After packing up and leaving for the second time from Suzie's villa, we headed towards Florence.
Their suggestion had been to park in a lot outside of the city and then take a bus into town to see the sights. The "clearly marked parking lots" mentioned by both Suzie and Jerry as well as in our guidebook were not even a blip on our radar. We got all the way into town without seeing parking lots and were stymied from reaching our destination by the numerous roads marked with the international do not enter sign. Did I mention they automatically charge you $100 fine for driving on them without a special permit?
In the old town, the streets are barely wide enough for a car and the roads are restricted to local traffic only. We had set up Siri to take us to the museum with the Statue of David by Michelangelo. Oops. When that didn't work, we set up Siri to take us to the train station so we could return the damn car at one of two Avis areas in Florence and walk to see the statue. Oops again. When that didn't work we almost fled Florence completely to go return the car to Milan, but Richard's calmer head prevailed and we turned our sites on the airport rental car return, figuring that the car return there would feature highways, not restricted wagon carts from the 14th century.
We got the car returned and splurged on a cab ride back to the train station This was probably the most stressful day of our trip. We had pulled off on the side of the road twice when we could find a pseudo parking spot and tried to re-calculate some kind of trip but my navigation skills as well as Siri failed us in Florence. We couldn't park, we didn't see parking lots, we didn't see bus stops, and we couldn't drive directly to the area with the things we wanted to see.
Taking a cab was a luxury for us, this was our first and only cab ride on the entire trip, and it was SO worth it that day. One of the coolest things about Europe, at any large train station they had "bag drops", where you can pay to store your suitcases for the day while you tour the city. We asked around at the train station and found the bag drop area and delivered our backpacks for the day. The walk to see David was only about ten minutes. But first, let's have another cappuccino. We reactivated Siri and put her on walk mode. She worked flawlessly.
We got to the museum and saw an amazing statue that I promptly took a picture of when two guards started shaking their fingers and yelling "no pictures", or the Italian equivalent. I know I understood immediately what they were saying and after apologizing profusely, I put my iPhone away.
David was in the next room. He's immense. Nothing prepared me for the mastery of him in person. He's over 17 feet high. He has earthquake sensors on him. They closely monitor numerous hairline cracks in him, particularly in his right leg, which has the brunt of the weight resting on it. Truly an amazing feat of engineering as well as artistry, it was extraordinary and well worth the aggravation of getting into Florence.
Next up was the nearest piazza and church with a Duomo. This was the first dome after St. Peter's Basilica. For almost 1000 years, no one could recall how to build a Duomo. We currently refer to that period as the Middle ages. Or the dark ages, take your pick. In seeing what Rome had conjured up, I was leaning towards the dark ages at this point. This was the first time since Rome that we decided to inspect the inside of a church. In we went.
And there was a turnstile, a "pay here, please", and then we were shuttled into a small door.....uh oh. We are not small. And we thought we were entering the CHURCH. What we entered was the line to climb the Duomo! So up we went around and around on a small stone spiral staircase that went on and on and on and on....Richard found a few spots to stop to let people pass him, but eventually we both made it all the way to the top!
Then it was down and down and down. Unbelievably good exercise that day folks. And mediocre views at best. But at least we got to take a bullet train at the end of the day, and headed back to Milan for our connection to Lugano. The bullet train goins as fast as 240KM per hour, which was over 180MPH. This train was luxurious compared to our previous Italia Rail experience. We ended the day nicely:)
Friday, December 7, 2012
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
Leaving Rome, or "Hey, come stay the night"!
We are Facebook friends with many, many people. Our connections with Landmark Education, our large and extended families, lots of friends and living in two different cities has created an enormous circle of friends and acquaintances for both of us. One friend of Richard's had protested last year when we went to Venice but didn't go visit her. Suzie lives in Tuscany, an hour south of Florence.
Leaving Rome and heading back north towards Zurich and our flight home, we had three days to pick and choose what to see on our way back. We got directions and headed north. Siri made good time, getting us to the Castle near her home just before dark. Unfortunately, the GPS won't provide directions to their Villa, so she had emailed instructions. We tried following them three times with no success, guessing at several points, and finally called Suzie to come meet us. Again, Richard had to go to the bathroom, so there was more urgency to get there than usual:)
She talked us into "one more try" and this time we went far enough to see the turnoff onto a dirt road. It certainly felt like home to me, having lived off a dirt road for nearly ten years. But what a different view. Instead of rolling hills and saguaro cactus, mesquite and ironwood, there were rolling hills, olive groves, villas and grape vines. Much, much greener, too. We pulled into their gate just at dark and marveled at their 14th century villa. It was just as gorgeous as a picture. Did I mention Richard had to go to the bathroom? That was the first room he saw:)
We had originally just planned a "real Tuscany dinner" that Suzie was going to cook but at some point on the way in from Rome she had also extended an overnight invitation. She showed us to our room, up an old, old stone circular staircase and into a beautiful room with a day bed. Pointing to the day bed, she said, "There's your bed, that's big enough for you two, right Richard?" Well it was a suite of rooms, this was the sitting room, complete with candies, cookies and candles. The bedroom was beautifully appointed with a net over over the bed, water pitchers on both nightstands and a small room heater blasting warm air. The bathroom was a bit more modern than the rest of the rooms.
Once settled, we joined Suzie down in the kitchen. The eat in kitchen was a grand space with high ceilings, and a reach in fireplace next to the modern, six burner gas stove. This "old meets new" was all over the house, and eventually we learned that the original building was the center section. Built with three stories with cooking on the bottom, living in the middle and sleeping at the top, along with a guard to keep watch. We were directly above the kitchen so part of our rooms were the original structure. We ate a delicious caprese salad with olive oil produced from their very own olives. This was a working farm that also included a winery. Suzie had made spaghetti and meatballs, which we learned are traditionally served as two courses, and then we had a wonderful time with Suzie and her husband Jerry, listening to youtube videos of Patti Lupone and Lea Solanga. Wow, what amazing voices those dames have!
Jerry put together a great three day tour of Tuscany, we slept well, then packed up the next day. At breakfast they issued another invite to spend the night. We left undecided, but if we were staying again, they must let us treat to dinner out.
Jerry's plan included a trip to Siena and San Gimignano. Siena has a great piazza that they still race horses in today. Twice a year they run around the clam shaped Piazza del Campo. It was amazing to see the piazza and also to know that their cathedral was completed in the 13 century. In another amazing "old meets new", this town up on a hill is equipped with a series of escalators that take people up almost six floors to the town.
San Gimignano was incredible. The original sky scrapers are here. The feudal warring of the medieval ages took many of the towers in the region down but several survived here and it is an amazing skyline to come up on for an ancient town. As an added bonus, this place had the best leather shopping I had seen, so to fulfill on my obligation to go home with some Italian leather, this was where I shopped! Suzie had told me this was the place and I could see why she recommended it.
We were still listening to the church bells and I took some video of them here as well, so that tells me they were still "magical" at this point.
Suzie and Jerry took us to a great neighborhood spot that had wonderful food and Jerry shared more about his executive training programs that he is setting up to be delivered from their Villa. This was one of the restaurants they intended to support with program attendees. He also shared the veteran "get the house wine" suggestion that we'd heard elsewhere. It's true, in the heart of the Chianti region there was no bad house wine. After dinner they recommended yet another day plan for travel and invited us for a third night to stay, but we knew we were ready to move further north after Florence.
While we were in San Gimignano, we weren't certain we would stay again or have the opportunity, so we ferreted out some gifts for our generous housemates. In Siena, Richard had found a universal remote too, as Jerry said the TV delivery didn't have a remote, or forgot to bring it. So Richard programmed everything to work before we left the next morning. Then I found the aged Balsamic vinegar for Suzie and bottle of Barolo region wine for Jerry. I hope they know how much we appreciated their hospitality, it was an amazing gift.
Leaving Rome and heading back north towards Zurich and our flight home, we had three days to pick and choose what to see on our way back. We got directions and headed north. Siri made good time, getting us to the Castle near her home just before dark. Unfortunately, the GPS won't provide directions to their Villa, so she had emailed instructions. We tried following them three times with no success, guessing at several points, and finally called Suzie to come meet us. Again, Richard had to go to the bathroom, so there was more urgency to get there than usual:)
She talked us into "one more try" and this time we went far enough to see the turnoff onto a dirt road. It certainly felt like home to me, having lived off a dirt road for nearly ten years. But what a different view. Instead of rolling hills and saguaro cactus, mesquite and ironwood, there were rolling hills, olive groves, villas and grape vines. Much, much greener, too. We pulled into their gate just at dark and marveled at their 14th century villa. It was just as gorgeous as a picture. Did I mention Richard had to go to the bathroom? That was the first room he saw:)
We had originally just planned a "real Tuscany dinner" that Suzie was going to cook but at some point on the way in from Rome she had also extended an overnight invitation. She showed us to our room, up an old, old stone circular staircase and into a beautiful room with a day bed. Pointing to the day bed, she said, "There's your bed, that's big enough for you two, right Richard?" Well it was a suite of rooms, this was the sitting room, complete with candies, cookies and candles. The bedroom was beautifully appointed with a net over over the bed, water pitchers on both nightstands and a small room heater blasting warm air. The bathroom was a bit more modern than the rest of the rooms.
Once settled, we joined Suzie down in the kitchen. The eat in kitchen was a grand space with high ceilings, and a reach in fireplace next to the modern, six burner gas stove. This "old meets new" was all over the house, and eventually we learned that the original building was the center section. Built with three stories with cooking on the bottom, living in the middle and sleeping at the top, along with a guard to keep watch. We were directly above the kitchen so part of our rooms were the original structure. We ate a delicious caprese salad with olive oil produced from their very own olives. This was a working farm that also included a winery. Suzie had made spaghetti and meatballs, which we learned are traditionally served as two courses, and then we had a wonderful time with Suzie and her husband Jerry, listening to youtube videos of Patti Lupone and Lea Solanga. Wow, what amazing voices those dames have!
Jerry put together a great three day tour of Tuscany, we slept well, then packed up the next day. At breakfast they issued another invite to spend the night. We left undecided, but if we were staying again, they must let us treat to dinner out.
Jerry's plan included a trip to Siena and San Gimignano. Siena has a great piazza that they still race horses in today. Twice a year they run around the clam shaped Piazza del Campo. It was amazing to see the piazza and also to know that their cathedral was completed in the 13 century. In another amazing "old meets new", this town up on a hill is equipped with a series of escalators that take people up almost six floors to the town.
San Gimignano was incredible. The original sky scrapers are here. The feudal warring of the medieval ages took many of the towers in the region down but several survived here and it is an amazing skyline to come up on for an ancient town. As an added bonus, this place had the best leather shopping I had seen, so to fulfill on my obligation to go home with some Italian leather, this was where I shopped! Suzie had told me this was the place and I could see why she recommended it.
We were still listening to the church bells and I took some video of them here as well, so that tells me they were still "magical" at this point.
Suzie and Jerry took us to a great neighborhood spot that had wonderful food and Jerry shared more about his executive training programs that he is setting up to be delivered from their Villa. This was one of the restaurants they intended to support with program attendees. He also shared the veteran "get the house wine" suggestion that we'd heard elsewhere. It's true, in the heart of the Chianti region there was no bad house wine. After dinner they recommended yet another day plan for travel and invited us for a third night to stay, but we knew we were ready to move further north after Florence.
While we were in San Gimignano, we weren't certain we would stay again or have the opportunity, so we ferreted out some gifts for our generous housemates. In Siena, Richard had found a universal remote too, as Jerry said the TV delivery didn't have a remote, or forgot to bring it. So Richard programmed everything to work before we left the next morning. Then I found the aged Balsamic vinegar for Suzie and bottle of Barolo region wine for Jerry. I hope they know how much we appreciated their hospitality, it was an amazing gift.
Miscellaneous Serendipity
We backpacked in Europe this time. Sounds very athletic but really it wasn't. What we mean when we say it is that we packed all our junk into a backpack to carry on our back instead of wheelio-ing around with all the cobblestones. I should have re-read my notes from last year that declared "next time only bring three pants and five shirts and wash things'. I actually still brought too many shirts for layering and ended up being incredibly warm for much of the time in the two cashmere sweaters I had brought. I wore my sleeveless shirt with a long sweatercoat over it and was the most comfortable in that.
The weather was warm. One of the things I loved was that each day in Switzerland it was supposed to be gray, cloudy or raining. And it mostly wasn't. We would get clear skies day after day! There was one day of rain and one day of cloudiness. The rest of the time, wonderful weather to view those magnificent Alps and cows, and clocks.
We did get rain in Rome. Richard marveled that the street vendors so quickly shifted their gear from toys to umbrellas and rain ponchos. He paid too much for a poncho he used exactly once.
The night we left the bright green restaurant we stopped at at ATM for some cash. Good thing because the next day our cards all stopped working. Richard spent a good hour getting in contact with the bank once they were open (2PM our time in Rome) in order to have them free the cards up. They had inadvertently marked one week of European use instead of the 16 days we were to be gone. And we had cash. Plus that morning we had grabbed a bread, meat and cheese to go from our hotel breakfast. It just always seemed to work out, that was my experience in Europe.
Richard tried for two days to find a special shopping spot that he had visited before and then we stumbled into it in Rome near the end of day two. The old area of Rome with streets the size of sidewalks. Quaint and quirky shops and locals galore. Antique stores that looked like they had looted Versailles. Ornate and glittery objects packed one tiny shop we passed, I think it was good we found that area when the cards didn't work!
The tree getting placed in Lugano's piazza was a memorable moment. What an amazing feat to copter that thing in and get the trunk down into the hole and how awesome that we just happened to pick that 15 minute stretch to be sitting in a glassed in restaurant with a birds eye view of the whole thing!
Following the walking tour in Zurich which included a visit to the police station. Rick Steve's was right, the art in the police station moved me to tears. From "inyourpocket" tour guides is this: "In the entrance hall to the city's police headquarters, Augusto Giacometti's magnificent murals (1923-1925) adorn the vaulted ceiling and the walls".
They are joyful, bright and vibrant, painted in his gratitude fot he end of World War I. Oranges, reds and yellows dominate. No photos allowed but I found one on the internet...
The weather was warm. One of the things I loved was that each day in Switzerland it was supposed to be gray, cloudy or raining. And it mostly wasn't. We would get clear skies day after day! There was one day of rain and one day of cloudiness. The rest of the time, wonderful weather to view those magnificent Alps and cows, and clocks.
We did get rain in Rome. Richard marveled that the street vendors so quickly shifted their gear from toys to umbrellas and rain ponchos. He paid too much for a poncho he used exactly once.
The night we left the bright green restaurant we stopped at at ATM for some cash. Good thing because the next day our cards all stopped working. Richard spent a good hour getting in contact with the bank once they were open (2PM our time in Rome) in order to have them free the cards up. They had inadvertently marked one week of European use instead of the 16 days we were to be gone. And we had cash. Plus that morning we had grabbed a bread, meat and cheese to go from our hotel breakfast. It just always seemed to work out, that was my experience in Europe.
Richard tried for two days to find a special shopping spot that he had visited before and then we stumbled into it in Rome near the end of day two. The old area of Rome with streets the size of sidewalks. Quaint and quirky shops and locals galore. Antique stores that looked like they had looted Versailles. Ornate and glittery objects packed one tiny shop we passed, I think it was good we found that area when the cards didn't work!
The tree getting placed in Lugano's piazza was a memorable moment. What an amazing feat to copter that thing in and get the trunk down into the hole and how awesome that we just happened to pick that 15 minute stretch to be sitting in a glassed in restaurant with a birds eye view of the whole thing!
They are joyful, bright and vibrant, painted in his gratitude fot he end of World War I. Oranges, reds and yellows dominate. No photos allowed but I found one on the internet...
Misto, misto!
Day one in Rome completed with a nighttime view of the Trevi Fountain. I had heard Richard's story of his first visit to Rome....a local had asked him if he had seen the fountain yet. Richard said, no not yet. The man replied "You MUST see it at NIGHT"! (Can you hear the emphasis?) "Most people wish three times....to return to Rome, to find love, and to have money. But ME, I am MARRIED, and I LIVE in Rome, so I toss the coins over my shoulders and say MONEY, MONEY, MONEY!".
I love the way Richard tells that story, and we saw the fountains at night and they were indeed incredible. We saw them during the day as well. Still lovely. HUGE. Like so many common areas of Rome, I was surprised by the scope of it all. There are a number of public fountains where you can get a drink. This is not normal in most of Europe and we enjoyed being able to fill up a water bottle here and there.
The second night at dinner was a Sunday, and the little place across the street was closed, so we asked the front desk for a referral to a "real" Rome restaurant off the beaten path that might be open. Our front desk clerk obliged and off we went with her map. We ended up alone in a bright green restaurant, having passed two other booming places. I was hungry enough to want to stop sooner and was a bit taken aback at the empty interior of the place we were sent to. But in we went. The waiter spoke almost no english. Perfect!
We ordered wine and then put ourselves in his capable hands. I said I wanted the beans, he said "they're beans", I reconfirmed that I like beans, and he said "Ok, MISTO" for the appetizer choice! Which we interpreted to mean "everything" because soon our table was filled with small plates of everything! Later I read that it means mixture, or variety, or medley. Cold zucchini and eggplant salad with parmesan, clams, caprese salad, the bean dish, which was excellent, and many more.
We were stuffed but were dying to try at least one pasta dish at the now FULL restaurant. We had forgotten that the locals don't eat until 7:30PM. They only open earlier than that in tourist areas.
Our order was for a linguini dish that ended up looking like the entire sea was mixed with our pasta and it was fabulous. Similar to a Cioppino. We rolled ourselves back to our hotel after a leisurly and long meal that culminated with creme brûlée, also lovely although by then we couldn't finish it.
We are learning as we go. Trust the recommendations. Eat later, don't eat at the full restaurants at 6PM, they're for tourists, MISTO is GOOD!
We snuck some video of the hapless waiter, at some point in the dinner I realized he reminded me of an old boyfriend John, whom Richard also knows and we are still friends with. I blurted out, "he could be John's uncle!" and Richard almost snorted wine. So I have that memory as well:) This turned out to be our best meal on the entire trip.
As a followup, John came by for dinner this week, we showed him the video and he confirms the guy could be a long lost relative.
I love the way Richard tells that story, and we saw the fountains at night and they were indeed incredible. We saw them during the day as well. Still lovely. HUGE. Like so many common areas of Rome, I was surprised by the scope of it all. There are a number of public fountains where you can get a drink. This is not normal in most of Europe and we enjoyed being able to fill up a water bottle here and there.
The second night at dinner was a Sunday, and the little place across the street was closed, so we asked the front desk for a referral to a "real" Rome restaurant off the beaten path that might be open. Our front desk clerk obliged and off we went with her map. We ended up alone in a bright green restaurant, having passed two other booming places. I was hungry enough to want to stop sooner and was a bit taken aback at the empty interior of the place we were sent to. But in we went. The waiter spoke almost no english. Perfect!
We ordered wine and then put ourselves in his capable hands. I said I wanted the beans, he said "they're beans", I reconfirmed that I like beans, and he said "Ok, MISTO" for the appetizer choice! Which we interpreted to mean "everything" because soon our table was filled with small plates of everything! Later I read that it means mixture, or variety, or medley. Cold zucchini and eggplant salad with parmesan, clams, caprese salad, the bean dish, which was excellent, and many more.
We were stuffed but were dying to try at least one pasta dish at the now FULL restaurant. We had forgotten that the locals don't eat until 7:30PM. They only open earlier than that in tourist areas.
Our order was for a linguini dish that ended up looking like the entire sea was mixed with our pasta and it was fabulous. Similar to a Cioppino. We rolled ourselves back to our hotel after a leisurly and long meal that culminated with creme brûlée, also lovely although by then we couldn't finish it.
We are learning as we go. Trust the recommendations. Eat later, don't eat at the full restaurants at 6PM, they're for tourists, MISTO is GOOD!
We snuck some video of the hapless waiter, at some point in the dinner I realized he reminded me of an old boyfriend John, whom Richard also knows and we are still friends with. I blurted out, "he could be John's uncle!" and Richard almost snorted wine. So I have that memory as well:) This turned out to be our best meal on the entire trip.
As a followup, John came by for dinner this week, we showed him the video and he confirms the guy could be a long lost relative.
Sunday, December 2, 2012
Showering, or Ten Pounds in a Five Pound Sack
We woke to church bells in Rome. I know, right? "That just never happens in Europe", you're saying to yourself. We peeked out our window to the left and there was St. Peter's Basilica. We are walking distance to the Vatican! Also to the metro, but first, we must shower. It's a glassed in corner about two feet square. With a door about 16" wide. No joke.
I don't see it first though, Richard does. My "leather jacket=whole cow" hubs. In the grand tradition of southerners or burgermeisters, take your pick, he most closely resembles either Ben Franklin or the latter King Ludwig. Or a late Elvis. Take your pick again.
He finishes up with no protest whatsoever and I slip past him to go in the bathroom to shower. And I rub the shower door on the way in. Before turning the water on, I'm alarmed. I go back in the room and ask Richard how the hell he got in there?? I'm thinking about those mice that can somehow squeeze into microscopic holes as long as their skull fits, but this is a human, not a mouse. Richard then lifts his shirt to show me the plate sized RUBBED spot from squeezing into the shower. Unbelievable. This relates again to our earlier visit and interior spaces in Europe generally being smaller. We had joked in London that he could clean the shower just by turning around, but this one was the smallest yet.
Suitably clean, rubbed, and raring to go we then head to the nearest Metro station. We are looking for a Roma Pass that will allow metro entry as well as discounted or free entrance to attractions. And the nice lady has them there in a market at the train station. Our phones had begun to run really slow and some messages kept coming in from TIM in Italian, so we asked her help in reading them and Richard was able to recharge his phone, thinking that would speed up the data speeds. We ended up being wrong about that. We recharged but got no quicker speeds at all until our third day when we got Richard's phone on a different plan.
The metro was amazing. It was filled with Italians and tourists, it was on time and efficient. But the magic was that there were live musicians! I couldn't stop smiling, they were playing while we were all hanging on to avoid falling, then they sent one of the musicians to go collect coins. We paid handsomely. The first three times we rode the metro. Then we quit paying them. I am still trying to figure out when it stopped being magical and started being "normal". If I go back I will make a conscious effort to keep it being magical instead of mundane.
First stop, the Colosseum! These are ancient ruins! The images are instantly recognizable to anyone who ever had a history lesson. And it was amazing to see them in person.
From Wikipedia, which I now must sponsor with some cash as I keep quoting them:
"Capable of seating 50,000 spectators,[5][6] the Colosseum was used for gladiatorial contests and public spectacles such as mock sea battles, animal hunts, executions, re-enactments of famous battles, and dramas based on Classical mythology. The building ceased to be used for entertainment in the early medieval era. It was later reused for such purposes as housing, workshops, quarters for a religious order, a fortress, a quarry, and a Christian shrine.
The thing is massive. Originally topping out at three stories, then a fourth was added. It's huge. The ticketing was done with pottery shards. Incredible attention to detail. It was built after Rome's leaders took the land back after Nero was gone and built the thing to return the land to the people of Rome. Nero had taken it and built a private sanctuary including a lake after fire had devastated central Rome. Christian martyrs were not executed at this site, but at another nearby, and it is not considered a sacred site. What was fascinating in reading more about it was that at one point it was converted to housing! Shops! It was used like that throughout the middle ages. There is no mortar, the stones were set and held in place with bronze clamps.
I don't see it first though, Richard does. My "leather jacket=whole cow" hubs. In the grand tradition of southerners or burgermeisters, take your pick, he most closely resembles either Ben Franklin or the latter King Ludwig. Or a late Elvis. Take your pick again.
He finishes up with no protest whatsoever and I slip past him to go in the bathroom to shower. And I rub the shower door on the way in. Before turning the water on, I'm alarmed. I go back in the room and ask Richard how the hell he got in there?? I'm thinking about those mice that can somehow squeeze into microscopic holes as long as their skull fits, but this is a human, not a mouse. Richard then lifts his shirt to show me the plate sized RUBBED spot from squeezing into the shower. Unbelievable. This relates again to our earlier visit and interior spaces in Europe generally being smaller. We had joked in London that he could clean the shower just by turning around, but this one was the smallest yet.
Suitably clean, rubbed, and raring to go we then head to the nearest Metro station. We are looking for a Roma Pass that will allow metro entry as well as discounted or free entrance to attractions. And the nice lady has them there in a market at the train station. Our phones had begun to run really slow and some messages kept coming in from TIM in Italian, so we asked her help in reading them and Richard was able to recharge his phone, thinking that would speed up the data speeds. We ended up being wrong about that. We recharged but got no quicker speeds at all until our third day when we got Richard's phone on a different plan.
The metro was amazing. It was filled with Italians and tourists, it was on time and efficient. But the magic was that there were live musicians! I couldn't stop smiling, they were playing while we were all hanging on to avoid falling, then they sent one of the musicians to go collect coins. We paid handsomely. The first three times we rode the metro. Then we quit paying them. I am still trying to figure out when it stopped being magical and started being "normal". If I go back I will make a conscious effort to keep it being magical instead of mundane.
First stop, the Colosseum! These are ancient ruins! The images are instantly recognizable to anyone who ever had a history lesson. And it was amazing to see them in person.
From Wikipedia, which I now must sponsor with some cash as I keep quoting them:
"Capable of seating 50,000 spectators,[5][6] the Colosseum was used for gladiatorial contests and public spectacles such as mock sea battles, animal hunts, executions, re-enactments of famous battles, and dramas based on Classical mythology. The building ceased to be used for entertainment in the early medieval era. It was later reused for such purposes as housing, workshops, quarters for a religious order, a fortress, a quarry, and a Christian shrine.
Although in the 21st century it stays partially ruined because of damage caused by devastating earthquakes and stone-robbers, the Colosseum is an iconic symbol of Imperial Rome. It is one of Rome's most popular tourist attractions and still has close connections with the Roman Catholic Church, as each Good Friday the Pope leads a torchlit "Way of the Cross" procession that starts in the area around the Colosseum.[7"
The thing is massive. Originally topping out at three stories, then a fourth was added. It's huge. The ticketing was done with pottery shards. Incredible attention to detail. It was built after Rome's leaders took the land back after Nero was gone and built the thing to return the land to the people of Rome. Nero had taken it and built a private sanctuary including a lake after fire had devastated central Rome. Christian martyrs were not executed at this site, but at another nearby, and it is not considered a sacred site. What was fascinating in reading more about it was that at one point it was converted to housing! Shops! It was used like that throughout the middle ages. There is no mortar, the stones were set and held in place with bronze clamps.
We moved on to tour the other archeological sites in the area, which were numerous and walked non stop for the entire day. May I plug "The Walking Store" now? Both Richard and I bought new shoes and inserts just before leaving and it was the best thing we did for ourselves on that entire trip. We wore them for a week before leaving for Europe. The feet were quiet as a mouse on the entire trip, but this day was their biggest workout. We ended up clocking out at over six miles that day. Just for fun I had activated my pedometer app on the iPhone at some point during the day and we had already walked a couple of miles when I kicked it on.
Next stop was The Forum. We ended up choosing a path up instead of a path down and boy was that the right choice from that point. We got a gorgeous panoramic view with both the Collosseum and The Forum! Beautiful and once again the size and scope of these ancient engineering projects just astonished me. I work now with civil engineers who do infrastructure engineering so I completely geeked out on that aspect of these works.
Being on the same steps that the Senators stood on was just really awe inspiring. Especially given our current election at the time! We had mailed in our ballots before leaving and were nail biting the results from Stefan's apartment in Zurich. The irony was inescapable and it was difficult for me to escape the similarities in pathways. When you look at the downfall of Rome, the finger gets pointed in numerous directions. However, I like the theory that it merely transformed and that the Germanic rulers actually kept much of the Roman traditions as they approached the era known as "The Middle Ages".
Saturday, December 1, 2012
All Roads Lead to Rome?
We left Milan bright and early and tracked a path through Pisa, then our plan was to take the coastal highway. Who doesn't like a coastal highway, right? We arrived at Pisa and you could see the tower, but Siri got us a bit lost there, and took us into town instead of to the old town, so we took a road that looked like it was heading back to the tower and found a nice parking spot. This was the one time I felt like we were in a pretty sketchy place. This was a pay lot with no attendant, near the tower and basilica. Just outside were several loitering folks, and I asked Richard to put everything we had in the trunk and park as far away and out of sight from them as possible, no harm minimizing a break in to the car.
Then we walked over the old walled area. What was my immediate impression is that it was just huge. The whole area, the marketplace, the church, the basilica, the large field in front of it with dozens of folks lounging around and picnicking, or kicking soccer balls. It was clearly a community gathering place, not just a tourist attraction.
I know I mentioned the picture earlier, and we did take the obligatory "holding the tower up" photos. We hung out for a bit, walked all the way around the piazza and noticed all the families. There was the cutest little dog with a young couple that looked a bit like a Jack Russell terrier. He ran at the speed of light and was well trained to his master's whistles. Once we had our pics we were antsy to leave and get to Rome.
We got back to the car and charted a course along the coast. This portion of Tuscany had experienced severe flooding the week before, Venice had been under 5 feet of water not long ago and torrential rains that dropped an annual amount in nine days had done some damage in parts of Italy. But we had Siri, so off we went. Our goal was to get to a nice seaside bistro just at sunset. And we did pretty well, we found a nice bistro but they don't open for dinner until 7:30PM, so we settled for a cappuccino and then drove up in the hillside to have a look around. What we found was a really beautiful enclave of high end villas and newly constructed homes mixed together. Many of them looked abandoned or partially finished and after taking a few more snaps of the sea from up high on the hillside, Richard backed us up before it turned full dark and got us back on the highway. This was a good kind of lost and it didn't last long.
It wasn't more than an hour or so later, and now dark, when we saw the flashing lights ahead. There was a detour to "Roma", the officer spoke little English, but we got enough to know to follow the yellow signs to Roma. We hadn't eaten and no restaurants were nearby and we had now discovered that Italy had a time warp. If it said 2 hours, it would take 3. If it said 45 minutes, it would take 60 or more. You could drive 140kilometers per hour and still it took more time than Siri said it should. We had snackage and plenty of water, so we knew we'd survive and then determined what we really wanted was to get to Roma tonight. I had looked at the map again and realized there were road closures listed on the map on both highways heading south. So we turned off Siri and followed the signs.
The signs led us into the middle of Italy on the smallest one lane dirt roads I've seen since I used to hunt. We were in flooded farmland and we saw one vehicle off and in a full ditch at one point. The highways were going to take longer to repair from flooding than these tracks had, so we stayed the course and followed the yellow Roma signs all the way down. We polished off the chocolate covered espresso candies, a couple of tins of Paprika flavored Pringles (they rock and we should have them here), and quite a bit of our water. About an hour north of Rome we were back on highway, looking for a hotel.
I found a Best Western, it looked like it was near the old city, and when I called she said, no problem, just come on in. So we entered Rome with some trepidation, driving in Rome being one of the top ten adventures, but once we adjusted for Siri's slowness, we made all our turns and got to the hotel. Which was nowhere near the sights we wanted to see. And they were FULL!!! This was not looking good. Oh, and our bladders were full, too.
Testy doesn't begin to cover it. This had been one heck of a long day. Richard double-parked on the side street on I got back online and found another Best Western near the Vatican and a metro station. And they had an opening. Richard dashed into the nearest neighborhood restaurant to use the bathroom. Then we booked the hotel and on we drove. The 20 minutes took 40 of course, but once we saw the place we booked for all three nights we were staying. Maybe we should have waited until we saw the shower stall before booking two more nights.
Then we walked over the old walled area. What was my immediate impression is that it was just huge. The whole area, the marketplace, the church, the basilica, the large field in front of it with dozens of folks lounging around and picnicking, or kicking soccer balls. It was clearly a community gathering place, not just a tourist attraction.
I know I mentioned the picture earlier, and we did take the obligatory "holding the tower up" photos. We hung out for a bit, walked all the way around the piazza and noticed all the families. There was the cutest little dog with a young couple that looked a bit like a Jack Russell terrier. He ran at the speed of light and was well trained to his master's whistles. Once we had our pics we were antsy to leave and get to Rome.
We got back to the car and charted a course along the coast. This portion of Tuscany had experienced severe flooding the week before, Venice had been under 5 feet of water not long ago and torrential rains that dropped an annual amount in nine days had done some damage in parts of Italy. But we had Siri, so off we went. Our goal was to get to a nice seaside bistro just at sunset. And we did pretty well, we found a nice bistro but they don't open for dinner until 7:30PM, so we settled for a cappuccino and then drove up in the hillside to have a look around. What we found was a really beautiful enclave of high end villas and newly constructed homes mixed together. Many of them looked abandoned or partially finished and after taking a few more snaps of the sea from up high on the hillside, Richard backed us up before it turned full dark and got us back on the highway. This was a good kind of lost and it didn't last long.
It wasn't more than an hour or so later, and now dark, when we saw the flashing lights ahead. There was a detour to "Roma", the officer spoke little English, but we got enough to know to follow the yellow signs to Roma. We hadn't eaten and no restaurants were nearby and we had now discovered that Italy had a time warp. If it said 2 hours, it would take 3. If it said 45 minutes, it would take 60 or more. You could drive 140kilometers per hour and still it took more time than Siri said it should. We had snackage and plenty of water, so we knew we'd survive and then determined what we really wanted was to get to Roma tonight. I had looked at the map again and realized there were road closures listed on the map on both highways heading south. So we turned off Siri and followed the signs.
The signs led us into the middle of Italy on the smallest one lane dirt roads I've seen since I used to hunt. We were in flooded farmland and we saw one vehicle off and in a full ditch at one point. The highways were going to take longer to repair from flooding than these tracks had, so we stayed the course and followed the yellow Roma signs all the way down. We polished off the chocolate covered espresso candies, a couple of tins of Paprika flavored Pringles (they rock and we should have them here), and quite a bit of our water. About an hour north of Rome we were back on highway, looking for a hotel.
I found a Best Western, it looked like it was near the old city, and when I called she said, no problem, just come on in. So we entered Rome with some trepidation, driving in Rome being one of the top ten adventures, but once we adjusted for Siri's slowness, we made all our turns and got to the hotel. Which was nowhere near the sights we wanted to see. And they were FULL!!! This was not looking good. Oh, and our bladders were full, too.
Testy doesn't begin to cover it. This had been one heck of a long day. Richard double-parked on the side street on I got back online and found another Best Western near the Vatican and a metro station. And they had an opening. Richard dashed into the nearest neighborhood restaurant to use the bathroom. Then we booked the hotel and on we drove. The 20 minutes took 40 of course, but once we saw the place we booked for all three nights we were staying. Maybe we should have waited until we saw the shower stall before booking two more nights.
In 500 Feet Make your Third Right in the Round-a-bout
Some of you remember that last year in Europe we discovered a couple of technical glitches. One, you put a SIM card in, but the data portion won't work for a two day hold in many countries. France and Germany were both this way last year, although that may have changed. Two, our beloved Apple phone with the brand spanking new Siri did NOT work in France. "Siri don't do France." No directions, no restaurant recommendations, no nothing. We couldn't get out of the airport parking lot without going back for the GPS.
But this year, in Switzerland and Italy, we were able to buy and use the SIM cards right away. And Siri's new Apple Maps. Mostly as pedestrians in Switzerland. But they were flawless! That's right, the troublesome, "no good", crappy maps of Apple worked just dandy in Switzerland as pedestrians. Landmarks were listed, restaurants, and of course, the Apple store itself in Zurich. So we felt pretty confident that we wouldn't need a GPS with our rental car to around in Italy.
We pick up in Milan, where we went finally from the airport in our rental car to a to be determined hotel. With no working SIM card. This was a minor problem, and the airport didn't have a TIM store which was the recommended telecom we were in search of. But we saw a huge mall right next to the airport and after a couple of circles around the round-a-bout, we found our way to the huge mall across the freeway.
I took a picture of the parking area and off we went to find an Italian SIM card for our phones. And some dinner. And we found our destination, got the nice lady to put two SIM cards in, then sat down to our first Italian pasta in a mall and found a hotel to go to. I want you to know that even in the mall the pasta is perfectly en dente, and sauced to order, it seemed amazing and we ate it all.
In driving to our hotel we thought no problem. Our cocky selves have traveled numerous other places with no problem. But then we left the mall and we couldn't find our car. We had stepped out into the parking area, we thought from the same floor, but there was no Orange A 3. There was no Orange. There was no A. There was no 3. And the mall is closing. This took us about 20 minutes of asking random mallgoers, flashing my phone and asking if they knew where my picture of Orange A 3 was located. It felt like a bad case of where's Waldo. But no one knew. One guy said "What color is the car?" I said, "White". He said, "Oh well! with his hands up in the air and a head shake, like that was going to be impossible to find.
Finally Richard decided there must be another parking floor so back in we went, up one floor and voila! Success. There's Orange. There's A, and there's our car. Yeah! And Whew! I have spent a number of years taking myself through the worst case scenarios to combat my own fears. I feel like I'm at a point where I could handle most things, and I was clear that eventually we would find the missing car. But someplace deep down, you know you are not "home". And so there's just a shade more anxiety when things go wrong. Fortunately I am married to a Zen Master who is just okey-dokey with all of what life throws at you. I really appreciate Richard and especially so when my own anxious meter could get stuck in the open position.
So we jauntily left the mall to head to the address of the hotel. We missed a turn on a round-a-bout and took twice as long to get there. Siri's a bit slower to catch up to where we are on the map, but once we figured that out, it worked great. The "Art Hotel" even had a bar and free breakfast and an enormous bathtub! All is well here in Milan.
In closing, that mall was by far the largest three storied, solid acre of materialistic extravagance that I have ever seen in my life. I've not been to the Mall of America, but I've been to three of the "Mills" malls (Franklin, Arizona and Colorado) and this one was by far the largest. My biggest memory is that everything was shiny. Glossy floors, lacquered furniture, shiny plastic and sparkling lights. And beautifully designed. That was all we saw of Milan for the whole trip, but it's been said that Milan is the "new" Italy. Industrial, design and manufacturing are primarily here.
And that "20 minutes" that the car was lost was likely only 5 to 10:)
But this year, in Switzerland and Italy, we were able to buy and use the SIM cards right away. And Siri's new Apple Maps. Mostly as pedestrians in Switzerland. But they were flawless! That's right, the troublesome, "no good", crappy maps of Apple worked just dandy in Switzerland as pedestrians. Landmarks were listed, restaurants, and of course, the Apple store itself in Zurich. So we felt pretty confident that we wouldn't need a GPS with our rental car to around in Italy.
We pick up in Milan, where we went finally from the airport in our rental car to a to be determined hotel. With no working SIM card. This was a minor problem, and the airport didn't have a TIM store which was the recommended telecom we were in search of. But we saw a huge mall right next to the airport and after a couple of circles around the round-a-bout, we found our way to the huge mall across the freeway.
I took a picture of the parking area and off we went to find an Italian SIM card for our phones. And some dinner. And we found our destination, got the nice lady to put two SIM cards in, then sat down to our first Italian pasta in a mall and found a hotel to go to. I want you to know that even in the mall the pasta is perfectly en dente, and sauced to order, it seemed amazing and we ate it all.
In driving to our hotel we thought no problem. Our cocky selves have traveled numerous other places with no problem. But then we left the mall and we couldn't find our car. We had stepped out into the parking area, we thought from the same floor, but there was no Orange A 3. There was no Orange. There was no A. There was no 3. And the mall is closing. This took us about 20 minutes of asking random mallgoers, flashing my phone and asking if they knew where my picture of Orange A 3 was located. It felt like a bad case of where's Waldo. But no one knew. One guy said "What color is the car?" I said, "White". He said, "Oh well! with his hands up in the air and a head shake, like that was going to be impossible to find.
Finally Richard decided there must be another parking floor so back in we went, up one floor and voila! Success. There's Orange. There's A, and there's our car. Yeah! And Whew! I have spent a number of years taking myself through the worst case scenarios to combat my own fears. I feel like I'm at a point where I could handle most things, and I was clear that eventually we would find the missing car. But someplace deep down, you know you are not "home". And so there's just a shade more anxiety when things go wrong. Fortunately I am married to a Zen Master who is just okey-dokey with all of what life throws at you. I really appreciate Richard and especially so when my own anxious meter could get stuck in the open position.
So we jauntily left the mall to head to the address of the hotel. We missed a turn on a round-a-bout and took twice as long to get there. Siri's a bit slower to catch up to where we are on the map, but once we figured that out, it worked great. The "Art Hotel" even had a bar and free breakfast and an enormous bathtub! All is well here in Milan.
In closing, that mall was by far the largest three storied, solid acre of materialistic extravagance that I have ever seen in my life. I've not been to the Mall of America, but I've been to three of the "Mills" malls (Franklin, Arizona and Colorado) and this one was by far the largest. My biggest memory is that everything was shiny. Glossy floors, lacquered furniture, shiny plastic and sparkling lights. And beautifully designed. That was all we saw of Milan for the whole trip, but it's been said that Milan is the "new" Italy. Industrial, design and manufacturing are primarily here.
And that "20 minutes" that the car was lost was likely only 5 to 10:)
Friday, November 30, 2012
Cappuccino is Italian
Our plan was a bit fluid heading over to Europe. We knew we had one week in Switzerland, then we had thought to go to Venice and perhaps Rome. But every winter Venice has seasonal flooding, and this year (2012) was the sixth worst in recorded history. Which is a very long time in Venice land. The icing on the cake was seeing Venice on the news with tourists in swim suits sitting in five feet of water on the Piazza with their cappuccinos. So we amended our plan to go south to Rome! We had friends near Florence that we wanted to see as well.
There had been an avalanche in the mountains in Switzerland, so our train did not go directly to Milan. The Swiss expertly shepherded us from a train to a long line of very comfortable buses for a 45 minute detour to another train station. They had swapped the English translations to Italian as we had moved south, so we were now unaware of what was being announced.
No problem, the nice young man across from us, when asked, confirmed he was Italian, he did speak English and he'd be happy to assist us with the pending transfer to the correct train platform. The Italian rail had abruptly left all the passengers to Milan from Switzerland alone with no instruction. The train was jarringly different from it's Swiss counterpart, but our new friend helped us along.
Once we arrived in Milan however, we discovered that the city has two stations and our tour had ended at the wrong station. With the wrong currency. In a country where not everyone spoke English. Did I mention it was at night? This is where our new friend Carmine helped us! We gave him a large Swiss franc note and he bought us tickets. But in spite of Richard's warning, he ushered us off the train one stop too soon. Rats. And now he didn't have enough euros for three more tickets.
Enter "The Italian Gentleman". Literally. This distinguished older man, in brilliantly beautiful, shiny black shoes and a wonderfully cut trench coat approaches at the gate to enter the metro. Carmine stops him, explains our situation and he grandly approaches the one human behind glass and raps authoritatively on the glass. Then, in beautiful, lilting Italian (which must be spoken with large, expressive hand gestures), explains our dilemma and the guard lets us back in! No problem. So we ride with Carmine one more stop, become Facebook friends and get a warm invitation should we ever find ourselves in Napoli, just south of Rome. We'd learned earlier on the train that Carmine is a photographer who had spent four months roaming around Europe, primarily in the France countryside, snapping photos for his next "exposition". He had shared images of "The Sea", his previous exposition with us while on the train.
Once in the main Milan train station, which is stunningly beautiful by the way, we wander aimlessly. Finally we order a cappuccino and sit for a bit, decide we will rent a car, then wondered whether we could get better car rental rates at the airport. We succumbed to the need for nourishment by ordering our only McDonald's burger. Just one, and we didn't even finish it. Mostly that was just to have a place to pee. No free pay toilets at the train station. No bank ATM is nearby so we are still using our card.
Once decided we go to the ever helpful rail info office and find there's a cheap bus outside to get to the airport for our car rental. And the kiosk outside takes cards for the payment. So we're off! Onward to the coast. But first, a hotel please. Next up Siri in Italy.
There had been an avalanche in the mountains in Switzerland, so our train did not go directly to Milan. The Swiss expertly shepherded us from a train to a long line of very comfortable buses for a 45 minute detour to another train station. They had swapped the English translations to Italian as we had moved south, so we were now unaware of what was being announced.
No problem, the nice young man across from us, when asked, confirmed he was Italian, he did speak English and he'd be happy to assist us with the pending transfer to the correct train platform. The Italian rail had abruptly left all the passengers to Milan from Switzerland alone with no instruction. The train was jarringly different from it's Swiss counterpart, but our new friend helped us along.
Once we arrived in Milan however, we discovered that the city has two stations and our tour had ended at the wrong station. With the wrong currency. In a country where not everyone spoke English. Did I mention it was at night? This is where our new friend Carmine helped us! We gave him a large Swiss franc note and he bought us tickets. But in spite of Richard's warning, he ushered us off the train one stop too soon. Rats. And now he didn't have enough euros for three more tickets.
Enter "The Italian Gentleman". Literally. This distinguished older man, in brilliantly beautiful, shiny black shoes and a wonderfully cut trench coat approaches at the gate to enter the metro. Carmine stops him, explains our situation and he grandly approaches the one human behind glass and raps authoritatively on the glass. Then, in beautiful, lilting Italian (which must be spoken with large, expressive hand gestures), explains our dilemma and the guard lets us back in! No problem. So we ride with Carmine one more stop, become Facebook friends and get a warm invitation should we ever find ourselves in Napoli, just south of Rome. We'd learned earlier on the train that Carmine is a photographer who had spent four months roaming around Europe, primarily in the France countryside, snapping photos for his next "exposition". He had shared images of "The Sea", his previous exposition with us while on the train.
Once in the main Milan train station, which is stunningly beautiful by the way, we wander aimlessly. Finally we order a cappuccino and sit for a bit, decide we will rent a car, then wondered whether we could get better car rental rates at the airport. We succumbed to the need for nourishment by ordering our only McDonald's burger. Just one, and we didn't even finish it. Mostly that was just to have a place to pee. No free pay toilets at the train station. No bank ATM is nearby so we are still using our card.
Once decided we go to the ever helpful rail info office and find there's a cheap bus outside to get to the airport for our car rental. And the kiosk outside takes cards for the payment. So we're off! Onward to the coast. But first, a hotel please. Next up Siri in Italy.
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Bern, or "Napoleon took our wine!"
We captured some more lovely church bells in Bern, which has an amazing old town with a fabulous inside out detail on the clock tower. It goes on forever, as do many of the church bells. I wondered what it would be like to finally hear them enough that you would just tune them out or not notice them?
I also started wondering about the heavy infuence of the church on the daily living of citizens for all those centuries. Of course, I knew we were heading to Rome soon, and the Vatican so that might have had something to do with it. But really, an hourly reminder of Gong, Gong, Gong, or God, God, God, or the church is here, the church is here, the church is here. What must that have been like? I didn't grow up with church bells that I can recall. We had a little Westminster chime clock that did ring on the quarter hours, but it was never tied up with church in my mind.
Bern actually sits between TWO rivers. There's a lovely valley on one side, and we took some amazing pictures. Then the city walk, past the clock tower and into some wonderful shopping. But the streets had an arcade over them to protect shoppers from the again sprinkling rain. What was really unusual were the double decker shops tucked up neatly under the stairs to the elevated arcade! Like storm cellars, they sit underneath the sidewalk. Originally designed to hold onions, potatos and wine, they are now quaint and cute little shops. We loved the candy store that had a slide down into it alongside the steps down.
Bern had a reputation as a very "fun" city back in the day. And it's a lovely place with lots of shops and restaurants in addition to Einstein's family home and the temporarily closed Einstein museum:( Boo. We did stop in the cafe under it though. But I digress. The fun city then got attacked by Napoleon, who TOOK ALL THE WINE! Bern became known as "the sad city". I can't make this stuff up folks.
We found another Rick Steve's restaurant for dinner, and had a delightful day in Bern.
I also started wondering about the heavy infuence of the church on the daily living of citizens for all those centuries. Of course, I knew we were heading to Rome soon, and the Vatican so that might have had something to do with it. But really, an hourly reminder of Gong, Gong, Gong, or God, God, God, or the church is here, the church is here, the church is here. What must that have been like? I didn't grow up with church bells that I can recall. We had a little Westminster chime clock that did ring on the quarter hours, but it was never tied up with church in my mind.
Bern actually sits between TWO rivers. There's a lovely valley on one side, and we took some amazing pictures. Then the city walk, past the clock tower and into some wonderful shopping. But the streets had an arcade over them to protect shoppers from the again sprinkling rain. What was really unusual were the double decker shops tucked up neatly under the stairs to the elevated arcade! Like storm cellars, they sit underneath the sidewalk. Originally designed to hold onions, potatos and wine, they are now quaint and cute little shops. We loved the candy store that had a slide down into it alongside the steps down.
Bern had a reputation as a very "fun" city back in the day. And it's a lovely place with lots of shops and restaurants in addition to Einstein's family home and the temporarily closed Einstein museum:( Boo. We did stop in the cafe under it though. But I digress. The fun city then got attacked by Napoleon, who TOOK ALL THE WINE! Bern became known as "the sad city". I can't make this stuff up folks.
We found another Rick Steve's restaurant for dinner, and had a delightful day in Bern.
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Lugano; Or "Italy with efficiency and magic"
It gets it's very own note. It was just that special!
We whizzed through Lugano on our way south from Switzerland to Milan, where we rented a car and drove all the way to Rome, more on that later. What we noticed was how incredibly beautiful it was, how much the architecture resembled Italy's and yet they had the infamous lake and alps view of Switzerland. We said we would go back, then almost didn't. What a mistake that might have been although I know other very special memories would have occured, I'm grateful we did go back!
It starts at the train station, at night. There's a funicular to get you down below to the city, which lies on very steep hillsides surrounding the lake. Or you can do what we did, ask the funicular attendant for a hotel recommendation, then take his advice and roll your bag down three switch back ramps to get to the lovely Hotel Federale. Lights on the hillside abound and they have landscape lights highlighting a beautiful garden area leading up to the hotel. Beautiful hotel and a lovely BIG tub and shower for us! Wake in the morning to your terrace view of the lake and hillside below! Eat breakfast in the lovely room with your own personal coffee service in metal pots. Coffee in one, steamed milk in the other, pour to your liking.
We then checked out but left our bags to tour the city. Rick Steve's walking tour of Lugano was extraordinary, we followed it to the letter (first and only time) and enjoyed ALL of it, the city park, the view from the glass elevator, the lovely park with modern art and exotic trees, and the lakeside stroll back to town. In the midst of that we had reached the town square and stopped for a fine meal and a cappuccino. We wondered why there were ropes to keep people out of the piazza and why there was security. And what was that "drain plug" looking thing sitting in the center and the hole in the middle about two feet in diameter? Oh well, we enjoyed our cappuccino, when all at once there came the rotary beat of a very large helicopter. Closer it came, breezy it was and people began to snatch at their hats and scarves as the wind picked up.
All of a sudden the finger pointing begins and we lift our eyes from our safe glass enclosed patio to see what the buzz is about! It's a Christmas Tree! A whopping big, lovely large, extraordinarily PERFECT Christmas tree in the sky! Unbelievable. We chanced on Lugano for this once a year celebration and caught the big event on film! After many extraordinary passes, with orange suited construction workers swaying this way and that all across the piazza with the tree, they finally land the great tree trunk down into the two foot diameter hole in the center of the piazza! We couldn't stop giggling!
After we finish our walk, we land smack into the downtown old town and take Rick Steve's advice again to buy meats, cheeses, produce and wine from the Gabbini family owned shops. First it's the butcher with a wonderful selection of meats. Then on to the produce stall, and we select some lovely tangerines after sampling them on the street. We are heading on to the cheese store when all of a sudden this mischievous elderly gentleman approaches Richard's stomach and points to it and says something in Italian that we don't understand. But we understand his sparkle. So Richard explains "English"? And he repeats his comment: "It's not summer! Where is your coat?" Richard had just begun to long for his fleece jacket in the shade but had been comfortable in his shirt sleeves for the rest of the day. So this nice man then points to his own clothes, each layer pulled out at his neckline in order; undershirt, polo shirt, sweater, cravat, and jacket, and then he asked us what we had stopped to taste and invites us to join him for a glass of wine. We immediately say yes. Set just down the street from the butcher, the produce, cheese and wine shops are all lined up next to each other with a lovely outdoor seating area. On each chair is a wooly sheepskin on the metal frame chair to keep you warm as you sit outside. No fancy propane heaters, but we were plenty toasty.
He invites us to try a Beaujalais. It's a "new wine", two months earlier he explains that this was grapes on the vine. 2012 from France. "Every year the wine comes in, November 17th. You must make a wish when you drink the first wine of the season. My wish is to be here next year to drink this wine!" In the meantime, young, handsome men have brought us a tray of Parmesan Reggiano cheese, some breadsticks and later a small pot of extraordinary Gorgonzola. Our new friend explains that he is "Gabbini" of the shop names. Later I hear a local call him Carmine, with a short i and the e pronounced in the Italian way. He's worked there since 1950, when he was still in short pants he says. His father kept him "on a 20 meter chain", so he didn't get a chance to marry until he was 50, producing two sons who now run the shops. But he worries they are too young at 24 and 26 to handle 20 employees, so he stays around to help. "My job now is to make sure that I am not the best customer" of the wine shop! Then he excuses himself to go walk the dogs, "good for me, good for the dogs". He is delightful and open, we spent a wonderful half hour with him and then bought our cheeses. It felt magical and that bubble stayed with us. We loved Lugano. Now you can recognize him in the photos with Richard, know why we took a picture of that wine bottle and know where those lovely gardens were. I'll see if I can get the video onto Youtube.
Vroom Vroom
Parlez Vous Francais?
by Lauren Byrne on Wednesday, November 28, 2012 at 6:03am ·
We were so excited to have a home base in Switzerland, a place to fall back to, cook our own meal and wash our clothes. So much gratitude for our community, and especially grateful for Suzanne Muller, Stefan Heinz, and Suzie and Jerry Dackerman. What unexpected richness! From Zurich we traveled to the french speaking Geneva, Lucern and Lausanne, and later Bern and Lugano.
Richard loves Paris, and this was our first foray within Switzerland so we chose the French speaking cities. We used the now tried and tested Rick Steve's guide book and had a lovely walk through the old town of Lausanne. This was really our only rain for the trip. Lausanne however, is beautiful in the rain! The wet, glistening cobblestones reflected a rainbow of colors and the church bells ringing in the back ground were the perfect music to walk through glistening trees on our way to our hotel from the local metro. We can almost bet that there will be a Starbucks at large train stations, so we always stop there, get our bearings and decide on a city plan. Once we booked the hotel we were off on our exploration.
One of our best meals was in Lausanne, and we almost didn't eat there. It was a recommendation from the Rick Steve's travel guide, but it wasn't at the location it was supposed to be at. Or at least we didn't see it the first time we passed it. In wandering the beautiful old town, we then passed our old apartment's namesake, the Captain Cook Pub! So we both took quick shots of that and stamped on through the rain in search of our restaurant. Even the smallest passageways have street names, and we were clearly lost. Circling back around we noticed the night club looking place actually had two names on the sign and one of them was our goal, The Blue Lizard! Without reservations. Oops. But they were kind enough to fit us in, just cautioning that we only had one hour at the table before the couple who had actually reserved it showed up.
And what a meal it was. Richard had venison with a balsamic reduction that was melt in your mouth fabulous. There are pics up of that one. Lovely house wine, and a delicious creme brûlée to top it off. The only reason I don't weigh 50 pounds more is the non stop walking we did. It was a good 20 minute walk back to our hotel, this time in a straight line. We had walked 40 minutes circling in search of The Blue Lizard. So it all worked out!
Lausanne has a waterfront and the old city on the hill and a vast and boring industrial and residential area separates the two. So we skipped the water here and stuck to the old town.
The next day we rode into Geneva on the train. Just to say we've been there. Had a glass of wine and a sandwich in a neat little Gazebo on an island in the river. It was their final day before closing for the season, another one of those serendipity moments we love about traveling. We looked lamely for the local Apple store without success and then turned around and went back to Lausanne. Richard is a die hard Apple fan, so we have now been to Apple Stores in Paris, London, Zurich, and Milan. They really are all very similar:)
Back in Lucern we stopped for dinner and had a lovely walk through their old town, stopping in for dinner in a very quaint restaurant. So many of the cities are on rivers or lakes. Again, Switzerland is a country where water is important. Then back to Zurich for some clean clothes.
Switzerland; watches, banks, cows, chocolate, water, trains, church bells, gadgety knives, Vatican guards and alps.
by Lauren Byrne on Monday, November 26, 2012 at 3:48am ·
Those few words barely begin to express what is Switzerland. To understand this magical country you need to know a tiny bit of history.
From Wikipedia: "In 1291, the cantons of Uri, Schwyz, and Unterwalden united to defend the peace upon the death of Emperor Rudolf I of Habsburg. Their union, one nucleus of the Old Swiss Confederacy, is recorded in the Federal Charter, a document probably written after the fact in the early 14th century. At the battles of Morgarten in 1315 and Sempach 1386, the Swiss defeated the Habsburgs, gaining increased autonomy within the Holy Roman Empire.
By 1353, the three original cantons had been joined by the cantons of Glarus and Zug and the city states of Lucerne,Zürich, and Bern, forming the "Old Federation" of eight states that persisted during much of the 15th century." There are a couple dozen now in modern times, but the core was those three.
So the original Cantons were from France, Germany and Italy. They worked hard ever since to maintain their cultures and diversity and even today all signage is in not one or two but three or four (French, German, Italian and English or Romansch languages, as a fourth unique language called Romansch, derived from Latin is also spoken in a small area of Switzerland.
Train announcements are also repeated in multiple languages. Is it any wonder that most Swiss speak multiple languages? They have been exposed to them from birth on trains! This is a country that respects diversity. It was evident everywhere from shopkeepers to strangers on the street. Polite to the core, they do demand certain customary societal rules. Trains are ON TIME. There is silent zone on trains. Everyone runs to get to THIS train even if another one is coming in ten minutes. Time of course, is sacred here.
I did not see anyone without a watch on. We of course abandoned our watches to iPhones some time ago, so it was weird seeing all the watch wearing citizens. And watch STORES! On every street, and every corner, I have never seen so many different watch stores. All beautiful in their engineering and design. Almost made me want to repair and wear my old watches, or buy a lovely new one. Instead I bought:
CHEESE AND CHOCOLATE! Cows are darn near sacred here and are well cared for. Renowned for their quality milk, it is little wonder that the swiss make great cheese and then turned around and invented milk chocolate! Of course! They love their cows and milk. Callier is the oldest brand, although the kids these days call it "grandmother's chocolate", we decided to try this revered original milk chocolate. It's gorgeously velvety, lovely tasting chocolate. Their are kirsch "batons" and wine filled truffles and nutty chocolates. Nougat filled and caramel filled and curry flavored chocolates. The same wide range and flavors available here, and then some.
Hazelnuts are a particular favorite here and there are some great varieties. Thanks to Stefan Heinz and Suzanne Muller for introducing us to a couple of them while we were visiting them.
The cheese is incredible, we loved the Raclette, which we bought sliced, but is traditionally served in a two foot wheel, held over a torch and then you use pickles, bread and other yummies to scrape the melting cheese off of the wheel table side. What we thought was fondue last year in Paris was in reality Raclette! And we found that out reading wikipedia the night before our flight so I will HAVE to return to Europe to order Raclette! We did order Fondue, which was fabulous of course, and also Rosti, a traditional Swiss dish. It is the best hash browns I've ever had, served in a round patty about the size of a pancake and sometimes topped with more cheese. Our favorites were a gorgonzola and parmesan reggiano, but more about those two later.
I skipped banks, not much to say there, we did not open a swiss bank account, just to say we have one. They are plentiful and everywhere. They are also currently under fire for not disclosing their German citizen patrons to Germany for tax purposes. It may be the end of their private banking enterprise but we'll see. They kept out of the Euro and use a Swiss Franc, so the coinage is all different here, much like the UK. Most everyone else uses Euros. The best way to get local currency is from the Bankomat or ATM machines. They are plentiful in all of Europe by the way so don't worry about getting local currency. Most everyone uses Visa cards too. Our biggest issue is to use it up before you leave.
You must take trains, they are the best way to get everywhere in Switzerland and some of the most scenic rides of your life are up into the Alps. So we did that and took hundreds of pictures. Beautiful towns tucked into little valleys with snow capped mountains towering over them. I kept looking for Heidi but didn't see her. I did see a shepherd with some sheep once. Heidi today wears fabulous boots and coats, carries a lovely briefcase, wears a Hermes scarf and talks on an iPhone. She may be one of the engineers designing the hydropower that lights up Switzerland. Most of their power comes from water. Much of their water comes from glaciers. And they are melting. It's a serious concern for not just Switzerland, but all of Europe. Venice is building the "Moses" project to erect large sea gates to limit the annual winter flooding that is getting worse with global warming. We rerouted our trip and skipped Venice this year due to five feet of water in St. Marks square. And no one doubts that global warming is real. Europeans in general are heavily investing in alternative energy. We saw windmills galore last year, solar as well. Swiss has a mix of hydropower and nuclear and they are investing in more new technologies with the questions about hydropower 30 years from now if the glaciers are all gone. It will also affect their water supply of course, but of equal importance is that it is their energy source.
Last year we were exposed to the frugal energy footprint of Europeans. Auto dimming lights, small convection ovens, few microwaves, tiny sinks and low energy washers and dryers. This year, in a country filled with inclines and the miraculous machinery that gets people up and over hills (funiculars, trains, escalators, lifts, etc), we noticed almost all trains are electric powered as well as engine powered. And that the escalators sit still until the motion sensor picks up that someone needs a ride up! It was fabulously smart, why don't we do that? I truly feel we are energy hogs. And the world needs us to get that and take action now. Okay, enough soapbox and I just took a 12 hour plane ride, so I'm a hog too.
The swiss army knife. Nuff said. There must be over 40 different combinations and sizes. Two companies are authorized to use the name. From wikipedia: "Originating in Ibach, Switzerland, the Swiss Army knife was first produced in 1891 after the company Karl Elsener, which later became Victorinox, won the contract to produce the Swiss Army's Modell 1890 knife from the previous German manufacturer. In 1893 the Swiss cutlery company Paul Boéchat & Cie, which later became Wenger, received its first contract from the Swiss military to produce model 1890 knives; the two companies split the contract for provision of the knives from 1908 until Victorinox acquired Wenger in 2005". There were still both stores in the malls, Victorinox and Wenger but they are all the same now.
The Swiss Guards were known for their mercenary capabilities in the 15th century. At that time Switzerland was poor and many young men went abroad as mercenaries. So the pope used one of the Swiss Guard troops for security. Now they are the only Swiss Guards left. They look mostly ceremonial, but we saw one step into action quickly at the Vatican when someone tried to enter without permission at the drive in gate. The Swiss do have a military now, we saw several young men in uniform in train stations. They are still a neutral country and don't participate in armed conflicts, but provide peacekeeping support around the world like medical care, etc.
The Alps were just gorgeous. Visible from almost all of the places we visited, they are a durable landmark of Switzerland. St. Moritz and skiing, lovely train rides and all that they provide wouldn't be possible without one man with a vision. (Isn't that always the case?)
From Credit Suisse website:
"Alfred Escher (1819–1882) recognized that the only way for Switzerland to avoid economic and cultural isolation was to build an extensive railroad network complete with a route traversing the Alps. The monument in front of Zurich's main station bears witness to the successful completion of his life's work, which paved the way for modern-day Switzerland. (We saw this, it's a huge monument and an enormous train station)
Switzerland is truly the land of railways. On average, each inhabitant travelled 1,751 kilometers by rail in 2003. No other country comes near this figure. In neighboring France, the average is 1,203 kilometers, while in Austria it is 1,008, in Germany 842 and in Italy 811. Switzerland is also the land of tunnels and bridges: it has a total of 671 tunnels and over 6,000 bridges. The railway network extends to more than 5,000 kilometers. This means that Switzerland also has the densest network."
Alfred Escher was a geologist by the way....
Back to the way Switzerland was founded...that diversity means that you can feel like you're in France (Geneva and Lausanne speak french), or Germany (Zurich), or Italy (Lugano)! And still all be in Switzerland. Next up, the magic of Lugano.....
Paris
by Lauren Byrne on Thursday, November 17, 2011 at 4:57am ·
We have met the nicest people in France. We ended a dull day at the louvre having missed our last train back to our apartment and the nicest man helped us find and understand the taxi stands and make it home. The food is amazing but you walk it off and no one here appears to have a weight problem. We met a nice student from USC in the Starbucks who wrote out her two day Paris plan and we are following that with great enjoyment. What a gift to be here! Today is the Musee l'orange and a fantastic restaurant Megan recommended. Tomorrow we hope to connect with old friends
Vroom, vroom, skiddledee adle, beep-beep!
by Lauren Byrne on Sunday, November 27, 2011 at 12:30pm ·
We opted to drive across Europe, staying on the fly with the aid of priceline.com, bookings.com and hotels.com. Thank you Les Fafard for this awesome advice! This gave us tremendous flexibility and we got to do some amazing things, like zoom down to Venice at 6PM one Sunday night because Salzburg was mostly closed. The English version GPS in the car was rented in Paris, we took a flight from London down and back again at the end so we could do the left side steering. Plus they really don't like their UK cars going over the channel. With four travelers this also proved to be the best priced option despite high gasoil (petrol, aka gas) and some toll roads. Train tickets get pricey once you're more than two people.
Things I liked the best. Tough list to pare down, but here goes!
- Richard doing his car noises while driving on the autobahn at 180kph, pretending to speak Italian by saying every Italian word he knows, e.g. "Cincacento, Venetzia, area servicio, la bella luna, cappacinno, mocchiato and "It'sa ME, MARIO!" all in a string with much enthusiasm. Freaking hilarious:) Turns out Italian IS mostly phonetic with LOTS of animation, but still....
- The Paris breakfast....a baguette, smear of really great butter, and some soprasetta on top. Mmmmm. We bought some here and had it this morning in the states.
- Getting to know my daughters boyfriend at a level that is not possible without two solid weeks of travel together, some in shared hotel rooms. Steven Rigby is a great guy, truly adores my daughter and is funny as hell. "That's what SHE said...." after every possible wink-wink-nudge-nudge comment, became a joke for all of us on the entire trip. Plus he does a really good "Itsa ME Mario!" And "AREA SERVECIO"! More fun with Italian.
- Finding Evie and Hana in a little tiny town in Bavaria. Such sweet people! We had a home away from home, next time, I'll know to ask her to do my laundry while I'm there. Alter Wirt near the Neuschwanstein Castle and Ludwig's one finished castle, Linderhoff. www.alterwirteschenlohe.de Evie told us to go inside Linderhoff but only do the outside of Neuschwanstein because he only finished four rooms. There's also a waterpark nearby that we didn't make it to. The drive was gorgeous, beautiful lakes. We liked them so much, as well as the bedrooms, bathrooms and food, that we came back again 30 min out of our way coming north from Venice! They were so happy to see us again after a one day absence! Friends for life, we are already on FB with Hanalore:) And Evie wears CROCS from Denver!
- Venice, Venice, Venice. Just Venice. So amazing. We did tour the Murano glass factory, which for me was like seeing Van Gogh paint. Beautiful place, beautiful buildings, and it was so great to see the Church in San Marco Piazza. Continuous use from the 1500's no wonder the floor is a bit uneven. And it was a feast day, so there were crowds despite the cool weather and fog, which eventually lifted.
- Waking up in the random London (Kensington) hotel we booked, taking the train the next day and seeing someone with a bag marked "The Dr. Who Experience". Hmmm. We are huge Who fans, looked it up and the dang thing is WALKING distance from our hotel! Serendipity was everywhere but this was the biggest bang for us:) Daleks, getting a ride on the Tardis, etc. Yup, ultimate geeky. Bought Nicho a sonic screwdriver and everything!
- Indian food on Thanksgiving near Harrods. Best food ever at most of the restaurants, but this one was tops in my view. Wrong Indians, but we couldn't resist:)
- MIND THE GAP, dang those Brits are funny:) Riding trains everywhere was great fun, and I enjoyed the low energy commitment of all of Europe. Loved seeing the wind farms in France and the solar farms in Germany and taking public transport in both London and Paris.
- The random cafe in Salzburg that hushed up when we stepped in at 6pm. Literally. Everyone stared at us. We asked if they were open, and did they have beer and food? Yes, said the proprietor, so we were shown to a small table. Eventually the ALL MEN group started to cheer the footballers and drink their beers again while smoking non stop. So we loosened up as well. THEN......Corinne was admiring a fish tank and the proprietor (who spoke almost no English) came down on his knees next to her, prayed for forgiveness, and dropped down under the table! All the men in the bar began to laugh, we were smiling but perplexed, until TA DA! The light in the fish tank came on. Turns out the switch was between Corinne's legs:)
- Megan, the American in Paris sitting in the Louvre Starbucks missing home. We were enchanted, she was darling and put together the two day Paris trip which we followed almost to the letter. Seeing the L'Orange museum for the Monet Water Lilies was a memory for all time. Moved me to tears. And the view of the Eiffel Tower from the Sacre Coeur was worth the climb! Would have loved to have known about that dang furnicular before hiking it though:)
- The Louvre. Unbelievable, unimaginable beauty of the building as well as the art. After two days in Paris, I understood the arrogance of the French.
There's much, much more, but these are the first that come to mind.
Trip, Travel, Togs, and Toilet Tales
by Lauren Byrne on Thursday, December 1, 2011 at 6:12am ·
After 16 days, we got used to the seemingly infinite numbers of toilet configurations. Our first bathroom stop in Paris after landing at the airport there were NO buttons, hand wave sensors, or levers of any kind. Hmmm. After a full minute of scanning the completely tiled stall I noticed a two inch metal button on the FLOOR. That's right, a step on toilet flusher! Brilliant! I hollered over the stall to Corinne so she'd know too and she claims she wouldn't have ever found it on her own, it really was almost invisible.
You'd think that would mean Parisians are concerned about sanitation. After all a foot button is such an amazing way to keep the hands out of it, right? Except I began to notice no one seemed to wash hands after using bathrooms in Paris. It was rare to have anything other than electric hand dryers (Dyson's IS the best), no paper towel dispensers in any of Europe, and you MUST dry your hands or they'll remain wet for some long while in the high humidity. So we noticed, no sink water, no hand dryers going off.
The humidity also lent itself to beautiful skies. Those of you who see my wall know how many sky pictures I take, I love me some good clouds and colors:) Having lived most of my life in arid climates, this was an incredibly long period of time with clouds, mist, fogs, etc. My skin loved it. Next vacation there will be beach.
Walking, walking, everywhere! Loved the public transport Tube, Metro, Buses and Trains. Really fantastic and it's a reflection of my own personal energy commitment. We are such gluttons with energy. In most areas of Europe the switches were timed to go off if no one was in the room. Many of the lights are now LED. Public hallways, bathrooms, everywhere we went that wasn't packed with humanity, the lights were on timers. The cars were almost exclusively diesel fuel and were manual transmissions. Our rental was too. Although ours was probably much larger than many of the cars we saw.
Mashed peas. Really? In the UK they apparently always serve them with Fish & Chips. I never knew that and we only experienced one dish that actually tasted good, the rest were one step above baby food. Yuck. But I loved the Coleman's Mustard! No vinegar, just pure mustard. And HP sauce, and Sticky Toffee Pudding and the "Pies". Beautiful crusts, luscious gravies and stout ingredients. Lovely. Steven Rigby has mastered gravies and it truly was a joy to watch him corral the sauces of Europe and finish up exactly with the right amount of food vs. sauce. Masterful.
Catherine Board was right, you pack more than you will need. I "needed" three pairs of jeans, ten shirts (for layering), 8 socks and underoos, one pair of shoes and a wash half way through. I took a "shit-ton" more than that. Next time I'm packing black long yoga pants and calling those my "fancy pants" for dinners out, although we were not once refused service for our jeans I was clear we were under-dressed more than once.
Rick Steves travel advice is spot on for us. We loved it when we found the UK hotel he recommended was truly a budget find in a great neighborhood. (Down the block and walking distance from Buckingham Palace, I don't think you get "better neighborhood" than that). Plus that fantastic bakery with "sticky toffee cupcakes" was one block away and Victoria Train station just two.
Rick Steves also recommended taking some older clothing/socks, etc and throwing them out at the end to make room for your goodies. We took one suitcase each and they were carryon size and it all fit with one additional small duffel.
It felt good to be prepared. We went with travel laundry soap (not powder, but soap sheets that you can pop into a sink basin, and are usable in a machine as well), travel sewing kit (pulled out of it's box and popped into the travel first aid box to save space), copies of all credit card info on the "cloud", copy of passport, copy of eye glasses Rx and copy of all medication Rx in luggage "JUST IN CASE" and photos of same on our phones. And we only needed the laundry soap.
Use the GPS locator to find food. We had several "bests" as a result of randomly seeing and stopping, or using the GPS locator. We will return to Paris to visit Megan's "favorite restaurant", which we didn't get to on this trip.
Siri doesn't do France. Those of you expecting your iPhone to do it all, watch out. "I'm sorry Richard, I cannot find restaurants in France." "I'm sorry Lauren, I cannot find gas stations in France". Bah Humbug Siri.
When you do have wifi, use google translate to memorize some needed phrases in the language, it helps, even though most of the folks we met spoke English.
More on technology: Buy a good universal adapter and a "travel size" power strip. Do NOT get the SIM cards anywhere but UK for UK only. Those worked. We unlocked our iPhones for this and it only worked for the first few days in the UK. Every other country has a two day wait for DATA usage. Thanks France for not telling us that before we bought them. We ultimately called Verizon back and humbly asked for the business international plan for the remainder of the trip. (We have a business account so it was NOT the horrifyingly expensive trip it would have been if we had personal Verizon accounts). While there is WiFi available in many areas, there were fewer free spots and more pay spots and it never ran quite as fast as we are used to in the states.
Speaking of free vs. pay, always have change on hand. The public toilets or WC's (water closets) are all going to cost you in the range of .50 Euros or pence. And expect there to not be MANY public options in the UK. Stiff upper lip indeed. Long hikes down into tube and metro stations, no bathrooms down there folks.
Travel with people who are easily amused and are self-entertaining. This was the best gift of the trip, that we could find simple things hilarious. Thank you Siri, we did enjoy stumping you with the "how much wood could a wood chuck chuck...."
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