So let us start by apologizing for the lack of posts over the past week, we have barely had a chance to tour around Prague, much less have time to write a post (not that you would want to read a post about accounting for mergers and acquisitions anyway). On to the good news, class one is officially complete! This morning we took our final exam for ACC 510, as long as we all passed, we are hopeful, then we can place a check mark next to that one!
Now back to what we have done for the past week. Although we have had very little free time we are having a great time, learning a lot about the city, and meeting a lot of new people! So far this has been a great experience and I think we are all very thankful that we have taken advantage of this opportunity.
Through the struggles of time management we have been able to squeeze in a few of life's more appealing options as compared to studying our lives away. At the beginning of the week we took an afternoon and went to Petrin Tower to take in the view from high atop a mountain. As in every European country, public transportation is our best friend, we took the tram up to the hill and then took the Funicular up the mountain. Petrin Tower is a miniature Eiffel Tower and visitors are allowed to climb the 312 steps to the top to take in the breathtaking views of the city. We were troopers and made it to the top without a break and it is safe to say that the climb was well worth the experience. It is evident from the skyline view that Prague is an old city full of history and culture. All of the buildings look alike, the stucco look with red clay tile roof tops.
On Tuesday some of the group went to the Beer Gardens, these are fairly popular throughout Europe, while some of us stayed in to study (lame, I know). For those of you who may not know, the Beer Gardens are basically like a park that includes a few beer venues, with several picnic tables and places to sit and sip on a few drinks. The Beer Gardens are very pretty from what everyone said and I think that everyone had a great time and enjoyed a few relaxing pivos!
Wednesday consisted of another morning of class and then a venture to the Castle. There are many more castles in European regions than we have in the U.S. and it is amazing to see the time and energy that are placed into creating the intricate details of such structures. As cheap college students we decided not to pay the additional fee and to actually go into the museums and such, but we took the free route and took the tour of the grounds and also a tour of the cathedral. The cathedral was beautiful, especially the stained glass that were created so perfectly in each of the cathedral windows.
So Thursday night was full of a little excitement, after a long day of studying. Everyone had stayed at the institute practically all day in an effort to prepare for our test this morning and returned to the pension around 8:30 pm. After arriving back at the pension we heard from some of the other students that there was an Elton John concert scheduled for Thursday night. Several of us decided this would be fun and wanted to go, but we didn't know where the concert was, what time it started, or how much the tickets cost. Despite our better judgment we went for it considering it an adventure! We were able to use the internet and determine that it was to be held at the O2 Arena. We went downstairs asked which metro to take and started our adventure. After witnessing a free burning fire, several tram stops, and a part of Prague that we had never cared to see we found the O2 Arena. Once we got there we could not find an open ticket window to ask about tickets. We walked to several entrances and finally found someone, but we soon found out that the concert started at 8:00 (keep in mind by this point it is 9:30) and that we were going to have to pay 950 Koruns to get a ticket. After all of the excitement we decided that it probably wasn't worth the money for the remainder of the show so we made our way back to the metro station, but we knew we weren't going straight back so instead we headed for Old Town Square, there we stayed for a few hours before beginning the (much longer than anticipated) journey back to the pension. In Prague the metro stops at midnight, when we decided to leave the square it was just a little after 12:00, so no metro for us! We thought no problem we will take the tram, well it was no problem but 1.5 hours later we arrived at our pension, (keep in mind it was probably a max 30 minute walk)! Although we waited at many stops for well over 20 minutes to ride on the tram for a mere 5 to 10 minutes we had a great time hanging out and it is all part of the experience!
So as many of you probably know, soccer is HUGE in Europe! Well how cool is it that we are here for the World Cup, but if you are like me I didn't know what the World Cup was until about a week ago! Old Town Square had huge screens set up to broadcast the games so we decided to immerse ourselves into the culture and to learn about soccer the European way. We headed down to the square and watched the game for a little bit and then went to a nearby restaurant for dinner and a few drinks, everyone had a great night hanging out as a group and really getting to know each other!
Saturday was not one of the best days, but it was one of the days none the least. Saturday was spent studying in preparation for our test, but it did not pass without some fun and interesting moments! As we were sitting outside studying, still in our pajamas at 5:00 or 5:30 we were approached by an interesting man with ladies lacey panties on his head and a bright neon orange jersey that read Shorty's Hangover. He wanted to sell us some shots off of his belt and some gummy bears, we soon learned that he was the bachelor of a bachelor party from Germany and was being forced by his friends to sell these items as part of his party. The guys were actually really nice and attempted to help us with our studying, they must have thought we needed some help by the looks on our faces! It was quite entertaining and a nice laughing break to our long day of studying!
On Saturday night we wanted to go down to the square to watch the American soccer game and to show our national pride we all dressed in red, white, and blue! We headed down to the square and watched the game in the square with everyone else, we were thrilled that the US stayed strong throughout the game.
This morning was stressful, but a huge relief to finish the first half of this three week semester. Although the test was ridiculously hard there is a huge weight lifted off of each of us now that it is behind us. Now it is time to pack for Vienna and to enjoy a few days of relaxing fun!
Clock Tower in Old Town Square
World Cup
Branson lunch date
German Friends
Monday, June 14, 2010
Sunday, June 6, 2010
New City, New Friends, but Here Comes Reality
Upon exiting the train we were happily greeted with a sign stating NCSU, Allayna Lopossay. We anxiously followed the man with the sign, our cab driver, to his car, and for the first time someone graciously helped us load our bags. After a short drive and a few tips from our cab driver we arrived at our pension which interestingly enough was a gestapo and breeding place for Aryan babies during World War II. To enhance the history lesson, after the birthing the children the mother's were sent to a nearby concentration camp. Clearly our home for the next three weeks is full of history.
Despite the bad reviews and warnings from past travelers the pension is actually fairly nice. Luckily the four of us are still sharing a room and we received one of the nicest rooms within the pension. After dropping off our bags and meeting a few other NCSU students we went to grab a quick lunch in a pub up the street and were pleased to find that the food is much much cheaper and also much tastier than we had anticipated.
Our next adventure was not one that we were particularly excited about, but we knew that it was necessary so we grabbed all of our dirty clothes and headed for the laundry mat. We have never been so appreciative of our washers and dryers at home, but a few hours and $30 dollars later we had freshly laundered socks and underwear. Thankfully we were able to pass the time catching up on phone calls and emails for no extra cost.
Next stop Tesco (inbetween Super Wal-Mart and Department Store) to get a hairdryer and a few groceries. We anticipated this to be a simple trip with a well thought out list, but it turned into a scavenger hunt or so it seemed. We started looking for our hair dryer on the cosmetic floor, then went to the bathroom floor, later were sent back to the cosmetics, then we were guided to the women's accessories, and finally to the electronics. Upon finding the hair dryer within the electronics section it made sense to us, but never would we have anticipated to find it there upon entering the store 30 minutes earlier. Never have we been more willing to pay $15 or 299 Koruns for a hair dryer.
Now on to the groceries...this was a little more predictable, lots of food with words in a language we don't understand. We knew that Czechs ate a lot of meat, but we were surprised to see that their meat department was easily three times bigger than ours at home. All in all it was successful and the food was fairly cheap, the only exception is that we realized this morning instead of skim milk we had bought butter milk, not what you want to combine with your cereal!
Upon returning a group of students from NCSU, multiple programs not just MAC students, decided to go to a five story European dance club. It was quite the adventure!!
We all slept in this morning, since it is the last day before reality kicks in, to catch up on some much needed zzzzzz's. Once we got up we realized we must get going to have a chance to grab any lunch before our orientation at the NCSU institute. Dana the Institute Director went over the general information, gave us a quick Czech lesson, and a tour of the institute. The institute is very nice and well kept.
Dr. Branson, our professor, then took us on a tour of the nearby area. We saw some typical tourist stops and began to learn our way around the area. We then went to get dinner at a traditional Czech restaurant, much to our surprise there were "edible" things on the menu, not just tongue, pork knee, and bear paws. The "edible" food, chicken, was actually pretty good. After dinner we made our way over to the National Theatre and watched the Othello ballet. Since the majority of us did not know the story of Othello we found the ballet to be somewhat confusing, but after intermission and a brief explanation it became much more interesting.
All in all we are having a great time getting to know everyone in Prague and learning about the city!
Despite the bad reviews and warnings from past travelers the pension is actually fairly nice. Luckily the four of us are still sharing a room and we received one of the nicest rooms within the pension. After dropping off our bags and meeting a few other NCSU students we went to grab a quick lunch in a pub up the street and were pleased to find that the food is much much cheaper and also much tastier than we had anticipated.
Our next adventure was not one that we were particularly excited about, but we knew that it was necessary so we grabbed all of our dirty clothes and headed for the laundry mat. We have never been so appreciative of our washers and dryers at home, but a few hours and $30 dollars later we had freshly laundered socks and underwear. Thankfully we were able to pass the time catching up on phone calls and emails for no extra cost.
Next stop Tesco (inbetween Super Wal-Mart and Department Store) to get a hairdryer and a few groceries. We anticipated this to be a simple trip with a well thought out list, but it turned into a scavenger hunt or so it seemed. We started looking for our hair dryer on the cosmetic floor, then went to the bathroom floor, later were sent back to the cosmetics, then we were guided to the women's accessories, and finally to the electronics. Upon finding the hair dryer within the electronics section it made sense to us, but never would we have anticipated to find it there upon entering the store 30 minutes earlier. Never have we been more willing to pay $15 or 299 Koruns for a hair dryer.
Now on to the groceries...this was a little more predictable, lots of food with words in a language we don't understand. We knew that Czechs ate a lot of meat, but we were surprised to see that their meat department was easily three times bigger than ours at home. All in all it was successful and the food was fairly cheap, the only exception is that we realized this morning instead of skim milk we had bought butter milk, not what you want to combine with your cereal!
Upon returning a group of students from NCSU, multiple programs not just MAC students, decided to go to a five story European dance club. It was quite the adventure!!
We all slept in this morning, since it is the last day before reality kicks in, to catch up on some much needed zzzzzz's. Once we got up we realized we must get going to have a chance to grab any lunch before our orientation at the NCSU institute. Dana the Institute Director went over the general information, gave us a quick Czech lesson, and a tour of the institute. The institute is very nice and well kept.
Dr. Branson, our professor, then took us on a tour of the nearby area. We saw some typical tourist stops and began to learn our way around the area. We then went to get dinner at a traditional Czech restaurant, much to our surprise there were "edible" things on the menu, not just tongue, pork knee, and bear paws. The "edible" food, chicken, was actually pretty good. After dinner we made our way over to the National Theatre and watched the Othello ballet. Since the majority of us did not know the story of Othello we found the ballet to be somewhat confusing, but after intermission and a brief explanation it became much more interesting.
All in all we are having a great time getting to know everyone in Prague and learning about the city!
Saturday, June 5, 2010
Much Ado About Nothing
6:30am alarm.... non-existent today! For a change we slept in a little til 8:15am and took our time this morning. After a leisurely breakfast and checking out, we walked around town and the Reuss river to finish our self guided tour from yesterday. After our stroll around the river and side streets, we tried to take a scenic route to the famous Lion statue (which involved a little bit of hiking). This scenic route included us following an ancient great stone wall, which reminded us of the great wall of China, however it was not that big. The Lion statue was in more of the touristy part of town and the site was filled with many asian and children tour groups (however, for some reason there were an uncanny amount of asian tour groups in Lucern- which we never figured out why). Amazingly, the statue was carved right into the side of a huge rock. At 20feet tall and around 30 feet long, it depicted the lost lives of Swiss soldiers during the french revolution.
After we had our fill of tourist attractions, we walked around and lightly shopped. However, we mostly just walked around because of how costly Switzerland tends to be and our already thin wallets. We later decided to take an earlier train to Zurich to avoid any delays or close connections with our night train.
The night train to Praha (Prague) was very interesting and very tiny. We stuffed all our huge 65lb suitcases and bookbags into the tiny cabin, that consisted of 4 beds and a ladder. Upon boarding our night train, we met 5 Texan students (what a relief) who actually turned out to be accountants studying in Prague as well. (Nerds of a feather flock together, huh?) Although it was a relief to meet people similar to us, it was also a bit unnerving to have a creeper standing inches outside our door all night. But no worries, Allayna secured us in by locking our chain lock with a cable suitcase lock (that door would not be broken into). A bad breakfast and 13 hours later we arrived safe and sound in Prague!!!!
After we had our fill of tourist attractions, we walked around and lightly shopped. However, we mostly just walked around because of how costly Switzerland tends to be and our already thin wallets. We later decided to take an earlier train to Zurich to avoid any delays or close connections with our night train.
The night train to Praha (Prague) was very interesting and very tiny. We stuffed all our huge 65lb suitcases and bookbags into the tiny cabin, that consisted of 4 beds and a ladder. Upon boarding our night train, we met 5 Texan students (what a relief) who actually turned out to be accountants studying in Prague as well. (Nerds of a feather flock together, huh?) Although it was a relief to meet people similar to us, it was also a bit unnerving to have a creeper standing inches outside our door all night. But no worries, Allayna secured us in by locking our chain lock with a cable suitcase lock (that door would not be broken into). A bad breakfast and 13 hours later we arrived safe and sound in Prague!!!!
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Over the River and Through the Woods...or in our case, just follow the river
At 6:15 this morning it was apparent that while our minds were telling us to get up our bodies were begging us to stay in bed. A week of no sleep was finally catching up with us today. However, we drug ourselves out of bed and headed to the continental breakfast once more. We were happy to find a few new choices, including chocolate cereal and hot chocolate (after all we are in Switzerland). Curious of what our day had in store for us we headed to the concierge for his expert advice on how we should spend our day, since the weather was a little gloomy. We had planned on visiting one of the highest peaks in the Alps but didn't want a replay of Vesuvius, therefore we sought advice. He recommended a "3 hour tour" of Lake Lucerne by boat. We took his advice and headed toward the train station to buy our tickets. The conceirge gave us the easiest directions to reach the train station, telling us to simply follow the river. These are the same directions that we received from several locals last night as we attempted to locate our hotel, but ended up lost. After once again having to ask for further directions while venturing to the train station we finally understood that "follow the river," literally means to walk right beside the river and not in its general direction. No worries tomorrow we will definitely know how to follow the river!
After making it to the train station we decided to go ahead and book our tickets to Prague for tomorrow as well as the lake tour tickets. Since none of the signs have English translations, it is really hard for us to navigate the station. Therefore, our only option to find our way around is to ask people who are nearby. The people in Switzerland are either very nice and willing to help or are rude and want nothing to do with us, there is no middle ground. Although we ran into a few rude people, like yesterday, we were fortuante enough to run into some English speaking natives who were more than happy to point us in the right direction.
After purchasing our tickets we headed to board the ferry. By this time it was raining and quite chilly outside so we were glad to see the ferry was partially enclosed. Beginning the journey across the lake, we hoped for strong winds to move the clouds so that we could see the snow capped mountains. Unfortunately, we didn't get that lucky. While the clouds were there to stay, we still enjoyed seeing the lush green hills of the Swiss countryside. The water in the lake was also a transparent green which made for a few good pictures. At the end of our "3 hour tour" we got off the ferry at Fluelen and caught the train back to Lucerne.
In Lucerne we decided we wanted to see a little more of the city, so we began our river stroll with tour guide, Allayna (a.k.a. Rick Steves, author of tour book). Some of the neatest things we learned were about the 2 oldest bridges, the Chapel and Mill Bridge, and how long they had been around. After soaking up some of the cultural and historical knowledge of the town, the cold weather and our heavy eyes led us back to our hotel for a quick nap (minus Meredith, who caught up on external communications). After resting we headed back out to do some more exploring and eat dinner. However quickly realizing Switzerland was much more expensive than Italy, we ended up at a local grocery store to get some things for dinner. This was quite an experience as the grocery store was small and very crowded.
Basically, we have had a pretty low key day. We are back in the room earlier than ever and intend on catching up on much needed sleep tonight. This will be imporant becuase we have another full day planned in Switzerland tomorrow before we catch our train to Prague that leaves at 9:30 pm.
Just as a heads up we will probably not be posting anything tomorrow since we will be on a train all night, arriving in Prague at about 11:00 am on Saturday.
After making it to the train station we decided to go ahead and book our tickets to Prague for tomorrow as well as the lake tour tickets. Since none of the signs have English translations, it is really hard for us to navigate the station. Therefore, our only option to find our way around is to ask people who are nearby. The people in Switzerland are either very nice and willing to help or are rude and want nothing to do with us, there is no middle ground. Although we ran into a few rude people, like yesterday, we were fortuante enough to run into some English speaking natives who were more than happy to point us in the right direction.
After purchasing our tickets we headed to board the ferry. By this time it was raining and quite chilly outside so we were glad to see the ferry was partially enclosed. Beginning the journey across the lake, we hoped for strong winds to move the clouds so that we could see the snow capped mountains. Unfortunately, we didn't get that lucky. While the clouds were there to stay, we still enjoyed seeing the lush green hills of the Swiss countryside. The water in the lake was also a transparent green which made for a few good pictures. At the end of our "3 hour tour" we got off the ferry at Fluelen and caught the train back to Lucerne.
In Lucerne we decided we wanted to see a little more of the city, so we began our river stroll with tour guide, Allayna (a.k.a. Rick Steves, author of tour book). Some of the neatest things we learned were about the 2 oldest bridges, the Chapel and Mill Bridge, and how long they had been around. After soaking up some of the cultural and historical knowledge of the town, the cold weather and our heavy eyes led us back to our hotel for a quick nap (minus Meredith, who caught up on external communications). After resting we headed back out to do some more exploring and eat dinner. However quickly realizing Switzerland was much more expensive than Italy, we ended up at a local grocery store to get some things for dinner. This was quite an experience as the grocery store was small and very crowded.
Basically, we have had a pretty low key day. We are back in the room earlier than ever and intend on catching up on much needed sleep tonight. This will be imporant becuase we have another full day planned in Switzerland tomorrow before we catch our train to Prague that leaves at 9:30 pm.
Just as a heads up we will probably not be posting anything tomorrow since we will be on a train all night, arriving in Prague at about 11:00 am on Saturday.
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Cement Sand
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
This morning we got up, got our “continental” breakfast, headed down the mountain and got on a ferry to head toward Capri, a small island of theAmalfi Coast of Italy. The ferry on the way there was very rough and made us all feel sea sick. However, once we got there we were amazed at thebeauty of the island.
Although Capri is a small island with few towns, it is not feasible to walk from town to town because of the difference in elevation. There are 900 steps that connect the two towns on the island, Capri Town and Anacapri. Because we weren’t up to this challenge, we once again used another form of public transportation and took a cable car from the port to Capri Town. From this high on the island you can see the main land as well as Mt. Vesuvius and all the views are absolutely breathtaking. Pictures do not capture the amazing landscape. This time around we could actually see the crater on the top of the mountain even from miles away.
After snapping lots of pictures of the landscape, we took a bus up toAnacapri. We wondered around the town for a little bit, stopped in an internet café to catch up a little with all of you and then headed towards Faro, a public local (not topless thankfully) beach in Anacapri. The view from here was also gorgeous; it was almost like we were in a dream. At the beach, we were the objects of everyone’s attention; you would think we had horns coming out of our heads by the way everyone was staring. Really though, we don’t know if it’s because we are four beautiful American girls, because we are loud and obnoxious or if it’s because we dress like quadruplets every day (today was dress and cardigan day!). Either way, we definitely stand out and get lots of attention.
While we were at the beach we ate at the snack bar there. Overall, it was a good experience but note to self: hamburgers in Italy are NOT the same ashamburgers in America. Expecting beautiful sand between our toes, wepulled up and hard concrete “beaches” hit our heels. Many locals had no problem laying out regardless of the cement sand and diving into the cold water. We did quickly dip our toes into the bright aqua sea whileentertaining many locals with our giggles.
After leaving the beach, we took the bus back to Capri Town and shopped around a little there before catching the ferry back to Sorrento. The ride was much better this time and didn’t leave us feeling nearly as queasy. When we got back to Sorrento we walked up 150 stairs (Allayna counted) simply to get back to the main part of town. We stopped at a local fruit stand to pick up some locally grown fruit and vegetables to take with us on our journey tomorrow when we leave for Switzerland.
This morning we got up, got our “continental” breakfast, headed down the mountain and got on a ferry to head toward Capri, a small island of theAmalfi Coast of Italy. The ferry on the way there was very rough and made us all feel sea sick. However, once we got there we were amazed at thebeauty of the island.
Although Capri is a small island with few towns, it is not feasible to walk from town to town because of the difference in elevation. There are 900 steps that connect the two towns on the island, Capri Town and Anacapri. Because we weren’t up to this challenge, we once again used another form of public transportation and took a cable car from the port to Capri Town. From this high on the island you can see the main land as well as Mt. Vesuvius and all the views are absolutely breathtaking. Pictures do not capture the amazing landscape. This time around we could actually see the crater on the top of the mountain even from miles away.
After snapping lots of pictures of the landscape, we took a bus up toAnacapri. We wondered around the town for a little bit, stopped in an internet café to catch up a little with all of you and then headed towards Faro, a public local (not topless thankfully) beach in Anacapri. The view from here was also gorgeous; it was almost like we were in a dream. At the beach, we were the objects of everyone’s attention; you would think we had horns coming out of our heads by the way everyone was staring. Really though, we don’t know if it’s because we are four beautiful American girls, because we are loud and obnoxious or if it’s because we dress like quadruplets every day (today was dress and cardigan day!). Either way, we definitely stand out and get lots of attention.
While we were at the beach we ate at the snack bar there. Overall, it was a good experience but note to self: hamburgers in Italy are NOT the same ashamburgers in America. Expecting beautiful sand between our toes, wepulled up and hard concrete “beaches” hit our heels. Many locals had no problem laying out regardless of the cement sand and diving into the cold water. We did quickly dip our toes into the bright aqua sea whileentertaining many locals with our giggles.
After leaving the beach, we took the bus back to Capri Town and shopped around a little there before catching the ferry back to Sorrento. The ride was much better this time and didn’t leave us feeling nearly as queasy. When we got back to Sorrento we walked up 150 stairs (Allayna counted) simply to get back to the main part of town. We stopped at a local fruit stand to pick up some locally grown fruit and vegetables to take with us on our journey tomorrow when we leave for Switzerland.
Blow Your Top
Monday, May 31, 2010
As you know, the early bird gets the worm, so we were up and at ‘em early this morning again. We were really excited about the day we had planned, as we were going to see the infamous Mt. Vesuvius (as the Italians say“Vesuvio!”) and Pompeii. Unfortunately, the weather didn’t want to cooperate. We took the shuttle down the mountain and caught the next train to Pompeii, where we took a red convertible bus to the top of Vesuvius. When we got on the bus we were thankful that the rain had stopped, particularly since it didn’t have a top but we knew it was a badsign when we could not see the top of the volcano for all the fog. Evidently, most other travelers realized today was not a good day to seeVesuvius since we were the only four people on the whole bus, but this was the only day we had available and we were going to make the best ofit…rain, shine, sleet or snow.
During the ride up, we listened to an audio recording about the eventsl eading up to the eruption as well as its aftermath. This was really interesting and the story began to really take on some life to us. One ofthe most interesting things we learned was that Pompeii used to be a port city and after the eruption now sits miles from the coast. Once we got as far as the bus would take us we started hiking up the “not so steep”mountain, or so we thought. We’ve come to the conclusion that we were actually walking up a 60 degree incline. This walk took at least 30minutes in the cold, foggy, windy rain, but this did not dampen our spirits or giggles, only our jackets. By the time we reached the point of the crater at the top we were soaked to the bone and out of breath. To make things even better, visibility was only about 15 feet and we couldn’tsee anything but fog…especially not the crater we climbed up to see. That’s ok though, we can now officially say we climbed to the top and we even have pictures to prove it!
Now comes the descent which was much easier than the climb! Due to the rain we had to be really careful coming down but don’t worry we’re goingto have killer leg muscles when we get home. When we reached the point of bus pickup it was still raining. Luckily, a nice local boy who worked forthe bus company let us sit in his work jeep to shelter us from the rain. It was really interesting to talk to him, especially since he spoke pretty good English, and to get his opinion about the area. Let us mention however, that he thought Naples was a wonderful place, minus the people.
We then took the bus to Pompeii which turned out to be astounding. Thankfully, by the time we reached the city the rain had stopped. Pompeii was much larger than we thought and we were able to see everything, really bringing the city to life. It was amazing how real it all felt once we were walking the streets of the once buried Pompeii. We started in the central area of the city which held their basilica, forum, public administration, temples and market. We then walked through the rest ofthe city and saw different homes, businesses and shops. It was evident that the things we had heard about Pompeii being a thriving town were true through the intricate details and layout of the town. We spent about 5 hours within Pompeii and only covered a third of the sights. We’re really glad we didn’t let the nasty weather keep us from enjoying this phenomenon.
We headed back to Sorrento to explore the town a little further and to get some dinner. We enjoyed some more traditional Italian food including pasta, bruschetta, and gelato. We had a great day and have also noticed another difference in the European culture from that which we are used to is the use of public transportation. Today alone we used a shuttle, a train, a bus, a bus, a train, and another bus. Through our use, we have discovered the trains and buses are a great way to catch a cat nap. The rocking and rickety rhythm seems to put us to sleep immediately. The public transportation system is great here, but we will surely have a new found appreciation for our cars upon returning home.
As you know, the early bird gets the worm, so we were up and at ‘em early this morning again. We were really excited about the day we had planned, as we were going to see the infamous Mt. Vesuvius (as the Italians say“Vesuvio!”) and Pompeii. Unfortunately, the weather didn’t want to cooperate. We took the shuttle down the mountain and caught the next train to Pompeii, where we took a red convertible bus to the top of Vesuvius. When we got on the bus we were thankful that the rain had stopped, particularly since it didn’t have a top but we knew it was a badsign when we could not see the top of the volcano for all the fog. Evidently, most other travelers realized today was not a good day to seeVesuvius since we were the only four people on the whole bus, but this was the only day we had available and we were going to make the best ofit…rain, shine, sleet or snow.
During the ride up, we listened to an audio recording about the eventsl eading up to the eruption as well as its aftermath. This was really interesting and the story began to really take on some life to us. One ofthe most interesting things we learned was that Pompeii used to be a port city and after the eruption now sits miles from the coast. Once we got as far as the bus would take us we started hiking up the “not so steep”mountain, or so we thought. We’ve come to the conclusion that we were actually walking up a 60 degree incline. This walk took at least 30minutes in the cold, foggy, windy rain, but this did not dampen our spirits or giggles, only our jackets. By the time we reached the point of the crater at the top we were soaked to the bone and out of breath. To make things even better, visibility was only about 15 feet and we couldn’tsee anything but fog…especially not the crater we climbed up to see. That’s ok though, we can now officially say we climbed to the top and we even have pictures to prove it!
Now comes the descent which was much easier than the climb! Due to the rain we had to be really careful coming down but don’t worry we’re goingto have killer leg muscles when we get home. When we reached the point of bus pickup it was still raining. Luckily, a nice local boy who worked forthe bus company let us sit in his work jeep to shelter us from the rain. It was really interesting to talk to him, especially since he spoke pretty good English, and to get his opinion about the area. Let us mention however, that he thought Naples was a wonderful place, minus the people.
We then took the bus to Pompeii which turned out to be astounding. Thankfully, by the time we reached the city the rain had stopped. Pompeii was much larger than we thought and we were able to see everything, really bringing the city to life. It was amazing how real it all felt once we were walking the streets of the once buried Pompeii. We started in the central area of the city which held their basilica, forum, public administration, temples and market. We then walked through the rest ofthe city and saw different homes, businesses and shops. It was evident that the things we had heard about Pompeii being a thriving town were true through the intricate details and layout of the town. We spent about 5 hours within Pompeii and only covered a third of the sights. We’re really glad we didn’t let the nasty weather keep us from enjoying this phenomenon.
We headed back to Sorrento to explore the town a little further and to get some dinner. We enjoyed some more traditional Italian food including pasta, bruschetta, and gelato. We had a great day and have also noticed another difference in the European culture from that which we are used to is the use of public transportation. Today alone we used a shuttle, a train, a bus, a bus, a train, and another bus. Through our use, we have discovered the trains and buses are a great way to catch a cat nap. The rocking and rickety rhythm seems to put us to sleep immediately. The public transportation system is great here, but we will surely have a new found appreciation for our cars upon returning home.
God's Greatest Gifts
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Surprise, Surprise. This morning we were up early, beating the elderly people again, and down for breakfast around 6:50. We dragged our suitcases down to the bus stop intending to catch the 7:20 bus which came around 7:35 because today was apparently an Italian holiday. A stray german shepherd dog guarded us and kept us company in the meantime. After we reached the Sorrento train station, we boarded the train to Naples. This is the beginning of our hectic travel day.
We decided to get off at the Napoli Garidoli train stop, but begain to second guess our decision to get off the train because we didn't recognize the stop from our previous trip to Naples. Luckily, we were in the right stop and hurried upstairs to buy our tickets to Switzerland. Unfortunately the early train was completely booked, therefore our only option was to take the train at 11:50am. To kill some time, we walked around to find an empty bench. We settled down next to what seemed like a sweet little Italian who spoke little english. After a few minutes of trying to communicate with her, she proceeded to pull out a small pill box full of drugs to sell to us. We quickly deserted that bench.
After a snack at McDonald's (Allayna finally got her normal nourishment), we boarded the train to Milan. After finding our seats, we broke out our handy dandy bicycle locks to secure our suitcases to the luggage rack. We were relieved that our seats we all together in the same car. The five hour ride seemed to go by quickly but we were anxious as we got closer to the station knowing that our lay over was only supposed to be 25 minutes. When our train came to a sudden stop before it ever reached the station, we started to get really concerned we were going to miss our train to Zurich. After receiving some reassurance from an Italian couple on the stopped train, we started to feel a little bit better. Finally our train made it to the station and we literally RAN to our connecting train. Once again, although things didn't go as planned, they worked out in our favor; our connection to Zurich had already been delayed 20 minutes. This meant that even though we were panicking, we had plenty of time to make it.
On the train to Zurich, we knew we were getting ready to be out of our element when the intercom on the train was speaking in German, a language foreign to all of us. Things continued to get even more interesting...30 minutes later, the train stopped again. This time we were apparently at the border of Italy and Switzerland and our train was chosen to be searched by the "border patrol," as policmen and drug dogs raided our cars. After yet another delay, our train was back on track in the right direction.
As we made our way thorugh the Swiss countryside, we were so glad we decided to take the train instead of fly, which was our original plan. The scenery was majestic as we saw snow capped mountains and waterfalls along the way. We had calculated what time we would be arriving in Zurich based on the previous delays but somehow still managed to miss our stop. Fortunately, when we got off the train there was a nice English speaking gentleman that led us to the ticket station, helped us buy our tickets and guided us to the correct platform. Thankful for how everything had worked out depsite the inconveniences, all we could do was breathe a sigh of relief.
After a few more complications, we finally arrived at the train station in Lucerne, our final destination, at 10:30pm in the rain. Using our poorly detailed travel book map, we attempted to find our way to our hotel in the dark through a mass of slightly intoxicated Swiss citizens who were celebrating a national Swiss holiday (imagine that). After unsuccessfully navigating the streets we ran into a group of Swiss, including a younger boy who could speak English well. Once again we were saved; his grandmother had to walk right by our hotel on her way home. She was kind enough to let us follow her as she led us right to the front door.
We were greeted by a Scottish concierge with an extremely joyous attitude. He even had candy for us, this was an excellent treat after a long day of travel. Not to mention FREE working wireless internet. This hotel isn't as nice as the others, but the internet makes up for it all. Our room also has a beautiful view of a river.
Even though the day didn't go as planned, it was apparent that God was watching over us as we finally made it to our destination safe and sound.
Surprise, Surprise. This morning we were up early, beating the elderly people again, and down for breakfast around 6:50. We dragged our suitcases down to the bus stop intending to catch the 7:20 bus which came around 7:35 because today was apparently an Italian holiday. A stray german shepherd dog guarded us and kept us company in the meantime. After we reached the Sorrento train station, we boarded the train to Naples. This is the beginning of our hectic travel day.
We decided to get off at the Napoli Garidoli train stop, but begain to second guess our decision to get off the train because we didn't recognize the stop from our previous trip to Naples. Luckily, we were in the right stop and hurried upstairs to buy our tickets to Switzerland. Unfortunately the early train was completely booked, therefore our only option was to take the train at 11:50am. To kill some time, we walked around to find an empty bench. We settled down next to what seemed like a sweet little Italian who spoke little english. After a few minutes of trying to communicate with her, she proceeded to pull out a small pill box full of drugs to sell to us. We quickly deserted that bench.
After a snack at McDonald's (Allayna finally got her normal nourishment), we boarded the train to Milan. After finding our seats, we broke out our handy dandy bicycle locks to secure our suitcases to the luggage rack. We were relieved that our seats we all together in the same car. The five hour ride seemed to go by quickly but we were anxious as we got closer to the station knowing that our lay over was only supposed to be 25 minutes. When our train came to a sudden stop before it ever reached the station, we started to get really concerned we were going to miss our train to Zurich. After receiving some reassurance from an Italian couple on the stopped train, we started to feel a little bit better. Finally our train made it to the station and we literally RAN to our connecting train. Once again, although things didn't go as planned, they worked out in our favor; our connection to Zurich had already been delayed 20 minutes. This meant that even though we were panicking, we had plenty of time to make it.
On the train to Zurich, we knew we were getting ready to be out of our element when the intercom on the train was speaking in German, a language foreign to all of us. Things continued to get even more interesting...30 minutes later, the train stopped again. This time we were apparently at the border of Italy and Switzerland and our train was chosen to be searched by the "border patrol," as policmen and drug dogs raided our cars. After yet another delay, our train was back on track in the right direction.
As we made our way thorugh the Swiss countryside, we were so glad we decided to take the train instead of fly, which was our original plan. The scenery was majestic as we saw snow capped mountains and waterfalls along the way. We had calculated what time we would be arriving in Zurich based on the previous delays but somehow still managed to miss our stop. Fortunately, when we got off the train there was a nice English speaking gentleman that led us to the ticket station, helped us buy our tickets and guided us to the correct platform. Thankful for how everything had worked out depsite the inconveniences, all we could do was breathe a sigh of relief.
After a few more complications, we finally arrived at the train station in Lucerne, our final destination, at 10:30pm in the rain. Using our poorly detailed travel book map, we attempted to find our way to our hotel in the dark through a mass of slightly intoxicated Swiss citizens who were celebrating a national Swiss holiday (imagine that). After unsuccessfully navigating the streets we ran into a group of Swiss, including a younger boy who could speak English well. Once again we were saved; his grandmother had to walk right by our hotel on her way home. She was kind enough to let us follow her as she led us right to the front door.
We were greeted by a Scottish concierge with an extremely joyous attitude. He even had candy for us, this was an excellent treat after a long day of travel. Not to mention FREE working wireless internet. This hotel isn't as nice as the others, but the internet makes up for it all. Our room also has a beautiful view of a river.
Even though the day didn't go as planned, it was apparent that God was watching over us as we finally made it to our destination safe and sound.
Hurry up and Wait
Sunday, May 30, 2010
As for the Romans, when we were leaving the “Yes Hotel” and walkingtowards the train station we met a group of four Romans, about our age,still out from the night before drinking on the street at 5am. As wepassed by, one of the guys said to us, “I would move out of your way, butmy legs won’t move!” Once again in our “mom” jeans and cardigans, we justlaughed and kept walking towards the train station.
The Rome train station is a bit scary at 5:30 in the morning, whilepurchasing our tickets two guys approached and tried to exchange suitcaseswith Allayna. He said that he wanted to have the pink one; to say theleast this was not the most comforting start to our morning! Using ourtickets we took the train from Rome to Naples. It took us about two hoursfor the trip. While riding it was nice to see the Italian countryside.
When we got to Naples we had to switch trains in order to get to Sorrento. The train station in Naples was very busy and somewhat scary. Whilewaiting we think some young kids (probably pick-pocketers) may have beenplotting against us, but we outsmarted them and had no problems! With ourcombined 320 pounds of luggage we ended up having to stand for the hourride to Sorrento. We weren’t only ones standing at the back of the traincar, there was a group of young Italian boys trying their hardest toimpress us American girls. We couldn’t understand anything that they weresaying, but they were pointing, laughing, singing, doing pull-ups, andflexing their muscles. Needless to say this gave us nothing but a goodlaugh, and a little boost to the self esteem.
Arriving in Sorrento we were so impressed with how well we thought we weredoing on time, but this slowly changed. We walked right up to the busticket window and bought ourselves a ticket, walked out to the bus stopsand got in a long line. A friendly local Italian lady that worked withthe bus company walked over to help us and told us we were in the wrongline. Not only were we in the wrong line, but it was Sunday and it seemsthat Italy closes on Sunday as buses do not run as frequently. We realizedthis after waiting for about an hour for the bus to come. We thoughteverything would be fine because she called the hotel and had them sendout the shuttle to pick us up, but the shuttle took an hour to arrive. This means that we were sitting on the curb with our 320 pounds of luggagefor over 2 hours; talk about a long day!
Now that we have been up and traveling for 8 hours to make a 2 hour trip,we finally arrived at our hotel. Upon arrival at La Vue D’Or Hotel theviews are breathtaking. Our room is also very nice, although not asconvenient as our hotel in Rome, as our hotel was up a mountain on theoutskirts of Sorrento. Here we only have one of everything, but it ismore than sufficient. After dropping off our bags and a quick freshen upwe headed back to the train station and hopped on a train to Naples. Wewere really excited about eating pizza in its birthplace, but we had arude awakening upon arrival!
Naples is supposedly the second best city in Italy after Rome, but when wegot off the train at the Naples station we were warned by a local to holdour bags VERY tight. This made us just a little paranoid, but we weredetermined and ventured out into the city. The city is dirty, there istrash everywhere; there are markets on the street, but no tables, they laytheir goods on the sidewalk. We were adamantly in search of Da Michelles,because word has it that they have the best pizza in town. We walked(almost ran) around the city for 10 or 15 minutes looking for thepizzeria, asked several hotel workers, and then found out that it wasSunday and Da Michelles was closed. So…we quickly headed back to thetrain station and decided Sorrento would be a safer place to eat.
Once we got back to Sorrento, we decided to wander the streets to see whatwas in store. We immediately fell in love with this city. It’sbeautiful, everyone is so friendly and most importantly we feel safe. Wefound a local pizzeria and stopped for an early dinner. Unlike inAmerica, you have to pay a lot for drinks here, and get no refills. However we got a great deal for dinner…although it was still consideredlunch time in Italy (it was 5:30)! We thought we were ordering pizza bythe slice but got a WHOLE pizza for each of us. We all really enjoyed thepizza although it’s a little different than what you would get at home. They aren’t really big on toppings, traditionally only offering a cheesepizza. The service here is also very different, you seat yourselves andthe waiters don’t do much more than take your order and bring your food. You have to get their attention if you need something and wait forever forit to come, especially the check. It’s very obvious that time is not atop priority to Italians.
After dinner we headed out to explore some more of Sorrento; we went inseveral local shops along the streets. Leather is almost like a commodityhere, it’s everywhere. Southern Italy is also known for its citrusfruits, especially lemons. There are citrus groves all along the streetsand lemon gifts in every shop. I think we all love this town so muchbecause it reminds us of a quaint little southern town like home.
Unlike home however, there are absolutely NO traffic laws…except for maybethat you have to have a license plate. People generally drive in theright direction but they are all over the road, pass at any time and usetheir horns like we use our seat belt…constantly. However, their hornsdon’t mean the same thing as ours. They use theirs as caution, to letothers know they are coming, while we use ours as a sign of road rage. Europeans also drive little scooters around or use public transportation,we think it’s rare that people have their own cars; if they do have theirown car more than likely it will be a smart car.
After exploring Sorrento we took the shuttle back to the hotel. Let mebring to your attention once more that grandparents were getting off thebus in town as we were getting on. Ha! When we got back, we found out theinternet that was supposed to be available in our hotel was currently outof service…that’s why you haven’t heard from us for a few days. Meredithpassed out immediately since she hadn’t had any sleep for the month ofMay, while the other girls attempted to use the makeshift computer in thelobby.
After a long day of travel, we definitely learned patience is a virtue.
As for the Romans, when we were leaving the “Yes Hotel” and walkingtowards the train station we met a group of four Romans, about our age,still out from the night before drinking on the street at 5am. As wepassed by, one of the guys said to us, “I would move out of your way, butmy legs won’t move!” Once again in our “mom” jeans and cardigans, we justlaughed and kept walking towards the train station.
The Rome train station is a bit scary at 5:30 in the morning, whilepurchasing our tickets two guys approached and tried to exchange suitcaseswith Allayna. He said that he wanted to have the pink one; to say theleast this was not the most comforting start to our morning! Using ourtickets we took the train from Rome to Naples. It took us about two hoursfor the trip. While riding it was nice to see the Italian countryside.
When we got to Naples we had to switch trains in order to get to Sorrento. The train station in Naples was very busy and somewhat scary. Whilewaiting we think some young kids (probably pick-pocketers) may have beenplotting against us, but we outsmarted them and had no problems! With ourcombined 320 pounds of luggage we ended up having to stand for the hourride to Sorrento. We weren’t only ones standing at the back of the traincar, there was a group of young Italian boys trying their hardest toimpress us American girls. We couldn’t understand anything that they weresaying, but they were pointing, laughing, singing, doing pull-ups, andflexing their muscles. Needless to say this gave us nothing but a goodlaugh, and a little boost to the self esteem.
Arriving in Sorrento we were so impressed with how well we thought we weredoing on time, but this slowly changed. We walked right up to the busticket window and bought ourselves a ticket, walked out to the bus stopsand got in a long line. A friendly local Italian lady that worked withthe bus company walked over to help us and told us we were in the wrongline. Not only were we in the wrong line, but it was Sunday and it seemsthat Italy closes on Sunday as buses do not run as frequently. We realizedthis after waiting for about an hour for the bus to come. We thoughteverything would be fine because she called the hotel and had them sendout the shuttle to pick us up, but the shuttle took an hour to arrive. This means that we were sitting on the curb with our 320 pounds of luggagefor over 2 hours; talk about a long day!
Now that we have been up and traveling for 8 hours to make a 2 hour trip,we finally arrived at our hotel. Upon arrival at La Vue D’Or Hotel theviews are breathtaking. Our room is also very nice, although not asconvenient as our hotel in Rome, as our hotel was up a mountain on theoutskirts of Sorrento. Here we only have one of everything, but it ismore than sufficient. After dropping off our bags and a quick freshen upwe headed back to the train station and hopped on a train to Naples. Wewere really excited about eating pizza in its birthplace, but we had arude awakening upon arrival!
Naples is supposedly the second best city in Italy after Rome, but when wegot off the train at the Naples station we were warned by a local to holdour bags VERY tight. This made us just a little paranoid, but we weredetermined and ventured out into the city. The city is dirty, there istrash everywhere; there are markets on the street, but no tables, they laytheir goods on the sidewalk. We were adamantly in search of Da Michelles,because word has it that they have the best pizza in town. We walked(almost ran) around the city for 10 or 15 minutes looking for thepizzeria, asked several hotel workers, and then found out that it wasSunday and Da Michelles was closed. So…we quickly headed back to thetrain station and decided Sorrento would be a safer place to eat.
Once we got back to Sorrento, we decided to wander the streets to see whatwas in store. We immediately fell in love with this city. It’sbeautiful, everyone is so friendly and most importantly we feel safe. Wefound a local pizzeria and stopped for an early dinner. Unlike inAmerica, you have to pay a lot for drinks here, and get no refills. However we got a great deal for dinner…although it was still consideredlunch time in Italy (it was 5:30)! We thought we were ordering pizza bythe slice but got a WHOLE pizza for each of us. We all really enjoyed thepizza although it’s a little different than what you would get at home. They aren’t really big on toppings, traditionally only offering a cheesepizza. The service here is also very different, you seat yourselves andthe waiters don’t do much more than take your order and bring your food. You have to get their attention if you need something and wait forever forit to come, especially the check. It’s very obvious that time is not atop priority to Italians.
After dinner we headed out to explore some more of Sorrento; we went inseveral local shops along the streets. Leather is almost like a commodityhere, it’s everywhere. Southern Italy is also known for its citrusfruits, especially lemons. There are citrus groves all along the streetsand lemon gifts in every shop. I think we all love this town so muchbecause it reminds us of a quaint little southern town like home.
Unlike home however, there are absolutely NO traffic laws…except for maybethat you have to have a license plate. People generally drive in theright direction but they are all over the road, pass at any time and usetheir horns like we use our seat belt…constantly. However, their hornsdon’t mean the same thing as ours. They use theirs as caution, to letothers know they are coming, while we use ours as a sign of road rage. Europeans also drive little scooters around or use public transportation,we think it’s rare that people have their own cars; if they do have theirown car more than likely it will be a smart car.
After exploring Sorrento we took the shuttle back to the hotel. Let mebring to your attention once more that grandparents were getting off thebus in town as we were getting on. Ha! When we got back, we found out theinternet that was supposed to be available in our hotel was currently outof service…that’s why you haven’t heard from us for a few days. Meredithpassed out immediately since she hadn’t had any sleep for the month ofMay, while the other girls attempted to use the makeshift computer in thelobby.
After a long day of travel, we definitely learned patience is a virtue.
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