This is my new friend Daniele! He is a bartender here at the VR Club in Sicily. He speaks a little English and Teeny and I have had a great time getting to know him over the last several days. He dreams of coming to America and told me "Every day I see Miami!". He told me I could find him on Youtube and here he is. This was shot here at the resort. This one of the bars at the beach.
Thursday, June 13, 2013
This is my new friend Daniele! He is a bartender here at the VR Club in Sicily. He speaks a little English and Teeny and I have had a great time getting to know him over the last several days. He dreams of coming to America and told me "Every day I see Miami!". He told me I could find him on Youtube and here he is. This was shot here at the resort. This one of the bars at the beach.
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
A couple of videos!!
This is our other new friend Daniel! He is a friend of the chef here at the VR Club and is staying as a guest for a few days. He speaks a little English and has been translating conversations between us and all of the staff that we have been partying with. He's is a great guy and is very comical. He sat with us and translated our dinner options. We are practically the only guests here and they are still opening the place. Tonight there was no menu (they only have one in English anyway) so Daniel translated between us and the chef.
This is a short video of where we had dinner in Vernazza (Cinque Terre).
This is a short video of where we had dinner in Vernazza (Cinque Terre).
Ahh Sicily!!
We took the train from Rome to Sicily and have been here since Saturday. The train ride was pretty sweet and very picturesque. The highlights of the trip were when an American guy got on the train in Napoli with his 85 year old Italian Mother. She was a scream! She didn't speak much English and she seemed to really enjoy giving her son (who was our age) a lot of grief! She was really fiesty and loved to laugh. She would say things in Italian and then laugh and laugh and we had no idea what she was talking about. At one point they went back and forth in Italian arguing with each other and then he told me that she was insisting that she keeps seeing the same things out the window and that we really weren't going anywhere. The train goes in and out of tunnels so frequently that you for long stretches you get a view for a minute or two and then your back in a tunnel, then it comes out and the view looks pretty much the same.
The other exciting thing was when the conductor got into a heated battle with a homeless guy that had snuck on the train and was crashing out in the space between the cars. It was apparent that the conductor was going to throw him off at the next stop, but when we got there the guy was suddenly comotosed and would not budge! He was laying on the floor between the cars and the conductor was beating him with his hat but he wouldn't flinch. The homeless guy won out in the end and stayed on the train all the way to Sicily.
The most amazing thing about the trip was that there are no bridges connecting mainland Italy to Sicily and they actually put the train onto a ship to get it across!! It is unbelievable and I couldn't believe it until I saw it. They drive half of the train right into the belly of this huge ship. Then they disconnect, back out, and then drive the second half in right next to the first. The whole process took about a half an hour. Once the train is onboard, they allow you to get off and go up on deck. The boat ride takes about another 30 - 45 minutes, then you get back in the train and they reverse the process. It's pretty amazing and pretty funny to see a whole train sitting inside a boat!
We had booked a room at a flea bag motel called the Hotel Touring that was a few minutes walk from the train station. We didn't get off the train until after 9pm, so we knew we had to stay close to the station. The town is called Messina and the very small part we saw seemed rather seedy, but it was late and very dark. We had to walk through some dark alleys to get to the hotel, but it wasn't too bad. Then we walked a pretty long way to find a pizza joint to get something to eat. That was quite an experience! They definitely do not see many Americans here and we felt like museum exhibits. The pizza place was rocking and there were a lot of people there. There was a family with three little kids that were staring at us like we were martians. They had huge smiles on their faces and thought we were hilarious. Although it was a very strange experience for us, it was not worrisome at all. Everyone was smiling and laughing and trying to communicate with us. There were several teenagers and young guys there and they were all very friendly. We could not get a translation of what the rolled up pizza like like thing was that they made, but I rubbed my stomach and said "Good, Yes?" and they all laughed and said "yes, yes, yes is very good!". We bought a couple of those and several beers and walked back to the hotel to make arrangements for tomorrow. We plan to jump back on the train and head for the beach. We found a place on Expedia that seems to good to be true. It is a resort called the Villa Residente Club and looks like it would cost over $200 a night, but we booked it for less than $60. Beautiful beaches with lounge chairs and umbrellas, several restaurants and bars, etc.. We were tempted to book it for a week and use it as our home base while we explore Sicily, but we have grown very suspicious of the claims (and the photos) on Expedia. They will be picking us up at the train station to drive us to the hotel so I hope it's not too bad. Apparently it is too far for us to turn around and walk back to the train!
Heading up on deck after the train was parked in the belly of the ship.
That is another ship like the one we were on. That one was full of tractor trailer trucks, but it hauls trains too.
A little bar on the ship.
Sicily!
That's the other half of the train.
Leaving the ship.
The other exciting thing was when the conductor got into a heated battle with a homeless guy that had snuck on the train and was crashing out in the space between the cars. It was apparent that the conductor was going to throw him off at the next stop, but when we got there the guy was suddenly comotosed and would not budge! He was laying on the floor between the cars and the conductor was beating him with his hat but he wouldn't flinch. The homeless guy won out in the end and stayed on the train all the way to Sicily.
The most amazing thing about the trip was that there are no bridges connecting mainland Italy to Sicily and they actually put the train onto a ship to get it across!! It is unbelievable and I couldn't believe it until I saw it. They drive half of the train right into the belly of this huge ship. Then they disconnect, back out, and then drive the second half in right next to the first. The whole process took about a half an hour. Once the train is onboard, they allow you to get off and go up on deck. The boat ride takes about another 30 - 45 minutes, then you get back in the train and they reverse the process. It's pretty amazing and pretty funny to see a whole train sitting inside a boat!
We had booked a room at a flea bag motel called the Hotel Touring that was a few minutes walk from the train station. We didn't get off the train until after 9pm, so we knew we had to stay close to the station. The town is called Messina and the very small part we saw seemed rather seedy, but it was late and very dark. We had to walk through some dark alleys to get to the hotel, but it wasn't too bad. Then we walked a pretty long way to find a pizza joint to get something to eat. That was quite an experience! They definitely do not see many Americans here and we felt like museum exhibits. The pizza place was rocking and there were a lot of people there. There was a family with three little kids that were staring at us like we were martians. They had huge smiles on their faces and thought we were hilarious. Although it was a very strange experience for us, it was not worrisome at all. Everyone was smiling and laughing and trying to communicate with us. There were several teenagers and young guys there and they were all very friendly. We could not get a translation of what the rolled up pizza like like thing was that they made, but I rubbed my stomach and said "Good, Yes?" and they all laughed and said "yes, yes, yes is very good!". We bought a couple of those and several beers and walked back to the hotel to make arrangements for tomorrow. We plan to jump back on the train and head for the beach. We found a place on Expedia that seems to good to be true. It is a resort called the Villa Residente Club and looks like it would cost over $200 a night, but we booked it for less than $60. Beautiful beaches with lounge chairs and umbrellas, several restaurants and bars, etc.. We were tempted to book it for a week and use it as our home base while we explore Sicily, but we have grown very suspicious of the claims (and the photos) on Expedia. They will be picking us up at the train station to drive us to the hotel so I hope it's not too bad. Apparently it is too far for us to turn around and walk back to the train!
Heading up on deck after the train was parked in the belly of the ship.
That is another ship like the one we were on. That one was full of tractor trailer trucks, but it hauls trains too.
A little bar on the ship.
Sicily!
That's the other half of the train.
Monday, June 10, 2013
When in Rome!
We took one of our longest train rides yet to get from Vernazza to Rome. We had to change trains once in La Spezia and then it was a four hour trip from there. The train ride through the country side was nice, but the trains in Italy pale in comparison to everywhere else we have been.
Unfortunately, we were somewhat dissapointed with Rome. It is a huge city and it is very dirty. The place is extremely crowded and there are a lot of homeless. We quickly got tired of so many people approaching us with their hands out. Also, almost every vendor tried to over charge or short change us. At the train station a guy approached us as we were using the ticket machine. All of a sudden he was right beside me and trying to operate the machine for me. We thought he was an impatient customer that wanted to use the machine and I yelled at him a couple of times to go away. Then, when I was done he stuck his hand out and wanted me to give him money! I had had it at this point and I screamed in his face to get the (expletive) away from us and he walked off. When we left the next day we saw this scam going on all over the place. When a tourist is using the machine, they walk up and try to "help" them and then demand money. They are really pushy about it and we saw a number of people give in. We also watched as police officers chased them away and seconds later they came right back. It was obvious that the cops know who they are and they chase them away all day long.
During a ride on the subway, a young kid was walking through the train playing an accordion. At first it seemed cute, but then we watched as he stood in front of each passenger and obnoxiously demanded money. He would stand two inches in front of each person and hold a little cup and would not go away. This was not a poor kid either, he was wearing new clothes and Nike sneakers and was actually a chubby little bastard. He just had his scam and knew that if he stood in front of tourists long enough they would usually give in and give him money.
The final straw was on our last night when we bought some pizza. They handed them to me and I honestly thought the boxes were empty. I had to open them to see if there was anything inside and I saw the thinnest most miserable excuse for a pizza I have ever seen, with the smallest amount of toppings all in one spot. Then the guy tried to overcharge me and after we settled that, he was 10 euro's short on my change! We saw it coming though and we got our 10 euro's (that's 14 bucks)!
So, with all that said, the Coliseum was amazing. We toured on our own for almost three hours. Then we headed for the Vatican, but we got there 20 minutes after it closed. Too bad, the Pope closes at 4! We weren't too dissapointed though. Especially after we found out that it would cost almost 50 dollars for us to go in. We walked around to the front and hung out in the area that you see on TV when thousands of people congregate and the Pope comes out on his little balcony. We were happy to see that and decided we wouldn't change our plans in order to come back tomorrow.
I hate to give Rome such a bad review. We did enjoy it overall and we were really excited to go the Coliseum. It's just a really big city and seems to have more than it's share of the typical problems that you find in such places.
We were both struck by the brutality of what occurred at the Coliseum. We learned that a day at the Coliseum consisted of Gladiator vs wild animals in the morning, then theatrical performances in the afternoon followed by Gladiator vs Gladiator in the early evening (to the death, unless the crowd thought the loser had fought hard enough and would give the thumbs up to spare his life, apparently this didn't happen very often though and they usually turned their thumbs down) and then the Grand Finale of executions of enemies of the empire. Usually be-headings or crucifixions. Good times!!
Note: The pics don't upload in the order I would like them to, but it gets messy when I try to move them around.
The catacombs that were beneath the floor of the coliseum. They had sophisticated elevator systems to raise animals into the arena "out of thin air". You may heave seen it all in the movie Gladiator. The Video Tour that we paid extra for (an Ipod) included scenes from that movie and Sparticus.
They have erected a floor over a portion of catacombs.
This was the area where the Senators sat. Seats were assigned to them for life and their names were inscribed on marble pillars. Some of the inscriptions are still visible.
I was impressed with the huge cubes of stone stacked so high on the top of the wall.
A pic from the end zone!
Close up of the cubes. Man, if one of these ever fell!!! All the little holes were caused by removal of steel braces that were melted down to use for other purposes.
Outside the coliseum. A significant place, but we never found out what it was. We'll have to Google it sometime.
More coliseum
This is another important monument outside of the coliseum that we never learned anything about!
The Vatican! This is where the crowds are when the Pope has something to say from his balcony.
Well, not here exactly, it's actually out of the frame.
More Vatican
Some of the statues around the top.
This is the Vatican post office! A stinking lousy beat up old camper!! People like to send post cards here to get the Vatican Post Office stamp on them.
Yup, we were there!! The Pope's balcony is up there someplace.
Our rail trip so far - Amsterdam to Cologne Germany to Heidelberg Germany back to Mansheim Germany, then to Zurich Switzerland to Milan Italy then to Verzzano Italy (oops, meant to go to Vernazza), then to Pisa, then back to Vernazza, and then to Rome.
Unfortunately, we were somewhat dissapointed with Rome. It is a huge city and it is very dirty. The place is extremely crowded and there are a lot of homeless. We quickly got tired of so many people approaching us with their hands out. Also, almost every vendor tried to over charge or short change us. At the train station a guy approached us as we were using the ticket machine. All of a sudden he was right beside me and trying to operate the machine for me. We thought he was an impatient customer that wanted to use the machine and I yelled at him a couple of times to go away. Then, when I was done he stuck his hand out and wanted me to give him money! I had had it at this point and I screamed in his face to get the (expletive) away from us and he walked off. When we left the next day we saw this scam going on all over the place. When a tourist is using the machine, they walk up and try to "help" them and then demand money. They are really pushy about it and we saw a number of people give in. We also watched as police officers chased them away and seconds later they came right back. It was obvious that the cops know who they are and they chase them away all day long.
During a ride on the subway, a young kid was walking through the train playing an accordion. At first it seemed cute, but then we watched as he stood in front of each passenger and obnoxiously demanded money. He would stand two inches in front of each person and hold a little cup and would not go away. This was not a poor kid either, he was wearing new clothes and Nike sneakers and was actually a chubby little bastard. He just had his scam and knew that if he stood in front of tourists long enough they would usually give in and give him money.
The final straw was on our last night when we bought some pizza. They handed them to me and I honestly thought the boxes were empty. I had to open them to see if there was anything inside and I saw the thinnest most miserable excuse for a pizza I have ever seen, with the smallest amount of toppings all in one spot. Then the guy tried to overcharge me and after we settled that, he was 10 euro's short on my change! We saw it coming though and we got our 10 euro's (that's 14 bucks)!
So, with all that said, the Coliseum was amazing. We toured on our own for almost three hours. Then we headed for the Vatican, but we got there 20 minutes after it closed. Too bad, the Pope closes at 4! We weren't too dissapointed though. Especially after we found out that it would cost almost 50 dollars for us to go in. We walked around to the front and hung out in the area that you see on TV when thousands of people congregate and the Pope comes out on his little balcony. We were happy to see that and decided we wouldn't change our plans in order to come back tomorrow.
I hate to give Rome such a bad review. We did enjoy it overall and we were really excited to go the Coliseum. It's just a really big city and seems to have more than it's share of the typical problems that you find in such places.
We were both struck by the brutality of what occurred at the Coliseum. We learned that a day at the Coliseum consisted of Gladiator vs wild animals in the morning, then theatrical performances in the afternoon followed by Gladiator vs Gladiator in the early evening (to the death, unless the crowd thought the loser had fought hard enough and would give the thumbs up to spare his life, apparently this didn't happen very often though and they usually turned their thumbs down) and then the Grand Finale of executions of enemies of the empire. Usually be-headings or crucifixions. Good times!!
Note: The pics don't upload in the order I would like them to, but it gets messy when I try to move them around.
The catacombs that were beneath the floor of the coliseum. They had sophisticated elevator systems to raise animals into the arena "out of thin air". You may heave seen it all in the movie Gladiator. The Video Tour that we paid extra for (an Ipod) included scenes from that movie and Sparticus.
They have erected a floor over a portion of catacombs.
This was the area where the Senators sat. Seats were assigned to them for life and their names were inscribed on marble pillars. Some of the inscriptions are still visible.
I was impressed with the huge cubes of stone stacked so high on the top of the wall.
A pic from the end zone!
Close up of the cubes. Man, if one of these ever fell!!! All the little holes were caused by removal of steel braces that were melted down to use for other purposes.
Outside the coliseum. A significant place, but we never found out what it was. We'll have to Google it sometime.
More coliseum
This is another important monument outside of the coliseum that we never learned anything about!
The Vatican! This is where the crowds are when the Pope has something to say from his balcony.
Well, not here exactly, it's actually out of the frame.
More Vatican
Some of the statues around the top.
This is the Vatican post office! A stinking lousy beat up old camper!! People like to send post cards here to get the Vatican Post Office stamp on them.
Yup, we were there!! The Pope's balcony is up there someplace.
Our rail trip so far - Amsterdam to Cologne Germany to Heidelberg Germany back to Mansheim Germany, then to Zurich Switzerland to Milan Italy then to Verzzano Italy (oops, meant to go to Vernazza), then to Pisa, then back to Vernazza, and then to Rome.
Sunday, June 9, 2013
More and more Cinque Terre
This guy was playing violin along the "boardwalk" in Vernazza. As Teeny posed for this pic, the guy lifted his violin to get into position and elbowed Teeny in the boob! His reaction was hilarious!
Teeny flirting with old violin guy.
Finally things calmed down enough for a nice pic.
One day we hiked on trails that go away from the ocean and into the muntains.
This a cool little railway that the farmers use to get up into their vineyards.
This is the little choo-choo that rides the rail. It has a lawn mower engine and the rails go up the steepest inclines!
This was inside a church we discovered at the top of a mountain.
This is the view from the little bench we found where we decided to eat our lunch. It is also where we decided we could not climb any further and it was time to turn around. It had been up, up, up all day.
The little bench where we ate lunch and read our books for an hour or so.
Looking down on Vernazza
Enjoying the beach at Vernazza. Several other couples were doing the same thing
More buildings built into the cliff.
Vernazza beach. This group was a lot of fun and entertaining to watch.
Sunset
The cave to the beach. Really big here, but you have to duck to get through the center
The view from our window
We suspect there had been a wedding. There was a trail of flower petals all the way through town.
The first squat toilet we have seen! Flush with the floor and filthy.
More Cinque Terre
You have to walk through this tunnel to get to the "beach" in Vernazza. I say "beach" because it is actually all rock. Still a nice place to sit back and enjoy the ocean. Funny, when you buy a beer in this town, they ask you if you them to open it. You can drink a bottle of beer on this beach, or any where in town and nobody bats an eye. We drank quite a few of them one night on the beach and watched the sunset.
These young guys were taking pictures of their buddy climbing on this rock. Everyone was watching as kept climbing a little further and further to the left until... you guessed it! Teeny got the pic just a split second after the kid was engulfed in a rogue wave that crashed over the rock. We watched the same thing happen to a few people. Almost happened to us. You get closer and closer to the water and then all of a sudden a much larger wave crashes and you get soaked. It's a bit like Russian Roulette.
Thinking of you Pa-deen! Teeny's little turtle.
I got a kick out of these paddle boats. Slides, swimming decks on the back! Just needs a motor.
The beach at Morroso, the only town with a sand beach.
This guy was along the trail from Morroso. He owns one of the vineyards that the trail passes through. He was selling cold lemonade and an incredible liquor that is made from the lemons grown locally. It is called Lemoncina and is super powerful. It tastes like lemon flavored cough syrup. He was a neat guy and said things like "Oh a momma mia it'sa hotta!!". We bought one of his bottles of Lemoncina and saved it for later.
Neat little bridge along the trail. We met an older couple here that were from Germany. They spoke little English, but we managed to talk with them for quite awhile. We talked about the weather in Germany and she told us the weather is only nice in Germany for two weeks in October and they call it Octoberfest!!
A nice place to take a break under some olive trees
Vernazza from the trail
Vernazza from a little closer on the trail
Typical Vernazza
Booya! A small hit from the Lemoncina!
Teeny, slugging down some lemoncina! I think we had a great strategy, with a little Lemoncina you don't have to buy as many beers!!!
Peace, Love, Skydive! God I love this woman!!!!!
Interesting Flora
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)