Author Archives: jennifer

Naples, Italy: Side Trip to Pompeii

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Today is one of those days where I am reminded how much I love traveling solo.

My original plans for today were to overdo sightseeing.  I was determined to go to Pompeii, Herculaneum and Mount Vesuvius all in one day.  The internet says it can not be done, I say it can.  I guess we will never know now though because I ended up making a very last second decision to go to Sorrento after Pompeii, rather than keeping my original plans.  Changing plans last minute always seems to be so easy when you are solo and so difficult when you are not.  I didn’t have to confer with anyone, all I had to do was get on the train.

First stop:  Pompeii.  I took the Circumvesuviana train here from Naples.  At the Naples train station, some random guy approached me and asked me if I was looking for the ticket booth.  I made the mistake of saying yes.  Oh here we go. He then tries escorting me through the train station, out the other side and down a new entrance. I do not want him to do this because I know he is going to ask me for money.  I actually say to him “I am not giving you any money, I can make it the rest of the way by myself”.  He ignores me.  We get to the ticket window and he tries to pay for my ticket.  I think the trick  here is that he pays for my ticket (it was something like €2.40) and then would hope I would not have exact change and give him a €5 bill).  I keep insisting “DO NOT BUY MY TICKET” and he will not stop.  So I then yell to the booth guy “DO NOT SELL HIM MY TICKET”. Then I think I will outsmart him and pay with a credit card.  No change, no cash, sorry guy.  But the Circumvesuviana does not take credit cards.  ARGH.

So I pay in cash and turn to leave.  My unwanted escort asks me to buy him a cup of coffee.  NO.  I find it so completely annoying when people do things like this.

The train comes and its every bit as run down and rickety as the internet told me it would be.  It was also hot as hell on there.

We get to Pompeii.  Walking from the train station to the entrance is about a five minute walk, during which you are offered to purchase a bunch of things such as slushies, sun hats and souvenirs.  I almost bought an enormous sun hat as my 100 spf sun screen is not working and I am so burned up.  But I resisted.

Pompeii is HOT today.  Burning hot.  There are just about zero spots with shade inside here.  I had to keep reminding myself “you know, people here died from being buried under volcanic ash, I bet they would love to trade spots with you”.

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An Ode to Hotel Beds

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I could not even count how many times people have said “You look like you need a vacation from your vacation” to me at work when I return from time off looking like I am sleep walking.  It is always followed by a huge laugh by whoever said it, which is typical of office life.  Say something generic and predictable and then laugh hysterically as if what you said was not generic or predictable.  How do these people live with themselves.

All the traveling I have done in the past two months has left me exhausted.  I am not at all complaining.  I am just explaining why I am walking around my job looking like a zombie.  I have been “You need a vacation from your vacation”-ed at least twelve times this week.  I don’t need a vacation from my vacation, I need a vacation from YOU AND YOUR BORING AND PREDICTABLE OFFICE SPEAK.

But I am not going to write about how much I dislike stereotypical office workers today.  Well not anymore than I already have anyway. Today I am going to write about beds.  Because I am tired. And I want to be in bed right now.  Because i am so tired.  Did I mention TIRED?

This morning as my alarm went off, I rolled over to hit the snooze button.  I was greeted by the most perfect temperature of cool air flowing in through my window.  I did not want to get out of bed.  It is perfect sleeping weather.  I was so comfortable.   My fancy bed, fancy mattress, mattress pad, 1000 thread count sheets, crisp and clean duvet cover that still has a slight scent of bleach from the last time I washed it.   Absolute perfection.

I am so looking forward to going back home after work today, getting into pajamas that were washed with fabric softener in a washing machine, then dried in an actual dryer, coming out so soft.  Then I will crawl into my bed with my newest Lonely Planet guides that I scored at the library last night (I got Bali, Borneo and Papua New Guinea) and just pass right out and sleep forever.  Because I am so tired.

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Naples, Italy: SideTrip to Capri

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I woke up early for my trip to Capri.  I have been dying to see this place.  Being as stubborn as I am, I refuse cabs.  So I walked to the ferry and I got so very lost.  I mean LOST.  And sunburned

When I found the ferry terminal, it was the slow ferry terminal. The fast ferries leave from somewhere else, but damned if I was going to try and find it.

I did a quick picture post here:

http://iputmylifeonashelf.com/2013/05/03/quick-picture-post-capri-italy/

swing chair lift to monte solaro summit, capri island, italy

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From Almost Dying in Paris, France to Getting Groped in Naples, Italy

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Today started off really great.  I woke up at 2:00 am to get ready to be picked up by Supershuttle at 3:30 am.  As I am showering, I manage to FALL in my bathtub.  It was the weirdest fall ever.  You know how when you start to fall, one foot slides and you try to grab onto something to balance yourself?  Well first off, there is nothing here to balance myself on.  Not even a shower curtain:

bath tub

Second, both feet gave out at the same time.   One minute I was standing, the next I was sitting.

To add insult to idiocy, I could not get back up.  There was nothing to hold onto.  When I would try to stand up, I would still slip on my feet.  This was probably comical but at the time, I was sure I was going to die. Or at the very least, have to invest in a Life Alert.   Finally, I got myself out of the tub.

Next up:  leaving my room at 3:15 am.  They know I am leaving at this time, I told them the night before.  So it makes total sense that when I get downstairs, there is no one there.  That is fine.  Except that the door is automated and it is locked because there is no one there.  The lights are also off.  I start panicking.  I need to get out of here.  I go behind the desk and try and find the light but I cannot find anything because it is pitch black.  I envision my shuttle coming and the driver coming to the door with only a piece of glass separating us before he has to leave because I can not get out.

There is a garden out back.  I think I could maybe go out there and climb a fence or something and then make my way back to the door and ring the doorbell that is outside the door that I can not get out of.  Finally I have made enough of a ruckus that the guy who works there comes out and lets me outside.  WHEW.

I am flying to Naples today.  The flight was super quick.  Upon arrival, I took the shuttle to Garibaldi Station and attempt to find my hotel.  This took about half an hour.  The hotel is pretty much RIGHT AT where I got dropped off.   But the combination of not reading a map and lack of signage made me take this long to get there.

My hotel ruled.  It was only about 10:00 am when I showed up.  They were still serving breakfast to last night’s guest . They were so kind that they took me in and made me coffee and offered me breakfast.  Then I got brought to my room.  I already posted about my fabulous room, check it out here.

Sweet Sleep Bed and Breakfast Naples, Italy

From here, I took a nap.  It was so wonderful.

I went out to walk around.  I was sitting in a populated square in Napoli. Some drug addict came up and tried to talk to me, go away. Then he grabs my hand and tries to kiss it. I jerk it away and say in a really calm voice “Do not do that.” THEN. He grabs my boob! So I just impulsively kick him. His leg buckled a bit and he walked away casually as if nothing had happened. I looked around and either zero people saw or 100% of everyone who did see was acting like they didn’t. It was a bizarre experience for sure!

It was at this point, I gave up and decided that spending my evening on my enormous terrace was the way to go.  Turns out, I was right.

Paris Day Three – May 1, 2013

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Happy May Day – the day where everything is closed.

Today is so cold in Paris.  I long for my winter coat.  It was so painful walking around in just a hoodie.

I got up and walked around Paris for a while.

Some pictures from my morning walk:

Hôtel de Ville paris

La Conciergerie clock tower, Paris France

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15 Random Things About My Trip to Europe.

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In no particular order.

1. Do not go to Eastern Europe if seeing stray dogs upsets you.

2. Bulgaria has the nicest people on planet Earth.  This cannot be stressed enough.

3.  Going through the Turkey border was so annoying that I eventually ended up having a meltdown that left me talking out loud to myself on the bus.

4. Bulgarians are either the new leaders in the fashion world and are bringing back hair crimping, or they are so far behind fashion times that the 80’s just got there.

5.  I managed to get a passport stamp for every country I visited this trip (except obviously for Vatican City).  Take THAT Schengen Agreement!

6.  Duvel is delicious.

7. I am already going through withdrawal from liters of San Benedetto Peach Iced Tea.  It is even more delicious than Duvel.  I need to find me a European who is willing to act as my San Benedetto mule.

8. The world wide web is not world wide!!  It amazed me to do a Google search in Bulgaria that pulled up a bus company that lets you book tickets online AND even pick your seats, that never once came up during the 893249837483276289463 times I did the same exact Google search before I left.

9. I packed 99.9% perfectly for this trip.  There is not one item in my bag that I did not use.  The only things I needed to buy were eye drops and a replacement for my lip balm that I lost (and found about an hour after buying a new one)

10. I hate Rome.

11.  I love Naples

12.  Capri is a very beautiful place, a natural tourist attraction.  They know this and it is reflected in the prices.

13.  Belogradchik, Bulgaria is also a very beautiful place and a natural tourist attraction.  However, they are a bit more humble and the prices do not reflect its worth at all.

14. Every person in Istanbul starts conversations by asking you where you are from.  There is also a large amount of people here who seem to have relatives that own carpet stores in Houston.

15. I wanted to do 25 facts since I was here 25 days, but I am getting too tired to type any longer.

Paris, France: Catacombs

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Today I wake up really early.  I go to McDonalds for breakfast and wifi.  One of the breakfast options is a croissant and coffee.  This is what I want.  This is what I try to order.  No one behind the counter seemed to understand me.  Pointing gets me nowhere.  I get annoyed and leave.  Around the corner is a Quick, which is like McDonalds only not like McDonalds.  I get a coffee and croissant no problem here.  They advertise WiFi.  Guess what, it doesn’t work.  The WiFi.  Guess what else?  I spilled my entire coffee all over myself.  I want to cry, I really do.  I go back to my room and decide that if this is what today is going to be like, then I am not going to try a combo of Versailles and Catacombs.   I will go just to the Catacombs to be safe.  Good thing I did since the line was way over two hours.

I walk inside and slip twice.  The first time was no big deal.  The second time, I now fear that the rest of my time in here will be me trying to not fall.   The third time I slipped, I went to grab the wall to stop myself.  Only now, we are at the skulls.  So I am grabbing human skulls and bones to balance myself, it was awful.

Later on, we get to where water is dripping and the floor is now wet.  I start walking like a 397 year old woman because I am deathly afraid of falling.

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Belogradchik Fortress, Bulgaria: The Time I Almost Got Murdered By a Bee.

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I am going to be going out of chronological order with this one but I am just dying to post about it.

Yesterday afternoon, I took a bus from Sofia to Belogradchik.  I got picked up at the bus station by the owner of the guest house I was staying at (Drakite Guest House).  For a whopping $19 usd, I had a very nice room with private balcony and a shower so big that you could take every shower I have had to so far on this trip and fit them all inside.

This morning I am up so early go to see the fortress.  I cannot wait.  I pause to take a morning photo from my balcony.

morning balcony view, belogradchik, bulgaria

Then off I go.  To get to the fortress is a very strenuous walk uphill.  Up many hills. But the walk features GOATS!!

GOATS! Belogradchik, Bulgaria

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Paris Day One – April 29, 2013

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I woke up in Brussels, Belgium about thirteen minutes before my alarm went off.  I was still tired but it’s getting better.  Shower, repack, head to Brussels Midi train station to take a Thalys train to Paris.  I board the train and someone is in my seat.  Not only is she in my seat, she is completely settled in.  It looked like she had some manual, a lot of paper, a calculator, highlighter, pen and phone all out.  She appeared to be working very hard.  I’m not sure how she had the time to get all of that out since the doors had opened two minutes earlier, but there it was.

I stand over her, she doesn’t look up.  I say “You are in my seat.”  Nothing.  Again, louder “YOU ARE IN MY SEAT!”  She looks up and says something in a language I don’t understand.   I put my ticket in her face and point to the seat number.  She repeats whatever she had originally said that I didn’t understand the first time.   Someone trying to pass by tells me “She is willing to exchange seats with you.”  Oh here we go again.  No.  I have the window seat.  I chose the window seat.  You could have done so just as easily.  But no, you decided to take my seat.  This is so obnoxious.  Not even the part about wanting to switch seats.  The part about getting all settled before even asking.  This is disgusting human behavior.  So I make it clear, NO.  She then has to gather up all her stuff and get out of my seat.  Ugh.

I passed out as soon as the conductor checked my ticket.  I woke up in Paris.  Today’s walk to the hotel is three minutes.  Get this.  I do not get lost not even one time.  Not even for one block. I found it no problem.  I am psyched!

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Brussels, Belgium – April 28, 2013

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My original plans for Brussels were:  Get Starbucks, check into my hotel, go to the Atomium, come back and have a nice quiet night in my room to recover  from Groezrock.  Then I could fully start the vacation portion of this trip well rested.

Yesterday, I had taken my camera out to use it for the first time this trip.  I discover that the LCD screen on my camera was cracked.  Are you kidding me?   We can probably assume this happened during the flight of death with the SCREAMING kid.   Oh, did you miss that rant?  Here you go.

But I will take the blame for this one.  It is the second time I have done this.  The last time was just in September.  So this seems to be new recurring problem in my life.  Hello idiot, buy a camera case.  So I now have to buy a new camera.  Oh how I did not want to do this at all.   I don’t like buying anything without insane amounts of research.  I don’t like spending money on new things when I can fix the old things for under ten bucks. I don’t even want a new camera at all.  I LOVE my camera. This was going to be a very painful purchase.

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