Eurotrip

Frankfurt- in front of the big central EU bank

Esa graciously put us up for a couple of nights in his sweet pad

Met up with Brett- another fellow Yooper, stationed with the Army near Frankfurt.

Frankfurt skyline.

Photo credits to Karl.

Heading to the trains with everything I need on my back.

Quite the feeling- especially the dirty, unwashed clothes part!

Gotta love train travel.

Chur, Switzerland is also the home to some incredible mountain bike trails.

They were fun to just walk.

A small village nestled up on a ridge.

Hard to imagine that it's somebody's hometown, and they return from vacations back to there.

Summit #1

Well, not exactly a summit, but a good outlook at a false peak.

Cog rail tram tracks, like the Quincy Mine tram.

I was glued to the window for the views of quaint Swiss towns nestled in high meadows.

Love that country.

It is quite apparent that industrial farming hasn't overrun these areas-

lots of small herds, even in the middle of towns.

10 Euro rooms at Heidi's Hostel in Interlaken.  Very sketchy.

Easter morning at Heidi's Hostel.  We survived!

Notice the bed barring the door for lack of a lock!

Second day of climbing in Interlaken.

Another day, another summit.  The "3 hour hike" took us an hour, at a brisk walk.

We discovered why yodeling is so popular- the echo really does come back from that distant mountain!

This little Fanta bottle has been places- I got it from Tarja for my first train ride to Oulu,

and I've taken it to the sauna, Lapland, camping, Frankfurt, up 2 Swiss Alps, Pisa, Rome, Venice..

Unfortunately it met its fate by being left on a train in Switzerland.

Please observe a moment of silence for the loss of such a loyal travel companion.

There is the actual peak at Schynige Platte, above. 

We made it to the culvert by the train tracks (dark box in photo) due to limited daylight, and water.

It looks like a short distance to the top, but it would've been a good extra hour to go up and down.

Small white flowers dotted the mountain.

It is utterly breathtaking, to actually see these snowy peaks in real life.

It was very difficult to turn our backs on the view and head back down the mountain.

The streets of Chur, Switzerland, contrasted with Domodossola, Italy (below)

Crossing the border in a tunnel under a mountain from Switzerland to Italy showed a huge contrast.

The architecture transformed instantly, the mountains were drier and rockier,

and the train stations were in very poor shape!  Just being honest.

And the people are very different from the Swiss.

But, I will forgive the Italians for all cultural differences, simply for their great food.

Pizza, lasagna, spaghetti, you name it- it all tastes better in Italy.

A short break at the train station in Firenze, Italy.

Hit up Pisa, since it was so close to Livorno, where we stayed the night.

Livorno was a shot in the dark- a split second decision based on a google satellite image.

("There's a white strip- must be beaches there!")

 Not true- a major port city (read: not for tourists!)

This was what I was most interested in seeing- the foundation itself is also on a tilt.

Rome!

Touring the city at night is really neat; we saw the Pantheon (above), as well as Fontane de Trevi, the Spanish Steps, and several other Piazza's, all with elaborate fountains, statues, etc.

However, navigating got tricky with a Google map printout, after our friend from the hostel left us at some Piazza.

Colloseum.

Just imagine who might have climbed these steps!

A very fitting memorial in the Colloseum.

At the vatican- the next weekend was the beatification of Pope John Paul II.

Near the Colosseum is the Roman Forum- a vast complex of ruins.

Too bad we didn't pay the extra for a tour guide- there was just SO much to look at!

Like I said, there was a mind-blowing area full of ruins there.

The canals at Venice-

we ended up staying there for about 15 minutes due to a sudden realization of unforeseen difficulties in our travel plans...

..which resulted in spending the night at a train station in Basel, Switzerland.

Quite cold, and a little sketchy, with this creepy stalker guy in the later part of the morning.

Relaxing in Stuttgart, Germany, our last stop.  Very nice to see another yooper (Angel) there!