Ireland and the Epiblog

We really think Ireland drew the short straw on this trip. It was our final destination before returning home, and by that time we were really burned out from traveling. Had it been the very first place we went to, we would have been super excited to get out and see as much as we could. Unfortunately, we were almost apathetic to the entire country given the prospects of returning to the States soon. However, we did manage to see a few things and get a general idea of what Ireland has to offer.


We flew from London Heathrow to Dublin in just over an hour. There was still plenty of daylight to burn, but we had not prepared ourselves for any real sightseeing. When we did finally get our stuff into the hotel, we wandered around O’Connell Street, a main thoroughfare into town, and tried to stay warm. Our first full day was spent on a New Europe tour. Our first stop was the Dublin Castle, which looks more like a parliament or capitol building. There is a statue of Justice above one of the archways, but it was noted that she was not blindfolded and had her sword drawn, not at her side. Also, the scales that she carried were working scales, and when it rained they became uneven. The castle was home to the British government up until the 1920’s and is now part home of the Irish government. Our tour moved on to the Record Tower, sole surviving tower of the medieval castle dating from the early thirteenth century. We made our way toward the famous Temple Bar area, known for its medieval streets and funky nightlife. We also passed a bar called the Temple Bar in Temple Bar. After a brief stop for coffee, we continued on toward Trinity College, Ireland’s oldest college founded in 1592. The campus is lush and well groomed with architecture from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries as well as a few modern buildings. The school’s library is home to the Book of Kells, which is on display and a page is turned every day for viewing. After a brief walk past Parliament, our tour concluded in front of a series of statues commemorating the Irish Potato Famine. Our final piece of information was about the tumultuous history between Ireland and the United Kingdom and how modern day Ireland is coping with current economic struggles. We decided to head toward the free archeological museum to catch a glimpse at prehistoric Ireland. For the better part of three centuries, the Vikings continuously raided Ireland and created settlements. The museum displayed archeological finds throughout Ireland and a large part from Dublin including weapons, armor and parts of ships, as well as preserved mummified bodies. That last part was kind of gross. When we finished a quick tour of the museum, we headed uptown towards the Guinness brewery. Mark is a big fan of Guinness and it would have been a shame not to at least visit the headquarters, especially to get his picture in front of the iconic St. James’s Gate. Although this location is not the actual brewery, the building offers eight stories of Guinness history, crafting techniques and tastings. The tour is also really expensive, so we decided to enjoy the gift store instead. We had to buy ten dollar vouchers in order to just go to the store, but those were easily spent on beer related items. We left the store just as it was beginning to get dark and our time sightseeing in Dublin was coming to a close.


The following morning we were on a train headed to the southern coast to a town called Killarney. The town itself was just a central place for us to stay for the next few days and didn't really offer too much. We decided to take a tour of the Ring of Kerry, a one hundred and eleven mile trail that circles around several remote cities along the coast. We actually wanted to take a tour of the Dingle Peninsula, which is supposed to be way better, but because it was the off-season this was all that was offered. The tour went rather fast with few stops for pictures and not much history. It was still nice to get around and see the area, and especially nice that I wasn’t the one driving. Of all the landmarks we saw, the information given was so sparse that I can’t really remember what it was. The only marked one we stopped at was the Ladies View, a stretch of river winding through an orange-colored valley. The name was given to the area by Queen Victoria as the view pleased her ladies-in-waiting in 1861. We stopped for lunch at a cute café then ended the tour at a park where a short hike went to a waterfall. Overall, the tour wasn’t fantastic, but it was pretty much the only way we would have had an opportunity to see the area. On our final day in Killarney, and our final sightseeing opportunity, we headed east to Cork to visit the famous Blarney Castle. Once we arrived, we paid a steep admission and took a short walk to the remains of the castle. The interior is mostly gutted and very little remains, but the structure is intact and can be traversed through narrow winding stairs. At the very top is the world famous Blarney Stone. Listed as one of the top one hundred things to do before you die, kissing the stone is said to give the kisser eloquence and "the gift of gab.” The stone sits on the exterior wall of the castle above a giant hole in the side. Google image “kiss blarney stone” to see how it’s done. Not only were we not interested in lying upside-down above a gaping hole in the floor five stories up to kiss the stone, we also weren’t crazy about the germs. All I would need is for the last person to have a case of the herp….I digress. We didn’t kiss the stone, but we saw it and took a picture of it. We had some daylight left and felt obligated to not waste it. There is a large park area around the castle filled with old Irish lore and pump-driven waterfalls. There was a dolmen, an ancient rock formation akin to Stonehenge. We found a set of stairs were the legend indicates that if a person were to walk up and down each step with their eyes closed, they could make a wish and it would come true. We’ll see. We found a stone that looks like a witch and a tree that looks like a harp. I think we were more fascinated by the harp-tree than we were the castle. When we returned to Killarney, we eagerly packed up and prepared for our return trip to Dublin. Our very last European vacation train ride was a sad one. We had spent so much time on the trains that it became just another part of the trip that we looked forward to. We carried on like all other rides, but knowing that it would be our last. We checked into our last hotel, a Holiday Inn, respectively. Then we departed the following afternoon.

The Epiblog


By this point we’ve been back in the States for a while. We first stopped in Florida to spend time with my parents and hang out at Walt Disney World. Thanks to my Dad, we were able to get into the parks for free whenever we wanted. We had a tough time readjusting to the time change and catching up on sleep, especially since our trip from Dublin to Tampa took over twenty-four hours (thanks to thunder storms). It was wonderful to spend time with them and have a chance to relax. And wouldn’t you know it, it got really cold in Orlando while we were there. Once we were refreshed, we jetted back to Sacramento where Mark’s brother picked us up and drove us to their parents’ house in Mount Shasta. We were hoping for snow, but all we got was fog and rain. We were preparing ourselves for the inevitable: finding jobs and a place to live. Like a lot of times in life, and a few times during our trip, our plans changed. We originally planned on moving to Los Angeles as soon as we returned from our trip. I was excited to finally get into script supervising like I’ve been planning for years and Mark was ready to start the process toward his Ph.D. Well, we hit a road block when Mark realized that he needs to have research experience before applying to any schools, and there just weren’t any jobs in the LA area that would suffice. We made some tough decisions and bit the bullet: we moved to Silicon Valley. So now we’re going to live in San Jose for a year so Mark can get the research experience he needs, then we’ll move south. Neither of us was very excited to make this decision, and we never thought it would come to this. But that’s life, I suppose. In the long run, this will provide better opportunities for us, despite being a bit of a setback in our plans.


So, this concludes our European Adventure! We really had a great time and now, a few weeks back from traveling, we really miss being on the road and exploring new cities. We’ve had almost four months of no restrictions and no employment, and now it’s back to work. Once we find a place to live….


Our next adventure: Honeymoon 2012!!!




Dublin:

Ring of Kerry and Blarney Castle:

London, Stonehenge, Bath & Wales

By this point in our trip we had accumulated about three extra days, through changes in our travel, and had to decide on where to go. We considered going back to Germany, or possibly heading towards Scotland after London, which would have been incredibly expensive. Ultimately we decided on traveling through the English countryside and visiting Wales. We left Bruges on a blustery day and had to take the long way to Lille, France to catch the Eurostar train to London. For weeks prior, we were debating whether to fly or take the Chunnel to London. Monetarily, it would have been about the same. The difference was the time spent traveling. Plus we thought it would be neat to take a train under the English Channel. Security was tight at the station amid the heightened threat levels, but we boarded without incident.


The ride out of the Eurozone to England was much shorter than we anticipated; only about two hours. After making out way through both St. Pancras International and King’s Cross train stations, we found our way to our hotel in north London. We didn’t have much time to spend running around the city, so we focused our outing on getting dinner and going clothes shopping. We didn’t anticipate having to buy extra clothing during out trip, but it was incredibly cold in London and we just weren’t prepared for it. For dinner we decided to visit one of our favorite places to shop back home: Whole Foods! There are a few stores in London and the closest to us was on High Street Kensington in the central part of the city. It was refreshing to be somewhere we were familiar with. Afterwards we headed toward a mall to buy extra warm clothing to last us through the rest of our trip. We weren’t exactly thrilled to be in a mall, but it was nice being somewhere warm and indoors. The exchange rate hit us pretty hard; one pound was worth one dollar sixty cents, and in general everything was expensive in England. The next morning we were bundled up and ready to hit the town. The weather was not ideal, and it wasn’t the cold that was awful but the wind and rain. We took the tube to Hyde Park Corner then walked to Buckingham Palace. Down the street we stopped at Westminster Abbey where preparations were being made for Remembrance Day, which is the same as our Veterans Day. Across from there is Parliament and St. Stephen’s Clock Tower, commonly known as Big Ben. We hung around for a short while but decided to call it a day due to poor weather. The next day was clear and beautiful, but incredibly cold, I mean freezing. We were definitely thankful to have the sun shining for picture purposes, but it was almost too cold to bear. We were out early to catch a New Europe tour that was dedicated to London’s royal history. We passed by all of the places we saw the previous day, but we had a chance to get better pictures. At Buckingham Palace, we learned about the historic break-ins, including Michael Fagan, an inebriated homeless man who, while covered in dog food and blood, found his way into the Queen’s bedroom one cold winter night, while she was sleeping no less. Our tour also took us past the Clarence House, home of Prince Charles and the rest, where we could be up close to the guards. We passed by the St. James’s Palace, one of the city’s oldest palaces, which was commissioned by Henry VIII. There we received a crash course in the ill fate of Henry’s wives. Our tour turned down Pall Mall, a wealthy street known for its gentlemen’s clubs open to politicians and the elite. There we learned how it came to be that former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher is technically a man, since women were never allowed to enter the clubs but PM’s always have an open door. Not far was the Trafalgar Square in the heart of the city. Columns, lion statues, a huge fountain and even a ship in a bottle all decorate the square commemorating a British naval victory during the Napoleonic Wars. Our tour concluded at Westminster Abbey where we learned all about the fifth of November, Guy Fawkes, and the gunpowder treason. When our group departed, we walked right into an organized student protest over tuition increases. There were helicopters flying above and police constables lining the streets. At that point, everything seemed to be fairly calm. Later on, we found out as we were eating at a pub that things had made a turn for the worse as students raided the conservative Tory headquarters and started to cause a panic. Thankfully no one was seriously injured, but it did seem to put the city on edge. The evening was bitter cold and we couldn’t stand to be outside for long, so our day was finished. We were considering doing another New Europe tour that focused on London’s dark history involving the plague and Jack the Ripper, but that would have to wait until we return during warmer weather. On our last full day we decided to visit the Tower of London, known also as Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress. It was quite expensive and took up almost an entire day, but now we can say we’ve been there. We took a tour lead by a Yeoman Warders guard, commonly known as a Beefeater. There’s no definitive explanation for why they’re called Beefeaters, but a few speculations based on the diet of the guards or that they were paid in rationed beef. We learned much about the compound’s history since its inception in 1066 and the many beheadings that followed. Interestingly enough, one of the more infamous beheadings in the Tower of London was of a man named James Scott, which happens to be my dad’s name (no relation). It is said that he was the only person to be executed on the grounds that was also buried with his head, whereas most had their severed heads put on stakes on the London Bridge. What an honor. We walked through the old prison and saw the etchings by inmates then found our way into the chapel where a few royals such as Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII’s second wife, are buried. Across the way were a few of the Tower’s ravens, kept on the grounds for centuries based on a superstition that if the ravens ever left, the tower and monarchy would fall. Our last two stops at the Tower were to see the Crown Jewels and a museum dedicated to the British military. Although we know that the jewels are real, they are so ostentatious that they almost look phony. The museum offered an interesting view of England’s military past with a wide selection of historic armor and weapons. When our tour of the Tower was complete, we made our way across the Tower Bridge to take pictures. We made plans to meet up with a couple from Couchsurfing, Mike and Virginia, who we met when they were traveling through Monterey. During their visit, we got together for coffee and dinner, so we wanted to do the same while we were in their hometown. It was great catching up with them, and we were given excellent advice on how to find cute hedgehogs in the countryside. As our night came to a close, we began to mentally prepare ourselves for our next challenge: renting a car (or car hire, for our British chums).



We picked up a car at Heathrow airport, equipped with a sat nav (GPS for those state-side), and began our driving adventure due west. Driving on the left side of the road isn’t so bad, even with manual left-hand shifting; it’s the roundabouts that drove us crazy. It’s like a wild free-for-all when you’re in the middle and they always made me nervous. Oh, and to heighten the stress, I was the only one who could drive since Mark lost his license on the train to Krakow months ago. So not only was I worried about wrecking the car but I didn’t have much of a chance to enjoy the scenery. Thankfully Mark thought ahead and took video footage of our drives, so I can relive that nightmare over and over again. These videos include me freaking out while driving in the rural areas where the roads are incredibly narrow and the locals drive way too fast. But I digress; driving in the UK was still a good idea and we enjoyed the freedom of being on the road. Our first stop out of London was Stonehenge. We arrived late in the day and the weather wasn’t great, but we still enjoyed seeing the prehistoric stone arrangement. It’s sometimes hard to comprehend just how old the structure is, and moreover why it exists. When we finished the audio tour of Stonehenge, we continued on in what turned out to be a white-knuckled drive to Bristol. We breathed a sigh of relief when we arrived at our hotel, but it didn’t last through the night as the fire alarm went off at about two in the morning, startling us out of sleep. It turned out to be nothing, probably someone lighting a cigarette in their room when they weren’t supposed to, but it freaked us out nonetheless. The next morning we were out early and on our way to the southern coast of Wales. We decided on that area because of its natural beauty and large area designated as the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park. It was interesting to see the road signs in Wales written in both English and Welsh. Our final destination was a B&B in Kilgetty, just north of the town Tenby, about three hours from Bristol. We arrived with enough daylight to head toward the coast and check out the beaches. Tenby is a quaint coastal town with lots of color and an ancient Norman town wall. Along the coast are fortress ruins dating back to the eleventh century. When we finally found street parking and mastered parallel parking while driving on the left, we took a stroll along the sandy beach. There was a rock wall dividing the beach and the streets above, and an occasional cave could be found. We spent the better part of our evening walking through the narrow streets and enjoying the quaint Victorian town. The next morning we were greeted with our first authentic big English breakfast (substitute veggie meat for me, which technically does not qualify as a B.E.B.). We still don’t quite understand why baked beans are such a breakfast staple in the UK, but whatever works for them. It was a good start to our day because our only plans were to drive around the national park and back to Bristol. On our way we passed by St. David’s cathedral, a monastic community that began around the sixth century. Pope Calixtus II designated it as a centre of pilgrimage for the west by decreeing “two pilgrimages to St. David’s is equal to one to Rome, and three pilgrimages to one to Jerusalem.” The cathedral began construction in 1181 and took several generations to complete. We enjoyed walking around the compound and cemetery, as well as the tombs within the cathedral. After about an hour we decided to move on. We stopped one more time at a stony beach along the Irish Sea for pictures. We considered our driving adventure to Wales to be a success and we really enjoyed the scenery. We’ve heard really great things about the northern parts of Wales, so we would consider returning in the future.


We drove back to Bristol for the night, and we decided to stay in the same hotel we did a few days prior. It was a nice hotel, but it was just our luck that the fire alarm went off again. Fortunately, this time it was early in the morning and we were already awake. What are the odds? We left early and went straight for Bath before returning to London. Bath is a beautiful city and has really maintained its richness through architecture. We spent the afternoon walking the city center and along the river. We stopped by the Bath Abbey to find the original “Stairway to Heaven.” There are ladders on both sides of the door going up the building with statues of angels climbing up to the top. Across from the church is the famous Roman Baths. We caught a peek into the “Great Bath” from outside, but we decided not to pay the admission. Mark has already toured the baths on a previous vacation and we were in a budget crunch, so we decided to pass. I know it’s a must-see attraction, but we just weren’t in the mood. Had we been in England at the first part of our trip, we probably wouldn’t have through twice about going into the baths. We left in the late afternoon and stayed another night in London to catch a plane in the morning. We really enjoyed our time in the UK and are definitely going to return, but never again during the winter.


Our final destination: Dublin and the southern coast of Ireland


London:

Bath and Wales:

Brussels & Bruges, Belgium

We were so sad to leave Paris and could have easily spent another week there. We spent our last few hours taking pictures and hanging out near Notre Dame. We finished our Paris experience with fresh crepes and slowly made our way to the train station, trying to absorb as much of the city as we could. Wouldn’t you know it, the sun finally came out right as we were about to leave. Our trip north took much longer than we had expected, but it offered us time to relax. By this point in our travels, we were exhausted and tired of constantly being on the move. It was lucky for us that Brussels isn’t the most exciting city, with most of the city’s attractions seen in one day.


We were not extremely excited to do much of anything on our first day, especially after a noisy night in a hotel room located right above a busy kitchen. We really weren’t ready to sight see, but we felt obligated to make an effort to discover Brussels. We saw a church, it was big. There was a park nearby with graffiti’d buffalo sculptures and leafless trees. The only things on our list to see were the gothic Grand Place-Grote Markt and the Manneken Pis. The Grote Markt is a square surrounded by three hundred year old gold trimmed buildings and the city tower. The design and detail of the square certainly was impressive. There are side streets leading out of the square that take you right into the tourist shopping areas. As we were about to leave, we noticed a group of school children roaming the square in a straight line. We caught on that they were playing a mimic game with unsuspecting adults in the square. If someone was taking a picture, the kids would line up behind the person and mimic taking a picture. If someone was on their phone, they would be in a line pretending to be talking on a phone. Once they were caught, they would giggle and scatter, much to the delight of those being imitated. Seeing those kids making their own fun was an interesting highlight of our time in Brussels. Before they could have a chance to mimic us, we left to find the Manneken Pis, or the fountain of the Peeing Child. And it’s exactly what you’re thinking: a small statue of a child peeing into a fountain. For some reason, this fountain is beloved by Brusselonians, and somehow embodies the spirit of the city. Apparently, the citizens of the city have created over a hundred outfits for the little guy to wear. We’re not entirely sure what the outfit it was wearing when we saw it represents; it’s all a bit silly. Having checked off the two things we came to see, we decided to head back to the hotel to relax. It was clear that we scheduled too much time in Brussels, but it was actually a refreshing chance to do nothing. We were able to plan our future stays for a whole week, the furthest we’ve planned in advance this whole trip.


We had spent the past few weeks navigating the big cities and we were definitely ready to find a small town to enjoy at a slower pace. It was perfect timing that we were headed towards Bruges next; a charming Dutch-inspired town in northern Belgium. We found a quaint B&B right on the edge of the old city and only a short walk from the train station. We only had one day to spend in the city, so we were on foot right away with a map to see what we could. The weather wasn’t great, but that didn’t spoil our day. Despite the cold and grey skies, Fall is a nice time to be here to see the lush green grass and the fallen leaves. Our plan was to head toward the city center and then rent bikes to explore the city. The old part of Bruges is like a smaller, laid-back version of Amsterdam; the buildings look so similar and there are canals winding throughout the city. The streets are all cobblestone and many are only wide enough for one car. Renting the bikes was definitely the best thing we could have done; we saw more of the city than we would have just on foot. Plus riding bikes is so much fun! We found a convent, several churches and a bike path on the outer part of the city that has four giant windmills. After a few hours of riding, we took a break at a coffee shop. Once we were ready to go, the rain came pouring down. Thankfully it didn’t last long and we were back out on the bumpy road. As the day drew on, we were simply riding around aimlessly looking at the buildings and enjoying the quaint city. When it was dark, we went back to the city center to take pictures of the Belfry. We unfortunately were too late to climb the tower. The Belfry made an appearance in the Irish dark comedy movie “In Bruges” with Colin Farrell. It was because of that movie that we wanted to visit Bruges as it is portrayed as being a well-preserved and quaint medieval city, despite the movie having a graphically violent plot. I imagine that the citizens of Bruges are more or less indifferent to the film; it got them on the map but not in the most positive sense. We spent almost eight hours riding around the city and enjoyed every minute of it. We went back to the room freezing and tired, but satisfied with our day.


Our whole experience in Bruges was a total win. The city was beautiful, we did more than just walk around, our hotel was inexpensive, adorable and included a fantastic breakfast and the train station was just a few minutes away. If the weather had been nicer, we would have been able to ride the bikes about an hour north to the coast. That is definitely something that should be done during the summer months, and that would be the time we would go if we ever return to Bruges. The small town is a great escape from the big cities and we planned our time there perfectly.


Forward to: England and southern Wales


Brussels:

Bruges:

Paris, France

Getting out of France was difficult, and unfortunately so was getting back into the country. We were able to take a direct train from Barcelona to Montpellier, but from there all the seats for Paris trains were booked until late at night. We had to decide whether to wait ten hours at the station to catch a train for which we had seat reservations or to risk it and take the next one we could board. On an earlier train through France we were informed by another passenger that since the strikes were causing all sorts of problems, it wasn’t worth getting seat reservations for the trains and to just sit where there were open spots. We pressed our luck and it paid off; we didn’t have to move once during the trip to Paris and we arrived at a decent time.


Our first night in Paris didn’t amount to much. We found our hotel, which was thankfully close to the train station, then got some food and called it a night. We were really excited for the following days because we had plans to stay with friends who we met through Couchsurfing. Alexis and Virginie stayed with us for a night while they traveled through California, and they were gracious enough to let us stay with them for three nights. When we arrived at their place, they had lunch already prepared. It was so wonderful to be back in a home setting and refreshing to be able to spend time with other people. After we ate they took us out into the city to places that we probably would not have thought to wander through. We stopped by a notably large church and then onto the courtyard of the Place des Voges. Then we made our way through various neighborhoods toward Notre Dame. We are all familiar with what the church looks like from the front, but I was unaware that the back was so spectacular. There are buttresses everywhere! The inside of Notre Dame is impressive, especially the stained glass windows when they are lit up by the sun. The cathedral is located on an island which was where Paris was originally settled and became a city. Our evening ended with dinner at a Chinese restaurant known for its hand-made noodles, which turned out to be one of the best dinners we’d had on this whole trip. After having our walking tour with Alexis and Virginie, we were really excited to see more of the city the following day.


The forecast called for grey skies with a high chance of rain, so we were out early to the Eiffel Tower to avoid bad weather while outdoors. The tower has become so iconic to the city that I can’t imagine Paris without it. It’s funny to think that most Parisians are indifferent to it, and they were even moreso when the tower was being constructed. We marched up the stairs to the first and then second floor of the tower, a total of six hundred and sixty-nine steps. On the advice of our friends, we didn’t go to the very top as the second floor provides the best views of the city. Paris has a beautiful cityscape with a uniquely cohesive architectural style that is all its own. When we were done walking around the tower, we headed toward the St. Michel square to join a New Europe tour. The fountain at St. Michel square is a popular meeting place amongst the locals and is surrounded by alleys filled with restaurants and souvenir shops. Our tour took us past Notre Dame again, then a building with a few bullet holes that apparently is the only sign of destruction in Paris during WW2, and then along the walkways by the River Seine. We passed under the Pont Neuf, or the New Bridge, which is actually over four hundred years old. Along the sides of the bridge are funny faces that were said to be high-profile drunken attendees of a royal party. The story, which I’m sure is a fable, goes that during the party, the king at the time had a painter record all the members of the party as they were. When he reviewed the paintings, he realized how ridiculous everyone looked and wanted to display these images for everyone to see. He had the faces carved as a part of the bridge to show the city that even the most dignified people were not above foolishness. Our tour continued on toward the Luxor Obelisk, a towering column gifted to France from Egypt, located on the site where a guillotine once stood. We ended the tour at Les Invalides, a residence for veterans with a military museum and the burial site of Napoleon Bonaparte, where we learned how the fate of Paris during the last days of WW2 rested in one Nazi general’s hands. General von Choltitz was ordered by Hilter to destroy the city; to turn all the canons inward and blow it up. Knowing that the war was lost, the general had to decide whether he wanted to be remembered as a destroyer or as a savior. With the encouragement of a Swedish diplomat, he decided to stay the city’s execution. There’s no doubt that there were many cities that wished they had the same fate. After the tour, we made our way to the Arc de Triomphe and then down Avenue des Champs-Élysées, a renowned shopping district. Our gracious hosts had arranged a get together with a few of their friends for dinner and drinks. We had a really great time conversing with everyone and getting a chance to understand French culture and everyday life. And we had a chance to discuss the virtues of The States and explain why Thanksgiving is the best American holiday.


By our third full day in Paris, we were feeling as though we didn’t schedule enough time to really enjoy the city. There is just so much to see and do, and we had to unfortunately drop some of the things we were planning on doing. Or first stop of the day was the Louvre, quite possibly the world’s most famous art museum. There is no way to see everything in the Louvre without dedicating an entire week, open to close, to walk every exhibit. We were given the recommendation to grab a map and pick one floor to visit; otherwise we would get burned out. Our first stop was assuredly the first stop on most visitors’ lists: Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa. As expected, there was a rather large crowd gathered behind the velvet rope to peer at the lady with the mystic smile who sits behind bulletproof glass. We stopped, stared at her for a bit and then moved on. I was told that the painting was incredibly small, so I was anticipating something the size of a postcard. I was actually surprised that she was of a normal portrait size, about what I was hoping it would be. Maybe others wish her to be as large as an entire wall; the Louvre had many in that size. Next on our list to see was the Venus de Milo. The armless statue is estimated to have been created between 130 and 100 BC by an unknown sculptor. We carried on into the hall of ancient Egypt to find Hammurabi’s Code, dated around 1700 BC. After about three hours of zigzagging through the Louvre, we were ready to press on. Our next stop was the Paris Catacombs, also known as the l'Ossuaire Municipal. After descending sixty-two feet below the surface and ducking through shallow pathways, we made it to the bones. Unlike the catacombs in Rome, all the skeletons here were moved from a previous mass burial site on the outskirts of the city. Prior to the tenth century, it was common practice to place the bodies above ground in one location. When the city began to expand and Christian burials became more popular, it was ordered that the remains be move underground. And then the city thought, how can we profit from these bones? Then * ta-da!* you have the delicately arranged Catacombs, opened to the public in 1867. It was a bit creepy, at least to think that these bones belonged to a person. Well, all bones belonged to someone, but they were so neatly organized it almost seemed like they weren’t real. But they are, and it’s weird. When we were above ground again, we headed out toward Montemartre, also known as the artist’s quarter, to climb the hill towards the cathedral Sacre Coeur. Of all the churches in Paris, it wasn’t the most spectacular, but it did provide great views of the city from above. As we strolled through the narrow streets below the hill, we found another videogame-related mosaic. We have seen mosaics placed on the sides of walls, canals and anywhere else that will hold them featuring classic videogame characters like Space Invaders, Q-bert or Pac Man. The 8-bit artist is from Paris but has spread his tiles all over the world. Our direction was toward the renowned Moulin Rouge cabaret in the red light district. We were only interested in seeing the outside of the iconic structure with no intentions of catching a generally expensive show inside. Dusk was upon us and we wanted to get a few night shots of the Eiffel Tower before we left. It was just our luck that the weather had cleared and there was no fog surrounding the tower like in previous nights. Every hour on the hour after dark, the tower sparkles for a good five minutes. It was a lovely display and a good end to our visit to Paris.


Our time in the City of Lights would not have been the same without Alexis and Virginie. Paris is such a wonderfully unique city that has so much to offer. We really didn’t think that we would leave loving it so much. We have an ongoing list of the places that we would absolutely return to in the future, and Paris is on the top of the list. In fact, our whole France experience has been so positive that we’ve decided to start planning a future trip: touring on bicycles through the country, from Paris down to the Riviera along the western coast. Although that won’t be scheduled for at least five more years, we are seriously looking forward to it.


Heading north to: Brussels and Bruges, Belgium

Nice, Monaco & Barcelona

The day that we left Italy was probably the worst weather we’d come across so far; we had to walk a half mile in a severe downpour. It was rough, but we were glad to be moving on. As soon as our train crossed into France, everything seemed to be much better. The weather was clear and our train was running either right along the coast or through the rural countryside. Everything we thought Italy was going to be (but wasn’t) turned out to be exactly how France is. The French Riviera is so beautiful and picturesque. We had considered just passing through the area and not spending much time, but we realized that we would really be missing out if we did so. Our only inconvenience was the unpredictable train schedules due to the pension reform strikes all throughout France.


Our first strike-related experience was at the border station between Italy and France where our train was canceled. Thankfully there was a line that travels to Nice every hour, so we weren’t set back too much. We arrived in Nice late in the day and our only goal was to make it to the hotel and plan for our days in the Riviera. We didn’t plan on spending too much time there, which we now know was unfortunate. Our first full day was spent in fabulous Monaco, the world’s second smallest country. Known for lavish lifestyles and high-rollers, Monaco is nestled between the Alps and the Mediterranean Sea and is less than a half hour train ride from Nice. We certainly felt a bit out of place strolling along the waterfront near all the docked yachts and the super sports cars buzzing by on the road. We made our way up the hill to Monaco-Ville to see the Prince’s Palace. After taking in the panoramic views overlooking Monte Carlo on one side and Fontvieille on the other, we decided to make our way to a casino. Now, we’re not big gamblers. Sure, we’ll buy a scratch ticket once in a while, but we’re not keen on risking a lot of money. But we figured, we’re in Monte Carlo so why not? Along the way we passed by an unexpected carnival with clunky old rides and chance games for toys. It seemed more out of place than we did, but we passed through and enjoyed the sights and smells of the fair. When we finally found a casino, we had to choose between two: the infamous Casino Monte Carlo or the lesser-known Café de Paris Casino across the street. Our first clue that we were not welcome to go inside the Casino Monte Carlo was the array of luxury cars parked out front; cars that you almost never see driving on the road outside of Pebble Beach or swanky parts of LA. Plus there were doormen ensuring riff-raff like us don’t make it inside. I later found out that they charge you simply to walk into the casino, and there’s a strict dress code. So, Café Paris Casino it was! We decided on slot machines, since they are easy and low-pressure. We went in with twenty euros and were out with zero in just under an hour. Penny slots are misleading! We knew we weren’t going to win it big, and for the most part we didn’t win anything the whole time. But we enjoyed our gambling adventure, and now we can say we gambled in Monte Carlo. I’m sure we would have done better if we’d found a casino that had games like “guess which hand” or “war.”


We had a half day to spend in Nice before we continued on toward Spain. We decided to head to the beach since it was a clear and sunny morning. We were surprised to find that the beach did not have sand but instead had large flat stones. This, I’m sure, makes for uncomfortable sunbathing. It was still a lovely beach, despite the rocks. We were looking forward to taking off our shoes and strolling along the sandy beach, but that would have to wait. Thankfully there was a paved sidewalk for pedestrians that ran alongside the beach. Nice is a pleasant city, fairly modern and generally bustling at all hours. We could have stayed longer, but we just didn’t have enough time. We would consider returning to the area, but mostly to visit some of the smaller cities along the coast.


To get to Barcelona from Nice, we had to stay the night in a town between the two cities. Otherwise we would have been on a train for almost twelve hours, which was impossible at that time because the strikes were constantly delaying or canceling trains. We stayed the night in Avignon and departed early for Marseille in the morning. We didn’t have much trouble in Marseille, aside from seeing strike protests outside of the station. We had to switch trains in Montpellier and catch a direct train to Barcelona from there. Unfortunately, all trains to Spain were canceled that day. In addition, we were met with several heavily armed military guards at the station, and a massive strike march taking place outside. We tried to get onto a bus that was going directly to Barcelona, but there were a lot of people that were in our position that got there earlier. We even tried to rent a car, but no rental place had any available. Our only option was to take another train to Perpignan and hope for the best. When we arrived, there were busses organized by the rail system waiting to take anyone trying to get to Spain to the nearest boarder station at Figueres. The bus ride was just over an hour, and we were able to board a Spanish train toward Barcelona. The whole trip from Avignon to Barcelona was fourteen hours, when it should have only been about six hours total. Although our trip there was unpleasant, we were glad to finally be in Barcelona. It was almost midnight and we were starving. The only places to eat that were open were tapas restaurants. I know tapas are not real food, but we were pretty desperate. Since it’s geared toward tourists, the portions are smaller than they are back home and twice as much. Let’s just say we decided not to have another tapas experience while in town. We had better luck finding reasonably priced and portioned food the following day. We decided to walk the city center to see as much as we could. Our hostel was not far from La Rambla, a long tree-lined pedestrian walkway. Along the sides are various booths selling tourist fare and “actors” dressed up in a wide range of costumes so as to have passersby pay to have their pictures taken with them. It’s all a bit silly, but some of them had interesting costumes on. We found the St. Josep Mercat, a huge open market, off to the side of La Rambla and decided to wander through. Produce and seafood are the highlights of the market, but there are a few places that offer food ready to eat. Continuing down La Rambla, we made our way to the ocean and then head towards the Barri Gotic, the gothic quarter. Along the way we passed beneath a statue of a large bronze prawn, and not far an abstract statue of a woman’s face. Barcelona is full of these sorts of strange pieces of art. It’s almost as though the city doesn’t have a singular identity, like a monument or structure that represents the city, but rather is made up of a very recent patchwork of different ideas and styles. It’s a bit strange, but I suppose that’s the way they like it. On our list of places to go was the Picasso Museum, which celebrates the artist’s time living in Barcelona. It was really interesting to see how he originated as a pretty standard artist, painting portraits and landscapes, on to the more abstract style he is now famously known for. To our dismay, his more famous abstract works were not featured in this museum. After the museum, we walked around the old city area until we were too tired to continue on. We had become so exhausted in the past few weeks that we decided to take a bus tour the next day instead of walking. Barcelona is a huge city and it’s impossible to see everything on foot with only a few days to spare. We did what we tried so hard to avoid in every other large city, buy tickets for a “hop-on, hop-off” tour bus. The weather was good and we didn’t have to fight too much to get on the top floor of the bus. Our first stop was at one of the iconic Gaudi buildings, the Casa Batlló. Structures by Gaudi are all over the city, with the Sagrada Família church being the largest and most outlandish of them all. The church began construction in the 1880’s and is not scheduled to be complete until about 2026. All of his buildings look like they would be well suited in a fish tank. Our tour took us to several sites all over the city. We didn’t “hop-off” as much as we probably should have, but we were content to see the sites from the bus. The final stop for us was at the Barceloneta beach, which has sand! We walked along the beach then sat in the sand for a while, until we noticed a storm coming in, which was a cue to exit. I suppose we had higher expectations for Barcelona, and it’s not that they weren’t met but that they were different from what we were hoping. Still, we enjoyed the city and would like to see other parts of Spain in the future.


Continuing on to: “la Ville Lumière,” also known as Paris


Nice and Monaco:

Barcelona: