Rob’s European Vacation 2009

So I have finally arrived back in Vacaville and it’s now 2 in the morning and jet lag has officially hit me.  I’m wide awake and exhausted at the same time…oh the pain of having to go to Europe for a month! haha

So my trip wrapped up with a quick stay in London.  I caught the 7 am bus (4 Euro) from Rome’s main train station to Ciampino airport and caught a RyanAir flight to Stansted in London.  From there I took a 10 pound coach to my hostel.  The hostel was nice enough and I got ready and everything packed up so when I got up at 5 am I wouldn’t make too much noise.

The following morning my great trip back started.  It was quite an ordeal.  I ended up loosing my Oyster card going from one Underground station to another and didn’t see an attendant so I kind of just barged through when some guy went in.  Well the guy that went in was actually the attendant and I didn’t know until I saw him with a walkie talkie cuz he was dressed all normal with a normal jacket on and everything.  He preceded to yell at me and I had to literally ask him what he was saying like five times cuz his accent was so thick, lol.  Then he yelled at me and said I was on CCTV and was a “criminal”.  I was in such a rush to get to the Paddington station to catch the Heathrow Express that I said, “That’s ok, I’m leaving the country anyways.” hahaha.

So I got to Heathrow, through customs and security and of course my flight ended up leaving an hour late.  I finally get on the plane and we take off, a full 10 hour flight to Houston.  I slept a little here and there but nothing of substance.  The food was delicious though!  Pot roast, mashed potatoes, chocolate crunch bars with caramel, ham and mozzarella sandwiches, etc.  I don’t know what it is about Continental but I love their food, lol.

So after a long 10 hours and watching two movies (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and The Day the Earth Stood Still) , a couple TV shows (Friends, the Office, The New Adventures of Old Christine, etc.) and actually playing Centipede, we landed  in Houston.  I had a 90 minute layover and grabbed my first fast food in a while…Wendy’s.  YUM.  Then I got on my next flight and took off for another 4 hour flight to SFO.

Finally I landed in California…which had me thinking I should have written on here the day before that I was “Goin back to Cali, Cali, Cali…” But of course I missed the boat on my LL Cool J reference.  So anyways I landed, got my bag and hopped on Bart.  Called my awesome mom and she picked me up from the Concord station.  Ok, just so you can all know how awesome my mom is, she packed a lunch for me because she didn’t know if they fed us or not!  How sweet is that?!  My mom rocks!  I love you mom!

So I finally got home at about 8pm.  And that’s after I woke up at 9pm PST the night before.  So literally from the time I woke up to get ready to go, to the time I got home was 23 hours.  Can you say, OUCH.

First thing I noticed when I got home though..my “tiny” apartment appeared HUGE to me.  It’s funny how small it seemed before and how big it seems now. I guess having no personal space for a month can change your views on that.  Besides that it was just nice to be home..but quiet!  I so got used to other people being around…but I’m not complaining, this is awesome.

Finally a conclusion of my adventures, here are some things I learned on my trip:

• I am minuscule when it comes to this planet.  I am one among billions.  Yet what I do affects others, as what they do affects me.  Be good, waste not and be happy.  Life is good.
• Not only am I minuscule in respect to this planet, but so are my problems.
• Traveling alone has it’s advantages and it’s disadvantages.  I didn’t mind it overall, however I’d prefer to share it with someone next time.
• If I go for more than two weeks in the future, I’m buying a cell phone and SIM card.  I hated not having normal communication with family and friends.
• The United States needs public transportation.  We are far too reliant on cars.  And speaking of which, I almost exclusively saw tiny hatchbacks except in parts of Germany where I saw a ton of BMW’s.
• Americans should be taught two languages from grade school on.  I feel like an idiot that I don’t know a second language as fluently as most Euros do.
• Changing currencies sucks.  You loose money everytime.
• The next time I go, I’m going to less places but staying longer and seeing more.  I think my trip was very rushed and I spent a lot of time on trains.  Yet at the same time I saw a ton of things that I’m extremely grateful for…
• Future places to go: Barcelona, Versailles, Neuschwanstein, Murren

Finally, I’d like to thank each and everyone of you for coming here and reading my thoughts on places and seeing the pictures.  I kept this journal as much for you as for myself…to remember all the little details and experiences.  I immensely enjoyed this trip and will remember it for the rest of my life.  Thank you and happy trails!

This morning on Day 3, I got up and had four things I had to see before my stay in Rome was done.  1. The Forum, 2. The Mouth of Truth, 3. the AS Roma store and 4. Castle di Angello.  Consider the mission accomplished.  I headed out this morning and got to the Forum…the seat of power for ancient Rome.  I again listened to my Rick Steves audioguide (man that guy saved me a ton of money) and checked out the sites.  The tomb of Julius Cesear was there, the old Senate building and all of Capitol and Paletine Hills….sooo amazing.  You’re literally walking on thousands and thousands of years of history.  I walked around for a few hours and then headed out to make my way to the Boca Della Vitras or the Mouth of Truth.  I remember the carving from the movie Roman Holiday with Audrey Hepburn and had to see it.  While I was in line waiting for my turn to take a picture, I noticed there was a guy there taking everyone’s pictures for a 50 euro cent donation.  So I donated and got two great pictures!  It’s so rare for me to be in a picture on this trip that I’m stoked that I not only got into a picture but also it was a really good one of me! yay. After the Mouth, I made my way up the Via Corso to hit up the AS Roma store to get some memorabilia from my favorite football team in the city they play in!  I was soo looking forward to getting some tshirts and maybe even a jersey.  But once I got there, I was amazed at the prices.  Just for a little old tshirt it was 40 Euros.  That’s over 50 USD for a tshirt!!  A jersey was 90 euros!  that’s just insane prices….and people were buying stuff right and left.  I did see some baby clothes (they had everything for a baby) and wanted to grab something for my future son, but I figured that was a little weird, especially for a guy, lol.  So I took off and headed for my last stop, the Castle of the Angel next to the Vatican.

The Castle isn’t that special inside…but it looks amazing from the outside and the roof.  You can get a grand view of Rome from the roof and of course it has an amazing history too, from Hadrian’s tomb to a fortress and a prison it has an interesting past.  After the Castle I decided to go see the inside of SPB again and I’m glad I did because today the sun was shining and you could see the rays of sun coming in from the dome which reminds you of God looking in.  Of course God wasn’t there the day before because it was overcast but hey, whatever…everyone needs a day off right?  So I took a whole bunch of pictures inside and headed for the cupola.

So I was told by my roommate Carly that I should climb the dome of SPB and check out the view from there.  For five euros, I did just that…and climbed some 551 steps!  It was tough for a bit but really not anything as bad as St. Paul’s Cathedral in London.  For some reason that dome REALLY killed me…but it may have something to do with being so much more in shape now than I was then since this is at the end of my trip and I’ve been walking miles and miles everyday for the past month?  Anyways I got to the top and wow..views galore of Rome, Vatican City and beyond.  I didn’t realize but Vatican City has some really pretty gardens in the back that are immaculately groomed.  I took some pictures and headed back down.  As I headed down I slipped on the slippery marble stairs and caught myself with my arm over the railing.  But thanks to my klutziness I got a nasty bruise now on my inner tricep, hot!  I took off from the Vatican and knew this would be my last chance to see the most of Rome so I made one big sweep through the city.  I started off going across the Tiber to see the Piazza Navona, then off to the Pantheon and the Trevi.  After the Trevi I headed back to the Spanish Steps.  I sat there for a bit and then headed for the Metro back to the Termini.  I headed back to my hostel and began to pack for my flight tomorrow.  I gotta get up early and catch a bus at 7 to get to Ciampino airport by 8.  Since RyanAir likes you to be super early, I gotta make sure I’m there nice and early to get checked in and make sure there’s no problems.  So I’m gonna finish up my packing but in the meantime, here are my pics from the last two days…again THANKS FOR READING!!

Day 2 in Rome started out good.  I was the first one to wake up so I grabbed my stuff and took a shower.  After the shower I packed up all my things and headed out for the day.  First ... [Continue reading this entry]

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Cinque Terre...what more can you say but amazing, wonderful, beautiful, awe-inspiring... I loved this area so much four years ago that I knew I wanted to come back and in good weather so I can do all the hiking I didn't ... [Continue reading this entry]

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So I woke up early (my hostel roommates went to bed at 5 so waking up at 9 is really early!) and got ready.  Had some breakfast and checked out.  I left my big bag with my laptop stuffed in ... [Continue reading this entry]

I love Germany!  So efficient, so easy and so beautiful. Ok, to be completely honest this was about three days ago and it's getting kind of fuzzy.  So I arrived in Munich and got to my place which was just around ... [Continue reading this entry]

My second day in Prague started off better the one before.  I slept in till 9:30 and got ready to hit the town. One minor hiccup happened though, I went to get some socks and found out I had no ... [Continue reading this entry]