April 18 2013
Thursday morning Justin and I both got in a little run around La Spezia. After packing up our stuff and checking out of our hotel, the Canadians, Justin, and myself went for another breakfast at the bar close by. We definitely cleaned that place out – I think you are only supposed to take one pastry but we decided to try a little bit of everything. Oops. From there we took a ferry to Portovenere. It was about a 10-15 minute ferry ride. Portovenere was another area on the coast with different places to eat and some sites to see (Castles and churches). The weather was perfect for hanging out by the coast and we snapped some good photos. Justin and I bought some pesto (a staple of this area in Italy) and also enjoyed a pizza with pesto on it. Nummy. Around 2:45 we headed back to La Spezia on the ferry and caught a train to Rome. Our Canadian friends, Megan and Katie, went to another, more in-land city in Italy. It was great to meet them. It was also nice to have other people to enjoy company with instead of just the two of us . We got to Rome maybe around 8 pm. While Justin was checking in I was just hanging around outside…looking at places to eat and what not. I surprisingly ran into this girl that we had shared a hostel with in Paris. Small world! We met her later for dinner (although she was a little late because she got lost). [her name was Nicole]. After sharing a 6 Euro liter of wine, the three of us decided to check out what was going on in the hostel. We conversed with some people who were also traveling and swapped some travel tips.
April 19 2013
This day consisted of about 6 hours of walking. We wandered around Rome and eventually toured the Colliseum. The Colliseum was VERY cool to see. Justin and I indulged in a lot of pizza, pasta, gelato, and sandwiches. I can’t handle all the carbs and cheese. Ahhhhhhh. I’ll survive though. After eating a late lunch we were exhausted from walking around all day and decided it was time for a nap. Our nap was way longer than planned but it felt good to get some sleep since I’m still not feeling 100%. Friday night was another night spent in the hostel. We went with an English guy to some bar but it wasn’t anything really cool so we just called it a night.
April 20 2013
This day we were determined to tour St. Peters Basilica and the Vatican Museum. We were supposed to meet my friend Martina (I met her at Winchester and she lives in Rome) but she ended up having some car troubles and couldn’t get to us in time. We snagged lunch at a place near the metro station (I had a carbonara with some wine and bruschetta and Justin had a salad). After that we went to check out how long the lines were at all of the tourist spots. Justin and I planned on doing a guided tour through the hostel (it was 35 euros) but we ended up changing our mind and decided not to spend the money. We almost regretted it later as we saw HUGE lines for the Vatican Museum/Sistine Chapel but everything actually worked out! We got in to St. Peters Basilica pretty quick – it was free which was great. And then we took a little break, walked around some more and went back to check out the line for the Vatican Museum/Sistine Chapel. Much to our surprise, the line was WAY DOWN!! We didn’t even really have to wait at all to get a ticket (student discount tickets are 8 euro which isn’t bad at all). It was extremely packed. We couldn’t believe it. But it was beautiful. It’s hard to even put words to it. Everything is so intricate, old, and detailed. There was so much to see. The Sistine Chapel isn’t until the very end – so kind of like the grand finale. It was interesting to me that they have a specific dresscode …you have to cover your knees and shoulders. And when you are in the Sistine chapel (which it’s completely packed with people) the security persons will ‘shush’ everyone every couple minutes. It’s supposed to be quiet since it is a holy place but most people can’t go without speaking. After another long day of touring around we took a little nap and did some planning for the week to come. We got ready but took longer than expected and didn’t get out of the hostel until around 9 or so. We wanted to walk around some different areas to see what they were like at night. We took the metro and ended up making it to the Spanish Steps. People were all over the place, enjoying themselves and some drinks. We grabbed a little bit of food and walked over towards the Trevi fountain. We returned to the hostel to drop off our backpack and we eventually decided to go out to the University area with an Australian (Mark – he was 48 and quite the chatty Kathy) and an Argentinian (Martin). It was an interesting night. Unfortunately we didn’t find any cool clubs like we had intended but we did go in to a few places that were kind of neat.
April 21 2013
Checked out of our hostel and on our way to Florence, Italy for one night!
Crazy nice hostel in Florence. Swimming pool, Turkish bath, sauna, workout room, bar area/lounge. Justin and I found this place where we could make their own salad and sandwich for pretty cheap (student discount). After that we split up for a bit. I went to do some shopping and Justin did some sight-seeing. By the time I found the shopping area (it was a big area) it was time for me to meet Justin at the hostel. Florence has a lot of shops and the area I was in had a bunch of cool places. We might back at the hostel for a little workout and some sauna/pool time. We are getting sick of pizza/pasta and Indian food sounded like a great plan for dinner. We walked to an Indian restaurant that had really great reviews online but it wasn’t open. Fortunately we found another Indian place right down the street. The guy was nice enough to stay open for us. It was so delicious and I was extremely happy. After that we walked around to check out the night life and headed back to the hostel to do some more research. At the moment we are sitting on a train headed to Venice where we will spend the day and then catch a night train to Croatia. Our first night train !
April 22 2013
We rented bikes for an hour and gave ourselves a little tour around Florence. We went by the Michelangelo park but didn’t really see much (we would’ve had to go uphill and we weren’t really feeling it on bikes). After our short, fun bike ride (Florence is pretty!) we caught a train to Venice. When we got to Venice we realized that there was no night train to Croatia so plans changed and we had to book a hostel. We needed some alone time so we split up for a couple hours. Venice was a very interesting place. No streets or cars…just canals and rivers. Very cool. Unfortunately it started to downpour. My shoes were uncomfortably soaked. I had a margherita pizza for lunch and then a nutella crepe for dessert. Yummmmm. The hostel I found was very comfortable and welcoming. Venice is so hard to get around and it’s so easy to get lost but thank goodness for Justin’s good sense of direction. The guy working the hostel, Claudio, was an Italian guy that lived in the hostel and rented out rooms. He took me and Justin, some people from argentina, and a guy from Virginia (teaching English in France) out to a couple bars . It was really chill and fun to talk with everyone about their experiences. It’s crazy how many people we’ve met on this trip doing something similar to what we are. At the end of the night Claudio took us to a kebab place that was closing down but I guess he was really close with the guy so he opened up and made us some kebabs. It was awesome. Justin and I were both pretty hungry. Venice is known for its Murano glass so of course I got some souvenirs and gifts for friends back home. Quick trip but it was a good one
April 23 2013
Got up had a little breakfast at the hostel and on our way to Trieste, Italy where we will take a bus to Rijeka, Croatia. ---- We are now in our hostel in Rijeka, Croatia. We had a decent bus ride and made it safely to our hostel. Very nice – we have a whole 6 bed room to ourselves. Woooot. We ate some Chinese for dinner which wasn’t the greatest but it filled me up. Grabbed a little frozen yogurt. Currency is strange here. 1 Us dollar is about 5.80 kn. It’s a little cheaper than other places but not as cheap as we were expecting. It’s okay though. We wandered around for a bit and saw some cool buildings but nothing crazy to make note of. Tomorrow we are heading to a place close by to spend some time on the beach. We might try to get really cheap last minute tickets to an opera tomorrow after our day on the coast but we will see. I will report back with more details about Croatia after we spend another night in Rijeka and then one night in Zagreb. Stay tuned in to hear about Budapest, Vienna, Prague, Poland, Berlin, and then Amsterdam! About halfway through our Europe travels! How exciting
Cheers
April 18 2013
Thursday morning Justin and I both got in a little run around La Spezia. After packing up our stuff and checking out of our hotel, the Canadians, Justin, and myself went for another breakfast at the bar close by. We definitely cleaned that place out – I think you are only supposed to take one pastry but we decided to try a little bit of everything. Oops. From there we took a ferry to Portovenere. It was about a 10-15 minute ferry ride. Portovenere was another area on the coast with different places to eat and some sites to see (Castles and churches). The weather was perfect for hanging out by the coast and we snapped some good photos. Justin and I bought some pesto (a staple of this area in Italy) and also enjoyed a pizza with pesto on it. Nummy. Around 2:45 we headed back to La Spezia on the ferry and caught a train to Rome. Our Canadian friends, Megan and Katie, went to another, more in-land city in Italy. It was great to meet them. It was also nice to have other people to enjoy company with instead of just the two of us . We got to Rome maybe around 8 pm. While Justin was checking in I was just hanging around outside…looking at places to eat and what not. I surprisingly ran into this girl that we had shared a hostel with in Paris. Small world! We met her later for dinner (although she was a little late because she got lost). [her name was Nicole]. After sharing a 6 Euro liter of wine, the three of us decided to check out what was going on in the hostel. We conversed with some people who were also traveling and swapped some travel tips.
April 19 2013
This day consisted of about 6 hours of walking. We wandered around Rome and eventually toured the Colliseum. The Colliseum was VERY cool to see. Justin and I indulged in a lot of pizza, pasta, gelato, and sandwiches. I can’t handle all the carbs and cheese. Ahhhhhhh. I’ll survive though. After eating a late lunch we were exhausted from walking around all day and decided it was time for a nap. Our nap was way longer than planned but it felt good to get some sleep since I’m still not feeling 100%. Friday night was another night spent in the hostel. We went with an English guy to some bar but it wasn’t anything really cool so we just called it a night.
April 20 2013
This day we were determined to tour St. Peters Basilica and the Vatican Museum. We were supposed to meet my friend Martina (I met her at Winchester and she lives in Rome) but she ended up having some car troubles and couldn’t get to us in time. We snagged lunch at a place near the metro station (I had a carbonara with some wine and bruschetta and Justin had a salad). After that we went to check out how long the lines were at all of the tourist spots. Justin and I planned on doing a guided tour through the hostel (it was 35 euros) but we ended up changing our mind and decided not to spend the money. We almost regretted it later as we saw HUGE lines for the Vatican Museum/Sistine Chapel but everything actually worked out! We got in to St. Peters Basilica pretty quick – it was free which was great. And then we took a little break, walked around some more and went back to check out the line for the Vatican Museum/Sistine Chapel. Much to our surprise, the line was WAY DOWN!! We didn’t even really have to wait at all to get a ticket (student discount tickets are 8 euro which isn’t bad at all). It was extremely packed. We couldn’t believe it. But it was beautiful. It’s hard to even put words to it. Everything is so intricate, old, and detailed. There was so much to see. The Sistine Chapel isn’t until the very end – so kind of like the grand finale. It was interesting to me that they have a specific dresscode …you have to cover your knees and shoulders. And when you are in the Sistine chapel (which it’s completely packed with people) the security persons will ‘shush’ everyone every couple minutes. It’s supposed to be quiet since it is a holy place but most people can’t go without speaking. After another long day of touring around we took a little nap and did some planning for the week to come. We got ready but took longer than expected and didn’t get out of the hostel until around 9 or so. We wanted to walk around some different areas to see what they were like at night. We took the metro and ended up making it to the Spanish Steps. People were all over the place, enjoying themselves and some drinks. We grabbed a little bit of food and walked over towards the Trevi fountain. We returned to the hostel to drop off our backpack and we eventually decided to go out to the University area with an Australian (Mark – he was 48 and quite the chatty Kathy) and an Argentinian (Martin). It was an interesting night. Unfortunately we didn’t find any cool clubs like we had intended but we did go in to a few places that were kind of neat.
April 21 2013
Checked out of our hostel and on our way to Florence, Italy for one night!
Crazy nice hostel in Florence. Swimming pool, Turkish bath, sauna, workout room, bar area/lounge. Justin and I found this place where we could make their own salad and sandwich for pretty cheap (student discount). After that we split up for a bit. I went to do some shopping and Justin did some sight-seeing. By the time I found the shopping area (it was a big area) it was time for me to meet Justin at the hostel. Florence has a lot of shops and the area I was in had a bunch of cool places. We might back at the hostel for a little workout and some sauna/pool time. We are getting sick of pizza/pasta and Indian food sounded like a great plan for dinner. We walked to an Indian restaurant that had really great reviews online but it wasn’t open. Fortunately we found another Indian place right down the street. The guy was nice enough to stay open for us. It was so delicious and I was extremely happy. After that we walked around to check out the night life and headed back to the hostel to do some more research. At the moment we are sitting on a train headed to Venice where we will spend the day and then catch a night train to Croatia. Our first night train !
April 22 2013
We rented bikes for an hour and gave ourselves a little tour around Florence. We went by the Michelangelo park but didn’t really see much (we would’ve had to go uphill and we weren’t really feeling it on bikes). After our short, fun bike ride (Florence is pretty!) we caught a train to Venice. When we got to Venice we realized that there was no night train to Croatia so plans changed and we had to book a hostel. We needed some alone time so we split up for a couple hours. Venice was a very interesting place. No streets or cars…just canals and rivers. Very cool. Unfortunately it started to downpour. My shoes were uncomfortably soaked. I had a margherita pizza for lunch and then a nutella crepe for dessert. Yummmmm. The hostel I found was very comfortable and welcoming. Venice is so hard to get around and it’s so easy to get lost but thank goodness for Justin’s good sense of direction. The guy working the hostel, Claudio, was an Italian guy that lived in the hostel and rented out rooms. He took me and Justin, some people from argentina, and a guy from Virginia (teaching English in France) out to a couple bars . It was really chill and fun to talk with everyone about their experiences. It’s crazy how many people we’ve met on this trip doing something similar to what we are. At the end of the night Claudio took us to a kebab place that was closing down but I guess he was really close with the guy so he opened up and made us some kebabs. It was awesome. Justin and I were both pretty hungry. Venice is known for its Murano glass so of course I got some souvenirs and gifts for friends back home. Quick trip but it was a good one
April 23 2013
Got up had a little breakfast at the hostel and on our way to Trieste, Italy where we will take a bus to Rijeka, Croatia. ---- We are now in our hostel in Rijeka, Croatia. We had a decent bus ride and made it safely to our hostel. Very nice – we have a whole 6 bed room to ourselves. Woooot. We ate some Chinese for dinner which wasn’t the greatest but it filled me up. Grabbed a little frozen yogurt. Currency is strange here. 1 Us dollar is about 5.80 kn. It’s a little cheaper than other places but not as cheap as we were expecting. It’s okay though. We wandered around for a bit and saw some cool buildings but nothing crazy to make note of. Tomorrow we are heading to a place close by to spend some time on the beach. We might try to get really cheap last minute tickets to an opera tomorrow after our day on the coast but we will see. I will report back with more details about Croatia after we spend another night in Rijeka and then one night in Zagreb. Stay tuned in to hear about Budapest, Vienna, Prague, Poland, Berlin, and then Amsterdam! About halfway through our Europe travels! How exciting
Cheers
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