i love fall

... but it's almost winter :(

We have a long weekend.. starting TODAY so we're packing up the car and heading to Switzerland.. again. We thought of going to Bavaria with the dogs to hike, but after once again seeing how beautiful Switzerland and A declaring it his favorite country (that's a man after my heart right there), we decided to go there instead. I read an article about 50 natural wonders of the world to see before you die and the Lauterbrunnen Valley of Switzerland was on it, so we're going! While we're there, we will also train to the top of Jungfrau to hike, which I've been DYING to do and couldn't afford to it in college, see the Staubbach Falls, the Trummelbach Falls, Black Monk Mountain, and hike up/through Kleine Scheidegg and Mannlichen Summit. WOO! What a weekend! It is supposed to be in the low 60s high 50s and sunny.. good picture taking weather! Have a good weekend!!

Riva San Vitale, Switzerland: A Travel Recommendation

Riva San Vitale holds a near and dear place to my heart. Studying and living there was probably one of the best 3 months of my life. I want to tell everyone to visit because it is the typical, quaint, picturesque, lake-side Swiss town. But at the same time, I want to tell no one to visit, so it stays exactly how it is. Would someone who didn't study there appreciate it like me? A did, but he's an obvious exception. He heard my constant praise of the town while I was there. He had high expectations and he says Riva lived up to them. He even ranked it over Kasel (WOAH! THIS IS BIG TIME!).

While we were there, we visited the Battistero (the oldest Christian church in Switzerland), Santa Croce, walked through the streets, walked to and ate at Hotel Svissero, and even got to tour the Casa! My very favorite Mill Mountain Regular, an architect professor, is teaching there this semester. I emailed him ahead of time to see if we could meet up for lunch. It worked out perfectly! He let us walk around the Casa, I got to show A all the places I raved about, and then the three of us headed to get the best pizza in the world! A said the Casa was NOTHING like he imagined, much larger and nicer than he pictured it! Yes, I was very lucky to get to study there.. I know.









2 of the 3 famous Hotel Svissero Pizzas. Not often did we eat away from the Casa when in Riva (why would we - we had a chef!), but when parents would visit, some would take a few close friends out and we ALWAYS went to Hotel Svissero. The pizza is to DIE FOR.


Frank and Pizza Prosciutto


Over lunch, Frank proceeded to tell A and I that we looked a like.. kind of like these two bottles. Hmmm.. Never been told that before. Comments?!

:(

A better slide show of the damage done in Cinque Terre and pictures from DURING the storm in Vernazza. Crazy sad. And worth a look.

Tuscan Hill Sides & Villas

Literally, the morning of our drive to Tuscany, I get a call from my friend Erin who's husband JUST drove there. He was telling her that the road he drove in on is NO LONGER THERE! Scary. So since she knew we were going, she called to check that we had mapped it out and we were going to be driving on a road that did still exist. Well, that was the first I had heard of the mudslides in Italy. I read the news. Daily. And I never heard anything about it. So I tell A and also go home and look for myself. Sure enough. Mudslides. Livorno and what? Cinque Terre. NOOOO.

I think it's a little weird that we could only find little about it, but here are a few pictures. And an article.

Thankfully, our route was not through the area destroyed and it did not mess up our trip at all, or E and K's, who were originally thinking about going to CT. In Como, when we were watching the news, it was ALLLL ABOUUTTTT the mudslides, no other news shown, but again, we're home, and not a word. Supposedly, a few of the towns in CT are messed up and Monterrosso is completely destoryed. Makes me very very said.. that was our favorite spot. When we were in Riva talking to my old RA Daniela, she said it is a common problem in Italy because the Italians like to build where they should not. But that's the only local opinion I heard on the matter.

Either way, if you haven't been to Cinque Terre, sadly, you may have missed your chance.

Tuscan Wineries

While we were in Italy, we lined up (what I felt like was a LOT) of wineries to tour and taste. Ethan knows his wine, so he had places in mind he wanted to see and taste at. Most, we emailed ahead of time to make a reservation. Being October, it was not prime tourist time and the reservation was necessary. A few we just saw and stopped at. My favorite was the small time Chianti producer. I just looooooveeee me some Chianti. One day, we drove an hour south into Montalcino to taste 2 different brands of Brunello.


*Argiano in Chianti - mine and A's favorite. A smaller winery, you can also stay there. The people were by far the friendliest. They offered cheese and crackers with their wine, which was nice, and no other place did that. We bought a bunch of Chianti here and fresh olive oil. Wine is inexpensive and good!

*Fattoria di Corsignano - We stayed here. The lady in charge of the tastings was NOT A's or Ethan's favorite person. She was American, not Italian like you would expect, and you could not pay the guys to have to talk to her again.

*La Collina - A random, SMALL winery we stopped at with no reservations. The man in charge was very friendly. The tasting area was not so well presented.. but it was nice to sample the small places as well.

*Felsina - I liked the cellars the best at this place. Wine, eh just ok. Ethan knew of and loved this wine. We made a reservation here.

*Caparzo

*Altesino

*Fattoria di Bibbione

*Castello di Monteriggioni - Just stopped by here. We saw the town from afar and it was adorable! You can taste anytime and purchase right there. It is inside the castle walls - worth a stop!

*Barone Ricasoli

*Castello di Brolio - Recommended by the lady at Argiano. Good recommendation. We ate lunch and tasted wine here. It was a great recommendation and close to Argiano.

*Banfi - We had dinner and a tasting at Castello Banfi. The reservation included apertifs, cheese, crackers, 6 wines and 5 courses. They even made me a vegetarian tasting menu! Very nice dinner, glad we went! This is in Montalcino, not Chianti.

*Poggio Antico - In Montalcino, Brunello producer, not Chianti. We had reservations to tour and taste at this place - Ethan was a big fan. Brunello is different and apparently not common and super expensive in the States. Poggio is a BIG producer. We had a private tasting and tour and then purchased (too much) wine after. It was a good change from the Chianti!



The four of us - After our tasting at Poggio


Poggio Antico - Not a Chianti producer - Brunello.


Argiano in Chianti


Fattoria di Corsignano - Don't Recommend.. The wine is ok, but the lady in charge of the wine tasting, no thank you. No no no.


Felsina - Best wine cellar


Felsina - By far the best cellar we saw

Florence, Italy: A Travel Recommendation

Let me just start by saying, Florence is not my favorite city. You talk to those who just 'looove' it, and then more who feel the same way as I just, eh. Don't get me wrong, it's a nice city, nothing WRONG with it, but it's just not as impressive as you hear, in MY opinion. For those that go to Italy once and Florence is a stop, they just rave about it. But for those who get to see more of Italy, they tend rank it as I do, eh. Florence has LOADS of museums if that's your thing. I got a little museum-ed out while studying abroad in college. Florence also has LOADS of shopping, if that's your thing. I don't travel Europe to shop. Florence also has LOADS of English speakers if that's your thing. DEFINITELY not mine. So really, if you want a recommendation about Florence, only spend a day there... or ask someone else!

To See:

*Michelangelo's David lives up to the hype - see it! It lives in the Accademia
*Ponte Vecchio - a picturesque bridge - worth a 4 minute walk
*Botticelli's Birth of Venus - lives in the Uffizi
*The Duomo


the Duomo, Florence


the Duomo, Florence


Ponte Vecchio, Florence