Roam if you want to...

So I’ve been traveling again. This time I made it down to Switzerland and Italy. There’s so much, I’m not really sure where to begin.

I started out in Geneva. My favorite thing in Geneva was watching the people play chess in the University Park.



Plus, look how pretty the lake is.



I also wasn’t really planning on touring the UN while I was there, but when I was outside of it trying to take a picture of the building, this guy from the Isle of Mann asked me where the entrance was. So I went with him to find the entrance, and by the entrance we got mixed up in this tour group of university students and younger students. I guess the trip leaders weren’t familiar with all the students, because they thought I was one of them. The Isle of Mann guy had to go, but I stayed and posed as a student from this group. I guess it didn’t help that when the leader guy asked if I was with them, I said yes. I also managed to convince him I was German. It got me into the UN for free anyway.

After a couple of days in the Lake Geneva area, I headed over to Zurich to meet up with Nicole. Everyone, meet Nicole.



Nicole and I had only previously met at my going away party before I left for Germany, but we actually traveled really well together. She’s spending the summer doing the backpacker thing, and we happened to want to go to Zurich and then Italy at the same time, so why not go together.

Our first night in Zurich, we spent in a rather nice hotel, although pretty much anywhere in Switzerland is nice. Then we canceled the second night because we were being smart and wanted to take the night train to Florence. Of course the train was booked and we couldn’t get a train until the next morning. So since we decided we’d rather going swimming in Lake Zurich than spend lots of time looking for a hotel, we just decided to spend all night clubbing. We spent most of the night in this club way on the outskirts of the city. It was a hip hop night. I never knew how much the Swiss loved their hip hop, but it was pretty cool hanging out with a bunch of thugged out Swiss. So we danced until 5am when the place closed, and then kept ourselves awake in the train station until we could crash on the train to Florence. I did wake up long enough to say “Look how pretty the Alps are!” I even slept through the passport check, which I learned that if you’re asleep on the train the Italians won’t really bother you for stuff like passports and train tickets.

So in Florence we managed to hit the ground running and pretty much walked straight to the Piazza Michelangelo overlooking the city, armed with sandwiches and wine in the kind of box orange juice normally comes in. Check out the view:



I think my favorite things in Florence were watching Nicole get sold a leather jacket and the food at Mario. Mario is this little family run restaurant, which pretty much any travel guide can tell you about, because it is totally amazing. For €5 you can get really, really good pasta and a decanter of wine. So then you’re all buzzed on good food and wine when you walk out into Market.

Next was Rome. Everyone says there’s so much to see in Rome, which is true, but since I’ve never taken any kind of classics or Roman history classes I didn’t know what the stuff I was seeing was. I did see all the important stuff like the Coliseum, the Roman Forum, and the Palatino. We also spent a day doing the Vatican museums, the Sistine Chapel, and St. Peter’s Basilica. While standing in line for the Vatican museums, we spoke to a couple from Texas who were traveling around Europe and doing some hiking and stuff. (Remember this couple; they come into the story later.) The Sistine Chapel was pretty freaking amazing, by the way.

So on our last day in Rome Nicole’s friend Mary Susan joined the trip. I’m not quite sure if she was ready for the “eating nothing but bread and cheese, and sleeping in mixed room hostel” lifestyle, but she did well at adjusting. The next morning we headed off to Venice, where one of the coolest things I saw was a boat of hippies cruising down the canal just chilling out and playing music. Then we became overwhelmed with the romanticism of Venice and Nicole proposed to me in the Piazza San Marco.



Then on the bus back to our campsite in Venice, it turned out I was sitting next to Josh Bickerstaff. Most of you don’t know who that is, but he graduated the year after me from good ol’ South Iredell. Just one of those “it’s a small world” moments.

So the last stop on the tour was the Cinque Terra national park. Basically there are five small towns on the west coast of Italy and you can hike between them. The views are amazing. While hiking, we ran into the couple from Texas who we’d met by the Vatican. Another “it’s a small world” moment. But anyway, check out this view:



The other awesome part of the Cinque Terra is getting to swim in the Mediterranean.




After Cinque Terra it was time for Nicole and Mary Susan to head on to Spain, and for me to go back to Hamburg. I managed to make it pack to Hamburg on a night train, with only a seat to sleep in, no air conditioning, and an Interrail pass that I wasn’t sure was valid for me in Germany. But I made it!

Weltmeisterschaft 2006

It started slowly….
One day in April I went to Berlin and these statues had appeared. First, next to the Reichstag there was a giant aspirin. Then when I walked over by the new train station there were these giant soccer cleats.



The motive became clear. Berlin was preparing for the madness that would be gripping Deutschland June-July 9th. They wanted to show off German accomplishments for the many visitors that would be filling the streets.
When I moved to Hamburg, they had a slightly approach. They had placed these rather ugly neon blue soccer goals all over the city. The goals were a bit more captivating at night though.



So as June approached, everything started to look like soccer balls. Grills, hamburgers, brötchen, hair cuts, kiosks…. Everything was soccer balls. Any company sponsor tried to show their support whenever possible.



On June 9th, it was official. The Weltmeisterschaft 2006 had begun. Melinda and I managed to get a seat at the local beer garden to watch Deutschland v. Costa Rica. Even though it was only the first game, the Germans celebrated like Chapel Hill did when UNC won the NCAA championship.



Later in the week, me and Melinda wanted to watch the game, but we didn’t know where to go. So we decided to follow people dressed up for the game, and see where they were going. That’s how we discovered the Hamburg Fan Fest. Every city hosting a game has a Fan Fest. Every country in the tournament has a tent serving the traditional food of that country. I think the USA tent had popcorn…



Yay America!
The Fan Fest also included games, like Human Foosball.



And of course the Fan Fest has a gigantic television screen and stadium seating for all the people without tickets to the games. Here I saw Brazil v. Croatia.



So as the Weltmeisterschaft went on, Germany kept winning. And the people kept celebrating. I even got into German football spirit.



Germany’s most exciting, and maybe most celebrated win was after Germany v. Argentina. Look how happy everyone is!



The police did have to come tell the people to get out of the street.



Not so valiant as Tieneman Square, but soccer is important here…
A party invite brought me back to Berlin for the weekend as the final. I don’t think the atmosphere was quite as buzzy as if Germany were in the final, but I did get to see the giant soccer ball in front of the Brandenburger Tor.



I had to head back to Hamburg before the final started, but as I was walking to the train station to go home I found myself surrounded by fans funneling into the Berlin Fan Mile.



On the train back to Hamburg, the conductor made announcements as to the status of the game. The electronic signs in the Ubahn stations flashed the score every few seconds.
Soccer brings the world together.
2010! Let’s go!