adventures in venice

My third connection on my way to Venice, a bus, arrived in the station 2 minutes too late for me to catch my next train, so I was stuck in Bellizona for 2 hours. It was actually pretty nice-- I bought some lunch at the local Migros (building shaped like Kresge auditorium) and took an elevator to the top of a castle there. The view was spectacular, and gave me a chance to get oriented and find the train station again. I also bought a skirt at a shop that was having a sale. It proved a wise choice as the hot weather was unbearable in my jeans.
The trains in Italy were hot and running late, and I didn't arrive in Venice until 7pm (I had left Davos at 7:30am). My first purchase was a map. This turned out to be my most valuable possession in Venice. I found out that I wouldn't be able to get into the apartment I was staying in until around 9, so I walked around town and treated myself to some gelato. When Nisha and Laura did get home, Laura and I set out to see Piazza San Marco at night. We also met up with Sarah and Stephen and sat down with them at a café along the Grand Canal. I had my first spritz. We sat there until 1am, then walked home. Laura and I were up at 7:30 the next day to get to the Doge's Palace by 9am. On the way there, we stopped at a little café for a breakfast of pastries. We got to the palace just as it was opening and didn't have to wait in line too long to get in. We bought the recommended audioguide and spent the next 2 hours walking around the palace/museum. We left exhausted and looked for lunch. We finally settled on sandwiches at a restaurant right next to the academia bridge. An American/French couple sat at the table next to ours and chatty. They asked us what we were visiting, where we were from, and even shoed us pictures of their young children. Laura was eager to get away from them. In the afternoon, we did some shopping, and then I went to visit St. Mark's Basilica. It was beautiful inside, everything covered in gold. I paid extra to go behind the main altar and see the gold jeweled altar veil. Back home, we relaxed a little from the heat, and waited for Nisha and Holly to get home. It turned out that they hadn't bought tickets to the show we were supposed to see, so we just went out to dinner instead. The restaurant had great pizza and the wine was cheaper than the water. Then we went for a long walk, with a break for gelato in a little piazza. We finally got home around 1am with very sore feet. I was out the door by 7 the next morning to go to St. Mark's Basilica for Mass. Then I bought my lunch for the train ride and headed home. The train back was just as hot, but fortunately not late, and I got to Davos by 7:30pm.

venice is beautiful

on my 50 cent gondola ride :)








castle in bellizona, switzerland, where I had to transfer

a grocery store with the same shape as kresge auditorium

paris journal part 2

I arrived in Paris on Friday evening, and had some time to kill before I could go to my friend Jenny's apartment. So I took the metro to St. Michel / Notre Dame and walked around. There were several beautiful palaces there, and a long line to get in. I ended up eating some panini with 3 cheeses, it was soo good. Then I met up with Jenny and Fernando and we took off for the Louvre. Anna also explored it with us. I saw the Mona Lisa, the Venus de Milo, and countless other paintings and sculptures. Perhaps the exhibit I was most impressed with was a crown and jewelry collection…
We came out of the Louvre almost three hours later and were ready for dinner. We found a nice italian restaurant on the fifth.
The next morning, Fernando and I woke up early to walk around the city. We walked down Champs-Elysses, the gardens of the Louvre, and Hotel des Invalides. There, I took an auditour and saw Napoleon's (huge) tomb. We went back to Jenny's place and all decided to have a picnic. After shopping in the grocery store and bakery, we sat in a park near the university for a few hours eating baguettes, cheese, and fruit. We bought a bottle of rose, but didn't have a corkscrew to open it. Then we spotted another picnic-ing group who were opening their bottle of wine, and sent Jenny over to ask for their corkscrew. They were pretty amused but we got our rose open. Next, we went to Notre Dame for the vigil Mass, then did some shopping near Notre Dame, and finally climbed up the towers of Notre Dame around sunset. It was a spectacular view of the city.
Back home, we searched the internet high and low for a club to go to that was nearby and didn't have an enormous cover charge. Around 12:30 we headed out for our first Paris discotheque experience. Personally, I wasn't very impressed-- the music was techno and didn't seem to change during the three hours we were there. And it was an hour's walk away. When we finally got back home around 5:30 reeking of cigarette smoke, I packed up my things and set my alarm so I could catch my train at noon. The train ride back was long and uneventful. When I did arrive in Davos, I had to go into the lab to take care of a few things. Between all the travel, climate change, and lack of sleep, I'm not surprised I came down with a cold the next day.

paris part 2

I had another weekend in Paris from July 20-22. I stayed with my friend Jenny who is working there this summer. Some pictures...

at the louvre

Notre Dame

Napoleon's tomb

park where we ate a picnic lunch

view of Eiffel tower during sunset, as seen from towers of Notre Dame

shopping! I wish I could have bought this hat :)

view out the back of my train somewhere in rural France