The quick summary: Round the world in 42 days?
- 2 days in Barcelona
- 8 days in Italy
- 7 days in Thailand
- 5 days in Cambodia
- 20 days in New Zealand
2011-11-11 Day 1: Friday
Flying to Barcelona Day 1: Calgary Airport
Oops, wrong flight. after getting ready, we discovered that we had 4 more hours before leaving, Sandy did some more vacuuming.
This was good as we now only had to waste 4 hours hanging around Calgary airport. we took our time, had dinner at Kelsey’s, went to our gate and watched Big Bang Theory on the iPad. once airborn, British Airways fed us dinner. It has been a LONG time since I have been fed a meal on a plane. We shouldn’t have eaten so much at Kelsey’s. Actually, the food wasn’t very good, but it was the thought that counted.
Since the flight started in the dark, they kept the interior of the cabin dark, and it was easy to fall asleep. Keiran took the chance to watch as many movies and TV shows as possible, and got far less sleep than Sandy or me.
2011-11-12 Day 2 Saturday
Barcelona Day 1: Heathrow and arrive Barcelona
No-one else was willing to wake up and eat breakfast so I ate all alone, stuck in the middle seat. Coffee was good, I didn’t need anything else but ate it anyways. twenty minutes before landing, Sandy and Keiran woke up. flight came in half hour early, but we wasted most of that taxiing to an alternate gate then being bused into the terminal instead.
Heathrow was far less busy than I remember. Maybe it was because we were in yet another new terminal, #5, which I had never heard of before. once we get back through security, it was like being in a huge department store, bull of perfumes and alcohol. Now Sandy tells me it actually was Harrods…
Flight to Barcelona was mercifully short since we were all semi-conscious. Passport control was quick and simple, then into a taxi.
Arrived at Hotel Cuatro Naciones in the dark. It gets dark early this time of the year. After a brief fuss about whether we had reserved a triple or a double, we ended up in the triple. Nice room, beautiful view up and down the busy and noisy Las Ramblas.
Wandered the dark alleys looking for dinner, ended up eating pizza and pasta at a nearby square. good sounding street musician on guitar.
Stayed up later , or went to bed earlier than expected, depending on your point of view. Some of us were ready for an early evening, while others insisted that we stay up late.
2011-11-13 Day 3 Sunday
Barcelona Day 2: In the rain: Sagrada Familia, Park Guell, Casa Battlo
Not an early start for us. We meant to get up early and cram a full day in. As it was, we barely made it to breakfast, which went until 11! I went and ate, Keiran joined me and Sandy dried her hair instead.
The rain started as we walked up Las Ramblas to get on the Bus Touristica. We accidentally bought tickets for a rival company, which turned out to be just fine. The bus and travelogue were both good, but the driving rain made it tough to see anything, and the upstairs was not an option. We looped around town and got off at our first real stop, Sagrada Familia.
Sagrada Familia was much more impressive than I expected. I really love curvy, swoopy things, and this place delivered in spades. Nice to be indoors too! the difference between the two sides is more dramatic than can be believed. Antonio Gaudi #1
Although the rain eased off, it didn’t stop, so we went in to Starbucks across the street. Mixed feelings about this: nice to try out the local stuff, but also nice to have something familiar. This time we made sure we got on a bus with a canvas roof, so that we could huddle up there and at least see stuff. The rain continued to pour down. We made a last minute decision to hop off at Park Guell.
Park Guell was stunning. Two gingerbread houses, and a Dr. Suess park to match. The rain even stopped for us, although puddles and drips were every where. Antonio Gaudi #2. It was now dark. Back on to the bus, another one with a roof. The plan was to head back near our hotel and get off near yet another cathedral, then walk back to our hotel. But we passed by the Casa Battlo, all lit up and decided we had better go see it. Hopped off the bus and got in line to buy tickets.
Casa Battlo was stunning (yes, stunned again). Even more swoopy curvy stuff. Along with beautiful woodwork and clever, brave architecture. Actually, as I think back, it was more Dr. Suess. Yes, this was Antonio Gaudi #3. For us at least, Barcelona is Gaudi, and Gaudi is Barcelona.
We got back on the bus only to be informed that it was only going to go one more stop before shutting down for the day. This nixed our plan to pass by the cathedral, but was the closest stop to our hotel anyways.
We again prowled the dark alleys looking for dinner. Sandy had tapas on her mind, but we settled for a nice restaurant which didn’t proudly push its tapas. Good, busy and pleasant.
2011-11-14 Day 4 Monday
Barcelona Day 3: Flying to Rome, Italy Day 1: Rome Day 1: Coliseum
Somehow, we ended staying awake into the wee hours the night before… 2 a.m. or something, and we payed for it the next morning. While Sandy showered, I went down and had a breakfast all by myself. Becoming a bit of a tradition.
The taxi to the airport was fun. The driver young and appropriately aggressive, squeezing his taxi into lots of tight spots, and taking advantage of the taxi and bus only lanes. We hit traffic, but that only cost us five minutes. we tried to check in at the Iberia airlines counter, calm and empty, but were sent off to the “Vueling” airlines instead. Waded into the throng and stood in line with the rest of the cattle. I guess the Vueling is something akin to our discount partners. Aircraft was packed solid and the seats were the closest I can remember. Even we three small people found it snug, with our knees essentially hitting the seat in front. I have no idea how normal, or worse yet, big people fit into something like this. Flight was mercifully short, drink service never made it to us, before being cut short by having to land. I suspect that they could have completed the service if they had started less than an hour after the flight had started…
Rome airport was quite run down, especially after the perfection of Heathrow and Barcelona. We blundered around the poorly marked baggage claim, and made it out without ever showing anyone our passports… Other than when we checked in, in an other country. Bought train tickets and just got on in time. Packed in tight, had to climb over and around bags, but did find 3 seats close to each other. View from the train does not present Rome’s better side. Converted to backpack mode for the few kilometer walk to our hotel. Again, we stood out in working class neighborhood and fishmarket. But our hotel is gorgeous and quaint. Keiran even has his own little room.
15 minute walk to and around the Coliseum for a pizza dinner. Sandy had some sort of seafood risotto, while Keiran and I wished we were more upwind.
Walked back to our hotel in the dark, but it was barely even 6 when we got home.
Fussed around in the room (Sandy figured that laundry was a must), watched Whose Line, read and went to sleep way too late. I kept dropping hints by nodding off several times earlier in the evening, but was ignored.
2011-11-15 Day 5 Tuesday
Italy Day 2: Rome Day 2: Coliseum, Palatino, Forum, Nightime Mystery Walk
Almost had breakfast all by myself again. Loved the coffee, juice and toast. More than enough for me. 3 or maybe 4 cups of coffee later, Sandy and Keiran showed up, just before breakfast closed at 10.
We got to the Coliseum around 11:15, jumped to the front of the line by accepting the offer (and cost of) a guided English tour. We picked up our talkie units, and tried to follow the directions. Failed miserably, and attached ourselves to an existing English tour, which seemed to start at exactly the time and place where ours was meant to. Still don’t know if the two were meant to be merged or not. Anyways, the guide (Roberto) was very funny, and rude, and crude. We loved it, although it took some time for Keiran to catch on to his accent.
When this tour wrapped up, we went back to the beginning, and now knew how to attack the rest of the electronic audio guide. Went round the Coliseum all over again, learning many more valuable bits of information. Got the units back to the office just within the 2 hour limit and headed off over to the Palatino. Spent 15 minutes heading up a long and windy dead end… Finally made it to the proper entrance where we were informed that it was now too late to take the audio tour. Sighed and went in. Almost immediately got surrounded by another English guided tour, this one being led by Alex. He only had two little things left to talk about and then the tour was done. But, he also mentioned that he was leading some other ones, both of which sounded interesting and we said we would,join and this time, pay for, his nightime mystery tour.
We dashed through the rest of the Forum, and then entered the traffic, looking for food and money before joining the tour at 5. A dubious hamburger and some excellent spaghetti later, we observed the aftermath of a fender bender and bought some money. Now to find the meeting place. Since Sandy had gotten the directions as to where to meet, but expected me to be able to locate the place, it was more luck than skill that saw us actually making contact with Alex.
Alex suggested that all of us get a hot drink and pee at a nearby pizza place. Then we were off. I still don’t know where we went, but it was fun and windy and dark. Lots of different churches, in the crypt under a church, tiny church, huge church with fake dome, site where Caesar was killed, the Pompei amphitheaer location, ending in Campo de Fiori, where Alex recommended a couple of places to eat then left us. We had an excellent meal, then started the hour long trek back to our hotel in the dark. Things were cool, but we were dressed just warmly enough to survive. GPS was good too. Free GPS maps weren’t good in pedestrian mode, but we made it home with no wrong turns.
Some how we stayed up until 2-ish. Foolish humans.
2011-11-16 Day 6 Wednesday
Italy Day 3: Rome Day 3: St. Peters, Trevi Fountain, Palatino, Campo Di Fiori
Ate breakfast by myself, yet again. Sandy came down just before 10, grabbed a coffee and said that Keiran had chosen to stay in bed instead of eating.
Walked to the bus stop where we expected to purchase a ticket for the HopOnHopOff bus audio tour of Rome. Turns out that that stop was only for weekends, so we walked to the next one, where an employee met us on the sidewalk and sold us a ticket. 10 minutes later, we were on the bus (110open) and already disappointed: only some of the audio jacks worked and the audio program itself was dull. Oh well, we were hoping for more after Barcelona. Got off 3 stops later at St. Peters. And discovered that it was closed down for the next hour or so to prepare for the Pope’s public talk.
Since Keiran hadn’t eaten, we figured it would be in everyone’s best interest to get some food into him. In a small side street, we found a pleasant little cafe, Keiran had spaghetti, Sandy and I had coffee.
Once again, we headed back up to St. Peter’s, and went straight up to the cupola. For Keiran and me, this is the high light of St. Peter’s. You don’t have a clue how big it is until you are WAY up on top. The stairs start in a gentle winding spiral, going up in the wall of the base. Then you get to walk around the inside of the base of the dome. Then a curved path of stairs within the roof of the dome. The higher you get, the more tilted and lower the ceiling gets. Then some switchbacks, and then the steps turn and go straight up vertically inside the roof of the dome. A small platform, then a final 4 foot wide tube contains a spiral staircase, with a rope hanging down the center to hold onto. Then you go out onto the balcony and all of Rome is below you.
Descended and went in to the basilica itself. Very impressive, but pales in my mind compared to being up top.
Back to the bus, watched 2 leaving, and then waited for quite some time for our bus. All the other companies seemed to be more frequent, but the grass is always greener…
Got off near the Trevi fountain, and I was stunned at the number of people there. Nuff said. Walked thru the Pantheon (learned that the name is from “pan” meaning “all” and “theo” meaning “gods”. Pretty cocky of the Christians to claim that one and not change the name!
Another excellent dinner in Campo Di Fiori, and yet another long walk home, GPS in hand. On the walk decided to extend our stay for another day. The hotel desk helped us for our car rental and explain that we would be picking up our car rental a day late. We may pay for the day anyways, but that may be cheaper than paying a change fee.
2011-11-17 Day 7 Thursday
Italy Day 4: Rome Day 4: Villa de Maxentius, Catacombs,Bocca Dela Verita, Campo Di Fiori
Keiran and Sandy made it to breakfast just under the wire, as usual.
Met another Canadian couple (Lisa and Martin, kick boxers who had just finished competing in Cadiz) also planning to walk to the Catacombs. Discovered that the strike (news to us!) had shut down public buses, so walking was now the only option. Taxis also too busy to be found, again, because of the strike. LONG walk, GPS took a long time to engage, but quickly became invaluable.
Got there just as they closed for midday, e.g. 1 minute late. Big debate about what to do, eventual decision was to hang around and find something to do. Villa de Maxentius was right there, the biggest and most perfect circus in Italy. Neat to wander around the the grass and imagine the chariots going around.
Discovered a little garden cafe across the street and went in. We were the only customers, Keiran had a salami panini (even at most of it), I had a cappicino and a COCONUT Revelo type ice cream. Wonderful little place, kids playground, fruit trees and other stuff, all in an under lush trees.
By now, the catacombs were open again, so we went back, and in and down. Better than I had remembered, and happy to have seen it again. Since photos were banned, I bought some postcards afterwards, and took photos of them! 🙂
LONG walk back into town again. Traffic seemed much worse and the road much narrower. An hour and a half later, we were in Rome proper, winding through the city streets and along the river. Different stuff from what we had seen before.
Sandy and Keiran both put their hands into la Bocca Dela Verita… Still have them too. 🙂
Another meal in Campo Di Fiori, then another hour or so walk home. Sandy did not buy her €350 boots, even after drooling for days about them.
We probably walked more than 20km today.
2011-11-18 Day 8 Friday
Italy Day 5: Drive south to Naples
Ate most of breakfast by myself. Sandy made it down for coffee, Keiran never made it.
Strapped bags onto our backs and made our way to Station Termini. This time to a route that was 1 block over from where we walked on arrival, and things were much less seedy. Still had to hop and jump over multiple tram tracks. Quickly made our way upstairs to the trains and automated ticket machines. The ones upstairs didn’t seem to have an English mode, so a kind passerby told us just to go back downstairs to the tobacco shop and buy them there. That took less than 30 seconds! once we lugged our heavy selves back down the stairs (and then up again). Another song and dance as we tried to get our tickets validated, again with automated machines. Another kind person (railway agent of some kind) straightened and bent and folded the tickets until he convinced the machine to accept and print on them.
Waited 15 minutes for the train, and had a wonderful, peaceful ride to the airport. Train was almost empty, or maybe it was just the car we had chosen. It turns out that last time, we had gotten on the car closest to the exit, where all of the last minute people were forced to scramble aboard. This time, having much more time, I elected to take the farthest car, and this may have been the perfect choice.
Airport and rental car pickup was quick and easy. Leaving the airport was okay, but starting the drive south was not. I elected to head into Fumicino, just avoid the autoroute back into Rome. The GPS was not helping, seeming to take forever, and not choosing sensible routes. At that time, I thought my free home-made GPS map was just poor. So we poked through the nooks and crannies of Fumicino, which except for the airport, seems to be a small fishing town. Everytime the GPS completed its calculations, it seemed to change its mind, and start recalculating again. So, we sort of manually forced it on to the Autostrada back to Rome, from which the big A43 headed down to Naples, which it squawking every minute “Recalculating”.
After half an hour or so, I realized the poor thing was set to “Pedestrian” mode, and it was having a hell of a time figuring out how to walk to Ercolana. Which also explained the blank arrival time, it having no way to display arrival times more than 24 hrs away. Another 15 minutes later, I made a guess about why it kept selecting little highways off to the side, and removed the “Avoid Toll Roads” setting. All of a sudden, the GPS became my friend again.
Most of the previous fact finding had taken place while we navigated a huge traffic jam on the ring road around Rome. As soon as we entered the true toll road, we got off at the first AutoGrill which Sandy had been dreaming about for 10 years. And it pretty much met expectations. More fast-foody than before, but still awesome food, and all kinds of trendy things like extra-virgin olive oil and wine and …
We cruised down the Autostrada at about 125kph in the middle lane, being passed like we were standing still at times, dodging trucks as they were forced to change lanes suddenly. Of course, a traffic jam as we glanced the edge of Napoli, construction and lane closings making things worse. The whole exit the GPS wanted to take was closed for construction, so we took the next one, the GPS guiding us back on steep, narrow and dark cobblestone roads, winding between walls and cars. House numbers are invisible (or non-existent?), so we drove along the dark street dodging cars, people, and staring into the blackness. The miracle occured and our hotel, Marad, actually had a lit up sign and entrance we could drive a car into. Hotel Marad is pretty nice, upscale and trendy nouveau decor in the lobby, old fashioned tablecloths and chairs in the dining room. Attentive and pleasant staff.
Looks like Internet has cost us 8€ for 12 hours, but we are more annoyed by the awkward password than by the money.
Ate dinner in the hotel rather than wander the streets in the dark. Good, but no pizza.
We have decided to stay here for an extra night, happy with what we have. This will give us a day to visit Herculaneum, go up Mt. Vesuvius and ???
2011-11-19 Day 9 Saturday
Italy Day 6: Herculaneum, Mt. Vesuvio
Internet had expired during the night so we were cut off. Opted to not pay for the next 12 hours until late evening, so that we can have access in the morning as well.
Breakfast was good, both Sandy and Keiran made it this time. Good coffee, was even able to ask for coffee and milk, which got me a pot a steamed milk and and small pot of some really black coffee. 🙂
Declined the offer of an evening tour in Napoli and took off towards Herculaneum. And was once again stunned and amazed at the drivers here. Just when you think you must not be remembering things right, and that they couldn’t have been that reckless, and ignore ALL traffic rules, something happens to remind you that, no, it really is like that. All traffic laws are more like guidelines than rules. The GPS got us close, then we blundered about and finally stumbled onto some signs for “Scalvi”‘ and followed them.
Herculaneum was great, but it took the rest of our cash, especially once we paid the additional 15€ for the audio guide handsets.
We left Herculaneum and started driving up Mt. Vesuvio, only to remember that we had NO cash, and everything touristy seemed to require cash and only cash. Head back in to town to play chicken with the other cars. Drove around randomly, hoping to see an ATM and maybe something for Keiran to eat. Discovered an ATM, and I manage to snug the car onto the sidewalk with the 4-ways on, while Sandy dashed across the street. Success, and we started on part 2, food for Keiran. He rejected the only cafe we tried, so Sandy bought a section of a loaf of bread with bits of cheese and spicy ham embedded in it, along with a couple of chunks of mozarella. Sandy nibbled at it, I had a big bite. Okay, and I guess I could learn to live on it, but didn’t need to at this time because, unlike some others, I had actually eaten a decent breakfast.
Back to the drive up the mountain, still guided by GPS. Slow, steep, twisty, windy, with many switchbacks. 7 km took a long time, and it was cold and windy when we got to the top. Paid our money, along with a parking fee, and set off on the steep climb up to the lip of the crater. Impressive. Also cold and windy. We worked our way as far as possible, going pretty much halfway around. Then headed back to our car. We played good Samaritan, and gave a fellow traveler a lift back to town, where we drove in circles as he tried to figure out where the train station was.
Keiran and I watched Naked Gun 2 1/2 while waiting for the pizzeria to open at 8. Most restaurants don’t seem to open before then, and everyone seems to come alive again once the streets have been dark for 2 hours. “La Smorfia” was only a few hundred meters from our hotel, and was awesome. Small, busy, packed with people coming in for takeout, all of them quite content to hang around for half an hour and watch soccer while waiting.
2011-11-20 Day 10 Sunday
Italy Day 7: Pompeii, Positano
Breakfast in the zoo of tour bus people. Quite a contrast from the day before. We packed up, and an hour later the tour buses were still loading.
Started driving, paid our 2€ to get onto the Autostrada going the wrong way. Sigh. Got off at the first exit, wove our way back through the same side streets of Ercolano, and got back on to the Autostrada, using the exact the toll booth. BUT, it was a different guy working the booth, so I didn’t even bother with “oops” explanation, just gave the guy yet another 2€, drove thru the booth, and immediately cut across 4 lanes to the southbound entrance. Yes!
Pompeii was quick and close and easy. As we pulled into a tour bus parking lot, the restaurant owner from next door. We quickly discovered two things. One, Pompeii is far bigger than we remembered. Two, we were not able to find the body casts or the really racy things that we remembered from 1997. We really wanted Keiran to see this. Found an AutoGrill in Pompeii, so bought a cappuccino, pizza and a cheap guidebook with an Eros map. 🙂 Found some of the stuff we wanted (body casts, brothel), but failed,on the rest because they were CLOSED!
Followed the GPS as it tried to get us thru side streets, and only semi-succeeded. We finally popped out onto the “highway” to Positano (yes, Sandy was right, Warren was wrong). Positano was very close, but it was also getting late. As we drove along the cliffs, the sun dropped down. By the time we made it to Positano (in spite of roadwork, road closures and no entry signs which we ignored) it was getting gloomy.
To our delight, the “Holiday Inn Pasiteo” was the same hotel we had stayed in 14 years ago. :-). As darkness started to fall, we dashed down the hill, over to the “posh” side, and out onto the beach. Just as we remembered. We wandered around, then decided to try a pathway along the cliff side to the other beach. It was now dark. A few lights were still on, so we blundered along the wall, found an opening and stairs up into the blackness. We missed a turn we didn’t know we were looking for, and ended up on the highway, having climbed an additional few hundred meters up. An additional km and a bit, walking along a narrow dark highway saw us back at the hotel.
Once again, we had to wait around until 8 pm for the only (?) restaurant in town to open for dinner. As it was a seafood place, there were only limited choices for me and Keiran, and two of the four were sold out. Oh well, was good anyways and Sandy had yet another awesome seafood risotto, complaining the whole time about how full she was, but continued on to the bitter end.
2011-11-21 Day 11 Monday
Italy Day 8: Drive back to Rome, near airport
Mostly driving back to Rome airport. We had found a small hotel near the Fuimicino airport, and that was the only thing planned.Enjoyed the usual hotel breakfast, then Sandy and I headed back down to the beach one last time. Keiran opted to not walk down and up with us.
An hour later we were on the winding road, heading east.A last minute decision to head back thru the mountains, rather than Sorrento made for a pleasant change of pace. And the road got MUCH smaller and twistier. We passed through Ravello, but it seemed to be mostly closed, so we took pictures of all the agriculture, lemons and ???, then continued on.
A brief stint back in Naples type traffic as we zigzagged towards the AutoStrade. Once again, the GPS had no problems sending us through some tiny little streets. By this time, we were ready for lunch, but missed the first AutoGrill. Hit the 2nd one half and hour later, and discovered that all AutoGrills are not created equal.Continued through the increasing darkness and smoke. It seems that this is the time of year where all of the agricultural trimmings are burned off, and visibility was quite poor in some places. Throats hurt a little bit from the acrid stuff.
Spent another 45 minutes trying to find our hotel in Fuimicino. I had only entered the 2 cross streets into the GPS, as my homemade maps don’t do well with streets addresses: the GPS insists that I start by choosing a province. We did find two signs for the hotel , and by combining the two of them, then reading the actual street name and number for the hotel did we even get close. Found it 300 meters down a dark street, in what was a new-ish apartment building, where half the rooms were set up as a hotel. Was nice, but cold inside, even after were figured out how to turn the heater on. For awhile, I tried turning on the stove burners, but those combined with the water heater and towel heater blew the breaker. Must happen a lot because the breakers were right at the front door, where one would normally expect to find the light switch for a hotel room.
Walked some distance to a restaurant, again in the dark. Definitely not a tourist town. Sandy was only lukewarm for her semi-cooked fish, even though the under cooked center was by design.
2011-11-22 Day 12 Tuesday
Italy Day 9: Flying to Thailand via Kuwait
Finally sort of adjusted to the time change, so getting up wasn’t too bad. Hotel room was still cold, which inhibited everyone from getting up. Breakfast was okay and everyone made it down.Rain. Gassed up the car and drove the 5 minutes to the airport.
Car return was quick, but Kuwait airline check in was not. Sandy had also entered paranoid mode, which she was to remain in until we landed in Bangkok.Once aboard we spent the next 5 hours with crying babies… Then 4 hours in Kuwait where the looks from men in Arab-style robes made Sandy uncomfortable.
The transit lounge enabled us to get out of the bustle, but reminded me of the old days, behind the iron curtain, in Moscow or Bulgaria. A zoo of a time, standing in lines to get into our gate, then again, getting out of the gate and onto the plane. Then many more hours of flying with children running wild on the plane, even during landings…
It seemed that Canadians were rare on Kuwait Airlines, and several of the flight attendants came over to chat with us. Service was good and pleasant, even though attempts to strap unruly children into their seats failed.