8/30/11 Roma, Italia and Vatican City

When in Rome.....

Ok.... Aaaaarrrrrggggg! ....So the Latina girls in our room were so loud, last night and this morning. I can tolerate a lot of noise, but incessant laughter at 7 am, banging the door, and other carrying on.... Is too much. Alli and my patience can only extend so far.

Eventually we slumped down to brunch... O what a surprise... Toast and cereal with warm milk.... But food is food... So we ate. Alli had the foresight that we probably could hang out in the room this morning, and just apologize if they came in for cleaning (for those who don't know in a hostel there are lock out hours for cleaning everyday usually from 10am until 2pm). We used this time to charge cameras etc, and I settled in for a post breakfast nap.

Waking up close to 1pm we departed from the hostel for food and the 2:30 'When in Rome' Vatican tour. We quickly grabbed food and chugged water, then took Line A in the metro to Ottaviano. Once above ground we tried to orient ourselves quickly, but a tour salesman was right on top of us... Let me help you, let me help you. Ugh, we thanked him for pointing out the correct street and quickly ran away... We appreciate the help... But every one of these "helpers" has the same lines. "beautiful girls let me help, come back tomorrow, i have the best deal" Goodness, we honestly cannot walk 3 blocks without cat calls... It gets old really fast. We arrived at the meeting spot early for the tour and hung out in the much appreciated air conditioning. I believe our tour guide was named Sara. She has been giving these tours for over 10 years, and really had a quick wit about her and a thorough knowledge of art and architecture.. She actually reminded me a lot of Sarah Eastly... So I couldn't help thinking of her the whole time.

We all had ear buds in which helped us hear her as we sauntered through the museum. Our tour guide took us from room to room, giving interesting facts, and telling us where there were faults, and what to skip because they weren't all that important. At one point we hung out in the pinecone courtyard and she asked... "The guards aren't looking, who wants to play spin the sphere?" Of course Alli and my ears pearked up right away! She had me hop the velvet ropes in the center of this courtyard, to go up to a sculpture and push it....and it began to turn on the spot... Wahooo! I bet you are jealous... Well you should be... And maybe if you are good, Alli will post the pic!

We sat in the shade and our tour guide showed us up close pictures of the different frames in the Sistine chapped and explained the nuances, mistakes, time line, and historical significances. it really was intriguing, and I found myself trying to absorb every word. Once our head was filled to the brim, we crossed the rest of the courtyard to the sculptural hall "be ready to see a bot of broken statues...that really don't mean anything" mind you, i broke my walky talkie ear thing....and got made fun of at this point... "o pennsylvania, what am i going to do with you!" I laughed a lot at her, maybe too much, but I couldn't help it. Once inside the hall I found it fascinating that these sculptures weren't always white, they used to be painted realistically, but centuries of sun and rain etc had washed it out. Please see the pictures... I cannot begin to explain the vastness of the assortment of artwork on display.

I must note that there was a long tapestry hallway. The best tapestry really uses the geometry of vantage points. When you stand on one side and look at 2 tapestries side by side the long skinny stone door that Jesus is standing on and the table in the tapestry next to it are facing you.... Then as you walk down the hall and look back... They are facing you the other way! it was really neat!I had to go back and do it again.

In the Sistine Chapel we weren't supposed to take pictures, so I didn't. But Alli was brave, so maybe she will share some with you. I was shocked at how small it was! I had pictures a huge cathedral.... But wait.... It's called a chapel.... Not a cathedral.... Should have been a clue. Oh well... When in rome..... Bumping into people every few seconds and feeling like my eyes and brain may fall out of my ears at any moment... I started to stair at the floor for a bit.... Overload Overload Overload. We ended our tour by walking out into the steps of the Piazza San Pietro. 'Wow here it is', I thought... This view floored me, more then anything else, as I stared up at the Popes balcony and looked out at the circular arena.

Our tour guide bid us fair well, and we walked into St Peters Basilica. It was huge! This is what I imagined the sixteen chapel would look like. Alli and I looked to the rit and there was the Pieta (sp?) behind bullet proof glass, so beautiful. Then I saw what shocked me to the core, Pope John Paul's area... Huge statues all blocked off by fencing, a single nun was sitting in the pews in front of his tomb. I knelt right there behind the fencing to pray... Getting trampled on and hearing a crack as an Asian girl tripped over my feet, "thank you God for giving me the gift of this trip..oooouch!" But it didn't matter, this is what I had wanted to see more then anything else in all of Italy. JP 2, I miss you.

There was a mass going on further down the Basilica, so I listened to the prayers and sang along, getting looks from tourists who just didn't understand. And yes I knelt and prayed in many many areas... Thank you Alli for being so so so patient with me. (might I mention that Alli has a new thing with taking pictures of interesting looking angels... Especially cherubs, and that one drunk lute playing one hehe, you have to ask her). Seizing my once in lifetime opportunity, I did the touristy thing and marched into the gift shop and bought holy metals and holy water containers.... Now, where can I fill them? I kept asking security personal after security personal....but... it was closed... The holy water font was closed. I could have cried...and yes I may have... Right there in front of the stone slab listing the names of every Pope. But one of the guards saw my despair and said... Hold on.... He swiped my bag of Vatican merchandise and sprinted off jumping over a velvet rope. I waited and waited... Hoping this guy really worked here and that I hadn't lost what I just purchased. And there he came back with a big smile on his face, "there you go miss". Yessssss! I am sooo thankful! All I wanted was to bring back some holy water from the Vatican to my parents and grandparents, Thank You!

Alli and I reconnected and walked the Piazza... Admiring the view...then agreed we were hungry and needed food ASAP. Yes yes yes, all we talk about in this blog is moving around, drinking, sleeping and eating.... But that is life... And it is awesome.

We found a nice little place and shared a pizza, several waters, a tiramasu, and more coffee! After being well fed, we found a nice gift shop, then boarded the metro to go back to the hostel. Our feet were screaming, I mean for goodness sake, we entered another country today! We settled in for what seemed like an early night, we have big plans for the next couple days.

Overall, seeing the Vatican tourist style was nicer then expected: our group was small, our tour guide was entertaining, and the sites were awe inspiring. Another great adventure, with the best friend anyone could have in the whole world... Honestly... Does it get much better then that?

<3
Kait and Alli
(nose taps)

Monday: Tavarnelle to Rome, Italy

We woke up around 9am, gathered all our things up and quickly checked out. The buses out of Tavarnelle only leave in the morning and the afternoon and since the previous night I felt like I was still on a waterbus in Venice I made one of my famous executive decisions to leave in the afternoon. The first bus out of there after 9:30am to Sienna was at 3:35pm. No problem, so we dragged our luggage into the small town and bought avocados (a house favorite), a lemon, strawberries, grapes, tomatos and lettuce for lunch. Around 11am we had seen enough of the town, but had another four and a half hours to go so we sat in the park, people watched, played with our electrical gadgets, drank (delicious Italian) coffee and took a few catnaps. By 1pm we decided to get lunch at a local restaurant called il Caratell. After lunch we headed back to the hostel to wait for the bus because they had wi-fi. We wasted a few more hours then around 3:10 ventured out to the bus stop. By the time 3:50 rolled around we were concerned and two like-minded Italian girls shared their worry, this was the third time today they had tried to catch a bus to Sienna, without luck. Kaitlin insisted we wait until 4:35 for the bus and when it did not arrive our new game plan was to take a bus back to Florence. We returned to the Tabacchi store, exchanged our tickets (and even received change), I got a quick snack and we went to wait for the 5:20 Florence bus at another stop. When 5:40 arrived without a bus Kaitlin began praying and the bus arrived. We were thankful, it had been a long day of waiting and we were ready to get to Rome.

The bus driver drove like a bat out of Hell, taking no prisoners down the winding hills, all we could do was hold onto our luggage and our lunches and hope that Kaitlin kept praying. After a long and nauseating bus ride we arrived at the train station, caught the next train to Rome and enjoyed the smooth, easy train ride.

Since, the Venice fiasco (which somehow never really became a fiasco), Kaitlin has taken great care in noting very specific directions to our destinations. We followed her very accurate and surprisingly clear instructions to 42 Via Palestro. However, the address of our hostel was 23 Via Carlo Cattaneo. Finally after several confusing minutes circling 42… like vultures, a waiter, whose eye had caught Kaitlin, offered to help and he led us in the complete opposite direction directly to our hostel. We don’t know what happened there and honestly at this point it does not matter. We made it to the hostel.

We checked in, hung our clothes out from the previous night to finish drying and hit the shower. I got out first and I went back to the room, but was surprised to see people in our beds, according to the other hostellers, all the beds were full. I went down to the office to straighten out the newest miscommunication, turns out two of the girls were supposed to switch rooms, so after a little rearranging we were back in business.

Next on the agenda was dinner, by this point we know we need food in order to work as a cohesive unit. We went for Arabic fast food and were happy for the change of pace and flavors. It seems all the boys in Rome love Kaitlin, when we were served our food we were informed, “sweet food for a sweet lady” as he looked into Kaitlin’s eyes. After dinner we wanted something else sweet, so Kaitlin got some ice cream, the server didn’t even let her choose, apparently he knew what was best and I made out with tiramisu and a glass bowl to boot… he insisted I could take it when we noted we wanted our dessert to go.  

Finally back at the hostel we decided to log onto the wifi. We had been having difficulty in the room and the others were already asleep so we went down to the common area around 11:55. As we were walking in we were informed that the room closed at midnight, our puppy dog eyes earned us 20 minutes and we quickly checked emails and posted on the blog before heading up to bed for a long and restful sleep… at least we that’s what we were hoping for…

A few notes I forgot:
We Vlogged twice while waiting for the bus, both times the speakers were on mute.
At the hostel none of our 3 different style locks would fit the locker so we bought 2 of the 5E locks from the vending machine and that did not fit either. Note: 5E=~$10 for a very cheap lock that didn't work.
I also added photos to hopefully bring up the day. :)

Full belly and wine in a scarf, these are the happy moments of Life!

8/ 28 Sunday: Venice -> Tavarmelle (Tuscany, Italia)

I awoke with a slight pang and stiffness in my left knee, perhaps we have been walking a bit much? Just a little? Hehe. We had some trouble pealing ourselves from our beds and down to breakfast. After a small coffee incident with Alli and the breakfast woman, we checked out and secured our bags into lockers at the hostel.

An old venetian man pointed us the way to St. marks, so i could get to church on time. Alli watched my belongings, since I had to shed everything to enter St Marks Basilica for mass. (thank you Alli, for your shaw, so I could enter without wearing paper!) Tourists were lined up in long cues comparable to those at Disney to enter. But I snuck in though a guarded side door reserved only for those attending mass! (What's up? Catholic line jumping!) It was absolutely breath taking inside. Wooden chairs with kneelers on the back were set up in the hall, I believe they take them away during tourist hours to allow people to wander. As I sat there listening to an italian homily I could not understand, I peered around. The high domed ceilings were covered in gold plated tiles, with picture after picture of saints. They still had a communion rail (even though they didn't use it) and wooden arches separating the people from the alter. I felt so blessed to be in such a beautiful place to worship. Sun was coming down in little rays through the upmost windows, and I felt especially touched to be in it's light. After mass, I said a prayer for my parents and grandparents in front of Mary, and feeling a bit more at home, left.

While Kaitlin was conversing with God Alli was people watching (I should have snuck in too)...

Post mass, I reconnected with Alli grabbed some food and took our last stroll through Venice. It seemed like we couldn't get away from this one path through the back streets. Even though we had walked this path 3 or 4 times the night before, we could help loving the quaint european side streets lined with shop after shop, bridge after bridge, and many many twists and turns. We really hated to leave, Venice had everything we wanted!

Reluctantly we retrieved our luggage, reallocated our belongings inside, and hopped the water bus to the train station (i find it amusing that every time we become pros at a city, we leave).

Promptly we attained tickets and boarded our correct train to Florence (fierenze). Once in Florence we ate, of course! Then camped at the bus station to wait for the bus to take us to the hostel. While waiting we met up with a girl who recognized us from the hostel in Nice! We ended up going to the same hostel, again, in Tuscany. She was with 3 of her 5 siblings traveling from France into Italy. I really enjoyed talking to her and hearing about how she backpacked when she was younger and met her husband in italy, lol. She told me also that their journey in Tuscany to Pisa were two of their last stops.I wish them well on their journey! Ciao!

I must say that taking the bus was one of the cheapest things we've done! Cheeper then eating, ha. We took the twisty turny streets through Florence and out into the Tuscan country side, they were beautiful. (If we can we must return to Florence to actually see it!) Following very specific directions, we made it to the hostel in Tavarnelle. The woman at the front desk was so very helpful, and suggested we walk the 2km to Barberino, a midevil town, to watch the sunset. Immediately sold, we quickly hand washed and hung to dry some necessary pieces of clothing, and started the pleasant walk to Barberino. My camera was dead, so Alli had to take pictures for 2. We raced the sun set. Finally we hit what must have been the spot. Rolling hills over a chianti vineyard, Italian conical trees silhouetting the hues of red, pink, and purple sky. We sat on the low stone wall, marveling at the site until all the light was gone.

When the sun had set we decided to grab a bottle of wine at the local bar. We got a local wine, and had the bartender open it for us. Alli used her ingenuity to make our newly patented holder out of a scarf, and strolled up the hill back to our little town. Now completely hungry again, we deposited Alli's camera in the room, and searched for food. Feeling so free with no bags and no large camera.. We ended up a a cute little restaurant called Ristorante Borgo Antico Albergo Vittoria. I am sorry to say we can't show you pictures of this amazing feast. We started off with water, a bottle of their house wine(literally they made it there) and caprese (fresh mozzarella with tomato and basil on fresh bread adding our own amounts of balsamic and olive oil). Our main meals were even better, and I must say if eating glutin is going to kill me... I am going out in style! The taste of good bread and pasta has brought tears to my eyes. Mom and Ronna, I know you can appreciate this. Alli ordered the homemade pasta with truffle oil and mushrooms, the house specialty. I ordered the gnocchi with marinara sauce, basil and cheese. Reaching a comatose state, completely stuffed, we profusely thanked our waitress and weaved our way up the hill to our hostel. Hitting the bed very very very hard, we fell asleep quickly. Tuscany is awesome.

And Alli is dizzy :)

Ciao!
Kait and Alli!

A Saturday in Venice

Around 8:30am we left our hostel, bought train tickets to Milano, picked up our baggage and boarded the train. In Milan we ate some pizza then caught our next train to Venice. There was some confusion with tickets on the train, so I let the gentleman sit with his two children and Kaitlin and I sat with three, very amusing, Nigerian boys. They told me I spoke very good English, not like the Italians... since it is the only language I speak it is nice to hear that I speak it well. They told me a little about themselves and how someday they will come to America. They got off a few stops in front of us, but made me promise I would facebook friend them.

When the train reached Venice we stepped out of the station and into a postcard.

The water was there with gonodlas, boats and water buses, it was stunning and the instant gratification of the view and the breeze set our hearts at ease... that is until we realized we had no idea where we were going. All we had was a hostel name, no address, no directions, no guidance. The water bus attendent said she did not know, but told us we could get off at Zitelle dock. It was a long bus ride and we were getting nervous. When we arrived at our stop we decided to go straight, down the narrow road and into the heart of the area. There were few people around, but we were hungry and knowing we work better with a full stomach we stopped into the first little restaurant we saw. I order foccachia with olives and Kaitlin got a shrimp sandwhich. We asked the lady behind the counter if she knew where Ostello Venezia was and she directed us back to the water and then down the street. Amazed at what we saw, Kaitlin attributed the miracle to her Hail Marys repeated over and over on the water bus, there right in front of us was the hostal. Considering the size of Venice and the distance we had travelled (about 25 minutes on the water bus) it was a stunning discovery and left me in shock for quite awhile.

While we were checking in we asked the boy at the front desk for a cheap, delicious place to eat and he gave us a map, marked it up and then on the back drew a second map to his favorite place. I chatted with Eddie briefly before work and then threw our stuff in the room and followed our treasure map, back across the wide river and up three bridges. It was obvious we were in the correct place because people were crowded around everywhere. We squeezed our way up to the counter, ordered two glasses of red wine (1 euro each) and several of the tapas.

Kait will finish (decided Kaitlin)...

We sat on a small bridge beside a church and drank local vini... Laughing and enjoying each others company. We went back to the hostel to charge Alli's camera then went back across the river to our new favorite hang out. they were closing, but we convinced them to suggest a bottle of wine, and opened it for us. Alli had an idea about a scarf wrap around the wine bottle as a holder. Understanding what she said, I took a minute and rigged up the bottle. Now more wine-mobile we wandered through the streets of Venice. The alleys are tiny, over and over bridge after bridge, Maria street, into open square. At one point I saw a group of people huddled outside of a concert hall, beautiful music was cascading out into the street, so we just had to stop and sit on the steps with everyone else... Just to listen. After a while of wandering we were hungry, and stopped into the closest restaurant for food. Happy banter with our new waiter friend (who made us finish our wine before entering) convinced us to eat there. We scarfed down whatever was set before us, and honestly i don't remember what it was. Quickly we bid him 'ciao!' and we were off a wandering. Eventually we made it back to the hostel, internetting and what not. I went up to bed first, since Alli wished to be outside for longer. It really was absolutely idyllic... The weather perfect with air off the water, on our little island in Venice... Another wonderful end of a day!

<3
Kait and Alli

We are just wanderers...

8/26 Nice, France ->?? Genoa, Italia!

We woke up with minimal to no plans. Stay near the coast and make our way into Italy, preferably towards Venice. We took the French rail as far as it would go, Ventimiglia Italy. From there we gathered that we could make it to Genoa by rail... So we Spent the interim between trains having food from Nice picnic style. After we were well fed, we walked toward the beach, discovering an open air market. Enjoying the rows and rows of sellers, we eventually made it to the beach just to gaze at the sea. We decided to return to the train station, got a bit turned about, but eventually we ran into an old woman who pointed out the way.

Double checking that we were on the right train, we entered into an empty compartment that had a clear window. Alli was excited that we had space to ourselves for once, and I was excited because I felt like I had boarded the train for hogwarts. Right before the train was leave, a couple entered our compartment and told us we were in the wrong spot. :( We trudged along the different cars as the train began to move. Finally we found our correct seats, but we had left our food behind. Alli went back to get the food, as I settled in with the family who we shared the compartment with. It was so hot during the journey, the air conditioning was broken. As the family left, others filtered into the compartment, including an old man with dry mouth. I had the ummm pleasure of sitting next to him, he commandeered the arm rest with his sweaty arms and smacked his lips continuously. Another girl came, whom I believe the seat belong to, but he ignored her and wouldn't move for her. I blasted my I pod to block out the smacking and wheezing, and may have partially lost my hearing. I was so grateful to finally arrive in Genoa.

In the Genoa train station we attempted to find lockers, but they had none. Through some piecemeal conversations at the information area, we discovered that there is a 'left baggage' are we could store most of our belongings. There we tried to ask if we had to pay cash or if we could use a card. The only answer we received was, "you pay when u take luggage". Desperately needing substance, we left to discover the streets of Genoa. After some wandering, Alli asked a young man where a good place to eat was. He said he could show us... And boy did we get more then we bargained for. For two hours Tomazo (Thomas) gave us the in-depth private tour of Genoa. Where to go, where to avoid because of thieves and colorful women, where to eat for cheep, histories of architecture, what are tourist traps, what boats were fake, etc etc etc... Our heads were on overload as we stopped at a beautiful church's err the antitrust had dropped a bomb during WWII, that had never detonated. I stopped to pray several times in the sanctuary, and feeling a lot more grounded departed. He took us to the city center, were we said out many thank you's and goodbye's, and he departed from us.

We sat down and sighed, even more hungry and exhausted then before. Even so, we felt very fortunate for a free tour for such a knowledgeable young physicist. New plan, cheep food then find a place to sleep. We went down one of the 'good' streets pointed out to us and bought focaccia with pesto and cheese (a great recommendation from Tomazo). We devoured our slices, and looking at each other agreed to get more. My second piece was plain freshly made focaccia, while Alli got the one with olives. Finally full, we reoriented ourselves and decided to head toward then train station. We ended up finding Hotel Europa, and decided this place was as good as any for €70. After purchasing a large water and a bottle of wine, we headed upstairs. We both barely sipped our wine, and passed out. We'll I slept for 12 hours. Alli, on the other hand,woke up, downloaded photos, had some more wine, stretched for two hours, showered, etc. Me... I slept, and slept and slept.. I think I must have needed it.

Ciao!
Kait and Alli

Thursday in Nice, France

Kaitlin woke up around 8am to try to secure a bed in the same hostel for that night. Around 10am she got me for breakfast. With no rooms open the receptionist called over to Hostel Chez Patrick and secured an open room for us. So we dragged our belongings to Hostel Chez Patrick, payed for the room left our large bags there until the room was ready and ventured out into Nice in search of food. We stopped at a local grocery store and picked up fresh apples, grapes and avocados and a large hunk of cheese, found ourselves a shady spot under a tree and had a picnic. Afterward we sat, conveniently with our hat up, and practiced playing the mouth harp... we were not impressive enough to entice anyone to leave spare change.

After lunch and the show we crashed in the hostel for close to 5 hours, we needed the rest. Again, we woke up famished and ventured out for dinner. After a long walk we finally approached an acceptable restuarant (our standards aren't  high, we just want authentic, reasonably priced food) and sat down for some onion, potatoe, olive and cheese pizza. Deliscioso! Afterward we walked through the streets, it seems these narrow, beckoning streets can be found in all cities of the Mediterranean. We came across some street performers and indulged on gelato during the performance. During our twisted long walk to the beach we encountered many street performers and accepted that our harp skills were not up to par for the competition. At the beach we relaxed, letting our food digest and taking in the cool sea breeze.

On our way back to the hostel we enjoyed many more street performances and marveled at the beauty and antiquity of Nice. When we returned we spent some time on our computers updating, uplaoding, downlaoding and chatting. We decided to make some mixed drinks and after a few realized we were going to need a midnight snack, so again, we left our air conditioned room in search of food. We found a fast food restaurant and without prompt we were told, by another customer, to order the gyro. I was hestitant at first because so many things looked so good, but we had follow his advice, if he had the courage and gaul to suggest a menu item to strangers, then it had to be good, and boy was he right. This gyro was out of this world. I cannot even explain it... Kaitlin if you would help me out....
I don't know what we are to expect in Greece and Turkey, but the French make a good gyro. After we finished the gyros we closed up for the night and mentally prepared to conquer a new language barrier for the third time in a week. Au revoir France, buon giorno Italy.

En France

Voyage c'ect Vivre!

Hello! Kait here checking in to let you know about our time in France!

8/23 Barcelona -> Montpellier -> Avignon

Quick packing, breakfast and checkout, haunted down the hill through security and onto the train! I happened to take Dramamine which nicked me out the entire 2 hours. At one point we had to transfer trains, all I know is I woke up abruptly to Alli saying everyone is getting off... Running after her down the stairs... Leaving the station, then realizing the train we wanted was right next to ours..... Ugh! Back through security and onto the correct train... And immediately I passed out again.

We arrived in Montpellier and ordered some food at a little sandwich shop. I was able to understand the seller when he asked Alli if she wanted her food hot or cold! We are in a small park next to the station, it was lovely inn the shade. Have we mentioned how HOT it is everywhere? After eating we wandered, finding a cemetery with a kind old man who offered us water and toilettes. We kept asking people if there were lockers, but finally found out (in the tourist office) that there were none in that city :( Oh well. We wandered and enjoyed everything Kait and Alli style and eventually wound our way back to the station we stopped for some cafe au lait. Newly caffeinated, we boarded the train to Avignon

Our hostess in Avignon was Adeline, we met her through couchsurfing.com. She was absolutely amazing and made our short time very special! Adeline met us at the train station with the traditional French greeting (3 kisses on the cheeks) and took us to her charming apartment . There we were able to shower and place our bags down. Newly refreshed, we headed out on the town. Adeline winded us through the backstreets and alleys of Avignon to a restaurant L'Offset. Dinner was amazing! Alli had the caramelized orange duck with mashed potatoes, I had the salmon salad, and Adeline had the sampler salad. I will attach pictures when I can! Post dinner we walked to the Palace of the Popes and all around the city, chatting and taking in the scene. Then we met her friend Davy at a Salsa Club! They had Salsa lessons and then a free for all. we all had a great time dancing, taking pictures, having a couple cocktails, and laughing....a lot. Davy was kind enough to drive us all home (factoid:the French drive on the same side of the street as Americans) we big Adeline Merci Et Bon Nuit! and fell asleep on her couch.


8/24 Avignon ->????? -> Marseilles -> Nice

Oooops! We all slept in, and Adeline was late for work. Did I mention that this petite blond French girl is a nuclear engineer, and plays rugby, lol who would have thought! We all had a quick cup of coffee on her cute balcony before Adeline had to leave us for work. She was kind enough to leave us the key so we could shower before hitting the road. We strolled through Avignon one more time before boarding the train to Marseilles.... Well, we tried to. Apparently we boarded the opposite train and traveled several hours towards Lyon. Realizing that we must be lost we swiftly exited the train and pleaded with an attendant to help. Eventually we caught the returning train back towards Avignon/Marseilles.

At Marseilles we were exhausted and hungry! But the restaurants don't serve food between 2 and 7. We ate at the "Meet and Go" and I charged my I pad a very sneaky way... (Alli, please insert that pic u took)

It was 2 hours until the next train, and we boarded nice and early to make sure we were in the right spot. Then all of a sudden the conductor entered the car andnspoke in rapid French... Something about our baggage. Luckily for us a French girl who sat near us, Anna Tara, knew English and asked if we wanted her to translate.we soon discovered that there was a bomb threat and that the police were taking us all off the train one by one and searching our luggage. Anna also said she thought it was drugs that they were looking for. We all exited the train when told to. The police man seemed to sigh at all my pockets in my pack, he also seemed very intrigued with a tightly knotted black bag I had in the bottom....my dirty laundry, lol. Alli and I both passed inspection. The French police were quite efficient and had us back on the train as soon as they could. Alli and I were so grateful for Anna, since she stuck with us, translating, and keeping us posted.

Some 2 hours later we finally arrive in Nice. Exhausted, we purchased some rum and strawberry-raspberry juice and trotted to the hostel to relax and blow off some steam. At 3am we were the last up in the common room, uploading pictures and trying to charge every electronics we had. But tiredness won out, and we gladly marched up to our 8 bed dorm room and fell asleep.

Message of the day:"life does not go as expected, but your ability to accept the present and make the most of it determines your level of happiness"

Think about it
<3 Kait and Alli

Monday in Barcelona

Monday morning we woke up in Barcelona around 10am and went straight to the cold meat, cereal and stale croissant breakfast. While eating we sent out some Couchsurfing requests for Northern Italy hoping to get a bite for Thursday and Friday night… so far no such luck.

After breakfast we took much needed showers and got ready for our day downtown. On our way to the metro station we bought a watch from a resourceful shop owner. She cleverly pointed us to a vacuum sealed Spanish Marie Claire which contained a stylish blanco watch. Excited about our new, more defined sense of time we boarded the metro at Les Corts and headed into the heart of Barcelona.

When we emerged from underground we quickly oriented ourselves and headed straight for the beach. On our way we bought some jewelry from street vendors and stopped at ….. for lunch. The hostess lured us in with the promise of fresh caught seafood and we went for their specialty, paella de marisco. This dish was everything I hoped for in Spain, it was rice with vegetables seasoned with tomatos and spices, topped with prawns, mussels, and squid. It was filling and flavorful. While we were paying our bill the friendly, English speaking waiter referred to Kaitlin as Ms. Los Angelas and inquired about a boyfriend. Sorry Senor we aren’t here for the boys, we are here for the food.

After lunch we laid a towel out on the topless beach and Kaitlin went for a swim. While we were collecting rocks from the sea floor I submerged our brand new timepiece, which instantly filled with water and came to a stop. Once again, without a sense of time we ventured down the narrow roads of Barcelona hoping to come across a treasure. We were captivated by the balconies and old buildings. Kaitlin led the way and eventually we stumbled across a huge church, in the courtyard street performers were hip hop dancing. After enjoying the show we maneuvered in out of streets and stops in hole in the wall shops to get gifts for family and friends. Eventually we made it back to the train station and our hostel where we decompressed, glued to our computer screens.

After an hour or two we decided to head to a local grocery store to pick up dinner.  It is here that I should mention Kaitlin’s lifesaving techniques brought the watch back to life, she literally sucked the water out… Kaitliin is certified in CPR for watches now; unfortunately we left the revived watch in the bedroom- we are convinced we are not meant to know the time. At the store we bought beer, wine, tomatoes, goat cheese, avocados, lemons and corn chips. You can check out the video to see what happened during dinner, believe me it is worth it.

((((LINK)))))

After dinner and alcohol we hung around the community room, uploading pictures and videos, checking on emails and our blog and chatting with some of the hostelers. One man we met, Tao Huang, was particularly chatty, he had two more days on his 50 day trip. He is from Chengdu, China, a town known for its extremely spicy food, so spicy he says that you won’t need anesthetic for surgery after eating it. We chatted with a few others before heading up to bed, tiptoeing into the dark room of slumbering French and falling asleep. Tonight we sleep with the French and tomorrow depart for France.

A blog post for Amanda Weiss

Per your request http://www.youtube.com/user/KaitMausser#p/a/u/0/TG9XKeWYzYk



Forgive our craziness
<3 Kait and Alli

From Madrid to Barcelona 8/21

Madrid says Adios, Barcelona says Hola....Hola Hola... 8/21

We woke up to watch the final papal mass for w.y.d. On the tv. As we watched we showered and re packed all our belongings. After saying farewell to the lovely people of Hotal Argentina, we went out in search of a catholic church. All the ones we found had signs on them saying all masses are postponed until 7pm that evening, since everyone was at world youth day.

Deciding not to cry over spilled milk(and the small comfort it was to know that no one received the Eucharist at w.y.d. Because they got contaminated in the storm), we set back up the hill towards our friend Atocha station. Stopping briefly at a fruit stand, we purchased an avocado, 3 bananas, and an orange. Next we found a shaded street and sat outside with 2 caffe con leche, our favorite drink.

Newly caffeinated, we continued up into the square near Atocha station. We sat outside for a while, but when the sun finally hit us, we knew it was time to move. Soon we came upon a Starbucks. Yes yes yes, we know it's cliche, but here was the appeal, free wifi, and a bathroom. So, we hunkered down in the corner, typed on our devices in the air conditioning, use the bathroom to our hearts content, and had some more coffee.

By 3:30 we maneuvered through the returning w.y.d crowd to reach the station. This time we entered the opposed side then last time. We oooed and awed over the large ferns and palm trees located in the main gallery. so of course we walked through it. At the end of the line was a delightful turtle pond. Alli and Kait spent much time taking pictures of the turtles, but eventually came to their seances and proceeded onward. We camped out for a while under the large station sign, since the track we needed wasn't listed.

As soon as track 3 was listed we followed the signs to get there. After getting turned about and having to ask directions, proceed up escalators, through security, and back down an escalator...we arrived on the train platform. "We made it out of W.Y.D.!" cheered Alli.

We boarded the train and quickly found our assigned seats. Kait got up to help a middle aged woman lift and stack her heavy cumbersome suitcases into the luggage rack. the train ride its self was very pleasant. Alli tested out her camera skills with taking pictures of the Spanish country side on a moving train, as well as describing the geological formations she saw to Kaitlin with detailed reasoning why it looks the way it does now. Meanwhile, Kait played with her video editor on her ipad2.

Alli'a camera skills...

Once we docked we decided to get out footing before moving anywhere. Alli purchased a map and some dark chocolate, and we both sat down on the floor eating chocolate and trying to discern the map. After more foreign map skills, we headed outside determined to walk the 0.62 mile uphill to our hostel. We were tired of seeing more of cities underground then above.

Barcelona felt much calmer. As we strolled onward and upward, we pointed out more dogs to each other, a decorated alley, many funky stores, a cool park, and lastly our hostel. Check in was quick and easy and we proceeded upstairs to our 8 bed dorm room. We met a lovely French girl who was rooming with us, Alexandra, and Kait was excited to be able to speak some French with her. They both realized that they could understand more of each others language then they could speak, and smiled at the commonality.

We wanted to check into the interwebs so we grabbed our devices and headed downstairs to the common room. Once there, they discovered the only available outlets were currently in use, and deemed food finding more important. Alli took her stuff upstairs to lock up, and Kait stayed in the common room zipping out a couple quick responses from her iPad. While she sat there she met a Canadian, Lauren, who was traveling all throughout Europe by herself and with no detonate plan. She seemed charming and gave a glowing recommendation for florence, and couch surfing. Kait gave her suggestions in return, for her September trip to London(her favorite walk on the south bank). After the exchange of pins we bid her farewell and and headed out in search of food.

Feeling much freer without luggage we went to the park and played. We laughed at ourselves for being jealous of a dog who went the path over the water that we wanted to explore. We stumbled upon a restaurant and got potato frites and enselada. Alli was sad because she said the wrong thing she wanted.... But ate the fries anyway and washed it down with cervesa. We weren't picky, we just needed something to put in our stomach.

After dinner we decided to head towards the decorated street festival we had noticed earlier that day. "El Cel de Sants". We wandered down the alley...and it just kept going and going and going. Street after street of wandering people, old and young, bar hoppers and young families alike were enjoying this saysgathering. We wandered, following music, trying to search out the meaning of thus festival...but alas. The language barrier blocked us once again.

Starting to feel the exhaustion rolling in, we went back to the hostel. Set up camp in the common room and connected to the Internet. Immediately we were glad we had come when we did, because a bus load of W.Y.D. Pilgrims swarmed into the common area at that moment. For those of you who do not understand, when a group that is large. Comes into a place, it's best if you already have yourself seated and comfortable, otherwise you will be trampled.

As the long day drew to an end, we tip toed back up to our dom where everyone else was asleep. Shuttering at the loud creek the door made when we opened and closed it, we settled down into our bunks for the night and passed out.

It felt good to rest.

<3 Kait and Alli

Kait and Alli's Great Adventure!

Kait and Alli!

8/20 Madrid is getting better

Got to admit things are getting better, getting better all the time.

We woke up early (7am-ish) to pack up our bags and look for a hotel or hostel. The only way we made it through Friday was the promise of a bed and wi-fi. Don't get us wrong, it is nice to have some disconnect, but not knowing when you can connect again or being able to call anything or anyone or even know what time it is is a bit stressful.

We took the train into Atocha, the only sure place we knew, since we will be leaving from that station on Sunday 8/21 to head to Barcelona. Once there, Alli purchased UNO caffe de leche and Kait opened up all the maps she could find. (this is where that foreign map reading course would be helpful). After careful twisting and turning of maps, and discovery of some landmarks (like 2 giant stone baby heads) we found where hotels were marked in then local area. We wondered done a street that looked promising. Kait looked up and saw their first ROAD SIGN! We took it as a sign and walked down that side street where we found 2 hostels.

The first hostel we buzzed to get in, dragged out luggage up one story and entered the door that the old man beckoned us into. With Spanish phrasebook in hand we attempted to ask about an open room and wifi or Internet. He said no wifi (wee fee). And we said, gracias adios! and proceeded to lug everything back downstairs.

The second hostel was 'Hostal Argentina'. (www.hostalargentina.es). Where again we buzzed ourselves in and lugged everything once again up one story. We opened our phrasebook to ask the same questions, and the woman asked, "you speak English?' We laughed and said yes! Once we found out they had a double room with free wifi (weeeee feeeee!) We rejoiced and gladly handed over the €50 for the room. She even offered to lock up our bags for us until our room would be ready at noon. Rejoicing we locked up our bags and headed to the corner cafe for brunch.

La Ochava was the name of the restaurant we had brunch at. Alli had her favorite meal thus far: "Boquerones" -anchovies marinated in lemon juice with olive oil and garlic served with cut up baguette. Kait had the No*6 Jamón Ibereo with eggs and fries. We sat there relaxing eating our food with joy, sighing with relief. We also ordered more coffee. The coffee is absolutely amazing here, we have no idea what that stuff is we drink back at home compared to this.

During this time we also came up with Kait and Alli's Hierarchy of Needs:
1. Wifi - we need to know we can connect to home base to feel secure
2. Water - it is crucial to survival, in so many ways
3. A place to sleep/rest - we need to feel like we have a home base in a 
 foreign place
4. Food - we get crabby when we do not eat
5. Shade -it's hot here...and we have Irish skin
And with all of this we need laughter, because that is our key to survival

At noon we squared up with La Ochava (side note, they didn't pressure us at all to leave that whole 2 hours, we like how much slower everything seems to be here). Once back at the hostel we checked into our room, which was amazing to us.

We oooed and awed over the double bed, tiny window, shower, sink, private toilet, tv, and air conditioner. It felt like our little slice of heaven. We watched Spanish music videos, blogged, checked email, relaxed on the bed, and took turns using the shower. We weren't tired enough to sleep just needed to relax, de-swell, shower, and reconnect. After a couple skype calls and emails we decided to venture out for some dinner.

We ducked into the nearest little convenience store bought some water, wine, sardines, meat, cheese, croissants, oysters, and cups... All for under €10. We knew from our amazing newly acquired foreign map skills that there was a park near by. We wandered over towards that area and saw a high fence. Determined to eat in someplace that's green (plus noticing that there were some kitties in there) we followed the fence for a long while until we found the entrance. For a moment we were sad that their was an admittance fee, but then realized it was a botanical garden and it wasn't out our price range. We went for it!

Inside the garden were lush plants from all over the world. We found a secluded spot with a bench and opened up our spread. Slightly sad that the wine was trapped (no corkscrew! What an oversight!) we decided that we would drink it in the room later. After we ate our fill we decided to wander around and have a Kait and Alli photo-shoot. This was so much fun, definitely worth it for you to check out our pictures. As Kait sat waiting for Alli to use the restroom before our jaunt home, she reflected on this thought, "I think I am actually relaxing.....that's what this foreign feeling is..."

We raced the looming ominous rain clouds home (trying not to get too off course by shiny objects and 10 story buildings covered in moss art). We keep looking in the windows of stores trying to find a cork screw...but no one had one. The last place we went was right beside our hostel. There we saw wine bottled and tried to ask(with various pantomiming) if they had a corkscrew to open our wine. The woman said no.... But then lit up, pointed to Alli and frantically pulled her over to the shelf and pointed up at a wine bottle. We were very confused, and Alli politely grabbed for her what she seemed to want. And lo and behold there was a tiny plastic wine opener attached. The woman took the wine with the corkscrew from Alli and our bottle of wine from Kait and took them behind the counter. The woman laughed as she took out a utility knife, removed the casing from out wine top, put our bottle on the floor and uncorked it for us, handing it back to us open. We said gracias! And joyfully returned to our hostel for more blogging, wyd watching, foot propping up, and wine drinking



We were very glad to not to be in that rain!

<3 Kait and Alli