Our Second Big Adventure...Milan Italy!!

An oxymoron??  Our second adventure in our three month adventure??  For those of you just joining our broadcast, Emme and I set out early to add some side trips to our European experience.  About a month ago, she and I spent a weekend in Bern Switzerland, the capitol of Switzerland.  It proved to be a wonderful experience for both of us, especially since we were forced to rely on each other in this large city...instead of throwing the weight of survival onto Kris' back.  We managed transportation, navigating a large city, ordering food, finding our hotel, etc. all by ourselves. We both felt a sense of accomplishment on the train ride home.  For our second trip, we chose Milan Italy.  In a sense, "we passed the 7th grade and went straight to high school".  Milan might be one of the more fascinating cities I have ever been in.  The city has a population of about 1.5 million.  It is the second largest city in Italy, behind only Rome.

While Milan may lack the historical significance of its older sister in Rome, it makes up for it plenty in glamour, glitz and opulence.  It touts itself as the 'fashion capital' of the world.  Every street...all mostly in the cobbled form... is lined with stores displaying all the latest trends.  I should know...I got drug through just about all them by my 13 year old shopping machine.  

This photo of Emme was taken at the Gallerie Vittorio Emanuale II.  This is not your average Colorado Springs strip mall containing a check-cashing business, a medical marijuana store, and a tattoo parlor.  GVE II contains stores like Prada, Louis Vuitton, Gucci, and Dolce & Gabana.  A pair of boots in one of the windows was 8,000.00 Euro.  I was afraid to breath on the window.  This 'mall' could have been an embassy, palace or theater.  Instead it sold clothes and had a food court.  Go figure.  

Milan does have some historically significant buildings/structures scattered around its main old town center.  There is a  semi-famous, sort of big, and rather ostentatious church.  Apparently, it served some purpose to some Catholics at some point in history.  Big woop.  This church is called Del Duomo di Milano.  In all seriousness, it might have been the most aw-inspiring church I have ever been in.  It was easily has big as two football fields.  Stained glass filled the back walls, marble lined the floored and detailed and intricate paintings hung from the ceilings.  One could play a half court basketball game on one of these things...though the Catholic church might not like that. 

There were other places...La Scala, The Last Supper painting, the Castello Sforzesco and the Arco della Pace.  All
were beautiful in their scale and it was fun to think of what these structures may have experienced and saw during their lifetime...world wars, kings and queens, artists, inventors and visionaries, violence and death.  It is still difficult for me to comprehend the age of these buildings and structures especially when you understand that in the great scheme of things, the United States is a rather young country...just a pup...compared to most European nations.

 My very own fashion model...

The Arco della Pace...The Arch of Peace

The city of Milan is not an easy city to navigate.  It seems like streets were stopped and started whimsically...a new family builds a house next door...lets rename the street after them.  Milan is not laid out in the easy grid system.  It looks more like a plate of spaghetti.  Emme and I took a chance on riding the subway...and that might have been the best decision we made all weekend.  For 9.00 Euro total we were able to take an unlimited amount of rides wherever and whenever we wanted.  The subways were crammed full of all kinds of people...again...another cool experience for us.  The word we had heard was that parts of Milan can be fairly sketchy and that pic-pockets run amok like bed bugs in hotel bed.  We found neither to be true.  And though I clutched my back pack like I was holding a new born, the people of Milan were nice, very patient and spoke fairly good English.  

It was a great weekend of travel for us.  Emme got to shop and I got to check out the sights and sounds of a large European city.  Our goal is to travel to Prague in November.  Every trip we have taken seems to be building towards that end.  Emme and I are communicating better with each...she can tell me what she needs and what she wants...and I am working on the same.  And probably the coolest part of spending the weekend with her....every once in a while she'd reach out and hold my hand...just like when she was younger.  

I have much more to catch you up on.  My goal is to get another blog post out tomorrow.  

Catching Up...a fast two weeks! October 16, 2011

Forgive me father...but it has been two weeks since my last blog...in that time I have- traveled to France, toured a chocolate factory, visited the medieval village of Gruyeres Switzerland, suffered through the worst cold I have had in years, was a 'parent' during parents' weekend of Swiss Semester, did a psychotic 6+ mile downhill run from the top of the ski runs back into town, watched my wife and kids do a high ropes course with the rest of the students that left me in awe and then capped it off with a 'gorging' course that the entire family had the chance to do together that was scary, challenging and exhilarating.  Along the way, I took over 500 pictures.  I won't bore you with all of them!

The road to Annecy France- October 7-9... Day 1 Lausanne and Montreux Switzerland


I love France.  It may just be me, but there is a pace...a sense...a state of mind about France that I love.  Annecy is not that far from the Swiss/France border.  In fact, aside from large toll booth you have to pass through, its difficult to know you actually cross the border.  Road signs begin to change in appearance.  But the language is essentially the same.  Switzerland is one of the countries in Europe that speak a variety of languages...all based on the geographic locations.  Near France, French is the predominant language.  Swiss/German dominates the majority of the country and true German (German/German) is spoken in the regions near Austria and Germany.  Swiss/German is spoken most often here in Zermatt.  **Since I have deviated off my initial topic...some language nuggets for you to chew on- In Zermatt, on any given day, we hear German, Swiss German, Italian, French, Spanish and Portuguese.  The locals seem to be able to speak most of the above**

We came to Annecy as a school for a number of reasons.  Our trip to Annecy took us first to Montreux, Switzerland and the Chateau de Chillon.  We took a guided tour through this breathtaking castle and then had some time to wander various parts of it on our own.  It is obvious from the first step inside the castle that the Swiss are very proud of this large piece of history.  Every effort is made to preserve it in its original state.

 Chateau de Chillon

Believe it...coat and tie on all trips!!

The students in Swiss Semester...and Emme...read Frankenstein as well as the Prisoner of Chillon.  Spending time touring the castle proved to be the perfect way to bring the readings to life for the students.  It was fun to listen to the students talk about the readings and castle in the same context.  It was also impressive listening to them interact with the tour guides in ways they are probably not used to...actually having teenagers listen and answer their questions correctly.   

After the awesome tour at the castle, the students boarded the bus for the short ride to Lausanne Switzerland with two completely different venues as our destinations.  The Cathedral of Lausanne was the first and easily the most awe-inspiring.  This monstrous cathedral was easily the size of a football field and featured architecture that is still studied today.  According to the link provided, the church has yet to be fully finished.  It looked complete to me.

 The church was almost too big to take one photo that captured the enormity of the place

SS students taking notes and studying in the Cathedral of Lausanne 

Good looking group of kids...especially that one on the right...he needs a haircut!

From the Cathedral, we walked through the streets of Lausanne to the headquarters of the International Olympic Committee.  This facility serves as a monument to the great olympic athletes from around the world since the games began.  It also serves as an education center as well as a meeting space for dignitaries from around the world.  There are amazing pieces of artwork on display there too, depicting athletes engaged in their sport.  This place also holds a special place in my heart.  Documents and logs of every athlete, coach and team representative from every sport and every country are stored there.  My grandfather served as the manager/coach of the 1962 olympic speed skating team that competed in Squaw Valley California.  Its a piece of his history that I know little about.  I was close to my grandfather.  He taught me how to drive, took me fishing, watched some of my baseball games.  But unfortunately, some of my memories of him are not good.  He died in a nursing home with me standing by his side.  He was sick and recognized few people other than his wife and my grandmother.  I think he knew who I was...as least his smile told me he did.  I think about him a lot.  And I wonder about him a lot.  I know that he was not always a healthy man...physically or mentally.  But I wanted to have something in my hand that said this man was good and did good things.  I feel like I got it...a very kind young intern who spoke some English but relied on French saw my desperation in finding his name and verifying this story of him.  We continued to walk around the library looking for any publication that may have his name.  Soon, we were greeted again by this intern.  The smile on his face and the paper in his hands said he had found success.  He was able to find and print off a complete roster of the US speed skating for that year.  And located at the top, along with other non-skaters, was my grandfather.  Albert Zirkel- coach/manager.  I could not have been prouder.  And I could not have been more touched that this man did this for us.  I am excited to get that documentation to my mother.  I hope she is as touched by it as I am.  

Day 2 and 3 will follow tomorrow.  Those days will need their own blog...suffice it to say....the Alpenage was a spectacular event.  And I have videos to prove it!!  I would still love to hear comments about the blog...from everyone.  

Swiss Seafood...and an amazing bike ride

About once a month, the students and faculty at Swiss Semester have an opportunity to travel and experience an activity or see some sights that are truly Swiss.  This past weekend there were four trips offered to the students.  The first was a gorging trip where students don wetsuits and and rappel down into a cave/waterfall fed by local glaciers with cold water.  The walls of the cave/waterfall are worn down to a marble smooth surface so that sliding down in the water becomes an adventure.  For the second trip available to students, they could select to re-ascend the Breithorn but from a much more difficult approach.  In this activity, student once again wear crampons and a helmet and are tethered to a professional guide who leads the students up the mountain.  The third trip available to students was a very relaxing bike ride through a vineyard in the Lausaune region of Switzerland...as I understand it...a region know for their white wines.  And then there was my trip...a two day bike ride in the Bernese Oberland that included incredible views of the three famous mountains of the region...the Eiger, the Jungfrau and the Monch.  It also included the opportunities to ride through some beautiful villages of farms and chalets.  And it included some serious riding...both up and down.  But I got to spend the weekend with DJ...nothing better than an amazing ride with my handsome son!

Our trip covered about 50 miles of riding over the course of two days.  I know...I brought my Garmin bike computer along so that I could check.  But we also had some 'extra' miles that included train and gondola rides.  And you can see below, the Swiss rail service is very accommodating to cyclists.  They brought down a special open-air cargo car to hold all of our bikes.  Notice the engineer on the right in the orange...I assumed he was Swiss until he started yelling at the ticket taker and us in very clear Italian..."Venga, Venga, Venga".

The view from that first train ride to hamlet of Wengen was almost overwhelming.  We currently live in a beautiful part of the world in Zermatt.  But there was something very....well...Swiss about what we were seeing.  I expected to see film crews working on the sequel to The Sound of Music.  Rolling green farm land combined with the awesome and imposing presence of the mountains made this a special place.  Check out Wengen for yourself.  http://www.wengen.com/

This is just part of the crew that join us of the weekend trip.  Great kids.  A couple, including DJ, had done some 'real' mountain biking before.  The rest were in for a quite a challenge.  Truthfully, the ride challenged all of us.  The ups were real... "get out of your saddle, my legs are burning, am I hallucinating?"...hills.  This wasn't a Sunday stroll through Monument Valley Park.  But every uphill had a downhill.

Simply put, DJ is happy in the program.  He loves the friends he has met and appreciates the academic challenge he is faced with everyday.  Aside from needing a haircut...I'd say he looks alright!

I feel obligated to share some wisdom and insight...to those of you who may travel to this part of the world or simply share with those of you that are brighter than I (all of you) the potential problem that exists when ordering seafood from an Italian restaurant in SWITZERLAND!  In Wengen, where we spent the first night, we went out to dinner as a group.  The idea being...and has always been with world-class athletes...that a good helping of pasta the night before a rigorous activity will give you endless amounts of energy the body can use during the activity.  I am beginning to understand some German words by sight and sound.  This menu was a combination of Italian and German.  As I scrolled through the menu, I saw very little that I understood.  In a perfect world, I would have ordered my 'sausage, pepperoni, pineapple, jalapeno' pizza.  I didn't see the word sausage on the menu and have yet to see any reference to peppers since we left Colorado.  So, thrusting my CC education aside, I ordered spaghetti with mussels.  I ordered the mussels because the word was spelled the same in Italian, German and English.  It tasted great....for about 9 hours.  That's when all hell broke lose in my intestinal tract and I quickly realize that the Swiss are good at this meat and potato thing for a reason.

Can you see me in the photo below...ducking into the trees to deal with the mussels?  A Where's Waldo, blog style.  Just kidding...I'm the one taking the picture.  In all seriousness...Don't drink and drive and don't eat seafood in Switzerland.  

This again, is the cast of characters that went on the ride.  There I am...second from the left...longing to be running to the bathroom.  The Eiger, the Jungfrau and Monch are behind us.  The kids felt great about their accomplishment...getting to this vantage point.  And they should feel great.  It was a two hour climb straight from the hotel to this point.  Their smiles are well-deserved.

DJ has met some great knew friends during this experience.  None, however, will have the same impact on him as his two newest friends, Bertha and Bubba.  I am glad he kept his helmet on!

These are not Travelocity gnomes...these are the real deal.  While taking pictures of the surrounding valley, I spotted this gentleman's front steps.  He had quite a collection.  The Swiss gnomes are everywhere...they are the answer to windsocks in the States.  **an update** I have been told by my friend Elaine that these are the 7 Dwarfs. I am an idiot.  Regardless, the yard gnomes are the most popular yard accoutrements in Switzerland.

I love this photo...obviously for the sheer beauty of the background...but also for the vantage point of the photographer.  The subject...one of the kids...looks to be riding off the cliff.  No worries though...a sharp left hand turn at bottom kept kids and adults from "flying".

These next two photos are highlight of one of the coolest things I have seen since we have been here.  There is a storied ritual in this part of Europe where the cows are ceremoniously brought down from the high mountains after a summer of grazing on the rich grasses up in altitude to the low valleys and farms where the animals will eat barn-stored hay and remain safe during the potentially difficult winter months.  The local folks all turn out for this day...the farmers adorn some of their prized cows with crowns of flowers while all get an enormous bell to wear through town.  As an aside...all cows...actually all livestock...wear small bells around their neck to let their owners know where they are at all times.  The bells sound amazing...a very relaxing...almost therapeutic quality.  That must be the reason why you can buy the bells at every tourist shop in town.  Tie one to your dog or cat...let me know how that goes over.
We ended up on a road that was being used as a parade route for these cows.  The small bells that they wear in the summer highlands are replaced with bells the size of a Halloween pumpkin.  Imagine 30 of these large animals strutting down the road wearing these bells...it truly was a cool sight.  Cooler yet was the fact that we had to ride in the parade with them for a few minutes so that we could get to our next destination.

And the short two days of riding comes to an end...with one of my favorites students sound asleep at the train station about 10 feet from the tracks.  Alyssa and I became close this weekend because she struggled a bit going down hill.  Her fear of downhills arose on the first day when she aggressively went down a short hill, lost control of her bike and made a choice to put the bike down on the road instead of riding herself into the river.  I stayed with her all day Saturday.  She was doing great until one of those lose patches of gravel jumped up and bit her on a steep decent.  I thought she might be done right at that moment.  I cleaned her bloodied knees and elbows, bandaged her bruised ego and gave her hug.  We were quite a pair to finish the day together...one with road rash covering large portions of her body and one dealing with an intestinal tract that had gone on strike because of bad seafood.  Alyssa eventually woke up....  

We miss all of you and continue to be incredibly indebted to you for your help with 'stuff' back home.  Doing that 'stuff' has allowed us to be relatively stress free while in Zermatt.  We'd love to hear from you and we'd love to have you share this blog with others looking to stay up on our trip.  Feel free to pass it out!  Until next time.....