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.
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
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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