I'm going to make this a quick entry because truth be told Laura and I are still recovering from last night's events and this screen is making my head spin. It was worth it! I think.
Rome has been great. We arrived to our hostel (Alessandro Palace...ooo la la) at about 930 Sunday night and fell asleep. Monday saw us at maximum productivity as we walked all day, checking out the Roman Forum, Colloseum (sp? I have seen this word in too many languages to know for sure...), Trevi Fountain and the Pantheon. We saw a million things in between but these were the highlights for us. Best of all I love the Pantheon. There's nothing quite like walking down a seemingly normal street and then all of a sudden BAM! The Pantheon pops up outta nowhere. It's awesome.
The gelato here is the best I've had. I'm no real authority on the matter and it might just be the magic of Rome seducing my taste buds, but I can't get enough of the stuff. What I did have enough of was the crazy Italian man at the gelateria (is this even a word?) who wouldn't leave me alone. It seems that what they say about some Italian men is true, they're crazy!
Laura and I had an amazing dinner at a place by our hostel where my Heineken was the size of my arm. After dinner we went to the pub in our hostel with Jacqueline, a British girl from our room and another Laura, from Vancouver. The pub was empty save for a table of boys who we joined. There were a couple Irish boys, two Americans and an Australian. I forgot what it's like to drink with Irish boys and the wine never stopped. Before Laura and I knew it we were in a bar around the corner and it was getting close to last call (3am). Laura stayed until the end and I bailed. No need to disclose the details of how ill I felt but Laura and I slept most of the day and will have to go to the Vatican tomorrow. I'm not sure that the saying "When in Rome..." should ever include "drink as the Irish do"....shudder. It was a great night though. Where's my water....
Ciao!
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Friday, August 27, 2010
Barcelona...Nice...Where am I?
Greetings to the two people that probably read this! My Mom and Dad! Ok maybe there's a few more...
Laura and I haven't been able to find computers in recent days and all of a sudden I'm in Nice, France. Barcelona was really beautiful and the hostel we stayed in was more like a hotel so that was great. We finally did some laundry but took it a bit easier as Madrid saw us pull a lot of late nights. Our hostel was in a decent aread but not somewhere that I would wander late at night which was a shame. The architecture and museums, lots of Gaudi and Picasso, were amazing. We spent an afternoon on the beach and walked everywhere. The Sagrada Familia, Gaudi's unfinished church masterpiece, was truly the highlight of our visit and happened to be about ten minutes from our hostel. We loved it so much we went there three times. It really took my breath away. For someone who isn't remotely enamored with religion it was really eye opening for me to see what that kind of belief can inspire. Really beautiful.
We got up super early and hopped on the train for 9.5 hours to get to Nice. It was great to take the train and go up the coast but 9 hours of sitting anywhere can make you go crazy. By the end of it I actually relished having 35 pounds on my back and walking. Our hostel in Nice is great and due to some booking confusion we were lucky enough to get a room to ourselves for one night. Yay! After a shower and a bit of french telly ( je ne comprends pas...) we hit the town for a late dinner. Laura and I walked by the hotel I stayed at with my family 4 years ago and settled on a restaurant appropriately named "Le Pizza." You really can't go wrong there. It was across from one called "Le Quebec" and seemed fitting. We both enjoyed pasta and a bottle one wine...mmm. Our neighbors (a french couple from Toulouse and a local from Nice) asked us where we were from and before we knew it Laura and I had had two more glasses of Rose and a lemoncello thanks to our new French friends. They proceeded to show us around Nice a bit but we eventually had to pull the plug when they wanted "more champagne!"....any more drinking and Laura and I were both not going to wake up the next day. Ahhh France.
After breakfast and a bit of shopping I am at an internet cafe in Nice. Tonight we are attending a spaghetti party at our hostel....all you can eat for 1€ and wine included. I do love France. Tomorrow we'll hit the beach and head to Monaco for some site seeing. Not sure when I'll find a computer next and there sure doesn't seem to be time for photos so I'm very sorry for those of you only interested in pictures of sites and not my descriptions of them. I will put pictures up eventually....although I doubt it will be until I return to the UK. That's all for now! Je vous adore! Vive le France! (???)
Laura and I haven't been able to find computers in recent days and all of a sudden I'm in Nice, France. Barcelona was really beautiful and the hostel we stayed in was more like a hotel so that was great. We finally did some laundry but took it a bit easier as Madrid saw us pull a lot of late nights. Our hostel was in a decent aread but not somewhere that I would wander late at night which was a shame. The architecture and museums, lots of Gaudi and Picasso, were amazing. We spent an afternoon on the beach and walked everywhere. The Sagrada Familia, Gaudi's unfinished church masterpiece, was truly the highlight of our visit and happened to be about ten minutes from our hostel. We loved it so much we went there three times. It really took my breath away. For someone who isn't remotely enamored with religion it was really eye opening for me to see what that kind of belief can inspire. Really beautiful.
We got up super early and hopped on the train for 9.5 hours to get to Nice. It was great to take the train and go up the coast but 9 hours of sitting anywhere can make you go crazy. By the end of it I actually relished having 35 pounds on my back and walking. Our hostel in Nice is great and due to some booking confusion we were lucky enough to get a room to ourselves for one night. Yay! After a shower and a bit of french telly ( je ne comprends pas...) we hit the town for a late dinner. Laura and I walked by the hotel I stayed at with my family 4 years ago and settled on a restaurant appropriately named "Le Pizza." You really can't go wrong there. It was across from one called "Le Quebec" and seemed fitting. We both enjoyed pasta and a bottle one wine...mmm. Our neighbors (a french couple from Toulouse and a local from Nice) asked us where we were from and before we knew it Laura and I had had two more glasses of Rose and a lemoncello thanks to our new French friends. They proceeded to show us around Nice a bit but we eventually had to pull the plug when they wanted "more champagne!"....any more drinking and Laura and I were both not going to wake up the next day. Ahhh France.
After breakfast and a bit of shopping I am at an internet cafe in Nice. Tonight we are attending a spaghetti party at our hostel....all you can eat for 1€ and wine included. I do love France. Tomorrow we'll hit the beach and head to Monaco for some site seeing. Not sure when I'll find a computer next and there sure doesn't seem to be time for photos so I'm very sorry for those of you only interested in pictures of sites and not my descriptions of them. I will put pictures up eventually....although I doubt it will be until I return to the UK. That's all for now! Je vous adore! Vive le France! (???)
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Madrid!
I´m in Madrid! This is crazy. I almost have to smack myself to remember where I am it´s all so surreal. The hostel we´re staying at has been great. They provide you with lots of group activities to keep you busy and meeting people. Laura and I flew in from Paris two days ago and have been occupied ever since. We met up with my friend Neil who I met on a Contiki tour two years ago and who also happened to be in Madrid for a few of the same days as us. It´s crazy how two years can go by and randomy you can meet up with people again. It´s awesome.
It rained the first night we were here but Neil managed to find our hostel, dripping wet the poor guy. We walked about 20 metres and ended up grabbing tapas and drinks at a restaurant next door. We ordered the drinks that we could make out from the menu and got our server to pick what she thought we´d like from the tapas menu. There was no translation and our Spanish is limited to simple words that keep us polite but entirely unaware. We ended up eating a cold soup that tasted vaguley of tomatoes, some sort of potato salad, fried cheese sticks....was that all? I cant quite recall but it was delicious. So were those mojitos....
After tapas we joined in on some drinking games at our hostel and called it an early night as we were all bagged from travel. The next morning Neil joined us for a walking tour with people from a few hostels in the neighborhood. The tour lasted just over 3 hours and we saw everything we wanted to see. It was amazing. I feel like I know so much about Madrid now but sadly I am crippled by my inability to pronounce, understand and reiterated any of the names of the sites I saw. I can tell you in dull English that I saw the palace where the royal family stays, the cathedral next door, an opera house, the gigantic post office among many other sites. I won´t expand on that too much but it was great. Neil, Laura and I grabbe ice cream after and went our separate ways so we could shower for the evenings activities.
Two nights of the week our hostel holds a tapas tour around the area where you get to sample food and beverages form Madrid, northern Spain and southern Spain. While tapas still leave you starving, it was great to get a taste of the culture and I´ve come to absolutely love Sangria. Am I spelling that right? Sure! After the tapas tour we ate fries at Burger King (starving!) with Neil and a couple new freinds from Brazil and the UK and met up with the pub crawl. It was a great night and the night life here in Madrid is crazy! Its amazing how many people are out on the street at 3am...Ive never seen anything like it. Rush hour in the wee hours....madness.
I´m outta time for now but will post pictures some time....eventually. Just goole Madrid and you´ll get the idea! It´s amazing here and I´ll do my best to write again soon. No time to spell check so....fingers crossed!
It rained the first night we were here but Neil managed to find our hostel, dripping wet the poor guy. We walked about 20 metres and ended up grabbing tapas and drinks at a restaurant next door. We ordered the drinks that we could make out from the menu and got our server to pick what she thought we´d like from the tapas menu. There was no translation and our Spanish is limited to simple words that keep us polite but entirely unaware. We ended up eating a cold soup that tasted vaguley of tomatoes, some sort of potato salad, fried cheese sticks....was that all? I cant quite recall but it was delicious. So were those mojitos....
After tapas we joined in on some drinking games at our hostel and called it an early night as we were all bagged from travel. The next morning Neil joined us for a walking tour with people from a few hostels in the neighborhood. The tour lasted just over 3 hours and we saw everything we wanted to see. It was amazing. I feel like I know so much about Madrid now but sadly I am crippled by my inability to pronounce, understand and reiterated any of the names of the sites I saw. I can tell you in dull English that I saw the palace where the royal family stays, the cathedral next door, an opera house, the gigantic post office among many other sites. I won´t expand on that too much but it was great. Neil, Laura and I grabbe ice cream after and went our separate ways so we could shower for the evenings activities.
Two nights of the week our hostel holds a tapas tour around the area where you get to sample food and beverages form Madrid, northern Spain and southern Spain. While tapas still leave you starving, it was great to get a taste of the culture and I´ve come to absolutely love Sangria. Am I spelling that right? Sure! After the tapas tour we ate fries at Burger King (starving!) with Neil and a couple new freinds from Brazil and the UK and met up with the pub crawl. It was a great night and the night life here in Madrid is crazy! Its amazing how many people are out on the street at 3am...Ive never seen anything like it. Rush hour in the wee hours....madness.
I´m outta time for now but will post pictures some time....eventually. Just goole Madrid and you´ll get the idea! It´s amazing here and I´ll do my best to write again soon. No time to spell check so....fingers crossed!
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Bonjour Bonjour
Greetings from the land of snails, chapeaus and crepes! Yes, Im in Paris and no, I cannot operate these Euro keyboards with any efficiency. This is going to take forever...
Laura and I arrived in Paris Sunday night only to be greeted by a Parisian monsoon. We wandered a while in the rain and finally found our hostel, fittingly named the Vintage Hotel & Hostel. Our current roomies are a fellow Canadian from Toronto and an Argentintian girl, both traveling on their own which I give them huge credit for. I feel that I could navigate this city on my own but without Lauras mapping skills Id likely still be trapped in the Louvre. Speaking of confusion....where is the apostrophe on this keyboard?! It seems my genius will have to go without. Haha...
Monday took us to the Louvre first thing in the morning where we spent something silly like 6 hours checking out anything and everything. It was great! We decided to forage for food and hit the road towards the Obelisk and the Champs Elysees where we saw a couple who had just been married walking the streets with their photographer. Even a skeptic like myself cant ignore the romance of something like that. Our bubble was burst however when Laura and I were both the victims of bird attacks. Ok, the birds never actually touched us but they came close enough!
Having recovered from our trauma we refueled with dinner and dessert on the Champs Elysees. We had dinner at a bar/restaurant called Unisex that had a destinctive 70s lounge feel and we stopped after walking another two blocks for crepes at a cafe called Henry V. Mmmmm. We needed to walk off our over priced meals so we climbed the 200+ steps to the top of the Arc de Triomphe for a stunning view of Paris. Having seen the Eiffel Tower now in plain view we decided to walk there as well. I have been to Paris twice before but seeing the tower never gets old. Its like the first time, every time! If only more things in life had that power.
We decided to put off going up the tower for another day so we headed back to the hostel and after a good nights rest, hit the road again...or the metro, rather. And thats how I find myself at this internet cafe by Versailles (huge by the way...). Im starving now and must prepare for the trip back to the hostel and our quest out to Montmartre and Sacre Coeur tonight. Sadly I cant post any photos because Im not prepared but you guys know what Paris looks like anyway Im sure....
Au Revoir pour le moment! (Did that make sense?)
Vanessa
Laura and I arrived in Paris Sunday night only to be greeted by a Parisian monsoon. We wandered a while in the rain and finally found our hostel, fittingly named the Vintage Hotel & Hostel. Our current roomies are a fellow Canadian from Toronto and an Argentintian girl, both traveling on their own which I give them huge credit for. I feel that I could navigate this city on my own but without Lauras mapping skills Id likely still be trapped in the Louvre. Speaking of confusion....where is the apostrophe on this keyboard?! It seems my genius will have to go without. Haha...
Monday took us to the Louvre first thing in the morning where we spent something silly like 6 hours checking out anything and everything. It was great! We decided to forage for food and hit the road towards the Obelisk and the Champs Elysees where we saw a couple who had just been married walking the streets with their photographer. Even a skeptic like myself cant ignore the romance of something like that. Our bubble was burst however when Laura and I were both the victims of bird attacks. Ok, the birds never actually touched us but they came close enough!
Having recovered from our trauma we refueled with dinner and dessert on the Champs Elysees. We had dinner at a bar/restaurant called Unisex that had a destinctive 70s lounge feel and we stopped after walking another two blocks for crepes at a cafe called Henry V. Mmmmm. We needed to walk off our over priced meals so we climbed the 200+ steps to the top of the Arc de Triomphe for a stunning view of Paris. Having seen the Eiffel Tower now in plain view we decided to walk there as well. I have been to Paris twice before but seeing the tower never gets old. Its like the first time, every time! If only more things in life had that power.
We decided to put off going up the tower for another day so we headed back to the hostel and after a good nights rest, hit the road again...or the metro, rather. And thats how I find myself at this internet cafe by Versailles (huge by the way...). Im starving now and must prepare for the trip back to the hostel and our quest out to Montmartre and Sacre Coeur tonight. Sadly I cant post any photos because Im not prepared but you guys know what Paris looks like anyway Im sure....
Au Revoir pour le moment! (Did that make sense?)
Vanessa
Thursday, August 12, 2010
London Town
I'm in London! I can't get over how surreal this all this. After leaving Kelowna I had a great couple days in Calgary, visiting with my favorite people and saying goodbye. I'm going to miss my family and friends but I'm so thankful for the opportunity that I have. I know that I'm lucky to have such supportive people in my life and I love them all.
The flight out flew by as I bobbed in and out of an awkward sleep. Gotta love cabbage class. Our B&B in London is just outside of Wimbledon; it's gorgeous here. Laura and I are staying in the same room I was in with Stacey two years ago (where did the time go?) and the slanted ceilings have dealt us a few brutal blows in the short hours we've been here. After a shower and quick nap we had dinner an Italian bistro two blocks away. The pizza was the best I've had in a long time. Laura and I enjoyed a glass of white and now I'm in the mood to fall asleep....if only it wasn't 7:30...
Tomorrow Laura and I are off to conquer London by foot and metro. I know we both want to spend some time at the V&A, National Gallery, Canada House and Harrods...we'll have to see where the city take us from there. We're planning to meet up with the girl whose room Laura is renting tomorrow night as well. My favorite part of all of this is that I'm not restricted by time; Laura and I make our own schedule - it's perfect.
That's all from London for now - stay tuned...it's bound to get more interesting!
The flight out flew by as I bobbed in and out of an awkward sleep. Gotta love cabbage class. Our B&B in London is just outside of Wimbledon; it's gorgeous here. Laura and I are staying in the same room I was in with Stacey two years ago (where did the time go?) and the slanted ceilings have dealt us a few brutal blows in the short hours we've been here. After a shower and quick nap we had dinner an Italian bistro two blocks away. The pizza was the best I've had in a long time. Laura and I enjoyed a glass of white and now I'm in the mood to fall asleep....if only it wasn't 7:30...
Tomorrow Laura and I are off to conquer London by foot and metro. I know we both want to spend some time at the V&A, National Gallery, Canada House and Harrods...we'll have to see where the city take us from there. We're planning to meet up with the girl whose room Laura is renting tomorrow night as well. My favorite part of all of this is that I'm not restricted by time; Laura and I make our own schedule - it's perfect.
That's all from London for now - stay tuned...it's bound to get more interesting!
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