Marketing

Oltmann Chronicles #8

3/29/2007

I woke up on the earlier side today just to make sure I would have enough time to get everything done before I had to leave for Italy. 

I caught a bus to the train station at 2 and bought a train ticket to Dortmund.  We arrived at the Dortmund airport with plenty of time to spare before our flight was scheduled to depart.  When we finally got on the plane it was delayed forty minutes.  I think our pilot said because we were running late we lost our spot to take off.  So we sat there for forty minutes waiting.  When we finally got going, it was a good flight the rest of the way.  We landed in Milan and surprisingly did not have to go through any customs.  Once we grabbed our luggage we walked out of the airport and looked for a shuttle to take us to Milan's Central train station.  The shuttle cost us 5.50 Euro each.  It was a longer bus ride than what I expected. 

We got to the train station and started walking in the direction we thought our hotel was.  Our directions said it was 800 meters away from the train station so walking wouldn't be very hard.  Unfortunately, the streets in Milan are not well marked and we missed the street we were supposed to turn on.  But we did finally make it to our hotel.  We learned not to look for streets but to go by how many metros (subway stations) were between the street we wanted. 

Our hotel was really nice.  We had a double room and a triple.  The shower in our room was not well planned out though.  The shower consisted of a shower head sticking out of the bathroom wall.  There was no curtain or tub.  You were showering on the bathroom floor directly in front of the toilet. 

We went to bed because the traveling and walking for an hour with our luggage wore us out and we wanted to wake up early to get going anyway. 

3/30/2007

I woke up a little earlier than Justin and Dirk because I wanted to give this shower a try.  It wasn't all that bad except for the fact water was everywhere in our bathroom after I finished.  There was even some water on the floor of our room that leaked out of the bathroom.  I laid some towels down and got dressed. 

Breakfast was included at this hotel so we grabbed a croissant and juice.  We were told the Duomo Cathedral, the 3rd largest cathedral in the world, was only a ten minute walk from our hotel.  I wanted to leave at 8:30 because the guy running the hotel said the cathedral opened at 9 but the girls overruled my suggestion and we left at 8:50.  It ended up taking 25 minutes to walk to the cathedral.  We took some pictures of the outside then walked in.  It was an amazing cathedral.  At 9:50 we were going to head back to the hotel because we needed to be checked out by 11.  Then Tie said her friend was able to walk on the top of the cathedral so we found that entrance when we were walking back.  We decided to do it real quick for 4 Euro.  It was worth the money but I wish we would have had more time up there.  The view was incredible. 

On the walk back to the hotel Tie noticed a smaller church and it happened to be the one church she really wanted to see.  So Tie asked if we could get our luggage and come back.  We said yes even though it was a long walk and we would be carrying our luggage. 

We got to our hotel, grabbed our luggage and checked out.  We started walking back to the church Tie wanted to see and decided to try the subway.  Unfortunately, we weren't able to take the subway where we wanted to go so we had to walk.  When we finally got to the small church Tie wanted to see we put our luggage outside, had 3 people go in first and the other 2 guard our luggage because we didn't think the church would appreciate us walking in with all of our stuff.  The church was small and somewhat nice to see but not worth the long walk back.  After everyone had seen the church we found a subway and took that to the central rail station.

We bought our tickets to Venice and got on our train.  The train ride was a nice break and a good time to get some rest.  When we reached Venice it was raining.  Kristin had misplaced the directions of how and where our hotel was so we needed to find an internet café so she could print out the directions.  We found one so Kristin and Tie went in and the guys stood outside waiting. 

Once they came out of the internet café we hopped on a water taxi like the directions stated and took it to our stop.  It cost 6 Euros to use the taxi but we didn't have much of a choice.  We reached our stop and got off, crossed the bridge like the directions said, and found our hotel.  It turned out to be more of a bed & breakfast then hotel but it was really nice.  We had one room with five beds and shared a bathroom/shower with the rest of the floor. 

When we got settled in, we headed out to walk around.  It was sprinkling on and off but we still covered a lot of ground.  There are small pizza shops everywhere that sell big slices for around 2 Euros.  It was pretty good pizza and the best part was it was cheap.  Towards the end of the walk we found a small restaurant along side a canal and ordered some wine.  It was getting cold so we didn't stick around very long.  We went back to the Bed & Breakfast and went to sleep. 

3/31/2007

We left the B&B around 10 in the morning.  Tie wanted to go to Revena, which was about 2.5 hours away by train, so we dropped her off at the train station.  I asked her how we were going to meet up with her later since we only had one key to our B&B.  She said that she would call Kristin when she got back and gave us the time of her last train.  The rest of us went to an internet café to send a quick email to our families letting them know we were still alive.  We left the internet café and walked to the library that Justin had said was in one of the Indiana Jones films.  We found it after a while but Venice is not an easy place to navigate.  It probably took us a lot longer than it should have but we were in no hurry. 

We stopped at another pizza joint and everyone got a slice.  From there we walked to St. Mark's Square.  It was the big thing to see in Venice.  The square was full of people and there were pigeons everywhere.  We quickly found the reason for all of the pigeons though.  There were small booths set up and old men were selling bird food.  It was crazy watching people feed the birds.  Little kids would have food in their hands and there would be five birds on their arm pecking at the food and a mob of birds under their hands getting any food that fell.  People had pigeons sitting on their shoulders, arms and I even saw a lady with one on her head. 

We then walked into San Marco and it was amazing.  The ceiling was covered in gold and intricate paintings.  We weren't allowed to take any pictures but everyone in San Marco had their cameras out taking pictures until the guard came up and yelled at them. 

After we left San Marco we headed back to the B&B to take a quick rest.  I don't think any of us got a good night's rest because someone in our room snores like an oger so we really needed a nap. 

We then headed out again exploring with no specific place to go.  Venice is an amazing city and it was great just to walk around.  We headed far away from the city center to see what Venice looked like away from the tourist areas.  The one thing about Venice that is different from the cities that I've been to in the past is the allies.  Allies are everywhere and it is nearly impossible to get places without walking through them.  They are not dangerous like they may be perceived to be in other cities and everyone walks through them. 

After walking for a few hours we began looking for a place to eat.  We wanted something more than pizza for dinner.  After stopping at numerous restaurants we found a small place along the water that was reasonably priced.  I decided to go outside of my comfort zone a little and ordered the spaghetti with clams.  I have never had clams before.  Kristin really went out on a limb and tried some sort of squid ink spaghetti.  When our food came, her spaghetti noodles were black with squid ink.  I was impressed. She really liked her meal.  I found out I really like clams and enjoyed my meal, too.  It was a great place to eat and a nice change to the food we had been eating. 

We then started walking back to the train station.  Kristin tried many times calling Tie but was not getting a response.  Somehow during our walk we got a little lost and ended up far from where we thought we were.  No big deal but it was somewhat humorous.  We finally made it to the train station.  Dirk and I waited there for Tie while Kristin and Justin went to the internet café.  We had no idea when Tie would be arriving because we couldn't get through to her.  Amazingly, after about 20 minutes of waiting Tie showed up.  It turned out that Tie forgot her cell phone back at the B&B and that's why we weren't able to reach her.  What a bad day to forget your cell phone but it all worked out.  She sure was lucky we were there waiting because I'm not sure what she would have done. 

Once Tie was with us we walked back to the B&B.  But Tie was hungry so we had to stop and get her some food.  We finally reached our B&B and went right to bed. 

4/1/2007

I woke up a little earlier today because I wanted to shower and we had to be checked out by 10.  We left our luggage with the B&B's owner so we wouldn't have to haul that stuff around with us all day.  She said she would hold our stuff until 8.  We spent the whole day walking around Venice and went through a few areas that tourists never wandered near.  Mainly because these areas were so far away from the city center but it was interesting to see how Venice is outside of the city center.  The people outside of the city center did not seem to have as much money and lived life very simple. 

Something else that was different about Venice was that dogs are rarely on leashes and would walk right next to their owners.  The dogs would also seem to be out for a walk on their own with no owner in sight.  There were a lot of wiener dogs and Chihuahua wandering the streets. 

A little before 8, we headed back to the B&B to get our luggage.  Then we headed to the McDonald's because we wanted somewhere we could sit down and not offend anyone with our luggage.  That is something else I've noticed traveling; McDonald's and Burger King are everywhere.  I can't remember a city that I've been to that doesn't have one. 

We stayed at the McDonald's until they closed at 9 and headed to the internet café.  I quickly checked my email because it cost 2.50 Euro for 15 minutes and waited outside for the girls.  While the guys and I were waiting for the girls outside we met two American girls who were studying in England.  They were just in Rome and suggested we do a tour of the Coliseum because we would get to skip the long line and walk in with the tour. 

At quarter after 10 we headed to the train station to get on our night train which was scheduled to leave at 10:50.  Dirk, Justin and I were in a 4 bed cabin and the 2 girls were also in a separate 4 bedroom cabin.  We found our cabin and soon after the conductor came in to check our tickets we tried to sleep.  After about two stops we heard a knock at our door and it was the 4th person who would be joining our cabin.  He asked us what language we spoke and we responded English and a little Deutsch.  After that he left the room and must have found a different cabin to sleep in because we never saw him again. 

4/2/2007

At 4:45 a.m. the conductor woke us because our stop was approaching.  I got a few hours of sleep but it was difficult.  Luckily, I took a Tylenol PM to help me get some sleep before we got on the night train.  We had to stand around the train station waiting for our 5:50 train.  While waiting some crazy older Italian guy came and spoke with us.  We had no idea what he was saying so he didn't stick around too long. 

We got on our train and found our seats.  I set my phone alarm for 6:50 (because we needed to get off at 7) and closed my eyes.  When my alarm went off, I looked out the window and saw the Mediterranean Sea and very colorful homes.  We were close to La Spezia where we would get off the train and then take a smaller train to Monterosso, one of the five gemstone towns of Cinque Terre. 

We bought our tickets to Monterosso and hopped on our train.  We forgot to validate the tickets so I grabbed everyone's tickets, jumped off the train, validated them quickly and got back on the train.  The ride to Monterosso was about 10 minutes and when we arrived, we were in awe.  We were right on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea and the small town was beautiful.  We walked to the Hotel Souvenir where we were staying and checked in.  Our rooms were very nice and it only cost 30 Euro per person. 

Justin and I changed and got ready to go hike the trail between the five towns while everyone else napped.  It was probably for the best that the girls didn't come along because they would have slowed us up a lot. 

Justin and I headed to an information office and bought a two day ticket for the trail.  The lady in the office was very nice and pointed us in the direction of the trail.  The trail between our town and Vernazza, the next town over, was incredible.  We were up way above the coast and had a great view of everything.  There were a lot of people out on the trail and we passed by a few Americans. 

When we reached Corniolia, the third town out of the five, we found a small pizza joint and got a bite to eat and filled up our water bottles.  The trail that we were hiking was closed between Corniolia and Manarola, the 4th town out of the five, due to a mud slide.  So we had two options on how we could continue.  We could either take the train to the next town or hike up a mountain and go around the mudslide.  We chose to continue hiking.  This detour took us way up into the hills but the climb was worth it.  We had a great view of a few of the towns we had passed and we were walking through vineyards. 

We had to climb over some sort of track that wound up the hill.  It was used to bring supplies up and down the hill mainly for the vineyard.  This track was extremely steep in most areas and the vehicle that was used on this track consisted of a small gas motor, a plastic seat for the operator to sit in, and a metal basket that was pulled behind. 

We finally got to Manarola after a strenuous hike.  From there we walked to Ripmaggior, the last of the five towns and took the train back to Monterosso. 

Dirk met us at the room and we showered.  The girls came over soon after and we headed to the grocery store to pick up a few things.  We dropped that stuff off at the room and went in search of a nice place to eat.  Most of the restaurants weren't open yet so we wandered down to the coast to hang out for awhile.  The sun was just beginning to set. 

After a while we headed back to the restaurants and had a great meal.  I had Ravioli with seafood and it was really good.  After dinner we followed the girls to this guy's shanty to try some of his homemade wine.  The guy's name was Benjamin and he was retired.  I bought a bottle of wine and hopefully it will get back to Paderborn safe. 

4/3/2007

We were out the door of our hotel at 10 because everyone else who didn't hike with Justin and I yesterday wanted to see what it was like.  So we told them that we could hike to the next town over, hang out there for while and then take the train back.  We reached the trail head and began walking.  It was nice to do it again with the rest of our group because we took the trail a lot slower and I was able to enjoy the sights a little more.  We reached the next town in about 1.5 hours.  We grabbed a sandwich, walked around, and hung out by the beach for a while.  Then we took the train back to Monterosso. 

Once back in our town we changed into our bathing suits and headed down to the beach.  The weather was great.  We stayed on the beach for quite a while and then went for a swim in the Mediterranean Sea.  The water was really cold so I didn't stay in too long. 

After the beach we headed back to the hotel, showered and stopped by the internet café.  Later that night we went to a restaurant right along the coast and ate outside on their balcony.  The food was not very good but being by the water was worth it.  We got back to the hotel around 11 and went to bed. 

4/4/2007

I was out the door of our hotel at 7 this morning because I wanted to check out the sunrise the last morning in Cinque Terre.  It was really cold but it was worth it.  I was also able to check out an old gun turret that was on the top of a cliff.  It was trashed inside but it was still cool to see.  I walked around some more then headed back to the room to pack up and shower. 

Tie was heading back to Paderborn this morning to see a friend for Easter.  She had bought three bottles of wine and had planned to ship them back to the States but was not able to before she left so she asked us to take care of it for her.  We had no idea how much trouble it would be to mail some wine though.  Tie did not leave her address so we decided to mail it to Kristin's Germany address. The box the three bottles of wine were in was not able to be mailed as is. So we had to search for another box since the post office did not have any. We walked around and had no luck so we walked to the train station to catch our train with the wine. 

Our train out of Cinque Terre to Florence was really nice and not very expensive. The train ride was about a 2.5 hour ride.  When we reached Florence it was cloudy and a little rainy.  We walked to our hotel and it wasn't half bad. It cost twenty Euros per person and was in a good location. 

Once we got settled we headed out to Florence's Duomo and Campanile (bell tower).  It was not like any other duomo I have seen thus far.  The outside of it was beautiful with intricate designs.  The inside was just one giant room.  We walked around for a little while then left. 

We stopped by an internet café and I got the address of where my sister will be staying in Florence when she comes in the summer.  From the internet café, Kristin and Dirk went back to the room to have a rest and Justin and I went to find the place where my sister would be staying during her time in Florence. 

We found it and it was really nice.  The guy running the place was very friendly and my sister should have a good time.  The guy also gave us an ash tray for a souvenir.  From there, we walked around Florence for awhile then headed back to our hotel to get Dirk and Kristin before heading to dinner. 

In Venice, some girls who were studying in Florence, suggested a great place to eat call Za Za's.  We found it and it was really good and reasonably priced.  After dinner we just headed back to the room and watched a movie.

4/5/2007

We woke up early because we needed to mail Tie's wine before we got on the train to Rome.  We went to the post office and they said they would mail it but we had to go down the street to get it packaged correctly.  We got it packaged and finally got that stupid wine in the mail.  It was 9:40 so we were certain we could catch the 10:00 train to Rome.  When we got up to the ticket counter and they said that the 10 train was sold out so we would have to take the 11. 

We then headed to McDonald's (the U.S. Embassy as someone put it because it makes us feel like we're back home), to get a little food and kill some time.  We also go to McDonald's because it is the most likely place to have a free bathroom and they don't care if we sit there with all of our luggage. 

A little before 11 we found our train and got on it.  It would take 3.5 hours to get to Rome.  When we got to Rome we took the subway to our hotel.  Our hotel was one floor of an apartment complex transformed into 4 or 5 bedrooms with 2 bathrooms and a kitchen.  It was surprisingly nice.  The guy who owned it was very welcoming and kept the place very clean. 

We left our room and wanted to get a tour of the coliseum before it closed.  It took us a while to find but we made it.  We were able to get in the last tour of the day and being part of a tour allowed us to skip the extremely long line of people.  The tour was 10 additional Euros to the admission cost and it was well worth it.  Our tour guide was very entertaining and it was interesting to here a little of the history of the Coliseum. 

Once the tour of the Coliseum was finished we had the option of getting a tour of Paletine Hill.  We decided we had seen enough of the Coliseum and followed the tour guide.  He then handed us off to another guide who walked us to the hill.  This was also very interesting and we were happy we went.  It was all ruins but it was impressive to imagine what it use to look like. 

After Paletine Hill it was pretty late so we headed back to our hotel area and found some food.  Stayed at the restaurant for awhile then went back to the hotel. 

4/6/2007

Today we woke up early to check out the Vatican.  We met a woman on the subway who actually had lived in Rome for about 10 months now and did tours of the area.  She told us that we should go to St. Peters and walk around the outside before heading to the Vatican because the Vatican didn't open at 9 like we thought.  The Vatican opened at 10.  Once we got some pictures of the outside of St. Peters we headed to the Vatican.  The line was the thickest, longest line I had ever stood in.  But once the Vatican opened, the line moved fast.  We stood in line for almost 2 hours. 

It cost 8 Euros to get in the Vatican with a student ID.  We walked around for a long time checking everything out.  Then we headed to the Sistine Chapel and waited in another line to see that.  When we were getting near, signs were posted everywhere saying no pictures.  But when we finally got in everyone had their arms raised above their heads flashing photos.  The Sistine Chapel was magnificent.  The ceiling and all the art work inside was beautiful. 

Once we were finished admiring all the paintings we headed to Trinita dei Monti, Spanish steps.  There were a lot of people sitting on the steps taking it easy and having a Gelatia (ice cream).  We went to the top to get a good view of the city but the view was blocked by some scaffolding erected at the top of the stairs.  So we walked back down avoiding all the street vendors trying to sell us souvenirs. 

From there we walked to the Pantheon.  The Pantheon is the only pagan temple in classical style that is still intact in Rome.  For some reason we weren't allowed to go inside it so we took some pictures of the outside and decided to come back the next day to try and get inside. 

After seeing the Pantheon we headed to Fontana di Trevi.  It is a very beautiful fountain and it was packed with people eating Gelati (ice cream).  We also got some Gelati and sat around for a little while. 

Then we headed back to our hotel for a little rest.  At that point we had been on our feet for 9 hours and wanted to lay down for a little while.  About an hour later we headed out to find some dinner and do a little more exploring.  We went to Piazza del Popolo to see the small monuments that are around that square.  From there we headed to the Coliseum to get some night shots of it. 

We knew the stages of the cross was happening that night and knew it started at the Coliseum but thought they would move onto different locations.  When the subway didn't stop at the Coliseum stop we figured it out pretty quickly that the stages of the cross were not moving from the Coliseum.  We had to get off at the next station down the street and walk to the Coliseum.  Although it was packed and we didn't get any good night pictures of the Coliseum it was really cool to witness the stages of the cross in Rome.  We weren't able to understand any of it since the majority of it was in Italian but it was still amazing.  There were thousands of people there listening to the story of how Jesus was put to his death.  After awhile there we headed back to the hotel and went to bed. 

4/7/2007

Today, we slept a little later and headed to St. Peters Basilica.  There was already a line that wrapped around the St. Peter's Square when we got there.  We waited in line for nearly 2 hours and had to go through metal detectors before entering.  I've seen so many churches and cathedrals since I've been in Europe I thought this would be the same as all the others.  But I was overwhelmed when I walked in.  It was the most beautiful church I had been in.  Incredible statues and art work lined the walls.  It was also the largest church I had been in.  I couldn't believe how long it took us to walk all the way around the inside.  There was an option to go to the top of the dome but no one wanted to do it with me.  Everyone was hungry and didn't really care to see it.  We were also not sure if it was free so we left.

We then got some food and headed to the Pantheon to see if we could go inside today.  It was open so we walked in.  It was jam packed with people.  The Pantheon is a huge dome that has a circular opening at the very top of it to let light in. 

After seeing the Pantheon we gave into Kristin and followed her around while she did a little shopping.  Then we headed back to the hotel for a little while.  Got a little rest then headed out to find some good Italian cuisine for our last dinner in Italy.  We found a place near Termini (the train station) that was very reasonably priced and looked very nice.  I got the spaghetti with pesto sauce and we ordered the red house wine.  My meal cost 9 Euros. 

Once we finished dinner we got out of there quick because it was extremely hot inside the restaurant for some reason.  We then headed to the coliseum to get some night pictures of it.  The coliseum is an amazing structure and we stayed there for awhile admiring it. 

4/8/2007

Today we got up early to take the subway to the train station then jumped on a train to the airport.  We got there without any problems and flew back to Dusseldorf.  From there we took the train back to Paderborn.  Unfortunately, when we got back to Paderborn's train station my bus wasn't going to be coming for a half hour so I decided to walk home with my pack.  It took me 40 minutes to walk home.  Wasn't all that much fun but it was nice to be back in my own room.  I took it real easy the rest of the night.