I am exhausted! Italy has been crazy! Rome was great fun but once we hit Florence and Venice, things just went haywire.

When we got to Florence, we hadn’t booked a hostel yet. After seeking out an internet cafe, we booked a place nearby and went there. When we got there, no one was at reception but luckily, other people staying at that hostel let us in (one point for the security measures in place). We hung around for about 30 minutes before someone showed up. We ddin’t feel that great about the place but it was a place to sleep so that was all we really cared about. We went out for dinner and all the streets were deserted! It was Saturday night! It was also freezing out, like Vancouver cold. We decided to go to bed early and get an early start the next day.

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Wednesday was probably the longest day I’ve had since going on this trip. When we checked out of the hostel, we had to get on the metro to the bus station to catch a 75-minute bus to Girona airport. After about 90 minutes waiting at the terminal, we got on our 90-minute flight to Rome, Italy. We actually flew in to Ciampino and a train from there to Rome should have been relatively easy. But the bus driver was stupid and what should have been a 30-minute trip turned into almost three hours. Eventually, though, we arrived and checked into our hostel. Dinner followed (pizza in Italy!) and then we went to the bar downstairs from where we were staying.

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Arrived in Madrid Friday morning and spent a little while trying to find a hostel to stay at. Finally, we found a pretty cheap hostel and the person working there when we arrived was really cool. Madrid as a city could be anywhere in the world, not specifically Spain. We didn’t see anything really to make us feel we were in Spain. Before going there, I didn’t really know much about the country except they had bull-fights. However, when we got there, they didn’t have any going on (although I probably wouldn’t have went since personally I think it’s cruel). The first day there, we checked out the big park in the city. Not too interesting. Later in the day, we continued to do some wandering. I ended it with an early night.

Puerta de Alcalá.

Parque del Buen Retiro.

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Boy, am I tired. Today, we went to the Louvre Museum and is that place ever huge. There were three areas spread over four floors and I’m pretty sure I didn’t see everything (although certainly not from a lack of trying). We were there for four hours and had it not been closing time, we would have definitely stayed longer. I can now add the Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo to the pieces of art I’ve seen in real life.

Louvre Museum.

Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa.

Venus de Milo.

 
I. M. Pei’s glass pyramid, from inside the Louvre.

After the extensive exploration of the Louvre, we had dinner before looking for souvenirs. Most of the tourist shops where close by that time so we didn’t have much luck. The last thing we decided to do before leaving Paris the next morning was go ice skating! There was an outdoor ice rink in the city center, to my surprise, so we enjoyed it. I had a fun time and I’ll probably try to go skating more often once I’m back home.

Mmm, dinner!

Ice skating in Paris.

Our flight to Madrid is tomorrow morning and I’m already dreading having to wake up extremely early (4.15a, anyone?). I wish I had more time in Paris. I really wanted to see the Moulin Rouge, among other things. I’ll definitely have to plan for a longer trip to Paris in the future.

What a tiring day! Left the hotel around 10.30a this morning and walked to the center of town. By that time, Renee and I were starving so we had a bite to eat. During lunch, we met some folks from Australia and they were pretty friendly. With a full stomach, we went to check out the Notre-Dame Cathedral. It was grand. Everything inside was amazing and reminded me of the cathedral I visited when I was in Montréal. After that holy experience, we set onto our next experience. Although not holy, it sure felt pretty close to heaven: The Eiffel Tower! After the walk to the cathedral, we decided it was time for the bikes again. The Eiffel Tower isn’t really that close unless you have a car or take the bus/metro. But we were strong and tough and peddled all the way.

Notre-Dame Cathedral.

Joan of Arc.

The Eiffel Tower.

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