I arrived in Igoumenitsa without really knowing where to go. I knew there was another ferry that took me to Corfu, but I didn't know where to find it. I went inside the ticket building and asked a woman at one of the desks and she said it was at the other port, more towards the center of the city (whatever that meant).
So I headed out the door and headed in what I hoped was the right direction. I asked a woman I saw on the road and she pointed me in the right direction. When I got there I bought the ticket (8 euros), but unfortunately had to wait until 8:45am for the ferry to arrive. So another 2 hours of waiting around with nowhere to sit down, and it was pouring rain. I stayed by the ticket area under some cover, so I managed to not get soaked.
The ferry ride was good, and I was able to doze for another hour or so. Then at Corfu I wasn't entirely sure where the bus to get to the Pink Palace was. A guy told me that I should wait in this one area, but I still almost missed the bus an hour later (11am) when I saw it driving past. I hurried over and it was luckily stopped at a red light. I got in and was relieved to not have to worry any more.
On the bus ride I talked with the only other person on the bus (besides the driver), which was a guy named Hector from Spain. He had been to Corfu twice in the past and said it was his favorite island. This was his first time at the hostel, though, so he was also hoping that it lived up to the hype and to the website.
We stopped to pick up some people at the airport and got to the hostel at about 1pm. Check-in took another hour, plus or minus. I went down to get something to eat and laid on the beach for a few hours. Hopefully I didn't get sunburned.
Right now it is almost 8pm. I decided to get caught up on my Blog posts and wait around until dinner at 8:30pm. I think tonight I will go to bed early since I had mediocre sleep last night. I'm just going to take it easy and try to walk as little as possible. My feet need a rest before heading back into full gear for the last 2 weeks in Athens, Thessaloniki, and Istanbul.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Europe Trip: Day 38, June 27th
In the morning the hostel owner was nice enough to let me leave my stuff at the hostel and keep the key to the place until I picked up my stuff -- but I only had to pay for the one night.
I took a regional train (Ferrovia Sud Est - FSE) to Alberobello, which had a unique type of house found nowhere else in the world. The story that Lubna and Francesca told me was that back when the King or Lord of the area was taxing them based on the house they had, they came up with a way to make a house of stone with no mortar. So when the tax collector came around, they were able to knock down the houses and say that it wasn't a real house. Now they even paint some of them and people still live in them. There are even some 'hotels' which let you stay inside one for the night. The houses are called Trulli.
After walking around the town for a while and seeing the church, the Trulli huts, and eating some food, I headed back to the train station. By some miracle I found it without having to ask for directions. Just as I was about to ask for directions, someone asked me where to find the Trulli huts and when I looked back to tell them the direction I saw the sign to the train station. Fate? Maybe.
I got back, picked up my stuff, and walked to the port. I bought my ticket about 2 hours early and went onto the ferry immediately. As I was walking towards the deck I saw this guy and suddenly I was like: Wait! I know him! And I could see in his eyes that he recognized me as well. It was the Mexican guy who stayed at the same hostel as me in Naples. So during the ferry ride I stuck around with him and a Dutch girl he had met at his crappy hostel in Bari.
The ferry didn't leave the port until around 8:45-9pm. And we talked for a while and hung out until around midnight when we decided to find somewhere to sleep. We ended up sleeping on the floor, which while uncomfortable was not as bad as it sounds. I got about 5 hours of sleep, the ferry arrived in Igoumenitsa at 6:30am (but with the time zone change it was 5:30am in Italian time). The other two stayed on the ferry, which continued to Patras arriving around noon.
I took a regional train (Ferrovia Sud Est - FSE) to Alberobello, which had a unique type of house found nowhere else in the world. The story that Lubna and Francesca told me was that back when the King or Lord of the area was taxing them based on the house they had, they came up with a way to make a house of stone with no mortar. So when the tax collector came around, they were able to knock down the houses and say that it wasn't a real house. Now they even paint some of them and people still live in them. There are even some 'hotels' which let you stay inside one for the night. The houses are called Trulli.
After walking around the town for a while and seeing the church, the Trulli huts, and eating some food, I headed back to the train station. By some miracle I found it without having to ask for directions. Just as I was about to ask for directions, someone asked me where to find the Trulli huts and when I looked back to tell them the direction I saw the sign to the train station. Fate? Maybe.
I got back, picked up my stuff, and walked to the port. I bought my ticket about 2 hours early and went onto the ferry immediately. As I was walking towards the deck I saw this guy and suddenly I was like: Wait! I know him! And I could see in his eyes that he recognized me as well. It was the Mexican guy who stayed at the same hostel as me in Naples. So during the ferry ride I stuck around with him and a Dutch girl he had met at his crappy hostel in Bari.
The ferry didn't leave the port until around 8:45-9pm. And we talked for a while and hung out until around midnight when we decided to find somewhere to sleep. We ended up sleeping on the floor, which while uncomfortable was not as bad as it sounds. I got about 5 hours of sleep, the ferry arrived in Igoumenitsa at 6:30am (but with the time zone change it was 5:30am in Italian time). The other two stayed on the ferry, which continued to Patras arriving around noon.
Europe Trip: Day 37, June 26th
Lubna got up around 5am, and I got up to say good-bye. She headed out around 5:30am. Then my alarm went off at 6am, and I had to go take my shower, eat, and finish packing. I was out the door by 6:40am after saying good-bye to Francesca and her father (I had said goodbye to the grandmother the night before). As always, good-byes are difficult, and even more so when you have lived together for 2 weeks! We had become part of each other's daily schedules and it was sad to leave.
The train to Bari left at 8:20am and arrived at 2:20pm. I checked in to the hostel, talked with a Dutch girl who was also staying there, and then I explored Bari. I made my way to the seaside, walked along that until I saw signs to the big church and to the castello (castle/fortress). I went inside both, but they weren't anything so special. The ticket for the castle (1 euro) was only to go inside a couple small museums, and you weren't allowed to walk along the wall or anything. The church was quite simple as far as Catholic churches go.
Then I walked around in the old part of town, working my way back to the newer area, where I ate a pizza and then got back to my hostel as it started to get dark. I called Mom and Dad and went to bed early around 10pm.
The train to Bari left at 8:20am and arrived at 2:20pm. I checked in to the hostel, talked with a Dutch girl who was also staying there, and then I explored Bari. I made my way to the seaside, walked along that until I saw signs to the big church and to the castello (castle/fortress). I went inside both, but they weren't anything so special. The ticket for the castle (1 euro) was only to go inside a couple small museums, and you weren't allowed to walk along the wall or anything. The church was quite simple as far as Catholic churches go.
Then I walked around in the old part of town, working my way back to the newer area, where I ate a pizza and then got back to my hostel as it started to get dark. I called Mom and Dad and went to bed early around 10pm.
Europe Trip: Day 36, June 25th
I didn't do a whole lot this day. I just got up, had breakfast with them, and then decided that I was going to stay around the house all day and try to make sure I had the rest of my trip planned. This seemed important, because internet conditions would be uncertain for the immediate future.
When I got online I found out that I had gotten some positive responses from my CouchSearch requests and had hosts for both Athens and Thessaloniki! That added to my luck in finding a couch in Istanbul made me very happy indeed.
After finding out that the night bus I wanted to take from Corfu to Athens only departed on even numbered days, I had to move around my days in Athens and Thessaloniki, but that ended up working out even better for my hosts.
I had lunch with Lubna and her grandparents. And then Lubna was worried about how she hadn't packed anything for her trip to Milan. The plane was going to leave early the next morning. We both took a break, and went to a mall (more or less) near her house that I had never been to. I got a stamp and mailed a postcard to Nefi. Laren hadn't ever told me or Emily his address, so he didn't get one :P Lubna looked for some shoes, but didn't find anything she liked.
That evening we all ate together and then took group pictures. Lubna, me, and the grandparents; Francesca, Lubna, and the grandparents; Francesca, Lubna, and I; and just Lubna and I. Those pictures are up in the 'Rome II' album on Picasa.
We all went to bed fairly early, sometime between 11pm and midnight, since we had to get up very early the next morning...
When I got online I found out that I had gotten some positive responses from my CouchSearch requests and had hosts for both Athens and Thessaloniki! That added to my luck in finding a couch in Istanbul made me very happy indeed.
After finding out that the night bus I wanted to take from Corfu to Athens only departed on even numbered days, I had to move around my days in Athens and Thessaloniki, but that ended up working out even better for my hosts.
I had lunch with Lubna and her grandparents. And then Lubna was worried about how she hadn't packed anything for her trip to Milan. The plane was going to leave early the next morning. We both took a break, and went to a mall (more or less) near her house that I had never been to. I got a stamp and mailed a postcard to Nefi. Laren hadn't ever told me or Emily his address, so he didn't get one :P Lubna looked for some shoes, but didn't find anything she liked.
That evening we all ate together and then took group pictures. Lubna, me, and the grandparents; Francesca, Lubna, and the grandparents; Francesca, Lubna, and I; and just Lubna and I. Those pictures are up in the 'Rome II' album on Picasa.
We all went to bed fairly early, sometime between 11pm and midnight, since we had to get up very early the next morning...
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Europe Trip: Day 35, June 24th
The next morning was too early, but Lubna had to head in again to get more work done on the project. Since Lubna's grandparents were coming by train from their town to Roma, she wanted to go in earlier than the day before.
I stayed out of the way and tried to get some planning done for the last part of my trip. First I looked up hostels for Bari, and found a decent one. Then I looked up hostels in Corfu and found a giant one that seems to have all sorts of activities, as well as a private beach. So I decided that I would spend 2 days (1 night) in Bari, then take the night ferry directly to Corfu and stay 4 days (3 nights) in the Pink Palace hostel.
After that I will take an overnight bus to Athens, stay there for 3 days, then 2-3 days in Thessaloniki, and then take a train to Istanbul. My last week will be spent there before flying home to Seattle. Since I had been looking forward to going to Constantinople (Istanbul) for a very long time, I really wanted to have a local show me around.
Luckily it didn't take long at all to find hosts for the entire week! Within an hour of sending out 4 requests I had someone (a couple) say I could stay the first 3 nights, and then in the next 6 hours or less another person said I could stay the rest of the nights.
Anyway, after sending out those 4 couchsurfing requests I went and had lunch with Lubna and five of her friends. And then I headed off to fulfill another one of my quests: climb to the top of San Pietro (St. Peter's). While I was waiting in line, the family right behind me looked Hispanic and so I asked 'Hablan espanol?' So I had fun trying to communicate in Spanish. The dad was from Peru and the mother was from Spain. After going through the metal detectors we parted ways, as they headed for the Basillica and I headed for the stairs to the top of the Cupola (Dome).
I climbed over 500 stairs to reach the top, but it was well worth the 5 euros. The first half of the steps you can skip if you pay 2 euros, and that gets you to the inside of the Dome where you can see beautiful mosaics. Then the last half take you around the Dome to reach a viewing area on the very top with a great view of Roma. On the second set of stairs I ran into a woman who was very angry with her husband and was saying 'Why did you do this?! You know I am afraid of heights! I hate you right now. Don't talk to me!' At the top I saw them again and she was saying the same thing, and also on the way down.
From San Pietro I took some side streets and made my way to Campo di Fuori, proud of myself for not getting lost. I had gone here before with Francesca, and she had explained that it was where they used to do executions/beheading. There is a statue there of Bruno, a monk who had been killed by the church for having contrary ('heretical') beliefs and not staying in line. It is a favorite place for students to hang out in the evening. I took a break there, before heading back towards Piazza di Popolo.
On the way to meet up with Lubna I stopped at a couple random churches, but nothing too fantastic. When I reached her university I found out that she had finished early, and was eager to head back home to see her grandparents.
When we got back I was introduced to them, and throughout the evening I attempted some rudimentary communication with her grandfather, using what Italian I had managed to pick up. Whenever Lubna or Francesca were in the room they helped translate stuff, and it wasn't too bad.
I stayed out of the way and tried to get some planning done for the last part of my trip. First I looked up hostels for Bari, and found a decent one. Then I looked up hostels in Corfu and found a giant one that seems to have all sorts of activities, as well as a private beach. So I decided that I would spend 2 days (1 night) in Bari, then take the night ferry directly to Corfu and stay 4 days (3 nights) in the Pink Palace hostel.
After that I will take an overnight bus to Athens, stay there for 3 days, then 2-3 days in Thessaloniki, and then take a train to Istanbul. My last week will be spent there before flying home to Seattle. Since I had been looking forward to going to Constantinople (Istanbul) for a very long time, I really wanted to have a local show me around.
Luckily it didn't take long at all to find hosts for the entire week! Within an hour of sending out 4 requests I had someone (a couple) say I could stay the first 3 nights, and then in the next 6 hours or less another person said I could stay the rest of the nights.
Anyway, after sending out those 4 couchsurfing requests I went and had lunch with Lubna and five of her friends. And then I headed off to fulfill another one of my quests: climb to the top of San Pietro (St. Peter's). While I was waiting in line, the family right behind me looked Hispanic and so I asked 'Hablan espanol?' So I had fun trying to communicate in Spanish. The dad was from Peru and the mother was from Spain. After going through the metal detectors we parted ways, as they headed for the Basillica and I headed for the stairs to the top of the Cupola (Dome).
I climbed over 500 stairs to reach the top, but it was well worth the 5 euros. The first half of the steps you can skip if you pay 2 euros, and that gets you to the inside of the Dome where you can see beautiful mosaics. Then the last half take you around the Dome to reach a viewing area on the very top with a great view of Roma. On the second set of stairs I ran into a woman who was very angry with her husband and was saying 'Why did you do this?! You know I am afraid of heights! I hate you right now. Don't talk to me!' At the top I saw them again and she was saying the same thing, and also on the way down.
From San Pietro I took some side streets and made my way to Campo di Fuori, proud of myself for not getting lost. I had gone here before with Francesca, and she had explained that it was where they used to do executions/beheading. There is a statue there of Bruno, a monk who had been killed by the church for having contrary ('heretical') beliefs and not staying in line. It is a favorite place for students to hang out in the evening. I took a break there, before heading back towards Piazza di Popolo.
On the way to meet up with Lubna I stopped at a couple random churches, but nothing too fantastic. When I reached her university I found out that she had finished early, and was eager to head back home to see her grandparents.
When we got back I was introduced to them, and throughout the evening I attempted some rudimentary communication with her grandfather, using what Italian I had managed to pick up. Whenever Lubna or Francesca were in the room they helped translate stuff, and it wasn't too bad.
Europe Trip: Day 34, June 23rd
Lubna and I went into Roma on public transportation, she had to meet up with Rosi to work on a project due when she gets back from her trip to Milano. I stuck around for a little while and then went and had ice cream with two of her other friends, Maria and I don't know the other girls name. Maria and Lubna are going on a trip to Istanbul and the Turkish coast in August or September.
After the ice cream I split and headed towards the Vittorio Emanuelle monument. Getting inside it had become a quest for me. I had been thwarted many times by its ambiguous closing times, but this time low and behold it was open! I climbed up the steps and got a good view of Rome from the top, and on the side I found an entrance to a museum on the history of Italy. All the explanations were in Italian, but still it was interesting to see everything.
From the monument I tried to enter a cool looking church, but it was locked. In Italy they close the churches for lunch time, anywhere from noon to 4pm they can all be closed. It was after 3pm, which is when about half of them open up again -- apparently not that one. I made my way back to Via del Corso: the main street between Piazza Venezia (Vittorio Emanuelle monument) and Piazza di Popolo (Egyptian obelisk and many churches).
When I reached Piazza di Popolo (I had seen the Mormons here the previous week) I tried to enter a church that my San Francisco friends from the Catacombs had told me about, but once again it was closed. I saw some people walking up these stairs, and so I followed them to see where it went.
The stairs led to an viewpoint overlooking Piazza di Popolo and the rest of Roma. I stayed there for about half an hour, and then headed back down. When I reached the bottom I saw that the church was open -- finally some luck! There were several paintings, but since I didn't know their significance it wasn't as amazing as the guys from San Francisco had said.
Lubna's university isn't far from Piazza di Popolo, so I met her and we drove back with Francesca. I bought some pizzas and we ate back at their apartment -- they kept trying to pay for it, but my stubbornness finally won out. Then Alessandra came and picked us up to go to a concert (open air) in a park called Villa Ada. The music was more or less Arabic, with the leader vocalist singing songs in both Italian and Arabic. Funny enough there was a guest singer (or whatever you call that) named Lubna. Despite not being able to understand it, I enjoyed the music.
After the concert finished and the band went off stage, and after a couple encore songs, music kept playing from the speakers and people danced (including the four of us). My favorite was when out of nowhere this guy, who looked homeless, came out and was dancing like crazy. Then he disappeared and came back 10 minutes later drinking beer, so he may or may not have been drunk. I wish I had brought my camera, oh well...
After the ice cream I split and headed towards the Vittorio Emanuelle monument. Getting inside it had become a quest for me. I had been thwarted many times by its ambiguous closing times, but this time low and behold it was open! I climbed up the steps and got a good view of Rome from the top, and on the side I found an entrance to a museum on the history of Italy. All the explanations were in Italian, but still it was interesting to see everything.
From the monument I tried to enter a cool looking church, but it was locked. In Italy they close the churches for lunch time, anywhere from noon to 4pm they can all be closed. It was after 3pm, which is when about half of them open up again -- apparently not that one. I made my way back to Via del Corso: the main street between Piazza Venezia (Vittorio Emanuelle monument) and Piazza di Popolo (Egyptian obelisk and many churches).
When I reached Piazza di Popolo (I had seen the Mormons here the previous week) I tried to enter a church that my San Francisco friends from the Catacombs had told me about, but once again it was closed. I saw some people walking up these stairs, and so I followed them to see where it went.
The stairs led to an viewpoint overlooking Piazza di Popolo and the rest of Roma. I stayed there for about half an hour, and then headed back down. When I reached the bottom I saw that the church was open -- finally some luck! There were several paintings, but since I didn't know their significance it wasn't as amazing as the guys from San Francisco had said.
Lubna's university isn't far from Piazza di Popolo, so I met her and we drove back with Francesca. I bought some pizzas and we ate back at their apartment -- they kept trying to pay for it, but my stubbornness finally won out. Then Alessandra came and picked us up to go to a concert (open air) in a park called Villa Ada. The music was more or less Arabic, with the leader vocalist singing songs in both Italian and Arabic. Funny enough there was a guest singer (or whatever you call that) named Lubna. Despite not being able to understand it, I enjoyed the music.
After the concert finished and the band went off stage, and after a couple encore songs, music kept playing from the speakers and people danced (including the four of us). My favorite was when out of nowhere this guy, who looked homeless, came out and was dancing like crazy. Then he disappeared and came back 10 minutes later drinking beer, so he may or may not have been drunk. I wish I had brought my camera, oh well...
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Europe Trip: Day 33, June 22nd
I woke up at around 9am and headed down to have some breakfast (2 euros; $3). It was only some croissants, but I ate them up and stuffed two more in my pocket for later.
The train that goes from Napoli to Portici continues on towards Mount Vesuvius, circling around it -- hence being called the Circumvesuvia. I bought a day ticket for it and headed to Pompeii Scavi (Pompeii Ruins).
I decided to join a guided tour, because without some sort of reference there is no way to know what is important and what is not, or even to know what is what. Our guide was an older Italian guy who usually gives private tours in 6 different languages. He was entertaining, and of course especially enjoyed showing the brothel. The level of preservation in the city is amazing, even frescoes/paintings on the wall still exist in their original form, which in the case of the brothel meant pictures showing the 'specialty' of the woman inhabiting the room.
The tour guide also showed us the bath house, the villa of Crassius, a big pagan temple, a bakery, and much more. Once the hour and a half long tour was over he told us that there was an ampitheater (small version of the Coliseum) about a kilometer away. So about half of the group ended up heading there, myself included.
After wandering around the city for a while by myself I decided it was time to head back to the hostel and pack up. Raphaele had said that he would tell Agnese that I would stay at the hostel until 5-5:30pm, so I waited a while after I checked out, but at 5:20pm I decided I better leave if I wanted to get back to Rome at a decent hour.
I paid 20 euros instead of 10 euros in order to get there an hour earlier. It was by that time easy for me to take the metro, bus, and then walk 5-10 minutes to their apartment. I arrived around 9:15pm, and surprisingly both Francesca and Lubna were home. Lubna had said before that she was working at the voting place (there was a referendum in Rome), but apparently not that many people voted and she got done early. Also it was her birthday, but she didn't want to make that big of a deal about it. And Francesca had stayed home that day because she had a bad headache, so she had slept most of the day.
We ate some pasta, and then when I told them I had never really listened to Italian music they decided they had to show me some. So for a good two to three hours we went around on YouTube watching (and they translated) different Italian hit songs -- much of which was from the 80's.
The train that goes from Napoli to Portici continues on towards Mount Vesuvius, circling around it -- hence being called the Circumvesuvia. I bought a day ticket for it and headed to Pompeii Scavi (Pompeii Ruins).
I decided to join a guided tour, because without some sort of reference there is no way to know what is important and what is not, or even to know what is what. Our guide was an older Italian guy who usually gives private tours in 6 different languages. He was entertaining, and of course especially enjoyed showing the brothel. The level of preservation in the city is amazing, even frescoes/paintings on the wall still exist in their original form, which in the case of the brothel meant pictures showing the 'specialty' of the woman inhabiting the room.
The tour guide also showed us the bath house, the villa of Crassius, a big pagan temple, a bakery, and much more. Once the hour and a half long tour was over he told us that there was an ampitheater (small version of the Coliseum) about a kilometer away. So about half of the group ended up heading there, myself included.
After wandering around the city for a while by myself I decided it was time to head back to the hostel and pack up. Raphaele had said that he would tell Agnese that I would stay at the hostel until 5-5:30pm, so I waited a while after I checked out, but at 5:20pm I decided I better leave if I wanted to get back to Rome at a decent hour.
I paid 20 euros instead of 10 euros in order to get there an hour earlier. It was by that time easy for me to take the metro, bus, and then walk 5-10 minutes to their apartment. I arrived around 9:15pm, and surprisingly both Francesca and Lubna were home. Lubna had said before that she was working at the voting place (there was a referendum in Rome), but apparently not that many people voted and she got done early. Also it was her birthday, but she didn't want to make that big of a deal about it. And Francesca had stayed home that day because she had a bad headache, so she had slept most of the day.
We ate some pasta, and then when I told them I had never really listened to Italian music they decided they had to show me some. So for a good two to three hours we went around on YouTube watching (and they translated) different Italian hit songs -- much of which was from the 80's.
Europe Trip: Day 32, June 21st
I am not sure if I had heard wrong, but I had thought that Raphael had said to meet him at 12:30pm...but since he showed up a little bit after 1:30pm, I am assuming he said (or thought he said) 1:30pm. Hard to tell with Italians, since they are frequently late...an hour is a bit much even for them haha.
He drove me over to his place, where he cooked some pasta for lunch. Then we had a nap during the hot part of the day and left his place, along with Agnese, at 5pm.
We met the same friends at a park on the top of a hill on the tip of a peninsula (more or less) in the Bay of Naples. So it had some great views, and Raphael played his guitar. The park closed at 8pm, so we had to head out. Diego drove back with us, as we braved the Neapolitan traffic to get out to Portici.
By 9pm I made it back to the hostel, with instructions from Raphael to meet him in front of the church at 11:30pm. He said he wanted to show me the Port of Portici, but promised we wouldn't stay out as late.
On the way back to the hostel I had called Francesca, who told me that she wasn't going to work with Lubna at the referendum/voting thing, so I decided that I would come back to Rome Monday evening. Francesca said she would be home by 9pm, so I'll shoot for getting there around then.
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I called first Emily and then Aunt Gail, while outside my hostel window it rained hard with flashing of lightning. I was beginning to wonder if I should even bother to go out and try to meet Raphael, since what is the point of going to the Port if it is raining. Also I had lost my rain jacket some weeks back. Luckily the storm died down by the time I had to leave.
We ate a pizza and then Raphael showed me the Port of Portici, which wasn't spectacular but was nice to see.
Then he drove me back and I went to sleep, planning to get up relatively early to go to Pompeii.
He drove me over to his place, where he cooked some pasta for lunch. Then we had a nap during the hot part of the day and left his place, along with Agnese, at 5pm.
We met the same friends at a park on the top of a hill on the tip of a peninsula (more or less) in the Bay of Naples. So it had some great views, and Raphael played his guitar. The park closed at 8pm, so we had to head out. Diego drove back with us, as we braved the Neapolitan traffic to get out to Portici.
By 9pm I made it back to the hostel, with instructions from Raphael to meet him in front of the church at 11:30pm. He said he wanted to show me the Port of Portici, but promised we wouldn't stay out as late.
On the way back to the hostel I had called Francesca, who told me that she wasn't going to work with Lubna at the referendum/voting thing, so I decided that I would come back to Rome Monday evening. Francesca said she would be home by 9pm, so I'll shoot for getting there around then.
================
I called first Emily and then Aunt Gail, while outside my hostel window it rained hard with flashing of lightning. I was beginning to wonder if I should even bother to go out and try to meet Raphael, since what is the point of going to the Port if it is raining. Also I had lost my rain jacket some weeks back. Luckily the storm died down by the time I had to leave.
We ate a pizza and then Raphael showed me the Port of Portici, which wasn't spectacular but was nice to see.
Then he drove me back and I went to sleep, planning to get up relatively early to go to Pompeii.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Europe Trip: Day 31, June 20th
When my watch alarm went off at 8am, I really did not want to get up, but I dragged myself out of bed and got ready, packed my stuff, and ate breakfast. Then I said good-bye to Lubna and Francesca. I bought my train ticket at Termini station and was able to immediately board the train -- but due to the stories I had heard about last minute changes of which track the train actually came on, I was slightly worried the entire 2.5 hour train ride.
But I had chosen the right train, and it arrived only about 5 minutes late. At the end of the track, Agnese and her boyfriend Raphael (or however it is spelled) were waiting, and holding a sign with my name on it, which made me smile. They had driven to the station, and despite the warnings of Francesca that they spoke no English at all, their English was actually quite passable. Not nearly as good as Lubna or Francesca, but enough to get by. Raphael did most of the speaking all day.
They took me to the hostel, and dropped me off saying he would come back at about 4:30pm on a motorbike to pick me up. I checked in, dropped off my stuff, and headed out to the streets to find something to eat. I found a pizza and got quite a deal, only 4.50 euros for a pizza (4 pieces), some fries, and a drink. I ate it on the steps of the church not far away. As I was sitting there a guy came over and started bothering me about donating 2 euros for some cause, I eventually gave in just to get him to leave me alone so I could eat in peace. Then he started bothering me about letting him have a piece of pizza, and it went on for like 10 minutes. Finally he left, and I rejoiced.
Then I took a bit of a nap for 45 minutes, and met up with Raphael. We drove on the motorbike to Agnese place, and the three of us walked to the metro and went into town. They showed me around a bit, including two castles/fortresses, the sea, and some of the main streets and churches in that section of the city.
Then around 8pm we headed back on the metro since Raphael wanted to take a nap before we headed back in at midnight to Naples by car, planning to come back around 3-4am. Right now it is 10pm and I am going to take a nap for an hour and a half and then meet them at the church.
============================
Raphael picked me up in front of the church and we went to pick up a friend of his, Fernando, and also Agnese. The four of us drove into Naples where we met some more of his friends: Marco, Diego, Luccio, and Teresa. They were all very nice, and surprisingly all spoke English to one degree or another. Apparently this is rare in Naples.
We stayed in this big Piazza/Square for about an hour, and then they wanted to show me the Jesus Square (has a statue of Jesus on top of a big obelisk). After that we walked around and talked until something like 3-4am. At that time they told me it was time to show me the famous Gigi's, a sort of stand where they sell sandwiches (panini). Raphael has known the owner, Gigi, for a long time. The cooks are two of Gigi's brothers. I will admit that the sandwich was quite good: beef, eggplant, provologne, and french fries (chips).
After that he dropped me off at the hostel and we decided to meet at 1:30pm the next day. I went into the 5-person dorm quietly, so I wouldn't wake up the other 3 people (2 American girls and a Mexican guy).
But I had chosen the right train, and it arrived only about 5 minutes late. At the end of the track, Agnese and her boyfriend Raphael (or however it is spelled) were waiting, and holding a sign with my name on it, which made me smile. They had driven to the station, and despite the warnings of Francesca that they spoke no English at all, their English was actually quite passable. Not nearly as good as Lubna or Francesca, but enough to get by. Raphael did most of the speaking all day.
They took me to the hostel, and dropped me off saying he would come back at about 4:30pm on a motorbike to pick me up. I checked in, dropped off my stuff, and headed out to the streets to find something to eat. I found a pizza and got quite a deal, only 4.50 euros for a pizza (4 pieces), some fries, and a drink. I ate it on the steps of the church not far away. As I was sitting there a guy came over and started bothering me about donating 2 euros for some cause, I eventually gave in just to get him to leave me alone so I could eat in peace. Then he started bothering me about letting him have a piece of pizza, and it went on for like 10 minutes. Finally he left, and I rejoiced.
Then I took a bit of a nap for 45 minutes, and met up with Raphael. We drove on the motorbike to Agnese place, and the three of us walked to the metro and went into town. They showed me around a bit, including two castles/fortresses, the sea, and some of the main streets and churches in that section of the city.
Then around 8pm we headed back on the metro since Raphael wanted to take a nap before we headed back in at midnight to Naples by car, planning to come back around 3-4am. Right now it is 10pm and I am going to take a nap for an hour and a half and then meet them at the church.
============================
Raphael picked me up in front of the church and we went to pick up a friend of his, Fernando, and also Agnese. The four of us drove into Naples where we met some more of his friends: Marco, Diego, Luccio, and Teresa. They were all very nice, and surprisingly all spoke English to one degree or another. Apparently this is rare in Naples.
We stayed in this big Piazza/Square for about an hour, and then they wanted to show me the Jesus Square (has a statue of Jesus on top of a big obelisk). After that we walked around and talked until something like 3-4am. At that time they told me it was time to show me the famous Gigi's, a sort of stand where they sell sandwiches (panini). Raphael has known the owner, Gigi, for a long time. The cooks are two of Gigi's brothers. I will admit that the sandwich was quite good: beef, eggplant, provologne, and french fries (chips).
After that he dropped me off at the hostel and we decided to meet at 1:30pm the next day. I went into the 5-person dorm quietly, so I wouldn't wake up the other 3 people (2 American girls and a Mexican guy).
Europe Trip: Day 30, June 19th
Lubna decided that she better help her mother out by cleaning some stuff in the house, so we stuck around the house most of the morning and early afternoon. This gave me time to update my blogs, upload my pictures, and call Mom and Dad.
I finished my phone call to Mom at about 4pm, and we left shortly after. Francesca had recommended we check out some churches on the Aventine hill (past the Circus Maximus, which is how far I had gonewith Francesca a few days prior). Also there is a place where you can look through a keyhole and see St. Peter's/the Vatican, which is it traditional to peek through and try to take a picture.
The first church we went to was closed, we had missed it by like 10 minutes. The second church had a wedding in progress, so we weren't allowed in. The third church was a bit anti-climatic, with the highlight being a couple mosaics. And the fourth church was having mass, which we stayed through about 15-20 minutes of, the church had quite a few frescos (paintings) all over the place, completely covering the inside part of the dome. Then we looked through the keyhole, and I took a couple pictures -- unfortunately the glare from the sun may have made the pictures not so good, we'll see.
On the way back she showed me the Theater of Marcellus, but there was a classical concert about to begin so we couldn't go in there either, haha. We walked a bit further and went up to the Campidoglia (where there is a statue of Marcus Aurelius riding a horse) and over to a view of the Forum, where an American family asked us to take their picture. It was quite amusing since the woman seemed to assume we had limited English speaking abilities -- stupid Americans :P Then they took a picture of us, so they redeemed themselves a bit.
After that we headed back home, where we ate some pasta and the dessert (Mirasu??) that Lubna had made earlier, showing me the whole process. I am supposed to make that, or one of the other things they cooked, for Mom when I get back.
When I had came in the door, Francesca had told me that I needed to make up my mind on my plans for Napoli because Lubna's cousin, Agnese (An-ye-say), needed to know within an hour about the next two days (Saturday and Sunday). Because Lubna was going to be working the next few days, we decided that I would head to Naples for Saturday and Sunday, and then check out Pompeii on Monday. Then if Francesca was also going to work on Monday helping with the elections, then I would stay a third night in Naples and head back Tuesday morning. Otherwise I would head back Monday evening. And then I can stay until Friday morning, if I want, before heading to Bari to take the ferry to Greece.
Then we headed out with her friend, Alessandra -- we had ate dinner with her and another friend, Luigi, my second or third night in Rome. Alessandra had heard about this club that played Rock music, so we went to check it out, only to find that there was like nobody there. No DJ, not much music, no dancing, and it looked almost deserted of people. We laughed about that for a while, and then they decided we should head to an area of Rome where all the young people hang out at night, San Lorenzo.
On the way back, they invited me to go to a concert with them on Tuesday after I get back from Naples. Then it was time to get what sleep I could, because I had to get up at 8am to pack my stuff and leave for Naples on the 10:49 train (arriving at 13:23).
I finished my phone call to Mom at about 4pm, and we left shortly after. Francesca had recommended we check out some churches on the Aventine hill (past the Circus Maximus, which is how far I had gonewith Francesca a few days prior). Also there is a place where you can look through a keyhole and see St. Peter's/the Vatican, which is it traditional to peek through and try to take a picture.
The first church we went to was closed, we had missed it by like 10 minutes. The second church had a wedding in progress, so we weren't allowed in. The third church was a bit anti-climatic, with the highlight being a couple mosaics. And the fourth church was having mass, which we stayed through about 15-20 minutes of, the church had quite a few frescos (paintings) all over the place, completely covering the inside part of the dome. Then we looked through the keyhole, and I took a couple pictures -- unfortunately the glare from the sun may have made the pictures not so good, we'll see.
On the way back she showed me the Theater of Marcellus, but there was a classical concert about to begin so we couldn't go in there either, haha. We walked a bit further and went up to the Campidoglia (where there is a statue of Marcus Aurelius riding a horse) and over to a view of the Forum, where an American family asked us to take their picture. It was quite amusing since the woman seemed to assume we had limited English speaking abilities -- stupid Americans :P Then they took a picture of us, so they redeemed themselves a bit.
After that we headed back home, where we ate some pasta and the dessert (Mirasu??) that Lubna had made earlier, showing me the whole process. I am supposed to make that, or one of the other things they cooked, for Mom when I get back.
When I had came in the door, Francesca had told me that I needed to make up my mind on my plans for Napoli because Lubna's cousin, Agnese (An-ye-say), needed to know within an hour about the next two days (Saturday and Sunday). Because Lubna was going to be working the next few days, we decided that I would head to Naples for Saturday and Sunday, and then check out Pompeii on Monday. Then if Francesca was also going to work on Monday helping with the elections, then I would stay a third night in Naples and head back Tuesday morning. Otherwise I would head back Monday evening. And then I can stay until Friday morning, if I want, before heading to Bari to take the ferry to Greece.
Then we headed out with her friend, Alessandra -- we had ate dinner with her and another friend, Luigi, my second or third night in Rome. Alessandra had heard about this club that played Rock music, so we went to check it out, only to find that there was like nobody there. No DJ, not much music, no dancing, and it looked almost deserted of people. We laughed about that for a while, and then they decided we should head to an area of Rome where all the young people hang out at night, San Lorenzo.
On the way back, they invited me to go to a concert with them on Tuesday after I get back from Naples. Then it was time to get what sleep I could, because I had to get up at 8am to pack my stuff and leave for Naples on the 10:49 train (arriving at 13:23).
Friday, June 19, 2009
Rome and Picasa Update
I have finished uploading all of my pictures of the trip up until this point, so if you haven't checked it out already here is the URL:
http://picasaweb.google.com/peterolsoy
http://picasaweb.google.com/peterolsoy
Europe Trip: Day 29, June 18th
I woke up at 6:30am, ate breakfast with Lubna, and then took my shower. I was completely ready by 7:25am and we headed out the door.
We made it to Francesca's office around 8:55am. Lubna and I then headed off towards her university, stopping at a Print/Copy shop to pick up something that had been printed for her exam. Then we met up with her two team members, Rosi and Silvia, and waited...and waited. They were the first of four groups to go that day and they started around 10:10am.
The final exam was quite interesting, because unlike ours it was one-on-one with the professor asking them questions, looking over their drawings, and then asking some questions about other material covered in the class (oral exam). All in all it was around half an hour long, but the professor wouldn't tell them how they did until after all four groups had gone. So we waited until about 12:30pm to find out the results -- which was once again 30/30. Apparently I am good luck for her exams :P
For the rest of the evening she showed me around, finally free from the weight of her exams. We picked something up for Francesca, some sort of candied fruit cake from Sicily, and dropped off some of Lubna's bags at her mom's office. Then we headed to a gellato shop, where I had something akin to a ice cream sandwich (also from Sicily).
Then we took a bus to a neighborhood near Termini station and visited a few churches created by Bernini and Borromini, who were contemporaries and rivals. Personally I preferred the churches created by Borromini, they seemed to have more vision in them. Since Lubna is an architecture student, she gave commentary and explained many things that I would have missed -- much better than visiting churches alone.
Then we headed over to Quinale, which is where the Italian President lives, to watch the changing of the guard. Apparently they rotate different groups of military and police. The group that was leaving was from the Navy, and the new group was a type of prison police (the name looked like Penitentuary). I got to hear the Italian anthem as well (they had a band playing). It was quite the experience.
After that we walked to Piazza Republica, which used to be the site of a giant bath complex in Roman times. Some of the ruins had been turned into a church by Michelangelo, which we visited. The red columns and vaulted ceiling both dated back to the ancient Roman baths! Lubna then explained to me about different types of columns and Greek/Roman temples, some of which was review and some of which was completely new.
We headed back to Piazza Venezia, to see if it was still open so that I could finally climb up the big Vittorio Emanuelle monument. Unfortunately it was closed. So we tried to go to walk in the Roman Forum a bit, but alas that was also closed. So we could only look at some of the Forum from above. Eventually we decided to head over to the Pantheon, walking through some small streets.
Near the Pantheon we ate a piece of pizza (and I got a Fanta) and then she wanted me to try the most famous coffee in Rome. Coffee in Italy, and I suppose maybe Europe in general, is much stronger than in the USA. It is usually drank as a straight shot of espresso, only palatable (in my opinion) with sugar.
We finished the day off with a walk through some more small streets to meet up with Francesca near her office at about 8pm. All day it had been hot as hell, maybe more than any other day I had been walking around Rome -- at 8:30pm it was still 32 degrees Celsius (90 degrees Fahrenheit). Francesca thought it got up to 35-37 degrees Celsius (95-99 degrees Fahrenheit), and adding humidity to that, I was pouring sweat all day. We had a running joke that I drank stuff all the time, but never had to go to the bathroom, while Lubna was always having to go.
At home they cooked Carbonara again, and I had a peach as usual -- I think I'm going to have to buy a lot more fruit when I get home, especially peaches.
We made it to Francesca's office around 8:55am. Lubna and I then headed off towards her university, stopping at a Print/Copy shop to pick up something that had been printed for her exam. Then we met up with her two team members, Rosi and Silvia, and waited...and waited. They were the first of four groups to go that day and they started around 10:10am.
The final exam was quite interesting, because unlike ours it was one-on-one with the professor asking them questions, looking over their drawings, and then asking some questions about other material covered in the class (oral exam). All in all it was around half an hour long, but the professor wouldn't tell them how they did until after all four groups had gone. So we waited until about 12:30pm to find out the results -- which was once again 30/30. Apparently I am good luck for her exams :P
For the rest of the evening she showed me around, finally free from the weight of her exams. We picked something up for Francesca, some sort of candied fruit cake from Sicily, and dropped off some of Lubna's bags at her mom's office. Then we headed to a gellato shop, where I had something akin to a ice cream sandwich (also from Sicily).
Then we took a bus to a neighborhood near Termini station and visited a few churches created by Bernini and Borromini, who were contemporaries and rivals. Personally I preferred the churches created by Borromini, they seemed to have more vision in them. Since Lubna is an architecture student, she gave commentary and explained many things that I would have missed -- much better than visiting churches alone.
Then we headed over to Quinale, which is where the Italian President lives, to watch the changing of the guard. Apparently they rotate different groups of military and police. The group that was leaving was from the Navy, and the new group was a type of prison police (the name looked like Penitentuary). I got to hear the Italian anthem as well (they had a band playing). It was quite the experience.
After that we walked to Piazza Republica, which used to be the site of a giant bath complex in Roman times. Some of the ruins had been turned into a church by Michelangelo, which we visited. The red columns and vaulted ceiling both dated back to the ancient Roman baths! Lubna then explained to me about different types of columns and Greek/Roman temples, some of which was review and some of which was completely new.
We headed back to Piazza Venezia, to see if it was still open so that I could finally climb up the big Vittorio Emanuelle monument. Unfortunately it was closed. So we tried to go to walk in the Roman Forum a bit, but alas that was also closed. So we could only look at some of the Forum from above. Eventually we decided to head over to the Pantheon, walking through some small streets.
Near the Pantheon we ate a piece of pizza (and I got a Fanta) and then she wanted me to try the most famous coffee in Rome. Coffee in Italy, and I suppose maybe Europe in general, is much stronger than in the USA. It is usually drank as a straight shot of espresso, only palatable (in my opinion) with sugar.
We finished the day off with a walk through some more small streets to meet up with Francesca near her office at about 8pm. All day it had been hot as hell, maybe more than any other day I had been walking around Rome -- at 8:30pm it was still 32 degrees Celsius (90 degrees Fahrenheit). Francesca thought it got up to 35-37 degrees Celsius (95-99 degrees Fahrenheit), and adding humidity to that, I was pouring sweat all day. We had a running joke that I drank stuff all the time, but never had to go to the bathroom, while Lubna was always having to go.
At home they cooked Carbonara again, and I had a peach as usual -- I think I'm going to have to buy a lot more fruit when I get home, especially peaches.
Europe Trip: Day 28, June 17th
The next morning, I woke up and told Lubna good luck on her first exam. Then I went back to bed, since we had been up until like 2am. After all the walking the day before, I had decided to take it easy and eventually I ended up just staying at their place all day.
We waited to hear how she did, and finally a bit after noon she called and told her mom that she had gotten full points/marks (30/30).
When Lubna got back, she had to study for her next exam that was the following morning. So she was reading some book on Restoration (of buildings, monuments, paintings, etc). She eventually asked me to help with coloring in some stuff on one of her CAD drawings that needed to be colored/shaded by hand. Francesca had been helping a lot with that, and had declined my offer to help, but much of what was left was smaller details and she had a hard time seeing it, even with her reading glasses.
So for a couple hours I colored. It was like the good old days :P
I also went out to the store with Lubna when she had to go pick something up, and I bought a couple bottles of wine for the next two nights. Later I found out that Francesca isn't a fan of drinking at all, much like Dad. But she was fine with Lubna and I having some wine with dinner.
While Lubna was studying I talked with Francesca about various political things, as with other Europeans, Bush was a popular topic. She also has very strong feelings about the Palestinian conflict and thinks that Israel is very much in the wrong.
We went to bed around midnight, having decided that the three of us would all drive into Rome at 7:30am (arriving at about 9am -- gotta love traffic). So I set my watch alarm for 6:30am...
We waited to hear how she did, and finally a bit after noon she called and told her mom that she had gotten full points/marks (30/30).
When Lubna got back, she had to study for her next exam that was the following morning. So she was reading some book on Restoration (of buildings, monuments, paintings, etc). She eventually asked me to help with coloring in some stuff on one of her CAD drawings that needed to be colored/shaded by hand. Francesca had been helping a lot with that, and had declined my offer to help, but much of what was left was smaller details and she had a hard time seeing it, even with her reading glasses.
So for a couple hours I colored. It was like the good old days :P
I also went out to the store with Lubna when she had to go pick something up, and I bought a couple bottles of wine for the next two nights. Later I found out that Francesca isn't a fan of drinking at all, much like Dad. But she was fine with Lubna and I having some wine with dinner.
While Lubna was studying I talked with Francesca about various political things, as with other Europeans, Bush was a popular topic. She also has very strong feelings about the Palestinian conflict and thinks that Israel is very much in the wrong.
We went to bed around midnight, having decided that the three of us would all drive into Rome at 7:30am (arriving at about 9am -- gotta love traffic). So I set my watch alarm for 6:30am...
Europe Trip: Day 27, June 16th
To finish off the last night, Lubna cooked something called Carbonara -- to simplify the process a bit it is eggs and bacon in pasta. Also cooked with some parmesan, garlic, olive oil, pepper, etc. (at different times during the process). It was quite good.
The next morning I waited until Lubna was heading in to do some work, mostly printing, for her big project that was due in two days. She said I could leave, but I stuck around until she finished in the afternoon. Then she had to go back home to study for a different exam that was the next morning.
I then headed over to the Pantheon -- okay, I got lost for about half an hour until I found it. The Pantheon is quite huge, and it is simply amazing that the ancient Romans were able to construct something so huge with such little machinery. A seagull was flying around in the dome, unable to escape, and everyone was watching it. At the top of the dome there is a hole, but I am told that when it rains the rain does not come through. Lubna wasn't sure about why, but she thought maybe something with the air pressure. Anyway, the seagull attempted a couple escapes (or that was what it looked like) but had no success at clearing the dome. You could hear the people in the Pantheon give a cheer when they thought it had made it, and then a sigh or "awww" when they saw it had failed.
I worked my way over to a main bridge and crossed it, not far from there was Francesca's work. I met her a little before 7pm. She had told me that after work she would show me all around a section of Rome.
We visited all sorts of places, various Piazzas, the Jewish Quarter/Ghetto where we had some fried cod that Francesca told me came from Norway. Then we went to the island near the Palatine hill that helped early Rome control the region, the Circus Maximus, and lastly the area around Piazza Venezia -- saw the big Vittorio Emanuelle monument, the Campidoglia (with the statue of Marcus Aurelius), and some of the Roman Forum.
Then we took a couple buses and ended up near her work, where we picked up her car, and headed home. We got back around midnight and had some pasta with Lubna. She had been studying for a test all day since I left her at the metro station.
The next morning I waited until Lubna was heading in to do some work, mostly printing, for her big project that was due in two days. She said I could leave, but I stuck around until she finished in the afternoon. Then she had to go back home to study for a different exam that was the next morning.
I then headed over to the Pantheon -- okay, I got lost for about half an hour until I found it. The Pantheon is quite huge, and it is simply amazing that the ancient Romans were able to construct something so huge with such little machinery. A seagull was flying around in the dome, unable to escape, and everyone was watching it. At the top of the dome there is a hole, but I am told that when it rains the rain does not come through. Lubna wasn't sure about why, but she thought maybe something with the air pressure. Anyway, the seagull attempted a couple escapes (or that was what it looked like) but had no success at clearing the dome. You could hear the people in the Pantheon give a cheer when they thought it had made it, and then a sigh or "awww" when they saw it had failed.
I worked my way over to a main bridge and crossed it, not far from there was Francesca's work. I met her a little before 7pm. She had told me that after work she would show me all around a section of Rome.
We visited all sorts of places, various Piazzas, the Jewish Quarter/Ghetto where we had some fried cod that Francesca told me came from Norway. Then we went to the island near the Palatine hill that helped early Rome control the region, the Circus Maximus, and lastly the area around Piazza Venezia -- saw the big Vittorio Emanuelle monument, the Campidoglia (with the statue of Marcus Aurelius), and some of the Roman Forum.
Then we took a couple buses and ended up near her work, where we picked up her car, and headed home. We got back around midnight and had some pasta with Lubna. She had been studying for a test all day since I left her at the metro station.
Monday, June 15, 2009
Europe Trip: Day 26, June 15th
Once again I slept in a bit and didn't get up until 9:30am or so. Lubna was nice enough to have made some breakfast for me -- coffee, toast, a bit of fruit. We talked a bit, then I got ready, sent out a couple of e-mails, and planned for the day.
I was out the door at 12:30-1pm, planning to be at the Catacombs (San Callisto) by around 2pm when they opened. I ended up getting there more like 2:30pm and the guide took us down around 3pm. Also on the English tour were two guys from San Francisco, who may or may not have been a couple.
Sadly I have very few pictures for this whole day because pretty much everywhere I went they were quite adamant about 'No Cameras! No Pictures!'
The tour was very, very good with the guide being quite enthusiastic and having a bit of humor. There are at least 4 different levels, and we went around some passages on the first two or three levels. At the end we got to see two sarcophaguses with the remains of ancient Christians! The first was a woman, and you could still see much of the bones; the second was a boy who was wrapped in a shroud and you couldn't see any bones.
At the end of the tour the two people from San Francisco, Ricardo and Michael (not sure on the last name), said they were headed to another set of Catacombs called San Sebastian. I had thought it was closed on Monday, but they had a guide book and it was closed on Sunday not Monday. So I thought what the hell, why not?
We walked down the Via Appia Antica, where there was pretty much no sidewalk, for about 10 minutes until we reached San Sebastian. The guys were nice enough that they paid the 6 euros for my entry! So I only had to pay for the first one. This one the guide was quite monotone and boring, he had an accent from Germany or the Netherlands, I think. But there was an amazing cavern with Pagan mausoleums/crypts that had been converted into Christian ones that were very well preserved.
The second tour ended by walking straight into the church -- a special entrance directly from the Catacombs. In it there were the remains of Saint Sebastian, who had been a Roman soldier persecuted for his Christian beliefs. The other Roman soldiers had used him for archery practice. He was actually martyred twice, though, because when he was left for dead a woman nursed him back to health...only for him to once again pronounce his faith and this time be beheaded. Also the church had been built upon a place where supposedly St. Peter was fleeing from persecution, but ran into Jesus who was heading towards Rome. Jesus said to Peter 'Quo Vadis?' (Where are you going?)...anyway Peter is shamed or empowered to return to Rome, where he ends up being persecuted and dies -- the Catholics always have their happy endings.
We then took the bus back to Piazza San Giovanni and I made it to the church San Clemente barely in time to be allowed in (5:35pm, last entry was 5:40pm). Underneath the church are the remains of an old church and underneath that an old pagan temple of Mithros. Some old frescoes still remained in quite good condition. The place looked like a maximum security prison, though, because there were things that looked like motion detectors, areas chained off, glass doors, etc. More than just about any other place I had been to it seemed like they were trying to prevent any tampering with their excavation site. Still it was worth the trip and was quite interesting -- sadly, no cameras or pictures allowed in there either.
I walked back to San Giovanni and took the metro, then bus back to Torre Angela (neighborhood where I am staying). I decided to end it a bit earlier and catch up on these blog entries, starting with today's since it is fresh. Another 3 or so to go after this...
Francesca went out to eat with a friend, so Lubna said she would cook me something that she likes to make. Then maybe when Francesca gets back I will show them some more pictures and tell them about Idaho and the USA, if they want.
I was out the door at 12:30-1pm, planning to be at the Catacombs (San Callisto) by around 2pm when they opened. I ended up getting there more like 2:30pm and the guide took us down around 3pm. Also on the English tour were two guys from San Francisco, who may or may not have been a couple.
Sadly I have very few pictures for this whole day because pretty much everywhere I went they were quite adamant about 'No Cameras! No Pictures!'
The tour was very, very good with the guide being quite enthusiastic and having a bit of humor. There are at least 4 different levels, and we went around some passages on the first two or three levels. At the end we got to see two sarcophaguses with the remains of ancient Christians! The first was a woman, and you could still see much of the bones; the second was a boy who was wrapped in a shroud and you couldn't see any bones.
At the end of the tour the two people from San Francisco, Ricardo and Michael (not sure on the last name), said they were headed to another set of Catacombs called San Sebastian. I had thought it was closed on Monday, but they had a guide book and it was closed on Sunday not Monday. So I thought what the hell, why not?
We walked down the Via Appia Antica, where there was pretty much no sidewalk, for about 10 minutes until we reached San Sebastian. The guys were nice enough that they paid the 6 euros for my entry! So I only had to pay for the first one. This one the guide was quite monotone and boring, he had an accent from Germany or the Netherlands, I think. But there was an amazing cavern with Pagan mausoleums/crypts that had been converted into Christian ones that were very well preserved.
The second tour ended by walking straight into the church -- a special entrance directly from the Catacombs. In it there were the remains of Saint Sebastian, who had been a Roman soldier persecuted for his Christian beliefs. The other Roman soldiers had used him for archery practice. He was actually martyred twice, though, because when he was left for dead a woman nursed him back to health...only for him to once again pronounce his faith and this time be beheaded. Also the church had been built upon a place where supposedly St. Peter was fleeing from persecution, but ran into Jesus who was heading towards Rome. Jesus said to Peter 'Quo Vadis?' (Where are you going?)...anyway Peter is shamed or empowered to return to Rome, where he ends up being persecuted and dies -- the Catholics always have their happy endings.
We then took the bus back to Piazza San Giovanni and I made it to the church San Clemente barely in time to be allowed in (5:35pm, last entry was 5:40pm). Underneath the church are the remains of an old church and underneath that an old pagan temple of Mithros. Some old frescoes still remained in quite good condition. The place looked like a maximum security prison, though, because there were things that looked like motion detectors, areas chained off, glass doors, etc. More than just about any other place I had been to it seemed like they were trying to prevent any tampering with their excavation site. Still it was worth the trip and was quite interesting -- sadly, no cameras or pictures allowed in there either.
I walked back to San Giovanni and took the metro, then bus back to Torre Angela (neighborhood where I am staying). I decided to end it a bit earlier and catch up on these blog entries, starting with today's since it is fresh. Another 3 or so to go after this...
Francesca went out to eat with a friend, so Lubna said she would cook me something that she likes to make. Then maybe when Francesca gets back I will show them some more pictures and tell them about Idaho and the USA, if they want.
Europe Trip: Day 25, June 14th
Sinfully, I more or less slept in again. It was this morning Lubna and Francesca realized that despite what their American friend John had said, we did not have eggs every morning as a 'typical' American breakfast. I think Mom and the rest of you guys can realize the irony of this breakfast for me specifically. Of course I was too polite to mention differently and accepted my overeasy eggs with gratitude.
I left around noon and the plan was to visit the many different famous Piazza's of Rome and a couple places on the way.
The first place I went to was a park called Ville Borghese, my hosts had been trying to sell me on going to the museum there that had many famous sculptures. After the 20-30 minute walk to get there I found out that you could only go in by reservation and it was sold out for the entire day, and then closed on Monday. The people weren't very nice, and I decided it wasn't worth the hassle.
I walked back along Via Veneto, which is a very rich shopping area that had some of the big American hotels and the American embassy. Also along there was a place I had really been wanting to see, it was a Crypt created by the Cappucini monks decorated with the bones of hundreds of past monks. You walk through it with a somber Latin chant in the background and there are 4 or 5 rooms each with different shapes and constructs made entirely of bones. Prominent are the many stacked skulls and arm or thigh bones in one room.
I was walking with a group of Swedish students, and talked a bit with them. Unfortunately no photos were allowed, so all I can do is a poor attempt to explain it. Maybe I can find some decent pictures on a Google image search.
Next I headed to the Trevi fountain, which was packed. Lubna tells me that even at 4-5am there are people there. Her and a friend had tried to wait all night to see if they could be there when no one else was, but had no such luck. I threw my coin in -- 20 euro cents because I am cheap -- and was on my way. I got overconfident about my sense of direction and ended up heading the wrong direction, but after an hour I found the Spanish Steps (Piazza del Spagna).
To save some time I altered my plan and cut across a side street and visited the museum that holds the Altar of Augustan Peace, which I had heard about in my Ancient Rome class. You are allowed to walk through it, with only one small area roped off. Since the steps weren't roped off I thought it was fine and I climbed up to the top -- which makes you feel like an Emperor. I was enjoying the view when the guard lady came over and got really mad at me, motioning me to get down. I hurried down and when she said something to the two guys who were supposed to be watching the area, I made my escape. How was I supposed to know it wasn't allowed?
On the floor beneath they had a gallery of modern art. I took some pictures, I especially enjoyed one that was like a chessboard but one of the rows had been chopped off and an extra column added (7x9 instead of 8x8).
By this time it was getting a bit late, so I headed for Piazza di Popolo, which had a metro stop nearby. As I walked through and saw the obelisk in the center, I saw out of the corner of my eye a group of people in white dress shirts and ties. I did a double take and was like, are those Mormons? Then I saw the Book of Mormon, smiled to myself, and decided to go over and talk to them. One was from Logan UT, another from Rexburg ID, and one girl was even from near Seattle (Lake Forest Park).
Finally I decided it was time to head back. The metro went smooth, but at the bus station I had to wait 40+ minutes for the bus to come. It was nice to make it back to my host's place.
Francesca made lasagna, which was delicious. And after dinner I showed them some pictures of my family, our house, and a little bit of information on Idaho and the USA. They said it was surreal, just like in the movies--the funny thing is that we would say the same thing about Italy, perspective is everything. It was getting late, though, since we didn't eat until after 10pm, so at 1am we had to turn out the lights. I promised to show them more one of the next nights.
I left around noon and the plan was to visit the many different famous Piazza's of Rome and a couple places on the way.
The first place I went to was a park called Ville Borghese, my hosts had been trying to sell me on going to the museum there that had many famous sculptures. After the 20-30 minute walk to get there I found out that you could only go in by reservation and it was sold out for the entire day, and then closed on Monday. The people weren't very nice, and I decided it wasn't worth the hassle.
I walked back along Via Veneto, which is a very rich shopping area that had some of the big American hotels and the American embassy. Also along there was a place I had really been wanting to see, it was a Crypt created by the Cappucini monks decorated with the bones of hundreds of past monks. You walk through it with a somber Latin chant in the background and there are 4 or 5 rooms each with different shapes and constructs made entirely of bones. Prominent are the many stacked skulls and arm or thigh bones in one room.
I was walking with a group of Swedish students, and talked a bit with them. Unfortunately no photos were allowed, so all I can do is a poor attempt to explain it. Maybe I can find some decent pictures on a Google image search.
Next I headed to the Trevi fountain, which was packed. Lubna tells me that even at 4-5am there are people there. Her and a friend had tried to wait all night to see if they could be there when no one else was, but had no such luck. I threw my coin in -- 20 euro cents because I am cheap -- and was on my way. I got overconfident about my sense of direction and ended up heading the wrong direction, but after an hour I found the Spanish Steps (Piazza del Spagna).
To save some time I altered my plan and cut across a side street and visited the museum that holds the Altar of Augustan Peace, which I had heard about in my Ancient Rome class. You are allowed to walk through it, with only one small area roped off. Since the steps weren't roped off I thought it was fine and I climbed up to the top -- which makes you feel like an Emperor. I was enjoying the view when the guard lady came over and got really mad at me, motioning me to get down. I hurried down and when she said something to the two guys who were supposed to be watching the area, I made my escape. How was I supposed to know it wasn't allowed?
On the floor beneath they had a gallery of modern art. I took some pictures, I especially enjoyed one that was like a chessboard but one of the rows had been chopped off and an extra column added (7x9 instead of 8x8).
By this time it was getting a bit late, so I headed for Piazza di Popolo, which had a metro stop nearby. As I walked through and saw the obelisk in the center, I saw out of the corner of my eye a group of people in white dress shirts and ties. I did a double take and was like, are those Mormons? Then I saw the Book of Mormon, smiled to myself, and decided to go over and talk to them. One was from Logan UT, another from Rexburg ID, and one girl was even from near Seattle (Lake Forest Park).
Finally I decided it was time to head back. The metro went smooth, but at the bus station I had to wait 40+ minutes for the bus to come. It was nice to make it back to my host's place.
Francesca made lasagna, which was delicious. And after dinner I showed them some pictures of my family, our house, and a little bit of information on Idaho and the USA. They said it was surreal, just like in the movies--the funny thing is that we would say the same thing about Italy, perspective is everything. It was getting late, though, since we didn't eat until after 10pm, so at 1am we had to turn out the lights. I promised to show them more one of the next nights.
Europe Trip: Day 24, June 13th
Since it was Saturday, Francesca didn't have to get up early to go to work, which also meant that I was not going to be going into Rome with her this time. So after sleeping in a bit and getting ready, she took me to a nearby stand where I bought a 3 day ticket. Then she showed me where the bus stop was and explained everything that I needed to know.
I bought a big 1.5 liter bottle of water -- for under 50 eurocents! Compared to the water I had been buying in downtown Rome for at least 1-1.50 euro for only 0.5 liters. Then I had to run to catch the bus before it left, and I was off. The bus went to Ananigna metro station, which I took to San Giovanni in Laterno.
First I visited the church, which I enjoyed more than San Pietro. It was on a similar scale, one of the giant churches of Rome, but it didn't have the throngs of noisy tourists. The church also contained some very neat statues portraying many saints -- to be fair so did San Pietro. I had bad timing, though, and just missed the time when I could enter the Baptissery (or whatever you call it), as well as missing the entry time for San Clemente.
So instead I headed for the Coliseum, which was a 15 minute walk away. At the end of the street I was walking on, Via San Giovanni in Laterno, there were these rainbow flags and some other rainbow stuff, so I thought to myself...is that what I think it is? I went over and straightened one of the flags and sure enough it said something about Italian Gay Pride -- this would prove important a couple times later in the day.
As I walked around the Coliseum a couple people asked me in English if I wanted to go on a tour -- no lines! At first I rejected it out of hand, but finally I gave one of them the chance when they said it was only 20 euros, with 12 euros being the entrance price. I decided that would be better than walking around by myself with no explanations.
The guide was Italian, had quite the sense of humor, and liked to pick on various members of the tour -- I was one of his favorites to try and make look like an idiot. I talked with a German guy, an Irish family, and a French guy -- the funny thing was that the French guy spoke much clearer English than the Irish family. As far as French people go he spoke the best English I have heard, after the tour was over I talked with him for quite a while, nice guy.
After the Coliseum the tour guides switched and a Kiwi (New Zealander) gave a tour of the Roman Forum. Mostly the walk was through the imperial palace area that began with Caesar Augustus, overlooking the Fori below.
My original plan had been to walk over to Piazza Venezia and after looking around take a bus back to the metro at San Giovanni. But it turns out that those rainbow flags had been for something sooner than I had expected -- I came out of the Roman Forum to find a gay pride parade in full swing. The French guy and I watched that for a while, it was quite entertaining. I took a couple minutes of video. But they were walking right towards Piazza Venezia and with all the roads being closed I knew I had no chance of finding the bus. So I ended up having to walk all the way back.
When I got back I picked up a 6 pack of those giant waters, hoping to give a bit back by sharing the water. Also I bought a giant Fanta to have with dinner one of the nights -- sadly when I offered it the next day they didn't want any.
Anyway, Lubna had been invited to a friend's place for dinner and said that I could come along. We went and they were very nice. Ironically, both of her friends were doing Graduate work on the Byzantine Empire, one of my main interests historically! They were shocked when I brought that up as a main reason for my itinerary (Rome and Istanbul) and told me that was their interest as well. We had a good time and a couple bottles of wine before heading back.
I bought a big 1.5 liter bottle of water -- for under 50 eurocents! Compared to the water I had been buying in downtown Rome for at least 1-1.50 euro for only 0.5 liters. Then I had to run to catch the bus before it left, and I was off. The bus went to Ananigna metro station, which I took to San Giovanni in Laterno.
First I visited the church, which I enjoyed more than San Pietro. It was on a similar scale, one of the giant churches of Rome, but it didn't have the throngs of noisy tourists. The church also contained some very neat statues portraying many saints -- to be fair so did San Pietro. I had bad timing, though, and just missed the time when I could enter the Baptissery (or whatever you call it), as well as missing the entry time for San Clemente.
So instead I headed for the Coliseum, which was a 15 minute walk away. At the end of the street I was walking on, Via San Giovanni in Laterno, there were these rainbow flags and some other rainbow stuff, so I thought to myself...is that what I think it is? I went over and straightened one of the flags and sure enough it said something about Italian Gay Pride -- this would prove important a couple times later in the day.
As I walked around the Coliseum a couple people asked me in English if I wanted to go on a tour -- no lines! At first I rejected it out of hand, but finally I gave one of them the chance when they said it was only 20 euros, with 12 euros being the entrance price. I decided that would be better than walking around by myself with no explanations.
The guide was Italian, had quite the sense of humor, and liked to pick on various members of the tour -- I was one of his favorites to try and make look like an idiot. I talked with a German guy, an Irish family, and a French guy -- the funny thing was that the French guy spoke much clearer English than the Irish family. As far as French people go he spoke the best English I have heard, after the tour was over I talked with him for quite a while, nice guy.
After the Coliseum the tour guides switched and a Kiwi (New Zealander) gave a tour of the Roman Forum. Mostly the walk was through the imperial palace area that began with Caesar Augustus, overlooking the Fori below.
My original plan had been to walk over to Piazza Venezia and after looking around take a bus back to the metro at San Giovanni. But it turns out that those rainbow flags had been for something sooner than I had expected -- I came out of the Roman Forum to find a gay pride parade in full swing. The French guy and I watched that for a while, it was quite entertaining. I took a couple minutes of video. But they were walking right towards Piazza Venezia and with all the roads being closed I knew I had no chance of finding the bus. So I ended up having to walk all the way back.
When I got back I picked up a 6 pack of those giant waters, hoping to give a bit back by sharing the water. Also I bought a giant Fanta to have with dinner one of the nights -- sadly when I offered it the next day they didn't want any.
Anyway, Lubna had been invited to a friend's place for dinner and said that I could come along. We went and they were very nice. Ironically, both of her friends were doing Graduate work on the Byzantine Empire, one of my main interests historically! They were shocked when I brought that up as a main reason for my itinerary (Rome and Istanbul) and told me that was their interest as well. We had a good time and a couple bottles of wine before heading back.
Europe Trip: Day 23, June 12th
I woke up at 7am and got ready to go. Francesca was in a hurry, which was a little odd to me because she said the latest we could leave was 8am and it was only 7:35am. On the way to work she told me that she is supposed to be at work by 8am! It takes an hour and a half to get to work from her place due to traffic, but she said that she is usually late and it is fine.
She showed me her office and gave me her mobile number and some other information, and then I was off. First I headed over to the Vatican. I had this preconceived notion that it was somehow physically separated from Rome, like there were walls around it, but in fact there is nothing. As far as I know the Vatican is just considered St. Peter's Basilica and the ajoining buildings like the Vatican Museums (containing the Sistine Chapel).
When you get on the street that leads up to St. Peter's Square there is an optical illusion that makes it appear that the church is quite close when in fact it is far away. Once you have reached the square you can walk around a bit and see the giant columns done by I believe Bernini, see the two giant statues of Peter and Paul -- patron saints/protectors of Rome -- and see St. Peter's Basilica loom up before you a colossal feat of architecture.
After walking around a bit I got in the first line I saw. It was quite long, so I assumed it was the one for the Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel -- I was wrong. The line was for going inside the Basilica, which is free, but in order to protect the Pope or something they have you go through the metal detectors.
When you are inside you lose perspective, and when I talked to someone later they said that something in there is 5 stories high...but when you are there it seems like maybe a couple stories. It took them something like 150-200 years to complete the construction of St. Peter's.
After marvelling at the grandness of the Basillica I headed for the exit and found my way to the line for the Vatican Museums. This line was quite a bit longer, but I only had to wait 45 minutes to an hour. Apparently I was lucky, as it isn't unusual for the wait to be 2 or more hours!
I got an audio guide thing for the first time to help explain some different things as I walked along. Otherwise you probably won't get anything out of the museums. Who can tell the differences or significance of the hundreds if not thousands of statues, paintings, etc? I wandered around, mostly seeing the statues, there was a cool room that had maps painted on the walls. These maps were huge and were for different regions of Italy -- for example one was of Sicily, another of Corsica, another of all of Italy.
Eventually I made my way to the Sistine Chapel, which was crowded with people and quite dark. You could see flashes from people's cameras all over the place even though cameras were supposed to be forbidden. Nonetheless the giant paintings, which I believe are actually mosaics and not frescoes, are quite beautiful and amazing.
My next stop was the Castel San Angelo, which used to house the remains of Emperor Hadrian (I don't think it does anymore). Later it was used by the Popes as a fortress and there was even a secret underground tunnel from the Vatican so that the Pope could reach safety. Sadly I never got to see such a tunnel :) It was quite cool and in very good condition. At the top you get a nice view of Rome. For some reason there were a lot of hot French girls around, don't ask me why. I enjoyed the view for a while and then decided to kill some time by wandering around the city.
I got a drink and talked to an American guy who had been all over the world in the past few years. We talked a bit about Costa Rica, travelling alone, and all that good stuff. Then I saw the time and had to hurry back to meet Francesca outside her work. I got there just in time as she was opening the car. Lubna called her and said that we should wait for her to get there, she had been to a copy shop to print off one of her CAD drawings.
At home Francesca made some pasta and all sorts of other things. I ate until I was full and then I ate some more -- just like home =) It was nice to have some home-cooked meals after so long on the road.
She showed me her office and gave me her mobile number and some other information, and then I was off. First I headed over to the Vatican. I had this preconceived notion that it was somehow physically separated from Rome, like there were walls around it, but in fact there is nothing. As far as I know the Vatican is just considered St. Peter's Basilica and the ajoining buildings like the Vatican Museums (containing the Sistine Chapel).
When you get on the street that leads up to St. Peter's Square there is an optical illusion that makes it appear that the church is quite close when in fact it is far away. Once you have reached the square you can walk around a bit and see the giant columns done by I believe Bernini, see the two giant statues of Peter and Paul -- patron saints/protectors of Rome -- and see St. Peter's Basilica loom up before you a colossal feat of architecture.
After walking around a bit I got in the first line I saw. It was quite long, so I assumed it was the one for the Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel -- I was wrong. The line was for going inside the Basilica, which is free, but in order to protect the Pope or something they have you go through the metal detectors.
When you are inside you lose perspective, and when I talked to someone later they said that something in there is 5 stories high...but when you are there it seems like maybe a couple stories. It took them something like 150-200 years to complete the construction of St. Peter's.
After marvelling at the grandness of the Basillica I headed for the exit and found my way to the line for the Vatican Museums. This line was quite a bit longer, but I only had to wait 45 minutes to an hour. Apparently I was lucky, as it isn't unusual for the wait to be 2 or more hours!
I got an audio guide thing for the first time to help explain some different things as I walked along. Otherwise you probably won't get anything out of the museums. Who can tell the differences or significance of the hundreds if not thousands of statues, paintings, etc? I wandered around, mostly seeing the statues, there was a cool room that had maps painted on the walls. These maps were huge and were for different regions of Italy -- for example one was of Sicily, another of Corsica, another of all of Italy.
Eventually I made my way to the Sistine Chapel, which was crowded with people and quite dark. You could see flashes from people's cameras all over the place even though cameras were supposed to be forbidden. Nonetheless the giant paintings, which I believe are actually mosaics and not frescoes, are quite beautiful and amazing.
My next stop was the Castel San Angelo, which used to house the remains of Emperor Hadrian (I don't think it does anymore). Later it was used by the Popes as a fortress and there was even a secret underground tunnel from the Vatican so that the Pope could reach safety. Sadly I never got to see such a tunnel :) It was quite cool and in very good condition. At the top you get a nice view of Rome. For some reason there were a lot of hot French girls around, don't ask me why. I enjoyed the view for a while and then decided to kill some time by wandering around the city.
I got a drink and talked to an American guy who had been all over the world in the past few years. We talked a bit about Costa Rica, travelling alone, and all that good stuff. Then I saw the time and had to hurry back to meet Francesca outside her work. I got there just in time as she was opening the car. Lubna called her and said that we should wait for her to get there, she had been to a copy shop to print off one of her CAD drawings.
At home Francesca made some pasta and all sorts of other things. I ate until I was full and then I ate some more -- just like home =) It was nice to have some home-cooked meals after so long on the road.
Europe Trip: Day 22, June 11th
Gabriele and I ate breakfast in the old part of Castiglion Fiorentino, which I as of yet had not been in. Then he was going to meet up with a friend of his and said I could explore the town for a couple hours and meet him at a place for lunch.
I got to see the old medieval castle and walls, as well as a museum that showcased a relatively recent find that the medieval settlement was placed over an older Etruscan one dating back to the 6th century BC. I was going to climb up to the top of the medieval tower, but they only let people go up there on Sundays and holidays, and sadly it was a Thursday.
I wandered the town a bit and found the big church, which had some very cool statues of San Pietro, San Paulo, and so on, built into the walls. I was going to take some pictures, but the battery on the camera died when I tried to take the first picture -- I guess Jesus was giving me a sign about taking pictures inside churches...I promise I wasn't going to use the flash!
After taking a break in the church I made my way to the restaurant and waited about half an hour until Gabriele came. I had some pasta with mushrooms, which was okay, but couldn't match the duck sauce pasta from the night before.
We hung out there, and as usual Gabriele saw people left and right that he knew, a couple of them joined us at our table. I guess Castiglion Fiorentino is the Italian equivalent of the small town where everyone knows each other. Gabriele told me that he can tell immediately if a girl is American or Italian, and there are tons of Americans in the town since Texas A&M and Virginia University both have campuses there, meaning about 300 or more students at any one time.
I bought my train ticket and then we headed back to his place to take it easy for an hour or two and to give me some time to pack. Fifteen minutes before my train was set to leave we headed over, and as usual good-byes are always tough.
[Insert description of generic Italian regional train ride]
Two and a half hours later I found myself at Roma Termini station, and my new host, Lubna was waiting there. She was surprised that I only had a backpack, and told me that her mother had driven over since they thought I would have a bunch of luggage. We talked a bit and walked outside the station, after a few minutes we got to where her mom was parked and I introduced myself.
The ride to their place was nice, they gave me a bit of a tour of some of the places we crossed -- the old Roman aqueduct, a famous cemetary that is huge, and a couple other things. On the way to their apartment, Lubna's mother told me that I could ride in with her to Rome since she works near the Vatican. So tomorrow I am going to visit San Pietro, the Vatican Museums, and all that good stuff. Then when she gets off work at 7pm or so she told me that she would show me around a bit if I still have the energy.
Right now Lubna's mother is cooking dinner for us, and I'm in the living room typing this up. Unfortunately they don't have wireless internet, so I will just have to use Lubna's extra computer in her room. Meaning I won't be able to post these until some other time, and there is no chance that I can use Skype while I am over here. But they are very nice people, and I think I am going to have a great time. Forcing me to get up early and out of the house may be the best thing that has happened to me on this trip, usually I am too lazy to get out before 11am or noon.
I got to see the old medieval castle and walls, as well as a museum that showcased a relatively recent find that the medieval settlement was placed over an older Etruscan one dating back to the 6th century BC. I was going to climb up to the top of the medieval tower, but they only let people go up there on Sundays and holidays, and sadly it was a Thursday.
I wandered the town a bit and found the big church, which had some very cool statues of San Pietro, San Paulo, and so on, built into the walls. I was going to take some pictures, but the battery on the camera died when I tried to take the first picture -- I guess Jesus was giving me a sign about taking pictures inside churches...I promise I wasn't going to use the flash!
After taking a break in the church I made my way to the restaurant and waited about half an hour until Gabriele came. I had some pasta with mushrooms, which was okay, but couldn't match the duck sauce pasta from the night before.
We hung out there, and as usual Gabriele saw people left and right that he knew, a couple of them joined us at our table. I guess Castiglion Fiorentino is the Italian equivalent of the small town where everyone knows each other. Gabriele told me that he can tell immediately if a girl is American or Italian, and there are tons of Americans in the town since Texas A&M and Virginia University both have campuses there, meaning about 300 or more students at any one time.
I bought my train ticket and then we headed back to his place to take it easy for an hour or two and to give me some time to pack. Fifteen minutes before my train was set to leave we headed over, and as usual good-byes are always tough.
[Insert description of generic Italian regional train ride]
Two and a half hours later I found myself at Roma Termini station, and my new host, Lubna was waiting there. She was surprised that I only had a backpack, and told me that her mother had driven over since they thought I would have a bunch of luggage. We talked a bit and walked outside the station, after a few minutes we got to where her mom was parked and I introduced myself.
The ride to their place was nice, they gave me a bit of a tour of some of the places we crossed -- the old Roman aqueduct, a famous cemetary that is huge, and a couple other things. On the way to their apartment, Lubna's mother told me that I could ride in with her to Rome since she works near the Vatican. So tomorrow I am going to visit San Pietro, the Vatican Museums, and all that good stuff. Then when she gets off work at 7pm or so she told me that she would show me around a bit if I still have the energy.
Right now Lubna's mother is cooking dinner for us, and I'm in the living room typing this up. Unfortunately they don't have wireless internet, so I will just have to use Lubna's extra computer in her room. Meaning I won't be able to post these until some other time, and there is no chance that I can use Skype while I am over here. But they are very nice people, and I think I am going to have a great time. Forcing me to get up early and out of the house may be the best thing that has happened to me on this trip, usually I am too lazy to get out before 11am or noon.
Europe Trip: Day 21, June 10th
In the morning we got ready and all three of us, Anna, Gabriele, and I, drove to Arezzo. We had a typical Italian breakfast, which is a pastry or bread and a coffee -- usually cappachino or espresso. Then they dropped me off at the train station in Arezzo and told me how to get around from there.
I explored the old part of the city, saw the old Roman wall, walked the streets, found a coffee shop that had wireless internet, saw the ruins of the Roman ampitheater, went inside a couple churches and shops.
When I got hungry I stopped at a restaurant and had a pizza, watching the people walk by. At 5:30pm I stopped by at Anna's work, which is a place that sells wine, and said good-bye to her. Then I caught the 6pm train back to Castiglion Fiorentino, where Gabriele picked me up along with his friend Francesco. We ate a snack and he dropped me off at his place, while he went to visit his parents for a couple hours.
Then at 9pm or so he returned and said that a couple of his friends were going to go into Arezzo to see a movie and wanted to know if I was interested. He told me that the movie was Angels and Demons, the only downside was that it would be dubbed in Italian. After talking a bit we decided to just go around Arezzo a bit at night, grab something to eat, and then say hi to Anna and a couple more of his friends.
When we were driving over, Gabriele's friends -- a guy named Fabio, who Gabriele has known since he was little, and his wife -- decided that they would just come with us. So we walked around, and since Gabriele didn't know where a good place to eat was, we went and asked Anna. The place she ended up showing us was the same place that I had ate pizza at earlier in the day! I asked Gabriele, Fabio, and Fabio's wife what would be good, and they said that the duck sauce pasta was a typical plate to get in Tuscany. It turned out to be a great choice and tasted very good.
While I was eating (the other three had already ate) a friend of Gabriele's, who was an American girl named Natalie, came over and talked with us for a while. As usual everyone else spoke a different language for a majority of the time, which could get a little awkward, but it wasn't too bad. Then I finished it off with a glass of wine at Anna's place -- which I didn't even have to pay for =)
All in all a good day where I got to meet quite a few Italians from a small town. Dare I say, "real" Italy? :P
I explored the old part of the city, saw the old Roman wall, walked the streets, found a coffee shop that had wireless internet, saw the ruins of the Roman ampitheater, went inside a couple churches and shops.
When I got hungry I stopped at a restaurant and had a pizza, watching the people walk by. At 5:30pm I stopped by at Anna's work, which is a place that sells wine, and said good-bye to her. Then I caught the 6pm train back to Castiglion Fiorentino, where Gabriele picked me up along with his friend Francesco. We ate a snack and he dropped me off at his place, while he went to visit his parents for a couple hours.
Then at 9pm or so he returned and said that a couple of his friends were going to go into Arezzo to see a movie and wanted to know if I was interested. He told me that the movie was Angels and Demons, the only downside was that it would be dubbed in Italian. After talking a bit we decided to just go around Arezzo a bit at night, grab something to eat, and then say hi to Anna and a couple more of his friends.
When we were driving over, Gabriele's friends -- a guy named Fabio, who Gabriele has known since he was little, and his wife -- decided that they would just come with us. So we walked around, and since Gabriele didn't know where a good place to eat was, we went and asked Anna. The place she ended up showing us was the same place that I had ate pizza at earlier in the day! I asked Gabriele, Fabio, and Fabio's wife what would be good, and they said that the duck sauce pasta was a typical plate to get in Tuscany. It turned out to be a great choice and tasted very good.
While I was eating (the other three had already ate) a friend of Gabriele's, who was an American girl named Natalie, came over and talked with us for a while. As usual everyone else spoke a different language for a majority of the time, which could get a little awkward, but it wasn't too bad. Then I finished it off with a glass of wine at Anna's place -- which I didn't even have to pay for =)
All in all a good day where I got to meet quite a few Italians from a small town. Dare I say, "real" Italy? :P
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Europe Trip: Day 20, June 9th
Even though Marco had gotten home, he let me still use his bed and he just slept on the couch, which was really nice of him. That had the effect of me being lazy yet again. It is funny how with CouchSurfing you have to change your sleeping schedule depending on your hosts. So early in my trip I was at places where they got up early, and that combined with the jetlag had me up at anywhere between 6am and 8:30am.
As the trip has gone on I've been with people who go out late, and sleep in late. So once again I found myself waking up after noon. I checked my e-mail and saw that I had zero luck in finding a host in Naples, but one of the responses had said I could try this hostel if no one else could host me. When I looked into it a bit more, the hostel was rated quite high and had been given tons of awards. So I thought, why not? I booked all 3 nights (June 18th, 19th, and 20th).
Then I got ready and packed all of my stuff up, leaving at around 3:30pm. Finding the entrance to the train station from the bus stop was harder than I had been led to believe, but eventually I found it. I bought my ticket, and ate some crappy pizza and fruit at a 'restaurant' in the train station.
When there was only 15 minutes left until my train was supposed to leave I went to check the screen, only to find out that it was broken or something and showing trains from an hour or more previous. Looking around I couldn't see anyone who looked official that might work there, so I started to worry a bit. I looked at the daily schedule on a paper and it said that my train was supposed to arrive at #12, but the sign said it was going somewhere else. When a train arrived, I asked the guy who came out and he pointed to the train on the next track (#13) and said it was heading to Roma, which is the direction I was heading.
I got on and it was quite full, all the seats were taken. I walked through a half dozen compartments and couldn't find a single seat, so I had to stand. After the first stop about 20 minutes later someone got up and I was able to sit down. My stop was at Castiglion Fiorentino.
My host, Gabriele, picked me up at the train station and I dropped my stuff off at his place. When I told him I was hungry he said we could head to the center of the town and get a sandwich. Then he drove around a bit and I got to see some of the town and a good view since the town is on top of a hill.
Unfortunately he got a letter from his ex-girlfriend saying that they were completely done. We met a couple of his friends at a restaurant, and he left without saying much. Over an hour passed and we were like...where is Gabriele? Eventually he came back, and said he had gone to talk face to face with his ex since he wanted to hear it from her, not just in a letter. Luckily one of his friends, Anna, spoke quite good English and she was very nice. The other two were also nice, but not so good at English.
When Gabriele got back everything was fine. We headed back to his place around midnight, and Anna also stayed at his place. She said we could drive in to Arezzo, a city about the size of Boise, in the morning.
As the trip has gone on I've been with people who go out late, and sleep in late. So once again I found myself waking up after noon. I checked my e-mail and saw that I had zero luck in finding a host in Naples, but one of the responses had said I could try this hostel if no one else could host me. When I looked into it a bit more, the hostel was rated quite high and had been given tons of awards. So I thought, why not? I booked all 3 nights (June 18th, 19th, and 20th).
Then I got ready and packed all of my stuff up, leaving at around 3:30pm. Finding the entrance to the train station from the bus stop was harder than I had been led to believe, but eventually I found it. I bought my ticket, and ate some crappy pizza and fruit at a 'restaurant' in the train station.
When there was only 15 minutes left until my train was supposed to leave I went to check the screen, only to find out that it was broken or something and showing trains from an hour or more previous. Looking around I couldn't see anyone who looked official that might work there, so I started to worry a bit. I looked at the daily schedule on a paper and it said that my train was supposed to arrive at #12, but the sign said it was going somewhere else. When a train arrived, I asked the guy who came out and he pointed to the train on the next track (#13) and said it was heading to Roma, which is the direction I was heading.
I got on and it was quite full, all the seats were taken. I walked through a half dozen compartments and couldn't find a single seat, so I had to stand. After the first stop about 20 minutes later someone got up and I was able to sit down. My stop was at Castiglion Fiorentino.
My host, Gabriele, picked me up at the train station and I dropped my stuff off at his place. When I told him I was hungry he said we could head to the center of the town and get a sandwich. Then he drove around a bit and I got to see some of the town and a good view since the town is on top of a hill.
Unfortunately he got a letter from his ex-girlfriend saying that they were completely done. We met a couple of his friends at a restaurant, and he left without saying much. Over an hour passed and we were like...where is Gabriele? Eventually he came back, and said he had gone to talk face to face with his ex since he wanted to hear it from her, not just in a letter. Luckily one of his friends, Anna, spoke quite good English and she was very nice. The other two were also nice, but not so good at English.
When Gabriele got back everything was fine. We headed back to his place around midnight, and Anna also stayed at his place. She said we could drive in to Arezzo, a city about the size of Boise, in the morning.
Europe Trip: Day 19, June 8th
For one of the first times of my trip I got to sleep on a real bed, and I got to sleep in late! It was sinful how lazy I was that day. Marco came home from visiting his parents in another city, and made pasta on his lunch break. After that I waited until my hosts (Andrea and Marco) came home, and they picked up 2 Polish girls and 2 Polish guys from the train station.
We all went out that night, Andrea had promised to give us a tour of the city. We had planned to meet at the Duomo, but Marco decided that it would be better if we went to a spot that overlooked Florence from above. It was quite a view and we sat on some steps and Andrea brought out some bottles of wine.
Then we wandered around the city until late in the night/morning.
Sadly, I actually didn't get to see many of the tourist sights of the city. I saw the outside of the Duomo, but never got to go inside. I walked over a couple of the famous bridges at night, but didn't get any pictures. So for me, Florence will be more about the people than the sights.
We all went out that night, Andrea had promised to give us a tour of the city. We had planned to meet at the Duomo, but Marco decided that it would be better if we went to a spot that overlooked Florence from above. It was quite a view and we sat on some steps and Andrea brought out some bottles of wine.
Then we wandered around the city until late in the night/morning.
Sadly, I actually didn't get to see many of the tourist sights of the city. I saw the outside of the Duomo, but never got to go inside. I walked over a couple of the famous bridges at night, but didn't get any pictures. So for me, Florence will be more about the people than the sights.
Monday, June 8, 2009
Europe Trip: Day 18, June 7th
In the morning my CS host had already left to go to Venice, he was hosting a couple of Turkish girls and had to meet them back in Venice. So it was just me and Darren, another CouchSurfer. I asked him if he played chess and he said he did, so I whipped out the magnetic chess set and we played a game. I had been starting to feel like an idiot for bringing it with me, since it has only be used 2 times in 18 days...but there is still hope! I beat him quite soundly, although it was quite defensive and not that flashy.
At noon we both set out for the train station, him to buy a ticket and me to leave for Florence. I said good-bye and got on the train, switching in Padova. When I reached Florence one of my hosts, Andrea (a guy), picked me up at the train station. As we walked out of the station he said that he would drive me home on his scooter/Vespa -- I'll admit I was a little apprehensive. He just told me to not worry. I put my helmet on, got on behind him, and hoped I was going to make it.
What a rush. The wind is whipping past your face, the scooter is weaving between cars, braking at what seems like last minute. And you just have to trust the driver. As dangerous as it looks and sounds, I made it safely and I would do it again.
When we got to his apartment, which is very large since there are 4 roommates, there were 2 other CouchSurfers there. Both of them were girls from Lithuania who were Erasmus students in Cologne, Germany. They had found a cheap ticket from Cologne to Bologna (~20 euros) and were finishing up their trip in Florence. After a creepy encounter with some guys in Pisa, they had came back to Andrea's place -- which was a running joke about how you can't escape from the place, even after 2 or 3 tries.
We hung out for a while at the apartment while Andrea went to visit his parents, and agreed to meet him outside the Duomo at 9:30pm. Of course in typical Italian fashion he didn't meet up with us until after 10:10pm. But we had a great time walking around the city at night, picking up a couple pizza's, and we stayed up until after 4am when the girls had to get on their train to Bologna to catch the plane to Germany.
At noon we both set out for the train station, him to buy a ticket and me to leave for Florence. I said good-bye and got on the train, switching in Padova. When I reached Florence one of my hosts, Andrea (a guy), picked me up at the train station. As we walked out of the station he said that he would drive me home on his scooter/Vespa -- I'll admit I was a little apprehensive. He just told me to not worry. I put my helmet on, got on behind him, and hoped I was going to make it.
What a rush. The wind is whipping past your face, the scooter is weaving between cars, braking at what seems like last minute. And you just have to trust the driver. As dangerous as it looks and sounds, I made it safely and I would do it again.
When we got to his apartment, which is very large since there are 4 roommates, there were 2 other CouchSurfers there. Both of them were girls from Lithuania who were Erasmus students in Cologne, Germany. They had found a cheap ticket from Cologne to Bologna (~20 euros) and were finishing up their trip in Florence. After a creepy encounter with some guys in Pisa, they had came back to Andrea's place -- which was a running joke about how you can't escape from the place, even after 2 or 3 tries.
We hung out for a while at the apartment while Andrea went to visit his parents, and agreed to meet him outside the Duomo at 9:30pm. Of course in typical Italian fashion he didn't meet up with us until after 10:10pm. But we had a great time walking around the city at night, picking up a couple pizza's, and we stayed up until after 4am when the girls had to get on their train to Bologna to catch the plane to Germany.
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Europe Trip: Day 17, June 6th
Darren and I left Massimo's place at around 11am, and made it to Venice by noon. We each ate a mini pizza and began our long day of walking over bridges, down small alleys, and along the water.
Venice is an interesting 'city' because there are probably more tourists than people who actually live there. So as we walked around you could hear English and German more often than you heard Italian! Despite the throngs of tourists it is surprisingly easy to lose your way and find a little dock or a spot along one of the canals with little to no people.
When we tried to go into the big church at San Marco, the guy at the door pointed at our backpacks and said we couldn't go in. Then he said something about how we have to 'put them around the corner', so Darren and I are like 'what the hell are you talking about, what corner?' We walked around and tried to see what he was talking about, but with no luck. Another two attempts at sneaking in with our backpacks also failed. So we gave up and decided to go and find this other big church with giant domes that was across the water. It didn't look that hard to find...
But distances in Venice can be deceiving. What looks like a straight shot will usually require backtracking halfway across the island to find a bridge, and then trying to find your way through the maze of streets that seem to have been placed at random. All you can do is try to head in a general direction and not get turned around. So finding that church became our quest, and it took a good hour or more to finally get there.
The inside of the church wasn't that impressive, but it was still satisfying to find it and I enjoyed the Byzantine influences -- plus it was free to go inside :) Then we took a break on the church steps for about an hour. By then we decided to start heading back to either find something to eat or to meet up with our host, Massimo.
Massimo had told us about this group of people who had created a boat out of garbage (more or less) and sailed it all the way from Slovenia to Venice. There was also a giant band with them that had couchsurfed with Massimo. In order to meet up with them on this small island we had to take a ferry, and Massimo had looked up the times and saw that 7:30pm was the last ferry that went all the way to our island. Unfortunately even though we started waiting at 7:10 or so, the #41 boat (like a bus number) didn't come until 7:55 and the person told us that they didn't go that far. They had skipped that entire time, and we were pretty much screwed.
After calling the band members they said we should take the #51 until it ends and then take this other transport, but they were really vague. Once we got there we had no idea where to go, we didn't even know the name of the transport. We asked one of the boat-taxi's how much it would cost and he said 50 euros, and Darren thought that was too much even split. So we wandered until we found a ferry to take us back. It was slow, hot, and extremely crowded, but an hour later we made it back to his car and drove home.
Despite the disappointment it was an exciting day, and we ended it with some good food and drinks at Michele's restaurant down the street from my host's house. We talked a bit with the owner, Michele, and it was nice to take it easy after walking for 8-9 hours straight. You'd think my feet would get used to the walking after 17 days, but apparently not, haha.
Next stop, Florence (Firenze).
Venice is an interesting 'city' because there are probably more tourists than people who actually live there. So as we walked around you could hear English and German more often than you heard Italian! Despite the throngs of tourists it is surprisingly easy to lose your way and find a little dock or a spot along one of the canals with little to no people.
When we tried to go into the big church at San Marco, the guy at the door pointed at our backpacks and said we couldn't go in. Then he said something about how we have to 'put them around the corner', so Darren and I are like 'what the hell are you talking about, what corner?' We walked around and tried to see what he was talking about, but with no luck. Another two attempts at sneaking in with our backpacks also failed. So we gave up and decided to go and find this other big church with giant domes that was across the water. It didn't look that hard to find...
But distances in Venice can be deceiving. What looks like a straight shot will usually require backtracking halfway across the island to find a bridge, and then trying to find your way through the maze of streets that seem to have been placed at random. All you can do is try to head in a general direction and not get turned around. So finding that church became our quest, and it took a good hour or more to finally get there.
The inside of the church wasn't that impressive, but it was still satisfying to find it and I enjoyed the Byzantine influences -- plus it was free to go inside :) Then we took a break on the church steps for about an hour. By then we decided to start heading back to either find something to eat or to meet up with our host, Massimo.
Massimo had told us about this group of people who had created a boat out of garbage (more or less) and sailed it all the way from Slovenia to Venice. There was also a giant band with them that had couchsurfed with Massimo. In order to meet up with them on this small island we had to take a ferry, and Massimo had looked up the times and saw that 7:30pm was the last ferry that went all the way to our island. Unfortunately even though we started waiting at 7:10 or so, the #41 boat (like a bus number) didn't come until 7:55 and the person told us that they didn't go that far. They had skipped that entire time, and we were pretty much screwed.
After calling the band members they said we should take the #51 until it ends and then take this other transport, but they were really vague. Once we got there we had no idea where to go, we didn't even know the name of the transport. We asked one of the boat-taxi's how much it would cost and he said 50 euros, and Darren thought that was too much even split. So we wandered until we found a ferry to take us back. It was slow, hot, and extremely crowded, but an hour later we made it back to his car and drove home.
Despite the disappointment it was an exciting day, and we ended it with some good food and drinks at Michele's restaurant down the street from my host's house. We talked a bit with the owner, Michele, and it was nice to take it easy after walking for 8-9 hours straight. You'd think my feet would get used to the walking after 17 days, but apparently not, haha.
Next stop, Florence (Firenze).
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Europe Trip: Day 16, June 5th
The next morning I had to decide what to do, I had a reservation at the hostel for 2 more nights, but I also had a CouchSurfing host for the same nights. Additionally, I couldn't meet up with my CS host until 7-8pm, but the checkout time was 10am. In the end I decided that 25 euros was worth my back, so I left my stuff in the hostel and went out to explore Verona for the day.
It wasn't too far before I was in the old part of the city, and then 15-20 minutes until I reached one of the bridges that crosses the river into the Roman part of the city. I visited the Duomo (cathedral/church), the Arena (small version of the Coliseum), a really cool castle that was also partially a museum, and a walk up these stairs that I thought were leading to the Roman amphitheater but was actually a climb to an overlook of the city.
I took quite a few pictures, so I'll have to upload those sometime.
On the walk back to the hostel I stopped and ate a sandwich, which I think was a panini. When I got back to the hostel I went on the internet and called up Mom, Dad, and Emily.
At around 5:30pm I checked out of the hostel, and not long after I realized why I hate buses. Anyway, I eventually made my way to the train station, and it was surprisingly easy to buy the train ticket (only 3.80 euros!) and there weren't that many people on it so I had plenty of room. It was a double-decker train, so I was on the top part. I took some pictures of that, just for you Dad :P
I got a bit lost on my way to the hosts place, which was over 2 km away. So my shoulders were killing me. But after backtracking a bit I found the right place, and then I met him and another CouchSurfer at a restaurant nearby. We had some food and a drink and talked until about midnight.
After we got back the other CouchSurfer and I had a choice between the bed or a mattress on the floor, we flipped a coin and I lost, so I ended up on the floor. What can you do, eh?
It wasn't too far before I was in the old part of the city, and then 15-20 minutes until I reached one of the bridges that crosses the river into the Roman part of the city. I visited the Duomo (cathedral/church), the Arena (small version of the Coliseum), a really cool castle that was also partially a museum, and a walk up these stairs that I thought were leading to the Roman amphitheater but was actually a climb to an overlook of the city.
I took quite a few pictures, so I'll have to upload those sometime.
On the walk back to the hostel I stopped and ate a sandwich, which I think was a panini. When I got back to the hostel I went on the internet and called up Mom, Dad, and Emily.
At around 5:30pm I checked out of the hostel, and not long after I realized why I hate buses. Anyway, I eventually made my way to the train station, and it was surprisingly easy to buy the train ticket (only 3.80 euros!) and there weren't that many people on it so I had plenty of room. It was a double-decker train, so I was on the top part. I took some pictures of that, just for you Dad :P
I got a bit lost on my way to the hosts place, which was over 2 km away. So my shoulders were killing me. But after backtracking a bit I found the right place, and then I met him and another CouchSurfer at a restaurant nearby. We had some food and a drink and talked until about midnight.
After we got back the other CouchSurfer and I had a choice between the bed or a mattress on the floor, we flipped a coin and I lost, so I ended up on the floor. What can you do, eh?
Europe Trip: Day 15, June 4th
I got up at 8am, and managed to be completely ready and packed by 8:30am -- which surprised me a lot. I picked up a couple roll-like things at the nearby bakery and headed on the U-bahn. I made it to the train platform with a good 20 minutes to spare.
The funny thing about my first train ticket, the one entirely in Austria, was that you don't have a reservation or assigned seat. So I got in one of the earlier compartments that looked quite nice. Naturally they were first class, and so 15 minutes into the trip I had to grab my backpack and head to the second class section -- literally feeling like a second class citizen :P
I tried to sleep a bit, read a few more Asimov short stories, and then watched some of the Austrian landscape speed by. I took a few pictures, hopefully at least some of them turn out alright.
Now it is about 3pm and I'm waiting at the Innsbruck station for my next train that will take me to Verona Porto Nuova, which leaves at 3:27pm. I should arrive around 7pm in Verona. I made a reservation at a hostel for 3 nights, it is set up more like a hotel/apartment. You could get your own room for something like 50-60 euros, or you can share with 2-3 other guys and it is 25 euros -- I went for the latter, so 75 euros for 3 nights.
===============
On the final train between Innsbruck and Verona, everything was going great until the very last hour or so of the journey. The people sitting around me had all gotten off at different stations and this old Italian guy sat down across from me and tried to talk to me. I looked confused and pointed at myself saying "American" and he acted like he understood, but still tried to talk to me using only like a couple English words and 95% Italian words.
When the communication didn't work so well he started trying to read my Asimov book, but I could tell he was just pretending because he kept jumping around and reading random parts of the book -- considering they are a set of short stories, I don't think even an English speaker would get much out of that.
When he saw the ticket guy going around he motioned that he was going to go to the bathroom and then did the 'Shhh' sign like it was our little secret, I'm guessing he hadn't paid for the train ticket.
Not long after he came back he seemed to get irritated and tried to talk in Italian to the older lady sitting next to me, but she completely ignored him. So he got frustrated, got up, and left. I was quite thankful, and the older lady actually talked to me a little bit, which makes me think she thought the old guy was crazy/weird as well.
Getting off at Verona's Porto Nuova station, I found my way to the outside and saw a like 5+ different places to wait for buses. I knew I wanted to get on either the 11, 12, 13, or 91, 92, 93. But I was having a terrible time, and I also didn't know where to get bus tickets! So I wandered around aimlessly for about half an hour before deciding to go inside the bus/train station area. When I saw a tobacco shop I remembered reading something about how you can get tickets there, so I went and asked for a bus ticket and that ended up being about 1 euro.
Then when I got off at the bus stop, I only had a street name. When I asked a couple of black women where to go, they pointed off to the left, so I went that way but it was getting into neighborhoods and I remembered that it was in a more open area on a large street. So after circling the block I asked a woman on a bike and she pointed me in the right direction. I should have gone right instead of left way back at the beginning.
The hard part behind me, it was easy to get to the hostel, get to my room, go on the internet, and then I found a pizza place to ease my hunger. One word of advice to the weary, pizza-hungry traveler...do not order pepperoni in Europe (I did it in Germany and Italy), unless you want to get red and yellow peppers on a cheese pizza. What an actual American pepperoni pizza is called over here, I have no idea.
In the internet room I met some Texans who had a class in Verona, so had been here for 2 weeks or so. Their test was the next morning, so they were procrastinating. I talked for an hour or two with a couple of them before heading to bed...
The funny thing about my first train ticket, the one entirely in Austria, was that you don't have a reservation or assigned seat. So I got in one of the earlier compartments that looked quite nice. Naturally they were first class, and so 15 minutes into the trip I had to grab my backpack and head to the second class section -- literally feeling like a second class citizen :P
I tried to sleep a bit, read a few more Asimov short stories, and then watched some of the Austrian landscape speed by. I took a few pictures, hopefully at least some of them turn out alright.
Now it is about 3pm and I'm waiting at the Innsbruck station for my next train that will take me to Verona Porto Nuova, which leaves at 3:27pm. I should arrive around 7pm in Verona. I made a reservation at a hostel for 3 nights, it is set up more like a hotel/apartment. You could get your own room for something like 50-60 euros, or you can share with 2-3 other guys and it is 25 euros -- I went for the latter, so 75 euros for 3 nights.
===============
On the final train between Innsbruck and Verona, everything was going great until the very last hour or so of the journey. The people sitting around me had all gotten off at different stations and this old Italian guy sat down across from me and tried to talk to me. I looked confused and pointed at myself saying "American" and he acted like he understood, but still tried to talk to me using only like a couple English words and 95% Italian words.
When the communication didn't work so well he started trying to read my Asimov book, but I could tell he was just pretending because he kept jumping around and reading random parts of the book -- considering they are a set of short stories, I don't think even an English speaker would get much out of that.
When he saw the ticket guy going around he motioned that he was going to go to the bathroom and then did the 'Shhh' sign like it was our little secret, I'm guessing he hadn't paid for the train ticket.
Not long after he came back he seemed to get irritated and tried to talk in Italian to the older lady sitting next to me, but she completely ignored him. So he got frustrated, got up, and left. I was quite thankful, and the older lady actually talked to me a little bit, which makes me think she thought the old guy was crazy/weird as well.
Getting off at Verona's Porto Nuova station, I found my way to the outside and saw a like 5+ different places to wait for buses. I knew I wanted to get on either the 11, 12, 13, or 91, 92, 93. But I was having a terrible time, and I also didn't know where to get bus tickets! So I wandered around aimlessly for about half an hour before deciding to go inside the bus/train station area. When I saw a tobacco shop I remembered reading something about how you can get tickets there, so I went and asked for a bus ticket and that ended up being about 1 euro.
Then when I got off at the bus stop, I only had a street name. When I asked a couple of black women where to go, they pointed off to the left, so I went that way but it was getting into neighborhoods and I remembered that it was in a more open area on a large street. So after circling the block I asked a woman on a bike and she pointed me in the right direction. I should have gone right instead of left way back at the beginning.
The hard part behind me, it was easy to get to the hostel, get to my room, go on the internet, and then I found a pizza place to ease my hunger. One word of advice to the weary, pizza-hungry traveler...do not order pepperoni in Europe (I did it in Germany and Italy), unless you want to get red and yellow peppers on a cheese pizza. What an actual American pepperoni pizza is called over here, I have no idea.
In the internet room I met some Texans who had a class in Verona, so had been here for 2 weeks or so. Their test was the next morning, so they were procrastinating. I talked for an hour or two with a couple of them before heading to bed...
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Europe Trip: Day 14, June 3rd
Has it been two weeks?! Hard to believe.
I had to get up a bit earlier because Julius' ex-roommate had to come to get his couch back. Which also means I no longer could use that couch! So he ended up getting a roll-up thing that is between a mattress and a sleeping pad, more towards the sleeping pad. I'll manage.
Since I had gotten up earlier, I also left earlier, but I really needed to stay on my laptop and get some CouchSearching done. It is June 3rd, and I leave for Verona on June 4th...with absolutely ZERO couches set up for the rest of my trip.
My first stop was to Westbahnhof to get my train ticket, it cost about 94 euros to get from Vienna to Innsbruck to Verona -- unfortunately there was no direct connection. Then I took the U-bahn to Stephansplatz and found a cafe that had Wifi, ordering a hot chocolate so they wouldn't kick me out.
I sent out a good 20+ couch requests in mostly Florence and Rome, but a couple more in the Verona area. I finally got a bit of luck with someone in the Tuscany area, not in Florence but 30-50 kilometers away offering his couch for the 9th-11th. So there is getting to be some hope.
I also wrote down the location of a couple different possible hostels that cost around 20-30 euros per night in Verona. Still within my budget, but much harder to get around and it is nicer to spend that on other things that where I stay :)
I am hopeful that my work today will turn out some success, but we shall see.
My host, Julius, is now cooking dinner for me. Something with this onion sauce and beef as the meat. It smells good, hope it tastes as good! After that we might go to his friends birthday party for a little bit and then maybe watch Fight Club.
Then it is off to bed, because my train leaves at 9:40am. If I miss it, then I have to pay another 40 euros to get to Verona. Italy is not as kind as Austria in when you use their trains, you have a reservation and you'd better make it.
I had to get up a bit earlier because Julius' ex-roommate had to come to get his couch back. Which also means I no longer could use that couch! So he ended up getting a roll-up thing that is between a mattress and a sleeping pad, more towards the sleeping pad. I'll manage.
Since I had gotten up earlier, I also left earlier, but I really needed to stay on my laptop and get some CouchSearching done. It is June 3rd, and I leave for Verona on June 4th...with absolutely ZERO couches set up for the rest of my trip.
My first stop was to Westbahnhof to get my train ticket, it cost about 94 euros to get from Vienna to Innsbruck to Verona -- unfortunately there was no direct connection. Then I took the U-bahn to Stephansplatz and found a cafe that had Wifi, ordering a hot chocolate so they wouldn't kick me out.
I sent out a good 20+ couch requests in mostly Florence and Rome, but a couple more in the Verona area. I finally got a bit of luck with someone in the Tuscany area, not in Florence but 30-50 kilometers away offering his couch for the 9th-11th. So there is getting to be some hope.
I also wrote down the location of a couple different possible hostels that cost around 20-30 euros per night in Verona. Still within my budget, but much harder to get around and it is nicer to spend that on other things that where I stay :)
I am hopeful that my work today will turn out some success, but we shall see.
My host, Julius, is now cooking dinner for me. Something with this onion sauce and beef as the meat. It smells good, hope it tastes as good! After that we might go to his friends birthday party for a little bit and then maybe watch Fight Club.
Then it is off to bed, because my train leaves at 9:40am. If I miss it, then I have to pay another 40 euros to get to Verona. Italy is not as kind as Austria in when you use their trains, you have a reservation and you'd better make it.
Europe Trip: Day 13, June 2nd
I spent the morning and early afternoon trying to do some planning, but eventually I headed out the door. The plan was to see some of the big churches, maybe climb to the top of one or two, and then wander around a bit in Vienna trying to find this coffee shop that Julius had said he thought was the best in the city.
The first stop was at Karlsplatz, and it was surprisingly easy to find Karlskirche. It had a very interesting look with the green copper dome and two large pillars in the front that had carvings or detailed pictures all over them.
The entrance was on the right side, and it was something like 4 euros to take the elevator and then walk up some rickety scaffolding that served as stairs to the top of the dome. Unfortunately there wasn't much of a view of the outside city, but there was a closeup view of the beautiful paintings on the inside dome.
I took a break then in the park outside the church, just lazing about for an hour or so. Then I jumped on the U-bahn and headed for the city center, Stephansplatz.
It turns out that I got there a little bit too late to climb to the top of the big tower at Stephansdom, it closed at 5:30pm and I got there at like 5:45-6pm. So I decided to wander in what I thought was the correct direction, but as I got further from the center of the city I realized I had chosen incorrectly. Nonetheless it was interesting to see new parts of the city.
I ended up going into this bar where I got a drink and had a schnitzel -- much cheaper than at the other place the day before, but still not bad. It was funny since some of the guys looked a bit 80's and they played quite a bit of American music like the Rolling Stones. Tennis was on TV so I watched that, rooting for Federer even though he was down 2 sets to nothing. Amazingly he made a comeback and won it 3 sets to 2!
I was a little bit worried about where I was since I hadn't seen any U-bahn stations, but I found my way to a major street and after about 5 minutes I saw the sign and then a couple connections later I was back home (at least my current one).
We watched a Futurama movie, which was actually very funny. I might have to watch some more of it when I get back to the States.
The first stop was at Karlsplatz, and it was surprisingly easy to find Karlskirche. It had a very interesting look with the green copper dome and two large pillars in the front that had carvings or detailed pictures all over them.
The entrance was on the right side, and it was something like 4 euros to take the elevator and then walk up some rickety scaffolding that served as stairs to the top of the dome. Unfortunately there wasn't much of a view of the outside city, but there was a closeup view of the beautiful paintings on the inside dome.
I took a break then in the park outside the church, just lazing about for an hour or so. Then I jumped on the U-bahn and headed for the city center, Stephansplatz.
It turns out that I got there a little bit too late to climb to the top of the big tower at Stephansdom, it closed at 5:30pm and I got there at like 5:45-6pm. So I decided to wander in what I thought was the correct direction, but as I got further from the center of the city I realized I had chosen incorrectly. Nonetheless it was interesting to see new parts of the city.
I ended up going into this bar where I got a drink and had a schnitzel -- much cheaper than at the other place the day before, but still not bad. It was funny since some of the guys looked a bit 80's and they played quite a bit of American music like the Rolling Stones. Tennis was on TV so I watched that, rooting for Federer even though he was down 2 sets to nothing. Amazingly he made a comeback and won it 3 sets to 2!
I was a little bit worried about where I was since I hadn't seen any U-bahn stations, but I found my way to a major street and after about 5 minutes I saw the sign and then a couple connections later I was back home (at least my current one).
We watched a Futurama movie, which was actually very funny. I might have to watch some more of it when I get back to the States.
Monday, June 1, 2009
Europe Trip: Day 12, June 1st
Quite the interesting way to celebrate the beginning of the new month a very late night and a late start to the day...
As I mentioned at the end of the last blog, I slept until about 1pm. Then I got ready before Julius woke up. He woke up at around 2pm when his Mom called him, inviting both of us over for lunch/dinner at 3pm. So we went over, and they were very nice people.
Both parents spoke quite good English and we talked about politics, health care, and even Biology since Julius' mother had gotten her doctorate in Zoology, but is now working in politics.
Following his parents advice, we went over to this big park overlooking an imperial palace. We walked down the hill, and then around the palace grounds which had some nice gardens. It is quite a beautiful place, so I hope to go back there one of these days. Plus it is right next to the zoo, which Julius' Mom recommended I go to.
I had talked to a CouchSurfing friend of mine who also goes to BSU, named Conor. We had talked before I left and I found out that he was going to Vienna for an internship, and he agreed to meet up with me that night. So at 6:30pm I met up with him and another intern who had just flown into Vienna a few hours early, Javier. At the restaurant we met two more interns, Mark and Andrew I think there names were. Got to hear some interesting stories, a couple of them were from Boston, one had gone to Yale.
After hanging out for a bit and eating a snitzel, I headed back to Julius' place. A few of his friends had came over, but didn't stay too long. We decided to just take it easy after the previous night, and so we just watched Boondock Saints. Unfortunately about halfway through the English version stopped working. The German version worked fine, but we couldn't change the language or add subtitles. Eventually Julius said he was too tired and went off to bed. I tried watching for a bit longer, but wasn't getting much out of it. So I shut it off and called Mom, Dad, Grandma Shirley, and Jeff.
Now it is already past 1am again! So I am headed off to bed. At least I'm completely caught up now after several long nights that prevented me from writing these. Depending on the social aptitude and sleeping habits of my CS hosts, I may get behind like this. But no worries, I am keeping notes and I will catch up after not too long.
As I mentioned at the end of the last blog, I slept until about 1pm. Then I got ready before Julius woke up. He woke up at around 2pm when his Mom called him, inviting both of us over for lunch/dinner at 3pm. So we went over, and they were very nice people.
Both parents spoke quite good English and we talked about politics, health care, and even Biology since Julius' mother had gotten her doctorate in Zoology, but is now working in politics.
Following his parents advice, we went over to this big park overlooking an imperial palace. We walked down the hill, and then around the palace grounds which had some nice gardens. It is quite a beautiful place, so I hope to go back there one of these days. Plus it is right next to the zoo, which Julius' Mom recommended I go to.
I had talked to a CouchSurfing friend of mine who also goes to BSU, named Conor. We had talked before I left and I found out that he was going to Vienna for an internship, and he agreed to meet up with me that night. So at 6:30pm I met up with him and another intern who had just flown into Vienna a few hours early, Javier. At the restaurant we met two more interns, Mark and Andrew I think there names were. Got to hear some interesting stories, a couple of them were from Boston, one had gone to Yale.
After hanging out for a bit and eating a snitzel, I headed back to Julius' place. A few of his friends had came over, but didn't stay too long. We decided to just take it easy after the previous night, and so we just watched Boondock Saints. Unfortunately about halfway through the English version stopped working. The German version worked fine, but we couldn't change the language or add subtitles. Eventually Julius said he was too tired and went off to bed. I tried watching for a bit longer, but wasn't getting much out of it. So I shut it off and called Mom, Dad, Grandma Shirley, and Jeff.
Now it is already past 1am again! So I am headed off to bed. At least I'm completely caught up now after several long nights that prevented me from writing these. Depending on the social aptitude and sleeping habits of my CS hosts, I may get behind like this. But no worries, I am keeping notes and I will catch up after not too long.
Europe Trip: Day 11, May 31st
After another late night at Robert's, we decided to sleep in. I woke up an hour or so before he did, got ready and packed up my stuff. We left his place by about 11:30am or so in order to get a traditional Bavarian breakfast, which turned out to be these white sausages with a big pretzel. They were actually quite good, maybe in some ways like Norwegian hotdogs I've ate at Grandma Anna's, but with no spices at all.
We relaxed there for a while, and he offered to walk me over to the train station. I got a last look at downtown Munich, and made it to Hauptbahnhof (central station) with 10-15 minutes to spare.
Nobody sat in the seat next to me, and it was a quiet ride all the way to Vienna. The Austrian countryside was quite beautiful, especially near Salzburg. The view as we made our way to the Hbf train station in Salzburg (one of the stops) was very picturesque and made me consider visiting it someday.
I met my host, Julius, at the U-bahn stop right near his place. Then we walked to his apartment and I was able to drop off my stuff. He then offered to show me around downtown and give me a sort of mini tour to get my bearings and see a bit of what Vienna has to offer. So we walked all around, seeing some of the key places, and went on quite the search for a restaurant. Since it was Sunday, many places were closed, and it took us like half an hour of searching just to find out that his favorite Austrian restaurant was closed! So he called his dad and we found a Greek restaurant to eat at, both ordering Giros.
Since Monday was a day off for everyone in Austria, Julius had one of his friends, Marcus, come over. We watched the Matrix on TV, which was in German -- hilarious, by the way, Morpheus loses all of his bravado in the dubbing.
Then after much coaxing, I finally gave in to peer pressure and agreed to go downtown with them to this electro club. There was a famous British DJ who was there. Unfortunately this meant that the cover, which was usually 10 euros, went up to 20 euros! I must admit, though, that it was quite an interesting experience. The DJ played drum-bass and it was well worth it.
We left the club at about 5:30am, and it was already light in Vienna, grabbing a hotdog (meatier than it sounds) on the way to stave off hunger. Marcus split when we entered the U-bahn and Julius and I headed back to his place to collapse and get as much sleep as we could manage -- he managed a bit more than me :P I woke up quite a few times and ended up getting up for good around 1pm.
But now I'm starting to mix up this entry with the one for the next day :)
We relaxed there for a while, and he offered to walk me over to the train station. I got a last look at downtown Munich, and made it to Hauptbahnhof (central station) with 10-15 minutes to spare.
Nobody sat in the seat next to me, and it was a quiet ride all the way to Vienna. The Austrian countryside was quite beautiful, especially near Salzburg. The view as we made our way to the Hbf train station in Salzburg (one of the stops) was very picturesque and made me consider visiting it someday.
I met my host, Julius, at the U-bahn stop right near his place. Then we walked to his apartment and I was able to drop off my stuff. He then offered to show me around downtown and give me a sort of mini tour to get my bearings and see a bit of what Vienna has to offer. So we walked all around, seeing some of the key places, and went on quite the search for a restaurant. Since it was Sunday, many places were closed, and it took us like half an hour of searching just to find out that his favorite Austrian restaurant was closed! So he called his dad and we found a Greek restaurant to eat at, both ordering Giros.
Since Monday was a day off for everyone in Austria, Julius had one of his friends, Marcus, come over. We watched the Matrix on TV, which was in German -- hilarious, by the way, Morpheus loses all of his bravado in the dubbing.
Then after much coaxing, I finally gave in to peer pressure and agreed to go downtown with them to this electro club. There was a famous British DJ who was there. Unfortunately this meant that the cover, which was usually 10 euros, went up to 20 euros! I must admit, though, that it was quite an interesting experience. The DJ played drum-bass and it was well worth it.
We left the club at about 5:30am, and it was already light in Vienna, grabbing a hotdog (meatier than it sounds) on the way to stave off hunger. Marcus split when we entered the U-bahn and Julius and I headed back to his place to collapse and get as much sleep as we could manage -- he managed a bit more than me :P I woke up quite a few times and ended up getting up for good around 1pm.
But now I'm starting to mix up this entry with the one for the next day :)
Europe Trip: Day 10, May 30th
Since it was Saturday, we slept in at Robert's place. After we were both up and ready we discussed where a good place would be to go. My original plan had been to go to Neuswanstein castle, which is the fairy tale one that Disney used as its signature. But when we looked at how long it was going to take us, almost 3 hours by train. And when we looked at how much it would cost me, something like 40 euros to get there, plus you have to be in a tour group in order to get access -- more money.
So instead of the fairy tale castle, we decided to go to a monastery. It was much closer, only an hour or an hour and a half away by S-bahn. Also, I will admit that Robert said it was famous for brewing beer and he thought I had to go.
Once we got to the town we started asking locals how to find the trail up to the monastery. The first group of locals pointed us in the right direction, and the next person ended up being someone who worked there, a Turkish guy. He was kind enough to drive us up the 4-5 km (about 3 miles) we would have to hike.
After getting some food and a half liter of dark beer, we sat down next to a Lithuanian guy and two British girls who he was showing the place. We ended up talking a lot and spent the entire afternoon with them.
We ended up splitting up once we got back into the town, because we got confused and exited on different sides of the track.
So, back to being by ourselves, Robert took me over to a place to eat and said I should try some traditional Bavarian food. I ended up getting something akin to macaroni and cheese with onions on top. After eating and talking for a couple hours we headed back to his place.
Over all quite a simple day, meeting some nice people -- once again it showed me that it can be quite comforting just to meet some fellow native speakers. Nothing against my hosts, who spoke very good English and have shown me such kindness, but nonetheless it is nice. Maybe I am getting pathetic and showing homesickness, who knows :)
So instead of the fairy tale castle, we decided to go to a monastery. It was much closer, only an hour or an hour and a half away by S-bahn. Also, I will admit that Robert said it was famous for brewing beer and he thought I had to go.
Once we got to the town we started asking locals how to find the trail up to the monastery. The first group of locals pointed us in the right direction, and the next person ended up being someone who worked there, a Turkish guy. He was kind enough to drive us up the 4-5 km (about 3 miles) we would have to hike.
After getting some food and a half liter of dark beer, we sat down next to a Lithuanian guy and two British girls who he was showing the place. We ended up talking a lot and spent the entire afternoon with them.
We ended up splitting up once we got back into the town, because we got confused and exited on different sides of the track.
So, back to being by ourselves, Robert took me over to a place to eat and said I should try some traditional Bavarian food. I ended up getting something akin to macaroni and cheese with onions on top. After eating and talking for a couple hours we headed back to his place.
Over all quite a simple day, meeting some nice people -- once again it showed me that it can be quite comforting just to meet some fellow native speakers. Nothing against my hosts, who spoke very good English and have shown me such kindness, but nonetheless it is nice. Maybe I am getting pathetic and showing homesickness, who knows :)
Europe Trip: Day 9, May 29th
I somewhat apprehensively asked my host, Robert, about going to Dachau concentration camp for the day. He surprised me by saying that it was a great idea and something that would probably be very interesting for an American to see. When I asked what Germans thought about it, he said that in general there is an attitude that it wasn't something they did, it wasn't something their parents did, and at least in his case it wasn't even something his grandparents did. So why should he feel guilty? Yes, it was a horrible thing, but it wasn't a horrible thing that he feels responsible for. I think it might be similar to an Americans view on slavery or what happened to the Native Americans.
In order to reach Dachau you have to take the S-bahn, and since it goes outside of the city limits I had to buy a day pass for additional 'circles'. It took about an hour to get there. After getting off at the Dachau S-bahn station, which is in the nearby town, I went over to a big map that they have showing the different tourist places to go to. As I was reading it, I heard some English behind me and a guide started talking about how they were going to take the bus soon to reach the concentration camp. I listened to him, and decided to try and infiltrate the group, after all having someone knowledgeable is much better than not.
The best part of this trip was that I didn't have to pay for anything. Once I had paid for my day ticket everything else was free from the tour (okay, it probably shouldn't have been) as well as the entrance to the concentration camp.
I spent all afternoon at Dachau, first with the tour that lasted from around 1:30pm-4pm, and then another hour or so looking in the museum and at some of the monuments.
The stories definitely hit your emotions, when you hear the horrible atrocities committed by an "advanced" civilization similar in many ways to our own. How could people do such a thing? Are people naturally so cruel and evil? It is easy to lose your faith in humanity when you actually see all the pictures, and the places where these acts were done. How can you think of people as being good when you are standing next to the gas chambers and furnaces that were developed at Dachau and later implemented in the extermination camps to kill millions of people, mostly Jews? But you do feel some hope, feel it as a shiver in your spine, when you read of the acts of solidarity and bravery and kindness by people in the camps. Even when they are being slowly tortured and starved to death, there are still rays of hope.
So I left Dachau with mixed feelings. You can't call it a 'fun' place to visit, but it is an important thing to see and to know. This is not something that should be forgotten. Similar things are being done even today, especially in Africa.
After that I just hung out with Robert, we went and got something to eat, went around the city a bit. Just more of getting a feel for Munich and taking it relatively easy.
In order to reach Dachau you have to take the S-bahn, and since it goes outside of the city limits I had to buy a day pass for additional 'circles'. It took about an hour to get there. After getting off at the Dachau S-bahn station, which is in the nearby town, I went over to a big map that they have showing the different tourist places to go to. As I was reading it, I heard some English behind me and a guide started talking about how they were going to take the bus soon to reach the concentration camp. I listened to him, and decided to try and infiltrate the group, after all having someone knowledgeable is much better than not.
The best part of this trip was that I didn't have to pay for anything. Once I had paid for my day ticket everything else was free from the tour (okay, it probably shouldn't have been) as well as the entrance to the concentration camp.
I spent all afternoon at Dachau, first with the tour that lasted from around 1:30pm-4pm, and then another hour or so looking in the museum and at some of the monuments.
The stories definitely hit your emotions, when you hear the horrible atrocities committed by an "advanced" civilization similar in many ways to our own. How could people do such a thing? Are people naturally so cruel and evil? It is easy to lose your faith in humanity when you actually see all the pictures, and the places where these acts were done. How can you think of people as being good when you are standing next to the gas chambers and furnaces that were developed at Dachau and later implemented in the extermination camps to kill millions of people, mostly Jews? But you do feel some hope, feel it as a shiver in your spine, when you read of the acts of solidarity and bravery and kindness by people in the camps. Even when they are being slowly tortured and starved to death, there are still rays of hope.
So I left Dachau with mixed feelings. You can't call it a 'fun' place to visit, but it is an important thing to see and to know. This is not something that should be forgotten. Similar things are being done even today, especially in Africa.
After that I just hung out with Robert, we went and got something to eat, went around the city a bit. Just more of getting a feel for Munich and taking it relatively easy.
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