Rousillon sits atop these red rocks.....it has been compared to Santa Fe in ambiance!
Saturday, July 05, 2008
The Heart of Provence....and back to Nice (July 4-5, 2008)
After I finished with my doctor appointment in Avignon, Mark and I took a walk (a long one, of course) across the river and had a little picnic while staring at the famous Pont d'Avignon. Then we drove over to the famous Pont du Gard (a leftover Roman acquaduct) that is truly something to behold! We left there and drove to Nimes (where denim came from for all of you bluejean lovers). That is where we had a true European vacation experience. We finally found a place to park our car, and walked around the city about three times trying to find the Roman colosseum and the best preserved Roman temple in the world. We laughed at a hotel called the "Cat Hotel". That became our marker, and when finally trying to leave the city, because of the one-way streets, I think we drove past that hotel about five times! A GPS might have come in handy. Nimes is alot bigger than one would think. We drove in the direction to Les Baux and St. Remy. By this time I was feeling pretty lousy and sat in the car while Mark took pictures of Les Baux (I've been there before). We finally got back to Avignon around 10 p.m., and I was starving. The problem was, my throat is raw and it is very hard to find something to eat that doesn't hurt or burn it. We finally found a cafe that had some soup, and I ate it successfully.
The next morning we planned to get up early (oh brother) and drive to Arles, and then through the Luberon Valley (where A Year In Provence takes place), and then on to Nice. Long day. Mark is doing all of the driving.
In Arles we visited a very interesting Roman museum (after another long walk), then headed out to find the Roman ruins there. Arles is famous for Roman ruins, and they are spectacular. It is also famous, of course for Vincent Van Gogh. We had a delicious meal at one of Rick Steves recommened restaurants, and then took off for the Luberon Valley.
Places seem really close to each other over here, but in the Luberon Valley the roads were so curvey and we went up and down hills so much that it seemed to take us forever to get anywhere. We were looking for lavendar fields, but honestly the ones we saw driving from Chamonix to Avignon were prettier. The highlight was a stop in the hilltop town of Rousillon, where they make paints from the earthen colors. We hung out there for a while, before finally finding the autoroute to Nice.
We arrived in Nice and successfully navigated the one-way streets, eventually finding our hotel and surprisingly, a parking spot just half a block away! (We were too late to turn in our car.)
Here's where we went to KFC and discovered self-service drinks with an ice machine!
My throat was beginning to feel better, so I managed to eat a piece of chicken and some fries, but that ice-cold Pepsi was the highlight of the meal!
Thursday, July 03, 2008
July 2-3, 2008 Avignon
This will be short and sweet. We are in Avignon. We drove the scenic "wine" route yesterday through lavender fields and vineyards. I wish I could have enjoyed it more, but my throat was on fire. None of the medicines I had gotten from the pharmacy were working. Upon arrival in Avignon, I determined that I would have to go to a doctor.
I did just that this morning. I went to a "generalist", Dr. Christian Duval. Very nice man. Didn't have to wait at all. He said the sore throat was due to running the air conditioning too low and something about bacteria in the walls, and I would need an antibiotic and an anti-inflammatory to get over it. It cost me 30 euros and 15 for the medications. I feel better just knowing that I don't have strep throat or something, and that I have medicine (I think it is like Ceclor). So hopefully I will be back to feeling decently later. And I will tell Rick Steves to tell his readers not to run the air conditionning too cold in Nice in the summer! I'm off to try to enjoy sightseeing with Mark.....will update more later!
This will be short and sweet. We are in Avignon. We drove the scenic "wine" route yesterday through lavender fields and vineyards. I wish I could have enjoyed it more, but my throat was on fire. None of the medicines I had gotten from the pharmacy were working. Upon arrival in Avignon, I determined that I would have to go to a doctor.
I did just that this morning. I went to a "generalist", Dr. Christian Duval. Very nice man. Didn't have to wait at all. He said the sore throat was due to running the air conditioning too low and something about bacteria in the walls, and I would need an antibiotic and an anti-inflammatory to get over it. It cost me 30 euros and 15 for the medications. I feel better just knowing that I don't have strep throat or something, and that I have medicine (I think it is like Ceclor). So hopefully I will be back to feeling decently later. And I will tell Rick Steves to tell his readers not to run the air conditionning too cold in Nice in the summer! I'm off to try to enjoy sightseeing with Mark.....will update more later!
Chamonix, July 1st
I forgot to mention yesterday that we met a very elderly lady on the train to Grenoble who had never heard of Texas! She had heard of New York, but not Texas. I tried everything.....cowboys, guns, horses, but she just kept saying "je ne connais pas" (I'm not familiar with it). I should have said "George Bush"!
According to Rick Steves, we needed to get up early to go to Chamonix if we wanted to ride the lift to the top of the mountain to view Mont Blanc. So we did.....we left Annecy around 7:30 a.m.
It is about 50 miles to Chamonix, and about 20 miles out Mont Blanc popped into view. It was absolutely magnificent! We arrived in the town (compared to Aspen in the USA) surrounded by mountains, most of them still covered with snow in July! We bought our tickets (38 Euros each) to go to the top of Aiguille du Midi on a really scary-looking lift. We got halfway up and then had to change to another one. It took about 20 minutes to get to the top, where we were surrounded by absolutely beautiful snow-covered mountains. We took pictures. We asked some Japanese tourists to take our picture, and then they wanted to have a picture made with us, but they wanted to switch spouses! I was with the Japansese man, and Mark was with his wife! It was pretty funny, but unfortunately we didn't get a copy of that picture!
Mark had a coffee on top of the mountain for 3 euros (his habit is very expensive, he's had to curb his enthusiasm a bit on this trip.) We had fun watching the ice hikers and ice climbers getting ready to do their thing, and then went back down to explore the town. We bought some sausage and cheese from a specialty store. We had a little picnic, and then drove up a ways because Mark wanted to hike to a glacier. By this time my throat was hurting worse, but I stuck it out. The hike was of course harder than we thought, but I made it to the top where I just sat while Mark looked around. I was feeling pretty rough.
On the way home, we went through a bad thunderstorm. We were on the autoroute, when all of a sudden we saw all of this debris on the road. It led us to a car that had evidently just spun out of control and hit the center railing. We were able to dodge the debris and go around the car, but it was evident that the driver (a girl) was hurt, and Mark stopped in front of her. I tried to call 112 (911) in French, but because of the storm, couldn't get through. (I don't know what I would have told them....I had no clue where we were!) Another couple called, though, and reported the accident. A third man appeared, and he happened to be a fireman. The injured lady handed me her cell phone and asked me to call her brother. She had him on speed dial, so it was already ringing. But, I only got his voice mail. I told him his sister had been in an accident on the autoroute and we were waiting for an ambulance. Mind you, it was POURING rain! Someone brought forth an umbrella, which Mark held for the fireman, who was trying to work with the lady. She lost consciousness once, and we thought we were going to have to do CPR, but she came to, thank goodness. STILL POURING RAIN. Someone got me off of the road behind the guard rail, and told me to just motion for cars to slow down. So several of us did that, in the POURING COLD RAIN, while they worked with the lady. It took the responders forever to get there, but they finally did, and then Mark and I left. We were soaked and chilled to the bone. About 2 miles down the road, we were in sunshine again and it hadn't even rained there!
I was feeling pretty lousy with my sore throat and all, and exhausted from my hike and the adrenaline rush from working the accident, so when we finally did get back to the hotel I showered and we went to eat something and I crashed!
The next morning, we read in the paper that it had rained 20 centimeters (We think that is about 7-8 inches) in a short amount of time, and that the responders had responded to 70 calls. I guess that is why it took so long for them to come to our accident. There was even a picture in the paper of the accident!
It was a pretty harrowing experience, all in all. Hopefully the young lady pulled through. I'm sure she had several broken bones and possibly internal injuries, because there was no blood on the scene.
I forgot to mention yesterday that we met a very elderly lady on the train to Grenoble who had never heard of Texas! She had heard of New York, but not Texas. I tried everything.....cowboys, guns, horses, but she just kept saying "je ne connais pas" (I'm not familiar with it). I should have said "George Bush"!
According to Rick Steves, we needed to get up early to go to Chamonix if we wanted to ride the lift to the top of the mountain to view Mont Blanc. So we did.....we left Annecy around 7:30 a.m.
It is about 50 miles to Chamonix, and about 20 miles out Mont Blanc popped into view. It was absolutely magnificent! We arrived in the town (compared to Aspen in the USA) surrounded by mountains, most of them still covered with snow in July! We bought our tickets (38 Euros each) to go to the top of Aiguille du Midi on a really scary-looking lift. We got halfway up and then had to change to another one. It took about 20 minutes to get to the top, where we were surrounded by absolutely beautiful snow-covered mountains. We took pictures. We asked some Japanese tourists to take our picture, and then they wanted to have a picture made with us, but they wanted to switch spouses! I was with the Japansese man, and Mark was with his wife! It was pretty funny, but unfortunately we didn't get a copy of that picture!
Mark had a coffee on top of the mountain for 3 euros (his habit is very expensive, he's had to curb his enthusiasm a bit on this trip.) We had fun watching the ice hikers and ice climbers getting ready to do their thing, and then went back down to explore the town. We bought some sausage and cheese from a specialty store. We had a little picnic, and then drove up a ways because Mark wanted to hike to a glacier. By this time my throat was hurting worse, but I stuck it out. The hike was of course harder than we thought, but I made it to the top where I just sat while Mark looked around. I was feeling pretty rough.
On the way home, we went through a bad thunderstorm. We were on the autoroute, when all of a sudden we saw all of this debris on the road. It led us to a car that had evidently just spun out of control and hit the center railing. We were able to dodge the debris and go around the car, but it was evident that the driver (a girl) was hurt, and Mark stopped in front of her. I tried to call 112 (911) in French, but because of the storm, couldn't get through. (I don't know what I would have told them....I had no clue where we were!) Another couple called, though, and reported the accident. A third man appeared, and he happened to be a fireman. The injured lady handed me her cell phone and asked me to call her brother. She had him on speed dial, so it was already ringing. But, I only got his voice mail. I told him his sister had been in an accident on the autoroute and we were waiting for an ambulance. Mind you, it was POURING rain! Someone brought forth an umbrella, which Mark held for the fireman, who was trying to work with the lady. She lost consciousness once, and we thought we were going to have to do CPR, but she came to, thank goodness. STILL POURING RAIN. Someone got me off of the road behind the guard rail, and told me to just motion for cars to slow down. So several of us did that, in the POURING COLD RAIN, while they worked with the lady. It took the responders forever to get there, but they finally did, and then Mark and I left. We were soaked and chilled to the bone. About 2 miles down the road, we were in sunshine again and it hadn't even rained there!
I was feeling pretty lousy with my sore throat and all, and exhausted from my hike and the adrenaline rush from working the accident, so when we finally did get back to the hotel I showered and we went to eat something and I crashed!
The next morning, we read in the paper that it had rained 20 centimeters (We think that is about 7-8 inches) in a short amount of time, and that the responders had responded to 70 calls. I guess that is why it took so long for them to come to our accident. There was even a picture in the paper of the accident!
It was a pretty harrowing experience, all in all. Hopefully the young lady pulled through. I'm sure she had several broken bones and possibly internal injuries, because there was no blood on the scene.
From Nice to Annecy, June 30
So I've gotten a couple of days behind in my blog! I'm going to try to catch up this morning.
Monday, June 30, Mark and I checked out of the hotel in Nice and headed north. We took the scenic route from Nice to Digne-les-Bains (where the book Les Miserables begins). It was a 3-hour train ride through nice scenery...looked alot like southern Colorado to us. The only difference was the little provencal villages dotting the landscape. We met a lovely couple our age from New Zealand to converse with along the way. (Finally, a foreigner who was not an OBAMA fan!)
According to Rick Steves, all we had to do was catch a bus in Dignes and then another train to Grenoble in order to arrive by 6 p.m. We had a car to pick up at the train station in Grenoble, and our information said the the AVIS place closed at 8. When we arrived in Digne, the train station was closed for lunch. We waited until they opened, and then found out that the earliest we could get to Grenoble was 8 p.m.! I used my handy ACIS cell phone and called AVIS, verified that they would wait for us to get there, and we went across the street for lunch. The place where wait ate (BUFFET DE LA GARE) was primitive and we had three choices.....veal and potatoes, porc and potatoes, or beef and potatoes. I chose the veal and it was delicious! They also gave us a big pitcher of ice water!
We rode a bus for about an hour, then got on a train, then got on another train, and rode through beautiful alpine scenery for the last two hours. We did arrive in Grenoble around 8, got our car, called the hotel in Annecy to tell them that we really were coming, and started our driving adventure. Once Mark got over the initial jitters of driving in a European city, we found it to be not bad at all! We arrived at Annecy around 9:30, found our hotel and a quick bite to eat before mapping out the plan for Tuesday (Chamonix) and turning in!
Somewhere around lunch time Mark and I both started having sore throats. We kept the info to ourselves for a while. I admitted it first, and Mark said he had one, too.
So I've gotten a couple of days behind in my blog! I'm going to try to catch up this morning.
Monday, June 30, Mark and I checked out of the hotel in Nice and headed north. We took the scenic route from Nice to Digne-les-Bains (where the book Les Miserables begins). It was a 3-hour train ride through nice scenery...looked alot like southern Colorado to us. The only difference was the little provencal villages dotting the landscape. We met a lovely couple our age from New Zealand to converse with along the way. (Finally, a foreigner who was not an OBAMA fan!)
According to Rick Steves, all we had to do was catch a bus in Dignes and then another train to Grenoble in order to arrive by 6 p.m. We had a car to pick up at the train station in Grenoble, and our information said the the AVIS place closed at 8. When we arrived in Digne, the train station was closed for lunch. We waited until they opened, and then found out that the earliest we could get to Grenoble was 8 p.m.! I used my handy ACIS cell phone and called AVIS, verified that they would wait for us to get there, and we went across the street for lunch. The place where wait ate (BUFFET DE LA GARE) was primitive and we had three choices.....veal and potatoes, porc and potatoes, or beef and potatoes. I chose the veal and it was delicious! They also gave us a big pitcher of ice water!
We rode a bus for about an hour, then got on a train, then got on another train, and rode through beautiful alpine scenery for the last two hours. We did arrive in Grenoble around 8, got our car, called the hotel in Annecy to tell them that we really were coming, and started our driving adventure. Once Mark got over the initial jitters of driving in a European city, we found it to be not bad at all! We arrived at Annecy around 9:30, found our hotel and a quick bite to eat before mapping out the plan for Tuesday (Chamonix) and turning in!
Somewhere around lunch time Mark and I both started having sore throats. We kept the info to ourselves for a while. I admitted it first, and Mark said he had one, too.
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Together again…..(Nice, June 29, 2008)
Mark arrived last evening, and we walked down to the old port to see some yachtage.
This morning we walked down to the Promenade Anglaise, visited the famous Negresco Hotel, and then went to the beach. This wonderful little hotel provides towels, mats, and umbrellas for the beach! I think we were the only Americans on our particular beach. We saw lots of interesting sights…..old people in speedos and bikinis! Evidently they were taught very young how to lie down on the beach under a towel and completely change clothes (I don’t know why they didn’t just wear their swimsuits to the beach in the first place!). Very interesting to watch!
After a light lunch in our room, we took the bus to Monaco. A young handsome couple of American kids sat across from us on the bus. They were on a honeymoon cruise, had been married for one week. We told them we were on our 25th “anniversary moon”. The groom had just finished his first year of dental school, and the bride had just finished her first year of medical school (both at Loma Linda, California). Really neat kids, enjoyed the visit. It was extremely hot today, and we walked a lot. I have actually lost some weight, yeah! We walked in the famous Casino and through the yacht harbor, and then up the hill to the palace.
We splurged tonight and had dinner in a Hippopotamus restaurant, which is a French franchise for steak and fries. But Mark had tilapia, and I had a shish kabob with chicken, peppers, onions, and two kinds of sausage. Delicious after several days of “picnicking”!
I’m watching the European footy finals, and Mark is snoozing. Spain is currently ahead 1-0, and I’m pulling for ‘em! Olé, Olé, Olé! Tomorrow we take the scenic train through the Alps to Grenoble, where we pick up a car and start our driving adventure! Prayers are appreciated, really!
Mark arrived last evening, and we walked down to the old port to see some yachtage.
This morning we walked down to the Promenade Anglaise, visited the famous Negresco Hotel, and then went to the beach. This wonderful little hotel provides towels, mats, and umbrellas for the beach! I think we were the only Americans on our particular beach. We saw lots of interesting sights…..old people in speedos and bikinis! Evidently they were taught very young how to lie down on the beach under a towel and completely change clothes (I don’t know why they didn’t just wear their swimsuits to the beach in the first place!). Very interesting to watch!
After a light lunch in our room, we took the bus to Monaco. A young handsome couple of American kids sat across from us on the bus. They were on a honeymoon cruise, had been married for one week. We told them we were on our 25th “anniversary moon”. The groom had just finished his first year of dental school, and the bride had just finished her first year of medical school (both at Loma Linda, California). Really neat kids, enjoyed the visit. It was extremely hot today, and we walked a lot. I have actually lost some weight, yeah! We walked in the famous Casino and through the yacht harbor, and then up the hill to the palace.
We splurged tonight and had dinner in a Hippopotamus restaurant, which is a French franchise for steak and fries. But Mark had tilapia, and I had a shish kabob with chicken, peppers, onions, and two kinds of sausage. Delicious after several days of “picnicking”!
I’m watching the European footy finals, and Mark is snoozing. Spain is currently ahead 1-0, and I’m pulling for ‘em! Olé, Olé, Olé! Tomorrow we take the scenic train through the Alps to Grenoble, where we pick up a car and start our driving adventure! Prayers are appreciated, really!
Friday, June 27, 2008
Mon aventure du jour…..(Nice, June 28, 2009)
This morning Renée and I got up at 4 :30 a.m. to start our trek to the Côte d’Azur airport. With her 100 pounds of luggage (not kidding), we walked about 6 blocks to the bus station to catch the 5:35 a.m. bus to the airport. We arrived at the airport in plenty of time. There was a small ACIS group checking in on the same flight, so we met Adrian, another ACIS tour manager, and talked business for a bit. Renée got checked in (no penalties, thanks to Air France’s liberal weight policy) and we parted ways amicably after three weeks of wonderful travel. We are certainly good travel mates!
Here’s where the interesting part starts. Renée and I left the hotel with fifteen euros. She gave me five, and then two more just in case I needed them. (That part is important to my story!) The direct bus from the bus station to the airport costs 4 euros ($6), and being the frugal traveler that I am, I decided to try to find a local bus back downtown for 1 euro ($1.50). I took the free shuttle bus to Terminal 1, to try to catch a local bus. When I arrived there, I found that the bus I wanted didn’t run on Saturdays (probably because they want people to pay for the 4 euro bus). I decided to walk a ways towards Nice, and try to catch a bus on the main road. Of course, I wasn’t thinking that it was 6:30 a.m., and not many buses were running yet! But it was nice and cool and walking wasn’t too bad.
I came upon a small train station, which I recognized as one stop from the main Nice station. After detouring through some road construction (reminds me of home), I found the station. Most of the people waiting there had tickets, and the ticket window wasn’t open, so I figured I might just have to ride the train illegally. A young French girl came to ask me where to buy a ticket, and together we asked enough people and finally found the automatic machine. The machine only took coins and credit cards. The young girl only had a ten euro bill, and I just gotten money from an ATM at the airport, but of course it was in bills. Except for the three euros I had left over from what Renée gave me. The young girl had been on her way to work and she had a car accident, totaling her car. She was trying to get back home to Nice. I bought us two tickets on the train, and she said she’d pay me back when we got to Nice. We rode the train together and I learned that she was from Morocco and works in a salon doing everything but hair. She was also cleaning houses, trying to save up enough money to open her own salon. She was really rather calm when I saw her, but she said she had been very upset after the accident. She wanted to pay me back for the ticket, but I told her it was a gift. She was the sweetest young lady! We walked a ways from the train station (she to the tram line and I on my way back to the hotel). We exchanged names, she told me I should visit Marakesh and that my French was excellent, much better than her English. When we parted, she gave me the traditional “bises” (a kiss on each cheek)!
Renée’s extra two euros led me to a special encounter with a beautiful young girl in need!
(I returned to the hotel @ 7:30 a.m, and now get to go back to the airport this afternoon to get Mark!)
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Nice is nice……(June 26, 2008)
Renee and I are sitting in the Laundromat doing a load of clothes. It has been a while since I visited a Laundromat in the states, so I don’t know how much they cost there. Here, you pay by the size of the load, in kilograms of course. We are paying 3,70E for 7 kg. That is about $5.60! Then it will cost us 1E ($1.56) for each 10 minutes of drying. Yikes!
Yesterday morning we visited the famous Nice flower and produce market. We took pictures like crazy to use in our classes. (Now can we write this trip off?) We bought some food at Monoprix and some fruit and olives at the market, and had a picnic in a park before boarding a bus to Vence. Vence is one of the oldest villages in the area, kind of an “artsy” place. It is also way less crowded than nearby Saint Paul de Vence, which Rick Steves says is the most visited village in all of France. I thought I could stay away from there, but after riding through I am seriously considering going to SPdeV on Saturday between putting Renee on the plane at 7 a.m. and picking Mark up at 5 p.m. It just looked too cute to pass up!
In Vence we visited a chapel designed by Henri Matisse dedicated to a nun who cared for him in his old age. It was really “modern” compared to all of the other churches we have seen. Even the priestly vestments were done in Matisse’s style. Photography was strictly forbidden, but I sneaked a couple of pictures anyway. Hopefully I can post them soon here (maybe tonight) if the internet is working in our hotel!
After we do laundry, we are hoping to get over to Cannes and Antibes for the rest of the day. Cannes is of course where the rich and beautiful go, and Antibes is famous for yachts.
More to follow…….
We are back from our day's adventure. The Riviera has this great (seemed like) deal where you can go anywhere on a bus for just 1 euro each way. That's what we did yesterday and it wasn't bad. So today we got on the bus, planning to go to Antibes, then Cannes, then back to Nice. But when we saw that the bus was going to stop at every little hole in the wall between here and there, and take 2 hours for the 30 minute train trip to Nice, we reconsidered! We got off the bus to look at Antibes (not that impressed....ate lunch in the park, walked through the old town and the yacht harbor). The yacht harbor is supposed to be the largest in France, and it probably is, but I will probably take Mark to Monaco instead as it is easier to get there and he will still see fancy yachts. We did see one, though, that had a helicopter on it!
Sick of buses, we took the train to Cannes. It cost more but got us there twice as fast and was worth it. But after walking on the red carpet at the Festival Center, and sitting on the boardwalk, we decided we liked Nice better and headed back, via train again. That's where it got interesting. We sat across from this tiny little French lady who was dressed to kill. (She was young.) An entire band of gypsies got on the car, and she started fidgeting like crazy. (She had lots of nice jewelry.) Eventually, at a stop, another band got on, and she suggested that we move to another car. So we did. We moved up two-three cars, and she told everyone why we moved, and how we had to take care of each other, yada yada yada! She was so funny and cute! It made for an interesting ride. The gypsies got off at another station in Nice with no problem, but we are sure that they didn't even have train tickets. Too bad a controleur didn't check.....but I guess they know which trains are the ones that never get checked. Renee and I have already paid one fine, remember, so we're not taking any chances!
Back in the room, now, after a delicious salad and fountain drink from McDo!
A hot time in the old town of….Milano! (June 20, 2008)
We arrived at the central station of Milan around 1:30 p.m. (The train ride was rather uneventful, except for the oriental (American) family who got on the train having an argument/fight the likes of which we’d never heard before! It carried on quite a while. I guess the stress of traveling finally caught up with them. They certainly had no qualms about yelling at each other in front of anyone and everyone!) Following Rick Steves advice, we went straight to the tourist information office and picked up a map and Hello, Milano! newspaper. I casually asked the young lady if she could recommend an inexpensive safe place to stay near the station, and she phoned a friend at the Albergo Italia. After two to three minutes of catching up with her friend, she told us that he had a double room with the bath/shower in the hall (like a dormitory) for 52 euros per night. We could go look at it and see if would be acceptable. So, we headed out in that direction.
The “albergo” was not far at all, and the young man at the desk was very nice and helpful. We looked at the room, and other than the fact that it had no air conditioning and was on the street side of the hotel, it seemed fine. It was clean and there was an elevator! So, we decided we could stand it. (A far cry from ACIS’s 3-4 star hotels to a 1 star hotel!) We rested a bit (as we didn’t get much sleep the night before, remember), and then took off on a walk towards the city center, because Rick Steves said we should see the Duomo (cathedral) in the late afternoon sun. He was right. It was magnificent!
We walked quite a bit more, and finally our fatigue caught up with us. We decided for a cheap dinner at McDonalds. Let me just say that with the dollar in the situation it is in, a “meal deal” at McDonalds is running us 8-9 dollars. But we had eaten breakfast in the hotel at Venice, and sneaked out some quickly made sandwiches from the breakfast bar for lunch, so we really had a pretty inexpensive day! We purchased a 3 euro 24-hour public transportation pass and took the metro back to our “albergo”, where the nice young man (who’s name we never got, so I am going to name him Paolo) told us how to find the nearest internet café. After a stop there, we turned in for the night. Our reservations to see Leonardo’s Last Supper were at 9:15 the next morning!
Cinque Terre Part 1……(June 22, 2008)
We boarded our train this morning at 6:45 a.m. in Milan, for a four-hour trip to Riomaggiore, one of the five villages of Cinque Terre on the Italian Riviera. As the train went on, we picked up more and more passengers, who were all destined for various beaches. Our two large suitcases took up one seat and we got a few dirty looks, but the train was so full that people were standing in the aisles anyway, so what were we to do?
An older man and his wife sat across from us, and let me tell you, I never heard a man talk so much in my life! He was on a roll about something, and he talked, and talked, and talked. His wife made comments here and there, but he was the talker! I commented to Renée that it was opposite of American relationships, where women are the talkers and the men just passively listen! I also had fun imagining that he was part of the Italian Mafia! They got off one stop before us, so it finally got quiet!
Another funny thing I saw on the train was a nun in her starched white habit, with a white purse that still had the price tag hanging on it! Somewhere along the route, I realized that in our haste to load our luggage and get situated, we had forgotten to validate our ticket. As luck would have it, the controleur caught it when he checked our ticket. Taking pity on the poor inexperienced travelers, he only fined us 5 euros (the minimum.) I bet we won’t make that mistake again!
We arrived in Riomaggiore and followed Claudio’s instructions about phoning him at the rendez-vous point across from the station. He said he would meet us in 15 minutes, (but it really took him about 30 minutes to get there.) We began walking up hill with our very heavy luggage. Mercifully, it wasn’t too far, but then we noticed that we had to go up a flight of very steep stairs left over from the middle ages! Claudio was nice enough to tote our big suitcases, but he kept asking us if we had rocks inside. (I didn’t tell him that actually I did have two small rocks from Dachau!) Mercifully again, our room was only on the second floor of our building…..but the two flights of stairs were very long and steep. Claudio to the rescue again. I hope he doesn’t get a hernia or something! He said we would be on our own to get them down! Our room is quite nice, again no airconditioner, but it is cooler here. No TV or phone, either. But it really is a nice room. We had to wait until 2 to get in, so Claudio took us downstairs to a restaurant for a glass of vino and some pistachios and olives, where we filled out the paper work and paid him for our room. He gave us some advice about the area, and left us on our own! We walked around a bit, and then came back to our room where we crashed for 3 hours! After awaking, we did the Rick Steves tour of the village, took lots of pictures, and had a delicious salad/pizza/wine dinner at Gigi’s before coming in to plan our hiking for tomorrow! I’ll let you know how that goes, but I’m turning in now!
Cinque Terre Part 2 ……(June 23, 2008)
We awoke early to the sounds of church bells chiming the hour and roosters crowing. We wanted to get on the trail early, in the cooler part of the day. So we put on the coolest clothes we had, packed our backpacks, and took off. The first two legs of the hike were easy. We spent a good deal of time in Corniglia, where we bought sandwiches and fruit for our picnic lunch. I guess we had a false sense of security, because we set out after lunch for Vernazza, thinking we were quite the hikers! Of course, by then it had heated up pretty good, and that hike was 3 kilometers of up and down trails. It was supposed to take 1 ½ hours, but it took us about 2 ¼, because we stopped for lunch and for breaks along the way! The last part was so treacherous and we were so tired of concentrating so hard (so as not to get hurt), that we decided to stop in Vernazza for a refreshing swim. We had planned to hike on to Monterosso, but since that was the hardest part of the hike, we felt like we had better quit while ahead. So we took the train into Monterosso, looked at the beach, bought a couple of bracelets made by a local artisan, and headed back towards Riomaggiore. We took showers, rested a bit, and went back to Gigi’s for dinner. (We liked it so much last night, that we went back!) I have fallen in love with pesto…..pesto on foccacia bread, pesto on pasta, on anything, really. I’ll have to figure out how to make it when I get back home!
We ran into Claudio after dinner. He and his lady friend (from Brazil) wanted to buy us a drink. He bought us some “aperitif” liqueur drink that tasted a lot like Nyquil, but we were big girls and drank it up! He had told us to get up early and take the 7 a.m. train towards Nice, but we told him we were exhausted and wanted to leave at 10 a.m. That turned out to be a mistake, which I will tell you about later!
Travel Time…..Munich to Venice via Villach (June 17)
Our bad weather has moved on, and today we backtracked to Salzburg, to head to Villach and then on to Venice! A full day on the bus, but no one minded because the scenery was spectacular. Lush green mountains with clouds hanging below their tops, deep green valleys, onion-domed churches, occasional water falls….I stayed awake the entire time! Upon arrival in Venice, we went by ferry to the Lido island, where our hotel was located. The hotel was very modern and was actually a sports resort…..large pool, tennis courts, football field, beach, etc. But of course, we were there to see Venice, not play! ACIS bought us 36-hour vaporetto tickets, so we could ride the water buses to our hearts content!
Buon Giorno, Venize! (June 18-19, 2008)
We had one day to visit this magnificent place! We got an early start by taking the vaporetto over to Piazza San Marco, where we each had ACIS independent walking tours so each person could go at his own pace, where he wanted to go. I decided that since it was my third trip to Venice, I should really see the Accademia museum (Bellinis and Tintorettos), and Renée and Lisa and I headed off in that direction. Just the walk over there was a treat, because we got out of the tourist crowds and walked through little piazzas and streets! We stopped in one of the many churches to see a Vivaldi exhibition of ancient stringed music instruments. We all felt more cultured and a bit more intelligent having seen the religious paintings in the Accademia. Since we had the 36-hour vaporetto ticket, we took the water bus back to Piazza San Marco to meet up with some of our folks, and then walked to the Rialto Bridge to meet up with some more. On the Vaporetto, we passed part of our group taking a gondola ride! It all worked “swimmingly”. There were so many people there, it is amazing that we could find each other both accidentally and on purpose! Our plan was to have a little lunch, shop the market, and then catch the #1 vaporetto for a tour through the Grand Canal. Rick Steves told us exactly how to do it, and it worked! So, for what you can pay a tourist boat to do, we did for free! We cruised the entire length of the Grand Canal, getting off again at Piazza San Marco, where we all split up for more shopping. (I only spent $19 euros on a scarf and a necklace for myself!) We had gelato (gotta do that in Italy). We were to be back on the Lido at 6:40 to meet the group for dinner, so we headed that direction. Maggie, Debbie and splurged and drank bellinis in a sidewalk café, and I finally was able to call home from a pay phone! We had an excellent dinner at another sidewalk café, and then headed back to the hotel for packing. The ACIS part of the trip is over. Our group got up at 2:00 a.m. to make the crossing to the airport for their 6:55 flight. Renée and I got up to see them off, and then went back to bed until 7:00 a.m., when we got up to start our own adventure. As I am writing this, we are on the train to Milan. We should arrive there at 13:55, and will find a hotel on our own. Abi, our tour manager, picked up another group in Venice, and they will be in Milan tomorrow night. What fun it would be to run into her again!
“Never forget…
After two delightful nights in Salzburg, we woke up to rain and clouds for our drive to Munich. The majority of the group wanted to see Ludwig’s famous castle in Bavaria…the one that was the model for the Disneyland castle. Ten or so of us wanted to visit the Dachau concentration camp. The only time I was in Munich before, we were told that Dachau was open all year long. However, when we arrived at the Dachau train stop, there was a sign stating the beginning January 1 (1983), Dachau would be closed on Mondays! We were so disappointed…and took the bus out there anyway, giving each other “boosts” to look over the fence! I was determined to see it this time, especially after visiting the Holocaust Museum in Washington D.C.
As we neared Munich, it became pretty obvious that the castle was going to be lost in the clouds, so the group decided (disappointedly) that it wasn’t worth the time and the money (2 hours each way, $30), so we picked up a few more on our self-made tour to Dachau. After a city tour of Munich with a novice guide named Teo (who had been an exchange student in Oklahoma in 1993), we grabbed a quick lunch and boarded the train for Dachau. We made friends with a delightful elderly German frau named Claudia. We discussed politics (she brought it up…who’s going to be your next president?). She said that the Germans really wanted Obama, because the older they get, the more they remember about their past history with war. I just listened to her and nodded, without agreeing!
Dachau was worth the visit. The gloomy day (light rain off and on) added to the somber mood. There we saw the main building, a restored barrack, a restored crematorium and gas chamber, and Jewish, Catholic, Protestant and Russian Orthodox memorials as well as sights of mass graves when the people were dying too quickly for the crematorium to keep up. There is also at a Carmelite Convent at the back of the property. There were originally 34 barracks, and the spots where 32 of them were are just marked with foundation-like structures of wood and gravel. The Carmelite sisters were praying on the site of where the clergy were housed. Those who made the trip with us were very moved. Some didn’t want to go, because they didn’t want to be depressed. But I feel very strongly that it is a part of our world history and that if possible, people should see it out of respect for those who died there. So I’m very glad I went.
We had a wonderful dinner of sauerkraut, sausage, salad, and lemon pie at the Ratskeller on the main square. They even served fresh horseradish with the main dish! We tried to go to the Haufbrau House afterwards, but because of the football match, it was packed. We stayed about 10 minutes, and then went to a quiet street café for our after dinner beverages….wine, pepsi, and hot chocolates!
We had less a less than stellar opinion of our hotel in Munich….another ACIS group was there, and we both gave them the “red card”! I had never used a red card in my life, but Abi, our tour manager, said that that hotel had been red carded four times already this summer! So, I guess ACIS has some work to do with them!
Salzburg, Austria.....(June 15-16, 2008, I think)
The hills are alive with the sound of……football!
I am in the beautiful city of Salzburg, Austria, surrounded by the Alps! My hotel room is on the 12th floor, and it has an incredible view of the city and the fortress from a huge picture window. I’ll try to post a picture at some point…..when I have more “internet” time. This place is famous for The Sound of Music, but currently it is reminding me of Camelot, because it has rained both evenings after dinner, but the weather has been gorgeous during the day! The European Cup is being played here, in Vienna, and in Switzerland. Tonight Austria and Germany are playing in Vienna, but the fans here are CRAZY! Last night the Turks won, and they went absolutely crazy in the streets, honking horns, screaming….it went on for quite some time. We finally had to put ear plugs in to get to sleep! So tonight there will probably be a repeat….either Austria or Germany is going to be happy. I’m trying to watch the game, but in typical soccer style, they’ve already played an entire half and the score is still 0-0!
We had a delightful walking tour of the city today with our guide named Heidi. I think she was the real Heidi, because she was as old or older than I! We saw where Mr. Doppler was born and grew up. We tried to take a picture to send to Ron Roberts, but mine didn’t turn out so well. Maybe someone else’s did! We saw these Sound of Music sights…..the Mirabel Gardens, the Festival Center, and the cemetery. Lisa, Pam, Jan and I decided we wanted more, so we took the four-hour Sound of Music tour which took us to the palace, the gazebo, by the abbey, the mountains, and finally the church where the wedding took place (in the village of Monsee). I’ve seen a lot of churches, but that was one of the prettiest ones I’ve seen. Of course, they played music on the bus and we were encouraged to sing along, which we did! There were four young kids from Midland on the bus, and we took turns taking pictures of each other in the various spots. It was really quite pleasant.
So tonight we’re getting ready for an early departure tomorrow morning to Munich (and trying to watch the soccer/football game/match. Olé, Olé, Olé!
Sunday, June 15, 2008
On our way to Vienna from Prague, we stopped at a delightful little town called Telc for lunch. Telc is in the Morovia part of the Czech Republic, whereas Prague was in the Bavaria part. Telc was charming….looking somewhat like a movie set. They obviously wanted to be a tourist town, but there was a combination of junky dollar-store type places run by Asian people, and some very nice gift shops. However, most of us just grabbed some lunch and looked around. A cold front had come through, and some of us (not I) were underdressed.
We arrived in Vienna and checked into the Metropole Europlatz Hotel. Abi took most of the group to the city center, but Lisa and I opted to just explore the neighborhood around the hotel, window shopping where the locals shop. We didn’t buy anything, because although the prices look reasonable, by the time we do the conversion from dollars to euros, things seem very pricey!
Our city tour on Saturday started with Shoenbrun Palace (the summer palace of Maria Theresa and her 16 kids….the most famous being Marie Antoinette). Our guide was excellent, and it was so nice to visit the gardens where flowers were in bloom! We normally travel during January or March, and often miss the pretty gardens. We then hopped back on the bus for the rest of the city tour. I don’t know what it is about buses, but as soon as the guide starts talking, I get sleepy. I tried really hard to stay alert, but am afraid I did doze off a couple of times! (The only exception is Julian, our normal guide in Paris, who is very energetic and tells really good jokes!) The walking tour in the city center was very interesting. Again, Vienna has been taken over by Football Fever, as they are hosting the European Championships this year. But being Saturday morning, most of the football fanatics were probably still hungover so it was relatively calm!
After the city tour, Renée, Lisa and I met our dear friends Vicki Harris and Brandi Cantrell (missionaries with Pray Vienna) for lunch. We had visited with Vicki when we came to Vienna for MLK a few years ago, and of course Vicki and Brandi were so kind to host my daughter Whitney for a long weekend when she was studying in Prague a couple of years ago. We went to a great ice cream shop for lunch, where we had panini sandwiches, and yes, ice cream. I ordered Tartuffe, which is dark chocolate ice cream with cherries in the middle. I promise, when it arrived, it was 4x4x2 inches! It was covered in dark chocolate sprinkles. Yes, I ate every last bit. I’m guessing it was worth about 50 weight watchers points! Hopefully I have walked enough to compensate for my indulgence!
Speaking of walking, I am on day two without my boot, and so far so good!
We walked over to Vicki’s very cute apartment, got into her little Honda Civic, and she and Brandi took us on a drive through the Vienna woods (beautiful….) up to a lookout over the Danube and the Danube Valley. It was the spot where the Austrians defeated the Turks at some point in history. We stopped at a beautiful overlook where they was a restaurant with a terrace, and had coffee. Very proud of myself, I ordered a kleine mocca, which I thought was a small mocha. But I received an espresso. Not sure how that happened, but I put two cubes of sugar in it and drank it anyway. I’m pretty proud of myself, since I don’t do coffee!
Tomorrow we are off to Salzburg. It will be a beautiful drive, which I have been looking forward to! People keep talking about how we must go to the salt mines, saying how much fun it is. So I suppose I shall do so. I hope to find time to upload my blogs before we leave. I’ll add pictures when I have a chance!
Our group has arrived safely and in good spirits in the beautiful bohemian city of Prague!
We have expanded our knowledge learning about the Good King Wenceslas, King Charles, Jan Hus, Hapsburgs and Turks. We arrived around noon on Wednesday, transferred to and checked into our hotel, and then set out to explore Prague on foot! The fresh air did wonders for our jet lagged bodies, and we walked to the Little Quarter, crossed the Charles Bridge, and spent a bit of time in the Old Town. It looks like DisneyWorld, except it’s the real deal! The Baroque architecture is absolutely beautiful. Steeples abound in this city where only five percent of the people practice their Christianity, thanks to the years lost to communism.
We met up with the Denver delegation and our perky little tour manager, Abi at dinner on Wednesday night. We haven’t had much time to bond with the Denver folk yet….it will be interesting to see if and how that happens. They seem nice enough….10 students and 7 adults. The students wanted to go to a disco tonight, and I was quite thankful that they weren’t my students and I didn’t have to drag my bones to chaperone them!
Our hotel (Andel’s) is superb, and the food has been very good and plentiful! We can really tell the weakness of the American dollar, though. In the Czech Republic, they use Czech Crowns as currency, and currently they are worth about six cents each. So, when you see that a bottle of water cost 50 crowns, you think that’s not too bad, until you realize that it’s not 50 cents, but rather $3! Yikes! The Czech people are rejoicing in all of the money they are making off of American tourists! I had lunch at McDonald’s today (I know, I’m sorry!) for 138 crowns….which included a burger, fries, coke, and a bonus bottle of water. Let’s see, 138 x 6 = $8.28. And I figured that was a pretty good deal!
A few unique things I’ve seen in Prague:
A girl who had every toenail painted a different color
Shirts/key chains/stickers that say Czech me out!
A three-story mall (across the street from our hotel) with escalators that are
ramps rather than stairs, so you can take shopping carts and baby strollers
on them (We all thought that was a brilliant idea!)
A bicycle built for eight…in a circular arrangement! It’s called a conference bike!
(I’ll try to attach a picture.)
Since the European Football (Soccer) Championship is currently in progress, things have been a bit crazy in the city center, where they have set up giant screens and have football-watching parties. It may be even worse in Vienna, as they are actually playing games there!
Susan Williams wore her pedometer today, and we walked over 16,000 steps (7 miles). My boot/aircast and I are getting along pretty well, and occasionally I even get some sympathy (not really needed, but appreciated) from folks. On these cobblestones, I don’t think I would have been able to make it without the support/protection.
The Czech language is Slavic, more like Russian with an “English” alphabet! I’ve tried to master the magic words (for those of you who remember Captain Kangaroo) please and thank you. A young girl in the tobacco store where I bought my tram ticket was amused enough with my efforts to offer to write them down for me (a true souvenir!)…..prosim and dekuji. I’m still trying to master the pronunciation.
Tomorrow morning we get to sleep in….we’re not leaving for Vienna until 10:30 a.m.! And since we’re not going to be walking too much, so I’m going to try to make it without my boot friend today!
We have expanded our knowledge learning about the Good King Wenceslas, King Charles, Jan Hus, Hapsburgs and Turks. We arrived around noon on Wednesday, transferred to and checked into our hotel, and then set out to explore Prague on foot! The fresh air did wonders for our jet lagged bodies, and we walked to the Little Quarter, crossed the Charles Bridge, and spent a bit of time in the Old Town. It looks like DisneyWorld, except it’s the real deal! The Baroque architecture is absolutely beautiful. Steeples abound in this city where only five percent of the people practice their Christianity, thanks to the years lost to communism.
We met up with the Denver delegation and our perky little tour manager, Abi at dinner on Wednesday night. We haven’t had much time to bond with the Denver folk yet….it will be interesting to see if and how that happens. They seem nice enough….10 students and 7 adults. The students wanted to go to a disco tonight, and I was quite thankful that they weren’t my students and I didn’t have to drag my bones to chaperone them!
Our hotel (Andel’s) is superb, and the food has been very good and plentiful! We can really tell the weakness of the American dollar, though. In the Czech Republic, they use Czech Crowns as currency, and currently they are worth about six cents each. So, when you see that a bottle of water cost 50 crowns, you think that’s not too bad, until you realize that it’s not 50 cents, but rather $3! Yikes! The Czech people are rejoicing in all of the money they are making off of American tourists! I had lunch at McDonald’s today (I know, I’m sorry!) for 138 crowns….which included a burger, fries, coke, and a bonus bottle of water. Let’s see, 138 x 6 = $8.28. And I figured that was a pretty good deal!
A few unique things I’ve seen in Prague:
A girl who had every toenail painted a different color
Shirts/key chains/stickers that say Czech me out!
A three-story mall (across the street from our hotel) with escalators that are
ramps rather than stairs, so you can take shopping carts and baby strollers
on them (We all thought that was a brilliant idea!)
A bicycle built for eight…in a circular arrangement! It’s called a conference bike!
(I’ll try to attach a picture.)
Since the European Football (Soccer) Championship is currently in progress, things have been a bit crazy in the city center, where they have set up giant screens and have football-watching parties. It may be even worse in Vienna, as they are actually playing games there!
Susan Williams wore her pedometer today, and we walked over 16,000 steps (7 miles). My boot/aircast and I are getting along pretty well, and occasionally I even get some sympathy (not really needed, but appreciated) from folks. On these cobblestones, I don’t think I would have been able to make it without the support/protection.
The Czech language is Slavic, more like Russian with an “English” alphabet! I’ve tried to master the magic words (for those of you who remember Captain Kangaroo) please and thank you. A young girl in the tobacco store where I bought my tram ticket was amused enough with my efforts to offer to write them down for me (a true souvenir!)…..prosim and dekuji. I’m still trying to master the pronunciation.
Tomorrow morning we get to sleep in….we’re not leaving for Vienna until 10:30 a.m.! And since we’re not going to be walking too much, so I’m going to try to make it without my boot friend today!
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