Italy Trip Day 1: Venezia (Venice)

After switching trains in Dijon, we took an overnight couchette to Venice. The couchette car had 6 small cots, 3 on each side. The bottom 2 bunks folded into regular train seats and there was a ladder to get up to the top bunks. Our train arrived a little late and it was cold waiting out on the platform so we were happy to jump on when it came. Thankfully, we only shared our car with an older couple who seemed to be fairly experienced overnight travelers. They hopped up on their top bunk and were ready for bed in record time. Vic and I were still trying to figure out where to put our stuff and how to get into our cots for the long haul. Once we were settled in.... it wasn't sooo bad, got a little stuffy a few times and then frigid cold at other times, but overall we were able to sleep with the help of motion sickness meds;)

In the morning, the train people came around to give us back our passports and tickets (guess they needed them for when we crossed the border overnight... but it kind of freaked us out that we had to hand them over). They notified us that our train was running 2 hours late! We were supposed to get into Venice at 9:20am.... but didn't get there until about 11:15. We were able to do a little more sleeping, eat some breakfast from the train cafe, and get ourselves semi-presentable in our extra wait time.

Once we got off the train, Victor stopped to exchange some American cash (sadly getting a horrible rate) and I got my bearings from the simple map I drew from google maps. We miraculously found our hotel, just around the corner, checked in and left our bags to go eat lunch before our room was ready. We were shocked at how many people were out and about and how many of them were wearing face paint, masks, and costumes. The costumes ranged from little kids in spiderman get-ups like at Halloween, to very Marie Antoinette costume ball wigs and gowns. Venice has one of the biggest Carnival celebrations in the world....which explains why there were so many tourists and locals there to observe or dress up.

After a little walk around (it was nice and sunny!), we stopped at a restaurant and both ordered crispy, fresh, and delicious pizzas... and after paying for our pizza and water (gah! not in France or the US anymore!), we were able to check into our hotel and freshen up before we began our real exploration of town.

We decided to take a vaporetto (water metro line) to St. Mark's Square first. For 16 euros each, we got a day travel pass and it ended up being totally worth it. The boats were generally quick and effective in getting to where you wanted to go on the grand canal (although sometimes they were fairly crowded with Carnival goers)....and being on the boat gave us a chance to see everything from the water.... gondolas, boats, old Italian architecture, bridges, etc. We actually got off at the famous Ponte Rialto before making it to St. Mark's. The picture of both of us on a bridge is from this 1591 stone structure, home to 2 rows of covered shops.

After the bridge, we hopped back on another vaporetto towards St. Mark's. The square was packed with people in costume and people taking pictures of people in costume. There were mask vendors at every corner and it seemed like the more time we spent in the crowds, the more people we saw with masks.... so of course, Victor talked me into getting one. He was going to get a hat, but couldn't find one he liked enough. In the moment, the mask was fun to wear....(I even had people taking pictures of me!) and now I have a cool souvenir/mask for my next masquerade:)

We went into St. Mark's basilica and unfortunately I wasn't able to take any pictures of the beautiful gold mosaics (no foto allowed!). It was a little eerie and dark feeling, even with the gold, but we were there when the sun was setting, so maybe the natural light wasn't as strong. We had thought about going into the Doge's palace next door, but with so many people, we decided to walk away from the square and towards some market shopping. Venice is famous for the Murano island glass.... you can find every type of jewelry, vase, figurine and more. We both got a few gifts for family and for ourselves:)

To end the evening, we went to a nice little seafood restaurant serving a 2 course fixed price menu. We both had pasta for the first course (mine was something with clams and his was something with black ink sauce) and fish for the second course. We enjoyed some house wine and had amazing tiramisu and mousse for dessert. We were exhausted by the end of the night, but it was a great little one day Venetian experience.

Hope you enjoy the pictures!

Italia Picture Post

Hello again- We're still exhausted from our trip and overnight train.... so just posting a few pictures to keep you entertained:) You see two from Florence (the Duomo and Ponte Vecchio over the Arno river), one from Siena (castle building), and a few from Venice during Carnival. I'll try my best to post more tomorrow!

Enjoy and reste cool!

Hi from Italia!!!

Hello!!!!!

It's our last evening in Italy and Victor and I are enjoying a little internet time at a cafe before heading home to Lyon on another overnight train. We've somehow survived without internet since Thursday night..... but just wanted to post that we're alive, doing well.... and I'm actually engaged:)

I'll give all the details from our trip as soon as we've recouped from our travels!!! Hope you're all doing well. We have some amazing pictures and stories to share!

Reste cool:)

Thursday Racletting (before Italy!)

I took Victor down the street to see the castle in Saint-Priest before stopping at my bank and hopping on the tram. The tram has definitely become my least favorite way to travel unless I'm going up 2 stops to get to school, but I thought he'd like to experience the sleek and quiet mode of public transport. It always seems so claustrophobic to me now.... and slow compared to the bus or metro. But- anyway, we made our way up to Vieux Lyon. It was a much sunnier day than yesterday, although still chilly. We're hoping the weather channel comes through for us with the upper 50's temps they show for Italy this week.

On our way towards the restaurant, we walked around the back of St. Jean... which I always forget about being something to see. There's an archeological dig with an old stand-alone arch that used to be attached to a building. I read the sign for the first time while Victor took a walk around. The area used to be the site of a baptistery and another cathedral built around the same time as St. Jean (so beginning in the 12th century). It said that the buildings were destroyed and rebuilt a time or two, with the last destruction happening during the French Revolution... We took a few pictures and goggled at an elderly woman feeding a flock of pigeons before moving on to the wooden raclette restaurant (the same one I took Amy to). Instead of raclette, not being quite as big on cheese as I am, Victor actually ordered a grillade... or meat to grill on your own at the table. Our little table for two was quite full of cooking apparatuses.... a hot stone grill for him and a raclette hot plate for my cheese. It was pretty delicious as usual, although Victor thinks he'd rather have to do less work for his food:) Oddly enough, we were the only ones eating at the restaurant... so it didn't take long at all for us to get in and out (once we got our little guy's attention.... no 2 hour lunch for us today sir!).

After lunch, we took a walk through Vieux Lyon and through another traboule. Victor is amazed by these little blasts into the middle ages! They are pretty cool, so I'm glad I've been able to find a few! They are those secret passageways that link buildings/streets/inner courtyards together. These inner courtyards have some beautiful architecture... and of course lots of old wooden doors/cellars for Victor to investigate. After a few more pics, we walked past the cathedral and down towards Bellecour before getting onto the metro. We ran to catch our bus and are now home to rest/pack up before our trip to Italy!

We leave from Lyon at 8:30pm tonight, headed towards Dijon where we switch trains to our overnight sleeper train to Venice. We arrive into Venice around 9am tomorrow morning. Hopefully, after a night on the train, we will have enough energy to tour some of Venice before checking into our hotel in the afternoon (I'd love to see St. Mark's and the Doge's Palace!). We'll stay in Venice one night, getting up to catch our next train to Florence on Saturday morning. We spend one night in Florence, and take our next train to Siena on Sunday afternoon. Monday we have our guided day trip in Tuscany and Tuesday we train back to Florence. We'll have enough time to revisit our favorite spots or do a little last minute shopping in Florence before catching one more overnight train back to Lyon, arriving home Wednesday morning!

I'm not bringing my laptop (just one less thing to carry), but we both have our ipods and chargers. We'll hopefully have wifi in at least one of our hotels, but if not, we'll try to find an internet cafe to check in with you all sometime! We'll take lots and lots of pictures to post when we get back!!!

Reste cool and wish us luck!!!

Lindsay and Victor Hit Lyon!!!!

Bonsoir from France! (Victor's new favorite French word)

Victor and I had a nice easy-going day. I made my first ever real French quiche for lunch.... which turned out pretty good if I do say so myself. We eventually made our way to the bus and metro to go into Lyon. We walked from Bellecour down Rue République to do a little window-shopping and people watching. We took a left at the Opèra to my favorite part of Lyon, Place Terreaux with the horse fountain and Musée des Beaux-Arts sculpture garden. We saw some French police in the gardens, which Victor was very excited about... and somehow I got him to pose along with a Rodin sculpture (pictured above... he thinks he can do better, so we may be going back). We had a quick drink at a café across the street (I had a yummy chocolat viennois and he had a Leffe demi blonde).

We walked across my favorite red suspension bridge over the Saone River towards Vieux Lyon. We stepped inside St. Jean to see the horlage clock and took a walk through a Traboule (secret passageway). Victor has decided he would like to live in something with stone cellars, spiral staircases, and giant wooden doors. I took him to my favorite little crêperie, where we had delicious dessert crêpes (can you tell- today was a day of me showing him my favorite stops....).

We're back home after an eventful metro to bus ride home. There was a belligerent drunk man on the metro who challenged another guy to a duel. On the bus, we had a wholesome group of guys in the back who thought it would be nice to light up and smoke. At least they opened a window :/

Home again home again jiggity jig! On the agenda tomorrow is having raclette and getting ready for our Italy trip!!!!

Reste cool! And keep your tireZ inflatedz. (Tirez in French means to pull, however, every time Victor saw tirez on a door he giggled and said tirezzzz!. In French it is pronounced teeray.)

Well he made it!

Just wanted to write a quick update! Victor made it safe and sound from Washington to Amsterdam and Amsterdam to Lyon. We took a nice little cab ride back for under 35 euros, only taking us 25 minutes... as opposed to the hour and half bus+tram ride I took to get there.

Anywho- he's battling, or "defeating" as he says, jet lag and I'm battling feeling weird.... so we're going to make it an early night and hit up Lyon tomorrow! However, he'll still get some France tonight.... I'm making steak-haché (hamburgers without buns) and I have a baguette with fromage:) Yumz!

Reste cool for now!

flight delay

Victor's flight was delayed in Washington by 2 hours, so he had to take a later flight out of Amsterdam today to get to Lyon. He arrives at 2:20pm, instead of 11:20am. Not that a few hours matters much in the grand scheme of things.... I just want him to be here already!

I did get to sleep in, so I guess health-wise it was probably a good thing. I'm still doing ok- I

maybe had a slight fever this morning and have a yucky cough.... but seems like the drugs are working their magic (at least I hope!). For now though, I'm at least not sprawled on the couch, unable to do anything, like when I had the flu.... so that's the good news!!!!

I'll be leaving here in a few minutes to run a few quick errands before making the annoyingly long trip to the airport. Perhaps we will take a taxi back. Ok!!!! Talk to you all soon! YAY!!!!!