Swiss Cheese

 

            Unfortunately there was no sighting of the Pope. Yes Mom I looked for him on the bus, but without the hat I wouldn’t recognize him. Where does that guy hang out?

 Rome was amazing, but exhausting. We stayed there for over a week and still wanted to see more. We visited countless museums and churches including St Peters Church, and the Sistine Chapel. Rome seems rather small now. We walked all day, and by the end of everyday I noticed I was limping back to our apartment.

 It was a sad day leaving Rome. I might just have to move there.

 We met some travelers from Rhode Island on the train. I think they were a little shocked at our fairly impulsive traveling technique. They gave us a map of Italy, Switzerland and Germany which will come in handy considering we only had maps and books of Greece.

 We stayed a couple days in Venice. Didn’t do any boat rides although I envisioned myself on one of those skinny boats with the guy in the back singing and rowing with his black and white t-shirt and long skinny paddle. We did see a couple of those go by, but the guy was not singing. I guess they only sing in cartoons where either a frog is rowing the boat or Peppy La Pu.

 It is officially freezing now! Rome was chilly, but Venice makes me want to wear a full body wool sock. I wouldn’t care if it were itchy. I did go into the first clothing store that I saw and purchased a blanket size scarf.

 Lindsey, that hat you made for Eric that I stole really comes in handy now.

 We rode the train through the Alps in Switzerland yesterday and now we are in Zurich. Our room that we booked ahead of time has bunk beds and pictures of Joe Cocker everywhere.

 There is snow here. I have yet to discover the Switzerland snowman. They must have a traditional snow creature of some kind. Once I find one I will build the American kind next to it and they can hold hands.

 K well once again we expect comments.

 Emily, that is exciting your going to Greece. We have books and maps for you.

 

 

Venice

Pantheon

On top of St Peters

Inside St Peters

Roma

 

Brindisi was our first destination in Italy, only because the ferry took us there. It is located right on the heel of the boot.

There isn’t a whole lot goin on in Brindisi.

The Italians don’t speak a lot of English, actually most of them don’t at all. We went into our first pizzeria in Brindisi and I asked the guy behind the counter if he spoke English and I am pretty sure he said, “yes, but I prefer not to”. Another time, at a sandwich shop,  I got handed a cell phone with a guy on the other end that knew a little English and I ordered through him. At least I knew a LITTLE Greek in Greece, but not knowing any Italian in Italy can be frustrating, especially when they refuse to speak English.

Dawson however thinks its easier getting around because Italian words sound similar to English or Spanish, So he plays the guessing game.

 Our second stop was Naples.

 I just finished a book called, "eat pray Love" by Elizabeth Gilbert, and in that book she goes to Naples and eats at a place called Pizzeria Da Michele and makes your mouth water with her description of it, so of course we went there. It was one of the best pizzas ive eaten. 

Naples invented Pizza and still makes it the way your "supposed to get it". You don’t share pizza here, you get your own pie, uncut, with a ton of marinara and just a few slices of mozzarella. 

 Other then the food, Naples was gross. We think maybe the trash people were on strike because the streets were littered with garbage beyond repair. People just threw their napkins, and wrappers and whatever else on the ground when they were done with them. Im not going to lie, it was disgusting.

 We are in Rome now. Rome is a WHOLE different story! Amazing amazing amazing. Everywhere you look is architecturally stunning. Rome is clean and upscale, which means a bit on the spendy side, but worth it. During the day it’s a peaceful walk along the river. At night it’s a classy style of Vegas without the prostitutes and nastiness.

 They really take pride in their fountains here. They are enormous and I find myself staring, like almost being hypnotized. The Italians just walk by them like they don’t exist.

 We didn’t have a clue of where to go or stay once we got here. We ended up staying at this grotesque hotel by the bus station. The guy running the joint looked so familiar and I couldn’t figure it out till the night we left, finally, he looked identical to the grinch who stole Christmas. The cartoon version, not the Jim Carrey wannabe.

 We went on a hunt to find a place to stay for more then just a night or two. We ran into a guy (sort of a tricky fella, with extremely tight pants and his fly always open) who had a few apartments to rent in the heart of the city. We ended up taking one for a week. He somewhat forced us into a two bedroom apartment, after we asked for the studio, but he made it a cheaper stay… weirdo. It is nicely located down town away from main streets, right next to shopping and attractive little squares and fountains and stuff. Anyways we were so happy the first night with our kitchen and cute all equipped bathroom, until we wanted to sleep. This is where Vegas attacked us. The bedroom might as well been in the center of the fountain of the noisiest square. Imagine an earsplitting murmur with the occasional idiot yelling above the rest… it was worse then that. The murmur stopped maybe at 4am, then the street cleaning came and drug the broken glass through the streets. I sound like an annoying neighbor, but trust me it was bad. So the next day we took desperate measures. We hauled the mattress from the guest room into ours and propped it up on a dilapidated armoire and shoved it against the ten-foot window. It’s quite the contraption.

 

At least we are in the center of Rome! We have visited quite a few museums and seen some interesting street acts. Yesterday we went to a museum that was displaying Picasso's art for a limited time, it was exciting to see his stuff in real life.

 The weather is getting colder. I cant complain to you guys in Alaska though. I am sure Washington is getting a bit breezy as well, and Oregon im sure is a soggy bottom. K well let me know how things are going!! Miss ya!! 

 Standing in front of The Roman Coliseum 

(Josie I know you'll appreciate this)

                                                                           
                                          This is another picture of Balos Beach in Greece.

This abandoned ship is where we ate lunch. 

                      

meat on stick

So we left Crete a week ago to come to Corfu, which is the most northern of the Ionian Islands. Our 24 hours of traveling here included a nine hour ferry, an eight hour bus, and then another ferry. We have been staying in the old town of Corfu Town. It is a very trendy place, but still gives off a historical feeling, maybe because its built around a fortress. For most of the week here we’ve been staying in a rather chic hotel on the waterfront, where the receptionist with good English has become our main source of information. Corfu Town is bustling, but not with tourists. Actually we haven’t met one tourist here, which is odd.

            Greece has one specific menu. There are four different places to get food, the market, the restaurants, the bakeries, and the to-go windows. The markets all carry the same thing: bread, pasta, nuts, beer, and Ouzo. The restaurants all have the same menu: fried cheese, fried potatoes, mousaka (which is a potato meat lasagna thing that Dawson really likes), slovauki (meat on a stick), and spaghetti. The bakeries have all the same choices: cheese pies, spinach pies, seseme cheese donut thing, and baklava (a traditional greek sweet that is delicious). And our favorite, the to-go windows: A Crepe place or a Gyro place. We have been trying to stay away from the restaurants now because we kept forgetting that no matter what there is a down payment, which is the bread that comes, without choice, before anything else appears. And water is not automatically assumed, you have to ask and that cost money too.  We have been eating a lot of crepes lately, you probably already know that its an extremely thin, huge pancake. They make it into a wrap and put cheese and veggies and whatever you want on it and grill it to perfection. Or you can have a sweet one with melted chocolate and cookie crumbs and good stuff…

I have to say that I am done with the gyros now.

K sorry about all the food talk, but im hungry.

 We hitch a ferry to Italy later today. Yes its random, but in our original plan we would have found a place to settle for a little while by now. So since we cant stop moving around, and Italy is sooo close it is hard to pass it up.

 

Anyways get back to us with comments.

Kelsey thank you for showing the love so well.

Mykla you need to be more specific with what kind of cat you want, there is quite a selection over here.

And mom you would really dig Corfu town with all the tall buildings and wrought iron balconies.