Glacier Meltdown

Switzerland is an absolutely beautiful country. After a number of days there, I was excited to spend another at high altitudes admiring the beauty of the landscape. After arriving to the top of the cable car ride at the Aletsch glacier, I was enjoying the snowy scenery and happy to walk around for variation in the view of this icy peak.

When we began the day, I expected cold temperatures, and I expected some hiking: I was ok with this. Our journey at the top (9600ft at Eggishorn peak) was full of interesting viewpoints and lookouts. However, we could see a higher view point that could be hiked, and I'd already stated that I would be avoiding that trail.

So Jimmy told me that he would like to hike "down" around the other side of the peak and see what we could find that way. (Ok, hiking downward is always easy, and we could see along the icy glacier in the direction we were headed. No problem. I could do this one and skip the other.)

So we make our way along this "downward" trail. We can see the peaks of the glacier the whole way and the much lower valley from which we started the cable car on the other side. But just as we reach the bottom of this "downward" trail, Jimmy announces that his plan is to hike UP the mountain that now appeared in front of us. Umm..  change of plans? "Well Jimmy, you said we were going to hike DOWN this side, then go back to flat ground so YOU can hike up to the other viewpoint. YOU hiking UP while I sit warm with a coffee." His response is somewhere along the lines of "but this trail looks really cool and now I want to do it."

So what now? I am frustrated that I have to hike back up to the start alone if I don't attempt this trail, and I am truly not interested in either.

This "trail" that Jimmy claims he is hiking should really be considered more rock climbing than hiking. I mean, no joke, this "trail" is a pile of rocks with paint on some of the stones to mark the way. That is, not always easily visible paint lines signaling which rocks wont send you crashing 9,000 feet down this mountain. Let me also note that the people we passed made note of our tennis shoes.... everyone else was prepared with legitimate hiking boots. (Should have been a sign.)

So I end up on all fours climbing up these rocks. And slowly. We are getting higher and higher, and the pile of rocks is showing the distance of 10,000ish feet down to the bottom of the valley more clearly with each step. I didn't think I had a fear of heights, but something about this journey sure induced the feeling of fear.

I joked in the previous Cinque Terre post about how that hike was worth "all the sweat and tears"... but also noted that the joke was that it really only produced sweat. Well, this hike traded the sweat for the real tears. Somehow between guessing stable rocks for each next step in my tennis shoes while being passed by badass 4 year old Swiss children (yes.. really) I was reduced to tears.

The view was absolutely incredible, I have to give it that. I'm not sure who cries in one of the most beautiful places you can imagine, but the rock faces that we were climbing and the insane height that we were at without ANY kind of barrier... let's be real, I don't know how any sane person wouldn't be a little scared.

I am proud of making it halfway up that cliff. Again, the thing was sheer rocks and I am adamant that it should NOT have been labeled a hiking trail! Rock climbing is more accurate. But I had a good audio book, and with a double rock barrier I sat waiting for Jimmy to return from the highest peak. Seriously... who wants to climb rock faces at more than 9,000ft anyway??

I will say that the trail was awesome for the view - but attempting to climb it seriously sucked. Another reason why Switzerland is awesome? The people can "hike" things easily that the rest of the world wouldn't want to touch.

Take me back to the flat land for a warm cappuccino, ASAP! And yes, this is what I did while Jimmy still climbed the (much more reasonable) trail that I had originally decided to sit out on.

Confoederatio Helvetica AKA Switzerland

Every country has an internet code assigned to their country.  The United States uses .us, Austria uses .at, Australia uses .au, Canada is .ca, Brazil is .br, you get the idea.  Switzerland, however, uses .ch for their internet code.  CH derives from Confoederatio Helvetica, the Latin name for Switzerland.  Why the hell does Switzerland use a Latin form in their country code?  Simple answer.  They are a bunch of bad asses.  The western part near France speaks French, the southern bordering Italy speaks Italian, and the rest (about 65%) speak German.  Oh, and the majority speak English too.  Switzerland remains neutral to pretty much every conflict in the world.  So neutral, that even Nazi Germany didn't invade.  Remember, Switzerland borders Germany.  Other reasons that Switzerland is bad ass

1)  Switzerland is rich.  #2 in GDP per capita.  A country with population similar to North Carolina is the 2nd richest by some standards.  Hmmm, sounds nice.   

2)  Excellent pay and low unemployment.

3)  Nice watches.  I mean, who doesn't like a nice watch. 

4)  Low taxes for the lower and middle classes.  Make good money and don't lose it all.  Sounds great.

5) 6 weeks of vacation at your job plus the good money.  Work less, have more money, and have more vacation.   

6) Swiss Army knives.

7) Excellent public transportation.  About 20 percent of the people don't own cars.  Zurich and Geneva are the biggest cities in Switzerland and are similar to Charlotte and Raleigh in size.  If you don't have a car in North Carolina, it's probably not by choice.

8) No open container laws.  Buy a cold beer at 7-Eleven and crack it open on the street.  

9)  Absolutely beautiful landscape.  There might be individual spots that rival it, but Switzerland as a country is as beautiful as it gets.  Grassy mountains, glaciers, huge lakes from the snow run-off, beautiful rolling hills, waterfalls everywhere, what more can you ask for? 

10) Awesome hiking, great winter sports and a laid back culture.   

 It must the perfect place to travel, right?  Well it pretty much is, but prepare to unleash your wallet if you want to travel here.  A chicken restaurant in Lucerne.  2 plates of chicken with sides, an appetizer, two glasses of wine.  70 euros.  Almost 80 dollars.... for chicken.  A cable car ride up one side of Mount Pilatus (mountain outside of Lucerne) and then a train down the other side.... 2 people, 128 euros.  145 bucks!  Ouch.  Could you do it cheaper?  Certainly.  3 hour hikes instead of cable cars, no drinking, no eating out, no gambling- come on man, where's the fun in that! 

A time-line of our week in Switzerland.   

Saturday Afternoon- Fly from Rome to Basel.  Our flight was delayed about 4 hours because someone near the runway in Rome was burning something on their land and the smoke limited the visibility.  "Come on, what really happened?"  Seriously, someone stopped planes from taking off from the busiest airport in Italy because they were burning stuff on their land nearby.

Saturday Evening- Rental car from Basel Airport and a 2 hour drive to Lucerne.  Basel is in Switzerland but on the border with France and within 5 minutes from Germany.  We planned to drive straight to Lucerne (in Central Switzerland) but got turned around and ended up in France for a few minutes.   Not everyday you accidentally end up in France.

Sunday-  Awesome breakfast buffet, full walking day around Lucerne, expensive chicken dinner, and and an unsuccessful attempt at winning money from Lucerne's casino.  Not only is it expensive to visit, but they also take your money.

Monday-  Hiking around Mount Pilatus and expensive cable cars.  Nonetheless, beautiful.  We finished the night at a local burger and Kebab take-away place.  We had arrived late on Saturday and went there, seeing as it was the only place open nearby.  So good, in fact, that we came back on our last night.  We got to talking to the guy who ran the place.  He was from Syria, and he ended up leaving because of all the instability in the country.  In his words, "I used to be a teacher in Syria, now I'm serving you guys kebabs."  He was shaking his head but smiling just a little bit while saying it.  

Tuesday- All day driving through the Swiss mountains and hitting some of the best passes in the country and plenty of waterfalls.  We drove up Furka Pass where the chase scene from Goldfinger (James Bond) was filmed.  

Wednesday-  Aletsch Glacier, the largest glacier in Europe.  We took a gondola from the parking area to the glacier to enjoy the views and hike in the mountains. It's a UNESCO World Heritage site and near the gondola station there was a UNESCO marked hiking trail on the map.  I've been to a lot of World Heritage sites before but have never seen a specifically marked UNESCO trail.  I don't know what this trail looks like, but this is a must do for me.  It took me a little bit to convince Kaysee but she joined me.... for about 1/3 of the hike.  In our next post, Kaysee will explain why this ended badly for her. 

Thursday-  7 miles of hiking near Grindelwald.  We drove to Lauterbrunnen that evening and took a cable car to the small town of Murren, where there are no cars.  Lauterbrunnen sits in the bottom of a huge valley and Murren sits at the top, with great views no matter where you are.  

Friday- A couple hour drive to Zurich to drop the car and then a train onward to Austria.  

Rome..... "Hello, Something?"

Rome seems to be the ultimate, Love it or Hate it cities.  Big city? Yes.  Tourist hotspot?  For sure. Awesome city to visit? Oh yea.  The history in the city is 2nd to none.  Home to arguably to world’s most dominant/influential civilization of all time, well, depending on where you stand on the US.

There is so much to see in Rome, but I will leave that to a Google search of “Top Things to do in Rome.”  That being said, the Colosseum in person is something you will never forget.  Massive, in the middle of the city, lays an arena built almost 2,000 years still mostly in tact.  During the rule of the Roman Empire, it was home to festivals, gatherings, circuses, and the famous gladiatorial battles.  This place could seat close to 100,000 people.  From what I gathered, the gladiators were either forced in- POWs and criminals; or allowed in- average guys off the street trying to make a name for themselves.  Win a battle as a prisoner and live to fight another day..... Win one as an average person, and have a chance to become a hero. A trip to Rome isn’t complete without a trip here.

Ok, story time! Walking around the outside of the Colosseum, there are all kinds of people walking around trying to sell you things- bottled water, the sticky toys you throw at the ground, the mini helicopters you shoot into the air, and NEW to the 2015 collection….. SELFIE STICKS!!! Just a year ago I was there and selfie stick stock hadn’t shot up yet.  The guys selling them were, to the best of my knowledge, Bangladeshi guys. They would walk around and in their native accent and broken English say, “Hello, something?”  These guys roamed around in packs, grabbing the name, “The Selfie Stick Mob." Technically you aren’t allowed to sell random goods on the Colosseum grounds, but that didn’t stop these guys in the least bit.  However, the cops would put up an ill-fated attempt to stop them.   

The Colosseum is down in a little bit of a crater, so there are hills and steps leading from the street down to the area outside of the arena.  Situated near the entrance to the Colosseum were a couple cops, just as a precaution.  The Selfie Stick Mob would run around selling bottled water in the crater, all the while trying to avoid these cops from interring with their business.  As we were leaving from our visit, we stopped in the shade for a snack and some water.  As we were standing there minding our own business, we see a cop try and apprehend one of the Bangladeshi guys for selling bottled water.  When I say, "try and apprehend," that was as far as the cops got.  I’ve seen some crazy stuff in my life, but never have I ever seen someone toy with the police.  That shit doesn't fly in the US, man.

The officer would take a couple quick steps after the BG and the guy would just run through the crowd and towards the hill.  After realizing the BG was faster, the cop stopped his pursuit and walked back towards his post.  The Bangladeshi guy stood from a distance watching until the cop got about 30 feet away.  The BG would then walk back down and continue business while keeping an eye on the cop.  Cop returns, BG runs away.  This process went on 3 or 4 times before the cop just gave up.  Hell, I think he might have been embarrassed, there were hundreds of people in the area witnessing these shenanigans.  We stood around for a few more minutes, even seeing 2 other guys getting somewhat chased by the cops for selling water.

In case you were wondering, the cops couldn't catch them either.  It just didn’t even seem fair, I felt bad for the cops.  Here was an average 5'11 cop trying to catch a 5’3, 135 pound guy from Bangladesh.  It was like a kid trying to catch a squirrel, a 350 pound lineman trying to catch Russell Wilson, or trying to catch your 35 pound border collie when it ran away.  It ain't happenin.  Looking back, I’m not sure why we left, maybe Kaysee was tired of it? I could have watched it all day. Someone should pitch this as a tv show, because I’m all in on “Cops Can’t Catch the Selfie Stick Mob."

Cinque Terre: July 22-24

I suppose I should first mention that leaving Florence, we made a 1 night stop in Pisa. It was worth it, and I realized that there is plenty of shopping to be done there, and there is SOMETHING other than the leaning tower. But not enough to require more than one night.

So from here.. Cinque Terre! Cinque Terre is a chain of 5 Italian towns along the Ligurian coast, and it is beautiful. The area makes up a national park and is recognized and protected for its beauty, which also makes it a popular tourist destination.

Our experience: Exhaustion and anchovies.

We went into our 2 days in Cinque Terre knowing that we wanted to hike the trails between the towns. Due to damage from storms and heavy rain, 2 of the trails are currently closed. We got lucky in that we were able to book a hotel in Monterosso al Mare - the more populated and “touristy” of the towns with the largest beach area. The luck for us, was that it is also the Northern-most town and we could complete our hike by arriving back here.

So our hike began in Corniglia, where we could access the first open trail. Now I had even hiked between these towns previously, but I will say during this trip it was HOT. In our first week, every day the weather alerted us to “danger from extreme high temperatures” - so that was fun.

I’m sure we were sweating before we even got started. But climbing up and down stairs made into the ground, sometimes with rocks, sometimes with wood and sometimes just grooves in the dirt, and peeking in and out (mostly out) of shady spots was rough for sure. But the glimpses of the sea and the view of the towns in the distance as we strolled the hour and a half to our next stop in Vernazza…. incredible.

Before reaching Vernazza, we stopped in a little trail-side restaurant and picked up an extra bottle of water for good measure. I’m embarrassed to admit how much we were sweating. We needed it. And while enjoying the beauty in Vernazza (and cheering silently for the temporary rest) we refilled our shared bottle and ate a few oranges. But then we started back on the longest portion of the trail toward our final destination and hotel in Monterosso.

This is the toughest part of the hike among the towns of Cinque Terre. It’s the easier walks that are currently closed due to damage (of course.) I have to admit that I was struggling. And that water bottle we filled in Vernazza had to be rationed during the last 2 hours because of how quickly we were sucking it down, but how badly we needed it to last. This was a rough stretch, especially for the 95-100 degree heat, but also because this trail is not easy. There are a lot of ups and downs, and still the pathway and landscape are not even. So I’m tiptoeing at each downward step and hoping by some miracle we will turn the corner to see Monterosso in front of us an hour ahead of schedule. We did beat the schedule by about 10 minutes (!!!), and we greeted Monterosso with a lot of excitement, though you wouldn’t know it by looking at us because of the exhaustion, and a bottle of water and gatorade at our first opportunity. Immediately following were naps on the beach.

Through all the sweat and tears (just kidding, only sweat this time) the experience was worth the effort. The views of the colorful cliffside towns and the way the land drops off into the pure blue water is some unparalleled beauty.

 

Again, the Italian experience is so heavily impacted by food and our Cinque Terre time was dominated by anchovies. It sounds weird… kinda gross even, and I never would have guessed that I’d be writing about how much I couldn’t get enough of anchovies. But it’s true.

Anchovies are very popular in this area, a staple in the kitchen. And at our very first meal the waiter talked us right into ordering stuffed anchovies as an appetizer. This may have been the perfect way to ease into them; anything stuffed with cheese, breaded and fried can’t be too bad. But then the next day we ordered them atop focaccia bruschetta (one of my favorite things, no matter how unappetizing it looks) and in pasta.

This is another one of these “don’t knock it until you’ve tried it” food items. And I may not eat another anchovy until I’m back on the Italian coast, but I’m still vouching for it! Cause you know… “When in Rome…” or close enough :)

Stop 1 in Europe: Florence

Florence, Italy. We have both been to Florence before, and 2 things really stood out to us this time: 1. It was HOT. 2. It was crowded.

I (Kaysee) spent almost 6 weeks studying in Florence in 2010, and I never experienced heat like this. It was really hot, around 100 each day, but still one of my favorite cities and we had a great time. We even got to spend our time with one of my best friends and my roommate from the summer in Florence, Emily, and meet up with another study abroad pal.

Since we had both been to Florence before, we did not duplicate too many of the “major” tourist attractions. The Uffizi and Accademia are incredible, but we didn’t want to duplicate them when it meant fighting the huge number of tourists. But here were our highlights:

1. Climbing the Duomo 
Expecting a crowd, we tried to go early in the morning, but still waited in line for 2 hours for our turn to climb. However, as the Duomo is Florence’s icon, you can’t miss a trip. To enter the church itself is free, but the view from the top of the cupola up just over 460 stairs is SO worth the time and money. We were able to peer down at the center of the church from the circular walkway inside the dome, and had a beautiful view of the city, the river Arno, and the surrounding mountains. When is the view from the highest point in a city NOT worthwhile?
 

2. Piazzale Michaelangelo
This is a square across the river in Florence from most of the major attractions. It sits at the top of a hill and allows you to see the primary bridge Ponte Vecchio over the river, the Duomo, Santa Croce church, Palazzo Vecchio tower - it basically gives you the best view of the entire city. We went after dinner, bottle of wine in tow, and stayed to watch the sunset over the river. I’d recommend this over and over again - the view is magical!

3. Wine tasting in San Gimignano

San Gimignano was a new trip for both of us. We took a bus from Florence and arrived late morning for plenty of time to explore. The medieval, walled city is right in the heart of Tuscany and surrounded by vineyards and known for their wines. We climbed the highest tower Torre Grossa in town for a heck of a view, and then visited the wine museum for our first tasting, and stopped in local shops for round two (and some meat and cheese snacks!) San Gimignano produces Vernaccia wine - a delicious white that was so refreshing in 100 degree heat.

Of course we also visited the Ponte Vecchio bridge, listened to an orchestra concert in Piazza della Signoria, visited the Palazzo Vecchio museum and climbed it’s tower, and enjoyed all that the market Mercato Centrale and surrounding street stands have to offer.

The last thing that can’t be left out of any description of time in Italy is the food. Basically, you can’t go wrong. Wine is cheaper than a bottle of water and we had our fair share of local Chianti’s and Vernaccia (we even learned about wine ratings during our San Gimignano trip) but most often we’d order the restaurants’ house wines - which didn’t disappoint. Bruschetta is always a good appetizer choice (fresh tomatoes and olive oil!) and we loved ordering prosciutto and melon every chance we got. I’ve seen a few people stick up their noses at the sound of this - don’t knock it until you’ve tried it, I swear! For most of my life I didn’t even eat cantaloupe, and this combination is amazing. And of course, we had lots of pizza and pasta. Every type you can imagine is not only available, but is delicious. The typically thin crust pizza with fresh toppings usually included prosciutto and mushrooms for us. We also tried a few of the hundreds of pastas (gnocchi, spaghetti, cannelloni) with various sauces and meats. There are typical, regional food specialties throughout Italy, but in Florence we didn’t make any decisions around this, and still believe it just doesn’t get any better. We did top off a few meals with gelato - and if anyone is in Florence, I swear Grom is the best gelateria and should definitely be paid a visit.

For me, returning to Florence after studying abroad always felt like a distant dream… how cool to start off a totally new adventure in a familiar place?!

And We're Off

As we've decided to adventure and "wander" around the world together, we had to pick somewhere to start. For a few different reasons, including that we'd been talking about going for a while and we will have the opportunity to visit with several friends, Europe has become our first destination.

We've planned to spend 12 weeks covering at least 10 different countries, and can't wait to share with you what we see! We spent several hours packing backpacks for variation in climate and differences in activities, so that we have (we think) everything we need. And believe me, our bags are basically as full as they can get. Jimmy looks forward to tossing things out along the way, but Kaysee can't see herself doing the same, so one of us may come back with a lighter load than the other. Or, Kaysee will find a way to add to her bag (aka Jimmy's bag) and we will both come back the same :)

Any way, after one last stop a Chick-fil-A, we have left the country officially. 12 weeks is just shy of the 3 month maximum you can travel without a visa in the majority of Europe, so leaving without having return flights booked did raise a few questions at the airport gate. Jimmy somehow always manages these situations though, and we're off!

Here We Go

Wheeler wandering. A diagnosis that has plagued one of us for the last few years.



Here is our story. An introduction to who we are and how we got here: on a journey that will take us around the world together. We began dating in college almost 6 years ago, but battled the attempt to maintain a relationship while on very different paths following graduation (welcome to your 20's..)


Here is how it happened for each of us.


Jimmy - My post-graduation plans.  1) Travel 2) who cares what number 2 is when you can travel.  I had a small list of places I wanted to visit when I first graduated and I've been on the move now on and off for 4 plus years.  My list is longer now than when I started. 

I've been very fortunate to have the opportunity to travel the world with no restrictions.  Along the way I've spent almost 5 months traveling the US in an RV with my best friends, summited Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, watched the sunrise on the beach in Barcelona after a 100,000 person party on the beach, seen the Great Wall of China, visited the Temples of Angkor Wat in Cambodia, seen the tallest building in the world in Dubai, and thought hundreds of time to myself, "Times like this are the reason you travel."

You know what isn't fun when you're traveling?  Having to leave your girlfriend at home and having her stay slightly mad/ envious of your trip for its entirety.  No way man.  I could always get by with a couple of weeks traveling, but after that, it just didn't work.  Solution to the problem?  Bring her with me.  It took just a little bit of convincing, but it seems that we have arrived at our destination. 


Kaysee - Following graduation, I went right to work. Technically, I was searching for a "real job" for quite a while, but working was always my plan, and I suffered through some temp roles and part-time retail in the meantime. I did find that "real" job eventually, at a large company that offered me as much as I could have expected as a recent graduate. I learned a lot, challenged myself, and even got to travel regularly to San Francisco's Bay area. But working 40 (or 50, maybe sometimes 60...) hour work weeks doesn't seem so great, no matter how you spin it, when your boyfriend is experiencing new adventures on another continent.

I did love traveling too. So I did what I could to join Jimmy's adventures while sticking to my career mindset and maintaining my Corporate America reality. But you realize when you leave your boyfriend in Thailand after spending your 16 days of saved vacation to join just part of his 6 week adventure, that there really is a lot more to be gained. Quite possibly, a few months abroad could be as valuable as those same months in the job you've now had for the last 3 years.

Ultimately, when your boyfriend says "let's go live out the adventures of our dreams" AND this just so happens to solve the only source (well, only important source :) ) of tension in your relationship... How could you say anything other than "ok?"

So, here we are. After a little convincing and a lot of planning, I am taking a break from the career path I'd known to this point, and we are experiencing a whole new world together.