Driving across Switzerland

So today we accomplished a major milestone in our trip so far – we successfully crossed a border! Customs was again (as expected) pretty laid back and didn’t give us any trouble. There was a little bit of a language barrier but we were able to find people who spoke some English, so things went ok. We made some pretty funny mistakes though. First we crossed the Italian border and stopped to fill out paper work and then drove on and didn’t realize we were in Switzerland right away. So we had to turn back to the border crossing and talk to the Swiss people there to fill out some more paperwork. I thought it was quite comical that we crossed the border the first time without knowing we were in Switzerland because we assumed there would be two explicit border points, which there weren’t. It was also funny when I stopped off at a gas station and actually asked a lady what country I was in. Anyways we got that all worked out and then headed for Zurich. One the way we drove by a region named Baar and it has UNBELIEVABLE scenery. There were huge beautiful mountains and lakes all around us…that’s definitely somewhere I’d like to visit again some time. Words cannot explain how beautiful it was and again I couldn’t take any pictures because I was driving. Anyways then we got closer to Zurich and ran into some interesting roads which were high up on hills and actually kind of scary because they were so curved and as I said so high up. Literally if you made a bad turn you’d drive over the hill and you could actually see how far up you were! That being said though we were fine and are now staying at a REALLY nice 5-star Sheraton hotel here…I was able to get a cheap deal of course. Peter made a good point that we’re staying at a 5-star hotel in the most expensive place in the world which is funny. Things are really nice but the hotel charges 5 Francs if you even make toll-free calls from your phone and breakfast (which we won’t be getting here by the way) costs around 35 Swiss Francs! Anyways things seem quite nice and I’m gonna tour Zurich tomorrow.

Originally uploaded by anandhello.

Originally uploaded by anandhello.

Duomo City Center

Duomo City Center
Originally uploaded by anandhello.

Castle

Caslte
Originally uploaded by anandhello.

Milan Cathedral

Milan Cathedral
Originally uploaded by anandhello.

Nice place

Nice place
Originally uploaded by anandhello.

Castle

Castle
Originally uploaded by anandhello.

Intersting fashion store...

Intersting fashion store...
Originally uploaded by anandhello.

Touring Milan and (Window) Shopping

It is true – Milan is the fashion center of Italy, the way people dress here is incredible…especially the ladies hehehehe! BUT the prices here are also nuts…I was shopping in the “cheap” area and nearly wet my pants after seeing the crazy prices. I was walking around the city today in a Nautica T-shirt and Echo kakis and felt like a real slob here.

I’ll start by telling about the day from the start:Getting there via subway was an adventure in itself! Peter and I took the shuttle bus from the hotel to the subway station. When we got there we struggled to use the automatic ticket machine but eventually got on the subway fine. Then after two stops for some reason half the people on the subway rushed off and the subway turned around and went back to where we started. The subway driver was saying something for a long time on the intercom but it was Italian so I had no clue. Anyways, so we ended up back where we started! I was able to find a subway worker who spoke English but he wasn’t much help so we just ended up getting back on the subway and got off at the second stop (as did everyone else!). We were rushed by the workers out of the subway which was weird. I don’t know what was going on there and no one helped us understand what had happened...but being the cheap guys we are (and not wanting to pay for the bus) we decided to take advantage of the opportunity and walk to the city center from there…it was not that far after all. We split up after that and I headed up to northern Milan hoping to find some reasonably priced clothes. To make a long story short, I took some wrong turns and somehow ended up in ChinaTown, Milan hahahaha. It was very interesting seeing Italian and Chinese writing mixed together. Anyways I got back on track and went to all the so-called ‘tourist attractions’. The Castle in Milan (pic posted) was pretty nice and the city center was too…but other than that Milan wasn’t as great as I had hoped it to be, especially when you compare it to Florence and Rome. There’s lots of graffiti on the buildings too. There are however TONS of designer fashion stores here – every brand name you could think of. The prices though are out of this world – to the point of it being unreal. This city is also psycho about their soccer team. There were literally thousands of people wearing soccer jersey’s walking throughout the city singing songs and drinking lots and lots hahahaha. At the end of the day there were hundreds of these fans gathered in their green striped jerseys sitting and drinking on the street near Duomo. It was very interesting to see. Other than that there’s not much to say…I’m super tired from all the walking I’ve done today plus I also just went to the gym at the hotel so I’m gonna go to sleep tonight and pass on checking out the night life here, though I hear it’s supposed to be great in Milan. Tomorrow we head for Zurich!

Pisa close UP 

Leaning Tower of Pisa 

Pisa far view 

Day trip to Pisa and fun driving to Milan

Today we headed off to Milan and decided to take a bit of a detour and stop off at Pisa first. Pisa is a very nice little city but much more rural than all the other cities we’ve visited so far. Nevertheless as usual there were tons of tourists and again a lot of Japanese ones hahaha that really stood out. Anyways we stayed in Pisa for about three hours and it was very nice. Peter and I split off and did our own thing. I bought myself a pair of Oakley knock-off sun glasses (to replace my sunglasses that brook last week!) and did lots of cite seeing. The leaning tower of Pisa was actually quite nice and I noticed that many of the typical tourist items people on the market sell (like fake purses and stuff like that) were cheaper here than in Florence and Rome. We stayed here for about three hours and then off we went to Milan. The drive to Milan was absolutely phenomenal. I didn’t get to take any pictures cause I was driving! BUT Peter took a bunch and I’ll eventually post some of those. Honestly though, the drive was very nice because we were able to see a lot of Italy’s natural beauty in some of the more mountainous regions. And I love seeing natural landscapes so it was especially great for me. The highways were soooooooo curvy though when driving…it was crazy. They made don valley curves seem like a joke. And also it was so easy to go REALLY fast on the highway without noticing because of how fast everyone was driving relative to us. Anyways we got to Milan and just stayed at the hotel and worked (very hard actually!). We’re gonna tour Milan tomorrow which should be fun.

Florence far view 

River view 

Front zoom 2 

Front zoom in 

Central Cathedral 2 

Central Cathedral 1 

Florence City Symbol 

Santa Maria Cathedral 

Cite seeing in Florence

Today I spent some time working with Peter looking at video signals and doing the usual “work” stuff and then we headed off to Florence’s city center via the hotel shuttle. We had registered for a walking tour of the city so I was very excited to get a closer look at all the majestic buildings that Florence had to offer. Before the tour was to begin I did some shopping around and bought my sisters a bunch of interesting clothes (I hope they like them!). It’s funny how many shops are set up in touristy areas and how hard some of the people selling stuff try to convince you that they’re giving you a great bargain. Anyways I did however get some good bargains (in my opinion) and went on a little shopping spree. After that I met up with Peter and we went on our walking tour. Turns out we had signed up for the bilingual tour so the guy giving the tour spoke German and English at every place we stopped. I found that a little annoying but we still saw all the main attractions of Florence. The cites in Florence are absolutely beautiful! I’ve only posted a few pictures here but whenever I do get highspeed internet I’ll post lots more somewhere. I didn’t take any pictures in the main city church (it’s the fifth largest church in the world by the way) BUT the artwork inside of it was absolutely unbelievable. The walking tour lasted for two hours and was pretty good because I learned a lot about the history of the city. I don’t think it was worth the price they charged me though! After that I then went to a few more places that hadn’t been covered by the tour guide and took some real nice pictures of Florence. Walking for nearly six hours really got me tired so after eating a very nice (and cheap!) dinner I took the bus back to the hotel to do a little bit of planning for the days to come and also to begin filling out expense reports because I’ll need money soon. I booked the hotels for Milan and also Switzerland so we should be on our way. I’m actually very excited about going to Switzerland. Tomorrow we leave for Milan with a stop off at the leaning tower of Pisa!

Church near Train 

Church View2 

Central Church1 

River View 

Oh the beauty of Florence!

So we made all our recordings and went over them with Dario and just like that we were off to Florence! The drive there was very enjoyable with lots of nice scenic views. Upon getting to Florence we started doing some work (yes…work!) and then headed off to the city center for dinner. Florence is so nice! It’s got so many nice buildings but at the same time provides one with a small town atmosphere. Since it was getting kind of dark I didn’t take too many pictures but the ones I did take were very nice (I think at least!). After walking around Florence for a little while I decided to take the shuttle back to the hotel and get ready to go out to see what a night in Florence was like! Peter eventually decided to come with me as well. I decided to be ‘adventurous’ and drive to the city center which was only 10 km from the hotel, since it was later in the night and the hotel shuttle times had ended. To spice things up even more we didn’t turn on the GPS. Two minutes later I ended up (somehow!) on the highway headed back for Rome hahahaha. But we went in a few circles here and there and somehow found our way into Florence’s center eventaully. We then parked at a parking lot near the main train station. Figuring out how to pay for parking here was a story in itself and let’s just leave it at that. I’ve gotta say though it is sooooooo easy to make a wrong turn and end up on the highway in Italy, this is like the millionth time it’s happened to me and I’ve only been to two cities so far. Anyways, getting back to the day – we were walking around in Florence and went to a café/bar called Gilli near Piazza della Repubblica. There was a live band playing songs on request and I had an awesome dessert there. Overall the night was pretty good. We weren’t really dressed to actually go out to a night club so after sitting and listening to the band for while (and enjoying my dessert of course!) I decided to head back….especially since I didn’t bring my jacket and I was getting quite cold AND it was also slowly beginning to rain. That was pretty much the day. The hotel we’re at is very nice and interestingly enough has an ABNORMAL amount of tourists here from Japan. In fact I’ve been very surprised at the number of oriental tourists in Rome and Florence so far…I never expected so many in big groups hahahaha. But yeah the hotel is nice and we’re probably going to pay and go on a walking tour across the city tomorrow. Driving back we went in a bunch of circles and eventually ended up using the GPS…

It’s alive…it’s alive!!!

So after all the frustration from yesterday we met with Dario today and I’ve gotta say this guy is sooooo awesome. He helped us take apart the recorder (some parts of it at least!) and we cut the main power supply wire and physically connected it with another wire with solder so it would work in Italy and mostly every other country in Europe. We’re still going to go ahead and order the adapters/wires but the recorder works now!!! This might sound like a little problem, but it was actually quite involved. So on the plus side of things we can finally get working and move on to Florence tomorrow. The one bad thing though is that I have to wake up at eight in the morning tomorrow so like yesterday I can’t go out tonight. That kinda sucks but hey I’ll be ending in Rome in December so I’ll have my fun then hahahaha.
Peter and I spent the rest of the day recording signals which actually wasn’t that bad at all. It’s pretty funny though cause when we plugged into the hotel’s cable we were able to get the pay tv movies for free hehehehe….didn’t have time to see any of them though, I think they were playing The Last Samurai, which I’ve already seen anyways hahaha. I booked two days in Florence at the Sheraton so I’m real excited about that. Otherwise the day was very busy busy. I’ll be sure to take lots of pictures tomorrow in Florence though…can’t wait!

The equipment is here finally...but not working!

I haven’t been up to much the last two days, mainly just hanging around the hotel. I did go to the Mediterranean Sea today and it was really nice. Didn’t bring my camera though hahaha. I took a really long nap today and because of that was planning on going out tonight to see what the night life in Rome was like, but that didn’t happen…maybe tomorrow.The equipment finally got here though and that’s part of the reason I didn’t go anywhere today except to the Mediterranean Sea which was on the way. The bad part is though that it doesn’t work!!! Apparently we need to buy some additional adapters to make it work here in Europe. We have the regular Radio Shack type adapters but apparently we need special super powered ones that will make this damn thing work here! So looks like I’ll have to stay in Rome a little longer and I’m once again in an awkward position here. I have absolutely no work to do, like there is honestly not one thing I can think of doing that I haven’t already done, so I really have no other choice but to enjoy myself. Tomorrow I’d like to go to Rome in the evening probably by subway cause I don’t’ want to waste more gas (cause it’s sooooooo expensive here!). We’ll see how things go though…hopefully the adapters for the equipment will be here by Monday so we can move on to Florence!

Central Rome

Vatican City Far 

Vatican City Close 

Visiting Vatican City

Today we took the subway in Rome for the first time…it’s nothing really different from Toronto at all, except there’s a lot more graffiti on the walls and what not. Peter and I split up and went to places we each wanted to go to. I did some more shopping, revisited the Spanish Steps and Trevi fountain and then went to Vatican City. I’m shocked how busy it was there…like there were literally thousands of people cite seeing. I’ve gotta say though it’s soooo nice. After looking around at Vatican City and met back with Peter and we went for dinner at this really nice restaurant on a little island right by Rome. It was funny though because we walked on the island and didn’t realize we were actually on it and spent like 30 minutes walking around looking for a tiny island. Meanwhile this ‘island’ was actually a few city blocks big. Anyways this place we had dinner was super high class and let’s just say I’ll be eating McDonald’s for the next few days to balance my budget! Anyways, the day was very fun. The equipment still isn’t here! Word is that the paperwork for it is still being processed at the Italian airport. I actually want to get it soon so we can move on to Florence J.

Shopping, shopping, shopping!

One thing I don’t think I’ve really mentioned so far are the unbelievable churches in Rome. They are so beautiful and provide a very serene atmosphere when you go in them. The church near the Spanish steps was particularly nice. I didn’t take any pictures in the churches though because I think that’s kinda inappropriate, but lots of people were so I guess that’s just my opinion. Anyways I’ve also decided to regrow my gotte/beard…I feel so bare without it!We went shopping at an outlet plaza today that Dario recommended. All the big brand name stores were there but the prices were crazy! I went to the Versace store and was traumatized by the prices hahahaha and that’s the outlet price! I bought some nice stuff from the Oakley store though (but I didn’t buy any sun glasses from here). That’s pretty much all I did today. I finally got internet working! and we went to this very interesting Mexican-Italian restaurant for dinner. The people in Italy (here at least) are so nice and helpful…

Driving around the suburbs

Today we met with Dario. We went shopping with him for a bunch of supplies and he gave us some tips about the actual “work” involved in this trip. Europe is pretty crazy actually with the teletext stuff they have on TVs. We called the Toronto office and apparently our equipment hasn’t even left Canada yet! That’s not so good because we are already way behind schedule…but on the plus side I get to tour Rome more. Anyways other than that we didn’t do much else today. We changed hotels and we’re staying at a Best Western now. I’m planning on going to one of the shopping centres either tomorrow or the next day. Still haven’t got internet working, but I finally got my text messaging on my cell phone up and running.

Spanish Steps

Touring Rome

So I got a refund for the taxi from the Hotel staff without even raising my voice, still have to complain about all the cell phone minutes I had to waste from last night. Anyways today we went for a full fledged walking tour across Rome. We visited lots of places like the Pantheon, Spanish Steps, Trevie Fountain, and went to some museums. I was also exposed to the crazy marketplaces in Rome, but was able to find some really good deals. Other than that, the walking was quite tiring but so far this has been my most enjoyable day in Rome! We had to really scramble in the night though because our checkout for Holiday Inn was tomorrow and we still needed to stay in Rome! The Holiday Inn we were staying at was actually increasing there price on by nearly 50% tomorrow so that’s why I had only booked it for these 3 nights. So then I frantically looked for hotels and every place I called was full. We still didn’t have internet working but I bought a car to access the Internet at a kiosk in the hotel. I was able to find a Best Western (which isn’t in the phonebook for some reason!) that was actually cheaper than here but I doubt they’ll have the same great accommodations I’ve had here. Anyways that’s pretty much the whole day – Rome is so awesome and there are so many nice places to visit!!!

Spanish Steps2

Trevi Fountain