Chris and Tiff in Europe

Wondering Around Milan April 8, 2010

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Our 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 Notre 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 threatening, 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!

Week In Pictures: April 6 April 6, 2010

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A Stunning View Of Geneva April 5, 2010

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So, 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 entertaining and we accidentally spooked five kittens that were sun bathing.

P.S. Happy Easter!

Zurich Zooh! April 4, 2010

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We 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 above 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

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After 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(<–).

Week In Pictures: March 31 March 31, 2010

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Strasbourg: Relaxing March 26, 2010

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Today we lounged around Austin’s house for most of the day. We relaxed and enjoyed the Crepes I made earlier.

Later in the evening we went to a movie with Austin and a couple of his friends from school. We were late because there is a soccer game tonight and a lot of fans were crowding the tram and the stop itself. In the masses there was a man playing a large drum, people with painted faces, and a man in a sombrero with a flag (it apparently was his team’s rival and he was intent on burning it; too bad he was already very intoxicated).

The city is very beautiful after the sun goes down because everything has some sort of lighting on it. So just walking to and from the movie theater was nice, especially since it had stopped raining for the first time today.

P.S. Sorry for the post lacking length but the internet connection goes in and out around here. It’s become rather tedious to write the post today. We’re going to see if there’s a place that has free WiFi near here.

Week In Photos, March 24 March 23, 2010

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Paris, France March 17, 2010

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We arrived in Paris yesterday evening and basically had enough time to eat and go to bed.Today is the official first day in Paris to us since we got to explore.

We basically took a walk through the city. Starting at the Notre Dame cathedral which is free to enter, but everything costs something(including lighting candles and prayers). There were many things to see including this saint that is holding his own head!

Also a new addition since the last time I was in Paris is the Notre Dame Archeological Site which is located in front of the Notre Dame Cathedral. It has some artifacts from when Paris belonged to the Romans and also the remands of buildings, cellars, and roads. It was rather inexpensive ( 2 euro each for people under 25 years old) and interesting to look at.

Then we maneuvered through the city to the Eiffel Tower (approximately an hour’s walk). One of the lifts was

under maintenance and there must have been a hundred people in line for both the stairs and the one working lift, so we ended up not going to the top today. Price is another issue we’re considering; 13 euro for the lift each and 3.50 euro to take the stairs (how privileged you’d be to climb all those stairs ). Perhaps another day we’ll convince ourselves it’s worth it.

We also took the Metro to the Arc De Triomphe. It was lovely, there was a memorial service so there were many people in the armed forces there, flags, flowers, and a fire. Apparently we could pay a small amount of money and go up the Arc De Triomphe where there is something like a museum from what I can tell and perhaps a good view of the city.

The funnest event of the day happened right as we exited the Metro. There was loud music coming from a street performer that was break dancing. There was a large crowd watching which made it hard to see what was going on, and then the music cut off. A police officer had come over and was questioning the performer, checked his passport, and issued him a citation. All the while the crowd was arguing with the officer and booing her for stopping him!