Lazy post

Ok, so still here in Paris and finally found an internet place with a USB port. Woohoo!! Feeling lazy though, so here's the text and then check down to the next entry for all the pictures. Enjoy!

The Cinque Terre was flat out amazing. There are hardly words to describe it. I guess I’ll just start at the beginning. The train out of Rome could not have come sooner, in fact we got to the train station early and just sat. The train was one of our first really scenic trains in daylight, and a large portion of it went along the Mediterranean so the views were pretty breathtaking. We were all so relieved to be out of Rome and on our way to the big “halfway” point that we almost missed our stop at La Spezia. In fact, I was working on my laptop and Mal was asleep when we pulled into the station. In approximately 2.7 minutes we had all of our stuff gathered up and off the train. The older gentleman who had been sitting across from me even got up to check that we hadn’t left anything as we ran off the train. That definitely got our adrenaline running quickly! We got to Riomaggiore, the town with our hostel in it around dinner time and as soon as we stepped off the train we were met with the ocean. So far on this trip train stations have been large, crowded, busy, marginally confusing places that one wishes to get in and out of as quickly as possible, so this two track platform literally on the top of a cliff leading down to the ocean was quite the shock. It was a good way to shake us into a slower mode of living. The town seemed to only have one main drag and our “hostel” was on it. The “’s are not a bad thing at all… rather to the contrary. The older gentleman who was at the desk (and spoke no English whatsoever) gave us the key and showed us to another building, up a very narrow and steep set of stairs and to our very own apartment! Two bedrooms, a living room with futon, bathroom, and FULL kitchen. And all of this for the same price we had just paid for a rather questionable hostel in Rome!!
After dropping our luggage off we headed out to find some good small town Italian food. Unfortunately our small town was so small that nothing was open two days after Christmas at 6pm. We ran into some other Anglophone travelers and they told us to try the next town over where they had just come from. There’s a path between all the Cinque Terre towns and the path between Riomaggiore and the next town, Manarola, is called the Via dell’Amore. It’s totally paved and only about 15 minute walk. We decided to try it and quickly found that it is completely unlit at night, probably to discourage people like us from illegally walking on it since the tickets you’re required to have to walk in the national park aren’t sold after 6. Cell phone lights, holding hands, walking quickly and singing a collection of Disney songs later we’d arrived and the way back wasn’t bad either. We all felt so much safer and calmer that we spent the night relaxing and finally getting to know each other a little better.
The next day we got a really late start because we did laundry and took full advantage of the kitchen and made eggs and everything. By 13:00 we headed out to walk to as many towns as we could. We started out with big dreams of making all the way to Monterosso al Mare, the last town in the Cinque Terre, and then taking the train back, but rock slides got in our way between Manarola and Corniglia. Still wanting to walk we took the suggested alternative route, understanding that it was around a one hour hike. The weather was beautiful, the sun was shining and it was warm enough that when we were walking quickly you didn’t really need a coat, but what started out as a fabulous walk through Manarola’s hillside gardens and back streets soon took a terrible turn. For whatever reason the national park numbers their routes instead of naming them and ALL of them have the same symbol to follow. For their own amusement I think, they even go to the great lengths of number very different routes identically. So when we thought we were on the 6 trail going straight over to Corniglia we were actually on the 6 trail that climbs to the top of the highest mountain around. I wish I were kidding. Really. By the time we figured this out however we had gone just slightly more than halfway making it useless to turn around. The views were spectacular since they were so high and we got a very comprehensive understanding of the vegetation in the Cinque Terre (palm trees and cacti along the coast, vineyards halfway up the mountain, and pine trees and ferns at the top, it felt rather like walking from Florida to Northern California to Colorado). At the top of the mountain we ran into a random woman sitting and used our patchy Italian to inquire which direction to Corniglia. She laughed. This was not good, but fortunately we were still on the right path and an hour an a half later we reached town number 3 just in time for sunset. Back at the apartment we made a fabulous dinner and put our sore, sunburned bodies to bed early.
Our last day in the Cinque Terre we had planned to visit the remaining two towns and enjoy them, but a heavy rainstorm put quite the damper on our plans, and then we accidentally missed the train stop for our own town and ended up in La Spezia again where they were getting a miniature blizzard and the locals were looking about as if the sky were falling. Back in Riomaggiore we checked out of the apartment and waited for our train to Nice.
Nice was an interesting town. I was absolutely thrilled to be speaking French again. I even had a new-found confidence since I’d been able to speak some German and some Italian and the other three would have no idea if I was screwing up or not. So I started some pretty random conversations with people and even back-mouthed a group of annoying teenagers. It was great. Our first night in was Indian food and bed. So the next morning we decided to explore. The town doesn’t actually have a whole lot to offer in the way of things to do. It was a lot more touristy than I had anticipated as well. It’s really crowded both with people and with buildings. There’s a really pretty park at the top of the hill with nice views of the ocean, which is incredibly blue and clear. There’s also a rather interesting cemetery on the way down, split into the Jewish side and the Christian side. The old town port is pretty too. The beaches are pretty rocky and beware the topless old women and Speedo-sporting men… even in cold weather!!
Since Nice wasn’t all that interesting we took a train over to Monaco. Tiny and even more crowded than Nice if that’s possible. Except Monaco is more posh and snooty than Nice due to the big-money-wielding clientele. We got to see the palace and the chapel and the gardens and the changing of the guard and the casino. It was pretty cool. All in all Monaco was just another day-trip town, but it was worth going to check out. On our way back to Nice we stopped at a tiny little town called Villefranche sur Mer because I am a giant dork and wanted to see the chapel painted by Jean Cocteau (famous French film director that my film prof talked about a LOT in class last semester). What was going to be a quick little stop turned into three hours of doing nothing doing to because of some interesting trainage. But the sunset at the beach was nice, though incredibly cold. Back in Nice we headed for the train station for our night train to Barcelona… which is where things really start to get interesting.
Our six person couchette was the four of us and an older Australian couple who seemed rather nice. We spent a while talking to them about their travels and such. Then we all drifted off to sleep since we had to be up at 6am to switch trains. We also met an American guy who’s traveling for a few weeks after a semester in Budapest, Hungary. A one hour layover in the train station and we were on a very long train to Barcelona. It wasn’t particularly long as far as time is concerned, but there was a bit of a tiff when the ticket conductor attempted to kick a few teens off for not having a ticket and they were accused of stealing someone’s cell phone which made Mallory look in her wallet for whatever reason which is when she discovered that her money was missing. None of us have any idea what happened, it's mosst likely stolen we assume. I guess God’s the only one who will ever really know. When we got to Barcelona we had the train fiasco I wrote about last time. As an interesting side note we discovered that the workers in the Barcelona train station blatantly lied to not only us, but to another woman trying to get to Paris (ran into her at the Louvre today) so needless to say Barcelona is not on our technical good side.
Barcelona as a city was pretty neat. Lots of energy and music and people… at times too many. I personally didn’t feel very safe I think due to a combination of Rick Steves’ book saying we’re more likely to get pick pocketed in Barcelona than any other town, Mal’s missing money, and the huge crowds. Las Ramblas, a big pedestrian road with performers and stalls selling everything was a sight to be seen, as was the cathedral of Gaudi. That was pretty cool. The architecture was unlike anything I’ve ever seen and it was certainly a nice departure from the Gothic cathedrals that seem to litter Europe. The port area was nice and we had a good dinner, I even tried some typical Spanish paella and was pleasantly surprised. Then it was off to our second night train in a row.
It was a four person couchette with our own sink and everything. We ended up watching a movie, meeting some other people in our car, and generally doing what we could to have a happy new year. Mal passed out just slightly after midnight and I think we were all asleep by 2. Sad, isn’t it? Luckily we woke up in Paris, found our hostel with little trouble and even arrived in time to get in on the free breakfast!
I was really excited to get into Paris, the capital of my favorite country and I can speak French again!! The Parisians have a very easy to understand accent as well. We were all pretty tired from our nights on the train and doing much of anything didn’t sound very appealing, so when I found an organ concert at a church not too far from the hostel we jumped on it. AMAZING. A 7000 pipe organ and we got to hear the concert and even go up inside to see the organist and all the pipes and inner workings. It was pretty cool. Then Mal went off to make phone calls and do some logistical travel stuff while Jo, Kim, and I decided to walk from the gardens to Notre Dame and then down to the Louvre and all the way up the Champs Elysee to the Arc de Triomphe. It really made me remember why I love this city so much. Everything was just perfect!! It was a good orientation and I got to show off some stuff that I randomly remembered for Jo and Kim. We got a nice walk in, we got to eat some crepes and see all kinds of sights from the outside and while we did that Mal was handling our tickets to Amsterdam. We made dinner at the hostel and then chilled in the room for the remainder of the evening.
This morning we got a decently early start and began at the Louvre. Almost three hours later we’d hit the highlights and were just about “arted out”. Lunch on the rue de Rivoli and then off to check out the Centre Pompidou and its park with the cool fountains. The center is the most comprehensive museum of modern art and the building is essentially inside out. Kinda cool… but since we’d already seen a lot of art and ¾ of the group doesn’t like modern art we headed off to see the Conciergerie. Not worth the price of admission (but we had a museum pass) it was just ok. Old prison cells and some neat architecture. Waiting in line for Sainte Chapelle wasn’t bad, if a bit long and the windows there were pretty cool. Then we took off for Notre Dame before the towers closed. I REALLY wanted to climb up the towers since I didn’t get to on my last trip to Paris… but they were closed. Just my luck. We toured the inside, toured the outside and then went over to the Deportation Memorial. It was actually pretty moving and really well-done I thought. Very different than any WWII memorials I’d been to, but I really liked it. We had a very abridged visit since it was closing, but it was still very worthwhile. A metro ride away was the Arc de Triomphe which was the highlight of the day.
We climbed all the way to the top to get a view of the city at night which was cool enough in itself. Then we looked over and the Eiffel Tower was going through its’ light display since it was the top of the hour. Lots of pictures and video later we headed down. We were under the arch taking pictures of the grave of the Unknown Soldier when the police came through and moved us back behind gates. Then a small contingent of the military moved in and it looked like there was to be a ceremony of some kind. After about 20 minutes of nothing really happening we were about to leave when an older French man walked up to us and asked where we were from. I responded in French that we were American and he seemed to be pretty excited. He invited us inside the gates… to participate!!! We found out that it was the daily ceremony of reviving the flame and we were chosen to participate!! We got to stand right at the edge of the flame and see everything close up. Joanna even got to touch the sacred sword and help revive the flame!!! Afterwards we all signed our names in the Golden Book to show that we had really been there and participated. It was VERY cool!!!! We didn’t get pictures during because we were too busy being respectful, but we got plenty of shots afterwards! It took quite a while to really realize how lucky we were and how special it was that we were able to participate. Then we went to a movie Esprit de Famille (The Family Stone in English). The movie was in English with French subtitles. It was a nice blend of tear-jerker and hilarious comedy. On our way back to the hostel tonight we accidentally messed up the trains and didn’t have a ticket to get back into the metro, though we hadn’t really ever left… kind of a long story. To shorten it, Kim somehow go the gate to open and we all just started running through, hoping all four could make it before it automatically closed. Joanna was last and while the other three of us ran forward we heard a startled yelp and turned around to see a panicked Jo only halfway through the doors. Her face was priceless! All in all a very good day.
And today we’re hitting up the sights we didn’t get to yesterday before we head for Amsterdam. Hope everyone had a wonderful and more eventful New Years’ than ours. Back in the USA in 7 days!!