Thursday, September 16, 2010
After a really long and uncomfortable train ride we arrived in Lisbon. Our final country on our European adventure! Definitely bittersweet! We got off the train and our feet were super swollen and stiff and so we managed to make our way to the metro and get ourselves to our hostel to drop our bags. We planned out our day on the couch and were off to see Lisbon. We grabbed a little breakfast at the cafe outside our hostel before catching the tram to the top of one of the hills where the castle sits. At the tram stop we met this Canadian Pharmacist from Toronto who was actually staying at our hostel. We had planned to do the same walking route so we decided to stick together. We saw some really cool lookout points, a church and arrived at the castle. Heather and I weren’t too keen on seeing another castle but he was so we parted ways there. We wandered around some more, saw the Lisbon cathedral and made our way back to our hostel to check in for 2pm. We showered and got ready for the night and took the metro to meet my grandparents who were in Lisbon for the day before flying home tomorrow. We saw that there was a metro stop right outside where they were staying and decided to take the metro. Little did we know that we would end up walking the wrong way, and be an hour late to meet them. We had worried my grandma as she thought that we had miscommunicated and were supposed to meet elsewhere when we were late. We did make it however, and they saw us coming up to the hotel from their window. We brought some more things for them to take home for us. They had brought an extra bag for us to put our things in and had also themselves packed really light. It was great to get rid of some more weight! So we had a few drinks in their room before heading back into the city centre to grab some dinner. The concierge at the hotel had recommended a little spot for some traditional Portuguese cuisine. It was actually quite close to where we were staying so it was really easy for us to get home from there. We arrived to this place and were treated to a fantastic meal and had a really good time. It was nice to catch up with them and have some quality time together. Did I mention how great the meal was? So after dinner we parted ways as they had to get up early for their 7am flight. Heather and I walked the few blocks back to our hostel and had some cocktails. They were having a dinner party but had a little bar set up in the common room and this guy making them. We chatted with him for awhile as everyone else was at the dinner party and had a few cocktails. We were exhausted after that and knew that Lagos was going to be a big party and a very long weekend ahead. So, we headed to bed and really needed to catch up on some sleep after our 1 hour night and then the terrible night train. We were definitely ready for a quality night sleep and the beds looked really comfy which has been a long time coming.
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Lazy Days!
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
So we had only an hour of sleep before we had to check out. It was terrible! It felt like the pink palace check out again. We just shoved things into our bag and hoped that we had everything. We stored our bags for the day since we were in Madrid until 10pm when we had to catch our first night train. There was a free walking tour of Madrid that morning so we decided to give it a go and it was a terrible idea. The guide wasn’t great and it was just super random. It was really difficult to follow what was happening. We were dying as we sobered up and were in the hot sun. The worst 2 hours ever! After we were super hungry and went to get some pizza. We went to this amazing pizzeria and had really, really good pizza. We then went back to the hostel and slept on the couch for a few hours since we had no sleep and no bed to speak of. The German guy and the Brazilian dude were hanging in the common room all day too. I don’t think anyone was feeling great! The Irish boys were nowhere to be seen though so we just assumed they were in their room recovering. That evening while still in the same position on the couch, the Irish boys came through the front door blowing a horn! They had been at the pub all day with the Australian. They invited us down to the cave for some more drinks but we brought our milk and water with us. We ended up having a cooler that the guys bought for us and tried to get us drunk to miss our train and party in Madrid another night. We knew better and stuck to the one drink (which actually made us feel better) and still planned to catch the night train. They were super entertaining though and we chilled in the cave until it was time to go to the train station. We arrived at the train station at a good time, grabbed some snacks and boarded the train. We had only booked reclining seats (cheapest option) and had packed ourselves into these seats with all of our valuables. We had been told to really watch our things in Spain and Portugal and that night trains are the worst for getting things stolen. We secured all of our things and fell asleep within an hour or so of leaving the station. We were due to arrive the next morning at 730 so we just tried to sleep all night long.
So we had only an hour of sleep before we had to check out. It was terrible! It felt like the pink palace check out again. We just shoved things into our bag and hoped that we had everything. We stored our bags for the day since we were in Madrid until 10pm when we had to catch our first night train. There was a free walking tour of Madrid that morning so we decided to give it a go and it was a terrible idea. The guide wasn’t great and it was just super random. It was really difficult to follow what was happening. We were dying as we sobered up and were in the hot sun. The worst 2 hours ever! After we were super hungry and went to get some pizza. We went to this amazing pizzeria and had really, really good pizza. We then went back to the hostel and slept on the couch for a few hours since we had no sleep and no bed to speak of. The German guy and the Brazilian dude were hanging in the common room all day too. I don’t think anyone was feeling great! The Irish boys were nowhere to be seen though so we just assumed they were in their room recovering. That evening while still in the same position on the couch, the Irish boys came through the front door blowing a horn! They had been at the pub all day with the Australian. They invited us down to the cave for some more drinks but we brought our milk and water with us. We ended up having a cooler that the guys bought for us and tried to get us drunk to miss our train and party in Madrid another night. We knew better and stuck to the one drink (which actually made us feel better) and still planned to catch the night train. They were super entertaining though and we chilled in the cave until it was time to go to the train station. We arrived at the train station at a good time, grabbed some snacks and boarded the train. We had only booked reclining seats (cheapest option) and had packed ourselves into these seats with all of our valuables. We had been told to really watch our things in Spain and Portugal and that night trains are the worst for getting things stolen. We secured all of our things and fell asleep within an hour or so of leaving the station. We were due to arrive the next morning at 730 so we just tried to sleep all night long.
Madrid...or is it Milan???
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Today was our last day in Seville and we had a late afternoon train to catch to Madrid. We went shopping after check out and breakfast and then headed straight to the train station. We got into Madrid around supper time so we went for more tapas which were equally amazing as a few nights ago. We were determined to go out in Madrid since Spanish nightlife is supposed to be the best and we had really slacked the last few nights. It was our one and only night in Madrid so it had to be done. We came back and got ready and then went down to the “cave bar” at the hostel and started into the 1 L sangrias. This group of guys invited us to sit with them so we had some drinks with the German, the Argentinean and a Brazilian. We convinced them to go on the pub crawl with us. It’s funny because normally pub crawls start between 8 and 10 but in Madrid it didn’t start until 1am. So we all signed up and kept drinking our sangria. There was a group of Irish boys sitting beside us too. We ended up chatting with them too once we started to head out for the pub crawl. The boys we were originally talking to didn’t really like that a lot but we were just having fun and meeting a bunch of people. The deal with the pub crawl was a free shot at every bar and drink discounts and free entry to the club...pretty standard. What was new was that the shots were tequila! Boy oh boy! Not a nice surprise! Anyhow, we carried on the night and went to two bars and then the club and the tour pretty well died off by the club since people were super drunk by then and went home. Heather, me, 2 of the four Irish guys, the German guy and the Brazilian guy were all that was left at the end. We had also met a Canadian guy and an Australian guy at one of the bars but they didn’t go to the club since they weren’t on the pub crawl but were staying at the same hostel as us. So after a great night, we shut the club down at 6 and headed back to the hostel where we chilled out for a long while after and didn’t get to bed until 930. We had met back up with the Aussie guy and chilled with him for a bit when we got back too.
Today was our last day in Seville and we had a late afternoon train to catch to Madrid. We went shopping after check out and breakfast and then headed straight to the train station. We got into Madrid around supper time so we went for more tapas which were equally amazing as a few nights ago. We were determined to go out in Madrid since Spanish nightlife is supposed to be the best and we had really slacked the last few nights. It was our one and only night in Madrid so it had to be done. We came back and got ready and then went down to the “cave bar” at the hostel and started into the 1 L sangrias. This group of guys invited us to sit with them so we had some drinks with the German, the Argentinean and a Brazilian. We convinced them to go on the pub crawl with us. It’s funny because normally pub crawls start between 8 and 10 but in Madrid it didn’t start until 1am. So we all signed up and kept drinking our sangria. There was a group of Irish boys sitting beside us too. We ended up chatting with them too once we started to head out for the pub crawl. The boys we were originally talking to didn’t really like that a lot but we were just having fun and meeting a bunch of people. The deal with the pub crawl was a free shot at every bar and drink discounts and free entry to the club...pretty standard. What was new was that the shots were tequila! Boy oh boy! Not a nice surprise! Anyhow, we carried on the night and went to two bars and then the club and the tour pretty well died off by the club since people were super drunk by then and went home. Heather, me, 2 of the four Irish guys, the German guy and the Brazilian guy were all that was left at the end. We had also met a Canadian guy and an Australian guy at one of the bars but they didn’t go to the club since they weren’t on the pub crawl but were staying at the same hostel as us. So after a great night, we shut the club down at 6 and headed back to the hostel where we chilled out for a long while after and didn’t get to bed until 930. We had met back up with the Aussie guy and chilled with him for a bit when we got back too.
Bulls and Flamenco!
Monday, September 13, 2010
This morning we headed into town on foot but the problem with Seville is, that the streets aren’t labelled and nor are they easy to navigate. We wanted to see the bullfighting ring, Maria Luisa park and the site of Expo ’97. So we started off to the bullring and had a tour. Heather being anti-killing of the bulls had a lot of good questions to ask and got them all answered. It didn’t make it better but she was better educated about the whole thing. It was pretty interesting the tradition behind it all. We then grabbed some lunch and headed to the park. It was super hot and I was not feeling so well so we sat in the park for awhile and I put my feet in the cold water hoping to cool myself off. We then had to walk all the way across town to get to the expo grounds. It was also some palace in starwars so it was something Heather really wanted to see. It was agonizing walking in the heat and I was really feeling sick despite the fact that I was drinking lots of water and taking breaks. We did get there eventually though and spent about 40 minutes looking for the place. We could not find the spot and after getting trapped in a gated area and having to crawl through a small hole in the fence, we gave up and headed back to the hostel for happy hour. Can’t turn down cheap Sangria!! We sat in the bar and chatted with a few German guys who were studying in Seville and looking for a place to live. Then this American dude comes over and starts talking to us. He just graduated school and was on an architecture tour of Europe and we were apparently the first people he had conversed with in the past two weeks...not sure how...Anyhow, he asked what we were doing tonight and joined in on our plans. Great! We were fine with it, but as the night proceeded he just got on our nerves more and more. We had paella on the roof of our hostel and then wanted to go to a flamenco show before heading out to a club. We had the paella (again quiet disappointing) and he met us up on the roof and we headed to the flamenco show. It was really neat to see the show. The girl who was dancing was amazing and so was the guitarist and the man who sung. It was really entertaining but by the end we were so annoyed with the American that we decided we would rather go to bed then go out with him to the club. That’s exactly what we ended up doing...going to bed! Hehe! We really didn’t know where we were going to go anyhow and it wasn’t a big deal.
This morning we headed into town on foot but the problem with Seville is, that the streets aren’t labelled and nor are they easy to navigate. We wanted to see the bullfighting ring, Maria Luisa park and the site of Expo ’97. So we started off to the bullring and had a tour. Heather being anti-killing of the bulls had a lot of good questions to ask and got them all answered. It didn’t make it better but she was better educated about the whole thing. It was pretty interesting the tradition behind it all. We then grabbed some lunch and headed to the park. It was super hot and I was not feeling so well so we sat in the park for awhile and I put my feet in the cold water hoping to cool myself off. We then had to walk all the way across town to get to the expo grounds. It was also some palace in starwars so it was something Heather really wanted to see. It was agonizing walking in the heat and I was really feeling sick despite the fact that I was drinking lots of water and taking breaks. We did get there eventually though and spent about 40 minutes looking for the place. We could not find the spot and after getting trapped in a gated area and having to crawl through a small hole in the fence, we gave up and headed back to the hostel for happy hour. Can’t turn down cheap Sangria!! We sat in the bar and chatted with a few German guys who were studying in Seville and looking for a place to live. Then this American dude comes over and starts talking to us. He just graduated school and was on an architecture tour of Europe and we were apparently the first people he had conversed with in the past two weeks...not sure how...Anyhow, he asked what we were doing tonight and joined in on our plans. Great! We were fine with it, but as the night proceeded he just got on our nerves more and more. We had paella on the roof of our hostel and then wanted to go to a flamenco show before heading out to a club. We had the paella (again quiet disappointing) and he met us up on the roof and we headed to the flamenco show. It was really neat to see the show. The girl who was dancing was amazing and so was the guitarist and the man who sung. It was really entertaining but by the end we were so annoyed with the American that we decided we would rather go to bed then go out with him to the club. That’s exactly what we ended up doing...going to bed! Hehe! We really didn’t know where we were going to go anyhow and it wasn’t a big deal.
The Flying Train!
Sunday, September 12, 2010
We had to get up and check out this morning and head to the train station to catch our train to Seville. It was going to be an 8 hour train ride and we were really not looking forward to it, at all. Scottie stayed around and was going to take the later train back to Barcelona after he saw a bit of Valencia. So we boarded another “flying train” and spent 8 agonizing hours on the train to Seville. We were exhausted after being on the train all day and just wanted something to eat and go to bed. We went to this little local spot and had our first tapas. They were super good and we didn’t really know what we were ordering but everything was really good oh and cheap!! Our bill was 20 euro and we left stuffed. We waddled back to our hostel, and just hung out in the room and went to bed. Heather had planned to Skype with Caitlin and got to see a bunch of her friends that night on Skype. It was really exciting for her! I passed out while she was Skyping and we had a big Sevillian day tomorrow.
We had to get up and check out this morning and head to the train station to catch our train to Seville. It was going to be an 8 hour train ride and we were really not looking forward to it, at all. Scottie stayed around and was going to take the later train back to Barcelona after he saw a bit of Valencia. So we boarded another “flying train” and spent 8 agonizing hours on the train to Seville. We were exhausted after being on the train all day and just wanted something to eat and go to bed. We went to this little local spot and had our first tapas. They were super good and we didn’t really know what we were ordering but everything was really good oh and cheap!! Our bill was 20 euro and we left stuffed. We waddled back to our hostel, and just hung out in the room and went to bed. Heather had planned to Skype with Caitlin and got to see a bunch of her friends that night on Skype. It was really exciting for her! I passed out while she was Skyping and we had a big Sevillian day tomorrow.
Beaches and Gay Bars!
Saturday, September 11, 2010
We didn’t set an alarm for this morning and just woke up on our own. We had some breakfast and were supposed to call Scottie in the morning to see if he was coming or not. He had an excursion with his class that he was considering doing so we didn’t think he would come but when we rang him, he had just arrived in Valencia on the early train! We were super pumped! So we met him outside the hostel and he went in and tried to book a night at the hostel. They had his name from yesterday and were telling him that he was a no show and owed a night stay. He played dumb and they didn’t end up charging him. They didn’t have any availability for that night either so he had them take his number and call him if they had any cancellations. They took it but didn’t seem to confident that there would be a bed come available. The next closest hostel was like a 10 minute walk so we decided to wait it out and worst case scenario he could camp out in our room. So we had the day to check out Valencia. We started out at the central market where Scottie used his Spanish to converse with the vendors and we met this cheese man who was really cool. He recommended this delicious cheese that we bought and a place to go have some good paella. Valencia is known for it’s paella and he said this place had the best! It was apparently right at the beach and we wanted to head there anyhow so we took down the name of the place and he told us the owners name and to mention his name. So we wandered the market, bought some fresh produce and stuff to make tacos for dinner. We hit up the supermarket for the rest and then took it all back to the hostel before heading to the beach. We met this English girl who was waiting for her boyfriend to arrive so we invited her along to the beach with us. We caught the metro and were in search for this paella spot. The locals that we asked said it was really far down the beach but recommended a closer spot with a great view of the water. Off we went to the new spot and when we got there it was closed! We were so disappointed! We wandered up and down the strip and just picked this place where the paella was not overly good but it was edible. We then laid out on the beach for awhile and swam in the ocean! The British girl headed back before the b each as her boyfriend was due to arrive soon, so we made plans to meet up for a drink that night! They were staying in our room so it was convenient! After awhile we headed back to the hostel and made our tacos. They were super good!!! We made some excellent chefs! We still hadn’t head to a gay bar for Scottie so that was the mission of the night. We had some drinks and listened to music in our room as we got ready and the English couple joined us later and we all headed to a pub to grab a few drinks. This place was pretty sketchy but had cheap drinks so it was great! A few drinks later, we told the couple we were with that we were going to the gay bar (which happened to be across the street from our hostel) and they were welcome to join if they wanted. They weren’t too keen but were willing to walk along and check it out. When we got there, they decided to sit this one out and we went in to party. It was pretty crazy! Good music but nothing we had ever before experienced! Heather and I met some boys and were trying to hook them up with Scottie. He really put himself out there and was chatting it up with all the cute boys. Everyone in the gay bar is “a lady” so the female bathroom was 99% men and then the occasional girl...aka Heather or I. Pretty hilarious actually! We had planned to make it a big night but after Scottie had too much liquid courage and Heather and I were feeling pretty good we headed back to our hostel to catch a few hours of sleep before we had to check out and catch a train. We had this big extravagant plan to sneak Scottie in to the hostel as we had these security cards that we were supposed to show to get in. So we walked up with our plan in our back pocket just in case. We walked up, gave the guy a smile, told him our room number to get the key and all walked up without showing our security passes. Perfect!!! There was also an extra bed for Scottie since the British couple were sleeping in the one bed together. It was great! We all passed out after a really good night and had only a few hours until we had to wake up.
We didn’t set an alarm for this morning and just woke up on our own. We had some breakfast and were supposed to call Scottie in the morning to see if he was coming or not. He had an excursion with his class that he was considering doing so we didn’t think he would come but when we rang him, he had just arrived in Valencia on the early train! We were super pumped! So we met him outside the hostel and he went in and tried to book a night at the hostel. They had his name from yesterday and were telling him that he was a no show and owed a night stay. He played dumb and they didn’t end up charging him. They didn’t have any availability for that night either so he had them take his number and call him if they had any cancellations. They took it but didn’t seem to confident that there would be a bed come available. The next closest hostel was like a 10 minute walk so we decided to wait it out and worst case scenario he could camp out in our room. So we had the day to check out Valencia. We started out at the central market where Scottie used his Spanish to converse with the vendors and we met this cheese man who was really cool. He recommended this delicious cheese that we bought and a place to go have some good paella. Valencia is known for it’s paella and he said this place had the best! It was apparently right at the beach and we wanted to head there anyhow so we took down the name of the place and he told us the owners name and to mention his name. So we wandered the market, bought some fresh produce and stuff to make tacos for dinner. We hit up the supermarket for the rest and then took it all back to the hostel before heading to the beach. We met this English girl who was waiting for her boyfriend to arrive so we invited her along to the beach with us. We caught the metro and were in search for this paella spot. The locals that we asked said it was really far down the beach but recommended a closer spot with a great view of the water. Off we went to the new spot and when we got there it was closed! We were so disappointed! We wandered up and down the strip and just picked this place where the paella was not overly good but it was edible. We then laid out on the beach for awhile and swam in the ocean! The British girl headed back before the b each as her boyfriend was due to arrive soon, so we made plans to meet up for a drink that night! They were staying in our room so it was convenient! After awhile we headed back to the hostel and made our tacos. They were super good!!! We made some excellent chefs! We still hadn’t head to a gay bar for Scottie so that was the mission of the night. We had some drinks and listened to music in our room as we got ready and the English couple joined us later and we all headed to a pub to grab a few drinks. This place was pretty sketchy but had cheap drinks so it was great! A few drinks later, we told the couple we were with that we were going to the gay bar (which happened to be across the street from our hostel) and they were welcome to join if they wanted. They weren’t too keen but were willing to walk along and check it out. When we got there, they decided to sit this one out and we went in to party. It was pretty crazy! Good music but nothing we had ever before experienced! Heather and I met some boys and were trying to hook them up with Scottie. He really put himself out there and was chatting it up with all the cute boys. Everyone in the gay bar is “a lady” so the female bathroom was 99% men and then the occasional girl...aka Heather or I. Pretty hilarious actually! We had planned to make it a big night but after Scottie had too much liquid courage and Heather and I were feeling pretty good we headed back to our hostel to catch a few hours of sleep before we had to check out and catch a train. We had this big extravagant plan to sneak Scottie in to the hostel as we had these security cards that we were supposed to show to get in. So we walked up with our plan in our back pocket just in case. We walked up, gave the guy a smile, told him our room number to get the key and all walked up without showing our security passes. Perfect!!! There was also an extra bed for Scottie since the British couple were sleeping in the one bed together. It was great! We all passed out after a really good night and had only a few hours until we had to wake up.
Paella and Sangria!
Friday, September 10, 2010
Heather and I had to wake up at a reasonable time this morning since we had a 9 am train to Valencia to catch. Plus, we had to get out of Scottie’s dorm room before Jose came by (his landlord) and caught us. So we snuck out the back door and were heading down the stairs when Heather wiped out and fell down a flight of stairs on her butt. I was in shock and didn’t know what to do but she popped back up and continued on. What a trooper! We thought we heard someone upstairs and the light went on so we ran out of the building as quickly as possible. She recovered well though, she just had a few bruises. We then took the metro to the train station and it was more like an airport...the train had gates and each gate had a scanner for bags much like that in airport security and we had to show our tickets before getting on the train (which is a new concept). Our seats on the train were numbered like a flight as well, it was by row and a-d. We sat in our seats and listened to the announcements, were given headsets for the “in flight” movie and wondered if there would even be a meal served. Hehe! No such luck but it was pretty funny anyhow. They had crew like a flight too! Pretty entertaining! After 3 short hours, we were in Valencia and ready to head to the hostel. We arrived at the hostel early and put our bags in storage, grabbed some lunch and then it was time to check in. We dropped our bags in the room and had plans to go to the beach that afternoon but I ended up falling asleep and napped for the rest of the afternoon...oops! Oh well, it was much needed if we were going to have another crazy night. We had convinced Scottie to come to Valencia with us and he was going to catch a train after class and meet us that night. We had even reserved him a bed at the hostel. We called him around 7 and he was heading back to his school to email us and tell us that the trains were all booked up and couldn’t catch it. It was a bummer!!! He was going to consider coming in the morning if he got up in time and come Saturday and leave Sunday. So we ended up having a quiet night at the hostel. We did some laundry, made dinner, had a few drinks and were planning on going out but decided against it. There wasn’t a lot going on at the hostel anyhow and the people that were there, didn’t seem like a lot of fun anyhow. I skyped with my fam late that night and Heather went to bed (she didn’t have a nap that day after all ).
Heather and I had to wake up at a reasonable time this morning since we had a 9 am train to Valencia to catch. Plus, we had to get out of Scottie’s dorm room before Jose came by (his landlord) and caught us. So we snuck out the back door and were heading down the stairs when Heather wiped out and fell down a flight of stairs on her butt. I was in shock and didn’t know what to do but she popped back up and continued on. What a trooper! We thought we heard someone upstairs and the light went on so we ran out of the building as quickly as possible. She recovered well though, she just had a few bruises. We then took the metro to the train station and it was more like an airport...the train had gates and each gate had a scanner for bags much like that in airport security and we had to show our tickets before getting on the train (which is a new concept). Our seats on the train were numbered like a flight as well, it was by row and a-d. We sat in our seats and listened to the announcements, were given headsets for the “in flight” movie and wondered if there would even be a meal served. Hehe! No such luck but it was pretty funny anyhow. They had crew like a flight too! Pretty entertaining! After 3 short hours, we were in Valencia and ready to head to the hostel. We arrived at the hostel early and put our bags in storage, grabbed some lunch and then it was time to check in. We dropped our bags in the room and had plans to go to the beach that afternoon but I ended up falling asleep and napped for the rest of the afternoon...oops! Oh well, it was much needed if we were going to have another crazy night. We had convinced Scottie to come to Valencia with us and he was going to catch a train after class and meet us that night. We had even reserved him a bed at the hostel. We called him around 7 and he was heading back to his school to email us and tell us that the trains were all booked up and couldn’t catch it. It was a bummer!!! He was going to consider coming in the morning if he got up in time and come Saturday and leave Sunday. So we ended up having a quiet night at the hostel. We did some laundry, made dinner, had a few drinks and were planning on going out but decided against it. There wasn’t a lot going on at the hostel anyhow and the people that were there, didn’t seem like a lot of fun anyhow. I skyped with my fam late that night and Heather went to bed (she didn’t have a nap that day after all ).
Big Nights in Barcelona!
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Woke up this morning and had to check out by 1130 and also meet Scott. He convinced us last night to stay an extra night in Barcelona and to stay with him at his place. We agreed since we didn’t really get a chance to see Barcelona and we had 3 nights in Valencia so we thought we could borrow one for sure. So we checked out and brought our things to Scott’s place but had to be stealthy. His landlord didn’t allow overnight guests since it is a dorm for the school he is attending. But we made it in, no problem. We had to go see Barcelona in a day and originally planned to go to the beach but were convinced to see more. So we went to Sagrada de Familia, this massive church in the middle of the city that started to be built like 150 years ago and still isn’t finished. It was really the coolest looking church I have ever seen. The front is supposed to represent the birth of Christ and the back the death. It was really, really cool. We only saw it from the outside but was really impressed. Afterwards, we grabbed a bite to eat and had to say goodbye to Scott since he had school all afternoon. We did plan to meet up later though for supper. We decided to take the metro to the North end of the city to see this park that was meant to be really neat. It had some of Gaudi’s architecture in it and was a really hot day so it got to be really warm. We wondered around for awhile though and got to see some of it. It was literally on top of this massive hill overlooking the city so it was a really cool view and there were even escalators to take you to the top. Lol!!! Afterwards we headed back to the city centre and hit up the city beach for awhile. It is a manmade beach so nothing to write home about but was still nice to lay out in the sun. It was entertaining because they try to sell you everything and anything on the beach. There was a guy selling donuts that he carried on a tray on top of his head, massages, refreshments/drugs, and hair braiding. The guys selling drinks would yell coca cola, cervesa, aqua and then whisper marijuana, hash, coca when they walked by you. It was pretty funny but they were definitely persistent. We had plans to meet back up with Scottie and go for dinner so we met him close to the beach. We took the metro back to the same square we had drinks at last night and sat at this outdoor restaurant and had a really yummy meal. We had paella and salmon and it was really good, and really cheap. We had plans to go out that night to the gay bar...we had promised Scottie we’d go with him since he hadn’t been in awhile. We went back to his place, got ready and started having some more wine after we had a couple of pitchers of sangria at dinner. We started to crash and found out it was lesbian night at the gay bar so we just threw in the towel and had our slumber party in his room. We were all fast asleep within no time, exhausted from the night before.
Woke up this morning and had to check out by 1130 and also meet Scott. He convinced us last night to stay an extra night in Barcelona and to stay with him at his place. We agreed since we didn’t really get a chance to see Barcelona and we had 3 nights in Valencia so we thought we could borrow one for sure. So we checked out and brought our things to Scott’s place but had to be stealthy. His landlord didn’t allow overnight guests since it is a dorm for the school he is attending. But we made it in, no problem. We had to go see Barcelona in a day and originally planned to go to the beach but were convinced to see more. So we went to Sagrada de Familia, this massive church in the middle of the city that started to be built like 150 years ago and still isn’t finished. It was really the coolest looking church I have ever seen. The front is supposed to represent the birth of Christ and the back the death. It was really, really cool. We only saw it from the outside but was really impressed. Afterwards, we grabbed a bite to eat and had to say goodbye to Scott since he had school all afternoon. We did plan to meet up later though for supper. We decided to take the metro to the North end of the city to see this park that was meant to be really neat. It had some of Gaudi’s architecture in it and was a really hot day so it got to be really warm. We wondered around for awhile though and got to see some of it. It was literally on top of this massive hill overlooking the city so it was a really cool view and there were even escalators to take you to the top. Lol!!! Afterwards we headed back to the city centre and hit up the city beach for awhile. It is a manmade beach so nothing to write home about but was still nice to lay out in the sun. It was entertaining because they try to sell you everything and anything on the beach. There was a guy selling donuts that he carried on a tray on top of his head, massages, refreshments/drugs, and hair braiding. The guys selling drinks would yell coca cola, cervesa, aqua and then whisper marijuana, hash, coca when they walked by you. It was pretty funny but they were definitely persistent. We had plans to meet back up with Scottie and go for dinner so we met him close to the beach. We took the metro back to the same square we had drinks at last night and sat at this outdoor restaurant and had a really yummy meal. We had paella and salmon and it was really good, and really cheap. We had plans to go out that night to the gay bar...we had promised Scottie we’d go with him since he hadn’t been in awhile. We went back to his place, got ready and started having some more wine after we had a couple of pitchers of sangria at dinner. We started to crash and found out it was lesbian night at the gay bar so we just threw in the towel and had our slumber party in his room. We were all fast asleep within no time, exhausted from the night before.
Nice to Barcelona!
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
We woke up early this morning to catch our 930 train...hopefully!! We were told that the strike was only to last 24 hours but who knows... “nothing is for sure in France” we are told! So we got packed up and had to wake up our Argentinean roommate Manuel since he was up late and asked us to make sure he was up for his train too. We grabbed a quick breaky and headed to the reception to check out and ask if the strike was over. They weren’t sure but thought that it had so we’d soon find out. So we grabbed the shuttle down to the tram stop and saw that the trams were running!! Hooray!!! That means the probability of the trains running is good. So we grabbed the tram to the train station and it was packed full of people trying to get to where they are already supposed to be. Anyhow, the train was running and we were thrilled!!! Barcelona here we come!! The thing is though, that our ticket from yesterday doesn’t entitle us to a seat today so I go to the ticket window line and it is simply massive. The line is not moving and there are only 2 people working with about 50 people in line. It was ridiculous. Anyhow, I figured that I may as well wait because what else do I have to do for the next hour?? Heather was waiting on the platform with the bags so I waited and waited and waited some more until finally I was nowhere near the front and the train was due to leave in less than 5 minutes so we just got on the train and took our chance with a seat. We had to move a couple of times while we were on the train but it wasn’t actually all that bad because we only stood for about 10 minutes at the end and we could have found another seat. So we arrived in Avignon but we were at the TGV station and had to catch our next train at the central station so we had to find a bus to take us there. It turned out to be much easier than we thought but once we got to the central station, we only had a few minutes to grab a bite to eat and get on the train. We made it, but just barely. We then took the train for an hour or so and had to change again near the Spanish border. It would be our last train of the day but it was due to take about 4 hours. It was the most ghetto train we have ever seen. It was seriously busted up and had been the same decor since the early 70’s. It was really gnarly!! We grabbed a seat and hoped for the best. About an hour in, we were kicked out of our seats and decided to just grab some floor space and some beers and make a party. We had the laptop out too so we put on some tunes and rocked out on the floor. Great way to meet people too! This Turkish guy came and talked to us for awhile and taught us how to speak Turkish...then we ran into Manuel!! The guy from our hostel who we woke up this morning! We had known that he was heading to Barcelona too but we left on different trains and never thought that we’d meet up. So, we had some beers and chatted with him the rest of the train ride. It was fun! Funny story though, so when you cross some European borders, you have to clear passport control. So essentially the French customs officers came and then the Spanish customs officers to check passports and visas if necessary. The first were the French...”citizenship?” he says and we reply with “Canadian”, of course and he just walks away. No identification needed if you are Canadian. Again, same thing with the Spanish officer...he walks by and asks for our passports, Heather holds hers up to give to him and he just waves it away and walks on. HAHAHA! We laughed about it for a really long time. Apparently if you are from Canada, they don’t give a crap if you enter the country or not. So funny! We even made friends with the conductor. Anytime we had to stop at a station, he would come and let us know which side ahead of time since we were blocking the doorway. The one time though he got it wrong so we were totally in the way with all of our stuff and he helped us move everything. Pretty ridiculous actually!! He was holding the laptop which was beating out the tunes. Hehe! Anyhow, after a lot of beers and a few laughs later, we arrived in Barcelona. We parted ways with Manuel but planned to meet up after. He gave us his mobile number and he told us where he would probably be tonight. So we headed to the hostel, checked in, met a Canadian guy and got ready. We got into a little “tift” this evening but cried, hugged and now it’s all good! Hehe! So we got ready really quickly and Scott met us at the hostel at 10pm ready to rock! It was so good to see him; a familiar face (even though he’s a new friend) is so amazing! Plus he is amazing! So we ended up going to get some drinks and heading to the apartment of the Canadian guy Michael’s friend Iris. Wow, mouthful! We had some drinks and decided at about midnight to head out and grab a drink at a pub or restaurant before heading to the clubs. In Barcelona, the party doesn’t get good until 2ish so we had some time to kill and just chill out first. After we left, I remembered that I left Manuel’s phone number on the vanity at Iris’s apartment. Shoot! I felt really badly because it felt like we stood him up. Oh well! We hoped that we would run into him that night since we were heading to the beach bars that he suggested. So we ended up in this little outdoor square or Piaza they would call it in Italy, and had a drink on the patio. Now when I say we had “a” drink that means Scott and I had a litre pint of beer and the girls had huge, really strong sangria. It took awhile to get those ones down. When we were done, we grabbed a taxi to the beach bars and decided on one that looked the busiest and had good music playing. Cover was also cheaper there too so that was a bonus. It was a crazy night, lots of good times and we partied until 430 at the club. We were wrecked and it was time to head back. We grabbed a taxi and started heading back when we started talking about food and our hunger especially since we didn’t have any dinner. So we had the taxi driver, literally turn around and go the opposite direction to McDonald’s because that was all that was opened. So we went to the drive thru which was full of taxi’s and got our mcmeals. Hehe! 45 minutes later and a 20 euro cab bill later, we arrived back at the hostel. Everyone was getting back around the same time but everyone was jealous of our food. They all loved it! We ate, then hit the sack, Scottie went home and we had to laugh, he wasn’t a far walk home but the metro was now running again because it was nearly 6 am by the time he left.
We woke up early this morning to catch our 930 train...hopefully!! We were told that the strike was only to last 24 hours but who knows... “nothing is for sure in France” we are told! So we got packed up and had to wake up our Argentinean roommate Manuel since he was up late and asked us to make sure he was up for his train too. We grabbed a quick breaky and headed to the reception to check out and ask if the strike was over. They weren’t sure but thought that it had so we’d soon find out. So we grabbed the shuttle down to the tram stop and saw that the trams were running!! Hooray!!! That means the probability of the trains running is good. So we grabbed the tram to the train station and it was packed full of people trying to get to where they are already supposed to be. Anyhow, the train was running and we were thrilled!!! Barcelona here we come!! The thing is though, that our ticket from yesterday doesn’t entitle us to a seat today so I go to the ticket window line and it is simply massive. The line is not moving and there are only 2 people working with about 50 people in line. It was ridiculous. Anyhow, I figured that I may as well wait because what else do I have to do for the next hour?? Heather was waiting on the platform with the bags so I waited and waited and waited some more until finally I was nowhere near the front and the train was due to leave in less than 5 minutes so we just got on the train and took our chance with a seat. We had to move a couple of times while we were on the train but it wasn’t actually all that bad because we only stood for about 10 minutes at the end and we could have found another seat. So we arrived in Avignon but we were at the TGV station and had to catch our next train at the central station so we had to find a bus to take us there. It turned out to be much easier than we thought but once we got to the central station, we only had a few minutes to grab a bite to eat and get on the train. We made it, but just barely. We then took the train for an hour or so and had to change again near the Spanish border. It would be our last train of the day but it was due to take about 4 hours. It was the most ghetto train we have ever seen. It was seriously busted up and had been the same decor since the early 70’s. It was really gnarly!! We grabbed a seat and hoped for the best. About an hour in, we were kicked out of our seats and decided to just grab some floor space and some beers and make a party. We had the laptop out too so we put on some tunes and rocked out on the floor. Great way to meet people too! This Turkish guy came and talked to us for awhile and taught us how to speak Turkish...then we ran into Manuel!! The guy from our hostel who we woke up this morning! We had known that he was heading to Barcelona too but we left on different trains and never thought that we’d meet up. So, we had some beers and chatted with him the rest of the train ride. It was fun! Funny story though, so when you cross some European borders, you have to clear passport control. So essentially the French customs officers came and then the Spanish customs officers to check passports and visas if necessary. The first were the French...”citizenship?” he says and we reply with “Canadian”, of course and he just walks away. No identification needed if you are Canadian. Again, same thing with the Spanish officer...he walks by and asks for our passports, Heather holds hers up to give to him and he just waves it away and walks on. HAHAHA! We laughed about it for a really long time. Apparently if you are from Canada, they don’t give a crap if you enter the country or not. So funny! We even made friends with the conductor. Anytime we had to stop at a station, he would come and let us know which side ahead of time since we were blocking the doorway. The one time though he got it wrong so we were totally in the way with all of our stuff and he helped us move everything. Pretty ridiculous actually!! He was holding the laptop which was beating out the tunes. Hehe! Anyhow, after a lot of beers and a few laughs later, we arrived in Barcelona. We parted ways with Manuel but planned to meet up after. He gave us his mobile number and he told us where he would probably be tonight. So we headed to the hostel, checked in, met a Canadian guy and got ready. We got into a little “tift” this evening but cried, hugged and now it’s all good! Hehe! So we got ready really quickly and Scott met us at the hostel at 10pm ready to rock! It was so good to see him; a familiar face (even though he’s a new friend) is so amazing! Plus he is amazing! So we ended up going to get some drinks and heading to the apartment of the Canadian guy Michael’s friend Iris. Wow, mouthful! We had some drinks and decided at about midnight to head out and grab a drink at a pub or restaurant before heading to the clubs. In Barcelona, the party doesn’t get good until 2ish so we had some time to kill and just chill out first. After we left, I remembered that I left Manuel’s phone number on the vanity at Iris’s apartment. Shoot! I felt really badly because it felt like we stood him up. Oh well! We hoped that we would run into him that night since we were heading to the beach bars that he suggested. So we ended up in this little outdoor square or Piaza they would call it in Italy, and had a drink on the patio. Now when I say we had “a” drink that means Scott and I had a litre pint of beer and the girls had huge, really strong sangria. It took awhile to get those ones down. When we were done, we grabbed a taxi to the beach bars and decided on one that looked the busiest and had good music playing. Cover was also cheaper there too so that was a bonus. It was a crazy night, lots of good times and we partied until 430 at the club. We were wrecked and it was time to head back. We grabbed a taxi and started heading back when we started talking about food and our hunger especially since we didn’t have any dinner. So we had the taxi driver, literally turn around and go the opposite direction to McDonald’s because that was all that was opened. So we went to the drive thru which was full of taxi’s and got our mcmeals. Hehe! 45 minutes later and a 20 euro cab bill later, we arrived back at the hostel. Everyone was getting back around the same time but everyone was jealous of our food. They all loved it! We ate, then hit the sack, Scottie went home and we had to laugh, he wasn’t a far walk home but the metro was now running again because it was nearly 6 am by the time he left.
Nice on Strike!
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
We woke up this morning feeling pretty rough but we got all of our things in order to take the shuttle to the train station. We were told yesterday that the buses and trams were going to be on strike today and we were getting a ride to the station by the hostel but had to be ready early. We left shortly after 8 and good thing because it took an hour for us to drive what normally takes 10 minutes. So we arrived at the train station to find out that the strike affects all public sectors and the trains are not running either. Great! France does not like us very much and our luck has definitely run out. There was a possibility of us getting to Avignon later today but we didn’t want to decide as of yet. So we sat outside the station and waited for the next shuttle to arrive. The second one arrived very shortly after as it was a second van transporting people. So we went back to the hostel, had some breakfast as we didn’t have any earlier and used the wifi to figure out a plan. We decided to stay and extra night in Nice and go to Barcelona tomorrow when the trains are meant to run again. We went back down to the train station to see about changing our tickets and there was literally a parade going on with the picketers. It was pretty funny! We picked up some essentials and food and walked back to the hostel. We were able to check into our new room when we got back so that was nice. A nap would be well appreciated right about now. We checked in to our new room, settle in, met our roommates (some of which we had met last night, some people from England) and chilled out. We tried to Skype with Jax but the connection was terrible and the calls kept on dropping. It was a failed attempt but we tried! Then we just napped, read, caught up on emails and kept it a low key night. We are saving our energy and livers for tomorrow night when we meet up with Scottie who we met in Athens. He is living in Barcelona and we are going to hit the town!!!
We woke up this morning feeling pretty rough but we got all of our things in order to take the shuttle to the train station. We were told yesterday that the buses and trams were going to be on strike today and we were getting a ride to the station by the hostel but had to be ready early. We left shortly after 8 and good thing because it took an hour for us to drive what normally takes 10 minutes. So we arrived at the train station to find out that the strike affects all public sectors and the trains are not running either. Great! France does not like us very much and our luck has definitely run out. There was a possibility of us getting to Avignon later today but we didn’t want to decide as of yet. So we sat outside the station and waited for the next shuttle to arrive. The second one arrived very shortly after as it was a second van transporting people. So we went back to the hostel, had some breakfast as we didn’t have any earlier and used the wifi to figure out a plan. We decided to stay and extra night in Nice and go to Barcelona tomorrow when the trains are meant to run again. We went back down to the train station to see about changing our tickets and there was literally a parade going on with the picketers. It was pretty funny! We picked up some essentials and food and walked back to the hostel. We were able to check into our new room when we got back so that was nice. A nap would be well appreciated right about now. We checked in to our new room, settle in, met our roommates (some of which we had met last night, some people from England) and chilled out. We tried to Skype with Jax but the connection was terrible and the calls kept on dropping. It was a failed attempt but we tried! Then we just napped, read, caught up on emails and kept it a low key night. We are saving our energy and livers for tomorrow night when we meet up with Scottie who we met in Athens. He is living in Barcelona and we are going to hit the town!!!
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Big Money Monaco!
Monday, September 6, 2010
Woke up at a good time this morning for breakfast and so we could head to Monaco for the day. The boys were fast asleep and we tried to wake them so they could eat but they were not having any of it. So we got showered and ready for the beach and the room started to really heat up from the sun. The boys all woke up sweating and hungover. We chatted for awhile before Heather and I went to catch the train to Monaco. The boys were up to the same thing but were going to the famous casino first to try and earn a bit of money. So we said we would catch up later and maybe see them at the beach. We took the train to Monaco and as soon as we arrived, you could smell the money everywhere. There were Bentley’s, Ferrari’s, Porsche’s, Rolls Royce everywhere. It was mad! We walked along the harbour and the yacht’s were crazy too. They were everywhere and massive. Big money country for sure! So we walked down to the casino. It was really busy and really nice. We thought it would be much bigger than it was but was really cool to look at anyhow. We then headed down the beach, grabbed some lunch (not cheap either) and laid out in the sun. The beach was made of stones but it was nice out anyhow plus we had to swim in the Mediterranean. We stayed and chilled on the beach for a while and headed back after 5 when it started to cool down. We trained back to Nice and went to get changed and ready for the night. The Aussie boys were there too and they had won some cash at the casino. One of them won 90 euro and the other 200. They had an overall good day! We ended up joining up with them downstairs for drinks and drinking Uno. We ended up playing a massive game of Uno and just chilling at the hostel. They had canned pints for 1 euro and the place was pretty chill so we just stayed at the hostel for the night and stayed up pretty late which would not fare well in the morning when we have to catch the train by 930. Oh well!!!
Woke up at a good time this morning for breakfast and so we could head to Monaco for the day. The boys were fast asleep and we tried to wake them so they could eat but they were not having any of it. So we got showered and ready for the beach and the room started to really heat up from the sun. The boys all woke up sweating and hungover. We chatted for awhile before Heather and I went to catch the train to Monaco. The boys were up to the same thing but were going to the famous casino first to try and earn a bit of money. So we said we would catch up later and maybe see them at the beach. We took the train to Monaco and as soon as we arrived, you could smell the money everywhere. There were Bentley’s, Ferrari’s, Porsche’s, Rolls Royce everywhere. It was mad! We walked along the harbour and the yacht’s were crazy too. They were everywhere and massive. Big money country for sure! So we walked down to the casino. It was really busy and really nice. We thought it would be much bigger than it was but was really cool to look at anyhow. We then headed down the beach, grabbed some lunch (not cheap either) and laid out in the sun. The beach was made of stones but it was nice out anyhow plus we had to swim in the Mediterranean. We stayed and chilled on the beach for a while and headed back after 5 when it started to cool down. We trained back to Nice and went to get changed and ready for the night. The Aussie boys were there too and they had won some cash at the casino. One of them won 90 euro and the other 200. They had an overall good day! We ended up joining up with them downstairs for drinks and drinking Uno. We ended up playing a massive game of Uno and just chilling at the hostel. They had canned pints for 1 euro and the place was pretty chill so we just stayed at the hostel for the night and stayed up pretty late which would not fare well in the morning when we have to catch the train by 930. Oh well!!!
Nice Is Nice!
Sunday, September 5, 2010
We got up early to take advantage of clean towels for our shower and to grab some breakfast before our 830 train. The shower was splendid and we headed down for breakfast. We had fresh croissants with brie cheese and an assortment of cheeses and fruit and cereals etc. I even had coffee which I have definitely been missing for awhile. We headed to the train station and tried to book our last trains...we are almost fully booked to the end of our trip, including hostels and transport. It is kind of sad but exciting that we don’t have to do anymore booking/ planning. Yeah!! Anyhow, they weren’t able to reserve our trains so we will have to do it another time. We made sure we got on the train early and didn’t want to mess it up today. We had a train to Milan and then had only a few minutes to switch to our train to Ventimiglia. From there we had to change to a Monaco train and in Monaco change to Nice. It was another long train day but we were excited to actually make it to Nice. We did too!! We got in by 6 and made it to our hostel. It was a villa hostel and is on the famous hostels list meaning it’s supposed to be the best. We arrived and were definitely not disappointed. It was really big and nice. We were in a 12 bed mixed dorm though so not so nice in the hot Mediterranean weather. Anyhow, we wanted to make the most of the day so we got changed and headed into town for dinner. The hostel offers a shuttle to the closest tram stop so we grabbed that and while we were waiting we met an Aussie girl named Laura who was travelling solo right now and she joined us on our mission for dinner and to see the town by night. We ate at this little place on a side street that had a great set menu and had the local specialty which is Nicoise salad. The food was really good and we had a good time with Laura, she was really sweet. We then walked through the village and found a market and headed to the beach. It was really neat all lit up at night. We walked around for awhile before retiring back to the hostel for the night. We headed to bed and were sleeping for awhile when our roommates came home late from the bar and were super loud and drunk. It was a bunch of Aussies and we ended up chatting with them a little at 530 in the morning when they got home. They were super nice and we had a few laughs before going back to bed now that the rest of our roommates really hated us all.
We got up early to take advantage of clean towels for our shower and to grab some breakfast before our 830 train. The shower was splendid and we headed down for breakfast. We had fresh croissants with brie cheese and an assortment of cheeses and fruit and cereals etc. I even had coffee which I have definitely been missing for awhile. We headed to the train station and tried to book our last trains...we are almost fully booked to the end of our trip, including hostels and transport. It is kind of sad but exciting that we don’t have to do anymore booking/ planning. Yeah!! Anyhow, they weren’t able to reserve our trains so we will have to do it another time. We made sure we got on the train early and didn’t want to mess it up today. We had a train to Milan and then had only a few minutes to switch to our train to Ventimiglia. From there we had to change to a Monaco train and in Monaco change to Nice. It was another long train day but we were excited to actually make it to Nice. We did too!! We got in by 6 and made it to our hostel. It was a villa hostel and is on the famous hostels list meaning it’s supposed to be the best. We arrived and were definitely not disappointed. It was really big and nice. We were in a 12 bed mixed dorm though so not so nice in the hot Mediterranean weather. Anyhow, we wanted to make the most of the day so we got changed and headed into town for dinner. The hostel offers a shuttle to the closest tram stop so we grabbed that and while we were waiting we met an Aussie girl named Laura who was travelling solo right now and she joined us on our mission for dinner and to see the town by night. We ate at this little place on a side street that had a great set menu and had the local specialty which is Nicoise salad. The food was really good and we had a good time with Laura, she was really sweet. We then walked through the village and found a market and headed to the beach. It was really neat all lit up at night. We walked around for awhile before retiring back to the hostel for the night. We headed to bed and were sleeping for awhile when our roommates came home late from the bar and were super loud and drunk. It was a bunch of Aussies and we ended up chatting with them a little at 530 in the morning when they got home. They were super nice and we had a few laughs before going back to bed now that the rest of our roommates really hated us all.
Stuck in Switzerland!
Saturday, September 4, 2010
We were woken up early this morning by the girl who came late last night, checking out early today. She was making a lot of noise for nearly 2 hours before she finally left. Then our other roommates left too, they were noisy leaving but were out quite quickly. We woke up for some more of the fantastic swiss breaky and checked out in time to do a little planning and head to the train station. We had a train to catch at 1130 so we headed on down, caught our first train which is just a 5 minute ride to make the connection back down to Interlaken. Officially leaving the Swiss Alps! Today was meant to be a really long and boring day of trains as we had to take 6 of them to get to Nice, France. We would be arriving in Nice late, 10 pm or so but we were ok with it and ready to tackle the day. We actually took the earlier train and were waiting in Spiez for awhile before we took the train to Milan. We sat there and talked to some American women when the train is due to leave in less than 5 minutes, there is an announcement that our train has been cancelled since there was a problem with the train. So we had to take a train to Brig to make the next connection to Milan. This would put us an extra hour behind but what could we do? So we headed to Brig, which is only a 30 minute train ride away. When we arrived, the train that we hoped to catch that wouldn’t put us so behind, never showed up! So 25 minutes before the next train was due, I decided to go down to the info desk and ask if there were better routes to Nice as the train we were meant to catch from Ventimigilia was the last one and we would not be making that anymore. I waited in line for a really long time and when I got to the desk, I was told that we could not make it to Nice today. This really didn’t sit well with me since this was not our fault or doing and we were now stuck in Brig (where is Brig!?!?!?!?!). So I worked my magic and got new tickets for first thing in the morning and a hotel paid by the train company. We had 150 Swiss Francs each for accommodation so we took advantage of this and stayed in a nice hotel across the road from the train station and got an upgraded room. It even had breakfast included in the morning!!! So we checked in and just hung out and grabbed some dinner and watched a movie. Heather Skype`d with her parents that night too. We had an early night and caught up on some terrible sleeps we have had the past few nights.
We were woken up early this morning by the girl who came late last night, checking out early today. She was making a lot of noise for nearly 2 hours before she finally left. Then our other roommates left too, they were noisy leaving but were out quite quickly. We woke up for some more of the fantastic swiss breaky and checked out in time to do a little planning and head to the train station. We had a train to catch at 1130 so we headed on down, caught our first train which is just a 5 minute ride to make the connection back down to Interlaken. Officially leaving the Swiss Alps! Today was meant to be a really long and boring day of trains as we had to take 6 of them to get to Nice, France. We would be arriving in Nice late, 10 pm or so but we were ok with it and ready to tackle the day. We actually took the earlier train and were waiting in Spiez for awhile before we took the train to Milan. We sat there and talked to some American women when the train is due to leave in less than 5 minutes, there is an announcement that our train has been cancelled since there was a problem with the train. So we had to take a train to Brig to make the next connection to Milan. This would put us an extra hour behind but what could we do? So we headed to Brig, which is only a 30 minute train ride away. When we arrived, the train that we hoped to catch that wouldn’t put us so behind, never showed up! So 25 minutes before the next train was due, I decided to go down to the info desk and ask if there were better routes to Nice as the train we were meant to catch from Ventimigilia was the last one and we would not be making that anymore. I waited in line for a really long time and when I got to the desk, I was told that we could not make it to Nice today. This really didn’t sit well with me since this was not our fault or doing and we were now stuck in Brig (where is Brig!?!?!?!?!). So I worked my magic and got new tickets for first thing in the morning and a hotel paid by the train company. We had 150 Swiss Francs each for accommodation so we took advantage of this and stayed in a nice hotel across the road from the train station and got an upgraded room. It even had breakfast included in the morning!!! So we checked in and just hung out and grabbed some dinner and watched a movie. Heather Skype`d with her parents that night too. We had an early night and caught up on some terrible sleeps we have had the past few nights.
Gondola's, Hiking and Waterfalls!
Friday, September 3, 2010
Still feeling quite crappy today but it was our last day in Switzerland so we wanted to make the most of it. We got up to have our free breakfast and it was really, really good. Fresh bread, cereal, milk, mountain cheese, fruit etc. It was great! We then both wanted to just go back to bed but instead we got a trail map and planned our day. First we took a gondola up to Mannlichen which was a fun first experience for me and although Heather had taken one before, enjoyed the view for sure. We then hiked a train along the mountain, it was quite tame which was nice and arrived at our destination. From there we took the train to Lauterbrunnen and then caught the local bus up to Tremelbachfalles. It is a glacier waterfall just North of Interlaken. We had heard really good things about it and wanted to check it out. It was a total of 11 waterfall chutes but wasn’t really all that exciting. It was neat to see but definitely didn’t exceed our expectations. We then caught a bus back to Lauterbrunnen to catch a train down to Interlaken. While we were there we forgot to go to the chocolate show that one of the restaurants in town holds. So we made it there for 6, just in time for the last showing. Again, not as exciting as we thought, it was fun because we got to try our hand at being a choclatier. Swiss chocolate is definitely delicious and we got a voucher for the chocolate store. From there, Heather wanted to get a Swiss army knife so we found a store that sold a lot of knives and the biggest selection of cookoo clocks in town. Haha, it was pretty funny actually! She got one and even got her name engraved in it. A true Swiss souvenir! We were pretty hungry by now so we just picked the closest restaurant to where we were and ordered the meat fondue. I don’t think it was very authentic. It was run by Asians and the fondue came with French fries. An interesting experience nonetheless. We then had to make it back to the train station so we could catch a train back to Grindelwald before the trains stopped running and we’d be stuck. We caught the 2105 train but it didn’t got all the way to where we needed to get off, so we had a 20 minute walk in the dark ahead of us. The conductor was really good though and showed us the path we needed to take. It ended up being fine but just a bit sketchy in thought. We were ‘pooped’ and wanted nothing more than a good nights sleep. When we arrived back at our hostel, we found out that we had roommates. Bah! We had enjoyed the room to ourselves and now we had to share...not cool! To make things worse, this girl comes in just as we are going to bed and it’s another roommate...at 11pm. She stood in front of Heather’s bed, doing god knows what for like 20 minutes while Heather waited to get into her bed. It was really brutal. I don’t think it helped that we were tired and grumpy.
Still feeling quite crappy today but it was our last day in Switzerland so we wanted to make the most of it. We got up to have our free breakfast and it was really, really good. Fresh bread, cereal, milk, mountain cheese, fruit etc. It was great! We then both wanted to just go back to bed but instead we got a trail map and planned our day. First we took a gondola up to Mannlichen which was a fun first experience for me and although Heather had taken one before, enjoyed the view for sure. We then hiked a train along the mountain, it was quite tame which was nice and arrived at our destination. From there we took the train to Lauterbrunnen and then caught the local bus up to Tremelbachfalles. It is a glacier waterfall just North of Interlaken. We had heard really good things about it and wanted to check it out. It was a total of 11 waterfall chutes but wasn’t really all that exciting. It was neat to see but definitely didn’t exceed our expectations. We then caught a bus back to Lauterbrunnen to catch a train down to Interlaken. While we were there we forgot to go to the chocolate show that one of the restaurants in town holds. So we made it there for 6, just in time for the last showing. Again, not as exciting as we thought, it was fun because we got to try our hand at being a choclatier. Swiss chocolate is definitely delicious and we got a voucher for the chocolate store. From there, Heather wanted to get a Swiss army knife so we found a store that sold a lot of knives and the biggest selection of cookoo clocks in town. Haha, it was pretty funny actually! She got one and even got her name engraved in it. A true Swiss souvenir! We were pretty hungry by now so we just picked the closest restaurant to where we were and ordered the meat fondue. I don’t think it was very authentic. It was run by Asians and the fondue came with French fries. An interesting experience nonetheless. We then had to make it back to the train station so we could catch a train back to Grindelwald before the trains stopped running and we’d be stuck. We caught the 2105 train but it didn’t got all the way to where we needed to get off, so we had a 20 minute walk in the dark ahead of us. The conductor was really good though and showed us the path we needed to take. It ended up being fine but just a bit sketchy in thought. We were ‘pooped’ and wanted nothing more than a good nights sleep. When we arrived back at our hostel, we found out that we had roommates. Bah! We had enjoyed the room to ourselves and now we had to share...not cool! To make things worse, this girl comes in just as we are going to bed and it’s another roommate...at 11pm. She stood in front of Heather’s bed, doing god knows what for like 20 minutes while Heather waited to get into her bed. It was really brutal. I don’t think it helped that we were tired and grumpy.
Taking Flight!
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Had to get up and out this morning despite the unwillingness! We got up, had our breakfast and got out of the room for check out. Just shortly after, Heather ran out to do some Hangliding as they were leaving pretty soon. She went with this Aussie guy who owned the company and he had a camera attached to the glider so she got some really cool pics and a video as well. He also carried an Ipod with him so they listened to ACDC while hangliding over the Alps. Pretty sweet!!! While she was gone, I did some Australian paperwork (yes more of it, I know) and mailed it then walked to the train station to book some trains to Nice and Barcelona. The trip is coming to an end and we have only a few trains left to book. It seems pretty crazy! Anyhow, I got there at 1245 and the booking place was closed for lunch (must be nice) and re-opened again in an hour. Since I had walked all that way, I just decided to wait the 45 minutes there. I was able to book some trains but they were not direct at all and I could tell instantly that it was going to be quite the adventure and we were bound to miss one or two along the way. Oh well, all she could or was willing to offer me. Anyhow, afterwards I met Heather back at the hostel where we did a bit more planning, watched her Hangliding video and saw her pictures. We then headed off to Grindelwald which was our next stop in Switzerland. It was only about a 30 minute train ride away and we were heading up the mountain a bit. We arrived and the hostel was right beside the train station which is always a nice thing. We checked in, and both went for a nap, while watching a movie. We are both quite sick and congested. We needed a room to ourselves and some sleep to rest and recover. We slept until almost 9 at night and then decided that we should eat something. The only place still open was the local restaurant so we went and had some raclette and pizza. Haha! It was yummy but we were still tired and just went back to bed afterwards.
Had to get up and out this morning despite the unwillingness! We got up, had our breakfast and got out of the room for check out. Just shortly after, Heather ran out to do some Hangliding as they were leaving pretty soon. She went with this Aussie guy who owned the company and he had a camera attached to the glider so she got some really cool pics and a video as well. He also carried an Ipod with him so they listened to ACDC while hangliding over the Alps. Pretty sweet!!! While she was gone, I did some Australian paperwork (yes more of it, I know) and mailed it then walked to the train station to book some trains to Nice and Barcelona. The trip is coming to an end and we have only a few trains left to book. It seems pretty crazy! Anyhow, I got there at 1245 and the booking place was closed for lunch (must be nice) and re-opened again in an hour. Since I had walked all that way, I just decided to wait the 45 minutes there. I was able to book some trains but they were not direct at all and I could tell instantly that it was going to be quite the adventure and we were bound to miss one or two along the way. Oh well, all she could or was willing to offer me. Anyhow, afterwards I met Heather back at the hostel where we did a bit more planning, watched her Hangliding video and saw her pictures. We then headed off to Grindelwald which was our next stop in Switzerland. It was only about a 30 minute train ride away and we were heading up the mountain a bit. We arrived and the hostel was right beside the train station which is always a nice thing. We checked in, and both went for a nap, while watching a movie. We are both quite sick and congested. We needed a room to ourselves and some sleep to rest and recover. We slept until almost 9 at night and then decided that we should eat something. The only place still open was the local restaurant so we went and had some raclette and pizza. Haha! It was yummy but we were still tired and just went back to bed afterwards.
Party Swiss Army Style!
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Heather was up and out by 9 am this morning to go canyoning, while I took a little longer to be useful. I slept in until 10, then I had to leave the room, they lock it until 3 for cleaning and ended up having a nap on the couch. I caught up on emails, blogging and pictures and just lounged around all day. I finally decided to make something of the day and go for a walk which was really nice. The sun had warmed up the air and I wasn’t freezing as we normally are here. Heather got back in the meantime...she had a really good day. They couldn’t do the one jump because of the water levels but she did a lot of things. They repelled down rocks, jumped off of cliffs, did back flips into the water and slid down rock chutes. The pictures are really good and it looked like a lot of fun. She said though that I would not have made it with my bum ankle so I am really glad that I didn’t try and go. When she got back we had a Skype date with Jax and she has a webcam now so we got to see her and she didn’t have to type everything. It was really, really good to see her and catch up. We then lounged around the room, Heather was not feeling well, fevering and had the chills. We went to get some dinner and ended up running into the Torontonians again and a few other Canadians we had met and started drinking again. So much for not drinking and going to bed early! Heather went to bed a bit early because she was still not feeling well. We ended up going to the nightclub again and dancing it up. There were 50 or so Swiss army guys there in their uniforms so we were definitely out numbered. I ended up talking to a few of them and they were pretty cool guys, we ended up having a few shots together. They are required to serve in the army for four weeks a year and yes they are issued Swiss army knives...don’t worry, I definitely asked! The Swiss are an amazing group of people, quite kind and willing to help but also amazing linguists. They are fluent in Swiss German, English, Italian and French. Anyhow, the time came and passed when was supposed to Skype with my parents that night and I caught them just as they were about to give up on me. They were babysitting Campbell tonight while Brandon and Chantelle were out and since I haven’t seen her in awhile, I asked my parents to meet me on Skype. It was really, really good to see her! She is such a doll and getting so big...long like her parents!!
Heather was up and out by 9 am this morning to go canyoning, while I took a little longer to be useful. I slept in until 10, then I had to leave the room, they lock it until 3 for cleaning and ended up having a nap on the couch. I caught up on emails, blogging and pictures and just lounged around all day. I finally decided to make something of the day and go for a walk which was really nice. The sun had warmed up the air and I wasn’t freezing as we normally are here. Heather got back in the meantime...she had a really good day. They couldn’t do the one jump because of the water levels but she did a lot of things. They repelled down rocks, jumped off of cliffs, did back flips into the water and slid down rock chutes. The pictures are really good and it looked like a lot of fun. She said though that I would not have made it with my bum ankle so I am really glad that I didn’t try and go. When she got back we had a Skype date with Jax and she has a webcam now so we got to see her and she didn’t have to type everything. It was really, really good to see her and catch up. We then lounged around the room, Heather was not feeling well, fevering and had the chills. We went to get some dinner and ended up running into the Torontonians again and a few other Canadians we had met and started drinking again. So much for not drinking and going to bed early! Heather went to bed a bit early because she was still not feeling well. We ended up going to the nightclub again and dancing it up. There were 50 or so Swiss army guys there in their uniforms so we were definitely out numbered. I ended up talking to a few of them and they were pretty cool guys, we ended up having a few shots together. They are required to serve in the army for four weeks a year and yes they are issued Swiss army knives...don’t worry, I definitely asked! The Swiss are an amazing group of people, quite kind and willing to help but also amazing linguists. They are fluent in Swiss German, English, Italian and French. Anyhow, the time came and passed when was supposed to Skype with my parents that night and I caught them just as they were about to give up on me. They were babysitting Campbell tonight while Brandon and Chantelle were out and since I haven’t seen her in awhile, I asked my parents to meet me on Skype. It was really, really good to see her! She is such a doll and getting so big...long like her parents!!
Lazy Canadian Days!!!
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
We didn’t really get up to much today. Heather had wanted to do canyoning today but the weather was not appropriate and it wouldn’t be running today. We were told that the next few days were going to be nicer weather and would be a better time. So we just hung around the hostel and went to the grocery store and that was pretty much it. We met a couple from Toronto while we were sitting on the couch and got chatting with them. We ended up making dinner and then joining them for some drinks. It was happy hour so we started having a few which turned into a lot. We had a good night, there is a nightclub here so we went there, played flip cup, found ourselves at an Indian wedding and then laying in the roof hammocks. A really, really random night but it was a lot of fun. We ended up staying up really late which was not good for the adventurers in the morning.
We didn’t really get up to much today. Heather had wanted to do canyoning today but the weather was not appropriate and it wouldn’t be running today. We were told that the next few days were going to be nicer weather and would be a better time. So we just hung around the hostel and went to the grocery store and that was pretty much it. We met a couple from Toronto while we were sitting on the couch and got chatting with them. We ended up making dinner and then joining them for some drinks. It was happy hour so we started having a few which turned into a lot. We had a good night, there is a nightclub here so we went there, played flip cup, found ourselves at an Indian wedding and then laying in the roof hammocks. A really, really random night but it was a lot of fun. We ended up staying up really late which was not good for the adventurers in the morning.
Movies, Chocolate and the Alps!
Monday, August 30, 2010
We really didn’t sleep well last night and the boys were up and at it early this morning. So we were pretty tired but were going to go see Zurich in all of its glory! We found out that we got a free boat ride with our Eurail pass but the water level was too high and the dock was closed, plus it was really, really cold. We decided to just start walking around, we grabbed a starbucks to keep warm. We found ourselves stuck in the rain so we had some lunch and decided instead of sightseeing, we would go to the cinema and see a movie! We saw the movie Letters to Juliet and it was quite cute...really bad acting but it provided some afternoon entertainment for us on this rainy day. After the movie we headed back to the hostel and got our bags and headed to the train station. We were off to Interlaken today and had to wait until after 3 when the hostel opened to get our bags out. So we got our train to Bern and from there went to Interlaken. It was still raining and quite miserable. We were quite excited to get to Interlaken and there were mountains at our feet. It was such a beautiful sight! We arrived to our hostel which had been suggested to us by Stef and it was really cool. There weren’t a lot of people staying here since it is so close to the end of the season but still a really cool place. It is one of those all in one places. We had a little dinner, the cheapest place with good food is the Thai place next door so that’s where we went. It was amazing, we even had leftovers for lunch tomorrow! After supper, we headed back to the room and pretty much went to bed. I Skype’d with my family and called it a night.
We really didn’t sleep well last night and the boys were up and at it early this morning. So we were pretty tired but were going to go see Zurich in all of its glory! We found out that we got a free boat ride with our Eurail pass but the water level was too high and the dock was closed, plus it was really, really cold. We decided to just start walking around, we grabbed a starbucks to keep warm. We found ourselves stuck in the rain so we had some lunch and decided instead of sightseeing, we would go to the cinema and see a movie! We saw the movie Letters to Juliet and it was quite cute...really bad acting but it provided some afternoon entertainment for us on this rainy day. After the movie we headed back to the hostel and got our bags and headed to the train station. We were off to Interlaken today and had to wait until after 3 when the hostel opened to get our bags out. So we got our train to Bern and from there went to Interlaken. It was still raining and quite miserable. We were quite excited to get to Interlaken and there were mountains at our feet. It was such a beautiful sight! We arrived to our hostel which had been suggested to us by Stef and it was really cool. There weren’t a lot of people staying here since it is so close to the end of the season but still a really cool place. It is one of those all in one places. We had a little dinner, the cheapest place with good food is the Thai place next door so that’s where we went. It was amazing, we even had leftovers for lunch tomorrow! After supper, we headed back to the room and pretty much went to bed. I Skype’d with my family and called it a night.
It's Zurich Day!
Sunday, August 29, 2010
We were not overly ambitious to get up this morning and didn’t have much to see in Milan. We checked out by 10 and headed towards the train station and stopped for breakfast on the way. We took the subway to the cathedral and since we had our bags, took turns going in to see it. It was a really beautiful looking cathedral but since mass was happening we couldn’t go in to see much of it. The stained glass windows were quite beautiful though. We hung out in the square and then headed to the train station. We were off to Switzerland. Our train left from Milan around 1 and we were off to Zurich. We arrived to Zurich and were freezing! The temperature dropped dramatically while we were on the train. Everyone was wearing long pants and warm coats. It was pretty ridiculous. We walked to our hostel which was in the old town, and went right through the city festival that was going on. We knew it was happening from the booking of the hostel but it was neat to see. So we checked into our hostel and decided to go have a look and taste some local foods. First thing that we discovered is that Switzerland is really, really expensive. The prices are about twice as at home. Needless to say we will be living pretty cheaply in Switzerland. We took a look around and decided to get some local eats. There were live bands and beer tents etc. We grabbed some pitas with shish kabobs and racelette. It was really good! We hung out on the street for awhile and enjoyed the festival. We then thought we would go check out our rooftop patio and what we found was not exciting! We assumed it was a licensed bar and there would be people up there. It was an empty rooftop with no sign of life. We had to walk through a sketchy attic to get there too. Anyhow, we ended up chilling in the common room and deciding to head to bed early. We went up to the room and met our roommates. There were two German boys and one guy from Brazil. They were heading out and after chatting with them for awhile, they convinced us to go out with them. We headed back out into the old town and it was now barren. The whole festival had shut down and it was really quiet in the streets. We found a pub to go have a drink at but the bartender was quite unpleasant so we didn’t stay for more than one. In the meantime however, we learned some German. We can now count to ten in German! That may come in handy someday. Anyhow, after we left the pub, we looked for somewhere else to go and had no luck. We looked and looked and everything had closed, we assume it’s because it is Sunday night and most people would have to work in the morning. We then thought lets get a bottle of wine or something and just have a drink at the hostel. We found a kebab shop and they sell beer and wine but when we asked how much a bottle of wine was, we were told it was 45 swiss francs. Ha! That is equivalent to our dollar and it wasn’t even a good bottle of wine. There was no way we would be paying 45 dollars for a bottle of wine. That’s ridiculous! Instead we bought a beer each and headed back to the hostel and pretty much turned in for the night. We met our other roommate then too. He was also from Brazil and the guys were all pretty funny and we had a good night!
We were not overly ambitious to get up this morning and didn’t have much to see in Milan. We checked out by 10 and headed towards the train station and stopped for breakfast on the way. We took the subway to the cathedral and since we had our bags, took turns going in to see it. It was a really beautiful looking cathedral but since mass was happening we couldn’t go in to see much of it. The stained glass windows were quite beautiful though. We hung out in the square and then headed to the train station. We were off to Switzerland. Our train left from Milan around 1 and we were off to Zurich. We arrived to Zurich and were freezing! The temperature dropped dramatically while we were on the train. Everyone was wearing long pants and warm coats. It was pretty ridiculous. We walked to our hostel which was in the old town, and went right through the city festival that was going on. We knew it was happening from the booking of the hostel but it was neat to see. So we checked into our hostel and decided to go have a look and taste some local foods. First thing that we discovered is that Switzerland is really, really expensive. The prices are about twice as at home. Needless to say we will be living pretty cheaply in Switzerland. We took a look around and decided to get some local eats. There were live bands and beer tents etc. We grabbed some pitas with shish kabobs and racelette. It was really good! We hung out on the street for awhile and enjoyed the festival. We then thought we would go check out our rooftop patio and what we found was not exciting! We assumed it was a licensed bar and there would be people up there. It was an empty rooftop with no sign of life. We had to walk through a sketchy attic to get there too. Anyhow, we ended up chilling in the common room and deciding to head to bed early. We went up to the room and met our roommates. There were two German boys and one guy from Brazil. They were heading out and after chatting with them for awhile, they convinced us to go out with them. We headed back out into the old town and it was now barren. The whole festival had shut down and it was really quiet in the streets. We found a pub to go have a drink at but the bartender was quite unpleasant so we didn’t stay for more than one. In the meantime however, we learned some German. We can now count to ten in German! That may come in handy someday. Anyhow, after we left the pub, we looked for somewhere else to go and had no luck. We looked and looked and everything had closed, we assume it’s because it is Sunday night and most people would have to work in the morning. We then thought lets get a bottle of wine or something and just have a drink at the hostel. We found a kebab shop and they sell beer and wine but when we asked how much a bottle of wine was, we were told it was 45 swiss francs. Ha! That is equivalent to our dollar and it wasn’t even a good bottle of wine. There was no way we would be paying 45 dollars for a bottle of wine. That’s ridiculous! Instead we bought a beer each and headed back to the hostel and pretty much turned in for the night. We met our other roommate then too. He was also from Brazil and the guys were all pretty funny and we had a good night!
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Italian Indian!
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Today was our day to see Venice, well until 3pm anyhow. We went to San Marco’s basilica and did some shopping in the stores. Before we knew it, it was time to head back to the train station. We grabbed a quick slice on the way and off we went to Milan. We arrived in Milan later in the day and the directions that were on hostel world were absolutely wrong! It was really annoying to walk around Milan and have no idea where we were or where we were going. When we did arrive, the guy there was not so pleasant. He was annoyed of the time that we arrived because he apparently had been sitting down at the reception desk for 3 hours and we arrived just when he went to change the laundry and called him mom. Oh wow, did that annoy us! Maybe we would have been there a little earlier if we hadn’t wandered through Milan due to dodgy directions. Anyhow, he showed us to our room, told us that there was wifi but there was only one spot on the stairs where it worked but he didn’t like people sitting there. He also charges for wifi but would give us a discount. Heck no, we are not paying for wifi to sit in a hallway and get yelled at. We wanted it for free and did get it for free. We then made the mistake of asking him if there are any Indian restaurants close by as we were sick of pasta and craving some curry. He was such a jerk! He was like no I only eat Italian food because it’s the best. He was like I don’t try eastern food if it’s not Italian. Heather and I were both like, how do you know if you don’t try anything else. We didn’t push the subject but he was super chatty and went on and on about how the Arabs are in a certain part of town but if you go one street over we can have good Italian food. We just Google’d Indian restaurants and ignored the ignorant man. When we arrived we met this guy who was sitting in the hallway using wifi and he was from Newmarket area and was also our roommate. We chilled with him (Quinn) for awhile while we booked our Swiss hostels and the three of us went for Indian. We got a few bottles of wine on the way for afterwards and took the metro to the restaurant. The first place we went to was non-existant but there was one just around the corner. So we headed in and the smell was fantastic as soon as we walked in. We sat down and ordered a bunch of food to share. It was quite incredible! The food was so good and we ate every last bite. The chef’s were straight from India, from New Delhi so it was authentic and amazing! After dinner, which was like 1130 pm, we headed back to the hostel and went out onto the balcony off of our room and drank the wine. We chatted and watched the city for awhile before turning in for the night.
Today was our day to see Venice, well until 3pm anyhow. We went to San Marco’s basilica and did some shopping in the stores. Before we knew it, it was time to head back to the train station. We grabbed a quick slice on the way and off we went to Milan. We arrived in Milan later in the day and the directions that were on hostel world were absolutely wrong! It was really annoying to walk around Milan and have no idea where we were or where we were going. When we did arrive, the guy there was not so pleasant. He was annoyed of the time that we arrived because he apparently had been sitting down at the reception desk for 3 hours and we arrived just when he went to change the laundry and called him mom. Oh wow, did that annoy us! Maybe we would have been there a little earlier if we hadn’t wandered through Milan due to dodgy directions. Anyhow, he showed us to our room, told us that there was wifi but there was only one spot on the stairs where it worked but he didn’t like people sitting there. He also charges for wifi but would give us a discount. Heck no, we are not paying for wifi to sit in a hallway and get yelled at. We wanted it for free and did get it for free. We then made the mistake of asking him if there are any Indian restaurants close by as we were sick of pasta and craving some curry. He was such a jerk! He was like no I only eat Italian food because it’s the best. He was like I don’t try eastern food if it’s not Italian. Heather and I were both like, how do you know if you don’t try anything else. We didn’t push the subject but he was super chatty and went on and on about how the Arabs are in a certain part of town but if you go one street over we can have good Italian food. We just Google’d Indian restaurants and ignored the ignorant man. When we arrived we met this guy who was sitting in the hallway using wifi and he was from Newmarket area and was also our roommate. We chilled with him (Quinn) for awhile while we booked our Swiss hostels and the three of us went for Indian. We got a few bottles of wine on the way for afterwards and took the metro to the restaurant. The first place we went to was non-existant but there was one just around the corner. So we headed in and the smell was fantastic as soon as we walked in. We sat down and ordered a bunch of food to share. It was quite incredible! The food was so good and we ate every last bite. The chef’s were straight from India, from New Delhi so it was authentic and amazing! After dinner, which was like 1130 pm, we headed back to the hostel and went out onto the balcony off of our room and drank the wine. We chatted and watched the city for awhile before turning in for the night.
Hills, trains and Gondola's!
Friday, August 27, 2010
We woke up early today to get a nice hike in before our train was due to leave at noon. We had some breakfast and were off on the adventure. The guy who worked the hostel told us of a train that would take 2.5 hours from start to finish and would go up the mountain for a fabulous view and back down and then along the coast back to our hostel. We left just after 8, giving us plenty of time to get back and sorted before our train left. So we started out and the first part was quite steep and a lot of steps up and this was to the first town where the national park trek actually started. Once we arrive the terrain was quite flat along the trail but we were walking alongside the side of a cliff on a narrow dirt path, with nowhere to go but carefully straight ahead or falling all the way down the cliff. We walked along vineyards and really cute little houses on the cliff and were careful to take our time and walk carefully. We were still walking at a good pace and stopped only a few times for pics. Time kept passing and we were still walking alongside this huge cliff. We came to a place that we thought was the start of our decent but just ended up being around a river. We continued on, not having any other way to go and were starting to get worried about time. We only had a few hours to get back to Manarola, grab our bags and get back to the train station. We continued down and down and down and it seemed like forever. We got down to the town where we were supposed to start our walk back to our town along the water at about 1200. We were rushing and trying to catch the train back to our village and knew we would have to hurry up to our hostel and back down if we had any hope of catching this train at 1239. The train was due to leave back to Manarola at 1212 and arrive at 1219 and we were confident that if we really hurried we could make it. Then comes an overhead announcement that our train would be delayed by 10 minutes. We were still thinking that we have to at least try and make our train and would have to essentially run up the hill and back down...but it was doable. Then a few minutes later we hear that it was 15 minutes delayed...at this point we are hot, sweaty, thirsty and grumpy so we had beers at the train station and decided that we would definitely miss our train. It was a terrible feeling and we started planning a new way to get to Venice today. The problem was that we had a reserved train from Florence to Venice at 430 and we would miss that and have to pay for a new reservation. What other choice did we have but to just figure out a way to get there and if we had to pay an extra 20 euro, well then so be it. So we got on our train and we still had our beers with us (but you can drink anywhere in Europe...kind of strange but we aren’t ones to complain) and a girl motioned towards Heather and her beer. Heather and I both initially thought she was like “ya, drinks are a good idea, good for you” sort of idea. Until she asked if she could have some! Haha! Italians have proven that they are not shy to ask you for what they want if you have it. Heather said no and I had only a little bit of warm beer, probably mostly my saliva anyhow and said, “Well you can have mine”. Her face lit up like a Christmas tree as she took my nasty remains of a beer. My rationale was that now I didn’t have to find a garbage can and drink the nasty warm spit beer either. I didn’t think she would take it but low and behold...she did! We had a good laugh about it afterwards. Anyhow, up the hill we climbed and back to our hostel. We weren’t very happy with the guy who told us that it would only take 2.5 hours and it took over 3 and we didn’t even finish the route that we trained back. So we thought, let’s give him the guilt trip and maybe he will drive us to the main train station so we could catch our 1341 train. The station was only like 10-15 minutes away but the train from the village ran so infrequently that we were out of options. The guy was not very sympathetic as we had wished and told us to book a new train. Hehe! It was worth a shot! We then asked about a taxi and he said that we could get one but it would cost 30-50 euro since it had to come from the main town. Definitely not worth it! The other thing was that we had told my Aunt that we would be arriving in Venice at our hostel around 7 and now we would be late. She is a flight attendant, the one who we met up with in Athens, who just happened to be in Venice the same night as us. So when we got back to the hostel I rang and rang my parents on skype until they finally answered (it was before 7am there) and asked my mom to text my aunt and tell her we wouldn’t be in until 8 or 9. We headed then to the train station to La Spezia and had figured out that we had 5 minutes to run, make a reservation and get on the 1406 train. So Heather stayed with the bags and I ran and tried to get a reservation. I ran up to the first window and was asking this man if we could get on this train and he said no and that he couldn’t help me. So annoyed I went up to the information desk where this woman was taking her sweet time to ask for directions for the supermarket...meanwhile I am trying to dodge past her to get on this train! So I finally got to the front of the line and asked how we get to Venice as fast as possible the lady wrote out the trains and told us to get on the 1412 train and would have to switch and would get to Florence at 1633 (3 minutes too late for our initial reservation). So I ran to the gates, grabbed my bag and yelled to Heather to get on the train. We just made the train as the doors shut right behind Heather before we were even seated. So we trained to Pisa, switched quick and headed to Florence. We ran off the train in Florence and knew there was no way that the train was late leaving and could not make our reservation. Darn! It was quite the thrill though to try and make it! We had an hour before the next train and went and made a reservation and got on the 1730 train to Venice. We would only be an hour late arriving in Venice. When we did arrive we got a 24 hour water bus ticket and were on our way to our hostel. We had decided earlier as well that we would leave our big packs at the train station and only pack our little bags for the night, since we leave tomorrow anyhow. So we were packed onto this little water bus and it was really neat but we were so glad to be without the excess baggage. We had our directions written down and although they were kind of confusing, they were quite simple from the waterbus stop. We walked the way the directions told us and just around the corner from our hostel, we hear “Meghan!” and we look and there is my Aunt and her friend Elaine sitting at a table at a restaurant having a glass of wine. They had been to the hostel to look for us. They even had a little tour of the place and were invited to stay for dinner... it was 5 euro pasta night. Hehe! It was pretty funny! Anyhow, we checked into our hostel, changed quickly and headed out to dinner on the town. We did a little shopping along the way and finally came to Rialto bridge where we found a little waterfront restaurant to sit and eat. We had a really good meal with really good company. We sat and chatted and ate until 1130ish. Dona and Elaine had to get back on the waterbus to get back to their hotel which was pretty far away before the bus stopped running. We said our farewell’s and sent a few things with them to take home for us as well! Heather and I tried walking back to our hostel but got lost and decided just to come back to the waterbus and take it to the stop we had taken earlier and knew our way home. Our hostel also had a curfew of 1am so we had to get back before we were locked out. It was really noisy at our hostel and the beds were terrible. Being a later check in, we had two top bunks, they were quite high and ghetto. Heather’s mattress sunk in when she laid on it, missing a few springs I think. Not going to be a great night’s sleep but it’s only for one night!
We woke up early today to get a nice hike in before our train was due to leave at noon. We had some breakfast and were off on the adventure. The guy who worked the hostel told us of a train that would take 2.5 hours from start to finish and would go up the mountain for a fabulous view and back down and then along the coast back to our hostel. We left just after 8, giving us plenty of time to get back and sorted before our train left. So we started out and the first part was quite steep and a lot of steps up and this was to the first town where the national park trek actually started. Once we arrive the terrain was quite flat along the trail but we were walking alongside the side of a cliff on a narrow dirt path, with nowhere to go but carefully straight ahead or falling all the way down the cliff. We walked along vineyards and really cute little houses on the cliff and were careful to take our time and walk carefully. We were still walking at a good pace and stopped only a few times for pics. Time kept passing and we were still walking alongside this huge cliff. We came to a place that we thought was the start of our decent but just ended up being around a river. We continued on, not having any other way to go and were starting to get worried about time. We only had a few hours to get back to Manarola, grab our bags and get back to the train station. We continued down and down and down and it seemed like forever. We got down to the town where we were supposed to start our walk back to our town along the water at about 1200. We were rushing and trying to catch the train back to our village and knew we would have to hurry up to our hostel and back down if we had any hope of catching this train at 1239. The train was due to leave back to Manarola at 1212 and arrive at 1219 and we were confident that if we really hurried we could make it. Then comes an overhead announcement that our train would be delayed by 10 minutes. We were still thinking that we have to at least try and make our train and would have to essentially run up the hill and back down...but it was doable. Then a few minutes later we hear that it was 15 minutes delayed...at this point we are hot, sweaty, thirsty and grumpy so we had beers at the train station and decided that we would definitely miss our train. It was a terrible feeling and we started planning a new way to get to Venice today. The problem was that we had a reserved train from Florence to Venice at 430 and we would miss that and have to pay for a new reservation. What other choice did we have but to just figure out a way to get there and if we had to pay an extra 20 euro, well then so be it. So we got on our train and we still had our beers with us (but you can drink anywhere in Europe...kind of strange but we aren’t ones to complain) and a girl motioned towards Heather and her beer. Heather and I both initially thought she was like “ya, drinks are a good idea, good for you” sort of idea. Until she asked if she could have some! Haha! Italians have proven that they are not shy to ask you for what they want if you have it. Heather said no and I had only a little bit of warm beer, probably mostly my saliva anyhow and said, “Well you can have mine”. Her face lit up like a Christmas tree as she took my nasty remains of a beer. My rationale was that now I didn’t have to find a garbage can and drink the nasty warm spit beer either. I didn’t think she would take it but low and behold...she did! We had a good laugh about it afterwards. Anyhow, up the hill we climbed and back to our hostel. We weren’t very happy with the guy who told us that it would only take 2.5 hours and it took over 3 and we didn’t even finish the route that we trained back. So we thought, let’s give him the guilt trip and maybe he will drive us to the main train station so we could catch our 1341 train. The station was only like 10-15 minutes away but the train from the village ran so infrequently that we were out of options. The guy was not very sympathetic as we had wished and told us to book a new train. Hehe! It was worth a shot! We then asked about a taxi and he said that we could get one but it would cost 30-50 euro since it had to come from the main town. Definitely not worth it! The other thing was that we had told my Aunt that we would be arriving in Venice at our hostel around 7 and now we would be late. She is a flight attendant, the one who we met up with in Athens, who just happened to be in Venice the same night as us. So when we got back to the hostel I rang and rang my parents on skype until they finally answered (it was before 7am there) and asked my mom to text my aunt and tell her we wouldn’t be in until 8 or 9. We headed then to the train station to La Spezia and had figured out that we had 5 minutes to run, make a reservation and get on the 1406 train. So Heather stayed with the bags and I ran and tried to get a reservation. I ran up to the first window and was asking this man if we could get on this train and he said no and that he couldn’t help me. So annoyed I went up to the information desk where this woman was taking her sweet time to ask for directions for the supermarket...meanwhile I am trying to dodge past her to get on this train! So I finally got to the front of the line and asked how we get to Venice as fast as possible the lady wrote out the trains and told us to get on the 1412 train and would have to switch and would get to Florence at 1633 (3 minutes too late for our initial reservation). So I ran to the gates, grabbed my bag and yelled to Heather to get on the train. We just made the train as the doors shut right behind Heather before we were even seated. So we trained to Pisa, switched quick and headed to Florence. We ran off the train in Florence and knew there was no way that the train was late leaving and could not make our reservation. Darn! It was quite the thrill though to try and make it! We had an hour before the next train and went and made a reservation and got on the 1730 train to Venice. We would only be an hour late arriving in Venice. When we did arrive we got a 24 hour water bus ticket and were on our way to our hostel. We had decided earlier as well that we would leave our big packs at the train station and only pack our little bags for the night, since we leave tomorrow anyhow. So we were packed onto this little water bus and it was really neat but we were so glad to be without the excess baggage. We had our directions written down and although they were kind of confusing, they were quite simple from the waterbus stop. We walked the way the directions told us and just around the corner from our hostel, we hear “Meghan!” and we look and there is my Aunt and her friend Elaine sitting at a table at a restaurant having a glass of wine. They had been to the hostel to look for us. They even had a little tour of the place and were invited to stay for dinner... it was 5 euro pasta night. Hehe! It was pretty funny! Anyhow, we checked into our hostel, changed quickly and headed out to dinner on the town. We did a little shopping along the way and finally came to Rialto bridge where we found a little waterfront restaurant to sit and eat. We had a really good meal with really good company. We sat and chatted and ate until 1130ish. Dona and Elaine had to get back on the waterbus to get back to their hotel which was pretty far away before the bus stopped running. We said our farewell’s and sent a few things with them to take home for us as well! Heather and I tried walking back to our hostel but got lost and decided just to come back to the waterbus and take it to the stop we had taken earlier and knew our way home. Our hostel also had a curfew of 1am so we had to get back before we were locked out. It was really noisy at our hostel and the beds were terrible. Being a later check in, we had two top bunks, they were quite high and ghetto. Heather’s mattress sunk in when she laid on it, missing a few springs I think. Not going to be a great night’s sleep but it’s only for one night!
Cinque Terre
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Got up nice and early this morning! We headed for our croissant and cappuccino and headed to the train station. We grabbed some lunch to go from the supermarket and were on the train by 930 headed to Cinque Terre. It was a cabin train and we had reserved our seats ahead of time. When we boarded the train there were 3 guys in the compartment and sitting in our seats but we just put our bags away and sat in the empty seats. The guys took down their suitcases from the racks after we had put ours up and put them into the hallway. We were quite confused as to why they would take them down but we didn’t really concern ourselves with it and sat in our seats. Then after awhile they put them back up and took their seats. As the train was due to leave, this woman came with 6 or 7 suitcases with her two daughters and were telling the men that the seats were theirs. So the men obviously didn’t have reservations and was probably the reason they had taken their suitcases out in the first place. But then this woman arrives late and kicks them all out. On top of that, she had these massive suitcases that she couldn’t lift above her head to put on the storage racks so the one man had to lift them all up. We had to move all of our bags and rearrange everything so this lady could get her bags sorted. It was kind of ridiculous actually and there wasn’t enough room for them all. She had to put them in the racks in the hall, which she wasn’t pleased about. I am not even sure how the 3 of them carried all of these bags. Just a nightmare! Heather and I just sat there and watched it all go down, mind boggled! Anyhow, they ended up being quite nice and offered us drinks and food and were really nice. They also revealed a secret trick about the train seats that we didn’t know. The cabin seats actually recline down and you can lay across the two seats. So we can in the future recline the seats and sleep more comfortably on the train. Perfect! Anyhow, off to Cinque Terre which is a national park about an hour north of Pisa and consists of 5 villages (Cinque Terre in Italian). We had booked a hostel in Manarola, the second of 5 villages. So we took a few trains to get to the village, had to buy a park pass and headed to find our hostel. It is such a small village that it is definitely easy to navigate. The only problem was, that our hostel was at the very top of this monstrous hill and it was still really, really hot out. So we trekked on up this massive hill, were sweating profusely and arrived to a closed hostel. We were not really impressed but the hostel is closed from 1pm to 4pm. So we waited on the stairs for 30 minutes for it to open...still sweating. Once it was finally opened, we were greeted by a not so friendly Italian man who showed us to reception. The man working the desk was much nicer and was quite pleasant. We checked in, and headed to our rooms. The rooms were quite nice and modern but there was a few things that we didn’t like...there was a curfew of 1 am, internet you had to pay for, the showers were coin operated so you only had a few minutes and only one shower allowed, and in the end made us miss our train (we will get to that later though). So we made the best of it and looked at the trail maps and decided to head up to the far town which had the only sandy beach in Cinque Terre to catch some rays before sunset. We grabbed the train and arrived at the beach, had a little snack and cervesa on the beach. It was really busy when we arrived and cleared out quite quickly between 6 and 8pm. It was still nice and warm out and the waves were nice to watch/listen to so we stayed until after 8. Then we decided to grab a little dinner and walk about the village. We wondered through the village and it was really cute and what I had originally pictured Italy to look like with narrow streets and little shops lining the streets. Very nice! We dined on the waterfront and had a bottle of wine and it was really nice! We also watched some guy night fish, who was not having any luck I should add. We had to catch the last train back to Manarola and be in the hostel before curfew so that’s what we did and headed to bed to rest up for our adventure day.
Got up nice and early this morning! We headed for our croissant and cappuccino and headed to the train station. We grabbed some lunch to go from the supermarket and were on the train by 930 headed to Cinque Terre. It was a cabin train and we had reserved our seats ahead of time. When we boarded the train there were 3 guys in the compartment and sitting in our seats but we just put our bags away and sat in the empty seats. The guys took down their suitcases from the racks after we had put ours up and put them into the hallway. We were quite confused as to why they would take them down but we didn’t really concern ourselves with it and sat in our seats. Then after awhile they put them back up and took their seats. As the train was due to leave, this woman came with 6 or 7 suitcases with her two daughters and were telling the men that the seats were theirs. So the men obviously didn’t have reservations and was probably the reason they had taken their suitcases out in the first place. But then this woman arrives late and kicks them all out. On top of that, she had these massive suitcases that she couldn’t lift above her head to put on the storage racks so the one man had to lift them all up. We had to move all of our bags and rearrange everything so this lady could get her bags sorted. It was kind of ridiculous actually and there wasn’t enough room for them all. She had to put them in the racks in the hall, which she wasn’t pleased about. I am not even sure how the 3 of them carried all of these bags. Just a nightmare! Heather and I just sat there and watched it all go down, mind boggled! Anyhow, they ended up being quite nice and offered us drinks and food and were really nice. They also revealed a secret trick about the train seats that we didn’t know. The cabin seats actually recline down and you can lay across the two seats. So we can in the future recline the seats and sleep more comfortably on the train. Perfect! Anyhow, off to Cinque Terre which is a national park about an hour north of Pisa and consists of 5 villages (Cinque Terre in Italian). We had booked a hostel in Manarola, the second of 5 villages. So we took a few trains to get to the village, had to buy a park pass and headed to find our hostel. It is such a small village that it is definitely easy to navigate. The only problem was, that our hostel was at the very top of this monstrous hill and it was still really, really hot out. So we trekked on up this massive hill, were sweating profusely and arrived to a closed hostel. We were not really impressed but the hostel is closed from 1pm to 4pm. So we waited on the stairs for 30 minutes for it to open...still sweating. Once it was finally opened, we were greeted by a not so friendly Italian man who showed us to reception. The man working the desk was much nicer and was quite pleasant. We checked in, and headed to our rooms. The rooms were quite nice and modern but there was a few things that we didn’t like...there was a curfew of 1 am, internet you had to pay for, the showers were coin operated so you only had a few minutes and only one shower allowed, and in the end made us miss our train (we will get to that later though). So we made the best of it and looked at the trail maps and decided to head up to the far town which had the only sandy beach in Cinque Terre to catch some rays before sunset. We grabbed the train and arrived at the beach, had a little snack and cervesa on the beach. It was really busy when we arrived and cleared out quite quickly between 6 and 8pm. It was still nice and warm out and the waves were nice to watch/listen to so we stayed until after 8. Then we decided to grab a little dinner and walk about the village. We wondered through the village and it was really cute and what I had originally pictured Italy to look like with narrow streets and little shops lining the streets. Very nice! We dined on the waterfront and had a bottle of wine and it was really nice! We also watched some guy night fish, who was not having any luck I should add. We had to catch the last train back to Manarola and be in the hostel before curfew so that’s what we did and headed to bed to rest up for our adventure day.
A "Tourist" Experience!
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Today we had to get up early to be able to see all of/ or most of Rome. We headed on the town by 9 and bought a hop on, hop off sightseeing bus ticket. We hopped on and went to the colosseum first. It was huge and again, we joined a guided tour. The guide was absolutely terrible and pretty much made our experience very disappointing and negative. We were really happy to have some free time to explore a bit on our own and to join the second tour guide for the Palatine and the Forum. We had a Canadian guide name Eileen who was amazing! She was a great guide and storyteller and we really enjoyed that part of the tour. We then set off back on the bus to see the rest of Rome. We ended back at St. Peter`s to go up the dome but I was wearing my jean skirt which does not cover my knees. Good thing I was wearing a long t-shirt because I pulled down my skirt, really low, and entered like that. Homely looking creature I was! It worked and we had to climb up to the dome. I took the elevator for the first portion while Heather braved the stairs and then from there we still had to climb 320 steps to the top. They were narrow, steep, slippery stairs that winded and you had to lean and duck to get through the narrow hallways. It was super hot but we trekked on up. The view from the top was incredible and we could now get a great view of the Vatican key shape that we were told about the previous day. We saw the Pope`s private gardens and a view of all of Rome. There is a Roman law that no building can be taller than St. Peter’s basilica so it was a pure view of Rome. It was really amazing!!! We then grabbed a quick Gelato (so yummy) and hopped back onto the tourist bus. We took it a few stops to Trevi fountain where again, we did our tourist deed and through a coin into the fountain to ensure our safe return to Rome someday. It was really busy here, with a lot of people hanging out and throwing their coins in. It was funny to learn that 3000 Euro is thrown into that fountain daily...next time we are bringing snorkelling gear. We then walked a few blocks to the Pantheon and it was quite grand. Not a whole lot to see there but we had a quick look before moving onward. We then headed to the Spanish steps to again, snap a photograph and take a look around. We walked through the high end shopping district and window shopped at Cartier, Dolce and Gabbana, La Perla, Jimmy Choo, etc. It was fun! We found our bus stop and for the last time today, hopped back on to head back to our hostel. We were quite sweaty and tired from the last two days adventuring but we had to head to this area on the river where the locals and tourists both meet at night. It is quite an experience we are told. So we took the bus to the square and started wandering through. Heather had met this Italian Massimo when we were in Greece, who is from Brindisi (apparently his mom is quite the cook and had we made it there would have had a nice traditional meal) and his sister lives in Rome. So he had given us his contact and said to let him know when we had made it to Rome and he would email us some suggestions of place to eat/drink. His sister suggested a local spot that we had google mapped and tried to navigate. We walked through a bunch of streets that were lined with restaurants and bars and when it came to an end we continued on. We wound through these empty streets until we finally came to a few tables on the side of the street. The tables were full except for one, there was no sign and the “restaurant” was just a kitchen. We looked at the address and this was it so we were seated and ready to try our traditional Roman dinner. The cute little Italian server came over and we ordered wine (the selection was between red or white) and we were served a homemade bottle of wine. Then came a plate with what looked like mashed squash but tasted like Sauerkraut (according to Heather) and a bowl of baked beans and bread. It was really, really yummy! So we enjoyed that and then the server came back with a one worded question “pasta?” of which I replied “sure!” not knowing or really caring what my other options were. So we ordered the carbonara and the amatriciano to share. The thing about Italian pasta is that it is so amazing that all that is required is the sauce and pasta...none of this veggies and copious amounts of meat. It is perfect just simply made. We couldn’t finish all of our pasta, even though we tried and rolled on out of there. It was the most amazing meal and we couldn’t be more grateful of Massimo and his sister because it was really a great meal/night. We headed home after and went to sleep.
Today we had to get up early to be able to see all of/ or most of Rome. We headed on the town by 9 and bought a hop on, hop off sightseeing bus ticket. We hopped on and went to the colosseum first. It was huge and again, we joined a guided tour. The guide was absolutely terrible and pretty much made our experience very disappointing and negative. We were really happy to have some free time to explore a bit on our own and to join the second tour guide for the Palatine and the Forum. We had a Canadian guide name Eileen who was amazing! She was a great guide and storyteller and we really enjoyed that part of the tour. We then set off back on the bus to see the rest of Rome. We ended back at St. Peter`s to go up the dome but I was wearing my jean skirt which does not cover my knees. Good thing I was wearing a long t-shirt because I pulled down my skirt, really low, and entered like that. Homely looking creature I was! It worked and we had to climb up to the dome. I took the elevator for the first portion while Heather braved the stairs and then from there we still had to climb 320 steps to the top. They were narrow, steep, slippery stairs that winded and you had to lean and duck to get through the narrow hallways. It was super hot but we trekked on up. The view from the top was incredible and we could now get a great view of the Vatican key shape that we were told about the previous day. We saw the Pope`s private gardens and a view of all of Rome. There is a Roman law that no building can be taller than St. Peter’s basilica so it was a pure view of Rome. It was really amazing!!! We then grabbed a quick Gelato (so yummy) and hopped back onto the tourist bus. We took it a few stops to Trevi fountain where again, we did our tourist deed and through a coin into the fountain to ensure our safe return to Rome someday. It was really busy here, with a lot of people hanging out and throwing their coins in. It was funny to learn that 3000 Euro is thrown into that fountain daily...next time we are bringing snorkelling gear. We then walked a few blocks to the Pantheon and it was quite grand. Not a whole lot to see there but we had a quick look before moving onward. We then headed to the Spanish steps to again, snap a photograph and take a look around. We walked through the high end shopping district and window shopped at Cartier, Dolce and Gabbana, La Perla, Jimmy Choo, etc. It was fun! We found our bus stop and for the last time today, hopped back on to head back to our hostel. We were quite sweaty and tired from the last two days adventuring but we had to head to this area on the river where the locals and tourists both meet at night. It is quite an experience we are told. So we took the bus to the square and started wandering through. Heather had met this Italian Massimo when we were in Greece, who is from Brindisi (apparently his mom is quite the cook and had we made it there would have had a nice traditional meal) and his sister lives in Rome. So he had given us his contact and said to let him know when we had made it to Rome and he would email us some suggestions of place to eat/drink. His sister suggested a local spot that we had google mapped and tried to navigate. We walked through a bunch of streets that were lined with restaurants and bars and when it came to an end we continued on. We wound through these empty streets until we finally came to a few tables on the side of the street. The tables were full except for one, there was no sign and the “restaurant” was just a kitchen. We looked at the address and this was it so we were seated and ready to try our traditional Roman dinner. The cute little Italian server came over and we ordered wine (the selection was between red or white) and we were served a homemade bottle of wine. Then came a plate with what looked like mashed squash but tasted like Sauerkraut (according to Heather) and a bowl of baked beans and bread. It was really, really yummy! So we enjoyed that and then the server came back with a one worded question “pasta?” of which I replied “sure!” not knowing or really caring what my other options were. So we ordered the carbonara and the amatriciano to share. The thing about Italian pasta is that it is so amazing that all that is required is the sauce and pasta...none of this veggies and copious amounts of meat. It is perfect just simply made. We couldn’t finish all of our pasta, even though we tried and rolled on out of there. It was the most amazing meal and we couldn’t be more grateful of Massimo and his sister because it was really a great meal/night. We headed home after and went to sleep.
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