Thought we'd update with a few pictures.
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Pictures
We're currently in Germany staying with Summer and Kashyap. It's gorgeous here and their house is great. They've been feeding us incredible food the entire time! We went to Neuschwanstein Castle last Friday and have otherwise been enjoying the local area. Went to the military base today...always exciting! =) We will be reluctant to leave.
Thought we'd update with a few pictures.
Thought we'd update with a few pictures.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Gluttons for Punishment
We arrived in Brussels via overnight bus! We told ourselves that we wouldn't so that again after our Norway bus fiasco...and just a couple of weeks later, we did it again. It actually wasn't that bad, but it is exhausting and takes a day to recover.
We had a great trip out to Cambridge and spent one more day in London. We hung out in the afternoon at Hyde Park, went to an organ recital at St. Paul's Cathedral and visited the Bag O'Nails pub before getting on our bus.
We only spent 2 days in Belgium. We enjoyed some good Belgian beer, Belgian chocolate and of course a Belgian waffle. That was a calorific delight! Ha! I'm not sure how they make them, but they're kind of crispy almost with a more soft middle coated with sugary, honey-like stuff. Then it's topped with whipped cream and chocolate! On our second day there we took a day trip to Ghent. It was a very cute little town with all sorts of little shops and cafes. We found a great chocolate shop there and put together and little sampling of truffles. Phill asked the woman working there which ones were her favorites. She looked at him as if to say -- "how could you ask me to choose?" She's obviously in the right line of work...she loves them all. She helped us put together an assortment...caramel, coffee flavors, crisps, amaretto, cookie, vanilla, white chocolate, etc.
After enough days in Europe, you would think that cities and countries would start to look alike, but they don't. Belgium had some of the most unique architecture that we've seen yet. The building fronts are highly detailed and decorated and hide the steep roofs behind them. From the front, some look almost 2 dimensional.
We are now outside of Stuttgart, Germany visiting Summer and Kashyap who are living here for 3 years while Kashyap is a contractor for the army. They have a great place here in a village called Wildberg. It's very authentically German with great access to so many cool sites. I'm not sure what we'll occupy our week with, but it's sure to be a good time!
We had a great trip out to Cambridge and spent one more day in London. We hung out in the afternoon at Hyde Park, went to an organ recital at St. Paul's Cathedral and visited the Bag O'Nails pub before getting on our bus.
We only spent 2 days in Belgium. We enjoyed some good Belgian beer, Belgian chocolate and of course a Belgian waffle. That was a calorific delight! Ha! I'm not sure how they make them, but they're kind of crispy almost with a more soft middle coated with sugary, honey-like stuff. Then it's topped with whipped cream and chocolate! On our second day there we took a day trip to Ghent. It was a very cute little town with all sorts of little shops and cafes. We found a great chocolate shop there and put together and little sampling of truffles. Phill asked the woman working there which ones were her favorites. She looked at him as if to say -- "how could you ask me to choose?" She's obviously in the right line of work...she loves them all. She helped us put together an assortment...caramel, coffee flavors, crisps, amaretto, cookie, vanilla, white chocolate, etc.
After enough days in Europe, you would think that cities and countries would start to look alike, but they don't. Belgium had some of the most unique architecture that we've seen yet. The building fronts are highly detailed and decorated and hide the steep roofs behind them. From the front, some look almost 2 dimensional.
We are now outside of Stuttgart, Germany visiting Summer and Kashyap who are living here for 3 years while Kashyap is a contractor for the army. They have a great place here in a village called Wildberg. It's very authentically German with great access to so many cool sites. I'm not sure what we'll occupy our week with, but it's sure to be a good time!
Friday, August 21, 2009
Divine Intervention
I think we experienced some divine intervention today. Between last night and today we saw Big Ben, Parliament, Westminster, Trafalgar Square, London eye, changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace, St. Paul's Cathedral, Tower of London and Tower Bridge. And then we made our way to King's Cross station to take a train out to Vanja and Cameron Sutter's house near Cambridge. It was rush hour and the train was packed with people. We were feeling claustrophobic and a little stressed because we were running late. We tried to buy our tickets at the ticket machine, but the price seemed strangely high. We were too tired and stressed to try to figure it out, so we were going to just book it anyhow. The 1-way train price was going to be the equivalent of a night's hotel reservation almost for a 35 minute ride! That makes it hard to hit our daily budget. The debit card wouldn't go through. Tried another machine and it wouldn't go through there either. So, I stood in line to talk to a real person while Phill tried one more ticket machine. Debit card failed. We finally got to the counter and the ticket guy gave us a price that nearly half of what we were about to pay at the machine. It was such a relief! The smaller price helps us out tremendously on overall London costs.
As a rule of thumb, we've decided that we really need to learn to slow down and think things through. There are so many times that we've plowed forward out of exasperation and frustration and learned later of a better, more efficient option. If something doesn't quite seem right, it probably isn't.
Anyhow, we've arrived at the Sutters and plan to see Cambridge tomorrow. The weather is great, so it ought to be a fantastic afternoon.
As a rule of thumb, we've decided that we really need to learn to slow down and think things through. There are so many times that we've plowed forward out of exasperation and frustration and learned later of a better, more efficient option. If something doesn't quite seem right, it probably isn't.
Anyhow, we've arrived at the Sutters and plan to see Cambridge tomorrow. The weather is great, so it ought to be a fantastic afternoon.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Strangers are friends you haven't yet met
Ireland was intoxicating. The more time we spent here, the more charming it became. It's home to some of the friendliest people on earth, I think. Whiffs of beer and good food fill the streets which are lined with cute shops and pubs. If you stay up long enough for the nightlife, the pubs are filled with the sounds of traditional Irish musical charm. The musicians keep a steady buzz and visitors cheerily tap their feet and sing along. The wood floors are smooth and slick from so many years of foot-tapping! We've found that you become part of the pub family in no time at all. They have signs posted reading - "Strangers are friends you haven't yet met." The bar keep is there to talk! But you have to pay careful attention because the chatty Irish speak so quickly that the words start to run together. Bars are named O'Neils, O'Briens, O'Connells, O'Flanegans, O'Donaghues...you get the point.
We spent 3 days in Dublin sightseeing and just enjoying the stress free atmosphere. Our first evening, we toured the Guinness Brewery. You can smell the hops and malt from the beer from blocks away. The next day, we spent the afternoon seeing Christ Church, Trinity College, O'Connell Street, Saint Patrick's Cathedral, the Custom House and the downtown port area on the river. In the evening, we got fish and chips from Leo Burdock's - supposedly the oldest fish and chips joint in Ireland. It's take out only and comes in a paper bag. It was pretty good!
That evening we did a sort of pseudo pub crawl around Dublin. We liked each pub too much to truly do a pub crawl, so we stayed longer at each and chatted with the bar tender. We ended up only making it to 3 pubs - Porterhouse, O'Neils and Peader Kearney's. Each was quite unique and a lot of fun!
We day-tripped to Kilkenny on our final day there which was kind of a quaint Irish town outside of Dublin. We pretty much spent the day just walking around and enjoying the town. They have about 8 cathedrals and 80 pubs! Haha. Typical Ireland we think! We went through Smithwick Brewery and learned a lot about the history of Kilkenny and of Ireland from the bar keep there.
All in all, we had an incredible time in Ireland. Add it to the list of a place to return to and spend a great deal more time exploring further into the country.
We spent 3 days in Dublin sightseeing and just enjoying the stress free atmosphere. Our first evening, we toured the Guinness Brewery. You can smell the hops and malt from the beer from blocks away. The next day, we spent the afternoon seeing Christ Church, Trinity College, O'Connell Street, Saint Patrick's Cathedral, the Custom House and the downtown port area on the river. In the evening, we got fish and chips from Leo Burdock's - supposedly the oldest fish and chips joint in Ireland. It's take out only and comes in a paper bag. It was pretty good!
That evening we did a sort of pseudo pub crawl around Dublin. We liked each pub too much to truly do a pub crawl, so we stayed longer at each and chatted with the bar tender. We ended up only making it to 3 pubs - Porterhouse, O'Neils and Peader Kearney's. Each was quite unique and a lot of fun!
We day-tripped to Kilkenny on our final day there which was kind of a quaint Irish town outside of Dublin. We pretty much spent the day just walking around and enjoying the town. They have about 8 cathedrals and 80 pubs! Haha. Typical Ireland we think! We went through Smithwick Brewery and learned a lot about the history of Kilkenny and of Ireland from the bar keep there.
All in all, we had an incredible time in Ireland. Add it to the list of a place to return to and spend a great deal more time exploring further into the country.
Friday, August 14, 2009
Norway in a Nutshell
Paul and Helena took us on the Norway in a Nutshell fjord tour on Wednesday which was beautiful! The weather really held out for us too. It's about a 2 hour scenic train ride to get to the ferry. Then the ferry ride itself is about 2 hours as well which cruises between the mountain walls. Being in the water on the boat with the mountains around you gives you a sense of being quite small! It's really spectacular.
Our road trip from DC to Seattle was made up of almost entirely natural beauties and wonders. And then we got to Europe and have been seeing almost entirely man-made wonders. And while both are equally impressive, it's been neat to be in Norway where we're definitely back to the natural beauties. The fjords were carved solely by the receeding glacier thousands (or millions) of years ago.
We went out on the town last night, but since beer here costs about 10 US dollars each, we spent the majority of the evening at Helena's high school friend's apartment shooting the breeze and visiting, and went out later. I didn't really have anything to wear, so her friend brought me a pair of jeans to borrow. And here in Europe, all they wear is the skinny jeans...so I had to brave it!! Haha! We kept telling Phill that he should wear Paul's jeans so that he could have skinny jeans also!
Enjoy the pictures. They're from a hike we took near Helena's parents' house, the Fjord tour and a few of our night out.
Our road trip from DC to Seattle was made up of almost entirely natural beauties and wonders. And then we got to Europe and have been seeing almost entirely man-made wonders. And while both are equally impressive, it's been neat to be in Norway where we're definitely back to the natural beauties. The fjords were carved solely by the receeding glacier thousands (or millions) of years ago.
We went out on the town last night, but since beer here costs about 10 US dollars each, we spent the majority of the evening at Helena's high school friend's apartment shooting the breeze and visiting, and went out later. I didn't really have anything to wear, so her friend brought me a pair of jeans to borrow. And here in Europe, all they wear is the skinny jeans...so I had to brave it!! Haha! We kept telling Phill that he should wear Paul's jeans so that he could have skinny jeans also!
Enjoy the pictures. They're from a hike we took near Helena's parents' house, the Fjord tour and a few of our night out.
Monday, August 10, 2009
Finally in the Fjords
I lost count of the number of hours involved in our travels getting here! We started the night of the 7th with an overnight from Berlin to Copenhagen which went smoothly. But there were no more trains going from Copenhagen on the 7th to Oslo. We considered planes, ferries, etc. but nothing was going to work. So, we sucked it up and took an overnight bus to Oslo with plans to take a train from Oslo to Bergen. The bus worked out okay, but it was long and uncomfortable. We were ready to be there, that's for sure. Then we about curled up and starting crying in Oslo when we learned that all trains to Bergen were booked as well. We had to take an 11 hour bus ride that wound around countless roundabouts and switchbacks. We were sure glad to arrive. Neither were sure how much more of the switchbacks our weary stomachs could handle.
At any rate, we've arrived and we're very glad to be here. Although the bus ride was long, it was very scenic. Norway is such a beautiful country. And we were happy to see Paul and Helena.
At any rate, we've arrived and we're very glad to be here. Although the bus ride was long, it was very scenic. Norway is such a beautiful country. And we were happy to see Paul and Helena.
Friday, August 7, 2009
Berlin Bottoms
We had quite an interesting day in Berlin today. We spent the afternoon sightseeing the parts of Berlin that we missed on our tour, mostly the Berlin Wall area. We made a trip out to the East Side Gallery - the longest remaining section of the wall. Artists from 20 plus countries have graffitied the wall since 1989. The art itself was neat to see, but more than anything, it was amazing to think about what it all meant. So many celebrations and parties happened during the time that it came down. And we were really in awe to be there.
The most interesting experience in the day actually had nothing to do with Berlin history at all, however! We had a picnic lunch at Tiergarden, which is a green grassy park near the zoo. When we were walking and looking for a good spot to set up our picnic, Phill thought he saw a naked man through the bushes. I was kind of skeptical of his observation until I turned briefly to my left and noticed a huge grassy area with at least 30 naked men lying about. Berlin is actually known to be very gay friendly and have a large gay population. We lived in Key West...and I can honestly say neither of us had seen anything like it! Haha! Apparently it's a popular sunbathing spot. We ended up staying for our picnic. It was quite the cultural experience... Too funny!
The most interesting experience in the day actually had nothing to do with Berlin history at all, however! We had a picnic lunch at Tiergarden, which is a green grassy park near the zoo. When we were walking and looking for a good spot to set up our picnic, Phill thought he saw a naked man through the bushes. I was kind of skeptical of his observation until I turned briefly to my left and noticed a huge grassy area with at least 30 naked men lying about. Berlin is actually known to be very gay friendly and have a large gay population. We lived in Key West...and I can honestly say neither of us had seen anything like it! Haha! Apparently it's a popular sunbathing spot. We ended up staying for our picnic. It was quite the cultural experience... Too funny!
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Jacko and Blanket
Due to our somewhat limited time in Berlin, we thought that an overview tour might be our best bet to see the city. It worked out really well. We went through Terry Brewer's free tours (except you end up tipping relatively high). We saw all of the highlights and learned quite a bit about each spot. The highlights of Berlin included:
Spree River and Museum Island
Humbolt University
TV Tower
Fassenbender & Rausch Chocolatier
Bebelplatz
Check Point Charlie (kind of hokey)
Park above Hitler's bunker and offices
Memorial to the Jews
Brandenburg Gate
Hotel Adlon
All of the sites were very interesting, but some of our favorite little tidbits from the tour include:
1. There was a sign in German here telling boats not to anchor in certain areas of the river because undetonated World War 2 remants are lost throughout the city. Anchoring into one could end up blowing you up. The city doesn't seem overly concerned about this though! In fact, we heard a story about a man that found a WW2 hand grenade with the pin missing. He couldn't find any polic officers around, so he put it in his backpack, traveled the very busy metro until he found an officer and handed it over. The newspaper issued a statement the next day saying - If anyone finds WW2 remants, please leave them where they are and report them. No kidding!
I guess Berlin is really broke - iike 60 billion in debt broke. Their slogan is "broke, but sexy." It's very appropriate for Berlin which is a very artsy, counter culture city.
Former East Germany has happy worker man as the green and red pedestrian walking lights. After the wall fell, the government was going to switch them all out, but the people preferred them. It's called Ost-stalgia - or EastStalgia.
Bebelplatz was the site of big book burning that took place during Nazi Germany. One of the authors whose books were burned was Heinrich Heine, who was quote 113 years earlier saying - "wherever they burn books, eventually they'll also burn people." Quite eery foresight.
And of course Hotel Adlon...the balcony from which Wacko Jacko dangled Baby Blanket.
Spree River and Museum Island
Humbolt University
TV Tower
Fassenbender & Rausch Chocolatier
Bebelplatz
Check Point Charlie (kind of hokey)
Park above Hitler's bunker and offices
Memorial to the Jews
Brandenburg Gate
Hotel Adlon
All of the sites were very interesting, but some of our favorite little tidbits from the tour include:
1. There was a sign in German here telling boats not to anchor in certain areas of the river because undetonated World War 2 remants are lost throughout the city. Anchoring into one could end up blowing you up. The city doesn't seem overly concerned about this though! In fact, we heard a story about a man that found a WW2 hand grenade with the pin missing. He couldn't find any polic officers around, so he put it in his backpack, traveled the very busy metro until he found an officer and handed it over. The newspaper issued a statement the next day saying - If anyone finds WW2 remants, please leave them where they are and report them. No kidding!
I guess Berlin is really broke - iike 60 billion in debt broke. Their slogan is "broke, but sexy." It's very appropriate for Berlin which is a very artsy, counter culture city.
Former East Germany has happy worker man as the green and red pedestrian walking lights. After the wall fell, the government was going to switch them all out, but the people preferred them. It's called Ost-stalgia - or EastStalgia.
Bebelplatz was the site of big book burning that took place during Nazi Germany. One of the authors whose books were burned was Heinrich Heine, who was quote 113 years earlier saying - "wherever they burn books, eventually they'll also burn people." Quite eery foresight.
And of course Hotel Adlon...the balcony from which Wacko Jacko dangled Baby Blanket.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
I'm on a boat...
We LOVED Prague. We actually stayed on a boat there which was really funny. It brought back Coast Guard memories for Phill. The room was tiny with seperate twin beds and a tiny bathroom that gets the toilet wet when you shower! It even came with lifejackets! It actually was really great! We spent some evenings on the sundeck just relaxing and enjoying the scenery. We even watched a storm pass with residual lightnight for quite some time.
We met an older couple with a young dog named Fikos. He put his paws right into my hands. The woman smiled and apologetically said - "he's young." When we went our seperate ways, she said in her best english - "enjoy your days." I'm sure we will!
We met an older couple with a young dog named Fikos. He put his paws right into my hands. The woman smiled and apologetically said - "he's young." When we went our seperate ways, she said in her best english - "enjoy your days." I'm sure we will!
Monday, August 3, 2009
Prague
Hello quickly from Prague! We arrived here in Prague two days ago and have been loving it here! Great weather, great food, and excellent beer! I think this might have even topped Vienna on our favorites list.
We are headed north to Berlin in a few days and will do a better update then. We are safe and sound and enjoying our travels. More later...
We are headed north to Berlin in a few days and will do a better update then. We are safe and sound and enjoying our travels. More later...
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Zehr Goot!
We made is successfully to Vienna, Austria and what a great city this is! It is very clean and has many little parks and benches to rest on. We found a great park near a beautiful cathedral and had our lunch there. The city has great lounge chairs that are available to anyone free of cost, so we grabbed two and spent a good amount of time there. In fact, that's probably where we're headed as soon as we leave this internet cafe.
When we first got here, we arrived relatively late, so we got a restaurant recommendation from the hotel. The restaurant had quit serving food, so we enjoyed two great Austrian beers and ate afterwards at a street vendor which was DELICIOUS!! Haha! Filafel (sp?) and some chicken wrap. A few things were a little lost in translation. Phill asked what his options were for meat in his wrap and the vendor told him either chicken or bird. He went with chicken! Everyone is very friendly and helpful though!
Our hotel has two resident newfoundlands that hang out everyday in the courtyard in the back. They're absolutely massive and very friendly. The hotel also has an incredible breakfast buffet and a great, rickety old fashioned elevator.
This city has an entirely different feel than any other city we've visited yet. Without meaning to, we were really able to stay off the main tourist track for the majority of the day yesterday. It wasn't until we accidentally popped out on the shopping mecca of Vienna that we realized other tourists were even here! And of those tourists, we've heard very, very little english speaking folks.
When we first got here, we arrived relatively late, so we got a restaurant recommendation from the hotel. The restaurant had quit serving food, so we enjoyed two great Austrian beers and ate afterwards at a street vendor which was DELICIOUS!! Haha! Filafel (sp?) and some chicken wrap. A few things were a little lost in translation. Phill asked what his options were for meat in his wrap and the vendor told him either chicken or bird. He went with chicken! Everyone is very friendly and helpful though!
Our hotel has two resident newfoundlands that hang out everyday in the courtyard in the back. They're absolutely massive and very friendly. The hotel also has an incredible breakfast buffet and a great, rickety old fashioned elevator.
This city has an entirely different feel than any other city we've visited yet. Without meaning to, we were really able to stay off the main tourist track for the majority of the day yesterday. It wasn't until we accidentally popped out on the shopping mecca of Vienna that we realized other tourists were even here! And of those tourists, we've heard very, very little english speaking folks.
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Trekking North
Well, we reluctantly left Mark and Adrienne's small village in Greece and headed north to Athens by bus. We're out into the wild again! We were quite spoiled with delicious, authentic food and the quiet atmosphere of the small village. And of course, you can't beat the 5-star accomodations of Mark and Adrienne's home!
We're happy to report that the bus travel went a million times smoother this time around. We had added an extra day in Athens a while back when we booked our hotel and flight. After the fact, people kept telling us that it was a dirty city and not all that great. We were really wishing that we didn't have three nights there. But, it's turned out to be a good way to see Athens. It's extremely hot here, so we have a tough time doing all of Athens in one day. The extra days allow us to see it at our leisure. So, yesterday we read books and lazed around our air-conditioned hotel until about 2pm. Then we braved the city!
We spent some time shopping in the Plaka and then made our way to the new Acropolis Museum. They museum only costs 1 euro currently as a promotional price for the first 6 months. They had a great video playing that talked all about the history of the Parthenon. It's pretty fascinating the way that it was built. There's some optical illusions engineered into the construction. During the Ottoman Empire, much of it was destroyed and Lord Elgin took four large pieces from the marble freize - the Elgin Marbles. A museum in Britian currently houses them and they have yet to return them to Greece. The new Acropolis Museum has a place saved in the museum for the marble pieces on the chance that they are returned.
We're spending the day today slowly sightseeing as well. We'll go see the Acropolis and an old stadium (blanking on the name) and some other Athens sights. I imagine we'll call it a night early and head back to our hotel for some sort of picnic dinner in our room. We've been eating at our hotel restaurant which is not very adventurous, but we aren't feeling too guilty about that after all the great food in the village!
We have a flight to Vienna tomorrow afternoon. Greece and Italy have been incredible, but we're really looking forward to heading north for some cooler weather. We've heard Vienna is in the 70s, so that will be such a nice break from the heat. We've also heard all about Viennese coffee and coffeehouses. We'll keep you posted on what we find.
We're happy to report that the bus travel went a million times smoother this time around. We had added an extra day in Athens a while back when we booked our hotel and flight. After the fact, people kept telling us that it was a dirty city and not all that great. We were really wishing that we didn't have three nights there. But, it's turned out to be a good way to see Athens. It's extremely hot here, so we have a tough time doing all of Athens in one day. The extra days allow us to see it at our leisure. So, yesterday we read books and lazed around our air-conditioned hotel until about 2pm. Then we braved the city!
We spent some time shopping in the Plaka and then made our way to the new Acropolis Museum. They museum only costs 1 euro currently as a promotional price for the first 6 months. They had a great video playing that talked all about the history of the Parthenon. It's pretty fascinating the way that it was built. There's some optical illusions engineered into the construction. During the Ottoman Empire, much of it was destroyed and Lord Elgin took four large pieces from the marble freize - the Elgin Marbles. A museum in Britian currently houses them and they have yet to return them to Greece. The new Acropolis Museum has a place saved in the museum for the marble pieces on the chance that they are returned.
We're spending the day today slowly sightseeing as well. We'll go see the Acropolis and an old stadium (blanking on the name) and some other Athens sights. I imagine we'll call it a night early and head back to our hotel for some sort of picnic dinner in our room. We've been eating at our hotel restaurant which is not very adventurous, but we aren't feeling too guilty about that after all the great food in the village!
We have a flight to Vienna tomorrow afternoon. Greece and Italy have been incredible, but we're really looking forward to heading north for some cooler weather. We've heard Vienna is in the 70s, so that will be such a nice break from the heat. We've also heard all about Viennese coffee and coffeehouses. We'll keep you posted on what we find.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
The Greek Way
World languages are really fascinating. Adrienne had a party at their house the other night and the mixture of people was neat. All of them have some connection to the Greek culture, whether it be a spouse, parent, or they themselves live in Greece part or all of the year. Most of them speak Greek and English, but a couple speak only Greek. To listen to the way that all of our diverse backgrounds and languages mixed and communicated was so interesting. Some speak, some translate...and overall we all get the same enjoyment you feel at any dinner party of friends. It was great to listen to.
We walked around the village with Adrienne and looked at the stone houses and restaurants and tried to imagine what it must have been like here during the Turkish occupation. Adrienne walked us up to the mountain where the village water comes from. It comes straight from inside the mountain and diverts into all sorts of little canals that run throughout town next to the buildings. They're really cute. Adrienne challenged us to see who could keep their feet in the water the longest because it's so painfully cold. Phill won! Mark says they used to take a watermelon (kar-poo-zee in Greek) up there and put it in the water until it would eventually burst open.
Afterwards, she took us to this little cafe for a soda. We met a guy in there named Nikos. He gave Phill a sip of whatever he was drinking which we think must have been the equivalent of Greek Moonshine. Grinning, Nikos called it "medicine."
We've been eating so much great Greek food. Greek salad, souvlaki, mousakkah, dolmades, etc. Yesterday we had red mullet fish (bar-boon-yahs in Greek) that are fried whole, heads and all. I think the Greeks might eat it that way too. I cut the head off, opened the fish up, pulled out the spine and ate the meat. It's kind of a lot of work for a little bit of meat, but delicious!
We spent the day at Monemvasia yesterday which is an old city on a rock on the southern coast of Greece. It was the cutest little place with some tourists shops and old ruins of churches. Some people still live there, but houses are around 2 million euros if you can imagine - and they're tiny. We spent the afternoon swimming in the Mediterranean. As Uncle Louie put it yesterday - "It's another damn beautiful day in Greece."
We walked around the village with Adrienne and looked at the stone houses and restaurants and tried to imagine what it must have been like here during the Turkish occupation. Adrienne walked us up to the mountain where the village water comes from. It comes straight from inside the mountain and diverts into all sorts of little canals that run throughout town next to the buildings. They're really cute. Adrienne challenged us to see who could keep their feet in the water the longest because it's so painfully cold. Phill won! Mark says they used to take a watermelon (kar-poo-zee in Greek) up there and put it in the water until it would eventually burst open.
Afterwards, she took us to this little cafe for a soda. We met a guy in there named Nikos. He gave Phill a sip of whatever he was drinking which we think must have been the equivalent of Greek Moonshine. Grinning, Nikos called it "medicine."
We've been eating so much great Greek food. Greek salad, souvlaki, mousakkah, dolmades, etc. Yesterday we had red mullet fish (bar-boon-yahs in Greek) that are fried whole, heads and all. I think the Greeks might eat it that way too. I cut the head off, opened the fish up, pulled out the spine and ate the meat. It's kind of a lot of work for a little bit of meat, but delicious!
We spent the day at Monemvasia yesterday which is an old city on a rock on the southern coast of Greece. It was the cutest little place with some tourists shops and old ruins of churches. Some people still live there, but houses are around 2 million euros if you can imagine - and they're tiny. We spent the afternoon swimming in the Mediterranean. As Uncle Louie put it yesterday - "It's another damn beautiful day in Greece."
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Big Fat Greek Vacation
We made it to Greece on Friday evening after about 37 hours of traveling! The majority of the travel wasn't too bad. We caught a metro out of Sorrento at 6am on Thursday, a train at 10am, another connection train around 1pm, a bus to the ferry terminal in Bari, and then an overnight ferry to Patras, Greece. The ferry was actually kind of fun! We met two Canadians from Montreal traveling to Greece that we hung out with in the ferry terminal and the entire time on the boat. We spent the evening playing games and enjoying the boat with them. I think we must have stayed up until 1am or so, which included a "Disco Tech" bar which was totally empty and hilariously lame. We asked them to play some North American music. Didn't get any really, but we did happily belt out Toto's "The Rain's Down in Africa" together. Good times! (the song's been stuck in our heads for days now!)
Sleeping accommodations were too funny. It's not a normal ferry. It had a pool, restaurant, bar, etc. I know that sounds incredible...but picture a ferry version of a pool. It's not the glam of a cruise ship. But nicer than a train nonetheless. Our ticket gave us an airline-type seat, but they hardly reclined at all, so we ended up sleeping on the deck with all the other backpackers. You should have seen it! People and their stuff sprawled out and sleeping in every little nook and cranny of this boat. One guy was spread eagle in the kid's playhouse area of the ship. So, we got into our little sleeping bag things and crashed on the floor also between chair legs. It was quite an experience.
Then our bus trips in Greece were an entirely different story. It was a complete nightmare!! I don't think the Greek people were very thrilled with us Americans. They were less than friendly - to say it politely. And then our bus broke down on the trip from Patras to Corinth. No one spoke English to let us know what was going on. All we knew was that the bus driver had several belts on the ground...no good! And then in Corinth they were downright nasty to us and would tell us that we couldn't get on the bus and that another would be there in 5 minutes...which it wasn't! At any rate, we did finally get onto a bus that was an hour and fifteen minute standing room only. We didn't care. We were just glad to be on it.
The remainder of our Greek experience, however, has been incredible! This village is the cutest, most quaint little place. We are totally in love with this place. Mark and Adrienne's house it incredible and the view is unbelievable. We had dinner last night with several of the people from the village which was the best experience. Everyone was so friendly and told us all sorts of stories from their past village experiences. These are exactly the authentic experiences that we wanted out of our Europe trip.
We wanted to post some pictures of our adventures. They're from Rome to now.
Sleeping accommodations were too funny. It's not a normal ferry. It had a pool, restaurant, bar, etc. I know that sounds incredible...but picture a ferry version of a pool. It's not the glam of a cruise ship. But nicer than a train nonetheless. Our ticket gave us an airline-type seat, but they hardly reclined at all, so we ended up sleeping on the deck with all the other backpackers. You should have seen it! People and their stuff sprawled out and sleeping in every little nook and cranny of this boat. One guy was spread eagle in the kid's playhouse area of the ship. So, we got into our little sleeping bag things and crashed on the floor also between chair legs. It was quite an experience.
Then our bus trips in Greece were an entirely different story. It was a complete nightmare!! I don't think the Greek people were very thrilled with us Americans. They were less than friendly - to say it politely. And then our bus broke down on the trip from Patras to Corinth. No one spoke English to let us know what was going on. All we knew was that the bus driver had several belts on the ground...no good! And then in Corinth they were downright nasty to us and would tell us that we couldn't get on the bus and that another would be there in 5 minutes...which it wasn't! At any rate, we did finally get onto a bus that was an hour and fifteen minute standing room only. We didn't care. We were just glad to be on it.
The remainder of our Greek experience, however, has been incredible! This village is the cutest, most quaint little place. We are totally in love with this place. Mark and Adrienne's house it incredible and the view is unbelievable. We had dinner last night with several of the people from the village which was the best experience. Everyone was so friendly and told us all sorts of stories from their past village experiences. These are exactly the authentic experiences that we wanted out of our Europe trip.
We wanted to post some pictures of our adventures. They're from Rome to now.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Quick Post
Unfortunately, we haven't had as much access to internet as we originally had thought, so our posts have been slow in between. I have to keep this brief as well, but wanted to update you on our recent whereabouts. Since our last time we posted, we've been through Siena, Rome, and now we're in Sorrento, Italy. They've all been great for their own unique traits. I think Sorrento will probably be our favorite thus far, thought Rome is kind of unbeatable in many ways.
When in Rome...
- the crazy guy on the metro actually kicks a passenger that denies him money. Wow...really!?! Haven't even seen that in DC yet.
- there's that really pleasant big city smog cloud. Lovely...
- internet is slower than Red Creek dial up. How is that possible?
- the history, however, is beyond cool! Hundreds of years beyond some of the oldest ruins we saw at Mesa Verde on our way across country.
Rome is a noisy, busy and chaotic city, but once you get past that, there's acres of ancient city all at your fingertips. You don't just read history here...you see it. It's amazing to think that we've walked on the same roads that Mussolini, Michaelangelo, Julius Ceasar (just to name a few) have walked on hundreds of years ago. It's truly a phenomenal place.
We're in Sorrento for the next couple of days. The coastline is gorgeous. We plan to take a break from sightseeing for a couple of days and really enjoy some vacation time in this cliffside mediterranean (sp?) village.
We will be in Greece with family within the next couple of days. Will do our best to post pics there.
When in Rome...
- the crazy guy on the metro actually kicks a passenger that denies him money. Wow...really!?! Haven't even seen that in DC yet.
- there's that really pleasant big city smog cloud. Lovely...
- internet is slower than Red Creek dial up. How is that possible?
- the history, however, is beyond cool! Hundreds of years beyond some of the oldest ruins we saw at Mesa Verde on our way across country.
Rome is a noisy, busy and chaotic city, but once you get past that, there's acres of ancient city all at your fingertips. You don't just read history here...you see it. It's amazing to think that we've walked on the same roads that Mussolini, Michaelangelo, Julius Ceasar (just to name a few) have walked on hundreds of years ago. It's truly a phenomenal place.
We're in Sorrento for the next couple of days. The coastline is gorgeous. We plan to take a break from sightseeing for a couple of days and really enjoy some vacation time in this cliffside mediterranean (sp?) village.
We will be in Greece with family within the next couple of days. Will do our best to post pics there.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Pictures
Sorry to be so brief on this post, but we're headed out this morning to our next stop - Siena, Italy. We spent the past two nights in Florence which was really nice. We walked around town the first night until our feet about fell off, but we found a great park with an incredible view of the city, so that made it all worth it. And then we took a day trip to Greve in Chianti yesterday and tasted several Chianti Classicos - the region's claim to fame.
I wanted to attach a few pictures of our trip so far just so that you could see them. We're struggling a bit with loading pics, etc. on internet cafe computers, but I think this link will work. We'll update again soon.
http://s40.photobucket.com/albums/e248/mac030307/?albumview=slideshow
I wanted to attach a few pictures of our trip so far just so that you could see them. We're struggling a bit with loading pics, etc. on internet cafe computers, but I think this link will work. We'll update again soon.
http://s40.photobucket.com/albums/e248/mac030307/?albumview=slideshow
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Living on pizza and prosciutto
We are in Milan today. It wasn't exactly how we had planned it, but we think it will work out better in the end. Our plan had been to go to the Cinque Terre region and a lack of accomodation options left us with few choices, so we bagged that plan and headed for Milan. We'll have to do Cinque Terre at the end of our trip.
Our day today was pretty lazy. We actually slept away a good 3 hours of it, but we must have been still catching up because it felt great! Then we walked into downtown to see the Duomo which was spectacular! Apparently it is the fourth largest in Europe. I can't even begin to guess how many ornately carved spires come out the top of this church. The stone they used is a white-ish color, so it reminds me of an elegantly decorated wedding cake. Even the buttresses are carved and fancy. And of course the inside was just as impressive. The ceilings throughout the nave and the entire cathedral are incredibly high - moreso than the National Cathedral. It is able to seat 10,000 people. The stained glass inside is some of the most beautiful glass I've seen. Instead of pieces of glass put together like a mosaic, it's more like many, many squares painted on and put together to create a scene. The windows directly behind the altar were enormous. It was a beautiful church overall. I would say the trip to Milan is worth is just for this building alone.
Milan is very different from Venice. It has a very designer-esque feel. If you like shopping, Milan is the place to be.
We spent the evening taking it relatively easy. We were beginning to feel really dumb not knowing a word if Italian. We found that when anyone would utter a single word of English to us, we would automatically give up trying Italian altogether, which really isn't very nice considering we're visiting their country. So, we sat in our room this afternoon practicing some basic and essential phrases. We can say things including: we'd like...beer...wine...table for two...check please...where is...what time...to go please...etc. We practiced tonight buying our prosciutto pizza and vino rosso from the local pizzeria. (by the way...you really can live on pizza and wine here we've realized). It worked out pretty good for us and we're already feeling a bit more confident. We have another 10 days or so here...we'll be pros in no time. Ha...right...
We want to include pictures eventually, but we haven't found a computer that wants to download them yet. We're searching and will post as soon as we can.
Our day today was pretty lazy. We actually slept away a good 3 hours of it, but we must have been still catching up because it felt great! Then we walked into downtown to see the Duomo which was spectacular! Apparently it is the fourth largest in Europe. I can't even begin to guess how many ornately carved spires come out the top of this church. The stone they used is a white-ish color, so it reminds me of an elegantly decorated wedding cake. Even the buttresses are carved and fancy. And of course the inside was just as impressive. The ceilings throughout the nave and the entire cathedral are incredibly high - moreso than the National Cathedral. It is able to seat 10,000 people. The stained glass inside is some of the most beautiful glass I've seen. Instead of pieces of glass put together like a mosaic, it's more like many, many squares painted on and put together to create a scene. The windows directly behind the altar were enormous. It was a beautiful church overall. I would say the trip to Milan is worth is just for this building alone.
Milan is very different from Venice. It has a very designer-esque feel. If you like shopping, Milan is the place to be.
We spent the evening taking it relatively easy. We were beginning to feel really dumb not knowing a word if Italian. We found that when anyone would utter a single word of English to us, we would automatically give up trying Italian altogether, which really isn't very nice considering we're visiting their country. So, we sat in our room this afternoon practicing some basic and essential phrases. We can say things including: we'd like...beer...wine...table for two...check please...where is...what time...to go please...etc. We practiced tonight buying our prosciutto pizza and vino rosso from the local pizzeria. (by the way...you really can live on pizza and wine here we've realized). It worked out pretty good for us and we're already feeling a bit more confident. We have another 10 days or so here...we'll be pros in no time. Ha...right...
We want to include pictures eventually, but we haven't found a computer that wants to download them yet. We're searching and will post as soon as we can.
Friday, July 3, 2009
Venice
We spent the day in Venice today. What a beautiful city! Very tourist-ie, but beautiful. We had heard that getting lost in Venice is kind of inevitable with all the windy streets and alleyways...so that is what we did.
Highlights include:
- A quasi domesticated pigeon that landed on Phill's shoulder
- Delicious gelato from Gelato Nico
- Walking along the canal (the breeze made the awful heat bearable)
- Eavesdropping on a Vivaldi concert practice
- A woman hanging out the window of her second story apartment to offer us directions in very thick Italian (we must have appeared lost)
- Another older Italian woman nearly shouting at me to sit down next to her after I gave up my seat for her (these Italian women are tough!)
We're both still a bit jet lagged. I think we'll sleep great tonight.
Highlights include:
- A quasi domesticated pigeon that landed on Phill's shoulder
- Delicious gelato from Gelato Nico
- Walking along the canal (the breeze made the awful heat bearable)
- Eavesdropping on a Vivaldi concert practice
- A woman hanging out the window of her second story apartment to offer us directions in very thick Italian (we must have appeared lost)
- Another older Italian woman nearly shouting at me to sit down next to her after I gave up my seat for her (these Italian women are tough!)
We're both still a bit jet lagged. I think we'll sleep great tonight.
We made it
We have arrived in Europe and have had no major glitches. Our flight from Montreal to Paris was delayed by 2 hours due to lightning, but otherwise, no issues. We arrive in Paris around 9am and took their metro train into the city. Since we did not get much sleep on the plane, we had very little energy to explore much. So, we looked at Notre Dame from the outside, sat on a park bench and slowly made our way to the train station. Note to self...find a place for the backpack before trying to do much of anything. It was so hot and muggy yesteray and packs feel like they weight a thousan pounds. It took two tries to find the right train station, some weird language barriers, a man in the women`s restroom, a near brawl between two women in the restroom as well...and we were ready to put our feet up and sleep. We found a spot in a park nearby and almost instantly fell asleep in the grass. We woke up to three little French girls playing a game with a ball next to us. It was cute to hear them giggling and yelling. I`ve been a little nervous about the language difference. It`s challening trying to communicate and I feel like they get a little frustrated with me as well. That`s all a little stressful. So, it`s been a bit of a roller coaster, but we seem to be managing okay. It was just been a big first day.
We got on our train later that night. Unfortunately, due to space limits, Phill and I not only had seperate sleeping quarters, but seperate cars altogether. It was a little strange, but I really lucked out with my cabin mates. One was a very nice older Italian woman that spoke relatively good English and the other was a Brit. It really makes you feel like a loser when they all speak 3 or 4 languages and you speak one. I feel like that obnoxious American that expects everyone else to cater to me. They were both great though and very helpful which really put my mind very much at ease. I slept great and the rocking of the train was actually very pleasant to sleep to. And Phill and I even found each other this morning in his car. His cabin mate got off at an early station, so we were able to share his room for the final couple of hours of our trip.
So, now we`re in Venice for today and we`ll spend the night here and part of the day tomorrow. I`m not entirely sure what our plans are, but we intend to get a pass for this water ferry thing to get us around town. Our first goal was to find internet and our second will be to ditch our bags! And then we`ll be free to explore. So far it seems very charming and the heat is not too bad...yet.
More later!
We got on our train later that night. Unfortunately, due to space limits, Phill and I not only had seperate sleeping quarters, but seperate cars altogether. It was a little strange, but I really lucked out with my cabin mates. One was a very nice older Italian woman that spoke relatively good English and the other was a Brit. It really makes you feel like a loser when they all speak 3 or 4 languages and you speak one. I feel like that obnoxious American that expects everyone else to cater to me. They were both great though and very helpful which really put my mind very much at ease. I slept great and the rocking of the train was actually very pleasant to sleep to. And Phill and I even found each other this morning in his car. His cabin mate got off at an early station, so we were able to share his room for the final couple of hours of our trip.
So, now we`re in Venice for today and we`ll spend the night here and part of the day tomorrow. I`m not entirely sure what our plans are, but we intend to get a pass for this water ferry thing to get us around town. Our first goal was to find internet and our second will be to ditch our bags! And then we`ll be free to explore. So far it seems very charming and the heat is not too bad...yet.
More later!
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