My trip out of Italy was the beginning of another shotgun blast of cities: Vienna, Budapest and Prague. I had only a day or two in each city.
The train to Vienna was only slightly better than the train to Venice. This time, we had a sleeper car (but we couldn't put the beds down for some stupid reason!) and a cabin full of people who spoke English! We didn't get much sleep, but we had a good conversation during the ride.
On Vienna: It's hard to talk about Vienna. There aren't a lot of touristy things to do in the city and it's not that big of a stop for visitors. It is, however, someplace that I'd love to live. The city is clean, the people are friendly and there are parks. Oh, there are parks. I spent well over half of my day in Vienna wandering around the sprawling palace gardens and museum parks. It was a cool day, perfect for a stroll. In fact, I didn't do much else BUT that, as there isn't a lot to do for a one day visitor. But it was still nice. That night I went out with a guy from Mexico and an Aussie girl to a travelers bar around the corner from our hostel and had my first ORIGINAL Czech Budweiser. It was delicious!
On Budapest: Buda and Pest (separated by a river, combined by a name) were much the same as Vienna. There aren't many touristy things to see and do, but it is a fun Eastern European city. I was only supposed to be there for an afternoon and then take a train to Krakow, Poland (to visit Auschwitz) but the lady at the information desk gave me the wrong information. So, I missed Auschwitz and spent another day in Budapest. The second day a German and I went on the free walking tour around the city. It took us nearly everywhere that I had been the day before, but provided the history and explanation as well. We were both going back to Vienna that day, so we caught a train at three back to Vienna. He stayed in Vienna, I continued on to Prague.
On Prague: Prague got the best of this rush with two days and three nights. It only got the third night because it was cheaper for me to stay a night in Prague than it was to pay for the night line ticket! So I got to Prague half an hour before midnight had a (cheap) beer and went straight to bed.
The second day I got up and took a free walking tour of the city. It was three hours long and I pretty much seen everything there is to see. The tour guide was great and he left us down the hill from Prague castle, so I finished the tour and walked up the hill to explore the castle. The streets up near the castle were filled with people and shops which ate up the rest of my afternoon and I went back to the hostel for some food and a nap around six.
That night I decided to go on a pub crawl. Fifteen euro to drink and smoke shisha free for an hour and a half, followed by 3 more clubs. It was a good night. For the most part. I spend most of it with two Scottish girls and a guy named Fred who got too wasted to walk. It was good fun until somebody jacked my hat that I bought in Spain, the only souvenir that I have bought for myself this entire trip. I was too drunk and disorderly to get through the bar, so my hat was gone. At the end of the night (four in the morning) the the clubs closed and I walked home with one of the guys who was in charge of the crawl. We had a blast on the walk and he even bought me a cheeseburger from McDonalds!
Since I had basically seen all of Prague the day before (and had a long, long night out) I didn't get up and out of the hostel til nearly one. I wandered down by the riverfront and though some of the small backstreets around the city center. As I was heading back to the hostel, the guy from the pub crawl seen me on the street! I'm not sure what I did to make an impression, but I must've done a good job. I ended up going back on the pub crawl that night for half price, but turned in around two so I could catch a train in the morning to the last country I'll tour on my trip, Germany. Berlin, ho!
I was sad to see Italy go. Or maybe Italy was sad to see me go. Either way, I'm going to miss it.
My train to Venice was crap. It was a night train with compartments, six people sitting face to face in a very, very cramped space. And nobody spoke English but me. There were a cool, young couple beside me who spoke brokenly and it provided for a good enough conversation, but it was still a bit strained. So I sat through ten hours of hell. And a few more at the end of the trip. The train was supposed to go to Venice SL, the station on the island. However, we stopped at Mestre (the landside station) and the train began going the other way! I ran like hell out of my compartment to find a conductor and was told to get off at the next stop, where I could take a train into Venice SL.
I got into SL at seven in the morning and dropped off my things at the Fish, the hostel I had stayed at previously, and took a walk around town. Venice in the early morning is much different than the rest of the day. The streets and squares are empty and quiet. It's a very peaceful place. I came back at one to make sure I had a place to stay, then grabbed my book and found a secluded, canal-side dead end to sit and read for a few hours. It was needed after that train ride from Napoli, I hadn't slept at all.
The night at the Fish was just as it was last time. I met great people around the dinner table and one of the staff members took us walking around at ten. I think we finally crashed at two, but it was a great night.
My last day in Italy was one of the best. In the morning, I went with two people I had met last night – Freddy and Allison – to St. Mark's and actually went inside the basilica. We arrived back to the hostel just after noon and Allison, Esther (another girl at the Fish) and I wandered the city for the rest of the day. It's always great to have a relaxed day with good people. I said my goodbyes to the Fish crew, Allison walked me to the train station and I boarded a train to Vienna, Austria at nine.
I left Rome and arrived in Napoli early in the afternoon. My first impression: SHIT. HOLE. It was by FAR the most disgusting city I had ever seen. Trash and trashy people were everyhwere. The metro was hardly working (because nobody ever paid, I later discovered). The buildings looked like they were falling apart. I was honestly a bit afraid of catching something. Even walking to my hostel in the middle of the afternoon was a bit nerve wracking. Every third person was a shady character.
When I arrived at the hostel, two Aussie guys were cooking pasta and invited me to eat, so I tossed my bags on the bed and ended up spending the afternoon drinking with them and a Mexican girl. My first night in Napoli I had decided I MUST have pizza, so the four of us went out for what has been the cheapest and by far the best pizza I have ever eaten. Three euros for a hand tossed, flame cooked pie. Pizza back home will never compete. We finished up, bought some beers and wasted away the night in a plaza until two in the morning.
My first full day in Napoli wasn't really spent in Napoli. The Aussies, a French girl and I went to Pompei. The ruins of Pompei are a fascinating site, but I'm glad I went with a crowd. I think if I were to have been by myself, I would've been bored in a couple hours. Thankfully, we made the best of the day wandering the entire city and poking fun at the cheesy audio guide. That night, we went out for pizza and beer AGAIN. Unfortunatley, Michele's, the most famous pizza place in all of Napoli, was closed. So we wandered the streets of downtown until we found the next open restaruant. Just like the last time, the pizza was fantastic. And just as cheap. I turned in early that night so I could meet some friends from Rome who were coming down to Napoli to...eat pizza!
I got up early on day two and met my friends at the rail station. Since they were only there for a short while, we walked about while I told them about the city for a bit before we grabbed lunch. The pizza was still great. It wasn't going to get old. My friends left back to Rome and I spent the remainder of the day wandering downtown Napoli before heading back to the hostel for a night of word games with the group from the day before. At about midnight that night, the hostel common room closed so a large group of us went out. We spent an hour in a plaza, another hour talking to an Italian man who was running a beer stand in the middle of the night and a third hour sitting at a metro stop, where we were climbing the tower in the middle of the plaza. Well, we were until one of the guys sliced his hand open. He had to go to the hospital the next day!
The last day in Napoli I went out with a couple Americans to the port. We started off the morning by working our way up the highest point in town to have an overlook then continued down seaside. We paid two euros to see the the last painting Carvaggio ever painted and had one more great pizza, sadly, my last from Naples. It was a very slow day. When we arrived back at the hostel, I and a couple others cooked some pasta for dinner before I took the train to my final Italian stop: Venice, again!
I showed up in Rome at two in the afternoon, and the hostel wouldn't take a credit card. For such a popular, well known place I was a bit surprised. I had a hell of a time getting cash, too, because a purchase I had made in Florence had put a hold on my account for a substantial sum. It was nearly the second time I was stuck in Italy without access to cash. But, an hour later, I was checked in and ready. I was tired from the previous night out in Florence, so I decided to rest that afternoon and meet people at the hostel.
The place was full of Americans. Which is okay, I had a good afternoon. I just didn't really come to Europe to meet more Americans. Later that night, I and a guy I had met decided to go check out the city at dark. Good choice. Rome is so much more beautiful at night. I got some great shots of myself doing a crappy thriller pose in front of all the famous places!
I woke up early the next morning – before everyone else – and took off by myself. I didn't feel like waiting for everybody else to get up. Rome was too big for two days and three nights already. My first stop was the Colosseum. The line was massive, so I bought a ticket at Palatine Hill and wandered around the Roman Forum for a while before heading down to the amphitheater. Though the Colosseum wasn't as huge as I expected, it was still impressive. The interior was incredibly designed, especially for something that was thousands of years old. The rest of the day was pretty chill. I wandered the Eastern half of the city until nearly eight, did some laundry, took a nap, and woke up again later to go hang out in the Yellow Bar with a Frenchman.
The second day was reserved for Vatican City. I took one of the two metro lines (really, only two metro lines for all of Rome?) over to the square and immediately jumped in line for entry to St. Peter's Basilica. The line must have been two hundred yards long, but I was up to the door in six minutes. I timed it. I was fairly churched out from spending the previous day going through every basilica I passed, but nothing could prepare me for the awe inspired by St. Peter's. It WAS (and still is) the most beautiful church I've seen. And that's saying something. I've seen a stupidly huge number of churches recently. After the basilica, I took a walk through the tombs of the popes. Seeing the place where John Paul II was laid was a fairly intense experience. I always get a chill when I stand in front of the resting place of great people.
Next: the Vatican Museum. I was fairly museumed out, too, and all I really wanted to see was the Sistine Chapel. I wandered through the museum admiring the building when I finally came to the chapel. I need a bigger vocabulary for all the things I've seen, because awesome doesn't work for that little chapel. I sat for half an hour admiring the paintings on the ceiling. And, yes, I took a photo. Even though I wasn't supposed to! After the Vatican, I hit up all the rest of the famous things in West Rome, which is mostly just the Pantheon, the only complete structure from the Roman times still standing. How they could create such a structure back in those days in beyond me.
The night ended with meeting a great girl from New York (who I MUST visit!). We walked to the train station for tickets, spend the night at the bar and crashed in the room around 2. The next morning I spent teaching her how to shop at the supermarket (LOL!) and we walked to the train station together. It was a good, slow paced ending to a rushed two days in Rome.
Now that you're finally (generally) up to date, I'd like to apologize for being so slow. I was going a hundred miles an hour in Barcelona and just picked up speed as I got into Italy. I have time to jot down things in my own personal journal, but that's about it a lot of the time. I think what I'm going to try to do is take mom's advice and update little bits at a time. I can't make any promises, but I know how you all like to "live vicariously through my experinces" (and I love that!) so I'm going to try to keep you all satisfied. It's also nice for me to actually have some sort of story written down. Wish me good luck!
Almost caught up!
When I actually arrived to my hostel in Cinque Terra, it was two o'clock and nobody was there. So I was locked out for half an hour. Luckily, three Spaniards arrived shortly after me and waited with me. We went out and hiked for an hour and a half that night, nearly got fined 200 euros for not getting our one euro fifty train tickets stamped correctly, and watched the most beautiful sunset I have ever seen.
The following day was spend with a Californian (who had FiveFingers!) and a girl from Indiana. We did the hike all the way along the coast between the five cities. It was gorgeous and great to be in the outdoors after so much time in the city. I also ran into the two guys that had told me to hump the train to Geneva. Small world!
The second full day in Cinque Terra I spent trying to find a mountain bike (with no success), kayaking half a mile out into the sea to check out the entire coastal view (exhausting and worth every bit of it) and laying on the beach. Finally, a relaxing day.
I stopped in Pisa on my way to Firenze (Italian for Florence). There really is nothing in Pisa but the leaning tower, the duomo and the baptistry, but it was worth a 2 hour day trip. The leaning tower is very cool to actually see in person. And watching all the tourists take photos was hilarious, especially when the cops came ad shooed them off the grass.
And finally, Firenze. I only spent two days (three nights) in Firenze, but it is my favorite city so far. I'm not sure I can pinpoint why, though. There was so much to do. The city was clean and beautiful. Slow paced. The people within the city were wonderfully friendly. I just really, really enjoyed it.
The first night I was there, I didn't do much other than hang out at the hostel. The people there were very fun, and I was tired from a day of travel. When I arrived at the hostel, the host sat down with me and drew out a complete walking map complete with stops, so I spent the first day following the map and it made for good start to Florence. I ate dinner at the hostel and introduced myself to two Africans, one from Zimbabwe and one from South Africa, who I ended up going out with that night. We started the night with a power hour and finished with a 1.75 liter bottle of wine. There are some blank spots and I'm not sure how I got home, but it was a blast.
Day two was spent searching for a wallet for dad, seeing David (which was awe inspiring) and another little church that wasn't on the map. Funny enough, it was my second favorite church that I've seen, only to the cathedral in Toledo. I didn't drink that night because I had a train to catch in the morning, but the Africans and I went out again with a few others and had a ball again. My time in Firenze was just wonderful.
And that brings me to today. I woke up this morning, missed the 6:45 and 7:15 trains, then caught the 9:15 to Rome. I'm currently sitting in front of my hostel, The Yellow, chatting with a bunch of other hostelers and deciding upon how I'm going to traverse Rome.
Catch me on Skype so I can fill you in on everything that I didn't include. Ciao!
Milano was actually a very boring city. There wasn't much to do except go to the Duomo and the shopping district. Thankfully, I had a Californian girl I met the night I arrived that wandered with me. She helped me shop around for a purse for my mother and accompanied me to the Duomo, a very beautiful building that clashes with the rest of Milan. While we were shopping, we found a crowd of people waiting (what is it with me and finding crowds?) for the AC Milan futbol team to arrive at their official Milan store. They were releasing their new jersey design! We didn't get to see the team, but it was a fun experience and I got a photo with the team bus.
The next day I left for Venice and made a day stop in Verona, famous for the house of Capulet of Shakespeare's tale “Romeo and Juliet.” I wished I had actually stayed a night in Verona, it was a very beautiful city and had some neat things to see. There just weren't any hostels. As I was searching for the Roman amphitheater that was supposed to be there (which was very small)n meet an English family and spent the day trading stories with them about life in the US and England. I absolutely love when I get to do that!
I arrived in Venice that evening just in time for dinner. The hostel I was in was great because they served a dinner, which meant the entire hostel was there at half past seven to sit and chat in the common room. We (ten of us or so) played some drinking games after and went to wander about the city. I enjoyed my first night in Venice so much that I decided to stay another night. It went pretty well the same, just with a new set of people! There were to guys in particular, a Dutchman, Wouter, and a German, Eric, I hung out with for most of the day and night. that I'm going to try very hard to make a stop back in Venice on my way up to Prague.
I had decided that I couldn't come to and skip the famous Italian auto factories, so I proceeded to Bologna for a night and Modena for three. My hostel in Bologna was actually outside the city, and I was nearly stranded the next morning. I didn't have change for a bus ticket, so I just stole a ride. Travel kind of forces you to do these things. Approached the train station to find ANOTHER crowd (WTF!) celebrating some anniversary of Bologna. I watched that and wandered the city for a while before taking my train to Modena.
Remember, Modena was supposed to be a chill period. I ended up being just as active there as I was previously, just without the nightlife. Oh, I also had a bit of a mental breakdown due some events I found about back home, but I'm okay. It made for some interesting alone time, though. I got up the first day and went to visit Galleria Ferrari (the Ferrari factory) in nearby Maranello, was out all day and explored Modena city center that night. The second day I took a bus to the Lamborghini Gallery. While I was there, I ran into two amazing people from DC who ended up taking me with them to a Pagani factory tour, a traditional balsamic vinegar distillery tour and pretty much paid for my afternoon. Kyle and Olivia made that day one of the best of my trip. I hope I meet more people as awesome as them. When I get back home, I'm going to send them cash for a night out on me. I had a fantastic day and want to return them the favor.
After Modena, took a train to Cinque Terra national park.
Hi. I know I've been sucking at updating my blog lately. I'm sorry. I've been in Italy for a while now and there is so much to see and do that I barely have time to sit down and write. Even when I was in Modena – a city which was supposed to be a three night resting period – I was constantly busy. Wake up at eight, spend the day out and about til eight or nine and come back. It ended up being 3 days of just not going out at night, which didn't really help. But it was still really, really cool.
So I'm going to start with Barcelona and hit up the main points of what I've been doing for the last couple weeks. It might take a couple entries, I try to keep them no longer than a page.
Barcelona is well known for being a party city and I didn't waste a night I was there. I arrived in the city at nearly eleven, took a half hour nap, then walked across the street with a couple of guys from DC to La Ramblas – main street and the center of the nightlife. We started off playing pool with some Germans at an Irish pub and took off at two when the bar closed. The only things that were still open were the “discos” (that's a dance club) that charged absurd amounts of money to enter. It worked out alright though, one of the German guys covered everybody's entry fee. It was a good time and I was even offered a trip to the bathroom by a very, very creepy, raccoon-eyed cross dresser.
I spent my first day wandering around the city and ran into a guy from Honduras that I had spent two hours in line with at the train station. The second night we went out to watch the magic fountain show, a huge water and light show held every weekend in the summer, but had no luck as it was canceled for the day. Later that night we went to a jam session in a bar a ways off La Ramblas. It was amazing to see the musical talent of the crowd in action.
The last day I was in Barcelona was pretty damn good as well. I got up early to go explore the beach and Park Guell, a park designed entirely by a famous Spanish architect called Gaudi. I hiked an hour and a half (at a very slow pace) up to the top of a hill beyond the park for a beautiful overlook of the city and the surrounding country. Well worth it. When I got back to the hostel, I met a seventeen year old kid from Lawrence. How awesome is that? Another Kansan! We discovered that the fountain show had been canceled due to the opening of the European Athletic Championships that night. There was a special, extra huge fountain show to be held at ten and the other Kansan, two Aussie guys and I went (along with 30,000 others) to watch the opening ceremony and show.
I had planned to sleep at the train station that night because my train was going to leave at eight the following morning. Unfortunately, the station closed at midnight and I received at tap on the head at ten til from the man telling me to leave. I wandered around for an hour before finally accepting help from a pink-shirted man on a street corner (this is a BIG rule to break as a backpacker, I probably should've been stabbed or mugged) who happened to be French street artist who worked on La Ramblas. He walked me around the city to find a place to stay and the night was good.
The next morning, I met the Aussie guys on at the train station and we ended up humping a train to Geneva,, some advice given to us by two Americans we met for ten minutes or so on the train. I made it to Milano that night.
