It has taken me way too long in my life to get to Europe. I missed out on the timing of travel right after High School or adventuring between college semesters. I simply wasn’t told this is something I should do, I should try, I would like it, or even you really need to experience. It wasn’t a thing my friends talked about in High School or was advertised as an option for history class. I always felt this was a weird hole in my youth. In my mid 20’s I started to pay attention, it started to become of interest. When I should have traveled, I didn’t have the money or was in a career job, or didn’t have a friend to go with. There never was that thing that put me over the “I can’t take it any longer” moment. After I started dating Sarah 10 years ago and heard about her journeys and started looking at photos online of places, “the bug” really started in. We talked about getting to Italy and Switzerland our entire lives together, I wanted my Europe experience to be with her. In our 10th year together and a few weeks shy of our 4th wedding anniversary, we traveled to Italy and Switzerland.
- Train travel is amazing and makes so much sense. Thank you ticket kiosks and proper signage
- Food is so good here. We followed Rick Steve’s book a lot here and won every time - use help and you won’t waste your time and money and there is no time to eat poorly here.
- Coffee is incredible. Drink like an Italian and belly-up to the bar pay your $2 and leave. I miss this.
- Wine is good and cheap. House wine is better than our good wine
- People live life here. Socialize outside, find your friends and sit on a 400-year-old fountain step and sip wine, it is beautiful and pure.
ROME 8.30.14
After traveling to Australia, nothing seems long on a plane. Really, 8 hours to Amsterdam and a beverage service to Italy - no big deal. How can’t you see this place? The ancient remains of history and stories we have learned about our whole lives. To touch the walls and walk the same cobblestones Caesar did, it blows my damn mind. It is touristy for a reason, it is incredible. And it’s not just the history; it is the food, culture, city life, and people. We wished we had more time to explore because Rome has many cool neighborhoods like Seattle that are worth some time each. We ate extremely well here and had the best tiramisu probably ever created. There is also a really striving craft beer movement in Rome and we had the pleasure of visiting Open Baladin. We enjoyed barrel aged barley wines, sours, and stout as well as made friends with our barkeep and were invited to the private cellar to pick out our already 2 year aging Saison to bring home. Damn.
SIENA 9.1.14
Literally a fortress where no cars are allowed and most know for the Palio di Siena - a bi-annual horse race where 10 horses and riders race bareback representing 10 of the 17 neighborhoods for bragging rights and honor. But that amazing thing aside, Siena won a little piece of my heart. You walk down these quit streets with walls towering on both sides and you pass crossing streets and get these tunnel-views of city sights every dozen steps. I couldn’t get enough of it, so graphic, so photogenic, so beautifully created. The colors of burnt orange, browns, brick-reds, and mustard yellows aging with time is everywhere and will always be because of building laws and historical societies and we thank you for that. Piazza del Campo is the main square where the race is held but is also the meeting place for families to play, travelers to gaze, lovers to love, and where we liked to have a picnic or sip Spritz on sunset. Every town is built around a square or monument and it is wonderful that the culture meets in these places to socialize without any plan, they just go outside. We had incredible coffee and food here but you do everywhere in Italy. We visited the Duomo which was a Tim Burton-like cathedral and probably the coolest church ever created. We wondered a lot, which was my favorite thing to do in Italy - just get lost with no plan and see what you find. I think we saw all of the sides of the fortress by foot and believe me that is a challenger for everything is built on steep hills in this town, the NB 574’s earned their keep.
VERNAZZA Cinque Terre 9.3.14
This is Sarah’s favorite place and she has been telling me about it for a long time. The pastel painted buildings nestled on cliffs, the relaxed atmosphere, the pesto, the wine…Cinque Terre is a very special place. People seem very relaxed here and rightfully so. It has waves of tourists but there are so many sleepy times in the day when it is just locals and shop keepers wondering around and catching up with one another. Here is where I stated to notice the seniors coming out before sunset and chatting with friends on benches they have been sitting on for centuries. I love the unplanned socialization of Italy and here it was so beautiful to see the older faces enjoying their evenings outside with friends instead of inside on a couch. We stayed an extra day here and it almost as good as the decision to get the top floor suite of our hotel. Vernazza is one of 5 villages on the rugged coast of the Liguria region. It is also known for the birth of Focaccia and trust me it is delicious here. My favorite thing we did here was hike from village to village along this beautiful trail that takes you along the edge of the coast cliffs to the heights of vineyards and jungles of olive trees. Each village has a different vibe and thing they are each known for so you can get a different experience in each village if you have the time. We took the train to Corniglia and then hiked to Monterroso stopping at each village to wonder. One moment for Sarah was when we had lunch at the highest cliff-side cafe in Cinque Terre and we listened to Van Morrison on the stereo and ate anchovies with lemon and fresh squeezed juice. Sarah’s first time here, Van Morrison was the soundtrack to her experience so it was surreal to have that happen organically as she shared this country with me. Monterroso was too touristy but they did have a great beer bar there and we found some lovely Italian stouts and IPA’s. I also got to tick off the bucket list of swimming in the Mediterranean, it was wonderful, warm, clean, the clearest water I have seen, and very buoyant. I want to spend weeks here. It was so relaxing and beautiful - I will never forget it.
VENICE 9.7.14
My first sight of Venice, I was giddy and giggly which I did not expect. We have all seen thousands of images of this floating city in all forms but I didn’t expect my reaction to be so pure. This place is fucking floating! That is a real gondolier! After a strange train ride in on a floating levy, you exit the train station to find a highway of water where we got on a ferry to find our hotel. The best views are from the water and is where you really freak out seeing these old (and falling apart) buildings rising out of the mint-colored (pollution) waters. Romance? Sure, it is something special but it didn’t necessary feel romantic but i bet it did 20 years ago before word got out. This brings me to the next thing, there are way to fucking many people visiting Venice. These streets are narrow and stuffing a cruise ship population alongside travelers and residents makes getting around a lot like trying to find the bathroom at a sold-out concert - a concert in a labyrinth puzzle. The best thing you can do is get a hotel off main routes or on a quite square like we did. When we came home it was like going to a different city every night. You need a peace when you travel like this or you won’t make it. The only way we figured out Venice is with Sarah’s work phone which had an international data plan. Even with GPS, we were lost all the time. There is no system to this place, only the main landmarks. You either embrace getting lost and find new wonderful things and be late for dinner reservations or you get a data plan so you can find your hotel after a couple bottles of vino. In St. Marks Square you can pay overpriced fees to have dinner or drinks and listen to live classical ensembles rotate from cafe to cafe, it was a very memorable and blissful moment of Venice that won’t be forgotten. One night we hunted very hard for the traditional Cicchetti style of eating. There are only a few spots that still serve the topas-like daily menus where you pick form a case of small pastas, seafood, and fried creations. It was a rough search but we found it, tried it, and could probably have gone without it. Maybe we found the wrong place, it was fun though - always eat like the locals. Sarah concluded Venice perfectly when she said, “ I couldn’t wait to leave and get away from the crowds, but it is the first thing that sticks in my mind when I think about Italy.” Venice takes a hold of everyone in some way or another, it is truly a special place.
LAKE COMO 9.9.14
Como is a huge lake between the Alps and northern Italy, it is a place known for the rich and for the retired. A much appreciated cruisy town after the hustle of Venice, we stayed in Varenna where we found the tranquility it is known for. Our hotel room offered nothing exciting except cleanliness but the hotel has amazing views and a cafe that probably had the best view in the town. There was a huge patio above the cafe and even a second building with more rooms were perched even higher than on the cliff that could only be reached by a funicular. We were told the rooms were no different but you get that higher view. The spot was a 20-minute walk into the heart of the village but we thought it was worth it for the views and convenient for our new Spritz/sunset habit we created. We grabbed a passenger ferry ticket and rode the boat to all the stops on the lake for a cheap way to get on the water and read in our book about each village. We did get off at Bellagio to see how accurate Vegas did and someone had a 100.00 lunch. I had really hoped to see a Ferrari at some point in our trip for the full Italian experience I have created in my mind and was graced with a 599 Gto. I heard it behind me and I grabbed my camera quickly. Dude noticed me gawking and he revved that V-12 on up and took off. Gracie! We found a lot of Americans in Como, which we didn’t enjoy or understood. I like to think that we are very good American travelers and are respectable to culture and stay as pleasant as possible and it always hurts when you see the opposite right next to you. We also found within our first few hours that the lake is very dirty and shouldn’t be swam in which we found the hard way. BUT, Como is beautiful and so relaxing. We loved the Alps over the horizon and the green cliffs with castles and churches. It was a place you want to read books and paint pictures and not think about anything for hours expect for which bottle of vino you will open next. It was honest and humble and felt like real life, it was another side of Italy we haven’t seen yet in the busy towns.
GIMMEWALD, SWITZERLAND 9.11
There was a moment on the train that Sarah perked up and said, “I think we are in Switzerland.” And it was that easy to tell after the miles of un-cared for villages and farms between stations, small cars, abandoned buildings, and then BAM! - all the sudden the Fiats were Audi’s and homes were in order, parking lots were symmetrical, and all neat and clean. There wasn’t a state line or a Welcome to Switzerland sign, it was just so instantly different. The train ride from Como to Switzerland was gorgeous. There are more scenic options too which we hope to take next time, but I loved the moving postcard out my train seat window. Lush greens, raging rivers, jagged mountain edges, German cars, and Helvetica - this was a place built from my mind. Our journey to the Bernese Oberland took some time, but it really didn’t matter because it was so beautiful.
Gimmewald is a tiny village of halfway up the mountain between Stechelberg and Mürren, at an elevation of 4,472 feet. You access it from a cable car at the end of a lovely town called Lauterbrunnen known for its town waterfall and hangliding backpackers. At this point in the journey my mouth was fixed to being wide-open. I love this place. Sarah has been telling me about Switzerland for so long, and we were here together! The villages look like Leavenworth but they are real. The buildings have to be built in the traditional style and most have been built in he 17th century, the oldest is from 1658 and all were built without nails. We stayed in the basement of one of these houses and loved every damn thing about it. Wondering around the windy paths carving the grassy hillsides you hear bells in the distance from cows and goats. This is a favorite memory of Sarah’s when she first traveled here and I have heard about it for years and I understand why now. You are surrounded by Alps with these storybook homes and crisp air and then you get the soundtrack of cowbells in the distance, this is when I fell in love with Switzerland. We ate well too; Pension Gimmewald was a wonderful wood paneled cabin serving hearty meals and delicious dark hazelnut home-brew. We made friends with our young English servers and listened to an independent radio station streaming from California, just like KEXP. (really….home-brew, independent radio, good food, mountains) Weather was iffy here. We were chasing the rain the whole time in Italy and it caught up to us here. Our first goal was to take the cable car to the top of Mt Schilthorn and hike down that beast. Sarah did this trek up when she was in high school and we read this was a better way to go. Anyway, the weather was dodgy in the morning and we checked the web cams on the summit for weather on Sarah’s iPhone (thank you). After a couple times there was finally a clearing and we jumped out the door. We got so lucky! Mt Schilthorn is 9,740 feet and is mostly known for the filming of You Only Live Twice. It also has a rotating restaurant and a 007 museum for the tourists. We went because we like mountains and with the high priced ticket you can sit at a buffet breakfast and watch the Oberlands rotate around you. The ride up started in the clouds and showed no signs of clear views and then we cleared the cloud layer and began to see peaks through the gray, it was magical. At the very top, it was clear and uncrowded - thank you. The panoramic views on the observation deck up top are unreal. This is the best and easiest way to see The Eiger (13,025'), Jungfrau (13,642'), and Monch (13,474'). We wondered and snapped away pointing at different peaks and details with each other. The clouds started coming in shortly after which made even more amazing photos and then it was all gray. We hit it right in time before our delicious buffet and our descend down. The walk down was hard and we were in pain at the end. I am sure if we had our hikers it would have been better, but it was a knee burner. I felt a little cheated with the views since it was so cloudy but I did get some amazing shots when they started to part and tease us with peaks. I couldn’t help wonder how much more pretty it would have been on a clear day the whole way down. Still fun, we got to hear more cowbells in the distance, alpine lakes, wild flowers, meadows, waterfalls, and shear cliffs on our hobbit-journey down to Gimmewald.
We spent a little time in Murren and Lauterbrunnen doing walking tours from our book, eating local cuisine, and sipping in cafe’s and pubs soaking up as much Swiss life as we could. I really felt at home in Switzerland and there was a reason. I learned during my stay that I am Swiss. We found a creek with a nameplate on it was two letters short from my name and then we noticed another signs that had the last r letters in my name, bach. Turns out we learned that means creek or water and it just so happens that 80% of the Wyttenbach’s in the world are in Switzerland and the majority in Murren, just a cheese curd’s throw from where we were. WHOA! History, man. What a country, it is beyond beautiful and orderly, use of the grid system and strong logos, kind and clean, it is my heritage and it just all makes sense to me. I truly love this place, and Gimmewald...well, it really got me.
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