tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57577952011-04-21T22:24:35.525-07:00TravelinGirlThe adventures of our intrepid heroine as she journeys through Europe.Shellynoreply@blogger.comBlogger231100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5757795.post-1128201612280029772005-10-01T12:27:00.000-07:002005-10-01T14:30:12.613-07:00The capper to the storySo I was cleaning out my purse today and found something interesting. Apparently I am now an (inadvertent) international drug smuggler.I ended my adventures in Europe in Amsterdam. I took the attitude of "when in Rome...", and partook of the various opportunities that were available to me in Amsterdam (no, I did not go to a hooker or get a tattoo) meaning that I smoked someShellynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5757795.post-1128056403005495782005-09-29T21:54:00.000-07:002005-09-29T22:00:03.013-07:00Pictures!!Ok folks, I have uploaded my photos to Flickr. If you didn't get an email from me already from Flickr, and you want to see the photos, email me and I'll send you an invitation. Otherwise, if you're already signed up on Flickr, go there and look at the pics already!I think I set a personal speed record for getting them posted, given that there were just a bit more than 700 photos, and Shellynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5757795.post-1127790906283702692005-09-26T20:10:00.000-07:002005-09-26T20:15:06.293-07:00I'm homeI'm happy to announce that I'm home. Have been for a number of hours. Just enjoying my house, going through email, remembering that I own other clothes/shoes, etc. Haven't tackled regular snail mail yet - it's just too much. I'll deal with it tomorrow. I'm trying to stay up (sorta) late enough to get back on local time. I have the pictures uploaded to my computer, and I'll let it run Shellynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5757795.post-1127651757202306962005-09-25T05:21:00.000-07:002005-09-25T05:46:09.750-07:00Last DaySo it's my last day of "vacation" (in quotes because it's my last day to be away from home, but I don't have to go back to work for a while after I get back). Why am I spending it in an internet cafe instead of out in the world? Because I'm on overload. I had a lovely morning sitting in a cafe (not a coffeeshop) having a croissant and tea and watching the tourists go by, reading and Shellynoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5757795.post-1127467247873838682005-09-23T02:16:00.000-07:002005-09-23T02:20:47.880-07:00Good news/Bad newsThe good news for all of you travel fans is that you'll have me back in your midst sooner than I thought. Instead of coming back next Friday the 30th, I'll be coming home on the 26th instead. Why would I come back sooner and skip beautiful Paris? Because I'm getting tired and homesick, and while I'm much better now, the stomach thing really wiped me out. I'd like to get home Shellynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5757795.post-1127398676110780192005-09-22T07:03:00.000-07:002005-09-22T07:23:29.743-07:00Ok, maybe I'lll have a bit more time to post today. Everyone has either gone home already, or are out and about today, so I don't have anyone breathing down my neck to get to the internet.Last night was our last night as a group. We had a big going away dinner at a heurigen (kind of a winery, but like for new wines? there is some subtlety there that I don't understand.) Anyway, it was lots of funShellynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5757795.post-1127226701007776532005-09-20T07:24:00.000-07:002005-09-20T07:31:41.006-07:00Greetings from Vienna. This may be a short post - this keyboard makes me nuts. The y and z are swapped. Doh!!Anyway, I'm on the road to recovery. I'm still not 100% by any means, but I'm definitely feeling better now. Still being careful about what I eat, and bummed to not be able to realllllllly sample the great food-beer-wines they have to offer here. Will have to have some cake and coffeeShellynoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5757795.post-1126972327193667582005-09-17T08:29:00.000-07:002005-09-22T07:02:28.483-07:00Ahoy! (Apparently this is a Czech greeting. Not sure it's spelled right, but that's how it sounds.)Yippee! I have a new and exciting experience to add to the list of things I've done while traveling - gone to a hospital/clinic in the Czech Republic! After 3 days of stomach cramps, intestinal issues involving finding a restroom every hour or two, and either chills or fever, I decided I should findShellynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5757795.post-1126884315162878942005-09-16T08:11:00.000-07:002005-09-16T09:38:38.573-07:00Hi everyone. I'm sitting here in the Czech Republic (Prague) on a rainy afternoon. Sorry it's so long between posts, but it's tough to get time to do stuff when you feel like you should be enjoying the place you're visiting rather than sitting in front of a computer.Let's see, where did your intrepid traveler leave off? Well, let me hit the highlights for the moment, and I'll go back for the Shellynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5757795.post-1126255045746756642005-09-09T01:33:00.000-07:002005-09-09T01:52:48.736-07:00Ciao!I'm sitting in a little alcove in a tower listening to the rain and thunder. I went to Museo del Opera (or something like that - I'll fix the reference later) and saw Michelangelo's unfinished Pietà. It was amazing. I wasn't going to stop, but I had 40 minutes to wait for the tourist bus (I know, it's tacky and horrible, but I would have been able to get to Fiesole - a tuscan hill town - andShellynoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5757795.post-1126102228997499572005-09-07T07:03:00.000-07:002005-09-07T07:18:45.190-07:00Ciao a Firenze!Just got into Florence by train from Venice. It's overcast and muggy here, rained pretty hard in Venice this morning. Luckily it was for the one hour that I was in the Guggenheim museum, so that was fine by me.Venice is magical. I always go there thinking that I'm not going to enjoy it, and then I always go away thinking it's pretty cool. (Forgive punctuation or spelling errors - Shellynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5757795.post-1125457751885013602005-08-30T19:03:00.000-07:002005-09-01T21:45:27.370-07:00Welcome to my traveling blog.My (general) itinerary for this year's big travel extravaganza is as follows:Sept. 4 - leave SFO for Venice, arrive Sept. 5Sept. 5-6 - VeniceSept. 7-8 - FlorenceSept. 9-10 - RomeSept. 11-22 - Rick Steves' tour - Berlin, Prague, ViennaSept. 23 - leave Vienna for AmsterdamSept. 23-25 - Amsterdam (may meet up with Meta)Sept. 26-29 - ParisSept. 30 - leave Paris for SFOShellynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5757795.post-1066629758013064422003-10-19T23:02:00.000-07:002003-10-19T23:24:23.013-07:00Lessons learned - Oh, and lessons learned from the trip - bring a digital camera and take insane amounts of photos. They're for you, so snap away to your heart's content. You'll be happy later that you did so that you can remember a nuance you may have otherwise forgotten.
-And if you think of it - keep up with photos on a theme. I wish I'd taken photos of all the stuff I ate, and labels of Shellynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5757795.post-1064987795199827162003-09-30T22:56:00.000-07:002003-09-30T23:08:30.576-07:00What, no photos? - Yes, there are many photos. I do not have them downloaded yet. This is not due to laziness (ok, maybe a little bit of jetlag), but because I do not have my card reader. But I promise that once I get my photos downloaded, and then have captions on them, that I will update this (as well as send out email).
Now that I'm home and having a bit of time to think about the trip in Shellynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5757795.post-1064805418924542792003-09-28T20:16:00.000-07:002003-09-28T21:20:41.073-07:00I'm home, I'm home!! - Wasn't sure if I felt more like blogging or watching completely american drivel on TV (because I can), so decided to split the difference. Quick update - spent Wed. night and Thursday night at the Tooch's. I have no words for how grateful I am (but may come up with some later). I also have to say that while Wed. night was fine (a bit of drinking, much talking, much Shellynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5757795.post-1064489189974280632003-09-25T04:26:00.000-07:002003-09-25T04:27:09.050-07:00Cheers from England - I am here in a NetApp office (Stockley Park) briefly while visiting Tooch. Tooch's house is very cute, if spartanly (according to Tooch and Cathy, but not so in my opinion) furnished through the wonders of Ikea. It's quite homey and cheerful (I'm especially taken with the fireplaces for some reason). It's wonderful to use a keyboard with the keys in all the places you'd Shellynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5757795.post-1064316865729224342003-09-23T04:29:00.000-07:002003-09-23T04:54:12.146-07:00I suck as a travel writer - Ok, I've had NO time to do any writing, so hence my woefully small number of entries thus far. The only reason I have a few minutes to write right now is because I've confined myself to my hotel environs due to Montezuma's revenge. The idea of wandering around St. Peter's and the Sistine Chapel and such in this condition was more than I could deal with, so here I am.Shellynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5757795.post-1063721451255146502003-09-16T07:10:00.000-07:002003-09-16T07:10:51.373-07:00Hurry, hurry - not much time this time, we only stopped for a second. Yesterday went to San Gimignano. Cute little medieval town. Best part about it was the food - had a selection of cheeses and salamis and wines and bruschetta for lunch. Then walked back up the hill and had gelato. Not sure how Iàm doing this, but am managing to LOSE weight while eating like a glutton on this trip. Today Shellynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5757795.post-1063553352187263112003-09-14T08:29:00.000-07:002003-09-14T09:13:18.136-07:00Where am I again? - Actually I know that right now I'm in the Cinque Terre. It's an absolutely beautiful area.
Let's catch up to what I had put in last and work backward to today. In Florence we went to see the Bargello - a museum full of sculpture. The top floor also had ceramics and some "guys" exhibits - armor, crossbows, swords, etc. That museum was lovely. We got there early (around 9Shellynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5757795.post-1063311135629347182003-09-11T13:12:00.000-07:002003-09-11T13:53:56.210-07:00Buono sera di Firenze - Last night was great - went for a gondola ride on the canals of Venice. We thought we might not be able to because it was pouring at the time we were supposed to go. So we hung around Piazza San Marco for a while, and the rain stopped. We then went for a gondola ride with a cute gondolier named Alex. The fearsome foursome and Bill and I went through the canals. It wasShellynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5757795.post-1063136213690891752003-09-09T12:36:00.000-07:002003-09-09T13:07:59.406-07:00First post from the actual road - Hi folks. Typing from Venice, in a strange little internet cafe where a bunch of people are playing first person shooter games against each other. Could be home except for the cigarette smoke and foreign languages.
So far I've been to Lake Como. It's beautiful - think of the lake scene in the last crappy Star Wars movie. I think that was filmed at Lake ComoShellynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5757795.post-1062613188489398052003-09-03T11:19:00.000-07:002003-09-03T11:19:48.480-07:00First missive from (almost) the road - Ok, so I haven't really left yet. For those of you who are not familiar with blogs, they usually have the latest info at the top. So you may need to read from the bottom up. I'll be taking a digital camera, but not a laptop, so I won't be able to upload the pictures until I get home.
I've now obsessively packed and repacked a number of times. I'm sure I Shellynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5757795.post-1062485087420575912003-09-01T23:44:00.000-07:002003-09-01T23:50:48.243-07:00Pre-tour info - Here's my general itinerary... I leave on Wednesday for London, the layover for about 2 hours and then depart for Milan. I arrive in Milan around 5PM their time. I'll be staying at a hotel near the central train station. At around 5PM the next day I meet the tour group in Varenna.
I'm not sure how often I'll have free time to get internet access. Theoretically I'll have Shellynoreply@blogger.com0