You are a great story teller Sorry we are entertained a bit by your pain. I can't ride backwards either. When getting tickets on a train we do lots of research to make certain I'm facing forward. Somehow we had a special pass in Florence that allows us to go in a back door at the museum and not stand in the line. It was great. We were part of a walking tour. It was very cool. We enjoyed sitting in cafes in Florence and watching people. We went knowing we'd have to deal with the tourists and just decided to go with it and not allow it to bother us. Always love your impressions. Great photos.
Thanks Sometimes the crowds don't worry us, like recently at Pompeii, or in Venice but at other times like Prague and Florence it drove us mad. Maybe it was because we couldn't get good coffee?
'Hell is other people' :) Haha Scott I really shouldn't have found your discomfort funny - but I did! I have a feeling that Naples will be more to your taste, but I could be wrong. Shelley, like you I'm a compulsive candle/lamp lighter for my Grandma and Dad regardless of the appropriateness of the religion...it can't hurt right?? :D
'Hell is other people' :) So glad everyone finds my hell, funny, so at least it is good for something. As guessed Naples was my Heaven and we did finally feel like we were in Italy and not just lining up to see it. Shelley has now lit candles in every brand of church she has come across which has more to do about the state of our family back home than her religious conviction.
OMG--nearly peed my pants reading this! Curmudgeons unite--crowds, queues--no thank you. I know it's a chance to breathe in and out, a la Buddhist mode, but I prefer to avoid and go in the really low season--like I was here at Christmas, though when exiting the Duomo after Xmas service and giving gypsy/Roma beggars a couple of dollars, they stole all of my money--bad form. Shocked that it was so crowded in Oct--maybe it's high season forever now in Europe. Loved your story of none-ascending the Duomo's tower--so Italian! Napoli is bound to be bedlam, but hope you make it to Herculaneum and not just the more crowded Pompeii. And I so recommend you stop by Sucre and me on your way home. Fabo, cheap and Shelley and I can ogle churches, Scott and I can commiserate on our most absurd, crowded tourist sites and we can eat in restaurants, which I never did my five years in Europe. I waiting!
European low season -what's that? From what we have been told, depending on where you are, there is no low season. Hotels in Florence and Venice claim the crowds do not stop, but keep going all year round - yikes!! Roma stealing your money outside a church isn't good form at all, thankfully we haven't seen too many on this trip. It is unfortunate that they deserve the bad publicity they get and best avoided. Next blog is on Naples and yes we did get to see Herculaneum and absolutely loved the place, and it made up for Florence. Sadly for us will not be making it to Bolivia on this trip, as we have to get home a bit quicker and have taken the boring (and cheaper) route through Thailand.
Great shot, but... What a sea of inhumanity! Looks as if it was the cruise ship day, or maybe you were back in Prague! Cruise ships are the bane of travelers these days, and I fear it will only get worse. Grumpy old traveler here on the world's friendliest site!
Great shot, but... Yes two cruise ships on this day, one big and the other HUGE. Yes the crowds were as big as Prague but I think because St Marks is so big it sort of can handle it. Didn't cop all the bad agro like we did in Prague and thankfully only a couple of segways. We agree with you about cruise liners, (and river cruisers too), and I guess that's what makes Bolivia so appealing to all of us. Watch out for the next blog on Florence where the grumpy traveller takes the helm again.
Brilliant maneuvers! You stayed and ate outside the city, and had a drink in a small plaza, not in St. Mark's--excellent. I stayed in a convent over on Guidecca Island (20 of us in a huge,open room hung with massive crucifixes, where novice nuns would have slept for years--yikes; 2 weeks was enough for me) and illegally took a ferry in daily. Fortunately, I paid for Murano and the other islands because that was the only time anyone checked. Brilliant to have saved pricey, fabulous Italy and Western Europe for last. You'll get back home and think the prices reasonable.
Brilliant maneuvers! Staying in a convent? that could be habit forming! - sorry bad joke. Contemplated having a coffee in St Marks square till I saw it was 12 Euros each - I would want a foot massage with it for that price. We did contemplate Bolivia on this trip as we thought we could stay there for a month on what we are paying here for a day.
Rain against the window Good sleeping weather and yet you were up and on the road. Yuck. So many cathedrals so little time. We have not been to Venice but long to go. So many museums and so little time. Florence is one of our favorite cities.
Rain against the window Being in Slovenia we were just so close to Venice we just had to go. Shelley had been before and was happy to go back and we both just loved it. We were going to hook a right hand turn and check out the Alps and see some of the areas you have just visited this year but we have now been sucked deeper down in to Italy, and it is fantastic.
Restaurant cover charge? That's a nice little trick! Although it probably covers their costs with those tourists who sit and nurse one drink forever, or share one meal but use two sets of crockery and cutlery (I'm grabbing at straws here...). Venice looks particularly beautiful in that autumn light, seriously gorgeous photos :)
Restaurant cover charge? Still in Italy and the cover charge is such a random thing here, and how much they charge varies. We love the City tax they put on hotel rooms, and that would have to be the most random tax in the entire world, and always enjoy when you budget for it and they don't charge you---woo hooo another round of drinks.
Living in an oil painting Isn't it a joy when you arrive and they let you have your room early. A simple pleasure. Nice caves. The rain can make some good sleeping weather. You've really been enjoying the seafood.
Living in an oil painting Caves were fantastic but always find them difficult to photograph, it is so difficult to capture the enormity and beauty in a shot.
Travel is full of love You've really hit a lot of places recently that left positive impressions. Glad you are enjoying the travels. I'm not sure what your country tally is on this trip but you've really seen a great deal. You've really experience a variety of cultures, architecture and foods.
Travel is full of love Since Cyprus we have sort of being meandering, visiting cities in Europe we always wanted to see, rather than whole countries - a bit of a change for us. Croatia and Slovenia we have gone back to trying to see a bit more of the whole country and they are such a pleasure to be travelling through.
Croatia Sorry you weren't feeling well. Zadar sounds like an interesting town. I'll have to do a bit more research. Not a location we know much about. Love hearing about locations that are unfamiliar to us. Love the music scene.
Croatia The Croatian coast is full of the most amazing town, and we wished we had a bit more time visit some more. The town of Pula up near the Slovenian border even has a large Roman era Arena - which we heard about the day before we left. There is a lot to see and do.
Instant hit! What a great city! Loved the architecture and feel of it also. My traveling female companion found random dark curly black hairs ( I say pubic) on her after bathing in that monsters bath house eeeewhhh!!! Disgusting...
The food in Budapest was the bomb in 98 when I visited too, loved it. It was cheap and hearty, those were the days of flesh fests. Nice pic's!!!
D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley
You are a great story teller
Sorry we are entertained a bit by your pain. I can't ride backwards either. When getting tickets on a train we do lots of research to make certain I'm facing forward. Somehow we had a special pass in Florence that allows us to go in a back door at the museum and not stand in the line. It was great. We were part of a walking tour. It was very cool. We enjoyed sitting in cafes in Florence and watching people. We went knowing we'd have to deal with the tourists and just decided to go with it and not allow it to bother us. Always love your impressions. Great photos.