Weekend in Rome

This past weekend two of my closest friends arrived in Europe from NYC, and will be spending nearly three weeks travelling around.  They began their trip in Rome, so I flew down from Geneva to meet them for the weekend.  They're running around northern Italy at the moment, making their way slowly to Venice on Friday and Saturday and then taking the night train arriving in Vienna Sunday morning where I will be to meet them and hang out with them there until they leave on Thursday.  

Piazza Navona where our cute little B&B was located

Our front door, amazing location and we felt like we just got to blend in with the locals a little bit.

First things first, get some proper coffee in us.  They'd just flown all night and I had gotten up before 4am to catch my flight (yes it's only an hour flight for me...but I wanted to be sure I had a flight that arrived in Rome as close to theirs as possible)

The weather was sunny and hot all weekend, but as long as we found shade where possible and kept drinking lots of water we were just fine.

We had no exact plans for Friday, so we sort of just decided to wander a bit in the general direction of the ruins and the Colosseum 

Piazza Venezia

And then sort of all of the sudden there are just these amazing ruins all over the place...part of the Forum of Caesar 

It's almost surreal to just see the Colosseum at the end of the street

 

We knew there was a strong possibility that we wouldn't be able to go inside, not having pre-booked a tour, and not really wanting to spend several hours waiting in line, but we figured it was worth checking out anyway.  Somehow we totally lucked out and walked right in, straight up to the ticket counter, got our audio guides and off we went.

The three of us tourists

The inside of the Colosseum is amazing

After that we walked back through more of the ruins of the Forum and back towards the center of town

The Pantheon

Friday was also Adrienne's birthday, so we wanted to leave plenty of time for a great dinner.  Some friends were in Rome a couple months ago and had recommended a restaurant to us, and they for sure did not let us down.  The food was delicious, and the staff was helpful and very entertaining...I'm still not sure what exactly we ordered and what ended up just sort of showing up for us to try.

Saturday we did have a tour booked of the Vatican for the afternoon, so we wandered a bit in the morning (and to get more delicious coffee) and then walked across the river and to Vatican City

The tour took us quickly through a few points of the Vatican Museum, including down to see the collection of cars and carriages...we've come a long way from this ornate carriage...

oh the Popemobile  

We also went through all sorts of galleries of statues and busts

Through the hall of maps

Many ornate rooms and courtyards before you get to the Sistine Chapel, which they strongly enforce no photographs...which I definitely respect, but it is a bit overwhelming at the time to take it all in, especially being super hot and crowded, but I suppose that just means I'll have to go back

The afternoon sun streaming into St. Peter's

The square

After the Vatican we headed to Trastevere for dinner and then walked along the Tiber to see all the bars and stands and things they have set up down there.

The Pantheon at night

The Trevi Fountain, again, we'd been in the daytime, but definitely beautiful at night

And the Spanish Steps...by this point we were rather exhausted but we did take time to sit and look around a bit

Sunday morning I got up pretty early to head to the train station and come back to Geneva.  One benefit to getting up that early is apparently being out and about earlier than everyone else.  A deserted Piazza is pretty cool. 

I had booked a train that meant I should have just had to switch trains once in Milan, but as soon as I got on the second train from Milan to Geneva they informed us that due to issues with the tracks in Switzerland, this train is only going as far as the Italian border, and we'd all have to get off in Domodossola and take buses to another train.  After about a 20 minute bus ride they dropped us off at the bottom of this hill and said that the train station is up that way...so we all set to trekking up the road to the train.  There were train workers at the top handing out bottles of water, and we all loaded on the little regional train that was waiting there for us.   

The train ride all through there is breathtakingly beautiful, plenty of Alps and vineyards to look at all afternoon.

I'm back in Geneva this week interning and all that good stuff, and then I fly to Vienna Friday night once I get off work and prep for Kiersten and Adrienne's arrival on Sunday!  I'm quite excited to be back home for a few days and get my Vienna fix in. 

They Weren't Kidding About the Fireworks

Last week started out with some crazy weather, lots of heat lightning, then crazy downpours and super strong thunderstorms.

Did definitely provide some awesome skies though

and rainbows on multiple days - this one was actually a complete rainbow and we could see both ends, but couldn't back up far enough to get a picture of it

By Friday though, the weather had cleared up, so a bunch of us from work decided to go for some drinks on one of the boats along the lake downtown

These are some of the barges with fireworks on them, already setting getting set up for Saturday night

The sunset from the boat

Alright...now we get to these crazy fireworks.  There was much discussion last week about the best places to watch the fireworks.  It isn't really a matter of them being visible, it's where you can actually get a spot to stand to see them.  This is about 9pm, an hour before the start time, and the crowds along these pedestrian walkways are filling up.  I ended up getting to somewhere about the middle of that bridge going across the river. 

Looking over the crowd to the lake, seeing the collection of fireworks boats

Then things got a bit insane.  This is a bridge...and it is completely packed with people.  Everyone who intended to stand there were having to stand as firmly as possible not to get pushed over by people trying to walk past us (we weren't just standing in the middle of the road...there were some barriers up and there was a line of people 2 or 3 deep standing against it)

It was about quarter to 10, and the crowd of people still trying to walk is getting a little restless.  Nobody is going anywhere quickly, and I'm getting a little curious as to what is going to happen once the lights turn off and the fireworks start.  But then...I have no idea why...but the crowd that was trying to move quickly disappeared...and all that was left there were those of us happy to be standing.  We all looked around totally unsure of how that was even possible to happen so quickly.

And then there were fireworks...for a SOLID HOUR.  Don't worry...this is just about 3 minutes of some clips.  The featured country this year was Portugal, so the theme of the fireworks was something about explorers and conquerors...so the music varied through all sorts of different genres and the fireworks to go along with it.  There's a short clip in the video when we got to space exploration...very exciting.

I seriously don't think I've ever seen that many fireworks in one place.  And oddly the show was really entertaining for the whole hour, I was a bit curious how much you can actually vary a fireworks show to be interesting to a crowd for an hour.  But the 70 franc "good seats" were long sold out, so I assumed it had to be something pretty special.

Sunday I spent a large portion of the day working on a research project I'm doing with some students and a professor back at school.  Hard to complain when this is the view from my desk.  The way the sky changes in the evenings as the sun sets is breathtaking.

By Monday the carnival rides and things were all being dismantled and loaded back up on the trucks they came in on.

Lunch at Baby Plage

There's also a cool playground there made mostly out of reused bicycle tires

And now we're back to gorgeous unobstructed lake views.  The Fêtes de Genéve was fun, but I can understand now why people are also glad when it packs up and leaves.

Hard to believe I've almost been here a month, and I'm off to Rome this weekend to meet my former NYC roommate and another good friend as they begin their Italian/Austrian tour, and then off to Vienna next weekend for about 6 days to meet them there and show them around! 

Wandering Around...and Up!

After exploring more of Vienna by downloading these audio walking tours, I decided to check out one for Geneva as well and use that to wander a bit, rather than having to look too much like a tourist with maps and tour books in my hand.  I'm not going to attempt to recount all the odd bits and stories that they tell you on these things...but there are a ton of pictures to perhaps give a better idea of what Geneva the city looks like.  

Rue du Marché...the main shopping street

There are lots of swans in the lake, and they are quite heavily protected...regardless of the fact that they will apparently give you a pretty nasty bite.

Brunswick Monument...the Duke of Brunswick gave a large sum of money to Geneva on the condition that this mausoleum be built based upon the Scalinger Tomb in Verona. 

This is one of the pedestrian walkways that goes under the Pont du Mont-Blanc.

The walkway is actually floating so that it moves up and down with the water level, but it is still slightly unsettling to have not much between yourself, a busy bridge, and rushing water.

Ile Rousseau...a small little island in the middle of where the lake flows into the Rhone River, houses a little restaurant and a swan sanctuary

Temple de la Fusterie.  The first Calvinist church built in Geneva, about 1715 

The fountain monument to L'Escalade which celebrates the defense of Geneva from a surprise attack by Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy in 1602.  They still celebrate that night as a holiday each December. 

Walking up the Grand Rue which leads into the old town.

The old Armory across from the Hotel de Ville (City Hall)

The Hotel de Ville

Inside...built in the 15th century...this is also where the League of Nations met...and the Red Cross began

Moving on towards the cathedral...this is the Auditory Chapel where Calvin taught 

Now...as I had little else that had to be done on Sunday, I decided to pay my 5 francs and get a ticket to climb up to the top of the cathedral...

The guy just sort of points "over there" and it's just this tiny little door in the wall...I had to duck a little bit to get through

And then you just start going up this very tight winding staircase

Eventually you pop out in what appears to be an attic...complete with creaky wooden boards and a pathway to the next set of stairs. 

And then you come out to this.  I suggest clicking that to make it larger...so beautiful

And basically you can just walk around all 4 sides of this tower...and take another flight of stairs up to see even higher

And on the way out you get to see Calvin's chair...pretty cool.

Random side note...but I am thankful for all these little fountains and faucet type things with water in them.  Perfect for washing your hands or refilling water bottles especially on these really hot days

Maison Tavel...this wasn't really on my list of things to do on Sunday, but it's near the cathedral and the entire thing is free on the first Sunday of the month (many of the exhibits are always free though).  It is the oldest residence in Geneva.  There are some remnants still of an 11th century tower as part of this residence.

The inside is filled with various exhibits about Geneva...yikes.

The Magnin Relief Map...which is up in the attic.  An architect spent 18 years making this 32 square meter map of Geneva as it was in 1850.  It was first displayed at the 1896 National Exhibition in Geneva.

Houses made of zinc, roofs in copper. 

Another floor of the house is set up how it might have been back in the 18th and 19th century.

They have removed the original statues from the facade and taken them inside for restoration...copies are now in their place on the outside of the building

The level below ground shows all the trading that would have taken place, with direct street access so as not to disturb those living in the house.

Back outside...one of the gates to the old town

Statue of Rochemont, the man who prepared Switzerland's declaration of permanent neutrality

Apparently the longest wooden bench in the world...so says the guide in my ear...

A portion of the old city wall that is still remaining

Place de Neuve...on the left, the Grand Theatre...on the right, Musee Rath

And finally, the Reformation Wall in Parc des Bastions 

I didn't really intend for this to have quite so many pictures, but I was having trouble editing further.  I'm writing this from rather rainy and cold Geneva today, but the weather should improve in time for the weekend!