French Open in Paris

After Amsterdam, it was back to Paris. I got there a couple days before my parents arrived and learned when I got there that it was the middle of the French Open. I also learned that walk-ins were accepted if you got there early enough in the morning. I'd never been to a professional tennis tournament and was impressed by how close you get to sit to the court (if you're not in one of the main stadiums). The highlight match (for me) was Andy Murray versus Nicolás Almagro. Nicolás Almagro won. I shouldn't have been surprised by the athleticism of either player, but seeing them consistently hitting shots I would consider an amazing feat for me to hit just once reminded me that there is a difference between high school varsity and professional tennis and that it's a big one.

Here is probably the best sports picture I've every taken. Note how Andy Murray has the ball at just the right distance from his body to smack the living daylights out of it.

It's not that hard to rationalize, but I still found it a little over the top to have a boy holding an umbrella to shade the players while they rested during the breaks. Why not just have a stationery umbrella?

Amsterdam

Marisa had to return to her schoolwork and job following our stay in London and at this point I was all on my own until my parents came a week later. We were to meet up in Paris and I went there by way of Amsterdam. For a lot of travelers, Amsterdam is considered a party destination. In my opinion, it should be considered a destination for art, city biking, and city boating.

Below is the most characteristic picture I was able to take of Amsterdam. It's a tree lined canal being crossed by a bunch of bike-littered bridges. Amsterdam has got to be one of the most bike friendly cities in the world. Almost every street has a dedicated bike lane and it makes sense: at least in the city center, space is precious, and bike lanes take up much less space than car lanes. It looked to me like biking was a far faster way to get around than driving, especially for the people who didn't slow down for pedestrians and just rang their bells.

Aside from walking down tree lined streets and canals, I really enjoyed the Van Gogh museum. The collection is extensive and walks you through his development as an artist, from beginning to tragic end. While I'm sure some have pulled it off, it's hard not to be a Van Gogh fan after visiting the museum.

This was an innovation I hadn't seen before: a fast food vending machine. No human interaction required. I'm not sure why this hasn't taken off in America. It seems like it would qualify as an industry best practice.

London (again)

From Antwerp, it was a quick Chunnel trip to London, where Marisa's cousins reside. It was my second time hanging out in London and this one had a much different feel because we did more what London residents do, not what London tourists do. We went to the park, we made lunch, we played the Wii, we had tea, we went to the pub, and we also went to the office. I will admit that we left Marisa's uncle at the office and went and did some tourist stuff. It was altogether a pleasant stay with a pleasant family.

Here we have a picture of our visit to a park near their house. You can see cousins Niall and Grace on the swing, assisted by Auntie Clare.

This picture was taken during our tourist part of the visit. Behind Marisa is the Tate Modern. We went to their very well done DuChamp, ManRay, Picabia exhibition.

And this is the wonderful family in its entirety. Uncle Neil is the only one you haven't met.

Antwerp

From Normandy, it was off to Belgium to spend time with Marisa's first cousin, once removed, Robert. Robert is a resident of Antwerp, the town where Marisa's grandparents grew up. He gave us the true insider's tour. We walked the beautiful coblestone streets, relaxed at the cafes, dined in classy restaurants, and visited fascinating museums. At the end of our stay, we were convinced that Antwerp is a top-notch city.

Antwerp is home to some beautiful architecure and a long history. We got in touch with both. Below is a great representative photo. In the foreground is the statue commemorating the legend of Antwerp's naming. From Frommers:

Legend has it that a giant called Druon Antigon levied exorbitant tolls on every Scheldt boatman who passed his castle, and if anyone would not or could not pay up, the big man gleefully cut off the miscreant's hand and threw it into the river. Druon's comeuppance came from a Roman centurion named Silvius Brabo, who slew the giant and (as if that weren't enough) cut off his hand and threw it into the river, thus avenging the boatmen. The Flemish handwerpen (throwing of the hand) eventually became Antwerpen, the city's Flemish name (it's called Anvers in French).

In the background you can see some buildings that provide a pretty good idea of what the older parts of Antwerp look like.

Antwerp has a long history and a number of museums that do a great job of capturing it. Of special interest was the Plantin-Moretus Museum, home of one of the earliest printing presses in Europe. They had a fantastic collection of some of the oldest books ever printed. Below is Marisa posing in front of one of the many presses they had on display.

Robert also took us to a museum in the home of Peter Paul Reubens. It holds a good collection of his works and gave us an idea of what it was like to live as a wealthy 17th century European. Below we have Marisa and Robert in Reubens' courtyard garden. It was lovely to say the least.

Normandy (again)

We were sad to leave Italy, but the means by which we left was a lot of fun. It turns out that night trains often take longer and are more expensive than the discount airlines in Europe, but there's definitely something to be said for experiencing a night train, especially if you get a sleeper car. I don't have any pictures to show you, but I would recommend trying it sometime. Say what you say about Amtrak, but I've also heard it's fun to take a sleeper with them too.

Our night train took us from Florence to Paris. From there we caught a train to Normandy. I was delighted to be able to show Marisa the farm I lived at for two months. The same cast of characters was there.

Here we have Marisa all ready for a day of work. Note the well appointed boots and raincoat.

It's hard not to fall in love with the mommy goats and Marisa could not resist. They more than returned her affection.

Now for some scenery. Here we have the cows grazing on the hill in front of the Chateau.

And here're the pigs, as comical as ever.

Here's Emeric, tending to the young'uns in the herd. There is plenty of energy and curiosity to go around.

Emeric was kind enough to loan us his car and we got a chance to explore a little bit of Normandy and Brittany. We tasted the best crepes of our lives with the best caramel of our lives. We also went for a lovely hike along the coast. Here's a photo well worthy of a Christmas picture. As you can see, we were enjoying ourselves.

Emeric had another guest staying at the farm with him while we were there. He was a french guy who had formally been working in IT and had saved up enough money to quit his job and go hitchhiking-camping around France. We got along with him well. He ended up hitchhiking to Mount Saint Michel the same day we went to visit. We found him on the side of the road pretty close to the entrance and gave him a ride the rest of the way. We decided to explore Mount Saint Michel together. Here we are standing in front of the abbey.

Florence

After the beauty of the Cinque Terre, it was off to the culture of Florence. Tourists go to Florence for the art and the fashion. Our focus was primarily on the art. But we also had the time to visit a lovely park and just relax. That was nice.

Here we have a classic view of Florence. You can see the River Arno at the bottom. Dominating the skyline are the Duomo (on the right) and the tower at the Palazzo Vecchio (on the left). You can see that the Duomo has a dome. But you should know, duomo means cathedral in Italian, not dome.

First on the list when visiting Florence is the Uffizi Gallery. It's home to a world-class collection of art and Marisa did a great job of helping me to understand the world-classiness of it. Below we have one of the more famous paintings in the collection, Botticceli's The Birth of Venus. And while the Wikipedia image gives you an idea of the beauty of the work, seeing it in person is another experience altogether.

After the Uffizi, any self-respecting tourist will make her way to the Accademia di Belle Arti to see Michelangelo's David. Here's another instance where an image from Wikipedia cannot properly do justice to the work. The statue is on a pedestal and towers over you, but you can still get close enough to see how immaculate it is.

After viewing all the art on the inside of buildings, there's also art to be viewed outside. The main attraction is probably the area surrounding the Duomo, where you see the vibrant colors of the cathedral's facade.

Across the plaza from the entrance to the Duomo is the baptistry. The main attraction of the baptistry is its doors. As you can see, there were rows of people making sure they were getting a very nice picture for their blogs. I'm closest on the left.

Here's my favorite shot. I really liked the artist's use of perspective.

Beautiful works of art that are outside are best viewed while eating gelato. Here's a photo of some of the most immaculately displayed gelato we saw in all of Italy.

There's also natural beauty to be enjoyed in Florence. On our last day, we walked away from the hustle and bustle and along this lovely river path. It led to a park that was perfect for observing Florenzians and laying in the shade.

Cinque Terre

From Rome we took the train up the western coast to the Cinque Terre, a group of five villages perched on cliffs overlooking the sea. The region is exquisitely beautiful and therefore (quite understandably) touristy. Luckily May isn't yet peak tourist season, so the crowds didn't really get in the way of us enjoying the hiking, views, and food.

Hiking is the main daytime activity (you go to a nice restaurant in the evening and watch the sunset) because there is a lovely path that follows the coast and connects the five towns. The towns are close enough that you could hike from one end to the other pretty easily in one day. We opted for taking it easy and splitting the hike between two days.

This is the best overview picture I have. You can see two towns, Corniglia (closer) and Manarola.

This is a view looking northwest at the northernmost town, Monterosso. There were pretty flowers like those in the foreground along the entire path.

There is a also a ferry (and a train) that goes between the five towns. These more modern forms of transportation allow you to hike the path without having to do any backtracking. I spent pretty much the entire ferry ride snapping pictures, and this is the best one I got, a view of Corniglia.

Here we are zoomed in a bit with a focus on the path. This is a pretty little bridge crossing a pretty little stream.

The path got steep at points, and this was the steepest part. They were kind enough to build steps though. As you can see, there were lots of people, but I think we were pretty good at not getting in each other's way.
Here's me enjoying some of the best pizza I've ever tasted. It's basically a cheese pizza, but it has pesto slathered all over it, and that made it especially yummy.

Rome

After Croatia, it was back to Italy, but this time for longer than an afternoon. And, happily, it was in Rome that Marisa and I got to see each other for the first time in more than three months. It was a wonderful reunion.

Not nearly exciting as seeing Marisa again, but also quite nice, was the chance to see the sights in Rome. There was far too little time to delve deeply into its centuries of history, but we got to visit many of the most famous spots.

You shouldn't be too surprised to see the picture below. And you also shouldn't be too surprised to hear that the Colosseum is a rather amazing piece of work.

Here's the inside of the Colosseum. Notice the reconstruction of the floor in the middle. They kept the animals and the slaves/gladiators under it. A beautiful structure, even if what happened inside wasn't always beautiful.

This is the Roman Forum, where all the action took place in ancient Rome. This is where the senate met and where Julius Caesar was killed. It was fun to walk down the main street and try to imagine what it used to be like. Note the Colosseum in the upper right hand corner.
This single column captured my attention when I learned that it was the last monument built on the Roman Forum. It was constructed in honor of the Byzantine emperor Phocas; a fitting indication that the Roman Empire was finished. For some reason it really makes sense to me that a single standing column symbolize the end of the Roman Empire.

This is the outside of the Pantheon. The structure is very impressive, which is why there are so many people in the picture.
Here's an attempt to help you understand the size of the Pantheon's columns. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to stand back far enough to get the very top of the column in the picture, but I was close. If you look at the base of the column, you can see Marisa acting as a point of reference.

The inside of the Pantheon is jaw-dropping, and it's very well conserved because it was turned into a church shortly after the fall of the empire. This picture does little to create the feeling you get when you enter, but at least you have an idea of what it looks like.

Apart from the ancient monuments, the other major attraction in Rome is the Vatican City. Saint Peter's Basilica and the Vatican Museum are the areas open to the public, and both are spectacular. Unfortunately, the museum didn't allow pictures (or if it did, I misunderstood the policy), so I don't have a wonderful shot of the Raphael Rooms or the Sistine Chapel. You'll just have to click on the Wikipedia links. But you can believe me when I say that the Sistine Chapel was beautiful, and definitely worth the sore neck.

Below is a view of the basilica from Saint Peter's Square. We followed the guidebook's advice and visited late in the day, which explains why the sky is a little washed out.

The inside of Saint Peter's is immaculate beyond description. I had no hope of truly capturing it on (digital) film, so I decided to focus on a few highlights. This is the baldacchino created by Bernini. It's fabulously ornate, but I wouldn't necessarily say in bad taste; it seemed to fit in perfectly with the rest of Saint Peter's.

This is Michelangelo's Pieta, definitely the most moving sculpture I've ever seen. Too bad they have it behind glass.
Vatican City is its own country and therefore has its own post office and stamps. Here's Marisa sending off a postcard.

Croatia

Our next planned stop after Athens was Croatia. My American intuition told me that the fastest and easiest way to get between the two would be by road, but from what every travel agent in Athens told us, I was wrong. Apparently, the infrastructure in the former Yugoslavia is still developing. So the best way to get from Greece to Croatia is a night ferry to Italy and then another night ferry to Croatia. The night ferries were surprisingly nice, especially the one between Greece and Italy. And since it was off-season still, the ferries were empty and there was enough space for getting a decent night's sleep.

Croatia turned out to live up to all the rave reviews we read in the guidebooks. Personally, I prefer it to the Greek Islands because the more temperate (and rainy) climate allows for many more big trees. Also (at least for the time being), Croatia is cheaper.

Here is a picture of the sun setting over the Adriatic Sea as seen from the ferry between Greece and Italy. Rather nice I would have to say.

The ferry between Italy and Croatia left us in the Croatian town of Split. Split's claim to touristic fame is the ruins of Roman Emperor Diocletian's retirement palace. It's completely integrated into the town, with shops, restaurants, and hotels inside many of the remaining structures. It's free to walk around the open air sections and the picture below shows a number of tourists doing just that.

From Split we took a ferry to the island of Korčula. Korčula is also the name of the main city on the island, and a cute little walled city at that. I didn't get a great picture of the city, but this picture should give you an idea of what it was like to walk along the main road that goes around the island. There were lots of pretty houses with red-tiled roofs and a number of church steeples.
The main activity on Korčula is walking around and looking at the scenery. We had two days to do so, and on the second day, as the result of a dearth of good maps, we got lost on the way to a highly recommended cove. We decided to hike to the water and walk along the coast in the direction of the cove (even though there wasn't a path, we knew the direction of the water and of the cove). When we got to the water, we found ourselves on the spot from where I took the picture below. It's hard to see from the picture how steep the coast is, but you can get an idea. Needless to say, it was quite a tedious walk to the cove. We did finally get there, and were rather relieved to have done so.

This is a view of the cove I told you about above. I took this picture on the way back, which turned out to be a difficult climb, but still a much easier route than the way there.
From Korčula, it was a short ferry ride and then a windy bus ride to the much vaunted tourist destination of Dubrovnik. It's understandable why so many tourists visit Dubrovnik and also understandable why the entire old town has been turned over to tourists. While at times it felt just barely more real than Disney World, I did really enjoy walking along what our guidebook claims are the finest walls in the world. Below is a picture looking east over a large swath of the old town.

This is a picture looking south taken from the tower you can see in the above picture. On the left side of the picture, you can see the path that goes along the top of the wall.