Summer 2010

Europe May 16- June 2

Destination Map

Destination Map
Where we are going

Itinerary

With Tyler
Venice
Barcelona
Avignon
Nice
Cannes
Monaco

With Ben
Milan
Lake Como
Florence
Cinque Terre
Zermatt
Interlaken
Zurich

Monday, May 31, 2010

Day 6 Zermatt

Day 6 Zermatt
We got in late the night before. We had left the warm Italian air that afternoon and didn't know it would be 47 degrees and raining when we got to Switzerland. Luckily there was an electric taxi at the exit of the train station ready to take us to our hotel. We checked in and unpacked a little before heading to bed.
We woke up to even more rain unfortunately. Luckily our hotel had a great breakfast so we could at least get some good food to start the day. The hotel employee recommended a shorted hike around the base of the town instead of paying the expensive train fares for a limited view. Ben and I decided to walk around the town of Zermatt since we were not ready to head up the mountain in the rain. As we walked into town we practically walked right into the Sunday marching band. Who knew they were so hard core- rain or shine they were playing in traditional Swiss attire. We continued window shopping and people watching as we meandered down the main drag. The rain seemed to let up a little so we headed back to our hotel to check out the panorama view from the terrace on the roof. Even with the clouds the view was lush and rich. Mountains and rolling green hills surrounded us and it was incredible. We then headed to a pub for lunch and had one of the best burgers! I was able to satisfy my guacamole obsession with the "Mexican Burger" :) After lunch Ben and I went to the Matterhorn Museum, which Ben decided he liked much better than the Uffizi. It was below ground and had a lot of interactive features that he found more entertaining than the art. The museum gave us plenty to explore before heading out on our hike. The rain had stopped and the Matterhorn was finally visible. The pictures in the museum were finally becoming a real view for us. We hiked upthe hill side to the first gondola. We were able to get some amazing pictures of the mountains and enjoy the incline and exercise of a hike. Ben felt so "legit" when we actually hiked up the snow. Today we were more appropriately dressed with at least pants and coat instead of our shorts and Chacos we were wearing the day before. Our day turned out to be a lot of fun despite the dreary start. We had plenty of laughs and even finished the day by making a new friend at the pub. Ben invited a lonely Italian to join our table. Through Ben on google translator, my understanding of the similarity between Spanish and Italian, and our new friends limited English, we managed to have a nice evening together. We begrudgingly packed our bags that night and set our alarms for our early train to Interlaken.

We really did enjoy Zermatt but decided May is not the best month. We found that a lot of the resort hotels and tourist sites are closed this month because it is between the snow months and the warmer summer months. We are glad we got to appreciate the beauty of the town and would love to return in the snow or heat to see it in full swing.

Sunday, May 30, 2010

Day 5: Cinque Terre

Day 5: Cinque Terre

This was a great morning because Emily finally let me sleep in past 8 oclock, in fact she woke me up at 9 which was a pleasant surprise. We got ready for the day by getting on our bathing suits and grabbing the towels. We stopped into a small cafe down the road from our hotel/appartment. I think this trip has introduced me to a great new diet: cappaciono, gelato, and bread. So after our morning cup of cappacino we went down into our town of Riomaggiore and went into the dive shop to try and rent kayaks, which had been something I was looking forward to doing this entire trip. We were werent allowed to kayak that day because of the current, supposedly. So we just deicded to go and find a great "chill" rock and lay in the sun. After about an hour of relaxation, I was strongly encouraged by Emily that I should get in, like she did the previous day. So after about 5 minutes of procrastination I finally submerged myself in the chilly, but refreshing water. We swam around and the water was so clear and the rocks on the bottom looked like they could have tons of unique fish swimming around them. I came up with the fantastic idea to go rent snorkels at the dive shop. We were sucessful this time so Emily and I snorkled for about 2 hours and it was absolutely amazing. We saw sea urcchins, lots of fish, and some coral. I kept trying to realize how cool of an experience this was to be snorkeling in Riomaggiore, Italy. That may be a once in a life time experience for me. This was for sure one of my favorite things Em and I had done together this trip. After we got out we returned the snorkels and tried to make the most of our last bit of time before our travel portion of the day to Zermatt. We found a placed to grab a bite to eat where I had one of the best meals of my life (Lobster linquini) and then headed back to our place to pack up our stuff and then left for the train station.

I think Emily could agree that it was a bittersweet moment to finally wrap up and end our time in Italy. I think Italy exceeded my expectations because of the beauty of the beaches and all the things Florence had to offer. Im going to definetly keep Italy on my list of countries to go back to.
When Em asked me how to sum up Italy the first word that came to mind was gelato, hoever she vetoed that answer. The real answer was cutlure. I loved getting to see how people live in so many different areas of the country.


Ben

Day 4 Cinque Terre

Day 4 Cinque Terre

We got up very early to board the train to Cinque Terre. There were a couple train changes, plenty of other loud Americans and plenty of time for Ben to sleep, what a surprise. We finally got to our town, Riomaggiore. Our host family warned us ahead of time that the walk up to the apartment they were renting us was very steep and we should call them when we arrived instead of going ourselves. Our sweet host, Maria Pia came and met us at the station. We prepared ourselves for quite the walk to the apartment and were pleasently relieved and surprised when she said we were there after only a small incline of about 60 yrds. Ben and I looked at each other asking, "This is it?" Our room hada quiant charm to it that was furthered by a balcony that overlooked the garden of our hosts and past a couple other residences to the Mediterranean Sea.


After hearing so much about the views and terrain of Cinque Terre, I was ready to hike the trails between all the towns. The month of May was very wet for them and we were lucky that only the last section (which was also touted as the hardest one) was closed. The challenger in me wished it was open so I could have hiked them all, but we settled for the first 4 sections and started off. The first section is a wide paved area that is completely flat and filled with school children and many groups of foreign tourists. The ocean view is beautiful but it was not the hike we had thought we were getting. After about 850m, it dumps you into the town of Manarola. There were people swimming in the marina area and enjoying the many restaurant options along the narrow pedestrian street and after a few pictures, though Ben may argue there were more than a few, we moved on. The second section was similar to the first though a set of stairs added a small difficulty. This put us in Corniglia. The third section began with 381 stairs. No, I didnt count but Ben saw a sign at the top and wanted to make sure he got full credit for his walking. Unfortunately for him, that was the relatively tame part of this section. The last section was supposed to take an hour and a half and looked almost entirely up hill. We had heard Vernazza was the most picturesque of the towns and we were hoping we would not be disappointed. The trails were full of peope and we frequently moved over for people going the opposite direction. It made for some quite interesting maneuvers since the stairs were gravel and very narrow. We kept a pretty quick pace. My competitive nature got the best of me, surprise, and I refused to let the senior citizens move any quicker than me. Ben and I ended up arriving 30 min ahead of the alotted time. This supported his claim that we had been almost jogging on the trail and just made me excited to get more time in the sun. After a quick reward snack of gelato and some water we headed to the marina where we could lay on the rocks and swim. Within a few minutes we had both fallen asleep. I woke up hot and ready for a refreshing swim. The Mediterranean Sea was slightly chilly but crystal clear and so awesome to swim in. Ben lounged on the rock despite my pleading to come in. After I got dried off, we got on the local train and headed to the last town, Monterosso. This was a short 5 minute ride, and in that time I ran into another Deloitte employee who is working in the same area that I will be starting in July. It was encouraging to see that you can still have fun even once you start working.

In the first four towns colorful buildings stretch above you with no rhyme or reason to their structure. The smattering of color looks like a kind of sherbert it is so bringht. Even with the tourists milling on the streets, the buildings and atmosphere has maintained an authentic feel. You can get a glimpse into the life of the locals as they talk to one another in markets, hang their laundry off the balcony, and fly their favorite "football" team flag on the window or roof. The cobblestone, boats, and rocks all worj together to reinforce the typical expectation you have for Italy. Monterosso had a very different feel than the other towns with its sandy beaches and more coastal town environment. There are umbrellas for rent instead of just large rocks to spread your towel on like the other towns. Of that we experienced, I think I really like Riomaggiore the best. There was a balance of energy and authenticity that I valued.

That night we went to dinner in Manarola at small traditional Italian spot. The towns and trails are so much quieter at night after the day tourists head back to the larger surrounding towns. You realize how many of them are just taking a day trip. The town felt more like a place we belonged because we were staying there. I appreciated the quieter pace and lifestyle of the people living in the towns even more in the evening. After delicious food we walked back to our town and stopped to enjoy the view of the sea. As the waves crashed on the rocks below we sat and got to enjoy each others company until we didn't feel so outrageously full and continued our walk back to the apartment. We repacked our backpacks that night and were able to make room for some of the items we had purchased in Florence. We laid out a bathing suit for the next day and headed to bed with our balcony open and the breeze blowing. Cinque Terre had fufilled all of my expectations and I couldnt wait to have another day. The almost rugged beauty of the whole coast was hard to absorb and left me wanting more time to enjoy it and explore.
Emily

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Day 3 Florence

Day 3 Florence
We got a jump start on our day by waking up at 7:30 in order to beat the crowd to climb the Duomo. I got a warm chocolate criossant on the way and Emily kept up her coffee addiction by having an Italian espresso. We got to the Duomo and there was not a sole in front of us. We were able to walk right in and begin our climb on what felt like a never ending staircase up the cathedral. We finished the first section and I was now faced with the detailed cieling on the inside of the cathedral. Compared to my expectation of solid white, the colors and all the angels shocked me. The next section led us right to the roof of the Duomo and we found ourselves in the open air overlooking the whole city. It was a great chance for me to use my brand new camera. This memory was something I will keep for the rest of my life.

We hussled back to the hostel to join the bike tour they were hosting for people staying here. Our guide's name was Stefano. He was a native Italian and was very entertaining. Our whole group was riding along the crazt busy streets and ringing their bells the whole time, as if we didnt stick out enough. This was pretty much a whirl wind tour of everywhere worth going in Florence. It was a nice break from all the walking we did the day before, which gave us time to emjoy Stefano's good sense of humor and learn about the some of the legends of Florence . We are staying in a great hostel that has a ton of amenitities and kids our age. This is different from como because there is alot people and easy to start conversations here. Getting the chance to see the market exposed me to some of the Florence cutlure and the traditional trade of the people here. The market surprised me in many ways. I hadn't ever seen so many purses and didn't realize how much leather sold. There were vendors after vendors and row after row of all kinds of leather goods. We went to the Uffizi. Em loved it. Enough said- not my style. We came back and I got in the pool, which was supposed heated. Not true. However, I did manage to fall asleep in the sauna after. Dinner, gelato, and called it a day. Exhausted and headed to Cinque Terre tomorrow.
Ben

Day 2 Florence

Day 2 Florence
Em and I took the fast train to Florence. This consisted of us laughing at the guy across from us whose neck was just about snapping in half as he dozed on the train and Em reading all the travel info for Florence. Speaking from her prior experience, she was focused on where the pick-pocketers were found. After we got there we tried to check into our hostel which was near the duomo. We found out that the booking we thought we had, nvere went through and we now didnt have a place to stay for the night. We asked for a recommendation and ran into another guy at the hostel in the same situation. The 3 of us practically ran through Florence while we dodged vespas, taxis, and buses. Emily and I made it there in one piece and booked our beds for our stay. We immediately headed to the Accademia for our reservation. This is where the Michaelangelo David is housed. I never in a million years could have imagined the marble sculpture would have been so big. It was really neat to learn about the story behind the pose Michaelangelo chose for David, focusing on making David so masculine. After that we headed back to the hostel to clean up and then explore the city for the night. Emily used her prior experience in the city and recommended that we head to a specific spot for the sunset. She said it was one of her favorite views in Europe and told me the walk would be worth it. For someone who enjoys sunset pictures like me, this was perfect. We could see the whole city, the river and the sun setting over it. She pointed out the duomo and other iconic symbold of the skyline and insisted on asking 4 different people to take our picture. The long walk and climb up the hill was definitely worth it. This spot became one of my new favorite view in Europe as well. We walked through the plaza where the Ufiizzi is located and found a hole in the wall restaurant on a side street. Regardless of how it appeared, the food was absolutely amazing! On our way home we stopped for gelato, of course. We lost all self control and got enormous helpings. Got back to the hostel and crashed so we would be ready for the next full day.
Ben

Day 1 Lake Como

Day 1/2- Lake Como and travel to Florence
Afer Ben and I met up in Milan we took the train to Como. From the town of Como we took a hour ferry ride up the lake to our stop, Varenna. The mountains cascading into the water with small traditional Italian towns spotting the coast was incredbile. And as if God was trying to show off, you could even see snow capped mountains in the distance. It is one of those sites you never really think exist until you see it. (We will post pictures as soon as we can get them loaded on to a computer). When we got to Varenna we headed towards our hotel which was about a half mile out of town on an incline. This made for an amazing view but also for one sweaty/greasy walk on the hot day with our backpack luggage as we hiked up the hill. Once we settled in we headed down to local restaurant for dinner and walked along the lake shore. Even after 2 courses we still had room for gelato. We sat and watched the sunset into the mountains with one of the largest helpings of ice cream I have ever seen. Ben splurged for a banana split and it came out in the shape of a massive dolphin complete with a cherry in its mouth. Because of jet lag and now food coma, Ben could barely keep his eyes open so we headed up to the hill again to our hotel. We were pleased to find that the walk was much easier without the packs or the blazing heat. Our hotel suggested we check out their panorama elevator. This was about a 6 story elevator (300 steps) that led to a smaller building up the mountain that had a few rooms and a huge balcony over looking the lake. We took a bunch of pictures and took in the view before heading to bed.

The next morning we got up early, enjoyed breakfast on the terrace, went back up the elevator to take in the view, and then headed to the train station to head to Florence.

Emily

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Venice

Ahhh Venice! One of my favorite cities in the world! There is something almost magical about the traditional Italian architecture, the canals and the people. I arrived at the Airport and took a watertaxi to the actual island of Venice. I met up with Tyler and Abby in St. Mark's Square which was packed with tourists. I was exhasuted bc I was not able to really sleep on the plane (shocking I know since i can sleep anywhere at the drop of a hat) bc the two older men who were on either side of me were trying to get drunk. They were traveling together and neither one wanted to sit in the middle so i was the lucky winner! We sat and had a coffee and then hopped on a "vaporetto"(basically a water bus) that took us to our hostel which was across the canal. Our hostel had a great view of St. mark's square across the way. It was quiet and gave us some breathing room from all the tourists on the main area. We went to the island of Murano in Venice which is where they have all the Venetian glass. We then wandered through a garden and found our way to an area further away from the tourist center and we able to enjoy some Italian food and wine. After dinner,we were determined to find a specific gelato place and went trekking through the city to locate it. It was fun to see all the ins and out of the city and the AMAZING organic gelato made it worth it. It was now about midnight and I was pretty much holding my eyes open so we headed back to the hostel.

The next day, Abby left and Tyler and I went back to St. Mark's square to shop around a bit before heading to the airport. We assumed there was only one airport in Vencie,but we were wrong and we were at the wrong one. We took a taxi to the other airport and were on our way to Barcelona!

Summer 2009: Argentina & Brazil