Day 15: To Venice

May 13th, 2012 ---

I had made sure I set my alarm last night so I had enough time to pack! My stuff was everywhere! Haha so when my alarm went off I scurried around Anita's apartment, making sure I grabbed everything I needed before setting out for the train station.

It was wet, cold and windy on our way. I was relieved that I wasn't going to be missing some beautiful warm day in Milan.

When we arrived at the station, I had about 20 minutes before my train was departing or Venezia, the city on water!

The first time I had ever heard about Venice was in fifth grade. My favorite teacher, Ms.Wendling, had been teaching us about Vivaldi, classical music and carnival. I recall being so fascinated and excited by thought of a city all on water, taxis by gondolas and mask-wearing celebrations! It sounded like such a magical place! From the moment I had heard about it, I decided - at 10 years old, sometime in life I will go and see Venice! So naturally, while planning this epic Euro-trip, I made it a priority to get to Venice.

I said my goodbyes and thank you's to Anita and Bogdan, who had brought me to the train station, and hopped on what looked like an old, somewhat run down train.
Once inside, it was actually quite comfortable! Large spacious leather seats, leg room.. It was fantastic! I grabbed myself a window seat and got comfortable for the 2.5hr journey ahead.

About an hour into my train ride, the guy checking the tickets comes around. I take my headphones off and I hand him my ticket, with a smile. He looks at it, "Where you go?"
"Venice"
"Venezia"
"Yes." I say, with the smile still on my face... Even though he's not even looking at me.
"2nd class"
"huh?"
He points to my Eurail pass where it says '2nd Class'
"Yes..."
"This first class, you pay or change"
"Oh I'm so sorry, I didn't realise!"
"Pay or change" He starts to check the girls ticket behind me.
"Well how much is it?"
"Pay or change car"
"Yeah, hoooow much???"
He begins to chuckle a bit, like he doesn't really know, and asks the girl behind me who is a passenger.. WTF?
"Pay or change, fifty. €50"
"€50?"
"Si. Fiiiiiftty euro" He's starting to get pissed off and so am I.
"okay, I'll just move"
"Pay or change"
"Yeah I get it. Where?"
He turns his back to me and checks another ticket and then starts to leave the car, "Pay or change!"
He STILL hasn't clarified where. As he starts walking away, I raise my voice, "EXCUSE ME! WHERE do I go?!!"
"2 cars" and points towards the back of the train.
"Thaaank you." The door of the car is closed by the time I even finish my 'thank you.'

Seriously, I'm really beginning to dislike people in Northern Italy. Geez, so bloody rude here. The amount of times I've been cut off, talked to rudely, been corrected, etc, its really starting to bother me - especially when I try to be so nice and SMILE!!! No one smiles at you here! Common people! It's okay to grin once in a while!!! Sheesh. Be effing friendly!!!!! Pshhh.

So I went two cars down, to 2nd class that smelt like typical European body odor. Nice. I find myself a nice little seat by the window and angrily take a sip of my water, take out my music and start continue working on my blog to calm down a bit.
Ugh. A**hole.

Anyways, moving on to another story within my train travel. After I had moved to the car I was to be in. I was blogging away, my luggage sitting in front of me at my legs, only blocking one seat. I was a bit uncomfortable leaving it in the baggage area of this train because of how old and kind of shady it seemed. I had been sitting with it for about an hour. When an Asian couple got on the train with a large suitcase, trying to figure out where to put it I offered to let them out it beside mine while they sat across the aisle way beside it. They appreciated it and I was officially blocked in by a bunch of suitcases! I didn't mind though, I wasn't going anywhere.

A few stops later, this older French family get on the train and practically have a fit trying to find seats in this car. I understand, the train was getting pretty full but they ended up making the Asians move there bag between there legs, which I felt bag for them - it looked super cramped and uncomfortable and then after throwing another fit they made me move my luggage into the baggage area even though I had explained to them that I previously didn't see any room for my suitcase. They argued that there was lots of room! Common, it was a full train! Lots of people had luggage on here and I can luggage stacked!
They kept pointing to the suitcase and giving me dirty looks, wanting to have one of their family members sit in the spot that was blocking my suitcase. I mean i felt bad, but this is a HUGE train. Do you all have to sit RIGHT beside each other?!
Okay maybe I'm overreacting and being a brat. Finally I gave in and move my suitcase. One of the family members is walking infront of me. An older gentleman. I thought he was being nice enough to perhaps help me with the bag that his whole family was giving me a hard time about.... Instead, he doesn't even hold the door open for me. It slams in my face. A Nun sitting beside the door grabbed the door for me and opened it with a sympathetic smile on her face. I smiled back, with some what of an exasperated look on my face and thanked her.

I went back to my seat, sat down and put my headphones back on. The seat across from where my suitcase had been?
Empty.

You have GOT to be kidding me. Seriously?! Is this real life right now?
You put up a fit and then no one in your borderline rude family ends up even sitting there? Agghhh! I'm at the point where I just want to give THEM dirty looks.
.... Okay well, no, I'm not one to give dirty looks. Not my style. But I sit quietly frustrated and listen to my music, again just chilling out.

Finally, 15-20 minutes later, the older man from the French family - the one that had not held the door open for me, is walking down the aisle and the elderly woman beside me signals him to sit in the empty seat.
Great.
Now I have to sit face-to-face with this grumpy old man that let the door slam shut on me.

He gets comfortable for a few minutes then decides to stand up and take off his jacket. As he takes off his jacket and reaches in the pocket to grab something, his coat is literally draped on my leg.
Sure, go ahead - use my leg as your table. No big deal.
UGH.
I say nothing. Just steaming with frustration and constant rudeness from everybody today.
Deep breaths, Jessica. Deep breaths.
Whatever.

I turn my music up, drowning out the volume of my anger and sit, continuing to write and move on.

Today will be a good day. Today wiiiilllll be a good day. Heck! Today is going to be a great day! Power of positive thinking.
Woo-sahhhhh!
Hahaha

The rest of the train ride to Venice goes smoothly and I was relieved to be unbothered by the French family again. I sat listening to my music and writing for the remainder of the trip. When we were nearing the station, I was amazed to notice we were crossing an enormously long bridge and arriving at the station. I was ecstatic!

Arriving, I grabbed my bag and got in line to get off the train. Of course the French family had been infront of me, so when we approached the door, AGAIN the man lets the door just slam shut on me as I'm struggling to roll my suitcase down the aisle way/ through the door.
Happy. Calm. Happy. Calm. Happy. Calm.
Sighhh. Whatever, I'm in Venice now.

I had no idea how I was getting from the train station all the way to my hotel in San Marcos square, so I figured by just walking out of the train station and looking around, I'm sure I'd figure it out.
Looking out, I noticed something saying "Water bus."
Perfect!

I get in line for a ticket. Once my ticket had been purchased, I remember I have to get my ticket to Ancona for my Tuesday departure. I quickly run inside to reserve my seat for that and then hop on the water bus to San Marco.

While on the boat, I passed some enormous cruise ships, beautifully architected buildings and couldn't help but notice how dirty and cloudy the water was. A beautiful turquoise blue-green but clouded by years and years of pollution. Kind of sad actually.

As we got closer to San Marco, we were suddenly got up in a ton of boat traffic. Boats EVERYWHERE! People honking, helicopters (yes, plural) flying above, such a commotion. What is going on?!

WELL! Turns out I had front row seats to the world sailing race, America's Cup! There were 4 or 5 boats catamarans sailing around at high speed, one almost hitting us. The Italian one had a large Prada logo, the American, Oracle, and another, Fly Emirates among several others. It was so neat! Each catamaran had there own team motor boat close by and they were cruising very quickly all around the harbor. Once arriving at the platform and I watched for a few minutes until deciding to go find my hotel.

As I walked through San Marco square, the area was BEAUTIFUL! The church on one side, a watch tower and long, long decorated buildings forming the square. It took me approximately 20 minutes to find my hotel, stopping here and there to take pictures and lugging my suitcase up stairs and across bridges, over canals. But once I arrived at the Hotel Cavalletto, I checked in and was taken to my small room with twin bed, that overlooked a small alleyway with theatre: Teatro de Gallo. It was the perfect little spot for my two nights in Venice and right beside San Marco square.

I dropped my stuff off in my room then quickly head out to go explore. As I walked by the main desk, I notice they had a board with postings for operas, orchestras and museums.

I had hoped to see an opera at La Scala in Milan but the tickets were completely sold out, so I thought I would give it another shot here. When I asked the very kind concierge, Stefano, he explained that the big theatre here sells out three years in advance!!! Holy moly! So he gave me a run down on the different operas at smaller places, where I found La Traviata! Stefano was surprised i knew what La Traviata even was, "You know La Traviata?!" "Yes, my grandmother loves opera" He gives me a surprised look, "wow! Good girl!"
Stefano said it was quite a beautiful place, serving a complimentary glass of Prosecco during intermission. PERFECT!

I bought my ticket and headed out to walk the streets for a few hours before the show began. I stopped in the Museo Della Musica to look around at some old instruments and read about the history of Vivaldi. It was a small cute little museum, located in a church showing different types of harps, violins, violas, and other string instruments. Also, with a room showing the building process of a violin. It was quite neat!

After the museum, I still had about an hour and a half to kill, so I found a restaurant in hopes of sitting and having a glass of wine. It was a bit chilly out, so I found a small table by the window inside and waited for a server. 5 minutes go by... 10 minutes... 15 minutes, I look at the bartender, thinking maybe I was to go up to him to order, I ask if a server comes here or not to which he informs me a server will come. 20 minutes... 25 minutes.
By this point, I'm grumpy and completely over the lack of service so I find myself another little cafe across the piazza and have a glass of prosecco before heading to the opera.

When I arrived at the building of the opera, I went over a small canal bridge, down a tiny alley way and into an itty bitty courtyard. I made a right through another doorway, up a staircase and found myself with a group of people handing my ticket to a woman in a large hallway. The hallway was full of lit candles, featuring rows of seating, a piano, fainting chair, and a table with a few champagne glasses and bottle. I took a seat by one of the walls where there were only three seats (most people there came in two's, so I thought I would sit where I wouldn't create an odd seat out.)

A few minutes a young girl, looking to be about my age, asked of the seat next to me was free. She spoke perfect english.
Okay, where ya from?
We get to chatting and it turned out she was from Thunder Bay, Ontario! Ha! What a coincidence that I end up sitting next to someone from the same province and I can actually have a relatable English conversation! Wahoo!

The opera began with a quartet of orchestra players until the tenor of the opera came out, waltzed around the room and began to sing. Then shortly after, the soprano came out and they both began a magnificent performance of La Traviata, a famous opera!

Now, throwing a reference to the movie Pretty Woman, when one first sees an opera one will either love opera and always love it or they will just never find a way to appreciate it. Well, like Julia Roberts says in the movie: "it was so good, I almost peed my pants!"

It was fantastic! Magical, even! This was the first opera I had ever seen and I was completely in love. The singers completely interacted with the audience, as if they were apart of the scenes. After Act 1, we were given our complimentary glass of Prosecco and then moved into another room of the "Palace." All three acts were in different rooms for each scene, it was very fun!

Following the opera, Claudine (the other Canadian girl) and I decided to grab a night cap at a nearby restaurant. We talked about our adventures and then head off in our separate directions.

During the opera, my phone had died - I had had no way to let my parents know that I was out late. By the time I plug in my phones and Skype with them to say "happy mothers day" to my mom, they were freaking out! Calling the hotel, hearing I hadn't checked in for some reason, messaging my Anita to see if she knew my itinerary for Venice... I felt bad, I should've emailed before my phone died! Oops!
"it's okay!!! I'm aliveeeeee!! 'Shes aliiiiivee, ahhh!" haha
I skyped with them for a few minutes, then went off to sleep completely exhausted from another long day!

Going across the bridge to Venice, Cruise Ships in sight!

Almost getting hit by one of the boats in America's Cup

America's Cup

Venice Canals & Gondolas

San Marcos Square

Museo de Musica Violin Crafting room

The Hall of the Opera

Day 14: The adventure to Lake Como!

May 12th, 2012 ---

While shopping yesterday, Anita and I had talked about what we felt like doing on my last day with her. She told me Lake Como was actually only a short train ride away and a beautiful area!

I had heard about Lake Como, George Clooney has a house there - duhhhh! Haha Also, one of my friends from school, Keith, always talks about how one of his goals is to eventually have a house there. I've seen pictures too! Looks fantastic, so the idea of Lake Como thrilled me! Hell yeah! Let's go to Como! :)

We woke up at 930, exhausted. I had Elton John's Benny & the Jets song stuck in my head for some weird reason and Anita apparently had been repeating "forchetta" all night (meaning fork in Italian which we had talked about last night).

We quickly got ready, headed to the Garibaldi train station to head to Como! We grabbed our tickets, asked which train would take us directly there and hopped on.
While sitting on the train, Anita seemed to feel like something just wasn't right. We were on the right train, we were going to the wrong place.

This is how we ended up in Lecco.

Hahaha

We got off the train a few stops later and hopped on one that was going to Lecco, another city on Lake Como. She was thinking Lecco was the tourist city of Lake Como and Como was just the suburban one.

Well once arriving in Lecco, we quickly realized it was the other way around and that first train was the right one after all! Bogdan and Anita getting frustrated losing patience, me happy as a clam; Bogdan asked around to find out which bus we had to take to get to Como and from there, our adventure continued!

The three of us are riding in this cramped, hot old rickity bus- practically falling asleep obviously still tired from the night before. The bus takes approximately 45 minutes and when we arrive Bogdan is starving. There was a little super market across from the bus station, so we stop in there and decide o grab some snacks. We buy a few different types of bread, feta, brie, prosciutto and olives. Taking our goodies, we walk to the park just don't the street, finding a sunny, grassy patch where we spread out our blanket and pour our wine!

We enjoyed out nice little picnic for the majority of the afternoon and it couldn't have been any better! It was the most relaxing and enjoyable afternoon I've had my whole trip! I loved it! We were right on the lake, in the sunshine, eating our cheese, drinking our wine, listening to some music with some mini speakers that Anita had had and just kicked back. So fantastic!
While we were sitting on our blanket I noticed on the little barrier wall after the side walk, by the waters edge, was some graffiti. It didn't seem like offensive graffiti so I had asked Bogdan what it had said.
"Te lo ripeto all infinito: Sei unico al mondo." -- "To repeat for infinity, you are unique in the world."
Dawwwww.. How sweet! I snapped a picture and smiled, happy about my little finding.

At some point, it began to get a bit chilly and Anita, Bogdan and I decided it would be a good time to head back to Milano. We took the same path back, but first stopping at the Garden Gelateria and Restaurant that we had noticed before for some gelato and a drink.

After ordering our gelato, we proceeded to sit on the patio. Quickly we're we shoo'd away by the waiter who claimed that eating ice cream on their patio made their establishment look tacky.
Are you kidding?! The gelato place is part of your establishment! We were so put off by the attitude they gave us when explaining why we were allowed to order a drink with our ice cream that we decided to keep walking and go to the little place across from the bus & train station.

We checked what time our train to Milan would be departing and with either 15 or 40 minutes to kill, we decided to go over to the restaurant.
I sit down at our table, waiting for Anita and Bogdan when the waiter comes over to me.
"May I get a Pinot gringo, please?"
"Are you eating?"
"No, I think we'll just be drinking tonight."
And that's when he told us that we weren't allowed to stay unless we ordered food.
Really? What is with this place?!

Anita, Bogdan and I were so frustrated that I made the executive decision to say "Screw it! Let's go back to Milan where we are welcome!"

Bogdan & I take naps on the train. We arrive and make a quick stop at Castello, the castle of Milan. We debated going inside, though as cool as it was, we were all just anxious to get home. So we head straight back to Anita's house where Bogdan makes spaghetti and we shower and dress to head out for our last wine of the night and for me, last drink in Milano!

Anita had told me that around the corner was the Gold Restaurant by Dolce & Gabbana. I was dying to see it! So we decided that would be a fun place to head to.

It was beautiful! The whole place entirely architected in geometric shapes and completely brushed in gold. Gold liquor bottles, gold straws, gold bar top, gold-rimmed martini glasses, gold bar stools. You get the point, everything.. gold! It was so cool! Bogdan and Anita ordered their wine, I ordered some Prosecco as an alternative to the €25/glass champagne and we enjoyed some conversation till about 1am where we called it a night and went home to bed.

Successful day, golden night! Day 14 was fantastic! :)

In the morning, to Venice!

Lake Como

Anita & I

Our picnic! Olives, Feta, Bread, Brie, Potatos, more bread, Proscuitto & Wine

Graffiti: To repeat for inifity: you are unique in the world.

Dolce & Gabbana's Gold Restaurant

Prosecco, Chocolate & Biscotti's!

At Gold!

Day 13: From the Duomo to Repubblica

May 11th, 2012 ---

Anita had to run over to school for an hour this morning because it was the first class and she wanted to make sure she was able to reserve a seat, as well as check out the course. Having known this before I fell asleep last night, I decided to set my alarm for 9, so that I could get up and shower and be ready to go tackle the day when she got back around 10:30.

She ended up coming home around 9:30, explaining that her class ended up being an "Italian day", and because she is one of the English speaking students at her school, she didnt even have to go! So we ended up getting ready and decided to head back to the Duomo!

Even though I had been the day before, we wanted to browse around the area some more, as well as go up the lift in the Duomo. When we arrived, there were two military men at the door asking for tickets. Anita trying to talk to them in half English and half Italian trying to explain we didn't have any but also asking where to get them. They told us we had to head to some little store around the corner.
I swear, they have the weirdest systems of doing things in this city.
We walked over to the store that was behind the Duomo around the corner and got our €12 tickets to go up the lift to the top of the Duomo.

We go back to the entrance, hand the guards our tickets and shoot up the elevator. We walk through a narrow corridor, make a left up two or three small steps and suddenly we're on the lower level of the roof!
Incredible! The view, amazing. We went back through the corridor, up some more steps and are now on the right side. We continue to walk to wear we go up more stairs, Anita beginning to freak out (she's not too good with heights) but we end up on the very tip top of the roof!

The sun is beating down on us, its about 80 degrees and humidity has begun to set in. Being atop the roof though, it didn't even matter! You could see the entire piazza below, as well as the beautiful galleria. You could see all the spectacular architecture, the carvings and details of all the small and large statues covering this cathedral. It was gorgeous! I love how much detail Europe put into their buildings and churches. They care so much about the appearance of their cities. Its really amazing and I can appreciate every bit of it! :)

We headed back down the lift and decided it was time to grab some lunch. Anita works as an assistant to a very wealthy family. One of the many things they own and run is a wine bar a few metro stops away. Anita's boss had told her that since I was in town, that she should take me there. So she found out the address and decided it would be cool to go check it out.

About 20 minutes and metro rides later, we were lost at a large round-about with streets coming off streets and trying to find the one that the wine bar was on. After asking someone, we found the street and the exact address she was given... But was there anything there? Nope. Of course not. Bummer.
We thought maybe it was closed and it was only a night place, so we went to a nearby restaurant and enjoyed some fantastic fazzoli, mine with broccoli, hers with tuna. We ordered wine with our meals, typical in Italy of course! And I ended up with a half litre of pinot grigo! Hahaha Cheers!! Oh Italy...
Part way through my meal, I decided to go use the restroom, to which I didn't realise the bathrooms were co-ed. So when I walked in, there was a man about one of the stall doors.
"oh! I'm sorry!"
He laughed, "No, no!" and he signalled for me to use it...
Uhh.. Okay...
Then when I came out, there was a man standing at the sink, oh you know, just doing up his belt, no big deal.
I was so confused. I had no idea if I really was in a co-ed bathroom or I managed to find myself in the men's bathroom but they were just okay with it. Haha So awkward!
I went back to my table, explaining what had happened and her just cracking up at my awkward bathroom encounter.
But this restaurant got even better.
In Italy, they typically have several plates throughout their meals. They start with bread and pasta, then meat, then salad, then dessert. When our waiter came over, he stood unusually close to the right of me, looking down. I shifted to the left, to give myself a bit of personal space and he asked "Second plate?"
I just laughed because not just 20 minutes ago, he apparently hadn't been able to understand anything we said in English when we were trying to order, and now he was speaking English and standing freakishly close to my arm. Haha weird guy.
So Anita and I laughed, refusing a second plate, the first being big enough. Then we paid and headed off to a small shopping area called De Angeli where Anita wanted to grab her hairspray and look through a few shops.

De Angeli wasn't anything too special. There were a few boutiques that we checked out, the clothing very unique, some a little odd. But it was cool to see none the less. Both of us totally wiped out from the sun, the heat and being out all day, we decided it would be a good idea to head home.

After taking the metro and tram back to her neighborhood, we stopped at a little wine store around the corner, picked up a few bottles and headed back to her studio apartment for a quick cat nap.

The nap turned out to be exactly what I needed! I still have this stupid cold and haven't had the greatest stamina the last few days, though it's nice to wear summer clothes, the heat hasn't really helped much either.
About an hour later, just as I was waking up, Bogdan returned from work and we were popping open a bottle of wine and listening to some great house music while getting ready for the night.
We decided to dress up a bit tonight and head to the lounges of Porta Sempione!

Porta Sempione is beeeaaautifullll! By far my favorite area of Milan! Anita was telling me that the area is part of the fashion district of Milano. Where big designers get their fabrics and have some of the fashion week parties. The street lined with big beautiful trees and unique, round street lamps, and the side walks lined with awnings from restaurants as well as tables and chairs under umbrellas. At the end of the street, you could see a large archway lit up and in the background and big park. The whole area was precious! It reminded me a little bit of Paris even.

We walked over to a place called Ama.Mi. Its funny that I began this trip and blog with a reference to Eat Pray Love because when I walked in, of all songs they could've been playing in this fantastic, brick-walled, candle lit lounge was a song from the movie. The song from when she goes to India and she's riding her bike through the street, her future husband messing with a cassette in his car and then runs her off the road. It's the same song that plays when they meet again at the bar. And here I am, walking into the lounge and on it comes! It made me a laugh, what a funny coincidence that I referenced this movie and now the soundtrack is officially apart of my trip.

We ordered drinks at the bar before sitting at a small white round table. The happy hours in Milan have free buffets when you order drinks, so there was a fantastic assortment of pastas, cheese, salad/ veggies and bread. It was sooo good! Gosh, Italy, you know how to do happy hour! Haha Mmm!

We were there for about a good hour and a half ordering drinks, having some munchies from the buffet (my personal favorite being the cucumbers in oil & vinegar) then headed off to our next spot!

I regularly check out this website called The Cool Hunter. It's a great blog-like website that has pictures of amazing places around the world, places such as bars & restaurants, natural wonders, incredible architecture or design; as well as great fashion, music, art, advertising, etc. It's a really neat site! (www.thecoolhunter.net)

A few months ago, while I was exploring this site, they did a piece on a new trend: Designer Bakeries. They are bakeries that are designed and built in some beautiful way and make incredible breads, pastries and the like. When looking at all of the pictures of bakeries around the world, two that I really liked I had bookmarked and "pinned" on my Pinterest board. (www.pinterest.com/jpond)

Well, one of those bakeries I had recalled was named Princi and in Milan! I was dying to see it and when Anita and I looked it up earlier in the day, we found out it was open till 2am! Perfect!

We set out to find Princi!

It turned out to be a bit farther than we expected but we ended up in a really cool area called Repubblica! It was in the more modern area of Milan, where these enormous glass buildings and condos were all being built up.
In the Piazza, there were tons of bars and clubs all filled with beautiful trendy people. The atmosphere was so fun! There were lots of promoters in the streets calling out to people passing by getting them to go into their clubs. One of the clubs was called Hollywood.
People selling stuff on the streets and promoters were coming up to us here and there, becoming really annoying. So as we walked by Hollywood, one promoter comes up to me and says, in his Italian accent: "Eh! Eh! Come check out Hollywood!"
I didn't miss a beat, and said "Sweetheart, I LIVE in Hollywood!" and just kept walking, him completely stuttering on what to say and Anita & Bogdan just laughing behind me.

We were on the hunt for this bakery, which we ended up getting lost finding it. We asked a few people, some not knowing what we were talking about and others leading us in circles. It didn't help there was some construction going on that made it all the more confusing.

Finally after getting out my iPhone and making a few turns I saw the sign for the place! I was so excited!

There was big glass windows at the store front and white awnings. We walked in, the place rather empty then I had imagined. It was long with a large dark wood wall on the left side - this was where the counter with baked goods was and on the right bar stools lined a long glass wall with wooden shelf to eat, also looking into an area where a baker was cutting up and weighing dough for bread.

Anita and I decided we were going to try a bunch of things since we'd come all that way! We ordered a doughnut, slice of cherry pie, cannoli, tiramasu and water to wash it down.

We sat down on what we noticed were actually ripped bar stools, sampled everything feeling a bit disappointed that none of it was all that extraordinary at all! It was quite the bummer since we had come all that way expecting greatness.

It was now 1am, we were pretty tired from a long day and disappointing bakery adventure. We headed back to the metro station.

When we arrived it turned out to be closed.
Nooooo! Not this again!!! How do we get home now?!

We all stand arguing about what to do when suddenly we see a bus pass by. Yes!!!
We try running for it and miss it, of course, and end up waiting about 15 minutes for the next one.
When we get off the bus, we still have to take the #9 tram back. As we're walking towards the tram stop, we see it approaching and we're along the tracks but we aren't very close to the stop. We're probably going to miss it. Noooooo!!!!
Bogdan runs toward the tram signaling at the tram operated that we want on as Anita and I are trying to catch up behind him. Note: I'm wearing huge wedge heels, running across rocky grass with bumps and holes, praying I don't break an ankle on the way.
Thankfully the tram operator actually was kind enough to wait for us. We jumped on, out of breath, and journeyed back to Anita's apartment where we all passed out almost instantly.

Atop the Duomo in Milan

Atop the Duomo

In Anita's courtyard, ready for happy hour!

Porta Sempione!

Anita & I at Ama.Mi

Ama.Mi in Porta Semione for happy hour!

The bakery: Princi

Our order at Princi: Cannoli, Tiramsu, Doughnut, and Slice of Cherry Pie

Day 12: Milano!

May 10th, 2012 ---

Mornings officially suck.

6am came very, very quickly. It was like I blinked and woke up again, this time with a cold and mini hangover that I believe was worse just because of said cold - either way, the combination made me want to curl up in a ball, blanket over head and give the world my middle finger.

Though, today was no day to flip off the world. I slowly dragged myself out of bed and to the shower, crossing my fingers I would feel a bit better by the end of it. I dressed and got ready only feeling slightly more awake but my eyes still feeling like they needed to close and my nose and head completely congested.
This sucked.

After returning my sheets to the front desk and checking out, I slowly walked my way over to the train station, grabbing an orange juice and a croissant for the ride. Luckily, on the train I had the entire face-to-face seating area (with table) to myself. *phew!*

I whipped out my iPod, began to blog and enjoyed the incredible journey from Switzerland to Milan through the Alps. (Even seeing a small but beautiful waterfall on the way!)

When I arrived, I went into the main area and began to look around for my friend, Anita.

---

Back when I was 16, I was working at this hardware store, called Canadian Tire, on Victoria St. in my hometown of Kitchener. I hated it. I mean it wasn't thaaaat bad, but it just wasn't where I wanted to be.

At the time, my best friend had been working at this clothing store, Urban Planet. She had encouraged me to apply and after finally deciding I wanted a change I applied. I was hired on the spot by the manager that
happened to be leaving to go work at corporate a few days later.

Within three months I was promoted to a part time management position and I loved my job. Shortly after my promotion a new assistant manager came to work at our store. It was Anita. She was a sassy little thing and like me, was also a Leo - so of course, initially we butt heads.

After a short while we ended up realising that we could be great friends. I began to so enjoy going to the store and working with her. She even introduced me to electro and house music, which now, I don't know if I could live without some days. She is awesome.

Eventually, both went our separate ways - she moved to Toronto, I worked at a new store, then off to San Diego and her to Milan to follow her dreams of being in fashion.

---

It's been almost eight years since I've seen Anita. We've facebooked each other here and there, but we were so excited to see each other after so long! I told her the dates I would be in Milano, she offered her home for me to stay in and said she would meet me at the train station.

As I wandered around Milano Centrale Station, I spotted a girl slowly walking and looking around. She had looked exactly how I remembered, long black hair, bangs, layered, fitted clothing and heels. Aa soon as we spotted each other we ran over and hugged each other. It was great!

We hopped on a tram and headed to her apartment that was about 10 minutes from the Duomo. It was a little studio with her bed, desk, kitchen and bathroom and a little courtyard outside her front yard. So adorable. She even keeps her water and wine on her window sill where it stays cold.

After dropping off my stuff, we headed down the street, through a little market with fruits and purses and jewellery to a little cafe, that apparently had just opened called Pandenus. We had some fococcaia bread and roast beef with sparkling water. I love Italian food, so much flavor! So good!

Following, we killed some time by having a glass of wine and a strawberry liqueur across the street before she had to go to work for a few hours.

When she left for work, I was hoping to go wander around the market for a while. Thought, sadly by the time I got back to the market it was closed with street cleaners disposing of all the leftover garbage on the streets. With nothing to do for a few hours, I googled the address of Zara, to see where the main area was, and started walking. It was approximately 15-20 minutes later, I found myself wandering around the main shopping and tourist area annnnnnnd a three-story Zara store! (Hell Yeahhhhh!!!!)

After doing a bit of window- shopping, as I'm walking down the main street, covered in people, I look up. All of a sudden I notice that only a few blocks from where I was standing was the Duomo! Ecstatic, I hurry on down the street. Staring up at it, it's incredible - i think almost more incredible than the Dom in Cologne. It was so large and every single part of it, so detailed. I somehow always seem to discover amazing landmarks whenever I'm not looking for them!

As I stood taking pictures, a man came up to me offering me popcorn kernels to feed to the pigeons. He offered to take a picture of me with my camera and the Duomo in the background. Reluctantly, I said okay and as he held my camera, he told me to bend over and then sprinkled kernels on the ground infront me then began to whistle for the birds. All of sudden, I'm close to the ground with a ton of pigeons all around me! I'm not usually afraid of birds but honestly, it totally freaked me out! I quickly sprung up, laughing and embarrassed by how freaked out I was from a hundred birds surrounding me at my ankles and after thanking him, went on my way.

I got in line for the entrance to the Duomo. I noticed a man that was working for the cathedral looking at everyone's attire.
What's going on?
In front of me, a girl wearing a dress stopping just above her knees and dark stockings underneath was stopped and told that her dress was too short and she would not be allowed in. Looking down at my small dress with crocheted top, I nervously used my pashmina to cover myself. The man looked me up and down, and miraculously let me pass. I was shocked. My dress was no longer than the girl before me, but he said nothing and I waltzed into the cathedral.

The cathedral was enormous! So tall! It reminded me a lot like the Dom in Cologne. Same type ceilings, same layout, just a bit larger in size. Quite incredible! I wandered around, cracking up when I saw a sign that claimed Jesus was on the web, an advertisement for their website I suppose. As I walked through I was approaching the exit when I noticed the outfit of a historic, now deceased, lying horizontally in a glass case that looked much like a coffin.
Hmm.. What's that?
As I get closer I notice that it is not just a costume in there... It's the actual dead body of a priest in his religious gown.
WHAT THE HELL?!
There is a silver mask on the face and covering the head so you can't see a skull, but his now flaky, dry green-colored dead hands rested on his torso. So gross.
Beside this coffin is another, but with this one the mask doesn't cover the entirety of his head so you can still see the side of his head covered in thin patchy white hair. Aghhhh... Soooo creepy!!!!! I was standing 4ft away from a dead body! I'm sorry but ewwwww...!

I leave the church and decide to head back to Anita's to get ready to go out when she got off work. She had given me the keys so I was good to go.

When I arrived at her apartment I had to pee so bad! I put down my stuff and walked into the bathroom, when suddenly I heard what sounded like someone opening the door. I had forgotten that Anita had informed me that her boyfriend would be over after he got off work, so when I opened the door - there he was, this short Romanian guy named Bogdan with an accent, saying hello and apologizing for possibily scaring me.

I got ready and we headed out to meet Anita at her work at 8pm. After meeting her we decided to head to a place called Le Trottoir, about a 10 minute tram ride away. It was a great little place with a happy and small free buffet looking on to a busy street, as well as a piazza with a giant archway in the center. We sat on the patio drinking our wine, eating and laughing/ catching up on everything that has happened in the last little while.

Following Le Trottoir, we walked over to this small Asian corner store where we were refused when trying to purchase some wine. Commmonnnnn! This is Italy!! Wine all day, wine all night! Cheers and vino for everyone! Haha

So we ended up walking some more and found another place where we grabbed a couple bottles and headed over to a place called the 'Columns'.

The Columns, well, its exactly as it sounds. A piazza with a church on one side, a statue in the middle, and a row of columns on the other. Bogdan and Anita explained that this area is a local hangout that everyone comes to. They sit on the ground of the benches (if you can get a spot) and they smoke, drink and socialise with everyone around them or with their group of friends while people come up to you trying to sell you roses or lighters, etc. It was a cool little spot, bustling with lots of different people. We sat and drank our two bottles of wine enjoying the stir of people around us.

On our way home, we passed a place selling crêpes that Anita informed me were the best! So we stopped for a chocolate-banana crêpe, crispy and covered with powdered sugar, which was pretty fantastic, then got on our way!

I was absolutely exhausted by the time we got home, but I wanted to see Anita's fashion designs! I've seen the work she's posted on Facebook and her sketches are incredible! She's very, very good! She came up with these white three-dimensional, geometric balls that are sooo freakin cool and she's going to include them in the collection she has to design for school. So neat! (below is a picture of the balls that I'm talking about)

After going through her sketchbook and showing me all her work, we decided to hit the light and get some sleep for another fun day! :)

The Duomo in Milan!

Accept my friend request on Facebook?

So creepy!

Galleria!

The Columns where we had our wine!

The design on Miss Anita Jax!

Day 11- Art?

May 9th, 2012 ---

Having checked the forecast last night, I knew today was supposed to be a rainy one. I decided it would be a good day to hit the museums and some giant Imax theatre that was across the lake.

Before leaving the hostel, i had a peak around looking for information about the museums and checked if perhaps there were some coupons or discounts I could use with my Eurail pass because the admission to this huge museum, apparently was a bit pricey.
Well! After I peaked here and there, turns out that big museum i was hoping to check out was the Museum of Transportation! Boring...

Don't get me wrong, all museums are interesting in their own way, but I was hoping to look at more than just transportation stuff. I wanted to check out lots of things!

When I had first arrived in Lucerne and came out of the train station I had noticed that across the street was the KKL Lucerne Museum of Arts. So, I changed my plan and decided to head that way instead.

The building was very beautiful in a modern and architectural way. It was a large, all glass building with part of it jutting out and held up by two large pillars, between the pillars - a large round water fountain.

When inside, I found that the museum was only one level of the building on level K. I jumped in the elevator and made my way upstairs, bought a ticket and to my surprise, I had to put my purse in a locker.

I grabbed my phone and iPod, putting on some RJD2, Emancipator and Röyskopp for a mellow cruise around the museum. As I head through the glass door, I took a right into the first room where I stood looking at photography that some woman took of her covered in mud attempting to blend into a large tree.

Okay....
I keep walking...

Room 2 is full of projectors and televisions showing videos. One video, literally a surveillance tape of a restaurant kitchen, another a girl painting on the bones in her arm, on her arm (then it was start over and repeat).

By this point, I'm recalling an article I had read last night that my friend ha posted on Facebook. It was about how the author, Glen Coco, was sick of pretending, he just didn't "get" art. After attending many, many art shows in his career he thought it was hilarious that we all stand there, staring at an art piece trying to find some greater meaning to it when really your looking at a potted plant on a post.

So I'm walking through this museum, with this article in mind just asking myself "what is considered art?" and "why are these people famous and considered true professional artists when I could've taken the same picture with my iPhone?" On that note, I probably could've taken a better picture on my iPhone -- look at me, I'm an artist! Even based on the many principles of design I've learned over the years, some of this "art" was really just crap.

Please, let's do an experiment. Let's take these 'works of art' and tell these artists to pretend they are students for a day. Have them present in front of my teachers and then sit back and watch as they get torn apart for work that looks like a child got a hold of a disposable camera.

... And really, a surveillance video in a restaurant kitchen? Common. If that's all it took, security guards would be raking in the cash!

I walked around the museum for about an hour or so, until I got to the last room - tables with table cloths that had crayon drawings on them.
I'm done.
To put it bluntly and with some sort of comedy to it: this museum was wack! Hahahaha
Okay, I promise, I'll never say wack again. That felt weird coming from me. Lol

Anyways, I ended up heading out of the museum with a whole day ahead of me and suddenly blue skies! I decided it would be nice to just walk around town for a few hours, see where life would take me.

Well it took me to H&M. Dammit. Soooo many cute clothessss!!! Why was H&M America not as cool as it was here??! After about a solid 30-40mins, I ended up finding a few really, really unique finds and was absolutely thrilled about them! Bring on that cruise! This girl's got a brand new wardrobe! (okay well not a whole wardrobe.. But still!)

After browsing around a little longer I decided to grab a sandwich at a neat little place called Bachmans and then grabbing a small ice cream and walked along the lake.

It turned out to be, really, quite a beautiful day! This may sound funny, but it was like Lucerne was in high definition. The air was crystal clear, the lake so clean, the sky so, so blue, snow-covered mountains in the distance but still reflecting onto the lake and tons of swans hanging out by the shore. Everything was so saturated in natural colors. It was extraordinary.

It was around 5 when I decided to head back to the hostel. I received a message before from that ropes course instructor Kevin, who invited me out for a casual drink by the train station. I thought it would be a nice way to learn a little more about the city and a good way to end Switzerland. So we planned to meet at 8 at the large archway that sits in front of the main station.

I got back to the hostel, read a book for a while, just chilled out, then headed over to meet him.

When I arrived, he greeted me in typical European fashion with a cheek-to-cheek kiss on both sides and then we went into the station to buy two beers at the store.

With beer in hand, we walked along the lake to the park that was right by my hostel and parked it on a bench. Our conversations were pretty hilarious, most involving a lot of hand gestures to help with the German-to-English language barrier.

He had told me that the indoor skate ramp his friends built was right around the corner, to which I thought would be fun to go see! We walk about 5minutes to a garage right beside he train station and as soon as we get close I can hear the sound of skateboards zipping back and forth on a ramp.

The place was really cool! It was a small ramp from wall to wall, with pipes along the edges to grind on. There were drawings all over the walls and music blasting. I met a bunch of locals who showed off their skills while sitting on the above landing with my beer and enjoyed some conversation with one of the guys that had built the place and competes with Kevin. He had to have been like 45 and he skated so well, almost better than the rest of them that we're there! It kind of made me laugh that he was still killin it at his age! Good for him!

We hung out there for about a half hour before making our way to a nearby bar in a hotel on the other side of the train station. It's strange that they play so much American music at the bars, restaurants and shops in Europe. I've noticed it everywhere I have gone. It almost ruins the experience a little bit. It's hard to emerge yourself in a culture when an American top 40 song is playing in the background.

We had a few drinks and danced, a few of Kevin's friends also there and socialising, then he very kindly walked me back to my hostel around 1am where I immediately crashed out with my alarm set for 6am!

Tomorrow: I head to Milano!! :)

KKL Lucerne Museum of Art: Paper Rings?

KKL Lucerne Museum of Art

KKL Lucerne Museum of Art

Lucerne!

Skateboarding Mini Ramp

Day 10- Fear is a state of mind.

May 8th, 2012 ---

Last night was my first night in a hostel. Backpackers in Lucerne is a cute little place with kitchen, common area, rooms very much resembling dorms lining one side of a hallway. The opposite side with bathrooms and showers and an open area of sinks and make up tables. Quite comfortable and a great place to stay, especially for having never stayed at a hostel before.

I set my alarm this morning for 9:45 so that I could quickly get ready and get on with the big day I had planned. Mind you, it's not as big as my Montmartre/ Louvre/ Black Seeds day in Paris, but it was definitely an extraordinary day none the less.

I started by walking the 10 minutes back in the direction of the train station along the lake. It was a nice morning, nothing special really, 68 degrees, a bit of overcast but with the blue sky peeking through here and there. I stopped at the train station momentarily because the smell of a hot dog/ sausage stand was enough to get me in there! Haha As I ordered my sausage with mustard, I couldn't help but laugh as I watched this man beside me whip out a Swiss army knife and cut up his sausage. He did it like it ain't no thang! Am I the only one that thinks that's really funny?? Swiss army knife... Switzerland...for a sausage...? I mean I know we have Swiss army knives in North America but I don't think I've ever actually seen anyone use one especially as casual as he did! No? Not that funny? Hmm.. Okay well i thought it was hilarious! -- Tough crowd.. Haha ...Moving on..

So after enjoying some lunch I went down to the ticket booth and bought my ticket to Mt.Pilatus! I was told to take the #1 bus, which I confused with platform #1 which is how I ended up on the wrong bus.

I knew something wasn't right as soon as I got on it. Just as the doors were closing I ran up to the bus driver, ticket in hand, "I don't think I'm on the right bus!" He looks at me and chuckles, looks at my ticket and tells me I most definitely am not and that I have to go to the platform across the street! Phew! That was a close one... Who knows where I would've ended up!

As I'm walking over to the platform, I notice the bus has already arrived and about to leave. So I make a run for it and jump on!

I arrive at my stop approximately 10 minutes later. Confused on where to go, at first, I look around for signs to the mountain. I notice a woman with a large hiking backpack, heading in the general direction that seemed to be the way to go, it also seemed like following her would be my best bet.

Minutes later I find myself behind a church, in a cemetery. Son of a -- ! Hmm.. Okay.. But then! As I take a peak around - a gate! Ah ha! As I watch her go through the gate, I tip toe behind and keep following at a distance. Such a creeper... Haha But! The gate led to the road to Mt.Pilatus! Wahoo! After walking up a small hill I see the gondola station for the mountain.

I go up to the ticket booth and exchange the ticket I purchased at the train station for a mountain ticket and jump in a gondola, solo.

The ride takes about 15minutes and it's absolutely breathtaking. How could one city be so beautiful?! From the gondola you could see a large portion of the Swiss Alps, a panorama view of the entire city and of course the glistening lake. Incredible.

Now, I've always believed that fear is just a state of mind and it can be overcome. (Except for spiders - pshhhh! I will always battle some sort of anxiety attack and find the most creative ways of killing them while screaming or whimpering in the process. #ThanksMom -- And Kirby/ Noora, if you are reading this... You both know exactly what I'm talking about. #BathroomMirrors #AboveDoorways Haha)
Back to the topic, if I had any fear of heights before... I'm pretty sure I conquered every single one of them today.

When I arrived at the hostel last night, I decided to scope it all out. I had grabbed my keys and my phone and went off to find the lounge, ya know, see what that's all about and who might be there. I was lucky enough to meet a few people from Michigan and one from New York, Buffalo - to be precise. Of course he knew exactly where Kitchener was (my hometown in Ontario for those that don't know) and proceeded to ask me if I owned a pair of Birkenstocks. My response: "Hahaha whaaaa?!"
I had seen my younger couzin wearing Birkenstocks but I did know it was the latest "thing" back home and our city apparently had a reputation of always wearing them... I must add, my couzin is the only person I've seen where them... Shrug. Whatever.
I explained I owned no such thing and continued to chat with them a bit. They were talking about Mt.Pilatus. I overheard them talk about some ropes course but didn't really know what they were talking about. When I asked, they told that Mt.Pilatus had a huge ropes course on top of he mountain! Coooooooool!

Back when I was 13, all the eighth graders go on a leadership/ religious retreat (to my friends reading: ya, I said it! I did a religious retreat! Betcha never coulda guessed that one!) Part of the retreat was to Mt.Mary (not exactly a mountain, more like large hill) and the other half was to a lake around Camp Wabanaki (I believe? Could be wrong about that one..) But at the lake, there was canoeing, kayaking, rock climbing... And a ropes course! At 13, the thought of being suspended high in the air, suspended by a rope and walking across a wobbling log - well it wasn't exactly my idea of fun. So I ended up skipping that part. To this day, I still regretted not trying.

So as soon as I heard about the ropes course on Mt.Pilatus, my ears perked up.
What's that you say?...Ropes course..??! Hmm.... !

When I arrived at the top of the gondola, the landing before taking the second to the very tip top, I saw the ropes course to my left.
Hmmmmmmm.....!!!!
... Well maybe I'll just see how much it is.....

I get to the booth and a very nice guy named Kevin comes out and I ask him how much it is to do it.
27 Swiss Francs.
Reasonable... Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...!

Screw it. I'm doing it.

I look at Kevin, "Okay. I wanna do it."
He looks at me, "Wait, just you?You do alone?!"
"Ya! No wait, hell yeah!!"
"Wow! Okay!"

I pay, he gives me a harness, helmet and pair of gloves then goes through all the safety procedures and instructions of what I have to do. Red tape = safety wire to clip onto; Blue tape = Zip line. Sweet.

(Insert nerves and deep breathes here.)

I'm okay, I'll be fine.

You can do this, Jessica. You got this. Ain't no thang!

(deep breath)

I walk up the first little log ladder.

Holy crap!!! Ahhhh!
(I'm only like 4 or 5ft off the ground- haha)

An older gentleman comes over to me, he tells me his name is Freddy and let's me know he'll be here to help if I need him! Nice, nice guy! Funny too! He offers to grab my camera and take photos for me, cracking jokes along the way.

I can't remember which obstacle was first but I believe it was just flat wooden planks suspended by ropes, of course.

Eek! Here it goes!

Step. Step. Step. Step. And I'm on the next platform.

Okay, okay, this isn't so bad...

Wait. You want me to walked across a tight rope now?! You have got to be kidding me. Ahh!

After conquering the tight rope like a boss, I get to the platform with nothing but a wire to the next.
Blue tape.
Crap.
"FREDDY!!!"
Freddy, standing just below me, starts to laugh.
I ask him to make sure I'm clipped on right - I'm not prepared to break any bones by zip line today. He assures me I'm good and tells me to take a seat on the platform and the inch my way off while he takes a video. Haha Good man.

By this point, there's a woman sitting with her kids watching and cheering me on. And by the way, I'm quite a bit higher at this point.

I take a deep breath and launch! I fly down the line, slowing myself down with my gloves hand on the above wire. Landing on the next platform, the mother & Freddy below - both with big smiles, are clapping and happy for me!
I'm stoked!

I'm come down the steps, "alright Freddy, where to?!"

He shows me the next ladder up to a platform of higher difficulty. Small logs hung by ropes that begin to sway as soon as you step on them. Awesome.

About 20minutes later, I had accomplished about 3/4 of the entire course! It was a breeze! No problem! Tires on ropes, rolling logs, hanging poles with little pegs to jump from one to the next, high tight ropes.. Felt like an acrobat! ...Please excuse my informal attire, Freddy, my circus costume is at the dry cleaners!

As I was approaching one of the last platforms in the course. Freddy came over to the vicinity. (German accent..) "You ah very guud!"
"thanks Freddy!"
"Now you have option to take exzeet or keep going"
"keep going where?"
"Up derh!" He points up. "18 meters!"
Uhh....
"You take ladders to first platform. Den second ladders to top!"
Hmm... That's really freakin high...
I analyse it for a moment...

If I don't go up, I'm gunna feel like a wimp. I will also probably regret it just like I did the first time back when I was 13.

"Freddy, I'm going for it!"
"Wowwww! Guud for you!"
"yeah!"
"I warn you, when you get to top, you have to jump."
"what?"
"Jump."
"What do you mean jump?"
"No line, no zipping. Jump!"
"Jump?"
"Yes, jump." By this point, he's laughing.
"But..."
"Jump."
"Hoowwwww..???!!"
"You see rope hanging?"
"Yes." Looking up at the little log jutting out from the tree with a blue pulley-rope hanging off it, with a clip to hook into.
"You attach harness to zat and you jump! It bringz you down slow"
"oh.. Okay....."
"Sure you want to do?"

Hmm....jump, huh?...

"Yup."

After nervously climbing to the first platform, then to the very top - with Freddy calling up to me, telling me to take my time. When I get to the top, the view is freakin awesome! So worth that climb to the top. I snap a few pictures and sit on the platform enjoying the view for a few minutes -- also avoiding the fact that I have to jump off this damn tree very shortly.

Finally, I clip myself onto this blue cord. Freddy yells up again, "Sit on the ledge! Take your time!"

Ahhhhh!!!! This is crazy!!! I'm 18 meters off the ground having to jump off the ledge.

Remember that song Third Eye Blind, "Jumper"?
"I wish you would step back from that ledge, my friend..." --- theme song for the next few moments.

Heart racing. Starting to sweat. Hands getting shakey.

"It's okay! You can do it!! Just jump! We are cheering for you!" .. Oh Freddy - you cray.

Okay, here it goes. AH----- Nope! I grab the ledge so fast, I don't move more than a few inches. No way, no how. Where's the emergency exit?!

Deep breath. Just breathe, Jessica.

I tug on the rope to see if it slows down when I pull. It doesn't.

"Freddy! I thought you said this thing slows you down??!"
"It does! It does! After you jump! After one zecond!"

Of course, it's after I jump. Ugh...

Attempt #2 through 4 are pretty much the same, except add Kevin, crowd of teenagers on field trip and a couple others watching.

"Just look straight ahead! Don't look down! 1, 2, 3, Go!" --- Freddy, you're not as funny as you were before.

I take another deep breath.
I gotta do this. I CAN do this.

Deep breath. GO.

I hurl myself off the platform, almost pee my pants. The rope make a jerk stop and slowly brings me down to the ground where I just sit, heart racing and taking deep breathes. Phew!

"See! You do it! And you will always remember!"

Okay, Freddy, you're right. Touché my friend. Touché.

After catching my breath, I decide to do one more course then head out. As I'm handing my stuff back to Kevin, he chats me up asking me where I'm from etc. I tell him I live in California. He's stoked! Apparently he's some sort of competitive/ pro skateboarder and has a competition coming up somewhere in California!
Cool! He asks to exchange information that way when he comes to Cali if I want to, I can bring some friends out to his competition and come watch. I say sure, thinking that's be super cool and then head on my way up to the next gondola.

This one was rather large, myself and about 5 or 6 others were inside all standing. The gondola starts to head up the mountain and we are approaching a cliff that you can't see over. The view already spectacular.

We get over the cliff and all of a sudden we all feel a bit of a falling feeling as we tip just slightly forward (of course I was standing at the front window, preparing to have my life flashed before me.) Everyone in the gondola lets out a little sound of anxiety. The gondola operator doesn't seem phased at all - clearly a normal reaction on our part, I suppose. We level out and I'm just blown away by the view. All of Lucerne and all of the Swiss Alps in sight!

As if it couldn't have gotten any better, we get off the gondola and I head up the stairs to the main area atop Mt.Pilatus. I can now see all the Alps which were on the other side, to the south.

I may have thought I was on top of the world when I reached the top of the dome at the Sacre Coeur, looking over all of Paris... But this... This was something completely different. Mind blowing, to say the least.

I climbed up a small hill with rocky stairs and was at the very peak of the mountain. Absolutely outstanding. There are literally no words to describe how incredible the view was. It's amazing an area so beautiful exists in this world. It's something everyone should experience in their life at some point.

I stood up there snapping a thousand pictures, enjoying the views and picking out lines that would be really cool to snowboard. Also wondering if anyone has snowboarder down here just to give it a whirl.

After a little while, it was approaching 5pm, the last gondola down at 5:30. I decided to head back down.

I hopped on the same bus I took there and made my way back to the main train station where I decided to wander around town and find somewhere to get supper.

I ended up finding a little place called Grendel 19 across the bridge. By far the BEST white wine ravioli of my life. Take note Italy, because I sure hope you can beat that!

As I was leaving, it had begun to rain and I had forgotten my cute little raincoat. So I grabbed what turned out to be an expensive can ride for such a short distance and then headed back to the hostel for a shower and bed.

Zzzz....

Going up Mt. Pilatus in the Gondola

Ropes Course!

THAT is what is I have to use to jump down?

Swiss Alps! Bird: Straight Chillin. haha!

Day 9: Lucerne, I love you.

Day 9:

May 7th, 2012 ---

Having set my alarm before falling asleep last night, I made sure I up and at'em by 9:45. I showered, did hair & makeup, dressed then quickly finished the last of my packing. While I was getting my stuff together, Janis was kind enough to make me breakfast one last time - some wicked scrambled eggs, complete with peppers, veggies, spices and sausage I think. Personal chef Spogis in tha house! Haha thumbs up all around.

We left the house shortly after 11 and hopped in a cab over the train station, making a quick stop at Starbucks when arriving.

After writing all about the "love locks" on the bridge last night, I decided that before I left Cologne, unsure if I would ever make it back - I wanted to put a lock on that bridge. I may date people, I may have casual or serious relationships, who knows - maybe I'll marry one day... But what I do know is that no matter where I end up, I'll always be where I am with myself and after 23 years of working on me, and of course many more to go... Right this minute: I like who I am. Heck, I love who I am.

We all have flaws, we make mistakes or have disappointments along the way, but the one thing I've learned - in an artsy sense, you are your own masterpiece and you decide who you are. If there is something about yourself or your situation, only you have the power to change it or overcome. There are always supporters or people in the world/ your life that will be willing to help, but you are solely based on your own decisions.

So when it came to reaching the bridge, I just happened to have a small lock in one of my bags, I grabbed a sharpie and on the front o the lock I wrote "Me" framed inside of a heart. Hey, you gotta be able to love yourself before you can love anybody else and no matter where or who I end up with, I'll always have a some love for me. And not in a selfish, self-absorbed kind of way.

On the back of the lock I wrote "JPond" and the date, put a few x's and o's on the sides and then fastened the lock to the bridge. With two sets of keys in hand, I walked over to the side of the bridge and chucked them into the rushing Rhine below! The keys plunked in the water and I walked away, happy as a clam!

Janis and I walked back to the train station, making a quick stop for a postcard and a cute pair of earrings to replace a pair I had already lost somewhere between the train from Paris and the Black Seeds concert on Thursday.

Janis led me over to the platform, my train already awaiting. We said our goodbyes, thanking him a million times for such a fun weekend and hopped onto the train to head to my next destination: Lucerne, Switzerland! :)

The first train I took was a four hour journey from Cologne to Basel, Switzerland. We would go through tunnels, which from sitting in the opposite direction from the way the train was going, when we came our the other side I realised we were going through hills and sides of smaller mountains. It was really neat!

Arriving in Basel, I had 15 minutes to grab my bag, jump off and figure out where to catch my next train! I saw a train next to us with a sign saying Lucerne but there was no train number... I walked up stairs, luggage in tow, and did a quick once around looking for any sign with information.
Nothing.
Hmmm...

I decided to make the executive decision to go back downstairs and just hop on the one that said Lucerne and see what would happen.

Made it to Lucerne about an hour or so later. Coming into the city, I became a bit nervous. It looked sort of dull and uninteresting. I'll be here for two and a half days, what would I do?!

And then I stepped off the train.

Right off in the distance, I could see snow covered mountains. I melted. To me, there is nothing more beautiful then snow covered mountains on the horizon. I was arriving early evening so the sky was saturated with pale pinks and oranges.

I started walking over to the hostel I had booked, just a short five minute jaunt away. I walked along a paved pathway along the edge of the lake, going through a large park. Within a few minutes I could see more mountains on the horizon. I've travelled and seen many places, driven through and snowboarded in mountains... But never have I breathed such clean, crisp air. It was refreshing to just take a deep breath and enjoy it.

Once I arrived at the Backpackers Hostel, I checked in and went to my room. A small dorm with two twin beds, one for me and one for another girl who I have yet to meet. I threw down my stuff, locked up my suitcase, grabbed my headphones and camera and went out to walk along the path some more.

With the sun setting, the colorful hues reflecting on the lake, mountains in the background and flowered trees lining the entire sidewalk - I don't think life could've gotten any better. I could smell the flowers and nature all around me. It was incredible.

I walked along the path for about an hour, with it still be light out. So far I've found that people are incredibly friendly here. One gentleman saw me trying to take a picture of myself with everything in the background and offered to take it for me. He chatted with me for a few minutes... though it seems people also overstay here welcome a bit because it he just kept trying to make conversation until finally I said thank you, nice to meet you and walked away.

As I kept along the path, people were jogging by, others sitting on benches or riding bikes. Along the shore of the lake, swans lie and walk along the waters edge. I noticed a young guy walking in my direction. With my headphones still on I stopped with my back turned to him to take a picture, hoping he wasn't about to try and talk to me.

I heard someone say something behind me, I knew it was him. I took my headphones off and he asked me something in German. Thinking he was a tourist like myself asking for directions or something, I apologised and told him I spoke English. And that's when he asked where I was from and would not stop talking.

He told me something about seeing my picture on yahoo? And that I was "so f***ing beautiful" (excuse his French) and then carried on rambling for about 10mins. I thought maybe he was mistaking me for a celebrity or someone famous he knew. He was very kind...at first... but then he began to get uncomfortably close, then trying to put his arm around me, even kiss me. I had enough. I was done being polite. I put my arm out to block him from getting any closer. I saw three young guys walking towards me, as I turned towards them I gave them an "I'm uncomfortable" look and they slowed there pace but still walking. I noticed them standing not too far behind him trying to see what was going on.

I told the guy that as nice as it was to meet him, I was going to leave and keep walking. I started to walk away towards another person sitting on a bench very close by, someone who saw what was going on. He followed me and started saying something about walking with me, wanting to sleep with me that night. I started to get nervous but with people around I knew I could ask for help if I needed to.

As I picked up my pace away from this guy and closer to the person by the bench, he started calling out my name. I told him to back off and that I was going to go do my own thing and he should leave, I would not be walking in any direction with or near him.

Finally, the three young guys came back closer and yelled at him to leave me alone. To move on. He yelled something back and then said "f*** you to me" and walked away.

I walked over to the three an thanked them, they assured me it was nothing and then I walked straight back to the hostel.

Crazy guy.

(Dear Parents: I know you're freaking out reading that, but seriously, it was okay. I found people around and could've ran or calls for help of I had needed. It wasn't as scary or bad as I'm sure you're making it seem in your minds right now. Don't worry, I being smart and safe!!! Haha love you!)

Anyways, when I got back to the hostel, I came to realise I was quite hungry so I decided to head to the little restaurant called Cafe Seepark next door. It had a beautiful, but simple atmosphere - dimly lit, dark wood and leather chairs, candles on the tables. After a long day I opted for a glass of wine and with it being rather chilly outside, an amazing tomato soup and house salad.

Now, I'm sitting in the lounge of the hostel, met some Americans, chatting and almost ready for bed.

Putting my love lock on the bridge!

The view from the train station in Lucerne!

The lake

Lucerne!