Greetings from lovely Roma! We absolutely love this city...so much to do and see. We arrived safely from Sorrento, if nearly 2 hours late thanks to a delayed train from Naples. We found our hostel which was thankfully close to the train station. We walked in the front door and the night reception guy (I don't know, what else would you call him?) burst into the Canadian national anthem. In French. Seriously. He was incredibly chatty at 12:30 at night when a very tired Erin and Megs were not. We FINALLY got checked in (but not before hearing about this guy's life...he lived in Montreal but is Swedish and incidently, just lost his passport, is now doing a PHd, lives with his boyfriend in a better neighbourhood the he used to because he got robbed twice, and so on and so forth) and hit the sack. Day 1 in Rome was mostly just a lot of walking and seeing a lot of the sights. We saw the Spanish Steps, the Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon, Piazza Navona and the Vatican/St. Peter's Basillica from the outside. We got back to the hostel that night to find out that they put on a free pasta dinner each night. This was excellent news as we were thinking that eating out all the time in Rome was going to be very expensive. We met some cool people that were also staying at the hostel and called it a night pretty early.
We got up and got rolling pretty early on day 2 as there were things to do and places to see! We went straight down to the Colluseum in hopes of beating the line up. We were sort of successful and only ended up waiting about 20 minutes to get in. I must admit, the Colluseum is probably one of my favourite sights in Rome. It's amazing to think how it was built and all the amazing things that went on in there. We rented the audio tour thingys so got a great overview of all the different sections. While in the area, we also walked around the Roman Forum and the Palantine Hill. When Erin was in Rome in May, she went in search of the Catacombs but didn't find them so we thought we would try out luck. Well, not so much. We wandered down in the general direction from the Colluseum and found ourselves walking 'off the map.' Not good when you have no idea where you are! We gave up on this idea, and walked back into the map. We went out for a couple of beers that night with 2 Brits from the hostel. The place we went to uses tokens to pay for drinks. What is that all about?! Oh well, good times.
We had a tour of the Vatican booked for day 3 so off we went in the morning. We first went into the Vatican Museums and saw some sculptures and some different hallways with tapestries. Very cool but because it was so packed, we didn't get to spend much time looking at the exhibits. The next stop was the Sistine Chapel. I can't even put into words the enormity of this place and how absolutely stunning it is. Evidently, Michaelangelo didn't even want to paint it, he was pretty much forced into it. He spent nearly 10 years on the 'Last Judgement' which is the alter piece and the ceiling, which depicts 3 different stories, including the creation of Adam and Eve. We had about 15 minutes in the Chapel and honestly, 15 hours wouldn't even be enough to see everything. From there, we were led into St. Peter's Basillica, which is the largest church in the world (and ironically, the Vatican is the smallest country in the world). The Basillica is weird because you know it's big and it looks big, but it's very deceiving. The tour guide pointed out some lettering close to the top of the church, and yes, it looks large, but she said the letters alone were 10 feet tall! Unbelievable! The amounts of wealth in the Vatican are astounding...the Basillica is plated in gold and it has the largest art collection in the world. Last night was 'Notte Bianca' which translates to the White Night. All the shops and museums and restaurants were open late and all the piazzas in the city had entertainment. We walked around for a couple of hours taking in all the sights. Very cool to be in the middle of something so huge and popular.
Whew! This now brings me to today. We said goodbye to our British friends this morning and moved hostels for out last night in Rome. We are now very close to the Vatican City so we'll be off tonight to try to get some night shots of the Basillica and the Square. A month of walking miles everyday has caught up with us and our feet are not so much as loving us at the moment, so we ended up taking a bus tour for part of the afternoon. The commentary was disappointing, but we learned a few things we hadn't heard before. The guys selling the knockoff purses, wallets, belts etc were out in full force so we perused past a couple of vendors.....'special price, just for you pretty lady...it's real Prada!. Yea sure, special price just for us...and 15 Euro for a real Prada purse? I think not!
It's off early tomorrow morning for Pisa (and yes, we will be taking the obligatory tourist shots of holding the tower up!) and then on to Milan tomorrow evening. I can't even believe we'll be heading off to Dublin on Tuesday night, the past month has flown by!!! Oh well, we'll make the best of our remaining 2 days in awesome Italia!
Ciao ciao!
Sunday, September 9, 2007
Thursday, September 6, 2007
And we climbed a mountain!
Buon giorno from Roma! Before I get carried away here, we better rewind the clock a couple of days to Florence (or Firenze as we call it now that we speak Italian and all) and Sorrento. We arrived bright and early in Firenze, and no I'm not lying. I think the train arrived at something like 6:15 in the morning...yes, Erin and I were in a spectacular mood after another night train. Oh well, time to move on from the tiredness and see the city. After a much needed coffee and breakfast, we set off from the train station. Our first stop was the Accademia to see 'The David.' No trip to Firenze would be complete with out it. It was great actually, since we were there early, we didn't have to stand in line. It really is a spectacluar piece of art, it's hard to describe because it is so much larger then you think and much more detailed. Definitely worth the price of admission to the Accademia alone, and a good thing too because there really isn't that much else to see. We strolled along the river and had another coffee (no sleep, people...what we were supposed to do?!) and found the Uffizzi Gallery. We had luckily pre-booked our tickets so we picked them up and skipped the line. Yay! Again, lots of spectacular art to be seen...the Birth of Venus and lots of Botticceli. It kinda sucked because alot of the gallery was closed so we really didn't spend as much time there as we thought we would. We found our 'hotel' after a long and sweaty walk and checked in. Because there were hardly any guests booked for that night, we got a free upgrade...ensuite bathroom...always a bonus! Then came our string of bad luck...it always comes in 3's you know. We had gone to American Express to cash some travellers cheques and it was closed. That didn't please us in the least as the average commission at other bureau du changes was 14%. Next bad thing was that the Duomo was closed when we arrived to go in. Evidently, it closes early the first Saturday of every month. Yeah, like we knew that. And lastly, we had to pay 20 Euro to reserve our train to Naples, even though we both have rail passes. All these things added up on top of the tiredness we were already feeling left us in pretty bad moods. We went back to the hostel (actually, it was more like we dragged our sorry butts back) and had popcorn for dinner. Yes, our first night in Italy and we had popcorn.
Day 2 in Florence was shopping day so of course our moods had drastically improved. We first walked up the Piazzale de la Michealangelo (the first of many hills/mountains to come) and got a stunning view of the city. Then it was shopping time...yay! We entered the leather market and it was so hard to choose what to buy...lots of purses, not very much room to pack them all! E and I both settled on purses that we liked and had to stop there otherwise things would have gotten out of control. We tried going to the Duomo again, but it was Sunday and that equals Catholic mass. Tourists are only allowed in between masses, so the line was ridiculously long so that will just have to wait for another trip. We caught our train to Naples (so glad we were only there for approx 30 minutes) and got on another train for Sorrento. We caught our first view of the Italian coast and it is beautiful!!! The hostel in Sorrento was lovely, but the dorm room had 14 beds crammed in it...not a lot of space to be had. We went to bed but were awakened in the night by the loudest snorer ever!!!! Let's just say the walls of the stone building were shaking. No joke.
Our first day in the Sorrento area was spent at Pompeii and the 'beach.' Pompeii is amazing, it's astonishing how advanced the ancient Romans were. We walked around for about 2.5 hours but the heat was getting to us both so back to the hostel we went to get our bathing suits and find the beach. You walk down this long and steep staircase and get to a junction...private beach to the right and public beach to the left. We didn't have 20 Euro on us for the private on so off to the public one we went. 'Beach' is a general term...it was more of a concrete slab built out into the ocean. But whatever, the water was lovely and it was a nice way to spend a hot afternoon. The hostel is also a cooking school and every night they put on a dinner. It's 15 Euro but you get 4 fantastic courses. Dinner was delicious and combined with a 5 Euro litre of red wine, good times were had by all!
We had signed up for a tour of Capri Island at the hostel and it was supposed to be our 2nd and last day in the area. The weather had other plans for us though, as it was cool and cloudy with rain definitely on the way when we woke up. After some debating, we decided to stay an extra day with hopes that the weather would be better. We relaxed in the hammocks pretty much all day with only a trip into town for lunch interrupting our relaxation. We agained had the dinner at the hostel and at bedtime, we were sure the weather would work in our favor.
Well, we were sort of right. The sun was shining and the birds were singing but the wind was also howling. Sal (the tour guy) arrived and said the trip was cancelled again today as the water was too rough. We just can't catch a break! We stayed an extra day just to see Capri so we were going to make it happen. We caught the hydrofoil and off we went! The Blue Grotto was closed so that sucked, but we still had a great day! We hiked up to Capri Town from the marina and found the Natural Arch, and part of the afternoon was spent at the beach. Yes, sunbathing on Capri Island...we lead a very hard life. We arrived back in Sorrento with time to grab our bags and catch a train to Rome, which is where we are now.
It's hard to believe that we only have 2 cities left, but we'll make the best of it!
Signing off from Roma...
Megs
Day 2 in Florence was shopping day so of course our moods had drastically improved. We first walked up the Piazzale de la Michealangelo (the first of many hills/mountains to come) and got a stunning view of the city. Then it was shopping time...yay! We entered the leather market and it was so hard to choose what to buy...lots of purses, not very much room to pack them all! E and I both settled on purses that we liked and had to stop there otherwise things would have gotten out of control. We tried going to the Duomo again, but it was Sunday and that equals Catholic mass. Tourists are only allowed in between masses, so the line was ridiculously long so that will just have to wait for another trip. We caught our train to Naples (so glad we were only there for approx 30 minutes) and got on another train for Sorrento. We caught our first view of the Italian coast and it is beautiful!!! The hostel in Sorrento was lovely, but the dorm room had 14 beds crammed in it...not a lot of space to be had. We went to bed but were awakened in the night by the loudest snorer ever!!!! Let's just say the walls of the stone building were shaking. No joke.
Our first day in the Sorrento area was spent at Pompeii and the 'beach.' Pompeii is amazing, it's astonishing how advanced the ancient Romans were. We walked around for about 2.5 hours but the heat was getting to us both so back to the hostel we went to get our bathing suits and find the beach. You walk down this long and steep staircase and get to a junction...private beach to the right and public beach to the left. We didn't have 20 Euro on us for the private on so off to the public one we went. 'Beach' is a general term...it was more of a concrete slab built out into the ocean. But whatever, the water was lovely and it was a nice way to spend a hot afternoon. The hostel is also a cooking school and every night they put on a dinner. It's 15 Euro but you get 4 fantastic courses. Dinner was delicious and combined with a 5 Euro litre of red wine, good times were had by all!
We had signed up for a tour of Capri Island at the hostel and it was supposed to be our 2nd and last day in the area. The weather had other plans for us though, as it was cool and cloudy with rain definitely on the way when we woke up. After some debating, we decided to stay an extra day with hopes that the weather would be better. We relaxed in the hammocks pretty much all day with only a trip into town for lunch interrupting our relaxation. We agained had the dinner at the hostel and at bedtime, we were sure the weather would work in our favor.
Well, we were sort of right. The sun was shining and the birds were singing but the wind was also howling. Sal (the tour guy) arrived and said the trip was cancelled again today as the water was too rough. We just can't catch a break! We stayed an extra day just to see Capri so we were going to make it happen. We caught the hydrofoil and off we went! The Blue Grotto was closed so that sucked, but we still had a great day! We hiked up to Capri Town from the marina and found the Natural Arch, and part of the afternoon was spent at the beach. Yes, sunbathing on Capri Island...we lead a very hard life. We arrived back in Sorrento with time to grab our bags and catch a train to Rome, which is where we are now.
It's hard to believe that we only have 2 cities left, but we'll make the best of it!
Signing off from Roma...
Megs
Monday, September 3, 2007
You knew it was coming...
The hills are SO alive with the Sound of Music! Yes, we arrived safely in Salzburg and are in Sound of Music mode! The hostel (which is actually just outside of the city in the mountains, and is more of a B&B) is very nice, and because we arrived quite late in the evening, we were even picked up at the main train station. Day 1 in Salzburg started with us journeying into town. We saw most of the old town and mostly just putzed around (in the rain) until the start of the Sound of Music tour. We boarded the tour bus with lots of like-minded people, but I have to admit, E and I sure did sit in the very first row! Trudy (no, not Julie :)) was the tour guide and started things off with a little sing-a-long of "let's start at the very beginning....." Erin and I were in our glory! We saw all the important sights of the movie that we actually filmed in Austria...apparently all the inside scenes of the movie we filmed on a sound stage in Hollywood. We visited Leopold's Crown Palace (the rear of the house and lake scenes), Hellbrunn Palace (the gazebo), the Nonnberg Abbey (where Maria was going to become a nun), the lake district and the town on Mondsee (the wedding scene) and the Mirabelle Gardens (Do Re Mi song). And yes, Erin and I sang, danced and pranced everywhere Julie Andrews did. Really, it was a momentous day for both of us...with about 100 pictures to prove it! Also in the Lake District is the headquarters of Red Bull...I had no idea it was even Austrian. The tour and guide were fantastic and we couldn't have asked for anymore...there was even one Euro beer on the bus...yay!!! (hehe)
We were tired by the end of the tour and not really feeling like eating, so we picked up a frozen pizza to take back to the B&B with us, assuming that we would just be able to ask to use the kitchen. Interesting assumption as it turns out. After hiking up the HUGE hill back to the house, we found that there was no one there. What were we to do? We had this stupid frozen pizza and no way to heat it up. So we broke into the kitchen....before you freak out, the key was in the door so we just let ourselves in (and prentended that we didn't see the "privat" sign....my argument would have been that we don't speak German so we couldn't read the sign!). I stood guard while E cooked the pizza and up to our room we scurried when it was finished. Whew! Didn't even get caught!
Day 2 started with us trekking back down the hill with our packs, trying not to fall head over heels. We took the Fenicular up to the Festung Hohensalzburg, which is a big fortress overlooking the city. We went into the museum there and went on the audio tour. We then re-visited the Nonnberg Abbey...seriously, not overly impressive in real life. We just wandered for the rest of the day, having dinner before catching a train to Villach (I dunno, some town close to the border with Italy). From there, we boarded a midnight train...no not to Georgia, but to Florence!
We are actually now in Sorrento, but seeing as though time is running out, I will have to write about our 2 days in Florence at a later date.
Ciao from Italia!
We were tired by the end of the tour and not really feeling like eating, so we picked up a frozen pizza to take back to the B&B with us, assuming that we would just be able to ask to use the kitchen. Interesting assumption as it turns out. After hiking up the HUGE hill back to the house, we found that there was no one there. What were we to do? We had this stupid frozen pizza and no way to heat it up. So we broke into the kitchen....before you freak out, the key was in the door so we just let ourselves in (and prentended that we didn't see the "privat" sign....my argument would have been that we don't speak German so we couldn't read the sign!). I stood guard while E cooked the pizza and up to our room we scurried when it was finished. Whew! Didn't even get caught!
Day 2 started with us trekking back down the hill with our packs, trying not to fall head over heels. We took the Fenicular up to the Festung Hohensalzburg, which is a big fortress overlooking the city. We went into the museum there and went on the audio tour. We then re-visited the Nonnberg Abbey...seriously, not overly impressive in real life. We just wandered for the rest of the day, having dinner before catching a train to Villach (I dunno, some town close to the border with Italy). From there, we boarded a midnight train...no not to Georgia, but to Florence!
We are actually now in Sorrento, but seeing as though time is running out, I will have to write about our 2 days in Florence at a later date.
Ciao from Italia!
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Weiner Schnitzel!
We LOVE Vienna (yes, you're jealous and you should be!) This city is fantastic with so much to offer! We travelled here from Budapest with one slight panic attack on the train. We were reviewing our hostel booking and because we had to switch rooms at the hostel, it seemed like it only booked one person for the 1st 2 nights instead of 2. Could have been disasterous, but the hostel had lots of space so disaster averted....it turns out that we didn't even have to switch rooms. Our first night at the hostel we met a fellow Canadian, a girl from the UK and a bunch of Australian guys. We hung out with them and E and I almost convinced one of the Australian guys that yes, we were in fact from Canadia (why else would we be called Canadians?) and that the plural of moose is meeses. Our fellow Canadian let him in on the truth and probably for the best as he was starting to get quite upset with us. But truth be told, he was believing us!!! We ended off the night at an Australian (surprise, surprise) pub with the crew before calling it a night.
We wanted to start the next day off with a walking tour as we have done in every other place, but the tour didn't start until the afternoon. We wandered down Mariahilfer Strasse, the main street into town from our hostel, and found ourselves in the Museum Quarter. We putzed around there for a bit and found a couple of museums that we could potenitally go to, and took the metro back to the hostel to meet the tour group. There was only the 2 of us, along with 2 American teenager boys (they told us they were 20, but the jig was up when they started yapping about getting drunk off Grand Marnier....seriously). We say all the main sights...back to the Museum Quarter, the Hofberg, parliament buildings, the Spanish Stables, the Opera House and St. Stephen's Cathedral. The tour guide was getting as tired of the teens as we were as she essentially told them to get lost and go climb the tour in the Cathedral while she showed us all the 'cool' places to go out. It was actually pretty hysterical. She also showed us the best place for schnitzel in town, so we decided to head there for dinner. You haven't seen schnitzel until you've been to this place...imagine 250 grams of weiner schnitzel falling off the plate because it was so large. Yes, we took pictures! It was delicious, but neither of us could finish it.
We started off day 2 by going to one of the museums we say the previous day, the Kuntzhalle, to see the 2 featured exhibits. It was really pretty cool, and that's alot coming from a non-museumy person. The 1st exhibit was awesome, a Chinese artist who was really into the melding of Western and Eastern thinking. The 2nd exhibit was a bit different, it was called 'Dream and Trauma'...think the weirdest things you could even imagine being called art. I didn't really care for it, and actually had a hard time calling it art. Our next stop of the day was the Opera House. I can't even put into words the awesome-ness of this building, it's completely indescribable. Both Erin and I gasped as we walked into the main concert hall. We went on a guided tour and it was great...the house puts on 60 operas a season, with a different one playing each night. We would have loved to go to one, but unfortunately the season doesn't open next week. Oh well, we'll just have to come back! We walked through the Cathedral and went off in search of 'Sand in the City.' Think a Hawaii-esqe beach and bar area in the middle of the city with huge sand castles to boot. We didn't pay to get into see the castles up close but we did relax on a lounge chair with a pina colada! We felt very civilized, I'm not going to lie!
Day 3...our last day in Vienna. We went out to the Schonbrunn Palace...we originally thought it was like Paris and Versailles, a day trip out and back. As it turns out, it's only a 15 minute tram ride from the hostel. Absolutely stunning!!! We didn't go in for the tour but got some fantastic pictures from up on the hill. The next item on the itinerary was to go in search of the famous Sachertorte. We took the Metro back into town and found a very popular cafe that had it. Has to be one of the most delicious things I've ever tasted! We then window shopped at all the places we can't and probably will never be able to afford...Gucci, Prada, D&G...why do we torture ourselves?!?
We are off to Salzburg tonight and by tomorrow, the hills will be alive...with the Sound of Music that is! We are already singing and gearing ourselves up for the tour!
Signing off from Vienna,
Megs
We wanted to start the next day off with a walking tour as we have done in every other place, but the tour didn't start until the afternoon. We wandered down Mariahilfer Strasse, the main street into town from our hostel, and found ourselves in the Museum Quarter. We putzed around there for a bit and found a couple of museums that we could potenitally go to, and took the metro back to the hostel to meet the tour group. There was only the 2 of us, along with 2 American teenager boys (they told us they were 20, but the jig was up when they started yapping about getting drunk off Grand Marnier....seriously). We say all the main sights...back to the Museum Quarter, the Hofberg, parliament buildings, the Spanish Stables, the Opera House and St. Stephen's Cathedral. The tour guide was getting as tired of the teens as we were as she essentially told them to get lost and go climb the tour in the Cathedral while she showed us all the 'cool' places to go out. It was actually pretty hysterical. She also showed us the best place for schnitzel in town, so we decided to head there for dinner. You haven't seen schnitzel until you've been to this place...imagine 250 grams of weiner schnitzel falling off the plate because it was so large. Yes, we took pictures! It was delicious, but neither of us could finish it.
We started off day 2 by going to one of the museums we say the previous day, the Kuntzhalle, to see the 2 featured exhibits. It was really pretty cool, and that's alot coming from a non-museumy person. The 1st exhibit was awesome, a Chinese artist who was really into the melding of Western and Eastern thinking. The 2nd exhibit was a bit different, it was called 'Dream and Trauma'...think the weirdest things you could even imagine being called art. I didn't really care for it, and actually had a hard time calling it art. Our next stop of the day was the Opera House. I can't even put into words the awesome-ness of this building, it's completely indescribable. Both Erin and I gasped as we walked into the main concert hall. We went on a guided tour and it was great...the house puts on 60 operas a season, with a different one playing each night. We would have loved to go to one, but unfortunately the season doesn't open next week. Oh well, we'll just have to come back! We walked through the Cathedral and went off in search of 'Sand in the City.' Think a Hawaii-esqe beach and bar area in the middle of the city with huge sand castles to boot. We didn't pay to get into see the castles up close but we did relax on a lounge chair with a pina colada! We felt very civilized, I'm not going to lie!
Day 3...our last day in Vienna. We went out to the Schonbrunn Palace...we originally thought it was like Paris and Versailles, a day trip out and back. As it turns out, it's only a 15 minute tram ride from the hostel. Absolutely stunning!!! We didn't go in for the tour but got some fantastic pictures from up on the hill. The next item on the itinerary was to go in search of the famous Sachertorte. We took the Metro back into town and found a very popular cafe that had it. Has to be one of the most delicious things I've ever tasted! We then window shopped at all the places we can't and probably will never be able to afford...Gucci, Prada, D&G...why do we torture ourselves?!?
We are off to Salzburg tonight and by tomorrow, the hills will be alive...with the Sound of Music that is! We are already singing and gearing ourselves up for the tour!
Signing off from Vienna,
Megs
Monday, August 27, 2007
Attack of the Flying Rats
Stop #4...Budapest. Actually, Buda and Pest as they are technically 2 seperate places, seperated by the Danube. I have to say, definitely not my favourite stop on the trip thus far. We arrived safely from Prague to a sweltering 40 degrees in Budapest. AWESOME! We had seen the forecast and knew it would be warm but I'm not going to lie....40 degrees is even warmer then you think! We found our hostel (in Pest) easily and settled in. The hostel was great, very homey and lots of nice people staying there. We found that there's no where in Budapest that exchanges travellers cheques. After panicking, we found an ATM that our Canadian bank cards worked at, so all was well.
We decided to go on a walking tour the next day so we set off in search of the main square where the tour was to start. It was another boiling hot day and the humidity was killing us. The walking tour took us past all the main sights....Heroes Square, the Thermal Baths, the Opera House, St Stephen's Basillica, the Jewish Ghetto and then across the Danube to Buda to see the castle and the Fisherman`s Bastion. We had a bite of lunch and headed back to the hostel as the heat was killing us and we were just drained.
The next day, we headed back to Buda to take some pics and do some souvineer shopping....again, it was freakin hot!!!! We took a trip to the Thermal Baths in the afternoon and it was fantastic! There were 4 different pools with each having a different temperature....the 18 degree pool felt so cold but awesome at the same time....it was the first time in 3 days that we weren't hot and sweaty! We met a nice Austrailian couple at the hostel that evening and just spent some time chatting with them.
We were going to catch a later train the next day to Vienna, but given the heat, we decided to leave earlier in hopes of finding a somewhat more temperate climate. All in all, a good stop, but the heat definitely impeded our ability to wander around and explore.
Vienna's the next stop and I'm so looking forward to it, heard so many great things about that city.
Later!
Megs
We decided to go on a walking tour the next day so we set off in search of the main square where the tour was to start. It was another boiling hot day and the humidity was killing us. The walking tour took us past all the main sights....Heroes Square, the Thermal Baths, the Opera House, St Stephen's Basillica, the Jewish Ghetto and then across the Danube to Buda to see the castle and the Fisherman`s Bastion. We had a bite of lunch and headed back to the hostel as the heat was killing us and we were just drained.
The next day, we headed back to Buda to take some pics and do some souvineer shopping....again, it was freakin hot!!!! We took a trip to the Thermal Baths in the afternoon and it was fantastic! There were 4 different pools with each having a different temperature....the 18 degree pool felt so cold but awesome at the same time....it was the first time in 3 days that we weren't hot and sweaty! We met a nice Austrailian couple at the hostel that evening and just spent some time chatting with them.
We were going to catch a later train the next day to Vienna, but given the heat, we decided to leave earlier in hopes of finding a somewhat more temperate climate. All in all, a good stop, but the heat definitely impeded our ability to wander around and explore.
Vienna's the next stop and I'm so looking forward to it, heard so many great things about that city.
Later!
Megs
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Canadia, eh?
Hellloooo from Prague! We've been here for 3 days and had a fantastic time! Before I start on the doings in Prague, we had some fun on our last night in Munich. As with the Berlin tour, E and I decided that we would go on the pub crawl...just for a couple of pubs and not staying out late because we were both tired. It may come as a huge shock to you all when that's not the way things panned out!!! We met some great people, Tom and Tom from Boston who were on the tour with us were there, and with them came their roomates, Dawn from San Diego, Olga from Spain, Irish Tim and Owen and Brian and British James. We all got on really well and had a great time. E and I decided that it was a good thing that we were only travelling the next day as we were both still tired!
Now Prague...we arrived safely after a long and hot and uncomfortable train ride. We finally found our way out of the train station and found that the directions to our hostel made absolutely no sense! We asked a couple of police officers who, as it turs out, sent us in the wrong direction, and after wandering aimlessly for about an hour in the hot weather found where we needed to be. As this isn't a real 'hostel' and there's no reception desk, we had to collect our key from across the street at the pub and let ourselves in. Like I said, it's not a real hostel so much as an apartment with 3 rooms, but we have our own spacious room and free internet, so really, how bad can it be?!?
After a good long sleep, we were ready to look at Prague with fresh eyes. We found out how to get to the main square where the Astronomical Clock is and decided to take a walking tour, as we've done in the previous cities. We found Omar, our guide, and off we went. As it turns out, the 4 other people on the tour were going on a river cruise, so we essentially had a 4 hour private tour, which was awesome! We saw all the main sights, the Charles Bridge, the Prague Castle and St Vitus' Cathedral (beautiful!!) and the Jewish Ghetto. We got on really well with the tour guide, so we made a dinner date for the next evening. E and I stopped at an Irish pub on the way back to the hostel after the tour and alonng came Irish Johnny. He had been travelling to see some friends and was killing time before his train, so we started chatting and hung out for a bit. The random people you meet wandering the streets of Prague! We even got him saying Canadia instead of Canada! We ventured out for our first Czech meal, and really, not so bad....some kind of potato dumpling thing stuffed with some kind of pork and sourkraut. Not my fav, but not terrible.
The next day we went off to see some of the sights from the previous day in more detail. We went to the Museums and Synagogues in the Jewish Quarter....very interesting even though we don't know alot about Judiasm, and went back to the Charles Bridge for some photo ops. We met up with our tour guide for a pint and then dinner....it's fabulous to have a local show you around, you really get off the beaten path and see things you wouldn't as a regualr tourist. A great evening, all in all...Omar had even heard of Tim Hortons!
Today, our last day here, was spent doing some shopping and just getting ourselves lost in this beautiful city. We went back to the Castle, walked up this time instead of taking the tram, so we've definitely had our exercise for the day, which was a good thing because..... yep, today was the day to try out the deepfried cheese on a bun with mayo! Frank said we HAVE to try this while in Prague, so we did. Not the best thing I've ever eaten, but pretty good. Our Prague experience was now complete!!!
We loved this city: the people, the architecture, the culture...we are sad to leave, but we have Budapest to look forward to tomorrow...stop #4 on the tour! I will write again soon.
Ciao from Prague,
Megs
Now Prague...we arrived safely after a long and hot and uncomfortable train ride. We finally found our way out of the train station and found that the directions to our hostel made absolutely no sense! We asked a couple of police officers who, as it turs out, sent us in the wrong direction, and after wandering aimlessly for about an hour in the hot weather found where we needed to be. As this isn't a real 'hostel' and there's no reception desk, we had to collect our key from across the street at the pub and let ourselves in. Like I said, it's not a real hostel so much as an apartment with 3 rooms, but we have our own spacious room and free internet, so really, how bad can it be?!?
After a good long sleep, we were ready to look at Prague with fresh eyes. We found out how to get to the main square where the Astronomical Clock is and decided to take a walking tour, as we've done in the previous cities. We found Omar, our guide, and off we went. As it turns out, the 4 other people on the tour were going on a river cruise, so we essentially had a 4 hour private tour, which was awesome! We saw all the main sights, the Charles Bridge, the Prague Castle and St Vitus' Cathedral (beautiful!!) and the Jewish Ghetto. We got on really well with the tour guide, so we made a dinner date for the next evening. E and I stopped at an Irish pub on the way back to the hostel after the tour and alonng came Irish Johnny. He had been travelling to see some friends and was killing time before his train, so we started chatting and hung out for a bit. The random people you meet wandering the streets of Prague! We even got him saying Canadia instead of Canada! We ventured out for our first Czech meal, and really, not so bad....some kind of potato dumpling thing stuffed with some kind of pork and sourkraut. Not my fav, but not terrible.
The next day we went off to see some of the sights from the previous day in more detail. We went to the Museums and Synagogues in the Jewish Quarter....very interesting even though we don't know alot about Judiasm, and went back to the Charles Bridge for some photo ops. We met up with our tour guide for a pint and then dinner....it's fabulous to have a local show you around, you really get off the beaten path and see things you wouldn't as a regualr tourist. A great evening, all in all...Omar had even heard of Tim Hortons!
Today, our last day here, was spent doing some shopping and just getting ourselves lost in this beautiful city. We went back to the Castle, walked up this time instead of taking the tram, so we've definitely had our exercise for the day, which was a good thing because..... yep, today was the day to try out the deepfried cheese on a bun with mayo! Frank said we HAVE to try this while in Prague, so we did. Not the best thing I've ever eaten, but pretty good. Our Prague experience was now complete!!!
We loved this city: the people, the architecture, the culture...we are sad to leave, but we have Budapest to look forward to tomorrow...stop #4 on the tour! I will write again soon.
Ciao from Prague,
Megs
Saturday, August 18, 2007
Syrup on my sausage?!
Greetings from Germany! Here we are, almost ready to leave Munich...1 country down, 4 to go! Berlin was fantastic, so much to see and tons of history. We did a exceptional walking tour the first day and saw all the main sights...Brandenburg Gate, Berliner Dome, Berlin Wall (well, what's left of it), Checkpoint Charlie and the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, among other things. Erin and I ventured out to make a reservation for our train to Munich, and to our great surprise, there was not a single person that spoke any English! Let's just say that with a lot of hand gestures, we eventually got what we needed. A minor panic attack ensued, with us not remembering if we pointed at a date or not....as it turns out, we did, and panic attack was over! We finished the day off with a pub crawl organized by the walking tour company. 5 pubs, met lots of people including some Canadians (we did burst into the national anthem at one point!) and good fun was had by all. We ended up having to take a taxi back to the hostel because the trains had stopped running by the time we left our last destination!
Our second day we revisted a couple of the places from the walking tour. We went to the Museum associated with the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, and saw the Brandenburg Gate lit up at night, as well as the Reichstag. Our last Berlin day was spent wandering around. We found an exhibition started by the UN promoting tolerance...it was called Buddy Bears. Most UN countries commissioned artists to decorate bears representing the country....Canada's bear sucked! We think it had all the provincial flowers on it, but we're still not sure. What the international community will think of us! :) At the end of the day, Erin and I said goodbye to Pio and ventured to the train station to catch our train to Munich.
We arrived safely in Munich yesterday morning and found that our hostel was only a block from the train station, which is nice when you are hauling big backpacks. The weather was really not very nice, cold and rainy, but we set out on the walking tour...the same company that did the one in Berlin. Again, we saw all the main sights including the world famous glockenspiel, the old and new town halls and lots of different chruches. At the end of the tour, we traced Hitler's steps when he marched through the town of Munich.
We were up and at 'em fairly early this morning as we set out to the Dachau Concentration Camp. The experience was amazing and really emotional...I know it's something Erin and I will remember for a long time to come. The most 'real' part came when we walked through the gas chambers and crematorium. Just thinking about what happened within those walls was scary and gave us both goosebumps. We arrived back in Munich and strolled to an open air market, had a beer in the Beer Gardens and picked up our dinner. We took the train up to the Olympic Stadium...great architecture, but not a ton else to see without paying the 11 Euro admission!
Tomorrow it's off to Prague for 4 days, then on to Budapest. So far, our European Adventure is turning out to be everything we thought it would be! My time on the computer is running out so it's time to sign off for now. We will update again soon!
Megan out
Our second day we revisted a couple of the places from the walking tour. We went to the Museum associated with the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, and saw the Brandenburg Gate lit up at night, as well as the Reichstag. Our last Berlin day was spent wandering around. We found an exhibition started by the UN promoting tolerance...it was called Buddy Bears. Most UN countries commissioned artists to decorate bears representing the country....Canada's bear sucked! We think it had all the provincial flowers on it, but we're still not sure. What the international community will think of us! :) At the end of the day, Erin and I said goodbye to Pio and ventured to the train station to catch our train to Munich.
We arrived safely in Munich yesterday morning and found that our hostel was only a block from the train station, which is nice when you are hauling big backpacks. The weather was really not very nice, cold and rainy, but we set out on the walking tour...the same company that did the one in Berlin. Again, we saw all the main sights including the world famous glockenspiel, the old and new town halls and lots of different chruches. At the end of the tour, we traced Hitler's steps when he marched through the town of Munich.
We were up and at 'em fairly early this morning as we set out to the Dachau Concentration Camp. The experience was amazing and really emotional...I know it's something Erin and I will remember for a long time to come. The most 'real' part came when we walked through the gas chambers and crematorium. Just thinking about what happened within those walls was scary and gave us both goosebumps. We arrived back in Munich and strolled to an open air market, had a beer in the Beer Gardens and picked up our dinner. We took the train up to the Olympic Stadium...great architecture, but not a ton else to see without paying the 11 Euro admission!
Tomorrow it's off to Prague for 4 days, then on to Budapest. So far, our European Adventure is turning out to be everything we thought it would be! My time on the computer is running out so it's time to sign off for now. We will update again soon!
Megan out
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)