Roman Wonders Part 1

What better place to end our trip than the city of Roma? Granted, given the wonderful clean air in Switzerland, that could be an arguable last stop, but for air travel Rome definitely wins. One would think that given we allowed a few days in Rome, we would take it easy and have a relaxing meander through the city, allotting a few sites for each day, but no, hand me the tourist map and I take us all over the city the first full day.

We happened to be in Rome over Easter weekend, being a bit unsure about building openings and restaurant availability when we first arrived, but luckily we didn't have any problems. Most museums are closed on Mondays except for the Colosseum and the Palatine Hill, so we slotted that for Monday.

The first stop of our visit was Castel Sant'Angelo, offering fantastic views of the entire city and the Vatican. Outside the castle was a funny moving statue dressed like a cowboy and a stunning bridge of angels. Inside there were statues and a few darker pieces of art, plus a rather expensive gift shop. The weather was beautiful, so we enjoyed the views from the landing a bit before continuing on our journey for the day.

Next up was wandering down to Piazza Cavour and Piazza del Tribunali, complete with a merry-go-round and a few outdoor stalls selling various souvenir supplies. Wandering across the bridge, I thought we were going to the mausoleum, but instead we happened upon Piazza Navona and plenty of churches. Inside the piazza there were plenty of statues, still and moving, plenty on the fountain and around it.

The desire for lunch hit us around the time we were leaving the piazza so we ventured to Campo de Fiori, just a few streets below, passing by Piazza Andrea on the way. Continuing our walk after a lunch of artichokes and polenta, we saw Area Sacra, a few more churches, Monumento a Vittorio Emanuele II, and some how ended all the way at Santa Maria in Cosmedin with the park nearby. I still don't know how I managed to get all the way down there, when I thought I was walking up on the map. It all worked out alright, showing a new area of the city; however, by this point both of us were rather tired and ready for a rest.

After relaxing, we hopped on the subway and ventured to the Piazza del Popolo, found the Mausoleo Augusto, and ended at the Spanish steps; getting gelato along the way. The steps were filled with people, almost beyond belief. Dinner that evening was at a nice family run restaurant, recommended by the front desk attendant at the hotel; he was always filled with lovely recommendations for food.

Walking through Milano

Our midway point during the trip was the city of Milano, halfway on the train from Switzerland to Roma. The hotel we picked was in a convenient location within walking distance of most spots in the city and about two blocks from the metro. 

We wandered down the main shopping street, seeing lots of interesting styles, rather different options than what I see in Bologna, but nothing worth stopping for. With our miniature tourist map that was lacking quite a few street names, we arrived at the beautiful cathedral. The inside was just as stunning, but offered a lot of the darker styles of art. Beside the cathedral is the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, a fancy cross section of streets with the fancy stores like Prada, the floor was a mosaic display of art.

 Going through the gallery there was a square with a statue featuring the famous Leonardo da Vinci, reining over the park. 

Churches were on every corner. One even had an artist in the front, just painting the scene.

Wandering a bit more we arrived at the river, offering a glimpse of the water life, including restaurant ships. Turning the corner a family of ducks was enjoying a lunchtime swim, the baby ducks still getting accustomed to the water. It was fascinating watching them jump up out of the water and skim across the top, walking on the water.

There were lots of different statues and sculptures around the city, a bronze circle object and funny men with varying expressions. 

All of the main city sights we visited the first day, just walking the city. We had a half day left the following morning and decided to make the most of the visit by going to the Castello Sforzesco. Inside the castle there were a couple of galleries, one featuring old ruins and another showing musical instruments. The displays were neat, I really enjoyed the string instrument section and the old harpsichords with painted sides. 

Nearby was a funny modern statue with bright colors and twists and turns, adding a bit of life into the rustic city.

Great Heights Visiting the Matterhorn

After our two nights in Interlaken, we ended our stay and planned a day visit to Zermatt. Upon arriving to the town, the sky was a bit hazy with cloud coverage on the mountains, making us unsure whether it would be worthwhile to make the climb via cable cars to the top. After a bit of debating, Mom and I finally decided that we would always wonder if we didn't go up, so off we went.

On the way up we were integrated in with the skiers, some of which were not too happy to be sharing the car with non-skiers like us, taking up extra space. We didn't mind and ended up having a giggle fit in one of the cars we luckily had to ourselves. A herd of silly goats was climbing the mountain and one wandered off from the pack. Instead of calling him back to the group, the rest followed into the snow; unfortunately I was not quick enough with my camera to catch the view.

Once up to the top of the mountain I experienced my first bout of altitude sickness, what a dizzying experience. Luckily once I reached the ground level at Zermatt I returned to normal, but it wasn't bad enough to take away the experiences at the top of the mountain, luckily.

Zermatt features the highest glacier palace in the world, so that is where Mom and I ventured. Once inside, the cold hit full force, making you aware that the time you spent inside had to be limited, especially without the proper snow gear. The ice sculptures were fantastic, even featuring an ice seat, which I was not brave enough to fully sit on because I didn't want to get stuck in there, becoming part of the exhibit! There was also an ice slide, but there were no tubes, so I skipped that part of the exhibit, just capturing the exit ramp on camera.

The views from the top of the mountain were amazing, thankfully the clouds had burned off for the most part, allowing for glimpses of the skiers and snowy peaks.

Flying between Mountains

Mom and I had booked our hotel in Interlaken as it is a great access point to the mountains, including a semi-clear view of the Jungfrau. The hotel was a cozy little place, quiet on a back pedestrian street complete with a large breakfast and hot cappuccinos.

Wandering around the town our first day of arrival, we caught glimpses of the beginnings of spring and a fantastic enlarged coo coo clock made in the casino garden.

At the center of Interlaken there is a large green area, complete with hang gliders. You can see one in the distant view flying high in the sky. No I did not take part in this experience, I enjoyed watching it with my feet secured on the ground. There was also a fantastic playground in the park area, but small children were playing, so I left them be, figuring an adult coming to play may scare them away.

In searching for a restaurant, I took Mom along the back roads, wandering streets that weren't necessarily on the "tourist map" and although we never found a hole-in-the-wall restaurant, we did come across two buildings with neat designs; one with a mosaic roof and the other just a cheesy hostel.

The next day we ventured up the mountains. Our first stop was the small hillside town of Gimmelwald. It is often skipped by visitors because it lacks the traditional tourist stops and can be walked in a few minutes. I would say it is one of the highlights from our hilltop hopping. Along our quiet walk we found a family of goats, one of the small goats was hopping around the pen trying to play with the others. The views were spectacular, although I don't know if they would suffice for living there. This town has electricity but not much else, not even a food store. It seems like they are almost entirely self sufficient given the only way to get items up the mountain is by cable car or a really long steep hike. There was a neat shop called the "Honesty Shop"; it is without any shop keepers, so when purchasing a postcard or any other item, you are supposed to place your money in an envelope and slide it in the box as your payment, being honest that you are only taking what you paid. After our short visit, we ventured back to the cable car station in hopes of visiting a few other mountains and towns, although our method of visiting didn't quite work as we expected. From the map it looked like we could get from Gimmelwald to  the Schilthorn to Grindelwald, up one way and down another. Unless we magically grew wings or learned to teleport, it was not so, although we did offer the ticket sales woman a laugh. So off we went up to the top of the Schilthorn.

We decided that the Schilthorn was our best bet for a good view of the mountain top, as the Jungfrau was covered in clouds that morning and didn't show any sign of a decent view that day. The cable car rides up were quick and uneventful, so once there we walked around the deck catching the stunning sights of the mountain tops mixed with clouds and the occasional bird coming in for a visit.

The Schilthorn is at 2970 meters in the Alps and is featured with a turning panoramic cafe, the Piz Gloria, where the James Bond movie was set. As you can see I tried my hand at being a "Bond girl" escaping through an exit that led to nowhere. The cafe was a nice relief to the cold air outside.

Our last stop for the day was to Grindelwald, which we arrived to by taking the train rather than trying to fly. It was a quiet city, nowhere near as interesting as Gimmelwald, although there was a bubblegum machine complete with a knitted hat. Our walk there took less time than Gimmelwald, even though it has more buildings and shops. Getting back to Interlaken proved to be somewhat of a challenge as well, hopping between trains and taking another cable car down, we didn't realize how complicated our travels would be when making them on paper.

Our last night in Interlaken, we splurged and found a place serving traditional cheese fondue, delicious ending to our stay there.