Home again, home again

Basically my last night in Nice I began my journey home and it took close to 2days to actually getting home, but I made it. At 9pm I took a train to Marseille from Nice. It took 3 hours, but it was rather cozy in a reclining seat and I had a nice nap. Once in Marseille I had no way to get to the airport, which would have been a problem, except that I had one day left on my rail pass in France, so having a ticket in hand I convinced the rail workers to let me spend the night in the train station. There were 4 of us, and it was sort of like camp but with uncomfortable wooden seats as a bed. I survived though and took the earliest shuttle bus to the airport. I got there at about 6am, bought breakfast, checked in, went through security and made my way to a gate close to mine, where I curled up and slept for a couple hours. My it was comfy. As more people arrived I moved and began reading my time away beofre my 10am flight. That flight lasted an hour to Frankfurt, Germany. Where I had to change planes to go to WA DC. The Frankfurt security was quite intense, my passport was checked, and then I had to have my bag and my person go through security again. Ah the joy of a frisk search and being picked to have my sweatshirt tested. I made my flight with a few minutes to spare though, so all was good. That flight was nice and long so I dozed off and on. The next plane change was not so pleasent though. In WA DC I had to go through customs, which is normal but considering I only had a carryone bag it was terrible to have to wait through all the checked baggage as well. It took forever and I just knew I would never make my flight. Between the customs, and more security checks, I was no where near my gate when final boarding was called. So, I set off running and was literally the last person on the plane before they closed the gates. Bah, running withmy backpack. I finally made it to Seattle at 8pm Pacific time.

I ended up spending 19 hours in transit from Marseille. Yikes, plus the train trip etc.

I was so happy to go home, Mom made me eggs which I had really missed and I gave my parents their gifts and told them some of my stories.

I am really glad to be home and surprsiingly not very tired. There is so much going on in my head now that I am sure I will have further posts about my trip to come.

Pisa and Nice

I left Rome early, very early actually in order to make everything fit in my day.

I was excited to see the Leaning Tower of Pisa. The walk from the train station was quite a pain in the ass, 30 minutes in foot each way. It was so worth it though, so very worth it, it looks so much cooler in person especially with all the other matching building around it. I loved my break to see it, I really did even with the major sketching looking people and far too many tourists.

It took a grand total of 12 hours to get from Rome to Nice, what with my 2 hour break in Pisa. That is quite a long day on the train, well 3 trains actually. It makes me tired to write about it actually. I met several great people along the way, but it was quite a long day.

Once in Nice, I found my hostel, with a great location, although super tiny room. After checking in and taking a well needed shower, I took a walk to the beach which was surprisingly pretty considering it was after the sun had gone down. I went to be early but it felt good to have a bit of sea air.

The next day, my last in Europe I spent soaking up sun, and calming down at the beach. It was great, just a book, sandwich and sun and I was happy. I did spend some time with people though, shich was also nice, but I think the beach did me the most good.

Rome

So, Rome actually ended up being great. I don't know what I would have done without taking the guided tours offered through the hostel I stayed at. The tours of both the Vatican and a walking tour of Ancient Europe really sped up the process of seeing the important parts as well as allowed for all of the history to really make sense and put into context exactly what I was seeing.

I especially enjoyed seeing the Sistine Chapel. It is just so much more amazing than you expect it to be. I know, you all hear that a lot but it really is stunning especially as you look at Michelangelo's progress.

Rome

Wow, Rome is a bit overwhelming. I will have to write more later as people are waiting for the computer. I made it to the Vatican and saw the sights of ancient Rome. It was great, but I think I have a broken toe or at least sprained, so it has been tough to walk around. Tomorrow I am on the train tomorrow to Pisa and then Nice.

Siena

I loved Siena. The train ride was a bitch, but it ended up being a beautiful city. I loved how cute and tiny it was. The Il Campo, the town center is like a big shell. It was so fun to sit and people watch, which I did basically all day. I did climb the tower, which was a wonderful view of Tuscany. I also went to Catherine of Siena's home and then the place where she worshipped. It was rtaher surreal. The bacillica was not worth it, but well after so many churches they all start looking the same. I did meet a cool American girl and we must have talked for like 3 hours, she was great.

Florence

I really like Florence. It is a great place to waunder around, nicely compact and with enough people watching to be had. I have more fun waundering around the city then actually doing something of worth. Although, seeing Michelangelos David was really amazing, as was the doumno (Catherdral). I have been hanging out with two other Americans, one from Seattle (Ballard) and the other from Boston. It has been really great to have company. We stumbled on a great pizza place after way too much waundering last night, with a very good house red wine, so we went back tonight for pasta. It is just one of those great places, that could easily be a tourist trap, except it is far enough out that the tourists never find it. It has been fun to explore Florence, but I am also quite excited about going to Siena tomorrow. I have to do laundry, that is all I really know. Luckily I am staying at an HI hostel which means it will not be the best, but will have laundry faciilities, oh and it will not be a tiny leaky tent like my current place.

Italy- Milan and Venice

Hooray Italy. Ok that is howthe post should begin, but it has not quite lived up to my stadards. Ah well, not every place can be perfect, it is still great to be travelling.

Milan
Milan was, well a bit boring. It is supposed to be this great European town, with history and the Doumo (Cathedral) and well, all it basically had was the doumno and a few shops. I was excited to be there, and had fun for a bit, but well, the Cathedral is basically it. Oh and my hostel was a bit substandard. I had a bed that moved from the wall when I climbed to the top bunk, and well the bathroom was a bit scary. The breakfast was great though, which is a plus. I met some cool people though, and one even travelled with me to Venice as we were staying the the same camping place in Venice.

The Train
Yes, the train gets its own section. It was well, a disaster. They fill up Intercity trains to the max, and there are not seats for everyone who has a ticket. Keep that in mind as I say that I sat in the aisle outside of a compartment sitting on my backpack as I had no seat, for an hour. After the hour I was upgraded to a pop down seat in the aisle. Almost an hour later I was finally in a seat, a real seat. I never knew a real seat could feel so good.

Venice
Venice is amazing and could easily be one of my favorite places. After the nightmare of the train ride, Venice was a breath of fresh air. I loved it. The shops filled with carnival masks and murano glass, the bridges over canals, the fact you could get lost holding still. It was great. Do not tell my mom but I bought her a carnival mask, now I am just trying to keep it in one piece on the way home.

Florence
It is raining, I got in today at 4pm to rain and it is supposed to rain tomorrow. i am sleeping in a tent at a campground, so yeah, rain sucks. Ah well, it has an amazing view of the city. Tomorrow I am going to museums and the city though even with the rain.

Last Switzerland Post

So, yesterday I was in Interlaken. I ended up taking a funicular up to the top of a little mountain. It was rreally beautiful as the clouds finally went away and I could see the mountains. I actually sat up at this restaurant and read, looked at the mountains, and people watched all day. The restaurant had two live bands switching off. It was just great.

Today I took the train to Zurich. It is an ok place. I am hanging out with a girl )laura= from Sydney. It is nice to not just waunder alone. Saddly, we are hungry and it is before dinner time, so on the internet we go.

I bought a reservation for a train to Milan tomorrow. I leave at 9am on the train, which means I have to get up crazy early in the morning. Take the tram to the train station then a long train ride to Milan. I should get in at about 2 in the afternoon. I hope it is beautiful, I really do. Oh, and warm, it is freezing here in Zurich.

Switzerland continued

So, I am still in Switzerland but I am making quick work of the places I visit. After Lausann I went the next day to Berne. I actually really liked it there, it was a great place to waunder around. Everything was sort of condensed and it was easy to make my way back and forth through the city. I followed my handy dandy daytrip section for Berne and saw a few sights a little off the beaten path. It was mainly just beautiful by the river, and from a little playground and sitting area behind the catherdal. i spent way too much time there, writing, and just watching people. Oh fun. Berne also had a rather nice hostel even if there was no breakfast served, bah. I met a cool guy who has been travelling for a year from Torono, Canada. Oh yeah and there is a nighty english movie, which was awesome.

After Berne I went to Lucerne. It was nice, but I would not go back. It trys too hard to be a marine town, even though it just has a lake. It had some pretty great wooden bridges though, especially one from plague times with creepy paintings of the dead. I did meet up with a cool American family and tagged along with them all day, which was nice. My hostel turned out to be a hotel trying to call itself a hostel. Not good. i ended up having a private room, which should have been nice, but it just made me feel lonely.

After Lucerne I came to Interlaken. The hostel is great, especially if you like extreme sports, which I do not but, oh well. The people are great, and they have a club downstairs. I ended up hanging out with a group that is studying abroad in Torino, Italy. They were a lot of fun.

I am still in Interlaken today, but the weather is crappy and rainy, so I do not know what I am going to do.

Quick travelling

I actually don`t remember what I posted last, so here is a run down of the days since Paris. I left Paris, excited to leave the city. I tried Caen but it was a weird Normandy city where everything was closed. Bah, no fun. So I hopped another train to Bayeux which was the perfect little town. Nice quiet and well quiet. I did see the tapestry which was great, and I found a place to stay. It is actually a very old building with really comfy beds even if the layout is rather strange. liked it there, but not for longer than a day. spend off to Strasbourg the next day. I basically spent the whole day on the train which was fine I guess. I liked Strasbourg and stayed for the next night as well. Even though a couple of guys did try to pick me up and one actually followed me for blocks. Scary. I enjoyed wandering and getting lost there. Oh and I walked across town (an hour and a half by foot) and crossed to border into Germany. Now I am on my quick trip through Switzerland. The people seem to be nice in Lausann as long as they are not working. This hostel is weird, but at least there are lots of people. Tomorrow I am off to Berne, then Lucerne, Interlaken and finally Zurich before heading off to Italy. I cannot believe I have been gone for 2 weeks, gah. I sort of wish it was time to go home but then again not. Yeah, weird.

Pqris, last day

So, today was my last day in paris. It actually went rather well. I went to the Montparnasse Cemetary and found Simone de Beauvoir and Sartre's tomb, it is so cool that they were burried together considering they never married.

Then I spent most of the rest of the day waundering arounf the Louvre. I had quite a good time looking at the French paintings and remembering learning about them in French class and in Art Appreciation.

I ended my day with a stroll along the Seine from th Louvre to the eifel Tower, it was sunny and nice.

Tomorrow I am off to Caen in Normandy. I don't have a reservation for somewhere to stay but I am going anyway. I really want to see the Bayeux taperstry in the next town and spend some time at the beaches. Wish me luck.

Paris

So, the last two days have been rather good. I have seen a few new places and have a greater appreciation for some others. Monet's waterlillies were amazing seeing them in huge format at the Orangerie. I recommend that to anyone in Paris, spend the 5 euros and then sit and take them in, it is simply breath taking.

Today I took a girl from New Zealand along with me. We visited the cemetery Pere Lachaise which is amazingly cool, and Aunt Vicki would have loved it. (I will have to send you pictures when I am home°. We also walked around Momartre and Sacre Coeur, then Notre Dame, and finally Centre Pompidou which is simply wacky.

Versailles

So, today I went ot Versailles. It was really beautiful, but wow my feet hurt. I walked all over the palace and then the gardens and finally Marie Antoinette's spaces. My pictures are fantastic, too bad my feet aren't.

Paris 1

So, today was my first full day in Paris. I was going to visit the Louvre but found out it was closed on Tuesdays. Bah. So, instead I waundered over to Notre Dame, St. Chapelle and the Concergerie. It was actually quite a lot of fun. Last time I was here they were cleaning Notre Dame so the facade couldn't really be seen, this time it was beautiful, it would have been better without the rain, but what can you do? The Concergerie was next on my trek, it was a palance then a prison during the revolutionary time in France. Marie Antoinette spent a coupld of months there before being beheaded, and Robespierre was there for a few hours before his sentence was carried out. It is actually a rather neat building. Next was St Chappelle. The church itself was gorgeous, the line wasn't really the same in that regard. I stood in line for almost 2 hours before getting in. Thankfully there was a coupld of Australians in front of me, they were quite interesting.

After St Chappelle, I strolled over by the Sorbonne and other left bank shops, as the Australians had told me there were good book stores and sales there. Gibert Joseph must love me now, I spenmt 112.50 euros or $145 on philosophy books. I couldn't help myself. I loaded up on Foucault, Deleuze's What is Philosophy?, a couple by Irigaray and Kristeva's Black Sun. Some of these I don't have in English, but most I do. I ended up with 9 books. Hooray! Now to just mail them home.

London/Paris

So, today was the trek from London to Paris. I seriously spent all day either on the train or waiting at the station. I finally made it to Paris though, and along the way I did talk to a few interesting people. A man who had such a strong accent I could only understand like 3 words out of the sentence and an older couple who were from San Francisco area (Freeman or something like that) who were just a blast to listen to.

Tomorrow I will go into the city and have a look around. I am not sure where but it might be a good day for the Lourve and le Orangerie. Yeah, that might be a good plan.

London 4/Cambridge

Today, i went to Cambridge. The trip getting there was actually fun, it was so cool to watch the city disappear and you are suddenly surrounded by huge fields of green grass. Very pretty.

Cambridge itself has so much history that you just want to take a picture of everything. All the churches and school building. Oh and there was a really cute little market. I wish i had had money to spend, but nope.

The only bad part of the day was the fact it rained almost the entire time. I mean poured, as in sheets and you were soaked in minutes. Oh, and there was some hail. Yes, hail in October. Nice. Oh, and as the idiot that I am, i didn't bring my raincoat, so i was cold and soaking wet all day. Hmmm, not so much fun.

Now I am just trying to get my laundry done, and it isn't working. It takes forever as people seal your place in line for the washer and/or dryer.

London 3

I woke up not feeling too well, so I basically took the day off. I did make it to Portobello Road though, which wasn't nearly as cool as in Bedknobs and Broomsticks. Glad I went though. The rest of the day I basically spent writing in my travel journal and chatting with other people at the hostel, which was nice in and of itself.

London 2

I woke up far too early, maybe excited for the day, but I just couldn't help myself. Martin got up at 9:30, to check out, and we went off to parliment. Sounds weird, but true. Westminster Abbey really is amazing, a lot menacing, but truly amazing, I didn't want to leave.

Martin went off to a lunch meeting, and i went and got very lost. Before finding the London Eye, and waiting in line and then the ride took about 3 hours total, but it was really cool. Then I waundered down the Thames, longer than you think. I of course saw London Bridge, which is not all that exciting actually, but Tower Bridge was cool, and crossing it with Tower of London on the other side was just perfect.

Next I was off to greenwich to see the royal Observatory and the Median line, which I didn't get to see in the end because it was closed when I got there, How sad. :(

I did meet Martin and his friends Nick and sam for a pub crawl though. Yeah, that was fun. Riding the tube home drunk wasn't quite as much fun. Let's just say I ogot upclose and personal with the guy next to me. Hmmm, fun times. I ended up passing out in the bed fully clothed, which wasn't as fun, ads jeans get quite uncomfortable.

London day 1

Ok, so I made it to London. It was a long flight with a delay in Seattle that made me almost miss my flight to london, but I made it. Didn't sleep more than 2 hours though. The atms in the airport were out of cash, so i ended up spending the first few hours with no cash, not a good thing when you are in need of food, and transportation. Thankfully I charged my underground pass, and found an ATM while lost near my hostel. Yes, I said lost, are you really surprised?

Anyway, I ended up at the hostel, and checked in. it is really a great place too, near the Pimlico station. I checked in after a guy that happend to be in my dorm too, named Martin. We started talking, and he was really cool. He actually had lived in London for 7 monthes, which meant he knew people and the city. Hooray for my own personal tour guide.

So, off we went on a whirlwind tour of the main sites in London. Buckingham Palace, the royal mews, St james palace, Trafalger Square, St Martin in the fields, Covenant Garden Market and even the Waterloo Bridge which I think has the very best view of the city. You can see everything but London Bridge and Tour Bridge from there, it is really amazing.

After the whirlwind tour, we met some of his friends at a bar in Covenant Garden, a swank area actually, called the Verve. It was a bit strange with a chandelier in the middle and then not getting carded, I am so used to being carded. It was quite fun, and after the bar, four other people and me went to a club called Suede, and danced to weird and cheesy music. At 11pm, I was exhausted, so Martin took me back to the hostel. Good thing because I had no clue where I was and he was holding me up as I was so tired.

New Blog

Ok, so as you all know I have a livejournal and a myspace blog, but paying for my internet at hostels is making it so i can't post very easily at either one. So, this blog is exclusively for this trip, open to the public, and well sort of random.