Tag, Zurich!!!

So... I´m in another country...
Apparently I´ve been a very lazy bitch and haven´t written my blog in awhile, whilst so much has happened! When I last wrote I was just about to leave the house with Cesare and get some southern Italian pizza and wine. The rumour has it that Southern Italy has the best pizza in all of Italy, and I completely agree! Holy crap, yum!!! That night was spent eating pizza, drinking wine, and listening to music. The next morning I got up very early and spent another of my way-too-common full days of traveling. I took a train from Salerno to Roma, which was of course late, because of this I missed my connecting train to Firenze (Florence) where I was heading. Perhaps you will recall, oh devoted reader, that I was already in Florence for a day when I was staying in Pistoia. This is true, unfortunately my day in Florence was spent in the merciless grip of a flu-induced delerium, and the only thing that I remember clearly is seeing the David and feeling like death. So because of this I decided to do Firenze right- plus it was conveniently more or less on my way to Venizzia (Venice). Anyway, I missed my train, but I managed to find one leaving a few hours later, and arrived in Firenze more or less within the scope of reason.
In Firenze I spent the weekend with a delightful couple named Leornardo and Elisa. Leonardo picked me up at the train station and took me to their beautiful house in the burbs of Firenze. That night, when Leonardo had a soccer match, Elisa and I walked around Firenze at night, got some delicious Italian pizza, and the best friggin Italian coffee I´ve ever had (and I´ve had LOTS of coffee since arriving). Then we went to the Michelangelo point, which is a beautiful piazza with many statues and an amazing view of all of Firenze. After that we picked up Leonardo, went out for a drink, and headed back to their place. However, on the way home I was given a special treat, unique to Firenze. We stopped at an all-night pastry factory, where they make delicious pizzas and pastries. You could watch the two bakers making all the amaying Italian pastries, and then order the freshly made pastries for incredibly cheap. It was like food heaven! What an experience!!!
The next day I got up early and took a train into the centre of Firenze. I spent the entire day walking around the beautiful city. I´m so glad that I came back to Firenze! The city is amazing, with so many statues, churches, piazzas, and shops. I´m still pissed that they charge so much for all the churches and museums, but luckily there is so much art around the city that you can get a full cultural experience just walking around for free. That evening I went back to Elisa and Leonardo´s, and Elisa cooked a delicious risotto dinner, with an apple cake dessert, and many bottles of wine. I got to try a really fancy wine from the town beside Venizzia (Venice) and boy was it ever good! I´m going to have some big issues leaving Italian food and wine behind! Leonardo and Elisa invited a few of their friends over and we had a wonderful little party with drinks, music, and pleasant converstaion. So very Italian classy!
The next morning I was suppoed to take an 8:42 am bus to Venizzia, and I was woken up at about 8:15 by Elisa. Hungover and tired as hell from almost no sleep I rush-packed and got dropped off at the train station, with about 2 minutes to spare. I took a train to Bologna, then transfered to a train to Venizzia. I dropped my bags off at the outrageously expensive baggage storage and walked out of the station to see my first Venician canals! Yay! Man, Venizzia is beautiful beyond all reason. There are so many gorgeous canals, boats, gondolas, pizzerias, churches, and teeny tiny little roads. The only sad thing about Venezzia is that it´s barely a real city anymore, and has become almost exclusively a tourists destination. After walking around all the once grand streets that are now just rows and rows of shops it got a little weary after a while. The city is magical though; I really loved walking around and staring at all the amaying canals. There has been record-high rainfalls in Italy this year, so many of the Venician streets were flooded. It was hilarious to see really posh Italians wearing fancy clothes and wellies! Heehee. Also, there were lots of shop-keeps that would sweep the water away from the front of their shops with brooms. Only in Venizzia!
I took a 5pm train to Bologna, arriving at 8pm and having to wait until 11:30 for my overnight train to Zurich. Not wanting to waste an opportunity, I stored my bags again and did a speed-tour of some of Bologna´s famous sights. It´s a beautiful city, covered in archways and fairy lights. I´m glad I got the chance to see it before leaving Italy. I got on the night train, exhausted beyond all reason, and was happy to find out I had my sleeper cabin to myself! I had washed my clothes the day before in Firenze, and some of them were still wet (and had been in my bag wet all day) so I pulled out the contents of my pack and spread them around the cabin, then went to bed. It´s very hard to sleep on a night train, especially if you´re a former insomniac, and once I finally got used to the noise of the other passengers and the train I found I would wake up every time the train stopped (which was often) or if the train made a sudden lurch (also often). So my night passed with me frequently waking up, and every time with the irrational fear that I would miss my stop in Zurich! Ah! I woke up in the morning and saw that we were stopped at a large, brightly lit station. I freaked out, thinking it was Zurich, speed-packed, and further freaked when the train started moving once I had finished packing. It wasn´t until we passed the sign saying "Bern" that I realized we still had a while to go. I found a porter and found out it was only 7am, and I had woken up at about 6:30 am with still 2 hours left to go in the trip. My freaking out had woken me up enough to not get back to sleep, so I sat up in my cabin drinking the complimentary coffee and watching the sun rise over Swiss alps and villages. What a sight! Switzerland is so cute, it looks like the inside of a snow-globe.
We arrived in Zurich at 8:40 am, meaning that in 24 hours (almost to the minute) I went from Firenze, to Venezzia, to Bologna, to Zurich, Switzerland. Wow! In Zurich I´m staying with my friend Corinne, but she had to work until 2:30, so I stored my bags at the station and went to the tourist office to get maps and info. The tourist board gives out maps with a recommended walking tour, so I spent my time doing the tour and exploring the centre-ville of Zurich. Zurich is a very busy little city, with many tall church-towers, a beautiful lake and river, and the second most expensive street in all of Europe! Wow! It´s true what they say about Switzerland, it´s expensive as hell! I´m very lucky to have a friend here. At about 3pm I met up with Corinne, went back to her place (very cute apartment with the hilarious eccentricity of having its shower in the kitchen!) and had my first shower in two days. Finally! Corinne cooked us a delicious pasta dinner (she´s a chef, lucky me!!!) and bought me my first bar of Swiss chocolate, which I actually just ate now. Holy crap it was so good! If Italy didn´t make me fat, Switzerland will.
After dinner we went to the train station where they have a Christmas market and got some Glühwein (which is the same thing as the Italian Vin Brule) with a couple of Corinne´s friends. Then we went to a bar for a traditional Swiss drink that´s like a mix between beer and lemonade, and not too shabby at all. After that we went to a Swiss club. It was really nice, but at this point I was on the brink of zombie-ness with almost no sleep in 3 days and so much traveling. We came back and I promptly passed out and slept forever. Today I woke up late, ate delicious pasta leftovers, watched a movie, and ate that amazing chocolate bar. A nice relaxing antidote to all my whilrwind traveling!