Rome wasn't built in a day

but it certainly was toured in a day! I can't believe how much we saw in one single day. We totally wore ourselves out, but it was worth it! We didn't arrive until after 7:00 on Thurs. night, and then we showered and still had to have dinner. We asked the guy at the front desk (a lovely man from Tanzania who came to Rome to study medicine. He's graduated, but he's still there. He still has to specialize and then if he meets a proper girl, then who knows....LOL!) where a good, reasonable restaurant was, and he sent us right next door. Excllent food, great ambiance, very good wine. I LOVED it! The waited had so much character. Typical Italian. Love it! I would totally go back in a heart beat (that was only a 1 glass of wine dinner, but it kicked my rear!).

So, Friday, we were total tourists. I mean total. After we finally up, we headed to the Vatican. We just walked around and looked at it. It was a 3 hour wait to get in. We wanted to see the Sistine Chapel, but we just didn't have the time. We took some pictures and made sure to see the Swiss guards and headed over to the Colosseum. Talk about breathtaking. The Colosseum is just awe-inspiring. It's been there for how many years? WOW!!! Loved it! It was super hot, I mean middle of summer hot, so we didnàt stay too terribly long (and remember, we'd lost Rick, so we were a bit on the clueless side as to what we were seeing - thank goodness I'd read the book a couple of times already and have a freakishly good memory). We were starving, so picked up food at one of the little stands 18 Euros later, we weren't starving any more, but our pockets were certainly lighter. We're talking sandwiches here folks, and remember 1 Euros costs $1.20. Ridiculous. But, we was to the point of shakiness, so it had to be done.

We'd followed Rickey's advice and purchased our Col. tickets from the Palatine hill and avoided the 45 minute wait at the Col. I can't believe the lines in Rome. So, we had the entrance to the Hill paid for, but decided to head through the Roman Forum instead. Good decision. It was amazing. We were standing in the place where great emporers once stood. Hundreds and even thousands of years ago. Mind-blowing. We checked out the Basilica of Maxentius just b/c Rickey stands in it during one of his PBS Episodes, and it was unbelievable how big this place was. It's huge as it stands, and we were only seeing 1/3 of it. Um...holy cow! We spoke with an American couple about it all and were all in awe together and then all of us happened upon a free tour. We caught it in the middle, but it was totally worth it. Some tour COs. send out their guides during the day to give free tours and then at the end tell the folks about the other tours they give, a couple we would have taken had we been there more. Anyway, she explained several of the temples to us including the one to Julius Caeser and Augustus somebody and his wife Faustinius something-or-other (and a couple of others I can't remember now), the apartments of the Vestal Virgins, the arch of Septemus Serervus, the arch of Justinius, the Senate, and the Mamertine Prison (where Peter and Paul were once held and then released when they converted their guards). It was truly outstanding. Being in this place with so many centuries of history. It wasn't just a static place, it grew and changed over the years of the Roman Empire, and I loved it! After the tour, we tried to see the tomb of the unkown soldier, but they were closing it, and man, can those Italian security guards be forceful!

So, we made our way to the Pantheon. My last "Must See" place in Rome. And oh, am I glad we did. It was breathtaking. It's not huge, but it is beautiful and you just catch your breath. After that, we walked to Piazza del Popolo and along the way happened into a lovely church and 2 paper stores. There was awesome paper, but there was no easy way for me to get it home, so I bought a "B" stamp. The girl working there just wouldn't believe me that I had ink at home that would work with it. She finally said if I couldn't use it, that was up to me. Too funny!

Finally, we decided to be the ultimate tourists and had dinner at the Hard Rock. We had Nachos and a Cheeseburger with fries and Chris had his beer served in the Souvenier glass, and we bought tee shirts and everything. And they even played Beck and Rick Springfield while we were in there. Loved every minute of it, including the Italian style mac & cheese!

We tried to go to the Easy Interenet Cafe, but on our way, I noticed that the Metro was closed. Turns out the A line (there's only 2) closed at 9:30. Um, yeah, we were planning on taking that to the train station! So, we had to run, get our bags, take a bus to the train station, and then take the metro to the other station from whence our train left. WE were totally freaked about missing our train....unnecessarily, b/c it left almost an hour late. We've yet to be on an ontime Italian train! And, it was the WORST train ride ever. Hot and long and crowded and we had a hard time sleeping. But, it was worth it. We're in Venice, and it is awesome!

On another note, we are currently in an internet cafe, and as we just had 4 glasses of the second best wine ever (the first being our first night in 5 Terre), I just asked Chris, "are we on a barge, or is it just me?" Turns out, we ARE on a boat, but the wine doesn't help!

More on Venice tomorrow, the guy is closing the cafe!

Rome is LOST

or Rick is lost (Rickey to me) or something. anyway, we can't find our Rick Steves' Rome book, and as we are now officially in Rome, it's something of a bad thing. We didn't realize we were missing it until we were packing this morning, but then suddenly, it wasn't there with the other books. I have no idea where it went (I'm pretty sure it left home with us), but it's no longer with us. Thank goodness we brought our Let's Go Italy book, which we totally intended to leave at home. But, it's no Rick. In fact, it doesn't even mention the Sistine Chapel. Um, hello? Kind of a big deal, but no mention.Guess those Harvard kids who research and write the books have no need for one of the greatest works of art ever. No matter, we have Google at our finger tips, and in the time it took me to type the last couple of sentences, Chris already found the desired info. Take that Harvardites!

So, we started out today in the Cinque Terre. Had to wake Rina (that's what everyone calls her) up so we could pay and get Chris' passport back before making the 6:35 train to La Spezia and then make the next train to Pisa. I felt bad waking her up, she was in her nightgown with her hair all askew, but I think she liked us, and she totally loved my hair, so it was OK. So, off we went. We have yet to be on an Italian train since arriving some other day (I'm pretty clueless about that stuff right now - as long as I know where I'm going tomorrow, I'm good) that is on time. We got to Pisa like 45 minutes late. Then, after RUNNING to the tower because I needed a WC like nobodies business and it was about to get bad, and roaming around the "Field of Miracles" taking the cheesey hold the Tower up pics (yes, they actually worked), walking through the Duomo (cathedral) and the Baptistry (where they baptized people), we were trying our darndest to make the 11:54 train to Florenece. We'd left our bags in the baggage check and after picking them up, we ran for the train just to get there in time for Chris to put his hand on the door just as it was pulling away. The only time any darned train leaves on time, and of course, we're not on it. Typical!

The tower was pretty cool. I had been disappointed that we wouldn't be able to climb it (have to make reservations 16 days in advance and we tried 1 week out), but after being there, it just seemed like a waste of stairs, and we climbed over 400 in Florence, so really, it was okay. Plus, there wasn't really anything to see. It's not like you can see the tower from the tower, KWIM? I hadn't been in any of the buildings before, and it was really nice to get to see what's inside of them (we did have Ricky for that) even though the place was lousy with tourists. I know, I know, I was one of them, but we're talking 50 person tour groups here. Oh, it was aweful. They were everywhere, both inside and out. It's nearly impossible to get a picure of anything around the without a throng in it. Yuck!

Finally, we were on our way in Florence with a whopping 3.5 hours. Not enough time to do a whole lot, but we did walk to the Duomo (the main cathedral). We oogled the doors on the baptistry along with all of the other 3 bajillion tourists and thought about going in the Duomo, but the line was literally a couple of hundred people long. So, we climbed up the campanile, the bell tower next to the Duomo.Hello! Over 400 steps (the Italians said 414, but we each counted 405). Yeah, it was a great view, but I was in serious need of gelato afterwards!. We walked to the big piazza with the former Medici palace in it (did you know they got their name b/c they started out as medics and eventually moved into banking?) and looked at all of the statues there. We strolled through the Uffizi courtyard (at 4:00 there was still a HUGE line for the Uffizi) and then over the Ponte Vecchio. Oh wow! The bridge itself if beautiful and is lined with jewlery shops. Wow! pretty sparkly things. But, nothing we could afford. Sorry Bob! I'm still working on it!

We made it back to the train station just in time to get our baggage from the check room and pick up a snack, and then we noticed the train was in ritardo. Just great! Finally, we got on, but it was the 1st class section of the train, and here we come with our sack of Mickey D's and boy, we donàt look like the regular 1st class Italian train traveler, but we paid for our first class ticket, so by gosh, weàre gonna use them! When we finally got to the train station, it was late....after 7, and we tried to get a reservation for tomorrow night's night train to Venice. Of course, the guy who worked in the ticket office didn't speak English. So, he got another gal to help us, and she told us sleeper reservations would be 53 Euros on top of our Eurail. Um, yeah, not so much! So, we reserved seats only. Who needs a sleeper. It's only 7 hours! I'm hoping we can at least get a compartment and stretch out. Our hotel is darling. It's on the 2nd story of this apartment type of building right by the Spanish Steps. We the lovely guy working there where to go for dinner, and he sent us to the place just next door. The food was AWESOME!!! And their wine selection? Fabulous! We once again, had house white, and it was outstanding. I've become a little conessouir over here! So, the wine has put me under, and Iàm just about falling asleep at this computer! I'd better head out, seeing as we're going to the Sistine chapel and the Roman Forum.

I love Italy!

Another email copied! Hope you don't mind

We
did figure out the vomit problem....I got it on my pants, probably in
the port-a-potty (which, incidentally was scarily full) and then it
transferred to a lot of my stuff. I have everything cleaned up now, but
my bags still have that lingering aroma!

We made our train last night after getting our first hot (or even warm,
for that matter) shower in days in the train station. We paid 7 Euros a
piece plus a 7 Euro deposit for our showers in this place in the train
station called McClean. It was hysterical - .60 for men to use the
urinal (trough), 1.10 for both men and women to use an actual stall,
and 7.00 for the shower. AND, the shower had a toilet in with it. I
went three times while I was in there so I didn't have to pay anyone
extra! Amazing how priorities change so quickly, isn't it? I've found
myself drinking less water than usual even though I need more b/c the
.50 here and the 1 Euro there really add up! Before our showers, we
went to the Easy Internet Cafe. It's part of the EasyJet company (think
Airline UK on A&E). They had over 400 computers there! We wanted to
call home, but didn't have enough time!

So, now we are in Italy and loving it. Tonight and tommorow night, we
are in the Cinque Terra, Vernazza to be exact. We've had a couple of
traveling mishaps, but nothing that really made a difference in the
end, and we knew it when they happened. Just chalked them up to
learning experiences - got on the milk train in  Modena, Italy
because it was there when we should have waited for the faster train;
lost our paper that the German guy who finally helped us gave us with
our 4 connections on it. Not to worry, though, we somehow ended up on
the right train to La Spezia and I was able to remember/look at the map
& figure out the last 3 connections we needed to make (and we found
the paper in our daypack where someone who shall remain nameless -
Chris - put it).

We got on the wrong train in La Spezia, and it didn't stop in Vernazza,
but no worries. The towns are like 5 mins. apart by train and we just
hopped on the next one. The train conductor was totally nice, making
sure we knew exactly where to get off and which train to get on next.
Speaking the Espanol seriously helps with understanding the Italiano. I
don't really understand alot, but the more I hear, the more it makes
sense and I can figure out the gist of things!

As we ascended from the train station, we were looking at the pages we
ripped out of Rick Steves' Italy trying to figure out where we were
going to say when this older woman came up to us. Her name is Marina
and she speaks not a word of English, but she had a room to rent
and  recognized the pages and guessed that we were american and
told us to come with her. We said, "Why not?" and followed her. We are
in an adorable little room with a full bathroom for 60 Euros per night.
Less than we had expected without the bathroom in the room! And, Marina
is a lovely woman. "No problema con Marina." She told us this over and
over. And she's right, no problems so far. We even did some laundry in
the sink and hung it out to dry on the line below her window. Too cool.
Vernazza is built in the hills and everyone has a line out their window
and always has something on it. Look, we fit in!

After having lunch on a terrace out over the ocean (there aren't words
to describe it properly, you'll have to see the pictures) with the most
amazing food we've ever had in our lives (pasta with seafood), we
explored the town and then hiked to one of the other 5 Cinque Terre
towns. It was a brutal hike, but we got some great views and we hung
out at the beach for a little while in that town before finding a place
for a 4 cheese calzone and then wasting an hour waiting for the train
back to Vernazza with Gelato and the town drunk singing the same song
over and over. When we finally got back, we had dinner at one of the
restaurants on the harbor. An appetizer of tons of different seafood
stuff from stuffed muscles and anchovies to calamari and then meals of
pesto and spaghetti with muscles and the most amazing house wine ever.
So light and perfect, we drank 2 carafes (albeit small ones) of it.
Tomorrow, we go to the other 3 towns. We LOVE it here and already know
we'll be coming back!

Well, the gal who runs the internet cafe is ready to close. More tomorrow hopefully!

Munich

We're leaving Munich in about an hour, and while I LOVE this citz and the Germans, I'm readz for the slower pace of Italz. The following is an email I sent mz mom in response to some questions we asked. (actuallz, it's 2 emails)I hope zou don't mind, but I don't have time to retzpe everzthing!

Sorrz about the crummz spelling. i'm using a whacked out German kezboard, and thez kezs are in the wrong place. so, zou get zzzzzs where there should be ys.

Oh my god, the tent in the soccer stadium....well, let's just say i'm glad we're not stayint there anymore. how about this.......we went to octoberfest and then the hofbrauhaus (big, famous beer hall) last night and drank WAY too much. So, we got back to our tent, and somewhere between when we got back and when I packed everzthing this morning, i got puke all over a bunch of mz stuff. the worst part of it is that it's not mz puke. i didn't drink THAT much! although, I was feeling it todaz. and, i don't have anzwaz to wash it until tomorrow. but, we've had a wonderful anniversarz. we did the castles todaz, and although we missed our first train, we still made it (barelz) in time for our reserved tours. it was absolutelz beautiful. the perfect daz to be traipsing about the alps.

we had a hell of a time getting here. missed our connection in paris, and there were NO seats anztime on anzthing getting in to munich. So, we went to Frankfurt and took the train. But, our first flight was cancelled, and then thez delazed the flight we finallz got on. Air France refused to reimburse us for the train fare b/c the plane was ontime landing in paris, so it was our fault we were late. HA!!! let me tell zou. we had to disembark onto a bus and take that over to the terminal. no biggie, except the bus ride took 30 minutes (we had an hour lazover) and then there was no markin anzwhere about where we should get off for what airlines/flights, so we had to RUN, and I mean RUN to our terminal.....2 terminals awaz. We got there with 15 minutes to spare, and thez wouldn't let us on. Damn French. Anz desire we had to go there just went right out the door. Reallz, thez people weren't that bad, but the longer we were there, the more we realiyed we were getting the run around. Thez just tell zou whatever thez feel like telling zou.

I had a momentarz breakdown this evening. Upon our return from the castles (did I mention.....awesome!), we went to reserve seats for our night train. The crayz I-don't-

okaz, sorrz about that, i was having kezboard issues, so I went ahead and sent it. Anzwaz, this crayz german ladz working in the ticket office told us there were no seats available to go to Italz. I started crzing a little. I just reallz wanted to get out of here. Don't get me wrong, I've loved being here, but zou can onlz take so much of drunk, stupid bozs (italian, german, etc. etc.) running into zou, singing at the top of their lungs late into the night, and what not. iäve been working with a 'never give up' attitude, so after a couple of tears, I suddenlz thought, what about salyburg? Mazbe we could go there and then get to Italz from there. We went to a totallz different place that was just for reservations, and guz was like, "zeah, sure, zou can do that" and gave us reservations. We even got couchettes. I'm not sure we're together, though. It'll be okaz. Sleep is reallz all that matters. 

The tent camp was close to nightmarish. See, we actuallz wanted to sleep, unlike some of the other folks there. Imagine that! We didn't get there till 12:45ish the first night (dam french) and didn't get to bed till nearlz three, so we slept in till 11:45. Where upon, I was rudelz awakened with an ice cold shower. It was like being back at church camp. I took 3 showers in one 24-hour period, and not one of them included an ounce of hot water. This morning at 5 am, I almost cried when it was still ice cold. I brilliantlz trid the cold water, and there was literallz about 1 ounce of warm water that came out. it was dirtz and dustz and blech. and it was freaking cold. last night, i slept with a t-shirt, 2-long-sleeved shirts, and mz jacket on plus mz fleece stocking cap and glooves. No good, I was still freeying. Plus, I had wet hair. it rozallz sucked! We onlz got a couple of hours of sleep last night and we are seriouslz dragging right now. It's about 10:30ish here, and our train leaves for italz at 11:40.

We had an interesting conversation (if zou can call it that) over our anniversarz piyya hut dinner with some Iraqi Christians who left the cuntrz zears ago under Sadaam. Thez were nice bozs who wanted to practice their english with people who were willing to listen and actuallz have a conversation. There was a man with a Home Depot shirt on trzing to talk with them when we walked up, and he reallz wanted to know what thez thought of us being there and Sadaam being gone. He was reallz frustrated with them b/c thez weren't telling him what thez thought. He wanted them to go back to Iraq to help rebuild it. He asked if I spoke english hoping I could help, I guess. He kept going on and on asking them the same thing, trzing to get someone to translate. I said something to him, and he asked, "don't zou want to know what thez think?" Zes, but if thez don't speak English, thez can't verz well tell zou. He said he thought thez spoke more English and were avoiding him, so I told him that zes, I wanted to know, but if thez didn't want to tell, that was their business. I think thez reallz liked that (zes thez did speak a little english) b/c as soon as he left them alone for a minute, thez turned around and started talking to us. Turns out, thez left because of religious persecution under Sadaam. Duh! Hello, of course thez're glad to see him go! One said to me, "For 25 zears, under Sadaam, much bad, much problems." I think that prettz much sums it up.

Well, I'd better go. There's a place called MacClean in the trainstation where we're hoping to mazbe get a warm shower before the train. We will see!!! BTW, we keep forgetting to put on deoderant. Prettz soon, we're going to smell like Germans!

Up, Up & Away

We're off to see the Germans, the crazy Germans of Munich (think we're off to see the wizard). We are so stinkin' excited, I just can't tell you. I think we both have a bit of nervous due to our excitement! Here's a funny note.....months and months ago, we made a reservation for our last night in Munich. Some random hotel somewhere in the city has a reservation for us. Problem is, we don't know which one. I know I did it online and then printed out the info, but I can't find an email about it, I can't remember which online service I used, and I can't find the print out. So, for our last night in Munich, which coincidentally just so happens to be the last night of Oktoberfest, we have no room. It should be an adventure, to say the very least!

Chris and I are keeping journals of our journey. I'm a pretty crummy journaler (great the first two days, and by the end I'm lucky if I have even a timeline of what we did), and Chris has never kept one before, so this should be interesting! I did make us journals, though. Maybe this will aid in the actual journaling process. You know, I went to all the trouble of making it, so I'd darn well better use it! Here's a pic of mine. His isn't quite done yet. Okay, truthfully, it hasn't gotten started yet. Oh well. It'll get done! Our plane takes off in less than 5 hours and we said we were leaving for my mom's in an hour and 15 minutes. Holy Crap! I'd better get a move on!

Can Hardly Stand the Wait!

It's a scant 48 hours until we leave (okay, a little more, but close enough).  By this time on Friday, we'll be in Paris and almost on our way to Munich, and I'm so darned excited, I just want to jump up and down! Last night, we visited our favorite store, Target, and  stocked up on the last minute small items: aspirin,  Shout wipes, travel lock, travel lint brush, mini deoderant, toothbrush for Chris, Kleenex packs (for those WCs w/crepe paper for toilet paper), emergency blankets (the silver space blankets that they give marathoners at the end of the race), ponchos, a fold-into-itself tote, books, and various and sundry other little items. Chris has been running around a lunch picking up last minute stuff, a toiletry kit, a compression pillow for me, a mini flashlight, and a collapsible cup. The cup has proven the hardest to find. He finally had to go to the Army Surplus store. It's amazing the things you find there!

Here's our updated list:

Things To Do (Buy)

• Make reservations for Mad Ludwig's castles



• Rick Steves' Backpacks (2)



• Travel Towels (2)



• Clothesline



• Travel Books
  1. Germany/Austria
  
  
  
  2. Italy
  
  
  
  3. Florence/Tuscany
  
  
  
  4. Venice
  
  
  
  5. Rome



• Money Belt



• Compression Pillow



• Luggage Lock



• Travel Wash



• Sleep Sack (2)



• Picnic Ware (2)



• Wide Angle Lens



• Camera Bag



• Toiletries Bag



• Aveda Mens' Hair & Body Shampoo



• Chris' iPod



• Shoes - Jamie



• Shoes - Chris



• Quick Drying Clothes



• Hotel Resrvations
  1. Florence
  
  
  
  2. Rome
  
  
  
  3. Venice

We've got everything done and then some! Holy cow, I can't believe it!!!

What we haven't gotten done yet:

• Make reservations for David



• Small Wallet



• Reservations for Leaning Tower of Pisa

Homebody

It’s official, I am no longer a mobile scrapper. I’m at ScrapHappy’s annual retreat at the Fin and Feather, and while packing up to come down here, I quickly came to this conclusion…..mobile scrapping is not for me. I have way too much crap and a certain knack for failing to plan. There’s just always one too many things to get done before I have to leave and I never get around to it. I wish I did. I’m super-duper productive when I do. Maybe someday. I think being more organized would help. I’m already pretty darned organized when it comes to the SB stuff, but there’s so many little things, and what to do with those and still have them easy to find? Oh, the trials and tribulations of an obsessed scrapbooker. You should have seen the car on the way down here. It was seriously full! Not to the rafters, but still full. And some how I’ve still managed to buy things. Go figure.

But, if I didn’t get a single thing done, not one thing accomplished, it wouldn’t matter because I’m having an awesome time. Bob and I are really enjoying this (even though for the first day we shared one 6-foot table and we’re sitting right next to the bathroom). We’ve had lots of time to enjoy friends (mostly standing in line waiting for the buffet), to get reacquainted with old friends and to meet lots of new folks. It couldn’t be better if I tried to plan it. The one draw back is the allergy situation. I (we) am 100% allergic to this place, especially our room. Oh my, our room. I’m especially allergic to my pillow. Yeah, my pillow. Stinks. Literally. Last night I fell asleep with my nose in my shirt so I wouldn’t have to smell my pillow. But, it’s not enough to dampen the awesome time we’re having here. One of my projects is a secret…maybe some day I’ll share it with the world! (man, that sounds like I’m important, doesn’t it?)