Bear-lin, Germany - August 5-6, 2009

Let me start by stating that Polish trains are little bit creeptacular. We met and shared a compartment with 2 seemingly normal Danish girls, but it seemed that the rest of the train was little "off". People were hanging their heads out the windows whilst they puffed on their cancer sticks, while others poured bottles of scotch down their throats. The staff didn't seem to mind as they were constantly bombarding OUR compartment while we tried to sleep. I think we got our tickets checked about 5 times (give or take), with each time getting progressively louder and more uncalled for "HAYYYYYYYY!!!!!! (insert Polish here) TICKETS!" O.M.G.



We arrived in Berlin bright and early, and made it swiftly to the hostel where we were able to store our luggage in the utmost clean and secure location - on a shelf. Deciding to partake in a free walking tour of the city, we photographically (yes, that's right) made our way to the Starbucks near the Brandenburg Gate. Being a lil' early, we grabbed our favourite German pastries and a coffee and proceeded to die just a little bit :)

The tour was wonderful, led by our Aussie guide, Katie. We saw all the main sites from the Holocaust Memorial to the pain-stakingly touristy Checkpoint Charlie. We did it all folks!

That evening, we made it back to our hostel only to meet George and Tim - some of the most outgoing people that we've ever met. The stories that we heard from these two would probably top most traveling stories, so if you're interested in any of them, just ask me and I'll let you know hahaha. Anyways, we cooked a lovely meal and decided to tour the German Parliament building afterwards... so off to the Reichstag we went. It's the most-visited parliamentary building in the world, so you can imagine that the queue was rather long.. oh well, we had time. Our dislike of Italian tourists was greatly increased in the queue as we were directly in front of an entire bus full of them. There was one point in the line where an Italian man's crotch was directly beside my face... but you'd have to know the whole story to understand why it was funny hahaha. Right April?

The tour was short and sweet with a lovely little audioguide in hand. Some attempts of taking photos at night were had and with only a train's night sleep in us from the night before, we retreated back to the hostel for some much-needed and well-deserved shuteye.

Day 2.

We started our second day by taking a long stroll all the way over to the East Side Gallery, the best part of the entire city! Along the way, we clearly got some pastries and coffee - we kind of fell in love with the pastries in Germany and considering this was going to be our last time in the country, we just had to have them.


We reached the ESG during a "rejuvenation" period. All of the murals were being repainted and updated in order to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the wall coming down. The grassy banks along the river were so tempting, but we passed on our opportunity to rest and ventured along the wall to take photos and observe the art!

We meandered back to the city centre where we grabbed some take out that we enjoyed in the Tiergarten. We rested our tired feet for quite awhile whilst feasting upon our yummy lunches. The Tiergarten is a very natural park right in the middle of the city. Back in the day it was the hunting grounds for some fancy royal people.

The night arrived and consisted of us being chickens to go into the common kitchen for fear that we would encounter our Italian friends that we had met the night before. So instead, we had a couple drinks with our Australian friends in the lobby, and THEN made our dinner - at like 10pm hahaha. We ended up meeting a couple nice Argentinian boys in the process.

We laid our pretty heads to rest early that evening so that we could get up in time for our 8am flight to Stockholm. :) This is the point in our trip where our new umbrella had to stay behind (so sad).

Photos added

Slowly moving along...

I have added some photos of our first stop on the trip - Interlaken, Switzerland - to our Flickr account. Just click the link on the right to take you there to see them.

More posts coming soon, I'm starting to be productive on the computer again.

Krakowwwwww my pancreas!

We arrived in Krakow at 7am after having an entire cabin to ourselves on the train! Love itttt! However, due to the lost cell phone in Budapest, I had no way of contacting my cousin Luis in order to meet up with him! OOPS!

Fortunately a thing called Facebook exists, so we had posted on his wall or messaged him (something like that) and things EVENTUALLY worked out... a pay phone was involved too. Using one of those kinda felt like 2001 or something.

We met with Luis just after 9am and went to his apartment where we could settle in, shower, and change our underwear (required). Some of Luis' Portuguese friends came over and we all ended up going to the Auschwitz concentration camp - all 6 of us... in a 5 person car. April had to sit on my lap for the 90 minute ride - COMFY!

Auschwitz, like Dachau near Munich, was a sad experience, but important nonetheless. Luis and his friend left us there with 2 Portuguese guys our age and the four of us wandered around 2 of the 3 camps taking photos and taking everything in. It was very unreal and shocking while we weer there as we ventured around in silence taking photos and recording videos. Hard to believe that something like that could have happened :(

But enough depressing things, we caught the mini bus/van back to Krakow that afternoon. We thought the car was full coming in - we ended up having 30 people in a 20-seater van.... a little stuffy and awkward, with an old dirty man almost sitting on my knee - he almost made me cry.

That evening, back in Krakow, Luis and Kateryna (gf) treated us and some friends to a barbecue at their apartment. We ate mounds of meat and beer and afterwards, everyone but April and I went to the bar - yes, we're old ladies.. but we spent the night before on a train (excuuuuuuuuuse us haha). Apes 'n I passed out on the couch/bed to tackle the next day.

Day 2

We spent the next day at the Wieliczka Salt Mines just outside of Krakow. Of course, there were 6 of us in the car again, but we found a more comfortable position for April to sit in on my lap. It was better for everyone.

The mines were cool.. 14 degrees cool to be exact - and we went on a THREE hour tour of the mines. The tours were mandatory... Apes 'n I don't have attention spans that last that long, but we tried our best. There were salt sculptures all over the place, many made by the miners themselves which was really neat. The best thing that we saw though was the huge church inside! There were salt chandeliers, salt sculptures of religious figures, and best of all - a 3-D salt sculpture/painting of the Last Supper... so good! Of all the churches that we've seen on our travels (trust me, there have been A LOT), the salt mine one was the coolest!

The tour finally ended and we took the elevator back up to the top as the sunlight melted my buttery skin... always.

Once back to the city, we ventured near the centre to grab some Polish food at a cheap place near te train station. I think the two meals plus drinks that April and I got cost a grand total of something like 5-7 euros.... AND we were stuffed by the end!

We went back to Luis' after getting our train tickets and scrambled to get our bags packed and board our sketchy sketchy sketchy Polish overnight train to Berlin!! YAY!

Home sweet home

Just letting everyone out there know that Apes 'n Ju have landed safely back in Canada and returned to their respective homes in London and Belleville.

Sorry for the long waiting period for the next set of blog posts - they should be up tomorrow. Like we've said many times before - Internet time is precious and when you're at the end of a 6 week stint of traveling, you don't really want to spend so much time on the computer.

Until then - ciao bellas!

Budapest, Hungary; July 31- August 2, 2009

A train to Budapest after a leisurely morning and then a walk through the Ghetto to get to our hostel - WHAT THE HECK? Ya, so worst hostel to date hands down goes to Budapest. Oh well at 8€ a night I guess you can't be too picky. So we leave to explore, get tired and fall asleep in a park. When we finally get up, we do some exploring...they have some really cool buildings on the Pest side! In true Hungarian style, we eat goulash for dinner and meet our new friend John - an old man from England. He shares lots of stories with us, tells us jokes and pretty much just chats our ears off for the entire meal. We head back early thanks to the fact that we're staying in the Ghetto and neither one of us wants to die on this particular evening.

Traveler's burnout hits us hard on day 2. We don't want to do anything, we don't want to see anything, but we do anyways. Taking in the rest of Pest and then over to Buda to see the castle, we see enough, eat dinner and head back...aren't we exciting!? We do however get treated to a Brian Adam's concert off in the distance once back to our room! HEY!!!

So to combat burnout we decide to sit by the pool all day at a Turkish Bath. Hot water, warm water or cool water the choice is yours and there are about a million different pools to choose from. To cool down we head to the....hot pool...SO not refreshing, but definitely funny. The afternoon sun is so hot that you can't stay out of the pool for longer than 15 minutes without thinking that you're going to overheat. When we've had enough sun, we head to the train station to pick up some dinner and catch our overnight train to Krakow. During this time we also discover that Julie's cellphone has gone missing and no one can seem to locate it.

Once on the train, everyone sweats to death as they wait for it to head out of the station, where we can finally catch a breeze. Oh well, can't complain too much, we have beds on this train for the FIRST TIME during our travels! YEAH for a little sleep!

Vienna, Austria: July 29-30,2009

Up and breakfast at the hostel. We also had the priviledge of being yelled at in German for making sandwiches for lunch. Well if you didn't want people making food for later maybe you should eat regular breakfast foods instead of having soup and sandwiches at 7am...don't we think that would be a wise decision? Anyways, then we get on a train to Vienna. Fast forward a few hours and we've dropped our bags off at the hostel (yeah for getting a 2 bedroom instead of a 3 cause they were out!) and we've headed into town to see the sights...well at least we think we're headed into the city. We're actually headed in the wrong direction, Julie and her directions are a little off these days. Oh well, we finally see some sights, make dinner back at the hostel, and attempt to score our free internet time. No such luck the internet is out, so like old ladies we head to bed early. Oh did I forget to mention that Julie managed to spill her Sbux coffee ALL over herself? She did. Oh, and she was wearing a white shirt.

Day 2. We're woken up by a jackhammer outside our window at exactly 7 am - not my favourite thing in the world. So when we finally get sick of hearing all this noise we get up and do some more exploring. We take a tour of the Spanish Riding School, find some crazy architecture that Julie is still talking about to date. Dinner and bedtime come early once again, and our time in Austria has come to an end.

Salzburg, Austria: July 27-28,2009

An early morning indeed, we hit up the bakery and got on our 8 hour train to Salzburg. Lots of sleep was had on this train. When we arrived, we got the directions to our hostel and got on the bus. 45 minutes later, we're still riding the bus and realize that we have missed our stop...a LONG time ago. You'd think the mountains getting closer would have tipped us off a little sooner, but we're tired ok! So we finally get to where we're supposed to be, check in AND...you guessed it, start our laundry. You didn't guess that? Well why not? So ya - laundry in, we head into town to find some pizza. What we end up finding is the best pizza we've ever had! Italy pay attention, you've got some work to do. Anyways we split a pizza cause we're being cheap and then get coffee (apparently being cheap went out the window). Oh well, Lemoncello on the house made up for it.

Day 2. We rent bikes and head out to Hellbrun, and yes we pay the ridiculous fee to see the Trick Fountains. The guy who had these fountains put in is hilarious - look them up. Then we tour around the rest of the grounds and see the Sound of Music Gazebo. On the way back into town it POURS and we're looking like drowned rats by the time we make it back to the hostel. Lunch and a nap is enough time to get rid of the rain pain and we're back out to explore the city. We end up back at the Italian place for pizza and then we return to the hostel for more laundry and a viewing of the Sound of Music. When in Salzburg....

Special mention goes to the creepy Asian girl who actually chained her bags to the bed with a bike lock. We didn't have the heart to tell her that you can just lift up the bed.

Paris... again

Arriving in Paris, we thought it would be a good idea to book our trains out of there at the same time so to save us the hassle of dealing with it on Sunday. Concurrent with our previous luck with trains, this was no different. All trains to Austria on Sunday night were packed full so we were forced to stay another night in Paris - no worries, we'll sleep in the train station.

We eventually arrived at the hostel where there was a room mixup and we didn't get to share our room with April's friends - kind of a bum deal, but we managed (you see, Apes 'n I are very good at managing during tough times, we've had enough of them by now).

We decided to go and visit the basilica of Sacre Coeur since it was just up the road from us and we hadn't seen it on our last visit. We sat and enjoyed the view while listening to some extremely entertaining music. However, while taking the obligatory photos, a sketch artist approached us and immediately fell in love with our eyes (of course, right?). After making some comments about April's hands, he proceeded to explain his views on meeting strangers etc. I could go into more detail here, but I won't.

We met with April's friend Alex and her friend Erin, ate dinner and then proceeded to get some wine and have a classy night under the Eiffel Tower. So typical, I know... but it was necessary. The night eventually took a turn for the worse when April had to pee. Refusing to go in the bushes like everyone else, Apes and I ended up going on a hunt for a potty. Unfortunately, there aren't too many avaiable at 1am, so she sucked it up and gave in to Mother Nature. Phew!

While Apes 'n I headed back to the hostel for a sleep, Alex and Erin wandered from the hostel in search of a bar. Once 4am hit and Erin was mistakenly offered 10 euros for her "services", they decided to do as we did and go to bed.

The next day arrived as we prepared ourselves for the TOUR DE FRANCE - oolala. Big woop, we already saw it hahaha. We ended up getting some nice seats on "borrowed" metal chairs. Don't worry Nance, we were following everyone else's lead. 3 long, hot hours later, the riders came speeding through as people cheered and clapped and wooted and tooted all the livelong day. Then they came around again, and the audience repeated. And again.... and well, that's when we were like, "Alright time to go!"

That evening, we tried our hands at a Scottish pub quiz - nothing in comparison to Ma Nolan's back in Nice... we miss it! Needless to say, we sucked the big one and went back to grab our packs.

Upon our return to the hostel, we were ready to go to the train station for a mediocre night's sleep, when all of a sudden, a kind gentleman from Tennessee offered us an extra bed in his room. A bed? For free? Okay! So we slept in our clothes and got up at 6am ready to catch our train to Salzburg!! YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

Yes we just published 5 new posts

Please take the time to read them if you want to know what week 2 of our travels was like.

Internet time is precious, hence all the posts going up at once.

Return to Canada in 21 days. See you at the airport.

Brussels - more than just beer, waffles, and chocolate?

We woke up ready to tackle Brussels right after our "amazing" breakfast of bread and butter - they didn't even have a toaster!!!!!!!

We took the umbrella and explored the cold and rainy (obviously) city and what it had to offer us (besides pneumonia). The rain eventually stopped (woot!) and we were able to take some great photos (of my butt... not).

After reserving some train tickets to Paris for the next day (once again, the French trains have failed us), we were leaving the train station when a double decker bus tour operator offered us a free tour of the city. How could we say no!? Obviously hitting on us, he chatted us up for awhile and we told him that we would meet him back in front of the station after the 90 minute tour. Clearly we got off the bus 2 stops before the end to go eat fries for lunch... sucka! Sometimes it pays to travel without guys hahaha.

We enjoyed our exquisite Belgian lunch by a pond.... as did some birds. It was during this time that I discovered my hatred of crows but a new-found tolerance of pigeons.

After lunch, we mistakenly wandered into 'mini Africa' with door-to-door hair salons and African fabric stores. Did I forget to mention the part that we were the only two white people around?? Everyone was looking at us like "Damn girls, you done gone and made a wrong turn somewhere!". And yes, they were right... but it was fun nonetheless!~

We jumped on the metro and went back to the hostel to recoup and cook some dinner. The kitchen was full of energy as we met three American girls and two British lads. We all became best friends and chatted the rest of the evening.

Further on, after discussing British jargon and the education system, we finally made it to the bar with "supposedly" 2,004 types of beers. I tried two different types of cherry beers while April attempted a passion fruit beer as well a blueberry one.

Back to bed, then off to PARIS!!!!!!

Den Hagg or The Hague if you want to keep it English

Initially we were going to leave for Brussels first thing in the morning, but Angelique said that we should take the bikes out and meet her lunch at noon - OKAY!!! :) ~

Unfortunately (as per usual), it was pouring down rain... but the Dutch bikes could handle it. We put on our ponchos that we had purchased in Venice back in April... they were finally getting put to use. We figured the ponchos would be easier than trying to carry a massive golf umbrella around on a bicycle.. and it was.

We really didn't know where we were going even though we were drawn out which roads to take - oops. Oh well, we eventually found ourselves in the square of Parliament where Angelique met us, sans poncho as the rain had disappeared.

We went for a lunch and I accidentally ordered a raw roast beef sandwich with pesto and pine nuts. If you know me at all, I am a very picky eater and this was a problem for me. Oh well - I sucked it up and ate 3/4 of the sandwich before feeling "full". My mother would have been proud (if you're reading this, which I know you are, you BETTER be proud of me).

We then got our very own free guided tour of the city (via bicycle) from Angelique, whom then toured us all the way to the beach - wow. Just like in the movies, we sat at a restaurant along the shore and enjoyed some nice coffee.. mmm!

Before we knew it, it was getting close to 5pm so we raced back to the house to grab our packs. The kids and Albert had just returned from a little vacation in the Dutch islands. We said our goodbyes for 5 minutes and headed off to Brussels!!

Oh wait.... when we got to the train station, the train was cancelled - BAH! The woman told us to go all the way to Amsterdam (2 hrs out of the way) to catch a train there. We did what she said and guess what happened? We took the next train to Brussels which then ended up going through Den Hagg in the end. Them's the breaks though.... pal.

We arrived in style (you know, exhausted and annoyed) and found the hostel and slept.

Amsterdamnnnnnnn

We stayed with Angelique in Den Hagg rather than getting a hostel in Amsterdam - we're cheap, yes. I'm Dutch.. now does it make sense?

We took the train in to the big city and started wandering like we always do - we hadn't wandered in awhile, so it was a nice change of pace.

We met up with my friend Nick who had been living with his aunt and uncle just outside of the city. We ate lunch at a cafe (not a coffee shop) and then daringly ventured forth to see the 'sights' of the city. We eventually ended up over near the Anne Frank house, losing our way through the canals, and then over near the Rijksmuseum, etc. etc. etc. blah blah blah. You know what I mean. I didn't know that you could lose your sense of direction a million times in one day... I have yet to regain my sense of direction.

It was time for dinner and we were craving Thai food - Chinatown, here we come!! Yes I realize that is probably politically incorrect, and Thai is not Chinese.... but all the Asian cuisine restaurants are in the same area. 'Nuff said. Yummy pad thai was had.
Oh what a day.

Boekel, Netherlands - July 19-21

Our first stop in Boekel was to meet another cousin named Jo and her husband Willie. They ended up giving us an awesome umbrella that we carry around with us religiously, as well as some bottle openers that I am supposed to give to my father - woot!

After the short visit, we were passed along to another family - this time the house we were going to be staying at - Frans and Ria's.... more cousins, of course.

We were re-introduced to Ria's son, Roel - the last time I saw him was in 1994, so it's been awhile. There was a fair in the town over, so it would be a good opportunity to get out there and all that jazz. We met up with his brother, Niels, at the fair.... where we stayed for a couple of hours on display to the Dutch boys (charming, I know). When were sick of being surrounded and bombarded, we made our way through the midway and went on the giant swing and then headed home to sleep.

We slept in until late the next day and spent a relaxing time with Ria. My grandpa's sister (Dina) and another of my mother's cousins came by for a visit. We ended up driving Dina back to her nursing home for lunch (also where Ria works) and we got a small tour of the facility. During the tour, we were introduced to another of my grandfather's sisters, Iet - yes, basically everyone in the south of the Netherlands is related to me somehow.

We obviously visited some more relatives throughout the day and kind of just hung around the village. We made some plans for the evening with the boys - we would all gather at the bowling alley for a night out with some more cousins (no bowling was involved, just 43 beers - gotta love the Van den Broek family). We said our goodbyes at the end of the night, as everyone hopped on their bicycles and headed home (it's the Netherlands, it's just what they do).

On Tuesday, we drove through the countryside (well I guess all of the Netherlands is basically countryside), to the city of Nijmegen where a huge walk had started earlier that morning at 5am. That's literally all it was - 40,000 people walking 50km each day for 4 days to earn a medal.... hmmm.

We got back to Boekel early in the evening where we prepared our bags to head out to Den Hagg to meet up with Angelique again.

Unfortunately for us, the train tracks were struck by lightning so it took us an extra hour and a half to get there - oh well.

The Motherland - The Netherlands

Arriving in the Netherlands was a wonderful experience since I was anxious and a little bit nervous to see members of my extended family. The only strange part was that I didn't really know them at all - it was all set up through my mother (thanks mom).

We were picked up at the train station by my cousin Angelique and taken to the outskirts of a small village known as Vessem. Immediately upon our arrival, I was reminded of my childhood - visiting my grandparents in Tweed (yes, Tweed), in the country, surrounding by corn and the security that you can leave your car doors unlocked without someone stealing them. It even smelled the same!!

We were introduced to our sleeping quarters - the old cow milking house that was converted to a guest house (I know some of you may be thinking - well girls, I suppose that suits you well.... to you I say, I am not a cow!). We settled in and went to sit and chat with the family. We met Angelique's husband, Albert, as well as their two kids, Bram and Joanne. Just because the kids don't speak your language doesn't mean you can't get along with them. We also met Erik (Angelique's brother) and obviously Jo and Frans.... Jo is my mom's first cousin if you were wondering.

We ate a fantastic dinner which of course contained applesauce, potatoes, and meat. My little sister would have loved it since she used to put applesauce on everything she ate.
After our bellies were full with amazing Dutch food, we took the horses out for a carriage ride though the country. The horse farted, I was blamed (not fair).

It was decided once we returned to the house that we would go over to see Martien (Jo's brother... also my mother's cousin) and his wife Leen to say hello and look at their garden (April has this weird flower obsession lately). Erik and Angelique took us over in a 1956 Netherlands army jeep - so loud, yet so fun (much like the aforementioned action the horse did earlier in the evening).

Leen recognized me right away as Betsy's daughter - surprise!! Then we sat and enjoyed some double strength Grimbergen with grenadine syrup - mmmm. Martien's brother Huub and his wife came over too - then the party really got started - oooooooooh. The night ended with a tour of the property - I swear it's every kid's dream - toys, games, forest, canoes, tennis courts, bicycles, every you could ever imagine... and more!

We woke up around 9:30 the next morning and we were treated with a great big breakfast. After which we went for a 15km bike ride through the woods and the country. If you haven't tried a Dutch bike, you are really missing out on something important in life.

We spent the day relaxing on the farm and playing with the kids - the trampoline and the pony were big hits with us. Bram and I played soccer while Joanne and April styled a mannequin head's hair... creepy yet so normal.

We were then driven to Boekel to meet the other side of the crazy Dutch family..... Boekel!!

Just Luxembourg: July 18-19,2009

In Luxembourg we got the priviledge to stay with a lovely family who belonged to a friend of Julie's. We arrived at 7:45am where we were picked up and taken home to have a lovely pastry breakfast. After eating and showering, we headed into the city to explore while Lizi (Julie's friend's sister) worked.

After seeing the sites of Luxembourg city, we proceeded to fall asleep outside the Modern Art Museum in some lounge chairs that had been turned into art. When I finally woke up, we headed into the Museum to see the sites and pick up Lizi to go for dinner. Then in true Apes n' Ju style- we went to bed early!

The next day we slept in and by the time we finally made it downstairs, Lizi's mom was cooking us a lovely lovely steak lunch. Post meal we borrowed their extra car and headed out to explore the rest of Luxembourg. 4 Hours later, we'd seen 2/3 of the country and even had the chance to visit France and Germany!

For dinner we were fed a true Luxembourg meal- green bean and potatoe soup AND.... pancakes! YUMMY! Then Lizi took us back into the city to meet some of her friends and have a drink. An interesting event to say the least considering 4 different languages were being spoken at any given time (Luxembourgish, French, Germany and of course, English).

A good night's sleep and then we were off to the Netherlands to visit Julie's mother's motherland!

Munich, Germany: July 15-17, 2009

For Munich day 1, we decided to make our way to Dachau and lucky for us, entrance to the camp is FREE! It was really interesting to take a look at the first concentration camp, but overall it was rather depressing..plus we weren't sure if we should smile in our photos or not- it kinda just seemed wrong to do so.

After seeing the grounds we made our way back into the city and ended up at the Hofbrauhaus- we are in the beer drinking capital of the world after all. We each grabbed a pint, met some nice German ladies and then headed back to the hostel to cook dinner.

Day 2 we decided that a free bike tour would be the best way to see the rest of the city...it's free after all and we're cheap! The tour guide was hilarious and even showed us how he downs a Mas (litre of beer) in 6 seconds. It's really strange. Trust.

We toured thru the English gardens, where they have a nudist meadow believe it or not. Lucky for us it was a little cold to be running around naked on this particular day! At 4pm we returned our bikes, did some wondering around and then ended up back at the Hofbrahaus for some dinner. In typical European style, we shared our table with a couple of American Accountants that were working in Germany- don't worry, they were more interesting than most accountants!
After a leisurely dinner, we headed to the train station to catch an overnight train to Luxembourg! Prost!

Zurich, Switzerland - July 13, 2009

So Zurich, what a disappointment you were.... not the city itself, but our situation. The guy that was supposed to host us suddenly backed out and we were left with no where to stay. Scheisse! (since we are no longer in France). Discovering that acccommodation is quite expensive in Zurich, and there wasn't too much to see, our stay in the Swiss financial capital was limited to an afternoon of sight seeing.

In that short time, we managed to see pretty much everything - a couple churches, the rivers, the lakes, the oh-so-glamourous flower clock, and so on. One of the best times of the day was enjoying a nice cup of coffee and chocolate croissant for only 2CHF. I guess not everything is ridiculously expensive in Switzerland!

After walking all day, we kind of got bored, did some people watching, ate a scrumptious dinner of sausage and bread and then we were off to Munich on a nice and relaxing German train.

Our arrival in Munich was a late one (around 12:30am), so we quickly hopped on a tram and made our way to "the Tent"where we would be staying.

Now, the Tent is not like any other hostel out there - it's literally a giant circus-like tent with 50 bunk beds and many lockers. Since we got in so late, we walked into a dark tent of snoring backpackers. Finding a bed for the two of us seemed to be a bit of a challenge - but we managed. I piled on 4 of the 6 blankets they gave us (April had a sleeping bag) and we dozed off. All I have to say is thank goodness for earplugs!

Interlaken, Switzerland - July 11-13, 2009

Luckily when we got to Interlaken at 11PM, there was a shuttle bus ready and waiting to take us to our hostel - Balmer's Herberge.

The hostel was just booming, reminding me of first year residence (yay Saugeen!) on a Saturday night. APril and I were too tired to join everyone for the festivities so we headed to our room and went to sleep (we're fun, I know).

The morning came quickly and as I woke, I was greeted by a stunning view of the Swiss Alps out the window - not too shabby I must say. The two of us got ready, ate breakfast, and were off to explore the town. It was 8:30 by the time we left the hostel on a Sunday morning, so all of the shops were closed and there was barely anyone in sight. It was a nice change from the hustle and bustle of Nice. What wasn't a nice change was the temperature!!! After acclimating to constant 30 degree sunny weather, the 17 degrees in Interlaken just seemed extra cold to us. We had our sweaters though, so there was no need to worry... just complain I guess.

Interlaken is bordered by two lakes and the mountains, so we thought it would be nice to walk to on of the lakes to have a looksee. After walking a good distance, and passing by some cows and a dairy farm, we realized that maybe the lake was a little further than we initially thought.... so we turned around and headed back to town. On the way back, we met two lovely goats - one of which was so happened to be named Julie - obviously my new best friend.

The town of Interlaken is gorgeous... however, it's very small - something like 6,000 people. Therefore, the sites (other than the nature around) were quite limited. After spending the first few hours of the morning watching paraglider after paraglider gently sail down from the mountain, our minds were made up that we had to do it too! You can't go to Interlaken and not have an adventure!

Packed in a van with a handful of Koreans and Swiss pilots, we were headed up for our take off. The views were amazing, our outfits even better, and we were ready to go. A quick run and the wind was up my shirt and we were flying. I took a bunch of photos and videos, and Richi (my pilot) even let me drive for a little while. April had a pilot who had just gotten his tandem licence 2 weeks earlier - but she couldn't tell the difference. Needless to say, the experiene was well worth it and I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

With the adrenaline rush winding down, April and I grabbed lunch from the nearest Coop (grocery store), bought some madatory Swiss Army knives and just chilled out. We eventually made it out to one of the lakes (turns out the one we didn't walk to in the first place was closer). We then schooled a couple of boys from Houston in a game of pool where the boys definitely lost some man points.

We ate dinner and like the old ladies we are, went to sleep around 9:30..... need I mention, before the sun had event set. Embarrassing, yes.

Monday morning graced us with its presence and we packed our bags, at our breakfast, and made our way to the train station to catch the next train to Zurich.

Passport? Who needs one?

on Friday, we set out on our six week European journey ready to tackle the land we'd been living in for the past nine months. With the trip planned, bags packed, and tickets in hand, we ventured forth by train toward Milan (to sleep in the train station of course). Two hours into our five our ride, April realized her purse was open - "Ohcrap, I can't find my passport!" "Merde!" Oh yes, merde indeed. After some deciphering, and texting, it was found in the backseat of Apes' employer's car... In Nice!! So we headed back to get the passport and replan our departure for Switzerland.

Day 2

We found a train to Interlaken departing at 10:32, yay. At 10:00 we finally reach the ticket window. At 10:01, we were informed that the train was sold out except for first class tickets. Looking for alternative routes it was realized that everything in France was the same deal... Oh and the Italian trains were on strike.

MERRRRDEEEE!!!!!!!!

Luckily (rare case) the lady helping us was amazing. 10:12 - she finds us a train to valence (first class) connected by a bus to Grenoble then a train to geneva - all covered by our eurail passes. WE'LL TAKE IT! We paid the 64€ each for the first class tickets, gave the woman a high five and proceeded onto the train.

A train, a bus, and a train later... We arrived in Geneva, got our obligatory Starbucks and hopped on the next train to Bern. At one of our stops along the way we were parked next to another train where a young boy waved to us. This proceeded to get ugly (literally) as we made faces at each other. His mother yelled at him then laughed when she realized we were laughing too.

We made it safely to Interlaken where we got a good night's sleep ready for the next six weeks.

TRAVELS!

For those of you who like to stalk us (LT, I'm thinking about you!) here is an itinerary of where we will be and when on our 6 week Eurotour!

July 10-12: Interlaken, Switzerland
July 13-14: Zurich, Switzerland
July 15-17: Munich, Germany
July 18-19: Luxembourg
July 20-22: Amsterdam, Netherlands
July 23-24: Brussels, Belgium
July 25-26: Paris, France (and the end of the Tour de France...HEYO!)
July 27-28: Salzburg, Austria
July 29-30: Vienna, Austria
July 31- August 2: Budapest, Hungary
August 3-4: Krakow, Poland
August 5-6: Berlin, Germany
August 7-8: Stockholm, Sweden
August 9-10: Copenhagen, Denmark
August 11-13: Dublin, Ireland
August 14-15: Edinburgh/Glasgow, Scotland
August 16-19: Athens + Islands, Greece
August 20: Bari, Italy
August 21-23: Dubrovnik, Croatia
August 24: Pisa, Italy
August 25: Nice, France
August 26: CANADA!!!!!!

So there you have it! No comments about how busy we will be...we know! Don't expect us to be properly functioning until at least the 1st of September!

Life until Julie and April leave Nice!

So I've been accused of making these posts WAY too long. Maybe someone *cough* Jenny *cough*, should read our blog more often and then she wouldn't have that problem! Regardless, in her honor I'm going to make this brief (well, we'll pretend it's for her...in actuality Apes n' Ju are running out of time and if this post isn't quick, my luggage won't get packed!)

June was pretty relaxing. We were visited by Julie's friend Jenny (note not the same Jenny as above) from Luxembourg. It was lots of fun getting to know her, and Julie spent the weekend learning German swears. BAD Julie!

Julie, Jenny, and I at the Castle

This same weekend we also went Parasailing, which was a great way to see what Nice looks like from the water. However, we kinda freaked ourselves out by picturing a giant shark jumping out of the water and eating us (after we saw a bungee jumping video about an alligator doing the same thing). Luckily we survived AND we got to see a GIANT sea turtle on our way back in.









The rest of our weekends were filled with packing and beaches, oh and a hike up to Eze from the Sea- WOW was that ever tiring! Then on June 30th we moved out of our apartment and into my employer's apartment. Why you ask? Well I was supposed to be done work on the 30th, but due to a lack of replacement, am staying for an extra 10 days. This means slumber party with a 4 year old...YEAH! In all seriousness tho, it's been a lot better than I expected and I'm going to be sad to leave these little monkeys.










In June we also won the pub quiz again, in part because of some "advice" from one of our staff member friends. That brings the total pub quiz earnings up to about 710 €, give or take a little.

On to July!

We started it off with a bang by having a BBQ (for the first time since moving away) to celebrate Canada day! The availability of a BBQ for the first and last time while in France was not wasted and we ended up with SO much food. Steak, baked potatoes, veggie kebabs, hamburgers...the works, and then in true Canadian fashion we finished it off with some cookies and cupcakes (altho not cooked on the BBQ).

Canadian Crew

Lately we've been working on some websites for my Mom, Aunt, and a local restaurant in Nice. Take a look:

mckerliephotography.smugmug.com

incrediblememories.smugmug.com (please note the similarities in these two website are probably due to the fact that these twins do EVERYTHING alike...well except organize! LOL)

kookaburranice.com

This past weekend we had a LOVELY American style breakfast at Ryan's, complete with Bacon, Eggs, Fruit Salad, and French pastries (k, so not everything was American). All this to kick off Le Tour de France passing thru Nice. So, 3 Hour early, we headed out to the streets to watch the Caravan pass by and pick up some sweet swag. Then we waited, and waited and waited; and finally, for a brief 30 seconds we got to watch 180 bikers fly past us. What an experience!













Now we wait until the start of our 6 week long journey. It's fast approaching ladies and gents! FAST!

Apes n' Ju at Le Tour de France

Hope all is well back home! Sorry about all the rain you guys are getting...guess I shouldn't mention that it's sunny and 27*C here everyday!

Cinque Terra - you heard me right, that's FIVE!

Our next blog post brings us back to Italia for a long weekend full of beaches, old Italian women, and hiking!

Our morning started at 4:30am when we woke up. Early, yes, worth it, yes. We caught the 5:16am train from Nice to Ventimiglia (border of Italy) so that we would not be late for our 6:33am train to La Spezia. We were on time, but let me mention the group of 6-8 people (18-24 age range) who boarded this French train in Monaco. Wow, these people were awfully loud and awake for 5:30am! It was then that we finally realized they still reeked of booze and were walking a little funny.. ah yes, that makes sense now. So here we were, motoring along to Italy while the drunks made their way home from the bar. Classic.

So early in the morning to be on the train

Most of the hostels in the Cinque Terra region were booked or way too expensive, so where we stayed was a distance away. To get there, we needed to take a city bus about 30 minutes from La Spezia. On this lovely bus ride, we encountered a thong of elderly people.... one of which stands out in our mind. Plopping down beside Ryan, a lovely Italian woman began having a conversation with her friend across the way. Obviously jealous, Ryan must have sent out signals to this woman that he wanted to talk too, because low and behold, she began blabbering in Italian to him! Looking at me to translate (no, I don't speak Italian), all I could say was "Non capisco italiano"! So this woman was fully aware that we didn't speak a word of Italian, I could only pick up a few words here and there, she continued (throughout the 45 minute bus ride) to speak to Ryan in Italian. Luckily, a girl beside me spoke English, French, German, and Italian (overachieve much?) so she was able to translate some of what the woman was saying. Turns out, she pointed out exactly where we needed to get off the bus - YAY! If we didn't have this angel of a woman who was in love with Ryan, we would have been lost in the mountains. Thanks random lady!

"Yeah I'm the Man!" But Ryan, she was 78 years old. "So?"

Anywho, we checked into our hostel a-okay and the room and views were lovely. There was just one problem: we had brought groceries with us to cook dinner since the web site said they had cooking facilities. Turns out, cooking facilities to them meant a refrigerator.... and that's it! Look on the bright side, at least the meat we brought wouldn't go bad! Some quick sandwich-making and eating, and we were off to explore and sleep on the beach (remember, we were up at 4:30am).

The view from our hostel balcony outside of La Spezia

We arrived in Monterosse al Mare to enjoy the sunshine and take a little napski on the beach. It was beautiful.... waking up with towel lines on your face and all. We had some peaches, and definitely some lovely Italian gelato and ventured our way along the cliff's edge to hike to the next town (it's just what you do). We thought the hike was going to be short or something... needless to say, it was two hours of up and down (but mainly up hahaha). Quite an experience though, walking along the edge of a mountain on a two foot wide path. The interesting parts were when we crossed paths with people.... who was going to take the inside, and was someone going to fall to their death? Luckily, no tumbles occurred.

Apes 'n Ju enjoy some gelato in Monterosso

After the long hike, we decided to call it a day and head back to the hostel (after all the last bus into the mountains was around 8:30pm - it was approaching slowly). Unfortunately, no old Italian women were flirting with Ryan on this bus trip back to the hostel, but it was fun nonetheless. We got back, showered, and headed down to the restaurant for some 4 euro pizzas and cheap wine. Somehow, the chef forgot to add cheese to mine and April's pizzas, but we weren't complaining (much). After dinner our beds were waiting.

The next day we headed to Vernazza to start our morning on the beach (aka laying on a rock like hermit crabs). Luckily, we beat the crowds and got a place to lay down and enjoy the sunshine. Ryan, being the little boy that he is, went scavenging for hermit crabs, shrimp, and starfish. Much to his luck (does that make sense?), he found a starfish and brought it over gleefully to show us. So fun! There were also numerous hermit crabs, and point sea urchin things at the bottom that you definitely didn't want to step on.

Starfish movin' around on Apes' foot. Nice pedicure.

Some delightful swimming and tanning occurred this lovely morning, we ate some sandwiches, cherries, and pringles, and we were off to hike the next 3 villages - Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore! If you ever go there, please do the hikes rather than taking the train from town to town. The whole experience was in the hiking with breathtaking views and dusty shoes.

Lovely photo shoots occurred, pushing strangers on the mountain's edge happened, and a lover's walk endured for this lovely Saturday on the Italian Riviera. Here are some photos:

The Canadian trio trailblazing

Just some of what we saw along the way

Another eve at the hostel with some pizza (with cheese this time) happened, along with some Phase 10 (thanks Bev!), and Italian wine made for a lovely night. I think Ryan lost again, right? Just like usual.

The pretty colours of the villages and the lovely town where Ryan caught his starfish

Sunday morning we were up and at 'em bright and early to explore just a little bit more before we were to catch our 1pm train back to Nice! Unfortunately, it was a blistering hot day and the train wasn't air conditioned very well... AND the windows didn't open like usual - very disappointing. It made for a very long and sweaty 5 hours, that's for sure! You really start to appreciate the French SNCF trains once you've been in Italy for more than a day! WOOOOOT.

What would YOU do?

On the first Wednesday of every month, the city of Nice tests out their emergency sirens at exactly 12pm. The first time it happened, it honestly scared the crap out of me (along with the cannon that goes off at the beach at noon and sounds like someone is being shot at), because it sounds like the city is about to be bombed. So anyways, 8 months later I've gotten use to this little event to the point where I barely even notice the loud siren that goes off for 8ish or so minutes.

However, as it sounded today (and I should note that it goes off for about 4 minutes, stop, and then go off again for another 4), I got to thinking, what exactly are you supposed to do if you hear these sirens and it's not the first Wednesday of the month? Anyone? Do I go to the basement? Get out of my house? Flee the city in my car? Hit the deck? Run towards the Med and get on a boat/go swimming? Hug a local police officer/fireman? Go shopping? What exactly is this siren warning us of? You tell me!

Cannes Film Festival

We decided to hit up the Cannes Film Festival with Ryan to see what all the fuss is about.

The fuss? A LOT OF PEOPLE.

The train was packed, the streets were packed, the red carpet was packed, and the beach was packed.

Waiting for the train

We got there, saw the red carpet (which no one was on yet cause it was 3pm, but the area surrounding the red carpet fence was PACKED with people hoping to catch a glimpse of someone famous...4 hours later).

Ju and Ry chilling on the beach

Then we went and laid on the beach to catch a little sun. This was easier said than done considering it was 5:00pm, but it was nice to have a sleep. Deciding that we needed to get some food, we headed up to the main road where, low and behold, we saw Juliette Binoche from Chocolat in her car on the way to the red carpet. Yes ladies and gents, we saw a celeb at the Cannes Film Festival. Following the crowds, we decided to ask a cop for directions to the grocery store (in French, mind you), cause we weren't in the mood to wander. Well, Mr. Funny Guy Cop replies with "McDonalds?" and we're like "No, the grocery store", he says "McDonald's?" and then proceeds to tell us where to go for groceries. I guess cops in Cannes get kick backs for sending tourists to MacDoe's.

How's that for a movie theatre?

ANYWAYS, we get some food, head back to the beach and now both Ryan and Julie have to pee (are we seeing a pattern here Julie?). At 50 cents a pop, they decided to be cheap and just go in together. Well someone walks up and goes "Is someone in there?". I reply with "Ya, they'll be out in a minute." He goes, "They? Are they going to be the 20 minute maximum?" (yes the bathroom has a 20 minute maximum, I'm assuming for situations like this guy is suggesting) and I'm like "oh crap" and proceed to get the camera out. Well the camera doesn't work, but they walk out together and we all laugh. Then it's down to the beach to eat some dinner and get good seats for the movie.

Celebs' yachts chilling in the bay

While waiting for the movie to start, I have to go to the bathroom and learn that right beside where Julie and Ryan paid to pee and be embarrassed, there is a complimentary bathroom. HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! Anyways, back in our seats there is a guy yelling "choux-choux", which means cabbages in French, but he's actually selling peanuts. So, we call him over try to buy 2 bags for 3 euros and end up getting 3 for 4 euros cause he doesn't want to give us change.

The gang in our seats!

Then a band from Norway comes on stage and plays some crazy music for half an hour and finally the movie begins. Titled "A Soundtrack for a Revolution", it's about the civil rights movement in the US during the 1960s. It's fairly good, but despite that, the comfy chairs and the amount of sun I got knocks me out for the last hour (if you know me at all, you know this is a common theme for me while watching movies). I am informed when I wake up however, that during the last 30 minutes, the audio messed up and didn't match up with the video. Don't you just hate it when that happens?

Norwegian Band

Anyways, with the movie over, we head back to the train station and back to Nice...where there are considerably less people.

Oh and in case you're wondering why none of the pictures have lots of people in them, it's cause we avoid crowds at all costs!

Firenze aka Florence - Full of Sketchy!

Oh Florence, how we developed a love-hate relationship with you. We arrived into Florence at 11:30pm and had a short walk to our host Emanuele’s apartment. Emanuele and his roommate Valentino were great to let us stay with them, but they are not the type of people that we would make friends with on a regular basis... AND they smoked...inside; so their apartment and all our stuff reeked after a few short minutes of arriving. Emanuele also wanted us to go to a protest with him to help save a Square that the students like to hang out and party in. When asked if we’d get arrested he said “What happens, happens”. Ya, no thank you! Being as though we’d had a long day, both Julie and I really just wanted to go to bed, but we couldn’t do that before meeting Ellie from Alabama. Ellie arrived drunk as a skunk after having aperitivos with a friend, then proceeded to pass out on the couch where I would be sleeping. After two hours of chatting (but not with Ellie for obvious reasons), Emanuele finally put her to bed and let us go to sleep.

Us in front of the Cathedral & Julie eating "Breakfast"

The next morning we woke up bright and early and headed out to view the city. Did I mention that it was another holiday and most things were closed? Well they were. Our first order of business was food. What ended up being breakfast was yogurt, Twinkies, and red bull. Breakfast of champions, I know!

Uffizi Square & Ponte Vecchio

On our walk, however, we encountered the Cathedral Santa Maria del Fiore, The Bell tower of Giotto, the Baptistery, the Golden Doors, the Cathedral, Dante’s house, the Cathedral (at this point we decided that the Cathedral- which isn’t really that impressive in my books, was stalking us), and Signoria Square. This is the part where I’ll admit that even though we both knew that Michelangelo’s David was in a museum, when we saw the outside version we took pictures and thought “is this it?” I know, I know, I’ll let you laugh at us, but just for a moment.

Giardini Boboli

Up and over Ponte Vecchio (a bridge), and then we starting doing what Julie and I do best while traveling…wander. At the point when we thought our wandering had come to a dead end, a security guard convinced us that the park he was guarding was worth the euro that it would cost us to get in (normally this park would set you back 10 euros). So into the Giardini Boboli we go, and let me start by saying this was probably both mine and Julie’s favourite part of Florence…THANK YOU security guard! So we wandered through the gardens for a long time and eventually came out at a museum where there was a nice long lineup of people waiting to get in; if only they’d know to walk a little further and into the park first! Oh well…on we went, into the Cathedral, through Uffizi square, and then we attempted to go and see David. Well being as tho it was a holiday in Italy, the Museo Dell'Accademia (which houses David) was closed for the holiday. So we decided to head up to Piazza Michelangelo, where the views of Florence and the Tuscan region are amazing.

More Giardini Boboli & Rooftop view of Florence

Next it was off to dinner, where we treated ourselves to a 3-course meal complete with dessert and café. The server was in a hurry to get us out of there though, and before you know it we were on the streets again. Not wanting to go home because of our sketchy hosts, we wandered the streets and ended up at…you guessed it, the cathedral. So we took some pictures and then met an Aussie who wanted us to go to a pub crawl he worked for. We agreed that it would keep us out of the apartment longer and headed to the bar where everyone was gathered…and by everyone I mean 5 people. Once our host was gone, we left the bar to go get money and just never returned. We didn’t plan to escape, but we ended up getting distracted by a street performer in Uffizi square, who was giving an impromptu concert. The acoustics in the square were amazing and we ended up watching this guy for a good half hour before we decided it was probably safe to go back to the apartment.

Watching the street performer in Uffizi Square

When we got back, only Valentino was home, as Emanuele had gone to a party in the countryside (and nicely returned at 5am). So, we talked to Valentino (what an Italian name eh? This guy fits the bill of the most stereotypical Italian lover type, you know all hugs and poetry? Not like the Italians in NY, who are more Italian than those in Italy. HAHAHA If you've seen Russell Peters, you understand this joke) for awhile, before he decided to go get gelato and to look at the moon (at midnight til 2am, just gelato and the moon?) and we were able to go to bed. This is probably the point where we decided to officially peace out of Florence first thing in the morning (one day early) after seeing David.

Valentino - told you typical Italian

So up bright and early (we said goodbye to our hosts via a note, being considerate of the fact that they didn't go to bed until 5am and woke us up while doing so) to be one of the first 10 people in line (without tickets) to see the statue. We got in after probably a half hour wait, saw David, snuck a picture ("No Photos") and then headed to the train station for our long ride home; and when I say long, I mean WAY long.

David- the real one!

The regional train back only cost us 12.90 euros, but took 8 hours because we stopped at EVERY stop between La Spezia and Ventimiglia, including 12 stops in Genoa. This also wouldn’t be the last time we took this train (see Cinque Terra post once it's written). On this particular day it was extra torturous given that it was the first really warm beach day of the season and we were stuck on a train watching the beaches of the Italian Riviera pass us by. We made it home safely though, and with plenty of time to relax for a day before heading back to work on Monday.

Would you want to be on a 6 hour train when the weather looks like this?

Oh and I should also mention that we got a phone call from Jon and Ryan at 3am after we got home asking if we could come pick them up because they were walking back from Juan les Pins (23 km away from Nice). The fact that a) we didn’t have a car and b) they thought we were still in Rome, didn’t seem to concern either one of them! Thanks for thinking of us boys!

When in Vatican City....do as the Pope does?

Our next day in Rome began with an early wake-up and a trip to the Vatican to visit our bud Benedikt XVI! Unfortunately, there was a little communication error between us and he was busy... so we couldn't meet up - next time dude! I saw JPII (10m away) a handful of years ago, so I've seen the Pope... it wasn't that essential that Benny and I hung out this day.

"Pope! I know you're home! Come out and say hi!"

We were told to get there early because, well, it's the Vatican and it's busy! Yah well... so's the rest of Rome but we did alright hahaha. We thought we'd go and visit St. Peter's Basilica and the square to start our adventure... so we got in line. We thought the line was pretty long - it took us maybe 10-15 minutes to get through security and into the actual basilica... I guess that's short? I dunno.. but the basilica was full of tourist nuns and it was beautiful!

Ooh! St. Peter's Basilica from the front

Now here's a story. We were wandering through the basilica taking photos (no flash of course) and admiring the beauty all around us when we came upon the (glass) tomb of Pope John Paul II - remember him? Anywho, all of a sudden I felt an incredible heat/burning along my upper right stomach/rib area. "What the!?" I thought. I checked my satchel (if anyone knows the bag I carry around... well, it is my satchel. Yes, it's a fanny pack - but worn in a cool way by me so that it doesn't actually seem like a fanny pack...err bum bag. Don't worry, I wasn't a fanny-pack-toting-sweater-around-my-waist tourist that day... that was yesterday). Back to the burning... my satchel was BURNING HOT!! Thinking it was maybe my cell phone overheating, I freaked out "It's on fire! It's burning! It's HOT! I'm burning!" - maybe not something to be doing in such a holy place - but c'mon, it was burning!!!!! I tore into the bag and realized it wasn't the phone, it wasn't my camera.... it was... it was... here's a good time to point out that I carry spare batteries in my bag with me.... it was one of my spare batteries that just so conveniently exploded in a church. Problem solved! Did I forget to mention that April thought I had actually gone crazy during this whole episode? Well, she did. Thanks for your confidence... BEST friend. Mmmhmm...

Ju and her satchel covered in battery acid in St. Peter's Basilica

So anxious to find a trash can to clean out my satchel and toss out the battery (yes I know they are supposed to go in a toxic bin thing, but I don't think they had one anywhere nearby), we finished our tour of the basilica and headed out to the square. Not before a few photos though.

"Lookin' good ladies!", "Thanks Pope!"

By the time we left the basilica, it was maybe 9/9:30am and the lineup that we were in was now about 10x longer and the wait would probably be more like 1/1.5hrs - lucky us, sucky them. Unfortunately knowing our fate for the Vatican Museums, we venture forth, prepared for our long wait in line - luckily it was only 45 minutes!

In front of us in line, there were a group of Canadian husbands and wives (you can tell since all Canadian tourists wear Candian flags -duh). As I was talking to April, I kept saying things like "I wonder where they're from.... hmm maybe Toronto like everyone else" etc etc. in hopes that they would turn around and tell us where they were from. Luckily (clearly my plan worked), they turned around and asked where we were from. As we said London - they were taken aback because... well they hate London. No.. that's wrong - they were from London too - small world! So here we were in line with a thousand people and randomly the people in front of us were from London too - "NO WAY!" as the alpha male had declared. Astonishing.

After playing the "I'm a student - here's my UWO student card with no expiration date (yes!), now can I have the student discount - card", we were finally free to roam around. The museum was everything you could ever imagine - completely jam-packed with people so that you could barely move.... along with the idiots who don't turn the flash off on their cameras - seriously!? We waddled our way along to Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel where there were surprisingly even more people - and security guards yelling "SHH! NO PHOTOS!". You would have never guessed you were in a chapel - I think I've heard less noise at concerts. Nevertheless, we snapped a couple of illegal shots and took off to avoid the rambunctious crowd.

Yes, we're the type of people who take photos when you're not supposed to.
No flash, don't worry.

We wandered a bit more and were satisfied with what we saw.. so we "peaced out" (get it?) and walked our way back through the streets of Rome to grab some lunch at the grocery store.

We sat just outside of a castle on a bench enjoying our lunch and the sunshine (normal, non?).... but definitely not enjoying the couple macking on each other across from us. OH WELL!! We each laid/lay/lied (stupid grammar) down and took a small nap only to wake up to see the couple across the way still going at it. Time to go.

Some more wandering, and on the way back to the metro station, we realized something was dripping from our little lulu bag. Drat! The jar of olives had busted open and the juice was everywhere. Just add it to list - I honestly blame the cats for the bad luck (if you only knew the extent of it - I forgot to mention a few details in Milan). We grabbed our packs and headed to the train station (not before going on a 45 minute walk to find gelato). We then boarded a packed full train... with people standing in the aisles and a dirty French boy with no space issues sitting beside April, we were off to Florence!