Venice Italy, Pictures

Another interesting day in Italy. Today I traveled by train from Florence to Venice. It was a three hour train ride. I arrived in Venice and took two busses to get to the "hostel." It is located in a campground close to the airport. I didn't know hostels could exist at a campground. You can stay in a tent for one, two or three or a "cabin" for three. I am in the cabin, luckly, as it was raining today. The "cabin" is a trailer with bunk beds and a bathroom. Interesting to say the least. I booked this place from my last hostel as they are the same company and at the last location it was bright, clean, spacious had a spa and indoor pool. So I thought what the hell. This should be equivalent. No, but it isn't bad it just makes me laugh that you could get anything from a massage to waxing at the last place and tonight I will be lucky if I am dry.

Venice is cool. I am actually 30 minutes outside of Venice so I took the two busses back into town once the rain stopped. It is something to see with it's many waterways, boats and people everywhere. I even saw three water ambulances and a police boat. I couldn't help but worry about children living in those houses right on the water. I would be afraid they would run out the front door and end up in the water.

It is a romantic city though. There were people taking gondola rides and lapping up the scenery. A gondola ride is 80 Euro for a half an hour ride, so I took the water bus for 6.50 Euro each way and took pictures of the people in their gondolas.

Click on the link for Venice Photos

Pompeii and Florence Italy

Well I had an interesting train ride yesterday. I went from Rome to Naples, Naples to Pompeii and then Pompeii to Naples, had a hiccup in Naples and then on to Florence. So the hiccup or story comes after I have spent the day checking out the ancient Roman ruins in Pompeii. Which by the way were very interesting. The ruins were covered by volcanic ash and rock in 79 AD allowing the preservation of the Roman city. It was very cool to check out the city, stadium and streets.

The hiccup or story: I arrived at the train station via a subway train to head on to my next destination, Florence. I was to take a couple of different trains to get there with a switch in Rome. The train was to leave Naples at 4:30 pm following by a quick change in Rome and on to Florence. In Naples it was after 4:20 and the platform number was still not up on the screen. I went to customer care to ask about it. When I was there they informed me that the train was 15 minutes late. I indicated that that was not going to work for me as I had another train to catch in Rome and if we were late I would miss it. The man checked the computer, looked at a few schedules, talked to another person working there, got on his cell phone and talked to another, all in Italian, so I had no idea what was going on. This took more than 15 minutes and as it turned out the train was now going to be 45 minutes late. He said you no worry, no worry. Well someone was looking out for me. After all these conversations and a few new stamps and a note written on my ticket he personally escorted me to the platform and to the steward of a high speed train and told me no problem, direct train to Florence, high speed, first class, no charge, no worries. I got free drinks and a chocolate bar twice on the trip that took three hours as opposed to six hours and arrived in Florence when it was still light out. The man was so nice and a lovely little hiccup.

Florence is another city that you can walk around easily and see the many churches, museums and sites by foot. Needless to say my feet are sore and would love a massage from all those willing. So I and everyone else are walking Italy. I haven’t mentioned it, but there are people everywhere.

Click on this link for Pompeii and Florence Italy Pictures

Vatican, pictures

Today I spent the day at the Vatican. It was a day full of long lineups and tons of people. I waited two hours to get into the Vatican museum. The line was two or three kilometers long. It was free today as it is the last Sunday of the month. It normally costs 14 Euro and for your information 1 Eruo is $1.77 Cdn at the moment. They say no matter the day it is a two hour wait.

I also went to St Peter's Basilica, the Vatican's main church. It was a 40 minute wait to get in and it was stunning. I made it for mass too. Father Bill gets more people for his masses at St Anne's. I thought it would be packed. It was 45 minutes long and in Italian.

There was a celebration at St Peter's square today as four new saints were named.

Click on the link for Vatican pictures

More Egypt and Rome, photos

Click on this link to see more Egypt and Rome photos

Egypt was fantastic. I traveled with great people and made some excellent friends. We had a blast together and the history there was spectacular. We spent a day and a night on a fuluca, a wind powered boat. It was so relaxing. We went to Luxor and visited The Valley of the Kings where there are 63 tombs and the most recent one only being discovered seven months ago. We were able to go into three tombs while we were there. The craftmanship thousands of years ago was amazing. The angles and rectangular corridors are perfect. Then if you look at their current buildings they are slapped together brick buildings that leave a lot to be desired.

We spent three nights in Hurghada, a resort area that a lot of Europeans visit. It was good. A sickness went through some of us there and I was very sick one night, thank God it was only for one night. It was neat to see all of these people hanging on the Red Sea in the resort area and then you think behind this town in the same country is over 5000 years of history. It was nice to be able to experience both types of travel in the one trip.

I went scuba diving in the Red Sea. I saw a dolphin and a ray that was yellow with blue polka dots. There was beautiful coral cliffs over 15m deep.

I am currently in Rome and enjoying the history here too. Now the sites are all within walking distance and I have spent the day exploring the blocks. Around each corner is another beautiful building.

Hope you are all well. I sure am. Thinking of you all. Love Sarah

Abu Simbel Temple Egypt, Pictures

Click on link for Abu Simbel Temple Pictures, Egypt

The day started with a 3:30am wakeup call followed by a 3:41am call to cancel the 4am convoy to Abu Simbel due to bad weather (a sand storm). We were to go back to bed and make sure we ate by 10am, meet at 10:30am to take the 11am convoy. We were part of 50 – 70 busses and vans traveling 3 hours through the dessert with police escort at the beginning, middle and end of the convoy. It was for protection incase of breakdown or thieves as there is nothing between Aswan and Abu Simbel, Egypt. There was the odd check point but no houses, service stations or people, just sand. Abu Simbel is 50 kms from the Sudan boarder.

Abu Simbel is two temples in the dessert. They were built in 1300 BC. The king made one for himself and another for his wife or wives. I think it was for his one special wife, but not sure. He had 85 wives and 155 children. The temples were very cool with amazing carvings and details. Each detail is of significance. The way the arms are crossed, royalty and it was made when they were dead. The stance, what's in their hands the headpieces every little thing has some special meaning.

Again this was another project that was moved from one area to another from 1964 – 1968 it was dismantled and moved at a cost of $40 million. It was moved because of this damn and the Nasser Lake. I don't know why they just didn't divert the water again, who knows.

We have been having excellent Egyptian food. I wouldn't normally choose where we eat or the food, but it has been fantastic. It is great to have the guide. For example the other day we entered one restaurant and at the entrance was raw meat strung all over the place and I am sure I heard a saw cutting bones while we were eating. But it is great food. We had a mixed barbeque of meats that day.

Off for a day on the Felucca, a wind powered boat that we will cruise 45km down the Nile in and sleep on tonight.

Pyramids, Egypt, Photos

Click on the following link for the Pyramid pictures.

Link for Pyramid Photos

I had an Easter Monday to remember. I spent the day exploring the Pyramids. They were spectacular. I loved climbing around the Giza site. There were three at that location that are approximately 5000 years old! I also had a camel ride around the Pyramids.

I am traveling with a small group of six people around Egypt for the next couple of weeks. It is terrific, we have a guide and it has made life easy and hassle free.

After the Pyramids and camel ride we visited the Egyptian Museum. Man the history here. I am sorry but I knew nothing about Egyptian history before coming and it has humbled me. I am amazed at how old everything is. I will have to do some reading.

At the museum I went into the mummy exhibit. It was so neat. The mummies were from 2100 and 1000 B.C. (before Christ!). It was shocking for me. The mummies were in great shape with hair, skin, fingernails and the intricate wrappings on some of them.

I ate pigeon today. It had a lot of bones, not a lot of meat.

We took a sleeper train last night it was first class and way above my expectations. I am now in Ashwan Egypt at the south and going even further south tomorrow, within 50kms of the Sudan boarder.

Today we visited a Greek Roman Temple (Philae Temple). Again the history, it was from 230 B.C. and was moved from one island to another from 1970 – 1980 after being submerged in the Nile River. Each wall or pillar tells a different myth or story. The legends and stories are overwhelming. My brain is on overload. I also visited the Unfinished Oblisk today. It is a large phallic sculpture made of granite that cracked while being constructed. All of the granite for the temples comes from the area of Ashwan and is transported throughout all the Egypt. This all started thousands of years ago, before Christ.

I am having a spectacular time in Egypt, hope you are all well.

P.S. It was 46 degrees Celsius today in Ashwan!

Munich Germany, Pictures

Click on the following link to see the Munich pictures.
Munich Photos
I have spent the last few days in Munich. It is a great city. I went to the BMW museum it was fabulous. Did you know they make a clay model of each vehicle or proto type? I learned they employ a ton of different artists above the typical engineers etc. In Munich alone BWM employs approximateley 35 000.

The BWM area was dominating. The buildings were works of art. They are big on creativity and solar energy. The BWM headquarters building is in the shape of four cylinders. Frank and all other auto teachers will have to take a class trip to Munich.

I went on a walking tour of the city, saw tons of churches, climbed one of the steeples for a panoramic view of Munich. Took part in the Good Friday procession while on the tour!

I went to Dacau Concentration Camp, wow! It was a beautiful warm day, but I couldn´t help but feel cold and chilled in the cells and gas chamber. Dacau was a concentration camp, not a death camp. The people were sent there to work. The sign on the gate indicates that work liberates. They were under the false pretences that if they worked hard they may be freed. Dacau is a place of learning and remembering. It was amazing to see a map indicating the number of concentration camps, subcamps etc. that existed. There was one memorial that said we must honor the dead and worn the living. It was about making people aware of what humans are capable of doing to each other. I cann´t do it justice, it was a powerful place.

BMW Z4, Germany, Pictures

Well last night was an interesting night. I had emailed Olaf my friend that I met in Africa. He and I were truck buddies. We sat together for a month through Africa, poor guy. Anyway small world he lives within one kilometer of Erin. So we met up last evening. Erin was not feeling well so didn’t join us. When I met him it was funny, he said “have you ordered a drink?” I said “no.” He said “great lets go somewhere else.” So instead of walking he brought his new BMW Z4 convertible to take me for a rip. Remember I told you lots of nice sports cars in Frankfurt. So there we were. I got a tour of the historic sites of Frankfurt in the BWM with the roof down and then we had to take her for a rip on the autobahn (highway). Remember, no speed limit, you are only limited by the vehicle in front of you so we had it up to 200 km/h. It was great, we spent so much time together in Africa he knew I love cars and had to bring it and take me for a ride.

After our tour we met up with Carmel his girlfriend who is from Ireland and did dinner at a German pub. We sampled the famous apple wine (cider) and then visited a wine cellar that was literally an underground pub complete with a free musty smell. They have interesting versions of beer here to try. I have had the cola beer, banana beer and my favorite the grapefruit beer.

Check out the pictures at the following link.

More Germany Photos

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Germany, Pictures

Germany has been great I have to say a very big THANK YOU to Erin for letting me come. I came last minute on her when the malaria medication was playing havoc with me in India, thanks again Erin.

Erin has two great apartments here in Germany, one in Frankfurt, where she works at the Dow Jones as a Financial Journalist and another in Heidelberg with her boyfriend Thomas. They are both great. Frankfurt is a big city with lots of money and sports cars and Heidelberg is a very quant and calming area in the hills with lots of nice homes, gardens, lovely trees and flowers blooming.

I mention the sports cars because as I just learned Germany does not have a speed limit. I am not sure why more Canadian men do not visit Germany. You can rent a Porsche or a Ferrari and let her rip. Even I was feeling the need for speed and thought man, I would get one of those babies and red line her. My bothers would be happy that I can tell them I saw a new Corvette today. So if you want to see some nice wheels and you’re interested in seeing how fast they will go, visit Germany.

There were a lot of police around the other day when we were in Karlsruhe as Obama was in Baden-Baden which is not far from there. We must have seen a pack of 20 motorcycle cops followed by four police crusers.

The weather has been lovely here. No rain, nice sunny days with a high around 20 degrees Celsius.

Click on the following link for some pictures.

Germany Pictures

http://picasaweb.google.com/sarahemoloney/Germany#