So this evening was our 1-year anniversary. Evans was really sweet and bought me flowers and cooked me my two favorite things - fetuccini alfredo and cheesecake. They were really really good! My new fiance is a great cook ;). We were sitting at the dining table eating and having a great time. During dessert, I gave him his gift (or soon to be gift once it gets here) which is a 6" Dobsonian telescope. I thought this gift topped off all gifts but i did not know what he had in store for me!
So Evans was really excited and told me it was time for my gift. He turned around, faced his rock collection which was on the wall across from the dining table, turned on the lights in his rock collection cabinet and turned off the light in the dining room. Low and behold, there is a solitaire Lazare ideal cut D SI2 .5 carat diamond on a Kyriakos Somos band...
I turn to him and i go "is that for this finger?" pointing to my left ring finger. He says "uh huh" and obviously tears ensued and happiness and hugs and kisses. It was the greatest moment of my life!! I will post pics tomorrow :).
Friday, August 31, 2007
Sunday, August 19, 2007
Pictures up
I've uploaded all of my pics from the trip. Enjoy!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/10692403@N02/sets/72157601561716475/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/10692403@N02/sets/72157601561716475/
Paris
French people are much nicer than everyone says. In fact, I think they were the nicest out of all of the cultures we experienced during our entire trip!! They were extremely helpful people in Paris and it really put the icing on top of a wonderful 2 1/2 weeks spent with my amazing and loving boyfriend. This vacation has really been a great experience.
To cap it off...Paris was beautiful. our hotel was great, probably the best we stayed at during our whole trip and it was fairly inexpensive too! it was on a cute little street where every morning we would walk down it and the street would be lined with market vendors selling fruit, veggies, meat, bread, you name it. All the Parisians who lived in the area would be shopping for their groceries for the day with their little woven baskets. It seemed like it was out of a movie. The Eiffel Tower was amazing too and it was really fun going all the way up to the top although i did get scared of heights and wanted to go back down almost immediately.
the Louvre was an amazing museum and the 2 hours we had was not nearly enough to look at everything. we did see the Mona Lisa and the Venus statue that everyone wants to see but those were not nearly as great as some of the paintings and sculptures we saw there. Seriously, the Mona Lisa is overrated. Its a tiny painting compared to others and its not even that good! im no art expert but i dont see what the hooplah is about.
also, we didnt have to stand in line at the Louvre because we went late.. a tip for the wise in case u dont like lines, go at 3pm but know you wont have enough time to see everything in the museum b/c the museum is huge.
in Paris we also did these little walking tours my mom sent me. it was pretty useful to navigate our way around and know what we were looking at!
perhaps the best time in Paris though were the last hours we spent there. Evans and I went back to the Eiffel Tower the night before we left to see the lights at night. it was very pretty and to top it off there was a drum circle..a really good one too. they were putting together some great music and people were dancing and loving life and it was really great. i had so much fun!
To cap it off...Paris was beautiful. our hotel was great, probably the best we stayed at during our whole trip and it was fairly inexpensive too! it was on a cute little street where every morning we would walk down it and the street would be lined with market vendors selling fruit, veggies, meat, bread, you name it. All the Parisians who lived in the area would be shopping for their groceries for the day with their little woven baskets. It seemed like it was out of a movie. The Eiffel Tower was amazing too and it was really fun going all the way up to the top although i did get scared of heights and wanted to go back down almost immediately.
the Louvre was an amazing museum and the 2 hours we had was not nearly enough to look at everything. we did see the Mona Lisa and the Venus statue that everyone wants to see but those were not nearly as great as some of the paintings and sculptures we saw there. Seriously, the Mona Lisa is overrated. Its a tiny painting compared to others and its not even that good! im no art expert but i dont see what the hooplah is about.
also, we didnt have to stand in line at the Louvre because we went late.. a tip for the wise in case u dont like lines, go at 3pm but know you wont have enough time to see everything in the museum b/c the museum is huge.
in Paris we also did these little walking tours my mom sent me. it was pretty useful to navigate our way around and know what we were looking at!
perhaps the best time in Paris though were the last hours we spent there. Evans and I went back to the Eiffel Tower the night before we left to see the lights at night. it was very pretty and to top it off there was a drum circle..a really good one too. they were putting together some great music and people were dancing and loving life and it was really great. i had so much fun!
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Day Hessenpark: Hessenpark, Magnum ice cream and lots of German cakes!!
The next day in Frankfurt, Anne took us to Hessenpark which was about 10 minutes away from wehre they lived. This was essentially a big outdoor museum with rebuilt old buildings from all over Hessen. There was an old church, school house, windmills, barnyard, etc. It was neat because a lot of the buildings had old relics on display.
We also at some pretty tasty ice cream called Magnum. This was per the recommendation of my brother, Alan. I'd have to say it was pretty good.
After ice cream we wondered around the park some more and fed some donkeys and maa'd at some sheep and goats. Then, we went to a German bakery and Anne bought a wide assortment of German cakes.
We went home, had coffee and cake, and sat outside. The cakes were really yummy. Axel also gave me an old suitcase full of my grandfather's documents and some old architectural tools and drawings he had done.
After sitting outside for a while, we went to a very good restaurant and had some Kase mit Musik. Cheese with music. Get it? Hehehe. It was some cheese with a vinegar sauce and onions that you spread on some bread. I also had some schnitzel and more Apfelwein. The shnitzel was the best German food I've ever tasted in my life. It had these really good rare mushrooms that just so happened to be in season as the sauce.
That pretty much sums up our trip to Germany. Now we are at the Frankfurt train station awaiting our train to Paris! Hopefully the train trip to Paris goes ok without any delays or mishaps like it did on our way to Munich!
We also at some pretty tasty ice cream called Magnum. This was per the recommendation of my brother, Alan. I'd have to say it was pretty good.
After ice cream we wondered around the park some more and fed some donkeys and maa'd at some sheep and goats. Then, we went to a German bakery and Anne bought a wide assortment of German cakes.
We went home, had coffee and cake, and sat outside. The cakes were really yummy. Axel also gave me an old suitcase full of my grandfather's documents and some old architectural tools and drawings he had done.
After sitting outside for a while, we went to a very good restaurant and had some Kase mit Musik. Cheese with music. Get it? Hehehe. It was some cheese with a vinegar sauce and onions that you spread on some bread. I also had some schnitzel and more Apfelwein. The shnitzel was the best German food I've ever tasted in my life. It had these really good rare mushrooms that just so happened to be in season as the sauce.
That pretty much sums up our trip to Germany. Now we are at the Frankfurt train station awaiting our train to Paris! Hopefully the train trip to Paris goes ok without any delays or mishaps like it did on our way to Munich!
Day Diddlydoooda: Frankfurt, Schloss Heidelberg and Axel's forest house
After Munich, we planned on taking a train to Frankfurt to meet with one of my relatives, Axel. Axel lives in the forest about 40 minutes from Frankfurt. His children were really cute. German kids are really cute especially when they talk for some reason.
Axel drove us over to see the Schloss Heidelberg outside of Frankfurt. It was a very old castle that was bombed during an invasion of some sort. We had a guided tour that was really fun and we enjoyed it lots.
After Heidelberg, we went to Axel's house and it was really beautiful there. We met his wife Anne and they fed us caviar and champagne! How classy :). We also drank Apfelwein which is essentially apple cider and some of the best German beer I've tasted. Axel BBQ'd some good food and it was fun hanging out on the patio and talking to the family.
Axel drove us over to see the Schloss Heidelberg outside of Frankfurt. It was a very old castle that was bombed during an invasion of some sort. We had a guided tour that was really fun and we enjoyed it lots.
After Heidelberg, we went to Axel's house and it was really beautiful there. We met his wife Anne and they fed us caviar and champagne! How classy :). We also drank Apfelwein which is essentially apple cider and some of the best German beer I've tasted. Axel BBQ'd some good food and it was fun hanging out on the patio and talking to the family.
Day Whatevs: Andrea's b-day in Munich!!
My birthday in Munich was filled with gay pride and hot nuts! In the morning we took our laundry to a Wascherei and paid 20 Euro to have our clothes washed and dried (rip off!). Then we went over to the Marienplatz. The Marienplatz is kind of like the town hall square. It just so happened that that day was a Gay Pride festival. The area was filled with rainbow flags, drag queens and gay German men in tight leather and liederhosen. There was electronic music booming everywhere and it was pretty fun! We drank some Weisbier and ate bratwurst. Then we found this place that was selling some tasty nuts! They had bavarian nuts that were cooked with sugar and butter and they were very yummy. So we bought ourselves a big bag of these delicious hot nuts and ate them for like 2 hours consistently. We couldn't get enough of their nutty goodness.
Unfortunately, the weather in Munich was nicht so gut and it was raining the whole time. Our bike tour was cancelled. We were told to take the Mike's Bike tour which is essentially a tour on wheels throughout Munich for only 25 Euro per person! It was a great deal. Due to the rain though, the tour would have been dangerous. Therefore, we went back to the hotel and waited for the rain to stop until dinner time. Evans took me out for a nice birthday dinner at the Ratskeller. Its a popular restaurant also in the Marienplatz. We had some good food and wine and cake and that was the end of that day.
Unfortunately, the weather in Munich was nicht so gut and it was raining the whole time. Our bike tour was cancelled. We were told to take the Mike's Bike tour which is essentially a tour on wheels throughout Munich for only 25 Euro per person! It was a great deal. Due to the rain though, the tour would have been dangerous. Therefore, we went back to the hotel and waited for the rain to stop until dinner time. Evans took me out for a nice birthday dinner at the Ratskeller. Its a popular restaurant also in the Marienplatz. We had some good food and wine and cake and that was the end of that day.
Friday, August 10, 2007
Day 9: Munchen and Schloss Nymphemberg
So when Evans and I got to the hotel, we were dealing with a pretty sarcastic German receptionist. He couldnt find the reservation we put in through hostelworld.com. Since we didnt have a printout of our reservation he said there was nothign he could do for us. We insisted we have a reservation and we can show him on our computer. He insisted that showing him on our computer will not do him any good because it does not prove we have a reservation. i think this guy just really did not like technology or Americans. We printed out our reservation confirmation and handed it to him physically. This was acceptable to him.
Thank goodness, we finally got a room. The place we are staying at had free breakfast too and it was pretty good! We took a nap till noon, grabbed a sandwhich and walked to the Schloss Nymphemberg palace. We strolled around there for a few hours. It was pretty interesting! One of the little cottages near the gardens had its entire interior covered with sea shells and coral reef.
After the Schloss Nymphemberg we had some dinner at a cute little Bavarian restaurant and drank some really good beer. We got home and bought wireless internet access. Since we havent had any consistent internet access since Rome, its been nice to catch up with the world and comunicate. Thats what I've been doing the rest of the evening. And now, its time for bed!
Thank goodness, we finally got a room. The place we are staying at had free breakfast too and it was pretty good! We took a nap till noon, grabbed a sandwhich and walked to the Schloss Nymphemberg palace. We strolled around there for a few hours. It was pretty interesting! One of the little cottages near the gardens had its entire interior covered with sea shells and coral reef.
After the Schloss Nymphemberg we had some dinner at a cute little Bavarian restaurant and drank some really good beer. We got home and bought wireless internet access. Since we havent had any consistent internet access since Rome, its been nice to catch up with the world and comunicate. Thats what I've been doing the rest of the evening. And now, its time for bed!
Day 8: Day of travel, day of mishaps
Waking up early with surprisingly no hangover, we decided we would go ahead and continue on with our trip and get to Munich so that we could have some good rest before my birthday tomorrow. We got to the train station really early and hopped on a train. Although, we didnt really know where the train was going and hoped it was stopping in La Spezia, where we would then take a train to Milan. That train ended up working out for us and we got to La Spezia in perfect time.
Next, we took a train to Milan. The train to Milan took a bit longer than we expected. We also noticed it left a little bit late. Was it the wrong train? We think so but we don't really know.
Milan was horrible because we had to wait around to get a reservation for our train to Munich. Only, the reservation line was 1 hour long! Finally, we got our reservation and hopped on the train to Verona.
The train ride to Verona was an interesting one. In the 1st class seating area, we witnessed a pretty intense argument between an Italian businessman and the train conductor. The Italian businessman kept trying to swipe his train ticket away from the train conductor and almost got in a fist fight with him. It was pretty scary! The train conductor kicked him off the train at the next stop.
Unfortunately for us, we were also dumb enough to not check which train we were actually on. This train to Verona actually got there late. It took way much more stops than it should have. it turns out we were on the wrong train. Why doesn't Italy check your train tickets before you get on teh train? We dont know. Regardless, we missed the last train to Munich.
After we realized our mistake, we changed our reservations to get on the train that arrived at 1am. Therefore, we had to sit around the train station for 6 hours to wait for the next train. We tried to make the best of it and got to know that train station pretty well as we basically strolled up and down the corridors, ate, drank, watched commercials, read, walked, sat, etc. Finally! The train to Munich arrived and we made sure this was the right train this time.
The weird thing was that we werent the only people who made the mistake to get on the wrong train to Verona and therefore miss our train to Munich. Apparently about 3-4 other people did the same thing. We made acquaintenances with one of these people who was pretty nice and he was an older guy. Once we got on the train to Munich, we decided to share a compartment with the older guy since he seemed pretty cool and it was the only empty compartment left.
Bang bang bang, knock on the door, "Polizei! Gut morgen!". We were almost at Munich. The police were doing a routine check for passports for the train passengers. Only, our train buddy didnt have his. The police ended up arresting him! We felt so sorry for him because he not only missed his train but for some reason left his passport at home and was now being arrested at 5am in a town outside of Munich. This was just really bizarre to us. We were also confused because he told us he was from Croatia but when the police asked him where he was from he said France. Maybe there was something fishy with this old man after all. Who knows.
Anyway, after travelling through train stations for 23 hours, we got to Munich...finally! We arrived at our hotel. "We're sorry, we dont have a reservation for you!". What??
Next, we took a train to Milan. The train to Milan took a bit longer than we expected. We also noticed it left a little bit late. Was it the wrong train? We think so but we don't really know.
Milan was horrible because we had to wait around to get a reservation for our train to Munich. Only, the reservation line was 1 hour long! Finally, we got our reservation and hopped on the train to Verona.
The train ride to Verona was an interesting one. In the 1st class seating area, we witnessed a pretty intense argument between an Italian businessman and the train conductor. The Italian businessman kept trying to swipe his train ticket away from the train conductor and almost got in a fist fight with him. It was pretty scary! The train conductor kicked him off the train at the next stop.
Unfortunately for us, we were also dumb enough to not check which train we were actually on. This train to Verona actually got there late. It took way much more stops than it should have. it turns out we were on the wrong train. Why doesn't Italy check your train tickets before you get on teh train? We dont know. Regardless, we missed the last train to Munich.
After we realized our mistake, we changed our reservations to get on the train that arrived at 1am. Therefore, we had to sit around the train station for 6 hours to wait for the next train. We tried to make the best of it and got to know that train station pretty well as we basically strolled up and down the corridors, ate, drank, watched commercials, read, walked, sat, etc. Finally! The train to Munich arrived and we made sure this was the right train this time.
The weird thing was that we werent the only people who made the mistake to get on the wrong train to Verona and therefore miss our train to Munich. Apparently about 3-4 other people did the same thing. We made acquaintenances with one of these people who was pretty nice and he was an older guy. Once we got on the train to Munich, we decided to share a compartment with the older guy since he seemed pretty cool and it was the only empty compartment left.
Bang bang bang, knock on the door, "Polizei! Gut morgen!". We were almost at Munich. The police were doing a routine check for passports for the train passengers. Only, our train buddy didnt have his. The police ended up arresting him! We felt so sorry for him because he not only missed his train but for some reason left his passport at home and was now being arrested at 5am in a town outside of Munich. This was just really bizarre to us. We were also confused because he told us he was from Croatia but when the police asked him where he was from he said France. Maybe there was something fishy with this old man after all. Who knows.
Anyway, after travelling through train stations for 23 hours, we got to Munich...finally! We arrived at our hotel. "We're sorry, we dont have a reservation for you!". What??
Day 7: Cinque Terra - the hike and more buns of steel!
OK, so the night before a huge storm came in. It reminded me of a Texas storm with terrential rain, the sky lighting up and thunder roaring. The morning was calm. We got dressed and went to check in at the B & B we were staying at. The nice owner actually picked us up and drove us there. Then, we journeyed on our hike. We took a train the the village Riomaggiore which was the furthest south of all the Cinque Terra villages. Then we started our hike. You can hike from village to village off the coast of the mediterranean and its really pretty! Unfortunately, some parts of our hike were closed off due to teh storm (landslides) so we had to take a train from Manarola to Corneglia. We then hiked from Corneglia to Vernazza. That hike was tedious but it was very much worth it! Lots of steps and climbing but the view was outstanding and we took a lot of great pictures.
Finally after about 3 hours we got to Vernazza. We had some coffee there and strolled around. Then took the train back to Monterosso since the remainder of the hiking trail was closed. We got dressed and had ourselves a yummy seafood dinner at a fairly fancy restaurant. They even gave us some free shots of some yummy bellinis and limoncello! We got pretty tipsy because we had also bought a bottle of the house wine of the guy who owned the B & B we stayed at and drank some of that prior to dinner. And..of course we also had wine WITH dinner.
Anyway, our night ended as the last night in Cinque Terra. Cinque Terra was a beautiful place but we were ready to move on to the next leg of our trip, outside of Italy.
Finally after about 3 hours we got to Vernazza. We had some coffee there and strolled around. Then took the train back to Monterosso since the remainder of the hiking trail was closed. We got dressed and had ourselves a yummy seafood dinner at a fairly fancy restaurant. They even gave us some free shots of some yummy bellinis and limoncello! We got pretty tipsy because we had also bought a bottle of the house wine of the guy who owned the B & B we stayed at and drank some of that prior to dinner. And..of course we also had wine WITH dinner.
Anyway, our night ended as the last night in Cinque Terra. Cinque Terra was a beautiful place but we were ready to move on to the next leg of our trip, outside of Italy.
Day 6: Cinque Terra - paradise off of the meditteranean!
So after the madness of the big cities Evans and I took a train out to Cinque Terra. We found ourselves a nice little guest house in Monterosso al' Mare. The owner happened to be retired and spent his time painting pictures of his home town off the meditteranean. He was very cool. It was called Manuel's Guesthouse and Rick Steves wrote about him on his updates page. We were lucky enough to get to stay in his house for one night. The cool thing also was he had beer and wine on tap on his patio that overlooked the city and the ocean and all you had to do was throw 1 Euro into his coffee cup to pour yourself a glass! The guy who we talked to for the reservation, and who was running things, was also very nice. His name was Lorenzo and because he only had a room for us for one night, he called around town and found us a room at a Bed & Breakfast for the same price of only 25 Euro each person per night. This was a bargain considering we were staying at a resort town!
Cinque Terra in general was overpopulated with tourists. German tourists especially! But the water was so crystal blue and the temperature was perfect. The little shops were really cute and the restaurants were tasty. i bought myself a pair of these cute mediteranean earrings from Monterosso as a souvenier. After our stroll around the village, we went down to the beach and did a little sun-tanning and took a dip in the sea. In true Evans fashion, Evans played with the sand and rocks the whole time and was like a little kid, covered head to toe in sand. People walking by were chuckling at him but i thought it was pretty funny. Evans also surrounded me with rocks while i was laying in the sand which also gave me a good laugh.
This day was pretty lazy since we wanted to relax from all the hectic touristy stuff.
Cinque Terra in general was overpopulated with tourists. German tourists especially! But the water was so crystal blue and the temperature was perfect. The little shops were really cute and the restaurants were tasty. i bought myself a pair of these cute mediteranean earrings from Monterosso as a souvenier. After our stroll around the village, we went down to the beach and did a little sun-tanning and took a dip in the sea. In true Evans fashion, Evans played with the sand and rocks the whole time and was like a little kid, covered head to toe in sand. People walking by were chuckling at him but i thought it was pretty funny. Evans also surrounded me with rocks while i was laying in the sand which also gave me a good laugh.
This day was pretty lazy since we wanted to relax from all the hectic touristy stuff.
Day 5: Firenze Part 2 - the Mark Coincidence, the Duomo Mistake, Piazalla Michaelangelo Buns-of-Steel Workout
Read Evans's blog for Firenze Part 1.
So after coincidentally and bizarrely running into Evans's ex-coworker and friend (who was also on a random trip in Europe), we decided we should all hang out in Florence on the second day since none of us had a set itinerary.
The morning of, Evans and I moved into our other shitty hostel room. Not sure if Evans blogged about this but our hostel in Florence was pretty dirty. Clean sheets, clean towels but thats about all that was clean. The bathrooms were gross and grimy and the drains were clogged. They had to move us into a somewhat cleaner room with a shared bathroom on the 2nd night.
Anyway, not to get off on a tangent, but Evans's friend Mark met us at our hostel at precisely the same time we were about to leave to go try to meet him at his hostel. The timing was just in our favor after Mark ran into us on the street (but not really before that, see Evans's blog on 4 hour train ride).
We took a stroll and found a place to eat breakfast. Evans ordered 2 sandwiches. The sandwiches in Italy are HUGE. So Evans was a heffer.
After breakfast we decided to check out the Duomo. Upon running into what we thought was the Duomo, I wasnt all that impressed. There wasnt even anyone waiting in line to get in! We paid our 2.50E entrance fee and the church had some interesting art. After we made our rounds, we left.
Upon walking down the street, we stumbled into one of the most amazing and large churches I've seen. Whats this? we asked ourselves. It was the Duomo, duh! We actually mistook a small tiny church called the San Lorenzo for the Duomo! How dumb are we? And why was the entrance fee for the Duomo free but the tiny church we had to pay? We dont know!
So we waited in line for the Duomo and it was pretty impressive, we all agreed. We decided that since we went to the top of the Cupola at the Vatican we would give the Cupela at the Duomo a shot. To be honest, I was way more impressed with the Cupola and the view at the Duomo than I was at the Vatican. The artist who painted the chapel was very detailed (i think its Bruneschelli). It was a depiction of heaven and hell and I just stared at the paintings with my jaw dropped because they were pretty darn graphic (including one section of hell where demons were shoving firey pokers into peoples, ahem, orefaces. The view of Florence was amazing once we were at the top of the dome. Really, it was beautiful. Every building had red tile roofs which I thought was pretty rare. You could see castles and the hillside and the river and all the beautiful architecture. it made me love Florence. The way up was seriously a workout though. It was 441 steps (as opposed to 551 in the Vatican) but these steps were much steeper. My thighs and butt are getting a good workout here in Italy!
After the Duomo, we took a stroll across the river to the Piazalla Michaelangelo. It is basically this very scenic plaza that overlooks all of Florence. That was also very pretty. But, I'm starting to see a trend here. Pretty view = ass-blasting workout...seroiusly. I'm going to have some shapely buns when I get back to Austin!
Anyway, the rest of Florence was mostly eating, drinking and trying to find internet access. Nothing all too exciting but it was definitely fun and it was great times to run into a friend of Evans and have a travel buddy for a day!
So after coincidentally and bizarrely running into Evans's ex-coworker and friend (who was also on a random trip in Europe), we decided we should all hang out in Florence on the second day since none of us had a set itinerary.
The morning of, Evans and I moved into our other shitty hostel room. Not sure if Evans blogged about this but our hostel in Florence was pretty dirty. Clean sheets, clean towels but thats about all that was clean. The bathrooms were gross and grimy and the drains were clogged. They had to move us into a somewhat cleaner room with a shared bathroom on the 2nd night.
Anyway, not to get off on a tangent, but Evans's friend Mark met us at our hostel at precisely the same time we were about to leave to go try to meet him at his hostel. The timing was just in our favor after Mark ran into us on the street (but not really before that, see Evans's blog on 4 hour train ride).
We took a stroll and found a place to eat breakfast. Evans ordered 2 sandwiches. The sandwiches in Italy are HUGE. So Evans was a heffer.
After breakfast we decided to check out the Duomo. Upon running into what we thought was the Duomo, I wasnt all that impressed. There wasnt even anyone waiting in line to get in! We paid our 2.50E entrance fee and the church had some interesting art. After we made our rounds, we left.
Upon walking down the street, we stumbled into one of the most amazing and large churches I've seen. Whats this? we asked ourselves. It was the Duomo, duh! We actually mistook a small tiny church called the San Lorenzo for the Duomo! How dumb are we? And why was the entrance fee for the Duomo free but the tiny church we had to pay? We dont know!
So we waited in line for the Duomo and it was pretty impressive, we all agreed. We decided that since we went to the top of the Cupola at the Vatican we would give the Cupela at the Duomo a shot. To be honest, I was way more impressed with the Cupola and the view at the Duomo than I was at the Vatican. The artist who painted the chapel was very detailed (i think its Bruneschelli). It was a depiction of heaven and hell and I just stared at the paintings with my jaw dropped because they were pretty darn graphic (including one section of hell where demons were shoving firey pokers into peoples, ahem, orefaces. The view of Florence was amazing once we were at the top of the dome. Really, it was beautiful. Every building had red tile roofs which I thought was pretty rare. You could see castles and the hillside and the river and all the beautiful architecture. it made me love Florence. The way up was seriously a workout though. It was 441 steps (as opposed to 551 in the Vatican) but these steps were much steeper. My thighs and butt are getting a good workout here in Italy!
After the Duomo, we took a stroll across the river to the Piazalla Michaelangelo. It is basically this very scenic plaza that overlooks all of Florence. That was also very pretty. But, I'm starting to see a trend here. Pretty view = ass-blasting workout...seroiusly. I'm going to have some shapely buns when I get back to Austin!
Anyway, the rest of Florence was mostly eating, drinking and trying to find internet access. Nothing all too exciting but it was definitely fun and it was great times to run into a friend of Evans and have a travel buddy for a day!
Day 3: Sistine Chapel, Pantheon, Campo del Fiori
Well...Day 3 of Rome was a fun one. We woke up pretty early in the morning and had about due caffe (2 espresso) on the way to the Vatican again. This time, we went straight to the Vatican Museum to see the Sistine Chapel (since it was closed the day before by the time we got there).
The Vatican Museum was pretty interesting. Lots of sculptures of animals eating other animals and then we saw a bunch of sculptures of Roman emperors and whatnot. Then to the good stuff. We started walking through the corridors and the ceilings were painted almost the whole way through. What was interesting was there is a hall called the Hall of Maps which basically has ancient cartography of Italy. It was so amazing how the cartographers mapped this all out back then and also interesting to see the progression of the maps as the ages went by.
We finally got to the part everyone was waiting for....the Sistine Chapel. It was very pretty. However, there is much more to the Sistine Chapel than the image that we all see of man's finger touching God's finger. There was painted images all over the walls and the entire ceiling.
In the Sistine Chapel a bunch of tourists were disrespecting the laws and taking pictures, videos and talking loudly. The Italian guards were not happy about this and they were constantly having to yell and shshshshshhhh people. At one point, they got fed up with a couple repeat offenders and escorted them out.
After the Sistine Chapel, we went to this awesome pizzaria by our hotel. The lady that worked there was really really nice and she kept insisting that we try her lasagna but we were more in a Pizza mood. We ate pizza with mozarella, tomato and basil and it was so yum.
Then it was nap time. Naps are precious when you are traveling because you walk all day and for me its hard to sleep in major cities because of all the background noise outside.
After naptime, we took a stroll over to the Pantheon. It was free to get in!! The first time we were able to get into an ancient church for free!!
At the point we were in the Pantheon, I realized something. The Pantheon was turned into a Christian church and it used to be a pagan temple. It was surrounded by two Egyptian obelisks with crosses at the tops. The Collisseum was also used as a Christian church at one point too. The Vatican has an Egyptian obelisk with a cross at the top as well. It seems like the Christian church got a hold of a lot of ancient history and turned it all into churches and crosses!!!
After our last day in Rome, we went on over to Campo de Fiori. This is supposedly where the nightlife happens. We found ourselves a nice little patio bar and had ourselves a strong little Sangria! Yum...Roman sangria. Me likey. This was the first time in a long time I saw Evans drunk. He was all wobbly and we both stumbled across the piazza to the Ristoranti across the way (1 sangria each and we both get drunk! not too shabby). At the restaurant I had the best food I've had so far in Italy. I ordered it based on a recommendation by my brother Alan. Penne alla Carbonera. It was soooooooooo good! This Carbonera sauce was the bizzybomb! it was a cream sauce with bacon and eggs and it was to die for. I've tried the Carbonera in Florence too and its not nearly as good.
After finishing off a 1/2 liter of wine at the restaurant, both of us were more than toasty. We also had to find our way home. We found a bus stop which took us to the Termini but we were still a ways from home and the metro was closed! Finally we got home after about 30 minutes of walking in different directions.
The Vatican Museum was pretty interesting. Lots of sculptures of animals eating other animals and then we saw a bunch of sculptures of Roman emperors and whatnot. Then to the good stuff. We started walking through the corridors and the ceilings were painted almost the whole way through. What was interesting was there is a hall called the Hall of Maps which basically has ancient cartography of Italy. It was so amazing how the cartographers mapped this all out back then and also interesting to see the progression of the maps as the ages went by.
We finally got to the part everyone was waiting for....the Sistine Chapel. It was very pretty. However, there is much more to the Sistine Chapel than the image that we all see of man's finger touching God's finger. There was painted images all over the walls and the entire ceiling.
In the Sistine Chapel a bunch of tourists were disrespecting the laws and taking pictures, videos and talking loudly. The Italian guards were not happy about this and they were constantly having to yell and shshshshshhhh people. At one point, they got fed up with a couple repeat offenders and escorted them out.
After the Sistine Chapel, we went to this awesome pizzaria by our hotel. The lady that worked there was really really nice and she kept insisting that we try her lasagna but we were more in a Pizza mood. We ate pizza with mozarella, tomato and basil and it was so yum.
Then it was nap time. Naps are precious when you are traveling because you walk all day and for me its hard to sleep in major cities because of all the background noise outside.
After naptime, we took a stroll over to the Pantheon. It was free to get in!! The first time we were able to get into an ancient church for free!!
At the point we were in the Pantheon, I realized something. The Pantheon was turned into a Christian church and it used to be a pagan temple. It was surrounded by two Egyptian obelisks with crosses at the tops. The Collisseum was also used as a Christian church at one point too. The Vatican has an Egyptian obelisk with a cross at the top as well. It seems like the Christian church got a hold of a lot of ancient history and turned it all into churches and crosses!!!
After our last day in Rome, we went on over to Campo de Fiori. This is supposedly where the nightlife happens. We found ourselves a nice little patio bar and had ourselves a strong little Sangria! Yum...Roman sangria. Me likey. This was the first time in a long time I saw Evans drunk. He was all wobbly and we both stumbled across the piazza to the Ristoranti across the way (1 sangria each and we both get drunk! not too shabby). At the restaurant I had the best food I've had so far in Italy. I ordered it based on a recommendation by my brother Alan. Penne alla Carbonera. It was soooooooooo good! This Carbonera sauce was the bizzybomb! it was a cream sauce with bacon and eggs and it was to die for. I've tried the Carbonera in Florence too and its not nearly as good.
After finishing off a 1/2 liter of wine at the restaurant, both of us were more than toasty. We also had to find our way home. We found a bus stop which took us to the Termini but we were still a ways from home and the metro was closed! Finally we got home after about 30 minutes of walking in different directions.
Friday, August 3, 2007
Day 2 Part Due: The Vatican
Holy Pope! The Vatican is pretty darn cool. There's all this saintly stuff everywhere like sculptures and paintings. We even saw a preserverd dead pope in a glass coffin. Whoa!! Then we climbed up to the Cupola (the dome) and that was pretty gnarly. You climb up 551 steps to get to the top of the basillica. The view at the end was really pretty. You could see the intricate gardening of the Vatican from the top and it was totally tubular. We will post pics soon.
Evans and I decided not to talk while we were in the Basillica of St. Peter because every other sentence we would accidentally say "damn" or "hell" and we felt very sacriligious. Therefore, we opted to sign-language.
Let me tell you...on the 2nd day of our trip to Rome I feel like i already have buns and thighs of steel! All the climbing and walking you do is outrageous! Hopefully it will help me burn all the pasta and pizza and vino we eat!
Tonight we are thinking of hitting up Travestere which is the center of the Rome nightlife.
Tomorrow, we are going to go to a few museums. Then, its off to Firenze!
Evans and I decided not to talk while we were in the Basillica of St. Peter because every other sentence we would accidentally say "damn" or "hell" and we felt very sacriligious. Therefore, we opted to sign-language.
Let me tell you...on the 2nd day of our trip to Rome I feel like i already have buns and thighs of steel! All the climbing and walking you do is outrageous! Hopefully it will help me burn all the pasta and pizza and vino we eat!
Tonight we are thinking of hitting up Travestere which is the center of the Rome nightlife.
Tomorrow, we are going to go to a few museums. Then, its off to Firenze!
Day 2 of Roma!
ok....so....
Its morning time. We woke up. We drank il caffe at a cafe! Then we went to a market and bought groceries. The man at the cheese counter is very nice but does not speak any English. However, he understands our awkward gestures.
Anyway, we are going to the Vatican today. Here is a link to photos on Evans's FlickR, since I forgot my transfer cable for my camera!!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/evanstucker/sets/72157601184494932/
Its morning time. We woke up. We drank il caffe at a cafe! Then we went to a market and bought groceries. The man at the cheese counter is very nice but does not speak any English. However, he understands our awkward gestures.
Anyway, we are going to the Vatican today. Here is a link to photos on Evans's FlickR, since I forgot my transfer cable for my camera!!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/evanstucker/sets/72157601184494932/
Thursday, August 2, 2007
Titolo! Roma Bueno! Grazie. Buon Giorrnio
Ok....so.....heres the world. its ROUND. and here i am in ROME.
hehhehehehehehe.
Disclaimer: I just drank half a bottle of Chianti with a 12.5% alcohol per volume (only 5 Euro, what!).
My trip couldn't have started off worse. I arrive at the airport to find that my flight to Chicago (which connects to Rome) was Cancelled!! WHAT! yea. Nokay. Luckily the nice lady at the desk for American Airlines connected me to a flight from Dallas to Chicago which got me right in the nick of time for my flight to Rome! Thank goodness!
The flight to Rome sucked. I was cramped by some Spaniard who was hogging all the space and drooling by my chair. So i was scrunched near the window the whole way (which explains why my right shoulder hurts). We finally get to Rome, go through immigrations, and I see my wonderful amazing loving boyfriend holding a sign that reads "Sweetie! :)" I knew that was the person who was picking me up because he calls me "Sweetie" but not because I recognized him. Since Its been SOOO long since I've seen the Evans.
Our Bed and Breakfast is amazing. For 30 Euro a person, we have our own private room and bathroom in the middle of Rome, 10 minute walk to the Coliseum. I took a shower because I smelled like airplane, and we immediately adventured through Rome. First stop, Coliseum! OBVIOUSLY! It was weird standing in the same spot where plebians stood watching gladiators getting their guts torn out of them from wild animals/big swords/etc... Next stop, the Roman Forum ruins. This was neat because we got to stand right next to the heap pile where Julius Caesar was cremated. How weird standing where history occurred thousands of years ago. The ruins here are amazing! Never seen anything like this in my life. This is the best experience EVER! And its only my first day!
Before the Coliseum, we were starving. We found a little street right off the side of the Coliseum which happened to be Rome's Gay Street. We ate at a cafe with a rainbow flag painted on it. The waitor was nice but they didnt have anything on the menu so we had to settle for some pizza and pasta which was mediocre. However, the vino was very strong and we got to experience the Coliseum with a little buzzzzzzzzz.
Evans and I are on a budget, so we thought we'd learn more from following the tour guide groups. Yes, we cheated. We heard all the fabulous stories for free! I mean serously, why do people even pay for tour guides when you can just follow them around?? Whenever we lost the travel guide, we looked for his little red scarf and immediately pursued.
The Trevi fountain was funny because some rose peddler literally pried my hands open to stick a rose in my hand. He then told me "free". He looked at Evans and rubbed his thumb and first finger together, gesturing for $$. Evans reluctantly gave him 1 Euro. Travellers beware of the conniving rose peddlers!
After the Trevi fountain we found the Spanish steps but there were so many tourists that we immediatley left. Not so special anyways. We had some more vino at a cafe and it was quite tasty.
Also, throughout our adventure we found natural springs where pure water flowed out of the aquaducts. We filled our water bottles with this and drank this tasty water. Seriously tastier than any bottled water I've had.
Notice I use the word tasty quite frequently?
Thats because the food and drinks here are great. To top off our day, we went to a market around the corner from our B & B and bought some bread, cheese and a bottle of wine for only 10 Euro. That was our din-din.
Anyway, enough ranting, i'm sleepy. See pics posted on FlickR!!! They are funtastic.
hehhehehehehehe.
Disclaimer: I just drank half a bottle of Chianti with a 12.5% alcohol per volume (only 5 Euro, what!).
My trip couldn't have started off worse. I arrive at the airport to find that my flight to Chicago (which connects to Rome) was Cancelled!! WHAT! yea. Nokay. Luckily the nice lady at the desk for American Airlines connected me to a flight from Dallas to Chicago which got me right in the nick of time for my flight to Rome! Thank goodness!
The flight to Rome sucked. I was cramped by some Spaniard who was hogging all the space and drooling by my chair. So i was scrunched near the window the whole way (which explains why my right shoulder hurts). We finally get to Rome, go through immigrations, and I see my wonderful amazing loving boyfriend holding a sign that reads "Sweetie! :)" I knew that was the person who was picking me up because he calls me "Sweetie" but not because I recognized him. Since Its been SOOO long since I've seen the Evans.
Our Bed and Breakfast is amazing. For 30 Euro a person, we have our own private room and bathroom in the middle of Rome, 10 minute walk to the Coliseum. I took a shower because I smelled like airplane, and we immediately adventured through Rome. First stop, Coliseum! OBVIOUSLY! It was weird standing in the same spot where plebians stood watching gladiators getting their guts torn out of them from wild animals/big swords/etc... Next stop, the Roman Forum ruins. This was neat because we got to stand right next to the heap pile where Julius Caesar was cremated. How weird standing where history occurred thousands of years ago. The ruins here are amazing! Never seen anything like this in my life. This is the best experience EVER! And its only my first day!
Before the Coliseum, we were starving. We found a little street right off the side of the Coliseum which happened to be Rome's Gay Street. We ate at a cafe with a rainbow flag painted on it. The waitor was nice but they didnt have anything on the menu so we had to settle for some pizza and pasta which was mediocre. However, the vino was very strong and we got to experience the Coliseum with a little buzzzzzzzzz.
Evans and I are on a budget, so we thought we'd learn more from following the tour guide groups. Yes, we cheated. We heard all the fabulous stories for free! I mean serously, why do people even pay for tour guides when you can just follow them around?? Whenever we lost the travel guide, we looked for his little red scarf and immediately pursued.
The Trevi fountain was funny because some rose peddler literally pried my hands open to stick a rose in my hand. He then told me "free". He looked at Evans and rubbed his thumb and first finger together, gesturing for $$. Evans reluctantly gave him 1 Euro. Travellers beware of the conniving rose peddlers!
After the Trevi fountain we found the Spanish steps but there were so many tourists that we immediatley left. Not so special anyways. We had some more vino at a cafe and it was quite tasty.
Also, throughout our adventure we found natural springs where pure water flowed out of the aquaducts. We filled our water bottles with this and drank this tasty water. Seriously tastier than any bottled water I've had.
Notice I use the word tasty quite frequently?
Thats because the food and drinks here are great. To top off our day, we went to a market around the corner from our B & B and bought some bread, cheese and a bottle of wine for only 10 Euro. That was our din-din.
Anyway, enough ranting, i'm sleepy. See pics posted on FlickR!!! They are funtastic.
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Europe here I come!
I'm heading to good ole' Rome, Italy tomorrow! I'm meeting Evans at the airport and he has already booked us a room at a nice Bed and Breakfast within a 10 minute walk to the Coliseum. Our itinerary is pretty loose and we havent booked reservations anywhere ahead of time. We're just gonna wing it! I'm following the advice of my oh so knowledgeable brother and we're going to use tourist centers and the internet to book our rooms before we go to the next city once we know when and where we are going next.
I'll also be celebrating my 26th birthday in Europe! I believe we will be in Munich on the day of my birthday. Hofbrauhaus am Platzl? Ich denke ja!
Anywho...check in here for updates on my trip as well as fabulous pics!
I'll also be celebrating my 26th birthday in Europe! I believe we will be in Munich on the day of my birthday. Hofbrauhaus am Platzl? Ich denke ja!
Anywho...check in here for updates on my trip as well as fabulous pics!
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