The Pope says "Hi"
Okay, so I know that it has been a long time since our last real post and that we are super far behind on what we have been up to. I will try and make this as quick as possible for you guys.
After our special bus ride in Toulon, France we visited the island of Porquerolles. It was nice, but the water- again- was freezing. I think Jesse and I were the only ones on the beach who were wearing jackets while the crazy French frolicked around in Speedos. The trip was fun though, we found a neat little cove all to our selves and had some great cheap French wine and then had even better ice cream in the little village. The boat ride home was a bit rough, but no one blew chunks, so that was good.
The next day we took a train to Switzerland for over 15 hours!!! At least the scenery was good. That helped the time to fly by quicker. We stayed in a tiny town called Gimmelwald that only has about 150 residents, most of which are related. The first night was spent sleeping in a barn. They think it is hilarious that people will pay money to sleep in their cattle barns. It was cool, except for the crazy little kids running around terrorizing even the flies. We slept in our clothes since it got pretty cool and had about 5 blankets (Jesse says I had about five and claims he only had one- whatever!) and made pillows out of hay. Luckily the hostel down the road had some openings and we made reservations there for the next couple of nights. The first full day was spent on a 7.5 hour hike of the North Face trail. It was really beautiful and pretty easy. We had lunch at this great little restaurant that was off by itself on the side of a mountain. There was even a cute litte sheep family. We had to take the cable car back into town since at the end of the hike neither of us had the leg strength to walk down hill. That night was spent in the "Lovers Room" cozily cuddled up next to 2 complete strangers in one giant quadruple bunk bed. Jesse slept next to a dude!!! Hahaha...
The next day we did a smaller hike along a river and into the valley between two mountains- very pretty. The rest of the day we spent relaxing at the hostel, drinking hot chocolate with peppermint schnapps (okay, that was just me), and lounging in the hot tub. Did I forget to mention the cheese fondue (I had it twice, it was wonderful)?
After that we headed into Germany to visit Charlotte. Whatever your misconceptions may be about the German people, Charlotte's family happened to be the nicest family in the whole of Europe. The completely welcomed us into their home, showed us incredible hospitaltiy, and even did our laundry- just like mom! I think it is our new German home-away-from-home. Her mom even took care of me after the infamous White Sausage and Wine Incident of 2005. For the first time in this whole trip it did not feel like we were so far away from home.
Thank you, Hieke Family!!!!!
So, in Germany we visited the famous Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria and got to drive on the autobahn. And no matter how bad the stories Charlotte's dad told us about her last trip there, her driving was great! Even with me needing to pull over ever 10 kilometers on the way home. The next day was also really great (and involved much less barfing). Charlotte took us to this great public pool complex by her house and we had a blast! They had some fun waterslides, a bubble pool, and water falls. Jesse and I even jumped off of the high dives. I only made it to the 5 meter one (which is a feat in itself considering that is the rough amount that I fell) and Jesse made it all the way to the 10 meter and even got a free colon cleansing. It was probably one of the most relaxing days we have had yet. We even got an awesome home cooked meal. Very tasty!! That night her dad drove us to the train station in his
Mercedes ML. We only went 200 kilometers per hour on the autobahn and, if you don't feel like doing the math, that is 124 miles per hour (don't freak out mom, I am still alive!).
The night train to Italy was good since we had our own compartment, until the insane Swiss police rudely woke us at 2:30 in the morning by barging in and turning on the lights. I don't think they have invented knocking yet there- or the word 'please' for that matter. For such a diplomatic country you would think they would be more polite! Finally, we arrive in Italy and got onto another train to the Cinque Terre. We stayed in a tiny town called Manarola. It was really beautiful and had a little harbor that was used for sunning and swimming. Our room even had AC!! My favorite thing about the town was the yummy focaccia bread. There were tons of different kinds, but my favorite was pesto with a little dab of melted mozzerella cheese in the middle. Did you know that pesto and focaccia were invented in the Cinque Terre? The guy at the shop even started to recognize me since I was there every day! Our first full day there we spent at the harbor swimming and snorkeling. The water was much warmer than the French Riviera (thankfully!) and there at least were fish to look at (Jesse says it looks like Lake Travis). We spent the rest of the afternoon taking a siesta and then had a really good Italian dinner complete with octopus tenticles. The next day we hiked through 4 towns int he Cinque Terre in about 4 hours. We could't make it to the last town, so we sat in Vernazza and had gelato instead. I figure we earned it!
We headed to Rome the next day, which happens to be one of the most frustrating and completely inefficient cities on the face of the planet. The problems are only exacerbated after a day of traveling. It's a good thing Rome has some great sites, because Jesse and I were ready to turn around and head back to the Cinque Terre after about 5 minutes in Rome. Our first night was pretty miserable being spent in a huge citiadel of a hostel. No A/C, one window, 20 beds. Not my idea of fun. I know that they know it is hot there, WTF???? The next day was much better after we got to see a few sites. We first went to the Vatican City and saw St. Peter's Basilica. Those Catholics really know how to build a church. It is somthing like 3 football fields long and a gazillion stories high with a ton of gold and marble. I think we all need to donate some money to them since they obviously don't have enough. After that we went to Palantine Hill where the emperors built their palaces and then to the Roman Forum. That was probably our favorite site with all the old ruins and columns every where. We even got to see where Julius Caesar was burned after his assasination on the Ides of March. History Rocks!!! After that we did a stroll to the Pantheon and walked to the Trevi Fountain while eating gelato (I know Leanne is dying of jealousy out there!!). The fountain was so cool, especially at night. It is completly run by aqueducts and if you throw a coin into it over your shoulder legend says you will return to Rome some day. Hopefully when we have more money and don't have to take buses!
The next day we went back to Vatican City to see the Vatican Museum and the Sistine Chappel. That Michelangelo really knows how to paint a ceiling! We also saw the Colosseum, Mamertine Prison (the prison where Saints Peter and Paul were held), and Capitol Hill. Pretty cool stuff. I think we also had more gelato. Yesterday was an easy day (Rome wasn't built in a day and you definitely can't see it in 3!) we spent it in the quiet and empty National Museum of Rome which was a nice change from the crazy bigger sites. Then we headed out to a book store and got some good reading material. I bought The da Vinci Code which is a really great read, especially after seeing all the sites and paintings it talks about in the book. Jesse got The Red Dragon and Silence of the Lambs. We spent the rest of the day at the hostel (this is a different one- we couldn't stand the first one we stayed at) relaxing and reading. Today we caught a train to Florence and have an interesting hostel in the middle of nowhere. At least it is an old villa, that's about all it has going for it. Tomorrow we are going to get to see Michelangelo's David, I am really excited! Then we head off for Venice.
Okay, most of you probably haven't even bothered to read this far, but if you did you get a gold star! Being here makes us miss home that much more, but it will be over before we know it! We miss everyone tons!!
Love,
Meghan & JeSSe
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