Pictures

I got back safely to the states last Friday after a whirlwind three weeks. I had an unforgettable time in Europe, and have spent the last few days trying to get the pictures trimmed, organized, and looking good. I think I've finally figured it out, so follow this link if you've followed me this far...

http://picasaweb.google.com/s.rusteikas

I'll likely turn this blog into something that friends and family can continue to follow from time to time, in some form or another. When I get around to that, you'll be the first to know. Until then, back to the grind.

Open in August

There is a saying here that 'nothing is open in August.' A lot of France shuts down for a full month to go on summer vacation to wherever they go on vacation. Must be nice. That hasn't stopped me from enjoying what might be the best city I've ever visited. Last night I caught up with two friends I met in Rome who have friends studying abroad here in Paris for the summer. We went to a great authentic restaurant filled with the local crowd, where I had some delicious veal and ham over a pile of sliced potatoes covered in a creamy mushroom sauce. Afterwards we regrouped at their apartment, bought some wine, and went to the canal to digest and relax. Another fine and serene evening came to an end saying au revoir to friends, planning to start a band called Open in August when we get back. This morning we went to the Picasso museum, filled with art from some guy who obviously can't draw or color or see straight or, well, I don't know my art, but it was certainly odd. We walked through the Luxembourg Gardens and watched people playing chess and people getting frustrated losing at chess. We finished the afternoon with lunch behind Notre Dame and a savory crepe filled with nutella, bananas, and strawberry jam. Oh yes. I'm here at the hostel catching my breath, but soon leaving to spend the entirety of an evening and night at the Eiffel Tower. Not looking forward to the flight back, but definitely some ice cold water and a long long sleep. At this point I've taken nearly 1700 pictures, somehow, so be on the lookout for many more when I have a decently functioning computer. Au revoir!

Paris

I'm not sure where to begin with paris. It is at once sprawling and intimate. It is beautiful beyond any description. I feel like a poet walking the streets and sitting under the Eiffel Tower as it sparkles every hour after dark. On Tuesday night I had a wild night with a couple of the guys from the hostel. We sat in the grass of the Champs de Mars beneath the tower for some evening wine, bread, and cheese. After, on our way trying to find the Latin quarter we ran into a group of girls who ended up showing us around all night. We got more wine and went down to the river to basically talk and relax for the remainder of the night, with them sharing stories of Paris while we drank by the water. Really pretty cool. Yesterday I toured the Orsay museum for a look at impressionist art painted by the greats of Van Gogh, Monet, Manet, Cezanne and others. While the Rennaisance art has been detailed and massive and centered around a religious theme, it was very refreshing to stand in front of some colorful creative designs powered more by an expression of the individual. Afterwords I went to Versaille to tour the palace and walk the endless gardens. The palace is excessive in its stature, rivaling the size of the Vatican. It is decked in gold all over and certainly speaks to the highest of royaly. The gardens were my favorite part, which seemed to go on forever. I had lunch down by the water, watching tourists in paddles boats, swans, and ducks navigate the canal. In the evening, I went to Montmartre for a panaromic view of the city and setting sun. I stayed just until dark, after which I came back to the hostel completely exhausted. Today I toured the Louvre and Orangerie museums, saw the Mona Lisa, The Wedding Feast, and many others, along with Monet's wall to wall Water Lilies. I think I've had my fill of art for one trip. Tonight I meet a few of the friends I met in Rome for dinner down in the latin quarter, after which we'll see where the night goes. The weather will be beautiful again tomorrow, so I may check out a morning show at the moulin rouge and spend the rest under the Eiffel Tower, closing my trip with a ride to the top. See everyone soon!

Paris

My adventures in Paris began today, relatively low key. A group from our hostel met this morning for a fairly cheap walking tour of the city, which took us from the Notre Dame (went inside the cathedral where the stained glass sparkles and is quietly magnificent), along the Shakespeare and Co. bookstore where some of my favorite authors, Kerouac and Hemingway used to spend a good share of time, to the Louvre and the central area of Paris for great views of the city. I didn't get inside anywhere except Notre Dame's cathedral, so tomorrow I'll likely set off by myself to cover some ground. The Louvre and Orangiere museums are closed tomorrow, so I'm thinking about an early morning tour of the Orsay and then a day trip to Versaille, with an evening stroll of Moulin Rouge and Sacre Couer to complete the day. Tonight, some of us from the tour are grabbing a few bottles of wine and heading to the Eiffel Tower to enjoy an evening getting the finest views of the City of Lights. I am not completely in my element at this particular hostel or with all the people yet, but already Paris is something extraordinary, and I have a definite sense for the pull that it has had on so many famous artists and intellectuals in the last few centuries.

4 days left

Interlaken ended with a serious bang, literally. Swiss day was incredible, there was a huge party at the hostel, complete with a fireworks show in the middle of town. We hiked to Trummelbach Falls in the morning, via Lauterbrunnen...awesome. We hiked up through a monstrous cave built in 1911 right through the falls to gt some good views of the ten cascades. We found a 35 foot water slide down the street in the afternoon and spent a good bit of time doing jumps off it into the pool (videos and pictures to follow!). The group I went canyoning with the day before really stuck together, and apparently i'm in charge of making a facebook group for all 12 or 15 of us that did most things together while at the Balmer's. We really had a great time to say the least, and lots of good pictures and videos for the memories. The morning after I took a train up through Grindelwald to Kleinne Sheidigg and explored being that area high in the alps at the foot of the Jungfrau. Lots more to say when I have better internet. Got into Paris late last night, so just getting started here...

Interlaken!!!

Interlaken is awesome!!! This might be the most scenic area I have ever been to, including Yellowstone, and I haven't even been up hiking in the mountains yet. The train ride to get here was rough - hungover, not air conditioned, and about 6 hrs. But, it has already been well worth it. I am staying in Balmer's Hostel (the oldest in Europe I think), highly recommended by my friend Lesley, and it is great - the night life revolves around happy hour and the underground Metro bar here, it's huge and has a very friendly, social atmosphere. People come here from everywhere as a good jumping off point specifically seeking extreme outdoor activities, and I was convinced by my roommates last evening to go Canyoning today. If you don't know what that is, it's basically 40 foot jump after 40 foot jump into deep pools, and 50 foot slide after 30 foot slide, and rapelling down endless waterfalls. I have done nothing like it ever in my life, and it's probably the coolest thing I have ever done. On one jump of about 35 feet, you had to jump from a ledge to bump off another cliff wall about 10 feet away and then slide/fall down from that point into the pool below. If anyone knows my huge fear of heights, I honestly don't know quite how I did what I did today, but the adrenaline rush was certainly off the charts and I'm still buzzed from it with a few bumps and bruises to show for it. I'm certainly proud of myself. That used up most of today and I'm thoroughly drained, but I've got enough time to go explore the town for a bit until happy hour and the evening festivities begin. Tomorrow I've got a good long hike planned up in the mountain areas around Lauterbrunnen, Mannlichen, Kleinn Sheidigg, and Grindelwald, if anyone wants to sort of follow the route. One of the coolest things about the mountains here, which set them apart, is the endless number of waterfalls that come pouring out of the shear mountain cliffs all around the range. The huge several hundred feet falls are everywhere and can be seen from almost any point, even in the valley. Tomorrow I hope to check out the biggest ones called Trummelbach Falls near Lauterbrunnen. The other cool thing about being here at this time is that I'll be here for Switzerlands Independence Day (SWISS DAY) tomorrow, which means fireworks and partying all day/all night, once I get back from a long day of hiking. The hostel takes its annual photo of everyone on this day, which means I'll probably be in their internet posting picture for the next year which is kinda cool I guess. I couldn't take the camera for canyoning unfortunately and the ones they wanted to sell us, which definitely would have been nice to have, were around 50 franks/50 dollars, and I decided against it. But, I'm sure I'll have a lot to show tomorrow. Did I mention this place is awesome!? Back soon.

Venice

Arrived in Venice this morning after an easy 2hr train ride from Florence. My hostel is called the Venice Fish, for whatever reason, and is right next to one of the many small canals here in the heart of the city. It seems very much a place to mesh with other travelers, as the couple of girls working here introduced themselves, said dinner is at 9, and the drinks start right after. It's a cool place that has a communal living room with a central balcony over the canal, and rooms coming off of it in each direction. As far as the city goes, it could not be more interesting, although very crowded in the small walkways. Every place I have been to has been different and beautiful in their own way, but each has certainly had a feel of greatness and enduring, powerful history. I started today walking through the tiny streets to St. Mark's square, where I walked around for a few hours and toured St. Mark's Basilica. It rivaled St. Peter's with its staggering halls, the ceiling is lined in a kind of gold and the walls are painted in as much detail as I have seen. Unfortunately, no pictures inside were allowed, as well as at the Galleria Academia which I went to next. If you're into Renaissance art, both the Uffizi and Accademia are the places to go. Bellini and Lodi were two that really stuck out for me, along with every artist you have heard of from the period of course, but these two in particular painted like the images were made to be 3-d, with a curious emotion and vibrant color that made every picture project a surreal feeling. The scale on which every one of these artists painted is perhaps the most impressive thing, in which paintings of extreme detail and realism take up the entirety of a wall or ceiling, sometimes spanning some 50 feet or so across. I would have liked to stay in both Florence and Venice another night or two, but I do feel like I've seen all the things I set out to on paper in the planning stages, which has given me a good fill of Italy and its grand, historical, and unique city cultures. The guys here are starting to drink and rock out to some Coldplay of all music, so I think I'll wrap this up. I've got a ticket that takes me to Milan in the morning, then onto Interlaken where I should arrive around 2pm. Ready for the Alps...

More Florence

Just got done exploring Florence for the night. This is an incredible city - easy walking, beautiful, hopelessly romantic. The thing to do here in the evening is to grab a bottle of wine and head to the steps of Michelangelo's Piazza which overlooks the city. I sat there for a few hours just taking in another warming sunset, along with about a hundred others doing the same thing. This scene alone was something out of a good book, and absolutely worth the one day trip. After enjoying the sunset creep into a panoramic night, I slowly strolled the town and came upon some great live music being performed on the steps of the piazza square in front of the Uffizi museum I had toured earlier. So I bought a slice of pizza across the street and sat there for awhile, joining the crowd as it watched on. Unlike Rome, where there seemed to be a good party going on every night, Florence is mostly peaceful and I have enjoyed the day walking its streets by myself, making just casual conversation with a few other tourists. I am absolutely spent after a very long day, so off to bed and on to Venice in the am...

ROME pics

Backtracking for a few pics of Rome...

Florence

Here are just a very few pictures from yesterday and today. Last night I saw perhaps the most beautiful sunset of my life on the rocks of Riomaggiore in the Cinque Terre, enjoying some Cinque Terre local wine. Got into Florence today. I feel pretty worn down but am still pushing myself to see things. Hoping for a breather when I get into Switzerland in a couple days. Today I toured the S. Mario del Fiore, Duomo and the Uffizi museum to check out some cool art by Da Vinci, Rafael, Michelangelo. I'll likely be grabbing a bottle of vino and heading over to Michaelangelo's Piazza for a view of the sunset and city soon. Venice tomorrow...

Cinque Terre

The Mediterrainean Sea is big, blue, and beautiful. Got into the Cinque Terre yesterday and walked around Monterroso al Mare most of the night. Today I did 'the hike' - about 8 hours all told on the paths in between the five town while stopping in each town for a tour and refueling. It is relentlessly hot here, but after a while, stripped down to nothing but the baggie shorts, it's actually not too noticeable. Drinking lots of water. It's hard not taking a picture every 30 seconds because the views are simply amazing, so, that's what I've been doing. It's 4pm here, about to head off to Vernazza or Monterosso for some Sciaccetra or Cinque Terre wine and lay by the beach somewhere, soak in the authenticity. Unfortunately, internet is really expensive here, so I've got to cut it short. Off to Florence early tomorrow, and Venice the day after for my last day in Italy. Absolutely beautiful, scenic, unreal here... I'm somewhere in a different world, and liking it.

Chow.

ROME continued...

so. much. walking. so. much. heat. but...



After covering 'Ancient Rome' on Thursday during the day, I did one of the ever popular Pub Crawls on thursday evening with a couple other guys in my room. The crawl was decent enough, but what capped the night off was running into four guys from my UVa fraternity - Taylor, Charlie, John, and Luke - easily the most freak random occurence of my life. The night ended with a few of us getting lost around 300 am on the other side of the river. Eventually we found a bus back and proceeded to walk around trying to find food until 400 am to no avail. The guys were taking off the next day, but nevertheless, it was a pretty good night.



Yesterday, I toured the Vatican museum and St. Peter's Basilica with a couple French-Canadian girls from our room - Marie and Marie. Both the museum and Basilica were unbelievably beautiful, and their size can not be appreciated in pictures. This was really an incredible experience. We did the tour through the museum first, beginning around 1030 am, and walked right in, no lines. The museum itself is endless, and one could probably spend an entire full day walking through and still not see everything. But, I was able to see the Rafael rooms, some great works of art by Leo da Vinci, among many others, and of course the Sistine Chapel. I personally thought the chapel was difficult to fully appreciate due to the enormous crowds, towering ceilings, and relatively dim lighting (and no photos allowed). Of course, the panel paintings were still awesome to see in person and I snapped a few no flash 'low budget' pics.



After the museum, we walked over to St. Peter's Basilica, which in itself is excessively detailed, decorated, and beautiful. It is at once both beautifully appealing but unfortunate that for all that the church teaches about minimalizing materialism, St. Peter's and all other churches here do anything but that. Still the Basilica was massive and certainly beautiful, whether you are a religious person or not, and I have since gained a certain interest in the awesome detail that these Basilicas present. Needless to say, if you have the chance to go, the Vatican is a must see place that can not be done justice with pictures, although I've got some really good ones.

After wandering the great halls of the Basilica, I went around the side to find I could take a set of over 300 meandering stairs to the top of the dome. While exhausting, this has been the highlight of the trip, and I would recommend to anyone to spend the 5 euro that it costs to do so. With that, you get a seriously clautrophobic climb up a series of neat changing spiral staircases to a view that is unforgettable. From the top, Rome was laid out for miles and miles, and I did my best to taking about 50 or so pics trying to capture the images. Amazing.

After taking the metro back from the Basilica, I regrouped for awhile, then met a bunch of people in the bar downstairs. We had a diverse group, and the night took off from there. One fun girl will be starting med school in Boston in August, and will be in Paris during the same time as me, so we'll be trying to meet up. I met others from Chicago, Scotland, London, and Japan. We all grouped up and took off for the Trevi Fountain and a night walk around town. The highlight was walking into a small bar down the street from the fountain called the Habana, which we basically took over for the rest of the night. A two man Italian band started playing live, American classic rock tunes that we all began to sing to and take in. Really an awesome night, really cool people, and the plans are to meet up again tonight for dinner at 830 to do it again. When I got back to the hostel and everyone had checked in to their rooms, I went downstairs to try to write down some images/memories of the day, and actually met an Asian girl named Emily, who goes to Harvard (yes she was studying for an exam) and is studying abroad in Venice right now. We probably talked for about an hour about everything and anything, exchanged info, and may meet up in Venice when I get there on wednesday. Cool stuff.

Today being my last full day in Rome, I decided to set out on foot by myself and see everything I hadn't seen yet and some things I thought were worth going back to again. In all, I'm guessing I walked at about 10-12 miles today, from about 1030 to 4pm almost without stopping. I started at the circus maximus, which is nothing but dirt anymore unfortunately, walked to the east side of the Roman Forum for some more good shots, up to St. Maria's Basilica (absolutely beautiful), past the Marcello theater, Campo de Fiori (cool market area with good food), Piazza Navono, over the Tiber river and back across, past the Castel Sant Angelo, up toward the Vatican again for more pictures, back across the river to the Pantheon, then the west side of the forum, down to the Colosseum, and finally back to the hostel. Whew. Had to just get that down in writing to follow my tracks later.

It's great that Rome is pretty walkable, and I think I've gotten a fill or at least a taste of what I came for. Speaking of which, the pizza is delicious and my personal favorite food here. I find myself thinking about eating some everywhere I walk. Any open church is worth taking a stroll through. The sights are massive, excessively so, but certainly awesome, and I've enjoyed a good stay in the Eternal City. Anyway, this has probably gotten to rambling point, so I'll check out and check back in again when I get to the Cinque Terre tomorrow. Apologies for no pictures right now, but I've taken 487 in 3 and a half days, so I'm hoping there's one or two good ones to share as soon as I get the chance. Angling for one more good night and a safe train ride in the morning to La Spezia.

Happy travels.

ROME

Huge success! After an exhausting 9 hour plane ride, I landed safely at the fiumicino airport in Rome. A relatively harmless 30 min train ride brought me to the termini station, the main train and metro hub for the city. I am staying at Alessandro hostel, which to say the least, has exceeded my expectations. At about 25 euro-night, I'm equipped with a decent enough bed, air conditioning, free pizza dinner at 830 every night, free (although limited) breakfast, and a bar downstairs. Needless to say, even after a long flight and exhausting day of walking, I drank my share of wine last night.

My roommates are all good people. I met a sister/brother pair (Tehani and Ian) and two others who are traversing Europe alone, a guy named Kevin and girl named Kristy. It's good to know I'm not the only one, and that there are other 'crazy' people like me.

Now, I knew I'd be doing some walking during this trip, but in the last two days, I've covered a total of 18 miles! (Tehani has a podometer). Yesterday, Ian, Tehani, and I did a moderately quick-paced trek through most of the city, seeing the 'easy stuff.' This included the Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, Pantheon, and Piazza Navona, among other sites in between. Today, five of us did the 'Caesar Shuffle' and saw the Colosseum and the Roman Forum. Neither of these can quite be described in words or even captured fully in pictures (although I've tried with about 150 pics so far). They are massive in more ways than one.

Tomorrow I am planning to check out the Vatican and see what this guy Michaelangelo is all about. Apparently the Pope is on vacation (tired out from praying for me). One of these nights I'm going to do the city while it's all lit up, although tonight may not happen due to a lingering hangover and sheer exhaustion. If I can, I'll post some good pictures at some point.

Until next time, cheers!