At last after more than two weeks of travel I've carved away some time to begin this blog, a chronicle of my adventures and the thoughts inspired along the way. There's so much to tell and I'm so far behind so let me begin with a thumbnail itinerary for what I've been up to so far:
May 15: Flew from Portland to Philidelphia and then on to Rome. Incredible views of the Pyrnees as I woke flying over Spain and then the Mediterranean and then Rome.
May 16: Arrived in Rome, took a bus to a train to another train and took that 3 hours North to Arezzo where I met my sister Marah in her incredible home of the last few months where she has been studying dance. Dinner that night was followed by wine, dessert wine, and espresso...the Italian way!
May 17: Marah's friend David took us driving through the Tuscan countryside: Monepulciano to Pienza to Castiglion de Orcia to Saint Antimo to Montalciano to Siena. Incredible Proscuitto and Pecorino chesse and wine and amazing towns built atop hills with wonderful vistas of the surrounding country.
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| Montepulciano looking out over Tuscany |
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| Looking down from Montalciano |
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| The monastery gardens at St. Antimo |
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| A wonderful bounty of cherries |
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| Piazza Del Campo in Siena. |
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| The Duomo in Siena |
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| Marah and David at our dinner spot in Sienna |
May 18: Woke early to catch a train to Switzerland where Marah and I planned on spending a week with my college roommte Rowan in the wonderful place he grew up. The train ride involved no less than four transfers and led us up up up up up up up into the Alps and eventually to the town of Hasliberg Goldern.
May 19-23: These days were filled with a mixture of lazy days and grand adventures. We ate raw milk and cheese from the neighbors cows and we seemed to have a bar of swiss chocolate with every meal. The splendor of this place is hard to convey. The old farmhouses perch on the steepest slopes and the pastures blend with the forests in a wonderful maze. The boundary between public land and private land, parks and farms is seemless and everywhere the sound of bells on sheep and goats and cows. On the last day, Rowan and I took advantage of the unseasonably warm weather to head for the hills. With borrowed bikes we headed down down down to the valley floor (1500 feet or so) and then biked along the valley and eventually up up up toward the Griselpass (it was quite hard, I'm not a great biker and it was early and Rowan and I were drenched in sweat by the time we reached our destination). From our bikes we hiked with our climbing gear to the base of a formidable wall and we climbed for about 4 hours in the hot sun, with not nearly enough water. The climbing was stellar and despite our dehyration we napped on top and ate a lot of swiss chocolate. And then it was back down and down hiking and then rapelling and then biking all the way back to the valley floor where we walked our bikes back up to Rowan's house, thoroughly exhausted by the day. But even so, Rowan mustered the strength to make an excellent Tiramisu.
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| The view from Rowan's home |
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| Marah tries her first 5.9 |
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| Me climbing on the limestone cliffs |
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| We found a hidden canyon... |
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| ...and we explored |
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| Hiking with Rowan's dog Phoebe |
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| Rowan with the purple top hat |
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| Hiking toward Inertkirchen |
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| Hitching a ride over the Alps to Milan |
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| Our Italian driver stopped for a smoke break |
May 24: Woke early and packed our bags. The train had been very expensive on the way up so we decided to hitchhike back to Italy but we weren't sure how well it would work. We walked down to the valley with our cardboard sign and began to wait. After only 20 minutes a car pulled aside bound for Milan...what luck! They didn't speak to much English but we talked a bit and marveled at the view as we drove over the Sustenpass, the Alps are really something to behold. We even saw some skateboarders at the top of the pass flying down the road. They brought us as far as the town of Como and we caught trains from there to Bergamo where we were to catch our plane the next morning. Finding the Bed and Breakfast that we looked up was a whole other story involving busses and lots of walking and ride from a random Italian who was trying to help us but actually ended up taking us many miles out of our way in a violent hailstorm. But when all was said and done we were in cozy beds full of italian pizza wondering where our next day would take us.
May 25: Many more busses and trains to a plane that carried us over the Dolomite Mountains of Northern Italy and out to the flat plains of the Czech Republic where we landed at the Prague airport. From there it was more buses and trains to our current hostel which sells czech beers from a fridge in the lobby for about $1.50...yes!! All afternoon and evening Marah and I have been walking about the town awestruck by this gem of a place, the architecture is second to none. It was one of the only towns in Europe spared during World War II and it has the biggest castle in the world...let me say that again, THE BIGGEST CASTLE IN THE WORLD!!!
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| Our first evening in Prague |
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| The Charles Bridge looking toward the Castle Quarter |
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| Statues on the Charles Bridge |
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| The National Museum |
May 26: We walked and walked about the city, from second hand stores to a vietnamese restaurant, past old churches blackened by centuries of weather, to parks and apple orchards (the location of a well earned nap), to a monastery and a gargantuan castle and eventually to a classic Czech beer hall with only the finest fattiest vegetable starved fare. In the old town square that night with the temperture finally falling below 70, we gave directions to Polish couple and gave them our spare map. In return they gave us polish beer which we shared slowly watching all manner of travellers and locals taking in the scene in their own way.
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| Park in the Nove Mestro |
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| Incredible displays of architecture on every block |
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| Watermelon and a nap in the park |
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| One of many copper roofed domes |
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| The sky was incredible throughout the day |
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| The Prague Castle |
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| Knocking on the castle door |
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| The view from the Castle Quarter to the Little Quarter |
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| The National Museum at sunset |
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| Yummy Czech Sausage |
May 27: After a slow morning at the hostel we headed to the Jewish quarter, which hosts some of the best syngogues in Europe that miraculously survived World War II. Our tour of the sites was astonishing and sobering. The old cemetary dates back to the 15th century and hosts 12,000 gravestones and many more than that buried below. The most powerful site was the Pinkas Synagogue with the names of the roughly 72,000 Czech Jews killed in the Holocaust. On the second floor was a display of children's artwork from the Pizerin concentration camp close to Prague. This dark and haunting collection of drawings and collages was an incredibly moving way to convey the horrors of that time. In the rain, Marah and I followed winding streets to a wonderful teahouse where we sat and talked for nearly three hours, marveling at, how much there is to see in a day, how many unanswered questions lie before us, and above all how lucky we are to have this time to explore the wide world.
May 28-May30: After our days in Prague we were ready for a bit of time in the Czech countryside so we boarded a a bus that took us 3 hours south to the town of Cesky Krumlov, near the Austrian border. Our hostel here is a maze of steep stairways and the little round window from our loft looks out over the surrounding town. We have spent the last two days on long walks through the surrounding hills and enjoying long dinners. Tomorrow we set off again, this time bound for Budapest, Hungary. From there we are on to Belgrade, Serbian and eventually back to Italy where we will meet my mom and dad and brother for a sweet family reunion.
