Venice: Regaining Our Apetite for Adventure

Have no fear, we are both alive and well. Apologies for the two days without an update. Get ready for a swift summary of our last day in Interlaken and our time in Venice.

Beautiful Lake Brienz

After Heather came down with a virus, likely the same, we decided that canyoning would not be as much fun when you already feel like you want to die. Luckily Heather did not seem to have it as bad as Janelle did, or perhaps because she didn't try to eat or drink anything (lesson learned from the first incident) she wasn't as sick. She resembled a sloth for a good part of the day. Good thing Janelle didn't fall from a tree and need to be rescued! Nap on the hostel couch. Walk around town and take breaks. Attempt jumping photos. Nap on grass. Buy food for lunch. Attempt to eat soup, but briskly wave your white flag when your stomach charges again. Retreat to hostel couch to nap again. Wake up and switch couches. Nap another hour. Wake up and hear stories of how one person had been airlifted out of the canyons after breaking his ankle, a girl had crashed her moped and injured her hip, another person fell off their bike and ripped up the side of his face, and a final guy had smashed his chin canyoning. Maybe it was a good thing Heather had no energy to go canyoning (because we all know Janelle would have been one of those casualties)!

Poor attempts at timed jump shots

The Boys skipping stones.

Heather awoke to a note Janelle had left saying "I've gone for a walk, see you in a bit!" and soon joined Janelle with some new friends from Georgia Tech who are studying for a semester in Oxford. They had gone to visit beautiful Lake Brienz, one of the lakes of Interlaken (literally translated to mean "between lakes") and took some pictures to send home to mom. We celebrated one guy's birthday at Hooters (Yes, they have Hooters in Interlaken) before going out to the bar at our hostel. We decided that a good dose of dancing was just the treatment to kick the sickness, and got sweatier than RMC boys at Stages "Beach Slam". We got a few hours of sleep before waking up at 4:45am to make our early train to Venice. It was smooth sailing, but quite the long journey. We left Interlaken at 5:26am and arrived in Venice at 3:05pm. It feels a little like we've been living on the trains! We are so thankful that tomorrow's train to Florence is only 2 hours. Piece of cake!

When we arrived in Venice we followed directions to the hotel, which were misleading as Venice has the fewest streets signs and most convoluted streets. We stopped into a random hotel to ask for directions and a map, per favore! Much better! We then began the long walk along the main street of Venice (~ 30 minutes down narrow and over-crowded with people), only stopping temporarily under a store canopy to avoid the downpour of rain. We caught a bit of the shower before we were able to check in and take a proper one in our air-conditioned (WOOO!) hotel room. Well-priced and well worth it!

Our appetites slowly gained their strength and we have helped to fuel them with some pizza, fresh fruit smoothies, and gelato! We tried to make our way to a pizza joint that promised good food as Venice is known for having poor food at high prices, even by non-foodie standards. However that was simply too hard to find for our hungry, tired selves (Hungry Janelle = grumpy. Tired Heather = grumpy. Combination = Not likely to be friends when we return to Canada) and we settled for some pizza and house wine at a small snackbar. Perfecto!

Pizze and wine :)

Delicious Gelato

To-die-for smoothies

Taking the advice our mom's and pseudo-mom's had given us, we stayed in to rest and watched "Letter's to Juliet." A perfect tale of love in Italy with just enough plot to keep us awake but not make us think. Then we crashed for a solid 12 hours of bliss.

Dear Air-Conditioning, 
You were great last night. Keep up the good work. 
Sincerely, H Sizzle and J Tizzle.

Clock tower

Outside the Basilica

A picture we sneaked in at the museum

Today we started out with a natural kick of fruit smoothies to get our mojo going and help us navigate the streets and crowds to Piazza San Marco. From the top of St. Mark's Clock Tower we took in breath-taking views of the city, and caught a nice breeze to cool us off. We explored more of Venice's labyrinths and made our way to Palazzo Grassi. This is a contemporary art museum with displays of works that made you think. We also checked out Santa Maria del Salute, one of the most beautiful churches in Venice, and then took an AquaBus as a budget version of the gondola. Completely different. Probably not comparable in the slightest. Our ride: hot, sweaty, crowded with people who don't shower or shave. Our perception of a gondola ride: breezy, romantic, and 100 Euro more than we want to pay.

 We unfortunately missed out on St. Mark's Basilica because it had just closed by the time we returned to the square. We are devastated :( and kicking ourselves for not checking the time it closed. Since we depart at 9:30 tomorrow morning we won't be able to visit before we board the train. While we are disappointed that we missed this "can't miss" spectacular, we are very excited to go to Florence!

We are meeting up with two of Heather's friends from elementary/high school who are as clever as they are fun. Alexandra has a whirlwind tour of Florence's historical landmarks planned for tomorrow afternoon, which includes dinner at her favourite restaurant and gelato to blow our minds. Wednesday we are going on a Tuscan horseback adventure before indulging in some amazing pizza and then an outdoor club. It will be a great break not having to plan what to do or how to get around, as well as a perfectly marvelous reunion!

Now that our legs are rested, we have cooled off in the AC and teased our tummies with milk and cookies (yes, we bought milk and cookies at a corner store...we are children at heart) we are heading out for some wine and a small dinner. If we are feeling up to it we may stay up past 10 like grownups do and check out some night life in Campo San Magherita (as recommended by our Georgie Tech friends).

Salute, Prost, Cheers!

BOOTCAMP at last

International BOOTCAMP Number One

Last night while planning the next leg of our adventures in the hostel’s funky common room, we met our first group of keen bootcampers. Speaking of our plan for an early morning run was a language all of them understood and practiced fluently. We met Ben from Melbourne AUS, Sam from Oklahoma USA, and Martijn from Holland at 6am in the lobby and set out with a partial map and camera in hand. Here is the workout we enjoyed!

Run 3.5km from Mosaic House Hostel north along the river, across Charles bridge, to the John Lennon wall, and then race up the stairs again to the Charles bridge. Run towards the Castle up the long hill and stairs, and into the courtyard.

BOOTCAMP BREAK

Tabata Drill: (20s on 10s off) x 8. Alternate between plyometric lunges and mountain climbers.

Group Pushup: One at a time, each person does 10 pushups. When you are not doing pushups you must hold a plank position.

Run 3.5 km back to Mosaic House (appreciate the downhill and intricate cobblestone!) and catch your train to Munich (us), plane to Croatia (Ben and Martijn) or a train to Vienna (Sam).

We wish we had met these guys earlier – they were super friendly, fit, and would be fun to travel with! Best of travels boys and enjoy the sun in the south!


PS Yes we are sporting our Prague pub crawl t-shirts, gym boss interval timer, and GPS watch "Bev." Boy Scouts motto: Be Prepared!

Au Revoir Paris!

Well that was a close call. 

View from underneath the Arc de Triomphe

Our fitness levels definitely came in handy yesterday morning. There is nothing quite like running for a train that is about the leave the station, with 19kg backpacks on our shoulders, a 8kg front pack, and side bag bottle of wine/food/sweaters etc. The heart sure was pounding. Yet somehow we managed to make it. Hallelujah! Lady luck was on our side.

Looking good, as always!

Self shot with the Eiffel Tower

Beautiful!

Great views of the city and less work than stairs!

After the other day’s sleep in and leisurely breakfast we took the metro down to l’Arc de Triomphe and gawked amidst the crowd of tourists. Never before have I seen so many tourists in a city. It is truly overwhelming. Next we headed back to the Eiffel Tower to catch bus #69 (Thank you Anne for the recommendation!). A tour of the city for 1,90 – yes please! We stopped off near the opera house because the bus was getting stuffy and our eyes had wandered across some creperies. Just the fix for Janelle’s car sickness! A lovely crepe with nutella and banana, and a McLatte to give us another boost. Then we headed back towards Musee d’Orsay only to discover it is closed on Mondays. Devastation.

We were appeased by a walk through les Jardins Tuileries and a ride up a ferris wheel from a festival that was in town. Amazing views of the city! We ventured down to the Louvre to get maps so we can plan our route through the 12miles of galleries when we return.

L'As du Falafel with the ladies. YUM!

We picked up a few souvenirs before meeting up with Caitlin and Heidi for AMAZING falafels. The line outside of the restaurant was longer than queues for Harry Potter on opening night. We soon realized why. Delicious, fresh pitas, and attractive servers make this a place I would recommend to any traveler passing through.

Up top!

In front of Notre Dame

The girls had not yet seen Notre Dame Cathedral so we walked off our dinner on the Ile de la Cite, and then through various neighbourhoods and along the Seine. Upon picking up groceries for the train we secured another bottle of wine. It was only appropriate to drink it as romantically as we had the evening previous. The location was Sacre-Coeur, perched on a hill overlooking the entire city. The hike up the hill was thoroughly worth it. Beautiful views, fantastic company, and another perfect end to our day.

Heather's new boyfriend. Pucker up!

Sacre-Coeur at night.

Yesterday morning we woke early (hello 5:30, I've Heather missed you!) to visit Sacre-Coeur again, this time running shoes cushioned our feet. We snapped a few shots of the city and were heckled by Parisiens left over from last night’s drinks. We definitely weren’t laughing when we realized we had run down the wrong side of the hill. Idiots. Fit idiots nonetheless! Lungs and thighs burning, we got some good character building in this morning. The slight detour explains our rush to the train station (don’t worry we were able to shower!), and narrowly making the train. We breathed a big sigh of relief, and vowed to never cut it that close again.

Parkour!

Sacre-Coeur in early morning light.

Yea, we workout. Not many would run up the hills we did.

Inside the Louvre

Next stop, Amsterdam for some exploration of the city’s wonders: canal boat cruise, House of Anne Frank, bicycle tour of the city, tour of the red light district, …sex museum, condomerie, and other various markets and museums of the area. We will return home well cultured. Don’t worry Moms, we’re not going to the Prostitution Information Centre. We’re not that low on cash… yet.

We will let you know what we got up to later today!

Dag!

Perfect Practice Makes Perfect

Unlike Iverson, I believe training and preparation can make any task incredibly more enjoyable. I've winged things more than enough to know that it can be enjoyable as well... but there is no substitute for hard work. You can't do on race day what you never did in practice. Luckily, we've been training for the trip.

Getting ready to sweat: Thanks to the recent heat wave, lack of air conditioning, incredibly poor circulation in our apartments, and the need to do moderately heavy labour (packing up apartment), my sweat glands have been firing away. All in preparation for the uncomfortably hot temperatures and 24/7 glow we will be sporting. I think we are ready to go.

Workout in the heat: There have been a few runs (which undoubtedly transformed into run-walks) that I have hallucinated on due to loss of hydration. I've made it back safely each time. Bring on the foreign streets and temperatures of Europe; the inner compass and determination is ready.

Be able to drink with the locals: In honour of Janelle's birthday several casual (read superfluous) birthday drinks were consumed Tuesday night. The livers are good to go and live up to our Canadian name. We've also been practicing drinking from boots. Beerfest here we come!

Recover the next day: The perfect remedy to help the liver and body recover: Gatorade. Water. Tylenol. Coffee. Food. A touch of exercise, and Gelato. Life is good again.

Sleep in a stranger's bed: Sympathy from friends who fully understand the conditions outlined in the first bullet meant for an offer to sleep in an air conditioned apartment. I don't think I have ever slept better in my life. The key now will be to make sure our hostels have air conditioning. I have not trained for a sweaty sleep in a stranger's bed. I'll just have to wing it if needed.

Get ready for extended periods of seated travel: Sitting through a CPR and First Aid re-certification course has taught me that I really struggle to be still, and my bottom side can get quite sore sitting all day. The obvious remedy will be to bring sedatives on our transportation to keep calm. That, and we will need to kept productive. You will likely receive long blog posts during these unbearable journeys. Please enjoy!