Tuesday, September 8, 2009
To Roma, Italy
We were on the train all day so most of these are pics of the landscape of the coast of Italy
Those are yachts anchored and a couple cruise ships passing by in the Ligurian Sea
Towns sitting right on the Ligurian Sea
LA in Genova, Italy
Hard to see them but those are snow-capped mountains just off the coast of Italy
Katherine From Australia
We never could find a hostel in Nice, but we figured that since we wanted to get out on the train before 8:00 we would stay in the hotel closest to the train station. Katherine was a friend from Australia we met on the train. She was on the same trains as us all the way from Barcelona to Nice. We were walking around with her and decided that with three people a hotel room would not be too expensive.
We are all settling in and LA and I are on the computer trying to plan the next few days. Katherine has just fallen asleep and she starts this light snoring. I was waiting for it to get louder and instead heard this moan. It wasn’t a painful moan…just a moan. A series of moans goes on for 15 seconds. LA look at each other to make sure each one of us heard that. Just about every fifteen minutes later the same thing happens. This goes on for the next hour until I fall asleep.
The best part is I was able to add Australia to my list of newly formed stereotypes which I started in the post below.
Brand New Stereotypes
I’ve decided that I am going to wipe clean the stereotypes I have for other countries…and develop new ones, of course. Here is what I have so far:
Australians – moan instead of snore in their sleep; wear funny hats, travel in low-cut dresses
French – Act helpful, but through that smile they are lying to you. They know English, but won’t tell you they do.
Mexicans – Very nice, but needs to learn to stop moving while sleeping on the top bunk in a hostel. I barely got any sleep that night.
Russians – So far very nice. I think they are tired of being asked about how much Vodka they drink. And don’t even get them started on potatoes.
Italians – All speak English, skinny (exceptions would be older men), and very helpful.
Japanese – Giving (more on the gift to LA in another post)
Americans – Drink fast compared to Europeans (this is how Europeans say they can tell someone is from America), the only nationality where every traveler we have met so far doesn’t speak at least one other language,
I plan on adding to this as the trip progresses
Australians – moan instead of snore in their sleep; wear funny hats, travel in low-cut dresses
French – Act helpful, but through that smile they are lying to you. They know English, but won’t tell you they do.
Mexicans – Very nice, but needs to learn to stop moving while sleeping on the top bunk in a hostel. I barely got any sleep that night.
Russians – So far very nice. I think they are tired of being asked about how much Vodka they drink. And don’t even get them started on potatoes.
Italians – All speak English, skinny (exceptions would be older men), and very helpful.
Japanese – Giving (more on the gift to LA in another post)
Americans – Drink fast compared to Europeans (this is how Europeans say they can tell someone is from America), the only nationality where every traveler we have met so far doesn’t speak at least one other language,
I plan on adding to this as the trip progresses
Sunday, September 6, 2009
To Nice, France
Friday was a long day of traveling. Started with a 6:30 wake up to meet the local train at 7:00 and ended when we walked out of the Nice train station at 9:30. “Are cities really that far apart in Europe”, you ask. No, but when you don’t make reservations you don’t always get on the trains you were planning on. The lack of reservations also adds a little stress to my day because I feel responsible for another person. Thankfully we did end up in Nice and found a place to stay at 10:30 at night (prayers were made and answered on that one). I won’t say that yesterday was a total loss though.
The route we are taking from Barcelona to Rome hugs the coasts of Spain, France, and Italy. There are times when you look out into the Ligurian Sea and the train is maybe 30 yards from the water. The landscape is amazing. The beaches are white and the sea is an almost perfect blue-green. Houses with Spanish tiled roofs and white and yellow colored houses fill in long the coast. Many yachts and cruise ships were seen during this journey. I have pictures and LA has video but it won’t do it justice.
We met a couple friends along the way as well. Kathryn from Australia just graduated from James Cook University and is “on holiday” for 4 weeks. She had the same problem we did about reservations. She was on the exact same trains we were the entire day. She was fun to talk with on the train rides and hear about Australia. In fact, she was in line to make reservations for Saturday and was right in front of me when we were in Montpellier. She walked up asked for a particular route and got it without a problem. I walk up after her and ask for a route like hers and they tell me it is booked. What? On a train that sits 2000 people that girl got that last reservation? I tried 20 different trips to get to Rom e and every time the agent told me the trip was complete. So we had to get tickets to go completely out of our way to get to Rome.
We have one more long day of traveling to Rome and then the rest are shorter trips. It will be nice to get into Rome tomorrow, assuming we get up early and change our awful tickets, and spend a few days in a city with that kind of history. I really want to taste some real Italian food, too.
The route we are taking from Barcelona to Rome hugs the coasts of Spain, France, and Italy. There are times when you look out into the Ligurian Sea and the train is maybe 30 yards from the water. The landscape is amazing. The beaches are white and the sea is an almost perfect blue-green. Houses with Spanish tiled roofs and white and yellow colored houses fill in long the coast. Many yachts and cruise ships were seen during this journey. I have pictures and LA has video but it won’t do it justice.
We met a couple friends along the way as well. Kathryn from Australia just graduated from James Cook University and is “on holiday” for 4 weeks. She had the same problem we did about reservations. She was on the exact same trains we were the entire day. She was fun to talk with on the train rides and hear about Australia. In fact, she was in line to make reservations for Saturday and was right in front of me when we were in Montpellier. She walked up asked for a particular route and got it without a problem. I walk up after her and ask for a route like hers and they tell me it is booked. What? On a train that sits 2000 people that girl got that last reservation? I tried 20 different trips to get to Rom e and every time the agent told me the trip was complete. So we had to get tickets to go completely out of our way to get to Rome.
We have one more long day of traveling to Rome and then the rest are shorter trips. It will be nice to get into Rome tomorrow, assuming we get up early and change our awful tickets, and spend a few days in a city with that kind of history. I really want to taste some real Italian food, too.
Pics from Barcelona
LA at the harbor in Barcelona. That bridge takes you out to where sailboats and yachts dock. There is also a sea museum over the bridge. 
The Marcut de la Bosqueria considers itself an open air market but is does have a roof. The best fruits and vegestables. There were little bars where you could get a drink and hour old seafood cooked for you. Whole goat heads, cow tongues, and stomach are popular meats from the butchers.
I am in front of a very famous building in the tourist trap that is Plaza Catalunya. I'm sure it's famous...the fountain too.
Natalie and LA. Natalie is our new friend that took care of us in Barcelona. I can remember 6 languages that she speaks and she teaches Martial Arts. A great person to have on your side.
Adam From Virginia Tech
On Friday we arrived into Nice, France fairly late, around 9:30, without a reservation at a hostel or hotel. As we are walking around looking for a cheap place to stay we run into Adam in a Best Western. Adam is staying in a hostel that is a 15 minute walk from the Best Western. He is a student at Virginia Tech, studying this semester in Switzerland, but is down in Nice for the weekend with fellow students. He spent all day at the beach with his classmates drinking who knows what. At this point I’m not sure Adam could have told me.
I walk to the front desk and he is asking the Best Western manager something when he hears us talking. He wheels around and comes up to me and turns out to be a close talker. His eyes are trying their best to focus on me and his speech is in the ‘I’m trying to talk sober’ mode.
Adam (Face about 3 inches from mine) “Do you speak English?”
Me (Leaning back far enough to be comfortable) “Uh, yes. You need something?”
Adam “I was out to dinner with my friends and I left to go to the hostel and couldn’t find it, but then I came back and they were gone”
Me “So you left all your friends, while eating dinner, to go do something. Right. Now you can’t remember where your hostel is?” Well we are going to look for a hostel too so maybe when we find yours we can stay there. Why don’t you walk with us. So, what’s the name of the hostel?”
Adam “I’m not sure.”
Me “You just arrived today and can’t remember the name. Anything about the hostel stand out?”
Adam “It was a long French name.”
Me (Nodding my head like that tidbit helps…in France) “Do you remember how you got there? What you passed on the way?”
Adam “People told me to take a right at the KFC”
We take a right at the KFC and most of the hotels in Nice are this direction
This goes on for 20 minutes as walk with our packs trying to find this hostel with the long French name. We weren’t going to leave him on the streets, but we finally ran into a couple of his friends. I don’t think they were looking for him at the time, but they seemed relieved that he was OK. It seemed like it was common for Adam to do this and they figured he would show up at some point.
After a long day of traveling it was nice to have that time and eventful conversation with Adam.
I walk to the front desk and he is asking the Best Western manager something when he hears us talking. He wheels around and comes up to me and turns out to be a close talker. His eyes are trying their best to focus on me and his speech is in the ‘I’m trying to talk sober’ mode.
Adam (Face about 3 inches from mine) “Do you speak English?”
Me (Leaning back far enough to be comfortable) “Uh, yes. You need something?”
Adam “I was out to dinner with my friends and I left to go to the hostel and couldn’t find it, but then I came back and they were gone”
Me “So you left all your friends, while eating dinner, to go do something. Right. Now you can’t remember where your hostel is?” Well we are going to look for a hostel too so maybe when we find yours we can stay there. Why don’t you walk with us. So, what’s the name of the hostel?”
Adam “I’m not sure.”
Me “You just arrived today and can’t remember the name. Anything about the hostel stand out?”
Adam “It was a long French name.”
Me (Nodding my head like that tidbit helps…in France) “Do you remember how you got there? What you passed on the way?”
Adam “People told me to take a right at the KFC”
We take a right at the KFC and most of the hotels in Nice are this direction
This goes on for 20 minutes as walk with our packs trying to find this hostel with the long French name. We weren’t going to leave him on the streets, but we finally ran into a couple of his friends. I don’t think they were looking for him at the time, but they seemed relieved that he was OK. It seemed like it was common for Adam to do this and they figured he would show up at some point.
After a long day of traveling it was nice to have that time and eventful conversation with Adam.
Friday, September 4, 2009
Disclaimer
Sorry for the long posts but it is hard to get to an internet connection while travelling. I will try to make them a little shorter from now on.
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