Prague - Czech it out!!

Sorry... I just had to. I even almost bought a t-shirt that said that on it. But on a slightly different note - this post is arriving way sooner than you expected it to, isn't it? It even has pictures!

Coming into Prague we had very high expectations. Most people we know that had been to Prague before us said it was beautiful and one of their most favourite destinations in Europe. That sets a pretty high bar! We arrived around 2pm on Monday, checked into our hostel, discovered a kitchen in our room (did a little happy dance) and wandered out to explore. Prague did not disappoint. It has a certain charm to it, that is rather difficult to explain in words other than "Prague is beautiful!" It didn't take us long to discover the enormous number of souvenir shops and started perusing for something to take home. What we ended up with wasn't even from a souvenir shop - and I think that is even better! We also happened across the Old Town Square, and I'd say that was the moment we both fell in love with this place. As we continued our wanderings we stumbled upon a theatre playing "Swan Lake" Ballet in half an hour. Tickets turned out to be very reasonable, so we bought some and went in! Definitely worth it, and spontaneous decisions are often the most fun!

Day two included two walking tours of the city. But first we witnessed the most overrated tourist attraction in Prague - the astronomical clock display. Every hour on the hour the statues "come to life". But keep in mind, that this clock and its display was developed in the 1400's... so at the time it was impressive. The four statues that came to life represented the four medieval fears - vanity, greed, death and infidelity. And by come to life I mean that the skeleton starts ringing his bell (signalling that death is coming) and the other three start shaking their heads. Oh! Above them, wooden doors open and the 12 apostles (wooden) make their appearance and each bless the town. A recent instalment is the live piper at the top of the tower doing the grand finale each hour. See what I mean by overrated? The rest of the walking tour included the Jewish Ghetto, a few significant synagogues and cathedrals, the municipal house, the powder tower, the estates theatre, and a few others. Very informative and fascinating!

The second tour was of the Prague Castle and surrounding area. I had expected to see a big medieval castle, all made of stone. Surprisingly, this is not the case. In fact, the oldest looking buildings are the St. Vitus Cathedral, and a few towers. The rest of the castle buildings appear to be (relatively) modern buildings. One of our stops on the way up was at the Strahov Monastery. A cool fact about this place is that the emperor had decided monasteries were really a waste of human resources since all the monks did was lie around all day. So he stipulated that unless a monastery could prove that they were providing a valuable public service, they would be closed. The Strahov monks had a private library on their land, so they opened it up to the public and added a statue of the emperor in front... thus convincing the emperor to let them stay open. Across the road is the Strahov brewery. Wait... Brewery?!?! At the time only religious centres were allowed to brew beer... which seemed odd to me. Also on this tour we saw a beautiful panoramic view of Prague, St. Vitus Cathedral, Mattius Gate, the Black Tower, Charles Bridge and a few others. The black tower is not actually black, but earned its name during the fires in Prague, in which the smoke blackened the stone. On our way back to the hostel we lingered on the Charles Bridge for a while and listened to some live Jazz musicians. Perfect way to end the day!

Since we had basically visited all the major sites in Prague the day before, Day Three became a very relaxing day. We spent the morning on Charles Bridge again, listening to a Dixieland band. We also wandered through a market on our way, and picked up the last of our souvenirs. After lunch we walked past the Dancing Building up to Vysehrad Gardens. Along the way we saw... SWANS! Many, many, many swans! Even one that had already laid its eggs and was finishing up its nest. We managed to take a few wrong turns on our way up to the gardens, but once we found our way the view made it all worth it. There was even some lovely GREEN grass... perfect for napping! We finished off the day with a typical Czech meal... I had a sirloin steak with a cream sauce and bread dumplings. We would have been content to eat in our kitchen again, but thought we'd get scolded by Branden if we didn't sample each country's cuisine at least once. Very delicious!

Tomorrow morning we board a plane to London - the last stop on our journey! Unfortunately, you likely won't get a post about that until I arrive safely home.

Falling behind...

Well we are in Prague... and the last blog post I gave you was... Rome/Cortona. The places we've been in between:

• Florence
• Cinque Terre
• Verona
• Venice
• Vienna

Now do you REALLY want me to try to catch up on that?!? I could give you a quick overview, but that's what I did on the last post about Rome/Cortona! And I'm starting to get too lazy to add pictures, but the posts really are much nicer when there are pictures. Oh my. I've been pretty good at keeping pictures up to date (somewhat) on Facebook, but to sit down and write about everything seems like so much work. On the contrast, I've been journalling regularly...

Okay fine. A quick overview. Just because I like to share our adventures. I'll even post a picture of each :)

• Florence - The whole renting a car bit was a good idea until we reached Florence. Then it proved to be a pain. We were so happy to be rid of the crazy thing. Highlight of Florence - shopping way more than we should have. Mom bought a leather jacket, we both bought shoes, presents, etc.
• Cinque Terre - Round two for me. Equally as stunning the second time around. We lucked out with a gorgeous day, and basked in the sunshine as much as possible. One thing I noticed is that as we are much closer to tourist season, a lot more shops have opened up. Despite this, we went to the same restaurant that I had gone to the last time, and ate the same dish that I ate the last time - penne with crab flesh! Amazing and delish! Finished off the day wading in the Mediterranean Sea in Monterosso.
• Verona - Finally a new city for me. Not that I don't enjoy all parts of Italy, but it was nice to have a chance to explore somewhere new. Here we saw the Verona Arena, Juliet's House and Balcony, and the Castle Bridge. Beautiful, beautiful city. Ate out in a cute, classy little restaurant tucked away in a side street called "La Groccia".
• Venice - Last stop in Italy! Turns out our hostel was a much longer walk away from the train station than we anticipated, and we were exhausted by the time we arrived. Not so much fun to walk with those big packs after all the shopping we did in Florence! Venice was as charming as always, but it was nice to see it slightly quieter than it was during Carnevale. Here we took the water bus to tour the grand canal, and saw NB (A friend and Cortona Alumni) relaxing on the side of the canal! Small world! We also started getting creative with our less-expensive meals, and bought all kinds of ingredients for a salad. Lettuce, peppers, zucchini, ham, mozzarella cheese, and a mediterranean dressing... very yummy!
• Vienna - Pictures aren't up from this one yet, so you won't get a preview on here. Sorry! To get to Vienna we had to take a three hour intercity bus from Venice to Villach - right across the border into Austria. We got to sit at the very front on the upper level of a double decker bus! Cool!! After the bus ride it was another 5 hours by train to Vienna. Long, long day of travel. The first full day in Vienna we bought concert tickets to a show in the hall where Mozart performed at the young age of six. It was an incredible concert - Mom said she almost teared up it was so beautiful. There were three violinists, one cellist, one pianist, one opera singer, and two ballerina's. So worth it. We also toured the State Opera House, which was really cool as well. Afterwards we went out to eat a typical Austrian meal at a restaurant recommended to us by the receptionist at the hostel. It was a small, intimate setting with live music and amazing food at reasonable prices. Perfect way to end a perfect evening. Day two in Vienna - we toured the Schoenbrunn Palace and Gardens. I thoroughly enjoyed learning about some of the history of the Hofburg Dynasty. And palaces are just plain cool. Afterwards we toured the MozartHaus - one of the apartments where Mozart lived during his stay in Vienna. Also the apartment he was living in when he wrote "The Marriage of Figaro". Not as cool as I'd expected, but still fun to visit. In the evening we bought standing room tickets for the Opera "Elektra". Standing room is exactly that... standing... for the entire performance. And we were silly enough to wear dress shoes. Silly girls. Regardless, it was a worthwhile experience.

Now lets all cross our fingers that it doesn't take me so long to post about Prague. Which, by the way, we've fallen in love with already. It is beautiful!!

Double Whammy - Rome & Cortona

Okay so doing a few quick posts about Rome and Cortona didn't happen, so I'll give you a quick update on both... and MAYBE I'll get some pictures on here. Not likely.

Rome

- Busy few days visiting the Vatican, Colosseum, Roman Forum, Trevi Fountain, etc.

- Loved being Mom's "personal tour guide" as I spouted out all my newly acquired knowledge

- Watched as Mom gave up on her celiac diet from time to time to taste pizza, tiramisu, real Italian pasta, etc. She didn't even get sick! NOW watch her try to stick to that silly diet.

- Went for supper in Piazza Navona, and then realized the metro stopped running at 9pm (supper ended around 9:30), and had to walk back to our hostel. Oooohh goody.

- Rented a car...

Renting a car was... interesting. Minimally stressful getting out of Rome. A breeze finding our way to Cortona. Loving having the freedom of a vehicle. More expensive than a train.

Cortona

- Arrived in time to wander the Saturday market

- Then it rained.

- Took Mom around to all my usual stops - the cioccolateria, enoteca (wine shop), leather shop, fruit cave, etc. and introduced her to the shopkeepers

- Lunch at Bar Sport - Pear & Pecorino Salad - YUM!

- Met up with a schoolmate, and made plans for supper

- Helped Mom spend too much money on leather goods - including a duffle bag - hmm shopping time?

- Witnessed Mom parking on a very steep hill - and then successfully starting the car again

- Appetizers at Tuscher cafe with Sangria

- Supper at Mario's - BEST tiramisu around

- CUTEST hotel room. Charming little Victorian style room. Amazing breakfast.

- In the morning we drove out to the monastery - worth having a car on a cold/rainy day!

- Drove to Florence...

Drive to Florence was a breeze. Finding our way into the city... not so much. No map. Got lost. Stupid one way streets and street signs in useless spots. Ready to ditch the car. Found the rental drop off spot... closed on Sundays. Extra 20 euros to drop off outside of office hours. Time for retail therapy.

Greece - Athens & the Islands

Oh how I love Greek food. Souvlaki, salad, potatoes, lamb, moussaka, tzatziki... MMMM YUM! What a nice break from Italian cuisine. We arrived in Athens around noon on Sunday, checked in to our hostel, and discovered most archeological sites were free on Sundays, so we hurried out to soak in as much as we could. First thing we noticed? It is hot in Greece. Oh we had gorgeous weather for our four days. Sunday we only had time for the Athenian Agora, but it was really cool to see. For lunch we ate pork souvlaki and greek salad. Afterwards we wandered up to the Parliament buildings, and strolled through the National Park until it closed. We were followed by a overly friendly mutt, and found turtles in the main pond! For supper we went to a restaurant recommended by someone working at the hostel and it was.... interesting. Not the typical Greek cuisine we were expecting. It was good, nonetheless, and here we were first introduced to "dessert is on the house". Attempts to explain Mom's gluten "allergy" was an adventure all on it's own. Our waiter came running to stop mom from tasting the dessert saying it was no good for her, but returned with a special dish just for her. How kind!

Monday in Athens - we went up to the Acropolis and saw the Parthenon, Athena Nike, Erychthium, Odeum of Herodes, and the Theatre of Dionysos. Afterwards we picked up ingredients for a picnic lunch and dined in the National Gardens. Our attempts to find a supermarket with slices of meat and cheese proved very difficult. We wandered through the streets, finding many bakeries along the way, but no markets. What we found instead was a rather large meat market - rows and rows of butchers. Dangerous place for two young women to be. Halfway in, we nearly ran to get out as we heard cat-calls and protected our purses. That was an adventure we did not need!! Eventually we gave up and ate our fresh, succulent strawberries, tomatoes, pistachios, and rice cakes without. Best tomatoes, strawberries, and pistachios I've ever tasted. Stomachs full we continued on to the Temple of Olympian Zeus, Hadrian's Arch, and the Olympic Stadium. For supper we joined our lovely British roommate and dined in a little more typical Greek restaurant. Here we ate lamb chops and greek salad while being serenaded with traditional Greek music. Dessert was fruit with cinnamon - again, on the house. Another thing we learned about dining in Greece - the waiters don't want you to leave! They won't bring your bill unless you ask persistently. But they are rather charming, so we really didn't mind.

Parthenon

Temple of Olympian Zeus

Tuesday and Wednesday were spent on a few of the closer Greek islands - Aegina and Agistri. When you think of Greek islands, you probably think of the Cyclades - you know, Santorni, Milos, etc. Those are much, much further away from Athens, and a little more difficult to get to in low season. Aegina and Agistri are two of the Saronic Gulf Islands, and lovely nonetheless. We spent our days exploring, wading in the sea, dining on seafood and pistachios, and soaking up the hot, hot sunshine. I even got sunburnt! A few of our adventures on the islands - enjoying sangria & pina colada by the sea, rescuing sea urchins from being stranded on the shore, taking a bus to the Temple of Afea, and riding the ferries (and taking sunset pictures!). Wednesday night we dressed up a little to enjoy our last night in Greece. For supper we ate stuffed vine leaves, moussaka, chicken and potatoes. Vine leaves are very similar to cabbage rolls, and moussaka is a layered dish with potatoes, meat, eggplant, cream and cheese. Very, very good! I think that one we'll need to try at home...

Moussaka

Thursday morning was our flight back to Rome, but the metro transit was on strike. Uh oh. So we trudged an extra 15 minutes to catch the express bus to the airport instead. Only plus side was being dropped off directly in front of our terminal. Tonight is our last night in Rome, and tomorrow we head off to Cortona. So expect a Rome post tomorrow (probably) and a Cortona post the day after (hopefully).

Saying Goodbye to Cortona

The last week in Cortona was a sad one. The realization that the last two months were coming to an end, and that we would be saying goodbye to this quaint town we'd come to call home. The week was spent finishing up exams, making arrangements for travel and shipping packages home, taking strolls around town soaking up as much of it as we could.

Mamma and Sergio - I'm going to miss these two!!

Helena - My Classics Professor

The Town Hall stepsp - The best place to chill on a warm day

Now Mom has arrived and we're in Greece. The sun is hot and the sights are awesome. You'll get a detailed post in a day or two.

A stroll through the Tuscan countryside

Monday turned out to be a gorgeous day, so I went on a stroll with a few others out to the Monastery. I'd heard great things about it being a beautiful, zen place, but didn't know how to find it myself. Even if we'd only had the walk, it would have been worth it. Tuscany is beautiful any time of year, but now that the trees are starting to bud... wow. The monastery itself is a charming hideaway, tucked into the hillside with a stream and waterfall flowing through the middle. Very, very beautiful...

Other highlights of our stroll: Walking past Jovanotti and his wife (if you don't know who that is, look him up on YouTube singing "Tutto l'amore che ho"). Celeb sighting in Cortona? Check. Although not too surprising since Jovanotti lives here. We also saw a monk bearing resemblance to Sean Connery, and passed a procession of worshippers chanting/praying. Very cool experience all in all. Think maybe I'll have to take Mom here when she comes...

Wine Tasting

This evening I went wine tasting in town with some girls from school. I didn't really know what to expect, as I had never been wine tasting before. But I knew that I wanted to potentially ship wine home, and I figured a wine tasting would be the best place to make those decisions. Before I came to Cortona, I had a preference for white wine. NOW, I prefer red.

At the tasting we tried three different red wines: Vino Nobile di Montelcino, Brunello di Montelcino, and a Cortona Syrah.

I'll be shipping home at least a bottle of each, that is for sure.

The other gain from this experience, is a vast new knowledge of wine and wine production.

Did you know?

• Italy, France and Spain are responsible for 70% of the world's production of wine
• The greatest region of wine production in Italy is the Veneto region - up by Venice
• The Veneto region produces as much wine as America, Chile and South Africa combined
• Wine should be opened hours prior to drinking it, in order to let it breathe. Wine reacts to its surroundings similar to a living, breathing being. It gets jet-lagged from being transported, and needs to absorb oxygen after being trapped in a wine bottle for years
• The flavour of a bottle of wine changes with time. After it opens, the flavour will be different within ten minutes
• A bottle of the same wine from two different years will taste very different from each other. The variance is due to weather conditions from year to year
• The same grape type can make a large variety of wine, based on the region and conditions it grows in
• Wine is not meant to be sipped alone. It's flavour is greatly enhanced by the food it is paired with
• And on and on and on....

All in all, the wine tasting was a great success. I would do it again in a heartbeat!

Nearing the end

4 days until my final paper is due.

6 days until my last exam.

7 days until I pack up and leave Cortona.

8 days until my Mom arrives.

32 days until I arrive back in Canada.

Total trip. 94 days. Would someone please explain to me where the time has gone?

As I slowly trudge through final papers and final exams, I realize that I'm reaching a milestone in this European adventure. By next weekend I'll be finished school for the semester, beginning my 6 month "summer vacation", and waiting for my Mom to arrive for our Mother-Daughter attack on Europe.

But FIRST. I must finish that paper. And study for final exams. Argh I hate this part.

But AFTER. A whirlwind three weeks of bonding time. Greece-Italy-Austria-Czech Republic-London-Home. I'm so excited!

Those infamous, elusive almond blossoms...

Finally, I found a way to capture these lovely trees on camera! I took a long stroll down the hill from Cortona to Camucia with my camera...

Venice & Carnevale

Friday morning Erin and I boarded a train for Florence, to squeeze in a little shopping before we met up with the rest of our schoolmates in Venice. She found herself a leather jacket (yay!) and I found a few souvenirs/gifts that I'd been looking for. We arrived in Venice around 3pm, and immediately began shopping for the perfect masks. To learn about the origin of Carnevale, click here. I found two that I absolutely LOVE! We wandered around some more, settled into our hostels, and then ventured back out for supper. Traditional Venetian cuisine (as you may have expected, it being a sea-front city) is seafood. We ate linguini with spider crab. YUM! Friday night was pretty quiet, as the main events of Carnevale didn't start until the following night.

Saturday morning, we slowly made our way through the streets of Venice, exploring the shops along the way. Venice is best known for it's masks and it's Murano glass... so shopping was a necessity. Upon arriving in the main square, I must admit I went a little camera happy... But how could I help myself with sights like these?

I also discovered how having a dSLR causes people to automatically assume you are a professional photographer. As I was making my rounds, snapping pictures of everything beautiful, I discovered these two:

And was approached afterwards by the non-costumed gentleman to ask for my card. My card? Yes, so he could get the picture from me... Luckily a friend of his had also captured the picture and we left it at that. However, it was a curious (and slightly ego boosting) encounter.

Shortly before dinner we all headed back to our respective hostels, donned our fancier masks and dolled up for the evening. Pizza for supper, and a night of enjoying Venice festivities! This included more masquerades around San Marco square, concerts, and plenty of partying. The thing about Venice at night (as we discovered) is that it is MUCH colder... I suppose that may be due to the water. Throughout the evening I managed to earn the nickname "Little Orphan Annie". Why? I have no idea, but how could you resist such a cute face...

Sunday morning, we HAD planned to meet up back in San Marco square, where the main festivities took place. Little did we know that Sunday had even MORE celebrations than did Saturday. Not exactly a prime meeting place, we discovered it was a little like searching for a needle in a haystack. After playing "sardines" - literally (and not the version of hide and seek) for a solid hour, we gave up and headed to the train station. Luckily, most of our group had planned on the same train time and I had found my way back with around 5 minutes to spare. I'd say the entire morning counted as one of those adventures I could have gone without.

The last adventure of the weekend, and probably one of the highlights, was arriving in Camucia to see Sergio waiting.

Not for us though. Contrary to popular belief.

But, he was kind enough to offer that we could squeeze (all four of us) into the backseat of his little Mr. Bean car. Our other options were to call a taxi or wait for the bus. So we all piled in, and got very familiar with each other. Haha. The first thing I did upon arriving in the hostel was microwave my leftovers. Somehow in the rush between trains and figuring out how to get home, I forgot to eat between 10:30 am and 6 pm. Kyra was one cranky bear, at least on the inside.

Pompeii/Herculaneum

Weather forecasts in Italy are never accurate. For example... right now my forecast says that it is raining in Cortona. Last I checked it was sunny. Other days it will say the temperature high will be +8, but it will actually be +16. Both of these examples are positive discrepancies, and I really can not complain. In other cases, the forecast will be for sun, and it will pour.

Darn rain...

Such is the case in Pompeii this past weekend. I wondered if maybe it would rain, so I packed my umbrella. But then when we arrived, it was sunny! So I left my umbrella in my backpack... on the bus. Of course it would rain. It is rather difficult to use your fancy camera in the rain. BUT! I still managed to capture much of the excavated city.

Pompeii and Herculaneum are cities "frozen in time" from the classical world. In 79 AD, Mt. Vesuvius erupted and buried Pompeii in lava and Herculaneum in boiling mud flow. The only survivors were those who fled the cities days in advance. A few centuries ago, these cities were partially excavated. This provides us with a snapshot of what life was like back then. Compared to the ruins in Rome, these provide us with a much better idea of Roman cities.

We wandered through the Triangular Forum - basically the entertainment center of Pompeii, the Roman Forum - the political center of Pompeii, the House of the Faun, the Forum Baths, and the Villa of Mysteries. A key thing about Pompeii is that it wasn't originally Roman. First it was an indigenous city of Samnites, then it became a Roman colony and much of the architecture was "Romanized" to show this.

Theatre in the Triangular Forum

Stepping stones to cross streets - to avoid getting your feet dirty!

The Capitoleum and Mt. Vesuvius

Almond Blossoms in the Forum

Wall Painting inside the Villa of Mysteries

One of my favourite things about Pompeii/Herculaneum? The Kyra-sized doors. I didn't have to duck when everyone else did! Haha!

Our hotel for the night had an amazing view of the sea, and the supper was amazing also. We got roasted potatoes! Oh YUM! Highlights: "I want to feed the fish! How do I say that? Manga pesca?" "No Erin, I think that means you want to eat the fish."

Mt. Vesuvius over the Tyrrenhian Sea

Herculaneum ended up having gorgeous weather. Of course this would be the day I put my umbrella in my purse. *Shakes head* Some of the major differences between Pompeii and Herculaneum (besides the weather): Pompeii was a working class town, Herculaneum was a vacation spot. Pompeii's forum has been excavated, Herculaneum's has not. Pompeii was covered in lava flow (meaning much greater damage to the city), Herculaneum was covered by mud flow (meaning some rooftops and wooden staircases have been preserved). In both cases the seafront was pushed back a km or two.

Here we saw more baths, the House of the Stag, some incredible wall paintings and floor mosaics.... and enjoyed an afternoon of SUNSHINE!

Enjoying the wall paintings in the House of the Stag

House of the Stag - View through the garden to where the sea used to be

Another Kyra sized door...

Herculaneum