Roma

Well this is probably the last little note from me before leaving tomorrow morning. Bethany just left a few minutes ago. She has a crazy 12 hour layover in Dublin... can't say I envy that one! I'm sure she's happy about a final trip to the Guiness headquaters though ;)

Roma

Our first night in Rome we busted out a Rick Steve's self-guided walking tour (Bethany and I refer to him as Ol' Ricky). It was a nightime stroll through several of the Piazzas, including the Pantheon. It was so beautiful to see all the insanely old structures lit up.

The next day we started in the Roman Forum, outside of the Coliseum. I decided that I would have remembered a lot more information from world history class if we had taken a little field trip to the Roman Forum instead of spending so much time on pointless homework.

We saw things that were built before AD, which totally blew my mind. There was even an original door that was over 2000 years old. All the of the structures were huge, but most were only a third of their original size. Like I said, I also brushed up on my Roman history that I either never learned or had been long forgotten.


Coliseum

The Coliseum was so impressive. I don't really know quite what to say about it. The shows that were put on in there just seemed out of a Harry Potter story. They imported animals from all over the world and brought them below stage level. It took 200 men to lift the animals through the floor using a system of pulleys, and the gladiators (prisoners) had no idea where their attackers would appear from. They also elaborately decorated the stage area to reflect anything from a south american jungle to a african plain.

Bethany couldn't believe that the blood of the slain gladiators was bottled and given to the people. They believed it helped cure all kinds of conditions. I saw the bone of a Griffon, which honestly and embarassingly, I didn't think was a real creature. I was thinking they were like mythical birds... but apparently they existed and were some of the many animals brought into the coliseum to fight.

Hopefully that little history lesson will get me some props from mom.

Eating Out

I may have touched on this before, but the wine here is SO GOOD. and SO CHEAP. We've been getting the house wine at each restuarant and its hard not to drink it like water. Every dish I've had in Italy has been so good, even just the little sandwhiches along the way. We found a death-by-chocolate gelato ice cream that Ol' Ricky had recommened and it was so good that Bethany and I re-found it today. It's going to be a shock for my system going back to water and oatmeal :)

Saturday night we went to a quiet little place off the main path. There was a guitar player there was was entertaining some Spanish tourists. He played all kinds of songs, Italian, Spanish and John Denver. At one point the whole place was singing. It was a great way to spend the evening.

Vatican/St Peter's

This morning Stivo and Jess got up really early go to see the Vatican. You will have to ask them how it was since Bethany and I didn't go. Stivo did say that St. Peters was much more impressive not only because of the massive size, but also because the people weren't so picky about talking like they were in the Sistine Chapel. Bethany and I wandered down to Vatican City a little less early and watched the church service in St. Peter's square. We checked out the St. Peters museum and then headed back to town for lunch.

Well I was going to upload some pictures... Me and Bethany at a little lunch table in a Piazza, the pantheon all lit up at night, a coliseum group picture... but you know, this computer isn't up for it right now, so you'll just have to imagine. Anyway, see you all soon!

The last weekend

We just got off our last train and arrived in Rome. We will be leaving from here to go home on Monday. Stivo, Bethany and Jess went to get a snack... I snacked on my peanut butter during the train ride so I decided I'd take advantage of the free internet here at the hostel.

Florence

Well, we made it to Florence eventually, just not quite on time. Our reservations at the famous Uffizi Gallery were at 230 and we made it town about 5. So basically we went to dinner and then to bed because we were all pretty exhausted. The tasty wine from the tap here is cheap but so good, I think it acts as a pretty darn good sleep aid too.

I lingered a little longer downtown to watch the end of the Barcelona/Manchester United game at an Irish pub. There were some really obnoxious Aussie Barca fans that I thought were totally going to get killed by some angry englishmen. I waited around long enough after the game to see if a fight would start, but when nothing happened I peaced out for bed.

Biking

On Thursday I was a little worn out of city sightseeing so I did a bike tour through some of the Tuscan hills. Bethany, Stivo and Jess stayed in town and saw the city and were able to get into the Uffizi Gallery with our reservations from the day before. Bethany broke down and finally bought a souvenir... a cute leather bag. I'm sure she's still twitching from actually spending money on something other than food or transportation so you might not want to bring it up :)

The bike tour stopped at a working winery that had been around for 800 years. I wont get into details but I thought the process was really cool. They also made olive oil there too and people, I could really go on about that but I will try not to bore you with tales of olive oil. Lets just say it's pretty sweet how they make it and the olive oil they gave us to try was SO GOOD, like, biting right into the best olive you've ever tasted, but in liquid form. Thats not a great description, I know, but maybe you get the idea.

The scenery was also amazing, like Napa Valley but more ... um... just more. More hills as far as you could see, more little castles and vineyards.

In the city

The city was really beautiful. I wish I could have spent more time there.



I was walking around in the evening and felt like I was in Van Gogh's Starry night painting. There were people holding hands everywhere.. normally I would have felt like puking, but it seemed ok in Florence.

I forgot to mention, the best part about the bike tour though was the price of admission ended up including dinner as well :) We went to a restaurant just above the city that overlooked all the Florence lights. You know me, it was a bit of a romance overload, but what can I say? When in Rome Florence...

Pictures ....

If you can believe it, we missed the train to Florence. Oyyy.... we thought that trains left La Spezia all day, but apparently just at 6 am and 2 pm. So we get to spend a few more hours here in La Spezia. I went to information to ask what sights I could see in three hours and the guy said it was more than enough time to walk through the whole town, if that gives you some idea of how, um, compact it is.

So Im getting the hang of this Italian language thing. Biglietta is ticket. Autobus is bus. Gratzi is thank you and Caio is hello, goodbye and pretty much any kind of greeting I guess. People say prego a lot.. I think it means thank you. Ive been able to get around ok using those words. Oh yes, Cuanto Costa... how much? And of course, Gelato.

Yesterday we stopped in to get some lunch in Porto Venera. It was neat actually. Bethany ordered salmoni and I ordered cheese and we made sandwiches with the bread provided.

Stivo and Jess got some laundry done yesterday in Riomaggiore while Bethany and I meandered along the rocky beach. It was very pretty, but the rocks actually hurt a bit. Jess definitely took a huge spill in front of a bunch of tourists, but dont worry, shes just fine!




Porto Venere



Sangria in Barcelona




Borghetto our (unexpected) county getaway





Snorkling in Riomaggiore (Cinque Terre)







Setting out on the Cinque Terre hike

Pisa, Cinque Terre

Pisa

On Sunday morning we left our neat little B&B in Palermo and flew out to Pisa. Pisa, by the way, is a tiny, tiny very hot town that has a tilted tower and thats about it. We hopped on a tourist bus but missed the stop we were hoping for. Where we got off was probably the only corner of Pisa that had absolutely no tourists. It was a little unsettling. I said if we were in a movie the song "All By Myself" would be playing in the background.

Oh yeah, did I mention it was really hot too? We wandered to the first restaurant we could find and had some really good food. Bethany thought she was ordering some fruit punch but it turned out to be a shot of some kind of red liquor.

We eventually wandered over to the tower, which was infact, leaning. Snapped a few pics, then moved on to La Spezia.

La Spezia (Borghetto)

So we were hot and tired and hopped off the train in La Spezia where we thought our hotel was. But infact, our hotel was in the same county, but a different town.

Oh yeah, and we missed the last bus out to the tiny town. As we were walking around La Spezia trying to figure out where we were staying people were like "Borghetto? Why would you stay there?"

But honestly, I really like it. Its about a 40 minute bus ride from the main town and its way up in the mountains. Its really really quiet but very scenic, like staying in a country town in Colorado. Lots of green mountains. And we are actually getting a lot of sleep for the first time in out trip because 1) even though our window is open there are no sounds on the street to wake us up at night and 2) there is absolutely nothing to do after 930 pm anyway. And the church bells go off at 7 am so we figure we might as well get to bed early.

Cinque Terre

Yesterday we made the treck to the famous Cinque Terre. Its five towns stretched rooted in cliffs. The hike from town to town was very scenic. The first town, Riomaggiore, was very quiet. We actually returned today and are planning on hitting up the rocky beach soon.

The walk to the first town, Via Dell Amore (walk of love), is a nice little stroll. The next walk is longer but then you hit about 300 stairs so we decided to take advantage of the free bus.

Then I did pretty much the stupidest thing ever. The walk to the third town was about a 90 minute treck according to Rick Steves (author of the travel book we are using). So I said, "I wonder how fast we can do it?"

And of course Jess, the triathlete, was immediately speed walking through the trail. Keep in mind, the trail was very rocky, very steep, and it was a very long way down to the ocean below. So Jess led the way, passing people like the were standing still and hopping from rock to rock. I followed, desperately trying to stay on her heels. Stivo and Bethany took a much more pleasant stroll which was probably a lot safer and smarter. But Jess and I made it in 50 minutes, so weve got that going for us.

Each of the five towns are all very picturesque. But there were A LOT of tourists, mostly Americans clutching the Rick Steves book. It was a bit of a turnoff. I enjoyed the hiking and scenery more than the actual towns which had mostly little touristy shops. Dont get me wrong, the views were STUNNING and Im so glad we decided to visit.

Portovenere

Today we went to Porto Venere, which is kind of like the 6th town in the cliffs, but Rick Steves didnt cover it so there were not nearly as many tourists. It was just as beautiful though.

I think everyone has enjoyed this part of the trip. Its been a chance to recharge before we hit the final leg of the journey in Florence and Rome.

Palermo

I dont have too much time, since Stivo and I found the only internet cafe in town and it is hellaciously expensive. We do want eat dinner tonight afterall!

We arrived in town late Thursday night. I regretted recommending the book Twilight to Stivo, since the book is about 450 pages and she promply clocked me with it at the airport when a mosquito landed on my shoulder.

In most cities weve been in, or Ive ever been in really, theres been things like road regulations and laws for driving. Here, not so much. There are hardly any lines on the road. The good thing is apparently you can just walk out in front of cars and they will stop. Dont worry parents, we arent doing anything too risky, just following the lead of the locals :)

No one really speaks english here. Ive been able to get by with my terrible spanish and people get the idea. Stivo is a little better but we are basically on our own. It hasnt been to bad. Kind of fun finally being in a place where no one understands us... other places we could not understand them but we knew pretty much everyone knew what we were talking about on the bus or subway becaue they all knew english. I said "knew" a lot just then, sorry. In a hurry!

We took a bus to the beach today and it was soooo beautiful. You could see the bottom and the water was the perfect temperature. We were surrounded by stunning cliffs.

The particular part of the beach we selected was like Sicilain teenybopper central. There were so many sets of braces and lots of making out, I really felt like I had AARP stamped across my head. It was good people watching though!

Yesterday we toured the town. Found lots of churches and cobble stones. At night we were kind of wandering around and stumbled upon all these people our age, tons of them, covering block after block. Eating, drinking and smoking. It was really cool. Of course we couldnt understand anything anyone was saying. One guy came up to our table and started.. I think.. flirting? Like I said, not sure. His friends pulled him away, and I decided no matter where you are, the international language of being drunk off your ass will always be deciphered.

Anyway, off to Cinque Terre tomorrow!

Leaving Barcelona?

We are supposed to leave Barcelona this evening, so hopefully that will go a little more smoothly than leaving Paris. We fly to Palermo, Sicily tonight.

Yesterday we went to the beach, it was really nice. The water was freezing but Jess braved the coldness and swam out to a rock island a ways away from shore. She said there were all kinds of sea creatures swimming on the otherside, but none of us would know. I did swim for a while, when I finally warmed up to the water it felt really good. There were little specs of gold in it which was really pretty.



I think that was my first European beach experience. Its WAY different than any American beach Ive been too. It seemed like the older men loved the tiny swim suits. A lot of women went topless but everyone was pretty much used to it.

After walking all around Bacelona the last two days my feet are pretty much hating me at this point. We arent really on speaking terms at all actually.

Pictures
So I added a few pictures to the other blog entries. Im just going to put a few more below here because it might be faster and the hostel people are starting to stir.

Parc Guell


The Barcelona Pier



Out in Barcelona


Paris

One Week In

Leaving Rotterdam
On Sunday evening in Rotterdam we ended up a dinner party with some young people from all over. There were some folks from The Netherlands, Chile, Argentina and Russia. I was talking with one girl who was in her first year of med school and she was teaching me all about the German/Dutch school system. Essentially you take a 3-day test at age 12 which determines what type of school you will attend for the rest of your education career. I thought it was pretty interesting and I want to write more on it, but I also gotta get the rest of our travels in this blog before I get kicked of our Barcelona hostels free internet.



With Yanni



Dinner

Paris
We left early Monday morning on a train out of Rotterdam bound for Paris. I guess I wasnt expecting too much, I had heard it was dirty and that the people werent very friendly. But I LOVED it! It was a gorgeous day which probably helped. We did part of a self guided walking tour that my tour book had and then stopped for some crepes for lunch.

Stivo and Jess went to the Louvre for about an hour and ran around like crazy trying to find the Mona Lisa and take pictures of everything they could to look at later. I wandered down to the Eifle Tower which was really beautiful.

Not Leaving Paris
So, um, we were supposed to leave Paris on a flight out at around 750 pm. We were probably slightly over confident in our ability to navigate the subway system since we had been doing it without problems in every city so far.

We left ourselves about 90 minutes to get there, even though Information had told us it wouldnt be more than an hour when it was busy.

Unforutnately we got a little mixed up. First, we got trapped at one particular station and could not find the right train OR an exit to get out. We wandered/ran through the underground system for a very long time before we found any kind of information booth that could help us.

Then we found the train. Jess hopped on the first one but the doors started to close and one of the subway guards came up to me to make sure I didnt get on since it was too late.

Stivo and I watched Jess roll away and, um, got a little nervous. Jess said when the doors closed everyone was staring at her because they knew exactly what had just happened.

So Stivo and I got on the next train a few minutes later. Someone on the bus told us that we actually had to make one more train change before the airport. This made us really nervous because we didnt know if Jess knew this. Luckily someone had helped Jess too and she was waiting for us at the next station.

We arrived at the airport, but checkin closed 40 minutes prior to departure. We arrived 37 minutes prior to departure.

Stivo had already checked in but Jess and I hadnt. We decided Stivo should go ahead to Barcelona in case there was some kind monetary penalty for missing the flight and we knew Bethany would be waiting for her when the plane landed.

There was a 95 euro charge for Jess and me but luckily our next flight was delayed and they waived that fee. Good thing too, because I probably would have cried and really embarassed myself.

Since the flight was delayed we didnt get into Barcelona until about 2 am, finding our way to the hostel about 3.

Barcelona
As it turns out Bethany had gotten delayed out of Dublin and so Stivo and Bethany had to find their way to the hostel separately. But we all made it.

Yesterday we got some great lunch and went to Parc Guell and Montjusuit to see the city at sunset. It was really nice. Then we hit the town for a bit.

Thats it for now. Im doing the extremely abridged version since Im getting looks of death from other people at our hostel that want to use the free internet.