Roma Italia

I fell in love. Sorry Mom, I'm not coming home...I'm just going to live here. Okay?

Now there are pictures! Enjoy. I'll highlight what we've done and seen in the past few days anyways, along with a few Did You Knows?





We saw the Colosseum - wow - it is absolutely fabulous, hard to believe that it is right in front of you when you are there. We took a guided tour, and wandered around with our jaws on the floor. This was the ultimate hotspot of ancient Rome - the site of the gladiator games. Did you know that the Romans invented cement? Following this discovery they began to build domes and curved walls. We also saw the Palatino & Roman Forum - another guided tour. This is where 2 million people lived in ancient Rome, and also where Julius Cesear walked the streets and was stabbed 60 times. Also where Augustus ruled after proving his worth as a brilliant military general. Did you know that the water system they built and used is the same one used today to feed all the water fountains around Rome? This has saved us at least 20 euros on water so far. The fountains are all around Rome, and you just fill up your water bottle whenever you find one. They were unmatchable in their engineering, we are unable to recreate a Roman Bathhouse - even when we use the same materials and/or highly educated engineers of our time. We also saw the Vatican City - it is its own country with its own military, stamps and currency. We weren't originally planning on going there, but we are glad that we did. We saw Michaelangelo's ceiling in the Sistene Chapel, as well as his Last Judgement painting. Michaelangelo was into painting (and sculpting) nude people, but that was frowned upon by the pope. His Last Judgement painting has coverings painted over all the male body parts. We saw the Trevi Fountain - threw a coin and made a wish - and the Spanish Steps. So cool! Not the same in pictures, but still gorgeous.

Shopping, way too easy to spend money here. Big purchase of the day? An Italian Leather Jacket. Wow!!!

Our Hostel here was not as good as we hoped - a little dirty and broken, but for only two days we just made do. Other adventures in this fabulous city included messed up reservations and seeing a man attempt to jump off the monumento a vittorio emanuele - also known as the wedding cake building.

Happy Mother's Day!

Its Mother's Day, and I'm thinking of you Mom! Okay here's the update. Yesterday we were able to see the changing of the guard, which is pretty much a colorful, musical ceremony just before noon in front of the Buckingham Palace. Lots of uniformed guards with fluffy hats. Hehe. Later we went and saw the British Museum - I feel so cultured now. Inside were remains of the Pantheon, as well as some other ancient Greek artifacts. The list of what is inside goes on and on, so look it up if you're curious. We were most amused by the mummies. Later that evening we went out to a club called the Red Soho, and enjoyed some music. Very cute bartender!!

This morning we went to St. Pauls Cathedral for church. We weren't able to wander around inside, but our jaws were on the floor the whole service simply because we were surrounded by incredible architecture and art. Wow. We also found the original Shakespeare's Globe, but weren't able to go inside due to the preparation for a performance of Romeo and Juliet. Cool! Along the way we found a street performer with the most fascinating instrument I've ever seen. Still don't know what it is called...maybe you can tell me?

Shakespeare's Globe

What is it? Sounds beautiful, looks cool...

This is our last day in London. Tomorrow morning we hop on a flight to Rome, and we confess that we're worried about our ability to navigate a new city. We fared well in London, but we had a week to figure it out - and the underground took us everywhere. In Rome, we have been informed, it is easier to take the buses. Bus schedules/maps are a little more difficult. Later today we're hoping to find some shopping in Kings Cross, and then go out for supper and sample some traditional British cuisine. What exactly is traditional British cuisine you ask? We have no idea.

Cinnamon Latte's and Machiatto's

So I've discovered that the comments feed is not working, and I don't have the time to find a new template that will let you post comments - so just head on over to facebook and leave me messages anytime - I'm checking there regularly as well.

Yesterday we went to see Kensington Palace - and saw where Queen Victoria grew up before she moved to Buckingham Palace upon ascending to the throne at 18. The architecture and paintings were breathtaking. There is another word I find myself using to describe almost everything I see around here. Everything really is just breathtaking. We then wandered the streets and found a little cafe called Apostrophe and sat down with a Cinnamon Latte, Fruit tart, Machiatto and Triple Chocolate Muffin. Yes folks, we were wired about 30 seconds in. So Yummy!!

Madame Tussauds is a wax museum with lifelike wax figures of many famous stars, and some movie characters as well. Here's our encounter with the Stars:

I'm crossing my fingers that this will get a rise out of my Mother... She has tickets to go see the Lion King with my Dad later this year. But Colette and I scored last minute tickets to see the Lion King at the Lyceum Theatre where it has been playing for 10 years. It was an incredible show, and now I desperately want to go see more theatre performances. However, looking at my wallet, I think one will have to suffice this trip.

Today we went to Buckingham Palace to watch changing of the guards - which got rained out - maybe tomorrow. But on the way we stopped at St. James Palace. This was the official sovereign residence in the 1600's until Queen Victoria ascended to the throne and moved to Buckingham. Don't get confused; Victoria lived in Kensington before becoming Queen - not St. James. There are probably half a dozen palaces in London. Anyways, at St. James Palace, we got the chance to test out the theory that you cannot make the Palace Guards smile. I think he thought we were cute - or weird - because he definitely smiled, giggled, and made faces at us, as well as followed us with his eyes the whole time we were there. Success! We made the Palace Guard crack!!

London. Day 2

Okay, now that we've found an internet cafe with USB ports, I can do pictures! After breakfast, we headed to the grocery store to pick up some goods to make a picnic lunch. Ham and cheese croissants. mmm. Our plan for today included the London Tower Bridge, and finding an internet cafe (success!) We packed our lunch and boarded the London Underground. We're getting pretty good at navigating and travelling using this fascinating system. There are multiple train lines covering almost all of London. So easy! Makes the Edmonton LRT or the Calgary C-train look pretty sad. We walked across the London Tower Bridge, and found ourselves (accidently) at the London Tower. This seems to be how we find our way around most of the time. We just wander, and somehow find places that we'd wanted to see anyways. We bought passes and got a guided tour around the Tower of London. While there, we saw the Crown Jewels, and the Bell Tower where many prisoners were kept before they were beheaded. On our way back to the Underground Station, we stopped at the London Dungeons, which is sort of a guided tour/performance through some of London's more gruesome history - this included Jack the Ripper and Sweeny Todd. At the end there was a small freefall ride - not expected! You should have seen our faces... We giggled like mad for a solid 30 minutes, and boarded the Underground for Westminster Abbey. This time we were able to go inside - no cameras allowed though. WOW. It was so gorgeous, and we got to see the tombs of Queen Elizabeth I, Queen Mary of Scots, and a few others. Nearing starvation we headed back to the hostel to prepare a fabulous supper of bacon and eggs. I'm running low on internet time, so I think I'll add a few pictures and sign out until next time.

Left: London Tower Bridge, Right: London Tower (Its a castle - for those of you confused)

London. Day 1.

Our Adventures thus far:

1. Departure 8:00 pm(AB time)
Arrival 11:00 am(London time)
To save you from thinking too hard, the flight was approximately 8 hours long, and there is a 7 hour time difference between here and Edmonton. After we exited the plane, it took us around 3 hours to find our baggage, find our way out of the airport, find the appropriate train and purchase a week long pass, ride the train to our hostel's stop, and find our hostel. We arrived in London around 11 am, and arrrived at our hostel around 2pm.

2. We checked into our hostel, found our room, and discovered the only two remaining beds were the top bunks (of 3) on opposite sides of the wall. Poor unfortunate soul stuck in between us. We unloaded our packs, and left to wander the streets for a while.

3. I bet you guessed this, but we got lost pretty quickly. London is a pretty cool place to be lost in. Oh wait, I stand corrected. We were not lost, we simply took the scenic route. When I get the chance to upload some pictures, we'll show you what we've seen so far.

Countless buildings built decades ago

Westminster Abbey (only from the outside)

Trafalgar Square

Buckingham Palace

Big Ben

London Eye (from a distance - we want to ride it this week)

4. Successfully unlost, we discovered that as long as we can find the Tube Train (the subway) we know how to make it back to our hostel. Confident in our navigating skills (bad idea) we proceeded to wander further. We know some things we want to do, so we're beginning to make plans to do so.

5. Food time. We found a small grocery store fairly close to our hostel, and decided on potato skins. They looked yummy and easy. Problem? Our hostel kitchen has no oven. Microwaved potato skins it was. Our plan for the rest of the week includes sandwiches and picnics in the many parks we've found around London.

I'll try to edit this post (maybe tomorrow) with some pictures of the things we've seen. I want to show you what we've done! We're very proud of our ability to survive on our own (thus far).

Tomorrow!

Tomorrow is the big day! I'm still completely in shock that we're actually doing this. It has always been a dream of mine to travel...especially to Italy. But today I got thinking about the things I'm going to miss while I'm gone...

my family

my bed & pillow

home cooked meals

my cellphone

my ipod

Leia (our dog)

popcorn

Tim Hortons

Okay I'm only gone a month...but these are important things that I don't often go for long without! I'm NOT going to miss this ridiculous weather as we wait for Spring to decide it has arrived. Nor am I going to miss work. Not that I don't like work (for those coworkers that might be reading), but time off will prepare me for those long days of teaching lessons waiting for me in July.

Hopefully the weather will be gorgeous over there. Supposedly spring is one of the most beautiful times of the year in Europe. The picture at the top of this post is one I found of spring in Spain. I can't wait to see these things myself!

Forecast for London when we arrive?

Tuesday: Drizzly, cloudy, mild High of 18 C, Low of 9 C

Wednesday: More sun than cloud High of 19 C, Low of 10 C

Not too bad...I'll take it!

Itinerary/ 3 More Days

Monday is take off. I'm all packed and ready to go (I think)... so how do I spend my day? I have one more shift at the pool before Monday, so that leaves alot of time to do, well, anything! And yet my day is spent sleeping in, eating a healthy breakfast of bacon and eggs, tanning (I'm pretty dark now ...for me), lunch, and ellen degeneres. 1000th episode today, and I'm happy to say I have probably only watched a dozen or so. (Happy because if I had seen all 1000, that would have been 6 years of watching ellen faithfully every single weekday) She's very entertaining though. When I can, I look forward to that hour in my day. The day usually finishes off with me making supper (now that I'm done school) and relaxing with my family. Last night I watched Twilight with my mom...she's reading the series and needed to watch the movie. I've seen it 4 times now. :D Tonight I think I'm going to ride along with my Dad as he seeds for his seasonal boss. Brings back memories from growing up, riding along in the combine. I'm looking forward to some good quality Daddy/Daughter time.

I get distracted easily. Maybe it is just easy to write and keep writing. Half the reason for posting today, was to put up a basic itinerary for the trip. Let you in on how the month is going to be spent. (Approximately) We are trying not to have deadlines, because we want our trip to be as spontaneous and as "whatever we feel like doing" as possible. Even still, here is what our month looks like:

Monday May 4, 2009 - Boarding our flight to London at 7:50 at the Edmonton International Airport. We arrive in London at 11 am the next day. (Gotta love time changes)

Sunday May 10, 2009 - Flying to Rome, Italy. We're spending two (or so) days in Rome, taking the train to Florence (2 more days there) and then to Venice (again a few days).

May 16th or 17th - See what I mean about not knowing 100% our days? We're taking the train to the South of France, probably Nice, Cannes, Marseille, Avignon. Basically the French Riviera. This will probably be a few days shy of a week.

May 22nd or 23rd - Off to Spain. A few days in Barcelona, Valencia and Madrid.

May 28th (Probably) - Taking the train up to Paris. Last few days of our trip will be spent here.

May 30th - I fly home. Colette meets up with the group she will be taking a couple classes with. She returns home June 30th.

Again, I think Colette has a better idea of exact days, but we're trying not to restrain our time schedule too much. I hope this gives you a better idea of what's happening!