dancin' fools:
Monday, February 25, 2013
Kiwi's like beer!
dancin' fools:
Monday, June 27, 2011
What is that smell?
You know how in the States the fast-food chain 'Subway' quite literally pumps sandwich aromas through vents out onto the street? Well, call me crazy but I think the leather shops in Florence might do it too! It is intoxicating. I am so glad that I was alone in Florence, because no one, not even a girlfriend would I think have so happily browsed through dozens of shoe shops with me. Just you mom.
But wait, there is much more to Florence than the leather! There is the David! And there is a lot of him. The musuem in Florence that took the biggest toll on my feet was the Ufitzi. It just kept going! I spent at least four hours there but the Leonardo Da Vinci paintings are well worth it. I found the unfinished ones the most fascinating.
This is the 'Ponte Vecchio' ('old bridge') of Florence just southwest of the Ufitzi.
What a wild little store
Me at the top of the Duomo in Florence!
My first meal in Florence. It looks a little bit like mealworms in pesto but I swear it was a delicious pasta!
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But wait, there is much more to Florence than the leather! There is the David! And there is a lot of him. The musuem in Florence that took the biggest toll on my feet was the Ufitzi. It just kept going! I spent at least four hours there but the Leonardo Da Vinci paintings are well worth it. I found the unfinished ones the most fascinating.
This is the 'Ponte Vecchio' ('old bridge') of Florence just southwest of the Ufitzi.
What a wild little store
Me at the top of the Duomo in Florence!
My first meal in Florence. It looks a little bit like mealworms in pesto but I swear it was a delicious pasta!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Location:Florence
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Mini detour back to France!
And an absolutely wonderful detour it was! After Cinque Terre my friend and I went to La Turbie where his mother, Judith, is looking after a family friend's house. She is currently in the process of fearlessly relocating to La Turbie from the States! Thank you so much Judith for letting me stay and especially for teaching me how to play bananagrams. Judith and her son are erudite bananagrams competitors, but I think they eased up when I joined in. Many thanks!
The second day I was in La Turbie we all went to Eze to visit Judith's friend and have lunch. After lunch Judith and I enjoyed a tour at the local perfumery while Will rather suffered through it. He was a very good sport though!
Thank you both so much for having me.
This has to be one of the best road side icons of the trip, he's groovin'!
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The second day I was in La Turbie we all went to Eze to visit Judith's friend and have lunch. After lunch Judith and I enjoyed a tour at the local perfumery while Will rather suffered through it. He was a very good sport though!
Thank you both so much for having me.
This has to be one of the best road side icons of the trip, he's groovin'!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Location:La Turbie, France
I thought I was too old for poison ivy!
Well apparently I am not! After my friend and I hiked for about an hour in a traffic jam of tourists on the 'most difficult' trail in Cinque Terre, we headed uphill. We ended up taking a trail that took us all the way up the hills until the whole forest's foliage changed completely. It was a great hike! I bored him to tears with a recount of my evolution book but he took it in stride, literally, but not fast enough!
Cinque Terre consists of five small fishing villages on the north western coast of Italy, about 20 minutes north of La Spezia. I highly recommend it and I even more highly recommend taking the paths less traveled. One word of warning, when the conversation starts to sound like this put on protective clothing:
-- "hey this one sort of looks like poison ivy, see the three leaves? Two with wings?"
--- "oh yeah I sure do, great...."
-- "oh wait no, this over here looks wayyy more like poison ivy than that other stuff."
We stayed in the first town, called Riomaggiore:
Photos from the hike!
This guy was huge!
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Cinque Terre consists of five small fishing villages on the north western coast of Italy, about 20 minutes north of La Spezia. I highly recommend it and I even more highly recommend taking the paths less traveled. One word of warning, when the conversation starts to sound like this put on protective clothing:
-- "hey this one sort of looks like poison ivy, see the three leaves? Two with wings?"
--- "oh yeah I sure do, great...."
-- "oh wait no, this over here looks wayyy more like poison ivy than that other stuff."
We stayed in the first town, called Riomaggiore:
Photos from the hike!
This guy was huge!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Location:Cinque Terre
The ferry
The stats:
37 hours
Deck seating only (which means no assigned seat)
The reason: I wanted to go to Venice! And with my eurail pass the ferry ticket only cost 10 euros, which is pretty unbeatable considering I average spending 25 euros a night on a hostel and the ferry would count for two nights.
The facts:
When you have no seat the whole boat is your home! I slept on three different lounge couches and I wouldn't be surprised if they were softer than the bunk beds in the expensive private rooms.
The supplies:
tomatoes, salt, bananas, olives, chocolate, granola bars, wine, and as fancy a glass as you can get for 30 cents!
The entertainment:
'The Greatest Show on Earth!' by Richard Dawkins. Evolution is so exciting it makes me pace and mumble out loud. Or maybe that was the 37 hours talking?
All in all, I had a blast.
View from the stern to the docks of Patra, Greece.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
37 hours
Deck seating only (which means no assigned seat)
The reason: I wanted to go to Venice! And with my eurail pass the ferry ticket only cost 10 euros, which is pretty unbeatable considering I average spending 25 euros a night on a hostel and the ferry would count for two nights.
The facts:
When you have no seat the whole boat is your home! I slept on three different lounge couches and I wouldn't be surprised if they were softer than the bunk beds in the expensive private rooms.
The supplies:
tomatoes, salt, bananas, olives, chocolate, granola bars, wine, and as fancy a glass as you can get for 30 cents!
The entertainment:
'The Greatest Show on Earth!' by Richard Dawkins. Evolution is so exciting it makes me pace and mumble out loud. Or maybe that was the 37 hours talking?
All in all, I had a blast.
View from the stern to the docks of Patra, Greece.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Location:Minoan lines, patra to venice
Land, ho! Well, kind of. Does it count if it's sinking?
Ah ha!
Now I know why whenever I would say to people that I was going to Venice they would swoon, 'oh it's sooo romantic.' and their eyes would twinkle,
It's because you can't walk 10 feet in that city without getting hit on by a Venetian! Old, young, male, female. My oh my. I'll blame it on the boots but seriously, maybe it's because the city is sinking? They all feel some sloshy gravitational clock ticking? All I know is I'm excited for when Venice becomes a diver's destination, talk about romance!
The point is, Venice is absolutely beautiful. I am not ashamed to admit that my sense of direction is so bad that I proudly wear a compass around my neck. But in Venice, the roads fail to even pretend to comply with straight lines, let alone cardinal directions. Direction is limited to up, down, walk or swim. It really doesn't matter what street you take because so far it has taken you to Venice!
Also while there I met up with a college friend! It was such a change to travel with someone for a bit. I still preach solo travel or travel with siblings, but having a buddy once in a while can be very nice. Thanks friend for hanging out and letting me talk your ear off after almost a month of only talking to complete strangers!
Mmm pizza
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Now I know why whenever I would say to people that I was going to Venice they would swoon, 'oh it's sooo romantic.' and their eyes would twinkle,
It's because you can't walk 10 feet in that city without getting hit on by a Venetian! Old, young, male, female. My oh my. I'll blame it on the boots but seriously, maybe it's because the city is sinking? They all feel some sloshy gravitational clock ticking? All I know is I'm excited for when Venice becomes a diver's destination, talk about romance!
The point is, Venice is absolutely beautiful. I am not ashamed to admit that my sense of direction is so bad that I proudly wear a compass around my neck. But in Venice, the roads fail to even pretend to comply with straight lines, let alone cardinal directions. Direction is limited to up, down, walk or swim. It really doesn't matter what street you take because so far it has taken you to Venice!
Also while there I met up with a college friend! It was such a change to travel with someone for a bit. I still preach solo travel or travel with siblings, but having a buddy once in a while can be very nice. Thanks friend for hanging out and letting me talk your ear off after almost a month of only talking to complete strangers!
Mmm pizza
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Location:Venice, Italy
I may be a little too old for Ios
Ios is a more picturesque Greek island than Naxos, but there is a price. While Naxos is calm and breezy, Ios is a hangover on a beach. My first night in Ios I tried my best to keep up with the hostel lot, but I wasn't fooling anyone. The next two nights I stuck to water and sprite, and the mornings were beautiful! I did learn something though about myself in Ios besides the fact that I'm a lightweight- I want an ATV.
ATVs are wildly fun! A few friends and I rented them to explore the other side of the island and not only did we find a lovely lunch spot, but Homer's tomb and some off-roading! Those machines are fearless and have a mesmerizingly similar effect on their passengers.
Here are some photos of the day:
The Canadians! Max literally picked up my vehicle and turned it around when I got stuck, thanks!
At Homer's tomb!
The Kiwis! Jess and Katie, I had so much fun with you and I hope to see you in your windy Capital!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
ATVs are wildly fun! A few friends and I rented them to explore the other side of the island and not only did we find a lovely lunch spot, but Homer's tomb and some off-roading! Those machines are fearless and have a mesmerizingly similar effect on their passengers.
Here are some photos of the day:
The Canadians! Max literally picked up my vehicle and turned it around when I got stuck, thanks!
At Homer's tomb!
The Kiwis! Jess and Katie, I had so much fun with you and I hope to see you in your windy Capital!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Location:Ios, Cyclades, Greece
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