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Vacation Summary
Oct. 15th, 2003 06:07 amWow. What a trip! ;)
The Flight
I got motion sickness from the bus ride to the airport. This carried over onto the plane. The 8 hour flight was excruciating. I found out how durable airsick bags are.
Amsterdam
Beautiful. Lots of bicycles all around and everyone appeared to be able to speak English. Everyone was also very friendly and approached us whenever we appeared to be lost and confused. It was a bit difficult figuring our way around as the streets are arranged not in grids but according to all the canals.
The van Gogh museum was disappointing. We should have gone to the Rijks Museum instead where a Vermeer exhibition took place.
The Red Light District was sleazy. Food and bottled water is expensive. Our hotel room was the best one in our entire trip.
Rome
Rome was dirty, hot and smelled funny. All the roads are cobblestoned. Not very many people spoke English so I had an opportunity to learn some Italian. All the drivers were crazy and there were scooters and motorcycles everywhere. They appeared to be highly skilled drivers.
We had tours of the Colosseum, the Catacombs and the Roman Forum. We got an awful French tour guide at the Vatican who had difficulty speaking English and gave us headaches. I got some prayer beads from the Vatican and had them blessed although I'm not Roman Catholic.
I got a weird swelling on my side and arm. Nesha freaked when she saw it but I just ignored it since it didn't hurt at all. A restaurant charged us $6.25CAN for a bottle of water. And it wasn't even a classy restaurant.
Everything was okay after a visit to the Bhorgese Museum. That was the best aside from the Orsay in Paris. The Trivoli Fountain was especially breathtaking. And Bernini is absolutely amazing.
Palmerno, Sicily
Hot, dirty, smelly and humid. Our clothes felt moist even before we started sweating. There was graffitti and garbage everywhere. What happened to the quaint villas we saw in pictures of Sicily? No one spoke English and no one would cash our travellers' cheques when we ran out of cash. Luckily I had some American currency with me.
Saw lots of well dressed men among the poor. There were lots of expensive motorcycles here.
Leaving Sicily was the beginning of our 36 hour train ride to Paris. We should have gone to Florence or Napoli.
Milan
Stopped to connect to the train to Paris. Everyone dressed better here than in Rome or Sicily. We exchanged our travellers' cheques to get some cash and the place charged us 10%. DOH!!
Paris
Clean, moderate temperatures and it didn't smell funny. People were actually quite friendly and not rude at all. I felt very comfortable here and was able to use my French. The map was very easy to use so we always knew where we were going.
The drivers were all very considerate and less manic than in Italy.
Our hotel room was questionable. The sheets were never changed the entire time we were there. There was someone else's blood stain on the sheet.
The art galleries were amazing! We had a museum pass that got us into the Orsay, Rodin Museum, Picasso Museum, the overwhelming Louvre, and a tour of the Paris Sewer System. ...What?
Food and water was still expensive. At least I can read the menus.
The Metro was very efficient and covered the entire city underground. It was very easy to figure out and use. And cheap too!
The Flight Home
A cab was the only means we had to get to the airport at 5AM for our flight. It cost us $88CAN. I had no problems with motion sickness this time and was able to enjoy the flight. And I got to enjoy airline food. After a stop-over in Amsterdam, we went home to Vancouver where my sister was waiting to pick us up.
Conclusion
Travelling was fun with Nesha. We enjoyed our extended time together. She did a great job organizing everything.
Unfortunately, I may have exhausted myself and developed a head-cold after getting back. Sigh.
But I still want to do it again!
The Flight
I got motion sickness from the bus ride to the airport. This carried over onto the plane. The 8 hour flight was excruciating. I found out how durable airsick bags are.
Amsterdam
Beautiful. Lots of bicycles all around and everyone appeared to be able to speak English. Everyone was also very friendly and approached us whenever we appeared to be lost and confused. It was a bit difficult figuring our way around as the streets are arranged not in grids but according to all the canals.
The van Gogh museum was disappointing. We should have gone to the Rijks Museum instead where a Vermeer exhibition took place.
The Red Light District was sleazy. Food and bottled water is expensive. Our hotel room was the best one in our entire trip.
Rome
Rome was dirty, hot and smelled funny. All the roads are cobblestoned. Not very many people spoke English so I had an opportunity to learn some Italian. All the drivers were crazy and there were scooters and motorcycles everywhere. They appeared to be highly skilled drivers.
We had tours of the Colosseum, the Catacombs and the Roman Forum. We got an awful French tour guide at the Vatican who had difficulty speaking English and gave us headaches. I got some prayer beads from the Vatican and had them blessed although I'm not Roman Catholic.
I got a weird swelling on my side and arm. Nesha freaked when she saw it but I just ignored it since it didn't hurt at all. A restaurant charged us $6.25CAN for a bottle of water. And it wasn't even a classy restaurant.
Everything was okay after a visit to the Bhorgese Museum. That was the best aside from the Orsay in Paris. The Trivoli Fountain was especially breathtaking. And Bernini is absolutely amazing.
Palmerno, Sicily
Hot, dirty, smelly and humid. Our clothes felt moist even before we started sweating. There was graffitti and garbage everywhere. What happened to the quaint villas we saw in pictures of Sicily? No one spoke English and no one would cash our travellers' cheques when we ran out of cash. Luckily I had some American currency with me.
Saw lots of well dressed men among the poor. There were lots of expensive motorcycles here.
Leaving Sicily was the beginning of our 36 hour train ride to Paris. We should have gone to Florence or Napoli.
Milan
Stopped to connect to the train to Paris. Everyone dressed better here than in Rome or Sicily. We exchanged our travellers' cheques to get some cash and the place charged us 10%. DOH!!
Paris
Clean, moderate temperatures and it didn't smell funny. People were actually quite friendly and not rude at all. I felt very comfortable here and was able to use my French. The map was very easy to use so we always knew where we were going.
The drivers were all very considerate and less manic than in Italy.
Our hotel room was questionable. The sheets were never changed the entire time we were there. There was someone else's blood stain on the sheet.
The art galleries were amazing! We had a museum pass that got us into the Orsay, Rodin Museum, Picasso Museum, the overwhelming Louvre, and a tour of the Paris Sewer System. ...What?
Food and water was still expensive. At least I can read the menus.
The Metro was very efficient and covered the entire city underground. It was very easy to figure out and use. And cheap too!
The Flight Home
A cab was the only means we had to get to the airport at 5AM for our flight. It cost us $88CAN. I had no problems with motion sickness this time and was able to enjoy the flight. And I got to enjoy airline food. After a stop-over in Amsterdam, we went home to Vancouver where my sister was waiting to pick us up.
Conclusion
Travelling was fun with Nesha. We enjoyed our extended time together. She did a great job organizing everything.
Unfortunately, I may have exhausted myself and developed a head-cold after getting back. Sigh.
But I still want to do it again!
