My Life Abroad

Clemson, United States, South Carolina @ Clemson, United States, South Carolina

2009-06-05T02:24:32.000Z

Getting Ready @ Clemson, United States, South Carolina

2009-06-11T19:41:26.000Z

I'm in my apartment in Clemson getting ready to leave for Europe in just a few more days!!
Although I am very excited about my trip, my Accounting class is distracting me from the excitement.

I've created this TripTracker to keep my friends & family updated on my experiences abroad. If there's anything you'd like me to add, let me know and I'll do my best to make it happen!

Home Sweet Home...and lots of packing @ Atlanta, United States, Georgia

2009-06-20T10:41:33.000Z

I finished up my accounting class and headed down 85 to Atlanta. I'm spending a few days here and packing up before my family leaves for Europe!
They will be traveling with me for the first seven days ending with a meal shared with my "new" family.

Munich, Germany @ Munich, Germany

2009-06-23T17:48:09.000Z

I arrived in Germany after a nice flight on British Airways. Even though I sat in Economy class I was very impressed with the airline. I got a glass of wine after takeoff and another to accompany my delicious (for airplane food) dinner. I had an empty seat next to me which was convenient for storing my stuff during the flight.

I had an hour layover in London, where I made friends with a guy from Davidson Uinversity headed to Ghana for the summer. We exchanged plans over a coffee then parted ways to our destinations.

When I arrived in Munich, the passage on the ramp to the airport was through a sliding glass door...that didn't work! I was surprised to find something that didn't work in Germany of all places!
I then went on to ride the train into the main station where I met up with my parents and my brother.

We walked in the rain to the hofbrauhaus where we enjoyed an evening of German beer, music, pretzels and bratwurst. Afterwards Chris decided to go run through the fountain in his raingear. He stayed completely dry, yet another guy from England or Australia (i forget which) who was wearing jeans decided he'd try to run through too. Bad idea. It was about 50 F and night = cold jeans.

Our hotel was quaint, and the staff was very friendly and bilingual.

Salzburg, Austria @ Salzburg, Austria

2009-06-24T10:05:22.000Z

Wednesday morning we left Munich early to ride the train to ride to Salzburg.

While there my family walked around the town and saw a few churches before going on the Sound of Music Tour.

Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland @ Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland

2009-06-25T05:28:55.000Z

Exploring the Alps, Carscallen Style @ Gimmelwald, Switzerland

2009-06-25T13:49:37.000Z

Borgosesia, Italy @ Borgosesia, Italy

2009-07-02T17:45:46.000Z

I'm now in Borgosesia, Italy which is about an hour northwest (by car) from Milan.

Skiing? In July? Yes Please! Zermatt, Switzerland @ Zermatt, Switzerland

2009-07-10T10:21:32.000Z

Zermatt, Switzerland

Before this journey even began, I was a little nervous. In order for me to get from Borgosesia to Zermatt, I had to change trains 4 times all by myself. Up to this point I had only traveled with my family on the European trains, and they did most of the thinking on the train transfers.
Peter dropped me off at the train station and after a cup of cappuccino I was on my way on the one-car train.
I made two changes and stopped in Domodossola for about an hour layover. There I walked up some streets close to the station and stopped in a little restaurant to grab a bite to eat. I had a very good farfalle (bowtie) pasta with pesto sauce and a glass of white wine.
After lunch I hopped back on the train for a bit, then stopped to switch to a swiss train. I met two American girls on the platform for the train headed to Zermatt so I sat with them on the scenic ride up the valley. They were both from California, so I really didn’t have all that much in common with them other than a language. Then the conductor came by asking for tickets, so I showed him my EURail pass naturally. Turns out Swiss trains run on a different system (go figure, it’s Switzerland) and I had to purchase my ticket from him, which was probably the more convenient way to do it anyhow. There was no fine, so I actually got the convenience without charge.
I arrived in Zermatt ready to give Corey a great big hug at the train station..but she wasn’t there. I wandered around the station for about twenty minutes hoping I’d bump into her. After no sight of Corey I decided to go with our plan B and check to see if she left a note at the hostel. After getting lost once in this small mountain town of chalets, I found the hostel and went inside only to find a cleaning lady who didn’t speak much English and a reception desk that was closed until four. I wandered around the hostel wondering if she might have left a note on a pillow or something. I met a guy named Rich who was in Zermatt skiing for the week from England, and he said he’d heard some English speaking kids come in below him. So I checked out all the rooms and found no note. Thankfully the hostel had a PC with free internet. Maybe Corey would’ve sent me an e-mail, or facebook message…but to no avail. So there I stand in the middle of Zermatt with no best friend and it’s over an hour after my train came in.
I decided to chill out about it and grabbed a beer (a 4.80 Swiss Frank beer…) with some girls from Appalacian State who I met on the way to the hostel. We sat and talked for a while until the hostel reception opened, then headed back to check in. It was there I discovered that Corey had not checked in. So I made arrangements for us to be in the same room, and the boys to be together as well. I walked upstairs to my room, put my stuff away and wrote a note to Corey to call me when she got in. I walked back downstairs to find Corey and her two friends Alec and Ramu waiting to check in! They had gotten on the wrong train to start out and ended up in Zermatt a few hours later than expected.
After we all settled in we headed out in search of food. Alec and Ramu had friends who had been to Zermatt recently and stayed in another hostel that served a buffet-style dinner that was evidently very good. They said that the people working didn’t really check to see if you were legit or not, so we decided we’d try to get some good food. We started off in the right direction, then ended up walking all around the steeper side of town for the better part of an hour and finally found the hostel.
Ramu, the most confident of us in this endeavor, went in first. We walked in, grabbed a tray and started down the line. Then a lady behind the counter asked Alec what room we were in. He turned to Ramu because he had ‘forgotten’ the number. Ramu started talking his way out of the situation and Alec ‘went upstairs to check the number.’ Then Corey and I bolted and Alec did too. But Ramu smooth talked his way into a free meal which he ate rapidly and then headed out to meet us outside and share some bread. We ended up buying two 14 Frank pizzas and bringing them back to the hostel.
There we chilled out in the lounge and ate the pizzas and some sandwiches that the boys made. I brought a bottle of Prosecco (a cheaper Italian version of Champagne) and the others brought two bottles of actual Champagne and a few beers. We drank and played card games until around midnight when we decided to hit the sack in order to get up early the next morning.
Our day started at 5:45 am. We packed up and put our stuff in an extra locker in the hostel which was a brilliant idea of Ramu’s and saved us some hassle and a few Franks. We ate some nutella sandwitches for breakfast, grabbed our skiis/snowboards and headed to the lift.
We bought our lift tickets, stored our shoes in a locker, and headed for the slopes. It took three different lifts to get all the way to the top and the views were amazing.
Meanwhile my feet are killing me. I got ski boots that were a size too small and I was wearing two pairs of socks. Bad idea. So I took off one pair of socks at the top and that helped, but my feet were still recovering days after the actual trip.
To be honest, the four of us looked really out of place on these slopes. Corey was the only one who actually knew what she was doing to start with. Ramu and I classified ourselves as ‘advanced beginners’ and Alec had never snowboarded in his life. Needless to say there were some pretty entertaining wipeouts on the red swiss alpine slopes. Looking back it’s hard to believe I actually went down those hills with two pieces of wood/plastic strapped to my feet. After two good wipeouts and a walk down the slope with ‘broken’ skiis in hand (I couldn’t put the skiis back on on an incline for some reason) I decided to jump ship from the T-bar lift before the big hills and stick to the section of the slope I was more comfortable with and actually enjoyed.
After skiing for a few hours, we headed back down the mountain on an absolutely gorgeous blue slope. For starters I didn’t have to pay so much attention to not falling on my butt and getting run over by the crazy fast and good skiers who were zipping around everywhere. I could actually look and enjoy the beautiful scenery around me. We were literally IN the alps, skiing on a glacier in some places. I took a few videos and some pictures, but mostly just enjoyed the tranquil ride back to the lift.
At the bottom the first order of business was taking those boots off! By this time Corey and Ramu had joined in my pain of the feet, and we were all very glad to get into our normal shoes. We returned our very cheaply rented equipment and walked back to the hostel to pick up our secretly locked up stuff. We then headed to the train station for the other’s train ride. Corey and Alec stopped at the coop to pick up some food and chocolate of course, and Ramu and I went to buy our tickets for the trip back home.
I saw my new friends and Corey off only to see them in just a week in Barcelona!!
My train didn’t leave for another hour, so I walked around town and went into the little shops. I bought some chocolate, some souvenirs, and three apple strudels to bring back to Peter & Lucy. I had a salad from the coop for lunch at the station as I was serenaded by a visiting youth singing group from Oregon. Then I hopped on the train towards Brig and sat with an Indian family who lived in Zurich.
I switched trains in Birg onto a ‘nicer’ train that was headed towards Milan. It was packed. The Italian trains were on strike, so all the passengers were loaded onto fewer trains. I had a reservation and ended up in a quiet compartment with an Italian grandma, grandpa and grandson.
I arrived in Arona to be picked up by Peter, Lucy and the girls and we headed to a gluten-free restaurant for dinner. I slept on the ride home and went straight to bed after a quick shower. It was a great weekend with beautiful places and new friends!

My Everyday Life in Italy @ Borgosesia, Italy

2009-07-15T05:00:51.000Z

My Everyday Life in Italy

7:30 Wake up, get ready for the day.
Typical Outfit: Capri’s/skirt, solid color t-shirt, sandals
8:00 Breakfast
Various cereals, juice, coffee
Eat with Peter, Lucy, Emma and Anna (depending on who’s awake)
8:30 Play with Anna/Emma, dress them
Playing includes ABC flash cards, puzzles, reading, and most of all barbies/castles
9ish Walk with Nono and Anna. We walk around town, wave to my friend Betty at her office window on the way to get coffee at the same bar every time. The girls call it Franco & Pia’s because they know the owners better than the name of the bar. I usually get a cappuccino, Nono gets a café and Anna gets sparkling water and either a brioche or patatine (croissant or potato chips). Then Nono goes to run errands and Anna and I go to the park.
10ish Anna plays at the park. There I met my friend Robyn, an Australian nanny who’s 28. I also end up talking to many of the parents/babysitters/grandparents of the children who play at the park. They like to work on their English skills with me and I work on my Italian. The park is literally right behind the house, so it’s very easy and convenient for us. If it starts to rain, or the girls get tired, we can just go home. The park sits right next to the river Sesia so there’s usually a good breeze and benches are in the shade. Anna’s favorite part is the swings and there are usually not too many kids there at one time. Unless the summer camp decides to roll in with about 35 kids…then we just leave and go home cause I can’t find Anna in that sea of crazy children. I see the same people there a lot and Anna has made new friends as well.
12:30ish Lunch
We always have lunch with the whole family. We eat downstairs in the grandparent’s apartment because Nona always gooks. There are a few things that are always on the table: bowl of bread (cibatta), olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and apple cider vinegar, parmesan cheese, pepperocino pepper, white pepper, oregano, and salt. There’s also always a container of celery, carrots, and tomatoes. On top of those staples, I’ll explain the typical lunch.
Starts with a bowl of pasta. You are free to put your own sauce/spices on it. Nona makes her own tomato sauce which is basically a puree, and usually served cold. Otherwise you can choose to use some olive oil and parmesan cheese. I usually use all the spices on the table, some parmesan and olive oil, however sometimes the pasta comes with pomodoro (the tomato sauce) already on it and warm.
Once we’re done with the pasta, I clear the bowls and grab the meat and veggies from the kitchen. So far we’ve had beef, chicken, pork and a rabbit roast. As for the veggies it varies from cauliflower or zucchini to fennel or cooked carrots. The veggies are cooked in olive oil and usually a bit overcooked actually, because that’s the way that Nono likes them (even though he doesn’t eat them) but it all tastes good to me.
After lunch we have a coffee and a small pastry-like thing they buy from the town market. They’re shaped like Christmas trees, but are very lite and sugary, a great compliment to coffee.
2:30 Anna usually takes a nap for about an hour and a half, so does Emma.
4:00 Fidela, the other babysitter arrives. She’s an older lady who’s full of energy and talks a lot, but only in Italian. Anna has to translate a lot for us, but I also learn a lot of Italian from Fidela. At the beginning of the summer, Emma was in school all day up until this time
5:15 Emma returns from school. We usually go to the park or play inside for an hour.
6:15 The girls (and sometimes me too) go in the pool. It’s a small pool in the side yard that’s about 6 feet in diameter. Nono, Nona, and Fidela usually watch the girls then too,
6:45 Fidela and I take turns giving the girls baths, sometimes its fun, other times not so much. After they get their PJs on, the girls watch TV (usually Barbapapa, Hello Kitty, or Il Numeroti) while me, Peter and Lucy get dinner ready/set the table.
7ish Dinner, usual American style leftovers, or Mexican, pizza, whatever’s in the fridge (cheese). There’s usually a salad and that same tub of celery, carrots, and tomatoes too. After dinner, I head up to my apartment to take a shower, talk to my friends and family on Skype or facebook, plan my next trip, then go to sleep.

Metros, Sangrias, Bikes & Sights @ Barcelona, Spain

2009-07-18T10:00:01.000Z

basically me + 20 or so Georgia Tech kids bumbling our way through Barcelona

Day 1

Peter was awesome enough to drive me to the Milan Malpensa airport to start my journey. I was at the airport in plenty of time, so I looked to find my gate but I was so early it wasn’t even posted yet. I shopped around the duty free place to waste some time and ended up buying some Big Fruit gelee candies from Italy to bring to my friends. I also grabbed a quick salad before boarding the plane. I flew on EasyJet, so the only luggage I had was my North Face backpack.
I arrived in Barcelona ready to go, so I followed the signs (that I could actually read in English and in Spanish) to the Metro.

From there I bought a T-10 pass, just as my friend Kristin had advised me to do so, and hopped on the train into town. After a little mixup with the trains, I arrived at the Arc de Triumph station. Corey and Patrick both met me there, then we bought a doner kebab (which was amazing) and some drinks for the night. We went to Kristin/Patrick’s ‘dorm’ place and unloaded for a bit before heading out.
We went with a decently large group of Georgia Tech kids to a bar called Chupitos that served some very entertaining drinks. There was lots of fire involved in the shot-making and even some marshmallows! I slept at Kristin’s dorm for Friday night because she's awesome enough to let me crash!

Day 2

We woke up relatively early in order to shower and get ready to go on a bike tour of Barcelona. We went to a little market to get some breakfast (fruit & coffee) and hopped on the metro to meet up with Kathryn and Corey. Amazingly Corey and Kathryn were walking past the top of the stairs as Kristin and I surfaced from the metro.
We toured Barcelona with “Fat Tire Tours” and our guide was a 30 year old kid who’s done some pretty random jobs in some pretty awesome places. He was entertaining, and a good guide for the group of mostly young people. We wound through Barcelona seeing some major points including la Sagrada Familia, a bull fighting stadium, and many others. The tour took a lunch break at the beach before heading back to the center of the city to finish.

The remainder of the daytime, we went shopping and looking around las ramblas and the surrounding areas. We grabbed a cappuccino at Four Cats café, where Picasso used to hang out.

We split up so Kristin could finish her architecture project on balconies and we could shower before going out for the night. I went to Kristin’s place and showered to go out and met up with the big group of Georgia Tech kids to go out to dinner.
Because we were such a large group, we split up into smaller groups to go to dinner. My sector went to a really neat place for dinner where they have gourmet food at a reasonable price. The chefs who work there are in training, and from our experience, so are the servers…
But it was a great meal and only about 15 Euros for paella, a salad (the best part of the meal), and sangria. We got to sit outside and look out at a beautiful piazza and watch all the people walk by. The host also warned us to watch our bags, as pick pocketing was a frequent occurrence from our table. None of us had anything of serious value on us, but we were careful anyway and left with all our belongings still with us.

After dinner we went to meet up with the big group at the Christopher Columbus statue. This was pretty entertaining because a few of the guys decided it would be cool to climb up on the statue (see my pictures for a reference) and just hang out. Once we got the group of 20 or so kids together, trying to decide where to go was the issue. Everyone decided we would go to this one bar before going out to the club. Problem was, this bar was not exactly close, and getting everyone there together was definitely a fun time. We arrived as a herd of clamoring college kids at Dow Jones bar where the prices of drinks fluctuate based on demand. Although we were a large group, the bar had a quite chill atmosphere in the seating areas, and a bit more excitement by the bar so you could choose your seat by your mood. Once an hour the market for drinks would “crash” and everything would become dirt cheap. This caused a mad rush to the bar, but also proved to be lots of fun.

Once we finished out our stay by singing “my heart will go on” from Titanic, the group got back on the metro. Some of us headed home (and by home, this time I slept in Corey’s bed), and others went to the beach to watch the sunrise.

Day 3

Corey and I woke up around 10 the next day and went to see Gaudi’s Park Guell. It took us about two hours to go, see it, and come back. We had a great breakfast at a little bar (really a coffee shop, but they call them bars over here). It was run by two Spanish-speaking Asians, and probably the best café con leche I’ve ever had.

We got back to Corey’s place in time to see the others waking up. I went back to Kristin’s to collect my stuff and get ready for the beach. Unfortunately, by the time I got all ready and Corey and her friends got to Kristin’s, there was no time left for me to hit the beach. So we grabbed a quick lunch and then I headed on to the Airport as Corey & her friends went to the beach for the afternoon. I had a nice flight home, and slept very well that night. Overall, I love Barcelona, and it is definitely somewhere I want to spend some more time, 2.5 days was not enough!

Torino, Italy @ Turín - Torino (Turin), Italy

2009-07-25T14:52:53.000Z

Torino was my 'take it easy' weekend during my time spent in Italy.
I left Borgosesia around 8am on the train to Novara, switched trains, and headed to Torino. My friend Jon met me at the station and we headed out to explore the city. We started walking in the wrong direction unknowingly. We ended up at some park and used Lucy’s map (drawn from memory) to ask for directions. A nice young girl with a dog gave us directions in Italian with hand gestures so we understood about 50% of what she said. We basically winded around the city and followed the signs to the Egyptian Museum. Entry was only €3.50 because we had our ISIC cards, and it was well worth every bit. There was a bunch of awesome and really big statues in a dimly lit room that gave you a really cool ambiance and almost made you feel like you were in an ancient temple or something. Incense would’ve been a nice touch though. There was a whole wall of printed papyrus, like a whole freaking huge wall! There were lots of decorated (and huge) caskets and mummies too. We used the bathrooms and refilled our water bottles on the way out. Then we headed to explore more of the city.

We walked down Via Roma, the Rodeo Drive of Torino, and ended up in a main Piazza. We bought a quick (and expensive) sandwich to go and sat on the side of an old castle in the shade to eat and avoid the extra sitting fee at the restaurant. We walked into the palace next to the castle only to find the tours booked up and two kids from Kennesaw State.One guy was wearing a Thrasher’s shirt so I started up conversation and found out where they were from. Because the tours were booked and we were tired hot and sweaty, we decided to head back to the hostel.

We had some trouble with the bus system in Torino. We ended up taking bus 58 along the entire one-way route. It was fine because it was air conditioned and we got a free joyride through the city.
Jon had ended up in Torino a night early and actually stayed at the same hostel I had already booked for us.

We stayed in two different rooms because of our differing gender and the availability of rooms. I was in a room with two Dutch girls and a girl from Bangladesh/Montreal. I enjoyed a little snack of nutella and bread when I got there, but I ran into a problem. I had no knife. So to Hosneara’s (the girl from Bangladesh/Montreal) surprise, I whipped out my toothbrush and used the non-brush side as a spreading device. It worked quite well and she took some pretty horribly funny and unattractive pictures of the event.

Jon and I had originally planned on going out to dinner and then to a bar or club for the night. I had carried around a bottle of Prosecco (a cheaper Italian version of Champagne) all day and was not about to take it back with me. We decided to go out in the garden (really just an overgrown backyard) and sit and drink some wine and decide what we felt like doing for the night.

Turns out the Dutch girls from my room were grilling out with three German guys and invited us to join. So we sat down and decided we should just go ahead and stay there for the night cause these were some pretty cool people. We walked to the grocery store “around the corner” where we proceeded to buy some burgers, chips, and some cheap tiramisu. We returned to the garden, grilled and ate our food and hung out til about midnight. Then everyone said bye and went back to their rooms to sleep.

When I woke up the Dutch girls were gone, and so was Jon. Hosneara was still there though, so we packed our stuff up together. She was traveling alone around Europe for two months! We checked out, and took the bus into town together. While we were waiting for the bus, some wart/lump covered old lady bid us a blessed day after finding out we were from America and traveling around. There was another old lady at the stop too who was evidently a Catholic missionary in her own neighborhood, she also bid us a blessed day and was excited to hear that I was actually Catholic too. All of these conversations were in Italian, so I had to translate all of it to Hosneara.

We got to the train station area and decided to get breakfast. Bad idea. It was the most expensive breakfast I’ve had. I got a cappuccino and toast (a toasted ham & cheese sandwich) for €7.50! We did sit down at a table, so that cost us some extra Euros especially because it was at a café in the piazza between the train station and Via Roma.

After we finished our expensive breakfast, we went to the train station to see when our trains left. Turns out we both missed ours by about 10 minutes and had to wait for the next one out. Hosneara’s was in an hour or so, but I had until about 2pm (a few hours) before my train left. We parted ways and I explored the city some more on my own.

I went down Via Roma, even though it was Sunday and most stores were closed. I did some window shipping and even went into some stores that were open, but I didn’t buy anything. I looked for my friend Miles a cool shirt, but to no avail. I found a big piazza on the map that we had gotten from the slightly rude TI the day before, and decided I’d go see it. I wandered down the streets until I found it. I took some pictures and even stumbled upon a Spanish band playing a concert in the square.

Then it was time for me to head back to the station to catch my train. I was running just a little bit late (well, a little late in order to arrive early of course). As I got closer, I wasn’t exactly sure how much further I had to go, so I started to repeat the Hail Mary several times and to my surprise, the station appeared on the next block. I had plenty of time to check for my platform, buy the best PowerAde ever (green mango) and hop on the train home.

Venice, Italy @ Venice, Italy

2009-07-31T22:19:53.000Z

Corey & I spent a weekend in Venice.

Venice

Corey arrived at the Milan Malpensa airport around 6:40 on a Thursday afternoon and Peter and I picked her up. We went to get Mexican and headed home to eat. After dinner we went out and walked around Borgosesia for a bit. We bought some gelato and ran into Fedela so Corey was able to witness my very broken Italian speaking skills. After that we came home and Corey had the best shower of her life and we went to bed.

I got up early (normal time) for work and Corey slept in until about 10:30ish. We had lunch with the whole family and then played with the girls a bit before they took a nap. Corey and I packed to leave, and got to the train station with plenty of time to spare.

On the ride to Novara I discovered what P.L.C. meant. Poor Life Choice, I sat next to a smelly African guy…but thankfully seats freed up and we were able to move. We changed trains in Novara and made reservations at the Novara station. It was 10 E each way which is kinda expensive. They didn’t even check the reservation on the way to Venice, but it’s still good to have just in case. On the train from Novara to Milan, we sat next to a girl about our age. Of course I start talking, because I do that, and discovered that she was an athlete competing at a national level for Italy. She did the triple jump and had actually gotten an offer from CLEMSON of all places! Needless to say I was very excited about my Clemson connection. We parted ways with the track star and hopped on our train to Venice. We arrived in Venice around 11:45 after a ½ hour delay on the train due to “traffic”.

There we went to buy tickets for the boat-bus to Lido, the island we were staying on. I had e-mailed the hotel manager and he told me which route to take. We spent about €6.50 each on a 1 way ticket. Our bus didn’t leave until 0:12, so we had some time to buy gelato and take some pictures from the cool bridge close to the bus stop.

We took the night line all the way down the Grand Canal which was really scenic and pretty. Our hotel was right next to the bus stop so it was super easy to find once we arrived in Lido. Our room had a double bed (really two twins pushed together), mini-fridge, TV, and a bathroom. Nothing super special, but it was Air Conditioned and we had our own bathroom, so it was much nicer than the hostels we had stayed at in the past. It wasn’t necessarily “clean” according to my mom’s standards, but we were happy.

Corey and I woke up around 8 on Saturday morning and headed out for breakfast at a café before buying our 24-hour bus pass for €18 each. This was pretty much a waste of money because we only got checked once (at the Rialto bridge station); however it’s always better to have it than to get thrown off the bus by angry Italian police. We hopped on the next bus to St. Marco’s square, but went up a few more stops so we wouldn’t get bombarded with the tourists. Our original plan was to go to a church a bit further up the canal, but we got our stops starting with “G” confused and ended up in the middle of the shopping district.

Corey and I were both in decent clothing (i.e. not running shorts) so we decided to look around a bit. We went in Gucci first, looked at some shoes and belts and left. It smelled like good leather and money, and I didn’t see s speck of dust anywhere. Next was Prada. There were more people at this store and it seemed less “stuffy.” I asked about an orange bag (that happened to match the skirt I was wearing). I think it was around €500. Anyway we were invited to go look around upstairs. There they had more bags and lots of clothes. We didn’t spend much time up there; everything was obviously out of our price range.

Then we walked down the street some more until I saw Valentino. I figured I’d go in because I actually own something from Valentino. There were two people working and us in the store, that’s it. I inquired about their perfume and we talked to the girl working there. I asked how much the perfume cost just to compare it to the U.S. and it was wayyy more expensive. Anyway, she was really nice and sprayed both me and Corey down before we left. We felt refreshed and a lot ‘cleaner’ in the Venetian heat after that. The girl tried to tell me that the bigger bottle was a better deal, but she didn’t know the English words for it, so I wrote it down for her before we left. Our good deed for the day 

Then we arrived in St. Mark’s Square. It was set up for some summer concert series, so we didn’t get the entire “hugeness” effect. W wandered around past the musicians playing for the elegant café’s patrons, and toward the Basilica. The line to get in was super long and in the sun too. I remembered my tip from Rick Steve’s book about checking your bag to skip the line. We walked around to find the narrow little ally where the free baggage check place was. We checked Corey’s small purse and water bottle, got laughed at a bit for just checking it to get a pass, but when we got to skip the hot sweaty line, it was well worth the laughs.

The Church was beautiful! Luckily we got in with the skirt (me) and dress (Corey) that just dusted our knees. We saw that there was a Mass going on, so we joined in right before the first reading. It was a nice service on the side of the main aisle. We didn’t know too much about the readings, but the Mass parts are always the same everywhere. We then kinda accidentally snuck in with some group that was at the Mass to see the Gold carving thingy behind the main altar. We were supposed to pay €2 for it, but oh well. We left after that, got our bags, tipped €2 to make up for it, and continued our day.

Corey and I walked across the square to the Doge’s Palace. With our ISIC card, entry was only €6.50 compared to the €16 normal charge. It was really pretty and very majestic. Lots of gold and lots of big paintings, big rooms, and restrictions on cameras. I took a few stealth pictures illegally but never got caught. Corey got asked not to take pics once, so I guess I just got lucky. Evidently there’s a bridge of last views for prisoners that’s pretty famous. I took a picture there.

Then we got lost. They say you’re supposed to so we did. Just for a bit though before catching the water bus to Murano. We had lunch at a little Chinese-run bar. Corey got a pizza and I got a sandwich, and my drinks cost more than my food. I got water and lemonade (which is amazzzing). Then we hopped on the water bus to Murano. There we shopped around for a while then got a granite slushy thing and drank it while sitting on the canal.

We headed back to Lido around 7 after a trip to the Grocery store. We took a nap until about 8:45, and then went out for dinner €13.50 for a 3-course meal. Corey’s calamari wasn’t good, but my steak was ok. We walked to the beach and hung out for a bit, saw some fireworks, and heard music from the two clubs by the beach. I walked halfway home barefoot to avoid sand in my shoes but I finally put my sandals back on.

Shower. Sleeeep! We didn’t’ get up until about 10, checked out of our room around 11, saw the Rialto bridge, got some cheap calzones & gelato for lunch, and hopped on the fast train back to Borgosesia.

Milan, Italy @ Milan, Italy

2009-08-10T10:26:11.000Z

I spent a Saturday in Milan, by myself.

Sacro Monte in Varallo, Italy @ Varallo Sesia, Italy

2009-08-10T10:27:05.000Z

A Pilgrimage site for early Christians (mainly Catholics) located a 12 minute train ride north of Borgosesia. There are about 30 chapels with life-sized depictions of the story of Jesus's life, and basic Bible stories.

Aarhus, Denmark @ Aarhus, Denmark

2009-08-16T01:07:15.000Z

Oslo, Norway @ Oslo, Norway

2009-08-21T01:08:58.000Z

Lillehammer, Norway @ Lillehammer, Norway

2009-08-25T01:10:35.000Z

Dublin, Ireland @ Brussels, Belgium

2009-09-29T20:34:43.000Z

Brussels, Belgium @ Brussels, Belgium

2009-10-19T15:26:55.000Z

Brugge, Belgium @ Brugge (Bruges), Belgium

2009-10-19T15:27:27.000Z