Took a 9:50 train from Venice to arrive at Milan around 12:30. A bone to pick with a French family sitting near us on the train...They talked sooooo loud! When they were talking it was nearly impossible to read or so anything! The one kid had head phones in and the parents were just loud! Maybe it's a French thing? Lydia?
Apparently here you can't buy bus tickets on the BUS you have to purchase them at the Tabbachi (tobacco) shop...after figuring that out it was pretty easy to find our place. Another private room and bath, clean, AND half the price of Venice! The hostess is from Michigan getting her masters in architecture here. She was super helpful and loves to talk. FREE bottle of wine with our room and towels.
Went and saw the duomo, which we learned means church so...realized I really like gothic era architecture. Hiked the 250 steps to the top to see even more detail to the church. A couple girls were complaining on their way up as we were coming down in stilettos and mini skirts!
Did you know Milan used to be the capital before Rome? Walked through another castle which was cool...Saw a sculpture of Leonardo di Vinci, he helped Milan become a major port through canals. The famous Last Supper is here but hard to get tickets to see. Walked along the fashion area and was funny because there was Prada and Loui Vouttion and then McDonalds in this super nice old building area.
Ate more gelato! I don't think we are going to lose much weight at this rate! Tomorrow we leave bright and early for the Cinque Terre!
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Venice Summary
Yesterday we got a late start, 11:00 by the time we woke up and got out the door. Took the water bus down the Grand Canal to the end of Venice. Got off and walked our way back seeing neighborhoods and many non tourist specific parts to Venice. Beautiful...Randy's on the hunt for the BEST gelato around so we pretty much have to try them all! They don't serve Randy sized scoops here though.
Today...looked up the BEST gelato place per Rick Steves and took us forever but we finally found it! It was La Boutique and delicious but even smaller scoops! Visited San Marco's Bascilica and for another church it was beautiful. All mosaic pictures and lots of gold everywhere! Apparently the sea captains donated their "booty" for the church.
Very artistic town so we saw many random art exhibits, thought of Jason. One artist, Oksana, from Poland had this huge mosaic made up of millions o wooden eggs all individually painted with Easter themes and symbols.
Another free exhibit was a music history museum where we saw lires, flutes, oboes, violins, mandolins, harps, etc dating as far back as 600 AD!! So cool!!
Kyla, saw some moron wearing an OSU Beavers shirt today!
Randy forgets sometimes that he doesn't like sparkling water...no the bottles look the same except for small print that either says "naturale" or "frizzante" Today, he bought frizzante so he shook it and shook it until there were NO MORE bubbles! Haha, quite comical to watch.
Watching all these people with huge roller luggage 1-2 bags makes me so glad we have relatively small backpacks!
Off to Milan tomorrow for a night then meeting up with Victoria, fellow friend and teacher at Highland Elem, to hike through the Cinque Terre...Then on to FRANCE or SPAIN or somewhere.. :)
Today...looked up the BEST gelato place per Rick Steves and took us forever but we finally found it! It was La Boutique and delicious but even smaller scoops! Visited San Marco's Bascilica and for another church it was beautiful. All mosaic pictures and lots of gold everywhere! Apparently the sea captains donated their "booty" for the church.
Very artistic town so we saw many random art exhibits, thought of Jason. One artist, Oksana, from Poland had this huge mosaic made up of millions o wooden eggs all individually painted with Easter themes and symbols.
Another free exhibit was a music history museum where we saw lires, flutes, oboes, violins, mandolins, harps, etc dating as far back as 600 AD!! So cool!!
Kyla, saw some moron wearing an OSU Beavers shirt today!
Randy forgets sometimes that he doesn't like sparkling water...no the bottles look the same except for small print that either says "naturale" or "frizzante" Today, he bought frizzante so he shook it and shook it until there were NO MORE bubbles! Haha, quite comical to watch.
Watching all these people with huge roller luggage 1-2 bags makes me so glad we have relatively small backpacks!
Off to Milan tomorrow for a night then meeting up with Victoria, fellow friend and teacher at Highland Elem, to hike through the Cinque Terre...Then on to FRANCE or SPAIN or somewhere.. :)
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Buna Sera Venice!
Before we left Florence, we walked around more just looking at the market where you buy fruits, another where you buy meats, and there's a bridge where you buy you jewelry. Randy didn't buy me anything though :(
Almost flawlessly found and boarded our train to Venice. It was a speed train so it was only 2 hours with two stops in between. So pretty!!! I have already taken so many pictures! I can also see why people find it so romantic even besides the gondolas. Walked around and got lost, on purpose just looking and observing. Ate dinner next to this older couple from Holland. He's teaches at a university and she was a librarian who got laid off a few days ago based on "reorganization"...sounds familiar! They told us all about the stories behind the euro currency. for example, did you know that the bills all have different bridges on them that don't exist anywhere because the E.U couldn't agree on hat should be on them. All the coins are universal buy country specific, similar to the state quarters. And...since those bridges didn't exist, Holland's king is building the bridges on the bill currency so THEY have them! :) They were so fun.
We are in Fort Knox! You start with the yellow key, that opens the gate...then orange gets you in the stairwell...silver, gets you into the hallway and finally green gets you into your room! Pretty safe I'd say. No roommates! Nice change of pace! Bought some groceries and are tucked in early (10:30). We are on someone else's network...
Almost flawlessly found and boarded our train to Venice. It was a speed train so it was only 2 hours with two stops in between. So pretty!!! I have already taken so many pictures! I can also see why people find it so romantic even besides the gondolas. Walked around and got lost, on purpose just looking and observing. Ate dinner next to this older couple from Holland. He's teaches at a university and she was a librarian who got laid off a few days ago based on "reorganization"...sounds familiar! They told us all about the stories behind the euro currency. for example, did you know that the bills all have different bridges on them that don't exist anywhere because the E.U couldn't agree on hat should be on them. All the coins are universal buy country specific, similar to the state quarters. And...since those bridges didn't exist, Holland's king is building the bridges on the bill currency so THEY have them! :) They were so fun.
We are in Fort Knox! You start with the yellow key, that opens the gate...then orange gets you in the stairwell...silver, gets you into the hallway and finally green gets you into your room! Pretty safe I'd say. No roommates! Nice change of pace! Bought some groceries and are tucked in early (10:30). We are on someone else's network...
Onward...
The host and his girlfriend at the place we did schedule but the next night were awesome! Jonathan and Ella are so passionate! He gave a intense passionate explanation over the map of Florence! Haha...we still chuckle now...they had a cute little dog which made me miss Molly
We are leaving Florence. Visited the Duomo yesterday which was crazy! By far the most impressive building I have ever seen thus far. Pictures won't even do it justice. Visited a couple churches and walked around castle walls. I actually did not crave pasta/pizza for dinner last night so we attempted to go to the Hard Rock but it was almost a 2 hour wait at 9pm! no thank you! So we went to a Trattoria near our place an ha delicious Penne Pesto and Randy had Pizza. It rained here and we wanted to kill people with umbrellas! I got hit in the face by one gal.
Our roomie last night was "sue" from South Korea.
Now on to Venice, then maybe Milan on our way to the Cinque Terre. It may be a week before we have Internet again so stayed tuned.
We are leaving Florence. Visited the Duomo yesterday which was crazy! By far the most impressive building I have ever seen thus far. Pictures won't even do it justice. Visited a couple churches and walked around castle walls. I actually did not crave pasta/pizza for dinner last night so we attempted to go to the Hard Rock but it was almost a 2 hour wait at 9pm! no thank you! So we went to a Trattoria near our place an ha delicious Penne Pesto and Randy had Pizza. It rained here and we wanted to kill people with umbrellas! I got hit in the face by one gal.
Our roomie last night was "sue" from South Korea.
Now on to Venice, then maybe Milan on our way to the Cinque Terre. It may be a week before we have Internet again so stayed tuned.
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Pisa, Florence...
When we left Rome, we hopped a train to Pisa. Got off the train at 8:30PM, walked about 2km to the Tower of Pisa, walked backed to the train station and barely made the next train at 10:30PM to Florence. It was a bit chaotic to try and find the right train on the reader board in Rome but after that it was better, not easy, but better. When we got to Florence it was after midnight and we tried to find the bus that they told us to take to the hostel and it didn't exist at the train station...So we finally gave in and paid for a taxi. At the hostel, they had our reservation for the NEXT night. Furious we looked up our confirmation email and it was our first OOPS! We did book the following night...so the hostel pointed us to a close hostel down around the corner less than a mile. On the way there we walked down homeless alley! So scary! Luckily I was with Randy...nothing happened but neither of us felt safe. We found a nice hotel instead that was closer and offered them much less and they took it so their room was booked! :) Praise the Lord! Yesterday slept in, and went BACK to the hostel to drop off our bags and walk stroll around the city. Had spaghetti for lunch and ravioli for dinner. Randy had some cool roast beef salad of sorts of lunch and something neither of us can remember the name, pasta with olives for dinner. Gelato in the afternoon! Watched the sunset from Piazza di Michelangelo. We saw, what I would personally say is my FAVORITE building so far...the DUOMO in Florence, Italy. WOW! After dinner we walked around this corner and BAM! It looked fake, so detailed so elaborate, so big!
Today we're finishing Florence and tomorrow leave for Venice...we think :)
Oh, and I lost my journal...I think on a train...so I started a new one that the first line reads "Dear journal, I lost you on a train somewhere near Pisa! I am going to attempt to recall the past week..."
Today we're finishing Florence and tomorrow leave for Venice...we think :)
Oh, and I lost my journal...I think on a train...so I started a new one that the first line reads "Dear journal, I lost you on a train somewhere near Pisa! I am going to attempt to recall the past week..."
Pictures!
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Rome
We arrived in Rome yesterday around 8:30 their time in the AM. dropped our bags off at our hostel, Hotel Yellow, which reminds me of Taylors in Eugene or the Ram in Salem at night. Great roommates though! First day walked around for a long time trying to find a Tourist Information center to get our Roma Pass, which gets us into everything cheap and/or free. fnally found it near e Castel S. Angelo! Apparently, I developed a heat rash really bad from Greece and my ankles started swelling and eventually have huge blisters on the bad of my ankles. you've never seen cankles like my cankles right now. Randy helpled me to get back to rest and ice my legs. Unfortunately, no ice so we took his clean underwear and soaked them in cold water and wrapped them changing them every 1/2 hour. Randy was a great caretaker! Helped make sure I could get showered, clean the area, etc. Also, went out that niht to get me pizza and pepsi! He's a keeper! Our roommates are from Berlin, Turkey, Wisconsin, and California.
Day two, Ive decided I must be part Italian because I love the food and understand Italian because its so close to Spanish! Had lasagna for dinner and so did Randy...we were in heaven! We toured the Colloseum, Forum, Palatino, the Spanish steps, Campo de Fiori, Piazza Navona, Pantheon, Fontana di Trevi, Piazza de Venezia, the parliment, and many other cool places. Everywhere you walk are cool old buildings. My camera battery almost died. After visiting the Colloseum, made me want to read the book of Romans again since it was built in the first century AD. Ankles are still swollen but feel much better! Tonight on the way home the metro (train) was closec fr construction...brutal, luckily we figured out the bus. Tonight's roomies are from Toronto area. Oh! almost forgot...we were standing in line to the Forum and the family in front f us had two girls one said " well, she's in Eugene all summer." So we started up conversation and they are from Portland! Crazy small world.
Tomorrow - we tour the Vatican in the morning, then that evening take a train to Pisa to quickly see the tower then back on the train to Florence then Venice.
Day two, Ive decided I must be part Italian because I love the food and understand Italian because its so close to Spanish! Had lasagna for dinner and so did Randy...we were in heaven! We toured the Colloseum, Forum, Palatino, the Spanish steps, Campo de Fiori, Piazza Navona, Pantheon, Fontana di Trevi, Piazza de Venezia, the parliment, and many other cool places. Everywhere you walk are cool old buildings. My camera battery almost died. After visiting the Colloseum, made me want to read the book of Romans again since it was built in the first century AD. Ankles are still swollen but feel much better! Tonight on the way home the metro (train) was closec fr construction...brutal, luckily we figured out the bus. Tonight's roomies are from Toronto area. Oh! almost forgot...we were standing in line to the Forum and the family in front f us had two girls one said " well, she's in Eugene all summer." So we started up conversation and they are from Portland! Crazy small world.
Tomorrow - we tour the Vatican in the morning, then that evening take a train to Pisa to quickly see the tower then back on the train to Florence then Venice.
Greece Summary
We stayed in Athens two nights, seeing the Acropolis, Parthenon, the Acropolis Museum, and Syntagma Square. Saw the changing of the guard at Syntagma Square and took pictures of demolition from the riots a few weeks ago. All was fairly calm while there though. We were going to take the early 7am ferry to the Greek island of Santorini but even though we left at 5:30 am they were all sold out! So we bought tickets for the 3:00pm ferry and went back into Athens with our packs snd everything. It was a blessing in disguise! We were able to see Ancient Agora and some other smaller sights around there. Randy really likes the food; I, however am not a huge fan! Its really bland. The best items i've had were Gyros and Soulvaki which is like a skewer of sorts. Randy had a milk pie one day which was a croussant with "warm thick milk" inside. Finally made it to Santorini that evening!
Santorini is the island in Greece which is most typical in pictures for the white buildings with blue roofs. Our hostel is really more like a hotel! We had a suite the first night for like $40 with s refrigerator for my Pepsi and a balcony with an awesome view! First full day did a tour of the island in a day which was cool but stressful in a group. We went to a monastery where the priests were ages 24-44 years old and made wine and shoes to support their living. Visited some cool small villages like Pirgos. Then off to the volcanic island to hike to the top of the active volcano. Then swam near the hot springs of another island in the Agean sea. Felt good to cool off. Its so hot there. On the island it was about 90 degrees and in Athens closer to 100. At one of the island stops of Santorini met a guy who lives there 1/2 the year for free lance photography. He's from Great Britian. He was telling us the primary income on the island is tourism and the second is wine. Saw the sunset at Oia and climbed the 248 steps to the city from the port. When we left the second day we had the opportunity to try both the red and white wines. Our hostess and the hostel was awesome and obviously has found her nitch. When we left she gave us a bottle of white wine, which Randy almost single handedly finished himself! Before our ferry left the second day we rented a quad to see other parts of the island we didn't have a chance to see. That was fun and relaxing. Rode the ferry back to Athens. Got there at about 12:30am, took the bus to the airport and arrived there around 1:30. Then our plane didnt leave for Rome until 7:00am. Tiring day to say the least.
Santorini is the island in Greece which is most typical in pictures for the white buildings with blue roofs. Our hostel is really more like a hotel! We had a suite the first night for like $40 with s refrigerator for my Pepsi and a balcony with an awesome view! First full day did a tour of the island in a day which was cool but stressful in a group. We went to a monastery where the priests were ages 24-44 years old and made wine and shoes to support their living. Visited some cool small villages like Pirgos. Then off to the volcanic island to hike to the top of the active volcano. Then swam near the hot springs of another island in the Agean sea. Felt good to cool off. Its so hot there. On the island it was about 90 degrees and in Athens closer to 100. At one of the island stops of Santorini met a guy who lives there 1/2 the year for free lance photography. He's from Great Britian. He was telling us the primary income on the island is tourism and the second is wine. Saw the sunset at Oia and climbed the 248 steps to the city from the port. When we left the second day we had the opportunity to try both the red and white wines. Our hostess and the hostel was awesome and obviously has found her nitch. When we left she gave us a bottle of white wine, which Randy almost single handedly finished himself! Before our ferry left the second day we rented a quad to see other parts of the island we didn't have a chance to see. That was fun and relaxing. Rode the ferry back to Athens. Got there at about 12:30am, took the bus to the airport and arrived there around 1:30. Then our plane didnt leave for Rome until 7:00am. Tiring day to say the least.
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Good Bye Greece and HELLO Italy
More details to come later but an update is we just arived in Rome about 2 hours ago. Off to the Vatican...
Excited for Italian food and CLOUDY weather! Greece was way too hot and humid.
Excited for Italian food and CLOUDY weather! Greece was way too hot and humid.
Monday, July 18, 2011
We've made it to Greece!
We had great luck for our transportation to Greece. First, our flight was supposed to be 10 1/2 hours to Amsterdam but was just over 9 hours! I (Leisha) did get sick though :( Threw up 3 times...twice on the plane and once at the airport in Amsterdam. I think it was just motion sickness because now I'm fine. Then our flight to Athens was on time. When we hopped off the plane, we literally bought a bus ticket and were riding our bus into town within 10 minutes. Once we got into Athens, however, is a different story!
We asked several people at bus stops how to get to the street where our hostel was and the first person told us one bus...he was wrong. Once we got off we'd basically made a circle. Some tourists "familiar with Greece" gave us a map and pointed us in a direction...also wrong...FINALLY we ended up in some cool alley ways with little restaurant cafe deals and one of the owners KNEW where to go and gave clear directions AND showed us on the map. 3 hours later we arrived at the hostel.
It's clean and pretty nice for what you get. We're at the Pella Inn in Athens. The roof has a view of the Acropolis and other major landmarks. So once we got here we decided to do dinner on the roof. What we didn't know is that in Europe people don't really get up and going before 8/9 o'clock and you eat lunch around 3 and dinner around 9! It was 11 before the BBQ was done on the roof and we were starving. Met some nice people though. Leo is from Argentina, just turned 30, and gave himself a birthday gift. He's been to Madrid, Barcelona, Italy, now Greece. Michael and his brother are from Toronto, Canada, taking a vacation together before Michael starts college this year. Laura and her boyfriend are from Barcelona taking a few days vacation before they do some archeology type work somewhere here in Greece.
Dad, they have STARBUCKS here! :) Haha, it's so hot though it honestly didn't sound good this morning but I took a picture. So random to be walking down streets clear across the world and then see Starbucks, it wasn't even really in a high touristy area.
It's 8:00 AM here, going to go start our first REAL day!!!
Unfortunately, I don't know how to upload pictures yet but maybe from Randy's phone...
We asked several people at bus stops how to get to the street where our hostel was and the first person told us one bus...he was wrong. Once we got off we'd basically made a circle. Some tourists "familiar with Greece" gave us a map and pointed us in a direction...also wrong...FINALLY we ended up in some cool alley ways with little restaurant cafe deals and one of the owners KNEW where to go and gave clear directions AND showed us on the map. 3 hours later we arrived at the hostel.
It's clean and pretty nice for what you get. We're at the Pella Inn in Athens. The roof has a view of the Acropolis and other major landmarks. So once we got here we decided to do dinner on the roof. What we didn't know is that in Europe people don't really get up and going before 8/9 o'clock and you eat lunch around 3 and dinner around 9! It was 11 before the BBQ was done on the roof and we were starving. Met some nice people though. Leo is from Argentina, just turned 30, and gave himself a birthday gift. He's been to Madrid, Barcelona, Italy, now Greece. Michael and his brother are from Toronto, Canada, taking a vacation together before Michael starts college this year. Laura and her boyfriend are from Barcelona taking a few days vacation before they do some archeology type work somewhere here in Greece.
Dad, they have STARBUCKS here! :) Haha, it's so hot though it honestly didn't sound good this morning but I took a picture. So random to be walking down streets clear across the world and then see Starbucks, it wasn't even really in a high touristy area.
It's 8:00 AM here, going to go start our first REAL day!!!
Unfortunately, I don't know how to upload pictures yet but maybe from Randy's phone...
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
EUROPE...
We leave in about a week and a half for a vacation of a lifetime! We'll start in Greece and end in Germany traveling through Italy, France, and Barcelona to get there...we're super excited and we will try and post fairly frequently updates from our trip here, maybe even with pictures!
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)