Versailles

A few days ago we booked a bike tour through Blue Bike Tours to go around the Palace and Grounds of Versailles.

Versailles was originally started by King Louis XIII as a hunting lodge, to get away from the stress of being a king.  He did a few expansions to the hunting lodge over the years, but it wasn't until King Louis XIV came around that most of the work to Versailles was done.  King Louis XIV did incredible expansions to Versailles, including building a Palace, a 1km long canal, over 1600 fountains and water features, elaborate horse stables, smaller summer houses, and a bunch of other work.  He was also the one who started to use Versailles, instead of Paris, as the official royal palace for the King of France.

His successors, King Louis XV and King Louis XVI also used Versailles as their primary place of residence, each of them adding new elements to Versailles, but not nearly to the same extent of what King Louis XIV did.  It was, however, King Louis XVI who was married to Marie Antoinette, and built her hamlet, and eventually was the king on the throne during the overthrowing of the Monarchy and French Revolution that lead to both of their beheading.

We met up with our tour group at one of the train stations in Paris, just before 9, and together, the 10 of us caught a couple trains out to Versailles, learning the the history of it from our Parisian tour guide, Agnes.

Once we arrived in Versailles we went to pick up our bikes, and then went to a farmers market to purchase some food for lunch, and snacks along the way.  We then hopped on our bikes and were lead by Agnes around the canal, and through some of the hunting grounds, which took us until 12:30 or so.

We kept a pretty good pace on the bikes, stopping at some of the sites to go explore, and here some more of the history from Agnes, who was a history major and had lots of information about Versailles and the royalty that lived there.

One of the best stops was at Marie Antoinette`s Hamlet, which she had built by King Louis XVI in the style of a farm, except she really didn`t know what farm life was like, so the houses were very elaborate inside.  The setting of this Hamlet was very picturesque, and looked like something in Disney Land, with it`s perfectly manicured lawns, gardens, and cute cottages.

From here it was almost 4pm by the time we got to The Palace, and although the lines were considerably shorter than they were when we arrived first thing in the morning, it was still a 1-hour wait to get in, and once we were in, it was PACKED!

It really was too bad that the palace was as packed with people as it was, because it was really beautiful and had lots of grand things to see, and history to learn, (we had a Rick Steves tour, once again).  But, within the first 30 minutes of being crammed into the hot, sweaty, claustrophobia-inducing palace, we were ready to leave, so did, and slowly made our way back on the train back to Paris, (but not before having McDonalds for dinner!)

We went back to the hotel, rested for a couple hours, and then went to a grocery store nearby around 9pm, to grab some snacks, drinks, and food for tomorrow`s breakfast.  We then hopped on the metro and made our way back to the Eiffel Tower once again to enjoy the lights and just sit back and relax and be tourists :)

Day 25 - A Few Sites Around Notre Dame

We slept in a little bit, until 8 or so, but as we wanted to make use of the museum pass we purchased we knew we needed to get out and about ASAP so we could see as many attractions as possible.

After a quick croissant breakfast at a local bakery, we caught a couple metros over to Notre Dame, as we figured it would have some of the longer lineups, (behind the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower)...unfortunately we were right.  It was about a 30 minute line up to get into the church part of Notre Dame, and then afterwards, another 1.5 hours to get through the line up to the Bell Tower.  Obviously the church and the stain glass and Gothic architecture are just amazing, as are the views from the top of the 422 step bell tower, but the lines and the waiting were just ridiculous.

We arrived at Notre Dame around 10:00am, and by the time we left around 2:30, we really didn't have much time to walk the Louvre as we had hoped we were going to be able to do.  So, with considerably less time left, we ate a quick crepe lunch, (which was actually a little gross because of all the cheese they put on the them) and did a Rick Steves walking tour which took us through the nearby Sainte-Chapelle, Conciergerie, and through a few other historic areas of Paris.

Sainte-Chapelle is another Gothic church near to Notre Dame, and what makes it famous is all the stain glass work it has.  The main church has an incredible amount of stain glass windows, all of which come together to tell the creation of man, through to the coming of Jesus, to the final judgement.

Conciergerie used to be used as a jail, and more specifically, the "Green Mile" of France, where people sat awaiting death, (generally a beheading).  They beheaded some 2600 people over the years, including Marie-Antoinette.  It is now purely used as a historic tourist attraction.

By the time we finished our Rick Steves tour and seeing some of the sites of historic Paris, we were nearing 6pm, so we caught a metro to the Arc de Triomphe and enjoyed spending some time atop the roof, looking out over the city, taking pictures.  As the Arc de Triomphe sits at one end of Champs-Élysées, (a large street with luxury shopping and restaurants) we decided to stroll down it, hoping to find a grocery store.  Eventually we did find one, after consulting a few sales associates at the Adidas store, so we bought some food for dinner, for breakfast, and some snacks.

We then made our way back to the Eiffel Tower to sit on the lawn and enjoy the sunset, some food, and each other`s company.

Paris!

We had to be out the door by 9:30am to catch our 12:30 flight, so there was no sleeping in today!

After a metro ride and a train ride...including missing one train because of some people who stood at the ticket machine for over 10 minutes because they couldn't figure out what to do...we were in the airport and checked in.

The flight from Rome to Paris is only 2 hours, so after landing, getting our gear, buying our 4 day museum pass and our 5 day transit pass, and taking the right metros and trains to our hotel, we checked in around 5pm and quickly made our way out to dinner. We found 2 restaurants near our hotel that were rated well on TripAdvisor, so we tried going to those, but both were closed, we figure, because it was a Sunday, so we just went to the next nearest restaurant.

Not wanting to waste any time, we took another metro straight to the Eiffel Tower, and stood in the 1.25 hour line to go up to the top! However, as we were about 5 minutes from buying our tickets they said they were closing the very top, so we only got to go up to the 2nd level, but Lindsay thought that was high enough :)

We spent maybe an hour up there just relaxing, taking in the views, taking photos, and just watching the sunset. It really was nice, even without being able to up any further.

The main lighting of the Tower is one one the sun sets, but every hour, from 10pm to 1am , for 5 minutes, they have these little white lights that come on and sparkle, making it look like the Tower is shimmering. It is really neat to see and captivates everyone both on a below the Tower for the short 5 minutes they are running.

After this we caught the metro back to the hotel, and sat and listened to the Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban audio-book for a while, then wen pt to bed.

Day 22 - A Slower Day

Overall, today was a slower day.

We started our day a little bit later than normal, having slept in until around 9, but as we needed to find a laundromat and do a couple loads, we REALLY had a slow start.

Our host, Andrea, directed us to a laundromat nearby, which was great, but it was self-service, so we had to stick around for the next hour and bit to do the laundry ourselves.  In every other place we have done laundry, in Greece this trip and Thailand last, thy always just did it for you and then you could just pick it up at the end of the day.  So, as noon rolled around we finally headed out.

We made our way to the Jewish Ghetto, which is a 4 block around that housed some 8'000 Jews during the 19th century.  Rick Steve's lead us through the Ghetto and gave us some good background info.

As "it was really hot", Lindsay wanted to stay inside as much as possible, so we booked a tour of a really neat archaeological site/museum that is actually situated on top of an old domus (house) dating back to Ancient Rome.  The museum has all glass floors, and uses technology/lights/projectors/audio equipment to lead you through the whole house and explain how things were.  It was very worthwhile.

Then, in keeping with the "staying inside because it's too hot" bit, we actually retired to the B&B around 5:30, and stayed there until 8 or so, while Mike watched YouTube videos and Lindsay watched The Incredibles (which was the first movie we ever watched together, coincidentally).

We then went out for a quick bite to eat, walked around Piazza Novona, and made our way to the Spanish Steps to just sit and relax.

While there, Lindsay went to go sit on them while I took a few pictures, and within that short amount of time I was gone she had attracted two Italian gentlemen, who were trying to talk to her.  They were definitely 10 years our senior, and were a little creepy, so she was more than relieved when I got to her a couple minutes later, and they immediately left.  We then watched them for the next 15 minutes as they scoped out other potential "special friends".

We eventually made our way back to our room and called it a night.

Our First Full Day in Rome

We started our first full day in Rome off with a bang and were some of the first in line to see the Colosseum.

What an amazing structure with an amazing history!  It would have really been something to be part of the some 50,000 Roman citizens sitting there watching themselves kill each other and exotic animals!  ...well, maybe not the killing part, but wow - to see something like that in its prime would have been amazing!

When we left the Colosseum around 10, it was already hot and well on its way to being another 36 degree day, so Lindsay bought a tourist parasol, as she had already broken her second set of sunglasses, and "needed shade from the sun".

We used that parasol, however, right away as we moved next door to the Colosseum to Roman Forum, an ancient Roman meeting place and market and place of business (the main city centre).  We purchased a "Roma Pass" when we arrived at the train station the day before, which gave us free transportation for 3 days, and free entrance into two of Rome's museums or archaeological sites (which we planned on using for the Colosseum/Roman Forum and the Bourghese Gallery).

The Roman Forum is a large site with a lot of neat history, including temples, ruins, The Arch of Titus, and the place of Julius Caesar's assassination and cremation.  Again, we had Rick Steves to lead us through it, and saved us lots of money as we didn't feel as though we needed to pay for other tour guides...oh yes, once again, Lindsay wants to remind everyone how hot it was...

From the Roman Forum we wanted to go to a pizza lunch in Trastevere, which is just across the Tiber river, at one of the highest-rated places in all of Rome.  After wandering around, we eventually found "Ghiottoni!!" and sat down for a quick pizza lunch, which was really good.

As we were already in Trastevere, and Rick Steves had an audio tour for it, we decided we better do it!  It was in the heat of the day, around 3pm, so after finishing the tour, which lead us through many neat old buildings, condos, cobblestone streets, and buildings with greenery growing all over them, we made our way back to the B&B to relax and sleep until dinner time.

For dinner, again, we went with a TripAdvisor recommendation, of "La Fata Ignorante", which we had to catch a metro to, as it was a ways away from where we were staying.  The food, once again, was very good.  We each had an appy, a pasta, and a dessert, and it was very nice, although we did have to sit outside as we didn't have reservations, which is normally fine, but in this area of town there were lots of mosquitoes, or something at least that was biting us.

The next day we planned on going to the Vatican and St. Peter's Basilica, so we were back in bed around 11pm.

Welcome to Rome!

Our first day in Rome was packed!

We left our hotel in Mykonos at 8:30am, and caught a 2 hour flight that landed in Rome at 11:30am, Rome time.  After a train and metro ride we eventually ended up 400m from our B&B, just a 10 minute walk from the Colosseum (you can actually see the Colosseum from the front door).

Andrea, a boy Andrea, met us and introduced himself as our host.  We got settled, rested for a bit, as it was the heat of the day, and decided a plan for the late afternoon/evening.

We decided to walk down to the Colosseum, and on our way we picked up some decent pizza and Coke, and cooled off a bit, as it was around 36 degrees.  From here, we followed our map towards through some of the neat streets and touristy areas, taking pictures of some of the fascinating architecture and neat old buildings (these buildings are the things about Rome that I appreciate the most).

We eventually end up near the Pantheon (shown in the 2 photos above) and explored the piazza around it, and the inside of it.  Thankfully, Rick Steves, our ever-faithful audio-tour-guide had a tour on the Pantheon, so we were able to understand it more and appreciate it better.

It is a really neat building as it has a large hole in the top of the dome, which is the only source of light.  Obviously then, when it rains, it gets wet inside, but the floor has been sloped to the edges, and also has holes for drainage.  This building is also the best preserved ancient Roman building as it has always been in use, first, as a temple to "all gods", ("pan" meaning all, and "theos" meaning gods) and then it was converted to a church as a basilica.  It has the remains of Raphael in it and other important Romans, so very cool.

From here we made a quick 10 minute walk to Piazza Novona, which is the biggest and most famous piazza (or square or meeting place) in Rome.  There are probably hundreds of street performers, artists, vendors, and restaurants clamoring around trying to entice you into the most touristy of artwork, food, and entertainment, but it is wonderful!  Lindsay is very interested in having a charictature portrait done of the two of us as she wants to know which prominent facial features of mine they will accentuate...I have not been persuaded yet as I know my facial flaws already :)

We then walked around a bit more, exploring, and then found a mediocre restaurant to eat at (we ate their mostly because it was cheap and included wine for Lindsay) and then walked to the Trevi Fountain.  We then walked around a bit more, and slowly made our way back to our hotel for the evening.

We also came across a very talented street performer, who played the trumpet, so Mark, this video is for you!

Mykonos

 With our time in Paros done, we left for Mykonos the next day, and Mykonos has been wonderful. We weren't to sure what to expect. We heard it was a party island and very crowded, and although it is both of those, we are loving it. The town core is gorgeous. There are so many wonderful alleyways to get lost down.

There is also a portion of the town called "Little Venice", which has buildings that are right on the edge of the ocean. Mike is off trying to take a night time shot of it right now, which is why I am writing the blog post instead.

Anyways, our first day on Mykonos was July 28th. We arrived around 1pm. The owners of our hotel came to pick us up and brought us back to the hotel and our room, which is beautiful...which it should be at 99 euro a night (it was hard for us to find a place at this time of year for any less). The doors are yellow and blue and so cutesy.

After we arrived we showered off and then went for a walk around town. We ate at a tavern called Nikos, which our hotel recommended. The restaurant was beautiful. I decided to try a traditional Mykonian appy that kind of sounded like bruschetta, but had cheese (apparently the Mykonains are known for their cheeses). Unfortunately we were not prepared for the strong cheese. It was sorta like a blue cheese, but so much stronger. It almost felt like it was burning your mouth.

Mike is back now. He wants to take over because I'm too slow.

We then spent the rest of the day just wandering around Mykonos Town, and then went back to our hotel to watch the sunset with a bottle of wine (Mike had water), and then went to bed as we had planned a beach day for our only full day in Mykonos.

We woke up earlier than normal (around 7:30) and pulled together our stuff for the day.  After a quick FaceTime call with Heather, we left the hotel and made our way to the city centre for breakfast and to rent an ATV (no more hot, overcrowded buses!)

We decided that since we had the quad we could go to a few beaches, so we checked TripAdvisor and chose to go to the top 3 beaches, Panormos, Agios Stefanos, and Agios Sostis.  Each of the beaches were nice in their own way, and we enjoyed them all.  Lindsay wants me to mention that every time I go to fast, or don't "slow down for the corners" quick enough I get poked in the ribs...somehow this doesn't seem to be a wise decision...you know...distracting and harming the driver of the vehicle...

The first beach, Agios Stefanos, was a "natural" (not nudist...although there were some...) that has no amenities (no umbrellas, showers, restaurants, etc.)  We stayed here for maybe an hour and half, until 11:30.

The second beach, Panormos, was much more populated, as the first beach we had almost to ourselves.  This beach was very nice, however, as the swimming seemed a bit better, and it had less nudists.  It also had some cool rocks to take pictures on, that were in the water, but gently broke the surf as it came in.

The third beach we got to around 2pm, after stopping at our hotel on the way there to cool down for 30 minutes.  Here we rented beach chairs and an umbrella, although at 12 euros, this was the most we have had to pay for them anywhere in Greece.

We left around 6:45, and then went back to the hotel to shower, change, and drop the ATV off at the rental place.  We then made our way into the town to take some pictures, eat, and wander the streets a bit and see what the night is like in Mykonos.

Tomorrow we will be out the door around 8:30, on our way to the airport, and on our way to Rome!  We have loved Greece and will hopefully return one day.

Day 12 - Santorini, Part 2

As opposed to sitting around the pool or beach, the next 2 days in Santorini we took to exploring the island (truth be told, part of the reason is that we had to switch hotels, and the new hotel we stayed at did not have a Caldera view).

On the first day of adventure it took a while for us to wake up, eat breakfast, check out of hotel 1, and check into hotel 2, so we didn't get going until about 1pm. The first thing we did was try to go to one of the museums in Fira, but as it was a Tuesday, it was closed (who knows why they close on Tuesday...)

From here, we hopped on a bus and went to Akrotiri, which is an ancient Minoan Archeaological site. Akrotiri dates back to 1600BC, but even a bit further than that, because it was actually built on top of other Minoan ruins, spanning back even further, as there were 2 earthquakes that decimated the settlement twice previously. The site, thankfully, was under cover, so we were sheltered from the sun. That being said, it was VERY stale, hot air in there, so after an hour and nearly passing out, we left.  We probably would have stayed longer if we were able to get a tour, but the unmotivated tour guides were not able to gather up enough people to make it worth their while, so we were left to the poor signage to guide us.

We went back to Fira, taking pictures throughout the city. For dinner we stopped at an Asian place and had some noodles, and then went back to the hotel and watched a movie and prepared for our long hike the next day.