On the first day, we made our way to the Vatican, took a tour of the Vatican Museum, and the Sistine Chapel. Words can't really describe the experience, the Vatican is an amazing place. Statues, paintings, and artifacts dating back before the time of Christ, the history was overwhelming. After walking past the tombs where the past pope's lay to rest, including the spot of the late Pope John Paul III, where many women still mourn his death, we ended up in St Peter's Basilica. Some of Michelangelo, Bernini, and Raphael's finest work lie within this Basilica. Again, the feeling of this place can not be put into words. Whether you are religious or not, St Peter's Basilica is a must see! We spent the entire day between the two.
We went on a walking tour of Rome, learning about and seeing all of the historical sites, ending up at the Colliseum. We spent the rest of the day with an Australian couple we met, wandering the Colliseum and Pallistine Hill. A feeling being amongst buildings and sites, that are thousands of years older than our own country. You witness old buildings all over Europe, but Roma's history dates back so far, that nothing else compares to this timeless experience. History buff or not, it's easy to get rapped up in the stories of the past.
To end it off, we spent a sleepless night in Rome's Da Vinci airport awaiting our flight to Budapest.
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Venice
VENEZIA! Did somebody say something about romantic? I say expensive, crowded, and stinky canals...
Our first impression was at a restaurant where we tried to share a massive pizza. We're talkin' XXL pizza size from Pizza Pizza. It seemed as though we were being discriminated against because we were tourists, being served last, and given cracked water glasses, instead of wine glasses for the wine we ordered. When we finally got served, the waiter told us we BOTH had to order a pizza if we wanted to eat there, so we did a runner. Down the street we found a take away pizza the same size, for a few euros, and all was good.
This city though, is one of a kind, and one you have to see in person. If you get rid of all the tourists, and the shops made FOR the tourists, it is a pretty amazing place. While wandering, we heard an opera singer, and decided to follow her voice. We ended up at the end of a small canal, overlooking a few balconies, and listened for a few minutes while a woman was excerising her talent from her home. A true Italian experience.
Sick of the crowded city, we made our way to Murano, one of the islands around Venice. This place was beautiful. Very few tourists, and lots of locals to chat with. The sun was shining, and we spent the entire day wandering the small streets. We stopped in a glass blowing factory, and watched a ferrari style horse being made. Pretty amazing talent.
Our first impression was at a restaurant where we tried to share a massive pizza. We're talkin' XXL pizza size from Pizza Pizza. It seemed as though we were being discriminated against because we were tourists, being served last, and given cracked water glasses, instead of wine glasses for the wine we ordered. When we finally got served, the waiter told us we BOTH had to order a pizza if we wanted to eat there, so we did a runner. Down the street we found a take away pizza the same size, for a few euros, and all was good.
This city though, is one of a kind, and one you have to see in person. If you get rid of all the tourists, and the shops made FOR the tourists, it is a pretty amazing place. While wandering, we heard an opera singer, and decided to follow her voice. We ended up at the end of a small canal, overlooking a few balconies, and listened for a few minutes while a woman was excerising her talent from her home. A true Italian experience.
Sick of the crowded city, we made our way to Murano, one of the islands around Venice. This place was beautiful. Very few tourists, and lots of locals to chat with. The sun was shining, and we spent the entire day wandering the small streets. We stopped in a glass blowing factory, and watched a ferrari style horse being made. Pretty amazing talent.
Switzerland
What a picturesque country! We took a train that goes up the side of one of the Swiss Alps, making our way to a Chalet style Hostel. Our hostel was up and around cloud level, surrounded by snow capped mountains. The view was unreal! We were in a small Swiss village, so we really got to experience the Swiss life without the tourists. We spent four days hiking the mountains, and exploring the villages. Time in the hostel was spent playing scrabble or reading, overlooking the mountains. The air there was pure, and the tap water was better than evian! Of course, we participated in a few of the traditions. Tasting the chocolate, and making a traditional fondue dinner... Mmm, the Swiss know how to live.
The owner of the hostel hosted a wine tasting night, because the Swiss don't export their wine. We paid a few euros, learned everything we needed to know about Swiss wine, and were left with 15 bottles for 8 people to drink. Another afternoon/night was spent hanging out in the kitchen with other guests swapping stories, while we each made our own home made recipes.
This place felt like a home rather than a hostel. Have a look at the pictures, they say it all. Gryon, Switzerland, highly recommended for a Swiss experience.
The owner of the hostel hosted a wine tasting night, because the Swiss don't export their wine. We paid a few euros, learned everything we needed to know about Swiss wine, and were left with 15 bottles for 8 people to drink. Another afternoon/night was spent hanging out in the kitchen with other guests swapping stories, while we each made our own home made recipes.
This place felt like a home rather than a hostel. Have a look at the pictures, they say it all. Gryon, Switzerland, highly recommended for a Swiss experience.
Heading to Prague...
Bus trips always seem to have a story, dont they? We made a last minute decision to take another over night trip on a Eurolines bus. It must have been around 3 am and everyone on the bus was sleeping. There were legs sprawled across the aisle, making the trip to the toilet from our seat quite the task. In order not to wake anybody up, Niki decides to hit the ground in the firemans crawl. SUCCESS! Made it, and didnt wake a single soul! But for some reason, the door to the toilet was locked! The bus driver had no interest in answering questions as to where we could pee. Actually, he wouldnt even try to answer Niki's questions of the locked toilet. Scott tried the door one more time, and the bus driver started yelling "DEFUNKT! DEFUNKT!" After we managed not to wake up the bus, by crawling on the filthy ground, the bus driver ruined the effort, and all eyes were open and on us, standing in the middle of the bus. Eight hours on a bus with no toilet, imagine.
Border control; If you've been reading this blog, you know that we have had no luck with crossing borders. This time, lucky for us, we weren't the ones being searched. We just had to wait for the American that we met, who was being toyed with for being American (because there was no other reason for it), waiting for the make or break moment of either being dragged off the bus, or allowed to pass through. We sat at the border for two hours! Finally, the bus got the go ahead to pass through, and the American was allowed to move on. Unfortunately, the Mexican on the bus wasn't so lucky... We made it safe and sound to Prague, spent a few days there, but intend to return and explore more, so if you don't mind, we'll save our blog entry on Prague for after our next visit!
Border control; If you've been reading this blog, you know that we have had no luck with crossing borders. This time, lucky for us, we weren't the ones being searched. We just had to wait for the American that we met, who was being toyed with for being American (because there was no other reason for it), waiting for the make or break moment of either being dragged off the bus, or allowed to pass through. We sat at the border for two hours! Finally, the bus got the go ahead to pass through, and the American was allowed to move on. Unfortunately, the Mexican on the bus wasn't so lucky... We made it safe and sound to Prague, spent a few days there, but intend to return and explore more, so if you don't mind, we'll save our blog entry on Prague for after our next visit!
Friday, November 2, 2007
Berlin
We took a 10 hour overnight bus to Berlin, luckily this time, no customs!!!! It was a fairly straight forward trip, where we actually caught some zzz's. We were greeted at the bus stop bright and early by an old neighbor of the Feeney's. Barbara and Peter live right in the city of Berlin so it was convenient for wandering, and they were kind enough to put us up for a few nights.
The history in this city is never ending. There is so much to see and learn that 3 days is no where near enough to take it all in. We took a free walking tour of the city, that went into depth on a few of the important dates in berlins history. We thought we hated Hitler before coming here, but the hate has only grown. Its still unreal to think about what it must have been like to live here through all the troubles.
Besides taking in all the history, we shopped for new birks, tried some German Sausage, navigated the underground system with only a few wrong turns, and luckily made it back in time for a traditional German dinner with Barbara and Peter. MMMMM fantastic!!!
It was nice to sleep in a proper bed, and have home cooked meals, but the buzz of the backpacker lifestyle is calling us back.......Prague awaits us after another overnight bus!
The history in this city is never ending. There is so much to see and learn that 3 days is no where near enough to take it all in. We took a free walking tour of the city, that went into depth on a few of the important dates in berlins history. We thought we hated Hitler before coming here, but the hate has only grown. Its still unreal to think about what it must have been like to live here through all the troubles.
Besides taking in all the history, we shopped for new birks, tried some German Sausage, navigated the underground system with only a few wrong turns, and luckily made it back in time for a traditional German dinner with Barbara and Peter. MMMMM fantastic!!!
It was nice to sleep in a proper bed, and have home cooked meals, but the buzz of the backpacker lifestyle is calling us back.......Prague awaits us after another overnight bus!
Holland
Transport through Belgium and Holland were surprisingly fast and easy. We took a train from Antwerpen to a little town called Leiden in Holland. It is a beautiful city, with windmills on every corner over looking the canals. We spent the day roaming around the pedestrian streets, tasting the local sweets and food. You could easily spend a few days just wandering around this town, but unfortunately for us there were no beds available being a weekend, so we took a bus to our favorite little beach hostel in Noordwijk. We spent a few nights here back in May with Jilly Bean.
When we approached the hostel bar for a beer, there strolls in one of the people we met in Belgium, Annabelle from Austraila. We had recommended this hostel to her before, but hadn't planned on being there at the same time. Its a small world the backpackers live in.
After 3 days of relaxing bliss by the beach, we had to catch a train from Amsterdam to get to Germany. We decided to go early, lock up our bags, and wander the city. Once we were there we remembered the craziness of it. The streets are packed with locals and tourisits, going in and out of gift shops, and coffee shops. There is an endless energy in this city, and plenty of things to occupy your time. There is something for everyone here, beautiful canals, many museums, lots of art galleries, and of course great night life.
When we approached the hostel bar for a beer, there strolls in one of the people we met in Belgium, Annabelle from Austraila. We had recommended this hostel to her before, but hadn't planned on being there at the same time. Its a small world the backpackers live in.
After 3 days of relaxing bliss by the beach, we had to catch a train from Amsterdam to get to Germany. We decided to go early, lock up our bags, and wander the city. Once we were there we remembered the craziness of it. The streets are packed with locals and tourisits, going in and out of gift shops, and coffee shops. There is an endless energy in this city, and plenty of things to occupy your time. There is something for everyone here, beautiful canals, many museums, lots of art galleries, and of course great night life.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)