Back from Italy

[TEND]

Well I've been back for about 10 days already and have already gone another trip over to Alberta (not quite the same :p ). Finally had some time to come back here and check it out. Anyways, my trip was very fun and it was an amazing experience. For those who didn't know, I visited both Switzerland and Italy for 2 weeks partially during my spring break, which also happened to be my first time leaving North America.
It was amazing experiencing the difference in culture and I had a great deal of fun attempting to immerse myself within it, doing my best to converse in Italian and German much to the bemusement and amusement of some locals. I had some wonderful experiences that I'll try to share more in the next few days. I must say it was a completely different experience, and the one thing I've been saying about Switzerland is that the entire country is a postcard, you could take a picture of anything at anytime and slap it on a travel brochure, it felt like living in a landscape painting.
I'll get some pictures up soon, and hopefully some stories will come to mind :D .

[Virgil]

Well I've been back for about 10 days already and have already gone another trip over to Alberta (not quite the same :p ). Finally had some time to come back here and check it out. Anyways, my trip was very fun and it was an amazing experience. For those who didn't know, I visited both Switzerland and Italy for 2 weeks partially during my spring break, which also happened to be my first time leaving North America.
It was amazing experiencing the difference in culture and I had a great deal of fun attempting to immerse myself within it, doing my best to converse in Italian and German much to the bemusement and amusement of some locals. I had some wonderful experiences that I'll try to share more in the next few days. I must say it was a completely different experience, and the one thing I've been saying about Switzerland is that the entire country is a postcard, you could take a picture of anything at anytime and slap it on a travel brochure, it felt like living in a landscape painting.
I'll get some pictures up soon, and hopefully some stories will come to mind :D .

Great to see you back TEND. I would love to see pictures.

[dramasnot6]

Fantastic to have you back TEND! We missed you here at LitNet, I especially missed my partner in grinning crime! :D :D :D
Sounds like Europe was wonderful! Can't wait to hear some stories and see some photos.

[kathycf]

Welcome back TEND. I hope you will share pictures of your trip with us.

[SleepyWitch]

wow TEND, Italy and Switzerland must have been so lovely.
I'm sure it was a great experience travelling outside North America for the first time.
welcome back

[Schokokeks]

Hi there, Tend, nice to have you back !!!
In addition to loooots of pictures :D, I would like to hear, for personal reasons (my boyfriend is Swiss) some amusing anecdotes about the Alp-inhabitants :D.

[ClaesGefvenberg]

I'll get some pictures up soon, and hopefully some stories will come to mind :D .Great. That sounds like something for the Pictures Taken By you... (http://www.online-literature.com/forums/showthread.php?t=20158) thread. :idea: I'm also looking forward to your impressions from your first trip outside NA.

/Claes

[toni]

:lol: Tend! so that's why I haven't seen you:lol:
We are gonna wait for those stories and photos!:D

[Koa]

Where in Italy have you been?

I can't help associating in my mind Switzerland with boredom :blush: I'm not a fan of the Alps, and the cliché of Switzerland being so tidy and clean... lol it's another world (I know a Swiss who says that when she crosses the border to Italy she does feel the difference :lol:)

[Reccura]

You're back! I saw you online just the other day, and i was pretty shocked.

[TEND]

Okay, still having some troubles getting pictures on, one or two more days :D . I went into Zurich, than across into Italy, travelling through many small towns, went to the main cities Venice, Verona, Florence (probably the most beautiful city I could ever imagine), Rome, Pompei, Capri, briefly visited Naples. So I got to see quite a lot. It was amazing seeing such a different culture and interacting with all the different people.
My favorite city was Florence I think, there were so many museums, we went on a beautiful day and I was aghast at the beauty of the city, coming from a city like mine and going to a place like that, it was unbelievable. I constantly had this fantastical indescribable feeling, thinking about who had walked down these streets before me, some of the greatest artists in history, I could have walked down the same path as them.
I didn't spend too much time in Switzerland, so I don't have too many stories about that. However, in a bar in Zurich or Lucerne I can't recall, there was a guy who challenged my buddy to a drinking "game," we're Canadians now, we love good competition, we love drinking, but we're used to a game of skill whoever loses drinks sort of arrangement. The way this game works is he orders a bunch of shots and a beer, you drink them all really fast and whoever finishes first wins, not really a game, just...... drinking really fast.
Otherwise, one other HUGE highlight for me, that I'm sure many will think is quite pointless. One night we ate in Rome, I walked upstairs and there was a picture of Marlon Brando on the wall, I thought great, good taste in actors. Went upstairs, ate, than I thought "why is there a picture of Marlon Brando in here anyways?" So I asked, turns out he ate here once, I went back and there was an autograph. Wow, what a thrill, I am obsessed with film and Brando is my favorite actor, I don't know why but the thought of eating in the same place as him, it was just like wondering whether I walked down the same street as Shakespeare or Michelangelo, only this time I knew :D .
More to come, I'm sure when I can look at my pictures I'll have more stories as well. :D

[Koa]

Okay, still having some troubles getting pictures on, one or two more days :D . I went into Zurich, than across into Italy, travelling through many small towns, went to the main cities Venice, Verona, Florence (probably the most beautiful city I could ever imagine), Rome, Pompei, Capri, briefly visited Naples.

Wow! Quite a long way!


Verona

Hahah, I knew it! And how did you like it? :D


Florence

I only got to go to Florence very briefly, always for like an afternoon (well I was there for longer but visiting friends so the sightseeing part was just a part of the day, the rest was at home/restaurant) so I might not have a good vision, but I find it a bit overrated. True, there's so much famous art and all, and some spots are beautiful, but no more beautiful than many other spots in Italy... I think Verona is more beautiful, but maybe it's because I'm partial to it (as much as I can hate it that's where I'm from by the way)

[Virgil]

I liked Florence more for the culture than the beauty. It is charming, but I think Venice is stunning, absolutely gorgeous. Of course Tuscany in general is very lovely. I could live there. I've never been to Verona, Koa, but the few pictures i've seen look very nice. I'm interested in the ancient Roman ruins there.

[TEND]

I think I would have loved Venice if it weren't for the fact that behind every corner someone was tryin to sell you something counterfeit, I think it was extremely detrimental to the experience at least for me. It was a wonderful city either way, but still Florence, there was somethign about Florence that just swept me away.

[Virgil]

Oh too bad about Venice. You know, I felt the same about Florence after the first time I went there. I was probably just a little older than you. It's so compact you can walk every where, and it has this incredible medevil feel to it. At times it feels like you are back several hundred years. Did you climb to the top of the Santa Maria del Fiore cathedral, either the Dome or the tower? I did both once in the same day. I forget how tall they are, probably around ten stories each if not more. That's when I was in shape. ;)

For those intersted, this is what I'm talking about:


http://www.globalgeografia.com/album/italia/toscana/firenze1.jpg

[TEND]

I indeed did climb the dome, I have several pictures from up top too, and of the climb. It was quite the haul but still extremely worthwhile.

[Koa]

I liked Florence more for the culture than the beauty. It is charming, but I think Venice is stunning, absolutely gorgeous. Of course Tuscany in general is very lovely. I could live there. I've never been to Verona, Koa, but the few pictures i've seen look very nice. I'm interested in the ancient Roman ruins there.

Yes as I said, it must be about the culture in Florence, but to me it's like...well every insignificant city in Italy has something cultural or some beautiful spots... I always try to imagine how tourists feel.
I was looking at my (vrey few) pics of Florence, and I remembered that I really liked the markets, it was cool.
I used to dislike Venice for some reason, but the last couple of times I've been there it felt quite all right ;)


I think I would have loved Venice if it weren't for the fact that behind every corner someone was tryin to sell you something counterfeit, I think it was extremely detrimental to the experience at least for me.

That's very typical of Italy in general, I recently read that we still are the country (in the EU I think, though I thought Romania was supposed to be worse) with the biggest commerce of counterfeit stuff. It's even more common in the South and Naples is famous for that... I wouldn't have thought there was much of it in Venice actually, but I guess it was just a wrong idea I had ;)

[Virgil]

I indeed did climb the dome, I have several pictures from up top too, and of the climb. It was quite the haul but still extremely worthwhile.

Yes, young fellow, did you do both the dome and the tower the same day. ;) This old fellow did. :p :p :D

[Vladimir1917]

Hi, I'm Italian, and I think that Florence is the most beautiful city in Italy. The great Italian culture, after the Roman Empire, was born there, and even Italian language comes from Florentine dialect. Maybe Rome is more magnificent, but it was built by Florentine artists. Market of counterfeit is only one of the smallest problems that we're experiencing now:(. Which other cities have you visited?