My home away from home.

Back to England. I arrived yesterday. Sept 28th. After all teh fuss with trains in Italy it seemed like a real breeze to be back on the English trains. Phew! How nice they are! And so easy to use!
Yesterday coming through security at the airport I dropped my little laptop. I appears to still be working. I felt it slip and put my foot out to slow its descent but it still popped the battery off when it hit. Ugh, talk about wanting to throw up! I couldn't believe it! I had to keep moving but once I got through security I immediately put it back together adn turned it on. I appeared fine and I've used it since then so its okay. Yikes! I would have lost my faithful companion.
I did type a blog this morning which I'll upload now.
Its been funny to go through the stuff I left in the cupboard here, kinda like christmas or something.
When I woke up today I sat up and grabbed my notebook and starting writing down things that had come to me through the night. I was feeling very up...after feeling kinda down when I went to bed.

Feeling inspired this morning. Last night I went to bed pretty bummed out but I’m feeling much better, I’m not dead yet! I’m thinking about my next trip. After I get home and work my buns off and make some money I think I’ll head off again. If I can catch the boat to the Caribbean than from there I’ll head to South America. Why not?! And from there who knows. I don’t know how hard it is to just keep going around the world. I’m thinking that’s my next adventure. I really want to end up in China and take the Russian railway, the Transiberian across Russia. Other than the flights and train I think most of those countries are pretty cheap to be in. We’ll see. I’m going to work on it.

I don’t think the adventure is over just yet. We’ll see. I may get to Portland and settle in. I am excited for the unknown today. Not worried about it as I have been. I mean, I don’t know what I’m doing once I get off the plane in Seattle. So who knows.

Today or tomorrow I’ll start editing my blogs and editing my photos and get that all done then I won’t have to worry about it so much when I get home. Just picking the highlights will be the tough part!

So we’ll see. Its nice to be back in England again. My second home it seems like. Its nice because it seems familiar to me now and its good to regroup. I was a little overwhelmed with Italy and a travel companion. Thank goodness my brother and I get along so well and have a good time together. I think that is the most time we’ve spent together in years! And we managed pretty well. It was nice to have a travel buddy for sure but it was also a different experience to have someone along. Goes to show a mix of both is good. I think if I continue to travel I will continue to invite people to meet me for a week here and there just to break up the “silence” that seems to come with being in a foreign country. By silence I mean you don’t speak a lot and all the thoughts you're having are just in your head because there is no one to express them to.

I was pleased to find in a charity shop in Basingstoke the second book of Bridget Jones' Diary so I am really excited to see how it ends! Since I've reread the first one at least 3 times. I also found Ewan McGregor and Charlie Boorman Long Way Round which I can't wait to read! They motorbike around teh world basically and write about it which should be exciting.

So off I go to sort my stuff out.

Back in the US October 9th. Wow! 4 months and one day later.

k

Hell hath no furry like a Milano scourned

Travel day again. Matt and I are currently getting ready for bed having had no supper. We are in a hostel that is near Malpensa airport. Since we both decided we hate Milan we figured we get closer to the airport and this place offers free rides to and from the airport so that is good. The one thing it doesn't offer is a location near anything. But lets back up. I typed up our morning train ride and then all hell broke loose when we hit Milan. As usual. It knew we were coming back and it was waiting to torture us.
This mornings train ride was awesome!
9:15am ish...

Matt and I are on the train headed back to Milan. Its been pretty smooth so far. The train out of Chamonix is really a scenic ride through the valleys and mountains. At one point we climbed up and were basically on the ledge looking down, you couldn’t even see the valley floor. There are villages up there and everything.

Last night Matt and I ate a sandwich and then went downstairs for some chips and salsa in the cantina. They have amazing salsa which is a first. I've not had salsa all summer.

Then we went across the street and had a pint and people watched for a bit I overheard a man near us talking about Tenerife which I thought was interesting. So I went and chatted with him. He owns a house there, he doesn’t sail or anything but he had a lot of nice things to say about the island.

After we left there we decided to walk around and ended up by the train station where we’d seen a locals bar (it appeared, who knows) and they were having seventies night so all sort of people had on wigs and hilarious sequin outfits. My kinda place really! Too bad I didn’t pack one of my wigs. Ha! So Matt and I parked it there for a while. It was great fun! We met a couple from Ireland and then as her and I went to dance we met a huge group of guys from England who were in Chamonix for a stag party.

It was so fun! Everyone was really friendly. I had a drink there that didn’t have a name but it was made with brown sugar, lime, strawberry juice, rum and then a splash of champagne. Really good.

After that place we were all out in the street following the locals around and we ended up at a place called Le Garage. It was an after hours club and they had dance music (and no cover charge) so me and a small group of the stag party went in to dance and then ran into a hen party there too which was funny. So it was a lot of fun. I got to bed around 4am. Matt had gone to bed already.

The girl from Ireland her name was Ciara (pronounced like Kara only with an accent J and then one of the guys I danced with his name was Keiron, also from Ireland so we had a good laugh about it. The boys all thought Ciara and I were sisters, it was really funny.

Really tough to leave Chamonix. What an amazing place! We head to Milan and then take the metro to the airport where our host from the hostel will pick us up and take us to our beds for the night. Should be a real quiet night and lots of sleep. I fly straight to London tomorrow and Matt flies home to the US. I think I mentioned it before that I’m skipping Paris.

Its already 1pm we’ve been traveling and waiting for trains etc since 9:15 am. We’ll get into Milan at 3:40.

This train we are on isn’t nearly as nice as the others have been. We’re all in the cabins with the 6 seats. I’ll take a photo.

So you can see we had a good start to the day. When we hit Milan we had to figure out how to get to the airport. Yes there is a shuttle bus that runs every 20 minutes or so but we thought it was more expensive than the train would be. So we had to find an ATM which wasn't easy, it meant going out into the city a bit to find one that worked. Then we decided we better eat something quick because we weren't sure of the food situation (and we were right) at our hostel location. So we went to McDonalds which was packed!! And really slow! After that it was back to the Train station to catch the metro. So it turned out we had to take the metro to another stop then find the train and go the rest of the way. Not too bad if the metro signs weren't so retarded...I know what you're thinking...who's retarded Karen?

Once we managed to find the train we discovered that a train ticket to the airport was more than a bus ticket would have been and that whole portion of our journey added almost 2 hours. Ugh.

At the airport we had to laugh because we needed the arrivals level of the airport and we followed the signs up this huge escalator which took us past the floor we needed and so we had to find a way back down. I mean, come on!

Once we got picked up and taken to the place we are staying we decided to walk to the square for food but alas, we found none. In either direction. Nothing to be seen, nothing to eat only busy roads with no sidewalks and no street lights. Lovely.

So here we sit eating the junk food we brought with us for the trip (thank goodness for that) and getting repacked and ready for our flights tomorrow. I am excited to get out of here. I think Matt has had enough too.

The mountain speaks

Today I found the city cemetery, it sits up on the mountain a little ways and is literally surrounded by the trees etc it was really a cool spot. After I walked around a little bit I realized that alot of people buried there died on this mountain or that. Pretty amazing. There were alot, not old people either. Some had died on mountains outside france some had died just up the mountain from where I stood. Makes you think!

Matt is currently walking around the Mer du Glace. The glacier that they let you walk through. He took this cool train up. I am glad he went. I think he will be too. So we'll see some photos when he gets back.

I am going to skip Paris and just head straight for England. Running out of money and it turns out taht the Louvre is closed Tuesdays which I didn't know but couldn't help schedule wise, so I'll just come back another time. Really bummed about it but its okay.

So on I go to England to prepare myself to head back to the US. Should be nice. I'll review my pictures, edit my blogs and job hunt. Then I'm off to the US for a reality check.

There is a hockey game tonight. Matt and I may go watch, otherwise another night strolling in Chamonix. The city is a little busier today, weekenders I think. Its a beautiful Fall here. Trees are changing and the air is crisp. Its really nice!

I'm going to go for a walk and then meet Matt at the train station. Hopefully he had a great time.

Chamonix Mt. Blanc is my new home, don't I wish

Well, it was really something to get here but it was worth the trouble. This place is great!! I am currently sitting on the terrace of my hostel/hotel thing with a view to my right of Mt. Blanc and the French Alps. It's so beautiful here! Matt is just in awe of this place. After we put our stuff down we walked around the town a bit then caught the gondola up to the peak (of dear, I don't have its name handy) Anyways, really high up. The place you go is 3842 meters high and you're looking up at Mt Blanc from there. It was so awesome. The view in any direction was just spectacular!
Our train ride in should have been a good indication. As it started to get lighter and lighter (we boarded our first train at 6:03am) we could see the mountains emerging and it just kept getting better and better and then we were at the train station in no time. Thank goodness.
Its been so great to be out of th city finally. This place has no tour bus crowds (expect Japanese/Chinese, they are everywhere) but its been fun. Lots of mountaineering shops and climbers wandering the streets. Really laid back place here. Its incredible. I love it here! Reminds me of home sort of. Except without the prices and the French speaking etc. Hehehe
So far the French people have exceeded expectations. We have many pleasant encounters with people thank goodness again.
I think this afternoon Matt and I will just chill out in th park or something. Its just too stunning to do anything else. I'm not kidding, wait until I upload the photos. Which I would have done right now but I got moved outside and locked out while the nice man cleans the rooms. So I'm typing while I wait to be let back in.
There is a weird haze around all of Italy, not sure what that is. It reminds me of when they burn the fields in Nampa etc. So when we were at the top of the mountain we could see the haze layer below us. Too weird for a mountain range like this.
The hotel we are staying at (hotel at hostel prices~my toilet doesn't have a seat!) has a Mexican restaurant downstairs so we will eat mexican tonight. Its called Hotel El Paso.
Tomorrow night there is a hockey game here in town. We might try to go see it! That would be fun! Its going to be a pretty quiet couple of days and then we head back to dreaded Milan for one more night before we both fly out. This was such an awesome way to end Matts trip. Now that I've seen the big stuff I'll spend more time in the Alps next time I'm in Italy. Wow that was a trip.
My achiles tendon and my heel are so sore I can't put shoes on. I had to go up the mountain with my flip flops. We are talking icy pathways and snow up there. Brr!!
I think this is by far the coolest place I've been so far! We will take a different route out of here too so we'll be in the mountains for that!
We came here by way of Chambery, Annecy, St Gervais I think its a typical route from Lyon or Paris to get here. (except Chambery)
Anyone know any french words? I mean, we are struggling here big time! We didn't intend to be in a french speaking place for as long as we were. With out epic train journey through France. ha!
So, I am just still here waiting for the nice man to let me back in. I haven't a penny in my pocket to go buy a soda or anything so unless I want hotsauce I'm out of luck. (hotsauce on the tables in the terrace of the texmex restaurant. ha!
more later and pictures too!! Its so beautiful!!

Okay there are some photos on here now. It took a while. Matt and I ended up sitting down at the restaurant here for some Mexican and it was so expensive that we went and bought a sandwich some where else instead. The salsa they had was good though.

While we were out we met an entire group of guys from Switzerland, they all turned out to be police officers. They were on a weekend break driving their motorcycles around the area and stopped in Chamonix. They were great fun. All spoke english and so matt and I had a laugh with them for a bit then headed home.

Travel Day Hell, Return to Milano

Oh yes. Milano Centrale Station is our mortal enemy!

RIght now Matt and I are staying a little hotel in a place called Annecy France. Not what we were planning on doing but alas thats what you get. I typed my blog on the train when I was still cooling off from the fit of rage at my poor planning (once again) Lets go back, check out my naivity below...not knowing what was in store.

Thursday 24^th

We just got onto the train headed back to Milan. We decided to change plans and go straight to Chamonix instead of bothering with Lake Como. So we’ll cross our fingers that we can figure out the train thing and get there in time to go to bed. Not sure how long it takes to get there. So we’ll have 3 nights there and then to Milan for the last night before we catch our flights.

This train is loaded with really loud people this time. It’s not usually this loud. Matt and I are tired enough though we may sleep.

Sheesh! Its now 6pm. We are on a train headed to who knows where. Matt and I officially hate Milan and Milan central station and the whole thing was just bad!!

We got to Milan and headed for the train office to get in line for our tickets to Chamonix, no big deal we thought. We were really hoping for an English speaking ticket guy but no. We got a rude Italian man who really could have cared less. Once he figured out where we were headed he showed us the schedule and both our jaws dropped. Leave Milano at 4pm 3 train changes and about 14 hours later we arrive in Chamonix. At 9:15am. Bummer dude. We had no idea how far away it was! I had no clue!

After we saw the schedule and discovered there were no other trains/options we decided to do it and then he hit us with the price of the tickets. Are you kidding me?! Why on earth?

We wanted to find an info desk to make sure we’d gotten the right thing but there wasn’t one. After all the wandering the signs led us back to the stupid ticket office again. So we chose to get in line and hope for an English speaking person. As our turn came and we walked to the window of our person these four grey hairs walked up and just started doing business. They skipped the huge line entirely. And it wasn’t just a question they had they ended up buying tickets. So here we stand and people are jerks about this line too so we had no hope of getting to another person we just had to stand there like dorks and wait for someone near by to move off. Sheesh. WE did manage to get an English speaker though so that helped, she reviewed our tickets and assured us it was the only option so we stopped cursing under our breath.

Matt and I decided that we had better eat and buy stuff to eat for this journey so we headed out into the heat of Milan and found a McDonalds, quick easy off you go. I stopped at this ridiculous internet café and emailed cancellations to hostels and SOS to Linda at AAA about trains etc and then Matt and went back to the train station to find our platform. We did find a place selling panini’s and water etc so we loaded up. We had to buy something for dinner and breakfast.

The train was easy to find but the coaches were hard to tell apart. Not sure which number was where. We got on and got our seats (not together, what a jerk because this train is not full at all) then a family came and they had the same seats so we shifted a bit and then realized they were in the wrong coach. No big deal. Just as we were leaving the station three police men came on the train and walked straight for us. It was really weird! They asked for our passports and called them in etc. it was really weird. Why would they come straight to us and skip everyone else. They checked t family next to us too. Weird!

We’ve just passed the Turin station. It’s getting way more scenic now which is awesome. The mountains are appearing and getting bigger etc too. It’s nice.

After our initial panic we are doing much better. Stupid trains in Italy anyways! We had just finished saying that it turned out to be nice to have reservations and just go find your seat (after I said I hated doing that…learned a lesson there)

So we change trains in Chambery or something then again in a place called Annecy or something. Matt and I both don’t have France maps and no one was any help about any of this. We have no idea what the trains will be like in France. We spend 8 hours on the next leg so I hope it’s a nice one. Sheesh!

Well Matt and I finally read through our ticket stuff and it turned out we got Off the train at 10pm and On it again at 6 am so what to do in teh mean time?? And so there you have it.

Pretty amazing scenery though.

And nice people so far too.

reservations and tour groups and artwork oh my!

Thursday (?) Sept 23rd. Its 4:30ish now.

Florence is pretty neat. I think assuming you know something about art it is really pretty cool but when you have no clue what you are looking at etc it can get a bit boring. Yes, I'll admit it I am not an art museum person. I'll go, and I'll look and I enjoy it but how many times can you see the same thing painted.

Matt and I got going fairly early. We wanted to accomplish two things right away. The first was go stand in line to MAKE a reservation for the Uffizi Gallery. If you remember right I was supposed to do that for the Accademia too. The second thing was to get in line and climb up the dome of the main cathedral here. So off we went first to Uffizi. We found the line. Waited 30 minutes to go in and make our reservations and then we headed off to the dome. Well, turns out there isn't a line to climb it. Why would there be?! There isn't a lift to help you up part of the way. So we went straight in and up and up we went. It was pretty brutal too since we are both still really worn out! But we made it and it was great! What a view! We took our pictures and then headed back down again. This dome climb was a little different than St Peters because you go straight up the dome. There isn't a zigzag to get there its just up you go!

We went inside the cathedral from the bottom too so we could see it. Its really not much to look at inside but it is just a huge place! Really tall!

We walked around from there and went to the entrances to a few museums etc and decided it was a waste to pay for more art we didn't know about so we chose to walk over the bridge and up the hill on the other side to get that famous view of the city of Florence. Its amazing you don't really have to go that far to get it. It was really sunny today so it seems a bit bright Matt is thinking about going up there at sunset time but I may not make it :)

We were getting tired and hungry and fed up with the waves of tourists here so we found food and pigged out. Both of us had pasta today. So yummy!

We sat adn people watched for a while and then went to the Uffizi Gallery to see what all the fuss was about. Hmmm anyone know what all the fuss was about? Ha! Just kidding. The art in there is from people you've heard about. Pictures you've seen etc. It was great! We saw the Birth of Venus by Botticcelli. And thats about all i could name but it was cool. From there we popped into the Science museum where Galileo has his stuff at and they were working on the rooms full of his stuff so we were really disappointed in that but the other stuff was really awesome. what a thing to be around when people were just coming up with stuff that we use every day! How neat!

So, now we are at the hostel and napping etc trying to take a break. Its really hot here today! Sunny and busy!

We'll go out later when the sun goes down again.

I'm uploading photos right now so check yesterdays blog for some pics.

The photos are: matt in front of the replica David in Piazza della Signoria, me on the stairs up to the dome. the view from the dome and a view of teh crowds of people down the street.

Falling for Florence

This place is so great. But let me upload my morning blog first then I'll continue. Florence is so great!!

Blog for the 22^nd. Not sure what day of the week it is.

Matt and I are on the train to Florence right now its 3:30pm. After getting to the train station an hour early we were met with a strange new thing. Our train # was on the board but not our city. And being cautious as we are now we both kinda wondered what was going on. So I walked to the I and it was tourist info, no train. I walked back the other way and there was no info at all (after being directed there by the tourist office) Come on Rome! Get it together. The tourist office can’t even get me to the info office?!

This morning I already wrote about. Hostel morning. More like hostal morning. We headed out and took a new route to see some other sights before our train today. We saw another big church and then we went and saw another small church with a famous sculpture in it and then we went to another church with a crypt made up of bones. Really amazing. I’ll take a picture of the postcard. No photos allowed inside. Basically they have these rooms and they decorated them with human bones. Very creative use of the leg bones, pelvis’, vertebrae etc. Even jaw bones. Wow!

We walked back toward the ancient ruins from there and saw some new sides of the place which was really cool. And while we were standing there we realized they’d opened the gates to the big wedding cake building and you could climb up to the top of it so we ran over there and did that. It was great! Nice views. The building is just immense.

By this time Matt and I had about had it. We were tired and hungry and grouchy so we decided to go get some food and sit down. We had a yummy lunch today. I had homemade Italian lasagna and matt had pizza.

While we were sat there I realized that the statue La Pieta (one I studied long ago for a project) was in the church right by the hostel so we hustled over there and it turns out its closed during lunch time. So I missed it. Really disappointing. Matt and I had been to that church the first night we were in Rome but I wasn’t dressed appropriately for it so I didn’t go in. And since I didn’t know what was in there I didn’t know to send Matt in with my camera.

It’s a funny thing about these sculptures. They are so small compared to the photos you always see of them. I mean, wow! Its surprising for sure!

Being totally out of luck at that church we just jumped on the subway to the train station and here you have it.

Matt is so worn out its not even funny! He is really tired and grumpy today. We haven’t had a mellow time yet. Its been hard to fit it all in and have time to relax. Florence should be a little better but I didn’t read ahead and it looks like without reservations you wait in that line (the line with 1000 of my closest friends) So we’ll see how much we get to see. Should be okay I hope. If matt can power through.

Our feet and legs and backs and necks ache. This is an unbelievably grueling journey we’re doing. Ha! So much walking!!

Okay on to Florence. This place is great!! Really easy walking distance to everything and so amazing! Matt adn I were greeted by the Duomo right off t bat. Its on teh way to our hostel which is about a block and half away. Not kidding. Its a great location. Up about 6 flights of stairs but worth the climb.

Tomorrow we'll be climbing 463 stairs to the top of the dome to see teh view of Florence. No elevator for an option :) we might have taken it since we are pretty beat.

We put our bags down and immediately headed to the Accademia to see David. The place was closing soon so we hustled and got right in no line and walked around one corner and there he is. No photos allowed sorry. Lame too by the way. But we were thrilled. Florence has signs for everything. Everything is clearly marked and there are signs everywhere. We are really loving Florence! Thank goodness because Rome was about the end of us for sure!

We wandered the streets for a bit and then headed in the direction of dinner. Yummy! We ate at a restaurant off the beaten path and about 2 euros cheaper each. Matt finally had lasagna for dinner. No pizza. I had mushroom risotto. Oh so good! It was great fun! An american couple from San Francisco sat down next to us and we chatted with them for the whole meal. It was great! After that we walked around and took in the sights of Florence by night. Its so nice here. There is a breeze blowing. People are just out for a stroll and everything is lit up. Its great. Oh! And there are signs everywhere marking the way! Hurrah!!

We found teh replica David tonight too so we'll take pictures with him tomorrow. I stopped and had gelato at this place on the piazza and paid an insane amount of money for it. Oops! Was really good but oh my goodness.

Florence has traffic and crowds too but so far its not been bad. We'll head out early tomorrow :( and get in line to do the dome climb first then on to sightseeing after that.

Should be fun! Really loving Florence!

Pictures to come soon. I"m going to bed. Its 10:30 pm and I am exhausted! This dorm room is nice and the bathrooms are nice too so its a good follow up to the hell hole in Rome.

Pictures are pretty self explanatory. The dome, my gellato, matt taking night pics, street grafitti, us at dinner

Let me just describe this place

Right now there is a think layer of stink in the dorm room I'm in. Once you go outside the haze you can't go back in because you're suddenly aware of it. Oh my gosh! And the windows are even open.
I got up kinda early hoping to catch a shower (ew! shower here) and avoid the puddles on the floor but someone else had the same thought. I got in to the shower room (little individual rooms) and there isn't a hook for your stuff so I had to carefully balance my stuff one at a time on the door knob just above the pool on the floor. yuck. Then when I had a look at the shower there was a pile of hair (yes, shower drain hair) stuck to the wall outside it. Oh, hold on I'm going to throw up :)
So having gotten cleaned up and in the hopes of going back to lay down thats when I discovered the funk. I am sitting outside in the lobby area instead. Ugh. Going to be a long day again. Its been hard to get caught up because we go for hours all day and then have crappy sleep etc. This couple either got up at 5am or came in at 5am and made so much noise. I mean, come in and go to bed. Sheesh!
At least the door man here isn't blasting music today. I've just been working on uploading my photos to the other blogs so you'll have to go back and look at venice and rome.
So glad to be done with this place! Its one thing to have such a close location but the hassles aren't worth it. Matt and I stayed out late after we got back from the St Peters Square last night. We didn't want to deal with the hostel until we had to. Ha!
I hope Florence is a bit better because I'm really sick of this whole thing at the moment. I think Matt and I are in dorms until we hit Chamonix thats friday and saturday nights. Should be fun. We are staying in a place called Hotel El Paso. Maybe a dump but we'll see. At least we get our own room with 2 double beds and a clean shower that 50 other people aren't sharing.
Okay off ot upload some pictures for everyone.

Ew someone just opened the door and let the funk out. Run away run away!

That picture makes this place look okay but don't be fooled.

Rome part 2 called: I survived the Sistene Chapel

Wow. Rome. At every turn this morning Matt and I had to chuckle because there would another monument, another ruins another church another obelisk. It was pretty funny. We started out pretty early. The hostel staff here are ridiculous for sure. About 7:45am the man out front (this isn't a big place) turned on the loudest movie and it was impossible to sleep. So annoying.
We got going just to get out of this hell hole. Hate this hostel for sure. Matt agrees!
We got to the metro in time for the Roman morning commute. There is one. Its the most amazing thing I've ever seen. I've seen crowded metro cars in London, but here, you literally push yourself onto the train and hope the door closes! Wow! So crowded. Luckily we didn't have to go far and we knew we were going to walk alot so it was a nice start to be "driven" there.
Our first stop was the Spanish steps. We walked right by them. It was really funny. They were empty of people and we thought for sure it wasn't them. It was funny.
Then we went on to Trevi fountian. Good luck finding that! We did manage to find a walking tour of Rome though so they sort of led the way there. Pretty cool for sure, built right in the building, not sure which came first the building or the fountain!
We moved onto the Pantheon next and then onto Piazza Navona and had a cappaccino. Not as grand as St Marks square but nice. The chairs were pinkish purple too so I liked that.
We were trying to make our way to the Vatican and we wanted to hit it at a certain time. All the guide books said around noonish its not as busy. Well...we hit it around 11ish and it was so busy. the line to get through security at St Peters was areally long but it moved pretty fast so we just hopped in. We went and had a look inside with 1,000 of our closest friends and then went and got in line to climb up to the Cupola (the top of the dome) you pay less if you take stairs all the way so matt and I put our game faces on and up we climbed. Wow!! 551 stairs altogether. The sign told me that I didn't count!
It was awesome. Matt and I and 200 of our closest friends all gathered up there to see the view and then climb back down. It was worth it. When you climb up a big dome like that the stairs are going up but the walls are on the curve of the dome. Its freaky! So cool though!
Oh and when you are looking at the front of St Peters Basilica the apostle on the left hand side next to the winged thing that's Saint Matthew. Just so you know.
We were really in search of the entrance to the Sistene chapel. And not having read up on it we didn't know you have to go into the Vatican Museum to get to it. Who knew. So we lined up and 45 minutes later reached the entrance and then 1 hour of slow walking with 1,000 of our closest friends (again). Oh my gosh!! Did they have the heat on or what. It was insane! So many peopole and they just lead you this way and that and through the room and this way and that and always a sign of hope that the sistene chapel is just around th corner but no! So we made it to this little room and viola! There it was. AMAZING! All i have to say. No photos aloud. Lame but thats okay.
Matt and I were so tired by then that we ran to the exit, which isn't easy to reach either. Good grief! Same thing with the signs. always seems to be right around the corner but no! We did get outside and find there was NO line though which made us want to cry. Seriously! We would have had no crowds (or much less :(
After that whole ordeal we sat down and took a break, we'd walked like 13 miles by this time and its only 4pm. I wanted to see the mouth of truth so we decided to power through and go see it and then try to find the entrance to the forum again.
Ont the way to the mouth of truth we passed the Campo di Fiora and then into the Jewish Ghetto area and then we stumbled onto these ruins, literally you round a corner and there are these ancient ruins. So amazing.
We found the mouth of truth and a bus load of 50 of our closest friends unloaded (they were everywhere, such good friends...please!) and got in line to take their photo. They gate it off now and you can pay .50 to have someone take a photo of you with your hand in the mouth so that was cool. We did it. Matt and I are both not liars.
From there we walked up a hill to what looked like an entry point on our lame map and alas, just gates. I fianlly asked and a nice man sent us back the way we had come the other day. Yeah right. So frustrating!!
So we had to walk around the giant buildings etc to find it and when we finally did (because it does exist) we were greeted by the ticket lady and a 12 euro entrance fee. SO LAME!! After all that Matt and I were too tired and broke to care so we didn't go in. I mean, what a struggle!! So annoying! It wasn't even marked. We had to really hunt to find it. Rome and signage are not friends.
At that point we walked back toward the Hell(hostel) and found a place to have pizza :) Matts batteries aren't lasting so we came back here to recharge them until we go back to the vatican to see it at night. We are taking the metro back there though because its too much walking for our weary feet!
We are in Rome until 3pm tomorrow and I don't know what we'll go see. I want to go see a crypt and some sculptures etc so we'll do that. On to florence tomorrow.
Photos to come soon. Sorry about that. Its just hard to be doing this with Matt here. Internet usage is retarded in this country. I'm not as connected as I have been so its been hard.
Okay, thats about it. We go see the vatican again tonight and then to bed.
K

Rome part 1 called: Lets visit a Coloseum today

My gosh. Rome. Wow!
Its huge. Not like a big city, but the stuff you see here is HUGE. The coloseum is amazing!! And Matt and I walked around for ever tonight just trying to take it all in. The stuff is so big it doesn't fit in photos!
Its 10:33 pm and I am in a busy loud hostel right now trying to remember my day. I may type it up and cut and paste. Sorry to do that but the internet is only available in the lobby and not the room so I can't think straight.
I think I'll do that. I also took so many photos that I cant' pick to download so I'll work on that too and get it done. tomorrow we go to see the Vatican etc. Thats St. Peters square and the Basillica and the Sistene Chapel etc.
I'm going to go type. Be patient. Its not been easy!! Like I said!
K
Here is the stuff I wrote for Part 1

We got up early and had a nice walk to the train station. We gave ourselves plenty of time and ended up sitting down and waiting. We had some really yummy pastry (of course) croissant filled with custard (of course) so good. We found bread to have a sandwich on the train and it was an easy morning. We had the seats to ourselves until Padua. Then we were joined by an extremely Italian woman (very sweet, and kept talking to Matt in Italian) and her special needs son. Wow. Made a quick trip really long. We were also joined in Florence by a couple of girls and the one didn’t stop talking the entire way. That’s like 2.5 hours. And when we got off the train she was still talking. Wow!

When we got to Rome we knew what metro line to get on and it was really easy and quick!! The city isn't as huge as it seems!

We found our hostel (Lets talk hostel for a quick second) It took 3 times ringing the buzzer to get in adn then we go to the lobby and a real pretty girl was at teh desk surrounded by 2 italian men both being charming and loud and she didn't even acknowlege us for a bit. Matt and I are tired and not in the mood so we just tried to be patient (he did, I about lost it) once we finally got checked in it was like; okay heres your change okay these two beds are yours. And that was it. No reading of the rules etc. Which is helpful when they plan to lock you out from 11-4pm but oh well. We were gone all the day anyways.

So we got our stuff dropped off and then headed to the coloseum. When we were at the ATM getting money we turned around and found that we were looking at the coloseum. It was so close! 2 minutes walk maybe! Awesome!

We walked around it and then decided to go in. The line wasn’t too long. Worth it too! Then we tried our hardest to find the entrance to the forum. Wow. Not easy.; The signs are non existent (after Venice we were spoilt)

We never really made it in there. Maybe tomorrow. Where would an entrace be? Why would they make that so hard?

We did manage to wander all over the place though. This city is pretty easy to get around. Believe it or not.

We had dinner at a nice little place near the coloseum. Pizza for matt and spaghetti for me. Our big Italian waiter was a joke, he was so miserable it was ridiculous. Like really hating life and all of us in his restaurant too, but the others were funny and nice.

Then back to our hostel (hell) so loud and crazy young with kids here. They had a spaghetti dinner and sangria for 3 euro. We missed it. But the kids were all getting drunk from it. Annoying. Even matt thinks so. He’ll be 30 this year.

See I'm not the only fuddy dud here :)

A whole day in Venice

Blog 19^th

Venice today. All day. Matt and I were pretty proud of ourselves this morning. We went to the big market right by su and it was loaded with fish and fresh veg and fruit etc so we bought some peaches, apples banana for breakfast and also stopped and bought a fresh croissant each at the bakery. So good! We stopped and ate right under the Rialto bridge! After our European breakfast we wandered around to find the market to buy some things and in the mean time stumbled onto the Murano Glass factory (really the gallery) and were able to jump onto a group tour. We just sort of joined the group, they let us. It was really cool. We saw the guy blow the glass etc and then were ushered into a room full of hand made pieces! Wow! He talkeda bout how the colors are made and the designs etc. It was fun. Very expensive stuff the real thing! Wow!

After that we went a different way to St marks in hopes of finding the Bridge of Sighs. Big deal. Its covered in a huge billboard right now. Humph! Then we went to st marks and it was FULL of people!! So full! And also full of water!! High tide I guess? It was gushing out of the drain coveres and holes in the stone below us. Pretty amazing!

We decided not to wander into the mass of people and instead go to the other big Cathedral across the water. So that was a fun wander through the streets and squares until we were able to cross and keep wandereing. We managed to find a walk way that went along the water not facing the main part of Venice and that was funny because the high water was lapping up onto the walk way. Amazing how that works here. How does that work here?

We managed to find the church and had a look inside and it was pretty neat.

We walked to the end of the road so to speak to the customs house and that literally comes to a point. All of the sudden you are at the end. Pretty neat.

When we were headed back we both were starving so we had a slice of pizza. Again. Its so good and cheap here.

Once we got back to St Marks the water and people had subsided a bit and we were tired so we chose to sit and have a coffee there. Um…we just ordered a cappuccino, 2 please! And we sat in beautiful st. marks and enjoyed the view and the people watching and had our 10 euro coffee. 10 euros a piece. Yup! Live and learn. Matt was soaking it up though. He is loving it!!

Matt ended up buying these hand drawn watercolors and charcoal drawings of Venice made by the artists we met! So neat. He shook their hands etc. Really cool!

On our way back to the hostel for a quick break we stopped at the market and I also found a little shop with these huge vats of wine and they just pour it into bottles and off you go. Really cheap! So I bought one to try. Really cool!! Not that great a wine but still for the experience.

On our way back into the city we decided to seriously souvenir shop for the parents and ourselves etc just to get that done. It wasn’t hard. There is so much to choose from!

We wandered around the alley ways some more and ended up back at the Rialto bridge for some pasta dinner. Nothing spectacular but matt wanted to sit outside (the restaurants are so hot inside!!) so we had a nice break there. We wandered back towards St. marks so we could see it lit up at night and stopped at another café for a beer and I had an irish whiskey, by far the best one I’ve ever had ever!! Go figure. Not even the one in Ireland compares.

St. Marks wasn’t too busy. Not as lit up as we thought it would be but still amazing. We wandered down toward the big church to take pictures and Matt found this bottle with plastic glasses to prop his camera on and as we were standing there discussing it he said. Hey we need wine glasses don’t we? So we had a laugh and found 2 unused glasses (a traveler never passes up a freebie) and then for good measure we checked the bottle for liquid too (a traveler has to be resourceful!!) no luck there but still we scored glasses at least!

We had a nice wander back to the hostel and are now in bed and preparing to get up and wander back to the train station tomorrow to head to Rome. Oh boy!!

It’s a 4.5 hour train ride and we bought some food and drink to get us through this time so we are getting better prepared as we go. Its been so fun!!

I love Venice. Just like everyone says. It really is that amazing!

Very much loving Venice too.

Not sure when I’ll get to do this otherwise. It’s now 11:55am and matt and I have had an unbelievable morning already. Amazing that it is not even noon.

It started with an early alarm to get up. We got moving at 7am. Not a soul around. No one at the hostel was up, doors were locked, they literally lock you out of the common area, is that even legal? I mean come on!

So we wandered to toward the bus stop and on the way saw the bus we wanted going by. Same number bus anyways. So after much deliberation we waited for the next bus to come along. Once he arrived I opened the bin below to put our bags in and the bus driver shut his door and started to move. So matt is shouting at me to grab my bag and I’m trying to figure our why the bus driver would leave with that big door open. Sheesh! So since we’d gotten to town late enough the night before that we couldn’t buy bus tickets we got on without any hoping to pay the driver…no! At one of his stops he turns to me and says tickets, bar, and points. So off I run to buy us bus passes.

Once we got to the town of Como we stopped at one station and then the other and realized that we should have gotten off at the first one so we had to run to the bus office, find out which bus was going back to the other station and get back there.

We managed that pretty easily and then had to tackle the ticket office next. The lady didn’t speak English, all I wanted was a ticket to Milano Centrale. And we ended up (of course) on the Milano Girabaldi train. So we’d have to make a switch in Milan.

We boarded that train and were soon being fined for not stamping our tickets in this invisible machine. No one mentions validating tickets so how would you know. The fine is 50 euro but he was kind enough to only charge us 5. Sheesh!

At Giribaldi we had to find the metro station...yeah right. Hardly any signs anywhere and that place is huge. When we found the right signs we got to a dead end, still under construction. So we had to go up and up and then back down another way to get to the metro.

The metro cars in Milan are really antique looking. Very square and wide. We found the central station pretty easy and by then were definitely running out of time. So we ran around the main station (which is gorgeous) and go to the ticket office to validate our eurail passes and the lines were so long. You wouldn’t imagine! That was 11am and our train left at 11:35. So we had to hope and pray that they would get through all of the people and we’d get it done in time.

You should see how efficient these people are. They were so fast and friendly thank goodness, we ran out of there and found our platform and off we ran! It was 11:20 by then and we weren’t sure how far away our platform was.

Turns out it wasn’t too far and we’d have had time to get food and water at least. We haven’t eaten so far.

We left Menaggio an hour early to give ourselves time to look around Como and then when we got there and realized we went to the wrong station and had to get back to catch the right train we didn’t get into the market.

Likewise at each stop after that we were so close to being late that we haven’t had a bite yet! Luckily at the market we bought some cookies and gummy bears so that will hold us over until we find a) the food car on the train b) the nearest food we come across in Venice station.

I am so glad we chose to leave early, we never would have made any of these connections. And its been nice to have a witness to the fact that I am not totally an idiot when I mess stuff up.

The station we stopped at first (the right one) didn’t have a train sign on it, nor a name or anything.

I asked both train officials in the ticket office if we were in fact going to the central station on that train. I asked some conductors on the platform, all of whom said yes right train. So after getting on and realizing it wasn’t the right one it was a little sad.

We are happily (and hungrily) buzzing along toward Venice. Luckily Italy is so amazing or I’d seriously be hating it by now!! I will never buy train passes again either. What a pain in the butt. I’ve never all summer long hade to be somewhere at a specific time so this schedule is really tough, especially when I keep messing it up.

I have really enjoyed the freedom of just catching a train here and there (and that also gives me time to mess up and fix it without panic) so I won’t do it again.

The validating was a one time thing so we’ll have an easier time of it form now on.

Lets hope!!

The train to Venice was a breeze. We found our seats right away and made it to the city without any trouble. From the pictures it looks like you can’t get into the city without help but once you get outside the station there is a bridget that takes you into the city. We chose to save 13euro and walk ourselves to the hostel. Did I mention the weather was warm? Sunny? Hot with backpacks. But worth the walk. This place isn’t big it turns out. We stumbled along till we found the Rialto bridge. Big deal by the way. Not as impressive as you’d think. We made our way through the mass of people to our little hostel in the alley… tiny little alley!

We are actually staying the dorm building away from the main office. It’s a huge building must be entirely full of rooms with beds. Pretty cool! Worth every penny too. Everything is so close for walking!!

We unloaded and caught our breath and changed into cooler clothes and decided to head to Saint Marks Square. On the way we stopped and had a beer (birra) at a place overlooking the not so impressing Rialto and it was fun. Lots of people watching and gondola watching etc. But St. Marks…Oh my gosh, what an amazing place that is!! Huge and beautiful and beautiful and amazing and awesome and Matt and I both had the hugest grins on our faces! Matt has studied these buildings so he was especially keen to see them in real life.

We wandered around there for a bit and I paid 1.5euro to use the bathroom, desperate times call for desperate measures. Just to be clear I’d paid only 1.20 euro for gelato. Ugh! But the nicest public bathrooms I’ve ever used so it goes to show.

We had another pizza for dinner and are now going to use the internet (in the other building) and then go see the city at night.

Its amazing here! For all the hassle we had getting here it was worth it. So glad we are having a second night to hang out. Its tough to keep moving. Especially when I keep messing it up!

I'll tell you this blog is so hard to maintain with someone else around. I'm finding I keep notes and then type it adn then cut and paste. Matt is waiting now so I'm going to go.

More later.

K

Loving Lake Como

As I'm paying for internet I'm going to type it all up and cut adn paste tomorrow...sorry. Its annoying.

Italy is both awesome and annoying (used that word twice now...getting the hint). Much to explain. matt is here. can't wait to have a travel buddy. Travel day was as usual a disaster.

More later on that too.

I'm putting pictures on here so you can see the place, then will edit.

Basically same story, wrong train etc.... running to catch the bus/train etc. Ugh!! My poor brother!!

K

Here you go:

Where to begin this day?? Its been a long one, as travel days go.

I got up early and just made it to the metro in time. Or so I thought my watch was 5 minutes fast which meant that I ran for no good reason. Again.

The airport was pretty okay. The security line was pretty lame. They just kept sending the trays with stuff through and no one to catch it so stuff was just piling up. It was such a mess. I mean really?!

The airline I flew on was a first again. Iberia airlines. Not bad for cheap ya know?! My bag weighed 13.5K this time. So its gained weight.

Upon arrival to Milan Malpensa airport I discovered I’m both loving and hating Italy. I thought for sure I’d get the transportation figured out before Matt arrived. But no. I found an office selling bus tickets and I asked for a ticket to Como and he says no you must go to the central station to catch that bus. For 7.50euro. I said wait a minute and I headed off to the train station instead. There the nice man sold me cheap tickets to Como with a change at Saronno. Simple. Did I ask him which platform? Which train? What times? No.

So Matt arrives a few hours later and off we head to the train. So we catch a train to cardona station. Its direct. Which means its not gong to stop in Saronno. No way of knowing that until the nice ticket checker came by and said you are on the wrong train. So we had to go to Cardona station and catch another train headed back the same way we came. Ugh! Poor Matt!! We hopped on a train and made it to the right station and found our train to Como Nord Lago. We had just enough time to get sat down and catch our breath and we got on the really hot train to Como.

When we arrived in Como we saw the bus we needed and ran to catch it. So we didn’t get sufficient time to look around, which turns out we should have allowed ourselves, and there was another bus 30 minutes later or so. Ugh!!

Then we had gotten on the bus so fast that we didn’t to ask the station man where we were headed exactly and how we’d know when to get off. The bus driver flew up the road!! He would pick someone up at a rolling stop thing take their money and off he’d go. So Matt and I had to pay attention. Which was pretty stressfulsince we really wanted to look around. The scenery was amazing!! The place is beautiful! By far the most beautiful place I’ve seen so far! Amazing!!

When we go to Menaggio we were both gobsmacked as some people say. It was so cool we just wandered around a bit wihtour stuff before we found the hostel. Its not far from town and busy busy.

Once we got checked in we ran back to town to see about the market and stuff, luckily too because as we were shopping they turned out the lights…so I guess its closing time or what? Then we had to find our way to pay and as we walked down the step they were shutting the metal gate down to close. Wow! They don’t’ waste time here!

We had a great walk around the town and found a pizzeria for Matt. He is a pizza freak. It was good pizza. We learned that Peperone isn’t meat, its veg. and Salami is meat. Either way we were both starving so we pigged out and then walked around a bit more. What an amazing place this is! And not expensive! The food in the grocery store was cheap and meal was really affordable too. It was great.

I’m trying to think why I’m so annoyed with Italy…everyone has been great. Most speak English. Its beautiful here. I am glad we stayed here, even though it was a huge hassle. We come back here again next week so we’ll have it figured out by then which will be nice.