US to Switzerland to Italy to England to US

Andrew — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 20:04:54 +0000

This is my first trip to Europe and it was a whirlwind one! Starting in Los Angeles, on to Washington DC to have lunch and a quick tour with Emily, my daughter. Off to Switzerland to hop a train to Italy. Travel all around Italy and then a flight to England. Missed my direct flight and went to Chicago and caught a plane back to LAX. This trip took place September 17-23, 2008.

Terminal 7 at LAX

Standby Status

The starting off point. LAX. I wanted to spend a bit of time with Emily so I took a red-eye to DC. Of course, I fly standby so this display is what I keep my eye on to see how far down the list I am and how many seats are available. Fortunately I was able to make this flight.

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

There’s a spot in Milan that has a little hole in the tile that people puts their heel in and spin around. I have no idea why but everyone does it so I did too! And yes, if they jumped off a cliff, I would too. (ask me about my cliff jumping video).

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

One of the things I was told I HAD to try was steak florentine. So I found this really near Cafe called Il Latina where there are no reservations so people crowd around the entrance to wait for the host to come out to pick you to seat. It was kinda fun…. but waited for about 20 minutes. Inside I ordered the bistecca alla florentina which is a VERY thick cut of steak from a local breed of cattle. It was…. YUMMMMMM! One thing I did learn about Italian food is that Italians HATE, HATE, HATE garlic! I was looking for some really good garlicy food but noooooooooo….

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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Where is Mouser? » Zurich

US to Switzerland to Italy to England to US