Three months later...

Jordan: We are back in Canada, as of noon yesterday. It's a bummer I'm sure you guys don't want to see us too badly and believe me the feelings are mutual. Nah we want to see everybody.
To cap off our trip we enjoyed Bastille Day in and around Paris. Actually we spent the day at Versailles roaming the palace and grounds. We however spent the night with everybody else in France crowded under the Eiffel Tower for the spectacular fireworks display. I believe there are videos available on the internet of the fireworks, they were absolutely incredible, I have a lot of photos. It was our last night and I had a little room to spare on my last CF card so I thought I'd go a little nuts in the photo department. Enjoy the photo on the blog.
Had a safe flight yesterday now we're back at home, we thank our mom for doggedly commenting on our blog, for those who didn't comment GFY.
Hope we see everybody soon,
Jordan & Kennedy.

In love with the City of Love

Kennedy: We haven't written for so long because we literally haven't had any down time in Paris. Definitely trying to fit as much in as possible in our last few days... I cannot believe we'll be getting on a plane in 24 hours. Did these last three months feel like 3 weeks for anyone else?
Okay enough feeling sorry for myself; we've been running around Paris like crazy people for the past 5 days. First day was spent on (surprise surprise) a free walking tour. Those New Europe guys should give me something for plugging their company all the time.... don't know what though since they've already given me about 8 free city tours. But I digress... tour was cool, learned a lot of really important stuff about Paris, like which bridge Big told Carrie she was "the one" on in the last episode of SATC.... and how Louis XIV liked to pirouette all over his great big palace... and how Henri IV had all his drunk friends made into sculptures on a different bridge, some of whom look like they are about to blow chunks. How romantic.
4 hours of random facts later, we headed to the Louvre while it was free to get in, yeah we're taking advantage of all the free stuff Paris will give us, which isn't much. But yeah, we saw the Mona Lisa, the Statue of Venus, and a lot more art... most of which I didn't recognize. Didn't even get close to seeing half of it. The Mona Lisa was actually more impressive than I expected, I think because I had extremely low expectations thanks to all those people who have told me before that it's so underwhelming, soo thanks guys! The building itself was pretty unbelieveable, just gigantic. Later we bought some wine and went up to the steps of Sacre Coeur to hang out with our hostel friends and enjoy the beautiful views of Paris from the hill. Random Parisian man creeped us out substantially but it all worked out in the end. Tried to climb the Tower that night but ended up drinking more wine in our area with more people from our hostel, including a metal band from Holland who were just hilarious.
Next day, did the Arc de Triomphe and Museé d'Orsay, which was one of my favourite museums in Europe. A lot of famous works inside - Manet, Monet, Cezanne, Matisse, Courdet, etc - and the building, which used to be a train station, is gorgeous. Perfect for an art gallery with all the natural light from the glass ceiling. Went to the top of the Eiffel Tower that night, there are really no words to describe how awesome it was, so I'm not even going to try. We'll post pictures from home.
Day after that, went to Notre Dame, walked around inside but bailed on the line to climb it because it was so ridiculous. Sorry Quasimodo; I promise to visit you next time I'm in Paris (believe me, I am coming back here). Then we went to the Centre Pompidou, the largest collection of modern art in the world. Didn't get through it all but saw some very "interesting" stuff. Then popped in to the Conciergerie, which used to be a palace in the French court but eventually became a prison, and it was where Marie Antoinette and many others were held before they were executed. We saw a re-creation of her cell; it looked a lot more comfortable than what the peasants had to deal with. But I'm sure it still sucked. Last night, went out for dinner in our neighbourhood of Montmartre at a little brasserie, very nice and kind of affordable. From there, went back to Sacre Coeur with more bottles of wine and hung out with all the Parisians kicking off Bastilles Day, which is technically today, but there were fireworks all over the city for about 3 hours, it was amazing.
Today we will head to Versailles and spend our last night by the Eiffel Tower, watching more fireworks and trying to soak up as much of Paris as possible before we have to bid her Au Revoir.

No time for a title! Just read it

Kennedy: We've been in Ireland for the past four days, trying to stay dry amidst the many random rain showers. I have to make this quick, so I might forget to mention a few things. Our first day, we took a walking tour of the city centre, where we saw Dublin Castle, Trinity College and heard about the city's tragic history, from the Viking invasions to the Great Hunger. We also met some fun people who we met later that night to take in some Irish dancing - definitely the highlight of Dublin for me! The next night we went to Dublin's oldest pub, the Brazen Head, where we enjoyed some Guinness and traditional Irish stew. The pub was built in 1198. I think it's had some renovations done since. Heard some good Irish folk music there as well - they played Tell My Ma by The Rankin Family -- Lee, remember clogging?!
We've taken a few day trips outside Dublin - yesterday to Galway City, today to Cork. Weather has been sketchy at best, but the towns were both lovely. We stopped in at a few museums and cafes to get out of the rain, things we probably wouldn't have done otherwise. Very cute places.
We made the executive decision to pass on the Guinness Brewery -- would have been cool but it's SUPER expensive. And I'm sure they make beer the same way as everywhere else.
Tomorrow we'll check out the old Gaol and hang out in St. Stephens Green before heading to the airport. We're going to sleep overnight there so we can avoid taking a 4 a.m. cab. Looks like we'll be arriving in Paris sleep-deprived yet again.

Haggis, Irn Bru and Familial Ties

Jordan: We haven't bothered to blog in a while. We've been short on time in Glasgow visiting the family. They're a handful, in a good way. Instead of having nothing to do at the end of the day but blog, we're can hang out with everyone here, so the blog has taken the backseat. You'll be pleased to see we've caught ourselves up with the photos now and I will from hereon catch you up on all the to-dos of our trip through Scotland.

Firstly, I'll take you back to Edinburgh. We took a day tour to the Highlands and Loch Ness. Our Guide, Angus, filled us in on the entire history of Scotland, I wish I exaggerating. No, he was great. Poked fun at the English, at the inaccuracies of Braveheart and showed us some of the most breathtaking countryside on the planet. Basically the rockies/alps minus the snow-capped pyramids. Went to Loch Ness, had a run-in with the monster. Wasn't actually as big as want it looks like in the photos but she was a fair size. I tried to pick a fight with it but the local constabulary broke it up and we went our separate ways to cool off because she's endangered and I'm not legally allowed to fight the Loch Ness Monster. Seriously, she's officially on the endangered species list thanks to blind stupidity.

On the way back we toured through Glen Coe, lots of valleys and lakes and mountains, or lochs and bens, and had a whiskey tasting. I love scotch; scotchy scotch, scotch. Actually in a bar in our last night in Edinburgh an old man taught us how to 'really' drink Scotch whiskey. Pour a nice glass, or healthy dram, have smell and a sip and then add just a wee bit o'water to settle it down and flush out the flavours and enjoy the rest. A friend from the hostel met a fiddle player who was playing with his band at the bar, some good folk music and during a particularly lively little number, Kennedy grew a large pair of Scottish balls and got up in the middle of the bar and danced a few steps. I partook with the obligatory step-dance clap and the bar got into a wee ruckus without a single punch thrown. That will wait til Ireland.

In Glasgow, met the family. Ronnie and Irene we stayed with and they treated us quite warmly teaching us the ins and outs of the Scottish way, and their crazy language. Words like numpty and graut were my favourites.

We toured Glasgow in an open air bus. We checked out the Kelvingrove Museum and Transport Museum, which housed a replica of a Glasgow street from the 50s with old shops and cars. Felt a lot like Happy Days. Also met the rest of the gang Elspeth and Stuart and family, and Donald and Yvonne and boys. Had some delicious meals and cold beers and really did feel like being back home. Enjoyed Irn Bru today, a nuclear energy drink far more potent than Redbull, enjoyed Irene's lamb innards, or Haggis, and some more whiskey and lost of Scottish desserts.

Had a visit to Loch Lomond one day. Toured around St Andrews, checking out the Old Course. We took a guided tour of the Old Course walking down the first, around the 17th and second and back down the 18th. Great holes. We could also just walk down around much of the rest of the course if time allowed, it didn't. We weren't even able to putt on the Himalayas, or the undulated ladies putting green just off to the side of the first hole green. But Ronnie and Irene did while we checked out the rest of the town, which is quite lovely. Checked out the ruins, St Andrews castle and Cathedral, both destroyed and overlooking the sea, and had some lunch and ice cream. Loved St Andrews. No joke a group of two people went off the first tee. If I was willing to fork over £130 plus hire some clubs I could have joined their group on the Old Course. Next time I'll play the Old Course.

Then stayed at Donald and Yvonne's as the next day Donald and the boys took us to Stirling Castle. Toured Stirling Castle, then climbed Ben A'an. Started raining the second we got on the trail but continued up the mountain anyway. We almost got struck by lightning so our trek to the summit was cut short. We were soaked through to the skin by the time we got back to the car.

We fly to Dublin tomorrow, I had a lot to cover so I'm sure I missed a bunch. Scotland was great. I know I'll be back because dad and I are going to play the Old Course, just a matter of time.

And check back on previous posts to see all the new photos.

In Scotland: the land of the Mann clan

Kennedy: I just read Jordan's last post and want to clarify that I really liked London, even though it was pricey. He was a bit of a Debbie Downer. London reminded me of an older version of Toronto, with a cooler accent. Really vibrant, multicultural city with tons to do and lots of delicious international cuisine - Jordan finally got to try Thai food!
I'm also loving getting to experience a lot of the 16th century history I've read so much about, thanks to Joanna letting me borrow her entire Philippa Gregory collection! (Sidenote: I'm reading The Other Queen right now, fitting as I'm in Edinburgh and heading to Mary Queen of Scot's Holyrood Palace later today).
Our last day in London was gorgeous: hot and sunny. We spent most of the day in Hyde Park, with a quick jaunt into Harrod's, the most expensive shopping mall I've ever set foot in. No souvenir purchases there, sorry kids! Later we hit up an English pub for some fish and chips and London ale, served at room temp.
Now we're in Edinburgh, which is everything I've ever expected from Scotland. Absolutely beautiful. Our hostel is located outside the city centre, on a hill right on the Firth of Forth. Next to a golf course, naturally. We walked to tiny little Cramond Island when the tide was out; in the 1800s it was a vacation spot, and in WWII it was occupied by soldiers on the look-out for attacks from the sea. The remnants of the forts still remain. Lots of sea creatures as well; apparently you can see bottle-nosed dolphins but I sadly didn't spot any.
Yesterday we took another - you guessed it - free walking tour of the Old Town. Our guide was a Nova Scotian! We finally came across a Maritimer. We saw the important stuff: Edinburgh Castle, the Royal Mile (also known as Tourist Trap Central), the cemetery where Bloody Mackenzie's poltergeist hangs out, the sites of witch burnings, the cafe where J.K. Rowling wrote Harry Potter, the school that inspired Hogwarts, the Princes Street Gardens, and the cathedral where Sir Sean Connery was knighted. Lots of random stuff. Also heard stories about William Wallace, the Stone of Destiny, Deacon Brodie (the man who inspired the R.L. Stevenson's Jekyll & Hyde), and Burke and Hare, body snatchers from the 1800s. Yeah, Edinburgh has a crazy, fascinating history.
Lots more to do in Edinburgh before heading off to Glasgow to meet our Scottish relatives for the first time!
P.S. You're probably on the edge of your seat, waiting for new photos. Sorry to keep you waiting, but we can't get to any USB ports at the moment. Sit tight, we'll have more up as soon as we can.

This is London

Jordan: We are in London. Everybody-speaks-our-language-and-drives-on-the-wrong-side-of-the-road-London. Handing-over-our-dignity-to-pay-for-bare-necessities-like-food-London. It's a nice place if you ignore the price, and though I am grossly overexaggerating, I'm also not too far off.
We arrived about three, or maybe four(five) days ago. Since we've been hitting up the main sites in and around London, with day trips to both Oxford and Bath. Totally didn't see the Roman Baths, as that would require to leave several of our toes for an admission price. Toes that neither of us are willing to give up yet.
What we have done and seen is another free tour, around the neighbourhood of Westminster, witnessing all things royal and getting some of the good stories that surround people in high places. Naturally we saw Buckingham Palace, not all it's cracked up to be, if it's cracked up to be anything. Also where our buddy Charles lives, as well as the original palace, home to Henry VIII and others. Other highlights include Westminster Abbey and the Parliament Buildings, housing the most famous Ben in the world. Not Kenobi, Big Ben, and learned how he, or it, the bell, got its name. We saw the London Eye, of course we're staying at the London Eye hostel. We are not going to take part in that part of London.
The London Eye is another of those activities that demand a virgin sacrifice just to get on. Maybe next time I come to London and am rich I won't mind handing over my dignity to the Queen just to get a look at the roof of her house. But I hear the view kicks ass.
We've also checked out the Tower Bridge and the Tower of London, with a bunch of guys wandering around the lawn in medieval costumes. We ate umm, a real full English breakfast one day. It was very tasty and included all the staples of a good breakfast: bacon, sausage, egg, beans, toast and mushrooms. Kennedy didn't touch her mushrooms.
Day trip to Oxford on a Sunday, when all the students were leaving meant nothing was open. Lucky us, pay to go to Oxford and see nothing! Not quite. We got into Magdalen College, where CS Lewis attended and Christ Church Campus, with the Great Hall from the Harry Potter movies. Also went to Moo Moo's for a milkshake. Kennedy got a Snickers bar ground into hers, I had a Cadbury Creme Egg milkshake.
Today went to Bath, skipped the Roman Baths, to spend more time with our old friend Jane Austen, with a bunch of other women, on Gay Street. As you can tell I felt right at home. We love you Jane, say hello to Mr. Darcy for us. We then went to a Vegetarian Pub, just so I could be a little more emasculated. Bath Abbey was next on our list of extraordinary sites in Bath, we went there.
Had a bunch of time to kill before our bus so hung out in a park, it was very cloudy. Cloudy days are sunny days here. But as Kennedy so satisfactorily put it just now, 'But no rain thankfully.'
Totally going to a Movieum tomorrow, we don't care how many limbs we have to give up to get in.
Edinburgh in a couple days.

In Bruges... well, not anymore...

Kennedy: We arrived in London last night, we are now officially on the last leg of the trip. This is depressing.
Our last day in Amsterdam was lovely - checked out some photojournalism at FOAM, drank tall cans and soaked up some sun in Vondelpark while listening to a random guy play Bob Marley, and ate meat croquettes and hamburgers out of a vending machine. Weird, and probably toxic, but very tasty.
Next stop: Bruges, Belgium. Famous for beer and chocolate...my kind of place! Bruges was added to our trip late in the planning stages after we heard it was an awesome party town. Yeah, that wasn't really our experience. Maybe because we were there in the middle of the week? Who knows. Last call at the bars was at 1 a.m., earlier than at the Fish in Clinton. However, we had an even better time the one night we stayed at our hostel's bar and played a few rounds of Kings with our Bruges buddies.
The weather was lovely in Bruges, warm enough for tank tops again. It's quite small but very beautiful. We could walk around the city centre easily, and had seen most of the sights within a few hours of arriving. The main square houses the famed Belmont Tower, which we didn't climb. We opted to visit the Chocolate Museum instead. After learning about cocoa beans and looking at some interesting chocolate art (they had a life-size chocolate statue of Barack Obama), we got to witness a demonstration and taste the final product. Mm mm good.
We also visited the Church of Our Lady, where Michaelangelo's Madonna and Child statue lives. A bit strange to see his work in Belgium; apparently it is one of the very few pieces of his outside of Italy.
Two kind of annoying things about Bruges: the locals don't like tourists and all the stores open and close at random. It made trying to get meals difficult. Especially when the place is open, practically empty, and the owner STILL refuses our business. Jordan and I did not make the 'cut' at a restaurant that sells spaghetti for 3 euros. Thankfully we were good enough for the guys at the fries stand down the street. Random fact: Did you know french fries were actually invented in Belgium? I didn't either. I also didn't know there was a movie called "In Bruges" starring Colin Farrell. A line from the movie: "If I grew up on a farm and was retarded, I might think Bruges is interesting. But I didn't, so I don't." Damn that Colin Farrell. Don't worry Bruges, I'm not too good for you.

We will walk 3 km in a downpour for beer, would you?

Kennedy: Yes, mom, everything is fine, we haven't run into any issues the past week except maybe some pricey internet rates. Having just spent three days in Copenhagen, we ran into a LOT of higher-than-average expenses. We did a lot of walking around (at least you don't have to pay to use your feet), and stumbled across a free museum too, Copenhagen's National Museum. It had lots of interesting artefacts from ancient Danish history, including stolen goods from the Viking era and some really old skeletons. There was also a pretty cool exhibit called Stories from Denmark, which spanned from the 1600s to 2000. Random paraphernalia included a protective child's 'hat' from the 18th century next to a modern-day pink bike helmet; old dollhouses still pimped out with tiny furniture and chandeliers; and a hut from the neighbourhood of Christiania, where, in the 1970s, hippies tried to create their own city within Copenhagen. This neighbourhood still exists today, across the canal. We hear it's lovely but didn't get to see much of it due to the crappy weather.
It rained a lot in Copenhagen, so we did things like climb winding, narrow church spires outside on very slippery steps, and get absolutely drenched while making our way to the Carlsburg Brewery (which is probably the coolest brewery in the world...). On our last day, it was almost sunny out, so we walked up to find the statue of the Little Mermaid... everyone's right, it's totally overrated. Just a little bronze statue, looking sad, sitting on a little rock, being ogled by a crowd of tour groups. Poor Ariel...
Oh yeah, we stayed in our largest dorm room to date, a 24-bedder. It was kind of annoying, but they had put up little dividers throughout so you felt like you were in a 4-bed with a lot of noisy neighbours nearby. Thankfully not the military barracks I'd been picturing. Not the cleanest place out there though, so other backpackers, maybe steer clear of City Public Hostel...
We took our last overnight train from Copenhagen to Amsterdam, two nights ago. SO happy I never have to do that again. Human beings are just not meant to sleep sitting up, bumping elbows with people on either side of them.
As soon as we dropped our bags off at our hostel, what did we do? Nap? No. Not us. We headed to Dam Square to meet up with the New Amsterdam Free Tour, and walked around the city for 3 hours, with our (Torontonian!) tour guide Allie. Stops included the Red Light District (yeah we went there - it's just like you all picture it), the Anne Frank House (we can't justify paying the outrageous fee to go inside though), and the Dampkring, one of Amsterdam's finest "coffee shops." People may recognize it as the setting of a particularly psychedelic scene from Ocean's Twelve. The scene where Matt Damon breaks into Kashmir. That's right ladies, I sat in the same seat as George Clooney. Too bad I wasn't sitting on his lap :(
Today we are heading to FOAM, a museum with works from a lot of famous photographers, including Annie Liebowitz. Might also hang out in Vondelpark, if weather cooperates, as it's also still free to sit on grass.
Until next time :)

Berlin has sobered us up?

Jordan: Kennedy has filled you in on the cheapness, or inexpensiveness, of the beer we've been coming across lately. We are now in Berlin, and I am absolutely thrilled to let you all know, the beer keeps getting cheaper. I can't say the beer quite rivals that which we experienced in Munich, maybe not even Prague.

So we arrived in Berlin a couple days ago now. We have spent the last two days enjoying all anyone can about the extermination of Jews and the division of a city for more than 20 years resulting in many a poor soul being shot trying to cross a wall. Maybe some of you heard of the wall that existed in Berlin? Anyways, to fill you in, it was called the Berlin Wall. The Holocaust and the murdering of the city's own citizens, I don't think this needs to be said but Berlin is a riot.

OK so we have found the free tour company, New (name of the city you are in) tours, this one the New Berlin Tour, to be awesome. We enjoyed another free walking tour of Berlin's best sites and learned much of the city's most intimate stories thanks to our tour guide and Berlin expert, a rapping Irishman named Stu. Stu provided us with great insight into things like the Holocaust Memorial, and Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp, all the while keeping us entertained with such self-composed classics as 'The Berlin Wall Rap,' 'The Berlin Rap,' and 'The Hitler Rap.' Believe me, you haven't experienced the Third Reich until you've heard the Hitler Rap.

So of all the stops we've made so far, Berlin is absolutely the most sobering. In more ways than one since we're trying to save money, and though the beer here is cheap, we've vowed to hold off until Amsterdam, where I'm convinced the price of a pint will double. Everything in Berlin marks either the scars of the Second World War or the Berlin Wall. Berlin has ultimately been completed rebuilt since the bombings of WWII and much of the time after was spent under Soviet control, which wasn't even good for the Soviets.

The sites around Berlin are iconic, from the Brandenburg Gate, to the Victory Column right down the street. We took a trip up the Reichstag, the new Parliament buildings, as there is a glass cupola at the top which gives OK views of the city. I'm leaving most details out from the tour, it should be sufficient for you to know that Stu rapped three times for us. We checked out things like the Wall, Checkpoint Charlie, Hitler's bunker, Bebelplatz (the site of the first book burnings) and lots of other crazy stuff that could only be in a German city. Germany is great.

We checked out the Memorial to the victims of the Berlin Wall today and saw the exhibit Topography of Terrors, about the SS and all the shenanigans Hitler got himself up to for his 12 years of rule. Also went to the Jewish Museum of Berlin and again, quite the sobering experience. Running very short of time. Needless to say the Jews have had a bit of a tough go in Germany. Actually there were a lot of accounts of Jewish people who were murdered at Dachau Concentration Camp, the one we visited near Munich. Just shows how connected so much of Germany is to the Holocaust.

No joke, a pint here is to be had at 1.40 euros during happy hour, what more reason do you need to enjoy Berlin. We head for Copenhagen tomorrow and then Amsterdam. Weather has been cold lately, hope we don't run into snow. Forgive spelling and grammar seriously no time to read through this and still need a title. Take care.

"This little mother has claws"

Kennedy: First and foremost, thanks to all for the birthday wishes! Had a lovely day touring around Vienna, but I think Jordan already filled you in on it.
Have spent the last three days in Prague, an absolutely awesome city. If you ever have the chance to go here, take it! Apart from the cobble-stone streets and stunning architecture, the city's history is overwhelming. It is a tourist's dream.
We spent a good portion of our first day on a walking tour, where we got a crash course in both Prague and Czech history while seeing the sights in the Old Town, New Town ("new" being the 1300s), Jewish Quarter and Mala Strana (Little Quarter). Among those, highlights included Old Town Square, with the towering Our Lady Before Tyn Cathedral, Old Town Hall and the statue of Jan Hus, the Powder Tower, which we later climbed for great panaromic views of the city, the John Lennon Wall, the famous Charles Bridge, and St. James' Basilica, where you can look at the mummified hand of a thief. Yeah, we heard some pretty crazy stories about people in Prague.
The next day, we went to Prague Castle - beautiful to look at but not so interesting on the inside. Maybe it was because we didn't spring for the audio guides, but aside from the gorgeous stained-glass windows in St. Vitus' Cathedral, we didn't get a whole lot out of it. Although the Daliborka Tower was pretty cool. It was a medieval prison, and there were a bunch of old torture devices on display. How would you like to hang out in a "body cage?" Let me assure you, you would not.
We also checked out the Kafka Gallery. I didn't know much about Franz Kafka before this, other than that he was a famous writer. After visiting this museum, I really want to read his books. Has anyone read The Castle?? It sounds really messed up; I'm so looking that up in the library when I get home. Sidenote: Did anyone guess where my blog title came from? If you said Kafka, you are correct! He is said to have made this comment about his beloved city. I think it's pretty accurate.
Today we went to the Jewish Quarter to check out the Cemetery and some of the old synagogues. We got down there and realized it was Saturday, the Sabbath, and it was all closed. So instead we went to the Museum of Communism. Yet another history lesson. From Marx, Lenin and Stalin to Jan Palach, the protests of thousands of Prague citizens through the 60s-80s, and some really crazy propaganda. To see the results of decades of Cold War documented in a few rooms in a museum was pretty overwhelming.
But I run short on time... let's just say, we have a lot more stories to share from Prague. We head to Berlin tomorrow.
p.s. Will post pics soon, promise!

In Austria, looking forward to Prague

Jordan: OK, so just to clear up for everyone, or perhaps just mom, those extra large iced teas we're drinking in the photo of us at the Hofbrauhaus beer hall, just so happen to not be iced teas. We only feel compelled to address this because, mom, we're not sure if you're joking about the whole iced tea thing or not. So just to clear up the murky waters, those iced teas are frothy, eight per cent alcohol, one litre mugs of a little something we like to call DARK LAGER. Very, very tasty.

Now to bring you all up to speed of the goings on in Austria. First we spent a couple days in Salzburg. Needless to say, if you've been there, there isn't a damn thing to do unless you're a Sound of Music fanboy or have a bit of man love for Mozart. Neither Kennedy nor I give two hoots about the Sound of Music, and the only things Mozarty there are his house and birthplace. Have you seen a house before? I thought so. So I'm being a little overly negative here. Salzburg is lovely enough, I guess. We weren't there long, a couple days, and the rain outlasted our own stay.

We thought we'd go up to the top of the hill, as Salzburg is all about the hills, and see the fortress. I knew we had to pay to go in, but I thought we'd be able to check out the grounds for free. I must have forgot, this is a fortress. Nobody gets in or out without paying. We didn't pay. We didn't get in. So we climbed to the top of Salzburg for nothing. But there were some cool views. But that's kinda the thing about Salzburg, everything there plays second fiddle to everything else we've seen. Maybe we're stuck up. Kennedy says "everything else we've seen?" as though she can't believe it. Believe it sister. Check this out, the views from atop the hill, didn't match those of Florence's, the statues aren't as cool as Rome, and Salzburg is a small, beautiful place, but it's got nothing on Luzern.

So in Salzburg we went to Mirabell Gardens, where you guessed it, part of the Sound of Music was shot. We walked right past Mozart's house, and we left Salzburg after crashing the city's soccer team homecoming or something.

On to Vienna. Vienna is a lot like Salzburg only bigger. The cool buildings are bigger, the gardens are bigger, and some of the people are bigger. We checked out the Freud Museum, set up in his Vienna residence/practice. It housed some of the original furniture and was decorated with scores of photos, statuettes, and various other things that littered his office. It was very informative.

Today we roamed through the Schloss Schonbrunn, the royal family's summer palace. It's like a mini, Austrian Versailles. The gardens were enormous and the home to many statues, cool fountains and beautiful flowers. People were also setting up for an orchestral performance of some sort, and one of the rose gardens was cordoned off as a film was being shot.

Other cool sites we took in, in Vienna are the Hofburg Theatre, the Austrian Parliament buildings, which outside of it has a bunch of statues of guys laying knockout punches on their horses, and also the Imperial Palace and St. Stephen's Cathedral.

Going to have a couple drinks for Kennedy's birthday now, and then we're off to Prague in the morning.

I want my own castle

Kennedy: Arrived in Salzburg last night. It's cold and rainy here, so we're taking a break from sight-seeing for a bit to catch up on important current events, i.e. hockey playoffs.

Last we left you, we were hanging out in Munich's beer gardens. We also took a day trip to Fussen, where King Ludwig II's famous Neuschwanstein Castle stands. It was the inspiration for Disney World's Fantasyland Castle, and it was easy to see why. It looks like your standard Disney princess castle. It sits among the cliffs of tree-covered hills, with views of three lakes and lots of green countryside. Walking up to it, you venture through a forest which I'm convinced is enchanted. Could have sworn I saw some animated chipmunks talking to each other.

On our last day in Munich, we went to the Deutsches Museum, the world's most-visited science and technology museum. Though we expected busloads of schoolchildren wandering about, it was surprisingly quiet. We got to check out exhibits of old machinery, the first airplanes, bridges, tunnels, glass-blowing, agriculture, film and photography, radio and television, and astronomy in peace. I could feel my mind expanding...

Later, we took a train to Salzburg (that's in Austria, for those who aren't Sound of Music buffs). Had a schnitzel dinner at a tiny local pub and met some very welcoming folks. Though none spoke English, the waitress (as well as several patrons) bid us 'Auf Wiederhesen' as we left.

And now, we wait til the sun comes out so we can check out the Old Town...

Beer halls are way better than the bar

Jordan: We are now in Germany, Munich to be exact. We arrived on May 25, and have spent the last couple days soaking up the German culture. This means we´ve been drinking our share of beer. Apparently the Germans, Bavarians, really do consider beer a food. Our beer-brewery tour guide explained they consider it liquid bread.

So we´ve checked out the city centre area of Munich, including Marienplatz, their famous square, and watched their glockenspiel. I guess it was cool, but I wouldn´t travel to Munich just to see that. The French knight does get his ass kicked by the Bavarian knight though. Hung out briefly in the Englischer Gartens with all the penises and boobs. It is the only remaining place in the city where ordinary people can be nudists. It´s a park and a river and there are naked old men bending over everywhere.

Had a free city tour with Ralph, toured a brewery and beer tasting with Jeff. That tour ended at the Hofbrauhaus, a real Bavarian beer hall. I think it was a relatively quiet night but it was still loud and rowdy and everything you´d expect from a beer hall. We´ve also spent some time in the beer gardens. We capped the night off with a Mas, or one litre beer. We had a dark lager that was 8 per cent alcohol. It was delicious.

Today we saw Dachau, one of the first concentration camps established by Hitler just two months after seizing power in 1933. It was pretty interesting and very crazy. Kennedy did not spend much time in the gas chamber. I have to say it was very uncomfortable to stand in there myself. We´ve eaten sausage, drank beer and that´s most of Munich for ya. Running out of time, going to see Neuschwanstein Castle tomorrow and then head to Salzburg.

Switzerland: like Canada but a little better

Kennedy: Jordan's been Bogarting the blog, and I'm sick of it. Let me tell you about why I want to move to Switzerland.
First, and most important, you can go anywhere and you'll always be able to see snow-capped mountains, clear blue lakes, and green, green grass. It is absolutely beautiful. We have photos that will prove this but, as usual, we are having technical difficulties. Will post as soon as we can.
Second, people are great here. Truly friendly, easy-going people, much like ourselves. As pedestrians, we are appreciating the fact that drivers actually stop for you at crosswalks. Every single time! It's a big change, when you're used to looking both ways at least 8 times before slowly and carefully venturing into the street, as per Naples or pretty much any other city in Italy.
Third, the weather is perfect. Maybe we are lucking out but so far, it's been sunny and warm. Today was actually almost as hot as Italy. In any case, it's better than southwestern Ontario's schizophrenic spring weather.
Fourth, there are limitless options for spending time outdoors. And even if you can't drop loads of cash on extreme sports like sky diving, you can still see a lot of cool stuff on a hike, or spend some time (not a lot though, you rent by the minute) pedal-boating around the lake.
Anyway, I'm sure there are far more reasons to love Switzerland, but being as we've only spent one full day here, that's all I've got for now. Yesterday we arrived in Lucerne, checking in to a very unique hostel just a few minutes from the water. We walked around our area for a while, then found an English version of Angels and Demons playing at the local theatre. We finally got to see Tom Hanks running like a madman through Rome. It was cool. More than once we pointed at the screen saying things like, "We were there!" "I remember that!" and "Hey everybody, Bernini designed that fountain."
We woke up early this morning and set off in search of a good hike. We sure found one. We climbed Mt. Pilatus, all 2,400 metres of it. No, I'm just kidding. We weren't allowed. We climbed to Frakmuntegg, a respectable 1,440 m up the mountain. It was impossibly hard at times, more so for me than Jordan. I guess I'll have to kick it into high gear in spinning when I get home. Jo, get ready!
It took us about 2.5 hours to reach the top, which included a half-hour stop for a quick bite to eat and some picture-taking. The views from the top were breathtaking, with Mt. Pilatus' peak towering over us at one side, a valley and more mountains to another, and the town of Lucerne below us. It was crazy! After hanging out for a bit listening to some traditional Swiss alpine horns, we took a cable car down to the bottom. I was petrified. As we climbed up, they looked really scary... but as it turns out, they're harmless. Just another way to enjoy the picturesque mountain-scapes.
Off to Mr. Pickwick's for some pub grub with my Canadian roommates. Stay classy.
P.S. Birthday shout-outs to my home girls Emily and Cathy! (Bday season is in full swing now). I've raised several pints to you both in the past few days. :)

Get lost in Venice

Jordan: So there are two ways our little headline can be taken. One: getting lost in the mysticism and beauty of Venice is difficult not to surrender to. Two: Venice is stupid.

We got lost in Venice both ways. Happy to say though, aside from a few mild tantrums by Venice's narrow, windy and dead-ended streets, we hardly ever didn't know where we were going. Venice is actually small enough that if you pick a couple landmarks, whether you can see them or not, like the Grand Canal, Piazza di San Marco and a street or campo you know well. You don't really get lost. Even the few times we were surrounded by shockingly new scenery, you just keep walking in whatever direction you think you need to go and eventually you'll come across some friendly, familiar territory. But Venice is still stupid. I don't want to offend anybody, but Venice is like a typical blonde girl, blonde girls, don't get too excited, but this stereotype is the best example I know to demonstrate my point, it's beautiful and stupid. I said it.

Some islands, like many of those we wanted to get on, are only accessible by a single bridge. When we were going to our hostel the first time, on the map it showed a bridge. When we got to said bridge, we found it led to a private, walled and very very locked property. The bridge was there only for the people needing to get on the other side of the unpassable gate. We technically needed to get on the other side of the gate too, but we couldn't. We had to backtrack and go around. I could throw a stone over the wall and hit our hostel, but we had to walk for another 10 minutes to get to the other bridge that would lead us safe and dry to our hostel. The hostel was crap, nothing but a bed. That's it, no breakfast, no clean shower, no indoor common area, not even a friendly guy named Mike at reception.

Venice is something else though. It is quiet, there is no such thing as a car or a moped in the classic, canal-laden Venice that we toured. Instead everyone has a boat, often times parked outside their house/apartment. I would love to rent a boat for the day and cruise around the canals. The other vessel roaming the canals is the gondola. Some say you only live once. Others say you only go to Venice once. People even go to such lengths as to say you only ride a gondola once. I don't know. We didn't do it. Maybe rich people only ride a gondola once. I am a recently laid off patron of the print journalism world. I don't ride gondolas. Though captaining my own gondola would probably rake in a little more scratch.

Piazza di San Marco. If you don't think of canals when you hear of Venice, you think of this place. The Basilica sits on one side, the coolest clock/clock tower, yes I know we're now in Switzerland but even the Swiss got nothing on this clock. It's twenty-hours, it displays the zodiac signs and a couple of bronze Moors sit atop it, waiting to ring the shit out of that bell every hour. The piazza also houses the Campanile. Kennedy proved how much of a Toronto/CN Tower snob she is when we were in the elevator on the way up. "It's only 60 metres? This is so not worth my time." Whatever Kennedy, we could still make out details on the ground and got some amazing views of the Venice rooftops. Venice has some awesome rooftops. Way better than Clinton even.

Then we thought we'd go into the Basilica di San Marco. These guys insulted Kennedy horribly by refusing to let her in because she was dressed in a way that offended God to an insane degree. We went back to the hostel, in the morbid heat, and got her a sweater just to go inside. It wasn't worth it. The place is dark, you're confined to a quick path between the discriminating velvet rope, and then you're whisked out, or you pay to go see some stuff in the back. At St. Peter's you went wherever the hell you wanted and you left when you were good and ready. St. Peter would totally waste St. Mark if those two guys ever squared off.

That's about all for Venice, I mean I could go on and on about the streets and atmosphere but that's meant for tourist guides, or my million-dollar novel based on my travels, not our travel blog. We really just spent the day in Venice, which turned out to be my birthday, May 21, thank you very much. You can do Venice in a day. You can do Venice in seven days, but just being there and walking the streets is what Venice is all about.

Also some other stuff happened, before and after our flight from Athens to Rome. Don't worry everything in the air went as planned. No room to put much here, just know we have a story to tell you all when we get home about meeting the coolest Americans we've met so far, a train not starting, us getting so fed up we almost leave the train and a mad rush to the movie theatre to watch Tom Hanks fight Catholicism to the death in Angels and Demons. I know I'm a total tease but it's a good story. We can't share all our good stories with you before we get back.

I'll let Kennedy tell you all about Luzern. Switzerland rocks!

Paros Mike is the best Mike we know

Jordan: So we arrived in Paros, after a safe and uneventful trip on the ferry. It was kind of a gloomy morning but all that went out the window the second we met Mike. Let me tell you about Mike, of 'Rooms Mike'. This is where we were staying and at times were treated quite royally. Yes, quite royally. Like 'King' and 'Queen', but like the King and Queen of different lands because we are in no way together by any means except blood. Mike is only the last person to make this mistake. We forgave him because he is awesome.

So we mosey on off the ferry, and Mike, who is waiting to pick us up at the port, is eagerly holding his "Rooms Mike" sign. Kennedy did all the emailing between us so that's the name he knew. I approached him and he looked at me and said, "Kennedy?" Not quite Mike, but close. Then he wondered why we chose two separate beds and hinted it would be nothing for him to change the accommodation to a single queen. No thanks Mike. But thanks for offering.

Mike is cool. What wasn't cool, weather-wise, was Paros. It was cool, but also incredibly hot that first day we were there. OK, let me tell you how hot it was, let me paint you a picture. So, in Athens I wore sandals the day we went to the Acropolis. I sweat bucket loads. I sweat so much that the dust from the ground mixed with the sweat on my bare feet and turned to mud, which stuck to my toes. This wasn't even regular mud, this was my own special concoction of mud. It wasn't liquid it was like a jelly that I could pull off. This is just one of the many ways on this trip we've discovered that my feet are the most disgusting appendages on the planet. Ok on Paros, it was hotter than that.

So Paros is awesome, we swam in the Aegean Sea and we saw another set of boobs on the beach. We mostly ate, drank and hung out on the beach the whole time we were there. It was a pleasant change from our walking tours of 6 to 8 hours a day. Also on Paros their gyros have an extra topping: french fries! So aside from that not much to tell, the food was great, we had some desserts from this bakery each night we were there, enjoying them over cheap (2 euro) bottles of wine that stank. We also turned on the TV last night, something we've been missing and starting watching this movie. It had Bruce Willis so we thought cool. Then we saw it had Denzel Washington, so we thought super cool, what is this and why haven't we seen it already? BW and DW in the same movie means nothing but good stuff. It was The Siege, check it out, it was OK and a little crazy.

So now we're back in Athens, flight to Rome tomorrow. Train to Venice the day after that. Then my birthday in Venice and then on to Switzerland.

Now that you know what we'll be doing we don't need to blog again for about a week. Just kidding. We'll let you know our plane didn't crash and our train didn't derail. Take care everybody, enjoy my birthday.

Gyros = cheap and awesome

Jordan: So we're spending our last full day in Athens mostly relaxing. Here we have kind of found a good plan for each day: sleep in a little, go see some sights and by about 2 p.m., have something to eat back at our hostel's outdoor courtyard and relax in the shade, with or without beer, but mostly with, and just chill until going out for gyros. You can get take away gyros for 1.90 or so and it's a lot like the title to this blog entry.

OK so what did we do in Athens? You probably know. We saw the ancient sites. The Acropolis was pretty cool and the Parthenon was pretty impressive from the south side. From the north side the vast amount of scaffolding covering the Parthenon was also impressive, tres impressive, but ruined the 'illusion.' Athens is smoggy, so even though we were at the top of the city and you could see for a long ways, you still couldn't see the edge of the city through the haze. That rhymes.

Also atop the Acropolis are people blowing whistles around the Temple of Athena Nike, at all those tourists with enough gall to stand still, take a photo or make an attempt to pose in front of any part of the ruined temple. These are all horribly incriminating offences. On the way up we did not see the Theatre of Dionysis, but the Theatre of Herodes Atticus, which has been kept up so performances can continue, there was a production going on last night. Pretty cool place to see a play. The Theatre of Dionysis is much more ruined, and so kinda cooler. We got to sit on the seats, they were not comfortable. I expected better from the Greeks.

What else, well today we saw the Temple of Olympian Zeus, which at one time must have been massive, but all that remains are a couple of the biggest columns we've ever seen. Seriously, Zeus demanded bigger columns than what was asked by Athena for her Parthenon, and the Greeks obliged. We walked past the Roman Agora and into the Ancient Agora, the Greek one, the Roman one is ancient too but not as Greek. Here was the Temple of Hephastaeros or something or other, it was very well preserved even with a complete absence of scaffolding. More than can be said of the Parthenon.

Last night was cool, we found some Canadian friends from Oakville who are on their way to Santorini for a friend's wedding. After grabbing some beers the three of them led us to a place known as the Rock, not Alcatraz. You climb up these rocks in the middle of the night, with a beer, and then on this hill just under the Acropolis and beneath a lit up Temple of Athena Nike. It was nice if you could find a comfortable rock. We've noticed that only North Americans visit Greece, everybody we see is either from America or Canada, but mostly Canadians. Ran into a group of four older folks from Winnipeg. This guy who works at a restaurant, though Greek, spent five years in Canada, in B.C. and Kenora. I wish we could afford the prices at his restaurant.

Off to Paros tomorrow, so up at like 5 am, or just about the time most of you will be thinking of going to bed, or perhaps thinking of getting a snack while you watch the end of the hockey game. When the game ends, we'll be boarding a ferry.

Also if anyone hears of a plane crash near Rome, we totally saw it happening. No joke at the start of our flight from Rome to Athens we looked out the window of the plane, bout half hour into the flight and saw what almost had to be a plane, with thick black smoke trailing behind it for a couple hundred feet. We haven't heard anything about a crash, but it was crazy.

See you on the island.

Greek 101: Yamas is Greek for 'Cheers'

Kennedy: We're already lagging behind in trying to blog more so we thought we'd do a quick update before heading out to sight-see today.
We arrived in Athens yesterday, after spending a day in Naples and Pompeii. In my opinion, Naples is no Rome. For pedestrians and drivers alike, the place is a nightmare. But the pizza we had was probably the best we'll ever eat. We didn't do much touring around, spent our only night there at our hostel, watching a European football (read: soccer) game with some guys from the U.K. It took them at least half the game to explain to us and several fellow North Americans the many systems and levels involved in the sport. Their team won though so we were all in good spirits.
Pompeii was really cool, similar to the ruins in Rome but better preserved. Most of the buildings' structures were still in tact, except for the roofs. Botanical gardens had also been added throughout, to demonstrate the types of plant life that would be growing now if that darned Vesuvius hadn't gone and erupted all those years ago.
After Pompeii, we took another train back to Rome for one last night at the Yellow. Shockingly, we had had enough of Italian food, so we went in search of Chinese cuisine for dinner. It was a welcome change, though it was the only Chinese restaurant I've seen with spaghetti on the menu. And no fortune cookies :(
So far, Athens seems nice. We are staying in Plaka, 'neighbourhood of the Gods,' the oldest part of the city. It's very touristy, but we don't mind. Just means we get to choose from a ton of great souvlaki and gyro spots! We're also a 5 minute walk from the Acropolis, so we're going to head over there today.
P.S. Happiest of birthday wishes to Miss Leanne Stephenson today!!! I'll be sure to have a Greek beer in your honour. Miss you!
P.P.S. Mom - the photos from Cinque Terre and Pisa are under the 'Viva Italia' post, where we wrote about them. Just scroll down, you'll find them.

Spaghetti twirler extraordinaire

Kennedy- First of all, Happy Mothers Day to all the mamas out there, especially mine!
Have also had a request to update our blog more frequently, we'll try our darndest Dad...
On to our update... it is our last night in Rome, tomorrow we head to Naples and then Pompeii. This has been my favourite city thus far, by a long shot... the history mixed with the night life, the locals mixed with the tourists [Rome is apparently where all the Canadians hang out], its been a blast, every minute.
Jordan mentioned we were heading to the Vatican in the last entry. We did that yesterday. Vatican Museums, Sistine Chapel, and St. Peters Basilica. Im not sure if its because Ive seen like 10 museums already, but I was underwhelmed by the Vatican Museums. I feel like I've seen it all already... although Raphael's frescoes were pretty impressive. Sistine Chapel was another that didn't really live up to expectations. It wasn't well lit, it was super crowded and every four seconds a guard was yelling out "No photo!". We got a photo though, we're rebels like that.
St. Peter's was beyond words.
Seriously, look at the photo we got, and there are far more where that came from. Just massive, and so much detail. Actually, the photo won't do it justice. But check it out anyways.
Today we did a lot of walking around, hung out at a few parks, and saw the piazza where Caravaggio killed a man for beating him at tennis. Apparently Caravaggio was a bit of a sore loser.
Some last words on Rome... the Yellow Hostel is amazing. Bacon and egg sandwiches for breakfast every day, awesome staff, pub crawls, free internet, a stone's throw from the train station... if you ever come here, stay there. We shorted out an entire block of rooms earlier today while trying to cut Jordan's hair with an electric razor. To everyone staying on the 3rd floor west side, we apologize for the inconvenience.
P.S. To all those at home who've dined with me at an Italian restaurant, you'll know I'm one of those dreaded pasta cutters. However you'll be happy to hear that I've since learned to twirl my spaghetti like the best of 'em. I guess you pick it up after your 17th dish or so...

What we do in life echoes in eternity

Jordan: That's right, I really want to watch Gladiator right now.

So we are in Rome. That means one thing: ruins and the Colosseum. So two things. The Colosseum is phenomenal. Bad news, my camera batteries died the second we got inside the Colosseum. I have maybe two or three shots from inside, because we weren't going to pay to go inside a second time just to get photos for you people. Good news, I got awesome photos from the outside.

You enter the Colosseum under these cavernous hallways and you can just imagine the hordes of toga'd Romans filing in through those halls to get to their seats and watch a couple gnarly dudes duke it out to the death. After you climb the stairs and just come out on the third level overlooking the centre. Oh, it was thrilling. It really is exactly like going to a hockey game, as you walk through an arena lobby where you can buy beer for ridiculous prices and then walk up to find your seat.

So we toured the upper levels before making our way back down to the first level directly above the gladiatorial grounds. When we were standing there it was so close to the ground. You're probably 10 or 12 feet above where a lion would be eating a gladiator, because of course the gladiator would trip, fall and that would be it for him. And the ring isn't that big, no bigger than a hockey rink, maybe 200 x 100 feet. I don't know, I'm ballparking it but that would be my guess. Go on Wikipedia and prove me wrong in the comment section. And the smaller size just means you were even closer to all the action. I could picture Russell Crowe walking out into the ring from below us, chopping a poor sap's head off and then getting splashed with blood.

And then we just hung out under the Colosseum. The sun was going down, we were sitting there 50 feet away. It was an awesome feeling to be hanging out and then just look back up behind you and there is the Colosseum towering above you.

Now I'll go into little detail about everything else because I took so much time on the Colosseum, deservedly so. So also, saw Palatine Hill, ruins of the Caesars' palaces, the Roman Forum, the Arc of Constantine, the Arch of Titus, Circus Maximus, nothing there but a field and a tower, but cool anyways. Literally every street in Rome has a monument or building and church or fountain or sculpture that is noteworthy, it's like no other place. What are some of these other cool things? you ask. The Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps, the Pantheon, the monument of the unknown soldier, Piazza del Popolo, which sits under Poncio Hill with great views of the city.

I haven't said anything about the Vatican, we're going there tomorrow. Relax.

Last night we did the Yellow Hostel pub crawl. Oh yeah we are staying the Yellow Hostel and it's the greatest hostel ever. Pub crawl was cool, we had a quick tour of the Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps and Barberini Square with a couple of Bernini's cool fountains. Then hit up three pubs, or clubs, one with an open bar. I left the last bar after a while and went for a walk. I was going to go back to the hostel, it was probably 2:30 am but then I saw the Colosseum down a sidestreet. I thought, there's nobody there, it's all lit up nice, I'm gonna go check out the Colosseum in the middle of the night. I left Kennedy at the bar to get home safely with our two German roommates, don't worry I didn't just leave her in a seedy club to get home herself. So Colosseum at night when it's 3 in the morning is cool and quiet, you can just sit and soak it all in again.

Again, enough about the Colosseum. OK this may be a long post, but it's still just the crash course of what we've been able to see in Rome. This place is awesome.

Oh yeah on the Pub Crawl we met someone who is the cousin of a little boy Kennedy used to babysit. Yeah this girl new about Londesborough and Blyth. Londesborough and Blyth, not just Clinton, Londesborough and Blyth!

We'll check back on Sunday probably before heading to Naples to see Pompeii and then Greece. Almost one month down and just two to go.

Viva Italia

Kennedy: We're in Italy now and so far, it's living up to all expectations. Our first stop was Genova, where we spent two nights at a hostel up at the top of the city - so far away from downtown we were practically in the Swiss Alps. Luckily, buses ran often and the neighbourhood was really cute. We took a day trip out of the city to hike the Cinque Terre - five ancient villages along the coast of the Mediterranean. We walked for close to 3 hours, right over the water at some points. It was a tricky hike in some spots but absolutely gorgeous (will add photos as soon as we can - sorry we've been having issues with posting. Trust me, we have lots to show you when we get home!).
The next day we headed for Florence, with a stop in Pisa to check out the Leaning Tower and have lunch. We went to this little pizzeria off the major tourist street, and it was THE best pizza I've ever tasted. Terroni doesn't hold a candle.
Since Friday, we've been touring around Florence. Our hostel is again located way up on the hillside, but it is a really beautiful place - a 17th century villa with a courtyard and sculptures throughout the building. However, the lifeless, high ceilinged hallways and remote location remind us of The Shining. But I digress...
Yesterday we walked around the city core, saw Florence's famous gothic cathedral, the Duomo, which is absolutely massive and stands out because of the colouring on the exterior. Beside it is the Campanile, an 82 metre tower built in the 14th century. We also came across the Piazza della Signora, which houses a number of sculptures based on Greek mythology. It also has a replica of Michaelangelo's David, which, as we discovered today, doesn't even compare to the original. We saw it at the Galleria dell'Accademia - it really is the only sculpture you ever need to see. Quite astounding. Unfortunately, like every other museum out there, photos are forbidden. Just take our word for it.
We also went to the Galleria degli Uffizi today - a two hour wait but at the end of it, we got to see a lot of cool Renaissance art, including Botticelli's Birth of Venus and The Allegory of Spring. We also saw some works of Carravaggio and Da Vinci's Annunciation. Afterwards we went on a hunt for some good pasta, and we found it at a little restaurant next to the Duomo. Our waiter loved life. And we loved the free shots he gave us. :)
Tomorrow we plan to cross to the south side of the river to the Piazza Pitti and go to the park. We also plan to sample some wine at a few patios if the weather cooperates. Then Tuesday it's off to Rome. Can't wait.
P.S. Post more comments!! We want to hear from you. Mom - keep up the good work.