Florence

Florence was not as confusing to navigate as Venice was, but when we arrived it was so damn hot (over 100 degrees) we took a taxi to the apartment. Which of course, was on the top floor with no elevator. Abby and I are seriously going to be so strong after this trip. On another note, our apartment was right across from the Pallaza Pitti, so that was really cool.

We really only had one day in Florence because we were planning on renting a car the second day and traveling around a bit.

At this point though we realized that everything, absolutely everything, we had wanted to do in Florence, i.e. see the David in the Galleria d'Academia, go to the Uffizi, and so on required prior reservations - which we did not have.

So, at a bit of a loss, I suggested we find the Duomo. I am not exactly direction savvy and I can hardly follow a map but for some reason I instinctually knew the lay out of this city - much to Abby and her dad's surprise. I managed to get us to the Duomo without ever reading a map. I have to say I'm quite impressed with myself on this fact. But really, I think my sense of direction in Florence is due to the numerous art history classes that gave me a good glimpse of the architectural layout of the city.

Venice

First and foremost, I'm home. I've been home for about three weeks now. I'm still going to update the blog though!

That said, I suppose I should start this post with an obituary.

Whilst on the ferry taxi to our apartment, tragedy caught up with our group. Abby is currently coming to terms with it. In the Grand Canal our ferry hit some wake from other boats. Abby lost her balance and her backpack knocked into the rail on the ferry. In the mesh compartment of her backpack was her trusty Nalgene. A Nalgene that had been all over the world with her and was covered with (to quote) "once in a lifetime stickers." Well, it hit in such a way that out popped the Nalgene. It took a swan dive of sorts into the canal and slowly floated away as Abby watched in horror.

Milano Take 2

While we were waiting for Abby’s dad and brother to fly in we went into the Duomo. It took over 500 years to build and has over 5000 sculptures in and on it. It is astounding. Inside we saw bodies of cardinals older than our country. Kind of cool, but they were also really gross.

Lagi Como (day 2)

We felt that the day before we had explored a lot of Como, it is a very small town after all. On that thread, we decided to get a ferry day pass and essentially town hop across the lake (side note, although we were on the same lake as Bellagio, we skipped it because it was a three hour ferry ride away).

We hopped around to four other towns. They all looked very similar to each other, and still had a very Sausalito like feel to them.

Lagi Como (day 1)

We took a short train from Milan to Lake Como and were met at the train station by Enza, the women whose Bed and Breakfast we were staying at, and her daughter Stefania. We had been a little concerned about how we were going to find them once we got to the station since we didn’t know what Enza looked like, but they were holding a sign with our names on it. It was really cute.

Enza turned out to be the nicest woman ever. Over the course of the two nights we were there she adopted us as her American daughters and insisted that she was our Italian mother.

Milano (the first time)

 We arrived in ITALY!!!!! We’re spending one night in Milan before we head up to one of the lakes in the morning.

Prague to Munich

We took the fanciest bus from Prague into Munich on our way to Milan. It had cushy leather seats, seat belts, TV’s in the back of each seat, and a stewardess. It was nicer than some of the trains we had been on.

Prague (Afternoon, Evening)

Prague (Day)

While we were in Berlin Abby and I decided, with the help of a ticket agent, that we should go straight from Prague to Milan on Friday June 23. An Italian train strike was potentially scheduled for that day, and that particular train would be exempt, the only train exempt for an unknown amount of time.

Prague Night 1

We left from Germany to Prague by train and we assumed, and weren’t told otherwise when we asked, that our Eurorail ticket we had would be plenty since we were leaving from Germany, a country our pass was valid in. Soon after we crossed the border into the Czech Republic one of the ticket ladies came around and when she reached us we were informed we had to pay for a ticket, luckily it was only 10 euro (about 12 USD). But it wouldn’t have been normal without a train adventure for Abby and I.

Berlin

On our way to Prague we had a four-hour layover/Train over in Berlin. Again, given our luck, it was pouring. We were determined to see a little of the city though.

Hamburg

We left Amsterdam with another train adventure. About 10 minutes before our train was supposed to depart, we realized we were at the wrong train station. Luckily at that moment, we were talking with a woman who worked for the train company. She was very helpful in setting us up with another train that would meet up with our original train. We made it to Hamburg easily enough.

An evening in Amsterdam/How to be embarressingly Drunk

Earlier in the day we had heard that the Dutch national team was playing that evening in the Eurocup so we had decided that we had to go to a bar to watch it. That meant for dinner we had to grab something quick. We went with the guy we were staying with, John, to a chain called Wok to Walk and each ordered a stir fry. After dinner we parted ways and Abby and I headed to a bar called The Old Sailor which featured a lot of Popeye memorabilia in the red light district.

Unfortunately Holland lost and that was the end of the Eurocup for them. We stuck around the bar for a few hours more as there was plenty of entertainment with the various characters in the bar.

Anne Frank House/Jordann

Having walked off our beer a little bit we headed over to the Anne Frank House just outside the neighborhood Jordann.

The annex the Franks lived in for almost two years was smaller but also much larger than I had imagined from elementary school. It was multiple stories for one, which I hadn’t realized, and it had a small kitchen, again which I hadn’t realized. But the rooms were still very cramped and living in that annex, with seven people, without ever getting to go outside must have been crushing.

Everyone knows how heartbreaking Anne Franks story is so I won’t get into it other than to say the museum made a point to inform that the Frank’s story was not unique.

On our way out of the annex there is a museum area which contains reproductions of Anne’s diaries (she kept many over the two years) as well as some selected pages from both her diaries and some of her short stories she had began writing.

One of the other things that caught my eye was a shiny, gold, 13.5 inch, 8.5 lbs statue, that caused me to flip out a bit. So Abby snuck this photo (there was a strict no photo rule) for me, and for you mom.

From Hot Dogs to Heineken or “Don’t sip your beer drink it like a man”

We wandered around a bit while eating our real American hotdogs and then walked a few canals over to the original Heineken factory for the “Heineken Experience.” It started with a brief history of the company – with plenty of photo opportunities, and continued with a lesson on how the beer is brewed.

Amsterdam Day 1 (Morning)

The sun sets incredibly late, but it doesn’t stay late for long. I woke up briefly around 5 in the morning and it was already very light out.

Abby and I headed out in search of breakfast and bikes to rent a little after 9 in the morning. The first bike rental place we went to had a sign saying that it opened at 9, but it most certainly was not open. Neither was the second bike rental place we went to. We decided to try our hand at breakfast first.

Again Abby and I ordered the same thing, this time a traditional Dutch pancake. I didn’t really have much to compare it too but Abby said it was as if someone cooked two French crepes together.

The texture was really doughy and about half a centimeter thick. It was very rich and had a strong butter flavor. The pancakes were served with powdered sugar and syrup. It was nothing like an American pancake, and the syrup was nothing like typical maple syrup. The syrup was much more viscous, a lot darker, and had a hint of molasses. It was very good, but it was the size of plate it was on – which was rather large – so neither Abby nor I managed to finish it.

 The kitten that joined us for breakfast, and sat with Abby for a while

Train: Paris ---> Amsterdam

  The train we were on was a TGV train, which is a high-speed rail so we went from Paris to Amsterdam in just over three hours. I fell asleep for part of the train, I was still feeling a bit jet lagged.

Paris Day 2

Both Abby and I woke up before the alarm on the second day in Paris to a rainy day. It was lovely in my opinion though because I’d always had an image of Paris in the rain. We packed up quickly and left our bags in the lobby of the hotel for the afternoon until it was time to catch our train to Amsterdam.

We got breakfast at a café near our hotel and had what is apparently a classic French breakfast: mini croissants with coffees. Obviously French croissants are awesome.

From breakfast we went to take a look at the famous Opera house. It was incredible. Someday I would really love to see a performance there.

Paris Day 1 Part 2

Throughout the day we had fun finding views of the Eiffel Tower from different parts of the city. Shockingly enough Hollywood is wrong, you cannot see the Eiffel Tower from every window in Paris and it is not the center of the city.

The Louvre

The Louvre Pyramid

Lucky for us, when Abby and I got to the Louvre seemed to be the time when most people were leaving for lunch. The museum was still very crowded though so I can only imagine what it must be like when it is actually considered busy. 

Paris Day 1 Part 1

"When I dream of afterlife in heaven, the action always takes place at the Ritz Paris" - Hemingway

I read that quote on the plane ride over in last months Vanity Fair. I found it rather suiting. I didn’t get to see Hemmingway’s heaven – it is under reconstruction for the next year or so, but technically I was right outside his heaven and that’s close enough for me.

SFO --> Paris

I sat in an aisle seat my first leg of the trip (SFO to JFK). I'd never done that before and I found I quite liked it. I think I will try to from now on.

The flight attendants were supremely nice, especially since the flight was very turbulent and, well, I don't do so great in those kind of situations. Eventually I fell asleep. I think I managed to sleep at least two hours of the five-hour flight. I was trying to stay awake but exhaustion won out.