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	<title>Erick Guevara</title>
	<link>http://erickguevara.wordpress.com</link>
	<description>Geeky Experiences &#38; Travels</description>
	<pubDate>Tue, 27 Nov 2012 01:45:37 +0000</pubDate>
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		<title>About</title>
		<link>http://erickguevara.wordpress.com/about/</link>
		<pubDate>Mon, 21 Mar 2011 16:14:32 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>erickguevara</dc:creator>
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		<title>Getting ready for Europe!!</title>
		<link>http://erickguevara.wordpress.com/2011/03/21/getting-ready-for-europe-trip/</link>
		<pubDate>Mon, 21 Mar 2011 16:22:51 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>erickguevara</dc:creator>
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		<content:encoded><![CDATA[I'm about a month away from traveling to Manchester-&gt;London-&gt;Paris-&gt;Rome.  It still has not yet fully hit me that I'm actually going to be backpacking through Europe.  I dont think i'll fully come to realize the excitement and nervousness of traveling across seas until the night before i leave when i'm sure i'll be doing last minute packing on zero sleep.  I've always wanted to backpack through Europe ever since college and i was even more motivated to travel to europe since reading Angels and Demons and the Da Vinci code.   Since reading these books, almost 5 years ago,  i've been talking shit about going only to fall short for one of many reasons or should i say excuses.

This year I said "Fuck It"... I'm wasn't gonna wait on anyone..wasn't gonna try to motivate anyone.. plus my ass is not getting younger.. work is good with a ton of unused PTO.... nothing holding me down other than my dog...manchester united is in the hunt for a premier and champions title...if not now, when?

So the morning after, i went to my bank, applied for a new credit with reward points with 0% apr with no international fees and charged my flight from Phoenix-&gt; Manchester UK coming back from Rome-&gt;Phoenix.  In retrospect, I really should of looked at my credit card agreement.  Looks like my apr will jump to 28% if i dont pay off the entire balance in 7 months.. But honestly, I didn't give it much thought.  I just wanted to buy the ticket so that there would be no excuses.  No turning back now especially when there is money involved.

In preparation for the trip...i've purchased a 68L backpack, a camera and 2-way radio.  As far as gear that i'm taking... the plan is take two pair of comfortable jeans, 10 v-neck hanes shirts, my members only jacket, manchester utd jersey, a hoodie, a thermal, a pair of shorts, 10 pair socks, my pair of kicks, toiletries, hats, shades and my rain pancho....thats it.. i dont want to take much and if I'm gonna be backpacking i want the least amount of weight on my back.....Light is always good!

Angels and Demons, DaVinvi Code and Vatican tours are a must... Contrary to some, im not the pampered type.  I can survive in semi extreme environments, just as long its not the woods and I'm not left to start a fire or catch my food.  Otherwise, I'm good.  I can do with sharing bunk beds, noise, filth, horrible customer service.. the works of typical hostels as i perceive them to be... I'm actually looking forward to it.. its gonna remind me of my rowan days living in the chestnut dorms...noise, clutter, limited space....just as long there is a safe lock for my shit and a decent place to crash.  I can sleep anywhere and through anything so i should be good regardless. I think the only amenity that I'll struggle with is the hot-water showers.  Hopefully its not as bad as i've been reading where the water is cold and pressing a button every 30 seconds to keep the water running is the norm.  If it is as horrid as they say i have no choice but to bite down and suck it up cause Ill be in Europe bitch!.

more to come... still need to figure out how to get to rome from paris and not miss any of my tour schedules...work my camera to take decent day and night shots...who's gonna take care of my dog while i'm gone..and get tickets to the manchester game to see valencia and chicharito on the pitch!

In the meantime if you have any suggestions or recommendations please comment]]></content:encoded>
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			<wp:comment_id>2</wp:comment_id>
			<wp:comment_author><![CDATA[Marcos]]></wp:comment_author>
			<wp:comment_author_email>Marcos.valdez@ymail.com</wp:comment_author_email>
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			<wp:comment_content><![CDATA[Broski, do it up in Europe bro - nothing better than making your way through all them countries. Take lots of pics, eat lots of kebabs (it's a European burrito - flippin awesome man!), and tried to get in as many guided tours as you can. Also, sorry to say, but you will have to be pushing the button for the water to come out (and the earlier you get up to shower the better, as this will guarantee you some hot water). Aslo, when you travel, be sure that nothing is in your back pockets - those fuggers in Europe are sneaky little bastards, and pick-pocketing people, espeically foreigners (ie YOU) is their day job. Just be cognizant and you should be good. Lastly, when you get off the plane/metro, don't freak out because you are lost and then jump in a cab, as the cab driver will definitely take advantage of you. Be sure you have a map and you can navigate your way throughout any city. everything, and I mean EVERYTHING is accessible by bus or metro in any city in europe. Enjoy man, and can't wait to read some funny shit!]]></wp:comment_content>
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		<title>Departing flights..</title>
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		<pubDate>Fri, 22 Apr 2011 15:07:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>erickguevara</dc:creator>
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		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>So the day is finally here.  Fortunately no bumps no surprises and no headaches. Everything so far is smooth as can be. Spent most of running around but for the most part I think I have all covered.</p>
<p>Many thanks to all those people who gave me small traveling tips.  Made a difference.  Even my barber who I didn't even know spoke English was giving me pointers on Europe today.  </p>
<p>Was able to get pass security without much issue.  I guess they are against Swiss knifes here.  I thought someone told me less than four inches was cool.  Guess not.  </p>
<p>Didn't have to check any of my bags either which makes me think I packed way too light.  </p>
<p>Also.. is it me or is Euro money look and feel like monopoly money.. Felt like I was getting short changed when I converted my mula..  it is what it is.</p>
<p>More to come.. flying to Manchester soon to watch Manchester united vs. Everton.</p>
<p>Excited ..</p>

So some random thoughts.. on the movie taken and hostel just hit me.  Hope on neither but I'm ready to Liam Nielson someone.  

On second thought. Security took my 3 inch Swiss so ima be Leslie nielson instead . Ha.]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>Touch down and all is still lovely..</title>
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		<pubDate>Sun, 24 Apr 2011 09:44:32 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>erickguevara</dc:creator>
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		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Hours later and we finally arrived at London airport.  The flight was as good as any nine hour flight can be.  </p>
<p>Got to watch the fighter.  Pretty good movie.  I still think marky mark is one of the worst actors.  Can't understand how he continues to get good roles. Now christian bale on the other hand was amazing. He played a crackhead almost to perfection. Kinda scary how good he played that role. </p>
<p>Tried to watch tourist but fell asleep.   Tried to watch tron but fell asleep again.  Finally towards the end of the flight I was able to stay up to watch stand by me the classic.</p>
<p>So London. The people at the checkin were kinda of jerky.  Had an attitude cause I didn't have my address of the hostel. Oo well didn't pay any mind. Actually took my time and annoyed him more.</p>
<p>Prople here are funny..  The way they dress, talk, walk,their hair, their makeup ... Etc. I guess I probably seem just as odd to them.  I found myself staring often trying to make sense and trying to understand their way. To me its just interesting.. I just love observing people's behavior and listening to how the speak.</p>
<p>Something i find funny is how they use the word lovely.. the flight attendant use it like three times when picking up my food.  The best I can relate it to is how I use the word cool.. or awesome. Do you have any garbage?.. no.. cool/lovely.  Can I see ur boarding pass??  Lovely.</p>
<p>Funny to listen I guess.</p>
<p>Lesson learned.  Not all countries here use the euro.  That's what I thought initially before getting to Manchester.  Still using the pound and pence here.   I guess my monopoly money will have to wait till I get to Paris.</p>
<p>Its great to speak Spanish.  So the first two people we meet spoke Spanish to us.  The first lady was soon nice. Guided us to train station, our hostel and gave us a mini tour.  Such a nice lady.  The second person was the front desk person in our hostel.  Pretty cool cat.  And hooked us up with a pretty decent room.</p>
<p>Ok.  I'm starting to blab.<br>
Plus I need to get rest for tomorrows big day at old trafford.  Manchester. Vs Everton.</p>
<p>In short.. I went to the grocery store and left with bread..peanut butter and jelly,  had one too many drinks...took many pictures<br>
. Got lost and Listened to marcos and tried a chicken kabab.. freaking delicious.</p>
<p>Till tomorrow.</p>]]></content:encoded>
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		<wp:post_date>2011-04-24 09:44:32</wp:post_date>
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		<title>Game day..</title>
		<link>http://erickguevara.wordpress.com/2011/04/24/game-day/</link>
		<pubDate>Sun, 24 Apr 2011 08:44:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>erickguevara</dc:creator>
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		<content:encoded><![CDATA[Slept like a rock even with the windows opened on a busy street. Slept through alarm sounds...Drunken Manchesteraians waking home from the bar.

7:00 am
I got up early to run some miles.  Ran through downtown Manchester.  I typically hate running for an extended time but this morning i ran for almost 40 mins.  Time just flew.

930
Off to the game we go.

Words can not explain the excitement of being in old trafford.  Excitement was compounded when they announced both Valencia and chicharito were starters plus finding out that we got front row seats at the north wing .  The stadium was rocking.  Everyone was singing..yelling..screaming ..all for united.  I do regret not learning the man u chants.  Would of been fun to sing along with the fans.  Such an amazing time.  Couldn't believe that one of my favorite players was standing no more than 20 feet away.  to top it off. Valenica provided the feed from our corner and Hernandez headed the goal home.  1 nill Manchester.  Experience was very surreal. Almost near lost my voice.

Something that stood out was the following for chicharito. I mean I knew he was having a great first season but damn.  He's on every poster board.. every magazine and even on scrafs.  I must of seen at least 50+ fans wearing his Jersey number.  Everybody was talking about him.  Small kids were even chicharitoed out... I still had to smile when they would say his name all Englishized.

Took some great pics.  So wait for my posts. Unfortunately they didn't allow DSLR's on the pitch once the game started but I still was able to get a few good ones.

Finally home at the hostel.  Gonna rest for a bit before going to a pub crawl tonight before we ride to London for the next few days.

Again.  Had an amazing amazing time at the game.  Truly an experience that ill remember for a long time.

Oo also thanks marcitos. Had yet another kebab today. Not sure how were suppose to eat these but I just wrapped it like a burrito and ate away.  Slamming! <span style="color:#0000ff;">Stephanie: My chicken kebab was soooooo good. Marcitos, goo looking out!</span>

More to come]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>Big Ben is really big... day 1.</title>
		<link>http://erickguevara.wordpress.com/2011/04/26/big-ben-is-really-big-day-1/</link>
		<pubDate>Tue, 26 Apr 2011 17:24:21 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>erickguevara</dc:creator>
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		<content:encoded><![CDATA[The ride to London was fancy.  We got us some first class sits on the virgin line to London Euston.  Tried to sleep listening to some Corrine Rae but wound up staying up the whole three hour ride.  Too much to take in to sleep.

The scenery was awesome.  Lots of greens and yellow.  There was a strip of land that was completly covered in yellow as far as u can see. Took a picture to post.  The rest was people playing soccer.. lots of livestock .. and small red brick houses.

Arriving at euston.  It was hot as shit.  Apparently London is going through their first warm spell cause everyone was out in shorts and tees.

Something funny coming out of the station was their rendition of the exit sign.   Posted everywhere was "way out". To the point I guess.. leaving little room for confusion.

The hostel was certainly not like Manchester.  This was more like what I expected for hostel.  Shared bathrooms down the halls.  Rooming with six strangers.  Sleeping in a bunk bed. <span style="color:#0000ff;">Stephanie: We should have paper-rock-scissors for beds because I always got the top bunk. Weak Sauce!</span>  No towels <span style="color:#0000ff;">(Stephanie: you had to buy 1 for 5 euros)</span>... on the fifth floor with no elevator... definitely an experience college prepared me for i guess. At least the shower was hot.  That's all that really matters to me anyway.

As soon as we arrived our mates tell us of a picnic happening at Hyde park.  All I heard is free food.  So we dropped off our bags and off we went to the park.

Cause of the weather everyone was out..The park was jammed.  People tanning ..playing soccer ..we stayed with group for the food for the bit and off we went to explore.

We walked for six hours. We walked through Hyde park and kensington park.. we found some statutes ..Peter pan..princess diane's memorial fountain ..Albert's memorial.. museums .. crossed the serpentine bridge... a couple of gardens with some domesticated squirrels that walked up to you without fear.

Took some really cool pictures.

I'm really glad I decided to bring my fancy shmancy DSLR..  everyone was walking around with one.  I was able to take some cool shots playing around with Depth of Field. I definitely need to invest in a zoom lens with a tripod.  I'm still far from a decent novice photographer, but on learning.

At night we took the district line to Westminster to check out big Ben and the London eye.  Coming out of the station, big Ben just smacks you right on the face.  It looked enormous.  Fully lit with it green and yellow lights. What was also cool was that we got there exactly on top of the hour so the bells going off making it even more nostalgic. <span style="color:#0000ff;">Stephanie: Fun fact... the bell inside the clock tower is actually Big Ben and not the actual clock itself.</span>

London's eye was a beast in itself.  The plan is to ride it later but I don't know man. That shit looked way to high for me.  Crazy how the movie fantastic 4 was filmed here.  Kind of thinking of it.  There's a lot of movies filmed on this very same corner.  Pretty awesome.

Tomorrow is a bike tour and a tour of jack the ripper.

More to come.]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>Running on empty.  London day 2</title>
		<link>http://erickguevara.wordpress.com/2011/04/27/running-on-empty-london-day-2/</link>
		<pubDate>Wed, 27 Apr 2011 06:35:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>erickguevara</dc:creator>
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		<content:encoded><![CDATA[Our second day in London kicked our ass.  The day started at 7 in the morning and didn't end till our eurostar ride to Paris at 5 in the morning the next day.

We biked for miles all around the Parks on the west side of London.
Later took a ride to the east side of London and all in between. <span style="color:#0000ff;">Stephanie: We used Fat Bike Tours. Dillon was our guide. He was pretty awesome and really knew his history. David, the owner of the London tours, was very helpful in giving us pointers for Paris. He provided maps and showed us what metro stops to get off at. Great people.</span>

Too much to say at once but what i can say is that England has some great history.   Starting from their kings to queens to their gruesome way of executing those who betray their country..

You know.. i came to London with a pretty negative impression. Multiple people told me that London smells ..people are rude and stuck up... food is horrible.. i actually I was not even planning on staying here longer than needed but after these two days I'm glad to say that I was wrong.

London was beautiful.  The people were wonderful... the food was decent.. the main attractions were easy to get to by metro.

What I loved most is how unknowingly relative some of this historic places are.  Its amazing how Hollywood can instill experiences and you not even know about it until you experience it first hand. I found myself saying on multiple occasions. "Oohhh this where that movie was from."

Other random take backs..

If you thought America was fascinated with prince William and Kate.. can You imagine how the local folks are? It was bananas here with all the news media..guards and police..all preparing for the big day.  The news media was already there setting up shop..  there was construction everywhere trying to clean up and get the location ready. Pretty crazy.. glad ill be long gone by then..

So there's a section near the palace that has a huge rat and mouse problem..  did you know that England went as far as to honor a cat with the title of chief cat to help mitigate the infestation..  pretty funny that all I got out of that talk was this cat story.  Anyway.. the cat made London news last week for catching his first mouse.

Living in Arizona for close to 10 years it was sad not to know that the original London bridge now resides in Arizona.. who knew?

Btw.  I've seen better looking bridges in Camden NJ than the London bridge.  Very plain...  nothing really spectacular to look at.  Much more prefer the tower bridge with is a walking distance from the London bridge.

To summarize.  London was fabulous.  We walked..we rode.  We ate.. we did all u can possibility squeeze into two days time.

Next is Paris..

<span style="color:#0000ff;">Fun lingo facts: Cheers means thank you, Lovely means awesome or cool, Way out means exit, fancy means you need something... like I fancy a blow dryer, and Toilet means restroom (they are so straight to the point here).</span>]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>Sleepless in Paris....</title>
		<link>http://erickguevara.wordpress.com/2011/04/28/sleepless-in-paris/</link>
		<pubDate>Thu, 28 Apr 2011 18:35:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>erickguevara</dc:creator>
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		<content:encoded><![CDATA[Arrived to Paris at 9am.  Huge difference when riding first class compared to coach.  The eurostar took about three hours to get to Paris.  The plan was to take some good scenery pictures of what's on the way but I was out.  Those three hours of sleep were golden.

Initial impressions of Paris.

Definitely more of a metro city.  Not that there's anything wrong with that, I'm just comparing it to my impressions of Manchester and London.

The locals seem to be a bit more fiesty. they seem to be a second away from cursing you out. Everyone is either smoking or lighting a cigarette for someone that does smoke. Actually if there was a city that smelled it definitely was Paris.

Lessons learned

Sortie = way out = exit.

The metro was a bit confusing at first.  Had no idea where I was or where to go.  What I did know was that we had a bike tour in one hour by the the effiel tower.

Purchased the Paris pass for access to both the metro and rer for two days.  Finally made sense of the metro map to get on the right line with some help of course from the information Booth.

Ehh..the bike tour was good<span style="color:#0000ff;"> (Stephanie: but guide wasn't all that great. She was too busy trying to crack jokes)</span>.  I was just too tired to really appreciate the listening part.  I was off taking pictures of anything.  I think the most important part of these tours is how friendly the staff is.  They totally helped us getting around Paris and answered every question.  If you can ride a bike and are not afraid of heavy traffic, then I strongly recommend <cite><strong>fattire</strong>bike<strong>tours</strong>.com</cite>. its a great way to start off exploring the city.  They even helped with planning what to see and what not.

The tour ended about 4 hours later and the plan was to check in to the hostel and crash to get re-energized but no luck.

I think it was the fact that we were in Paris that motivated us to head right back out. As tired as my body was I just couldn't sleep.

The hostel was ok.  Can't complain.  It was actually in market type of area which was cool.  Not to far from mulan rouge..and right down the block from the metro which made it very convenient to get around.

After walking around the market and running across a few strip bars we made our way to Notre Dame.  Can't say that all went smoothly because we took the metro to the opposite direction and wound up on the outskirts of Paris <span style="color:#0000ff;">(Stephanie: If you ever take the metro to the Le Bourget stop... you are no longer in Paris sweetie!)</span>.  Kinda got the feeling we were going the wrong way as soon as all we saw nothing but graffiti on the wall.  you can't definitely tell you were leaving the city.  Can't say that I was scurrred getting out of the station but definitely had to more aware of my surroundings.  To make it worse there was no info booths for help or even people that spoke English.  We kinda of just guessed and motioned someone to nod for Paris.  Thankfully we got back to the city heading towards norte  Dame.

Ill let the pictures speak for themselves but Dame!

The church apparently is on an island with an awesome walk way next to the water.  As tired as we were we saw boat tours avail.  So we took the 1030 boat tour that took us all the way to the Eiffel tower!

Deferring the details of boat tour for our pictures we made back to the hostel just before 1 am.

Btw.  Its great to speak Spanish. We again found many locals and travel mates that spoke Spanish. Made traveling much more comfortable.  Actually the Spanish speaking locals in all Manchester London and Paris were awesome. They went completely out of their way to help us get the most out of their city.

Also its great to meet good old Americans on route too.  Met alot of people from Texas and Cali.  I guess its like the feeling of meeting an Ecuadorian in Arizona.  Its not often but when u meet its that immediate connection that is refreshing.

Oo on the way home we had a bomb chicken curry kebab.  Slamming!

Tomorrow up earlier to get all of Paris before leaving to Rome for four final days.

Day two.

Started the morning at 7am in the morning from a 5 hour sleep.  The plan was to hit up as much as possible and save the Louvre for last since it was opened till 10 pm.

This day had to be the longest day of the trip.  Its all walking from morning at 7am till about 1am.

Took a revolutionary tour that talked a lot about the uprising and how the city was built.  Talked about the king and queen and how they were executed.

An interesting story was how back in the day class was determined by the size of your calf muscle.  The bigger the muscle the higher class you were. According to the king, your calf muscle was built on protein.  Protein that was consumed by eating meat.  Only the wealthy ate meat.  The poor ate bread and even the cost of the bread would be a months wage. This why you see many portraits of French kings with their legs turned outwards showing their calf's..

Finally to the Louvre.

We didn't get there till about 730 pm. We followed the recommendations of our tour guides and entered through the side entrances. Zero line wait.

Because of time we only took the masterpiece tour.  This only highlighted the top four pieces including the Mona Lisa
Plus we got the audio tour which was worth it.  <span style="color:#0000ff;">Stephanie: If you do the audio tour, take advantage of the explanations they provide for most paintings. They have this option where you can enter the paintings number and it will tell you the artist name, style, and it's background. If you are into Egyptian art, their collection is pretty awesome. In ordered to experience the Louvre in it's entirety they say you would have to go there AT LEAST 5 times. The Louvre is the 2nd largest museum with the Vatican museum being third. Can't remember which was the largest. Oh well.</span>

Got some pics.

Ill fill in the blanks later.]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>wpid-IMG_20110428_215540.jpg</title>
		<link>http://erickguevara.wordpress.com/2011/04/28/when-in-rome/wpid-img_20110428_215540-jpg/</link>
		<pubDate>Thu, 28 Apr 2011 21:13:18 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>erickguevara</dc:creator>
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		<pubDate>Thu, 28 Apr 2011 21:13:22 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>erickguevara</dc:creator>
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		<title>When in Rome...</title>
		<link>http://erickguevara.wordpress.com/2011/04/28/when-in-rome/</link>
		<pubDate>Thu, 28 Apr 2011 21:13:24 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>erickguevara</dc:creator>
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		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<img style="display:block;margin-right:auto;margin-left:auto;" src="http://erickguevara.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/wpid-img_20110428_215540.jpg" alt="image" />

<img style="display:block;margin-right:auto;margin-left:auto;" src="http://erickguevara.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/wpid-img_20110428_221502.jpg" alt="image" />
<p style="text-align:center;">Tortellini Bolognese and Spaghetti Carbanara (Erick's new favorite)</p>]]></content:encoded>
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			<wp:comment_id>3</wp:comment_id>
			<wp:comment_author><![CDATA[IRENE QUEZADA]]></wp:comment_author>
			<wp:comment_author_email>imguevaraquezada@gmail.com</wp:comment_author_email>
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			<wp:comment_author_IP>74.82.64.35</wp:comment_author_IP>
			<wp:comment_date>2011-04-28 23:05:34</wp:comment_date>
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			<wp:comment_content><![CDATA[OMG!!! U R THERE!!! Did U eat as much as Julia Roberts in eat, pray, love? The movie sucked but the Italy part was amazing BC of the food!!! So happy for U and thank Goodness you've been blessed with a great trip so far!]]></wp:comment_content>
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		<title>Vactican and Angels &amp; Demons</title>
		<link>http://erickguevara.wordpress.com/2011/05/02/vactican-and-angels-demons/</link>
		<pubDate>Mon, 02 May 2011 00:05:58 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>erickguevara</dc:creator>
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		<content:encoded><![CDATA[Arriving to Rome went smoothly.  I've finally got this process of checking on lock.

Don't remember the flight to Rome as I slept right through take off.  The airport in Rome was small not nearly as crowded as any of my previous cities. <span style="color:#0000ff;">Stephanie: This airport was pretty old school. When you get off the plane you are actually outside and then have to walk into the terminal. It was like a scene out an old movie.</span>

First thing to learn is again the exit translation <span style="color:#0000ff;">(our new obsession)</span>.

Uscito = sortie = way out = exit

Second thing to translate is,  do u take credit.  I tried saying credito,creditii, casho... all combination.  They just looked at me funny.  One even tried to bring me a coca cola.  What I learned is that if they take credit then its usually on the window.  Or just show them the card. <span style="color:#0000ff;">Stephanie: I now know that this is how you ask... Accettate carte di credito? [aht-cheht-TAH-teh KAHR-teh dee kreh-DEE-toh?] And you have to say it like you sound pissed off LOL.</span>

The other thing to learn is asking where the restrooms are .  You have to ask for toilets instead of restrooms.  One lady said to me we have no bedrooms in here..  haha.

From there.. smooth sailing.  The metro was not nearly as complicated as Paris.  One metro two lines.

Definitely a different vibe in Rome.  seemed to be much more relaxed ..no one in a rush to get out.  Maybe it was because it was a smaller airport..definitely down a couple of notches in the get out of my way type of mentality from Paris and London.

On our way to the terminal I noticed that just about everywhere i looked there was a picture of the late john paul II.  I mean he was everywhere.  Street posts..Brochures .. on buses..I was beginning to think that Italians were having a tough time letting go.  It was close to six years since he passed and I just couldn't believe how still he was publicly  beloved.

Come to find out that this weekend of all weekends the late Pope starts his beatificazione at the Vatican. There are expecting close to 2 million people.  This starts his long process of becoming a saint. Something they said is a once in a life time experience and we were right in the middle of it.

We walked around St Peters square Saturday morning in the rain and it was just straight bananas.  People were flocking from everywhere.  Buses upon buses of priests, nuns, students.  We flags from all over.  Especially from Poland, the popes home town.  There was tons of jp2 paisas. Media was in every corner.

Its crazy to think we were there. Right on the middle of things. We took pictures of the square empty, then of it getting packed.  We also went to the vigil near Circo Massimo which is the size of about 4 or 5 football fields long and that was completely packed with a line of people still trying to get in and a ton of people just surrounding the entire Circo.  Just crazy. We didn't even try, we just took some shots and bounced. Pretty crazy but I'm glad I was able to be part of it.

So anyway back to day 1...after check in we jumped on a bus tour that took us to the main attractions.  We were trying to save our legs and not make the same mistake we did in Paris where we walked all two days nonstop.  Instead we just sat back took pictures and listened to audio guide.

Btw audio tours are the bomb.  We took the audio tour at the Louvre and completely enjoyed the service.  For me worth the extra euro... especially since u can stop and replay the details.

The first day we didn't do much other then rest <span style="color:#0000ff;">(Stephanie: rest = not walking as much not sleeping!)</span> and really scope out the areas we planned to visit. Then came the the angels and demons tour on day 2.  Hands down the best tour so far.  Maybe because I'm a Dan brown fanatic but also because the guide <span style="color:#0000ff;">(Stephanie: We think his name was Massimo)</span> was really passionate about Rome history.  He was simply incredible.

For those of you who never read browns book, I highly recommend it. Definitely one of my favorite books and a decent  precursor to learning some important places in Rome... emphasis on some. The movie is ok... definitely not as good as the book and after taking the tour..the movie is surely gonna be  on my  Netflix queue.

The tour took us through each of the paths of Illumination.  He explained the facts and pointed out the fiction. His goal was to use the book as a guide to explain the true meaning and also mainly to burst everyone's bubble the the book was truly fictional.  He called it poetic license.

Places we went: Santa Maria del Popolo Church where we were able to see the chapels (chapels are actually tombs within the churches), we went to St. Peter's Square and found the putti angel that was blowing wind to the west, St. Maria della Vittoria Church and saw the sculpture "The Extacy of Saint Teresa by Bernini,  we then went Piazza Navona and got to see the fountain of the 4 rivers,
- Castel Sant’Angelo
- “Il Passetto” (from outside)

Some interesting facts.

By law the Vatican is the tallest structure in Rome.  Not one skyscraper.

<span style="color:#0000ff;">Vatican City is it's own country and it's the only country that doesn't require a passport.</span>

Vatican as we know it was built on top of what was called Vatican hill by niro and was occupied by pagans.   Christianity was actually illegal then.

Niro, a pagan emperor, ironically with his execution of Peter brought Christianity to Rome.

Niro had wifes and husbands and bathed publicly in Vatican hill

There are close to 714 churches around Rome. The reason these churches were built was to purified the area of demons.  Most of which were built on top of pagan temples.

After the angels and demons movie the Vatican covered the 4 alters from the public.  One is still covered.

Again.  Hands down the best tour and highly recommend reading the book.

Later that day we made it through the Colosseo (The Colosseum).  It was near closing so not as packed as expected.  Took some awesome pictures.  Reminded me of the movie gladiator.  Them Rome people really went out of their way for entertainment.

The Pantheon was incredible.  It just sneaks up on you. It's the oldest structure of worship still standing<span style="color:#0000ff;"> and is still functional</span>. That entire area is awesome because each corner is a surprise.  We ran into Fontana di Trevino by accident and took some crazy pictures and took my cousins advise and splurged on some gelatos.<span style="color:#0000ff;"> Stephanie: Gelati was the bomb! I recommend the pistachio.</span>

Again because these structures can't stand larger than the Vatican..a lot of them are hidden until you run into them on accident or are actually looking for them from the map.

The food was just incredible. My favorite was spaghetti carbonara. <span style="color:#0000ff;">Stephanie: My favorite was everything else but the Carbanara. There is just something not right about eating spaghetti with eggs in it. </span> The food part will get a post if its own.

Day 3.  The Vatican tour. Was pretty excited about this tour especially with all the madness going on.  We've already been there twice to take take pictures but this was suppose to take us inside the walls and through the museum to see the infamous Sistine chapel.  But because of the event they closed off the basilica to the public.  So the only really interesting part was the chapel design by Michelangelo.  The other disappointing part was that our guide really sucked.  He was so nonchalant about everything and he really didn't know much other than what he had planned to talk about.  Pretty disappointed. <span style="color:#0000ff;">Stephanie: If you go and your guide is named Graham feel free to request to be switched to a different group. This guy was full of corny jokes and when you asked questions out his range, his response is... I didn't learn about that OR I don't know I have seen that before. Not cool.</span>

The bright part of the tour was definitely the Sistine.   We were actually treated to walk in when the overhead lights were turned on which never happens. Tried to get the tour guide to explain each section but again he just gave me the two sentence cliff note and walked away.  He was horrible.   Too bad no picture were allowed.

The sections I remember.

The last judgment,  Noah's drunken state, Noah's arch, God created man, garden of Eden, god's creation of sun and moon..?? The rest ill have to look up.<span style="color:#0000ff;"> Stephanie: The scenes are Noah's drunken state, the flood, noah's sacrifice, the creation of adam, then creation of eve, then temptation, separation of land and water, god's creation of sun and moon and I think earth, then the separation of land and darkness.</span>

One last piece.

While in san pietro we went south to trastevere for food.  Didn't know what to expect other than a 20 minute walk along the the river.  What we found was amazing.  So many of these small restaurants. Old styled streets.  People out..pizza shops. Gelato shops. Bars..markets.. Just beautiful.. I wished we would of came soon to this part of Rome.

We also followed the crowd to run into a pretty old church called Santa Maria in Trastevere.. just amazing..

Aight..nuff said..  "tomorrow, we go home!" <span style="color:#0000ff;">Stephanie: &lt;-- Said like Mr. Miyagi!</span>]]></content:encoded>
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			<wp:comment_id>5</wp:comment_id>
			<wp:comment_author><![CDATA[Marcos]]></wp:comment_author>
			<wp:comment_author_email>Marcos.valdez@ymail.com</wp:comment_author_email>
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			<wp:comment_author_IP>206.190.68.46</wp:comment_author_IP>
			<wp:comment_date>2011-05-02 13:05:43</wp:comment_date>
			<wp:comment_date_gmt>2011-05-02 13:05:43</wp:comment_date_gmt>
			<wp:comment_content><![CDATA[Broski! I'm glad to hear that all went well in your excursions travelling all over Europe and definitely glad to hear about the awesome experience with angels and demons tour. It was by far the best one I went on when I was out there....Sucks to hear that your tour guide for the vatican was ass. The one I had was like a damn professor/history buff/conspiracy theorist all bundled into one. She knew ish that most people don't even fathom...and hope you have one more kebab before you bounce. Let me know if you'll be in phx this week. I'll be there starting wednesday.]]></wp:comment_content>
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