Welcome to Europe Mom!

Just below the clouds in Chamonix


In Chamonix (check out the guy behind us to the right... he must be hot!!)


By the castle wall in Annecy


In Annecy

My mom was out to visit a couple weeks ago and we had a very aggressive sightseeing plan; Switzerland, Rome, Florence, Pompeii, Paris, & Barcelona. Now I know where I inherited all my crazy travel planning from!

My mom arrived in Switzerland and we hit the ground running! On Sunday Gary joined us for a day of sightseeing in France, where we visited the towns of Chamonix and Annecy. Unfortunately the weather did not cooperate in Chamonix. As we boarded the cable car that would take up 2.4 miles above the valley floor, the clouds moved in, blocking our view! (I now realize how lucky we were when Pat & Kevin were out visiting Chamonix!) But the day was not lost... we drove to Annecy, which is a village on the shores of a beautiful lake. The town itself is so cute, with winding canals and oh so French! (Greg, I should have taken your advice and visited sooner... I will be back here for sure!)

The next day we were off to Rome! We spent two full days in Rome (our home base), one in Florence and a day exploring Naples & Pompeii. We didn't know it, but we just happened to be in Italy during the "annual week of culture" (or la settimana della Cultura) where all museums and archeological sites are free! We took full advantage and saw just about every sight in Rome.

We started at the Vatican Museum and were a little bummed to hear that St. Peter's Basilica was closed that day. But then we learned that it was the 1st anniversary of Pope John Paul II death and there was to be a huge ceremony in St. Peter's Square in a couple of hours. We joined the thousands of pilgrims, tourists, and spectators to watch Pope Benedict XVI honor his predecessor. Even though it was all in Italian, it was an amazing event, none the less. I really feel that hearing the Pope speak live is a very moving experience, no matter what religion you are. We were lucky to be a part of it.

The next day we were off to Pompeii. When I was in the 5th grade, I did a report on Pompeii and I have always wanted to come here to see it for myself. We were on a guided bus tour that took us through Naples (which I could have skipped) and then had arranged a group lunch at the local hotel.

It was at lunch that I realized that bus tours are not for me. I like small, hole-in-the-wall, local eateries with lots of character and the cafeteria dining hall we were seated in was the furthest thing from it. We were seated in groups of six with people from our bus. "Great!", I thought, this will be a good chance to meet some people and share some stories. I broke the ice with an enthusiastic, "Hi everyone! I'm Debbie, this is my mom visiting from California and this is our first time in Pompeii. How about you?"

Silence... the two girls from England just kind of stared at us until they uncomfortably introduced themselves. The couple from Brazil were very nice, but there was a language barrier. Lunch was a constant battle to get these people to chat so we didn't have to stare at our soup the whole time. It was sort of like rush with no pin to tug on (you Chi-O's know what I'm talking about!) We had a good laugh about it later, but the hour and a half we sat in the restaurant could have been more time for us to explore the ruins.

Pompeii itself was everything I had hoped it would be and the weather was great. We had a clear view of Mt. Vesuvius, which was a tad bit unnerving. I kept thinking of what Karin had said when she visited Pompeii a couple years ago, that Vesuvius is still an active volcano and could erupt at any time... a fact that our tour guide reminded us of several times.

Florence was wonderful too. Thanks to Rick Steve's advice, we made reservations at the two big museums, The Accademia (home of Michelangelo’s David) and The Uffizi Gallery (that only allows 600 visitors per day). Because of "Culture Week" the lines at both museums literally went around the block! So, because we planned ahead we saved hours of waiting in lines and went right in.

Back in Rome we continued hopping from site to site and trying to take it all in. Our trip so far had been busy, but it was about to get even busier... we were off to Paris to see the theatrical performance of Amy Tan's short story "Immortal Heart", on which her book "The Bonesetter’s Daughter" was based.

The play was fantastic, it was put on by the American Library in Paris and performed by the San Francisco theater group, Word For Word. Amy was in Paris for the performance and we got to sit with her in seats marked "Tan Group". We met her good friend, Susanne Pari, who was so nice! She is also a writer and the author of the book, "The Fortune Catcher", which is now on my "to-read-list" (so look for my review and it on my "books-I-read-this-year-list, 2006 -- inspired by KB!)

After the performance we went to the book signing at The Library and at about 11pm we were off with Amy to the cast party at her swanky apartment in a very Parisian neighborhood. We couldn't find a cab, so a small group of us braved the Metro with the help of the owner of the English bookstore in Paris, "The Village Voice".

The cast party was hopping and soon we were mingling with the cast like we were old friends. One guy was from Alameda and when he mentioned local theater I immediately told him about my theatrical friends, Matt & Meghan. "Oh THE Matt & Meghan" he said somewhat sarcastically. Okay, so not EVERYONE in local theater knows each other. It's like when people ask, "Oh, you went to Davis, do you know... ?"

We didn't leave the party until after 2am. I'm so proud of my mom for sticking in there and hanging out until the wee hours of the morning, especially when we had to leave our hotel at 5:30am to catch our plane to Barcelona. So, just about 12 hours after we arrived in Paris, we were off again to sunny Spain. Stay tuned for our continuing adventures...


Mingling with the locals in Rome


Looking out from the Coliseum


The Pope speaking


The crowds in St. Peter's Square


At Pompeii (that's Vesuvius behind us!)


Our friends who followed us all around Pompeii


Beautiful Florence


At the Roman Forum (audioguides and all)


Outside the cast party in Paris