personal.sethtipton.com

We visited this place because we had some extra time and one of Ryan’s friends highly recommended it. It’s basically 5 little towns, each one a preserve and maintained by volunteers. You take a train in to the first city and then you bought a pass to walk and or ride a train to each individual city. We attempted to walk, but after about 2 miles of walking along the coast, we discovered that it was blocked off. When we got back we found a sign that we think was a warning about this closer. If we spoke Italian a little better we might have caught this. From there we had 2 choices to get to the next town, Wait for 45 minutes for the next train, which took 3 minutes to get to the next town, or walk about 4 miles up the mountain side and about 5 miles down the other. Guess which one we chose…..that’s right. So when we started the hike we could see the town, but the path doesn’t just connect the 2 towns, it first takes you to the top of the hill where there is an even smaller town, and then takes you across the ridge and down the other side. None of us were prepared for this and my parents are pushing 60. Needless to say, it sucked. But the sites we saw made it almost worth it. Having eating up about 4 hours of our day, we were very happy to reach the next town. We had a small meal and walked around for a bit, then got on the next train going to the next city. There we watched the waves crashing into the walls and caught a really nice sunset. We moved on to the next town for a few minutes. There we had some hot chocolate. Hot chocolate in real Italian cafes weren’t chocolate flavored powder mixed into hot water. These were more like 5 chocolate bars melted into a glass, with sugar added and whipped cream on top. It stuck to our spoons like pudding. VERY rich, I have never said that about another desert in my life. I could only eat half of it. We caught the next train back to Rome and my little brothers started to get sick. We think it MIGHT have been from the 5 chocolate bars he just drank because all he threw up was black goo. We got back and my parents and I stopped for a small dinner but my brothers passed out right away

The next day was rainy and grey and my little brother was still sick. We walked around all morning, not really doing much. Around lunch time I started to get sick and wasn’t really worth much. We had given our bags to the hotel and I hadn’t dressed for the weather we were experiencing. Cold and sick, we continued to walk around the town. Our train to Switzerland wasn’t leaving until 10pm so we were finding warm ways to kill time. We finally found a book store and sat down to get warm. I was in the bathroom puking up until it was time to go get our bags and head for the train station. The train was a “sleeper” train. Each cabin had 6 beds and after everyone got settled we slept until about 7am. The following morning we found out that our 6^th bed as taken by a nuclear physicist from CERN. FREAKING CERN. Now if you don’t know what CERN is, they are basically the leading research facility in nuclear physics, have he largest particle accelerator, and dabble in things such as figuring out the creation of the universe. Just minor things like that.

Next stop is Port De Solie, Switzerland

Day 1 in Rome was spent exploring the ancient parts of the city. Although the entire city is incredibly old, the ancient parts include the coliseum, monuments, burial sites, and various building. Most of these parts where entirely underground until about 200 years ago and are as old as 2500 years. It was very hard to imagine a building being more than 300 years old which is about all you will find in the states. Here are some pictures from the coliseum.

Everything was on such a grand scale, they didn’t just build a monument, it had to be larger than the last and take more time and materials. They used so much material that they would have to rob other sites of it’s marble to complete the next one. Doesn’t make too much sense, but you ca see where some buildings have been stripped. Every seat and most of the flooring and walls in the coliseum were done with marble. This structure was one of the biggest things I have ever been in, but what made it really impressing was that it was built so long ago. Today we have cranes and power equipment. Back then they had pulleys and levers and the backs of thousands of slaves. Here are some pictures from the most ancient part or Rome. Keep in mind, 2/3’s of this was completely underground until about 200 years ago.

That was about it for the first day. We probably walked 10 miles that day just to be able to see everything. So it took a long time. There we taxis and buses, but it wasn’t worth the cost and time it took to wait for them.

The city of Rome was a typical large city. The people were busy and the traffic was crazy. Pedestrians had the right-away so you could just step out into most streets and the cars were expected to stop, but that was a huge risk if you ask me. EVERYONE was in a hurry.

Next entry will be our time in the newer parts of Rome.

So far our trip has gone off without a hitch. We left our house at 9am yesterday morning (11/30/06). My brother’s fiancée drove us to the airport. Our flight left Cleveland at11:30am headed for new jersey. There we had a 4-hour layover where I slept and my parents watched a movie. The plane for Geneva Switzerland was rather empty so we got to stretch out and get some sleep. I had tons of homework to finish but I made time for an in-flight movie and some video games. They had these controllers in the arms that are were a Phone, a TV controller, a radio, a fax machine, and SNES style controller when you put them on their side, wrapped up into one. Cool idea if the games weren’t made in a guy’s basement that just can’t seem to let the 80’s go.

So we got up at 7am on Thursday and arrived in Switzerland at 9am Friday. Damn time zones make traveling a bitch. When we landed, Ryan was there to meet us. By the way, Switzerland has no customs what so ever, we got our bags and were on the street in just a few minutes. From there we got on a bus and went to the Knox Center where my brother Ryan has been staying this semester. The rooms are really small and really expensive. But I guess that’s typical for Switzerland. We had lunch in the lobby, which was day old sushi, some rice stuff, and a few glasses of wine. Not very impressed with the food so far. The sushi was gross and the wine was practically water.

My parents had a brilliant idea to try and hide the fact that my older brother was joining us as well. Although my little brother had to buy his Eurorail pass and I was involved in most of the travel plans. So it was a pathetic attempt but I acted stupid. Anyways, after lunch, my brother walked in the door fresh off a plane from Cambodia. This is the first time we have all been together since Christmas of 05’. We had to literally run to the bus stop to catch our bus because my older brother was running late and where we are staying is a 10-minute walk from the bust stop. A few busses later and running through the streets of Geneva, we got our tickets and loaded up the charter bus and where on our way to Annecy, France.

After about an hour and a half on the bus we arrived. The scenery was great. It was a little French mountain town that had the cleanest lake in Europe. And it really was.

You could see to the bottom everywhere you looked. Really amazing. There were a few Christmas festivals going on and just about everyone was out and about. We spent most of our time just walking around and dropping into small shops.

Things are just as, if not more, expensive around here, but France is known for that. Ryan bought a little mug for his girlfriend. After a few hours of that we found somewhere to eat and sat down, oh and if you guys didn’t know, your credit cards will not work in other countries unless you call your company and let them know you are going there, kind of a nice security feature but REALLY annoying if you are trying to pay for lunch and there is a language barrier. So after we got a card that worked and ran to an ATM we ordered lunch. My brothers got croissants and coffee and my parents got a slice of pie that was pistachio and orange. The coffee here comes in tiny little cups because it’s a cross between regular coffee and espresso. REALLY GOOD and I don’t even drink coffee. Anyways, I got a small pizza that I saw in the window, little did I know, that the pizza you see in the window, is the pizza that you get. A little put of by that I was still really hungry so I dug in. YUCK, it wasn’t the day old cheese or the weird crust, it was the hidden anchovy!!! But I ate it anyway. I swear this thing was a king salmon though, it was huge. After that it started to get dark and we just continued to talk around. The city lights up at night with Christmas decorations and streetlights. I actually liked the city better at night. We had to get on a train back to Geneva so we found the bus station and headed back. We were meeting some of Ryan’s friends in town for their last meal of the semester. We ate at an authentic Swiss restaurant and everyone got things from to escargot to chicken. I went with the chicken but my brothers shared an order of fondue. They say that you can drink nothing other than wine with your fondue or else you will get rather sick. Really weird, but no one had their arm twisted about ordering wine. After dinner we got back to our hotel and slept like for the first time in 48 hours.

So far I am really impressed with Europe. The people were nice but not as nice as in places like Asia. The food was what I expected and can’t wait to try more.

Stop back soon for my next (hopefully shorter) update!! (Venice, Italy)

If you have any questions or comments feel free to e-mail me at sethtipton@gmail.com or visit my forum so others can read your questions.

See all of the pictures from Annecy and Geneva in the gallery!