Category: Italy

Day 15 & 16, Last of Italy, Arrival in France

SDSpivey

I had made a huge mistake. We had to check out of the hostel by 10 AM, but would not leave on the train until 11 PM, a thirteen hour wait.

We had a few options:

  • Drag the bags around with us all day as we browse the town.
  • Leave the baggage at the hostel until 5, then go to the train station.
  • Or take the bags to the station and check them.

The first option was no option. I only have one bag, but it is heavy and awkward. Mom has three. Also, there was rain forecasted.

The second was viable, but if we didn’t get back before 5, they would charge us for another night, AND we would still have to lug it around for 6 hours.

We decided on the third. We had already gone by the train station, on our walks, and found that it would be 6 euros per bag. That is 24€, but so much better than lugging them around.

Unfortunately, we neglected to notice (or remember) that this was only for the first 5 hours, an additional .90€ per hour was needed. We were already at the station, so we had little choice.

It ended up being over 57 euros, we would have been better off paying for another night. Then we could have had a nap, since because of the high winds and possible rain, we didn’t do anything all day.

There are only about 50 seats for about a billion people in the station, so when we got a couple, we stayed in them, taking turns going off to the potty.

I have actually found a good use for McDonald’s restaurant, they have free bathrooms. The station had a long line with a 1€ entrance fee. We also hit a McD’s in Rome, near the Spanish Steps, as there didn’t seem to be any toilets around.

The rain came much latter than the forecast predicted, but it was a doozy. The normal roar of the people talking was actually drowned out by the rain hitting the roof.

Finally, our train popped up on the departure board, so we decided to go ahead and go through the security gate. I don’t know why there was one, I didn’t see them checking tickets or baggage, just merely getting everyone to funnel through a tight doorway instead of the huge walkway they had walled off.

Going through early turned out to be a bad decision as there were no seats on that side, so we stood around the display waiting for our train’s platform number to be displayed (like everyone else in the secure area.)

At one point some station worker led a man over to the board and pointed out the man’s train and where the platform number would be when ready. Only the man was French and the station worker was speaking Italian.

I think the man was a bit slow and he just stood there for about two minutes just staring at the board, then was looking around nervously. As I was standing closest to him he asked me something in French about the train for Paris. Since I was going there and I knew the train was supposed to arrive in platform 8, I stated so, in my best French. I wasn’t 100% on that point, so I probably shouldn’t have said anything.

He then took off looking for #8, which was right in front of me, but he ran off anyway.

He eventually wandered back around and was staring at the display again. I couldn’t remember how to say 30, so I told him it would be 25 minutes. Close enough, right?

He then wandered over to #9, which had a train waiting. I didn’t see him again, so I hope he didn’t get on the wrong one.

Luckily our train car was the 3rd one, so we didn’t have to walk far to get on. (Unfortunately, that meant we were at the end of the train when we arrived.)

It was easy to get from the train to the Paris Metro, if you don’t count the numerous flights of stairs.

We were able to drop off our bags at the hostel, and then went out exploring. As long as you have money, you will never go hungry in Paris, there is a food vender every few yards.

I saw a shop across the boulevard wit h neon lights and made a joke to Mom about that being a strip club. Later we found out it <em>is</em> a strip club. There is an entire section of the street with strip clubs, sex toy shops, videos, or whatever.

Stranger still, are the families strolling along with their kids, as if it were just any street on a brisk Saturday morning.

The Moulin Rouge is also in the area, it is just a burlesque house, so it fits in well.

The Sacré Cœur (“sacred heart”) church is only a block north of our room, but it is literally about 500 feet up. It was built on the highest point in Paris. It even has a train that runs up the hill side, quite at a steep angle ~65°.

We walked around the streets beside the church, hoping that we could just gradually make our way up, but every time we turned a corner, there was a steep set of stairs that would have to be scaled.

We took a “short cut” through an old cemetery, but there was no exit, so we had to walk back out.

We finally made it to the top. The view was freaking great. There is about a 120° view of the city for miles and miles, unobstructed by any buildings or trees, of course you still have to see past the people.

There was only one way down, hundreds and hundreds of stairs. I know that we have done an entire year’s worth of exercise so far in the past 2 weeks, and there are still miles and miles left to walk.

Day 13 & 14, Lazy days

SDSpivey
Milan Duomo

We went downtown to the large church Duomo, but they wanted to charge admission, so we just walked around awhile. All I wanted was to go up to the roof to see the city anyways. It was under repairs, so that was out.

Milan looks so much like the other cities that we have visited, we ended up back at the room and crashed out for a few hours.

It was hot and humid, and after so much walking, we were just tired of everything.

It is now the 14th, so we are halfway done.

Day 11 and 12, EXPO

SDSpivey

Luckily, we both awoke early enough to get finished with breakfast before the first of the herd of youngsters started coming out. It was strange seeing kids line up for the cafe dispenser, totally ignoring the fruit juices, milk, and even sodas.

We easily jumped onto the Metro and were on our way, but there is a split in the rail path and we ended up going a stop past and having to go back and cross over to the other path.

It was the last stop, so it would have been real hard to miss. The exit dumps you out right at the entry gates to the fairgrounds. We arrived about 8:30, but it didn’t open until 10. So another game of “Let’s wait.”

The main layout of the pavilions is a large walkway with each lined up along the north and south sides, with smaller non-country pavilions spread out behind them or tucked into nooks between.

We started out thinking we could do 2 on one side then jump across and do 2 there, like a square wave pattern, but we realized that there was no reason to keep crossing the 100 yard or so of the main walkway, so we decided just to go down one side only and get the rest tomorrow. We made it all the way down the north side, but it was a long way back to the exit gate, over 2km according to our map.

Not much to say about any of the pavilions specifically, other than the US’s was idiotic. The lady directing everyone where to go pointed toward a long set of stairs. When mom groaned about how many there were, she took pity and asked if we wanted to use the elevator. Obviously, yes. The lift was right next to an escalator, which we took instead, making us wonder why the hell aren’t they using it for everyone? It is already running, no extra power needed. At the rooftop, there was nothing but a bar serving mixed drinks and cocktails, perfect for the hot day we had. The middle floor just had some sparse kiosks with generic information about US agriculture and a generic audio message from Obama welcoming everyone to the Expo. Not that many would understand it, you know, being that it is a foreign country.

I blame John Kerry. As Secretary of State, he is the head of the Expo pavilion committee.

As we headed toward the exit, darkness was falling. We didn’t get back to the hostel until about 11. We grabbed a couple of slices of pizza, knowing nothing else would be available.

Since most places have the food spread out cafeteria style, most of the pizza are rectangular, making best use of space. Because we said we wanted it to go, this place chopped it up into roughly inch sized pieces and gave us forks. I do have to admit, it might have been easier to eat that way, while walking.

We climbed the mountain of stairs to our room and found we had 2 more girls in with us. One was just leaving, but the other only spoke Spanish.

With me being the only guy and at least half of the room speaking Spanish, I feel like a minority. I’m tired enough, I am already asleep by lights out.

Day 10, Arrival in Milano

SDSpivey

After posting yesterday, we were still bored, so we went for yet another walk, picking a different street to go down.

We didn’t go far before we found a supermarket, an actual supermarket, not just a fruit stand that sells canned goods and sodas. We went in, just to browse the odd brands and products, most were American brands like Coke and Nestlè. There are only a few drinks in this country, Pepsi, Coke, Sprite, Fanta Orange, and some various teas, waters, and beers. In fact, I haven’t seen any other product that Pepsi sells.

Since there weren’t many restaurants nearby, we had the idea of just cooking something at the hostel. We bought some pasta and sauce. What we didn’t notice is that the sauce was just a tomato sauce, no spices, no herbs, no nothing. There wasn’t anything at the hostel that we could add to it, either.

Never the less, it was fulfilling, if not great. At least it was Italian.

As we were finishing up, a man came in who was there to clean up. He had great English and was friendly. He said he would look into the food tours, but we didn’t ever hear back about that.

Paid parking started at 9am, so we had to leave before that, arriving at the Milan hostel about 10. I found a free spot right outside the door, and we went in to check in, but that wasn’t until 2. Luckily, they would let us leave our baggage there while I returned the car.

As I was looking at the GPS for the Points Of Interest for the airport, I notice Hertz has all their locations already in there, so I set it for the airport Hertz. I thought that would be a good way to find the rental location, but I was wrong. It took us down a straight way, then a U-turn back about 100 yards or so, then said it was right in the median, which was empty. I only found it by happenstance, down a different road entirely.

We then had to catch a bus into town, luckily I had already pulled up a route from Google Maps. I was also able to follow along on my iPad on an offline Milan map. We had to get off to transfer to another bus, but mom decided we had time to kill, so we walked up the road, browsing the neighborhood.

A pastry shop at the end our block taunted us, so we had to get some cannoli. For research purposes only, of course.

And it was still hours before check in.

These late check in times are killing my schedule. We haven’t been able to do anything but walk around the area, so no pictures today either.

As we sat in the lobby, a huge group of kids came in, at least 40. Likely it was a field trip to the Expo. They were some of the noisiest bunch I had seen. Luckily they were processed and sent to their rooms, far from ours. Yet again, we are stuck up on the 3rd floor, without an elevator this time, so we have to lug our bags all the way up and down.

It is a six-person mixed-gender room, two of the beds are so far empty, hopefully they stay that way. The other two beds have girls things on and around them, so apparently I’m the rooster in the hen house tonight.

We ate dinner sitting in a park watching the little kids play on the equipment.

It is now just after 6 and I am already considering bed. God, I’m getting old.

At least from here on, we should be fairly busy everyday.

Tomorrow, we will finally get to go to the Expo, the whole purpose of the trip.

Day Nine, Parma

SDSpivey

Back in Modena, we really wanted to go to one of the farms where they make the balsamic vinegar and Parmesan cheese, but we were unable to find any tours that didn’t require an advance reservation. Worse, all that I found only took reservations via email, not through their website. Real dumb.

I had hoped once we arrived in Parma, we could find someone to help, but alas no.

We arrived in Parma and found the hostel quite easily. We went up, used the key code that I got in the confirmation and went into our room. We sat there for a while, waiting for the owner, before I noticed there was luggage in the cabinet. We were actually there prior to check out time, and the previous guests had not yet left. Oops.

We decided to take a walk down the road a bit, but didn’t see anything more than we had already seen in other towns, so we drove around bypassing the ZTL, the no-go zone, to the star-shaped area on our map marked as the Citadel. I don’t know if it used to be a citadel or not, but now it is a park, all be it very heavily fortified park. This was the first place that we had seen freshly mown grass. Everywhere else seems to be on the “wild flower” track, or they are just too lazy to cut the weeds.

We grabbed some food and went back to the room to eat. The owner didn’t show up until after 6pm, check in was at 1pm. She took my money, gave me a reciept, then was gone. No info, no rules, no help, nothing. She didn’t even speak English at all. I don’t think that opening your place up to strangers is a good idea if you can’t help them out with any information and won’t even be around.

There really was nothing in Parma that was all that interesting. We were certainly tired of seeing churches. I didn’t take a photo all day. Between that and not finding any food tours, this has been a boring city.

Day Eight, Modena and Ferrari

SDSpivey

We were really glad to be leaving Bologna, the internet was awful, it was hard to find the signal and then it would drop for no apparent reason.

We set out early, even though we knew we could not check in to Modena until 2pm.

I wanted to skip the Autostrade, basically Italy’s interstate highway, so I had to program the GPS to take us to a town halfway, just to get directions. I had looked at the map prior to leaving, just to see the route, but I didn’t look to see what was in Modena that I wanted to see.

As we approached Modena, I spotted a sign for the Ferrari Museum. I pulled off the road at the first spot that I could and reset the destination on the GPS for the museum. It took us on a bypass road around the city, where we saw our first accident in Italy. After some thought, neither of us had seen any cars with noticeable dents or scratches. For all their crazy driving, they seem to be good at it.

The museum gift shop’s pricing reflected the same as their dealers. It was €xp€n$ive.

We still had time before check in, so we found the hostel and parked. Luckily we decided to come inside to the desk, as the receptionist was able to give us a parking pass, saving us 2€ per hour.

We walked downtown and saw just about the whole place and still had time to kill, so we ate lunch. Apparently, in Italy, “lo mein” is called “spaghetti” on menus.

Day Six and Seven, Bologna

SDSpivey

After five days of walking, we were really tired of it, so we took a day off.

We did go into town, but we stayed in the car, just looking. Plus it is impossible to find a parking space anywhere in Italy.

We ended up eating some wienerschnitzel at the Wiener Haus. So far we have had Chinese and German food.

I asked the clerk at the hostel if there was a Limited Traffic Zone, where only residents can drive. The clerk didn’t know English very well and said there wasn’t any. Today, while on the bus, I did see several of the warning signs. I am really hoping that I didn’t cross into the zone, there is a 180 euro fine if the camera captures your tag, that’s for each offense. The rental companies are really nice, they add that to your bill and charge your credit card automatically.

We caught the bus into town and walked around a bit. Bologna isn’t very big, so we didn’t take too long to see it.

We went into the Due Torri (the two towers) and walked up the spiral staircase to the ticket office, but that winded the both of us. Climbing all the way to the top would kill us, then we still would have to climb back down. One of the towers leans more than the one in Pisa, plus it is taller and older, yet gets no love from the media. The Pisa tower is a total screw up, whereas this tower is a victim of Medieval battles between families.

Day Five, Florence

SDSpivey

We caught the bus to the airport, where I had a rental waiting at Hertz, but I never thought to check for locations in town, but we got there easily enough. There were 3 people at the Hertz desk, but they were all real slow. I literally spent less time buying my car than waiting in line for the rental.

I got a Fiat Panda, it is a cool little (and I do mean little) four-seater. I quickly learned to forget everything I know about safety and just drive like a Roman. Apparently, turn signals are totally optional, as well as riding in only one lane at a time.

Unfortunately, I didn’t account for the travel to the airport and wait time for the car, along with the three hour drive. We didn’t get to Florence (Firenze) until mid-afternoon. We checked into our room at a former convent (the Sette Santi, aka 7 Saints) and then headed down-town.

There really wasn’t much to Florence, other than a bunch of churches that were under reconstruction. The buildings were attractive, but too close together to get any photos.

The center of most towns in Europe are vehicle restricted, so we had to get the bus into town. We were able to get on the right bus to return, but it was heading the opposite direction, so we had to wait a few minutes at the end of the route while the driver took his smoke break. Then we rode right back to where we boarded. I don’t recommend it, but it is a good way to see the city.

Our room had a sink and shower stall in it, but no toilet.

Many of the communal toilets also have bidets, although these are not the bidets that look like toilets without seats, these are short bowls on the floor with a spout that comes out of the wall and sprays water downward, the opposite of the direction you would need to wash your nether regions. Mom and I have come to the conclusion that you would face the wall and splash water with your hand and wipe. So you end up with a wet butt and “dirty” hands.

Day Four, Colosseum and Spanish Steps

SDSpivey

We had already visited the Colosseum on Friday, but with the holiday crowd, we did not go in.

We woke early to get a jump on everyone else, only had to wait a short while.

It really is the vastness of the whole thing that impresses. Every brick and tile was mortared by hand, no pre-form casting involved.

The sub arena area was covered in a beautiful green moss, but, of course no one can walk down there, otherwise the moss would die.

Afterwards, we went up to the Spanish Steps at Trinità dei Monti, not much to say, it is just a wide stairway that has a bunch of flowers planted there. Also the church was closed due to repairs.

Later, I walked to the train station to see about getting the train to the airport the next morning. I noticed a bus outside with a sign stating airport runs for only 4 euro, much less than the 28 euro I paid to get into the city on the train, plus the bus left every 25 minutes and was outside, no long lines to get to the right platform.

I think it was also faster than the train also.

 

Day Three, Vatican City

SDSpivey

After a good night’s rest, we awoke a the crack of noon and set out to explore a bit more of Rome.

We walked down the road a bit to the Basilica Laterno, one of the original seats of the Catholic Church prior to the Vatican City being built.

They have confessionals with kneeling pads on each side, many have a language on the front, presumably so the priest can understand your confession.

The ceiling was covered with gold, very likely real gold. Painting were on every flat surface.

We then decided to go across the river to see a few things, walking down the streets, enjoying the sites. Unfortunately, we went down a road that angled a bit more than the one we wanted to walk down, both of which went off the bottom of our map. We ended walking about an hour and a half, before we came across a Metro station that we didn’t know about. We could have taken the Metro and saved ourselves a bunch of effort.

On the way, we saw our first gas station. It seems strange to not have seen any so far.

Finally we reached the river, then met a couple from Holland with two kids. We all walked towards a large church, but somehow missed the entire thing. Seems impossible to over look something of that size, but we did.

We also wanted to see a fountain nearby, but following the map, it was not anywhere on that road. Very likely on one of the very steep side streets that we were too tired from walking to climb.

Being so late in the afternoon and being nearby to the Vatican, there should be fewer people, so we followed the river there. It was also closer to the Metro than the station we had passed, so there was going to be less walking. Or so we thought.

We walked into St. Peter’s Square and up to the portico of the chapel, only to see we were on the exit side of the barriers. Circling round to the other side, we got into line and went through security. But instead of going straight into the chapel, we somehow end up in line to go to the top of the dome. OK, that seems cool, until Mom spots a sign stating there were over 300 steps to the top of the dome’s cupola. Oh, no!

The Pope was performing a service while we were there.

A quick walk up the road led us to the Metro, with a straight shot back, no transfers needed.

After more than six hours of walking, we had earned a good Chinese meal and a good night’s sleep.