Holy Switzerland, Batman

Wow wow wow. Last weekend, spent on Lake Como and in Switzerland, was a major highlight of my time so far.

The trip was with school, so travel and a couple of meals were taken care of--a huge plus! We met at the buses on Saturday morning at 5:45am. We drove through Tuscany and then through Lombardy, where we stopped at one of the many roadside AutoGrills for a real cappuccino and delicious Nutella croissant, of course. I've never had gas station food like it.

We arrived in Como, our first stop on Lake Como, in the late morning. So, we saw the beautiful views of the lake, perused the market, and dropped in on the cathedral, because what else do you do in Italy?

We saw almost nothing of this beautiful town, but we had other places to be!

We hopped back on the bus to catch the ferry to Bellagio. At one point, our buses and another bus were heading straight for each other on the narrow road, and it took approximately 30 minutes for them to argue. Someone finally backed up. Actually, our bus driver had the "cool head" according to our chaperone, especially considering that our other bus driver truly did get out of his bus and start yelling at the other driver...The argument drew the locals onto their balconies.

We had more time in Bellagio to eat lunch, which we did at a nice trattoria. I got fried perch with rice.

After lunch we walked to the point on the end of the island that has beautiful views of the lake.

We also saw this man who has got retirement figured out.

Again, we had too little time in Bellagio, but this was our last stop on Lake Como. In case you haven't heard, George Clooney has a villa in Lake Como and is adored by Italians. He was actually in Italy that weekend, but he happened to be getting married in the little town called Venice. Oh well. Guess I'll just have to go back.

Looking good for George

We hopped back on the bus and headed towards Switzerland! Heading north, we saw more and more mountains, which we drove up on switchback roads. Thank goodness I don't get carsick.

Excuse the crummy iPhone pic, but we drove up those roads

We stopped for a photo-op at a time that is the dictionary definition of twilight. The way the sun was setting on the lake was stunning.

Before we knew it, we were in St. Moritz, the "top of the world" and one of the ritziest ski resorts in the world. We stayed in a quaint little hotel, had a delicious four course dinner, and then ventured out into the 30 degree night to find that the off season in such a place is actually not very exciting. The next morning we met our guide for the day, Rudy. He's a ski instructor and does things like heliski. He promised to ski with us if (when?) we came back, but I think my inability when it comes to skiing would terrify him enough to retract that offer.

Mushroom pasta that was the first course of our dinner in St. Moritz. Proof that I'm branching out.

We took a walk around the lake on what was one of the clearest days so far. I mean come on.

Then he guided us around St. Moritz, showing us places like hotels that have suites that cost $12,000 a night. Yes. A night.

Some of the gals with Rudy. (Pic stolen from Shelby.)

Of course we had to stop and buy Swiss chocolate. I didn't take an artsy pic of all the truffles. I ate them too fast. Sorry not sorry.

After our tour, we boarded the Bernina Express, which took us through the Alps, past a glacier, and back to Tirano, Italy, where we took the bus home!

Sorry. It's hard to just choose one. The pictures don't even do it justice.

It was especially fun to be in the mountains at the beginning of fall. While it feels somewhat like the seasons are changing here in the city, it was so nice to feel the crisp, cool air of the mountains and to see some color changes in the trees. I loved getting back to the city, but man, I loved this place.

September Highlights

I think it's safe to say that my "be a great and consistent blogger" plan has failed, but it's worth a shot. September has been a wonderful month of exploring Florence more and venturing out to Tuscany. Classes are in full swing, and I really feel much more at home here. Maybe there will be a real live how-am-i-doing and these-are-my-deep-thoughts-about-life type of post in the future, but for now, here are a few highlights from the month:

Mary and I went to Lucca, a small town about a two hour train ride from Florence, the weekend after we went to Cinque Terre. It's known for its olive oil and ancient walls. Here, we ate a delicious lunch, climbed a really cool tower that has trees growing on top of it, and biked said ancient walls.

We were very proud of ourselves for managing to get train tickets and be on time, but just to keep us humble, we managed to unknowingly miss our first train because the platform sign was for a stop after Lucca. So, we stood on our platform and watched our train chug away. It wasn't until about 20 minutes later that we realized we'd missed it.

That weekend also included a trip to the Boboli Gardens, which used to be the personal gardens of the Medici family. They reminded me of Duke Gardens back home, except with a whole lot more Italian PDA. Seriously. It's everywhere.

Another favorite green spot of mine is the Cascine, which is basically the central park of Florence. I love running here, and on a Saturday afternoon, lots of families are out biking, rollerblading, or walking along the Arno.

This month also included a trip to Siena. Dad, I have now recanted all of my previous nerd jokes targeted at Rick Steves because he and I are now best friends. He told us the exact itinerary we should plan (arrive late afternoon, spend the night, spend the next half day seeing the sights), where to eat (Trattoria Pepei), and what to do. Thanks Steve. We had a grand time (after figuring out the bus system. Transportation seems to be our weak spot.) and loved the small, relatively quiet town of Siena.

The cathedral here was unbelievable. Visually overstimulating is an understatement. Truly, I keep finding it difficult to accurately describe the things I'm seeing here. The English language needs more adjectives.

A couple of other highlights:

One morning I made the crazy spontaneous decision to run to Piazzale Michaelangelo, a place that's bustling at sunset, to catch the sunrise. It was a clear morning and, in stark contrast to sunset, I was one of the only people up there.

This run was promptly followed by a delicious bagel from the American bakery, Mama's, which has been a favorite discovery.

Also, cooking class. I wear a chef's jacket and hat and make chicken cacciattorre and homemade pasta with mushroom sauce. Our kitchen is at the top of the Central Market and has glass walls for every tourists' viewing pleasure. On the plus side, I do get to go home with a few people on their memory cards, so I guess that's cool. Our teacher waves and smiles like she's on TV. I cringe and turn the other way.

One of the biggest highlights, for which I have no illustrations, has been getting to know a few folks who work with AgapeItalia, which is CRU's name over here in Italy. I've also joined an English Bible study through a local bi-lingual church, Mosaico, that meets in the back room of a cafe. We're hoping to get an English Club up and going on an Italian college campus, so I'm excited to see what's in store with that!

So that was my September, with the exception of this past weekend's trip to Lake Como and Switzerland. Stay tuned!

Throwback

So I kind of forget that I have a blog. And I'm only one post in. Let's see how this goes.

To continue my catch-up from last time, we have to go back to Cinque Terre. This place was already somewhat special to me considering its beauty and the fact that my family traveled there a short eight years ago when I was a snaggletoothed soon-to-be-seventh grader.

Sisters during the rough years...

Poole sibs throwback. (Shamrock shirt anyone?)

Needless to say, I was pretty excited to head back to that glorious land this past Saturday. We went through a tour company, which we thought would be a convenient and pretty cost-effective way to see the 5 Lands. It turned out that so did about 500 other college students, but that was okay because it was perfect weather and just a glorious day.

Vernazza

We began with about an hour in Manarola, the second town from the train station of La Spezia.

From there we took the very crowded train to Vernazza where we ate delicious pesto pizza and cinnamon gelato, of course. Being back in that place was surreal.

From Vernazza we hiked to Monterosso al Mare. While fairly arduous, we were prepared with our tennis shoes unlike the people in front of us who walked the 6 miles in rubber flip-flops and bikinis. They seemed to regret their decision, but we certainly did not. We were rewarded with views like these: 

We ended the day with a couple of hours at the beach, so that was nice if you're into that kind of thing. It's not every day that you lay on a rocky beach with the Mediterranean coast right next to you. The beach was quite crowded, but I was happy to share.

Not too shabby for a Saturday, I'd say.

Finally a Blogger

So. Here it is. After years of following various blogs by various people whom I usually don't know, the time has finally come for me to start my very own. Surprisingly, I actually considered not starting one, hence the two week delay. But, after many FaceTime sessions where it really is hard to put into words how amazing this experience is, I knew where to go. Blogger, of course.

Now that the trivialities are out of the way, let's play catch-up. I've been in the unbelievable city of Florence, or Firenze for you Italiani out there, for exactly two weeks. It's been a time of adjustment, pinching myself because this-just-can't-be-real, and lots of gelato, pizza, and bread. Us UNC kids arrived two weeks before the rest of the students at our school, Lorenzo de'Medici, for a presession that included a "Survival" Italian class and daily cultural activities which have included a trip to a town with the most unbelievable view of Florence, Fiesole, a cooking class and a wine tasting with our new Italian friend, Marco, and a visit to a mosaic artisan workshop where it takes close to a year to finish a 4x6 piece of art.

The view of Florence from Fiesole

These two weeks have also given us a chance to  repeatedly get lost in explore this city I will call home for the next 4 months. We've already discovered some of the best gelaterias and tried our hand at being locals by buying groceries in the Mercato Centrale. We also made it up to Piazzale Michaelangelo for another stunning view of the Florence skyline.

No matter how much exploring I do, though, I don't think I'll ever get used to seeing this outside my window. 

More to come soon.

Sidenote: Shout out to my roommate, Mary, for the blog title. She came up with it after she saw me wear the same shirt 3 times this week. With one 50lb bag, what's a girl to do?