Thanks for keeping up!!
September 18, 2008
Who wants pictures?!?!?
Sorry for the delay - there's that whole "moving in" and "getting work" and settling down, and phew... Anyway, we have TWO albums for you. One is exclusively of "Squishy," the mascot for Tucows (where Chuck works), and one is a highlight album, from the almost 2700 photos we took. A full online album will be put up once we find space, but without comments or captions. Enjoy!
September 5, 2008
Home at last!
Ok, so things aren't exactly going up in the correct order. Weren't we supposed to fill in all the highlights about Rome when we could? Well, getting home was a bit more of a priority. Anyway, since I'm sure you're chomping on the bit, let's fill you in, shall we?
Sure enough, we saw the Colosseum, and paid a chunk extra to get a tour / bypass the line / get a free photo with a "gladiator" package. Really wasn't all that much more, and as a bonus we also got admission and a tour of Palantine Hill. Now, while the Colosseum is a whisp of its former glory, it is still amazing to see it, walk around, and get some history. Some truly gruesome things occurred in that place! Palantine Hill and the Roman Forum was more of a history lesson than anything else, but we did see what is possibly the home of Romulus, dating back to about 800 B.C. Some increible ruins! The rest of the day was just wandering, heading into Trestevere (near the station), and relaxing.
Next was the Vatican - we had heard horror stories about the lineups, some being as long as 3+ hours! Several people we had met in our travels said they had themselves waited for a long time, or had talked to someone who had. What to do? So we decided this was all we were going to do that day, just in case. We get to the Vatican City, and have to go through security. There were a few people in front, but this didn't take very long - through the metal detector, scan our bags, and off you go. Next was purchasing tickets, which was another brief affair, with a mere 2 people to wait behind. So, the question now was - where were the infamous lineups? Guess we got lucky (although, we had heard a comment the day before from a tour guide about how this was a slow travel year, something about the US dollar being low, etc). So the Vatican itself? Huge, interesting collection, but a bit overwhelming! From there we sauntered into St. Peter's which also had a lacklustre lineup. However, this was breathtaking, and well worth the price of admission (which was, well, free!).
Chantelle (who is awesome, thank you!!) had given us a little walking tour, which we took the next day. Starting from the Vatican we wandered neighbourhoods - the east bank of the Tiber down from the Vatican; Trestevere for some awesome pizza, cute boutique shops, and a surprisingly dingy church on the outside with a remarkable mosaic filling (Santa Maria in Trestevere); into the Jewish quarter to look at some weird and whacky architecture (Roman column on your construction site? Incorporate it into your plans!); then on to the Piazza dei Fiori, the Piazza Novona, and The Pantheon. This last building alone was worth the trip to Rome - mind bogglingly beautiful, in wonderful condition (unlike many of the other Roman buildings which have had their marble removed for other projects), and with the sun shining through the hole in the ceiling, well... enough said.
The rest of Rome was just wandering around, seeing this and that, checking out neighbourhoods, eating gelato and going into kebab shops for falafel, and not eating Italian food (a month straight of pizza and pasta had us wanting something different). We had quite a bit of Indian food, as it turns out. We had a small scheduling fubar that had us staying in Rome for a day longer than we expected, which was fine, just another dingy hostel, and another day of beautiful sunshine before heading back to Belfast. When we learned of Zoom Airline's demise, we managed to easily find a return flight, although on the 4th instead of the 1st, and we had to fly out of Dublin instead of Belfast. Still, our travel agent was fantastic in finding us something incredibly cheap. And, if we're lucky, the credit card company will be able to get us some money back, for services not rendered from Zoom (or some such).
Belfast was quiet - they have had a record breaking summer for rainfall, and this trend continued when we got back. We didn't realize how good we had it weather wise until we got back to Ireland. All told, we were rained on twice in our whole trip throughout France, Spain, and Italy. In Belfast, it rained every single day!! We spent more time with Kelly's awesome, amazing, and wholly hospitable family, and even got a chance to meet some of her other cousins that we had not yet gotten a chance to see. We also had a fancy lunch at the Merchant Hotel, and when at Dundrum Castle saw some medieval historian types who let us shoot some arrows on real English longbows! I love Kelly's family, and pretty much every Northern Irish person we met - they're all so NICE!
Our trip home was uneventful, just a looooooooooooong day. We were up at 5:30am, picked up at 6:30am, caught a bus from Belfast to Dublin Airport at 7am, in Dublin Airport at 9:30, checked in and through security, flying by just after 12 noon, then after an hour layover in Montreal, we landed in Toronto at about 3:30pm (which was actually 8:30pm for us) before getting through the terminal and customs and baggage and meeting my mum for a lift home. We got back and settled at home by about 5:00pm (or 10:00pm in Belfast, if you're keeping track). A mere 15 or 16 hour day!
Ok, I think that's it - we're home, we're not yet settled, we have a lot of things to do, and our vacation is over. A little sad about that, but also kind of happy to get the next phase of our life on the go. What will that be? Not a clue... maybe there'll be a blog for that too (but probably not).
Thanks for keeping up, from Kelly and myself!
BTW - we'll have photos online soon, but perhaps not on Blogger. Will advice..
Sure enough, we saw the Colosseum, and paid a chunk extra to get a tour / bypass the line / get a free photo with a "gladiator" package. Really wasn't all that much more, and as a bonus we also got admission and a tour of Palantine Hill. Now, while the Colosseum is a whisp of its former glory, it is still amazing to see it, walk around, and get some history. Some truly gruesome things occurred in that place! Palantine Hill and the Roman Forum was more of a history lesson than anything else, but we did see what is possibly the home of Romulus, dating back to about 800 B.C. Some increible ruins! The rest of the day was just wandering, heading into Trestevere (near the station), and relaxing.
Next was the Vatican - we had heard horror stories about the lineups, some being as long as 3+ hours! Several people we had met in our travels said they had themselves waited for a long time, or had talked to someone who had. What to do? So we decided this was all we were going to do that day, just in case. We get to the Vatican City, and have to go through security. There were a few people in front, but this didn't take very long - through the metal detector, scan our bags, and off you go. Next was purchasing tickets, which was another brief affair, with a mere 2 people to wait behind. So, the question now was - where were the infamous lineups? Guess we got lucky (although, we had heard a comment the day before from a tour guide about how this was a slow travel year, something about the US dollar being low, etc). So the Vatican itself? Huge, interesting collection, but a bit overwhelming! From there we sauntered into St. Peter's which also had a lacklustre lineup. However, this was breathtaking, and well worth the price of admission (which was, well, free!).
Chantelle (who is awesome, thank you!!) had given us a little walking tour, which we took the next day. Starting from the Vatican we wandered neighbourhoods - the east bank of the Tiber down from the Vatican; Trestevere for some awesome pizza, cute boutique shops, and a surprisingly dingy church on the outside with a remarkable mosaic filling (Santa Maria in Trestevere); into the Jewish quarter to look at some weird and whacky architecture (Roman column on your construction site? Incorporate it into your plans!); then on to the Piazza dei Fiori, the Piazza Novona, and The Pantheon. This last building alone was worth the trip to Rome - mind bogglingly beautiful, in wonderful condition (unlike many of the other Roman buildings which have had their marble removed for other projects), and with the sun shining through the hole in the ceiling, well... enough said.
The rest of Rome was just wandering around, seeing this and that, checking out neighbourhoods, eating gelato and going into kebab shops for falafel, and not eating Italian food (a month straight of pizza and pasta had us wanting something different). We had quite a bit of Indian food, as it turns out. We had a small scheduling fubar that had us staying in Rome for a day longer than we expected, which was fine, just another dingy hostel, and another day of beautiful sunshine before heading back to Belfast. When we learned of Zoom Airline's demise, we managed to easily find a return flight, although on the 4th instead of the 1st, and we had to fly out of Dublin instead of Belfast. Still, our travel agent was fantastic in finding us something incredibly cheap. And, if we're lucky, the credit card company will be able to get us some money back, for services not rendered from Zoom (or some such).
Belfast was quiet - they have had a record breaking summer for rainfall, and this trend continued when we got back. We didn't realize how good we had it weather wise until we got back to Ireland. All told, we were rained on twice in our whole trip throughout France, Spain, and Italy. In Belfast, it rained every single day!! We spent more time with Kelly's awesome, amazing, and wholly hospitable family, and even got a chance to meet some of her other cousins that we had not yet gotten a chance to see. We also had a fancy lunch at the Merchant Hotel, and when at Dundrum Castle saw some medieval historian types who let us shoot some arrows on real English longbows! I love Kelly's family, and pretty much every Northern Irish person we met - they're all so NICE!
Our trip home was uneventful, just a looooooooooooong day. We were up at 5:30am, picked up at 6:30am, caught a bus from Belfast to Dublin Airport at 7am, in Dublin Airport at 9:30, checked in and through security, flying by just after 12 noon, then after an hour layover in Montreal, we landed in Toronto at about 3:30pm (which was actually 8:30pm for us) before getting through the terminal and customs and baggage and meeting my mum for a lift home. We got back and settled at home by about 5:00pm (or 10:00pm in Belfast, if you're keeping track). A mere 15 or 16 hour day!
Ok, I think that's it - we're home, we're not yet settled, we have a lot of things to do, and our vacation is over. A little sad about that, but also kind of happy to get the next phase of our life on the go. What will that be? Not a clue... maybe there'll be a blog for that too (but probably not).
Thanks for keeping up, from Kelly and myself!
BTW - we'll have photos online soon, but perhaps not on Blogger. Will advice..
August 29, 2008
ZOOM-TASTIC!!
This isn't so much as an update than an FYI and gripe session. We'll post more about the remainder of our trip when it's more appropriate!
So, last night (quite late) we learned of the grounding of all Zoom Airline flights and their inevitable filing for bankruptcy. Guess who we were to fly back to Toronto with? No ideas?? Not even a clue??? Well then ....
Currently we're just packing up at our last hostel in Rome, and waiting for the business world in Toronto to wake up so we can call Travel Cuts (where we booked the flight initially), and see what our travel/cancellation insurance can do for us, and try to figure out when and how we are going to get home. It's a bit of a shock, and we're still staggered by the news, but - all things considered - there are worse places than Belfast to be stranded. Kelly's relatives will assuredly take golden care of us until things are all sorted!
That's all for now folks!
So, last night (quite late) we learned of the grounding of all Zoom Airline flights and their inevitable filing for bankruptcy. Guess who we were to fly back to Toronto with? No ideas?? Not even a clue??? Well then ....
Currently we're just packing up at our last hostel in Rome, and waiting for the business world in Toronto to wake up so we can call Travel Cuts (where we booked the flight initially), and see what our travel/cancellation insurance can do for us, and try to figure out when and how we are going to get home. It's a bit of a shock, and we're still staggered by the news, but - all things considered - there are worse places than Belfast to be stranded. Kelly's relatives will assuredly take golden care of us until things are all sorted!
That's all for now folks!
August 24, 2008
What? We're having fun!!
Ok, so maybe this wasn't the best idea. I mean, sure we have a blog, and of course there has been internet access, and I'm even keeping a little journal to remind us of little anecdotes and stories and places we've been. But ... well ... spending time on a computer to type up a posting just hasn't seemed to be all that important! Besides, we've been having far too much fun (seriously, where would you rather be - out in the beautiful sunny weather, or stuck on computer??)
August 11th-14th: Cinque Terre is pretty simple to talk about. We were staying in Vernazza, which was an adorable little town, and did pretty much nothing the whole time. Sure, we took the train to Riomaggiore and walked the Via dell'Amore to Manorola and then skipped up to Corniglia to walk the 382 steps up to the village and then came home. But whatever - most of the time was beach, relaxing, reading, fantastic food, and watching all the silly tourists flood through "our village." Very romantic, we had an almost full moon as we were leaving, it was just fantastico!
August 15th-17th: So, on the way to Siena, we popped into Pisa. See, they have this tower, and well... you know, it's a little off. Someone ought to do something about it, instead of charging insane amounts to make people walk up to the top (we didn't, since it was a 5+ hour wait - but, really, we have our OWN tower, and it doesn't lean). We did go see the cathedral, cemetery, and baptistry, so it wasn't a complete waste of a trip! (I kid, the tower was amazing to see, but who wants to wait that long???). Off to Siena, where we learned that we were there for their annual race called "The Palio." This is a monumental event, the entire city comes out for it, and travellers from around the world come just for the race - whoops! But hey, we didn't care, since we were there to see the duomo (which looks like black and white licorice candy), a day trip to San Gimignano, and just waltz around this beautiful city. Yes, we watched the race, but we didn't crowd in with the other 40-50 thousand odd people into the main square where the race takes place - the television at the "hostel" was sufficient. Oh, we were staying in this villa outside of the city that was originally a 13th century fortress, and was converted into a villa in the 18th century. The family that owns the villa and runs the hostel have owned the land (230+ acres) and whatnot since the 18th century, and have been renting rooms and small cottages on their land since the late 1890s! A lot of 18th century furniture and art adorn the rooms and hallways, it was simply ideal - and the countryside was absolutely phenomenal, stunningly beautiful. And, for some reason, it was quite cool (comparatively speaking) - around 25 degrees or so, but wonderfully sunny (aside from the torrential downpour/thunderstorm we had arriving in the city).
August 18th-21st: Next on was Perugia, which is probably the most beautiful town we have visited thus far. There are many Etruscan remains, dating from around the 3rd or 4th century BC, including some old gates and still readily visible walls (some of which have medieval additions, others seem to have modern buildings just sprouting from them!) We went down into the old Etruscan well, which was just mindboggling - this supplied water for the town and area from about the 3rd century BC until the 13th century when an additional water source several kilometers away was connected via an aquaduct (which still remains, but it's been converted into a pedestrian walkway since the 18th century). The rest of the city was equally stunning, old, rich with history, and all perfectly walkable. The farmhouse we stayed out (another "outside of the city" experience) was over 200 years old, and it was so quiet, with a nice pool (required: it was 34-37 degrees during our stay), and baby goats, sheep, a goose, and several cats/kittens. Oh, and fresh eggs from the chickens for breakfast! We took a day trip to Assisi to soak up the Franciscan history, check out the basilica, see the cross that spoke to St. Francis, and just walk around one of the quaintest medieval towns we'd ever seen (flocks of tourists and pilgrims notwithstanding). A nice relaxing respite!
On the 22nd we came to Rome, where we are now. So far most of our time has been wandering around, seeing some important churches that Kelly studied and/or wrote research papers on (like Santa Pressede, or Santa Maria Maggiore). Our first evening here we went to see an English movie (The Dark Knight) since we were missing hearing English spoken, and wanted popcorn. Yesterday we went to the Villa Borghese and the museum therein to see some simply amazing Bernini sculptures - if you've never seen one, book a flight to Rome immediately, and come over. The realism and movement he gets out of marble defies description. Today our plan is to see the Colosseum, which we've already walked by at night (and it's ... well... in a word... colossal!).
Our sincerest apologies for taking so long to get back onto the Internet, but with all these sleepy quiet towns, we were rather enjoying our time not doing crazy running around (like Paris, Barcelona, Venice, and Florence), even if we did have some really long days. Who wants to blog?? This might be our last posting from Rome, and perhaps one more in Belfast before we head home - in a week!!!
August 11th-14th: Cinque Terre is pretty simple to talk about. We were staying in Vernazza, which was an adorable little town, and did pretty much nothing the whole time. Sure, we took the train to Riomaggiore and walked the Via dell'Amore to Manorola and then skipped up to Corniglia to walk the 382 steps up to the village and then came home. But whatever - most of the time was beach, relaxing, reading, fantastic food, and watching all the silly tourists flood through "our village." Very romantic, we had an almost full moon as we were leaving, it was just fantastico!
August 15th-17th: So, on the way to Siena, we popped into Pisa. See, they have this tower, and well... you know, it's a little off. Someone ought to do something about it, instead of charging insane amounts to make people walk up to the top (we didn't, since it was a 5+ hour wait - but, really, we have our OWN tower, and it doesn't lean). We did go see the cathedral, cemetery, and baptistry, so it wasn't a complete waste of a trip! (I kid, the tower was amazing to see, but who wants to wait that long???). Off to Siena, where we learned that we were there for their annual race called "The Palio." This is a monumental event, the entire city comes out for it, and travellers from around the world come just for the race - whoops! But hey, we didn't care, since we were there to see the duomo (which looks like black and white licorice candy), a day trip to San Gimignano, and just waltz around this beautiful city. Yes, we watched the race, but we didn't crowd in with the other 40-50 thousand odd people into the main square where the race takes place - the television at the "hostel" was sufficient. Oh, we were staying in this villa outside of the city that was originally a 13th century fortress, and was converted into a villa in the 18th century. The family that owns the villa and runs the hostel have owned the land (230+ acres) and whatnot since the 18th century, and have been renting rooms and small cottages on their land since the late 1890s! A lot of 18th century furniture and art adorn the rooms and hallways, it was simply ideal - and the countryside was absolutely phenomenal, stunningly beautiful. And, for some reason, it was quite cool (comparatively speaking) - around 25 degrees or so, but wonderfully sunny (aside from the torrential downpour/thunderstorm we had arriving in the city).
August 18th-21st: Next on was Perugia, which is probably the most beautiful town we have visited thus far. There are many Etruscan remains, dating from around the 3rd or 4th century BC, including some old gates and still readily visible walls (some of which have medieval additions, others seem to have modern buildings just sprouting from them!) We went down into the old Etruscan well, which was just mindboggling - this supplied water for the town and area from about the 3rd century BC until the 13th century when an additional water source several kilometers away was connected via an aquaduct (which still remains, but it's been converted into a pedestrian walkway since the 18th century). The rest of the city was equally stunning, old, rich with history, and all perfectly walkable. The farmhouse we stayed out (another "outside of the city" experience) was over 200 years old, and it was so quiet, with a nice pool (required: it was 34-37 degrees during our stay), and baby goats, sheep, a goose, and several cats/kittens. Oh, and fresh eggs from the chickens for breakfast! We took a day trip to Assisi to soak up the Franciscan history, check out the basilica, see the cross that spoke to St. Francis, and just walk around one of the quaintest medieval towns we'd ever seen (flocks of tourists and pilgrims notwithstanding). A nice relaxing respite!
On the 22nd we came to Rome, where we are now. So far most of our time has been wandering around, seeing some important churches that Kelly studied and/or wrote research papers on (like Santa Pressede, or Santa Maria Maggiore). Our first evening here we went to see an English movie (The Dark Knight) since we were missing hearing English spoken, and wanted popcorn. Yesterday we went to the Villa Borghese and the museum therein to see some simply amazing Bernini sculptures - if you've never seen one, book a flight to Rome immediately, and come over. The realism and movement he gets out of marble defies description. Today our plan is to see the Colosseum, which we've already walked by at night (and it's ... well... in a word... colossal!).
Our sincerest apologies for taking so long to get back onto the Internet, but with all these sleepy quiet towns, we were rather enjoying our time not doing crazy running around (like Paris, Barcelona, Venice, and Florence), even if we did have some really long days. Who wants to blog?? This might be our last posting from Rome, and perhaps one more in Belfast before we head home - in a week!!!
August 10, 2008
Padua, Ravenna, and Florence
Who thought we'd post this soon? Eh?? Huh?? Eh??? With the smallness of the towns we've been through, we spent all our time waltzing around, seeing pretty much everything, and taking our time, relaxing, and not going on the internet. Sue us (after the trip, if you please!)
August 4th - We were in Padua, to see both the Scrovegni Chapel, and to celebrate our 2nd anniversary (yes, it really has been that long). The Chapel was simply indescribable - you have to sit in a climate controlled room for about 15 minutes or so, while they show a film, to allow them to cleanse the air and get the humidity and temperature all set straight. Then you go in, only for 15 minutes, and just look at ... well, Giotto's masterpiece. Kelly and I were lucky, as our reserved time had only ourselves in the group - so we got to see the whole thing on our own (and, of course, the ubiquitous museum guard). The rest of the day was just walking around and seeing a wonderfully beautiful city, being exposed to remarkable hospitality (and few English speakers), and having quite the respite from the tourist trap that was Venice. The dinner we had that evening was simply masterful, with crab and lobster pasta, and seared tuna done to perfection, a selection of smoked fish, and tiramisu and marscapone for dessert - decadent (but we deserve it, right???).
August 5th - More Padua, saw the Duomo, the old university (founded in 1222, their first wholly owned building dates back to the 15th century) - they boast graduating the first woman from a university, a feat that wasn't repeated for a century. We also saw a huge plaza, the Piazza Prato Della Valle, which was just beautiful, and then St. Anthony'sBasilica. That evening we packed up our stuff for the commute to Ravenna. Our arrival seemed odd - everyone seemed to know where the hostel was!! I think there's just the one...
August 6th-8th - Ravenna was likely one of the smaller towns we saw, but with such a history, I think we saw more there than we saw in Padua and Venice combined - and I've only shared the highlights!! (Giving you a laundry list would not only be boring, but pointless, no?) This was a cute city, very small, a little sleepy almost, but the mosaics in San Vitale and in the other monuments are worth the trip alone. Not much special to say here except it was quiet, relaxing, we slept tonnes, and we saw fabulous, wonderful, sparkling, remarkable mosaics (from about the 6th century) as well as some Roman ones like Galla Placidia. Oodles of them!! Then, off to Firenze in the evening.
August 8th-10th - While we came specifically to see the Accademia (housing Michaelangelo's David) and the Uffizzi (the best Renaissance gallery in the known universe), we didn't actually see them until today! We have been walking around, seeing the Duomo, Santa Croce, napping in parks, the view from the campsite (we're up by the Piazza Michaelangelo, which is up a hill overlooking the city across the river, STUNNING views), Pallazzo and Ponte Vecchio, the Baptistry of San Giovanni. The city is very touristy, everything costs money, but when we got into the Accademia this morning and I saw the 5+ meter tall marble statue that is Michaelangelo's David, it all seemed worth it... the thing is fricken HUGE. Beyond huge, it's ... it's ... gargantuan!!
Anyway, tomorrow we're off to Cinque Terre for a 4 day "do nothing" trek on the beach. So don't expect much in the way of updates (of course, there won't be much to say!!)
Thanks for keeping up, even if we've been intermittant. Oh, I have about 27 seconds left... eep!! Talk to you all later!!
Kelly and Chuck
August 4th - We were in Padua, to see both the Scrovegni Chapel, and to celebrate our 2nd anniversary (yes, it really has been that long). The Chapel was simply indescribable - you have to sit in a climate controlled room for about 15 minutes or so, while they show a film, to allow them to cleanse the air and get the humidity and temperature all set straight. Then you go in, only for 15 minutes, and just look at ... well, Giotto's masterpiece. Kelly and I were lucky, as our reserved time had only ourselves in the group - so we got to see the whole thing on our own (and, of course, the ubiquitous museum guard). The rest of the day was just walking around and seeing a wonderfully beautiful city, being exposed to remarkable hospitality (and few English speakers), and having quite the respite from the tourist trap that was Venice. The dinner we had that evening was simply masterful, with crab and lobster pasta, and seared tuna done to perfection, a selection of smoked fish, and tiramisu and marscapone for dessert - decadent (but we deserve it, right???).
August 5th - More Padua, saw the Duomo, the old university (founded in 1222, their first wholly owned building dates back to the 15th century) - they boast graduating the first woman from a university, a feat that wasn't repeated for a century. We also saw a huge plaza, the Piazza Prato Della Valle, which was just beautiful, and then St. Anthony'sBasilica. That evening we packed up our stuff for the commute to Ravenna. Our arrival seemed odd - everyone seemed to know where the hostel was!! I think there's just the one...
August 6th-8th - Ravenna was likely one of the smaller towns we saw, but with such a history, I think we saw more there than we saw in Padua and Venice combined - and I've only shared the highlights!! (Giving you a laundry list would not only be boring, but pointless, no?) This was a cute city, very small, a little sleepy almost, but the mosaics in San Vitale and in the other monuments are worth the trip alone. Not much special to say here except it was quiet, relaxing, we slept tonnes, and we saw fabulous, wonderful, sparkling, remarkable mosaics (from about the 6th century) as well as some Roman ones like Galla Placidia. Oodles of them!! Then, off to Firenze in the evening.
August 8th-10th - While we came specifically to see the Accademia (housing Michaelangelo's David) and the Uffizzi (the best Renaissance gallery in the known universe), we didn't actually see them until today! We have been walking around, seeing the Duomo, Santa Croce, napping in parks, the view from the campsite (we're up by the Piazza Michaelangelo, which is up a hill overlooking the city across the river, STUNNING views), Pallazzo and Ponte Vecchio, the Baptistry of San Giovanni. The city is very touristy, everything costs money, but when we got into the Accademia this morning and I saw the 5+ meter tall marble statue that is Michaelangelo's David, it all seemed worth it... the thing is fricken HUGE. Beyond huge, it's ... it's ... gargantuan!!
Anyway, tomorrow we're off to Cinque Terre for a 4 day "do nothing" trek on the beach. So don't expect much in the way of updates (of course, there won't be much to say!!)
Thanks for keeping up, even if we've been intermittant. Oh, I have about 27 seconds left... eep!! Talk to you all later!!
Kelly and Chuck
August 3, 2008
Barcelona, Nice, Brescia, and Venice ... um...
Holy crap, it's been a while eh? Barcelona and Nice we found it impossible to get onto the Internet - cafés were crammed solid, and the "free" Internet at the hostels always had lineups, and ridiculously short times that we were allowed to use the machines. Heck, we're paying for Internet in Venice, and I have less than 11 minutes to fit in well over a week of stuff. So um... maybe we'll just hit the highlights, and I can fill you in better later?
July 24-26th: Barcelona was fantastic - Gaudi, Gaudi, Gaudi. The man was a genius, and his works are well worth the entire trip alone. Simply amazing. We also saw the "Magic Fountain" which was quite lovely - and they have outdoor escalators to get to them!
July 27-29th: Nice was ... well, not so nice at first (the area where the hostel is, near the rail station, is a bit sleazy). However, we did walk around the old city (marvelous), take a day trip to Monaco/Monte Carlo (decadent), parasailing over the Mediterranean (fun!!), and partook in some delicious Nicoise and Tunisian cuisine (even if some of it had meat ... whoops! Kelly ate none of it, I only had a bit to taste).
July 30th-31st: Brescia was a huge surprise!! We weren't actually staying "in" the city - no, no, no ... we had to first take a commuter/regional train out several stops (after the first leg through suburbs, it was literally all corn fields for 20 minutes). Then the guy who ran the B&B with his wife picked us up from the station for a quick jaunt to their quaint little villa. The place is called B&B La Corte (look it up online), it was a slice of heaven!! HUGE rooms, wonderful people, quiet and peaceful setting, amazing breakfast, rented a cycle for a jaunt around the area to see an old castle, monastery, and the local lake, ate at a restaurant nearby (incredible food), just the best surprise of our entire trip. We're telling every single person we've seen about it!!
August 1st-3: Venice is just as you'd expect Venice to be at the beginning of August. Hot, crammed with tourists, but a beautiful and romantic city. Did the San Marco and Doge's Palace 'thing' and now we're about to hop on a water bus to the island of Murano to check out some stuff on the glass blowing they do there (assuming the museum isn't closed when we get there!).
We'll fill in the bits and tell you nice little anecdotes once we find cheaper/longer internet access. And still nowhere to plug in our stupid camera to upload photos!! Well... we "could" if someone would wire us a nice chunk of money so we can afford to sit in a cafe for a couple of hours ;)
Tomorrow is our 2 year anniversary, which we will be spending in Padua. Until next time!
Chuck and Kelly.
July 24-26th: Barcelona was fantastic - Gaudi, Gaudi, Gaudi. The man was a genius, and his works are well worth the entire trip alone. Simply amazing. We also saw the "Magic Fountain" which was quite lovely - and they have outdoor escalators to get to them!
July 27-29th: Nice was ... well, not so nice at first (the area where the hostel is, near the rail station, is a bit sleazy). However, we did walk around the old city (marvelous), take a day trip to Monaco/Monte Carlo (decadent), parasailing over the Mediterranean (fun!!), and partook in some delicious Nicoise and Tunisian cuisine (even if some of it had meat ... whoops! Kelly ate none of it, I only had a bit to taste).
July 30th-31st: Brescia was a huge surprise!! We weren't actually staying "in" the city - no, no, no ... we had to first take a commuter/regional train out several stops (after the first leg through suburbs, it was literally all corn fields for 20 minutes). Then the guy who ran the B&B with his wife picked us up from the station for a quick jaunt to their quaint little villa. The place is called B&B La Corte (look it up online), it was a slice of heaven!! HUGE rooms, wonderful people, quiet and peaceful setting, amazing breakfast, rented a cycle for a jaunt around the area to see an old castle, monastery, and the local lake, ate at a restaurant nearby (incredible food), just the best surprise of our entire trip. We're telling every single person we've seen about it!!
August 1st-3: Venice is just as you'd expect Venice to be at the beginning of August. Hot, crammed with tourists, but a beautiful and romantic city. Did the San Marco and Doge's Palace 'thing' and now we're about to hop on a water bus to the island of Murano to check out some stuff on the glass blowing they do there (assuming the museum isn't closed when we get there!).
We'll fill in the bits and tell you nice little anecdotes once we find cheaper/longer internet access. And still nowhere to plug in our stupid camera to upload photos!! Well... we "could" if someone would wire us a nice chunk of money so we can afford to sit in a cafe for a couple of hours ;)
Tomorrow is our 2 year anniversary, which we will be spending in Padua. Until next time!
Chuck and Kelly.
July 24, 2008
Beach, sun, and not much else...
Lately I've been trying to do a day by day précis of our trip, but for this leg of the trip, it really doesn't matter - every day was pretty much the same. Heck, we even lost track of the days!! This is for the 17th (travelling into Calpe) to the 23rd (travelling to Barcelona). Calpe is a bit bigger than we expected (thinking it was a "small fishing village") but it was still not nearly as large as the resort about 45 minutes up the coast called Benidorm. The sun was great, weather was awesome, beach was lovely, and everyone was very welcoming - and the food was so cheap! We ate out so often, since it was usually cheaper (and we were treated, or treating those that had treated us previously). Many people we met were British (through my relative Ken, who's studio apartment we were staying in), and retired, so it was a bit surreal. Can you believe we didn't meet a single Spanish fisherman??
On the Sunday (what was that... the 20th?) we went up into the mountains to this little village called Guadalest, that spills out around a castle that was originally built by the Moors. It is situated on a mountain top in the middle of a valley that is created by the meeting of three different mountain ranges - simply stunning scenery, and you can see the Mediterranean from the castle walls. Wikipedia has some nice info, but you have to see it to believe it!! The day before we left (um... the 22nd?) we went into Altea, which is a town just next to Calpe, to see the old church which has some seriously Moorish influenced architecture, and to eat at this fantastic Italian restaurant - everything was so quaint and romantic!
Now we're back on the road, much chagrined to lose the beach, but in some ways glad to be moving again. Both of us have come down with a bit of a cold, so while we got to Barcelona last night (after another fun filled transportation adventure courtesy of the Spanish rail system - we left Calpe at 9am, and didn't get into Barcelona until after 8pm), we've only thus far done a walking tour. But it's a nice city! Through the coughing and sniffling and wheezing and complaining...
Love you all, and we're STILL seeking some place that will let us plug in our camera so we can show some of our super fun pictures we've been collecting! What might really happen is a full web album once the trip is over (crappy way to do it if you ask me). Still, you can look up some of the places we've been to and sights we've seen on the Internet - the pictures you'll find might be pretty much the same as ours. Just pretend we're in them!!
Tomorrow we waltz around the city checking out all the Gaudi stuff (our reason for coming to Barcelona). Until next time!
On the Sunday (what was that... the 20th?) we went up into the mountains to this little village called Guadalest, that spills out around a castle that was originally built by the Moors. It is situated on a mountain top in the middle of a valley that is created by the meeting of three different mountain ranges - simply stunning scenery, and you can see the Mediterranean from the castle walls. Wikipedia has some nice info, but you have to see it to believe it!! The day before we left (um... the 22nd?) we went into Altea, which is a town just next to Calpe, to see the old church which has some seriously Moorish influenced architecture, and to eat at this fantastic Italian restaurant - everything was so quaint and romantic!
Now we're back on the road, much chagrined to lose the beach, but in some ways glad to be moving again. Both of us have come down with a bit of a cold, so while we got to Barcelona last night (after another fun filled transportation adventure courtesy of the Spanish rail system - we left Calpe at 9am, and didn't get into Barcelona until after 8pm), we've only thus far done a walking tour. But it's a nice city! Through the coughing and sniffling and wheezing and complaining...
Love you all, and we're STILL seeking some place that will let us plug in our camera so we can show some of our super fun pictures we've been collecting! What might really happen is a full web album once the trip is over (crappy way to do it if you ask me). Still, you can look up some of the places we've been to and sights we've seen on the Internet - the pictures you'll find might be pretty much the same as ours. Just pretend we're in them!!
Tomorrow we waltz around the city checking out all the Gaudi stuff (our reason for coming to Barcelona). Until next time!
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