulls circling overhead as they came to roost. The waves crashed below as we stood on the clifftop, salty breeze pushing around you, watching as the sun finally set. And suddenly it was quiet, peaceful and serene."
The scenery was beautiful, the food: by far the best I've had so far. I got a Caprese pizza, fresh mozarella, tomatoe and basil. Oregano and drizzle olive oil. I hope one day to make pizza half as good!
The morning (yesterday) was spent doing a walking tour and exploring the town...with quite a bit of window shopping. Sorrento is a port so we spent a significant amount of time looming at sailing clothes and all sorts of yachting thing entirely out of our budget. Another hit was the family-owned leather shop. The neat thing was the small family crest that was present on all their products for sale. I was quite tempted by a purse, but decided to pass. Though Brendan did buy a belt and Karl seriously considered a wallet.
The afternoon was spent in Pompeii seeing the ruins. Karl and I had been hearing mixed reviews on the town as so we were both slightly apprehensive about spending 11 euro on something that may be very similar to Ostia Antica, the ruins we had seen near Rome. We were not disappointed in the least though, the city was very cool. Though we were unabl to crawl around the ruins to the same degree as we had been at Ostia Antica, we still saw a lot. Many more frescoes, mosaics and of course the famous plaster casts of humans caught in the volcanic fallout from Mt. Vesuvius. A fun thing about the ruins were the stray dogs that were present everywhere. By tradition, due to a mosaic found stating "Cave Canem" or "Beware of Dogs", all strays are welcome and taken care of in Pompeii. They were quite friendly, loved finding a good spot of shade and a belly rub. Karl was in heaven.
That evening we ventured to Naples, which was not our cup of tea. Naples was absolutely disgusting. We assumed people had been exaggerating, but there was trash completely saturating the city. The piles on the streets near dumpsters were easily as high as cars. Overall this did not give us a good impression of the city. This was followed by the recommendation of going to the "Best Pizza Place in the World" (as pizza was born in naples) and so we decided to go investigate. The most famous places was take-out only sp we went to number two. While very fresh, I would not say it nearly came close to Sorrento's pizza. We did not venture to the historic old town of Naples because the entire time we walking around we saw the creepiest people we've encountered on the trip so far. While if I had been alone I would claim I was paranoid, as the other two were just as nervous as I was made us decide to head out ASAP. Brendan left for Prague first thing in the morning while Karl and I got some breakfast and booked a train to Cinque Terre.
We were not able to get out of Naples until noon, but it gave us a chance to catch up on a little reading. We transferred in Rome and ended up sharing our room on the second train with three other Americans from Texas. Two slept the majority of the trip, but we chatted with the third for the majority of the trip. Upon getting to La Spezia (where we are using as a base for the hiking tomorrow) we dropped off our things and found a small restaurant to have dinner at. I got the gnocchi while Karl got the sea bass (which was very good-fresh being so close to the coast!). Afterwards was some ice cream sandwiches at a local mom & pop joint with lemon ice cream, which might sound odd was ver refreshing!
Tomorrow is a hike in Cinque Terre!
The Most Horrifying Thing I Have Ever Seen a Tourist Do:
So there have been a few things in my traveling experiences that have been quite terrible to witness. The woman from the south yelling about "y'all speak-o the English-o?" followed by "But how much is that in dollars?!?", the various hostel experiences coming across a whole variety of people...but by far the worst of thing I have ever witnessed was at St. Peter's Basilica.
By definition Vatican City is the center of the Catholic world. Even those who are not Catholic flock to see it and can find refuge/peace in it'sassive scale and innate religious center upon which it operates. St. Peter's therefore is something I believe even the most agnostic person can respect in terms of it's value of religious terms and historical value if nothing else. It is St. Peter's and I don't think I know any Christian who doesn't appreciate its importance.
As such, when they say there is a dress code it is quite ridiculous to see people try to get around it. It is nothing over the top, shoulders covered and knees covered (aka no short shorts and women should at least get a shawl). I find it ridiculous to see people be shocked by such, but such should be expected from tourists I suppose.
But then we saw someone else. Two someone else's to be exact actually. A couple who managed to fit the dress code, yet completely miss the point of their visit. As we were leaving they were entering...and usuing the Holy Water to clean/wash/cool their neck, face and hands.
Brendan, Karl and I were so shocked we didn't even get a chance to react. First of all, the Holy Water basin had been roped off so it wasnt easily accessible to the "average tourist" so they were already crossing lines. Guess they really went there to see some big buildings and religious artwork they will clearly get no deeper value out of.
Monday (20th): Yesterday was spent in Sorrento after having the best pizza in the world the night before. I could describe it myself, but Karl is a bit more articulate and I will allow his words to describe our overall feeling towards Sorrento and the location of the place we went to eat:
"We got there late in the evening, just as the sun disappeared behind clouds on it's way to the horizon. Everything was lit up in hues of azure and red, and you could hear the seagulls circling overhead as they came to roost. The waves crashed below as we stood on the clifftop, salty breeze pushing around you, watching as the sun finally set. And suddenly it was quiet, peaceful and serene."
The scenery was beautiful, the food: by far the best I've had so far. I got a Caprese pizza, fresh mozarella, tomatoe and basil. Oregano and drizzle olive oil. I hope one day to make pizza half as good!
The morning (yesterday) was spent doing a walking tour and exploring the town...with quite a bit of window shopping. Sorrento is a port so we spent a significant amount of time looming at sailing clothes and all sorts of yachting thing entirely out of our budget. Another hit was the family-owned leather shop. The neat thing was the small family crest that was present on all their products for sale. I was quite tempted by a purse, but decided to pass. Though Brendan did buy a belt and Karl seriously considered a wallet.
The afternoon was spent in Pompeii seeing the ruins. Karl and I had been hearing mixed reviews on the town as so we were both slightly apprehensive about spending 11 euro on something that may be very similar to Ostia Antica, the ruins we had seen near Rome. We were not disappointed in the least though, the city was very cool. Though we were unabl to crawl around the ruins to the same degree as we had been at Ostia Antica, we still saw a lot. Many more frescoes, mosaics and of course the famous plaster casts of humans caught in the volcanic fallout from Mt. Vesuvius. A fun thing about the ruins were the stray dogs that were present everywhere. By tradition, due to a mosaic found stating "Cave Canem" or "Beware of Dogs", all strays are welcome and taken care of in Pompeii. They were quite friendly, loved finding a good spot of shade and a belly rub. Karl was in heaven.
That evening we ventured to Naples, which was not our cup of tea. Naples was absolutely disgusting. We assumed people had been exaggerating, but there was trash completely saturating the city. The piles on the streets near dumpsters were easily as high as cars. Overall this did not give us a good impression of the city. This was followed by the recommendation of going to the "Best Pizza Place in the World" (as pizza was born in naples) and so we decided to go investigate. The most famous places was take-out only sp we went to number two. While very fresh, I would not say it nearly came close to Sorrento's pizza. We did not venture to the historic old town of Naples because the entire time we walking around we saw the creepiest people we've encountered on the trip so far. While if I had been alone I would claim I was paranoid, as the other two were just as nervous as I was made us decide to head out ASAP. Brendan left for Prague first thing in the morning while Karl and I got some breakfast and booked a train to Cinque Terre.
We were not able to get out of Naples until noon, but it gave us a chance to catch up on a little reading. We transferred in Rome and ended up sharing our room on the second train with three other Americans from Texas. Two slept the majority of the trip, but we chatted with the third for the majority of the trip. Upon getting to La Spezia (where we are using as a base for the hiking tomorrow) we dropped off our things and found a small restaurant to have dinner at. I got the gnocchi while Karl got the sea bass (which was very good-fresh being so close to the coast!). Afterwards was some ice cream sandwiches at a local mom & pop joint with lemon ice cream, which might sound odd was ver refreshing!
Tomorrow is a hike in Cinque Terre!
Sunday, June 19, 2011
A Brush with Mono, Best of Rome Tour and Sorrento
Thursday (16th):
Brendan got in a little late, but afterwards we headed to the hostel for everyone to get settled. We had the welcoming (check-in) free drink and then headed to dinner at a restaurant called Giovanni. It was very much a no-nonsense no concessions to tourism place that had some great pasta. We got a bottle of house wine and good times were had all around. Unfortunately we got news that Julie was incredibly sick and would be unable to join us for the weekend because of it. We later found out it was mono, which meant she was sorely missed, but we decided to try to make the best of it that we could.
Friday (17th):
Friday we woke up on the earlier side and headed to do some of the main Ancient Rome sights. First off was Capital Hill, followed by Palatine Hill, the Roman Forum and then a stop for a good lunch recommended by our buddy Rick Steves. After lunch we hit up St. Peter in Chains to see the funerary chapel of Pope Julius II (who I studied in my art class) and the chains that were said to have restrained St. Peter. Following our visit was the Colosseum, gelato at Giolittis and a quick visit to the Pantheon. Dinner was at an Irish pub called Flann O´Brians near our hostel and some drinks afterwards were at the hostel.
Saturday (18th):
Yesterday was spent seeing St. Peter¨s Basilica, climbing the dome, seeing the post office and souvenir shop on the roof followed by some lunch. Lunch was held at a simple sandwich shop popular with students on a budget and followed up by gelato at Old Bridge on recommendation by one of Brendans friends. By the time we were finished with gelato we were all quite tired and we headed back to the hostel for some rest and relaxation before dinner. Dinner was a simpler affair at a hole in the wall place nearby that Brendan found on trip advisor. It was listed as 12 of over 2500 listed so we figured it would be a pretty good choice.
Sunday(19th):
This morning we woke up in time to check out and headed to Vatican City to see the Pope for his Sunday audience, but unfortunately it turns out he is hanging out in San Marino for the weekend. It was quite a disappointment the pope decided to ditch us, however it was not an entirely lost cause as it gave us time to see the Spanish Steps and Trevi Fountain with Brendan. There on was spent relaxing for a little bit and grabbing some lunch before our train to Naples and our subsequent transfer to an hour-long metro to Sorrento. It was a very long metro ride, but it has been absolutely beautiful since we have gotten here. We dropped off our bags, grabbed some drinks on the rooftop bar and then went to one of the best local places for pizza (recommended as pizza was invented here). The restaurant was very nice with a gorgeous view over the cliffs and the best pizza I have ever had. Definitely worth the walk over, in fact Karl and I are considering coming back for another day if we can make it.
If things work out as planned we will stay here tomorrow morning, hit Pompeii in the afternoon and then take the train into Naples to spend the night there. Brendan will fly out the following day and Karl and I will need to figure out our plan!
Long story short things are going very well. I would love to write some more details, but as my internet access is limited I thought I would at least get our recent itinerary up.
Ciao!
Brendan got in a little late, but afterwards we headed to the hostel for everyone to get settled. We had the welcoming (check-in) free drink and then headed to dinner at a restaurant called Giovanni. It was very much a no-nonsense no concessions to tourism place that had some great pasta. We got a bottle of house wine and good times were had all around. Unfortunately we got news that Julie was incredibly sick and would be unable to join us for the weekend because of it. We later found out it was mono, which meant she was sorely missed, but we decided to try to make the best of it that we could.
Friday (17th):
Friday we woke up on the earlier side and headed to do some of the main Ancient Rome sights. First off was Capital Hill, followed by Palatine Hill, the Roman Forum and then a stop for a good lunch recommended by our buddy Rick Steves. After lunch we hit up St. Peter in Chains to see the funerary chapel of Pope Julius II (who I studied in my art class) and the chains that were said to have restrained St. Peter. Following our visit was the Colosseum, gelato at Giolittis and a quick visit to the Pantheon. Dinner was at an Irish pub called Flann O´Brians near our hostel and some drinks afterwards were at the hostel.
Saturday (18th):
Yesterday was spent seeing St. Peter¨s Basilica, climbing the dome, seeing the post office and souvenir shop on the roof followed by some lunch. Lunch was held at a simple sandwich shop popular with students on a budget and followed up by gelato at Old Bridge on recommendation by one of Brendans friends. By the time we were finished with gelato we were all quite tired and we headed back to the hostel for some rest and relaxation before dinner. Dinner was a simpler affair at a hole in the wall place nearby that Brendan found on trip advisor. It was listed as 12 of over 2500 listed so we figured it would be a pretty good choice.
Sunday(19th):
This morning we woke up in time to check out and headed to Vatican City to see the Pope for his Sunday audience, but unfortunately it turns out he is hanging out in San Marino for the weekend. It was quite a disappointment the pope decided to ditch us, however it was not an entirely lost cause as it gave us time to see the Spanish Steps and Trevi Fountain with Brendan. There on was spent relaxing for a little bit and grabbing some lunch before our train to Naples and our subsequent transfer to an hour-long metro to Sorrento. It was a very long metro ride, but it has been absolutely beautiful since we have gotten here. We dropped off our bags, grabbed some drinks on the rooftop bar and then went to one of the best local places for pizza (recommended as pizza was invented here). The restaurant was very nice with a gorgeous view over the cliffs and the best pizza I have ever had. Definitely worth the walk over, in fact Karl and I are considering coming back for another day if we can make it.
If things work out as planned we will stay here tomorrow morning, hit Pompeii in the afternoon and then take the train into Naples to spend the night there. Brendan will fly out the following day and Karl and I will need to figure out our plan!
Long story short things are going very well. I would love to write some more details, but as my internet access is limited I thought I would at least get our recent itinerary up.
Ciao!
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Roma Chaos, Bella Chaos
Hello from Roma!
I am currently sitting at my hostel writing on a rented ipad because they dont't have computers and it's free to rent the ipad for some time. Rome is crazy and ridiculous, but I've had fun so far. I got in late Monday night at the airport and then took the train into Rome's central train station termini. It was about midnight by the time I made it to the hostel and the bar was packed and everyone was having a blast, which boded well for the hostel experience here.
After crashing for the night I got up early with the good intentions to go to Assisi for the day. But I was running on just a few hours of sleep so I decided Assisi could wait...a little more sleep later and I was readsy to go. I got to the train station and bought my ticket from the electronic machine and was ready to go....until i realized the only train at the correct time wfas not going to my connection. Some frantic confusion and 40 minutes later I had given up. Since the train I had needed didn't seem to exist and the next one would not get me in until a bit too late I called it a wash. That's the things go in Rome, you can't really make plans.
Tuesday:
I spent the rest of the day just wandering...and how did I marvel. Rome is stressful and chaotic, but if you let go of your plans and just let things work out it can be a lot of fun. I ended up going to Hadrians Mosoleum ( Castel of San Angel..? I dont have my book to write down the exact name), saw the Colosseum, where Mussolini made his speeches (according to a high school teacher giving a tour with his students), Piazza Navona as well as the Trevi Fountain (not neceessarily in that order). I just enjoyed my time, wrote, got some pizza and lewt myself relax and get a feel for Rome. That night I met a guy from 17th and Michigan in Chicago as well as a guy from Austin, Texas. We had some drinks, but I was exhausted from walking the majority of the city and called it a day early.
Wednesday:
Karl got in! I grabbed some breakfast with the guy from Austin and then I headed to meet up with Karl's train. It ended up being about an hour delayed, but we were able to meet up and after dropping his things off we went to dominate Rome. Since we are going to see the main sites with Julie, Michelle and Brendan when they get in, we went and saw some of the smaller sites. Firstr we saw the Cappuchipn Crypts, which are a series of altars that are made exclusively from the bones of more than 4,000 friars. It was quite creepy honestly, I'm not surew I fully appreciated the "beauty" there. Then we walked north to the Piazza de Popolo and hit the Spanish Steps on the way there. After get a few tours from our buddy Rick, we headed over to Piazza Navona and found a place nearby for dinner. We got some gelato from the best place in thee world: Giolitti's. Second time was just as good as the first the day before! Once we weere done with our gelato, eaten on teh steps of Parliament, we headed back to the hostel though we made a short detour so Karl could see come of Ancient Rome on the way. The rest of the nigght was spend drinking, chatting and generally catching up.
Thursday:
Running out of time, but today we did a day trip to Ostia Antica, which were Roman ruins said to be better than Pompeii. More on that later!
I am currently sitting at my hostel writing on a rented ipad because they dont't have computers and it's free to rent the ipad for some time. Rome is crazy and ridiculous, but I've had fun so far. I got in late Monday night at the airport and then took the train into Rome's central train station termini. It was about midnight by the time I made it to the hostel and the bar was packed and everyone was having a blast, which boded well for the hostel experience here.
After crashing for the night I got up early with the good intentions to go to Assisi for the day. But I was running on just a few hours of sleep so I decided Assisi could wait...a little more sleep later and I was readsy to go. I got to the train station and bought my ticket from the electronic machine and was ready to go....until i realized the only train at the correct time wfas not going to my connection. Some frantic confusion and 40 minutes later I had given up. Since the train I had needed didn't seem to exist and the next one would not get me in until a bit too late I called it a wash. That's the things go in Rome, you can't really make plans.
Tuesday:
I spent the rest of the day just wandering...and how did I marvel. Rome is stressful and chaotic, but if you let go of your plans and just let things work out it can be a lot of fun. I ended up going to Hadrians Mosoleum ( Castel of San Angel..? I dont have my book to write down the exact name), saw the Colosseum, where Mussolini made his speeches (according to a high school teacher giving a tour with his students), Piazza Navona as well as the Trevi Fountain (not neceessarily in that order). I just enjoyed my time, wrote, got some pizza and lewt myself relax and get a feel for Rome. That night I met a guy from 17th and Michigan in Chicago as well as a guy from Austin, Texas. We had some drinks, but I was exhausted from walking the majority of the city and called it a day early.
Wednesday:
Karl got in! I grabbed some breakfast with the guy from Austin and then I headed to meet up with Karl's train. It ended up being about an hour delayed, but we were able to meet up and after dropping his things off we went to dominate Rome. Since we are going to see the main sites with Julie, Michelle and Brendan when they get in, we went and saw some of the smaller sites. Firstr we saw the Cappuchipn Crypts, which are a series of altars that are made exclusively from the bones of more than 4,000 friars. It was quite creepy honestly, I'm not surew I fully appreciated the "beauty" there. Then we walked north to the Piazza de Popolo and hit the Spanish Steps on the way there. After get a few tours from our buddy Rick, we headed over to Piazza Navona and found a place nearby for dinner. We got some gelato from the best place in thee world: Giolitti's. Second time was just as good as the first the day before! Once we weere done with our gelato, eaten on teh steps of Parliament, we headed back to the hostel though we made a short detour so Karl could see come of Ancient Rome on the way. The rest of the nigght was spend drinking, chatting and generally catching up.
Thursday:
Running out of time, but today we did a day trip to Ostia Antica, which were Roman ruins said to be better than Pompeii. More on that later!
Sunday, June 12, 2011
2 Random Thoughts about Polish/Poland
- What's with the ice cream? Don't get me wrong, I love ice cream as much as the next person, but I don't think even on the worst day I'd be up for ice cream at 9:30 am on a Sunday...
- Extreme dogs. Either HUGE or TINY, there's no in between. And the small ones are annoying ones that don't shut up ever... large are the ginormous ones and huskeys that take up the entire sidewalk. It is quite entertaining to see in a city.
- Extreme dogs. Either HUGE or TINY, there's no in between. And the small ones are annoying ones that don't shut up ever... large are the ginormous ones and huskeys that take up the entire sidewalk. It is quite entertaining to see in a city.
Free Lunch Day, Brussels & Auschwitz
Sorry it's been a bit! Things got quite hectic and with having terrible internet service in the hostel I was staying at in Paris it was quite difficult to update. The update that I did make was from typing on my iphone...which I'm sure you can imagine took quite a while!
Wednesday 8th: Free Lunch Day!
Today I decided to do some of the tourist-y things in Paris since I was there. I started out early in the morning with Rick Steve's walking tour. I got out of the metro station and noticed the line for Sainte-Chapelle was short (and I knew that was at the end of my tour) and Brendan had warned me that it got quite long. As such, I decided I would go ahead and jump to the end of my tour and do that first so that I didn't have to stand in line for too long!
Saint-Chapelle was absolutely stunning. I'm glad that they mad you do the downstairs first (where the commoners worshipped) and had you walk up the steps to the chapel... Where it was breath-taking. For those of you who have never heard of this church, it seems it is entirely composed of stained glass windows.
Here is an example from online of what it looks like.
One thing that was interesting about the church is that it is on the same grounds as the headquarters of the Police so security is tight!
After that, I headed to the Conciergerie which is was originally where the royalty resided, but became a place of torture for criminals and later a jail used during the revolution. This is where Marie-Antoinette lost her head along with roughly 1,000 others.
Next I headed over to Notre Dame where I was going to take another peek if the line was short, but it looked swamped so I took a pass and just did some photography. Behind Notre Dame is a simple memorial to the French holocaust victims that I visited briefly. After that I headed to a corner stand to grab some lunch that happened to be completely swamped. They were taking orders, having you pay and then they would give you the food. I ordered my food from one guy, but then he went to take care of another customer. I tried to pay the other guy once I got my food & coke, but he kept waving me off because he was dealing with a large school group. He did not speak French and after a few more attempts and his increasing annoyance I just wandered off.... wha-la! Free lunch day!
After a satisfying lunch I walked to the Louvre since I figured I may as well get started waiting in line since I was sure it would be long. I knew about a trick to getting slightly shorter lines (by going through a mall where you can buy tickets from automatic tellers) and I did that and I didn't wait in any lines! I breezed through the bag check, picked up my ticket with no line and went straight into the exhibit. I guess lunch is the time to go! All I can figure is that the morning tours had finished and the afternoon ones had not started left because when I did leave the line was very very long and there were a mass of tours everywhere. I am glad I decided not to do a tour because it allowed me to focus in on the artists that I wanted to see and then leave. The Louvre is very big, it would be more than a little over-whelming to try and see everything. The main things that I did see where Michelangelo's "Dying Slave" statue, Monet as well as a few other big name items and a few things I studied in my art class this past semester.
After the Louvre I walked through the park nearby meandering my way through and taking some time to write in my journal. Being in the park was actually quite entertaining, there were some very affectionate teenagers all over the place. After that it was starting to get late so I headed back to my hostel after walking over to see the Eiffel Tower one last time and had a quick bite to eat from a bakery nearby.
Thurstday 9th: Brussels!
I am so glad I decided to go to Brussels! I had a blast. Everyone there was very easy-going and happy to be of help in recommending different places to see. I didn't go to any of the museums so I don't think I would have wanted to spend any more time there either. Once I got there I got directions to the Use-It Youth Hostel (which I highly highly recommend of anyone is heading there) where they were very helpful in providing maps with what the young locals actually think about different venues and tourist attractions as well as suggestions for food, drink and purchases. First things first, I was tired of getting stared at for wearing shorts with my hiking boots (due to my ankle problems I have to wearing something with ankle support for long treks) in Paris and I stopped by H & M and bought a skirt. It's very brightly-colored and practical (it has pockets!) so now people are too distracted by the skirt to give me the annoying stare down about my wardrobe. I wandered off at that point checked out the town hall which is a square that looks like something out of fairy tale. All the buildings look like they haven't changed a bit in the past 300 years.
Once I had wandered there a little bit I headed way down south to take a brewery tour at the Cantillon Brewery where they make gueuze and kriek beers. In case anyone is wondering, this is the only original and true producer of lambic beers because they are the only ones who depend on spontaneous fermentation. They are also the only remaining brewery in Brussels. The beers are dry and slightly sour. The kriek beers are flavored with fruits...both were delicious! Definitely worth the trek out to a random part of town for it. After that adventure I headed to the Palace of Justice, which was not nearly as beautiful as usual as it was covered with scaffolding. Next I stopped by the Cathedral and did a short tour inside.
A quick drop-off at the TI to use the internet (I got in touch with Julie because we are going to meet up in Rome with Brendan this coming weekend!) and then I was off again. I wandered through the posh shopping district and stopped by what is deemed the "Best Waffle Place" by the Old Ladies' Commitee. In other words the youth TI deemed the location I went to the best because it was where all the picky grandmothers go to get their waffles. I have to admit they are quite different than what American's think of when someone says Belgium Waffles, but they quite good. And of course I had to get a gueuze beer to go with it...
The afternoon was spent wandering in a park and seeing the Royal Palace (not much to do there, mostly just look at) and reading through a display on different architects who worked in Brussels. I was going to drop by the famous Delirium Bar for a drink, but I was unable to find it so I went ahead and started heading to the train station (to go back to Paris) since it was quite a hike and I wanted to get there before nightfall. A quick dinner from the grocery store was followed up by some Belgium chocolate and another gueuze over which I made friends with some older guys who worked for the rail company.
Friday 10th: Arrival in Krakow, Poland and getting settled
Early morning I headed to the airport as I was not sure what the protocal was for easyJet. I was able to get to the airport in plenty of time and didn't have any problems though I was quite nervous that I would miss the plane (since I don't speak French). I was able to pick up a book in English though which was quite nice (called Playing the Game for those interested-recommended to females though guys will probably not be interested). The flight was uneventful though the flight attendants were quite annoying...they ignored all attempts to get food unless you ordered in French..even though they all clearly spoke perfect English. Once I got into Krakow I caught the train into town and feasted on the Pretzel-roll things that are sold on the street. Delicious! And only about 50 cents. I spent the rest of the day reading, relaxing and got some dinner at a psuedo-traditional restaurant where I got a wonderful meal for an equivalent of 20 dollars. That includes a main course, two beers, a water and dessert. And let me tell you the dessert was a work of art. It was a home-made layered cake with coconut in it and on top. Then strung out as an arch over the entire thing (a foot high!) was spun caramel. It tasted a little like caramel-flavored cotton candly, but was stiff. I may be going back there...
Saturday 11th:
Yesterday I went to Auschwitz. I took the first bus in so I was in one of the first tours of the day because I wanted to make sure that I would be able to spend as much time as I felt I wanted there. The tour was very well done and continued through the museum and displays in Auschwitz I and on to Auschwitz II-Birkenau. I am going to abbreviate them as A-I and AII-B. A-I was sobering because of the displays of a very small proportion of the items left by the Nazis as they left 1 week before the liberation by the Russians. Included were hundred of glasses, luggage, shaving kits, thousands of shoes and two tons of hair that was shaved off. The Nazis used the hair to make cloth and nets.
AII-B was the second death camp that was built once A-I was clearly not large enough. What is astounding is the sheer size of the camp. Looking down the row of 19 buildings re-constructed from original parts you can barely see the end of them. All that remains of the other buildings are the chimneys. (The lumber was needed after the liberation by the army as supplies were low) I cannot imagine how it must have felt to have come in and not seen the end of buildings with prisoners inside. The tour ended here and I spent some additional time there for reflection. I returned to A-I and viewed the short film they had on the camp which showed some of the more graphic images from the Holocaust (much like the National Holocaust Museum in Washington DC). Looking back I wish I had spent a little more time there to see some of the memorials built by each individual country, but I was quite emotionally exhausted at that point and headed back on the bus. I think Auschwitz is the type of place you could continue to go back and see 4-5 times before you felt like you really saw everything. Later on I may do a post on Holocaust Reflections, but for now I am not going to go into any more details as I am still decompressing the entire experience.
Sunday 12th:
Today I spend the day in Krakow seeing the sights! I started out the day by doing a walking tour courtesy of my buddy Rick though I was unable to go into some of the churches since it is Sunday. This included the main square, the city wall and many many churches. Krakow has the most churches per square mile than any other city outside Rome. It has 32 alone in Old Town! One of the more interesting things that I saw today was where the blessed (former Pope) John Paul II presided before he became the Pope! I then did a tour of Wawel Hill which is the royal palace and cathedral of Poland. Though the capital moved to Warsaw 400 years ago, people here have very long memories. Since I had made a few purchases I stopped by the hostel and then headed back downtown to go see the churches that were having mass during the morning. I am thinking I will probably go to dinner where I did the first night and go to the Salt Mine tomorrow morning!
Then tomorrow evening I will head to the airport to get to Rome!
All in all, things are going much better. The love Poland, the people are great and very easy-going. Everyone just seems quite happy. I think it is some place I would love to return to. I am having a much more relaxed time here than I did anywhere else so far. To fill in the quiet time I went to a used English bookstore and picked up 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.
Hope all is well with everyone! I can't wait to see Brendan, Julie and meet her roommate Michelle this coming weekend! If all goes well I'll have the chance to meet up with Karl as well down the line in Italy.
Peace!
Wednesday 8th: Free Lunch Day!
Today I decided to do some of the tourist-y things in Paris since I was there. I started out early in the morning with Rick Steve's walking tour. I got out of the metro station and noticed the line for Sainte-Chapelle was short (and I knew that was at the end of my tour) and Brendan had warned me that it got quite long. As such, I decided I would go ahead and jump to the end of my tour and do that first so that I didn't have to stand in line for too long!
Saint-Chapelle was absolutely stunning. I'm glad that they mad you do the downstairs first (where the commoners worshipped) and had you walk up the steps to the chapel... Where it was breath-taking. For those of you who have never heard of this church, it seems it is entirely composed of stained glass windows.
Here is an example from online of what it looks like.
One thing that was interesting about the church is that it is on the same grounds as the headquarters of the Police so security is tight!
After that, I headed to the Conciergerie which is was originally where the royalty resided, but became a place of torture for criminals and later a jail used during the revolution. This is where Marie-Antoinette lost her head along with roughly 1,000 others.
Next I headed over to Notre Dame where I was going to take another peek if the line was short, but it looked swamped so I took a pass and just did some photography. Behind Notre Dame is a simple memorial to the French holocaust victims that I visited briefly. After that I headed to a corner stand to grab some lunch that happened to be completely swamped. They were taking orders, having you pay and then they would give you the food. I ordered my food from one guy, but then he went to take care of another customer. I tried to pay the other guy once I got my food & coke, but he kept waving me off because he was dealing with a large school group. He did not speak French and after a few more attempts and his increasing annoyance I just wandered off.... wha-la! Free lunch day!
After a satisfying lunch I walked to the Louvre since I figured I may as well get started waiting in line since I was sure it would be long. I knew about a trick to getting slightly shorter lines (by going through a mall where you can buy tickets from automatic tellers) and I did that and I didn't wait in any lines! I breezed through the bag check, picked up my ticket with no line and went straight into the exhibit. I guess lunch is the time to go! All I can figure is that the morning tours had finished and the afternoon ones had not started left because when I did leave the line was very very long and there were a mass of tours everywhere. I am glad I decided not to do a tour because it allowed me to focus in on the artists that I wanted to see and then leave. The Louvre is very big, it would be more than a little over-whelming to try and see everything. The main things that I did see where Michelangelo's "Dying Slave" statue, Monet as well as a few other big name items and a few things I studied in my art class this past semester.
After the Louvre I walked through the park nearby meandering my way through and taking some time to write in my journal. Being in the park was actually quite entertaining, there were some very affectionate teenagers all over the place. After that it was starting to get late so I headed back to my hostel after walking over to see the Eiffel Tower one last time and had a quick bite to eat from a bakery nearby.
Thurstday 9th: Brussels!
I am so glad I decided to go to Brussels! I had a blast. Everyone there was very easy-going and happy to be of help in recommending different places to see. I didn't go to any of the museums so I don't think I would have wanted to spend any more time there either. Once I got there I got directions to the Use-It Youth Hostel (which I highly highly recommend of anyone is heading there) where they were very helpful in providing maps with what the young locals actually think about different venues and tourist attractions as well as suggestions for food, drink and purchases. First things first, I was tired of getting stared at for wearing shorts with my hiking boots (due to my ankle problems I have to wearing something with ankle support for long treks) in Paris and I stopped by H & M and bought a skirt. It's very brightly-colored and practical (it has pockets!) so now people are too distracted by the skirt to give me the annoying stare down about my wardrobe. I wandered off at that point checked out the town hall which is a square that looks like something out of fairy tale. All the buildings look like they haven't changed a bit in the past 300 years.
Once I had wandered there a little bit I headed way down south to take a brewery tour at the Cantillon Brewery where they make gueuze and kriek beers. In case anyone is wondering, this is the only original and true producer of lambic beers because they are the only ones who depend on spontaneous fermentation. They are also the only remaining brewery in Brussels. The beers are dry and slightly sour. The kriek beers are flavored with fruits...both were delicious! Definitely worth the trek out to a random part of town for it. After that adventure I headed to the Palace of Justice, which was not nearly as beautiful as usual as it was covered with scaffolding. Next I stopped by the Cathedral and did a short tour inside.
A quick drop-off at the TI to use the internet (I got in touch with Julie because we are going to meet up in Rome with Brendan this coming weekend!) and then I was off again. I wandered through the posh shopping district and stopped by what is deemed the "Best Waffle Place" by the Old Ladies' Commitee. In other words the youth TI deemed the location I went to the best because it was where all the picky grandmothers go to get their waffles. I have to admit they are quite different than what American's think of when someone says Belgium Waffles, but they quite good. And of course I had to get a gueuze beer to go with it...
The afternoon was spent wandering in a park and seeing the Royal Palace (not much to do there, mostly just look at) and reading through a display on different architects who worked in Brussels. I was going to drop by the famous Delirium Bar for a drink, but I was unable to find it so I went ahead and started heading to the train station (to go back to Paris) since it was quite a hike and I wanted to get there before nightfall. A quick dinner from the grocery store was followed up by some Belgium chocolate and another gueuze over which I made friends with some older guys who worked for the rail company.
Friday 10th: Arrival in Krakow, Poland and getting settled
Early morning I headed to the airport as I was not sure what the protocal was for easyJet. I was able to get to the airport in plenty of time and didn't have any problems though I was quite nervous that I would miss the plane (since I don't speak French). I was able to pick up a book in English though which was quite nice (called Playing the Game for those interested-recommended to females though guys will probably not be interested). The flight was uneventful though the flight attendants were quite annoying...they ignored all attempts to get food unless you ordered in French..even though they all clearly spoke perfect English. Once I got into Krakow I caught the train into town and feasted on the Pretzel-roll things that are sold on the street. Delicious! And only about 50 cents. I spent the rest of the day reading, relaxing and got some dinner at a psuedo-traditional restaurant where I got a wonderful meal for an equivalent of 20 dollars. That includes a main course, two beers, a water and dessert. And let me tell you the dessert was a work of art. It was a home-made layered cake with coconut in it and on top. Then strung out as an arch over the entire thing (a foot high!) was spun caramel. It tasted a little like caramel-flavored cotton candly, but was stiff. I may be going back there...
Saturday 11th:
Yesterday I went to Auschwitz. I took the first bus in so I was in one of the first tours of the day because I wanted to make sure that I would be able to spend as much time as I felt I wanted there. The tour was very well done and continued through the museum and displays in Auschwitz I and on to Auschwitz II-Birkenau. I am going to abbreviate them as A-I and AII-B. A-I was sobering because of the displays of a very small proportion of the items left by the Nazis as they left 1 week before the liberation by the Russians. Included were hundred of glasses, luggage, shaving kits, thousands of shoes and two tons of hair that was shaved off. The Nazis used the hair to make cloth and nets.
AII-B was the second death camp that was built once A-I was clearly not large enough. What is astounding is the sheer size of the camp. Looking down the row of 19 buildings re-constructed from original parts you can barely see the end of them. All that remains of the other buildings are the chimneys. (The lumber was needed after the liberation by the army as supplies were low) I cannot imagine how it must have felt to have come in and not seen the end of buildings with prisoners inside. The tour ended here and I spent some additional time there for reflection. I returned to A-I and viewed the short film they had on the camp which showed some of the more graphic images from the Holocaust (much like the National Holocaust Museum in Washington DC). Looking back I wish I had spent a little more time there to see some of the memorials built by each individual country, but I was quite emotionally exhausted at that point and headed back on the bus. I think Auschwitz is the type of place you could continue to go back and see 4-5 times before you felt like you really saw everything. Later on I may do a post on Holocaust Reflections, but for now I am not going to go into any more details as I am still decompressing the entire experience.
Sunday 12th:
Today I spend the day in Krakow seeing the sights! I started out the day by doing a walking tour courtesy of my buddy Rick though I was unable to go into some of the churches since it is Sunday. This included the main square, the city wall and many many churches. Krakow has the most churches per square mile than any other city outside Rome. It has 32 alone in Old Town! One of the more interesting things that I saw today was where the blessed (former Pope) John Paul II presided before he became the Pope! I then did a tour of Wawel Hill which is the royal palace and cathedral of Poland. Though the capital moved to Warsaw 400 years ago, people here have very long memories. Since I had made a few purchases I stopped by the hostel and then headed back downtown to go see the churches that were having mass during the morning. I am thinking I will probably go to dinner where I did the first night and go to the Salt Mine tomorrow morning!
Then tomorrow evening I will head to the airport to get to Rome!
All in all, things are going much better. The love Poland, the people are great and very easy-going. Everyone just seems quite happy. I think it is some place I would love to return to. I am having a much more relaxed time here than I did anywhere else so far. To fill in the quiet time I went to a used English bookstore and picked up 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.
Hope all is well with everyone! I can't wait to see Brendan, Julie and meet her roommate Michelle this coming weekend! If all goes well I'll have the chance to meet up with Karl as well down the line in Italy.
Peace!
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Versailles, Why Sheep were the Highlight of my Day and Why the French Police May be on the Lookout for Me
Well today was a fiasco!
And I mean fiasco in the sense of greater than an expected number of things to go wrong. Things started out with a guy waking up entirely too early in my hostel room (ie around 6:15am) followed by another and so I went ahead and got up around 7:15 figuring I'd get a head start on things. Fast forward to buying a ticket to Versailles, no problem. I did it in person rather than a machine because I wante to make sure there was nothing unusual about the trip...the teller told me it was fine: definitely not the case. When I go on a train with many stops I typically stay by the map so I can follow the progress to ensure I don't miss my stop. Unfortunately for me, the route I was on is apparently under construction so only specific trains were continuing on the scheduled route, the remainder stop about 5 stops before the final destination. I was alerted to the fact my train was no longer in service by a helpful Parisian signaling to me after the train had emptied and started moving again. You would have thought one of the many people sitting near me could have pointed that out. The train had not been all that full so I had not noticed an unusual number of people exiting.
So off goes the empty train with me stuck on it. Cue a single obscenity and some mild freaking out, but luckily the train stopped maybe 300 yards later (which of course felt like forever to me) and I was able to get the door open. Cut to me, bundled up in a rain jacket, sprinting back towards the station as the train conductor honks at me on the train (as I am undoubtably not allowed on the tracks). Then I had a dilemma, I could jump a fence near the train station where I knew where I'd be, but was also clearly observed by three cameras or walk a little ways and see what the options are down the line. I chose the later not wanting to (obviously) break the law infront of many people in a foreign country. Two fence jumped later with my only battle wound a scratch from a bush I was able to make my way back to the station entrance quite quickly...roughly 2 minutes so quite reasonable. Problem number two: the turnstiles to enter the direction I need only were accepting monthly passes, not the single pass I had bought. Using my stunning diplomatic skills of "Aaaah! What do I do?!?!" a nice French business man took pity on me upon seeing my conundrum and held the entrance door open while I jumped the turnstile. After that I found a nice Italian couple who were also going to Versailles and we all took the train there together.
Two lines later (the first of which the same Italian couple let me jump in line with them when they saw my line close) and a couple hundred school children ahead of me I made it into the chateaux versailles (the palace) with the unlimited ticket granting access to the main palace, gardens, a fountain show in the gardens and the two smaller palaces north where Marie Antoinette resided.
All that of course had been dependent on the fact that my ticket would not be blown away in the rain and wind while I was enjoying my picnic. So stranded on the furthest-most point from the train station I at least walked by the two smaller palaces so I could see them from the outside. It would have been quite expensive to buy all the tickets again so once I took quick glances I started my long truck back around the palace grounds back to town and the train station. As I'm sure you can imagine I was quite discouraged at this point when I stumbled upon some sheep huddling in the rain. That is when the following question struck me "If wool shrinks I'm water, do sheep shrink in the rain like a real life Despicable Me shrink ray??"
A few minutes and a good laugh later I was at least in better spirits on the rest of my walk back. I picked up a Twix to cheer myself up as well and I realized why at least the French are in such better shape comparatively to Americans: their candy us really expensive!!
The train back to Paris was without any mishaps and since I got back early I decide to go to the Sacred Heart Basilica of Montmarte (Sacre-Coeur) which is a church on a huge hill in Paris. It was actually a church that I went to with Andrew, Jesse and Dan over fall break, but we were unable to go inside then. After touring the basilica and lighting a candle I was feeling quite refreshed and ready to take on the rest of the day.
And I mean fiasco in the sense of greater than an expected number of things to go wrong. Things started out with a guy waking up entirely too early in my hostel room (ie around 6:15am) followed by another and so I went ahead and got up around 7:15 figuring I'd get a head start on things. Fast forward to buying a ticket to Versailles, no problem. I did it in person rather than a machine because I wante to make sure there was nothing unusual about the trip...the teller told me it was fine: definitely not the case. When I go on a train with many stops I typically stay by the map so I can follow the progress to ensure I don't miss my stop. Unfortunately for me, the route I was on is apparently under construction so only specific trains were continuing on the scheduled route, the remainder stop about 5 stops before the final destination. I was alerted to the fact my train was no longer in service by a helpful Parisian signaling to me after the train had emptied and started moving again. You would have thought one of the many people sitting near me could have pointed that out. The train had not been all that full so I had not noticed an unusual number of people exiting.
So off goes the empty train with me stuck on it. Cue a single obscenity and some mild freaking out, but luckily the train stopped maybe 300 yards later (which of course felt like forever to me) and I was able to get the door open. Cut to me, bundled up in a rain jacket, sprinting back towards the station as the train conductor honks at me on the train (as I am undoubtably not allowed on the tracks). Then I had a dilemma, I could jump a fence near the train station where I knew where I'd be, but was also clearly observed by three cameras or walk a little ways and see what the options are down the line. I chose the later not wanting to (obviously) break the law infront of many people in a foreign country. Two fence jumped later with my only battle wound a scratch from a bush I was able to make my way back to the station entrance quite quickly...roughly 2 minutes so quite reasonable. Problem number two: the turnstiles to enter the direction I need only were accepting monthly passes, not the single pass I had bought. Using my stunning diplomatic skills of "Aaaah! What do I do?!?!" a nice French business man took pity on me upon seeing my conundrum and held the entrance door open while I jumped the turnstile. After that I found a nice Italian couple who were also going to Versailles and we all took the train there together.
Two lines later (the first of which the same Italian couple let me jump in line with them when they saw my line close) and a couple hundred school children ahead of me I made it into the chateaux versailles (the palace) with the unlimited ticket granting access to the main palace, gardens, a fountain show in the gardens and the two smaller palaces north where Marie Antoinette resided.
The tour of the palace was lovely and it didn't rain the entire time I had been there so far which was a nice change. Of course the rain picked up once I grabbed some lunch and headed into the gardens for a picnic, but at that point it was ok... The view was great, the food was... Well museum food, but filling and I was excited to start exploring. The neat thing about the gardens is their scale! Think secret garden on steroids... Everything rising twice your height above you with street sized prommenades weaving throughout leading towards artfully placed statues an hidden fountains. I walked the entire length of the gardens on one side with the intention to see the smaller palaces and then to return to see the other side of the gardens and the orangerie (Louis XIV had special green houses built for them) before returning to Paris.
All that of course had been dependent on the fact that my ticket would not be blown away in the rain and wind while I was enjoying my picnic. So stranded on the furthest-most point from the train station I at least walked by the two smaller palaces so I could see them from the outside. It would have been quite expensive to buy all the tickets again so once I took quick glances I started my long truck back around the palace grounds back to town and the train station. As I'm sure you can imagine I was quite discouraged at this point when I stumbled upon some sheep huddling in the rain. That is when the following question struck me "If wool shrinks I'm water, do sheep shrink in the rain like a real life Despicable Me shrink ray??"
A few minutes and a good laugh later I was at least in better spirits on the rest of my walk back. I picked up a Twix to cheer myself up as well and I realized why at least the French are in such better shape comparatively to Americans: their candy us really expensive!!
The train back to Paris was without any mishaps and since I got back early I decide to go to the Sacred Heart Basilica of Montmarte (Sacre-Coeur) which is a church on a huge hill in Paris. It was actually a church that I went to with Andrew, Jesse and Dan over fall break, but we were unable to go inside then. After touring the basilica and lighting a candle I was feeling quite refreshed and ready to take on the rest of the day.
Of course the street vendors outside that yelled obscenities at me on my way out was a slight downer, but getting back to the hostel around 5 was much needed and relaxing. It gave me enough time to take a shower before anyone else in my room got back and rearrange my bag. I also got the chance to respond to some emails and grab some light dinner at a bakery close by. A picnic in my room was not as nice as my picnic in front of Notre Dame yesterday, but tomorrow I will be able to see the last of the sights in Paris on my list.
I have decided for sure to go to Brussels on Thursday, which I am looking forward to. Also got some great news! Karl was able to get a transport over to Germany so I'll (hopefully) get in touch with him soon and also it looks like Brendan will have time to join Julie and I in Rome! That definitely gives me something nice to look forward to.
I have decided for sure to go to Brussels on Thursday, which I am looking forward to. Also got some great news! Karl was able to get a transport over to Germany so I'll (hopefully) get in touch with him soon and also it looks like Brendan will have time to join Julie and I in Rome! That definitely gives me something nice to look forward to.
Monday, June 6, 2011
Europe So Far
Well I made it to Europe!
I am typing on a French keyboard so sorry in advance for mis-typing. Things have been going well so far, I met up with Brendan Saturday morning at a Paris train station and we headed out to a lunch via grazing in a farmer's market...but in light of the recent E.coli outbreak it was mostly admiring than truly grazing, though we did get some good cherries. Then we bought some quiches and ate them at the park next to the Eiffel Tower.
The next morning we caught an early train back to Paris and Brendan played psuedo tour-guide because we had a little time to kill. We stopped in Notre Dame and some of the sights nearby on the two islands on the Siene River.
I am typing on a French keyboard so sorry in advance for mis-typing. Things have been going well so far, I met up with Brendan Saturday morning at a Paris train station and we headed out to a lunch via grazing in a farmer's market...but in light of the recent E.coli outbreak it was mostly admiring than truly grazing, though we did get some good cherries. Then we bought some quiches and ate them at the park next to the Eiffel Tower.
After some desserts we continued on to the train station to catch a train to Bayuex, which is was our base of operations for our touring of Normandy. It ended up being a nice day so once we arrived we wandered a little ways and then decided on dinner at a little pizzeria. We ended up getting a pitcher of wine, a trio of local cheeses and a delicious pizza that we split. Afterwards it was on to the crepes for dessert....of course.
A house that gives a good idea what the town we stayed in looked like:
The next morning we headed out on our guided tour of Normandy (if you want to see all the major sites you need to get a tour because they are only accessed by driving).
The next morning we headed out on our guided tour of Normandy (if you want to see all the major sites you need to get a tour because they are only accessed by driving).
We saw the German cemetery, Utah beach, Sant Louis-Eglais, Omaha beach, Pont du Hoc, the American cemetery as well as an additional spot between Omaha and the British landing where the major guns are still standing.
German cemetery:
American cemetery:
My favorite place was probably Pont du Hoc because it has been untouched since the war and as such you could see all the craters in the Earth from the Naval and Air Force bombings.
This was one of the pictures that showed the craters fairly well. Keep in mind it was at one point mostly flat:
People camping out in preparation for the anniversary celebration:
The next morning we caught an early train back to Paris and Brendan played psuedo tour-guide because we had a little time to kill. We stopped in Notre Dame and some of the sights nearby on the two islands on the Siene River.
We grabbed a to-go lunch from a highly recommended bakery (again with dessert of course...can't pass up on French pastries) and ate next to the river.
One of the bridges near where we were is known for couples putting locks on it and throwing the key into the river for good luck in their relationship. We were joking those who put combination locks on the bridge were not as optimistic as others on their love lasting.
After that it was almost time for us to split up, Brendan to meet Terry for cycling and me to find my hostel, so we grabbed a hot chocolate for the road since it has been so cold/rainy the past two days.
It was sad to say goodbye as I am now on my own for the travelling until Karl can hopefully meet up. Tonight's plan includes grabbing some dinner and an evening stroll on the Siene River. I can't wait to hear what's going on with the apartment back in Chicago! I saw pictures that indicate a successful sailing for Jack and Jules from Larsen's to Burnam Harbor though, Congratulations!! Time to grab some food...
-Marisa
It was sad to say goodbye as I am now on my own for the travelling until Karl can hopefully meet up. Tonight's plan includes grabbing some dinner and an evening stroll on the Siene River. I can't wait to hear what's going on with the apartment back in Chicago! I saw pictures that indicate a successful sailing for Jack and Jules from Larsen's to Burnam Harbor though, Congratulations!! Time to grab some food...
-Marisa
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