I believe Ali posted some weeks/months ago about our flight times and such, but here it is again, Pacific Standard Time:
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
2:25 a.m. - Leave Zurich (11:25 a.m. our time - Swiss time)
4:15 a.m. - Arrive Heathrow (12:15 p.m. London time)
6:20 a.m. - Leave Heathrow (2:20 p.m. London time)
4:10 p.m. - Arrive Seatac
So it`s going to be a very long day for us, especially when we leave London at what will feel like 3:20 p.m. and get to Seattle at 4:10 p.m. (when it`ll be midnight to us) the same day.
We might all post yet again for our real, actual, final last time. Ciao for now!
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Monday, December 7, 2009
Tiny Beasts
So I talked to ATNs mom who is a nurse and she said the allergy meds should have worked by now, meaning its not allergies...
The next option, as they like to say here, is tiny beasts. Yes. The current diagnosis is tiny beasts crawling around me and making me look like I have leprosy or the plague or AIDS or something...
The next option, as they like to say here, is tiny beasts. Yes. The current diagnosis is tiny beasts crawling around me and making me look like I have leprosy or the plague or AIDS or something...
Sunday, December 6, 2009
UHHHHH
So I just want everyone to know that it seems I am allergic to Swisslands. I have some sort of rash on my face, arms, and hands that isn't going away. I went to the pharmacist and she gave me antihistimines and anti-itch stuff, but it doesn't seem to be working. Etienne's mom said she didn't think it was allergies because the medication would've worked by now.
Basically my point is that I look VERY diseased...and I apologize to those of you who will have to see me like this. It's nasty...
Basically my point is that I look VERY diseased...and I apologize to those of you who will have to see me like this. It's nasty...
Swisslands
So bad news, we didn`t get to go to the chocolate factory :( because it was closed for construction. And the ice skating rink was closed, and the basketball game we wanted to go to was cancelled.
But, we are loving Fribourg!! Aside from the delicious fondue, we have been eating like queens here - Linus is quite the host and an excellent cook. We ate a pork roast with mashed potatoes for lunch on Friday, yesterday we had Mexican food (fajitas!), and today we had an assortment of cold cuts, cheese, and bread plus an apple pie. Lunch is the big meal here, which we have found to be pretty cool. And today, we went to Bern (the capital) and had another delicious meal with Etienne`s mother. It`s pretty cool here even without the food, too! Bern has this outdoor area right in the city where they have brown bears - we were very confused at first, because we didn`t quite get how exactly that worked (bears in the city?), but there are enclosed outdoor areas and dens where the bears live. There might just be the one bear now, Bjork, and we saw her!
Okay - so that`s all for now... if we don`t get around to posting again, then well, it`s because we`ll see you soon and can just tell you all about what else we`re up to! We`re off to Zurich tomorrow to stay in a hotel for the night, and then Tuesday night, we are voluntarily staying in the Zurich airport/train station again, you know, to come full circle since we stayed there our first night! We`re pretty jazzed for that :) So, okay, loveyoubye!!!
But, we are loving Fribourg!! Aside from the delicious fondue, we have been eating like queens here - Linus is quite the host and an excellent cook. We ate a pork roast with mashed potatoes for lunch on Friday, yesterday we had Mexican food (fajitas!), and today we had an assortment of cold cuts, cheese, and bread plus an apple pie. Lunch is the big meal here, which we have found to be pretty cool. And today, we went to Bern (the capital) and had another delicious meal with Etienne`s mother. It`s pretty cool here even without the food, too! Bern has this outdoor area right in the city where they have brown bears - we were very confused at first, because we didn`t quite get how exactly that worked (bears in the city?), but there are enclosed outdoor areas and dens where the bears live. There might just be the one bear now, Bjork, and we saw her!
Okay - so that`s all for now... if we don`t get around to posting again, then well, it`s because we`ll see you soon and can just tell you all about what else we`re up to! We`re off to Zurich tomorrow to stay in a hotel for the night, and then Tuesday night, we are voluntarily staying in the Zurich airport/train station again, you know, to come full circle since we stayed there our first night! We`re pretty jazzed for that :) So, okay, loveyoubye!!!
Friday, December 4, 2009
Money, Mountains, Cheese & Chocolate
Switzerland in a nutshell, or at least that`s roughly how Etienne described it last night. So, we made it to Fribourg! The rest of Zermatt was pretty low key - Ali took the train up to see the Matterhorn, and we walked around later and got some hot chocolate and browsed through a few stores - you know, the usual 1500 frank (about 1500 dollars) jackets and stuff, no big deal... yeah, Switzerland is expensive. Europe in general is expensive, but especially so here. The CHF (Swiss frank) and dollar are almost even - and it`s just shocking to see how much everything costs. Okay, even McDonalds is expensive. Burger meals are what, around 5 or 6 bucks back home, and about 12 dollars here.
Anyway, we`re staying with Etienne, a friend of ours who did an exchange in Port Angeles when we were in high school. He teaches English to middle school aged kids, so we went with him this morning (and woke up before 7 a.m. to go) and he had the kids ask us questions for the period. One of our favorites was, "Have you contacted stars?" - as in celebrities, although Ali thought he had asked if we were conducting research :) - and then they went through their names and asked us to pronounce them, and we definitely butchered those with our harsh r`s and such.
Last night, Etienne`s dad, Linus, cooked us the most amazing fondue that any of us has ever eaten, hands down. I asked for the recipe, but he used some special local cheese so we probably wouldn`t be able to recreate it quite like that. But it was just delicious! It was just bread and cheese, but it was incredible. We didn`t think we`d be able to finish the giant pot on the table, but oh yes, we did. Quite easily, in fact. And later, we went out for a drink and had ourselves a nice political discussion, talking about healthcare, social security, government, etc. But please don`t ask us about any of that stuff when we get home, because we still are quite ignorant! We can tell you the main world headlines right now, since CNN and BBC are usually the only English-speaking channels on TV (in addition to EuroSports).
So, today we are going to go to a chocolate factory, where we can get lots of free chocolate! Ciao for now.
Anyway, we`re staying with Etienne, a friend of ours who did an exchange in Port Angeles when we were in high school. He teaches English to middle school aged kids, so we went with him this morning (and woke up before 7 a.m. to go) and he had the kids ask us questions for the period. One of our favorites was, "Have you contacted stars?" - as in celebrities, although Ali thought he had asked if we were conducting research :) - and then they went through their names and asked us to pronounce them, and we definitely butchered those with our harsh r`s and such.
Last night, Etienne`s dad, Linus, cooked us the most amazing fondue that any of us has ever eaten, hands down. I asked for the recipe, but he used some special local cheese so we probably wouldn`t be able to recreate it quite like that. But it was just delicious! It was just bread and cheese, but it was incredible. We didn`t think we`d be able to finish the giant pot on the table, but oh yes, we did. Quite easily, in fact. And later, we went out for a drink and had ourselves a nice political discussion, talking about healthcare, social security, government, etc. But please don`t ask us about any of that stuff when we get home, because we still are quite ignorant! We can tell you the main world headlines right now, since CNN and BBC are usually the only English-speaking channels on TV (in addition to EuroSports).
So, today we are going to go to a chocolate factory, where we can get lots of free chocolate! Ciao for now.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
There´s unlimited juice? This party is going to be off the hook!
Okay, that´s not relevant to anything I´m going to say, but it´s a good quote nonethelesss :) 10 vacation points to whoever gets it! Anyway, I have a little tale to tell from Florence.
Our last night in Florence, Sarah and I went out to go use the phones and maybe find something to eat or something. The night before, a Saturday, we had all been walking around and it was just dead out, and that Sunday night, people were bustling about all over! We found a cafe/bar place and decided it might be fun to check it out, so we went in, had some delicious fruity drinks and just danced the night away to the live music of the Acoustic Soul Duo (at least I think that´s what they were called). It was so much fun, and we were just brimming with excitement and weren´t quite ready to end the night, so we decided to go sit for a bit and chat or whatever. And the place we chose was in the Piazza Signora, right next to the Neptune fountain.
Except... we had to step over a low fence, and I mean step, because most of you know I have short legs and I remember it was easy for me even to just step over, and we sat next to the fountain and were about to have a nice little time of relaxation, when... suddenly a police car came zooming into the piazza, and two police officers came out shouting at us to leave! We were apologetic, and figured okay, we´ll just go somewhere else... but then they asked for our documentation - our passports - and we didn´t have them on us, so we gave them our licenses, and they whisked those away and led us around the corner into this obscure door. Inside, they had a room with video screens targeted solely on the statues and fountains in that piazza, and they kept telling us they had seen us on the video.
Well, we were very apologetic. At that point, we still figured it would just be a little slap on the wrist, tell us we had done something wrong, and let us be on our way... But they kept saying, "It´s not possible for you to be there!" (and later, when I wasn´t trying to be so polite, but luckily sarcasm doesn´t translate so well, I said, "Oh, you mean... it´s not allowed to be there...") - and they told us it would be a 160 euro fine (that´s about 240 dollars) - for stepping over a small little fence and sitting down next to a statue. Really? We continued to be polite at first, and we apologized, said we were just visiting the country and didn´t mean any harm to the fountain. One of the policewomen at some point said, oh, it´s okay (after we had freaked out about the fine), so we breathed a sigh of relief, thinking it would be no big deal... but then they handed a piece of paper to Sarah, asking her to sign it - and we both stopped and asked, well, what does it say? And still without making it seem like a big deal, the woman told us it said we´d gone into the fountain (again, not quite right...) and owed a 160 euro fine.
Well, neither of us ended up signing our "tickets," because they never fully explained what exactly those tickets were for, but they told us they´d just send the bill to us. (They got our addresses off of our licenses - although they did not get our license numbers, so...? We´re still not sure what to expect.) Then they told us to follow them - and we still felt like we hadn´t had a chance to explain ourselves properly, because honestly, all we had done was sit by the fountain! - and they showed us to the door and wanted us to leave. At that point, we had stopped the whole polite facade. One woman kept saying, well, it would be the same in your country, and I´m afraid I may have responded with - no, in my country it would not be the same! I´m sure they already thought we were just some dumb American girls, but especially after that... :)
Throughout it all, it was so frustrating because only a couple of the officers knew English, and we felt really bad for not knowing Italian... so we were pretty angry and a bit embarassed for a bit, and then we just thought it was hilarious and figured it´d make a good story. So, we owe the Italian government 240 dollars, each!
Our last night in Florence, Sarah and I went out to go use the phones and maybe find something to eat or something. The night before, a Saturday, we had all been walking around and it was just dead out, and that Sunday night, people were bustling about all over! We found a cafe/bar place and decided it might be fun to check it out, so we went in, had some delicious fruity drinks and just danced the night away to the live music of the Acoustic Soul Duo (at least I think that´s what they were called). It was so much fun, and we were just brimming with excitement and weren´t quite ready to end the night, so we decided to go sit for a bit and chat or whatever. And the place we chose was in the Piazza Signora, right next to the Neptune fountain.
Except... we had to step over a low fence, and I mean step, because most of you know I have short legs and I remember it was easy for me even to just step over, and we sat next to the fountain and were about to have a nice little time of relaxation, when... suddenly a police car came zooming into the piazza, and two police officers came out shouting at us to leave! We were apologetic, and figured okay, we´ll just go somewhere else... but then they asked for our documentation - our passports - and we didn´t have them on us, so we gave them our licenses, and they whisked those away and led us around the corner into this obscure door. Inside, they had a room with video screens targeted solely on the statues and fountains in that piazza, and they kept telling us they had seen us on the video.
Well, we were very apologetic. At that point, we still figured it would just be a little slap on the wrist, tell us we had done something wrong, and let us be on our way... But they kept saying, "It´s not possible for you to be there!" (and later, when I wasn´t trying to be so polite, but luckily sarcasm doesn´t translate so well, I said, "Oh, you mean... it´s not allowed to be there...") - and they told us it would be a 160 euro fine (that´s about 240 dollars) - for stepping over a small little fence and sitting down next to a statue. Really? We continued to be polite at first, and we apologized, said we were just visiting the country and didn´t mean any harm to the fountain. One of the policewomen at some point said, oh, it´s okay (after we had freaked out about the fine), so we breathed a sigh of relief, thinking it would be no big deal... but then they handed a piece of paper to Sarah, asking her to sign it - and we both stopped and asked, well, what does it say? And still without making it seem like a big deal, the woman told us it said we´d gone into the fountain (again, not quite right...) and owed a 160 euro fine.
Well, neither of us ended up signing our "tickets," because they never fully explained what exactly those tickets were for, but they told us they´d just send the bill to us. (They got our addresses off of our licenses - although they did not get our license numbers, so...? We´re still not sure what to expect.) Then they told us to follow them - and we still felt like we hadn´t had a chance to explain ourselves properly, because honestly, all we had done was sit by the fountain! - and they showed us to the door and wanted us to leave. At that point, we had stopped the whole polite facade. One woman kept saying, well, it would be the same in your country, and I´m afraid I may have responded with - no, in my country it would not be the same! I´m sure they already thought we were just some dumb American girls, but especially after that... :)
Throughout it all, it was so frustrating because only a couple of the officers knew English, and we felt really bad for not knowing Italian... so we were pretty angry and a bit embarassed for a bit, and then we just thought it was hilarious and figured it´d make a good story. So, we owe the Italian government 240 dollars, each!
More pictures!
These pictures are all out of order, but here are more from the first few weeks of our trip - Berlin, Amsterdam, London, Edinburgh, and a couple in Paris. Ah, one more week left!
Mona Lisa in the Louvre. She´s behind bulletproof glass, and she´s tiny! It doesn´t help that right across from her is the largest painting in the Louvre.
This is how close we could get to the Mona Lisa. It was just a mess of people crowding around for a picture.
Ali carrying Sarah´s backpack in Edinburgh´s airport when Sarah was sick.
Reading and eating in a cute little cafe in Edinburgh.
Abbey Road in London! I saw this on one of the days we went off separately to explore, but if the girls were with me, we probably would´ve been like the rest of the tourists getting shots of us walking across, swinging our arms...
Lounging in St. James Park, briefly. Some guy soon came by asking for money, because these lawn chairs are not free. So we got up and left.
Our English breakfast - eggs, sausage, bacon (really just ham), beans and toast.
The 3 of us in front of Westminster Abbey.
The climate change protest at Parliament. "Change the politics, save the climate." We watched them just climb up there with ladders and harnesses, and no one bothered to stop them. They did get arrested once they came down, apparently.
Quite possibly the most amazing fries we ever had, the Vlaamse Frites in Amsterdam. Good find, Sarah.
Bike lanes and bike lights all over in Amsterdam, definitely the most bike-friendly city.
In Amsterdam - I think we were sitting near the canal by our apartment.
In the Red Light District. It was pouring that day and we were freezing, when all we wanted to do was gawk at all the women in the windows!
Ali and me at the Heineken Experience in Amsterdam (the old brewery), enjoying one of our samples. I think we had just learned about the importance of foam.
Amsterdam still - Sarah, staring at the pigeons, probably contemplating getting closer. Ali, backing far, far away from the pigeons.
I think this was our first Doner Kebab experience in Berlin! Thank you, David, for reccomending them!
Mona Lisa in the Louvre. She´s behind bulletproof glass, and she´s tiny! It doesn´t help that right across from her is the largest painting in the Louvre.
This is how close we could get to the Mona Lisa. It was just a mess of people crowding around for a picture.
Ali carrying Sarah´s backpack in Edinburgh´s airport when Sarah was sick.
Reading and eating in a cute little cafe in Edinburgh.
Abbey Road in London! I saw this on one of the days we went off separately to explore, but if the girls were with me, we probably would´ve been like the rest of the tourists getting shots of us walking across, swinging our arms...
Lounging in St. James Park, briefly. Some guy soon came by asking for money, because these lawn chairs are not free. So we got up and left.
Our English breakfast - eggs, sausage, bacon (really just ham), beans and toast.
The 3 of us in front of Westminster Abbey.
The climate change protest at Parliament. "Change the politics, save the climate." We watched them just climb up there with ladders and harnesses, and no one bothered to stop them. They did get arrested once they came down, apparently.
Quite possibly the most amazing fries we ever had, the Vlaamse Frites in Amsterdam. Good find, Sarah.
Bike lanes and bike lights all over in Amsterdam, definitely the most bike-friendly city.
In Amsterdam - I think we were sitting near the canal by our apartment.
In the Red Light District. It was pouring that day and we were freezing, when all we wanted to do was gawk at all the women in the windows!
Ali and me at the Heineken Experience in Amsterdam (the old brewery), enjoying one of our samples. I think we had just learned about the importance of foam.
Amsterdam still - Sarah, staring at the pigeons, probably contemplating getting closer. Ali, backing far, far away from the pigeons.
I think this was our first Doner Kebab experience in Berlin! Thank you, David, for reccomending them!
Pictures!
We made it to snowy, cold, cozy and beautiful (but ridiculously expensive) Zermatt! We can see the Matterhorn just outside our hostel, so I guess that´s pretty incredible. Oh and we´re back in the land of z´s and y´s being mixed up on the keyboard, so I´ll do my best. A few recent pictures:
Sunset from our last night in Cinque Terre - this was in Monterosso, I think, as we were headed back to catch the train to our town, Riomaggiore. It had been a drizzly day (and very stormy night).
Earlier that same day, in Manarola, I think, walking along part of the trail that connects Manarola and Corniglia. (By the way, Cinque Terre is composed of 5 little towns: Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza and Monterosso - accessible by train, car, boat or foot.)
We were about to make the walk along Via dell Amore, the most famous of the Cinque Terre hikes (connecting our town and Manarola with a 20 minute walk), but due to the stormy weather, the trails were all closed that day.
Cinque Terre is definitely cat land! This was one of many felines we saw, although most of the others were roaming the streets or creeping into the restaurants...
Sunset from our first night in Riomaggiore.
Our Thanksgiving appetizer in Rome :) We spent a good amount of time dividing this up evenly, down to the last spoonful of gravy.
Ali and Sarah, at the Thanksgiving dinner restaurant.
These crazy birds in Trastevere, a neighborhood in Rome! We stood watching them for quite a long time, but no one else seemed to think it was such a big deal - the birds were just swarming around, moving like amoebas in the air. We asked a girl at the gelato place nearby, and she said this happens, but they´ll be gone by January.
Ali and me on one of the footpath bridges between Trastevere and the Jewish quarter.
Carciofi alla roma - the most amazing artichokes we´ve ever had.
Ali and Sarah in Rome... oh yeah, that´s the Colliseum back there.
Swiss guards at the entrance to Vatican City.
Modest clothing only at St. Peter´s Basilica. Sarah had a little too much skin showing on her back, so she had to cover up!It takes so long to post pictures, but I´m going to try to do some more, some from earlier in the trip. Ciao, ciao, ciao-ciao-ciao! (The Italians love that word.)
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Our Thanksgiving feast :)
Hope you all had a delicious and grateful Thanksgiving. We had our Italian dinner all planned out, and stopped at a restaurant earlier to get something to drink and kill time before eating. Our server, probably a Bostonian (he reminded us either of a young Billy Crystal or Tony Danza), informed us that they had a Thanksgiving dinner available and that the turkey was already in the oven, ready to go. Well... we debated about it for a few minutes, because we were pretty stoked about having a big Italian meal, when he suggested we share one plate. Done. So we got our fair share of turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberries, veggies and gravy! And about an hour later, we started our own feast. To start, we got bruschetta, Roman artichokes (we tried those the day before and they were incredible) and caprese salad. Then we all had some sort of a creamy tortellini. And then we all had roast lamb. Plus we got gelato later, on our way home. It was definitely a feast, and we were all very stuffed from it!
Rome was a bit exhausting because of all the sites - saw the Vatican Museum, Sistine Chapel, Colliseum, Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, Pantheon, and other buildings and things all over - but it's definitely cool to just be walking through the city and come across some Roman ruins!
Rome was a bit exhausting because of all the sites - saw the Vatican Museum, Sistine Chapel, Colliseum, Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, Pantheon, and other buildings and things all over - but it's definitely cool to just be walking through the city and come across some Roman ruins!
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
When in Rome...
We're back from another day out, and I figure since we get a free half hour of Internet each day at this hostel, we may as well try and post on the blog a bunch since we have but 2 weeks left! Can you believe we've been gone for 9 whole weeks? Or that we 3 have been together for 9 whole weeks in Europe? It's crazy!
A few things I've remembered about some of the past cities we've been in... in Madrid, I think while Ali was getting her new AmEx card, Sarah and I stumbled upon some sort of a parade going down one of the main streets. We later found out it was for some sort of a Santa Maria day, and that probably explains why everything was closed that day. We had to head in that same direction, so after all the nuns and priests and such went by, we started walking that way, but then the crowd of onlookers all piled into the street and suddenly we were just part of the parade that was being filmed and all that jazz. Everyone around us looked a bit somber, but Sarah was slurping up the sauce from her doner kebab foil and I was giggling, so I think we were sort of out of place.
Oh and also in Madrid, we went to a big park where there was one of the most amazing playgrounds I've ever been to! The playgrounds in Europe are much cooler than ours - they still have all the toys we've deemed to dangerous in the U.S. as well as a bunch of others. I feel like we've come across that a lot - things in Europe that definitely would not be okay back home. Take construction - we'll be walking along the sidewalk, and find ourselves directly under a crane carrying a load of cement blocks or something - it's a little sketchy. Not to mention that our hostels/hotels always seem to be near a construction site that starts drilling around 7 or 8 in the morning! I've made a 'Europe generalities' list that includes some of those things - other things on the list: excessive church bells (our hostels also seem to be situated near churches often), poor plumbing and smelly sewage, cheap cheese!, water is rarely free at restaurants, street names are on the buildings (which means we either have to go around the corner or cross the street to see where we are), eggs aren't refrigerated, they love their roundabouts, doner kebab stands are everywhere!, and 'to-go' containers aren't really a thing.
Today we found an area with affordable restaurants for our Thanksgiving dinner, so we are set for that! And also - to our parents, we've thought about perhaps stopping for dinner after we get off the plane? Perhaps at Red Robin? (A good 'ol American restaurant - we've been talking about the burgers and bottomless fries!) There's one in Federal Way, assuming we'll be driving around on the way back...
Happy Thanksgiving tomorrow to everyone back home! We'll be here, in Rome :)
A few things I've remembered about some of the past cities we've been in... in Madrid, I think while Ali was getting her new AmEx card, Sarah and I stumbled upon some sort of a parade going down one of the main streets. We later found out it was for some sort of a Santa Maria day, and that probably explains why everything was closed that day. We had to head in that same direction, so after all the nuns and priests and such went by, we started walking that way, but then the crowd of onlookers all piled into the street and suddenly we were just part of the parade that was being filmed and all that jazz. Everyone around us looked a bit somber, but Sarah was slurping up the sauce from her doner kebab foil and I was giggling, so I think we were sort of out of place.
Oh and also in Madrid, we went to a big park where there was one of the most amazing playgrounds I've ever been to! The playgrounds in Europe are much cooler than ours - they still have all the toys we've deemed to dangerous in the U.S. as well as a bunch of others. I feel like we've come across that a lot - things in Europe that definitely would not be okay back home. Take construction - we'll be walking along the sidewalk, and find ourselves directly under a crane carrying a load of cement blocks or something - it's a little sketchy. Not to mention that our hostels/hotels always seem to be near a construction site that starts drilling around 7 or 8 in the morning! I've made a 'Europe generalities' list that includes some of those things - other things on the list: excessive church bells (our hostels also seem to be situated near churches often), poor plumbing and smelly sewage, cheap cheese!, water is rarely free at restaurants, street names are on the buildings (which means we either have to go around the corner or cross the street to see where we are), eggs aren't refrigerated, they love their roundabouts, doner kebab stands are everywhere!, and 'to-go' containers aren't really a thing.
Today we found an area with affordable restaurants for our Thanksgiving dinner, so we are set for that! And also - to our parents, we've thought about perhaps stopping for dinner after we get off the plane? Perhaps at Red Robin? (A good 'ol American restaurant - we've been talking about the burgers and bottomless fries!) There's one in Federal Way, assuming we'll be driving around on the way back...
Happy Thanksgiving tomorrow to everyone back home! We'll be here, in Rome :)
Monday, November 23, 2009
Buongiorno!
Well, we're about halfway through Italy! The food here is soooooo amazing. We would normally go out to eat only every other day or so, or at least we'd get something small, and for awhile we were buying salami, cheese and bread like crazy. But here, no. Here, we eat. Tortellini, gnocchi, calzone, pizza, tagliatelle, lasagne, ravioli - we'll have to try it all. And we've decided that we're going to have our own Thanksgiving by going out and doing the whole shebang - antipasti, first course (which is usually a big plate of pasta), second course (usually some meat, and I'm sure we'll choose steak), and dessert. I'm already excited!
Some things we've been up to... in Valencia, like Ali said, we had the Italian roomies. I can't remember if they had been traveling anywhere else before, but for being in Valencia for 4 nights and for being a pair of (we think) straight men, they had a lot of luggage. And, I happened to run into a guy I went to school with at Lewis & Clark! It was crazy - I wasn't entirely sure it was him, and I kept staring at him and debating whether or not I'd approach him, and then later we did actually talk and confirm our identities. We also found a film store store where we could rent DVDs, so we tried to watch Twilight since our hostel had a TV and DVD player, but about 50 minutes through the movie (apparently before it gets really good), it stopped, and we eventually figured out that the player was broken. We did all manage to finish reading (or re-reading) all 4 of the books in Madrid. And okay, yes, the last book was pretty good. The topics of vampires or immortality frequently come up in our conversations now. We took a free tour there in Valencia and learned a bit about the history, which was cool to finally learn about the buildings and things we'd been seeing every day. And we went to the beach! I walked there one morning, and it took well over an hour and a half to get there (and I think I even made it back before Sarah and Ali were up!).
Then we had a LONG travel day. It was about a 3- to 4-hour train ride back to Barcelona, and from there a 15-hour night train to Milan, and then a 3ish-hour train to Venice. And on the night train, we stopped around 6 a.m. at the French-Italian border, and the French border police boarded the train asking for our passports. They searched through some people's bags and even made 3 harmless looking people get off the train!! Ali was in a sleeping car, and a woman in her car had to leave as well, but apparently she might have actually been a criminal! Sarah and I just slept on the reclining chairs, sort of. At one point, I woke up and noticed Sarah wasn't in her seat, and she still hadn't come back from the bathroom or wherever I thought she was about 15 minutes later, but then I found out that she was just sleeping on the floor in the back of our car. So after a long journey, we made it to Venizia! We finally did a little bit of shopping there - what with all the Ventian glass around us, how could we resist?
And we were just in Florence this morning! Last night, we climbed up to the top of the Piazzale Michelangelo and looked over the city and some of the Tuscan landscape under the setting sun. It was beautiful! We did see the David at the Academia Museum, and yes, he was impressive. The detail was just incredible on him, all the veins and muscles defined on the marble. And it was also cool because there was a Robert Maplethorpe exhibit going on too, which complemented Michelangelo's work really well. So we got our art and culture in for the city. And along with all the pasta and pizza, we've eaten a lot of extremely delicious gelato. The gelato stands are just amazing - bright colors of gelato all molded into enticing waves with bits of fruit or chocolate as added decoration.
So here we are in Roma! We still have Cinque Terre (we'll be in Riomaggiore) and then Switzerland! We're definitely still excited for the remainder of our trip, but we've also been preparing ourselves for going home and getting excited about all the things we want to do there. To our families, be prepared to eat lots of European-inspired meals for awhile! I think our other plans include rollerblading (we really should have done that in Nice), walking everywhere, scrapbooking (or at least I will, since I've been saving every little scrap of paper along the way), and reading at the library. We've been making all sorts of lists in our journals - movies to watch, food to make, things to look up regarding Europe or miscellaneous things, etc.
Lots of love to all of you! Ciao! (After seeing Inglorious Basterds, we got really excited for saying 'arrivederci!' in Italy, but we usually just say 'ciao.')
Some things we've been up to... in Valencia, like Ali said, we had the Italian roomies. I can't remember if they had been traveling anywhere else before, but for being in Valencia for 4 nights and for being a pair of (we think) straight men, they had a lot of luggage. And, I happened to run into a guy I went to school with at Lewis & Clark! It was crazy - I wasn't entirely sure it was him, and I kept staring at him and debating whether or not I'd approach him, and then later we did actually talk and confirm our identities. We also found a film store store where we could rent DVDs, so we tried to watch Twilight since our hostel had a TV and DVD player, but about 50 minutes through the movie (apparently before it gets really good), it stopped, and we eventually figured out that the player was broken. We did all manage to finish reading (or re-reading) all 4 of the books in Madrid. And okay, yes, the last book was pretty good. The topics of vampires or immortality frequently come up in our conversations now. We took a free tour there in Valencia and learned a bit about the history, which was cool to finally learn about the buildings and things we'd been seeing every day. And we went to the beach! I walked there one morning, and it took well over an hour and a half to get there (and I think I even made it back before Sarah and Ali were up!).
Then we had a LONG travel day. It was about a 3- to 4-hour train ride back to Barcelona, and from there a 15-hour night train to Milan, and then a 3ish-hour train to Venice. And on the night train, we stopped around 6 a.m. at the French-Italian border, and the French border police boarded the train asking for our passports. They searched through some people's bags and even made 3 harmless looking people get off the train!! Ali was in a sleeping car, and a woman in her car had to leave as well, but apparently she might have actually been a criminal! Sarah and I just slept on the reclining chairs, sort of. At one point, I woke up and noticed Sarah wasn't in her seat, and she still hadn't come back from the bathroom or wherever I thought she was about 15 minutes later, but then I found out that she was just sleeping on the floor in the back of our car. So after a long journey, we made it to Venizia! We finally did a little bit of shopping there - what with all the Ventian glass around us, how could we resist?
And we were just in Florence this morning! Last night, we climbed up to the top of the Piazzale Michelangelo and looked over the city and some of the Tuscan landscape under the setting sun. It was beautiful! We did see the David at the Academia Museum, and yes, he was impressive. The detail was just incredible on him, all the veins and muscles defined on the marble. And it was also cool because there was a Robert Maplethorpe exhibit going on too, which complemented Michelangelo's work really well. So we got our art and culture in for the city. And along with all the pasta and pizza, we've eaten a lot of extremely delicious gelato. The gelato stands are just amazing - bright colors of gelato all molded into enticing waves with bits of fruit or chocolate as added decoration.
So here we are in Roma! We still have Cinque Terre (we'll be in Riomaggiore) and then Switzerland! We're definitely still excited for the remainder of our trip, but we've also been preparing ourselves for going home and getting excited about all the things we want to do there. To our families, be prepared to eat lots of European-inspired meals for awhile! I think our other plans include rollerblading (we really should have done that in Nice), walking everywhere, scrapbooking (or at least I will, since I've been saving every little scrap of paper along the way), and reading at the library. We've been making all sorts of lists in our journals - movies to watch, food to make, things to look up regarding Europe or miscellaneous things, etc.
Lots of love to all of you! Ciao! (After seeing Inglorious Basterds, we got really excited for saying 'arrivederci!' in Italy, but we usually just say 'ciao.')
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Finally more pictures...
At Monet's pond in Giverny
Giverny on a muddy trail
I FINALLY won at solitaire...in Paris!!!
Arc de Triomph at night
I'm not sure where this is, to be honest. Paris, perhaps?
Just paying our respects in a cemetary in Edinburgh...
Yea, I sew now...no biggie
In St. James Park, our favorite!!!
America's next top model style
Some ferris wheel thing in London...it might be called "the eye."
Parliment building in London
Traflager Square in London
In Piazzale Michelangelo overlooking all of Florence
Great night in Florence
yea, I took that...In Florence...Italy...no biggie
Sarah contracting a multitude of diseases...and ONE LANDED ON MY SHOULDER!!! scary...
Basilica in San Marco Square, Venice
Somewhere in Venice, I think
Down one of the many canals in venice
A rose garden in...hmmm...Madrid? I don't know where this is but we all thought it would be a great place for a wedding!
Yet another arch! (This one is definitely in Madrid)
Our adorable hostel in Madrid.
Our not so adorable, but still comfortable, hostel in Barcelona.
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