Gondola Rides through Venezia

We arrived in Venice in the late afternoon, and to arrive to our apartment, we had to take a water taxi across the city!! It doesn’t run in the small canals, but mostly around the periphery of the city in the major waterways.  It was really nice out, so it was a pleasant boat ride.  There were lots of people, and I was squished against the railing.  Since space was limited, I had my suitcase next to me, and my backpack on my back.  The boat hit a wave, my backpack hit the side railing, and my favorite Nalgene bottle flew out of the mesh pocket and straight into the water.  I cried.  I could see if floating away, but there was no chance of getting it back.  I had had this water bottle for about two years, and had collected stickers from all over.  I had some from California, a few from Idaho, a once in a lifetime sticker from Chicago, and then stickers from European cities I had just visited, like Hamburg.  On the train to Venice, not even an hour before, I finished putting on my italy sitcker. I was super super bummed. Guess it means I need to start a new sticker collection.  If anyone had any good ideas, or sees any stickers, let me know.  I’m keeping my eyes peeled here.  I wish I had a picture of my lost friend, but I don’t.  RIP Nalgene.

We eventually arrived at our apartment, unpacked, cranked up the AC, and headed out for some dinner.  We walked along the water, and alfterwards got gelato.  Kristin and I shared the shop’s signature flavor, which was white chocolate with caramel and Nutella or something like that.  It was really delicious. 

The next day we found our way across the bridges and through the canals.  We headed towards San Marco square.  We passed some really beautiful tall ships, cruise liners, and sailboats.  Being near the water almost felt like being home again.  In San Marco square there are many historic buildings to visit, including the church, the bell tower, and see the astrological clock.  We took an elevator up to the top of the bell tower where we had a beautiful view of the city and the water.  It was made even more enjoyable by the breeze that we had, being so high up.

 We made it to the top!!

Back on the ground in the square we watched the clock strike 11, and saw the little sculpted men ring the bells.  There’s even a portion of the clock with roman numerals (separate from the actual clock itself) that reads out the time, every five minutes.  We wandered the streets, checking out the canals, shops, bridges, and gondolas as we went.  The streets are tiny, since there aren’t any cars in the city centers, and are therefore extremely crowded and packed with people.  We stopped for lunch and grabbed a slice of yummy looking pizza.  The veggies sounded wonderful, and they were!

 After lunch we found a gondola and took a ride around the city.  It was a weird combination of nerve-wracking and relaxing.  The boat kept wobbling if we moved around (which is normal), but it still made me feel like we were going to tip (which probably doesn’t happen that often).  The other scary part was how close we got to walls, other boats, and bridges.  The gondola men are incredibly talented, and know what they are doing.  We could get within half an inch of hitting another boat, but manage to maneuver around it without even touching it!! But the ride was also incredibly relaxing.  At times I found myself zoning out as I sat on the little couch, enjoying the views of the super colorful buildings around us.  The four of us really enjoyed our gondola ride.  We tried to keep an eye out for my lost water bottle but, sadly, with no luck.

Not our gondoleer, but that's what he looked like!

We continued wandering, enjoying the shops and tiny roads.  We made our way back to San Marco square, this time hoping to enter the Church.  We are all glad we waited in line to enter, because this church was absolutely stunning.  The entire ceiling if covered in tiles the size of dimes.  Many of them were golden, and shimmered! The floor was also covered in tiles, and they used of 60 different types of stone to create the patterns on the floor.  It was actually kind of funny because since Venice is built on a marsh, the city is partially sinking, which makes the floor of the church very uneven and bumpy.  So one minute the floor is fine, and the next there is a huge hole!

 We walked out to a bridge where we observed the main canal.  Plenty of cool boats and funny tourists. Since we were tourists too, we took a few pictures... I was somehow able to smile even after losing my water bottle :)

The houses all around the city were very interesting too. They actually reminded me a lot of SF houses because they were all very colorful and unique.  Come places we've been, all the buildings look the same... but not here.

 That evening we ate along the waterfront, enjoying the cool sea breeze.  Some of us had seafood, others tried some pasta. We gain got gelato, and no surprise, it was delicious :)  The next morning we hopped back on the water ferry to catch our train to Firenze!

 View from our gondola

Milano

After leaving Como, Kristin and I returned to Milan and checked in at our apartment.  We had a chance to go see the city a bit, but didn’t stay out for too long since it was pretty hot.  After some time relaxing in the air-conditioned room, we headed out for what the Italians call “aperitivo”.  This is something that most Milanese bars do starting around 6 or 7 in the evening.  You order a drink, and once you’ve done that you can help yourself to the food that they serve buffet style.  Some do it better than others, and the bar we found seemed to be a great place to experience “aperitivo”.  We both ordered mojitos, and then helped ourselves to little tastes of everything; from olives, to cheese cubes, pasta and rice dishes, bread, and vegetables.  It was all delicious and they kept bringing more and more out! 

 Milan at night

We weren’t able to stay as long as we had wanted, but that was because we had to get to the train station to meet the two Carls, my dad and brother! They had flown in and took the train into the center of town.  After they got unpacked and showered, we headed out to dinner.  We found somewhere to have pizza so they could experience the amazingness first-hand.  They seemed to love it as much as Kristin and I do.  We had a few drinks at a nearby bar and eventually went back to get some sleep.

The next day was a full day, and also our last day in Milan.  We went and checked out the famous Duomo, checking out both the inside and the rooftop! This church has over 5,000 scultptures and took 500 years to build.  They even continue to do work on it today.  It was quite impressive. 

Milan's Duomo

We then walked back to check out of the apartment, and hopped back on the metro to meet our tour group.  We signed up for a guide to take us to see Da Vinci’s “The Last Supper”.  The guide was very informative.  We were super excited about the climate-controlled rooms, since the heat will cause damage to the painting. With it being about 100 degrees out, we loved being able to cool off for a bit.  Each group only gets 15 minutes in the room, but we made the most of our time.  We also saw a church filled with frescos, and learned about some historical events of the neighborhoods we walked through.

 Taken from Internet, I didn't break the rules :)

 

After our tour, we grabbed our bags, printed our train tickets, and were off to Venice!

VIVA ITALIA!

Our second day in Como, I woke up and went for a run.  It was really hot but it felt wonderful after not having run for a while.  There's a bike path near the house where we stayed, so I found that, and at one point it looked like it was ending. Fortunately there was some sort of running group coming behind me so I followed them for a bit, and even tried to say hello at one point.  It definitely was a mix of French, Spanish, Italian, and all of us being out of breath.  Either way I made it five miles and survived the heat.

House made cappuccino 

Enza fed us an amazing breakfast.  There was fresh bread, cheese, ham, nutella and jam, croissants, and fresh made cappuccinos.  After we could not eat any more, she drove us towards downtown so we could ask the tourist information desk which boat tours would be best for today.  Since we are in Europe, it was closed this Sunday, but we managed.  We could a smaller boat trip that made about 5 stops in little towns nearby to Como.  And it's hop-on-hop-off, so we could stay as long or as little as we liked in each place.  All the towns were super cute, some more appealing to walk around in than others (we avoided the super steep hills since it was about 93 out...).  We checked out Cernobbio, Moltraiso, and Torno.  They were all pretty different, and we had a blast exploring the downtown areas.  Cernobbio is where George Clooney has a house.  We definitely kept our eyes peeled.  

Downtown Cernobbio

Moltraiso was much hillier than the others, but we wandered a bit, saw a really nice pool through a fence and were super tempted to try to sneak in.  It was incredibly tempting to be by a lake, but a lake with no beaches on it, and a lake that many people don't swim in because of the supposed pollution.  We were bummed about that.  

Downtown Moltraiso and the wonderful looking pool

Apparently they surf on the lake?

Our last stop was Torno.  I think this was our favorite stop of the three.  It was a super tiny town, but lots of boats and greenery.  We stopped for a late lunch.  We ordered some good white wine, a panino (singular of panini) , and a caprese salad.  We shared both and it was the perfect stop.  

 The yummy panino

The place where we ate lunch was at this little restaurant, and we got seats right under all the little trees.  The shade was wonderful and refreshing, and it made for perfect people watching :)

 The bar/café where we ate

 Downtown Torno

We took the boat back to Como, window shopped around town (literally since all the stores were closed on Sunday), and then got a ride back to Enza's house with her.  For dinner we again went back to the little town restaurant sine our food was so delicious last time.  We both tried their pizza just to compare, and it lived up to their reputation.  

Tonight the Eurocup soccer game was the quarterfinal match Italy vs. England.  We made our way across the street to the same gelateria.  The place was packed, and the nice bartender pulled up extra seats for the two of us.  At first no one really noticed us, and then all the younger guys started asking us which team we were for.  Of course we're for Italy, not like we would admit to anything else anyways.  It was pretty funny because one of the guys was unintentionally wearing a shirt with a British flag on it. I called him out, and I think after that they knew we were for Italy.  None of them could believe his hilarious shirt choice.  

 

For those of you who don't follow soccer, the match was super tense and close.  The first 90 minutes ended in a 0-0 tie, even though Italy was dominating.  The 30 minute overtime also ended in a 0-0 tie.  So the game went to shoot outs.  The atmosphere was excited but nervous too.  Lots of nervous smokers sitting on the patio... Italy won by 1 goal in shoot outs and we all went absolutely crazy.  I couldn't imagine how muhc energy there was in this tiny bar in this itty-bitty town.  I was lifted up by some strong guy, everyone was dancing and screaming and sadly steeping on Kristin's feet :(  But it was a really great time, something that Kristin and I wouldn't trade for seeing the game in Rome! VIVA ITALIA!

The next morning I again went for a run, had a delicious breakfast, and then Enza drove us to the train station.  We were all sad to be leaving, but promised to come back soon.  We took the train in Milan to meet up with the two Carls: my dad and brother.

Peaches and Pasta in Como

Kristin and I woke up early in Milan and walked back to the train station to catch a small regional train to a place called Como.  Como is a small town at the base of Lake Como, which stretches out beneath the huge mountains of the area.  We found a place to stay through Air BnB that was advertised as an actual bed and breakfast, rather than just a room in an apartment.  When emailing with the woman, both Kristin and I got good vibes.  They offered to come pick us up at the train station, which we gladly accepted, given our heavy bags.  

After about 40 minutes on the train, we walked through the train station and found Enza and her daughter, Stefania, waiting for us with a sign.   They were super kind, gave us big hugs, and drove us back to their house, about 6 miles away from the center of twon.  Enza speaks Italian and French, and a little bit of English, so I mostly translated for Kristin.  We both told her that we wanted to learn some Italian, so she some spoke to us in Italian as well.  Their house was so nice, and exactly what we were looking for.  Quiet, relaxing, and stress free.  When we arrived, Enza showed us her peach tree and had us pick five or six peaches.   

 The peach tree

We sat in the garden eating some peaches when she brought us a delicious salad with cheese, salami, olives, and radishes in it.  We were so happy and surprised… we found out that the image of Italians always wanting to feed you was very true here at BnB Mimosa :) When we finished eating, they happily drive us back to the center of town where Kristin and I wandered along the lake, window shopped, and relaxed in some of the parks.  

The views were gorgeous and we were both ecstatic to be in Como.  Since it was quite warm out, the breeze off the lake was also really nice.  We relaxed in some parks and enjoyed the views while drinking a glass of refreshing white wine. 

                                                                     Enjoying our wine

We also took a mountain “cable car”/tram up to the top of one of the mountains where we again had amazing views of the surrounding areas.  We could even see Switzerland! It was cooler at the top of this mountain, but we opted not to take the bus to the very top of the hill because it wasn't a very clear day and we didn't think we'd be able to see a ton more than what we could at this spot. 

The view from the top!

As it has in every city we’ve been it, it rained in Como later that afternoon.  We tried distracted ourselves inside, escaping from the warm raindrops.  We checked our the town's church, and some fun department stores that had lots of home decorations.  Enza graciously came down to pick us up early.  Back at the house, she fed us melon and prosciutto.  It was right before dinner, but we didn’t refuse.   Even the weather seemed to apologize and welcomed us to Como :)

 A rainbow!

We ate dinner at the local restaurant. For our second night in Italy we tried pasta with pomodoro sauce.  They were super  nice and also added zucchini.  We both agree that we’venever had such fresh and delicious pasta.  The sauce, which wasn't even really a sauce, was chopped up tomatoes, olive oil, and the perfect amount of salt and herbs.  It was incredibly delicious.

 Best pasta ever.

We then walked right across the street to the gelateria, where we bought some gelato and watched the France-Portugal game.  The gelato was super good, we both tried Nutella this time.  We had held off buying gelato, and it most definitely paid off.  The base was almost a milk flavored gelato, but it was filled with scoops of nutella.  The game was fun to watch, even though France lost.  We were ore excited about the Italy game the next day!

14-hour Travel Day

Yes, you read that correctly.  14 hours of travel... We left the apartment in Prague around 6:30 and walked to the train station. We were there plenty early in order to catch our bus to Munich, Germany.  Kristin and I weren't quite sure what to expect when they said we'd be taking a bus... but the bus surpassed any and all expectations.  

 Fancy bus!!

We both decided it was the fanciest bust we've ever been on.  Comfy leather seats, televisions on the back of each chair, nice tables, a "stewardess" type person who could serve us snacks and drinks etc... It was super enjoyable, comfortable, and fun to watch the country side go by.

Bye Prague and your dancing buildings

We arrived in Munich 5 hours later, with about an hour to spare before our next train.  On our way into the city we saw part of Munich's Olympics stadiums, which totally made my day!

We grabbed some lunch, and easily navigated the station and found our train.  We hopped on board, found our seats, and enjoyed another 5 hours of transit.  The scenery was absolutely gorgeous.  

We passed from Germany, through Austria, and into ITALIA!! We were stoked to have finally made it to Italy :) The mountains (Alps), rivers, vineyards, and small towns were gorgeous.  

 Welcome to Italia!

We made it to Verona, where we transferred to our final train of the day.  We made it to Milan, found our hotel, and collapsed on the (comfy) beds! 

We mustered all our strength and headed just down the street to grab some dinner.  We are so glad we did because we ate the most amazing pizza of our lives.  We started dinner with bruschetta, so fresh! Then our pizzas came.  Mine had pomodoro (tomatoes), mozzarella, olives, mushrooms, ham, and artichoke hearts (surprised me, since I didn't know the word in Italian while ordering). Kristin's had several cheeses, pomodoro, and spinach.  

 Kristin's pizza (left) and my pizza (right)

We both about died of happiness because they were so good.  We slept contentedly that night and enjoyed the left overs the next morning for breakfast (shhh, don't tell the Italians).  The next day we'd be off to Lake Como!

Sunshine and Blue Skies in Prague

Sadly we only had one full day to spend sightseeing and exploring Prague.  But we definitely made the most of it. 

In the morning we made our way to the central square.  We grabbed some breakfast and then wandered through the tiny, winding roads, checking out all the beautiful buildings and statues.  

 

 

 By pure luck (although we say it was perfectly planned), we found the city’s clocktower at about 10:45.  What’s cool about this clock tower is that there is one clock that tells the actual time, and another, completely separate astrological clock.  This clock indicated where the sun and the moon are, what season it is, what day of the year it is, and on the hour every hour a comical, satirical “play” happens.  The four evils (greed, death, vanity, glutony) are represented by little statues.  The skeleton of death rings a bell, they all start dancing, and the windows above them open.  The 12 apostles make their way through the windows, while music plays in the background.  You can also wikipedia "Prague Astrological Clock" for a more accurate and in depth description

 

 

Astrological Clock

 

We then walked over to the St. Paul bridge and checked out all the statues.  There are over 30 statues all along the bridge, each representing different saints, apostles, and holy people.  We had a beautiful view of the castle, the river, and the city from the opposite side.  

 

St. Paul's Bridge

 

It was nearing noon, so we quickly walked back to where we planned to meet from friend from Loyola.  Aly is here studying in Prague all summer, and we decided that we definitely needed to see each other.  She had set a meeting place at “Wencelas Square”.  We arrived and it was a 5-6 block square with tons of people.  I was worried we wouldn’t be able to find her.  We walked towards the main statue and I finally recognized her.  It was so much fun to see parts of the city with a friend from back home and to have someone who’s been in Prague show us around the city.  She showed us this "monument", actually a grave of a 20 year old who was killed by the government as he protested against the communism in the 60s.  He is buried in the spot he was killed, right across the street from the statue symbolizing the country's freedom.  Learning these facts and their historical impacts was very very interesting.

This was actually her finals week of the first session of classes, but for her language course the professor was having the class go out to lunch together and having them order in Czech.  They were nice enough to include us, so Kristin and I joined the class for a traditional Czech lunch.  We were the only ones who had to point at the menu.  Everyone else helped translate for us.  It was really bizarre at least for me to be in such a large group of Americans because I haven’t heard that much English all at once for over a month and a half.  Part of me was partially frozen, haha.  

 

Beer with our lunch

After lunch we said goodbye to Aly and headed over to the castle.  We discovered that what we thought was the castle was actually the church in the royal city.  We strolled around this gated in city, exploring the little museums, the inside of the beautiful church, and also the actual royal castle.   

 

We also walked down Golden Lane, a street of tiny houses where villagers who contributed to the life of royalty lived and performed their duties as seamstress, doctor, healer, geographer etc… 

 The Castle

On our way back down the hill towards the river, we had some amazing views of the city:

 Views of the city

Along the way we tried this interesting and delicious sweet bread that they make.  It’s almost like a pretzel in that it’s crunchy on the outside but soft on the inside.  They cook it over a fire and the dough constantly rotates.  It’s sprinkled wit sugar and served warm.  A perfect mid-day snack.  We wandered a bit more before heading back to the apartment.  To reach the metros, you must take the escalators.  They were super super long and it was almost dizzying.  And according to Aly, they used to go way faster, but in order to join the EU, they were mandated to slow them down! I can't imagine racing down this escalator!

We packed up our bags in preparation for our (very) early morning the next day before heading out to dinner.  We again found a place that served salads (after a rich lunch) and was also broadcasting the Czech-Portugal game.  Czech, like Holland, lost to Portugal. We can’t decide if we’re good luck for Portugal, or just bad luck to whichever country we’re in.  Either way it was again a great atmosphere to be in (minus the cigarette smoke) and fun to get to watch some sports.