Blogs from Europe - page 14349

Chapter 12 Back in old Napoli - that’s appalling They left the hostel and caught the 8.53am Eurostar from Florence to Naples via Rome. The train was not quite it’s English equivalent but very comfortable nonetheless (and more leg room). Rather bizarrely this was the first Eurostar Martin had taken since leaving the company (Eurostar UK LTD.) back in December. He headed to the bar and went to order some drinks, to be met by a young girl called Raffael who used to work on board the Eurostar back in the UK. What a very small world it was as they reminisced about the people back in London. What were the chances of that! Once more, the landscapes were spectacular especially between Rome and Naples. Three hours later they found themselves pulling into Napoli Centrale. Positoned ... read more

p class=MsoNormal style="TEXT-JUSTIFY: kashida; MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify; TEXT-KASHIDA: 0%"Friday 05/09/2003: p class=MsoNormal style="TEXT-JUSTIFY: kashida; MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify; TEXT-KASHIDA: 0%"  p class=MsoNormal style="TEXT-JUSTIFY: kashida; MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify; TEXT-KASHIDA: 0%"After the breakfast, the tour started with a panoramic view of Seville. We passed through the area reserved for the 1929 exposition and we saw the Pabellon de Colombia, Morocco, Chile, Brazil, Guatemala, Cuba and Santo Domingo. p class=MsoNormal style="TEXT-JUSTIFY: kashida; MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify; TEXT-KASHIDA: 0%"Afterwards, we visited the Parque de Maria Luisa. In 1893 the Infante Maria Luisa donated half of the gardens of the palace of Saint Telmo to the city of Seville. In 1929 the French architect Foresti... read more

After much discussion amongst the exchange students in Lithuania, it came down to Priscila and I going to Scandinavia for the Valentines Day Weekend. We both wanted to go to Copenhagen, and since we were going to be flying into Southern Sweden anyway, we decided to shoot up to Stockholm for the end of the trip. After taking the ‘flybus’ from Malmo, we wondered over to the Hotel Jorgensen, one metro stop north of the main station at Norreport. Great place, about $20 with a full breakfast buffet incl. Unfortunately, all my pics save for 8 loaded onto a photo sight were lost. While in Copenhagen, we were able to take in quite a bit of the city sights, art galleries, royal palace, WWII resistance museum, first castle, and of course, the little mermaid. We saw ... read more

Chapter 10 A Taste of Medicine Hostel rooms must be vacated by 9.30am, which would not have been a problem if lack of sleep hadn’t prevented a comfortable first night at the monastery. It was 12.30 before Martin entered the room the night before. All the lights had been turned off, it was so dark he couldn’t even see his bed. So fumbling in the pitch black trying to ascertain the location of his bed, trying not too awaken the Japanese who were obviously settled, he finally managed to find what he assumed was his bed. Fortunately it was the correct one, but trying to undress is no easy task on a bottom bunk without disturbing the unfortunate chap on the top bunk. Eventually he managed it and with his head to the pillow, sleep was ... read more

Chapter 8 A walk with no pavements For once, Martin was up first, leaving Maya in bed with her thoughts. He headed off to the square to have his morning tea (a tradition he instantly became accustomed too when he first moved to England) and to write his journal. Two pots of tea later, Maya headed over and joined him. They had both wanted to see the Tuscan countryside and had agreed to go exploring. They headed out of Siena on foot, past a mental asylum, where Maya did a remarkable impression which technically should have had her sectioned, or working in a restaurant in Pisa. Once out of the town, the views were spectacular. The Tuscan hills and valleys came together interspersed with small churches every mile or so. The walk was blowing out some ... read more