Hey blog fans. It is been a while we know. We've been busy ya know. Lots to say so lets get started.
We left Rome for Sorrento, Italy. Sorrento is sort of like the Banff of Alberta - really touristy, but beautiful. Sorrento was our base for exploring the area.
Our first stop was Pompeii. Pompeii is (or was) an ancient city from more than 2000 years ago. The nearby volcano named Versuvius (no idea how to spell that) erupted in 64AD and covered the entire town in between 2 and 5 meters of volcanic ash. In the 1740s excavations began to uncover the town. Excavations have continued non-stop ever since. What we have been left with is one of the best preserved Roman cities in the world. We toured the excavated part of town - saw many houses, bakeries, temples, stores, and even fast-food joints. The town has two theatres, a few sports arenas, and a stadium. One of the highlights of the visits were the castings of real human bodies. People were caught off-gaurd by the volcano errupting and were thus burried alive. Their bodies decomposed in the ash leaving 'holes' where the bodies were. When excavations take place, the 'holes' are filled with plaster and allowed to dry, then when the ash is dug up, a perfect cast of the bodies is left behind. Some of the casts are haunting: you can see facial expressions and even the folds of the peoples clothes.
From Sorrento, we also took a cruise to the island of Capri and along the Almafi coastline. Highlights here included jumping off the top of our cruise ship into the emerald green and blue water on the coast of Capri. We sat in the sun on the top of the boat while the Almafi coastline went by, spent the afternoon in the town of Almafi. We took another boat to the Green Grotto. This is a dark cave full of water, but the light from an underwater passage illuminates the cave. Pretty cool, but maybe not worth the money it took to get there.
We made our way to Bari to catch a ferry to Greece. Our ferry ride was only 20Euro each, but that meant that all we had was a plastic lawn chair and a piece of floor for the 16 hour, overnight ferry. So we slept on the floor, with our bags as pillows. Arrived in Patras, Greece and caught a train to Athens.
Athens was fun - things are cheaper there. We saw the famous Parthenon and other Greek and Roman ruins. We climbed a few hills, took alot of pictures and took it easy. I went to the Greek Musical Instrument Museum while Greg took care of laundry!! Actually, we paid some guy to do it for us.
You may or may not have heard that there has been a heat wave in Greece. It is true. It has been around 44 degrees celcius. One day in Athens everything was closed due to heat. Heat waves are hot. It is like putting your face over the oven door when you open it. Normally wind cools you off, but this wind burned your skin. It was hot. But we are alive. Luckily we had AC in our Room in Athens.
Next Greek stop: Kalambaka/Metora. This is the home of the famous hill-top monastaries. There are 21, gravity defying monastaries perched on the tops of cliffs. They were built starting in the 11C, and 6 are still in use today. We toured Grand Metora Monastary. The highlight other than the incredible views was surely the ossuary. This is the room where the skulls of previous monks are kept on shelves. We did alot of climbing and hiking in the area, took a poop-load of pictures and got really hot and sweaty. The sight of monastaries on the tops of cliffs is quite nifty.
We are now in Thesenolika, Greece and we are departing tonight for Bucaresti, Romania. It is a 19 hour train trip through Bulgaria. Should be interesting.
Sorry no pics this time - this computer isn't cooperating, and the majority of our pics are in a locker at the train station anyways. Until Romania, that is the koop-scoop!!!
Friday, 29 June 2007
Wednesday, 20 June 2007
Roma!
We arrived in Rome on Sunday afternoon. While we were standing in the train station wondering where in the hell to go, a women came up to us and asked if we needed a hotel to stay in. She phoned a hotel and brought us to a place right by the train station free of charge!
We got settled in and started our sightseeing which included The Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, The Spanish Steps, and numerous churches.
On Tuesday we woke up at 7 so we could get to the Colessium before the massive wave of tourists. It paid off as there was no line when it opened. The Colessium is very cool, as was the Roman Forum which is all the ruins from ancient Rome. Palentine Hill is much of the same, and after a while you start to not even turn your head to take a look at buildings that have been there for 3000 years.... By 1pm Brad and I were so exhausted and hot that we had to take a Spanish Siesta (afternoon nap).
On Wednesday we were off to the Vatican. We thought we would be there at the same time as the Colessium, but 5000 other people had that idea as well. So we waited in the longest line I have ever seen for an hout and a half before finally getting into the Vatican Museums. At first I was quite annoyed with the museum, you literally couldn't move because of the crowds and the art was much of the same old things we saw numerous times earlier in our trip. It was all worth it however when we saw the Sistine Chapel. Other highlights included the modern religous art section and Raphael's rooms. We then made a quick visit to St. Peter's square and Basillica which had the tombs of St. Peter and Pope John Paul II.
Today we are off to Sorrento where we will do day trips to Pompeii and the island of Capri. From there it is on a boat to Greece!
We got settled in and started our sightseeing which included The Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, The Spanish Steps, and numerous churches.
On Tuesday we woke up at 7 so we could get to the Colessium before the massive wave of tourists. It paid off as there was no line when it opened. The Colessium is very cool, as was the Roman Forum which is all the ruins from ancient Rome. Palentine Hill is much of the same, and after a while you start to not even turn your head to take a look at buildings that have been there for 3000 years.... By 1pm Brad and I were so exhausted and hot that we had to take a Spanish Siesta (afternoon nap).
On Wednesday we were off to the Vatican. We thought we would be there at the same time as the Colessium, but 5000 other people had that idea as well. So we waited in the longest line I have ever seen for an hout and a half before finally getting into the Vatican Museums. At first I was quite annoyed with the museum, you literally couldn't move because of the crowds and the art was much of the same old things we saw numerous times earlier in our trip. It was all worth it however when we saw the Sistine Chapel. Other highlights included the modern religous art section and Raphael's rooms. We then made a quick visit to St. Peter's square and Basillica which had the tombs of St. Peter and Pope John Paul II.
Today we are off to Sorrento where we will do day trips to Pompeii and the island of Capri. From there it is on a boat to Greece!
Saturday, 16 June 2007
Venice!!
These people were everywhere so we had our picture taken with them:
The Grand Canal:
A Gondola:
San Marco church (the church that has a ton of music history - here is a piece: Giovani Gabrieli taught Heinrich Schutz composition here. The church has two facing choir lofts, and this had a big influence in the polychoral style of writing. I did a polychoral piece by Schutz two months ago at UofC)
This is the inside of St. Mark's (San Marco). It is covered in golden mosaic. The picture isn't great, but that is because pictures weren't allowed...
More Venice!!!
This is Greg is Venice:
This is some sort of palace that we walked to that was under construction:
This is the Ospedal della Pieta (for those of you who don't know what that is, it used to be a girls orphanage a few hundred years ago. Vivaldi spent the majority of his life working there and writing music for the orphan girls to perform for the public - it all happened here!!)
A canal in Venice:
One of the three bridges that cross the Grand Canal; this is the most famous one. There are shops and vendors all along this bridge, and many, many tourists.
Monday, 11 June 2007
BULLFIGHT PICS!
Bullfight:
This is the scene once the bull is dead. The live music starts, the horses drag the bull out, the blue smock men rake the arena, and then it is time for another fight!!
Oh, and here is Greg and I re-packing in the Madrid train station:
PICS!!
If it seems like a postcard, it is becaue it looks like a postcard - Mont St Michel! (but this is really my picture)
The Sagrada Familia - A huge, unfinished church, designed by Gaudi in Barcelona:
A Parc designed by Gaudi:
Our French friends from the Barcelona beach:
The inside of the mosque in Cordoba, now a Cathedral:
PICTURES!!!!!!
Greg and I have updated you on some highlights of the trip, now you can SEE some highlights:
Greg's Birthday party in our room in Bayeux, France:
Pont du Hoc on Omaha Beach in Normandy, France. This is a preserved battlefeild - you can see the remains of the German bunkers and the huge bomb craters!
St. Malo, France - we walked around the entire old city on the top of this wall.
Watched the sunset from the top of the wall in St. Malo.
We did some hiking around Cancale, France. Our hostel was on the ocean near here and we could see Mont St. Michel in the distance.
Bye Anne! Hello Nice!
June 9 is the day we sent our travel buddy back to Paris. We took a train to Madrid before each taking a night train in oposite directions. The plus side to Anne leaving is that she took all the stuff that we didn't want anymore, now are packs are 20 pounds lighter! Brad and I arrived in Barcelona on the morning of the 10th (happy birthday DAD), only to get right back on the train to make our way to Nice. What we didn't know is that France was in the middle of some sort of train strike so we ended up transferring 4 different times before getting the train that we wanted. Finally, after 34 hours of train, we were in Nice at 10 PM last night.
Today was a day of relaxing. Laundry, internet, sleep, planning, and wine are all in the cards. Tommorow we are leaving to check out the Principality of Monaco, then it is off to Cinque Terre, Italy!
Cheers!
Today was a day of relaxing. Laundry, internet, sleep, planning, and wine are all in the cards. Tommorow we are leaving to check out the Principality of Monaco, then it is off to Cinque Terre, Italy!
Cheers!
Seville
This is us winging it at our best. Our goal was to get to Gibraltor after our two nights in Cordoba but it just wasn't possible due to crappy train times. Instead we got on whatever train left next..... Hola Sevilla!
We lucked out big time going to Seville as there happened to be a BULLFIGHT the night we arrived! Expensive but well worth the entertainment. Here are the highlights:
1 The bullring. Old and beautifull, I felt like I was in meidevil times. You even sit on the original brick seats!
2 All the music is played by a live brass band.
3 One bull, after being stabbed in the head with a sword, flung his head up and threw the sword into the crowd. Don't worry, this was a good 10 feet away.
Don't ask us the history of bullfighting, we have no idea. Maybe somebody can research it and let us know. As for now I am just happy I get to tell everyone I saw a BULLFIGHT!
The next day we spent some time exploring the maze of streets in Seville. We also visited the worlds largest cathedral in area, and climbed the 32 ramps of the bell tower for a great view of the city.
The next day it was bye bye Seville!
We lucked out big time going to Seville as there happened to be a BULLFIGHT the night we arrived! Expensive but well worth the entertainment. Here are the highlights:
1 The bullring. Old and beautifull, I felt like I was in meidevil times. You even sit on the original brick seats!
2 All the music is played by a live brass band.
3 One bull, after being stabbed in the head with a sword, flung his head up and threw the sword into the crowd. Don't worry, this was a good 10 feet away.
Don't ask us the history of bullfighting, we have no idea. Maybe somebody can research it and let us know. As for now I am just happy I get to tell everyone I saw a BULLFIGHT!
The next day we spent some time exploring the maze of streets in Seville. We also visited the worlds largest cathedral in area, and climbed the 32 ramps of the bell tower for a great view of the city.
The next day it was bye bye Seville!
Bareclona......Cordoba......
First off, an apology to all the dedicated readers of our blog, as this is our first update in more than a week. Computers have been hard to come by, not that we would have even had time given our schedule. Let me explain:
After enjoying our spectacular flamenco show, we got the experience of Barcelona night life. After 2 bars and a 4 hour chat with some french guys on the beach, we were a little booze happy. Brad went to bed at around 7 AM, but I tried the all-nighter......
Needless to say we had a very slow next day. After a few short delays, we made it to Cordoba where we would spend the next two nights.
Once the largest city in western Europe, Cordoba is unique for it's history and religous controversy. The expulsion of Jews, the changing of Christian and Muslim authority, and the vast archeological finds made this city a true highlight. The main area of interest was the Mezquito, the largest Islamic sight in the western hemisphere. What is unique about it is that it was built on top of a church site. Then, after several makeovers, the building was once again taken over by a Christian King and converted (still with it's Islamic archeticture), back into a cathedral.
Some other highlights of Cordoba
1 I don't deal with 30 degrees celsius well, never mind 40. It's bad when you think the wet drops on your toes are rain, really it's the sweat dripping from your hair. The point is that Cordoba is quite hot.
2 The Sangria here might be the best thing that I have ever put in my mouth. The mojitos in Barcelona come a close second.
After enjoying our spectacular flamenco show, we got the experience of Barcelona night life. After 2 bars and a 4 hour chat with some french guys on the beach, we were a little booze happy. Brad went to bed at around 7 AM, but I tried the all-nighter......
Needless to say we had a very slow next day. After a few short delays, we made it to Cordoba where we would spend the next two nights.
Once the largest city in western Europe, Cordoba is unique for it's history and religous controversy. The expulsion of Jews, the changing of Christian and Muslim authority, and the vast archeological finds made this city a true highlight. The main area of interest was the Mezquito, the largest Islamic sight in the western hemisphere. What is unique about it is that it was built on top of a church site. Then, after several makeovers, the building was once again taken over by a Christian King and converted (still with it's Islamic archeticture), back into a cathedral.
Some other highlights of Cordoba
1 I don't deal with 30 degrees celsius well, never mind 40. It's bad when you think the wet drops on your toes are rain, really it's the sweat dripping from your hair. The point is that Cordoba is quite hot.
2 The Sangria here might be the best thing that I have ever put in my mouth. The mojitos in Barcelona come a close second.
Monday, 4 June 2007
Barcelona and More!
Well, well, well...
Since the last post we have done alot, and since time is short I´ll try and fit as much in as possible...
Beacches of Normandy - saw the Canadian WWII landing beach (Juno Beach) and visited the museum. Went to Omaha beach (where the Americans landed and got their asses kicked), Pointe du Hoc which has preserved German bunkers and guns as well as a field full of bomb craters. The Americans had to scale 30 meters of cliff to get to the Germans.
St. Malo - very awesome place that we weren´t even planning on going to. The entire city is walled and is on the ocean. We ate crepes on top of the wall while watching the sunset on the ocean.
Cancale - hiked around a peninsula in northern France, climbed rocks, played on beaches.
Mont St Michel - AWESOME! An entire island turned into a monastary and city. It towers over the ocean. Sometimes the tide surrounds the mountain and sometimes sand surrounds it. It has been a place of pilgramage for about 1000 years.
Two very kind French girls offered us a ride back to Paris in their van. Along the way, they bought us lunch and check the train schedule for us. So great.
Got couchette train - we slept over night in bunk beds on the train. We were lucky and were only 3 to a room when there could have been six.
Now we are in Barcelona!!! Spain is pretty hot. Temperature and otherwise. We´ve seen all sorts of Gaudi, saw the Familia something or other which is a church that has been under construction for 125 years and they still are nowhere near completion.
AND, tonight we are headed out for Tapas, Sangria, and a Flemenco show!!!
Gotta run!
Since the last post we have done alot, and since time is short I´ll try and fit as much in as possible...
Beacches of Normandy - saw the Canadian WWII landing beach (Juno Beach) and visited the museum. Went to Omaha beach (where the Americans landed and got their asses kicked), Pointe du Hoc which has preserved German bunkers and guns as well as a field full of bomb craters. The Americans had to scale 30 meters of cliff to get to the Germans.
St. Malo - very awesome place that we weren´t even planning on going to. The entire city is walled and is on the ocean. We ate crepes on top of the wall while watching the sunset on the ocean.
Cancale - hiked around a peninsula in northern France, climbed rocks, played on beaches.
Mont St Michel - AWESOME! An entire island turned into a monastary and city. It towers over the ocean. Sometimes the tide surrounds the mountain and sometimes sand surrounds it. It has been a place of pilgramage for about 1000 years.
Two very kind French girls offered us a ride back to Paris in their van. Along the way, they bought us lunch and check the train schedule for us. So great.
Got couchette train - we slept over night in bunk beds on the train. We were lucky and were only 3 to a room when there could have been six.
Now we are in Barcelona!!! Spain is pretty hot. Temperature and otherwise. We´ve seen all sorts of Gaudi, saw the Familia something or other which is a church that has been under construction for 125 years and they still are nowhere near completion.
AND, tonight we are headed out for Tapas, Sangria, and a Flemenco show!!!
Gotta run!
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