Jenna:
Sunday had us up early looking forward to the one thing we hadn’t been able to do in Rome, attend church. Although Th’s family are not members, FIL was up early on his day off to chauffeur us to the location of the church building. This was a completely different experience for both of us, as church in Poland is not held in a church building, but in a downtown district in the middle of a bunch of shops! I thought for sure we were headed in the right direction, but we saw a sign that just looked like the church’s name and knew we must be headed in the right direction. We climbed the stairs and pulled on the door to discover we couldn’t get in! To the right was a small button, a buzzer in fact. It was so funny, buzzing ourselves into church. The ward is very tiny, with something like 6 or 7 sets of missionaries and 10-15 members who were present that day.
It took one of the missionaries only a minute or two to come back and sit by us. I am sure that it was obvious that we were members, and even though he introduced himself in Polish they all said they had us pegged as Americans as soon as we walked in. The church really is the same everywhere though, even though we couldn’t understand what was being said, it was what we felt that was most important. The branch president came up to greet us after the meeting was over, and I got all flustered and forgot all of the words I had worked so hard to learn! The missionaries were eager to hear of home and talk in English, and so we were shepherded through all of the meetings with a translator at our side at all times.
We met TH’s parents coming up the stairs, and from their they whisked us off to the largest park in Poland, even larger than New York Central Park! We ate our last Polish dinner, which was of course delicious, in this darling old restaurant featuring some of the most unique artwork I have ever seen. All of the paintings were done directly on wood, and each of the chairs had some kind of character on back. Shrek and Fiona were my favorites. The bathroom was even exciting, with the bottom side of the toilet seat cover featuring the face of what looked like a very startled man. I guess I would be pretty startled myself if I had to look at people’s bums all day long.
This was the first Polish meal where we skipped the soup course, not because we didn’t want it, but because I was so stuffed full of good food from all of our vacation time I knew I wouldn’t be able to finish my entrée if I had anything else. As with every other time, we turned the ordering over to FIL, and we ended up eating wild boar. That’s right, the scary pig that lives in the forest. It came with a type of side salad, very welcome after a vacation with few salads in sight, and I saved the potatoes on my plate for the very end because they were so soft and tender. Without the soup course filling me up first, I was successfully able to finish off every delicious bite. I really enjoyed the Bacardi stirring stick that came with me water. I found it to be a very funny addition to the meal. I am not sure if it is done very often in Poland, but we had the waiter take a picture of everyone at the table. You can see TH’s aunt, Hannah, his father, my Mom, TH’s mother, his sister, her boyfriend (who we have nicknamed Camo), and myself.
After dinner, TH’s mom and dad left, and his aunt, sister, and sister’s boyfriend joined us for a guided tour through the park. This was no aimless stroll, Hannad had prepared so well, bringing photos, and somehow learning the name of every plant that grew in the park. It was very impressive, and a great chance for Mom and I to break out our cameras at every opportunity. We might have more pictures from this walk than from any other activity during our vacation. Highlights include snacking on the petals of an edible rose (not all roses are edible, so don’t try this in your garden!), riding on the little train that took us through the park, and posing Zu and Camo on a park bench in the same fashion of two statues located in the park. I took a few fun pictures with what I like to call the good luck statue, so named because touching the rose the girl is holding will bring the person good luck. I was beginning to feel a little bit lonely without my Polish boyfriend present, and so I spent a few moments cozying up to the statue man. TH is much cozier than he was. We also encountered some lamas and rams, sadly not quite as exciting for us as it is for most since we are pretty used to the farm animals by now, but I loved the little llama song that Zu kept singing on the way to see them.
The day ended once again, at the home of the TH’s family. I developed an affinity for dwarves on this trip, and Zu was sweet enough to point one out that she had discovered in her garden. I got a kick out of the buzzer that they have to get into the front gate, which lists the names of person in the house. I was able to take a few pictures of the interior, a shot into the doorway of TH’s old bedroom (which Zu has taken over now), and the living room where we spent our time whenever we were there. I was finally able to spend some time talking to TH, after taking almost a two week break from doing so. When I came back out into the living room I discovered such a fun spread of food. A pea salad, deviled eggs with mustard, bread and butter, and three different kinds of sausage. I really started slacking off on the tail end of the trip, because I don’t have pictures of any of this! I was so hungry I uncharacteristically dug right in without whipping out my camera to take a few pictures. It was probably my favorite meal we had during our time in Poland, once again proving that homemade food will always be better than anything else. Dessert included poppyseed cake, cheesecake, and special apple pie that TH’s grandmother had prepared just for our visit. I jazzed all of the desserts up a little bit by dumping one of TH’s favorite treats, evaporated milk from a tube all over everything. It was SOOOOO good.
I know I am not alone in thinking that we owe our deepest gratitude to TH's family for being so open and inviting when inviting us into their home and their live for the past few days. I hope that they will agree in affirming that we all feel like a family now, a thought that makes me smile ever time I reflect on it. I hope to be returning to Poland, and their home, many times throughout the coming years!
With this, our trip has come to a close. Yes, we technically have days 13 and 14 as well, but they are entirely unremarkable, and I think mark a time for both of us when we are counting down the hours until we can be back in our own beds no longer living out of a suitcase and wearing clothes which have been washed several times in the bathroom sink. This trip was much better than I could have hoped for, luckily filled with much more fun than frustration. Mom and I have grown closer together, and even decided that we could survive (and win!) The Amazing Race together. I might need to learn a few more languages, and I think we need to be able to successfully run a few miles without passing out, but I think that it’s time to start filling out our applications! Thanks Mom, the trip was fantastic, I’d do it again in a heartbeat.
Arrivederci!
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Monday, May 26, 2008
Day 11
(All of the pictures from our Poland trip are up!)
Jenna:
I am sure that TH's family is beginning to think that I am a narcoleptic because I cannot seem to get enough sleep here. I am hoping that it is just something in the air that keeps putting me to sleep, and not difficulty adjusting to the time zone change. How can I be a world traveler if I just want to crawl in bed an hour after I wake up each morning?
FIL picked us up at 9 and we drove to Auschwitz. Visiting the concentration camp was difficult, and emotionally draining. I read Night by Elie Wiesel right before we went, and it was a good choice for me because it made the entire experience really come alive in my mind. Although this may be more difficult for some visitors, I am glad I did it. This was the first thing I have done the entire trip where I didn’t take any pictures, not because I didn’t want to remember, but because I didn’t think there was any way to accurately capture on film what being in that terrible place can do. It’s not what you see that is important, it’s what you feel. My mother’s side of the family has Jewish ancestors, and it is quite possible that many of them died in places like Auschwitz. FIL was a wonderful guide, somehow knowing the right time to be with us explaining what we were seeing, and also knowing when we needed a moment to take things in. It is an experience that I believe everyone should have if they can, if only to remind them of the necessity of accepting others no matter how different they may seem. We saw the names of people displayed on the wall who could possibly be related to us, and I got really excited about the opportunity to do some genealogy in Poland someday! Mom and I took a picture in front of the “Work will make you free” gate (which was a total lie that the Nazi’s told!), but we didn’t smile. We weren’t really sure what to do.
Lunch was a nice break from the somber and depressing atmosphere at the concentration camp (our is it called dinner here?) and the restaurant was the rustic lodge built over 100 years ago. There was a cat wandering around the dining room, which I found to be kind of quaint, but only because he didn’t jump on the table and eat my dinner with me. We of course had a soup course, which is the traditional thing to do, but is really only common in restaurants. They eat soup like we eat salad, year round, sometimes eating chilled soup in the middle of the summer. I had beet root (a pretty red color) with noodles stuffed with meat in the middle. I have no idea what Mom had, but she ate it all so it must have been good. It was originally what FIL ordered, but they had to trade because her original soup had cream in it. All three of us had the same entrée, which is apparently the traditional way to eat dinner. It was something akin to a hashbrown folded over with meat and gravy and mushrooms in the middle. It was de-lisc-ious. I think I am going to have to round up a recipe for this dish and try to make it at home. I had to pay 1 polish dollar to use the bathroom, and I felt a little self conscious because the little man guarding the bathroom went in and cleaned it right after I used it.
The restaurant was actually located on the grounds of an open-air museum with all kinds of little buildings demonstrating what traditional Polish homes looked like. There are old-school style wells all over the place here, but they really aren’t that fun because you can’t wind the bucket up and down. I threw a penny in and made a wish for good luck anyway. I know that Poland has a secret supply of dwarves hidden somewhere, because the doorways to these houses were tiny. I could barely stand up straight walking through. Mom and I really got a kick out of the beehives shaped like people, and I made sure to pose in front of the poor man’s cottage to remind myself what kind of house I will be living in if I live in Poland someday. I was excited to find a bride and groom dressed in traditional wedding garb, although I don’t think I will be modeling my own wedding day look after the traditional Polish one. I don’t think a giant pyramid shaped hat of flowers would really look that great on me.
Then we were off to a real castle! A medieval festival was happening, only making us realize how really boring and dull the medieval festivals we have are. First of all, how many medieval festivals have you heard of in the US that happened in a real castle? Also, how many of these festivals feature real sword fights? And strange wrestling games with half naked men? We didn’t get many pictures of all of this, sadly, because both of our cameras died. I was able to take a few pictures of a bride and groom wandering the castle grounds doing some portraits. TH's family guessed that they had been married that morning, and had left their guests somewhere to come to the medieval festival to get some interesting photos. That sounds like my kind of bride and groom!
All of our pictures end at this point, but this isn’t where our day finished. We watched some burly half-naked men wrestle around for possession of a stick, and were just in time to watch a real sword fight between two big “armies”. These people totally put the medieval club at BYU to shame! I have some great footage on my video camera of these men rushing towards each other and hitting each other as hard as they could to knock the other guy down. Much more intense than any football game I have ever seen. I saw a cotton candy stand on our way out, and even though it had been something like 10 years since I had last found cotton candy appealing in any way, I remembered that TH told me once he though Polish cotton candy was so much better than American. I might agree with him if I could only remember what American cotton candy actually tastes like!
Our last stop for the day was a grand tour of TH's childhood home. They are in the middle of remodeling, so I don’t have many pictures of their place at all. I know that my Mom wouldn’t want someone coming in and taking pictures of what our house looks like in the middle of remodeling! Even with a little bit of sheetrock dust, it was definitely the most warm and inviting environment that we have encountered for the entire trip. They have a gorgeous garden out back that bests every garden I have seen in Royal! I was a little sad that it wasn’t fall, because they have all kinds of fruit trees in the backyard, and TH always talks about how delicious they are. TH’s mother (whose name is pronounced Yahn-ka, but I am not sure how to correctly spell), had prepared Polish cheesecake and poppyseed cake. We had already tasted both in Krakow on Thursday, but her homemade treats were so much better than the ones we bought in the store! I tasted Polish milk for the first time, which has only strengthened my belief that European milk is much sweeter than American milk.
It was a perfect way to end the day, sitting in their living room, talking and laughing over the tasty treats they made for us. I was probing for all kinds of stories about TH as a child, as I suspected that the was rather mischievous, and I wasn’t disappointed! I won’t be revealing them to you here because I have a sneaking suspicion that he would not appreciate having them discussed on this blog. We had such a wonderful time, and our gracious hosts were smart enough to realize when my eyes were beginning to feel a little bit heavy, and took us home in a timely manner to tuck us in for the night.
Jenna:
I am sure that TH's family is beginning to think that I am a narcoleptic because I cannot seem to get enough sleep here. I am hoping that it is just something in the air that keeps putting me to sleep, and not difficulty adjusting to the time zone change. How can I be a world traveler if I just want to crawl in bed an hour after I wake up each morning?
FIL picked us up at 9 and we drove to Auschwitz. Visiting the concentration camp was difficult, and emotionally draining. I read Night by Elie Wiesel right before we went, and it was a good choice for me because it made the entire experience really come alive in my mind. Although this may be more difficult for some visitors, I am glad I did it. This was the first thing I have done the entire trip where I didn’t take any pictures, not because I didn’t want to remember, but because I didn’t think there was any way to accurately capture on film what being in that terrible place can do. It’s not what you see that is important, it’s what you feel. My mother’s side of the family has Jewish ancestors, and it is quite possible that many of them died in places like Auschwitz. FIL was a wonderful guide, somehow knowing the right time to be with us explaining what we were seeing, and also knowing when we needed a moment to take things in. It is an experience that I believe everyone should have if they can, if only to remind them of the necessity of accepting others no matter how different they may seem. We saw the names of people displayed on the wall who could possibly be related to us, and I got really excited about the opportunity to do some genealogy in Poland someday! Mom and I took a picture in front of the “Work will make you free” gate (which was a total lie that the Nazi’s told!), but we didn’t smile. We weren’t really sure what to do.
Lunch was a nice break from the somber and depressing atmosphere at the concentration camp (our is it called dinner here?) and the restaurant was the rustic lodge built over 100 years ago. There was a cat wandering around the dining room, which I found to be kind of quaint, but only because he didn’t jump on the table and eat my dinner with me. We of course had a soup course, which is the traditional thing to do, but is really only common in restaurants. They eat soup like we eat salad, year round, sometimes eating chilled soup in the middle of the summer. I had beet root (a pretty red color) with noodles stuffed with meat in the middle. I have no idea what Mom had, but she ate it all so it must have been good. It was originally what FIL ordered, but they had to trade because her original soup had cream in it. All three of us had the same entrée, which is apparently the traditional way to eat dinner. It was something akin to a hashbrown folded over with meat and gravy and mushrooms in the middle. It was de-lisc-ious. I think I am going to have to round up a recipe for this dish and try to make it at home. I had to pay 1 polish dollar to use the bathroom, and I felt a little self conscious because the little man guarding the bathroom went in and cleaned it right after I used it.
The restaurant was actually located on the grounds of an open-air museum with all kinds of little buildings demonstrating what traditional Polish homes looked like. There are old-school style wells all over the place here, but they really aren’t that fun because you can’t wind the bucket up and down. I threw a penny in and made a wish for good luck anyway. I know that Poland has a secret supply of dwarves hidden somewhere, because the doorways to these houses were tiny. I could barely stand up straight walking through. Mom and I really got a kick out of the beehives shaped like people, and I made sure to pose in front of the poor man’s cottage to remind myself what kind of house I will be living in if I live in Poland someday. I was excited to find a bride and groom dressed in traditional wedding garb, although I don’t think I will be modeling my own wedding day look after the traditional Polish one. I don’t think a giant pyramid shaped hat of flowers would really look that great on me.
Then we were off to a real castle! A medieval festival was happening, only making us realize how really boring and dull the medieval festivals we have are. First of all, how many medieval festivals have you heard of in the US that happened in a real castle? Also, how many of these festivals feature real sword fights? And strange wrestling games with half naked men? We didn’t get many pictures of all of this, sadly, because both of our cameras died. I was able to take a few pictures of a bride and groom wandering the castle grounds doing some portraits. TH's family guessed that they had been married that morning, and had left their guests somewhere to come to the medieval festival to get some interesting photos. That sounds like my kind of bride and groom!
All of our pictures end at this point, but this isn’t where our day finished. We watched some burly half-naked men wrestle around for possession of a stick, and were just in time to watch a real sword fight between two big “armies”. These people totally put the medieval club at BYU to shame! I have some great footage on my video camera of these men rushing towards each other and hitting each other as hard as they could to knock the other guy down. Much more intense than any football game I have ever seen. I saw a cotton candy stand on our way out, and even though it had been something like 10 years since I had last found cotton candy appealing in any way, I remembered that TH told me once he though Polish cotton candy was so much better than American. I might agree with him if I could only remember what American cotton candy actually tastes like!
Our last stop for the day was a grand tour of TH's childhood home. They are in the middle of remodeling, so I don’t have many pictures of their place at all. I know that my Mom wouldn’t want someone coming in and taking pictures of what our house looks like in the middle of remodeling! Even with a little bit of sheetrock dust, it was definitely the most warm and inviting environment that we have encountered for the entire trip. They have a gorgeous garden out back that bests every garden I have seen in Royal! I was a little sad that it wasn’t fall, because they have all kinds of fruit trees in the backyard, and TH always talks about how delicious they are. TH’s mother (whose name is pronounced Yahn-ka, but I am not sure how to correctly spell), had prepared Polish cheesecake and poppyseed cake. We had already tasted both in Krakow on Thursday, but her homemade treats were so much better than the ones we bought in the store! I tasted Polish milk for the first time, which has only strengthened my belief that European milk is much sweeter than American milk.
It was a perfect way to end the day, sitting in their living room, talking and laughing over the tasty treats they made for us. I was probing for all kinds of stories about TH as a child, as I suspected that the was rather mischievous, and I wasn’t disappointed! I won’t be revealing them to you here because I have a sneaking suspicion that he would not appreciate having them discussed on this blog. We had such a wonderful time, and our gracious hosts were smart enough to realize when my eyes were beginning to feel a little bit heavy, and took us home in a timely manner to tuck us in for the night.
Friday, May 23, 2008
Day 10
Jenna:
Update: Apparently the internet card is not 209 kl, it’s 29, making it about $15 instead of $100 like I though. I went down there to ask her how much it cost 2 different times, so I am not really sure how I could have been so confused 2 times in a row. I am thinking this is definitely not a good sign for the future for me?
We woke up feeling much better this morning after a good long rest at our hotel, ready for Zu and her boyfriend to pick us up for the day. I am going to call him Cam on this blog because I have no idea how to spell his name, although you do pronounce his full name Kah-meal. Phonetic English spelling of Polish words always makes me laugh, when I first met TH I spelled his name Sua-veck, because that is how I spelled it phonetically in my head. It wasn’t until after 2 months or so this his best friend one day said “You know that isn’t how you spell his name right?” But I digress…
Cam instantly had us laughing, and combined with Zu’s adorable little personality I think we were pretty much guaranteed a great day. Our first stop was the Ruda museum. Ruda is considered to be rather small, or at least TH always made me think it was very small, but I think that having a museum is a pretty big deal. We saw the works of a local artist, lots of newspaper articles and war medals, and a huge collection of books that a famous Ruda historian had compiled about the town. My favorite rooms were the ones set up in the style of old time Polish homes with examples of clothing, washing machines, bedroom and bathroom/kitchen. Yes, the bathroom used to be located in the kitchen, which I guess is true for old time American cabins as well, it was just kind of strange to see it set up in person. I think that I would prefer a little more privacy than those little homes could provide. I loved the little dish in the kitchen that said “Warm Sausage” on it. If you were going to make a dish for some type of specific American food what would it be? Maybe old french fries?
Up next was another mine tour, but I was starting to get a little hungry after skipping breakfast (I think $14 is ridiculously expensive) and so Zu ran in to this little shop to get what she called the typical “student snack”. A hard roll, a sausage, and a very large sweet roll with cheese and poppyseed (the American equivalent of a donut I think, and see what I said about the poppyseed being all over the place?) After tasting it, I decided that TH was right, Polish sausage is better than anything I have ever tasted in America. I was pretty hungry so it didn’t take me long to gulp my bread and sausage down before we started on our tour.
I am a big fan of anything that involves some kind of a costume, so this tour was off to a good start when they gave us long blue jackets, hard hats, and some kind of an emergency breathing machine. You will see that in all the pictures with my outfit on, I am still holding onto my bread and sausage, I was so hungry I didn’t want to put it down! On all of the tours we have taken, you have to purchase a “foto pass”, which is kind of a smart little way to make money off of tourists who want to take pictures of everything they see. I think that tour guide pretty much hated us, as we were worse than some of the children on the tour, whispering to each other and wandering away whenever there was something different to look at, but this tour was entirely in Polish so we were pretty lost the whole time. Zu and Cam did a great job of trying to translate for us, but you would have to have a pretty impressive Polish-English vocabulary to be able to keep up with the mining language I am sure he was using. As with any situation, we made the best of it by taking lots and lots of pictures. Cam definitely got a kick out of the amount of self portraits I was taking. Inside the mine we saw a ghost, no dwarves (unfortunately), some sad little horse replicas, and a few exciting explosions. I had my little emergency canteen ready by my side at all times in case the explosions got out of hand. Not to be worried though, I think they were just to get the group excited again.
The tour went back to the main room to turn in our gear and take a small break before continuing on and while there I went into the bathroom to wash my coal covered hands and fix my hair. Apparently I took a little too long because the group left us! We wandered around for a few minutes and then decided to just move on with our own little Ruda tour. I think we saw every single school that TH ever attended, and the church that he grew up attending. We visited the cemetery where his grandparents are buried, and on the way out we saw the most adorable little hedgehog ever! I was thisclose to picking it up and putting it in my pocket and trying to sneak it through customs.
Lunch/Second Breakast/Dinner (I can’t remember what they call it here), was again amazing, with this clear soup with vegetables and chicken (called “Cottage Soup”) that had me wanting to lick the bowl. The main course was two different types of meat, with these cute little squishy potato noodles. I tried so hard, but I couldn’t even finish it all, I was stuffed! I was a little confused visiting the bathroom because instead of a man and a woman symbol there was an upside down triangle and a circle. I chose the circle, and I think I was right.
Next up was the mall, where things started to get exciting. The mall has a Sephora, which made me very happy, and basically sealed the deal in my mind. I call any country civilized if it has a Sephora within its boundaries. The guard was not happy with the pictures I was taking, and asked me to please stop. We walked a loop around the mall, stopping in a pet shop along the way to see if the Parrots spoke in Polish (they never did talk for me), and where I fell in love with a Chinchilla. Has anyone ever seen a Chinchilla in the US?
In Poland the mall has a grocery store inside, which is basically the greatest idea ever because you can get all of your shopping done in one store. It’s really much better than Wal-Mart. I can pick up some new fun mascara and lip gloss from Sephora and some milk all at one place. I don’t have any pictures of the grocery store because apparently taking pictures in any store is not allowed in Poland. I took a picture when I first walked in and this normal looking shopper turned me around and started talking to me in Polish. I smiled apologetically because she could have been speaking Tongan for all I understood, and she went away. Apparently she left to go tell on me because a few minutes later the security guard stopped me and told me not to take pictures. Now in America, this would mean don’t take pictures so flamboyantly, so when we saw the onion display I snuck a few shots of what the Polish onions look like so my dad could see. Either the regular shopper lady spy was following me, or they have some pretty killer cameras because it didn’t take long for the same guard to hurry over and tell me that if I didn’t delete all of the pictures in his presence they would have to confiscate my camera, or maybe he said there would be trouble. Either way, I decided that a few illicit photos of onions wasn’t worth the confiscation of my little baby camera so I gave in. Good thing I had a translator there or I think the was angry enough to grab the camera out of my hands and take off with it. Apparently the Polish store owners are very protective of their merchandise. After we stopped breaking the rules, we went through the candy aisles looking for all kinds of fun Polish chocolate to try. We walked out of the store with 2 full bags of good things to try, and it only took us a few moments to rip the bags open and start sampling.
Zu is great because she always wants to eat something sweet (which I love!) and so we stopped at an ice cream stand to give some Polish gelato a try. They had the best yogurt with cherry I have had in Europe so far, and the dark chocolate with orange ice cream wasn’t bad either. I think I am going to have to go through an ice cream detox program when I get back.
Both Zu and Cam really love the outdoors, so they took us out to the countryside to go for a walk. It smelled so beautiful, I instantly began scheming ways to bottle it up and take it home for everyone else to experience. We went out into a field of yellow flowers (canola my Dad says), and I taught Zu to play the “Make the Face You Would Make” game that my roommates and I love to play. It basically consists of the person behind the camera telling the people in front of the camera to make the face they would make if they were in a certain situation. I’ll let you guess what we were acting out when you see the photos. A walk in the forest near Cam’s house yielded pictures of escargot (which apparently people hunt and send off to France for people to eat) and a trip into the bushes for my Mom. There is a serious shortage of public bathrooms in this country. On the way back to our hotel we saw a geese farm, another thing I have never seen in the US, probably because we don’t really eat a lot of geese there. Or at least, I don’t.
I would say our second day in Poland was just as successful as our first, and it was so fun to spend the day with 2 people my age. Mom is so young and fun she fit right in with all of us in our 20’s. Thank you Cam and Zu for such a wonderful tour!
Today is going to be a little bit more depressing, with a trip to Auschwitz planned, and I am not sure what else. I am glad we are going to do it though. Until tomorrow!
Update: Apparently the internet card is not 209 kl, it’s 29, making it about $15 instead of $100 like I though. I went down there to ask her how much it cost 2 different times, so I am not really sure how I could have been so confused 2 times in a row. I am thinking this is definitely not a good sign for the future for me?
We woke up feeling much better this morning after a good long rest at our hotel, ready for Zu and her boyfriend to pick us up for the day. I am going to call him Cam on this blog because I have no idea how to spell his name, although you do pronounce his full name Kah-meal. Phonetic English spelling of Polish words always makes me laugh, when I first met TH I spelled his name Sua-veck, because that is how I spelled it phonetically in my head. It wasn’t until after 2 months or so this his best friend one day said “You know that isn’t how you spell his name right?” But I digress…
Cam instantly had us laughing, and combined with Zu’s adorable little personality I think we were pretty much guaranteed a great day. Our first stop was the Ruda museum. Ruda is considered to be rather small, or at least TH always made me think it was very small, but I think that having a museum is a pretty big deal. We saw the works of a local artist, lots of newspaper articles and war medals, and a huge collection of books that a famous Ruda historian had compiled about the town. My favorite rooms were the ones set up in the style of old time Polish homes with examples of clothing, washing machines, bedroom and bathroom/kitchen. Yes, the bathroom used to be located in the kitchen, which I guess is true for old time American cabins as well, it was just kind of strange to see it set up in person. I think that I would prefer a little more privacy than those little homes could provide. I loved the little dish in the kitchen that said “Warm Sausage” on it. If you were going to make a dish for some type of specific American food what would it be? Maybe old french fries?
Up next was another mine tour, but I was starting to get a little hungry after skipping breakfast (I think $14 is ridiculously expensive) and so Zu ran in to this little shop to get what she called the typical “student snack”. A hard roll, a sausage, and a very large sweet roll with cheese and poppyseed (the American equivalent of a donut I think, and see what I said about the poppyseed being all over the place?) After tasting it, I decided that TH was right, Polish sausage is better than anything I have ever tasted in America. I was pretty hungry so it didn’t take me long to gulp my bread and sausage down before we started on our tour.
I am a big fan of anything that involves some kind of a costume, so this tour was off to a good start when they gave us long blue jackets, hard hats, and some kind of an emergency breathing machine. You will see that in all the pictures with my outfit on, I am still holding onto my bread and sausage, I was so hungry I didn’t want to put it down! On all of the tours we have taken, you have to purchase a “foto pass”, which is kind of a smart little way to make money off of tourists who want to take pictures of everything they see. I think that tour guide pretty much hated us, as we were worse than some of the children on the tour, whispering to each other and wandering away whenever there was something different to look at, but this tour was entirely in Polish so we were pretty lost the whole time. Zu and Cam did a great job of trying to translate for us, but you would have to have a pretty impressive Polish-English vocabulary to be able to keep up with the mining language I am sure he was using. As with any situation, we made the best of it by taking lots and lots of pictures. Cam definitely got a kick out of the amount of self portraits I was taking. Inside the mine we saw a ghost, no dwarves (unfortunately), some sad little horse replicas, and a few exciting explosions. I had my little emergency canteen ready by my side at all times in case the explosions got out of hand. Not to be worried though, I think they were just to get the group excited again.
The tour went back to the main room to turn in our gear and take a small break before continuing on and while there I went into the bathroom to wash my coal covered hands and fix my hair. Apparently I took a little too long because the group left us! We wandered around for a few minutes and then decided to just move on with our own little Ruda tour. I think we saw every single school that TH ever attended, and the church that he grew up attending. We visited the cemetery where his grandparents are buried, and on the way out we saw the most adorable little hedgehog ever! I was thisclose to picking it up and putting it in my pocket and trying to sneak it through customs.
Lunch/Second Breakast/Dinner (I can’t remember what they call it here), was again amazing, with this clear soup with vegetables and chicken (called “Cottage Soup”) that had me wanting to lick the bowl. The main course was two different types of meat, with these cute little squishy potato noodles. I tried so hard, but I couldn’t even finish it all, I was stuffed! I was a little confused visiting the bathroom because instead of a man and a woman symbol there was an upside down triangle and a circle. I chose the circle, and I think I was right.
Next up was the mall, where things started to get exciting. The mall has a Sephora, which made me very happy, and basically sealed the deal in my mind. I call any country civilized if it has a Sephora within its boundaries. The guard was not happy with the pictures I was taking, and asked me to please stop. We walked a loop around the mall, stopping in a pet shop along the way to see if the Parrots spoke in Polish (they never did talk for me), and where I fell in love with a Chinchilla. Has anyone ever seen a Chinchilla in the US?
In Poland the mall has a grocery store inside, which is basically the greatest idea ever because you can get all of your shopping done in one store. It’s really much better than Wal-Mart. I can pick up some new fun mascara and lip gloss from Sephora and some milk all at one place. I don’t have any pictures of the grocery store because apparently taking pictures in any store is not allowed in Poland. I took a picture when I first walked in and this normal looking shopper turned me around and started talking to me in Polish. I smiled apologetically because she could have been speaking Tongan for all I understood, and she went away. Apparently she left to go tell on me because a few minutes later the security guard stopped me and told me not to take pictures. Now in America, this would mean don’t take pictures so flamboyantly, so when we saw the onion display I snuck a few shots of what the Polish onions look like so my dad could see. Either the regular shopper lady spy was following me, or they have some pretty killer cameras because it didn’t take long for the same guard to hurry over and tell me that if I didn’t delete all of the pictures in his presence they would have to confiscate my camera, or maybe he said there would be trouble. Either way, I decided that a few illicit photos of onions wasn’t worth the confiscation of my little baby camera so I gave in. Good thing I had a translator there or I think the was angry enough to grab the camera out of my hands and take off with it. Apparently the Polish store owners are very protective of their merchandise. After we stopped breaking the rules, we went through the candy aisles looking for all kinds of fun Polish chocolate to try. We walked out of the store with 2 full bags of good things to try, and it only took us a few moments to rip the bags open and start sampling.
Zu is great because she always wants to eat something sweet (which I love!) and so we stopped at an ice cream stand to give some Polish gelato a try. They had the best yogurt with cherry I have had in Europe so far, and the dark chocolate with orange ice cream wasn’t bad either. I think I am going to have to go through an ice cream detox program when I get back.
Both Zu and Cam really love the outdoors, so they took us out to the countryside to go for a walk. It smelled so beautiful, I instantly began scheming ways to bottle it up and take it home for everyone else to experience. We went out into a field of yellow flowers (canola my Dad says), and I taught Zu to play the “Make the Face You Would Make” game that my roommates and I love to play. It basically consists of the person behind the camera telling the people in front of the camera to make the face they would make if they were in a certain situation. I’ll let you guess what we were acting out when you see the photos. A walk in the forest near Cam’s house yielded pictures of escargot (which apparently people hunt and send off to France for people to eat) and a trip into the bushes for my Mom. There is a serious shortage of public bathrooms in this country. On the way back to our hotel we saw a geese farm, another thing I have never seen in the US, probably because we don’t really eat a lot of geese there. Or at least, I don’t.
I would say our second day in Poland was just as successful as our first, and it was so fun to spend the day with 2 people my age. Mom is so young and fun she fit right in with all of us in our 20’s. Thank you Cam and Zu for such a wonderful tour!
Today is going to be a little bit more depressing, with a trip to Auschwitz planned, and I am not sure what else. I am glad we are going to do it though. Until tomorrow!
Day 9
Jenna:
Wow, our first day in Poland! It’s hard to believe it really happened, especially after I wondered for so long when I would be able to see and experience the place I had heard so much about. I wondered if TH’s descriptions had been accurate, and if I would dare to say that I actually kind of liked it here.
We actually landed at 1:30 AM on Thursday morning, and it was so nice to see the faces of TH’s father, and sister, Zu there to greet us. They were definitely some friendly faces in a place where we felt a little lost and confused. We expected, and were even excited about getting a stamp from Poland in our passports, but after carefully selecting the exit sign that we though would be appropriate for us we ended up walking right out the door with no check of any kind. I think this might be because there are not many people attempting to illegally immigrate to Poland. Instead of driving all the way back to TH’s hometown for the night, we stayed in Krakow so that we could get up and explore in the morning. We stayed in a clean little place (which felt like a palace compared to our last Rome hotel), that we nicknamed the “Ikea” hotel. Our second hotel is kind of like an Ikea hotel as well, so I think this look is very common for nicer Eastern European hotels. We woke up to a delicious breakfast which included my new favorite things nutella and plain yogurt with honey. I wouldn’t be surprised if these two items become a regular part of my diet when I return to the US.
The very first thing we did in Poland was do a tour of the salt mine. We may have been a little wary to hear that we would be touring a mine (and we knew that there was one mine tour planned for the trip), this seemed a little strange to us at first because mine tours are definitely not a common activity in the US, at least not in the western US. I was very happy to discover that this mine was like an amusement park with animatronics and sound effects and ghosts and everything! We took an English tour with the most adorable tour guide I have ever experienced. I seriously walked away from it with a little girl crush on her. I think you can tell the people who really understand English well because even their sense of humor translates. I couldn’t stop taking pictures of everything because it was all made of salt. Seriously! Who knew you could build an entire chapel full of salt? With an engraving of the Last Supper made in salt? A nativity scene of salt? The urge to lick everything on the tour was a little hard to master. I can’t deny licking my fingers a few times after touching the wall. I always had a hard time as a child playing with playdough because I always wanted to lick my fingers, and it was the same feeling during this tour. Their were all kinds of animatronics (at least that is what I like to think of them as), and we even crowded into this room where “magic” happened (according to the tour guide) and we heard some pretty music and I think I may have seen the ghost. It was pretty hard to tell, but I think I caught it all on film to review later. We came out into this banquet hall that would be amazing to have a wedding reception in. Underground and very cool (in both meanings of the word). I just think it might be a nice idea you know?
Our next stop was a castle! A real one, that princesses used to live in. We didn’t go in however, because the queue was a little long (FIL’s word, not mine). My favorite part of the castle was the huge dragon that breathed REAL FIRE. I was too mesmerized to get a photo. I did however, get a photo of myself eating some kind of traditional poppyseed salted bread roll. Kind of like a pretzel, but not really. They love opiates here, poppyseeds are in EVERYTHING.
We walked down towards downtown Krakow, stopped in to see a few churches. It’s amazing how detailed and ornate all of the churches are here. I know we have said it a hundred times, but America is so young! All of the churches here are very old, very well kept, and very beautiful. And of course they are all Catholic. The square was filled with pigeons, and I made sure to get some pictures of myself feeding the birds and running through them, I just know my friend Heather is going to love that idea J
We stopped to look at some paintings on display, and the experience was very different than in Italy, and I guess also different than what happens in the US. Everywhere else, as soon as you even pause in front of the paintings the artist is right in your face, asking if you would like to buy it and telling you that because you are so beautiful they will offer you a special discount. At this display, the artists hung back, but were still readily accessible if I wanted to ask about prices. I really liked it, and I think we would have been a little more serious about buying if we hadn’t already purchased some gorgeous paintings in Rome.
TH's family is seriously treating us much better than we ever could deserve, and we ate at this absolutely amazing restaurant in the middle of Krakow, which I think is the oldest restaurant in all of Europe! The seal on the menu says 1364, which is something they know because it was mentioned in a history book that a meal was served there. The décor is obviously not from 1364, but I got the impression that they believe the place has been open for almost 700 years, and after tasting the food I can understand why. I was a little put off by the fact that all of the men were servers and all of the women were hostesses, but I don’t think that other countries have experienced the revolution of gender stereotyped that America has. I am still thinking about this goat cheese that they brought out as a starter. I think anyone who knows me can tell you how much I love cheese, but this usually only applies to cheese made from cows milk, because in the US cow and sheep milk cheeses are very pungent and difficult to stomach. This cheese was spongy and creamy and not overpowering at all. It has a mustard sauce on the side, a slice of very fresh tomato on top, and I even ended up eating the sprig of rosemary that came on top after both Zu and FIL did. I had decided to make this trip as authentically Polish as possible, so if they did something, I did it as well.
I let FIL do all of the ordering, assuring him that I would eat anything he ordered for me, and I decided this is definitely the best way to experience foreign cuisine because everything we ate was so delicious. All of it was very foreign to our inexperienced tastebuds, but still very appealing. I had a sour soup with eggs and bacon (very had to describe), which I though was made sour with some type of lemon or citrus, but is flavored with a type of wheat. My entrée was deer (yes, the sweet Bambi animal from the forest) and some kind of authentic cabbage filled noodle thing (I want to say Piroshky?) with Polish wontons (obviously this is my term and not theirs) and a shredded onion and carrot salad. I would have polished if off completely if I had room to do so! TH's family is stuffing us to the brim. I am not sure how they can all be so skinny if this is anything like how they actually eat. The 700 year old restaurant of course had a gorgeous bathroom, and I was very happy to discover that Polish toilets have seats. Who knew I could ever be so excited about something as simple as a toilet seat? If I were ever going to campaign for election in Rome, I would make one of my issues the lack of toilet seats in Rome. Seriously Italians, if Krakow can do it, I know you can figure out some way to get seats for my tushy as well.
We continued to walk around the square, letting our food settle before we got dessert. Apparently people in Poland have two stomachs, one for dinner and one for dessert. This is something that I think could definitely get on board with. Zu and I took one of my favorite pictures of the entire trip, when we got inside of this giant head on display and stuck our faces through the eyes. Lots of people taking advantage of the opportunity to ride a horse and carriage through the square rode by, and we stumbled into this little square to witness the clock hitting 5 and a strange little “clock parade” of saints and bishops and such. A very odd thing that neither Zu nor FIL could explain. The last thing we did that day was eat a smörgåsbord of Polish desserts (anyone who has experienced finals with me knows that smorgasbords are my favorite way to eat). Again a dessert made with poppyseed (a type of bread), cheesecake made with cottage cheese (I must say I prefer the sweeter American version, although I was happily thinking about the protein I must be getting from my treat), Polish apple pie, and my personal favorite, this creamy chocolate concoction that was layers of wafers and goodness. All of these sweets really made me realize how rich and sweet we like our desserts in America!
By the time we got through all of this, I was exhausted, and I opted to head back to the hotel for the night so that I could be ready for the tour of TH’s hometown the next day. The drive back to Ruda (where TH’s family lives) was about an hour and a half, but I have no idea how long it actually took because I was sitting in the backseat with my head lolling around within 10 minutes of the drive. I am sure I looked really adorable with my mouth hanging open, and I hope I didn’t snore in front of these people I had met less than 24 hours before!
We checked into our next Ikea hotel room where I quickly fell asleep. I think you can tell from my 3 page long single spaced description that the day was marvelous, and I slept perfectly knowing that we would wake up the next day to all kinds of new sights and sounds (and tastes) to enjoy. We are going to say it again and again, but we owe the TH’s family so much for their wonderful hospitality. I really recommend traveling to foreign countries with your own personal guided tour. It really makes you feel like a rock star!
Our internet card is almost out, and apparently the only cards they have left cost $100. I might be mistaken in what I am hearing though, I don’t seem to understand Polish very well. I am not sure what kind of people are staying in this hotel that would actually buy a card for such a ridiculous price, so I will be writing these updates offline and updating as quickly as possible. Most likely I will not be uploading any pictures until Sunday when I hope to be able to use the internet at TH’s parents house. So within 2 days you will have all of the pictures of our Poland adventures, including the amusement park salt mine, TH’s hometown, and our trip to Auchwitz. I am actually one day behind in my posting, so look forward to my story of how I almost got myself thrown out of the Polish grocery store today. Who knew that such a thing could happen? I guess it is the least you could expect from someone as free-spirited and feisty as I am!
Wow, our first day in Poland! It’s hard to believe it really happened, especially after I wondered for so long when I would be able to see and experience the place I had heard so much about. I wondered if TH’s descriptions had been accurate, and if I would dare to say that I actually kind of liked it here.
We actually landed at 1:30 AM on Thursday morning, and it was so nice to see the faces of TH’s father, and sister, Zu there to greet us. They were definitely some friendly faces in a place where we felt a little lost and confused. We expected, and were even excited about getting a stamp from Poland in our passports, but after carefully selecting the exit sign that we though would be appropriate for us we ended up walking right out the door with no check of any kind. I think this might be because there are not many people attempting to illegally immigrate to Poland. Instead of driving all the way back to TH’s hometown for the night, we stayed in Krakow so that we could get up and explore in the morning. We stayed in a clean little place (which felt like a palace compared to our last Rome hotel), that we nicknamed the “Ikea” hotel. Our second hotel is kind of like an Ikea hotel as well, so I think this look is very common for nicer Eastern European hotels. We woke up to a delicious breakfast which included my new favorite things nutella and plain yogurt with honey. I wouldn’t be surprised if these two items become a regular part of my diet when I return to the US.
The very first thing we did in Poland was do a tour of the salt mine. We may have been a little wary to hear that we would be touring a mine (and we knew that there was one mine tour planned for the trip), this seemed a little strange to us at first because mine tours are definitely not a common activity in the US, at least not in the western US. I was very happy to discover that this mine was like an amusement park with animatronics and sound effects and ghosts and everything! We took an English tour with the most adorable tour guide I have ever experienced. I seriously walked away from it with a little girl crush on her. I think you can tell the people who really understand English well because even their sense of humor translates. I couldn’t stop taking pictures of everything because it was all made of salt. Seriously! Who knew you could build an entire chapel full of salt? With an engraving of the Last Supper made in salt? A nativity scene of salt? The urge to lick everything on the tour was a little hard to master. I can’t deny licking my fingers a few times after touching the wall. I always had a hard time as a child playing with playdough because I always wanted to lick my fingers, and it was the same feeling during this tour. Their were all kinds of animatronics (at least that is what I like to think of them as), and we even crowded into this room where “magic” happened (according to the tour guide) and we heard some pretty music and I think I may have seen the ghost. It was pretty hard to tell, but I think I caught it all on film to review later. We came out into this banquet hall that would be amazing to have a wedding reception in. Underground and very cool (in both meanings of the word). I just think it might be a nice idea you know?
Our next stop was a castle! A real one, that princesses used to live in. We didn’t go in however, because the queue was a little long (FIL’s word, not mine). My favorite part of the castle was the huge dragon that breathed REAL FIRE. I was too mesmerized to get a photo. I did however, get a photo of myself eating some kind of traditional poppyseed salted bread roll. Kind of like a pretzel, but not really. They love opiates here, poppyseeds are in EVERYTHING.
We walked down towards downtown Krakow, stopped in to see a few churches. It’s amazing how detailed and ornate all of the churches are here. I know we have said it a hundred times, but America is so young! All of the churches here are very old, very well kept, and very beautiful. And of course they are all Catholic. The square was filled with pigeons, and I made sure to get some pictures of myself feeding the birds and running through them, I just know my friend Heather is going to love that idea J
We stopped to look at some paintings on display, and the experience was very different than in Italy, and I guess also different than what happens in the US. Everywhere else, as soon as you even pause in front of the paintings the artist is right in your face, asking if you would like to buy it and telling you that because you are so beautiful they will offer you a special discount. At this display, the artists hung back, but were still readily accessible if I wanted to ask about prices. I really liked it, and I think we would have been a little more serious about buying if we hadn’t already purchased some gorgeous paintings in Rome.
TH's family is seriously treating us much better than we ever could deserve, and we ate at this absolutely amazing restaurant in the middle of Krakow, which I think is the oldest restaurant in all of Europe! The seal on the menu says 1364, which is something they know because it was mentioned in a history book that a meal was served there. The décor is obviously not from 1364, but I got the impression that they believe the place has been open for almost 700 years, and after tasting the food I can understand why. I was a little put off by the fact that all of the men were servers and all of the women were hostesses, but I don’t think that other countries have experienced the revolution of gender stereotyped that America has. I am still thinking about this goat cheese that they brought out as a starter. I think anyone who knows me can tell you how much I love cheese, but this usually only applies to cheese made from cows milk, because in the US cow and sheep milk cheeses are very pungent and difficult to stomach. This cheese was spongy and creamy and not overpowering at all. It has a mustard sauce on the side, a slice of very fresh tomato on top, and I even ended up eating the sprig of rosemary that came on top after both Zu and FIL did. I had decided to make this trip as authentically Polish as possible, so if they did something, I did it as well.
I let FIL do all of the ordering, assuring him that I would eat anything he ordered for me, and I decided this is definitely the best way to experience foreign cuisine because everything we ate was so delicious. All of it was very foreign to our inexperienced tastebuds, but still very appealing. I had a sour soup with eggs and bacon (very had to describe), which I though was made sour with some type of lemon or citrus, but is flavored with a type of wheat. My entrée was deer (yes, the sweet Bambi animal from the forest) and some kind of authentic cabbage filled noodle thing (I want to say Piroshky?) with Polish wontons (obviously this is my term and not theirs) and a shredded onion and carrot salad. I would have polished if off completely if I had room to do so! TH's family is stuffing us to the brim. I am not sure how they can all be so skinny if this is anything like how they actually eat. The 700 year old restaurant of course had a gorgeous bathroom, and I was very happy to discover that Polish toilets have seats. Who knew I could ever be so excited about something as simple as a toilet seat? If I were ever going to campaign for election in Rome, I would make one of my issues the lack of toilet seats in Rome. Seriously Italians, if Krakow can do it, I know you can figure out some way to get seats for my tushy as well.
We continued to walk around the square, letting our food settle before we got dessert. Apparently people in Poland have two stomachs, one for dinner and one for dessert. This is something that I think could definitely get on board with. Zu and I took one of my favorite pictures of the entire trip, when we got inside of this giant head on display and stuck our faces through the eyes. Lots of people taking advantage of the opportunity to ride a horse and carriage through the square rode by, and we stumbled into this little square to witness the clock hitting 5 and a strange little “clock parade” of saints and bishops and such. A very odd thing that neither Zu nor FIL could explain. The last thing we did that day was eat a smörgåsbord of Polish desserts (anyone who has experienced finals with me knows that smorgasbords are my favorite way to eat). Again a dessert made with poppyseed (a type of bread), cheesecake made with cottage cheese (I must say I prefer the sweeter American version, although I was happily thinking about the protein I must be getting from my treat), Polish apple pie, and my personal favorite, this creamy chocolate concoction that was layers of wafers and goodness. All of these sweets really made me realize how rich and sweet we like our desserts in America!
By the time we got through all of this, I was exhausted, and I opted to head back to the hotel for the night so that I could be ready for the tour of TH’s hometown the next day. The drive back to Ruda (where TH’s family lives) was about an hour and a half, but I have no idea how long it actually took because I was sitting in the backseat with my head lolling around within 10 minutes of the drive. I am sure I looked really adorable with my mouth hanging open, and I hope I didn’t snore in front of these people I had met less than 24 hours before!
We checked into our next Ikea hotel room where I quickly fell asleep. I think you can tell from my 3 page long single spaced description that the day was marvelous, and I slept perfectly knowing that we would wake up the next day to all kinds of new sights and sounds (and tastes) to enjoy. We are going to say it again and again, but we owe the TH’s family so much for their wonderful hospitality. I really recommend traveling to foreign countries with your own personal guided tour. It really makes you feel like a rock star!
Our internet card is almost out, and apparently the only cards they have left cost $100. I might be mistaken in what I am hearing though, I don’t seem to understand Polish very well. I am not sure what kind of people are staying in this hotel that would actually buy a card for such a ridiculous price, so I will be writing these updates offline and updating as quickly as possible. Most likely I will not be uploading any pictures until Sunday when I hope to be able to use the internet at TH’s parents house. So within 2 days you will have all of the pictures of our Poland adventures, including the amusement park salt mine, TH’s hometown, and our trip to Auchwitz. I am actually one day behind in my posting, so look forward to my story of how I almost got myself thrown out of the Polish grocery store today. Who knew that such a thing could happen? I guess it is the least you could expect from someone as free-spirited and feisty as I am!
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Day 8
Jenna:
It’s strange to think that I am typing this from our little “Ikea hotel room” in
We woke up with no schedule in mind, as we had already seen all of the “big” sights in
I think that Mom wanted to leave, but I told her to give the gardens another chance, and we were very glad that we did. We found this fun statue to play and pose with, and a little bit farther down we came upon the amazing outlook she had pointed out, overlooking the entire city of
We decided to give the Spanish Steps shopping area another try, and along the way we stopped to eat at this darling little restaurant called Gina’s. It had an all-white décor, the best smoked salmon, and what I consider to be the best balsamic in the world. This was balsamic that you could almost eat plain. We fought to keep costs down by only ordering one bottle of water and skipping dessert. Eating in
I remembered that we had walked by the Keats/Shelley museum, two very famous British poets that we had talked about in my British Literature class last semester, and I really wanted to go in. It wasn’t free, and so I paid the fee to go up and look around while my Mom did some browsing in the nearby shops. The museum was definitely very cool, but I don’t think that anyone other than an English major would get excited about it. I was in awe of the amazing library that the museum housed, something akin to the library that the Beast reveals to Belle in “Beauty and the Beast” (only on a much smaller scale) and I decided that a room like that library would be built into my dream house someday.
We had window shopped around at all kinds of stores, and we didn’t have any luck finding anything that really said “I bought this in
It was almost time for our taxi to pick us up from the hotel, but we weren’t going to leave without one more taste of Roman gelato. We headed back to the gelateria our hotel had recommended, Blue Ice, the one my Mom dreamt about a few nights ago, and we were just as successful with our choices this time. She loves it because they have a soy sugar-free coconut that is apparently to die for (nothing compared to actual gelato, but I won’t rub that in to her) and I enjoyed caramel cream, black cherry with cream, and zuppa inglese (the words mean English soup, but it is apparently the Italian term for butterscotch). I don’t think we are going to be finding such delicious gelato in
We got on the plane for
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Day 7
Jenna:
I don't know if it would be possible for me to properly sum up day 7 for you. It was miserable and funny and in some ways my favorite day of the trip. Mostly because it is the only day I have finished sitting on our hotel bed, laughing so hard I started to cry.
We woke up to the rain, which kind of caused us to have a late start. Late enough that the maid even came into our hotel room once, I am assuming because people almost never come to Italy and stay in their hotel room until 1 in the afternoon. But we don't ever seem to do things the way everyone else is doing them, and so we slept in and I photoshopped some of the bridals, and we didn't feel at all bad not getting out of our hotel room until after lunchtime was over.
It rained all night, and it rained all morning, and it still didn't stop raining while we walked down to the metro. My Mom had learned that there was a giant statue that had been found and displayed at the Capitol Museum with a giant hand and a foot that she wanted to photograph. We used the metro to ride from our hotel down to the coliseum stop, and wandered around for a little bit until we found the entrance to the museum. We walked up this sharply inclined path to the entrance, which must be relatively popular because everyone was taking pictures on it. We couldn't resist a few ourselves. We waited in this line full of loud, shoving kids (lots of school groups on tour this time of year), and then made our way through lots of different exhibits showing paintings, pottery, and of course all kinds of statues. After awhile you kind of start to develop this attitude of "Oh yes, another 1000 year old statue, nothing I haven't seen before". I started to get a little grumpy towards the end, and so I marched on ahead and finally found someone who could point out exactly where the hand and feet were, which was of course right at the entrance that we had passed by an hour ago.
We decided to make our way over to the Spanish steps to see if we could do some shopping and find something to eat. We made sure to take plenty of "umbrella shots" throughout the day, because they always turn out so adorable. You will notice that this is where the photos end. This is because we spent the next 3 hours or so wandering around trying to find somewhere to eat. It really didn't have to be quite THAT difficult, except I am morally opposed to eating at the "tourist trap" Italian version of Denny's restaurants that they have all over the place and we were trying to eat at like 5, which is not okay to do in Italy because all of the restaurants don't open until 7:30. We ended up wandering (the long way) home, after getting lost a few times, and going into a little cafe to order "take-away". We took it all back and devoured it on our hotel bed. The saddest meal anyone will ever have in Rome! Word of advice, try to eat more than one meal a day when you are in Rome :)
Today we are going to wander around for a little bit more, as it's our last day before we fly to Poland tonight. I hope we get a really good meal in to make up for yesterday.
We don't know what our situation in Poland is going to be exactly, if the hotel is going to have internet or not, so I don't know if I will be able to keep posting. I plan on writing down what we did every day anyways, and loading it all up by days at one point. It's as fun for us to read through our little travel log as I think it is for all of you. I'm so excited to go to Poland tonight and meet TH's family. Ciao!
I don't know if it would be possible for me to properly sum up day 7 for you. It was miserable and funny and in some ways my favorite day of the trip. Mostly because it is the only day I have finished sitting on our hotel bed, laughing so hard I started to cry.
We woke up to the rain, which kind of caused us to have a late start. Late enough that the maid even came into our hotel room once, I am assuming because people almost never come to Italy and stay in their hotel room until 1 in the afternoon. But we don't ever seem to do things the way everyone else is doing them, and so we slept in and I photoshopped some of the bridals, and we didn't feel at all bad not getting out of our hotel room until after lunchtime was over.
It rained all night, and it rained all morning, and it still didn't stop raining while we walked down to the metro. My Mom had learned that there was a giant statue that had been found and displayed at the Capitol Museum with a giant hand and a foot that she wanted to photograph. We used the metro to ride from our hotel down to the coliseum stop, and wandered around for a little bit until we found the entrance to the museum. We walked up this sharply inclined path to the entrance, which must be relatively popular because everyone was taking pictures on it. We couldn't resist a few ourselves. We waited in this line full of loud, shoving kids (lots of school groups on tour this time of year), and then made our way through lots of different exhibits showing paintings, pottery, and of course all kinds of statues. After awhile you kind of start to develop this attitude of "Oh yes, another 1000 year old statue, nothing I haven't seen before". I started to get a little grumpy towards the end, and so I marched on ahead and finally found someone who could point out exactly where the hand and feet were, which was of course right at the entrance that we had passed by an hour ago.
We decided to make our way over to the Spanish steps to see if we could do some shopping and find something to eat. We made sure to take plenty of "umbrella shots" throughout the day, because they always turn out so adorable. You will notice that this is where the photos end. This is because we spent the next 3 hours or so wandering around trying to find somewhere to eat. It really didn't have to be quite THAT difficult, except I am morally opposed to eating at the "tourist trap" Italian version of Denny's restaurants that they have all over the place and we were trying to eat at like 5, which is not okay to do in Italy because all of the restaurants don't open until 7:30. We ended up wandering (the long way) home, after getting lost a few times, and going into a little cafe to order "take-away". We took it all back and devoured it on our hotel bed. The saddest meal anyone will ever have in Rome! Word of advice, try to eat more than one meal a day when you are in Rome :)
Today we are going to wander around for a little bit more, as it's our last day before we fly to Poland tonight. I hope we get a really good meal in to make up for yesterday.
We don't know what our situation in Poland is going to be exactly, if the hotel is going to have internet or not, so I don't know if I will be able to keep posting. I plan on writing down what we did every day anyways, and loading it all up by days at one point. It's as fun for us to read through our little travel log as I think it is for all of you. I'm so excited to go to Poland tonight and meet TH's family. Ciao!
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Day 6
Jenna:
As the days go by here in Rome, they seem to become more and more low key for us. We have actually managed to see all of the really big sights (Coliseum, Forum, Vatican, Pantheon, Trevi, Spanish Steps), and by far my favorite things to do is just to wander around and take pictures of random things and find people to talk to.
We of course got up and had breakfast, which is actually much better than the other breakfast we had, with a little more protein and a lot more choices. I am going to get some photos of how yummy it is so you all can understand what you are missing out on. Not that I want to rub this trip in your face or anything.
We decided that Monday would be the day that we visit the Vatican, and I think that both of us were hoping we would be the only people in Rome to have that idea. This was sadly not the case, and the line to get inside the museum stretched out the doors and wound for what seemed like forever around the wall. When we were shooting the dress at the Trevi fountain we met this couple who told us they had arranged to get a tour by going in the second door (instead of the first door which everyone was lining up for) and so we walked around trying to figure out how to go in the door that was marked as the exit. We found this policeman who could have passed for the stunt double for Matthew Fox, and he told us to go in the exit and ask there.
Either way, we think we ended up with a guide who knew his way around the vatican quite well, as he often waved himself through various entrances blocked off by guards. We are both so happy we ended up doing this tour because we learned so much about the history of Italy, and it brought so much meaning to all of the statues and pieces that we were looking at. His English was a little hard to understand at times, but he was very nice and open to explaining himself when we didn't understand. We learned from him, that all of these white marble statues were actually painted when they were originally made. Statues were not meant to look like statues, they were meant to look like people with dark hair and colored skin and red lips. We also learned that all of the fig leaves stuck over the private parts were actually added later, when the church began to label such nudity as indecency. Sometimes they worked hard to match up the exact colors of the marble and granite, sometimes not. Using nude models was enough reason to have someone killed, and Michaelangelo was almost publicly castrated for painting so much nudity on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.
A word of caution. You shouldn't believe everything your tour guide tells you, no matter how smart he may seem though, because he was walking around telling us that the devil is really a woman with a snakes tail. We do NOT agree with this. Apparently Michaelangelo thought this as well, because he painted it on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.
After the Sistine, we headed over to St. Peter's Basilica. That place is so big, I think you could fit all of Royal City inside. not just the people, but the houses and schools and cars and everything. We stood back and took pictures of people filing by and rubbing the foot of Peter. I am not sure if they thought we were waiting for a friend of ours to go through or what, but no one seemed too freaked out by the two random strangers zooming in on them as they underwent the ritual that millions before them had done. One of my Mom's shots shows really clearly how worn down his feet are from all of the hands that have ran across his feet. My Mom found a dead Pope laying out for all to see, I was lucky enough to miss out on that one.
After we got out of the Basilica it was about 4, and we still hadn't eaten yet, other than the delicious breakfast at the hotel. We stopped by this little market to get some water and I randomly decided that I really wanted to eat a carrot. Random I know, and the guys inside the store kept trying to convince me that what I really wanted was pickled carrots inside of a jar. We couldn't find a fountain or sink anywhere nearby, so I ended up washing the carrot using my water bottle in the middle. I got some strange looks walking around the metro munching on a carrot. My Mom and I realized that this is probably because Italian's don't seem to eat on the run like we do.
We stumbled around trying to find something to eat, and ended up at this little place eating all by ourselves. Italian's eat late, so I am sure as soon as we walked in that the server knew that we were American tourists, but they were nice enough to serve us up some delicious dinner anyways. My pork and mushroom steak was nice, but Mom really did well with her tuna. The tiramisu we had for dessert was gone within seconds, but I made sure to save enough room for gelato, where I ended up with my favorite combination yet black cherry with cream and caramel with cream. Mom found a soy sugar free milk free flavor that she loved enough to wake up this morning and turn to me and say "I dreamt about that gelato last night."
I guess we will be going back for more this afternoon :)
As the days go by here in Rome, they seem to become more and more low key for us. We have actually managed to see all of the really big sights (Coliseum, Forum, Vatican, Pantheon, Trevi, Spanish Steps), and by far my favorite things to do is just to wander around and take pictures of random things and find people to talk to.
We of course got up and had breakfast, which is actually much better than the other breakfast we had, with a little more protein and a lot more choices. I am going to get some photos of how yummy it is so you all can understand what you are missing out on. Not that I want to rub this trip in your face or anything.
We decided that Monday would be the day that we visit the Vatican, and I think that both of us were hoping we would be the only people in Rome to have that idea. This was sadly not the case, and the line to get inside the museum stretched out the doors and wound for what seemed like forever around the wall. When we were shooting the dress at the Trevi fountain we met this couple who told us they had arranged to get a tour by going in the second door (instead of the first door which everyone was lining up for) and so we walked around trying to figure out how to go in the door that was marked as the exit. We found this policeman who could have passed for the stunt double for Matthew Fox, and he told us to go in the exit and ask there.
He seriously looked JUST LIKE THIS!
I spoke my sweetest Italian to the guards inside the door, and they were very eager to help us find a way to get inside. They walked us out the door and started yelling a name, and finally this older gentleman walked over. The guards smiled at us and left, and the man, Felix (or Felice?) asked if we were friends of the guards. I guess that the guards had told him that we were :)Either way, we think we ended up with a guide who knew his way around the vatican quite well, as he often waved himself through various entrances blocked off by guards. We are both so happy we ended up doing this tour because we learned so much about the history of Italy, and it brought so much meaning to all of the statues and pieces that we were looking at. His English was a little hard to understand at times, but he was very nice and open to explaining himself when we didn't understand. We learned from him, that all of these white marble statues were actually painted when they were originally made. Statues were not meant to look like statues, they were meant to look like people with dark hair and colored skin and red lips. We also learned that all of the fig leaves stuck over the private parts were actually added later, when the church began to label such nudity as indecency. Sometimes they worked hard to match up the exact colors of the marble and granite, sometimes not. Using nude models was enough reason to have someone killed, and Michaelangelo was almost publicly castrated for painting so much nudity on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.
A word of caution. You shouldn't believe everything your tour guide tells you, no matter how smart he may seem though, because he was walking around telling us that the devil is really a woman with a snakes tail. We do NOT agree with this. Apparently Michaelangelo thought this as well, because he painted it on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.
After the Sistine, we headed over to St. Peter's Basilica. That place is so big, I think you could fit all of Royal City inside. not just the people, but the houses and schools and cars and everything. We stood back and took pictures of people filing by and rubbing the foot of Peter. I am not sure if they thought we were waiting for a friend of ours to go through or what, but no one seemed too freaked out by the two random strangers zooming in on them as they underwent the ritual that millions before them had done. One of my Mom's shots shows really clearly how worn down his feet are from all of the hands that have ran across his feet. My Mom found a dead Pope laying out for all to see, I was lucky enough to miss out on that one.After we got out of the Basilica it was about 4, and we still hadn't eaten yet, other than the delicious breakfast at the hotel. We stopped by this little market to get some water and I randomly decided that I really wanted to eat a carrot. Random I know, and the guys inside the store kept trying to convince me that what I really wanted was pickled carrots inside of a jar. We couldn't find a fountain or sink anywhere nearby, so I ended up washing the carrot using my water bottle in the middle. I got some strange looks walking around the metro munching on a carrot. My Mom and I realized that this is probably because Italian's don't seem to eat on the run like we do.
We stumbled around trying to find something to eat, and ended up at this little place eating all by ourselves. Italian's eat late, so I am sure as soon as we walked in that the server knew that we were American tourists, but they were nice enough to serve us up some delicious dinner anyways. My pork and mushroom steak was nice, but Mom really did well with her tuna. The tiramisu we had for dessert was gone within seconds, but I made sure to save enough room for gelato, where I ended up with my favorite combination yet black cherry with cream and caramel with cream. Mom found a soy sugar free milk free flavor that she loved enough to wake up this morning and turn to me and say "I dreamt about that gelato last night."
I guess we will be going back for more this afternoon :)
Day 5
Jenna:
Day 5 was Sunday, the day that we learned a great lesson. Great Lesson Learned in Rome is "Always Prepare for Church". We woke up at about 9 AM after getting to bed at 4 AM the night before, and sadly realized that we wouldn't be able to make it to church. We had to check out of our hotel, find and check into the new hotel all before 11, and the latest church time was 11:20. A taxi would cost somewhere around $200 and we would need to budget about 45 minutes to get there by train. We were pretty bummed to realize our mistake, and I think both of us will be more vigilant about planning out how to get to church when in a foreign country ahead of time.
Sunday was definitely the day that we did the least, taking it easy and just relaxing. We checked into our new hotel, a little family owned place with a lot of character, but not a lot of room. This place is really tiny, but we are only here for three nights. We decided to try out the metro for the first time, using the passes we received when we bought our "Roma" pass. Other than getting on the train going in the wrong direction the first time, it went pretty well. I really enjoyed watching the little cartoons cautioning travelers to be aware of pickpockets. The escalator you ride up and down from the station to the shuttle is so long it makes me a little sick to look down when I was at the top. The metro itself actually feels relatively clean, with these fun bright orange seats.
We went to this little outdoor market with all kinds of antique sellers. Some of them looking genuine, and some of them looking a little bit fake. The prices on some were really great, but most seemed to be charging ridiculous amounts for their wares. Like the very used looking Louis Vutton backpack my Mom picked up with a quoted price of 200 Euros. That's $300 in America. We put it right back as soon as we heard that price. We stopped by the booth of some friends we had made, filled with all kinds of great antique stuff. Real antiques, not things that looked like they just found in a dumpster like some other vendors.
We left the market so hungry, and ended up finding this great little pasticceria where we got little finger food like chickpea salad, croissant sandwiches, caviar and crab rolls, a marinara mozzarella rice ball concoction, and this fruit bowl that we couldn't finish off fast enough. A pasticceria is really a pastry shop, so of course we had to get some little cookies and treats to go along with our gelato. The gelato was the cutest gelato I have ever seen, with little rosettes on top of each flavor. The cookies we bought were delicious as well.
We rode the metro back to the hotel and both ended up falling asleep. Who knew that being on vacation could wear you out so quickly?
Day 5 was Sunday, the day that we learned a great lesson. Great Lesson Learned in Rome is "Always Prepare for Church". We woke up at about 9 AM after getting to bed at 4 AM the night before, and sadly realized that we wouldn't be able to make it to church. We had to check out of our hotel, find and check into the new hotel all before 11, and the latest church time was 11:20. A taxi would cost somewhere around $200 and we would need to budget about 45 minutes to get there by train. We were pretty bummed to realize our mistake, and I think both of us will be more vigilant about planning out how to get to church when in a foreign country ahead of time.
Sunday was definitely the day that we did the least, taking it easy and just relaxing. We checked into our new hotel, a little family owned place with a lot of character, but not a lot of room. This place is really tiny, but we are only here for three nights. We decided to try out the metro for the first time, using the passes we received when we bought our "Roma" pass. Other than getting on the train going in the wrong direction the first time, it went pretty well. I really enjoyed watching the little cartoons cautioning travelers to be aware of pickpockets. The escalator you ride up and down from the station to the shuttle is so long it makes me a little sick to look down when I was at the top. The metro itself actually feels relatively clean, with these fun bright orange seats.
We went to this little outdoor market with all kinds of antique sellers. Some of them looking genuine, and some of them looking a little bit fake. The prices on some were really great, but most seemed to be charging ridiculous amounts for their wares. Like the very used looking Louis Vutton backpack my Mom picked up with a quoted price of 200 Euros. That's $300 in America. We put it right back as soon as we heard that price. We stopped by the booth of some friends we had made, filled with all kinds of great antique stuff. Real antiques, not things that looked like they just found in a dumpster like some other vendors.
We left the market so hungry, and ended up finding this great little pasticceria where we got little finger food like chickpea salad, croissant sandwiches, caviar and crab rolls, a marinara mozzarella rice ball concoction, and this fruit bowl that we couldn't finish off fast enough. A pasticceria is really a pastry shop, so of course we had to get some little cookies and treats to go along with our gelato. The gelato was the cutest gelato I have ever seen, with little rosettes on top of each flavor. The cookies we bought were delicious as well.
We rode the metro back to the hotel and both ended up falling asleep. Who knew that being on vacation could wear you out so quickly?
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Day 4
Jenna:
Today was an incredibly long day, and I am almost to tired to type this (it's about 3:30 am here). I say almost though because I am slightly obsessed with blogging and I don't mind staying up a little later to give everyone the update on our travels.
We woke up late and I ended up missing out on my favorite breakfast (luckily I have one more day to enjoy it) and ended up stumbling out the door at around 11 to meet up with a friend of my Mom's for lunch and shopping. She is this adorable little Italian women, born and raised in Rome, and not only did I love meeting her and spending time with her, but it was so nice to be able to ask a few Italian grammar related questions that had been bouncing around in my head since we got here. I know you are all very disappointed but I STILL don't have my Mom speaking Italian on camera. It is definitely my goal to capture that before we leave. Lunch was delicious, and I ended up getting millefoglie (the dessert, not gelato). That is one dessert that I can't really understand the absence of in the U.S.
It was very nice having a tour guide for shopping, as she steered us away from the really expensive designer shops and ledus towards the unique and authentic Italian ones. We discovered a fantastic Italian brand of shoes, Campers, and I found this adorable size that I would be wearing right this moment if they only had them in my size. We visited the Trevi fountain, and were shocked to see huge crowds. The crowd was so huge it was kind of difficult to appreciate the beauty of the fountain. We left after just a few moments. But not before I took a picture of myself proudly wearing my backpack backwards to prevent anyone from stealing things from me.
We came back to the hotel and fell asleep once again. Seriously the Italians know what they are doing with this siesta thing. I forced myself out of bed to shower and get ready for our Rome "Bridal Shoot". We left the house at around 10 pm and headed over to the trevi fountain. We left so late at night because we wanted to avoid the crowds as much as possible. Rome is a city full of people who must never sleep because the streets were full of people even at 1 am! I of course received lots of "Tanti Auguri!", which means congratulations, and lots of strange looks with people asking me where my groom was. We got lost on the way there, somewhere we took a wrong turn, and this sweet couple ended up catching up with us as we wandered around and guided us right to the fountain. They were so nice, and it was a great opportunity to really practice my Italian. I was able to carry an entire conversation with them!
We thought the crowd might have died down around 10:30 when we arrive at the fountain, but we were definitely wrong. There were about half as many people there, but that still meant hundreds. As many of you know, I am someone who enjoys attention, and I am not afraid to smile and pose for the camera, but this was a completely different experience. People were cheering, seriously clapping. Several different times. Many people stopped to ask what we were doing, and even more stood around and took pictures of the crazy bride wearing her dress in the middle of Rome in the middle of the night. We were both definitely very nervous getting started, but I think we were both blown away by what we ended up getting out of the whole experience. In some ways I think it was good to start with such a public location because it allowed us to get warmed up very quickly and lose any inhibitions we might have had when we started.
After we had our fill of the fountain, we moved over to this very iconic looking Roman building, and then ended the night in front of the Coliseum. It's hard to tell which set of photos will end up being the best. These photos are definitely worth the effort it took to get the dress over here.
Friday, May 16, 2008
Day 3
Jenna:
Buon Giorno Tutti!
Today was our third day in
I know that no one would believe it, but we have actually been doing a really great job of waking up early. 7 AM two days in a row now! I am loving the free breakfast we get, mostly because I never let myself indulge in the beauty that is Nutella at home, and all of those refined carbs somehow leave me feeling full throughout the entire day. Maybe it is all of that prosciutto patte we keep eating. Or it could be the really yummy applesauce. They even set out what looked like yogurt today, but we were done eating by then and so I didn’t try it. Maybe tomorrow. We can sleep in tomorrow, but I will probably end up waking up at 7 am to get to breakfast when it opens. I really love it that much.
Once we made it outside we headed for an open air market called Campo dei Fiori. I had read about it in this fantastic little book called 1000 Places To See Before You Die, and although I wanted to get there really early in the morning to see all of the chef’s bargaining for their produce at the market, it was still hopping when we got there around 10:30. The fruit and vegetables looked amazing, all natural and most of them giant sized. Some snap peas as big as mini cucumbers! I bought some ginormous grapes, and Mom went around stalking little old ladies buying their groceries for the day.
The pantheon was next on our list of must see places. As I am sure anyone who has seen it in real life will tell you, it’s difficult to describe the immensity of this building. The dome is so huge you can’t even begin to capture how huge it really is on camera. Mom and I have a fun series of pictures including us attempting to take a self portrait with the dome in the background. Most of the good ones (the good ones were the ones that made Mom look a little crazy) were deleted by Mom, but that was one of the funnest things we did all day, and I can’t believe they didn’t kick us out from laughing so hard. There were actually people taking pictures of us attempting to take pictures of ourselves.
Lunch was “squisito” as we like to say here in
On our way over to the
We crossed over the bridge to the
On the way over to the Piazza Navona we hunted down a few nuns to get some pictures. I am convinced I have some kind of nun-dar. I just love nuns. The Piazza was very fun, with a darling little accordion player filling the square and really making it sound like
We stumbled back home and fell asleep for a few hours, and then Mom dragged me out of bed so that we could do a little bit of scouting for locations for the dress shoot tomorrow. I was pretty close to making her go by herself, but I am glad I decided to drag myself out of bed because
We aren’t doing as much sightseeing tomorrow, we have a lunch scheduled with a friend of my Mom and then the dress shoot tomorrow night. I hope you made it through this really long post. I’m sure we will have much more to tell you tomorrow, including some vivid descriptions of what it is like to wander the streets of Rome in the middle of the night while wearing a huge wedding dress (while attempting to speak Italian and explain what you are doing!)
A domani.
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Day 2
Jenna:
Sadly, another day is done. The time is flying by here, and I wish I could slow it down to be able to take it in a little more completely. The longer we are here, the more comfortable I get with my language skills, and there have only been a few times where I absolutely did not understand what the person was trying to tell me. One lady was saying something about boyfriends and crying and God. Not really sure where any of that fit into the conversation we were having....
We decided we wanted to get up to have breakfast at 7 am. I thought it was great, with an assortment of breads and cheeses and a little bit of something that resembled Spam, but I think my mom thought it was a few too many refined carbs for her taste. I enjoyed my nutella and biscotti and croissant and all kinds of other things. It was a feast! I'll get some delicious pictures tomorrow.
I bothered the hotel staff about the internet once again and they were nice enough to get me an extension cord this time instead of making me squat in the hall and have Italian women give me dirty looks for being in their way. We did a little research to figure out where we were headed for the day, and we walked out the door, found a little market to buy some water and fruit, took all of that back to our hotel and finally headed out.
We decided to hit up the Coliseum and the Forum today, and had plans to visit the Pantheon, but didn't quite make it that far. We ended up taking a ridiculously long route to the entrance of the Coliseum and so I was already feeling a little tired by the time we got there. Mom bought a book on travel and read it before we came so we knew all of the ins and outs to skipping the lines and getting around (although the book didn't really provide us with a sense of direction, something we could have really used). We went into a little bar (not the same kind of smoky dark places that we associate with the word bar in America) and stood at the counter while we ate this delicious buttery shrimp concoction of a pizza.
The coliseum was amazing, and I am so glad that we downloaded these free audio tours to learn a little more about the history and what we were really looking at. After a full tour of the Coliseum we walked through the Forum and by that time we were exhausted and our feet hurt so bad that we stumbled back to the hotel to take a little nap. The little nap turned into a 5 hour session of sleeping, and then the night was over. We didn't even eat any dinner tonight. Tomorrow we have plans to see the Vatican and who knows what else.
A new set of pictures are uploaded so you can see the exciting times we are having. Buono notte!
Sadly, another day is done. The time is flying by here, and I wish I could slow it down to be able to take it in a little more completely. The longer we are here, the more comfortable I get with my language skills, and there have only been a few times where I absolutely did not understand what the person was trying to tell me. One lady was saying something about boyfriends and crying and God. Not really sure where any of that fit into the conversation we were having....
We decided we wanted to get up to have breakfast at 7 am. I thought it was great, with an assortment of breads and cheeses and a little bit of something that resembled Spam, but I think my mom thought it was a few too many refined carbs for her taste. I enjoyed my nutella and biscotti and croissant and all kinds of other things. It was a feast! I'll get some delicious pictures tomorrow.
I bothered the hotel staff about the internet once again and they were nice enough to get me an extension cord this time instead of making me squat in the hall and have Italian women give me dirty looks for being in their way. We did a little research to figure out where we were headed for the day, and we walked out the door, found a little market to buy some water and fruit, took all of that back to our hotel and finally headed out.
We decided to hit up the Coliseum and the Forum today, and had plans to visit the Pantheon, but didn't quite make it that far. We ended up taking a ridiculously long route to the entrance of the Coliseum and so I was already feeling a little tired by the time we got there. Mom bought a book on travel and read it before we came so we knew all of the ins and outs to skipping the lines and getting around (although the book didn't really provide us with a sense of direction, something we could have really used). We went into a little bar (not the same kind of smoky dark places that we associate with the word bar in America) and stood at the counter while we ate this delicious buttery shrimp concoction of a pizza.
The coliseum was amazing, and I am so glad that we downloaded these free audio tours to learn a little more about the history and what we were really looking at. After a full tour of the Coliseum we walked through the Forum and by that time we were exhausted and our feet hurt so bad that we stumbled back to the hotel to take a little nap. The little nap turned into a 5 hour session of sleeping, and then the night was over. We didn't even eat any dinner tonight. Tomorrow we have plans to see the Vatican and who knows what else.
A new set of pictures are uploaded so you can see the exciting times we are having. Buono notte!
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Ciao Tutti!
From Jenna:
We actually made it! We hadn't exactly planned on creating a blog like this for the trip, but we have free wifi at our hotel, and as an avid blogger myself, I knew that this would be the best way to keep you all updated on our travels. By creating a blog, we can put pictures up easier, and have a nice little record of the trip for ourselves. Those of you who read my other blogs will most likely get some in-depth stories about our travels when I get back, but this is where we will be letting everyone know how safe and happy we are.
My wonderful uncle drove us to the airport at 4 am, and then we somehow landed in Italy at 7 AM the next day. The time change thing can be a little confusing, but we both stayed up pretty much all night the night before packing and so we slept really well on the plane and woke up feeling great when the plane landed. I had my first Italian conversation within a few minutes of arriving at the airport, and I haven't stopped since. I kept us from getting ripped off from a shuttle driver who was trying to convince us that the best option to get to our hotel was a shuttle for 25 per person. I used my Italian skills to talk to the taxi driver and found out a taxi was only 40. We dropped off our luggage and went out exploring for a little bit. We came back a little tired, showered, and then fell asleep for several hours.
It's time to go out and eat (those silly Italians, eating at 9:00 pm at night), and then we hope to get to bed early and sleep tight tonight to wake up early and squeeze as much into our day as possible.
More updates coming soon!
If you would like to comment on how fun our trip looks, please feel free to do so!
We actually made it! We hadn't exactly planned on creating a blog like this for the trip, but we have free wifi at our hotel, and as an avid blogger myself, I knew that this would be the best way to keep you all updated on our travels. By creating a blog, we can put pictures up easier, and have a nice little record of the trip for ourselves. Those of you who read my other blogs will most likely get some in-depth stories about our travels when I get back, but this is where we will be letting everyone know how safe and happy we are.
My wonderful uncle drove us to the airport at 4 am, and then we somehow landed in Italy at 7 AM the next day. The time change thing can be a little confusing, but we both stayed up pretty much all night the night before packing and so we slept really well on the plane and woke up feeling great when the plane landed. I had my first Italian conversation within a few minutes of arriving at the airport, and I haven't stopped since. I kept us from getting ripped off from a shuttle driver who was trying to convince us that the best option to get to our hotel was a shuttle for 25 per person. I used my Italian skills to talk to the taxi driver and found out a taxi was only 40. We dropped off our luggage and went out exploring for a little bit. We came back a little tired, showered, and then fell asleep for several hours.
It's time to go out and eat (those silly Italians, eating at 9:00 pm at night), and then we hope to get to bed early and sleep tight tonight to wake up early and squeeze as much into our day as possible.
More updates coming soon!
If you would like to comment on how fun our trip looks, please feel free to do so!
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