Blogs from Europe - page 10055

We arrived in Rome right on time and met our driver after going through customs and getting our luggage. He took us to the Benhouse B & B where we met our guide, Rosana. Benhouse overlooks Vatican City and we had a view of the Pope's living quarters. We dropped off our luggage and then walked to get something to eat before going to St. Peter's Square for the Pope's Blessing. We were so lucky to get to Rome on a Sunday that the Pope was giving a blessing. After the blessing, we toured around that area for a couple of hours. We then headed back to the B & B and rested for a while before heading out with Rosana for a driving tour of the city and seeing several churches and monuments. One of ... read more

I finally arrived in Turku, after approximately 24 hrs of traveling. Along the way, I picked up a flu and a blocked ear. All within the span of 24 hrs. On the first impression, Turku looks very much like a deserted town, with very few signs of life. Perhaps is the "late" hours of the day, after all, I only arrived in Turku at 4:00pm in the evening. According to my Finnish colleague, the Finnish people normally tend to spend their time indoors, in restaurants, etc, hence the relatively few people on the streets. At this time of the year, the sun shines for more than 12 hrs, from 4+am to 10+pm. Definitely not a common sight from the place where I come from. One definitely needs a very good curtain in order to block out ... read more

Bonsoir! I have found a 24/24h internet cafe (they use the 24-hour clock around here, hence the 24/24h...), and have had dinner, et le petite cafe... je ne dormier pas pour plus de 8 heures! (excuse my bad french, just be glad you don't have to hear me use it! D'accord, day 4, the 25th of Mai! I woke up around 10am, and went down for a late breakfast. I had a shower and decided to wander around the Quartier Latin. I wandered around for a few hours, the left bank is definitely much cooler than le rive droit! Most of the bookstores (librairies) were closed, as it was Sunday, but it seems that there is some kind of big art fair happening starting on the 28th. I'll be there for sure! I finally decided I ... read more

A drizzly day this morning has allowed us a lazy day inside….until I hear a band start up. At the Piazza in front of the church is a band in uniform and a gathering of people, then from the church comes 3 girls and a boy who have just done their 1st Communion. In white communion dresses, throwing handfuls of rose petals they dance out of the church. When their baskets of petals are empty they run back inside to refill to again run around the crowd and down the streets throwing petals. When they’ve finished Darcy and Lucy picked up handfuls of petals from the ground to throw around too until a lady came up to them and showed them where to get fresh petals. There were garbage bags full of rose petals. When the ... read more

Za doručak tokrat ni bilo niti polnozrnatega sorodnika, zato smo se pač morali zadovoljiti z belim kruhom. Jebiga, smo si pa zato privoščili belo kavo. Do Mostarja sva se skozi tunele brez luči večinoma vozila ob reki Neretvi. Bil je lep, sončen dan, po radiu so razlagali recept za ribo s krompirjem in čebulo "za ideju za nedeljski ručak za naše slušateljice". Kakšnih 30 km pred Mostarjem pa se je zgodila klasika: Francla so ujeli na radar! Štos je v tem, da sva itak vedno vozila po omejitvah, le tistikrat se je moj šofer odločil prehiteti bus - i evo ti ga na, policija. Jebiga, desi se. "Baš iz Slovenije ste mi vi?!" je bil navdušen policaj. Odšla sta do njihovega avta, Francl je nekaj motovilil z rokami, body language je bil jasno razpoznaven tudi iz ... read more