St. Vitus, Prague
This post is not winning any headline contests. Per yesterday’s entry on Prague, I wanted to post a few additional photos of the St. Vitus cathedral, located up on the big castle hill in Prague.
But first, who is St. Vitus? According to Wikipedia, he is a Christian saint from Sicily (nice!), and is also considered the patron saint of actors, comedians, dancers, and … uhhh … epileptics. According to Wiki, “He is also said to protect against lightning strikes, animal attacks and oversleeping, and is the patron saint of Bohemia.”
So, Bohemia … now we’re getting somewhere.
This is the most important church in Prague, designed in Gothic style (living in Europe has definitely improved my architectural vocabulary), and is by and far one of my favorite churches in Europe. I think right now, my favorite cathedral is still St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, but that’s kind of like saying your favorite food is chocolate cake. It’s just obvious (at least to me). Maybe at some point I’ll be more creative.
The present-day church is located where three holy buildings have historically been constructed for the dancing saint — with the founding of the current church, pictured below, in 1344. So, it’s wicked old, making it even more awesome.
Here are some more outdoor and indoor pics, including some from our climb to the top (others included in last Prague post).
Bratislava: A nice little Eastern European day trip
Jeff and I went to Bratislava on a whim (sort of), and I’m glad we did. It’s just about an hour train ride from Vienna, and here’s a fun fact: Bratislava, Slovakia, and Vienna, Austria, are the two closest national capitals in the world (source: my husband, probably dictating from a Rick Steves book).
I loved the city. It’s small and walkable, mostly recovered from its communist past, with its wear and tear a bit more evident on a lot of buildings compared to its more “posh” neighbors. But, I like that because it feels a little bit more real to me. The city is not touristy, it is cheap (we paid about 40 Euros per night for our bed and breakfast), it is colorful (both the buildings and the apparent art scene), and the food is really good. Needless to say, I would recommend this as a day trip. I’m sure it’s even more beautiful in the summer with a blue sky, green trees, and an active main square. Plus, it sounds like even during the heavier tourist season, it’s still not a major destination — so it may offer a nice break from all the camera-toting crazies.
As an aside, what is with tourists using iPads as cameras? The pictures are terrible! And PS, you look ridiculous.
Regardless, here’s a really good blog post from our favorite travel writer about the city. Worth a read: Blooming Bratislava.
And here are a few (well, several) pics from our day there.
Jeff and Hans Christian Andersen. I made them hold hands. Big hands, Hans.
Rubberneck. According to Bratislava’s tourist website: “A unique Bratislava curiosity: no other city in the world has a statue emerging from a manhole. After Rubberneck had lost his head twice due to careless drivers city councillors decided to help him by erecting a road sign to warn drivers: another world-first…” (Source: http://visit.bratislava.sk/en/vismo/dokumenty2.asp?id_org=700014&id=1225&p1=3993).
Jeff and Rubberneck.
According to the city’s tourism site: “This statue commemorates a unique figure in Bratislava’s history. Not a statesmen, a sportsman or soldier: instead, the Schöner Naci, whose real name was Ignác Lamár, is remembered for being one of Bratislava’s social institutions. Born in 1897, he was famous for wandering the streets of the city, elegant in morning suit and top hat. He would frequently doff his hat to the ladies he passed and offer them flowers or a song.” (Source: http://visit.bratislava.sk/en/vismo/zobraz_dok.asp?id_org=700014&id_ktg=1037&p1=3993).
Napoleon’s Solider statue in the town square.
Here he is again, with more of the square in the background. I’d love to see this place in the summer.
Hey bear, raise the roof.
Random celebrity grills.
A run-down church. I’m pretty sure the doors were locked.
I push for wine.
Basically sums up my feelings about life.
Inspecting the beer for alcohol content.
Yum.
A nice cozy lunch and a break from the cold rain.
Shot of Bratislava Castle from town. It was such a nice, sunny day.
A glimpse of St. Martin’s Cathedral, the largest in Bratislava, known for the coronation of many rulers, including Maria Theresia — the only female ruler of the Habsburg dynasty.
Narrow roads.
Not entirely sure.
A perfectly safe-feeling rundown neighborhood.
Every town has a little ghetto.
LOVE this door. Slightly obsessed with European doorways.
Another random street without a person in sight. Don’t you love these captions? I just hate how the photos look so bare without any words to accompany them.
Closing in on the Cathedral. Unfortunately,the doors were locked when we arrived the first day, so we finally went inside Wednesday morning before we left.
Do you have the key to my angelic, alien TV heart?
Jeff with alien tower in the background.
St. Martin’s.
UFO tower.
After a 45-second elevator ride to the top of the UFO tower, you are offered a nice view from the bathroom.
You are also offered a nice view of the castle and cathedral from the open-air lookout tower. (This shot was taken before I realized I could leave the shutter open on my camera somewhat indefinitely. Oh well, still learning. Plus, Jeff was getting a little tired of me dorking around with the settings. So, we began our journey to the castle.).
Atop the UFO tower.
Heading across the bridge that connects the UFO lookout tower to the old town and essentially divides the city down the middle. It is rumored that this highway will eventually be built as a tunnel underground. If it’s anything like the Big Dig in Boston, it might be a few generations before the project is completed.
Heading to the castle…
Met a nice dog along the way.
Getting closer.
Closer.
There!
We had a wonderful and delicious dinner, but don’t recommend ordering the “headcheese.” Sounded good, as it was dressed with caramelized onions… not so much.
A miniature outdoor “van Gogh” exhibit.
And a monument dedicated to the rack of a female superhero. This one’s for you, Jeff. (Actually, I haven’t a clue what this is. Strange for what appears to be a residential courtyard).
Vienna Day 3: Just the two of us. Gold tableware. And procrastination.
As it turns out, I’m much more interested in blogging than doing my real job, which is about to rear its ugly head and bite me in the ass. Oh well. Here’s what will likely be my final post for the working week. I know all 25 of our readers will be sitting at the edges of their seats.
The Habsburgs (based in Austria and then later Prague) ruled a ton of central/eastern Europe for several hundred years (you can read about them here), and on Monday, Jeff and I toured part of their enormous palace in Vienna, which is now broken up into a number of museums. We opted for the silver/china, Queen SiSi, and Royal Apartments package tour.
I seriously almost never get sick of seeing how the royal once lived. It seems utterly excessive, but I can’t help but wish these palaces would open a camp for adults, where you could dress in old royal garb, sleep in freezing cold canopy beds, and tinkle in a pot for a couple days. Okay, so a lot of it really wasn’t so glamorous, but it would be really cool to be transported back just for a few hours — even as a fly on one of those gilded walls. I would, of course, also be interested in how the other 99.99999999 (“with a bar”) percent lived. I’d probably need to learn how to build a fire, but I could do it.
From the palace, we were finally able to get into the Stephansdom. Only took three tries! Fortunately, it is still a functioning church, unlike some we have toured. It was beautiful, but I had a hard time capturing a decent photo, even with my rad camera. I just was not feeling extremely patient.
We also walked inside the baroque St. Peter’s church. While I’m not a student of architecture, baroque to me has come to mean dripping with opulence, and also excessively … excessive. Certainly not humble, nor does it seem terribly holy to me. Oh, well. What else would tourists do without these grand sites?
More pics from day three below!
Next, we were off to Bratislava, Slovakia.
Outside of Habsburg Palace.
Cold, bored horses.
Palace staircase.
Some insane gold tableware, Habsburg silver collection.
Habsburg gold/silver collection.
Loved this plate. Mädchen mit Hund.
Small church we visited prior to entering the palace.
Inside of small church. Even the seemingly insignificant looking churches from the outside are more impressive than anything we have in the US.
Statue outside of palace.
Inside the baroque-style St. Peter’s Church. Ridiculous.
Had some tiny sandwiches at Trzesniewski.
So good.
And tiny beers. Pinky out!
After the tiny beers, we needed to use the public toilets.
And then we finally made it to Stephansdom, with the “Tupperware-colored” windows, as Rick Steves calls them.
Inside Stephansdom. I was having trouble getting a good shot of this church. From here, we warmed up with some hot chocolate, coffee and cake. And that pretty much concludes Vienna!
Vienna Day 2: Like Moths to a Flame
On the second day, the three of us started our day with yogurt, gouda, and some coffee we made at the apartment we rented.
As an aside on the apartment … We used Vacation Rentals by Owner to find it, and I think this is a great way to go if you’re staying somewhere for a few days — it just feels more homey, and it provides the option for making your own breakfast, especially if you enjoy real food and not just air-filled croissants and pastries. It was a nice place, with a kitchen and big bathroom, master bedroom, and big living area that included two twin beds. Aside from our flu-infested neighbors (who owned the place), and my mysterious case of the sniffles that appeared two days later, we were mostly satisfied. However, the owner was a little stingy with the toilet paper — TWO ROLLS ONLY! Very German for a French dude. Also, we needed 4 keys to get into the place. It was like Fort Knox, and I’m almost positive that in the event of a fire, we would all roast — because you also need the keys to GET OUT. I don’t understand this European way. In Cologne, we have no smoke detectors installed in our apartment, and I could literally lock someone into our pad.
Back to our day: first stop was the Hundertwasserhaus, a modern-art residence that sort of reminded me a bit of Gaudi architecture in Barcelona. Here we “made” a bunch of photos (we were too early for the tour), and took a scenic walk — featuring much graffiti — along the river to our next stop.
Next stop — Karlskirche, where we actually climbed the stairway to heaven. This was a beautiful church and an icon often used to represent the city. While there was some construction and renovation within the church, we were able to take advantage of the scaffolding to get really close to the artwork on the inner part of the dome. Beauteous!
Next up, some penguins and the gilded Strauss statue, where it was difficult to get a decent photo of this famous violinist due to the recently unfettered tour group. You would have thought Strauss was handing out gold bullion. I take offense when large groups swarm monuments. I know you paid a lot for your seat on that bus, but please get out of the way.
Then, we finally made it inside the Opera House. Here we learned the theater puts on about 70 (if memory serves me correctly) different shows per season, without ever performing the same show on consecutive nights (they’re performed in threes, I think). So, if you’re visiting for several days, you can go for a few nights in a row and see something new each time. On the tour, we also had a chance to see the debutantes practicing for the upcoming Wiener ball, where admission is 250 Euros, dress code is formal/coattails, and box seats cost around 18,500 Euros. I will watch it on TV, thanks.
After some delicious goulash and the local pancake specialty, we attempted to get inside Stephansdom for the second time. But, mass was taking place AGAIN. So we climbed 300+ stairs to the top of one of the towers. It was actually a pretty disappointing climb for all the effort since the stairs simply deposit you into a gift shop with dirty windows, offering a sub-par view.
Anyway – here are some photos from the day.
Outside Hundertwasserhaus.
Hundertwasserhaus.
Lindsay and random dog. I told her to bend over to get her in the shot, although it was actually unnecessary. I still think it’s cute!
Dog patiently waiting for owner.
I love how Lindsay’s outfit matches the graffiti in this picture!
Cool.
A penguin fountain that apparently only serves as a fountain when it’s above freezing.
Like moths to a flame.
The beautiful Karlskirche.
Stairway to heaven.
Actually, it was more like an elevator to heaven for the majority of the climb. Lindsay only appears to be relaxed in this picture.
Nice close-ups of the frescoes.
Rejected. Back to Earth he goes.
An inside shot of the cathedral.
Huge church doors.
Inside Vienna Opera House — lobby/main stairway.
The auditorium.
Opera house.
Inside opera house.
Attempting to get a shot of the debutantes practicing for the ball.
It took us a while to find a decent lunch stop since smoking is still allowed in most restaurants. In search of a non-smoking section, I found these ancient hieroglyphics of male/female anatomy.
Traditional goulash and dumplings!
My protein-rich lunch.
Feeling pleasantly plump.
Stephansdom – take 2. A view from the gift shop at the top of 300 stairs.
Stephansplatz. I love how the Dom reflects in the windows of this modern building.
Famous public restrooms. Jeff and I actually used them on day 3.
Of course, we ended the night with … cake! Rick told us to go here.
Treats.
Vienna Day 1: The Good Life
We just returned last night from a week in Vienna, Bratislava, and Prague. I will start with a recap of Vienna — day 1. I actually wrote this in notepad on the train from Vienna to Bratislava, so let’s blame any typos on that …
Vienna feels a lot like Paris to me with old, unique, and heavily decorated buildings everywhere you turn, lots of cafés, and wide streets (implemented to help prevent enemies from barricading the main thoroughfares — a best practice from the Parisians, actually).
Our good friend Lindsay was able to join us for a couple of days, as she was traveling to Europe for a wind energy conference (coincidentally, I type this as we pass a bunch of wind turbines on our train to Bratislava. Maybe they’re GE’s!).
Jeff and I arrived last Friday — Jeff from Budapest following a work trip, and I from Cologne (where else?). Lindsay joined us Saturday morning after a red-eye.
On our first day, we attempted and failed to time a tour of the Vienna Opera House, making our first real major stop the famous Cafe Sacher for sachertorte (pic below) and delicious, overpriced coffee (we girls got ours with egg rum). At least we have our priorities straight — coffee and chocolate! Jeff ordered some Turkish blend, which to me looked more like coffee-flavored sludge than a beverage, but it was appropriate due to some Turkish influence in Vienna.
From here, we went to the Schönbrunn Palace, the summer home of the royal Hapsburg family. The “Rococo”-style (baroque) palace has more than 1,400 rooms. We toured only 50, which was plenty. Audio guide in hand, we learned a lot of interesting facts that I don’t really remember. Having seen lots of residences/palaces in Europe (Versailles, Brühl, the Residence in Munich, Marksburg Castle, many in Copenhagen, etc), I have to say that I really liked the pace of this tour. It is here we learned of the Empress Elisabeth of Austria (known as “SiSi”), with her knee-length hair, who lived a tragic life that ended with her assassination by a file while visiting Italy. More on her later.
After visiting the “gardens,” which isn’t much to see on a freezing, rainy winter day (we used our imaginations), we went –shivering and wet — for some lunch. Aside from the bad chianti we were charged for, the pizza was huge and delicious, and I was able to dry my feet on the heater I was essentially sitting on. Did I mention my elf boots have sprung a leak?
From here we went to Stephansdom for the FIRST time, with our Rick Steve’s audio guide in hand. Stephansdom is Austria’s largest cathedral and literally sits in the center of Vienna. It is also “sehr alt” — built in the 12th century (groundbreaking in 1137, to be precise).
At this point in our journey, it had stopped raining, but the wind had picked up. The inside of the church was closed for mass (well, technically open for mass, but closed to camera-toting tourists), but we were able to at least complete the outside portion of Rick Steves’ audio tour (FYI, Rick has free downloadable tours for many cities and sites in Europe. Despite his often flowery speech, the tours are awesome!). From here, we walked /trained home, stopping for some chocolate on the way. Vienna, like almost ever other city in Europe (it seems), is known for sweets. This makes Jeff very happy.
Here are some day 1 photos! Enjoy. More on day 2 tomorrow.
Welcome, Lindsay. And a little view of our apartment rental.
Vienna town hall.
Jeff and Lindsay, the tour guides.
Candid!
Vienna Parliament. Nice scenery on our walk to the Opera House.
Looking surprised by something!
Listening to the Rick Steves’ walking tour of Vienna outside of the Opera House. Unfortunately, no tour today.
Cafe Sacher. That is some strong Turkish coffee!
Sacher torte and delightful coffee-rum beverage.
Wet tour of the gardens. Pic from Jeff’s phone.
Hiking up big hill to the top of the Schönbrunn Palace gardens. (Pic from Jeff’s phone, so it’s a little grainy).
Inside palace in the only location we were allowed to take pictures.
Beautiful building in Schönbrunn Palace gardens. We were tempted by the overpriced (and warm) cafe inside, but resisted.
Cute umbrella purchased for the day.
View of palace from the hill. It was well worth the hike.
I’m not sure that’s enough, Lindsay.
Outside of Stephansdom, Vienna.
Another shot of the massive, gothic cathedral.
The one inside shot we could get during mass — and our first attempt of an inside tour.
Late-night candy stop!
The main canals, bike paths, and coffee shops of Amsterdam
Jeff and I took the train to Amsterdam in mid-November. It was just about a 3-hour journey, which makes it a shame it took us so long to get there.
Amsterdam is a colorful city in many ways: the flower markets and tulips, the streets and street signs, the doorways and bikes, and the people themselves. It is also a fast-paced city, with danger seeming to lurk at every corner, especially for those with a limited attention span and deficient ability to focus. Fortunately, I am still alive to tell the tale.
In stark comparison to the orderly ways of German drivers, pedestrians, and cyclists, the Amsterdam motto just seems to be “Accelerate when you can and go where you fit.” So, yes, you may be on a sidewalk, but beware — cars will go there. Also, like here in Cologne, the trains/”trams” ride alongside traffic in the streets but in places you don’t always expect. So, watch out!
Similar to Venice and Bruges (two of my favorite places), Amsterdam is a city with an elaborate canal system, built up with beautiful, narrow homes that are essentially soldered together one after the other. The city is also known more for its museums, art, and history than its huge buildings and monuments of architectural grandeur. But we all know what it’s most notorious for…and, while we obviously did not indulge in that, its presence was known to anyone with their olfactory senses in tact.
And a tour of the Red Light district was definitely in the top half of my list, along with Van Gogh museum (forgot the exact name) and the Anne Frank house (how cultural we are!). What wasn’t on my list, but that we greatly enjoyed included: a comedy show (in English), Indian food (the #2 restaurant in Amsterdam), and the Sex Museum. Yes, I’ll admit it, we went to the Sex Museum. But, it is an actual museum with educational significance, not a novelty shop. There were plenty of the latter elsewhere.
Here are some photos from the trip, more or less summarizing the experience.
Bikes, Bikes, Bikes
Here is a parking garage … for bikes!
Oh, so very Dutch.
Standing on the back of dad’s bike while talking on a cell phone. How very safe, indeed.
Canal Houses and House Boats
Canal homes and a houseboat.
Canal shot
Canal homes. These really beg for captions, don’t they?
And another…how cool.
And another one…
Houseboat and potted plants. Are you beginning to feel like you’re reading a children’s book?
Canal homes and a houseboat.
Coffee Shops
Seeds on every corner.
Oooh, dying for a reservation!
In case you had any questions.
Love the signage.
Self-explanatory.
Self-explanatory.
Street of temptation.
I love the guy who has caught a glimpse of me from inside the window.
Pancakes and cheese wheels! Oh, and Dutch apple pie.
That is a pancake with bacon!
Buying in bulk?
Cheese wheels bigger than your head.
Opened the trip with some Dutch apple pie!
Last day of pancakes. We had one a day.
So, this is not a pancake, but it is really amazing local food. Peas, bacon and an assortment of pickled items. Strange how amazingly delicious this was.
Cool Doorways and entrances
I want this door on my next home.
I almost fell into about a dozen of these.
Interesting church entrance.
The Anne Frank House
Waiting in the 1+ hour line. I love the expressions on people’s faces.
An amazing and somber place. In walking the floors of the home, you realize how absolutely impossible it must have been to keep quiet.
A view across the canal, opposite the Anne Frank House.
A view of Anne Frank’s house at night. Notice the blackened windows. This was required to help avoid/prevent air strikes at night.
And on a more positive note: flower shops!
Colorful flower markets right outside of our rented apartment. We purchased some bulbs. I’ll update you on the progress of actually turning them into flowers.
In short, Amsterdam was fantastic. Go there — explore, visit museums, eat pancakes.
Holy cow! An update.
So, we’ve been delinquent in posting. I guess you can say we’ve been busy, or not. Busy in Germany is different than “busy” was in the U.S. Some days, I honestly am at a loss for where the time has gone. Every day I spend at least 15 minutes translating. But, the remaining 23 hours and 45 minutes … I don’t know. Work, feeding, climbing up and down the stairs between our apartment and the laundry room, walking meine hunde.
The intent of this post is to serve as a brief update and launching board for the rebirth of our blog. And it’s mostly for family because certainly, no one else cares.
Ready?? Here are some bullets:
- In late July, Jeff and I visited Brussels, Belgium, and Bruges, Belgium. We rented a car and dragged the dogs along. I am honestly surprised Kaya survived the journey. Bruges was my absolute favorite, and it’s true what “they” say about Belgian beer and chocolate (and waffles). They don’t get any better. But what they don’t say is that people in Brussels are kind of mean. I don’t know — maybe it’s just me. I will elaborate more in the post (with pictures) to come!
- In late August, I went home to Massachusetts to see my family. My sister was (but no longer is) at home, so it was nice to be back in the house — all four of us. The entire Eckelkamp clan. In the process, I also got to spend some quality time with friends and family. Jeff stayed in Cologne/Europe because he had to work.
- Upon returning, we didn’t do much traveling. We’re actually kind of bad at that. I worked a lot, in preparation for a conference in September. In the meantime, B-rock came to visit for a design show, and we enjoyed some fine local cuisine/Kölsch and then ventured off to Paris. I would say the highlight of Paris was visiting the Moulin Rouge district. The “lowlight” was when I almost passed out in a Paris subway station whilst alone. That was scary. Pictures and a detailed post to come (but not of the two items I just mentioned).
- Damn. I just realized I still haven’t posted pics of Rome. I’ll get around to that too.
- The final summer months were quite enjoyable here in Cologne. The canine-related harassment has mostly stopped; however, I did encounter some old hags in the park who completely ridiculed me for my lack of German, after saying God-knows what about the dogs (“you speak ONLY English…bahahahaha….bahahahah….askfjal;ksjfalskdjfasljfalskf….”). I cried, and then studied German for about 4 hours. Other than that, we’ve enjoyed numerous cookouts in the park with our new Cologne friends. I am forever grateful for the amazing people in this city. Such a community!
- On the topic of Deutsche-lernen, Jeff and I have hired a tutor. Her name is Eva (pronounced Ay-vah), and she’s great. We meet once a week for an hour over Skype. She assigns homework in hopes that we’ll actually spread it out over the course of the week so the German language slowly seeps into our obstinate English-speaking brains. I tend to do a crash course during the three hours leading up to my weekly lesson, but I’m still learning … something. “Ich spreche ein bisschen Deutsch.” Ja. Put that in your Google translate.
- In September, I headed back to the U.S. for a client conference. I coupled a trip to Destin, FL, to visit Miss Stina, and then stayed an extra weekend to hang with Megan (who flew in from Louisville) and some local friends who I hadn’t seen in a long time. In addition to acting like a complete glutton, we also added one cultural stop — Newseum — a cool (you guessed it) “news museum” in DC. Very expensive to get in, but also extremely interesting. My favorite was the World Trade Center exhibit.
- Now – back in Deutschland. Getting reacquainted with the time zone and trying to get organized for a few days of traveling next week. We’re thinking maybe Prague and Vienna, or Vienna and Munich. We’ll see. We’ll probably end up in Lisbon or somewhere completely different.
That’s all for now. Time to get some work done. More travel and random posts to come. My motivation is reborn.
Until next time…
Auf Wiedersehen!
Hello, Sorrento (or, this post could also be called “The dogs of Sorrento”)
Sorry for the dumb rhyming titles. I just can’t resist.
To begin where I left off, we arrived in Sorrento following our soaking wet (but not at all wild) adventure in Pompeii. Jeff joked that we’d be walking the “only 4 kilometers” to our bed and breakfast. “It’s not that far,” he said. Deadpan as usual. I kind of rolled my eyes and contemplated a cab. But, Jeff — a man who can tell an innocent fib with a masterful poker face — didn’t let me down. Or should I say Pasquale did not let us down. Our bed and breakfast host, with a quintessential Italian name, picked us up by the train station in Sorrento and drove us up (and I mean up) the narrow, winding road to our bed and breakfast.
Villa Monica B&B — by far my favorite B&B yet. An actual house with several rooms, a shared living/play area, full kitchen, and a view you can’t beat.
Seriously. This is our view.
Pasquale recommended we eat that evening at a restaurant up the hill — a place where only the locals go because tourists don’t like to trek that far up the hill. And the cabs in this town are ridiculously expensive — even criminal, according to Pasquale. The food was outstanding — best calamari of my life. We arrived at around 7:30 and were the only ones in the restaurant. According to our host, Italians eat late. And low and behold, the place really started to fill up as we were leaving.
I don’t have a pic of the restaurant, but here I am with the man who recommended it. Pasquale, himself.
The following day, we stuffed ourselves on the B&B’s breakfast, which included homemade croissants, and then opted to spend the sunshiny day in town (well, after we discovered the bus line to Amalfi was WAY too long). Here are some photos from the day.
The lemons here are the size of your head and are literally everywhere.
The lemons are used to make Limoncello. A recipe here. I’m actually making some right now.
Random building, Sorrento.
Wouldn’t be Italy without some scooters.
A very pretty, but random, building, Sorrento.
Mmmm…pig.
This about sums it up — Jeff dutifully planning, Allison relaxing and enjoying her coffee. (Also, I love that the book includes Italian, French and German. I think I know more Italian than German just from … well, caring really.)
Jeff and a random Roman wall. There are lots of these … everywhere. Those Romans were pretty busy.
Pretty church and blue skies.
What a perfect day for a wedding!
I stared at this dog for a long time, waiting to see his chest move for fear he was dead. He was alive, but just snoozing on a very touristy street full of t-shirt, leather and limoncello shops. Later, we saw him eating out of an open box of half-eaten pizza.
I absolutely fell in love with this dog, who waited patiently for her owner at the entrance of a supermarket. Good girl! She sort of looks like Breezy … and she let me pet her. In love.
And just one more cutie. Can’t resist European dogs.
Look at this water. Don’t you just want to dive in?! Also, not much in the way of “beaches” in Sorrento. More docks where you can rent a chair, sort of like sitting poolside. The water is as clear as pool water, that’s for sure.
Awww, and a pretty standard “self” portrait.
We had a great day in sunny Sorrento. I find people in Italy to be extremely friendly, but in Sorrento, they are just over the top. And almost everyone speaks English (and German and French and …) and is more than willing to serve you, sell to you, and guide you. It feels a little less “authentic” in some ways than, say, Naples, because it is certainly more of a resort town. However, definitely worth the visit.
Our one souvenir purchase was Limonoro-brand Limoncello — the best. In fact, I am drinking some right now, and it’s inspired me to learn how to make it.
From Sorrento, we moved onto the Amalfi Coast for a day trip — to the towns of Amalfi and Positano. Will blog about that later.
Ciao for now.
Pompeii. Hey.
Finally. Almost a month later, I bring you some photos and commentary from our next Italia stop — Pompeii.
From Naples, we stuffed ourselves like sardines onto the Circumvesuviana commuter train to Sorrento. It was one of those situations when you think there’s absolutely NOT room left for even one toy poodle, but then two big Americans manage to contort their bodies to squeeze on board — complete with two pieces of luggage. It was not pretty. I have not been so crowded since the womb.
We initially planned to just get to Sorrento, unpack our belongings, and then map out our next three days visiting Pompeii and the Amalfi Coast. But once we found ourselves surrounded by four severely obnoxious backpacking (American) tourists, who dropped the f-bomb like a standard article, we opted to get off early in Pompeii, which is about halfway between Naples and Sorrento, despite the downpour. I also failed to mention the creeper who kept touching me and my belongings. That pushed me over the edge. Well, at least out the door. Here are some photos from the day.
Pompeii in the rain.
When Vesuvius erupted, people’s bodies were covered in ash, eventually leaving hollowed out fossils. These were later filled in with cement (or something like it) to show the exact position people died in. Creepy, but also cool.
I am so mature.
Every day, the Romans would flood the streets to clean them, leaving these rocks so people could cross without wetting their feet. Came in handy for us as well.
A street in Pompeii. On the right you can see what looks like a counter. This was actually a fast-food joint. People would go out to eat because homes were too small to cook in. Kind of neat. Thanks, Rick Steves, for the fun facts!
Completely drenched, we opted for some grossly overpriced pizza and vino to get in from the cold. My toes were numb. The wine helped a little.
I almost forgot. Part of the basilica, which was actually the Roman courthouse. This later became the basic footprint for many later Roman churches. (I think that’s me standing in the picture, covering myself and my soaked purse with Jeff’s raincoat. What a good husband.)
That’s it for Pompeii. I think this could typically be a wonderful day trip, but we only stayed inside the remains for 90 minutes, max. The rain was literally falling sideways, making the whole experience slightly less appealing. All in all, though, extremely cool. I always marvel at “wicked old” stuff, finding it completely fascinating to imagine how people lived thousands of years ago. We even managed to find what I think was an old toilet, making the trip complete. 🙂
From there, we headed off to Sorrento, where we’d soon meet the coolest bed and breakfast owner ever. Stay tuned.
As a little travel tip — Rick Steves provides wonderful free audiocasts of many of these tourist attractions. We listened to his Pompeii podcast later since managing the rain, umbrellas and camera was enough. But I highly recommend it.
catching up
sorry for the absence. i know everyone missed my writing with bad grammar, poor punctuation and lack of capital letters. but i’m back now. i’ll attempt to pick up where i left off.
my last post concerned me getting stuck in oslo, norway with a busted airplane. that was fine, we got to tour oslo a little and sample some of the 14 dollar (US) beers. it was delicious but yikes. we sampled some of the local fare which was quite delicious also. i couldn’t resist what i ordered, it was called “norwegian meat” plate or platter. the next question was, “one piece of ‘meat’ or two”? as a general rule with mystery meat in foreign lands, go big… so… two please. my colleague ordered the “whale meat” plate. we were both very curious about what was going to show up when you order whale meat but alas, they were fresh out of the whale. must be a popular item. durn. my food:
norwegian meat plate
the brown item in the foreground with the onions on it is the meat. i’m pretty sure it was hamburger with brown gravy. kind of like a salisbury steak i guess. it was good though. after the food we did a little more walking. there are a couple of actual ski-jumps in oslo, a lot of government buildings, a few palaces, a big train station and a really cool opera house. the opera house is designed so that you can walk all over it. and i mean literally over it, the sides are ramps which lead you to the top. we didn’t actually go in the opera house but we did wander on it. pretty neat.
unfortunately, our hotel was out by the airport which was a 45 minute bus ride away. so, after food and touring it was back on the bus. our plane got fixed the following day and we were tasked with taking it to barcelona to put it back in service. we did so and then were released to go home. it was a good trip.
A European Adventure 