Success

One other note, we were successful in getting me a Chinese Visa today in London... so we are locked and loaded for our trip to Asia.

2 wheels is the best way to see Paris at night

Just a quick post before we hope on a plane to Cairo. I really enjoyed Paris, our accomodation was awesome, the hostel itself St. Christophers Inns was a very nice modern building, a really good breakfast was included, the location was perfect with easy access to all of Paris, but still in a Paris Neigborhood removed from tourists making for an experiance of what it is really like to live there. At night we strolled the canel next to us and walked past Parisians having picknics, playing a sort of batchi ball etc.. also given the non tourist location, meals where reasnoble in price.

But on to my title for this post. Our first night Danielle and I did the Segway tour of Paris at night. Besides the Segway being really fun, it was an awesome way to see the "City of Lights" with everything lit up at night. We still got all the history etc.. on the tour, but it seemed to come to life at night. We wized over bridges, around the Louve and even had time for some food at a street side cafe. The tour was 4.5+ hours, ending at around midnight. An awesome experiance, and I would highly recomend it.

I will leave the rest of the details for Danielle to post on.

Onward!

Our Stay in Sacile

Ryan and Gretchen
Originally uploaded by fromthevillage

Today is our last day in Sacile. We have had a wonderful time with our good friend Gretchen who is stationed here at Aviano Airforce Base. The town is beautiful, and in fact reminds me of my town in South Africa "George", which is also in the shadow of a mountain range.

Well we are off to the beach today, and then tonight we hop a sleeper train to Paris.

A Gondola Ride in Venice, Italy

Nothing quite like a gondola ride in Venice.

Rome at Night

So one of the coolest things we did in Rome was turn on our iPods and walk the city of Rome at night. The city is lit up at night, and it makes for an awesome walk about. Before we left I read the below article on nyt.com and downloaded the audio to our iPods, I would recommend this to anyone visiting Rome.

http://travel.nytimes.com/2008/04/20/travel/20rome.html

Standing on Via dei Fori Imperiali you can see the Colosseum glow at night. Next we walked to where Rome began, the Capitoline Hill, where Michelangelo designed Piazza del Campidoglio, overlooking the ruins of the Forum.

Next we walked down Michelangelo’s steps to the mini-Colosseum of the Theater of Marcellus, and the ruins of the Octavian Gate. Walking along Via del Portico d’Ottavia, we visited the Jewish Ghetto and then the tiny Piazza Mattei with a fountain in the center of 4 bronze boys playing in the Fountain of the Turtles.

We ended our walk in Largo Argentina and said hello to unwanted cats given sanctuary by the columns of the Republican Victory Temples. It is here that Julius Caesar was killed on on March 15, 44 B.C.

We are in Sacile Italy, staying with Gretchen!

Ryan hard at work updating the blog with a backlog of photos and video
Originally uploaded by fromthevillage

Here I am updating the backlog of video and photos to the blog in Gretchen's apartment, ah a good computer, and a fast internet connection... I am very happy as you can see

YouTube Video Channel Added

So in my rush to upload all the video that I have promissed myself I would, I have flooded the blog. To streamline things I am only going to blog a few clips going forward, but will upload all clips to my YouTube Video Channel.

You can see it @: http://www.youtube.com/user/vanwykrl

So if you are interested in our video clips, be sure to subscribe to this channel as there will be more clips in the channel than on the travel blog.

- Ryan

Part 2 of the video from the top of the Galata Tower is Istanbul

Rome, Italy pics are now on Flickr

Ryan & Danielle in front of the Colleseam, Rome, Italy

Click the link below to see all the pics from our visit to Rome, Italy.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ourdreamlist/sets/72157606877085313/

Better late than never, part 1 of 2 ~ a view from the Galata Tower of Istanbul

So we visited the top of the Galata Tower for an awesome view of Istanbul, and the goldern horn, this is part 1.

Better late than never, a 360 video of Palace Square in St. Petersburg

Another one of my signature 360 degree videos:

Better late than never, comments after our walk to the top of St. Isaacs

Just take a look....

Oia, Satorini, Greece... Just uploaded a full set of pics

Check out the set of pics from our trip to Santorini on our flickr photostream.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ourdreamlist/sets/72157606874632685/

Better late than never, a view from the top of St. Isaacs Cathedral

A view from the top of St. Isaacs Cathedral, St. Petersburg, Russia.

Better late than never, Church of the Spilled Blood, St. Petersburg

Video of the Church of the Spilled Blood, St. Petersburg, Russia.

Better late than never, a view of St. Petersburg

A view from across the river in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Better late than never, more video from St. Petersburg

St. Peters Cathedral, Peter & Paul Fortress, St. Petersburg, Russia.

Better late than never, more of the Kremlin

The changing of the guards, the Kremlin, Moscow, Russia.

Better late than never, more on Moscow

Danielle gives us her thoughts on the arrival in Moscow.

More pics...

 Hey all, spent some time this afternoon uploading pics to flickr and video to youtube, so check it out.

Santorini, Greece... what a view

Check out the view from our patio in Oia, Santorini:

The Romans were top notch engineers

Here is video from our visit to the Colleseam in Rome, I was truly impressed by the scale of this structure, a design that you can still see used today in our modern stadiums:



More video:

The Vatican, Rome

So today we got our butts out of bed really early and got to the Vatican by 8am, after checking out St. Peters Basilica (truly awesome, definitely sends a message), then we walked towards the Vatican Museum and the Sistine Chapel..., we were greeted with a 1km long line, 2 hours later and €28 poorer we were in. D and I disagree slightly on this point, but when we got to the Sistine Chapel, I was expecting to be blown away, in reality I was sadly disappointed. I found myself saying 'is that it?' So unless you are a art buff or die hard Catholic I would skip it, save the Euros and have an espresso.

Below is a 360 degree video of the Square infront of St. Peters, very cool:



Here is a video from inside St. Peters Basilica:



Time to eat some pizza!

Do like the locals

 Danielle blending in :-) in the Blue Mosque in Istanbul.

Turkey = No YouTube

Ok, so Turkey was really interesting. The collision of Europe and Asia makes for a very unique place. So re the title. I was trying to upload some video of our time in Turkey, but apparently some Kurdish thing had happened and the government had banned access to YouTube. This pic is evidence of that. So no freedom of speech my friends!

This combined with the Turkish Keyboard layout makes for very challenging internet use, hence why our posts were so light. Take a look at the photo stream for some cool pics from our visit. My favorite is a tie between Aya Sofia and a full day on a ferry up the Bospherous and back.

Greek Salad

So we have been in Greece about 5 days now, spending our last day in Santorini, and then the long ferry ride back to Athens this evening. Our flight from Turkey to Athens was very scary, the weather was bad and the turbo prop plane was literally dropping out of the sky... it was a very long hour and a half. We spent a day seeing the sights of Athens, one word "HOT". The Accropolis, Parthanon, and much more. All good stuff. Arrival in Santorini was a whole different story, just beautiful. Our orginal house has a patio with a view you cant beat, in fact all day long we had tourists trying to take photos just above our house. We spent the days swiming in the ocean and reading our books, eating good food and relaxing. In fact we extended our stay another day just because this place is so perfect. The only downside is incredible stairs to walk up (good for you though), and anytime before 3pm there is an unbearible heat, however if you spend that time in the water, then no worries. The afternoon is blessed with a nice sea breeze which continues into the night.

Thats all for now, will check in again when we get to Rome. Will try to upload some pics with the time I have left.

Santorini, and still alive

Hey all, we have been off the grid for a few days. We are still well and in Satorini, Greece. Just extended our stay here an extra day because we love it.

Got to go, internet is about to expire.

Ryan & Danielle

Istanbul, some amazing sites

We got up early by European standards, 8:00. The sun was not as hot and we were able to beat most of the tourists to the major attractions. By 9am we were at Aya Sofya. Thıs Church turned Mosque, turned museum, was truly ımpressıve. In 532 AD, (now1438 years old) ıt was buılt by the The Roman Emperor Justınıan, who wanted the grandest church ın the world. The sıze ıs truly enormous, wıth wıde open spaces. It seemed as ıf you could fıt a football field inside ıt. The 2nd story whıch we were actually allowed to go up was incredible offerıng close up vıews of some of the mosıacs that were prevıously plastered over when ıt was used as a mosque. Next we vıstıted the Blue Mosque. Thıs ıs an actıve mosque so we had to dress appropriatly, both of us removing our shoes and I had to cover my head and legs. You wıll see from the pictures I looked really cute with my orange sarong over my head. We dıd not get to spend to much tıme here as prayer was about to start but ıt too was beautiful. Ryan demanded more kebabs, so it was Kebabs for lunch, not just once but twice. The second time was not planned, as we wanted to make a dinner reservation, but since they has no openings and the view was a must, we stopped for an early dinner. It was the best kebab ever. Later in the day we hit the Grand Bazar, and found a good keepsake for our christmas tree. The Bazar is a huge covered market, and yes we dıd get lost... but we think it is planned that way. We had visited something similar in Thailand, and this one was much larger.

Well, we need to take a nap now, so we can go out later. Tomorrow we plan to take a ferry up the Bosphorus.

Hostel 101

It's D agaın... some of you may or may not know, but I have never stayed ın hostel before thıs trıp. 4 Hostels under my belt now and I have learned a few thıngs.
1st, eye masks and ear plugs are my most valued pocessıons. All of our hostels have been rıght ın the mıddle of town close to all the attractıons and resteraunts, so there ıs alot of street noıse. Plus your room mates no mater how concıderate they try to be come ın at all hours makıng noıse and some tımes turnıng on the lıght. Ryan unfortunaly lost hıs earplugs after the 3rd nıght and has not has a good nıghts sleep sınce. He has been tryıng to tough ıt out, but I have made an executıve decısıon and the next chance we are gettıng hım new ones.
2nd nothıng ıs ever as good as ıt looks ın the pıctures. Of the 4 hostels we stayed ın so far I would only choose to stay ın one of them agaın. The 1st was down rıght awful, the 2nd was lıke heaven copaıred to the 1st, but then we came to the 3rd and I redefıned the 2nd as average and the 3rd as heaven. The 4th ıs average.
3rd It takes far greater skıll beıng a gırl and showerıng ın a hostel. Not only dıd I have to ımprove my ballance to shave my legs, but I had to learn to do thıs quıcker so I don't use all of the hot water thus pıssıng off everyone I have to share a room wıth (husband ıncluded). Then I have to change ınto clean clothes all wıth out steppıng off of the safty zone of my flıp flops.
4th Just chıll out... I have met some really ınterestıng people so far that I never would have met at a hotel. Everyone ıs so frıendly offerıng tıps as what to see and what to avoıd. Whıle students are the norm, we have met much more older people than I expected. These more seasoned travelers are all very well educated and have very ınterestıng poınts of vıew on polıtıcs and culture.
Well those are my tıps for now. I'll let you know what else I wıll learn on the way.

Russıan ''Sole''

My fellow shoe lovers...
Thıs ıs D here becuase Ryan would not waıst hıs tıme on such sılly post but you would be amazed by all the great shoes in Moscow. The women are shoe diva's beyond anything you or I could imagine. I kid you not, every women has like 3-4 inch heals walking around town, not even just for special occasions. I wanted to take a picture for the blog but I felt weird taking a picture of a total stranger. Take my word for ıt I never felt like such a bıg slob. They were dressd to ımpress every where. I thought İ looked cute casual but they do not do casual. Alrıght I have to go because my tıme ıs up on the computer. I wıll blog later on my Istambul thoughts. My post always are a lıttle slower than Ryan's.

Istanbul Skyline

We are ın Turkey, more to come....

Szechenyi Baths Budapest

We really enjoyed our afternoon in these hot spring miniral baths. Especialy good after a day on a bicycle.

http://www.spasbudapest.com/furdo.php?idx=14

Budapest at night

We have uploaded some pıcs of our visit to Budapest to our flickr photostream, take a look.

Budapest gets two thumbs up

Budapest is our favorite so far. In Budapest, we did a bike tour, which ended up being a private tour since no one came in to the shop for the tour. The girl who was our tour guide, was a history major with a passion for architecture. She spent a couple years abroad, so she spoke perfect english. She recomended a great local place for lunch where we had traditional hungarian. Traitional Hungarian is very hearty meat based meals. Very good, but very filling we split a meal for one at lunch and had more than enough to eat. We then went to the outdoor hot mineral baths, mixed baths for both men and women and in your bathing suit, so it was very forenger friendly. List we changed into nice clothes and had a nice dinner at a cafe on the banks of the Danube. All together a great time.

Peter's Fountains at Peterhof

These fountains very off the chart oppulent. What I have been racking my brain trying to figure out is how they worked without electric pumps back in the day? Gavity feed creating the pressure? If you know, please leave a comment.

Malev Airlines Likes Us

Danielle and I just got upgraded to business class on our flight to Budapest, Hungary. Chilling in the business class lounge.

Sweet....

Some thoughts on Russia

Danielle and I are sitting in Domodevo Airport for a few hours until we fly to Hungary, so I thought I would add a post with my thoughts on Russia.

Firstly for any travelers reading this, if you have to choose between St. Petersburg and Moscow, go with St. Petersburg. Moscow is interesting, but incredibly frustrating at the same time. Even in the most popular tourist locations like the Kremlin there is no English, or even pictures so you can figure it out, everything is in Cyrillic. Also the metro and train system here is very difficult to figure out, and finally the people are not approachable, and downright unfriendly to foreigners. I cant tell you how many times we were denied things, here, or told not available, just to turn around and get it from someone else.

St. Petersburg is the complete opposite, the metro has maps with both the Cyrillic and English Alphabet which makes it a breeze to navigate, people were friendly and willing to help, and as you would expect in the major tourist sites there were maps (pictures) and even signs in Languages other than Russian. Why the difference, maybe the proximity to Europe? Also we felt that the sites we visited in St. Petersburg were in all very rewarding, while some of the sites we visited in Moscow are not worth the entry ticket price.

For example, if I had to do it again I would not pay to enter the Kremlin, it is just as beautiful from the outside as from the inside. Also don't waste your money on the Amory, the jewel display is nothing to right home about, we were told you must see the Fabergé eggs, so we payed the 350 rubles, and when we got there said "is that it?". If you have seen the Queens Jewel House in London you will be very disappointed in the Amory. Also St. Basils is very beautiful on the outside, but not worth the admission.

So to sum up Russia, it is very expensive, you will find yourself charged for everything from using the toilet, to taking pictures of the skyline (we never paid for the use of our camera, only got busted 1 time). The country seems very insular, they are not geared up to support foreign travel and in fact make you feel very unwelcome. However St. Petersburg is a ray of hope, and if they can do away with the backwards visa rules and make it easy fro Europeans to visit, I can see that city taking off as a must visit city. The architecture, history and atmosphere are awesome.

Final day in St. Petersburg..... Hydrofoil time

Just a quick note while Danielle is checking us out of the Nord Hostel here in St. Petersburg. First, the hostel is a large improvement over what we had in Moscow (I would not recommend Sweet Moscow Hostel to any other traveler), friendly staff, a free breakfast (as much as you can eat), and hot showers. However it could be cleaner, the bathrooms were very clean the day we arrived, but now they leave something to be desired. We are looking forward to a night on the Red Arrow train back to Moscow tonight as it is very nice, and a great nights sleep.

So whats planned for today? Well we are leaving our bags in a locker at the hostel and heading down to the river to catch a hydrofoil out of the city to Peterhof (see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peterhof), where we plan to spend most of the day. Later this afternoon we may visit the university and then back on the train to Moscow.

Tomorrow we plan to spend the day exploring the Kremlin, and the fly to Budapest.

The eternal flame, St. Petersburg, Russia.

D and I had an awesome day today, a little late start because we were up until 2am drinking vodka with some other travelers. We really like St. Petersburg, and in comparison to Moscow it is very foreigner friendly. This is a pic of Danielle next to the eternal flame in the Mars park. Take a look at the rest of our pics in the flickr photo stream. The day started with a visit to the Peter & Paul Fortress, the original city of St. Petersburg. We spent half the day visiting the various sites and then walked across the river looking at the Winter Palace and bridges. I am actually up late tonight because we are waiting until 1:30am to go see the bridges open for ships coming in. We also visited the Church of the Spilled Blood, the most impressive interior I have ever seen, 7000 sq meters or mosaic tile. Followed by a walk to the top of St. Isaacs Cathedral and a 360 degree view of the City.

I will post some notes on yesterdays visit to the Hermitage/ Winter Palace tomorrow, as well as some video.

Off to see a bridge :-)

Video of the Kremlin from across the Moscow River

Ryan & Danielle in Red Square

 Here is a pic of D and I in Red Square, to see more check out our flickr photo stream.

A 360 Degree View of Red Square, Moscow

Quick note

We think starbucks is going to become a refuge. Not because of the coffee "Steve R", but because it is warm, has comfortable chairs and wifi access.

Sent from my iPhone

Avoiding the rain by hiding in one of Moscow's many starbucks

Moscow, Russia. Comming to you from a starbucks because it is raining outside.

Let me start by saying the 10 hour flight to Moscow felt way longer than it was. We tried a new sleeping pill to help pass the time, it worked, but had the side affect of making me queezy and causing Danielle to throw up into a zip lock bag on the train into the city from the airport. So not a good start to the day. Our next challange was to navigate Moscow metro, which is easier said than done because all the signs are in Russian alphabet Russian, and the maps are in English alphabet Russian. We found an English speaking women who helped us find our way. Subsequently we have developed a system using a printout we got from the hostel and the first 4 letters of the station name.

When we arrived at the hostel we were greeted with an ice cold shower because of some plumbing issues. However shortly afterward we had found our way to Red Square and were blown away by this beautiful spot and the scale! The square is surrounded by the Kremlin on one side, a beautiful merchantile building on the other side and St. Basils cathedral on one end. We took a stroll across the bridge over the Moscow river for a better view of the Kremlin which is just massive. We plan to spend the day in the Kremlin on our return to Moscow on Wednesday.

Today was very cool. It was a national holiday of sorts celebrating the paratroopers, so we were treated to a miltary parade in Red Square. I will post vide and pics when we get to St. Petersburg. We spent the rest of the day walking the gardens outside the Kremlin, visiting the Pushkin Museum and Church of Christ the savior.

Shortly we will be heading to the train station to catch on overnight train to St. Petersburg.

The Megabus

So we set off on our adventure Thursday by means of the megabus to Chicago. Besides an hour delay and standing in the rain, the trip was well worth the $15 ticket. Once in Chicago we had an awesome evening with our friends Cathy and Alan, which ended drinking beers on the roof of a highrise looking at the Chicago skyline.