Own That Ponytail, Work That Up-do!

Monte Carlo, Monaco 6-22-11

"Own that ponytail, work that up-do!" 

"Grace Kelly, Grace Kelly...."

We woke up this morning and left for Monaco, the little tiny country inside of France. The early 20^th century actress Grace Kelly was once the princess of Monaco. If you don’t get the title of this blog, look up on youtube the “Can I have your number?” Mad TV skit. Hilarious. Anyways, the drive from Lucca to Monaco took about four hours, give or take a bit of time. 

Once we got to Monaco, we could not find anywhere to park. It was extremely frustrating, so after driving around for about an hour, we decided to move on. We got a lovely driving tour of Monaco, but didn’t get out and walk around or anything. The same happened in Marseille, France. We couldn’t find a single parking garage or parking spot, so we got frustrated and left. We have decided that we don’t like France, well, at least the south of France. The only thing here is the beach. We could have stopped and stayed at the beach for a bit, but we decided to drive on as far as we could before stopping for the night. So, in other words, today we were in the car for a loooooong time. Now we will have extra time in Spain, and wont have to rush our time in Barcelona, Valencia, and Madrid, which will be great. I can’t wait for Spain! Somewhere that I can finally speak the language! 

The City of the Leaning Tower

Pisa 6-21-11

So, that whole crud thing, yeah, it got worse overnight. I woke up in the middle of the night with killer pain in my throat. So bad, in fact, that it invaded my dreams before waking me up. I usually only get sick once or twice a year at most, and I love that my body chose the time that I’m in Europe to use one of its sick turns. It is NOT fun being sick thousands of miles away from home (and my momma). You know, no matter how old you get, you mom is always the first thing you want when you get sick.  

After a trip to a pharmacy near our hotel in Florence, I loaded up on some medicine that I’m hoping will do the trick. We will see. We left Florence around 11am and headed to Pisa so see that famous leaning tower. At first we were going to attempt to take backroads, but that didn’t end up working out well. What we were able to see of the Italian countryside was very lovely! It seemed that every house had their own garden and vineyard. What a way to live, eh? I wonder if the Italians even realize how beautiful their surroundings are, or is it just..normal...to them? 

Pisa was relatively close to Florence, so we got there pretty quickly. It was a quick tour stop for us, because there is only one thing to see in Pisa really, and I hope you know already know what it is. If not, then here is a hint. It leans, and is a tower. The tower itself was pretty nifty, and we spent a few minutes taking the traditional cheesy leaning tower photos; you know the ones....where you look like you are either holding the tower up or pushing it over. It was quite hilarious to see everyone holding their arms in awkward positions all over the square. So, once we were done with that, we decided we didn’t feel like paying to go inside the tower (EVERYTHING costs money over here...good grief I don’t think I will ever complain again about how we do things in the states. At least we don’t have to pay to use the toilet!). We walked back to our car, making a short stop for some gelato (which felt great on my sore throat) and then headed for our hotel in the city of Lucca. 

Once we got to our hotel in Lucca, we realized that we had to wait a few hours for check in, so we got our bathing suits and towels and hit the beach!  The water was freezing cold, so I didn’t spend much time in it, but it was wonderful to lay out and nap and do nothing for a few hours. The beach in Italy was gorgeous. In the background were mountains. So, I was able to look at snow capped mountains while laying out under the hot sun at the beach. Such a neat thing! We don’t get that very many places if any in the U.S. We stayed at the beach for probably two hours or so, and then headed back to our hotel to check in. After checking in and lugging our suitcases up a flight of stairs, we set out to get some dinner.  This was no easy task...apparently everything in this little town closes around 8pm, so everything was closed! We finally found a little Turkish kebab restaurant and decided to take a break from Italian food and try this place. It was actually really good! The kebab was make from some sort of shaved meat, I got mine in  pita bread, as a sandwich, and they had several toppings and sauces you could put on it as well. The meat was very fresh; they shaved it right off of a huge hunk of meat that was slow cooking in a weird vertical grill thing. It was a lot of food; I couldn’t finish it all. Back at the hotel we chilled and watched a few shows that Iva had downloaded on her laptop, including Big Bang Theory and Wizards on Deck with Hannah Montana. Don’t judge us for liking Disney shows. Now, time for sleep. I’m hoping that this sore throat will go away tomorrow, because it is really beginning to get ANNOYING! 

Tomorrow, arrivaderchi Italia, bonjour Monaco and France! 

Florence, Italy

Firenze, Italy 6-20-11

Our hotel here in Florence is FANTASTIC!  It is an apartment style room, with a living room and even a small kitchenette, a bedroom with a desk and king size (not so comfortable) bed, and a great bathroom. For only 60 Euro for one night (including 10 Euro for parking in their private parking lot), I’d say not too shabby, especially since its normally 260 Euro per night! 

The drive up to Florence from Rome was very lovely. I saw my first Tuscan sunflower field! Now, if you know me well enough, you will know that my favorite movie is Under the Tuscan Sun with Diane Lane. There are sunflower fields in that movie, and since the first time I saw it, I’ve wanted to go to a sunflower field in Tuscany and take pictures. We haven’t gotten to the picture taking part yet, but that will come tomorrow I do believe. 

Also along the way to Florence, we made a short stop in a little village called Orvieto. The hotel manager at Hotel Villa Spada in Rome suggested we stop there and eat. We didn’t get to eat, and we weren’t able to stay long, but it is the neatest little ancient city built up on a hill. From the bottom of the hill it looks like it may have been an old fortress. So cute, and it was surrounded by little valleys covered with vineyards and olive groves. I was able to get some great pictures from the car, and we pulled over a couple of times to get pictures as well. 

After leaving Orvieto we finished our drive over to the lovely city of Firenze (Florence). Firenze is a great city, with a thriving downtown that mixes the old architecture and the modern amenities quite nicely. The Cathedral in the middle of the city is absolutely breathtaking, but even more amazing is the main bridge in town. There are HOUSES/stores ON THE BRIDGE! It is incredible. Il Ponte Vacchio is what its called (I think...) and it is one heck of a bridge! Every storefront displayed gorgeous jewelry and glittery things. Very ADD-tastic. 

As we were making our way back to the bus stop to catch the bus back to the hotel, we were stopped by a parade of men in renaissance uniforms. Coming from somewhere behind them was the sound of drums. It slightly reminded me of marching band for a second. Since our way was blocked, we stood and watched this spectacle as it unfolded. After the drums and piccolos passed by we saw a group of “important looking” men in suits, and directly after them were teams preceded by their country’s flag. At this point we were trying to figure out what the heck was going on. Apparently the Men’s Water Polo World Super Finals is beginning in Florence tomorrow. So, we enjoyed the sights as these very nice looking men from all over the world were paraded by. As team USA went passed I cheered, of course. The opening ceremony was apparently taking place in the Piazza where we were, so we decided to stay and watch for a quick second. The band that was set up on one of the monuments played each teams national anthem, and when the American national anthem began, it was moving. The men on team USA sang along to every word, very loudly, as did all the rest of us Americans in the crowd, followed afterward by a loud cheer. I felt for a moment that I was not alone, and my homesickness subsided for a while. It literally sent chills up and down my whole body. It was, to say the least, incredible. 

Once the American national anthem was over, we went ahead and left to go to the bus stop. Got some gelato on the way, and once we got back to the hotel, I attempted to contact Alex Lozano to see about hanging out, and that was a communication fail, big time. All for the best, though, because I am not quite feeling well. Hopefully this crud will be gone by tomorrow. 

Side Note: Congratulations to my cousin Kyle Jones and his wife Elizabeth Brewington Jones on the birth of their first child, a boy named Levi Matthew. So excited for them! I can’t believe there is a new generation in our family now! Can’t wait to meet him in the fall! 

Rome If You Want To.....

Rome, Italy 6-18-11 and 6-19-11

Rome Day 1

I am finally here in Rome. I have dreamt about coming here since I was a little girl, and it is so great to finally be here. Too bad I am SICK. Dang allergies. I have no problems at home with allergies, but my body has decided that it doesn’t agree with the pollen combination here in Europe. Seriously? SO not cool. Oh well. 

Today was such a full day! We took a train and the metro into the city, and when leaving the metro station, the first thing we see...the colosseum! In all of its ancient glory. It is quite impressive up close. We had to pay to get inside the Colosseum, but I was lucky to have Iva with me, because she got us the European Union discount for both tickets.  So, for the day, I was a member of the European Union. The Colosseum was quite impressive! All I could think about when I was on the inside was the movie “Jumper”. If you have seen that movie, you know why I was thinking about it. There was an awesome fight scene filmed in the Colosseum for that movie. Anyways, they did something really cool while we were there. They were preparing for some sort of concert  that was going to be taking place that evening inside the colosseum, and in order to check the acoustics, they had everyone scream as loud and they could all at once. It was hilarious! I got a video of it, too. Now if only I could figure out how to post videos on here.  Moving on...

Next we made our way through the ruins of the Roman Forum, which was really neat. The Old City, which is nothing but old rocks scattered about, and the occasional structure, was much smaller than the current size of the city. I expected Ancient Rome to be much larger than what it was. After the Roman Forum we went to a cathedral (another one...there are so many in Europe), and after that we went to the Pantheon. The Pantheon is really cool! I had studied it in humanities and history classes, but it was way cooler in person, obviously. The whole in the roof lets in a stream of light that moves around the circular room as the sun changes positions throughout the day. Whats neat is that the walls on the inside are intricately decorated, some of them memorials to past Caesars or other important historical figures, and as the spotlight moves, it illuminates different murals and memorials throughout the day. Quite nifty to see. 

After the Pantheon we went to see the Trevi Fountain, which is extremely impressive in person. It is much larger than I though it to be, and it is attached to the side of a building (don’t ask what building, cause I have no idea! I stink that the whole history thing...). It was also very crowded with tourists, which was frustrating. I got to make my wish and throw my penny in the fountain, though, which was fun. After we pushed our way out the  piazza where the Trevi Fountain is located, we found a great little ristorante and got some yummy Italian food. Iva got a pizza and I got some more bolognese sauce with a fettucini-type noodle. Delicious! 

As we made our way back to the metro station, we stopped by the Spanish Stairs, and to our pleasant surprise, there was a theater group on them, practicing for some sort of Opera performance. It was the coolest thing to watch them. The lead singers had beautiful voices, and one performance gave me chills it was so good. I wish we could have been there for the actual performance. It looked like a neat play. It was a great end to a wonderful first day in the lovely city of Rome. Tomorrow, the Vatican! 

Rome Day 2

So, Rome day two consisted mainly of touring Vatican City. Did you know that Vatican City is actually its own country? I didn’t! I guess I should pay more attention to the things of the Catholic side of my faith, because my agnostic friend knew a bit more than I did about the different Catholic relics and such. Fail on my part. 

We began our Vatican tour standing in a VERY long line to get into St. Peter’s Basilica.  It was free to see the inside of the cathedral, and it was very beautiful. Everything was ornate and colorful, and there was gold everywhere. If they were to sell that cathedral, I would think the catholic church could end world hunger. But, I wont go into that. We ended up paying to be able to go up to the Cupola of the cathedral, and the views of Rome from the top were breathtaking. As was the climb to the top...hundreds upon hundreds of never-ending stairs. My glutes were screaming in protest by the end. My fear of heights was also tested quite a bit, but I survived! We got some great pictures of the entire city of Rome from the top, though, so it was well worth the pain.  

We took a lunch break after spending a good couple of hours in the Vatican. Our lunch was HUGE! The pizza was a very large pizza, and our meal came with bruschette, fries, and a drink. The bruschette was fantastic, as was everything else. I was stuffed full after eating as much as I could have of that meal. Since we are on a sort of two-meals-a-day diet (breakfast + one other meal...for our budgets’ sake), I am finding that I cannot fit as much as I used to in my stomach. Oh well, I’m sure that will be a good thing in the long run.  

After our lunch break, we went to this castle which is where it is said that a miracle happened. According to the story, the Pope at the time of the plague had a vision on the spot where the castle now stands of the arch angel Michael putting his sword back in its sheath, and the plague ended right after he had that vision. So, as anyone with as much power as a pope would do, he built a castle to commemorate that event. Right across from this castle is a bridge that had tons of great statues of saints and angels and such along it. It’s a beautiful bridge. Funny thing; at the end of this bridge was a couple who was just married. They were there with photographers, doing their wedding photos, I assume. It was neat to see! I’m sure those photos turned out great, especially with the background of Rome. 

On the way back to the metro station, we saw a British magician putting on a show in the middle of a piazza. He was all chained up, like Houdini, and we didn’t stick around long enough to see if he got out of them or not. As we came up to the next piazza, there was a pair of matching cathedrals, which was interesting. Symmetrically, this piazza was quite even. Made for great pictures. 

Once we got back to our hotel, I went to sleep. I haven’t been feeling too great since yesterday. I have had allergies since I got to Europe, and I hope they aren’t turning into a cold or sinus infection. Oh goodness, that would totally ruin my trip! Anywho, tomorrow we are leaving Roma, and headed for Florence! 

Wherefore Art Thou, Romeo?

Verona, Italy 6-17-11

There isn’t too much to write about today, because most of the day was spent driving to Rome. I can probably make it long, though LOL! I could spend more time on these blogs describing what all I have seen, but that gets boring. More interesting are the contrasts and similarities between Europe and the US, and the things that make me think. So, forgive me if I go off topic or don’t go into much detail about sights and such over the next few days.

We made a short stop in Verona to see la caza di Gulietta and a 650 year old bridge, along with a couple of other sights. Really the main reason we stopped there was because I wanted to see the house of Juliet. If you have ever seen the movie “Letters to Juliet” then you know what I am talking about. Although, I was slightly disappointed to find out that no one actually writes letter to Juliet, and that it is incredibly crowded with tourists. It was still really neat to see. One weird thing, though, was that everyone was taking pictures with the statue of Juliet, and most of them were touching her breast. I don’t know if that’s some sort or tradition or what, but it was awkward as anything. 

The bridge that we saw was really cool as well. It was completed around 1346 AD I think, so it is a 650 year old bridge. And it is part of an ancient fortress that I’m guessing is where the soldiers used to guard the city in the middle ages. the whole thing is pretty much still standing, so they knew what they were doing when the built structures back  in the middle ages. I doubt any modern buildings would last almost a millennium.  

Those were the two main sights that I liked best in Verona. We only spent about 2.5 hours roaming around Verona. It was a nice city, and if I had to move to Italy, that would be the top contender for where I would want to live. Its big, but not too big, and it isn’t overrun with tourists. 

We spent the rest of the day driving to Rome. Our one big meal for the day was, once again, Burger King which is where we seem to always be stopping when we are driving long distances. I don’t eat at Burger King very often at home, but I am more than making up for it here in Europe. It always seems to be the first food place we see when we are starving. 

We have now arrived in Roma, Italia! Our hotel is great for the low price we are paying per night. We have air conditioning, two beds, free parking, free wifi, and breakfast every morning! For Europe where you must pay for EVERYTHING (including to use the toilets), this is a steal at only 50 Euro per night. I can’t even begin to express how blessed we have been with the hotels that Iva booked. 

First the B&B, which was wonderful (its called La Caza di Sandra in Mirano, Italy), and now this hotel, which even has a restaurant in it with great prices and fabulous food. I would know, because we just ate dinner there. For 8 Euro I got a HUGE plate full of pasta all’ amatriciana, and I couldn’t even finish it! Considering the dinner we had last night was the same price, but it was a tiny portion, that is ¡excelente! The hotel we are staying at now is called la Hotel Villa Spada right outside of Rome. So, if you ever decide to do a tour of Italy and want to stay at local places for great prices, look at this blog for recommendations. 

Now, off to rest up because the next two days are going to be packed FULL! Rome, watch out! I’m here! 

Venezia! The City on the Water

6-16-11

Today marks one week since I began my crazy European adventure. Time is FLYING! Everyone always says time flies faster and faster as you get older, but I can’t believe how quickly it is going by during this trip. 

Venice, Italy. I think this city might be the most interesting we have seen so far. There are no roads for driving here, only canals, and no cars, just boats (and gondolas). There are also MANY, MANY tourists walking around the city mixed in with the locals. The buildings are all right on the water, and many even have entrances from the water, which I found extremely intriguing. The roads were all connected by a system of bridges, which usually involved stairs. The bigger the bridge, the more stairs. There are a lot of stairs and hills in Europe. The lower part of my body is getting more and more toned with each day, Praise the Lord! LOL! Anyways...the biggest walk-over bridge in Venice is called Rialto. It is a gorgeous white stone bridge that crosses the Canal Grande, which is the large main canal (almost like a main street) in Venice. 

We took the train from the city of Mestre into Venice by way of a very long bridge which connects Venice to the rest of Italia. The bridge went over the waters of the Adriatic Sea, and my first impressions of this sea are not so good. There was seaweed floating everywhere and the water was incredibly murky. Even the fish were trying to escape the nasty water; I know this because I kept seeing them jump. Poor things. Anywho, so once we got into the city, we wandered around for a while, taking back streets and alleys and seeing the parts of Venice that most tourists don’t take the time to see. After a while of this we decided to re-join “our people” and see the touristy parts of the city, including the Rialto bridge and la Piazza di San Marco. Along the way we met a guy from Texas. I think he heard us speaking and was bored enough to stop us and ask us where we are from. We never caught his name, but he was in Italy with his parents, and to day was their last day before heading home. It was neat to talk to him for a few minutes. Did I mention he was quite attractive, too? I’m still kicking myself for not getting his name. Oh well, moving on...

For most of the day we just walked around and looked at the lovely architecture and window shopped. When it came time to eat dinner, we found a nicely priced little restaurant on one of the side streets in the inner part of the city, and I had myself some tagilurette bolognese (a long flat noodle with meat sauce) and Iva had some lasagna. YUM Italian food is quite delicious! Earlier in the day I had my first gelato too. I’m hoping that the gelato in Roma is better, because I wasn’t terribly impressed. Maybe I had too high of expectations for gelato. Or, I could have gotten the wrong flavor. We’ll see as this week in Italy progresses if gelato can live up to its reputation. 

The Hills Are Alive With the Sound of Music

Vienna, Austria   6-15-11

You know, mattresses here in Europe are much different from what we are used to back home. They are much thinner, and beds are much lower to the ground. I will have to take a picture and post it so y’all can see. No box springs here. 

We woke up this morning kind of early to get ready to head out of Brno and make our way to Austria. After a breakfast of Czech doughnuts and pastries, we loaded up the car (which was quite a feat) and headed out. Trying to fit two women’s stuff into a trunk smaller than what we are used to in the states is quite difficult, but we did it! Praise the Lord it all fit. 

The Austrian countryside is much like the Czech countryside, except that wind turbines dot the countryside. Austria is apparently a green country, according to Iva. They use little nuclear energy (and what they do use of it, they buy from the Czech republic) and they use mostly green methods of getting energy. The first group of wind turbines we saw was kinda cool, but after the first few, it began to ruin the pristine beauty of the fields.  

It only took us a little under two hours to make it to Vienna from Brno, so we were able to spend a good amount of time touring the city. It is a lovely city, but not as beautiful as Prague. There were many really neat things to see, like the parliament building, national library, and, of course, another gorgeous cathedral. This cathedral is worth detailing a little bit. It was one of the few that allowed you inside to part of it without paying an entrance fee. We were quite surprised once we got inside to see that it was extremely colorful, like a discotech. They had colored lights creating an incredible display of color throughout the sanctuary. It was quite gorgeous.  

The food in this city, though, was fabulous! When we first arrived at the U-Bon station in the city, there was a small collection of food carts, and one had local fresh fruit and veggies. I got to eat my first peach of the season (in Austria no less)! Very delicious, but not as good as a Georgia peach, of course : ) I was also able to eat my first pretzel since arriving in the land of Deutsch as well. Delicious! But, not nearly as awesome as the snack we had a little later. We had two typical Austrian desserts, one was apple streusel and the other was a kind of chocolate cake with a think jam in between the layers and covered on top with a chocolate shell. Its called sacher, and it is incredibly rich. To accompany these delicious desserts we had the European version of iced coffee, which has no ice involved whatsoever. They use vanilla ice cream and chilled coffee, and top it off with fresh whipped cream. YUM! We need to rethink how we do iced coffee in the states.  

The only complaint that I have so far about this continent is that I cannot find Reese’s Cups anywhere! Dangit! 

We are headed to Mirano, Italy tonight to stay, and tomorrow we will be wandering around Venice. Italia, I will finally get to experience your awesomeness. Spaghetti, pizza, and lots of gelato are on the menu for the next several days!

So on our drive through Italy, we have just had two back-to-back funny stories. First, we see another car pass us by who is from Iva’s hometown of Brno, Czech Republic (we are right now over 800 miles away from there). We waved at the driver as he passed by and he blinked his lights hello back to us. Literally about two minutes after this we realize we are coming up next to a caravan of Italian Army soldiers. Woohoo! Lots of cute Italian boys! So after passing the caravan of soldiers, we came again upon our friend from Brno, who then proceeded to ask us through sign language if we wanted to get coffee. I don’t know about Iva, but I don’t think I’ve ever had a drive by coffee offer before. Guess there’s a first time for everything!

We have now arrived in Mirano and are staying at the cutest little B & B inside this lady named Sandra's home. It is so cute!!! Can't wait to post pictures! Tomorrow....Venezia/Venice!!