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 w
ould 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 ParisNice and Monaco:Barcelona:
Ah, Rome. It was definitely a city that we were both really looking forward to visiting. We had a short train ride from Florence that zipped through the countryside. It was the closest thing to being in the rural areas of Tuscany that we were going to get on this trip. We arrived in Rome in the afternoon and the train station was enormous. We booked a hotel that was very close to the train station and right after we checked in we were right back out the door the start seeing the sights.
Since Rome is such a 
large city, we decided to buy a three-day metro pass instead of trying to walk everywhere. Having learned from visiting other large cities, it’s easy to get discouraged and not want to continue walking when you’re so tired. Our first stop was the Coliseum, possibly the most iconic image in Rome. We were really lucky to have such clear weather during our time and we took a lot of great pictures. The outside of the Coliseum is really spectacular and we were eager to walk around the inside. The arena is gigantic and it’s easy to conjure up images from movies about gladiators fighting and the crowds roaring above. Time certainly has done a number on the Coliseum, turning the once proud structure into ruin. Our ticket into the Coliseum was also good for the neighboring Palatine Hill and the Roman forum, and was valid for twenty-four hours. These areas are so large that we spent the rest of our first day walking around the ruins and still didn’t see even half of the grounds. We came back early the following morning to finish trekking around. We found remains of the famous Roman aqueducts as well as the partially intact Imperial Palace and surrounding gardens. It was a really interesting experience to be right where the Roman Empire once stood, and is now all but leveled. Not far from there is the Pantheon, a temple 
build for all of the ancient gods in Rome in 126 AD. But, like most of the important or iconic structures we’ve seen so far on our trip, it was under construction and our photos were disappointing. We made our way to Piazza Navona to take a break by the fountains. There are numerous fountains all over Rome, all incredibly detailed and gigantic. Once we were back on our feet, we came across the Trevi fountain and a large crowd gathered around it. It was so crowded that we didn’t make it close enough to throw a coin in and make a wish. Rome is such a huge city that you can’t go a block without running into something spectacular. On our travels back toward the metro, we found the church which houses the Mouth of Truth (as seen on “Roman Holiday” and “Only You”). Consider the statue an ancient lie detector; it’s said that if your hand is in the mouth and you tell a lie, your hand will be bit off. Unfortunately, we arrive literally a minute too late and the church was closing their gates. I was able to take pictures of the Mouth, but I didn’t have a chance to put my hand inside.
We had been in Italy for almost a full week, so it was time to leave the country. Within a few minutes on the Metro we arrived in Vatican City, the world’s smallest country and the home of the Pope. St. Peter’s Square is surrounded by giant columns that lead up to the main attraction: St. Peter’s Basilica. Because it’s free to enter the church, there is always a line wrapped around the square to enter. From the outside, the church looks more like a parliament building. The inside is a whole different story. There is gold everywhere, and even if it’s only paint it’s still pretty fantastic. The whole cathedral shines when the sun is out, and there is nothing ordinary about any of the staves, statues or artwork throughout. There was a procession being held, but we weren’t sure what was going on. We think that maybe some dignitaries were being escorted down the aisle and into another area of the church, but that’s only speculation. It was kind of neat to see the Vatican guards marching down the aisle in what I’m sure are very dignified and historic uniforms. When we were finished basking in the opulence of St. Peter’s Basilica, we made our way to the Vatican Museum. We had no idea what we were in store for other than to visit the Sistine Chapel housed inside. The Museum is enormous, I can’t emphasize that enough. It would take days to see everything there; we definitely didn’t schedule enough time for the museum. There are all sorts of sculptures, tapestries, painting and any other form of art you can think of. They even have an Egyptian wing, which we briefly visited. From floor to ceiling, the museum itself is a work of art. We didn’t have enough time to spend wandering around, so we went straight to the Sistine Chapel to see Michelangelo’s ceiling masterpiece which includes The Creation of Adam. Aside from visiting the tiniest country on the map, the Sistine Chapel was on our list of must-see things.
We were at a crossroads with our trip. A decision had to be made on where to go next. Up until this point, we’ve mostly stuck to our outlined plan, with few exceptions. But at this point, we were a bit worn down and tired of big cities, especially in Italy. We needed a break, somewhere where we don’t have to feel obligated to see everything we can and make the most of our time. Originally we planned on going to Naples and visiting Pompeii and Mount Vesuvius. It would have been neat to see the mountain and the remains of the leveled city, but through a bit of research we found that Naples wasn’t a very nice city and it was going to be more expensive than we thought. Our goal was to relax and our alternatives were either to go back into Florence and find a nice bed and breakfast in the countryside, or to head up to the Italian Riviera and stay along the coast. The deciding factor was the weather, which was forecast to be rainy and windy in most areas of the country. We decided that, given the impending inclement weather, going to the ocean would be a better choice. After leaving Rome, we stopped in Pisa for about twenty minutes to look at the Leaning Tower. We took our pictures, saw all the tourists taking silly pictures of them holding the tower up, and then we left. We never planned on spending a lot of time in Pisa, it was always meant to be a quick stop between destinations.
Our next stop was La Spezia, a small city along the Mediterranean. We were not planning on spending much time there, however, because the real scenic beauty is just north in an area called Cinque Terre, or the five cities: Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza and Monterosso. The cities all sit along the ocean and are easily accessible by train. We decided to spend the whole day walking throughout the cities and along a coastal path that connects them. The cliffs and hillsides are brushed with colorful houses, and vineyards are spread out over the hilltops. The cities were fairly similar to each other, but all had very distinct charm. We walked along the ocean on a paved path from the first city to the second, and then boarded a train to the fifth city, which was apparently the nicest of them all. From there we hiked for about three miles along a winding dirt path that connected the fifth to the fourth, snaking through vineyards on the hillsides and squeaking by the narrow trail along the ocean cliffs. The hike wasn’t extremely difficult, but it was a bit challenging in areas. The whole area reminded us of Big Sur, and it was the closest thing to “home” we’ve had so far on this trip. We had planned to have a “down day” and not do anything, but once we starting exploring the cities we decided that it would be fun to hike around. The weather wasn’t the best, but it didn’t rain the whole time we were outdoors. Once we returned to our hotel, the downpour really began. We planned our outing perfectly and we were both really happy with our time spent. It was nice to be out in nature again, something we both love and haven’t done in a while. We had a great day, despite the gloomy weather. I’m sure that the area is even better in the summertime, and we would possibly consider visiting Cinque Terre again during that season.
Our time in Italy was not exactly what we had anticipated. It’s not that we didn’t enjoy being there, but that our interpretations of Italy are very different than how the vacation destination is generally portrayed. I suppose that there were a few cultural differences that we may have misinterpreted which created ill feelings. Basically, we saw almost all of the culturally and historically significant places and things, and there’s a slim chance that we would ever return to any part of the country.
Next up: Monaco, Nice & BarcelonaRome and Vatican City:Pisa and Cinque Terre
There is quite a distance between Budapest and Venice and we had to decide on whether to spend a whole day traveling or to take the dreaded night train. After careful consideration, we chose to take a proper sleeper train overnight. The whole trip lasted from eight at night until eight in the morning. Because we made reservations late, we were in separate cars; I was in a female-only room and Mark in a mixed-gender. The “rooms” contained six “beds,” three on either side stacked on top of each other, bunk bed style. Thankfully neither of our rooms were full. However, that didn’t stop the train from ruining our rest. It wasn’t the best night’s sleep we’ve had, but it was better than the last time we rode a night train in Copenhagen. We arrived in Venice early and excited to be in Italy. Our excitement was deflated little by little as we realized what being in Italy really means. Truly it is a country that wants to squeeze every penny out of you. I can go on and on about how Italy grinds my gears, and we even created a blog post to accompany this one just for the gripes, but we decided against it so that our time in Italy doesn’t seem so negative.Our first order of busin
ess was to get food and then meander through the alleyways of the city. Venice is the world’s only pedestrian-only city, and it was nice to not have to compete with cars, busses, bikes or scooters. It is very easy to walk around the island city, and just as easy to get lost. Venetian streets are exactly what the pictures look like: a labyrinth of cobbled streets snaking over canals tucked between aged brick buildings. It certainly is a one-of-a-kind place. The gondolas were in full effect, many accompanied with singing gondoliers. We made our way to the highlight of the main island, Piazza San Marco. The bell tower, the Campanile di San Marco, is easily the most recognizable symbol of Venice. Next to the tower are the Palazzo Ducale and Saint Mark’s Basilica. We waited in line for a bit to go into the church, which is known for having large opulent mosaics throughout the interior. We came across a number of immense stone churches which were all open to the public. At an exhibit on violin making in Venice, the “Artemio Versari Collection,” we saw a violin that dates back to 1580, along with several other old and interestingly shaped instruments. We crossed over the famous Rialto bridge and the market. Later, we made some time to visit the old Jewish Ghetto, which was where the term “ghetto” was used for the very first time. The area is a bit on the dilapidated side, but it is still home to many whose families lost so much. The majority of our time in Venice was spent wandering around, often times aimlessly to find something new to see and trying to avoid getting caught in the rain.
Venice is a cluster of over one hundred islands, and we only explored a fraction of them. If we had had more time we would have really enjoyed taking a boat out to more of the remote islands. Overall, there really isn’t much to do there other than to sightsee and take great pictures. We were really looking forward to riding in a gondola and eating at a canal-side restaurant, but everything was incredibly expensive and we just couldn’t justify it with more than a month left in our trip. I’m sure we would have felt a bit better about our time in Venice had the weather been less gloomy. We’re not sure it’s a place we’d ever return to, but we’re glad we came and we left with some good pictures.
Our next stop was Florenc
e, right in the heart of the Tuscan region. We quickly realized that our Eurail passes were not enough to get us onto an Italian train, and that seat reservations were compulsory. We were fined twice the amount of a seat ticket for not having one. Plus, most of the train ride was through tunnels, so we barely got to see any of the countryside. Needless to say, we arrived in Florence a bit peeved and ready to say nuts to the whole affair. Our hostel accommodations didn’t ease our frustration as it was easily one of the worst we’ve stayed in. We’ve been relying heavily on consumer reviews of different hotels and hostels wherever we go, and this one definitely led us astray. On the positive, it was close to the train station, a grocery store and a laundromat. It just felt like we were paying a lot of money to stay in someone’s spare room. Our main purpose for staying in Florence was to see Michelangelo’s David, which was as brilliant as we’d hoped it would be. We spent a fair amount of time marveling at the incredible undertaking the sculpture must have been. The masterpiece is housed in the Accademia Gallery along with Michelangelo’s unfinished Slaves and various other pieces of art throughout history. Many of the exhibits were focused on art from churches and historic tapestries. We coul
d not take any pictures of David or of anything else in the museum, but the city has two replicas as it is easily one of their proudest pieces of art. Not far from there is the Florence Cathedral, which was ornate and impressive on the outside and mundane on the inside. With the exception of a few ceiling murals, the interior was beige and tasteless. We moved across the Arno river and climbed up to the Piazzale Michelangelo to get a panoramic view of the city and countryside. From there, the Florence Cathedral dominates the landscape as the largest building in the city. We caught a glimpse into what the rural Tuscan region might be like on the west side of the city. From what we saw, it looks an awful lot like Napa, California. On our way out of Florence on the train, we noticed that the rolling green hills spotted with small farms and vineyards were reminiscent of the drive down HWY 1 from outside south San Jose to the north of Salinas. Some will surely argue, but I say the California version was much more pleasant (as long as there’s no traffic).
Rolling down the boot to: Rome, Vatican City and an incredibly brief stop in PisaVenice:
Florence:
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.
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. 
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 w
ould 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. 
