Shelf Beds and Piano-Playing Nuns

7/22/08

The night train to Paris was quite an experience. When the train rolled into the station, the large group waiting ran to the cars and started piling on so fast it surprised us. Luckily we sensed everyone's urgency and quickly climbed aboard because the train hardly stopped for three or four minutes at our station.

Once on we navigated ourselves and our luggage towards our assigned car. We arrived at the door to our car the same time as our other four companions and proceeded to play a sort of backwards Jenga game of inserting people and luggage into the car in turns. This was greatly aided by the fact that our car-mates were from Canada and for the first time in two and a half weeks Bobby and I could properly converse with people other than ourselves.

The night-train car consists of three shelf beds on either side of a small aisle about two feet wide. When the middle and bottom shelves are folded in they make a long bench seat on either side of the aisle, allowing all six passengers to sit down, three on each side facing one another. We talked with our companions for a few hours swapping stories about food, hotels, the mosquitos, crazy train travel and the general lack of sleep, food, and hygiene. Eventually we folded the shelf beds down and attempted to hunker down for a bumpy, cold, cramped and long train journey.

Bobby and I were on the bottom shelf beds which only had about a foot and a half of room between the shelf-bed above us at its widest point. The closer you got to the wall, the smaller the distance in space, resulting in Bobby and I literally being wedged into the seat cushions. The train got very cold as it wound itself through the alps and the compartment got quite stinky with the combined foot odor of six travel-weary passengers. I think I managed to get about two hours of sleep during the eight that I was wedged into sleeping position. In the morning, I joined Bobby for a cappucino in the stand-up dining car/bar. I drank my foamy java with one foot angled against Bobby's so as not to fling my coffee all over the car/bar. The view was beautiful despite our lack of sleep and largely aching bodies. We passed entire fields of sunflowers as we traversed the last miles of French countryside before arriving in Paris.

As the train slowed into the station, the all of the cars began to empty into the cramped hallway as we all attempted to get off the train as quickly as possible. Bobby, as he had been the night before, was recruited by the car next to us to help the six ladies in there get their luggage off the racks at the top of their car. One of the ladies was a piano-playing nun who traversed between Paris and Rome playing the piano and keeping the faith. Because of Bobby's good deed and I suspect his boyish good looks, the piano-playing nun blessed our travels and so we felt quite sure the rest of our journey would be much more smooth!

Too Modest for Church

7/22/08

We arrived in Florence last night and immediately took naps after arriving in our Pensione. At night we ventured out for some very greasy take out pizza that we ate while perched on of the many bridges that traverse the Arno River. Florence is like a mini-Rome but definitely has a unique flair to it. It has a very large section of high-end designer stores and there are many fancy cafes. It is very tourist-laden and the main sights, including churches, seem to charge a pretty penny to let you in. Bobby made the clever insight that Florence would probably be more fun if you had a lot of money to spend(this was said as we crossed through an intersection with a Versace, Prada, Louis Vuitton, and another Italian-sounding designer store flanking a corner a-piece).

Among the sights we shelled out the case to see included:
Palazzo Medici - a big, fancy house that once housed the very powerful Florentine family of the the Medici. The place houses the Chapel of the Magi and a couple of nifty exhibitions on sketching and how the chapel was painted. Other than that it was overpriced and not very cool.

Courtyard of Palazzo Vecchio - our guidebook clued us in that you can go into the courtyard of this palacial home for free to see a replica of Michelangelo's David and some very uninterested security guards.

Church of San Lorenzo - Several euro later and a guide to the works of Art in German we wandered around trying to guess which naves, tombs, and memorails were made by Donatello, Michelangelo or nobody famous. The church also had a very strict dress code and my almost-knee-length shorts (although kosher in the church where they keep St. Peter's chains in Rome) were inappropriate and I was given a blue paper-fabric poncho to wear over myself. It was very unflattering, smelled funny, and made it known to everyone in the church what an immodest heathen you were. Sick of my pouting over my silly garb, Bobby graciously procured one for himself and we walked around together with Bobby looking especially ridiculous with his backpack on underneath the poncho (resulting in Bobby looking a little hunchbacked). At one point, the wardens of the church came over to Bobby to tell him that it was not necessary for him to wear the poncho and as he tried to explain his reason for wearing one, they just insisted louder that he did not need to wear it and so, in our poncho-ed state, we drew a bit of crowd as Bobby was chastised for being too modest in a church.

Ponte Vecchio - a very famous bridge covered in gold and silver jewelry stores. Needless to say Bobby didn't let me linger there very long.

Bargello - a sculpture museum featuring many pieces by Michelangelo and Donatello, including the very famous David. Unfortunately the museum had decided to restore the David so all we got to see was his naked butt as the statue was laying face down on the restoration table.

Duomo - the line to get into this famous church, which was left without a roof until Brunelleschi ventured to Rome, climbed up into the Pantheon and figured out the long-lost engineering of dome-building, was so long that we didn't actually get the chance to go inside. It is one of the most striking examples of the stripey-Florentine marble. You can see in the pictures that the church is very geometirc in its contrasing black and white marble. It is amazingly complex, detailed, and actually quite dizzying to look at. Not helping the dizziness while looking at the Duomo was the tripe sandwich that Bobby had daringly purchased and consumed for lunch. The sandwich was bought off a very highly recommended cart that seemed to be a favorite lunch spot for the Florentine businessmen who joked back and forth with the cart owner. This same man took a large piece of stewing cow stomach and chopped it up, covered it in a spicy tomato sauce and put the mixture into a roll for Bobby. Not for the faint of heart. Or stomach.

We finished up our second day in Florence with a trip to an internet cafe where we finally purchased our last plane ticket from Berlin to Glasgow, so we could actually catch our homebound flight to the states. After our last cone of Italian gelatto (apply pictured being eaten next to a Smart Car in the same color as my Frutti di Bosco), we caught the train out of the Santa Maria Novella station to the smaller train station at the outskirts of Florence to catch our night-train to Paris.

Angela, from Canada.

7/21/08

For our last morning in Rome we had to get some shopping done for Bobby's many, many siblings. We got up early only to find out that very few shops open before 10 or 11. What a nice life the Romans lead! We decided to make the touristy decision to toss coins in the Trevi Fountain. Supposedly if you do so it will insure your return to Rome. Unfortunately, my first toss missed but I was able to get my next two coins in. Bobby has interpreted this to mean that the next time I try to come I won't quite make it but I will the next two times after that.

We returned to our apartment to pick up our bags, return our key and get our deposit back from Francesco. Side Note: Francesco, although soft-spoken and seemingly shy, apparently had no problem chatting up girls because during out weeklong stay he had at least three different overnight visitors. One, we only saw the heels sitting in the hallway. The second was let in on our way to dinner after Francesco had given us each a glass of wine in what seemed like an attempt to make us stay out late. The third, introduced herself to Bobby as "Angela, from Canada" on his way to the bathroom one morning. It was very funny and each morning we would leave his place giggling over that morning's awkward encounter with our host's one-night stands.

We then hopped the train from Rome to Florence. We were both exhausted as Rome had really taken a lot out of us from the walking, heat, and sheer quantity of sights to see. I think Bobby was mildly disapointed that he didn't see everything he wanted to but we really had a wonderful time. The city was absolutely beautiful and it seemed like you could explore it for years and years and still stumble upon a new church, and interesting antiquities market, another delicious delicacy or beautiful view. I know that for both of us it will be a constant attempt for the rest of our lives to return to this city. For now we will simply have to rely on the many pictures and stories we have gathered to continue to remind us of the Roman way of life and the way we felt while living there.

Post-Apocalyptic Rome

7/20/08

Since it was a Sunday we figured that the only appropriate thing to do was to church hop. So we went to St. Ivo (closed despite the sign displaying their apparently incorrect opening hours), Il Gesu (which we caught Mass at but because we know neither Italian or Latin barely understood although Bobby could decipher what part they were at by what the people were doing) and then up to the Quirinale (Bernini decorated this one) and then to Bobby's favorite, Quattro Fontagna. It was done by Borromini and features an oval-shaped dome instead of a circular one. It is quite a small church but it is all white inside and is definitely the most tastefully designed of all the churches we have seen. Bobby got some absolutely awesome shots of the sun coming in through the windows at the top.

After the church we grabbed a quick bite from a student-geared cafe recommended by our guide book. Because we had the book in our hands they gave us free drinks and potato chips. We ate our lunch in the park that sits on top of the ruins of Nero's Golden House. There appeared to be some sort of Mexican or Spanish soccer tournament taking place as huge families speaking Spanish and grilling carne asada were watching the game being played on the dirt field.

After the Nero Soccer Game Bobby and I ventured out to EUR. EUR is Mussolini's exhibition city and is basically a grouping of wide streets, obelisks, mosaic propaganda and large white futuristic looking buildings. The place was eerily empty and so we ended up filming a short film set in our post-apocalyptic surroundings pretending that any car that passed by was full of vigilante with machine guns. After EUR we ventured out for our final dinner in Rome. Traditionally we had some proscuitto pizza and finished the meal with frutti di bosco and chocolate fondente gelato.

New photos!

Hey everyone,

I wanted to let you all know that we have arrived safely back in Glasgow (one, no, two, no three more flights to go before we get back to Arizona!), and we've decided to take this opportunity to update some photos from our blogs. Peruse and enjoy!

Because we have yet to write about France, Florence, and Berlin, here are three photos from those countries (late posts are coming soon!).

Dear Journal (as told by Bobby)

This was really written by Jane.

I spend most of the time she is writing her blog entries in her journal sketching, writing/proselytize about architecture history and urban space (even in the rain), and trying to ensure that I have an appropriate and usually overly-ambitious itinerary for the next day and city.

We are currently in our cheapest and nicest hostel to date in Berlin, and we are waiting for our free laundry to finish in the machine so that we can go to bed in our four person shared room (don#t want to wake them too late). Jane has been typing like a champ so I am giving her a break by typing one of her entries. Here goes:

07/19/08

The day after our trek across Rome we decided that we would sleep in and then spend some time walking the shops to get the presents for everyone. We first got our favorite sandwiches and took them to the Pantheon porch to eat like we have for many days in Rome(Bobby's note: we were sitting behind the Pantheon, on the wall surrounding, the porch is in the front of the Pantheon). There was no one sitting near us and behind the little wall we sit on is the a giant hole but somehow by the end of our picnic lunch my purse was gone. IT had been stolen right from underneath me while we ate while Bobby faced me. It was absolutely infuriating. I immediately started to cry because in my bag was 100 Euros, my credit card, sunglasses and benadryl, chapstick, sunscreen, and not to mention the little Fossil change purse and the actual leather bag itself. I loved that bag and I affectionately referred to it as my Indiana Jones Adventure Bag.

We walked, me bawling to the closest Internet cafe to send e-mails, call the bank, and try to see what we could right. Bobby at one point left, I thought to check our location again, but returned gloriously with a caffe granita to cheer me up. The saving grace was that the day before the trek had been so bad that today Bobby had taken all of the important documents , the video camera, and my little black writing journal in his bag to make my load lighter (Bobby's note: I'm awesome!). It was just so upsetting because I really had been trying to be incredibly careful and I let my guard down once and something so frustrating happens.

Because we had such a terrible day we decided to go out for a nice night and wound up having the most delicious meal. We had spaghetti al gricia (spaghetti, butter, cream, parmegianno, and thick sauteed pancetta) and bombollini, with a zesty light tomato sauce. We bought a bottle of the house white wine and although it was cheap (Bobby's note: it cost 6€, so it was too cheap to be true) it helped me to forget the whole purse fiasco. For dessert we had pannacotta with a chocolate sauce - a custard like dessert and then slowly stumbled our way home playing the smart car game (Bobby's note: I won the game that night).

**That is the end of Jane's entry. Hope it finds you all well.

Do You Have a Place to Stay Tonight?

7/18/08

Today, I officially ran out of clean underwear. I had extended my amount by hand washing two pairs in the sink in Athens but as Bobby had already run out three days ago, we decided to go search out a laundromat. Our guide book seemed to think everyone with dirty clothes had chosen to stay by Termini, the main train station in Rome, so we knew it would be a bit of trek from our side of Rome. We decided to hit up the Campo d'Fiori on our way. The Campo d'Fiori is a piazza that has a fruit, veggie, flower, clothing and miscellaneous kitchen appliances market everyday until 3. We sat with our large backpacks full of dirty clothes and smelly socks, under the large statue of Giordiano Bruno, a heretic who was burned at the stake on that spot. The statue is very brooding and underneath him it shows a relief of the actual burning. While I was sitting there a British family came by. Their little girl of 5 or 6 jumped up on the statues base to get a look at the relief. Her parents had obviously told her to look for the flames because after a few pensive moments she turned to her dad and said, "Dad? Do you think that would have been sore?" It was classic.

After some delicious sandwiches from the corner of the market, we decided to get a slice of watermelon from one of the fresh fruit stands because it looked so amazingly refreshing. Off I went to get it and due to my unbelievably amazing language skills instead of purchasing two slices of watermelon I got half of a watermelon cut into two pieces. There was a lot but it was very delicious and Bobby and I ended up quite pink and sticky. Then we headed up to the Roman Forum and then on to the Colosseum. It's huge and heats up like a big, stone casserole dish in the afternoon and as we ran out of water halfway round, we have some slightly delirious video of us making stupid jokes about the colossal size of the place. We eventually got so dehydrated that we left and went towards the Termini Train station to attempt to make the necessary train reservations to get to Florence, Paris and Berlin with our Eurail Passes. When we got to Termini, there were two huge lines at the only information/ticket desk in the entire place. The line was so long that we decided to come back at 9 when we assumed the line would go down. We got a little lost looking for the laundry place and the weight of our dirty laundry was starting to weigh us down. When we got there it was €7.50 to wash and dry one load and although we were convinced we could pack our stuff in one, the laundromat owner told we had to use two. We refused and so we picked our most dirty items to wash and resigned ourselves to being a little European in our scent for the next week.

After grabbing some pizza, some Internet and getting our laundry we hoofed it back to the train station assuming the line would have gone way down. It looked like the line had never moved. Reluctantly we got in the line marked international since we needed trains out of Italy and hoped they would also book our Rome to Florence at the same time. Five minutes after standing in line a lady came around with cards and gave them to all the legitimate customers remaining in the line and then promptly closed the line for the night. I got the last card. To hedge our bets, Bobby got in the domestic line and again he was one of the last ones allowed in before they closed that line too. At first I thought they seemed to be closing two hours early but after waiting in the slowest line of our lives we realized that they had to start closing that early in order to be done somewhere near closing time. In front of me were three crazy Asian guys who thought it would be fun to pass the time by practicing their audition for America's Best Dance Crew. At that time of night, I thought it would be better to sit on the ground and try to ignore them.

Back to Eurail. When we bought our pass for $350 we assumed it took the place of having to buy tickets so that you could easily just get on board trains, show your pass, and off you went. At least that is what they market it to unassuming Americans. It turns out that you have to get a reservation for every part of your journey and that do that you have to stand in the same line as the people buying tickets and then you have to pay for the reservation itself. Luckily we had decided not to do that extra load of laundry as we spent all the cash we had on us paying €80 in reservation fees. And we were unable to book the Paris to Berlin part because it was already full.
When we left the line we were pretty defeated and it was late. After standing in the line for so long we had to use the bathroom but the station closes the bathrooms at night and then charges money to use them in the day. At that point we decided we would have to take the Metro back because the thought of the two hour walk back was unimaginable. However in Rome they close the Metro at midnight and start closing the entrances at 11:30. So at 11:32 at night with backpacks full of luggage, incredibly sore feet from an already full day of walking and little water, we set off to walk across Rome to get back to the apartment. It was the longest, slowest walk ever. Every 30 minutes or so I had to take my shoes and socks off and rinse my feet in the cold water of the Rome fountains. When we finally made it to St. Peters we stopped to rest a moment on the colonnade steps. Bobby hadn't shaved that day, his hair is looking a little scruffy and I didn't look too hot myself. I had laid my head down on Bobby's lap for a little rest and we must have looked pretty pathetic because a couple that was walking by called out, "Are you okay there?" and after we replied that we were fine and even reassured them a second time, the man was still inspired to ask, "Do you have a place to stay tonight?" Apparently in our dishevelled state with our belongings on our back and collapsed on the church steps, we looked a little homeless or at least in need of charity. Luckily the encounter kept us laughing until we finally made it back. What a freaking night.