Italy Means Pizza!

After Florence we finally arrived in Rome the beating heart of the Roman Empire and capital of Italia. So exciting! We had booked 5 nights in Rome to give us plenty of time to see all the sights. Ever since we starting travelling through Italy we have been using a website called Airbnb to book our accommodation. This site connects people like us with people who have a spare apartment or room that they want to rent out for a short period of time. We decide to use this site for when we were in Italy because we found that the hostels here are expensive, low quality and don't have kitchens so we would have had to eat out for every meal. For the same price as a hostel we get a kitchen and our own room which is sweet. The only down side is when you first arrive, trying to find where the place is. We took the metro from downtown to the outside of town where the apartment was and then because it was sunday we had to walk from the metro to the apartment, instead of taking the bus. Once we got there and settled in, we realized that because it was sunday all the grocery stores were closed, so I guess we have to go out for pizza! Our host/guy we were renting from, recommended a local pizza place and we went down all the locals were hanging around folding boxes (I wondered if you got a discount if you folded your own box or something because everyone was doing it). We grabbed a menu and tried to decipher the Italian to figure out what we would like. I determined the salami was pepperoni so I figured that was safe bet and Sophie went for what she thought would be a good pizza. She ended up getting a no sauce pizza where they mix the cheese with an egg and then put bacon and pepper on it. We weren't expecting to get that sort of toppings but it actually turned out to be delicious!

The next day we started our Rome tours and did the Colisseum and the Roman Forum. We've discovered some free audio guides online so we download them onto the iPod and listen to them as we walk around which is great because you actually get some information about what you are seeing. It took us the whole day to do those two things. The next day we did the Pantheon which was really cool. The Pantheon was a temple to all the Roman gods and has a dome that inspired St. Peter's Basilica and all the other church domes around Italy, it was impressive. Sophie had to buy a painting for her collection so after an hour of looking at different paintings and deliberating in the piazza we bought a painting of a door…..at least the door has a sign beside it saying Piazza Navona to remind me that it was in Rome that we bought it. 

The next day we went to the Vatican Museums which was very interesting. The popes have pretty much been collecting art and antiquities for the last 500 years so they have an impressive collection.I personally liked the statues and old Roman things that they had picked up over the years. The Sistine Chapel at the end was fantastic and you end up coming out with a sore neck at the end. After the Museums we went into St. Peter's Basilica, which is huge.  We learned that they have tonnes of different odd traditions, such as bricking up this one door and only opening it on Christmas eve every 25 years. I'm sure there is some sort of reasoning behind it but I don't quite get it. They also like to rub things. This one poor statue had his foot almost rubbed entirely off by pilgrims. It was definitely very interesting and unique. There is really nothing like Vatican in the whole world. 

 I would say Rome is one of my favourite cities so far because there is just so much to see and lots of ruins to check out.  But after a few more days of walking around Rome we headed off to Naples. Now Naples was Sophie's least favourite city on this trip so far. Mostly because there are so many mopeds zipping around that she constantly felt like she was going to be killed via moped. In my opinion the city was alright as soon as you can get use to playing chicken with cars and mopeds crossing the street or just walking around in general. The city is really dirty and not that touristy, most people just use it as a cheap base to go to Sorrento, Pompeii and the Amalfi coast. Which is what we did. However, Naples is known for having the best pizza in a country known for pizza. We ended up going to a place that is so good is only makes two kinds: Marinara (Sauce, Oil, Oregano) and Margarita (Sauce, Cheese, Basil). They claim that any other toppings "pollute" true pizza. When we arrived they were busy, and we arrived simultaneously with an Austrian couple. The waiter communicated through hand gestures asking us if we wanted to sit all together at the same table. So we ended up having some pizza with some Austrians who has been sailing in the Mediterranean all summer and had just wintered their boat in Rome before heading back to Vienna for the winter. Sophie loved it, we imagined what it would be like if in Canada you arrived at Swiss Chalet and they were busy and the waiter asked if you would like to sit with another couple and have dinner together! We like the Italian way better as you get to make more friends. When we arrived back at our apartment we got to meet our apartment mates for the week. They were from Pakistan and were motorcycling around Europe together. They actually shipped their bike and have been in Europe cruising around for the last four months. Now I know what we will do next time we come to Europe…haha. 

The next day we hopped on the train to what we thought was pompeii but was actually an entirely different line to led to i'm not sure where. Luckily we were easily identified as tourists by the conductor who this probably happens to all the time. He asked where we were doing and he told us we were on the wrong train and had to hop off, go back to where we started and take a different train. Oh well, fortunately he was nice enough to tell us to get off before we reached the end of the line and wasted half the day. Pompeii was fantastic and armed with our free Rick Steves audio guide we really learned a tonne about the Romans and Pompeii. Everything is so intact that you can actually visualize and imagine what it would have been like to live 2000 years ago in town. I was also struck by some of the genius inventions and the creativity the Romans had. For example, building arches in different parts of the town, for decoration, but also with hidden cisterns to provide constant water pressure to every area of the town, brilliant. There was tonnes to see in Pompeii and we spent the whole day there. The next day we headed to Sorrento and then took the bus down the Amalfi coast to Almalfi, which ended up being over four house of travel one way! It was a lot, but definitely worth it as the coast is really beautiful and we got to have a nice beach afternoon. Our first of the summer…. On the way back the bus was so ridiculously hot, i'm pretty sure the bus driver had the heater on or something, brutal. Now as a write this we are leaving Naples behind and taking the long winding train to another beautiful coast line, the Cinque Terre. Looking forward to doing some great hiking and seeing some great scenery! 

Canada meets Germany

So we met our long lost German friend Judit in Basel Swizerland last weekend, which was fantastic! It was so great to meet up with a friend, especially after not seeing her for the last year and a half. After the hugs etc. Judit drove us down to the waterfront and showed us how the Germans really drive! Swerving through traffic, cutting people off etc…. But no actually Judit was a great driver. She showed us all around the city and paid for us to take a ferry a crossed the Rhine. It was an exciting moment for me because all I could think about was, how many armies have crossed the Rhine in the last 2500 years? So sweet. Judit then took us via the autobahn (speed limit 120km/h) to her little German village where she grew up, which was super cool. We got to meet her family who all spoke great English, were really hospitable and fed us a great German meal. The next day we headed through the black forest and did some hiking on the way to Freiburg, where Judit is going to University. After our hike we were really tired and decided to go swimming. In true European fashion Judit took us to a nudist beach! Haha, not really. In her defence she thought it was the clothes mandatory part of the lake, but the reality is that the clothes were optional where we ended up…. Oh well swim with your eyes down I guess. 

Judit and Sophie along the Rhine in Basel Swizerland

That night we headed out on the town and had some more German food like Schnitzel and other German foods that have long names that I won't try and spell. We got some gelato and joined the locals in the town square where everyone just sits in circles and drinks and socializes. Half the street was blocked but everyone just sits there in the street socializing. It was pretty interesting and fun! 

The next day we went to Judit's church where half the songs were english and the sermon was translated into english as well which was great. More gelato afterwards of course and then some Chinese food, German style. 

Dinner in Venice courtesy of Nelly

On Monday we were back in Basel catching the train to Milan and then Venice. We booked all our trains in advanced, as it is mandatory to do so in Italy. However we soon learned that Swiss trains are always onetime and Italian train are always late. Our train from Switzerland to Milan was late and as we were running to transfer train in Milan we got there just in time to watch our train pull out. Oh well, we got fixed up with the next train on the next hour out to venice and got to sit around in the train station for a bit, just part of travelling. Finally arrived in Venice. All of the guidebooks say you are going to get lost in Venice no matter what. I took this as a personal challenge. I got us right to the address ( we were renting a room in someones flat for two nights) and then realized that the address said 1138 and that on this street there was 1138A, 1138B,….1138R etc. Dang. I gave our hosts a call and they came out on the balcony to wave us to the right door. We had a great room with a beautiful view over the city and onto a canal. Unfortunately it was a busy canal with lots boat traffic so it was a bit hard to sleep but it was worth it still. 

Instead of challenging the guidebook and trying not to get lost I decided to embrace the confusion and just wander our way around Venice the next day. It was great, we got to see lots of back alleys and canals, it really is a maze. But in the end we found our way out towards some of the main attractions. Venice is beautiful and definitely worth a visit. But it is choked with tourists and sometimes you have to fight through crowds in the small alleys. 

Looking statuesque

After two days in Venice we hopped on the train to Florence. We ended up sitting beside this 80 year old italian man and his son. After offering them some of our Milka chocolate (courtesy of Judit), the old man became very friendly and talked to me in heavily accented english for a large part of the trip. It was funny because he starting talking about Obama and how he is the best president the U.S. has ever had and then talked about how the latest Italian president was just a gangster. His poor son, who didn't speak english, was getting embarrassed because his dad was just talking about politics in front of the whole train. He wrote down directions to the 'best cafe in Napoli' for us as well.

Now we are here in Florence, the birthplace of the Renaissance! The place we are staying has no wifi, just a computer to use. We have spent our time leisurely walking through all the sights. I am becoming quite the art connoisseur and have impressed Sophie with my limited knowledge of art haha! Florence apparently has the best gelato in the country so tonight Sophie is making me buy her a huge cone! After Florence we are off to Rome! 

From London to the Schilthorn!

Now spending two days back on London with my parents was anything but boring but actually more fun than before, since when me and Sophie first went to London it was the end of the Jubilee and Buckingham was shut down and there were so many people! This time we decided to use the underground, which was surprisingly easy to use, instead of walking 10 plus kilometres a day. Went on a walking tour around Tower bridge and mom and dad went in the Tower of London. We also arrogantly attempted to do the British museum in 2 hours which is just impossible because there are so many great exhibits of ancient Rome, Greece, Assyria and Egypt. Dad and I also did the Churchill war rooms which were awesome, while Sophie and mom took a nap on the lawn in front of Westminster Abbey. After two days in London we woke up at 4:45am to catch the underground (which wasn't even open yet) to go to the international train station to catch the chunnel to Paris. Dad said it was "the only one available." When we arrived at the station the screen said that the security check in for the chunnel was being closed so we rushed to go through. When Sophie and I were travelling around the UK I really missed having a knife to cut cheese and bread and things, so I got my parents to bring one over when they came and of course you are not allowed a knife on the chunnel. So my whole bag had to be emptied and swiped for bomb making material, Mom almost ran up to lay on the tracks to hold the train for me! But I quickly repacked everything and jumped on the train before it left. 

We arrived in Paris and I think Sophie was the only who actually liked the city. Dad didn't like it because people there don't speak English (I know, shocking). Mom didn't like it because a bunch of people tried to pickpocket us when we were trying to buy metro tickets and I didn't like it because it's dirty and generally smells of urine. And you can't blame people for going on the streets, I considered it myself because there are virtually no public washrooms in the city! But it wasn't really too bad once you got over those things, we did lots of walking around and did a river cruise. The highlight of Paris would definitely have to be the crepes. Banana and nutella, so delicious! We all went up the Eiiffel Tower and got to see the whole thing lit up and night which was awesome. The funniest part about Paris was in the same day we almost missed our chunnel train, mom jumped on a metro train just as the doors were closing and got her backpack stuck in the door. Then later when we were waiting for a train, it arrived and everyone got off, we all jumped on and then next thing you know the doors closed, the lights turned off and a frenchman was frantically indicating through hand signals that we should not be on the train. So we all start pounding on the doors to try and get off, luckily Sophie found and button to open the doors and we got off. I thought we were going to end up in some train depot or something haha! 

After two days in Paris we headed to Interlaken, Switzerland for the last three days of mom and dads trip. Switzerland was fantastic and so beautiful. We stayed in a nice hostel that had an amazing view out towards the valley and a cascading waterfall. Our first full day in the valley we hiked over to Trummelbach falls which is a waterfall that has eroded through the mountain and you can climb though it and see it flowing through the mountain. It feeds off the snow of some of the largest mountains in Europe and you can feel the glacial cold coming off it as it flows by. When we returned to the hostel dad suddenly decided he wanted to do some paragliding! We had been trying to get him and mom to do it for their 30th anniversary, but mom wasn't convinced so I took her place instead. We booked it last minute for the same day and were picked up by one of pilots. They were both really funny and eased some of the nervous tension. We went up two gondolas to a hill and launched from there. The beginning was the worst part because your in the air and then suddenly your approaching this huge 1000m drop into the valley. A bit scary but really fun, we got to fly over the top of Trummelbach falls and see where water comes from, it was great. My pilot let me steer for a bit which was great and then did a few tricks where we dropped really quick. Dad kissed the ground after he landed but I was proud of him for even doing it in the first place. 

The second day we took 3 gondolas and a train to the top of the Schilthorn which was incredible to see. Words can't describe the view so I won't bother trying. We had some tea in the revolving restaurant and then headed back down through the clouds to Murren which is still pretty high in the mountain. Mom and Dad walked in the footsteps of their hero Rick Steves and Sophie and I walked back down to the valley past a bunch of amazing waterfalls and met them back at the hostel. The next day we said goodbye to mom and dad as they headed back to North America. It was great seeing some familiar faces and doing some travelling with them! Now off to Germany for the weekend!   

Through England and Beyond!

Family under the Roman Arch

We are now full circle back with my parents in London where we started three months ago. We have had a great whirlwind tour of England starting from the North and working our way down. Met my parents and Glasgow and then the fun of driving on the left hand side began. Dad had to drive the whole time because it would cost extra for insurance if I drove, this was bad, not because my dad is a bad driver but because he is/was so excited and wanted to see everything that his head was swivelling around trying to take it all in and the car was swerving off the road….We managed to survive leaving Glasgow with me giving dad an on the go lesson in traffic circles. We drove down through southern Scotland and in the evening arrived a nice B&B near Hadrians Wall (after a few castle stops along the way of course). In the morning when we were leaving Dad apparently saw an interesting sign and, without stopping the car, had to read it. Scrape! Car meets a historic stone farm wall. 

York Walls

Dad's Mishap

O well, didn't let is spoil our trip. Hardrians wall was awesome and my dads favourite part to far. We walked along the best preserved parts of the wall for about 3 miles and then toured a roman fort. Next stop was York where we spent two days touring through the small city. Small, but really neat as it has some old medieval walls you can walk around and Yorkminster abbey was a beauty. My parents paid for a tour. Sophie and I went with the free option of gaining entrance to the abbey by attending an anglican evensong where the was a choir and everything. Interesting service and of course had a look around afterwards. Not sure if it is immoral to pull one over on the church or not but….16 pounds…how can us peasants ever gain entry otherwise? After York we headed to the Cotswolds which is a nice area of England where the rich own lots of houses and its very picturesque. Kind of like our Muskoka. 

Did some hiking in the fields  in between the villages. We were suppose to do a one way hike and then take the bus back but of course we ended up hiking on a statutory holiday when there was no bus service…..oh well. My parents had their first hostel experience in the cotswolds and it was actually pretty nice. Apparently had their best sleep so far on their trip there and we had a kitchen and a bathroom that we didn't really share with anyone else. It was actually better than this two star hotel we are staying at in London haha. After the cotswolds we headed towards london and along the way stumbled upon an awesome (free) Roman town site with an ruined amphitheatre and old walls. It was great! When on the outside of London we stayed with some of Dad's relatives Tom and Avril and they were very hospitable and told us a lot about our family history in England and everything which was awesome.

Roman Ampitheatre

 Took a day trip from their house to Bath and the sun was shining when we woke up so we all put on out shorts and were prepared for a pleasant day. By the time we arrived in Bath it was pouring rain non stop and so we pretty much did a 2 hour tour of the city in the rain, got frozen, toured the abbey and drove back for some warm pub food. What I saw through the rain and from under my umbrella looked great, we will definitely have to make a return trip. Today we turned our car in and came back to London where we will be for the next two days before we finally hit the continent. Been have lots of fun and it is nice to see a familiar face. Dad has been keeping us in stitches with his version of the english towns Newton-Upon-the-Tyne (Newcastle-Upon the Tyne) Bourbon on the Water (Burton on the water) and Stow on the Go (Stow on the Wold) amongst others! Lots of fun still to be had!

To The Mainland!

We are currently sitting at a McDonalds in Perth waiting for our bus to Glasgow to meet Nathan's parents at the airport so I will fill you in on our activities these past 3 weeks. 

Home sweet home

On the right the Tea Garden, On the left reception

Living at the croft we were finally close enough to a town to be able to get to a church, Crieff Baptist to be exact. Our options were either  a 2 hour walk, 45 minute bike ride or 5 minute bus ride to get there and me not wanting to be all sweaty and being cheap opted for the 2 hour walk into Crieff. We left at 8:30 in the morning thinking it was ample time to get there, but as time quickly passed we realized we really had to hustle. Fortunately we just made it in time and we were welcomed very warmly into the church. After the service we were invited to their annual church bbq and we did not want to be rude and refuse their offer were given a ride to the farm of one of the couples in the church. It was fabulous not only to be in fellowship with believers again but the food was amazing! Desserts especially. We later found out that the farm couple were also the parents of Andrew, the owner of Comrie Croft. And since we had not met Andrew yet, we got to introduce ourselves later on and tell the story of spending the day with his parents at their house, which was ironic seeing as we  met his parents before we met him.

Looking out from the Tea Garden 

At the croft we have continued to be busy cycling and hiking around the area, my legs are beginning to  see muscle, which is definitely a change for them. Nathan has definitely been doing some more cycling than me, since I opt out of most excursions that include cycling up hill. He took a trip to Innerpeffray Library, the first library in Scotland, and was given his own private tour since it was not exactly a popular attraction among most non-history nerds. He was able to flip the pages of a book on Roman History written in 1604, he was quite excited! At night we are able to go up into the campground and have campfires with our caravan neighbour George, cooking up burgers, potatoes and of course banana boats and apples. 

It has not all been fun and games though, we have definitely been busy working on that games room some more. We were not able to see it to completion but definitely got them well on their way. Most days we were busy painting the walls with some days in there spent organizing their shed and clearing cement. 

Just said goodbye to all our friends at the Croft today and started our journey to meet Nathan's parents. We are off to Glasgow to see some Canadian faces and start our journey to the Continent! 

Comrie Croft

So we are now staying at a place called Comrie Croft which is, you guessed it, near Comrie. That's just north a bit of Stirling and Edinburgh. Comrie Croft is a hostel/campground and they also rent bikes and have a tea garden. They usually have large groups come into the hostel so last week we had a Baptist Church group here and this week we have a German school group. Our accommodation is in large caravan that has a living room and everything so we have a lot of room to ourselves.

 This helpx job is a bit different as we are making all our own food and just get an allowance from Comrie Croft for food. We only have to work about four hours a day which leaves a tonne of time for us to do lots of our own things. Since they rent out lots of bikes we can take bikes out and cycle around the countryside anytime we want. They even have a tandem bicycle, which is something fun and different to go out on. 

One day we got a tip from Martin the maintenance guy that works here that there was a ginormous raspberry patch only a mile cycle ride away so we went and picked a few pounds of fresh wild raspberries, so good!

For work we are working on creating a new games room that will have a pool table and table tennis in it. So far we have moved all the rental bikes out of the room into their new places and disassembled the old bike racks. After that we sealed the walls so that the new paint will stick on the old mortar walls. I'm using all the handy man skills that my dad tried to teach me, but that I never quite paid enough attention too…. 

We've had lots of really sunny days for once which is really nice for biking and hiking around. One night had a fire and made some banana boats which made us feel like we were right at home camping in Algonquin. It's even been hot enough to go swimming, so i've taken a dip or two in the campground pond thingy. Ice cold! No chance of Sophie going in. Overall this helpx is quite a bit different because we keep more to ourselves and on our time off we can just go and do whatever we like so we spend a lot more time together and just have a lot of down time. 

From Farm To Croft

So today we said good bye to our hosts Jamie and Morag and our animal friends and headed off to Crieff to work for the next three weeks. We really enjoyed working at Barndromin farm. We learned a lot about farming and sheep, did lots of hiking in the highlands and just had tonnes of fun hanging out on the farm. 

Last Thursday we got a day off and went down to the coast to take a boat tour of the local area. Jamie generously paid for us in return for all the extra work we were doing and we got a great 2 hour tour of the coast. We went and saw the third largest whirlpool in the world and saw lots of wildlife including some seals and a minke whale! Topped the day off with some classic fish and chips in Oban and had a great day off. 

Jamie and Morag have been great and took us along to one of their many dinner parties that they have regularly with their friends. This party was at one of their friends' that live on an island which makes the party a bit more interesting. To get over you have to get to the ferry (first come first serve) and line up, the ferry can only take a few cars but they just squeeze them all on and once were over the ferryman kind of deploys the ramp and revs the engine to keep the ramp on the pier to prevent the ferry from drifting away while you drive off…..crazy Scots. Had a great dinner and met lots of their travelling friends. As soon as around 10:15 rolls around everyone jumps up and once and races a crossed the island to try and catch the last ferry back….needless to say if this was in Canada the Van Bergeyk family would always be stuck on the island. 

Yesterday on our last day at the farm Jamie, some friends and I got up at 6:30am and headed up to Glencoe to hike the anakeigan ridge. It was awesome! Bright sunny morning, a great view and a challenging ridge to climb, what more could I ask for? Apparently it was a grade 3 hike which means that it's the steepest kind of mountain climbing you can do without equipment. So fun. After we got back all of us went out in Jamie and Morag's boat for the afternoon. Did some mackerel fishing, I can honestly say that it's my new favourite kind of fishing. I put the line in for literally 5 seconds and had 5 fish on my line, amazing! Sophie caught a whole bunch too. 

We will be missing the farm life, feeding the chickens, shearing, crogging, driving the quad etc. But now we are making some new friends in Crieff. We're at a place called the Comrie Croft which has a hostel, tea garden, camp ground and bike track. They also rent bikes so Sophie and I can use them and bike around the country side for the next few weeks. Should be lots of fun, we only have to work four hours a day and get two days off. We also cook for ourselves and get a small allowance for food  so it's a bit different from our other jobs. As usual there is lots to do around the area and we will get to check out a new part of Scotland!