Going Strong

Hellloooooo...this is yet another quick post, just to let you know we are doing well. We've made it back to Naples. We have some errands to run and will be on our way to Rome later today. We don't know what the internet situation will be like there, so we decided to take advantage of the free internet here in our old hostel in Naples to let you know we're safe and happy. All of this craziness will make more sense when we explain in our next post. We love you all and miss you dearly!! xoxo

In Capri

We have two minutes to write and let you all know that we are in Capri and we are safe. We don't have internet access or a phone to call, but we didn't want any of you to worry. We know it has been a while since we last posted, but as soon as we get to a good place for internet, we will fill you in. Capri is beautiful and we are staying here one extra night. So hopefully when we get back to Naples in two days, we will write you all quickly to let you know we are still safe. We love you all. Thanks for being patient. xoxo

Seville (aka Sevilla)

Within 45 minutes of reaching our hostel in Sevilla (Oasis Backpackers), which by the way took a bit of getting lost to find, we dropped our bags, got ready and met downstairs to go with a group to a free Flamenco show. It was about all we should have expected for a free show at a bar...one guitarist, one singer/clapper, and one dancer. We had expected it to be a bit more festive, but it was very serious and emotional...either way, a cultural experience we were glad to have in Sevilla, which is well-known for its Flamenco.

At the bar, we were shocked to run into three of the crazy Aussies we met in San Sebastian. We remembered one in particular, who, when last we saw, was doubled over surrounded by his buddies while he was having a "not-so-proud" moment. We ended up hanging out with them throughout much of our stay in Sevilla. It was really nice to have some familiar faces in such an unfamiliar city. (We even unknowingly created a distraction for Chris that night while he escaped the store with two free ice cream bars, and contributed to their breakfast this morning...as did the forbidden staff fridge.)

Our first and only full day in Sevilla was meant to be for sight-seeing. And sight-seeing we did...in the humid 40 degree CELSIUS weather (104 degrees farenheit). First, however, we stopped to grab some tapas at a bar close to our hostel. We knew tapas were a must in Sevilla, so we sampled four kinds, and were 100% satisfied with our lunch. After our bellies were full, we had a grueling walk to the Catedral (the third largest Cathedral in the world.) Thank God many of the streets on the way to the Catedral had overhangs, creating shade for us to take shelter under. As beautiful as the Catedral was, we decided not to take the tour. However, most of the beauty is looking at the detailed gothic architecture of the structure itself.

Next we began our search for Alcazar, the oldest European palace stillused as a private residence for royals. Little did we know that it was directly behind the Catedral...we decided instead to take about our own 1-hr detour through Sevilla. Not until afterwards did we realize we decided to take on this adventure during the hottest part of the day, when most Spanish people are taking a siesta (how soon we forget.) Where you might expect we would be miserable, we still found some stops along the way where we had fun...and even cooled off a bit. We finally found it...just in time to realize a tour around the palace would take far more energy than we had left. So we made our way back to the hostel instead to take some cold showers.

We made a fabulous dinner last night of a lovely selection of vegetables and rice. It was very healthy, yet quite satisfying at the same time. We have been CRAVING fresh produce during this trip as baguettes and cheese quickly lost their appeal. We made our own homemade sangria with white wine (to be different), fruit juices and lemon fanta. It was pretty good actually. We hung out on the terrace of our hostel, where there is also a pool (one of the many cool aspects of this hostel), had some good conversation, and enjoyed a low-key evening meeting and getting to know some great people.

That brings us to today. We checked out at 11:30 this morning, made some breakfast, and are hanging out until we leave to catch out train at 6:45 tonight. Luckily our train ride to Madrid is only 2 and a half hours long. We will be in touch from Madrid if possible (we never really know what the internet situation is going to be like until we get there). So until then, nosotros los adoramos. Adios!

Valencia

Still a bit worn out, we spent most of our first day in Valencia relaxing and getting our bearings. We grabbed some delicious tapas for lunch and read/rested much of the day. Later in the evening, we ventured out for dinner in the downtown area, promising ourselves we would return to the cute area for helado the next night. It was full of restaurants, street performers, and people out for a night stroll. The buildings in Valencia light up at night, making the overall scene very beautiful...it almost looks like allthe buildings have a golden shine to them. We passed a bull ring - lit up as well, making it majestic in a way. We had already decided that we would NOT be stepping inside to watch a show while we are in Spain despite the cultural significance. We just don´t have the stomach for the brutality. But from the outside, it was quite beautiful.

Day two in Valencia we spent at the beach. It was farther than the beach at San Sebastian, a bus ride in fact. We had both forgotten our towels...how? Not so sure. But not all was lost, for when we got there, we noticed chairs with cushions strewn about the beach. Of course we had to pay for them, but it was worth it...the sand was intolerably hot...as was the sun (even Ashley put on sunscreen.) The water, on the other hand, was GORGEOUS. The perfect mix of refreshment, yet warm enough to stroll right in without cringing, or even hesitating. It wasn´t a long day at the beach - neither of us could have tolerated the heat for the whole day. No wonder why they take a siesta in Spain...at that time of the day, it´s just too hot to be alive, let alone moving. So while we were in Spain, we did as the Spanish do, we went back to the hostel to take a relaxing siesta in our air-conditioned room.

We cooked up the rest of our pasta for dinner with some spinach and chicken croquettes on the side. As we promised ourselves, we put on our dresses for the first time this trip and made our way back downtown to treat ourselves to some helado (ice cream). It was SOOOO good...creamy and sweet, but not too sweet...perfect really. I´m curious to see how it compares to gelato in Italy.

That rounds up our stay in Valencia for the most part. We mostly looked forward to Valencia as a calm, relaxing trip, and that´s exactly what we got. We needed that rest, especially considering day three consisted of an 8-plus hour train ride to Sevilla. While you might think that would be relaxing, it´s far from it. In fact, we are most exhausted on our travel days, and this particular train was not exactly what you would consider "clean" and comfortable. On a specifically non-smoking train (as most of them are), we had one passenger in particular, in our car (lucky us), who decided he was above the rules. It got to the point where we even switched our seats to another cabin due to the lack of oxygen in ours. However, although the ride wasn´t exactly fabulous, we got to Sevilla both safely and without problems.

Onto the next post for more about Sevilla!!

By the way...

I´m not sure if you´ve figured this out yet, but if you want to see any of the pictures we put into our blog on a larger scale, just click on them! You definitely should do that on some of the pictures of Gaudi´s designs to see the detail. xoxo

Barcelona!

It was night when we checked in to Hostel One Sants. Caio, the receptionist, was among the best we met. He was so helpful and welcoming; he even took our bags up to the room for us, did our laundry, and went over the map to show us the most important sights as well as what he would recommend. Our first night we decided to lay low and catch up on our blog. The hostel was very comfortable for us, and apart from the tiny room, the motif was fun and colorful, making it a pleasant place to be.

Our only full day in Barcelona, we mapped out what we wanted to see. It was an ambitious load considering how tired we still were, but were wanted to make the most of our very limited time there. We went to the train station to book our ticket to Valencia. Although it took longer than expected (it always does), it went relatively smoothly. We´re getting good at the whole ticket-buying process.

Following the recommendation of the two Canadian girls we met back in Paris during our first stay there, we decided to visit Park Guell. It´s a park designed by Antoni Gaudi, a very interesting Spanish architect and artist. Click here for information about the park itself. As far as our experience there, we didn´t really know what to expect...and upon entering the park, it was a good thing we didn´t waste our time coming up with expectations because they would have been wrong. Let´s face it - the guy was weird...but intriguing at the same time.

We walked through oddly columned paths made of what looked like chunks of rock and cement glued together in distinctly bizarre shapes. We made our way up and down, maybe up again?? and down?? to the center of the park, which housed structures that looked like they belonged in a children´s playground...very Dr. Seuss-like. The wall along the stairway was tiled in very detailed mosaic square patterns. The same mosaic technique was applied to the lizard/dragon/sea serpent adorning the stairway and other accents within the park. On the terrace, there was a nice view of the city, and we were able to see the entire construction sight that is La Sagrada Familia: our next stop.

You have to know, the interesting thing about La Sagrada Familia (designed by Gaudi as well) is that the design for the church was so intricate and detailed that even though they began construction 126 years ago, it is not said to be completed until at least 2026.

Walking up to this site, we could understand why. Aside from the design of the structure itself, it had alcoves complete with statues, mini pointed towers that were either tiled or sculpted into crazy shapes (some had baskets of fruit on top), and there was a lot of religious-affiliated names written on the building as well. You will get a small idea of this from the pictures, but like so many other things that we post, you can´t capture the essence of the structure. Looking at it, we couldn´t take it all in at once, we had to look at it piece by piece so we could fully appreciate the beauty. Well, like we said, it´s still under construction...but the beauty still comes through, even contrasted with what seems like an over-abundance of scaffolding and construction equipment. And this is the way it has looked for over a hundred years (and will look the same way for at least another 17 years).

Next, we tucked into a cute little place for some tapas. After our feet were rested and our bellies were full, we got moving again. Too much to do, too little time.

When we got to Las Ramblas - a tree-lined pedestrian street with shops, restaurants and bars on either side - our goal was to find Font de Caneletes. Legend says, if you taste the water from this fountain, you will return to Barcelona. Turns out, we thought it was going to be a different kind of fountain and never really found it. Instead, we tasted what was probably disgusting water from a fountain elsewhere. A typical mistake when one is too overtired to really care. Still turned out to be quite an experience.

Next on our list was to walk down La Rambla to find Casa Mila and Casa Batllo, two buildings designed by Gaudi. It´s so neat to see because everything is normal city buildings until you stumble upon a Gaudiesque building and it sure stands out. Gaudi uses a style referred to as biomorphist art, which focuses on the power of natural life and uses organic shapes, with shapeless and vaguely spherical hints of the forms of biology - in other words, it´s very abstract. It took us a long time to find them, not because they´re subtle, but because the streets don´t just criss-cross in perpendicular lines, but are rather slanted in every which way, causing a lot of doubt when trying to find the right location. Finally we did, witnessed these strangely beautiful structures, then decided our bodies wouldn´t be able to carry us to the Olympic Stadium, our next stop on the agenda.

Instead, we went back to the hostel and got some much-needed rest. On the way, we picked up some food from the grocery store (we´re trying to do this as much as possible when our hostels have kitchens so we can cut down on costs) for dinner. After a make-shift Italian dinner and some cleaning up, we decided to follow Caio´s recommendation and go to a fountain show nearby at Montjuic (according to Caio, a very authentic Barcelonean activity on the weekends). We had picked up a cheap bottle of champaigne at the store earlier and grabbed some plastic mugs from the hostel to take with us.

We were unaware that this show was going to truly make Barcelona for us. The area was very clean and beautiful, and though crowded with people, our trip along the fountain-lined pathway leading us to the main fountain was relaxing. We got to the main fountain and found a place to sit on the grass beside it. We didn´t care that we were constantly getting sprayed with mist and the ground was damp beneath us. The show was incredible. It was unlike any fountain we´d seen before...the water came up from the fountain in numerous shapes, directions, currents simultaneously. Added to this was this beautiful instrumental music and different colored lights to accent the mood. We were so enthralled with this event that an hour came and went in the blink of an eye.

Our evening came to a close with an interesting encounter with four Sicilian men, who approached us (???) looking for a good place to hang out. We learned a lot about the culture and a few words to help get us by in our next country. We didn´t expect that Pietro was actually a musician, and asked a nearby couple to use their guitar for a few minutes. Next thing we knew, the men were serenading us with a beautiful Sicilian folksong. Two roses each in our hands, gifts from the gentlemen, we called it a night and went back to the hostel to prepare for our early train ride.

Everything went according to plan the next morning...surprise, surprise. Now we´re here in Valencia. We will most likely fill you in on Valencia once we get to Seville in a few days. We´ve started missing the comforts of being home since we aren´t in one place long enough to really settle down and get that comfortable feeling...not to mention, we´re thousands of miles away, and you guys are all across the Atlantic. We are having the time of our lives, but know that we still think of you often, and love every contact we are able to have with you. Hasta luego!

We Added Pictures!

Check out the San Sebastian post with the new pics...the Barcelona blog will be coming soon!

San Sebastian

Guys, we just want you to know that we really look forward to reading your comments. Thanks for keeping up with us. We´ve made it to Barcelona safe and sound, but we´d like to tell you about San Sebastian.

Our travel plan from Paris to San Sebastian was to catch the InterRail at 3:15 in the afternoon from Gare dÁsuterlitz, the train station the ticket lady reassured was the right one when we bought the tickets. So with plenty of time, we took the bus and made it to the train station. It does take a while for us to get our bearings in the large train stations with the language barrier and people who are either unable or unwilling to communicate with us Americans. Once we found where our train should have been departing from, we realized it wasn´t there. It was definitely one of the OTHER large stations in Paris, but a 30-minute commute. We rushed to the Metro to go to the other station, but at this point we were trying to accept the fact that we would miss our train. The whole way, we were thinking of Plan B and Plan C and hoping that we would not have to sleep in a train station, while still having to pay for our hostel in San Sebastian because we hadn´t called "24 hours ahead of time to cancel."

We got to Montparnasse and went directly to the ticket window (as we were too late). And to our surprise, there actually was another train going to San Sebastian in 12 minutes. The only problem is that we had to pay full price for the tickets...we´re not going to tell you how much that was. But we knew that was the best option and quickly made the purchase and ran to our platform. Phew! We made it to the train and got on, and then we breathed. A second too soon...after all, why WOULDN´T there be TWO trains at the same platform?? With a few minutes to spare, we figured this out and booked it. Thank God we´ve got this down by now. Moms, Dads, we know. We should have left earlier, double and triple checked the tickets, and we may not have run into this disaster. But you have to admit, we learned our lesson...and won´t let it happen again.

The train ride itself was actually pretty great. Our travel ride was about seven hours from start to finish (connection at another station - a whole other story we´re not getting into...let´s just say unorganized doesn´t even explain the extent of it) but we definitely found ways to amuse ourselves. We noticed an empty miniature cabin behind where our seats were and decided that would be a much better place to sit. To our surprise, no one bothered us. On the ride, we read, looked over travel plans/maps, slept a little, made a scavenger hunt for the rest of our Euro trip, and climbed on top of things we weren´t supposed to climb on and took pictures (#5 on our list) and no, we weren´t drunk.

We made it to our hostel with the help of a friendly local on a bike who pointed us in the right direction. We were later than we thought due to the train debaucle, and almost missed check-in, but Miguel was just right next door having a drink and noticed us. Miguel owns the hostel we stayed at and turned out to be the sweetest man...after he gave us a little scolding. Our room was adorable. We had our own balcony overlooking San Martin St. - one of the main streets in the city, if you can even say there are main streets because of how small it is.

It is, of course, a party town, containing the most amount of bars per square meter in the world (in the Old Town section). So naturally, we had to check that out. There weren´t many locals. There were LOTS of kids...and lots of Australians. We found it really interesting that half the people we met had just come from Pamplona - where the famous Running of the Bulls takes place. The stories/videos/pictures we´ve seen from the event are undescribable and horrifying...yet, exciting and intriguing. We stayed mostly at one place, but when it closed, the bouncer pointed us in the right direction to another open place. This same process happened two or three times until about 6am. During that time, other than the million and one Australians we met, we also met some fellow Americans. Some were from Colorado, but the majority were firefighters from New York. The Red Sox/Yankees rivalry is so deeply rooted that it travels with us, and yes, it reared its ugly head. I think it bothered Liana more than Ashley, but she handled herself well, and eventually they just liked us more for it.

Our first day was...relaxing. Just what we needed. A five-minute walk took us right to the beach, where we stayed for hours in the sun.

We met two more great people. Ane is from Bilbao, just an hour´s drive away. She´s a very sweet girl and we had interesting conversation about politics and the rising desire of the Basque people to be considered separate from Spain. You guys should Google it. We also met someone from San Fran named Lawrence...the name was probably the most interesting part about him, but we had a good time. We knocked off #20 on our list by building a sand castle from our empty beer cups, complete with a drip monument in the middle and its own moat. Gorgeous if you ask me.

Later that night, we started with dinner at the Wharf. It was challenging at first, due to the fact that neither of us are big fish eaters. But we got over it and chose a little place with an incredible view of the entire cove: beach, lights and boats creating the panoramic view. We started out with delicious Sangria and then decided to split Merluza con salsa verde...in other words, Hake with a green broth. When it first got to the table, we have to admit we were a little nervous - Ashley more so than Liana. Apparently this plate wasn´t served as a fillet as expected. It was still on the bone with some skin and spine...it actually looked pretty gross. But we grabbed our forks and gave it a shot. We were really impressed with how tender and fresh the fish tasted. It was really quite good. Be proud.

We bar hopped a bit after dinner and ended up at the same place as the night before. Along our travels, we got a red running of the bulls scarf, salsa lessons, and a late-night walk on the beach complete with San Miguel beer. Second late night in a row. We went home and passed out.

It was tough getting out of bed the next morning, but we had promised ourselves that we would swim out to the floating raft to use the diving boards and water slides. So we did. Coming back, we felt a little bit like Tom Hanks from Cast Away, complete with dehydration and dry mouth. Needless to say, our time on the beach was cut short, and we went to the supermarket for some water to cure the hangover.

Having learned our lesson, we made it to the train station nice and early. We ate our lunch (another baguette, Laughing Cow cheese and apples...same lunch, different country). We´re now in Barcelona laying low for tonight. Our hostel is awesome. We´re going to go get some sleep so we can wake up nice and early and begin our only full day here. Wish we had more time. Spain is really beautiful.

Hope you´re all doing well back home. Stand by for pictures...we´ll be checking the blog tomorrow for your comments. Love you all!

July 6th and 7th - Mont St. Michel

The Mont St. Michel story started a mere two days before our trip to Normandie. Having been in contact with Elizabeth, the owner of the hostel B&B we were meant to stay at about when we would be arriving, we were sure that everything would run smoothly for once. But that wouldn't be our style. So we just popped over to the computer real quick to check our email, and we find that Elizabeth has contacted us saying she is "so sorry, but there has been severe damage to the bathroom and she would have to cancel our reservation." Horrified, we got on hostelworld.com only to find that there were no available rooms nearby. But after some searching, we found a cheap hotel in the nearby town of Pontorson, where the train would drop us.

We weren't expecting much, but when we got off the train, what we saw was just the most charming little town. It seemed like the entire town was on one square mile. The only way to describe it would be quaint. We didn't know that Hotel de France was just the guest house of Hotel Arianne, so for about a half hour, we sat in the foyer reading travel brochures (Alligator Bay seems like the place to go for an up close and personal encounter!!) We finally figured out that the reception office was just around the corner in an old fashioned brick building with a beautiful garden out front, complete with our new little friend, Sophie (the owner's cat.)

We were welcomed by Hennie, the sweetest Dutch woman who brought us to our room, which by the way was precious. She went out of her way to inform us that it would be very difficult for us to get to Mont St. Michel in the evening to see it lit up, due to the closing of the buses and extremely overpriced cabs. So...she offered to take us herself and give us our own private tour!

Having been in the big city of Paris, we were not expecting the warm and friendly people who welcomed us into their little town. Even the waitress at the Pizzeria at the corner greeted us with a Bonjour! and a smile...and even refrained from rolling her eyes when we ordered tap water. She merely gave it to us with a Voila!

It was early in the day and we were curious to see Mont St. Michel. While waiting for the bus, we met the most interesting woman. Oringinally from England but a long-time resident of New Zealand, Lucy has been traveling the world for the past year. We guessed that she may be in her 60s, but she was sharp as a tack and worldly...and motherly. We immediately took to her and she to us.

We decided to travel through the island together and she even promised us that before we left, we had to have a crepe (a thin pancake filled with anything from butter, sugar and chocolate, to fruits and liqueur.)

The most fascinating thing about the Mont was the knowledge that this fortress was built over 600 years ago and has survived the raging tides, wars, and elements that for sure should have torn it down ages ago. It wasn't even crumbling. Legend says when the tide comes in on Mont St. Michel, it comes in so fast that even a man on a horse can't beat the water.

We had a wonderful experience walking through the Abbey with an audio-tour, bouncing our thoughts and opinions off Lucy, as she told us the most wonderful stories about her travels, and even helped us out a bit with our French. Then it was off to the Creperie!! We decided it would be wise to get three different crepes and cut them into thirds so we could try three different kinds; caramel, apple, and butter with sugar. DE-LICIOUS!

After Liana took a nap and Ashley read for a while, it was time to go meet up with Hennie (and Lucy - we invited her to come along as well) and head back over to Mont St. Michel where we saw the sun set and got to experience its magnificence at night.

After a much-needed night of sleep in a VERY comfortable bed, we woke up quite hungry and ventured off to get something to eat. We've come to the conclusion that when in France, do as the French do. We bought baguettes, jam and cheese...and sat in the garden with Sophie and indulged :)

Today we're off to San Sebastian, Spain, where a couple days on the beach will hopefully recharge us...as well as give us a nice tan. Haha we hear you guys are experiencing rain back home. That's all for now. You're finally caught up with us! Ball's in your court...

Au Revoir! xoxo