Thursday, April 30, 2009
4/28/09 Barcelona, Spain
Hola from Barcelona!
Well, we’re just wrapping up another amazing leg of our journey. The overnight train from Milan was no problem – a little stuffy and uncomfortable but we arrived in Barcelona nonetheless! Barcelona is a very cool city. It is large and developed – not a very strong Spanish feeling as I remember Madrid having when I went in high school. Our campsite is a bit of hike outside of the city – a 25 min bus ride and then a 45 min train ride – but its well worth it for the scenery (the train rides along the coast right) and the money we’re saving on accommodation. Plus we get to stay in this cute little bungalow! The internet situation is not what we had hoped (a quickly developing trend here on our trip) but there is a pool, restaurant, and grocery store (complete with cheap beer and wine!) just a few steps away. There’s even a mini-zoo on site!
When we arrived on Saturday we were pretty exhausted from a not-so-great night’s sleep on the train so we just relaxed, explored the campground (it’s huge!), and enjoyed some wine on our porch. Sunday we were ready to check out Barcelona. We saw the huge cathedral and went to the city’s history museum, which was really cool. It was an underground, excavated site of Roman Barcelona right under Placa del Rei. We ate our lunch on a step in the plaza and found ourselves in front row seats for this great street performance – 5 really talented break dancers! It was like being in the audience for one of those dance crew shows! We then strolled around Las Ramblas, which is said to be Spain’s most famous street. It was filled with street artists, vendors, kiosks, and cafes – very crowded and exciting!
Monday we went to – drum roll please – the Barcelona aquarium! Obviously we had a blast there. We have both been to the Sydney aquarium so we can’t say that Barcelona’s is the best we’ve ever been to, but it is the biggest aquarium in Europe! They had a huge cuttlefish tank and the liveliest octopus I’ve ever seen! We had our lunch on the square and people-watched for a while. The weather in Barcelona has been beautiful, but its been windy so that’s kept it cool. We could that people were from all different places and climates by the way they handled the warm spring weather – from full jackets and scarves to tank tops and shorts – very strange. In Las Ramblas there is a huge fresh market called Mercat de la Bouqueria. It was enormous and the fruit, vegetable, meat, and cheese selections were overwhelming! Although we probably could have spent a fortune there, we limited ourselves to some fresh squeezed fruit juices! We explored more of the city and found British-African bar called ‘Obama’. We couldn’t help but go in and have a pint – you’ll see the pics whenever we get a chance to post them, it was a verrrry interesting place!
Today we started our day at the Museu Picasso – a huge museum that is home to over 3000 Picasso works from the beginning to the end of this career. It was really impressive. Apparently Picasso loved Barcelona. The museum opened 10 years before his death and most of the pieces there were donated by himself, his close friend, and his wife. Talented guy that Picasso... :) Tempting fate, we ate our lunch under a tree housing the largest number of pigeons I’ve ever seen. Eventually we had to get up and walk away as the sound of droppings hitting the ground was as frequent as a spring rain shower. After more city exploring, enjoying a café on Las Ramblas, finding an internet café (as of this morning we didn’t know where we’d be sleeping in Madrid tomorrow night), and buying Chris a FC Barcelona jersey we made our way back to the bungalow.
So, tomorrow we are off to Madrid! We now have a place to stay tomorrow night but I’m afraid that’s as far as we’ve gotten – we’ve gotten very used to the flexibility of traveling on a whim! We plan on staying in Madrid 3-4 nights and then moving on to France. On March 10th we’ll arrive in Paris to meet our friend Pat (aka Jorts) Wilcox who will be there for work. From there we’re on to London where we’ll get to see my mom who has to go there on business – so exciting!
Hasta luego!
C&S
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Lake Como, Italy
Well, instead of leaving for Milan today we stayed an extra day in Menaggio (the little village we’ve been living in on Lake Como). The room prices for Milan were way too expensive so we decided to just stay here – it’s so beautiful we don’t want to leave at all!!
When we arrived on Monday it was rainy and cool, but the bus ride around the lake from the train station to our rented apartment was still enjoyable! We got to see all around Lake Como (it’s huge by the way!), and a very nice older lady pointed out some notable sights around the lake – including George Clooney’s house!! She was very sweet and told us which stop to get off at in Menaggio and where to find the nearest payphone to call Camillo, our landlord for the next 4 nights. He was there to pick us up in moments and he drove us up the hill to our apartment. The views from the bedroom and the living room were incredible! We were pretty tired from a long day of traveling so we took a short walk, made some pasta for dinner, had some wine, and soaked up the amazing view.
On Tuesday an apartment closer to the center of the village opened up so we moved down there. After a quick stop to the grocery store to get bread and cheese for lunch we were off on our hike up the mountain. It was a hike alright! We climbed for about 2 hours, stopping for water and pictures along the way. Our end point was the ‘Rifugio Menaggio’ at 1400 m. We couldn’t go any further up Monte Grona because it was still covered in snow!! We met a really nice Australian and talked with him for a while as we ate our lunches. Turns out he has a sister living in Spain who is a TEFL teacher too! We made plans to meet up with him for dinner the following night. After our hike we did a little grocery shopping and walked around Menaggio. It is just an incredibly beautiful place. We made another pasta dinner at the apartment, watched a movie on the laptop, and got a much deserved nights sleep!
Yesterday was a gorgeous day! We were up early again to catch a ferry that would take us all around the lake to visit the little villages. The villas that are built around the lake are enormous and extravagant. We viewed most of them from the lake because they charge admission to go in and see the gardens, etc. We visited Bellagio and Lenno (which is where the Villa Balbianello is located – aka the place where James Bond is at the end of Casino Royale!!). We found the internet café and figured out where we’re staying in Barcelona, and then we were off to dinner with Scott, our new Australian friend. We had great pizza, beer, and conversation – a perfect end to the day!
Today we took the bus to the train station to reserve our tickets on the overnight train from Milan to Barcelona. It leaves Milan tomorrow night at 7:30pm and arrives in Barcelona at 9:30am. The good news is that we get little cabins with beds to sleep in. The bad news is that they separate the cars by men and women so we have to be separated. This wouldn’t be such a bad thing except that we’ve heard that there are sometimes issues with people going through your stuff and stealing your things on these overnight trains. Luckily we’ve been warned and we know that proper precautions to take.
We’re saving some money on the next leg of our journey by staying at a campsite just outside of Barcelona. It is said to have wifi so fingers crossed that we’ll be a little more connected soon!
Love, C&S
When we arrived on Monday it was rainy and cool, but the bus ride around the lake from the train station to our rented apartment was still enjoyable! We got to see all around Lake Como (it’s huge by the way!), and a very nice older lady pointed out some notable sights around the lake – including George Clooney’s house!! She was very sweet and told us which stop to get off at in Menaggio and where to find the nearest payphone to call Camillo, our landlord for the next 4 nights. He was there to pick us up in moments and he drove us up the hill to our apartment. The views from the bedroom and the living room were incredible! We were pretty tired from a long day of traveling so we took a short walk, made some pasta for dinner, had some wine, and soaked up the amazing view.
On Tuesday an apartment closer to the center of the village opened up so we moved down there. After a quick stop to the grocery store to get bread and cheese for lunch we were off on our hike up the mountain. It was a hike alright! We climbed for about 2 hours, stopping for water and pictures along the way. Our end point was the ‘Rifugio Menaggio’ at 1400 m. We couldn’t go any further up Monte Grona because it was still covered in snow!! We met a really nice Australian and talked with him for a while as we ate our lunches. Turns out he has a sister living in Spain who is a TEFL teacher too! We made plans to meet up with him for dinner the following night. After our hike we did a little grocery shopping and walked around Menaggio. It is just an incredibly beautiful place. We made another pasta dinner at the apartment, watched a movie on the laptop, and got a much deserved nights sleep!
Yesterday was a gorgeous day! We were up early again to catch a ferry that would take us all around the lake to visit the little villages. The villas that are built around the lake are enormous and extravagant. We viewed most of them from the lake because they charge admission to go in and see the gardens, etc. We visited Bellagio and Lenno (which is where the Villa Balbianello is located – aka the place where James Bond is at the end of Casino Royale!!). We found the internet café and figured out where we’re staying in Barcelona, and then we were off to dinner with Scott, our new Australian friend. We had great pizza, beer, and conversation – a perfect end to the day!
Today we took the bus to the train station to reserve our tickets on the overnight train from Milan to Barcelona. It leaves Milan tomorrow night at 7:30pm and arrives in Barcelona at 9:30am. The good news is that we get little cabins with beds to sleep in. The bad news is that they separate the cars by men and women so we have to be separated. This wouldn’t be such a bad thing except that we’ve heard that there are sometimes issues with people going through your stuff and stealing your things on these overnight trains. Luckily we’ve been warned and we know that proper precautions to take.
We’re saving some money on the next leg of our journey by staying at a campsite just outside of Barcelona. It is said to have wifi so fingers crossed that we’ll be a little more connected soon!
Love, C&S
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
4-19-09 Florence, Italy
Buena sera! It’s our last night in Florence, Italy. We just spent 3 amazing days exploring Florence with the help of our friend Erin, who is here for the semester studying abroad. She was a great tour guide! She took us to all the important sites and all the best places to eat! Also, we ran into those two college guys studying at Cambridge – such a coincidence! They ended up coming out to dinner with us & we had a really great time. We made plans to meet up again in London!
We saw the Duomo, climbed the cupola, visited the Uffizi (a beautiful museum that houses the Birth of Venus, the Annunciation, and the Holy Family), walked across the Ponte Vecchio, and strolled around the Boboli Gardens. Yesterday we went to Pisa to see the Leaning Tower. Today we went by train to Cinque Terre – a gorgeous span of five villages along the Tuscan coast. We hiked between the villages and although the weather was a little off it was still an amazing time. When we finally reached the fifth village, the sun came out! We took off our shoes and dipped our toes into the Mediterranean.
We have been eating extremely well too – and at a very cheap price! A good-sized, delicious Margherita pizza is only about 5 euro! The foccacias, pasta dishes, and gelatis are amazing as well. Thank goodness we’ve been doing so much walking!!
Tomorrow we are off to Lake Como. We’ve been so busy here the last 3 days that we are looking forward to relaxing in a small village, being outdoors (hopefully with some nicer weather), and doing some laundry! We will spend 3-4 nights there, possibly one night in Milan – and then head from Milan to Barcelona!
Internet seems to be getting more difficult to obtain by the country - but we will try to keep the blog posts coming. We will upload the pictures as soon as we get a place with wifi again!!!
- S&C
We saw the Duomo, climbed the cupola, visited the Uffizi (a beautiful museum that houses the Birth of Venus, the Annunciation, and the Holy Family), walked across the Ponte Vecchio, and strolled around the Boboli Gardens. Yesterday we went to Pisa to see the Leaning Tower. Today we went by train to Cinque Terre – a gorgeous span of five villages along the Tuscan coast. We hiked between the villages and although the weather was a little off it was still an amazing time. When we finally reached the fifth village, the sun came out! We took off our shoes and dipped our toes into the Mediterranean.
We have been eating extremely well too – and at a very cheap price! A good-sized, delicious Margherita pizza is only about 5 euro! The foccacias, pasta dishes, and gelatis are amazing as well. Thank goodness we’ve been doing so much walking!!
Tomorrow we are off to Lake Como. We’ve been so busy here the last 3 days that we are looking forward to relaxing in a small village, being outdoors (hopefully with some nicer weather), and doing some laundry! We will spend 3-4 nights there, possibly one night in Milan – and then head from Milan to Barcelona!
Internet seems to be getting more difficult to obtain by the country - but we will try to keep the blog posts coming. We will upload the pictures as soon as we get a place with wifi again!!!
- S&C
4-17-09 Amalfi Coast, Italy
Buongiorno from Firenze!
Hello all! Well, we are now certified TEFL teachers! We had our final exam last Thursday, graduated last Friday, and hit the road to start our Europe trip on Sunday! Our last couple weeks absolutely flew by. We were so busy with lesson planning, teaching, and studying/paper writing. Stymfalia, as we mentioned in the last blog post, was our final excursion. Lake Stymfalia is a beautiful wildlife sanctuary in the mountains, located about 90 minutes from Vrahati. It was gorgeous – we had a great time walking around the mountains, spying on frogs and lizards (we’re still bio geeks at heart :)!!), and having a picnic on the mountainside overlooking the lake.
On Sunday we were off by bus to Patra, Greece where we purchased our Eurail passes and boarded the ferry that would take us on a 15 hour ride to Bari, Italy. It was a huge ship – so big that tractor trailers drive into the bottom section to make the trip. We stayed on a part of the deck with lots of seats that were similar to those on airplanes. But when it came time to sleep, we rolled out our sleeping bags and camped our on the floor. When we woke, we went up to the deck just in time to see the ferry approaching the coast of Italy.
While waiting for our train that would take us to Naples, we met a couple of really nice American guys who were traveling Europe on their Easter break from Cambridge University. It was great to talk to them and kill a few hours before our train. We caught our train to Naples and along the way we chatted with a friendly Italian woman who is living in Rome. She gave us lots of Italy advice & even gave us her mobile number in case we ran into any trouble in Italy. Since our Italian is obviously very limited, she spoke to an Italian guy who was also going to Florence so he could help us find the track we needed to connect to Sorrento & the Amalfi coast – our final destination. He didn’t speak any English but we communicated just fine through hand gestures and smiles. The Naples train station was very busy and confusing at night so we were very grateful for his help. Italians were making a great impression on us already!
After a little stress, confusion, & more help from friendly Italians, we eventually made it to our rented flat in Pogerola – a small village above Amalfi. The Amalfi coast is truly an incredible place. The village are build right into the cliffs that overlook the ocean. The roads hug the cliff side, making bus rides very interesting – and frightening! We spent Tuesday hiking the coast, exploring shops and villages, and visiting Villa Cimbrone. This was and incredible property once owned by a very extravagant lord. He created gorgeous botanical gardens in English style. The main attraction was the Terrace of Infinity – a natural balcony on the cliff that overlooks the villages of the coast, accented by seven marble busts. It was an amazing place.
Wednesday we were off to Pompeii – an ancient city that was extremely well preserved because it was buried under 8 meters of ash after the eruption of Mt Vesuvius in 79AD. It was incredible to see the efficient layout of the town, the detail that went into the structures and the frescos. The floor mosaics were especially interesting – intricate patterns and pictures that showed scenes from mythology as well as warnings, such as ‘beware of dog.’
We could have stayed on the Amalfi coast forever I think, but come Thursday it was time to move on. Instead of waiting for the bus to make the climb up to Pogerola to pick us up, we decided to strap on our packs and make the trek down 746 stairs to the center of Amalfi. From there we caught the bus to Sorrento, the train to Naples and then on to Florence!
Hello all! Well, we are now certified TEFL teachers! We had our final exam last Thursday, graduated last Friday, and hit the road to start our Europe trip on Sunday! Our last couple weeks absolutely flew by. We were so busy with lesson planning, teaching, and studying/paper writing. Stymfalia, as we mentioned in the last blog post, was our final excursion. Lake Stymfalia is a beautiful wildlife sanctuary in the mountains, located about 90 minutes from Vrahati. It was gorgeous – we had a great time walking around the mountains, spying on frogs and lizards (we’re still bio geeks at heart :)!!), and having a picnic on the mountainside overlooking the lake.
On Sunday we were off by bus to Patra, Greece where we purchased our Eurail passes and boarded the ferry that would take us on a 15 hour ride to Bari, Italy. It was a huge ship – so big that tractor trailers drive into the bottom section to make the trip. We stayed on a part of the deck with lots of seats that were similar to those on airplanes. But when it came time to sleep, we rolled out our sleeping bags and camped our on the floor. When we woke, we went up to the deck just in time to see the ferry approaching the coast of Italy.
While waiting for our train that would take us to Naples, we met a couple of really nice American guys who were traveling Europe on their Easter break from Cambridge University. It was great to talk to them and kill a few hours before our train. We caught our train to Naples and along the way we chatted with a friendly Italian woman who is living in Rome. She gave us lots of Italy advice & even gave us her mobile number in case we ran into any trouble in Italy. Since our Italian is obviously very limited, she spoke to an Italian guy who was also going to Florence so he could help us find the track we needed to connect to Sorrento & the Amalfi coast – our final destination. He didn’t speak any English but we communicated just fine through hand gestures and smiles. The Naples train station was very busy and confusing at night so we were very grateful for his help. Italians were making a great impression on us already!
After a little stress, confusion, & more help from friendly Italians, we eventually made it to our rented flat in Pogerola – a small village above Amalfi. The Amalfi coast is truly an incredible place. The village are build right into the cliffs that overlook the ocean. The roads hug the cliff side, making bus rides very interesting – and frightening! We spent Tuesday hiking the coast, exploring shops and villages, and visiting Villa Cimbrone. This was and incredible property once owned by a very extravagant lord. He created gorgeous botanical gardens in English style. The main attraction was the Terrace of Infinity – a natural balcony on the cliff that overlooks the villages of the coast, accented by seven marble busts. It was an amazing place.
Wednesday we were off to Pompeii – an ancient city that was extremely well preserved because it was buried under 8 meters of ash after the eruption of Mt Vesuvius in 79AD. It was incredible to see the efficient layout of the town, the detail that went into the structures and the frescos. The floor mosaics were especially interesting – intricate patterns and pictures that showed scenes from mythology as well as warnings, such as ‘beware of dog.’
We could have stayed on the Amalfi coast forever I think, but come Thursday it was time to move on. Instead of waiting for the bus to make the climb up to Pogerola to pick us up, we decided to strap on our packs and make the trek down 746 stairs to the center of Amalfi. From there we caught the bus to Sorrento, the train to Naples and then on to Florence!
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