Spring Break

For the past week I've been on spring break from classes, and took the opportunity to travel to Venice and Greece, with a lot of stops along the way. You can see all my pictures from spring break here.

The adventures began last Friday at 6 A.M. with what was supposed to be a 14 hour set of train rides to Venice. Aix => Marseille => Nice => Ventimiglia => Milan => Venice. However, as I was on my way to Ventimiglia, and almost across the border into Italy, the train I was on stopped and everyone got out. After talking to some other Americans who were trying to get to Italy, I found out that the Italian train workers were on strike, and that we were in a small French town near the border on the Mediterranean called Menton ("The Pearl of France"). I was able to get my train tickets pushed to the next day, and tried to take this unexpected road block in stride. I set off walking and exploring the old town, trying to keep in mind that there are worse places to be stranded than the French Riviera. Despite the circumstances, I really liked Menton. It's right on the coast, with good beaches (I had a nice nap there), a gorgeous old city, and an interesting cemetery with a lot of Americans and British.

The next day I was finally able to make it to Venice, although I still didn't get in until that evening. After hearing a lot of good things about it, I decided to try Couchsurfing on my trip to Venice. I got in touch with a guy named Alfredo who lives in a town outside of Venice called Padova. He was waiting for me at the station, and we walked back to his apartment which was only a few minutes walk. When we got there, he made me some good rice for dinner, and I got to know him a bit. Alfredo has been using couchsurfing for over 2 years, and has hosted over 120 people! After dinner we drove into Padova, and he gave me a really good tour. I liked Padova, reminded me a bit of Aix. That combination of small-town feel with a history yet still a good nightlife. We saw the basilica, the cathedral, the Jewish ghetto, and the large central square which is apparently the second largest in Europe!

As I only had one day in Venice, the next day I made an early start and was on my way by 8:30. After the half hour train ride, I got dropped off right in the middle of Venice, and almost immediately got lost. I'd heard that Venice is one of the most confusing cities in the world, and I quickly discovered that even the posted signs aren't helpful; trying to get to the famous Rialto Bridge I ended up going in a big circle. Luckily, Alfredo had loaned me a very detailed guide book with a great map. Once I started using it I didn't have many problems, and was able to make it to the Rialto Bridge, and then to Plaza San Marco. Unfortunately, Saint Mark's Basilica wasn't open until the afternoon as it was Sunday, but it looked amazing from the outside! I was able to visit the famous Doge's Palace, which was extremely interesting. This Palace was basically the center of all administrative life in the Most Serene Republic of Venice, and housed the Doge, the Republic's leader. Unfortunately, they don't allow pictures to be taken inside, but I was able to take some. It took several hours to walk through the whole thing, and some of the highlights were the armory, the prisons, and the meeting chambers for the Grand Councils. In every room there were dozens of magnificent works of art, which seems to be a recurring theme in Venice!

After leaving the Doge's Palace I made my way to the old Jewish Ghetto. Before being captured by Napoleon, the Venetians kept all the Jews of the city on one small island, locked into the ghetto. They were restricted to being money-lenders, second-hand sellers, and doctors. The Jewish population of Venice is tiny now, and there are only 3 families who actually live on the island. The Judaica museum provides a guided tour in English, and I was able to see three synagogues in the ghetto. What struck me was how cramped for space they were. I'm used to seeing synagogues being whole buildings, but in the ghetto their synagogues were merely floors in the apartment buildings. The ghetto actually has some of the largest residential buildings in Venice, as the Jews were forced to expand vertically rather than horizontally. After seeing the rest of the museum, which houses many historical Jewish-Venetian documents, I walked around the ghetto, got lunch, and was given Shmurah Matzah by a local Chabbadnik!

My next stop was the Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari, which is a HUGE friary church. What's amazing about it is that from the outside it is very unassuming and plain; all brick walls, not many ornaments or statues. But inside it is phenomenal. Dozens of huge paintings and sculptures by some of the most famous Venetian artists. In the same square as Santa Maria was the San Rocco church which I was not incredibly impressed with, and an exhibit on Da Vinci's inventions. It was an interactive exhibit made from his sketches, which meant that you can touch and play with the devices; very cool! Some of the things he was drawing were so far ahead of his time: planes, submarines, scuba diving gear. After all of this walking around, I went to a nearby garden and people-watched for a little while. Having gained back some energy, I decided to try to do something that Venice is great for: getting lost! This is harder than you would think. As Venice is all little islands, if you can't get to a bridge to the next island you'll just end up walking around in circles. However, while in the midst of one of my circles I ran into (nearly literally) a friend from my program in France who I didn't even know was going to be in Venice!

Having a few hours to kill before I needed to be back at Alfredo's, I realized that it would be a shame to visit Venice and not get onto a boat. The gondola rides are extremely expensive, so I hopped on a vaporetto, which is a canal bus, for 6 euros. The line that I was on went all the way around Venice, out past the island of the dead, and out to Murano, known for it's glass-making. All in all it was an hour and a half ride, with one of the most amazing sunsets I've seen. Definitely worth the time and money. The next day I had a very early flight out of Venice.

I was up pretty early, as I had to catch the first bus from Padova to the airport in Treviso, about an hour ride. My final destination was Greece, where I was meeting up with friends, but to get cheap airfare I flew Ryanair to Bari, Italy, and had a day there. I got in to Bari, and did not have the best of days. It was sunny and hot, and after a little while of carrying my bag it began to get very heavy. I saw the city's cathedral and basilica, neither of which I was very impressed with after having been to Venice. Although they were both rather large, the quality and quantity of art was lacking compared to the Venetian landmarks.

I eventually decided that I had had enough of walking around, and tried to get to the hostel I had booked. This turned out to be a disaster. The information included on the reservation sheet was completely useless in finding the hostel. I tried calling them multiple times, but each time was hung up on by someone who spoke no English. I went to the tourism office to try to get help, but they never opened up. After waiting there for 2 hours, I went back to the airport and spent the night there. It really wasn't a bad airport to spend the night in! They had a good food court, cheap and fast wifi, and a whole floor that was exclusively for people spending the night, complete with lounge chairs. I settled in for what wasn't the worst night ever. At 1 A.M., I woke myself up and had a Skype Passover seder with my family/family friends. They set up a laptop on the table, and I was able to see, hear, and talk with them which was very cool. I had scoured the food court for supplies earlier and had been able to get a bottle of wine, spicy mustard (to replace horseradish), lettuce, and salt water. Add that to the matzah I already had, and I was all set to participate. It was an amazing testament to the wonders of technology that we were able to do that, and made me feel a lot better. Definitely made my day.

Early that morning I flew in to Kos, one of the islands in Greece. It was rainy and gross all day, and I mostly stayed inside a restaurant while I waited for the 1 P.M. ferry to Rhodes where I was meeting my friends. After a 4-hour ferry ride, followed by an hour bus ride, I finally arrived in Lindos, a town on the south of Rhodes, the 2nd largest island in Greece. 8 of us from my program had rented a villa on the island which, as it was pre-tourist season, was very cheap. It had lots of beds, a big kitchen, big living room, and a pool. The next morning we walked into town and rode donkeys up to the acropolis. This wasn't THE acropolis of Rhodes, but is actually more impressive to see, in better condition, and more significant from an archaeological point of view. The view from the top was magnificent, and the ruins were very overwhelming.

After walking back into town, we spent a few hours exploring Lindos. Lindos is a very cute town right on the water, and is almost a resort town. In the summer it's apparently packed, but we went at just the right time; we essentially had the town to ourselves. It's a very popular British destination, so everyone speaks English, and there are a lot of British expatriates living there. We ended up making friends with two British bartenders, and spent a lot of time with them over the next two days. We met a lot of interesting people that night at the bar, and had a very international crew: Greeks, Danes, Americans, and Brits. The next morning Chris and I slept in late, while the others in our group left for Bari. After a late start we went in to town to meet some of our new friends. That afternoon it poured, but this didn't stop us from meeting the Brits for dinner. They took us to what they declared the best restaurant in Lindos, and I don't doubt it. The food was incredible. My favorite was the appetizers we got, which were a combination of garlic bread and bruschetta, with feta cheese on top. Amazing.

The next morning we were up extremely early (again) to fly into Cagliari, the capital of Sardinia. Again, our final destination was Marseille, but Ryanair doesn't fly direct so we had a day in Cagliari. Unfortunately, it rained all day so we didn't get to see much of the city. By the evening it had let up, so we left the B&B we were staying at to go get some dinner (pizza!). Getting off the bus at a random stop, and going into a random pizza place, we ran into 4 of our friends from France. The odds of that happening are mindblowing, as Cagliari is a pretty big city. We went back to their hostel, which had it's own bar area, and met lots of new friends. Again, it was a very international group: Canadians, French, Spanish, Americans. We ended up going to another bar and staying out way to late, which made going to the airport the next day pretty rough, but I've had 2 days since then to bounce back, and I feel refreshed and ready for classes tomorrow! Only one more major trip left, and then it's back to the States. Next week I'll be meeting my grandmother in Berlin for the weekend. Until then!

Weekend in Aix (sorta)

This weekend was a big deal for me, as it was my first weekend fully spent in Aix-en-Provence! Well, kind of. The reason I didn't travel this weekend is that I had a mandatory class trip for my Provence class on Friday. The class is all about Provence, its history, its culture, but it has a specific focus on how Provence has been presented in film. We've watched a lot of films, but the most significant films portraying Provence are those by the 20th century directer Marcel Pagnol. Part of our trip was to go see the town where he lived and where he is buried.

The main purpose of our trip was to go to St. Maximin, a town a half hour from Aix, and the famous cave nearby. Apparently, Mary Magdalene traveled to France and lived for 30 years in solitude in a cave. After she died she was buried, but her relics (aka her bones) were removed and put into the cathedral in St. Maximin. Usually I find that cathedrals are more impressive on the outside than on the inside, but the one in St. Maximin was quite ordinary from the outside. However, the inside was phenomenal. The basilica is huge, and very ornately decorated. There's on of the largest pipe organs I've ever seen, which was eerily playing while we were there. Everything's old and gold encrusted, but the most magnificent thing was a 10 foot tall hardwood winding staircase that must have been 5 feet in diameter but was ornately carved out of a single piece of wood. In the crypt under the main room is what everyone comes to see; the relics of Mary Magdalene. You go up to a display case and staring back at you is a human skull. It may have been one of the creepiest things I've ever seen, but this relic has developed a huge cult following, and people make pilgrimages to St. Maximin to see the skull. At certain times they take it out and parade it around. Weird weird weird. I was definitely ready to get out of there after a few minutes (being a nice Jewish boy in a church and all).

After seeing the relics we drove to the base of a nearby hill and spend 45 minutes hiking up to the famous cave. There wasn't a lot to see inside; it was just a cave that they've put statues and homages to Mary Magdalene in. After a while we headed back down, and headed home. That night I got to enjoy my first night in Aix, and prepared for a big Saturday adventure.

One of the most famous features of Aix is the nearby mountain, Mont St. Victoire. The painter Cezanne, who lived in Aix, painted Mont St. Victoire every day, and he's famous for the paintings. Hiking to the top is something that everyone who spends time in Aix should do, and I'd been meaning to go for a while. Saturday morning two of my friends and I met up at the bus station and got the bus towards St. Victoire. It's a 20 minute bus ride, but we unfortunately got off a stop too early. We started heading through the woods on a path towards the mountain, but as we kept going the path got smaller and smaller. At one point we came to an unbelievably gorgeous lake, and there was an intersection: one way went towards a dam, the other along the lake. It looked like if we walked along the lake we could loop around and get to the mountain. However, as we kept walking, the lake kept extending, and the trail kept getting less defined until we were just pushing through bushes and climbing over rocks. We finally decided to turn back, and when we got to the dam we found that there were lots of people there, that there was a parking lot, and that that was where you start from. Having already wasted an hour and a half, we ate a quick lunch and hurried towards the mountain.

The hike up was pretty intense. Steep, rocky, and treacherous, we hiked up for two and a half hours before finally reaching the summit. Looking back, it was amazing to think we'd hiked as far as we did. There's a 13th century chapel built close to the top, and at the very summit is a huge cross called the "Croix de Provence". The view of the Provence landscape was unbelievable, and it was such a rewarding feeling to have made it to the top.

Something cool that we saw was a group of a dozen people paragliding around the summit of the mountain. I had never seen this before, but it was amazing. Like the name implies, it's a combination between parachuting and hang-gliding. The rider is in a harness underneath the parachute, but the parachute is a specially designed light-weight aerofoil, which allows for lift. The ride starts off by running down a short hill, and is picked up by his chute. Because of the design of the parachute, these guys are actually flying, they're not just in a controlled fall. One guy we saw was in the air for three hours. They control themselves through weight placement and hand controls which are connected to the parachute. It looked like an unbelievable feeling, and it was amazing seeing a dozen of these paragliders soaring along over the mountain. Very cool.

We made it down the mountain in an hour and a half (took us two and a half hours to get up), and had a difficult time finding the bus stop. However, we asked some girls where it was. They didn't know, but were going back to Aix and offered to drive us. In Aix we descended upon a kebab stand, headed home and showered, and then went out for a much deserved night out.

Today I'm taking it easy (imagine that!) getting work done, and trying to make plans for my spring break. I'll be spending a few days in Venice, and then going to Greece for a few days, with stops in Bari and Cagliari. Looking forward to it!

Sweet Times in Switzerland

All my pictures from my trip are here.

Last weekend I made my way across the border to visit my cousin (once removed?), Judy, in Switzerland. I took an overnight train Thursday night, and when I got to the train station it was eerily empty. It felt very ghostly, and I was anxious to leave and get on my way. However, when I'd booked tickets, the lady working had asked if I wanted a couchette or not, and I'd said "whatever's cheaper". This meant that I was confined to a reclining seat the whole night, making sleep almost impossible. Luckily, I had an empty seat next to me, but I still probably only got 3 or 4 hours of sleep during the entire 10 hour train ride. That trip was quite a complex one: trains from Aix-en-Provence to Marseille, Marseille to Mulhouse, and Mulhouse to Basel. When I finally got to Basel I was greeted at the train station with open arms by Judy, and we set off for her town of Dornach, which is about 20 minutes from Basel.

Dornach is a really cute, small town. It's tucked into the foothills of the mountains, and just a few minutes away from some amazing hiking trails in the woods. The town has the safe and friendly feel of most small towns, and in some ways reminded me of the things I like about Aix-en-Provence.

After we dropped my bag off at her apartment, Judy and I headed to Luzern for the day. It's about an hour drive, and I promptly passed out in the front seat of Judy's car. I was awoken as we were getting closer to Luzern to see the Alps spread out before us. I'll never get sick of that view. Seeing the snow-covered peaks rising out of the ground looks to perfect to be real. It looks like something that's been painted on to the sky. Unbelievable.

I really liked Luzern. It's a town built right on a beautiful lake at the foot of the Alps, which makes for an amazing view. We spent a few hours walking around the town, getting lunch, walking along the lake, and enjoying the view. It was a really relaxing day, and after the last few travel weeks was just what I needed.

The next day Judy's boyfriend, Mikael, came in from Denmark. We started the day by going up into the hills behind Dornach and hiking for a few hours with Judy's dog, Gina. It's amazing that just a few minutes from her apartment are such amazing hiking trails. The views from the edge of the hills looking out over the Swiss countryside were amazing. I absolutely love the Swiss landscape, with its rolling green hills, and small, pristine villages tucked away. Really an amazing country.

Saturday afternoon we went into Basel, which was another amazing Swiss city. It's the third most populous city in Switzerland, but is still small enough that it manages to avoid the grittiness of most large cities. I got a very knowledgeable walking tour of the city from Judy and Mikael, and got to see all of the sites. One of the things that struck me was how much effort the city puts in to restore and maintain all of the old architecture that really gives Basel its unique feel. We saw all the points of interest, took a ferry ride across the Rhine, and had dinner sitting next to the river.

Sunday morning it was time to go home, and I left not looking forward to the trip back (partially because it was an 8 hour train ride, partially because the weekend had been so refreshing). I said goodbye to Mikael and Judy at the train station, and after trains to Mulhouse, Lyon, Marseille, and Aix, was back at home and preparing for the week ahead.