Adventures in Europe

Its time for just one last update from me!  I figured that I should finish this off with a post trip top 10 to compare with my pre trip one.  There are quite a few differences considering that we could not do several of the things on the previous list.  Oh well, I'll save those for next time I guess.  So here they are in no particular order;

1.  Bath, England - This is probably one of the best places to see what ancient Roman life was like.  Don't drink the free water they offer you though, it tastes pretty gross.
2.  Norway - With the hiking and the fjords, there aren't a lot of countries that are this pretty.
3.  Interlaken, Switzerland - Every time you leave a building you are shocked all over again by how beautiful all the mountains are.
4.  Waffles and chocolate in Belgium - Really you can eat these for every meal, I mean how often are you in Belgium.
5.  Fredericksbourg Slot in Copenhagen -  I think this was one of the most impressive castles both from the outside and the inside.  The great hall is amazing.
6.  Gelato in Italy - I may never be able to eat regular ice cream again.  Just a warning.
7.  Berlin, Germany - There is so much recent history here that its amazing.
8.  Scottish Highlands - Lochs and mountains make this area a great place to see.  I would have liked to see more of it but that will have to wait.
9.  Giants Causway, Northern Ireland - Its pretty crazy that this is a natural rock formation considering how man made it looks.  We got a little wet but it was still worth it.
10.  The Forum in Rome, Italy - Its hard to believe that something so old can still be standing.  When you are there its amazing to think that a couple thousand years ago the ancient Romans were walking around those same buildings.

Well I think thats about all for me.  Thanks to everyone for reading this and keeping up with us on the trip.  We've enjoyed this a lot and I hope you all have too!

Andrea
Signing off

Now that we are home and well its time to tell you all about the epic last leg of our journey, Greece.
 
The day after the arduous ferry journey we slept in a little before starting our trek around Athens.  We visited the Roman forum but decided upon seeing it (the whole thing was visible from the fence) that we didn't really need to pay to go in.  We also stopped at Hadrian's Arch and the Temple of Olympian Zeus.  As a warning, if you read the Lonely planet guides, you might think that the entire temple is still standing.  This is really not the case.  About 15 of the columns are still standing, although I'm sure it would have been incredibly huge during its day.  In our walking around we ended up at Parliament just in time to watch the changing of the guards.  The guards all do these jerky sort of motions as they leave their posts and the new ones come in.  They also all wear pompoms on their shoes.  Its a little strange.  There was a nice, calm protest (something we would grow to appreciate) about carbon dioxide emissions featuring some signs that said "No CO2".  We can only assume that they were against breathing.  We devoted most of the rest of the afternoon to walking around the market areas downtown.  After coming back to the hostel the person at the desk asked us if we were expecting a friend so we of course responded with a no only to find out that Phil had shown up at the hostel.  Apparently we lied about expecting a friend.  Thankfully with the four of us, our room was full and we couldn't get any horrible roommates, haha.  We spent most of the night hanging around the room after Rich ordered a giant block of feta from the grocery store.  It must have been a kilogram or something.  Of course, we barely made a dent in it.
 
For the next morning we had intended to go to the Acropolis but we were told that the staff were all on strike.  The strike was supposed to end on monday though so we decided to go to the Ancient Agora instead.  On our way out we spotted a building on fire but we didn't think much of it.  We took some pictures and left.  At the Agora we stopped into the small museum and went to the Temple of Hephaestus, one of the best preserved temples in Greece.  Then we decided to climb up a nearby hill where we got a nice view of the Acropolis and surrounding city.  At lunch we were told that apparently a 15 year old had been shot by the police the night before leading to a large amount of rioting.  The fire in the building that we had seen earlier had been started by them.  Before heading back to the hostel we stopped at the Greek theatre next to the Acropolis and at Socrates prison.  Since Rich was leaving the next day, we had decided that we were having our last supper that night.  We went to a restaurant downtown that was recommended by the person working at the hostel and on our way there noticed that almost all of the windows around had been broken by the rioters the night before.
 
Sadly, even though the weekend was over, the Acropolis was still not open on Monday so we had to try elsewhere.  We also tried to visit the Archeological Museum but it was closed as well for safety reasons.  It is located right next to one of the campuses where student rioters were hiding from the police (in Greece the police aren't allowed to enter the school grounds).  We decided instead to go up Lycabettus hill and get a view over the city.  We spent quite a while up there relaxing until we noticed smoke coming from the area below.  When we came down, store windows had been smashed and several cars (usually the most expensive ones, the porshe and the BMW for instance) had all been set on fire.  We walked through an area of the rubble before making a stop at the hostel.  Following that we took Rich to the metro stop so he could catch his plane out.  Our walk back seemed mostly uneventful until we ran into a protest by the Communist party.  They were quite peaceful so we weren't too worried as we passed them.  Behind them though we noticed several youths, covering their faces with scarves, who looked as though they were in pain.  It took only a few seconds to realize that they had been tear gassed.  We walked a few steps further before our eyes started burning.  The nose and throat pain closely followed and we realized we had walked into the gas cloud.  We backtracked and headed down a side street but things weren't much better there.  Some of the rioters were preparing to set a pile of trash on fire and on the next street we got to, they were hurling blocks of marble at any sheets of glass they could see.  Avoiding them took us quite a bit off our normal path and we were forced to stop at a hotel and ask for directions.  Needless to say we were quite relieved when we spotted our first prostitute.  It was a sign that we were home.  We spent the rest of the night sitting on the roof of the hostel watching smoke clouds rise from the city below.
 
After all this excitement, all we really wanted to do the next day was sit on a beach.  We asked the hostel staff if they knew of one and they proceeded to look at us like we were crazy for wanting to go to a beach in the winter.  Our first attempt was to go to Hydra but when we reached the port they told us that we were too late to go there and back in one day.  Our second stop was supposed to be a nice beach along the coast but it was closed for the season and we had to continue.  Finally we managed to find a rocky beach and we spent some time relaxing and staring at the water.  It was nice to be somewhere that wasn't on fire for once.  When we came back that night though, not much had changed.  Tear gas had seemingly been let off near the hostel and so a dilute cloud of it was ever present in the air.  We also spent a good portion of the night worried about impending strikes.  There was a general strike in Athens scheduled for the following day which was going to cancel all flights out of Athens.  That was alright for us as long as it didn't continue until the day after that.  We really didn't want to be stuck in this city any longer.
 
For our final day we made one more attempt at the Acropolis but it was still on strike.  We were forced to look at it from afar.  We did think about bribing one woman there to let us in and we were told by hostel staff later that that actually might have worked.  Too bad.  When we returned to Omonia (the square near our hostel) all of the trash bins had been set on fire as well as a couple of buildings.  The riot police were heading towards the square, apparently being pushed back by rioters.  We decided it was best to get out of that area. 
 
Thankfully it got to the 11th and the strike did not continue.  We got to the airport several hours early since Phil's flight was leaving sooner and we were worried about people from the previous days trying to get onto our flights.  Thankfully the airport was pretty deserted and we didn't really need to worry.  Our flight flew out and we were in London by midnight.  We were able to make it to our hotel, sleep for four hours, and then get up to catch our flight back to Canada.  At least the Air Transat had movies and free food though. 
 
So that is the end.  We made it back to Canada a little more than three months after we left.  Its been a long trip and it will be nice to catch up on sleep.  It does feel strange to not be sleeping in a room with other people though, haha.  I think Steph and I will finish up this blog with one more entry of our top 10 destinations!

Andrea

There is nothing wrong with your computer monitor. Do not attempt to adjust the picture. We are controlling the transmission. If we wish to make it louder, we will bring up the volume. If we wish to make it softer, we will tune it to a whisper. We will control the horizontal. We will control the vertical. We can roll the image, make it flutter. We can change the focus to a soft blur or sharpen it to crystal clarity. For the next few minutes, sit quietly and we will control all that you see and hear. We repeat, there is nothing wrong with your computer monitor. You are about to participate in a great adventure. You are about to experience the awe and mystery which reaches from the inner mind to... The Outer Limits.

December 4, 2008  7:00 CET
Andrea, Steph and Rich wake up and begin preparations to get to Naples and onwards to Brindisi to catch their ferry.  They grab breakfast, check out and leave the hostel.

December 4, 2008  7:40 CET
They board the Circumvesuviana metro in Sorrento and take it to the Naples train station.

December 4, 2008  8:57 CET
Upon arriving in the Naples train station, they are immediately approached by a strange looking man wearing a Western Union hat.  After asking them several times where they are going, Steph caves and tells him they are going to Brindisi.  He then informs them that they should stand in the line that they are already standing in.  Rich thanks him for his unnecessary help and the three proceed to buy tickets and reservations, though even that is not without some trouble - the one ticket vendor is packed, and Steph and Andrea try to go to the travel agency at the next desk... however, they don't understand English, nor do they seem to understand train numbers, so they finally get their tickets from the first ticket agent.  After leaving the ticket office they are approached by the same man now asking them for a tip since he gave them ever such useful information.  Rich replies that they have no money, but the man will clearly not be fooled; he points out that they must have payed for the tickets somehow.  Rich convinces him that they payed by card and he finally leaves the group alone.  The group finds a more deserted train schedule to stand by and wait for the platform number.

December 4, 2008  9:15 CET
The train shows up on the schedule board as being 15 minutes late.  This worries the group as there is another train on the board that is 200 minutes late and they hope that this will not happen to them as well.  Shortly afterwards the platform for their train is put up - platform "2T".  Steph asks a nearby person who is asking a train station worker where the platform is.  He directs them towards platform 2 where there is a sign with the letter T.  That must be it!  As they look around, they realize, however, that the platform they are at appears to be the place where trains go to die.  There are weeds growing off to the side of the tracks, and a train consisting of two cars sits open and vacant - clearly not the train going to Taranto.  Nevertheless, the group waits.  The conductor from another train approaches and tells them that they are in the wrong place.  The locals look worried and insist that the platform was advertised as "2T".  After asking three other members of the train station staff, the group finds out the platform is underground.

December 4, 2008  9:48 CET
The group, along with several other train passengers, briskly walk across the station and downstairs, only to find that the train has departed without them.  With the help of a kind local Italian man, they are directed to Customer Service where the man explains the situation in emotional, hand-gesturing, loud Italian.  The Customer Service representative looks unimpressed, but the local manages to talk the staff member into authorizing them to take a different train.  Some language difficulties lead to confusion about what, exactly, a "ferry" is, but eventually another way is found for Steph, Andrea and Rich to make it to Brindisi by 18:00.  They are told to run for a train, which according to the board has already left, so they sprint in that direction.  After getting on the train, it waits for 10 more minutes before departing.

December 4, 2008  10:50 CET
Arrival in Salerno.  The group exits the train and expect to get on a different train heading for Brindisi.  They are told that they are actually taking a bus to Taranto where they will be switching to a train to get to Brindisi.  They wander about looking lost and confused as they search for the bus.  At last, they find the bus and board it.

December 4, 2008  11:15 CET
Bus departs Salerno.

December 4, 2008  13:15 CET
The bus stops in a desolate-looking town and the driver informs the passengers that they must get off the bus and switch to another one for some reason.  The new bus departs for Taranto.

December 4, 2008  15:20 CET
Bus arrives in Taranto at the train station.  Being quite hungry, the group attempts to find food at the station.  Their options include sandwiches or sandwiches.  Rich opts for a sandwich.

December 4, 2008  16:16 CET
Train departs for Brindisi.  As the ride goes on, the temperature steadily increases to sauna levels.  Steph gets antsy because of the heat; Rich makes fun of her.  After opening some windows, it becomes apparent that the more windows are open, the more heat is emitted.  Steph and Andrea stick their heads out the window at stations to prevent from suffocating inside.  Rich dozes as he regrets making fun of Steph for her intolerance of heat - the temperature has risen about 15 degrees since he mocked her.

December 4, 2008  17:20 CET
Train arrives in Brindisi.  The group asks a worker at the station how to get to the ferry port.  They are given some confusing directions that either mean they can walk 10 minutes to the port and catch a shuttle, or that they can walk 10 minutes and be at the ferry terminal.  They walk down through the streets of Brindisi which are populated solely by old Italian men, until arriving at the port.  No large ferry awaits them, so in confusion they ask the nearby police officers who point across the water and tell them that there is a free shuttle to the actual ferry port. 

December 4, 2008  17:45 CET
The group watches the water for a boat until Rich points out that there is, in fact, a picture of a bus on the sign.  No buses pass either and the group decides to ask the police again.  After receiving some vague instructions about the arrival of the shuttle ("When will it come?"  "Sometime soon."  "Yes, but when exactly?  We need to get to the port SOON!"  "It comes, sometime."), the group are forced to take a taxi.

December 4, 2008  18:26 CET
Arrival at the ferry terminal.  After showing their passports and tickets, the group finally gets onto the ferry, relieved that they made it there only half an hour before departure.  Upon getting on the ship they are shown to their rooms and Steph and Andrea immediately note the presence of a mere 5 women in total on the boat.  All other passengers are older Italian and Greek men who give them odd looks.  They force Rich to walk around with them at all times.

December 4, 2008  20:00 CET
Dinner is served.  The group goes to the self-service dining area and enjoys the first meal they have had in several hours.  They also quickly realize that the vast and comprehensive menu posted outside the dining area is for teasing purposes only, as most of the food listed is unavailable. They again note that there are no other females in the room besides Andrea and Steph.  Rich notes that he can easily pick out their voices even from across the room.  Despite the "no smoking" signs in many areas around the boat, several of the passengers and staff members begin to smoke with no concerns.  The ferry has still not departed Brindisi.

December 4, 2008  22:00 EET
Steph and Andrea hide in their room.  Thankfully, no roommates have shown up to share their cabin.  They suspect this may have something to do with the fact that their cabin is single-sex, and there clearly aren't enough women on the boat to fill it.  They send Rich out to ask about when the ferry will be leaving.  He is looked at by the staff members as though he is crazy and told that they have no idea when the ferry will be departing.  The group decides to go to bed.

December 5, 2008  2:00 EET
The ferry finally departs, 6 hours after the scheduled time.  Drawers begin falling out of the desk in Rich's room as the ship rocks.  The bathroom door in Andrea and Steph's room slams shut several times.  They all attempt to go back to sleep.

December 5, 2008  9:32 EET
The group meets up, still exhausted from the previous night.  Rich asks when the ferry will be arriving and is told around 18:00.  The scheduled arrival time was 10:30.  The group goes back to sleep.

December 5, 2008  11:15 EET
The ferry arrives in Igoumenitsa.  It sits there for about two hours.  Almost all of the boat's passengers depart, leaving only Steph, Andrea, Rich, and about 5 other people. 

December 5, 2008  12:00 EET
The group shows up to lunch.  They find that the food is reheated dinner from the previous night and they are the only people in the room.  After getting their food (for the same price as the previous night's dinner), they eat while being watched by all of the 10 people working in the self service area.  They become convinced that perhaps this ship is never going to let them off.  They may be on the ferry forever...

December 5, 2008  13:12 EET
It is decided that since it is a nice day, the group will go outside and read for a while.  This goes well until they are approached by a man claiming to be from Senegal who attempts to sell them small elephants for 2 euros and a coffee.  They are not tempted and Rich again tells him they have no money.  He leaves but stands on the stairs watching the group for at least another half an hour.  Apparently it is impossible to escape people selling things, even on ferries.

December 5, 2008  15:30 EET
Andrea begins to get sea sick and the group goes inside and plays cards for a while. Andrea takes an ironic picture of a "no smoking" sign on a table which has a full ashtray and empty pack of cigarettes beside it.

December 5, 2008  16:40 EET
The group decides to rest for a while before the ship gets in.  Steph and Andrea inquire as to when the ship will be getting in and are told that it will arrive at 19:00.  They also inquire as to why the ship is 9 hours late and are looked at as though they are complete scum for having the nerve to ask such a question.  The response seems to imply that water conditions were bad but the actual words seemed to be something about "11 bowels" or possibly "11 barrels".  Whatever was wrong with the boat or the sea, it had to do with eleven.  Confused, they return to their room.

December 5, 2008  18:30 EET
Steph and Andrea are told by staff that the ship has arrived and take their bags excitedly out of the room.  After finding Rich, they all head quickly to the exit, positively overjoyed at the prospect of getting off the boat, when they notice that the ship is still at sea.  Dismayed, they go back upstairs and wait for arrival.

December 5, 2008  19:40 EET
The ferry arrives in Patras.  The group leaves the ferry as fast as possible and head to the bus station.

December 5, 2008  20:00 EET
They arrive at the bus station and wait for a 20:15 bus to Athens.  After trying to load their luggage into the empty compartment underneath the bus, they are yelled at in Greek, and then told to put it in the other side of the bus.  They find their seat numbers and wait for the bus to depart.

December 5, 2008  23:30 EET
Bus arrives in Athens.  The group, tired and grumpy, take a cab to the hostel and desperately searched for food in the surrounding area.  Several drug transactions and prostitutes are spotted in the area.

December 6, 2008  1:33 EET
The group finally, after the epic adventure, goes to bed.

Credits:

Narrated by:  Morgan Freeman
Starring:  Andrea Darlington
              Stephanie Keating
              Richard Champion

We have a big, epic, fantastic update for you all to read...but not yet since we're not done writing it.

However, we just thought we'd let you all know that we're fine here in Athens.  As you may have seen or read in the news, there was rioting in Athens last night as protesters took to the streets after police shot a 15 year old in an altercation.  They ended up burning down a building, which we saw the smouldering remains of this morning.

The riots weren't in the area we are staying in, though (that has drug dealers and prostitutes at night instead!), so we are fine, and actually had no clue there even were riots last night until a couple of Canadian tourists whose hostel was in the area informed us what happened. 

I find that kind of funny, that we can be in the middle of a city and potentially not have even found out about the riots until after we got home, had they not told us... since we can't read Greek newspapers, and it wasn't on CNN this morning (the only time we watch TV).

Anyways, we're fine, everything's ok, so don't worry about us!  :)

Cheers,
Steph & Andrea

Andrea:  Before our ferry journey to Greece I feel it's time to get this blog back up to date.

Steph:  Yes, we don't exactly know how long it will be until we can update in Greece, and we just figured out how to install Flash on the KDE environment so we might as well use it to update the blog as well as put up pictures!

Andrea:  After our adventures in Venice we had one last stop in Florence before getting to the train.  We went to the Uffizi art gallery.  The statues were quite impressive but the paintings seemed to be arranged in strange ways and a lot of the rooms were closed.  Also the lighting wasn't really the best for looking at art work.  In the afternoon we stopped for gelato before catching the train to Rome.

Steph:  Yeah, I wasn't terribly impressed with the Uffizi, to be honest.  The art really was lovely, but they had a bunch of rooms closed off, and the display was really not up to par.  Maybe I've just been to too many art galleries this trip?  That could be the case.  But they hung paintings too close together, too high up, really awkwardly on the wall... though, they did say in some signage that they were in the process of updating the gallery, so hopefully they'll make it better.

Andrea:  We were told by Rich, who was meeting us in Rome the next day, that we were not allowed to see the exciting stuff without him on the first day so we spent most of the time going through some of Rome's many piazzas.  We started off at one near our hostel which had a church (Santa Maria degli Angeli) that looked like Roman ruins on the outside but an ordinary (ordinary for Europe) Catholic church on the inside.  It seems like this happened to a lot of the Roman ruins.  The original building used to be part of the Baths of Diocletian.

Steph:  Some informative signs and displays inside the church told us that Michelangelo designed a bunch of the church's renovations.  This was just one of the many wonders of Michelangelo that we were to encounter in Rome.

Andrea:  Despite the on and off rain storms we made it first to the Piazza del Quirinale and then to the Pantheon.  The Pantheon is another Roman on the outside, Catholic on the inside building, but it's very impressive both inside and out.  It has the largest dome of any church in the world.

Steph:  It's also super cool because apparently they still don't know quite how they managed to build it!  Isn't that neat?  Apparently it's built of some sort of concrete that gets less dense the higher it is...or something like that?  My physics brain is on vacation, sorry guys.

Andrea: In a brief moment of sunshine we made our way to the Piazza Navona which has Bernini's Four Rivers fountain.  It was blocked by a large wood wall but some clear plastic in the sides allowed us to see it anyways.  We were also beginning to notice an abundance of obelisks in Roman piazzas. 

Steph:  Yeah, it's too bad about the renovations, but I suppose if we come back many years from now we'll be glad of them.  At least we could see some of the fountain. I believe this was one of the ones featured in "Demons & Angels"... not that we were on some sort of Dan Brown tour or something... *shifty eyes*

Andrea:  We continued our walking around by going to Augustus' Mausoleum which has high fences all around it.  It was rather unfortunate.  Also the sidewalk by the river that we walked on was covered entirely in pigeon poop.  Quite disgusting. 

Steph:  Oh my goodness, the sidewalk was DISGUSTING.  Seriously sickening.  The pigeon crap was like, a centimeter thick in places, and it smelled AWFUL.  For about an hour afterwards I had to fight this feeling of queasiness and resist the urge to jump in every puddle to clean my shoes off.

Andrea:  We also stopped at the Piazza del Popolo and various churches to hide from the rain.  One church offered very informative guides on important topics such as how to know if someone is possessed by the devil.  It even included how an exorcism was performed. 

Steph:  Yes, apparently if someone speaks in a language you don't understand, he or she is possessed.  We are surrounded by possessed people, here in Europe.

Andrea:  We walked by some of the ruins including Trajan's Column and went up the stairs in the Piazza Venizia for the view over Rome.  When we came back to the hostel we met our new roommate, another Canadian named Andrew and found Rich just in time for the free pasta dinner that the hostel offered.  At night the four of us roamed around the city and stopped for gelato.

Steph:  The gelato place that we went to had a really nice honey flavour, which they are renowned for.  It really was delicious, excellent gelato.  However, Andrew mentioned that someone he knew had recommended "the best gelato place in Rome", so we agreed that we would have to check that out eventually as well.  Eating gelato in Italy is a very important task.

Andrea:  The next morning we bought the Roma pass from tourist information and headed off to the Colosseum.  Not only did it give us free public transport and entry to some sights, but we were able to pass the entrance line for the Colosseum.  It was paying for itself already.  The Colosseum was huge and amazing to finally see after seeing so many pictures.  Its usually filled with people but that kind of makes it feel the way it might have during the Roman times. 

Steph:  It was indeed really great to see the Colosseum up close and personal.  It was neat to try to imagine what it was like back in the day... something like the SkyDome, I imagine!  Oh, sorry, the "Rogers Center"...yeah.  Anyways, it made us wonder if anything we've built will be looked back on after thousands of years in the same way.

Andrea:  It was a rainy morning but it was starting to clear up now as we went into Palatine Hill and the Roman forum.  I would say that the best part was the forum.  It was amazing to see parts of so many of the buildings still standing even after thousands of years.  We even spotted Caesar's grave.  It took a very long time to get through all the ruins so afterwards the four of us stopped for a very late lunch.  We walked up to the ruins of Nero's palace at Domus Aurea before heading back to the hostel and resting up.

Steph:  The forum was definitely really amazing.  I think I liked it better than the Colosseum, actually.  Just because it was neat to see so many buildings standing in relation to each other, whereas the Colosseum feels really isolated.  In any case, all the ruins were very good.  Also, after our resting at the hostel, we decided to check out the gelato place that Andrew's friend recommended...and boy, was it fantastic.  3 euro got us the biggest size gelato, with four flavours!  It was also delicious and high-quality gelato... very tasty!  We decided that nothing could beat the price, and the taste was fantastic, so we had to come back.

Andrea:  We all got up early the following morning in preparation to stand in line at the Vatican.  And that we did.  The last sunday of every month is free at the Vatican museum so we arrived at opening time to find a giant line up.  We had no idea how long it actually was so every time we thought it was about to end, we would go around another corner and find we had a lot further to go.  After about an hour and a half we made it inside. 

Steph:  And to make the line feel even LONGER, people in Italy have no concept of how to properly queue.  They push and shove and smoke and just... don't have any line etiquette.  We had an entire tour group of old people manage to shove themselves in front of the four of us, by pushing right up against us.  Also, some creepy middle aged guys kept standing *right* up against my back/butt, so eventually I moved to the other side of the line to get away from them.  They were gross.  But once we got in to the Vatican, everything was much nicer.

Andrea:  We walked around the paintings and Egyptian sculpture before starting on the long trek to the Sistine Chapel.  After the first sign, you go through about 50 rooms before actually getting there.  They also had a courtyard with a giant sculpture of a pine cone.  That lead us to believe that maybe people should be worshipping pine cones.  The map room was probably a highlight. 

Steph:  They had some really great pieces by Raphael, including some rooms painted by him which were really nice.  Also, just before the Sistine Chapel was the modern art section, and they had THREE Salvador Dali paintings... very cool indeed.

Andrea:  The Sistine chapel is packed when you get there and there are a few security guards walking around trying to tell people not to take pictures but it doesn't really work at all.  Everyone still does.

Steph:  Actually, at first, I thought the sign just said "no flash" for the cameras... and I saw some folks taking pictures with flash, so I thought, gee, I'll really be okay if I don't take photos with flash!  So I stood there at the front, lining up a nice shot, and this guard walks up to me and says, "EXCUSE ME, Maaaadam, no PHOOOOTO.  Puh-leeze, putta your camera AWAY!"  Naturally I suppressed the urge to laugh, and then went and sneakily took other photos.

Andrea:  After getting out we, after seeing the line for St. Peter's, went for lunch and then came back.  When we came back it seemed the line was less a line and more a mob to try and get through the metal detectors.  After forcing yourself through that you could walk around the church. 

Steph:  Yet again, people were thrusting and pushing and squirming and generally ignoring all the rules for a nice and proper line up.  After the Vatican line, however, I was no longer surprised or even really appalled by this.  But you can't go to the Vatican and not see St. Peter's, can you?

Andrea:  It was huge inside and quite empty of furniture.  We also spotted some members of the Swiss guard in their funny uniforms.  After leaving we passed the Castel which was originally built for Hadrian as a mausoleum.  We stopped by the Spanish steps before heading back for more free pasta.

Steph:  Yes, St. Peter's was quite empty, which made it feel even bigger.  It was full of very pretty art, Raphaels and Berninis and Michelangelos.  Very nice indeed!

Andrea:  On our last day in Rome we wanted to go to another attraction covered by our Roma passes but, since it was a monday, many things were closed.  We took the bus out to the Appian Way and tried to go to the mausoleum of Cecilia Metella, a rich Roman woman, but it was also closed.  At least we got to see some nice countryside for a change.  On our way back a dog, which we assumed belonged to some men nearby, came up to us to say hello.  We pet it a litte and started on our way (Andrew wanted everyone to know that he did not pet the dog, lol).  It decided to follow us, which was not a problem to start with.  Then the amount of traffic on the street started to increase and we realized that this dog was very stupid. 

Steph: We realized that he didn't in fact belong to those men at all, but that he was probably a stray (he had a collar but no tag) and the men were probably glad to be rid of him to the stupid foreigners.

Andrea:  He thought it was good to stand in the middle of the road in front of oncoming cars.  We had to yell several times to get him to move at all.  We decided that because of this he should be named Stu.

Steph:  (Because he was so stupid!)

Andrea:  As we neared our bus stop we decided it would be best to lure him into the fields near the catacombs.  Even after finding some sheep to chase it seemed like he might never leave us.  Thankfully he spotted some new people and ran over to them and we were safe.  We went down to the bus stop where Andrew fretted about how he was sure the dog was going to come running out into the middle of the road while we were standing there.  We thought we were home free but a few minutes before the bus came we spotted him trying to leave the catacombs.  Thankfully his new friends made sure he didn't run into traffic.  After that we got on the bus.  Hopefully he found more people to keep his stupidity in check.  Poor Stu.  On the way back we passed the Circus Massimo and the Barberini Piazza.  Near there we stopped into a chapel which was decorated entirely with human bones.  It was very creepy.

Steph:  This is also when I discovered I had butter in my pocket.  Unpleasant.

Andrea:  The next day, Steph, Rich and I started our journey to Sorrento after stopping one last time at our favourite Roman gelato place.  Most of the day was spent on trains as we went from Rome to Naples and Naples to Sorrento.

Steph:  I swear when we get back, the 2 hour journey between London and Toronto is going to feel like 10 seconds, compared to the hours and hours and days of trains that we've been taking on this trip.

Andrea:  Today we got up and went off to Pompeii.  The buildings and frescos were very impressive and the site was huge.  It took us most of the day to go around.  Also we really should have bought one of the maps but because of our cheapness we decided against it.  That made getting around even harder. 

Steph:  I mean, really, they charge 11 euros to get in, then have the cheek to try to charge another 6.5 euros for the audio guide and map?  Please!!

Andrea:  We spent most of the day looking for the dead people.  We felt a little strangely asking people where the bodies were but eventually we had to.  Apparently we were standing right outside the room they were in.  The bodies weren't quite what we expected.  They were kept in plastic boxes where as we expected them to be partly in the ground or something.  Still, they were very well preserved.  On our way back we stopped off at the cliffs to watch the sunset before returning to the hostel.

Steph:  And what a lovely sunset it was!  Definitely worth the stop... it was even warm enough to take off my jacket!  Woohoo!  Maybe Greece will be even warmer...

Andrea:  Tomorrow we get up early to take the train to Brindisi and then the ferry to Greece, the last country of the trip.  Not long until we come home now.

Andrea:  Uh oh, it appears we are starting to get behind on the updating.  We left you in suspense about our journeys in Marseilles so I guess we should begin with that.

We got into Marseilles as the sun was setting on our first night to find ourselves in the cold and wind.  You'd think it would be warm in the south of France but clearly not.  We didn't do much on the first night except head to the beach to test the temperature of the water without falling in and being smashed against the rocks by the waves.  We thought it was breezy then but we had yet to experience the worst of the wind. 

Steph:  The waves were really quite aggressive, and kept splashing us with their mist.  I took my shoes and socks off (not much foresight, I must admit) and let the waves go over my feet.  Unfortunately, I hadn't really brought anything to dry my feet off with, and then had to try to balance, wipe the rocks/wet off my feet, and get back into my socks and shoes.  It was fun, though. 

I should, however, note that I have a bit of a rant about HI (Hostelling International) hostels.  We hadn't bought a membership before we left since we weren't sure how many times we would stay with them, and plus my guide book said that if you stay with them 6 nights, you're automatically a member.  So, during the course of our travels, we had stayed about 7 nights with HI hostels... one night in Glasgow, three in Salzburg, and then three in Amsterdam.  So I just sort of assumed that they had a system in place, on the computer, that would keep track of how many nights someone had stayed.  When we got to Marseille (an HI hostel), we told them that we should be members already... but the guy asked for our "stamp card".  What was a stamp card, I inquired?  I had never heard of this!  Apparently, we were supposed to get a stamp for each night that we stayed at an HI hostel...and since we didn't have such a card, we needed to pay their exorbitant "non-member fee" of 2.90 euros (which, I should add, we paid at each of the other hostels as well!) and we would get a stamp for both nights that we were there.  I asked if I could show my receipts to prove that we'd stayed at the other places, and he said no, I needed stamps.  So I asked if he could just give us the rest of the stamps since we'd stayed at the places and paid the fees already...but no dice.  So, according to this stupid card which we were NEVER before offered at the three other HIs that we'd stayed in, we still have four more nights to go before we become members.  Grr, arg, I say.  Grr.  But enough of the rant... back to the update.

Andrea:  The next morning after our small breakfast (consisting of a baguette and a banana) we started roaming around the city. 

Steph:  I have to interrupt here...our breakfast was totally weird.  They gave us just the baguette and banana (I guess if you don't like bananas, too bad for you)... plus juice and coffee in a bowl.  That was all, and the set up was just really strange.  But, back to our roaming!

Andrea:  We walked though some of the markets and visited a church before attempting to go to the St. Victor Abbey.  Unfortunately we couldn't go in since there was clearly a funeral going on there.  We decided to head up to the Notre Dame de la Garde church which is apparently on the top of Mount Doom.  Climbing the stairs we were repeatedly pushed backwards by the extreme winds.  When we finally reached the top we managed to throw the ring into the fires of Mount Doom in the heart of Mordor, oh wait, I think that might be a different story.

Steph:  MY PRECIOUSSSSSS!!!!!!!  (Actually, I was Samwise, and Andrea was Frodo.  I repeatedly asked to bear her burden, or else to let her lay her head in my lap, but she pressed on, as though possessed...)

Andrea:  But truthfully the wind at the top was so strong that you had to hold the railings to prevent being blown off.  The church was very beautiful inside though and we spent quite a long time in there since we didn't really want to return to the outside world.  There was also an amazing view of the city from the top including a view of the Count of Monte Cristo island.  Most of the rest of the day (after we were picked up off of Mount Doom by a giant bird) was spent walking around before calling it a day.  Fighting the wind is an exhausting thing.

Steph:  We were tuckered, and so we went to bed fairly early, especially since we had to get up at the ungodly hour of 5am the next morning to catch our train to Florence.  The woman at the train station told us that the metro and buses started running at 5am, and we foolishly believed her, only to find out that our bus didn't start until 6:05am and our train left at 6:24am.  So we had to take a cab to the metro stop, the metro to the train, and fiiiinally the train to Florence!

Andrea:  Thankfully the next day allowed for a lot (except the getting up at 5am part) of rest since we spent the entire time on the train getting to Florence.

Our time in Florence allowed us to see a lot of the Northern Italy area.  After arriving on our first night we met an Australian guy, Tim, who was planning to go to Pisa and Siena the following day so we joined him.  We started with Pisa and saw the only important thing in the town, the tower.  It was certainly leaning and thankfully didn't fall over before we arrived.  We also did the obligatory tourist poses in front of it, including holding it up.  Siena was our next stop and sadly it was pretty rainy and gross there.  We visited the main piazza which was huge and completely deserted at the time.  The city was quite pretty although I'm sure it would have been better on a nicer day.  After getting lost several times we all managed to make it back to the train station and to Florence.

The weather had improved significantly for the next day so we started at the Duomo in Florence.  The church is almost completely empty inside which just makes it look that much larger and the facade is made entirely of marble.  We also climbed the bell tower to get a view of the Duomo and the surrounding city.  Apparently it had been a while since the last time we climbed that many stairs so we were pretty exhausted by the time we reached the top.

Steph:  I really, really liked the Duomo!  The marble was white and pink and green, and it was super pretty from the outside.  The inside was really nice too, especially the floor tiles.  Very pretty!!  But yes, the stair climb to the top was pretty crazy, and they charged 6 euro for it.  I always wonder why we pay for such punishment.  They should be paying us to climb those stairs!  (By the way, it was about 416 steps, I think).

Andrea:  We continued on walking through the city where we stopped for gelato (yum gelato) and visited Ponte Vecchio, a bridge built in the 1300s and is now entirely covered by jewlery shops.  Not far away was the Santa Croce church which houses the tombs of Michelangelo and Galileo so we decided to pay our respects to a fellow physicist.  In the afternoon we decided it was finally time to see the David.  We had heard a lot of good things about him so it was time to see for ourselves.  Though it costs 10 Euro to get into the gallery, David is really the only thing worth seeing.  He is housed in a giant rotunda with some other Michelangelo statues leading up to him.  He is probably the most impressive statue I have ever seen considering that you can see the veins in his hands and neck.  He looks very real.  Finally we finished off the day by going to the Piazza Michelangelo to watch the sunset over the city.

Steph:  Oh, David really is quite pretty.  Very pretty.  Ever so pretty.  He's really big, and well-proportioned (especially for being carved out of a block of marble).  And yes, he looks quite real.  Also, we thought it was quite impressive that the eyes manage to not look completely soul-less, like the eyes of most statues that we've seen on this trip.  Way to go, Michelangelo!

Andrea:  Our next day was a day trip to Venice.  We had originally planned on staying here but after arriving we were glad we didn't.  Its almost impossible to find where you want to get to in Venice.  The city is filled with little streets that turn into back alleys.  Thanks to the signs you can find some of the major landmarks (like the Piazza San Marco) but otherwise you basically pick a direction and walk, hopefully you'll get there eventually.  We made it our goal to get to Piazza San Marco and we finally made it a little after noon. 

Steph: Yes, and even the signs can be quite confusing.  We saw the sign for Piazza San Marco by the train station, pointing, let's say... roughly northeast.  Then we crossed the bridge and saw another sign pointing to the Piazza facing roughly southwest.  And I thought, well, one of those MUST be wrong, unless Piazza San Marco is on the other side of the world from Venice.  However, a few minutes later, we saw yet ANOTHER sign for Piazza San Marco, with arrows pointing precisely opposite directions, on the same sign.  Venice is a strange, strange shape... some sort of hyper-island.

Andrea:  At Piazza San Marco, we visited the church and walked around the piazza before deciding to sit down and eat our lunch, something we would definitely regret.  Almost instantly we were swarmed by pigeons, and these weren't your ordinary pigeons.  We waved our hands but they weren't frightened at all and even managed to land on our loaf of bread.  This very quickly drove away the people sitting near us needless to say.  We also found out later that apparently you are not allowed to eat sitting down in Venice.  It doesn't make much sense.  After more walking we stopped for pizza and gelato and then walked around some more.  We had essentially run out of things to do by the time our train came and we went back to Florence.  Apparently we just missed the flooding.  Too bad, we could have walked around in our hip waders.

Steph:  Those pigeons were TERRIFYING and it's why I say we have to strike the fear of humans back into them, by occasionally chasing them from their complacent pecking swarms.  I mean, I don't mean them any harm (seriously!  I didn't chase the poor toe-less or foot-less pigeons in London!) but really... life should not be a Hitchcock movie.  Anyhow, Venice was really beautiful, and I'm very very glad that we went there on a nice, sunny day!  I think in the rain it might've been quite miserable.

So, we've spent the past few days in Rome, but there is much to say about that too, and we felt you guys should get an update (not that most of you comment anyways, GEEZ!... except for our loving families, and we are glad that you love us!  Thanks!).  So keep your eyes peeled to hear of our adventures in Rome!

Bye for now!
Andrea & Steph

So, I think we left off just before Barcelona. 

Oh, Barcelona...it reminded me of Edinburgh in that it was a city after my heart, in a lot of ways, I think.  It's incredibly vibrant and full of life...and SUNNY!  Sunny and warm with an ocean breeze...oh yes, it was quite nice after being in rainy and cold northern Europe.  

We got in late on our first night, but found our hostel with relative ease.  We were too tired, and it was too late, to explore very much.  We stayed around the hostel and got some advice on things to see from a British girl who had been there for a few days.    We awoke the next day to sunshine...beautiful, lovely sunshine!  Glorious Spanish sunshine!  It was a stunning day outside...within minutes I had shed my jacket. 

We took the metro downtown and looked at some nice squares, like the Placa Reial, which had some cool lamp posts designed by Gaudi (quick, everyone, if you haven't heard of Gaudi, go google him, because I'll talk about him a lot here!).  We then meandered down Las Ramblas, the famous pedestrian street filled with performers and vendors and cafes/restaurants.  I made note of some places that looked good for paella.  Then we found ourselves near the water, so we looked at the giant Chris Columbus statue that is pointing, strangely, not to America but to Libya.  We then walked along the floating boardwalk along the harbour.  The water was lovely, we had sunshine and an ocean breeze...surrounded by palm trees...am I making you guys jealous yet?  It was snowing in Ontario, wasn't it?  

We then stopped at a restaurant on Las Ramblas for a lunch of tapas and paella (and sangria for me, yum yum).  It was delicious, but not as good as the paella that Teresa's mother makes...so I guess I don't have to go all the way to Spain to get good paella!   Next we took a wander through the older, Gothic part of town.  The buildings there were really pretty. 

We found the Barcelona Cathedral.  They charged a 5 euro admission fee, which was pricey, but compared to what we got from the Oude Kerk in Amsterdam for about the same price...this one was practically a palace.  There was lots to do - the actual cathedral part, as well as the inner gardens, and an elevator to the roof.  The garden had a fountain with potable water, which was next to the bathrooms... I was going to use the bathrooms, until I discovered that the women's washroom was little more than a toilet and a door.  No toilet seat, no toilet paper.  I opted to wait.  Also, it wasn't like they'd run out of toilet paper, either - there was not even a toilet paper holder!    We took the elevator to the roof, which was phenomenal.  We got fantastic views of Barcelona, and we were really on the 'roof' of the church - they'd erected scaffolding on top of it so people could walk around.  Definitely a view I've never had before of a church.  The view from the top alone was worth the price of admission.  

Afterwards, while it was still light outside, we hopped on the metro to see Gaudi's masterpiece cathedral, La Sagrada Familia.  Construction began sometime around 1886, and won't be completed until around 2020 I believe...so it's pretty epic.  We didn't go inside, because the admission price was insanely high and there's nothing inside yet anyways.  Still, from the outside, it is seriously impressive.  It's giant and detailed and intricate and a little whimsical.  Hopefully one day we can come back to see it finished.

We went back to the hostel and stopped at a grocery store, where we picked up some tortillas...alas, they were nowhere near as good as Teresa and her mother make them, but what can you expect from a grocery store?  They were still pretty decent though.  

The next morning we went to Park Guell, which was designed originally as a housing project by Gaudi, but it flopped and they turned it into a park.  I'm not sure how well it would function as a living community, but it sure was a phenomenal park, with lots of paths and plant life.  Lonely Planet described it as "Dr. Seuss-esque", and I suppose that isn't a bad description.  There are lots of curves, very organic designs and flowing lines.  The main plaza has a tiled, undulating bench that surrounds the whole open area.  It's really quite beautiful.  We took lots of pictures, which hopefully convey this better, since it's very hard to describe!

After the park we went for some more Gaudi...this time at La Pedrera, an apartment building that he designed.  And wow, was it ever something.  I'm convinced after seeing it that Gaudi really was a genius.  The outside alone was fantastic... again lots of curves, and flowing lines.  When you looked at it from below, it reminds you a bit of the ocean.  Inside, we got to see a model apartment, furnished as it would be for a rich bourgeousie family in the early part of the 20th century.  There were lots of odd angles in the apartment, but I rather liked it.  There was also an exhibit on Gaudi and his ideas, housed in the attic of the apartment.  The attic itself was fun to look at, since it consisted of a whole whack of brick arches.  Gaudi had to have been a little insane, because no one completely sane would have designed things the way he did.  He was creative, that's for sure.  I loved it. Further up was the rooftop terrace, which again was lots of fun.  That sums up Gaudi pretty well - lots of fun!  You don't see whimsy like that in a lot of architecture, even nowadays.

Once we were done at the apartment, I took a train to Figueres, the birthplace of Salvador Dali (for those who don't know, he's my very favourite artist!).  In the city there's a museum that Dali helped put together.  Wow, was it ever worth the 2 hour train ride!  Going to the museum was a fantastic experience, being the fan that I am.  There was something weird/surreal waiting around every corner of the museum.  Lots of fun sculptures and displays in addition to the paintings, sketches, drawings, and other Dali works.  They had "The Metamorphosis of Narcissus" on loan from the Tate Modern, which was fantastic.  They put it in a dark room all by its lonesome, very nice.  I also really liked the stereoscopic images that were on display, too.  Even his black and white sketches were delightful.  There's something about staring at a work by Dali that sends the very good sort of shivers down my spine.  So although I didn't get to spend as long as I wanted there, it was definitely worth the 4 hour total commute. 

That evening we didn't do a whole lot...though I did manage to have the WORST. DINNER. EVER.  I had some frozen rice and veggies that I cooked up, which was just awful, and some salad with crappy dressing.  The best part of the dinner was by far the sangria...alas. I should have tried the frozen paella!  Oh well.

So that was Barcelona.  Our post on Marseille will have to wait...but it will be epic, believe me, because we almost died like six times.  Yes, that's right.  Just to keep you in suspence.  ;)

Cheers,
Steph

Wow, the time between these updates seems to pass so quickly.  I guess its time for another one.  I believe I left off with Brussels.

After Brussels we made the train trip to Bruges.  When we arrived I got horribly lost on the way to the hostel but eventually made it, even if I did go the long way.  As I was walking I was even asked by some other tourists if I knew where their hotel was.  I didn´t quite understand why you would ask a person with a giant backpack on their back and a smaller one on their front for directions.  They are clearly a tourist.  Maybe they figured I was more likely to speak French than the locals.  After getting to the hostel I went for a walk down the stretch of windmills.  Its always cool seeing the windmills here since we don´t have any in Canada.  Sadly they aren´t actually working windmills.  Finally we finished off our day by walking around the Markt area.  There isn´t much to do in Bruges, especially at night so we were sure to partake in the one thing we could do, eat waffles and fries.  Our stay in Belgium wasn´t exactly the healthiest as we did eat these kinds of things a lot.  I guess thats what happens in a country that is famous for fries, waffles, beer and chocolate.  Its amazing the locals aren´t all giant.

The next morning we climbed up to the top of the bell tower.  It took a while and the stairs were very narrow at some points but we eventually made it to the top.  If anyone has seen the movie In Bruges, it is impossible for someone to fall out of the tower, there are fences.  Also the people in Bruges seem to think that In Bruges was a more popular movie than it was.  They overestimated the star power of Colin Farrell I guess.  We visited the Hospital museum which, using art, went through what the hospital was like during the middle ages.  Very church related it seems.  We stopped by the Church of the Holy Blood as well.   They claim to have a vile of Christ´s coagulated blood.  They were holding a ceremony focusing on it when we came in, in fact.  When night fell we again had the problem of not knowing what to do, so we ate more fries and waffles.  Later on we went out to a pub with Steph´s couchsurfing host Marcell.  The evening featured some card games and singing solos by both Steph and Marcell.  I think the other people in the pub were quite thankfull when we left.

The next morning we got on the train to Amsterdam.  We got in sometime in the early afternoon but, because of a series of bad directions, it took us until around 5:30 to get to the hostel.  We spent the night trying not to fall asleep while waiting for Rich (you may remember him from the highland cow adventure of Inverness) to get in.  He did finally arrive and we roamed the hostel area for a bit.

We spent our first morning in Amsterdam waiting around the train station for Amanda (refer to Northern Ireland) and Liam to get in.  They told us to wait in front of the trams which we did for an hour.  Maybe if there hadn´t been so much construction we would have noticed that there was actually another tram stop in front of the train station.  Oops.  Apparently all of us had been waiting for each other for an hour.  In the afternoon we stopped by Dam Square where we watched an escape artist get out of a straight jacket (there were also people dressed up as Batman, Darth Vader and Grim Reapers in the square, I´m not sure why).  I then went to the Amsterdam Historical museum which was kind of poorly organized.  If you are going to try and organize the museum chronologically it should be simple to get from one section to the next.  I also walked out to the Verzetsmuseum and around Nieuwmarket.  After searching for a long time we finally came across somewhere for dinner and following that we went out to the red light district.  Its a strange place, the red light district.  Sex shops on every corner and prostitutes in every window.  I found it amazing that so many of them could remain employed but considering the number of people who were walking through I guess its not that surprising.

The next day we added another member to our group, Phil who we met in Brussels.  After a failed attempt to go to the Rijksmuseum, we all took a canal cruise which wasn´t terribly exciting.  It was interesting to learn about the costs of some of the houses in Amsterdam though.  Apparently the houseboats alone cost 200 000 Euros and the canal side houses can be 10 to 15 million.  Expensive!  Especially considering so many of the houses seem to be crooked and sinking into the ground.  In the afternoon we dropped Amanda and Liam off at the train station and stopped into the Anne Frank House.  Since it was late in the day it was farily deserted which was nice.  It would be a pretty impossible museum to go through if it was packed.  They do a very good job of showing you what it was like to live in hiding during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands.  Imagine never being able to leave your house.  They also had an exhibit relating to modern day violations of human rights and asking your opinions on the issues.  It was quite good as well.  After returning to the hostel we all got roped into a Wii bowling tournament which, after losing her first round match, Steph won, despite never having played Wii bowling before.  She kicked the butts of all those guys who had probably spent far too many hours playing.

The next morning was our last so we started out by attempting to go to the West Church (the largest Protestant church) which was closed for the season.  I guess tourists don´t look at churches in the winter for some reason.  It didn´t make much sense.  Anyways we walked over to the Van Gogh museum and the Rijksmuseum and stopped into both.  Both are quite expensive but very impressive and worth a visit.  We also stopped into the Old Church, probably the only church surrounded entirely by prostitution sites.  After more aimless wandering of the city, Steph and I departed to go back to Brussels and then onto Spain.

Today we had some time to kill in Brussels so we bought up some more Belgian chocolate (it was our last chance) and then got on the bus to the airport.  We got on the flight fairly uneventfully and, after arriving, we spent about two minutes in the Barcelona airport.  It was the fastest I have ever gotten from a plane to the airport exit.  As soon as we walked in the baggage conveyor started and one minute later it stopped and all the bags were out.  We were impressed.  My first thought when we drove into Barcelona was that it looked very Spain-like.  You can see all the little white houses on hillsides that you picture when you think of Spain or Italy.  Quite the change from the canals and crooked buildings we were used to in Amsterdam and Bruges.

Andrea

Andrea: Well its getting to be a while since we've posted again.  Putting up pictures just takes so much of our internet time.  Our last update was from Interlaken so I'll start from there.  

Steph: And I had the idea to interject at various intervals, so as to make this epic blog post even longer.  Andrea wrote the original, all of my bits will be added later.  Just so you all have something to read, you know, to tide you over.  And let us warn you.  This is LONG.  *evil cackle*

Andrea: We left Interlaken and went to Geneva.  The hostel was quite nice and all seemed well until we met our roommate.  It was a three bed dorm so we only had one.  She was a woman, somewhere between the ages of 60 and 70 with dentures that were not fastened very well (led to a weird sucking noise), snored very loudly and wore that perfume that older people sometimes where, you know the one that smells terrible.  Also she seemed to be a bit off since the first thing she told us was that there was a place Steph could put her shoes, in the locker in the basement.  Needless to say we were not in our room very often.   

Steph:  She really was odd.  She told us that she worked for the UN, as a human rights specialist, and that she was there for their meeting on torture, but she definitely didn't look like she was dressed for the UN. 

Andrea: After we arrived we went down to the Jardin Anglais and saw the Jet D'Eau as well as the floral clock.  We visited St. Pierre's church and the ruins underneath.  The audio tour of the ruins were quite good and a lot had been preserved considering the church had been there (in some form) since around 300A.D.  Especially good were the mosaic floors of what was once the bishop's receiving room.   

Steph:  Also, note that the Floral Clock in Geneva failed to tell the correct time.  Yes, that's right.  Epic fail.  

Andrea: The following day we went to the United Nations where, in order to both get photo I.D. badges, we pretended not to know each other.  There wasn't a lot to see in the buildings but the tour guide told us some interesting things about the U.N.  We also went to the Red Cross and Red Crescent museum which followed the history of the organization since its formation.  Apparently the reason for the alternative Red Crescent logo was that some countries thought the cross seemed too religiously oriented.   It was also quite nice to be in a french speaking area.  Not quite as nice as english but at least we could understand signs and speak to people a little.   

Steph:  Tidbit from the UN - did you know that Switzerland only became a member in 2006?  One of their largest headquarters has been in Geneva for decades, yet they only recently actually joined.  Oh those Swiss.  Neutral to a fault.

Andrea:  Another tidbit is that the Vatican is not a member and just an observer although they could apparently be a member if they wanted to.

Andrea: The next day we took the train to Paris where, after our arrival, we were almost immediately shoved into a packed metro train.  So packed that at first we were separated when the train doors closed but thankfully they opened again since they were open for a total of about 5 seconds the first time.   

Steph:  She's not kidding.  It was the most packed metro that I've ever seen.  The doors actually closed ON my bag the first time.  I don't know why they decided to leave the doors open for a sum total of 3 seconds at a major train station where half the people left the train and two times as many tried to get on.  Geez.  Actually, another thing I'd like to note is that the actual cars on the Paris metro are tiny.  It doesn't make any sense.  More people in Paris seem to take the metro than in almost any other city we've been to, excepting maybe London.  Yet they insist on keeping their train cars so tiny that most of the time, you feel very much like a sardine.  

Andrea: For our stay in Paris we got to live in luxury.  Or at least luxury to us.  Steph had been looking for someone to stay with on couch surfing and one of the people responded saying that they were going on vacation but we could use their apartment while they were gone.  A free apartment was certainly a nice change and we had a good time there even though there was no english television, haha.   

Steph:  It was lovely!  Mathilde's apartment was very pleasant to stay in, and she fixed us up with two mattresses in the office.  Very, very nice of her!  

Andrea: The first morning (after checking the results of the election) we decided to walk around to some of the main sites of Paris.  We started at the Hotel de Ville and walked over to Notre Dame.  Its amazing how you know that there are millions of people inside Notre Dame but its just so huge that it always feels empty.  Afterwards, despite the cold, we stopped for ice cream at a nearby place and it was delicious.  In the afternoon we went to the Pantheon (the French one not the Roman one, haha) and visited its crypt.  The building itself is huge inside and the ceilings especially are amazing.  It also houses Focault's pendulum which shows the rotation of the Earth.  The crypt is home to quite a few famous people as well including Alexandre Dumas (of Three Musketeers fame), Voltaire, Victor Hugo and the Curies.  Finally we went to the Eglise St. Germain des Pres, the oldest standing church in Paris where we also stopped for the traditional French food, crepes.  

Steph:  I got my picture taken with the statue of Voltaire!  He was a cool dude.  Also in the Pantheon is Jean-Jacques Rousseau.  Very cool.
 
Andrea: It didn't take us much time in Paris to notice that there are a lot more beggars than we have seen in previous places and they are more aggressively doing it.  Over the last two and a half days that we were in Paris we had no less than five people get onto our metro trains with a baby strapped to their front only to launch into a speech about having no job and a small child.  Apparently, in Paris, if someone gets into your train with a baby strapped to them they are asking for money.  How well dressed they may be makes no difference.  Normal parents seem to use strollers.  It also seemed strange to us that none of the babies involved made any kind of sound.  No crying or laughing or other baby related sounds.  We also had several people get on and play the accordion before walking down the aisles and staring at you until you gave them money or said no.  That was in addition to the usual gypsies and beggars on the streets of the cities.  

Steph:  The begging situation was really sad.  In particular, one of those people who got on the metro with their baby came close to me, and I got a good look at the baby.  The poor thing had long scratches down its nose and face.  It looked way too docile, too - vacant, almost.  What a sad situation.  The other strange thing was that a lot of these people were pretty well-dressed...way too well-dressed to look in need of money.  Strange. 

Andrea: The morning of our second day in the city, because of the gloomy weather, we went to the catacombs.  The Paris catacombs contain thousands of bones all stacked in piles.  The walk through takes quite a long time.  Its also quite eerie because at certain times you could only hear the sound of your own footsteps and the water dripping from the ceiling in the darkness.  Afterwards we went out to Versaille.  The cloudy weather didn't seem to stop the tourists from coming there.  It was packed inside.  There seemed to be three tours all going on while we tried to make our way through the inside of the palace.  Also there was an art exhibit going on featuring work by a more contemporary artist.  A couple of his pieces were giant balloon animal shaped sculptures.  The most impressive room was probably the hall of mirrors which, though it had less mirrors than I expected, was huge.  After coming back into the city we went to Place de Concorde and walked down to the Hotel de Ville and the Louvre to see them at night.  We had been planning to go the the Musee D'Orsay but since it was closing early we decided to wait for that one.  

Steph:  Carrie has pointed out that many of the works by Jeff Koons (the artist who was featured in Versailles that day) had been in the Chicago Art Institute previously.  I have to admit, they were kind of fun amidst the seriousness and pompousness of Versailles decor.  It was a really cool palace, in all.  Very... "palace-y", with lots of gilded things and gold enamel and marble and all that royal stuff! 

Andrea: As our third day rolled around, it was starting to seem like the weather clearing up was unlikely.  After deciding to put off the Eiffel Tower for another day, I took the train to a town in Normandy, Caen.  I had been intending to visit the Juno Beach information centre which turned out to be not in the town after all.  Instead I visited St. Pierre's cathedral and the Chateau which dates from the 1100s.  I also stopped into the museum of Normandy which looks at the people who have lived in Normandy in the past.  After getting back into Paris we headed for free night at the Louvre (under 26 get in free on friday nights).  It was obvious immediately that ever person under 26 in all of Paris was there.  Despite the crowds we managed to get good looks at the Mona Lisa and the Venus de Milo as well as the ancient Egyptian, Greek, Roman art, the Italian sculpture and the French and Italian paintings.  We also found the Louvre's inverse pyramid, but not in the place indicated in the Da Vinci Code.  Shame on you Tom Hanks for lying to us about that.  On our subway ride home we were serenaded by some guys beat boxing and singing terribly while also saying "Yeah!" a lot.  At least they weren't asking for money because I'm sure they wouldn't have gotten any.   

Steph:  Yep, that day was pretty rainy in Paris (though Andrea got good weather at the beach!).  While she went to Normandy, I checked out the Pompidou Centre, a modern art museum that was GIANT.  It's pretty cool on the outside, since it has it's "insides" out!  Check out my Flickr photos (which I am slowly labelling) if you don't know what I mean.  They had a really diverse collection of modern and contemporary art in there.  I managed to get through a good part of their collection, and I saw some Magrittes and Dalis!  That made it worth it, definitely.  Later on, the Louvre was very cool, a very arty day for me. 

Andrea:  I never actually made it to any beach though, lol.  A waste of the weather I know.

Andrea: Finally on our last day in Paris the weather cleared and the sun was out, at least for the morning.  We went right down to the Eiffel tower and stood in the many lines (first to climb the stairs and then to get in the elevator to the top) before getting a great view of the city.  After getting back down (thankfully they didn't check elevator tickets on the way down so we didn't have to take the stairs again) we went to the Basilica Sacre Coeur.  On our way to the furnicular we were ambushed by guys trying to sell bracelets.  I managed to escape but Steph was captured for a little while.  Eventually she managed to break free and we went up to the basilica.  The stairs were packed with people and there was even one guy giving a free concert to everyone (he even played Wonderwall).  We walked around the neighbourhood of the basilica before going back to the Musee D'Orsay.  There was supposed to be a discount for going after 4:15pm but there didn't really seem to be one.  Also, despite the fact that they weren't supposed to close until 6, they shut the gallery rooms at 5:30 and started kicking people out of the museum at 5:45.   

Steph: Climbing the Eiffel Tower not only saved us money, but I think it saved us time, too!  I'm pretty sure if we'd taken the elevators we would have been waiting in line the whole day.  Plus I had to work off all that wine and cheese and baguette...   And, right, the bracelet guy.  I shook my head at him and said, "non, merci" but he actually grabbed my hand and put the bracelet loop around my finger.  I told him no again, but he wouldn't take no for an answer...just kept trying to change the subject, by asking me where I was from, etc.  He also told me that the bracelet would make my boyfriend love me.  Eventually I insisted that I wasn't going to pay him for it, so he gave up.  And Kevin, I believe, still loves me...phew.    The Musee D'Orsay was pretty neat... they had a fantastic collection of Monet's works, and several nice Seurats.  I can't think of too many more pleasant things than standing in a room full of Monets, personally.  So very calming!  

Andrea: The next morning we made a quick stop at the L'Arc de Triomph before catching the train to Brussels.  For our first night in Brussels we ended up at a cheap hotel since all of the hostels were booked so our time in luxury continued.  Paris had exhausted us so much that we went out for waffles before spending the night in the room watching the first American television in english that we had been able to see in a long time (I was so excited when I flipped through and saw Stargate, even if it was the episode where Daniel dies).  You don't realize how much you miss tv until its gone I guess, haha.   

We haven't been able to do too much in Brussels since all the museums have been closed both days that we've been here with Monday being their day off and Tuesday being Armistice day.  We went to the St. Michael and St. Gudula Cathedral and walked around quickly before their service began.  We also took the tram out to the Atomium which has apparently been shined since the last time I was in Brussels.   We stopped by the Manekken Pis and the Grand Place.  With all the museums closed we decided to walk to the Brussels Sacre Coeur basilica which was impressive just by its huge size.  Inside it felt a little more like a banquet hall than a church though.  For a view of the city we went to the top floor of a nearby parking garage and looked around from there.   

Steph:  I've gotta say, Brussels is pretty great.  I think Belgium must be a country that really has a sense of humour about things.  Waffles, beer, chocolate, and one of its most famous emblems is a boy peeing into a fountain?  Awesome.  The Grand Place is one of the prettiest squares I've ever seen.  It really is a shame that the museums were all closed today, though, since they have a Magritte museum here (he's a Brussels native!) and that would have been awesome to see.  Alas.  

Andrea: We've at least been able to enjoy the food here since the waffle places and chocolate shops all seem to be open.  We are attempting to try as many kinds of waffle variations as possible.  We also took in the Belgian fries.  
Tomorrow we make our way onto Bruges for a couple of days before going to Amsterdam and meeting up with some previous characters in our story, haha.    Steph:  That's right!  In Amsterdam we shall, hopefully, make contact with both Rich and Amanda (Sloan)!  Yay!!!  Amanda is definitely coming, so that'll be exciting.  And since Andrea started this entry and wrote the bulk of it, I shall let her have the last word.  

Andrea:  The End.

Okay, it's been a while since you've heard from me.  Partly, that's because I was a very very bad journal keeper for a while, and have only recently gotten around to catching up on my writing.  Sadly, I haven't entirely caught up on Switzerland, so this will have to be off-the-cuff.

Andrea did a pretty good summary of Austria, so I won't backtrack too much.  I'll add that when Andrea went to the Natural History Musuem, I checked out the Modern Art Museum (yeah, I guess those are 'my thing' now).  Sadly, half of it was closed (I assume for renovations) but they still had a good portion of the exhibits open.  I got to see a lovely Magritte, so that alone probably made it worthwhile for me.  There was a section on Viennese Activism, which is gruesomely fascinating as it can sometimes involve self-mutilation or other gross things.  They also had an interesting architectural exhibit that was about architectural activism, things like how the straight line is not superior to the crooked one, etc.  In this section, there was a piece called 'Battleship' that consisted of two plastic human forms with lights on various parts of their bodies.  There were two giant, fuzzy remotes below them with 9 buttons on each.  The description of the piece said it contained electrical circuitry, so putting two and two together, I naturally started pressing buttons.  When a button was pressed, a certain body part would light up and make a buzzing sound. After doing this twice, the staff told me that I wasn't allowed to touch it.  I was flabbergasted.  Why not???  Clearly, the piece had been designed to be touched...you lost out on half the experience if you couldn't push the buttons.  Not to mention that not touching it was completely contrary to the spirit of the whole exhibit... It was quite silly, really.

Anyways, on to Switzerland...
We took the train from Salzburg to Interlaken, and it was one of the most beautiful train rides I've seen.  The mountains slowly came into view, and after going through a long tunnel, we looked outside and WHAM!  There was SNOW!  Everywhere!  It was suddenly a winter wonderland.  We took some pictures out of the train window to prove it.  It was also just beautiful, the way the trees were turning fall colours at the base of the mountains, but were sprinkled with snow as you got further up.

Indeed, when we arrived in Interlaken, there was snow on the ground.  It was also COLD, since it was night.  I decided then and there that I would need to find a toque and some gloves the next day, lest I get frostbite or something like that.  We found our hostel, which was a bit strange... the beds weren't terribly comfortable, the internet was a ridiculous price (5 francs/half hour, partly why we didn't update this blog or put up photos), they locked the dorms from 10:30-4:00 and not any other time, and the showers were what showers are like in hell, I'm certain.  Other than that, though, it was a pleasant enough place.  The staff were nice, and our roommates were also nice (three American girls who were studying in Florence).  Also, we got to cook in the kitchen, meaning that we didn't have to pay outlandish prices for food in Interlaken...phew.

The next day we decided to go hiking on a trail near the city.  It was supposed to go up to Harder Kulm, which was also supposed to be accessible via funicular.  Well, the funicular was closed, but we decided to still hike up.  We followed a road for the most part, and stayed in the part of the tire tracks where there was less snow.  After about an hour and a half, the tracks ended... though the trail continued up a very snowy hill and into the forest.  We walked up this very snowy hill, at which point I decided that there was no way I was going to keep going.  The forest was still snowy, and my feet were already getting cold and a little wet, so I decided to turn back.  Andrea was more determined/stubborn than I was, and decided to press on to try to reach the top.  After assuring me that she wouldn't die in the forest (she had her cell phone with her, which she said she would use if she took a tumble), I went down and she went up.  She told me afterwards that she didn't quite make it to the top, which is sad, but she also didn't die in the forest, which is good!

I decided to walk along one of the lakes that Interlaken is situated between (Interlaken = between lakes), the really gorgeous green-blue one.  It was a lovely day, and I took some pictures by the lakeside.  I also just missed a bus, so then went up to a church/fortress that was absolutely deserted.  It was nice, being the only person on the grounds.

That night was also Halloween night.  Sadly, Andrea and I couldn't dress up as John McCain and Sarah Palin, but it was probably for the best seeing as how the hostel was full of Americans and at least some of them were Republicans.  So we avoided a lynching, at any rate.   We did get to watch "Batman Begins", though, which was fun. The bar at the hostel had a Halloween party, which I stopped in at for a little while, but it was too smoky and not terribly exciting, so I didn't stay for long.  I don't think Switzerland is very big on Halloween, in any case, since we didn't see any children running around looking like pumpkins or bees or ghosts or Sarah Palin.

The next day, we took a train to Lauterbrunnen (not sure if I've spelled that correctly), where we hiked around a valley (known as the Valley of 74 waterfalls) in between the mountains.  We saw the giant, free-flowing waterfall right as we got off the train, and decided to hike to some other waterfalls that were supposed to be inside a mountain.  Sadly, they were closed when we got there, even though they said "Open from April - November".  You'd think if something is open until November, it would be open THROUGH November, but I guess not.  So we turned around and walked back, because we were both quite sore from the previous day's hike.

And I only have a minute to finish this, so let me just conclude by saying that Switzerland is GORGEOUS, absolutely jaw-droppingly stunning, and you had all better look at every photo we put up, once we find an internet cafe that lets us put up photos!  I really mean it, it was just beautiful!

Okay, that's all for now!

Cheers,

Steph