After doing laundry we went and napped at a park thing with a big fountain/pool. Unfortunately some evil pidgeon saw the gap in our defense and crapped on Christian's towel...so we went back to the laundromat for a while. After that we ate at a very satisfying restaurant which gave us free bread and unlimited side-dishes. The sauces were quite good, I guess you get sauce on everything in France. Then we went to the train station and got on our train. Slept pretty well and now we are in Paris deciding what to do. Either Barcelona or Berlin from here, whichever has a better train option. Basically we look at the map and pick destinations that are far enough apart so we can sleep on the trains overnight. Anyway...
Yeah, I got free internet here in the train station, but only for 20 minutes. So no pictures for now, but we'll keep scanning for WiFi throughout the day.
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Yesterday and Today, Nice, France
Took a train from Rome to Livorno, just because. Once we got there we poked around for a bit, but decided that we should just go to Nice. So we went to the ticket window to figure the route, 4 train rides and a total travel time of around 9 hours. We boarded the first train at 20:13 and it took us to Genova Brignale Station. The train was a little delayed, but not enough to make us miss our next one, a short 6 minute ride from Genova Brignale to Genova Piazza Principe. Unfortunately the signs on the platforms were broken, so we thought that the train on the platform we were waiting for our train on was not our train....which it was. We poorly kept track of time, as well, and now found ourselves stranded; with no train to catch up to our schedule we would have to make a new one. Also there was this guy who had kept trying to talk to us on the train, trying to ask us something as if we could help him, but he was not very communicative and only spoke italian. Eventually he was just saying/asking "polizia" a lot, which we weren't sure how to answer. Unnervingly, we continued to see him all night as we waited for the next train to P. Principe.
Once in Piazza Principe, it was late and we we're tired. The next train to Ventimiglia we could grab wasn't until 8, so we slept at the train station. There were at least a dozen other backpackers sleeping nearby, all inside this little moveable barrier that surrounded the station cafe's tables when they were out. As it stood without tables, it served as a good windbreak for us sleepers. We were essentially sleeping on the cold stone ground, and I swear I was plagued by a lone demonic mosquito the whole night and morning. Around 4:30 the cafe started to open and the sleepers gradually scattered away. We ate some bread and honey breakfast (the last of the bread) and found ourselves with yet 3 hours to kill. We wandered around outside the station, but had to go back to get Christian some semi-substantial food from the cafe.
The train to Vermiglia was a mess; it was a compartment train and we'd reserved seats, but during the confusing boarding sequence we couldn't figure out which they were, so until the first stop we stood near the bathroom at the end of the car. The narrow hall was filled with people sitting and every compartment was full, there were several people standing at either end of every car as well. Anyway, we went back and ousted some people from our seats, which I kind of felt bad about because I wasn't able to communicate anything beyond pointing to my ticket so they knew it was my seat. One person who we displaced was a girl who was probably about our age and I understood that she was getting off at the next stop or so, but I wasn't able to communicate that she could keep the seat until then, since I was going all the way to the end of the line and would have plenty of time to sit.
The rest of the ride was restful, and when we arrived in Vermiglia we were told that we could treat the train into france as a hop-on hop-off free kind of thing with our europasses, so we were happy that our expensive tickets were finally doing more than just getting us discounts (huge discounts, albeit). I was out of cash at this point, and when I tried to use an ATM outside the station it didn't work, and Christian's card faied as well,that worried us.
The train to Nice stopped at probably every stop, so it took a little while and there was lots of moving baggage around to balance comfort with fitting newcomers in. We got into Nice at, maybe 11? And, using my tourbook, tried to find a place to stay. We went into a really lovely little shopping area close to the water, and started our search. The first place we went was full, but the lady at the desk was quite helpful and pointed us toward some larger hotels. So we went from hotel to hotel, checking the prices, but it was futile because as it inevitably turned out they were always full. But we pressed on, there had to be at least one room left in the city right? I was feeling a little empathy fro Mary and Joseph, hoping I wouldn't have to sleep at the train station again. Luckily neither Christian nor I is pregnant. We found a promising 1 star place for cheap, but the desk was litteraly chained shut and padlocked while they (I believe) were taking lunch. We decided to get lunch and then come back. We saw a subway nearby and when we saw the size of the drinks we were astonished and had to eat there. No free refills, but typical medium drink cups is progress. Also of note, the Termini Station Nestea ploy had worked, because both Christian and I drnak that with our sandwiches.
The promising place was full too. Damn.
We wound our way back toward the station, and found a 2 star hotel that had a very large sign and a big building. We had mixed hopes for it, on one hand the well placed sign probably attracted lots of businiess, but it also appeared to have many rooms. The price was pretty much within our range on the sign outside so we went in. No rooms upstairs, but we got a nice little basement room. Compared to our hostel in Rome this is fantastic though, our own bathroom and our own room, towels, sheets, bedlamps and everything!
This morning we got up, packed up, left our luggage in a luggage room and checked out. We went and reserved some reclining seats on a night train to Paris tonight and spent the morning in Nice's touristy area. Got some flat bread thing with oil and cheese and tomato and we ate grapes and everything was great. France so far has been much friendlier than Rome was, also nicer looking overall (though Nice lacks majestic ruins and churches). We are currently doing laundry, and we couldn't figure our how the machines worked until a french guy helped us out, he didn't know english and all we could say was "merci."
Haven't uploaded pictures since that McDonalds though, but we might get online later today or something. Anyway, if not, I'll report in from France!
August 8, Before leaving Rome
8/8 This morning we got up and packed up and dropped off the keys at the Hostel desk. We headed out to burn the hours until our train leaves at 3:45. We walked down to see the Pantheon, and we're certainly glad we had time to fit that in, since we'd intended to swing by several times but never did. Entrance was free, which is always nice, so we spent a few minutes wandering inside. Afterwards we sat in the shade by the fountian outside for a long time, ate a small gelato and rested. Then we made our way back to Termini Station. We found a supermarket on the way to the pantheon as well, which was great, we bought bread and honey and some snacks; we'll be sure to pick up more substantial food at another stop, but once back at termini we had a little picnic and I read a book while Christian pretended to be asleep. While filling our water bottles Christian even got to give directions to a spanish speaking woman, so that's cool. Right now I'm writing this on wordpad because there's no internet here at this McDonalds, where we are charging our electronics and moving pictures onto the compy from the camera. 
Sunday, August 7, 2011
Leaving Rome
Just a quick update; we're leaving Rome by train for Livorno, maybe we can catch a boat to spain from there, if not we're just working our way north, switzerland will be more train friendly for us for complicated reasons. Not sure when we'll get back online, but we'll hopefully get a nice big post out to you soon!
I forgot to give this a title! ROME!
Ok, so this will be the first big update. The long flight went well, I was sitting behind christian rather than next to him, but whatever. I watched True Grit (the recent one) and then Brick, and was suddenly inspired to be a badass. Neither of us got enough sleep on the plane.
We got into Rome around 11 yesterday and found our way onto a bus that went into the city to Termini Station. The WiFi at the airport didn't work, which is a bummer because we needed to get the address of our Hostel. We got to the train station hoping there would be WiFi there but there wasn't, so we were screwed. On the bright side they were giving away free nestea iced tea! So, we went out into the city, using our finely attuned senses of direction to guide us to the general area we remembered it being in, hoping to see a sign.
We didn't. We couldn't find any free wifi either, even at the rediculously fancy McDonalds. We walked for a few hours, in a big circle, and then up and down the same streets several times. At first we were encourages by the plethora of hotels in the area. But we didn't find it. We tried to ask some hotel receptionists but they didn't know, nor did they care.
While wandering, though, we stopped into S. Maria Maggiore, a fancy church near the train station.
Exhausted and sweaty, we finally we discovered Tourist Information at the train station, huzzah! We finally got pointed in the right direction...the opposite side of the station from where we'd been looking.
So we went to the area that had been circled on our brand new handy tourist map and....hmmm.
Where was this fabled place? We asked the guy at one of the hotels and he, disappointed that we wouldn't be staying with him, waved generally at the opposite side of the street and went beack into his building. So we walked around, and were accosted by a man asking if we needed a hostel, which in a sense we were. We told him we had reservations at a particular one, the Two Ducks, and miraculously, he gave very specific instructions: end of the street on the right, 4th floor, #19, Cool. I'd love to show you what we saw, but uploading takes forever and my connection is not exactly solid. Another time, we might do a big photo dump.
Just a little bit hidden away. We got our keys and were showed to our room, which had four beds, two of which were already taken.
So we relaxed and took a nap. The other people in the room were both girls, though they were not together. One is from....somewhere, waiting for her friend to get done with...school or something, the other was maybe Chinese and didn't talk much. She left today. Now there is some middle-aged woman, who only ever says "
"Caio," whether in greeting or departing.
After our nap, we walked around again, we had dinner at a little pizzeria and then we made our way to Trevi Fountain, passing some other fountains on the way; Fontaine della Repubblica and Tritone. Trevi fountain was ludicrously crowded, so we just snapped a couple pictures and left. Went back to the room and went to bed.
the next morning we got up around 7 and made our expidition to the Forum. We saw the Column of Trajan and some various ruins, and down the street the Colloseum loomed. Or, should I say, the Flavian Ampitheater, its actual name. So we headed to that, and paid to go in, there was a bit of a line, but not much, when we passed by in the afternoon the line was many times longer.
The ticket also let us into, I guess, the Forum proper. There were signs all over for the Mostra Nerone, but though we folled the first few, we couldn't find it; the place is like a giant maze. We walked all around it, but we were quite tired, so my favorite attractions were the benches in the shade. There are some great pictures though. We did find the Mostra Nerone eventually, and got to see some frescos I guess. I kept trying to go to the Circus Maximus, but we hit dead ends all over the place and eventually were too exhausted to do anything. We couldn't find the exit, either, like i said, it was a maze.
When we escaped we were too tired and immediately made our way to the hostel, only remembering the Circus Maximus once we were already too far away to feel like retracing our steps. We got some Gellato to refresh us on the way back. Unfortunately, when we got there it was being cleaned! So we couldn't rest yet. We went back to the train station, where we discovered the batrooms cost a euro. The great news though, was that they were still giving out free Nestea! So we got some and then explored the station, got some more nestea and then Christian had the brilliant idea to head to the Fountain of the Rebublic (screw italian, haha) and stick our feet in to kill some time and rest. So we did that.
Side note, there is a theme park outside Rome called Rainbow Magic Land, which is a fantastic name.
Now I am back at the hostel, but soon I will probably be at the National Library, where I hope to get on the internet and post this to the blog.
We got into Rome around 11 yesterday and found our way onto a bus that went into the city to Termini Station. The WiFi at the airport didn't work, which is a bummer because we needed to get the address of our Hostel. We got to the train station hoping there would be WiFi there but there wasn't, so we were screwed. On the bright side they were giving away free nestea iced tea! So, we went out into the city, using our finely attuned senses of direction to guide us to the general area we remembered it being in, hoping to see a sign.
We didn't. We couldn't find any free wifi either, even at the rediculously fancy McDonalds. We walked for a few hours, in a big circle, and then up and down the same streets several times. At first we were encourages by the plethora of hotels in the area. But we didn't find it. We tried to ask some hotel receptionists but they didn't know, nor did they care.
Exhausted and sweaty, we finally we discovered Tourist Information at the train station, huzzah! We finally got pointed in the right direction...the opposite side of the station from where we'd been looking.
So we went to the area that had been circled on our brand new handy tourist map and....hmmm.
Where was this fabled place? We asked the guy at one of the hotels and he, disappointed that we wouldn't be staying with him, waved generally at the opposite side of the street and went beack into his building. So we walked around, and were accosted by a man asking if we needed a hostel, which in a sense we were. We told him we had reservations at a particular one, the Two Ducks, and miraculously, he gave very specific instructions: end of the street on the right, 4th floor, #19, Cool. I'd love to show you what we saw, but uploading takes forever and my connection is not exactly solid. Another time, we might do a big photo dump.
Just a little bit hidden away. We got our keys and were showed to our room, which had four beds, two of which were already taken.
So we relaxed and took a nap. The other people in the room were both girls, though they were not together. One is from....somewhere, waiting for her friend to get done with...school or something, the other was maybe Chinese and didn't talk much. She left today. Now there is some middle-aged woman, who only ever says "
"Caio," whether in greeting or departing.
After our nap, we walked around again, we had dinner at a little pizzeria and then we made our way to Trevi Fountain, passing some other fountains on the way; Fontaine della Repubblica and Tritone. Trevi fountain was ludicrously crowded, so we just snapped a couple pictures and left. Went back to the room and went to bed.
the next morning we got up around 7 and made our expidition to the Forum. We saw the Column of Trajan and some various ruins, and down the street the Colloseum loomed. Or, should I say, the Flavian Ampitheater, its actual name. So we headed to that, and paid to go in, there was a bit of a line, but not much, when we passed by in the afternoon the line was many times longer.
Close enough, right?
When we escaped we were too tired and immediately made our way to the hostel, only remembering the Circus Maximus once we were already too far away to feel like retracing our steps. We got some Gellato to refresh us on the way back. Unfortunately, when we got there it was being cleaned! So we couldn't rest yet. We went back to the train station, where we discovered the batrooms cost a euro. The great news though, was that they were still giving out free Nestea! So we got some and then explored the station, got some more nestea and then Christian had the brilliant idea to head to the Fountain of the Rebublic (screw italian, haha) and stick our feet in to kill some time and rest. So we did that.
Side note, there is a theme park outside Rome called Rainbow Magic Land, which is a fantastic name.
Now I am back at the hostel, but soon I will probably be at the National Library, where I hope to get on the internet and post this to the blog.
NOPE, there wasn't. Nor did the McDonalds hotspot work, now I'm on a random street sitting in the sidewalk using a random WiFi connection!
Last night we had some Beers with our roommate and her friend up on the balcony of the Hostels 5th floor section. The building is shared by several people and more than one hostel. We're on the first floor, the 5th has more bathrooms and less people and a big balcony, grr.
So, today we went to the Vatican, didn't go in, because the line was too long. Made our way along the river south, a nice shady walk, sat in the shade at the circus maximus, ate lunch, went back to the Hostel to rest, then began this frustrating journey to find internet. Oh well. We found it. No pictures, because I haven't moved them onto this computer yet and I'd like to wrap this up because I'm writing this sitting on the sidewalk. I'd love to post a better update, but I need to find a more comfortable hotspot that feels more legal.
Until next time, Ciao!
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Toronto YYZ
So there's a picture from Christian's camera. Here we are in Toronto, currently listening to a news story about wheelchair accessible "gerdens." Now we wait for a few more hours to get going to Rome, which is about twice as long as our last flight (which we spent watching Coraline and sleeping).
Here's a quick review of Coraline by me, Ricky: It's kind of like a children's movie, only it will give your children nightmares. Also the heroine talks to herself a lot.
I will now fulfill a life achievement and listen to YYZ by Rush in the Toronto airport (YYZ).
Also, thanks mothers for so eagerly following this blog! Love from us.
Also, thanks mothers for so eagerly following this blog! Love from us.
Stage One: SFO to Toronto
Wow! Look at that crappy picture of us in the airport!
So anyway, we're at SFO, waitin' for the flight to board to Toronto. I'm just happy I managed to get the free Wi-Fi working! And I figured out how my webcam can take pictures and how to upload them to this bloggy thing. See? All sorts of new experiences already and we're not even out of the country!
So...nothing interesting has happened yet. My bag apparently turned sideways in the x-ray and got a little stuck and the security lady chastised me passive-aggressively. We've discovered the secret to comfortable backpacking is just pulling all the random straps hanging everywhere.
That's about it. What a trip so far, right!?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)