Man, it's been a while since we've had internet connection. So that means one thing.
I have a ton of updating to do on here. So here it goes:
Saturday was a fun filled day. We took the Metro-Line Red to the Ottaviano station and walked 4 or 5 blocks to the entrance of the Vatican Museum. Once inside, we we're busy recording video and taking pictures of the historical pieces such as statues, fountains, and tons of frescoes. It got really packed in there, which made it a little complicated, but we made it through. Once we made the long journey to the end of the museum we arrived in the legendary Capella Sistina, or the 'Sistine Chapel'. I hadn't seen a picture of Michaelangelo's masterpiece in years so it made it all the better. Dan decided to 'bend not break' the rules and take a video of the room, much to the disproval of the museum polizia officer. lol.
Later, we went to the entrance of the Vatican and admired the St. Pietro De Basilica, we decided against going on because the line was forever long.
After, we walked along the Il Passetto and found the Castle Angelo. We did alot of walking around that day. We guess we walked about 25 total miles in our stay in Rome.
The last few days have been pretty discouraging.
Monday morning we checked out of the Mosaic Hostel in Rome and heading for the Termini to depart our 9:00 AM train ride to Firenze SMN. We then switched there and headed to Pisa. Once outside the Pisa Centrale stazione, we walked one mile north to the site of the leaning tower. On the way, we stopped for pizza and got charged a whopping four euros for a can of sprite. (That's 6 US dollars folks!)
Once on the property, we went to the ticket booth and bought a 5 entrance pass to the things around the tower. We didn't however climb the tower as it was kind of pricey.
The property was much relaxing. We toured a basilica, then a couple boring, empty museums. We spent about an hour inside the Baptisteri, which had an echo display. Feeling tired we layed inside and played papi man on dan's ipod touch. Book this: As soon as I get home, I must get me one of these devices. I had a lot of fun playing on it.
We decided to go back out in to the hot sun and take the funny pictures where you pose like your holding up the tower from falling. I took my picture as if I was pushing over the tower. After this, we got a whistle blowed at us by the guard for being on the grass. We thought this was pretty fun.
Then, we relaxed outside the basilica in the shade for maybe 2 and half hours. I read 'Angels and Demons', which is a great book I really recommend it and Dan journalled. This was probably the highlight of the day as we had no hostel to go to so it was the only relaxation we would get.
After a lengthy stay on the tower grounds, we made our way back through the city and got to the train station. Once there, we had to wait about 3 hours for our night train back to Firenze SMN( that would eventually go to Venice). We sat at our platform for about an hour and talked. Once on board the train, we saw the train-ticket-checker lady yell at about 3 people next to us for not having the correct tickets. We noticed how vigilant at her job she was. About an hour and a half later we arrived at Firenze SMN at 11:45 PM. We then needed to take a different train to Venice. Here's the catch: this train we needed to catch was at the Firenze Campo di Marte station, way on the other town.
So here we are, in town we've never heard of, with a language we don't speak, and at an hour where there are no workers to help us, looking for a bus to get us to the station. The first couple bus drivers had no clue what we were talking about, and didn't seem like they wanted to help.
But then we got lucky. A bus driver stopped at the train station and said in english that he could take us there. About ten minutes later, he said 'Campo di marto' so we got off and he pointed in the direction that we needed to go. Here we were, walking the side streets in a very quiet, but scary town. I was worried and tried to walk as fast as I could. About 5 blocks later, I found the entrance to the station and was filled with relief.
Unfortunately, we had to wait about an hour in the lonely, empty station for our train. While sitting down, you could here the crickets. That's how quiet it was.
An hour later, our one way train to Venezia pulled up. Once inside, we were in the shocker for a lifetime. We opened up our 6 seater car and and found 2 men already inside. We were immediately hit with a funk smell like none other. Sleep no longer was the main objective. Staying alive was more important. We couldn't open up a window because it was really cold outside. Luckily I brought a small blanket it on the trip and wrapped it around my face to block out the smell. I got about 2.5 hours of sleep while dan may only have gotten one on the 3.5 hour train ride to Venezia.
At 5:26 AM sharp, we arrived in Venezia-Santa Lucia. We got off and found that the bathrooms and luggage storage would not open for a half hour. How convenient. We needed to drop our main bags because we were only in venice for the day, no hostel, another night train at 7:57 PM. As I waited for it to open, I began to ask myself, how am I gonna make it through 13 hours in this city? And how will I sleep on the night train tonight?
Once the bathroom opened, I struggled to brush my teeth in the less then sanitary public restroom. Dan didn't seem to enthused as he was walking on one hour of sleep.
When we got to drop our bags off, the guy was a complete jerk. Not wanting to look us in the face, we left with the first bad taste for venice. Then we decided to make our reservation for the 7:57PM train to Interlaken, Switzerland. We weren't greeted with much respect at the ticket window either.The ticket window guy would not look at my sheet with the train number, and refused to look at the computer screen to make sure the price. He just blurted out, "25 EUROS". Not having enough money, we walked outside the train station with yet another bad taste for Venice.
Once outside, we instantly found the main river that runs through venice. We walked over the bridge and began walking through the town. About a half mile into the town, we came across about 5 people. Two of them city workers cleaning the streets, 2 of them citizens and the other one a school kid late for school. We found this to be very boring. We then decided to take refuge on a bridge. Dan sat on one side, while I on the other, not blocking people from walking. Then a grumpy citizen walked on the bridge began yelling Italian obsenities targetted right for us. Even after he walked by us he kept going. We were startled and offended by this man. Both in agreement, we almost said at the same time, "why don't we go back to the train station and find the fastest way to Interlaken as soon as possible". So here's hour our Venice stay went:
We arrived at 5:26 AM.
We departed at 8:50 AM.
Talk about a not lengthy stay at a city I had always dreamed about. Here's a city, since I was 8, had always loved and admired for its unique design and had always wanted to see. And set off by three very rude people, we decided to head to Interlaken early for a bed later that night.
By 3:57 PM, we arrived in the quiet district of Interlaken, Switzerland. "ahh" we thought to ourself.
We checked into the hostel and had a good nights rest. We have had a ton of fun in the course of 24 hours, I will fill you in when I get a chance. Now is dinner.
End note, Tyler
Time: 7:43 PM
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
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Ty thanks for such a long post. =] that is a shame how you and dan were treated in venice. =[ it makes me both sad and mad. And i'm also happy that Interlocken is much better. You boys have fun today. i expect an excellent report from your canyoning adventure. - em
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