Naploi (Italy)
Capri
Pisa
Rome
Venice
Poprad (Slovakia)
Kiev (Ukraine)
Europe. Home of the Euro. Home of pizza. Home of really, really well-dressed people. Home to SO much history in such a small place. AND, home to something I wasn't aware of...
"There we were, Paris, France, on top of Notre Dame Cathedral having tea with Quasimodo, the chimeras and gargoyles, peering out over the city, playing 'I spy' for the famous landmarks. The tower, the arc de triomph, Champ d'Elysee, when what to my wondering eyes should appear...No! Yes! It couldn't be! But it was! A yellow and white sign nestled between two buildings in the distance in plain eniglish:
Subway!!!!
(For those who don't know about my obsession, know that a footlong Southwest Steak and Cheese on Italien herb and cheese bread will be my first meal when I return to Canada... then for a snack, a 7-11 slurpee with Sour Patch kids.... dang I miss those...)
So, there it was in the heart of Paris and equally placing Paris in my own heart. God bless the French. For this I will even forgive their invention of the beret.
Paris was a success.
To follow we flew to Rome to do as Romans do. Only without togas. I know, and I'm sorry.
What an impressive religious epicenter! At the Vatican, we saw where faithful Christians have prayed at the tomb of St. Peter for thousands of years; and at the Roman Colisseum we saw where thousands of years ago, Christians prayed to not get eaten alive by the savage lions...
Oh, and I was reminded of my theatre friends here too. See, Christians weren't the only wild cat fodder back then. In between gladiator matches, local actors would enter the ring to perform; only with this show, if the audience doesn't like your rendition 'Hamlet,' out come come the extremely hungry beasts.
Actor: "To be, or not to AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Lion: "Mmmmmm, Big MACbeth!"
(That pun was for you dad!)
From Rome we trained it down to Napoli for the next checkmark on our list: The Blue Grotto. This is a series of caves in the Capri Islands that the Romans used to use as a bath in the summertime. The way the light hits these tunnels in the morning actually lights the water from underneath, giving it an incredible turquoise colour. A must-see for the two of us that ended up taking some serious must-ing.... (Look, if you write your own blog, you can make up your own words too OK?)
The day we arrived in Napoli a girl in our hostel explained to us her botched Blue Grotto experience and warned us to make sure that there will be nice weather before going all the way out to Capri. No sunshine, no blue watery-beauty. So we checked online and the next day was supposed to be cloudy. No biggie, spend the day in Napoli, eat pasta, but day one down. Forecast for the following day: sunny. In the morning out we go, we spend our money and get all the way out to the Capri Islands. Once there, we find out that the Blue Grotto is closed that day on account of the tide being too high (the opening of the grotto is only about one meter by two meters and you need to take a small rowboat inside). Day two down. Learning from our mistake, the following morning we CALL the islands to see if the grotto is open. Nope. Day three down. Call again next morning. Day four down. Day five is our last chance because day six was a Sunday and the grotto is never open on Sundays; day seven was Christmas eve and we wanted to be back in Rome by then. We HAVE to see this grotto! So we call in the morning and it's OPEN!! We race to the train station and through a series of bad metro directions and sporadic boat schedules, we get to the islands around 13:00.
Apparently, the grotto is only open from 9:00-11:00 in the morning... So we found out upon arrival...
Picture two lonely souls sitting on the edge of the dock in silence. Staring into nowhere as a boistrous Italian man tries to sell them a boat tour around the "beautiful Capri Islands, you see everything but the Blue Grotto, my boat only pass by de entrance." Reluctant to waste another trip to the islands, we coax the man down a few Euros and take the tour.
The islands ARE beautiful. The cliffs, the coral, the caves, the green and white grottos, the lighthouse. A real photogaphers dream. At the end of the tour, we pull up to the small one meter by two meter opening in the rock.
The Blue Grotto.
Too far away for being so close. Andrew and I exchanged glances as the guide joked about the only way inside at this time of day was to swim...
SPLASH!! One Hoffman.
SPLASH!! Two Hoffman.
Through this experience I've formulated the opinion that the Mediterranean Sea in the winter time could wake the dead. Honestly, just throw them in!
Was it worth it?
Absolutley.
Checkmark.
Sorry, there will be no pictures from the inside. Swimming ,plus cold, plus cameras does not equal happy Anthony. You'll just have to come down and write your own crazy grotto story.
A quick day trip to Pisa was next to see an architectural mistake (honeslty, if my mistakes were this glorified I'd be famous!) and to eat a 'Piece of Pisa Pizza' and we were back to Rome!
Christmas at the Vatican was cool. The pope wore his party hat. We got to watch 'A Wonderful Life' on a laptop at the hostel, and we even made our own eggnog (it actually even surprised US that it worked...). A roasted ham and pasta dinner and a call home capped this birthday celebratrion for us nomads quite beautifully.
Boxing day saw us in Venice, which is by far the most confusing , maze-like city we've been in so far. We got lost. We even found cars.... In a city of canals and boats, that's where you KNOW you have gone too far. Beautiful city to get lost in... Felt wierd though... Felt like.... oh, I dunno, like being in one of the most romantic cities in the world without your significant other...
So we left.
Headed for the mountains in Slovakia. We were invited by a Slovakian friend we met volunteering in Peru to spend New Years with her and her family at a cabin in the mountains. We couldn't pass up the opportunity to be shown Slovakia by a group of charming Slovaks.
We spent our days hiking and XC-skiing in the mountains and our evenings with tea around the fireplace. A true White Christmas.
Our friends father, who didn't speak a word of english knew exactly how to communicate with us... Homemade brandy with 52% alcohol will tear down ANY language barrier!
As intimidating as it was sometimes as the family sat and conversed back and forth in Slovakian, occasionally bursting into laughter while Andrew and I sat clueless, I wouldn't trade that experience for anything. This was Slovakia. Nothing near what you would find staying in any hostel, or following any guidebook. Our english speaking friend smoothed over the language barrier and was a superb host. We are forever in that familys debt. Now, I find myself madly in love with home-made Slovakian food...thanks.
We are now in the Ukraine. Home of our ancenstors. As soon as I sat down for that first plate of pyrogies... I knew that this is where I came from. We even caught the Nutcracker Ballet at the theatre here (About five bucks for both of us to get in!). Beautiful, however I am pretty conviced that every girl who watches the ballet thinks "I wish that could be me," while every guy that watches the same ballet thinks "Thank God that isn't me!"
Tonight after pizza Sunday, we have tickets for Carmen the opera.
Oh, and for everyone back home I gloated to about beating the snow and cold, I sincerely apologize. They actually wear those huge Russian looking fur hats here to keep warm. It's bloody freezing. So we're leaving. Athens is just around the corner.
Keep Smiling!
Anthony
Ukrainian lesson for today:
"більше Варуннкн будь ласка"
"More pyrogies please!"
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