Best Of Tuscany Tour April 12, 2010
Posted by tiffany in : Florence, Italy , add a commentThe tour started at 8:30 this morning when we boarded the bus and headed to Siena. A native of Siena, our guide, took us through the city; giving us insight into how the inhabitants live both now and in the past. It was very interesting! The city is divided into 17 neighborhoods that compete against each other twice a year in a horse race in the main square (Campo). The only rule is that a rider cannot mess with an opponent’s reigns, so there is a lot of foul play among the different neighborhoods. The winning neighborhood celebrates by drinking, obviously, and putting pacifiers in their mouths to symbolize that a new champion is born (and to put shame in the loosers).
The next stop was a Chianti wine farm that is situated on top of a tall hill in the country. The view was amazing! Rows and rows of Olive trees, Grape vines, and Saffron covered the valley. Also, we could see our next stop, San Gimignano, from there. At the farm we ate lunch of traditional pasta
Ragu, salad, sheep cheese, and bread with Olive oil. About 95% of what we ate came from the farm we were on. We even met the Chianina cows!
So then we got back on the bus and headed for stop number three. San Gimignano is also situated on a hill top and is famous for it’s towers and it is also home of “the best Gelato”. There were once around 70 towers, but now ther
e are a lot less. It was a strange sight to see since the towers look like modern-day sky scrapers. San Gimignano is very small, so it was easy to navigate (20 minutes or less from one side to the other) and the city still has it’s old city walls in tact so it’s not easy to accidentally leave the city. We got there and immediately went to the Gelato shop. There were strange flavors (such as Saffron with cinnamon), interesting flavors , and tasty sounding flavors all ready to be eaten. We tried the Passion Fruit, Mango, and Strawberry.
The next stop was Pisa. We were a wee bit peckish by then, so we grabbed Mc.Donald’s and had a little picnic in front of the Duomo (Nothing says 
Americans in Italy better than a McRoyal at a large tourist destination). The guide said that the marble facade of the buildings came from many different places and we saw that because random bricks that had Celtic knots or Latin written on them, and the pieces were all different colors.
P.S. Our “cat rental” came in through the window yesterday after about two hours of meowing it’s head off on the neighbor’s roof. It was shocking and hilarious.
First Day In Florence April 10, 2010
Posted by tiffany in : Florence , add a commentSo today was basically a in transit day for us. We took a train from Venice to Florence and then walked for a long time because we got lost trying to find our hostel. Another new lesson we learned is Google maps does not tell you that there are
two different street numbers; black and red. In fact it directed us to two completely different places; neither were our hostel.
After we got there and were checked in, the hostel owner sat down with us and wrote all over a map showing us where we should go and what is great to see(there is a lot). It was like getting a grand tour of the city on a map!After, we were very exhausted and headed to the room to relax and do some research on the places we’d like to go in Italy (we are now booked at a $34 a night hotel in Napoli for next stop).
After dinner we headed to the Piazza de Repubb
lica (where my mom and I stayed before) to see the Charlie Chaplain street act. We got there extra early, and got some Gelato, found a good spot, and watched the illegal purse sellers and the cops play the cat and mouse game.
He has been preforming for 26 years in the same street right outside of the Piazza, every night around 9:45, 7 days a week. His show is very comical and we had a great time watching him play with the crowd. Unfortunately this was a bad night for him; the crowd was uncooperative and seemed to have hardly any sense of humor. It was still funny and we talked to him after ward and he apologized because everyone left in the middle of the show, including the people who were participating in the show itself. We’ll try again later this week.
Fantastic Day In Venice April 9, 2010
Posted by tiffany in : Venice , add a commentWe purchased the 12 hour mobile pass today and it turned out quite well. The pass covers all forms of public transportation(so regular buses too!). We took the water bus to the Murano and Lido islands. The water bus was also useful as a cheap boat ride after sun set. It was very nice and a lot cheaper than a water taxi.
It was exciting, we got to see how they make Murano glass. All of the glass is blown on this island only because of the risk of fire, so there are quite a few factories to visit. There is a lot of shopping on the island too, and it is a good idea to shop there if you are in the market for a large piece of murano glass for a reasonable price. We looked in the shops and saw many items that showed off their maker’s talent.
Lido Island allows road vehicles, unlike Venice or Murano. We decided to walk to the free beach on the opposite side of the island (
we forgot our bathing suites in the hotel). We walked up the beach and looked at the shells (very high shell to sand ratio) for a good hour or two before using a short cut back to the road. When we got the road, we realized that we were walking on a military base (pretty vacant one at that).
Later, we watched the bag sellers scatter and set up shop with the passing of the police (buying a counterfeit product is a felony/up to 10,000 euro fine in Italy, so I only imagine what the punishment is for selling them). 
We did some shopping today (mostly looking around), played with the masks, and bought ourselves a mask each. Haggling is the way to go when shopping around Venice; we got one down to 15 and settled.
Welcome to Venice! April 8, 2010
Posted by Chris in : Venice , add a commentVenice is so not an island but a town built on a sandbar. It is quite nice though, today we walked through probably half of the city on our way to Saint Mark’s Square. Despite knowing our initial goal when we set out, we still spent about 2 hours getting there, wandering through alley-like streets and through streets lined with shops while we followed signs to the square.
We’re staying in a hotel across the water on the mainland but it’s only a short bus ride across the bridge to the city proper and there are water busses (boats) running around the island and through its Grand Canal. We arrived in Venice and decided to walk to Saint Mark’s Square because Tiff had been there before and said that it was a great place to see.
During our walk, we crossed many picturesque waterways crisscrossing the city and thoroughly occupied with gondolas and other boats. We finally stopped to have lunch at a pasta shop and pizzeria just off the Grand Canal where I had pasta with mushrooms and Tiff had lasagna, both were fantastic and we left very satisfied with the food but disappointed with the mediocre service.
Along the path from lunch to St. Mark’s, we passed through a couple of different streets filled with shops on both sides and I think I could go another month without seeing another of the masks, despite their intricacy and their occasional outlandishness. There were masks reminiscent of the black plague, cyborg masks, and the traditional opera mask.
On one of these streets, there was a bridge over a canal that was also covered in shops, all the way over the bridge. The shops were, alas, the same type of shops along the rest of the street. Farther through the day, we saw shops selling blank books with custom leather bindings that were very gorgeous.
Upon reaching St. Mark’s Square, the first thing I noticed wasn’t St. Mark’s but the large bell tower built in the same square. Apparently it has been rebuilt no less than 3 times since its original construction because of lightning strikes destroying parts, cracks running up the entire tower, and more.
The church was a large and gorgeous building covered with intricate carvings and paintings. The square was very open and filled with people and more shops. The shops around the square were more clothes shops, jewelry shops, and even a Faberge store; however, we didn’t see a Faberge egg on display there.
After wandering the square, we had some gelato while wandering up and down the water looking at the great old buildings, enjoying our gelato, and watching the fake purses avoiding the Police. We’ve decided that those men resemble rats, they scatter when they are trying to sell the bags but they group up to run away from the police; it’s a thoroughly entertaining dance to watch.
Wondering Around Milan April 8, 2010
Posted by tiffany in : Milano , 1 comment so farOur full day in Milan was filled with tram rides and walking aimlessly. It was nice though since there is a lot of old architecture and other interesting (expensive looking too) things to see.
We have learned two things about Milan; it is a business city and you really only need one full day to see the city. This is primarily because everything tourists want to see is clumped in one area basically. There is the Galleria (which has Louise Vutton and many other expensive stores all inside a covered outdoor mall), the Domo (cathedral), the theater, and a couple of squares with sculptures in them.
The cathedral was quite possibly better than the N
otre Dome in Paris. We loved every minute of it and took just a couple of pictures since they don’t like people photographing the cathedral.
We also learned not to be polite to the people with the bracelets walking around the square. One of them threw a bracelet onto Chris’ arm while we were walking by and he tried to give it back and the man said its free; he is trying to raise money to sent to Africa for supplies. So Chris said thank you and the man gave one to me and started to demand ten euros for both bracelets. We told him we don’t have the money and please take them back, but he kept demanding. So we walked away. I feel almost bad for the other hand full of swindlers that approached us afterward, considering the response they got was a firm, almost t
hreatening, NO.
For dinner we had a traditional meal of tortellini stuffed with meat in a creme sauce with ham. It was delicious and for a reasonable price!
First Day in Milan,Italy April 6, 2010
Posted by tiffany in : Milano , add a commentWe were hoping to take a bus from Geneva to Milan (going through the mountain tunnels mess with my ears too much) but we ended up taking a train anyway. The good thing is that it took five hours by train so I can only imagine how long it would take by bus.
We spent most of today on the train eating Nutella and bread, looking out the window (when we weren’t in the middle of a mountain), and taking small cat naps. It was strikingly obvious when the train changed countries. Before we went into a tunnel it was mostly farms and the roof and building styles looked at though they had Flemming influence and on the other side the building were all pressed together with terracotta roofs. A lot of the stops after we crossed into Italy were very nice (we were talking about making a trip to one of these towns, such as Braveno ). There was one stop that was the perfect image of Italy: a lake with many pale buildings with terracotta roofs, Palm Trees, Cypress Trees, Sail boats; all surrounded by snow capped mountains.
So when we finally got to Milan, Italy we went in search of an ATM and wound up asking directions from a Tram ticket kiosk and making the teller very angry. We tried three different languages to see if there was any way he would understand what we were asking and he kept saying, “you’re in Italy, speak Italian!” and the angrier he became, the more he used hand gestures! Eventually we gave up and moved on. We managed just fine by ourselves after that.
So we did the typical thing after we got our hotel room; ate Pizza and later in the evening, Gelato! We’ll be exploring the city more tomorrow
Week In Pictures: April 6 April 6, 2010
Posted by tiffany in : Week in Pictures , add a comment
A Stunning View Of Geneva April 5, 2010
Posted by tiffany in : Geneva , add a commentSo, for our official full day in Geneva we walked across the border to France and took a lift up a small mountain, since apparently the Monday after Easter is a holiday in Switzerland and everything is just as closed as the day before.
It was lovely, there was some snow in the shade(I kind of wished I had worn my long under wear), the sun was beaming, and there were no low clouds to intrude in our time at the park. We hiked around and walked a little ways in a subdivision on the mountain. There were some fantastic views up there of the Alps. When we were done hiking we watched the Paragliders take off. We joked that we left Switzerland, to go to France, to look across Switzerland, to look at France (Geneva is in a valley while the mountains on either side belong to France). I suppose you could also say that the best view of Geneva is in France!
So then we started to get a little bored on the walk back and decided to go snow “bowling” which was basically competitive snow chunk rolling (like you would roll a bowling ball). It was incredibly entertainin
g and we accidentally spooked five kittens that were sun bathing.
P.S. Happy Easter!
Zurich Zooh! April 4, 2010
Posted by tiffany in : Zurich , add a commentWe stared the day with a great breakfast at the hotel; soft boiled egg, Croissant, cold cuts, yogurt, and a variety of cheeses. We pocketed some cheese for a snack for later (we figured at SFr 14.00 each, we should get the most bang for our buck). It was cheaper than the bakery across the street at SFr 23.00 each for a buffet breakfast.
After we went for a walk in an area just outside of Kloten. It was nice, nothing too spectacular, but we did get to see some farm lands and a pretty good view of Kloten and the mountains in the distance.
We walked for about an hour and then took the train into the city. We road the Tram around, sampling the city you could say, looking for a good place to get off and explore. We thought about going into Zug and the surrounding mountains, but that area was just outside of our ticket’s zones. So we ended up at the zooh! which is right down the street from FIFA.
The zooh! turned out to be a great idea! There were many animals that I had never seen before and Zurich’s zoo is much different than the ones in the states. wild animals are allowed to go into other wild animal’s habitats (such as an anteaterneating lunch in the parrot habitat),there were relatively wild fowl roaming the grounds (including storks), and the fences were mostly about two feet high. The pictures shown below are a Shoebill and Chris is feeding a free-range Chicken at the zoo.
The best part was the Masoala Regenwald which is an 11,000 sq meter, completely enclosed Madagascan habitat. There are no fences keeping the animals and people separate; just a path that they ask visitors to stay on. Red Ruffled Lemurs called and jumped from tree to tree around and a
bove us. I loved every minute of it. This was definitely the first time I stood face to face with completely wild animals without any walls between us. It truly was a magical experience!
Zurich’s Waterways April 2, 2010
Posted by Chris in : Zurich , 1 comment so farAfter having breakfast at a bakery across the street from our hotel this morning, we took the train into Zurich proper to wander around the city and fairly quickly discovered, to our delight, that Zurich has a river and fairly large lake that connect near the center of the city!
The view out onto the lake is stunning, featuring a backdrop of mountains in addition to the boats sailing around the lake. The lake is a gorgeous, deep blue and is actually large enough that there are waves splashing into the park that runs along the lake!
Where the river connects to the lake, there is the park on one side and large masses of people on the other side enjoying the sunny day today and being Good Friday I’m guessing that a lot of them were enjoying the beginning of their 3 day weekends!
In the park near the merger of river and lake, there is this giant clock colored with pansies, the hands of the clock were probably around five feet long which made the clock both large and smelly! (In a good way)
Along the park as well were several places offering food, lake cruises, and more; however, they were all quite pricey so we opted out for now, maybe another day.
While walking through the park, we found a larger park attached along the water and moved into it, enjoying slightly more separation from the city so that there was less noise and more people playing Frisbee and kicking a soccer ball, among others. We also found a aviary in this park that held some interesting birds, including a giant Victoria Crown Pigeon(<–).
