US to Switzerland to Italy to England to US
By Andrew. Filed in Uncategorized |
Terminal 7 at LAX
Standby Status
Washington Monument
After getting into DC at 6AM (UGH) I waited for Emily to pick me up and off we went on our little tour. We hit Georgetown, the Capital, the White House, the Washington Monument, the Smithsoneon, and several other sites. It was a quick trip and I plan to make it back for at least a weekend of touring around.
Diamond Checkpoint
Here’s a secret that Emily let me in on. To avoid the HUGE lines at the normal security point, there’s a checkpoint called the Dulles Diamond that hardly ever has anyone waiting. Just go down to baggage claim area 7 and you’ll see it. While the line just grew and grew upstairs, I went right through with no lines! So off I go to my first stop… ZURICH!
The train depot in Zurich
Zurich was the first city I landed. This was pretty much a transfer place for me to hop the train to Italy since the Rome flight was filled. It was pretty complicated to figure out which train at the airport was for Zurich Central but I managed. Finding the right train at Zurich Central was easy!
The Swiss Alps
One of the reasons I wanted to take the train from Switzerland was to go through the Swiss Alps. It was a very beautiful train ride with lakes and mountains all around. I took this photo from the train and was just one of MANY amazing views I’ve seen. I had my GPS with me because I wanted to see how fast these trains went. It pretty much averaged 150mph but I saw 180mph at one point.
Shops Galore in Milan
The first stop in Italy was Milan. One way I can describe it is that Milan is Rodeo Drive times 1000. It seems that every designer in the world has a store there. Sometimes 2 or 3 stores. Within a couple of blocks, I must have passed 3 Louie Vuitton stores! This would be nice for some people but I’m really not a shopper and REALLY not into fashion.
Duomo di Milano
It seems that the main spot of most Italian towns is it’s DOME which is usually the cathedral. Every dome I came across is a work of art. Stunningly beautiful and very detailed.
Bronze door of Duomo di Milano
A tht Duomo di Milano, the center door is a beautiful bronze door. I found it amusing that certain parts of the door was shiney. It turns out that this is because of people were rubbing those parts for good luck, or whatever. so I went to do my own rubbings because lord knows I need all the luck I can get!
Archway to TONS of Shops
This archway is from the same dome square in Milan and towards even more and more shops. UGH! But it sure is beautiful.
Spinning spot of Milan
EVERYONE spins in Milan
Town square in Vercelli, Italy
Vercelli is a beautiful little town where I stayed my first night in Italy
The Leaning Tower of Pisa
The next morning, off on the train to Pisa. If you look at the bottom right of this picture, you’ll see a tourist posing for a picture of him “holding up” the tower. EVERYONE was doing that. I refuse to so I took a normal foreground picture. The tower was a lot more breath taking then I imagined. And they still allow people to go to the top of the tower! Maybe next time.
Statue of David
On to Florence. After a 3 hour line, I finally got into the museum to see the Statue of David. There were signs ALL around saying that cameras and photo were not allowed at anytime! But I just HAD to sneak this photo in. The statue is HUGE and the details was just amazing. I spent about 2 hours just looking at this thing.
A wonderful Florence cafe called Il Latini
A classic bistecca alla fiorentina
The Roman Colosseum
ON to ROME! After arriving to the termini and checking into the hotel, off I went to tour. First stop, the colloseum! Truely a site to see and the lines weren’t even that bad. I opted for the audio tour for $4 more. You get this at a seperate window then just admission only so it cut about 30 minutes off the wait time! And it’s really worth it.
Inside the Roman Colosseum
Inside the Colosseum. Truthfully, this was a lot smaller then I thought. The tour says the Colosseum seated somewhere between 40,000 and 70,000 people. I just don’t see it! While it was very large, I envisioned something twice as large.
Kissing spot at the colloseum
This plaque is on one of the pillars inside the colloseum. It says something like…. “If you kiss here, you will have 1 year and 11 days of forgiveness of all your sins.” Surprisingly, people didn’t really stop here. But I did! For sure!
Fontana di Trevi
Trevi fountain in Rome. I just HAD to toss a penny in so I can return. This is a awesome site… and hope the legend works. Who knows.
Spanish Steps
Another must see site is the Spanish Steps. Ok, so this was abeautiful area but why the heck are so many people just sitting around on the steps? Couldn’t figure that out…. so off I go to the Pantheon.
- The Pantheon
Originally a pagan temple, the christians claimed it, as with just about everything else. Inside was BEAUTIFUL and is definitely a place for everyone to see.
Castel St. Angelo
On the way to the Vatican, you need to cross the river that divides Rome. This is the bridge I crossed in fron of the beautiful Castel St. Angelo. It’s some sort of Museum now.
St. Peters Cathedral
The final street to the Vatican with St. Peters in the background. All along the street to the right and left is filled with souvenier racks.
Entrance to the Sistine Chapel
I wanted to see the Sistine chapel but it was closed. For some reason, I thought it was part of St. Peters cathedral but it’s a building all alone. This is the entrance to the chapel through the vatican wall. But, unfortunately, it was closed. NEXT time.
Overlooking St. Peters Square
In front of the Cathedral, I stand above St. Peters Square. Prolly the exact spot the pope has stood! Who knows?
Procession during St. Peters Mass
I was at St Peters when they were having mass. Wow… the sounds is amazing! One thing that suprised me was that there were relatively few people attending mass. Maybe… 100 or so. I’ve seen small churches with many more people. Hmmm. Anyways, this picture was at the end of the mass… I THINK that center person was the pope… not sure. Maybe? Tons of people taking pictures so maybe!
Amazing St Peters art
As can imagine, there was art ALL round the cathedral. From Michelangelo’s Piety statue to 3 story paintings. This has got to be one of the most beautiful buildings in the world.
TINY Smart Cars
The most popular car in Italy was the really tiny smart car. A two seater that doesn’t seem to have room for even 1 person. These two were parked in a spot for 1 vehicle. Not sure how much gas it uses but I would guess you can go a LONG way with these.
Arriving to London
From Rome, I left to Bergamo to catch the flight to London so I can fly home. Ryan Air has some of the best fares in all of Europe but they fly into the smaller airports. In this case, Stansted in London. It’s a pretty nice airport and customs was a breeze. But 2+ hours from Heathrow.
The famous London Tube
Off to London on the trains and the famous tube. Dang… this was a CROWDED train. Ok.. so it was a Tuesday but in the middle of the day. I can imagine how it would be like during rush hour.
From Heathrow, I wanted to take the direct flight to LAX but missed it. So I opted to fly to Chicago then on to LAX from there.
As with my style of traveling, I don’t linger in one spot. I had an amazing 5 days touring around Italy with a few excursions through Switzerland and England. I’ve seen MANY sites I’ve been wanting to see all my life. The leaning tower of Pisa, Statue of David, the Colosseum, the Vatican, and more.
I must say, while Rome was nice and had the most landmarks, my favorite city was Florence. It just had a home town feeling and felt very comfortable. Rome had some nice areas but it was a huge city… and felt that way.
Out of the places I’ve visited, I will likely return to the coast around Pisa to explore more. And, of course, I missed Venice which I would like to visit. I also would love to spend more time in the Alps. Maybe rent a motorcycle and tour that area. London, I will return, of course. And spend several days there. Maybe with side trips. An England-Ireland-Scotland tour would be amazing.
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