Lausanne, Switzerland

Things are going well in Switzerland. I made it to Lausanne this afternoon, and decided (Since it is a bit of a bus ride back to town) to enjoy a calm, peaceful afternoon. The hostel is very near the lake, so I got out my book, walked to the beach and sat for much of the afternoon reading and enjoying the view of the misty Alps reigning over the glassy water. It was perfect! The weather here, now that I am out of the mountains, is much warmer making it possible for me to return to my loving flip-flops while I walked.

I am not, however, in love with Swiss hostels. There is sort of a monopoly of sorts over youth hostels in Switzerland. They are all operated or members of Youth Hostels International. Basically it means that they are all HUGE, have a restaurant, and are more expensive than normal hostels. The thing is that, because of their size, they are really popular with family vacationers so there are lots of small children around. This tends to make it a bit harder to meet people. But I am simply using this solace to enjoy the view, observing more than participating. Which on the up side is also a lot cheaper than participating. It is also nice to have a couple of lazy days in a row...it is almost a vacation within a vacation. Although, I have stopped using the word "vacation" when I describe my travels. This trip is less about time off and more about opening up to new discoveries and ideas. I just don't think I will ever grow to accept cooked mushrooms, though. I eat them, but not with great pleasure, hell without any pleasure. Even in my most starved moments, I look at cooked mushrooms on a pizza and think "I need the nutrients, but I will never be able to desire that texture." Alas, why I only eat mushrooms in salads when home.

I only have a few more chapters left in the book I am reading, "Random Acts of Heroic Love," given to me by Jules in Poland. I think I will try to finish it tonight before bed. I believe that is the 4th book I have finished on this trip. Not too bad for someone that can barely make it through a "Where's Waldo" without shelving it.

On Tuesday I am meeting up with a friend living in Geneva, so I get two free nights of accommodation there... YAH!!!

Here are some pictures from earlier stops.
From atop on of the spires at Sagrada Familia in Barcelona

Nadia and Ariane, from Canada, in Italy trying to enjoy the beach on a rainy day
Realto Bridge in Venice

Skyline of Zagreb
Jules pumping water out of a public well in Warsaw
Parliament in Budapest

St James Church in PragueThe Charles Bridge in Prague. Taken from my boat tour.

Me with one of the members of the Viennese Boys Choir. Trying to decide what to eat for brunch in Vienna. I had the club sandwich, safe and delicious.Hoppsburg's Winter Palace in Vienna. You might recognize the big balcony in the center as where Hitler delivered his first public speech in Austria
Me standing at the top of the Spanish Steps in Rome
Inside the Pantheon in Rome

The Floor of the Pantheon (Inserted for nostalgia)

Bern, Switzerland via Zurich

I spent one night in Zurich and saw a few of the sights.

I have made it to Bern and having a good time. Yesterday I did a little bit of walking around, tried to go to the Swiss Theatre Museum but I was closed when I finally got there. I am however getting used to walking up and down hills. I decided to not have a crazy Halloween. Instead I stayed in the hostel and caught up on some much needed reading and sleep. I did "crash" the party that was going on in the hostel. Three men were having a joint birthday party, so after the festivities had died down a bit, I snuck in and had a slice of birthday cake. I don't think anyone noticed or cared since there were three cakes and all three of them were only half eaten.

Today I got up and did the recommended walking tour of Bern and got to see the Bear Pit. There was only one bear in the pit, but boy was he entertaining. They must train him to pose for pictures. I was expecting more bears to be there, though. With a name like "Bear Pit" I was expecting to see a violent amount of bears in the pit, you know something that PETA would protest against. I also got to see the big clock tower in the center of town.

I have discovered that I am a big fan of Swiss food. Yesterday I ate at one traditional Swiss restaurant and had a dish that I cannot name but describe simply as what God would eat for breakfast. It was hashbrowns covered with cheese, topped with a mixture of fried onions and cubed ham, and finished with a sunny side up egg capping the mass of food. I thought it was going to be a rice dish because it looked like rossetti but I was not disappointed in the least. I only wish the dish had been a bit more colorful because they say the more colorful the food the better it is for you. I wanted it to taste exactly the same, but with a little green, blue, and magenta or something, to make it healthier somehow. The dish was so good and relatively cheap that I returned today to sample another platter. Today's choice was Veal Sausage, also amazing, I just wasn't loving the gravy that it was covered in, a bit too sweet for my sensitive palette.

Tonight I am going to the Municipal Theatre to see some show in Swiss. I am not really sure what it is called and have no idea what the show is about, but the guy at the ticket office recommended it. I am excited to have a night filled with culture. I took an extra special bath for it! One always needs a good reason to take a long bath. I just recommend long showers in a place where the water doesn't turn off every 5 seconds requiring you to keep one hand close to the button in order to press it every 2 seconds or so. LOL. It always makes me giggle a bit when the showers function the way most public sinks do and the sinks function in a normal, constantly on, fashion. It just seems a little backward to me.

Well, I am off to the Theatre. I sound so much more aristocratic when I say that but you have to remember I am going in cloths that I have worn three days in a row, so it is not so fashionable. Hopefully the person in the next seat can't tell.

Loving Florence

Loving Florence. The people here really love artists. Every time I have my sketch book out, I get lots of attention from tourists and locals alike.

Today I spent about two and a half hours in the Galleria Academia where Michelangelo's David stands in its full 17 feet. It was so much fun and a great thrill to see the beautiful figure. I did several studies of it in my sketch book (which I thought I had lost yesterday and finally found it when I got into bed and realized I had folded it into my sheets).

I went on a walking tour yesterday and refreshed my knowledge of Florentine history. Since I had "Civilization of the Arts: 14th Century Florence," it has been a lot of fun for me to be here seeing all of the sights and art that I studied only in pictures while in the class. I almost felt like I could give tours of Duomo. After the tour was over, I hung out with a couple of people I met on the tour, Fedimma from Ireland and Simon from Australia. We ended up just doing a bit of walking around Florence ending up completely lost at one point but once we found out where we were we enjoyed a beautiful view of the city.

After hiking around the southern part of the city, I headed back to the hostel for dinner (there is a really cheap and reasonably good restaurant at the hostel). While having dinner, I ran into another Irish girl I met on the tour, Nieve. Nieve, her boyfriend, some Japanese kids, and I spent the evening drinking vino and having a great night sharing traveling stories. We ended up being the life of the party in the hostel, ending up with a group of about a dozen. So much fun.

The day before I hiked up to the top of Brunellesci's Dome, all 422 steps. It was breathtaking to reach the top of the dome, the largest dome in the world, looking out over the city. After my class in college where I read "Brunellesci's Dome" the book, it was incredible to see first hand the herring bone brick pattern and the dome within a dome structure. I did get a little freaked out about the heights at one point when we had to walk along the inside edge of the dome, close enough to touch the frescos painted on the ceiling, although I was doing better than the young woman following me.

I had a wonderful time in Florence. It is such a beautiful city, maybe a bit to expensive for me to stay too long, but I think I have made good with my time here. Tomorrow I am heading to Zurich but I am thinking about making a detour through Pisa on my way north.

Getting to Florence

I had an interesting time getting to Florence. I got up a bit late this morning, deciding I would just have a lazy Sunday morning, since I remembered last night that the Vatican is not open on Sundays. According to the time schedule I have there are trains every half hour from Rome to Florence so I wasn't worried about not getting there.

There was a lovely British woman working reception at the hostel. I had not met her before, normally it is these two young guys from Sweden, so I was a little surprised when I saw her. Checkout was a breeze, since the hostel didn't have lockers or keys, you literally just picked up your things and left. But I decided to stick around and figure out a few things to do in Florence and work on some sketches I had started the day before. I had a lovely chat with the British woman while she cooked eggs for one of the Swedish guys who was suffering from a little hangover. Italy, I point out now, is not an easy place to find good food on a Sunday. I ate MacDonalds twice in one day, sacrilege!

Well I finally decided around 2pm to head to the train station. I throughly enjoyed my extra hour, thank you daylight savings. Once at the train station I had a couple of options of trains, the main choice being whether I wanted to pay for the high speed train or not. I opted to not pay the 15 euro reservation fee for the high speed and just go with the slow train that took an exhausting one hour longer. So like a good traveler I waited patiently for the train to arrive.

To my surprise it was a really full train but I was tired so I slept for most of it. Then we got to Florence. I didn't realize until then that this train did not stop at the main station, S.M. Nouvelle. So I looked at the train schedule to see when the next train headed to SMN was leaving. Well there must have been something wrong with the information signs on the platforms because they were all about 3 hours behind. So I got on the train that looked like it was headed in the direction I wanted, and there were lots of people waiting to get on. I am not sure why but after 2 stops I decided I was not going the right direction so I got off at Zambra. I don't recommend Zambra, there isn't much there besides the slab of concrete known as the train station. At this point, I was worried I wouldn't be able to get back without hitchhiking. I checked the train schedule, and at least this time I knew which direction the train should be headed. I found it funny that the platform was labeled 3 and 4, I don't know where 1 and 2 were. The schedule said there would be many more trains on the way although after further inspection with my broken Italian, I realized most of the trains listed were only for special events. Luckily there was WiFi somewhere nearby and I was able to check Eurail and TrenItaliano schedules to deduce that there was another train coming at 9:53, or in about 2 hours. So I sat and waited, imported some photos, and had a nice chat with myself. It was lovely. At one point another train showed up, and waited for me to get on, but I just flagged the conductor to just keep going. Finally 9:53 came and went but there was no train. Then I started to get worried. But like every train in Italy it was only late.

Finally, two hours later than I expected, I arrived at my hostel. Yeah fun travel days!! Ciao

Another Day in Rome

Well, I went to the Vatican City today and got to see the Sistine Chapel. But, if you ever come to Rome, I warn you that everything attached to the Vatican has a dress code. I faintly remember someone telling me this but I was not thinking this morning when I was getting dressed, so I put on shorts and a sleeveless t-shirt because I didn't want to get hot again. The biggest faux pas in Catholic dress code is showing bare shoulders, apparently.

As I walked through the Vatican Museum and marveled at the incredible sculpture and modern art, I was filled with the anticipation of getting to sit and admire the marvelous frescos by Michelangelo. When I finally made it to the Sistine Chapel, I was staring up at the ceiling trying to find a comfortable place to sit and observe. You do not often have the opportunity to examine such fine art first hand, seeing the actual painting of Adam touching fingers with God. All of the sudden, I felt a tap on my shoulder and a security guard asked me if I had anything to put over my shoulders. Unfortunately I had left my mink stole in my other purse, so I wasn't prepared to wrap myself up in anything. Upon answering his question, with an answer he obviously didn't care for, I was asked to leave the Chapel. Yes, I was kicked out of the Sistine Chapel. Now I can say, without lying, "I have been kicked out of nicer places than this before." But the whole time the gentleman was telling me I had to leave since I was baring my erotic and sexy shoulders, I kept wanting to say, "Dude, look up! Everyone painted on the ceiling is NAKED!!!!" I held my tongue, though. The experience did, however, make me want to cry. An art student, in Rome, studying the work of one of the greats, forced to leave for dressing too provocatively. I also wanted to point out to the guard that Michelangelo himself, would have probably enjoyed seeing my bared shoulder (and bum, but [pun intended] that is another discussion).

The only thing that really made me mad about the whole incident was that no one until then told me that I was not dressed appropriately. I had gone through a security check point and bought a ticket. Both were occasions where I could have been at least told that I would not be able to enjoy the Sistine Chapel to the degree I was anticipating. Poor form on the Pope's part in my opinion. If the Pope wants me dressed a certain way, he could have at least had the decency to put a bouncer outside his club turning people away who don't live up to his aesthetic standard. Poor form indeed!

After that, I decided not to risk standing in the long line to go to St. Peter's Basilica only to be turned away. It seemed like a pointless waste of time to be rejected twice in one day by the Catholics. Not that I hate all Catholics, just the ones in Vatican City.

I decided, instead, to spend the rest of my day using the brand new smudging stick I bought at the art store yesterday. That was a fun experience trying to explain to the non-English speaking girl at the art store what a smudging stick was. Several times she offered me the same eraser, and I kept saying no, but finally after drawing a quick doodle for her, and using my finger to smudge it, she figured it out. We both shared a good laugh about it while I paid.

I am heading to Florence tomorrow, I am thinking about catching a later train in the day so I can go back to St. Peter's in a tuxedo and possibly make it through the line. But who knows, maybe they will say the cummerbund and bow tie combination I am wearing is too offensive to go through the pearly gates.

Ciao

Rome

Yes I am in Rome and I have already been here for one night. It is a little hard to get on the internet here for me because there aren't really a whole lot of outlets in the hostel, so I have to take refuge next to one plug to do anything with my computer.

I am having a blast in Rome. It is a really beautiful city, so I am having a lot of fun just walking around discovering what the city has to offer. Today I went to the Colosseum, the Spanish Steps, The Pantheon, the Fontana de Trevi, among many sights. I got a map from Tourist Information and it has the routes of one of the big bus tour companies so I just made sure to hit all of the big sights it stopped at.

Rome is a really remarkable city. Thousands of years of history, millions of people, and an energy that never stops. The current population of Rome is estimated at just over 11 million people. It is hard to believe that in the peak of the ancient city the population was just half of that. (14 AD pop. 4,700,000). Walking around today made me think about the current crisis in America right now. People always say, history repeats itself, so there is bound to be a time when the U.S. would fall. I don't think that is what is going to happen when history repeats itself this time.

I am going to play Devil's Advocate for a moment. What do you think is the greatest success of modern technology?

Incredible architecture? I think we can all say the Romans were pretty good at outdoing most of the buildings we see now.

Economic wealth? Romans had that one going for them as well.

Advanced Health Care? Rome had a population of 4.7 million people in 14 AD, so are we really that much healthier than they are, or are we just better at keeping the sick alive longer?

Maybe, Communication? Well the Romans did have a very elaborate communications network, it just wasn't e-mail.

Indoor Plumbing? Nope, they had that one too.

Again, Devil's advocate, I think it is safe to say, that the only thing we have really been able to do in the past 2000 years is make things happen faster. Faster construction of buildings, faster communication, faster transport, ability to spend your money (or money you don't have) faster. So what is it that I think modern technology has really given us? I would say, technology has made patience a societal impossibility. Apparently nothing is fast enough for us, unless it moves at the speed of light.

Imagine what hell would erupt if a contractor told a company that it would take 200 years to finish construction on its new headquarters. Imagine, again, it taking hours to get to the market where you buy your groceries.

Now, I agree modern technology really has given us some wonderful things. Books, instant information, an international network of business economy and culture. But what about the latter? When Rome fell, there were civilizations in Asia, (i.e. the Turks) ready to take over the fledgling society. (Not that it was very nice about doing it). But now, with the complex web of culture, information, and money, will anyone be left when the market crashes? We witness on a daily basis the effect that the weak U.S. economy is having on the rest of the world. What happens when it collapses? You may be saying there are fail safes to keep that from happening, but I remind you that I am pretty sure that the Romans thought the same thing about their economy. Nothing lasts forever? But will there be a market left once the U.S. fails? I point out the scare raised by the bird flu in Eastern Asia. People were so worried that they would somehow contract it even though they were nowhere near East Asia. How will the world be affected by this travesty? Are you prepared to deal with what that would entail, because I certainly am not!

Will the only people unaffected by this be the nomadic tribes in Africa, Central and South America, and Southeast Asia? They already have a taste of what is required to make it without money... not that they are terribly successful at it, but they have a head start.

Again, devil's advocate. This city just startles me how "advanced" they were, and with the economic and climate problems that we are seeing, I just wondered if there really is a distinction between the U.S. and the rest of the world. What would be left?

Even though I sound like I have been getting really deep on this part of my journey, that thought process was about 30 minutes out of a really great day. I highly recommend Rome. Just expect it to be warm. Even in the middle of October, I was wearing shorts and a sleeveless t-shirt, and I was still hot and humid.

Tomorrow I plan on doing the Vatican and the Relics of the Ancient City!!

Krakow & Auschwitz

I have made it to Krakow safe and sound although I think I have come down with a bit of a cold. Probably just from the quick changes in climate the past week or so, or Jules gave me her sniffles.

I met up with Shelley at the hostel last night, and we went out for a late bite to eat, and spent the evening catching up. She is having a wonderful time in London studying but her theatre trip to Krakow has been a little reorganized due to the fact that all the shows she wanted to see here have been sold out. Oops.

We decided today to get up early and take the tour offered by the hostel of Auschwitz Concentration Camp. What a moving experience. Per the request of the museum I did not take any pictures inside Auschwitz, and I really didn't want any pictures documenting what I saw there or me being there. The memory will be enough to serve me for the rest of my life without revisiting the sights I saw.

After an hour and a half bus ride, we were dropped off in front of Auschwitz I, the first camp in Auschwitz out of the three that were completed before the liberation in 1945. It was eerie how modern it felt in Auschwitz I, brick buildings that reminded me of many apartment complexes I have seen in the States. But you quickly remember the horrors that occurred here not that long ago. The first building we were guided through showed the construction of Auschwitz and several photocopies of some of the few remaining Nazi records about Auschwitz. First the camp was built for Polish criminals but a year after its completion was turned into a Jewish work and execution camp. You wander through these buildings on the tour where hundreds of Jews struggled to survive and most often died. We were taken to barracks that still held the original beds where Jews were forced to sleep two to a bed in something half as wide as a twin bed, three tiers high, in good conditions. It was just absolute insanity to me what I was seeing, a place where the innocent were brutally tortured and killed. It may be the first time I actually understood what the word genocide meant.

The most impacting barrack contained relics of the Jews that had been in Auschwitz. The Nazis had warehouses the prisoners referred to as "Canada" where all of the personal items taken from people were sorted and kept. Anything of value was taken by the Nazis to help the funding of the third reich. Now the artifacts remain as proof and memory of the people that were once contained in Auschwitz. In one room they had two tons of hair piled up on display. Braids, single strands, and ponytails filled a massive room incased in glass. My jaw was on the floor and the tour guide pointed out that this was only the hair from about 45,000 people. The approximate weight of the hair from all 1.5 million people executed at Auschwitz would total 67 tons. It will hit you in the gut. Other rooms displayed thousands of glasses stacked together, hundreds of thousands of shoes, luggage, bowls, and many other artifacts that once belonged to the people imprisoned at Auschwitz. Room after room filled with items collected off people after they were sent to the gas chamber.

When the Jews would arrive by train to the camp, they had been promised they were being taken to a better place where they could start a new life. Propaganda was the Nazis greatest tool, but for the Jews it seemed better for them to simply believe the propaganda than believe the stories of what was actually going on. Once on the platform at Auschwitz, SS doctors would sort the people into two groups, ones who looked healthy enough for work and those whom they believed weak. The weak group was led off to take a "shower." Told to strip down, remember where they left their belongings so they could retrieve them later, and rushed into a gas chamber decorated with fake shower heads hanging from the ceiling. These people had no idea what was going on. Lie after Lie.

We walked through the "prison inside a prison" at Auschwitz, Barrack 10. A place where people were sent to be "punished" and judged by the Gestapo. The basement was filled with cells used to starve, suffocate, and cripple men. No one ever left Barrack 10 alive. I can't even explain the feeling you get when walking through a place like that, seeing the etchings in the walls left by men trapped inside.

Finally in Auschwitz I, we were led to the only remaining gas chamber. (All other gas chambers and incinerators were destroyed by the Germans). It was devastating to be forced into this room in a line of tourists, stepping into the room that was the last stop for tens of thousands of people, many of whom had no idea what their outcome would be. They were just going for a much needed shower. It was appalling to see how close the Gestapo's home was to the chamber. A place where he raised a family and kept a garden for his wife. Prisoners could hear his children playing in their front yard as they stripped naked before entering the Zyklon B filled chamber. It was terrifying.

After Auschwitz I, we were taken to Brikenau, the largest of the three camps under the heading of Auschwitz. All of the barracks here were constructed of wood planks by the prisoners themselves. Today very few of the hundreds of barracks in Birkenau still stand, but as you look out over the expansive field, you see grass littered with still standing chimneys of where each barrack once stood. When the area was repopulated after the liberation, people would go to the unprotected camp and steal the wood from the barracks to construct their homes. Many of the homes standing in near by areas are built out of the concentration camp.

That was the thing I struggled the most with internally, the idea of working to preserve this place. In one spot there were actually construction workers re-roofing one of the barracks. At first I was disturbed by the idea of maintaining Auschwitz. But that is when I realized in order to honor the memory of the people that were held in this sick place, you have to remember the terrible acts committed against them by the Germans. It was just such a weird concept to me, "rebuilding" Auschwitz.

Needless to say, Shelley and I were exhausted after our visit to Auschwitz-Birkenau, so we had a bit of lunch afterwards, walked around, and had some riveting political and social debates. It will definitely be an experience I will never forget.