Here's what I miss most about the USA:
1. Free refills. They don't have that here. It's horrible.
2. Ice in your glass.
3. Cheap prices. A small coke is 5 dollars here. Even at McDonald's it is still 3 dollars.
4. Normal washers and dryers. The ones they have in Europe are so confusing.
5. My comfy bed.
6. My car.
7. Hearing people speak a language I understand.
Mama and Papa are coming home tonight, so Brian and I are cleaning house to make it look nice. Toodles!
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Rome Trip Day 4
Our last day in Rome! And boy was it a hot one. Things didn't really go quite as planned either...the museum we wanted to see charged 10 euro per person and wouldn't give us a student discount because we were from the US. I guess I'm not really a student anymore anyway...haha. So we ended up doing a lot of random stuff instead.
Walking along the river.
Castle Saint Angelo, which we also didn't go in because it was too expensive.
The Angel Bridge to the Castle.
We ended up at a flea market, and Brian bought me a present!
Saint Cecelia's remains are in her church.
The apse in Saint Maria of Trastevere.
Gelato!
And that was seriously about it. A lot of the pictures we took in churches over the last 4 days need to be edited for contrast because it's just too dark to really see. I'll have to do that some other time. I think we saw about 4 churches per day...so 16 churches in all? So it gets confusing which one is which as well.
Our train left at 8, and we slept in couchettes in a compartment with a nice family from Korea. They got off the train around 4am, and we arrived in Zurich, Switzerland around 8am. That post is next!
Walking along the river.
Castle Saint Angelo, which we also didn't go in because it was too expensive.
The Angel Bridge to the Castle.
We ended up at a flea market, and Brian bought me a present!
Saint Cecelia's remains are in her church.
The apse in Saint Maria of Trastevere.
Gelato!
And that was seriously about it. A lot of the pictures we took in churches over the last 4 days need to be edited for contrast because it's just too dark to really see. I'll have to do that some other time. I think we saw about 4 churches per day...so 16 churches in all? So it gets confusing which one is which as well.
Our train left at 8, and we slept in couchettes in a compartment with a nice family from Korea. They got off the train around 4am, and we arrived in Zurich, Switzerland around 8am. That post is next!
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Rome Trip Day 3
Day 3, or Saturday August 8th, was designated as our Vatican Day. We were going to do everything in the Vatican that there was to do. We started with Saint Peter's Basilica.
Outside St. Peter's.
Here is a member of the Swiss Guard. They are traditional mercenaries who guard the Pope. And they dress awesome.
Here is Michelangelo's PietÃ
Here I am touching St. Peter's feet. I don't know why I look so sad. I was really excited! I think that's my pious Catholic woman face.
The Pope List.
A nice picture of the baldachino and altar where only the Pope may celebrate Mass.
One of the amazing altars in St. Peter's.
Here I am in all my glory.
And here we are in our sweaty glory together!
Then it was time for the Vatican Museums. This is one of the most important museums in the world. It's main claim to fame is the Sistine Chapel.
Unfortunately, you are not allowed to use cameras in this area. Nor were you allowed to use cameras in the crypt where the Popes are laid to rest...
...
...
...
I took videos with my camera in both places. C'mon people! I'm not shoving out $2K to get to Europe and then not take a photo! But for fear that the Pope's people will hunt me down, I'm not going to post it. Sorry folks.
Anyway, let's continue.
Here are the twin Santa Maria churches in Plaza del Popolo.
Here we are in the gardens above the Plaza.
We hung around here for awhile and walked in the park before heading home for another night of McDonald's. No wonder we haven't lost any weight despite all this walking! Haha.
Outside St. Peter's.
Here is a member of the Swiss Guard. They are traditional mercenaries who guard the Pope. And they dress awesome.
Here is Michelangelo's PietÃ
Here I am touching St. Peter's feet. I don't know why I look so sad. I was really excited! I think that's my pious Catholic woman face.
The Pope List.
A nice picture of the baldachino and altar where only the Pope may celebrate Mass.
One of the amazing altars in St. Peter's.
Here I am in all my glory.
And here we are in our sweaty glory together!
Then it was time for the Vatican Museums. This is one of the most important museums in the world. It's main claim to fame is the Sistine Chapel.
Unfortunately, you are not allowed to use cameras in this area. Nor were you allowed to use cameras in the crypt where the Popes are laid to rest...
...
...
...
I took videos with my camera in both places. C'mon people! I'm not shoving out $2K to get to Europe and then not take a photo! But for fear that the Pope's people will hunt me down, I'm not going to post it. Sorry folks.
Anyway, let's continue.
Here are the twin Santa Maria churches in Plaza del Popolo.
Here we are in the gardens above the Plaza.
We hung around here for awhile and walked in the park before heading home for another night of McDonald's. No wonder we haven't lost any weight despite all this walking! Haha.
Rome Trip Day 2
Day 2 was very labor intensive. I'm surprised my feet didn't fall off. Here are some of the amazing things we saw.
The chains St. Peter was bound in, located at San Pietro in Vincoli.
The famous statue of Moses by Michelangelo, also at San Pietro in Vincoli.
Basilica of St. John Lateran. The ceiling was made with the first gold brought back on the ships from America.
One of the many Egyptian obelisks imported to Rome by Emperor Hadrian. Seriously. There's one outside every important church.
Ok, I have to explain this picture. We saw three different types of these people in Rome. One was this guy, one was an Egyptian sarcophagus, and the other was a tin man. Basically they dress up from head to toe, paint their faces, and stand in the same position all day in hopes that you will give them a few coins. I'm poor so I just took pictures.
The Trevi Fountain.
The dome of the Pantheon. And some hooligans.
Outside the Pantheon.
Here is Largo di Torre Argentina, where four temples and Pompey's Theater now stands in ruins. It was on the steps of Pompey's Theater that Julius Caesar was killed.
The Spanish Steps.
Brian at the top of the Steps. Yes, he made me climb.
Here I am eating McDonald's. Next to an ancient Roman wall. In the underground train station. Did I mention that ancient Roman wall is in a McDonald's?
And so concludes Day 2, where we got to sleep in a really nice Hotel with AC that worked. Yay for the small things in life.
The chains St. Peter was bound in, located at San Pietro in Vincoli.
The famous statue of Moses by Michelangelo, also at San Pietro in Vincoli.
Basilica of St. John Lateran. The ceiling was made with the first gold brought back on the ships from America.
One of the many Egyptian obelisks imported to Rome by Emperor Hadrian. Seriously. There's one outside every important church.
Ok, I have to explain this picture. We saw three different types of these people in Rome. One was this guy, one was an Egyptian sarcophagus, and the other was a tin man. Basically they dress up from head to toe, paint their faces, and stand in the same position all day in hopes that you will give them a few coins. I'm poor so I just took pictures.
The Trevi Fountain.
The dome of the Pantheon. And some hooligans.
Outside the Pantheon.
Here is Largo di Torre Argentina, where four temples and Pompey's Theater now stands in ruins. It was on the steps of Pompey's Theater that Julius Caesar was killed.
The Spanish Steps.
Brian at the top of the Steps. Yes, he made me climb.
Here I am eating McDonald's. Next to an ancient Roman wall. In the underground train station. Did I mention that ancient Roman wall is in a McDonald's?
And so concludes Day 2, where we got to sleep in a really nice Hotel with AC that worked. Yay for the small things in life.
Rome Trip Day 1
In an effort to try and condense everything that we saw in Rome, which was way too much for my poor little brain, these next posts will be mostly pictures. Obviously, I can't post every picture or this blog would explode (we took about 500) so this is going to be the best of the best.
The one thing I will talk about though was our journey to Rome and our arrival. We took a train from Stuttgart to Karlsruhe, then we took a night train from Karlsruhe to Milano. This was the worst. We couldn't afford beds (60 euro per person on top of our ticket already) so we took seats. There are 6 seats in a cabin, and we got stuck with a smelly, old, loud Italian. Apparently he had been robbed earlier in his trip on this very train because he fell asleep and they took his bags. So for the next two hours all he did was explain to the other Germans what happened to him in very loud German with an Italian accent. Therefore, we didn't get much sleep. Finally we got to Milano, and then took another train to Rome. This time, it was first class. Very pleasant and I even slept a bit. They give you food and drinks too.
When we got to Rome we found our hotel after asking the female police officer for directions, avoided a street that was blocked off due to construction, and then made it to Hotel Serena. There was just one problem. Apparently, there are two Hotel Serenas. The one that booking.com booked us at was an hour outside of Rome. We couldn't believe it. Thankfully, the staff at the Hotel we had planned to stay at, and thought we were booked at, were very helpful. They called the other Hotel and had them cancel it without charging Brian. Still though, they didn't have a room for that night. But she found us a room across the street at Hotel California (and she did warn us it wasn't that nice), so we stayed there the first night, and stayed at Hotel Serena the next 2 nights. So, what could have turned out to be a real disaster turned out okay. Thank God.
Anyway, here are some pictures.
The Colosseum.
The trapdoors where they kept the animals and other such killing things.
These rocks are older than shit. I'm totally serious. This is where Romulus and Remus were supposedly raised by the she-wolf on the Palatine Hill.
The Forum.
Trajan's Market
It was at this point that an old man smiled at us and said, "It's nice to hear English again." We laughed and agreed, and he asked us where we were from. We said California, you know, being all nondescript. When we asked where he was from he replied, "Seal Beach, California." Brian couldn't think of anything to say for about 15 seconds, which is a really long time for him. But really, how amazing is that? We on the other side of the world, and we run into someone who lives in the same small beach town as Brian. Crazy.
Anyway, we had dinner at a nice outdoor cafe. Our only Italian dinner in Rome actually (we ate McDonald's the next 3 nights to save money). Then it was back to the Hotel for bed.
The one thing I will talk about though was our journey to Rome and our arrival. We took a train from Stuttgart to Karlsruhe, then we took a night train from Karlsruhe to Milano. This was the worst. We couldn't afford beds (60 euro per person on top of our ticket already) so we took seats. There are 6 seats in a cabin, and we got stuck with a smelly, old, loud Italian. Apparently he had been robbed earlier in his trip on this very train because he fell asleep and they took his bags. So for the next two hours all he did was explain to the other Germans what happened to him in very loud German with an Italian accent. Therefore, we didn't get much sleep. Finally we got to Milano, and then took another train to Rome. This time, it was first class. Very pleasant and I even slept a bit. They give you food and drinks too.
When we got to Rome we found our hotel after asking the female police officer for directions, avoided a street that was blocked off due to construction, and then made it to Hotel Serena. There was just one problem. Apparently, there are two Hotel Serenas. The one that booking.com booked us at was an hour outside of Rome. We couldn't believe it. Thankfully, the staff at the Hotel we had planned to stay at, and thought we were booked at, were very helpful. They called the other Hotel and had them cancel it without charging Brian. Still though, they didn't have a room for that night. But she found us a room across the street at Hotel California (and she did warn us it wasn't that nice), so we stayed there the first night, and stayed at Hotel Serena the next 2 nights. So, what could have turned out to be a real disaster turned out okay. Thank God.
Anyway, here are some pictures.
The Colosseum.
The trapdoors where they kept the animals and other such killing things.
These rocks are older than shit. I'm totally serious. This is where Romulus and Remus were supposedly raised by the she-wolf on the Palatine Hill.
The Forum.
Trajan's Market
It was at this point that an old man smiled at us and said, "It's nice to hear English again." We laughed and agreed, and he asked us where we were from. We said California, you know, being all nondescript. When we asked where he was from he replied, "Seal Beach, California." Brian couldn't think of anything to say for about 15 seconds, which is a really long time for him. But really, how amazing is that? We on the other side of the world, and we run into someone who lives in the same small beach town as Brian. Crazy.
Anyway, we had dinner at a nice outdoor cafe. Our only Italian dinner in Rome actually (we ate McDonald's the next 3 nights to save money). Then it was back to the Hotel for bed.
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