Another Easter break has come and gone. It is crazy to think that it was a year ago that my mom and I were travelling Barcelona! Although she wasn't here this year, I still had a good vacation! It has been a very eventful few weeks!
To start, I made the final decision on the Friday before we broke up for Easter break that I will not be returning to my school in the new school year. It has been a hell of a two years but it is time for me to move on to new things at the end of this school year. I don't know where I will be- whether it is in Canada to be closer to my nephew and family or in England somewhere else. I'm keeping both doors open and looking for job prospects in both to see what I can get.
The beauty of Easter break is I have two weeks off! It gives me more time to travel and more time to relax before the crazy hours and crazy kids enter my life again. My goal for this half term= no stink bombs in the classroom!
The first week I took off to Edinburgh, Scotland. I can't believe I've been in England for almost two years and am now just finally getting to Scotland. I've been to Scotland before but I was just a wee young thing--so wee I mistook sheep poop with a chocolate bar. Thank you mom and dad for stopping me before I ate that! I learned my lesson though, and no sheep poop or chocolate was eaten in Edinburgh this time---I hope!
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| Calton Hill |
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| Edinburgh Castle |
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| Scone with collated cream and jam |
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| Holyrood |
This year I have travelled a lot (well always) on my own. It has its benefits (see my blog post on Perks and Erks of Travelling Alone) but for the second week I finally got to travel with someone and I much prefer it! Kate ( a co-worker and friend) and I headed off to beautiful Rome, Italy for the last week and let me tell you- I love Rome!
We started off the trip on Monday morning on a flight, where as we began down the runway, a small child loudly asked their mother- 'are we going to die?'. It brought laughter to many on the plane, but also the sad realization that in the last year there have been so many documented plane accidents from missing planes almost a year ago to one of the more recent tragedies of the Germanwings crash. I just remain thankful that through all of my travelling and the travelling of my friends across the world, none of us have been victim to these tragedies.
Rome is a truly magical
place. It is crazy to walk down the streets and see old ancient ruins in
amongst the city centre and shops. Everywhere you look, you see a building or
landmark that represents a time we can only imagine of. The other thing you see
everywhere is selfie sticks. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selfie_stick)
Normally in tourist destinations you see a few but in Rome they were in the
hundreds. Not just young girls either- families, honeymooners, retired
travellers all were using the selfie stick. Benefits- you get better photos of
your and your friends in front of attractions because they can take the picture
from further back and you don't have to worry about lending your camera to a
stranger to take the picture. Negatives- you look like a fool and if you are
Kate and I you still can't quite figure it out properly. That is right- we
bought a selfie stick. In fact, we bought more than one because we may have
broken our first one…oops!
Some tips for those
wishing to visit Rome:
1) Italy does not have a
Starbucks and most people order espressos, shoot them back at the counter and
then leave so if you order a latte or an americano to sit down the barista
looks at your strangely.
2) If you go to the Vatican
City, there are people who offer to take you on tours of the Vatican Museum,
Sistine Chapel and St Peters Basilica for an extra cost compared to just the
entrance tickets to each. If you are planning on going to all three, it is
worth it because you get to skip the line. At about 10:30am, the line into St
Peters Basilica was probably a couple hours long. However, the tours are
boring, they will tell you to walk around and take pictures and meet at a
certain time and then leave you behind before then causing you to walk back to
the office and get on the next tour and start from the beginning…..
3) The Sistine Chapel is
not what it is cracked up to be. I compare it to the Mona Lisa in the Louvre.
You get this magical vision of it in your head and then see it and wonder where
you got the idea in your head from because it isn't that magnificent.
4) Once you have seen one
ruin, you have seen them all. If you are pressed on time---walking through the
Roman Forum, Imperial Forum and Palatino can be a bit wasteful. Luckily Kate
and I had plenty of time and we could just enjoy the walk and the sites but
after awhile, each part of the ruins began to look similar to the others.
5) Be careful eating
mushrooms on the pizza. They apparently have some effect that makes you feel
drunk or high (hoping they weren't that kind of mushroom).
6) Buy a selfie stick to
fit in.
7) When heading back to the
airport, pre-buy your tickets for the train because stations self service
machines failed everyone, stole peoples money and then we ended up standing an
hour in a line to buy ours from a cashier.
Highlights of the
trip included:
1) Coming across the
Vittorio which I didn't even know it existed and getting so excited about how
beautiful it was, that I almost cried.
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| Vittorio |
2) Spending Easter Monday
on the most jammed packed Spanish Steps only to return the following day and
they were deserted.
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| Packed Spanish Steps on Easter Monday |
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| View from Spanish Steps on Easter Monday |
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| Deserted Spanish Steps on Tuesday |
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| Spanish Steps on Tuesday |
4) A child (barely able to
walk) on the Spanish Steps who kept climbing up and trying to snatch people's
waters.
5) A waiter whose only
English saying was 'Nice to meet you' so after he greeted you, took your order,
brought you food, collected dishes, etc he said 'nice to meet you'
6) Gelato!
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