After a wonderful 2 days in Madrid with my own personal tour guide, 4 days in Boston visiting old friends and attending a beautiful wedding, and 19 hours of flying, I am cozy, safe and happy to be back at my parent's house in Spokane. I really did experience the trip of a lifetime and am grateful for the opportunity to travel so much. Thanks so much for all those that made this trip possible (from my boss allowing me to start work late to friends and family providing support). I have 740ish pictures so if anyone has 15 hours to spare, let me know and I'd love to share them :) Thanks for reading the blog and commenting- it was so much fun to read all of the comments! Love you all, can't wait to see you soon!!
Buen Camino :)
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
the final leg
So Catie and I have enjoyed planning the game we have entitled 'our lives suck' for the past 5 weeks. Things happen that really aren't so bad, but they may stress us out just a tiny bit. Like missing our train because our last train was 20 minutes late. So then we act like our lives suck and just start laughing because no matter what happens to us, we're still backpacking around Europe and doing everything we've ever dreamed of doing! We realized yesterday that we've crammed what most people may do in 10 years of vacationing into 5 weeks and every second of it has been amazing. But it seems that the past few days, our game has occurred a little more often... we've had a couple minor, and amusing, bumps in the road the past few days...
We took a train from Siena to Riomaggiore, which is the first village of five that is considered the Cinque Terre. Cinque Terre in Italian means 5 lands or 5 villages and, obviously, named so because there are 5 villages along the Meditteranean coast of Italy that have a footpath connecting them. This was our last journey in Italy, and really our last journey all together as Michael and Catie flew out this morning to Paris (they leave for Boston tomorrow, I leave Thursday from Madrid). So we got into Riomaggiore where we were going to stay Saturday night. We didn't have reservations anywhere so began asking any place that had rooms available if they had room for 3. The first 3 places were booked, and finally the 4th said they had a dorm room available... which they actually didn't, they only had room for 2. So this italian man and woman formed a huddle, mumbled a few things, and told us that they would give us their 'emergency room'. We had no idea what an emergency room was. She said it was nothing special and at the top of the ville (we thought ville was building, we were wrong). But they seemed emergent about it and we decided YIKES this must be an emergency!! We might not find a place to stay! So we followed a young man up at least 6 flights of insanely steep stairs that were barely wide enough to fit out backpacks, up a hill, to the top of the entire VILLAGE. The 'emergency room' is better described as a cave. It was a small room with 2 beds shoved in it, cement walls, the ceiling maybe 6.5 feet tall, water pipes going around 3 of the 4 walls, and decorated with lace, fish nets, plates, and a little ceramic man sitting on a toilet. There were mosquitos everywhere so Catie quickly decided we needed to shut the door only to find out it barely shut, and it left a 6 inch opening on the top and 3 inches on the side. Worst night of sleep ever. And I can't believe we had to pay 60euro for it after we refused to pay 7 euro numerous times on the camino because it was 'too expensive.'
The next morning we hiked the cinque terre which was BEAUTIFUL! We were along the meditteranean coast nearly the whole time and the little villages were very different than anything else we've seen. It was probably around 90 degrees and extremely humid, but we made it all the way through and it was worth it. After the hike, we caught the train back to the first village, grabbed our swimsuits, indulged in seafood for dinner at the second village, and then jumped in the water for an evening swim. Life definitely was not too tough that day!
Sunday morning we woke up in our much nicer room at 5AM to a thunder and lightening storm. Europe keeps telling us these are unusual but they seem to keep happening. We lost electricity a few times throughout the morning. We went out to breakfast and then wandered into an olive oil store to purchase some olive oil to bring home.. as my credit card was going through the machine, we lost electricity again. The crummy part was we also had laundry in a washing machine (2nd time mine has been washed in a machine since I've been here!!) and of course, that died. The electricity would come back on for a minute, just long enough for us to try to buy the olive oil again, and then die right as it was starting to process. This continued for over an hour. None of us had more than 10 euro on us either, since we're finishing the trip and trying to get rid of money, and we couldn't use ATMS so we were a little concerned we were going to be stuck in this town, unable to get on the train, with no money and wet clothes! Finally the electricity came back on, we sprinted to the olive oil store, bought the oil and were able to finish all of our laundry. It seemed a lot more stressful then :)
Took another train to Milan where the 3 of us had flights out today to our final destination. As we were boarding, we heard a rumor that ryanair, the airline company we're all flying with, was going on strike. Just today. The only day we needed them to NOT go on strike. We got to Milan and began looking for a place to stay for the night but decided we'd double check where our airport was. Turns it it was an hour outisde of Milan.. thankfully we found that out, as Catie and Michael left at 5AM this morning! So back on the train, and arrived at our hotel last night. Catie and Michael haven't come back from the airport yet so I'm assuming ryanair is not on strike, which is great because the trains don't go from Milan to Madrid!!
Despite the minor, pretty much enjoyable stressful moments, we've had a blast and I was really sad to see Catie and Michael leave this morning even though I'll see them in 3 days! Wish us all safe travels!! See you soon!!!!!
Buen camino
We took a train from Siena to Riomaggiore, which is the first village of five that is considered the Cinque Terre. Cinque Terre in Italian means 5 lands or 5 villages and, obviously, named so because there are 5 villages along the Meditteranean coast of Italy that have a footpath connecting them. This was our last journey in Italy, and really our last journey all together as Michael and Catie flew out this morning to Paris (they leave for Boston tomorrow, I leave Thursday from Madrid). So we got into Riomaggiore where we were going to stay Saturday night. We didn't have reservations anywhere so began asking any place that had rooms available if they had room for 3. The first 3 places were booked, and finally the 4th said they had a dorm room available... which they actually didn't, they only had room for 2. So this italian man and woman formed a huddle, mumbled a few things, and told us that they would give us their 'emergency room'. We had no idea what an emergency room was. She said it was nothing special and at the top of the ville (we thought ville was building, we were wrong). But they seemed emergent about it and we decided YIKES this must be an emergency!! We might not find a place to stay! So we followed a young man up at least 6 flights of insanely steep stairs that were barely wide enough to fit out backpacks, up a hill, to the top of the entire VILLAGE. The 'emergency room' is better described as a cave. It was a small room with 2 beds shoved in it, cement walls, the ceiling maybe 6.5 feet tall, water pipes going around 3 of the 4 walls, and decorated with lace, fish nets, plates, and a little ceramic man sitting on a toilet. There were mosquitos everywhere so Catie quickly decided we needed to shut the door only to find out it barely shut, and it left a 6 inch opening on the top and 3 inches on the side. Worst night of sleep ever. And I can't believe we had to pay 60euro for it after we refused to pay 7 euro numerous times on the camino because it was 'too expensive.'
The next morning we hiked the cinque terre which was BEAUTIFUL! We were along the meditteranean coast nearly the whole time and the little villages were very different than anything else we've seen. It was probably around 90 degrees and extremely humid, but we made it all the way through and it was worth it. After the hike, we caught the train back to the first village, grabbed our swimsuits, indulged in seafood for dinner at the second village, and then jumped in the water for an evening swim. Life definitely was not too tough that day!
Sunday morning we woke up in our much nicer room at 5AM to a thunder and lightening storm. Europe keeps telling us these are unusual but they seem to keep happening. We lost electricity a few times throughout the morning. We went out to breakfast and then wandered into an olive oil store to purchase some olive oil to bring home.. as my credit card was going through the machine, we lost electricity again. The crummy part was we also had laundry in a washing machine (2nd time mine has been washed in a machine since I've been here!!) and of course, that died. The electricity would come back on for a minute, just long enough for us to try to buy the olive oil again, and then die right as it was starting to process. This continued for over an hour. None of us had more than 10 euro on us either, since we're finishing the trip and trying to get rid of money, and we couldn't use ATMS so we were a little concerned we were going to be stuck in this town, unable to get on the train, with no money and wet clothes! Finally the electricity came back on, we sprinted to the olive oil store, bought the oil and were able to finish all of our laundry. It seemed a lot more stressful then :)
Took another train to Milan where the 3 of us had flights out today to our final destination. As we were boarding, we heard a rumor that ryanair, the airline company we're all flying with, was going on strike. Just today. The only day we needed them to NOT go on strike. We got to Milan and began looking for a place to stay for the night but decided we'd double check where our airport was. Turns it it was an hour outisde of Milan.. thankfully we found that out, as Catie and Michael left at 5AM this morning! So back on the train, and arrived at our hotel last night. Catie and Michael haven't come back from the airport yet so I'm assuming ryanair is not on strike, which is great because the trains don't go from Milan to Madrid!!
Despite the minor, pretty much enjoyable stressful moments, we've had a blast and I was really sad to see Catie and Michael leave this morning even though I'll see them in 3 days! Wish us all safe travels!! See you soon!!!!!
Buen camino
Saturday, July 4, 2009
under the tuscan sun
I'm in Italian heaven! I'm writing today from Siena, the heart of Chianti county in Tuscany. And the internet is free!!!! That's definitely a first in Italy... the other opportunities for internet were around $3 for anywhere for 10 minutes to 30.
Spent two days in Venice, a city that I absolutely love. I was very excited to see it because that was the one place on this trip that I visited when I came to Europe 9 years ago. So I was anxious to see if the Plaza San Marco was as I remembered, which it was! We stayed in a nice hostel for 3 days with our own private bathroom- felt pretty spoiled. We visited the Friar, a beautiful church that was also the burial ground for many artists/sculptors from the 13th century. Venice is well known for it's glass blowing so we took the "bus" (a boat) to Murano, an island that all the glass blowing was moved to in the 1290s because of fire danger in Venice from the glass blowing process. And to be sure we got our monies worth for the day long "bus" pass, we did a "cruise" on the dirty little boat bus all the way around Venice, which ended up taking almost 2 hours and began to rain on us. But Venice is beautiful at dusk and we enjoyed it nonetheless. I hate to admit but I didn't realize that Venice really doesn't have any vehicles, only boats! These are some of the questions Catie and I pondered while riding the boats: Do they have rush hour? Where are the gas stations? Do they have to take drivers ed? Do they have traffic jams? Does Venice have any drive/swim/boat- thrus? Do kids get boats for graduating from high school instead of cars? Has anyone ever tried to water ski down the channel? How do the ambulances work? What is really at the bottom of that channel? Some of these questions we may never want answered...
The next two days we spent in Florence. Florence has a lot of art and history behind it so we became true tourists for the first time on this trip. We went to the Duomo, the 4th largest cathedral today; visited the Uffizi, an art museum said to rival the Louvre displaying da Vinci and Boticelli; San Lorenzo, the leather capital of the world; and my favorite, the Academie, another art museum where I stood in awe in front of Michaelangelo's David. Everyone said it was amazing but I had no idea. We also ate the best gellato in Florence... 3 times... the best italian food in Florence (agreed), walked across the famous bridge, and drank a beer next to the river.
Yesterday we took a bus an hour from Florence to Siena, where we are today. Siena is in Tuscany (which is actually a region, so Florence is technically in Tuscany also) but Siena is also in Chianti region, of the classic chianti wine. We checked into our FIRST hotel that we've stayed at yesterday and immediately saw a pamphlet for a wine tour around the Tuscan region. We booked immediately- and the lady who spoke no english asked me if we booked it, I said yes and she grabbed my arms and jumped up and down with me (Catie, Michael and I were so excited about this!!!). The tour was everything we hoped it would be; we drove through Chianti vineyards and discovered what makes Chianti wine different than others, then toured San Gimingo, the typical town you picture when you think of Italy with it's stone walls and streets. After came the best part- we visited the winery of a man who bought the farm in 1987 after being a veterinarian for the start of his life, because he wanted to make wine "as a hobby." He now produces wine, olive oil, honey, body lotion, and his true passion- balsamic vinegar. It was amazing!! When he bought the farm, he found an envelope buried under some stones in the house from a priest over 155 years ago. In the envelope was a recipe for a specific wine that included 5 spices, 2 types of honey and I believe 2 grapes. The recipe did not include any quantities though, so he spent over 20 years trying to make the wine. Last year he bottled the first bottle of wine following the recipe, determined by taste. Him and his wife walked us through the winery, talked about the proces of making all these products, fed us and let us sample almost everything. This was my Italian heaven. And I might have a box of his wine and products being shipped to my house.....
I know you're all curious- the food is fantastic. I gotta say though, I have been craving a greek salad ever since I stepped into Italy which makes me think that Greece food was better, but Italian is great. I've had lasagna, spaghetti with clams and mussels, ravioli with truffle sauce, a lot of pizza, and gnocchi with gorgonzola sauce. And a ton of gellato! And a few cappucinos :) I'm very curious if I'll continue to drink coffee in the states.....
buen camino!
Spent two days in Venice, a city that I absolutely love. I was very excited to see it because that was the one place on this trip that I visited when I came to Europe 9 years ago. So I was anxious to see if the Plaza San Marco was as I remembered, which it was! We stayed in a nice hostel for 3 days with our own private bathroom- felt pretty spoiled. We visited the Friar, a beautiful church that was also the burial ground for many artists/sculptors from the 13th century. Venice is well known for it's glass blowing so we took the "bus" (a boat) to Murano, an island that all the glass blowing was moved to in the 1290s because of fire danger in Venice from the glass blowing process. And to be sure we got our monies worth for the day long "bus" pass, we did a "cruise" on the dirty little boat bus all the way around Venice, which ended up taking almost 2 hours and began to rain on us. But Venice is beautiful at dusk and we enjoyed it nonetheless. I hate to admit but I didn't realize that Venice really doesn't have any vehicles, only boats! These are some of the questions Catie and I pondered while riding the boats: Do they have rush hour? Where are the gas stations? Do they have to take drivers ed? Do they have traffic jams? Does Venice have any drive/swim/boat- thrus? Do kids get boats for graduating from high school instead of cars? Has anyone ever tried to water ski down the channel? How do the ambulances work? What is really at the bottom of that channel? Some of these questions we may never want answered...
The next two days we spent in Florence. Florence has a lot of art and history behind it so we became true tourists for the first time on this trip. We went to the Duomo, the 4th largest cathedral today; visited the Uffizi, an art museum said to rival the Louvre displaying da Vinci and Boticelli; San Lorenzo, the leather capital of the world; and my favorite, the Academie, another art museum where I stood in awe in front of Michaelangelo's David. Everyone said it was amazing but I had no idea. We also ate the best gellato in Florence... 3 times... the best italian food in Florence (agreed), walked across the famous bridge, and drank a beer next to the river.
Yesterday we took a bus an hour from Florence to Siena, where we are today. Siena is in Tuscany (which is actually a region, so Florence is technically in Tuscany also) but Siena is also in Chianti region, of the classic chianti wine. We checked into our FIRST hotel that we've stayed at yesterday and immediately saw a pamphlet for a wine tour around the Tuscan region. We booked immediately- and the lady who spoke no english asked me if we booked it, I said yes and she grabbed my arms and jumped up and down with me (Catie, Michael and I were so excited about this!!!). The tour was everything we hoped it would be; we drove through Chianti vineyards and discovered what makes Chianti wine different than others, then toured San Gimingo, the typical town you picture when you think of Italy with it's stone walls and streets. After came the best part- we visited the winery of a man who bought the farm in 1987 after being a veterinarian for the start of his life, because he wanted to make wine "as a hobby." He now produces wine, olive oil, honey, body lotion, and his true passion- balsamic vinegar. It was amazing!! When he bought the farm, he found an envelope buried under some stones in the house from a priest over 155 years ago. In the envelope was a recipe for a specific wine that included 5 spices, 2 types of honey and I believe 2 grapes. The recipe did not include any quantities though, so he spent over 20 years trying to make the wine. Last year he bottled the first bottle of wine following the recipe, determined by taste. Him and his wife walked us through the winery, talked about the proces of making all these products, fed us and let us sample almost everything. This was my Italian heaven. And I might have a box of his wine and products being shipped to my house.....
I know you're all curious- the food is fantastic. I gotta say though, I have been craving a greek salad ever since I stepped into Italy which makes me think that Greece food was better, but Italian is great. I've had lasagna, spaghetti with clams and mussels, ravioli with truffle sauce, a lot of pizza, and gnocchi with gorgonzola sauce. And a ton of gellato! And a few cappucinos :) I'm very curious if I'll continue to drink coffee in the states.....
buen camino!
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