Epilogue

Hello, it's Aditi. I just thought I'd write a quick sum up of my thoughts on the trip as it really was a once in a lifetime experience. Indeed as we've said: "why get drunk at Napa when we can be cultured in Europe?" Granted, we weren't that cultured - I mean we went to museums and stuff, but I think the experiences we enjoyed and will cherish the most were those that just happened because we were around each other and in such magical places. Personally, I will always carry with me memories of the pizza from Sorbillos in Naples; the flautist playing at night in Florence; the desperate need to get out of the Vatican Museum; the drink in Campo di'Firori; the over-nighter train to Paris; the glorious sunset from the Eiffel tower and of course and absolutely unforgettable 18th birthday. Spending these past days with two of my closest friends has been unbelievably fun, and I can't thank Laura and Milly enough for making it so special for me. Also for taking me to the Erotic Museum and buying me Fifty Shades of Grey - I am totally mortified. Here's to an amazing holiday, all the people we met (Jessica/Yessica, Eva, JAG, Gay Couple, Nick, Sam, Old-Lady-Who-Slapped-The-Pickpocket), all the food we ate, all the stuff w bought, all the times we embarrassed ourselves and of course to the three of us: may we never mature.

Lots and pots of love,
Shrinky (Aditi)

Day Ten - Paris

Today was Aditi's 18th birthday! Due to this we let her sleep in until 9 without badgering her, meanwhile Milly and I wrote her a brief birthday card/message on the back on a David postcard, because we all know that Aditi has a thing for him. So after finally managing to lure her out of the bed using the carrot and stick trick we set off on our secret itinerary that Milly and I had been refining.

First stop: Musee Rodin. The musee was nice and pretty but rather strange as most of the sculptures were outside and the inside of the museum was relatively small but, in classic Paris style, boiling. Honestly, Paris needs to invest in some fans!

After the Musee Rodin we went to find a mysterious Vietnamese nameless sandwhich shop which sells the best Bahn Mi Aditi has ever had - also the only, but that's besides the point. After walking around this one intersection about 12 times we decided that Aditi would look around and ask someone eating Bahn Mi where they got it. We found a couple. She got directions. We still couldn't find this place! After a bit more fussing we decided to ask someone else (assuming that the original couple were gone...they weren't). So very guiltily accepted their offer to show us exactly where it was. They had to  refind the place themselves!

Musee de Chocolat

Next was the Cimitere Pere Lachaise which is where Oscar Wilde is buried. Unfortunately, the cemetery wasn't open which was dissapointing.

Fourth stop: le Musee de Chocolat! It was pretty awesome and we spent longer in it than in basically any other museum so far - typical us. We then ventured to the world-famous Angelina's Cafe for their signature hot chocolate. It was soo rich we had to share 2 between the 3 of us!

After a very satisfying hot chocolate we embarked across Paris again, and as per usual (although this time was intentional), Aditi had no idea where we were going.

Outside the Sacre Coeur

Le Sacre Coeur

To the Sacre Coeur we went. It's the highest natural point in Paris and quite helpfully in an area called Monmatre. Le Sacre Coeur was beautiful, we went to the top of the dome climbing 292 steps up to see a panoramic view of Paris. It was simply gorgeous. The streets were higgledy-piggledy and the Eifferl tower dominated the skyline. It was exactly like (well to me) the scene in Moulin Rouge - the umbrella scene where Ewan McGregor (Christian) hangs off the tower in his dancing vision with Nicole Kidman (Satine). After treking downn the 328 steps we made our way deep into Monmatre.

We all came back a little bit different. We went in search of the Moulin Rouge. We had to stop Aditi spotting it beforehand so we made her walk looking down, which I thought was highly amusing as it looked as if we were transporting a very sensitive person. In any case, we found the moulin Rouge but at 95 euro (about $120) a head we were unable to go inside and see a show which really sucked.

After the obligatory pictures we moved up, our backup plan of the Lido also failing due to funding, about 100m down the road to le Musee de l'erotisme. The museum was (to our surprise) generally fascinating.

Paris Skyline

We got some dinner and drinks to celebrate Aditi's 18th and made our way back to the hostel only to find we had yet another random roomy. This time called Nick and from Sydney on his gap year - let's just say he was less than impressed with 3 girls coming into his room at half 2 in the morning, only to them tell him that a) we snore and b) we would be up at 5:30am. As I said, he was not impressed. Well, that was really the end of the night.

We slept, got up early and left. Our last night in Europe, Paris and together. But lets be honest we did find the whole thing exciting and frankly more interesting than getting wasted in napa. I truly thing that this was a trip that will stay with us forever.

Signing off for the final time
-Laura

Day Nine - Paris

Hello again! Aditi isn't writing today as she didn't register that much of it - none of us did to be honest because of the intense heat! Anyway, we travelled to Versailles - home of the former French royal family.

Firstly it's sheer size was overwhelming as we walked up the main road towards it (stopping to eat the best boulangerie sarnies). Also, it was pristine - the golf leaf that was everywhere shone almost painfully bright in the sunhine. Secondly, it was packed - pretty much everyone on the train was going to the Chateau, we still had to queue despite our Paris Passes giving us entry, but it was a fast enough moving for us not to mind too much.

In our classic way we did Versailles in an hour and a half, mainly because we could see the gardens from the windows, that while beautiful offered no shade, thus our plans couldn't be carried out and so we left after seeing the house! Marie Antoinette's bedroom being the highlight.

At the end the heat had rendered us silly so we came back to the hostel to crash out - and then met Sam, our 24h room mate. He's male, American and the only one asides from Jessica who we've properly spoken to - still trying to work out whether he's scary or not: he had his first gun when he was 12 and carried 2 knives around with him.  He was pretty hilarious in his attitude towards life 0 and very intriguing in his Americaness.

We finished the day with a 3 euro wine filled indoor picnic, which was weirdly fun. It was an early night though, so that Aditi's 18th birthday would be good.

-Milly

Day Eight - Paris

Inside the Louvre

Asides from the shockingly late start and finish today was arguably the best Parisian day we've had so far. When we finally arrived at the Louvre out Paris Passes proved their worth by us skipping the queue and free entry into everything! So, we saw the Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo and a hell of a lot of other pieces of art...all in less than 2 hours. Classic culture vultures right there.

Our delayed arrival was caused by a late wake up and then a picnic brunch at the Jardin Tuilieres which was lovely albeit packed. After securing a bench and picnicing we went on our way.

The highlight was hands down le Tour d'Eiffel, which we took the lift to the highest platform - a mildly scarring experience for me. However, once we reached the top the views were so spectacular that all dizziness or vertigo was forgotten; the perfectly apt glass of champagne (courtesy of Laura - thanks again) was the cherry on top of the beautiful sunset.


We followed it with what became a midnight meal nearby, only to collapse on our bunks when we returned. Safe to say it has been amazing!


- Milly

Day Seven - Paris

Today we arrived in Paris after a long night on the overnight train with Milan Man and a stowaway, which did not impress Milly or I; Aditi was asleep and missed most of the hoopla. We we got into the station we offloaded and went to find our hostel. As per usual everyone on the metro hated us and our giant hiking bags. We found the hostel...well we found the hostel reception, the hostel was in fact a 15min walk from the reception and our rooms weren't even ready.

Shady Spot

A baguette with brie and ham later we got to our rooms after (what seemed like) a trek through a Parisian suburb with our giant bags. We crashed out in our hostel for a bit as we thought we had deserved it.

Notre Dame

Then, deciding to maybe actually see Paris we left (this being about 6pm). We took a metro to see the Notre Dame but didn't go inside because the lines were crazy and after the Vatican we were feeling a bit churched out. So, as usual we found a nice shady spot and sat. Once we had eventually gotten sick of sitting and watching Mr. Fat Pigeon chase every other pigeon in sight we left for Champs Elysees and promptly left it to find some of the mystical cafes Aditi and Milly had told me about - cheap but tasty.

Bridge over the Seine River

We wondered around the backstreets, of what appeared to be the Political Quater, we decided that our stomachs were gonna try to eat themselves if we didn't get some food soon so we went into a fairly swanky place and ordered the cheapest thing on the menu - oglet de beouf. Fortunately, this was a good choice because it was actually really really tasty!

Leaving the restaurant we decided to go back to Champs Elysees via l'Hotel des Invalide and the beautiful bridge. Surprisingly the Champs Elysees was exactly as it is in the movies so after the expected tourist shots we decided that that was us for the night.

-Laura

Day Six - Venice

Venizia! City of history, canals and face-eating people (Whovians should understand the last one). And of couse, ridiculous spending. We arrived in the morning and after dumping out backpacks we set out to conquer the city...or so we thought. The number of tourists was ridiculous - Piazza San Marco was absolutely packed and lines to get into anything went on forever.

Tourist Apocalypse

We started with the Palazza Ducale, the Doge's Palace. The rooms, the ceilings, the staircases, everything was incredible! The prisons were quite depressing, as expected, and we walked across the famous Bridge of Sighs.

Doge's Palace

After that we went up the bell tower and were presented with the most gloriously beautiful view of Venice - and gale force winds. We then set off in search of food, which of course, was average and hideously expensive ; standard Venice.

One of the many mask
shops

The rest of the afternoon was spent roaming the many winding streets of the city and shopping. We bought, and we bought, and we bought - we basically had no money left by the end of it. And of course, typical us, we found a shady spot and sat. Best.

By the time we made it to our train, we were pretty pooped - though Laura gained a lot of energy when she realised the bunks of the carriage could be used as a climbing frame. The carriage wasn't bad, actually, just very smelly because of our feet.

Signing off now

-Aditi

Day Five - Florence

So today was our one and only day and night in Florence. Despite being told you can spend a week here, the single day has been lovely.

The Duomo (big church thing)

We arrived pretty early in the morning from Rome, after sleeping on the train we actually found out hostel easily - a rare occasion for us it seems. In fact we were so early we kicked out the previous residents from our room!

Once we'd dumped our stuff and vegged out for a good hour we picked up an early lunch and joined the massive queue to see Michelangelo's David. The queue took up half a street! However, it was well worth the wait as David is indeed beautiful - a bit of a must for Italy as even Florence's streets are pretty stunning.

The heat and extensive travel resulted in an extended siesta, which became a 3 hour crash out! We needed it though as the Venice madness is tomorrow and then Paris!

A David replica

Also, we fully understood the challenges of European haggling as the vendors are harsh here - it was the only major low point of Florence!

There ended up being a lot to love about the city. Namely the huge piazzas that were everywhere with dramatic facades on all sides - whoever was part of their design should get a medal. On top of that the evening proved to be the highlight with incredible street-musicians - a flautist and then chamber orchestra right outside our hostel stole the show!

We found my street! Unfortunately
it was pretty dodgey and gross

-Milly

Bit of a side note: Most people will try to tell you to spend days in Florence to see the art and experience the culture etc. To be perfectly honest I thought the people in Florence were a bit up themselves. Florence at night is gorgeous but unless you're a hardcore culture vulture then a day or two in Florence is all you need and I even suggest doing what we did: use it as a pit stop. Nap during the day experience during the night.

Day Four - Rome

Today was our last day in Rome - so instead of getting up semi-early and enjoying it we slept in and only left the B&B at midday. We then spent two and a half hours waiting for our number to be called at the temini (train station) so we could book our train tickets to Florence and then the ongoing leg to Venice. Two and half hours for a very nice man to be ridiculously efficient and serve us in under 2 minutes - go figure.

We then decided to go back to Pastarito (the place that Aditi mentioned in her P.S.) to have some lunch. It was awesome as we have come to expect from Italian food, we ended up having dessert a chocolate souffle, a profitarol and a lemon thing which was both incredible and mind-blowing!

Aditi on the Spanish Steps

From there we went to the Spanish Steps which to be honest was nothing more than a set of steps - pretty steps - but still steps. A wee bit disappointing, and actually looked nicer in some of the street art we found.

Pantheon

After the Spanish Steps we went to the Pantheon, which was pretty cool. The Pantheon is an old temple which can be found in most old European cities. It had an awesome looking ceiling but we couldn't figure out why it was designed like that which was unfortunate because it seemed quite interesting. Outside the Pantheon there are guys dressed up in Gladiator outfits to dupe unsuspecting tourists into getting ridiculously overpriced photos taken. We went to them willingly. Aditi got a picture or 7 with them, Milly was then dragged into getting pictures as well (the dragging being literal), I thought it was thoroughly hilarious!

Spray paint artist at Campo di'Fiori

Gladiator photos at the Pantheon

Then off to Campo di'Fiori to get a drink which was lovely. Nice music (street artists), great atmosphere and very idyllic except for the Virgin Mary staring down at the open air pub, which was a little off putting when you finally saw it.

Once we'd had a nice sit down in Campo di'Fiori we ended the sightseeing part of our day at the Trevi Fountain which was packed. We all threw in coins to ensure we came back to Rome and them promptly left after a couple of photos.

Trevi Fountain

We left the Trevi Fountain in search of the Antica Birrira, an apparently well known restaurant and brewery. Turned out there were a couple of Hen's Nights going on so that was quite amusing as it involved interesting presents from the staff at the Antica Birrira and the whole restaurant standing up and clapping.

Anyway, off to bed because Putty is positively puffed!

-Laura

Day Three - Rome

Laura is pestering me continuously about writing this dairy entry, so in my small rebellion, I will try to write as much as I can in verse.

Today we went to Vatican City,

And my gosh, it was so pretty!

But our audio-guide kept preaching at us,

And we had to be sure not to cuss.

The Vatican had such a great crowd,

And it was hot; the sky had not a cloud.

Saint Peter's Basilica was massive!

Not even atheists could remain passive.

The museum went on forever,

I guess the planners were being clever,

Because we were forced to go through every room,

Vatican Square

And though they were awesome, they were doom.

Though the Sistine Chapel was the highlight -

By the time we left it was twilight.

Now we're just chilling on the bed,

And the white-girls are kinda red.

We're going to a brewery to eat,

But damn! We've got pain in our feet!

And now my rhyme is ending,

Because my shower is pending.

Boom! I'm so awesome. Also, one more little detail I couldn't include in my work of genius: A street vendor, in an effort to sell us bags, referred to us as 'shaka-laka-boom-boom girls'...what?!

One of the seemingly endless corridors in the Vatican Museum

All in all, today was a really fascinating day and we saw some truly gorgeous sites, but it was tiring too and I am looking forward to that shower!

Till next time - toodle pip!

- Aditi

P.S. Just got back from dinner - best pasta of my life! I feel like an elephant. I'm so full. But it was absolutely worth it. Also, the wine was lovely-jubly.

Day Two - Rome

The classic shot of the Colosseo and actually what you see when
you walk out from the metro station.

Today we arrived in Rome! The train journey was surprisingly easy and (dare I say) not stressful. Finding the B&B however was next to impossible. 20 tries of directions and a broken picture frame later we found it. The reaction we had to our own room instead of a dorm proves that we luxury when we see it. Plus, the showers must have been a product from the Gods!

After our hunt and chill out recovery session, we went on the Ceaser shuffle - the Colosseo (Colosseum) and the Palatine Hill. The sheer scale o the buildings (now ruins) amazed me. There was a real sense of the drama and performance of the Gladiator battles, but moreover the tragedy of the place - I guess it's the whole idea of cruel entertainment (pointed out by the Hunger Games and Reality TV). It was so imposing as a result.

To top it off, it was boiling. Well, a mild exaggeration in comparison to Naples but my fear of the sun escalated to a new level. No burns so far.

Another shady spot

Afterwards, we went to the Circus Massimo/Maximus. I expected so much more, as it's under development as a tourist site - basically it's a plot of land with a tower and JCB...So a bit of a let down, but still a place of history all the same.

Our B&B, keeping up the tren of bad directions sent us to what seems to me a mythical place. Ah, well.

Thus, it was an eventful day, but so far Rome has become a bit of a special place, just for its beauty.

-Milly

Day One - Naples

Random plinth we found in
Pompeii

Today we went to Pompeii and the Museo Archilogica Nazionale (National Archaeological Museum). Pompeii was hot and very still so that didn't help and made it feel hotter! We left Naples an hour later than expected but left the Pompeii ruins about two hours earlier so we totally overestimated the time we would spend. By the end of Pompeii (12:30) we were nasty and grossly sweaty so decided to go back to the hostel for a siesta-style break. Pompeii was ruins and to be honest that's all there was. There were a couple of rooms which had an odd table still in it but the table was roped off and you couldn't even get into the room. I was a little dissapointed with Pompeii because I expected it to be much...more and it just wasn't. Still worth the trip but don't get your hopes up.

Aditi and Milly being dramatic

We went to lunch at the famed Sorbillo (after our short trip to Pompeii) which was INCREDIBLE. The pizzas were literally a work of art and very different to pizza - even good pizza - anywhere else. We went back for dinner.

Our first shady spot (Pompeii)

Aditi in the main church(?) in
Pompeii

We then went to the Museo Nazionale which was fairly interesting but a but typical for a museum: a lot of busts and statues of Greek people eg. Augustus, Marcus Aurelius etc. There was a really cool room with a spectacular ceiling and a dozen big paintings, one of which (Milly informed us) was of Adam.

Gabinetto Segreto

Then we found the Gabinetto Segreto (Secret Room). It's a section of the museum dedicated to brothel-style art: frescos, sculptures and figurines. It was actually pretty fascinating to learn about the history behind the room - there used to be rooms like the Gabinetto Segreto in most museums around the time that people started lobbing off male sculptures endowments, this one happened to be one of the most notorious and thus one of the most famous. Interestingly, a lot of the pieces were from Pompeii, which (like this particular Gabinetto Segreto) was infamous for it's more risque lifestyle and artwork. We seemed to have developed a knack of finding nice shady spots in amongst all the culture, unfortunately once we had sat for about half an hour in the shady spot in the museo we decided that the rest of it would simply be far too exhausting. We went back to the hostel and relaxed in the common room (also called the Pillow Room, although there was a definite lack of pillows) until dinner then when back to the museum that is Sorbillo.

We're leaving the hostel at 5:30am to get our first intercity train to Rome so must go and pack.

-Laura

A Sort of Preface

With two of my friends from school I went to Europe on a Senior Trip. Most people go to places like Ayia Napa (Cyprus) or Greece for their senior trips because the booze is cheap and there are always parties, however my two friends (Milly and Aditi) and I decided that we didn't particularly want to spend close to 10,000AED (about 2500AUD) on getting drunk and losing eyebrows so we went to Italy and France, choosing cities which took our fancy: Naples, Rome, Florence, Venice and Paris.
The title for my Facebook album (after all, a trip is never official until it's Facebook official) was quite fitting I thought: 'Why get wasted when you can get cultured?'
The cities we chose were based on a Lonely Planet Western Europe guidebook and previous experience from Aditi and Milly.
The diary entries were originally just so we could recount to our parents what happened on our trip and to amuse each other the next day remembering our faux pas moments from the previous days but towards the end of the trip we realised that we'd be flung to the far corners of the planet and this was something to connect us, so I elected myself as the person to type our diaries up and put it online so we can all access it along with our parents and anyone else who might be interested. The first couple of days aren't written particularly well so I'll end up editing bits and pieces (not much) so the grammar and general flow of it is better, but they still won't be spectacular.
Onto the posts.
-Laura