It's not 'Florence', it's Firenze

I skipped over Florence in my blog updates after the fun I had on my first day in Switzerland, so I’ll talk a little about it now.

The weather was pretty poor the whole time; it rained throughout my visit. Luckily, most of the things I had planned were indoors. I went to the Uffizi gallery, the Bargello, and the Accademia; climbed to the top of the Duomo (which was half a block from my hostel); and visited Piazza della Signoria and the Ponte Vecchio. It’s a beautiful city with a lot of character – I’ll have to go back and see more of it. I can tell there was a lot of history I missed this first time around. I would think it comes into its own with better weather, too. Since so much of the typical sightseeing in Florence is centered on galleries and museums, going in the low season means short lines. I went to the Uffizi and the Accademia in the same day (without a reservation at the Uffizi). It seems like all the guidebooks suggest this would be impossible in summer.

I don’t have many photos from Florence since the museums don’t allow photos. It’ll always be easy to look up the art with an image search, though. Here are some from outside the museums:

Skiing in Switzerland

Had a great first day on the slopes. The conditions, both weather and snow, were great in the morning. Bright sun and soft snow. I was able to hit a few mogul fields before they were fully formed and packed down and even found some fresh powder. I brought my boots with me, so no problems there. I'm using a pair of 2010 Solomon XWings which track pretty well in the groomers and put up with my terrible performances off the piste. The sheer amount of vertical distance you cover top-to-bottom is staggering. Some photos:

Skiing between barns and houses - very different than the tree-littered slopes in the US. Most of the resort is above the tree line giving you open glades of power on nice days.

Murren - it's even cuter with snow. I had to go from the center of town to the gondola and I was able to ski the whole way. Not something you could do in most towns surrounding resorts.

The local beer, Rugen Brau, brewed in Interlaken. Very good stuff - enjoying one right now, in fact. Cheers!

Sorrento

I had a great time in Sorrento! My trip was full of family, Italian hospitality, food, sights, etc. I took my information on the family around with me so I could understand where I fit in with the different members of the family. It was necessary given the distant relationships I have with most of them (my great grandmother was the sister of the grandmother of two of the ladies I met, for example).

Here's some of the family I met [file names of the photos give the full names of the people from left to right]:

Cousin Giuliana, center. Emedia (left) is a 20 year old student who took me on a tour of Pompeii on her day off work. She knew quite a bit about the ruins and Italian history in general

The Apreda cheese factory ("Caseficio Apreda") with two generations, mother and daughter directly next to me, plus Giuliana again on the left. The daughter, Rosanna, is very focused on the business which her father started. Mom also works all day long for the family. Giuliana (pictured on the left here and in the center above) works as a child psychologist in Sorrento and Naples. She and Rosanna took me to a great seafood lunch at a restaurant on the water in Marina Grande.

The ones who were the hardest to find on the family tree (in terms of how we were related) were the Aiellos. Pictured here are Elena and Antonino Aiello and their granddaughter Maria Russo. I went to their place for New Year's - lots of food, culture, people, etc. The fireworks set off at midnight all around Sorrento were amazing. There wasn't one central show like we would see in wildfire prone California. The entire city was lit up by its people. Along with the Apreda family, the Aiellos did a lot to help me when I got sick for a few days in Sorrento. They didn't speak much English, but it was still great to spend time with them. The chorus was always 'have some more' when it came to lunch and dinner in Sorrento.

Day trips: I took short side trips to Capri, Amalfi, and Pompeii

Capri

bad weather, not really a winter destination

Amalfi

New Year's Day parade - not quite the production value of the Rose Parade in Pasadena. They played and sang folk music. An accordion was hooked up through the loudspeaker you see behind the banner.

Narrow roads and wide bus to Amalfi and Poisitano, glad I wasn't driving

The town perched on its hillside

Coastline - somewhere around Poisitano

Pompeii

The ampitheater where Pink Floyd filmed their live show in 1972

The Forum

I think Pompeii was much more 'graspable' than the ruins in Rome. You saw where people lived their day-to-day rather than just the huge political, religious, and cultural centers of the city. The main market street and the once-opulent apartments of the richer residents were interesting sights.

Naples

I was not impressed by Naples - it was dirty and had little to offer for tourists. In fact, most of Naples' tourist attractions were outside of Naples: Sorrento and the Amalfi Coast, Pompeii, Vesuvius, etc. Here are a couple photos from the nice part of Naples - the road along the shore:

Last day in Rome - on to Naples and Sorrento

Had my last day in Rome today. I think I could have seen the highlights in 4 days, but the week I spent here allowed me to relax for a bit before heading on to the Amalfi coast. I spoke with a French-Canadian from my hostel today about some of the highlights in Naples, sounds like it should be a great time. Also looking forward to more ancient sites at Pompeii and Ercolano.

Some highlights from my last two days in Rome:

I spent an afternoon with Giulliana, a student at Grey College in Durham who is originally from Rome. The vista from the park above Piazza del Popollo was great

Last night in Rome - went to Trevi Fountain and had some Gelato with Aussies and a Colombian from my hostel

Went to the Borghese Gallery a couple days ago. They had a lot of famous works (famous enough to be recognizable even to me) - very impressive collection from Caravaggio (painter) and Bernini (sculptor)

First full day in Rome!

Had a great day! Started out thinking I was going to the Pantheon, but ended up spending all day at the Colosseum and Forum instead. Not a wasted day in any sense - really interesting stuff. I took my iPod along with some free Rick Steeves audio guide tracks. He had about 30 minutes of information in both the Forum and the Colosseum. It's the first time I've really had to think hard about what used to be there rather than what's actually in front of you. A girl at my hostel has one of those books to show you what was there before. Really interesting to see the contrast. I met some fellow travelers from China (Jin and Jen) on my way from the Colosseum to the Forum and we struck up some conversation. We ended up touring the Forum together and acting as one another's personal photographers. It was a lot to see in one day, even though it's just one small part of the city. Tomorrow - the Vatican and the Pantheon! Ciao!

^looking out from the Colosseum to the Forum^

^Beautiful memorial for Italian vets in with great views the middle of the city^

^West side of the Colosseum^

^The Chinese couple I toured with^

^The 'Stadium' in the Forum, a good example of how the ancient part of the city makes you think about what used to be there, not what's still standing^

Edinburgh!

I had my first stay in a hostel this weekend – it was a really unique experience. It wasn’t a big weekend for tourism in Edinburgh but there were still plenty of interesting folks there. There were a few folks there who had been living in the hostel for a few weeks. They had been bouncing around the UK doing odd jobs. Seems like they were having a good time. There were a few guys from Australia in town for the rugby match against Scotland (one had worked as a winemaker up in Sonoma).

The first day, I did some unorganized sightseeing with Lauren. We walked up and down the Royal Mile, went through the new Scottish Parliament, and went up to a peak that overlooks the main town. The Parliament Building was a really impressive modern style with a lot of interesting lines and colours (ßcheck out the ‘u’), especially inside.

Seats in the gallery shaped like Scotland

Some photos from the Royal Mile (bonus points for getting the reference in the first photo):

From the top of the hill:

On Saturday morning, the UC organized a tour of Edinburgh Castle. It has spectacular 360 views and heaps of history – a very impressive piece of architecture. Afterwards, we all went down to a restaurant for a Thanksgiving lunch with some Scottish folk dancing after the meal. Late afternoon, we watched the Australia vs. Scotland rugby match. For the first time in 27 years, Scotland won (after missing a deciding kick, the Australian kicker might not be let back into the country). Took a night tour of the city with Brooke and Jessica which was pretty hokey, then stayed up late to watch the Big Game.

By Sunday, I still hadn’t taken a full tour of the city during the day, so I hopped on one in the morning. Our guide was a Canadian with a passion for drama and history. It was a ‘free tour’ – the only cost was the tip at the end, which means it’s flexible for any budget. After the tour, I went over to the New Town to check out the more modern side of Edinburgh (only 400 years old).

Some observations: bagpipes don’t sound any better in Scotland; Edinburgh is a beautiful city and a great place to break in a new coat; the Scottish name places in a very intuitive, if boring way.

Now it’s back to work to crank out 6 essays by the end of term!

Hadrians Wall and Halloween

I had a great day yesterday! We started out with a day trip to Hadrian's Wall. It was once the northern frontier of England under Roman control. There are some ruins of forts and turrets along its length - a perfect setting for a hike. There were some great views as the weather was some of the best I've had here:

We also came across a foxhunt:

That night, we got back and put on our costumes:

Here are some bonus photos of Durham from the last couple days:

To top off the great day, USC lost huge to Oregon and Cal won on a last second field goal.