We finally went on our long awaited excursion to see "Europe's Highlights"! We waited this long because according to most of the travel guides, the best time to go (weather wise) was around this time. It was fun while it lasted, but we're glad to be home...
If the pictures move too slowly or too fast, just click on them. You'll be re-directed to a page where you can view them one by one. If you get to a picture that says "Enter your email..." the slides are done, but there should be a small (X) in the upper right hand corner [of the "Slide.com" window]. Click on it to restart the pictures!
Friday, April 11th
Maple's auntie Dangie was sick, so she was unable to take us to the airport, but Mikey to the rescue! We checked in our luggage only to find out that they switched planes on us -- meaning the seats we reserved "no longer existed!" Our second choice of seats were available, however -- a small row of two seats toward the rear of the plane. Being careful not to break tradition, we did our customary 5 minute watch of that ball drop thing in the Tom Bradley Terminal at LAX, then we ate at McDonald's. Mikey waved goodbye as we entered our gate. Finally the shoe was on the other foot as we are usually the ones waving goodbye. Waiting for the plane, we called all our loved ones. The flight boarded on time. It couldn't have been any better except for the fact that we didn't know how to use the Video-on-Demand until the last hours of the flight (it wasn't our fault that both of our screens had to be reset!) But it was fine. We got to watch all but the last few minutes of Juno. They took our headsets right before the flight was about to land. We could watch it when we get back, because I just finished downloading it from the internet!
And a short clip of our take-off is posted on You Tube, here.
Notice how the wing "bends" upward!
Saturday, April 12th
Exactly 10 hours later, our flight landed on time and my fears of lost luggage at the brand new Heathrow Terminal 5 were soon put to rest as we saw our two nicely decorated pieces riding on the carousel! We walked through the beautiful terminal and exited "Arrivals" only to be greeted by... NO ONE!! Maple sat down as I searched for our Representative. I walked the entire floor looking for anything "Cosmos". As I walked back, this 'Woman in Red'... "Mr. de Guzman?"
She escorted us outside to wait for our chariot. As we stood there, we inhaled our first breaths of a strange new country: one where people drove on the wrong side of the road, and the hills were green, and castles adorned the horizon.
We drove an hour through London traffic to our hotel, and settled in. I called our tour guide (Jo-banni!) He was doing laundry and said he'd be there within the hour. So, Maple took a little nap while I unpacked, and later fell asleep as well.
Jovi came and took us to mostly all the touristy places. I had the pleasure of yelling at a local gypsy, who wouldn't leave us alone. We had dinner in China Town and then called it a night!
Back at the hotel, I blew a fuse trying to plug in our power-strip so our TV wouldn't work (long story). I called the front desk to fix it... we fell asleep watching CNN.
Here is a video of us waiting for the Underground!
Sunday, April 13th
Our first night was very restful! We got to sleep in until 1145.
After getting ready, we layed it all out and stepped out into London, ALONE, for the first time! We took the underground to this "Macy's style meets Ross prices" type store called Primark. We did some shopping and then left for Jovi's place via the train. We saw him standing at our stop but we didn't know we had to press the button to make the doors open! So, we met him at the next stop. We went to his local Supermarket, Sainsbury, where we bought food for dinner. Jovi made Sinigang na Salmon, and I roasted pork leg in the oven! We left his apartment at 1130 trying to fix his WiFi (even when we're on vacation, we're working!) which gave us enough time to catch the last train out. We got as far as Green Park (close by Primark), we had one more train to get to the hotel, but underground service was now closed! We ended up walking 1.5 hours (7-8 miles) back to the hotel! We would have gotten there sooner, except for some strange reason we were looking for Hamstead Street instead of Melton Street... And the fact that we had a big cup of English tea before we left Jovi's apartment didn't help either!
Walking to the trains that night, I shot a video of this lady singing, here.
And here is another video while we got lost!
Monday, April 14th
We had an early wake-up call today, 0600! We had to be out for breakfast at 630, but we got to the line at 700. It was like a watering hole! We didn't know there were about 7 other tours meeting at the same hotel, all leaving at the same time! We got to eat at 730. After breakfast, we waited in the lobby for a bit, as they organized everyones luggage. We boarded the bus and left London and headed to the Channel Port to mainland Europe. About 2 hours later we docked and set foot on Calais, France. We met Truus, our 6 ft tall, Dutch tour Director, and Mikael, our 4 ft tall, Italian coach driver... as we embarked on our 6 hour drive to Amsterdam! We were warned about the bathrooms (our tour referred to these as "Smileys" on account of after using them, we'd come out smiling!) and how there was a small fee to use them (equivalent to as much as $1.20)!! Our first rest stop, we had "dinner". I think I took a picture of a small container of ketchup. That thing was $1.10!!!! (By the way, rate of Exchange around this time is about $2 US to 1 Euro)
We got to our hotel, and our first impression of Amsterdam was kind of blind sighted with the aura of cigarette smoke that filled the air! It was everywhere -- Outside, in the hotel hallways, and in our rooms!!
Maple ended up keeping a bath sponge saying, "It'll come in handy!"
Tuesday, April 15th
Today, we had our first "tour" with a Local Tour Guide. We went to a diamond factory, and took a canal cruise in the "Venice of the North". We learned that it was against the "law" to not be Roman Catholic at the time way back when, so what these people did is they put Roosters and Swans on top of the crosses on their Church's bell towers to signify Protestant and Lutheran worship! We also saw the place where Anne Frank hid as she wrote her diary.
We went shopping at Dam Street where we saw numerous "Coffee Shops" that served Marijuana (No! We didn't smoke!), not to be mistaken with Koffee Shops (with a "K") that actually served Coffee!
The streets were being prepped for Queen's Day (Queen's Birthday) happening on the 30th of April.
At the end of the day we left Amsterdam and drove 4 hours to our hotel in Rhineland, Germany. We got to ride on the German Autobahn for the first time today. There's no speed limit, but we were told if you get into an accident while on the stretch of road, no insurance will cover you! We also learned how to say "I love you" in Dutch: EE GKHHOW FUN YAO!
At the hotel, there was no wash cloths to take a shower... so, I heard for the first time what would be the quote of the trip from my lovely wife... "I told you it would come in handy!"*
Here is a clip while on the German Autobahn. The voice you here is Truus, our tour director.
And here is a self cleaning toilet at one of the rest stops!
Wednesday, April 16th
We woke up an hour late today! If it wasn't for the noisy people outside with the luggage, we would have missed breakfast! We started off the day going shopping at this "Venice beach style shopping center" along the Rhine in St. Gore; while others took an excursion cruise on the Rhine to look at some castles from the river. From what we heard, we didn't miss much aside from some billy goats on the mountain. The cool thing about it was we saved $220, and the people that went on the cruise didn't get to shop -- or take cool pictures with the coach and the driver!!
When everyone got back, we drove 6 hours to Austria. We saw more castles, and snowy mountains.
During one of our rest stops, one of the guys on our tour ask me if we wanted to have dinner with him and his wife tonight. More on this "odd" couple later!
As we stepped in the hotel, that familiar "smoke" smell filled our senses. We had Dangie's PSP (a handheld game console w/ wireless internet capabilities) and tried to connect to the hotel's free WiFi, but our room was on the top floor so we couldn't connect to it!
So, now came dinner time... with hindsight, this is an ODD couple. Rob and Judy. They're 50+ years old, HE acts and speaks like he has some learning disorders and she is just the most bothersome person we've ever met! Granted she has some spinal deformation, and this is her second marriage after her first husband cheated on her and therefore has issues that we learned to somewhat understand, but...!! They CLAIMED to be on their Honeymoon, but at every hotel, they got separate rooms!! They did not take many excursions together -- he'd take some, and she'd take some. But when they'd do, they wouldn't even spend the time together! Maple says it's because they've been married for two years prior, and Judy says it's because they're "independent" from each other... I say they're all full of CaCa and they're not really married! We had couples on that tour married for over 50 years, and they're still holding hands during our outings! Judy did carry around a polaroid from "their" wedding, but even then, they were just "standing" next to each other! Throughout the trip they would just bother people! We'd get to the hotels -- not even off the bus yet, and she'd ask a couple if they'd want to "have drinks" in her room before dinner!? At least let them get settled in first! During our outings they'd be all up in our business!! Now, because of her back problems she can't stay seated for a very long time, she has to lay down. So, Truus reserved a row in the middle of the bus for her so she can lay down when she needed to. So, if you had a row reserved for you, WHY would you bother a nice couple sitting in the back of the bus (2 people sitting in 4 seats) and ask them if you can lay down next to them?! Even in our goup picture, everyone was more or less standing or sitting next to their loved ones -- but not them... LOOK! *sigh* Canadians! HAHAHAHA!
ANYWAY! After dinner, We walked through the dark streets of Innsbruck. It was dark and cold and our camera ran out of juice so we called it a night.*
Here is a video the weather. It was hailing on our way to Austria!
Thursday, April 17th
We woke up to snow outside! During our walk last night, we saw a little souvenir shop right next to our hotel, so after breakfast, we bought a shot glass from the little old lady that ran the shop. Good thing it was open that early! So, we left the birthplace of the Mercedez and headed for Italy. It was only 30 minutes to the Italian border. It was another few hours to Venice. We stopped at this rest stop called "Auto Grill" where we had our first taste of Italy. It was our best meal so far. We had a tuna salad, Spaghetti, some Ziti, and the best Risotto ever! During lunch, Maple told me she dreamed on the bus that we got home and Mikey was nowhere to be found, Toothpick (our little chihuahua/pug) was running around inside the house and everything was a mess!! Geez! If only that were true!
Afterward, we crossed the Adriactic Sea to our Port to Venice with its 400 "bitches" (Our director meant "beaches" but with her heavy accent...)
We took a little boat ride to Venice (which, by the way, is sinking... so if you want to see it, go soon!) We had another tour with a local guide. The smell wasn't as bad as we were warned. It smelled as if you were standing close to the fish section at Seafood City. We saw the HUGE St. Mark's Square with all the pigeons. The streets were filled with people, and tourists. They were lined with African brothers selling Gucci, and Prada bags and sunglasses. I guess they're not supposed to be there, because every time a police would walk by, they pick up their white sheets and merchandise and bolt out of there! It was kind of funny! We got pictures of them hiding out in an alley with the police standing there. We had a guided tour around the hot spots. We watched this glass blowing demonstration. It was funny because in the display room, we were listening to the guy talk about their products and how much they were worth... and all of a sudden we hear a "cling cling crash!" One of our tour mates bumped into a shelf and knocked down a glass! I don't think he had to pay for it though. We had our first taste of authentic Italian Gelato. There were the illustrious gondolas (or "gonorrheas" as pronounced by Maple's buddy, Rob! and NO! he wasn't joking!) We didn't ride them... we didn't think it was worth the money they were asking; which, by the way was a DEAL, considering our tour offered a Gondola excursion for $110 per person ($220 per couple)! AND, you have to share the boat with your tour group! If you were to get it on your own, it'd be $160... but the gondolier was desperate, so he brought it down to $120. We still said, "No, thank you!" but it was good to know!
At the end of the day, we took the boat back to the mainland and headed to our hotel 20 minutes away. Our room was pretty big compared to the others we've had. We couldn't wait for dinner! Our tour director said, "Scallops!" But when we got down to the hall... as you can see in our pictures, it wasn't scallops... it was Scallopini -- chicken!! WELCOME TO EUROPE! After dinner we walked up and down the streets, and couldn't help but notice the parking situation. We took pictures. Back in the room, Maple sat in one of the chairs and looked at the pictures we've taken so far while I took notes for the day. We fell asleep to gun shots ringing in the distance (actually, we didn't know what those were, but they sure sounded like gun shots... there were too many of them to be cars backfiring) But we lived in Baldwin Park, so it wasn't that big of a deal!
Here, you can see the weather patterns during our trip weren't too consistent!
and here is St. Mark's Square.
Friday, April 18th
Off to Rome, today! We rotate seats on the coach, so it was our turn to be in the very front, and because of this, we both got very little sleep. And it didn't help that our driver's Italian temper was up and running! We stopped by Pomposa Abbey where musical notation was invented! Apparently toilets were NOT invented in this part of town, instead, there were holes in the ground... yes, Squatters! I've never seen one nor had to use one, squatting anyway, and hopefully I never will. Afterward, we drove to St Francis' Basilica in Assisi. We saw his crypt, and I was able to sneak in a few pictures even though we weren't supposed to. There were a bunch of kids on a field trip wearing neon hats. They say imitation is flattering, and it's true. I had my hat tilted at an angle and I noticed these kids looking at me on my way to the "smilies". Well, coming out of the smiley, one of the kids then had his hat tilted to the side. I was "flattered"!
When we got to our hotel in Rome, we realized we had AC in our room! It was quite warm outside so we turned it on full blast! For dinner, we had to fend for ourselves. Jovanni gave us a tour book in case we needed it, and boy did we "needed it!" We took the word of a recommendation in the book and headed out around 7 towards the Roman underground with some ladies from our group who wanted to go into town but didn't want to take the train alone. When our train stopped we got off at the Spanish Steps or Piazza di Spagna. We snapped a few shots then split from the ladies and headed toward the restaurant using our trusty maps! We found it in a small alley. We had Chile peppers w/ anchovy and capers for appetizers; egg pasta w/ basil, almond, and pine nut pesto served in a parmegean regiano cheese ball; and a mozzarella, sausage, and broccoli pizza! We polished it down with a bottle of Sparkling Prosecco as recommended by our tour guide, and some S. Pellegrino! During dinner we noticed a lot of the clientele walked in carrying "Rome" tour books! I guess this place comes highly recommended -- as it should!
For dessert, we again followed the book to a Gelato place close to the Fontana di Trevi. Our plan was to get the Gelato and sit at the fountain to enjoy it... NOPE! When we got to the fountain... tourists galore!!! So we snapped our pictures and THEN got the gelato, which was again pretty good! Maple got Honey Ice Cream flavor!
It was getting late and we were getting tired. According to the book, the trains stopped running at 1130. So we decided to head back at 1030, which would give us plenty of time... IF the book was right!!
Trains actually stopped at 10!! We didn't wanna spend $100 on a cab ride, and we didn't know what bus to take... SOooo, we got to see a lot of Rome, at night, through the eyes of a pedestrian! We got to see the Vatican walls, which we were gonna see the next day anyway. We noticed there weren't too many "clubs" open, not that we were looking. There were, however, a lot of Gelato bars open. It was about a 8-10 mile (2 hour) walk from the Spanish steps to the hotel. Again, I don't think it helped much that our hotel was a bit off the map! So we walked as far as the map took us and we found a bus stop with a map -- to our hotel!
We were tired, but we still had to shower. We eventually slept at around 2 watching women's weightlifting.
Here we are at the Trevi Fountain! Be sure to read the descriptions to the right...
And here we are, walking... again!
Saturday, April 19th
During breakfast the ladies that went out with us the previous night asked us what time we got in. We told them (and only them) of our adventure; and by the start of our outing an hour later, word got around to our tour director and she made an announcement over the coach's microphone, "I heard a couple of you missed the train..." but by then, everyone already knew (and was laughing). So, we were then branded as the "adventuresome couple" of the tour!We headed to the Vatican State where we did our first paid excursion! All I have to say is, WOW! The Vatican Museum was amazing! The artwork was something that words cannot describe! The ceilings looked 3D but they were ALL painted on flat surfaces! I tried my best to get it on camera, but pictures wouldn't do them justice. The Sistine Chapel was pretty amazing as well! The stories behind a lot of the artwork was inspiring. It's too bad no pictures were allowed, but again, no film would be able to capture the way you feel when you're actually there! It's just something you have to see in person! Next, we saw the Holy Doors (which were locked -- These doors are only opened every 25 years, and it's said who ever walks through the doors, their sins are instantly forgiven!) And then came, St. Peter's Cathedral! WOW!! (or did I say that already?) We saw the original La Pieta -- so beautiful. In the pictures, you'll see a few of black letters on gold backing. Those letters are 7ft tall! If you look closely, there are people standing above the letters. If you miss it, or any pictures... just click on the pictures, you can see them one by one. There was this beautiful statue of St. Veronica holding up the cloth with Jesus' face imprinted after wiping his face during the carrying of the cross. We saw the Mummy of either Pope Pius X or John XXIII -- I think it's Pope Pius. We learned that if you want to get married in that church, you'd have to sign up for a 10 year waiting list! Our guide, unfortunately, wouldn't disclose the amount of money needed!St. Peter's square was just outside. That's where the Pope gives his special blessings during Lent and stuff. We did some shopping in the State, and had our first Italian Panini! I think Maple had an eggplant and I had prosciutto and tomato -- I think! While eating outside, there were these Mongolian women out there selling scarves. They were standing on an island in the middle of the street and I guess they're not supposed to step onto the sidewalk, where all the tourists are... But one of them strayed onto the sidewalk and got pushed down on the street by one of the workers of the Deli -- a little middle eastern guy!! Remember, Mongolian? Ghengis Khan? She got up and started wailing on the guy! We saw a chair get held up in the air... and tables flying! HAHAHA!! It stopped as soon as it started. I wasn't about to step in because I didn't know the laws over there! But, anyway... it was interesting to witness those Italian tempers at their best!So, we boarded our coach and headed to the Roman Forum, which was pretty amazing, too! We saw the Circus Maximus, where they had the Chariot Races. It looked like the track at my high school! We saw the original Cesar's Palace, and what remained after the infamous Nero fire! We saw the Flavian Amphitheatre, or what's more commonly known as the Colosseum. We learned that the walls of that place were originally covered in marble, but when the Pope at the time had the Vatican built, the workers stole the marble and used it for the Vatican floors! We noticed there were all these little water fountains, with water running into little holes in the ground. We found out later that they were for drinking?!! I wanted to try some because, "When in Rome, do as..." but Maple wouldn't let me! I think I got a picture of a local drinking from one of them.We left the place, and headed back to our hotel. I wanted to see some Catacombs, so after we wrote and sent some postcards off to our very much missed family, and mapped out our journey; we left the hotel around 330. The place closed at 5, but we should have been able to make it! On our way to the underground we saw Shawn (more on him, later). He pointed us to a local market. We needed more dental floss, so we thought we go there real quick in case it was closed when we got back. Anyway, the Catacombs were quite a ways from the train station... but we got there... at 5. They were closed. So, we walked back. We were hungry so we had to find a place to eat. There was this nice little cafe by our hotel, so we stopped there for a bite. We saw some of our tour mates eating as well. Judy was there -- without Rob. For appetizer we had this deep fried medley with marrow (squash) flowers, olives ascolane, and something called "Supply," from what we can tell it looked like rice with tomato sauce formed into a ball and deep fried. It was pretty good. We also had some Spaghetti alla Carbonara. For drinks, Maple had some Fanta Chinoto? It tasted like carbonated bitter melon juice! I had some of the local Limoncello, again, recommended by our tour guide, Truus. For dessert we had Pana Cotta and Tiramisu. We've never had Pana Cotta, but it was delicious, and the Tiramisu was the best we've tried, ever!Because of our little excursion to the Catacombs, we had no time to get a shot glass, but we thought we'd just order one online when we'd get home!Back at the hotel, we realized what the wax on dental floss back home was for! The floss we got didn't have any wax on it and it made it hard to slide between our teeth! No wonder these Europeans have dingy looking smiles! Getting ready for bed, I heard it again... "I told you it would come in handy!"Here are some clips at the Vatican Museum, St. Peter's Square, the Roman Forum, and the Colosseum...and of coarse, us, walking back after missing the Catacombs!
Sunday, April 20th
Happy Birthday, Ate Lalah! It's crazy, because there were 3 other birthdays on the coach as well! We celebrated the birthdays by driving... to Florence! Along the way, we stopped at the Piazza Michelangelo for a group picture. It had beautiful views of Florence. Once in the city, we had another local guided tour. We saw St. Croce, where Michelangelo and Galileo were buried. We also saw the Florence Cathedral. It just boggles the mind to think how these people built these churches way back when... without the technology or the heavy equipment available today! We saw the Loggia dei Lanzi, with all these statues including the one of Perseus and Medusa. After the tour, we had time to walk around on our own. We found a Rome shot glass! We were able to bargain down another souvenir from $30 to $5!! We had a snack at a little corner bakery called Oibo, where we encountered our 1st American waitress -- possibly over there on a student visa. We bought some Perruzi Leather. Maple was sad when we left because we forgot that we could have gotten the leather personalized -- for free! I think there's a picture of her pouting on the bus!When it came time, we headed to our hotel -- the best one so far! Maple and I got the "Presidential Suite"! We had the best 'included' (free) dinner, so far, at this "Palace". The dining room had interesting artwork as you'll see in the pictures. After dinner, Maple and I, along with Shawn and his mom, stood out on the terrace just outside our room and talked. These two were very nice people. Their laughs were so contagious! Throughout the trip Maple would walk ahead of me with Shawn (because I would be taking pictures of everything) and they'd just be laughing! His mom told me that he's the same way with his sister. I told her that it's the same with Maple and her brother! They'd just be laughing -- I, personally, wouldn't normally "get the jokes"; but, as long as Maple is smiling, that's less for me to worry about!!!This place actually had wash cloths! So, Maple kept her mouth shut getting ready for bed!! Here is a clip at the Florence Cathedral,
and here is one of the Hippies shows.
Monday, April 21st
Breakfast was disappointing after the wonderful dinner. By this time, we're starting to realize that all these people eat for breakfast is heavy bread (very non-appetizing), cold cuts, cereal, and yogurt -- plain and strawberry! With the exception of a few hotels that served sausage, bacon and eggs, that's really all we had for breakfast!
So, we boarded the coach and headed to Pisa, to see the Leaning Tower. The coaches aren't allowed to park near the square so we had to take a little Choo-Choo train. Approaching the square I asked Maple if she thought they had little leaning shot glasses... sure enough, they did! As we see the tower in the distance, it's not as "leaning" as I thought it would be. We come to find out that they had to straighten it out using these huge A-frames (I got pictures of them). Back then, the tower kept leaning further and further so they had to use these frames to hold the tower up while they dug underneath to level it out. It was actually leaning 30+ more meters (90+ ft) from where it is currently!! Despite the rain, we got some nice pictures and headed back to the bus.
Now; daily, on the coach we rotated seats clockwise, just so we'd have different views from the bus [I don't know why; all we see from the coach are fields of green, and these yellow flowers]. But, everyone is doing it, so, we're sitting in front of/behind the same couples throughout the trip. So, not to talk ill about the elderly, but the old couple behind us [at the time] had this distinct aroma of nature -- not too pleasant by any standards! They said they did laundry a few times during the trip, and we think they took showers because at times his hair would look wet, but maybe they weren't able to wash between all the wrinkles or maybe they're unable to bend down too much [because they're "matured"] and, therefore, not able to wash some parts at all because they just smelled... pungent! Having said that, back on the coach after Pisa, Maple and I found it so amusing that the lady said, "Something smells like tuna!" So that's enough of that!
Off to Switzerland! We passed Lake Como known for its beautiful Villas, some of which owned by American movie stars whose names escape me at the moment! On the mountains there were numerous natural waterfalls -- quite lovely. We would have been able to enjoy them a little bit more if the coughing and mucus level on the bus wasn't so disturbing. We drove through Gotthard Road Tunnel, the third longest tunnel in the world (15.3 miles). We were watching the digital thermometer on the bus. When we entered it read 7 (deg C), and as we got to the midpoint it read as high as 20!
We got to our picturesque hotel. Our room had a pretty view of Lake Lucern. During dinner, Maple asked if there was a Metro around the area, which I found very funny, because, like a lot of the hotels we stayed, we were out in nowheresville, but there was always an Metro system close by! Not this time. After dinner, we wanted to take a walk, but it was raining so we just went back to the room and watched "Snookah"
Yes, yes... "I told you it would come in handy!"
The room was quite warm so we wanted to leave the window open, but listening to trains thunder outside your window every 5 minutes isn't really helpful for a good night's sleep!
Tuesday, April 22nd
It was still raining when we woke up, but we had to push forward. We went to Lion's Monument. We were told that the artist wasn't paid very well, to do the monument so to retaliate, he made the cave where the lion was laying down in the shape of a pig! You can see it in our pictures!
We went to Swan Square where we did some shopping while a hand full of the group went on another excursion. Again, according to the people that actually went on that lake cruise, due to the weather, we didn't miss anything! The shopping area smelled of Strawberries and Cinnamon! It was everywhere! We never did find out where the smell was coming from. We went to this shop called CasaGrande where we bought the bulk of our Swiss souvenirs. We got a brochure packet from Truus with some coupons for free stuff... So, as we walked around, we redeemed them. We had the chance to guess the combination of a safe to get a free watch, but walked out with chocolate instead!
When it was time, we headed to Mt. Stanserhorn for our second "paid" excursion. We took a vintage cable car a quarter of the way up, then a skytram the rest of the way. When we got off the skytram at the summit, there was a blizzard! We all ran inside, got some free hats, and had lunch on their rotating restaurant. It was nice... expensive, but nice -- $33 for two plates of cafeteria style food (pasta w/potatoes, fried onions and cheese, and mac w/ minced beef). In the book that Jovi let us borrow, it said that Swiss food was not for the lactose intolerant. It wasn't joking as most of the food was covered in cheese! But, surprisingly, all the dairy didn't really affect us [at all] the way it does back home! There wasn't really much to see up there due to the blizzard, so we snapped a few in the snow. When we got back down to civilization, it was still raining.
We headed to Lausanne, stopping at Interlaken where we walked around the shops for a little bit; then we pushed on. Because of the rain, there was a bunch of Grumpy Guss' on the coach. We were supposed to stop by Gruyere, home of the cheese, to have coffee in this bar decorated by the guy who did a lot of the work for the movie, Alien -- but nope. Apparently, no one wanted to go. Truus did a "raise your hand" vote on the bus and no-one raised their hand (big surprise). Maple and I didn't want to ruin anyones "holiday" so we kept our mouths shut about the whole thing. As we approached the home of the International Olympic Committee and our hotel, we couldn't help but notice the numerous Asian restaurants -- food we've been craving. Before our included dinner we had time to walk around. There was a small shopping strip behind our hotel on a steep hill. Everyone was running down -- in their dress shoes and high heels! We found a shop that had a shot glass but they wouldn't accept Visa for such a small item and we didn't have the right currency available! All the stores were closing, so we went back to the hotel for dinner. This one was good -- our "best" one yet! Asian inspired Salmon w/ almonds and cream sauce, veggies and white rice, AND soy and chili sauce to boot!! But if there's one thing we can't get used to, it's the smoking! This lady sitting at a table close by lit up right before dessert, but she left before we finished.
Back in the hotel room, no cloths... "I told you it would come in handy!"
Wednesday, April 23rd
We were off to our final destination today, Paris, France! While on the bus, for some reason, I found it necessary to make note that the smelly man behind us sounded like Mayor Quimby from the Simpsons. On the coach, Truus said that we were going to stop in about 30 minutes. After about an hour, Truus apologized and said there was a misunderstanding between her and the driver. Now, we don't exactly know what happened after that but we were at the back of the bus and we can here the driver yelling at Truus in his native tongue. Granted, she spoke about 30,000 languages, Italian being one of them, but he was just going off! Anyway, we continued on. During that ride, the driver made a turn and one of the boxes fell from the top luggage racks!! But, understanding the Matrix as I do, I stuck my arm out in time to catch it before it hit the floor or anybody!We arrived in Beaune, France for lunch. We had around 2 hours to walk around and find lunch on our own. We couldn't find any shot glasses here either! We saw their Notre Dame Basilica. It wasn't THE Notre Dame -- that one is later on! We walked around the small city when we passed a restaurant window where we saw a lady eating MEAT!! We went in to see it was a Kebab place! We tried to order and the guy was asking us something... "Le Sawsuh?" We didn't speak French and they didn't speak English, so we tried our best! Turns out he was asking us if we wanted ketchup! We got our food, which was really good! They didn't give us napkins, and we were too scared to ask! It was a stressful experience, but well worth it! The place started to fill up with local kids and we got to experience a local custom. It was interesting to see how these knucklehead looking kids greet each other by simply shaking hands! No "five" or anything with a closed fist -- just a simple hand shake!After lunch we met back and continued on our way. We finally crossed the Seine into Paris! We got to our hotel and we had to look for a place to eat. So, when in Paris... eat Chinese food! We decided to try their Chinatown. Our first task was to walk around the back of our hotel and find the Metro entrance, which was a lot harder than it seemed! Our next task was to buy tickets, but, alas, more complicated... We didn't know that the cash slot was off to the side of the ticket machine! And next, we had to find the right train. We knew what train we had to take, but the platform departure signs were very confusing! We eventually found our way to Chinatown which was more like "Asiatown". A lot of the restaurants were combined, "Japanaise, Thailandaise, Vietnamaise". We walked by this one, extra crowded restaurant and decided to eat there because of all the people. It turned out to be a place run by Thai people! The menu was in French but phonetically in Thai. We understood some of it. Maple asked the waitress (in French) if she spoke English, she said, "No." So, my magnificent wife broke it down in Thai and ordered for us! The food was OK. Their Ho Mok Pla (steam fish cake) was filled with Bamboo shoots -- cheap filler! Their Thai tea was good! It wasn't as sweet as it is here, but they used sweetened condensed milk.After dinner we walked the streets of Paris. There were these bikes on a rack, they looked like you can rent them out. (I took pictures) We found out later, that they were bikes for rent. You'd pay at a little machine for a day or a week or month, and it's all electronic. It gives you a code, so you go to the bike and type in your code and the rack unlocks your bike. The bike racks are everywhere so I guess, as long as you don't forget your code, you can unlock the bike for as long as you paid. Nice idea. We took the trains to the Eiffel Tower. As soon as we got to the base, the strobe lights turned on! It was so beautiful! I was taking pictures but the view was blocked by trees so Maple guided me towards an open area. She said it again.. but this time, "I told you I would come in handy!" Treks to the top were closed, so we had to come back sometime in the day. We walked further away and got some nice pictures from the Trocadero. There was a little paved hill at that Palace where locals where rollerblading.It was getting late, so we headed back to the hotel and called it a night, but not before I heard those words for the second time... "I told you it would come in handy!"* Here is the video of the Eiffel Tower with the strobes. If you listen carefully, you can here Maple guiding me to the clearer spot, right before she uttered those words!
and here is a video shot at the base of the tower.
This one was shot while walking to the underground. The music was so... FRENCH!
Thursday, April 24th
Breakfast was good today! No French toast, but they had some "pink" morning sausage and bacon. At this point I didn't really care if the tap water was safe or not -- we haven't gotten sick yet, and I've been refilling our water bottles, so I refilled them again during breakfast. It was free!! We had another guided tour. But this time, our guide was really hard to understand so I didn't bother listening. We saw Paris' City Hall, THE Notre Dame, St. Michael Fountain, their Military Academy, Concorde Square, and a lot of other beautiful buildings! We had lunch across the street from the Louvre at this little deli. We had a Bolognaise panini and a goat cheese and prosciutto panini. For dessert we had a Chocolate Eclair, which was really good! After lunch, the tour had another excursion to the Louvre but we saved $220 thanks to Jovanni giving us some free tickets to the Museum! So, we went on our own -- Good too, because as big as that place was and as tired as we were, we weren't ready to spend another 4 hours looking at paintings and sculptures from artists we've never heard of! We went in, saw the Mona Lisa, some Egyptian stuff, the original walls of the Louvre Castle, and the Venus de Milo, to which Maple thought out loud, "We have the same size boobs!" We banged it out in less than an hour! Which was bonus, because we were tired and I was getting a headache!
After the Louvre, we bought some wine for our alcoholic friends and got back to our hotel at 220 for a nap. Apparently, hotel staff in Europe do not understand the point of leaving those "Do Not Disturb" signs on the door. When we got back to the hotel, our beds were made and the towels were new -- it's not the first time either! We woke up for dinner and headed out. We weren't in the mood to walk around so much so we just walked the streets around our hotel. There was this one African place, but we looked at the menu and couldn't understand anything! And with our previous experience with the French and their food, we decided to skip it and try something else. There was this steak place called Hippopotamus that we ended up going to. Our Asian waiter didn't speak English but tried pointing out pictures on the menu. We ordered two steaks, some fruit juice. Oh! And D'anana tartare isn't bananas but Pina Colada Ice cream. We also had Creme Brulee -- Very Good! I think I took a picture of this "XXL [sirloin] Steak" on the menu -- 16 measly oz. for around $3o!??
The whole trip was starting to get to us, so after dinner at 9 we were too tired to walk around. So, we went back to the room and watched "Snookah" and Kickboxing until we fell asleep.
Here we are at the Louvre.
Friday, April 25th
We woke up at 800 before our wake-up call. We watched a bit of The Kingdom. The movie wasn't free so we just watched whatever sample they provided... which reminds me I have to download that movie, also when we get home! Today we found out that those yellow flowers all over the fields are canola flowers (as in "oil"). The tour provided a "free" ride into town, for those that didn't want to take the excursion to Versailles Palace. We had a real macchiatto at that same deli place across the street from the Louvre along with some disgusting cheesecake with Shawn and his mom. Shawn wanted to see the Virgin Mega Store underneath the Louvre, but we couldn't find it before we had to head back. So, it was off to our final paid excursion to Versailles Palace. This place looked more like a museum than anything else. I wasn't too impressed with it, to be honest -- and it didn't help that my headset didn't work so I couldn't hear anything the guide was saying (She didn't have any extra). From what I observed, the king must have been pretty narcissistic, having statues and paintings of himself in almost every room. There was this "Hall of Mirrors" so he can look at himself while he walked around?! The place did have a nice garden, however! So, that was that.
Afterwards, we drove back into town. We went through the tunnel where Princess Diana died. It wasn't as long as we'd thought. We stopped at the Opera House and we were confused as to what was going on. We wanted to stay in town, but we weren't sure if we were supposed to get off there! We were... and we did... Had we have known that - that was the last time we would see a lot of the people from our tour, we would have taken the time to say "Goodbye" to everybody! That was the night of the "Farewell Dinner". But we didn't wanna pay $240 just for dinner with these people.
So, anyway, we got off the coach and headed out on our way... we had plans to go to the Eiffel Tower! We had two train tickets left (we bought a pack of 10 when we first got to Paris). So, we kind of cheated the system and squished our bodies together so we both can fit through the turn style using one ticket. We got off the train at the Eiffel Tower, and we were hungry. We stopped at this Baguette place and bought a Salami Baguette. It was OK. The Viet style back home is better. Unfortunately, we couldn't find any Viet Baguette places in Paris. We eyed a few in Chinatown but they were all closed when were there. We got to the Eiffel tower and finally figured out what line to stand in. There were four LONG lines and only one for the people who wanted to walk up. The line was about an hour long, but well worth it. We made it up the 600+ steps to the 2nd level. We had to take a lift to go all the way to the top. The views were amazingly, spectacularly, stupendous!! We took pictures until our camera ran out of battery! We made it "ours"... over brown paint, the side facing the Chaillot Palace, just to the right of the EuroScope on the left, on the hand rail. See the picture! There was a small cafe up there where Maple had a coffee and I had a something ham and cheese. They had a movie theater up there that showed the different stages of the Tower during its build. They had little rooms up there that showed "Billy" Eiffel at work. They had a Post Office up there -- Smileys! We spent about 3 hours up there! Again, we were glad we didn't pay for the excursion to the Eiffel Tower. It was only to the second level! You had to pay extra to get to the top, AND they probably only spent 45 minutes to an hour... All this for only $220 per couple! For the two of us, including the food, we spent around $30!
On our way back down, Maple wanted to get these little Eiffel Tower keychains. We didn't have to wait very long for a guy came over to us asking 1 for 1 Euro. Maple said, "No! 5 for 1 Euro!" He's all, "What?? 2 for one!" Maple said, "No! 5 for 1!" He goes, "Where can you get 5 for 1? These are 1 for 2 Euros in the shops!" Maple said, "There's a guy down over there who offered us 5 for 1 the other night!" He said, "Ok! 3 for 1!" Maple said,"NO!" and we started walking away. He was following us and was yelling at one of his keychain buddies in French or Indian, "Blah blah blah, 5 for 1?! HAHAHA!!" Then he said to us, "Ok, Ok! 4 for 1 but that's it!" Maple, said, "Nope!"... By then he was fed up, and let us go. We were walking away when we heard a "*Whistle!!*" It was the dude's buddy! He sold them to Maple, 5 for 1!!! So, we walked away with the keychains in hand, and another guy selling the keychains comes up to us and asks us how much we paid... "5 for 1" His eyes became wide as he said giving us a thumbs up, "Oh! GOOD!"
So, we left the Eiffel Tower for the last time! We had 1 more ticket for the train, and we were planning to do what we did the last time, again, but the gates were out of order and they were letting people pass for FREE!! Our last train in Paris was interesting. At one of the stops, this guy comes on the train and starts yelling stuff in French! Still yelling, some other guy, (one who seemed to enter the train with him) gives him a new pack of cigarettes! The guy says, "Merci!" along with a few more words and walks away to the other side of the train. Everyone on the train just ignored him while he was yelling so it didn't scare us too much. It's just one of those, "Whoa," moments!
We got back to our hotel and charged the camera for a bit and headed out for dinner. We got brave and tried our luck at the African place!! We walked in a little bit nervous, when the hostess asked us something in French. Maple said, "No." ...I swear! Sometimes that girl surprises me! She said she heard "Reservation" in there somewhere! So, she calls another Host who takes us to the back, where they have live African music! Our waiter came over (he looked like Elijah Wood meets a young Michael Scofield from Prison Break)... the first thing we said, "Parlez-vous anglais?" When he said, "A little-bit," I heard angels singing! We ordered... something?! There was some Habanero paste on the table that was really spicy! When our food came, we realized what we got ourselves into! FABULOUS FOOD!! Maple got Fish in Tomato sauce with Yucca, Carrots and Onions w/ Pineapple Soda. I got Beef and Shrimp in Spinach Paste with the best beer I've ever had, "Flag". It's an African Beer. This turned out to be the best meal we had in all of Europe. The music was pretty Groovy! We got to witness a French Birthday Party next to our table! And Maple, got a rose from a Peruvian guy at the next table! We spent about 3 hours in that place. After which, we walked back to our hotel and called it a night. There were Rollerbladers skating outside of our window on the steps of the Science Center. We just watched them for a while, then got ready for bed.*
Here is the tunnel that took the life of England's beloved Princess, apparently they crashed at the 13th pillar.
Here we are walking up the Tower,
and here is a short clip of the music at the African restaurant.
Saturday, April 26th
This was the day we had to say "Goodbye" to everyone. It was a quiet time at breakfast, and a "quiet" time on the bus on the way back to Calais. We picked up about 15 other people from another tour including this loud Dutch guy who wouldn't shut up! I couldn't sleep! It was also sad, because Tony, one of the guys in our tour, lost his camera!! We got to the docks and had to wait about 30 minutes, with a full bladder, to board the ferry! When we got off the coach, it was finally time to say "Goodbye" to Truus and Mikael and our coach. Hugs were shared, tips were given, and a few tears were shed, but the memories will remain with us a very long time.
It was a quick ride back to the Port of Dover in England. On the ferry, Maple and I had deep fried Fish [no chips but instead] with vegetables and a tasty raspberry creme brulee. As soon as we docked we were on another coach headed to our new hotel, the Hilton London Metropole. (We were supposed to go back to the same one we had before, but Cosmos switched it.) Now, this was a nice hotel! As we settled in, I gave Jovanni a call. We had sometime before we were to meet so we walked over [passing a LOT of Middle Easterners and a LOT of Hookah bars] to Harrod's (as recommended by Dangie). I was expecting a TJ Max style store, but instead, it was a Duty Free Turist Trap! They didn't have any "London" souvenirs but "Harrod's" souvenirs. We did get crayfish wrap in the Marketplace downstairs which was pretty good.
We met Jovi at the infamous Piccadilly Circus. We walked over to this Indian place in Central London which is supposed to be the equivalent of our Beverly Hills. Again, very good food! Jovanni's mom called him during dinner, and I wanted to play a little Joke on her, so I asked him to pass me the phone. I pretended I was Jovi's gay lover and made her sweat before she realized who she really was talking to! We ended the night at around 11 and headed back to the hotel. We spent $16 on the train... we were way tired to walk anymore! I took a shower and started to pack as Maple knocked out for the night.
Oh no! Deja Vu! ...and No! This wasn't staged!
Sunday, April 27th
We woke up at 8 in good spirits ready to go home... Finally! Maple showered, as I finished up packing. We went out for breakfast as planned at this place we saw the day before that had a sign out that said, "English Breakfast". It was a lot of food: eggs, beans, sausage, tomato, mushrooms with onion and toast w/English tea... *Ugh!* Afterward, we walked back and waited in our room for our time to leave. When it came time, we waited in the lobby. It was cool because we both realized at the same exact time... We had our Wedding Reception at a Hilton Hotel and we're now leaving our trip from a Hilton!
So, we boarded our chariot back to the Airport as London began to cry (rained). When we got to the Airport we checked in our luggage which was ready to "give birth" with everything we bought! Our flight didn't leave until 4pm and it was 11am! But that new terminal is so huge that we found enough things to keep us busy till boarding time! We had lunch at this Ramen place, Wagamama. For dessert we had this Pavlova, with Chile/Tamarind sauce. The food was, again, OK, granted we were still in London.
We waited at the gate for a while where I took a nice picture of the "scenery"! Our flight boarded on time. We left the ground at 443. We got the chance to watch Oceans 11. We caught an episode of Kitchen Nightmares which took place in Paris. It was weird because, when they were walking through the streets, I thought... rather, I knew, "We've been there, we've seen that!" We also saw PS, I love You. Maple cried, of coarse. Our flight touched down at exactly 659pm in LA. And with that, our vacation was over...
Maple's dad picked us up from the airport and we met Mikey and Tukata at Phoenix Inn, in Chinatown!
Some closing thoughts of the trip:
We shouldn't have packed as many clothes as we did. Maple wore the same pair of jeans everyday!
The first floor of hotels in Europe is labeled "0"
If you don't like sandwiches, we wouldn't recommend this particular tour!
In Europe...
a "brassier" isn't what you think
when you see people carrying around helmets it doesn't mean they ride motorcycles
the days are extra long (in April, anyway). The sunsets past 8pm
Rollerblading is popular in France
When in Rome, do as... The water is safe to drink, EVERYWHERE!
Europe is a beautiful place to visit, but it's not a place for everyone to live.
You can teach an old dog new tricks...
16 days, 5000 km (around 3110 miles) later, we were more than ready to go home. Again, it was fun while it lasted, and a LOT of memories will be remembered through this blog, and countless hours of sleep were lost; but to be honest... We can't wait to do it again!! -- maybe next time... Japan! Like I said before, this holiday is over, but as for our Honeymoon... It's only the beginning!
