Tuesday, July 31, 2007
The End Arrives
Hello everyone! Ruth and I got safely home last night. We stopped short of kissing the ground, but we're very thankful and excited to be home. I'll try to put together some online photo albums in the next few weeks and post them here. Thanks for tuning in to my European adventures!
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
The Grand Voyage to Scotland
Today Ruth and I spent 12 hours getting from Portstewart, Ireland to Glasgow, Scotland. It involved 4 buses, 1 train, 1 ferry boat, 1 taxi, and us wandering around like fools for quite a while. We were given directions from a very nice old Scotsman, but I maybe would have understood him more if he was speaking French. I did understand the words "wee bit" and "student" in the course of the conversation, but basically we smiled and nodded and continued on our very lost path. And once we actually got to the hostel his directions made a wee bit more sense- maybe we'll catch on eventually.
And Scotland is gorgeous- at least the Western coast that we've seen, so our travels were fairly enjoyable. Thus ends the story from today.
And Scotland is gorgeous- at least the Western coast that we've seen, so our travels were fairly enjoyable. Thus ends the story from today.
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Seeing Belfast Fast and The Giant's Causeway
This'll be quick, but I just wanted to update you on how we're getting along. It's less than a week until we go home, and we're definitely getting excited! The British Isles are lovely, though, so we're glad to have a little more time to explore.
On Monday we visited the General Post Office in Dublin, which is where the Easter Rising was kicked off; the pillars are still pock-marked from bullets. From there we caught our train to Belfast, where we spent a few hours seeing the Botanic Gardens and the City Hall, before heading to Portstewart on the coast of Northern Ireland.
We're staying in a hostel that is less than a block off the sea. The coast is gorgeous and green and rocky, and we've enjoyed walking up and down the promenade. The people here are also super friendly, and you only have to look confused for a minute before someone comes up and offers help. Of course, we're lucky if we can understand them, as their accents are pretty thick, but it is nice to meet with such friendly people.
Today we saw the Giant's Causeway, which is a national park on the coast with bizarre hexagonal rock formations. It was brilliantly sunny and quite pretty. I love the sound of the waves and the fresh smell of the wind. This afternoon we had tea overlooking the ocean, which was delightful and helped us warm up, as the weather is quite chilly.
Tomorrow we're taking a ferry to Scotland, where we'll spend a few days before heading back to London for the rest of our trip...
I had a funny experience on the phone today: I called to make a reservation on the ferry, and halfway through the man asked for my zip code, which I promptly told him. He seemed confused and asked again for my zip code, which I gave him again. He still didn't seem to get it, so I told it to him again, making sure to let him know that I was from the US. He was super shocked that I was from the US, as he was sure from my English accent that I was from Britian. He seemed put out, and asked somewhat crankily if I wanted him to change my nationality to US. As I am from the US, I thought it would be good for him to change it. It was quite interesting, as I certainly do not and never have had a British accent. Ruth and I had a good laugh over it.
It's time to sign off! I'm looking forward to seeing many of you soon!
On Monday we visited the General Post Office in Dublin, which is where the Easter Rising was kicked off; the pillars are still pock-marked from bullets. From there we caught our train to Belfast, where we spent a few hours seeing the Botanic Gardens and the City Hall, before heading to Portstewart on the coast of Northern Ireland.
We're staying in a hostel that is less than a block off the sea. The coast is gorgeous and green and rocky, and we've enjoyed walking up and down the promenade. The people here are also super friendly, and you only have to look confused for a minute before someone comes up and offers help. Of course, we're lucky if we can understand them, as their accents are pretty thick, but it is nice to meet with such friendly people.
Today we saw the Giant's Causeway, which is a national park on the coast with bizarre hexagonal rock formations. It was brilliantly sunny and quite pretty. I love the sound of the waves and the fresh smell of the wind. This afternoon we had tea overlooking the ocean, which was delightful and helped us warm up, as the weather is quite chilly.
Tomorrow we're taking a ferry to Scotland, where we'll spend a few days before heading back to London for the rest of our trip...
I had a funny experience on the phone today: I called to make a reservation on the ferry, and halfway through the man asked for my zip code, which I promptly told him. He seemed confused and asked again for my zip code, which I gave him again. He still didn't seem to get it, so I told it to him again, making sure to let him know that I was from the US. He was super shocked that I was from the US, as he was sure from my English accent that I was from Britian. He seemed put out, and asked somewhat crankily if I wanted him to change my nationality to US. As I am from the US, I thought it would be good for him to change it. It was quite interesting, as I certainly do not and never have had a British accent. Ruth and I had a good laugh over it.
It's time to sign off! I'm looking forward to seeing many of you soon!
Sunday, July 22, 2007
The Luck 'O the Irish
Speaking of the luck o' the Irish, Ruth and I had a lucky break with our travel plans. We had debated spending more time in the Cotswolds or other places in Western England, but we decided not, in favor of seeing Wales and Ireland and Scotland. The day after we left the Cotswolds, they were dumped on by some huge storms, and all travel in the area was shut down: train operations suspended and roads closed. Good thing we got out when we could, otherwise we would have been stranded! I guess there are worse places in the world to be stranded, but we're enjoying seeing the different areas of the British Isles.
Speaking of luck, we have been also lucky(?) in having some interesting B&B experiences. At our B&B in Wales, our good landlord like to talk, so we got an inside look at what life is like in small-town Wales. We heard all about his kids and things to do in the area and normal stuff like that, but then we ventured in to global warming and the French. Apparently, he's not too keen on the French, since he asserts that there are always wars going on between the British and the French. The current war that he told us about involved the French burning British sheep!
We otherwise had a lovely time in Wales: we rambled around an old castle (Conwy Castle), which we pretty much had to ourselves, and then toured the Bodnant Gardens, which are gorgeous. (As a side note, my camera has pretty much given up the ghost after all of the abuse it has taken this trip, so there probably won't be any more photo uploads until we get home.)
From Conwy, we trained to the port to take the ferry to Dublin, passing lots of sheepies and green fields, as well as the town/train station with the longest name ever: the lovely Welsh town of Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch. This lengthy name apparently means "St. Mary's Church in the hollow of white hazel near a rapid whirlpool and the Church of St. Tysilio near the red cave."
Our crossing from Wales to Dublin was smooth, despite the 100s of young scouts that were on our boat and raising Cain. This morning we explored Dublin, walking around the town and seeing Trinity College and St. Stephen's Green and some nice Georgian-era architecture. For our thoroughly Irish experience we attended evensong at St. Patrick's Cathedral, sat in the Guinness pew (as in the beer), and listened to an organ play the "Tuba Tune," which is more commonly referred to as "Danny Boy!"
Tomorrow we head to Belfast for the day, and then to the Giant's Causeway on the Northern Coast of Ireland. Should be pretty! It's a little over a week before we come home, and we're excited to get back, since living out of a suitcase gets a little tiring, and we miss all you good folk. Hope you're doing well, and we'll try to keep you updated this last week!
Speaking of luck, we have been also lucky(?) in having some interesting B&B experiences. At our B&B in Wales, our good landlord like to talk, so we got an inside look at what life is like in small-town Wales. We heard all about his kids and things to do in the area and normal stuff like that, but then we ventured in to global warming and the French. Apparently, he's not too keen on the French, since he asserts that there are always wars going on between the British and the French. The current war that he told us about involved the French burning British sheep!
We otherwise had a lovely time in Wales: we rambled around an old castle (Conwy Castle), which we pretty much had to ourselves, and then toured the Bodnant Gardens, which are gorgeous. (As a side note, my camera has pretty much given up the ghost after all of the abuse it has taken this trip, so there probably won't be any more photo uploads until we get home.)
From Conwy, we trained to the port to take the ferry to Dublin, passing lots of sheepies and green fields, as well as the town/train station with the longest name ever: the lovely Welsh town of Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch. This lengthy name apparently means "St. Mary's Church in the hollow of white hazel near a rapid whirlpool and the Church of St. Tysilio near the red cave."
Our crossing from Wales to Dublin was smooth, despite the 100s of young scouts that were on our boat and raising Cain. This morning we explored Dublin, walking around the town and seeing Trinity College and St. Stephen's Green and some nice Georgian-era architecture. For our thoroughly Irish experience we attended evensong at St. Patrick's Cathedral, sat in the Guinness pew (as in the beer), and listened to an organ play the "Tuba Tune," which is more commonly referred to as "Danny Boy!"
Tomorrow we head to Belfast for the day, and then to the Giant's Causeway on the Northern Coast of Ireland. Should be pretty! It's a little over a week before we come home, and we're excited to get back, since living out of a suitcase gets a little tiring, and we miss all you good folk. Hope you're doing well, and we'll try to keep you updated this last week!
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Gallivanting About England
Ruth and I have been gallivanting about England, enjoying sheepies and rolling countryside and cute accents and flowers and tea time and homey B&Bs. We had an informative walking tour around Bath from a man who looked like Christopher Plummer. We learned such interesting things as who built what building and where the local bingo hall is.
We stayed in a very cute B&B in Bath and enjoyed chatting with the other guests in the house. Of course, I think at this point we're glad to speak with anyone who speaks English. One of the couples was from Boston, so we had some nice chats about Boston and New England. They brought jars of peanut butter and Fluff with them so that they could make fluffernutter sandwiches for lunch each day- so funny!
Our tea at the pump room was quite the event. We sat in a room overlooking the Roman baths and had tea that was accompanied by live piano, violin and cello music. It was lovely, and we got to avoid the torrential downpour that was occuring outside.
Yesterday was spent in the Cotswolds, where we explored quaint little villages and went on a hike through fields that should have taken 2 hours but ended up taking 4 because we kept on wandering off the trail. The trail was actually through farmer's fields, so we were walking with cows at times. It was beautiful, even the Slaughters (Upper and Lower), which are two villages that actually have nothing to do with death, despite the name.
Today we took 6 trains to get to Wales, but now we are in Northern Wales on the sea in a quaint little town with an old castle that we hope to tour tomorrow. Ruth and I are planning to speak whales here- maybe it will help us blend in with the locals.
To backtrack- the last thing we did in France before taking the ferry over was to tour the D-Day beaches and visit the Caen War Memorial Museum. It is really sobering and thought-provoking to tour the cemetaries, with their endless rows of marble crosses, and the pock-marked bluffs where so many died and the beaches that saw so much fighting. The beaches were especially jarring, as they are now a huge tourist draw- so people sunbathe and cavort in and around the memorials that mark the Omaha beach! It is an interesting contrast, thinking about men fighting and dying on the spot where people now get a tan and spent their holiday. Anyways, it was an interesting tour, complete with a tour guide who spoke English with an accent straight out of the Pink Panther. Times up, so I've got to run!
We stayed in a very cute B&B in Bath and enjoyed chatting with the other guests in the house. Of course, I think at this point we're glad to speak with anyone who speaks English. One of the couples was from Boston, so we had some nice chats about Boston and New England. They brought jars of peanut butter and Fluff with them so that they could make fluffernutter sandwiches for lunch each day- so funny!
Our tea at the pump room was quite the event. We sat in a room overlooking the Roman baths and had tea that was accompanied by live piano, violin and cello music. It was lovely, and we got to avoid the torrential downpour that was occuring outside.
Yesterday was spent in the Cotswolds, where we explored quaint little villages and went on a hike through fields that should have taken 2 hours but ended up taking 4 because we kept on wandering off the trail. The trail was actually through farmer's fields, so we were walking with cows at times. It was beautiful, even the Slaughters (Upper and Lower), which are two villages that actually have nothing to do with death, despite the name.
Today we took 6 trains to get to Wales, but now we are in Northern Wales on the sea in a quaint little town with an old castle that we hope to tour tomorrow. Ruth and I are planning to speak whales here- maybe it will help us blend in with the locals.
To backtrack- the last thing we did in France before taking the ferry over was to tour the D-Day beaches and visit the Caen War Memorial Museum. It is really sobering and thought-provoking to tour the cemetaries, with their endless rows of marble crosses, and the pock-marked bluffs where so many died and the beaches that saw so much fighting. The beaches were especially jarring, as they are now a huge tourist draw- so people sunbathe and cavort in and around the memorials that mark the Omaha beach! It is an interesting contrast, thinking about men fighting and dying on the spot where people now get a tan and spent their holiday. Anyways, it was an interesting tour, complete with a tour guide who spoke English with an accent straight out of the Pink Panther. Times up, so I've got to run!
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Back in the Motherland (or something)
Ruth and I just got out of a lovely tea at the Pump Room in Bath, complete with live music. We're staying in a cute B&B with a cute woman named Anne who is like a grandmother to us, and everyone speaks English. It's super exciting. This is all I have time for, sorry!
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Parisian Adventures
Happy Bastille Day!
Ruth and I are sitting in the hottest internet cafe known to man. Hence, this might be short.
Ruth and I had a glorious time yesterday- at IKEA. We traveled out into the suburbs to visit an IKEA, because we thought it would be fun to go to an IKEA in another country, and it also provided a little taste of home. We wandered around the display floors and saw all of the interesting products that they carry only in Europe, and then we had a delicious and cheap meal in the restaurant. Everything in Paris is super expensive, so it's nice to find something a little cheaper every now and again.
After IKEA, we got started on our real sight-seeing: Versailles. We toured the Chateaux and the famous Hall of Mirrors. The palace was so grandiose and everything was gold-plated, and it is hard to believe that people actually lived there once. We took a break from the heat on a shady bench in the garden and watched tourists in golf carts fly by and tractors hauling palm trees to who-knows-where. The weather suddenly decided to get nice- sunny and hot- all of the sudden yesterday, so it was the perfect day to see Versailles. We also toured Marie Antionette's house and some of the gardens, but we couldn't see it all before it closed. Versailles is massive- to see it all in one day would be an accomplishment. The gardens were very beautiful, and the fountains in the garden would be something to see when they are actually working, which is only the weekends...
On our way home, we had another interesting subway experience. A homeless man got on the train and started pushing (quite hard) some of the women who were in his way. He spent most of the ride cursing and yelling, until he decided to pull out a knife and brandish it at some of the passengers and then stab the door. Once he pulled out a suspicious-looking bottle and took a pull he was a little happier and put the knife away, but it definitely was... interesting. We were glad that he didn't get off at our stop.
This morning Ruth and I were kicked out of our room by our landlady, who made us move up to the 6th floor for our last night. That was a little exciting, but we have a better view from the 6th floor, and we don't have to listen to her yell all day long.
The Bastille Day parade down the Champs-Elysees was this morning. Ruth and I have been so exhausted from all of our adventures, so we didn't get up early enough to watch it live, but we did watch it on TV. It was quite the military display- I think every single person in any branch of military, as well as all of the military equipment was on parade. There were even cement trucks!
We went to Montmartre this afternoon and saw the Sacre-Coeur church and enjoyed a beautiful view of Paris. We also took a saunter through the Luxembourg Gardens, which are very pretty and flowery.
This evening we're hoping to see the fireworks by the Eiffel Tower- we'll have to go pretty early to make sure that we get a spot. Tomorrow we're going to a World War II museum in Caen and touring the D-Day beaches, and then Monday we head off to England. We're going to be in small-town England and Wales for a while, so we're not sure when we'll get online again. I wish you a happy Bastille Day!
Ruth and I are sitting in the hottest internet cafe known to man. Hence, this might be short.
Ruth and I had a glorious time yesterday- at IKEA. We traveled out into the suburbs to visit an IKEA, because we thought it would be fun to go to an IKEA in another country, and it also provided a little taste of home. We wandered around the display floors and saw all of the interesting products that they carry only in Europe, and then we had a delicious and cheap meal in the restaurant. Everything in Paris is super expensive, so it's nice to find something a little cheaper every now and again.
After IKEA, we got started on our real sight-seeing: Versailles. We toured the Chateaux and the famous Hall of Mirrors. The palace was so grandiose and everything was gold-plated, and it is hard to believe that people actually lived there once. We took a break from the heat on a shady bench in the garden and watched tourists in golf carts fly by and tractors hauling palm trees to who-knows-where. The weather suddenly decided to get nice- sunny and hot- all of the sudden yesterday, so it was the perfect day to see Versailles. We also toured Marie Antionette's house and some of the gardens, but we couldn't see it all before it closed. Versailles is massive- to see it all in one day would be an accomplishment. The gardens were very beautiful, and the fountains in the garden would be something to see when they are actually working, which is only the weekends...
On our way home, we had another interesting subway experience. A homeless man got on the train and started pushing (quite hard) some of the women who were in his way. He spent most of the ride cursing and yelling, until he decided to pull out a knife and brandish it at some of the passengers and then stab the door. Once he pulled out a suspicious-looking bottle and took a pull he was a little happier and put the knife away, but it definitely was... interesting. We were glad that he didn't get off at our stop.
This morning Ruth and I were kicked out of our room by our landlady, who made us move up to the 6th floor for our last night. That was a little exciting, but we have a better view from the 6th floor, and we don't have to listen to her yell all day long.
The Bastille Day parade down the Champs-Elysees was this morning. Ruth and I have been so exhausted from all of our adventures, so we didn't get up early enough to watch it live, but we did watch it on TV. It was quite the military display- I think every single person in any branch of military, as well as all of the military equipment was on parade. There were even cement trucks!
We went to Montmartre this afternoon and saw the Sacre-Coeur church and enjoyed a beautiful view of Paris. We also took a saunter through the Luxembourg Gardens, which are very pretty and flowery.
This evening we're hoping to see the fireworks by the Eiffel Tower- we'll have to go pretty early to make sure that we get a spot. Tomorrow we're going to a World War II museum in Caen and touring the D-Day beaches, and then Monday we head off to England. We're going to be in small-town England and Wales for a while, so we're not sure when we'll get online again. I wish you a happy Bastille Day!
Friday, July 13, 2007
The Opera Man
I forgot to mention it before, but Ruth and I had an interesting encounter in the Brussels Metro. We were sitting there politely when suddenly a man got in and started singing opera. It was not too good, but it got even worse when he started quacking at random parts in his show. I've never heard quack-opera, but it certainly was quite interesting...
More later, but I just wanted to share the wonderment of the duck opera man with you all.
More later, but I just wanted to share the wonderment of the duck opera man with you all.
Thursday, July 12, 2007
On Disney Castles, Night Trains, Brussels, and Paris
So, picking up where I left off...
Ruth and I had a nice journey to the Neuschwanstein Castle.
It is a very pretty castle, although it seemed a little strange because it is so (relatively) new. It also was dedicated to Wagner, so it was complete with a cave/grotto on the inside, which is something you don't see every day. Overall, it was a very successful trip. The scenery surrounding the castle is beautiful- similar to the Swiss Alps, but more tame (and German). You can see why someone would choose to build a castle there.
We had a ten hour night train to Paris, in which we sat up all night in a hot and stuffy and smelly and squishy compartment with four other people. It was slightly a nightmare, but we made it to Paris at last. It was nice to go on a night train, because it would have been a shame spending a whole day traveling on a train between the two places.
We had some difficulty checking in to our hotel- the place doesn't have internet, so they had no record of our reservation, since we made it only two days ago. Once we proved that we had a reservation, they were happy to let us in, but until then we had a very heated conversation in English on our side and Chinese/French/English on their side. Our hotel is in the Paris version of Chinatown, so we have our pick of Chinese restaurants- not something I was expecting in Paris.
Our first day in Paris was spent exploring little neighborhoods and local markets, visiting the Museum of Jewish History in Europe, and having a delightful picnic on the Place Voges. The Jewish museum provided an interesting look at how the Jewish culture evolved around Europe, and how it has been persecuted and belittled. Definitely provided some food for thought.
On Tuesday we decided to go on a day trip to Brussels, Belgium, just because we could. There's a fast train that runs there, so it only took an hour and a half to get there. We enjoyed the French fries and the Belgian waffles, and decided that the waffles are definitely better in Belgium. We saw the Grand Place, which is a beautiful square. We also went to the building that is modeled after the atom- hooray for chemistry!
We enjoyed wandering around Belgium and seeing what was to be seen.
Yesterday we plunged in to Paris. We had breakfast at the Eiffel Tower, ducked into Napolean's Tomb, where we lost our guide book, and then spent the morning finding an English bookstore to get another guidebook. Once we had secured one, we had crepes across the river from the Notre Dame before touring the it. We wandered around the historic core of Paris, seeing a memorial of the deportation, which remembers the French who were deported from Paris to concentration and work camps and never returned. We also saw the Concierge, where Marie Antoinette was imprisoned, and the St. Chapelle Church, which is a beautiful chapel with amazing stained glass. We finished our day in Paris by picnicking by the Eiffel Tower and watching it light up in the evening, which was a beautiful sight. It's pretty chilly here, with highs in the low 60s, which makes sitting outside for long periods of time a little challenging, but the tower at night was worth it.
Today we did an art museum blitz, seeing the Orsay Museum and its Impressionistic paintings (which I loved) in the morning, and then going to the Louvre during lunch when it is a little less crowded. We were more selective as to what we saw at the Louvre because it is just so huge and overwhelming, but we did see the Mona Lisa. I rather wonder why it is so famous, but it was good to see it in person. We wandered through the Tuilleries and then down the Champs Elysees to the Arc du Triomphe. Whew! It's been a busy day!
We have two more days in Paris- we're hoping to do Versailles one of them. Saturday is Bastille Day, so there will be fireworks and parades, which would be cool to see. We're paying an arm and a leg for internet here in Paris, so I'm not sure when we'll be checking in next. Hope you're all doing well!
Ruth and I had a nice journey to the Neuschwanstein Castle.
It is a very pretty castle, although it seemed a little strange because it is so (relatively) new. It also was dedicated to Wagner, so it was complete with a cave/grotto on the inside, which is something you don't see every day. Overall, it was a very successful trip. The scenery surrounding the castle is beautiful- similar to the Swiss Alps, but more tame (and German). You can see why someone would choose to build a castle there.We had a ten hour night train to Paris, in which we sat up all night in a hot and stuffy and smelly and squishy compartment with four other people. It was slightly a nightmare, but we made it to Paris at last. It was nice to go on a night train, because it would have been a shame spending a whole day traveling on a train between the two places.
We had some difficulty checking in to our hotel- the place doesn't have internet, so they had no record of our reservation, since we made it only two days ago. Once we proved that we had a reservation, they were happy to let us in, but until then we had a very heated conversation in English on our side and Chinese/French/English on their side. Our hotel is in the Paris version of Chinatown, so we have our pick of Chinese restaurants- not something I was expecting in Paris.
Our first day in Paris was spent exploring little neighborhoods and local markets, visiting the Museum of Jewish History in Europe, and having a delightful picnic on the Place Voges. The Jewish museum provided an interesting look at how the Jewish culture evolved around Europe, and how it has been persecuted and belittled. Definitely provided some food for thought.
On Tuesday we decided to go on a day trip to Brussels, Belgium, just because we could. There's a fast train that runs there, so it only took an hour and a half to get there. We enjoyed the French fries and the Belgian waffles, and decided that the waffles are definitely better in Belgium. We saw the Grand Place, which is a beautiful square. We also went to the building that is modeled after the atom- hooray for chemistry!
We enjoyed wandering around Belgium and seeing what was to be seen.Yesterday we plunged in to Paris. We had breakfast at the Eiffel Tower, ducked into Napolean's Tomb, where we lost our guide book, and then spent the morning finding an English bookstore to get another guidebook. Once we had secured one, we had crepes across the river from the Notre Dame before touring the it. We wandered around the historic core of Paris, seeing a memorial of the deportation, which remembers the French who were deported from Paris to concentration and work camps and never returned. We also saw the Concierge, where Marie Antoinette was imprisoned, and the St. Chapelle Church, which is a beautiful chapel with amazing stained glass. We finished our day in Paris by picnicking by the Eiffel Tower and watching it light up in the evening, which was a beautiful sight. It's pretty chilly here, with highs in the low 60s, which makes sitting outside for long periods of time a little challenging, but the tower at night was worth it.
Today we did an art museum blitz, seeing the Orsay Museum and its Impressionistic paintings (which I loved) in the morning, and then going to the Louvre during lunch when it is a little less crowded. We were more selective as to what we saw at the Louvre because it is just so huge and overwhelming, but we did see the Mona Lisa. I rather wonder why it is so famous, but it was good to see it in person. We wandered through the Tuilleries and then down the Champs Elysees to the Arc du Triomphe. Whew! It's been a busy day!
We have two more days in Paris- we're hoping to do Versailles one of them. Saturday is Bastille Day, so there will be fireworks and parades, which would be cool to see. We're paying an arm and a leg for internet here in Paris, so I'm not sure when we'll be checking in next. Hope you're all doing well!
Saturday, July 7, 2007
Lake Como, the Fabulous Alps, an Evening in France, and Germany on a Whim
I loved Lake Como and thought it was my favorite place until I saw the Swiss Alps. Not that Lake Como is not pretty, by any means, but I love the Alps.
We had one leisurely day in Lake Como in which we toured the Villa Carlotta and its amazing gardens, and otherwise had a wonderful and relaxing time doing nothing and enjoying the lake.
The next day we were off for the Swiss Alps. We spent most of the day enroute, but the scenery was well worth it. We stayed in a little town call Lauterbrunnen, which is a 20 minute train ride from Interlaken. The valley that our apartment was in has 72 waterfalls, and I think we could see at least 15, including one that was a 10 minute walk away. The mountains and cliffs soared all around us, and we could see the snow-covered Jungfrau at one end of the valley.
The green hills and valley were dotted with cute Swiss chalets with cows and windowboxes and tidy gardens. It was beautiful! It unfortunately had a tendancy to rain all the time while we were there, which put a damper (hehe) on some of our plans. We did visit a chocolate school one rainy afternoon, and we also hiked up to Trömmelbach Falls, which are enourmous waterfalls that pour through caverns in the mountain that are draining from three different glaciers. The falls were super cool because you got to go into the caverns in the mountain where the huge waterfalls were; if you were in the valley you would have no idea that such a huge waterfall is there because it is mostly in the mountain. We did not do any other big activities, but it was so nice to relax and to walk around the village and valley.
It was also interesting because the Swiss are my kind of people- neat and tidy and on time. Compared the other other places that we have visited, everything was so tidy- the yards and the houses, and everything was super on time. In Spain a train left on time if it was out within 5 or so minutes of the posted time. In Switzerland, if the train left more than 5 seconds after the posted time you wondered what was going on.
We left our parents and Marie yesterday; they are heading home, and we have three more weeks left for our European adventures. We took a train to Colmar, France, which is a super cute small town with half-timbered houses. On the way, we decided to skip going to the South of France (because the tours we wanted to go on were cancelled), and instead head to Munich to see the Disney Castle, and then head to Paris a few days early to make sure that we see everything we want to.
Hence, I am posting from an internet cafe in Munich. We have been up since 4 AM to make our trains, and in Munich we have seen free concerts and protests about lab animals (complete with a coffin and pallbearers and people in animal costumes) and lots of beer gardens. Tomorrow we will tour the Neuschwanstein Castle, and then who knows?
We will keep you posted and hopefully will get pictures up sometime. Hope you all had a great 4th of July!
We had one leisurely day in Lake Como in which we toured the Villa Carlotta and its amazing gardens, and otherwise had a wonderful and relaxing time doing nothing and enjoying the lake.
The next day we were off for the Swiss Alps. We spent most of the day enroute, but the scenery was well worth it. We stayed in a little town call Lauterbrunnen, which is a 20 minute train ride from Interlaken. The valley that our apartment was in has 72 waterfalls, and I think we could see at least 15, including one that was a 10 minute walk away. The mountains and cliffs soared all around us, and we could see the snow-covered Jungfrau at one end of the valley.
The green hills and valley were dotted with cute Swiss chalets with cows and windowboxes and tidy gardens. It was beautiful! It unfortunately had a tendancy to rain all the time while we were there, which put a damper (hehe) on some of our plans. We did visit a chocolate school one rainy afternoon, and we also hiked up to Trömmelbach Falls, which are enourmous waterfalls that pour through caverns in the mountain that are draining from three different glaciers. The falls were super cool because you got to go into the caverns in the mountain where the huge waterfalls were; if you were in the valley you would have no idea that such a huge waterfall is there because it is mostly in the mountain. We did not do any other big activities, but it was so nice to relax and to walk around the village and valley.
It was also interesting because the Swiss are my kind of people- neat and tidy and on time. Compared the other other places that we have visited, everything was so tidy- the yards and the houses, and everything was super on time. In Spain a train left on time if it was out within 5 or so minutes of the posted time. In Switzerland, if the train left more than 5 seconds after the posted time you wondered what was going on.
We left our parents and Marie yesterday; they are heading home, and we have three more weeks left for our European adventures. We took a train to Colmar, France, which is a super cute small town with half-timbered houses. On the way, we decided to skip going to the South of France (because the tours we wanted to go on were cancelled), and instead head to Munich to see the Disney Castle, and then head to Paris a few days early to make sure that we see everything we want to.
Hence, I am posting from an internet cafe in Munich. We have been up since 4 AM to make our trains, and in Munich we have seen free concerts and protests about lab animals (complete with a coffin and pallbearers and people in animal costumes) and lots of beer gardens. Tomorrow we will tour the Neuschwanstein Castle, and then who knows?
We will keep you posted and hopefully will get pictures up sometime. Hope you all had a great 4th of July!
Monday, July 2, 2007
The Mondo Post: The End of Rome, Florence Rambles, Venice Cruising, and Lake Como Peace
Ruth told me that this post needed to come with a disclaimer, so here it is: I hope you’ve eaten your Wheaties this morning, because it’s going to be a long one! Also, some of my older posts have been updated with more pictures, and I would suggest checking out Ruth's blog if you haven't because she has some more photos.
(These are the popes shrubs above! Hooray for shrubberies!)
To finish off Rome… We finally got in to the Vatican Museum on Tuesday (after waiting in line for about 2 hours) and saw the Sistine Chapel and lots of other art- maps, Raphael’s walls, sculpture up the wazoo, mummies, artifacts, modern religious art, etc. Supposedly there are four miles of art to wander around at the Vatican, and I think we definitely saw it all before ending up at the Sistine Chapel. The Chapel was impressive and beautiful, and it was crazy to see these iconic paintings in person.
Rome itself was a surreal experience. There’s something bizarre and really cool about taking a taxi home at night and passing through the ancient walls of Rome and over the Tiber River, and seeing the Forum and the Coliseum and the Vatican and St. Peter’s all lit up.
On our last night there we experienced Rome at its best- at dusk and as the moon rose. It had cooled down, and the moonlight softened the ugly parts and made the whole city more beautiful. We retraced some of our tour from Monday- we climbed the Spanish steps, chucked our coins in the Trevi Fountain as it was all lit up (to ensure that we come back to Rome), watched the moon rise over the Pantheon while enjoying some of the best gelato in Rome, and watched the artists at work on the Piazza Nouvona. It was the perfect way to end our stay in Rome.
On Wednesday we went to Pisa for the day on our way to Florence. The train ride from Rome to Pisa was gorgeous- we were riding along the Mediterranean coastline, and the sea had about a million distinct shades of blue and green. The train station at Pisa was not so beautiful- we saw someone fall underneath a train as it was entering the station, which was horrifying. The screams and the chaos that ensued were crazy, and it made me incredibly thankful for the safe travels that we have had. We later found out that she had died...
After getting out of the station as the ambulance arrived, we wandered the streets of Pisa and climbed the leaning tower. It was difficult to stay balanced while climbing and descending slippery marble stairs that tilt, but really exciting to think that I was where Galileo had been and had done some of his research. From there, we headed off to Florence and wandered the streets around the Duomo and historic Florence in the evening.
On Thursday we toured Florence, visiting the David and Ponte Vecchio. Ponte Vecchio is a bridge lined with shops that sell silver and gold, with great views of Florence on the river. Local men take padlocks and attach them to the bridge and throw the key into the river to symbolize their undying love for their significant other; hence, there were lots of padlocks on the bridge. We also toured the gardens on the grounds of the Pitti Palace. The gardens had lovely views of Florence, a plethora of statues, and some beautiful fountains, which I very much enjoyed. We also escaped the tour groups, which was very exciting.
We spent the afternoon and evening in Siena, which is a smaller, out-of-the-way town in Tuscany. The ride there was gorgeous, with villas and vineyards and sunflower fields and olive trees and rolling hills- just like the pictures of Tuscany. We rambled around the city, climbed the bell tower for lovely views of the city and countryside, picnicked on Il Campo (the main square of Siena where everyone hangs out), and generally experienced life in a small Italian town with fewer tourists. The square was all set up for the Palio, which is a horse race that is held once a year in Siena, where all of the neighborhoods compete against each other in a race around the square. The square had a ring of dirt around it, mattresses padding the corners, and bleachers set up all around for viewing. We missed the actual race by a few days, but it was cool to see everything all set up. We saw some photos from the race in previous years, and it looks like it would be crazy. There really are no rules, so jockeys will hit each other and rider-less horses can win. Looks like fun!
We enjoyed our ride back to Florence, as it was at sunset and just generally beautiful. We had a little bit of excitement, since our bus driver was texting throughout the trip, but we made it safely back.
On our last day in Florence we spent the morning bartering and generally making out like bandits at the central market in Florence, which had anything and everything you could ever want. We hopped on our train to Venice, and then had a beautiful ride through some mountains to Venice.
Venice is lovely and watery and old. We cruised the Grand Canal on our way to the hotel and saw gondolas and old palaces and caught a glimpse of St. Mark’s and enjoyed the Venice ambience with about a million other people. It still was charming, despite the teeming hordes. In the evening, we explored the side streets of Venice- the rambling canals and cute bridges. We managed to find a relatively quiet neighborhood and had a peaceful supper in a garden. Hooray for gardens! We bus-boated back to our hotel, enjoying the lit up canal at night.
The bus system is really a bunch of mondo boats that cruise back and forth on the canal with river-side “stations.” It is quite slow, but a good way to see Venice, and really the only way to get where you want to go. It’s really amusing to see DHL boats and food boats and to see teenagers out cruising with loud music at night in their power boats.
On our full day in Venice, we did a grand tour, boating around the islands some more, seeing the glass blowing that Venice is so famous for, visiting some of the famous bridges: the Rialto and the Bridge of Sighs, seeing San Marcos Square, and wandering around the streets and canals and parks that are so pretty. We even managed to find a residential neighborhood where we could rub elbows with locals and almost no tourists.
I also managed to have a hugely Venetian experience… We had lunch on a little square, and the pigeons started attacking in swarms. (You don’t need to go to San Marcos to see pigeons- they’re everywhere!) They were even pecking my feet, so I started shooing them away with my feet- and ended up punting one quite soundly! It was quite satisfying. Score: Sarah 1, Pigeons 0. Of course, then I started laughing so hard that a) everyone looked and b) the pigeons were all scared away for real. But it truly is a strange sensation to kick a pigeon…
Yesterday we spent most of the day (my birthday!) traveling from Venice to Lezzano on Lake Como. It involved boats and trains and buses, and was quite an experience. Lake Como is one of the most beautiful places on earth- a gorgeous lake surrounded by huge, steep mountains that are dotted with villas and otherwise covered with trees. Because the mountains are so steep and the roads have to be carved out of the rock, the roads are incredibly narrow and windy- often they are only wide enough to allow for one car. As a result, the bus ride was quite an experience. The driver would honk on the curves where it is impossible to see if anyone was coming to say that he was coming and that he was going to go where only one car could go. A lot of times the cars and motorcycles didn’t believe him, so we would pretty much be stuck until the smaller cars moved on. And then we’d go careening on down the windy road.
We had supper on the water last night, just enjoying the gorgeous scenery. We also watched a thunderstorm roll in over a 20 minute period- the lightning was amazing on the lake. I also love thunderstorms, so it was the perfect way to end my birthday.
And thus ends the saga for now… We’re going to enjoy relaxing at Lake Como for a little bit, since we’ve pretty much been going straight through for a while. Hope you’re all doing well!
Monday, June 25, 2007
Roman Adventures
It is hard to believe that I am sitting here in an internet cafe in Rome!
Ruth and I had a fairly smooth trip to Rome from Barcelona and met up with the family at the baggage claim belt, which could not have worked out better. We are staying in a nice apartment close to the Vatican; it is nice to be able to cook some of our own meals for a change of pace.
On Sunday we had the grand tour of Rome. We got a guided tour around the Spanish steps, the Via Corso, the Trevi fountain, the Piazza Nouvona, the Pantheon, and lots of other piazzas and monuments. It was surreal to see random Roman columns on back streets next to medieval buildings. The Pantheon was also amazing, especially when one considers that it was built almost 2000 years ago and is still intact and lovely. It is very hot here, so we are also very thankful for the many fountains around the city that we can drink out of.
After our first real Italian meal at a little cafe on a backstreet, we toured Trajan's Forum, the Colosseum, the Forum, and the Mammertine Prison where supposedly Paul and Peter were jailed. The Colosseum was amazing, but also sobering. To think that this huge structure was built by the government to distract and amuse the public by making killing a spectator sport is quite horrifying.
Today we took it easy to help those suffering with jet lag, as well as to avoid heat stroke, since it was so hot. We toured St. Peters Basilica, which was stunning in all of its vast expanse and rich decorations. We overheard a mass while there, and the music followed us as we took an elevator up to the base of the dome, and then climbed the 320 steps to the top of the dome. The view of Rome was gorgeous, and worth the many stairs and small, winding passages that we took to get there.
Rome is as beautiful as I thought it would be, but hotter than I thought. It is a great city, and hopefully I will have more later. Ciao!
Ruth and I had a fairly smooth trip to Rome from Barcelona and met up with the family at the baggage claim belt, which could not have worked out better. We are staying in a nice apartment close to the Vatican; it is nice to be able to cook some of our own meals for a change of pace.
On Sunday we had the grand tour of Rome. We got a guided tour around the Spanish steps, the Via Corso, the Trevi fountain, the Piazza Nouvona, the Pantheon, and lots of other piazzas and monuments. It was surreal to see random Roman columns on back streets next to medieval buildings. The Pantheon was also amazing, especially when one considers that it was built almost 2000 years ago and is still intact and lovely. It is very hot here, so we are also very thankful for the many fountains around the city that we can drink out of.After our first real Italian meal at a little cafe on a backstreet, we toured Trajan's Forum, the Colosseum, the Forum, and the Mammertine Prison where supposedly Paul and Peter were jailed. The Colosseum was amazing, but also sobering. To think that this huge structure was built by the government to distract and amuse the public by making killing a spectator sport is quite horrifying.
Today we took it easy to help those suffering with jet lag, as well as to avoid heat stroke, since it was so hot. We toured St. Peters Basilica, which was stunning in all of its vast expanse and rich decorations. We overheard a mass while there, and the music followed us as we took an elevator up to the base of the dome, and then climbed the 320 steps to the top of the dome. The view of Rome was gorgeous, and worth the many stairs and small, winding passages that we took to get there.
Rome is as beautiful as I thought it would be, but hotter than I thought. It is a great city, and hopefully I will have more later. Ciao!
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Barcelona: The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly
Ruth and I are heading off to Rome to meet up with our family in just a few hours, so I wanted to finish off blogging about Spain. It´s hard to believe that the first leg of our trip is almost over!
Ruth and I enjoyed our day in Salamanca. We saw the the astronaut on the cathedral, meandered around the University, and spent more time on the Plaza. Then we were back to Madrid to catch our night train to Barcelona.
The night train was an experience, for sure. Ruth and I were on the top bunks, where it was about 4237890395 degrees. We did manage to sleep a little, but all the next day we felt the rocking of the train, even when we were wandering around Barcelona.
Barcelona is an interesting city. We got in really early in the morning, so we had a long day on Thursday to explore. We walked on the major shopping/tourist street, called the Ramblas, and managed to see about 100 living statues, a huge open market where you could buy whatever you wanted ever in life, two very naked men just kind of walking around, and a huge march in protest of the elimination of 150 jobs somewhere. (I´ll leave it to you all to determine what was good, bad, or ugly...) It was quite the happening place.
We ended up at the Mediterranean, at another monument to Columbus. We spent the afternoon at the Picasso Museum, which was very interesting, as it had many of his earlier works, and not many of his later works. It gave a very interesting glimpse into the evolution of his work over time, as well as some very traditional works that I wouldn´t usually associate with Picasso. We were close to the beach, so we went to dip our feet in the Mediterranean. Dipping our feet in was really all we did, since the beach was so crowded. We were also way too fully-clothed to be on the beach, since we were wearing our clothes. Most of the women on the beach weren´t even wearing tops, which was slightly unexpected. I think the North Shore spoils me, but I really like having more space on the beach, where you´re not sitting on top of your neighbor. Despite that, the sea was beautiful, cool, and refreshing.
Yesterday was a Gaudi-rific day, as we spent most of our day seeing the major Gaudi sights in Barcelona. We saw the Block of Discord, the Casa Mila, and the Sagrada Familia. The Sagrada Familia is a huge church that has been abuilding since the 1880s, and it is estimated that it
won´t be finished for another 50 years. It is truly a work of massive proportions. The interior of the cathedral that is finish is very lovely and impressive. It has modern, clean lines that are based on things in nature. For example, the columns are modeled after tree trunks, and the
stairways are modeled after the curly interior of sea shells. We got to go up in two of the towers at the top of the church, and the view of Barcelona was amazing. I really enjoy Gaudi´s architecture; it is so interesting and beautiful.
In the evening we went to Park Guell, which is a failed gated community that Gaudi designed. We got a little lost on our way there and ended up wandering in to a club for male senior citizens on accident. (That´s one thing about Barcelona- they speak Catalan, which is a related language to Spanish, but not close enough for us to be able to read signs or understand really at all. Hence, the detour into the males-only club...) We quickly realized our mistake and found our way to the park, which had very interested landscaping, the longest (and prettiest, with mosaics everywhere) park bench in the world, great views over Barcelona, a few houses by Gaudi, and the famous lizard fountain. It was a gorgeous park. I´ve decided that I´m going to build a house in the Gaudi style, because I just like it that much.
And thus, our adventures in Spain end. It´s hard to believe that it´s been only two weeks, because we´ve done so much. My time is up, so I´d better go. More later, from Rome!
Ruth and I enjoyed our day in Salamanca. We saw the the astronaut on the cathedral, meandered around the University, and spent more time on the Plaza. Then we were back to Madrid to catch our night train to Barcelona.
The night train was an experience, for sure. Ruth and I were on the top bunks, where it was about 4237890395 degrees. We did manage to sleep a little, but all the next day we felt the rocking of the train, even when we were wandering around Barcelona.
Barcelona is an interesting city. We got in really early in the morning, so we had a long day on Thursday to explore. We walked on the major shopping/tourist street, called the Ramblas, and managed to see about 100 living statues, a huge open market where you could buy whatever you wanted ever in life, two very naked men just kind of walking around, and a huge march in protest of the elimination of 150 jobs somewhere. (I´ll leave it to you all to determine what was good, bad, or ugly...) It was quite the happening place.
We ended up at the Mediterranean, at another monument to Columbus. We spent the afternoon at the Picasso Museum, which was very interesting, as it had many of his earlier works, and not many of his later works. It gave a very interesting glimpse into the evolution of his work over time, as well as some very traditional works that I wouldn´t usually associate with Picasso. We were close to the beach, so we went to dip our feet in the Mediterranean. Dipping our feet in was really all we did, since the beach was so crowded. We were also way too fully-clothed to be on the beach, since we were wearing our clothes. Most of the women on the beach weren´t even wearing tops, which was slightly unexpected. I think the North Shore spoils me, but I really like having more space on the beach, where you´re not sitting on top of your neighbor. Despite that, the sea was beautiful, cool, and refreshing.
Yesterday was a Gaudi-rific day, as we spent most of our day seeing the major Gaudi sights in Barcelona. We saw the Block of Discord, the Casa Mila, and the Sagrada Familia. The Sagrada Familia is a huge church that has been abuilding since the 1880s, and it is estimated that it
won´t be finished for another 50 years. It is truly a work of massive proportions. The interior of the cathedral that is finish is very lovely and impressive. It has modern, clean lines that are based on things in nature. For example, the columns are modeled after tree trunks, and the
stairways are modeled after the curly interior of sea shells. We got to go up in two of the towers at the top of the church, and the view of Barcelona was amazing. I really enjoy Gaudi´s architecture; it is so interesting and beautiful.In the evening we went to Park Guell, which is a failed gated community that Gaudi designed. We got a little lost on our way there and ended up wandering in to a club for male senior citizens on accident. (That´s one thing about Barcelona- they speak Catalan, which is a related language to Spanish, but not close enough for us to be able to read signs or understand really at all. Hence, the detour into the males-only club...) We quickly realized our mistake and found our way to the park, which had very interested landscaping, the longest (and prettiest, with mosaics everywhere) park bench in the world, great views over Barcelona, a few houses by Gaudi, and the famous lizard fountain. It was a gorgeous park. I´ve decided that I´m going to build a house in the Gaudi style, because I just like it that much.
And thus, our adventures in Spain end. It´s hard to believe that it´s been only two weeks, because we´ve done so much. My time is up, so I´d better go. More later, from Rome!
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
The Journey to Salamanca and Home
So, with me being a such home-body and all, I´m definitely feeling a little homesick, despite Europe´s manifold charms. There have been two things that have reminded me of home and that have made it feel less far away. First, Ruth and I came across two paintings of St. Anthony´s Falls in the Thyssen art gallery, which made us stop and go, ¨Awwww.... Home!¨ Second, when we were on the train to Madrid from Toledo, we met a couple from Minnesota! The woman had been teaching in Morocco for a few years, and she and her husband were having a last voyage around Europe before heading home. It was so nice to have a conversation where we actually understood each other, and we even had the same accent! It´s funny how Minnesota has followed us to Spain.
In other news, we are in Salamanca, and it was a journey of somewhat epic proportions. We got up and out of our pension early this morning to head to the train station to make sure that we could get tickets, since trains have had a tendancy to fill up when we want to take them (and to escape the not-so-friendly eye of the pension owner, after the laundry incident). We got to the station, checked our big bags into lockers, since we´re just taking a little night trip to Salamanca, and then bought all of our tickets for the rest of Spain- to and from Salamanca, and then to Barcelona.
We spent our last few hours in Madrid wandering in the Puerta del Sol area and picnicking in the Retiro Park, which has a cute little man-made lake and great people-watching. We were a little late getting to our train to Salamanca, and, somehow in the frenzy of making the train, I lost our tickets. We have finally decided that there must have been a warp in the time-space continuum that caused them to mysteriously disappear, because I had the tickets in hand on our way down the stairs to the platform, but, by the time we were on the platform, they were gone. We searched like mad, tearing through all of our bags and pockets, but to no avail. We ended up having to reserve more tickets for a train that left over two hours later. We whiled away the time at the train station, only to have the train delayed several times. Finally, however, we got on our way to Salamanca.
The ride was very beautiful- up into the mountains, past some exciting wind farms, and then onto some plains that were very much like Nebraska, just with older buildings. When we left Madrid it was about 85 and sunny, and when we arrived in Salamanca it was about 55 and rainy. We weren´t quite prepared for the weather, so we got some University of Salamanca sweatshirts- practical souveniers. (I never thought that we´d be cold in Spain; I´ve always thought of it as a hot, dry place. However, since getting to Madrid, we´ve had more rain than sun, and definitely cooler temperatures than expected, with highs in the 60s often. Although it is nice to have escaped the heat, we definitely were not prepared for the cool weather. It´s not so cold that we feel like wearing fur-lined winter coats as we´ve seen some doing, but the sweatshirts are definitely appreciated.)
This evening we saw the Plaza Mayor, which is a beautiful plaza where the community gathers, had a nice supper (finally on Spain time- at 8:30), and then enjoyed a community orchestra concert on the plaza while the rain held off. Right now we´re in an internet cafe with a view over the Plaza, which is all lit up and lovely.
Tomorrow we explore Salamanca, and then we´re off to Barcelona for our last few days in Spain before meeting our family in Rome! I think I must sign off here. The internet cafe is a little interesting- not only do many of the keys not even have letters on them because they are so worn, but the screen itself is excessively, flamingly pink, and I am beginning a headache. Have a wonderful week, and thanks for tuning in!
In other news, we are in Salamanca, and it was a journey of somewhat epic proportions. We got up and out of our pension early this morning to head to the train station to make sure that we could get tickets, since trains have had a tendancy to fill up when we want to take them (and to escape the not-so-friendly eye of the pension owner, after the laundry incident). We got to the station, checked our big bags into lockers, since we´re just taking a little night trip to Salamanca, and then bought all of our tickets for the rest of Spain- to and from Salamanca, and then to Barcelona.
We spent our last few hours in Madrid wandering in the Puerta del Sol area and picnicking in the Retiro Park, which has a cute little man-made lake and great people-watching. We were a little late getting to our train to Salamanca, and, somehow in the frenzy of making the train, I lost our tickets. We have finally decided that there must have been a warp in the time-space continuum that caused them to mysteriously disappear, because I had the tickets in hand on our way down the stairs to the platform, but, by the time we were on the platform, they were gone. We searched like mad, tearing through all of our bags and pockets, but to no avail. We ended up having to reserve more tickets for a train that left over two hours later. We whiled away the time at the train station, only to have the train delayed several times. Finally, however, we got on our way to Salamanca.
The ride was very beautiful- up into the mountains, past some exciting wind farms, and then onto some plains that were very much like Nebraska, just with older buildings. When we left Madrid it was about 85 and sunny, and when we arrived in Salamanca it was about 55 and rainy. We weren´t quite prepared for the weather, so we got some University of Salamanca sweatshirts- practical souveniers. (I never thought that we´d be cold in Spain; I´ve always thought of it as a hot, dry place. However, since getting to Madrid, we´ve had more rain than sun, and definitely cooler temperatures than expected, with highs in the 60s often. Although it is nice to have escaped the heat, we definitely were not prepared for the cool weather. It´s not so cold that we feel like wearing fur-lined winter coats as we´ve seen some doing, but the sweatshirts are definitely appreciated.)
This evening we saw the Plaza Mayor, which is a beautiful plaza where the community gathers, had a nice supper (finally on Spain time- at 8:30), and then enjoyed a community orchestra concert on the plaza while the rain held off. Right now we´re in an internet cafe with a view over the Plaza, which is all lit up and lovely.
Tomorrow we explore Salamanca, and then we´re off to Barcelona for our last few days in Spain before meeting our family in Rome! I think I must sign off here. The internet cafe is a little interesting- not only do many of the keys not even have letters on them because they are so worn, but the screen itself is excessively, flamingly pink, and I am beginning a headache. Have a wonderful week, and thanks for tuning in!
Monday, June 18, 2007
Rainy Madrid and Sunny Toledo
Sorry for the abrupt end last time... Anyways, the Valley of the Fallen was amazing. The size alone was breath-taking, and the whole place portrayed the agony and pain of Spain´s Civil War, not to mention contained the grave of Franco. Besides almost getting pick-pocketed and watching a poor old couple get ripped off (which you can read about in Ruth´s blog), that was pretty much it for Saturday.
Yesterday it was still determined to rain, but we decided
to brave it anyways and visit El Rastro, which is the largest flea market in Europe. We went, it started monsoon-like raining, so we left. I was wearing flip flops, which, being wet, were making very loud squeaking noises. Some French women came up behind us as we were walking back to the pension and started making fun of me and imitating the noise my shoes were making. As if that weren´t bad enough, I suddenly slipped on the wet granite sidewalk, and my flip flop broke beyond repair. Talk about wardrobe malfunction! We were in the middle of the government district with no shoe stores in sight, so I tried shuffling along, which did not work out so well. Finally we just tied a plastic bag around my foot and marched off down the streets. The other pedestrians looked at me somewhat askance, but I made it back to the pension, which was all that mattered.
The rest of yesterday was spent touring the art museums, which are free on Sunday. We saw the Guernica by Picasso, Las Meninas by Velasquez, and lots of other very famous and pretty paintings. We also experiences the frenzy surrounding a Real Madrid game, which involved women in their 50s emerging out of moving car windows to shake their Real Madrid scarves and scream cheers. When the team won, the celebrations were at least as crazy as when I was in Boston and the Red Sox won the World Series.
Today we were chewed out by the pension owner for doing our laundry in the sink in our room, which is apparently forbidden (whoops). We spent the rest of the day touring Toledo, which was very sunny and hot and charmingly medieval. Tomorrow we´re off for Salamanca. Hopefully we´ll get some pictures up soon, but we´ll have to see how things work. It´s a little tricky over here. Until next time!
Yesterday it was still determined to rain, but we decided
to brave it anyways and visit El Rastro, which is the largest flea market in Europe. We went, it started monsoon-like raining, so we left. I was wearing flip flops, which, being wet, were making very loud squeaking noises. Some French women came up behind us as we were walking back to the pension and started making fun of me and imitating the noise my shoes were making. As if that weren´t bad enough, I suddenly slipped on the wet granite sidewalk, and my flip flop broke beyond repair. Talk about wardrobe malfunction! We were in the middle of the government district with no shoe stores in sight, so I tried shuffling along, which did not work out so well. Finally we just tied a plastic bag around my foot and marched off down the streets. The other pedestrians looked at me somewhat askance, but I made it back to the pension, which was all that mattered.The rest of yesterday was spent touring the art museums, which are free on Sunday. We saw the Guernica by Picasso, Las Meninas by Velasquez, and lots of other very famous and pretty paintings. We also experiences the frenzy surrounding a Real Madrid game, which involved women in their 50s emerging out of moving car windows to shake their Real Madrid scarves and scream cheers. When the team won, the celebrations were at least as crazy as when I was in Boston and the Red Sox won the World Series.
Today we were chewed out by the pension owner for doing our laundry in the sink in our room, which is apparently forbidden (whoops). We spent the rest of the day touring Toledo, which was very sunny and hot and charmingly medieval. Tomorrow we´re off for Salamanca. Hopefully we´ll get some pictures up soon, but we´ll have to see how things work. It´s a little tricky over here. Until next time!
Saturday, June 16, 2007
Madrid Explorations
I have two addendums to my prior entry before anything else.
First, we did, get our bags actually last Monday, which I failed to mention. The arrival of the backpacks was cause for great rejoicing on all sides.
Second, I spelled Moors wrong in my last entry. Even though I had read about the Moors about a million times since coming to Spain, I just didn´t think about it. Please excuse this egregious error.
So, now we´ve been in Spain for a week- it´s hard to believe it´s only been a week, because so much has happened. We´ve had our ups and downs, but it´s been mondo fun.
Yesterday was our first day in Madrid. We took an early morning train to Madrid, and were off an exploring by noon. Our pension is right in the museum district, so we are less than five minutes from the Prado, the Thyssen, and the Reina Sofia (as well as the huge Retiro Park, which is gorgeous!). We visited the Thyssen, where they had a special exhibit on the paintings that Van Gogh did in his last couple of months before he killed himself. The paintings were beautiful, and it was interesting to have a window in to what he was thinking in those last few weeks.
After the museum we went on a walking tour of Madrid, visiting the Puerta del Sol, the Plaza Mayor, and finally the Palacio Real. Madrid is brimming with history, so there were monuments and statues everywhere. We even caught a peek of the ceremonies surrounding the moving of the city hall to new buildings, which was interesting. We toured the Royal Palace, which was beautifully decorated and had interesting collections of silver and clocks and such things that royals deem necessary to collect. We´re learning more and more about the history of Spain and the royal family, which is eye-opening and intriguing.
Today we took a day trip to El Escorial, which is an austere palace/monastery about 45 minutes from the city. We saw a wedding taking place in the basilica, which was possibly the most interesting part. We then went to the Valley of the Fallen, which is a huge (300 m long) underground basilica that honors all of those who died in Spain´s civil war. My time is out here at the cafe, so more later...
Thursday, June 14, 2007
The Whirlwind of Sevilla, Cordoba, and Granada
Here we are after a week of travels, and it does not feel like we have been gone for that long at all... Since I last blogged, we have had several adventures, and we have also been adapting to the way of life in Spain, enjoying it immensely.
We took a day trip to Cordoba, which houses the famous Mesquita, which is a huge Moorish mosque that was turned into a cathedral during the Reconquista, but the structure of the cathedral was not changed at all. It is huge, with huge double red-and-white striped arches throughout the entire building. It has been interesting to see how the fight between the Muslim Moors and the Spanish Catholics has shaped the history and culture of Spain. We also rambled around and Old Jewish Quarter in Cordoba, which provided sufficient old-world abience with narrow, twisty lanes and flower-ladened window boxes. We were there during the siesta, so the only people we saw were in tour groups, because people in Cordoba take their siesta very seriously.
For our last day in Sevilla we decided to tour the cathedral, which is the largest in the world. It is undergoing renovations and constructions because the large supporting pillars have a bad habit of cracking, so we did not get to see it in pristine condition, but it was a beautiful old church with lots of ornamentation, and the tomb of Columbus. We also got to climb the Giralda Bell Tower, which gave us a wonderful view of the city. We enjoyed our last paseo, or evening walk, around Sevilla. It is so fun to watch all of the young families and old couples out for their evening walk. I really like that spending time with family is so central to every day life here. To top off our evening, we went to a flamenco show in a private patio of an old house in the Sevillan Jewish Quarter. The show was amazing, and was definitely the best way to finish off our stint in Sevilla.
Yesterday, we spend most of the day getting to Granada, but we explored the Albaycin, or old Moorish Quarter in the evening. We had a lovely dinner overlooking the Alhambra from across the ravine.
Today we toured the Alhambra in all of its glory. We almost did not make it, because we were supposed to be leaving at 8 AM, and we did not wake up until 820... Luckily our hostel is literally 3 minutes from the entrance, and we are good at getting ready very quickly. The palace was amazing- intricate plaster and wood work, fountains everywhere, and gorgeous views of the city. The Alhambra was the sight of the final surrender of the Moors to the Spaniards, as well as where Columbus was commissioned for his journey to the New World. There were also lovely gardens, which I thoroughly enjoyed. We spent the afternoon wandering around the Alcaceria, or old silk market, and the rest of the city. It was very enjoyable. Granada is a larger city than Sevilla, so it definitely has a more metropolitan, edgy feel. There is also a large hippie population, which gives the city a less traditional atmosphere than Sevilla had. It is a wonderful city to wander around, and the Alhambra was gorgeous. It has been fun, and tomorrow we are off to Madrid!
Hope you all are well, and hopefully we will have more soon!
We took a day trip to Cordoba, which houses the famous Mesquita, which is a huge Moorish mosque that was turned into a cathedral during the Reconquista, but the structure of the cathedral was not changed at all. It is huge, with huge double red-and-white striped arches throughout the entire building. It has been interesting to see how the fight between the Muslim Moors and the Spanish Catholics has shaped the history and culture of Spain. We also rambled around and Old Jewish Quarter in Cordoba, which provided sufficient old-world abience with narrow, twisty lanes and flower-ladened window boxes. We were there during the siesta, so the only people we saw were in tour groups, because people in Cordoba take their siesta very seriously.
For our last day in Sevilla we decided to tour the cathedral, which is the largest in the world. It is undergoing renovations and constructions because the large supporting pillars have a bad habit of cracking, so we did not get to see it in pristine condition, but it was a beautiful old church with lots of ornamentation, and the tomb of Columbus. We also got to climb the Giralda Bell Tower, which gave us a wonderful view of the city. We enjoyed our last paseo, or evening walk, around Sevilla. It is so fun to watch all of the young families and old couples out for their evening walk. I really like that spending time with family is so central to every day life here. To top off our evening, we went to a flamenco show in a private patio of an old house in the Sevillan Jewish Quarter. The show was amazing, and was definitely the best way to finish off our stint in Sevilla.
Yesterday, we spend most of the day getting to Granada, but we explored the Albaycin, or old Moorish Quarter in the evening. We had a lovely dinner overlooking the Alhambra from across the ravine.
Today we toured the Alhambra in all of its glory. We almost did not make it, because we were supposed to be leaving at 8 AM, and we did not wake up until 820... Luckily our hostel is literally 3 minutes from the entrance, and we are good at getting ready very quickly. The palace was amazing- intricate plaster and wood work, fountains everywhere, and gorgeous views of the city. The Alhambra was the sight of the final surrender of the Moors to the Spaniards, as well as where Columbus was commissioned for his journey to the New World. There were also lovely gardens, which I thoroughly enjoyed. We spent the afternoon wandering around the Alcaceria, or old silk market, and the rest of the city. It was very enjoyable. Granada is a larger city than Sevilla, so it definitely has a more metropolitan, edgy feel. There is also a large hippie population, which gives the city a less traditional atmosphere than Sevilla had. It is a wonderful city to wander around, and the Alhambra was gorgeous. It has been fun, and tomorrow we are off to Madrid!Hope you all are well, and hopefully we will have more soon!
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Traveling Craziness in London and Sevilla
We´re here!
After three flights and over 24 hours of travel with no sleep, we finally made it to Sevilla. Unfortunately, our baggage did not, and we´re still waiting for it to show up...
After arriving in London and discovering that we did not have our bags, we decided to go into London for the day before our afternoon flight to Sevilla. We wandered around Picadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square, and Green Park, where we saw a huge parade of bands (marching bands and bands on horses) and the British military, who were apparently practicing for the celebration of the Queen´s anniversary next week.
Seeing all of the different, colorful uniforms and the funny hats was quite amusing. I´ve also never seen people playing instruments astride horses, much less a band of 100 of them. After this exciting event, we flew to Sevilla.We wandered around Sevilla for almost an hour before finding our hostel, but we got a nice tour of the city.
Our hostel is fairly quiet and comfortable, and we were very glad to sleep. This morning, we were awoken by a huge parade passing under our window. There were people leading the procession with flags, then others carrying huge candles that were as tall as they, then a float with the virgin Mary that was probably carried by at least 25 people, then the priest and a little girl who was celebrating her first communion, followed by little boys with incense censers, lots of family and friends, a 20-man choir, and a 75-person brass and percussion marching band. Luckily we got some video of them. It was quite amazing to hear all of those brass wailing away in the small streets. I didn´t know that the first communion was such a huge deal, but it was quite a site.
After this interesting procession, we toured the Alcazar, which is an old castle, where Columbus was received and honored after his voyage to the New World. It had a huge garden, which was very pretty. Besides the tour, we had a relaxing day wandering around the city and seeing all of the beautiful buildings and getting sunburnt, since our sun screen was obviously in our bags... Sevilla is quite pretty, with narrow, winding streets and sunny plazas. It´s very exciting to finally be here!
It doesn´t look like I can put my pictures on to this computer, but hopefully somewhere on the trip we´ll be able to. Hope you all are doing well! We´d love to hear from you!
After three flights and over 24 hours of travel with no sleep, we finally made it to Sevilla. Unfortunately, our baggage did not, and we´re still waiting for it to show up...
After arriving in London and discovering that we did not have our bags, we decided to go into London for the day before our afternoon flight to Sevilla. We wandered around Picadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square, and Green Park, where we saw a huge parade of bands (marching bands and bands on horses) and the British military, who were apparently practicing for the celebration of the Queen´s anniversary next week.
Seeing all of the different, colorful uniforms and the funny hats was quite amusing. I´ve also never seen people playing instruments astride horses, much less a band of 100 of them. After this exciting event, we flew to Sevilla.We wandered around Sevilla for almost an hour before finding our hostel, but we got a nice tour of the city.Our hostel is fairly quiet and comfortable, and we were very glad to sleep. This morning, we were awoken by a huge parade passing under our window. There were people leading the procession with flags, then others carrying huge candles that were as tall as they, then a float with the virgin Mary that was probably carried by at least 25 people, then the priest and a little girl who was celebrating her first communion, followed by little boys with incense censers, lots of family and friends, a 20-man choir, and a 75-person brass and percussion marching band. Luckily we got some video of them. It was quite amazing to hear all of those brass wailing away in the small streets. I didn´t know that the first communion was such a huge deal, but it was quite a site.
After this interesting procession, we toured the Alcazar, which is an old castle, where Columbus was received and honored after his voyage to the New World. It had a huge garden, which was very pretty. Besides the tour, we had a relaxing day wandering around the city and seeing all of the beautiful buildings and getting sunburnt, since our sun screen was obviously in our bags... Sevilla is quite pretty, with narrow, winding streets and sunny plazas. It´s very exciting to finally be here!
It doesn´t look like I can put my pictures on to this computer, but hopefully somewhere on the trip we´ll be able to. Hope you all are doing well! We´d love to hear from you!
Friday, June 1, 2007
On the start of a travel blog
As you might guess from the title, this blog will aim to document my travels. I have only one big trip planned in the near future, but I've caught the traveling bug, and I'm sure there will be many more trips.
Now, on to the immediate impetus for this blog: I will be backpacking around Europe with my sister, Ruth, for two months this summer, and I want to share our adventures and experiences with you all.
Our general travel plan is:
Spain June 9-23
Italy June 23-July 3
Switzerland July 3-6
France July 3-16
UK July 16-30
I hope to post fairly regularly, but I guess we'll see what happens. I hope you all have a wonderful summer and enjoy this blog!
Adios!
Now, on to the immediate impetus for this blog: I will be backpacking around Europe with my sister, Ruth, for two months this summer, and I want to share our adventures and experiences with you all.
Our general travel plan is:
Spain June 9-23
Italy June 23-July 3
Switzerland July 3-6
France July 3-16
UK July 16-30
I hope to post fairly regularly, but I guess we'll see what happens. I hope you all have a wonderful summer and enjoy this blog!
Adios!
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