Cinque Terre, Italia

November 5 - 10, 2007

The Cinque Terre greeted us with beautiful weather and even more beautiful sunsets. These five villages (Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corneglia, Vernazza, and Monterosso al Mare) are set on the western coast of Italy, north of La Spezia and south of Genoa.

Though I had read as much as I could about this Italian paradise before we made our trip arrangements, we didn't have a good feel for where we should stay. We heard from some people that it can be very difficult to find a place to stay during the high season, but since we were not arriving until the end of the season we had quite a number of options. We could have skipped the reservations entirely, but being the eternal planner and avid risk avoider, we made reservations at two bed and breakfasts. We were both pleasantly surprised and a little bit disappointed. We spent two nights at Eremo sul Mare (The Hermitage Over the Sea) in Vernazza and three nights in Manarola. Our accommodations in Vernazza were incredible! We still think back to those two relaxing nights and fabulous Italian breakfasts and wish we were there right now. After Eremo sul Mare, just about anything would have been a disappointment. We stayed in a fine bed and breakfast in Manarola the remaining three nights, but found ourselves continuously wishing that we were back at Eremo sul Mare.

Beautiful Sunsets
Below are two photos of the incredible sunsets we watched during our stay in the Cinque Terre.



Monterosso al Mare
Monterosso al Mare is the resort town of the five. They truck sand in every year to cover the beach for the summer tourists.


Vernazza
Vernazza was our favorite town of the five. Not only is it home to Eremo sul Mare, but it is also home to Il Pirata 5 Terre (a bad owned by two Sicilian men who serve the most incredible pastries. These two guys were the most friendly people that we met in all of the Cinque Terre.


Eremo sul Mare
Below is the view from our room and one of the resident cats, Marie.



Corneglia
Corneglia sits up on a cliff, approximately 383 steps up from the train station. We hiked up and down all of them twice during our stay. Fortunately, at the top, we were rewarded by treating ourselves to some fabulous gelato.


Manarola
Manarola was a beautiful sight at night. There is a little garden that sits on a cliff above the town from which one can watch the sun set and the town light up as the great ball of fire falls below the surface of the water.

During the day the pastel village relaxes in the sunshine.



Riomaggiore
Riomaggiore is the southernmost town and the first you see when arriving by train from La Spezia. As you pop out from the tunnel, the sunlight bouncing off the pastel buildings is blinding.

The walk from Riomaggiore to Manarola is called Via del Amore (Lover's Walk). It's flat and paved and easily accessible by all, unlike some of the other hiking trails between the villages. The sights are breathtaking. There's a new adventure for the eyes just around every bend.

Terraced Vinyards

The terraced vineyards are amazing, particularly when you realize that they were built by hand so many years before.

Roma, Italia

November 2-5, 2007

We spent three wonderful days in Rome... at least that's what I remember about the city. If you were to ask Eric, however, you might get a different response. "Don't get me wrong," he often recounts to our friends, "it was beautiful but there were people everywhere." He's right. Rome is absolutely beautiful! But there are people everywhere. No matter what direction you turn or what time of day or night you venture out, there are people everywhere and you can't really get away from them all as Eric wished we could. I took it in stride. But I think I was a little more used to the crowds after living in The Netherlands for 3 months and traveling about Europe on my weekends. Eric was fresh from home, the land of open spaces and big yards in the suburbs. Rome is nothing like home. Nevertheless, we both had a great time.

On our first night, we took an evening walk along Via dei Fori Imeriali. This street passes by the Colosseum, Roman Forum and Trojan Market, all of which are lit and glow beautifully in the night.

Trajan Market
This area used to house over 150 spaces for shopping of all kinds and, on the top floor, the welfare offices.


Colosseum
This amphitheater opened in 80 AD with 10 days of games. This Colosseum is known by the Romans as the Flavian Amphitheater because it was constructed under the Flavian emperors. The name Colosseum comes from a colossal statue that used to stand outside the amphitheater. The Colosseum has withstood the test of time (for the most part). Most of the original walls still tower above the Roman Forum, but one "new" wall is visible along the side housing the visitor's entrance.


Roman Forum
The Roman Forum was once the heart of the Republic. though it isn't so obvious anymore. Today it's filled with broken marble statues and ruins of buildings. But as we walked through, ears pressed to the audio-guide speaker, we could imagine the forum in its height. We listened to tales of life in Rome during the early centuries BC and we particularly got a kick out of walking over the same stone pathway on which Caesar once walked. Even though Caesar was a ruthless ruler, it's not everyday that one has the opportunity to step on the same stones as such a well known character in history.

Temple of Vesta - This temple was tended by the Vestal Virgins, noble priestesses chosen at about age 10 for thirty years of service tending the sacred flame. For their service they were allowed certain privileges such as front row seats at the Colosseum and the freedom to travel without a male escort.

Eric and the Audio-guide


Palentine Hill
The word palace originates from the Palentine Hill. This was the place where emperors and the wealthy took up residence. Today, the Palentine hill is filled with palace, house and apartment ruins, and beautiful relaxing gardens.



Trevi Fountain
This beautiful fountain, made even more famous by the movie The Dolce Vita, is an amazing sight. The legend goes, if you throw a coin backwards over your shoulder you will return to Rome again someday.



St. Peter's Basilica
Pictured below is the Piazza San Pietro. This piazza can be filled with the faithful during a service by the Pope or filled with tourists, during museum hours. Reaching Piazza San Pietro but failing to make it into the Vatican Museum and the Sistine Chapel was one of the biggest disappointments for me in Italy. I had heard that it was best to go to the Vatican in the early afternoon because that was when the lines are the shortest. Unfortunately, when we arrived in the early afternoon, the lines were so long that by the time we would have reached the museum entrance, it would have been closing time. We sat for a while on the piazza, taking it in, before making our way back toward our hotel.


There was so much that we were able to see, but so much more that we didn't have the opportunity to explore. I guess that means we will have to go back someday.

Barcelona, Spain

October 31 - November 2, 2007

We departed from Eindhoven, NL early Wednesday morning. The hotel we chose was conveniently on the bus line to the airport. It wasn't the greatest hotel, but we felt fortunate that we did not need to call a cab. I had learned from previous experiences that taking a cab in Europe is very expensive, so we were almost happy to be dragging our suitcases down the street to the bus stop despite the fact that we could see every breath hang in the frigid air.

Eric's first experience with Ryanair
While I tend to equate the Ryanair Experience to a bus in the sky, Eric's first impression was that it was mass chaos. Slightly different opinions maybe... Eric purchased our tickets from the website before he left. At that time we indicated that we would not check any luggage. It made sense as we planned to be traveling light and of course it saved us a few Euros. So we arrived at the airport and stood in line to get our tickets. Unfortunately, since we had underestimated the amount of space 3 weeks worth of travel items would take we had an extra piece of luggage that we were forced to check we found ourselves standing in another line to pay for our one piece of checked luggage and then another line to get through security. After we made it through to the gates, we had just a few minutes to look up our directions to our hotel in Barcelona before we got into another line (for boarding). Eric couldn't believe that we were standing in line to board a good hour and fifteen minutes before our flight was to leave, but there we were. I was determined to ensure that we would find seats next to one another. Finally we boarded and what Eric like to call mass chaos broke out. The doors opened and the people started pushing and running toward the plane. We climbed the stairs to the doors and we could already hear the flight attendants calling out "please take the first available seat." We found to seats toward the back of the plane, right by one of the doors so that we could make a quick exit and (hopefully) be some of the first people to make it through customs. The flight was good. It was not too turbulent, but we were treated to the typical Ryanair rough landing as we came down with quite a thud.

What No Customs?
That's right, when flying from The Netherlands to Spain a passenger is not required to pass through customs. Eric was really bummed because he was looking forward to his first stamp in his passport. But no such luck... In fact he had no such luck throughout our entire vacation because we didn't get a stamp until we left for home.

Bus Ride to Barcelona
The thing about Ryanair is that we rarely fly into major airports. This is the case in Barcelona Girona. Girona is about a 50 minute bus ride from the airport to the bus station in the city and the cost is about 40 Euros per person round trip. But when you only paid about $20.00 total for your airplane tickets, an extra 80 Euros to get you to the city doesn't seem like too bad a deal. The bus ride was fairly relaxing and the scenery was beautiful. While Eric napped, I peered out the window at the remnants of castles sitting at the tops of the hills.

The Ibis Experience
The Ibis Hotel is somewhat like a Days Inn. It's a chain hotel that's nothing fancy but it's a place to sleep and they provide a decent breakfast in the morning. Our hotel was situated near one of the main metro stations so it was a convenient place to start and end our exploration of the city each day.

The City from Park Guell
This now beautiful city park was once designed by Antoni Gaudi to be an early gated community. The garden reminded me a bit of Alice in Wonderland with its gingerbread houses and mosaic designs.

From the high point in the park, you can see the whole city spanning out before you, all the way to the Mediterranean Sea. It's a beautiful sight.


Sagrada Familia
The Sagrada Familia is perhaps Gaudi's most famous and beautiful design. This church is a work in progress, as Gaudi's work began in 1884 and they expect that if work continues at the same rate they may finish in about 50 years. Since work has been ongoing for such a long time, it has had many architects but most try to remain true to Gaudi's original design ideas. We walked around the outside taking in the intricate designs before purchasing our tickets and heading indoors. The construction continues, even as the tourists walk through and observe their work. I was most impressed by the design of the pillars surrounding the nave. The pillars look like trees towering overhead with a shimmering canopy at the very top. We hope to have the opportunity to visit once more when it's finished, but we'll be in our 80"s so we'll see.





The Marina


We enjoyed the marina and the beach. The water is so clear and blue that we could see sparkling schools of fish swimming around under the surface of the water.

The Beach


Esglesia de Santa Maria del Mar
One of our other favorite sights in Barcelona was the Esglesia de Santa Maria del Mar. This beautiful "People's Church" is filled with stained glass windows. The church once suffered from fire and the blackened ceiling still remains.

Ahh...Paris avec Mon Cheri

October 28, 2007

Thalys (TGV) to Paris
We hopped on the train early Saturday morning to catch the Thalys to Paris in Liege. Sometimes you can get pretty good deals on Thalys tickets, but we were not fortunate enough to catch one of those deals. We purchased our tickets when we arrived in Liege and I was feeling pretty stressed about the dent it was making in our bank account. Two round trip tickets from Liege to Paris was about 300 Euros. Yikes!!! We ended up spending more on our train tickets to and from Paris than we spent on all of the rest of rest of our vacation transportation combined (including travel from Maastricht to Barcelona to Rome to the Cinque Terre to Pisa and back to Brussels). But it was worth it. We had a very enjoyable time together in Paris and it was so nice to see Eric's Uncle Jacques and Aunt Martine, as well as his second cousin Frederique. In between catching up with the family, we relaxed in the local cafes sipping cafe au lait and munching croissants, an expensive pastime we quickly learned. On Sunday Morning, we grabbed coffee on our way to meet Eric's second cousin. We each had 2 cafe au laits (a total of about 12 ounces of coffee) and one croissant. When we got our bill, I just about fell off my chair. It was 20 Euros, which after conversion at the exchange rate of about 1.5 totaled $30. "Just pretend this is our honeymoon" Eric kept saying to me. "We're probably never going to get to do this again so don't worry about the money because it's worth it for the experience." Well, I tried not to worry and to just enjoy the experience, but we made sure not to let it happen again anyway.

Jacques Thunnissen Guided Tour of Paris
Eric's Uncle Jacques met us at our hotel Saturday afternoon and he took us on a walking tour of Paris. I have now had the luxury of taking two guided tours of Paris with Jacques and I have to say it is such a treat. I think Jacques should start his own business guiding tours and sharing this history of the city he refers to as "The most beautiful city in the world." You can't help but to share his love and appreciation for the city as you walk though its streets and talk about life and landmarks.



Eric, too, really enjoyed his uncle's knowledge and company. It was the first time he had been to Europe on his own and the first time that he had seen Jacques on his own too. Throughout his childhood and adolescence Eric's mom, Annette, took the boys to Europe to see their family so it felt familiar for him, but he said it also felt very different because we had to rely on ourselves to get around. Eric did a great job though. He said he didn't really remember any French, but it seemed to come back to him and just flow out. He struggled every once in a while to recall a word, but I think if we had more time in France he could have been conversing fluently with the locals.

After our tour, we joined Jacques and Martine at their apartment for dinner. It was a fabulous dinner and the conversation was even better. I really enjoy sitting back and listening to Eric's family chat. Conversations are full of history, politics, current events and catching up. I could tell that Eric was really glad that we had found a way to see them. We both were.

Brunch with Eric's Second Cousin

We met up with Eric's second cousin Frederique, her husband and their beautiful daughter for brunch on Sunday. Frederique teaches linguistics at a Parisian University. After brunch we took a walk together and visited her university and a local zoo. It was a very enjoyable time. The accompanied us back to the metro and gave us directions for how to get back to the Thalys train station before we said our goodbyes.

The Metro
Eric and I found ourselves commenting on how much we loved the metro so often that it makes me laugh to think about it now. But it is true, we love the metro. To us, it felt like the best invention since sliced bread. We never once got lost or felt confused about how to get from one place to another. We also noticed the metro trains ran so often that we never felt like we were wasting our time waiting. We both wish that Minneapolis and St. Paul would build a metro system like the one in Paris (or even a more extensive light-rail system). The day they do, we'll be trading in our cars for bicycles and train tickets because it's such a great way to get around and get more exercise that we do right now.

We headed back to Maastricht late Sunday afternoon so that I could be ready for my last day at work on Monday. We were sorry to be leaving, but looking forward to all of the other adventures we still had ahead of us.