A Comedy of Errors

Temperature in
Houston, Texas is:

LINKS

Sign my Guestbook
(Powered by SignMyGuestbook.com)

MSN Encarta
"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us." -Morrow
"Take care of the minutes, and the hours and years will take care of themselves." -Anonymous
"Love doesn't make the world go round. Love is what makes the ride worthwhile." -F.P. Jones

Profile | Contact Me | Archive | Newest | Diaryland

2004-08-18
when in rome

00:26

Athens, Greece. As in, the Acropolis. As in, the birth of modern civilization. As in, where the Olympics began. As in, where the Olympics are this year. As in, where I am right now. ;)

When I last wrote, it was from Albertville, France. So what happened between then and now? Well, for one, I BEAT YOU, NICK! (WRT number of European countries visited.) Okay, maybe not in the same time span; they whirled through ten countries in four days, we took a more leisurely two weeks. Plus, I've added two countries which he didn't visit - Vatican City and Greece. We reserved a car in Turin, Italy and took the train from Albertville to pick it up, and drove along the border (Italy, France, Italy, France) to Monte Carlo where we visited the Grand Casino and were kicked out of the Hotel (excuse me, but do you have a card?), but not before rubbing the left knee of the statue of King Louis XIV's horse for good luck.

We hadn't really had any trouble with campsites in all other countries, but finding camping in Italy proved to be ridiculously hard, with all of the campsites we pulled into full. At 12:30 a.m., after being turned away yet again, and following a sign which led us out into nowhere, we ended up sleeping in the car in a field.

Next day, we drove to Cinque Terre, miraculously found camping and stayed for two nights, which included Kelly's birthday and a visit to a partially-nude beach. I say partially in that it was a nude beach, but there were a fair amount of people only topless, and then some, including us, that wore full bathing suits. Kelly said that a bikini was enough nakedness for her, and it was for me, too. Monterrosso al Mare and Caniglia were the only two of the five we visited, and while at first Cinque Terre seemed to be overhyped, it has a charm such that it grows on you and it doesn't take too long until you begin to think that it really is one of the most beautiful places on Earth. I definitely want to go back and spend more time there and see all of the towns.

August 16th - mad driving to Roma. But first, a necessary stop in Pisa where we had lunch and Kelly took the typical touristy picture of me holding up the leaning tower. Wait, no, that was what the other billion tourists took pictures of; she took one of me trying to push it over. Much more fun. She made an interesting comment about how it was famous because it was an engineering failure. I like to think that it was designed so well that even leaning, it's held together. And for thousands of years. How many buildings that stand straight can do that? There are renovations being done to restore some of the tilt so that it is not dangerous, but of course it won't be straightened up completely, as then it wouldn't be the leaning tower of Pisa anymore. It used to be that visitors were not allowed to climb, but they can now; we didn't because the earliest we could get tickets for was several hours later, and we needed to be in Rome.

Off to Rome. Didn't see the Coliseum or even that much, but visited San Piedro (St. Peter's Cathedral), thereby adding another country to my list - Vatican City. The cathedral was SO impressive at night, much less so during the day. We arrived around dusk and it was all lit up - breathtaking. Stayed at a nice hotel within sight of the cathedral. Walked around, saw a member of the famous Swiss Guard in his ridiculous costume, and had a late dinner at a restaurant where the waiter, instead of informing me that they were no longer making the ravioli which I requested, brought me a plate of spaghetti with no explanation. Hmmm... Eventually, did get my ravioli, and it was really good.

Today, we flew to Athens and are staying with our fellow MSS '04 student and friend, Elias. And tomorrow, we are going to an Olympic game! How cool is that!!! Not only are we in Athens, but we are in Athens during the Olympics, going to a couple games (including a medal ceremony!), have a free place to stay, and have a host who speaks the language and knows the area. Becca, I went to Greece. Will you let me in the house now? ;)

A couple of interesting notes: 1) when searching for flights, turns out it was cheaper (by several hundred Euros) for me to book two one-way tickets - Rome to Athens, and return - than a round-trip; 2) Also, Kelly and I had recently read Dan Brown's Angels and Demons, which centered on San Pietro, so it was pretty neat to be there. Scary unplanned coincidence - both had just read The Da Vinci Code and went to the Louvre on my birthday, and were in Vatican City after reading Angels and Demons exactly six months later, and a day after her birthday; furthermore, we had spent my birthday together, just the two of us, and spent hers together the same.

Well, it's late, I'm tired, and tomorrow we are going to see the Acropolis. I love that - what are you doing tomorrow? Oh, not much. Just going to see the Acropolis. =) Hee hee.

Oh yes, overdue birthday wishes to my bro and Will P., both of whom have the same date of birth, August 5th, and to Nicole and Kelly.

Previous | Next