Well we arrived in a little town just outside of Cinque Terre at about 2:15 and had to wait there for a 20 min bus ride to the little village we were staying in. We got to our hostel at 4:45. Yep that's right, this means we waited for a bus for about 2 hours. To make matters worse, when we got to our hostel we found out that we were a good 2 hour walk from the first of the 5 cities and the last bus left for our hostel at 6:30. We said oh well and started walking to the Cities. We made it to the first one, Riomaggiore, at about 7 then sat at a nice little place and had a great seafood pasta dinner, it was awesome. After dinner we decided it was prob. a good idea to start walking back to our hostel seeing it was going to take us about 2 hours to get there. On the way back, we decided we were going to try and stop everyone as they were going by to see if they would pick us up. We were finally successful about 50 min into our walk. This nice couple from Hong Kong asked if we needed a ride. The man was a native Italian and his wife was from Singapore, so they spoke great English. They were so surprised we had walked the whole way and wouldn't let us pay them or anything. This was a highlight of the trip, hitch hiking in Italy!
The next day we decide we were going to wake up and take the first bus away from out hostel at 7am. When we got up we were greeted by rain...exactly what we didn't want to happen in our first beach city :(. We went back to bed for a little and got on the 9:50 bus and by that time the rain had pretty much stopped, just a little sprinkling here and there. Once in Rio, we took the train down to the other end to take the 12K hike from Monterosso back to Riomaggiore. We were informed this was would be much easier and much more beautiful. Although the overcast rainy day made the walk much cooler, it also made the mud trails very slippery, not good when you are climbing up and down mountains. Despite the minor setbacks, this was one of the prettiest walks I have ever made. It was so cool to round the corner and see this quaint little city on the hillside. Along the way, we would make a short stop in a few of the cities for a little bite to eat and just to take it all in. When we got back to Riomaggiore, we went to a few places looking to see if anyone had openings for next night. We found a great place for only 6 euro more than we were paying for our current place. We wanted to be able to stay actually in one of the towns so we could enjoy the night and a sunset there instead of eating at the one pizza place in the town we were currently in. The only problem was they didn't take reservations for single day guest, so we would have to show up the next morning and hope it was still available.
Luckily, it was, so we cancelled our current reservations and stayed at the night in Rio. During the day, we got on the train and made our way down to Monterosso slowly by stopping in a few of the towns along the way. It was cool to see how they were all very similar, but each still had its own vibe.
The next day, we woke up and got an early train out to Nice. Surprisingly it took us about 6 hours to get there. When we arrived in Nice, we found our hostel and some exciting news to go along with it. When checking in, the owner asked us if we would like to know the good or bad News first. We chose bad. He informed us that our room was on the second floor and one of his third floor showers had overflowed and messed up 5 of his rooms, ours being one of them. He said I do not have a place for you to stay here, but I have already called a hotel and had you a three person private room reservation at no extra cost. I will give you your deposit back and you will owe them exactly what you would have payed me. We were very impressed by his professionalism because along the way we ran into people who showed up at their hostel and the people told them they didn't have a room anymore and gave them no advice on where to go. For the remaining part of that day, we went down to the beach and then out for an amazing meal on the pedestrian promenade.
We decided to start the next day in style by going to another country, Monaco. Our first impression was a really nice train station, something we had yet to see on our trip. When we walked out of the station, we were immediately at the Marina with a collection of some of the biggest boats I had ever seen. Several of them had to have been close to 50ft wide and close to 125 ft. long. It was crazy! After looking at the boats for a little bit, we went on up to the Monte Carlo to take a picture. Drew was the first, so he walked up the steps. Little did we know, that was a no no. This guy came out told him to get off. They were mainly upset about the footprints drew left... After walking around for about an hour and a half, we headed back to Nice for lunch and relaxing on the beach. We did this for the rest of the day then went back to the same place for dinner. After dinner we called it a night because of our 14 hr train ride to Barcelona the next day starting at 6am.
Vamonos a la Barcelona!
Michael
Monday, June 15, 2009
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Best free pasta of my life!
So like I said in the last post, we left Rome early so we could go ahead and get to Florence early. Little did would mean we would make it just in time for the free dinner offered by our hostel. It was soo good! We got to chose from several different pizzas, pastas and salads, and it actually filled us up. After dinner we went to know is known as the golden bridge, because of all the gold being sold on it for an awesome sunset. After this we walked around a little more and stumbled upon a guy playing some awesome street music. He was originally from London and has been playing in the streets of Florence every night for about 8 years now. He played sevral covers and had a few great originals. After he was done for the night we went around a bit and found some of the best gelato in Italy. I dont even know how many I had over the two days we were in Florence. Josh and Drew inventeded their own Gelato crawl where they had 4 in one night...my stomach could not take it.
The next morning we woke up just in time for the free breakfast and the free walking tour of Florence. It was probably the worest tour I have ever been on. The guide had a very thick italian accent and was not entertaining at all. Not a good combination for a tour. Over the two hours I learned why all the churches were the same color and how the would kill people they didnt want in their palaces.
After the tour we went out to invade the Markets and get presents for the ladies in our lives. (Yes that does include you mom) It was crazy how much of the stuff I saw was the exact same things in the Cambodian Markets (less the Italian leather and silk of course). In the middle of the street market was an indoor food market where they had great pasta and cheese. While walking around the market we ran into a few friends who were on a day trip while studying abroad in a near by town. What a small world.
After the market we went back for more free food. This could not be passed up! I changed it up a little and got pizza instead of the amazing pasta I had the night before. After dinner the night looked much like the one before. Gelato, sunset, street music, gelato... On the way back to the hostel I decided to splurge a little and try the gelato on a waffle. It was one of the best thing I have ever had. I will deff. be doing this with Blue Bell when I get home.
The next morning we heade out for Cinque Terre where we would spend the next three nights. More on that later.
Ciao!
Michael
The next morning we woke up just in time for the free breakfast and the free walking tour of Florence. It was probably the worest tour I have ever been on. The guide had a very thick italian accent and was not entertaining at all. Not a good combination for a tour. Over the two hours I learned why all the churches were the same color and how the would kill people they didnt want in their palaces.
After the tour we went out to invade the Markets and get presents for the ladies in our lives. (Yes that does include you mom) It was crazy how much of the stuff I saw was the exact same things in the Cambodian Markets (less the Italian leather and silk of course). In the middle of the street market was an indoor food market where they had great pasta and cheese. While walking around the market we ran into a few friends who were on a day trip while studying abroad in a near by town. What a small world.
After the market we went back for more free food. This could not be passed up! I changed it up a little and got pizza instead of the amazing pasta I had the night before. After dinner the night looked much like the one before. Gelato, sunset, street music, gelato... On the way back to the hostel I decided to splurge a little and try the gelato on a waffle. It was one of the best thing I have ever had. I will deff. be doing this with Blue Bell when I get home.
The next morning we heade out for Cinque Terre where we would spend the next three nights. More on that later.
Ciao!
Michael
Thursday, June 4, 2009
My name is Maximus Decimus Meridius, Commander of the Armies of the North, General of the Felix Legions,
loyal servant to the true emperor, Marcus Aurelius, father to a murdered son, husband to a murdered wife, and I will have my vengeance -- in this life or the next.
Well we started our 7 day tour of Italy in Rome. As I stated at the end of the last blog, we took a night train from Interlaken, so we arived at about 9AM. We were only going to be in Rome for a day and a half, so we wanted to get as much done as possible while we were there. From our hostel, we started our marathon of walking by going to the Trevi Fountain. We did the usual throw one coin in to ensure your return and then another to make a wish come true. From here he started to make our way over to the Colosseum, this is what i was most excited to see. On our way there we kept running into police having areas baracaded off. Eventually we found out they were having a military parade pretty much all over the city. So we took a few detours only to find out that the Parade ended at the Colosseum so it was closed until the parade was over. We decided we didnt have time to wait for this parade to be over, so we started over to the Vatican. If you have ever been to Rome, you know this is a very far walk. The Vatican was so cool to be at. St. Peters was so massive and beautiful inside. From St. Peters we went to the Sistine Chapel. It was almost sureal to see things like the top of the chapel, the vatican and the colosseum.
After the vatican we stated walking around the city a little more and ended up at the Piazza de Navona where this guy was puting on a great slap-stick show. At different points during the show he used both josh and I as props...Drew laughed. After we watched that for a while we decided to make our way back over to the Colosseum to see if it had re opened. Although we ran into many road blocks still on out way there, we were determined to get there and see itm so we did! WOOHOO! It was one of the coolest experiences of my life. From here we just walked around town a little more and saw what rome had to offer when the sun went down. The only thing we didnt make it to was the roman forum which we knocked out the next day.
At around noon of the next day we felt that we had seen all of Rome that we wanted to, so for a small 5 euro reservation fee (which goes on top of the 560 euro we already paid for out rail pass) we set out for Florence a few hours early.
Well there is the first of our three Italian cities, more to come very soon. Internet has been hard to come by lately, so you might be getting a few blogs all at one time in the near future.
Peace!
Michael
Well we started our 7 day tour of Italy in Rome. As I stated at the end of the last blog, we took a night train from Interlaken, so we arived at about 9AM. We were only going to be in Rome for a day and a half, so we wanted to get as much done as possible while we were there. From our hostel, we started our marathon of walking by going to the Trevi Fountain. We did the usual throw one coin in to ensure your return and then another to make a wish come true. From here he started to make our way over to the Colosseum, this is what i was most excited to see. On our way there we kept running into police having areas baracaded off. Eventually we found out they were having a military parade pretty much all over the city. So we took a few detours only to find out that the Parade ended at the Colosseum so it was closed until the parade was over. We decided we didnt have time to wait for this parade to be over, so we started over to the Vatican. If you have ever been to Rome, you know this is a very far walk. The Vatican was so cool to be at. St. Peters was so massive and beautiful inside. From St. Peters we went to the Sistine Chapel. It was almost sureal to see things like the top of the chapel, the vatican and the colosseum.
After the vatican we stated walking around the city a little more and ended up at the Piazza de Navona where this guy was puting on a great slap-stick show. At different points during the show he used both josh and I as props...Drew laughed. After we watched that for a while we decided to make our way back over to the Colosseum to see if it had re opened. Although we ran into many road blocks still on out way there, we were determined to get there and see itm so we did! WOOHOO! It was one of the coolest experiences of my life. From here we just walked around town a little more and saw what rome had to offer when the sun went down. The only thing we didnt make it to was the roman forum which we knocked out the next day.
At around noon of the next day we felt that we had seen all of Rome that we wanted to, so for a small 5 euro reservation fee (which goes on top of the 560 euro we already paid for out rail pass) we set out for Florence a few hours early.
Well there is the first of our three Italian cities, more to come very soon. Internet has been hard to come by lately, so you might be getting a few blogs all at one time in the near future.
Peace!
Michael
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Toblerone
So I think I found my favorite city outside of the US...Interlaken, Switzerland. The place is just absolutley beautiful. Everywhere you look there are Mountians.
We arivived around 3PM and headed strait for the infamous Balmer's Herbage, or the hostel we would be staying at for the next three nights. As soon as we checked in we headed over to outdoor interlaken to sign up for the outdoor extream sports we would be doing. All three of us were going Canyoning and the other two guys, Josh and Drew, were going to go white water rafting as well. I decided not to go because Noelle and I will hopefully be going in Colorado in a few weeks when we visit our friend David Jones who is working at Noah's Ark for the summer. Luckily There was a rafting trip leaving at 4PM so the guys hopped on it due to the great weather that day. This gave me an oppertunity to walk around the town a bit and then go sit in the park and have some much needed God time while sitting in the beautiful Alps. It was awesome! When the guys got back from rafting we stayed at the hostel and had a great american meal, bacon cheese burger with fries. The beef wasn't exactly like what we get in the states, but it was still a good change in pace for meals.
The next day started early with Canyoning. It was one of the coolest things I have ever done! We road a van up a mountian, then walked, jumped, and slid down the waterfalls all the way to the bottom. The only downside was the water was so cold i couldnt feel my hands after about 5 min, but it was deffinatly worth it. Without knowing it, we happened to be in Interlaken for the annual nissan outdoor games extream video contest. To start the night off there was a sweet air show with some base jumpers and skydivers. Then there was an aweful danish band followed by an even worse American MC. But what made the night all worth it were the sweet videos at the end. It was crazy to see what people could do.
The next day started with a bike ride out to Trummelbach Falls. This ride was up hill the whole way. I was exausted to say the least. Everytime we asked how far it was from Interlaken to the falls, we got a different answer. We decided it was somewhere between 15 and 20 K one way, so somewhere between 30 to 40 K round trip. The actual falls were beautiful. It was amazing to see what water can do to rock over millions of years (or thousands if you are a new earth guy). After the ride back we just walked around town and chilled for the evening. Interlaken is a great place for that. The next and final day was filled with much of the same. Josh and I watched the French Open all day long. It was pretty cool to see Roger Federer play while in Switzerland.
On the evening of our last day we took a night train to Rome. This one was far less exciting as the other one. Everyone in our room was normal, no weird names and we all were in the same car.
It is crazy to think that the end of Interlaken is just over the half way mark for our trip. We are continuing to be broken for the lost in this region of the world. Please be praying that God will shine through all we do on the rest of this trip. Thanks for all the prays thus far.
Till Roma,
Michael
We arivived around 3PM and headed strait for the infamous Balmer's Herbage, or the hostel we would be staying at for the next three nights. As soon as we checked in we headed over to outdoor interlaken to sign up for the outdoor extream sports we would be doing. All three of us were going Canyoning and the other two guys, Josh and Drew, were going to go white water rafting as well. I decided not to go because Noelle and I will hopefully be going in Colorado in a few weeks when we visit our friend David Jones who is working at Noah's Ark for the summer. Luckily There was a rafting trip leaving at 4PM so the guys hopped on it due to the great weather that day. This gave me an oppertunity to walk around the town a bit and then go sit in the park and have some much needed God time while sitting in the beautiful Alps. It was awesome! When the guys got back from rafting we stayed at the hostel and had a great american meal, bacon cheese burger with fries. The beef wasn't exactly like what we get in the states, but it was still a good change in pace for meals.
The next day started early with Canyoning. It was one of the coolest things I have ever done! We road a van up a mountian, then walked, jumped, and slid down the waterfalls all the way to the bottom. The only downside was the water was so cold i couldnt feel my hands after about 5 min, but it was deffinatly worth it. Without knowing it, we happened to be in Interlaken for the annual nissan outdoor games extream video contest. To start the night off there was a sweet air show with some base jumpers and skydivers. Then there was an aweful danish band followed by an even worse American MC. But what made the night all worth it were the sweet videos at the end. It was crazy to see what people could do.
The next day started with a bike ride out to Trummelbach Falls. This ride was up hill the whole way. I was exausted to say the least. Everytime we asked how far it was from Interlaken to the falls, we got a different answer. We decided it was somewhere between 15 and 20 K one way, so somewhere between 30 to 40 K round trip. The actual falls were beautiful. It was amazing to see what water can do to rock over millions of years (or thousands if you are a new earth guy). After the ride back we just walked around town and chilled for the evening. Interlaken is a great place for that. The next and final day was filled with much of the same. Josh and I watched the French Open all day long. It was pretty cool to see Roger Federer play while in Switzerland.
On the evening of our last day we took a night train to Rome. This one was far less exciting as the other one. Everyone in our room was normal, no weird names and we all were in the same car.
It is crazy to think that the end of Interlaken is just over the half way mark for our trip. We are continuing to be broken for the lost in this region of the world. Please be praying that God will shine through all we do on the rest of this trip. Thanks for all the prays thus far.
Till Roma,
Michael
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