Paris

Hi All,

Today marks the beginning of the 4th full day here in Paris. Rothenburg seems like an eternity ago, not to mention Rome. Our days have been completely packed, from before sunrise to after sunset. We've walked all over this city, seeing site after site. When we return home, we often just crash after a couple minutes. It's been great.

We arrived in Paris after another all-day train ride (which coincidentally had us go through Belgium for a fee as all trains were booked up). The hotel is in a great location... however our room is the size of a matchbox with a toilet attached. The hotel is right off this main street "Rue Cler." It's filled with small shops selling fresh fruits, bread, pastries, meats, as well as groceries, restaurants, and gift shops. Needless to say Rue Cler has been our one stop shop for most everything.

On our first day we visited the Louvre and found that Paris after Christmas is apparently packed. Most of the museums in Florence didn't allow photography which was a bummer at the time, but we now understand why. Its as if the paparazzi have arrived :) Between us and the Mona Lisa stood 50 feet, filled with people snapping pictures. It kinda took away from the whole experience leaving us with a sour impression of the Louvre. We weren't ever allowed to just enjoy the art, which was disappointing.

From there we walked through the gardens, through the Champs Elysees and up to the Arc de Triomphe. This was fun -- to see all the busy Parisians going to and fro as we made our way up the hill. The Arc was very impressive, and we went to the top to see a great view where all streets seemed to converge to us.

The next day came early, and we took the short train to Versailles. This was the "vacation home" for the king and queen (Louis XIV - XVI) to get away from all the stresses of being... king and queen. I think what was most impressive about this was the vastness of the estate. The rooms themselves weren't *that* huge, but there were many. It felt like a vacation home. And the "back yard" was gardens as far as you could see.

After that we visited the small island on the Seine River. Notre Dame... how can we describe it? Beautiful, grand, breathtaking. We went inside and just sat to take it all in. Its crazy to think this church took 200 years to build, generations added to it in the hopes that their children would live to see its glory. One of the highlights of Paris. We walked around and visited the Deportation Memorial, and the Roman Crypt. That was a big day.

Yesterday saw us in the gardens of Rodin, which housed the famous "Thinker." It was a very relaxed, pretty setting. We ate lunch in the Tuileries Gardens outside the Louvre, then headed to the Orsay. I enjoyed the art in the Orsay the most so far. Much more open and free flowing than the Louvre (and less crowded), it was the smaller rooms with Monet that were most pleasing. We also saw some great works of art by Van Gogh and Renior (but the paparazzi were there again). We actually re-visited the Louvre again to try to find some prints to buy (its free with our Museum Pass), but it was the same -- no luck on the Mona Lisa.

So today is the last day here -- New Year's Eve. We have a couple small things to see, laundry to do, and then to the Eiffel Tower for the countdown to 2008! It should be fun. Tomorrow is London, and the final leg of our journey.

Avior,
Dylan and Melody

Venice and Rothenburg

Hello All,

Since our last email, we travelled by train to Venice. There we stayed at a small B&B. The first thing we noticed was that there were no cars. The main river ran right in front of the main train station, and was very pretty. All of the police, taxis, and ambulences were boats. It was definitely an experience. All that aside, we didnt really like it. While the rivers were pretty, it was very crowded, and the streets were like a maze. There was also grafiti everywhere, even on Rialto Bridge which is a big landmark and tourist attraction. Also, since there is no grass, the dogs use the bathroom right on the street. We were planning on having a cooking class with the owner of the B&B, but she ended up having a concert to go to instead. She is a member of a gospel choir and it was their Christmas concert. Attending that ended up being the highlight of Venice. They sang Christmas songs and even a few songs by Queen, all in English. So all in all, Venice seemed like a dirty tourist trap with little redeeming value in contrast to Florence. But we are still glad for the experience.


From Venice, we took a 12 hour train journey to Rothenburg, Germany. The scenery was beautiful.

It is a Christmas village year round. People come from all over to shop here. Its kinda like Fredricksburg in that 75% of the population works in tourism. We noticed right off the bat a difference in the German people vs the Italians. They were all so very friendly and helpful. They smile as they pass you in the street and seem much less concerned with fashion and much more down to Earth. Our hotel is very nice and has been a very relaxing retreat from all the touring. We leave tomorrow for Paris, where we will be until New Years Day. I cant believe we are already entering the last leg of our trip. We will be home before we know it.

Will write when we can,
Love,
Melody and Dylan

Florence

Buon Giorno from Firenze,

We're writing to you after a relaxing evening spent sitting in the many huge open squares, watching the passers by, admiring the great cathedrals and statues, all while eating a Gilato under streaming lights hung above. We have often looked at each other and said -- "We're in Italy." It's starting to actually set in. The people here walk by in their huge fur coats and high heel shoes without a care of the giant church over there, or over there, or the fact that the David is sitting in a nearby museum. These buildings have been here forever, and I guess they grow accustomed to it all. But for us it's been great.

Yesterday we went to the Borgello gallery and saw a couple David's by Donatello. They both looked rather feminine compared to Michelangelo's, but were still impressive. There was a large courtyard in the middle which housed some assorted sculptures. From here we journeyed down to the Uffizi, which was a much larger museum. There we saw the transformation of Renaissance painting. Some pieces included the Birth of Venus (which Melody was very happy to see), early works from Leonardo da Vinci, and Michelangelo's only easel painting he came close to completing. There was a lot more, but we took our time as we took it all in. That night we ate at a local restaurant that has been run by the same family for two generations. A little ol' Italian man named Sergio took our order, yelled it along to his one cook (his son), and brought it all out to us. There may have been 8 tables in the whole place. But the food was excellent. As we laid down to sleep, we heard opera music from outside our window (there was a small group of people singing for money). Lovely.

Today we actually were a bit worn down from all that we've seen so far, and ended up sleeping in past the "free breakfast" time. But we were just so physically and mentally tired, that we needed the break. After that, we headed to the Accademia, which was actually quite small but had one of the most impressive works we've seen -- the David. None of these places let you take pictures, so we're left with just our memories. But this one... you turn this hallway which is filled with "unfinished" sculptures by Michelangelo called "The Prisoners" because they look as if they're trapped still in stone. These align the walls but your eyes are drawn to the end of the hallway, where a giant 14 foot David stands under a beam of light from the sky above.

Needless to say, we sat there for a while and just stared.

We made our way from there to a small supermarket, and picked out dinner and lunch for tomorrow. Salami, cheese, crackers, apples and carrots. We of course messed up and didn't notice you need to pre-weigh the vegetables before you buy them, and in doing so held up the line while the lady tried to explain in Italian to our clueless faces what we had done. Now we're home (after the Gilato) and ready to enjoy the dinner. Tomorrow is our last day in Firenze, then off to Venizia.

Will write again soon,
Love,
Dylan and Melody

The Vatican

Hello all,

What a day AGAIN!!!
We spent the day touring the Vatican and St Peter's Basilica. WOW...The Vatican City is technically the smallest country in the world, measuring about 1 square mile. We started the tour with Egyptian statues and artifacts, then to Greek and Roman statues. Each room was a piece of art in itself...every inch of the ceilings and walls were covered with decorations. The pieces that we were most excited about included The School of Athens by Raphael, of course the Sistine Chapel, Michelangelo's Pieta, and surprisingly the entire Basilica of St. Peter.


It was massive...the height of the dome was taller than a football field on its side. Inside the Basilica is the place where Peter was crucified, his tomb, an altar that is 7 stories high, and the Pieta. We did not expect it to be such a jaw dropping site. The outside of the building is just as amazing. It is hard to imagine the whole square filled with people to hear mass or receive a blessing from the Pope. Needless to say, it was a great experience.

We then took a three and a half hour train ride to Florence. We are all checked into our hotel and just had a great dinner at a local eatery. Dylan had wild boar! It was actually very good.

Hope you are all well.
Love,
Melody and Dylan

Rome

Hi Everyone,

After a long (long) day of traveling, we've made it to our hotel and are all settled in. Today we saw the Colosseum, and it was spectacular. Everything here is so much larger than life, and really is quite a walk back in time. We then walked through the Forum and up Palatine Hill. Its such an interesting experience to imagine life within these ruins thousands of years ago.








We finished off the day visiting the Pantheon. We were surprised at how much we enjoyed it. What's crazy is that it's still a practicing church, with a service later in the week. What was once "Pantheon" meaning many gods, is now "Pantheon" meaning many martyrs. The artist Rafael is buried there. While we were there a choir group began singing a Christmas song in Italian which filled the hall... very moving. Later that night we spent some time in a local laundromat watching the Italian version of "Deal or No Deal" -- very funny. This was just our first real day of the vacation, and has been worth the trip. More to come! Love, Dylan and Melody