Paris this time you stole my heart
Ross’
parents decided when we moved here that they would come visit after the first
year and finally see a bit of Europe. They had never been overseas so this was a huge adventure! A
ton of planning went into their visit along with a great deal of frustration
and re-planning. Planning a 10 day
road trip is not an easy task when the parties involved want to see different
things, stay in different places and are not ever in the same room able to
discuss options. In the end Ross did an
amazing job planning a route, purchasing plane tickets and booking all the
hotels.
Ross
and I needed to meet his parents in Barcelona on Saturday afternoon. We decided to go on Friday afternoon so that
we could have a night to ourselves to eat Wok to Walk (amazing Chinese take out) and just wander La
Rambla (major street) on our own. We
ended up trying to save some money and stay outside of the downtown and I will
never do it again. With the amount of
time it took, and cost of trains to get into town, it was not worth it. There was nothing to do near our hotel and it
took close to 45 minutes on the trains to get anywhere. This would happen a few times on the trip and
it made for boring nights. I would
rather pay a little extra and be in a fun area.
I
should point out that when we booked the hotel it said there was a subway line
right near it. Unfortunately it was
actually quite a walk away and was not the actual metro so we had to transfer
and pay for another train once we got partway to town.
La Rambla
That
aside we had a great evening! I love
Barcelona. I wish we had more time to
just hang out there and do more exploring.
The next day we headed straight to the airport to meet up with the
McCullochs. It was exciting to see faces from home coming out of customs to
meet us.
Meet the McCullochs ... Ross, Elaine and Don
From
here we grabbed a flight to Turin, Italy where we had a car booked so we could
begin our road trip the next morning.
The flight was gorgeous. It was one of my favourite views I have ever had when in the air. We started over the Mediterranean which has
the most beautiful blue water and then straight over the mountains in the North
of Italy. The sky was so blue and the
clouds swirling around the peaks made me feel like we were flying into a fairy
tale land. The area surrounding Turin is
just fields of lush greenery which is a welcome sight after spending so much
time in dry, dusty, barren Valladolid.
Again
we had a hotel outside of town so we had to eat dinner at the hotel as Ross
parents were exhausted from all the travel and didn't want to drive into town. Damn you international drivers licensing making it impossible for Ross to drive!
Seriously stay in town because it
is not worth it to stay outside the city!
We missed out on an evening in Turin because of it. We knew we would be returning to Italy at the
end of the week so we didn't stress too much about it. Also Ross and I have an amazing Italian
adventure coming up in August so stay tuned!
The
next morning we began the road trip which would take us first to Paris for
three nights! It was a 7-8 hour drive
through gorgeous mountains and rolling farmers fields. We even got to travel through a 22 km long
tunnel between Italy and France! It was
neat but be prepared to fork over 44 euros to drive through it.
France and its gorgeous countryside
Paris
was great we stayed in the area just outside the Latin Quarter which was
perfect. There were a ton of bars and
restaurants right outside our hotel and the subway to take us anywhere in town
was only a 2 min walk. Ross and I were
able to go out every night and explore, eat a ton of delicious food (INDIAN)
and we found some pretty cool bars as well.
It is always a shock to us how much alcohol is when we leave Spain. We have gotten very used to paying no more
then 2 euros for a beer so being charged 6 euros for one is painful. It is like being back in Canada only paying
in Euros so it works out to be even more!
The Seine
We
did all the touristy things one would expect to do in Paris, The Eiffel Tower,
Sacre Couer, Champs Elysees, The Arc de Triomphe and of course we finally got
to spend a day in The Louvre. What an
incredible experience.
Sacre Couer
Elaine and Don McCulloch at The Sacre Couer
Be
prepared to spend an entire day in The Louvre and still not see everything. It is indescribable and something I believe everyone needs to see for themselves. I am not someone who spends a lot of time in art galleries because I have very specific taste which is not normally showcased in galleries, but I would not trade this experience. This place is unimaginably enormous and there
are so many pieces to see. We spent most
of our time in the sculpture sections, as sculpture is one of my favourite
styles of art, and I was just in awe.
Even when we wandered through the halls of paintings I could feel such
emotion rising in me that I honestly did not expect. To be in the presence of such works of art is
overwhelming. We saw The Mona Lisa and the Venus De Milo. It is pretty cool to see these
pieces with your own eyes after hearing so much about them for my whole
life. Although I must say I do not
understand the fascination with the Venus De Milo, I mean its not even gummy
(please tell me some of you get this reference?)
The most beautiful Sculpture
Venus
The Queen of my Heart ... I love this sculpture
We
left Paris after 3 wonderful days to continue on to Baden Baden, Germany in the
Black Forest. This town is near the top
of the forest so we would be driving through the forest and onto Switzerland
the next day. Germany is amazing! I only saw a small section but it was
glorious! Baden Baden is a very
beautiful and clearly wealthy town full of expensive touristy shops and many
interesting restaurants. It was
incredibly clean, welcoming and nearly every person I saw said hello with a
smile. It was so nice to be among such positive and friendly people. And to top it off the city is surrounded by
amazing forested mountains! We had
dinner at this quirky restaurant where traditional German music played on the
patio while men in Lederhosen served us delicious foods and giant beers. It was definitely played up for the tourists
and I appreciate that.
Baden Baden
Our amazing restaurant
I will have the small beer ...
The
drive through the Black Forest was my favourite part of the whole trip. It was nothing like I was expecting but I was
not disappointed. The mountain range is
huge and full of rolling lush hillsides, small valley villages and of course
there are the castles and ruins. It was
gorgeous. I wish we had more time to
explore and really experience all the towns we drove through.
We
spent the evening in Basel Switzerland but arrived fairly late so we did not
have a lot of time to explore. Of course
Ross and I did venture out for a few beers and some falafels. Switzerland is one of the most gorgeous
countries but also one of the most expensive!
It is frustrating as they are on their own currency as well so we had to
switch to Francs while there and we spent a lot of them. I recommend if you plan on visiting
Switzerland just be prepared to spend a lot of money and understand that A) You will not find a cheaper restaurant this is just how much food costs here, B) Yes a tall Americano at Starbucks is 5 francs (lets not get started on the 5 franc tea and 7 franc refreshers), C) Many McDonalds do not open for breakfast, so no you cant have an egg
McMuffin.
The
next day we spent some time in Bern, the capital of Switzerland. It was even more beautiful then I imagined it
would be. Seriously if you are
travelling Europe I highly recommend Switzerland. I have now been to several cities as well as
through the Alps and it is a magical country.
I would move here in a heartbeat.
It is so clean, beautiful, friendly, and many people speak English (also German
and Swiss German are the most soothing and interesting languages to listen
too. "Please can you just tell me a story, any story" - Me to every German).
Gorgeous city of Bern, Switzerland
Bern, Switzerland
So
yes onto the Alps! All I can say is
wow. They are massive, majestic and
everything you would expect them to be.
As a Canadian I think I am slightly biased in my opinions of which are
the most beautiful mountains (The Rockies of course) but I would say the Alps
are a close second. We were hoping to
see the Matterhorn (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matterhorn) while we were
exploring the Alps but unfortunately we only had so much time and it was quite
cloudy and rainy that day so we didn't want to spend hours driving there to not
see it.
Crossing
the border from Switzerland we drove through another insanely long tunnel and
came out in the stunning mountain ranges of Italy. Funny enough, Northern Italy reminds me a
great deal of Northern Spain. Small
mountain towns that are showing their age and in stark contrast to the pristine
cities of Switzerland and Germany we had just passed through. It was charming however and I am always happy
to experience what a country is really like and not just the touristy areas
that people assume are the entire country.
We
stayed in a town called Aoste which is in a valley surrounded by enormous
mountains and was very fascinating. We
had a perfect Italian dinner that I was craving since we had been in Turin a
week before, White wine, Spaghetti, Bread and the best mushroom risotto I have
ever had, ever. Afterwards Ross and I explored
the small town and had Gelato (obviously).
It was a nice relaxing evening.
The only issue was our hotel.
Being Europe we have come to expect a different style of hotel then we
are used to staying in North America, but sometimes it is just not up to our
standards. This hotel room was very
small and the air conditioning didn't work so it was 27 degrees all night. Then of course there was the fact that Ross
and I were in bunk beds, which are just not as fun when you are no longer 5
years old.
Aoste, Italy
The view from our hotel room
Our
final day was spent driving through the remaining mountains and back into Turin
where we got to explore a little bit before our flight back to Barcelona. The was a huge gypsy market that we wandered
through and an unusual bathroom experience for myself.
The market in Turin, Italy
I
have been very clear about my distaste for European toilets, especially public
ones, and this particular experience was the worst of all. Now I am all for exploring other cultures
and ways of life but there are some things I do not feel I need to
understand. I do not think that certain
events will enrich my experience or my cultural understanding, and standing to
pee over a hole is one of them. Honestly
I have heard of these “toilets” before but I thought I would not have to
actually use one unless I was in a more third world country (there goes my
cultural ignorance again). Seriously I
almost didn't even know what to do.
There are these foot spots to stand on and just a hole to pee into. Now luckily I have super strong legs so I am
a master squatter (too much information?) but for someone who has weak legs
they would actually have to take their pants right off to use this I think. Very inconvenient system and I do not care to
use that ever again.
I didn't take a picture so this was stolen from the internet, but it was the exact same only the floor was white and dirty...
The
flight back to Barcelona was only an hour and we were totally on the party
plane. There were two bachelorette and
two bachelor parties on board and I have never been on a more disruptive
flight. There was constant singing,
hooting and hollering and of course a pink double dildo being thrown about the
plane. I was literally flying through
the air as a dildo flew past my head! Also
the flight attendants let the brides/grooms to be come up and shout into the
speaker system. I have never been on a
flight like this before. Ryanair is
cheap for a reason.
Finally
to end our trip we spent one last night in Barcelona. Ross and I of course went for Wok to Walk
again because it is amazing and we wandered to the seaside for a romantic walk
on the beach. It was a nice way to end
the trip. The next morning we put the
parents in a cab to the pier where they were catching a Cruise for a week and
Ross and I caught our flight back to Valladolid. The
parents are to arrive here after the cruise to spend two weeks exploring
Valladolid and some small towns in Spain.
We have also been thinking a weekend in Portugal would be nice. I am excited for where our next adventure
will take us!
Ross and I somewhere in The Black Forest
