Slept in this morning and it was awesome! Went down to breakfast and came back up to pack up for Florence! We had a reservation in Tuscany for a wine tour and tasting! Yay!! I took sometime the past few days looking up various places and was happy to find Castello Il Palagio it was a cute looking place, had a driver that would take us from the train station straight to the castle and it was decently priced! We checked out of the hotel and took the ferry to the train station making it within minutes! That was a little nerve racking ;)
It was about an hour to an hour and a half ride and once we got to Florence we had some time to kill until the driver picked us up so we decided to stop in a café just outside the station for some lunch. We all got some delicious pasta dishes and a round of beers. We even got some gelato for desert! Yum!! After that we headed back to the station and met Giovanni our driver :) He was very nice and helped us with our bags and we we're off.
We talked with him along the way and he pulled over two or three times to let us take pictures! We got a great shot of the Duomo from the hill and he even stopped and told us about a monastery. It was a great ride until just in front of us we witnessed a car accident on the turn off ramp. It was really really scary! I had forgotten the intensity of a car accident and seeing that in front of us really riled me up and brought me back to my car accident. I sort of lost it and began bawling. Giovanni got out and called 9-1-1 and a couple other cars stopped too to help out.
It was quite an intense part of the trip and still very scary and sad to look back on. Giovanni was great though and handled the situation really well. It was weird feeling so helpless in that situation because we couldn't speak the language. I counted my blessings Giovanni had let us stop to take pictures because it was a mere two cars in front of us, we really had an angel watching over us that day.
We got to the castle and I ran to the bathroom when I got out the lady instructing the wine tasting had a glass of water waiting for me. Giovanni had explained to them why we were late and what we had witnessed. Once I had calmed down we set out to tour the Castle. It was a small little place really quaint. The vineyards were huge though and they specialized in olive oils too! It was way more personal feeling compared to the one we had done with the school. It was just me, my mom, and Gerry with the lady who worked there. She brought us around the place, let us take pictures and ask questions. We got to see the cellar with all the different barrels inside. It was really fascinating! She told us all about how Tuscany is an area in Italy and Chianti is a smaller area of Tuscany and even smaller in that area is the Chianti Classico area which the Castle we were touring was a part of and very proud to be specific to that area.
After we toured the Castle she brought us up to a dinning room with a bunch of tables set up. It looked like a family had just finished before us. We got to try out four different wines. A bottle of Pinot Grigio, Chianti Classico, Chianti Classico Reserve, and a dessert wine a.k.a Grappa. We got a small plate of toasted bread with cheese and salami to sample the wine with. It was really cool, I liked the Chianti Classico Reserve the best, she even let us keep the wine we didn't finish :D
After the wine tasting we went down to the store and picked up a few extra bottles to share on holidays with the family and then headed back to the train station. We hung out around the train station for a about a half hour and then took the train back to Rome. It was nice because not a lot of people were on the train and it was really quiet.
We got back to Termini in Rome the train station and walked to Mom and Ger's hotel. I kind of forgot how far it was when we were walking with three bags and wine… lol it was a bit of a struggle and we probably looked pretty ridiculous, but eventually we made it :) We checked in, dropped their bags off, and headed out to find some dinner. There was a really cute brick oven pizza place right across from their hotel so we decided to make things easy and just eat there.
It was awesome pizza, the best I think I've had yet in Rome! I'm guessing it was because it was associated out of Naples, which is the best pizza I have had in Italy by far with Becky! This pizza was a close second! We got some sort of spicy pizza with bacon and it just melted in your mouth! After dinner mom and Ger walked me home and we said goodnight :) It was by far a very eventful day!
Saturday, May 7, 2011
Day 60-Venice!-Friday-4/1/11
Woke up to the sounds of the boats clamoring on the canal. Got dressed and went down to breakfast. It was a nice set up. After that I showed Mom and Gerry around Venice! We went to St. Mark's Basilica and toured through that. We bought a guide book which was sweet because it had a ton of other church's in it and we got to use it on a couple other churches throughout the day. After that we went back to the hotel and changed. It was absolutely gorgeous out! We walked around quite a bit and then decided to stop at a café for some bruschetta and a bottle of white wine. It was a nice little snack. We continued walking around for awhile after that. We visited another church and found a bunch a cool masks… all of which I kept hoping to find better and I'm still kicking myself about not getting one!
We got a round of beers and a crepe with nutella and bananas. It was alright, I'm definitely picky now that I've had the most amazing crepes in Paris :) After we decided to go on our gondola ride. We got a bottle of white wine and sipped it as we paddled through the back canals of Venice. It was absolutely beautiful! The gondola man was really funny because he only knew my name and when he wanted my attention he'd be like Ash-a-lee! Haha I enjoyed it. I took a ton of pictures and he told us where famous people had stayed and all sorts of history about Venice and how the whole island is sinking! Crazy!
After the gondola ride it was too early for dinner, but too late for lunch so we decided to stop in a pizzeria and split a pizza between the three of us to get us by for a few more hours until dinner. It was actually a fantastic pizza! Great pick by Gerry! We devoured that and continued walking around the island. We found a park that I had never seen before which was weird because it was my third time back and I still had not been to this part of the island. We walked in and out of a lot of shops while cruising around the island. I swear by the end of the day we had walked the whole thing!
I was trying to find a certain store and getting frustrated when the sun started to set and I still couldn't find it. I left mom and Ger at a bar to have a cocktail and watch some baseball while I ran off trying to find it. It took a while and a ton of weaving, but I found it! Unfortunately, it was closed :-/ I almost cried because I had a certain something to get someone and it was my third time back and I still wouldn't get it :-/ Oh well… I will tell them the story about it when I get home and I'm sure they will be ok with it :)
After that I walked back found Mom and Ger and we decided to get some dinner. I took them to the Tratorria Becky and I found, but this time we ate outside :) It was a beautiful little deck enclosed with vines growing around it. It got a little chilly though, more than I had expected it to. We had some delicious food despite being cold and crabby. I had the seafood spaghetti which was amazing, Gerry got lobster spaghetti and they literally gave him a whole lobster! Like the claws, body, tail, everything! It was hilarious! Mom got spaghetti carbonara I think?? She said grandpa used to make it for her back in the day :) All of our meals were delicious, by the time we got home everyone was pretty worn down… Mom skyped with Steph, Grandma, and Grandpa, and Ger and I hit the hay. It was a pretty good night despite the tension after running around the island all day.
We got a round of beers and a crepe with nutella and bananas. It was alright, I'm definitely picky now that I've had the most amazing crepes in Paris :) After we decided to go on our gondola ride. We got a bottle of white wine and sipped it as we paddled through the back canals of Venice. It was absolutely beautiful! The gondola man was really funny because he only knew my name and when he wanted my attention he'd be like Ash-a-lee! Haha I enjoyed it. I took a ton of pictures and he told us where famous people had stayed and all sorts of history about Venice and how the whole island is sinking! Crazy!
After the gondola ride it was too early for dinner, but too late for lunch so we decided to stop in a pizzeria and split a pizza between the three of us to get us by for a few more hours until dinner. It was actually a fantastic pizza! Great pick by Gerry! We devoured that and continued walking around the island. We found a park that I had never seen before which was weird because it was my third time back and I still had not been to this part of the island. We walked in and out of a lot of shops while cruising around the island. I swear by the end of the day we had walked the whole thing!
I was trying to find a certain store and getting frustrated when the sun started to set and I still couldn't find it. I left mom and Ger at a bar to have a cocktail and watch some baseball while I ran off trying to find it. It took a while and a ton of weaving, but I found it! Unfortunately, it was closed :-/ I almost cried because I had a certain something to get someone and it was my third time back and I still wouldn't get it :-/ Oh well… I will tell them the story about it when I get home and I'm sure they will be ok with it :)
After that I walked back found Mom and Ger and we decided to get some dinner. I took them to the Tratorria Becky and I found, but this time we ate outside :) It was a beautiful little deck enclosed with vines growing around it. It got a little chilly though, more than I had expected it to. We had some delicious food despite being cold and crabby. I had the seafood spaghetti which was amazing, Gerry got lobster spaghetti and they literally gave him a whole lobster! Like the claws, body, tail, everything! It was hilarious! Mom got spaghetti carbonara I think?? She said grandpa used to make it for her back in the day :) All of our meals were delicious, by the time we got home everyone was pretty worn down… Mom skyped with Steph, Grandma, and Grandpa, and Ger and I hit the hay. It was a pretty good night despite the tension after running around the island all day.
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Day 59-Rome-Venice!-Thursday-3/31/11
Slept in this morning after our rough night of bugs which was nice :) Mom called and they checked out of their hotel and were bringing their luggage over to my apartment. I finished getting ready and we wrote out our postcards to the fam, then we headed out for some food.
None of us had ate breakfast, but it was already about time for lunch. We decided to go to Peppy's Bar which is just down the hill from my place. Mom and I got cappuccino's and Gerry got "American" coffee. Yes, that is what they call it. Mom got a frittata panini for lunch, Ger got a tuna panini, and I got a caprese salad. After our coffee we decided to share a bottle of white wine to go with our lunch. We sat for awhile and took our time and eventually decided to head out.
We dropped our postcards in the mail on the way back and also stopped at a bank to get money out. After that we returned to my apartment where I looked up the weather, which was supposed to be beautiful :) and packed up. Mom changed out some of her and Ger's stuff too and then we headed to Termini the train/bus station.
I don't know what I was thinking, I figured getting a ticket would be easy because it was a Thursday, but I should have learned from the experience and stress I went through with Becky that it's never that simple.
We got to Termini and went over to the self service station. My parents and I had planned to ride first class because it was a four hour train ride and we wanted to be comfortable, plus I figured they wouldn't want to be facing other random strangers. I looked up the trip and found one that left within the hour, but it said the first class was full and there were only two seats left in the second one. I began to feel sudden stress because the next train did not leave for a couple hours and was also filling up.
This is where the third incident began, we will label this: "The Criminal". As I was paging through trying to figure out what to do and what tickets we should buy a guy came over and started talking to me and tapping the screen. He was explaining to us that the second class was just as good as the first class and the only difference was in first class you got a beverage. I got all weirded out by him because he took over the screen and I started to step away. I told my parents we should just go talk to the main ticket counter and see if they have any solutions for us.
My mom and I left before Gerry and went in line. When Gerry came over he said he had watched the guy who was "helping us" / making things more difficult and rushed/pressured had been arrested by the Italian police! I figured he was trying to scam us, but he wouldn't back off. I'm glad we left when we did and I'm glad he got taken away, I'm sure if we had tried to push him away and buy our tickets he would have grabbed them and ran or taken our credit card as soon as we took it out. What a crazy mess!
It was a relief once we talked to the ticket counter to find there were 3 seats on the next train out to Venice, that they were in second class, but that we would at least be on the next train. We all calmed down a bit after we received our tickets. We purchased some waters for the ride, went to the bathroom, then boarded the train.
I was even more relieved when I realized we were on a really nice train to Venice compared to the train I road to Cinque Terre and Naples-Venice, that I thought we would be on. We got lucky because the train had two seats on each side and were not facing other seats so Mom and Ger sat together and I sat to a nice old man. It was a peaceful ride, there was even a food cart in there where we were able to get a snack along the way. I'm glad it all worked out :)
On the train ride I read up on Tuscany and Venice, listened to my Ipod, watched as the landscape went by (it was very beautiful because we went through the Tuscany area) and slept a little. There weren't many stops which was nice because it made the train ride go a little faster. Once we got to Venice it was dark out. I had printed out directions to our hotel so I knew exactly what taxi boat to take and where to get off to find out hotel :) I felt like a pro since I had already been there twice before!
We took the taxi boat to the hotel and it seemed to take forever! I think it was because I was super excited to be back and it was night time so it was hard to take pictures in the dark. Once we got off the boat our hotel was only a block away. It was down a scary alleyway so I was worried that the hotel wouldn't be that nice. Luckily, it was actually a really cute hotel. I laughed as we walked in the room though because it was literally 3 single beds, two pushed side by side, and one laying horizontal at the foot of the other two. We were sardined in. HAHA! Getting cozy in Venice! There was barely enough room to walk around the beds, the wardrobe would barely even open because the third bed was in the way and the TV didn't work. The bathroom had a nasty smell too. The decorations were still super cute and when we opened the windows we had a view of a side canal and it was still an upgrade from a hostel which I was used to living in while traveling so I was perfectly happy with it :) Plus we got a free breakfast buffet in the morning, who can complain with that? ;)
Once we dropped our bags off and settled in we were all starving and decided to go find some grub. We decided were close to the grand canal so we found a place along there to eat. It was really peaceful to watch the boats go by and hear the ripple of the water :) We ate at a place further down on the opposite side of where all the main touristy places were. It had a special price three course dinner menu which we all decided to get. I had seafood spaghetti, fried seafood, and a delicious vanilla panna cotta with chocolate syrup for desert. Gerry had the same thing but his dessert had Carmel sauce and mom had veal and something else. I can't remember right now.
The food was good, but I ended up getting a tummy ache from it because I had not eaten fried food in forever. :-/ After dinner we headed over to Campo San' Margherita. I had planned on bringing my parents to DuChamp to have them try their Bellini's which are super delicious, but their outside seating was full, so instead we went across to Orange Bar where we each had a beverage while watching for a table to open up at DuChamp. It cleared out and we finished up our drinks then bounced over to DuChamp, I was glad because my Bellini at Orange Bar did not do justice compared to the Bellini at DuChamp. The juice there is just so much more fresh and it's the perfect mix with the white wine and champagne. :) mmmm! Thinking about it now really makes me want another one!
After we finished up there we headed back to the hotel to turn in. It was a good first night, but we were all very exhausted from the traveling. We slept with the windows open falling asleep to the soft sound of the ripples of water against the canal.
None of us had ate breakfast, but it was already about time for lunch. We decided to go to Peppy's Bar which is just down the hill from my place. Mom and I got cappuccino's and Gerry got "American" coffee. Yes, that is what they call it. Mom got a frittata panini for lunch, Ger got a tuna panini, and I got a caprese salad. After our coffee we decided to share a bottle of white wine to go with our lunch. We sat for awhile and took our time and eventually decided to head out.
We dropped our postcards in the mail on the way back and also stopped at a bank to get money out. After that we returned to my apartment where I looked up the weather, which was supposed to be beautiful :) and packed up. Mom changed out some of her and Ger's stuff too and then we headed to Termini the train/bus station.
I don't know what I was thinking, I figured getting a ticket would be easy because it was a Thursday, but I should have learned from the experience and stress I went through with Becky that it's never that simple.
We got to Termini and went over to the self service station. My parents and I had planned to ride first class because it was a four hour train ride and we wanted to be comfortable, plus I figured they wouldn't want to be facing other random strangers. I looked up the trip and found one that left within the hour, but it said the first class was full and there were only two seats left in the second one. I began to feel sudden stress because the next train did not leave for a couple hours and was also filling up.
This is where the third incident began, we will label this: "The Criminal". As I was paging through trying to figure out what to do and what tickets we should buy a guy came over and started talking to me and tapping the screen. He was explaining to us that the second class was just as good as the first class and the only difference was in first class you got a beverage. I got all weirded out by him because he took over the screen and I started to step away. I told my parents we should just go talk to the main ticket counter and see if they have any solutions for us.
My mom and I left before Gerry and went in line. When Gerry came over he said he had watched the guy who was "helping us" / making things more difficult and rushed/pressured had been arrested by the Italian police! I figured he was trying to scam us, but he wouldn't back off. I'm glad we left when we did and I'm glad he got taken away, I'm sure if we had tried to push him away and buy our tickets he would have grabbed them and ran or taken our credit card as soon as we took it out. What a crazy mess!
It was a relief once we talked to the ticket counter to find there were 3 seats on the next train out to Venice, that they were in second class, but that we would at least be on the next train. We all calmed down a bit after we received our tickets. We purchased some waters for the ride, went to the bathroom, then boarded the train.
I was even more relieved when I realized we were on a really nice train to Venice compared to the train I road to Cinque Terre and Naples-Venice, that I thought we would be on. We got lucky because the train had two seats on each side and were not facing other seats so Mom and Ger sat together and I sat to a nice old man. It was a peaceful ride, there was even a food cart in there where we were able to get a snack along the way. I'm glad it all worked out :)
On the train ride I read up on Tuscany and Venice, listened to my Ipod, watched as the landscape went by (it was very beautiful because we went through the Tuscany area) and slept a little. There weren't many stops which was nice because it made the train ride go a little faster. Once we got to Venice it was dark out. I had printed out directions to our hotel so I knew exactly what taxi boat to take and where to get off to find out hotel :) I felt like a pro since I had already been there twice before!
We took the taxi boat to the hotel and it seemed to take forever! I think it was because I was super excited to be back and it was night time so it was hard to take pictures in the dark. Once we got off the boat our hotel was only a block away. It was down a scary alleyway so I was worried that the hotel wouldn't be that nice. Luckily, it was actually a really cute hotel. I laughed as we walked in the room though because it was literally 3 single beds, two pushed side by side, and one laying horizontal at the foot of the other two. We were sardined in. HAHA! Getting cozy in Venice! There was barely enough room to walk around the beds, the wardrobe would barely even open because the third bed was in the way and the TV didn't work. The bathroom had a nasty smell too. The decorations were still super cute and when we opened the windows we had a view of a side canal and it was still an upgrade from a hostel which I was used to living in while traveling so I was perfectly happy with it :) Plus we got a free breakfast buffet in the morning, who can complain with that? ;)
Once we dropped our bags off and settled in we were all starving and decided to go find some grub. We decided were close to the grand canal so we found a place along there to eat. It was really peaceful to watch the boats go by and hear the ripple of the water :) We ate at a place further down on the opposite side of where all the main touristy places were. It had a special price three course dinner menu which we all decided to get. I had seafood spaghetti, fried seafood, and a delicious vanilla panna cotta with chocolate syrup for desert. Gerry had the same thing but his dessert had Carmel sauce and mom had veal and something else. I can't remember right now.
The food was good, but I ended up getting a tummy ache from it because I had not eaten fried food in forever. :-/ After dinner we headed over to Campo San' Margherita. I had planned on bringing my parents to DuChamp to have them try their Bellini's which are super delicious, but their outside seating was full, so instead we went across to Orange Bar where we each had a beverage while watching for a table to open up at DuChamp. It cleared out and we finished up our drinks then bounced over to DuChamp, I was glad because my Bellini at Orange Bar did not do justice compared to the Bellini at DuChamp. The juice there is just so much more fresh and it's the perfect mix with the white wine and champagne. :) mmmm! Thinking about it now really makes me want another one!
After we finished up there we headed back to the hotel to turn in. It was a good first night, but we were all very exhausted from the traveling. We slept with the windows open falling asleep to the soft sound of the ripples of water against the canal.
Monday, April 18, 2011
Day 58-Rome-Wednesday-3/30/11
Woke up this morning around 9am, got ready, and walked over to my parents hotel to sneak into their free breakfast :) Shhh! Don’t tell! It was kind fun to get a free breakfast after living off of my fake toast. The breakfast was ok, not what I expected, but still decent.
After breakfast we took the metro to the Vatican. We wanted to make it there by 11am to get to see the Pope's blessing. We didn't get there until 11:10am and I figured we had already missed him so we walked up to the Vatican Museum instead of going to see St. Peter's Basilica. Good thing too, when we got to the museum all the tours were full until 2:30pm. We scheduled our tour and decided to go see St. Peter's while we waited, since the church is free.
We got to the square outside the basilica and it was packed! The Pope was holding a church service outside! I was soo excited! It was my first time seeing the Pope! We went through security and stood in the square watching the Pope hold a church service in Italian. It wasn't just a blessing, we lucked out for sure! I was super happy! After we stayed there awhile soaking in the reality that we were standing in viewing distance of the Pope we decided to venture out before the rest of the crowd got up to leave. We couldn't go in the church since the Pope was giving his service outside on the steps so we decided to see that at the end of the tour.
On our walk away from the basilica we stumbled across an art exhibit along the street with the stations of the cross set up in bronze statues. It was really awesome! I had never seen that outside the basilica before so I'm guessing they had just put it up since the season of lent had started.
After walking through the stations of the cross we went and saw St. John's basilica. It was closed, but we got to see the outside of it. Then we grabbed some lunch at a little café. We each got a Panini. I had prosciutto and mozz cheese, mom had lettuce, tom, and mozz, and Ger got veal and spinach. After our lunch we decided to go get chocolate dipped gelato because it was pretty close by and we still had some time to spare :) It was as good as ever! I finally tried their pistachio gelato and it was bomb! Probably one of my new favorites!
We made our way slowly, but surely back to the Vatican museum to go on our tour. We had a cute old Italian lady who spoke English as our guide. She was nice and knowledgeable, but it was very hard to hear her in our headsets and she walked really fast through stuff, which we wanted to take time and see. I think it's because they have to be done in a couple hours and you can literally spend hours upon hours in the Vatican museum because it's just that big with soooo much to see.
Once we got to the Sistine chapel we kind of parted ways with our lady because she said it was the end of the tour and we took our time taking in the extravagant chapel. One wall has the new testament, the other has the old. Then there's the Last Judgment on the main wall and the ceiling which has creation of man, separation of light and dark, creation of sin, Noah's ark, etc. It's a truly fascinating chapel, that alone I could sit and stare at forever!
After the Sistine Chapel we walked out and straight into St. Peter's Basilica. Part of it was closed because it was Wednesday and in the evening about to start a church service, something I also did not know they had. We got to see the majority of it though which is good :) I'm sad though, I wanted to climb up to the dome, we were all pretty exhausted though from the tour and decided to skip it, plus I found out my mom has a slight fear of heights that I had no idea about.
Once we left the basilica we headed out to find somewhere we could sit and enjoy a glass of wine and a small snack. We went to a cute café where incident number one happened. The face touching. LOL Ok, so we grabbed a table outside, but no one was coming so I went inside to flag down a waiter/ask if we needed to order inside, Gerry went to look at the outdoor menu poster just a few feet away from our table, and mom stayed at the table to save our spot. Gerry, the waiter, and I all return at the same time, and the waiter is yelling at a man a few tables down to get out of there. I was kind of confused and thought he was yelling at a bird or something. Mom explained that the guy had asked her for a euro and when he said no he like petted her face! HAHAHA sorry mom, it's kinda funny! She was really bugged and the waiter must've seen this and kept apologizing. Meanwhile Gerry and I didn't really get it/ were cracking jokes about how we can't leave mom alone for one minute hahaha.
It was an eventful afternoon ;) We enjoyed out wine, tried a tiny piece of their tiramisu to share between the three of us and I also got a cookie with Nutella and white chocolate while my parents shared some marmalade cookie thing.
After our snack we decided to head over to Castle San Angelo to see if we still had time to run through that quick. Unfortunately it was almost 7pm and it had just closed at 6:30pm :( Sad day. We took pics of the outside and made our way across the bridge of Angels where we took some more photos. Across the bridge we stopped at a store and got a few postcards to mail to the fam. We also got stamps and bus tickets since we had already walked a ton that day, I figured we could take the bus home.
Before heading home I decided to introduce them to an appertivo. An appertivo is where you order a drink and get a free little buffet of appetizer like food. We went to one in Campo di Fiori and it was delicious! The veggies were super fresh and good! This place basically had a bunch of different veggie dishes compared to the one I had on my birthday that had a bunch of different bruschettas. I think I liked this one more, there's something about fresh veggies that you just can't compete with :)
After the appertivo we were still a little hungry, but not enough for a sit down heavy dinner. I decided since we had already had a few beverages, I might as well introduce them to Scholar's an Irish Pub where the kids at my school often go. We went there an had a beer and nachos. I also got Ger and I an iIish car bomb and Mom and I a rum and pear shot. Haha neither of them were expecting this ;) Oops! The college kid in me strikes again! Lol my bad.
After that we made our way home they dropped me back at my place and walked back to their hotel. Just as I was about to fall asleep I get a call from my mom. Incident number 2: Cockroaches! Yup, that's right. Mom called to inform me that they had just found not 1, not 2, not 3, but, 4 cockroaches in their hotel room! SICK SICK SICK!!! EWWWW! I freaked out. I don't really mind bugs or whatever, but cockroaches and in a hotel??!! That's disgusting! Plus, we don't really have cockroaches at home.
Haha side note, my one experience with a cockroach, I have to say it because it's super funny. Jus, you know what I'm talking about ;) lol Justine and I were making our way up to the cabin one night in her car. It was pretty late and we stopped to get gas at one of the big stations we normally stop at near Clearlake? Clearwater? One of the two, anyways I'm sleeping in the front seat, she's out pumping gas, and I thought her dog/puppy, Jax was sleeping in the back seat. Wrong. When Jus went inside to pay all of a sudden I hear commotion that wakes me up in time just to see Jax slipping through the half open window. Yes, half open, how the heck he did that I do not know, that dog is insane! Lol anyways he takes off running and I jump out to go after him just as Justine comes out chasing him too. We catch him and put him in the car and just as we are buckling back in and turning on the ignition to roll up the window he does it again! He jumps out and starts running in circles around the car. Seriously, he looks crazy! We can't figure out what he is chasing because we can't see anything. Just as Justine grabs him again she spots it. A COCKROACH! Hahahaha! Jax of all people would be chasing a cockroach that none of us can see because it's super dark out! Lol it was probably one of the funniest nights I have experienced driving up to the cabin!
Anyways, back to my Rome/Parents story. Their hotel had cockroaches, mom asked if they could stay at my place tonight because their hotel wasn't going to do anything, I said yes and after I hung up so they could pack I immediately started setting up my bed on the floor. 15 minutes or so go by and I have not heard anything from them. I start to get worked up thinking about it and head down the block to their hotel to help them with their bags because I can't take it any longer.
I find them in the lobby of their hotel. The guy at the front desk is on the phone calling a hotel associated with them that's right down the block to see if my parents can stay there for the night since the hotel they are currently in is booked. That hotel wouldn't be booked full if the people staying there knew there was cockroaches! UGH! GROSS!!! I was really made and kind of making a scene being a drama queen. I couldn't understand why my parents were being so calm, but they told me later they had already freaked out up in the hotel room and that's how they got the hotel to finally do something about it because the hotel didn't want them scaring off other guests. Screw the other guests! I wanted to shout at the top of my lungs and get everyone stirred up! I was really mad and upset because my parents had travelled all this way to have a nice vacation and day two it was already ruined because of this stupid hotel and their cockroaches!
They got a room at the other hotel and the guy behind the front desk carried their luggage for them to the next place. I was ranting and raving the whole way over and into the next place. The guy from the first hotel explained what happened to the guy at the second hotel saying there was a "small problem". This made me even more made and I went off saying it's not a "small problem" it's a HUGE problem! There were cockroaches in their hotel room! Ugh!!! This would never have happened at home! We now understand that Rome truly does go by their star reference. If they are a three star place, they are not that good or clean, so for future travelers of Rome, by the extra buck and for to a four or five star place, then you might not have to deal with cockroaches and the crap we went through!
After all was cleared up and they got settled into their next hotel, Gerry walked me back home. I was crying and upset and he said the guy at the new hotel front desk asked about me when he returned. Gerry explained to him why I was so worked up, I don't know why, but neither of the front desk guys at either hotel found cockroaches to be a big deal, it just goes to show the different mentalities of different countries I suppose…
I slept like crap that night because I was tossing and turning thinking about cockroaches, thanks a lot, stupid hotel! You're lucky I'm not saying your name! I could totally rat you out on my blog, but I'm going to hold my tongue… for now.
After breakfast we took the metro to the Vatican. We wanted to make it there by 11am to get to see the Pope's blessing. We didn't get there until 11:10am and I figured we had already missed him so we walked up to the Vatican Museum instead of going to see St. Peter's Basilica. Good thing too, when we got to the museum all the tours were full until 2:30pm. We scheduled our tour and decided to go see St. Peter's while we waited, since the church is free.
We got to the square outside the basilica and it was packed! The Pope was holding a church service outside! I was soo excited! It was my first time seeing the Pope! We went through security and stood in the square watching the Pope hold a church service in Italian. It wasn't just a blessing, we lucked out for sure! I was super happy! After we stayed there awhile soaking in the reality that we were standing in viewing distance of the Pope we decided to venture out before the rest of the crowd got up to leave. We couldn't go in the church since the Pope was giving his service outside on the steps so we decided to see that at the end of the tour.
On our walk away from the basilica we stumbled across an art exhibit along the street with the stations of the cross set up in bronze statues. It was really awesome! I had never seen that outside the basilica before so I'm guessing they had just put it up since the season of lent had started.
After walking through the stations of the cross we went and saw St. John's basilica. It was closed, but we got to see the outside of it. Then we grabbed some lunch at a little café. We each got a Panini. I had prosciutto and mozz cheese, mom had lettuce, tom, and mozz, and Ger got veal and spinach. After our lunch we decided to go get chocolate dipped gelato because it was pretty close by and we still had some time to spare :) It was as good as ever! I finally tried their pistachio gelato and it was bomb! Probably one of my new favorites!
We made our way slowly, but surely back to the Vatican museum to go on our tour. We had a cute old Italian lady who spoke English as our guide. She was nice and knowledgeable, but it was very hard to hear her in our headsets and she walked really fast through stuff, which we wanted to take time and see. I think it's because they have to be done in a couple hours and you can literally spend hours upon hours in the Vatican museum because it's just that big with soooo much to see.
Once we got to the Sistine chapel we kind of parted ways with our lady because she said it was the end of the tour and we took our time taking in the extravagant chapel. One wall has the new testament, the other has the old. Then there's the Last Judgment on the main wall and the ceiling which has creation of man, separation of light and dark, creation of sin, Noah's ark, etc. It's a truly fascinating chapel, that alone I could sit and stare at forever!
After the Sistine Chapel we walked out and straight into St. Peter's Basilica. Part of it was closed because it was Wednesday and in the evening about to start a church service, something I also did not know they had. We got to see the majority of it though which is good :) I'm sad though, I wanted to climb up to the dome, we were all pretty exhausted though from the tour and decided to skip it, plus I found out my mom has a slight fear of heights that I had no idea about.
Once we left the basilica we headed out to find somewhere we could sit and enjoy a glass of wine and a small snack. We went to a cute café where incident number one happened. The face touching. LOL Ok, so we grabbed a table outside, but no one was coming so I went inside to flag down a waiter/ask if we needed to order inside, Gerry went to look at the outdoor menu poster just a few feet away from our table, and mom stayed at the table to save our spot. Gerry, the waiter, and I all return at the same time, and the waiter is yelling at a man a few tables down to get out of there. I was kind of confused and thought he was yelling at a bird or something. Mom explained that the guy had asked her for a euro and when he said no he like petted her face! HAHAHA sorry mom, it's kinda funny! She was really bugged and the waiter must've seen this and kept apologizing. Meanwhile Gerry and I didn't really get it/ were cracking jokes about how we can't leave mom alone for one minute hahaha.
It was an eventful afternoon ;) We enjoyed out wine, tried a tiny piece of their tiramisu to share between the three of us and I also got a cookie with Nutella and white chocolate while my parents shared some marmalade cookie thing.
After our snack we decided to head over to Castle San Angelo to see if we still had time to run through that quick. Unfortunately it was almost 7pm and it had just closed at 6:30pm :( Sad day. We took pics of the outside and made our way across the bridge of Angels where we took some more photos. Across the bridge we stopped at a store and got a few postcards to mail to the fam. We also got stamps and bus tickets since we had already walked a ton that day, I figured we could take the bus home.
Before heading home I decided to introduce them to an appertivo. An appertivo is where you order a drink and get a free little buffet of appetizer like food. We went to one in Campo di Fiori and it was delicious! The veggies were super fresh and good! This place basically had a bunch of different veggie dishes compared to the one I had on my birthday that had a bunch of different bruschettas. I think I liked this one more, there's something about fresh veggies that you just can't compete with :)
After the appertivo we were still a little hungry, but not enough for a sit down heavy dinner. I decided since we had already had a few beverages, I might as well introduce them to Scholar's an Irish Pub where the kids at my school often go. We went there an had a beer and nachos. I also got Ger and I an iIish car bomb and Mom and I a rum and pear shot. Haha neither of them were expecting this ;) Oops! The college kid in me strikes again! Lol my bad.
After that we made our way home they dropped me back at my place and walked back to their hotel. Just as I was about to fall asleep I get a call from my mom. Incident number 2: Cockroaches! Yup, that's right. Mom called to inform me that they had just found not 1, not 2, not 3, but, 4 cockroaches in their hotel room! SICK SICK SICK!!! EWWWW! I freaked out. I don't really mind bugs or whatever, but cockroaches and in a hotel??!! That's disgusting! Plus, we don't really have cockroaches at home.
Haha side note, my one experience with a cockroach, I have to say it because it's super funny. Jus, you know what I'm talking about ;) lol Justine and I were making our way up to the cabin one night in her car. It was pretty late and we stopped to get gas at one of the big stations we normally stop at near Clearlake? Clearwater? One of the two, anyways I'm sleeping in the front seat, she's out pumping gas, and I thought her dog/puppy, Jax was sleeping in the back seat. Wrong. When Jus went inside to pay all of a sudden I hear commotion that wakes me up in time just to see Jax slipping through the half open window. Yes, half open, how the heck he did that I do not know, that dog is insane! Lol anyways he takes off running and I jump out to go after him just as Justine comes out chasing him too. We catch him and put him in the car and just as we are buckling back in and turning on the ignition to roll up the window he does it again! He jumps out and starts running in circles around the car. Seriously, he looks crazy! We can't figure out what he is chasing because we can't see anything. Just as Justine grabs him again she spots it. A COCKROACH! Hahahaha! Jax of all people would be chasing a cockroach that none of us can see because it's super dark out! Lol it was probably one of the funniest nights I have experienced driving up to the cabin!
Anyways, back to my Rome/Parents story. Their hotel had cockroaches, mom asked if they could stay at my place tonight because their hotel wasn't going to do anything, I said yes and after I hung up so they could pack I immediately started setting up my bed on the floor. 15 minutes or so go by and I have not heard anything from them. I start to get worked up thinking about it and head down the block to their hotel to help them with their bags because I can't take it any longer.
I find them in the lobby of their hotel. The guy at the front desk is on the phone calling a hotel associated with them that's right down the block to see if my parents can stay there for the night since the hotel they are currently in is booked. That hotel wouldn't be booked full if the people staying there knew there was cockroaches! UGH! GROSS!!! I was really made and kind of making a scene being a drama queen. I couldn't understand why my parents were being so calm, but they told me later they had already freaked out up in the hotel room and that's how they got the hotel to finally do something about it because the hotel didn't want them scaring off other guests. Screw the other guests! I wanted to shout at the top of my lungs and get everyone stirred up! I was really mad and upset because my parents had travelled all this way to have a nice vacation and day two it was already ruined because of this stupid hotel and their cockroaches!
They got a room at the other hotel and the guy behind the front desk carried their luggage for them to the next place. I was ranting and raving the whole way over and into the next place. The guy from the first hotel explained what happened to the guy at the second hotel saying there was a "small problem". This made me even more made and I went off saying it's not a "small problem" it's a HUGE problem! There were cockroaches in their hotel room! Ugh!!! This would never have happened at home! We now understand that Rome truly does go by their star reference. If they are a three star place, they are not that good or clean, so for future travelers of Rome, by the extra buck and for to a four or five star place, then you might not have to deal with cockroaches and the crap we went through!
After all was cleared up and they got settled into their next hotel, Gerry walked me back home. I was crying and upset and he said the guy at the new hotel front desk asked about me when he returned. Gerry explained to him why I was so worked up, I don't know why, but neither of the front desk guys at either hotel found cockroaches to be a big deal, it just goes to show the different mentalities of different countries I suppose…
I slept like crap that night because I was tossing and turning thinking about cockroaches, thanks a lot, stupid hotel! You're lucky I'm not saying your name! I could totally rat you out on my blog, but I'm going to hold my tongue… for now.
Day 57-Rome-Tuesday-3/29/11
YAY!!!! THE PARENTS CAME TODAY :) :) :) I'm SOOOO HAPPY!!! Woke up and got ready met my parents at their hotel around 10 or 11ish. Lots of hugs and happiness went around hellos and how is everyone at home :) I was soooo happy! I had no idea how much I missed them until I saw them! I decided I had to keep them moving so they wouldn't get tired and would get better adjusted to the time change so we left right away to head out and explore. I brought them first to the Spanish Steps because that's close to my house. We snapped some photos and after walking to the bottom we made a plan.
We stopped to get lunch at Leonardo's Pizza, Gerry had read about it on Mom's nook. It was pretty good. We got a platter of cheese, meat and veggies to start off with and a liter of house white wine, then we split two pizzas between the three of us, a prosciutto and mushroom pizza and a veggie pizza. I like the veggie pizza best :)
After lunch we headed off to see the Trevi Fountain, we snapped some photos there and each got a beer to drink as we made our way to the Pantheon. I explained to Mom and Ger everything I had learned about the Pantheon and felt like an official tour guide ;) We took more pics, I even took some here because on my field trip it was really rushed so I didn't get to take too many. It was even better because since we were in the season of lent things were a little more decorate with flowers and what not.
Once out of the Pantheon, we were really close to my school so I showed them that and Piazza Navona, which is a really cool area designed by Bernini with two different fountains. The Piazza actually used to be used for chariot races :) After that I could tell we were all wearing down. I took them to get the best gelato in town at Della Palma and we slowly made out way back home. I walked them to their hotel then went back to my place and we all took a nap.
After our nap I met back up with them and since we had walked so much in the afternoon we decided to get dinner at a local restaurant right near their hotel/my apartment. I can't remember the name of it, but it was decorated with wine box covers and super cute! We got a veggie platter to start with and again a bottle of white wine. The veggies were amazing! Probably the best I've had yet! After that I got homemade pesto taglitelle pasta with shrimp, Gerry got a seafood spaghetti, and mom got Porcini mushroom risotto :) All of them were delicious, but I think we all agreed mine was the best! There's definitely a difference between homemade pasta and boxed pasta, plus that pesto was so creamy and delicious it was hard to compete with!
After dinner we stopped next door at my favorite cute wine place, I Colori del Vino, the color of wine, and we each got a glass of wine which they served us tiny little pieces of bruschetta with prosciutto on top instead of the traditional tomato. It was yummy! After that we headed over to Friends Café and each ordered a drink, Ger got a beer, mom got some wine drink, and I got a fruity vodka drink. Mom didn't really care for hers and to be honest, it really was not good, but I switched with her because I'm young and can choke things down still ;) Plus, I wanted her to enjoy what she was drinking.
After that we made our way to one more stop, New Age Bar where we each had a beer, talked some more, catching up on life, then made our way back home. Mom and Ger walked me home then called to tell me they made it back safe :) It was an awesome first day with my parents and I'm surprised how well they kept up considering they were running on wee hours of sleep!
We stopped to get lunch at Leonardo's Pizza, Gerry had read about it on Mom's nook. It was pretty good. We got a platter of cheese, meat and veggies to start off with and a liter of house white wine, then we split two pizzas between the three of us, a prosciutto and mushroom pizza and a veggie pizza. I like the veggie pizza best :)
After lunch we headed off to see the Trevi Fountain, we snapped some photos there and each got a beer to drink as we made our way to the Pantheon. I explained to Mom and Ger everything I had learned about the Pantheon and felt like an official tour guide ;) We took more pics, I even took some here because on my field trip it was really rushed so I didn't get to take too many. It was even better because since we were in the season of lent things were a little more decorate with flowers and what not.
Once out of the Pantheon, we were really close to my school so I showed them that and Piazza Navona, which is a really cool area designed by Bernini with two different fountains. The Piazza actually used to be used for chariot races :) After that I could tell we were all wearing down. I took them to get the best gelato in town at Della Palma and we slowly made out way back home. I walked them to their hotel then went back to my place and we all took a nap.
After our nap I met back up with them and since we had walked so much in the afternoon we decided to get dinner at a local restaurant right near their hotel/my apartment. I can't remember the name of it, but it was decorated with wine box covers and super cute! We got a veggie platter to start with and again a bottle of white wine. The veggies were amazing! Probably the best I've had yet! After that I got homemade pesto taglitelle pasta with shrimp, Gerry got a seafood spaghetti, and mom got Porcini mushroom risotto :) All of them were delicious, but I think we all agreed mine was the best! There's definitely a difference between homemade pasta and boxed pasta, plus that pesto was so creamy and delicious it was hard to compete with!
After dinner we stopped next door at my favorite cute wine place, I Colori del Vino, the color of wine, and we each got a glass of wine which they served us tiny little pieces of bruschetta with prosciutto on top instead of the traditional tomato. It was yummy! After that we headed over to Friends Café and each ordered a drink, Ger got a beer, mom got some wine drink, and I got a fruity vodka drink. Mom didn't really care for hers and to be honest, it really was not good, but I switched with her because I'm young and can choke things down still ;) Plus, I wanted her to enjoy what she was drinking.
After that we made our way to one more stop, New Age Bar where we each had a beer, talked some more, catching up on life, then made our way back home. Mom and Ger walked me home then called to tell me they made it back safe :) It was an awesome first day with my parents and I'm surprised how well they kept up considering they were running on wee hours of sleep!
Day 56-Rome-Monday-3/28/11
"I'm a Big Girl Now"-Traveled alone and I'm ALIVE!!!
Woke up at 5:00am this morning to head back to Rome. I was pretty nervous because I had to make the first metro and first bus to the airport in order to be on time and I was all by myself. I kept trying to reassure myself when I left the hostel at 5:20am that it will probably just be the early morning workers on the street. Wrong. So very wrong. I forgot that bars here close at 4am so instead, I was on the street and in the metro with the drunks waiting to catch the first metro home. Scary, yes, very much.
I kept to myself in the metro and there was an old couple down there so I hovered near them. Some guy tried calling out at me and I just ignored him. I just prayed I would make it home safely and I did :) I made it to the metro and bus and was early to the airport so I had time to grab some breakfast. Plus, I was one of the first people on the plane and got to sit right up front which was a nice change from being in the back!
It was scary traveling by myself and I hope I don't have to do that again, at least not in Europe, but I made it safely and now I know I can do it, if need be. Anyways, I slept on the flight home and bused back from the airport to the train station near my place, then walked back home. I was still exhausted from traveling so I took a nap and by the time I woke up it was getting to be dinner time.
I headed out to the grocery store to get something to make for dinner. I decided to make bacon pasta and veggies. It was really good :) After dinner I watched some TV and just hung out at the apartment. It was weird being here all alone since my roommates were all gone on spring break, but I didn't mind it because I knew my mom and Gerry were coming bright and early in the morning :) I went to bed kind of late, but it was worth it because I was able to catch up with some of my friends at home.
Woke up at 5:00am this morning to head back to Rome. I was pretty nervous because I had to make the first metro and first bus to the airport in order to be on time and I was all by myself. I kept trying to reassure myself when I left the hostel at 5:20am that it will probably just be the early morning workers on the street. Wrong. So very wrong. I forgot that bars here close at 4am so instead, I was on the street and in the metro with the drunks waiting to catch the first metro home. Scary, yes, very much.
I kept to myself in the metro and there was an old couple down there so I hovered near them. Some guy tried calling out at me and I just ignored him. I just prayed I would make it home safely and I did :) I made it to the metro and bus and was early to the airport so I had time to grab some breakfast. Plus, I was one of the first people on the plane and got to sit right up front which was a nice change from being in the back!
It was scary traveling by myself and I hope I don't have to do that again, at least not in Europe, but I made it safely and now I know I can do it, if need be. Anyways, I slept on the flight home and bused back from the airport to the train station near my place, then walked back home. I was still exhausted from traveling so I took a nap and by the time I woke up it was getting to be dinner time.
I headed out to the grocery store to get something to make for dinner. I decided to make bacon pasta and veggies. It was really good :) After dinner I watched some TV and just hung out at the apartment. It was weird being here all alone since my roommates were all gone on spring break, but I didn't mind it because I knew my mom and Gerry were coming bright and early in the morning :) I went to bed kind of late, but it was worth it because I was able to catch up with some of my friends at home.
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Day 55-PARIS!!!-Sunday-3/27/11
Woke up and went down to breakfast with Molly. Just us two today, the other girls went to Disneyland. Yes, there's a Disneyland in Paris and you know who's castle it is?? Bell's! From Beauty and the Beast! How sweet is that??! I'm a little jealous, but it was pretty expensive and I figured I should probably see more of Paris since I am leaving tomorrow morning :( Sad. Let's not talk about that.
After breakfast Molly and I got ready and headed out to see the palace of Versailles. We hit up Starbucks on the way because hey, every girl can have one guilty pleasure besides chocolate right?? ;) Mine just happens to be yummy coffee drinks especially on cool cloudy days like today :) A good ol' Hot Caramel Macchiato to go as in a TO GO CUP! That you cannot find anywhere in Rome! Not that I don't like my cappuccino's… it's just there's something about Starbucks… I think it's more than the coffee and the to go cup though, I think I loved it even more here because it reminded me of home :)
Anyways we took the train out to Versailles because the metro wasn't running or working or something. It was quite a slow train ride, but fun to see the suburbs around Paris. Once we got off the train it was only a couple blocks of a walk to the Palace and oh my gosh was it gorgeous! I had no idea what to expect because I didn't really know much about it, but it's huge! We learned from our fourth roomate who was with us the first night at the hostel that being students we could get in for free and what a great tip that was! We didn't even have to stand in line, we literally walked straight in! :) Can't complain about that!
However, this is another way that Paris rates higher on my scale of likeness compared to Rome because in Rome, only EU citizens 18-24 get the perks of discounted rates and what not, which excludes American study abroad students. In Paris a student is a student :) We show them our Visas and get in for free!! Yipee! Gosh I love Paris!
We walked around the entire building and I took a ton of pictures. It was sweet! I can officially say I've seen a palace! :) That took quite awhile and after we went out to the gardens of the palace and those were huge too! People were taking trolleys to get around because the gardens were sooo big! We stayed on the top part of the garden though because 1. we were already tired from walking around the palace and 2. we weren't going to pay for a trolley and 3. Sadly, as beautiful as the garden's were nothing was in full bloom and the fountain's weren't on :( plus 4. it looked like it was going to rain again :(
After we sat in the garden for awhile and took some more pictures we decided to head out and look for some lunch. We walked awhile and if it hadn't had been a Sunday I'm sure we would've got to see a lot more cute little shops, but everything was closed :( We finally found an area that had a few café/restaurants open and stopped at this one place that had outside seating covered by an awning. We took a table and enjoyed crepes! We got a crepe with ham, cheese, and egg for our meal which was really good! The first time I have had eggs in forever! Then for dessert we got a crepe with toasted toffee and warm chocolate filling with a side of whip cream! It was insanely delicious! I can't even explain! The best crepe I've had since I've been in Europe and probably the best crepe I will ever have hands down!
After lunch we walked around awhile more and ran into a super cute pastry shop. Seriously, they looked waaayy too good to eat. We decided to each get a pastry to save for our dinner later in the night, then we wouldn't have to look for something. Plus we didn't really want much more after our awesome lunch. We took the train home and took a short cat nap in the hostel. It was kind of late by the time we were ready to go again and decided to get strawberries and champagne and go sit and enjoy the lights of the Eiffel tower by night. :) I may not have been able to climb the tower, but sitting by it having it sparkle every hour was a pretty awesome night! I can't say I would change it for the world! Best way to end my last night in Paris, for sure!
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