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Itineraries
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Sunday June 25 and Monday June 26th: Brian's email: Hey dad, So we got into Barcelona yesterday after taking a night train. The night train was a horrible place for sleep. Even though I'm he only one who slept for most of the time I think I woke up 5 times and had to switch positions. We slept in the reclining chairs so that is probably why. Our Hostel's atmosphere is cool, but the people at the reception desk were really rude when we were checking in. I came really close to telling them to fuck off because the guy was claiming that I HAD AN ATTITUDE RIGHT FROM THE START, when the only reason I got pissed was because he was rude from the start. The only reason I didn't say that was because the reservations were on Matt's credit card and he is the only one out of the three of us that would have been really upset if we had to go find another hostel. I'm telling you right now dad that if you'd been in my position I can see you telling the guy off and finding another place. Other than that, the people we have met staying here are really cool, and they agree with us on the reception, so we have been hanging out with a lot of other backpackers since we've been here. We have been using Barcelona as a place to relax on the beach more then anything else. We went yesterday and today with different people from the hostel. I think we may go sight-seeing tomorrow before we go to the beach. Barcelona has been a pretty cool place and its a lot easier to get around here since A.J. and I both speak the language. I'll keep you updated on what's going on by either phone, skype o email. We are headed to Sevilla the day after tomorrow. Love, Brian Wednesday June 21 through June 24: Paris and the Arc de Triomphe and La Tour Eiffel. Tomorrow the Louvre. Hey good news! Brian found the phone card that Ernie had left for him hidden atop a photo booth at the Paris train station. Now Brian can again spend hours on end on the phone with Marisel! Yippeeee! Monday June 19th and Tuesday June 20th: The Boyz head out to Ghent, Belgium, a city whose ancient history remains preserved because it survived unharmed by World War I and World War II which destroyed so many European cities in the early and mid-20th Century. Lots of Medieval buildings to see - none to be appreciated. Sunday June 18th: Matt went for a bike ride today, while Brian and A.J. went to a cathedral that has a vial supposedly containing the blood of Christ. The church wanted a small donation in order to let them touch it, so A.J. put up his Euros and stood in line. While Brian was debating whether or not touching the blood of Christ was worth a couple of Euros to him, eight more people got up and stood in line behind A.J. That's when he finally decided that he would've made the donation, but he wasn't going to stand in line behind no 8 people to touch the vial. Brian then wondered where Matt had gone on his bike ride. Friday June 16th and Saturday June 17th: Our favorite world travelers headed for Brugge, Belgium, and were pleased to discover that their hostel was right in the center of town. That meant that they could split the town in two: The first day and night they could run around and take pictures of the first half, and afterwards watch soccer at the bar. Then the second day they could run around, take pictures of the second half, and then go to a different bar at night. It is my understanding that this second bar was no ordinary bar either. No sir, at this bar they served their own beer - that you can only get at that bar! Isn't that unique? I'm telling you, write this down for when you visit: Garre beer at the DeGarre bar in Brugge, but don't go to any clubs afterwards, 'cause "the music sucks." Thursday June 15th: Well, back to the grind of serious learning and uncovering history. The boys went to the Ann Frank House and a couple of cathedrals. They noticed in Ann's diary that she used to put down a little Heineken herself. They also made the interesting observation that Amsterdam has a lot of canals.
Tuesday June 13th: The Entourage headed for Amsterdam and a crappy hostel; toured the Red Light District; and met up with a couple of guys from Wisconsin that they had met in Prague. To celebrate their reunion, they went for a couple of beers, returned to the hostel, and passed out.
Saturday, June 10th: Ernie and Emily catch a plane from London's Heathrow airport back to Miami. They arrive at 2:45 p.m. THE END.
Thursday, June 8th and Friday, June 9th: Ernie and Emily wrap up their European journey just relaxing, and walking around London for a couple of days. They're tired and ready to come home. Wednesday, June 7th: Ernie and Emily tour the Tower of London, see the Crown Jewels and then go to the London Dungeon today. London is expensive! Ernie says that, at first glance, price tags "look like" the prices in the States, but since they're in British Pounds, in reality that makes the prices almost twice as much (1.85x) as what they first appear to be. Tuesday, June 6th: Emily feels better after taking the Z-pack, and the lovely couple has now made their way to London via the Chunnel. Before leaving Paris, Ernie left a little gift for Brian, hidden in the Paris train station. Ernie and Emily will be leaving Europe at the end of this week, arriving in Miami on Saturday the 10th. While in London, in addition to seeing the city proper (they visited the area around Buckingham Palace today and saw Big Ben and took a ride on the London Eye), they plan to take some tours to the countryside, and visit several interesting places like Stonehenge. Tomorrow they'll see London Bridge. Tuesday June 6th: A.J. didn't forget to call and wish his mom a happy birthday today (6-6-6), despite being on the trains to Prague, with a stop in Vienna. Seems that Matt left his computer cable behind at the hostel in Vienna. Anyway, they've enjoyed three days of rest and relaxation in the pools and the sun in Budapest. A.J. says they didn't get a massage at the spa because the masseuses were too old! -- They just don't get it, do they? -- Still haven't seen picture #1 from Brian. After Prague, they'll go to Berlin, then Amsterdam. Monday June 5th: Em took the Z-pack, (thanks uncle Ralph), and stayed in the room resting while Ernie ran around and got a look at the Arc de Triomphe and climbed La Tour Eiffel. The Parisiens have turned out to be much nicer than expected. Ernie says he believes that they have gotten a bum rap on supposedly being snobbish and unwelcoming, and that he's felt much more welcome in Paris than he did anywhere in Italy. Could this observation signal a shift of the Euro-snobilization Factor? Fourteen years ago I thought the Italians were pretty nice. Do they switch off treating us like crap? Sunday June 4th: Ernie and Emily went to the Louvre, couldn't go in the door with the lions but they were able to get in without any problem. Saw the Mona Lisa and many Egyptian treasures and other historical works of art. Later they caught a commuter train to Versailles, but by the end of the day, Emily was feeling a bit under the weather. Luckily they got their room changed to a non-stinky one and Em was able to get some rest. Don't expect anymore pictures from these two, until they arrive home they have no cable for their camera and thus can't upload them to any computers along the way.
Well, at least he says the owner of the hostel in Budapest is a nice guy. He'll check out the rest of the people tomorrow. Saturday, June 3: In the morning Ernie and Emily headed for Paris, where they got a funky-smelling hotel room and reserved their tickets to ride to London on the Chunnel three days from now. In the meantime, they made plans for their next three days in Paris, including going to the Louvre tomorrow, (cause it's free on Sundays)! And yes, uncle Ralph, they're going to try to beat the crowds by going in via the rear entrance with the lions. Friday, June 2: On their way to Paris, Ernie and Emily visited Ernie's Capoeira friend, Jenna's parents" in Brussels. Jenna's parents took them to the city's marketplace, the art museum and treated them to Belgian waffles and chocolates.
So, as they sing in good old Amsterdam: "Als de lente komt dan stuur ik jou tulpen uit Amsterdam. Als de lente komt pluck ik voor jou tulpen uit Amsterdam. Als ik wederkom dan breng ik jou tulpen uit Amsterdam, Duizend gele duizend rooie, wensen jou het allermooiste, Wat m'n mond niet zeggen kan zeggen tulpen uit Amsterdam."
Monday, May 29th - Wednesday, May 31st: Ernie and Emily spend a couple of days in Saarbrucken and then head off to Amsterdam. Monday, May 29th - Tuesday, May 30th: Brian, A.J and Matt take a train to Munich and stay for two nights. Cold and rainy weather greeted them there and remained throughout. A.J. told Elena that it was so cold, his hands would freeze; that they had German beer, and didn't take many pictures due to the weather conditions. (They must have been talking about the weather conditions inside the Hofbrau Haus).
Friday May 26th: Our group of world travelers spends the entire day riding on trains and making connections. They arrive in Venice at 10:30 pm, two hours behind schedule. So Matt and Ernie set out to find a hotel. After 2 hours they return to the station with no luck so they decide to spend the night there, but they get kicked out, so here they are, spending the night on the steps of the Venice train station. I can't believe the decision they're about to make early the next morning: they're gonna walk away from Venice, my favorite Italian city, without seeing it. Oh well, it's their trip!
Wednesday, May 24th : Ernie and Matt enjoy poring over the ruins of Pompeii, while Emily tags along, and Brian and A.J. are dragging ass through the whole thing. I can just hear it: "We just saw the damned Roman Forum. Who the heck wants to see MORE ruins? Let's go to Sorrento."
Tuesday, May 23rd: At 11:46 the group of five gets on a train to Pompeii. Now it's the pounding headaches that admonish everybody about the consequences of drinking on a trip through foreign countries. Tomorrow they'll tour the ruins of Pompeii and think about whether or not to go to Sorrento.
Saturday, May 20th: Ernie and Emily take in the sights in Florence, they go to the Galleria dell'Accademia to see the David, go up to the cupopla of the Duomo and visit the Uffizi. Saturday, May 20th: Brian and A.J. head out to Rome with 5 women to meet Matt at the Fontana di Trevi, and walk around Rome for the rest of the day. Friday, May 19th: Ernie and Emily head for Florence, but make a stop in Pisa to make the obligatory visit to the leaning tower. They refuse to take any silly pictures pushing up the tower, and get back on the train to continue on to Firenze to meet Brian and A.J. in the afternoon, before the boys and their harem leave for Rome the next morning. Ernie and Emily settle into a hotel in Florence, where they will stay a couple of nights before they leave to join Brian and A.J again in Rome.
Friday, May 19th: Marisel finally arrives back from Venice, and all is well with the world again for Brian as they spend one more day and night in Florence before heading out for Rome the next Morning. Brian and A.J. had made plans to meet Matt in Rome on the 20th, and now it seems that a whole group of them, including 4 of Marisel's girlfriends, will be making the trip to Rome in the morning to meet Matt.
Wednesday, May 17th: Ernie and Emily Arrive in Milan and then later in the day move on to Genoa. They too find Genoa unpleasant and not worthy of their time, so they decide to head for La Spezia and the Cinque Terre.
Monday, May 15th-Wednesday May 17th: After Marisel talks her roommates into letting Brian and A.J. stay in their Florence apartment while they are on their field trip to Milano and Venzia, the boys settle into their apartment and calmly visiting the highlights of Florence. Mostly, they "catch up" on their sleep and Brian stresses because he's spending too much money on calling cards to talk to Marisel on the phone.
Monday, May 15th: After enjoying Madrid during the day, Ernie and Emily leave for Barcelona at night, planning to arrive there in the morning. Sunday, May 14th: Ernie and Emily arrived in Madrid and immediately made their way to the train station to make reservations for their ride to Barcelona later that night, but none were available, so they made their reservations for the following night and set out to see the city. They saw the Prado Museum (free on Sundays) and the Botanical Gardens and walked the streets enjoying themselves.
Sunday, May
14th: Brian and A.J.
visit the Cinque
Terre with Marisel and a couple of her
girlfriends.
A.J.
& Brian, not posing Saturday, May 13th:
Meanwhile back at the ranch, Ernie and Emily
get ready to fly out to Madrid. They catch a 5:45 American
Airlines flight out that put them in Madrid in the early morning hours
of the 14th.
Florence &
Genoa Friday, May 12th: Brian and A.J.
walked around Genoa for a while, thought it was a crappy looking place,
without much to see and decided to leave. (Never mind that it
is reputed to be the birthplace of Cristofero Colombo, the humble young
guy who sailed across the sea in 1492 - ahh, but that theory has
come into doubt lately anyway, and a lot of people now think that the
real Columbus was actually, Cristobal
Colon, born in or around Barcelona
to a wealthy and powerful seafaring and military Catalan family.)
Anyway back to Brian and A.J.: Brian
spoke to his girlfriend, Marisel, who is studying in Florence for the
Summer, and poof! - they instantly decide it's time to head straight to
Florence. They make their way back to the hostel to pick up
their backpacks and get a refund for their second night in Genoa and -
"non e possibile signori." They get on the train anyway,
and it's "Ciao Genoa." Forget Cinque
Terre, they'll go
there WITH Marisel and her girlfriends! (By the way, if the
thing about Columbus is correct, then you can probably bet that sometime
in the 16th or 17th centuries, the Italian Catholic Church probably had its hand in
re-writing Columbus's biography. So who wants to see some poor
raggedy sailor's birthplace anyway!)
Thursday, May 11th, 2006: Brian and A.J. took off for Italy
at 5:30 in the afternoon on an Air France 747 and got seats on the
upstairs level. They arrived in Milano on the morning of the 12th and
went to the train station to take a train to Genoa. When they
arrived they took a van to their hostel, where they were treated to
clean, but 8-to-a-room accomodations.
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