Summer 2010 Europe Trip

Hello. So I hate blogging but I will persevere. Canyoning was amazing. We met our guide around 10am at our hostel and after getting our wet suits we hopped in the van and drove 40 minutes to the southern alps. I felt really safe knowing our guide only spoke a little English. Our first activity when we got to the Alps was to get our wetsuits on. A bit of a workout for all of us. After we were all suctioned in we headed to the middle part of a waterfall. I wish we had a camera because it was gorgeous. Our first activity was repelling down to sections of the waterfall. I was the last one to go. As I was approaching our guide I slipt and fell and he had to catch on to me. Then as he was strapping me in I fell again but this time nailed my helmet onto his head- just what we needed- our instructor to get injured. But luckily he was ok. For some reason I felt the need to bend my knees when repelling- you are supposed to keep them straight. I cannot even run with my knees bent so you think I would have been a master at this. Nope. After repelling we continued about 2 and a half hours through the Alps where we cliffed jumped and rock slid. Rock sliding was awesome. Saw a snake at one point eating a fish at the top. Scott does not like snakes. Our highest cliff jump was 11m so that was cool. But I still do not like swimming. And the water was really cold- had to go the bathroom three times on our journey- not the most comfortable feeling in your wet suit. After our last jump we had to climb up a really steep hill and down the road back to our car. Then came the task of getting out of our jumpsuits. Back at the hostel we showered and then Scott and I headed towards the train station as we were taking an over night train. After a romantic dinner and watching a female b-fight that involved slapping and spitting we boarded the train. Our seats were comfy enough but the body odor from the two people behind us forced me to wrap my head in a sweatshirt and only have a tiny hole for breathing. But another fight soon broke out between a train worker and a father over him not purchasing tickets. The rest of the ride was uneventful. I slept the whole way.
Scott and I explored Paris a bit and bought museum passes for the three of us. We met Tay back at the hostel and then relaxed in the Luxemburg Gardens and climbed to the second floor of the Eiffel Tower before checking into our hotel. We were all pretty exhausted so we hit the hay early. Actually I think a barn stall would be nicer than our hotel. I may get a few diseases.
So now we are at today. I am tired. We went to the Louvre, St. Chappel, Notre Dame, and Pompidou today. The Louvre is insane. It was nice to see so many of the sculptures and paintings that I have studied in school- money well spent parents. I think Hammurabis Code was my favorite. Due to rain we decided to postpone climbing the Arch until tomorrow night. Scott and I made a delicious salad for dinner. I am debating whether to shower or not. I think I feel cleaner when I don’t since our shower ha mold in it. Scott claims I am high maintenance. I think I am sanitary. Ok so tomorrow is my last full day before I have to go home and attempt being a real person…wahhhhhh.

Yello. So I am in Nice. We have extended our stay here by two nights. We arrived here late on our first night so we got settled and then just hung out at the hostel bar. But then the next day we went to Monaco and I found my yacht and ferrari. I was hoping to make friends with some billionaires but it never happened. So then I thought I would casually fall into the water next to a really nice yacht hoping someone one save me. But then I remembered I cannot swim and it could end very badly if no one decided to save me. Maybe next time I will bring some floaties with me so I can be prepared.
Ok so then the next day we slept in and walked around Nice and did a little shopping. I got some body wash and condition. Big spender. O then a cardigan. But I think the toiletries were more expensive than the cardigan. Afterward we hopped on a bus to Cap d A-something beach. Then at night Scott cooked us a delicious pasta dinner and then hung out at the bar for a bit.
So today I started my day at the beach for a bit. Then I went Scuba diving with Scott. I really don’t like swimming. And the only instructions we received was the hand signal for I am not ok. Very safe. But I saw a barracuda and a jelly fish- I stayed away from that nasty creature. Scott made us dinner again. Yummy in my tummy. I am still full. But I would love a milkshake to cleanse my pallet.
Tomorrow we are going canyoning in the southern alps- we will be abseiling, cliff jumping, and rock sliding. Luckily they give out lifevests. Yay. Ok well we are going to go figure out our plans to try and get to Paris. Hope Paris has good dance parties.

So it has been a while. But Ellen convinced me on the phone today as a was hiking up a mountain in Cinque Terre that I should return. I did not want to. It is exhausting being witty and I had run out of steam. But just had some lobster and am feeling good. So where were we. I have no idea. I am trying to look it up but my phone is slow. Hmpph. Welp. I’ll be back. Ok so we ended with Positano. That night we went out to dinner in Sorrento with Chris. We ate at place Scott remembered from his Cruise and it was delicious. I had some delicious tortelini and margarita pizza. We then walked around a bit and got some gelato obviously. Then I think it was bed time. Probably.
So then the next day Scott and I went on an adventure. We took the bus about an hour and a half to Amalfi- a really coole beach town. From there we found the beginning of about the 3000 stairs we would climb that day. I guess hiking in Italy means climbing stairs- so much for getting rid of my hockey muscles. Our first climb took us to the small town of Pontone. It had a really cute little square where the locals were hanging out and a little girl was making water balloons. While one our climb up here we stopped to look at the map at one point and it suggested that you take the bus to the top and then walk down. Really good advice. Maybe that is why we never saw anyone else except for a nice Belgium couple, Frank and Mirese. Apparently they were 47 and 52. They sure did not act as old as the 50 year olds I know. They were spunky and broke every rule they could. They told us of two great towns that we should go see. So we ended up spending the day with them. Then we climbed a bit more to a more major center of Pontone where there was a really cool duomo and only three other people in sight- an American couple (the husband had lived in Boston) and their tour guide. The tour guide informed us we were crazy and had just climbed up 2000 stairs. Take that stairmaster. Our next town up was Scala, which was bigger than Pontone. In Scala we visited a really pretty white church and outside saw a few smart visitors getting off a bus. Smart people. Whatever. Next we continued on to Ravello and we were all hungry hippos by the time we got there. So Frank Mirese treated us to a lovely lunch overlooking Minora and Maior. I had a nice tomato salad. Next we toured Villa Combrone. The gardens were really cool and had statues placed throughout them. Mirese is a latin and greek teacher so she knew the story behind each god or goddesses (and climbed over the rope and sometimes on top of pedestals to have her picture taken with the various statues- she sat on an antelope at one point). We also learned that she could speak French, Dutch, English, German, Italian, and modern Greek. Pretty impressive. As we were climbing down from Ravello to Amalfi someone tried to communicate with Mirese- they spoke Polish- she found this out after trying to talk to them in six languages. Back in Amalfi we parted way only after exchanging emails.
Scott and I hoped on the bus back to Sorrento where we walked around and shopped before meeting Tay for dinner at the same restaurant we ate at the night before. But this time there was live entertainment. So man in his early thirties was on some type of drug and having a full conversation with people in his hallucinations. He would even put his arms around them. Whatever they were talking about sure must have been funny though. Then we finished the night off with gelato and packing.
So the next day we were to wake up at 6 and make the 630 train to Naples. Scott slept through his alarm and I slept through mine but some how woke up at 615. So we found ourselves sprinting to the train and after climbing the stairs (I get excited to see escalators now) we saw the train pull away. So we waited for a half an hour and it was questionable whether we would get to Naples in time for the cheap train to Florence. But we did. And after five hours on the train- glad I can sleep anywhere- we arrived in Florence. Our hostel was an easy ten minute walk from the train station- just down the street from McDonalds- oh America. We were split up for the first night- Scott had to be by himself- but I got a double size bed so I was happy. After relaxing for a bit we decided to head to the duomo. We ended up climbing to the top of the bell tower. More stairs again. The view was spectacular. Afterwards we decided to head over to Accademia to see if we could make a reservation for the follwoing day since it closed in an hour and there was over a half hour wait to get in. So Scott asked the bouncer type man running the line and for some reason he let us cut the entire line- must have been my stunning good looks. Obviously. And there was David. Pictures do not do the statue justice. It was amazing. The rest of Accademia was small but had some really cool tempera and statues- Scott set of an alarm- silly. After Accademia we decided to walk to Piazza Michelangelo, which is set up on a hill and obviously that means more stairs. I wish I had a pedometer. once at the piazza we settled in to watch the sunset, which was gorgeous. Afterwards we found a gellateria and headed back to the hostel. Bedtime.
The next day we slept in a bit until 9 and I went downstairs to see if Scott and I could get a reservation through our hostel for the Uffizi. Luckily we got one for one. So we decided to get an American breakfast- pancakes- but it was still not the same. We walked through the markets- lots of leather- after breakfast on out way to the Uffizi. The Uffizi was huge. It was a really cool musuem and my art history class knowledge is coming back to me. My favorite piece was the Birth of Venus. After spending about 2 hours at the museum Scott and I walked to Ponte Vechhio- the only bridge that survived during World War II. It has jewelry shops all across it. Afterwards we headed to the duomo where we were to meet Tay to climb to the top of the dome. We were early so I decided to get a milkshake at Ben and Jerrys- coffee coffee buzz buzz buzz. So typical. Tay met up with us sometime later and we climbed to the top of the dome, which was really cool. I think it was something like 480 stairs- the bell tower was 414 stairs. After our descent from the dome we had dinner at the same place we ate the night before- it was delicious. The we searched from Grom- an organic gelato place- uggh I am so healthy. Then we walked back to our hostel- not without Scott stopping to get more Gelato on the way- fat kid.
I want to stop writing but I will persevere. After Florence was Cinque Terre. Amazing. We took a train that morning and arrived in Cinque Terre early afternoon. Had a little difficulty checking into our hotel because they do not have someone at reception all day but we eventually got to what was basically an apartment building with a hotel on half of the first floor. The room was small but had a queen size bed and bunk beds. There was also a nice balcony. We spent the afternoon exploring Monterosso and hanging out at the beach. After dinner we found a free concert with a woman singing American songs- the crowd was loving it. We then went to bed early since we knew we were going to be hiking the five towns the next day.
So we slept a little later than expected. Whatever. We grabbed a quick breakfast and then began our hike. The first town after Monterroso was Vernazza and took about an hour to get to. Lots of stairs again. I only fell once. But a bad fall could mean plunging into a lot prickly bushes down below. Vernazza was really cool- the waves were pretty strong and coming up onto the sidewalk. Scott contemplated swimming but the lifeguard was being very cautious. I did not go near the water. After about 40 minutes of relaxing we got back onto the trail for the hour and 30 minute hike to Corniglia, which was my least favorite towns of the five. The shops were really nice but there was no beach. So after snapping our photos we headed on to Manarola. It was time to relax and swim. We found our way down to the bottom of the cement ramp where the waves were crashing into a cement wall- in order to get out you had to ride the wave in and time it so you could grab onto to ladder or wall without hitting the wall of rocks. Could thing I am a good swimmer. So I treaded water for five minutes and that was enough. The exit was not to graceful and I did hit my leg into a rock. To be expected. But of course walking out I get a splinter in my foot. Typical. Tay and I dried off and watched as Scott decided to jump off of rocks. Some were jumping from shorter heights but Scott decided to climb to the top and soon had an audience. Eventually he went for it and came up. Then a few kids came over and started doing backflips off the rocks. Crazy. We decided to hike the short ten minutes to the last town, Riomaggiore. We found a nice restaurant that had really clena glass windows that I almost walked into. Luckily the hostess stopped me. Kind soul. I think I would have let me walk into the glass. After my pasta with lobster dinner- not the same as maine lobsters- we took the train back to Monterosso. I went to be early as Scott and Tay went out for Gelato. The next day we spent at the beach and I discovered Granite- yummy slushy drinks. It was so hot in the sun. I have awkward burns to show for it. At night we had a delicious dinner on a deck overlooking the ocean and finished the night off with gelato and packing.
Right now I am on the train to Nice. Lots of train travel today. But I am done typing. I am going to go take a nap. Tootles Manoodles.