Home Sweet Home

So on xmas eve, we spent the whole day just travelling back to the states. It was suprpisingly smooth, however I think it's the day on which the most screaming babies fly in case you wanted to know. This whole trip was over too quickly, but was amazing. I hope to be travelling again soon. But until then... the photo blog goes on a hiatus.

Merry Xmas everyone!


Waiing for the train at Crystal Palace.

Flying over Greenland. Should be called Iceland #2.

Tired, but finally waiting on the curb at Ontario Airport.

Ciao Roma, Greetings London

We said goodbye to Rome today. Last night, Alessandro finally arrived and we got to hang out with him for a short while and then flew out to Gatwick. However our flight doesn't leave until tomorrow, so we were very fortunate that Spiros and Jitka let us stay in their flat for the night. So one more night in Crystal Palace and we are leaving this foreign place.

Merry Xmas Eve!


At the Pizzeria we fit in right before the airport. If you look closely, you can see an xmas tree in the background.

Upon closer inspection, you can see the pizza ornaments :)

My artsy fartsy Gatwick pic.

The streets of Crystal Palace.

Motorino continues

Took an audio tour of the Colosseo.

Dropped some money in Fontana di Trevi.

Got some water straight from the lion's mouth.

And this bad boy made it all possible. Warning: Lay down a plastic bag before you sit, otherwise your butt will get wet.

Motorino Day

Well we actually got up earlier today and since Vittorio was too tired to explain how to use the buses more efficiently last night, he let me use the motorino (scooter). I admit that I was scared a little at first, but by the end of the day, I was weaving and cutting off traffic like a true roman. Not even the rain stopped us and we made it home safe and sound.


Made it to the Vatican Museum today. They have sculptures of cherubs choking swans. Awesome.

The Sistine Chapel doesn't allow photos. I took this photo ;)

Jesus says, "Peace dude!"

We are overlooking the Colosseo and the Arco di Trionfo di Constantio.

Holy Night Post

We finished our first day of Rome taking some night shots and briefly stopping by the Colosseo. We finished off with some seafood dinner and my usual roman dessert: nutella and ricotta calzone. So full, but so good.


Saint Peter's Square.

The xmas tree of St. Peter.

Moonlit Colosseo.

That's not blood on my fingers, it's nutella ;)

Holy Post

Today we hoped to get up early... at noon we set off on our religious voyage to Vatican City. We had fun navigating the buses and metro and spent longer than necessary at the St. Peter's Cathedral. We tried to get into the Vatican Museum, but it was closed.


Interior from front entrance.

Looking down into the church from the base of the cupola.

The view from atop the cupola.

Portrait that she doesn't like.

Last Day in Krakow

We got some good Krakow time in today (20th) by ourselves. Janusz got to sleep in a lot.


The castle by the Vistula

That head keeping popping up. Anup found in Spain I think.

That is where I put my paw down.

Castle at night.

Krakow Nightlife

Later on the 19th, we took a change of pace, checked into our hostel and went for a cold night on the town.


Dorota and Janusz had a staring contest.

Then Grzegorz joined us!

Auschwitz

On the 19th, we drove from Bielsko-Biala to Krakow, but on the way we stopped off at Oswiencim. That was the name of the town in Poland where Auschwitz was. We stumbled upon this great tour guide and we tagged along. He would walk fast to an exhibit, say a few words and then run to the next. An excerpt: "I am seating 6 persons in this bed." You could tell that he was very passionate about this place.


Gateway to Auschwitz 1

Collected shoes.

Prisoners were kept here before being executed.

Frightening.

Back to Bielsko Biala

Janusz pushing his board on our way back to the car.

When we got home, we finally turned on the xmas tree lights!

Explored a little of downtown Bielsko.

And got to see their xmas tree.

Skiing in Szczyrk

We drove to a nearby town to go skiing. At the top of the mountain, we were able to see the sun!


Cindy and I on the ski lift, which just drags you up the mountain. We look like pros here, but we fell our first time on it :)


The sun peeking throught the trees.

We saw blue skies, if only for an hour or so.

Then they shut off the lifts and we had to go home.