Jenny's Travel Tips

Not that you asked, but I have taken it upon myself to end my little travel series by giving you a summary of things that I (and you) should try to remember when doing multiple-city traveling.

Hangin' out by the train station...again

THINGS I LEARNED THIS TRIP ABOUT TRAVELING:

• Waiting around is boring. But pretty much inevitable. Try not to make more than 2 connections a day, because you end up sitting around a LOT and it's ultra boring after the first two hours (yes, even if you're hanging out with your friend/partner, the one who you have endless chatter with, plus an iPod, plus knitting...trust me, it's hard to fight the boredom)
• On European overnight trains, if you have no other option but the 6-person couchette, always reserve the top bunk, because these cabins are TINY! There is much more space (height) up there, and you can enjoy watching the havoc happening below you as others shuffle and grumble about their luggage and so on. More importantly, you will actually be able to sleep relatively well since you won't be constantly woken up by people going to the bathroom. If you're hopping from city to city frequently, you'll be grateful that you are semi-rested. And don't be afraid to ask for a correction if your ticket is printed wrong (which happened to us...and we had to go back to ask for a change in seats, which they didn't like)
• Leave yourself lots of time (more than two hours) between connecting modes of transportation in case of lateness, screw-ups, surprise schedule changes, etc.
• Don't be one of those people that don't like asking for help because you think you've got it all figured out. Ask the ticket people for help and tell them exactly which cities you want to travel between, because there might just be a direct train that you don't know about. We booked a round trip from Paris to Milan, because the schedule didn't say there was a train from Venice directly to Paris, and we ended up having to make two trips back to the station to exchange our tickets (which really pissed the agents off). Oh well, better that we didn't have to change trains twice in a day.

• If you haven't figured it out already, staying near the train station is a good idea if you have lots of morning trains to catch, or if you keep screwing up your reservations and need to go exchange them a lot.
• PACK LESS! Seriously, I should have taken out half of what I threw in the suitcase. The packing guides you read about in travel books are right. You never wear all the things you bring, because you will always choose the clothes that are most comfortable. Plus, you end up buying at least one or two items of clothing on holiday.
• Bring some sensible (running) shoes. Preferably some attractive ones that don't make you stick out like a sore thumb or feel embarassed about wearing. I know this seems like a stupid point, but I am forever caught in the situation of having the wrong footwear on vacation. (I admit, I never learn - I have at least 4 pairs of shoes I bought holiday for the same reasons) It's because I have this obsession with wearing stylish shoes on holiday, but inevitably I end up buying a pair of sensible shoes in the new locale because my toes and heels feel like they're gonna die. This time, it was a pair of black Puma sneakers (they are nice, but I didn't really need them). I am also never bringing high heels on vacation again, unless I know exactly where I'll wear them.

• Pack less books. This is probably our biggest weakness when traveling. D loves to buy books, and acquires a few on each trip. Between the new books, the travel guides, the magazines, and other reading, we're like a mini library. And I don't have the heart to just throw away books. And I don't like the idea of ripping apart guide books, either, which is suggested by some travel experts. It would certainly reduce the weight, but then you end up with a bunch of pages that look like garbage that you have to throw away. What a waste! I still haven't figured this one out, so let me know what ideas you have.
• Leave the hair dryers and ceramic straightening irons at home. They're bulky, kind of heavy, and pretty useless if you stay somewhere that doesn't have the right sockets. I couldn't use it in Paris because the sockets had a ground. In Milan, when I actually had the right converter for the right socket, the whole thing started smoking and smelling very, very bad and I had to leave it behind (wah).
• Try to stay at least 3 days in a city, because you never know what the weather will do, or when your body will decide to get sick. If rainy and sick are both in the picture, you will be seriously grumpy. It probably won't rain three in a row (unless you live in Columbus, Ohio), and you will probably have at least several 'good' hours each day even when you're sick. Milan wasn't as fun because we were wet and chilly the whole time, plus we were coughing up a disgusting storm. The weather was just getting better as we were leaving, which was maddening. We were lucky in Venice, but it would have really sucked if our one day was a rainy, dreary one.

Opatija, Croatia

Toward the last half of our trip, we spent four lovely, relaxing days in Opatija, a seaside town along the Adriatic coast in the northwest of Croatia. Getting there was a bit of a challenge, as there are no direct flights or short bus rides within the country, but it wasn't nearly as bad as we'd expected. From Venice, we journeyed to Trieste, which is just about the furthest east you can go in northern Italy. Off the train, and straight onto a bus that crossed through Slovenia and into Croatia (Opatija is only a short 76 miles from Trieste, but the border-crossing lengthens the trip). The bus wound its way through mountains and lush forests, ascending so high up that the temperature dropped several degrees. It was really quite an amazing sight.

As we pulled into Opatija, we oohed and ahhed at the charming hotels and boutiques, and the gorgeous view. Speaking absolutely no Croatian (despite our efforts to listen and practice with our language tape at the bus station), we looked around hopefully and found that English was spoken widely. Lucky us. Exhausted, we grabbed a taxi to our hotel. "I hope we're staying at one of those cute ones we saw!" I said. As we pulled up to Hotel Ambasador, we groaned. It didn't look as nice as the photos - kind of older, ugly, and straight out of the 70s. Just about the ugliest hotel on the entire strip. Oh well, hopefully it's nice inside, we thought.

Sunrise on the balcony, writing in our trip diary.

Oh my, it was so much nicer than we imagined. Very lucky us. Our room was located in the adjacent Villa Ambasador, a much more attractive building with wonderful rooms (if you ever stay here, I'd highly recommend this place).

From our balcony: lazy, relaxed-looking sunbathers

Hotel pool: image borrowed from www.opatija.net

Just off the boardwalk, you could climb right into the sea for a swim. Or, if you wanted to do it more resort-style, you could hang out by the pool. We swam, lounged, and people-watched, and I did this some more while D was at his conference. The first time I took a dip, it was shockingly salty (I suppose it makes sense to flush it with seawater, being next to the Adriatic and all). It was so salty that little crystals of salt were forming on my skin and brows.

I don't know what D is waiting for, but I'd better get ready to eat

When we weren't being absolutely lazy, we walked around the downtown strip and sampled the local dishes - fish soups, fresh seafood risotto, grilled fish, and more. The local currency is Kuna, and we truly had no sense of its value because nowhere in our guide book did it say what it was equivalent to. We finally spotted a sign on a fishing expedition signboard that said 75 Kuna or 10 Euro, so we worked off that number the rest of the trip. The weather was hot and sunny, probably the nicest we'd had all trip, and also seemed to be a perfect growing climate for a strange combination of trees we'd never seen together: palms, pines, and deciduous ones. Another Opatija (and maybe Croatian) obsession seemed to be chocolate. There was chocolate EVERYWHERE, on every menu you could order from 37 flavours of hot chocolate. Crazy.

We went swimming at a public 'beach', which was pretty much a concrete lying-about area with steps leading directly into the sea. There were even some cute little fishies in the little swimming hole:

D's lily white toes seeing sunlight for the first time in months

On another day, we walked by the local yacht club to see what all the sailing folks were up to. When we got bored, we ate more delicious seafood at the club, this time an unknown white fish in wine sauce, calamari fritto, and more fish soup. Mmm, fish soup.

D looks longingly at the boats...

While we were there, the Euro games were on and Croatia had won against Austria on this particular night - sports fans are the same everywhere. The whooping, honking and other festivities carried on a while, and was a lot of fun. Oh! I almost forgot to tell you that we were interviewed poolside by the local TV station (I guess we were pretty obviously tourists) who asked us which team we were rooting for. Croatia, of course, we said. I wonder if we ever made the news?

It was hard to leave the relaxing pace in Opatija, but we had to make our way back to Paris, so it was time to say byebye to our little resort getaway.

Venice

It really is as romantic as everyone says - bridges overlooking the canals, gondolas, old cathedrals, public squares, outdoor cafes and restaurants and gelato stands do their best to charm you as you sigh with pleasure. I'd been expecting the worst tourist trap of all time, and that our stopover really was just to see what all the fuss was about, but I found myself wanting to stay longer.

What surprised me most was how unbelievably different Venice was from where we just were. It's a small enough city that you can get around on foot easily, which made it ideal for our very brief stay. D and I spent exactly 1 day in Venice, far too short, but our budget wouldn't really have allowed us to stay much longer (a not-very-fancy hotel will run you at least $200/night). We stayed at the Hotel Atlantide, close to the train station, so that we wouldn't spend too much of our precious little time dragging our suitcases across the city. The hotel was nothing special, just a good basic room with clean sheets and everything you really need, but I would steer clear of the buffet breakfast - probably the worst we'd eaten in Europe. What was funny was that just last night we were watching Michael Palin's Around the World in 80 days and noticed that he stayed at exactly the same place! What a coincidence.

Wandering through the narrow streets

We walked through the narrow streets and wound our way down through the Rialto Market to the Piazza San Marco, mostly just taking in the views of the hundreds of canals, boats and bridges along the way.

Pasta coloured with squid ink, beet juice, saffron and other things. I bet only tourists buy these, but they were still fun and pretty to look at.

Rialto bridge and market area

Piazza San Marco was lovely, but as expected, an absolute tourist zoo, with the most English we'd heard being spoken our whole trip thus far. The tourist thing to do appeared to be posing with the pigeons eating out of your hands, but to me it looked like they were going to be eaten alive (the little kiddies looked scared). That, or dressing your small children in the striped gondolier souvenier t-shirt and straw hat and then making them pose with the pigeons. Luckily, I limited my tourist shopping to some Murano glass trinkets.

Basilica San Marco

Side of Doge's Palace (I think)

Cafe in the square

We had some very nice food in Venice, much to my surprise, because I'd heard and read a lot about places offering 'fixed tourist menus' and was worried we might not be able to escape it. When you wander about 15 minutes away from the train station though, you start finding some delicious places to eat. What made it a challenge, however, was that the menus ceased to have any English on them and we had to rely on an awkward combination of pointing, a bit of Italian, English, even French, and pointing and nodding. It all worked out in the end.

Can you believe these are marzipan fruit?

Spaghetti al Nero di Seppia

We had a great dinner at a little place called the Trattoria Allantica Mola, following suit with other diners by ordering the squid ink pasta with chunks of tender squid,a Venetian specialty (later I found out it was cuttlefish, which is similar). We sort of accidentally ordered the grilled fish of the day, without any idea what is was, how it would arrive, how big it was, or how much it cost (D had also just accidentally ordered a whole bottle of red when he said, 'vino rosso per favore', so perhaps this contributed to our ordering enthusiasm). Lucky for us, the fish was an exciting surprise, and absolutely delicious. I think I was most thrilled with watching it fileted tableside, so neat! There were four fishies on the platter, along with some grilled scampi:

Speedy filet and deboning work.

Sadly, we never found out what we were eating, but it was delicious, and at that point we'd shared a whole bottle of wine, so it was lost on us to bother asking any questions we may later have been glad to have asked. We were pretty happy.

I leave you with my favourite sneaky shot of Venice:

'A mullet so fine the man next to him appears to have fainted' - D

Milan, Italy

When in Italy, eat gelato. As much as you can, because it's that good. Gelato, which contains about 50% less milkfat than North American ice creams, has a dense, rich taste. It's intensely fruity, flavourful and smooth, and it's good at pretty much any counter. When we crossed the border, eating gelato replaced my daily eating of pastries. I was thinking of writing a little blurb about frozen desserts, but there is such a vast literature on the subject that I didn't know where to start to give it any sort of justice. Let's just look at the yummy picture and I'll tell you what we did in Milan.

Strawberry & Tiramisu

We hadn't planned our trip around truly experiencing Italy, instead using a few days as an opportunity to stop in two famous cities en route to Croatia. It was too short, but still worthwhile - we'd love to visit again, next time for a longer stay. From Paris, we took the overnight train (a gruesome experience if you're in the bottom bunk of a 6-person sleeper) and stayed at Hotel Berna, which seemed very upscale compared to our stays in Paris and Venice. Our day started bright and early:

Two days in Milan meant limited time to see the sights, so we started at the Duomo, a massive gothic cathedral that took four centuries to build. It was about 7am, and nothing was open yet, except a McCafe, so we stopped in to have a cappuccino (D was appalled that our first coffee in Italy was at McDonald's, but even he'll admit to being impressed - a real coffee bar that made real coffee beverages. No egg McMuffins to be spotted anywhere). We did eventually have coffee somewhere a bit more impressive.

We explored the beautiful, museum-like outdoor shopping arcades that were home to all the famous fashion houses. It seemed a bit surreal. The fashion in Milan was quite different than in Paris - much flashier, Versace-ish style looks, and many more high-heeled women.

Too cute. How much is it?

Plenty of cute little Smart cars, this one with a flower motif

Large groups of expensively-dressed tourists roamed the shops, buying up tons of Vuitton and Armani. How people afford to cloth themselves in fully designer fashion, I'll never quite understand. That said, we did have fun window shopping, marveling at the outrageously expensive items.

At 5pm, most bars begin serving complimentary tapas with drinks. Some places even go so far as setting up a whole buffet of crostini, pastas, pizzas, brushetta, grilled vegetables, sliced meat and cheeses and more. An inexpensive way to eat if you're traveling on a budget. We greedily fit in another meal though, late in the evening. We gobbled up some excellent spaghetti carbonara (the real thing with eggs, parma and cheese, no cream), gnocchi in a rose sauce, simply grilled fish with lemon, and Milanese cutlet (pretty much wienerschnitzel). Strangely, a group of tourists from Cleveland also happened to be eating in the restaurant, complaining a little too loudly, 'This isn't like any carbonara I've ever had at home!' Good grief, you're not at home, you're in Italy. Whose dish do you think is more authentic? I felt embarassed. We pretended not to speak English.

Next stop: Venice

I should mention that it rained pretty much the entire time we were in Milan, which put a bit of a damper on the tourist mood and resulted in far less pictures (we stayed in Venice only one day but it looks like we were there for far longer than that). People seemed surprised when we told them we chose Milan, I guess because it is quite industrial and not as romantic as Rome or Florence. But it made the most sense for us, as it connected easily to Venice and then Croatia. Annoying tourists aside, Milan was fun - I wish we'd had another few more days there. Next city, Venice!

Paris, we miss you already...

View from our room

We're back in Columbus! Actually, we've been back for almost a week now. I've missed blogging - I think this is the longest I've gone without posting something. We've been having fun catching up with old friends, meeting new friends, and getting back into our routine. Jewelry class was on Wednesday, where I gave my copper bracelet some final buffing (I love shiny things) and started my second project. Devon and her husband were in town (soon to be neighbours!) and we all had dinner together at Spagio Cellars , and then on Friday I stopped by the Pearl Alley farmer's market for the first time this week, which was great and oh-so-close - literally just down the street. Then Saturday, we lounged poolside at Jay and Sonja's. Such a hard life, I know.

I have other exciting news too! If you remember, just before I left, I was hired as a freelance cake decorator. I have yet to do any work for the owner, but much has happened during my absence. She is planning to move into a new location, building it up from scratch, and wants my help on a more regular basis - hopefully full time in the fall. The only downside is that I'll be moving in a short 5 months, and there will probably be many delays, so who knows what will actually happen. Anyhow, it's a great opportunity and I'm pretty thrilled about seeing how a bakery gets set up. Even if the store takes a while to set up, she's got some wedding cake work for me in July - there are 3 weddings that I'll be helping out with, and I'll also likely be going back to the other bakery at some point. Hmm, at this rate, I may never go back to land of psychology.

Meet Mr. Domo, a monster, and also a USB flashdrive

Ok, enough with updates. The other reason for my blogging delay is that every time I think about posting, I become completely indecisive about what I should include (a.k.a., Too Many Vacation Photos). So, after much procrastination, I think I'll just show you some photos we took during the first leg of our trip, which was spent in Paris, and save Italy and Croatia for another day.

Canneles at the Marche Bastille on a Sunday

It was our second time in Paris, and I like to think that we are developing a bit of a routine, which we'll build on in future trips, revisiting our favourites and continuing to discover new things. You may notice that most of the pictures are of pastries, picnicking, drinking coffee and sitting around in gardens...we must look incredibly lazy. But really, it's not laziness, it's just a more balanced and relaxed way of life. No one in Paris brings their laptop to the cafe. People aren't checking their blackberries or texting each other every second. There are so many people out in the gardens at lunch that I'm certain they don't eat lousy microwaved lunches at their desk. When was the last time you ate your lunch at the park? If you are going to spend time in Paris, then I say do as the locals would.

Exotic looking cheese

On our first trip, people thought we were crazy not to go up the Eiffel Tower, go inside the Louvre, or visit Versailles, but the thought of battling the herds of tourists really didn't appeal to me. So, this time, we only did a little bit of touristy stuff, and spent the rest of the time relaxing, enjoying the delicious food and beautiful public spaces, and walking about the city.

Rainy day at the Louvre

Why I dislike visiting tourist attractions: Hoards of tourists crowded in front of the Mona Lisa

Jardin du Luxembourg

Public bicycles you can rent by the hour & drop off at any of a multitude of locations

Lunchtime formules come with a sandwich, drink, and dessert: Apricot tart

Eating, eating, everywhere eating: Falafel sandwiches on Rue des Rosiers in the Marais

The obligatory Eiffel Tower photo

En Paris!

Salut, everyone! We hope you are all doing well. It's the first time we've stopped in an internet cafe since we arrived, so I wanted to give a little update.

The most common daily activity

We have been happily roaming about Paris since last Wednesday, attempting to pose as Parisiennes, drinking our cafes and eating our croissants with laissez-faire attitude and discretely photographing the delicious goodies to blog about later. Our hotel is perfectly lovely, a little building located near Place de la Republique. Unfortunately, right before we left Toronto, D and I both managed to catch the same evil cold that has left us sounding awful (hack hack) and constantly tired. Despite being sick, it's hard to be grumpy in Paris. We went to a pharmacie to ask for some cough syrup in our rusty French...it involved a lot of gesticulating and pointing, but we were successful.

Most mornings we get up, get breakfast from the local boulangerie/patisserie (there are at least 3 on each block) and walk about the city. The weather has been fantastic too - warm and sunny with a cool breeze. We have done quite a bit of picnicking at the Jardin du Luxembourg, Place des Vosges, and Jardin des Plantes. The last few days we've explored the Marais and Bastille areas, the Latin Quarter and St. Germain, and walked along the Seine to see Notre Dame de Grace and Hotel de Ville.

It goes without saying that eating has been the primary focus of our daily activities...today we went to the marche Bastille which was incredible!! I would love to live somewhere like this where one can buy fresh seafood, meats, produce, flowers, and just about any kind of gourmet and ethnic prepared food you could imagine. And I have also been scoping out the famous bakeries of Paris...here's Poilane:

Hungry people at Poilane

Beautiful pastries at Dalloyeur in Galeries Lafayette

Flowers at Marche Bastille

Parading my Shetland Triangle about the town, here at the Musee du Carnavalet

We have two more days here and will hopefully have enough of our energy back to tackle the tourist circuit including the Louvre, Champs d'Elysees and everything else in that general vicinity. I also have plans to visit a yarn shop and kitchenware store! No knitting news lately, as I have been busy whizzing my way through Ruth Reichl's first two books - if only I had brought more! They are so good!! (thanks Devon)

Tuesday night we leave for Milan and then Venice. This time, we will be extra sure to get on the train on the right day :) A bientot!