Milan, Venice, and Home Sweet Home

So I thought I'd wrap up the blog and let you know that I made it back safely. So here's the remainder of my trip in a nutshell. Thank you for following me on my journey and for all the comments.

Milan: So I didn't do much in Milan other than go see the Last Supper and go to dinner with a co-worker who was also in Milan, other than that I just took time to chill out. Dinner was amazing, my co-woerker's husband is Italian so we went to a nice little family owned restaurant and had an amazing Italian dinner. I finally had Tiramisu in Italy which I found out is a Milan dessert and it was fantastic!

Venice: Saturday morning I was off to Venice for my last stop. I got off the train and caught a ferry over to the island of Murano where it is famous for the blown glass made there. There was some amazing pieces of art there. I wish I had more time to spend in Venezia but I was glad that I got to see it.

Home Sweet Home: So I caught an overnight train back up to Frankfurt to fly home. So I reserved one of those sleeping couchettes and yea the sleeping quarters were smaller than my cube with six bunk bed cots. I had five male roomies and I was in a top bunk that I couldn't even sit up on and it was hotter than Miami in August!

Once I got to Frankfurt, I had one last pretzel and a German bier for the road (yes I was drinking beer at 8 AM). Once I got home I forced myself to stay awake to try to adjust my body but I still got up at 3 AM so the jetlag will be hitting me soon! I figured that I was up close to 25 hours before I finally went to sleep.

Pisa

So I spontaneously decided to stop and take a shot of the Tower. I really like Pisa, it was quite quaint and you wouldn't know that there were hoards of tourists just a 20 minute walk away. I didn't have time to go to the top but I got my picture. Sorry this isn't a great picture but those are on the memory card of my good camera that is not with me at this moment, oh well I guess you'll have to come to my art opening in July to see the good stuff! Ha, ha! I must also note that Pisa is the first place I managed to get to my destination without a map and without getting lost or turned around! I swear I could get lost in a brown paper bag!

Cinque Terre

So Luzern has a strong contender for first place! I think I found paradise! Ocean, hiking, beaches, it's like the Oregon Coast meets Italy but with hilltop vineyards! On my first day within five minutes of getting off the train a little old lady approaches me about renting a room but she only had one for one night and I needed two and within minutes she found someone else who could accomodate me. My room was a huge room with a private bathroom in the middle of the tiny village of Vernazza where I stayed. After getting settled, I did the rugged hike (thank goodness I brought light trekking shoes) from Vernazza to Monterosso and got in some beach time to watch the sunset. The second day I took a ferry to the northern most village hiked between the other three towns and had lunch in Corniglia which sits high above the ocean, it was beautiful. And the local wine is amazing! I think I took more pictures here than my entire trip. Anyway, it was hard to leave this beautiful place.

Florence

So Florence is the Italy I always imagined! It is beautiful! I spent one day here but I made the most of that day. I randomly met someone at the laundromat who turned out to be staying at my hostel. Anyway, we went and literally chased the sunset up to the Michael Angelo Piazza which is a lookout over Florence and I got some amazing pictures! After that an amazing Italian dinner and wine! Simply amazing.

Bologna

So I'm here and I'm about to try the pizza with the apparently awesome anchovies. Also pepperonis are vegetables in Italy and pizza does not come pre-sliced but you eat it with a fork and knife. Bologna is amazing for the food. This is where I stayed on a stranger's couch, but now I have a friend in Bologna! The best part about staying with a local was that she took me to this amazing little restaurant well off the beaten path that had the best Italian food I've ever tasted!

Luzern

If ever there were a picture perfect city this would be it! This city is so breathtakingly gorgeous, I am sad I am only here one night but I will be back. I did manage to do a small hike today and go up to the top of Mt. Pilatus via the world's steepest cogwheel railway. It was amazing! Then I came back to my hotel and got chinese take out (I don't know why), drank a beer, and people watched from my tiny deck. Off to Italy in the morning!

Random!

So I changed the title of this blog to track all the random stuff I encounter (I thought that would be more fun)

03-May-08 So I had a early train to Luzern today. Anyway, about an hour into the 6 hour ride I get up to go to the food car for some coffee and when I come back the couple from behind ask me if I was from Seattle (I was wearing my Mercer Island technical shirt from a race a couple of years ago) turns out that they recognized a lot of the sponsors on the back of the shirt when I got up and as fate would have it they were from Wenatchee! They were a delightful couple and I spent the next five hours chatting with them and they invited me to Wenatchee anytime I wanted to come out. Life is so amazingly random and awesome!

04-May-08 So today I met a couple from Portland, OR! Why is the NW following me?! Anyway, I was walking the never ending length of the train platform to get to 1st class (who puts 1st class in the back of the train!!!! Grr.....) and with my pack that's no small feat! Anyway, I said hi to the couple sitting waiting for the train and when they heard my lack of accent they asked where I was traveling from and there you have it another NW native in Europe. Anyway, the couple had just retired and they were backpacking for the next few months through Europe, Australia, and New Zealand, by the end of the train ride the dude totally has me sold on New Zealand for my next adventure!

So in Germany T-Mobile is T-Punkt, I think it should just be T-Punk!

And an ice cream cone on the roof? Why? Really!

So I'm in Milan and the first thing I find out of the train station is KPMG Milan! It made me think about all my KPMG peeps, I'm sure the KPMGers here aren't half as cool!

I just wanted to confirm a few things about Italy to everyone: you cannot eat too much pizza, gelato, or have too much coffee! :)

München

So München, it was fun but not because of tourist stuff, I was so exhausted when I got here I did not want to see another museum or Cathedral and I was plain tired of crowds! But I battled the crowds to find some cool Pumas and a few gifts (which I already shipped home). Anyway, the highlights were the beer (duh), the Englisch Garden where I went to the famous Chinese Bier Garden, and the pretzels! But what really made München fun for me was the first night I randomly wandered into a swing club because I heard the music and thought what else do I have to do other than check it out? It was awesome, those Germans can dance! I also made a friend while I was there, a München local lady named Nicole who offered to hang out with me the following night so I got to hang out German style. Apparently, Germans love their Irish Pubs (go figure) so we went to an Irish Pub and listened to a live band sing 80s cover songs! Then we ventured to go dancing but the club we went to the average age was 18 (man did I feel old so needless to say it was an early night) and now I am a member of Club Crash. After that we stopped into Burger King for some pomme frites and called it a night but it was fun and a good experience.

Beer Chronicles

So as promised here are the beers I have had so far (I might need to move to Europe because I am a serious beer snob and I can't say that I have had many of these in the States):

In Amterdam my favourite and first beer was the Wiecke Witte which is a white beer that is light and refreshing.

Also in Amsterdam I had:

La Chouffe
Jan van Gent (very tasty)
Bavaria Pilsner
and Duvel (Boring! Only because I can get it anytime in the States)

In Köln I only had Köln local beers which included:
Gaffel Kölsch
Reissdorf Kölsch
Gilden Kölsch

On the way to München I had a Beck Green Lemon which was the most disgusting beer I've ever had and I think it made me sick.

In München:

I had a monster size Höfbräu at the Chinese Bier Garden
Tonight I went to a swing dance club randomly and had a Tegeernaus (sp?)

My last day in München was all Augustiner I had the Dunkel,the Weisse, the LagerBier Hell, Edelstoff Hell. The Dunkel was my favorite by far.

Today I am in Luzern and I am happy to report that my hotel has beer in the pop machine. I tried the beer of Luzern which was Eichhof Bügel Brau

Okay so I'm in Bologna and yes I had a beer, I had the Italian beer Peroni, it was pretty good with some authentic Italian pizza!
Until later my friends!

Cheers!