Prague, Czech Republic

Praha was the "Paris of the East". It was immaculate like Paris, but with colorful paint and spires. Here is a skyline view of the spires of Prague and beautiful old town square.



Pretty village houses


I loved this astronomical clock. When it struck, figurines of the 12 apostles come out like on a cuckoo clock.

Inside this church there is a stunning stained glass window by the famed Prague artist Alfons Mucha.

Everywhere, there are cute coffee shop/internet cafe/bookstores that you could easily kill a whole day in. People are friendly, so as you snack and read, you also chat with ex-pats from all over that have decidedly made Prague their world wide hangout of choice.

Murano, Burano, and Torcello

Here are photos from our scenic ferry ride out to visit the three Venitian Islands. Murano is famous for glass blowing, Burano is a colorful fishing village, and Torcello was abandoned by malaria and has an old church.

Venice-Photos

St. Mark's Church, Doge Palace from the Grand Canal, Us, Gondola Parking

Venice

Wow! This, unbelievably, was my second time to Venice, and to my surprise, I was amazed by it as much as I was the first time. Ahhh, Venezia! You just want to sigh at every charming moorish window and laquered gondola. We were there for 2 days, and luckily, a third because we missed the train to Vienna.

When we first arrived, we enjoyed drifting down the grand canal to the Rialto. We walked to our hostel, Forresteria Valdese, which was in a huge, beautiful venetian church building. We were seperated into male and female dorms. My room had 10 women, two balconies and a fresco of maidens on the ceiling. The thunder storm at night made it seem like I was in a haunted mansion.

The next day, we did the ferry ride to the islands. First we went to Guidecca, which might be the old Jewish section, anyone know? We had a cheap pasta lunch there and had to keep our feet up because we were constantly getting splashed by the water. It was bizzare, like a game and eating all in one. Take a bite, dodge a wave, take a bite, etc. By the way, get to Venice while you can, because it is definately sinking! Then we went to the other islands. Murano, where we saw glass being blown. Burano, with it's colorful cottages, and Torcello, a somewhat abandoned island with a very old church that was closed when we got there.

Yesterday, we went to St. Mark's Church, which Jon was so glad he didn't miss. It is stunningly decorated with gold leif mosaic frescos. This is my favorite church, not that I've seen that many. I am also enchanted by the symbol of venice, the golden flying lion. I love him!
We ate a recommended pizza and gelatto joints and ended our time at the Peggy Guggenheim museum of modern art. Can you believe she named her daughter Pegeen? Yuck. It was a nice collection including Magritte, Pollock, and one Dali and Picasso. There was also a sculpture garden. I would like to see more surrealism works by Dali and Magritte.

We are now in Prague, which we arrived at via overnight adventure train from Venice. I was worried about another bumpy, sleep shattering ride like the one we had from Paris to Madrid, but this one was much smoother. We were in a little cabin with six beds, and four train roomates from Czech Republic.

Hangliding

Here are my pics! My guide took them on an extension pole. Very fun and a great way to see Interlaken.

Vernazza- after 5 days beach bumming

This is our favorite of cinque terre's little villages, Vernazza.We had great pizza last night and spoke to some Italians on vacation from Florence who wondered why americans would come all the way here for this and why not go to Florence or Rome because there's nothing to do here. And while it is small, to us it's been a hit of a cultural experience being surrounded by italians on vacation. The food is awesome because it has to please all the italians who are on vacation. We have seen naked babies running from fathers with diapers in their hands, kids screaming and diving into the water, people talking all at once right over eachother, and naked boobs. Not unlike the states, except it is because it all has an italian twist on it.
The beach here is amazing. First of all, it's warm. A culture shock in itself to us New Englanders that go to Hull and other frigid atlantic waters. Secondly, it's light to dark aquamarine blue, a color of pure paradise. Third, THERE ARE NO LIFEGAURDS yelling at you to stop or to move. You can be free and use your on god forsaken common sense. So, we can: swim in the boat lane, swim under boats, and jump off of 10 foot walls into calm water or whitewater smashing rock (whichever strikes the mood). You could swim all the way out to the middle of the sea and no one would stop you. It's bliss.
The only problem is the "medusa", red jellyfish that sting. they came out of no where and lingered fortunately for only one day. I got stung lightly on the hand. Another poor soul got stung bad on the neck. Babies were screaming. It was a ferocious day. Luckily, a 10 year old girl worked all day to fish them out with a net. She made a sickly red jelly pile on the wall, a pulsating mass. ick.
Jon and I did venture to other villages. We hiked to Corneglia, and took the ferry to Riomaggiore. We decided Vernazza was the best especially for swimming. We loved it here and finally, after admiring bronzen bodies and spending for some "burrococoa" (cocobutter tanning lotion) I too am now tan enough to somewhat count.

Vernazza Beach Bums

See Jon's latest update with pics on our time in Vernazza, Italy!

http://newtlog.blogspot.com/2006/08/vernazza-italy.html

We are having such a great time kickin' back relaxin' besides the warm, aquamarine waters of cinque terre- Vernazza to be specific. I love being a fish in the water. This is by far the laziest part of our trip, and culturally, we are actually surrounded by italians on vacation, not many americans or aussies in sight.

Our battery charger got stolen in Interlaken, so we might not be posting more pics for a while, although we do have a disposable camera, so we'll show ya back in the states!

Swiss Motorcycle Ride

We went on hands down the most incredible motorcycle ride ever. And we though the Kangamagus Highway in NH was cool- not at all compared to Susten Pass through the swiss Alps. The other cyclists are insane- they lean into the steep, sharp, switchback curves; toes practically rubbing into the pavement, like it's no big deal. We rented a BMW bike that was light and comfortable- jon might have to trade in his Suzuki cruiser when we get home! Anyhow, the Susten pass goes up through the mountains until you are in the snow caps and passing glaciers. It was so scenic and steep, you have to do one full nod "yes" to percieve the entire height of the canyon to the mountain tops. We drove through tunnels that blended in so naturally with the mountain that there was vegetation and waterfalls coming of the top and sides. We came back through Farka and Grimsel Pass and the three billy goats gruff with bells on were walking in the middle of the steep mountain road. We also passed a cow standing on a garage, like it thought it belonged there. It rained on us a bit and we were cold from the elevation, but so enjoyed the scenery. I took some snapshots along the way. This was certainly the most scenic way to cover a lot of ground, via motorcycle. You should try it!

Barcelona, Spain

Just some quick highlights of Barcelona. it is a cool CATALUNIAN city, NOT spanish, and don't you forget it or you might insult someone from catalunia. The first night we got there we did another fat tire bike tour of this amazing city. Please see more photos at http://flickr.com/photos/miltown77/sets/72157594233457756/

We loved Anotoni Gaudi's crazy structural dreams. Check out these gingerbread and whipped cream houses.

Gorgeous Switzerland!

CHECK OUT JON SKYDIVING AT
newtlog.blogspot.com

Interlaken- Day 3

This is a picture of me really excited to arrive in Interlaken, Switzerland.

It is so gorgeous here with the natural scenery, not to mention all the quaint swiss chalets and cows with ringing bells. Yesterday, we went back to the same area. We took mountain bikes on the cable car up to Gimmelwald and biked uphill to Murren where we had sausage and rotsi (hash browns) as we overlooked the snow covered mountains that we were directly across from. We then mountain biked down. Mountain biking down the swiss alps is hard! We were on bikes 70% and walking down steep stairs 30%. I feel off maybe 10 times and have bruises, but felt like a little kid, it was a blast, I was so proud that we made it down.


It just keeps getting better here. Today, I went hangliding over the mountains and turquiose lakes. It was quite exhilerating, but not scary. I loved swooping through the air like a bird. Jon chose the most extreme option offered here for adventures- skydiving. He was awesome and loved the experience, although complains it was a little cloudy.