Welcome to Switzerland

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 20:53:15 +0300

We said good-bye to our friend Kell as he set off for Munich with his father. The young_nomads set their sights towards the Alps. The train from Milan made its way through the beautiful lake district of northern Italy to the border of Switzerland. After we passed through the 20 minutes tunnel we were in Switzerland, our final destination.......Gimmelwald. We arrived in Interlaken and still had 3 more legs of our journey to go that day.....another train ride, a short bus ride, then the Gondola up to the top of the valley. The scenery was spectacular. We checked into the Mountain Hostel with direct views across the valley to the Eiger. Using Gimmelwald as a home base we went on several hikes. The hill sides were filled with wild flowers, gardens, and cows and goats with bells around their necks. It almost made you break into the chorus from the Sound of Music or expect to see Heidi any minute as you rounded the bend in the trail. We all made a pledge to come back to this area again.

Venice, Italy

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 23:18:31 +0300

Venice is just like all of the pictures that you see of this city, only better. It is hard to capture on film the feel of this unique place with all of the waterways, bridges, and narrow side streets. There is not one car in the city and the only transportation is walking or boating. The local bus network is boat buses. Their route is the famous grand canal of Venice. If you want to go into the smaller canals you need a small motorboat or gondola.

At one time Venice was the largest port city in the world with trade coming to mix from the Middle East with Europe. The architecture shows this merging of various styles in every other build that you see along the grand canal. Arched window bays with floret shapes from the middle east are directly next to the gothic slightly pointed style and directly next to the classic roman arch style. You can imagine merchants from all over the world meeting at this active port city and living next to each other. It must have been very cosmopolitan in it’s prime.

Getting lost in Venice is a “must do”. It is inevitable and quite fun. Eventually you get to some land mark that will help guide the way home. The deeper into the narrow streets the more interesting.

Just 20 years ago the narrow streets were filled with meat markets, pasta stores, vine cellars and a few tourist shops. Now every other shop is filled with leather goods, shoes, and souvenirs just for the tourist. The feel is very different than it was when momma nomad first stopped by over 25 years ago, but the beauty and intrigue of the city remains for the first time visitor.

Museums and cathedrals........they are everywhere in Europe. We saw several in Rome and Florence and therefore have enjoyed lounging about in the parks and walking the streets of Venice instead of spending time indoors and waiting in long lines. We have enjoyed the walks much more than the long lines looking at more Baroque and Renaissance art.

Europe is so expensive that mamma nomad feels as if she is hemorrhaging money, and Venice provides you every opportunity to spend it. Shopping is everywhere, churches and museums charge several euro to get in, and it is 1 euro per person per pee stop. Yes, that’s right, you even have to pay to use the toilet. I guess as they say, they get you coming and going!

The gondola rides that seem so quaint and romantic have turned into a pure money making enterprise. A 45 minute ride will run about 100 - 150 USD. Needless to say that is a bit out of the budget travelers budget. We were satisfied watching others take the trips. We were sad to leave Venice but our schedule required that we move on.

Vernazza, Cinque Terra, Italy

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 23:16:01 +0300

After a brief stop in Pisa, we got back on the train and headed to the coastal area known as Cinque Terre. The weather was glorious and we were on the coast......does it get any better than that?! This area is known for the 5 small towns that sit on the cliffs of the sea and are connected by a walking path. To walk the entire path takes about 4-6 hours and is followed by a train ride back which ever town you are staying in. We chose the small town of Vernazza. We did not do the entire walk between the towns but some of us ran a portion of the trail for exercise and we all did some daily swimming in the Mediterranean.

We were there for the festival of Santa Margaret, Vernazza’s biggest festival complete with craft market and fireworks. We landed two rooms in a building that had a sea view and overlooked the local square. It was very loud at night but the views were worth a little sleep loss. We hung our laundry out over the balcony in the square just like the locals.

Florence, Italy

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 23:12:46 +0300

Ah Florence. The birth place of the Renaissance after the dark and middle ages. The art and architecture in the city is over the top beautiful. Everywhere you look your eyes focus on something that is over 500 years old. If it is not art work in one of the many museums, or the gothic cathedrals, then it is the century old buildings and homes of the lovely people of Florence.

The Medici family were the big boys of Florence many centuries ago and were very instrumental in the birth of the art culture in the city. They had commissioned several of the famous artists to provide the bases of the renaissance revival in the art community. One of the most famous artist and friends with the Medici’s was Michelangelo. It is the Accademia Museum in Florence that houses Michelangelo’s “David”. Surrounding the David was several of Michelangelo’s unfinished works. It was all very impressive. The Uffizi gallery houses most all of the big guys with respect to renaissance art. Strolling across the Ponte Vecchio with all of the gold vendors was fun but the prices for the jewlery was too dear for the budget travels of the young_nomads. We settled with window shopping.

Florence at night is ever bit as magical. The street vendors are out, live music is playing in the plazas, and the gelato is still open. We became regular customers at Vivoli’s for the great Italian ice cream. We enjoyed Florence so much that we stayed a few extra days. The days were warm and the nights were great.

Rome, Italy

Mon, 7 Jul 2008 23:10:40 +0300

We arrived in Rome weary from all of the escapades and tribulations on the ferry, the night in Brindisi and the six hour train ride. We found a hostel in close proximity to the train station; less than the standard budget rate and very close to all the major sites in Rome. Nearby also lay a lovely restaurant where we indulged ourselves to prosciutto, pasta, bread and other fine delicacies of Italian dining.

Rome is a colossal city filled with the ruins of the most enduring and largest empire to ever occupy the western world. The Colosseum (though the once-grand arena has felt the wear of the centuries), the ruins of the Grand Forum, the Circus Maximus and the Emperor’s Palace on Palatine Hill are the remains of perhaps the apex of western civilization.

Rome also houses the greatest church in all of the christian world, St. Peter’s Basilica in the towering Vatican City (it’s even its own country!) and the Sistine Chapel, both of which are filled with some of the finest works of Michelangelo, Raphael and the other great Renaissance artists. This imposing cathedral stood (and still stands) as the head of the Catholic estate and houses the holiest artifacts, treasures and men closest to God.

Accompanied by typical Italian chaos, Rome was a relatively clean city with discarded aqueduct towers standing as a bold remainder to the cleanliness and hygiene of the ancient Roman civilization. Scattered across the city were delicate fountains where even today one could draw water from Rome’s clean water supply.

Busses motor along the crowded city and when we were not walking we took the #64 from our hostel to some of the major sights. Bus #64 happens to be the favorite local for the local pickpockets. I grabbed the hand of a pickpocket just as it was slipping into another victims pocket. The quick-witted criminal withdrew slyly from the bus after his unfortunate encounter, unsuccessful in his endeavor.