Tour de Italia

Wednesday, March 11th

Today we were on the road before 6:00am, it seems like a common theme is for us to get early starts on travel days. We got on the highway and headed south.

Destination: Pisa

In Pisa we drove around in search of the Leaning Tower, it really shouldn’t be that difficult to find – but it was. The signs were completely useless, traffic was heavy, and buildings were just tall enough to obscure our goal. 45 minutes later we found ourselves directly across the city wall from the Leaning Tower with a convenient parking space. We walked into the city wall and over to the tower, got tickets for entrance 10 minutes later and climbed up into the tower. It is very weird to climb a spiral staircase around a building that is not straight. We knew that we were standing straight but nothing around us reflected that. It was a bigger challenge then we thought it would be. Once you finish climbing around the outside of the tower there are spiral staircases (narrow!) to take you to the top. It’s weird to be standing on the top of an unlevel building with just 36” high railings around the edge. The view from the top was very nice.

The Leaning Tower
Pisa, Italy


The Leaning Jenny
Pisa, Italy

Pisa, Italy

Next Destination: Florence

We continued our drive towards Florence where we had a date with "The David" at 1:00pm. Now The David is located in a museum built basically for the purpose of holding it. Parking was difficult to find, the city was dirty and there were crowds everywhere. We arrived at the museum and had a little bit of a hassle entering, even though we had reserved tickets ahead of time. When we finally got into the gallery pictures were not allowed and people were everywhere. It was super, super crowded. David was there in all his glory. We’re glad that we went, but we wouldn’t go to Florence again.

Tuscan Countryside
Italy

Tuscan Countryside
Italy

Final Destination: Roma!

We arrived at about 5:00pm to the hotel that we had booked on the Mediterranean Sea. Needless to say it wasn’t what had been pictured on the web. The neighborhood was not the best and the rooms were far from the 3 star rating they had claimed, even for a hotel in another country. We decided that hotel was a mistake and set Kim (Jenny’s sister) on the mission of finding us another place to stay. She came up with a beautiful hotel in the center of Rome, very close to everything (good find!). We moved in, and headed to the airport to return Clio, our car.

To Ski or not to Ski, Part Two

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

We slept in this morning, after getting in late the night before. Our goal for the day was to find a closer ski resort than Zermatt, so that Mark could go skiing in the Alps. We realized that our GPS has Ski resorts listed in its attraction category, so we found one that looked to be in a good location about an hour away.

Once again, we crossed into Switzerland and threaded our way up a steep switchback hill to the “resort.” On our way up the hill we ran into a slight road block – about 6-8 goats parked in the middle of the road in no hurry what so ever to move things along. When we got there, there was a single gondola lift, no snow, and not much action. Needless to say, it was another disappointing trip into Switzerland. We headed back down the hill in search of lunch and a grocery store to pick up some staples for the rest of our trip. Lunch was at a small restaurant in Lugano, Switzerland.

Some of the Goats near
Lugano, Switzerland



A typical Northern Italian/Swiss Road
Lugano, Switzerland



Ribbit all night?
Lugano, Switzerland

After lunch we found a local grocery store and decided to stop there but before we went in we wanted to see if we could find wireless internet access. Sure enough we found an access point and surfed for awhile. After about 2 hours of catching up on internet surfing, checking email and blogging we realized that we needed to move along with our day. We headed back to Bellagio so that we could get the apartment packed up and ready since we will have an early start Wednesday morning.

Bellagio, Italy


Bellagio, Italy

Schloss Hunting

Monday, March 9, 2009

Today we decided to do a reprise of Thursday’s attempted “Schloss Hunting” trip to Bavaria in Germany. This time we took the super highway entirely out of our way to guarantee we would not be sidetracked by Alpine passes in Switzerland. Instead we headed into Austria.

On our way we stopped for lunch at a “gasthaus” (Guest House) on the side of the road. We were greeted by a guy, Paul, who we were to find out later, was the owner, host, menu, waiter, bartender, barista, cook, busboy, cashier and entertainer. Mind you this was only for the restaurant; he offers many other services as well. He recited the menu consisting of four items, ham & cheese, goulash, a sausage platter and fresh trout. We chose the sausage platter which came out with fresh bread, fresh grated horseradish, spicy brown mustard and a pickle. As we were happily munching away he goes out into the hallway and returns with an accordion. For the next 15-20 minutes he serenaded us along with the other two parties present with authentic Austrian music. When he was done the dessert chef (same guy – of course) presented us with apple strudel ala mode. It was only at this point that Jenny noticed he was wearing lederhosen. That was one of the best and most memorable lunches we’ve ever had.

We proceeded along to our destination, Schloss Neuschwanstein in Schwangau, Germany. Neuschwanstein means New Swan Stone; swans were featured throughout the house. This is the place that Disney’s Cinderella Castle is based on. King Ludwig II of Bavaria commissioned to have this castle built in the late 1800’s. He never saw the completion of this castle and indeed it was never fully completed. There is a mystery that surrounds his early death. The castle features central heating, indoor plumbing and its own “cave” next to his living quarters. King Ludwig II was reported to have mental problems; after seeing the castle, it is our estimation that nobody in his right mind would build something like that in the late 1800’s.

Schloss Neuschwanstein
Schwangau, Germany


Schloss Neuschwanstein
Schwangau, Germany


Schloss Neuschwanstein
Schwangau, Germany


Schloss Neuschwanstein
Schwangau, Germany

From Schwangau, we took the shortest route home, which happened to be through Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Lichtenstein, and Italy. We got in late, but now we can definitively say that we’ve been to Lichtenstein, one of the smallest countries in the world.

Milano & Bellagio

Sunday, March 8, 2009

Sunday was a BEAUTIFUL day! Jenny woke up early and took pictures of the apartment and the surrounding town of Bellagio.

Our Apartment Building
Bellagio, Italy

Bellagio, Italy



Our Renault Clio
Rental Car

We went into Milan mid-morning to see the Last Supper by Leonardo Da Vinci. It is housed in the Santa Maria delle Grazie church within double purified air chambers. The painting was much more spectacular in person then photographs. Although, the door in the middle kind of ruins it (you were right Aunt Joyce). After our 1:00pm scheduled visiting time was up we were promptly escorted into the gift shop.

From there we headed towards The Duomo which is one of the largest Gothic churches in the world, built in the 14th century. Its size is truly remarkable and awe inspiring both inside and out. After our experience at Saint Mark’s we decided not to go into the Treasury.

The Duomo
Milan, Italy

Inside the Duomo
Milan, Italy

We headed back to Bellagio to explore the town. There were many small shops on quaint narrow roads built into the hill side. To our surprise the sleepy little town of Bellagio comes to life on Sunday afternoons, parking was at quite the premium. We followed a stream of people down to the end of the peninsula that Bellagio was built on (Lake Como looks like a wishbone) and were greeted with beautiful views of the Alps in the setting sun.

Bellagio, Italy



Town Streets of
Bellagio, Italy



Overlooking Lake Como and
Varenna, Italy



The Italian and Swiss Alps
Bellagio, Italy



Jenny & Mark
Bellagio, Italy

To Ski or not to Ski

Saturday, March 7, 2009

Being the gluttons for punishment that we are we decided to head towards Switzerland (again). This time to Zermatt in the western part, so Mark could go skiing. We tried a different mountain pass this time, which claimed to be open and smooth sailing for cars. ¾ of the way up everyone suddenly stopped. We were only 30 km away from our destination and that was the only pass in the area so we sat there for several hours. Eventually coming the other direction was this van with a bashed in front, bashed in back and the bumper sticking out the rear window. A little after that plow trucks come through and we slowly proceed up the hill to see a wrecked BMW on the side of the road, and the road was fairly slippery. We made it safely to the other side of the pass where people coming the other direction had been waiting. They started clapping when they saw us. Now in this part of Switzerland the snow is so high that they can’t plow it to the side of the road very easily. So they plow it the best they can then they have HUGE snow blowers that then throw the snow up and over the snow banks. Some of the snow piles were higher than semis. And we thought New York got a lot of snow!

Simplon Pass, Switzerland

We drove to Visp, where we were going to catch the train to Zermatt, where we found out it would cost us $80.00 to take the train in and back, not including parking. We thought that was slightly exorbitant. So we decided to continue driving to the furthest point we could which was Tasch. (Zermatt is a car free city) Needless to say the round trip was a lot better there at about $20.00. (Definitely the place to be) We took this train that had huge picture windows and a partial glass roof through the mountains and into Zermatt. We came out into this quaint little village nestled in the shadow of the Matterhorn. With the delay getting over the pass it would have been after 2 by the time Mark could have gotten out on the slopes, so he decided the better part of valor was to hang out with Jenny and explore the town. We walked as far as we could towards the Matterhorn and took as many pictures as we could on a beautiful blue skied day. We then trekked back into town all the while being passed by skiers, skiing down the streets and found some Swiss chocolates and other assorted treasures.

The Matterhorn
Zermatt, Switzerland



The Matterhorn
Zermatt, Switzerland



Zermatt, Switzerland


Zermatt, Switzerland


Jenny n' Mark
Zermatt, Switzerland

Venice

Friday, March 6, 2009

Our goal for today was not to go into Switzerland, so we went to Venice instead! (I believe we did take the Switzerland book just in case) It was rainy in the morning, but by mid afternoon it had cleared up into a beautiful cloudless day. We got over to Mestre (just west of Venice) and were looking for the train station, to take the train to Venice. But somehow we managed to miss the train station. So after a while of driving around the town looking for the train station we sucked it up and drove over the causeway and parked in one of the parking garages near the start of the Grand Canal.

First View
Venice, Italy

Our first order of business was finding a suitable lunch location. We decided on a place right on the Grand Canal, near to the Rialto. The day was warm about 55 or 60 degrees so we ate outside next to the Grand Canal. It was beautiful! After lunch we did some shopping on the Rialto – we hit a small leather goods shop recommended to us (Thanks Tim!!) and then headed to St. Mark’s Square. There were just about as many people there as pigeons which was a lot. The basilica was very pretty although the floor was rather uneven. I guess one of the benefits of mosaic tile floors is that they will shift and move without breaking fully, which benefits them well. So St. Mark’s also has this treasury, where you pay a few Euros to see the “treasures” of the church. (They should come up with a new name I think) Among the “highlights” were bones of various saints, mummified hands and other various body parts. (Thank goodness things weren’t labeled I can only imagine the stuff that we saw – YUCK) Granted there were some beautiful pieces made out of gold with precious stones and what not. But we are convinced its called the treasury because they get suckers like us to pay money to see this stuff.

View from the Rialto
Venice, Italy



Jenny by the Rialto
Venice, Italy



Saint Mark's Square
Venice, Italy



Cool Church across from Saint Mark's
Venice, Italy

Next we headed to the Doges’ Palace (this did count as a Schloss find for Mark) next door to St. Mark’s Basilica. The Doges’ Palace was the official residence for the Venetian rulers. The rooms were absolutely gorgeous. There is one room in there that was large enough to play a pickup game of football and lavishly decorated and ornamented. Back outside we did some more shopping and a lot of walking. We took our time and weaved through the little tiny streets to see what we could find. We had dinner on the Grand Canal, which was all lit up with boats and gondolas passing by. After an exciting day in Venice we headed for home.

Side Canal
Venice, Italy

Side Street
Venice, Italy

Sometimes Switzerland Sucks

Thursday, March 5, 2009

So you know all that rain we talked about yesterday? (If not see previous entry – then continue reading) Well it would stand to reason that the higher in elevation you get, the colder it gets and such rain will turn to snow!! Today we were planning on heading up into Austria and Bavaria, Germany. On our way towards that goal we ran into – you’ve got it – SWITZERLAND! To get to our destination we would have to cross a mountain pass in the Alps, which happened to be snowed in. There was a good several inches on the road, needless to say our little car, Clio, doesn’t play well in the snow. Since we didn’t have chains (which are quite normal in these parts) we decided to turn around, before we got in deeper then we could handle. We took the next logical detour and 6 hours later we were still nowhere near our desired destination. Throughout our tour of Northern Italy and Southern Switzerland we saw a lot of vineyards that have been terraced in to the side of the mountains. We were getting kind of bored with our travels and constant driving – while seeming as though we were getting nowhere, so we invented a game “Find the Schloss” (castle). Northern Italy is literally littered with “Schlosses” so it’s a pretty fun game. The rules haven’t been fully figured out yet – but we’re working on it. Secondary roads in Italy are not very fast or very straight or the way to go if you want to get anywhere in a reasonable amount of time. We decided to take the highway back, which really didn’t run where we wanted to go but even with considerable detouring took less than half the time to get back to Bellagio.

Buildings Overlooking
Lake Como, Italy



Look at all the snow!
Somewhere in Switzerland



A little Village
Somewhere in Switzerland



Cool Rock Outcropping
Somewhere in Switzerland



One of MANY Tunnels
Italy

Going to Italy

Note: Internet access has been hard to come by lately, so we've queued up some posts from the past week...

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

We were packed up and mobile from our apartment by 4:00am. We hopped on the U-Bahn then transferred to a bus we arrived at the airport by 5:00am. The public transportation system in Berlin is something special. There are ticket kiosks in the transportation and separate validation terminals. The entire system runs on the honor system. There are periodic checks to verify that each rider is in possession of a valid ticket. Those that do not have a valid ticket in hand will be heavily fined. So basically anyone can just walk up and take a bus or a subway. Its really quite different from other subway systems that we have experienced previously.

Once at the airport, we were flying easy jet (think Southwest for Europe). Cost $60.00 for two people to fly from Berlin to Milan. There boarding procedure was very interesting first come first serve, just like Southwest. Divided up into sections, but then everyone got onto a bus – to bus out to the plane and it was a free for all. We were in boarding group A and ended up getting stuck behind people that were in boarding group C for actually getting on the plane. It seems strange to go through all the hassle of dividing everything up just to have everyone make a mad dash for the plane in the end.

When we arrived in Milan we picked up our car, a Renault Clio (think bigger then a smartcar but smaller then a beetle). It was Mark’s first full day of driving a manual transmission vehicle (talk about an adventure!!!!), it was quite the experience. All in one day we had traffic jams, mountain roads with switchbacks, narrow village roads, all in the rain – at least it wasn’t snow (that was Thursday!). After a quick detour to Switzerland (yeah that was quite the conversation in the car – it went like this –

Mark “wait are we leaving the country?”

Jen “I don’t know.”

Mark “Well it looks like it.”

Jen “Wait Switzerland is this close?”

Jen “ I thought we were suppose to be in Italy!!!”

And let me tell you – the border people were less than helpful. They didn’t speak English so I have no idea what all happened there.) We finally took a road that was about that was about 1000 miles long and it took about 10 hours (ok so it felt like that). It was about the size for a beetle to fit through (and not the VW beetle). We finally made it to our destination, Bellagio on Lake Como in the Italian Alps.

We checked into our apartment, a beautiful new villa overlooking miles and miles of fog and rain. We spent the rest of our rainy Wednesday settling in, doing laundry, visiting the local grocery store and planning Thursday’s activities. Asiago and parmesan toasted cheese sandwiches coupled with minestrone soup was on the menu for dinner.

Today was an adventure all of its own

After a quaint breakfast at the apartment we headed to the local car rental shop, picked up an Audi A6 (they were out of the BMW 5 Series, much to Mark's initial chagrin), and headed out to the country side to see what we could find. Last night Chrissy suggested that we visit Wernigerode or Quedlinburg. We decided to start with Wernigerode and see where it took us from there. Along the way we ran across many wind turbines, which are starting to become more popular back home (Germany is the only country with more turbines than the US). Driving on the Autobahn was a lot of fun. Mark enjoyed seeing how fast he could get the A6 to go, It was topped off somewhere around 210 kph (130mph).

"Our" A6
Weringerode, Germany



Wind Turbines
German Countryside

Our first order of business when we arrived in Wernigerode was to find some lunch, we went to the local grocery store and picked up some lunch meat, fresh bread from the bakery and washed that down with chocolate éclairs. From there it was on to exploring the town. What an adorable little town!!! There is a “fairy tale” like castle (so the tour book says) up on a hill overlooking the valley where the town is. We managed to drive up the hill and then drove back down realizing that we probably weren’t supposed to be there in the first place. To our surprise at the bottom of the hill was an Aldi! We even took pictures – for your enjoyment (Beth)!

Schloss Wernigerode
Wernigerode, Germany



Aldi
Wernigerode, Germany

We found the central part of town and started to wander through it. It was so neat with all the little shops and cute little stores. Down one of the streets we seemed to be following the little UPS van as he made his stops for the day. The town square was bustling with an open air market filled with fresh fruits, veggies and baked goods. It kind of felt like we walked into a Disney movie; I almost expected to see some sort of fairy tale princess come strolling and singing across the square. It was really neat though. After a few hours of exploring the city we decided to head back to Berlin.

Town Square
Wernigerode, Germany

We have an extremely early flight to Italy in the morning, so we are packing up tonight and heading to bed early so we can be up and mobile around 4 am.

What a great Monday!!!

We missed breakfast this morning, but we grabbed some baked goods from a bakery that’s around the corner from our apartment. Our first stop of the day was the Bendlerblock. This was the location of the German State Naval Offices. It has since been turned into a museum. The 2nd floor is dedicated to sharing the stories of a few of the holocaust victims. The 3rd floor told the story behind the 1944 assassination attempt on Hitler, along with additional stories of a few of the holocaust victims. This was a very interesting museum.

Where Claus Von Stauffenberg (Tom Cruise)
was killed in Operation Valkyrie
Blendlerblock, Berlin, Germany

Our second stop of the day was at the Pergamon Museum which is part of Museum Island in central Berlin. This museum houses some amazing artifacts from Ancient Rome, Greece and Islamic Art. One of the most popular attractions is the Ishtar Gate from Babylon which is dated from 6th Century BC. It is quite impressive in size and color, being a great dark blue in color. There was also a Market Gate from Miletus which is dated 120 AD, this gate is around 52 feet tall!! It was unbelievable.

Ishtar Gate
Pergamon Museum
Berlin, Germany



Market Gate of Miletus
Pergamon Museum
Berlin, Germany



Pergamon Altar (197-156 BC)
Pergamon Museum
Berlin, Germany



My Dad, in his younger years
Pergamon Museum
Berlin, Germany

We met up with Chrissy in the evening and checked out some of the other sites in Berlin. We saw some larger sections of the Berlin wall. We actually saw the first hole that was put through the wall in 1989. It was really cool. Then we walked over to the Jewish Memorial, just a few blocks away. This is a huge uneven piece of land that is filled with cement blocks that are all different heights. It’s really impressive. We did dinner at a little Italian restaurant that is a favorite of Chrissy and her friends, named Fliegender Tisch which translates into “the flying table”. The food was delicious.

Berlin Wall, Berlin, Germany

Tomorrow we are renting a car and heading out into the German country side to see what we can find.

It was another great day in Germany!