you may have the universe if i may have italy

(Never one to leave something unfinished, and having had many discussions recently about my European adventures, I decided to return to this blog and compete my trip report.  There are really only three destinations after Florence, anyway.  Stick with me?)

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Ahhh, Italia.  The land of perpetual difficulty.  When I think back on Italy, what I remember most is a completely overwhelming sense of being...well...overwhelmed.  Before I departed Salzburg, I tried to watch The Sound of Music and I got stuck on the "Confidence in Me" number, because the lyrics really struck a chord.  Being the sap that I am, I remember tearing up, and, since there was no turning back, I just hummed this song for the entire train ride, watching with anxiety as the signs slowly switched from German to bilingual to Italian.  Somehow, I convinced myself that I would be fine in Italy.

Looking back, I realize that I was fine.  In spite of the terrifying language barrier, the difficulty of navigating, the plethora of transportation strikes, the natural vulnerable look of my big doe-eyes...well...you know... In light of all that, I really was fine.  Even in Florence, where everything but the weather seemed to go wrong, I realize it could have been a heck of a lot worse.  The major disaster is as follows... Italy, as I've already mentioned, was incredibly difficult for me to navigate.  After pacing the length of a street nearly three times, I finally found my hostel.  Again, like in Venice, by some stroke of luck, I heard my name called from an unknown source up three flights of stairs.  God?  God in the form of a matronly woman who can work the oldest elevator known to man without even batting an eyelash?  No, unfortunately, but is it very Italian to know the names of your patrons?  Because nobody in Germany or Ireland ever addressed me by my name before I'd even checked in.

Well, anyway, I thought that would be the end of my troubles, but it turned out they weren't quite finished working on my room, and they apparently wouldn't be finished until the next morning.  So, being expert problem solvers, they moved me to a different hostel (owned by the same people) just across the street.  They gave me the Internet password and told me that I could move into my room early the next morning.  The Cinque Terra tour I wrote about in my last entry began at 7:30am and wouldn't be over until past 9pm, so I asked if I could move in early in the morning.  They said, of course, and I slept easy.  Alas!  How easily they dream, who know not what awaits!!!

Okay, so it wasn't that bad.  They let the room out to someone else for the night and those people wouldn't be out until after noon, so, once again, I had to compromise.  No big deal, really.  I understand that hostels function best when they're booked to the brim.  I just had to take a deep breath and relinquish 95% of my trust to people I did not know to not steal my laptop and emergency cash when I left them behind the desk.  Thankfully matronly-God-woman was there and I trusted her more than the rest of the staff.  Nothing was taken and my faith in humanity was bolstered.  (I won't say restored because, in spite of my overwhelming pessimism, I have a huge amount of faith in human beings to do the right thing.)

After I got my room all sorted, though, Florence itself was a pretty good romp, let's not lie.  By the time I'd made it to this point in my trip, I was an expert traveller.  I knew what I liked to do, and I knew what really wasn't worth my time.  I had an idea of the sorts of souvenirs I was after and the grocery store staples that would keep me from looking feral and abandoned.  Not having made any reservations at any of the famous museums, I just sort of bopped around.  (Note to future travelers: if you're looking to see the great works of art in person, MAKE RESERVATIONS or know someone really famous, but mostly just MAKE RESERVATIONS.)  It was a nice day and I was in the mood for walking, so I stared early, bought some grapes for breakfast, and let my senses just enjoy themselves.

The sights, naturally, were spectacular.  You can really see why Florence is considered the artists' city.  On tightly-knit streets, modest yellow and beige exteriors mingle with intricate, breath-taking structures, all topped with those warm, orange roofs so familiar to Mediterranean architecture.  Above it all rises the Duomo, a wondrous reminder of the beauty of life.  Not willing to wait in an infinite line of anger, sadness, and sore feet, I decided to climb the Santa Maria Campanile (correct me if that is not what it is called.  I do not know Italian) instead of Il Duomo.  Not left disappointed, after a 20-second wait, while they accepted my change and printed my ticket, and 414 steps, this is what I saw:

Just as in every place I visited, I was met with inspiration at every turn.  The sun was shining, I was wearing a pretty dress, I was full of grapes and bread, and I had a bag full of tacky souvenirs.  I could be anything I wanted.  One second I was a Bond girl, the next an errant child in a network of city thieves, the next an artist's apprentice during the Renaissance...and, of course, once I hit on art, there's no way I couldn't pretend to be Caravaggio's nude muse.  (Before you call to have me committed, I was alone for an entire month.  One learns to entertain themselves in the oddest of fashions, but it works, okay?)  I felt like I could conquer the world....just as soon as I figured out how to get back to my hostel.

Honestly, I wish I had written about Florence the instant I found time.  Especially when I was in London, I spent way to much time watching Hollyoaks on the E4 Player and doing a fat load of nothing on Facebook.  They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and I've probably given you a good thousand to think on in this blog entry, but none of them quite hold the memories I wish I had retained.  Before I duck out and just leave you with a bunch of pictures to speak where my words have proven inadequate, here is a list of things I endorse for cheap (or free!) in Florence:

1) Piazza de Michelangelo

2) Santa Croce

3) Santa Maria Campanile [see above]

4) Ponte Vecchio

5) Piazza della Signoria (fake!David is good enough for me considering it's the original spot.  You win some, you lose some.  There are other fake sculptures, too.)

6) LOTS OF WALKING & LOOKING

7) And, of course, who could forget: Gelato.

And, also, just to prove I actually was in Florence:

Cheers!

grapes, sweat, stairs, and lemon gelato

That pretty much sums up my Cinque Terra tour with Walkabout.  For those of you who know me now, you might be surprised to find out that I didn't grow up watching a ton of T.V.  It's something I grew into recently thanks to the power of Hollyoaks marathons on E4, Irish-language drama on TG4, 5-hour breaks between classes, and good friend recommendations.  (If you're in the market for some great shows... last month's marathon: Firefly.  This month's: Merlin)  Anyway, I did grow up watching Rick Steves' Europe on PBS.  I loved his dorky voice, the way he says "locals" and does embarrassing awkward things all the time.  He took me on adventures from my living room, and I used to jot place names in the margins of journals and textbooks.  It was always my dream to find one of the little, obscure places he always seemed to visit between cities.  They just seem so much more appealing to me than the big tourist trap cities. This was me living the dream...

The Cinque Terra is actually five little villages on the rugged coast of the Italian Riviera.  And, no, it's not quite the little spot I've always dreamed of where I'm the only tourist around for hundreds of miles and a family takes me in and feeds me and we laugh and have a good time.  (Yeah, dream on, Jen.)  There were tourists, and a few of them were aggravating, and, as with any guided tour, I was skeptical about the truthfulness of what I was being told, but that doesn't change the fact that my Cinque Terra experience was exactly what I was looking for.  What I wanted was a beautiful hike down ancient paths, with some element of adventure, completely solitary, socializing on my own terms, enjoying things on my own schedule, BUT with someone to get me there and back safely with no stress on my shoulders.  Walkabout gave me that.

The day started off early and ended late.  7am bus call, 9pm return.  I was immediately adopted into a family of Americans who fed me breakfast (thank you!) and thought I was pretty badass attempting a Eurotrip all by my onesies.  (Except, at that point, I was so beyond attempting.  I was succeeding, dammit!  Hear that?  That's the sound of my ego inflating.)  Somewhere in the first village, I met an older Canadian woman who was also Eurotrekking alone and had done so multiple times.  I found I really enjoyed her company and attitude as well, so for most of the trip, I hovered somewhere between Family Time, Fellow Badass, and Just Me.  Later on, I met a cute Irish couple over gelato who took me in for a while...made sure no one forgot me on the docks, y'know.  :)  I spent a lot less time alone than I anticipated, but none of it was forced.  I wasn't forced to listen to stupid frat bros talk about stupid frat bro things, like how the Czech Republic is such a ~*man's*~ country because of all the ~*meat*~ and ~*beer*~.  Lord, I am such a misanthrope.

Anyway, the company was much better than expected, but hands down, this was one of the strangest, most exciting places I traveled this summer.  The crystal blue ocean, vivid plant-life, terraced vineyards, boxy buildings all the colors of a pastel rainbow stacked one against the other... Because I was on a tour, paying people to keep me safe and get me home, for the first time since Germany I felt I could really lose myself in my imagination.  Since everyone walked at a different pace, there were times when I was completely alone.  In the villages, I would pretend like I was some sort of Bond girl in a luxurious, sexy dress that flapped stunningly in the crisp ocean breeze as I peered over a bridge...or maybe I was a street urchin, stealing bread and filching pocket-watches just to stay alive.  On the rugged trails, I was a brilliant archaeologist, underestimated by my sexist male colleagues, determined to prove my worth and bring back the ancient artifact.  You may think I'm crazy, but I'm telling you, it is so much fun...

This is, however, not a tour for everyone.  There is a lot of walking.  There is significant topography.  It is hot.  If you are a newlywed, trekking with your partner, be prepared for strife.  There was a fresh-married couple on the trail behind me for a while and I could have sworn the girl was going to file for divorce at the end of the trip.  She was afraid of heights.  She was hot.  She was tired.  She wore sandals when they clearly state on the website to wear real shoes.  And it was all her husband's fault.  Man, was she cantankerous.  I think she would have had an easier time if she didn't waste all her energy yelling at her husband, but I digress.  The sun is strong.  The stairs are many.  It is arduous, but that is exactly what I wanted.  For all I talk of safety, I don't want to stay in a safe, tourist-trodden bubble.  I want to be like Rick Steves--awkward and adventurous!  I want to be able to look over a cliff face and feel my life.  The Cinque Terra was perfect for this.  The whole point of the site is that it represents nature and humanity struggling to strike a balance.  Landslides knock out trails; railings and warning signs don't exist.  The land is only as tampered with as necessary to promote the life and culture of the communities.  There may be many tourists, but it's the tourists that are forced to change and push themselves--not the land.

Also, highlight of this adventure: I got to swim in salt water!  I'd been looking forward to it the entire day, and when we finally got to the beach I was so excited, I just stripped down to my bra and underwear and splashed on in!  (I knew I wanted to swim, so I brought a change of clothes... and a rain coat, an extra water bottle, and I stole some bread from the lunch restaurant as a snack.  Always prepared--the mark of a true explorer!)

So, to cut a long entry cut short:

#1 I would definitely recommend the Walkabout tour.  It's a bit expensive, but they get you where you're going, give you as much company and information as you desire, and don't force you to do anything except walk (which, they can assume is why you're on the tour anyway) and be at the tracks on time to catch the train.  Plus, a delicious, local (as Rick Steves would say) lunch is provided.

#2 Don't wear jeans and do bring sunscreen.  Trust me, I broke both these rules.  The only thing I did right was to bring a water bottle.

#3 Go to the Cinque Terra.  :)  Do it!

der tod in venedig...

JUST KIDDING.

No one died when I was in Venice, but there was a vaporetto (water-bus) strike the day I arrived, and so my first experience of Venice included waiting in gargantuan lines with my big, awkward luggage then cramming myself and that luggage onto an extremely crowded boat, dropping it on someone's foot, getting yelled at in Italian, and being dropped off on the wrong side of the canal.  By some divine act of Providence, I managed to locate the hostel after only about thirty minutes of aimless wandering, looking like some dumb (sweaty) American...which, in this case, I suppose I actually was.  Shaaaaame.

Anyway, I'd like to say the rest of my experience in Venice was easier, but that would be a lie.  I quickly found that Venice with a map in your pocket is pretty much the same as Venice without a map in your pocket.  My day began as my days in Europe always began: with me being cheap.  To get to the hostel, I'd only purchased a one-way bus ticket, and I wasn't about to pay for another one to get back to the train station to make a reservation for my trip to Florence the next morning.  (Attention!  Italian trains require a reservation.  So if you've got a EURail pass and you've been enjoying hopping on and off DB and OBB trains at will, don't forget to make a reservation for your trips in AND OUT OF Italy.  You will see later how this gets me in trouble...)  No, instead of buying a ticket, I decided to walk.  To walk.

This...was a horrible idea.  Not only was this the first new city of my solitary adventure, it was a pretty crappy place to start trying to navigate without any prior knowledge of the streets.  One of the coolest things about Venice is also the most aggravating.  In most cases, the buildings butt right up against the main canal, so following the water to any destination is virtually impossible.  Every little bridge over the smaller canals could be every other little bridge over the smaller canals.  Unlabeled alleyways break off from main roads until suddenly you find yourself on a dark and narrow street, the sun blocked by impossibly tall buildings, with no clue how you got there until suddenly a bright square opens up in front of you with bustling tourists, street vendors, fountains, and church bells.  You'd think you'd be able to find this on the map in your pocket, but... Alas! poor traveler, you cannot.

Had I the time and the courage, I might have loved this.  I recently finished a book called The Water Mirror by Kai Meyer (it's actually called something else in the original German, but the title escapes me now).  It's set in Venice and there are mermaids and alternate worlds beneath the surface of the canals.  There are master thieves and stone lions and--oh, boy, it's just super cool.  Suddenly, after reading that book, the claustrophobia and anxiety of Venice were replaced by all the magic I should have took the time to feel when I was there.  Because the city is really, really cool.  Everything about it tantalizes the imagination.  There are no streets--just sparkling, aquamarine canals.  There are masks everywhere (probably a tourist trap, but I like to pretend like I'm living in Othello's Venice).  Did I mention there are no streets?  People will say you can do Venice in few hours, but I beg to differ.  If you want to be stressed out and lost and scared all the time, you can do it in a few hours.  If you want to take your time, stroll down alleyways and try on every single mask you see, and really soak in the beauty of Venice, take at least a day and a half.

Before I go, here is a nice list of my top tourist tips regarding Venice (some repeated [and worth repeating] from the rest of the entry]):

#1 Make reservations for your transportation out the minute you arrive in Venice, especially if you'll be leaving by train on a very busy travel day.  (Note: Where tourist-happy cities are, every day is a busy travel day.  Remember, tourists are on vacation and won't be needing to be at a job during the week.)  Don't believe me?  From Florence, I needed to get to Bern, Switzerland.  I waited until the day before to make my reservation.  I could only get as far as Milan.  Learn from my mistakes!

#2 The best way to see Venice is by vaporetto.  Unless you have time, confidence and a GPS, don't expect to be able to walk the streets of Venice with sure feet, especially when it comes to getting from one section of town to another.  What you should do is buy a 24-hr-or-so water-bus pass and just hop on and off along the canal.  Most things worth seeing are near a bus stop.  You can hop off and explore the area, and then follow the yellow signs painted on the buildings that will point you back to the vaporetto.  (Be careful!  The yellow signs will direct you to different sections of Venice as well [i.e. Rialto] but they are not always easily visible [sometimes they're up high on buildings] or even consistent [you can turn a corner and reach a fork and not see a sign])

 
#3 Don't be alarmed if the vaporetto workers are on strike.  They have a pretty thankless job and people can be pretty rude to them.  They (and other transportation workers) go on strike often, but this does not necessarily halt services.  It usually just delays them, and popular areas will still be getting pretty consistent service.  (For example, there is always a bus that will stop at Rialto.)  Mostly, you can predict a strike by holiday weekends.  If there's a holiday on Thursday, there will probably be a strike on Friday to make it a 4-day weekend... Plan for time-delays.
 
#4 Enjoy your time there!  Try not to be a big, electric ball of stress like I was.  Also!  Be prepared to walk up a lot of stairs to cross the big bridges.  And watch out when it rains!  Streets are stone-paved, which means they're super slippery... I nearly kicked it plenty of times in my tractionless flip-flops!  Safety first!

#5 Gondolas are mad expensive.  I overheard a group of English teenagers arguing a price with a guy and he was like "Six of you--fifteen euro each" and an angsty boy stalked off from the group saying "I'm not gonna spend bloody fifteen euro on a boat ride" while his girlfriend(?) pranced after him, whining about how he oughtn't leave her alone and blah blah blah.  God, I love eavesdropping.  Anyway!  The point is... if you're cheap like me, or are traveling alone and don't have five other teenagers to split the cost with you, ask about being taxied across the canal.  It's not a 45 minute romantic lounge down the canal, but you still get to take your picture and say you were on a gondola.  (I didn't do this--a girl staying in my hostel did, and she said it was only, like, two euro or so)...

So, that does it for Venice.  I hope you enjoyed our first taste of Italy.  Next time, I'll try to whine less.
Next destination: Cinque Terra

fast immer ein kind

Welp, folks, I'm as far behind in my Really-Expensive-Why-Did-I-Buy-This-Might-As-Well-Use-It travel journal as I am updating this blog, so you will have to suffer an abbreviated post on Salzburg.  By no means does this mean I did not enjoy myself there.  In fact, it's one of the few places (minus Dresden) I actually wish I could have stayed longer.  What I'm going to do now is tell you that if you're ever in Germany, you ought to take a trip down to Austria and visit Salzburg (and Innsbruck, and Vienna, but those are still dreams of mine yet to be realized).  In fact, I'm going to tell you that I'd be extremely disappointed in you if you didn't visit Salzburg if you ever have the chance (or the chance to make the chance).  It's a relatively small, easily-accessible city whose pastel skyline is as beautiful as its musical culture.  You can see the whole city in a day, but why should you when you can languish in its decorated churches, go to a concert, read a book in the gardens, eat ice cream every day up at the Festung?  If you do make the same mistake as me and book Salzburg as nothing more than a stop-over destination, here's a nice, organized list (because who doesn't love lists?) of things you might and absolutely should not miss when visiting Salzburg.

#1 Kapuziner Monastery: I was actually surprised at how close this look-out point was to the hotel I stayed in the first time I was in Salzburg about seven years ago, which was directly off Linzer Gasse.  This may seem like a funny observation to make, but it was a walk I always wanted to take, but also always decided against because "it's too far."  That's how I've justified missing out on this for so many years.  It's just amazing how you can distort a memory with a lie, but no matter!  I fulfilled a dream this trip, and it was worth it!  Not only was the view fantastic, the walk, overlooked by statues of saints, was a pleasant one.  Also, I met a really nice woman and her two children.  "Englisch oder Deutsch?" she asked me, and I told her in German that either would be just fine.  We started talking, because she happened to be from Ohio and she'd studied at Salzburg when she was at University.  Of course, I only know one school in Ohio that has a program in Salzburg, and it turns out she is a BGSU alum!  One of my old German teachers had gone to BG, studied in Salzburg, met her husband there, and used to prod me to follow in her footsteps.  Alas, I chose Oberlin...

#2 Festung Hohensalzburg Another awesome view I missed seven years ago, and from here you can really see everything.  It's a bit higher than the Kloster, but the walk is less scenic.  You can, of course, take the train up, but if you're cheap like me, you'll sweat it out, and you won't buy the audio guide.  (Though, if you're interested in the history, I think it'd be cool to get one... I think it was only 2,50 euro...)  Anyway, there's lots to do up at the top.  You can take pictures, wander the grounds and read the history of the place, or sit back and relax by the mountains with a beer or ice cream (or both--as I found out, this is not an ideal combination.  Beer: it's a learning experience.)

#3 Churches Despite what many may say, I do not adhere to the "seen one, seen 'em all" philosophy when it comes to churches, especially Catholic churches.  If you have the time in Salzburg, go into them all, maybe even catch a Mass if that's your thing.  If not, check out the Cathedral and the cemetery at St. Peter's Church.  They're both relatively close and breathtaking.  The pure white of the Cathedral walls, and the details in the carved relief and colorful frescoes, while extravagant, somehow avoid appearing heavy and overwrought.  On the contrary, entering the building from the tourist-crammed square outside, one feels a sense of lightness, and regardless of belief, an unexplained awe washes over you.  Sit a while in here and allow yourself time to stare--and eavesdrop.  (Money-saving technique #549: Eavesdrop on tours, but be sneaky about it, okay, and don't tell anyone I sent you.)  As for the cemetery, it's an experience just as magical.  Modest wire structures rather than towering stones rise from the earth.  Graves seem tightly packed and overgrown.  There is often more than one body from a family buried in a single plot to save space.  There are some famous people buried here, so eavesdropping or finding yourself a walking tour might be a good idea if it's your first time... (Also, go in the church if it's open!  It's gold and shiny and amazing!)

#4 Mozarts Geburtshaus Do not--I repeat: DO NOT skip this!  This was my third time in Salzburg, and only my first inside this beautiful yellow building, whose modest facade could never suggest what amazing treasures lie in wait just beyond the threshold.  This was honestly the best €6 I think I spent spent the entire trip.  What was really interesting was that the exhibit focused less on his music and more on his life and family.  Letters, tiny violins, portraits, grade cards, gifts--that's what you see as you browse the rooms while the music of Mozart and his father sets the mood.  Regardless of how mythical people claim the movie Amadeus is, I would just like to announce that all I could hear when I was reading his letters was Tom Hulce's sweet voice, and I'll say that counts for something.  He did such an amazing job capturing the playfulness you can feel in Mozart's music and writing.  Example: he wrote a whole letter to his father in alphabetic riddles.  To his wife, he wrote a letter, for the most part, detailing all the silly, ridiculous things he did to her portrait when he was on the road (which, added up, totaled about 1/3 of his life).  Evidently, he was pale and lacking in social graces, but you can see in the way his sister and wife loved him that he had to have possessed some sort of endearing childishness... Speaking of his sister, Nannerl Mozart, she was an excellent musician in her own right and many of her brother's earliest compositions were for her music books.  Also, she seems to have had impeccable insight into her brother's personality, writing once "Außer der Musik war und blieb er fast immer ein Kind" (Outside of the music, he was and would remain forever a child).  Brilliant!

 
#5 Watch The Sound of Music and prance around Mirabell Garden No, really, I'm serious.  The Sound of Music was filmed in Salzburg and most hostels/hotels will play it daily in the lobby or common space.  It's always cool to watch a movie and be able to say "I was there!" or to see a place and be able to say "Wow!  That was in This Movie or Other!"  Plus, while traveling alone, I will admit that the "I Have Confidence" number really touched my heart and made me shed a few tears.  (Shut up, I was afraid of going to Venice the next day, okay?)  Anyway, the Gardens are where the Do-A-Deer scene was filmed, and there are plenty of beautiful flowers to stop and sniff, and some hilarious (drunken?) gnome statues no one should miss!

So, there you go, folks!  My Top 5 Things To Do In Salzburg, but there's plenty more to do!  Go up Untersberg--even if it's cloudy, it's fun to be up there, freezing in June, stepping in snow while wearing sandals.  I didn't go up there because I've had horrid luck and left a camera up there in the bathroom twice--TWICE!  Clearly, I was not meant to remember Untersberg through photographs.  See a concert!  There are plenty going on every night, and Salzburg is known as the city of music so it'd be kind of blasphemous to not hear some excellent music.  (Yes, I am guilty of blasphemy--just means I'll have to go back soon!)  Also, go shopping.  It might be a bit expensive, but I think they had some of the best tacky junk ever...  I mean, who doesn't want a wooden Mozart doll to hang in your car?  (By far, this is my favorite souvenir I have ever purchased.  It even surpasses the sword I bought in Toledo when I was 12...)

Anyway, the children of Captain Von Trapp wish to say goodnight to you.  So long, farewell, Auf Wiedersehen, adieu and all that jazz.  Next update: Venice!