So I’m still sitting in a hostel in Barcelona waiting for my train, but this has turned into a really good opportunity to spend some time updating the blog. It’s also a really good opportunity to mow down on a box of cereal. Speaking of cereal, someone stole my Special K! I guess if someone is desperate enough that they have to steal a half-eaten box of cereal I should be totally fine with the donation. Ok, I can deal.
I spent two nights in Paris, and it actually was the perfect amount of time. On the first day of my arrival I dropped my bags into the storage place and headed out. I had 30 minutes to get to the free walking tour (the only great thing about night busses is that you get there in the morning) so I hopped on a metro and had fun. Randomly, my friend Mike from Vancouver has since moved to Paris and is a Free Tour guide. What are the chances? I wonder who I’ll meet on my next one. Anyway. I got to see the touristy stuff and had a great afternoon. I met some Aussis on the tour, so we walked around town afterwards and they shared their hostel horror stories with me. Their places were moldy, smelly, small, and hard to sleep in. I certainly wasn’t excited to check into my room. But fortunately for me, I was pleasantly surprised. I seemed to have lucked out on the cool hostel. Not that hostels are the reason I am traveling, but having a nice shower is still nice.
That night a bunch of people form the hostel headed up to the Sacre Cour to drink on the steps, and we were witness to a most bizarre street performer. I took a video clip, but it seemed to have deleted itself. He just did this little dance every 15 minutes, and was under the impression that his performance was impressive. After several bottles of wine, a few boxes of crackers, cheese, and olives, we headed to a Karaoke bar. It was an incredible night, and my best so far on this journey.
The next day I headed to the Louvre and the Eiffel tower. I found the Louvre somewhat overwhelming so I peaced out after taking my mona-lisa pictures. I gave my ticket to a random person, and it made her day so that was cool. Walking up the Eiffel tower was also cool. That night was pretty laid back and a bunch of us drank in the court-yard of the hostel.
“Ed” is my new favorite grocery store. Water was only .19 Euro, and Brie cheese was only .99! I went to the catacombs on my last day, but they were closed! GRRRR! I was super excited to go see them, but I guess I have a reason to go back to Paris someday.
The big adventure that you guys chose for me was to head to La Tomitana, so to get there in time I had to take a night train to Barcelona, then connect to Valencia. It was a long day of traveling, but obviously worth it. The night train was actually pretty nice. With my rail pass it costs 20ish to get a six person sleeper, or $1.50 for a seat. I made the right decision and was in a cabin with a couple from Latvia. If I ever am in their town, I have a free place to stay and people to show me around. Super nice people, and I’m sure someday I’ll take them up on their offer.
I didn’t have any trouble sleeping. I heard a whole bunch of stories of people’s bags getting stolen, blah blah blah, so I piled my bags in the corner by my head. There was a little fetal-positioning required for me to lie down, but there was no way someone would be able to move my bags without dropping them on me.
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Paris!!! My favorite city. I lived there for 5 years, it holds a special place in my heart. I learned a lot about life and about myself there. Please see the movie “Paris, Je t’aime” You can see little movies that take place in 18 different neighborhoods in Paris. Wilem Dafoe, Juliette Binoche, Gena Rowlands star among others in this great film. Anyhoo! Keep traveling! Again, thanks for the encouraging words that you wrote on my blog.
Ciao!
Before you decide on Cinq Terres which I would recommend check out the following website. It is very hard to find accommodation before September 15th but here it is:
http://homepage.sunrise.ch/homepage/avong/cinque_terre/getting_there.htm
Yes, do see “Paris, Je t’aime — a wonderful set of vignettes by very special people.
You must go to Rome as well and of course while you are there you will be at the Vatican City (big line ups, not so wonderful) but you can go into the Cathedral to take a look. The most interesting part is watching people at the Vatican who go as pilgrims. Then of course there is Tuscany and all the hilled villages within it. Best food, best wines, great old country feeling. You can get to Tuscany just after you spend time in Florence. http://www.ricksteves.com/plan/destinations/italy/hilltowns.htm
Ha ha thanks for that!
I might have to check out the rest of Italy first, and then make my way to The Cinque Terre if it wins… if I can´t find anywhere to stay.
Check it out. You are on the front page of the e-version of the Calgary Herald travel section. Send them a picture and they will upload it as well.
http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/travel/story.html?id=91bbcb4b-bbfb-4cda-a24b-080f386fa5e2&k=70903
Haha, nice photo of Mona Lisa. Getting boozed on the steps followed by some karaoke sounds like a damn fine night out in Paris.
You can easily do both Rome and Florence - the trains are quite easy, tho the quicker ones are more expensive. (quick is 1.5 hrs slow 3 hrs) if you decide to go to Rome let me know, my boyfriend is there now and he’s an expert on tours of Rome, we’d be happy to give you one for free…let me know!
A free tour? I think there allready might be free tours there… but if not, I´ve never said no to one before. Thanks Rosanna! That was really nice.
Ha ha Kirsty, it was. Trust me!
If you do get to Cinque Terre (and you MUST!), you should consider staying in La Spezia if you can’t find accomodations in the towns. La Spezia is a cool little town not far from Cinque Terre (you can make a day trip) and accessible by train. It’s also undoubtedly cheaper!
forgot to mention he does trours by car too - it’s quite an endurance tour - see every site in rome in 2 hours! .. Just ask my bro who got the tour at 1am after arriving from a 14 hr trip…
forgot to mention he does tours by car too - it’s quite an endurance tour - see every site in rome in 2 hours! .. Just ask my bro who got the tour at 1am after arriving from a 14 hr trip…
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