Naples is the new Miami
First off, we have heard about all the 'craziness' in London. Nothing has happened here in Italy (thank goodness), so we are both ok. We still plan to make it to London for the release of Harry Potter... it will take more than bombs to scare us off. Of course, we may steer clear of the Underground until August when we return to London at the end of our trek around the UK.
OK, so, our train to Naples was a true example of the Italian rail system. No more German efficiency here, it was delayed by about 40 minutes. We don't know how the trains get so delayed, since it certainly cannot be the weather. I guess the trains get hot too and need siestas.
Anyway, we once again had a compartment to ourselves... that is until an older Italian man, stumbled by and red-faced asked if he could sit down. We still have not gotten the knack for lying to people about whether empty seats are taken (we are going to start saying they are for our burly man servants), we told him it was free. He then kept talking about how the sun tired him out, and how it made his eyes sick (at least this is what we deduced from his broken Italian... that is right, his Italian was broken... we don't think he knew English). We closed the blinds into the compartment, and he promptly fell asleep. Laura thinks he was drunk, but I don't know. Maybe he was drunk on the sun! It can get to the best of us... and judging from the teeth rotting out of his head, he wasn't in that category.
The rest of the trip was pretty uneventful, although despite the train's claims of having air conditioning, it got pretty stifling in our compartment. At one point, our sun-drunk companion woke up and began offering us cigarettes, but Laura told him neither of us smoked and that he could not either. She then tried to get some sleep because the stuffy, opressive heat was making her claustrophobic.
When we got to Naples, we thought things were going pretty well because the directions to the hostel seemed clear enough. Of course, we soon realized that we could not find any of the streets they had listed on the directions. We began wandering down one street that was entirely taken over by vendors with tents, flogging everything from shoes for €2, to juice and plastic belts. It became fairly obvious that we were going to need some assistance, so we began asking people where the street listed in the directions was. Even though the people lived here, they had no idea. Also, maybe people don't really speak English, or maybe they thought that since we asked for the directions in Italian that they should respond in kind, but although I know the words for left and right in Italian, they were never used. One man grabbed Laura by the arm and began yelling 'acqua' at her; flashbacks of her mom! We did not know where the water was, or why he kept telling us about it. After wandering for about 20 minutes, I looked up and found that we were standing on the street that they had told us to walk to the end of. It turns out that the streets here have 2 names (as does everything in Naples), and the hostel had only given us the last part of it (so, if the street was 'Harry Potter', they told us to go to via Potter.... it changes the way you look for streets!). Eventually a street vendor, tired of us looking lost, got up and showed us where the hostel was. It turns out it was on that first packed street bazar street we had walked down the first time. AAAAHHHH! Oh, two other things: People go shopping on their mopeds here, AND a woman we asked for directions from initially thought we were beggars. Naples is fun.
The hostel here was significantly less impressive than the one in Rome (maybe it's because of the humidity, but regardless, the showers are filled with mould and mildewwwww....). We took a bit of time to decompress and cool down, and then headed off to the Circumvesuviana railway to catch the train to Ercolano so that we could climb Vesuvius. We had no problems making our way there, but when we got out of the station, we had to decide between a cheaper bus that took a longer time to reach the volcanoe, or slightly more expensive option that got there in about 20 minutes. We decided to go with the more costly minibus, and boarded it along with 8 other passengers. Oh man... the ride up was like an amusement ride on crack! We had no seat belts, and our driver just cruised up the mountain's winding roads at about 20 km above the speed limit. As our lives flashed before our eyes, the car stalled. It sputtered to life once more, but soon died again. The guy radioed for backup, and we ended up catching a ride up to the top with another taxi that was on its way back down. In order for us to get in it, however, we had to get back down to the 'turn-around' point... which meant coasting down the hill backwards for about 2 minutes. So terrifying. I guess Laura's mom's claim that if something looks too good to be true, it is!
Nevertheless, we made it to the parking lot, and then began our tiring climb up to Vesuvius's mouth. The road was very steep, and it was covered in sand, so you spent a lot of time sliding. We have no idea how the people in flip flops and platform shoes were making it up. We bypassed the cheesy tourist stands with figurines made out of lava rock (we just pocketed our own samples in their natural form), and made it to the top. At first it all looked rather peaceful and benign, but as we continued to walk, we saw smoke gently curling upward, a sinister reminder that Vesuvius was just sleeping. It was so smokey at the top that you could hardly see the world below you at certain points. It was certainly a tiring endeavour, but well worth the hike. It seems like we just aren't satisfied unless we are climbing up things!
The walk back down was punctuated by my falling into an undignified heap on the road, which caused Laura to (rightfully) crack up and take a photo of me sprawled in the dust. Remarkably, I was unscathed. I guess all that time practicing at university paid off (right, Taryn?).
When we got back to Naples, both of us were so terrified by the noisy streets that we darted into the supermarket to pick up some sandwich fixings for dinner and the next day's lunch, and then spent the evening rotting our brains reading Cosmo and Us Weekly. There were only 2 English magazines at the hostel, but we read them thoroughly. If you want to know the surefire ways to ruin a wedding or tell if a star is pregnant, we can tell you.
The next day, we had resolved to sleep in since we were just spending the day at Pompeii. However, the street market was back in full force, and we soon woke up to their insistent cries. After a meager breakfast (our first in quite a while!), we kitted up and head off to Pompeii. We were beseiged by buskers on the train; one man with a saxophone was particularly insistent and spent a good 30 seconds serenading me. Awkward!
When we arrived at Pompeii, we had intended to get a real-life guide, but thought the prices a bit too steep. We decided to go for the audio guide instead so that we could tour the city at our own pace. Then we opened up the map to the 6-hour projected itinerary, and set off into the ruins.
It was the most amazing thing, being there. It was a very advanced city, considering Vesuvius wiped it out before 100 AD. Ironically, the ash that destroyed the city and killed its citizens is also what managed to preserve the buildings so well. We had a great time looking at the casts of petrified bodies, and not such a good time looking at all the gentle abandoned puppies within the city walls. We don't know where all those dogs came from, but it was so hot out, that we couldn't help but feel so sorry for them. And yes, lizards did abound for Laura, too. It was fascinating walking through the old homes, and seeing the preserved paintings. We even got to see the place with the infamous 'Cave Canem' sign in the entrance (Beware of Dog).
We ended up unwittingly taking our lunch break on a grave site, and made our way to the far end of the city to see the amphitheatre. After about 7 hours wandering about the ancient city, we finally made our way back to the train station to head home. It was blazing outside, so we are incredibly luck to have not turned into lobsters as so many others did.
Naples is a far more derelict city than either Florence or Rome. At many points, we have remarked that it doesn't even feel like Italy. With the palm trees and excessive wearing of neon colours, we feel that you just have to change the language and you've pretty much got the seedy atmosphere of Miami (though neither of us have been there... or care to go). It truly is the city that you visit simply to go elsewhere. In retrospect, we probably should have gone to Sorrento instead (also in close proximity to Pompeii and Vesuvius), but then again, we can fly out of here (and are, in a few hours!) for Paris.
On our way back from the train station, a frightening guy approached Laura and insisted that she give him the time. When she told him that she did not have a watch on, he did this weird hand gesture suggesting that he wanted her to look him in the eyes. It was all terrifying, and we scurried off for the safety of our hostel. But not before stopping at the supermarket and buying a gelato-cake. It was so hot, we could not bear to eat anything that involved actually chewing. We had fully intended to go for pizza while here, but the boisterous streets and sweltering temperatures more than killed our appetite. Our sense of adventure is not greater than our sense of survival!
It would have been nice to have seen the Archeological museum here, but there simply wasn't time because it closes at 7 pm and we often did not get in from our day trips until just before then. So, we have been doing what Fil would approve of, and have just stayed in and socialized with other travelers and caught up on our sleep. Last night we talked to this guy named James who was from Detroit and was in Italy doing some kind of art program. He was a weird punk-rock guy, dressing like an extra from Grease (with rolled up jeans, high top sneakers, and Danny Zucco hair). He also spoke in a very flighty vague manner about art that had Laura and I nodding our heads (despite having no clue about what he was talking... something about the Renaissance) and trying not to laugh. Ah, you've gotta love the pretentious art types.
Anyway, it is off to Paris in a couple of hours. This means braving the public transport system here in Naples, which is pretty much guaranteed to be a horror story. We are hoping that the airport has some shops for us to browse through while we wait to check in. We can't wait to get to the City of Lights, drink some wine, and do some real laundry! Ciao, Italy - it was mostly great. Glad we threw those coins into the fountain in Rome (and fished them out here in Naples... ok, not really!). Next stop, Paris.
We who are ready to die, salute you: Our forray into Ancient Rome
Despite the morbid title of the post, don't get your hopes up (TARYN). Things are still going swimmingly here in Italia, Rome specifically, and are as far from pear-shaped as possible.
Our last day in Rome was far more leisurely than any of the other days. We actually slept in this morning (until the mature hour of 7:30 am!) and spent some time just chilling at the hostel, and taking some time to relax. After the queue-horrors of yesterday, we decided that there was really no point in us racing into the heart of the city with the throngs of people and the heat only to have to wait on our feet. No, better to have a day of little indulgences, and spend some time having a cappucino and reading email.
Soon enough we were out on the pavement, and then fighting our way onto the Metro. FYI, Line B is far less classier than Line A, but neither line has air conditioning. My book had made this poor joke about getting smashed flatter then fettucini if you ride the Metro while the Romans are on their way to work, but we assumed that at 9 in the morning they would already be there. We were wrong. We don't actually know when the working day begins or ends here, but it seems that if you can get someone in Rome to work for 3 hours consecutively, that's impressive. The subway was so packed that I actually had to cling desperately (while on the tips of my toes) to the rail that hangs across the ceiling as opposed to the pole. The crazy driving here extends to the subway as well, so I knew that if I didn't hold onto something (or someone! As some people chose) that momentum would have me hurtling from one end of the train to the other... regardless of the number of people I barreled into in the process!
We got off at Circus Maximus, and then proceeded to make our first navigational error in about 5 or 6 days. Thankfully, a kind Roman told us where we should go, and we soon found... a large field with a vague circular pattern in it. Ah well. We caught it on the first pass, rather than walking by it 5 times asking where the heck it was!
We then braved the terrifying Roman traffic and made our way to the river side of the street and strolled along the Tiber river. Apparently the key to transversing the streets here is to just have no fear... or to have a death wish. You're just supposed to step out into traffic, without turning to look at the cars. If they see you look, they know you're a tourist. The only way they slow down is if you're in front of them. You've got to have guts to cross the road here. Chickens need not apply! (Note: Laura has not had any traffic altercations whatsoever. I am so proud of her!) Our other tip is to walk with other tourists, preferably using them as a shield (read: keeping them between you and the oncoming traffic). Our theory is that if the cars don't stop, then the other people will get hit AND that the collision may stop the cars or at least slow them enough so that we can get across. Brilliant!
We spent some time wandering around the Jewish district (per another not-so-great suggestion by someone we can all guess without naming, but her name rhymes with "Karen"). Maybe it was just dead because it was 10:30 in the morning, or maybe it was just a poor idea. You be the judge. Either way, we had things to do and other places to see, so we said goodbye to that and began our trek into the past.
We began in the Roman forums, wandering through the ruins that we had seen about 3 times from behind gates as we had strove to avoid ruining the adventure. I am happy to report that seeing them from the sidelines did not compare AT ALL to the actual experience of walking through them, and I regaled Laura with tales of 10th grade Latin class and the little family we read about. Puellae in foro ambulabant (translation: The girls were walking in the forum). As we walked through the forum, we made our way to the base of Palatine Hill and purchased our joint ticket to that and the Coliseum. We strolled up the hill, enjoying the sights of orange trees and other ruined buildings. Laura was particularly enamoured with the speedy little lizards that darted out from rocks, although I was the one lamenting our lack of a net to catch them. Really though, it was far too hot to chase anything. We are clearly gatherers, not hunters.
When it came to be about 2 pm, we decided we should perhaps get something to eat before venturing into the Coliseum. After all, if you're off to fight lions and the like, you need to have a full stomach! We went to another of the restaurants recommended by The Beehive (finding yet another one they suggested to be abandonned and out of business), and had an actual meal! We had a roasted vegetable appetizer (oh vegetables proper, how we have missed you!), and then had the largest plates of pasta (fresh and homemade) we have ever seen. Despite all my reminders to Laura of when the last decent meal was and when the next one might be, she could not finish it all (but came very close). I guess she was rightly saving room for gelato.
After our very enjoyable lunch, we finally made it to the Coliseum. We already had tickets, so we got to bypass the long line and go straight in. I don't think I am exaggerating when I say that it is possibly the coolest and most amazing building I have ever seen. Take that Eiffel Tower? Were you built a bajillion years ago? I don't think so! Did people get mauled by large animals for sport and the amusement of bloodthirsty crowds in your enclosure? I don't think so! The Coliseum was all kinds of awesome. The true testament to this is approximately the 50 combined photos that Laura and I now have of it (which has incidently, passed the number of photos I have of random puppies and that Swedish marching band).
Our visit to Ancient Rome was incredibly rewarding, but it was also quite a long, hot day. No day in Rome is complete without gelato and a siesta (in that order), so we returned to the gelateria we discovered yesterday. Today's choices: Fig & Pine Nut (Laura), and Chestnut & Blueberry (me). Mmmmm.... gelato. Then it was off for a nap, and then a chat with Nick, a fellow Canadian in the dorm.
It's an early start for us tomorrow as we head of to Naples, and then straight to Vesuvius. The next two days will be a continuation of Historical Italy, and of course, Adventure! We both have packing to do, and I am going to try a hand at washing clothing in the sink, so that'll be it for now. Ciao!
"I think the sun gave me Mono"
Duuuudes. It is so frickin' hot here in Rome. Even though it was overcast today, we made the mistake of taking the subway which is made up of little sweatboxes of death. The ride to Vatican City was only about 10 minutes long, but it felt like a neverending trip to Hell. Oh man. If it weren't for our midday siestas, I don't know what we would do!
Sooo... we also made the collosal mistake of taking the advice of TARYN (again... when will we learn? We still have the foul taste of the Topography of Terror fresh in our mouths...) and made our way to the Vatican Museum early in the morning. We arrived about half an hour before it was scheduled to open, and found an incredibly long line snaking around the wall enclosing the city. Of course the line was hardly shaded, and so just standing there caused sweat to trickle down our backs. Lovely. We must have stood in that line for at least an hour, and had little more to do to pass the time than to eavesdrop. The couple in front of us had a little Goth Girl, who was decked out fully in black in a skimpy tank top and short pleated skirt. It looked like she would be purchasing an entire paper outfit! The family behind us had a weird overbearing Australian dad, who kept reciting random facts about the Vatican and proudly crowing about his various previous visits to Rome. At one point, the eldest daughter (clutching a Balenciagia bag, while her younger sibling held onto a Louis Vuitton purse) asked if the Vatican Museum was going to be the family's "last historical thing". Her father (?) kept telling her that the great thing about this trip was that she could get all the touristy things out of the way, since the next time sh came she could say that she had already done them and there was really no need to see any of the attractions more than once. Of course he then contradicted this story, by saying that all the times he had been to Rome, he had gone to the Sistine Chapel 6 times. Freak. He then got all moralizing with his wife (?) by talking about how so many people in the line were going to be denied entrance to the museum because they were wearing shorts and sleeveless tops. He then began talking to the couple in front of us (with Goth Girl), telling them that he thought they were going to have to buy pants and scarves in order to get in. Thanks a lot Sartorial Security Guard. Although this wasn't totally horrible (despite him doing this several times), his smug know-it-all attitude was unbearable. What was worse was that his wife began saying how she couldn't believe that the couple let their daughter dress like that, and that with her, there would be "no question" (whatever that means). Then pompous Aussie dude was all, "They're probably just glad that she's not pregnant...". Say it with me: Dick! Also, sweet irony would have it that his daughters were all tarted out, and looked like such ignorant prissy princesses that you couldn't help but shake your head in complete bemusement.
Once inside the museum, we took care not to "rush" through it, but man is it big. The Egyptian collection was really impressive and remarkably well-preserved. Laura remarked that there must not be anything left in Egypt, what with all the pillaging done by the Vatican and the British Museum! I had to wonder whether the Popes could have been doing something more worthwhile with the (clearly) large amounts of money at their disposal than buying ancient artifacts. ANYWAY... it was all very nice and beautiful and extensive. I think our favourite room in the whole place was "The Map Room", which is pretty much exactly what it sounds like. It was a long corridor with ornate ceilings that had these ancient painted map all down the sides. It was really remarkable and not like anything I had ever seen before. The Sistine Chapel -- and we hate to agree with Taryn -- was also nice (obviously), but didn't really seem to be any more spectacular than many of the other rooms in the museum. We expected it to be bigger and perhaps more vaulted. Also, the sea of people really detracted from the experience, since if you looked up for too long while walking, you were bound to slam into someone or get run over by the many tours that take huge groups through the place.
After sending postcards from the Vatican Post Office, we made our way to St. Peter's Basillica, where we wandered through the catacombs and saw Pope John Paul II's tomb. They seemed to be enforcing the dress code more rigorously here (don't worry: our research was helpful here and we were both appropriately dressed). We made our way into the cathedral proper, and were suitably creeped out by the wax effigy of PJP II they had on display. It seemed kind of sacreligious to me, but what do I know about worshipping false idols? The Cathedral was huge and extremely ornate; no mistaking any other church as the headquarters of the Catholic faith, really.
We took the subway one stop to check out this restaurant recommended by the hostel that serves rice balls. Of course, like everything in that book only printed 3 months ago, this restaurant does not seem to exist, so we instead popped into this little hole-in-the-wall pizzaria, where we each got some... pizza. You buy it by weight here (unless you ordering a whole pizza), although we just gesticulated making "smaller" motions with our fingers, until they got it right. Laura used the universal "thumbs up" sign to indicate when her slice was just right. Maybe it was because we were having our first meal of the day at 3 pm, but that pizza rocked!
Then we got back into the death box, and made our way back to the hostel for a siesta. Several hours later, we reemerged into the city, and headed to the Campidoglio where my book of lies claimed we could get a nice view of the city. Of course, if we had read the fine print, or rather the print at all, then we would have realized that the Capotoline Hill really just gives you a spectacular view of the Roman Forums, which is still not on the schedule until tomorrow. However, we have decided that Ancient Rome is like a magnet and that no matter how hard you fight it, you end up there even if you don't mean to. Giving in, we walked along the forum taking pictures and made our way to the Coliseum. We had intended to make our way across the river Tiber and go into the Jewish Ghetto for some food, but neither of us were super hungry so we instead decided to stave off the strange not-hot but will make you sweaty and sticky weather, by getting some gelato. We found this awesome place, where you can get 3 scoops for 2.20 euro! Amazing! I had: pine nut, chestnut, and pear (All soooo good!). Laura had: coconut, peach, and almond (also very good). Probably the best gelato we have had anywhere... ever! So, we'll be going back tomorrow, since you can't beat the heat or that price! Also, we will actually go into the Coliseum, the Forums, and up Palatine Hill. If only the weather tomorrow were like today, that would be tolerable since it was mostly overcast (of course we spent a good portion of the day inside the museum, or sleeping).
We wanted to head to the Trevi Fountain to see it lit up at night but the A line (Metro) is closed at 9 pm, because it too is undergoing rennovations. We will try and find out how to get there by bus tomorrow so that we can get some night shots as we did the Coliseum (which really is incomparable. Nothing like it. At all. Soooo cool.).
So, we've been up for about 5 hours since our last nap, and that's plenty long in this city. Have to get our rest since we'll be exclusively outside tomorrow, working on contracting skin cancer. We'll be the finest Italian leather you've ever seen!
When in Rome...
We read an article in the free newspaper here at the hostel that said that the increased heat (approximately 2.5 degrees Celsius) this year in the Mediterranean is expected to keep tourist numbers low in Rome... Well, we took the heat, but the amount of sun our skin has absorbed today has adled our brains quite a bit and destroyed our short-term memory. Although we got plenty of sleep last night, it feels like we have not slept for days. I guess that traveling to 4 cities in as many days will do that to you (5 cities if you count Innsbruck... which we choose not to).
We remember getting to the train station in Florence about 25 minutes before ours was scheduled to depart. The problem was that they don't like to post the platform number until approximately 3 minutes before the train leaves (or in some cases, 3 minutes after the train was supposed to have left). Our Italian vocabulary is expanding at an alarming pace, and we were able to discern that several other Eurostar Italia trains were delayed by about 35 minutes, so we feared that this might also be true of our train to Rome. Thankfully, we found out the platform of our train with 2 minutes to go, and Steph used her BBC Italian language lessons to ask where car 9 would appear on the platform.
Once on the train, we fell asleep to the symphony of cell phone rings. For some reason the Italians really like techno-songs or muzak versions of classical oeuvres. When we got into Rome Termini, we made our way to our hostel, the Beehive, which is fabulous. The place is really clean, and our dorm even has a ceiling fan to help stave off the hot Italian sun. It is really more like a hotel (with a little art gallery in it! and a cat!), and we certainly won't mind spending some extra siesta time here (and, because it can't be said enough: Take that, Wombats!). One really nice thing about the hostel is they provided us with a free map of the city and also a recommendation guide of places to eat and things to see. After perusing through that for a little bit, we decided to get a move on and start working our way through the itinerary for the day.
The American girls we had met at YoHo (in Salzburg) had told us that above all else we should take the bus while in Rome. However, we don't take advice well (especially from people who eat Pringle sandwiches and survive on Nutella), so we decided that the best way for us to get a feel for the city was to walk it. We've been building up quite a tolerance to long distances, and we figured we could handle it. As it was noon, just a few minutes outside, we realized that it was going to be very hot, but we had the whole afternoon ahead of us and just wandered along at a lazy pace. Also, we are super backpackers who don't let weather get in the way: rain or snow, hot or cold... we'll withstand it all, and have fun while doing it. Take that, American postal service! And the weather! We have realized that traveling through the city is just as enjoyable as seeing the destinations, so why be so worried about getting directly to point A? We just look at the map, ascertain the general direction we should be heading for, and walk. Take that, map!
One of the results of our laissez-faire navigational attitude is that instead of making it directly to the Spanish Steps as we had planned, we actually stumbled across the Trevi Fountain (stop 2 on our planned route)! We took some pictures, filled our water bottles (not in the actual fountain, of course), and obviously did the requisite coin toss over the left shoulder so that we may some day return to Rome. It was here that we really faced our first rush of tourists; although they were in Florence, nothing ever felt overrun by them, but they were literally crawling around the Trevi Fountain.
We then made our way to the Spanish Steps, where Steph began to get angry at the large number of tourists who were just sittting on the steps, and were therefore ruining her photos. Even postcards of the thing have tourists on them! This was also our firs encounter with the fountain police (who can be identified from the regular police, as they wear white instead of blue). One lady had the gall to stick her feet into the fountain (a huge no-no!) and got a whistle blown at her. She scooped her shoes up and skulked of in shame. I remarked that some tourists seem to be taking the whole "The fountains have clean water" a little too far, as the extent that people go to fill their water bottles is a little ridiculous... and yet.
Next stop was the Pantheon. We took a short break from the heat by perusing some shops. In one we found the best shirt which said on the front "Don't take a diet", and on the back said "Believe in Jesus!". Another great one had the Virgin Mary on the front and it said "My son is fabulous!". If they weren't so expensive, Steph would have bought them because offensive shirts are always great. It is up for debate as to whether she then would have worn one to the Vatican tomorrow.
It took us a bit to find the Pantheon because the map we were given from the hostel doesn't have every street listed on it (strangely it is missing the streets that have establishments that they recommend for gelato and food...). We therefore had to rely on the tourist signs placed about the city. The Panthenon is really spectacular to behold from the outside (we understand why invaders chose not to burn it down), but the inside is marred by the reconstruction that is going on. One side was covered in scaffolding which really detracted from the whole experience.
After this, it was off to the Piazza Navona. It seems to be the Mont Martre of Rome as it is filled with cafes and artists. The fountain police caught a few more people sticking their feet into the fountain, and as a means of exacting revenge, forced them to put their wet feet into their shoes rather than letting them dry first. We looked at the cafes and contemplated getting gelato right there, but we knew the telltale signs of poor quality gelato. First, anything extremely brightly coloured means lots of artificial additives, and the pistaccio was electric green... certainly not seen in nature. They did at least have the metal tubs, rather than plastic, but we decided to find a different, less expensive, place. As we were leaving, we heard a large commotion as a group of Americans tried to figure out why the woman at the counter would not accept their money. They couldn't understand why she kept saying it was no good. Of course, it turns out that they were trying to pay the 10 euro bill with 10 british pounds. Nice. One guy got really frustrated, and asked her if she wouldn't just take American money instead. Dick!
We ended up finding cheaper and really good gelato just outside of the piazza. We tried some of the local speciality flavour which is custard mixed with marsala wine. Yum!
We began looking for a place to eat dinner, as we were feeling like splurging for a real meal having spent no money all day (except on ice cream). Unfortunately, it was only 5 pm, and most restaurants here don't open until 6ish. So we began to wander back to the hostel. Again, without the aid of the map, we ended up stumbling onto the Imperial Forums, in the ancient part of the city. We hadn't really planned to ever see these, but since they were there (or rather, since we were there) we wandered through and took some pictures. We ended up getting kicked out because they closed at 6, and it was about 6:30 pm at this point, but we hadn't seen any signs from the area we had entered from. Ah well! As we made our way up the street, we realized the Roman Forums were across from us and the Colliseum was peeking out from the base of the street. Although we were tempted to check them out, we figured we did not want to ruin Wednesday's itinerary. After all, if we did everything we had planned for two days in one, what would we do with ourselves? The schedule would not stand it!
After spending some more time people watching, waiting for the city to cool as we planned our route home, we set off once more. Nothing really interesting happened, although both of us are rather disappointed in Italian shoes so far. If your frickin' country is in the shape of a boot, you'd think they would design some nice ones, but no!
We eventually did find a place to eat dinner (I got to have real vegetables! That were green!), just around the corner from our hostel. It is only 10:15 pm, but we are completely exhausted, so it is off to bed. We have a big day ahead of us (hopefully we won't see the Pope) in Vatican City, which opens at 8:30 and is at the complete opposite end of Rome. We were probably only 20 minutes away by foot today, when we were at Piazza Navona, but we will splurge tomorrow and get a bus card.
So... who is this David guy?
First off, you all had better be scrolling down each day to make sure we haven't posted more than once. We have the feeling some of you may have neglected to read the post on Vienna, which was right below the one on Salzburg. Whatever we post first gets pushed down the page when we post again, so make sure you take the time to check. This means that under this post, there will be one on our adventures in Garmisch-Partenkirchen that you won't want to miss.
We arrived in Florence at 5:30ish am. We had arrived at a station far from the city center and so had to take a bus to reach the one near our hostel. We weren't sure where to catch this bus, and when we did find the stop, we then were not sure where to buy tickets since most places are not open at 5:30 on a Sunday morning. An old Italian man seemed to know what our problem was, however, and took us to a little stand and told the man that we need to buy tickets. I then was able to use my Italian, to tell him we wanted 2 tickets to Santa Maria Novella station. Hoorah for knowing what he was asking, and knowing how to say the number 2!
The bus ride was one of the most frightening driving experiences of our collective lives, as our driver was curt and drove like a maniac while talking on his cell phone. Also, unlike the other cities we have visited, the buses here don't stop at every stop. You have to request that they stop, and I had no idea where we were. I was just hoping that we would at least see the train station, and that it would be a popular enough stop that the driver would have to let us get off because people wanted on.
Once we safely made it off the bus, we then faced the common problem of not really having a good map of the city. We often find ourselves in piazzas/squares, which makes it difficult to figure out which way you should walk and locate yourself on the map. After taking a bit of a round about route, we did find the hostel, and after ringing the bell several times, we checked in.
Our rooms were not ready, since the occupants were still sleeping, so we just quickly freshened up in the bathrooms, and then made our way off to La Galleria Dell'Accademia, the home of Michelangelo's David. There were not very many people in line, as the museum did not open for another half hour, so we made our way to La Piazza Duomo, and took some tourist-free photos of that and the Gates. The line was a bit longer when we got back, and we found ourselves surrounded by American tourists. We eavesdropped to pass the time and mimicked Yankee accents (aht = art, etc.,), but soon enough we made our way into the museum. I once again used Italian, and we got ourselves tickets.
What can we say about David? He was much larger than we expected (he is 5.12 m in height). Seriously though, all the hype is totally justified. All the sculptures we saw afterwards just did not compare. You can totally understand why people spend hours staring at it because Michelangelo really knew his stuff and did not gloss over the finer details. Absolutely beautiful, and definitely worth, not just the price of admission, but the trip to Florence in the first place.
On the way out, Laura overheard a girl say (in all seriousness): So, who is this David guy? Oy. And hence a blog title was born.
We then made our way to La Piazza Della Signoria where we saw the Fountain of Neptune, a statue of Perseus, and a plaster replica of our pal David (or Dave, as we call him) which they placed when they moved the original to La Galleria. We then strolled by the Uffizi (but didn't go in... medieval religous art isn't our thing... don't tell us if there's other stuff in there. We don't care.), and took some shots of Ponte Vecchio. We walked along it (sadly, we did not see any poison rings), and then made our way to the Piazza dei Pitti, hoping to wander through the Boboli Gardens. Alas, you had to buy a ticket to the museums to gain access, so instead we began the arduous trek to the Piazzelle Michelangelo. The nice thing about Florence is that everything really is within walking distance, but this square is somewhat out of the way. However, we had plenty of time to kill before we could go the Il Duomo (since it did not open for tourists until 1:30 pm), and we were promised the best view of the city if we could make the climb. What is with us and all this physical exertion and climbing? Several times I did not think I could make it to the top, but Laura reminded me of the view and the prospect of gellato, and so I soldiered on. We work well as a team because one of us always manages to be determined and focussed when the other one's interest/stamina begins to wane.
The view at the top truly was awesome, even though we are still insane for going all the way up there. We saw our friend Dave again, this time in bronze. Apparently there are 5 Davids throughout the city. The ice cream was also pretty good, but we'll reserve judgement as to which Italian city has the best for when we've experienced them all.
We then made our way down the hill, and headed for the Santa Croce, hoping to see the resting places of Gallileo, Dante, and Macchiavelli. Unfortunately (and strangely enough), the monument was closed due to a Historic Florence Soccer game that would be later taking place outside. We actually were able to go into the church, but a service was in session and we did not want to be disrespectful (although I did consider pretending to pray just so I could kneel down and get off of my feet. I didn't though.).
Getting pretty exhausted and with aching feet, we made our way to the Duomo. We sat on the main stairs and people-watched for about an hour. We then realized that a line was forming, and joined the queue. I was a little worried as there was a dress code sign out front, and I was once again wearing the verboten shorts, but really, people were dressed far more scantilly (and had to wear paper ponchos upon entering the church).
Completely exhausted and sore, we made our way back to the hostel and took a little siesta. People were not joking when they said that it gets hot here in Italy. Such a drastic change from Austria! I am not sure how I will make it through the next 5 days here without frying my skin to a crisp (despite copious amounts of sun screen). Once it was a bit cooler out, we went to the train station and paid the supplement for our Eurostar Italia train tomorrow. At €12 extra, it better be a really nice train!
For dinner, we went to the Italian (!) place accross the street where you could get great deals if you got your food to go (take-away) rather than eating in. The old man working there was absolutely adorable! He came over and chatted with us while our pizzas cooked, and I gave him my Canada flag pin. He was so excited that he gave us both a tomato each as a souvenir from Italy. This was by far one of the best moments of the trip so far (Take that, Frommers guide book!). It is doubtful such an enthusiastic display of emotion would have ever occurred in Germany. Oh, and the pizza was really delicious... and we have enough for another meal tomorrow.
It is off to Rome tomorrow, and we have a lot of sleep to catch up on. Ciao!
Steph & Laura: 1; Weather: 1
In order to make our train to Garmisch-Partenkirchen on time, we had to get up at 4:45 am as our train left at 6:11. And this is supposed to be a vacation? When we woke up -- after thinking it was a cruel joke -- we realized it was still raining with a vengeance. Hoping that the stormy skies were localized to Austria, we went left the hostel... but not before checking out. We had been told that YoHo had 24-hour reception, but when we got downstairs, there was simply a sign on the desk saying that if you wanted to check in you should go into the bar. As we had not gone to the bar (not even to celebrate Canada Day the night previous), we didn't really know where that was. A group of kids were loitering outside the hostel ringing the night bell. Laura began asking people if they worked at the hostel, and one of the guys went inside and began yelling at a man passed out on a bench in what we assume is the bar. He then came back into the lobby and told us apologetically that the guy was out cold. We both rushed into the room, but I sent Laura back outside to "look after the stuff". As soon as she had left the room (I did not want any witnesses), I began shaking the guy and yelling "GET UP!!!" at him. He started out of his drunken stupor and began to trudge over to the desk. Meanwhile, Laura was screaming in the lobby at anyone she saw, "Do you work here? Who works here? Does anyone work here?!?". It took the guy a little too long to find our room, after Laura had ordered him behind the desk and told him to get our safety deposits, so Laura also pointed it out for him on the reservation sheet. At one point, he said, "I am not stupid, you know," to which Laura was tempted to reply, "Wellll...." But she didn't. Too bad.
Finally, with €5 bills in our hot little hands, we made off for the train station to catch our train to Munich. The ride was innocuous, but we arrived with only 12 minutes to catch our connection to GP (after debating as to whether we should get off at the Ostbahnhof station or the Hauptbahnhof station... we chose (correctly) the latter). We were on platform 9, and had to somehow get to platform 32. Or so we thought. As we began making our way to the very end of our platform so that we could walk along and find the other platforms, I stopped briefly to check the Departure schedule. I found our train, but found that it was leaving from platform 28. I began shouting this at Laura, as I began running! With a pack on my back. Laura followed suit, and people began to stop and stare at us, as we doubled over with the exertion, we barreled through the station. It was an effort worthy of winning the Amazing Race, as we made it onto the train with only about 2 minutes to spare. Let us to tell you: Munich is a blur. All we can say is that the station is far too big and the platforms are far too long.
Oh, but for all of those people who are still betting against us? I think we just raised the stakes again. Also, this just goes to prove that the itinerary really cannot be denied.
We made it to GP with no further adventure in the interim. We made reservations for our night train that evening when we reached the station (we decided to just get seats rather than a sleeping compartment as this was cheaper... only €4 for that night's accomodation! But was it worth it? Read on and find out!), and found a locker large enough to stow a couple bodies for our packs. We then made our way to the Zugspitze station, where we bought our ticket for the cogwheel train and cable cars that would take us to the top of Germany's highest peak (at 4962 m!). In true European style, we ate our lunch on a bench in the station, slicing up the meat and cheese and bread with Laura's handy and extremely frightening Husky knife. One passerby remarked that our meal looked very good. She was right!
We got on at the very front of the train, along with a huge group of Japanese tourists. The ride up was amazing, as the scenery just got nicer and more impressive the higher up we got. At one point we passed the Ebsee lake, which was ridiculously blue (it looked tropical! and like it was from a movie) and every one oohed and ahhed as they scrambled to get their cameras in time.
Once we got to the first transfer station, things changed, as we were already so high up that there was a good deal of snow on the ground. Unsurprisingly, it was freezing! We didn't leave Canada just so that we could experience winter in July! Also, neither of us was really equipped to deal with subzero temperatures, despite bringing several layers of clothes and having read in advance that we would stop at a glacier. Yay for research and advanced planning! Imagine what might have happened if we had not planned ahead... Scary.
Things did not really improve when we reached the summit, as there continued to be snow (having only gone higher), but there was also vast quantities of fog. Or maybe we were just smack dab in the middle of a cloud. Either way, the visibility was non-existant, and our 4-country view was depleted so greatly, that we couldn't even see Germany which we were standing on. So, on the one hand, we didn't let the weather stop us from ascending to our destination. But, on the other hand, Taryn and her negative thoughts made it such that our enjoyment at the top was somewhat lessened. Well played weather. Well played. Regardless, we still get to now crow that we have been to the highest mountain in Germany, which is a pretty cool deal, no matter how you slice it. And, that is what postcards are for.
When we descended, we stopped at the lake we had seen on the way up and took some pictures. We also got to experience an Oriental woman decked out in biker apparrel screaming at her paramour in German. Surreal.
When we got back down to the village proper, we stumbled upon the best grocery store ever. It was massively discounted, but the quality was good. It was like a Costco mated with a Loblaws. We picked up some cherries, some nectarines, rice pudding, and our staples: odd-flavoured chips (tzatziki!), and chocolate! We decided not to go on the gorge walk because of the weather and the dearth of buses going to Olympic Ski Stadium, and instead worked on getting some postcards mailed out.
We then hopped a train to Innsbruck where we would catch our night train. We had several hours to kill before our train arrived, so we wandered out into the city, completing the hatrick of Austrian cities recommended by my travel book. We ate our hodgepodge meal by a dragon fountain while a man had a nervous breakdown on a bench nearby. We then went and saw The Golden Roof, the one cool thing to see in Innsbruck (and we just happened to stumble upon it during our wanderings). Then we ambled through a park where there was a concert going on where women dressed in traditional bavarian costume served people shots of something out of hip kegs. We want hip kegs! (Note: these are not "trendy" kegs, but rather tiny ones affixed to your hip). I was really enjoying the music, but we soon got into a laughing fit when it stopped and I asked, "What the hell is going on here?" Also, a father told his child that climbing on a nearby tree was "verboten" and she started to apologize... to the tree! Because we were laughing, and Innsbruck is the city with no laughter, people began to stare at us. We think that they believed we were drunk tourists who could not hold our hip-keg liquor.
As we left the park, we saw a large group of younguns sitting in the bushes drinking from 2L bottles of Coke. Scandalous! Next, we wandered through a "Rastafair", where reggae music was played at high volume while people played hacky sack. We never wondered what happened to those two things, but it's nice to know that they are well and alive in Innsbruck.
Having wandered around the entier city in 2 hours, we returned to the station and awaited our train. It is strangely freezing in Austria at night, so we shivered out on the platform. We were happy to find that our reserved seats were in a compartment of 6 seats, but that there were no other people in the compartment (I guess everyone else went with the couchettes that provide sketchy pullout bunks that are super embarassing to get onto when people are watching you through the window... as we did). Laura got a little frustrated when the door to the compartment jammed and would not open. We thought that there might be someone in there who had locked it, but it turned out the door was just sucky. Or was it? Read on to find out!
In fact, the sucky door saved the entire evening. We ended up sharing the compartment with a woman who alighted at 1:30 am, but for the entire 6 hours we were on the train, people would walk by when they go on the train and try to get into our compartment. Because the door would not open, they would jerk at it for a while, and then give up and move on. This meant that we got to have a private compartment and could stretch out on the dirty seats and actually lie down. Take that neck kinks! We were particularly thankful for our safety door, when a group of loud Italian men got on the train and rather violently and loudly attempted to make their way into our compartment. We would both have been too terrified to sleep had they succeeded, so thank goodness they did not! Crappy door prevails!
Although it was certainly not a restful night, we did both manage to get a solid 4.5 hours of sleep(more or less), so we are greatful to crappy door for that. That being said, we will check into how much a sleeping compartment costs for our trip from Fort Williams to Inverness.
To hear about our adventures in Florence, scroll upward.
