Jeske Adventures: From the beginning...

Janelle and I headed over to Seattle on Monday night because Janelle’s flight was about noon and neither of us wanted to risk missing her flight. We had a late, quick dinner at Jalisco’s and then caught a cute movie. We wanted to stay up late so we would be tired and sleep on the plane. We took a cab to the airport the next morning and I saw Janelle off through Security. I had another four hours in the airport before I could even check in and go through security. I got lunch in the airport and had a cappuccino then read my book and wandered around aimlessly through the part of the airport that is before the security gate. I got through security without a hitch and waited at my gate until my plane was ready to board. One on the plane I got settled and took my Nyquil. I was knocked out and struggled to stay awake through dinner service. The seats were tight but luckily I had an aisle seat and could stretch a little. A little tossing and turning and then I woke up with an hour and a half left in the flight. I got some breakfast and something to drink and then it was time to land…nice flight, lots of turbulence that did not bother me because the Nyquil did its job. Janelle and Rachel did not have such luck on their flights and were awake the whole time Rachel called me as I was getting off the plane and we met up in the Heathrow Terminal 5 Starbucks counter…amazing how easy we found each other. We enjoyed a cup of coffee and wandered about a bit before we boarded our flight for Paris. Quick flight and we were on the ground. We were supposed to meet Janelle at the hostel, but I had a message on my phone that said she was still at the airport near the place where we get on the train into Paris. As we headed down the escalator Janelle was one of the first people we saw. We were all together and soo excited to be in Paris.

We made our way into the city and found our hostel. We were on the fifth floor which means 6th floor in the US—the stairs were spiral and a tad scary but we made it through without falling down them. Our first Paris attraction was the Eifel Tower. This time it was lit up blue and one side had yellow stars. We stood in amazement and took quite a few pictures!! Stopping for more pics the closer we got. We climbed up to the first level that you can view the city from all angles. It seemed like about twenty flights of stairs!! The view was great and we could see the lights on the monuments and cathedrals. As we were up there, the tower started to sparkle. We decided we had to find a viewpoint to the 11pm sparkle show so we went across the Seine and up the hill, got so crepes and waited for the next show. After the show ended we headed back to the hostel for some internet time, showers, and going to bed…we did not get a lot of sleep that night, especially me.

Our first thing on the list for next day was the Louvre. The lines were amazingly short and we got in right away. We spent a total of 3 hours at the Louvre…which is 2 hours less than I spent on my own…I thought Janelle would want at least 8 hours at the Louvre. We went over to view Notre Dame, got a quick snack and headed to the “Free” (give me good tips at the end of the tour) Walking tour of Paris.

We had a break about half way through the tour and we decided we had had enough. We tipped the guy and went out on our own. We walked around the streets, shopping at little stores here and there and miraculously we came upon the Chanel store…Janelle wanted a bag but the place was closed. We decided to come back the next day before leaving for Italy. We had dinner at a nice place and had flirty waiters that were fun to watch and chatter with…Rachel had them all at our table when Janelle and I were in the restroom. The food was decent and Janelle was kind enough to de-bone my chicken LOL. The chicken was good and she helped herself to a few pieces while she was helping me. We were beat by the time we left dinner but we had a plane for the next day and we headed back to the hostel.

Our last day in Paris we spent time at Musee d’Orsay, Orangerina where we saw Monet’s water lilies, and then the Chanel store. When we got to the store, we realized that it was a jewelry store only, no bags. We looked around at the exquisite jewelry and the guys in the store were really nice. They told up where the Chanel bag store was and we scuttled off. Janelle did not find the bag she was looking for and we left. Rachel got a free pen that she found on the floor. We grabbed a quick bite to eat and headed back to the hostel to get our bags. We made it on time to the bus that would take us to the airport and got checked in okay with a few minutes to spare for a cappuccino. We had amazing seats on our flight and the flight went well. We about lost Janelle in the Pisa airport and she was gone for a few minutes…we thought she got stopped at customs but that was not the case. We made it to our “lavish” hotel, Grand Hotel Duomo at 9pm, checked in, got some good spaghetti and Italian wine, and then got our first taste of Gelato. I think everyone enjoyed their selections.

We called it a night and crawled into our luxury room with a view of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. The next morning we got up early, had a tasty breakfast and headed to Cinque Terre. It was not too crowded and the sun was shining bright! We soaked up the rays.

We explored Riomaggiore a lot more than I did when I was there last time. The water looked so enticing and refreshing. Janelle wanted to buy a swim suit so we could go in the water. We went to a few local store and we found a cute store with a good selection in Janelle’s size. Janelle would talk Spanish and the shop keeper would talk Italian and they were “communicating” enough. The suits were a little different than those in the states…less butt coverage hahaha! There was an extra large and for fun I tried it on thinking I could wear the bottoms and my bra and tank top. To all of our surprise, the suit actually fit. It did not look good by my standards, but the girls assured me that they had seen worse so I bought the suit which was marked down to 15 Euro. You will not see pictures of us in our bathing suits this trip, but we did put them on at lunch. We hiked to the second town and enjoyed some time in Manarola.

We had lunch under a canopy and had a glass of wine…this time white wine. We kept moving and hiked to Corniglia and took the bus to the top of the hill. We looked around a bit at the view, got some popsicles and gelato and headed back to the train. We decided to skip to town 5 and catch town four on the way back to Pisa. We found the beach at Monterrossa and sat out on the rocks…the public sand beach was crowded and we were not allowed to stay on the private sand beaches. Janelle and Rachel made it to the water first and I built up the courage to take off my tank top. I finally made it into the water and it was sooooo refreshing. I stayed in the water while the other girls did some sun bathing. When we had had enough sun we decided to go back to town 4 via the boat, but when we got to the boat ticket window we realized the last boat ad already depart so we went to the train station to get to Vernazza. The next train did not stop at Vernazza and we did not wait around for another 45 minutes. We headed back to La Spezia and then to Pisa. We found a place open for dinner as we were walking back to the hotel and got some gelato too! Janelle and Rachel took some internet time and I relaxed and finished my book…the sun really took it out of me.

This morning we slept in and went down for breakfast and then packed up. Janelle and Rachel head for Marina di Pisa (the beach for more sunbathing) and I hung around the hotel, checked my email, went to the market for picnic supplies and then had a picnic in the shade of the Leaning Tower. I got a few pictures and even did the touristic pose of me trying to hold up the tower. I had resisted the whole time I was there last time but thought why not?? I went back to the hotel and waited for the girls to get back. I enjoyed a gelato and did some writing. We got on the bus and headed to the train station, got some tickets and snack and made our train to Siena. We traveled first class for 5.40 euro and actually got to plug in my laptop and write this blog!! Siena was absolutely beautiful!!! The old center was jam packed with stores and little places to eat. Il Campo was amazing!