We can all agree nothing is more Italian than some bread, some red wine, and a tent. In efforts to save some Mulla, we decided to camp out our first night in Cinque Terre ("Chink-Town").
We think the video speaks for itself...
Friday, May 28, 2010
From the Slums to Chanel...
Rise and shine! Off to the land with "pebble" beaches, to see some celebs, and live like leeches.
To say Nice is just nice is an understatement. Hotel Paradis, our quaint hotel, was located in the heart of luxury - right in between Armani, Chanel, and Louis Vuitton- a pleasant change from the pojects of Marseille.
Upon our arrival we encountered a lonely, young, Scottish lad, John. We quickly changed into our sunbathing attire and headed to the famous "pebble" beach with our new friend. Contrary to popular belief these pebbles (more like large rocks) are not condusive to the art of sunbathing. We left the beach a couple of hours later with a few dents in our ribs and bruises on our hearts. We self-medicated with ice cream on the boardwalk.
The following morning, after a peaceful sleep in the lap of luxury, we consumed a Clif bar and headed to the highest point in Nice. Once again we came, we saw, we conquered.
That afternoon we hopped a train to Cannes with our closest mate John. Croisette, the magnificent harbor, hosted the most elite fleet of yachts known to mankind. Surrounding the prestigious Croisette was water bluer than the Southern sky, mountains more grandious than the Western canyons, people dresses more glamorous than Fergie, and ostentatious automobiles that put Lady Gaga to shame. In laymans terms in was easy on the eyes.
First stop: Carlton Intercontinential
You might recognize this hot spot from the hit HBO series Entourouge. After freshening up in the hotel we hit the town with John and our new additions Matt (the American), Lucy and Zoey (the Brits). Do to the lack of our dolla dolla bills instead of ordering our own meals we stooped as low as to scavenge our new friend Matt's leftovers. Yes, this was a low point (once again).
To say Nice is just nice is an understatement. Hotel Paradis, our quaint hotel, was located in the heart of luxury - right in between Armani, Chanel, and Louis Vuitton- a pleasant change from the pojects of Marseille.
Upon our arrival we encountered a lonely, young, Scottish lad, John. We quickly changed into our sunbathing attire and headed to the famous "pebble" beach with our new friend. Contrary to popular belief these pebbles (more like large rocks) are not condusive to the art of sunbathing. We left the beach a couple of hours later with a few dents in our ribs and bruises on our hearts. We self-medicated with ice cream on the boardwalk.
The following morning, after a peaceful sleep in the lap of luxury, we consumed a Clif bar and headed to the highest point in Nice. Once again we came, we saw, we conquered.
That afternoon we hopped a train to Cannes with our closest mate John. Croisette, the magnificent harbor, hosted the most elite fleet of yachts known to mankind. Surrounding the prestigious Croisette was water bluer than the Southern sky, mountains more grandious than the Western canyons, people dresses more glamorous than Fergie, and ostentatious automobiles that put Lady Gaga to shame. In laymans terms in was easy on the eyes.
First stop: Carlton Intercontinential
You might recognize this hot spot from the hit HBO series Entourouge. After freshening up in the hotel we hit the town with John and our new additions Matt (the American), Lucy and Zoey (the Brits). Do to the lack of our dolla dolla bills instead of ordering our own meals we stooped as low as to scavenge our new friend Matt's leftovers. Yes, this was a low point (once again).
Thursday, May 27, 2010
The HIKE
We follow the widely known principle for nomads 'round the world: "Let your body reach rock bottom, involving lack of sleep, nourishment, and emotional stability before you are forced by the hand of God to rejuvinate yourself." That is why we have yet to sleep for more than 5 hours each night and refuse to receive nourishment from anything other than Clif bars. Therefore, we couldn't think of a better way to spend our first day in Marseille than to exert more energy than we have by hiking.
We began our journey with our Bermudans, of course, by making our way up to Notre Dame de La Garde.
After spending some quality time observing God's beauty from the church on the hill we were off to explore Calanque de Sugiton. Little did we know the treacherous trail and mighty windstorm that was awaiting us. Through the blood, sweat, and tears we made it out alive and it was definitely worth it.
Check out what we conquered...(look out Bear Grylls and Survivor Man)
We began our journey with our Bermudans, of course, by making our way up to Notre Dame de La Garde.
After spending some quality time observing God's beauty from the church on the hill we were off to explore Calanque de Sugiton. Little did we know the treacherous trail and mighty windstorm that was awaiting us. Through the blood, sweat, and tears we made it out alive and it was definitely worth it.
Check out what we conquered...(look out Bear Grylls and Survivor Man)
Friday, May 21, 2010
Thank goodness we never saw Hostel...
Bonjour Marseille!
Your streets are convered in trash. Yes, we actually saw an old, weathered Frenchman blatantly push his McDonalds trash to the ground without any remorse- and that's just the beginning. After passing a large variety of the local immigrant popultion and government housing (also known as the slums), we found ourselves at our hostel...interesting. Two flights of stairs later, we arrived! Requirement #1 remove shoes before entering...awkward. After unloading our bags we quickly dipped out of that joint and met up with our Bermuda possè.
Like typical Americans, we found ourselves surrounded by our native people(college students from Iowa) at Vieux Port.
Heading back to our Hostel on the street of Canebière, we felt it was appropriate to sprint back to our hostel with Johnny's mase in our hands and Scott Florence's street fighting moves in our minds! ...Just in case you were worried we made it safe and sound- they didn't want to mess with this!
Your streets are convered in trash. Yes, we actually saw an old, weathered Frenchman blatantly push his McDonalds trash to the ground without any remorse- and that's just the beginning. After passing a large variety of the local immigrant popultion and government housing (also known as the slums), we found ourselves at our hostel...interesting. Two flights of stairs later, we arrived! Requirement #1 remove shoes before entering...awkward. After unloading our bags we quickly dipped out of that joint and met up with our Bermuda possè.
Like typical Americans, we found ourselves surrounded by our native people(college students from Iowa) at Vieux Port.
Heading back to our Hostel on the street of Canebière, we felt it was appropriate to sprint back to our hostel with Johnny's mase in our hands and Scott Florence's street fighting moves in our minds! ...Just in case you were worried we made it safe and sound- they didn't want to mess with this!
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Bermuda Possè
Since we were residing in a 12 person room hostel, we couldn't help but meet our bunk mates. Fortunately for them, we decided to introduce ourselves at 1AM. We learned they were from Bermuda and were backpacking for 3 months - legit. Little did they know we would be their sidekicks for the next 48 hours. We spent the next day on the train to Marseille learning the way of a true Bermudan - playing Euka (Portuguese card game) and listening to reggae music.
Well, this is as good of a time as any to introduce Emily's bag, Gertrude.
(thanks Ambre)
She strongly resists train rides and occasionally takes it out on other passengers - as she displayed on the train to Marseille.
Well, this is as good of a time as any to introduce Emily's bag, Gertrude.
(thanks Ambre)
She strongly resists train rides and occasionally takes it out on other passengers - as she displayed on the train to Marseille.
dum dum dummm
The Big Surprise:
While sitting on the beach trying to regain our chi, Jodi suddenly realized the key to her locker, holding all of her belongings at the hostel, was in the wallet that was taken against her will. So, what do you do in Barcelona when the hardtimes hit?
(we know this is not a crowbar it is just more fun to say)
After a little persistance Emily successfully broke the lock. About 30 minutes after "the breaking of the lock" Jodi once again had a realization. She had a spare key in her fanny pack the whole time. This was a low point for the dynamic duo...
While sitting on the beach trying to regain our chi, Jodi suddenly realized the key to her locker, holding all of her belongings at the hostel, was in the wallet that was taken against her will. So, what do you do in Barcelona when the hardtimes hit?
(we know this is not a crowbar it is just more fun to say)
After a little persistance Emily successfully broke the lock. About 30 minutes after "the breaking of the lock" Jodi once again had a realization. She had a spare key in her fanny pack the whole time. This was a low point for the dynamic duo...
Monday, May 17, 2010
Wild World.
Since our last blog, the dynamic duo has had many ups and downs. Good news always comes first...Barcelona won the league chamionship last night! Wahoo!! The streets were crazy as you can see..
The natives were climbing lamp posts, setting off fireworks in the street- all and all having a ball, needless to say we jumped right in! Going to bed last night we tipped our hats to a glorious first day. Little did we know in less than 12 hours FATE would step in.
Now for the bad news...Waking up an hour late- due to lack of an alarm- we should have known it would be a day that would live in infamy. We should have known that the flying V of black crows that flew over us at Park Guell meant danger was lurking in the shadows of our future. However, at that time we had other things on our mind...
After embracing the locals with our kindness, we hopped on the nearest metro- BIG MISTAKE. A needy local citizen obviously observed Jodi's generous demeanor and we are SURE that after several seconds of deliberation on the crowded metro, he decided to "borrow" her wallet. AKA she was a victum to a dirty, filthy scoundrel who stealthly steals from kind-hearted Southern girls. After Jodi's mother declined her collect call we decided that there is only one person we can look to in these hardtimes.
We figured we needed to continue to seek the Big Man upstairs, therefore the rest of the day was consumed with stops to all the local cathedrals. Until we were hit with a big surprise...to be continued...
Quote to Inspire- "Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail"
The natives were climbing lamp posts, setting off fireworks in the street- all and all having a ball, needless to say we jumped right in! Going to bed last night we tipped our hats to a glorious first day. Little did we know in less than 12 hours FATE would step in.
Now for the bad news...Waking up an hour late- due to lack of an alarm- we should have known it would be a day that would live in infamy. We should have known that the flying V of black crows that flew over us at Park Guell meant danger was lurking in the shadows of our future. However, at that time we had other things on our mind...
After embracing the locals with our kindness, we hopped on the nearest metro- BIG MISTAKE. A needy local citizen obviously observed Jodi's generous demeanor and we are SURE that after several seconds of deliberation on the crowded metro, he decided to "borrow" her wallet. AKA she was a victum to a dirty, filthy scoundrel who stealthly steals from kind-hearted Southern girls. After Jodi's mother declined her collect call we decided that there is only one person we can look to in these hardtimes.
We figured we needed to continue to seek the Big Man upstairs, therefore the rest of the day was consumed with stops to all the local cathedrals. Until we were hit with a big surprise...to be continued...
Quote to Inspire- "Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail"
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Saturday, May 15, 2010
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