Haha pun! Anyway, I'm sitting in the Montpellier train station for the last 45 minutes of my 4-hour connection. Yes, a trip from Nice to Barcelona, which should normally take around 8-9 hours, will take 13 today because the earlier Montpellier-Figueras train was sold out when I bought my ticket. Yay planning ahead far enough in advance so that I didn't find this out when I got here!
So, after 2 full days in the Cote d'Azur, I think I'm sufficiently sunburned enough to last me the rest of this trip and into most of the summer. Who knew that going to the beach at 4pm on a day in April when the high temperature is 65 would result in such discomfort?
Nice was very relaxing and not only free of herds of tourists, but also free of herds of tourist traps. This may have been because I was there on Easter Sunday and Monday, but still. Good choices.
On Monday I took advantage of the rail pass I had paid way too much money for and explored Monte Carlo (Monaco) and Cannes. Both were nice to walk around for the afternoon, but I'm glad it was only for that long. One, there wasn't a whole lot to do besides walk around, look in shops, and sit on the beach. Two, both cities are full of people who are ABSURDLY WEALTHY, making everything cost way more than it should (for example, a crepe with Nutella costs €7 in Monte Carlo). Luckily I packed a lunch!
Two of my roommates, Chinese girls studying in London, described Monaco as "very beautiful, lots of clear water, people are very rich, and many free toilets!" And they were right.
The hostel where I stayed was beautiful. My guidebook said it was supposed to have been the house that Napoleon gave to his mistress. This morning I actually paid money for the breakfast they had, since I was leaving fairly early and didn't want to have to search all over for a bakery like I did yesterday. I actually chose coffee to have with my breakfast over tea, hot chocolate, and orange juice! It wasn't as amazing as the cappuccinos I had been drinking in Italy every morning, but I actually enjoyed it.
Montpellier is a surprisingly beautiful city (not that I didn't think it was going to be nice, but I guess I had kind of assumed that it was just a city where a lot of trains happen to pass through, and not much else.... Kind of like Ventimiglia). Here's some irony: there was a group from Greenpeace doing petition gathering or something on this one really touristy street, and I actually kind of wanted to talk to them (as one can imagine, I haven't really had much opportunity lately for discussion on issues I really care about, besides travel). Out of the four (4) people who stopped me, not a single one spoke English! I tried to speak French with the first guy who stopped me, but he didn't seem interested once I said I was just traveling. Out of all the other groups on Florence, Rome, Venice, and others I saw who were doing similar things, out of all the creepy French and Italian men, out of all the homeless people I ran into, the ones who didn't try to talk to me after I said I only spoke a little French were the ones I actually really wanted to talk to!
Other than that, my afternoon hasn't been exciting. I spent too much money on too little gelato, but it was incredibly refreshing. I bought a ring from a French hippie. Now I'm sitting on the floor of the train station in front of the one outlet I found in the entire building. Yay!
The platform from which my train is departing was just announced - next post will be from Barcelona!
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
On the Train
Genova
Genova is a rather peculiar town.... Well, the part the train to Ventimiglia passes through, at least. To the south is a landscape that looks very much like most of northern Italy - multi-level brown and peach stucco buildings nestled among steep hills, connected by narrow roadways and clotheslines with garments dangling.
To the north, however, one can mistake the scenery for a New England port city. Huge cruise ships mixed among barges and cranes along a waterfront that extends for miles. Tirreno Power, a coal-fired power plant situated directly on the water, has enormous candy cane-striped smokestacks that could probably be seen for miles on a clear day.
The afternoon is misty and dark, further playing into the gloom of the landscape. Rain begins to fall at the next station, covering discharged passengers with thick droplets.
The most bizarre part of this polar landscape is a thin lagoon between the train tracks and the port. Separated by a shallow stone wall and dotted with regularly-spaced palm trees. The water in the lagoon is still and does not reflect the gray of the stormy sky. All around me is industry, yet this small strip of paradise provides relief from the dim monotony of the scene.
Genova is a rather peculiar town.... Well, the part the train to Ventimiglia passes through, at least. To the south is a landscape that looks very much like most of northern Italy - multi-level brown and peach stucco buildings nestled among steep hills, connected by narrow roadways and clotheslines with garments dangling.
To the north, however, one can mistake the scenery for a New England port city. Huge cruise ships mixed among barges and cranes along a waterfront that extends for miles. Tirreno Power, a coal-fired power plant situated directly on the water, has enormous candy cane-striped smokestacks that could probably be seen for miles on a clear day.
The afternoon is misty and dark, further playing into the gloom of the landscape. Rain begins to fall at the next station, covering discharged passengers with thick droplets.
The most bizarre part of this polar landscape is a thin lagoon between the train tracks and the port. Separated by a shallow stone wall and dotted with regularly-spaced palm trees. The water in the lagoon is still and does not reflect the gray of the stormy sky. All around me is industry, yet this small strip of paradise provides relief from the dim monotony of the scene.
A Day in Venice
Venice
I can sum up my trip to Venice with this one realization it helped me to have: if choosing which flavor of gelato to try for the second time in one day is the most difficult decision I will have to make in that day, then my life is pretty freaking awesome.
I stayed 2 nights in Venice in a cabin at a campground on the mainland about 15 minutes by bus to the island. Arriving at around 6:30pm, I only really had time to buy my train ticket to my next destination (Nice), grab a slice of pizza for dinner, and find my campground.
I had two roommates at Camping Rialto the first night: a girl from western Australia who had an awesome name that I just can't remember, and Mario, an engineer who works for CERN, and with whom I explored the city the next day.
I won't bore you, dear readers, with details of how many streets we walked, how many bridges we crossed, and how many times we got lost. I will tell you, however, that Venice is a truly beautiful city. Visit it before it goes underwater forever.
For one of the first times ever, I was able to find one of the restaurants that my guidebook (the usually-trustworthy Let's Go: Europe) recommended - a gelato place called Gelato Nico that faced the waterfront and had delicious mango and delicious bacio (chocolate with hazelnut pieces) flavors. I know firsthand. We went there twice in one afternoon. For €1.30 for a good-sized scoop, we almost couldn't pass it up.
Before you ask, I did ride in a gondola. Don't get too excited, though - the gondola rides that Venice is so famous for cost between €80-100 for 40 minutes. However, Venice has traghetti, gondola ferries, that cross the Grand Canal at several points throughout the city. They cost only €0.50 for about 2 minutes of intense canal-crossing fun (there are no traffic laws in the waters of Venice) and proved to be a much better option in the long run.
For my bartending and/or alcohol consuming friends, I have a new drink to share with you when I return. Be excited.
As per my last several posts, I'm on the train to my next destination currently - this time Nice, in the south of France, where I will spend Zombie Jesus Day (Easter) on a beach. Well, I hope so, anyway.... I haven't checked the weather in a few days, and the weather between Venice and Genova (where the train is currently stopped) hasn't been great. It's a nice day to be stuck in aisle seats on a train, but doesn't instill much confidence for the next few days.
My plan was to leave Nice on Monday and go somewhere for a few nights before Barcelona on Wednesday, but I forgot that Monday is a public holiday in Europe. So, as usual, I'm going to wing it and see how it goes!
I can sum up my trip to Venice with this one realization it helped me to have: if choosing which flavor of gelato to try for the second time in one day is the most difficult decision I will have to make in that day, then my life is pretty freaking awesome.
I stayed 2 nights in Venice in a cabin at a campground on the mainland about 15 minutes by bus to the island. Arriving at around 6:30pm, I only really had time to buy my train ticket to my next destination (Nice), grab a slice of pizza for dinner, and find my campground.
I had two roommates at Camping Rialto the first night: a girl from western Australia who had an awesome name that I just can't remember, and Mario, an engineer who works for CERN, and with whom I explored the city the next day.
I won't bore you, dear readers, with details of how many streets we walked, how many bridges we crossed, and how many times we got lost. I will tell you, however, that Venice is a truly beautiful city. Visit it before it goes underwater forever.
For one of the first times ever, I was able to find one of the restaurants that my guidebook (the usually-trustworthy Let's Go: Europe) recommended - a gelato place called Gelato Nico that faced the waterfront and had delicious mango and delicious bacio (chocolate with hazelnut pieces) flavors. I know firsthand. We went there twice in one afternoon. For €1.30 for a good-sized scoop, we almost couldn't pass it up.
Before you ask, I did ride in a gondola. Don't get too excited, though - the gondola rides that Venice is so famous for cost between €80-100 for 40 minutes. However, Venice has traghetti, gondola ferries, that cross the Grand Canal at several points throughout the city. They cost only €0.50 for about 2 minutes of intense canal-crossing fun (there are no traffic laws in the waters of Venice) and proved to be a much better option in the long run.
For my bartending and/or alcohol consuming friends, I have a new drink to share with you when I return. Be excited.
As per my last several posts, I'm on the train to my next destination currently - this time Nice, in the south of France, where I will spend Zombie Jesus Day (Easter) on a beach. Well, I hope so, anyway.... I haven't checked the weather in a few days, and the weather between Venice and Genova (where the train is currently stopped) hasn't been great. It's a nice day to be stuck in aisle seats on a train, but doesn't instill much confidence for the next few days.
My plan was to leave Nice on Monday and go somewhere for a few nights before Barcelona on Wednesday, but I forgot that Monday is a public holiday in Europe. So, as usual, I'm going to wing it and see how it goes!
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Sometimes, you just have to look at yourself in the mirror and say "When in Rome."
I've been in Rome since Monday afternoon (it's currently Wednesday morning here), so I'll paraphrase the past few days since I only have a short time:
-Night 1: I met other fellow travellers in my hostel and walked around the city with them shortly after I finished my leftover food from Florence (a loaf of bread ('ciabatta', but not like any ciabatta I know from the US) and a ball of mozzarella cheese which was YUMMY)). We walked to the Piazza del Popolo, a big square recommended to be the place to start a visit to Rome, and ate at a restaurant pretty close by. From there, we walked to the Spanish Steps, talked to a drunk homeless man for a while, got gelato, and walked to the Fontana di Trivi, a beautiful fountain carved out of an enormous piece of marble. All in all, a really enjoyable evening!
Day 1: Went to a bar across the street for breakfast (not a bar with alcohol.... they serve coffee drinks and pastries, and you eat standing up), which was delicious and cheap. Then, the people I met last night and I tried to go see the Vatican, but the line was literally several blocks long, and none of us really wanted to see it that badly. So, we saw the Pantheon, ate lunch at a restaurant recommended by a friend of one of the people I met, and then found the ruins of Rome, Palatine Hill, and the Colosseum. Photos soon, I hope!
After we left the Colosseum, we went off in search of a gelato place rumoured to be the best in Rome. And it was. Searching for about 10 minutes on the street where it was supposed to be yielded no results, so we decided to find another place. Turned a corner, found it almost instantly. The flavors of gelato they offered were so unique: I had their signature flavor, made with honey that surprisingly wasn't overpoweringly sweet. Other delicious flavors included whiskey, chocolate rum, pine nut, and many others.
The evening was fairly quiet: we cooked our own dinner in the hostel kitchen (pasta made with a ghetto sauce: tomato puree, onions and garlic sauteed in red wine, salt, and sugar) and sat around chatting with another traveller we met from Argentina. I tried (rather unsuccessfully) to book a hostel in Venice for Thursday and Friday nights, eventually giving up when the reception area closed at midnight.
Day 2: I just booked my hostel/campground (yay adventures!) in Venice, and I'm currently figuring out my itinerary for the day. I want to do a Pines of Rome tour, where I go to see the Borghese gardens, the catacombs, Janiculum Hill, and the Appian Way while listening to each movement of the piece while I'm there. I'll blog on how it works out :-)
-Night 1: I met other fellow travellers in my hostel and walked around the city with them shortly after I finished my leftover food from Florence (a loaf of bread ('ciabatta', but not like any ciabatta I know from the US) and a ball of mozzarella cheese which was YUMMY)). We walked to the Piazza del Popolo, a big square recommended to be the place to start a visit to Rome, and ate at a restaurant pretty close by. From there, we walked to the Spanish Steps, talked to a drunk homeless man for a while, got gelato, and walked to the Fontana di Trivi, a beautiful fountain carved out of an enormous piece of marble. All in all, a really enjoyable evening!
Day 1: Went to a bar across the street for breakfast (not a bar with alcohol.... they serve coffee drinks and pastries, and you eat standing up), which was delicious and cheap. Then, the people I met last night and I tried to go see the Vatican, but the line was literally several blocks long, and none of us really wanted to see it that badly. So, we saw the Pantheon, ate lunch at a restaurant recommended by a friend of one of the people I met, and then found the ruins of Rome, Palatine Hill, and the Colosseum. Photos soon, I hope!
After we left the Colosseum, we went off in search of a gelato place rumoured to be the best in Rome. And it was. Searching for about 10 minutes on the street where it was supposed to be yielded no results, so we decided to find another place. Turned a corner, found it almost instantly. The flavors of gelato they offered were so unique: I had their signature flavor, made with honey that surprisingly wasn't overpoweringly sweet. Other delicious flavors included whiskey, chocolate rum, pine nut, and many others.
The evening was fairly quiet: we cooked our own dinner in the hostel kitchen (pasta made with a ghetto sauce: tomato puree, onions and garlic sauteed in red wine, salt, and sugar) and sat around chatting with another traveller we met from Argentina. I tried (rather unsuccessfully) to book a hostel in Venice for Thursday and Friday nights, eventually giving up when the reception area closed at midnight.
Day 2: I just booked my hostel/campground (yay adventures!) in Venice, and I'm currently figuring out my itinerary for the day. I want to do a Pines of Rome tour, where I go to see the Borghese gardens, the catacombs, Janiculum Hill, and the Appian Way while listening to each movement of the piece while I'm there. I'll blog on how it works out :-)
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Florence to Pisa to Rome!
18.04 entry
Phew.... I've been on the train to Rome for about an hour now, and I've finally got to blogging about today's events!
We woke up early this morning, as planned, and took the 9:50 train to Pisa. I bought a loaf of bread and a ball of mozzarella (in a bag filled with water) to eat for lunch.
Unfortunately, I only had enough time to see the Piazza del Duomo (where the Leaning Tower is) and the part of the city between the train station and there, but it seemed like a really cute city. I spent about an hour and a half there, then got back on the train to Florence to make it in time for my train to Rome. I was sad to say goodbye to my newest roommates, but hopefully I will meet people just as wonderful as they are everywhere I go.
Just like David, the Tower of Pisa was really, really cool to see in person. I was almost expecting to get there and either it had fallen over or it was actually straight, and everyone was like "jk! We fooled you for all these years!", but it wasn't. Additionally, it was also a really cool structure architecturally. I tried to take some photos of the actual building as well as the fact that it's very obviously leaning over.
Speaking of photos - I've taken roughly 1100 photos so far, which averages out to be about 100 per day. Sadly, I haven't been able to upload any of them yet since I've mostly been working from my iPod. But soon! I hope!
My train is set to arrive in Rome in about 20 minutes - another city, another adventure!
Phew.... I've been on the train to Rome for about an hour now, and I've finally got to blogging about today's events!
We woke up early this morning, as planned, and took the 9:50 train to Pisa. I bought a loaf of bread and a ball of mozzarella (in a bag filled with water) to eat for lunch.
Unfortunately, I only had enough time to see the Piazza del Duomo (where the Leaning Tower is) and the part of the city between the train station and there, but it seemed like a really cute city. I spent about an hour and a half there, then got back on the train to Florence to make it in time for my train to Rome. I was sad to say goodbye to my newest roommates, but hopefully I will meet people just as wonderful as they are everywhere I go.
Just like David, the Tower of Pisa was really, really cool to see in person. I was almost expecting to get there and either it had fallen over or it was actually straight, and everyone was like "jk! We fooled you for all these years!", but it wasn't. Additionally, it was also a really cool structure architecturally. I tried to take some photos of the actual building as well as the fact that it's very obviously leaning over.
Speaking of photos - I've taken roughly 1100 photos so far, which averages out to be about 100 per day. Sadly, I haven't been able to upload any of them yet since I've mostly been working from my iPod. But soon! I hope!
My train is set to arrive in Rome in about 20 minutes - another city, another adventure!
More from Florence!
17.04 entry
As planned, I woke up bright and early to get breakfast with my roommate, Kati. We had planned to go to one of the street markets in town, but the various websites I checked revealed that it was closed on Sundays.
We found a patisserie near the train station and had really delicious pastries - croissants filled with fruit (her's) and cream/custard (mine). It was a great start to the day.
I returned to my hostel to figure out my game plan for the day. I had planned on finding a supermarket, and packing a lunch, so I ventured off in search of such an establishment. One was found, but I had forgotten a bag to put my groceries in. On my way back to the hostel, I ran into one of my roommates who was standing in front of the hostel waiting for the other. Apparently there had been some good times enjoyed the previous night before that had led the one to end up in the hospital (almost definitely not related to the amount or type of beverage consumed, but rather what had been slipped in said beverages) and now we had no idea where she was. Eventually, we got in touch with her and she made it back in a taxi, better than the night before but still in no state to go out sightseeing.
My other roommate and I took off forth Uffizi Gallery, where we waited an hour and a half in line and burned through the museum in roughly 50 minutes. She is studying art history and probably found it more interesting than I did, as I believe I'm starting to experience a bit of museum overload. We were also absolutely starving by the time we got to the museum, so we wanted out ASAP to get something to eat.
After we left, we found another restaurant that had cheap pizza, and I ate another entire pizza.... This time, a pizza marinara with tomato sauce and garlic :-D
We then got gelato and went to Ponte Vecchio, a beautiful old bridge with shops along both sides. The gelato was delicious, even though we had both just eaten a giant pizza apiece.
Upon my return to the hostel, I met my five new roommates (the two girls had moved rooms that morning). Four of them were Notre Dame students studying in Spain, and the fifth was another WOOFer from the US. They were all so friendly and seemed so excited to make new friends in their hostel room! We all hung out together, drinking classy wine ('Bianco Mosso' and 'Rosso Mosso') and playing cards. The four girls from Spain were also traveling with others from their program, so they came to our room too.
At the end of the night, we all decided to go to Pisa the next morning. The train only takes an hour, and my train to Rome didn't leave until 2. Exciting!
As planned, I woke up bright and early to get breakfast with my roommate, Kati. We had planned to go to one of the street markets in town, but the various websites I checked revealed that it was closed on Sundays.
We found a patisserie near the train station and had really delicious pastries - croissants filled with fruit (her's) and cream/custard (mine). It was a great start to the day.
I returned to my hostel to figure out my game plan for the day. I had planned on finding a supermarket, and packing a lunch, so I ventured off in search of such an establishment. One was found, but I had forgotten a bag to put my groceries in. On my way back to the hostel, I ran into one of my roommates who was standing in front of the hostel waiting for the other. Apparently there had been some good times enjoyed the previous night before that had led the one to end up in the hospital (almost definitely not related to the amount or type of beverage consumed, but rather what had been slipped in said beverages) and now we had no idea where she was. Eventually, we got in touch with her and she made it back in a taxi, better than the night before but still in no state to go out sightseeing.
My other roommate and I took off forth Uffizi Gallery, where we waited an hour and a half in line and burned through the museum in roughly 50 minutes. She is studying art history and probably found it more interesting than I did, as I believe I'm starting to experience a bit of museum overload. We were also absolutely starving by the time we got to the museum, so we wanted out ASAP to get something to eat.
After we left, we found another restaurant that had cheap pizza, and I ate another entire pizza.... This time, a pizza marinara with tomato sauce and garlic :-D
We then got gelato and went to Ponte Vecchio, a beautiful old bridge with shops along both sides. The gelato was delicious, even though we had both just eaten a giant pizza apiece.
Upon my return to the hostel, I met my five new roommates (the two girls had moved rooms that morning). Four of them were Notre Dame students studying in Spain, and the fifth was another WOOFer from the US. They were all so friendly and seemed so excited to make new friends in their hostel room! We all hung out together, drinking classy wine ('Bianco Mosso' and 'Rosso Mosso') and playing cards. The four girls from Spain were also traveling with others from their program, so they came to our room too.
At the end of the night, we all decided to go to Pisa the next morning. The train only takes an hour, and my train to Rome didn't leave until 2. Exciting!
Sightseeing in Florence, Day 1
16.04 entry
The next morning, I woke up fairly early to make sure I had time to shower and check out on time. My roommates, who had been asleep when i got back last night, were packing up right as I was leaving, so I talked to them for a while. They were WOOFers (worldwide organic farmers) from Easton, CT and Baltimore - one has a brother that goes to Cornell! Small world!
Instead of shelling out €3 for breakfast in the restaurant, I elected to brave the market next door. This resulted in me buying a big block of pecorino cheese for about €2 and eating that throughout the day. Mmmm.
The weather started out sunny and warm for the day, with a high in the mid-60s. My first stop of the day was the Galleria dell'Accademia.
I had been hearing that even though there are replicas everywhere and that everyone has seen images, Michelangelo's "David" is definitely worth seeing. And it totally was. An added bonus was that admission to the Galleria dell'Accademia was free - apparently it was Cultural Education Week or something in Florence, so admission to all the national museums and monuments was free! Win!
After waiting in line for a relatively short period of time (especially when compared to the next day's escapade to the Uffizi Gallery), I spent a good portion of my visit in the Gallery of Ancient Musical Instruments. It was mostly string and keyboard instruments, but there was in display case that had a basset horn, five clarinets in Eb, and five clarinets in D. Yay!
So David was pretty sweet. Enormously tall, unblemished, exquisite detail, and pretty much just perfect in every way.
The rest of the museum was very similar to the other art galleries I'd been to in Paris, with Renaissance and medieval works with heavy religious influence. There was a painting that was a depiction of the Christian observance of Candlemas, and the quote on the accompanying card had written on it an old Tuscan saying about Candlemas. It read, "At Candlemas, whether there be snow or rains, sun or just a bit of sun, we are still mid winter and it is just the winter sun." Inspiring for sure.... Or not.
After my visit to David, I saw Il Duomo, a huge cathedral that is one of the main landmarks of Florence. I thought it was honestly far more impressive from the outside than in; the inside was a little dark and spooky.
I walked up to the Piazzale Michelangelo next, where I was hit on by not one but two Italian men of varied ages and tactics. Good times. The Piazzale Michelangelo offers a spectacular view of all of Florence, but it was also very touristy. There was a church just up the hill where I had read that you can come hear the monks chanting at 5:30, so I made it a point to go for that. In the meantime, I had about two hours to kill, so I had a cappuccino on the steps near the church. It was wonderful.
I checked into my next hostel early in the evening and met my two new roommates, Hadley and Carrie, who were from Hamilton College and Vassar, respectively. Yay New York state! We went to a pizzeria for dinner, and I had a giant pizza that I ate in its entirety. And I don't feel bad about eating all of it. We also split a litre of chianti that was only €10, which was a good decision.
In the morning: breakfast with my other roommate, Kati, and then to the Uffizi!
The next morning, I woke up fairly early to make sure I had time to shower and check out on time. My roommates, who had been asleep when i got back last night, were packing up right as I was leaving, so I talked to them for a while. They were WOOFers (worldwide organic farmers) from Easton, CT and Baltimore - one has a brother that goes to Cornell! Small world!
Instead of shelling out €3 for breakfast in the restaurant, I elected to brave the market next door. This resulted in me buying a big block of pecorino cheese for about €2 and eating that throughout the day. Mmmm.
The weather started out sunny and warm for the day, with a high in the mid-60s. My first stop of the day was the Galleria dell'Accademia.
I had been hearing that even though there are replicas everywhere and that everyone has seen images, Michelangelo's "David" is definitely worth seeing. And it totally was. An added bonus was that admission to the Galleria dell'Accademia was free - apparently it was Cultural Education Week or something in Florence, so admission to all the national museums and monuments was free! Win!
After waiting in line for a relatively short period of time (especially when compared to the next day's escapade to the Uffizi Gallery), I spent a good portion of my visit in the Gallery of Ancient Musical Instruments. It was mostly string and keyboard instruments, but there was in display case that had a basset horn, five clarinets in Eb, and five clarinets in D. Yay!
So David was pretty sweet. Enormously tall, unblemished, exquisite detail, and pretty much just perfect in every way.
The rest of the museum was very similar to the other art galleries I'd been to in Paris, with Renaissance and medieval works with heavy religious influence. There was a painting that was a depiction of the Christian observance of Candlemas, and the quote on the accompanying card had written on it an old Tuscan saying about Candlemas. It read, "At Candlemas, whether there be snow or rains, sun or just a bit of sun, we are still mid winter and it is just the winter sun." Inspiring for sure.... Or not.
After my visit to David, I saw Il Duomo, a huge cathedral that is one of the main landmarks of Florence. I thought it was honestly far more impressive from the outside than in; the inside was a little dark and spooky.
I walked up to the Piazzale Michelangelo next, where I was hit on by not one but two Italian men of varied ages and tactics. Good times. The Piazzale Michelangelo offers a spectacular view of all of Florence, but it was also very touristy. There was a church just up the hill where I had read that you can come hear the monks chanting at 5:30, so I made it a point to go for that. In the meantime, I had about two hours to kill, so I had a cappuccino on the steps near the church. It was wonderful.
I checked into my next hostel early in the evening and met my two new roommates, Hadley and Carrie, who were from Hamilton College and Vassar, respectively. Yay New York state! We went to a pizzeria for dinner, and I had a giant pizza that I ate in its entirety. And I don't feel bad about eating all of it. We also split a litre of chianti that was only €10, which was a good decision.
In the morning: breakfast with my other roommate, Kati, and then to the Uffizi!
Buongiorno, Firenze!
15.04 entry
The rest of my train trip to Florence was more or less uneventful - I slept for most of the night, until about 5:30 when the girls in my cabin started waking up and getting ready. They got off at Bologna, which is about an hour from Florence, so I had some peace and quiet for a little while.
My train arrived at Firenze SMN station about an hour and a half late, which I was totally fine with - I would have otherwise been wandering around Florence from 7am-3pm with my backpack and everything while waiting to check into my hostel.
The first thing I did when I got to the station was
buy my ticket to Rome for Monday. I had gotten screwed over the last two times I tried to use my rail pass for not booking far enough in advance, so I made sure to do that right away.
The second thing I did was buy a belt. Wearing the same two pairs of pants for the past week has made both pairs rather loose around the waist, and I figured this should be mitigated. I looked in the windows of very expensive-looking shops, when I turned my head and looked down an alley - and saw a street vendor selling just belts. No lie. When does that ever happen? Unfortunately, he was still setting up (it was before 10am at this point), so I walked around until I found a vendor that was indeed open. And I bought a huge, men's-sized belt. For €5.
After getting lost a number of times in the morning, I decided it would be a good idea to pick up a map. The tourist info office proved to be a good resource, giving me a free map with all the main sights (mostly churches and museums) on the back, and directions on how to use the local bus system.
Hopping on the next bus out of the train station, I easily found the ticket validation machine and proceeded to stare at it for a good 30 seconds. The directions were obviously written in Italian, of which I know roughly five words. So I gave up, figuring I could watch other passengers and learn from them.
As it turned out, none of the other passengers validated their tickets upon boarding the bus. So I figured it was just one of those things where no one really does it and no one really cares.... Or so I thought.
A man in a navy jacket approached my seat and said something to me in Italian. When I looked at him very confusedly, he said in a deep and slow voice "Your ticket, please." I dug it out of my wallet and handed it over.
A minute later, he returned. "Your ticket is not validated. You need to have validated the ticket." I tried to stammer out a mix of "I'm sorry" in Italian and "I thought I had/I didn't know" in English.
"Now you must pay the fine. Is 50 euro."
I opened my wallet to show him that it was empty. A few more "mi dispiace"s ensued.
"You have bank card?" "Si." "We get off at next stop. You take money out of machine and pay the fine."
So, I ventured to an Italian ATM with this bus inspector, was written a ticket for my misconduct, and was sent on my way with verbal instructions on how to use the ticket validation machine.
So yeah. Not a good way to start off my time in Florence.
I found a park near my hostel and hung out reading there for a while, waiting to be able to check in. My hostel was a converted convent, which was just a little bit creepy - although, not as creepy as staying in a non-converted convent, I suppose.
There was a restaurant downstairs, so I bought a ticket for dinner. At around 7, I was pretty hungry so I went to see what was going on. The cook looked at my ticket and said "oh, it is not ready yet - the water the pasta still need to boil. Come back 8, maybe 20 minute before."
After wandering around for an hour or so (I found another park and caught up on my written travel journal), I went back for THE MOST DELICIOUS DINNER EVER. Well, maybe I just thought it was because I had eaten nothing but cheese and baguette while in Paris, but still - it was amazing. Tortellini stuffed with cheese and some kind of green vegetable (they told me it was spinach, but it tasted more like broccoli) with a tomato sauce that tasted so fresh I could hardly believe it.
At dinner I sat between a boy named Simon from Denmark and a group of three girls from Quebec. I talked with both parties for a long time, and then we all went out for gelato after dinner.
So, I've had gelato in the US. It's pretty good. I like it at least as much as ice cream, and I really like ice cream.
I could probably eat gelato for every meal of my life and not get sick of it.
First of all, it's absolutely delicious. Fresh and creamy, usually homemade (the good kinds anyway, and there are tricks to tell which are the good kinds), and absolutely amazing.
Second, the variety. Every kind of fruit, chocolate, nut, cream flavor you could ever imagine. So freaking good.
By the way, I had a chocolate hazelnut flavor called Bachio and a creamy vanilla-y flavor whose name I can't remember. But they were wonderful.
A lovely ending to my not-so-lovely start in Florence :-)
The rest of my train trip to Florence was more or less uneventful - I slept for most of the night, until about 5:30 when the girls in my cabin started waking up and getting ready. They got off at Bologna, which is about an hour from Florence, so I had some peace and quiet for a little while.
My train arrived at Firenze SMN station about an hour and a half late, which I was totally fine with - I would have otherwise been wandering around Florence from 7am-3pm with my backpack and everything while waiting to check into my hostel.
The first thing I did when I got to the station was
buy my ticket to Rome for Monday. I had gotten screwed over the last two times I tried to use my rail pass for not booking far enough in advance, so I made sure to do that right away.
The second thing I did was buy a belt. Wearing the same two pairs of pants for the past week has made both pairs rather loose around the waist, and I figured this should be mitigated. I looked in the windows of very expensive-looking shops, when I turned my head and looked down an alley - and saw a street vendor selling just belts. No lie. When does that ever happen? Unfortunately, he was still setting up (it was before 10am at this point), so I walked around until I found a vendor that was indeed open. And I bought a huge, men's-sized belt. For €5.
After getting lost a number of times in the morning, I decided it would be a good idea to pick up a map. The tourist info office proved to be a good resource, giving me a free map with all the main sights (mostly churches and museums) on the back, and directions on how to use the local bus system.
Hopping on the next bus out of the train station, I easily found the ticket validation machine and proceeded to stare at it for a good 30 seconds. The directions were obviously written in Italian, of which I know roughly five words. So I gave up, figuring I could watch other passengers and learn from them.
As it turned out, none of the other passengers validated their tickets upon boarding the bus. So I figured it was just one of those things where no one really does it and no one really cares.... Or so I thought.
A man in a navy jacket approached my seat and said something to me in Italian. When I looked at him very confusedly, he said in a deep and slow voice "Your ticket, please." I dug it out of my wallet and handed it over.
A minute later, he returned. "Your ticket is not validated. You need to have validated the ticket." I tried to stammer out a mix of "I'm sorry" in Italian and "I thought I had/I didn't know" in English.
"Now you must pay the fine. Is 50 euro."
I opened my wallet to show him that it was empty. A few more "mi dispiace"s ensued.
"You have bank card?" "Si." "We get off at next stop. You take money out of machine and pay the fine."
So, I ventured to an Italian ATM with this bus inspector, was written a ticket for my misconduct, and was sent on my way with verbal instructions on how to use the ticket validation machine.
So yeah. Not a good way to start off my time in Florence.
I found a park near my hostel and hung out reading there for a while, waiting to be able to check in. My hostel was a converted convent, which was just a little bit creepy - although, not as creepy as staying in a non-converted convent, I suppose.
There was a restaurant downstairs, so I bought a ticket for dinner. At around 7, I was pretty hungry so I went to see what was going on. The cook looked at my ticket and said "oh, it is not ready yet - the water the pasta still need to boil. Come back 8, maybe 20 minute before."
After wandering around for an hour or so (I found another park and caught up on my written travel journal), I went back for THE MOST DELICIOUS DINNER EVER. Well, maybe I just thought it was because I had eaten nothing but cheese and baguette while in Paris, but still - it was amazing. Tortellini stuffed with cheese and some kind of green vegetable (they told me it was spinach, but it tasted more like broccoli) with a tomato sauce that tasted so fresh I could hardly believe it.
At dinner I sat between a boy named Simon from Denmark and a group of three girls from Quebec. I talked with both parties for a long time, and then we all went out for gelato after dinner.
So, I've had gelato in the US. It's pretty good. I like it at least as much as ice cream, and I really like ice cream.
I could probably eat gelato for every meal of my life and not get sick of it.
First of all, it's absolutely delicious. Fresh and creamy, usually homemade (the good kinds anyway, and there are tricks to tell which are the good kinds), and absolutely amazing.
Second, the variety. Every kind of fruit, chocolate, nut, cream flavor you could ever imagine. So freaking good.
By the way, I had a chocolate hazelnut flavor called Bachio and a creamy vanilla-y flavor whose name I can't remember. But they were wonderful.
A lovely ending to my not-so-lovely start in Florence :-)
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Au revoir, Paris.
14.04 entry
I am writing this entry on the train to Florence, surrounded by seven high-school aged Italian girls who are going home from a school trip to Paris. I know absolutely no Italian other than "si", "non", "mi scusi", and "non mangio la carne", but earlier they were arguing with one of the train employees about what seemed to be the size of the couchette car and the number of people that were to fit in it with all their luggage, and it turns out I was right! So, we'll see how well the next week or so goes.
This morning after breakfast I met my new roommates, who were from London. They were very nice, so I added them to my collection of world contacts.
After I checked out of my hostel I went to see la Musee de l'Erotisme - an educational and highly entertaining collection of artwork. I took plenty of photos and will be happy to show them on request.
After my cultural enlightenment for the day, I bought the day's rations at various markets on the street where my hostel was: a baguette, a crepe avec sucre, and an apple (note: those weren't the only things I ate today, but rather the only food things I bought). I annihilated the crepe in minutes, and I hiked up to Sacre Coeur one last time. Sitting on the hill and eating my apple, I reflected on how much about the city I had come to learn in just four short days.
On my way out of Montmartre, I left behind one of the tshirts I had brought that I definitely wasn't going to wear and shouldn't have packed in the first place, and a book that one if my roommates had left behind. There are a lot of homeless people in Paris, so I was hoping that one of the children who had stopped me and asked for money or food would find it.
I got to Gare de Bercy several hours early, so I wandered around Paris one last time for a while. I found the Bastille and got super, super lost on my way back - but still managed to get there over an hour before my train left.
As I mentioned earlier, I was put in a cabin with a hoard of teenaged Italian girls, who all ended up being very sweet. True, they kept me awake later than I would have liked, but I wasn't terribly perturbed.
Sleeping on the train was an interesting experience. Instead of being rocked back and forth with the motion of the train, you're rocked from head to toe. Very odd indeed.
Florence in the morning!
I am writing this entry on the train to Florence, surrounded by seven high-school aged Italian girls who are going home from a school trip to Paris. I know absolutely no Italian other than "si", "non", "mi scusi", and "non mangio la carne", but earlier they were arguing with one of the train employees about what seemed to be the size of the couchette car and the number of people that were to fit in it with all their luggage, and it turns out I was right! So, we'll see how well the next week or so goes.
This morning after breakfast I met my new roommates, who were from London. They were very nice, so I added them to my collection of world contacts.
After I checked out of my hostel I went to see la Musee de l'Erotisme - an educational and highly entertaining collection of artwork. I took plenty of photos and will be happy to show them on request.
After my cultural enlightenment for the day, I bought the day's rations at various markets on the street where my hostel was: a baguette, a crepe avec sucre, and an apple (note: those weren't the only things I ate today, but rather the only food things I bought). I annihilated the crepe in minutes, and I hiked up to Sacre Coeur one last time. Sitting on the hill and eating my apple, I reflected on how much about the city I had come to learn in just four short days.
On my way out of Montmartre, I left behind one of the tshirts I had brought that I definitely wasn't going to wear and shouldn't have packed in the first place, and a book that one if my roommates had left behind. There are a lot of homeless people in Paris, so I was hoping that one of the children who had stopped me and asked for money or food would find it.
I got to Gare de Bercy several hours early, so I wandered around Paris one last time for a while. I found the Bastille and got super, super lost on my way back - but still managed to get there over an hour before my train left.
As I mentioned earlier, I was put in a cabin with a hoard of teenaged Italian girls, who all ended up being very sweet. True, they kept me awake later than I would have liked, but I wasn't terribly perturbed.
Sleeping on the train was an interesting experience. Instead of being rocked back and forth with the motion of the train, you're rocked from head to toe. Very odd indeed.
Florence in the morning!
Paris - part III
13.04 entry
This morning, I woke up and had breakfast with my hostel roommates and exchanged contact info - so begins my collection of worldly connections!
Today was my museum day. I took the Metro to l'Arc de Triomphe and circumnavigated it while trying to figure out how to get across the 400 lanes of traffic between the metro stop and the actual monument. By the time I actually found the entrance (there's a path below the roadway - who would have thought?), I just wanted to get on with my day. Which was good because admission was something like 10€, and I was already planning on blowing the day's budget on seeing Musee d'Orsay and the Louvre. Which I promptly did.
From l'Arc de Triomphe I walked down the Champs Élysées, which is actually a lot like Fifth Ave in New York. I went into an H&M, partially out of curiosity and partially out of interest in buying something more fashionable than the 2 pairs of pants and 6 shirts I had brought with me. No such luck there, but I was shocked (for some reason) to discover that the men's section is TWICE the size of the women's section. Crazy!
On the bridge in front of the Grand Palais, I saw a group of protestors who were petitioning the French government to protect a French-Vietnamese blogger who is being imprisoned in Vietnam for his views on Vietnamese democracy. At least, that's what I was able to gather from the flyer they were handing out. Anyway, it was really interesting to see how the French police handle acts of protest - with riot shields and by sending twice as many troops as protestors to the scene. Good times!
The line for Musee d'Orsay was a little ridiculous, but it actually moved fairly quickly. There was an American couple standing behind me in the beginning who didn't make it past the second turn of the line. The woman's parting monologue went something like this:
"Okay, I think that, like, we should just go home and get tickets in advance for tomorrow. I can take our coats to that tailor and you can, like, go to the grocery store and pick up some diet Coke." Classy.
Musee d'Orsay had a special Mahler exhibit, which was obviously fabulous. It featured his Fourth Symphony, which I didn't know terribly well.... until now. They had the manuscript laid out so that it was surrounding the room, and a recording of the London Symphony was playing in the background. As the recording went on, each page of the manuscript lit up so that you could follow along. Not that anyone did. Except for me. Thirty-five or however many minutes of score study in Musee d'Orsay.... Mmmmm. It was great, until LITERALLY three pages before the end, an announcement blared over the loudspeaker to beware of pickpockets. In five languages. So, sadly, I missed the end of the symphony. Such is my life.
The rest of the museum was pretty sweet, too. They had an unfortunately small Van Gough collection, but they had some of his works I had never seen before. I also saw some Monet and Renoir, and an exhibit featuring faces done in pastels. 2 1/2 hours later, I felt like I had gotten my fill of that museum.
And then there was the Louvre. I knew not to expect to see the whole thing, but I don't think I was quite ready for the sheer magnitude, as well as the exceedingly inefficient layout of the museum.
My experience at the Louvre began with my pocket knife being confiscated. Damn.
Highlights of the Louvre:
-saw the Mona Lisa.... I guess it was worth it? I don't know, all the replicas are pretty good, plus it was MOBBED by people. I think I might have taken more photos of the crowds than I did of the actual painting.
-also saw the Venus de Milo, Horses of Marly, the Captive, and other famous things
-the one famous thing I saw that I thought was the most interesting was actually the one thing that wasn't mobbed by tourists (maybe that's why I liked it so much?) - the Code of Hammurabi. My camera battery lasted just long enough to take an adequate number of photos of that, and then it pretty promptly died. C'est la vie.
-ugly baby Jesuses. This is a concept that was introduced to me by my dear friend Olivia, and I unfortunately can't describe its origins as well as she can. Basically, a lot of Renaissace artists painted nativity scenes that feature baby Jesuses that are horrifyingly ugly. I took plenty of pictures, don't worry.
After a full day (6 hours!) of museum wandering, I headed back to my hostel to eat the rest of the cheese I've been accumulating. I stopped at a bakery on my way back to get a baguette and a chocolate pastry, which were both delicious. I also bought a carrot at the market and ate the last of the bananas I bought the other day. Also, a single-serve bottle of wine I bought last night for €1.49. Win.
After my yummy, yummy dinner, I booked my hostels in Barcelona! I'll be there from the 27th-29th, leaving on the 30th for Berlin :-)
Tomorrow is my last day in Paris, then off to Florence!
This morning, I woke up and had breakfast with my hostel roommates and exchanged contact info - so begins my collection of worldly connections!
Today was my museum day. I took the Metro to l'Arc de Triomphe and circumnavigated it while trying to figure out how to get across the 400 lanes of traffic between the metro stop and the actual monument. By the time I actually found the entrance (there's a path below the roadway - who would have thought?), I just wanted to get on with my day. Which was good because admission was something like 10€, and I was already planning on blowing the day's budget on seeing Musee d'Orsay and the Louvre. Which I promptly did.
From l'Arc de Triomphe I walked down the Champs Élysées, which is actually a lot like Fifth Ave in New York. I went into an H&M, partially out of curiosity and partially out of interest in buying something more fashionable than the 2 pairs of pants and 6 shirts I had brought with me. No such luck there, but I was shocked (for some reason) to discover that the men's section is TWICE the size of the women's section. Crazy!
On the bridge in front of the Grand Palais, I saw a group of protestors who were petitioning the French government to protect a French-Vietnamese blogger who is being imprisoned in Vietnam for his views on Vietnamese democracy. At least, that's what I was able to gather from the flyer they were handing out. Anyway, it was really interesting to see how the French police handle acts of protest - with riot shields and by sending twice as many troops as protestors to the scene. Good times!
The line for Musee d'Orsay was a little ridiculous, but it actually moved fairly quickly. There was an American couple standing behind me in the beginning who didn't make it past the second turn of the line. The woman's parting monologue went something like this:
"Okay, I think that, like, we should just go home and get tickets in advance for tomorrow. I can take our coats to that tailor and you can, like, go to the grocery store and pick up some diet Coke." Classy.
Musee d'Orsay had a special Mahler exhibit, which was obviously fabulous. It featured his Fourth Symphony, which I didn't know terribly well.... until now. They had the manuscript laid out so that it was surrounding the room, and a recording of the London Symphony was playing in the background. As the recording went on, each page of the manuscript lit up so that you could follow along. Not that anyone did. Except for me. Thirty-five or however many minutes of score study in Musee d'Orsay.... Mmmmm. It was great, until LITERALLY three pages before the end, an announcement blared over the loudspeaker to beware of pickpockets. In five languages. So, sadly, I missed the end of the symphony. Such is my life.
The rest of the museum was pretty sweet, too. They had an unfortunately small Van Gough collection, but they had some of his works I had never seen before. I also saw some Monet and Renoir, and an exhibit featuring faces done in pastels. 2 1/2 hours later, I felt like I had gotten my fill of that museum.
And then there was the Louvre. I knew not to expect to see the whole thing, but I don't think I was quite ready for the sheer magnitude, as well as the exceedingly inefficient layout of the museum.
My experience at the Louvre began with my pocket knife being confiscated. Damn.
Highlights of the Louvre:
-saw the Mona Lisa.... I guess it was worth it? I don't know, all the replicas are pretty good, plus it was MOBBED by people. I think I might have taken more photos of the crowds than I did of the actual painting.
-also saw the Venus de Milo, Horses of Marly, the Captive, and other famous things
-the one famous thing I saw that I thought was the most interesting was actually the one thing that wasn't mobbed by tourists (maybe that's why I liked it so much?) - the Code of Hammurabi. My camera battery lasted just long enough to take an adequate number of photos of that, and then it pretty promptly died. C'est la vie.
-ugly baby Jesuses. This is a concept that was introduced to me by my dear friend Olivia, and I unfortunately can't describe its origins as well as she can. Basically, a lot of Renaissace artists painted nativity scenes that feature baby Jesuses that are horrifyingly ugly. I took plenty of pictures, don't worry.
After a full day (6 hours!) of museum wandering, I headed back to my hostel to eat the rest of the cheese I've been accumulating. I stopped at a bakery on my way back to get a baguette and a chocolate pastry, which were both delicious. I also bought a carrot at the market and ate the last of the bananas I bought the other day. Also, a single-serve bottle of wine I bought last night for €1.49. Win.
After my yummy, yummy dinner, I booked my hostels in Barcelona! I'll be there from the 27th-29th, leaving on the 30th for Berlin :-)
Tomorrow is my last day in Paris, then off to Florence!
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Paris, Part II!
Today (Day 3 in Paris) wasn't too thrilling, so you can probably skip most of this post.... highlights:
-saw the Moulin Rouge!
-saw a million sex shops - Ithaca has nothing on them
-booked my train ticket and 3 nights in Florence!
Other things:
I had lunch at Sacre Coeur again - I bought another baguette and took the rest of my cheese from last night, along with a banana and a jar of Nutella. And it was delicious.
I've decided I'm going to make it a point to look for interesting European graffiti and take pictures of it. So far I haven't been very successful, but I got a couple of good ones today. That's a lie; I only found one good one. Better luck tomorrow, perhaps.
My hostel roommate (from Argentina) and I have a new roommate who just arrived. She's from Japan but is studying Economics in the UK.
Like I said.... not an especially thrilling day.
Tomorrow: the Louvre, Musee d'Orsay, possibly Balzac's house if time? Excited! :-D
-saw the Moulin Rouge!
-saw a million sex shops - Ithaca has nothing on them
-booked my train ticket and 3 nights in Florence!
Other things:
I had lunch at Sacre Coeur again - I bought another baguette and took the rest of my cheese from last night, along with a banana and a jar of Nutella. And it was delicious.
I've decided I'm going to make it a point to look for interesting European graffiti and take pictures of it. So far I haven't been very successful, but I got a couple of good ones today. That's a lie; I only found one good one. Better luck tomorrow, perhaps.
My hostel roommate (from Argentina) and I have a new roommate who just arrived. She's from Japan but is studying Economics in the UK.
Like I said.... not an especially thrilling day.
Tomorrow: the Louvre, Musee d'Orsay, possibly Balzac's house if time? Excited! :-D
Monday, April 11, 2011
Paris! Part I
I am finally in Paris! In the interest of catching up on my posts, I'm going to combine the past 2 days.
Yesterday I left London at around noon:30. I took the Eurostar, which was hella expensive (note: next time, book before getting to the train station). The Eurostar goes through the Chunnel, which was...awesome? I mean, it's cool to think that you're travelling underneath all that water, but it's not like you see it. Or anything, for that matter. Also, they don't announce that you're going through the Chunnel, so you just sit there after going through, like, five other tunnels from St Pancras Station, and then all of a sudden, BAM! you're in La France.
The French countryside we travelled through was beautiful! And the best part was that we passed by about a hundred wind turbines! Yay!! I was pretty excited.
After I arrived in Paris, I found my hostel almost without problem (I did miss my stop on the Metro and had to get off and go back one stop, but it was my first time on it and I didn't know any better!) So I checked in and hung out in my sunny room for a while, doing laundry and figuring out what to do for the next few days.
Eventually I decided to head out and do some exploring, so I found a bakery, bought a baguette, and wandered around until I found Sacre Coeur. There is a huge staircase in front of the cathedral with a slope alongside it that overlook the entire city, so I sat on the slope and ate my baguette. A French man sat down next to me and started up a conversation, which was nice if not a wee bit creepy. Things to note: French men will think you're interested in them even if you pay the slightest bit of attention.
After I got back to my hostel I met a guy who had just graduated from law school in California. We chatted for a while, and then we met up with these two guys from Chile. They kicked our asses in foosball (they call it "taka-taka"), but we had a great time.
----
The next morning I enjoyed my free hostel breakfast, which included croissants (with peach jam - mmmm), and juice/tea/coffee/etc. I checked out and went to find my other hostel, which was surprisingly easy to find thanks to Google maps on my iPod. After checking in, I hopped on the metro and headed downtown to do some sightseeing.
I started with les Jardins du Luxembourg, which were beautiful! Apparently you're not supposed to walk on the grass except for in one designated spot, a rule I promptly broke when I took some close-up photos of flowers and one of the statues. At least I'll have some pretty photos to show!
On my way to Notre Dame I stopped and got a crepe with Nutella. And it was delicious.
Notre Dame was really spectacular. I'm obviously not the church-y type, but I took a zillion pictures of the architecture and the stained glass windows. My favorite part was the souvenir coin stations at the end....yeah. There was one in Sacre Coeur as well. Good times.
I wandered around the back of the cathedral grounds and found the Holocaust memorial across the street. It was closed, but I've heard that it's worth seeing. Now that I know where it is, I might go out of my way to come back.
After leaving Notre Dame, I walked along the Seine all the way to the Eiffel Tower. It was quite a walk (about 3 miles, not including the side trips I took across a few bridges), but I saw a lot of Paris I probably wouldn't have bothered to look for. Example: the AirFrance main building, the Obelisk, etc.
The Eiffel Tower was so much more amazing in person than in any photos I've seen. I found this little park that had hardly any tourists, and I just sat on a bench and looked up at it for probably about 20 minutes. I eventually made my way to the more touristy parts, where I again took a ton of photos. There was a couple that was trying (and failing quite miserably) to take their picture in front of the tower; I offered to help them in French, and they gladly accepted. They spoke in English to each other, and I found out that they were from San Francisco. They were super nice, and they took my picture in front of the tower. Yay!
The rest of my day wasn't terribly exciting.... I met a nice girl from Toronto at my hostel and talked to her for a while while I ate my dinner of the rest of last night's baguette and some Camembert cheese I bought at the market. It was SO CHEAP! Also, wine is ridiculously cheap - if you find the cheap red wine from France, it's almost always cheaper than soda, juice, water, or just about any other beverage. Anyway, on our way up to the rooms we ran into a girl from Barcelona who is taking a French course here; she was really nice as well. All in all, a very packed yet excellent day.
Yesterday I left London at around noon:30. I took the Eurostar, which was hella expensive (note: next time, book before getting to the train station). The Eurostar goes through the Chunnel, which was...awesome? I mean, it's cool to think that you're travelling underneath all that water, but it's not like you see it. Or anything, for that matter. Also, they don't announce that you're going through the Chunnel, so you just sit there after going through, like, five other tunnels from St Pancras Station, and then all of a sudden, BAM! you're in La France.
The French countryside we travelled through was beautiful! And the best part was that we passed by about a hundred wind turbines! Yay!! I was pretty excited.
After I arrived in Paris, I found my hostel almost without problem (I did miss my stop on the Metro and had to get off and go back one stop, but it was my first time on it and I didn't know any better!) So I checked in and hung out in my sunny room for a while, doing laundry and figuring out what to do for the next few days.
Eventually I decided to head out and do some exploring, so I found a bakery, bought a baguette, and wandered around until I found Sacre Coeur. There is a huge staircase in front of the cathedral with a slope alongside it that overlook the entire city, so I sat on the slope and ate my baguette. A French man sat down next to me and started up a conversation, which was nice if not a wee bit creepy. Things to note: French men will think you're interested in them even if you pay the slightest bit of attention.
After I got back to my hostel I met a guy who had just graduated from law school in California. We chatted for a while, and then we met up with these two guys from Chile. They kicked our asses in foosball (they call it "taka-taka"), but we had a great time.
----
The next morning I enjoyed my free hostel breakfast, which included croissants (with peach jam - mmmm), and juice/tea/coffee/etc. I checked out and went to find my other hostel, which was surprisingly easy to find thanks to Google maps on my iPod. After checking in, I hopped on the metro and headed downtown to do some sightseeing.
I started with les Jardins du Luxembourg, which were beautiful! Apparently you're not supposed to walk on the grass except for in one designated spot, a rule I promptly broke when I took some close-up photos of flowers and one of the statues. At least I'll have some pretty photos to show!
On my way to Notre Dame I stopped and got a crepe with Nutella. And it was delicious.
Notre Dame was really spectacular. I'm obviously not the church-y type, but I took a zillion pictures of the architecture and the stained glass windows. My favorite part was the souvenir coin stations at the end....yeah. There was one in Sacre Coeur as well. Good times.
I wandered around the back of the cathedral grounds and found the Holocaust memorial across the street. It was closed, but I've heard that it's worth seeing. Now that I know where it is, I might go out of my way to come back.
After leaving Notre Dame, I walked along the Seine all the way to the Eiffel Tower. It was quite a walk (about 3 miles, not including the side trips I took across a few bridges), but I saw a lot of Paris I probably wouldn't have bothered to look for. Example: the AirFrance main building, the Obelisk, etc.
The Eiffel Tower was so much more amazing in person than in any photos I've seen. I found this little park that had hardly any tourists, and I just sat on a bench and looked up at it for probably about 20 minutes. I eventually made my way to the more touristy parts, where I again took a ton of photos. There was a couple that was trying (and failing quite miserably) to take their picture in front of the tower; I offered to help them in French, and they gladly accepted. They spoke in English to each other, and I found out that they were from San Francisco. They were super nice, and they took my picture in front of the tower. Yay!
The rest of my day wasn't terribly exciting.... I met a nice girl from Toronto at my hostel and talked to her for a while while I ate my dinner of the rest of last night's baguette and some Camembert cheese I bought at the market. It was SO CHEAP! Also, wine is ridiculously cheap - if you find the cheap red wine from France, it's almost always cheaper than soda, juice, water, or just about any other beverage. Anyway, on our way up to the rooms we ran into a girl from Barcelona who is taking a French course here; she was really nice as well. All in all, a very packed yet excellent day.
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Day 2 (written on Day 3)
Today started out by watching Top Gear in the hostel lounge while eating breakfast (jealous, Adam?). I was happy to get an early start to Camden Town, where I was going to meet Dr Fonder, because I got to experience a beautiful London morning.
I bought a cheap pay-as-you-go cell phone (which, at the time of this posting, I still haven't been able to activate), and wandered around for a while before meeting up with Dr Fonder.
After we met up (read: after he found me), we took the Tube downtown to sightsee. This was my first time in London, so we made sure to see EVERYTHING. I could go on and on about everything we saw, but that would take pages to type and hours of your time. Just wait for the photos... Whenever I can get them up.
After we had dinner at Wagamama's, an Asian noodle place chain, he went to see Fidelio at the Royal Opera House and I went to see a performance of Mozart's Marriage of Figaro overture, Schubert 8, and Beethoven 5 at St Martin-in-the-Fields. It was a great performance, and I was so happy that I went.
Tomorrow: Paris!
I bought a cheap pay-as-you-go cell phone (which, at the time of this posting, I still haven't been able to activate), and wandered around for a while before meeting up with Dr Fonder.
After we met up (read: after he found me), we took the Tube downtown to sightsee. This was my first time in London, so we made sure to see EVERYTHING. I could go on and on about everything we saw, but that would take pages to type and hours of your time. Just wait for the photos... Whenever I can get them up.
After we had dinner at Wagamama's, an Asian noodle place chain, he went to see Fidelio at the Royal Opera House and I went to see a performance of Mozart's Marriage of Figaro overture, Schubert 8, and Beethoven 5 at St Martin-in-the-Fields. It was a great performance, and I was so happy that I went.
Tomorrow: Paris!
Day 1!
After many, many hours in JFK airport, I have finally arrived in London! My flight ended up leaving about 5 hours late due a "hydraulic leak", so we disembarked and reboarded before finally leaving at around 3:15am EST (8:15am BST). We arrived just before 3pm BST, so after going through customs I finally left Heathrow airport at around 4pm.
My first time on the Tube was nothing but memorable: a rowdy, most likely drunken crowd of young men wearing black suits in varying stages of formality boarded just after I did at the terminal. The one who sat down next to me told me that they were rugby players from Amsterdam, so of course I thought it was hilarious (and immediately thought of my rugby-playing friends!). They got off at the stop just before mine, so I spent a good hour with them, talking about New York and rugby and travelling and such. They asked me if I'd come visit them in Amsterdam... we'll see about that!
My hostel is very nice - as soon as I arrived, I took a nap. Yay.
Tomorrow: meeting up with Dr Fonder!
My first time on the Tube was nothing but memorable: a rowdy, most likely drunken crowd of young men wearing black suits in varying stages of formality boarded just after I did at the terminal. The one who sat down next to me told me that they were rugby players from Amsterdam, so of course I thought it was hilarious (and immediately thought of my rugby-playing friends!). They got off at the stop just before mine, so I spent a good hour with them, talking about New York and rugby and travelling and such. They asked me if I'd come visit them in Amsterdam... we'll see about that!
My hostel is very nice - as soon as I arrived, I took a nap. Yay.
Tomorrow: meeting up with Dr Fonder!
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