All roads lead to Rome

We just recently returned from our camping/road trip through Europe. We camped for 17 days and drove at least 5000 kilometers through seven countries. It was a truly amazing experience and also a very effective and inexpensive way to see Europe. I will not post pictures of France, Netherlands and Belgium again since you've probably saw and read about those places last year in this blog.

The itinerary


We had 17 days and our final desitination was Rome. Based on that, we decided that we would visit selected cities on route, while keeping long driving days to the minimum and trying to stay in the same campground for at least two nights. So we pre-calculated the distances and times of each segment and selected campgrounds along the way.

The selection of the campgrounds was based on their location with respect to public transportation (i.e. near a train or subway station) in the big cities or their scenic views or distance to the sea in some other cases.

There is a lot to say about the campgrounds in Europe and we have come to know them quite well. The main advantage is that you save a lot of money comparing it with staying at a hotel and the campgrounds are very convenient with many different services such as restaurants, bar, store, fresh bread delivered every morning, laundry, hot clean showers, etc. We were able to access public transportation to the city center from all the camprgounds located near or inside the cities and some of the campgrounds even had free shuttle buses. For 17 days we were outside for the most part of the days and into the nights, enjoying fresh air and open skies.


Highlights of the trip


It is hard to say what were the best parts of our trip, but we came to the conclusion that it was the two days we spent in Switzerland, camping at the feet of the giant mountains Eiger, Monch and Jungfrau in the valley of the 72 waterfalls. We camped literally at the foot of a waterfall and with views of snowy mountains on each side. We took a cable car up the mountain to a region declared UNESCO world heritage site called "Jungfrau-Aletsch-Bietschhorn". From there we continue the hike across some of the most glaciated parts of the European Alps




Northern Italy: Lerici and Pisa

Lerici was sort of what I imagined an Italian mediterranean town to be like. The relaxed athsmosphere, the small town feeling, the blue ocean contrasting with the houses built on the cliffs painted in bright colors and whites.

Tuscany

We spend a couple of nights in Barberino, Tuscany. We visited Sienna, St. Gimignano and Florence. It was a brief introduction, so we will have to come back again to fully grasp the essence of Tuscany.

Rome

Rome was more than I expected, if that is possible. It is a truly amazing city, every corner, every street, every piazza and every church. I absolutely loved Rome, even though it was crowded with tourists and incredibly hot. We waited in line for hours under the sun to visit the Basilica di San Pietro in Vaticano and walked around and learned all about the Coliseum and the ruins of the Roman forum. We saw the fountains and the Spanish steps. We tried their pizzas, lasagnas, pastas, risottos, gnocchi, gelato among many others.

Venice
I guess I did not realize the whole island of Venice is off-limits to motor vehicles, so all the transportation is done in boats, water taxis and of course, in gondolas. Venice smells like salty water and is much bigger than I thought. The campground was one of our least favorites, they were many mosquitos and it was really hot and humid.

Camping, food and churches in France

Camping in Paris, Lyon, Nice, Geneva and Brais-Dunes

During our trip we stayed at 5 different campgrounds, we did not get to enjoy the camp sites as much or socialize, as we just had time to set up the tent, cook something quick and sleep. We became experts in setting up the tent and beds in less than 15 minutes and fortunately enough it only rained in Paris. Camping has proven to be a great way to enjoy all the sites without spending a lot of money in accommodation, at the end, we spend very few hours at the campsites, since there is so much to see and limited time.

Camping International in Paris

In Paris we stayed at the Camping International campground, on the shore of the Seine River on the north west of the city and only a 15 minute walk to the metro station and from there 30 minutes to the main attractions. Then in Lyon, we stayed at Camping International in the outskirts of the city, just off the main highway it about a 15 minute drive into the city.

View from campsite in Eze

My favourite one was the Indigo camping in Eze, in the outskirts of Nice on the Cost D’Azur: This campsite has the most amazing view. Right on the cost but about 800 meters above see level. In Geneva, we camped on the south shore of the Geneva lake at a campsite with a very convenient bus service to the town centre, about 20 minute ride.

The last night camp site was an unexpected surprise, on the North of France near Dunkerkerque in a small town called Brais-Dunes. We camped on sand and about a 5 minute walk to the beach. The sea did not have the blue colour, it reminded me of the Pacific Ocean but the sand was soft and the water felt warmer than the one in the Mediterranean.

Acampando

Acampamos en 5 campamentos diferentes aunque no tuvimos mucho tiempo de disfrutar sus servicios o socializar, llegando tarde y saliendo temprano. Acampar en Europa me parecio bien facil y una manera bien practica de quedarse en diferentes ciudades sin gastar mucho y con el carro.
En Paris nos quedamos en Camping International, muy bien ubicado en un barrio del noroeste de Paris, al lado del rio Sena desde ahi era 15 minutos caminando a la estacion del metro y en el metro 30 minutos a el centro de la ciudad.
En Lyon nos quedamos en un campamento como a 10 km de la ciudad. El mas lindo de todos fue el del mediterraneo, en Eze, en una cornisa de la montana y al frente de la costa con una vista espectacular, yo diria que mejor que la de cualquier hotel!!!

En Ginebra en un sitio muy lindo sobre el lago, desde donde podiamos tomar un bus directo a el centro y estabamos alli en 20 minutos y la ultima noche en el norte de Francia nos quedamos en un sitio con una playa lindisima y un atardecer inolvidabe.

Atardecer en Bray-Dunes, Norte de Francia

Food

While in France we mainly ate baguettes, wine and cheese. The French seem to really like their baguettes; every morning, either in the towns or campgrounds you see people walking back from the store with their fresh baguettes for breakfast. There was a great variety of cheeses in every little store, and the wine was very cheap.
I certainly enjoyed the crepe au chocolate from street vendors in Paris, we agreed that Nutella was underestimated in Canada and it should really be included in more recipes.

In Italy, we stopped in a very nice town called Aosta with great views of the Alps and Mont Blanc for lunch, and had good Italian food (although there it was just called lunch), pumpkin filled orange ravioli!

In Switzerland, we found the perfect place for cheese fondue in Geneva, in the heart of the city. It was a real threat for me (Better than La Cuisine Suisse in Bogota ).

We did not really spend that much time in this Brussels, but it was long enough to found a stand of Belgium waffles and try them out, they serve them very hot and coated with some type of syrup. Very tasty!

Comida

La base de nuestra alimentacion en Francia fue pan Frances (Baguettes), quesos y vinos. A los Franceses les encanta sus panes y lo compran fresco cada manana. Incluso en pequenas tiendas se encuentra una gran variedad de quesos y vinos, y se encuentran vinos muy baratos. Tambien probalmos la crepe de chocolate Nutella en las calles de Paris y los croissants.
En italia estuvimos en una ciudad pequena llamada Aosta, con unas vistas espectaculares de los Alpes y el Mont Blanc, alli comimos unos raviolis anaranjados rellenos de ahuyama, una delicia.
En suiza comimos Fondue de queso, estaba espectacular y muy autentico (aun mejor que el de La Cuisine Suisse en Bogota). En bruselas probamos los wafles belgas, servidos calientes.

Churches

We found a lot of spectacular churches along our way. We have this tradition in Colombia (maybe is everywhere) that when you visit a church for the first time you get to make 3 wishes. So I can say that our families were very lucky last week for all the wishes and prayers we made for them over the course of the trip.

Inside Notre Dame de Paris

Notre Dame de Paris: Notre Dame is as I had I had imagined it or seen in so many movies I guess. The gargoyles seemed smaller, but they are very high up. There were to many tourist making it look more like a museum than a church. I was very impressed by the gothic arquitecture and the sculptures on the outside walls. We did not wait in line to get into the towers, it was enough with what we saw inside!

Sacre Coeur, Paris

Sacre Cour is a beautiful church on top of a hill in the Montmartre area of Paris which can be seen from the distance and from there you get a great view of the city, it is a bit of a climb but the neighbourhood is very cute, with lots of narrow and steep roads.

Basilique Notre-Dame, Lyon

Basilique Notre-Dame, Lyon: Even though we climbed the mountain we did not make it inside this beautiful basilique as it was closed. A great building with gorgeous gardens around and a fantastic view of the city, totally worth the effort.

Iglesias

Tuvimos la oportunidad de visitar varias iglesias. Seguimos la tradicion de los 3 deseos por cada iglesia que visitas por primera vez, asi que nuestras familias recibieron muchas oraciones durante esta semana.

Notre Dame, Paris

La cathedral de Notre Dame es como la habia imaginado. Las gorgolas se ven mas pequenas de lo que las pensaba, pero la verdad es que estan muy muy altas. Habian muchos turistas en la iglesia, que hacian que pareciera mas como un museo. Me impresionaron la arquitectura gotica del interior de la iglesia, las esculturas en la fachada principal, la estatua de Juana de Arco, las columnas del exterior de la iglesia y los vitrales.

Sagrado Corazon en Montmartre (Paris)
Una preciosa iglesia blanca en al cima de una montana. Esta ubicada en el barrio Montmartre nombre y desde la iglesia se pueden apreciar vistas maravillosas de la ciudad. Esta en el mismo barrio que el Moulin Rouge y otras varias tiendas de dudosa reputacion.

Basilica de Notre Dame, Lyon

Aunque despues de subir la montana encontramos la iglesia cerrada, esta iglesia me parecio divina. El esfuerzo de la subida estuvo bien recompenzado con la vista.

Faces of Istanbul

Here is a photographic look of some of the sculptures from the Istanbul Archeology Museum. Sadly, one of the main sculpture halls was closed for renovations.

Nonethless it gives you an idea of the quality of the collection they have at this place.

Turkish Culture

There are a number of reasons for me to be excited about this trip. First of all, because travelling through Europe was one of the main bonuses of living in England and this trip could be the start of that and second because it was my first time in a country where the first language is neither English or Spanish, the main religion is not Christian and the role of Woman is so notoriously different, so in a world, a truly cultural experience.

Estaba emocionada por este viaje por muchas razones. La primera, viajar por Europa era uno de las ventajas de vivir en Inglaterra y este viaje seria el comienzo de eso. La segunda es porque este viaje seria mi primera experiencia en un país cuya lengua no es Español o Ingles, su religión no es Cristiana y el rol de la mujer es tan diferente, entonces es una verdadera experiencia cultural.

Turkish W.C.

This was one of the challenges for me in particular. The first public bathroom was on the side of a Mosque and it was simply "men only". There are very few women on the street and on the Mosque, even inside the Mosque they have a very small separate area enclosed with dividers where they can not be seen. About 90% of the shops attendants that we saw were men. I guess there is not as big of a demand for women's public bathrooms.

The second bathroom experience was a public bathroom on an underpass, close to a main tram station. After paying the fee, I realized that for my 75 cents I was getting a bucket of water and a pink latrine (See picture below). I can not help to wonder how this women do it, with the long skirts, head scarfs and multiple layers of clothing, how do they manage to use a latrine? . I also found latrines on the bathrooms of the museum and any other outside public bathroom.

But then, contrasting my public bathroom experiences, I found a couple of fancy bathrooms. In the lobby of our hotel, the airport and a fancier restaurant there were toilets with electronic sensors for flushing and odour absorbers with sensors.

Los baños públicos

Fue uno de las dificultades que encontré para mi en este país. El primer baño publico simplemente era solo para hombres. Hay muy pocas mujeres en la calle, trabajando en las tiendas y en las mezquitas. Todo es atendido por hombres, incluso en las mezquitas tienen un área separada para las mujeres que es muy pequeña y esta bien encerrada. Así que no hay muchas mujeres en la calle y así, muy poca demanda para baños públicos. Luego encontré un vano publico para mujeres, pero era una letrina, después de pagar los 75 centavos que costaba la entrada, me dieron un baldecito con agua y ya esta. Yo me pregunto como hacen estas mujeres con las faldas largas, las túnicas en la cabeza y tantas capas de ropa para usar esos baños?
Pero en contraste, también encontré unos baños bastante modernos con censores y también censores-extractores de olor, en la recepción del hotel y el aeropuerto.

Temples: The Aya Sofya

The Aya Sofya truly impressed me, this enourmous temple which has been a place of worship for both Christians and Muslims for almost a millenium and a half (More specifically opened in year 537). The diameter of the dome is about 30 meters and its height is 55 meters (to give you an idea, the statue of liberty without its base would stand nicely under the central dome). Its architecture and construction has fascinated humanity for decades. To me this building stands as a symbol of faith and respect and that is what I felt when I got inside it.

Templos: El Aya Sofya
Este templo verdaderamente me impresiono, una construcción monumental que ha sido lugar de oraciones de Cristianos y Musulmanes por casi un milenio y medio (Fue abierto al publico en el año 537 d. C.). El diámetro de la cúpula es de 30 metros y la altura es de 55 metros (la estatua de la libertad sin base cabria dentro del edificio). Su arquitectura y construcción a fascinado a la humanidad por décadas. Para mi, este edificio es un símbolo de fe y respecto y eso es lo que sentí cuando entre a el.

Fauna

We were quite lucky to see dolphins fighting the busy ship traffic on the Bosphorus and the seaguls lying on and flying around them, they were jumping outside the water and although they were far from our ferry we were able to enjoy the show.

There were some others, not so glamorous, animals around the streets of Istanbul. Street cats, every where and on every pile of garbage. It was kind of spooky to be around so many hungry-looking cats, specially at night in the dark streets (Well, spooky for me - and cute for Scott).

Fauna
Tuvimos suerte de ver delfines en el Bosphorus, aunque había mucho trafico de barcos y botes. Los delfines estaban relativamente lejos de nosotros, estaban saltando afuera del agua y las gaviotas revoloteaban alrededor de ellos y se posaban en ellos también. Un buen espectáculo nos dieron.
Habían otros animales, no tan glamorosos en las calles de Estmabul. Gatos callejeros, miles, en casa esquina, husmeando en la basura. A mi me parece un poco aterrador estar rodeado de tantos gatos, que parecían hambrientos, en esas calles oscuras (Bueno, aterrador para mi pero a Scott le parecían como lindos).


Food

We enjoyed a couple of versions of the traditional Doner Kebab, lamb or chicken, it was very good, they eat it inside bread and with some salad - as a fast food snack. The more elaborated delicacies that we enjoyed include Anatolian chicken casserole, Sea bream and fish stew. Lots of fruits available including cherries, "ericks" (a mini green plum) and orange juice parlors very inexpensive. Pastries filled with cheese or chicken for breakfast, boiled corn-on-the-cob stacks everywhere (without butter!) and for desserts, we tried different varieties of the "Turkist delight", made into cubes from starch and sugar and in different flavors, lots with pistachios and also the Baklava, a sweet pastry typical of the middle east. Around the Bosphorus, there were hundreds of fishermen catching tiny fish and then we saw many barbq stands grilling them and putting into bread and selling them as a snack - very smelly - did not get to try that.

Comida
Probamos el tradicional doner kebab (Foto abajo), de cordero o pollo, se lo comen con pan y un poco de ensalada, como un sándwich. También degustamos otros platos mas elaborados como cacerolas de pollo de Anatolia, pescado Dorado y cazuela de pescado. Había una gran variedad de frutas, cerezas, “ericks” que eran como ciruelas pequeñas y verdes, jugo de naranja natural. También probamos los pasteles de hojaldre rellenos de queso (al desayuno). Tienen puestos en la calle donde venden mazorca hervida, simplemente hervida, ni siquiera le ponen mantequilla. De postres, probamos el famoso “Delicias Turcas”, que son unos cubos de azúcar con diferentes sabores, como pistacho y también probamos el Baklava que es un postre del medio oriente hecho de hojaldre y mieles, con diferentes rellenos. Alrededor del Bosphorus, habían muchos hombres pescando unos pescaditos diminutos, que luego otros se encargan de ponerlos en una parrilla y venderlos dentro de un pan: eso olía mucho a pescado y no parecía nada provocativo, así que no lo probamos.

Alex.