Apparently those early years of French immersion did some good, as I have been able to speak in French a fair bit (by choice, not necessity) while in Paris.
Our first morning here it poured but after sorting out our hostel situation, we trekked out in the rain to Pere Lachaise cemetary where we visited Jim Morrison and Oscar Wilde's graves. We waited out the rest of the rain in Galleries Lafeyette though no actual shopping took place. Once the rain stopped, we walked along the Champs Elysees toward L'arc de Triomph, and I ran into one of the girls from my train car. We continued along to the Trocadero and finally I had my first view of the Eiffel Tower. I like. A lot. We walked down by the tower and along the Champs de Mars over the Military School and on to get an up close view of the gold dome of les Invalides. After returning to the area of the hostel, I did a quick google search to find the nearest synagogue so I could hear eicha, as it was erev tisha b'av. I found a Chabad close by and so went there around sundown. Had to wait quite a while, but eventually they started, and I was glad I went.
Our second day we woke up and again it was raining, but we still went off to see Chateaux Versailles. Fortunately the rain stopped eventually. Versailles is a BIG castle. After the castle we went back into town and went to see the Catacombs where again I ran into the same girl from the train. Small city, apparently. I couldn't believe the magnitude of bones the lined the ossuary in the catacombs. Crazy. The rest of the afternoon we walked through the Jardin the Luxembourg (I'd definitely like to spend more time there another time.. awesome park), St Sulpice (think rose line from the Davinci Code), and saw Notre Dame Cathedral. We made our way back to the hostel walking along the Seine and saw some of the "seine on the beach" stuff (they brought in sand, set up beach volleyball, etc). I ran into an observant Jewish guy back at the hostel who was reading Eicha commentary, so I joined in while the girls went out in search of dinner. After the fast ended (really late here!), I went out with some people from the hostel to hang out and drink on the steps of Sacre Coeur. Great view of the city and a lot of fun.
Day 3 I was on my own as both of the girls had done the major museums before but I had not. I started with the musee d'orsay and fell in love with all of the impressionism... lilies, ballerinas.. beautiful suff. I walked by St Clotilde church on my way to the Rodin museum where my usual rule of "I don't like statues" was temporary broken as I viewed Rodin's "The Thinker" and "The Kiss". Remarkable piece. I walked on by the Grand Palais and Petit Palais as well as saw the Obelisk. The museum pass I had included a lot of things so I decided I would go back to the Arc de Triumph and climb it. Neat view! I continued on the Jardin de Tuilliries outside the Louvre and then on into the Louvre itself. After seeing the Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo, I saw out the 2 Vermeer pieces and did a bit more wandering before decided I simply had enough and needed to get out of there. I returned to the hostel for a bit, said goodbye to girls (they would be leaving the next morning for Switzerland/Belgium) and made plans with people from the hostel to go see the Eiffel tower that night. As magnificent as it was during the day, I was way more impressed at night.. especially on the hour when the whole thing glimmers (yes.. I know.. sparkly things.. of course I liked it!). After the climb up, we hung out on the champs de mars with some beer and cookies and listened to the music being played. Very chill night.
My last day here now and I set out for day 2 of my 2-day museum pass. I walked by Place des Vosges on my way to the Picasso Museum (felt different than the one in Barcelona). Next it was the Centre Pampidou with its modern art (a whole room of inflatable furniture... I will never "get" modern art). Funky building though. I wandered through Rue des Rosiers (Jewish area) and had a delicious boureka for lunch. I spent a bit of time in the Shoah museum and was impressed by the huge wall of Righteous Among the Nations posted outside the museum. I stopped by some more sights included on my pass, including the St Chapelle church and the Conciergerie. Even though it was totally out of my way, I walked back toward the Louvre to see the Orangerie museum.. which houses 2 oval rooms of Monet's waterlillies. Absolutely worth the walk. I then took the metro to the Montmartre area and saw the outside of the Moulin Rouge, the cafe from Amelie, a bunch of sketching artists and the inside of Sacre Coeur. I hung out on the hill outside to have a snack and rest my aching feet. My call it an early night tonight, as tomorrow I am off early to Amsterdam.
Despite the weird weather, I think Paris is wonderful and wouldn't mind coming back at some point when there are more Parisiennes than tourists lining the streets....
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Madrid
Despite the lack of waterfront, I have to say that I really liked Madrid, even from the first few minutes there. We got in late Friday afternoon, did some shopping and head out in the evening to hang out in Plaza del Mayor. We had run into friends of Jasmine's outside the hostel, so they joined us as well as an assortment of other english speakers that we had met. At one point, these people in orange shirts called everyone over to make a circle and 30 minutes of singing and dancing then followed.. I still don't quite know what was going on, but part of it involved names of fruit.
Saturday morning I went to shul, and managed to find it even though it was beyond the border of my map (impressive for me!). The Rabbi's wife invited all of the tourists over for lunch, so that was a definite bonus. I met up with Jasmine and Winnie in the afternoon to see the Reina Sofia museum (yay for free museums) and we walked to some sights later in the day including an Egyptian temple, the Palacio Real, Place D'espana (statue of Don Quixote and Sanchez). On Sunday we started the day with an excellent flea market, and then head off to the Prado museum (free on Sundays!). We spent a few hours in the Parc del Bon Retiro and eventually decided it was time to head off to catch our overnight train to Paris. We made it to the train with a full 10 minutes to spare and I got quickly acquainted with the girls in my train cart (I had been separated from Jasmine and Winnie). Thankfully, they were all friendly and not too noisy and I had a great night of sleep to top off my relaxing weekend in Madrid.
Saturday morning I went to shul, and managed to find it even though it was beyond the border of my map (impressive for me!). The Rabbi's wife invited all of the tourists over for lunch, so that was a definite bonus. I met up with Jasmine and Winnie in the afternoon to see the Reina Sofia museum (yay for free museums) and we walked to some sights later in the day including an Egyptian temple, the Palacio Real, Place D'espana (statue of Don Quixote and Sanchez). On Sunday we started the day with an excellent flea market, and then head off to the Prado museum (free on Sundays!). We spent a few hours in the Parc del Bon Retiro and eventually decided it was time to head off to catch our overnight train to Paris. We made it to the train with a full 10 minutes to spare and I got quickly acquainted with the girls in my train cart (I had been separated from Jasmine and Winnie). Thankfully, they were all friendly and not too noisy and I had a great night of sleep to top off my relaxing weekend in Madrid.
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
update soon
Hi!
had a great weekend in madrid and positively LOVING paris. will try to write a slightly longer post about the two shortly. off to amsterdam this weekend, followed by a day in london and then hometime. still having a great time but starting to miss everyone from home....
see you all soon!
Rachel
had a great weekend in madrid and positively LOVING paris. will try to write a slightly longer post about the two shortly. off to amsterdam this weekend, followed by a day in london and then hometime. still having a great time but starting to miss everyone from home....
see you all soon!
Rachel
Friday, July 20, 2007
Barcelona
My first impression of Barcelona was taken up by the dilemma of arriving in the city, early evening, without reservations (the ones we thought we had, had been cancelled on us). The train station was crazy busy and it was hard to get accurate information from anyone. After getting on the metro, some running back and forth, and pleading with a lady at the tourism office to make a call for us, we found a room in a great location for a cheap price. The guy at the front desk was kinda creepy (he would fit well in a horror movie) but other that.. it was great.
Our one full day in Barcelona was well spent. We spent some time walking along Las Ramblas (including some time in the food market), walked around Park Guell (that Gaudi architecture is even more impressive than the pretty flowers and trees all around the park), saw the Sagrada Familia church (one very enormous and expensive construction site), the Picasso museum, and then I went to the beach while the girls went to the aquarium. In the evening, we took a funicular and a cable car up to Montjuic for a beautiful view of the sun setting over the city. We were looking for the olympic stadium but never did find it. It was too late to take the cable car down, so we started walking.. eventually we saw a road but there was a fence in the way.. so we climbed over it.. then we needed to jump down from a wall.. so we did, but I didn´t notice the sharp things on the top of the wall and managed to scrape up my hands and rip my skirt. No big deal though. We eventually made it back into a busy area (I was NOT loving the neighbourhood we were walking through) and head down to the port. We went to shopping mall that has a club in it at night (Maremagnum) and though it was dead when we arrived, it had picked up by the time we left.
Got a good night sleep and then set out the next morning for Madrid.
Our one full day in Barcelona was well spent. We spent some time walking along Las Ramblas (including some time in the food market), walked around Park Guell (that Gaudi architecture is even more impressive than the pretty flowers and trees all around the park), saw the Sagrada Familia church (one very enormous and expensive construction site), the Picasso museum, and then I went to the beach while the girls went to the aquarium. In the evening, we took a funicular and a cable car up to Montjuic for a beautiful view of the sun setting over the city. We were looking for the olympic stadium but never did find it. It was too late to take the cable car down, so we started walking.. eventually we saw a road but there was a fence in the way.. so we climbed over it.. then we needed to jump down from a wall.. so we did, but I didn´t notice the sharp things on the top of the wall and managed to scrape up my hands and rip my skirt. No big deal though. We eventually made it back into a busy area (I was NOT loving the neighbourhood we were walking through) and head down to the port. We went to shopping mall that has a club in it at night (Maremagnum) and though it was dead when we arrived, it had picked up by the time we left.
Got a good night sleep and then set out the next morning for Madrid.
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Salut de Nice
Salut! Aujourd'hui nous sommes arrivees en Nice. Nous sommes allees toute suite a Monaco, pour voir le casino Montecarlo et le Palais. C'etait tellement beau. Apres retourner a Nice, nous avons marcher dans Vieux Nice, et aussi au bord de las mer. Moi, j'ai tomber dans la mer. Zut alors. Apres notre promenade, nous avons faire une picnic dans la parc. Demain, nous partirons pour l'Espagne.
A bientot,
Rachel
ps I don't actually have much to say about Nice since we are here less than 24 hours due to annoying train schedules. It's quite gorgeous... lots of palm trees and sparkly blue ocean. We did a whirlwind tour of Monaco and Nice in the few hours that we had here. Tomorrow we have an all day train ride to Barcelona and then its on to Madrid for the weekend.
A bientot,
Rachel
ps I don't actually have much to say about Nice since we are here less than 24 hours due to annoying train schedules. It's quite gorgeous... lots of palm trees and sparkly blue ocean. We did a whirlwind tour of Monaco and Nice in the few hours that we had here. Tomorrow we have an all day train ride to Barcelona and then its on to Madrid for the weekend.
Monday, July 16, 2007
Cinque Terre
Cinque terre was possibly the destination I was most looking forward to in this entire trip, and it did not dissapoint. We got into Monterosso, the largest of the 5 towns, yesterday and immediately went to the beach. We enjoyed the sun and the sea and spent the evening wandering through the shops in the town. I befriended a large group from the UK who were staying at our hostel and ended up hanging out with them down by the beach at night. Rowdy group, but a lot of fun.
This morning we set off around 0830 for the hike between the 5 towns. The first was largely uphill and close to 90 minutes long. The view of the town built into the side of the hill as well as the view of the sea was beautiful. The second walk was slightly less strenuous and the rest were quite easy even with the sun beating down on us. There were many beautiful flowers and trees along the walk and we saw many lemon trees and vineyards along the way as well. We wandered into each of the towns that we passed (numbers 2 and 3 are Vernazza and Corniglia), in search of gelato or other refreshing treats. Just outside Manorola we stopped at a swimming cove to cool off. The water was quite clear and the perfect temperature. From Manarola to Riomaggiore we walked through the Via del Amore (tunnel of love) which I was disappointed to find was not heart shaped! Once in Riomaggiore I set out to tan on some large rocks while the girls went out in search of the Ecobus. Tonight we are sitting in a bar right on the ocean (free internet.. which is why I am inside for a moment) and the view of the sun setting is positively gorgeous. Cinqueterre truly is a special place.
Tomorrow we are off to Nice and so I must say ciao to Italy. Somehow I think I will be back one day.
This morning we set off around 0830 for the hike between the 5 towns. The first was largely uphill and close to 90 minutes long. The view of the town built into the side of the hill as well as the view of the sea was beautiful. The second walk was slightly less strenuous and the rest were quite easy even with the sun beating down on us. There were many beautiful flowers and trees along the walk and we saw many lemon trees and vineyards along the way as well. We wandered into each of the towns that we passed (numbers 2 and 3 are Vernazza and Corniglia), in search of gelato or other refreshing treats. Just outside Manorola we stopped at a swimming cove to cool off. The water was quite clear and the perfect temperature. From Manarola to Riomaggiore we walked through the Via del Amore (tunnel of love) which I was disappointed to find was not heart shaped! Once in Riomaggiore I set out to tan on some large rocks while the girls went out in search of the Ecobus. Tonight we are sitting in a bar right on the ocean (free internet.. which is why I am inside for a moment) and the view of the sun setting is positively gorgeous. Cinqueterre truly is a special place.
Tomorrow we are off to Nice and so I must say ciao to Italy. Somehow I think I will be back one day.
Venice
Just as I had anticipated, I found Venice to be a very charming city. Friday afternoon we wandered through the city en route to the Rialto bridge and ending up in San Marco square. With so many twists and turns around the canals, I am amazed anyone is able to find their way anywhere! We relied largely on the signs directing people to and from San Marco square. I was searching for a specific kind of murano glass pendant that I had seen in Florence (it sparkled extra bright) and eventually found out that it was called Dicroico (or something like that) and was more expensive than the regular murano glass. Ended up just buying a regular glass pendant. Never knew I had an eye for expensive jewelry!
Friday night I went to Chabad for services and dinner and ran into a friend from undergrad (Raichel) there! Services were long but were followed by a free and delicious dinner along the canal. I met people from the US, the UK and Poland. Friendly group. Saturday morning I went to the Spanish synagogue for services and then back to Chabad for lunch by the canal. Hung out with Raichel while Jasmine and Winnie went on a boat ride around Venice, and stopped into San Marco Basilica to admire the mosaics. At night, there was a huge fireworks display, set to music, to mark the beginning of a festival (something to do with the end of the plague...). Among the best fireworks displays I have ever seen!
Don't think I could ever live in Venice but certainly wouldn't mind going back with a little bit more cash in my pocket one day... those gondola rides sure do look romantic!
Friday night I went to Chabad for services and dinner and ran into a friend from undergrad (Raichel) there! Services were long but were followed by a free and delicious dinner along the canal. I met people from the US, the UK and Poland. Friendly group. Saturday morning I went to the Spanish synagogue for services and then back to Chabad for lunch by the canal. Hung out with Raichel while Jasmine and Winnie went on a boat ride around Venice, and stopped into San Marco Basilica to admire the mosaics. At night, there was a huge fireworks display, set to music, to mark the beginning of a festival (something to do with the end of the plague...). Among the best fireworks displays I have ever seen!
Don't think I could ever live in Venice but certainly wouldn't mind going back with a little bit more cash in my pocket one day... those gondola rides sure do look romantic!
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Florence
Ah, beautiful Firenze. We arrived in Florence yesterday afternoon and immediately I was enjoying the slightly slower paced feel of the city, as compared to Rome.
After finding the hostel, we went to the Uffizi Gallery. To be honest, even with recognizing a lot of big names, I was not all that impressed by the gallery, but I suspect that has to do with my lack of an appreciation for Medieval and Renaissance art.
We walked through the markets for a bit and when I wandered into a leather store in search of gloves, I had the "sensual" experience of an attractive Italian saleswoman propping my elbow on a cushion, sliding the glove onto my hand and then checking to ensure that each finger fit snuggly. While I ended up buying my gloves later from a vendor in the market, it certainly confirmed the stories that I had heard about glove buying in Florence!
The next day we thoroughly enjoyed the free breakfast provided by our hostel (egg white omelette for me... hurray for protein!) and then set out to explore the Duomo (well, the cathedral part for now). After a brief wait, we had an excellent free tour of the inside, pointing out specific details of the architecture and the artwork. Truly a magnificent building.
Next we picked up lunch from a huge indoor market (think St Lawrence market) and then slowly made our way over to the synagogue and museum. The synagogue was built in 1874 and is enormous and very intricately decorated. Reminded me a lot of the one we just saw in Rome.
In the afternoon, we spent more time in the markets and then walked across the Ponte Vecchio (the only bridge not destroyed in WWII), and set out in search of the Piazzele Michaelango. What should have been a 10 minute walk uphill somehow turned into over an hour of hilltop walking. While the view was quite lovely, we are still baffled as to how we ended up so lost. We did make it to the Piazzale, which offered an incredibly panoramic view of the city. The gelato we ate was also among the best I've had this trip.. but maybe I was just hungry from the walking!
After crossing back across the bridge we went on a "self guided walking tour" of the facades of several churches (since everything was already closed).
(Edited here after last day in Florence...)
Today we split up for the morning and I climbed up the Duomo. While the lineup itself was short, the climb took a very long time as people stopped to take pictures and allow the people trying to get down to pass. The view from the top was outstanding and I also enjoyed the close up view of the paintings from inside the dome. Next I wandered by Dante's church as well as the Baddia. Inside the Baddia, white robed nuns and monks were in midst of silent prayer. After a few minutes, they all rose and began to chant in four part harmony. Impressive.
Met up with Jasmine and Winnie for the afternoon and I opted to skip the Accademia and see the small Leonardo da Vinci museum (much cheaper and no lineup!). Inside we saw a lot of models of da Vinci's creations and I was blown away by how much one person was able to achieve in his lifetime (artist, mathematician, geologist...)... One invention in particular, showing how the use of multiple pulleys makes it easier to lift heavy things (since the force gets distributed) made me wish that da Vinci had been around to teach me physics when I was studying for the MCATs!
In the evening we went out in search of live music as there is an arts festival in town. We started with an Irish chorale group called Gracenotes (which was terrific) and then heard a concert band perform outside of the palazzo veccio (also enjoyable). We even met a couple from Toronto, and the woman (named Amanda) happened to know many of my classmates! Small world.
Tomorrow we are off to Venice. Looking forward to it!!
After finding the hostel, we went to the Uffizi Gallery. To be honest, even with recognizing a lot of big names, I was not all that impressed by the gallery, but I suspect that has to do with my lack of an appreciation for Medieval and Renaissance art.
We walked through the markets for a bit and when I wandered into a leather store in search of gloves, I had the "sensual" experience of an attractive Italian saleswoman propping my elbow on a cushion, sliding the glove onto my hand and then checking to ensure that each finger fit snuggly. While I ended up buying my gloves later from a vendor in the market, it certainly confirmed the stories that I had heard about glove buying in Florence!
The next day we thoroughly enjoyed the free breakfast provided by our hostel (egg white omelette for me... hurray for protein!) and then set out to explore the Duomo (well, the cathedral part for now). After a brief wait, we had an excellent free tour of the inside, pointing out specific details of the architecture and the artwork. Truly a magnificent building.
Next we picked up lunch from a huge indoor market (think St Lawrence market) and then slowly made our way over to the synagogue and museum. The synagogue was built in 1874 and is enormous and very intricately decorated. Reminded me a lot of the one we just saw in Rome.
In the afternoon, we spent more time in the markets and then walked across the Ponte Vecchio (the only bridge not destroyed in WWII), and set out in search of the Piazzele Michaelango. What should have been a 10 minute walk uphill somehow turned into over an hour of hilltop walking. While the view was quite lovely, we are still baffled as to how we ended up so lost. We did make it to the Piazzale, which offered an incredibly panoramic view of the city. The gelato we ate was also among the best I've had this trip.. but maybe I was just hungry from the walking!
After crossing back across the bridge we went on a "self guided walking tour" of the facades of several churches (since everything was already closed).
(Edited here after last day in Florence...)
Today we split up for the morning and I climbed up the Duomo. While the lineup itself was short, the climb took a very long time as people stopped to take pictures and allow the people trying to get down to pass. The view from the top was outstanding and I also enjoyed the close up view of the paintings from inside the dome. Next I wandered by Dante's church as well as the Baddia. Inside the Baddia, white robed nuns and monks were in midst of silent prayer. After a few minutes, they all rose and began to chant in four part harmony. Impressive.
Met up with Jasmine and Winnie for the afternoon and I opted to skip the Accademia and see the small Leonardo da Vinci museum (much cheaper and no lineup!). Inside we saw a lot of models of da Vinci's creations and I was blown away by how much one person was able to achieve in his lifetime (artist, mathematician, geologist...)... One invention in particular, showing how the use of multiple pulleys makes it easier to lift heavy things (since the force gets distributed) made me wish that da Vinci had been around to teach me physics when I was studying for the MCATs!
In the evening we went out in search of live music as there is an arts festival in town. We started with an Irish chorale group called Gracenotes (which was terrific) and then heard a concert band perform outside of the palazzo veccio (also enjoyable). We even met a couple from Toronto, and the woman (named Amanda) happened to know many of my classmates! Small world.
Tomorrow we are off to Venice. Looking forward to it!!
Monday, July 9, 2007
When in Rome... (Rome Part 2)
To everyone who has succeeded in reading my ridiculously long blog posts, I thank you and apologize for their length. This blog is doubling as my travel diary to look back on, so some of what I write is just so that I can remember after the fact where all I've been. With that in mind, the posting continues...
Today we set off early in the morning for Vatican City. When we arrived, things were pretty empty so we quickly made our way to St Peter's Basilica, and paid the fee to climb all the way to the top to look out. The view was beautiful and it was already quite hot out, even at 8 am!
After climbing back down, we explored the Basilica. The artwork was beautiful and I was blown away by the intricacies in the decorations. After the Basilica, we sent postcards using the Vatican's mail service, supposedly a very good mail service. Whatever... I am allowed a few 'dumb tourist' moments.
Then it was time for the Vatican museums. When we found the line up we quickly realized that we had seen the buildings in reverse of the ideal order. The lineup was HUGE and after exploring how far it went for a few minutes and not seeing any end, I went back to stand with the girls. For the first hour, I stayed entertained by getting immersed in a conversation with a 6 year old girl standing next to me. She had no shortage of things to say and by the end of the hour, we were best friends. She invited me over to watch Happy Feet, but alas, she lives in Germany. Jasmine and Winnie kept busy singing Sound of Music (their tour in Salzburg still fresh in their minds) and with my sound of music repertoire something lacking, I struck up a new conversation with other people closer to my own age (6 years old may be my maturity level, but I think the next people were at least into double digits). After another full hour we were nearly at the front, and I was feeling exhausted from the heat (even with drinking a bottle of water).
Into the museum we went, in the direction of the Sistine Chapel. We moved at a reasonable pace, taking time occasionally to pause and admire the ceilings, the walls, and the sculptures and other pieces of artwork all around us. I couldn't get over just how crowded the whole place was and just how many languages I was hearing all around me. Eventually, we reached the Sistine Chapel. Wow. I found it to be even more breathtaking than I had imagined. I can't fathom how the ceiling was painted as my neck began to hurt just from leaning back to look at it. We spent a while admiring the chapel and then slowly made our way through the rest of the rooms en route to the exit. We ate some lunch and decided we had enough of the Vatican Museum and perhaps we would go somewhere else. We pulled out our list of museums only to be reminded that nearly EVERYthing is closed on Mondays. We opted for some pretty outdoor areas instead and so off we went to Piazza Del Popolo (where we saw some teens having a water fight) and then we meandered our way through Villa Borghese, which reminded me at times of Central Park and High Park. We had bus passes and so when we saw a mini bus (one third the size of a regular city bus) go by, we hoped on to enjoy the scenery. After riding around for a bit, we were ready to head back to the hostel. We stoped at the train station and attempted to sort out more of our travel details. I thought the ticket agent was going to kill us with all of the questions we asked, but he managed to stay calm despite other people in the line behind us begining to curse us (or so I imagine I heard).
I grabed a salad from the grocery store for dinner while Jasmine and Winnie went out in search of some authentic Italian pasta. I think we were all satisfied with our meals selections. Tonight we will head out to Campo De Fiori, an area known for good nightlife.. though I wonder if it will be quiet since it is Monday!
Tomorrow we are off to Florence. Rome has been fun, but I am ready to explore somewhere new....
Today we set off early in the morning for Vatican City. When we arrived, things were pretty empty so we quickly made our way to St Peter's Basilica, and paid the fee to climb all the way to the top to look out. The view was beautiful and it was already quite hot out, even at 8 am!
After climbing back down, we explored the Basilica. The artwork was beautiful and I was blown away by the intricacies in the decorations. After the Basilica, we sent postcards using the Vatican's mail service, supposedly a very good mail service. Whatever... I am allowed a few 'dumb tourist' moments.
Then it was time for the Vatican museums. When we found the line up we quickly realized that we had seen the buildings in reverse of the ideal order. The lineup was HUGE and after exploring how far it went for a few minutes and not seeing any end, I went back to stand with the girls. For the first hour, I stayed entertained by getting immersed in a conversation with a 6 year old girl standing next to me. She had no shortage of things to say and by the end of the hour, we were best friends. She invited me over to watch Happy Feet, but alas, she lives in Germany. Jasmine and Winnie kept busy singing Sound of Music (their tour in Salzburg still fresh in their minds) and with my sound of music repertoire something lacking, I struck up a new conversation with other people closer to my own age (6 years old may be my maturity level, but I think the next people were at least into double digits). After another full hour we were nearly at the front, and I was feeling exhausted from the heat (even with drinking a bottle of water).
Into the museum we went, in the direction of the Sistine Chapel. We moved at a reasonable pace, taking time occasionally to pause and admire the ceilings, the walls, and the sculptures and other pieces of artwork all around us. I couldn't get over just how crowded the whole place was and just how many languages I was hearing all around me. Eventually, we reached the Sistine Chapel. Wow. I found it to be even more breathtaking than I had imagined. I can't fathom how the ceiling was painted as my neck began to hurt just from leaning back to look at it. We spent a while admiring the chapel and then slowly made our way through the rest of the rooms en route to the exit. We ate some lunch and decided we had enough of the Vatican Museum and perhaps we would go somewhere else. We pulled out our list of museums only to be reminded that nearly EVERYthing is closed on Mondays. We opted for some pretty outdoor areas instead and so off we went to Piazza Del Popolo (where we saw some teens having a water fight) and then we meandered our way through Villa Borghese, which reminded me at times of Central Park and High Park. We had bus passes and so when we saw a mini bus (one third the size of a regular city bus) go by, we hoped on to enjoy the scenery. After riding around for a bit, we were ready to head back to the hostel. We stoped at the train station and attempted to sort out more of our travel details. I thought the ticket agent was going to kill us with all of the questions we asked, but he managed to stay calm despite other people in the line behind us begining to curse us (or so I imagine I heard).
I grabed a salad from the grocery store for dinner while Jasmine and Winnie went out in search of some authentic Italian pasta. I think we were all satisfied with our meals selections. Tonight we will head out to Campo De Fiori, an area known for good nightlife.. though I wonder if it will be quiet since it is Monday!
Tomorrow we are off to Florence. Rome has been fun, but I am ready to explore somewhere new....
Sunday, July 8, 2007
Rome - Part 1
Rome Day 1 (arrived 6pm)
I had been warned a gazillion times about Rome being a sketchy city and so when arrived at the train station after safely taking the train from the airport (after over an hour of waiting for my bag), I was on high alert. My hostel was near the train station and so I walked over, checked in, and went back to the grocery store in the train station to buy groceries for the weekend. While in line for the check out, I saw a policeman apprehend some guy who was acting erratic and I started to get really nervous. I walked quickly back to the hostel and hoped that Jasmine and Winnie would arrive soon from Greece. I started to calm down and joined some other people from the hostel at a free wine and cheese. Lots of yummy fruit and crackers for me. I chatted with a few people, including an Australian girl who I had met in our hostel in Salzburg. Fun!
I settled into the room and by 11pm, Jasmine and Winnie arrived. Hurray! We stayed up for a while, exchanging stories, making a rough plan for the next day, and then it was bedtime.
Rome Day 2
In the morning we set off for Trevi Fountain and en route managed to see Bernini's Four Fountains representing the four seasons, as well as other beautiful fountains and magnificent buildings (the Quirinal) and churches. I started to lose track of which church was which but I did enjoy the cool relief they provided from the outside heat. After enjoying Trevi Fountain, we walked toward the Roman Forum, which looks like a giant archeological dig site. En route, we stopped at the tomb of the unknown soldier. The Forum was not well labeled but still still managed to get a sense of what we were looking at using the guidebook (for once, it was not completely useless). After the forum, it was up to Palatine Hill, where the rich Romans built their homes. The remains were lovely to look at set against the many flowers. Next it was a brief picnic lunch before conquering the Colloseum. I think the outside is perhaps more magnificent than the interior and I've been told that if I had seen Gladiator, I would have appreciated it even more. I did enjoy, however, the exhibit on the Eros, containing many sculptures and old pottery. After the Colloseum, we wandered past the Domus Aurea (Nero's home), and slowly back toward our hostel.
We ate dinner in the courtyard of our hostel - a nice feature! We had heard that Trevi Fountain was pretty at night and so after dark, we returned to the fountain. Even more spectacular than it had looked during the day, the crowds were huge. We bought gelato at the nearby San Crispini, recommended by both of our guidebooks, and by all 3 of us, now that we've tried it. There really is a difference between excellent and mediocre gelato. Next it was off to the Spanish Steps. Again, it was very crowded, full of people just hanging out and drinking. We saw a group of teenage boys breakdancing, as well as a guy playing guitar. We decided that since we had metro passes, we would take the metro on stop to Barberini Square where we could see the Tritan Fountain. We walked down the metro only to find that it was closed, without any explanation. I hear that happens a lot here. We walked underground to the other side of the metro station, which involved several tunnels and flights of stairs and eventually got outside, next to a dark park. Sketchy city + dark park + not really sure where we were = kinda freaked out. Jasmine calmed me down and soon we found a major street and were directed toward Barberini Square. We ended up walking home along a similar route that the metro would have taken and though my feet hurt, we got to see some ritzy storefronts and bars as well as some fancy cars along the way. Needless to say, I was happy when we eventually made it back to the hostel.
Rome Day 3
This morning we set off early for Trastevere, which involved taking a VERY crowded metro.. had to elbow my way on and off! We got to our stop, and walked across the bridge over the Tiber river. Not the most impressive river through a city that I've seen this trip, but not bad. We walked to the Porta Portese, home to a huge flea market on Sundays. We spent 2 hours rifling through the tables of clothes and assorted other items and eventually I settled on shirt that I liked. Felt like I had spent so long in the heat of the flea market that I needed to get something. Next we stopped by a cookie shop that Jasmine and Winnie had read about and then we checked out the S Maria de Trastevere church (I think). Beautiful gold grid looking ceilings.
After Trastevere, we crossed back across the river into the Jewish Ghetto. We went on a tour of the synagogue and museum and learned a lot about the history of the Jews in Rome. Magnificent synagogue built in the early 1900s and well as the smaller Spanish Synagogue full of artifacts from the 5 synagogues that were demolished when the Jewish Ghetto was rebuilt after the emancipation in the early 1900s. We had a mid afternoon meal in a kosher dairy restaurant and I was VERY excited about my panzerotto.. and in keeping with the kosher restaurants from home, they screwed up my order the first time, and nearly corrected it the second time. Delicious. We also tried deep fried artichokes, apparently a famous Jewish food from this area.
Next we set out for the Pantheon. The building is not so impressive until you stop and ponder how exactly they built the dome without the aid of modern technology! I had the unfortunate misadventure of slipping while attempting to sit on the floor (trying to take a cool picture) and my hand holding my camera hit the stone floor. Stone floor + force = one cracked camera screen. I was/am pretty bummed about it but the memory card can still capture pictures that I shoot using the viewfinder. I guess its back to using my camera in the old school style.
We looked at one or two more sites and then hopped a bus back to the hostel. Its amazing how exhausting it is to be out in the sun all day. Its only 8pm here right now but all I want to do is go to sleep! Tomorrow we are going to the Vatican, which means we need to get up super early. I'm really looking forward to it.
Officially caught up in my updates. Hope things are well with everyone at home.
-Rachel
I had been warned a gazillion times about Rome being a sketchy city and so when arrived at the train station after safely taking the train from the airport (after over an hour of waiting for my bag), I was on high alert. My hostel was near the train station and so I walked over, checked in, and went back to the grocery store in the train station to buy groceries for the weekend. While in line for the check out, I saw a policeman apprehend some guy who was acting erratic and I started to get really nervous. I walked quickly back to the hostel and hoped that Jasmine and Winnie would arrive soon from Greece. I started to calm down and joined some other people from the hostel at a free wine and cheese. Lots of yummy fruit and crackers for me. I chatted with a few people, including an Australian girl who I had met in our hostel in Salzburg. Fun!
I settled into the room and by 11pm, Jasmine and Winnie arrived. Hurray! We stayed up for a while, exchanging stories, making a rough plan for the next day, and then it was bedtime.
Rome Day 2
In the morning we set off for Trevi Fountain and en route managed to see Bernini's Four Fountains representing the four seasons, as well as other beautiful fountains and magnificent buildings (the Quirinal) and churches. I started to lose track of which church was which but I did enjoy the cool relief they provided from the outside heat. After enjoying Trevi Fountain, we walked toward the Roman Forum, which looks like a giant archeological dig site. En route, we stopped at the tomb of the unknown soldier. The Forum was not well labeled but still still managed to get a sense of what we were looking at using the guidebook (for once, it was not completely useless). After the forum, it was up to Palatine Hill, where the rich Romans built their homes. The remains were lovely to look at set against the many flowers. Next it was a brief picnic lunch before conquering the Colloseum. I think the outside is perhaps more magnificent than the interior and I've been told that if I had seen Gladiator, I would have appreciated it even more. I did enjoy, however, the exhibit on the Eros, containing many sculptures and old pottery. After the Colloseum, we wandered past the Domus Aurea (Nero's home), and slowly back toward our hostel.
We ate dinner in the courtyard of our hostel - a nice feature! We had heard that Trevi Fountain was pretty at night and so after dark, we returned to the fountain. Even more spectacular than it had looked during the day, the crowds were huge. We bought gelato at the nearby San Crispini, recommended by both of our guidebooks, and by all 3 of us, now that we've tried it. There really is a difference between excellent and mediocre gelato. Next it was off to the Spanish Steps. Again, it was very crowded, full of people just hanging out and drinking. We saw a group of teenage boys breakdancing, as well as a guy playing guitar. We decided that since we had metro passes, we would take the metro on stop to Barberini Square where we could see the Tritan Fountain. We walked down the metro only to find that it was closed, without any explanation. I hear that happens a lot here. We walked underground to the other side of the metro station, which involved several tunnels and flights of stairs and eventually got outside, next to a dark park. Sketchy city + dark park + not really sure where we were = kinda freaked out. Jasmine calmed me down and soon we found a major street and were directed toward Barberini Square. We ended up walking home along a similar route that the metro would have taken and though my feet hurt, we got to see some ritzy storefronts and bars as well as some fancy cars along the way. Needless to say, I was happy when we eventually made it back to the hostel.
Rome Day 3
This morning we set off early for Trastevere, which involved taking a VERY crowded metro.. had to elbow my way on and off! We got to our stop, and walked across the bridge over the Tiber river. Not the most impressive river through a city that I've seen this trip, but not bad. We walked to the Porta Portese, home to a huge flea market on Sundays. We spent 2 hours rifling through the tables of clothes and assorted other items and eventually I settled on shirt that I liked. Felt like I had spent so long in the heat of the flea market that I needed to get something. Next we stopped by a cookie shop that Jasmine and Winnie had read about and then we checked out the S Maria de Trastevere church (I think). Beautiful gold grid looking ceilings.
After Trastevere, we crossed back across the river into the Jewish Ghetto. We went on a tour of the synagogue and museum and learned a lot about the history of the Jews in Rome. Magnificent synagogue built in the early 1900s and well as the smaller Spanish Synagogue full of artifacts from the 5 synagogues that were demolished when the Jewish Ghetto was rebuilt after the emancipation in the early 1900s. We had a mid afternoon meal in a kosher dairy restaurant and I was VERY excited about my panzerotto.. and in keeping with the kosher restaurants from home, they screwed up my order the first time, and nearly corrected it the second time. Delicious. We also tried deep fried artichokes, apparently a famous Jewish food from this area.
Next we set out for the Pantheon. The building is not so impressive until you stop and ponder how exactly they built the dome without the aid of modern technology! I had the unfortunate misadventure of slipping while attempting to sit on the floor (trying to take a cool picture) and my hand holding my camera hit the stone floor. Stone floor + force = one cracked camera screen. I was/am pretty bummed about it but the memory card can still capture pictures that I shoot using the viewfinder. I guess its back to using my camera in the old school style.
We looked at one or two more sites and then hopped a bus back to the hostel. Its amazing how exhausting it is to be out in the sun all day. Its only 8pm here right now but all I want to do is go to sleep! Tomorrow we are going to the Vatican, which means we need to get up super early. I'm really looking forward to it.
Officially caught up in my updates. Hope things are well with everyone at home.
-Rachel
Dubrovnik
Before we left Hvar, I realized that I was missing my black skirt, which I had last seen the night before in Split. While we had hoped to take a ferry straight from Split to Dubrovnik, it turned out that there was not one running that day and we would instead need to ferry back to Split and then bus to Dubrovnik - which meant that I could return to the place we had stayed and inquire about my missing skirt. When we got back to Split, I found out I had 30 minutes until the bus arrived and so I ran back to the apartment. I then realized I did not know which buzzer it was and so I buzzed every single apartment. A bunch of people let me in and so I walked up to the apartment where I had stayed and fortunately the woman was home. Now came the challenging part - explaining to her without any comprehension of English, why I had come back. Eventually she let me into the room and sure enough, under a chair in the corner, was my skirt. I showed her and thanked her, she gave me a hug, 3 plums and her phone number in case we ever came back to Split, and I ran back to the bus station. Mission accomplished.
We got on the 4-5 hour bus ride to Dubrovnik. While the view along the coast was beautiful, the bus had no air conditioning or bathrooms - which meant that drinking water had to be done in moderation. Fortunately the bus did stop twice at rest stations so I managed to survive quite nicely. Once in Dubrovnik, the information desk at the bus station agreed to call the owner of the villa where we would be staying and he came by to pick us up. I should clarify. We were not staying at his villa, since it was all booked, but rather in a spare bedroom at his mother in law's apartment, a few minutes away from there. We arrived, we given a brief overview and again quickly put on beach clothes and set off for an afternoon on the beach. While the water was again beautiful and the scenery (trees and people) quite enjoyable, the rocky beaches leave a bit to be desired when lying on using only a towel. Tough life, I know. I played in the waves for a while and the water was so nice that Jordana even stayed in for a while and she hates the water.
When we had had enough, we wandered back through the old town, admiring the sun shining off the stones and the red brick roofs. We put together a picnic dinner, walked all the way back to shower, get changed and come back into the old town for the night. We opted to just meander around and sat and listened to some great jazz outside of the Troubador Jazz Cafe as well as to a Mariachi band outside of a restaurant. Lots and lots of people outside enjoying the night and I could certainly see why Dubrovnik has become such a popular tourist destination in recent times.
The next morning, we did sightseeing inside the old town including one of the oldest functioning pharmacies in Europe, the 3rd oldest synagogue in Europe, as well as some more churches. Then it was time to board a boat to Lokrum, a nearby island. We soon arrived and decided to walk around for a bit before we settled in for yet another beach afternoon. We climbed up to a fortress (not really the best idea given the heat - but it did have a great view). We also walked around a botanical garden which mostly had a lot of dead looking things and a few funky palm trees.. kinda look like pineapples. And some cacti, which I tried to stay away from (see last post). We saw some unusual looking birds and baby birds which I thought looked like peacocks without the pretty feathers. We had our picnic lunch on a bench and then decided it was beach time. Of the various beach fronts, we opted to try and fix our tan lines. We lay down on the rock shelves and soaked up the sun. At one point, a girl who had been tanning nearby returned from the water with cuts from slipping on the rocks. Very promptly Jordana was to her rescue, offering bandaids, alcohol swabs and gauze. The firstaid exchange certainly had an element of humour, given the situation.
We went to swim in a different nearby cove, where the water was yet again clear and refreshing. After I became tired of treading water (it was too deep for me to stand) I climbed out and dried off. And then, I spotted a male peacock (those are the ones with the beaitiful feathers).. which meant that the ones we had been seeing all day were indeed the female and baby peacocks. I took a few pictures and was able to get right up close. The bird did not seem bothered by it and just walked around, showing its colours. Soon it was time to head back to Dubrovnik. Since the heat was dying down a bit we decided it was a good time to do the tour of the city walls. The old city walls have a 2km path along the tops with many lookout points, all with phenomenal views. Jordana pointed out that it must be annoying for the people who live inside the walls to have the constant parade of tourists outside their windows.
We bought some wraps for dinner from a restaurant called Fresh, whose logo looked an awful lot like the one in Toronto. One of the waiters recognized our MEC bags and came over to chat as he was from Vancouver. He told us that the restaurant becomes a bit of a hotspot at night and we should check back in a few hours. And so we went back to where we were staying, again showered, get ready for the night and also packed up since we would be leavng town the next morning. When we got back to Fresh, indeed there were people drinking all over the alleyway outside the entrance as well as inside. We chatted with a group standing outside made up of Aussies, Kiwis, Norwegians and Scots. I tried one of the Croatian beers. Not bad, but I think my favourite so far has been the Austrian beer. Eventually the group moved from Fresh to EastWest, a danceclub/bar thing right on the beach. Surprisingly, it was not very busy and no one was dancing on the dance floor. We had our own little dance party instead.
Eventually, I could not keep my eyes open any longer and it was time to head back. On the way we chatted briefly with some guys who were from Croatia we shared some history of the city with us. Friendly and not sketchy locals, always a bonus.
We woke up early for our last morning in Croatia, had gelato for breakfast and then found a very small swimming cove for one last brief beach outing. The cove was behind a little residential area and initially it was just us and some old ladies, but by the time we left, there was a mixed group. Back to the apartment to collect our bags and take a bus to the station. We never did find the first bus stop and once we had been walking for a while decided to just walk the whole way (especially since someone had mistakenly told us that it was only 10 minutes away! more like 20...). We did arrive on time, and Jordana bought a ticket for her bus to Split from where she would catch her flight to London-Gatwick and then on to home. We said our goodbyes and I even got a little teary.. it had been an incredibly fun few weeks traveling with her. I boarded my bus to the airport in Dubrovnik. The ride was brief and soon I was checked in for my flight to Rome. The airport was tiny but clean and modern. After a 30 minute delay, my flight eventually boarded and I waved farewell to beautiful Croatia. The view from the airplane was quite special.
My time in Eastern Europe officially done, I was now getting excited to meet up with Jasmine and Winnie for our weeks in Western Europe. The journey continues!
We got on the 4-5 hour bus ride to Dubrovnik. While the view along the coast was beautiful, the bus had no air conditioning or bathrooms - which meant that drinking water had to be done in moderation. Fortunately the bus did stop twice at rest stations so I managed to survive quite nicely. Once in Dubrovnik, the information desk at the bus station agreed to call the owner of the villa where we would be staying and he came by to pick us up. I should clarify. We were not staying at his villa, since it was all booked, but rather in a spare bedroom at his mother in law's apartment, a few minutes away from there. We arrived, we given a brief overview and again quickly put on beach clothes and set off for an afternoon on the beach. While the water was again beautiful and the scenery (trees and people) quite enjoyable, the rocky beaches leave a bit to be desired when lying on using only a towel. Tough life, I know. I played in the waves for a while and the water was so nice that Jordana even stayed in for a while and she hates the water.
When we had had enough, we wandered back through the old town, admiring the sun shining off the stones and the red brick roofs. We put together a picnic dinner, walked all the way back to shower, get changed and come back into the old town for the night. We opted to just meander around and sat and listened to some great jazz outside of the Troubador Jazz Cafe as well as to a Mariachi band outside of a restaurant. Lots and lots of people outside enjoying the night and I could certainly see why Dubrovnik has become such a popular tourist destination in recent times.
The next morning, we did sightseeing inside the old town including one of the oldest functioning pharmacies in Europe, the 3rd oldest synagogue in Europe, as well as some more churches. Then it was time to board a boat to Lokrum, a nearby island. We soon arrived and decided to walk around for a bit before we settled in for yet another beach afternoon. We climbed up to a fortress (not really the best idea given the heat - but it did have a great view). We also walked around a botanical garden which mostly had a lot of dead looking things and a few funky palm trees.. kinda look like pineapples. And some cacti, which I tried to stay away from (see last post). We saw some unusual looking birds and baby birds which I thought looked like peacocks without the pretty feathers. We had our picnic lunch on a bench and then decided it was beach time. Of the various beach fronts, we opted to try and fix our tan lines. We lay down on the rock shelves and soaked up the sun. At one point, a girl who had been tanning nearby returned from the water with cuts from slipping on the rocks. Very promptly Jordana was to her rescue, offering bandaids, alcohol swabs and gauze. The firstaid exchange certainly had an element of humour, given the situation.
We went to swim in a different nearby cove, where the water was yet again clear and refreshing. After I became tired of treading water (it was too deep for me to stand) I climbed out and dried off. And then, I spotted a male peacock (those are the ones with the beaitiful feathers).. which meant that the ones we had been seeing all day were indeed the female and baby peacocks. I took a few pictures and was able to get right up close. The bird did not seem bothered by it and just walked around, showing its colours. Soon it was time to head back to Dubrovnik. Since the heat was dying down a bit we decided it was a good time to do the tour of the city walls. The old city walls have a 2km path along the tops with many lookout points, all with phenomenal views. Jordana pointed out that it must be annoying for the people who live inside the walls to have the constant parade of tourists outside their windows.
We bought some wraps for dinner from a restaurant called Fresh, whose logo looked an awful lot like the one in Toronto. One of the waiters recognized our MEC bags and came over to chat as he was from Vancouver. He told us that the restaurant becomes a bit of a hotspot at night and we should check back in a few hours. And so we went back to where we were staying, again showered, get ready for the night and also packed up since we would be leavng town the next morning. When we got back to Fresh, indeed there were people drinking all over the alleyway outside the entrance as well as inside. We chatted with a group standing outside made up of Aussies, Kiwis, Norwegians and Scots. I tried one of the Croatian beers. Not bad, but I think my favourite so far has been the Austrian beer. Eventually the group moved from Fresh to EastWest, a danceclub/bar thing right on the beach. Surprisingly, it was not very busy and no one was dancing on the dance floor. We had our own little dance party instead.
Eventually, I could not keep my eyes open any longer and it was time to head back. On the way we chatted briefly with some guys who were from Croatia we shared some history of the city with us. Friendly and not sketchy locals, always a bonus.
We woke up early for our last morning in Croatia, had gelato for breakfast and then found a very small swimming cove for one last brief beach outing. The cove was behind a little residential area and initially it was just us and some old ladies, but by the time we left, there was a mixed group. Back to the apartment to collect our bags and take a bus to the station. We never did find the first bus stop and once we had been walking for a while decided to just walk the whole way (especially since someone had mistakenly told us that it was only 10 minutes away! more like 20...). We did arrive on time, and Jordana bought a ticket for her bus to Split from where she would catch her flight to London-Gatwick and then on to home. We said our goodbyes and I even got a little teary.. it had been an incredibly fun few weeks traveling with her. I boarded my bus to the airport in Dubrovnik. The ride was brief and soon I was checked in for my flight to Rome. The airport was tiny but clean and modern. After a 30 minute delay, my flight eventually boarded and I waved farewell to beautiful Croatia. The view from the airplane was quite special.
My time in Eastern Europe officially done, I was now getting excited to meet up with Jasmine and Winnie for our weeks in Western Europe. The journey continues!
Hvar
After a short but restful night of sleep in Split, we got up early to look around town before our ferry set off for the island of Hvar. Split's claim to fame (I think) are the remains of Diocletian's Palace. They have a big market by the port and there is a huge promenade built out of some sort of white polished stone (marble looking) that glimmers in the sunlight and is extremely slippery in the rain - both of which we got to experience.
The ferry ride was brief and comfortable and soon we arrived on the beautiful island of Hvar. Palm trees, cacti, carob trees, some sort of giant purple flowers and again with the clear blue water...
We had reservations at some lady's villa but it took a fair bit of effort to find out exactly where it was and which stairs we needed to climb... in the mid day heat, with our packs on. Eventually, we found it, dropped our bags off, threw on some beach clothes and set off for our first beach afternoon. We managed to find a hotel by the water who did not seem bothered by our use of their beach chairs. I napped in the sunshine, read my book and swam for a bit. The water was warm, but certainly cold enough to be refreshing. So incredibly relaxing to just sit by the water and not feel like we had an agenda to fulfill.
After our time by the water, we wandered through the markets, picked up some groceries to prepare dinner for later and then went back up to our villa for showers. Before dinner, Jordana and I climbed up to the fortress to watch the sunset, and though we could not really see it, we did get an awesome view of the island. I also noted the abundance of tiny stray kittens all over. I guess that they must die before getting big as I saw very few full grown cats. Kind of sad. While on the walk down I had a small mis-hap. I really like cacti and when I saw a broken off piece of one, I carefully picked it up, avoid stabbing myself with the huge needles. Jordana took a funny picture of me pretending to eat it and as I put it down I suddenly realized that my thumbs were covered in tiny cacti prickles. Ouch. I pulled out as many as I could but over the next few days I would randomly get pain in my fingers when I picked things up using my thumbs. Lesson learned.
After dark, we prepared our dinner and enjoyed it by candlelight on the veranda of the villa. We then head off back into town to check out the night life. All of the restaurants had turned into bars, spreading out onto the cobblestones. We eventually settled on a bustling bar called ''Carpe Diem'' that had music playing and people sitting all over the front porch, stairs and even on the ground outside the bar. And of course the waiters even came outside the bar to serve. Given all the sunshine I had that day, I opted not to drink that night and was happy just sitting outside enjoying the warm night air. Island life is pretty sweet.
The ferry ride was brief and comfortable and soon we arrived on the beautiful island of Hvar. Palm trees, cacti, carob trees, some sort of giant purple flowers and again with the clear blue water...
We had reservations at some lady's villa but it took a fair bit of effort to find out exactly where it was and which stairs we needed to climb... in the mid day heat, with our packs on. Eventually, we found it, dropped our bags off, threw on some beach clothes and set off for our first beach afternoon. We managed to find a hotel by the water who did not seem bothered by our use of their beach chairs. I napped in the sunshine, read my book and swam for a bit. The water was warm, but certainly cold enough to be refreshing. So incredibly relaxing to just sit by the water and not feel like we had an agenda to fulfill.
After our time by the water, we wandered through the markets, picked up some groceries to prepare dinner for later and then went back up to our villa for showers. Before dinner, Jordana and I climbed up to the fortress to watch the sunset, and though we could not really see it, we did get an awesome view of the island. I also noted the abundance of tiny stray kittens all over. I guess that they must die before getting big as I saw very few full grown cats. Kind of sad. While on the walk down I had a small mis-hap. I really like cacti and when I saw a broken off piece of one, I carefully picked it up, avoid stabbing myself with the huge needles. Jordana took a funny picture of me pretending to eat it and as I put it down I suddenly realized that my thumbs were covered in tiny cacti prickles. Ouch. I pulled out as many as I could but over the next few days I would randomly get pain in my fingers when I picked things up using my thumbs. Lesson learned.
After dark, we prepared our dinner and enjoyed it by candlelight on the veranda of the villa. We then head off back into town to check out the night life. All of the restaurants had turned into bars, spreading out onto the cobblestones. We eventually settled on a bustling bar called ''Carpe Diem'' that had music playing and people sitting all over the front porch, stairs and even on the ground outside the bar. And of course the waiters even came outside the bar to serve. Given all the sunshine I had that day, I opted not to drink that night and was happy just sitting outside enjoying the warm night air. Island life is pretty sweet.
Saturday, July 7, 2007
Plitvice Lakes
After our all-nighter in Budapest, we were happy to spend the morning on a train to Zagreb in Croatia. We slept most of the way, and arrived without difficulty. We then lugged our bags down several blocks to the bus station where we got tickets for a bus to Plitvice Lakes. Fortunately, no standing in the aisles this time. A few hours later we were dropped off, along with 3 Aussies, outside of the national park, which kinda looked like Muskoka in Ontario. We found a sign for private accomodations and soon the 5 of us were picked up by a man who runs a guest house. The house felt very cottage-y and was surrounded by trees and flowers. VERY relaxing after several days of big cities. The owner's son and friend hung out with the 5 of us as we sat outside and ate and drank together. Not so much drinking for me given the lack of sleep the night before, but the others more than made up for it. Jordana and I called it an early night while the others continued the festivities late into the night.
In the morning we walked over to the park entrance and bought our tickets. We took a little trolley bus thing to the Upper Lakes of the park and already we could tell that the view so absolutely amazing. The brightist clearest turquoise water I had ever seen with dozens of small waterfalls everywhere. We walked along the footbridges, trying to avoid falling in the water (swimming is prohibited there). We took many many pictures as each new turn presented with another beautiful sight. Eventually we reached the end of the upper lakes and took a boat across the biggest lake to get to the Lower Lakes. These too were beautiful though not quite as impressive as the upper lakes. They did, however, boast one HUGE waterfall. We slowly meandered our way through the park and back out.
We were told there was a bus to Split arriving soon and so we quickly walked to the bus stop (after a call to the owner of the guest house requesting that our bags arrive ASAP!). No bus for Split arrived and we soon met other people waiting for a later bus to Split. Well, that bus never came either and eventually someone called the bus company only to find out that the bus was full and therefore never stopped. Super. The next bus was not until midnight so we needed to come up with a better plan. We were now again joined by the 3 Aussie boys who also wanted to go to Split. We had been sitting at the bus stop for 4 hours when a taxi driver who had come by several times now showed up again. He had 4 in his van going to Zadar, which would get us partway to Split and from there we could catch a (more reliable) bus. We eventually agreed and so the 9 of us set off to Zadar. The view from the van of the mountains to one side and the ocean to the other was outstanding. The temperature slowly climbed and it was a very balmy evening. Once in Zadar, we soon boarded a bus to split and got into town at midnight without anywhere to stay. I was REALLY happy we had the guys with us as we were soon approached by someone offering private accomodations. We all followed him to his mother's place. She was a cute old Croation woman who spoke zero english but was happy chattering away to us nonetheless. We left our stuff there and went to sit outside on benches on the promenade along the port. We found a 24h bakery which was pretty sweet given we had not eaten in many hours. Everything turned out just fine and strangely, I had not been too concerned about it in the meanwhile.
In the morning we walked over to the park entrance and bought our tickets. We took a little trolley bus thing to the Upper Lakes of the park and already we could tell that the view so absolutely amazing. The brightist clearest turquoise water I had ever seen with dozens of small waterfalls everywhere. We walked along the footbridges, trying to avoid falling in the water (swimming is prohibited there). We took many many pictures as each new turn presented with another beautiful sight. Eventually we reached the end of the upper lakes and took a boat across the biggest lake to get to the Lower Lakes. These too were beautiful though not quite as impressive as the upper lakes. They did, however, boast one HUGE waterfall. We slowly meandered our way through the park and back out.
We were told there was a bus to Split arriving soon and so we quickly walked to the bus stop (after a call to the owner of the guest house requesting that our bags arrive ASAP!). No bus for Split arrived and we soon met other people waiting for a later bus to Split. Well, that bus never came either and eventually someone called the bus company only to find out that the bus was full and therefore never stopped. Super. The next bus was not until midnight so we needed to come up with a better plan. We were now again joined by the 3 Aussie boys who also wanted to go to Split. We had been sitting at the bus stop for 4 hours when a taxi driver who had come by several times now showed up again. He had 4 in his van going to Zadar, which would get us partway to Split and from there we could catch a (more reliable) bus. We eventually agreed and so the 9 of us set off to Zadar. The view from the van of the mountains to one side and the ocean to the other was outstanding. The temperature slowly climbed and it was a very balmy evening. Once in Zadar, we soon boarded a bus to split and got into town at midnight without anywhere to stay. I was REALLY happy we had the guys with us as we were soon approached by someone offering private accomodations. We all followed him to his mother's place. She was a cute old Croation woman who spoke zero english but was happy chattering away to us nonetheless. We left our stuff there and went to sit outside on benches on the promenade along the port. We found a 24h bakery which was pretty sweet given we had not eaten in many hours. Everything turned out just fine and strangely, I had not been too concerned about it in the meanwhile.
Budapest PART 2
Things went from normal to bizzare in the last part of our stay in Budapest. We did go to Chabad for friday night and services and dinner, and while services were quite crowded, dinner was not. The Rabbi briefly asked where we were from and introduced us to the group, but otherwise everything spoken was in Hungarian and no one talked to us.. not my usual experience with Chabad! We did, however, REALLY enjoy the food.. probably ate more in that meal than we had in a few days combined.
Saturday morning we walked over to the Great Synagogue. Gorgeous building and a fair number of congregants. I was happily enjoying things when all of a sudden... the organ whirred into life and the ark covering electronically lifted up. I guess I should have beeen more specific when I inquired as to the 'denomination' of the synagogue. It was interesting experience with the organ and choir and all.. so I guess I can chalk it up to that.
In the afternoon we set off for Gellert Hill in Buda, and walked up a very big hill. The climb was hot, but the view from the top was great. Next we climbed down and walked over to the Buda Castle area. We got partway up the hill when we stopped to listen to some Celtic music. We were then approached by a young guy who recognized our MEC bags and said ''Hello Canadians, I'm Ilan from Montreal''. Well, it turns out that he has friends in common with Jordana and is also an observant Jew. Random. We ended up spending the rest of the afternoon with him, seeing more sights and listening to his wealth of knowledge of Jewish Budapest. We walked across the Chain bridge which had been closed to cars for the day and was full of vendors and performers. He also pointed a memorial to the Jews who had been drowned in the Danube - pairs of bronzed shoes of different shapes and styles, lined up along the river edge. Very striking. Ilan then said goodbye to us and told us perhaps he'd see us at the Bryan Adams concert (free) in Heroes Square that night.
Back to the hostel to shower, change, eat some dinner and then indeed we walked over to the Bryan Adams concert. The crowds were massive and we had to watch from one of multiple stages and we could not get anywhere close to the stage. I recognized all of the songs and had fun singing along. There was something especially fun about seeing a Canadian perform in Budapest on the night before Canada Day. After the concert Jordana tried to get one of the security guards to pass on the message of 'happy canada day' to Bryan Adams, but no one was interested in humouring her. Oh well. Next we noticed lights and music coming from a big outdoor area nearby known as the lake as it gets filled with water later in the summer. The sign said 'official afterparty' so we checked it out for a bit and got to do the Macarena while we were there. Got bored after a while and decided to check out Margit Island, the island between Buda and Pest. It was still early (as far as going out is concerned) so we picked up drinks in the Supermarket and decided to walk to the island. Eventually we got there and did what we had been instructed.. follow the crowds as they get off the bus. The first bar we checked out was full of cool lanterns and outdoor tables.. but relatively few english speaking people and so we opted for a different bar. There we ran into some guys from our hostel, as well as a large crowd of guys who were in Budapest from the UK for the weekend for their buddy's stag. Their buddie had been dressed in a leprechaun suit for the occasion. Um.. okay. After talking with them for a bit they announced that their stag leader (a girl from Budapest that they had hired to take them around) said it was time to get on their bus and go to a different location. Somehow, we got included in this, and onto the bus we went. Found ourselves next at a huge outdoor venue called Zold Pardon (or something like that). Really funky place. Danced and danced and danced.. and eventually the sky started to get light. Sometime around 5am we realized we needed to head back to our hostel soon to pack up our bags and catch the morning train to Zagreb. With the sky entirely light, we found our way all the way back without the use of a map. Bizzare night, but all in all, Budapest is a terrific city.
Saturday morning we walked over to the Great Synagogue. Gorgeous building and a fair number of congregants. I was happily enjoying things when all of a sudden... the organ whirred into life and the ark covering electronically lifted up. I guess I should have beeen more specific when I inquired as to the 'denomination' of the synagogue. It was interesting experience with the organ and choir and all.. so I guess I can chalk it up to that.
In the afternoon we set off for Gellert Hill in Buda, and walked up a very big hill. The climb was hot, but the view from the top was great. Next we climbed down and walked over to the Buda Castle area. We got partway up the hill when we stopped to listen to some Celtic music. We were then approached by a young guy who recognized our MEC bags and said ''Hello Canadians, I'm Ilan from Montreal''. Well, it turns out that he has friends in common with Jordana and is also an observant Jew. Random. We ended up spending the rest of the afternoon with him, seeing more sights and listening to his wealth of knowledge of Jewish Budapest. We walked across the Chain bridge which had been closed to cars for the day and was full of vendors and performers. He also pointed a memorial to the Jews who had been drowned in the Danube - pairs of bronzed shoes of different shapes and styles, lined up along the river edge. Very striking. Ilan then said goodbye to us and told us perhaps he'd see us at the Bryan Adams concert (free) in Heroes Square that night.
Back to the hostel to shower, change, eat some dinner and then indeed we walked over to the Bryan Adams concert. The crowds were massive and we had to watch from one of multiple stages and we could not get anywhere close to the stage. I recognized all of the songs and had fun singing along. There was something especially fun about seeing a Canadian perform in Budapest on the night before Canada Day. After the concert Jordana tried to get one of the security guards to pass on the message of 'happy canada day' to Bryan Adams, but no one was interested in humouring her. Oh well. Next we noticed lights and music coming from a big outdoor area nearby known as the lake as it gets filled with water later in the summer. The sign said 'official afterparty' so we checked it out for a bit and got to do the Macarena while we were there. Got bored after a while and decided to check out Margit Island, the island between Buda and Pest. It was still early (as far as going out is concerned) so we picked up drinks in the Supermarket and decided to walk to the island. Eventually we got there and did what we had been instructed.. follow the crowds as they get off the bus. The first bar we checked out was full of cool lanterns and outdoor tables.. but relatively few english speaking people and so we opted for a different bar. There we ran into some guys from our hostel, as well as a large crowd of guys who were in Budapest from the UK for the weekend for their buddy's stag. Their buddie had been dressed in a leprechaun suit for the occasion. Um.. okay. After talking with them for a bit they announced that their stag leader (a girl from Budapest that they had hired to take them around) said it was time to get on their bus and go to a different location. Somehow, we got included in this, and onto the bus we went. Found ourselves next at a huge outdoor venue called Zold Pardon (or something like that). Really funky place. Danced and danced and danced.. and eventually the sky started to get light. Sometime around 5am we realized we needed to head back to our hostel soon to pack up our bags and catch the morning train to Zagreb. With the sky entirely light, we found our way all the way back without the use of a map. Bizzare night, but all in all, Budapest is a terrific city.
Friday, July 6, 2007
Arrived in Rome.
Hi everyone.
Barely been connected with the outside world for the last week but hoping to remedy that over the next few days. There are many stories to be shared involving Bryan Adams, a guy in a leprechaun suit, beautiful beaches, and long bus rides.
I am now in Rome, shortly to be joined by Jasmine and Winnie. Jordana is on her way home to Toronto via Split then London-Gatwick. I am going to miss traveling with her but I am also excited for the next few weeks.
Hope things are well with everyone, and shabbat shalom.
Barely been connected with the outside world for the last week but hoping to remedy that over the next few days. There are many stories to be shared involving Bryan Adams, a guy in a leprechaun suit, beautiful beaches, and long bus rides.
I am now in Rome, shortly to be joined by Jasmine and Winnie. Jordana is on her way home to Toronto via Split then London-Gatwick. I am going to miss traveling with her but I am also excited for the next few weeks.
Hope things are well with everyone, and shabbat shalom.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)