More of Rome

Rome has been nice to us... although the people sure haven't. We got our first smile from the German guy that worked at our hotel the night we arrived, and our second one this morning from a British restaurant employee, and our third tonight from some Americans at the Trevi Fountain. It's OK, I don't think Italians are supposed to smile or act courteous.

Yesterday we saw some AMAZING Bernini sculptures at the Borghese Gallery. What a talented guy! There was a sculpture in there that he made when he was 11! I couldn't draw a stick-figure to scale at 11! The only down side to the museum was that we couldn't take pictures... sorry. It was so beautiful though... we wish you could have been there!

Before that, we went to the National Museum, where we saw some pretty amazing art. I set off the metal detector on the way in, but the security guard just waved me through and told me I was fine... not exactly confidence-inspiring.

Today was a lot of fun. We went to the Baths of Diocletian, the main gallery of which is now the church of Santa Maria degli Angeli. It is a magnificently decorated, giant church with a very good organist on a pretty good pipe organ. It was nice just to sit back and listen. More surprising was that the church is full of stuff honoring Galileo! After that, we went to the museum of the Baths of Diocletian, and then back to our room for a workout... yep, that's right, we worked out on our vacation. It was nice to sweat on purpose.

We took a little siesta, and then made our way to the Capitoline Museums. They were nice, but nothing compared to Borghese Gallery, in my opinion. Then, we made our way to a nice little dinner spot called Osteria Enoteca al Bric, followed by a night walk through a couple popular squares where we saw a statue of a heretic named Bruno (in Rome... I know), the Four Rivers Fountain (the Nile's head is covered because they didn't know its source at the time), the Pantheon, a couple of Egyptian Obelisks, and the famous Trevi fountain. All in all, it was quite a romantic night. We finally made it back to our hotel at about midnight... so about 3pm there.

Sorry for the lack of photos... more will come, I promise!

First day in Rome

Our travel day went without incident, which is always nice. We took the train down to Gatwick (quite the little ride out of London), and arrived to the most full-featured departure terminal we'd ever seen. We checked our bags and went through security, and then we picked a good-looking restaurant, sat and ate for a while, browsed the shops, and made our way to the gate (like I said, very nice departure terminal).

Once in Rome, we took a bus from the airport that stopped very close to our hotel, and found that we are MUCH more centrally located here than we were in London. We enjoyed a decent dinner a couple blocks from our hotel--and let me tell you, real Italian food is delicious--and had Italian Gelato.
Today (Friday), we made the 15-minute walk to the Colosseum. Amazing how big this first-century structure is... and still standing! We took our time wandering through this amazing structure and soaking it all in--it, and the sun. One thing is immediately clear-Rome is MUCH hotter than London.

After the Colosseum, we came back to our room for siesta, and put on sunscreen before making our way back out to the Forum. The Forum has a host of impressive structures. What most caught my attentions was that ruins--or pieces thereof--are everywhere. We passed two separate ancient ruins on our way to the Forum alone!

After the Forum, we went out to dinner per the advice of a certain Rick Steves... Thanks Mr. Steves for the great advice!! We had a WONDERFUL Italian dinner in a nice little restaurant a couple blocks from our hotel. Then, we went on the compulsory stroll through Rome at night, and got some more Gelato (but we shared this time).

Rome operates at a completely different pace. We stroll, sit for a meal, nap, and soak in the sights, whereas in London we hoofed it, ate, fought crowds in order to glance at the sights, and collapsed. Both are nice, but I think I'm a bit more Roman.

Until next time, Ciao!

Last few days of London

Well, it's been a while. We've had a blast here in Londontown. Monday, we went to Buckingham Palace to see the changing of the guard, which was awesome. We got a spot right by the middle gate, where the bands exit after the guard has been "changed." Brits are pretty funny. The police officer watching foot traffic was a hoot to watch.

After the Changing of the Guard we walked through a beautiful park and saw Westminster Abbey and Big Ben. The Abbey is HUGE and gorgeous. I'm sure my perspective regarding what makes a church big and gorgeous will change once we hit Rome.

We finished the day with a nice stroll through a little place called Harrods, ever heard of it? It's like a huge, super high-end mall... only it's all one store! Brenda was in heaven, I think (except that we couldn't afford ANYTHING... they had underwear for 400 pounds!!).

Yesterday we had the chance to check out the Museum of London, and then take a nice trip to the countryside to visit some friends in Basingstoke. The English countryside is gorgeous. Jay and I walked the dog from their place to a pub, through a huge, beautiful, natural park. The dog got to run free, we met a few people along the way, and saw some beautiful sights. In another life, I'd move there in a second!


Our last day in London... bittersweet! We're excited about Rome, but we've sure enjoyed this little town. We took a stroll through Soho over to Covent Garden. Quite a nice little part of town. We had a nice little meal at a pub down there, and saw some beautiful little shops. We slowly made our way up north and stopped by Abbey Road to check out the studio... and mainly the crosswalk. We eventually made it to a place called Queensbury for some absolutely amazing Indian food Jay and Emma had recommended. All in all, the two best meals we had in this town were with them or recommended by them. Man, it's nice to know locals. Too bad we didn't get recommendations earlier in the week.

Well, it's on to Rome tomorrow morning. We'll see you from there!

Notting Hill

Today Paul and I set our alarm clock for 7:30am with every intention of getting out of the hotel room early and spending the day at Buckingham Palace. When the alarm sounded neither of us could will ourselves out of bed, so the alarm got switched off and we slept in and had a nice relaxing morning. We finally managed to take showers and head out at about 12:30 and headed to the underground to take a short trip to Notting Hill. London has a number of wonderful street markets and we chose this one because it is featured in one of my all time favorite romantic comedies "Notting Hill" starring Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts. Paul had looked up the addresses of the famous sights from the movie and it was so fun to see William Thatcher's blue front door (although it is now black, as they auctioned off the blue one for charity) the coffee shop that where they collided and the William's Travel book shop (which is now a shoe store called Notting Hill). We walked up and down the market looking at all the vendors and enjoying the sights, sounds, and smells of one of the finer bits of London. As we decided not to go to France (it is too expensive) we found a delicious crepe stand and were able to enjoy them for lunch as we strolled up and down the street.
In the evening we were still both a bit tired (I think we are still adjusting to the time change and recovering from two long days of travel) so we headed back to Edgeware close to our hotel, ate at a local restaurant and then went back to the hotel for an early evening. We decided that to keep in the mood of our relaxing day spent in Notting Hill we would curl up together and watch the Movie that inspired our day!!

Day 2 in London

We had a fun second day, venturing all the way to the near east... well, technically as "near" east as humanly possible.
(us at the Prime Meridian)

We bummed around Greenwich for most of the day, enjoying the National Maritime Museum, the Queen's House, and the Royal Observatory. And we found pasties for lunch!
After Greenwich, we rode a boat down river to the London Bridge area, and watched a free contemporary performance of The Tragedy of Macbeth. We were right down the street, so we thought we'd get take 2 of those fish n chips, and then we headed back. All in all, it was a nice day in a beautiful city.

Oh, one last thing... we traveled all this way only to find out that the original London Bridge is in Lake Havasu!! Oh well.

Travel and Day 1 in London

Our trip has finally arrived! We had it planned for so long that it didn't seem real... but, we are here! We left San Diego bright and early Monday morning for D.C., stayed the night there and flew to London on Tuesday. Our flights were uneventful, which is how we like them. On a positive note, transatlantic flights on Lufthansa give you free movies on demand, making the 7-hour trip to our Frankfurt layover a breeze. We finally arrived at London Heathrow around 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday. Then we found out that our hotel was some distance north of London, so we began the endless underground ride.
By the time we arrived at our hotel we had been awake for almost an entire day. So we ate, and we slept. We got up in the evening and made our way into Edgware (the town we are near) for dinner, came back, and slept again.

Today was a different story. With so much to do here, we weren't sure where to start. We bought our Oyster cards (week-long use of the tube), and headed to London. We began with the British Museum, and let me tell you, they've got everything. Literally. We saw the Rosetta Stone, mummies, entire tomb walls, giant statues, old microscopes, tools, clothing, textiles, and much more. It was a lot to take in, but I think we did it justice.

After the British Museum we headed to St. Paul's Cathedral, where we were told the dome was designed such that if you stood at opposite sides (over 100 feet apart), you could hear each others' whispers. Well, it was a beautiful--and giant--structure... but for 20 bucks a piece, we didn't go all the way through.

Next, we headed down to the Tower of London. The design of the structure alone is amazing. We saw demonstrations of medieval weapons, and walked across the Tower Bridge. From there, we walked along the water and took a bit of a break. Then it happened... the best fish n' chips I've ever tasted. We are definitely heading back to that place before we go.

All in all, it was a great day. Brenda turned her ankle a bit, and both of us have sore legs, but nothing that a bit of rest can't take care of.