05/09/12- Made it to the airport but not without a bit of craziness. Before I went to bed I tried to do the online checkin for the Iberian flight. It allowed my wife to go through the checkin but not myself. I tried to call customer service but they were closed until the next morning. At 5am I woke up to call them only to find out that I had to get my tickets at the terminal. He did assure me that he reserved the seats we wanted though.
At 1:30pm we are picked up for our shuttle to LAX. It takes about two hours of picking others up before finally arriving. We get to the counter and of course our seats were not reserved at all. We had to get two separate seats. So now we are waiting for our flight hoping someone will be kind enough to switch seats with one of us so we can sit together. Otherwise I’m yelling bomb…. Oh yes I am!
Continuation- The plane ride was a breeze. Had no problem sitting together and the twelve hours went by pretty fast despite them only playing two movies. One of them was about a Whale which I was not looking forward to at all but it’s surprising how much you get into a movie when there is nothing else on to pass the time. There was also a group of fourty college students on the plane so it felt like a college dorm party at times. Worst part was having a screaming kid in the front, coughing man behind us and smelly butt boy in front of us. We made it through somehow.
On a side note: ever since I grew out my hair I get weird stares at the airport. I feel like one of those guys from the TV show LOCKED UP ABROAD! It’s amazing I don’t get strip searched.
05/10/12- Made it through customs in Madrid without a hitch and landed in Lisbon around 4:15pm local time. We grabbed some cash from the ATM, found a taxi and made it to the hotel (Lisbon Short Stay Apartments) just in time to crash on the bed for a few minutes. The room is very small but very unique and I love the setting and modern stuff they put in here. Now it’s time to venture out to the streets while it’s sunlight and check out some of the sights while we are still awake.
Got some food and felt rejuvenated enough to keep going. Walked around the Baixa area and continued onto the water front which was so relaxing. As we walked back towards our hotel the sun was setting bringing the night life out in full force. We were entertained with a lady singing Fado music, street dancing, musicians, the works. We even had a taste of Sangria at the open air market located not far from our hotel and found a great souvenir for our trip wall back home. So far Lisbon has lived up to my expectations and more.
Upon arriving back at our hotel the clerk showed us around the place. First bringing us to the top floor where there is an excellent view of the Castle Sao Jorge (which we will be going to tomorrow). Then he showed us some of the other more prestigious rooms they have there. What I love the most about this hotel is the little artistic touches they do. Each hotel door is painting differently which looks really cool by the way and even though it’s small I find it very comfortable. Not including the bed which was as hard as a rock. Hey, when you are tired you just don’t seem to care much.
05/11/12- Our first full day in Lisbon. Woke up around 8:30am only once getting up for about thirty minutes in the middle of the night. Not bad for adjusting to the time change. After breakfast our first stop was the Castle Sao Jorge. We tried to find a tram to bring us to the top as it was an uphill climb but I soon found the path wasn’t that far away. So we just walked it. Only took maybe twenty minutes of walking and not many steps to worry about. Of course the food we had fueled our fire a bit. The castle is not in use and not really anything we haven’t seen before but it did remind us of the Great Wall of China as we walked along the highest points. Come to think of it many things here in Lisbon remind me of other places. The rooftops are like Florence, the bridge is very similar to the Golden Gate Bridge and I can’t help but picture myself in Venice again as I walk the beachside. Very strange.
We soon found the tram to take us to the other side of Lisbon in the Belem area. We boarded the tram expecting to pay with exact change but found no one there to take our money. So we just sat down and got a free twenty minute ride across town. Saved about $8.
There we found a very nice pastry place (Pasteis de Belem) that has this awesome custard filled tart that is absolutely the best I’ve ever tasted. The recipe has apparently been around for hundreds of years and Lisbon is famous for it. After a brief stop at Starbucks to rest our legs we hit the shore once again to see the Tower of Belem. We briskly walked through as we still wanted to hit the Monastery on our way back before it closed.
Before leaving back to our hotel we had to stop by the pastry place once again to get four more tarts to bring back with us. The bus we took back (and yes we paid for it this time) was so crowded that we were surprised the driver kept letting people on at each stop. Twenty minutes later we finally make it back to our area of town. We hit the train station for a second to check the train schedule for Sintra leaving tomorrow and finally arrived back at our hotel for a few hours rest.
Before the night ended we decided to venture out one more time to see the night life. After all it is Friday night. Everywhere we went I kept being asked if I wanted hash or coke. I think it’s my long hair again that is getting all of the attention. We ate a late dinner and called it a night.
I tell you I really enjoy Europe. I wish I could make my own country with American freedoms and European simple values.
05/12/12- Woke up early again around 7:30am feeling good and ready to tackle the day trip to Sintra. Little did we know how much of a day it would actually be.
We ate breakfast at the same restaurant as the day before. We tried to go to McDonalds for a quick bite but they were not open yet. It worked out just as well because this restaurant serves the best naturally squeezed orange juice and coffee. The toast is very nice and buttered as well.
After breakfast we take the fourty minute train ride to Sintra and begin our journey at the main Palace. It was only a short walk from the train station and right in the center of town. The palace wasn’t too bad. They allowed photos with no problem and was fairly easy to walk around. We then take the bus over to the Palace Pena. This is where the adventure began. The bus went uphill quite a ways and was fast about it. By the time the fifteen minutes was over my stomach was all up in knots. It took several minutes to recover before moving on.
Once we felt better we bought the tickets for both this and the Castle not far away. There was also an extra fee for transportation to the palace which jacked up the price even more. Oh well.
The grounds here were amazing to look at. Only problem was this place didn’t accept photos inside. I took some anyway when I could. There were cameras in every room so I was paranoid they’d try to tell me to delete so before I exited I took out my memory card. Turned out to be unnecessary as no one approached me about it.
Lastly, we walked the five minutes to go to the Castle. We didn’t realize we had to trek another ten minutes up and down hill to get to the entrance. It was starting to remind me of the Great Wall of China all over again. Even the views from the mountain top brought back memories. But we made it through. Sharece took a rest at one of the benches as I walked to the top of the castle and back.
Our legs are extremely tired now. Two palaces and a castle are quite a bit to do in a short amount of time. So we took the bus back to the center of town and celebrated with a nice pastry called a travesseiros. Ah man was it good. We finished it off with gelato ice cream. As we took the train back to Rossio station Sharece’s return ticket didn’t scan properly. She tried to tell the guy at the counter and he was no help at all. With the train about to leave I was able to scan my ticket twice to open the door for her but she was late getting through and got smacked by it as it closed. She was not very happy with that situation. But we made it back to Lisbon exhausted, hurting and scrapped up.
My feet were so happy to have made it back to the hotel. One trick we found is our feet love cold concrete and rocks. So when we can we take off our shoes and let the cold refresh them. It feels so good! Now it’s time to get some sleep and prepare for our 4am wake up to get ready for our plane trip to Rome tomorrow.
05/13/12- Whooo hoo! Made it back to Rome. Our plane landed around 10:45am and we went straight to the baggage claim. Somehow we got turned around and went out the wrong terminal. We had to journey back to Terminal 3 and convince the guards that we accidently left and still needed our bags. He let us in with no problem. We got our bags, found the bus to Termini station and was there within fourty minutes. We did have to maneuver through a few streets to get to our hotel however (Des Artistes Hotel Rome). We checked in and told the hotel that it was our anniversary (despite it being six months away- hey do half anniversaries count?) and they said they will give us a complimentary bottle of Champaign anytime we ask for it. Nice!
Our first stop was to the Basilica down the road from us. It’s was revived by works of Michelangelo and looks amazing. We then start on to find a pizzeria, however we were having a hard time finding one. We remembered from last time that Rome had one on every street corner but apparently that was only in the more touristy areas. We finally find a sit down restaurant and park ourselves at the table only to be ignored by the waiter several times. We simply grabbed our stuff and left as we had no need to put up with any snooty attitude. It worked for the best as we finally found a nice pizzeria down the street. Not only that but just outside was the Roman Forum. The old feelings of being overwhelmed were starting to creep back up with me. We tried to go in but forgot that there was a charge to walk the actual grounds so we just continued on to the Colosseum. We were able to find someone who took our picture in front of it- something we missed last time we were here, and continued to walk around for a bit reliving old memories.
After quite a bit of walking- which we thought we weren’t going to do today- we took the metro back to our hotel to change. I found this nice looking restaurant I wanted to take Sharece out to for Mothers Day but first we were going to head back to the Colosseum to get some night shots. We got dressed up for the night and started out the door before realizing how cold it was now with the sun down. We quickly came back upstairs to dress more weather appropriate with jackets.
We take the metro straight to the Roman Forum area and the whole time we were getting the stare down from locals on the train. I’m not sure if it was the camera, the flip flops or just curiosity but it seemed like the whole train was starring our way. After exiting the metro we were greeted once again with the most amazing view of the Colosseum this time all lit up. We spent maybe ten minutes getting some good shots before taking the metro over to Trevi area to eat. The food was excellent. We both had our share of pasta and tasted a few wines before finding the right one we wanted. The waiter just shook his head at us as we ordered the dessert wine. We know that usually doesn’t go with an actual meal but that is what we like to drink. They asked us several times to make sure that is what we wanted just in case.
We get our check and somehow they actually charge us less than what it was supposed to be. Perhaps it was because we were given the “Time to leave” discount as we were the last ones left at the restaurant at around 11:30pm. We pay for our meal and leave down the road to see the Fountain of Trevi. It was lit up quite well and we were able to get some very nice shots as well as feel loved in each others arms. Truly a moment to remember. After a brief stay, as the wind was starting to chill us both, we make our way back to the metro to go to the hotel when we noticed the line closed already. Now it’s starting to rain, our legs are very tired, the wind is picking up and we have to start walking. It took maybe thirty to thirt-five minutes but we finally made it back to the hotel safely. Exhausted we crashed for the night and slept all the way through.
05/14/12- Slept in to rest our weary limbs and headed out around 12:30pm. We grabbed some pizza to go and went toward the Pantheon. We went to take the metro and tried to use our pass from yesterday but it didn’t work. We misread the pass thinking it was good for 24 hours but instead good until the 24th hour of that day. We wasted 6 Euros buying that last night. Oh well, the things you learn. Not to mention the metro only took us so far where we had to walk the rest of the way. On our way we hit the Fountain of Trevi again to get some day shots and take a short break. The crowd there was massive and the wind was blowing almost knocking us over. We actually had to take our jackets today as the weather was around 65 degrees. A big change from the last few days when it was 85.
We checked out a few souvenir shops and picked up some things for our kids and some shirts for us before finally making it to the Pantheon. What a sight! I was quite impressed with how big it really was and all of the detail that went into it. It apparently started out as a temple to the gods and later became a church. It was also nice and cool in there and away from the wind so we rested, took our shoes off and let the cold concrete replenish our feet.
Tired from the walk we decided to make our way to the hotel to rest a bit before going back out. After a few hours we ventured to the Spanish Steps. We were not very impressed by it at all. It just looks like a bunch of steps to me and looks nothing like the photos I have seen of it. Maybe I caught it on an off day. We walked around a bit to check out the high end stores but in the end we just found a place to eat near our hotel. They served some great food including a 10.50 Euro bowl of soup. It did fill us up.
Got back to our hotel and got our free bottle of champagne as promised. A great way to end the night.
05/15/12- Vatican day. We purchased our tickets well in advance to skip the line and was very glad we did. The line extended for hours as people were herded around the corner. We walked right passed them all, showed the guard our voucher and went right in. We even got five Euros returned back to us as he assumed we were students (at least that's what I think was the reason).
Our first mission inside was to get to the Sistine Chapel. We came to the Vatican five years ago and never went inside so this time we made sure to stand witness to this sight. After walking down several huge hallways decked out in paintings we finally made it into the chapel. What a magnificent view. Even though the lights were lowered I still was awe struck by the mere size and detail. I tried to sneak a few photos with my small camera but it came out all blurry. Realizing they weren’t really watching I used my main camera and was able to get some awesome shots. Now my life is complete… well almost.
Afterwards we made our way back through the hallways to the museums which we were not too keen on. We went across the street to a great pizzeria and had a fantastic piece of margherita pizza and topped it off with a cappuccino. That got us geared to continue on and visit the Vatican itself. We saw the line outside but noticed that it was going rather quickly. Within minutes we were through security and inside. Holy pope on a rope batman this place was incredible. I do not know how we missed this last time we were here but I am very glad we made it this time. I am still in awe over how tall and wide the place is. Seems to be the theme of ancient Rome…. The bigger the better.
Our next stop was to the Santa Maria del Popolo. We took the metro straight there and was immediately greeted with an open air market outside. We looked around and almost bought a pair of shoes each but wasn’t convinced enough to buy. It would have been nice to tell everyone I was wearing Italian shoes. We walked the area, took some more photos before heading back to our hotel. We grabbed another bite of pizza and called it a day. Tomorrow we will be leaving so this is our last day in Rome. But we are happy as we have done a lot these past three days. I love the feeling of one day you see the Colosseum and the next the Eiffel tower. Paris can’t come soon enough. One more day!
05/16/12- Two cities down and more to go. We check out of our hotel around 11:15am and head straight for the Termini station to meet with our airport bus. We get our tickets and were told that it will be there in five minutes, so we wait by the curb with everyone else. The bus pulls up and we start to get in only to be told that this bus was to the other airport- not the one we needed- and that our bus would be arriving at 12:35pm. So we get some food and wait. At 12:30pm we start to board that bus and then was told that we had the wrong color ticket. Our bus left earlier and now we would have to wait another hour for the next one since this one was full. I argued with the lady behind the counter that we could miss our flight and that this was not our fault and she seemed to not care. After realizing what happened I explained to her the situation and she stated she will gladly give us a refund if we wish to take the train instead. So I ran over to the trains to see what the schedule was like and finally found the next one leaving in about twenty minutes, so I quickly grabbed Sharece (who was stuck with all of our luggage while I ran around with my head cut off), got the refund and purchased the tickets for the train which ended up being over twice the amount of the bus. But we would arrive in half the time. It’s a good thing we did too because we just made it through security at the airport and to our terminal with only five minutes to spare before boarding.
At first I thought the flight was going to last three hours due to a one hour time change between cities. But after only two hours the plane was already landing and I realized there is no time change between Rome and Paris. Woo hoo! We get our luggage and go straight to the taxi queue which was a very minimal wait and off we were towards central Paris. 28 Euros later we make it to our hotel and check in (Alyss Saphir Cambronne Eiffel). We start to take the lift to our room but realize it skips the first two floors and goes right to floor 3. We found out that we had to walk the small spiral staircase to our room on the 1st floor. Not that big of a deal but it reminded us of London. Actually the room is small like it too. The sink pretty much covers the toilet so you have to stand or sit at an angle which is very weird.
After a short rest we hit the streets ready to see the Eiffel Tower and get some food. The walk was about twenty minutes but we made it there and got some nice photos while remembering old times from five years ago. We then start our journey to find a nice place to eat nearby only to see very limited restaurants available. We walk further down the street and suddenly the prices kept climbing up and up. Not to mention the least expensive places were pizzerias where we just had in Rome for three days straight. We finally decided to do the McDonalds thing for tonight as we were starving and our flight didn’t provide us food or drinks.
We ate our food, which included a cappuccino and walked back towards the Eiffel Tower as the sun was coming down- at 9pm no less. We hit a few souvenir shops on our way and make it there with the place all lit up nicely. We must of spent the next two hours just admiring the view and taking night photos. Now this was the Paris I remember and love. We also grabbed an awesome tasting chocolate and banana crepe from a street vendor and enjoyed every bite of it.
Finally we decide to take the metro back to our hotel to save our legs. I tell you, nothing seems to beat Paris at night time.
05/17/12- Went to bed last night around 3am and had a nice sleep. That was until around 8am when the people next to us started arguing for about fourty-five minutes straight. It was an English father and son and it was like listening to Gandalf and Frodo arguing about who was going to carry the ring. Oh those pesky little hobbits. It was quite entertaining.
Sharece wanted some eggs this morning so I looked up a place on the internet called Henry’s and off we went. It wasn’t far from the first place we were going to anyway. I’m glad we went as the place had some excellent food and the service was awesome. It cracked us up when the waitress kept asking us if we wanted hashbrownies (instead of hashbrowns). We then go towards the Arc de Triomphe for a few photos and continue to walk down the Avenue des Champs-Elysees. After hitting a few souvenir shops we jump on the metro again and head for the Louvre. We bought the day pass for the metro by the way so we took full advantage of it today.
We’ve been to the Louvre last time so we just wanted to stroll around a bit. We also went by Pont Neuf bridge and Notre Dame for some photos. At this point it was raining on and off- more like spitting actually- but every now and then the sun would show itself and brighten up the sky once more. It was also a bit chilly today with the wind blowing. We actually had to use our jackets and gloves during the day, but we didn’t mind at all.
After getting a crepe to eat we set out to find the nearest metro to bring us back to our hotel. On the way we stumbled upon some shops and restaurants and decided to eat dinner at this Turkish place. The gyro we got was quite good and pretty cheap. We finally make it back around 7:45pm. We rested for about an hour and a half before using the metro pass one last time to get some night shots of the Arc de Triomphe. Overall it was a pretty relaxing day just strolling around. Sharece did slip on the steps in the metro hurting herself a bit but nothing serious. Other than that it was pretty relaxing.
05/18/12- Our last day in Paris and we spent the time well- in Versailles. We woke up around 9am and ate another gyro. Although it wasn’t as good as last night it hit the spot. Then we bought the RER C train tickets to Versailles from the metro station. After a twenty minute train ride we were there. We heard stories that the lines could get long but we wanted our coffee fix first. We finally get to the gates and wait in line for about ten minutes to buy tickets. Then we go outside and find that the line to get into the palace is about an hour and a half long. WOW! Sharece offered to wait in line as I scoped out the palace grounds and took photos of the garden areas.
When I returned Sharece was towards the front of the line and we got in without a problem. The palace however was packed like crazy. Large tour groups were hovering in the hallways of the rooms as everyone funneled into the doorways. We even lost each other once for about ten minutes through the crowd. It took about an hour and fifteen minutes to get through the main palace with a ton of photos. We check out the gift shop which was super expensive- I mean does a scarf really cost 150 Euros- and without rest we head straight through the gardens to the other part of the palace located on the other side. It was a hectic walk but we managed. We took a break for about five minutes before continuing on. It took us awhile to find the right part we wanted to go to but we finally found Marie Antoinette’s estate. We spent the rest of the time there looking at the awesome cottages.
With our legs spent to the max we decide to leave. Only problem was we were clear on the other side of the grounds still. We looked at boarding the trolley train back to the front but the line was long and they wanted us to pay 3.70 Euro per person. Ughhhh no! So we walked seemingly two miles back through the garden area and around the main palace back to the train station. Now our legs are done. It even started raining for a second but quickly vanished. We grab a bite to eat before boarding the train back to Paris.
Upon arriving we decided to take the metro over to the Avenue des Champs-Elysees to shop the stores again. Don’t ask me why or how we were able to do that. Finally we make it back to our hotel for the night.
I loved Paris this second time around but one thing I won’t miss is the super thin walls of this hotel. After tonight we will officially be half way through our trip. Next stop… Strasbourg.
05/19/12- My feet still hurt from yesterdays walking adventure in the palace. Never the less we woke up, made our scheduled taxi time and arrived at the train station with over an hour to spare. We ordered some food in French by the way and boarded our train. We were one of the first ones on so about an hour into the journey Sharece looks around and says “Wow, there’s a lot more luggage around us now”… I responded, “Well you see, when two pieces of luggage REALLY love each other…”
We arrive on time and literally walk across the street from the station to get to our hotel (Le Bristol). We check in and go straight to our room only to find that it has not been cleaned yet. The phone rang as we entered and the reception asked us if we could wait a few minutes so it can be properly set up for us. Not a problem. We parked ourselves in the lobby and was offered free food and coffee while we waited. We finally check into the room and are surprised to see how spacious it is. Quite a change from Paris. We are very happy.
The weather was perfect for us in the 70s. I threw on some shorts and we walked the town center. Immediately we were in awe over the beauty of the place. It has a nice French charm in a German town setting. We even came across their version of Notre Dame Cathedral and it was huge. I mean twist your neck back because it might be broken huge. I am still trying to figure out how they made scaffolding that long to complete this work back in the 1100-1400s. That’s crazy.
We then decided to just walk around the town getting ourselves lost in wherever the roads took us. It wasn’t long before we hit a parade coming through with bagpipers and such. Not sure what the occasion was but it was fun to watch. Feeling hungry we stopped at this little place and shared a bratwurst with sauerkraut. I never had sauerkraut before and was always put off by the smell but Sharece wanted it so I thought I would finally try it. And you know what… it was actually quite good. I think my German is showing a little bit more now. We topped it off with an ice cream and continued on our way. Before making it back to our hotel we stopped at this outside café and ordered some sweet wine. The lady there spoke only French and it was tough trying to find the right words to say for our order. She said white wine, we said yes and off she went into the back to get two glasses. We were worried at first whether she would get the right one but sure enough it tasted good. Not as sweet as a late harvest but good enough to hit the taste buds. Sharece got a little tipsy and we had fun walking the streets back to our hotel afterwards. Ahhhh to be drunk on wine in France.
Back at the hotel we are now trying to figure out what to do tomorrow. We originally planned another day at the city center but we pretty much hit everything on day 1. So we are thinking of a train trip to Colmar tomorrow. Whatever we decide it should be fun.
05/20/12- Found out it was going to be raining tomorrow, which was the day I planned on having the rental car to go to the wine places. I tried to go to the rental car place to change it to Tuesday however they were closed until 5pm. Apparently in France all of the regular shops and businesses close on Sundays. We decided to just use today to go to Colmar since it was a nice 79 degrees outside and have tomorrow as a rest day if needed due to the thunderstorms.
We get to the train station and try to use the machine. The tickets came up to 23 Euros per person round trip. We were not happy with that but decided to buy it anyway. When I put my card in the machine it didn’t accept it. I tried a different machine with the same result. The train was leaving in four minutes and now we will most definitely miss it. So we strolled on over to the information booth and was told we need to go to the attendant at the ticket office on the North end of the station. As we were on the South end we started walking. We find out that the next train didn’t leave for another hour but luckily the tickets became cheaper (about $15 less). So I guess it all worked out in the end. We grabbed some food during the wait and board the train as it arrives. It takes about thirty minutes and we were there.
The weather is getting hot now as we are walking toward the city center. Thankfully we were wearing shorts and had a small map of Colmar with us. We get to the center and there is hardly anyone there. Must be because of the shops not being open. It almost felt like we had the place to ourselves except for a handful of people scattered around. We were literally getting lost just looking at the colorful houses. For a moment I thought we were on the Universal City back lot and this was some sort of movie set.
We find a pastry place and get some awesome tasting tarts. We also found a nice wine shop where we bought a bottle of a late harvest sweet dessert wine for about 26 Euros. I know it was expensive but we love the sweet dessert wine. After about a few hours we decide to make the trip back to our hotel in Strasbourg. We walked back to the train station and as soon as we arrived so did our train. Lucky us. We also had our hotel chill our wine for us so we could have it later tonight.
We are now getting ready to go out to this restaurant Sharece found in Strasbourg and enjoy a nice romantic dinner. It’s going to feel nice to get all dressed up for a change. Hopefully they’ll allow us to bring our bottle of wine and drink it there.
Continuation: They did not allow us to drink our wine at the restaurant. So after we ate we came back to the hotel to get some wine glasses so we could take them out to the city center to drink. Our hotel receptionist had a hard time finding a cork to open the bottle so he went to the hotel next door to borrow one for us. We thought that was very nice of him. We found a pastry shop open and sat there first but was quickly told that we could not drink our wine there either. Not sure what that was all about since we paid for our pastries already. We ended up sitting in the square drinking a few glasses as the night fell upon us.
05/21/12- I checked the weather report and the weather changed. Looks like it will be a nice day after all. So we decided to keep our rental car reservation and hit the wine towns. And wow what an amazing adventure it was. We start off at the car rental counter. I forgot my drivers license at the hotel so I had to make my way back to retrieve it before signing the contract. Then I am shown the receipt for 67 Euros which was fine, but I saw another number underneath it saying over 200 Euros. Freaked out I asked about this and was told if we wanted a full tank of gas added to the price. Really, a full tank of gas cost over 130 Euros? I elected to pay my own gas for what I used.
We make our way into the garage to get our car and find it packed into the space pretty tightly. After messing with the navigation to make sure it worked we were able to somehow maneuver around the pillars and other cars to get out. I revved up the engine a few times as I was adjusting myself to a stick shift again too. It was fun times!
Now it all begins. Driving in a foreign country has truly been the highlight of my trip. I am so glad I paid the additional amount for the GPS because we definitely used it…. A LOT! After a few turns and round-a-bouts later I got the handle of it, and the highway was no big deal at all. But once we got onto the rural roads I was going way below the speed limit just caught up in the vast amount of vineyards and hills. It’s very hard to explain just how much of a sight it all was.
Fourty minutes later we arrive at our first destination (Castle of Haut Koenigsbourg). It’s an old castle built in the 1100s and restored in the 19th century. We’ve seen castles and palaces before but this one was quite interesting as none of the stuff in it was modern by any means. We got back to our car and set the GPS for the wine town of Riquewihr. Along the way we saw many more vineyards and small towns that just took our breath away. I stopped several times just to take photos. Finally we arrived in the city center. We park our car- paid the 2 Euros for three hours- and walked right into the most perfect setting in the world. I was actually waiting for the Disney World theme song to come on as we walked through the main gate. Literally “It’s A Small World” was dancing in my head.
We hit the souvenir shop first thing and I found myself a cool looking checkered hat. Then we continue down and find a nice little wine bar for a tasting. She spoke only French but I was able to speak what I wanted with no problem. Best of all the tasting was free. We then continued around the town for a bit and ate an awesome baked apple crepe. OMG!!!! Sharece got the banana and chocolate crepe which was good but I am sure she was jealous of mine the whole time. After paying we found another wine bar and had a few more glasses (this one had a charge). Before leaving the town we ended up going back to the first wine bar and buying a bottle to take with us. Now onto wine town #2.
It takes about thirty minutes but we arrive, pay for parking and enter the first wine bar we see for a free tasting. Just as we get done the rain starts to fall. We thought about walking around a bit more but realized the rain was not going to allow it. Besides we did what we came out to do today anyway. So we started our drive back to Strasbourg. Ten minutes into the drive the rain starts to pour. At one point all of the cars slowed to a halt as one of the bridges was half way flooded. We made it back safely, filled up the tank (which cost us 24 Euros for a fourth of a tank) and returned the car without a problem. Upon entering our hotel we found the elevator was stuck so we had to walk up the five floors. We then ventured out in the rain to a place nearby to get some pizza before calling it a night. And when I say pizza I mean we both had a full pizza to ourselves. Yeah, we were that hungry!
I will definitely remember this day forever. Napa Valley, eat your heart out!
05/22/12- It rained and thundered last night but cleared up by this morning. So we went out to explore the other parts of Strasbourg we missed on the first day, including Petite France. We ate a kabob at the same restaurant as last night and walked around for a bit. Not a whole lot happened today as it was more relaxing and reflecting on our time here. We did see two birds fighting in a tree over the same branch. We also bought some great pastries and took them back to our hotel. We figured we would just open our bottle of wine, eat and watch a movie off Netflix. That was until we found out that Netflix was blocked in Europe. Seems odd but oh well. We were able to pull up the series finale of Desperate Housewives for free so we spent the next hour and half doing that.
Feeling hungry we went back out to get some more pastries and another pizza. This was the third time going back to this restaurant and they remembered us. While we waited for the pizza to cook they gave us free beer and opened our wine bottle for us (giving us a nice looking wine stopper in the process). We thoroughly enjoyed our last day in Strasbourg. Tomorrow we have a very early train to catch at 6:11am so we will need plenty of sleep for that.
05/23/12- Interesting enough the internet at the hotel went down last night. I had to go downstairs to the first floor to get on. Woke up this morning and voila it is back on. Good news is we boarded the train with plenty of time to spare. Sharece took a 6 hour energy drink and had a cappuccino for breakfast so she was not feeling the train ride one bit. After almost 4 hours we reach our transit station in Lyon only to find that our next train was delayed for about twenty-five minutes. Not too bad I guess. Finally after another hour and a half we made it to Avignon.
We go straight toward the bus to take us to the city center and lucky us it hadn’t left yet. Only a ten minute ride and we are just outside of our hotel Ibis near the Central Train Station (that’s important because we will be leaving to Arles tomorrow for a day trip). First thing we notice about Avignon is the wall surrounding the city. Not quite as big as when we went to Xi’an China but impressive enough. We get to our hotel, lie on the bed and almost don’t get back up again. We were that tired from waking up early. But this is really our only day to explore this city so we need to make the most of it.
Heading out past the city walls we look for a place that serves soup for Sharece’s stomach. All we found was cold vegetable soup and fish soup. Uggghh no! So we just grab a couple of wrap sandwiches and head towards the Pope Palace. For those of you who need a history lesson this place housed several popes from the 14th century before they moved their domain back to Rome. I mean we saw the Vatican on this trip might as well see this too. I will tell you that Avignon is not a place I felt comfortable in at all. There definitely seems to be some real shady looking people everywhere you go. Even though I felt that the possibility was almost non-existent I couldn’t help but be a little timid of someone just snatching my camera off my neck. I had my guard on full alert. There was even one moment where I crossed the street as a car was coming by. I had the right-a-way to walk but the teenager in the car shouted something at me out her window like I was blocking her on purpose. I just waved and told her to keep going.
We did enjoy the palace however and walked around the city walls for a bit before heading back to the hotel. First we stopped at the train station to get our tickets for tomorrow. Then once we got to the hotel we asked them if they served some soup and awesomely they do. Sharece was very happy to hear that. Now to enjoy the rest of the night relaxing for tomorrow’s trip. The good news is we have a nice view of the palace from our window so guess where I’ll be getting the night shots from?
Continued: As I was trying to go to sleep I heard a man shouting down the hall in a different language. It carried on loudly for ten minutes. I tried to call the front desk but no answer. It stopped for a moment then started back up again for another five minutes so I called again and this time the front desk said they’d check up on it. Not sure what the issue was but uggghhh WOW!
05/24/12- Took the train to Arles today. We started with a decent breakfast at a roadside corner café. It was quite entertaining to hear the street noise being so loud with babies crying and passing motorbikes so close to us. After we ate we started our walk to see the town.
The tiny colosseum like arena was the first on our route. We didn’t go in as it was made up to be a modern sports arena inside but the outside looked pretty cool. Next we saw some ruins of an old theater. There was a charge to get in but you could see the whole thing from outside the fenced area so we saw no need to walk the grounds. Then we found the Hotel De Ville with a catacomb chamber underneath. It was dark and cold like a cave but was a nice relief from the hot 85 degree sun outside. I was actually thinking even if I didn’t care to see what was down there it would be a hard choice between paying for ice cream or chilling off in the catacomb if I had only one choice to make. Lastly, we visited this church which was quite small compared to others we’ve seen but worth the trip inside as the entry fee was minimal. We heard that there was a Roman Forum around and tried to look for it but found out later that it no longer existed and was just a street of shops now. Don’t know why they still have it on the tourist map.
Looking at the time we realized we were done with Arles and now had about twenty-five minutes to get back to the station and board the train- otherwise we would have to wait another two hours for the next one. So we walked briskly back and made it in plenty of time. Only thing is the train was delayed for another twenty minutes so we still had to wait for a bit.
Back at the hotel we ate at their restaurant again. The dinner was okay for me but it was fun to just take a load off for a few hours and thoroughly enjoy our meal. We topped it off with a crème brulee dessert which tasted so good. Only three more full days left on this trip. Man Lisbon seems like ages ago now.
05/25/12- Train departed on time this morning to go to Nice. About an hour into the three hour journey the train suddenly slowed and stopped. There were several announcements in French but all I could make out was delayed two hours. I asked someone around me and was told that apparently someone died either on the tracks or in one of the other trains in front of us and the police are investigating the issue so that’s the reason for the delay. While waiting at one of the stations I went across the street to a food vendor to see what they have. Of course there was a line and by the time I got to the front the guy was out of regular bread. He said he could only make hamburgers now. I asked for one and he said it would be at least twenty minutes. I just left. Finally our train departs after the two hour delay and we are on our way.
The view of the French Riviera was quite pleasing to say the least. We passed by Cannes where the film festival is currently being held (maybe we’ll go take a look at it tomorrow) and got to Nice around 4:25pm. After exiting the train station we went across the street to catch the bus to our hotel (Adagio Access Nice Acropolis). Nine stops later we were finally able to check in.
With our stomachs rumbling we found a place called Mister Pizza a block down. We ordered a medium and they cooked it right there in front of us. It was cheap and filling at the same time. We then continued down through Vieux Nice and to the beach area. The sun was not out as the clouds covered it pretty good but the weather was still around 70 degrees and felt very comfortable. We did have our jackets though just in case it started to rain as the forecast said.
A walk down the Promenade Des Anglais was truly an awesome sight. The sun was coming down, the waves were hitting just right and the view was just amazing. It felt like Hawaii and Los Angeles all mixed together. After a romantic walk we tried to check out the shopping street but the stores were already closing for the night. So we ventured back toward our hotel. We wanted to hit the grocery store to pick up a few items since we have a small kitchenette in our room, however they were all closed. We did find a small 7-11 type store open and grabbed a few things to hold us over. We finished the night on our balcony from our room drinking wine and in awe over how beautiful Nice really is.
The only thing I didn’t like about today is the smoking on the balcony of our hotel. Somehow it seeps into the room and you can smell it. I can’t believe how dependent France is on smoking. Every time you see someone leave a building they immediately light up a cigarette. Bad thing is everyone seems to be smoking here and nobody cares if it’s in your face or not. It was hard getting use to eating outdoors and enjoying the weather and ambience only to have the person next to you light up.
05/26/12- What a day, what a day! We boarded the bus to go to the village of Eze around 11am and arrived thirty minutes later. The bus took the scenic route around the Riviera and it was beautiful. I tried to take some photos from the bus but it was going too fast. Also, the weather report stated rain so I put on a hooded pullover just in case. Turned out to be hot and no rain the whole time there. At least there was wind to cool us off. Even though there wasn’t much to the town it was impressive to see the area from above as the entire town is perched on a hilltop giving you a gorgeous view of the water below. We even had to pay 6 Euros each to go to the top of the town, but it was well worth it as the vantage point was phenomenal.
Getting hungry (as we haven’t had the chance to eat yet) we sat down at one of the restaurants in the village and ordered a pizza. We topped it off with an 8 Euro ($11 US) banana split to cool us off a bit. After about a few hours in the town and eating we were done. We thought about taking the bus to Monaco which was only about twenty minutes away but wanted to shop for souvenirs instead. And thirty minutes later we are back in Nice. We get off around the waterfront to see the yachts and cruise ship docks and continue around to the Promenade Des Angles to check out the beach during the sun time hours. The people were out in droves and the place was covered with sun tanners and gawkers who are trying to catch a glimpse of the topless girls. There were a few I saw myself but after awhile you get immune to it. We even saw a bride and groom in their wedding outfits getting some photos taken. I got a great candid shot myself of the bride smiling while the groom was talking to her. The weather was so nice that we sat down by the beach ourselves for about half an hour. We saw another topless girl sunbathing and suddenly a group of people were in front of her getting a photo. Seemed strange! The sun would come out every so often and start to bake us but then the wind would cool us again. So where’s all this rain the forecast was talking about?
We finally made our way over to the shops and found some souvenirs. I also bought me a pair of sunglasses due to my current ones being scratched up. Lastly, we see on the map a Russian church that looked amazing so we started our walk figuring it was close by. It actually took us thirty minutes to finally get there and when we did the place was closed. Trees covered most of the building as well so I couldn’t even get a good shot of it outside the gates. Oh well. We took the bus straight back to our hotel and got ready for dinner. Sharece was happy she was able to dress up again and wear her hills this time. We found this seafood restaurant and ordered what we thought was king crab but turned out to be the small crab that is hard to crack and eat. So we kindly asked the waiter if we could take it back and he replaced it with the king crab legs. We also ordered shrimp and small prawns (which were so small you could barely even get any meat out of them). For 32 Euros we weren’t very satisfied with the meal, but hey at least we got to go out.
After leaving the restaurant we began to look for a crepe place as we were still hungry but it started to rain. Now it comes! We decided to head back to our hotel as the rain fell harder and were laughing as we were sprinting across the streets to find cover. It was an awesome time and one I will never forget. Only one more day now on this trip and we should be spending it in Cannes.
Continuation: I have worn my white button up shirt three times on this trip and every time it rained. Weird!
05/27/12- Slept in and it felt great. Went out to get some food before we left for Cannes and found the pizza place next door not open yet. I went into the supermarket to find some sort of croissant and literally found nothing I wanted, so I walked to the Vieux Nice area and picked up a kebab and a banana crepe which was just perfect. On my way back to the hotel I felt like a local. If I didn’t have any ties to me I could easily see myself living here.
We ate our meal then took the bus to the train station. We were going to board the 1:36pm train to Cannes but found one that left thirty minutes sooner, so we jumped on it. Eleven stops later nobody asked us for our tickets and we were on our way. The tourist booth was closed due to it being Sunday so we had to decipher where we were on the large map outside the station. We headed off in one direction for a few blocks before going into one of the hotels nearby to ask them for a map of the city. We found out we were walking in the wrong direction. Ten minutes later we were at the center. We walked along the festival area as this was the last day of the Cannes Film Festival. There were tons of people around but it seemed like everything had died down. We took some photos of the red carpet area and got a t-shirt to prove we were there but that was all that was. We soon found our way to the beach. The sun was out and the beach actually had sand (as opposed to Nice which was full of rocks) so we took off our sandals and found a place to park ourselves for a bit. We were right in front of the bungalows where I am sure many celebrities over the past few days have been and had a clear view of the helicopter pad over the water. Still nothing brewing as far as a sighting. After about half an hour or so we hit the shopping streets.
As the clouds were hiding the sun the weather turned cold, so we headed back to the train station around 4pm only to find that our next train left at 5:36pm. With over an hour to spare we went back to the festival area to grab some food. As we approached the rain started to pour. We ducked into a McDonalds and it was completely packed from the door to the counter. We order some food and ran through the rain back to the train station to eat. Since I had some Euros left I waited in line (instead of using the automated machine) to get our return tickets. It was there I was told that a strike was going on for the TER trains and many were not in service. Ours arrived on time however and took us right back to Nice with no problem. Sharece did fall again though at the train station as she was going up the stairs. Hurt her toe and finger pretty good. Luckily she is fine.
In Nice we went across the street to the bus stop but we must have just missed the last one because we waited almost twenty minutes in the cold wind for the next one to arrive. Finally we make it back to the hotel. No more trains, no more buses, only two more flights left before we make it home. Our shuttle is picking us up at 4:45am tomorrow morning for the airport so this is it for our trip.
05/28/12- The alarm goes off at 3:30am and somehow the adrenalin in me gets me out of bed. We check out of the hotel and wait outside for the shuttle to pick us up. Suddenly a few guys from Oxford show up piss drunk and are fumbling in their pockets looking for the code to get into the front door. I tell them the code off the top of my head and I immediately become their best friend. They are sharing stories on how they hitched a ride from Monaco after the Grand Prix race and thought they were going to get killed. Our shuttle finally arrives about five minutes late and we are on our way.
At the airport we see the line to check in was a mile long. As we are waiting I realized that I forgot to check in online to secure the seats we wanted on the plane. I didn’t sweat it as I thought I could just do the seat switching again like we did on the flight over here. Luckily though they had the seats we wanted. As we were walking around the terminal we stopped to get some food. Looking around I noticed a ton of people that look like they were leaving due to the Cannes Film Festival ending. I didn’t recognize anyone in particular but you could definitely see some industry types and wannabe starlets around. We find our gate and get shuttled to the plane, but I wasn’t prepared for how small it was. It looked just a little bigger than a private airplane. Inside there was hardly any room to walk down the aisle, however our seats were pretty comfortable. The surprising part is how smooth it took off and landed. Not too bad to start the journey home.
At our layover spot in Madrid we knew we had over three hours, so we searched around at the shops to spend our few remaining Euros left. I purchase some snacks for the next flight and the lady at the counter asked to see my boarding pass. Taken back I showed her the ticket and she scanned it before ringing me up. Now I’m wondering what that was all about. I thought about saying “Sorry, I don’t have a boarding pass. I had to beat up three security guards and hurry my ass over to this store just so I could buy these two bags of pistachios. Can you bag that please?”
Now to talk about the second flight. This plane should be retired immediately. The take off from Madrid was very bumpy as the whole plane sounded like it was about to fall apart at any moment. Halfway through the flight the heavy turbulence starts and last for at least thirty minutes. And on and off another three times after that. Again at landing the plane was jumping all over. Now I have been to Europe several times so I know where the bumpy parts are, but this was over the top. Did I say that I hate flying sometimes?
Second flight part 2: Went through customs without a problem at LAX and arrived at baggage claim. The first bag came through but our second was missing. I went to the person with a clip board to report the bag missing and suddenly I see a bag similar to mine on the belt. I pick it up and see the name of the person who it belonged too and brought it to the workers attention of a possible bag switch. She tried to page the person whose name was on the bag but while she was doing that I called the phone # listed on it and spoke with the bag owner’s dad. Apparently the person who took our bag was an employee of the airline we flew and she was on her way to connect to Vegas. Luckily they found her in time so we could switch bags back but it took an extra 2 ½ hours of waiting at the airport. The employee was extremely apologetic about the mix up, but probably more so because she was worried about her job. In the end we finally made it home around 8pm (25 ½ hours after leaving for the airport in Nice). We are dead tired and ready for bed.
END OF BLOG
