Thursday, October 29, 2009
The Much Anticipated Finale ♥ 10:23 AM
Okay, so months later I'm finally going to wrap this blog up.
Picking up from last time, Mom and I spent our last day exploring a bit more of Florence and then took the Eurostar back to Rome. By this point I was exhausted so I stayed in the hotel to rest for a bit while she went out to find some small gifts to take home with us. Then she came back and we went out to dinner at a nice restaurant that the Rick Steve's book recommended and headed home to pack and try to get an early nights sleep since we had to leave early.
The next morning we woke up early and and took the metro to the train station, got on the train to the airport and thought we were off to the start of a good day. Unfortunatly that wouldn't last long. When we got to the airport to check in we were told that my ticket was cancelled. My mom had bought a round trip ticket from Minneapolis to Rome and back to Minneapolis, but since 9/11 they changed their policly so that if you are not on the first leg of your flight they will cancel your return trip. So being rushed for time (because they close check in an hour before the flight), we didnt' have time to put mom's ticket in my name and she had to hurry onto the plane while I stayed behind to try and figure everything out.
They wanted me to buy another $3,000 ticket home, and told me I had until 11 to buy the ticket or else it would go to someone else. All of th eir flights were already overbooked and crazy so I was pretty nervous, plus with the time difference and the fact that I had very few phone numbers for people back home since I didn't have my phone it was going to be difficult to get a hold of people. Luckily, thanks to a phon card and the modern technology of being able to send a text message through the internet I was able to get a hold of my step-dad Jeff and he helped to figure everything out. I was stuck in the airport for 24 hours, but I made a friend. There was another girl there my age who was stuck there for a day so we banded together and looked out for eachothers stuff as we slept and found strength in numbers.
I had some more bad luck in New York, they mixed up my gate numbers and the flight was delayed for a few house. In the end I didn't get home till about 1 AM, about 30 hours after I was supposed to. But it was worth it even though it was stressful.
Overall, my whole trip this summer was an amazing experience - probably the best of my life. I miss being in London almost everyday that I'm home and hope that someday I'll be able to go back.
Here's the final collection of photos, enjoy!
The End.
Sunday, August 16, 2009
♥ 1:44 AM
Saturday morning we woke up a bit early again and had our continental breakfast at the hotel before going back upstairs to cram all of our stuff back into our suitcases for checkout. We stored our luggage at the Hotel and got on the waterbus by our hotel to head out to Murano, the glass blowing island just off of Venice.
When we got there, we spent a few hours wandering around looking through the shops. The things that they sell are absolutely amazing. It’s all so beautiful and complex but there are so many different shops selling similar items, or even completely unique items that it must be really tough competition. Since mom had already bought a glass ring on the main island she tried to find a necklace to match it but didn’t, and I found myself a necklace and a ring. Mom also got a glass bulb (like a Christmas ornament, not light bulb) and a candle holder because everything was so unique that we wanted something, but it’s not as if we could have gotten much of that stuff home. The chandeliers were especially amazing, but I can’t even imagine how much it would cost to ship that back to the states (not to mention the price of the chandelier itself…).
Then we went and saw one of the artists blowing glass and he made a vase in about 15 minutes or less. It was really cool and interesting to watch, I still have no idea how they do it.
We then got back on the waterbus and wandered around a bit to find a place where we could get a quick sandwich before heading back to the hotel to pick up our luggage. After getting our luggage (and a quick shoe change on my part) we headed to the train station to get a ticket, but unfortunately we had bad timing and the next one didn’t leave for 2 hours so we sat on the steps, mom went to get some water and a cannoli and then we got on the train and headed back to Firenze!
Once there, mom decided we should walk to our hotel, which resulted in us being on the wrong side of the road and having to double back – but we ended up finding a really good pizza place to eat at because of it. We got to the hotel, set up one for tomorrow night in Rome and then went to bed.
Now this morning we just went to breakfast and are about to check out and store our luggage to explore Florence for a few hours before we have to catch a train to Rome! Internet is timed at this hotel, so pictures tomorrow!
The End.
Friday, August 14, 2009
“Venice is like eating an entire box of chocolate liqueurs in one go.” ♥ 2:37 PM
Last night after my last blog post we went out for a late dinner at a restaurant recommended to us by the reception desk that was very close to the hotel. At first we weren't sure that we would find it because our hotel is in a more remote area of Venezia so there aren't all that many street lamps and it's hard enough to read the street signs during the day. On top of that it was still raining a bit from the storm earlier.
Turns out the restaurant really was very close by and when we went inside we were greeted by a waited who swept us in and asked us if we liked pasta. "Do you like pasta, we have good fresh pasta. You want pasta with shrimp and mushrooms? Yes, okay sit down." Before we even sat our meal was ordered for us, no translating or thoughts involved. Since it was late we really appreciated that and the food was really excellent. After the pasta we got Venetian cream for dessert which was really good as well. Then we happily headed back to the hotel in our slightly overstuffed states and headed to bed.
This morning we did our best to wake up early and get to the continental breakfast at the hotel. Afterward we went down and added another nights stay to our hotel because we originally were only going to stay in Venice last night. Then we headed off through the windy, poorly marked, confusing streets of Venice to find San Marco. There were signs pointing us in every direction to get there and tourists everywhere, but eventually we found it and it is absolutely beautiful. We waited in not too long of a line to get in and walked around the church filled with mosaics (though we unfortunately couldn't take photos) and then went up to the museum and terrace levels. After we went and tried to make our way to the Rialto bridge, which is the big famous Venice bridge and stopped for lunch along the way. It was just a quick one at a "snack bar" as they call them, and it was pretty good.
After lunch we climbed up the Rialto bridge and walked through the market area after it and then wandered some more to find the train station. Rick Steve's recommends taking a tour of the Grand Canal via waterbus #1 from the train station, so thats what we did. It was pretty croweded so it was hard to see some of the sights, but we still got some good pictures and it was a nice way to see parts of Venice. Then we wandered around by Piazza San Marco looking for a place to eat dinner but finally decided we needed to get away from the touristy area to eat. So we got back on a waterbus that took us to the train station, from which we walked in the direction of our hotel. On the way we passed a restaurant near the street that lead to the Jewish Ghetto that was just packed with a group of Jewish people having some type of celebration, and just another block down we found the perfect restaurant to eat at.
We shared an appetizer of shrimp and mushrooms, and then we shared some clams. Then I had pene with gorgonzola and prosciutto, and mom had tuna steak with zucchini. It was so, so good. Probably the best food we've had yet on the trip.
As we were sitting there enjoying our dinner by the canal, we realized that the waterbus that kept driving by was just the one we needed! So, after dinner we waddled to the bus stop, got and and were back at the hotel in no time! And now it is time for bed, but in the meantime - enjoy day 3 Roma photos here!
I'll add some photos from today to this blog tomorrow. Ciao!
The End.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Siena a Firenze a Venezia! ♥ 11:27 AM
Wednesday morning we slept in a bit to catch up on some much needed sleep. Then after much deliberation and a little argumentation, we went off in search of a bus to take us to Siena. Before figuring it all out we stopped to get some pastries for breakfast at a little café near the hotel and then after not finding the bus station the first time, grabbed some meat, cheese and bread from the grocery store and went to the nearby Piazza Santa Maria Novella to eat it. Afterwards we finally found the bus station and I convinced my mom that we should just get on the bus and go right then and there instead of waiting for tomorrow, so on the bus we went!It was about an hour and a half bus ride there and I slept the majority of the way while mom read the guide books to figure out what we should do the afternoon. Upon arrival we decided to go to il Dumo (there’s one in Sieana too). We stopped in several cute little ceramic shops along the way, and we got some yummy gelato too! Sieana is a very pretty, hilly city that is exactly what you would expect Tuscany to look like. We first went into the Baptistery at il Dumo, and it was pretty cool. The ceiling was a big fresco and the baptism font was beautiful, but it was a pretty small area so we left shortly. We then went up to the cathedral itself, but they were just about to start a mass so they weren’t letting any tourists inside, so we missed out on that on
e.Then we went down Piazza del Campo, which is supposed to be the heart of the city. We tried to go up the clock tower Torre del Mangia, however there was a sign informing us that they sold out of tickets for that day – still not sure how you sell out of tickets for something like that, but once again we were let down. So we strolled across the square to the Fountain of Joy to watch the pigeons try to drink from the fountains and then headed back through the windy roads of the town. After that it was time to grab a quick slice of pizza and get back on the bust to Firenze. It was a much shorter ride back due to the madness of the bus driver flying through the streets.
This morning we woke up relatively early to get all of our stuff together and check out of the hotel so that we could enjoy a bit more of Firenze before taking off for Venezia. After breakfast we headed to the train station to check our luggage then we went back to il Dumo Firenze version. It was a long line to get in but it moved quickly and though the church was huge it was mostly empty. The dome however was worth the wait; it was painted beautifully and looked very 3-D. It’s smaller than the one in Saint Peters’ at the Vatican, but the design is much prettier and more intricate. We were going to go up in this dome as well, however the line was very long and not moving at all and we didn’t have time to waste.
From there we headed down to the market area, mostly to look at the famed Firenze leather and made few purchases. We spent most of our remaining time there before heading to the post office to change over some money. The we headed back to the train station where I went to the machines to buy our train ticket to Venezia and mom went to the grocery store to get the same lunch as yesterday and we headed
back to the Piazza to eat again. Then we grabbed our bags and rushed to the train.After about a 2 hour train ride we got off at Venezia San Lucia station and tried to figure out the Waterbus system. After being told by the owner of a restaurant we were getting on the wrong bus we walked in the opposite direction, only to find that we could in fact take the one we were on and get closer to the hotel. So we went back and when it came the guy opening the gates was quite rude because we couldn't get on fast enough with our luggage and weren't sure it was the right one. He barely stopped I swear. Then after a few minute ride we were dropped off at our stop and had to figure out how to walk to the hotel from there.
It was pretty confusing. There were street signs pointing us in the right direction and we wandered until some nice woman asked us if we needed help. We were basically right across the street. Hotel isn't bad, but has a lot of steps and no elevator. I'll post more tomorrow! Added Roma Day 2 Photos!!
The End.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Burning up in Firenze ♥ 3:54 PM
Tuesday morning we woke up and after having our usual continental breakfast, headed back upstairs to pack up all of our stuff (which was quite the feat!). Then we headed out to catch the bus to the Termini train station. After successfully purchasing a ticket we had to figure out which gate to head to, which at first was confusing because our train was actually a train to Venice, not Florence but was stopping at Firenze (Florence) on the way.Once we figured that out, we got on the train and headed to Firenze! It was about a 2 hour journey maybe a bit more, and I cropped an rotated my pictures from Rome the whole way up so that I could add some to yesterday's blog and you can now view day 1 photos right here!! If you have facebook, you can see the rest I
just haven't been able to put them all in one album yet.Once we arrived, we grabbed a quick lunch as we were both very hungry and then headed over to the tourist information office to get some maps and figure out how to get to our hotel. We used hotwire again which had been working well, but ended up in a Holiday Inn here that is quite far from the town center. It's still a nice hotel and all, but it's about a 20 minute bus ride.
After getting situated we headed back into town on the bus and embarked on another Rick Steve's walk. We stopped in for dinner at a quick self serve restaurant that was pretty good because alot of the other restaurants recommended in the book were closed during August. Apparently the Florintines don't eat this month. Then we headed out to il Duomo, a great huge and beautifully decorated Cathedral, and the baptistry across from it. Down Calzaiuoli towards the Orsanmichele, which is a a pretty church nearby. We stopped along the way at Festival de Gelato where I got some Frutti di Bosco gelato, which was amazing and refreshing in the heat.
From there we walked on down to Piazza Signoria, which has the Palazzo Vecchio - with a big castle like turret and has the replica
of the Micelangelo's David outside of it and the real thing inside. Off to the side a bit of that is the Loggia Dei Lanzi which has a bunch of statues in it, including Benvenuto Cellin's statue of Perseus holing the head of Medusa. Then we walked through the Uffizi museum's courtyard filled with more statues down to the Ponte Vecchio. It's Florence's most famous bridge. It's lined with shops and is really very cool and Renaisance looking. The shops were closed at night, but the bridge was filled with people listening to a guy playing live music and singing. It felt very Italian and was a great way to end the night before getting on a bus back to the hotel.I wanted to write about today to, but it's getting so late already I'll have to do that tomorrow on the train and just copy and paste it to my blog the next time I get internet!
The End.
Monday, August 10, 2009
When in Rome... ♥ 2:27 PM
My four day trip to Rome is now at a close, tomorrow morning we will be moving on to Florence. It has been an absolutely exhausting few days, my feet are throbbing as I type this. I'm going to do my best to recall this whirlwind of events.Saturday morning we woke up and went down to the continental breakfast at the hotel. It was actually really amazing, much better than the toast and cereal I'm used to from hostels! After I did a bit of re-organizing my suitcases because when I was leaving London I ended up just throwing things in there because I didn't want to waste any time packing. After that we had to move to the Hotel Executive because that's where our reservations were for the rest of our stay in Roma. It's also a pretty nice hotel, not as nice as the first but still very nice - and the beds are nice and big!
Then we headed off to Ancient Rome to see the sights. We figured out the Metropolina (Rome's version of the tube) and went to the Colosseum and the Roman Forms/Palatino. It was all very cool, the Colosseum especially. The architecture of it all and the sheer fact that they had the ability to build such massive structures so long ago is amazing. We took an audio guide in both, but while the one in the Colosseum was pretty good, the one at the Roman Forms was terrible and we ended up wasting a lot of time because of it, but ended up just wandering around and it was fine. We also stopped for lunch at a place recomended to us by my mom's Rick Steve's Italy book which was pretty good and tucked back away from all of the tourist trap restaurants which was really nice.
It was sweltering hot, so after spending several hours in Ancient Rome we headed back to the hotel to shower and rest some. Afterward we went on a Rick Steve's night walk of Rome which was pretty cool. We walked through several different Piazza's and to the Pantheon and the Trevi Fountain by which time it was getting really late and our feet were aching so we got on a bus back to the hotel. On the walk we had dinner at a restaurant by a fountain in one of the Piazza's and I got some really excellent
gnocchi. We didn't get back to the hotel until around 2AM.Sunday we slept in a bit later and got continental breakfast again, which wasn't as good as at the first hotel but still pretty good. Then we took a bus out to Porta Portese for a market and spent the greater part of the day walking around there. It was full of people selling all sorts of stuff and was fun to look at everything. With very tired feet we got back on a bus and went up to the Piazza de la Republica to see the fountain and to have lunch before going to the national museum. We ate at a snack bar that was also in the guide book, but the food was not very good - although the fresh fruit salad was amazing. It was probably just because we went at such an odd time of day for the Italians.
After lunch we explored the museum as best we could before tired feet sent us back to the hotel. We took a few hour break and then went out to finish the walk we started the night before by going to the Spanish steps. We took the metro out there and it was absolutely packed. There were people all over the stairs. We ate dinner nearby and then climbed to the top to take photos. We took the bus home and made it back around 1 AM.
This morning we went to the Vatican City. We went through the Vatican museum which is just huge. It's hard to say much about it other than that it basically just has a lot of Roman and Greek type statues and art, as well as other random art collections like the Egyptian room and the modern art rooms. Of course the crowning jewel of the museum was the Sistine Chapel. The frescos on the ceiling and everywhere are absolutly amazing. Their just so intricate and huge and beautifully, brightly painted.
From there we went to Saint Peter's Basillica, which is the biggest Catholic church. It was enormous. There were signs to show where other great churches would fit inside of it and St. Paul's in London (which is a huge Cathedral) is tiny in comparison. I really can't describe how beautiful it is because it's basically just beyond words, so I'll try to let the pictures speak for me. After walking all around the Basillica, we climbed the 320 stairs to the top of Micha
el Angelo's dome in the Basillica for an amazing view of Rome. It was very tiring and hot and confined but totally worth it.After the Vatican we decided to go back to the Trevi Fountain to see it in the day light, afterwhich we wandered around trying to find someplace to eat until we finally just go on a bus that went near the hotel and ate out here. It was pretty good, but mom didn't like that it wasn't all that authentic (even though they could barely understand us for our lack of Italian speaking skills). Now it's quite late again and I'm about to go to bed.
I will add photos probably tomorrow (assuming we get wireless in our Florence hotel) I just really wanted to get this all blogged about so I wouldn't forget. Buona notte!
The End.
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Bye, Buh Bye! Cheers, Bye! ♥ 3:36 PM
Now to recount the tale of my last two days in London.
Thursday at work was quite a hectic day. I had to try my best to finish up my feature, but unfortunately by the end of the day I still hadn't heard back from the sources that I needed to hear from in order to finish. So I wrote all that I could without it and Jenni asked me to finish it while I was in Italy, not ideal but luckily most of it was done. Jenni, Laura and Sara took Claire, Michelle and I out for lunch (Michelle's last day of the internship was Friday). We went to an Italian restaurant called Strada and it was really good food and it was nice to talk to them on a non-work basis again like the picnic. Then at the end of the workday they showered us with little gifts as a thank you for being such lovely interns. Despite the stress that sometimes came along with the internship and our eagerness to be through with it, Claire and I were both pretty sad when it came time to leave and nearly cried. It was very weird to be leaving Prof. Beauty for the last time.
When we got home I had to finish packing everything up and then we met our other flatmates - Amanda, Claire H. and Linden at a pub called the Brass Monkey where all of the MSN interns were having a last day party with the editors there. We spent the evening there until the pub closed at 11:30 and then headed back to the flat, where I proceeded to do a bit more packing before I fell asleep.
In the morning I got up early, put absolutely everything in my suitcases and brought the big one downstairs as it was going to be picked up by Luggage Free sometime that day. Then I went to class a bit early to check-in online for my flight and print off my boarding pass in the student lounge. I had to say my goodbyes a bit early and leave class a few minutes early because I got a call from Luggage Free saying that they would be picking up my bags at about half 12. Luckily after handing off my bag I had time to stick around the flat to have one last quick meal and while I was eating my flatmates came back early so I got a chance to do a proper goodbye even though I'll see them all back at Mizzou.
Then I got on the tube to Heathrow terminal 5 and checked my luggage and went to wait for my flight. I worked on my feature a bit more while I was waiting since I got some of the quotes I needed and then got on the plane to meet my mom in Roma! I slept for most of the flight, and once I landed walked through the airport to the train station.
I tried to buy a train ticket to Termini train station from one of the ticket windows, but he only took cash. So then I had to go withdraw cash. But then I noticed a more official looking ticket window and used my card to buy it from him. Meanwhile, I had been trying to call my mom at the hotel - but the number I had wasn't working because I was calling from a UK phone instead of a US phone. After messing with it for a bit, I got the right number and got through to her but then the power went out at the hotel - which of course I didn't know until later, I just thought I couldn't get through! I was pretty exauhsted and stressed out by that point and almost broke down and started to cry since I couldn't understand anyone and couldn't get ahold of her, but after trying several more times got to talk to her and figured out where to meet her once I got off the train.
We walked back to the hotel from Termini - it was a really nice hotel called Camelia. It was the nicest place I've been in in a very long time. The bed was so unbelievably comfortable after what I've been sleeping in all summer. I was thrilled about that. After getting back to the hotel, we went and ate at a little restaurant just next door to the hotel. Then, we headed back to the hotel and fell fast, fast asleep.
The End.