Springtime in Paris

Yes, it really is as beautiful as you'd think! We were there at the absolute perfect time- the tulips were in full bloom, the birds were chirping in full force, and the outdoor cafes were filled with people enjoying the sunshine and a not-so-cheap espresso. This was also a perfect time to visit Disneyland Paris!

We spent an entire day hopping between the two parks, enjoying the European version of Disney. In case you're wondering, they have a lot of the same rides- Twilight Tower of Terror, Aerosmith Rockin' Rollercoaster, It's a Small World, Pirates of the Caribbean, but there is definitely not the same level of "polish" as you get in Orlando. We waited until the close of the park, in front of Sleeping Beauty's Castle, expecting a spectacular fireworks show in celebration of the 15th anniversary of Disneyland Paris...... but the Candleabration Extravaganza was actually Mickey and a couple of other characters dancing on a platform made to look like a cake and some tinsel confetti shot out of 15 candles (off the beat of the music) and no fireworks were in sight. If you have never been to Disneyworld in Orlando, you might think I am being overly harsh, but if you HAVE been then you know what I am talking about- I mean, a few tinsel streamers compared to a giant fireworks extravaganza- really no comparison there..... One other exciting moment of the day- not really in a good way- was being emergency-evacuated from the Star Tours ride (yes, we really did EVERY thing) with no explanation of what was going on, and then told to completely evacuate the park by a misinformed drink cart saleswoman. We're not sure what actually happened- we figured a medical emergency of some kind- but we never had to evacuate the park, and we never went back to ride Star Tours. Nonetheless, we had a fantastic time at Disney and it was very surreal with it being so easy to forget that we weren't actually in Orlando. In case you're wondering, Mickey Mouse speaks English at Disney Paris.

We hit all the major sites in Paris, the Eiffel Tower and all the crowds that go with it,

...the Louvre Museum which was complemented by the fantastic Rick Steves audio guide that we downloaded onto the iPod (hence the headphones).....

....Notre Dame, multiple trips to patisseries to enjoy their fantastic desserts. I would say this go-round Paris wins the award for most delicious creme brulee, butter croissant, rhubarb pie, well the list really could go on but you get the drift.....

We stayed in a Courtyard Marriott just on the edge of the city, which was close enough to have an amazing view of the Eiffel Tower from our room, but far enough away to not have swarms of tourists on your doorstep. We started the trip on a sour note having a run-in with a VERY snooty Parisian on the subway coming in from the airport. Turns out everyone else was in general much nicer, and of special note was when I was spending our last €6.50 on a sandwich in the airport, the bill came up to €6.60 and I embarassedly had to admit I didnt have enough to pay for the food. Instead of making me put the sandwich back, the clerk gave me .10€ from her tip jar to cover the difference- now THAT was a nice way to leave a city.

The week before Paris we spent in Valencia, Spain, having a fantastic time taking advantage of the apartment(s) we rented. We cooked lots of great dinners using all the fresh produce we picked up at the daily markets, wandered around the town enjoying the laid-back atmosphere, bought a laptop computer- not QUITE the impulse purchase it sounds like- rented bikes to explore more of the city, and just had a great time relaxing. Valencia is a great place if you have a chance to visit.

So now we are in Buenos Aires, getting over jetlag from the 14 hour flight from Paris. We decided to settle down a bit more and have rented an apartment for the month in a "bohemian" part of town. It is going to be a very different feeling not hopping towns every two days, but it should be fun having a chance to get to know a place better, and hopefully pick up on more of the language and local culture. We have a few more days to live it up with our hotel points (the Plaza Hotel definitely didn't know what to make of us rolling in with our giant backpacks!) and then off to our new (temporary) apartment!

Cheers,

Anna

Cinque Terre- the walking stick capital of the world!

In the past few weeks Steve and I have been doing some more country hopping between Hungary, Italy, and now Spain. We had a great (but very cold time) in Budapest, and we even had the chance to rent a car to get out of the city for a day. It was great fun to get to explore a few of the smaller towns, but the first couple of hours of having the map in my hand brought back some painful flashbacks of Australia and New Zealand (accidentally navigating us to an RV dumping station instead of a campsite in the middle of the night, crazy confusing toll road interstates with no toll booths to pay at....) BUT, after cruising alongside the Danube for a while I managed to relax and we enjoyed the beautiful countryside. Our trip was cut a little short by a freak snow shower- one minute completely sunny and the next minute it was snowing giant snowflakes. Bad news- no Hungarian spa visit this trip- good news, we didn´t get stranded, we made our flight the next morning to Italy, and now there´s a perfectly good reason to go back to Budapest.

After Hungary we headed to Italy and spent a couple of weeks having a blast traveling around with Mary Beth and Drew Lake. We started in Rome, and I have to say this go-round was much more pleasant than last time I was there (picture in the middle of July, as a student, dragged around by a crazy architecture professor completely oblivious to the fact that it was 100F in the shade, with an EXTRA million visitors as someone was being canonized as a saint that weekend.) This time the weather was nice, we actually got to sit down in the Sistine Chapel for a few minutes without just being ushered through, and the company was fantastic. Next we headed to Sienna (claim to fame- one of the scariest horse races in the world, done on a tiny track in the middle of town, riders dont use saddles, horses can finish even if their riders fall off- we were not there to witness this said spectacle.) It was a quick stop-over but definitely a place I would love to revisit. Then to Florence, home to the most amazing restaurant in the world (Il Latini)- at least that is my biased opinion. We toured all the sites- saw Michelangelo's David, the Ufizi Gallery, the Duomo, several gelato stands....

Then to one of the most amazingly beautiful places in the world- Cinque Terre. Arriving via the train from Florence, stepping off the platform was literally like stepping into a postcard. Beatifully steep cliffs dropping straight into the clear ocean, quaint little towns built into the hillside, lemon trees growing on the steeply terraced hills. We stayed in Riomaggiore, one of the 5 (Cinque) towns in the area. We completely lucked out, finding an apartment, complete with a kitchen, with a balcony that opened out to the water. We took full advantage of the kitchen, cooking dinner (for the first time in months, literally) with ingredients we bought from the local market just around the corner. We spent one day hopping between the different towns, each equally charming but still having their own personalities. If you ever have a chance to visit this area of Italy, I would HIGHLY recommend staying several days, it really is amazing.

A funny side note about visitors to Cinque Terre- we saw more people with walking sticks there than anywhere else in the world. Not just your average "I picked this up during a stroll in the woods" kind of walking stick- think serious high performance low weight carbon trekking poles that mountain climbers use. We didnt make it to the "rough" part of the trail between the last two towns so I admit that I am a little in the dark about its degree of severity, but it seemed to me to be a bit of overkill with the gear. Seriously. Maybe Rick Steves recommended bringing trekking poles, so all of his fans followed his advice and they all happened to be in Cinque Terre when we were there. If any of you reading this have been on that part of the trail, please let me know how it is, it has been the source of much debate for us! :-)

We bid adieu to Drew and Mary Beth in Milan, and as was the case when Mom and Sue left in Istanbul, the weather quickly turned from beautiful and sunny to cold and rainy, staying that way basically until we left Venice 4 days later. If we have any more visitors on this trip, you're not going to be allowed to leave because of this trend! Venice was great, as it always is, a little harder to find a restaurant with a menu that is not translated into at least 4 languages, but still beautifully picturesque and fun to get lost in its many winding streets.

A few days ago we flew from Venice into Barcelona (where we are now.) It has been an adjustment switching from Italian to Spanish. Well, at least with the few Italian words we picked up- since being in Spain I keep saying thank you / hello to everyone in Italian, maybe that just makes us look more cosmopolitan (and helps them overlook the fact that we're obviously tourists in our zip-off pants and quick-dry wicking shirts!) Today we did some serious sightseeing from the eclectic "History of chocolate" museum (complete with large displays, all of chocolate, of characters ranging from Disney's Bambi to Don Quixote) to the just downright confusing "La Sagrada Familia" church designed by Antonio Gaudi that is only 50% complete despite the fact that folks have been building it for around 100 years. So many conflicting adjectives come to mind after seeing the structure- or semibuilt structure- tacky, unbelievably creative, confusing, beautiful, mildly creepy...... Several of the spires are topped in technicolor larger-than-life bunches of grapes.... need I say more? Really, without seeing it for yourself, it is impossible to describe what it's like. Millions of visitors visit this church every year, dubbed by the guide books as the "most visited construction site in the world."

We have enjoyed this brief stint in Barcelona, and tomorrow we head to Valencia to hopefully sample some amazing paella (and see some cool sites, too.) In only a couple of weeks we switch continents again, the whirlwind tour continues!

Anna