While in Santa Margarita me and some new friends took a morning walk to Portofino - famous for diving, high prices and rich people. It is a beautiful and very Italian feeling town set right on the water with a small port, that is said to be packed in the summer, and a lighthouse as well. I really enjoyed walking around this beautiful area and enjoyed having an authentic Italian guide - my new friend Leticia who is a PADI (SCUBA Diving) instructor from Milan.

Labels: Travel, World Tour

I came to Santa Margheritta to meet up with a friend of mine I had met in Breckenridge, Colorado. It is a beautiful town with a small bay and some nice beaches on Mediterranean. It reminded me of Cinque Terre a lot in it's beauty, but has a much more wealthy feel to it than Cinque Terre. I had a great time catching up with my friend, as well as making some new ones and was afforded the opportunity to tour of the five million dollar yacht my friend is the captain of in the summers! I enjoyed learning about yachting, sailing and about how hard, but rewarding the work can be. I am planning to look further into being a deck hand when I return to the states as it is a great way to save up a lot of money fast. After three fun and relaxing days I said my goodbyes and headed for Vienna Austria.

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If you ever have a chance to stay in a ten euro hostel in Milan, then make sure you don't go to it for the first time after dark. I arrived in Milan at about 6 and after finding an internet cafe and looking up hostel options, decided to stay in the cheapest hotel yet. I took the subway a couple stops and then got out ad started walking toward my hostel. For the most part the walk was fine, and definitely felt safer then the train station, but as I got closer I soon realized they my hostel was in an alley off of another alley off of a back street and looked like a safe-haven for crack heads and drug dealers. I realized now more than ever, that you get what you pay for in life and decided at this point it would be better to just sleep here then to continue back on the streets looking for another place, so I checked in. As it turned out, the looks of the hostel were by far the worst part, and to my delight and surprise I didn't meet any crack heads or drug dealers while there. After the fun hostel adventure I went to see the Duomo the next day and walk around a bit and enjoyed the feel of the city in the day much more than at night.

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If I ever get a chance to take a ski trip to Europe, Mont Blanc, France will be my destination. Situated high in mountains, this was the first place on my whole trip I got to see snow falling. To get to Chamonix requires a beautiful train ride hugging the side of the mountains up into the heart of the Mont Blanc region. Mont Blanc is the highest mountain in Europe, and from talking to the skiers who were living at the hostel I stayed at, the terrain is as diverse as it can be dangerous with everything from glacier skiing to ice climbing and para-gliding. The mountains here are beautiful, and even though the typical ski resort feel is starting to set in, there is still a little bit of the small town charm sprinkled throughout the town. The map of the ski area reminded me of Whistler Blackholm in British Columbia, but even made that look small in caparison.

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Interlaken is a beautiful classic-swiss feeling town situated between two lakes as well as two mountain ranges and as one might imagine is breathtaking to behold. It is one of the more beautiful places I have seen and I really enjoyed my short stay there. I stayed in a the most famous hostel in Switzerland, and one of the most famous in Europe - Balmer's Herberge, the oldest private hostel in Switzerland. I really enjoyed the atmosphere, staff and people I met here, and will definitely return her if I come back to Interlaken. I was pleased to meet the owner who everyone calls Uncle Eric, who is one of the friendliest and most generous people I have met as well as his kind daughter who works at the desk sometimes. So far on my journey this has been my favorite hostel not only for the location, but also for the atmosphere, people, and home-like feel. I went ice skating on one rainy day with a couple of Canadians I had met in the hostel and due to my unsuccessful attempt to skate backward on hockey skates, had to get a doctor to apply butterfly bandages to my eye brow. It didn't hurt much at all, but was deep enough to require a hospital visit to see if it needed stitches or not.

Labels: Travel, World Tour

The capital of Switzerland and home to the famous Bear Pits. Bern is a beautiful, fun and lively city that provides a beautiful foreground for the majestic mountainous backdrop. I had planned to stay here for only a day, but after two days, was somewhat sad to leave. I met a horse Jokey who generously showed me and some others a fun couple of nights out on the town. I also saw the Bear Pits where currently three bears are kept as a tribute to the origin of the city's name, and the rose garden, which is not much to see i winter, but has a great view of the city. I really liked the feel of the city and the friendly people I met while there, as well as other places that come from there and have made many friend from my short visit there.

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Zurich Switzerland is situated at one end of Lake Zurich and is a pleasant city for sightseeing and relaxing. Unfortunately while I was there the weather was pretty bad, but luckily it cleared up enough for the last of the Carnival celebrations in the streets complete with a band dressed up a a bunch of chickens! Lake Zurich is beautiful and on a clear day I have heard taking a boat ride from one side to the other is common and very enjoyable. I enjoyed Zurich's charm and energy, but in end felt as if it was similar to many other cities I have visited.

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Innsbruck is a beautiful Austrian town sandwiched between the alps with a beautiful vibrant blue river running down the middle. It's breathtaking beauty and fun atmosphere is hard to leave. When we got to Innsbruck they were wrapping up their Carnival celebrations as well and after a day of walking around the city and visiting the base of Nord Park, we went down to the main street to watch some parade floats full of drunk Austrians and playing deafeningly loud music be pulled through the street by snow plow tractors. The next day we took the Gondola up to the top Nord Park for a great view of the town, surrounding mountains, and to play in the snow. I came back the next day to do some skiing and decided that the best all season skiing seems to be in the US, as the snow was somewhat rough and a little wet. I enjoyed the skiing none the less and was glad to have gotten at least a day of skiing in for the season in the Alps.

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Munich Germany is the Capital of the Germany country of Bavaria and so far one of my favorite cities. The people are friendly, the atmosphere is lively, and the beer is delicious and served in glasses up to almost a gallon in size! I was able to have my favorite beer in the world - Paulaner Heffeweizen on tap which was even better than the bottle, and by far the best beer I have ever had. We were there toward the end of their Carnival celebrations and got to enjoy the live bands and fun costumes along with other locals and tourists alike. I really enjoyed the classic and beautiful architecture of the city, walking through the largest park in Europe with the locals out with their children, spouses, pets and friend all just enjoying life. Inside the park is a famous beer garden where we stopped for lunch, chatted with some kind old locals wearing the traditional hat with boars hair, and leather pants, and enjoyed the live music. Munich seems like it would be a great city to live in, and I would not hesitate if given the opportunity to visit again or live there. If you have to see one city in Germany, I've heard you should see Berlin, but if you can see two, I highly recommend Munich.

Labels: Travel, World Tour

After spending the previous day at Pompeii and having some amazing Pizza for dinner in Naples, we headed up to Mount Vesuvius. We took a bus to the entrance gate and then hiked the hour and a half round trip path up to, and around the crater. I really enjoyed getting outdoors and hiking again and we were blessed with perfect weather so the view was perfect.

It was a great experience to see the crater left by the previous eruptions of the mountain and the depth that the next eruption would have to overcome to once again rain down ash and lava on the surrounding area. Scientist say it will erupt violently again at some point, and I would not want to be around when that happens.

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It was surreal and amazing to see this famous ancient city complete with a coliseum, the remains of street-side soup shops and a whore house with a McDonald's type ordering system(ex. I'll take position 4 and 7 with fries and a coke.) It was really amazing to see a couple of the people in the exact state they had been in when the ash fell. The people looked like rough clay models covered in ash and were amazingly preserved.One thing that was very puzzling about this area is that even though it is common knowledge that Vesuvius is still an active volcano and will erupt again, many people are moving into to the area surrounding Pompeii and Mount Vesuvius and some towns are even closer to the mountain that Pompeii. The Italian government is even offering people thirty thousand euros to leave their home and move away in order to try and reduce or avoid all together the imminent disaster.

Labels: Travel, World Tour

Naples was worth a visit as it has a really big and beautiful royal building in the shape of a semicircle, and well as a couple of castles, some cool churches, a fun shopping area, amazing pizza at really cheap prices and is a good base for day trips to Pompeii and Mount Vesuvius. On the downside the city is riddled with crime and even has a little bit of mafia running some things behind the scenes. On the train from Rome to Naples we were able to ancient aqueducts running parallel to the train, as well as an old church that had been bombed heavily in WWII.

Labels: Travel, World Tour