Day 5 - Rome and the Vatican

We start early and hit the Vatican at 8am before any tourists show up. Fortunately for us, there were only maybe4 or 5 people ahead of us to get into St. Peter's and it was a breeze getting in. Had to go through the usual metal detector... beep beep.



No self respecting Pollack would be in Rome and NOT visit the tomb of Pope John Paul II. I'm not usually one to get emotional, but just being there had an effect on me.








The walk up to the top of St. Peter's Cupola was an experience unto itself. I took the elevator and ***** took the stairs, but little did I know, the elevator would only take me as far as the roof terrace under the dome. But the walk up the angled staircase that winds itself around the dome is just out of this world. Spectacular views of the whole city from the top.



Being early to the Vatican will guarantee you at least one of the lineups being short. The Vatican Museums, including the Sistine Chapel are an absolute must for the Roman traveller, so we had to wait it out and stand in line for the second part of our Vatican excursion.



There was actually very little opportunity for taking pictures inside the Museums, but whenever I got a chance to sneak one in without hearing "NO FOTO!" from a guard, I did. One particular masterpiece that really blew me away, including the ridiculous detail on the scuplted fabrics.



The whole day was spent walking, with the exception of the early morning metro ride out to the Vatican, but at this point having walked clear across Paris earlier, I was completely accustomed to walking, and at a brisk pace too. One of the stops after visiting His Holiness was the Spanish Steps. There was a very patriotic display of music and such and included some Italian youth in the midst of song right next to us.



The Pantheon wasn't something that struck me as a "must see" attraction of Rome, but having seen it up close and in person, I don't regret it one bit. The thing is amazing and really highlights the engineering skill the Romans posessed in their time.



Many a movie was filmed in the Piazza Navona, and it was a really breathtaking experience walking around all of the fountains and sculptures that can be found in the square. I can say one thing.. the Brazillians sure know how to pick a spot for their Embassy.



What last vestiges of adventure that can be salvaged from this trip will have to happen tomorrow. Not sure about how to spend the last day in Roma yet, but it would be nice to see the Aqueducts...

More tomorrow.

Day 4 - Venice to Rome

On the 4th day, we traded in our 1500h departing tickets for 1030h departing tickets because Venice turned out to be fairly well covered the previous day and to me, the smells of Venice overwhelmed the sights of venice. Not to sound like a total complainer, but to quote some guy... I came, I saw, I conquered. We hop on a Eurostar Italia train to Rome and arrive just after 3pm.

Before I show Rome, here's a shot of the courtyard from our room in Venice.



After a little bit of wandering around, we find our resting place for the night - the Hostel Roma 2000 which was in a great location within about 5 minutes walking distance of the Roma Termini station. Right after we check in at a Hostel in Rome, just 50m down the street, we hit the Santa Maria Majorre church a delight in its majestic wonder.





And a short walk later, the Colloseum. I had always envisioned this thing differently. I can't really put my finger on it, but the thing is bigger than I expected. A shiny white roof that retracts and we got ourselves a football stadium.









I would hate to think that one of these days, some idiot is going to consider putting up a Costco here would be a good financial move and bulldoze all of this priceless antiquity to the ground.







At the time of the visit, I had absolutely no idea what this thing was. The Wiki later told me that this is the monument to the late great Vittorio Emanuele II, the first king of a united Italy. I think he was an important figure because the monument is absolutley huge.



By this time of day, hunger is serisouly starting to set in and even a McDonalds would have been good (someone slap me for saying that). But what better place in the world to get hungry in than Rome. So we set out on a quest to find something Roman to eat, and not looking like it catered to tourists. And then, completely by accident, I mean COMPLETELY by accident, we come across the Trevi Fountain. Just taking some back streets and gazing into trattorias, we find this gem. The Trevi Fountain was always meant to be a stop, but to just walk into the Piazza Trevi and see the thing in a completely unexpected manner is just a stroke of luck. I wish they sold Lotto 6/49 in Italy. Needless to say, I tossed in a coin. Ms. Hepburn would have been proud.



So this makes three major European capitals in four days. The ambitious itinerary is still on track, although the feet are starting to hurt in a kinda chronic way.

By the way, I've seen lots of hits being added to the hit counter, but no one is making themselves known. Leave a comment!!

Day 5 - The Vatican

Day 3 - Venice

After overnighting in a bar in Milan due to unforseen train reservation issues, we head for Venice at 6am and arrive just after 9am. Milan was nice in the dark and the cab drivers seemed unusually honest.



Wasting no time, we head straight for the Piazza San Marco and the Basilica. I can see why Venice has its charms. The architecture, the narrow winding alleys, the smells, the history. Some photos of various interesting sights along our walk. Did I mention the smells?









There is one thing that just keeps hitting me in Venice. It appears as though they have a wee bit of a pigeon infestation problem. Those flying rats are just everywhere and all of the buildings have attached landing "deterrents" on everywhich part could potentially be a roost. But of course, Piazza San Marco wouldn't be Piazza San Marco without the horde of pigeons.





We wound up staying at a place called the Dimora Serenissima which seemed like a great place, except they told us that our room is actually in a different building a short walk away. Well, short walk turned into about 20 minutes, but the place was very quiet and clean. I think the attendant mentioned that we were staying in the dormitory of the Accademia Di San marco. She didn't say it was right beside a working prison though.

Tomorrow, Rome.

Days 1 and 2 - Paris

The train arrived in Paris around 4 in the afternoon so we quickly head out to look for the Hotel that ***** booked. Turns out that for the low low price of around $113, you get a fairly decent room with a private bath but no shower. So here's this big bathtub, and me without my rubber ducky. Decent view of the street.



I think its implied that you nudge your way out of a parking spot in paris...



There definitely is something romantic about Paris, or gay Pareee. We didn't come across the masses of smooching couples, but romantic nonetheless. I could definitely see myself escorting that special someone around the streets of Paris one day.

I read in some travel book that the Louvre is open in the evening for one day out of the week and it said that day of the week was Monday. Well that book is stupid. I found out that The Louvre is open Wednesday evenings and NOT MONDAY EVENINGS. GRRRR.

Anyway, the Louvre-less evening becomes a walk around town starting with the:

Notre Dame Cathedral


The Louvre (Damn travel book!)


The Arche de Triomphe


The Eiffel Tower





It was a really friggen long walk but we managed to see all of these.. from the outside anyway.

The food situation was satisfied with a visit to some snappy little Bistro just 50m away from the Eiffel Tower. Whoever said that French waiters were assholes has obviously never met Gaston, our waiter at said little Bistro. He was actually a nice guy and seemed helpful in suggesting ***** try the steak tartar. Once I told ***** what it was, he changed his mind. I think we missed the big strobe light show on the Eiffel Tower because in mid bite, I saw the flashes of light reflecting off the adjacent buildings but we didn't have a direct view of the tower... so poo!

Day 2 was a little lighter with a trip out to Montmartre to see the Basilique du Sacré-Cœur. No, I didn't run into Amelie while I was there but I neglected to take a photo of one of the last original "metropolitain" metro entrances still in existence in Paris. Oh well, here's some shots of the morning's highlights.







Along with a pleasant walk up the cramped stairs to the dome with the Eiffel Tower in the distance.



A short metro ride later, we went to see the Grande Arche de la Defence (an eyesore in my humble opinion)



Unfortunately, we did not see the insides of many of these places, but for 22 hours in Paris, it`s good enough.

I would have added more pictures and better descriptions, but this stupid french keyboard has the letters rearranged and the uploading takes too long.

Day 3 will take us to Venice with a trip on the fabled TGV.

Day 1 - London

So I arrive in London early in the morning after sweating through 8 hours of Air Transat's narrow seats. The window didn't make up for it as I was angled slightly to the left so as not to have my head touch the glass. Also, since droppiing his seat into recline the second the seatbelt light went off, I was forced to sniff the hair of the guy in front of me the whole flight. Fortunately for me, he used Pantene Pro V with conditioner before getting on the plane so it wasn't completely unpleasant.

The arrival at the circa 1962 Gatwick Airport (LGW) wasn't bad. There were some nice vistas of English countryside to take in before touching down which I thoroughly enjoyed. I did say to ***** that I was going to meet him at a specific time at the Starbucks in Victoria Station so I had to hurry. Customs was routine, and I could have sworn that the agent even asked me if I already had my Gatwick Express tickets, and if not he could sell me one.

With a little more research, I could have figured out that Southwest Trains runs service into Victoria Station for half the price of the Gatwick Express but with the steep steep penalty of it taking all of 3 minutes longer. Oh well, lesson learned, but I hit the Starbucks with about a minute to spare.

London was on a tight schedule. It was supposed to consist of a walk from Victoria Station to Waterloo Station, so on that walk we saw these wonderful sights.

Buckingham Palace


Westminster Abbey


Road Construction (I'm a Transportation Engineer... BACK OFF!)


Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament


and the London Eye among other things.


I have to admit that London buses are just so friggen cool.


In my panicked state of wanting to cram as much stuff as I could, I booked the Eurostar tunnel train to Paris for 1pm, which worked out to almost 6 hours in London for me. ***** arrived a day earlier and probably hooked up with some poor girl that never saw him coming.



The train was ridiculously fast, which was kind of a thrill for me. Technology just blows me away and trains (I am not a train geek) fascinate me. I had a train set when I was a kid, shoot me. We shared a booth type of seating arrangement with a couple from the Midlands heading to paris for a few days. I hope the girl wasn't too jealous since I fell asleep in the seat and my head somehow wound up on her boyfriend's shoulder. I am not gay. He wasn't my type anyway.

Day 2 - Paris... Stay Tuned