Friday, May 24 to Saturday, May 25 – 23 ½ hours. This is how long it took Curtis and I to get to Rome. The tickets were booked without seats from Toronto, Canada to Rome, Italy. Upon arriving in Toronto, we found out that the AirCanada flight was over-booked. They bumped us to another flight to London and put us in first class. Champagne, personal TV, reclining seats, after dinner drinks. Oh yeah, that was pretty rough. We were told to go directly to the AlItalia check-in counter and they would put us on a plane to Rome. AlItalia did not receive this booking until after we left Toronto and they too were over-booked. They put us on a British Airways flight that was leaving in about 2 hours. 23 ½ hours from the time we left TIA, we reached Rome, Italy. We met up with Mark and Lara Staecker and Mark and Effie Hayward who had seats on the flight from Toronto to Rome. From our hotel we found a Pizza joint and enjoyed pizza. Hotel Grifo, was only 2 or 3 blocks from the Colosseum, so we went to see that and the Forum. Then we walked down to the Victor Emmanuel II memorial.
Sunday, May 26 – We had breakfast at the hotel this morning and headed for the Vatican. Luckily the Vatican is free the last Sunday of every month. We stood in line for about 1 ½ hours. This place was bigger than any of us imagined, but with the amount of people there, we were hustled through a good portion of it like cows being herded. But, everything slowed down when we reached the Sistine Chapel and it became very quiet (they made sure to “shhhhh” you every 5 minutes.) No pictures were allowed to be taken of the ceiling, but Mark S. snuck some in. We then headed over to St. Peter’s Basilica and with it being Sunday a mass was in place. The choir began to sing and it was very angelic. The Cathedral was big with high ceilings and the sound wafted through every crevice. Effie wanted to go into the Cupola (Dome) and the line looked long, but this is one thing she desired, so, she and Mark went, while Mark, Lara, Curtis and I decided to move on. Outside the Vatican was rocking with children and music, we never did find out exactly what was going on, but it was very colorful and musical. We knew of a castle that was close by, but when we reached it, it didn’t look all that interesting, so we crossed the bridge and had lunch. Afterwards, we headed for the Colosseum, Palatine Hill and the Forum. We walked in the Pantheon before we reached the Colosseum. The Colosseum was interesting, but hard to grasp just how old it really was. As you walked along the outside walls, it felt just like any stadium today. We even made the joke of what team was playing today. You cannot go down to the ground level, but the floor in the center is no longer there and you can look and see most of the passageways and where the elevators were located. The marble of the seats was still somewhat visible. Palatine Hill was interesting if not only to find out that orange trees grow in Rome. There were also Palm trees and Pine trees there too. There were some ruins along the hill and at one end you can see St. Peter’s Basilica. At another end you can look down over Circus Maximus where the chariot races took place, but we still had the Forum to see and we were getting tired. The Forum was mostly ruins and the temples that are still standing are not open to the public. We headed back toward the hotel around 5pm and found a little bar and sat down and had drinks. We were meeting Mark and Effie at 7pm for dinner. We all decided we wanted a nice dinner so we headed out. We came across Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps along the way and found a nice restaurant with reasonable prices on the higher side. It was a great meal.
Monday, May 27 – After breakfast we checked out and got the train to Florence. Found a hotel, threw our stuff in the rooms and headed out for lunch. We walked through Santa Maria del Fiore Duomo (Cathedral) made completely of White, Pink and Green Marble. The painting on the dome was impressive and you could also go up in the Cupola, but the line was long for that too. We decided to check back later. We found a Piazza (square) with a bell tower and copies of statues, such as David. There was also a pretty fountain, I think it was Tritan, Curtis didn’t. We walked on and found a bridge that had jewelry shops along both sides. We continued walking, but not really finding much to do, when we heard thunder. We found a Gelato store (Gelato = Ice Cream), and waited for the rain to pass. When the rain slowed down, we headed back to the Duomo and the line for the Cupola was much shorter so we paid our 6 Euros and proceeded to climb 463 stairs. The dome was painted with all different parts of life. Starting at the top with heaven, then earth, then hell. The rain had started again, and we went to have a beer, then walked through the rain to the hotel. Went to dinner to a restaurant close to the hotel. There was an Internet café just two doors down. We tried to book a hotel for Venice, sent some emails home and then turned in early.
Tuesday, May 28 – The plan for this morning, hop a train to Pisa, take quick pictures of the Leaning Tower, hop a train to Siena, and spend the rest of the day there. When we arrived in Pisa, we found out that the tower was not close to the train station. So we had to walk through most of the town to get there. Along our journey we then decided that if the line was not long to go up in the tower, we would get tickets. Otherwise – pictures and head back to the train. But, during our walk, we enjoyed the town, it was a small town, where all the locals seemed to know each other. And it was a college town too. When the tower came into view, it was more impressive than seeing it on television. Plus there was a huge church that neither Curtis nor myself were aware that it was even there. But apparently the tower is a bell tower for the church. We checked on tickets to go into the bell tower around 9:55 am and the next tour available was at 10 am. We bought the tickets and headed straight up. Approximately only 300 stairs, this time. The climb was interesting. On the higher part of the lean, the stairs were very difficult to climb, on the leaning side, the stairs seemed easier, but it threw you into the wall. The view from the top was spectacular. There were mountains off in the distance that reminded me of the Smokeys. We were only allowed about 25 minutes, so when we came back down, which by the way, was very much like going up, Mark, Effie, Mark and Lara wanted to go into the church and see the grave yard. Curtis and I waited outside and took some pictures of the tower. We then decided to have lunch in Pisa, and what else to you eat in Pisa??? Pizza of course!!! We caught the train to Siena, and it seems that we had just missed the rain. We walked up hill (seemed more like a mountain to me) to reach the city gates and this Florida girl was exhausted. The Piazza in Siena was really cool. The design (herringbone brick) was to catch water during the rainy season and a bell tower (with a clock and date) was the focal point. We bought tickets, but our tour of the tower wasn’t for another 1 ½ hours. Effie and Mark went in search of a black and white marble church. Mark, Lara, Curtis & I sat down to have a drink and people watch. I saw a dog that looked just like Tasha (my timber wolf that I had when Curtis and I got married.) Time to go, and again, another 300 stairs away from the top. The view of the city and Piazza was nice though. We could see the church made of black and white marble and Effie and Mark told us we had to see it. It was “zebra” stripped inside and out and there was a service going on there too. We had dinner in the Piazza and headed back for the train station. We were still staying in Florence.
Wednesday, May 29 – Mark and Effie got up early to head to the museum. Mark, Lara, Curtis and myself slept in. After breakfast, we then headed out to do some shopping, but nothing was open until 9:30 am. We all had to meet back at the hotel around 10 am to catch the train to Venice. We discussed our plans on the train about Innsbruck, Munich, Paris and Belgium. In the city of Venice there are no cars or scooters, only boats and walking. So even their bus system is a “waterbus” or “watertaxi”. We got tickets for the waterbus and headed towards the hotel. Along the way we saw construction workers on scaffolding in Speedo G-strings. Mark H. snapped a photo. Since we didn’t call to confirm the booking, the hotel was full. But, the receptionist made a call and booked us in another hotel just on the other side of the Piazza. They had 3 double rooms available for 100 Euros or 1 double and 1 quad. Mark and Effie took the double, Mark, Lara, Curtis and I took the quad for 170 Euros. We each had our own room with a shared bathroom in a sitting area. This worked out great! This was a nice hotel. We walked down to Piazza San Marco and there were pigeons everywhere. Mark and Effie went in their own direction. Mark, Lara, Curtis and I went to find a gondola ride. The prices seemed to be a bit of a scam off the Piazza, so we went in search of one in the canals. But instead we got lost in the maze of the city. Lara and Mark decided to go off in there own direction, so Curtis and I headed back for the little bar near our hotel to have a beer. When we all met up, Effie said that she heard the church at Piazza San Marco is beautiful at sunset so we headed back but missed it by about 30 minutes. Then we headed off to the famous Rialto bridge. This is a beautiful bridge that is lined with shops in the center of the bridge, but someone had defiled with graffiti. We found a place for dinner off the beaten path, (where Curtis had his bacon and egg pizza and Mark H. had Mussels on his). We then headed back to the hotel.
Thursday, May 30 – At breakfast this morning, Effie requested one more night in Venice, meaning we would skip Innsbruck. We all agreed. Effie and Mark got up early and headed off. Lara, Mark, Curtis and I went in search of a gondola ride. We found it odd that along the canals, we couldn’t find one, when yesterday they were lined along the little bridges. We headed to the Rialto bridge where we knew we saw a bunch yesterday. And we were right, except, they weren’t working. We waited for a while thinking that maybe we were just too early and then a man got on a bullhorn and said something in Italian. All the gondola drivers were buzzing about what the man just said. We walked away thinking it was a meeting, and joked that they might be on strike, but that we would check back later. We spent the rest of the day shopping, while keeping an eye out for the gondolas, and finally around 5 pm we headed back for Rialto bridge. All the gondolas were still parked and the drivers were still just hanging around. We saw two American girls talking to one of the drivers so we listened in. He explained to them that they were on strike because of money. We found that very funny. He said they should be running tomorrow starting around 9 am. We have to get the waterbus at 10:04 am so we’re going to be pushing it to get our ride. We met back up with Effie and Mark and they still wanted to see the sunset at Piazza San Marco. I went back to the hotel to take a nap, I was not feeling 100% and the sunset wasn’t something I thought I would miss much. Curtis took the camera so I could see pictures later. When they returned, it was a little after 7 pm and Lara read about two places to eat in her book. One of the places sounded really interesting. She said that it was run by 3 “gruff” sisters and we all agreed that it sounded like fun. What an experience. I stopped one of the sisters and pointed to the stuffed crab plate she was carrying so I could order it. She grabbed my arm and put it on the menu to show me it was in English, as well as Italian, French and German. The sister who took our order did everything by memory and the other sister was like a calculator. Keeping in mind that everything is done in courses, so the memory sister at the end had to remember all 6 of our courses. IE: Drinks, appetizers, main, sides, cheese and deserts. Impressive! We took a picture with the sisters and we all got kisses before we left. We strolled the city streets after dinner, had some drinks at the Internet Café, checked on upcoming reservations and went back to the hotel.
Friday, May 31 – After breakfast, went in search one more time for our gondola ride, but they didn’t seem to be anywhere even at 9 am. We took one last walk around the Piazza, grabbed some sandwiches for the train trip and got on the waterbus to the station. As we passed the Rialto bridge, it appeared that the strike was still on. We caught the train to Munich at 11 am. The mountains got bigger and bigger and now they looked more like the Rockies than the Smokeys and they were still snow capped. We arrived in Munich at 6:45 pm and found the hotel (nice and cheap). We then headed off for the Hofbrau Haus, a famous German beer hall. Along the way, we passed by the Glockenspiel (clock). The Hofbrau Haus was huge and loud, filled with people of all ages. We found a table in the back, ordered beer by the Liter, dinner and started to settle in. People all around us was singing and dancing and the band was playing. They played songs like “Roll Out the Barrel”, “Country Roads”, “New York, New York”, “The Chicken Dance” and “Wild Rover”. Curtis and I sang along. Then, Curtis took out a 20 Euro piece and started to play quarters into the Liter beer mug. I took a coin out of my pocket and started to play along. Mark H. suggested that we use the ashtray, but, we told him that that would be too easy. The table had many dead spots, but once we found a good spot, the beer mug started to get full. Mark H. started to play along, and Lara was trying to grab the coins in mid air. She ended up with a good amount of change by the end of the night, and we all had a good time. Since we had to get up early the next morning, we didn’t stay too late.
Saturday, June 1 – Breakfast at the hotel offered boiled eggs, salami and cheese, fruits of all kinds and cereal. We headed for the train station and caught the train for Füssen. We had to take a short bus ride from the train station to get to Hohenschwangau and Neuschwanstein castles. Hohenschwangau castle was Maximilian’s, father of King Ludwig II, who happened to own Neuschwanstein. Rumor has it that Neuschwanstein was the castle that Walt Disney got his idea for the Magic Kingdom castle. After lunch, we went through Hohenschwangau first and then Curtis and I took the horse and buggy up the mountain, while Mark, Lara, Mark and Effie walked up and went to the bridge before meeting us at the entrance. They were both very interesting. We headed back to Munich so we could catch our sleeper train to Paris. The train left the station at 8:54 pm. The rooms were very small with bunk beds and a sink.
Sunday, June 2 – The train pulled into Paris right on time at 7 am. We didn’t have a hotel reserved and the tourist desk wasn’t open. We found lockers at the station, stuffed our luggage and locked them up. Lara read that the first Sunday of the month, the Louvre was free. She also read that they had a tourist desk there. It opened at 9 am and we arrived around 8:10 am. We got into a short line already forming that eventually grew. While we waited, Mark, Lara, Curtis and I walked around the park that was across the street. Effie and Mark offered to wait in line. When the doors opened (and we went through security), we headed straight for the Mona Lisa. We got there before the crowds and someone in our group got a picture of the picture. We then headed for Venus de Milo, one step ahead of the crowds again. We found our way to the tourist desk and they made hotel reservations for us. It was only 3 blocks from the Louvre. We checked in, then headed back to the train station for our luggage. After dropping our luggage off at the hotel, we walked to Notre Dame. The church was free to enter, but the bell tower was extra. We all decided to pass (I was disappointed, because the hunchback was no longer there LOL). Church was in session, so we had to be very quiet. The stained glass windows were beautiful. Now that we’ve seen where you’re blessed during life, it was time to go find out about the after life. CATACOMBS. Approximately six million bodies were dug up to make room for more and the bones, dating back to 1760’s, were stacked high and deep, below the ground. Most of the skulls were in good condition and you could touch them, but out of respect, we didn’t. The skulls at times were laid out in patterns making crosses and tombstones (The shiny one on the left was not actually a skull, it was only Mark H.) Walking back to the hotel, we detoured through Luxembourg Garden. Upon arriving at the hotel, we showered and rested then hopped on the Metro to the Eiffel Tower. Everyone bought a ticket to go all the way to the Third level, except me, and I only went to the First. And although I was by myself, I enjoyed it. Went back down and laid in the park looking up at the tower. I waited about 45 minutes for them and Curtis said that although the very top was caged, it was crowed and he didn’t think I would have enjoyed it anyway. We had a nice dinner (including onion soup, but they didn’t call it French Onion Soup) just about a block away from the tower and then went back to see it lit up.
Monday, June 3 – This morning, after breakfast, we got a train to Blois, then a bus took us to Chambord castle. We had planned to do two castles today, but we would have had to wait 2 hours for the train, so we only did the one. And what a castle it was. This was a beautiful castle with interesting rooms. Each wing of the castle was like an apartment for either a queen, king, or some other noted person. Then the third floor was the hunting lodge. The castle, as rumor has it, was designed by Leonardo da Vinci, with a double staircase, twisting up the middle of the castle. If you got on from the ground floor on the right, and someone else on the left, you would never meet on the staircase. But, you would come out on the upper floors on the right side of the room, and they, on the same floor, on the left side of the room. After touring the castle we walked the grounds. They have a horse show that runs at 11:45 am or 4:00 pm but, it was confusing what time the show was running, so we went out to see it. We must have missed the 11:45 show, it was obvious there was not going to be a 4:00 show. We had lunch and I bought a small bottle of Chambord to drink at Chambord. The bus picked us up at 6 pm and we were back at the hotel by 10 pm.
Tuesday, June 4 – Left for Belgium this morning and arrived in Brussels around 11:00 am. Stopped at the tourist office to book a hotel room and they found us one for 65 Euros a night. We joked that although they said it was a three star hotel, it was most likely a dump. How wrong were we. This was a nice, almost normal, hotel room that coincidentally faced the Sheraton hotel that we were supposed to stay in for the awards dinner. **Which by the way, for those who do not know, the dinner and trip was cancelled, one week before we left, but the company gave us the plane tickets for the vacation that we had already planned.** We walked into the Central Square of Brussels where the buildings were dated 1695 – 1697. We found a popular street for lunch and I had a waffle with ice cream on top. That was a damn good waffle! We then took a train to Bruges (Brugge). This was a nice city and we just walked around and shopped until it started to rain and turn cold. So Curtis and I found a pub where we ordered Irish Coffee, while Mark, Effie, Mark and Lara went into the chocolate store. They met us at the pub, where Palm beer and Romeo & Juliet cigars were served. (Okay, Curtis had to buy the cigars at a different store, we just enjoyed them at the pub). We headed back to Brussels for dinner and it rained there too. But the dinner was good (we had mussels, in Brussels) and we ran home in the rain.
Wednesday, June 5 – We met downstairs for breakfast and this was the best breakfast yet. Scrambled eggs with bacon and sausage and a variety of other things, except waffles. Mark, Lara, Mark and Effie went back to their rooms to pack and check out, for they are going home today. Curtis and I lounged around then headed to a pharmacy so I could buy Band-Aids for my broken feet (blisters). We then headed for the train station. We left for London at 1 pm and arrived at 3 pm. (London is one hour behind). It was cold, raining, overcast, everything you hear about London, we got to experience. We took the ‘Tube’ to our hotel. We waited there till the rain subsided. We headed out and found a Fish and Chips restaurant not far from the hotel. It was mostly empty upon arriving, but crowded when we left. We found a store next door and Curtis bought a heavier (dryer) shirt and – yes Lara – an umbrella. We found Buckingham Palace and it was 1 day after the Queens Golden Jubilee, so it had cranes and big trucks in front for clean up. Almost everything was blocked off around it. The rain started to fall again, but not heavy, at first, so we went towards Westminster Abbey and Big Ben. But by the time we got there, the rain was coming down, so we hid out in The Red Lion to have a beer. Afterwards we braved the rain and the cold, found the closest ‘Tube’ to go back to the hotel. But the train we had to connect to, broke down, so we ended walking. It had stopped raining, so it wasn’t too bad. It was only a little after 8 pm but we decided to call it a night.
Thursday, June 6 – The hotel room is small, so I got dressed, woke Curtis, and went down for breakfast. Curtis joined me shortly after and we headed out. First stop – Tower of London. This included: The Medieval Palace, The White Tower and The Crown Jewels. The Ravens (famous bird at the Tower of London) were on the railing as we entered The White Tower, and we were both surprised when they said “Hello” and “Good Morning”. We had no idea that Ravens could talk. We then crossed the Tower Bridge to go to the London Dungeon, but the line was too long. So we headed for Piccadilly Circus for lunch and found an Irish Pub. We then walked down past the Duke of York’s column then to the Scottish Horse Yards where we saw the changing of the Horse Guards. Continued on to Westminster Abbey, passing by the locked gates of the Parliament. We then headed back to the London Dungeon where the line was much shorter. This turned out to be a littler cheesier than we expected, a little longer than we expected, but entertaining none the less. We then went to the British Museum. Curtis wanted to see the Rosetta Stone and the Egypt exhibit. I, unfortunately, started to get tired and cranky, but I found benches so he would not be rushed. We ate dinner at the Fish and Chips place we found yesterday and then went back to the hotel. We are going home tomorrow.
Interesting Tidbits:
** We did 11 cities in 13 days
** Experience European Bathrooms. You’ll never know what’s around the corner… or not!
** There was a girl, in London, dressed in Punk clothing, wearing a Tiara
** There was a store in Bruges “De Kat”, it was a clothing store
** We saw a dog in Paris that chased shadows
** I joked about eating Chinese food when we arrived in Rome, they were everywhere the whole trip
** The Gelato stores not only had Ice Cream, they also had beer and liquor
** Warren Zevon, I hurled myself against the wall at the Louvre
** Sun rises between 5 & 6 am, sets around 10 pm
** Locals fascinated by Z28 on the streets of Munich
A Few Other Favorite Pictures
