Stairs stairs and more stairs

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Much catching up to do.
I left off on my last blog in Barcelona before getting a manicure. When I finished writing the blog and went back to the room Bonnie was in no shape to go with me so I ventured off alone for my mani pedi. Apparently you need to make reservations to do so and the place I ended up was a 20 minute walk and very expensive.
I returned to our hotel and grabbed bonnie on the way to Gracia to see Park Guell. What an amazing place. Truly breathtaking. Gaudi is a true genious. I took a million pictures but I doubt I did the place any justice. We returned to our hotel and asked for dinner suggestions. The man working in the hotel lobby suggested we go to a local restaurant for tapas. We waited for an hour and a half for a table but the food was well worth the wait. Bonnie was convinced the man standing next to us waiting for a table was the guy from Back To School.
After dinner we took a cab to the Jazz club where the french guy we met the night before was playing. His singing was very shocking. It was very deep and scratchy like Satchmo. Very shocking to hear. He came over to our table after the show and thanked us for showing up (even though we only made it for the last 3 or 4 songs). After that we went back to GAP bar and hung out with our favorite bar owner who was buying us drinks and shots again. He enjoying forcing me to speak spanish to him and wouldnt allow me to ask bonnie to help translate something. I was trying to tell him that Nick Cave was playing in Barcelona at the end of October and that I thought he would enjoy seeing him play.
The next day was our last in Barcelona. Initally we wanted to go to the Dali museum but after looking at the bus schedule and our plane tickets we decided it was better if we stayed in town. We went to the Gaudi museum near our hotel which we had passed a million times. The name escapes me now. It was an apartment building that Gaudi designed for the rich. There was an apartment inside that you walked through to see how people lived in the building. Then you went up to the attic to learn more about Gaudi and his other projects and finally to the rooftop which was unbelievable. The views of Barcelona with the winding steps and ornate chimneys. The words escape to to express how beautiful it was up there.
After the museum we stopped for a drink and were robbed. Not in the sense you would think but robbed none the less. I ordered a coke light (diet coke) and Bonnie asked for a juice drink. They were 6 euro EACH. About 8 dollars each. For a soda!!! We decided to return to the gothic quarter and went to a cathedral and then to the palace of music which we were unable to go into. Then we had a meal which was 3 courses plus a soda for 18 euro. Quite the opposite of our 8 euro drink experience. And the food there was really good. Almost made up for the robbery earlier.
We returned to our hotel for our bags and took a cab to the airport. When we arrived there we were standing in line to check our bags when a blonde spanish woman about our age with a full mouth of metal braces asked the girl in front of us if she could cut in line. She was speaking quickly and out of breath going on and on in spanish about how her plane was about to leave and she was going to miss the plane and so on and so forth. I got annoyed and jumped into the next line over. After checking our bags I bought a few last minute gifts and bonnie got some food. Then we casually strolled to the gate for our plane and there was the spanish girl with the braces. She was on our flight!!! Are you kidding me?
The plane was extremely loud during takeoff and sounded like something was wrong with the plane but I guess you get what you pay for on a cheap flight. I fell asleep pretty soon after takeoff and woke up to see that bonnie was missing. I figured she was in the restroom and would be back soon. 10 minutes passed. I looked around. No Bonnie. I went back to my book. 20 minutes no Bonnie. I started thinking of the movie with Jodie Foster where her child is kidnapped from the plane. How did I lose bonnie on a 2 hour flight? She finally returned and explained that the flight attendants wouldnt let her return to her seat because they were doing drink and food service.
We arrive in Nice and I rush to use the bathroom which might be the scariest thing Ive encountered on our trip thus far. It was dirty and smelly and scary. We grabbed our bags and went out for a cab. The first cab driver asks us where we are going. We tell him and he pushes us aside and says he is looking for more people. Then he grabs a girl throws her and her bag into the cab and backs up his cab almost running over my luggage. Then the blonde spanish girl with a mouthful of braces comes barging out of the airport and screams "i do not understand! where is the line for the cabs? why is there no line? i do not understand!" and immediately she gets a cab ahead of the 20 or so people waiting outside with us. Ugh! That girl was obnoxious! A second cab driver comes up to us and asks where we are going. We tell him and he says its in the opposite direction he needs to go and we walks away. Then he returns and grabs our bags and takes us to our hotel. And the French think Americans are rude!
We checked into our hotel and went to sleep. The next day we spent lounging on the beach. Very relaxing day. The water was cold but refreshing. It was a hot day but down by the water there was an amazing breeze. Later we went parasailing and then to the hotel for a dip in the pool. Dinner was a gigantic pizza. Then a short stroll back to the hotel and we were done for the day.
In the morning we left for Cinque Terra. What a day! The hotel lobby told us that we could walk to the train station and that it was only a 10 minute walk. I was fine but bonnie was not. She packed quite a bit more than I did and was not happy about walking to the train station. She was about to hail a cab when I pointed to the station 3 streets in front of us. Inside the station it was a zoo. I looked around for someone to help me figure out my train ticket and what platform I needed to get to. A nice frech man helped us but we barely got to the platform in time before the train was taking off. We were about 2 minutes from missing our train. It took 30 minutes for me to figure out that we were in the right "wagon" and that we could get to our seats. There was no room in the cabin for our luggage so we left it out in the hallway. Bonnies luggage was causing quite a commotion as it was blocking the pathway. The man serlling food and drinks went crazy when he ran into it and he yelled at the room next to us about the bag. Then a girl in that cabin came into ours asking who bonnie was and yelling about the suitcase. We dragged her bag into the cabin and kept it with us till Genova.
In Genova we needed to switch trains. Bonnie was not in the best of moods so I left her with our luggage while I figured out which platform we needed to switch to next. I was in such a hurry to find the train information that I didnt pay attention to where I left bonnie and when I came back I coudnt find her. I must have spent 15 minutes running up and down stairs on every platform looking for her. I finally found her just in time to board the next train. I should mention that the trip up till this point and after this point involved a lot of stairs. A LOT OF STAIRS. Lots and lots of stairs and we had lots of luggage. No elevators. No escalators just luggage and heavy suitcases.
Genova to La Spezia and then we had to switch to a 3rd train. The local train to cinque terra. We found some lifts at this train stations but they were ridiculously slow and hot. We used them anyhow. I had my first big mac ever while we waited for our third train. More struggling to get on the train quickly with heavy luggage. Then onto the train with aisleways that were barely the width of our bags. We finally get off in Manarola and more challenges ahead. First the ATM was broken and between bonnie and I we only had 3 euro. Then a huge steep hill to our hotel which we didnt know where it was. We finally made it to our hotel after an 8 hour strenuous journey and then set off to find accomodations for the next 2 nights. Nobody was at any hotel and the hotels that did have people told us they were booked. We took the train into the next town to get some cash and have some dinner. Then we took the train back to our town. Well the train didnàt stop in our town. Or the town after that. Or the town after that. So we were about 3 towns away from where we were staying. So we had to wait a half hour to take the train back to our hotel. With cash. With a meal in our bellys but with no accomodations for the next two nights.
The next morning we set off to find our accomodations. I finally discovered the true meaning of a quaint villiage. The phones needed cards to operate but only one store sold them. The man who runs the store I was told was "coo coo" and he "likes to sleep in late". I was also told "the atm it more often is not work than is work". We walked to the train station for tourist info. She suggested the post office. The post office said "no only place to buy is from man in tobacco shop". Back to the store which was finally open. I asked him for a phone card "no becuase you see yesterday the machine for the cards it broke so no cards for the phones". By the time I found bonnie again she had used her phone to get us our accomodations in Monterosso. So back onto the train with the luggage. People giving us dirty looks for packing so much luggage. Men speaking to me in Italian. Me shrugging my shoudlers. Cabs honking at me . More steps. More steps. Then we find our hotel. We are on the 4th floor. No elevator. Only stairs. Thankfully a guy works there who carries the luggage up on his head. Hope hes there tomorrow when we leave. Dinner last night in Vernazza. Another mishap with the train. Going further than we expect and waiting to come back the other direction. Then dinner. Then back at the train station where we had a trilingual conversation about the trains. Me in english and some spanish with a few italian words thrown in. bonnie in spanish. A girl who spoke spanish and italian. 2 men who spoke italian and very little english. Reminded me of the i love lucy episode where she gets in trouble in europe.
This morning we decided to do the hike through cinque terra. An hour and a half of steep climbing from monterosso and vernazza and were done. 2 terra. Enough. Gelato break and internet. Not sure what the plan is for tonight but we are dreading the train trip from cinque terra to rome tomorrow. Wish us luck and a path with as few stairs as possible.

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Comments

[alistair]

Reeeee, ditch the luggage!
Oh man, I think the only positive thing I read in that blog entry was parasailing in Nice! Hope you and Bonnie are having a good time. It sucks that the traveling part has been such a beating. Good thing you ended up not adding London and Paris to your itinerary. Have you been able to relax much aside from the stairs and unforgiving locals? Rome should be a lot of fun for you. All of the historical sites are pretty amazing, and everything is in walking distance from everything else. I highly recommend a walk through the Villa Borghesse park for some relaxation too. It's right above the Spanish Steps. Eat lots of pizza and gelato while you're there, but make sure you don't get hosed like Kasey and I did when we payed $40 for 2 gelatos.