Sorrento, IT

Our trains to Sorrento were quite uneventful, with the exception of the Naples to Sorrento leg, which reminded me too much of our train ride to Lagos, Portugal a couple of months back. The light rail system made about 30 stops or so, while the heat was suppressed only when the train was moving, allowing… Continue reading Sorrento, IT

Roma, IT

Our arrival in Rome marked the end of our roadtripping through Italy, and admittedly, I was relieved to have parked the car and put the crazy Italian drivers in the past. We dropped off the car at the airport and took the train in to Roma Termini, which was smart planning on Mom K’s part,… Continue reading Roma, IT

Cinque Terre, IT

Ahhh, Cinque Terre (the Five Villages), we made our way here from Rapallo. I didn’t know what to expect, but I heard from many folks that this region was beautiful. And rightfuly so. The area was extremely mountanous and the cliffs dropped off right into the Mediterranean sea. The roads were narrow and winding, and… Continue reading Cinque Terre, IT

Nice, FR

We’ve found ourselves back in the south of France, this time in Nice in the Côte d’Azur area. The overnight sleeper from Paris to Nice was comfortable enough, where we shared a 4 bed (2 bunk) cabin with an elderly couple, so it was definitely quiet enough and easier on the back and neck than… Continue reading Nice, FR

Paris, FR (Part I)

Day 1. Our arrival in Paris’ Gare de l’Est came fairly quickly, since we caught a TGV fast train from Luxembourg. We were given directions by our apartment host to take the Number 4 metro from the station to the St. Michel stop, easy enough – except that we decided to arrive at the wrong… Continue reading Paris, FR (Part I)

Avignon, FR

Our arrival in Avignon was smooth, albeit a little later than we had initially planned. We made a newbie mistake and had checked the ‘Arrivals’ board in the Montpellier train station and thus were late for our real train by a mere 5 minutes and therefore had to wait for the next train 1.5 hours… Continue reading Avignon, FR

Montpellier, FR

As already in mentioned in Dan’s previous blog post, we found ourselves in Montpellier by accident since this was as close to Avignon we could book from Barcelona. We had a short stint here and enjoyed this small city more than expected. Our hotel was only a 3 minute walk from the train station and… Continue reading Montpellier, FR

Sevilla, ES

We are now back in Spain, exploring the southern-ish part of the country in the Andalucia region. Sevilla isn’t the type of city that you would consider beautiful by simply looking at it from a vantage point. You really need to see it up close to appreciate the architecture, the people and the history. In… Continue reading Sevilla, ES

“Olá” Portugual

We arrived in Lisboa tired and haggard from an overnight 12 hour train ride from San Sebastián and therefore took a little longer than usual in finding our accommodations. We had arrived in the Rossio Metro station, and attempted to follow directions from the hostel’s website, which simply said ‘2nd floor of Rossio Train station’. Little… Continue reading “Olá” Portugual

Tours, FR (part II)

Our last day in Tours, we took a half-day excursion out to the surrounding areas and visited Chenonceau and Amboise.  In Chenonceau, we went into the grounds to look around the “Chateau des Dames”, built in 1513.  It received this nickname because its decor and construction was highly influenced by its numerous female tenants. We… Continue reading Tours, FR (part II)