Slow internet sucks.

Some pics I managed to get onto Facebook

Greatest Invention Ever

In Europe you can buy condensed milk in a toothpaste tube. I think that is right up there with antibiotics and the time machine as Man's greatest invention.

By adding two Nescafe sleeves, sugar, cold water and a disturbing squeeze of condensed milk to make coffee coolers for the road. It sure beats 5 Euro coffees at a cafe.

I wonder if they sell it in North America in that delivery mechanism...

Zees Internets Sucks Too

Wow- we paid about $10 for 24 hours of wi fi... but my ipod can't connect, and I can't upload pictures for the life of me.

Bah.

We've taken some good'ers though and are looking forward to sharing.

Tomorrow we make more good use of our Museum Pass and will take in the tower at Notre Dame, and some other stuff. We've walked SO much, my feet are in constant ache, but it's short lived pain, right?

I thought it was cute that Jon let me take an unplanned nap on a bench at the Museum today. It probably saved the day :-)

G'night folks.

-Rea

Thoughts from Rea

Jon and I have decided that my parents are retiring in Italy; they just don't know it yet. Camogli, the bigger town just before the national park we visited known as the Cinque Terre, will be where they settle down to a relaxed life of wine, no lawn, and visits from friends who want to share the 'chillaxed environment with them. Truly, this little area speaks to those who like to sit back and listen to the sea, visit the market, and meet with friends along the main street at night to catch up on gossip and see how the bambinos are doing.

Another reason I believe my parents would enjoy it? Cooked foods are made with LOTS of salt. Everything we had from pizza to fully prepared seafood pasta was super salty. It was only when I didn't have butter for the table bread that I pulled a 'Larry' (tee hee) and salted my bread. After some parched dining, I crafted my “Italian” of equivalent “Salt Added” as “non se additionalle, prego.” I wonder if that would work?

In a moment of relaxed perfection, Jon and I went swimming in the harbour photographed in all the Vernazza postcards. It was crisp, clean, and even the little fishies decided to nibble amongst the rocks near where we left our towels/shoes. Others were sunbathing on their own large, flat, rock – content to occasionally take a dip in the ocean or change right back into their clothes before heading off to dinner... those voyeur Germans ;-)

The area was flooded with Americans, Aussies, and Canadians for the English speaking set. Others, especially Germans, were spotted because of their tans, their skin (flaunted, especially at water's side), and by their dogs. It's really easy for European families to take their dogs on trains or in their cars to any point in the EU, so 8 times out of 10 anyone with a dog doesn't speak English as their first language. There have been at least 15 dogs I personally want to cuddle and take home with me :-)

Speaking of English. As much as I have, for many years, felt the ignorant moron of North America by speaking only one language fluently (though my French ain't bad!), it does indeed seem to be the bridging language. When the Dutch or Germans were trying to converse with other non-whatever speaking EU citizens, they seemed to resort to English to bridge the gap. Our hostess in Bacharach Germany had an interesting story to tell... while she was working with a Hotel in Germany, a guest who spoke French asked for directions. She spoke German, Dutch, and English – but no French. After asking him if he could converse in any of those, and him assuring her he couldn't, she worked hard in sign language and any form of communication possible to communicate the directions to his destination. After what seemed like forever, she was sure he understood where he had to go. The most frustrating part? This French gentleman's colleague came out from the business meeting and spoke perfect English to this man – and in perfect English he responded. So, as much as he was being 'high and mighty' to claim he didn't know any English, he wasted both her time and his with sheer obstinence. She was nonetheless livid, so the reputation of the French lives on even when English isn't necessarily the topic of conversation.

Train from Vernazza to Paris and the first Days in Paris

Sorry for the last few days of radio silence but we have had trouble finding free internet in Paris. We bought a 24 hour wireless service here so we should be good for the next day!

The trip from Vernazza Italy to Paris was probably the low point of the trip thus far. It was sort of a culmination of several poor decisions that ended up with us having a rather sleepless night, but at least we got here.

To sum it up, we took the train from Vernazza to Milan around 3PM to get there to help resolve some issues with the Eurail Pass we have because I noticed that the night train from Milan to Paris MIGHT be going through Switzerland which would be a problem since it was not part of our pass. I discovered in Milan that they had no idea how it worked and it would end up being up to the conductor on the train to bill us the extra if needed. The initial booking for the night train had us transferring in Dijon France, which was nice as it was to a high speed train, but it didn't make sense as the night train was going to Paris anyhow. I decided to ask about staying on as it in theory didn't anymore cost difference to the train company.

After waiting for 4 hours for our train to show up at 1130PM we get on and discover that the couchette I had booked was full with 6 people (including us) and that makes for a very tight space. I also asked the conductor if the Switzerland thing would be OK and in broken English he said no problem. In regards to the staying on instead of transferring in Dijon, he said we could stay on (at least I thought he did). The conductor then took our passports (standard operating procedure) for safe keeping and then left.

We had the bottom bunks, which are actually just chairs that fold over. In hind site I would book the middle or upper bunks as they were a lot less claustrophobic. The cabin at least was well air conditioned so we were not suffering with sweat. It was very tight though with my face literally 1 foot away from the bunk above me and no room to move my arms or legs. I was almost too tall as well. Rea was pinned the other way, but she seemed to fit a bit better then me. I would highly recommend to anyone NOT to book a night train on a couchette if you want to get a good nights rest. As well, make sure you have ear plugs and eye covers out as well as it is very difficult to find them in the dark and not wake everyone else up. I suffered with just covering my eyes with the blanket and listening to Jack Johnson music until I fell asleep (the most mellow thing on my iPod).

At 4AM the conductor came to wake us up for the Dijon transfer. My reaction was “WTF???”. We managed to get a bunk mate to translate for us and he then said “no problem” once again.

At 8AM he came back to give us our passports back and said that he needed 25 Euro. I am not sure why he wanted the money but I paid him as I really liked the idea of getting my documents back and I couldn't negotiate in Italian with him. I think it ended up being a bribe for staying on the train and us being not Italian. Our fellow bunk mates said that it was actually fairly common. Really really a piss off though. We did get a bogus looking receipt from him for the money that I will have to check the name on to see if he put his name as a baseball player or something. If I ever see him in Calgary looking for directions to Lake Louise I will point him in the way of Regina as revenge.

We did arrive in Paris in the morning however, and did manage to find and check into our place at the Perfect Hotel near Sacre Coeur. While it is indeed not perfect, it is cheap, does not seem to have bed bugs and has a private bath. It is close to the red light district as well as some nice shopping areas. I would recommend it if you are OK with peeling wallpaper, bare light bulbs and a view of a wall. Which we are perfectly fine with. Maybe that is where they got the name from...

First day in Paris involved wearily trudging up the hill to visit Sacre Coeur and Montmartre which was really nice. The church was very pretty and cool as it looked old but was really very modern (in comparison to the other churches we have been in). There was a wine festival going on so we got to wander around and watch the people of Paris having a good time. There were the String Men trying to be pushy with the “friendship bracelet” scam, but if you ignore them and walk quickly away they tell you to f*ck off and you get to leave with your money still in your pockets. Overall, not a bad arrangement in my opinion.

After Montmarte we went for a nap to recover from the night before on the train and woke up and went and visted the Arc De Triomphe and walk down the Champs-Elysees. We stopped in a few stores and decided dinner would be too expensive there and headed down to Rue Cler as per Rick Steves recommendation for food and then checked out the Eiffel tower at night. Dinner was very good and under 50 Euro and the tower was stunning. We still have to get to go up to the top but will likely do that sometime before weeks end.

Today consisted of actually going to the top of the Arc De Triomphe with our museum pass (30 Euro each, a very good deal). With the pass we then visited The Louvre's Italian wing and saw the Mona Lisa (very small and kind of dark) and other famous pictures. Better then the Louvre (in my opinion) was the Orangerier and Orsay museums with the impressionists' paintings in them. I really enjoyed those and it was awesome to walk around the corner and see “yet another famous painting”. After killing our feet all day we took the train back to our neighborhood and walked around the red light district and had dinner at a Chinese place. I think we are taking the rest of the evening off and will plan what to see tomorrow. Possibly on the agenda is Versaille or maybe some other museums and attractions in the city. It all depends how busy of a day we want...

The Cinque Terre

The Cinque Terre on Italy's riveria is absolutely awesome. It is great to just have a couple days where we have nothing planned and just relax and watch the world go by. We got in yesterday around 5PM and checked into the ocean view room we have at Trattoria Gianni Franzi that is literally built into the side of a cliff in the City of Vernazza. The foyer of the hotel has the walls of the cliff on the side of it. We have a shared bathroom and the hallways are a little noisey in the morning, but it is a great place to stay with a great price. The hotel is at the top of about 50 stairs though so it is kind of challenging at the end of the day and a bottle of wine.

Dinner last night was at the hotels restaurant and it was very good as well. I had some sort of mussle pasta and Rea had the pesto (which was originally started here in the region apparently). We had sardines for an appetizer which were very salty but good. A bottle of house wine finished it off.

Vernazza is a sleepy little village with one road the goes down the the harbor. That is it. There are little shops and food stores as well as awesome views out onto the sea. Don't expect to go here for museums, clubs or night life.

Today we did the hike between Riomaggiore and Vernazza. It took us around 3 hours to do (as the guide said) and Rea took the train home for the last part. The views were stunning the entire way and totally worth the sometimes strenuous portions at the end near Vernazza. The last part into Vernazza was the hardest since it was all stairs up and down and it was about 25C out in the shade. Hiking through the olive groves and hills was break-taking (both literally and figuratively).

After the hike we got back and decided to go for a swim in the harbor where everyone else was sunning on the rocks. The water was just cold enough to make it refreshing and it was clear and waveless. Compared to the fresh water lakes around Calgary, it was great to just be able to float out there and not have to tread water to not drown. There was not too many fish in the water, but every one in a while you would see little fish scoot by and remind you that you were swimming in the Mediterranean Sea.

After the swim and a shower we went and took the train to Monterosso to have dinner at the Belveder restaurant that was highly recommended to us by a few people. The food was fantastic and cheap (for Europe). We had the seafood spaghetti that was enough to feed three people. I also had the stuffed sardines which were surprisingly good and not salty at all.

Anyhow, tomorrow we have another day here before we have to catch a night train to Paris from Milano, so I think we will just check our bags and relax out by the harbor again. Maybe do some tourist shopping...

Ciao!

Today...

From 2008 10 06 cVenice day 2

-We learned that the Prague airport, or Italy's, stole our razor. And the mini-carabeaners on Jon's pack. But not the scissors of death in his toiletry kit. Maybe we SHOULD have got our bags saran-wrapped like we saw some people do?
-We took the vaporetto to Murano and found a SWEET hidden bead/jewelery place I really should have spent more money in. If you're in Murano, let me know. I'll Google Map it for you.
-We didn't get off at the right stop at San Marco and instead ended up touring AROUND greater Venice , which was kinda cool in the long run
-I'm not uploading pics tonight, I'm pooped and we're up early again tomorrow on our way to Cinque Terre and I have NOT packed
-We bought a little battery-amped set of speakers for the ipod(s) and are liking the music in our lives already. We have too much tech on this trip, but really don't regret it
-I showed Jon the hotel we stayed at when I was here with the fam about 9 years ago - no wonder Dad was *ahem* shitting a brick as it looks pretty ritzy (I think that trip must have cost my parents nearly 10K, for 13 days in Rome, Florence, and Venice). We didn't have Rick Steve's in our lives, or wikitravel & the internet as a whole, to find otherwise I suppose. And now that we've seen the sheer amount of money it can cost to eat in a restaurant, or anywhere you sit down, we appreciate picnics A LOT.
-Our room looks like a laundry truck spat clothes all over it. I hope at least one of the shirts is dry by morning as I am out of clean ones
-If on a trip where you will be handwashing, get super lightweight and preferably less cotton clothes. They take longer to dry, and wrinkle, and feel stiffer when air-dryed as a result. The towels in this place are like sandpaper because they are strictly air-dryed - I can tell.
-We should have done the laundry this morning instead of this evening. I'll be traveling with damp clothes in my bag, which is more weight on my back. Meh.
-I have no idea how I've been fitting all the stuff that is all over our room into our two bags and a backpack. Phenomenal. Tomorrow we repeat the miracle.
-People with anything on wheels in Venice look like they suffer too much at every bridge and cobblestone - backpacks rule.
-I think they must ship people who can't walk much anymore off island - you see wheelchairs here, but I know it must be a real bitch to get around.
-My fat calves are now fat AND muscular. I should have got to know the stair-master before I left, and I always thought those were crap until I remind myself now what it's like to be a crazy-ass tourist.
-Gelatto rocks. Jon's pistachio kind last night was amazing. It's like ice cream infused with less cream, more KAPOW. Oh yeah.
-There are shops that will fill any measured container with wine for 2 or 3 bucks. We found one (closed at the time on Sunday) but would have made use of that if we were here longer. Locals are all over it.
-I should have brought a mini hair dryer as my head looks like it's attempting ringlets and only dealing out frizz. And I think I found some grey hairs. WTF.
-I will make a point to have a chocolate tomorrow from the chocolatier that is LITERALLY outside our B&B. I think they will make praline chocolates right in front of you and serve it to you, but even if they can't I'm still going to try to have one before we hustle to the train station.
-My regret is not making it back to the Safety/Supply store to buy a Beware of the Dog sign in Italian. And the wheelchair ramp one for my buddy Dean. And the green exit dude that is everywhere. That's my kind of momento, really! (Tobi - if you're reading this, please keep an eye out when you're here next week and bring one back - I'll pay extra.)
-The weather has been fantastic. Who knew it would be 22 in Venice in October. We were almost too hot at some points, hunting for shade. Crazy.

I'm concerned we won't have internet in Cinque Terre, but stay tuned. I'll at least get everything ready to post for when we do :-)

G'night folks!