Hope you had an awesome time off. I sort of did!
My pants dont fit anymore so I am doing the old elastic band trick and I have to say it works. I cant wait for the baby to be born. Like really, I am super duper excited. I want figbaby with me.
Anyways, my work is going sideways. Things are going to get ugly and it doesnt matter.
Anyways, I have missed blogging and hope to continue with the same zeal and randomness as before!
Showing posts with label vacation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label vacation. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 02, 2008
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Dubai
I want to go to Dubai! I keep hearing about it from my family in India...
I seems fun. Lots of heat and tonnes of money.
Of maybe I just want to be in some place warm and sunny. I could totally do that right now. Hawaii, Mexico, India, Australia - whatever. Bring it on!
Hmmm, I keep waiting for my warm, flop around vacation - not that Italy wasnt fun. It was awesome and I am so glad we did that but I want to go and flop on the beach...
You cant have it all can you? Damn it!
I seems fun. Lots of heat and tonnes of money.
Of maybe I just want to be in some place warm and sunny. I could totally do that right now. Hawaii, Mexico, India, Australia - whatever. Bring it on!
Hmmm, I keep waiting for my warm, flop around vacation - not that Italy wasnt fun. It was awesome and I am so glad we did that but I want to go and flop on the beach...
You cant have it all can you? Damn it!
Monday, November 05, 2007
Italy - Part 5
Venice!
Okay, Venice was the last stop in Italy. We were there only for 2 nights mainly because the hotels were super expensive. Like 480 euros for 2 nights expensive.
That was mainly because we stayed in San Marco instead of staying the mainland. Now that was partially b/c it was going to be the last stop and b/c we didnt want to take the Vaporatti back and forth each day.
In the end, it all worked out. So we got to Venice by train from Florence. We had to double back to Florence from Lucca - which was not the end of the world as the train ride was fun. Anyhoo, got to Venice by train and took the vaporatti to San Marco. Our hotel was nutty and super cool (well, it had better be given the price!) Anyways, the hotel was decorated with Thai and Indonesian carpets and furniture and music was filtered in our room. It was fun.
So the first evening we set off on a treasure hunt to find glass bead jewellery. On the way we saw this church with exhibit on Violins and selling concert tix. As church attendance is low and Venice is trying to re-build its art scene there are classical concerts in churchs all over Venice. We got tix for the next night.
So from there we set out on foot to find glass beads. We decided to walk as taking a vaporatti would have been expensive as hell. So we walked towards the Accademia Bridge and towards the Peggy Guggenheim museum. And we found glass beads! (I forget the name of the artist, but he is pretty famous as his family has been doing this forever. We bought jewellery from his wife). I bought a necklace and earrings and bought earrings for my sister and sister-in-law. Man they were expensive. As soon was we paid for it - I had jelly legs. I couldn't walk. I got over that soon as the jewellery itself was exquisite.
After spending that much dough - we decided to get something to eat. We ran into this crazy place which had pizza but it had a really thick crust. Like about an inch and had all kinds of toppings. We looked at it and were kind of iffy...but we thought what the hell, we'll get a slice each and hope for the best. And it was delicious! I can remember where this place was, it was just a tiny place that catered to students but the food was delicious.
The next day we of course did San Marco. It is beautiful, absolutely gorgeous. Highly recommended. The church is beautiful. There is also a treasury in there - go in there. It is fascinating. After San Marco, we went to the Peggy Guggenheim museum since we thought we shd do something different than the same art. I am glad we did that. It has some amazing collections, absolutely go see them.
Our last evening in Italy we went to the classical concert that we had tickets for. It was an awesome way to end our trip. What better way to say good bye to Italy by spending an evening listening to masters of classical music?
In my experience, Venice was crazy expensive. I mean everywhere we walked we saw Prada and Gucci stores. And everything costs so much. My favourite cities have to be Florence and Naples. Both are so beautiful. So lovely and full of live and character. I will always have good memories of them.
I have to say, I am glad we did Italy. Nothing disappointed us. Italy is a beautiful country - it truly is. There is so much culture, so much history and so much pride. This trip to Italy will always be with me. The people are so nice, so understanding, so proud and so helpful. The food - well, what can I say? Whatever I say will not do justice so, well, I am not going to say anything. Coffee - I am in love with Italian Caffe Latte.
If you are thinking of going to Italy and have doubts - I would say go. Go and do your own thing. Dont take those tours, you dont need to. Go and experience Italy for what it is.
And for godsake, try food that you wouldnt normally try! Go out of the tourist centres and order something different. We took this Italian to English book for food. So reading menus was pretty easy and we got to eat some delicious food that we would never have eaten otherwise. When looking for food we always went into restaurants with no English menus and that served us well.
Oh, I love Italy!
Okay, Venice was the last stop in Italy. We were there only for 2 nights mainly because the hotels were super expensive. Like 480 euros for 2 nights expensive.
That was mainly because we stayed in San Marco instead of staying the mainland. Now that was partially b/c it was going to be the last stop and b/c we didnt want to take the Vaporatti back and forth each day.
In the end, it all worked out. So we got to Venice by train from Florence. We had to double back to Florence from Lucca - which was not the end of the world as the train ride was fun. Anyhoo, got to Venice by train and took the vaporatti to San Marco. Our hotel was nutty and super cool (well, it had better be given the price!) Anyways, the hotel was decorated with Thai and Indonesian carpets and furniture and music was filtered in our room. It was fun.
So the first evening we set off on a treasure hunt to find glass bead jewellery. On the way we saw this church with exhibit on Violins and selling concert tix. As church attendance is low and Venice is trying to re-build its art scene there are classical concerts in churchs all over Venice. We got tix for the next night.
So from there we set out on foot to find glass beads. We decided to walk as taking a vaporatti would have been expensive as hell. So we walked towards the Accademia Bridge and towards the Peggy Guggenheim museum. And we found glass beads! (I forget the name of the artist, but he is pretty famous as his family has been doing this forever. We bought jewellery from his wife). I bought a necklace and earrings and bought earrings for my sister and sister-in-law. Man they were expensive. As soon was we paid for it - I had jelly legs. I couldn't walk. I got over that soon as the jewellery itself was exquisite.
After spending that much dough - we decided to get something to eat. We ran into this crazy place which had pizza but it had a really thick crust. Like about an inch and had all kinds of toppings. We looked at it and were kind of iffy...but we thought what the hell, we'll get a slice each and hope for the best. And it was delicious! I can remember where this place was, it was just a tiny place that catered to students but the food was delicious.
The next day we of course did San Marco. It is beautiful, absolutely gorgeous. Highly recommended. The church is beautiful. There is also a treasury in there - go in there. It is fascinating. After San Marco, we went to the Peggy Guggenheim museum since we thought we shd do something different than the same art. I am glad we did that. It has some amazing collections, absolutely go see them.
Our last evening in Italy we went to the classical concert that we had tickets for. It was an awesome way to end our trip. What better way to say good bye to Italy by spending an evening listening to masters of classical music?
In my experience, Venice was crazy expensive. I mean everywhere we walked we saw Prada and Gucci stores. And everything costs so much. My favourite cities have to be Florence and Naples. Both are so beautiful. So lovely and full of live and character. I will always have good memories of them.
I have to say, I am glad we did Italy. Nothing disappointed us. Italy is a beautiful country - it truly is. There is so much culture, so much history and so much pride. This trip to Italy will always be with me. The people are so nice, so understanding, so proud and so helpful. The food - well, what can I say? Whatever I say will not do justice so, well, I am not going to say anything. Coffee - I am in love with Italian Caffe Latte.
If you are thinking of going to Italy and have doubts - I would say go. Go and do your own thing. Dont take those tours, you dont need to. Go and experience Italy for what it is.
And for godsake, try food that you wouldnt normally try! Go out of the tourist centres and order something different. We took this Italian to English book for food. So reading menus was pretty easy and we got to eat some delicious food that we would never have eaten otherwise. When looking for food we always went into restaurants with no English menus and that served us well.
Oh, I love Italy!
Thursday, November 01, 2007
Italy Part 4
Lucca
I dont have any pictures of Lucca without me or J in it and I am tempted to put a picture of myself but since I am trying to give myself away I hestitate. Then again, very few ppl read this blog and so I have nothing to worry about....I dont know....
Anyways, to Lucca. It is a small town in Tuscany, not very far from Florence. We took the train from Firenze to Lucca. This was one of the local super slow trains, unlike the Eurostar we had taken before. So it stopped on all stops. It took an hour and a half to get to Lucca. The train station is outside the city wall. Yes, Lucca has a city wall. The walls are more like gardens where you can walk, shop, bicycle and so on.
Getting out of the train station, we walked to the city wall and towards our B&B. It was not a very long walk.
There is very little to do in Lucca. We decided to rent bicycles and go around the city. It was so much fun! I hadnt been on a bicycle before that for like 9 years or so. So the first time I got on it - I was wobbling all over. J was like a pro, I was hesitant but did okay I think. We spent most of the time either doing this or washing our laundry. We had no clothes at this point. Anyways, we found this laundromat that played really good American Rock! So it was fun.
We also shopped for a bit. I bought some Olive Oil and Jitesh bought himself a leather bag. It cost an arm and a leg like 220 euros worth of arms and legs! But he loves it and I think he deserves a little (or big) treat!
Food was okay here. We found this one place not far from the B&B and the food there was good. The next evening we went walking to find a place to eat and it was disappointing. We ordered Pizza, a salad and something else. Remember we had just got from delicious pizza eating experience from Florence and the Pizza at this place was gross. Like pre-made, frozen pizza that tasted like punishment!
Oh well.
From Lucca our next and last Italian stop was Venice.
I dont have any pictures of Lucca without me or J in it and I am tempted to put a picture of myself but since I am trying to give myself away I hestitate. Then again, very few ppl read this blog and so I have nothing to worry about....I dont know....
Anyways, to Lucca. It is a small town in Tuscany, not very far from Florence. We took the train from Firenze to Lucca. This was one of the local super slow trains, unlike the Eurostar we had taken before. So it stopped on all stops. It took an hour and a half to get to Lucca. The train station is outside the city wall. Yes, Lucca has a city wall. The walls are more like gardens where you can walk, shop, bicycle and so on.
Getting out of the train station, we walked to the city wall and towards our B&B. It was not a very long walk.
There is very little to do in Lucca. We decided to rent bicycles and go around the city. It was so much fun! I hadnt been on a bicycle before that for like 9 years or so. So the first time I got on it - I was wobbling all over. J was like a pro, I was hesitant but did okay I think. We spent most of the time either doing this or washing our laundry. We had no clothes at this point. Anyways, we found this laundromat that played really good American Rock! So it was fun.
We also shopped for a bit. I bought some Olive Oil and Jitesh bought himself a leather bag. It cost an arm and a leg like 220 euros worth of arms and legs! But he loves it and I think he deserves a little (or big) treat!
Food was okay here. We found this one place not far from the B&B and the food there was good. The next evening we went walking to find a place to eat and it was disappointing. We ordered Pizza, a salad and something else. Remember we had just got from delicious pizza eating experience from Florence and the Pizza at this place was gross. Like pre-made, frozen pizza that tasted like punishment!
Oh well.
From Lucca our next and last Italian stop was Venice.
Monday, October 29, 2007
Italy Part 3
Florence or Firenze
Of all the places I have ever been and will ever be - Florence will always be my favourite. There is something about that city - it is the calm of the city, the winding streets, the buildings and the people. I am in love with Florence.
From Naples we took a 4 hour train ride to Florence. Florence is a wonderful city. It is just beautiful. Even if you dont do any site-seeing, just walking on the streets of Florence will be site seeing enough. It has all the makings of a romantic holiday! Cobble stoned streets, old buildings, wonderful winding streets, beautiful piazzas and delicious gelato. What more could you ask for?
You can walk to one of the many bridges on the River Arno to just, well, hang out or sit in a cafe doing nothing. Let Florence work its charm on you.
The first day we got there we went to see the Duomo. It is hard to not see the Duomo just cause it is huge. It is a must. The inside is beautiful. There are free tours given by students. We met this awesome guy who was from US and gave his tour which was awesome! Duomo was awesome. Also, You can also go up the dome. The climb is about 400 steps and if you are claustrophobic - you might want to not do it. It wasnt too bad but if there are lots of tourists then - certainly you can get breathless. There are two levels to the dome. Level one takes you closer to the Frescoes on the dome and level two will take you even closer. The final walk is on top of the dome looking out at the city. Go up. Really, it was well worth it.
After doing the Duomo we walked around Florence and you have to do that. Florence is a city like no else. There is culture, beauty, art, history and a pulse - all together every where you walk. It is put simply - wonderful.
We ate a tonne of gelato in Florence. You cant really go wrong.
We also found the best pizza in the world in Florence. This place (again if you want specific details about this place email me and I will send you details) was amazing. You could only order 3 kinds of pizzas: marinara (tomato sauce, garlic and oregano), margarita (tomato sauce and bocconcini and basil) and napolitana (tomato sauce, anchovies, capers and bocconcini). We ate at this place the 2 nights we were there. The pizzas were cooked in this wood fired oven and was made right in front of you. I dream about those pizzas. They were sooooooooo good.
We also had a chance to go the local street shops. Near the supermercato in Florence there are tonnes of vendors selling decent to good leather bags, shoes, jackets, purses, belts and scarves among other things. Be prepared to bargain. It was very cool to do that. Spent almost half a day there. It was fun.
From there we went to Ponte Vecchio - you know the bridge, the very famous bridge! Just opposite the bridge was this awesome glove factory. J bought some real nice leather gloves for like a $100. They are beautiful. This place is where locals buy their gloves and it also ships gloves all over the world.
Hmm, the last day was for the Uffizi. We had already done the Gallaria della'Accademia for the statue of David. Now for both these places you need to buy tix in advance during tourist seasons - which now is like all the time in Italy. So, make sure you do that at least 2 or 3 days in advance if you going in October. Uffizi was disappointing. Very much so. It seemed like they took all the paintings and sculptures and just threw them in a museum. There was no order or anything to it. But seeing the 'Birth of Venus' was still amazing!
Obviously, see the statue of David. The original not the fake. It was very cool and you can see why it is so famous!
We also went to the scientific museum - not sure what the name is but it is very close to the Uffizi and was worth going to. You can see Galileo's original instruments among other cool and horrifying things.
Yes, horrifying! The museum has original terracotta and wax casts used by doctors to see and understand pregnancy. It was cool but also horrifying b/c they were so accurate that they looked real.
Anyways, all in all it was cool to be in Firenze. Next stop Lucca!
Of all the places I have ever been and will ever be - Florence will always be my favourite. There is something about that city - it is the calm of the city, the winding streets, the buildings and the people. I am in love with Florence.
From Naples we took a 4 hour train ride to Florence. Florence is a wonderful city. It is just beautiful. Even if you dont do any site-seeing, just walking on the streets of Florence will be site seeing enough. It has all the makings of a romantic holiday! Cobble stoned streets, old buildings, wonderful winding streets, beautiful piazzas and delicious gelato. What more could you ask for?
You can walk to one of the many bridges on the River Arno to just, well, hang out or sit in a cafe doing nothing. Let Florence work its charm on you.
The first day we got there we went to see the Duomo. It is hard to not see the Duomo just cause it is huge. It is a must. The inside is beautiful. There are free tours given by students. We met this awesome guy who was from US and gave his tour which was awesome! Duomo was awesome. Also, You can also go up the dome. The climb is about 400 steps and if you are claustrophobic - you might want to not do it. It wasnt too bad but if there are lots of tourists then - certainly you can get breathless. There are two levels to the dome. Level one takes you closer to the Frescoes on the dome and level two will take you even closer. The final walk is on top of the dome looking out at the city. Go up. Really, it was well worth it.
After doing the Duomo we walked around Florence and you have to do that. Florence is a city like no else. There is culture, beauty, art, history and a pulse - all together every where you walk. It is put simply - wonderful.
We ate a tonne of gelato in Florence. You cant really go wrong.
We also found the best pizza in the world in Florence. This place (again if you want specific details about this place email me and I will send you details) was amazing. You could only order 3 kinds of pizzas: marinara (tomato sauce, garlic and oregano), margarita (tomato sauce and bocconcini and basil) and napolitana (tomato sauce, anchovies, capers and bocconcini). We ate at this place the 2 nights we were there. The pizzas were cooked in this wood fired oven and was made right in front of you. I dream about those pizzas. They were sooooooooo good. We also had a chance to go the local street shops. Near the supermercato in Florence there are tonnes of vendors selling decent to good leather bags, shoes, jackets, purses, belts and scarves among other things. Be prepared to bargain. It was very cool to do that. Spent almost half a day there. It was fun.
From there we went to Ponte Vecchio - you know the bridge, the very famous bridge! Just opposite the bridge was this awesome glove factory. J bought some real nice leather gloves for like a $100. They are beautiful. This place is where locals buy their gloves and it also ships gloves all over the world.
Hmm, the last day was for the Uffizi. We had already done the Gallaria della'Accademia for the statue of David. Now for both these places you need to buy tix in advance during tourist seasons - which now is like all the time in Italy. So, make sure you do that at least 2 or 3 days in advance if you going in October. Uffizi was disappointing. Very much so. It seemed like they took all the paintings and sculptures and just threw them in a museum. There was no order or anything to it. But seeing the 'Birth of Venus' was still amazing!
Obviously, see the statue of David. The original not the fake. It was very cool and you can see why it is so famous!
We also went to the scientific museum - not sure what the name is but it is very close to the Uffizi and was worth going to. You can see Galileo's original instruments among other cool and horrifying things.
Yes, horrifying! The museum has original terracotta and wax casts used by doctors to see and understand pregnancy. It was cool but also horrifying b/c they were so accurate that they looked real.
Anyways, all in all it was cool to be in Firenze. Next stop Lucca!
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Italy Part 2
We took the train from Rome to Naples. It took about 2 hours. Because neither of us spoke Italian, finding the train and platform on Roma Termini was interesting. We asked this train official, all of whom wear Green jackets, and he kept telling us the train name over and over again. It was funny.
Anyways, out of the train on Napoli central and we had to haggle for a cab. Naples is known as the Detroit of Italy. It can be a dangerous city, last year alone they had 200 deaths. So its not a good place to be if you are a tourist, at night and dont know what the hell you are doing. Cabbies are known for not giving the right price, trying to take more money off you and such. Anyways, we got a nice cab driver who took us to our hotel which was away from the centre of the city. Not a bad thing. The hotel, San Francesco al Monte, was on the mountain and was simply spectacular. It is highly recommended.
Naples might be a lot of things but it is also a very beautiful city. It is gorgeous. It is quite hilly and this makes the city even more interesting. Our view from the hotel was stunning. As you see in the picture apparently Naples was welcoming us with the rainbow!
Anyways, the first evening we decided to go to the archaeological museum. If you are remotely interested in archeology or Pompeii - go to this museum. The whole of the museum is mostly dedicated to Pompeii and artifacts found there. It was very interesting to see them. The museum itself was very interesting. It was unlike most posh museums you will see. It was a bit run down but it was a true museum unlike the cash making machines most museums now seem to be (more on that when we get to Firenze). Anyways, it was cool to see the artifacts from Pompeii before going to Pompeii.
The next day was the day for Pompeii. It took my breath away. Pompeii was amazing. Just truly amazing. We took a pre-guided tour which lasted from 10 in the morning to 2 in the afternoon. If you like archeology, history and old cities dont miss Pompeii. I could have spent the entire day there. It was just awesome. Dont miss this.
The next day we were going to do Capri islands. Which we didnt. Mainly because there were thousands of tourists. It didnt seem to have the appeal after seeing a billion tourists.
I actually really liked Naples. It was a real city. Everyone you will talk to will tell you it is quite a dangerous city. Which might be true but I didnt see any reason not to go there. I mean the only way you will get shot or robbed is if you are stupid. We took the regular precautions - kept our stuff with us, didnt go walking around at midnight and so on. It was fine. This is one of the highly recommended cities. If you are interested in seeing a real Italian city - go to Naples.
The driving in Italy seemed to be mostly fine except in Naples. Driving was crazy here. If there was space for your vehicle you were expected to drive there. It was nutty. We also to the bus and that was crazy as well. Mind you I have lived in India and it was crazier than India!
The food in Naples was amazing. We actually found a small restaurant run by a family. The menu was in Italian and the waiter did not speak a word of English and the food was just amazing. It really was.
The only thing to keep in mind when traveling to Naples is to take cash with you. You bank card might not work, many places might not take credit cards and the banks only cash travelers cheques from 9 to 1. We found that out the hard way!
Anyways, out of the train on Napoli central and we had to haggle for a cab. Naples is known as the Detroit of Italy. It can be a dangerous city, last year alone they had 200 deaths. So its not a good place to be if you are a tourist, at night and dont know what the hell you are doing. Cabbies are known for not giving the right price, trying to take more money off you and such. Anyways, we got a nice cab driver who took us to our hotel which was away from the centre of the city. Not a bad thing. The hotel, San Francesco al Monte, was on the mountain and was simply spectacular. It is highly recommended.
Naples might be a lot of things but it is also a very beautiful city. It is gorgeous. It is quite hilly and this makes the city even more interesting. Our view from the hotel was stunning. As you see in the picture apparently Naples was welcoming us with the rainbow!
Anyways, the first evening we decided to go to the archaeological museum. If you are remotely interested in archeology or Pompeii - go to this museum. The whole of the museum is mostly dedicated to Pompeii and artifacts found there. It was very interesting to see them. The museum itself was very interesting. It was unlike most posh museums you will see. It was a bit run down but it was a true museum unlike the cash making machines most museums now seem to be (more on that when we get to Firenze). Anyways, it was cool to see the artifacts from Pompeii before going to Pompeii.
The next day was the day for Pompeii. It took my breath away. Pompeii was amazing. Just truly amazing. We took a pre-guided tour which lasted from 10 in the morning to 2 in the afternoon. If you like archeology, history and old cities dont miss Pompeii. I could have spent the entire day there. It was just awesome. Dont miss this.
The next day we were going to do Capri islands. Which we didnt. Mainly because there were thousands of tourists. It didnt seem to have the appeal after seeing a billion tourists.
I actually really liked Naples. It was a real city. Everyone you will talk to will tell you it is quite a dangerous city. Which might be true but I didnt see any reason not to go there. I mean the only way you will get shot or robbed is if you are stupid. We took the regular precautions - kept our stuff with us, didnt go walking around at midnight and so on. It was fine. This is one of the highly recommended cities. If you are interested in seeing a real Italian city - go to Naples.
The driving in Italy seemed to be mostly fine except in Naples. Driving was crazy here. If there was space for your vehicle you were expected to drive there. It was nutty. We also to the bus and that was crazy as well. Mind you I have lived in India and it was crazier than India!
The food in Naples was amazing. We actually found a small restaurant run by a family. The menu was in Italian and the waiter did not speak a word of English and the food was just amazing. It really was.
The only thing to keep in mind when traveling to Naples is to take cash with you. You bank card might not work, many places might not take credit cards and the banks only cash travelers cheques from 9 to 1. We found that out the hard way!
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Italy - part 1
I am going to try to try a post about each city in Rome - Dont know if that will work but here is the first one.
We flew from Vancouver to London and London to Rome.
In typical Air Canada fashion, our flight from Vancouver to London was delayed "due to technical reasons". We were told this after checking in, boarding and putting on our seat belts. Something sounded fishy - in true form we left about two hours late with very little time to catch the connection. We did make the connection and arrived in Rome airport and took the train (an express train from airport to the city centre). Which was not bad at all.
Anyways, we step out of the train station and are trying to figure out where we should be going and ended taking a 10 euro taxi ride for a 5 minute walk. Oh well.
Rome was the worst part of the trip. The city centre of Rome is so touristy that literally everywhere we went - we heard nothing but English and saw nothing but English pubs. It was awful. I mean I didnt go to Italy to get the authentic experience but it would have been nice to eat some pasta without the same damned tomato sauce. Anyhoo, if you are planning to go to Rome - you wont need more than 3 days in the city. We saw pretty much all there was to see. The highlights were the of course the Sistine Chapel and the Pantheon. Both of these took my breath away.
We had to wait for 3 hours in the hot sun to see the Sistine Chapel but it was so worth it. A word of advice, do the Sistine Chapel and the whole of Vatican on a weekday. We made the mistake of going on a Saturday and it was a nut house. The weekdays you would get a little shorter lineup. Oh, yes, and do be there at 8 in the morning. We found that by the time we were done the Sistine Chapel and Vatican Museum in general we didnt really care about standing in another lineup to see the Basilica. We didnt even try. At that point we had had enough. The Chapel itself is wonderful. It really is. There is nothing that can describe it. I am obviously not a catholic in any way - but you have to see it.
The Pantheon was also truly amazing. We didnt have to stand in any lineups at all to see it. It was just amazing. It is one to things you dont want to miss.
Some of the other things worth seeing are, of course the Colosseum, the Capitoline Museums, The Roman Forum. We didnt end up seeing the Roman baths but I think it would have been awesome.
Rome, inspite of its touristy-ness will always have a special place in my heart for this one Enoteca we ate at. If you want the name - email me and I will send you details.
Okay, next up is Naples.
We flew from Vancouver to London and London to Rome.
In typical Air Canada fashion, our flight from Vancouver to London was delayed "due to technical reasons". We were told this after checking in, boarding and putting on our seat belts. Something sounded fishy - in true form we left about two hours late with very little time to catch the connection. We did make the connection and arrived in Rome airport and took the train (an express train from airport to the city centre). Which was not bad at all.
Anyways, we step out of the train station and are trying to figure out where we should be going and ended taking a 10 euro taxi ride for a 5 minute walk. Oh well.
Rome was the worst part of the trip. The city centre of Rome is so touristy that literally everywhere we went - we heard nothing but English and saw nothing but English pubs. It was awful. I mean I didnt go to Italy to get the authentic experience but it would have been nice to eat some pasta without the same damned tomato sauce. Anyhoo, if you are planning to go to Rome - you wont need more than 3 days in the city. We saw pretty much all there was to see. The highlights were the of course the Sistine Chapel and the Pantheon. Both of these took my breath away.
We had to wait for 3 hours in the hot sun to see the Sistine Chapel but it was so worth it. A word of advice, do the Sistine Chapel and the whole of Vatican on a weekday. We made the mistake of going on a Saturday and it was a nut house. The weekdays you would get a little shorter lineup. Oh, yes, and do be there at 8 in the morning. We found that by the time we were done the Sistine Chapel and Vatican Museum in general we didnt really care about standing in another lineup to see the Basilica. We didnt even try. At that point we had had enough. The Chapel itself is wonderful. It really is. There is nothing that can describe it. I am obviously not a catholic in any way - but you have to see it.
The Pantheon was also truly amazing. We didnt have to stand in any lineups at all to see it. It was just amazing. It is one to things you dont want to miss.
Some of the other things worth seeing are, of course the Colosseum, the Capitoline Museums, The Roman Forum. We didnt end up seeing the Roman baths but I think it would have been awesome.
Rome, inspite of its touristy-ness will always have a special place in my heart for this one Enoteca we ate at. If you want the name - email me and I will send you details.
Okay, next up is Naples.
Thursday, October 18, 2007
I am Back!
Well, I am back home. I will write a more detailed post when I get the chance, but I have to say - Firenze - which sounds much better than Florence - is the most beautiful city I have ever been to.
It is simply stunning. If you have been you know what I am talking about, if not, you have to.
Italy is a beautiful country. The food, the wine, and the people all just great.
Have to go - but will be back!
It is simply stunning. If you have been you know what I am talking about, if not, you have to.
Italy is a beautiful country. The food, the wine, and the people all just great.
Have to go - but will be back!
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Things I am looking forward to!
Ok, its getting really close to me going away on a vacation. This one will be real one - a full 3.5 weeks of f@#king around in Italy. Literally and figuratively.
So this is the first time I am going Europe. And first time in a country that has a language I dont speak. So it will be interesting. We chose Italy because both myself and J love food and wine and culture. And there is a lot of it there! Plus, it is such a romantic country! I am really looking forward to it all! Some of things in no particular order are:
The food - all the cheese, bread and pastas and everything in between
The Wine - and lots of it!
Some coffee - I dont drink coffee but I will try it there!
I love that we have nothing booked - so we can spend as much time anywhere we like. I love that if we think we need to spend 2 weeks in Rome we can!
The gondola ride in the grand canal
Being in Florence - reminding me of one of my fav movies 'Room with a view'
Seeing Pompeii
Seeing Italy pass us by as we sip wine
Probably a drive around Tuscany
Being able to see all of this with J
Not having to show up to work
Not having to think about work and in-laws and the politics of it all
Maybe getting pregnant in Italy. I have to say I am really looking forward to that more than anything else. There is nothing in the world that would make me happier. I also think it would be fun to name that child something completely Italian and screw him/her for life a la the namesake! Ok, obviously I am joking.
I am not writing this post to make you jealous or anything just that both J and myself have worked so hard for so long. We really deserve this and I think it will be fun. We will be broke by the time we get back but WTF! You only live once.
Yippieeeee! Besides work is so stressful right now that I would do anything to not be here right now.
Ok I am out for today!
So this is the first time I am going Europe. And first time in a country that has a language I dont speak. So it will be interesting. We chose Italy because both myself and J love food and wine and culture. And there is a lot of it there! Plus, it is such a romantic country! I am really looking forward to it all! Some of things in no particular order are:
The food - all the cheese, bread and pastas and everything in between
The Wine - and lots of it!
Some coffee - I dont drink coffee but I will try it there!
I love that we have nothing booked - so we can spend as much time anywhere we like. I love that if we think we need to spend 2 weeks in Rome we can!
The gondola ride in the grand canal
Being in Florence - reminding me of one of my fav movies 'Room with a view'
Seeing Pompeii
Seeing Italy pass us by as we sip wine
Probably a drive around Tuscany
Being able to see all of this with J
Not having to show up to work
Not having to think about work and in-laws and the politics of it all
Maybe getting pregnant in Italy. I have to say I am really looking forward to that more than anything else. There is nothing in the world that would make me happier. I also think it would be fun to name that child something completely Italian and screw him/her for life a la the namesake! Ok, obviously I am joking.
I am not writing this post to make you jealous or anything just that both J and myself have worked so hard for so long. We really deserve this and I think it will be fun. We will be broke by the time we get back but WTF! You only live once.
Yippieeeee! Besides work is so stressful right now that I would do anything to not be here right now.
Ok I am out for today!
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Monday, September 17, 2007
Random
I only have two weeks to go and there is so much to do.
I feel I need more time to go away on vacation.
Anyways, I had a dream where I had a child with me and then I gave it to someone to keep an eye on him/her. Then, the child was lost. No one could find him/her and I was terrified.
Okay, its good to know I am back to normal - getting stupid dreams.
Work is going on as usual. The new board is getting elected today - so that will be interesting. Not that I care anymore.
I watching the emmys last nite - I freaking hate Sally Field. She is soooooo dramatic. Okay, the reason I am talking about the Emmys is I was watching it w/ J - and I was sitting on the loveseat and he was on the couch - I look over and he was switching his contacts from old phone to new phone. And I couldnt help but feel overwhelming love for him. He is so cute and cuddly and lovable.
We met about 10 yrs ago and from the first instant we talked to each other - we clicked. It was right. We both knew that. When I decided to marry him - and I proposed BTW, I knew it was right. I knew that if I didnt do that - marry this guy (rather I had to marry him to be with him cause we were both in different countries and I could just visit him to Canada - cause I wouldnt get a freaking visa) I would regret it forever.
I have not regretted marrying him, my only regret is not living in India. I think I will always miss that. There will always be that empty spot in my heart.
I think J knows that. He knows that more than anything I want to move back home. It will always be home for me. It is where my heart is. But I cant just do that. Financially it would be a disaster. So here I am. Which is fine. I think I will move back one day. I think. As long as my sister and my bro are there - I think I will. I want to.
I feel I need more time to go away on vacation.
Anyways, I had a dream where I had a child with me and then I gave it to someone to keep an eye on him/her. Then, the child was lost. No one could find him/her and I was terrified.
Okay, its good to know I am back to normal - getting stupid dreams.
Work is going on as usual. The new board is getting elected today - so that will be interesting. Not that I care anymore.
I watching the emmys last nite - I freaking hate Sally Field. She is soooooo dramatic. Okay, the reason I am talking about the Emmys is I was watching it w/ J - and I was sitting on the loveseat and he was on the couch - I look over and he was switching his contacts from old phone to new phone. And I couldnt help but feel overwhelming love for him. He is so cute and cuddly and lovable.
We met about 10 yrs ago and from the first instant we talked to each other - we clicked. It was right. We both knew that. When I decided to marry him - and I proposed BTW, I knew it was right. I knew that if I didnt do that - marry this guy (rather I had to marry him to be with him cause we were both in different countries and I could just visit him to Canada - cause I wouldnt get a freaking visa) I would regret it forever.
I have not regretted marrying him, my only regret is not living in India. I think I will always miss that. There will always be that empty spot in my heart.
I think J knows that. He knows that more than anything I want to move back home. It will always be home for me. It is where my heart is. But I cant just do that. Financially it would be a disaster. So here I am. Which is fine. I think I will move back one day. I think. As long as my sister and my bro are there - I think I will. I want to.
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
I had a very vivid and weird dream. It was all about flowers. Thats all I can remember. There were tonnes of flowers everywhere. I am allergic to flowers - maybe it was some kind of punishment. I dont know. I never have good dreams they are always twisted, bloody, full of misery. Which is why this flowers dream is confusing me. I clearly remember the flowers just not what they were there for....
Oh well.
As J puts it - we have started playing Russian Roulette with the whole pregnancy thing. We stopped using birth control but are not trying to get pregnant. If we do, we do. If not, then there is always Italy.
Oh yea, forgot to mention we are going to Italy for a whole month! Yippie. Actually we might stop over London and then proceed to Italy. But it will be good. Italy is going to go ahead anyways. So that will be exciting. Plus, my good friend lives near London - I havent seen her for 7 years - so that will be fun!
Oh well.
As J puts it - we have started playing Russian Roulette with the whole pregnancy thing. We stopped using birth control but are not trying to get pregnant. If we do, we do. If not, then there is always Italy.
Oh yea, forgot to mention we are going to Italy for a whole month! Yippie. Actually we might stop over London and then proceed to Italy. But it will be good. Italy is going to go ahead anyways. So that will be exciting. Plus, my good friend lives near London - I havent seen her for 7 years - so that will be fun!
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