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.