Mama Mia!!!

Well, it has been a couple days. Since we last blogged we spent another wonderfully relaxing day in Venice. We really didn't take in too many touristy sights, just enjoyed walking around the town and exploring the shops.

On our second day, we headed over to Lido. It is an 18km island with a beach that spans the whole thing. We enjoyed our afternoon just basking in the sun. Apparently tops are optional on this beach and for men... speedos are mandatory!! We had quite the view!!

We were glad to leave Venice though, because we found out they have huge, killer, man-eating mosquitos!! Steve, I know you warned us about this... but we forgot until we became human connect the dot games. We look like a couple of pre-teens just starting Acutane!! The pictures will prove it!! So we boarded a train to Vicenza to have a much needed night in a real bed with a real shower.

Erin has been corresponding with a girl from Seattle named Sarah, who is a friend of a friend of a friend. She offered us a place to stay so we agreed... ever the weary travelers. We warned her we would be the uinmistakable Americans with the huge back packs... she found us immediately. She then took us to her GORGEOUS home in the Italian hillside where we had our first homecooked meal of pasta, brie, wine, and baguettes!! YUM!! After some laundry and hot showers and a good nights sleep, we headed to Florence.

Now, here's where things get more interesting. If you are unfamiliar with the trains in Europe, we will tell you... some of them are rather ENCLOSED. We boarded our car and found our seats only to be knocked on our asses by a rude Italian old couple and their dirty looks, a fat Italian man who would not help us with our heavy bags, and the bad B.O. that they all eminated!! Then the old couple, who munched loudly on stale crackers insisted on turning up the heat to only make the stench worse. And the only normal looking passenger, a young Italian girl, proceded to blow her nose like a fog horn, OVER and OVER and OVER. As Alicia tried to rest she was constantly startled awake by this annoying alarm. I'm sure I saw her eyebrow go up one or two times.

We finally made it to Florence and after about a mile hike, found our hotel. Again... rather sparse accomadations... and a free mosquito repellant airfreshener. GREAT!! Apparently it gets worse!! The guy at the desk gave us great directions for a two day adventure... obviously too good... because we got it all done in one day. Too long of lines at the Uffizi and only reservations at the Academia... so we will forgo those for the art in Paris.

We climbed yet another tower (414 steps this time) and were accosted by an old gypsie woman... yes Gramma!! She begged for money a few times and we kept turning away... apparently a punch in the gut would have been better because after a few brush offs, she actually spat at us!! Those stupid Americans!! We have also decided that we must not be attractive by European standards. We were told that we would get whistled at all the time... have we, only once!! Megan was right... after a while you just want to look pretty, but I guess our scarves and skirts just don't do it for the Italian guys (with pony-tails), but we're OK with that!! We'll take our masculine looking, broad shouldered American boys anyday!!

We are now headed to Cinque Terra in the morning. Hopefully there are no man-eating bugs there!!!

Oh... by the way... we write these blogs together, in case you were wondering!! Till next time....

September 23rd - Venice

Well, does anybody even read these?? We can't tell, with the lack of comments and all, some American correspondence would be very welcome!!! Hint...hint... Yes, we are information technology addicted and we love feedback!!!

So today, we explored Venice... we saw none of the big sights, just ventured off (oh, and I guess we did see Murano). We first headed to the famous San Marcos Square, full of people and dirty pigeons!! Who's bright idea was it to sell bird seed so you can throw it in the air and have hundreds of disease infested birds land on you??? Not ours... and we did not partake... but we did laugh at all those who did. The bigger the people are... the more afraid of little birds they are!!! We found a lovely little grocery store and bought some some cheese, baguettes and boxed wine for lunch, because neither of us remembered to haul our wine key around Europe!! Surprisingly not too bad.

We headed to Murano and found a really busy park to have lunch in. Note to self... fit in with the locals and they may just offer you wine and cheese. Apparently, we didn't look like locals, either that or we interrupted a family reunion. Either way... good wine... good cheese... and full bellies. We spent the afternoon looking and beautiful glass, all of which begins to look the same. We have more pictures of boats, doors, and laundry than we ever thought possible.

We decided to get off the boat at an unknown port and walk back to the hotel. We now understand how people get so lost. But thanks to a local map and a little sence of direction, we found our way back to the hotel. With a quick costume change we were headed back out (after a couple beers at the local Irish pub).

We had a great dinner (oh, and a bottle of vino) at a cute little pizzaria (Steve, you were right... the food is totally overpriced, but hey... we ate lunch for cheap). So we leave you as we head to the train station to buy our tickets to Florence and Vicenza. We will be staying with a friend of a friend of a friend... Sarah.

Till then... Co-ni-chee-wa... or whatever...

Lots of gypsies...

We had a great flight to Milan on Easy Jet. I must say, it is great flying in Europe, one because it is cheap, two because the flights are so short. We flew from Prague to Milan in 1 hr, 10 minutes. How great! We are now getting used to using the Euro, and trying not to spend too much money. It can be deceiving!! Can you believe gelato is only 2 euros..oh wait..that is 3 dollars for a miesly scoop!!

Lets see...we made it through immigration just fine. Added another stamp. YES! Our bags even made it. It was starting out wonderfully. Then, found signs in Italian and English that got us to Stazzione Central where we were supposed to catch our 2.5 hour train to Venice. We left ourselves lots of time on purpose because we had a hunch, we could get lost easily. :) We didn't though. Everyone would be proud. So we stood there. Yep, stood at the train station for about an hour and a half because there are no seats. Now this was interesting to us. No seats in a train station...why would that be? While contemplating, we found a small bench by the bathroom...aka wash closet...which you have to pay for about 10 dollars. Hmmm...another thing to contemplate. We start looking through the "Let's go Europe" book. Andy told me to keep an eye out for gypsies. So I was looking carefully with a scrutinizing eye. Erin, minding her own business reading to me what we should do in Venice. Suddenly I catch eyes with a "sweet old woman" who looks so poor and lonely. OH, SHOOT. I made eye contact! This was the gypsie Andy was talking about. She then (of course) starts walking towards us. Slowly, but surely...she is closer and closer. I realize we are about to be approached and bolt out of my seat. "Erin, LETS GO!" She says..."Huh, what? We're talking about Venice" Erin realizes the gravity of the situation and bolts upright also. :) Ok, so maybe not that life threatening, but from then on out we were analyzing every look, walk, saunter..etc. We are equal opportunity discriminators.

Ok, made it on the train, where they only speak Italian. And only Italian. So, I bring out the handy translator book. It has great things in it, but I realize, you ask a question in Italian, you get a response in Italian. What to do? Sign language right? This is what we do at work with non-English speaking people :) I figured it out. I need a personal translator. Maybe a pocket one that I talk into and then the other person talks into and it translates. Ok, these were the thoughts going through my mind as Erin is sleeping on the train and I am staring out a dark window riding backwards on the train. We go and go. Stop after stop. No Venezia. It is now past 2130 our stop time and I'm a little anxious. Imagine that. Erin still sleeping. :) I get out the translator book and start searching for words. While still realizing, I'm going to get a response in Italian. Ok, I'll go for it. I know a little Spanish...it's close enough. :) The train ticket guy walks past our seat and I wave him down with wide eyes and a small wave. Don't know if that is offensive, but still did it. He stops, I ask politely in Italian if Venezia is soon. He says bluntly in the middle of my poor grammatic phrase....."Next one". I was a little stunned with the use of English. Erin thought it was hilarious that I put in so much effort and the dang guy spoke English anyway!

So, we got off the train, and here is Venice. Beautiful city even at 10pm. Yes, the buildings are sinking and if you don't watch yourself, you'll step from the sidewalk into the canal. The streets are poorly labled and confusing. My parents always told me not to walk down small, dark alleys, but we really have no choice. We did find our hotel though. A very nice man at the counter walked us to our minimalistic room. Literally, a bed and two lights. We are on the canal though which may or may not be a good thing. It smells like sewer at the end of the day and you can hear EVERYTHING because the sounds echo off the water and the stone buildings. But, we didn't come to Europe to stay in our room all day. So it will do. And, we slept well...:) and here were are exploring. Til later!

Ciao, Buon Giorno, Grazie, Prego...that's all we know!

Maybe our title should be Old Ladies!!

Well, yesterday was a very long day... obviously, since we are actually writing this blog the next morning. We didn't learn from the day before and took on another 600+ stairs and 2 miles. And we were only lucky we missed the stair case leading up to the castle. Instead, we took the really long, steep hill.

We again got up around 830am so as not to miss out on breakfast, and to avoid another scolding in a language we didn't understand. We actually managed a smile and a "good morning" from our favorite breakfast lady. We set off for our day at the castle, having now mastered the tram system (or shall we say Erin mastered it). Alicia has given up on reading the map since she is usually a bit off on where we are or what direction we are going... sorry Dad. We now know why Erin is so stubborn about not asking directions... internal map thanks to her Navigator Dad.

The castle was pretty cool, lots to see. Except most of the crypts were closed, to Alicia's excitement. We did however see the midieval torture chamber and prison, YIKES!! And excitedly took on another tower, by far the tallest at a whopping 287 steps... with no breaks... up an extremely narrow, spiraling, dark, and claustrophobic staircase. Even over our stuffy noses (Alicia is getting over her cold after passing it to Erin), we could smell the sweaty people in front of us. It is amazing how out of shape you feel when you climb a measly 100 steps and feel out of breath and weak in the legs. But... no complaining... we are determined (and always reminding eachother) we plan on losing 10 pounds. That's why we treated ourselves to beer, french fries with gravy, and ice cream afterwards. The view from the top was spectacular, the best we saw!!

After taking in all the sites of the castle we decided we were going to experience the Prague life by taking a pub crawl. First, the oldest pub in prague (we took a picture of the name, for those who don't remember it), then a horrible little hole in the wall where Alicia asked the bartender to pour Erin a shot of Absinth. Alicia herself backed out and Erin was FORCED (using torture techniques Alicia learned in the castle prison) to do it alone. A third of a shot later, Erin was about to lose her ice cream!!! NEVER AGAIN!!! For those of you who are unfamiliar with Absinth, there is one type that can cause halucinations when drunk... luckily we found a third of a shot doesn't do much, expept make your "legs numb".

We then headed to a pretty cool Irish bar, JJ Murphy's. The food was good, the people were Irish, the language spoken was one we could understand. We spoke to a Swiss man who took it upon himself to tell us it is our generations responsibility to change America, and not to let Hillary in office!! We really should start telling people we are from Canada!!

To end the night we went to a small local bar that had live jazz, got a drink, and lasted only about an hour. At the yound age of 27 we headed home around 1030pm. In bed by midnight!! Thats how Europe is done!! The music was good, and to our surprise we finally started blending in. The waitress spoke to us in Czech, the third time in one day!!

So now, we are headed to the airport to catch our flight to Milan, and then a train to Venice. Our hotel is only 3 minutes walk from San Marcos square!! We are very excited!!

Till next time.... ciao!!

6 miles & 800 stairs later....

Well, this may be brief... we are a little tired. So we'll see how it goes.

Plan for the day: Get up early (830am) and head into the city to get a Prague Card and a 3-day rail pass to save some money and tour the city.

Actual day: Got up at 945am after snoozing the alarm (thank you Erin). Breakfast goes till 1030 so when we arrived after showering at 1020 we again got in trouble with the locals. It doesn't sound any better when someone sternly talks to you in another language. Good breakfast though... we'll be sure not to miss it the next couple days.

We then walked the 3 miles (didn't realize it was that far, but it was a nice walk) to town and successfully found the tourist information that we so obviously missed the day before. Word of advice: stay calm when in a foriegn country... you'll see things more clearly. We got our tickets and were on our way.

Sights of the day: Old town Hall, Old Town Tower, Powder Tower (184 steps), and the very cool Astronomical Clock (as it struck noon). After that we had to take a lunch break at a very cool Italian pasta place (We know, we know... we're going to Italy, why not eat Czech food??). This time we tipped accordingly, we did our research. Then off to the Kinsky Palace to see some really boring and dark painting, but met a really cool Polish lady. She was hilarious, pinned us as Americans, but wasn't mean about it. She told us she came to Prague for a visit 30 years ago, and never left. She also told us we would definitely be back to Prague again, everyone comes back.

We then headed up to the Jewish quarter but decided that for the money we already paid for the Prague Card (4-day pass, 50+ places for 720Kc/$36) we better get our money's worth, and the Jewish quarter wasn't part of the deal.... descrimination if you ask me!!! Sorry mom, couldn't see your cemetary, but it sounded really cool.

So we headed to a few more towers... no one told us they were all the same!!! We crossed the Charles Bridge (very cool) and then up to Petrin to see the very overrated "Mirror Maze" and the Petrin view tower (which is a small Eifel Tower). When we realized there were around 1000 steps, we turned back, took a picture and headed home. After some much needed dinner, we were going to go out for a few drinks and some live music, but we are too tired. So we will definitely hit up the recommended and raved about "Oldest Pub in Prague" (if we can find it) tomorrow after touring the castle. Hopefully we won't be too sore.

Dobrou Noc....

September 19th...Prague

Yikes!

Little background...we read from the ever-so-helpful Let's Go Europe book that we simply needed to take the 119 bus to the center from the airport and transfer to Metro A....story begins...

Flight=easy enough. Crying children, breastfeeding moms...EVERYWHERE! You would think we were at work.

Immigration=no questions. very easy. Although, they buzz through a gate that is magnetically sealed and too strong for "tired shoulders Alicia". Anyway...luggage made it thankfully, we got the indicated train ticket and on the right bus. Things are going well.

Bus=not so easy. We just figured out we don't speak, read, or write Czech. Don't really know why we didn't figure that out earlier and see these problems coming. We also didn't look at the map of the city beforehand. Luckily Erin wrote the address of the hotel down and ripped a page out of our EasyJet flight magazine...slightly illegal I'm sure.

The saving grace is that the bus ended at the stop we had to get off at...and everyone else disembarked at the same time. We then found ourselves at the underground train (Metro) station...3 lines..A, B, C...should be easy. We knew we needed line A from the magazine page..thanks Erin. Although, with only the address and no map of Prague, we had no idea where we were, or where to get off the train. Also, we apparently we thought you were supposed to stamp the ticket everywhere we went...got in trouble for this of course from (we think) a security officer with a very small quarter size badge he flashed. The deal was we unknowingly bought ourselves more time illegally by stamping the ticket again. Good thing we're cute and naive.

After realizing we were about to go to destination unknown, we turned back to previously mentioned "security officer" and asked for directions. Again, good thing we're cute. This would be the first out of four opportunities to speak with non-english speaking locals to ascertain directions-four different ones in fact. :) We got to the center by sign language, possibly spanish and maybe japanese. We don't understand much here. All signs, stores, maps, etc...in Czech!

Somehow we made it to Mustek center and learned we needed to go out to the street and take a tram. We walked outside and looked like we were in the center of Time Square. Lots of people, no signs in English, no tram to be found. Again the ever-so-helpful Let's Go Europe told us to look for the green i for information booth, and buy a map. After walking with our 30 pound packs about 1/2 a mile...Erin let me ask for directions again. By the way, Erin doesn't like to ask for directions. Hope you do Ron. We wandered the scary streets of Prague for an hour and a half past another metro station and found a book store. We found an old man in the book store, who by help from a translator book led us to the train and told us what stop to get off at. The 3rd or 4th stop was where our hotel was. Names of stops... we didn't know. We both were getting frustrated but tried not to show it. It was getting late and we had a deal about no complaining. But it was getting dark and we only had toast today at 830am...it is now 5pm.

The old man was right..3rd stop. There was our hotel. THANK GOD! It's clean, it's cute. Thanks Steve and Megan! By the way, you didn't tell us there is a XXX erotic store and a Nude Bar across the street. We will lock the door tonight.

Then off to dinner. Again we didn't do our research like Steve and Megan warned. :) We walked down the street to the first pub. No English. How are we supposed eat if we don't know what we are ordering??? Next place is a little farther down the road and looks like it has the beer we hear so much about. AND they have English on the menu! That was the place. We eat, we drink...we pay...do we tip?? We didn't research this. So, we did the American tradition and gave 20 % or maybe 25%...still haven't figured out currency. Alicia was standing at the counter paying asking for assistance for Erin who only said "I don't know." Alicia looks stupid and the waitress and guest start speaking in Czech, probably about the "stupid Americans". She gets a rediculous tip and we leave laughing only to find out later that she was supposed to only get about 10%. We paid 25% on a $10 tab for beer and pizza :)

Needless to say, we spent the rest of the night researching Prague on the free internet..tomorrow should be different!

Chao

September 18th - London

Europe, here we come!!! We finally made it, we can't believe this day finally came!! After a long, relatively uneventful, but painful flight we made it to London around noon today. We made a deal, no complaining. Not about tailbones, backs, blisters, lack of sleep or food, or our accomadations!! But it is only our first day, we'll see how that goes. 9 hours on a ineffective, celebrex and tylenol free butt pillow is quite a discomfort. On top of that, 37,000+ feet caused painful swelling and gave Alicia cankles (just kidding). But it did feel like it does after a long 16hr shift at the hospital. Furthermore, I will never again make a 60 year old patient sleep bolt upright in the hospital again, at least not for 9 hours without compression stockings.

London in one word... POSH!!! Very fashionable, always bustling, nannies everywhere, and kids with expensive toys and adorable clothes. Everyone is always in a hurry but walks or takes the tube almost everywhere. The architecture is incredible and we can't wait to come back for a few days.

It was a bit of an adventure to figure out the "tube" system but after a bit we were using it like experts. After walking up and down the same street about three times we finally found our Hostel (Astor Kensington). Some French guys were nice enough to yell it to us on the street from about three stories up. Nope we're not tourists!!! Cute room, bunkbeds, and a wash closet (literally), wait till you see the pictures. Our roommate was from Spain but never gave us her name and we figured out this morning she probably didn't like us when she donned a shirt saying "WAR ISN'T THE ANSWER". We have decided we are now "from Canada, eh".

After getting settled we ventured out into downtown London. We walked through Kensington Park/Hyde Park and past Kensington Palace. We then went down to Westminster hoping to see the Abbey but church was in session. We'll probably check it out when we come back. But we managed to fill out time with a few other tourist attractions... "Look kids, Big Ben... Parliament!!" Now all we have to see is Piccadilly Circle and our London experience is complete. But really, we also saw the London Eye which will be a fun night time view of the city. We then went down to see the London Bridge, which we learned was actually just a bridge. The photos we were thinking of were of the Tower Bridge which we got a good view of. We stopped in a local pub for a glass of wine and some cheese. Unfortunately, our experience was interrupted by some obnoxious, drunk Aussies. They kept calling us "you Americans" and talking about all our embarassing tabloid news. But we learned they also love South Park!!

Tomorrow... onto Prague!!