The next day we arose to grab an early flight from Rome to Barcelona. We walked to the Termini station, then embarked on the most uncomfortable bus ride of all time. The bus was packed, there were no windows, and and the driver seemed to be rationing the AC so that it went off in 10-second bursts every 5 or so minutes. By the end of the ride, each breath was approximately 95% recycled air from other peoples' previous breaths. To avoid either passing out or getting sick, I tried to sleep for as much of it as possible.
We got to the airport, then hopped our flight to Barcelona. When we arrived, as usual, we had no idea where our next place to stay was, so we figured it out at a sketchy internet cafe and then metroed in. Another thing we hadn't really planned for was that the standard language in Barcelona is Catalan, not Spanish. But since everybody knew Spanish (and usually at least a little English) it still ended up being one of the easiest places to communicate.
The first day we arrived we had grand ambitions. We were thinking about going to a famous park, a famous church, and possibly even a chocolate museum. But after a long morning of travel, the hostel we were staying at started to seem really comfortable, and the presence of a communal nylon-string guitar closed the deal - it was going to be impossible to get anything done. We relaxed at our place for a while, then got ready to go to the beach with some people there for the evening.
We made the 20-minute stroll down to the beach in some amazing evening weather amongst fellow walkers, roller bladers, street performers, vendors, overt lovers, and naked people. Even though it was already 7 pm there were still hours of sun left. We pretty much just continued the day's trend of lounging around - just at a better location. This confirmed our suspicions: the beach was money. We just might have to return.
That night we took it easy for the most part since traveling had been exhausting. We walked over a few blocks to Las Ramblas, which is the main street in Barcelona, to look for some food. We ended up stopping in some Falafel place that was pretty good on a sketchy looking side street. We walked up and down Las Ramblas and watched the days wholesome commotion fade into nightly vice. I thought I saw a few people reach for my pockets (apparently Barcelona is the worst place for thieves in all of Europe) but I turned before they could finish the trick. Anyway, it wouldn't have mattered if they had because I was completely broke. Joke's on you, suckers... kind of...
We walked back through alleys with one person after the next approaching us and whispering to ask if we wanted some 'stuff'. Although I appreciated their professionalism and charity, we had to decline and eventually found our way back to our humble, temporary abode.
The next morning we had more energy to address our ambitions. We actually did end up doing a few of the things we had considered the day before. First we took the metro up to Parc Guell, which was designed by the famous Barcelonian architect Gaudi. The park was pretty cool, offered some great views of Barcelona all the way to the ocean, and featured some of Gaudi's zany work. For example, the park contains the world's longest park bench, which is a long, curving sculpture decorated completely in a mosaic of tile pieces.
The park was a good introduction to the world of Gaudi, because it seems that pretty much every cool place in Barclona was designed by him. For instance, the next place we went was an in-progress church called the Sagrada Familia, which was designed by Gaudi sometime in the 1800s. Of all of the churches we've seen on this trip, the Sagrada Familia was probably one of the coolest sights of all - and will be absolutely incredible when it's finally finished sometime around 2030. It has been being built since 1880, and construction is still going on every day. The thing about the Sagrada Familia is how different it is from other, more traditional churches. It's still a Roman Catholic church, but its design is so much more modern, colorful and unique than what one might expect when they think of classics like Notre Dame or Saint Peter's. Gaudi was really into nature, so he made the church look like a forest, with supports like trees, a ceiling like a canopy, and elaborate stained glass windows that splash sunlight into the church in every color of the spectrum. It was already an impressive site to see now, so it will definitely give me a reason to return in 20 years. Not that Barcelona makes you search very hard.
Gotta go but ill finish later!
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Sunday, June 14, 2009
A moment of appreciation for Sid the Kid
I cant describe how much I would have liked to see this happen, but the other day while we were sleeping here, the Penguins won the Stanley Cup! Watching last year was a great way to spend the summer nights. I guess you cant really complain about being in Europe, but it would have been great to see this too! There are some things you just end up missing a bit.. clean clothes, the Red Sox, grilling, real beer, football being the sport where they throw the pigskin, good music... and of course, Lord Stanleys cup.
Days 11 &12 - Roamin in Rome
So the last time I updated this thing we were just arriving in Rome; now were about to leave. One or two things happened in between.
The first night we got into Rome late, due to the sorority girl situation that I mentioned last time. Too many door handles to turn, too little time. So we ended up arriving in Rome at about 8 pm, and had to go find the hostel from there.
The place we stayed the first night was really far away from the city center; we had booked it because there was nowhere else available any closer. It did have a bed, shower, and miniature kitchen (pretty much, it was somebodys apartment) but beyond that, not much else. The woman at reception was listening to Zeppelin II, though, which was a nice morale boost. We hadnt heard anything better than 4-year-old pop hits since crossing the Atlantic. But we only had to spend one night there, so it wasnt that bad. We made our way down to a pizza place, then off to gelato to cap it off, and moved out in the morning.
The next day, we planned to hit up the Vatican since it would be closed the next day (Sunday). Wed heard that the lines for the Vatican Museum get ridiculously long, so we should wake up at like 6 am in order to get a good place in the queue. We woke up at 9 or 10. But since this was the only day the Vatican would be open, we had no choice but to suck it up and give the line our best shot.
Fortunately for us, there was really no line at the Vatican Museum when we got there at about 12:30, by some miracle. Were crediting it to the fact that much of Rome takes a sort of siesta in the early afternoon, so that might deter some of the crowds. In any case, we werent complaining. We waited for about 30 seconds to get into the Museum, and it was all downhill from there.
The museum itself is pretty incredible. There are tons of pieces of precious and acclaimed art held there. Having been in art history, which gave me the ability to sound like a barely-educated art snob, I can say I personally enjoyed seeing some early Christian art by Duccio & Cimabue, and later stuff by Caravaggio and Rafael. Pretty much the most famous pictures in the museum that everybody ends up liking, but whos keeping track. However, as Im sure most people know, the main attraction of the Vatican Museum is that it leads up to the great crescendo of the Sistene Chapel and its ceiling, which was painted by Michelangelo. One things for certain: they sure make you walk through a lot of stuff you have no interest in seeing before leading you to the Sistene Chapel. But at least for me, it was pretty worth it. Every inch of the wall and ceiling is painted in great detail, highlighted by the creation of Adam & Garden of Eden scenes on the ceiling, and the last judgement on the wall behind the altar. The work is really incredible, and you can just imagine Michelangelo in the chapel with his cronies day after day, creating a collection of masterpieces on its blank walls.
We also saw Saint Peters Basilica that day, which is right by the museum. The line for this was a lot longer, but seemed to move pretty quickly. We made it from the very back of the piazza to the tickt booth in about 30 minutes. Inside here, too, is pretty incredible. The design is the most immaculate of any church weve visitied (Westminster, Saint Pauls, Notre Dame included) and the scale the most impressive. The sheer size, attention to detail, craftsmanship, and engineering of the building are ridiculous, especially considering how long ago it was built. Id still consider it an amazing feat if it had been constructed in 2009. To think of people building such a place before electricity or intense machinery is beyond me. The church is highlihgted by an immense brushed gold border along the top of the walls, as well as the imaginatively twisted legs of the altar and stained glass window behind it. And it looks immaculate. Well done, Romans.
After seeing the Vatican, we were pretty much spent for the day. We ended up getting some pretty delicious panini at a local bar, then calling it an evening and moving back to our (new) hostel, which is located just blocks from the Termini train station -- a much better place to be. We ended up cooking some dinner for ourselves, which was a delicious option for only 8 euro each. After that, we went out on a mini pub tour with one of our friends from UConn, who just happened to be staying on the floor above us -- weird. Going out was fun enough, but the best part of it all was walking back and seeing the Colisseum and the ruins of the Forum for the first time, lit up at night.
The next day we faced the challenge of doing just about everything else there is to do in Rome. Ambitious, but inspiring. We started off at the Colisseum. Just like Saint Peters the day before, the Colisseum was an amazing sight, and definitely worth the 12 euros for admission. More than anything, its a testament to the power and capability of the Roman empire around 300 AD -- even beyond its height. The colisseum itself is an immense configuration of tiered seating around a large arena on the floor - the same setup that sporting arenas are based on even today. And althogh the colisseum is definitely would have been an amazing signt to event-goers back in Roman times, I thought the best part about it was the exposed infrastructure that spectators never would have seen. Underneath the arena floor, and stretching for about a half-mile down the road, you can now see a serious configuration of labyrinths, chambers, ramps & lifts that the Romans would have used to prepare for the events that were hosted there. Just seeing the sheer size & complexity behind the colisseums events highlighted what a ridiculous achievement this structure represented for civilization almost 2000 years ago.
From there we moved on past the ruins of the Roman Forum to the Pantheon. While this was pretty interesting on its own right, the best part about these few hours were the fresh watermelon we got on the way there, and the pizza & gelato that we had once we reached the piazza (on Mr Dauers recommendation, believe it or not). After stuffing ourselves beyond belief, we kept on walking toward the Trevi Fountain. The fountain itself is in a nice enclosed piazza and depicts some very intense scene that the langage barrier kept us from figuring out. But what we did gather was that if you throw a coin into the fountain, it ensures that youll make a quick return to Rome. I dont know if I believe that, but it was probably worth the .10 euro that I donated to the cause regardless.
In the overwhelming head of mid-afternoon, we persisted on to the Spanish steps in northern Rome, which as far as I can tell are just what you might think they are ... a whole lot of steps. 135 to be exact -- we counted them all as we walked up them with the few other brave tourists who chose to persevere through the heat while most of them relaxed in the shade. After that, we were beat as usual - it was about time to retire.
When we got back to the room Jon decided that it would be a good idea to take a nap. I not being very into naps thought Id go out to a nearby piazza with a book and some limoncello to relax and enjoy the days fading sunlight. I sat down against a fountain amongst some pigeons and some young children who didnt know that you probably shouldnt be playing with pigeons. Just as an aside, Rome has pretty much the nicest weather you could hope for on this planet. There hasnt been a cloud in the sky, and weve heard that it only rains about 5 days in the entire month of June. The day started out about 70 degrees, climbed to around 90, then dropped back into the 70s as the sky grew darker at about 9. That said, it was a pretty enjoyable plan, pigeons or not. I got through 2 chapters of Slaughterhouse Five, and headed on back to the hostel.
Since we were still stuffed from lunch, we didnt really get dinner. But we did end up snacking on some wine, cheese, & chocolate... just as healthy. We met up with our friends from the floor above and spent the evening playing some card games. Although we started with about 6 people, the crowd grew to 12 eventually and we had to move the operation into the hallway. As many complaints as I could have about hanging out in hostels, meeting people never seems to be one.
Now that its getting late, I have to shower, pack up my pack, and get ready for some power-sleeping. Our plane leaves at 9 a.m., which means we should get to the airport by 8 at the latest, which means we should leave here by 7 at the latest, which means I should probably wake up at 6:30 at the latest. Not really my strong suit. But considering the circumstances, I think (hope) I can manage. A last few days relaxing in Barcelona before returning to the real world? Probably worth the early alarm.
Last stop tomorrow.
The first night we got into Rome late, due to the sorority girl situation that I mentioned last time. Too many door handles to turn, too little time. So we ended up arriving in Rome at about 8 pm, and had to go find the hostel from there.
The place we stayed the first night was really far away from the city center; we had booked it because there was nowhere else available any closer. It did have a bed, shower, and miniature kitchen (pretty much, it was somebodys apartment) but beyond that, not much else. The woman at reception was listening to Zeppelin II, though, which was a nice morale boost. We hadnt heard anything better than 4-year-old pop hits since crossing the Atlantic. But we only had to spend one night there, so it wasnt that bad. We made our way down to a pizza place, then off to gelato to cap it off, and moved out in the morning.
The next day, we planned to hit up the Vatican since it would be closed the next day (Sunday). Wed heard that the lines for the Vatican Museum get ridiculously long, so we should wake up at like 6 am in order to get a good place in the queue. We woke up at 9 or 10. But since this was the only day the Vatican would be open, we had no choice but to suck it up and give the line our best shot.
Fortunately for us, there was really no line at the Vatican Museum when we got there at about 12:30, by some miracle. Were crediting it to the fact that much of Rome takes a sort of siesta in the early afternoon, so that might deter some of the crowds. In any case, we werent complaining. We waited for about 30 seconds to get into the Museum, and it was all downhill from there.
The museum itself is pretty incredible. There are tons of pieces of precious and acclaimed art held there. Having been in art history, which gave me the ability to sound like a barely-educated art snob, I can say I personally enjoyed seeing some early Christian art by Duccio & Cimabue, and later stuff by Caravaggio and Rafael. Pretty much the most famous pictures in the museum that everybody ends up liking, but whos keeping track. However, as Im sure most people know, the main attraction of the Vatican Museum is that it leads up to the great crescendo of the Sistene Chapel and its ceiling, which was painted by Michelangelo. One things for certain: they sure make you walk through a lot of stuff you have no interest in seeing before leading you to the Sistene Chapel. But at least for me, it was pretty worth it. Every inch of the wall and ceiling is painted in great detail, highlighted by the creation of Adam & Garden of Eden scenes on the ceiling, and the last judgement on the wall behind the altar. The work is really incredible, and you can just imagine Michelangelo in the chapel with his cronies day after day, creating a collection of masterpieces on its blank walls.
We also saw Saint Peters Basilica that day, which is right by the museum. The line for this was a lot longer, but seemed to move pretty quickly. We made it from the very back of the piazza to the tickt booth in about 30 minutes. Inside here, too, is pretty incredible. The design is the most immaculate of any church weve visitied (Westminster, Saint Pauls, Notre Dame included) and the scale the most impressive. The sheer size, attention to detail, craftsmanship, and engineering of the building are ridiculous, especially considering how long ago it was built. Id still consider it an amazing feat if it had been constructed in 2009. To think of people building such a place before electricity or intense machinery is beyond me. The church is highlihgted by an immense brushed gold border along the top of the walls, as well as the imaginatively twisted legs of the altar and stained glass window behind it. And it looks immaculate. Well done, Romans.
After seeing the Vatican, we were pretty much spent for the day. We ended up getting some pretty delicious panini at a local bar, then calling it an evening and moving back to our (new) hostel, which is located just blocks from the Termini train station -- a much better place to be. We ended up cooking some dinner for ourselves, which was a delicious option for only 8 euro each. After that, we went out on a mini pub tour with one of our friends from UConn, who just happened to be staying on the floor above us -- weird. Going out was fun enough, but the best part of it all was walking back and seeing the Colisseum and the ruins of the Forum for the first time, lit up at night.
The next day we faced the challenge of doing just about everything else there is to do in Rome. Ambitious, but inspiring. We started off at the Colisseum. Just like Saint Peters the day before, the Colisseum was an amazing sight, and definitely worth the 12 euros for admission. More than anything, its a testament to the power and capability of the Roman empire around 300 AD -- even beyond its height. The colisseum itself is an immense configuration of tiered seating around a large arena on the floor - the same setup that sporting arenas are based on even today. And althogh the colisseum is definitely would have been an amazing signt to event-goers back in Roman times, I thought the best part about it was the exposed infrastructure that spectators never would have seen. Underneath the arena floor, and stretching for about a half-mile down the road, you can now see a serious configuration of labyrinths, chambers, ramps & lifts that the Romans would have used to prepare for the events that were hosted there. Just seeing the sheer size & complexity behind the colisseums events highlighted what a ridiculous achievement this structure represented for civilization almost 2000 years ago.
From there we moved on past the ruins of the Roman Forum to the Pantheon. While this was pretty interesting on its own right, the best part about these few hours were the fresh watermelon we got on the way there, and the pizza & gelato that we had once we reached the piazza (on Mr Dauers recommendation, believe it or not). After stuffing ourselves beyond belief, we kept on walking toward the Trevi Fountain. The fountain itself is in a nice enclosed piazza and depicts some very intense scene that the langage barrier kept us from figuring out. But what we did gather was that if you throw a coin into the fountain, it ensures that youll make a quick return to Rome. I dont know if I believe that, but it was probably worth the .10 euro that I donated to the cause regardless.
In the overwhelming head of mid-afternoon, we persisted on to the Spanish steps in northern Rome, which as far as I can tell are just what you might think they are ... a whole lot of steps. 135 to be exact -- we counted them all as we walked up them with the few other brave tourists who chose to persevere through the heat while most of them relaxed in the shade. After that, we were beat as usual - it was about time to retire.
When we got back to the room Jon decided that it would be a good idea to take a nap. I not being very into naps thought Id go out to a nearby piazza with a book and some limoncello to relax and enjoy the days fading sunlight. I sat down against a fountain amongst some pigeons and some young children who didnt know that you probably shouldnt be playing with pigeons. Just as an aside, Rome has pretty much the nicest weather you could hope for on this planet. There hasnt been a cloud in the sky, and weve heard that it only rains about 5 days in the entire month of June. The day started out about 70 degrees, climbed to around 90, then dropped back into the 70s as the sky grew darker at about 9. That said, it was a pretty enjoyable plan, pigeons or not. I got through 2 chapters of Slaughterhouse Five, and headed on back to the hostel.
Since we were still stuffed from lunch, we didnt really get dinner. But we did end up snacking on some wine, cheese, & chocolate... just as healthy. We met up with our friends from the floor above and spent the evening playing some card games. Although we started with about 6 people, the crowd grew to 12 eventually and we had to move the operation into the hallway. As many complaints as I could have about hanging out in hostels, meeting people never seems to be one.
Now that its getting late, I have to shower, pack up my pack, and get ready for some power-sleeping. Our plane leaves at 9 a.m., which means we should get to the airport by 8 at the latest, which means we should leave here by 7 at the latest, which means I should probably wake up at 6:30 at the latest. Not really my strong suit. But considering the circumstances, I think (hope) I can manage. A last few days relaxing in Barcelona before returning to the real world? Probably worth the early alarm.
Last stop tomorrow.
Friday, June 12, 2009
Days 9 & 10: Out of the Alps and into Rome
Yesterday we woke up at a liesurely hour to experience our last day in Switzerland. We had decided to go up to a little town called Gimmelwald with our roomates that we had been hanging out with at our hostel. To get to the town we had to take a train from Interlaken to Lauterbrunnen, a bus from there to Stechtelberg, and finally a tram up to Gimmelwald.
We set out for this series of connections about noon, and waited for the train amongst an overzealous group of German \ Eastern European metalheads who were in town for a festival featuring Slipknot and Korn (who knew those bands were still bands?). The kids were carrying around mini-kegs of Interlakens local beer and creating a general rucks in the station square. It seemed pretty contrary to the chilled-out Interlaken spirit to be hosting a metal-fest, but what did we care -- we were jumping town.
We headed up on the train, bus, and tram to Gimmelwald. Each stop toward our destination became more Swiss than the next. Interlaken is a little touristy, but is a great location and only has about 4,000 actual residents. Gimmelwald, on the other hand, has about 100 residents, doesnt allow motor vehicles, and features a lot of goats.
The trip away from civilization was well worth the 30CHF (roughly equivalent to US dollars) round trip. The train ride up drove into a valley between two dramatic mountains on either side, and passed waterfalls that ran over cliff edges and turned into mist hundreds of feet below. As if that wasnt enough beautiful scenery, the view from the top of the tram car in Gimmelwald left that all in the dust. I wish I had more pictures but my camera kind of died. I cant do justice describing it, but just picture looking out from an incredibly steep mountainside at about 5,000 feet into a gorge-like canyon, then over to an opposing cliff face that rose up 9.000 feet -- another 4,000 from even our high vantage point. Needless to say it was probably the best natural scene Ive ever been able to look at, and wont be forgotten anytime soon.
From Gimmelwald we hiked up to Murren, a slightly larger and slightly higher mountain town, then took the same series of transportation back down to home base at Interlaken.
That night we were planning on taking it easy with our friends from the hostel, and maybe meeting up with the girls for dinner since they they were coming into Interlaken just as we were leaving. We went to meet them at their hostel, but couldnt find them. We figured they had just gone to dinner on their own, but it turns out that was an optimistic guess. Long story short, they had had quite the day of train antics trying to come from Brussels, and wouldnt be in till 1 a.m. I stayed up and met them at the train station when they finally arrived. Not exactly how we thought it might work out, but good to see everyone for a few minutes regardless.
The next morning (today) we had planned to leave Interlaken for Rome. It turns out the train fiascoes werent over, though. We woke up early and barely got our first train. Phew. But that wasnt the problem. The problem was that we had some worldly-challenged sorority girls from California in front of us in line to get off at our connecting stop. They couldnt figure out how to open the door in time to exit the train, so we were all stuck on it as it drove away from our stop. Great. We ended up missing all of our connections, going 2 hours way out of the way, and ultimately getting here 3 or so hours late.
But now were finally here in Rome, at a hostel way outside of the city commotion. However, were moving to another tomorrow so it should be a little more exciting then. We didnt have time to do much beside find our accomodations after we got here, but we did end up going out for take-out pizza and getting gelato afterward. I ate one huge square piece with tomato sauce and mushrooms, another huge piece with mozarella and some weird meat, and then a delicious cup of strattiocello, which according to Kate is kind of like cookies n creme. (Good recommendation) It was delicious, and served the purpose of filling me up to an unreasonable level. The reason behind this scheme of stuffing myself was that in Switzerland I had to use somebodys Swiss Army Knife to punch a new hole in my belt, since the skinniest one wasnt holding my pants up anymore. Yikes. After I realized that, though, I did some push-ups, pull-ups, and part of the P90X ab workout (come on, youve seen the informercials) with our roomate Bruno, who had somehow acquired the whole instructional video. I guess when I get back, my mom will face the challenge of nuturing her loving son back onto his belts skinniest built-in setting and off the makeshift notch.
Well, gotta run for now. Im so tired I could fall asleep right here, even though I did all day on the train anyway. Were waking up sort of early to try to get into the Vatican without a ridiculous wait, so I need all the hours I can get!
We set out for this series of connections about noon, and waited for the train amongst an overzealous group of German \ Eastern European metalheads who were in town for a festival featuring Slipknot and Korn (who knew those bands were still bands?). The kids were carrying around mini-kegs of Interlakens local beer and creating a general rucks in the station square. It seemed pretty contrary to the chilled-out Interlaken spirit to be hosting a metal-fest, but what did we care -- we were jumping town.
We headed up on the train, bus, and tram to Gimmelwald. Each stop toward our destination became more Swiss than the next. Interlaken is a little touristy, but is a great location and only has about 4,000 actual residents. Gimmelwald, on the other hand, has about 100 residents, doesnt allow motor vehicles, and features a lot of goats.
The trip away from civilization was well worth the 30CHF (roughly equivalent to US dollars) round trip. The train ride up drove into a valley between two dramatic mountains on either side, and passed waterfalls that ran over cliff edges and turned into mist hundreds of feet below. As if that wasnt enough beautiful scenery, the view from the top of the tram car in Gimmelwald left that all in the dust. I wish I had more pictures but my camera kind of died. I cant do justice describing it, but just picture looking out from an incredibly steep mountainside at about 5,000 feet into a gorge-like canyon, then over to an opposing cliff face that rose up 9.000 feet -- another 4,000 from even our high vantage point. Needless to say it was probably the best natural scene Ive ever been able to look at, and wont be forgotten anytime soon.
From Gimmelwald we hiked up to Murren, a slightly larger and slightly higher mountain town, then took the same series of transportation back down to home base at Interlaken.
That night we were planning on taking it easy with our friends from the hostel, and maybe meeting up with the girls for dinner since they they were coming into Interlaken just as we were leaving. We went to meet them at their hostel, but couldnt find them. We figured they had just gone to dinner on their own, but it turns out that was an optimistic guess. Long story short, they had had quite the day of train antics trying to come from Brussels, and wouldnt be in till 1 a.m. I stayed up and met them at the train station when they finally arrived. Not exactly how we thought it might work out, but good to see everyone for a few minutes regardless.
The next morning (today) we had planned to leave Interlaken for Rome. It turns out the train fiascoes werent over, though. We woke up early and barely got our first train. Phew. But that wasnt the problem. The problem was that we had some worldly-challenged sorority girls from California in front of us in line to get off at our connecting stop. They couldnt figure out how to open the door in time to exit the train, so we were all stuck on it as it drove away from our stop. Great. We ended up missing all of our connections, going 2 hours way out of the way, and ultimately getting here 3 or so hours late.
But now were finally here in Rome, at a hostel way outside of the city commotion. However, were moving to another tomorrow so it should be a little more exciting then. We didnt have time to do much beside find our accomodations after we got here, but we did end up going out for take-out pizza and getting gelato afterward. I ate one huge square piece with tomato sauce and mushrooms, another huge piece with mozarella and some weird meat, and then a delicious cup of strattiocello, which according to Kate is kind of like cookies n creme. (Good recommendation) It was delicious, and served the purpose of filling me up to an unreasonable level. The reason behind this scheme of stuffing myself was that in Switzerland I had to use somebodys Swiss Army Knife to punch a new hole in my belt, since the skinniest one wasnt holding my pants up anymore. Yikes. After I realized that, though, I did some push-ups, pull-ups, and part of the P90X ab workout (come on, youve seen the informercials) with our roomate Bruno, who had somehow acquired the whole instructional video. I guess when I get back, my mom will face the challenge of nuturing her loving son back onto his belts skinniest built-in setting and off the makeshift notch.
Well, gotta run for now. Im so tired I could fall asleep right here, even though I did all day on the train anyway. Were waking up sort of early to try to get into the Vatican without a ridiculous wait, so I need all the hours I can get!
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Day 6 7 & 8 - Paris and Interlaken
So getting online to type up stuff is pretty hard. Especially when the z and y are inverted on this Swiss keyboard. At least its better than France, where the a was in the top row, w was in the bottom row, m was where the semicolon is supposed to be, and you can only type numbers by holding shift.
I guess where I left off was the last day in Paris. We woke up early to hit the Eiffel Tower before any traffic came, and arrived there at about 8:30 after taking a long metro ride. Since it doesnt open till 9, we were some of the first people there. We met Kate, Keelan & Rachel there at about 9, and took one of the first lifts to the top. The first lift only goes halfway up the tower, then you have to change to another. Before you get on the last lift, you think the first stop is pretty cool. But the final destination at the top of the tower is ridiculous. Even though its the cliche thing to do in Paris, its definitely worth going all the way up to get the best possible vantage point over the entire city.
Next we headed across the Seine to check out the Arc de Triumphe and the Champes de Elysee. We stopped at a ridiculously expensive market to get 'cheap' food, and ate it right near the Arc before walking down the street through the shops. At this point it was pretty much pouring rain, but since it was our last day in the city, it was tough luck. Jon and I left and headed over to some cool looking museum that had a huge Andy Warhol exhibit, but decided that the Museum d'Orsay, which has some classic stuff post-Louvre, would be a better bet. We walked there in the rain, but of course when we got there, it was closed. At this point we were drenched and decided to just keep heading down the Seine to check out one of the must-sees in Paris, the Notre Dame cathedral.
Admission to the cathedral was free, which we appreciated. Once we got inside, I was pretty much blown away everything I saw. We had seen Westminster and Saint Pauls, but Notre Dame was, to me, more of a sight than both of them. It was very dark, with gothic architecture and elaborate stained glass windows. We walked around, lit a candle, and stopped to meditate, relax & pray in the nave of the church. After a little while we left, and went back out into the rain. We were going to climb one of the towers of the church but there was too much traffic. So we stopped at a cafe and ordered some very expensive, delicious drinks. I had the gran chocolat, which I can highly recommend to all fellow Paris travelers.
We then spent some time meandering around the streets of the Latin Quarter trying to find a book shop, since we were going to be taking a long train ride the next day and had nothing to read. It took a very long time, but we found a bookshop called Shakespeare right down by the Seine. After browsing for a while, I decided on The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time and The Great Gatsby. Even though I already own 2 copies of The Great Gatsby, its one of my favorite books and figured it would be good stuff for being so far away from what Im used to. Then we went to a flower shop and bought some flowers for the girls to bring them when we went out later for dinner.
In a few hours we went back down to their hotel & met up to go eat one last time before splitting up. Jon & I looked like sleazeballs on the train, carrying flowers in one hand and beer in the other; since going out to eat in Paris is really expensive, we figured wed do a little bit before leaving. Eventually we met up, then walked around the Latin Quarter looking for a good restaurant. We found a place that looked good & was good, so we ate and then left happy.
The next day was our first day of travel on our Eurail passes. Let me just say: more of a hassle than you might think. We had wanted to leave at 11:00 am, but our train was booked and the next one left from Paris Gare d'Lyon at 12:52 pm. In that meantime, I figured Id go to a nearby internet cafe to look up the location of our next hostel in Interlaken, so we could find it when we got off the train. I went to the cafe and did that - the trouble was it was a little more confusing than I remembered getting back. I allowed enough time, though, and I got back to the station around 12:32, which was 20 minutes before our train. Unfortunately though, getting to the station itself was the least of my worries. Once I was there I could not find where I had left Jon, no matter how many times I retraced the same routes. I figured that was OK for about 5 minutes, but when the time reached 12:45 I started getting a little urgent. I was literally running around the station with jeans, a nice shirt, and a huge pack on my back looking for him. Somehow, by an honest miracle, I found him with about 3 minutes left until our train was set to depart. He asked where the hell Id been, but there was no time to answer so we both just started running toward the platform, because Id seen where our train was while I was trying to find him. We sprinted through Gare d'Lyon, finally ending up at our platform about 30 seconds before our train was to depart. We pretty much stepped on the train and it started moving. Id had my days workout.
The trains themselves were actually very comfortable and I spent the ride from Paris to Lausanne, Switzerland mostly reading The Curious Case of the Dog & sleeping. Once we were in Lausanne, we had to transfer on a separate train to Bern, and then to Interlaken. We were told that our train would be arriving at platform 3, so we waited there and boarded it when it came. However, when the ticket-puncher came around to validate our passes, he kindly informed us that we were on the wrong train. This one was going to Brig. The one we had wanted to take was apparently at another part of platform 3, literally connected to the wrong one we boarded. It figured. So we got off at the next stop, Montreaux, retraced our steps to Lausanne, and boarded the next train - actually - to Bern. In Bern we connected more seamlessly to a train straight to Interlaken. When we arrived at Interlaken, we got off the train and walked from the station to our hostel, Backpackers Villa, in a downright downpour. It was wet, but pretty unreal to have a view of the alps shrouded in clouds from the storm. We eventually made it here. In short, we bought a cheap dinner, relaxed for a little while, and eventually went to bed.
Today we woke up early to go hiking in a nearby village called Grimmelwald, which kind of sounds like a creepy place that Hansel & Gretel might wander in a Hans Christian Andersen story. However, it didnt end up happening quite as we had planned. In short, we had met some pretty cool roomates at our hostel, and had planned to go hiking with them in the morning - they just had to book a ticket to their next destination before leaving. However, they ran into some trouble making reservations from Interlaken to Barcelona, and had to call the hike off to go back to the hostel to consider some more options for making the trip. At this point it was getting a little late to go to Gimmelwald, so Jon & I just decided to do a hike from Interlaken called Harder Kulm.
Let me just preface this whole thing by saying that Interlaken, while a little touristy, is pretty much the nicest place on earth. If i didnt know better I might mistake this for some sort of heaven. Im not sure that I would deserve such a nice afterlife, but I did hold the door for a crippled old French lady in Paris, even though I was about to miss my train, so maybe that put me over the edge. Its in a little valley between two lakes and two enormous ridges of the Swiss Alps. The Jungfrau, one of the highest and most well-known peaks of the Swiss Alps, presides over the whole scene. Its a picture out of a postcard.
Anyway, we decided to take the Harder Kulm trail from Interlaken rather than travel in toward the Jungfrau since we were a little short on time. The peak is about 4,500 feet tall, and pretty much straight up from the road. Imagine something like hiking Cannon from the tramway parking lot. The hike wasnt too far but was really pretty steep, and I found myself sucking wind for most of it. But I felt better about feeling like that after I noticed we climbed the peak in about 1 hr 20 minutes, compared to the stated time of 2 hr 10 minutes. The top featured an awesome 180 degree view of the prominent Jungfrau and the surrounding ridge, as well as a resting area and a restaurant (since trams also access the peak). We napped there on a picnic table for about half an hour, during which time I got a nice sunburn, and ate a ton of Nutella and Swiss chocolate to energize. After eating our lunch and resting up, we headed back down to the road.
Getting back into town, we just walked around for a bit to check out all the stores and stuff in the city center. We decided we were hungry and stopped into a McDonalds. Talk about your cultural differences. The inside looked like some kind of designer cafe, and the Big Mac meal was 12 CHF, which is just about equivalent to 10.50 USD. Instead of getting one of those we thought it would be better to cook up a burger of our own, so we went to the supermarket, bought up all the ingredients, and cooked up a nice all-American meal at the hostel. We ate outside with our roomates, and it had to be about 70 out as the sun set.
At night, we walked around town with our roomates for a bit, then came back and drank some Swiss beer and played cards all night in the hostel. (Which is by far the nicest place weve stayed and Im sure will stay on the whole trip) It is so beautiful and relaxing here that we decided to book for an extra night, so well be staying here tomorrow night too. That works out OK, because Kate & our other friends will be arriving here tomorrow as well. We were going to miss them by a day with our original plan, but now we might be able to all meet up and hang out for a night in the Alps.
So tomorrow were planning on actually doing the Gimmelwald hike with our roomates, then just hanging out in the evening and maybe meeting up with the girls. I think another American burger will be in order, and the chocolate just goes without saying. If we didnt have to fly out of Barcelona on the 17th, Im not sure how you could get me to leave...
I guess where I left off was the last day in Paris. We woke up early to hit the Eiffel Tower before any traffic came, and arrived there at about 8:30 after taking a long metro ride. Since it doesnt open till 9, we were some of the first people there. We met Kate, Keelan & Rachel there at about 9, and took one of the first lifts to the top. The first lift only goes halfway up the tower, then you have to change to another. Before you get on the last lift, you think the first stop is pretty cool. But the final destination at the top of the tower is ridiculous. Even though its the cliche thing to do in Paris, its definitely worth going all the way up to get the best possible vantage point over the entire city.
Next we headed across the Seine to check out the Arc de Triumphe and the Champes de Elysee. We stopped at a ridiculously expensive market to get 'cheap' food, and ate it right near the Arc before walking down the street through the shops. At this point it was pretty much pouring rain, but since it was our last day in the city, it was tough luck. Jon and I left and headed over to some cool looking museum that had a huge Andy Warhol exhibit, but decided that the Museum d'Orsay, which has some classic stuff post-Louvre, would be a better bet. We walked there in the rain, but of course when we got there, it was closed. At this point we were drenched and decided to just keep heading down the Seine to check out one of the must-sees in Paris, the Notre Dame cathedral.
Admission to the cathedral was free, which we appreciated. Once we got inside, I was pretty much blown away everything I saw. We had seen Westminster and Saint Pauls, but Notre Dame was, to me, more of a sight than both of them. It was very dark, with gothic architecture and elaborate stained glass windows. We walked around, lit a candle, and stopped to meditate, relax & pray in the nave of the church. After a little while we left, and went back out into the rain. We were going to climb one of the towers of the church but there was too much traffic. So we stopped at a cafe and ordered some very expensive, delicious drinks. I had the gran chocolat, which I can highly recommend to all fellow Paris travelers.
We then spent some time meandering around the streets of the Latin Quarter trying to find a book shop, since we were going to be taking a long train ride the next day and had nothing to read. It took a very long time, but we found a bookshop called Shakespeare right down by the Seine. After browsing for a while, I decided on The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time and The Great Gatsby. Even though I already own 2 copies of The Great Gatsby, its one of my favorite books and figured it would be good stuff for being so far away from what Im used to. Then we went to a flower shop and bought some flowers for the girls to bring them when we went out later for dinner.
In a few hours we went back down to their hotel & met up to go eat one last time before splitting up. Jon & I looked like sleazeballs on the train, carrying flowers in one hand and beer in the other; since going out to eat in Paris is really expensive, we figured wed do a little bit before leaving. Eventually we met up, then walked around the Latin Quarter looking for a good restaurant. We found a place that looked good & was good, so we ate and then left happy.
The next day was our first day of travel on our Eurail passes. Let me just say: more of a hassle than you might think. We had wanted to leave at 11:00 am, but our train was booked and the next one left from Paris Gare d'Lyon at 12:52 pm. In that meantime, I figured Id go to a nearby internet cafe to look up the location of our next hostel in Interlaken, so we could find it when we got off the train. I went to the cafe and did that - the trouble was it was a little more confusing than I remembered getting back. I allowed enough time, though, and I got back to the station around 12:32, which was 20 minutes before our train. Unfortunately though, getting to the station itself was the least of my worries. Once I was there I could not find where I had left Jon, no matter how many times I retraced the same routes. I figured that was OK for about 5 minutes, but when the time reached 12:45 I started getting a little urgent. I was literally running around the station with jeans, a nice shirt, and a huge pack on my back looking for him. Somehow, by an honest miracle, I found him with about 3 minutes left until our train was set to depart. He asked where the hell Id been, but there was no time to answer so we both just started running toward the platform, because Id seen where our train was while I was trying to find him. We sprinted through Gare d'Lyon, finally ending up at our platform about 30 seconds before our train was to depart. We pretty much stepped on the train and it started moving. Id had my days workout.
The trains themselves were actually very comfortable and I spent the ride from Paris to Lausanne, Switzerland mostly reading The Curious Case of the Dog & sleeping. Once we were in Lausanne, we had to transfer on a separate train to Bern, and then to Interlaken. We were told that our train would be arriving at platform 3, so we waited there and boarded it when it came. However, when the ticket-puncher came around to validate our passes, he kindly informed us that we were on the wrong train. This one was going to Brig. The one we had wanted to take was apparently at another part of platform 3, literally connected to the wrong one we boarded. It figured. So we got off at the next stop, Montreaux, retraced our steps to Lausanne, and boarded the next train - actually - to Bern. In Bern we connected more seamlessly to a train straight to Interlaken. When we arrived at Interlaken, we got off the train and walked from the station to our hostel, Backpackers Villa, in a downright downpour. It was wet, but pretty unreal to have a view of the alps shrouded in clouds from the storm. We eventually made it here. In short, we bought a cheap dinner, relaxed for a little while, and eventually went to bed.
Today we woke up early to go hiking in a nearby village called Grimmelwald, which kind of sounds like a creepy place that Hansel & Gretel might wander in a Hans Christian Andersen story. However, it didnt end up happening quite as we had planned. In short, we had met some pretty cool roomates at our hostel, and had planned to go hiking with them in the morning - they just had to book a ticket to their next destination before leaving. However, they ran into some trouble making reservations from Interlaken to Barcelona, and had to call the hike off to go back to the hostel to consider some more options for making the trip. At this point it was getting a little late to go to Gimmelwald, so Jon & I just decided to do a hike from Interlaken called Harder Kulm.
Let me just preface this whole thing by saying that Interlaken, while a little touristy, is pretty much the nicest place on earth. If i didnt know better I might mistake this for some sort of heaven. Im not sure that I would deserve such a nice afterlife, but I did hold the door for a crippled old French lady in Paris, even though I was about to miss my train, so maybe that put me over the edge. Its in a little valley between two lakes and two enormous ridges of the Swiss Alps. The Jungfrau, one of the highest and most well-known peaks of the Swiss Alps, presides over the whole scene. Its a picture out of a postcard.
Anyway, we decided to take the Harder Kulm trail from Interlaken rather than travel in toward the Jungfrau since we were a little short on time. The peak is about 4,500 feet tall, and pretty much straight up from the road. Imagine something like hiking Cannon from the tramway parking lot. The hike wasnt too far but was really pretty steep, and I found myself sucking wind for most of it. But I felt better about feeling like that after I noticed we climbed the peak in about 1 hr 20 minutes, compared to the stated time of 2 hr 10 minutes. The top featured an awesome 180 degree view of the prominent Jungfrau and the surrounding ridge, as well as a resting area and a restaurant (since trams also access the peak). We napped there on a picnic table for about half an hour, during which time I got a nice sunburn, and ate a ton of Nutella and Swiss chocolate to energize. After eating our lunch and resting up, we headed back down to the road.
Getting back into town, we just walked around for a bit to check out all the stores and stuff in the city center. We decided we were hungry and stopped into a McDonalds. Talk about your cultural differences. The inside looked like some kind of designer cafe, and the Big Mac meal was 12 CHF, which is just about equivalent to 10.50 USD. Instead of getting one of those we thought it would be better to cook up a burger of our own, so we went to the supermarket, bought up all the ingredients, and cooked up a nice all-American meal at the hostel. We ate outside with our roomates, and it had to be about 70 out as the sun set.
At night, we walked around town with our roomates for a bit, then came back and drank some Swiss beer and played cards all night in the hostel. (Which is by far the nicest place weve stayed and Im sure will stay on the whole trip) It is so beautiful and relaxing here that we decided to book for an extra night, so well be staying here tomorrow night too. That works out OK, because Kate & our other friends will be arriving here tomorrow as well. We were going to miss them by a day with our original plan, but now we might be able to all meet up and hang out for a night in the Alps.
So tomorrow were planning on actually doing the Gimmelwald hike with our roomates, then just hanging out in the evening and maybe meeting up with the girls. I think another American burger will be in order, and the chocolate just goes without saying. If we didnt have to fly out of Barcelona on the 17th, Im not sure how you could get me to leave...
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
well be right back...
Just stopping by a computer quick to say hi. Were in Interlaken at an extremely nice hostel. The last two days have been crazy but fun. Ill probably have a chance to get on tomorrow night after a day of adventuring around and write about the excursions weve been on if we survive.
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Day 3-4-5: London -> Paris
Hey! After being MIA for a few days I'm trying to throw in a quick update about what we've been up to. The absence was due to the extremity of the whirlwind tour in getting out of London and into Paris.
So on the last day of London, Jon & I headed back to the Tate Modern, which is a huge modern art museum in London across the Thames from St. Paul's and near the Globe Theatre. Very cool museum ... lots of interesting - and I mean interesting - stuff. And it was free. Staying within the trip theme. But after a few hours of intense modern art, it was time to move on.
On our last day of London we then hit up Trafalgar Square, which is a huge open space featuring a column of Lord Nelson. I wish I could have figured out what he did, but time restraints as well as sensory overload meant we just accepted the fact that it was there. The column was surounded by four huge bronze lion statues that were deceivingly big and pretty difficult to climb. But at the end of the day, there is some documentation to prove that I have indeed ridden on a lion.
We then walked up to Picadilly Circus - which is kind of like a mini-Time Square in London - and into Soho to grab some food. After a good lunch at the pub we headed up to Oxford Street, which is one of London's most popular shopping streets. I swear there were more people here than anywhere else in London - and more stores, too. I'm talking like 4 Gaps within a mile stretch of road. But the street also featured much cooler, designer stuff that was too cool for me to even look at but from the window.
After Oxford Street we went to Victoria Station to meet up with some of our friends who are also traveling abroad - Kate, Keelan, Rachel, Sadie & her boyfriend Ray who lives in London. We met up with them and headed to Leicester Square to go out for dinner and drinks during our last night. Seeing everybody was awesome, but the night had to end early because 1) we were all dead tired and 2) the girls had to wake up early the next morning to travel. We said goodnight and I went back to the hostel, a little burnt out from traveling and doing so much so quickly. I decided to go to the store to grab the ingredients to cook myself up a gin & tonic, and the morale boost that this bit of home cooking delivered was not to be underestimated.
The next day was our departure from London to Paris. We caught the tube to King's Cross and took the popular EuroStar train under the English Channel and into France. The ride was pretty comfortable and very fast, minus the fact that you needed to pop your ears constantly to release the pressure from traveling through tunnel after tunnel. We arrived in Paris after only about 2 hours, and found our way from Gare Nord to our hotel, the Kyriad Italie Gobelins, via their more-confusing metro. Our hotel was pretty far out of the way, and consisted of little more than a bed, bathroom, and 4 walls to enclose it. That's right - just one bed because they messed up our reservation a little bit. Good thing we're not going on the trip to appreciate our lavish accomodations.
We went down to a bread shop and grocery store along our Avenue de Gobelins, and picked up a bottle of wine for $2.50, baguette for $1, pack of brie for $2, and a bottle opener for $3. Paris is generally expensive, but there's nowhere else that I know of where can you have a comparable meal for about $3 a person. The bottle opener was the most expensive part of the shop!
After dropping our packs off at the hotel, we checked our e-mail and saw that the girls had left a message to meet them for a Seine river cruise at 8:30. We planned to take the Metro there, but since there wasn't a ticket office at our stop, we couldn't get into it. Instead, we were forced to walk the entire way there - probably about 2 miles - without knowing anything about Paris, our even really being able to find ourselves on the confusing road map we were carrying. Somehow, miraculously, we found ourselves by the Seine at Pont Neuf shortly before the boat was set to depart. We found the girls there and hopped on the 9:00 ride down the river. That last sentence is a sort of white lie. It isn't exactly how it happened - there was in fact a 'minor crisis' - but everything turned out OK in the end. Without going into details that would create uneccesary anxiety, suffice it to say that we met up after the cruise to hang out for a bit.
We walked along the Seine for a little while, taking pictures of Paris at night and talking about how our days had been in the city. The conclusion: busy. We made it over to the left bank (the south of Paris' 2 halves, where both groups are staying) and strolled through the Latin Quarter for a bit, eventually finding a delicious looking creperie and ordering some dessert.
We eventually said goodnight, dropped the girls off at their much nicer hotel, and started off on a long, winding journey back to our place. We walked back through the Latin Quarter for a long time, during which we probably walked on every single street in the district at least 4 times. After about an hour of that, we actually tried going home. Trouble was, I couldn't actually find it on the map. This unfortunate circumstance caused us to wander around southeastern Paris for about 2 hours before making it home. Talk about weary - I passed out after a few minutes. Sharing a bed or not.
This morning we woke up and headed down to the girls' hotel in the Latin Quarter to meet up and hit up some museums for the day. On the first Sunday of the month, all of Paris' museums are free! That's today. And in line with the trip plan. We got some croissants for breakfast, packed wine, bread, and cheese again for lunch, and set out for the Louvre. We got there about noon, but as you might expect, you can't bring food into the Louvre, even if you're not going to be eating it. So we grabbed a set of stairs in the square outside and ate our lunch right outside before going in.
Inside was cool, with art from Egyptian times all the way to 18th century France. We saw the Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, Oath of the Horatii, Raft of the Medussa, Death of Sardanapalus, and a bunch of other cool stuff that people who have taken Intro to Art History would appreciate. The inside is huge and elaborate, so it took a few hours to even crack the surface of the stuff that was inside. But you can only take walking around a museum for so long, even it is is the Louvre. After a few hours it was time to move on.
One other thing I forgot to mention that was pretty unexpected - as we were walking to the Louvre, we noticed that pedestrians were crowding around the main street outside of the Notre Dame. A little investigation uncovered that President Obama was in Paris, and about to be driven down along the Seine in a motorcade. Sounded pretty cool, so we waited there for about half an hour before The Pres decided to make his fashionably late exit. The motorcade drove right by us, and we saw the waving chief of state depart in the back of a black car.
Back to the rest of the day - after going to the Louvre we had wanted to stop into the Museo d'Orsay, which apparently has more recent collections than the Louvre. However, when we got there the line to get in was just about endless. We overheard a kid who was near the end of the line say he'd been waiting for an hour and a half - yikes! We decided it wasn't really worth it to wait and headed over to the Rodin Gardens, a few blocks away. The gardens were actually really cool - really nice plants and flowers, and cool sculptures by Rodin. He's the guy that did 'The Thinker', which we actually saw in the garden. We spent a little while going around to all the Rodin sculptures and taking funny pictures to entertain and revitalize our walking-weary spirits.
Jon & I then went to check into our hostel, where I am right now, at 1:47 a.m. Its called Oops - kinda makes you wonder. The rooms are small, as expected, but the people are nice and social and at least we have bathrooms in our room.
Evetually we went back to the Latin Quarter and regrouped to plan for dinner. We ended up going to some Fondue place that we randomly found. We got both meat & cheese fondue - it was pretty good, but by far the best part was the creme brulee we ordered for dessert. After dinner we debated going out, but decided it might be a better idea tomorrow, when we don't care if we're tired the next day because we'll be travelling. We dropped the girls off at their hotel and wisely took the metro back this time around.
After being to both London and Paris, it's safe to say that the cities are worlds apart. I can't decide which I like better, but they're just so different. London is easier to navigate with the tube whereas Paris is kind of a pain at first. But London seems to be so much more spread out, whereas in Paris everything is happening down by the River. It also seems like everywhere you turn, you catch a glimpse of some kind of famous monument. Paris does seem to have more of an air of imporance. Not that Paris is necessarily better or worse than London, but it's definitely just cooler.
It's also a pretty romantic spot. I mean, even on the nasty metro in you couldn't help but notice 3 or 4 couples expressing some genuine pda over the journey. Above ground, you might imagine, people are even more enamored. This is pretty convenient, since Kate and I are thinking about going out to dinner for our 1-year anniversary tomorrow - you can't really beat the locale. Even if we don't end up doing anything special, it's been really fun going around the city with Kate, Keelan and Rachel. They put our navigation skills to shame in Paris, and it's always cool to see friends from home during the trip.
On a side note, this computer is lame because it doesn't let you upload pics. I think I have a couple good ones even though I dropped my camera on the ground and kind of screwed it up, but I guess they'll have to wait.
One more day in Paris, then off to relax from the city life for a couple days in Interlaken, Switzerland.
So on the last day of London, Jon & I headed back to the Tate Modern, which is a huge modern art museum in London across the Thames from St. Paul's and near the Globe Theatre. Very cool museum ... lots of interesting - and I mean interesting - stuff. And it was free. Staying within the trip theme. But after a few hours of intense modern art, it was time to move on.
On our last day of London we then hit up Trafalgar Square, which is a huge open space featuring a column of Lord Nelson. I wish I could have figured out what he did, but time restraints as well as sensory overload meant we just accepted the fact that it was there. The column was surounded by four huge bronze lion statues that were deceivingly big and pretty difficult to climb. But at the end of the day, there is some documentation to prove that I have indeed ridden on a lion.
We then walked up to Picadilly Circus - which is kind of like a mini-Time Square in London - and into Soho to grab some food. After a good lunch at the pub we headed up to Oxford Street, which is one of London's most popular shopping streets. I swear there were more people here than anywhere else in London - and more stores, too. I'm talking like 4 Gaps within a mile stretch of road. But the street also featured much cooler, designer stuff that was too cool for me to even look at but from the window.
After Oxford Street we went to Victoria Station to meet up with some of our friends who are also traveling abroad - Kate, Keelan, Rachel, Sadie & her boyfriend Ray who lives in London. We met up with them and headed to Leicester Square to go out for dinner and drinks during our last night. Seeing everybody was awesome, but the night had to end early because 1) we were all dead tired and 2) the girls had to wake up early the next morning to travel. We said goodnight and I went back to the hostel, a little burnt out from traveling and doing so much so quickly. I decided to go to the store to grab the ingredients to cook myself up a gin & tonic, and the morale boost that this bit of home cooking delivered was not to be underestimated.
The next day was our departure from London to Paris. We caught the tube to King's Cross and took the popular EuroStar train under the English Channel and into France. The ride was pretty comfortable and very fast, minus the fact that you needed to pop your ears constantly to release the pressure from traveling through tunnel after tunnel. We arrived in Paris after only about 2 hours, and found our way from Gare Nord to our hotel, the Kyriad Italie Gobelins, via their more-confusing metro. Our hotel was pretty far out of the way, and consisted of little more than a bed, bathroom, and 4 walls to enclose it. That's right - just one bed because they messed up our reservation a little bit. Good thing we're not going on the trip to appreciate our lavish accomodations.
We went down to a bread shop and grocery store along our Avenue de Gobelins, and picked up a bottle of wine for $2.50, baguette for $1, pack of brie for $2, and a bottle opener for $3. Paris is generally expensive, but there's nowhere else that I know of where can you have a comparable meal for about $3 a person. The bottle opener was the most expensive part of the shop!
After dropping our packs off at the hotel, we checked our e-mail and saw that the girls had left a message to meet them for a Seine river cruise at 8:30. We planned to take the Metro there, but since there wasn't a ticket office at our stop, we couldn't get into it. Instead, we were forced to walk the entire way there - probably about 2 miles - without knowing anything about Paris, our even really being able to find ourselves on the confusing road map we were carrying. Somehow, miraculously, we found ourselves by the Seine at Pont Neuf shortly before the boat was set to depart. We found the girls there and hopped on the 9:00 ride down the river. That last sentence is a sort of white lie. It isn't exactly how it happened - there was in fact a 'minor crisis' - but everything turned out OK in the end. Without going into details that would create uneccesary anxiety, suffice it to say that we met up after the cruise to hang out for a bit.
We walked along the Seine for a little while, taking pictures of Paris at night and talking about how our days had been in the city. The conclusion: busy. We made it over to the left bank (the south of Paris' 2 halves, where both groups are staying) and strolled through the Latin Quarter for a bit, eventually finding a delicious looking creperie and ordering some dessert.
We eventually said goodnight, dropped the girls off at their much nicer hotel, and started off on a long, winding journey back to our place. We walked back through the Latin Quarter for a long time, during which we probably walked on every single street in the district at least 4 times. After about an hour of that, we actually tried going home. Trouble was, I couldn't actually find it on the map. This unfortunate circumstance caused us to wander around southeastern Paris for about 2 hours before making it home. Talk about weary - I passed out after a few minutes. Sharing a bed or not.
This morning we woke up and headed down to the girls' hotel in the Latin Quarter to meet up and hit up some museums for the day. On the first Sunday of the month, all of Paris' museums are free! That's today. And in line with the trip plan. We got some croissants for breakfast, packed wine, bread, and cheese again for lunch, and set out for the Louvre. We got there about noon, but as you might expect, you can't bring food into the Louvre, even if you're not going to be eating it. So we grabbed a set of stairs in the square outside and ate our lunch right outside before going in.
Inside was cool, with art from Egyptian times all the way to 18th century France. We saw the Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, Oath of the Horatii, Raft of the Medussa, Death of Sardanapalus, and a bunch of other cool stuff that people who have taken Intro to Art History would appreciate. The inside is huge and elaborate, so it took a few hours to even crack the surface of the stuff that was inside. But you can only take walking around a museum for so long, even it is is the Louvre. After a few hours it was time to move on.
One other thing I forgot to mention that was pretty unexpected - as we were walking to the Louvre, we noticed that pedestrians were crowding around the main street outside of the Notre Dame. A little investigation uncovered that President Obama was in Paris, and about to be driven down along the Seine in a motorcade. Sounded pretty cool, so we waited there for about half an hour before The Pres decided to make his fashionably late exit. The motorcade drove right by us, and we saw the waving chief of state depart in the back of a black car.
Back to the rest of the day - after going to the Louvre we had wanted to stop into the Museo d'Orsay, which apparently has more recent collections than the Louvre. However, when we got there the line to get in was just about endless. We overheard a kid who was near the end of the line say he'd been waiting for an hour and a half - yikes! We decided it wasn't really worth it to wait and headed over to the Rodin Gardens, a few blocks away. The gardens were actually really cool - really nice plants and flowers, and cool sculptures by Rodin. He's the guy that did 'The Thinker', which we actually saw in the garden. We spent a little while going around to all the Rodin sculptures and taking funny pictures to entertain and revitalize our walking-weary spirits.
Jon & I then went to check into our hostel, where I am right now, at 1:47 a.m. Its called Oops - kinda makes you wonder. The rooms are small, as expected, but the people are nice and social and at least we have bathrooms in our room.
Evetually we went back to the Latin Quarter and regrouped to plan for dinner. We ended up going to some Fondue place that we randomly found. We got both meat & cheese fondue - it was pretty good, but by far the best part was the creme brulee we ordered for dessert. After dinner we debated going out, but decided it might be a better idea tomorrow, when we don't care if we're tired the next day because we'll be travelling. We dropped the girls off at their hotel and wisely took the metro back this time around.
After being to both London and Paris, it's safe to say that the cities are worlds apart. I can't decide which I like better, but they're just so different. London is easier to navigate with the tube whereas Paris is kind of a pain at first. But London seems to be so much more spread out, whereas in Paris everything is happening down by the River. It also seems like everywhere you turn, you catch a glimpse of some kind of famous monument. Paris does seem to have more of an air of imporance. Not that Paris is necessarily better or worse than London, but it's definitely just cooler.
It's also a pretty romantic spot. I mean, even on the nasty metro in you couldn't help but notice 3 or 4 couples expressing some genuine pda over the journey. Above ground, you might imagine, people are even more enamored. This is pretty convenient, since Kate and I are thinking about going out to dinner for our 1-year anniversary tomorrow - you can't really beat the locale. Even if we don't end up doing anything special, it's been really fun going around the city with Kate, Keelan and Rachel. They put our navigation skills to shame in Paris, and it's always cool to see friends from home during the trip.
On a side note, this computer is lame because it doesn't let you upload pics. I think I have a couple good ones even though I dropped my camera on the ground and kind of screwed it up, but I guess they'll have to wait.
One more day in Paris, then off to relax from the city life for a couple days in Interlaken, Switzerland.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)