By: Ben
After our fun in Tel Aviv, here is an update of our finances:
Money spent so far in Tel Aviv: 8883 New Israeli Sheckels
Remaining Budget: $79392.28
Cash in Euros: 0
Cash in New Israeli Shekels: 1517
Friday, October 29, 2010
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Monuments In Tel Aviv
What a wonderful time we are having here in Tel Aviv! This is by far one of the most beautiful cities I have ever seen. It is much different than many cities in the United States because the majority of the buildings are a bright white or yellow color, where as many cities back home have darker colored skyscrapers. I guess that's why it's referred to as the "white city". I'll have to admit that I'm not the biggest fan of the Mediterranean food here in Tel Aviv, although Alison seems to be loving it. A nice cheeseburger and fries would be pretty nice but I'm going to stick to trying the cultural foods in all of our stops along the way.
Today was a very busy day! There was a brochure at our hotel with a list of building attractions in the city so we picked out a few that seemed interesting. We were all very excited to get out and see all the wonderful buildings and monuments that Tel Aviv has to offer so we got out to an early start so we grabbed a quick breakfast and headed out. Unfortunately since Tel Aviv is such a big city we weren't able to walk to all of the destinations we picked out so we had to catch taxi's along the way. We were warned by the staff at the hotel that taxi drivers in the city were notorious for ripping off tourists by taking them much longer routes to their destination so we were a little cautious about the taxi we got in. Luckily the first taxi we picked up had a driver that spoke decent English and promised us the most direct route to our first destination, which was the Jaffa Clock Tower.
The Jaffa Clock Tower was much smaller than all of us anticipated but it was still a very beautiful structure. The tower is made of limestone and has two clocks at the top. There is also a plaque near the base commemorating the Israelis killed in the battle for the town in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, much like the Bell Tower at NC State, which has a plaque inside with the names students who died in WWI. This was a very cool structure and I'm really glad we got to check it out. Next it was off to the Etzel House, and some how we landed the same cab driver!
Our next destination was the Etzel House. Our cab driver was very knowledgeable of the area and the monuments we wanted to see and gave us a little back ground on the Etzel house. He said its now a museum taht tells the story of the takeover of Jaffa by 600 Etzel (Irgun) troops led by Menachem Begin, who would later serve as prime minister of Israel. Jaffa had long been a Arab city, while Tel Aviv to the north was settled by Jewish immigrants. Thirty-two people were killed in the assault and most Arab residents fled. The rubble was offered to artists to put in sweat equity and establish their workshops and galleries at street level while living over their shops. This transformed it into the artist colony it is today.
Admission into the Museum was 18 Shekels each, a small price to pay for one of the most unique museums any of us had ever been in. The art inside was incredible, it took us forever to pull Alison out of there bc she was so intrigued by this one abstract painting and the rest of us were starving! After finally getting her our of there we hopped in another cab and headed back into the main part of the city. Unfortunately we did not have the same cab driver this time and this one did not speak any English at all. Luckily Matt had a map of the city that he picked up earlier so he was able to point on the map to where we wanted to go. We were all very hungry since we accidentally skipped lunch and it was nearing dinner time. This cab ride seemed to be taking much longer than necessary so we began to examine our map to try and figure out where we were, turns out we were no where near where we wanted to be going so we angrily pointed out to our driver the spot on the map where we wanted to go. Finally we arrived back near the center of the city and our cab fare was way more than our 20 shekel cab rides earlier, this one ended up being 65 shekels. After that expensive and long cab ride we were all more hungry than ever, so we just decided to pick up some dinner at a local street vendor. We each ordered Falafel which is fried balls or patties of spiced, mashed chickpeas or farva beans. It was served in a pita, with pickles, tahina, hummus, cut vegetable salad and harif, a hot sauce. These were 10 shekels each.
Now that we were full and the sun was setting, it was time to head to our last destination of the day. We chose to visit the Dizengoff Fountain at night because we heard it was much prettier when it was dark outside. Luckily we were close enough to walk to the Fountain and didn't have to risk another bad taxi driver. The Dizengoff Fountain was an amazing sight! Its also called the fire and water sculpture and we could definitely tell why. The fountain spun around and sprayed water high into the sky and it appeared like there was fire coming out of the top, it was incredible!
After a long day of sightseeing and long taxi rides it was time to hit the sack. Excited to see what tomorrow has in store!
Total Spending for the day: 237 INS or about 65 US Dollars
-Adam
Fun day at the beach! - Alison
I just realized we forgot to tell you all about where we are staying! Durring our time in Tel Aviv we are staying at a hotel on the beach called Prima Tel Aviv Hotel. When we arrived in Tel Aviv we had no idea how busy it was going to be! We had hoped we would find a cheap little hostel to stay in but we didn’t find any that were suitable enough for us to stay for a whole week. The nightly rate for the room is 726 INS ($200 USD) but since that was a little out of our budget we convinced them to give us two for the price of one and a half. Our stay ended up being 1089 INS ($300/night) for a total of 7623 INS ($2,100).
Anyway, now on to day 2, we woke up, put on our bathing suits, grabbed a quick bite from the free continental breakfast at the hotel and went to the very popular Tel Aviv beach! I was so excited we were going to just hang out and relax all day on the beach! It the high for the day was 85 degrease which is just about perfect, however the boys thought it was a little warm. Overall the beach was very similar to the beaches in North Carolina, however the water was a little more clear. For lunch that day we just got gyros from a street vendor right outside our restaurant for 25 INS ($7 USD) each, for a grand total of 100 INS ($28 USD) we hung out on the beach until about 6:00. We liked the gyros so much we went and had them again for dinner, again for100 INS ($28 USD).
After dinner we contemplated going to the spa at the hotel, which in my opinion we should have done! But there were so many people out and about walking the streets already we decided to go out on the town. After our showers we met back up and headed to down town Tel Aviv. The great part about our hotel was it was such a great location we could walk to a plethora of bars. We ended up at a place called Café Noir. We were a little worn out from the sun all day so we ended up just getting a couple drinks and calling it a night pretty early. For a total of 90 INS ($25 USD). After we walked back to our hotel we passed out pretty early so we could be rested up for tomorrows activities.
Total Cost for the day:
1370 INS/ $2181
Total cost for the day is actually 7913 INS
Hotel cost for week plus food and drinks.
Natural Activity - Alison Harmon
Hello, Tel Aviv! I never would have imagined that I would be visiting Isreal, but its such a beautiful place! Today had such a great day participating in the viewing of the natural beauty of Tel Aviv. We started off waking up around 8am, since none of us were very hungry because we had just woken up we grabbed a quick breakfast to-go from a little restaurant near our hotel, we got a big bowl of hummus and pita bread to share. While we were there we decided to go ahead and get lunch to take with us to Arbel National park. We started out with hummus again, and ordered some stuffed grapeleaves, shaksouka, thenia, and labneh. Our total bill for our breakfast and lunch was 90 ILS ($25 USD). Once we were all fuelled up and ready to go we go we were delivered a rental car to our hotel from the rental company, the delivery and rental of the car for the day was 49 ILS ($14 USD). We were very pleased with this cheap rate for a car rental for the whole day! Once we got our car all packed and ready to go with our food we headed up towards Arbel! This drive proved to be about two hours, which was the longest two hours of the boys life’s considering there were three of them jam packed in the back seat and one in the front. Seeing as I am the only girl in the group I would clearly be the best driver so much to my delight everyone agreed that I should drive to Arbel.
Once we got to Arbel it was about 11am, we were immediately taken away by the beauty of the sight, credited as the ‘gem of nature and landscape’ in Israel, we were not disappointed. Right next to the sea of Galilee, Arbel has lots of trails that can take you to the top of the mountain so you can look down over the sea of Galilee. We were so excited about this opportunity! Israel is the only country in the world that can have the claim of the holy land, the idea of looking over the famous sea of Galilee is so exciting! We decided to take one of the long 4 hour (round trip) trails to the very top, versus a short 30 minute trial that would let us just see a small portion of the natural beauty of the area. We decided since our trip walking up the mountain was going to take so long we better eat our lunch first, so we had a picnic at the bottom of the mountain before heading up to the top. Seeing as we took advantage of every photo opportunity it took us about three hours to get to the top, once we got to the top of the mountain at Arbel we were standing overlooking the sea of Galilee, what an amazing opportunity and breath taking view this was. While the hike was a difficult one, we all agreed that the view from the top was well worth it. The hike back down the mountain didn’t take quite three hours because we didn’t stop to take as many pictures, yet we were so tired from hiking up we walked down a little slower. Seeing as I am the most clumsy person on the planet I was worried about slipping and falling down the mountain. Luckily that didn’t happen and we had no sort of injuries.
Once we got back down to our car it was around 6:30 pm and we were exhausted from our hike, and STARVING from not having any food during it. We should have been more prepared and taken little snacks to eat along the way but oh well. On the way home we stopped for dinner at a little Israeli restaurant we passed along the side of the road. We decided since we were so hungry we would just get the family style dinner they offered. I loved our dinner, we had my personal favorite Mediterranean food, Kibby, but we had it made with beef instead of the traditional beef and lamb, my grandmother is from Lebanan so I grew up eating Mediterranean food but have never caught onto a taste for lamb and much prefer beef kibby to lamb kibby. We also had stuffed grape leaves again, green beans, cous-cous, spanakopatia, tabouli, and balaclava for dessert. I was so happy with dinner because I love Mediterranean food, however I think the boys were a little apprehensive about some of the food, specifically the cous-cous. Our dinner was a total of 181 INS ($50 USD)
After dinner we continued our drive home, got to the hotel and called the rental car company to tell them they could come pick up the vehicle. Once we got back to the hotel we were all exhausted, we took showers and met up after to discuss plans for tomorrow, were going to hit the beach!
Total Cost of the Day: $320 INS/ $88 USD
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Day 25 - Recreational/Sport - HaYarkon Park
By: Ben
Although my team again hasn't followed our schedule, and hasn't posted what we've done for the last 3 days to the blog, I'm sure they'll do so before this week's assignment is due. Consequently, I have no idea where we are at as far as money spent so far...
I decided that we should go and visit Tel Aviv's largest park, Yarkon Park.
Much of the information about the park is taken from Wikipedia
The Yarkon Park (Hebrew: פארק הירקון, Park HaYarkon) is a large public urban park (3.8 km²) in Tel Aviv, Israel, host to 16 million visitors annually.[1] Bounded by Rokach Boulevard on the north and Bavli on the south, the park includes extensive lawns, sports facilities, botanical gardens, an aviary, a water park, two outdoor concert venues and artificial lakes.One of the park's main attractions is Tel Afek and its Ottoman-period fortress, Binary Bashi, overlooking the springs of the Yarkon River. Binary Bashi was built in 1571 on top of an ancient tell. The fortress offers a view of the Rosh Ha'Ayin springs, which flow at the foot of Tel Afek. On the eastern part of the tell are the remains of a pumping station from the British Mandate period, used to transport spring water to Jerusalem.
The park has six gardens: Gan HaBanim (Fallen Soldiers Memorial Garden), Gan Nifga'ei HaTeror (Terror Victims Memorial Garden), Gan HaSlaim (Rock Garden), Gan HaKaktusim (Cactus Garden), Gan HaGazum (Trimmed Garden), and Gan HaTropi (Tropical Garden).
The Rock Garden, one of the largest of its kind in the world, reflects Israel's geological diversity. In its 10-acre (40,000 m2) enclosure the rocks are interspersed with some 3,500 species of plants, including over 6 acres (24,000 m2) of cacti. The 5-acre (20,000 m2) Tropical Garden has a wooden walkway shaded by palm trees leading to a small lake. The rainforest-like microclimate is supports a large variety of orchids and vines.
The Yarkon River runs through the park and reaches the Mediterranean Sea at the park's western edge. Despite clean-up efforts in the last few years, the river is still polluted. Nevertheless, the region has retained its biodiversity. It is home to an abundance of insects, water fowl, jackals, porcupines and mongoose. [2]
Our overall impression of the park was that it was very similar to New York's Central Park. The HaYarkon Park is over land that has immense value and could be utilized for housing, manufacturing, and business. However, the park is a haven for a number of different activities and we enjoyed strolling around and people and animal watching. It is a shame that much of the park seems littered with trash, and the majority of the water is polluted. Maybe we need to send some NCSU PRTM majors to Tel Aviv to get them straightened out!!!
During the course of the day, we were able to partake of food and beverages from kiosks scattered throughout the park. They were very similar to the types of kiosks that we would see at the North Carolina State Fair, which we know is currently going on back at home! There were no deep fried candy bars and soda at these kiosks, though. We were only able to buy things like lamb and breads and coffee.
Total cost of the day was $650 sheckels.
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Day 20 Sports Activity
This morning was kind of rough, I must say! I woke up with a few back pains from my uncomfortable bed and on top of that my sinuses are acting up. It looks like Ben got an early start on the day again because he had already left by the time the rest of us woke up. I was looking forward to redeeming myself on the golf course, but when I looked out the window, I noticed that it was pouring the rain. Since the three of us woke up a little later than what we wanted to, Adam and Alison suggested that we take advantage of the free breakfast in the hotel lounge. After eating breakfast we all purchased Italy souvenir cards to send back to our families for $1.35 each which was 4 euros, and then we headed out for the day with our new rain ponchos that we purchased for 6 euros each from the hotel.
After walking around for about a half hour, it quit raining and we found a local band playing some nice Italian music just when the sun began to come out. We also met three really nice Italian people that were college students too. After talking and getting to know each other a little bit, we decided to go grab some lunch and continue our conversation. Since they knew their way around, we took their advice and had lunch at Osteria Allegro Pachino which is situated in the historical center of Rome, next to the beautiful Fontana di Trevi. As we all finished our lunch and two bottles of wine, we exchanged numbers and made plans to hopefully meet up in the future. Our total expenses at the restaurant were 50 euros.
With our stomachs aching from too much to eat and a little too much wine for the time of day, we decided that it was too late to try and play golf. Instead the three of us decided we would try something new out and take a martial arts class at Taramanni Kung Fu Schooljust to say we had experienced a new activity. As the class started, I thought to myself that this looks pretty neat. We actually learned some moves that would help us if someone ever tried to mug us on the street. We even got to see our instructor break through wood with a hand chop, which was awesome. We all decided that we would have to look into some more classes once we got back to Raleigh. The other students and the instructor were really friendly as well, even though we held the class up a couple of times when we were going over a few moves. Our expense for the class was 20 euros apiece which was 80 Euros.
Well finally after a day of walking around, exploring the city, and learning martial arts, our three friends from earlier called us up and invited us to a family dinner. I will definitely say that it was one of the most interesting family dinners I have ever experienced. The authentic, home cooked Italian food was amazing. The conversation and wine was even better than the food though. The family was definitely happy to have us over and they were some of the best hosts that you can find. I can say for sure that this has been one of the highlights of the trip thus far, and I will never forget the friends we made and the wonderful conversation we had.
Total Expenses: 158 Euros, 114 U.S. Dollars
Sites:
-Matt
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Natural sites in Rome
Matt, Alison and I decided to get up early today to take full advantage of the day since we slept in a little late yesterday. We decided to leave Ben and not wake him because he had been working so hard planning our entire trip so we thought he could use the rest. While grabbing some quick breakfast at the hotel we overheard a couple talking about their visit to Lake Bracciano the day before. It sounded very interesting and fun! Since we had no set plan for the day we decided to give that a shot. After asking the couple some basic information about how to get there we headed out for the day, and what a beautiful day it was! We caught a cab from our hotel to the train station and hopped on the train that took us out to Lake Bracciano. The cab ride cost us 15 euros and round trip train tickets were 20 euros each. Throughout the 40 minute train ride I was looking through the window for about 39 minutes of it, the transfer from the man made beauty of the city to the natural beauty of the outskirts was amazing. A fellow passenger suggested that we ride bikes at the lake so we could see as much of it as possible. We found the local rental shop in Bracciano and rented three bikes for 30 euros. They also had maps at the rental shop that had showed guided tours of the lake which came in very handy. Before we headed out to the lake we stopped by store to buy some stuff so we could have a picnic by the lake for lunch which only cost us 25 euros. We made our way to the large natural park that surrounded the lake and it was beautiful!
After riding around for a little while and taking in the sights we saw some familiar faces from the train who were getting on a sail boat. We stopped and talked for a while and they asked us if we wanted to join, of course we did! Sailing on the lake was amazing! The water was so clear and the sights were breathtaking.
The long day of biking and sailing had to come to an end because the sun was going down. So we got off the boat, said goodbye to our new friends and biked back into town to return the bikes. Our sailing buddies suggested that we eat dinner at a restaurant called Vino e Camino. We decided to splurge a little bit and get a few bottles of expensive Italian wine. We got a bottle of Selvarossa Riserva, Primitivo di Manduria Alberello and Pinot Grigio Eventus. This was by far the best wine any of us had ever had. We ate dinner and drank our wine...maybe a little too much of it to be honest. Dinner ended up costing us 450 euros due to the expensive wine, good thing Alison won that horse race yesterday! Finding the train station was a bit difficult after all that wine but after a little while of taking the accidental scenic route we found the station and headed back into the city. The wine made the train ride back much more interesting, we were all extremely friendly and sociable with everyone on the train. Matt and I met a couple beautiful Italian girls on the train that luckily spoke english pretty well. When we arrived back in the city the girls suggested that Matt and I come back with them for the night and we were extremely excited. Unfortunately, Alison made us come back to our hotel with her because she did not want our group to get separated. She managed to shove both of us in a cab and that took us back to our hotel. Obviously this made us fairly upset but looking back I'm glad she did because who knows where we would have ended up. Time for a good nights sleep after an awesome day of bike riding and sailing at Lake Bracciano!
-Adam
Day 17 A Day Full of Culture
Good morning Rome! After a great day of sleeping in Matt, Adam and I decided that it was finally time to get up and moving. Seeing as we were a little to late for breakfast at the hotel we decided to walk to a little café about three blocks from our hotel called Piazza del Popolo which is conveniently located right near central station in Roma Termini. The three of us shared a large pizza and drinks at the restaurant for 22 Euros, ($30 USD). This lunch was so nice for us because we got to sit outside and enjoy the local flavor and plan out our day. Matt wanted to go see the pantheon, Adam wanted to go see Roman churches, and I wanted to go watch the horses race at Tor di Valle Harness Raceway.
Since we were already close to the central subway station we went ahead and bought one week tickets for the subway to get us from place to place. At 16 Euros each ($22 USD/person) we spent a total of 48 Euros ($67 USD) on the subway tickets. At that point we hopped on the subway and headed toward the pantheon. I imagined he pantheon would be beautiful but I had no idea just how breath taking it would be. It was such a beautiful day out that there were so many people there to enjoy the beautiful scenery that the pantheon had to offer. I almost wished we had packed a lunch and eaten it outside of the pantheon, instead we walked around and looked at the beautiful architecture it had to offer, everything was so detail oriented and clearly thought out. My favorite part of it was the high ceilings, which are believed to have been built in a Rotunda style to symbolize the arches of heaven.
From there we walked to go see the Basilica of St. John Lateran. The Basilica of St. John Lateran is the official church of the Pope. Seeing as I am not catholic I had never really paid the Basilica any mind, I was overwhelmed by how big the church was! It resembled less my church back home and more the white house! Never did I imagine that we would be allowed to go into the church but we were, this was so exciting! We got to see the beautiful architecture which looked similar to that of the pantheon in the fact that they were both very dated and beautiful, the crawford ceilings in the church were my favorite. From here we also got to see the papal tombs inside the basilica, six previous popes have been laid to rest inside the basilica. Their tombs were very well crafted and detailed, even if one did not know who was buried inside them it would be easy to tell that they were well loved and respected.
Leaving the basilica we started talking about how interesting the historic Roman culture had been but we wanted to do something a little more fun. We asked a local person what they suggested and he said there was a horse race at the Tor di Valle in two hours. Seeing as we had only spent a total of 70 Euros for the whole day we thought this would be a great way to do a little gambling and have a little fun. We quickly headed to the subway and hopped on to go toward the horse race. When we arrived at the racetrack we were so excited! We were surprised at the amount of people ready to watch the horses race, since we had a little time to kill we figured we would get some drinks and snacks from the vendors inside the raceway and talk about which horses we wanted to bet on. (We spent 15 Euros ($20 USD) on snack foods and bottled water). We decided that we would each bet 50 Euros ($70 USD) on different horses. Adam bet on L'Imperatore Romano (The Roman Emperor), and Matt bet on Il Grande Romano (The Roman Great). Seeing as I am the only female on this trip, I thought it would be appropriate for me to bed on a female horse, Bellezza di Bella (Bella Beauty). Once the race started we all cheered as loud as we could for our respective horses and riders. Note that I said riders, as the horse race was not a typical American horse race, the horses ran and pulled the riders in carriage type seats. Betting on a female horse paid off for me! Even though it was a close race Bellezza de Bella ended up beating out the other horses by a nose! Seeing as I was apparently one of the only people in the entire race who bet on Bellezza di Bella I ended up winning 1075 Euros ($1500 USD)!
Excited from my win we all couldn’t wait to run back and tell Ben! On the way home we stopped for some gelato (10 Euros, $15 USD) and got a little lost. Wandering the streets of Rome with our gelato, and pondering why it was so delectable, turned out to be beautiful! We were lucky to have such a pretty night! Seeing as finding the subway turned into a small nightmare we asked some local people for directions, they were talking so fast and broken English we couldn’t really understand! This led us to just wander in the direction they pointed looking for the subway. Once we finally found it we hopped on and rode back to our side of Rome. Glad to be back in our hotel, we quickly changed into our pajamas and fell fast asleep.
Budget:
-245 euros spent
+ 1075 horse race winnings
= + 830 euros
post by Alison Harmon
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Day 21 - Time to travel again. Next stop, Tel Aviv, Israel
By: Ben
Hey!!!! When I got back to the hotel room this morning, my travel group was there.
I was anxious for them to fill in all of their adventures, day by day, on the blog. All they have to do is post their adventures under the comments for each day.
We went down, and had breakfast together at the hotel, and then hiked our way back to the train station. After paying another 11 euros each, we boarded the train for the airport.
We booked a direct flight from Rome to Tel Aviv on Meridian fly Airlines through Expedia. Cost per person was $197, including all fees. That sounded like a great deal to us. Total cost, $788
Since we had a few hours to kill before we had to go through customs, we decided to blow the last of our Euros on trinkets to remember our time in Italy. We each found some junk to show off to others when we returned to America.
With all of our European cash blown, we headed toward customs and boarded our flight.
The flight was 3 hours and 10 minutes. We landed at the Ben Gurion International Airport, and began looking around for brochures or maps that might help us to find a place to stay for the week while we waited for our bags to be offloaded from the plane. We were very aware of the armed security guards everywhere. They all carried automatic machine guns, and seemed very distrustful of us.
At the airport, we converted some money into local currency - 1 US Dollar = 3.61548 Israeli New Shekel. We converted $3000, which gave us 10800 Israeli New Shekels after fees.
We were still waiting on our bags to come off of the plane, when we were informed that today, the airport workers were going on strike, and that planes were being allowed to land, but no planes would be departing, and there were no ground services such as offloading of bags would be happening. Here is a link to that report:
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSLDE68C0F420100913
This throws a huge monkey wrench into our plans, and we decide to hang out in the star-shaped rotunda inside the airport. There's duty-free shopping, and a number of cafes and restaurants to choose from. We find a restaurant with American food inside the Buy and Bye, a mall located within the lower concourse of the airport. Most importantly, there's a number of benches that we utilize as sleeping quarters tonight while we wait on our bags. Food and pillow/blanket costs: 400 Shekels
by: Ben
Funds spent today: $788, 470 Euros (rest of group has 1128.90 euros), Converted $3000, 400 Shekels
Remaining Budget: $79392.28
Cash in Euros: 0
Cash in New Israeli Shekels: 10400
Hey!!!! When I got back to the hotel room this morning, my travel group was there.
I was anxious for them to fill in all of their adventures, day by day, on the blog. All they have to do is post their adventures under the comments for each day.
We went down, and had breakfast together at the hotel, and then hiked our way back to the train station. After paying another 11 euros each, we boarded the train for the airport.
We booked a direct flight from Rome to Tel Aviv on Meridian fly Airlines through Expedia. Cost per person was $197, including all fees. That sounded like a great deal to us. Total cost, $788
Since we had a few hours to kill before we had to go through customs, we decided to blow the last of our Euros on trinkets to remember our time in Italy. We each found some junk to show off to others when we returned to America.
With all of our European cash blown, we headed toward customs and boarded our flight.
The flight was 3 hours and 10 minutes. We landed at the Ben Gurion International Airport, and began looking around for brochures or maps that might help us to find a place to stay for the week while we waited for our bags to be offloaded from the plane. We were very aware of the armed security guards everywhere. They all carried automatic machine guns, and seemed very distrustful of us.
At the airport, we converted some money into local currency - 1 US Dollar = 3.61548 Israeli New Shekel. We converted $3000, which gave us 10800 Israeli New Shekels after fees.
We were still waiting on our bags to come off of the plane, when we were informed that today, the airport workers were going on strike, and that planes were being allowed to land, but no planes would be departing, and there were no ground services such as offloading of bags would be happening. Here is a link to that report:
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSLDE68C0F420100913
This throws a huge monkey wrench into our plans, and we decide to hang out in the star-shaped rotunda inside the airport. There's duty-free shopping, and a number of cafes and restaurants to choose from. We find a restaurant with American food inside the Buy and Bye, a mall located within the lower concourse of the airport. Most importantly, there's a number of benches that we utilize as sleeping quarters tonight while we wait on our bags. Food and pillow/blanket costs: 400 Shekels
by: Ben
Funds spent today: $788, 470 Euros (rest of group has 1128.90 euros), Converted $3000, 400 Shekels
Remaining Budget: $79392.28
Cash in Euros: 0
Cash in New Israeli Shekels: 10400
Day 20 - Off to see Naples
by: Ben
With still no sign of my travel group, I have breakfast at the hotel. Today's weather is really crappy outside, with rain pouring down. I purchase an umbrella at the front desk of our hotel... from the guy working the desk. He gave me the used umbrella for 5 euros. What a deal....
After leaving another 200 euros and a note in Allison's suitcase telling the group where I would be, I walked toward the train station. Wanting to surprise my new friend with a present, I stop in a little shop along the way and pick up a box of chocolates. Cost 8 euros.
With my backpack on my back, my box of chocolates under my arm, and my umbrella in my hand, I walked in the rain toward the station. The streets were pretty busy this morning, with people walking hunched over in the rain. I bumped into a guy, and I dropped my chocolates. As I stooped to pick them up, I felt the guy try to reach into my back pocket, presumably in an attempt to steal my wallet. Bashing him upside the head with umbrella, we began to fight in the street. I had noticed from the tourist information booth that this area of Rome was notorious for pickpockets, but I didn't think that I would be a target. Nevertheless, I had been careful to keep most of the groups cash and travelers checks in a special chest wallet that I had bought prior to our beginning the trip. This guy was just going after a few euros and my NCSU student ID that I kept in my normal wallet.
As we tusseled, the guy managed to escape my grasp and run away. I immediately felt for my wallet, and since it was missing, checked around in the street. Luckily, the guy hadn't made off with it. A little soggy, it was lying in a puddle.
Amped with adrenaline, pissed at the guy for trying to rob me, and knowing that he probably wouldn't have tried if my group was with me, I met up with my new friend and told her I wasn't really in the mood to go to Naples. We decided that we would instead head toward the Roman Sport Centre, situated in the Villa Borghese. The Sport Centre had a variety of aerobic exercise equipment, a swimming pool, and squash courts.
We hailed a taxi, and took a short ride to the Sport Centre. Cost, 15 euros
Once inside, we decided to play a little squash, and then go swimming. We were both dressed for walking, but not exercising, so we purchased inexpensive workout gear and swimsuits from the pro shop. I noticed that the typical swimwear for males was a little banana hammock speedo thing. Thinking my boxer briefs provided me more coverage, I reluctantly gave in to local culture and bought the little swim trunks. My cost: 52 euros
After some fun physical exercise, we decided to go find a restaurant to feed ourselves. We decided to pick up a couple of calzones, and head back to my friend's hotel where there was supposed to be a live band playing later on in the night. We sat on the balcony of her hotel room and watched the rain fall. Exchanging stories of our upbringing, we soon heard the music playing downstairs. Invigorated by the sound, we went down to the lobby and watched the band play. We started drinking some Perroni, the favorite local Italian beer. After more ribbing about my sexy little swimtrunks, and a few beers (more than I could count) my friend offered me to stay in her room instead of trying to stumble back across the city. I graciously accepted. Bar tab: 45 euros
by: Ben
Funds spent today: 125 Euros, 200 euros to group (rest of group has 1128.90 euros)
Remaining Budget: $83180.28
Cash in Euros: 470
With still no sign of my travel group, I have breakfast at the hotel. Today's weather is really crappy outside, with rain pouring down. I purchase an umbrella at the front desk of our hotel... from the guy working the desk. He gave me the used umbrella for 5 euros. What a deal....
After leaving another 200 euros and a note in Allison's suitcase telling the group where I would be, I walked toward the train station. Wanting to surprise my new friend with a present, I stop in a little shop along the way and pick up a box of chocolates. Cost 8 euros.
With my backpack on my back, my box of chocolates under my arm, and my umbrella in my hand, I walked in the rain toward the station. The streets were pretty busy this morning, with people walking hunched over in the rain. I bumped into a guy, and I dropped my chocolates. As I stooped to pick them up, I felt the guy try to reach into my back pocket, presumably in an attempt to steal my wallet. Bashing him upside the head with umbrella, we began to fight in the street. I had noticed from the tourist information booth that this area of Rome was notorious for pickpockets, but I didn't think that I would be a target. Nevertheless, I had been careful to keep most of the groups cash and travelers checks in a special chest wallet that I had bought prior to our beginning the trip. This guy was just going after a few euros and my NCSU student ID that I kept in my normal wallet.
As we tusseled, the guy managed to escape my grasp and run away. I immediately felt for my wallet, and since it was missing, checked around in the street. Luckily, the guy hadn't made off with it. A little soggy, it was lying in a puddle.
Amped with adrenaline, pissed at the guy for trying to rob me, and knowing that he probably wouldn't have tried if my group was with me, I met up with my new friend and told her I wasn't really in the mood to go to Naples. We decided that we would instead head toward the Roman Sport Centre, situated in the Villa Borghese. The Sport Centre had a variety of aerobic exercise equipment, a swimming pool, and squash courts.
We hailed a taxi, and took a short ride to the Sport Centre. Cost, 15 euros
Once inside, we decided to play a little squash, and then go swimming. We were both dressed for walking, but not exercising, so we purchased inexpensive workout gear and swimsuits from the pro shop. I noticed that the typical swimwear for males was a little banana hammock speedo thing. Thinking my boxer briefs provided me more coverage, I reluctantly gave in to local culture and bought the little swim trunks. My cost: 52 euros
After some fun physical exercise, we decided to go find a restaurant to feed ourselves. We decided to pick up a couple of calzones, and head back to my friend's hotel where there was supposed to be a live band playing later on in the night. We sat on the balcony of her hotel room and watched the rain fall. Exchanging stories of our upbringing, we soon heard the music playing downstairs. Invigorated by the sound, we went down to the lobby and watched the band play. We started drinking some Perroni, the favorite local Italian beer. After more ribbing about my sexy little swimtrunks, and a few beers (more than I could count) my friend offered me to stay in her room instead of trying to stumble back across the city. I graciously accepted. Bar tab: 45 euros
by: Ben
Funds spent today: 125 Euros, 200 euros to group (rest of group has 1128.90 euros)
Remaining Budget: $83180.28
Cash in Euros: 470
Day 19 - Still no sign of my friends....
by: Ben
This morning I woke up with a banging headache. I mostly sipped coffee for breakfast from the hotel lobby. I mentioned to the guy working at the desk that I was missing my friends, so he took a note from me for them in case they asked at the desk instead of checking the room.
I again headed up to the room, cleaned myself up, and left another note. I was skeptical about leaving more cash in the room, in case the hotel staff were to come in and take it. I stuck another 200 in euros in Allison's suitcase, hoping she'd find it if she came back to the room and changed clothes.
I then headed out to take a bus tour of the city. For $28, I was able to travel on a double-decker bus and have a 3 hour tour of some of the sights. Mostly, I spent the time scouting the streets looking for my friends, and scouting for a place to buy some toiletries and trinkets.
After the bus tour, I took the 1/2 hour walk back to the hotel. Still no sign of my travel group. The note was missing, and the money was gone from Allison's suitcase. I could tell that someone had been in the room, because the towels were all wet and piled on the floor, so my group had been here. Why they hadn't left a note for me was puzzling. I guess they were satisfied with the allowance that I was giving them, and were uninterested in including me in their travels. I'm sure that they'll be posting their own adventures to the blog!
I put another 200 euros in Allison's suitcase, and headed back out to find some food. As I was wandering around, I noticed a pretty young lady that was walking by herself, that seemed to be shadowing me. When I went inside a trendy clothing shop, she followed. I caught her eye in one of the aisles, and gave her a polite "hello gorgeous!" Luckily for me, she was also American, so we struck up a conversation, and decided to have dinner together. We went to the Osteria del Gallo, a classy haven, just off the Piazza Navona. We had fresh pasta, gnocchi, and split a couple bottles of red wine. We exchanged stories, and I assume she thought I was sketchy due to my story about my travel buddies being missing. Even so, she allowed me to walk her back to her hotel. Although she didn't invite me up, we made plans to meet up again for lunch the following day at the train station, and to travel to Naples by train if my group was still missing.
I went back to the room excited to have made a new friend. Eager to tell my travel buddies about my adventure, I was disappointed when they were again missing in action! maybe they'll come back again by morning!
by: Ben
Funds spent today: $28, 150 Euros, 400 euros to group (rest of group has 928.90 euros)
Remaining Budget: $83180.28
Cash in Euros: 795
This morning I woke up with a banging headache. I mostly sipped coffee for breakfast from the hotel lobby. I mentioned to the guy working at the desk that I was missing my friends, so he took a note from me for them in case they asked at the desk instead of checking the room.
I again headed up to the room, cleaned myself up, and left another note. I was skeptical about leaving more cash in the room, in case the hotel staff were to come in and take it. I stuck another 200 in euros in Allison's suitcase, hoping she'd find it if she came back to the room and changed clothes.
I then headed out to take a bus tour of the city. For $28, I was able to travel on a double-decker bus and have a 3 hour tour of some of the sights. Mostly, I spent the time scouting the streets looking for my friends, and scouting for a place to buy some toiletries and trinkets.
After the bus tour, I took the 1/2 hour walk back to the hotel. Still no sign of my travel group. The note was missing, and the money was gone from Allison's suitcase. I could tell that someone had been in the room, because the towels were all wet and piled on the floor, so my group had been here. Why they hadn't left a note for me was puzzling. I guess they were satisfied with the allowance that I was giving them, and were uninterested in including me in their travels. I'm sure that they'll be posting their own adventures to the blog!
I put another 200 euros in Allison's suitcase, and headed back out to find some food. As I was wandering around, I noticed a pretty young lady that was walking by herself, that seemed to be shadowing me. When I went inside a trendy clothing shop, she followed. I caught her eye in one of the aisles, and gave her a polite "hello gorgeous!" Luckily for me, she was also American, so we struck up a conversation, and decided to have dinner together. We went to the Osteria del Gallo, a classy haven, just off the Piazza Navona. We had fresh pasta, gnocchi, and split a couple bottles of red wine. We exchanged stories, and I assume she thought I was sketchy due to my story about my travel buddies being missing. Even so, she allowed me to walk her back to her hotel. Although she didn't invite me up, we made plans to meet up again for lunch the following day at the train station, and to travel to Naples by train if my group was still missing.
I went back to the room excited to have made a new friend. Eager to tell my travel buddies about my adventure, I was disappointed when they were again missing in action! maybe they'll come back again by morning!
by: Ben
Funds spent today: $28, 150 Euros, 400 euros to group (rest of group has 928.90 euros)
Remaining Budget: $83180.28
Cash in Euros: 795
Day 18 - Where are my buddies?
By: Ben
I woke up quite a few times during the night, expecting my travel partners to return to the room. After eating breakfast downstairs in the hotel, I waited around the room for a bit longer, expecting them to come back. Around noon, I decided not to waste the day, and headed out on my own again. I left the remaining cash in Euros that we had (228.90) for my group, along with a note telling them I would be back around 7, so that we could eat dinner together.
I then headed to the train station, so that I could exchange some money from dollars into Euros. I decided to change another $2000 into euros, at the rate of 0.71811. That gave me 1420 euros after fees.
Once at the train station, I decided to board a train to Florence. For only $130 round-trip, I had an economy seat on the high-speed train. I was seated next to an Italian businessman, who spoke minimal english, but was polite enough to make conversation a majority of the 90 minute ride.
Once in Florence, I knew I only had about 2 hours to walk around before I had to head back to meet up with my friends. I wandered from the Firenze Santa Maria Novella train station, stopping at a tourist guide conveniently located just outside the terminal. In just a 10 minute walk, I took the Via de’ Panzani followed by Via de’ Cerretani to the Duomo in the heart of the city.
Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore is the cathedral church (Duomo) of Florence, Italy, begun in 1296 in the Gothic style to the design of Arnolfo di Cambio and completed structurally in 1436 with the dome engineered by Filippo Brunelleschi. The exterior of the basilica is faced with polychrome marble panels in various shades of green and pink bordered by white and has an elaborate 19th century Gothic Revival facade by Emilio De Fabris.
I woke up quite a few times during the night, expecting my travel partners to return to the room. After eating breakfast downstairs in the hotel, I waited around the room for a bit longer, expecting them to come back. Around noon, I decided not to waste the day, and headed out on my own again. I left the remaining cash in Euros that we had (228.90) for my group, along with a note telling them I would be back around 7, so that we could eat dinner together.
I then headed to the train station, so that I could exchange some money from dollars into Euros. I decided to change another $2000 into euros, at the rate of 0.71811. That gave me 1420 euros after fees.
Once at the train station, I decided to board a train to Florence. For only $130 round-trip, I had an economy seat on the high-speed train. I was seated next to an Italian businessman, who spoke minimal english, but was polite enough to make conversation a majority of the 90 minute ride.
Once in Florence, I knew I only had about 2 hours to walk around before I had to head back to meet up with my friends. I wandered from the Firenze Santa Maria Novella train station, stopping at a tourist guide conveniently located just outside the terminal. In just a 10 minute walk, I took the Via de’ Panzani followed by Via de’ Cerretani to the Duomo in the heart of the city.
Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore is the cathedral church (Duomo) of Florence, Italy, begun in 1296 in the Gothic style to the design of Arnolfo di Cambio and completed structurally in 1436 with the dome engineered by Filippo Brunelleschi. The exterior of the basilica is faced with polychrome marble panels in various shades of green and pink bordered by white and has an elaborate 19th century Gothic Revival facade by Emilio De Fabris.
The cathedral complex, located in Piazza del Duomo, includes the Baptistery and Giotto's Campanile. The three buildings are part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site covering the historic centre of Florence and are a major attraction to tourists visiting the region of Tuscany. The basilica is one of Italy's largest churches, and until the modern era, the dome was the largest in the world. It remains the largest brick dome ever constructed.
The cathedral is the mother church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Florence, whose archbishop is currently Giuseppe Betori.
Very cool to look at, especially the view from the bell tower, my two hours passed quickly, so I hurried back to the train station. Buying a sandwich and some water while on the train, I was eager to tell my travel mates what I had seen.
Unfortunately, they were again not at the hotel. My note and the cash had disappeared, so I waited around for them to come back. After a couple of hours, I left another note and headed to the Piazza Pasquino. This is an enoteca - wine bar - which serves good wines by the glass and also does great food - ideal if you want one or two dishes, rather than a long formal meal. It's a narrow place like a corridor, so there's not much space and single diners may end up sharing a table. I of course, got grouped next to some loud spanish tourists, but I tried to make the most of the hours I spent at the bar waiting for my friends to show up.
After two bottles of wine, I was pretty drunk and really tired of waiting for my friends. I stumbled back to the hotel room, where I found my note still sitting on the bed. Not sure where my friends were, I took my comfortable spot on the bed and waited for them to come back in.
by: Ben
Funds spent today: $130, 75 Euros, Converted $2000 into Euros (rest of group has 528.90 euros)
Remaining Budget: $83208.28
Cash in Euros: 1345
Day 17 - Roman Walkabout...
By: Ben
My group is growing ever so lazy, and wanted to sleep in this morning. I decided to leave them, and walk around downtown Rome myself. Since I'm the one keeping up with the budget, and have all of our travelers checks and available cash, I left them with $300 Euros to figure out the day for themselves.
After a meager breakfast at the hotel, I walked along the streets near the hotel. With a modest map from the hotel lobby, and no idea of how to speak Italian, I tried to keep up with my location by charting my progress on the map, so that I didn't get too lost.
I passed a bookstore on the street, and browsed through their selection, looking for anything in English. They had a whole section with American books, but I didn't find anything too interesting. I did happen across a book that was in Italian, but had a lot of interesting pictures of Italian landmarks and some (what I believed to be) descriptions and histories of the sites. Thinking this might be a good idea to pick out something interesting to visit, I purchased the book. Cost 15 euros.
I then headed to a local park, the Parco di Traiano. Surrounded by awesome stone buildings, I found a nice bench under a tree to browse my new book while watching the locals. I saw a couple of gorgeous girls walking together, and I thought I'd try a smooth approach to strike up a conversation with them, and have them direct me toward fun activities.
Unfortunately, these girls wanted nothing to do with me, and the language barrier sealed my fate. I packed up my bookbag, and headed to find somewhere to eat.
I stopped at La Gallina Bianca for lunch. A quaint pizzaria, I had the most amazing salad and bruchetta of my life. It was nice to sit outdoors and watch the other tourists and locals walking by while I ate. Cost was 11 euros.
I headed back toward the bookstore, with the idea of finding an Italian to English dictionary. I figured that it would be my only chance at conversing with the locals. Cost of the book 20 euros.
I headed back to the hotel to see if I could rouse up my travel buddies for another outing as a group. When I got back to the hotel, they weren't in the room, and didn't leave a note as to where they went. I decided to hang out at the hotel and work out some Italian phrases so I could understand what was going on around me.
by: Ben
Funds spent today: 46 Euros (rest of group has 300 euros)
Remaining Budget: $85208.28
Cash in Euros: 228.90
My group is growing ever so lazy, and wanted to sleep in this morning. I decided to leave them, and walk around downtown Rome myself. Since I'm the one keeping up with the budget, and have all of our travelers checks and available cash, I left them with $300 Euros to figure out the day for themselves.
After a meager breakfast at the hotel, I walked along the streets near the hotel. With a modest map from the hotel lobby, and no idea of how to speak Italian, I tried to keep up with my location by charting my progress on the map, so that I didn't get too lost.
I passed a bookstore on the street, and browsed through their selection, looking for anything in English. They had a whole section with American books, but I didn't find anything too interesting. I did happen across a book that was in Italian, but had a lot of interesting pictures of Italian landmarks and some (what I believed to be) descriptions and histories of the sites. Thinking this might be a good idea to pick out something interesting to visit, I purchased the book. Cost 15 euros.
I then headed to a local park, the Parco di Traiano. Surrounded by awesome stone buildings, I found a nice bench under a tree to browse my new book while watching the locals. I saw a couple of gorgeous girls walking together, and I thought I'd try a smooth approach to strike up a conversation with them, and have them direct me toward fun activities.
Unfortunately, these girls wanted nothing to do with me, and the language barrier sealed my fate. I packed up my bookbag, and headed to find somewhere to eat.
I stopped at La Gallina Bianca for lunch. A quaint pizzaria, I had the most amazing salad and bruchetta of my life. It was nice to sit outdoors and watch the other tourists and locals walking by while I ate. Cost was 11 euros.
I headed back toward the bookstore, with the idea of finding an Italian to English dictionary. I figured that it would be my only chance at conversing with the locals. Cost of the book 20 euros.
I headed back to the hotel to see if I could rouse up my travel buddies for another outing as a group. When I got back to the hotel, they weren't in the room, and didn't leave a note as to where they went. I decided to hang out at the hotel and work out some Italian phrases so I could understand what was going on around me.
by: Ben
Funds spent today: 46 Euros (rest of group has 300 euros)
Remaining Budget: $85208.28
Cash in Euros: 228.90
Day 16 - Rome. Where to stay? When do we eat?
By Ben
As usual, my travel partners are tagging along waiting for me to plan their trip. Once we get off of the plane, we wait forever at the baggage claim at the Fiumicino Airport. Lovingly called the Leonardo da Vinci airport by locals, we were somewhat confused as to where we actually were. We decided to take the train to Rome's Central Station. The train to Rome's Central Station (Roma Termini) runs frequently between 6:37 am and 10:52 pm and takes 31 minutes. Cost for a one way rail pass was 11 Euros each. We find a diner in the airport for a meal, wolfing down pizza and salads like the hungry tourists that we were. Lunch was 15 euros each.
Once we get on the train, we look over some of the brochures that we picked up at the the airport in an attempt to find somewhere to sleep for the week. We decide to check out the Hotel Marechiaro Romesince the flyer stated that it is:
A budget hotel that offers good standards of lodging at an affordable price. Guests can visit the places of interest namely Santa Maria Maggiore, a church located near Piazza di Santa Maria Maggiore and Domus Aurea, a large landscaped portico villa between the Esquiline and Palatine Hills. Just a short stroll from this hotel is Colosseum, well known as one of the Seven Wonders of the World with its iconic building. Guests can also visit the Trevi Fountain, known as the world's best wishing wells.
As usual, my travel partners are tagging along waiting for me to plan their trip. Once we get off of the plane, we wait forever at the baggage claim at the Fiumicino Airport. Lovingly called the Leonardo da Vinci airport by locals, we were somewhat confused as to where we actually were. We decided to take the train to Rome's Central Station. The train to Rome's Central Station (Roma Termini) runs frequently between 6:37 am and 10:52 pm and takes 31 minutes. Cost for a one way rail pass was 11 Euros each. We find a diner in the airport for a meal, wolfing down pizza and salads like the hungry tourists that we were. Lunch was 15 euros each.
Once we get on the train, we look over some of the brochures that we picked up at the the airport in an attempt to find somewhere to sleep for the week. We decide to check out the Hotel Marechiaro Romesince the flyer stated that it is:
A budget hotel that offers good standards of lodging at an affordable price. Guests can visit the places of interest namely Santa Maria Maggiore, a church located near Piazza di Santa Maria Maggiore and Domus Aurea, a large landscaped portico villa between the Esquiline and Palatine Hills. Just a short stroll from this hotel is Colosseum, well known as one of the Seven Wonders of the World with its iconic building. Guests can also visit the Trevi Fountain, known as the world's best wishing wells.
Location
Situated in the historical centre of Rome, Hotel Marechiaro is well connected to Terme Diocleziano, a monument located between Piazza della Repubblica and Termini bus terminal. Other tourist attraction close to this hotel are Palazzo Barberini: Palace and Palazzo Quirinale.
Rooms
This hotel offers modern guest rooms that are fully furnished to provide comfortable rest for guests. Amenities provided in all the rooms are air-conditioner, cable TV and telephone.
Restaurant
Guests of Hotel Marechiaro in Rome can start off their day with a tasty breakfast served at the breakfast room. They can also unwind with a sip of the cocktail at the hotel's bar.
General
Hotel Marechiaro Rome offers an Internet facility for guests' convenience. This hotel is just 2 kilometres from Roman Forum, which houses the best-preserved monuments.
We were able to get a double-bed room for $75 American per night. Fantastic deal for us!
Once we checked in and cleaned up, we went out for a nice dinner on the town. We treated ourselves to an expensive dinner at the Trattoria Da Nazzareno, where we had leg of lamb, mussels, shrimp.... very nice. Pricy at 215 Euros for our group, we wanted to start our Roman vacation leg off refueled!!
by: Ben
Funds spent today: $450, 259 Euros
Remaining Budget: $85208.28
Cash in Euros: 574.90
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