Foggy Days in London Town

Went into London to meet up with Kaitlyn and Elise. I had arranged to stay at the same hostel as them for a couple nights to maximize our London time. Since I arrived before them I dropped my stuff off and went to explore the area. It was raining, but not bad enough to keep me in. Royal Albert Hall was not even a block away from my hostel. So many AMAZING concerts have been held in Royal Albert Hall. My personal fave being the 10th anniversary of Les Mis concert. Which is probably my favorite recording of Les Mis. Certainly the one I listened to the most. Anyways, there was a concert going on while I was there so I couldn't even go snoop the lobby. Next time!

Across the street from the Hall is Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park, so I went to venture. I found a pond and from a distance I could see tons of swans and Canadian geese. I thought how nice it was having British swans and Canadian geese mingling together! What a good example of countries embracing each other! The closer I got I realized that the swans and the geese were in two separate groups. Definitely not mingling. So much for international unity! Geese, Swans, you'll have to work on that.

Then it was time to meet up with my friends. Elise wasn't feeling great so Kaitlyn and I went for dinner. We both got delicious burgers and filled each other in on our travels so far. It was quite nice. We stopped at a grocery store on the way back, I got a persimmon and candy. Back at the hostel Kaitlyn decided to call it a night.

I wasn't tired at all. And since I had an unlimited transit card for that day I decided to make use of it. I asked the reception at the hostel where the closest bus was and then I was off. I didn't care where I went cause I just planned on riding the bus around. It came in no time and before I knew it I was on the top level of a double decker bus, in the very front, listening to happy songs on my phone, and eating candy coke bottles while cruising around London at night. Quite possibly the best idea ever! Seeing London lit up was so beautiful! And I had the best view. The bus was pretty empty and I felt like the Queen up there. I'm sure she regularly cruises around London on the top level of a double decker bus eating candy coke bottles. What else would the Queen do? I cruised until I reached the end of the line and had to get off the bus which was right by Kings Cross station. Then I crossed the street and hopped on the same bus going back towards my hostel. I can't begin to tell you how happy I was. I was just in a state of bliss. It was a great ride, and I can't wait to do it again one day!

Monday started off heading straight for the Tower of London. It was Kaitlyn's choice since it was her birthday. In no time we were there exploring the old castle secrets. I like that stuff. They used to have somewhat of a zoo there. When they had polar bears they would tie a lease on them and let them into the Thame river to hunt for fish. Crazy.

We waited in line to see the crown jewels. Which all look very new and hardly old at all. Even though many had been around for hundred of years. I guess they don't get used a ton. We finished up the tower, the last thing we saw was the Bloody Tower. Where supposedly King Richard III had his nephews murdered so he could be king. Lots of mystery surrounding that, and not so much fact. But I was intrigued. And now I want to go watch the movie Richard III with Charleston Heston.

After the Tower of London we found food. And it was a steal of a deal. This lovely restaurant has food 1/2 price on Mondays. Yay it was Monday! So that is where we had Kaitlyn's birthday feast. We even got dessert, which the waiter so generously put candles into for her to blow out. All delicious food.

From there Elise was off to meet her friend, which left Kaitlyn and I to scope out the royal grounds. Starting with Big Ben, followed by Westminster Abbey. We didn't go in, but adored it from the outside. Next was Buckingham Palace. Took some pictures and walked around the walls. Which bear resemblance to the Berlin wall, but no graffiti.

To close off Kaitlyn's birthday we went on a walking tour of her choice. The Jack the Ripper tour. Yes you read right. He's not a very nice fellow. And the tour guide was very animated. It was actually very interesting, better than watching a movie. And spooky. At one point she was talking about a lady who had been murdered and was standing *she points to me* exactly where you are standing right now! Yikes. I took a step to the side. Later on a couple said to me "lucky you!". They had no sarcasm, and were very sincere. To which I thought "Yes, lucky me I was standing in the same spot as a victim who was about to get Jack-the-Rippered". Lucky me, was not my initial thoughts. We made it through the tour alive. And with a much deeper knowledge about Jack. Who apparently resembles Freddie Mercury. Bet you didn't know that! And after the tour we called it a night.

Tuesday was a big day. First stop was the Victoria Albert museum. Both Kaitlyn and I thought it was a museum about Victoria and Albert. We were wrong. Its an art gallery and very nice, but nothing to do with Victoria. Haha. So then we went to the Imperial War Museum, I love that museums are free here! The war museum made me very glad I did not live through the world wars. And I hope that I never have to. They had a big exhibit devouted to the Holocaust. Which was hard to go through, yet I felt like hearing these peoples stories is important for us to learn and grow from here.

We next went to find the Millennium Bridge. Which appeared in the Harry Potter movies. It was fun to walk across it (don't worry, no Death Eaters attacked it while I was on it) and then we explored the things on the other side. We found Shakespeare's Globe theatre, which sadly I did not get to see a show for. Next time! Then we saw London Bridge. Not super thrilling, but it was there. And we also checked out the Tate Gallery of modern art for a while as well.

We decided to head towards Kings Cross Station to further our unofficial self guided free Harry Potter movie sights tour. We grabbed some food first and ate it outside while admiring the beautiful St. Pancras building. Then we went to find Platform 9 3/4. We found it mobbed by a giant queue, with people waiting to get their picture taken by the professional photographer. Which you later could buy, after waiting in another very long line. We skipped the lines and took pictures of other people there instead. I thought it was funny, there was one guy whose job was to hold the end of a scarf (whichever Hogwarts house the person chose) and throw it in the air right before the photographer snapped the picture. He did this over and over. I wonder how he feels about Platform 9 3/4 haha. I was then determined to find the place where Hagrid and Harry walk with trains below them in the first movie. I found it, and didn't even have to buy a ticket. Though I didn't hang out too long in case people decided to check if I had ticket....

For dinner that night we stopped at a grocery store, I found a pack of 5 doughnuts for only £0.60. Of course I got those. And to make it a healthy dinner I bought a carrot. Which only came to £0.08. I'm pretty sure it was the cheapest carrot I've ever purchased! And it was big too. Yay! And don't worry, I shared the donuts.

That night we had tickets to Billy Elliot the musical. We met up with Elise and sat in our third row seats. The kid that played Billy was crazy good. I was blown away! Also the actress playing Mrs. Wilkinson had played the role of Fantine in the Les Mis 10th anniversary concert. I was fan-girling just a lot. Like I said previously, 10th anniversary concert was the CD I listened to the most. And I also watched the vhs about a million times, so seeing her live was pretty legit. It was indeed a lovely evening out.

A summary of Wednesday: Lots of running and lots of junk food and lots of theatre. A pretty perfect day. If you were to decrease the running by a little bit then it would be a totally perfect day.

I woke up early to go get day seats for the show Gypsy. I got to the theatre 20 minutes before it opened, enough to be fourth in line. They didn't release any cheap seats on the stage level, but I did manage to snag two cheap seats in balcony. They were still pretty good actually.

Before the show I met up with Kaitlyn. We rented bikes and rode around Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park. It ended up being perfect weather for it. Not too hot nor too cold, just right. There were quite a few paths that bikes weren't allowed on, so navigating was a bit of an adventure at times. We did well. Saw lots of geese, swans, (neither mingling with each other) and ducks. Even a big line of horses with riders who were in fancy uniforms. I was secretly hoping that maybe someone from the royal family was passing by, but I didn't see them if they were. There wasn't much for cars afterwards, so perhaps they were just practising. We returned our bikes and then I headed to the theatre district.

I met Nefer's cousin Kleidy for some fun theatre-ing. We headed to the Savoy theatre for Gypsy, starring the incomparable Imelda Staunton. For you witches and wizards, that's the former Professor Umbridge at Hogwarts. She was amazing! Seriously, really quite a show to see her live. It was very well done. And I had my Broadway-noculars, so that was a nice considering we were in the balcony seats. Both Kleidy and I thoroughly enjoyed the show.

When it ended we decided to be spontaneous and get tickets to another show. I hadn't planned on it initially, but we thought hey why not. We checked at two theatres that didn't have cheap seats left before finding some at Beautiful. I had seen it in NY, and loved it, so we decided on it. Here was the catch. The box office guy said we could get cheaper better seats at 7. It was 6:20. Just enough time to go to my hostel and pick up my big backpack and come back. Except it wasn't really enough time. Perhaps underestimating how long it would take, Kleidy and I ended up running madly through the streets of London. We got to the hostel at 6:58, and the show was 7:30. So we picked it up a notch. Even though I wore my giant backpack we sped back to the underground station. Which wasn't very close...onto the train we finally got to our stop. With one last sprint to the end we made it at exactly 7:30. Since we still had to buy our tickets we missed the first number. But since it had already started we ended up getting a major discount. So it worked out. Good ole Carole King. She's got quite the story. My allegiance is still to Jessie Mueller, as the original star of the musical in NY. But Katie Brayben gave a good show nonetheless. Our seats were awesome! Front row of the first balcony. Super close to the stage. Good seats spoil you.

After the show we made our way to the train. But missed the last one that would take us all the way to Nefer's village, good thing she is a kind kind soul and volunteered to send her husband to pick us up one village over. It was a good way to spend a last day in London. Despite only eating junk food, no time for dinner or lunch when you are sprinting through London trying to get to your shows on time. Still a great day!

Travelling to London

I got to the airport in plenty of time. Though before I caught the shuttle I had to run back to the hostel since I had forgot my main pair of shoes. Still, I had left lots of time so I was alright. I got to the airport grateful that I had come early. The line was crazy. And for most of it I always seemed to be the last one in line. I had music in my head and I really just wanted to break out into song and dance. I imagined everyone in the airport joining in, and us having a great big musical number. With lyrics in both English and Italian, obviously.

I was able to check and I got through the security lines without a hitch. Actually I was a little worried cause I have two little jars of pesto, each is a little more than 100mL. But I arranged them in my liquids bag somewhat strategically, hoping it would get passed over. I acted confidant that it would all be alright as I went through. But the lady did pick it up and look at it. On the other side the security man asked where I was heading. Since I said England for a week, he let me keep them. Yay! Pesto in Canada I shall have. It won't be a problem again since I plan on checking my bag from London. I figured I had just enough time to buy two giant chocolate bars from the duty free store, since they were cheap. Then headed to my gate. Except there was a giant line there. It was a customs line, which I didn't account for, and they had at least five flights funnelling through there. This was the only time I maybe worried a little that I didn't have enough time. Maybe I shouldn't have gotten my giant chocolate bars. But they hadn't paged me yet, so I figured I was alright.

While I was waiting in line there was girl that tried to come back out the exit. Which is a bad idea when that exit is customs. She wanted to charge her cell phone and then come back through the line. She kept yelling at the workers, "I'm American! I need to go charge my phone. I'm going to Dublin and just want to charge my phone. Come on I'm American!"  Etc, etc. I realize that not all Americans are like that, in fact all the ones I know aren't. And I know there is people like that from everywhere, but if there is one way to get people to dislike you, speak that way to the very polite Italian workers. I don't get it, her flight left in half an hour anyways, so by the time she got out she would have to jump back in line cause it was so long. I just had to shake my head. Watch what you say people (aka the angry girl in the Napoli airport that wanted to exit customs just to charge her phone), others are watching. And maybe judging a little bit. And posting it on their blogs. That a handful of people read.

The flight was good. Then I hopped through customs super fast in London. Actually it was quite nice cause they had all UK/EU passport holders go in one line, and passports from everywhere else in another. I happened to be travelling with a lot of Europeans. Cause my line had maybe five of us in it, while there were hundreds in the other one. Win! Now I am back in the UK. I admit when I stepped off the plane I sang "Hail Britannia! Britannia rules the waves. We shall never, never, never be slaves!".

Back in London.

It was a lovely day. I got to stay with my friend Nefer again. Her cousin is also out staying with her. They were planning on heading into London to go see Phantom of the Opera. I was planning on a theatre day too, but I had a priority list of shows I wanted to see on the West End. London's equivalent of Broadway. I was in heaven! Since I had seen Phantom already I opted for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Miss Saigon. I had done my research and found that many shows offer 'day seats'. Kind of the like NY's rush tickets. Usually you have to line up before the box office opens and they release a certain amount of front row seats for around £20. A steal of a deal! I headed to Miss Saigon box office first and asked if they by chance had any day seats left. It was 12:30 by the point, so I didn't really think they would. But it was a two show day, so maybe. They didn't have any for the matinee, but they had one ticket left in the front row for £20, and it went straight to me. I was thrilled! Then we headed to the theatre where Charlie was playing. They don't do day seats, but the very back row is only £20. So I took it for the matinee. Sadly I left my binoculars at Nefer's house. I brought them solely for this purpose. All well, I really only needed them for Charlie.

Before our shows Nefer, Kleidi and I explored Piccadilly Circus and that area. Then we grabbed some lunch. It was way delicious, at Nandos. Then we headed our separate directions. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is done by the same people who made Matilda the Musical, which I had seen and loved. It was very well done. The special effects were amazing! I was totally taken into a different world. It was bright and catchy and wonderful! And the view from the very back row really wasn't that bad. I could see everything through the whole show. But there was a person or two that occasionally was checking their phone. This is a GIANT pet peeve of mine. Come on people, can you not live without your phone for an hour til intermission, or the show is over. And if you can't that's just sad. But you should at least stay in the hall and do it.

After the show I went and met up with Nef again and we all got dessert at a French Patisserie. It was delicious! We sat on a bench and loved every morsel while enjoying a lively conversation. Before long it was time for me to head to show number two. I was soooooo excited to sit in the front row. I love being so close to the stage. I feel like I'm part of the show. Then it started. I knew it was based on Madame Butterfly, but really wasn't familiar with the music. It started and was a bit scandalous, I wasn't expecting that. Luckily it cleared out and I could enjoy the rest of the show. The actors had amazing voices. Seriously, a man that can sing is the right kind of man. The lead girl who plays Kim was insanely talented. Her voice. Then I found out that she just graduated high school. What?! Crazy young talent. Me thinks this show should come to Broadway, I'm pretty sure she'd win the Tony award.

The show had some crazy effects too. Including an actual helicopter landing on the stage. And the way they did it made you feel the wind of it coming all the way through the theatre. I honestly thought it was flying over top of me for a bit. Oh I felt all the emotions. Especially at the end of the show. This story leaves me a blubbering mess. Seriously they need to give me more time before the house lights come up. So I can process. Overall there are some parts I'd leave out, but Miss Saigon also transported me to another world. Vietnam during the war. What a show!

Then I left the theatre. Sadly here in the West End you have to buy your programs. No freebies like all the Playbills in NYC. They charge £4 per program. And I had a giant moral debate about whether or not to buy one. I do have a collection, but £4 is a lot. So I bought one from Charlie (using all my change) and then snooped a display one for Miss Saigon. At least I have one show. That'll be enough. Now I'm on the train heading back. I like theatre days.

POMPEI

With a heavy heart I left Rome. I wanted to do more shopping, but alas my train was leaving at 11:45am. So off I went to Pompeii. Land immortalised by ash, until it was dug up for us to discover.

I got to the town and couldn't find any clues as to where this giant archeological site was. It looked like a normal town to me! Finally I asked someone and she was kind enough to point me in the right direction. Off I went to discover the ancient world. It was a ten minute walk from the train station and I could store my bags there. So boom, in no time I was off exploring old stuff. And loving it! The first part had hardly any people in it. I took a couple sweet pictures with my camera, thanks to the timer. You'll have to wait til I have computer access to see those!

I eventually made my way to main street. And that's where the really good stuff was. It was still another hot day in Italy, so I tried to stay in the shade when I could. I can't believe how well preserved this stuff is. It really is amazing. I watched some archeologists working, it was cool to see how much care they took. That's why we have what we have today. The walls were still painted, so well kept. About half way through my wandering I remembered I had a Rick Steves audio guide. So I pulled it out and listened from the beginning. I learned a lot of the peoples lives. I saw Mount Vesuvius itself, the volcano that started it all. Apparently its still active today.

The one part I especially wanted to see was the cast of the people that were caught unaware when the volcano exploded. I know that may sound a bit morbid, but I was really curious. I listened to the part where Rick explains where they are like a thousand times trying to find them. Alas, I came to the conclusion that they weren't there. Which is alright, there was so much else to see,  that though I was a bit disappointed I certainly didn't regret coming. Cause it was still really cool.

There were so many places I saw. Their main square, the bath houses, markets, and I even saw a brothel. Apparently there was a lot, maybe that's why the volcano erupted on them? I also saw some restaurants and gardens. Big houses and small houses. My favorite part was probably their theatre (surprised?). It was cool to see how even then they had cheap seats and the more expensive seats. I wonder if they did rush tickets back then? In the Colosseum I learned that their tickets were pieces of tile with the seat written on it. Pretty nifty I thought. I'm curious to known if they had a similar system there. They had a big theatre and a smaller one. The teatro piccolo<-I love the name!

This was near the end of my wanderings. I only had the amfiteatro left, aka amphitheatre. This was like their Colosseum. It was way on the other end, but I wanted to see everything. I'm sure glad I went. They (modern Pompei-ians) had a wooden pyramid right in the middle of it. Apparently there was a photography exhibit. In I went, and there were all the bodies they had cast and recovered. I got to see them after all. It literally took my breath away. Because all of the sudden, everything I just saw became real. These were real people with real lives. Lives that I got a glimpse of that day. There were adults and children and I stood and thought about their lives. I was alone in there for a while just thinking about them. It was a good way to close out my trip to Pompeii. After that I left.

Walking through the modern town of Pompeii I really enjoyed it. They are a super cute town, lots of locals out and about. I got yummy gelato, raspberry and peach, it was amazing. Almost tied with the Lindt store gelato. I'm going to miss this stuff. I caught my train to Napoli. The ride along the coast was quite pretty. I loved it. I would like to explore Sorrento next time I come, I hear its even prettier. Next time!

I navigated to a new hostel for the last time in Italy. It started out alright, but I still got lost near the end. I found it. I had enough time to grab pizza. The receptionist showed me on the map where her favorite place was. I decided to check it out. On the way I passed a nice quiet spot by a castle. I got to her fave pizzeria and there were tons of people there and no where to sit. So I turned around and went back to the quiet place. And it was wonderful. I got La Duchessa, a pizza with cream, mozzarella, ham, basil, and corn on. It was so so good. And it was huge! But since its been so hot, and I've been so cheap I've been skipping lunch just cause I'm not hungry. I eat a giant (free) hostel breakfast and then I'll eat dinner. So this made up for it, it was amazing! New life goal is to recreate it. When I get home its all Italian food experiments. I will learn how to cook!

Country #4: Vatican City

The day started with me trying to find St. Clement's church. It apparently has three levels into the ground and you can see how it was built upon through the centuries. But I got lost. And it closes from 12-3. Boo. So I found another church instead and it was big and lovely and I never wanted to see that other one anyway! Just kidding. Eventually I found where I was, which wasn't even close to St. Clement's. I think I was close at one point....all well. From there I took the train to the Vatican.

Not only did I want to go to the Vatican because of its art and history and stuff, but I wanted to add another country to my trip. And considering my timeline, this worked perfectly! I had heard that on Wednesday mornings the Pope makes his address to crowds in St. Peters Square, and so lines for the Vatican museums weren't as long. Well I didn't realize that the Pope is in South America right now, so that wasn't going to work. I also heard that afternoons are better than mornings when waiting in ridiculously long lines, because people start to give up. So that's what I decided to do. I'm strong. I won't give up. I would stand in that line until I literally baked on the sidewalk.

I got off the train and headed towards the Vatican. I must've had at least 5 people ask if I wanted to join their tour group. I finally stopped to listen to one guy and found out that it costs €50 to take the tour. 'Yeah right!' I thought. Considering the normal price is €16. Once I got close a guy standing close to the queue asked if I got my tickets yet. He said you had to buy them across the street. I didn't know where to buy them so I thought he was just being helpful. I should've known, when he started talking about how this way is much better cause then I wouldn't have to wait in line, which will take at least 2 hours. And I wouldn't be able to see St. Peters basilica at all because I'd run out of time waiting in lines. Then I asked if he was selling me a tour, and he said yes. But he would be kind and give me a discount. Curious, I asked how much of a discount it would be. €4 off! What a bargain! Ha. I then told him I would take my chances and wait in line. Good choice on my part. To all those tour-selling-nay-sayers, I say poo poo! I practically walked right into the Vatican. The security line took me maybe 5 minutes! And then I was in. I'll admit there were tons of people in the first part of the museum. I reckon it was kind of like  being in a really fancy cattle drive, assuming the people are the cows. It kind of smelled like it...but there was a whole lot of fancy art to distract from the cow-like herding. And the further in I got, the more people spread out. I think I was the only person there without an audio guide or a human guide. But I liked being able to read and enjoy the pieces I wanted to. I took my time. There are some exquisite pieces in those museums! I'll post a picture of one of my favorites, mostly because I think its funny. It might have deeper meaning, but I just chuckle when I see it.

At the Vatican all museums lead to the Sistine Chapel. The highlight, by far! Here I thought I was going to have to wait in line, but once again I just walked right in. I don't think I have a four leaf clover stuck to my back, but the way things keep working out isn't convincing me! The Sistine Chapel really is amazing. Absolutely breathtaking. If you haven't been, put it on your bucket list. I had an audio guide from Rick Steves for the chapel, and was very glad. There were so many little tidbits of info that I found fascinating. He even squashed some rumors that I heard people saying right there in the chapel. Like for example, it is rumored that Michaelangelo painted the while ceiling on his back. But according to Rick, and his Italian co-author he actually painted it standing up. I feel more inclined to believe him, since everything else I've heard from him seems to check out. I also heard some varying stories from tour guides in the Colosseum. Perhaps I should just be a tour guide, I'll just listen to Ricks guide right before and then I'll be good to go! Anyways, back to the Sistine. There are tons of people in there and every five minutes a guy gets on a loud speaker and says "SILENZIO!!". But I was able to block that all and focus on the amazing work of art. I'd like to meet Michaelangelo one day and just chat with him. I imagine we'd be able to have a good chat. I would like to know if he had a chiropractor. Did they even have those back in 1508? Regardless, the work really was astonishing. I spent nearly an hour in there alone. Well, not alone. You know what I mean.

After I left the chapel there were a couple exhibits before the exit. Hardly anyone was in there. It was a lovely visit! I was then ready to head to St. Peters basilica. That line took all of 7 minutes. Oh those tour-seller-nay-sayers. I proved all of you wrong! And kept my moneys. When you first walk into the basilica, the sheer size of it literally takes your breath away. It is incredible. Absolutely blows my mind. I have no idea how they were able to build something that grand. I also had an audio guide for this. I didn't really like the deceased Popes that were displayed. But I thought Michaelangelo's sculpture of Mary holding a crucified Christ was so incredible. He captured so much emotion. I like how he said that he didn't just see a block of marble, but saw what the sculpture was supposed to be and freed it. Okay he said it much more eloquently. Maybe if I remember I will Google it before I post this. Still amazes me. 

Having avoided the intense afternoon heat by being inside, I had much more energy than the previous day. I literally sat down for a total of 5 minutes that day, from leaving in the morning to coming home at 10:00pm. I walked on over to the Pantheon. And saw where Raphael is buried. I also had yet another audio guide from my friend Rick Steves. Seriously, he should pay me for all this advertising I'm doing for him. Since my new favorite gelato place is right by the pantheon, I HAD to get some. Dipped cone, with gelato flavors white chocolate cherry and black forest. This time however I stayed in the air conditioned store to eat it. As opposed to madly trying to eat the whole thing before it melted, my minute to win it game. Think the show would pay me for that idea? Is it even still on?

Next I headed to the iconic Trevi fountain. Where everyone goes to make their wishes come true and ensure their visit back to Rome. I got there and......it was empty and covered in scaffolding. I actually laughed out loud. There was a big protection window surrounding it so you couldn't get too close. But people were still throwing coins in, so I thought 'what the heck!' And dug out a penny. My only stipulation to the coming back to Rome part, was that it be a little cooler next time. :) It was funny to hear other peoples reactions when they got to the fountain.

One guy to his wife "Well hun. This is romantic isn't it?". Said very sarcastically.

A little girl to her mom:
Girl-"Mom, where's the fountain?"
Mom-"Its right here sweety. That's why people are throwing coins in."
Girl-"Where's the water? Don't fountains have water?"
Mom-"Yes usually. But this one doesn't."
Girl-"hmmm...."

Haha that's the truth. I hear you little girl. I headed from the 'fountain' and started to make my way back. Shopping and such on the way. I got a giant cone of French fries, I realize they're not Italian. But they looked soooo good! And they're an Amsterdam company, so still foreign. I was originally going to get a medium, then I saw the size of a small and changed my mind. It was huge! I couldn't even finish it. I got back to my hostel and visited with my hostel mates. I like making friends. And its so neat being able to connect with people all over the world. This travelling thing is addicting! I need to do this all the time!!! Maybe I'll become a nomad and instead of travelling for 3 weeks at a time, I'll come home for 3 weeks at a time. Once or twice a year perhaps. I just need to figure out how to fund this....

Are you not Entertained?!

I met a lovely Italian lady from Milan at the end of my perfect day in Cinque Terre. Her name was Francesca. And we had a good chat. She said I should go to Capri. Which I will have to add to my itinerary for next trip! Cinque Terre ended in the morning with me buying a peach and this delicious walnut pie pastry thing and eating breakfast on the rocks by the beach. Perfect. Then I got one more cone-o-fish and happily sat and ate it. I went and put my feet in the waves one more time and then it was time to catch my train.

I had to go to La Spezia first then catch another train to Rome. It was delayed, but I have a really good book. So I didn't mind. *Everyone should read 'The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Spciety' if you haven't before, its amazing!* My train to Rome has compartments and so it reminds me of Harry Potter. Except instead of fellows students going with me to Hogwarts, its a bunch of old Italian ladies. They must be the professors...

I got to my hostel in Rome, the directions said it was on the first floor. I could see no reception desk, then Rick Steves' voice came in my head saying in Italy the first floor is our second. So up I went. Thanks Rick! I watched a ton of his travel DVDs, got his book, and downloaded is free audio guides for Rome before I came. Quite a helpful fellow. Travelling? Just consult Rick. He'll help you out.

If you didn't see my Facebook status here it is. Literally one of the BEST nights of my life!

I JUST HAD AN AMAZING NIGHT!!!! And the amazingness continues! I got to my hostel in Rome at about 7:40pm, I got out my map and was looking at what was close to my hostel that I could check out tonight. I noticed the Teatro dell'Opera was only three blocks away. That's cool, I'll Google to see if they have anything showing. Oh its opening night of Madama Butterfly, but it probably started already (it was after 8) and it only shows this one night while I'm here. Wait it starts at 9! I can make that. So I throw on the only skirt I brought and run out the door. Even though I'm gross and sweaty from travelling all day. I hadn't eaten all day, but Music>Food. I get to the Opera House only to see a couple talking to the ticket lady, who in broken English was explaining that the tickets were at a different place. I pulled out my map and she showed us where to go (they were fellow Canadians). Luckily the train station was close and it wasn't too many stops away. It was 8:28, so we decided to go for it. The fellow Canadian lady was much less equipped for a sprint across Rome than I was, but we made it to the subway and got off at the right stop. Turns out this opera is actually out doors on a stage built up in front of roman ruins! I went to see if there were the cheap tickets left, and the lady gave me a deal! I asked if there was any €25 seats left, and she said yes. But would I prefer a €20 seat in row 12, as opposed the very back row? Ummm yes please!! I was grinning like a fool, until the ending... Its completely unreal! I can't believe I watched my first Opera live, in Rome, outside under the stars, in front of ancient ruins! I wish everyone was here with me!!!! THIS IS SO AWESOME! #myspinsteradventures

End status. It was incredible! Words can't describe. And I was sitting behind a former director for the company (so cool!!!), we had a nice chat. He was thrilled I enjoyed it. I knew the general storyline for Madame Butterfly, but had never seen it before. Luckily they still had English subtitles so I knew everything that was going on. The emotion these performers had was incredible. And the end I bawled and bawled. I had to not think about it too much when I was talking to the director or I might have started crying again. I was so moved by this performance. And the set was incredible! Did I mention they drove a car across the stage? Seriously, highlight of my life. Now I'm obsessed with the show. Big time.

Leaving I was walking on air. I can't believe it all worked out. I headed to the subway station and...its closed. So apparently it closes at midnight. Didn't think that would happen. Okay, how to get to my hostel without walking or taking an expensive taxi. Bus seems like a good option. I was totally unprepared for this since I was planning on taking the subway. Sooooo find the bus stop, figure out which one goes to my stop, and wait. Finally it came, but had no where to pay. So I got a free ride. It was my night. Got to my hostel without a hitch. And since then I keep thinking about my amazing night, and how lucky I was to get to go to that amazing production. And that everything worked out perfectly.

Next morning I woke up a bit later due to my late night. Ate my hostels free breakfast (I had four mini pieces of toast with nutella) and headed to ancient Rome. I'd heard many times that lines for the Colosseum can be crazy long. But if you buy your ticket at Paladine Hill or the Roman Forums, it includes entry to the Colosseum. If ever in Rome, heed this advice! It makes a huge difference. The line was short at Paladine Hill and in I went. It was another scorcher, so I moved slowly. Luckily they have 'courtesy water' spots all over the place so you can fill your water bottle. I'd be a dead woman without these. Later in the day I overheard a man say that he should have brought his water bottle, and he hadn't drank anything all day. This was like 5:00pm! I wanted to go up to him and say "excuse me sir, but how are you not dead?". I made it through Palatine Hill and the Roman forums, but it was rough. I probably should have sandwiched them with a museum visit in between. So much sun. There's a reason I was born in Canada. Before I came I downloaded a couple free audio guides by Rick Steves. Its free and super informative. I had full out walking tours thanks to him. Check them out people!

After the ruins I hit up a museum, mostly for the air conditioning. They actually had some neat displays. This one Chinese artist has an honorary degree from U of A, he was featured. And when I saw that in the film I got super excited! The museum led to the roof where a gorgeous church is. Beautiful! And then the view outside was wonderful too! I felt more like myself too having regulated my heat. I walked and explored around that area. And then decided to head to the Colosseum. My favorite of the day by far! It was so cool and big! And it blows my mind that it was built over 2000 years ago!! With Rick Steves' walking tour I was in the know. Quite an interesting time. And now I want to watch Gladiator. Ave Ceasar! Also I think a movie should be made about the Vesitbule Virgins. Guardians of the eternal flame. They lived in style for 30 years then got to marry. I think it would be super interesting, they could totally Hollywood that up! Anyways, Colosseum was amazing. Oh and I just walked right in cause I already had a ticket. While the fools in line had to wait an hour. Even though literally across the street you could also by a ticket. Now you all know!!

I then decided to head towards the Pantheon for some foods. The rule in Rome is, generally if the restaurant has pictures of their food displayed, its a tourist trap and the food ain't that good. Dig a little deeper and you'll get the good stuff. I had pizza for dinner and of course gelato for dessert. But the most amazing gelato ever! Lindt chocolate store. Dipped waffle cone in chocolate and hazelnuts, with white chocolate and black forest gelato. Quite possibly the most delicious thing ever. Except eating it in this heat proved to be more like a 'minute to win it' game. It was a melting time bomb. I raced against the clock and got most of it in me, only a couple drips as casualties to the roman streets.

Then my long walk back. I was dead by this point. My legs and feet protested. I hadn't stopped at all the while day, not even for lunch. So I was tired, and dirtier than an actual Roman from their high point in history. Okay, maybe the soldiers were cleaner than me, but I was dirtier than one of their slaves. I got back and realized I had major heat rash all over my legs. And maybe my cut was looking a little infected....geez Rome. Luckily my new friend at the hostel gave me some neosporin, which I think helped a lot. Here's to healing!!

And now my bed is calling.

My new favorite place: Cinque Terre

This place is amazing! Its hard to convey how beautiful it is. The Cinque Terre is a group of five villages all along the western coast of Italy. They've been around for hundreds of years, built into the cliffs. There aren't cars there, though I did see the odd bus/garbage truck. But for the most part you either train or hike between the villages. Each one has a beach too.

I arrived in La Spezia and then went to find the bus I could take to my hostel. It was light out, so much easier to find this time. Plus the directions were better. While waiting there I met two girls also heading to the same hostel. They were from Australia. Then two more Australians joined us. All of them were very friendly and we had a nice visit on the way up. One of them asked what it was like to come from the country with the best reputation in the world. How do you answer that? Well, I said it feels pretty good. Haha let's hope they never meet a mean Canadian!

We arrived at the hostel and as soon as we got in the door the owner asked if we wanted to go to the beach. The public bus was leaving in five minutes and we could store our stuff and check in later. The hostel shuttle would pick us up at 9. Since I only had one full day, I jumped at the chance to enjoy the evening there as well. I went with two of the Australians and a girl from NYC. I sort of wanted to be best friends with the NY girl so I could stay at her house for free, but we just weren't kindred spirits. Though they were all very nice. We went straight to the water. It wasn't your typical beach. It had big rocks and so you kind of had to scale them. We realized later that there was an easier entry a little bit further down, all well. I was so happy to jump in the water. It was perfect for a hot day. Not long after we were all enjoying the lovely scene the NY girl got stung by a jelly fish. Yes you heard right. We didn't know for sure it was a jelly fish, but she seemed alright. Then they decided to head in and one of the Australians got stung. Now we knew. See, we happened to be swimming out in the deeper water, which I guess is where they hang out. We got out of the water, in the process I cut my leg. Not bad, but it looked pretty sick. Haha. They decided to hit up a pharmacy (farmacia) to get some ointment for it. I opted to stay and hang out at the water, laying on the warm rocks and taking in the beautiful sites. Before long the water was calling me again. So I hopped on in. Not five minutes later, ZAP. I got stung by a jelly fish. Just like that. On my left arm. Bad Squishy! So I got out of the water. Maybe I should have just gone with the other girls after all. But it is a pretty cool story, and even though it hurt, it left a pretty sweet mark. Dude those little jelly fish creatures are crazy! I don't know how they do it. Its almost electric. My souvenir from Riomaggiore! Yay!

After my electrifying dip I went to explore the village. It was super cute. I found a take away place called Tutti Fritti, at first I thought it said Tutti Frutti like my fave fro-yo place. But it had fish pictures, so obviously not the same. Unless they did fish flavored frozen yogurt there, which I was pretty sure they didn't. But what they did have was a ton of little deep fried seafood pieces. I decided to be adventurous and get their random mix, a 'cone-o-fish' as I called it. Since it came in this big paper cone thing. Deep fried calamari, anchovies, shrimp, cod, and mussels. Turns out its like the best thing ever! I had to close my eyes when eating the anchovies and shrimp so I didn't have to see them looking at me when I ate them. They keep the heads on them. Eek. For dessert I got a giant peach, that wasn't pretty but tasted amazing. Then after taking in the sunset I headed to where the shuttle would pick me up. Met up with the other girls, and they shared their ointment with me for my now very red and swollen stung arm. Yay for new friends!

The next morning I was up and ready to go, especially after the church outside our hostel rang its bell 85 times. Literally. I counted. At 7:00am. I thought it was hilarious. Other people in my room didn't. I ate breakfast at the hostel and caught the shuttle down. The drive itself is beautiful! I caught the train to Monterosso where I was going to meet up with my dear friend Lisa Martin and her fiance Derek. I wore my swimsuit since we were planning on hiking and since there's a beach in each village, I planned on beating the heat by jumping in to the ocean each village. This turned out to be a great plan since regardless of ocean, I was in a constant state of wet.

I found Lisa and Derek and we set out for the first trail. After getting gelato of course! We updated each other on everything that has happened in our trips thus far. They've been to Barcelona and Venice so far. The first trail was pretty hard. Lots of steps. Apparently its the longest trail. We got to the next village, Vernazza, and I went straight for the water. It was a lovely beach! Not too busy and no big rocks or jelly fish. After our dip we sat and had a cold drink. I got a strawberry Italian soda. Yum!

Then onto the next trail. It. Was. A. Beast. Plus this was about 1 in the afternoon when we started, and it was 40°c. We were climbing stairs almost as big as me. Maybe not quite that big, but close. At the top, the view was incredible. So cool! I luckily was alive in my solid form (barely as I almost melted) so I could enjoy the moment. And try and take it in. After what seemed like many miles, and in reality was only 3.5 km, we reached Corniglia. The highest village. We found water, shade, and a restaurant. I got an entire margharita pizza. And slowly I came back to life. The food was delicious! I could go for some right now. Lisa and Derek got some bruchetta that I sampled, and it was maybe the best thing ever. Second only to my cone-o-fish. After taking our sweet time to eat and relax we went and explored some of the shops. I bought a whale shirt. I like it. But I didn't try it on cause I was too sweaty. I wasn't planning on really buying souvenirs, aside from chocolate, but Cinque Terra is taking my moneys. Too many cute things!

We decided to head to Riomaggiore to explore. We walked to the top of the village for the view and just sat there in the shade for a long time visiting. It was great. I was very happy to be there with my friends. We found a small little church up there and it was empty. So Lisa and I decided to do a duet from our choir days together in Kokopelli. Sweet Spirit it was, since we couldn't remember anything else we both knew that didn't need more parts to sound alright. Haha. We sounded awesome. The acoustics helped. It was cool especially since five years ago Lisa and I came to Europe with Kokopelli choir, and then stayed behind on our own and toured more to Germany, Switzerland, and Paris. We always said Italy next! So it was really awesome that our itineraries aligned and we were actually able to meet up.

The day was nearing a close and Lisa and Derek were heading back to their hostel. I caught the train and got out at the one village we missed, since the hiking trails are closed between Corniglia and Riomaggiore. I said goodbye and then went to scope out Manarola. I really liked this one. There was lots of cliff jumping into the ocean there. Which, had I not been so worn out I would have tried. But I just sat and watched. And I was happy to be exactly where I was, exactly at that time, at the end of a perfect day.

Life is good.