Last European Post (for now!)

So, our last day arrived, whether we liked it or not and we didn't have much of a plan which made for a pretty uneventful yet long day.

We headed off in the direction of Trastevere, the old part of the city (I think) as we knew there was a market from 5am to 2pm, but we didn't end up finding it once we got there (having directions or a street name would have helped and we didn't want to wander too far in the area as we didn't have a good map). The most notable difference between Trastevere and the other areas of Rome we have seen has to be the foliage - there is more green in this area. That walk took most of our morning.

Then we headed off to find a pizza place, even though knowing it would be closed on Sunday, in hopes of finding another one. Along the way we stopped at a small organic market where various items were being sold (fruits and veggies, pottery, clothes, olive oils, pastas, etc.) and a few minutes into it we nearly witnessed another brawl. Now, because everything was happening in Italian we didn't understand what was going on, but we did see a man smash his arm purposefully into a woman's pottery stall, breaking some items. There were screams and shouting back and forth; Jeff and I got out of their pronto!

We found the busy square, Campo di Fiori, where we hoped to find cheap and delicious pizza but couldn't find the place and were not interested in sitting down for lunch. We picked up some olive oil for dipping bread and some spice mixes to play with when we get home and then we left. On our way out of the area Jeff noticed a small panini shop where we picked up homemade, made-to-order sandwiches that were delightful. I also picked up a piece of homemade chocolate pie (that is awaiting its fate in the fridge right now, probably a bedtime snack, lol). We enjoyed our fresh sandwiches on a ledge of some old ruins currently inhabited by 16+ cats (at least that's how many we could see).

We went looking for the other recommended gelato place we had read about and found it after another hunt. The line was out the door and they had so many flavours we couldn't even see them all. I had cinnamon and coconut (the cinnamon was incredible) and Jeff had strawberry and banana (he said the strawberry was excellent). We thoroughly enjoyed our treat at the base of some statue in a square somewhere, lol.

We headed off to some gardens in hope to see a little greenery but found ourselves amongst hundreds of people on a busy main road first. There were more people on the road than on the sidewalk and with Jeff and my patience wavering with slow-walkers, city-gawkers, stand-right-in-the-middle-people, etc., we found it rather congested and frustrating.

We arrived to a square, Piazza di Popolo, where relay races for teens was taking place. We watched a race then continued up into the garden area. By the time we got there though our patience was waning. We were tired, sore, irritable, and just ready to go back to the hostel, so that's what we did. It took awhile but we made it and were happy to be home.

I had a shower (my next one will be at home!!) and then we had a small snack before skyping with Jeff's family.

Around 7:45pm we headed out to find pizza and decided to try somewhere different than last night. We found a place, sat down, looked at the menu, were not impressed with their pizza selection and then left (that's twice now we've done that and seeing as this would be our last dinner out, I didn't want a lousy place). We walked back to the hostel and asked the receptionist to make a recommendation and she gave us direcfions to a place around the corner, the same name, look and menu (practically) as last night! They must own both.

We got ushered into the back at a table for two at the busiest spot in the restaurant. We were between the kitchen, wine cooler, washroom and server prep area... It was loud and busy the whole time, but we just laughed it off. We shared a half litre of the house wine (which was good), some mineral water, appetizer bread and each a whole pizza. They were good and we enjoyed them but I think we still prefer our place down the street at home. Maybe we just didn't have the best stuff. Doesn't matter! We were practically ushered out, which was really unusual as we usually have to wait ages for the bill, so it must have been a busy place. We laughed at the whole situation.

Now we're back in our room with bags nearly all packed and reminicing about the last two months. There are stories and adventures that will last a lifetime and we are both sad to be heading home (although definitely looking forward to our shower [the one here provides less pressure the hotter you want it, which means it barely drizzles unless you want to cool off!] and seeing our kitty, Clyde who we have missed).

A big huge thank you and love you to Jeffrey, my traveling companion, friend, encourager, comedian and master navigator. I couldn't have done it without you and I can't wait to see where our next adventure takes us. Huge hugs and kisses.

And to our families and friends who have been nothing but encouraging and supportive through the planning, preparation and craziness that led up to our departure. We are looking forward to seeing you all soon.

Tomorrow is going to be a long day with three hours to kill after we check-out before heading to the airport by bus and then three hours before our flight and then a 9.5 hour flight... Then a shuttle home. It'll be late and we'll be exhausted by the time we get there but we're both looking forward to our bed.

I'll most likely post about our journey home and will eventually add pictures to this blog for you to enjoy (no guarantee when it will be done though!).

Until we meet again,
Thanks for reading,

Ciao,
Amanda

When in Rome

- Go to a market; which we did this morning after taking the subway to get there (might as well get the most of our Roma Pass as it ends today!). Jeff hadn't been to an outdoor market like this one before, so it was a new experience for him and not one I think he is quite ready to repeat - there is only so much pushing and squeezing between people while saying 'no' to pushy vendors one can take at one time! We both still got stuff though and haggled down the price to boot. Nothing threatens a vendor like someone willing to walk away empty handed!

We then headed off in the direction of the colosseum to a place called Rewind Rome, a virtual reality museum tour of Ancient Rome. We got there around 1:30pm and bought tickets for the 2pm tour. We luckily found a grocery store near us where we picked up pikes (aka pringles) and some pastry pizza things to tide us over until after the tour.

We arrived five minutes early and appeared to be the only two people doing the tour, which seemed great to us! Unfortunately though, as many things in Italia go, it started late and people were squeezed in to ensure a full tour, which left Jeff and I waiting for 20+ minutes or so before we started - irritating!

Anyway, we did a quiz at the beginning about Ancient Rome and I guessed at nearly all of the answers, needless to say, I failed miserably, but Jeff passed his!

We were taken into a room where we stood on a see-through floor that had 'ancient' ruins beneath it as part of an 'archeological dig' and we listened to an audio guide talk to us about it. It was cute and pretty funny. The whole floor moved up and down and at one point we were made to believe we were under the floor of the colosseum where the gladiators would wait to fight.

We then were taken to a theater room where we watched a short 3-D animated movie about Ancient Rome; it was cute but Jeff and I would have preferred more information than bad jokes. We got to play dress up at the end, Jeff didn't want to but was happy to take pictures of me dressed as a female fan (standing beside a distraught looking Russel Crowe from the movie Gladiator - I should watch it again to appreciate what I've now seen here in Rome).

The whole thing took about half an hour and Jeff's still not sure if it was worth it, but it was different than anything we'd done before and that's good enough for me!

We headed off to find a gelato shop mentioned in our Rough Guides: Europe on a Budget book that said to have delicious flavours. We found it, stood in line, paid more than usual for less than usual and were blown away by the flavours! I tried the pear (as recommended by our book) and banana and both were amazing (Jeff has pistachio and ended up kicking himself for not getting the banana he wanted). It was fresh and juicy and absolutely full of flavour, nothing like what we have at home unless there is a secret authentic Italian gelato shop I don't know about... We know there is a gelato place but I'm not sure if it can live up to our high expectations! We'll have to see when we get home. We savoured the flavours until we finished and said we'd be sure to find the other recommended place tomorrow.

We hopped on the subway and a couple of stops later we were at the station and heading to the grocery store (again - we were out of crackers for our cheese!). We enjoyed our snack, talked to my family via skype and then spent a few hours listening to music and singing along kareoke style until we were sure we were annoying anyone who could hear us - thankfully no one was in the apartment.

At 8pm we squeezed into the restaurant next door that was very busy and had some authentic Italian cuisine. I had the canneloni with minced meat that was so delicious and Jeff had spaghetti with a meat sauce - he said mine was better (but it could have been because they covered his in parmesan cheese and he's definitely not a fan).

We're now full and getting ready to bed. It's hard to believe that tomorrow is the last day of our trip. It's been one heck of an adventure and we are both sad to see it end. The world is such a huge place and there is so much to see of it, we've only had a little taste. I know that we'll be back at it again though!

No huge plans for tomorrow... Pizza and gelato and whatever we happen to come across - we may wander over to an older part of the city (I don't even know what that means when this whole place is 2000+ years old!).

For now though, buona sera (good evening),
Ciao,

Amanda

J.K. Rowling vs. The Queen of England

Funny moment:

When leaving the colosseum the other day, a young boy, about seven years old with the most adorable English accent told his dad that J.K. Rowling (author of the Harry Potter series and worth over a billion dollars) has more money than the Queen of England and his dad says, "No, I don't think so" and the child says, "Yes she does!"

Oh too funny.

Walking in Rome...

...Is a nightmare!!

I don't understand how scooters weave in and out of traffic at top speeds and at disorienting intersections! I don't understand how pedestrians are just expected to walk out into traffic at a 'crosswalk' (just white lines painted on the road) and hope that vehicles see them and slow down! It's absolute madness and Jeff and I have feared for our lives on more than one occassion. It's like some sadistic game where the driver sees how fast they can skirt around you without slowing down.

We've seen extreme honking (full-out laying on the horn), triple parked vehicles, scooters fitting in places they really shouldn't, and more.

We just need to pay extra attention over the next couple of days to avoid any collisions. When unsure, we follow our travel rule, "If in doubt, do what the locals do."

I think the driving in Rome is the worst we've seen it!

Beautiful Bones

It's very hard to get up in the morning when your room is super dark and you are comfortable (even if you are considering the fact that you may have bedbugs but aren't entirely convinced - those red bites aren't coming from no where but Jeff doesn't have any... I'd rather not know), but I pulled myself out of bed and down to breakfast (a bun with butter, juice and a hot chocolate) without Jeff as he just wasn't interested.

We dressed and took the subway to Castel Sant Angelo.

We wandered through a small market and made a few souvenir purchases before entering the castle that was built around a tomb... A place that has been used by popes and others for numerous reasons. It was wasted on me but the views from the top were very pretty. I am tired of history and Rome is not the place to be tired of it... I'd rather eat gelato, walk around and enjoy the archicture.

We came across the Piazza Novona (a square) that was full of artists displaying and selling their work - there were dozens of artists with many different styles, it was neat to walk through it all. There were also street performers in costume (still creepy) and people playing music for some change. It was very warm in the sun and so it felt like a summer afternoon.

Afterward, we headed to the Pantheon - a church for over 2000 years and a structural masterpiece. It was initially built as a temple to the gods of Ancient Rome. The Pantheon's dome is still the world's largest unreinforced concrete dome. The height to the middle, open space of the dome and the diameter of the interior circle are the same, 43.3 metres (142 ft). It is one of the best preserved of all Roman buildings. It has been in continuous use throughout its history. We had lunch outside the steps with hundreds of other people (free = busy).

We then had gelato while we wandered up and down a street looking for a crypt we had read about. It was dedicated by Cappucini monks to their deceased brothers. They took the bones of 4000 monks and decorated the walls and ceiling and made elaborate displays in honour of them. We thought it was going to be really creepy (Jeff was creeped out a bit) but really it was very sweet and a very loving and respectful gesture to honour the monks' brothers. The time and effort it must have taken to organize and place each bone must have been extraordinary. I was fascinated after the initial, "these are real bones, of real people" moment passed. It really was a work of art and dedication. There were five rooms or so, full of bones.

Here's a picture from google, as we weren't allowed to take any pictures (not that that stopped people, just like the Sistine Chapel, so disrespectful!):

http://freepages.family.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~jacklee/London/images_Italy/20030924-Rome-CimiterodeiCappuccini-CryptofSkulls.jpg
(I have this picture on a postcard I bought)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/utrechtwillem/2568467396/
(This is one of the ceilings)

We then walked slowly back in the direction of our hostel - my knee was aching and Jeff's foot hurt (some weird muscle pain...). We're falling apart at the seams! We picked up dinner ingredients for the last dinner we'll be making ourselves while on our trip as the next two nights warrent quality pizza and pasta! :)

We had wine and cheese with crackers as a snack while doing some leisurely reading and relaxing around 5pm and are now just starting dinner (7:45pm). Our gelato, wine and cheese habit may die out when we get home or we'll have to excercise a little more... lol

Hope everyone has an enjoyable Friday as we begin to wind down from nearly eight weeks of adventures.

See you soon,

Amanda

P.S. Did you know that the word 'cappuncino' is related to the 'cappuncini' monks? The monks' brown robes and lack of hair in the middle of their head, leaving a white spot, gave the locals the idea to name their frosty coffees after them.

Colosseum

What a day! (I think I have started a lot of posts like that)

We decided to skip the hostel's breakfast this morning in favour of making our own (ours would be better and was - peanut butter and banana on small buns) before heading out to the Colosseum. About five minutes into our walk Jeff realized he forgot his Roma Card, so we had to turn around. Lucky for me though, we passed a stall of purses and I picked one up for half the asking price (they always start so high!).

It took us about half an hour or so to get to the Colosseum by following our map; we could have taken the metro but walking lets us see more of the city. Once we got there we noticed quite a long line and joined it. We were moving so quickly through it that we didn't bother To check if we could take an express line with our pass. Thankfully we were only in the line for five minutes before we realized we could have skipped it! Oh well!

Instead of opting for a guided tour I paid for an ipod video and audio tour. Although we didn't start in the right place, or something (?), it still had lots of great information about the colosseum, the arena, the gladiators, etc. The arena sure was something spectacular to see, while still acknowledging the many, many deaths that occured there (gladiator fights, executions). We learned about the seating arrangements according to class, the types of games played (gladiator fights to the death, hunting with wild animals from all over the world, mock sea battles, theater, etc.). It was a place where people of status came to enjoy the show, commonfolk to the emperor.

The gladiators (slaves trained to fight) were more valuable($) than soliders and were often massaged, oiled, and trained the best. It is very sad to think how many were killed for sport and sometimes in very brutal ways. It was all about the show, so a slow death was best.

A number of individuals were killed based on their religion and so became martyrs and at some point (I can't recall when) the colosseum became a holy site.

It was a neat place to explore and to imagine the tens of thousands of people who would attend the games, even if some of them were fatal.

We then went to Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum - admittedly, I was a little bored. I mean, seeing rubble that is 2000+ years old is only so interesting for so long. It was neat how old it was but as far as who owned what and when, I couldn't tell you and am not that interested. I think Rome is a little wasted on me and my inability to grasp history (whether 2000 years ago or just yesterday).

We sat outside the colosseum for a bit to people watch and found ourselves constantly shaking our heads 'no' to the many vendors trying to sell their wares, whether scarves, glass blocks of the colosseum, sunglasses, toys, whatever. I must have been a walking target with a scarf already on and sunglasses ('She wears both! Go! Go! Go!). It's really annoying and after awhile politeness is tiring and ignoring sends the message.

We took the metro back to our place as we were a little sore and I was tired after only getting a few hours sleep last night (all of those 'to-do-when-I-get-home-thoughts' were racing... Uncool).

Jeff and I picked up some more lunch material for the next few days and more cheese... lol. We enjoyed smoked white cheese and brie on crackers with wine around 5pm as our afternoon snack. It was delicious.

We are now trying to decide if we go to Naples or Ostia Antika on Saturday... Tough decisons. The two girls staying here with us were in Naples today so when they get home we'll pick their brains.

Tonight is free pizza and wine night at the hostel so dinner is covered for us, lol Well, we have a couple of cheese spinach things that we may make as well.

We've got three things planned for tomorrow, Castelo S. Angelo, the Pantheon and a crypt of monks' bones ellaborately displayed (if we can find it and aren't too creeped out by it), so it'll be a full day and then it's the weekend.

Nearly time to head over for dinner and then early to bed for me.

Chat soon,

Amanda

Vatican City

Last night:

We made pasta for dinner with meat sauce from a jar and some frozen vegetables that all in all turned out to be pretty good. We spent more time after dinner picking out things we would like to do on the weekend and trying to find the other thing we can include in our Roma Pass for free admission (it's harder than it looks if you're not excited by art galleries). We have a whole list of options for interesting things to do, so there won't be any boredom!

We watched a new episode of Big Bang Theory on the Ipad before bed (I know, we're not exactly immersed in the culture here) and laughed so hard we thought we'd pee our pants. It was hilarious. I miss that show and am looking forward to watching it at home.

One of the girls here was sick yesterday, so we dug into our bags and found all the stuff Jeff took when he wasn't feeling well (pepto, herbal stomach stuff, peppermint tea) and low and behold she was feeling better this morning. The other one now has a cold - we just need to survive the next 5 days without getting sick and we'll be golden.

We wandered over to breakfast this morning and it was raining pretty hard, but donned in our rain jackets, we were prepared. We had something to eat in a very crowded room and are now drying off and hanging out until we head off to the metro to get to the Vatican for our tour at 1pm. :)

***

We made our lunches before we left and headed out into a clearing sky, we didn't even need to wear our hoods.

The metro was at the train station, so only a few minutes walk for us, which was nice, where we caught the A Line towards the stop at the Vatican. We walked for a bit until we came across huge walls and a bustling line of people. We thought we'd try and find the main square of the Vatican but decided it would probably be better to hangout and eat our lunch in the Enjoy Rome office instead (we didn't want to get stuck in a crowd and not make our tour!).

Our sandwiches were too bready and so kind of gross, next time, I'm picking the bread but it was food. We met a nice English family who would be going on the same tour as us, so we chatted until we got our headsets and met our guide.

Our guide's name was Jeanette and she has lived in Rome for 10 years (originally from Florida) and has been studying Art History. I think she is working on her thesis for her Masters degree. Anyway, she does approximately three tours a day, sometimes six days a week, so she was very well versed in all the history and entertainment pieces of guiding a group of 23. She made jokes, got to know everyone's names, where they were from and what they did. She was very nice.

We all received headsets (albeit with only one earplug, probably so we could still hear the happenings around us - an excellent idea if you've ever seen drivers in Rome! Yeesh!) and then headed off toward the Vatican Museum.

We had to go through metal detectors as soon as we got through the doors! There is also a dress code, covered shoulders and knees and men have to wear "full-length trousers". Jeanette told us it was going to be like a school trip, with scheduled bathroom breaks and a follow-the-leader style. We were just happy to have someone do the thinking for us for a change.

We received a history lesson outside in the courtyard (I think it was about St. Peter, the first pope - I took notes and I still don't remember) then about the Sistine Chapel, where she showed us pictures of the paintings we would see inside (so we knew what we were looking at) and then took us through St. Peter's Basilica.

Here are a few things I learned, in no particular order and I only remember because I took notes (don't quote me on anything because it's all chicken scratch on my piece of paper and there is just way too much information to get it all correct!):

- There are 2000 rooms in the Vatican Museum. If you were to stand at each piece of artwork for 60 seconds, it would take 12 years to see it all. A lot, I know.
- There is a pine cone with two peacocks on either side of it in the courtyard, Pagan religious symbols, because it was thought that Paganism influenced the development of Christianity (please don't quote me) - the pine cone is a symbol of fertility and the peacocks of immortality.
- There is a globe in the centre of the courtyard that is the newest feature of the Vatican, it represents the idea that the centre of the world is Catholicism.
- The Sistine Chapel was built to protect the cardinals during conclave (electing a new pope after 15 days of mourning when one dies) because what better place to attack the people of the church when they are all together at one time. They are locked in one place for an extended period of time (eat, sleep, washroom, etc.) until a pope is chosen. The longest conclave has taken 58 days. White smoke lit from inside means a new pope has been chosen and black means one has not. Millions of people either gather at the Vatican to wait in anticipation or watch on t.v.(billions).
- Michelangelo (sculptor but more famously known as painter) did autopsies on cadavers, even though it was illegal 500 years ago to better understand the human anatomy for his art.
- The panels of the Sistine Chapel show that once you've started sinning, you can't stop, it's in our nature and that's why Noah's Arc was built, to show the salvation of humanity.
- It took Michelangelo for straight years to paint the ceiling, standing with his arms and neck facing upwards, and without wanting to do it in the first place - essentially, the pope made him do it.
- The paintings are called frescoes ('fresh' in Italian) because the paint had to be applied to wet plaster so the plaster would absorb the colour. This required skillful timing as any dry plaster would have to be scraped off and done again. Michelangelo had an assistant to help with this process.
- He was physically tormented after the ceiling, his body wrecked (nearly blind from the paint and plaster in his eyes, back and arms disheveled) and was also emotionally bruised (he was no longer known as a sculptor).
- He was recommissioned (told to) paint the Last Judgement painting on the back wall of the chapel and that took five years to complete. It's a very intimidating piece of work. Imagine sitting in mass and this huge wall of a painting is staring you down, warning that you better repent and be good or you will be judged and sent to Heaven or Hell accordingly.
- The rest of the paintings along the walls took another 13 years complete.
- From 1982-1995 the chapel was cleaned because after 500 years of candle smoke from mass, it had taken a beating.
- The floor in certain areas of the museum were 2000 years old (talk about durability!). The original floor! All different stones of different colours and not painted.
- Approximately 26 000 people visit the Vatican every day, eight million visited last year.
- Rome is something like 2765 years old and 1000 of those years belonged to the Catholic church.
- We visited the Hall of Maps, huge maps painted to show a birds-eye view of the different districts the pope owned in the area of Italy (I think... urgh, so much to remember). The maps today are actually 85% accurate, which is really amazing considering how old they are!
- The ceiling in the Hall of Maps is covered in gold leaf because the pope paid for the best.
- The birthrate of the Vatican is 0 (cardinals, priests, bishops, the pope... no one reproduces! lol).
- The pope is protected by the Swiss Guard who are males between the ages of 19-26, speak 3 languages or more, and are very highly trained in all sorts of stuff re: protection (guns, etc.).
- The average height of a Roman man 500 years ago was 4'7 and a woman, 4'.
- Inside St. Peter's Basilica (St. Peter being the first ever pope - I'm still not sure how this was decided) there is the High Alter where only the pope can give mass.
- "Basilica" means meeting place, and/or a type of church that holds a relic (St. Peter's remains are under the church). This basilica can hold 60,000 people.

Anyway, those are some of the notes I took as we squeezed and elbowed our way through a TON of people! It was a little bit ridiculous, but understandable for what we were seeing.

I thought the Sistine Chapel was so neat! I can't imagine how much work that must have taken and the terrible toll on Michelangelo's body. He didn't even want to do it! Poor guy.

What irritated me though was that you are not allowed to take pictures inside the chapel and yet SO many people were doing it. We locked our cameras away in our bags and were told it was not allowed, but it was so tempting when as soon as you walked in people were video recording or flashing their cameras... urgh. So disrespectful if you ask me - it's a masterpiece, to be preserved and revered!

Anyway. We missed a ton of rooms we could have seen with art in them because, frankly, we didn't know where to go and there were so many people everywhere. We took some pictures of the Swiss Guard, got a post card from the souvenir shop and then found the metro to head home.

We stopped to pick up some shish-kebabs that we'll make in the frying pan for dinner.

I think it's nearly time for a drink and some non-thinking time. My mind has been blown today and tomorrow is the Colosseum, so a lot more to come!

Amanda

P.S. Since I couldn't take any of my own pictures, here are a couple of links from google...

The Sistine Chapel
http://ladylikei.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/michelangelo-sistine_chapel.jpg
(I think this is prior to it's face lift)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/46/Sistine_chapel.jpg
(After face lift - at least that's what it looked like to me today!)

The ceiling (Creation story)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sistine_chapel.jpg
(It's all facing one way, the way you walk in and sit for mass)

The Final Judgement
http://adishakti.org/images/last_judgment_XL.jpg
(Pretty intimidating don't you think!)

When in Rome!

We were up early this morning to catch the hostel's breakfast in the restaurant next to the main building; it was a little sad compared to other places we have been and yet still better than some of the reviews about Italian hostel breakfasts we have read about (packaged croissant and coffee). Jeff had two buns and butter and I had granola and milk (something like 3 percent, I think - a little thick for my liking).

We then headed off to do our laundry which was conveniently located around the corner from us. We got a deal because of where we are staying and saved 1 euro! It only cost us 6 which was a nice change from 8 or more.

We then parked ourselves at the kitchen table to do some planning. There is just so much to see in Rome and it's not cheap, so planning is absolutely essential (unless your budget is endless).

Similar to Innsbruck and other towns, Rome has a city card called the 'Roma Pass' which is for three days and covers all public transportation, two free admissions to sites/museums, and discounts on other places. It took some figuring out and a visit to the Enjoy Rome tourist office to come up with a plan where we would spend our money wisely, which includes the Roma Pass. We are heading to the Vatican tomorrow to take a guided tour with up to 10 other people (quite small compared to many tours we've seen with 15-20). It wasn't cheap but considering we know little about the Vatican, we thought it made the most sense to be guided along the way. We'll get to see St. Peter's Basilica and the Sistine Chapel too! We'll probably see the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, and Palatine Hill on Thursday, then we'll head to Ostia Antica on Friday. The weekend is up in the air to do some more exploring and to wind down for our trip home.

After our stop at the tourist office, we took off to see the Spanish Steps that lead up to a 16th century church and is famous for people posing... lol. And then we headed to Trevi Fountain, which was a chaotic mass of people trying to get close and take pictures. It was a slight nightmare trying to squeeze yourself in the smallest spots possible. Jeff and I were really irritated by people who whacked you with their bags or arms without care and one guy who slowly walked through the crowd reading the newspaper, completely oblivious to the hundreds of people trying to get out of the place! The Trevi Fountain was neat to see but chaotic!

After that we headed off in no particular direction to find food. We found sandwiches and then found something called the Four Fountain corner... obviously with four fountains. Jeff found an old church to look at although we didn't stay long, we're nearly churched out (and yet going to the Vatican tomorrow... lol. Did you know that the Vatican is its own country? I knew it was separate from Rome but I didn't realize it was its own country!).

We sat for a bit outside the Opera Theater to take a break with a gelato, Jeff had pistachio(a guy in Cinque Terre's favourite, so Jeff wanted to try it) and said it was really good and I had coconut that was amazing.

We headed home in the warm sunshine to pick up bread and meat for lunches tomorrow (as well as a few more treats - brie cheese for me and peanut butter for Jeff, lol).

We're just hanging out right now in our place, having a beer and listening to music (Europe - The Final Countdown, 90s dance music, and oldies... lol) as no one is here.

We're going to make pasta tonight for dinner and do a little more research about what else we want/can do before we leave.

Hope you have a super day today,

Lots going on this way and yet not much at all as we sit and and enjoy some fun music!

Amanda :)

All it took was 20 minutes to spoil the day!

What a day!

We were up around 7:40am to be sure we were down to the train station for 9am in hopes of catching one of the trains to take us to La Spezia before 10am so we could get our 10:06am train to Rome, arriving after 2pm. Well, the first train was 20 minutes late (twenty!!) so we missed the next, which meant we fretted about getting a refund at the station and then having the next train cost more, etc. It was painful. We got to the station but rather than pay an extra €23 to take the next train, we would take the longer journey (now over-paying by about €8...urgh). We're not sure if it was worth it. We waited from 10:30am-11:19pm to get a train to Pisa. Then we trained to Pisa before having to wait from 12:45-1:45pm to get the train from Pisa to Rome. The train ride to Rome took four hours. We arrived about 5:50pm.

The only saving grace was being able to sit in McDonalds and people watch between our trains. A young kid asked us if we could help him open his mayo package for his fries (like you need mayo on McD's fries!) and with a little ingenuity (as it was hard!) we helped him by breaking into it with one of our plastic forks, lol. I think he was a little interested in us and our backpacks as he spoke to us a few times.

Our ride to Rome was uneventful, I read the majority of the way and Jeff listened to his music.

We found our hostel pretty easily, (we were only one street off at first) and checked in. We are staying across from the main building in an apartment that has three rooms and a shared kitchen and bathroom. It's nice to know we're only sharing with a few people instead of the entire hostel.

The guy at the desk had lots of helpful information and showed us to our room. We then headed off to find a bank to get more cash and then to a supermarket. We found both places and they both worked (well, the second bank machine did) so now we're set for a day or two.

Our hostel has free pizza and wine on Mondays and Thursdays from 7-9pm across the road so we headed over and had something to eat. Jeff made pasta when we got back too as he was hungry. We met a couple of young girls staying next to us who are really sweet - both from the U.S. and studying in Greece.

We still have to figure out how we're going to see everything in Rome we want to see and then do it :)

Nearly bedtime though, it's been another long travel day.

Amanda

Trekking day two

What another full day in Cinque Terre, albeit not as troublesome as the last two. We got up in time to meet Stefano in order to complete the registration form (passport info) and pay for our stay. Stefano was a really nice guy, very friendly and easy-going. He said we could check-out anytime tomorrow because there wasn't anyone coming until Thursday, and after Thursday they'd be closing the place for the winter (it costs too much to heat it for people only staying a night or two).

We wanted to figure out how to access our cash so we headed back to La Spezia after breakfast. The machines still didn't work but we, thankfully, came across the Deutsches (sp?) Bank and were able to get some money. We still don't understand the problem with the other banks and hope that we don't have too much trouble in Rome!

We then bought our train tickets to Rome for tomorrow morning; it should be a four hour ride directly there, which is a nice change from having to constantly change trains.

After buying our ticket in La Spezia we hopped back on the train to Riomaggiore, the most southern of the five villages. We didn't immediately see the sign for the trail so ended up walking the large hill into town before heading back to the train station (we weren't the only ones lost!). The trail from Riomaggiore to Manorola was a breeze, hardly even a trail at all. It was practically a boardwalk along the sea and it was gorgeous! The stretch is known as the lovers walk and there are many locks people have brought and locked to railings, nets, and really anything they can find, symbolizing eternal love. It was really sweet.

The walk only took twenty minutes or so and then we reached Manorola. Because the sea path has been closed due to a rock slide we had to take the other trail. We started at sea level and walked uphill for about half an hour, and I mean seriously uphill. I was huffing before we even left the town! Not to mention the other hundreds of steps we took before leveling out!

The view was incredible once we were up there, our whole panoramic view was of the sea on a brilliantly sunny day. Jeff was in shorts and I was in a tank top for the walk, thankfully there was a beautiful breeze that kept us cool.

The walk took just over two hours, covering vineyards, brush, rocky areas, very narrow ledges, fallen trees, everything you could really think of! :) It was a really nice hike (after I caught my breath from the gruesome uphill fiasco) even if we were looking at our feet the majority of the time to ensure we didn't trip on something.  Every now and again we made a point to stop and take in the beautiful view (and I took lots of pictures of course, although they probably won't do it justice). 

People along the way were friendly and we stopped to chat a couple of times with other travelers, all of us sympathizing and encouraging each other to keep going (something about mutual pain and beauty bring people together, lol). I kept telling Jeff that the sights of the villages from so high up was the motivation we needed along the way to keep trekking.

The way down the mountain/giant hill was awful; my knee and hip hurt like nothing else and we had a LONG way down to Corniglia. It was painful and rather unpleasant to say the least, but we did make it.

I stopped for the most delicious gelato ever, (two flavours) coconut and chocolate-mint and Jeff grabbed a couple of beers. We had planned to go down to the beach to check it out but after a couple of flights of stairs and many more to go, we decided against it.  We went to a lookout point instead and enjoyed the warm sun with our cool treats.

Afterward, we headed to the local shop and picked up breakfast items for tomorrow and some snacks. We then went to the internet cafe and spent a quick half hour checking emails, the weather forecast, the flooding and rioting in Rome (hopefully both have settled down for now), and to get directions to our last (gasp!) place tomorrow.

We showered and changed into clean clothes (the last we have) before heading out just after six with one small tetra pack of white wine to sit on someone's stairs to watch a gorgeous sunset. We had one of the best views in the whole place. It was lovely.

We grabbed a couple of pizzas for dinner (one pesto and one mushroom and ham) and ate happily at home (even though I burnt my tongue... There is a downside to having the pizza place right next door, no cooling time, lol).

We're now in bed, Jeff is reading a book he found and I'm just about to settle into mine for a bit.

Tomorrow is another adventure :)

Chat soon,

Amanda

Sorry!

Have not had internet in a few days so obviously have not been able to post. We are currently in a small internet cafe so I cannot post here either. I have been keeping track of our days though, so you will be fully caught up by tomorrow once we reach our hostel in Rome.

Hard to believe we have one week left of this adventure. We are sad to think it is coming to an end but are looking forward to some of the luxuries from home (Ma, you cannot believe how much we are looking forward to turkey dinner! lol). Jeff even said, if you can believe it "Let's just stay." (We are coming home though...).

With love and updates coming soon!

Amanda

Cinque Terre

It was tough getting out of bed this morning because it was so comfortable! The air in our room was chilly and being under four blankets was super cozy, but we got up, dressed and found ourselves some sandwiches for lunch at the pizza place next door. We then headed to the train station to head to Monterroso, the most northern of the five villages. We knew Monterroso was the most touristy of the villages so we didn't do much exploring, we really just wanted to start our hike.

Long story short... we hiked probably 1000+ stairs today (easily!) and at times were huffing and puffing so badly we thought we'd keel over! Good thing our recovery time is so good! The sun was so warm that I was in a tank top with my pants rolled up and still managed to sweat through everything. It was disgusting. What made it all worthwhile though, was the view. Wow. Because we were up so high, we overlooked the ocean and at times the other villages... gorgeous, just stunning. I took lots of pictures.

Our first hike took about two and a half hours to go three kilometers and we arrived to the second village, Vernazza. We took a break with (very delicious) gelato and beer :) then we found the trail leading us back to our village. That trail took about an hour and a half to go four kilometers. Both were tough journeys to say the least. At one point I asked Jeff what the time was and as we rounded another corner he said, "Stairs-o'clock". They seemed to be never ending and was a source of conversation with most people we met along the way (many North Americans and people we just seem to keep bumping into!).

By the time we got back to Corniglia, we were pretty beat and my knee was aching something awful. We decided to get cash from the bank so we could pay for our room tomorrow as we only had €20 on us. It then all went downhill... the machine didn't work and was the only one around so we walked to the train station (practically 20 minutes of stairs downhill - not good for my knee so it took awhile with my brace) thinking there might be one there, nope, so we took the train to La Spezia where we thought they'd have a machine in their station, nope. We had to wander into a very busy and crowded town looking for banks on a Saturday night. Three machines later and neither Jeff nor my card worked (insert panic here), something about some our cards not usable... link unavailable... urgh. I was able to use my visa though (with the $5 service charge attached and all that other jazz, urgh!) but at least we were able to get some cash.  The bank machines in Italy have been problematic for us and we're not sure what the problem is.

We practically ran (me with a bum knee) back to the train station so we wouldn't miss it and took the twenty minute ride back home. Thankfully, we arrived at the perfect time to get the last shuttle into town, so we wouldn't have to walk twenty minutes uphill to get to our place (we had forgotten how far it was and were truly grateful that we made it in time for the shuttle).

We picked up two pizzas for dinner and some sandwiches for tomorrow's lunch and inhaled them after we each had a shower.

It's now nearly bedtime as we're truly beat and are meeting the guy who owns the place we're staying tomorrow morning before hiking the last two trails.

Sweet dreams!

Amanda

P.S. My ipod has been resurrected somehow! Yay!
P.P.S. Jeff has just now, as I started writing, started reading the book I started yesterday... urgh... now we'll both be trying to read it! lol

Odyssey

Wow, today was an adventure for sure and not one I'd readily repeat if I had the choice (someone wet met along the way referred to it as an odyssey' lol). We were up just after 6am and were dressed and out the door to the train station for 6:40am. Now, we were up seven minutes later than I thought the alarm was set for so we nearly had to run to the station. In our room and when I'm not quite ready, Jeff says to me, "We've got to be there in 7 minutes, no, 6 minutes!". So, that was a little close, but we made it. We then caught the next train at 7:10am that would take us to Milan. It took just over two hours and was pretty uneventful (other than my ipod biting the dust for no apparent reason - a serious piss off if you ask me! Now I'm carrying two dead electronics with me).  

Because of the train strike we had no idea what to expect once we got to Milan and the whole station was in a state of confusion as people bought tickets, stood around looking at the schedule boards and standing in a monstrous line at the Information desk (that was being run by one man...one).  We stood there for awhile until Jeff went off and did some investigating and essentially we were able to buy tickets at the ticket machine and actually get a train (some were guaranteed others not, we had no idea). It was going to take two trains and we weren't sure if the second one would run or not but we took a chance and bought the ticket anyway.  Thankfully the train wasn't canceled at the last minute and we found our seats next to a nice Norwegian couple who offered us beer and an entertaining conversation most of the one and half hours it took to get to Genoa. Even though the train was over fifteen minutes late and we only had ten minutes between when we were supposed to arrive and the next train, we made it. Perhaps the second train was waiting for ours to arrive? Who knows, but we made it with barely a minute to spare.

That train took just over an hour to get to La Spezia, where I am writing now in a McDonalds cafe area... oh man, lol. We're already down a couple of cheeseburgers each after not having lunch items with us. Oh well, cheap and easy is what we needed.

The local trains are on strike so we can't leave this place until after 5pm, but at least we're only 20 minutes away from our destination of Corniglia so we won't be arriving super late. A very chatty lady has just started talking to us, I better go :)

***
So, the lady was an interesting individual and not interesting in a good way... everything out of her mouth was pretty dramatic and negative about our hike, Rome, etc. not helpful! We excused ourselves and did something else.

At 5:05pm, right after the official strike day ended, we were on our way to Corniglia. It was only three stops away. Once we were off, we found the road and walked about 20 minutes (uphill of course) with a young Australian couple until we both found the places we would be staying.

There was a note on our door saying to get the neighbour who we knew would have the keys. He let us in and we found ourselves with a mini apartment separated from a couple of other rooms by a lockable door. We had our own little kitchen (just a sink to use though) and our own bathroom.

Once we dropped our bags we headed out to find breakfast for the next day and after paying an arm and a leg at a small shop, we checked out the restaurants for dinner later and wandered around the very small village.

We went to a family owned place and treated ourselvs to a nice meal.  I had spaghetti with "fruit of the sea" (seafood, most of it still in the shell!) and Jeff had lasagna with Ragu. We shared a half litre of wine wine, some very expensive water and some bread.  For whatever reason, restaurants in Italy add on a service fee and/or cover charge and it came to a whopping €6. It isn't enough that we're in their country spending money, they have to charge the heck out of us too? Uncool. At the very least we had a really nice meal together and ended up chatting with the folks next to us, a Finish couple on holiday (that's three Scandinavian couples we've met in one day [another was on another train]). 

We are back in our chilly place and have crawled into our bed of four layers. The trek begins tomorrow!

Amanda

Venice day two

We awoke bright and early to have breakfast in the hotel but were sorely disappointed when we looked out the window and it was pouring rain, I mean, cats and dogs. They sky was a dark mass of ugly and neither of us were looking forward to venturing out into the wetness, but after awhile we decided to anyway. We knew we had to go to the train station to ask about possibilities for tomorrow with the strike and there were still a couple of souvenirs I wanted to pick up from Venice. So, we dressed our best for the rain (I put plastic bags over my socks and into my shoes) and headed out. It didn't begin well when a car drove through a puddle and soaked Jeff's bottom half of his pants and shoes, mine too. 

Once we got to Venice we ventured out to find internet as the internet at the hotel wasn't working that morning (go figure, right? We were even willing to cough up the five euro for the hour). We got to see a different part of the city and found a place in a restaurant, but after looking at the prices and being really neither hungry no thirsty, we left. 

We souvenir shopped in the pouring rain, had a couple of small canolis, and eventually passed another 'free wifi' place at a Hell's Kitchen wine bar.  We stopped for a glass of wine and used the internet as quickly as we could.  It's surprising how much we depend on it; we wanted to know the weather at our next stop, to blog, to check emails, to get directions to our next place, etc. and at five euro for half an hour at an internet cafe we were better off to each get a glass of wine and use the internet for a total of €7.50.

We found some lunch at a cafe away from the main square and each had something delicious and cheap :) Jeff had a big panini sandwich and I had a spinach and cheese pastry thing. 

Jeff wanted to get another half litre of wine from the guy we went to last night but we had a couple of hours to kill before he opened so we went looking for some sights to see and with the length of lines and rain we just weren't that interested in waiting for some of them. We went looking for a church but upon finding it and seeing that we had to pay, we decided we had seen enough churches (and this one didn't inspire us to explore it). We also found the old ghetto (where the term originated from), the area where Jewish people were locked in at night by Christians many centuries ago. It looked quite different than the rest of Venice with tall buildings. It was interesting to see, not to mention the Rabis walking around and young guys with yamacas (sp?).

We weren't planning on spending the whole day again in Venice but six hours later we had. We went to find the wine guy but he wasn't there... Jeff then said, "We need to learn the days of the week". I think he's right.

The last thing we did was pick up a chocolate thing (fudge? I still haven't had any) that cost six euro because I had heard the woman wrong when she gave me the price... I thought she said, one euro per 100g but it was four euro for 100g. Oops. Hope it's good because it wasn't cheap and took a chunk out of our dinner budget!

On our way back to the station (after getting lost, again) we admired the canals and the beat-up yet pretty and full of character place that Venice is. We really enjoyed not worrying about getting run over by a car or bike because the roads were all water!

I would recommend Venice to anyone who visits Italy, even if you don't see inside one of the many historical sights!

We have a 6:43am train to catch tomorrow and then one at 7:10am to take us to Milan before the train strike begins. It looks like we're going to be spending the day in Italy's fashion and design capitol (and I so need to do laundry).

Hopefully we make it to Cinque Terre without being super late tonight.

Amanda

A full day around the canals - Venice!

What a long day today! We were up pretty early to ensure we would make the hotel's breakfast before it ended at 9:30am. I had a couple of croissants that had stuff in them and some juice and a small hot chocolate. We then headed off to the train station to get a ride to Venice. Unfortunately, the timetable we received from the hotel was a rough photocopy and so we couldn't see that a number of trains only ran on Sundays... so, we ended up having to kill over an hour. We wandered around town, went to the bank and then waited for the train. It took about 25 minutes to get to Venice and we had to stand the majority of the way.

Once we arrived we headed out of the station via some side exit with a bunch of other people and then found ourselves face-to-face with the Grande Canal. Even though it was cool and rainy outside it still looked amazing! There were lots of boats in the water, either as taxis or private charters or gondalas, etc. It was quite the sight to see.

Jeff and I didn't have a good map so we decided we would figure out our way to San Marco square on our own (according to our Rough Guides book, it is arguably the busiest place in Italy). The streets were SO narrow and winding, just like a maze! Thankfully though, there were signs directing us or there would have been absolutely no way we would have found our way! There were so many twists, turns, dead ends and bridges that we definitely would have been lost in a heartbeat without any direction. It was fun though! And with more tourists than residents we knew we'd be led to it eventually. I enjoyed the walk throughly, even though it took half an hour or so before we found the square.

The square was huge with a ton of people! I can't even count how many tour groups there were. We went looking for the tourist information to find a map and for €2.50 we got one (urgh... I hate paying for maps) and if you wanted to pee, €1.50 (URGH! Jeff hates this the most). We decided to throw caution to the wind and just wander around... we did that for hours. The canals were so pretty and contrary to popular belief, they didn't smell or have floating garbage or anything. Yes, Venice is beat up, but what do you expect in such an old city and with 20+ million tourists passing through each year? After a few hours we had to pee so badly and we were starving (I had a gelato to tide me over and it was delicious!). We were also cheap and didn't want to pay to use the washroom (that we would have to find anyway) so we found a restaurant where we had sandwiches and got to use the washroom.

After our bodily needs were met (by nearly 4pm) we felt much more chipper and kept going. We found small canolis and enjoyed them thoroughly. We ended up doing a little souvenir shopping while we waited for it to get dark out (I wanted to see the city at night). Surprisingly, the prices weren't nearly as bad as we thought they would be! In fact, we actually thought we got a few deals! The prices were much better than Germany and Austria and even in the Czech, even the 'expensive' ones.

We wandered around again until it got darker out and then found a gondala! I figure, we're all the way here in Venice, we might as well do it! Luckily for us, we got a gondala just before 7pm which means we saved ourselves €20! After 7pm it would have been more expensive! The ride was very nice :) The canals were pretty and quiet away from all of the tourists and lit up. It wasn't a long ride by any means but it was an experience :) I'm glad we did it. We had bought a half litre of white wine and two plastic cups for two euro and started our ride with a toast.

After our gondala ride we had to figure out how to get back to the train station. Let me tell you, navigating the maze-like streets in the dark is not easy! After a few wrong turns and dead ends we managed to find the station. We arrived at the perfect time and after buying our tickets we hopped right onto the train. When we got back to Mogliano Veneto we grabbed some pizza for dinner (about 8:30pm) and inhaled it as soon as we got in the door.

We had an eight hour day in Venice and it was great, even though we only sat down for a total of 30 minutes or so - our legs are aching!

Time to hit the hay because we're wiped and have another day in Venice tomorrow!

Night,

Amanda

Mogliano Veneto

We each had a decent sleep last night after three nights of rough dreams (for me anyway) and then had breakfast at our hostel that they provided. Surprisingly, they had a lot to offer! Fruit, fruit salad, buns, cereal, yogurt, meats, cheeses, juice, milk, butter, nutella... we had lots to choose from and had our fill before trekking off to the train station.

We stopped at the restaurant outside the station and I picked up another schnitzel sandwich (schnitzelsemmel) for lunch later. We then hopped on the 9:27am train to Verona. It took three and a half hours to get there and the ride was pretty uneventful. It was neat however, to see the landscape change from the alps to large mountains and then to become even flatter.

Once we got to Verona we had to change trains to head to Venice. We had to wait about half an hour at the station for our train. We had reserved seats that were apart from each other but found that someone didn't show up and so we got to sit together. The second ride was just over an hour or so. We arrived to Venice's Santa Lucia (Santa 'luchia') station and had to find how to get to our hotel in Mogliano Veneto. It took two stops at the train information desk to figure it out but we got it! We even validated our ticket (albeit upside down) which means we avoided the 30 euro fine for not doing so. That ride took about 25 minutes. We arrived to the station and upon exiting were not sure where to go (this is not unusual) but luckily our street and hotel were right infront of us! We really lucked out.

We checked in and then went for a walk around town. It isn't a big place so we weren't out long. I'm sure it is similar to a typical small Italian town versus Venice. We found a number of pizza and gelato shops on our walk but didn't stop for anything. Instead, we picked up some snacks at the store and then headed back to our hotel to shower before dinner.

We got dinner from the grocery store across from us, a small chicken and a mixed box of tater tots (but with real potato) and mozzarella balls. We ate with our hands on our bed, it was messy and delicious. We could still use some veggies though.

We're looking up sites in Venice we want to see over the next two days, rain or shine, and bracing ourselves for the price of a private gondala ride.

Hope it doesn't rain too hard tomorrow on us!

Chat soon,

Amanda

Getting the most of our card!

What a busy day we had today before 11am (before our Innsbruck card wasn't valid anymore).

We started at the town's tower where we both climbed the tower to get some great views of the city and then headed to the Court Church just after 9am and took a really, really neat multi-media tour/presention about Maximillion, the former Emperor od Austria (centuries ago). It was a really neat tour that was lead by a pre-recorded voice that took us through different rooms (doora opened to us on cue!) until we could use headsets in the church were Maximillion's sarcophagus was. The emperor's wish was to have family and royalty surrounding him in death (he wanted to live forever) and so many bronze statues were extravagently crafted of kings, leaders, wives and his daughter to surround him. It honestly was very creepy at first, until our audio sets told us who people were. It was all very cool.

We then headed to the apline museum to look at information about mountaineering through the ages and to watch some really wicked wipeouts that have been caught on camera over the years (enough to be glad that we hiked yesterday...). Then we headed into the Imperial Palace to look around. We didn't get headsets by mistake so just wandered through rooms on our own. It was similar to the Schonbrunn palace in Vienna as the same people used it at times. I learned that chairs carried certain significance based on their make and model (a toyota to a mercedes, lol).

We spent the afternoon souvenir shopping and had a really nice time looking at all the trinkets in the stores.

We had pizza for dinner in our room and are about to hit the hay in preparation for our journey tomorrow to Venice!

Sweet dreams!

Amanda

Swarovski

After breakfast this morning we headed off to the tourist information office to pick up an Innsbruck card (unlimited public transport, entries into museums, etc. for a selected period of time). We should have bought one yesterday but because we didn't have a solid plan as to what all we wanted to see here we opted out. Oh well!

Our Innsbruck card got us onto a shuttle that took us out of town to the kristallwelten, or swarovski's crystal world. It took about 25 minutes to get there so we got to see more of Innsbruck on the way and enjoy the spectacular view on another blue sky day. I really wasn't sure what to expect from the exhibit but thought it might be something interesting to do. Maybe would learn about crystals and see some interesting pieces made from them! Let me tell you, the whole thing was beyond strange. We are not much for abstract (and frankly, very weird) art, Jeff moreso than me, and it was so strange. I don't really know what to make of it all. Essentially, there were a number of draped rooms in a dark building that each featured some use of the crystal in art and a lot of it was beyond strange. Jeff and I didn't understand it and some of it has us feeling a little creeped out. It was different to say the least and something we, unfortunately, won't forget for some time... lol I can't even describe it, you'll have to see some pictures. I took so many because I thought it was so, interesting... At one point Jeff said, "You take more pictures than people that like this stuff" ;)

It took about an hour and a half and then we caught the shuttle back to town. We stopped for lunch at one of the very few places open (Sundays!) and had soup. We missed the sightseeing bus we had planned on taking because lunch ran late but we caught the next one. Jeff wanted to go to Olympiaworld, where the olympics have been held twice, once in the 60s and the other in 1977 (I think). Jeff said that in less than 100 days they are hosting the first Youth Winter Olympics there. I don't know what that means but sounds interesting!

Olympiaworld was disappointing as we really couldn't go in to see anything. It all looked closed or unavailable. We had hoped to see an ice rink or something! We ended up watching a little bit of a soccer game that was taking place outside before hopping back on the bus to take us home. The bus was neat at least, as you put headphones on and listened to someone talk about the different stops along the way.

Once we got off the bus we checked out St. Jacob's church and then headed home. Our bodies ached in all sorts of places after yesterday's hike; Jeff's calves hurt and my butt, legs and especially my left knee hurt (I wore my brace all day today, Mom!).

We went for a swim and I hit the sauna to relax my muscles. Then we dressed and headed out for dinner. We went to a fancy restaurant and we were thoroughly underdressed... lol. We had authentic veal weiner schnitzel and a salad (vegetables!!!). It was delicious and cost us an arm and a leg with our drinks, Jeff had a small beer and I had some lemonade that was absolutely nothing like lemonade but still good (like a fizzy pop).

We then decided we'd see if we could find the hostel we'll be heading to at noon tomorrow when we check out because we knew it was close to where we are now. About half way across a small bridge I noticed it and laughed hard at the fact that facing one way I could see the hotel and facing the other I could see the hostel! So, we sure don't have a far trek and so won't lose much time at all during the day to make the transition, which is really nice.

As I was trying to plan train schedules and whatnot for our upcoming stays in Italy, I received this message from one of the places we'll be going to...

"Hello,

We would like to advise you that the day of Your arrival, Friday 21 there will be probably a train strike (from 9 am until 5 pm). So will be maybe difficult for You to arrive at 4 pm. 

 We need to know something because  we don't live in Corniglia and we also have to take trains to check in You. 

Ciao have a nice day

Stefano and Libia"

Urgh. Way to throw a wrench in the plan train people! I guess we'll have to figure out what to about this. I hope it's as easy as arriving after 5pm but who knows.

Anyway, Jeff's watching television and so I'm going to join him as it's nearly 10pm. Last night it was fencing and the night before was bowling... Thank goodness I've got a book to read as I "watch".

Have a good rest of the day!

Amanda

(speechless)

Alrighty, so, we got up, had breakfast and then headed off to find the cable car that would begin our ascent up the Nordkette. It was chilly on our walk so we thought we may need touques, and so we went hunting for decently priced ones. We found a lot of expensive ones first (€20+!!) but then found ones for €3.90. I was briefly worried about "bush goggles", a term someone on one of my trips coined, meaning thinking that something is nice or pretty when you first see it while traveling but once you get home is quite hideous... lol. We had a laugh trying on a number of them (the ones with the ear flaps) and eventually we both picked one.

We then headed to the congress hall station where a cable car would take us up! It took three in total to get us to the highest point on the Nordkette, the Hafelekarspitze. The rides were enjoyable and really easy. At each stop there were restaurants and cafes waiting to cater to those of us looking for a refreshment. After we had gone up two landings I couldn't believe we would be going up another one! What can I say about when we got up there... It was spectacular, amazing, gorgeous, phenomenal... It took our breath away instantly and I couldn't stop cooing about the view and where we were the whole time. Jeff had never been in any mountains before so to start with the Alps sure had him flabbergasted as well. He said it was the highlight of the trip and one of the best things he's ever done or seen. Me too. It was beyond perfect. We had a perfect blue sky with absolutely zero clouds and warm and bright sunshine. I took so many pictures, but I doubt any of them will really capture what it was like at the top of a mountain in the alps. It was amazing.

We wandered up there for awhile, just taking in the view of the small city below and the snow-capped mountains that surrounded us on all sides. We even threw snowballs at each other. We could have stayed up there all day, just enjoying the view but after awhile we took the cable car down a landing and looked around. We went on a panoramic view walk that was partly in mud, snow and gravel... I wasn't thrilled as I all I had were my running shoes but my feet stayed relatively dry. I got some great pictures that I can't wait to blow up or frame or canvas or something!

We found a nice bench along the walk and had our lunch, store-bought sandwiches, granola bars and clementines. We nearly had to fight off some crow-looking birds that got irritatingly close to us and watched as we ate our lunch.

We wandered along the mountain path until we decided to hike down from the cable car landing we were at to the next one. It said it would take two hours and since it was such a gorgeous day, we thought it would be something neat to do. Not to mention that it was downhill and not up! We managed the first way with ease on a road and passed lots of bikers and other hikers along the way. Many of the hikers had professional walking sticks and the bikers all looked super fit and serious about their ride (you'd have to be if you were going uphill like that!). We came across a sign that pointed down a sketchy set of rocky and earthy stairs to the Hungerburg (the lift we were heading to) and because it looked really tough we decided to follow the road instead, but after about 10 minutes or more we thought that maybe we should have taken the stairs because the road was leading away from the cables above. So, we turned around and hiked miserably uphill, back to the sign and took the stairs. It only took 10-15 minutes to make it down but my knees were screaming at me. It wasn't pleasant. We made it down to a road and thankfully there was a sign because for awhile there we weren't really sure (and that's unnerving on one of MANY paths along a huge mountain as the sun is descending).

It took us abour 2.5 hours in total and both of our knees took a beating in the process - we'll be so sore tomorrow! I nearly screamed in relief when we found the cable car landing as we had just taken, another, unmarked path in hopes that it would take us where we needed to go - the hill really needs more signs. And in the end, we didn't need our touques at all! It was warmer than we had expected on the mountain, even at it's highest point. I had three layers on and was quite comfortable, until we started hiking and then I was hot! I had five layers prepared but didn't need them at all! Now Jeff and I have hats from Austria... lol

We hopped on the cable car and took it down a landing to the next one which took us back to the congress station. It only took us five minutes to walk back to the hotel which was a welcome relief.

We went for a swim and I sat in the sauna, hoping that it would help my aching knees.

We went for dinner and got kebabs... lol After such a long and tiresome day, we didn't want to sit somewhere. We're tired of eating out, especially sit-down dinners, and already miss having a kitchen to use. Our plan is to look into some good places to eat and then go to those tomorrow and Monday. We didn't want to sit and spend €25+ on a meal tonight, so we didn't and we're okay with that. We will be getting schnitzel before we leave though!

Jeff's watching fencing (in German) on t.v. and I'm just finishing up here before heading upstairs to take some aleve and hit the hay. Tomorrow should be pretty easy going. We have some ideas of things to do and still two full days to do them, along with some exploring.

Hope you're having a good weekend.

Chat soon,

Amanda

Innsbruck = Awesomebruck!

We got up this morning, ate some (nearly) stale bread with a load of nutella on it (people eat a lot of nutella here) and that saved it, somewhat. Then we checked out of our hostel and headed to the train station. We had reserved seats for this ride, which was a change, so we knew once we sat down we wouldn't have to change seats during the ride (if the seat owners showed up, which has happened before).

The train ride was long, nearly five hours but the last hour or so made it worth it as we arrived to the alps!! Wow, they sure were something to look at from the train and got us more excited to arrive to Innsbruck.

We were not disappointed when we got out of the train station and a peak of the Nordkette surprised us! Absolutely stunning. It took our breath away... Jeff thinks it's awesome.

We arrived to our hotel and happily checked in. Our room is substantially bigger than the last place and there aren't any holes in the sheets or the duvet cover (yay). The only weird thing about the room is that the toilet is in one little room and the bathtub/shower and sink are in another one beside it; I haven't seen that before.

Jeff and I were super hungry by the time we lugged our stuff up to our room so we went to find cheap and easy food... Pizza and fries not far from the hotel. We took a little walk and found a mini-Billa store and picked up breakfast ingredients for the next couple of days as we have a mini fridge in our room.

Once we got back we found flipflops and bathrobes in a closet, so we wandered down to the pool area. We were the only ones there which was nice :) We went for a dip, sat in the sauna and then had a shower that played bird noises while the water ran (it felt like rain) and thunderstorms when the mist was on (so much fun and actually relaxing). We then lay on a couple of chairs and relaxed while we dried off.

Afterward, I did some wash in the sink (I will never complain about doing laundry at home again! I think I have said this before) and then dressed to go find something for dinner. We weren't interested in sitting down and Jeff wasn't sure he wanted to risk something 'funky' so, if you can believe it, we got McDonalds (hangs head in shame). We were not having more pizza or kebabs or pasta. No more, I say! And the only thing vastly different than those things was McDs.

We then found a proper supermarket, with better prices, and picked up some snacks and headed home to eat dinner and chill out.

We're excited to be here and are glad we came here instead of Budapest, even though I've heard good things about Budapest! The mountains are gorgeous and are a refreshing change of scenery. We're going to hike on the Nordkette tomorrow! It should be quite the experience. I have to remember to wear everything I've brought with me as it most likely will be very cold (if I remember correctly from climbing the volcano in Ecaudor, Cotopaxi... I was freezing!)

Although I am not trying to rush this part of our trip, as I am excited about the next few days, I am acutely aware that Italy is just around the corner and I'm very excited for that as well!

Anyway, time to rest up for our big day tomorrow!

Hope everyone has a great weekend,
Much love,
Amanda

Schonbrunn Palace

Hello hello,

Today was a much better day for us after taking it easy yesterday. We headed off to Billa, the grocery store, for breakfast and picked up some yogurt (Jeff didn't get the smarties yogurt like yesterday, lol), some cookie cereal, fruit and a sandwich for lunch. We had trouble looking at all the yogurt because there were a few people filming something and they kept doing different shots and interviews. They eventually asked me if I wanted to be interviewed for Chinese t.v. and I said, sure, why not? lol. They asked me two questions about my views on organic food and I gave them my honest answer - if it wasn't so expensive we'd buy more of it. Jeff said I did a good job. Too bad they didn't ask my name and now I'll be some random person they interviewed... A Canadian in Austria being interviewed for Chinese television... Too funny.

Then we headed off to Schonbrunn Palace. It took about half an hour or so to get there (walking) and we took some back alleyway that kind of creeped us out a little bit. It was definitely off the beaten path and so we took different route on the way back.

The palace was so busy! Who knew it would be jammed with people at noon on a Thursday? We made it through though and picked up our English audio pieces - similar to the ones in The Fascination and Horror exhibit in Germany where you hold it to your ear. We went through 20+ rooms of the palace which was pretty neat! Quite elaborate stuff for sure. I still don't quite understand who all lived there and when (I'm hopeless) but I do remember that the last person who was born there died at 86 years old in 1916. It was a neat experience to see part of a palace and the place was so huge!

We spent a couple of hours afterward wandering through the gardens, where we had lunch, and to some other sights on the palace property. Jeff wanted to go to the zoo but due to time constraints and the price we decided not too. Oh well. We wandered through a labrynth (maze) instead that was terribly overpriced, but we didn't know that until we got in. We entertained ourselves though.

It was pretty chilly out all day and only in the late afternoon did the sun begin to shine. I'm sick of the cold, wet and dreary weather!

We grabbed some more groceries from Billa for dinner, which turned out great - spicy sausage, mushrooms, green pepper, tomato and Uncle Ben's mediterranean 2-minute rice. It was really good and we were really glad to have some vegetables!

We've nearly figured out the rest of our trip as well, which feels really good. I feel more relaxed now that we have more of a plan and some places are booked. I'm excited!

We're heading to Innsbruck tomorrow to a nice hotel for three nights, then spending an extra night in a hostel.
Then we'll be heading to Venice for three nights before heading to the Cinque Terre for three nights.
After that it shoud be a week in Rome, the last hostel we have to book :) I feel more energized and enthused knowing that we're still on budget and may even have a little bit more to play with. Our planning has really helped that way.

Tomorrow is a long ride to Innsbruck but Jeff and I are just so excited to see the Alps! We have some hiking in mind over the weekend and seeing as it's supposed to be sunny and 19 for the next few days, our hopes are high.

I'll update from the mountains,

Amanda

100th Post!

It's kind of funny that today should be my 100th post since starting this Eurotrip adventure, because we didn't do anything today! Nothing! lol Okay, well, we slept in, went to the grocery store to pick up breakfast, had breakfast in the kitchen area, I piddled around on the ipad for a long time researching hostels and towns we are planning to see while Jeff attempted to have a nap (he was unsuccessful - he had slept poorly last night), then we went and bought train tickets and then went for a short walk in the pouring rain. Now Jeff's napping, but probably not for much longer and I'm trying to plan a route through the Cinque Terre ("chinkwa tare") in Italy when we get there in a week or so. So, it's been a pretty relaxing and easy day today. Since the weather has been crummy for the last five days or so, we thought we'd just hangout. Tomorrow it is supposed to be better (fingers crossed) and so we have plans to explore some huge palace and possibly the oldest zoo in Europe :)

So, not much to write about really!

Doing all the research constantly is getting a little tiring though, it really is mentally draining. Both Jeff and I cringe a little bit at the thought of continuing to look at hostels and prices and locations to the train and the sights and blah blah blah... If we hadn't bounced so much from place to place (mainly because of the Rhine cruise and Oktoberfest) we probably wouldn't be so ugly about the hostel hunt now. Oh well! Live and learn.

When Jeff gets up and brings our dinner ingredients from our room over (pasta with uncle ben's sauce [with pork in the fridge from the grocery store]) we'll start on that and then have a quiet evening probably. Jeff's off beer right now after being sick (I know, I'm shocked too, lol) so no pubs for us right now! We've got a potentially busy day tomorrow and then a long train ride to Innsbruck on Friday. Still lots to look forward to - I mentioned to Jeff that I think all of the 'awesomeness' is tiring us out, lol We just don't know how to handle all of the excitement. :)

Hope you're having a super day!

Amanda

Vienna, Austria

Yesterday was cold and wet. We wandered around for over five hours with all of our bags, which are getting heavier (I already chucked a pair of shorts and I have a feeling other things are going to be chucked to make room for souvenirs). We spent two hours in an Italian restaurant where we had pizza and some soup and a hot chocolate - it was our Thanksgiving meal and it was nothing compared to mom's traditional turkey spread! We were trying to keep and stay dry and warm. We sat undercover outside, did a little shopping and generally widdled away the time.

The shuttle arrived on time and the ride was shared with a family of five. It was all pretty uneventful. Had I not known we were in Czech/Austria it would have looked just like home. It took about three hours to get to our hostel.

The hostel room is small (but not Amsterdam boat smal!) but still a little cramped. The sheets are questionable and there are holes... We're not thoroughly impressed.

We found some dinner at a doner place (surprised?) as it was cheap and easy for after 8pm. The kitchen had been WAY too busy to attempt to make our own food like we had planned. How does a huge hostel only have one sink and one stove top for all these people to share? It's kind of ridiculous.

We have a t.v. in our room but I'd rather have better sheets. I even put the pillowcase I brought ontop of the pillowcase they provided. We watched CNN in English which was nice for a change although rather depressing as CNN tends to be.

I got up and showered in a tiny stall and then walked to the grocery store to get breakfast and a few things (yogurt, nutella, granola bars, water, apples). Jeff and I walked to the centre of the old town and saw the catherdral, a gorgeous old Baroque church, a memorial to the 65 000 Austrian Jews that were killed by the Nazis (very sad), and about half a dozen McDonalds' and H&Ms (okay, at least three of each and on the same street!). It was six hours of walking.

We're finding that a lot of places are starting to blur together and are starting to all look the same, which is draining and not so much fun. We're beginning to get tired of the hustle and bustle, the getting lost, oriented and then having to do it over and over again. So, we are changing our plans and are going to take a 'break' from our traveling (if you can believe it). We booked three nights at this spectacular sounding resort in Innsbruck, Austria, in the alps. It's expensive but we still got a deal (42% off the regular price). It has a pool and saunas and relaxing areas. I think Jeff is really in need of a break after being sick and we're both getting tired. We're going to skip Budapest and after Innsbruck head to Venice, Cinque Terre and then Rome (maybe for a week with some day trips). It'll be, hopefully, less chaotic that way and each place will be quite different than the others, which should inspire some excitement.

We'll see how it goes. We're already looking forward to this place in Innsbruck and we just booked it this evening.

We made dinner before the mad rush of other hostelers and we were lucky enough to get the extra of someone else's meal shared with us - homemade bolognese pasta sauce with meat (which was probably a lot better than our Uncle Ben's 'out-of-a-jar' stuff).

Jeff just came back from the store with some apple juice and now we're going to head back to our room - which is outside of this building about eight seconds away (but a pain nonetheless because we don't have internet in our room and it's only in this building... Urgh).

Time to do a little research for tomorrow's adventure.

Hope you're having a super day,

Amanda

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving Day at home!

Our day doesn't look too inviting at this point. We're checking out of our place at 11am (15 min) and then don't catch our shuttle to Vienna until 4:45pm... And it's cold and wet outside and we'll have all our luggage with us. So, we'll have to get creative with things to do today with our stuff as well as how to keep warm. I'm not thrilled about it. We both may need to buy hats and gloves!

Anyway, better put this away and get ready to bundle up... Maybe I should put just one more layer on, that'll make it five with two jackets... Maybe not, four should be good with a backpack on either side of me as well. Urgh...

Will update from Vienna!

Amanda

Why did I do that?

For those of you who don't know, I'm not a big fan of puppets... I think they're creepy. What if they come alive? Pinnochio was cute when he turned into a real boy but what if he had been evil? I know, cartoon, but still. Anyway, there seem to be a lot of puppets and marionette dolls here and I don't like it. There is even a puppet museum! Now, while I was out wandering on my own for a bit this afternoon I came across a wax museum and thought it may be entertaining to wander through. What I realized about 2 seconds after entering the exhibit is that wax figures are like giant life-size puppets!! This was not a good idea. I freaked myself out on more than one occasion as I walked through, alone, listening to eeire music play in dark rooms with GIANT PUPPETS! Needless to say, I was uncomfortable and at one point had to take a picture with my flash just to see if I was supposed to go into a room because it was so dark, but I could see something (a female witch or something dressed in white with an owl that faded in and out). I was supposed to look but not go in, so when I hit the partition rope with my legs I nearly screamed.

Once the scarier wax figures and dark scenes were over and it got brighter, I was less afraid, until I entered a room with a dozen or so figures. My imagintion was getting the better of me as I imagined Albert Einstein and the pope coming alive to get me... But then I came across Michael Jackson, Tina Turner, Louis Armstrong and the best of all, Harry Potter (!!!!!) and I felt better. I'm glad it ended on a high note or those few euros it cost me would nearly have been a waste! Note to self, don't go into those types od things alone. No wonder I could never go into a Haunted House as a kid.

After that slightly terrifying experience, I meandered through the streets of Cesky Krumlov at a very leisurely pace. I took in the adorable views, the many tourist groups swarming the streets, ate a delicious traditional Czech bread – cylinder bread roasted then coated in sugar and cinnamon (yum) and window shopped. I was surprised how busy the town was for a Sunday afternoon as most places we've gone, Sundays are pretty quiet days.

Jeff and I then went to the castle and wandered around. We got to see bears! There were two of them outside the castle walls, in a "bear moat". Long story short, the "Cesky Krumlov Český Castle is decorated with ostentatious coats-of-arms of the lords of Rosenberg bearing the sign of the five-petalled rose in a silver field and bears as the shield-bearers. The Rosenberg family legend held that the Rosenbergs were related to the noble Italian family of Orsini. "Orsa" means 'she-bear' in Italian, and it is this animal motif which especially the last Rosenberg rulers used to demonstrate their relationship with the house of Orsini. They used the motif in their coat-of-arms, in which two bears are shown as shield-bearers. This alleged relationship was to support the antiquity of the house of Rosenberg, leading its roots to as early as ancient Rome." (http://www.castle.ckrumlov.cz/docs/en/zamek_1nadvori_mhisto.xml). So, they keep bears at the castle! I didn't know that until I got back to our room and googled it! We sure were surprised to see them.

I climbed to the top of the tower (that is decorted with pinks and turquoise) for some spectacular views of the town and a birds-eye view into the bear moat :) Needless to say, I took lots of pictures of both.

I'm not sure what the plan for dinner will be as Jeff's got a bit of a stomachache so I may get something on my own. No plain, boiled noodles for me thank you! :). I'm definitely missing turkey dinner and all the fixings at home.

I'm going to do some research about Venice so we can stay a couple of days or so without going broke... :) It'll be herre before we know it.

Until next time,

Amanda

***

Went out to find dinner and enjoyed garlic bread and cheese soup, fried cheese and a beer... A dinner of champions! I am now garlicy and cheesey... It was delicious though. :)

Eggenberg Brewery Tour

Hello hello!

So, after an interesting night's sleep in a blood red room that was at least 100 degrees, lying in bed surrounded by pervocative paintings and listening to something 'click' oniniously throughout the night, we got up and headed to the Eggenberg brewery tour at 11am. They only do one tour a day for people who just show up, so it was 11am or bust. We made it though. Jeff bought a ticket that included two half litres of beer for tasting after the tour and a four beer 'gift set' (akak 'will drink later' set) and I got a ticket for the tour and tastings.

We were taken on an English speaking tour through this very old brewery (1560). It was named Eggenberg after a family who had owned it for 100 years. At some points in time it was closed because they couldn't get supplies to make the beer during the war or owned by the country during the communist regime and at another time taken over by the nazis. We were shown how the sweet beer water (before fermentation) was created with the hops and all sifted through. Then shown where the yeast was added to the vats where the beer sits for awhile before the brewmaster tastes it and decides if it's ready to bottle or keg (10-12 days or so). We learned that the worker who cleans out the vat is called the mole, lol. We got to see how the bottles and kegs are filled by conveyor, even though it was quite old looking! The beer used to be kept cold in summer months by putting ice in the attic above the fermentation tanks and sometimes it would go bad. We also learned the difference between 10% and 12% beer, and it's not the alcohol but the percentage of malt and hops to water which means the higher the percentage the stronger the taste. The 10% beer has 4% alcohol, a light beer, and 12% is 5% alcohol. In the communist era, beer was brewed at 7 or 8% (so 3-4% alcohol) so the workers wouldn't get drunk but could still have a beer during their break. Eggenberg beer is only exported to a few countries (not ours!) but mostly stays in the Czech. It was an interesting tour but the best part was afterward!

We sat with a number of people from our tour group and chatted for nearly two hours, enjoying a litre of beer each. We talked a lot about language and our countries and beer. It was really enjoyable and the best part of the day.

As it has been rainy and cold today (10 degrees! It hurts to think it's 24 and sunny at home right now) we walked for a bit after our tour through the town but eventually headed back to our place to warm up and get dry. We did some research for our next place and what our plan will be for the next few weeks. We're heading to the Horror Bar (it should be entertaining as it's Halloween themed all year) for a drink tonight and then will head out to find something to eat.

Jeff read somewhere that there isn't any bad place to eat in Cesky Krumlov so hopefully we stumble across something delicious! Some hot comfort food in this dreary weather would be nice!

Have a fabulous day today and chat soon!

Amanda

***

So, while we were getting dressed to head out I heard a number of voices outside our door and I guessed that one of them had to be Maty's. Maty's business card self-describes as:

"eccentric transmasculine FtM (female to male)
performance artist cabaret actor
drag king contemporary painter
photo-pirate avant-garde writer
modern poet transqueer
androgynous genderfluid
introverted half
of Drag Addicts duet
pseudo-intellectual diettante &
genderplay illusionst"

Maty was so helpful to us! We got loads of inside information about places to go (and not go!) that had great food or quirky atmosphere's. We learned about a gypsy restaurant that had great food and a very closeby bar that is mostly full of locals (the owner opened up so he could serve his friends cheap beer, essentially). We also learned of a supposedly really delicious deli/bakery in town as well.

So, we headed out to the gypsy restaurant and although it was really quite difficult to find, as the front door looked like a back door, we found it. It was awkward as we stepped in, everyone staring but we sat found a seat and sat down. The owner (we presume as we were told it is a family owned and run business) got us drinks and we thankfully could read the menu because it had English. I got potato pancakes with boiled cabbage (saurkraut) and ham and Jeff got a spicy pork mix with fries. While we waited at a table for six, three women joined us because the small place was busy. Both of our meals were delicious and a lot of food for the price.

We then headed out to the Horror Bar and although Maty said it's touristy, there wasn't any English or other recognizable language (other than Czech) in the place and it was busy too. We were again greeted by stares and no idea where to go to sit as everything was full. So, we followed some stairs and found an eerie room with a coffin, turned over piano, and eeire lights (from the 70s! AH! lol). It was in some sort of cellar and with no natural light it would be creepy all the time. We had passed a see-through coffin that was used as a table and there were skeleton things hanging from the ceiling and scary looking candles. We ended up ordering from a flustered bar woman and sat by ourselves in a back room. There was no music so we just sat and talked over a drink.

Then we headed out to the Gorrila Bar, the one that is mostly locals. We entered again with trepidation but just sat down and got a drink when the owner came by. There were a lot of men and a number of them were watching a tennis match on a big t.v. There was music playing too. The walls were covered in torn out magazine posters of rock groups and they were framed. There was also a giant poster of Homer Simpson that said, "To alcohol" that was also framed. The place was pretty easy-going but the smoking inside waw getting to me. I am thankful that there is no smoking indoors in Canada anymore!

We didn't stay long before climbing up our 80 stairs and then eventually hitting the hay.

Cesky Krumlov ("ch"esky crumblove)

Sorry yesterday's post was a date late but it's up now :)

Today has been quite a day as well!

We took our time this morning getting ready because we didn't have to check out until 10:30am and didn't want to get on the train too early so we didn't arrive too early. We cleaned up our 'apartment' and then headed off to the train station for the 11:15am train to Cesky Budejovice, which we had to get to before transfering to another train that would take us to Cesky Krumluv. It was a pretty boring ride. Six of us were in a compartment made for eight, two guys took up two spaces with their stuff, I think they didn't want anyone else to sit in (it would have been quite crowded). We had seven minutes between getting off one train and getting onto the next one but since we arrived a little earlier than expected we had lots of time and found it easily (it's a little nervewracking knowing you have to transfer trains in a station you've never seen, in a language you don't understand and with only minutes to do so!).

We made it to Cesky Krumlov and even though we had really detailed directions, we still got lost. The only thing that threw us was whether we were to take a foot path along the road that we didn't know where it went or follow the road... We followed the road but the foot path is what we should have done. It wasn't fun. We probably spent 20 minutes lost, in the rain, and with our heavy bags... Unpleasant. We eventually found our way and were thoroughly relieved when we got to our place and into our room. The walk to our place was really encouraging though as this is an old medieval town and absolutely adorable! I'm excited to explore tomorrow!

Our room is SO MUCH FUN with so much character! We're staying in an artist's home who paints some pretty provocative pictures and that are hung everywhere. It sure adds some flare to the room. It's called the Budda room too. It has a fireplace, although we're not sure how to get it working and it also has a hot plate, fridge, and cooking ware! It's a great room, probably my favourite so far.

After we let ourselves in as the owner wasn't home and explained where we could get the key and whatnot, we settled in, gathered all our laundry and made our way to the laundromat that was on the map provided to us. We got lost finding that too... But once again, we did eventually find it. Laundry is not cheap, about $10 for a load and that really is irritating but we were so desperate that Jeff went without underwear and I went without pants!! It took hours for it to get done and since I was wearing a skirt and sandals with a sweater and scarf, I was freezing by the time it was done (after 7pm). I put my pants on right out of the dryer as well as socks but my teeth still chattered the whole way back to our place. Two days ago we were in shorts and t-shirts because we were so hot! I didn't have a pair of pants to wear because I had sweat through my clean pair the other day and my other ones were already dirty.

It was a pretty miserable walk to the Chinese restaurant next to the 80 stairs at the bottom of our place (yeah, 80 - we are always surrounded by a significant number of stairs!) but we warmed a bit before picking up food and the booting it home. We inhaled it after Jeff had a hot shower and now we're drinking tea and listening to 570 News Radio while I blog. They just announced that the keg has been tapped in Kitchener for Oktoberfest and I SO want to be wearing my drindl!! Next year, I guess!

Hope everyone has a fabulous Thanksgiving weekend. As always, I'm thankful for my family and friends who are all very near and dear to my heart no matter where I am or where they are in the world... Whether an hour away or across the world.

With love and chilly toes,

Amanda