Scotland

Friday March 27, 2009
Well, I suppose I have to catch you up huh? So I think I last left off before I went on the walking tour in Edinburgh. Well, I certainly got to see all of the old town. The free walking tour is amazing and they have them in all the major cities in Europe. I highly recommend them. I had a wonderful American tour guide who has been going to U of Edinburgh for nearly three years now; he was really funny and made the tour very enjoyable. We saw the Mercat Cross where they used to nail thieves ears up to the building for 24 hours. This is located on the Royal Mile which was the main street in old time Edinburgh. It is mentioned many times in my book series by Diana Gabaldon. We checked out the Canongate area of the Royal Mile before heading to the writer’s museum. We didn’t go in but we learned a little about Robert Burns. Oh but we saw where the Canongate tollbooth used to be. It is now a heart on the ground where locals spit. Mmmmm but its because they hated taxes so much and of course everyone still does! We walked up towards the castle which was cool. Apparently Scotland’s crown jewels are inside and they are the second oldest in Europe! Then we headed down into the Grassmarket area where the hangings used to happen. Here’s a story for you about the grass market area:
Possibly two of Scotland's most gruesome imports were the serial killers William Burke and William Hare. Burke and Hare came from Ireland and moved to Scotland to work as labourers on the Union Canal. Ever aware of a market to meet, Burke and Hare set themselves up as procurers of human bodies to satisfy the demand of Edinburgh's medical schools. These two were quite the typical Irish young men: drinking and reveling in the wonderful whiskey that the British Isles had to offer. On the other hand, they weren’t fans of working to make the money to pay for their escapades. So one day Burke’s girlfriend (the owner of a hotel in the Grassmarket area) told the boys that one of her tenants had died without paying her the months rent. Wondering what to do the boys remembered that the University medical school paid for fresh bodies. So they took him over there and they paid 7 pounds for the man. Months rent was only 4 pounds so there they had money left over! There began their profession of body snatching. The would either kill people or dig up freshly buried bodies to sell to the university for drinking money!
So that’s always fun!! Haha so we had some lunch (burger and a pint) before heading up to Greyfriars Church and the kirkyard. This is where Bobby is buried next to his masters. Bobby is the most photographed statue in Scotland. The story is that his master was the head priest at the church and the little dog followed him everywhere. When the man died Bobby sat on his grave for 15 years waiting for his master to come back. That’s dedication people. After that we saw the café where JK Rowling wrote Harry Potter. Apparently it was cheaper for her to have a coffee there and write all day than for her to pay to heat her apartment.
We walked down to the park that divides old and new town and used to be a lake! It was where all the sewage that was dumped into the streets would run in the rain. Mmmm that’s gotta smell good! Well, it didn’t so eventually the nobility had it drained and now it’s a beautiful park!! The Scottish sure know how to garden. There are beautiful parks and gardens everywhere. So then I headed to the train station to catch a train to Stirling to meet Emily.
I had a fairly low-key few days there. Its not hard to see all the tiny city in one day so I paced myself seeing a little everyday and just wandering around. It sure is beautiful. The university and town are separated by a little river and the university dorms are built at the base of the crags and cliffs that can be seen from anywhere in town. Emily picked me up and we went grocery shopping for the week. Mmmm salad is a wonderful thing. We had some drinks and headed to the campus bar then Dusk, a club downtown. We were getting a little tired and bored and decided to head home but there were no buses so rather than pay a lot for a cab we opted to walk home. Freezing cold wind but no rain- its all good. So an hour and a half later we arrived at Emilys dorm and got into the warm bed. On Tuesday we went to Glasgow to get Emily a dress for her brothers upcoming wedding- no success. Emily got lots of clothes though. I bought a Scotland Starbucks mug. It was pouring rain otherwise I would’ve done the walking tour here as well. So we headed back for dinner starving as we were. The next day I explored downtown while Emily sat in (apparently bad) classes all day. We had a chill night of watching movies. The next day I headed for the castle but entrance was 8 pounds and I deemed it unworthy so I wandered through the graveyard- no visit to a Scottish city is complete without a graveyard or two. Then I wandered around some more appreciating the sunny day and gardens. I sat down with a coffee at a place called Costa. Believe it or not- as good as Starbucks!! I met up with Emily and headed back to residence. We had naps before heading to Celine’s (Emily’s friends) place to have some drinks before going downtown. I met more American’s than ever before on this trip. They are a friendly bunch with funny accents (Lauren remember when you first came to Canada and had an accent?). I met a guy from Illinois and talked about American politics for an hour. We went to the local Aussie bar (Outback- original) before heading to Dusk again. We had a fun night of dancing and drinking and this time cabbed back to the university.
In the morning I hopped on a bus then a train then a bus then a plane before arriving this evening in Dublin, Ireland.

Paris to Scotland

Monday March 23, 2009
So far I am a big fan of Scotland. I haven’t seen anything other than the airport and what I saw from the bus ride in but I like what I see!
I had a wonderful week in Paris with my mom. We saw everything we wanted to (except the Orangerie- but only mom wanted to see that anyways haha) and we did it without tiring ourselves out! It was a well balanced week with food, relaxing and seeing the sights. I loved the Louvre. I never know what I’m going to find when I go into these museums and I am always thoroughly delighted when I see statues that I know. I saw the Nike of Samothrace which of course I knew I would see but she is so beautiful all the same- a perfect example of High Hellenistic sculpture. As for the Mona Lisa, soooo not exciting. I prefer the giant painting across from her of the wedding at which Christ turns water into wine. Also, the spaces in the Louvre are amazing… The visit was wonderful and tiring so we flopped into the comfy chairs at the Starbucks located inside (yes!). I was only disappointed about one thing: the pre-classical Greece wing was closed!!! Very upsetting, they have so many of the things I studied from the bronze and archaic ages. Bummer. After the Louvre we hopped on a river cruise! It was gorgeous and we learned some things!
After that we went to a nearby restaurant that was recommended by Rick Steves. It was amazing. We met three Americans from Texas who were on spring break vacation who had also read about it in Rick Steves! The cook was awesome! It’s a one-man-show, he cooks and serves. He has a new menu everyday. I had a salad with kind of a Caesar dressing and on top was toast with melted and browned goat cheese. AMAZING! Then I had the lobster bisque soup, I don’t know what it is supposed to taste like but I thought it was mightily delicious! Mom had scallops St Jacques with rice and salad, also very tasty. We had some rose wine with it too.
The next day we went to the Pere Lachaise cemetery and our loyal Rick Steves led us on a tour through the most famous graves: Edith Piaf, Gertrude Stein, Oscar Wilde, Jim Morrison, Moliere etc. Mom was feeling weird about the whole thing though so we didn’t finish the tour. The tombs and graves were amazing really works of art. Lots of them had beautifully crafted stained glass windows too.
So yesterday mom had to leave the hotel at the ungodly hour of 4 am. So we took all the stuff down to wait for the shuttle bus that was coming to pick her up to take her to the airport. I tried to go back to sleep but I couldn’t for some reason so I played card games on my iPhone until 6am. Then I managed to fall asleep until 8am. I read my book and had cereal for breakfast before checking out at 11. I walked down to Starbucks and read my book there for a while before trying to figure out the train situation to the airport. Very confusing. I figured it out and got to the airport at 2. My flight didn’t leave until 5:30 so I had a lot of waiting time. Now I did have the right converter for French plugs and yet, NO OUTLETS!! How does this always happen? Luckily I have a great book. So I read my book while I waited.
The flight was good, I had a cup of tea that was lovely- I thought it was appropriate coming to the UK and all. Oh and all the flight attendants had accents! It was great! Looking out the windows, Scotland is just how I pictured: very green with rolling hills. It is very different from France and Italy and to tell you the truth I need a change. We disembarked onto the tarmac and the Scottish wind was blowin’! I loved it, couldn’t help but smile. And it was my favorite time of day: twilight. You know how it blankets the world in that blue light? Well it was very beautiful driving on the bus past little farmhouse type homes. For a second I thought our driver was drunk- driving on the wrong side of the road!! Then I realized that’s how it works here, very strange. I got off the bus at Haymarket Station and one of my first views was of a Starbucks- how wonderful. The Scottish appear to like their Starbucks as much as me. I passed two on the five minute walk to my hostel. In Paris you had to really hunt for them! My hostel is really cool! Its an old converted church with stained glass windows and everything. Basically they have put up 12 ft walls in the nave to form rooms so all the sounds carries but I’m a heavy sleeper when I need to be so its all good. They have a sweet common room with kitchen and pool tables and stuff. I had some bread and cheese that I brought from France before retiring to my bed to organize my photos (I will post some as soon as I can get my hands on the Internet) and see what my plans were for today! I will start at Starbucks and there is a free walking tour that leaves from there which I’m excited about! I love free things! So the walking tour leaves at 11 and is three hours. After that I might go to Edinburgh castle but I don’t like to pay for things so perhaps not. I am taking the 4:07 train to Stirling to meet my friend Emily who goes to school there. I am of course, inevitably up too early. I went to sleep at 10 so maybe that’s why I woke up at 6:20.
Oh and people are very helpful here for the most part. I like that. It helps that they speak English, it is so nice to be able to talk easily to people and understand conversations on the street etc. I sometimes enjoy eavesdropping. So this is my only day in Edinburgh so I must make the best of it!
EMBLEM OF THE DAY (for yesterday)
Flying into Scotland- stunningly beautiful and they speak my language except with excellent accents.

Centre de Pompidou

Wed March 18, 2009
We had a lowkey morning today. We walked to the grocery store to get some bread, cheese and yogurt. Then on the way back we stopped for a café au lait with pain au chocolat and sat in the sunshine at Café Saint Jean.
Today we went to the Pompidou Centre! Mom was really excited about all the modern art: Jackson Pollock, Picasso, Delauney, Duchamp and Matisse. Cool stuff. I’m not a huge modern art fan though; I could put a toilet on display and call it art too! Just give it a title that doesn’t make any sense and people will think its brilliant. Of course not all modern art is like that but still. It was cool though. I liked the Picasso and Delauney.
Then we went outside and sat down in the square to eat some lunch. There was a girl playing a didgeridoo and was very skilled. So we ate some camembert and baguette while we listened to her. We headed up Rue de Rivoli towards the Bastille which of course is no longer there. We stopped for a iced coffee in the hot sun before figuring out where the English bookstore was (I need the second book in my series). They didn’t have it so we moved onto the Bastille. There is really nothing to see except a big column (I’ve seen plenty of columns and this was nothing special) and the Opera de Bastille. So we headed to the Carnivalet Museum which is basically an old mansions that was built as a Parisian residence for the royalty at the time of the revolution but it was never used. It was decorated very much the same way as Versailles. Tons of oil paintings. There were nice inner courtyards too with gardens. But we were pretty tired from the museum so we headed back to the hotel. We had a rest before heading out for a delicious and warm traditional French Onion soup. It was awesome. Then we came back and watched Australia. It’s a great movie you should see it. So that’s that!

EMBLEM OF THE DAY:
Sitting in the very warm sunshine on the patio of a nice café on Rue de Rivoli and drinking my café glace.

Versailles on St Patricks Day

Tuesday March 17, 2009
Well today we went to the Chateau at Versailles. Wowza, can you say over the top? So this is where it all went down. Basically Louis XIII used it as a hunting lodge and his court was held in Paris but then his son Louis XIV decided that he needed an escape from Paris so he established his court there in lavish splendor of course. Its pretty crazy how big it is. There is no way they used all those rooms. They were all wonderfully decorated though! They all had gorgeous fabrics on the walls which often matched the furniture. The furniture is definitely the style that you find in antique shops on Main St. except the upholstery was much richer. The beds are pretty epic with huge canopies and stuff- sweet. Their was also this huge globe (like 2 meter diameter) and it was so cool cause there was an astrological cover over the globe of the earth. Apparently it is still accurate!
We headed out onto the grounds after a couple hours in the palace. The grounds are amazing; they go on for miles, really as far as the eye can see. The maps are also very confusing so we definitely got lost a couple times. So we headed to the Petit Trianon which is where the queen, Marie Antoinette built herself a house so she could escape from all the trials of the royal court. Then we walked down the path to the Grand Trianon where the king built a house for himself to escape the stresses of royal court life. He built this one because the Petit Trianon was just too small for him. Nearby here Marie Antoinette also built a ‘Summer House’ which she used to hang out with close friends in the evenings where they would chat and play parlor games. Now why she couldn’t do that in the palace or her Petit Trianon I don’t know but hey, she’s a crazy queen who understands her? Then we walked all the way back to the Queen’s Hamlet at the end of the park. We didn’t know where the entrance was so we ended up not going in but we still saw it. Mom says she remembers this from when she came to France by herself when she was 15. This is where the queen basically built her own little country village for play. She wanted to experience country life but didn’t want to put herself out there with the real poor and starving that were all around her of course. So there was a chicken coop, dairy, etc. which all produced food that was served at the Queen’s table. She would apparently wear a plain cotton dress and straw hat and while she didn’t do any work of course she did supervise. So while she spent time in her play village the revolution was rising outside.
We were exhausted by this point (these are not close walks) so we sat down by the grand canal and appreciated the beautiful day and the sparkle on the water. You can also rent boats here and row all down the canal. I got some ice cream and we walked back to the chateau then the train station to head home. We got home and relaxed before heading out for St Patty’s Day!!!!
This was the most disgraceful St. Patricks Day ever. We went to an Irish bar that we had previously scouted out and there was not a single person inside other than the bartender. Ummmm what? So we decided it was better to be at a happening place that isn’t Irsh than a dead place that is. So we sat down at a bar with a nice view of Sacre Coeur. They did not have any Irish whiskey (crazy!) only Scotch which I deemed inappropriate. So we both had apple cider, yes I know its not very spirited but they didn’t have green beer either. When I get back to Canada I have decided I will make up for things by having a “Birthday/ St Patrick’s/ Coming Home “ party. The server was funny though and there was a huge group of real Irish people sitting next to us. We chatted with them- I love the spirit. Turns out the 10 or so of them are from all over Ireland (Killarney, Cork, Dublin) and met up in Paris for their friends 50th birthday. Yep it was on St Patricks Day and yep his name was Patrick! I told them I was heading to Ireland in a couple weeks and they seemed very pleased about that! So we paid the bar tab (9€) which was definitely not appropriate for St Patricks day but we didn’t want to have hangovers so we definitely did not go all out. Don’t worry guys I will make up for it about a million times in Ireland. So we walked back home and went to bed!
PS I saw a guy at Versailles wearing a Pemberton Fest T-shirt it was awesome!!

EMBLEM OF THE DAY:
Chatting with real Irish on St Patricks Day. Also, seeing Marie Antoinette’s play village because it is just so ridiculous.

Notre Dame and the Historic Paris Walk

Mon March 16, 2009
Well we started our day at the wonderful cathedral of Notre Dame, wow quite the dominating presence! The photos don’t do it justice I’ll tell you that. In the left doorway there is a statue of St Denis holding his own severed head… sick. Over the central doorway is a scene of an angel and a demon weighing souls. The demon pushes on the scale to make it heavier sending the soul to hell, nice guy eh? While it didn’t seem too busy outside it was pretty tight packed inside. We walked all throughout loving the stained glass windows especially the rose windows. We admired the workmanship and realism in the windows before wandering back out into the square and around the left hand side of the building. We craned our necks to see the most photographic gargoyle in Paris. Very Hunchback of Notre Dame. Then we headed around back to gain a full appreciation of the flying buttresses which make the physics of the whole building possible. There was also a nice little park so we sat and mapped out the next stop. I love Rick Steves. For those of you who don’t watch his TV show and haven’t seen his books, he is the travel guru for Europe. He tells you where to go, what to do, how to prioritize, the inexpensive way to travel as well as providing walks such as the “Historic Paris Walk” which we are on today!
Stop number two was the famous ‘Shakespeare and Co.’ bookstore. The original store was founded in the 1920’s and this one looks the part. Tiny aisles are lined floor to ceiling with second-hand book. I love that smell. There were some great old versions of Shakespeare plays and the classics. They also give free accommodations to struggling writers above the store. The founder was Sylvia Beach who published James Joyce’s Ulysses cool huh?
We turned the corner to find St. Severin Church and didn’t go in but passed by it leading us into the Latin Quarter. Delicious smells and food all around- my kind of place but we didn’t stop. We arrived at the busy intersection of Boulevard St Michel and Blvd St Germain. St Michel is the centre of the bohemian, liberal core of Paris. This is where Parisians have fought against the royalists, Nazis and de Gaulle government. I think its kinda comparable to the steps of the Vancouver Art Gallery.
We walked up the boulevard to the Luxembourg Gardens where we basked in the sun with the real Parisians. We enjoyed the break after our long walk but decided to head onto the Pantheon. Rome’s is better. At least I think so. I think Paris’ is too fancy and Rome’s is older which usually trumps everything. It is still a beautiful building though. We didn’t go inside but walked all the way around before heading back down the boulevard. I spotted a Starbucks and we went in to have some drinks while writing about our day in our journals.
We hopped on the metro and headed back to the hotel where we had a nap and relaxed while trying to figure out where to eat- thanks again Rick Steves. We settled on a place within walking distance in Montmartre. It had a beautiful view into the park around Sacre Coeur. We sat on the windowed terrace in this brightly decorated restaurant. We both order the same thing: quiche with bacon, ham, two cheeses that I cant remember and a side salad. I was pretty stoked for the salad (I haven’t had one since I left Canada!). It was a delicious meal and after words we climbed the steps of Sacre Coeur to see the view over Paris at night: gorgeous of course. We headed back to our hotel and watched The Boondock Saints in light of St Patricks Day before falling asleep.

EMBLEM OF THE DAY
Notre Dame's stunning architecture which is unlike any I have ever seen.

First Day in Paris

Sunday March 15, 2009
Well, I arrived in Paris’ Charles de Gaulle airport on Saturday evening at 8. After a quick and lonesome meal at McDonalds (which by the way has a menu that sounds uber exotic in French) I realized that although everyone told me the plugs were the same in France and Italy they are not. So I couldn’t use my computer and my iPhone was dying. With this knowledge and the knowledge that I was spending the next 13 hours in the airport with nothing to do I was overwhelmed so I decided to go exploring. Everything was closed of course so I had nothing to do but sit and read my book. I curled up on the floor in a corner near the central water fountain. Let me tell you though, I could not have been more prepared for sleeping in an airport; unfortunately there is only so much you can do to make a concrete floor comfortable short of having a pillow-top mattress. Oh well. I curled up with my fleece blanket and sleeping bag. On and off throughout the night I woke up and read my book. The cleaners of the airport had the audacity to use their vacuums when I was sleeping! So that woke me up again. At 5:30 am I decided I was sick of trying to sleep and so I packed up my belongings onto my cart like a hobo. I found that McDonalds and the other cafes were opening up so I had a pain au chocolat and read my book. I headed to arrivals around 7:15 to meet my mom and was very confused to see that her flight wasn’t on the board. After a mini panic attack thinking she was coming into another airport I found out that I was only in one of the three terminals- my bad. So I hopped on the little metro that took me to Terminal 2- the farthest away. Oh and I should probably mention that with me I was carrying 40 kilos of luggage. My hiking backpack has NEVER been so full, in fact its about a foot and a half above my head when I put it on. It was awful. As soon as I got into the next terminal I unloaded back onto a cart. Then I had to find terminal 2A which again was the farthest away. Her flight was delayed an hour but eventually she arrived. I was so happy to see a familiar face! So we made our way to the train station- luggage back on my back (plus a rollie suitcase and a little backpack). I now know why the French women are so thin- apparently they haven’t heard of elevators or escalators. Honestly I thought I would fall over by the time we got to the hotel.
They told us to leave our bags and come back at three so we had a few hours to wander around our neighborhood- Montmartre. We walked to Sacre Couer from the main street near our hotel- Rue des Abbesses. It was beautiful and of course- more stairs. We looked out over all of Paris- epic. Note to Kim and Emily- nobody tried to put bracelets on me!! Weird eh? Anywho it was great. Oh and everywhere in Paris there are buskers and live music, some of which is quite good. Today there was a Capoeira troop (Brazilian dance/ martial arts), I always love watching them… partially because they are super fit Brazilian men with no shirts but also because it really is an impressive art. The whole church is a strange mixture of Gothic, Baroque and Byzantine but I think they are melded together harmoniously enough. The exterior is certainly like nothing I have ever seen before.
We left there to wander and came across an square full of artists painting and selling their wares- very cool and very Montmartre. There was also an Irish bar that I think we will go to for St Patty’s on Tuesday. We headed back down the hill and ended up on the seedy Blvd de Clichy- full of strip clubs and XXX shops. We went back up to Rue des Abbesses for a nice warm café au lait. We sat until 2:30 when we decided it was okay to go back to the hotel. Of course the nice room we requested with a balcony was on the top floor. Remember how much stuff I had? Yeah add five flights of stairs… not cool. We had a much needed nap before heading out for some classic French food- Kebabs!! Haha mom has never had them and was thoroughly impressed. We were full but I was determined above all else to find a starbucks (I haven’t had one in 2 months if you can believe it!!) So we follow the map to one of the busy train stations and also in the direction of the Champs Elysees. Sure enough, like a beacon of light from the heavens, there was Starbucks outside the train station. One epic lineup and five euros later I had an Iced Caramel Macchiato- due to my lack of French I couldn’t order with all my usual modifications but it still tasted amazing. I couldn’t have been happier walking down Rue de Madeleine with a Starbucks and one of my favorite people in the world. We came across a church that was built with the same proportions and style as the Parthenon on the Athenian acropolis… random? I think so. Nonetheless it was wonderful; one can never see too many ancient style buildings. We headed on and came to the Jardin du Tuileries which leads up to the Louvre but we are saving that for another day. We were in Place du Concorde. This is where we got our first glimpse of the Eiffel Tower. Maybe its because we weren’t close enough or didn’t wait for the light show but I didn’t think it was that amazing. We walked halfway down the Champs Elysees before we decided we were tired from the long walk and got on the metro back to our hotel. We pretty much read our books and fell asleep.

EMBLEM OF THE DAY
Just being in Paris with one of my favorite people in the world whom I haven’t seen in two months.

Cinque Terre and the Rest of the Trip

March 3- 5, 2009
CINQUE TERRE, FLORENCE, SIENA
We left the hostel at 9am today to catch a 9:30 train to Pisa. From Pisa we got a train to La Spezia, then from there we got a train to the first of the 5 towns: Riomaggiore. Of course, it was pouring the whole way so we didn’t get to see very much of the countryside. It was rather unfortunate because all the trails we closed. The path from Riomaggiore to Manarola was open because it’s paved. So we paid our €8.50 to walk the trails and take the trains. We walked the Via dell’ Amore which is the path between the first and second towns. There were cacti and flowers lining the walk and the path is built on the side of the cliff overlooking the water. Had it been sunny it would’ve been beautiful. It was about 20 minutes to the train station in Manarola. While we were waiting for the train the clouds opened up and the sun came out with some blue sky!!! For the rest of our time in Cinque Terre it was sunny!!! How lucky are we? So we were so happy. We decided to go to the last town and work our way backwards. We arrived in Monterossa and I decided I had to buy flip-flops to honour the sunny weather. So we headed straight for the beach.
I realized how much I miss the ocean. It sure calms me, I’m a pisces so maybe that’s why? I don’t know but whatever it is I felt rather blissful sitting on this beach in a small Italian seaside town. Heather gets anxious so we wandered around the town and found tons of B&Bs and lemon and orange trees!! I can tell that these towns are very busy in the summer. They probably make enough money in the summer to last them the year.
We walked along the beach trying to find some gelato. There was a small shop with a kind man and a patio. We sat staring at the waves and feeling that Italian breeze that is never too cold…
We then decided we better head to the next town: Vernazza. It was gorgeous too but much smaller with only one big street. Like a magnet we went to the ocean. There were some old men fishing on the breakwater and we sat behind them on a little outcropping of rock. All of a sudden a HUGE wave crashed over the six foot breakwater! All the men went scrambling out of the way faster than I would’ve thought possible; then they started laughing and joking about it. I made sure to take a mental picture of the situation.
Me soon moved onto Corniglia. This town is built on the top of a cliff so its quite the walk up. We didn’t realize that from the train station and tried to walk up; we gave up for a lack of time and headed back to the train station. While there we realized there was a free bus that could take us. We were only in the town long enough to see the church, the view and take some photos before we had to head back down to catch the train. On the bus we met a nice American couple who had met on a university exchange in Rome four years ago. They are still together and came back to relive that time. They said if we wanted to skip Manarola it wasn’t a huge loss.
So we got into Riomaggiore with just enough time to catch the sunset. Exquisite. We were starving by this time though so we went to search for food. There wasn’t anything that looked cheap and appealing so we decided to splurge on a nice Italian sit-down dinner. We went into an otherwise empty restaurant and decided to share stuffed mussels with cheese and green vegetables and pesto spaghetti. We also each had a glass of wine right from the small town of Riomaggiore. The food was AMAZING!! Although our server stood 8 feet from the table and watched us the whole time; I suppose this is being attentive to our needs but it was weird. So after our lovely dinner we decided to get some wine, fruit and chocolate to enjoy on the train. So we headed back to the train station and bought our tickets back to Florence. For some reason they were half the price they were on the way TO Cinque Terre so that was good! So we cracked the wine while we were waiting.
We got on the train to La Spezia (about 8 minutes away) where we had to transfer onto a train to Pisa. So we got off in La Spezia and looked for the right platform to Pisa- the sign says platform 1. So we go to the platform and hop on the train. Once the train starts to move we realize it is going in the direction we just came from… hmmmm. So Heather asked some teenage boy where the train was going. Sure enough he tells us its going to Riomaggiore, this is when we realize why people don’t usually drink while trying to catch connecting trains. The boy and his friend then begin laughing loudly at us. But hey, I’ve had a couple glasses of wine so I laughed with them. Heather was freaking out because now we were going to miss our train to Pisa and consequently to Florence. I wasn’t the least bit worried and told her it was an adventure haha, again might have been the wine talking. When we get to Riomaggiore we had to go back to the ticket booth where the guy whom we bought our tickets from thought we were big idiots. Nonetheless, we decide we should get some more chocolate. Finally we get on all the right trains and get back to our hostel at 11.
I wasn’t paying attention to the time at all though. Heather and I thought it would be fun to go out on the town. So I was getting myself all ready after a day of traveling whilst talking to our roommate: a 50 yr old Greek man from Athens. He separated from his wife and has been living in the hostel since November. He has lots of good stories to tell because he has been all over the world: he owns his own shipping business.
We are eventually all ready and head out. Like I said, I wasn’t paying attention to the time and when we discovered all the bars were closed we were very confused so Heather checks the time. Turns out it 2 am. Huh. So we ended up just going back and going to bed. Haha rather anticlimactic.

EMBLEM OF THE DAY
Being on the beach in these beautiful and unique Italian towns
and drinking wine at sunset.

The next day I was feeling very green around the gills. We had planned to visit San Gimigniano but I could barely get out of bed. So Heather went without me. I slept the whole day and woke up only shortly before she returned at 3pm. Apparently its good I didn’t go. It was pouring rain and miserable and none of the shops were open because of the siesta. We relaxed and had a somewhat early night. And there is no emblem to this day…
We woke up and checked out before heading to the train station to head to check out Siena. Unfortunately another rainy day was upon us and when we arrived to Siena my feet were soaked which never fails to make me grumpy. We also realized Siena was a lot bigger than we thought and was therefore not that easy to walk around and see everything. So we just checked out the main historical Piazza before getting a bus then a train back to Roma. Oh and of course when we got into Rome it was all gorgeous sunshine.

EMBLEM OF THE DAY
Coming back to Rome and it feeling like home

Uffizi Gallery- Florence

March 1, 2009
FLORENCE
Today I went to the Uffizi Gallery. It houses many masterpieces. Florence truly is the ‘birthplace of the Renaissance’. It was wonderful to see all these paintings. But man, that lineup is sure to discourage the weak. I wasn’t even going to line-up but Heather convinced me that I had to, then she left. Haha I hate waiting. I don’t think I have ever waited in line for two hours. Luckily I had brought snacks. There was nowhere to sit either. It was cloudy and rainy too!! But it was all worth it in the end.
I saw the masterpieces of Botticelli and a few of Leonardo’s as well. There were a bunch of statues and busts lining the hallways but I don’t know who did them. The Gallery has quite the wide array of pieces. Many different styles and mediums. I saw the ‘Adoration of the Magi’ by Leonardo da Vinci but I think my favorites were the two most famous Botticelli’s: ‘Spring’ and ‘Birth of Venus. I also stumbled across Caravaggio’s ‘Bacchus’ and ‘Medusa’ in the basement. I remember seeing that one in elementary school when I studied the Renaissance. I think Caravaggio is very talented but all his paintings are so dark. Not a fan of the darkness. I also saw the classic ‘Piero della Francesca’ which is the guy in the red with the wife with Princess Leia hair? The Tuscan countryside in the background? It is a very famous painting of the Renaissance.
I left the museum after about two hours and after wandering through the giftshop FULL of wonderful books!! It was definitely a test of my restraint to not buy everything. I just picked up a couple postcards before heading out into the rain. I walked back to the hostel through the lovely Florentine market full of leather, knickknacks, Murano glass, Florentine paper products etc. I couldn’t resist a pretty magenta leather wallet for €15.
For dinner Heather and I got some pasta with pesto (another cheap dinner- €1 each). We ended up going to bed very early because we are going to hike Cinque Terre in the morning!

EMBLEM OF THE DAY
Seeing the gorgeous Botticelli paintings that I have seen countless time in books,
in person.

Rome to Florence

February 27, 2009
ROME
Well Heather came today from Sweden. We are heading off on our trip to Florence tomorrow!! I am very excited!! Today we went to the Pantheon and to Piazza Navona. Heather doesn’t really know what to see so we just walked. Heather does seem VERY excited to be here. She kept saying “can you believe we are in Italy?!?!” She didn’t even know what the Pantheon was!! It seems so strange to me but I suppose some people don’t travel the same way as me. I think she likes to meet people when she travels whereas I think it’s more important to see the monuments and museums. I don’t think this will be a problem though. Tonight we went to the Colisseum to see it all lit up at nighttime. Of course, we couldn’t just sit there and look. We thought the experience would be much enhanced by a couple bottles of wine. Haha so we bought some cheap wine at the supermarket; you must understand though that cheap wine in Italy (€1) is still rather decent wine. We also bought little plastic containers (with lids- brilliant) so as to not look like heathens drinking out of the bottle. So we planted ourselves and just reveled in our situation. It was a good day. Oh and I’m doing this new thing where I select one thing everyday to be the Emblem of the Day (thanks granddad) so that I can remember the day in the future.

Emblem of the Day
The feeling I got sitting next to this 1900 year old structure;
like I was part of something bigger.

February 28, 2009
ROME TO FLORENCE
Today Heather and I got on a train at 10:30 to Firenze Centrale. The Italian countryside was gorgeous in the sunshine. Seeing the rows and rows of olive trees was beautiful. They have this silver shimmer to them that really adds to their majesty. It was cool to see the old ruins of stone houses from god-only-knows how long ago. We arrived and hoped we were going in the right direction to find our hostel. It seems that in Italy they don’t want to have 3 digit addresses so instead they change the street name after 99 addresses. This is rather irritating when trying to find a location; we walked down a straight street and it had three different names in three different sections.
We eventually got to our hostel; I was rather relieved after carrying my 90 litre backpack so far- I know I need to learn to pack light. It is a huge hostel. We are staying here on the recommendation of a couple friends and it’s great! It has a pool, gym area, sauna, free wifi (yay iphone!), bar and restaurant. So the first thing I did was jump in the pool for a quick dip before we headed out to see Florence. It is a small city so its easy to walk around everywhere. We headed to the Duomo (no big deal) and had calzone on the steps. We wandered from there to the Piazza di Santa Croce and basked on the church steps in the sun for a bit before setting out to find a wine store. We got our wine and then headed to the Arno river to find the Ponte Vecchio (old Bridge). This was the only bridge that was not wiped out by the strategic bombing of WWII. We sought out our spot to watch the sunset (as suggested by a family friend, Nicoletta;) Heather, coming from the snowy Sweden was loving the sunshine. So we were sitting for about 10 minutes before we were approached by a couple of Florentine men. They were full of love for Canadian girls apparently. We are pretty sure they just go out prowling in the tourist areas for girls haha. Anyways, we chatted with them while sitting on the river’s wall. Like I said before Heather likes to meet the people when she travels so we agreed to meet them later outside our hostel. We both wanted to be as cheap as possible on the trip so for dinner we had day-old buns with uncooked hotdogs and slabs of cheese haha. It actually wasn’t that bad!
After ‘dinner’ we debated whether to meet these guys that we realized were a little boring. We felt bad standing them up so we met them but said we didn’t have long. They took us to see some live jazz music in a university area. Unfortunately the band wasn’t playing yet and wouldn’t be for a bit so we left and went to an Irish bar which was DEAD. So we began to head home, the guys didn’t seem to happy about that but walked us back to our hostel anyways. We said our goodbyes- these guys were a little TOO Italian for my liking.
Heather and I went down to the hostel bar which was also pretty dead. BUT I met a guy who is from Chicago, goes to Dartmouth, is finishing up an exchange in Copenhagen and (the best part) IS A BRONCOS FAN!!! Who knew they had Broncos fans in Europe?!?! So if you know me at all I was THRILLED!! We immediately started talking about quarterbacks, running backs and safeties. He believes that Cutler will pull through like me. That was probably the best part of the night for me (second to the sunset on the Ponte Vecchio) haha. Shortly after meeting this delightful American Heather and I headed up to our room to bed.
EMBLEM OF THE DAY
Watching the sunset on the Ponte Vecchio while drinking Italian Prosecco… Heaven.