Oh, Switzerland, we shall meet again!

We didn't have enough time in bountiful Switzerland. We had two nights (well, really like one and a half- I'll explain later) and one full, quietly glorious day. Getting to Switzerland from Venice was a bit tricky. The rude train ticket guy apparently had no patience for us and just booked us on a train arriving in Interlaken at 11:30 p.m. We had been hoping for a night train since we had no reservations in Switzerland until the next night. We started to worry, but knew God would help us. At the worst, we would sleep in the train station again. Ughh... sleep is a generous term to describe how one passes the night in a train station.
     Anyway, we arrived in chilly, wet Interlakin to discover that of all the train stations in Europe, the one that's in a town blanketed in snow 3/4s of the year is an outdoor train network. Yeah! Passing the night under an awning in the rain sounded exhilarating! *note the sarcasm*. At that point even Aaron's resilient opptomism wasn't enough to keep us warm outdoors all night. We walked about 100 yards and came upon a Youth Hostel. It was modern, clean and actually not very "youthy". Our hopes began to rise as we walked to the reception desk. Then they plummeted as we were told there was no vacancy and the likelihood of finding any room in Interlaken was very small. But, God bless Aaron, with no chagrin he quickly asked if we could crash on the couches in the lobby. The young hotel clerk seemed a little incredulous and told us he would ask his manager, but he suspected we couldn't, because "then the couches would be full every night with people who didn't make reservations". We really appreciated that last bit ;). Well he asked his manager and a very sweet lady said we could sleep on the couches in the T.V room, because that would be quieter than the lobby and more private. She felt sheepish about offering us such meager accommodations, but we felt as if we were getting the President's suite! She ended up only charging us 10 Swiss Franks apiece, plus five for breakfast (which is a steal for food in Switzerland).
     That night ended up being a huge blessing in disguise, because we spent far less for the night than we would have elsewhere, we had a great meal, and we got an early start to Gimmelwald, our alpine village destination. After taking the train, the bus, then the funicular (a hanging cable car) we arrived at the sleepy, car-free, old-school village of Gimmelwald.
     We felt as if we were entering a postcard. Our little village was situated between the lush, green valley below us and the slopes reaching into the clouds. What blissful silence surrounded and welcomed our overstimulated minds. Here there were no museums, no lines, no must-see sights. Just the languid rhythm of daily life and hippy-hikers. Upon arriving to our hostel (the only one we stayed in) we found we were sleeping in the Lovers' Dorm. Yes, a dorm of bunk beds made for two all stacked sides-touching. That night we had to be villagent lest we accidentally snuggle up to someone else's "lover". We got quite the kick out of sleeping side-by-side with complete strangers- we only hoped that nobody would take the "lovers" name too literally.
     We hiked from Gimmewald further up the mountain to Murren. The walk itself was quite a sight for (literally) sore eyes. Even among the misty clouds, the welcome view of wildflowers and bell-laden cows clinging to steep hillsides made me feel like Hiedi. In Murren we bought a huge sausage dog (I think I now love sausage) from a woman and her blonde daughter. We found about a Folk Festival going on further up the mountain, so we traveled in the nearly- vertical train to check it out. What we found was a nearly tourist-free gathering of Swiss heritage. There was plenty of beer, delicious cheese toast, old men, and even a few Yodeling groups. We watched these groups perform their talented and surprisingly somber songs, as well as saw a few Alpine Horn players. What an experience to stumble upon!
   I now know all the hype about Switzerland is well waranted. I just can't imagine what it would be like with the sun out. It would probably explode your brain with too much beauty.

A Floating City! Thats crazy, or it is just Venice.

What a cool thing it is to get off of a train and know exactly which direction you should go.  That was our experience in Venice.  We went straight to the tourist information center.  I would recommend this to anyone travelling to a big city.  You get a map of the city and a description of the local transportation, bus or metro.  The man at this kiosk spoke very good English, and for the first time in weeks, someone joked around with is.  It is amazing how refreshing and nice that is.  We got our map and a three day pass for discounts and unlimited public transport.  We were set.
     We have gotten pretty used to metros and buses by now.  When you can't drive and have any sort of distance to travel, public transportation is the only way.  I guess there are taxis, but they are super expensive.  The funny thing about Venice is there are no trams or buses, in fact, no vehicles at all.  They have vaporettos, buses of the sea.  Everyone crams onto a boat that is way too crowded and then it splashes through the canals till the next stop.  The redeeming part of vaporettos that buses can't offer is fresh air.  I'm sure the water isn't clean, but the air coming off of it is cool and refreshing, especially compared to the air we are used to on buses and trams.
     We didn't actual stay in Venice.  We stayed on the heavenly island of Lido.  We didn't really know what to expect.  All we knew was it was close to Venice and boatloads of money cheaper.  Little did we know that there was a glorious beach just five minutes from our hotel.  Our first evening was spent floating in the warm, calm sea and watching the sunset.  A very pleasant change from the city of Florence that consisted of people, cement, and buildings.
     Only having two nights in a city is sort of a bummer.  That means you only get one day in the city.  There is a lot more to most cities then just one day's worth.  Venice has enough to see for at least two full days!
     The nice thing about Venice to us was that there were only two buildings we felt we needed to go into, St. Marks Cathedral and the Doges Palace.  The rest of our time we wanted to just get lost and admire the gondolas and the fact that the city is floating.
     We took the vaparetto into St. Marks square which is where the Doges palace is as well.  The lines were more than an hour long so we decided on getting lost first and then checking back in on the lines.
     The city is absolutely extraordinary!  There are no cars, just people and boats.  There are so many bridges and alleys that nobody knows exactly how many there are.  It is a big maze that every once in a while will have a sign back to St. Mark's.  We didn't stray to far from there in order to try and make it back in time to get back to the lines.
     We did stray far enough to have an amazing picnic with our feet dangling over the edge of a dock looking over a canal.  Watching the boats navigate around eachother was a little scary.  I imagine there are a few boats that have sunk due to collisions.  The water is so murky there is no way to know.
     We wandered our way back through shops and corridors that are only wide enough to walk through.  It was nice not worrying about a scooter running us over.  St. Marks still had a line,so we walked next door to the Doges palace.
     It was well worth our eight euros to get inside.  We found congress rooms with every inch of wall and ceiling covered with vibrant frescoes and woodwork that doesn't seem possible.  There were thrones and secret passageways, grand dining and ballrooms.
     While all of the dancing and fine dining was going on upstairs, there were prisoners rotting away in dungeons in the basement.  What a sharp contrast from paintings by Titian, Vernose and other famous Venetians to drawings scribbled and scratched on dirty cell walls.  The content was similar though: big-busted and big-haired ladies.  The dungeons portion also had a weapons exibit with items ranging from original armor to some of the first guns used.  It was pretty neat to see the battle aspect of life.
     Traveling throughout the third part of the palace led us to the royal apartments.  Seeing the bedrooms and dining rooms made me miss home, so many similarities to our accomodations in Elmira.  Just kidding.  They had beds with canopies and marble tables.  Paintings of themselves hanging out with the gods and even musical instruments with special rooms for musicians to be able to serenade them as they went about their tasks.
     It was weird to think all of those things could be under one roof.  Such a huge building and complex that was decorated to make other countries feel weak and powerless.  It was over the top and amazing.  But I have come to the conclusion that decorating ceilings is not the best.  It strains your neck and it makes you look silly when your jaw drops in amazement with your head tilted as far as it can go.
     We missed out on St. Mark's for the day and hoped our train schedule would work itself out to be able to catch it before we had to leave town.
     After getting no help from a rude man at the train station, we ended up with tickets on a train we didn't want.  It was so frustrating , because the man spoke English but wouldn't even let me finish my question about other options before yelling through the microphone, "no tickets!"  We went to talk to information after realizing this guy had set us up to arrive in a Swiss city at 11pm where we had nowhere to stay.  We had planned on taking a night train which would give us another day to get to St. Mark's and a place to stay for the night.  We now had three hours and no idea what we were going to do for lodging.
     We decided to just head towards St. Mark's and prayed for no lines.  We had favor again when it came to the line. For all of the museums and such that we have visited, we have only had to wait more then twenty minutes one time.  Pretty fortunate in that regard.  Right when we got to the front of the line, Kayla said, "look at how tall that guy is."  I looked and saw a floppy haired man in a Stanford shirt.  Then I saw another Man matching in height and hair floppiness.  I knew them! They were the Lopez brothers who play in the NBA.
     I debated leaving the line to get a photo with them, but we were getting ushered in at the same time they turned the corner.  We were headed into St. Mark's.  A little history lesson.  Venice wanted to rival the Vatican when it came to being the church of the country, and they went all out to match if not exceed in splender.  I have been before, but I was just a Freshman in college and was in a very me-centric stage of my life.  I couldn't grasp what I was looking at.  I still couldn't grasp the splendor of it all.  There was gold everywhere.  It was not necessarily shiny gold due to age, but it was magnificent.  There also was a lot more mosaics and illustrations of Biblical stories rather then the history of the Catholic church.  It was incredible.  The slight bummer was that to get to certain portions of the church to see things you have to pay a few Euros.  I almost never do that, because there is already enough to look at, and I never feel right about paying to go to church.
     We raised our jaws back into the upright position and exited the church thrilled to have gotten to see the two monuments we really wanted to see.  We still had a few hours, so we decided to get lost in the city some more.
     A little while later I spotted the Sideshow Bob hair of the Lopez twins.  They stick out due to the fact they are both over seven feet tall.  I got over my nerves of talking to someone famous and asked for a picture. Brooke, the brother  who just signed a four year, forty-eight million dollar contract looked down at me and said, "Naww man."  I was shocked, but undetered.  I followed them long enough for Kayla to get my picture behind them.  It surprised me a little when they denied my photo-op, and I wonder if they thought I just wanted their picture because they are tall enough to be in a circus.  Do tall people get asked for pictures a lot?  Do pro-athletes not have to appreciate fans in their off season when they are oversees?  I plan on writing them and asking these questions and hope to get a prompt response.
     It was time to return to the station to get on a train trip we didn't know anything about.  I could have used another day there!  Next trip I guess.

Historic Figures, check. Amazing Art, check. Loads of tourists, check. Florence, check.

Florence, or Firenze, as its called in Italy (speaking of, why are names of countries different in different languages? For easiness' sake, the names should be the same in every language... in my humble opinion.), is overflowing with eye-candy. Actually, the city itself is not so beautiful, not ugly by any means, but not spectacularly good-looking. The real glitz of Florence is inside the churches and museums. Though I should mention the outside of the Duomo is, without a doubt, outrageously sumptuous. It's covered in white, green and pink marble and draped in statuary, so much so that its hard to even see what the statues are. The babtistry right next door is clad in the same decor as the Duomo, only it also has some very famous gilded doors. These are the babtistry doors made by Ghiberti. These golden iron doors, depicting carved Biblical scenes, were christened the "gates of paradise" by Michaelangelo, and they really do live up to their nickname!
   Speaking of Michelangelo, we feel a little as though we know him personally. I mean, we've seen oodles of his work, even his unfinished work, we've met his artist friends, been to one his fave restaurants, gone to his house, and visited his grave. So will all due respect to the man, I think I can call him Mike now. So, of all Mike's sculptural work, my favorites are probably his lesser known Day and Night and Dawn and Dusk. They are housed in the Medici Chapel which was conveniently located right across the street from us. Which also made it so that we got there early, and got to see these phenomenal statues (as well as the Medici crypt- which was really cool) relatively alone. No wait in line, no crowds, just us and Mike's sculpteral masterpieces.
   Also really amazing, was the Uffizi Gallery. Honestly, my face hurt afterword. There were just far too many jaw dropping moments and eye-dazzeling pieces. By far, the best, most beautiful work, was that by Botticceli. Again, his was art that I studied in college, not only for its visual appeal, but its cultural impact. In fact, as much as I love religious art, after seeing hundreds of Marys and Bimbi and Crucified Christs, it was a welcome break to see a different theme. I'm fairly certain Boticceli's contemporaries silently felt the same way. Let me just say, standing in front of his Birth of Venus and La Primavera, I was incredibly enraptured. For those precious minutes in front of his work, I felt as though the crowds were not even there, sweaty and jockeying for a better view.
   Florence itself was a nice city, no racing mopeds or dodgy taxis, but swollen with camera-toting spectators. But, this was what we expected. We had the priveledge, and also the inconveniance, of staying right in the center of town. It was great for getting around, but not so great given the hordes of college partiers that passed below our apartment all night long. Oh well, again, this was what we expected and just part of travel. However, the entire time we were in Florence, we felt a palpable gloom hovering, like a shadow on our periphery. We realized, for the first time on our trip, we were homesick. Not to say we were ready to pack up and head home, but its remarkable that all the worlds most precious and rare sights cannot replace the most precious things of all: family, friends, community...trees. Sadly, with all the beauty Florence held, it was a city of cobblestones, statues and old buildings, devoid of trees and green spaces. I really did miss those glimpses of God's works of art amidst all the handiwork of men.
   To wrap up (sorry I get so long winded), Florence held many delights, and I'm happy we went, but it wasn't so hard to say goodbye.