Good morning everyone. After a long day of travel yesterday, we were rewarded with beautiful vistas of the Mediterranean Sea. Ahhh, the wonderful sea breeze. Our room is literally built into a cliff side facing the ocean. We were lulled to sleep by waves crashing into the rocks. It was heavenly.
And it was much needed. I don't think I ever mentioned how clean Switzerland is. Every single public restroom that we used was spotless. Even places where you would expect to find scary restrooms, they were very clean (even the ones in the middle of nowhere!) So it was quite an unexpected shock to get to Milan and find everything so dirty. Now I won't knock Milan for having scary restrooms at the train station (how many years did I avoid the bathrooms at BART?) But what distrubed me was the amount of garbage, of bubble gum and cigarette butts on the streets of Milan. There we were in front of the beautiful Duomo, surrounded by filth (and about a thousand pigeons to boot!)
I think it was also hard to re-enter a big city from the mountaints. Now I know I mentioned the hoards of people in Zermatt, but that still didn't prepare us for the swarms of humanity in the big city (which I don't get because I've lived all of my adult life in big cities....) Anyway, we wandered around the Duomo, which is an incredible piece of architecture, and then had a good lunch at a little cafe. Oh, the other funny thing about Milan... there is this very shee-shee shopping area called the Galleria. It has mosaic floors, domed glass ceilings, all of the uber-expensive designer stores... and a McDonald's. That was so funny to see this McDonald's in the midst of all the glitz and glamor. And it was crowded too!
So after about 2 hours, we boarded our train for Cinque Terre. I was also surprised by how dirty this train was. Again, it reminded me of some of the older BART trains. But it was just disappointing after having ridden on so many wonderful trains for the past two weeks. We had to change trains again in La Spezia, and at that point I was exhausted. But once we got to Cinque Terre, I was rejuvianted again.
This place is amazing. We had a fabulous and inexpensive dinner (one of the best deals we've had in all of Europe!) and enjoyed climbing the steep streets of our little village. Today we are going to hike between all 5 villages, but we are waiting for the crowds to thin out.
So, all in all, it's still a wonderful trip. I guess I got a bit spoiled by Switzerland. But I'm sure that Italy will have some hidden gems for us, and we are really looking forward to our hike today. Hope all of you are well. And to my brother: Yes, you are experiencing hard work now (and it will get even harder as you get older) but that hard work will enable you to live out your dreams. So hang in there, keep working hard, and one day we will be reading your blogs and enjoying your adventures! I love you!
And it was much needed. I don't think I ever mentioned how clean Switzerland is. Every single public restroom that we used was spotless. Even places where you would expect to find scary restrooms, they were very clean (even the ones in the middle of nowhere!) So it was quite an unexpected shock to get to Milan and find everything so dirty. Now I won't knock Milan for having scary restrooms at the train station (how many years did I avoid the bathrooms at BART?) But what distrubed me was the amount of garbage, of bubble gum and cigarette butts on the streets of Milan. There we were in front of the beautiful Duomo, surrounded by filth (and about a thousand pigeons to boot!)
I think it was also hard to re-enter a big city from the mountaints. Now I know I mentioned the hoards of people in Zermatt, but that still didn't prepare us for the swarms of humanity in the big city (which I don't get because I've lived all of my adult life in big cities....) Anyway, we wandered around the Duomo, which is an incredible piece of architecture, and then had a good lunch at a little cafe. Oh, the other funny thing about Milan... there is this very shee-shee shopping area called the Galleria. It has mosaic floors, domed glass ceilings, all of the uber-expensive designer stores... and a McDonald's. That was so funny to see this McDonald's in the midst of all the glitz and glamor. And it was crowded too!
So after about 2 hours, we boarded our train for Cinque Terre. I was also surprised by how dirty this train was. Again, it reminded me of some of the older BART trains. But it was just disappointing after having ridden on so many wonderful trains for the past two weeks. We had to change trains again in La Spezia, and at that point I was exhausted. But once we got to Cinque Terre, I was rejuvianted again.
This place is amazing. We had a fabulous and inexpensive dinner (one of the best deals we've had in all of Europe!) and enjoyed climbing the steep streets of our little village. Today we are going to hike between all 5 villages, but we are waiting for the crowds to thin out.
So, all in all, it's still a wonderful trip. I guess I got a bit spoiled by Switzerland. But I'm sure that Italy will have some hidden gems for us, and we are really looking forward to our hike today. Hope all of you are well. And to my brother: Yes, you are experiencing hard work now (and it will get even harder as you get older) but that hard work will enable you to live out your dreams. So hang in there, keep working hard, and one day we will be reading your blogs and enjoying your adventures! I love you!
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