For our second full day in Paris we had grand hopes of working through the last of our "must see" list. We started the day early at the Eiffel Tower. Tim decided he would wait for us since he had been up a few times to the top already. We would meet him about an hour and a half later.
So it was us and about a million of our closest friends. Ok, so maybe it wasn't that early (9:45) and maybe it wasn't a million people, but we did wait in line for an hour to get to just the ticket counter. Once there we were told that the top was closed and we could only get tickets to the second platform. When we talked to the ticket agent he said we could by tickets to the top when we reached the second platform. Oh goodie, another line! Once our tickets were purchased we waited in another line for another hour to get into the car that takes you to the second platform. In this line we were serenaded by a young boy (around Alexanders age) who was having a monumental tantrum while he, his mom and his brother were in line. And he did not stop screaming for the entire hour of this second line. On one hand we felt bad for the mom, it is a hard situation being in line for something like this with a child who is melting down. But my goodness was it the most horrible hour to hear him screaming all around us. We were hoping and praying that he would not be in the same little car as us when we went up to the top. Thankfully he wasn't!
Once at the second platform we headed right over to the line for tickets to the top. Unfortunately that line had closed about 5 minutes ago and wasn't going to open for another 30-45 minutes. So we waited again, in a 3rd line. At that point the time to meet Tim had passed by 30 minutes so Michelle stayed until the ticket counter opened up and then headed down to the bottom. Brenda and Greg bought tickets to the top. We were to meet up in another hour.
When Michelle got to the bottom she found Tim and they opted to grab a quick lunch at a small cafe. We enjoyed sandwiches on french baguettes and watched the locals and tourists go by. One group of 3 Romany girls caught the attention of a number of people. They were walking past our cafe when someone walking by on the sidewalk next to them bumped on girl with his shoulder. She turned to yell at him and our maitre'd came flying out of the back part of the restaurant yelling at them and physically blocking them from the sidewalk in front of the restaurant. He did not push them but used his body to steer them into the street along the restaurant, then continued to follow them all the way down to the corner, past 4-5 other shops. We detest discrimination, but for people who prey on the innocent like they seem to do it is hard to argue with the reflexive defensive state that people seem to be in when they are around.
Once finished with lunch we met up with Brenda and Greg and walked around the base of the Eiffel Tower. Rick Steves had an interesting 20 minute podcast about the history of the tower. We had known that it was built for the worlds fair and that the French hated it, but we didn't know that after winning a contest to design a building for the fair Eiffel ended up having to finance 80% of it (4 million dollars) when the French government backed out on their promise to pay for the construction. The government ended up financing around 1 million.
Originally, when the French were going to pay for the construction the tower was going to be removed a few months after the fair. When Eiffel had to finance it he negotiated for it to remain up for 20 years so that he could have a chance to recoup his money. The government agreed. Once it was finished it took Eiffel only 6 months to recoup his initial investment. But with the agreement with the government he was able to keep it up for another 19.5 years. That is a great investment! With that timeframe Eiffel began to think about how he could get it to stay up permanently. He rented space to scientists for various explorations and created a restaurant on top complete with a grand piano. But what saved it was the radio. The French installed a radio tower at the top, and during WWII it intercepted a number of German radio transmissions from the troops just outside of Paris. These interceptions allowed the French to move their positions and defend the city. And the tower stayed.
We had our second lunch with the Smiths in the 4th district near some shopping that Michelle wanted to do. There is a french store called Le Kilo (now 4 different locations) that sells vintage clothes by the kilo. You make your selections and the price you pay is based on the weight. It sounded like a fun quirky place. Michelle found a skirt and a scarf that she liked. She would have bought a bubble gum pink leather jacket if it had been real leather. It wasn't, so she didn't make the splurge. But it was tempting!
Back at the hotel the men opted to rest while the ladies went to the train station to buy train tickets to Brussels. Dinner tonight was at a restaurant called Le Chemise. It was on the expensive side but we were meeting one of Tim's former clients for dinner since they were in town to watch a french open match. Michelle had pork wrapped in philo dough with an amazing mushroom sauce and Tim had a filet mignon with an onion sauce. The menu had 20 items and 6 were desserts. My kinda place! Everything was delicious and the company was great. A perfect final evening in Paris.
Back at the room we facetimed with a very sleepy Alexander and selected a hotel room for Brussels. It didn't seem like we did all that much when compared to our first full day in Paris, but we were all pretty tired. A semi early night for us, in bed by 11pm! Au demain!
Monday, June 2, 2014
6 days until we return - the countdown begins
Well the first full day in Paris and we were off and running. In the metro we made sure to buy 2 day metro passes (so much easier than buying the small 10 ticket packs). We came early to the Notre Dame cathedral prepared to buy the 2 day museum pass as well and found that the counter we bought it at last time was no where to be found. Yikes! Michelle asked a guard at the front of the chapel if he knew where to buy it, all in French. :) He indicated that when you climb the tour of the Notre Dame you can either buy a pass for just that venue or you can buy the whole museum pass. Great! Except that the line for the Notre Dame was now almost 100 people deep. We had a feeling that lines were just going to be the theme of Paris for us.
Fortunately the line moved fast and we were soon on our way. The weather was also good, which was a blessing based on the rain we had the day before and the lack of any sun cover in the line. Once at the top the views were amazing and you could even see the Eiffel Tower in the distance. Unfortunately there was a bend in the walkway that would only allow one person at a time up to the next level, and they blocked us from moving to the next level until the prior group was able to leave. So we stood up there, herded together on the roof with no where to go. Behind Michelle was a mother and daughter of unknown nationality (Eastern European somewhere) who had 0 concept of personal space. The mother was right next to Michelle, with her arm and shoulder on Michelle's back. Everytime Michelle moved forward a 1/2 inch to create some separation she moved as well. Michelle had her hand on a rail and the ladies hand was next to hers, touching her on the side of the hand. Michelle's hand moved, the ladies hand moved. It was the most bizarre experience. And the daughter was wedging herself in between Tim and Michelle using the same kind of distance and pressure. Finally Tim pretended to take a picture of Michelle so that the girl would have to move back, then he rested his hand on the rail so that the mom would have to get off of her back. And the mom did the same thing to Tim the entire time we were waiting there. As we moved up to the next level the mom went down to leave and the daughter continued up. Tim said she was so close to him on the stairs that the back of his heal kicked her with every single step. And when we had to stop on the stairs for a moment he could feel hear breath on the back of his arm. At the top he basically pushed her ahead of him on the shoulders to get her away from us. We have had people with 0 personal space before, but this was the oddest encounter we have had so far!
Once back on the ground we tried to go to the archeological site across from the churches open front court but it was closed for the day. So we headed over to the Jewish monument on the corner of the Ille de la cite. It is a moving tribute to those in the concentration camps.
Feeling the need for lunch we decided to head over to the left bank for a cafe. Walking across a bridge we noticed that the guard rails were loaded down with padlocks. It turns out this is one of the bridges in Paris where people will take locks (which are symbols of their love for someone) and attach their lock to the millions of other locks on the bridge. Then they throw away the key into the river to show their devotion. And when we say millions we are not exaggerating, the bridge was loaded down with lock on top of lock on top of lock. It was surprising that the bridge could hold all of the weight.
We had lunch at a little cafe. It is amazing how good a baguette with a few slices of meat and cheese can taste. Mayonaise is a beautiful addition when it can be found, but butter is just as good. :) The Smiths had an omelette with the most delicious potatoes on the side. Here's to hoping that all of our meals are this good.
After lunch we wandered over to the Pantheon only to discover that the pendulum that was used to show that the world was round was removed as the entire Pantheon was being renovated. We could still go into the building and visit the crypts below of famous French writers, thinkers and leaders, but much of the inside main floor was cordoned off. Apparently there are some major structural issues with the building based on how rain from storms was disbursed over the roof. Years of improper drainage created bigger issues and the French government was now going to re-engineer the roof and stabilize the walls. Based on the timeline they had created, the entire process will take about 10 years. Yikes!
After the Pantheon was finished we headed over to the Sainte Chappel, which is a small chapel with more stained glass on the walls than walls. And it too was being restored. There were a number of different computers that detailed how they were removing the original glass, cleaning it, replacing the metal holding the glass pieces together and then repainting the glass with the details that were originally there if the restoration was needed. It was an amazing process to watch, but sad that the entire chapel was not available to view.
Feeling inspired about all we had done so far in the day, we decided to continue piling it on with a quick trip to the Louvre. Since we had the museum pass we reasoned that the Smiths could complete the 1 hour Rick Steves podcast before it closed for the day and if there was more they wanted to see we could come back the next day for free and finish out the tour. The podcast, however, would take them to the major sites. Since this was Tim and Michelle's 3rd visit to the museum, there were only a few things they were interested in seeing, so the plan seemed sound. Surprisingly, the Louvre was so unbelievably crowded. Thankfully with the passes we walked right to the front of the security line and slipped in. If you ever go to Paris, buy the museaum pass, you will not regret it. Even if you don't go to enough museaums to equal the cost of the pass, the ability to go to the front of the lines is such a great time saver.
The rest of the day was filled with road side crepes, climbing the Arc de Triumph and dinner at the Lebonese restaurant across the street. It was nice because their menu had a fixed price option that was a "chef's choice". The chef basically gave you what he thought were the best meals of the day. It was fabulous, we had no idea what we were eating so we were able to focus on each piece of food and how it tasted to us. Of course we forgot to ask about the items we liked so we would know for later before we ate all of the item. But we left feeling full and ready for bed. Tomorrow we begin with the Eiffel Tower, which should be an early and exciting day!
Fortunately the line moved fast and we were soon on our way. The weather was also good, which was a blessing based on the rain we had the day before and the lack of any sun cover in the line. Once at the top the views were amazing and you could even see the Eiffel Tower in the distance. Unfortunately there was a bend in the walkway that would only allow one person at a time up to the next level, and they blocked us from moving to the next level until the prior group was able to leave. So we stood up there, herded together on the roof with no where to go. Behind Michelle was a mother and daughter of unknown nationality (Eastern European somewhere) who had 0 concept of personal space. The mother was right next to Michelle, with her arm and shoulder on Michelle's back. Everytime Michelle moved forward a 1/2 inch to create some separation she moved as well. Michelle had her hand on a rail and the ladies hand was next to hers, touching her on the side of the hand. Michelle's hand moved, the ladies hand moved. It was the most bizarre experience. And the daughter was wedging herself in between Tim and Michelle using the same kind of distance and pressure. Finally Tim pretended to take a picture of Michelle so that the girl would have to move back, then he rested his hand on the rail so that the mom would have to get off of her back. And the mom did the same thing to Tim the entire time we were waiting there. As we moved up to the next level the mom went down to leave and the daughter continued up. Tim said she was so close to him on the stairs that the back of his heal kicked her with every single step. And when we had to stop on the stairs for a moment he could feel hear breath on the back of his arm. At the top he basically pushed her ahead of him on the shoulders to get her away from us. We have had people with 0 personal space before, but this was the oddest encounter we have had so far!
Once back on the ground we tried to go to the archeological site across from the churches open front court but it was closed for the day. So we headed over to the Jewish monument on the corner of the Ille de la cite. It is a moving tribute to those in the concentration camps.
Feeling the need for lunch we decided to head over to the left bank for a cafe. Walking across a bridge we noticed that the guard rails were loaded down with padlocks. It turns out this is one of the bridges in Paris where people will take locks (which are symbols of their love for someone) and attach their lock to the millions of other locks on the bridge. Then they throw away the key into the river to show their devotion. And when we say millions we are not exaggerating, the bridge was loaded down with lock on top of lock on top of lock. It was surprising that the bridge could hold all of the weight.
We had lunch at a little cafe. It is amazing how good a baguette with a few slices of meat and cheese can taste. Mayonaise is a beautiful addition when it can be found, but butter is just as good. :) The Smiths had an omelette with the most delicious potatoes on the side. Here's to hoping that all of our meals are this good.
After lunch we wandered over to the Pantheon only to discover that the pendulum that was used to show that the world was round was removed as the entire Pantheon was being renovated. We could still go into the building and visit the crypts below of famous French writers, thinkers and leaders, but much of the inside main floor was cordoned off. Apparently there are some major structural issues with the building based on how rain from storms was disbursed over the roof. Years of improper drainage created bigger issues and the French government was now going to re-engineer the roof and stabilize the walls. Based on the timeline they had created, the entire process will take about 10 years. Yikes!
After the Pantheon was finished we headed over to the Sainte Chappel, which is a small chapel with more stained glass on the walls than walls. And it too was being restored. There were a number of different computers that detailed how they were removing the original glass, cleaning it, replacing the metal holding the glass pieces together and then repainting the glass with the details that were originally there if the restoration was needed. It was an amazing process to watch, but sad that the entire chapel was not available to view.
Feeling inspired about all we had done so far in the day, we decided to continue piling it on with a quick trip to the Louvre. Since we had the museum pass we reasoned that the Smiths could complete the 1 hour Rick Steves podcast before it closed for the day and if there was more they wanted to see we could come back the next day for free and finish out the tour. The podcast, however, would take them to the major sites. Since this was Tim and Michelle's 3rd visit to the museum, there were only a few things they were interested in seeing, so the plan seemed sound. Surprisingly, the Louvre was so unbelievably crowded. Thankfully with the passes we walked right to the front of the security line and slipped in. If you ever go to Paris, buy the museaum pass, you will not regret it. Even if you don't go to enough museaums to equal the cost of the pass, the ability to go to the front of the lines is such a great time saver.
The rest of the day was filled with road side crepes, climbing the Arc de Triumph and dinner at the Lebonese restaurant across the street. It was nice because their menu had a fixed price option that was a "chef's choice". The chef basically gave you what he thought were the best meals of the day. It was fabulous, we had no idea what we were eating so we were able to focus on each piece of food and how it tasted to us. Of course we forgot to ask about the items we liked so we would know for later before we ate all of the item. But we left feeling full and ready for bed. Tomorrow we begin with the Eiffel Tower, which should be an early and exciting day!
The mean streets of Paris
7 days until we return. This morning we woke up bright and early in the morning so we could make sure to catch our train to Paris. We had a 3 hour drive, we needed to return the rental car plus find some lunch and our train. All before 11:25. We were shooting for a 7:00 departure from the house and almost made it out on time. Traffic was great and with the help from the GPS in the car we made great time. It helped to not have pouring down rain!
Once at the car rental place we dropped off the car and made the short walk to the train station. We were almost a full hour early, which is always nice. Tim and Brenda headed off to grab lunch (kebabs at one of the train station restaurants) and Greg and Michelle guarded the bags. Once our train bin was posted, we all headed that way, only to have a very small train pull up in the bin. There were far too many people for the size train that was there! Thankfully an announcement was soon made that the bin had been changed from bin 8 to bin 1 and we needed to move to the new bin. Upon arrival, there was a sufficiently large train for the group of people traveling.
The train ride was uneventful, which was great. There was a mom with her two children who would speak to them in fluent French, but when she had enough of their antics and wanted to get their attention she would say something stern to them in English. And they knew, when mom switched to English, you better pay attention. :)
Once in the train station in Paris we debarked and searched out the metro. passes in hand we looked to board a very packed train. And then something happened. Tim, Greg and Michelle were on the metro, but there was a french lady who began yelling next to us. The next thing we noticed was the French lady pushing two girls off of the metro and still yelling in French. Brenda was on the train, but something had happened between her and the two girls. And the zippers on her day pack were open.
It turns out that the three of us got on the metro and she was going to get on last. Then a girl came and stood right in front of her as if she was going to get on the metro. Brenda went to walk around her and felt a buzzing sensation on her shoulder. That was enough to distract her and apparently the two girls used the opportunity to get into her bag. The French woman saw what was happening and yelled at the top of her lungs at them. Brenda finished getting on, the girls were shoved off and we all stood there shocked. Seriously, we were in Paris all of 15 minutes. Then the French woman proceeded to lecture Brenda in french about being careful and watching out for herself. Thankfully they zipper they had almost open had a hairbrush on top and the other one was not down far enough to get into. So they got nothing, but we got a good scare. And thankfully we were all ok.
We headed over to our hotel room and decompressed there for a while. Not wanting to waste the day, we headed out for a walk around town. We saw the Seine river, walked across Pointe Neuf, walked around the Louvre museam (which is the former palace) and the Champs Elysse. At the end of the Champs is the Arc de Triumph which Brenda and Greg wanted to climb at some point. After a great dinner at a local chain steakhouse (called Hippopotomus :) we headed off to bed. We are hoping to make tomorrow a full day of site seeing so we can check off a number of our "must dos". It should be a full day of adventure!
Once at the car rental place we dropped off the car and made the short walk to the train station. We were almost a full hour early, which is always nice. Tim and Brenda headed off to grab lunch (kebabs at one of the train station restaurants) and Greg and Michelle guarded the bags. Once our train bin was posted, we all headed that way, only to have a very small train pull up in the bin. There were far too many people for the size train that was there! Thankfully an announcement was soon made that the bin had been changed from bin 8 to bin 1 and we needed to move to the new bin. Upon arrival, there was a sufficiently large train for the group of people traveling.
The train ride was uneventful, which was great. There was a mom with her two children who would speak to them in fluent French, but when she had enough of their antics and wanted to get their attention she would say something stern to them in English. And they knew, when mom switched to English, you better pay attention. :)
Once in the train station in Paris we debarked and searched out the metro. passes in hand we looked to board a very packed train. And then something happened. Tim, Greg and Michelle were on the metro, but there was a french lady who began yelling next to us. The next thing we noticed was the French lady pushing two girls off of the metro and still yelling in French. Brenda was on the train, but something had happened between her and the two girls. And the zippers on her day pack were open.
It turns out that the three of us got on the metro and she was going to get on last. Then a girl came and stood right in front of her as if she was going to get on the metro. Brenda went to walk around her and felt a buzzing sensation on her shoulder. That was enough to distract her and apparently the two girls used the opportunity to get into her bag. The French woman saw what was happening and yelled at the top of her lungs at them. Brenda finished getting on, the girls were shoved off and we all stood there shocked. Seriously, we were in Paris all of 15 minutes. Then the French woman proceeded to lecture Brenda in french about being careful and watching out for herself. Thankfully they zipper they had almost open had a hairbrush on top and the other one was not down far enough to get into. So they got nothing, but we got a good scare. And thankfully we were all ok.
We headed over to our hotel room and decompressed there for a while. Not wanting to waste the day, we headed out for a walk around town. We saw the Seine river, walked across Pointe Neuf, walked around the Louvre museam (which is the former palace) and the Champs Elysse. At the end of the Champs is the Arc de Triumph which Brenda and Greg wanted to climb at some point. After a great dinner at a local chain steakhouse (called Hippopotomus :) we headed off to bed. We are hoping to make tomorrow a full day of site seeing so we can check off a number of our "must dos". It should be a full day of adventure!
Friday, May 30, 2014
The Last Week - A Cliff Notes Version
Day ? - Well, this is officially the time in the trip where we loose track of the days. They all start running together and it becomes harder to keep up with the blog on a daily basis. But for now know that we are all well. We have spent the last week in the Bordeaux region of France in a little house we rented through VRBO. Ironically the person who owns the house lives in California, so after contacting them online with some initial questions about the rental Tim was able to contact the owner directly via phone. About 2 hours later we had a rental for this week. Once we made the confirmation we read articles about some rentals in foreign countries being a scam and people showing up having rented a house that did not exist. So being able to call someone in the states was a bit of a relief, although we suppose it could still have been a scam.
Our Bordeaux adventure started with a quick plane flight from Milan, Italy to Bordeaux France. We said goodbye to Italian and delicious cappuccinos and prepared ourselves for cafe au lait and crepes. The flight went well and we were able to pick up our rental car with only minor hiccups. Brenda and Greg both had international drivers licenses so that they could switch off the driving duties as needed. Brenda started as the navigator with Greg behind the wheel. Just getting out of airports sometimes required a PhD to do it right, so after one wrong turn in the parking lot we were off. It had started raining as we arrived, so Michelle was a little nervous about the car ride. It is hard enough to know where you are going when it is not raining, add in the rain, the foreign city, the stick shift (which Greg had not driven in a while) and it could have been a recipe for disaster. Plus, our house was 3.5 hours outside of Bordeaux. The GPS system in the car was a life saver. Brenda would double check the car's suggested directions as we went and Greg was an excellent driver. Thankfully, once outside of the city we were able to navigate easily without impatient drivers around us. And during the entire week we were only honked at once and yelled at once. Success!
When we arrived at the house we were instructed to meet the neighbors, Rinnie and Ton who were Dutch transplants to the area and the caretakers for the house. They were a sweet couple who invited us into their home for a drink. Their home was the old parish for the church next door. They had renovated much of it during their time there and were happy to give us the tour. The house was originally built in the 1600's and had various parts added on over the years. The stone steps up to the second floor had deep wear marks where many feet had walked up before. When they bought the house they said it was a mess. It certainly isn't a mess now! They quickly became friends over a glass of wine and had some great suggestions for wine tasting and restaurants in the region.
After drinks Ton took us over to the house. It was a charming property, perfectly suited to our needs. The main house had a small kitchen and dining room attached to a larger living room. There were also a set of stairs that lead up to the second floor where there was a large bedroom, full bath and toilette. There was no door to the upper floor though, which was not an issue for us. There was a porch off of the dining room that offered a wonderful view of the valley and plenty of chairs to use for the 4 of us. Outside there is also a separate room from the house called the chambres des amis (bedroom for the friends) that had its own shower and toilette. Michelle and Tim were in the main house and Brenda and Greg were outside. One of the other amenities was the fast wireless internet and the phone which made free international calls. The latter were especially nice for Tim and Michelle who enjoyed many good FaceTime calls with Alexander.
The week was spent with various drives through the region and seeing the local attractions. We spent one whole day doing nothing but reading (the house had a great library with lots of English books) watching movies on our ipads, napping and eating good food we had purchased from the local grocery store and bakery. It was the perfect lazy day.
Another day we took a 28km canoe/kayak ride down the Dordogne river. From the river you could hop out and explore some of the local villages and see 5 great castles. It was a fun and exhausting day.
Another day was for wine tasting. Ton and Rinnie had a few recommendations in the area which were excellent. If anyone ever sees wine from the Clos des Verdots label or Montballziac type wine buy it for Michelle. She will pay you back. It was delicious. We were able to make it to 4 wineries, which was great since we didn't leave until around 1 in the afternoon. The French still often do close up shop around lunchtime, so it is hard to find places that are open between 1-3. And since we were in such small towns, they often closed by 5 or 6. The kitchens of two of the dinner recommendations we tried were closed when we came around 8pm. And the grocery store also closes from 1-2:30. So hitting things when they were open was always a bit of a challenge.
One whole day was just spent driving, which was so much fun. We are sure that Michelle's mom is just dying laughing at that since their family used to go on "drives" all of the time. The parents thought it was the best thing in the world. The kids thought it was SO boring. My how the tables have turned. What made it to enjoyable were all of the hidden surprises around every corner. In this area of France there are a lot of random roads that weave you in and out of the various small towns. None of the roads are named, they are only numbered, and there are signs for the towns that are coming up. But you could take 15 different roads to get to a specific little town. Some of the roads look like the driveway to a house, but around the curve you see that it skirts by the house and continues on. Again, love the GPS, have no idea how people lived without it. Add to the roads all of the houses (new, old, old refurbished, old falling down, houses for sale) and you have a veritable candyland for the house lover. Brenda joked about buying something. At least I think she was joking. I did see her looking at places online . . .
One of our final days was spent touring two castles. The first was famous because within the last hundred years it was Josephine Bakers former residence. Before that it was the second castle for a number of former French kings and queens. Josephine Baker was an American born entertainer who came over to France and became a huge superstar. She fell in love with the castle she bought when a friend of hers (the former owner) described the residence. When he decided to sell it she bought it, sight unseen. She and her 3rd husband adopted 12 children from all over the world (eat your heart out Angelina Jolie) and they all lived at the house. Towards the end of her life she ran into money troubles, lost the house and was taken in by Brigitte Bardot. The current owners turned it into a museum complete with 15-20 of her original stage costumes. It was quite the collection!
The second castle was one that was not taken care of, so many of the walls had fallen in, there was no furniture or stories of life in the castle. This castles main purpose at the time it was built was for defense, and you could see that in its placement on a high hill, the high walls and the small spaces for archers to shoot arrows at any who would attack it from below. On one side was a sheer cliff with the Dordogne river below. In the various rooms of the castle they presented the tools of war and described how it was made and used. Arrows, hatchets, swords, cleavers, trebuchetts, battering rams, you name something used in war it was likely there. It was an interesting experience to say the least.
On our last day we had drinks again at Ton and Rinnie's house. It was a great place to visit and rest for a time. We would definitely come back to this area if we were looking for rest, relaxation and a more intimate time with the French people and culture than a big city can bring. Our next stop is Paris, which will be a very different experience than we have had. Next is Paris, last is Brussels and then we are headed home. Looking forward to our last week, it seems like it has gone too fast!
Our Bordeaux adventure started with a quick plane flight from Milan, Italy to Bordeaux France. We said goodbye to Italian and delicious cappuccinos and prepared ourselves for cafe au lait and crepes. The flight went well and we were able to pick up our rental car with only minor hiccups. Brenda and Greg both had international drivers licenses so that they could switch off the driving duties as needed. Brenda started as the navigator with Greg behind the wheel. Just getting out of airports sometimes required a PhD to do it right, so after one wrong turn in the parking lot we were off. It had started raining as we arrived, so Michelle was a little nervous about the car ride. It is hard enough to know where you are going when it is not raining, add in the rain, the foreign city, the stick shift (which Greg had not driven in a while) and it could have been a recipe for disaster. Plus, our house was 3.5 hours outside of Bordeaux. The GPS system in the car was a life saver. Brenda would double check the car's suggested directions as we went and Greg was an excellent driver. Thankfully, once outside of the city we were able to navigate easily without impatient drivers around us. And during the entire week we were only honked at once and yelled at once. Success!
When we arrived at the house we were instructed to meet the neighbors, Rinnie and Ton who were Dutch transplants to the area and the caretakers for the house. They were a sweet couple who invited us into their home for a drink. Their home was the old parish for the church next door. They had renovated much of it during their time there and were happy to give us the tour. The house was originally built in the 1600's and had various parts added on over the years. The stone steps up to the second floor had deep wear marks where many feet had walked up before. When they bought the house they said it was a mess. It certainly isn't a mess now! They quickly became friends over a glass of wine and had some great suggestions for wine tasting and restaurants in the region.
After drinks Ton took us over to the house. It was a charming property, perfectly suited to our needs. The main house had a small kitchen and dining room attached to a larger living room. There were also a set of stairs that lead up to the second floor where there was a large bedroom, full bath and toilette. There was no door to the upper floor though, which was not an issue for us. There was a porch off of the dining room that offered a wonderful view of the valley and plenty of chairs to use for the 4 of us. Outside there is also a separate room from the house called the chambres des amis (bedroom for the friends) that had its own shower and toilette. Michelle and Tim were in the main house and Brenda and Greg were outside. One of the other amenities was the fast wireless internet and the phone which made free international calls. The latter were especially nice for Tim and Michelle who enjoyed many good FaceTime calls with Alexander.
The week was spent with various drives through the region and seeing the local attractions. We spent one whole day doing nothing but reading (the house had a great library with lots of English books) watching movies on our ipads, napping and eating good food we had purchased from the local grocery store and bakery. It was the perfect lazy day.
Another day we took a 28km canoe/kayak ride down the Dordogne river. From the river you could hop out and explore some of the local villages and see 5 great castles. It was a fun and exhausting day.
Another day was for wine tasting. Ton and Rinnie had a few recommendations in the area which were excellent. If anyone ever sees wine from the Clos des Verdots label or Montballziac type wine buy it for Michelle. She will pay you back. It was delicious. We were able to make it to 4 wineries, which was great since we didn't leave until around 1 in the afternoon. The French still often do close up shop around lunchtime, so it is hard to find places that are open between 1-3. And since we were in such small towns, they often closed by 5 or 6. The kitchens of two of the dinner recommendations we tried were closed when we came around 8pm. And the grocery store also closes from 1-2:30. So hitting things when they were open was always a bit of a challenge.
One whole day was just spent driving, which was so much fun. We are sure that Michelle's mom is just dying laughing at that since their family used to go on "drives" all of the time. The parents thought it was the best thing in the world. The kids thought it was SO boring. My how the tables have turned. What made it to enjoyable were all of the hidden surprises around every corner. In this area of France there are a lot of random roads that weave you in and out of the various small towns. None of the roads are named, they are only numbered, and there are signs for the towns that are coming up. But you could take 15 different roads to get to a specific little town. Some of the roads look like the driveway to a house, but around the curve you see that it skirts by the house and continues on. Again, love the GPS, have no idea how people lived without it. Add to the roads all of the houses (new, old, old refurbished, old falling down, houses for sale) and you have a veritable candyland for the house lover. Brenda joked about buying something. At least I think she was joking. I did see her looking at places online . . .
One of our final days was spent touring two castles. The first was famous because within the last hundred years it was Josephine Bakers former residence. Before that it was the second castle for a number of former French kings and queens. Josephine Baker was an American born entertainer who came over to France and became a huge superstar. She fell in love with the castle she bought when a friend of hers (the former owner) described the residence. When he decided to sell it she bought it, sight unseen. She and her 3rd husband adopted 12 children from all over the world (eat your heart out Angelina Jolie) and they all lived at the house. Towards the end of her life she ran into money troubles, lost the house and was taken in by Brigitte Bardot. The current owners turned it into a museum complete with 15-20 of her original stage costumes. It was quite the collection!
The second castle was one that was not taken care of, so many of the walls had fallen in, there was no furniture or stories of life in the castle. This castles main purpose at the time it was built was for defense, and you could see that in its placement on a high hill, the high walls and the small spaces for archers to shoot arrows at any who would attack it from below. On one side was a sheer cliff with the Dordogne river below. In the various rooms of the castle they presented the tools of war and described how it was made and used. Arrows, hatchets, swords, cleavers, trebuchetts, battering rams, you name something used in war it was likely there. It was an interesting experience to say the least.
On our last day we had drinks again at Ton and Rinnie's house. It was a great place to visit and rest for a time. We would definitely come back to this area if we were looking for rest, relaxation and a more intimate time with the French people and culture than a big city can bring. Our next stop is Paris, which will be a very different experience than we have had. Next is Paris, last is Brussels and then we are headed home. Looking forward to our last week, it seems like it has gone too fast!
One day more in Como (aka Milan becomes a day trip)
Today was the day we were supposed to go to Milan for one day and night, then catch a flight to Bordeaux France the following afternoon. But Brenda and Greg were so in love with the Lake Como region that we decided to stay one extra day. But since there was a science museam in Milan that Greg and Brenda also wanted to see we opted to make Milan a day trip instead. And it all worked out, kind of. . .
The first hurdle was where we would stay the extra night. We tried to book another room at the hotel we were at, but they were not sure if they would have two doubles available. They had one, but another was booked by a couple who gave a bad credit card number to confirm their room. According to Italian law, the hotel owner has to notify the couple that they have until 9am the following day to supply a valid credit card to keep the room. So we decided to roll the dice and wait until 9am.
The only issue was that the train to Milan that we wanted left at 8:30am. Since Tim and Michelle really don't like Milan (it is our least favorite city of everywhere we have traveled) Tim opted to stay and figure out the room situation, and Michelle went with Greg and Brenda to Milan. But finding Tim once we got back (which hotel, a new or the old?) and getting our bags all in one place was still a bit of a mystery. We had faith though that it would all work out.
Brenda, Greg and Michelle easily made the train into Milan. The train was pretty full though with other commuters making their way into the city. Once on the ground again they found a little cafe to enjoy a cup of cappuccino and a sweet treat before the science museaum opened. This museaum is actually pretty cool, housing a history of a number of different technological inventions. Once inside the museam a lovely docent proceeded to tell us all of the areas of the museaum we should see and estimated it would take 2 hours total to work through the exhibits. We thought this sounded great as we had about 3 hours before we needed to head back to catch the right train home in time to meet Tim. About an hour later we had only walked through one small part of the museaum. We had not even started on the small real life models of some of Michaelangelo's most famous inventions. There was no way we could make our way through the rest of the museaum in 1 hour, let alone the 2 hours we had remaining. So we had to prioritize and probably only covered about 1/3 of all of the offerings.
Navigating back to the metro we made our way easily back to the train station and onto the right train. Once back in Como we headed over to our old hotel, figuring that we would either see Tim along the way or we could see if our bags were still at the old hotel. If he had found a new one he may have also moved our things. We could also still connect to the internet at the old hotel and see if he had messaged us. We did not see him along the way, but we did find him sitting at the cafe in front of the old hotel when we walked up. We had a new space for the night, it was just down the road. We grabbed our bags and made the trek to our new home.
It turns out that Tim had quite a day as well. In between figuring out the hotel issue, he also walked around the lake quite a way and managed to talk his way into a beautiful house along the water that was housing a museaum exhibit. He took pictures of the beautiful chandelier and some of the grounds before making his way back to our old hotel. It was good for him to have a bit of time to explore the area.
Our new space was comfortable and close to the downtown area. Hungry, we asked the person at the front desk for recommendations on places to eat. She asked if we wanted traditional Italian or modern Italian. We went with the traditional recommendation and were very pleased. There were no menus in this restaurant, only the waitress letting you know what the chef was cooking that evening. So there were 3-4 starters, 4-5 main plates and 4 different desserts. That was all. And their food changes every day. We were amazed, so different than how we do things in the states. We opted for a cheese filled crepe to start (Oh. My. Goodness. it was good). Michelle had the ravioli and Tim had some meat on a stick. It was all so delicious that we decided to go for dessert as well. There was a blueberry tart, a strawberry mousse and an apple pie. All of them were delicious.
Tomorrow we are headed out to catch a train to the Bordeaux region of France where we will spend a week relaxing at a house we rented through VRBO. The owner actually lives in California ironically enough. We are looking forward to renting a car so we can jet around wherever we want and seeing some more rural areas then we are used to. And sleeping in. :) Au demain!
The first hurdle was where we would stay the extra night. We tried to book another room at the hotel we were at, but they were not sure if they would have two doubles available. They had one, but another was booked by a couple who gave a bad credit card number to confirm their room. According to Italian law, the hotel owner has to notify the couple that they have until 9am the following day to supply a valid credit card to keep the room. So we decided to roll the dice and wait until 9am.
The only issue was that the train to Milan that we wanted left at 8:30am. Since Tim and Michelle really don't like Milan (it is our least favorite city of everywhere we have traveled) Tim opted to stay and figure out the room situation, and Michelle went with Greg and Brenda to Milan. But finding Tim once we got back (which hotel, a new or the old?) and getting our bags all in one place was still a bit of a mystery. We had faith though that it would all work out.
Brenda, Greg and Michelle easily made the train into Milan. The train was pretty full though with other commuters making their way into the city. Once on the ground again they found a little cafe to enjoy a cup of cappuccino and a sweet treat before the science museaum opened. This museaum is actually pretty cool, housing a history of a number of different technological inventions. Once inside the museam a lovely docent proceeded to tell us all of the areas of the museaum we should see and estimated it would take 2 hours total to work through the exhibits. We thought this sounded great as we had about 3 hours before we needed to head back to catch the right train home in time to meet Tim. About an hour later we had only walked through one small part of the museaum. We had not even started on the small real life models of some of Michaelangelo's most famous inventions. There was no way we could make our way through the rest of the museaum in 1 hour, let alone the 2 hours we had remaining. So we had to prioritize and probably only covered about 1/3 of all of the offerings.
Navigating back to the metro we made our way easily back to the train station and onto the right train. Once back in Como we headed over to our old hotel, figuring that we would either see Tim along the way or we could see if our bags were still at the old hotel. If he had found a new one he may have also moved our things. We could also still connect to the internet at the old hotel and see if he had messaged us. We did not see him along the way, but we did find him sitting at the cafe in front of the old hotel when we walked up. We had a new space for the night, it was just down the road. We grabbed our bags and made the trek to our new home.
It turns out that Tim had quite a day as well. In between figuring out the hotel issue, he also walked around the lake quite a way and managed to talk his way into a beautiful house along the water that was housing a museaum exhibit. He took pictures of the beautiful chandelier and some of the grounds before making his way back to our old hotel. It was good for him to have a bit of time to explore the area.
Our new space was comfortable and close to the downtown area. Hungry, we asked the person at the front desk for recommendations on places to eat. She asked if we wanted traditional Italian or modern Italian. We went with the traditional recommendation and were very pleased. There were no menus in this restaurant, only the waitress letting you know what the chef was cooking that evening. So there were 3-4 starters, 4-5 main plates and 4 different desserts. That was all. And their food changes every day. We were amazed, so different than how we do things in the states. We opted for a cheese filled crepe to start (Oh. My. Goodness. it was good). Michelle had the ravioli and Tim had some meat on a stick. It was all so delicious that we decided to go for dessert as well. There was a blueberry tart, a strawberry mousse and an apple pie. All of them were delicious.
Tomorrow we are headed out to catch a train to the Bordeaux region of France where we will spend a week relaxing at a house we rented through VRBO. The owner actually lives in California ironically enough. We are looking forward to renting a car so we can jet around wherever we want and seeing some more rural areas then we are used to. And sleeping in. :) Au demain!
Friday, May 23, 2014
Our life on the boat and the bus in Como
On day 2 of Como we weere successful in our quest to get out of the room at a decent hour. We stopped off at a local cafe to fuel up for the morning. Tim and Michelle had their usual cappuccino and sweet treat. Greg ordered a small pizza and Brenda had a cappuccino and a sweet treat as well. At the boat dock we bought tickets for the slow boat that would take 2 hours to get to Bellagio. The nice part of the slow boat is that it makes more stops to the small villages and you can really see the lake houses from the boat. Michelle is facinated by these little houses that are built so close to the shore and have the boat equivalent of a garage on the shorline. So you can open your boat door and pull right in underneath the house. We assume there are steps up to the house from inside the slip. All of the houses and the slips have their own character, there are no track homes, which makes it even more fun.
On th boat Brenda and Greg wanted to sit outside. Michelle and Tim opted to stay inside. Being outside with the wind constantly in your face is a bit draining, and Michelle already felt wind beaten enough after her experience on the boats in Venice. To be inside with the same beautiful views was good enough for her. Once inside Tim and Michelle met two women from Ohio. They were traveling minimally (3 shirts, 3 pairs of pants, wash your clothes at the end of each day in the sink) and were enjoying their trip for the most part. They were having the most trouble with figuring out the train system, so Tim tried to give them a heads up on how to navigate it. It was fun to feel like we could make someone elses trip a little easier.
Once at Bellagio we got off of the boat. Bellagio is a cute small town where the streets are a bit like a checkerboard but it is all uphill. So you have some streets that are flat, but they intersect with streets that are basically stairs going up, up, up. There is some shopping to be had, but most of it is too expensive for our tastes (600 euro leather shoes anyone?). Brenda and Greg did buy a cool wine bottle opener made of olive wood and we did have a nice lunch at one of the restaurants overlooking one of the steep streets.
We decided that instead of taking the slow boat back to Como we would opt for the bus. This is something we did with Tim's parents the last time we were in the city. For roughly $4 per person you can go on the wildest bus ride of your life. Drop off cliffs, quick corners, head on traffic and a bus driver who is not afraid of it all makes for a better ride than anything you can find at Disneyland. :) And if you can get on the right side of the bus when you sit down you can see some amazing feats of engineering as you try to figure out how the Italians were able to build that house on that cliff without it all falling into the lake. This time Tim and Michelle were on the left side, Brenda and Greg were on the right. Which was a good thing, because the view would have been wasted on Tim and Michelle since they shortly fell asleep on the bus. They woke up back in town when Brenda said "Hey guys, isn't this our stop?". "Yes!" we jumped up saying, a bit to loudly and with too much panic in our voices for fear of missing the stop. Only to discover that about half the bus was also getting off, and there was no need to rush.
Back in town we opted to go to the same restaurant downstairs from our hotel again. Tim had a different pizza this time, Michelle had the same salad but with slightly different toppings. It is rare to find a big salad in Europe, so she was not going to miss out on the second opportunity. Once our bellys were full we went back to the room. The original plan for the next day was to pack up and go to Milan overnight so that we could go to the Science museam there. The Milan Science museam is actually a really cool one with replicas of Michealangelo's inventions so that you can see what they would have looked like and how they worked. It also has other exhibits on science and the history of various technologies (phones, electricity, musical instruments, energy, trains, planes, boats etc.). Since Tim and Michelle are not fond of Milan, and Brenda and Greg really liked Como, and the museam was the only real reason we were going to Milan we decided to make it a day trip from Como instead. So Tim would stay in Como and work to find us another place to stay (since our current hotel could not accommodate us for one more night) and Greg, Brenda and Michelle would go to Milan to see the museaum. When Tim was able to find logging then he would email with its location and we would head over that way. Splitting up is always an adventure, so we will see how it goes!
A slow meandering to Como
Well we are happy to report after 3 days of no posts we are alive and well. Sorry for the delay in updating the blog. We have hit the mid point of our trip, which means decompression time. In every trip we have been on there is usually a small town we end up in for the midpoint. In that city the main goal is to do very little except rest and recharge. Como was that city for us on this trip. It was also helpful that Como is on a lake (Lake Como) and the Smiths are in love with all things boat and water. :)
The train from Venice to Milan, then Milan to Como was uneventful. For those of you who know Michelle this is a good thing. We made all of our connections with enough time and went in the right direction on each train. We are taking more regional trains this time, which is fine, but not nearly as luxurious as the high speed rails. Ah the beauty of the Eurorail pass. Small added fees for supreme luxury, but not a practical expense for our trip this year.
Como is another city that Tim and Michelle have been to before, once to stay overnight in a little B and B on the hill portion of the city and once as a day trip with Tim's parents. It makes it a little easier to navigate and find hotel rooms faster since our packs are getting a little heavier with each city. Packing all of your things on your back sounds like a great idea to avoid the problem of the rolly suitcases on the cobblestones but it is also hard once you decide to buy souvenirs and bottles of wine. And since we tend to like glass souvenirs, our packs can get really heavy really fast. We are getting a little smarter though, we are at least waiting to buy most of our heavy things towards the end of the trip. We both have carriers in our back pack for two bottles of wine, which can add some considerable weight, so the longer we wait to buy them the better.
In Como we rented a 2 bedroom one bath apartment with a small kitchen. When we arrived we were told we couldn't use the kitchen but we could use the refrigerator, which was great. In fact, the "kitchen" wasn't really a kitchen at all. It was a sink and a fridge. No matter, it was clean and bright a
and one of the rooms had a view of the lake. The irony is, on our city guide (a 2-3 page document we create to highlight recommendations from friends and things to do) this hotel was recommended as a place to stay. And we enjoyed it immensely.
After dropping our bags in the room we walked around the town. Of course, we had to try the gelato and thee seemed to be quite a number of places to choose from. Our hotel is petty near the tourist center, so there are a plethora of eateries all willing to overcharge tourists who don't go too far off of the beaten path. After our gelato fill at a hole in the wall place (delicious as always) we headed over to a brew pub we saw while walking into town. We ordered a few of the local brews and a few minutes later one of the servers walks over with 3 plates of food. It turns out, when you are just drinking in Italy the custom is for the house to provide you with some finger foods (similar to the pretzels or peanuts in American bars) to eat free of charge. But these were not your typical finger foods. These were mini sandwiches, pickle relish spears and a small bowl full of chips. When in Rome, eat their finger foods we said! It was a good way to start our time in Como.
We walked around the town a bit more looking for a grochery store. Unfortunately it was Sunday, and all of the grochery stores were closed for the day. So we switched our goal to finding a restaurant for dinner. We soon decided it was easier to simply go downstairs and eat at the bar then trying to find the ideal meal to eat. They seemed to be busy and had two or three different seating areas so we thought we would give them a go. It turned out the food prices were reasonable, the service was great and the portion sizes were huge. Michelle ordered a salad with 7 ingredients of her choice and Tim ordered a large pizza. Greg ordered a bruschetta like meal with tuna on it and Brenda had a monster sized calzone. We went back to the room refreshed and sleepy. We decided that the next day would be a sleep in day (seeing a trend?!) and then we would hit the lake. Hopefully we are able to get up and moving!
The train from Venice to Milan, then Milan to Como was uneventful. For those of you who know Michelle this is a good thing. We made all of our connections with enough time and went in the right direction on each train. We are taking more regional trains this time, which is fine, but not nearly as luxurious as the high speed rails. Ah the beauty of the Eurorail pass. Small added fees for supreme luxury, but not a practical expense for our trip this year.
Como is another city that Tim and Michelle have been to before, once to stay overnight in a little B and B on the hill portion of the city and once as a day trip with Tim's parents. It makes it a little easier to navigate and find hotel rooms faster since our packs are getting a little heavier with each city. Packing all of your things on your back sounds like a great idea to avoid the problem of the rolly suitcases on the cobblestones but it is also hard once you decide to buy souvenirs and bottles of wine. And since we tend to like glass souvenirs, our packs can get really heavy really fast. We are getting a little smarter though, we are at least waiting to buy most of our heavy things towards the end of the trip. We both have carriers in our back pack for two bottles of wine, which can add some considerable weight, so the longer we wait to buy them the better.
In Como we rented a 2 bedroom one bath apartment with a small kitchen. When we arrived we were told we couldn't use the kitchen but we could use the refrigerator, which was great. In fact, the "kitchen" wasn't really a kitchen at all. It was a sink and a fridge. No matter, it was clean and bright a
and one of the rooms had a view of the lake. The irony is, on our city guide (a 2-3 page document we create to highlight recommendations from friends and things to do) this hotel was recommended as a place to stay. And we enjoyed it immensely.
After dropping our bags in the room we walked around the town. Of course, we had to try the gelato and thee seemed to be quite a number of places to choose from. Our hotel is petty near the tourist center, so there are a plethora of eateries all willing to overcharge tourists who don't go too far off of the beaten path. After our gelato fill at a hole in the wall place (delicious as always) we headed over to a brew pub we saw while walking into town. We ordered a few of the local brews and a few minutes later one of the servers walks over with 3 plates of food. It turns out, when you are just drinking in Italy the custom is for the house to provide you with some finger foods (similar to the pretzels or peanuts in American bars) to eat free of charge. But these were not your typical finger foods. These were mini sandwiches, pickle relish spears and a small bowl full of chips. When in Rome, eat their finger foods we said! It was a good way to start our time in Como.
We walked around the town a bit more looking for a grochery store. Unfortunately it was Sunday, and all of the grochery stores were closed for the day. So we switched our goal to finding a restaurant for dinner. We soon decided it was easier to simply go downstairs and eat at the bar then trying to find the ideal meal to eat. They seemed to be busy and had two or three different seating areas so we thought we would give them a go. It turned out the food prices were reasonable, the service was great and the portion sizes were huge. Michelle ordered a salad with 7 ingredients of her choice and Tim ordered a large pizza. Greg ordered a bruschetta like meal with tuna on it and Brenda had a monster sized calzone. We went back to the room refreshed and sleepy. We decided that the next day would be a sleep in day (seeing a trend?!) and then we would hit the lake. Hopefully we are able to get up and moving!
Sunday, May 18, 2014
Getting our fill of boats in Venice
Day 8 - We decided to sleep in today which was such a decadent luxury compared to the previous days on our trip. By 8:00am we were down in the hotel lobby enjoying the closest thing that we have had to an American breakfast so far. Most Italians do small breakfasts, cappuccinos or coffee plus a bread, meat or cheese. But at this hotel, where breakfast is included, we had a full spread with eggs, bacon, ham, two kinds of cheeses, two kinds of cereals, an assortment of fruits and two different kinds of fruit juices. It was delicious to have some eggs again.
After breakfast we were off on the grand canal riding one of the water busses to the Plaza San Marco. We passed by the Rialto bridge on our way. The ironic thing is, Tim and I have never actually been on the Rialto bridge in our 3 trips to Venice. We have seen it every time, but we have never actually walked it. I guess that means we will be coming back for a 4th trip!
In San Marco we walked around and listen to the Rick Steves audio guide on the history of the square and walked past the bridge of sighs. We took the water bus over to the island of San Giorgio as well. On this island the church has a bell tower (yes, yes I know, another tower!) with an elevator (yippee!) up to the top. From there you have a great view of the city. From the San Giorgio tower you are outside of the city entirely and can view the entire city with the surrounding islands.
From there we caught another water taxi going the wrong direction back to San Marcos. So instead of it being one stop back to the mainland it was a 45 minute cruise around the island and back to San Marcos. We figured out our mistake pretty quickly but opted to stay on to see more of the city from the water and because we had the time. Once back in San Marcos we found a restaurant from the Rick Steves guidebook that looked promising. We considered it a big miss. The food was ok, but the waiter was a little rude and he also brought Michelle the wrong meal. By the time the right one came everyone else was finished eating. She ate as fast as she could but the experience was not her favorite. Tim assures her that she is reading too much into it and, knowing her, she probably is. And yes, it is Michelle typing this blog post. :)
From lunch we jumped on a direct water bus to the island of Murano where we had a demonstration at a glass blowing factory and Brenda and Greg bought a few pieces of Murano glass. Murano glass can be quite elaborate and is very beautiful. Many of the chandeliers in Venice are made of Murano glass. In fact, if you are ever in Venice take a water bus down the Grand Canal at night. Many of the homes will have their lights on so you can peek in the windows as you pass by at all of the beautiful chandeliers.
It was nice to catch two direct trains to Murano. A few years ago when we were here if you wanted to go to Murano you needed to allow for at least 45 minutes to and 45 minutes back because the busses had so many stops to make along the way. I think the trips there and back were 45 minutes total.
Once back in the room we had an hour or so to relax before we caught a train to Padova. Tim plays a computer game online and one of the players in his group (Niccola) lives in Padova. They invited us to dinner while we were in Venice. The final dinner party was the Smiths and the Hardleys, Niccola, his wife (Ariella) and two children (ages 8 and 5) and Niccola's aunt and uncle. His aunt and uncle spoke very little English but were lively members of the conversation. It is wonderful how much simple hand gestures can communicate. And there are a number of French (Michelle studied) and Spanish (Tim studied) words that are similar in Italian. Niccola and his wife spoke English well and Google translate was a great tool to have when there was an English or Italian word that was not understood. We take great comfort in knowing that they know understand the word "Weird".
Dinner was in multiple courses, starting with appetizers of ham, polenta with a fish salad (like a tuna salad) on top, blood oranges, sardines, bruschetta and italian style pretzels. The tomatoes they use in their bruschetta are amazing. Then we moved to a bean soup which was quite good. Niccola's daughter was not a fan of it, and it was funny to see her express her displeasure exactly like an American child would. . Our main was egg noodles with peas. Then we had cheeses with an assortment of jellies and honey. I would never have thought to put jelly on my cheese, but it was delicious. And some of the jellies were made with fruits found in their mountain home. And for dessert we had ice cream with locally sourced fruits. There was so much food we were all stuffed at the end. To cap off the night, there was coffee and grappa for those who wanted it. By the time we were done it was midnight and Niccola drove us back to Venice.
Along the way he showed us an old river in the region that was used by the Venetians. Apparently, while living in Venice the people there wanted a home outside of town so that they could have a bigger home and more land with grass and trees. This river was connected to Venice, so it became the main place that they bought and built. And oh did they build. Even in the dark we saw some of the largest homes we have ever seen, even in Montecito where Michelle works. It was hard to imagine a single family would need such a large house, but they certainly built them.
Once in Venice we all decided to sleep in a bit more in the morning before we headed to Lake Como. It is amazing what an extra 30 minutes to an hour of sleep can do for you. Hopefully we can sleep a bit more on the train as well. Ciao for now!
We rest, we hike, we train
day 7 - Today started off slow (thank goodness) with all of us sleeping in. Michelle and Tim were awoken around 8 by all of the construction at a nearby residence. Greg and Brenda had a chance to sleep in a little bit. The best thing about our apartment was the outdoor balcony, so Tim and Michelle had a chance to enjoy the view. Overnight someone had decided the beach was a good place to camp, as there as a red tent on the beach.That might have been enjoyable, with the crashing waves to lull you to sleep. If it wasn't for the mosquitos. Michelle was hoping they were just a Florence thing, as there were a number of them in their apartment there that came at her in her sleep. But alas, they have found their way to Vernazza as well. Thankfully there are only 2-3 new bites and none are near where her backpack will sit.
After a breakfast of pizza (hey, don't judge), yogurt milk and a chocolate cake looking pastry (again, don't judge) we were off on the last hike of the original lower hikes through the Cinque Terre. This one starts with a straight up portion, then once you crest over the hill there are small ups and downs along the way. We are still amazed at the number of older individuals (70+ years old) and young babies on the trail. Hiking the Cinque Terre would not be something we would want to do with a 4 month old. It is hard enough as it is! But we admire those who are advanced in age who did it smiling all the way, and those with wee ones who are exposing their kids to adventure early in life.
After 2 hours of hiking we found ourselves in the final city, Monterosso al Mare. The ocean breezes felt pretty good, and the gelato we ate tasted even sweeter after the long hike. When you buy your ticket for the Cinque Terre (yes, you have to pay to hike the lower one AND the price has not been reduced even though 3/4 of the trails are unavailable) you also get free wifi access for 24 hours. After a few minutes we were able to connect and see the latest adventures of Alexander with his cousins. Yesterday he got a haircut from Tim's sister Susanne and he looks so handsome. He also has been enjoying their pool, waking his cousins up at 6 am and playing with their bubble maker. We miss him like crazy.
Ok, back to the trip. After grabbing a take and go lunch for the train we boarded the first of 4 trains we need to take to get to Venice. Hopefully none of them are delayed. Once we arrive in Venice, which will be late in the evening, we will likely grab some dinner for back in the room and catch an early nights sleep. With all of the hiking and training the last few days we are all feeling the need to rest and relax. The rest of our trip should be a little more relaxed with some movement between cities but less on the "we must do this" list. Ciao for now!
Update - after i wrote the above description of our evening we indeed had a train that was late. Because of this, our connecting train waited for 3 minutes for everyone from our train to run to the connecting train. Imagine almost an entire train running down the platform, down stairs, through a tunnel, up stairs and dashing for the next train. We were in the very last car and had the longest to run. Thankfully Tim took the stairs two at a time and yelled to the conductor to hold the train as we made our way up the stairs. As soon as we were on the doors closed and the train left. Talk about a close call!
Once we made it into Florence we checked the departure board and saw that there was a train leaving for Venice in 16 minutes. That gave us only 16 minutes to collect and pay for our baggage at left luggage, then buy the ticket then get on board the train. Not a lot of time at all. We managed the first 2 in 10 minutes, then looked up the tickets but could not find the train we wanted on the options. We rushed over to one of the conductors who sold us tickets right there. Again, the train was held while the credit card was processed and we were on our way. Michelle hates to rush for trains, so this was not her favorite experience, but it all worked out well in the end. Once in Venice (around 8pm) we checked into our hotel (which was beautiful!) and had dinner at a little restaurant recommended by the man at the front desk. The food was delicious. Michelle had spaghetti with bolognaise sauce and spinach with butter and Tim had a veal steak and gnocchi. Both were amazing and tasted even better after the long day we had finished.
Now we will finish out the day. Ciao!
Friday, May 16, 2014
Stairs, stairs and more stairs
Day 6 - One small note to any readers - when we type this blog off line for some reason it will not keep the original spacing when it posts. Apologies that it appears as one big block of text. We wish there was something we could do to fix it. Spell check also appears to also work intermittently, hopefully the errors have not been too frequent.
Today turned out to be an eventful day in more ways that one. The plan was to go to the train station in Florence, drop our bags in left luggage, then take a train with one days necessities in our day packs to Pisa to see the leaning tower. Then we would catch a train to Riomaggiore, the southern most town on the Cinque Terre. The Cinque Terre is a grouping of 5 costal towns all separated by trails that were used long ago as their only method of connection between the towns. People in the town are farmers, so the hills are terraced almost all the way up. The 4 lower hikes are open to the public and, for a fee, you can hike them. If you did it all in 1 day it would be about 6 hours of hiking at a moderate pace with lots of ups and downs. There are also a number of upper hiking trails that are very difficult, literally hiking straight up a hill then some flat across the ridge then straight down the hill to the next town. One other thing to note was that in 2011 there was a severe rain storm that caused a lot of flooding and damage throughout the cities. Mud 6 feet deep covered most of the streets and entered houses and businesses. In reading the Cinque Terre website they were encouraging tourists to come back to the area as they had sufficiently rebuilt. So we were excited to get back to see the towns. The last time Tim and Michelle had been in the area in 2009 they completed the lower hikes but split it into two days. Now we were looking to repeat the same plan today, staying overnight in Vernazza, the 4th of the 5 towns. Then tomorrow the plan is to hike to the last town and make our way to Venice. As I said, this was the plan.
We started our day well, getting out of Florence on the 7:53 am train to make our way to Pisa. Once there, we decided to see the leaning tower first before it got too busy. Greg and Brenda had mentioned climbing the tower, so Tim went ahead to see how long the wait would be. There are a limited number of people that are allowed to climb it (20 people every 15 minutes) and if you miss your window you are out of luck. The wait times can be very long. It turned out Tim was second in line and there was only a 30 minute wait. So he, Brenda and Greg bought tickets for the tower. When he was done buying the tickets the line behind him was 45 people deep and it seemed like 50 tour busses had just dropped off all of their passengers. It was amazing how fast the square filled with people. Had they been 10 minutes later getting in line the wait would have been 2+ hours and they would have not had the time to climb it. Michelle opted to stay with the bags down below. The tower was a little awkward to climb since it was leaning to one side, but all three said it was worth it.
We were just in time to make the next train to Riomaggiore. Had we been a little bit later we would have waited an hour for the next train. It is amazing how perfect the timing was during the day. On the train Tim got to chatting with another couple who informed us that 3 of the 4 lower hikes in the Cinque Terre were still closed. The last hike, from Vernazza to Monterosso al Mare was still open. Interesting how the Cinque Terre website failed to mention that little tid bit. I guess it isn't in their best interest to tell potential tourists that they can't hike the trails. We debated for a bit what to do with the afternoon. Hike an upper trail or two? Take a boat between some of the cities? Take the train straight to Vernazza and enjoy the town a bit more? In the end we opted to take an upper trail even though the lady at the tourist information desk assured us it was very difficult. Straight up the mountain and straight down. Yikes.
But up we went. And she was right. Climbing straight up a mountain is not really the hard part. The hard part is that the stones are not at an even height, so you have to climb up but also take some very large steps. All the way up. The signs said it was .30 miles to the top and another .30 miles down. Luckily the weather was good. Sunny, but with a good ocean breeze and a few trees for shade and rest. We did think to ourselves that back when there was no train, cars or busses to connect the towns you really did have to think carefully about whether or not you wanted to date someone in one of the other villages. The hike between the two would show how committed you were to each other!
Once down to the other side and into the town of Manrola we opted to have lunch at a place Tim and Michelle had been to before, a restaurant called Aristide. We had a fish sampler platter (with octopus, yum!), the pesto gnocchi and the pesto linguini with green beans and shrimp. The Smiths had the risotto with a variety of fish. It was all delicious. Since we had a great waiter who understood English we decided to ask him something that had been bugging us for a while. The waiters would bring bread out to your table, but no olive oil and balsamic vinaigrette to dip it in. Since this is done at most Italian restaurants in the states, we could't understand why no one had done it here. His nose wrinkled a bit and he told us grudgingly that we could, but that isn't really done in Italy. Which shocked us as we thought that was a normal part of a meal. You learn something new every day.
After lunch it was back to the train station to catch a train and meet the owner of the apartment we had rented. When we arrived they were not there. Thus ensued 10 minutes of trying to figure out how to contact them. Finally another American couple renting a room two doors down from us came by and offered to let us use their phone to call. The woman arrived 3 minutes later to open the door. This apartment was interesting. It is very narrow, maybe 15 feet across with 4 floors and 7 bedrooms. We think the owners added a few additional rooms to rent because there are very small common areas on each floor and the lowest floor we were told is for the owner. When the woman opened his apartment to see if there was an additional key there was a full beautiful kitchen and living room furniture that we could see.
The apartment itself had a great location. It backed right onto a little private beach so you cold hear the ocean and there was a balcony you could use to watch the waves. It was up high on the cliff, so no direct access to the water, but if we could live on that balcony we would. The inside of the apartment was a different story. Italian apartments are always a little quirky, it comes with the charm, but this place was just a little sad. Our rooms were serviceable but all of the furniture was old and lumpy. Stucco and paint were pealing off of the walls in most rooms. The kitchen needed a major overhaul and though there was a washing machine for clothes (yeah!) we were told it was broken. The oddest thing of all was that the bathroom was not actually in the house. You walked out of the back of the house to the covered veranda. If you took a right you were on the balcony. If you went straight you were in the bathroom. And the tub was not a full sized tub. It had high sides and you actually sat down in it (the tub had a seat like a spa would) and used a hand held shower head to wash. We had never seen that before, it was quite interesting. All in all it could have been a cute little place had there been a little bit of work put into it. But in its current life it looks to be a rental where the owners are more interested in maximizing rent than they are taking care of the property.
Once checked into the room we headed down to the beach to catch the sunset and some dinner. It was very windy and cold so we tried to eat as fast as possible. Brenda had a clam soup that she thought was good and Greg had a well cooked veal. Tim opted for the fish ravioli which he thought was just ok and Michelle tried some linguini with a prawn sauce (also good). None of the food blew our socks off though and once back at the apartment we showered and went to bed. It is still the plan to try the final lower hike of the Cinque Terre tomorrow depending on how our bodies feel. This is certainly becoming the trip of climbing!
Wednesday, May 14, 2014
Shopping, Sienna and another tower
Day 5 - Shopping, Sienna and another tower
We slept in a bit this morning, we thought our bodies could use the rest as we have been pounding the pavement pretty good since we got off the plane. A bit before 9 we headed out to the San Lorenzo market. This is an outdoor market with lots of street vendors who open up their big carts and sell a variety of things. Florence is known for their leather goods, so you can buy leather jackets, wallets, belts and purses. Michelle wanted a purse with a fun color and she ended up buying a teal leather one with a shoulder strap. It may be too small to fit all of the things needed for a toddler, but it is certainly fun!
Brenda ended up buying a pair of leather gloves which are lined with cashmere inside. So soft! And the men didn't buy anything but had fun haggeling with the shop owners. In the end everyone had fun weaving their way through the stalls.
In the middle of the outdoor market there is an indoor market for fresh bread, fruit, vegitables, meat and fish. The sights and smells are amazing. Tim and Brenda tasted some cheese and sausage, finally settling on one kind of each to buy small slices of for a snack for the group.
After grabbing a bite to eat for the train we hopped on for our day trip to Sienna. Tim and Michelle love Sienna as it is a great example of a traditional Italian hill town. There isn't much to "do" there other than walk around the streets and see the funky shops. The trouble is always getting there. You see, trains don't generally go up hills. In fact, they don't at all. So you get off of the train and then catch a bus to the city center. Which bus you ask? Who knows, because the tourist information office is in the city center (super helpful!) and the maps they tell in the train station are pretty useless and don't inclyde bus stop information. The last time we were there we asked locals for help. We were all set to do so this time, except that as we were following the signs to the bus stop we kept going up escalators. Lots of them. Around 8 and all going up sharply. We had never seen these before and had no idea where they would take us. At the top we were greated with the same lack of information we always had when visitin Sienna (bad maps and now no idea where we were). We asked one lady who said we were not far from the city center if we just wanted to walk. Those escaators had moved us all the way up the mountain. Yippee!
It was a nice walk through the city to get to the center. Once there Tim and Michelle recognized the hotel they last stayed at and the directions to the outdoor market and Il Campo, a wide open square that is slanted towards the town bell tower. And you know how we love towers, we just had to climb it. This was a shorter one, 300+ steps, but the view from the top was worth it. Italian rooftops are such a beautiful visual spread out in front of you.
Once down from the tower we sat in the middle of Il Campo and people watched while we ate our meat and cheese. There was a group of school children, probably junior high and on a school field trip, that we running around the square. One of them could apparantly break dance, so he started showing off his moves to the rest of the group. There were tons of ohhhhhs and then they all came running from every direction to watch him. Then another young boy came down and started showing off his break dancing. It was a dance off in the middle of the square! Seriously, we are not making this stuff up! After about 10 minutes their teacher organized them to leave. It was an amusing site to watch as we ate.
After a quick hike to the outside of the duomo it was time to head back to the train station. We decided to take a new way which put us in some different parts of the city that Tim and Michelle had never seen. It was fun using Brenda's GPS to find outrway through the twisting turning streets to get back to the station.
Another good train home and dinner at the first restaurant we stayed at. Off to pack for the Cinque Terre. Ciao!
Some guy named David, a palace, a tower and two views
On day 4 we enjoyed the town of Florence. We had morning tickets to the Academia to see David. The funny thing about seing David is that you can never get enough of him. He is just so impressive, and even more impressive is to know the story behind him. Michaelangelo used a piece of stone that was thought to be too shallow and with too many imperfections to be used for carving. And Michaelangelo did not make a plaster model like other sculpters did, before he started working. He felt that the forms were buried in the rock and his job was simply to reveal them. He did not view himself as a creator, but as one who reveals something created by someone else. And he completed David at the ripe old age of 26. We always feel a little intimdated when we hear that last bit of information.
Also impressive are the 6 half finished works that line the hallway up to David. These are carvings that he started, but for one reason or another he left them unfinished. They are amazing because you get to see how he worked, the scrapes and chisel marks, the emergance of the forms from the rock as if they are trying to break free. It is all so impressive.
After the Academia we went for a walk to find some wifi, then across the Ponte Vecchio towards the Pitti Palace. Along the way we stopped in some of the artisal shops looking for a few gifts. At the Pitti Palace we decided that Michelle and Brenda were more interested in the house, and Tim and Greg were more interested in the gardens. So we split up and (per the lessons learned at the Vatican) decided on a definite meeting time and place. Tim felt the gardens were amazing. Michelle enjoyed her time in the house, seeing how kings, queens, dukes, duchesses and even Napoleon (at one time) used to live. The ceiling heights and decoration were amazing to behold. Imagine one day being tired of the Carravaggio fresco painted on your ceiling so you call up our good friend Michaelangelo and ask him to give you something new. Oh the layers of masterpieces that are burried deep on each ceiling!
After rejoining together we all walked back to the room to refresh and regroup before heading out to hike up the dome of the Duomo. There are 473 steps up (and 473 steps down!) but the views of the city were outstanding. So impressive and worth the aching calves and thighs in the morning. And something new for Tim and Michelle to have experienced.
Once back on the ground we decided that the day was not yet done. We bought some meat, cheese and wine at a local grochery store and headed to the bus stop to catch the bus up to Piazza Michelangelo. The plan was to have dinner and a sunset view over the city in the piazza. This piazza is at the top of a hill and was recommended by a guidebook with the warning that to hike the hill was very strenuous. Having just hiked up a church dome, we dilligently bought our bus tickets and waited at the stop. Only to find out that the bus we wanted only went to that stop during school hours. Since this was around 7:00pm, we had the option to either scratch the idea or hike to the top. Take a guess which option we chose. Yup, up the hill we went, and it was a little like the hike to the top of the dome except the steps were wider and the view was amazing all the way up. And not very hard at all. Once we were at the top we realized that apart from the view, it was one big parking lot. So down the hill we hiked with our meat and cheese to the apartment.
Back at the apartment we enjoyed each others company over a simple meal. It was another fun filled day with friends. Tomorrow we are in for some shopping and a day trip to Sienna. Ciao!
Souls lost and souls found
day 3 - vatican and sistene chapel
Day 3 started out very well. After a good nights sleep we all woke up and were ready to go at 7:30. Ok, well, we were ready to have breakfast, which we scarfed down quickly and were out the door at 7:45. The trip to St. Peter's and the Vatican museum included a bit more excitement than we expected. The train was again packed (a warning sign) and as we were getting on Tim caught a woman's wrist on Greg's backpack. The next thing we heard was him yelling "No no no!" as he pulled her hand away from his bag. And wouldn't you know, she got off the metro before it even left the station.
We exited the metro and dashed into the museum entrance right at our 8:30 tour start time. Had we known our guide would spend the first 30 minutes of our tour at a large computer screen talking about the features of the Sistene chapel we would have slowed down a bit. As it was, we were trying to catch our breath through most of her descripton. But at least we did not miss our tour!
The tour was good and Tim and Michelle enjoyed visiting the museaum and hearing all of the stories. Through the tour we were surprised at the number of people there. Thousands of people, at 9:00am! We have never seen it this crowded. There were just people everywhere. At first we thought it was just the morning tour groups but once we were done with our tour it got worse going into St. Peter's basilica. It was pretty overwhelming.
At the end of the tour our tour guide left us just before the Sistine chapel saying "you can do this next part on your own". Which in theory was true. We could find the Sistine chapel on our own, but once inside the chapel you wanted to stay close to your group or you could get easily separated. We we all able to find a seat to listen to our audio guides explaining the room and the art. Greg finished first and told us he would meet us outside. Brenda, Tim and Michelle were not too far behind. The only problem was there are two exits for the Sistene chapel, one for individuals and one for groups. And these two exits end up in two very different places. The group exit drops you right at the front steps of St. Peter's basillica. The individual exit drops you back at the entrance, and you would have to walk around the city walls and go through security to get into St. Peters basillica. Brenda, Tim and Michelle went out the group entrance, but Greg had gone out the individual entrance. And thus ensued about 2 hours of attempting to find Greg. Begging the security guards in Italian to let us back in the museaum (both backwards (Michelle) and forwards (Tim)), wondering if he did go outside and was standing out on the street waiting for us, worried that he was worried about not seeing us. It was a bit stressful. but in the end we found Greg and each other.
After a quick tour around the basillica we were off to the hotel to collect our bags for out train ride to Florence. We were able to catch the next train out (uneventful ride) and get into town in the early afternoon. Florence is a great city because we have been there twice already and feel like we have a good feel for the town. We had reserved an apartment for 3 nights, so the trick was just finding it. When you rent apartments there is no one at the "front desk". It is a door with buttons on it and you are supposed to push the button next to the name of the person you want to see. They then buzz you in. So, once we got to the address we expected to see the name of the apartment on the sign. But the apartment name was not there and there was no one there to greet us. So we talked to a few locals who lived in the building who offered to call for us on their phones. It turned out that our room had been changed and we had been emailed about the change about an hour prior to our arival. Sometimes these companies have multiple apartments they rent, so locations can change, but it is always scarey when your apartment is changed because you make the reservation based on the location in the description and have no idea where the new apartment is in the city.
When it was all settled we went from a 2 bedroom apartment to one with 3 bedrooms a little closer to city center for the same price. It is a nice place and will be our home for 3 nights. The only bummer is the cable is broken and for some reason we cannot connect to the internet. The latter is more of a loss than the former. But apparently Florence has free wifi at all of the main tourist attractions, so as long as you are ok logging on while citing on the church steps then you are fine. :) Hence why it has taken us a few days to send out these posts.
Once we were unpacked we picked up dinner at a local Osteria that we walked past. It looked crowded and most of the people in the restaurant were speaking Italian, both of which are good signs. We decided to go all out and have appetisers, first courses and second courses. Michelle's eyes were too big for her stomach and she ended up having to take some home. We know, we know, doggie bags just are not done in Europe but the food was too good to waste. Her second course was a beef steak with gorgonzola cheese sauce. See, now you know why the leftovers had to come home with us.
It was another late night, but another good day. Tomorrow is a day for Florence only, we will see how much of our list we are able to do!
Tuesday, May 13, 2014
Day One and Two - Planes, trains and automobiles
Day one started out as all travel to Europe starts out - with two very long plane rides. Normally we would have nothing much to say about these plane rides except that they happened. But for the start of our trip we were surprised before we even left for the airport with a phone call from the airline letting us know that our plane (which was supposed to leave a 6:30am) would now be delayed and the best current estimate on a departure was at 7:00pm. Naturally a 12 hour delay was a little alarming so we left at 3:15am from Tim's sisters house to get to the airport. When we arrived and checked in, the airline informed us that the message was in relation to our second flight from Philidelphia, not our first flight from LAX. But, that message was now voided and our second flight was back on schedule. Whew! No one wants to start a long journey 12 hours later than planned!
Both flights were relatively uneventful. Since Tim and Michelle haven't been to a movie in a while all of the options on the longer flight out of Philidelphia were new to them. It is so hard to go to sleep when there are good movies to watch! Sleep turned out to be more difficult to get since one of the widow side passengers wanted his window open during the whole flight. And that passenger was in our row, so the sun shone on us all. Needless to say we were all a bit sleep deprived as well as jet lagged.
We took a taxi straight from the airport to our hotel which gave us a good view of what driving in Italy is like. If Americans think that tailgating is a problem in the US, it is a way of life in Italy! We are pretty sure it is on the Italian driving test. The closer you get to someones car at a high rate of speed without hitting them the higher your score on the test.
Checking into the hotel was easy, it was near the hotel that Tim and Michelle stayed at for their first trip to Europe with Tim's brother Duane. Since the room would not be ready for 3 hours we began our sight seeing early. Normally this helps to work through the jet lag, but since none of us had much sleep on the plane at all, we were all exhausted. We decided that all good sightseeing trips in Rome begin with a good gelato. So what that it was 10:30 in the morning, we were on vacation! Refreshed from round 1 on gelato we hit the streets. In the morning we managed to work our way through St. Peter in Chains church, the Colosseum, Palatine Hill, the Roman Forum, the Victor Emmanuel Monument (along with a ride to the top to see the view) and the Pantheon. Then we decided to stop for some lunch (i.e. gelato number 2 for a few of us) in time for our 5:00pm appointment at Michelle's favorite gallery, the Borghese gallery. We arrived 30 minutes early and decided to sit on the lawn for a while. Actually, we followed suit with the other Italians and layed out on the lawn. Within 5 minutes both Tim and Michelle were asleep, and with 10 minutes to go before our entrance time Brenda and Greg were waking us up to get going. Michelle had never fallen asleep on a public lawn before, but it was the best cat nap ever.
The Borghese was fantastic, and Michelle was especially happy to see her favorite sculpture there, Bernini's Appolo and Daphne. It shows Appolo chasing Daphne as catching her as she is beginning to change into a laurel tree. It is hard to believe that the delicate leaves are made out of stone. While the restorers were cleaning it they discovered that when you tap on the leaves you hear tonal sounds. It is the perfect example of the soft human realism that can come from hard stone.
After the Borghese we went back to the room to shower and take a quick nap. It was along the way there that we had our first encounter with the roman pick pockets on the metro. As a traveler you read about all of the schemes and scams they concoct to separate you from your money. One will squirt you with catsup, apologize profusely while the other one is picking your pocket. They will stage arguments or use other kinds of diversions to get you distracted while they take your money. So we were aware of how it could happen and what signs to watch out for. On the way home there was a full train (one big warning sign) with lots of people wanting to get on. There was also a group of people arguing on the platform loudly (diversion?). When the train came we squished our way in, watching our bags and each other's bags closely. As the doors were closing 3 young kids pushed their way in, shoving everyone forward. We hear a man who had a suitcase yelling in Italian and then the couple next to Tim start yelling at the kids saying "Oh no you don't" loudly and then pointing to the kids and saying "Thieves, there are thieves on our train right here, everyone look at them!". It seems one of the girls had her hand inside one of their bags and they were astute enough to catch her. The girl yelled at them, they yelled at her and the kids got off at the next stop. We also got off as it was our exit. As the train pulled away the kids joined their friends at the stop. One of them handed a wallet to a waiting friend who started going through it. So whatever their scam was, it worked on some unsuspecting person on the train. Thankfully, that person was not us.
After a late siesta we regrouped for dinner. For our first night on our vacation we walked to a restaurant that Tim and Michelle went to last time they were in Rome called Osteria de Mario only to find that it was closed for the day. We were not sure if it was that they closed early or if they were closed all day (it was Sunday). So since it was closed we settled for a nearby place called Osteria de Spaghetti. The food and wine were excellent, and we ended up closing down the place around midnight. After finding our way back home we all dropped into bed. Tim stayed up a bit longer to scout out hotel rooms for Florence as we would be traveling there for day 3 of our trip. He was able to find a nice apartment for the 4 of us for the 3 days we will sleep there. It will be nice to have a bit more sleep and a bit more room than Rome was able to provide. The plan is to go to the Vatican museum and St. Peter's in the morning, then head to Florence in the early afternoon. Ciao for now!
Friday, May 9, 2014
And away we go again!
We are t-8 hours away from getting on a plane and starting another exciting adventure on the other side of the ocean. This time we are a party of four, with Greg and Brenda Smith joining us. Zander will be spending a few weeks with his awesome cousins in LA. His time promises to be full of fun, giggles, hugs and the all important pool and trampoline in the cousins backyard. Our time promises to be full of good food and adventures. We will try to update as often as we can depending on WiFi connections.
Love to you all, we will see you on the other side!
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