Spaghetti! Mi biccicletta! Fiamma Osteria!
It sure is a good thing I speak fluent Italian! And by fluent I mean...that subject line is pretty much the extent of it. But somehow, I have managed to take Italy by storm and come out alive on the other side...which in this case is Paris!
I realize it has been a little while since I have blasted you with one of my updates, so heres a little prologue to get you in the mood. Title of the prologue: THINGS THAT HAVE HAPPENED TO ELYSE OVER THE PAST FOUR DAYS THAT WILL BLOW YOUR MIIIIIIIND:
- Catesby says I look tan. And guess what. I DO. Granted, I use the term rather loosely, but as far as it pertains to me...yes, I actually got a little tan.
- I bought an adorable swimsuit without trying it on. And it FITS!!!!
- I walked through a wilderness hiking trail without being eaten alive by bugs.
- I met, and actually became friends with....are you ready?....a STRAIGHT boy (??????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!??????). We warned him that by spending time with me he was putting his sexual orientation at very high risk, but he took the chance. After four days, he was talking about adding accents to his designer bag, so its a good thing our itineraries split when they did.
Now lets flash back just a bit....
My dad and I finished up the last leg of our trip in Lake Maggiore, which was absolutely beautiful! Sleepy, peaceful little town with the bluest water I had ever seen, dotted with stunningly well preserved medieval castles filled with creepy dolls. We took a boat out to visit the three islands in the lake, one of which had parrots, pheasants, and peacocks roaming around freely, just chilling with the humans. That was definitely one of the highlights. Either that or the little cellophane wrapped tubes of dry cereal that they brought out with our dessert. A little bit of crazy European CRM I guess? Did I mention the food here can be really weird??
So...on to Venice! Catesby and I stayed in a beautiful little hole in the wall annex of a hotel right off of Piazza San Marco. It wasnt even marked as a hotel, so we felt like locals every time we stepped in or out of our room. I am finding that these cities built on canals are really working for me. They definitely mess with my already feeble sense of direction, but they are just so charming. I think the highlights of Venice were the amazing glass work and art pieces, ornate masks, the Rialto bridge, the pizza (finally some food that makes sense!!), and the oh-so-touristy-but-irresistable gondola ride.
Our next stop was Florence. At the train station, I met a guy who recognized me because we stayed at the same weird little hotel in Venice...the room right next door, in fact! It turned out that he was also taking a train to Florence, and was even planning to visit Cinque Terre afterwards, just like me and Catesby. So we made a new friend, and for the next four days, we an additional travel companion. His name is Nate, and he is from Alaska. He is backpacking around Europe for four months, mostly alone, occasionally meeting up with friends (mom, dad, feel better about my travel plans now?). I guess the Florence highlights include the Duomo, the view from the top of the tower next to the Duomo (414 steps, no elevator. We rock), the David (which actually took my breath away, and Im not even all that into sculpture. I did not expect to be nearly as entranced as I was!), the donner kabobs, and the night of sitting in the middle of some town square completely surrounded by huge statues listening to some jazz flute (go on steve, say it) and guitar players. Plus the fact that it was a lot less touristy than Venice, which really added to the magic of the city.
After Florence, our plan was to go camping in Cinque Terre. However, when we got off the train and looked at a map of the campsite we had booked, we found that it wasnt even close to the area where we wanted to stay! So we decided to just abandon that plan and fly by the seat of our pants. We went to the town where we wanted to stay and called around looking for reservations. It took us a while to find a place with last minute availability, which was a little scary, but we finally managed to find a great, cheap little B&B right by the beach. After I bought an awesome new swimsuit, we spent the rest of the afternoon at the beach in Monterosso. What a GORGEOUS beach! The colour of the water actually gave Lake Maggiore a run for its money. Plus the temperature was perfect, and Nate bought some goggles so we could see all of the schools of fish swimming around us. It would have been great snorkeling, but we didnt have time. The next day we went on a hike. It was a pretty rough trail, but a whole lot of fun! We didnt make it to all of the towns because we had to catch our trains (who wants to go back with me to finish the trail?? Its tougher than the Alps, so get in shape!!). Nate departed for Rome, and Catesby and I took a night train to Paris, which was a big mistake. I didnt sleep all night, and now we have arrived at our Paris hotel early. We are currently waiting for them to finish getting our room ready, at which point I will be taking a big fat well earned nap. Luckily it is raining here, so I dont feel too bad about getting a late start.
Will write back soon from this crazy French keyboard where none of the letters are where they schould be!!!!!!!!
I realize it has been a little while since I have blasted you with one of my updates, so heres a little prologue to get you in the mood. Title of the prologue: THINGS THAT HAVE HAPPENED TO ELYSE OVER THE PAST FOUR DAYS THAT WILL BLOW YOUR MIIIIIIIND:
- Catesby says I look tan. And guess what. I DO. Granted, I use the term rather loosely, but as far as it pertains to me...yes, I actually got a little tan.
- I bought an adorable swimsuit without trying it on. And it FITS!!!!
- I walked through a wilderness hiking trail without being eaten alive by bugs.
- I met, and actually became friends with....are you ready?....a STRAIGHT boy (??????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!??????). We warned him that by spending time with me he was putting his sexual orientation at very high risk, but he took the chance. After four days, he was talking about adding accents to his designer bag, so its a good thing our itineraries split when they did.
Now lets flash back just a bit....
My dad and I finished up the last leg of our trip in Lake Maggiore, which was absolutely beautiful! Sleepy, peaceful little town with the bluest water I had ever seen, dotted with stunningly well preserved medieval castles filled with creepy dolls. We took a boat out to visit the three islands in the lake, one of which had parrots, pheasants, and peacocks roaming around freely, just chilling with the humans. That was definitely one of the highlights. Either that or the little cellophane wrapped tubes of dry cereal that they brought out with our dessert. A little bit of crazy European CRM I guess? Did I mention the food here can be really weird??
So...on to Venice! Catesby and I stayed in a beautiful little hole in the wall annex of a hotel right off of Piazza San Marco. It wasnt even marked as a hotel, so we felt like locals every time we stepped in or out of our room. I am finding that these cities built on canals are really working for me. They definitely mess with my already feeble sense of direction, but they are just so charming. I think the highlights of Venice were the amazing glass work and art pieces, ornate masks, the Rialto bridge, the pizza (finally some food that makes sense!!), and the oh-so-touristy-but-irresistable gondola ride.
Our next stop was Florence. At the train station, I met a guy who recognized me because we stayed at the same weird little hotel in Venice...the room right next door, in fact! It turned out that he was also taking a train to Florence, and was even planning to visit Cinque Terre afterwards, just like me and Catesby. So we made a new friend, and for the next four days, we an additional travel companion. His name is Nate, and he is from Alaska. He is backpacking around Europe for four months, mostly alone, occasionally meeting up with friends (mom, dad, feel better about my travel plans now?). I guess the Florence highlights include the Duomo, the view from the top of the tower next to the Duomo (414 steps, no elevator. We rock), the David (which actually took my breath away, and Im not even all that into sculpture. I did not expect to be nearly as entranced as I was!), the donner kabobs, and the night of sitting in the middle of some town square completely surrounded by huge statues listening to some jazz flute (go on steve, say it) and guitar players. Plus the fact that it was a lot less touristy than Venice, which really added to the magic of the city.
After Florence, our plan was to go camping in Cinque Terre. However, when we got off the train and looked at a map of the campsite we had booked, we found that it wasnt even close to the area where we wanted to stay! So we decided to just abandon that plan and fly by the seat of our pants. We went to the town where we wanted to stay and called around looking for reservations. It took us a while to find a place with last minute availability, which was a little scary, but we finally managed to find a great, cheap little B&B right by the beach. After I bought an awesome new swimsuit, we spent the rest of the afternoon at the beach in Monterosso. What a GORGEOUS beach! The colour of the water actually gave Lake Maggiore a run for its money. Plus the temperature was perfect, and Nate bought some goggles so we could see all of the schools of fish swimming around us. It would have been great snorkeling, but we didnt have time. The next day we went on a hike. It was a pretty rough trail, but a whole lot of fun! We didnt make it to all of the towns because we had to catch our trains (who wants to go back with me to finish the trail?? Its tougher than the Alps, so get in shape!!). Nate departed for Rome, and Catesby and I took a night train to Paris, which was a big mistake. I didnt sleep all night, and now we have arrived at our Paris hotel early. We are currently waiting for them to finish getting our room ready, at which point I will be taking a big fat well earned nap. Luckily it is raining here, so I dont feel too bad about getting a late start.
Will write back soon from this crazy French keyboard where none of the letters are where they schould be!!!!!!!!