We arrived in Sorrento last night about dinner time. We had left the day before last from Palma on the Island of Mallorca and had to stay the night in Barcelona to make connections to Sorrento. Once we landed in Naples or Napoli we took a bus from the airport to Sorrento.
Barb inside the walls of the Spanish Royal Palace in Santa Cruz, Seville, Spain
Seville Spain is rated as one of the top three cities in Europe to see!
We agree!
France has some air controller strikes which is slowing down airports here also. Add to that a couple of other airlines are talking strike (British Air - Our favorite for transatlantic trips is one). Yikes.
The road traffic down here was horrendous plus add to the fact we were on a little tiny winding road in a big big bus. This little tiny winding road was on a cliff overlooking the ocean below in many cases. Formula One racing produces many a good Italian race car drivers and now I know why!
Cars and especially motorcycles and scooters will take all lives in hand to pass just one vehicle? They make crazy ambulance drivers in Spain look like little old ladies! After a while you sort of get used to it and I (in my mind) began cheering for our bus driver (who looked exactly like Telly Savalas in 1972) to just go ahead and hit them! It was un-real and I became the monster this same environment produces! I better not rent a car and especially no scooters for Jim and Barb in this area!
We got to our room and were hungary so went to our first "Real" Italian Restaurant. It was just like being in Bridgeland in Calgary but the Gnocci (sp - Pro: nokki) in Cochrane's Italian place is much better! Imagine that! We still had a good time but are getting scared that Italy is going to be much more $ (Euro's) than Spain was. Eating is a big part of our budget! Ouch!
After so many weeks of being away I have noted that my waistline is not shrinking like I had hoped. The sauces, pasts and breads might have something to do with this. I must, I must try to picnic instead of eat true authentic foods!
The History of the Church in Europe is quite interesting.
In fact its a major part of her history!
Just saw on the News last night Turkey tried for a Military Cuu (sp) so I think we might have to remove that from our list. Pity; I wanted to do the markets and beaches there!
This is the BEST tip I can give you for Europe.
Watch Rick Steeves on PBS. Rent his videos, sign them out of the Library and buy his books for every country you are going to visit. Then MAKE NOTES! It has saved us a ton of hassle, found us some of the best things the cities have to offer in a hurry and then saved us lots of money too!
www.RickSteves.com
For an example; in Sorrento we are in a Hostel.
Now I cant tell you how nervous I was when Barb first announced this too me. I wanted to risk climbing into a Cessna 172 and fly back to Cochrane or..... I had visions of people sleeping next to me that had "dreadlocks" and bugs that wanted to share my pillow.
But not the case. We have a place here that is much nicer than most of our hotels! Its beautiful. Tons of marble, spotless and a very large nice and newer room. A nice King bed and another single for a friends (joke). The bathroom is large and I would say this is a 3 to 4 star easy! All for $60E including breakfast for two!
These are the types of little treasures that Rick Steeves shares with you and we are so greatful. Like our last place in Santa Ponsa. It was directly on the water of the Med in a Bay. You could not beat the location. The place was older and I didn't understand the German being spoken but they all liked my last name (Messner). That room was the "do not have children room" complete with the best shower Ive had in ages and twin single beds. All for $34 E a night with free internet!
Across the street go for breakfast or lunch at ARKLES! A great British cafe.
As you can imagine just about anywhere in Europe you can spend at least as much as downtown Toronto or Montreal and that's just the start! In fact due to weather and logistics plus money we are saving London for last. But we've found a sweetheart hotel of a deal there too.
The Islands on the right called Mallorca is where we started (Palma and Santa Ponsa).
Then we spent a week in Barcelona and then another week in Seville near the bottom of Spain.
So far we have stayed in an apartment, Boutique hotel rooms owned by families and now a Hostel! What's next? Barb would like to try Bed & Breakfasts and Agri-tourist places (Farms) but we would need a car for them.
PRICES
One has to always check on prices anywhere you go as they can vary widely for the same thing. Most of our rooms have varied from $34E to $60 or $70E. Meals from a couple or $3E each (Tappas in Spain = snacks) to $20+ per person.
Remember the Euro is worth more than the Canadian dollar! We rented a car in Santa Ponsa, Mallorca for about $12 a day! Another time we rented one from the Palma airport for about $34 a day but when you added the rest on that they didn't advertise when we rented online it was more like $70+ a day! Plus they provided a full tank of diesel for a huge fee, then added another $10 cause it was diesel and wanted it back empty which was impossible! We do know how to have fun don't we!
Most cars here are diesel and almost all are very small.
The only big ones are from Mercedes or the odd Ford Mustang! I even saw a Corvette one day. But usually they are like Peugeouts (sp), Fiat, Citroen, Smart Cars (2 and 4 door versions) and Renaults. Very small for a very good reason - parking and roads. Nothing is big here, nothing is wide here, some of the roads are only wide enough for a Roman Cart and thats because they were the ones who built the roads and we are still using them!
If you don't know how to use a traffic circle - learn before you get here or walk! Most drivers here are practising for the upcoming Formula One race in Barcelona, Im sure of it! Still haven't seen an accident yet thou. You become very defensive while driving here but very agrressive too!
I have to hand it to Barb she has done ALL of the driving. We keep our marriage together this way. I read the map and tell her when and where to turn and she drives. We are both happier this way and after 26 wonderful years together we have learned what to do to stay together!
Barb and one of our rental cars. She's a great Pilot!
We are currently on what they call the Amalfi coast in Italy which is supposed to be breathtaking. IN a day or two we will check it all out. We have to go to Rome on Tuesday for 4-5 days. So will get it done before then. We are also very close to Pompeii so will try and check that out too.
Near the end of March Barb will be going back to Canada for 3 weeks.
I would like to stay in Italy so will be watching for good affordable accomadations, near the ocean and some flavorable Callamari. Im hoping I am close here.
Cheers!
No Habla Espainiol, Por Favor - La Quinta Non!
I can see it now; get up in the mornings, shower and shave then take my Lap Top to my favorite corner cafe and sit on the sidewalk to have my Americano and breakfast while checking my email and making up stories for you to read (joking). But something like that would be nice.
We are not ones for "touristas" so I would like to stay somewhere where its just locals for the most part and just melt in with the locals, make some friends with them and have some fun most likely at my expense! Chinqua Terri (sp) is an area Id like to try and do this in while Barb is away but its still a little chilly there. Its up by France on the Italian Rivierera. (sp)
The weather is a little warmer here in Sorrento. Seems about 16 next to the Med. A little rainy still and the locals here say thats not normal either. Im wondering if thats the favorite saying each year for the Spanish and Italians when meeting a Canadian? But rain is ok too, we like it better than snow and there really hasn't been that much.
We have a few things going on in life besides our trip which have been interesting and its sometimes hard not being at home to be closer. Nothing bad just stuff so we will see. We are approaching the end of our second month soon so time is starting to fly. I can almost say with certainty now that we wont get to see as much as we had hoped. In fact part of me is thankful for that. I like to lay back and relax. Barb on the other hand is a major tourist. Like her shopping habits (some of you know what I mean). Its amazing though as I havent lost 30 lbs!
She is definetely go go. I don't want to see everything. I just like to enjoy what's around and lay in the sun in a comfy chair and a good cup of Java. Speaking of java it won't be the same coming home. Garth! If you haven't sold that Java machine yet I might be interested. Man our coffees don't have near the character these ones do and I have been converted big time. Just for you Paul: A Venti Cafe Con Leche would be good but a regular Americano is awesome too! Gerry you know what I mean! One has to experience it.
I don't miss winter and I really don't miss Canada (yet, I know I will soon).
I do miss our children and our friends. I miss my work a bit too.
We MISS ALL of YOU!
I have a hard time staying still... doing nothing constructive so having a long holiday with me is tough on Barb cause I just have more time to think about work then I want to implement things too. So I apologize up front Barb; it may only get worse? On the other hand part of me wants to retire or slow down I just don't think I know how? Maybe this trip will help?
Another evening walking in Spain
Well thats it for now, I might have to go for my Siesta as I try to do what the locals do and its already noon.
Don't forget we are 8 hours in front of you. Until we get to Rome we don't have internet in our room again - just down in the lobby.
IN Rome it might be more of the same. We are going to meet some people we met in Santa Ponsa (Mallorca Island) from a church who are going over there (Rome) to tour Rome's historical places. They invited us to join them (no fee other than our regular costs) so we said yes! They are very nice, a few of them are from the good ole USA and the tour leader is from Italy and lived in Roma for 5 years. I cant wait to see what she will show us! A great opportunity. I think we go there next Tuesday and come home (I mean leave) the following Saturday?
Im not sure at this point if we will be going back to Sorrento or somewhere else on the coast? Perhaps a bit farther south to Sicily as the Mafia will be sure to welcome us down there too - I hope!
Oops, one more thing. A problem we are facing now is language. We were starting to get fairly good with Spainish and now we are in Italy trying to change and I keep using Spanish by accident! I hope thy have a sense of humour here!
Sorry for spelling mistakes there's no spell check and its hard to type sitting here like this!
PICTURES
We add them to FaceBook.
Im working on trying to use Picassa or Flicker instead. Will let you know!
A Street in Santa Cruz - Seville, Spain
Don't forget we have Skype (skype.com) to chat like on a phone thru computers. If you have it ring us up at Jim.Messner - the trouble is that we have to be in the Lobby on line at the time so leave a message if we dont answer. Remember; 8am your time is 4pm our time.
COPY THIS LINK INTO YOUR BROWSER TO SEE WHERE WE ARE NOW. (Link below).
http://images.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://www.ricksteves.com/images/italy/amalfi.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.ricksteves.com/plan/destinations/italy/amalfi.htm&usg=__kz1AbQDNlLg71Tw30YCYsaYfmps=&h=224&w=350&sz=33&hl=en&start=3&sig2=A3tD-nkPRDE7HokHlvSd7w&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=SGf8CjiFnIYRbM:&tbnh=77&tbnw=120&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dmap%2Bof%2Bitaly%2Bamalfi%2Bcoast%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26sa%3DG%26tbs%3Disch:1&ei=YGaGS9zlGIuL_AaWhdHNDw
We are staying in Sorrento right now. See Pompeii nearby and Mount Vesuvius.
Napoli is aka Naples.
Next week we go by train north to Rome (Roma).
Also:
You should sign up to this if you want to read the stories; if you do then I think it notifies you when we add one and you don't have to keep checking?
Chow or Ciao but not Adios!
Jim
Great post Dad! Love seeing the little photos added in! Especially you two on the bus :)
ReplyDeleteWe miss you guys lots, hopefully we can Skype soon! Hope you have an awesome time in Italy!! xox