Barcelona

Well we finally arrived at our hotel in Barcelona about 21:30...fortunately in Spain they eat dinner (or supper) very late. As you can imagine, we were exhausted...so we looked for a restaurant within walking distance to our hotel. We were kind of bummed that the only thing we had time for in Barcelona was to eat dinner, because we had to leave at 8:00 the next morning to catch a train to Denia, Spain. However, on our one journey out while enjoying a nice tapas meal...we got a...I guess you could say a quite exciting memory. By the way, tapas is a Spanish style of dining that involves several little appetizers while you enjoy your adult beverages of choice. (Kristen...I thought of you while we were eating it...your logo was so much better).
Once again we were ordering blindly and the server spoke VERY little English, so we decided to get a variety...and boy did we! We had so many tapas plates that the waiter had to stack plates on the shelf beside us...everyone probably thought we were pigs...and yes...we ate them all, that´s what a day of travel will do for an appetite!
Towards the end of our meal the excitement hit. At first we thought this group of women in the back of the restaurant were yelling because they were enjoying many adult beverages and having a large, loud time! But we soon realize something was wrong...as we looked up to see what the commotion was we noticed a scruffy, as Pete would call him a G-Thug, bolting for the door with our waiter running behind him...he had quietly walked into the restaurant and stolen one of the lady´s bags. It was weird though, because we were sitting at the door and had we had know or understood Spanish we would have been able to stop him...but by the time we realized what was going on he was already out the door. Talk about some drama...just about everyone in the restaurant was outraged and half of them left to see if the waiter had caught him. Turns out he had an accomplice who made off with the bag, but the waiter caught him and turned him over the the police. Go waiter...poor thing, when he came back he was so sweaty and out of breath...but we tipped him really well...afterall it was the only excitement for us during our VERY short stay in Barcelona.

We stayed in Hotel Azul...which was so nice, even nicer than our hotel in Rome! We had a living area with a couch, a table, a seperate room that had a built stereo system, flat screen tv in both rooms...and A BIG BIG shower. Well really it was about normal size for the States, but compared to all our previous rooms it was HUGE! We would highly recommend this place, however we can´t recommend the town because we didn´t really see it! Maybe next time...

A few pictures from Cinque Terre

Cinque Terre...The Five Lands, Mainly Vernazza

SURPRISE, Rome pictures just uploaded, it only took one hour. Sorry they are on the wrong blog, but we can´t erase them now.

After a long train ride from Rome we finally arrived in Vernazza, Italy which is located on the Italian Riviera. As you all know, up until that point we had been nonstòp going and doing. We were really looking forward to the small, scenic, old world town...sitting on the edge of the sea. Don´t get us wrong we enjoyed every second of our hectic sight seeing schedule, but we could tell our bodies were due for a rest. Vernazza, which is known as the crown jewel of the five lands of Cinque Terre was just the break we needed...when you arrive on the small regional train, there is sign that says no vehicles allowed...it´s great, because the whole town is pedestrian or boat only...big difference from the traffic nightmare in previous towns :)

This place is hard to explain in words because it takes you back to an era before the hectic life styles of most modern technology. People here live a much different lifestyle that anywhere we´ve ever been. It´s like you drop out of 2009, straight into 1909 (except for some small modern conveniences such as refrigeration and electricity). I want to open a bed and breakfast there...but Pete´s not quite convinced!

THE FOOD...two things that Vernazza has that can´t be beaten anywhere that we know of and unfortunately we still crave them daily! First, the pizza...Pesto, Pesto, Pesto! I know you think pizza...really?...but folks, let us tell you this is THE BEST pizza in the world! It was so good...we ate it everyday with no regrets (thank goodness it was so cheap). Everything´s handmade and the ingredients are as fresh and home grown. While eating at our favorite pizza place, Pete also discovered his loved for a salad with olive oil and balsamic vinegar and olives. I think he has eaten them in some form or fashion everyday since, seriously! We even had to buy them at the grocery store when we were in Denia, Spain. I think I only ate 3 olives out of the whole jar and we brought the leftover oil and vinegar with us to Madrid. Go Pete!

Next...favorite number 2! Can you guess...Gelato! Not just any gelato, but the very best...and served by a really cute Italian who must have thought we were equally cute, because on our second day there he asked to take our picture for their Facebook group. We got his card, and are going to try and find it when we get home...but right now it´s in our huge bag of papers, receipts, maps, etc! Anyway, back to the gelato...this stuff blew away all others that came before! Pete and I have even talked of trying to start our own gelato stand back home with this guys help :)Like it will ever happen...but it´s a nice thought!

Also...concerning food...I had been craving seafood, well really anything other than bread! So we decided to splurge on one nice meal. We ordered what we thought was a salad and got an octopus salad...which was surprisingly good! It´s a good thing we didn´t know it was octopus at first or we might have been a little hesitant, needless to say we were thankful we tried it anyway because we would eat it again in a heartbeat!

Incase you guys were thinking the only things we did while we were there was eat, you are practically right...however...we also enojoyed some relaxing beach time at one of the other 4 towns, Monterosso and we took two nice hikes.

One quick funny story...while enjoying our favorite pesto pizza we sat next to an Australian father and daughter (the father was probably in his 80s and was born in Italy before moving to Australia where he ended up marrying a "kangaroo", that´s what he called her). During this pleasant conversation, she asked if we were from the Southern part of the US after noticing Pete´s constant use of "yes mam or no mam"...she said she that Elvis used the same lingo and knew he was from that area. How random that she picked out Pete´s dialect and put us within the same state...since Elvis was born in Tupelo after all :)

Again with a train story...seems to be a reoccurring event with us! Originally we had planned on taking a night train to Barcelona to save time and money. When we went to reserve our tickets for the night train we found out the train only runs Monday, Wednesday, and Friday...unfortunately we needed it for Thursday (about par for course as Pete says)! So...after several searches the attendant gave us an itinerary which consisted of 6 different trains over a 24 hour period, meaning that we wouldn´t arrive in Barcelona until 19:00 the following day...leaving Cinque Terre at 17:00 the day before! To make things worse, if this is possible we would have a 5 hour lay over in the small town of Viglamanti, Italy...the layover was from 23:30 to 5:00! We originally thought we would be able to tough it out and stay up all night at the train station, because we had not budgeted for a hotel. When we arrived at the train station we located the station police office and layed out our picnicing blanket just outside the door...only a few feet from the local bums. Needless to say it didn´t take long for us to realize this would not do...plus it smelled like urine! What were we thinking, staying up all night at a train station!!! We quickly decided to find the most well lit streets and searched for a hotel...fortunately the second one we came to only two blocks from the station was open and had a room avaliable (the most expensive room of our whole trip). It was well worth the money...we were only there for about 3.5 hours, but were able to get a shower and a nice nap before the full day of travel to come. Thank you Mrs. Joy for letting us use the emergency card :)

The rest of the journey went fairly well...we will continue with Barcelona in the next post.

Picture Problems...Again

Once again we are at a computer whose ability to upload pictures is very lacking...we have been trying to load one picture for the last 45 minutes...it´s sad to say but I think we will have to wait until we get home in a few days to post anymore images. Also, we plan on putting a collection of photos and videos on disk making copies for anyone who would like one. So basically, even though we will be home in a few days you can keep checking the blog for updates...we will try another internet cafe tomorrow. Sorry for the let down but we promise it hasn´t been for lack of effort.

Train Story

Well like we mentioned in our last post...the train incident that was almost bad. We got up early intending to make it to the train station with time to spare...but keeping to true form, we left the hotel behind schedule...very behind. We thought the train left at 8:30, but about 6:50 Pete looked at the ticket and realized it left at 7:30. Of course this just happened to be the morning we decide to put off packing until the morning and still had lots to do. We had to tell the guy at the hotel to cancel our breakfast, but he had already fixed it...so while rushing to pack we CRAMMED our faces with breakfast. We took off for the train station and tried to find a taxi to avoid the bus (remember our last bus excursion)...unfortunately we didn´t have enough cash on us...so we ran for the bus. As we were on the bus about ten minutes from the station the clock turned 7:30...oh and we forgot to mention we prepaid for our tickets! When we finally got to the station (very sweaty and exhausted...our bags are still very heavy) it was already well passed the scheduled departure time so we got in the customer service line. Fortunately, we just happened to look at the schedule board...HOORAY, our train was delayed for some miraculous reason! We hauled butt and made it...It was a miracle! Needless to say, we have been checking our departure times the night before :)

P.S. We are in an internet cafe...jammed in here like sardines, Pete is about to have a heat stroke and this crazy guy just walked in with a black Albert Einstien wig, a tie standing straight up and a weird trench coat...and smells like pure alcohol...just thought we would share.

Rome Part II

Well this was definitly an eventful day! We began the day with a huge breakfast in our room! Then, headed over to tour Ancient Rome...a bunch of rubble and ruins, which was to be expected after hundreds of years of conflict and war. Pete soaked it all in, while I was more interested in getting to the Vatican. We thought we were going fine on our time and decided to grab a bite at cheap buffet located near the Vatican, that was recommended in our guide book. We took a bus from the Heart of Rome which took us a few blocks south of the Vatican wall. Because the buffet was on the north side and on the top of a hill we decided to take another bus to save time...BIG MISTAKE! We were trying to save time because the Vatican musuem stops letting people in at 16:00 and we wanted plenty of time to stand in line. Even though we had a map of the bus routes...we apparently read it wrong and headed in the opposite direction. About 1.5 hours later, through the Roman ghetto (which our guide book says STAY OUT of this sketchy neighborhood) we ended up off the map at the bus route...the driver who spoke no English told us to get off the bus! After showing on the map where we intened to be he realized we had messed up and told us to wait on this corner of the ¨ghetto¨. After a confusing wait we got on another bus and headed north, back to the same place we got on...Got off the bus, with 15 minutes til 16:00...and practically ran a mile only to find we were one minute late! Needless to say...I was a mess, because this was the most important site to me in all of Europe! So...after shaking it off (as Aiden would do) we went across the street to get a quick bite, because we never made it to the buffet and were STARVING...we got cold, nasty lasagna and 2 cokes...which to our surprise was $28 Euro! What a rip off...could that day get any worse! At this point our spirits were low, and we wondered if we could ever salvage the day.

We then decided to make the best of it and went to St. Peters Basilica...thank goodness we did! This was probably the only place in all of Rome that could lift our spirits...and boy did it! This was truely the most touching experience of our entire trip. St. Petér´s is largest, most ornate church in the world! Pictures just don´t do it justice...Pete and I were both brought to tears...and not necessarily by the building itself, but the thought in which it provoked. Upon entering we both kneeled and said a little prayer and our hearts were truly touched. Too much to explain, we will give more details when we get back home. After taking in the church with all its architecture and artistic glory, we decided to go to the top of the cupola (which is the largest dome in the world). Because our legs were so tired from the run to make the Vatican Museum we decided to pay a little extra and take the elevator half way up...climbing the stairs within the dome was really neat...it was day to skip your V8 because you had to lean to accomidate the shape of the hallway around the dome...pictured above (Pete is standing up straight).

Because we had to catch an early train we decided to take it easy and eat a nice dinner at a cafe close to our hotel....being that we were a little weiry of buses. The dinner was so so, but it did the trick.

ALso, somewhere in our short stay we enjoyed some delicious gelato...of course! We have a video to share later...hopefully.

We are about to run out of time...but we have much more to share, including an eventful trip to the train station! Will explain in later posts. Bye!

Rome Part

Despite what people had told us, Rome was one of our top two favorite cities...we hate that we only got two days to enjoy it! We loved, loved Rome and hope to go back some day! There is so much history and culture that you would need atleast a week to get a feel for this wonderful city! We arrived and were non stop until we left!

Aside from the city...we loved our hotel! We highly recommend the Imperial Nuvona! Up until that point, it was the best room by far...we also received wonderful customer service. One of the things that made our hotel so great was the location...we were a couple blocks away from Piazza Nuvona...which was a lovely square filled with artists, music, performers, and lots of food choices. It was nice to be tucked away in a quiet corner of such a big city. Now...to the city itself. We began our tour at the Collisium, something we´ve always wanted to see...especially Pete. He was amazed that something so big was constructed without power equipment! It´s hard to imagine the effort that must have been required to move these massive stones into place. The architecture itself was astounding and facsinating. We tried to imagine a day in the life of a Roman citizen taking part in the specticles and events which took place in this massive structure. It´s amazing! But beware of the pushy modern gladiators that haggle you to take a picture with them and then charge you a tourist fee...quite rude!

We rushed over to the Pantheon only to find we had missed it by mere minutes...which seems to be our specialty on this trip! So we decided to put a picnic together at the market and head to the Spanish Steps...along with several other important sites on the way. Including the famous marblized McDonalds...only to find out it was harder to locate then we thought...and we weren´t about to go looking for it at such a late hour in it´s sketchy neighborhood. Our picnic was lovely, as always...and I (Loren) had to threaten a rose pusher when he tried to force Pete to buy me a rose! These guys just don´t listen...and they are EVERYWHERE!!!

Alive and Well!

Sorry it has been so long since our last post...the last time we posted was over a week ago in Florence. Since then so much has happened...hopefully we can remember most of the details. Since then we have been to Rome, Vernazza (Cinque Terre on the Italian Riviera), Barcelona, and are currently relaxing in Denia, Spain. We would have posted sooner, but Rome was so busy and everywhere else internet has been REALLY expensive...so we hope you understand our delay.