Have I mentioned that I love Greece?

Welcome back aboard the slowest moving blog train... Sorry guys we haven't been s diligent as we should have been. We are loving Greece so very much everywhere we have been in Greece has been wonderful! I have spent a lot of time reading ... My book count for the trip is at 13 so far and I figure by the time we leave I should be close to 20...who said there was no time for reading! Continuing our journeys in Venice, I had read about the old Jewish area of the city and wanted to visit the area. This is the city where the term ghetto originated, the word geto in Italian means "foundry" and it was in this area of Venice that the foundry was located. There was a really touching holocaust memorial made of bronze that stretched along two walls of the square. We checked out the museum which was pretty neat and then we had the chance to tour 3 synagogues which was fascinating. Neither of us had been inside a synagogue before and the 3 we were in were a few hundred years old...very cool! Just up the road was the site of the oldest pharmacy in Venice which has had some sort of pharmacy in the same location since the original one in the 1600's. It was a neat place to visit though they didn't have any cool souvenirs. We continued walking until we hit the north shore of the island and just wandered our way back into the central part of town. Cuttlefish can be found on almost every menu and Lyle had decided that he wanted to try it before we left the area. We found a nice looking restaurant and had dinner inside to avoid the constant stream of smoke that can frequently be found in outdoor dining areas. We both started with pasta dishes, I had lasagna and Lyle had seafood spaghetti which was a reverse of the evening before. My lasagna was the winner (we have developed a challenge of our meals to see who's meal is better...we have a small leaning tower of Pisa that goes to the winner). I can't even remember what I had for dinner but Lyle had the cuttlefish (which is an inking fish) served with polenta and potatoes. I didn't think I would like the cuttlefish but surprisingly I thought it was quite tasty though Lyle was very disappointed with the whole meal which is unfortunate. I don't like when one of us is totally disappointed in a meal. Anyhow another strange thing to check off on the list of foods we have tried. After dinner we wandered back to shore near St.Marks square and decided to just sit down and play cards to kill sometime before we had to catch the bus back. A grueling game of war can keep your occupied for a long time :) and playing on steps net the water will leave your card coated in a layer if salt... After nearly missing our return bus the day before we left early enough to not have to worry...or so we thought. We got to the people mover station and put our money in the machine for tickets, but the tickets never printed. There is no help desk and we weren't going to pay twice so we just jumped the gate... I know, I know. Well soon after a voice came on saying something in Italian... Um we still don't speak any Italian really so we just kept heading up stairs. The voice continued to come on repeatedly but I had no idea what to do since there seem to be no human to try and explain the situation to. When the next train arrived the doors wouldn't open and the sign above it now read buy a ticket in Italian at least that I understood, but still was not going to pay for another set. Lyle tried some sign language with the security camera and eventually a voice came through a box nearby. It had a two way mic so I somewhat tensely told the man that we had already paid for tickets but that his machine was broken. He replied that I had paid with a credit card that didn't work... Try again buddy we paid with cash! I not so calmly told him that we were not paying for a second set of tickets and that he should fix his machine... Microphone turned off and the doors opened... Mission accomplished lol. Oh the adventures we have! Have I mentioned I love Greece? So last night I went to the reception and asked if there was a computer repair shop nearby. I had previously tried unsuccessfully to find one on the Internet. Normally I would expect either a "no, sorry!" or some directions, not in Greece! Instead, he calls up his friend who works for a computer repair company to come to the resort and take a look at the computer. Did I mention it was 10pm? So not only did he take the computer to check it out and fix it, but if we choose not to have it fixed it would cost a staggering 15€. Who the heck makes a house call to fix a computer at 10pm and only charges 15€ to look at it. I might just send him my computer next time it breaks in Canada. So by wednesday night we should have a working computer or at least an idea of what to do. I love Greece! Ok, so tangent finished and back to Venice. This is one of our most eventful days of the trip. It was the day we planned to take the boat transit to the surrounding islands, including Murano, which is where they make their world famous glass. We woke up early and got on the bus. A few minutes into our trip we got into some traffic and slowed down. Something happened that we found out later was a minor scrape between our bus and a landrover. None of us really noticed it and nothing seemed odd until we were going very slow on a two lane highway with no one in front of us. I looked up and the landrover was driving in the middle of both lanes so no one could pass. We were all perplexed. Eventually the highway narrowed to one lane because of construction and the landrover actually came to a stop. The Italians were having none of this and before we knew it there were a half dozen angry drivers who left their vehicle, including our driver, and began yelling at the landrover driver to get off the road. The highway was completely backed up and then the police arrived, probably from a call from the landrover driver. After a few minutes of yelling in Italian, the cop convinced the landrover to pull off to the side so that traffic could go through. Once he did this and we pulled in behind him, the same group of half a dozen angry Italians, our driver included, pulled off the highway and got out of their cars and started yelling and hand waving and dancing... We were all enjoying the free spectacle from the bus. The best part was the cop was on the phone talking to someone else and having nothing to do with the feuding Italian drivers. After a good 10 minutes of this, the cop was still talking on the phone and the other drivers realized that waiting around to talk to him was useless, so they gave their info to our bus driver and went on their way. By now, we had gathered that the landrover had tried to pass the bus while the bus was changing lanes and got scrapped. All the other drivers were simply there to corroborate the story and gang up on the landrover for being an idiot. After they left, the cop finally got off his phone and played world's worst mediator between the landrover with cranky wife and our bus driver. Eventually the owners for the bus showed up so that the bus could drive us to Venice. We never found out what happened after that, but it was one heck of an adventure to start the day. We arrived about a half hour late to Venice, but in the end it wasn't a big deal. We walked over to the train station where we could buy tickets for the boat transit. Venice has a system of boats that go along the grand canal and around the perimeter of the city. They also go to the surrounding islands and a 24hr ticket cost a pretty Pennie, so we wanted to get to all the island we wanted to this day. We started with Murano. It is an island located to the east of Venice and is where the famous "Murano Glass" is made. We found out that it can only be called Murano Glass if it is made on the island. As soon as we got off the boat (which more or less slams into the pier in a somewhat controlled fashion), we headed for a glass blowing demonstration at one of the many factories on the island. In order to become a master glass blower/maker it takes an apprenticeship of 15 years, or you learn it from your youth from your father as teacher. Needless to say, these guys are incredible. Stepping into the workshop we marveled at the glass chandeliers that were masterful works of art. We watched as "the master", as they call me, made a beautiful horse from a mound of hot glass in less then 30 seconds. He then made a beautiful vase with handle in less than a minute with incredible precision and symmetry. Once we get the computer back we will upload a video of how he made the vase. For the finale, he started to blow glass into a giant ball and with just a tiny tap on the ground it exploded with a huge bang. The thin pieces were like flimsy plastic, it was so interesting. We went to their gallery and drooled over the beautiful works of art the master had made. This specific shop didn't sell their works anywhere but in their own gallery, so we got something that was pretty original, but that's a surprise for someone;) We visited another workshop where the master looked exactly like a Chinese emperor with no head hair an a long white goatee. All of their works are very original and incredibly high quality. We furnished our future mansion in our minds with all the artwork. We got lost in the residential part of the island, eager to see what everyday living would be like for an islander. We eventually made our way to the canal that has shops on both sides and we walked and shopped until we stopped for some food. We learnt a valuable lesson from our lunch . . . Never eat at a place that does not list their prices for food. A lot of places have premade paninis that you pick out and pay at the end of your meal. We ordered two sandwiches and two cokes. For the first time since England we were served a coke in a LARGE glass with ICE! Amazing! Unfortunately, what should have been between 12-15€ was 20€. Lesson learnt, never eat at a place that does not list their prices. So we were feeling down about being ripped off there (a feeling we would feel several times while in Italy, and only Italy). We felt better after we had finally been able to find a charm for Heather's bracket. It is a glass heart with a white loop that the lady attached the charm clasp right on the spot. It looks really nice. We then bid farewell to Murano and headed to our next island; Mazzeflo. This island is a bit further east and is support to be the island of cats. Small wonder why we wanted to visit the island. When we got off our bumper boat we though we were on a deserted island. We walked in one direction and only came upon an orchard, but no cats. We saw a tour group get off the next boat and head the opposite direction, so we decided to follow them. We ended up seeing a few cats, but nothing to fame an island. The group we were following we're actually headed to the island right next to Mazzeflo called Burano. A small bridge connects the two islands. We followed them to Burano and there the camera really got put to work. Burano is known for lace. Those of you who know me well, know I don't like lace at all. Just like Heather doesn't like the feel of sandpaper, i don't like the feel of lace. However, the lace that is handmade by little old ladies on the island is very beautiful and I can appreciate the artistry and attention to detail it takes to make what they do. We enjoyed our walk around the island, and noticed that there were many more cats than Mazzelflo, ironically. I found one cat that may have fallen asleep as I rubbed it's belly because when I left it was lying on its back with all four legs spread out like a star. It was very cute! Burano also has some beautiful houses that are painted the most vibrant of colours. We were able to get several pictures that National Geographic would be proud of. Again, once we have my computer back we will upload the pictures. We cooled off with some gelato and made our way to the bumper boats for our next island, Lido. Traveling by boat between the islands is really a neat experience. There are little island everywhere with remnants of when they were once inhabited by people from all over europe. As we neared Lido, which is south of Venice, we decided we would get off at the first stop and try to find the old Jewish cemetery. We ended up finding it but it was closed for the day, so instead we walked along the shoreline sidewalk and admired Venice in the sunset from afar. The other side of Lido, which is only about a 20 minute or so walk is where the beaches are, but by this point in the day we were very much ready to eat something and call it a day. We jumped back on the bumper boat and took it all the way to Venice and down the grand canal to the Rialto. We got off there are searched for a place to eat. We settled on a little place a block or so from the bridge that posted a sign,"free wifi". The wifi was free, but they just have to screw you somehow. This place their specialty was "cover charge" and "service charge". So in Italy they think they have the right to charge you just for the privilege of eating at their restaurant. So unknown to us, when the bill came we were charged 2.50€ each for the glorious privilege of "renting" a 1980's chair and table to sit at. We were also charge 15% service charge, also known as a tip, no matter how bad the service was. That really irks me because you have already charged me to be at your restaurant, now I must pay you an extra 15% to bring me my food. The pizza was good, but it wasn't that good. Having now experienced Greece and looking back on things, Italy was a rip off at every turn. I am more than happy to tip for good service and as Heather and most people I eat with know, I tip very well. But I find it incredibly obnoxious and rude to demand a tip if I am not satisfied with the service I receive. I am more than ok with restaurants charging 15% for large parties because of the added work it requires, but two people who order water and a simple meal and then wait and wait and wait for the bill does not merit 15% in any universe. I wasn't happy then, and I'm still irked about it (if you couldn't tell). So we go out of there and returned to the bumper boat which took us all the way to our bus stop without us having to use the useless people mover. And that was our exciting day in Venice. The following day was our very last day in Venice and we had a short list of things we wanted to see and do before we left. We had bought a painting earlier in the week and wanted to find the spot where it was painted that the artist had showed us. We wondered our way to the place he had marked on our map, but then realized that we couldn't remember what the painting looked like because it had been a few days. We kinda laughed that one off and took some pictures that we thought might be where he had put himself to paint the picture (I don't think we got the right spot.haha). We took a little detour to check out a store that was advertised around the city for woodwork that looked like clothing. Imagine a brown leather jacket hanging from a hangar, but made entirely out of wood, or clothes on a drying rack, or a suitcase overflowing with clothes. It was really neat to see despite only being able to look in the window because it was closed at that time. After that we wanted to go inside St. Mark's Basilica as well as feed the pigeons in the square. When we arrived we were very surprised to find a giant parade of sorts going on that had the entire square gated off except the perimeter and stands with dignitaries and soldiers and a marching band in the square. We asked around and found out it was the annual celebration of the Italian navy. It was pretty neat to watch for a bit and listen to the band. We caught then end of it, which wasn't a bad thing because we couldn't understand anything anyway. We tried to make our way over to the church but soon found ourselves in a dense mass of people moving one way and the lineup to get into the church going the other way. It was very close to what it must feel like for fish swimming upstream. Heather was not too happy because she had some extremely pushy Italian lady behind her that kept pushing her in the back. I really wanted to change places with her to drive the lady nuts, but Heather wouldn't let me;(. We eventually were able to switch direction and get in the line for the church. In front of us were a couple that we started to chat with and learned that they were from Vancouver. Small world eh! He was actually german but you couldn't tell at all from his accent. We ended up spending most of the day with them as we went about our travels. Going into the church we got to the front of the line and were then to that we could not bring our backpacks in, but that there was a free coat check around the corner. We went around the corner and went to what we thought was the right place but were then yelled at before we walked in that it wasn't the right place. I was dumbfounded that the guy just yelled at a bunch of lost tourists and didn't even bother to tell us the right way. So I rudely asked where we should go and he pointed in another direction. Looking back, it was at this point that I really became disappointed with what Italy was now and what I remembered it was like from my last trip. I felt like a burden on the people and only there to spend money. I would encourage people to see Venice, but don't bother to linger longer than you need to. We returned to the front of the line at the church and got in for free. Once again, I felt disheartened when "free admission" is only a scam to get you inside. Once inside, it cost 5€ to climb to the balcony, 3€ to see the treasury, 2€ to see this, 2€ for that. We paid 2€ to see some gold artwork in the front by the alter, but it wasn't worth it. We left after being disappointed with the inside. The best part of the whole church were the incredible mosaic flooring that was either covered by chairs or covered with a mat for the visitors. Seeing just the sides made us sad we couldn't see the whole floor. Once we got out we decided to have some fun by feeding the pigeons. It's a lot like trafalgar square in England (or what trafalgar square used to be like before they got rid of all the birds). We had some crackers with us and Heather and I crushed them in our hands while our Canuck friends videoed our adventure. The birds came flocking to us and ate out of our hands. I put crumbs on my shoulders and head and was covered in birds. With birds all around me it was one of the most exhilarating experiences I've had. Heather managed to conquer her fear of pigeons and had them in her hands and along her arms. We attracted a lot of attention and we gave crackers to the kids that we watching and they got to feed the birds. It was really great. When we were ready to leave there were several people doing the same thing we were, something that I find very unique and exciting about the place. Unfortunately, an egotistical tour guide thought he would play cop and said it was illegal to feed the pigeons. As tourists, we gave him the ole "shove it" action by continuing to enjoy our adventure. And bytheway, not a single bird pooped on us and we sanitized our hands afterwards, just to calm the nerves of the germaphobes out there. After that, we had some lunch. Heather had a hot dog and we enjoy our first sip of Pepsi since Canada. Oh how I love Pepsi! It's rare over here, but so great! We wanted to tour the giant sailing ship we had seen a few days ago and it was supposed to be open for tours at 2 in the afternoon. Apparently someone missed the memo, because it was out in the middle of the lagoon with no sign of a tour going on. We went to the place they had advertised the tour and they said that it was indeed supposed to be at the port, ready for tours at 2. They suggested we come back tomorrow . . . Great suggestion buddy! So, we shrugged that one off and then spent the rest of the day walking through Venice on quest to find the last few souvenirs. We ended up walking way too much because both Heather and I were nearly exhausted and ready to snap at any moment by the time we stopped to eat. We tried to find a place that was recommended to us by some other tourists but we couldn't find it, so we ate at another random place. We both had pasta, but Heather took the torre (italian for tower, which is our prize for best meal) with her gnocchi and four cheese sauce. It was wonderful. We were in a rush to catch the people mover to catch our bus, so we asked for the check when they took our plates away. After a few minutes of waiting, we asked again for the bill and reminded them we were in a hurry. After a few more minutes and seeing no effort to give us the bill, I was very abrupt about giving us our bill because we had to leave. I think they go the message, because the waiter finally got his act together and brought the bill. See, now why should I pay you a generous tip when I had to ask three times for the bill and was ignored. Whatever, no time to argue that one. We paid in cash and feebly hobbled our way to the bus and spent the rest of the night packing. Our shuttle to the train station left at 8:30 and we had plenty of stuff to shove in our bags. Ok folks, we have an action plan in place and are hoping to get blogs up daily. Enjoy! Love to all, L&H

And now we return from hiatus... Sorry we were MIA folks

One more disclaimer... Sorry for the lack of photos but Lyle's computer is not cooperating. Before we continue with the blog in Venice, we thought we would update everyone on our current situation. Because of computer problems and wifi problems we have been quite a bit behind on our blogging. Currently, we are on the greek island of Mykonos and it is Sunday, June 24. A lot has happened in the meantime and we promise to do a full blog on all our adventures. We have checked into our RCI resort and have been speechless concerning the beauty of this place. Imagine white houses dotting the hillside with blues to accent the white. Imagine having a crystal clear blue pool that has an infinity edge with the sea and only the sound of the waves, wind, and Greek music to compliment the awesome view. We will be spending a of time at the pool this week, with Heather getting even darker and myself . . . Well I'll be in the shade most of the time, but I will make it into the sun too. I have actually turned the darkest I have ever been, with a forehead that is still recovering from some burns. We both are in love with Greece and would highly encourage everyone to visit. Whatever you have heard about the country being unsafe or not a good place to visit, it just isn't the case. Smart travelers are in no danger and the people are the most kind and helpful people we have met on our trip to date. The beauty of the country and hospitality is among the greatest surprises of our trip. That being said, we have come to a sort of crossroads in our adventures. We are starting a to run short of money and so we have made some changes to our itinerary. Instead of traveling to Geneva, Ireland, and Scotland, we have decided to stay in Greece because it is so much cheaper than those countries and we have used another week of RCI to help as well. Our plans now include traveling to the island of Crete at the end of this week and remaining there at two different places for the remainder of our trip. We will then fly back to England and then to Montreal as previously planned. We are sad that we can't experience Ireland or Scotland, but now we have motivation to return one day and enjoy their rolling green hills. Until then, we are quite happy to remain the relaxing paradise of the Greek islands and experience a great time recovering from our travels. Just in case we sound a bit mopey about traveling being hard, we walked 10.5km yesterday is the heat of the day through the mountainy roads to get to the grocery store, then I carried 47lbs in my backpack for the way back. Not the smartest thing we have done, but when the only other option was an expensive taxi we thought it necessary. Anyway, we will talk more about our adventures in Greece once we have caught everyone up with the our earlier travels. So until then, here are just a few pictures of Greece to wet your appetite. So, back to Venice! It's now Monday and we woke up planning on taking the 10am shuttle into Venice. We were all ready and in line to buy our tickets, but we failed to realize that checkout time was also 10am. Now in most places I know, if you have people wanting to make a 30second transaction for a bus leaving at 10 in the same line as others that take several minutes to checkout and pay for their stay, you would somehow accommodate those people needing to catch the bus so they don't have to wait another hour. Not here! They only had one person working the reception (despite having to windows and normally having two people working) and they made no effort to make sure those just wanting to get on the bus could do so. So some travelers, seeing that the hour was nearing, budded to the front of the line and got their tickets. We have learned the budding in line for Europeans is either acceptable or not frowned upon and rude like it is back home. However, it did bug me that when I asked if I could also get tickets before the bus left I was told that I had to wait in line. So, being a good Canadian I went back to wait with Heather in line. A few minutes later, after having not moved forward in line at all, the bus left. It wasn't worth wasting time in line now, so we went back to the tent and relaxed for a bit. During that hour however, it started to rain and eventually starting to thunder. We both took it as a sign and figured that today was not a good day to go to Venice. With only one weak umbrella and shoes not designed for rain, we figured we would enjoy listening to the rain hit our tent as we passed the day. We read, slept, watched a movie, and just spent time recovering from our days of walking. I sure do enjoy listening to rain on the tent. It's one of those sounds that allows you to appreciate the simple pleasures of life. We almost ended up with a mini flood in our tent but we quickly averted the water from coming in. Listening to a few groups return from Venice, they weren't so lucky and had their clothes get wet from water seeping in through the door. The next morning we woke up to celebrate our one month anniversary (which came to be known as our Monniversary). It's hard to believe that we have been married one month already, but time sure does fly when you're having fun! We ended up coming into Venice a bit late but we eventually arrived and were very excited as we had planned to celebrate with a gondola ride. We did a bit of walking and exploring before we decided to stop for gelato and then take a gondola. I knew that the best gondola rides were if you found a lone gondolier in a not so busy area so you can see another side of Venice and avoid being trapped in a convoy of gondolas. We found just a spot with two gondoliers and a gelato shop right next to them. So we had some gelato and wanted around in the sun. That may not have been such a good idea, because the gelato soon ended up rolling all the way down Heather's shirt and shorts and onto the ground. The five second rule does apply, but Heather now had a nice streak of strawberry gelato to accent her white shirt for a whole day of photos.haha. We laughed it off and headed for the gondola. Well folks I have pulled myself away from the sun to give Lyle a blogging break. So we stepped into the gondola for our 40 minute ride and settled in to the cushy settled in for our journey. Our gondolier was a man around 50 who ended up singing to us about spaghetti and coca-cola, he was not the type of gondolier to give you history but we enjoyed the peaceful time. We got to see a number of the smaller side canals and did a stretch of the grand canal. It was very much worth it and I had a fabulous time! After our gondola ride we ventured off to find the Rialto bridge. It's one of the larger bridges and has shops up both sides with a walk way on each edge and a large be in the middle. We enjoyed browsing through the shops though the slow crowds of people barely moving and yet still pushing are difficult for me to deal with. We chose a cute little restaurant on one of the canals for dinner. Our table was right on the edge and soon there was a guitar player serenading us through dinner. After the guitar player left a little boy that was seated at the table beside us got up to dance and imitate the guitar player, it was the cutest thing! We chose from the tourist menu and Lyle started with lasagna and I had the seafood spaghetti, both were wonderful. During our main course an American couple from New Jersey sat at the table beside us and we ended up having a great conversation with them, they were celebrating their 50th anniversary! Lyle had wiener schnitzel for dinner and I had a pork chop both with seasonal vegetables that were amazing. We enjoyed our conversation for quite a good length of time and the panna cotta we were served for dessert. After dinner we wandered in circles until we finally got our bearings again and headed for a walk near the canal. While scanning the horizon Lyle spotted a large ship and we went to find out what it was. It turned out to be a military training ship and it was beautiful. We admired for a while and I found a sign that said it would be open to tours for the public in Friday, Saturday and Sunday so we decided we would come back on Friday to check it out. On our journey back we passed a number of artists selling their work (or what claims to be their work) and we stopped at one to buy our "Venice painting". We have picked up some form of picture from each city we have been in. Sadly when we finally went to pack it we found out that it was a print n canvas and not an original as he claimed, but oh we'll it wasn't a ridiculous price and we still really like the picture Ok folks, I am going to post this but we promise to be diligent this week with working n the blog to bring you all up to speed! Love, H&L

Alright there . . . So we have once again fallen behind on our blogging because of computer and Internet problems. We have continued to have problems finding wifi that is reliable enough to upload anything within an hour or so, and now my trusty computer has started to bite the dust. Perfect timing since we still have a while to go and won't have English speaking computer techs until Ireland. So we are now typing on the iPad and I'm slowly learning the ways of a Mac product. Don't think I will be a master at it, but I might just start to like it. So the blogs might become a little shorter, on my end at least, but we will do what we can to bring Europe home to everyone.

So this Thursday we headed out to the playground of the rich and famous . . . Monaco! I had been there on my last trip to Europe and I was so excited to go back and experience it with heather. First of all I must say that travel in the French Rivera is amazing. Not only do you have a beautiful backdrop at every angle, any trip on the bus is only 1€ no matter how far. So for our 45 minute bus ride from Nice to Monaco and back it was a grand total of 4€. Beat that greyhound! The bus was pretty full so I ended up standing with heather sitting next to a man sleeping. We go along the coast, seeing gorgeous hills and blue seas and EXPENSIVE yachts. It took us a little while to get our bearings straight once we got off the bus, but eventually climbed to the top of the rock, arriving right in front of the royal palace.

 

 After doing some research, we learned more about the history of Monaco that you might be interested in. The Gramaldi family took over in the 14th century when Francisco Grimaldi (don't quote me on the name) snuck into the palace with his army dressed as monks. Since then the same family has been at the head of the sovereign state and been called the prince of Monaco. Monaco is the state with Monte Carlo being the city inside the tiny country. The country has no unemployed, no tax, the highest ratio of millionaires per capita, the second smallest country in the world, and the best aquarium I have ever been to. It's definitely worth reading the wikipedia article about the country.

So once we arrived on top and took some pictures we were just in time to see the changing of the guard. It was a very neat experience. As everyone was concentrated on the ceremony, we heard some ladies say the noticed a black tinted car drive behind the crowd and into another gate. From what they were saying, the palace uses the diversion of the changing of the guards to get the royals in and out of the palace without having to deal with the crowds. That was pretty neat we thought. We also both commented on how the guards were all very good looking. We both think that being good looking is a job requirement. And I will include the pictures for all the girls out there.haha. I just might put some hot girls in my next blog then;)

So after the guards we went to the aquarium called the oceanographic museum. It has some museum type parts to it where they highlighted the fact they are a research based aquarium and not just a show gallery. They had to include some weird and disturbing "art" that Europeans feel need to contaminate everything. Going down to the aquarium portion you are immediately treated by a fish tank that is two stories tall, has the footprint of a small house, and has room for every creature you can imagine from sharks to clownfish. We sat and watched for about 20 minutes just taking in everything. Going through the rest of the aquarium was gasp after gasp of awe and wonder. It was even better than last time with fish I had never seen before and some of the most active and giant specimens I've ever seen. We were so very lucky to catch most of the tanks during feeding time, something that I will never forget and goes down as a highlight of the trip. Seeing animals like crabs, lobsters, Moray eels, turbin, scorpion fish, and other fish duke it out for food was amazing.

After our fish adventures we walked through the gardens that line the coastal wall back to the palace. There we took a tour of the palace. We had an audio guide with a welcome from Prince Phillip who spoke great English. We later learned his mom was American which would explain that. On the other hand, the British voice that did the rest of the tour pronounced Mon-ah-co as Mu-knock-o. Heather said, "should have had a Canadian do it!". The palace was very beautiful with all the room having tapestry walls with ornate furniture and lots of history. Learning about what the royals do today in terms of influencing environmental and cultural topics have made Monaco my new favorite royalty to follow.

We did some wandering around on the rock before heading back down and walking along the harbour towards the Casino Monte Carlo. The harbour was still full of stands. From the Grand Prix from a few days earlier. When we got to the casino we knew we had arrived when we saw bentleys, a maserati, some porsches, and a Ferrari parked outside. No big deal! We kinda walked around before getting up the nerve to try and go inside, which when we got in found out it was 10€ to go all the way in. We just admired the entrance hall and glamour of what we could see before returning to reality. In the parking lot was a group of east Indian women posing with a Ferrari and its driver. The driver was definitely loving the attention and screaming girls and he reved the engine to get them to squeal. Girls and cars . . . Yup. Gratefully Heather can't get enough of the sunfire. . . OH YEAH!!

After our adventures in Monaco we headed back on our 1€ bus and chatted with some Oklahoma girls about Europe adventures. That night we ate at La Loraine again, with me having the mussels again and Heather having the four seasons pizza. We enjoyed it very much once again that we are planning on going back the next night too. With that we headed on home to rest our very tired feet.

Heather's turn! Lyle is sleeping and I am not so I figured I could try advancing this monster blog post so that we can eventually get it up. Friday was our last real day in Venice and we had a list of things that we wanted to do. First and foremost on the list was a salt shop that I had seen earlier in the week. They seemed to have 25+ flavors of salt, and since I love to cook I wanted to bring some back. When we arrived we found out they also sold flavored sugar and our challenge became more difficult. The salt flavors were overwhelming though eventually we settled on 2 (an Indian spiced salt, and one that had maple and a few other flavors), we also chose 2 sugars but Lyle insisted that we choose flavors that we would not see back home so we are returning with poppy and lavender flavored sugar. I am excited to see what we can find for recipes. We managed to find tea towels for marseille and Nice and had to head back to the apartment to meet the landlady. She was late so we busted out the rook deck (fabulous shower gift) and eventually some friend of hers came by to say she wouldn't make it, she hoped we enjoyed our stay and left some checkout directions.

We headed back to La Loreine for dinner one last time. This time we both tried out the fixed menu. Lyle chose salade Nicoise to start, steak and the lemon tart for dessert. Salade Nicoise is one of the local dishes...kind of like cobb salad but swap the meat for tuna and anchovies....he really enjoyed it. I hade caprese salad, steak and creme brûlée, the food was amazing! We really enjoyed the restaurant and the service and would recommend it to anyone in Nice.

Post dinner we decided to take a different route home and explore a new area. Ending up back on the beach I wanted to walk the shoreline back. It was a beautiful night for a walk and we sat on the beach listening to the waves crash for a while. Finally dragging ourselves back into the apartment to face the reality of packing we realize we are getting quite adept at stuffing our bags. Only problem is we will need to begin rearranging since Lyle's bag is at 19.7 kg and will be over the weight limit when we begin flying.

We set out bright and early the next morning to find a train station that we had not yet been to. We arrived in plenty of time and the very hungry Heather set out to find breakfast while Lyle waited with the bags. I returned with fruit, some focaccia bread pizza and a nutella doughnut... Now that is breakfast! We enjoyed breakfast as we waited for our first train of the day...there were 3 in total.

When the train arrived it was packed, so we squished ourselves in and headed towards Ventemiglia just over the Italian border. Gratefully at Monaco the train emptied and we were able to sit and breathe! We had a 45 minute layover before out next rain left for Milano, boarding this train in Italy we realize that trains are a bit nicer in Italy than in France, though england was the one country we had wifi on board. The train to Milan was 4 hours and we chatted with a friendly British couple throughout the journey. Our stop in Milan was only 10 minutes and it took us about 5 to get off the train, Lyle learned how fast I can move when I need to and we boarded our final train of the day for Venice. On this journey I had started reading Book of Negroes (which I highly recommend) and Lyle sat near the window and it was a fairly uneventful train ride. We arrived in Venice about 5:30 and I had past the point of hungry to feeling ill.

Back to Lyle . . . This blog really is a tag team effort. Heather wanted me to do the next part because she thought my humor would be perfect for what happened. Firstly, we avoided a meltdown and headed to the nearest food place for Heather. That happened to be McDonalds. I know, it's technically not "food" but it was the only thing we could find. We had our meals which are not worth describing, except for the fact that their mcflurries over here are a sad sad expression of what a Mcflurry should be. They put soft serve in a very small cup and the smarties or kitkat balls on top, then don't bother even mixing them up. So you get no swirls, no flavor in the ice cream except for frozen balls. FAIL! Also, the bathroom Heather used was a co-ed bathroom, not something I Think you could get away with in north America McDonalds.

So we headed out to find our campsite which, according to google map was about 3-4 km away. I had the route memorized in my head and it was pretty easy in terms of direction. At least that's what we thought. After walking about 45 we got to our third roundabout and were support to take the second exit. Well this exit was in fact an off ramp for the major highway. Fail google maps! So at this point I think I'm not remembering the map correctly, so after our first attempt down one street and feeling we were not going the right way, we backtrack and try the next exit. We are on the lookout for an open store to ask for directions, but wait . . . It's Saturday at around 6-7 and EVERYTHING is closed! There isn't a single place open for the next 30 minutes of walking. Remember, we still have our packs on and it's hot and Heather isn't feeling well after our McDonalds experience. Yes, our first opinion of mainland Venice isn't very good. Finally, after walking to the end of the known world, Heather has a moment of brilliance and remembers that the map is still on the iPad screen. So we see how for we have walked in the wrong direction and set out on a new path to try and get to the campsite. We also realize that had we continued along our first pathway, we would have nearly passed it, but heaven forbid you put any sign for a huge campground along the correct route. Grrrrr! So along our new path we hit a stretch where everything is open, and we find their version of wal-mart. Just our luck eh. Now we get to a point where the map won't load the full picture, so we somehow have to got the campsite that is set about 10 up and on the other side of the major highway. So instead of getting lost again, we decided to walk along the side of the highway. Obviously this is the safest choice because Europeans love to omit shoulders from their roads. So walking along we see the campsite across the highway, but can't cross the median, so we walk to the next roundabout and go against traffic, up an off ramp, and down a narrow lane to finally get to where we can reach the campsite. We found out later that there is a tunnel that goes under the highway we could have used, but was marked with a sign facing the wrong way and chalk on the pathway. Good job guys!

With that adventure over we are quite happy to just check in an spend the night in our tent. So the campsites we are staying at in Italy are a great find from my last trip. They are mostly similar and are all mini resorts for backpackers. This one had two pools, a large restaurant, market, showers, laundry, beach court, and you could either bring your own tent or trailer, stay in an army style tent with a bunk bed and single bed which we did, or rent a cabins/mobile homes that had bathrooms and some had kitchens. The price is great and you get everything you need if you like the outdoors. We even got free wifi, but it went down after our second day, but at least we got it right;) oh how low our expectations for wifi have become.

Hello again blog readers, back to Heather's account... Details might get a little fuzzy but I will do my best to share our journey with you. The next morning we headed to reception to book our spot on the next shuttle bus, which conveniently was only a 20 minute wait. Oddly you also have to book your return shuttle at the same time and there is no catching a different one once you have booked so you had better hope you make it on time, we chose the 8:30 return and hoped for the best. The shuttle bus dropped us off in what really is the least ideal spot... Not their fault seems to be a rule by the city of Venice that tour buses and shuttles cannot use the regular bus terminal but must drop passengers off in a parade which then requires a half hour walk or a 1€ ride on what they have named "the people mover". Really it's just a money grab in our opinion, but we bought our tickets and rode the two stops over to the main terminal area on the island and began our walking adventure of the day.

Our day was basically a day of walking while wandering. It was my first day in Venice, it also happened to be a Sunday and a holiday so many shops were closed and we used the day to get our bearings and just enjoy where we were. One of the neatest things is the quietness that prevails in Venice. The lack of cars really makes a difference to a city, there are still motorized boats but it seems as though you can go hours without hearing the noise if an engine. It was fabulous! We took a meandering path through the allies stopping to look at souvenirs and our new favorite shops which are stationary shops. They seem to be everywhere here in Italy and carry many types of homemade paper and journals as well as various types of calligraphy pens including ones made of Murano glass.

Eventually we found ourselves in St. Mark's square, it wasn't quite what I had expected. They certainly weren't joking about the number of pigeons there and initially I was overwhelmed by that but stay tuned for an adventure later in the week that should entertain you all. The church is huge and massively ornate, we decided we would visit later in the week, and all of this is surrounded by your high end stores... Those places that I won't even go into because I think it is absurd to pay 2000€ for a blazer.

We started to head toward the canal edge to continue our journey when I heard an all male choir performing, obviously I had to stop and figure out what was happening. This was not the first group I had seen in the square wearing matching shirts and so I was curious. The choir was phenomenal, performing under the domed ceiling of the walkway was the perfect place. (Burton if you are reading this you would have loved this) It turns out there was a choir competition earlier that weekend and the choirs were now giving random performances in the area around the square. We saw a second choir but the all male one was my favorite.
 
We walked along the large canal watching boats and heading for a park that Lyle remembered from this last trip. We explored the park and a nearby neighborhood before ending back up at a fountain at the beginning of the park that he wanted to show me. Sadly the frogs he remembered from his last trip were no longer inhabiting the fountain but it was a pretty fountain none the less that had water lilies growing in it.

We stopped at a little restaurant to have some pizza for dinner, Lyle ordered the "rustica" which has a sunny side up egg in the middle of it and is surprisingly really good and I had another 4 seasons pizza which is basically ham, mushrooms, artichoke and cheese. We slowly wandered our way back on very sore feet and legs, also discovering that it is 1.5€ to use a bathroom in Venice...you need a budget just for bathroom use over here! We decided that we were early enough to not use the people mover so we walked all the way back. My legs were incredibly sore as were all the joints in my legs and I was very grateful when the walk was over. When we sat down my legs felt like they were on fire and when I looked at the back of my calves I had massive hives down both calves. Thinking I must have come into something that caused an allergic reaction I was a bit concerned since I had no idea what it might have been. (A few days later it will happen again and we discover that it happens when we walk really far when my legs are already sore... Any of my doctor friends have any idea why this is happening?)

Anyhow we make it home and call it an early evening in preparation for what we anticipate will be another long day of walking.

I would walk 500 miles...

I am fully aware that we are a few days behind and I take full responsibility for that, but I figured no one would hold it against me while we are here in the land of beauty. I have rather fallen in love with the French Riviera. Nice has definitely been one of our favorite places and I now quite understand why my best friend loved living here. Unlike Marseille we have always be able to find places to eat that are open in the afternoon and late into the evening and the food has been wonderful.

Tuesday we had decided to head out to Parc Phoenix which promised gardens and Europe’s biggest green house. Our map indicated it was 4km and we decided to walk it stopping at the Musee des beaux-arts on the way on Jen’s recommendation. We found the museum and began our quest to find Jen’s favorite sculpture. She had mentioned it before I left Canada but I never had the chance to get more information on which statue I was looking for; I knew it was a sculpture of a woman but that was all I had to go on. In the first room we entered Lyle spotted a sculpture of a woman beneath a veil, we both felt that this was a good candidate. We continued through the museum enjoying the first floor more than the second but on a whole it was a quaint little museum that was free and didn’t take too much time to see. Upon leaving we still thought that statue was the likely one and upon checking with Jen later we indeed guessed correctly.

Continuing our journey up the Promenade the walk began to feel very long as we could see ourselves approaching the airport. Now up until this point I have been the one most likely to complain about sore feet, knees, hips, ankles etc… this day would prove to be the exact opposite. Lyle was really feeling the wear and tear on his lower body and not happy with what seemed to be the never ending walk. It really did feel like we might never get there. While we were in the airport district we began to see signs for the Parc which encourages us to keep trekking along. We spotted the greenhouse and the parc perimeter and began feeling very hopeful; we continued following the signs and after another 10 minutes or so finally found the entrance.

Birds of Paradise will always remind me of California and some wonderful friends

The parc was quite a bit larger than we had envisioned and we were excited to explore. Lyle and I both love animals but there are certain animals that turn the look on my husband’s face to one akin to a kid in a candy store. We discovered that there were both tortoises and otters… the camera battery was doomed, and I was destined to spend large amounts of time watching Lyle film the animals. I must admit that I do really enjoy watching him get excited over the critters and I giggle a bit at his enthusiasm. The parc had a number of different animals including some evil loose chickens, as an aside did any of you know that chickens can climb trees? I was a bit flabbergasted.

 Giant guinea pigs

 Evil tree climbing roosters

We made our way into the greenhouse which was incredible. It was divided into six separate areas each showcasing a different type of climate, including some animals and there was also an aquarium. My favorite section of the greenhouse was the one dedicated largely to orchids, the number and variety was stunning. I would love to have a greenhouse full of blooming orchids.

 Every greenhouse here has beautiful hibiscus

 Enormous leaves

 Bruce x 2

We wandered the parc until we were exhausted and figured we had seen most of the attractions and then headed out for home. We had decided that we would take the bus back to spare our bodies but we still had to walk to the nearest bus stop. We managed to survive the trip and enjoy the rest of our fairly uneventful day. We found a restaurant called La Lorraine and decided on dinner there since they had a good price on a kilo of mussels and Lyle was itching to try them. The food was really good and the waiter/host was very entertaining. We decided we would eat there again before we left.

Wednesday morning the plan had been to head into Monaco… well we didn’t get up quite early enough so I let Lyle sleep. I had recalled seeing books in the apartment so I dug through and found a murder mystery that looked interesting and began to read… I woke Lyle up about 1 so we could have breakfast and we just hung out reading all day until dinner time! It was fabulous! We ventured out for dinner and tried a new place…. It was a fail in my books. Lyle ordered a half chicken and fries and said it reminded him of what you get at Safeway. I ordered paella and it was ok. After stopping elsewhere for a crepe and waffle for dessert (which were wonderful) we called it a night.

Ok folks, we promise to try and catch up with the blog now that we have internet in our tent!

Love you all,

H&L