Just so you all don't worry... don't google pictures of people climbing Mt. Pilatus.  There are two ways up the mountain, and I took the easy route.  The hard route (which is where most of those pictures are from) is not the one I took!

The Alps

Well, this will have to be speedy as I have to complete my packing tonight!

Today was a splendid day!  I was pretty proud of myself this morning as I easily learned to navigate the Zurich tram system and found my way to the bus stop where my tour group was meeting.  My group consisted of the guide, me and a woman from Atlanta... that was it.  Ellie, the woman from Atlanta, used to work in consulting for Arthur Anderson before ENRON occurred, so we had a lot in common and had a lot of fun hanging out all day. 

Our trip started out with a tour of the city of Lucerne.  This city is located about 20 miles from Zurich and has a real country feel to it.  It is located on a beautiful lake, but unfortuantely, there was too much fog this morning to really appreciate the scenery around the city.  We learned about the city's history and took a few pictures and then headed to Mount Pilatus.  We climbed 8,000 feet into the sky on a gondola.  The views were outstanding once we got above the clouds.  About 1,000 feet from the top we stopped at a little restaurant in the clouds to eat some lunch.  We had a traditional Switzerland lunch that included bratwurst.  After lunch, we headed to the top of the mountain on a very high flying gondola.  I have never had a fear of heights before this final gondola stretch.  However, I must admit that being 8,000 feet up in the air in a tiny container finally got to me.  I felt a bit weak in the knees by the time we reached the top of the mountains.  Good thing our views made up for it!  Once we reached the top, Ellie and I decided to climb the rock stairs to the top of Mt. Pilatus.  Even though the climb was only 300 or so stairs, I felt absolutely exhausted when I reached the top due to the lack of oxygen from being so high up.  The height didn't bother me until I reached the top and looked over the edge... even with steal guardrails I felt sick to my stomach from the height.  Below us was about a 1,000 foot drop.  I had to talk Ellie into going back down the mountain as she was freaking out even more than I was after getting to the top.  There were guardrails up and down the mountain and land on either side to protect against any strange fall, but still, it just didn't feel great being up that high!

View from Mt. Pilatus.  The white you see beneath the

 mountains is not land. The white is actually clouds.



 After our climb, we got into a cogwheel train and headed down the side of the mountain. This train hold the world record for the World's steepest cogwheel train.  It was a beautiful ride down!

My flight leaves tomorrow afternoon, and if all goes well, I should be back in the US by tomorrow evening!  I have loved my time here, but it will be nice to sleep in my own bed once again!

Arrived in Switzerland!

Well, I made it to Switzerland!  However, I still need to recap yesterday’s adventures.

I started out yesterday morning with a walk along the Arno River which runs through Florence.  I got a good look at the famous arch bridge over the Arno called Ponte Vecchio.  It’s pretty impressive that a bridge built in the 1300s is still standing.  I walked along the bridge and wondered through the shops on the bridge until I came across a café on the other side of the river.  I stopped and had a wonderful chocolate croissant and a cappuccino. 

Ponte Vecchio

Ponte Vecchio with a rower braving the cold morning

My breakfast outside the cafe

After breakfast I headed to some shops and found a cute pair of Italian leather boots.  Then I accidentally came across an outdoor market.  The market sold everything from WWII antiques to handmade soaps to postcards from the early 1900s.  I spent a lot of time wondering around and purchasing a few gifts.  Then, I went and had some pizza… because no trip to Italy is complete without pizza. 

My lunch... it was a bit much

I did a bit more shopping during the afternoon and early evening and then had a bite to eat at a restaurant close to my hotel and some gelato from Grom (a popular chain of gelato shops in Italy).  I have to say, I was very sad to have to leave Florence.  I loved my time there!

This morning I had a four hour train ride from Italy to Zurich.  I had a stop in Milan and everyone there looked like Meryl Streep in “The Devil Wears Prada”.  The rest of the train ride included outstanding views of the Alps.  I passed hundreds of mountains, waterfalls and lakes on my way into Zurich.  I didn’t get many pictures since the train was high speed and the windows were a tad dirty.  Hopefully I will get some good pictures tomorrow on my trip to Mount Pilatus.  Tomorrow is my last day in Europe, so I am hoping for good weather and a great trip to the mountains!



Italy Day 2

Wow, it’s been a busy past 48 hours, but a blast!  There's no way to write down everything I have done over the past few days, so I will try to focus on the highlights!

Yesterday and today were absolutely beautiful days in Italy.  Every article, website and travel guide told me not to go to Italy in November due to the bad weather.  I must have gotten lucky, because it has been 60 and sunny here during the day.  It gets chilly at night, but that’s not a big deal.

Yesterday morning I joined a tour group for a tour of Tuscany.  The majority of my group was from Australia, the US and Brazil.  Our first stop was the city of Siena.  The city was actually settled in 400bc.  While in the city I visited the Siena Cathedral which included works from both Donatello and Michelangelo and then spent time in the Piazza del Campo, which is the city’s main square. 

picture taken from the streets in Siena

Next, we took a drive through the Tuscan countryside which included some of the best views I have seen.  One of the highlights of this trip was the driving.  It allowed for plenty of gorgeous views.  We arrived at a Tuscan winery where we had a lunch that included some delicious pasta dish, a salad and brushetta.  The staff of the winery took us on a tour that showed us how they made their wine.  The views of the vineyard were stunning (see below)…

Part of the winery

View from the vineyard

Taking in the views after dinner



After dinner, we headed to the small hillside town of San Gimingnano.  The city included fantastic views and some good shopping. 

View from San Gimignano

Finally, we wrapped up our day at the leaning tower of pisa!  It leans a lot more than you think!

I will have to get pictures loaded from today at some point :)  More details to come later!



Air France, Duomo and Lasagna

Well, I reached Italy!  I think I deserve some type of traveler’s gold star.  My plane out of Amsterdam was delayed this morning because of fog in Paris.  Consequently, I only had 30 minutes to transfer flights.  I believe I jogged about 2 miles through the Paris airport.  I was missing my belt and shoes when I reached my gate, but I made my flight! 

I flew Air France today.  I have to say, comparing Delta to Air France is like comparing Motel 6 to a Four Seasons.  For instance, on my flight from Paris to Florence (only 2 hours), I enjoyed a fresh croissant, coffee that actually tasted good, peaceful music, a box of sugary mini pastries, beautiful interior design and a calm and pleasant (not to mention strangely good-looking) staff.  When a baby started crying, a stewardess went to help calm him down and brought out some toys and goodies for the child. 

Now, let’s reminisce about my flight into Amsterdam on Delta (a ticket that cost 5 times my Air France ticket).  The staff was cranky and didn’t even appear to have matching uniforms.  I think they were all just told to “wear black and a scarf” to work.  I was served some type of microwaveable dinner that I couldn’t exactly identify.  My choices were “meat” or “no meat”.  I choose the safe route and went with the “no meat” option that I believe was pasta with some processed vegetables mixed in.  I couldn’t even eat my bread for fear of tearing the enamel off of my teeth.  Someone had carved their name (Brandon I believe) into the seat in front of me, and a stinky French teenager with a cold sat next to me the whole time.   In summary, if the French have gotten one thing right, it’s their attitude towards commercial aviation!  Finally, take a look at one of the pictures of the Alps that I took from the plane ride into Italy.  This scenery was a highlight for the day. 



My hotel in Florence is at the very center of the city.  The hotel is family owned and the owners have done a wonderful job of taking care of me so far.  The hotel is in a large house that is probably 200 years old, and my room includes vaulted ceilings, hard wood floors and an entirely marbled bathroom.  I was shocked when I saw how nice my accommodations were. 

Upon arrival, I headed straight into the city to do a little site seeing and some shopping.  I stopped by the Florence Cathedral/called the Duomo (see picture below) and then headed to several clothing shops.  The shopping here is fantastic.  Everyone here seems to have really fancy shoes on, especially the men.  Europeans never wear tennis shoes. 

I headed to dinner at a restaurant near my hotel.  I ordered lasagna, and let me just say, it was the best lasagna that I have ever had.  It was entirely different than the lasagna we have in America.  There was almost no tomato sauce or tomato taste in the dish.  After dinner, I walked through the city streets and enjoyed the shops.  Most of the streets around my hotel are heavy shopping districts that are closed off to traffic, so that makes walking very pleasant.  So far I love Italy.  The atmosphere is somehow relaxing and energetic at the same time.  I have a full day tour of Tuscany tomorrow, so that should be a wonderful addition to what has already been a great trip.   

Amsterdam

Since I have just settled into my room in Amsterdam, and I have an early morning flight, I am going to skip on blogging tonight.  I hope to have some more adventures to report on soon!

Fine Dining

Today was a busy day at work.  We wrap up at our client tomorrow, so we had a lot on our plate. 

Although today was busy, Jeannie (my coworker) and I were able to sneak away for a bit to have a nice snack at the bakery across the street.  Today was my first time eating a Belgian waffle at 3pm on a workday.  It was a delicious treat. 

Once we finished working around 7, Jeannie and I walked to the city center and had a nice dinner.  We were delighted when the restaurant we ate at came over to our table with IPads as menus.  This was especially nice as the IPad had an "english" selection.  My fish was prepared great, and the presentation and ambience was especially nice. 

Me with my Ipad

Jeannie wanted an action shot

Picture of the restaurant's interior

So far, my trip has been amazingly smooth.  However, I am expecting a slight speed bump on Friday.  I will be leaving Amsterdam to head to Florence, Italy on Friday morning.  In order to get to Italy, I have to transfer flights in Paris.  Today, CNN ranked Paris' airport as the "worst in the world"... ahead of Narobi, JFK, LAX and many other horrible airports.  I have an hour and fifteen minutes to transfer.  I will have to go through a security checkpoint/customs and get on a shuttle to go to another terminal in that time.  It's likely that I won't make my flight.  Fortunately, I called Air France, and they promised to put me on another flight for free if I miss my flight.  As there are three more flights heading to Florence on Friday after my initial flight, I should be fine if I miss it.  If the airport is anything like every other place I have been to in France, the employees will be delightfully rude and wonder why you dared to bother them at their place of work.  I hope for the best, but I plan for the worst when it comes to France.  As such, I have already located the nearest Air France help desk, determined the best terminal to eat at, and printed lots of maps of the 9 terminals in the airport.  I should be good to go.  If I succeed at getting to my plane on time, I am buying myself a treat.