Paris smells delicious!
EVERYwhere you go, there is the most incredible smells of baking pastries and bread - we defy anyone to resist the constant temptation! Also it doesn't help that our hostel gives us free bread and croissants for breakfast and as snacks, and that it is ridiculously cheap to buy seriously good macroons, lemon or raspberry tarts, various pastries with chocolate...
also france and europe in general has sparked a new obsession with nutella - can get it on almost every street corner on crepes or waffles, and they have insanely large jars in the supermarket!
Food aside, Paris is still freezing cold, but its very cool to walk past frozen fountains and see snow everywhere.
So far we have seen: the Louvre - Mona Lisa seemed overrated, quite smaller than we expected, cool to see Delacroix's work; climbed the Eiffel Tower!! except the very top was closed due to weather; walked and marvelled at the stores down the Champs Elysee and Galaries Lafayette; visited the Pantheon and and Luxembourg palace, and a whole lot of other places...
Also bought a few things in the sales!
Weird to think i will be home soon...
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Florence:
hey yall! just realised that people can comment, and some of you have! thanks heaps! its really cool to read it over here, messages from home etc!
sorry its been a while, am so busy and its hard to make it a priority when there is beer and people to talk to and places to go!
anyhoo... Florence was amazing!
Stayed in hostel which was meant to be amazing but was quite average, however the people we met more than made up for it!!
Hung out with a bunch of awesome Brazillians, went out with them, cooked dinner with them, drank copious amounts of wine and such with them!
However, we also saw all the sights, Michelangelo's David, Uffizi, Palazzo Pitti, Medici chapels, etc etc. Also the leather street markets are amazing! kicking myself i didnt buy a THING!
Also found the most amazing, world reknowned galateria (small and only really visited by the locals) and had gelati every day: pear and caramel; chocolate and orange; macademia; strawberry; limone; hazelnut... it was all so very delicious!
Missed our train... long story. Anyhoo, ended up spending another night in Florence camped out secretly in a spare double bed in someone's dorm! had a good night though!
Zurich:
Went to stay with friends of family in Zurich for Christmas. Brigitte and Fiorella met us at the train station, and we talked non-stop our whole time there!
They looked after us so well, saw the sights, the university, the main churches, the old wall surrounding Zurich. Ate cheese fondue with colourless our 1st night!!! it was AMAZING!!!
Had a white Xmas too! went up to the mountains ('Zurich's hill') to the lookout and it was snowing and everything covered in ice and sleet - slippery walking! so beautiful!
Also went for a walk and saw the Swiss Alps and great view over Zurich.
Ate traditional Swiss Xmas Eve dinner, had really nice mountain food on Christmas day.
Also had the famous champagne truffles, so good! and a lot of swiss chocolate and other goodies!
Was sad to leave Brigitte and Fiorella, we were taken such good care of.
Rome:
Were meant to stay with some friends of friends, but basically were told each day they couldnt have us, so had to keep changing hostels each night.
However... we had a really great time in Rome. Met a whole heap of Aussies and a canadian girl (Jane!) and we went to the Vatican city together, and they taught me the joys of beer pong! Jane and i also tried absinthe together... had a very interesting night!
Saw Colosseum, Palantine Hill, some Rome history museum, Vatican City - Sistine Chapel! Trevi Fountain, and a whole heap of other stuff. Had italian pasta too!
Found Rome a weird mix, you have all these amazing BCE ruins juxtaposed with Gucci stores and the like. And the people all dressed in black and/or fur and everyone in insane sunnies, no matter the weather, and women in really heavy dramatic makeup! we stood out so badly!
Apart from that, loved it, loved it, loved it!
Barcelona:
After several wrong trains, one dodgy night in crummy hotel, two long days of many different train trips, we finally made it to Barcelona 11:15pm NYE!!! was insane! on the train everyone drinking and smoking, and when we finally got to the streets it was a mad rush of people, was offered beer, coke, dope, all in the 1st 15mins! Thanks to the help of really sweet Australians and a travel pub, we made it to our awesome hostel, Kabul, dumped our stuff and ran to the streets!
Was crazy, fireworks, exploding crackers everywhere, car horns, strangers kissing each other on the cheek! fun times!
Barcelona was lovely and warm-ish, had such a nice time just walking along Las Ramblas and the beaches. Hired a bike and trekked out to Guell park and Sagrada Familia (designed by Gaudi) - seriously cool architecture.
Also hit the picasso museum.
Also: An Aussie who worked at Kabul taught me to Samba on our last night at this cool Samba club; went to a bar with over 500 shots, all for 2Euro; drank a lot of beer in hostel common area; had sangria at this amazing pub for the locals, these Americans kept buying these jugs and we had a lot! so easy and delicious to drink though! ALso went to this bar called 'Dow Jones', based on stock market. Drink prices depends on how much people are buying it! Have to constantly check!
Foodwise, had tapas and paella, its good stuff. Spanish know how to eat, drink and party!
Carcassonne:
Sad to leave Barcelona, but Carcassonne was beautiful!
Its this medieval cite in the South of France, and the old 'La Cite' is this walled medieval castle of the Trencavel family. Its significant in terms of it was a safehaven for Cathars up until the King handed it over to the Pope in the face of the Pope's massive, murderous army during the Inquisition. Really cool to actually see and walk around a place ive studied.
(Also, its where 'Labrynth' by Kate Mosse is based!)
Carcassonne was seriously freezing though, it snowed as we walked from our guesthouse to 'La Cite', and the icy winds numbed our faces in minutes. Wore almost every item of our clothing!
To keep warm, had Cassoulet, local French dish of duck, pork and bean stew, it is so good! ALso had crepe suzette, which was good but liked dad's better.
Paris:
Been in Paris one day, long enough to have walked around Republique, where we are staying, headed into the heart, looked around some shops (its sales but still really expensive!) and went to the Notre Dame. Staying in a really lovely spot, lots of cafes and close to the action.
Hope everyone is doing well, and nothing major had happened in Adelaide, like a military coup, or dramatic conservative swing across all suburbs!
love to everyone
hey yall! just realised that people can comment, and some of you have! thanks heaps! its really cool to read it over here, messages from home etc!
sorry its been a while, am so busy and its hard to make it a priority when there is beer and people to talk to and places to go!
anyhoo... Florence was amazing!
Stayed in hostel which was meant to be amazing but was quite average, however the people we met more than made up for it!!
Hung out with a bunch of awesome Brazillians, went out with them, cooked dinner with them, drank copious amounts of wine and such with them!
However, we also saw all the sights, Michelangelo's David, Uffizi, Palazzo Pitti, Medici chapels, etc etc. Also the leather street markets are amazing! kicking myself i didnt buy a THING!
Also found the most amazing, world reknowned galateria (small and only really visited by the locals) and had gelati every day: pear and caramel; chocolate and orange; macademia; strawberry; limone; hazelnut... it was all so very delicious!
Missed our train... long story. Anyhoo, ended up spending another night in Florence camped out secretly in a spare double bed in someone's dorm! had a good night though!
Zurich:
Went to stay with friends of family in Zurich for Christmas. Brigitte and Fiorella met us at the train station, and we talked non-stop our whole time there!
They looked after us so well, saw the sights, the university, the main churches, the old wall surrounding Zurich. Ate cheese fondue with colourless our 1st night!!! it was AMAZING!!!
Had a white Xmas too! went up to the mountains ('Zurich's hill') to the lookout and it was snowing and everything covered in ice and sleet - slippery walking! so beautiful!
Also went for a walk and saw the Swiss Alps and great view over Zurich.
Ate traditional Swiss Xmas Eve dinner, had really nice mountain food on Christmas day.
Also had the famous champagne truffles, so good! and a lot of swiss chocolate and other goodies!
Was sad to leave Brigitte and Fiorella, we were taken such good care of.
Rome:
Were meant to stay with some friends of friends, but basically were told each day they couldnt have us, so had to keep changing hostels each night.
However... we had a really great time in Rome. Met a whole heap of Aussies and a canadian girl (Jane!) and we went to the Vatican city together, and they taught me the joys of beer pong! Jane and i also tried absinthe together... had a very interesting night!
Saw Colosseum, Palantine Hill, some Rome history museum, Vatican City - Sistine Chapel! Trevi Fountain, and a whole heap of other stuff. Had italian pasta too!
Found Rome a weird mix, you have all these amazing BCE ruins juxtaposed with Gucci stores and the like. And the people all dressed in black and/or fur and everyone in insane sunnies, no matter the weather, and women in really heavy dramatic makeup! we stood out so badly!
Apart from that, loved it, loved it, loved it!
Barcelona:
After several wrong trains, one dodgy night in crummy hotel, two long days of many different train trips, we finally made it to Barcelona 11:15pm NYE!!! was insane! on the train everyone drinking and smoking, and when we finally got to the streets it was a mad rush of people, was offered beer, coke, dope, all in the 1st 15mins! Thanks to the help of really sweet Australians and a travel pub, we made it to our awesome hostel, Kabul, dumped our stuff and ran to the streets!
Was crazy, fireworks, exploding crackers everywhere, car horns, strangers kissing each other on the cheek! fun times!
Barcelona was lovely and warm-ish, had such a nice time just walking along Las Ramblas and the beaches. Hired a bike and trekked out to Guell park and Sagrada Familia (designed by Gaudi) - seriously cool architecture.
Also hit the picasso museum.
Also: An Aussie who worked at Kabul taught me to Samba on our last night at this cool Samba club; went to a bar with over 500 shots, all for 2Euro; drank a lot of beer in hostel common area; had sangria at this amazing pub for the locals, these Americans kept buying these jugs and we had a lot! so easy and delicious to drink though! ALso went to this bar called 'Dow Jones', based on stock market. Drink prices depends on how much people are buying it! Have to constantly check!
Foodwise, had tapas and paella, its good stuff. Spanish know how to eat, drink and party!
Carcassonne:
Sad to leave Barcelona, but Carcassonne was beautiful!
Its this medieval cite in the South of France, and the old 'La Cite' is this walled medieval castle of the Trencavel family. Its significant in terms of it was a safehaven for Cathars up until the King handed it over to the Pope in the face of the Pope's massive, murderous army during the Inquisition. Really cool to actually see and walk around a place ive studied.
(Also, its where 'Labrynth' by Kate Mosse is based!)
Carcassonne was seriously freezing though, it snowed as we walked from our guesthouse to 'La Cite', and the icy winds numbed our faces in minutes. Wore almost every item of our clothing!
To keep warm, had Cassoulet, local French dish of duck, pork and bean stew, it is so good! ALso had crepe suzette, which was good but liked dad's better.
Paris:
Been in Paris one day, long enough to have walked around Republique, where we are staying, headed into the heart, looked around some shops (its sales but still really expensive!) and went to the Notre Dame. Staying in a really lovely spot, lots of cafes and close to the action.
Hope everyone is doing well, and nothing major had happened in Adelaide, like a military coup, or dramatic conservative swing across all suburbs!
love to everyone
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