Ciao Roma, you were fun... cold, but fun

Well, the reason why we have no photos is that my computer is the only way to get them uploaded and due to the craptastic plug/coverter thing I was given, my computer cannot be charged back up after we drained the battery day #1. So unfortunately the like 300 photos will have to wait.
Well, the Italian Adventure is over :( But today was very awesome. Like Phil said, the tour this morning came and got us and this tourguide was not bueno. He spent too much time blabbing about pointless, uninteresting info in the worst spots (like next to really stinky trash bins) and gave us 15 minutes in the Vatican giftshop but about 30 seconds in the Piazza Navona. The Piazza Navona with the really pretty Four Rivers fountain was the next stop and then to the Pantheon and the Spanish Steps. Most of the walk, I spent joking around with the Australian family rather than listening to our guide.
Then Phil and I, the brilliant people we are, decided to walk all the way to the Tiber River again. But it was well worth it. Castel d' Angelo was beautiful. Phil was more than thrilled that there was weapons there and he went running around at the armory. It definitely gave us some awesome photos of the view of the city. Then we walked all the wall back to the hotel then set out again to find gifts and ended up walking all the way to the Tiber AGAIN! Unfortunately, it seemed as though every store was selling the same exact cheap little things which I was not interested in.. so shopping was made less fun. The night ended with delicious dinner, pistachio tiramisu, and more walking. Finally ended with me begging Phil to help me take off my boots because I couldnt get my feet out of them after all the walking. Ciao Roma!

The last day....

Well my friends it seems to have finally come to an end. Kelly and I are getting picked up tomorrow at 6:20 am (local time) to go to the airport. But we made sure to make the last day as great as possible. We had our final scheduled tour in the morning though the first part was kinda boring since we went over the Vatican again. Afterward though we went though piazza navona. It was packed! Apparently there is a market that comes up only during the christmas holiday. They had all kinds of christmas items and a treat that looked like a giant doughnut that you can get topped with nutella. It looked delicious but we didn't get a chance to get one. In the middle of the square was a large fountain that looked pretty cool. Next up was the Pantheon. It was astonishing despite the fact that we didn't get to look at it very long since it had a church inside and services were starting up. It was interesting to see though that the dome was a perfect half sphere. It's amazing what you can apparently do with lots of free time and just about as many slaves.... The spanish steps were just steps to me but it seemed to be a pretty busy area. The worst part though was all the street peddlers that were out. Kelly and I got pretty annoyed after the, what seemed to be tenth one, wanted us to buy flowers. Once we got back to the hotel we tried to figure out what to do next. The only thing within walking distance was the Castel Sant' Angelo. This was originally a tomb for the Roman emperors but over time became a fortress for the popes. From the top though you get one of the best views of the city since there really aren't any skyscrapers here. It was fun though. I got to see all the weapons that were there (even if there weren't a lot).
The adventure to find dinner begins. After buying some gifts we went to look for a nice place to have our last meal in the country. After being bothered by waiters outside of many establishments we finally settled on one that was apparently just off via del corso. It was awesome. The food was phenomenal and it wasn't packed. It was a nice relaxed Italian dinner which is going to make dinner with my dads side of the family kinda bad cause I'm a little sick of Italian food at this point.
Well we're all packed (at least I am, Kelly has a few more things left) and have to get some sleep so we don't miss our flight. See you when I see you.

Roma

So, as Phil told you, we quite the busiest day in Rome. The Vatican was intense. The Museums were amazing, unfortunately we only could see like 4 rooms out of like the 20 that they have, but well worth it seeing how we got to go into the Sistine Chapel. The impressive things about the Museums is that they have paintings on the ceilings that are so well done that they could have fooled me that they were 3-D when they actually are not. The Sistine Chapel, where the conclave meets when electing the new pope and where the unreal ceiling is, was breathtaking. Unfortunately, many tourists don't have a lot of respect so viewing it all was kinda ruined by people not following the simple rules of no photos and silence. There was these one pair of girls that were trying to take a photo of them with the paintings in the background and one of the guards yelled at them and they didn't stop. Then the guard walked and stood in the line of the photo and still the girl didn't stop. Finally, one of the guards grabbed the photo about 10 secs before they snapped the picture. The grotto (where the popes are buried) was awesome too, Cool to see the tomb of St. Peter and other popes. But the best part of the day came later, seeing the Capitoline Museums, Trevi Fountain, and the Mouth of Truth. The Mouth of Truth, which you may remember from the movie "Roman Holiday". Its actually a sewer drain cover that they would bring people too, ask them a question, and have them stick their hand inside. The Mouth was said to distinguish the liars from the truth-tellers. I was pretty stoked to see it. The night was finally brought to a close with me falling down the stairs of our hotel and then eating ice cream to make up for it. Last day in Rome tomorrow :(

Rome Day 2

So today was fun but it also hurt. Kelly and I must have walked at least 7 km down to Circo Massimo and the mouth of truth. She thinks we got lost but I knew exactly where I was going. The highlight of the day was the tour of Vactican city. We actually got picked up this time by the tour company and made it to the start point on time. Our tour guide was very good and it funny. At the start of the walking portion an elderly gentleman was using an oxygen tank and was telling the tour guide that he couldn't walk that fast and that the guide needed to slow down. To which the tour guide promptly responded that we have to walk across all of Vatican city and that he needs to keep up with the rest of the group. It was probably something you had to be there for... Once though the security point we walked out to see some of the Pope's private garden and was in for a treat. A few moments later a company of Swiss guard (probably in training) marched by on the road. Kelly was surprised by the use of the poleaxe and said it was very intimidating. Then I got to explain the use in the medieval battlefield cause I'm a bit of a weaponry geek. But as we moved along we got to see the catacombs beneath St. Peter's and all the dead popes that are buried there. Then into the massive St. Peter's bascillica. No words can do it justice. It took three hundred years to finish it and it was easily seen why it took so long. There were statues and tombs and details everywhere. There was a mosaic that was made with pieces of marble. And there were tons of colors and tints to each color which it amazing. The sistine chapel was good and seeing the paintings was nice. The only problem is that you have to look up the entire time which made my neck hurt.
Afterwards we got lunch and made our way to the Trevi fountain, to Capitaline hill (including a museum containing a bunch of Michealangelo's work), and then down to the mouth of truth and Cicro Massimo. After walking all day we came back to the hotel to rest for a minute and then got lazy and had dinner at the cafe next to the hotel again. I actually had a cup of coffee though it was really strong but I made my though the majority of the cup. All we have left is a tour tomorrow morning and then free time until our flight at 9:30 am (Rome time) monday morning.

Firenze and Roma

So, Florence was definitely completely different from Venice. Florence, almost completely created to what it is now by the Medici family, is very artistic. Less condensed than Venice, it was very unique in that it had a lot of art in it. We went on a bus up to see Friesole, a town on the top of the hill that overlooks Florence. These hills also have enormous villas that used to be owned by such people like Milton, Mark Twain, and Leonardo da Vinci. We Then got to see some of the rest of the city. I mistook the tower dedicated to "Saint Nicholas" as dedicated to Santa... I still have yet to see how it was a huge mistake like Phil said. We also then got to see the Santa Croce church, where allegedly a piece of the cross that Jesus was crucified on was brought. We saw the front of the Duomo (House of the Lord) which is actually the 4th largest church in the world and let me tell you, it was freaking huge! We also saw the Uffizi which I was excited to see the Birth of Venus by Botticelli.
Today we arrived in Rome after much drama with the train and the driver and pay phones that we didn't understand. It was frustrating, especially because we had absolutely no idea where our hotel was at all. We barely made it to our tour this afternoon, for some reason the bus didn't pick us up. But we got to see the Colesseum, Forum, and several other places. Tonight's dinner was absolutely amazing Pasta Carbonara in this glass box of a restaurant, delicious and probably incredibly fattening, but totally worth every bacon-y, cream-y, pasta filled bite.

FINALLY!

Well the title of this pretty much sums it up. We finally made it to Rome after the train that we were supposed to catch being canceled because of snow in Venice (Kelly really wanted to see snow). We finally found out how to use the pay phones here in Italy (there were never any directions). Finally found the driver and got to the hotel (Roman drivers suck btw). Finally got on the tour bus after the company forgot to pick us up and then the taxi driver dropped us off at the wrong spot and spent an antagonizing 15 min running around with Kelly trying to find the bus. But all of this pales in comparison to the fact that WE HAVE FREE INTERNET AND TV CHANNELS IN ENGLISH!!!! (the only problem with the internet though is that the converter that we have doesn't work so well so it takes a while to charge the laptop).

Now that I got that out of my system I can continue with our travels. Obviously you haven't heard from us for a while and that's because of the internet in the previous hotels. They charged us for it and while in Florence we weren't at the hotel enough for it to be useful. So to recap Florence. Lot's of art and statues and cold. The wind was biting and it was just above freezing even during the day. I'm not really big into art so it was nice to see the paintings and statues from the ancient greats like Michealangelo and Leonardo but it wasn't my cup of tea. Though the buildings like Santa Croce and the Duomo (in Florence at least) were amazing. The Duomo is the 4th largest church in the world and it was a little depressing that we couldn't spend more time there to go inside and see it. The food though was pretty good. We had a chardonnay in this little restaurant we found called Rittino (i think) that was excellent. I really must find that when I get home. We had to wake up really early today to get to the museum to see the real David but I don't think it was really worth waking up that early to see it. Though an interesting side note we did see the Italian President while we were going to the Uiffizi. Once we found the tour bus for Rome we rode and walked along to see the Coliseum and the Forums. Kelly's camera ran out of batteries which made us both upset because we couldn't take anymore pictures for the day. Because the train was late I didn't get a chance to eat lunch :( so I was working on just breakfast but I made up for it with dinner. Thankfully the hotel that we are staying at has a cafe and we get a 15% discount. Tomorrow we have the Vatican tour in the morning which should be a lot of fun.

Last Day in Venice

So, this afternoon I agree went a lot better that day #1. First off, I wasn't a zombie walking around trying to keep my eyes open and enjoy everything on 2 days of sleep. And also, we got to see so much. San Marco Square is so beautiful, despite the world's fattest pidgeons being there, especially with the lions with the books everywhere which is the symbol of Saint Mark. I also enjoyed the Basilica, which has beautiful mosaics everywhere, sadly no pictures because it is a church. We went to see the Bridge of Sighs inside the doge's palace in which the entrances down there are about 5'6" tall. Phil, knowing this ducked several times to get under them but didn't see one right in front of him and ran smack into it. It was hilarious for me, especially because I didnt have to duck at all and could walk clear under it. Murano, Burano, and Torchello were amazing. The shop keeper at Murano liked me very much, so don't listen to Phil, people do like me over here. Least I attempt to speak Italian, unlike him of whom refuses to try to speak any Italian. Not even a bon giorno or grazie! We got to walk down to Ponte Rialto tonight as well, very pretty at night. Shockingly, it does not smell like ocean. I refused on the way back to walk on the thin little dock things they have, but thats because knowing me, I'd go tumbling into the Grand Canal while Phil stood aside and laughed and took pictures. Tomorrow, we migrate to Florence via train to explore that new city. Hopefully this time Phil will entertain himself by other things instead of playing the "i'm not touching you" game like the plane ride from Rome to Venice.

Venice Day 2

Woke up and had a pretty decent breakfast provided by the hotel. They had this chocolate spread that was really good on just about everything. Then we set out for an early tour of St. Mark's Square which is right around the corner from the hotel. Let me tell ya the best way to beat jet lag is to be walking around in the freezing cold all day long. Cause when you can't fell your brain telling you to sleep it's easy to ignore it.
First thing we noticed was how high the water had become. More then half the square was under water, this was apparently because of the high tide during the winter so we walked around on platforms that the city had set up for people to walk on. Our tour guide showed us around the Basillica and then we went into the Doge's Palace. Interesting thing is the Doge is kinda like the president but the palace also had the prisons. Which I compare to the president living at Ft. Leavenworth. Then we grabbed some lunch from a little shop near the square. Our adventure then lead us to a boat which took us on a tour of Murano, Burano, and Torcello. This was a little bit of a let down. The only good thing was the Murano stop because of the gas blowing demo and items they had there. We had lunch at a nice restaurant right next to Pointe di Rialto on the Grand Canal. Since dinner was small I needed something else to eat which lead Kelly to want Gelato. It was good though I couldn't really tell the difference between it and the other gelato's that I have had over the years. This may annoy the Italians but I just can't tell though it may have been that my mint chocolate chip flavor may have been overly minty.

PHOTOS

http://picasaweb.google.com/kelly.parks24

So it begins

Well the airplane ride wasn't so bad except for the fact that I couldn't sleep and the guy sitting in front of me put his seat all the way back which meant that i couldn't really see the screen to watch movies unless it hunched into the smallest position i could so that i could barely see the screen. Once we arrived in Rome we had to go through another security checkpoint. why? i have no idea considering they let anyone through (even those that set off the metal detectors). The flight to Venice was short and I, of course, kept myself occupied by watching Kelly do crossword puzzles and telling her the answers to the ones she missed (not really cause she really likes the people magazine crossword and has threatened me more then once with bodily harm if I give away the answers even though she's only kidding). Also the airports were old school style for getting off cause we didn't have a nice terminal and walkway to go up. Nope, we went down a set of stairs and then onto a bus to take us to the terminals, which given the temperature outdoors wasn't a pleasant experience. After getting bad directions twice and walking past the hotel three times we finally arrived. It's a nice place despite the fact that the outside is under construction. Then Kelly freaked out in the elevator. At first I thought she was having an asthma attack but then she started going on about losing her camera which caused the hotel managment to think that someone was dying in the elevator (heck even I though she was having a stroke or something). Once in the room however i pointed out that the camera was in her jacket pocket. Crisis averted.
Then came the gondola tour, which people had to fail to mention, that featured a singer and the all important accordian player which made the ride a bit more romantic then we would have liked. After that we headed back to the hotel and proceded to pass out for the next 15 hours after telling ourselves we were only going to have a quick nap...oh well.

Venice!

So, We arrived in Venice after a very long and quite boring plane ride. On the plane, I fell asleep before Phil, so I was unable to take pictures of Phil sleeping and me doing the "Steven Colbert pose" The airport in Rome was VERY confusing, made worse by the pointless security checkpoint they had us go through. But we made it to the water taxi and got into the city. First off, those taxi drivers and gondoleri's make driving through those waterways look so easy but its really not. Phil and I got a chance to relax and explore a bit before our gondoleri promenade in which we had an accordian player and singer too. Super fun. Phil and I attempted with ALL our might to stay awake, but that lasted up until about 4pm when we surrendered to our jet lag and passed out and slept until 9pm in which we woke up and went to sleep again. This morning we explored the Doge's Palace and St. Mark's Basilica. Note, when traveling with an engineer they will constantly be pointing out every engineering aspect of every building and monument we pass. St. Mark's square was completely flooded with about 3 inches of water due to high tide, so there are little elevated walkways to walk through. St. Mark's Basilica is ridiculously gorgeous with mosaics everywhere and gold embellishments. Same for the Doge's Palace. Only have about 30 mins of internet time. Check out the photos!

Searched by security :(

1. If you look at our 2 passports, I look normal and Phil looks like a freaking terrorist! and 2. Between the 2 of us: a tiny redhead and a burly guy wearing a fraternity t-shirt, I think I look like the more benign one. And not only that, but they searched my bag too!!! Apparently I look as though I'm smuggling narcotics into Italy in my Florida Tech backpack along with my Craisins and Aeropostale sweatshirt. Whatever, guess its the innocent ones they have to look out for. In the airport now about to bug the crap outta Phil just because I can and now that he's mocked me for it, I have to. I dont believe I've freaked out that much.. at least not by my standards. But probably for the normal person, I was freaking out a lot

Airport

Well Kelly and I made it to the airport without any problems. Security though was another matter. TSA decided that Kelly was a slight threat and put her through some additional screening including the chemical detection system. This blows air onto you and then collects it and scans it for any dangerous chemicals. Kelly looked kinda terrified at first and then started laughing after it started. We exchanged some currency for Euros and they look strange though I like the shiny strip that's on it. All we have to do now is wait a while for our flight and we should arrive in Rome tomorrow. Gotta love international flights....I swear if Kelly annoys me the entire flight and prevents me from sleeping I don't know if she'll make it to Rome before I eject her out of the plane secret agent style (reference to the new Get Smart movie. which by the way if you haven't seen it you really should. It's pretty funny).

so it begins....

The day has finally arrived. Kelly and I will be flying over to Italy for our trip. She of course is stressing out and cleaning everything in sight whilst I am and watching sportscenter. A pretty good start to the day if you ask me. Though an introduction is probably in order. My name is Phil and I went to college with the three lovely ladies that you've already met. Though we may live in different places we still find time to hang out together and catch up every now and again. Like the christmas party at Beth's the other night. Fun times except when people kept stealing my gifts until i eventually got stuck with the Hannah Montana poster (this will be given away eventually). Our plane leaves Miami in about 6 hours so more updates are to come (hopefully there is internet on the plane so updates about why kelly is freaking out this time can be posted in a timely matter).

PHOTOS

http://picasaweb.google.com/kelly.parks24

The NEW travelers-Kelly

So long ago (aka.. the beginning of the summer), my parents offered me a trip to Europe for my graduation present. I decided to take my good friend Phil to be my travel buddy and share this with me.. on the conditions that he be excited and also that he not ditch me in Italy (Not that being left in that gorgeous country would be aweful! ). So we are the NEW TRAVELERS!!! Phil and I will try to keep all of you in the loop and entertained. I plan on attempting to max out my memory card on my camera every day. Knowing Phil and I, we'll most likely have a whole bunch of interesting occurences along our way.
The travel itinerary goes as follows: Flight from Miami to Venice on Monday 14th. Spend 2 days in Venice then travel via Eurorail to Florence. Spend 1 day in Florence and travel via Eurorail to Rome and stay until the 21st.
After weeks of planning, drama, and attempting to learn Italian, we have arrived now at less than one week before the trip. The tickets are in, my bag is still yet to be packed, and I have yet to collect the travel buddy from Melbourne. I can't wait!!!
From the musical, Nine:
Be a singer!
Be a lover!
Pick the flower now before the chance has past!
Be Italian..... Be Italian.......
Take a chance and try to steal a fiery kiss.!
Be Italian..... Be Italian