Munich, Milan, Barcelona, Paris

Munich, Germany - July 6-7
From Gimmelwald I traveled to Munich, Germany mainly for the World Cup semi-final vs. Spain. But my previous trip to Munich lasted only one day, so I still had a lot to see. The first night I watched the Netherlands game in a great atmosphere at my hostel's big TV room. The next morning I went to the Deutches Museum, which is the world's largest museum of technology and science. It was a perfect size, and had a lot of diversity. I enjoyed it a lot. That whole day I kept pestering the locals on where would be the best place to watch the game. I finally got the perfect answer when a kid my age showed me evidence with a video on his phone of the previous game. They played it on two TVs at the Olympic Stadium. So later that day I went by the BMW exhibition on my way to the game. The pre-game vibe was unbelievable. Most people drinking and singing songs of their country. They build-up and game was quite a show, until Spain scored and the Germans lost.

Milan, Italy - July 8-9
I returned to Italy because I met a very nice Italian lady on my train to Switzerland a week before. She invited me to stay at her home, so I did for two days. It was nothing like I had expected. The first night, we had a home-cooked family meal that was perfect. Then I was able to have some great conversation with the family members and their neighbors. The next day, I toured Milan on a city bike that you lock in a station when you're done using it. I had to do this because Milan was on a full public transportation strike. What I did not know, was that Italy was also on a train strike, which ruined my overnight plan to Barcelona. Instead I had to take a train from 9pm to 1am, waiting in the station til 5am for the next connection, along with several other people that had the same issue. 24 hours of travel later, and I was in Barcelona.

Barcelona, Spain - July 10-12
The trek from Milan was hell, and my worst travel experience of the trip. Although, I did meet some nice Dutch girls that made it easier, although, who knows why they were in Spain... Because Sunday, July 11th, was the World Cup final between Spain and the Netherlands... As I headed towards my hostel from the train station, I felt something in liquid form dripping on my heels. I took off my backpack, to realize that someone tossed paint on it. I put it down and gathered my self for a few minutes, contemplating what to do. When suddenly, a man came up offering tissues. As he handed them over and pointed me towards the water fountain, I turned back around to find my small backpack gone...... This bag had my passport, wallet, iPhone, computer and CAMERA..... I immediately look up and see the thief out of the corner of my eye before he got around the closest building. I then picked up my giant backpack and sprint after him into the crowd. After only a few strides he saw me chasing him and dropped the bag. Luckily, he didn't take anything out, but my heart was still pounding. The next day I explored the city and prepared for the World Cup finals. I watched it in the city's biggest plaza, Plaza Espanya, along with several thousand. It was unbelievable. Spain had so many close calls, which gave the crowd so much to yell about. Then when they finally scored that goal, madness erupted. Flares and fireworks began going off while people jumped in the many fountains lining the street. Once the whistle blew, the noise level never dropped till 2 am. Strangely, one of the first songs they played after the game was 'Born in the USA', which had me going quite a bit. The police had to disperse the crowd with rubber bullets and tear gas, because the intensity level stayed so high. The next day I enjoyed the beautiful beaches and ocean before leaving for Paris.





Paris, France - July 13-14
I spent the majority of my first day in the museum Les Invalides. The museum relates to the military history of France. I absolutely loved it. There was an entire section on Arms and Armor. They had the armor, guns, and swords that belonged to all of the famous King Louis'.. There was a WWI and WWII wing as well. I was not expecting the size of the museum, yet it still didn't compare to Louvre. I spent many hours there the next morning on Bastille day. It was free entry because of the holiday, and although exhausting, still very enjoyable. I especially liked seeing the less crowded paintings that I studied in Florence.
That night, for Bastille Day, I watched the fireworks show from the lawn of the Eiffel Tower. In order to get good seats, many people reserved spots with picnics beforehand. It was easily the best show I have seen because the fireworks were choreographed with music. It might have helped that it was lighting up the Eiffel Tower the whole show.

The Solo Journey Begins..

SIENA - July 2, 2010
The day the program was over, so we made our way to Siena for the historical race. A few people that stayed behind in our group joined me to see the race. The race is run at the Piazza del Campo with the horses representing each of the contradas (districts) of the town. The contradas are each represented by flags, and it is tradition for people to where scarves of the flags around their necks. I got one known as the "Commander of the Waves". The jockeys ride bareback and the horses are not experienced in racing. When we arrived we ran into a guy from Pepperdine that knew my friend from the Florence program. His parents took us out for lunch. That was when I found out his mom went to Foothill high school and knew my uncle, John Astor. They had seats on the outer track, while we stood in the middle of the square. We stood at the "mattress corner", which is the treacherous sharp turn where many riders tend to fall off. Before the race, each contrada presented their horses, jockey,and flag throwing skills. Then when the horses began to line up, the crowd was silent... Finally, they were off and the crowd erupted! In the first lap, the Waves were in the lead. It was the same for the second lap, which included a rider-less horse (which can still finish the race and win). In the final lap, the waves lost their position and once the winner crossed, the fans joined the rider and horse in celebration. The locals whose district lost stomped their way home with many of them crying. It was an unbelievable experience, and something that I would recommend everyone to do if in europe during the race.
Moments after the finish:


and the YouTube link: (my video wouldn't load)
Palio di Siena

GIMMELWALD - July 4-6, 2010
Originally, my plan was to spend one night at the Pepperdine house in Lausanne Switzerland. I went there with Armando, a Florence friend, and they didn't allow me to spend the night. But the house was amazing. Seven stories and a view of Lake Geneva, and France on the other side. I left Lausanne, heading straight for Gimmelwald.
My brother, Craig, highly suggested that I visit Gimmelwald, and now I know why I love my brother... Gimmelwald is a sleepy mountain village of about 120 people with more cow troughs than mailboxes. It has a majestic view of the Swiss Alps. I had to take a gondola to get there. Here is the view from my hostel:


In the morning I took a hike that lasted the entire day. I cannot explain how unbelievable the hike was. The views were nothing like I had ever seen. The hike ran through the town and straight into Kilchbalm. Kilchbalm is a glacial cirque with glaciers, snow, waterfalls, and streams. It was almost too much too take in at once. I spent many hours exploring each stream and waterfall, finding moments to be still in between. Being the only one around the whole time, I had never felt God's presence so much.
The middle of the hike: (I made it all the way to that snow/ice you see to the right of my head)



Now my plan is Munich for the Germany vs. Spain game, then Milan to stay with a family that I met on the train to switzerland.

Austria

When Kristina told me that we could stay with her family in Austria for a weekend, I was so excited. I knew having a native show you around their country would be a great experience, but this experience was the best weekend yet.

On Friday morning we did the Sound of Music Tour. Kristina and Kim were dressed up in their authentic dirndls from Kristina's family. We were able to see a lot. It was nice to be able to bus all around Salzburg and learn about the locations they chose for the film. From there we took a train to Villach, where Alois, Kristina's Grandfather's cousin's son.......... picked us up. He drove us to the Fertala Gasthof. The Fertalas live in a tiny town called Agoritschach. We were greeted with beer and a side room to catch the end of the USA v. Slovenia game. We got there right before they tied it up. Then for dinner we ate an amazing meal in their main dining hall. We stayed in the apartment section of the Gasthof that night. The next morning Alois guided us on a beautiful hike up the alm to their cabin which is nearly on top, close by where the three countries of Italy, Austria, and Slovenia meet. Nearly to the cabin, we stopped by a place to have shots of shnapps, a tradition. We spent the rest of the day and night there enjoying our time with conversation and cards. It was a tiny little hut with a wood stove, a cold cellar below, only candle light, and an outhouse. The next day was the local beer festival! This truly topped off the whole experience. We had already been spoiled by the Fertala family enough, then this brought us more of their culture. It was held in a tent in the neighboring town Seltschach. It started with a tradition where the local young men rode horses and attempted to knock down a wooden bucket nailed to a tall wooden pole. It took them several rounds, when the final blow knocked off the last piece giving us our winner. He is celebrated throughout the rest of the night. The celebration included live cultural music with lots of dancing. We were even able to dance the Polka with the locals. Kristina's cousins taught us. It was a long, fun night of dancing and celebrating. Experiencing the culture of these tiny towns was a blast!

The Fertala Gasthof:


The horse competition:

Cinque Terre

From everyone I had talked to, it was a priority to spend a full weekend in Cinque Terre. I am very glad we did.

Friday morning I went horseback riding for free with Pepperdine. Of course I rode the only white horse, and named him Traveler. It was only for an hour, and then we left for La Spezia. We were not able to book any rooms in the 5 towns, so we stayed in a two bedroom apartment on a hill in La Spezia, a city south of Cinque Terre. That night Matt cooked dinner and we rested up for our hike the next day. We started at the southernmost town Riomaggiore, where we spent a few minutes taking in the view. It was a bit foggy/cold, which felt good while walking to the next town, Manarola. Luckily for us, we were following the great Rick Steve's guide on Cinque Terre. This helped us out a lot at the second town when we followed his "walk" around the city. It was a scenic route that ended with a vineyard trail that connected us to the 3rd town. On our way to Corniglia, we found a very small swimming area that had a spot to get in and out of the water. After spending some time there, we continued to Corniglia, where we at lunch and prepared for the harder leg of the hike to Vernazza. It was a tiring section, but we arrived to a beautiful view of the town. The whole group, minus Parker:



We laid out on the flat rocks along the harbor just as the sun was coming out. Then we decided to take a train to Monterosso in order to find an appropriate place to watch the US vs. England game. We walked around looking for a bar to watch it and randomly stumbled upon an American bar. Because it was early in the tournament, I had to ask someone what time the game started. A group of American's in their twenties informed me and told them I would be back to watch the game. We went to dinner and returned, finding out that the same group of Americans were actually students from LMU, studying in Rome. One of the guys was one of Krista's best friends from high school. The bar was packed with all Americans, except for a few England fans. There were one dollar bills with words and names on them, posted all along the walls (we added our own Pepperdine signed bill the next day). Once the national anthem started, everyone sang in unison, even while the bartender muted in midway through. During the game, the bar filled up to standing room only, so it made for an exciting atmosphere to watch the game.



The next morning, we took the train to Vernazza and hiked the last leg to Monterosso. This town is nown for its stretch of beaches, so we decided a full day spent in the sun was necessary. They had several small areas of free beaches with no umbrellas in the way. There were also a couple soccer fields secured off with nets around them. I was a beautiful sunny day with perfect weather. Cinque Terre was fantastic.

I'll be back...

Sorry for being so behind on my posts...
I am about to pack for Austria this weekend, for the sound of music tour and enjoying small towns with Kristina's family that lives there. I will post Cinque Terre when I return. The US vs. England soccer game was unreal! Now I have to go watch Mexico vs. France. I can't watch the Celtics game (see what I did there) cause we will be on an overnight train. Who cares anyways, USA is playing again tomorrow!

Ciao,
Doug

CROATIA

After 350+ km traveled in the Adriatic sea, 5 towns, 4 trains, 4 buses, 3 islands, 2 ferries, 1 airplane, and 1 YACHT, I have promised myself to return to Croatia in my lifetime.

After two days of midterms, we were ready for a vacation from school. We had no class on Wednesday or Thursday, making this our "long" weekend. Parker invited Dave, Matt, and I to join him and his parents on their 42 ft cruising yacht that they rented. The picture below is a map of the route we took along with numbers that I will refer to when describing our adventures.

We took an overnight ferry from Ancona to Split Tuesday, June 1st. (1) From Split, we took a ferry to Hvar (2), where we met up with Parker's mom, her friend, our skipper Darko, and our yacht. Unfortunately, Parker's dad was not able to come because he broke his ribs right before they were scheduled to leave the states. The first day was a gloomy one with the clouds blocking out the sun and giving us some rain. We got on the boat and headed to Stari Grad, Hvar (3). There we got some food to bring on the boat and supplies for my toe. I covered my toe in tape in order to protect it in the water and because my nail was very close to falling off. And in order to prevent my toe from getting infected from the water, I bought hydrogen peroxide. From there we traveled around the western point of Hvar dropping anchor around the Marina we planned to stay at that night (4). We swam for a bit and conquered our own small island that we walked all the way around before swimming back to the boat. After the swim, we went to the old town Hvar of the island Hvar (5). We explored the town for a few hours, walking up to the castle on top of the hill which had an incredible view. Then we returned to the marina for dinner and to spend the night there (6). The next morning brought the sun and beautiful blue skies. The weather was great and the clouds looked like they were painted in every direction you looked. We anchored in a cove on the western point (7) of Hvar where we took advantage of the sun and spent the majority of the day. We kayaked, played cards, sunbathed, simply enjoyed swimming in the clear turquoise water. While we relaxed, our skipper Darko went spearfishing and caught an octopus and eel which he prepared for us the next day. After some clouds covering our sun, we sailed to the next town, Milna (8), on the island of Brac. We had enough wind to put up the sails and cruise through the gates of split. When using our engine, our max speed is 8 knots, which can be surpassed with the sails at 10 knots. We averaged about 4 to 5 knots while sailing to Milna. It was a beautiful ride. The combination of several ships near us with their sails up and the blue skies contrasting with the detailed clouds presented the most picturesque moment of the trip.



The Dalmatian Islands: (click the image to enlarge)


Darko had a nifty GPS that I loved looking at whenever we were sailing to the next location. I love maps and loved recording the route we took from town to town. Imagining being on that boat for a long time and exploring other lands and seas intrigued me so much.
Once in Milna, we walked the town and had dinner with complimentary sardines as appetizers. We stayed the night in the Milna marina and woke up the next morning to the same great weather as the day before. We crossed the gates of split over to the island of Solta (9) where we found a private cove to enjoy for the morning. Then we headed to the town of Stomorska (10), where we had pizza and croatian beer. This town did not even have paved roads along the port. All of the smaller towns had old stone buildings, narrow streets, and very few tourists. While we walked the town, Darko prepared us octopus salad. As we headed towards Split (11), Darko turned on the auto pilot, finished cooking the stew, and served us as we sat around the table. The food was fresh and delicious! The octopus was a bit chewy, while the eel melted in my mouth. Once in Split, we explored inside the old castle walls, which is now the main center of the city. Then while we took a bus to Trogir, Darko sailed and docked our boat there for us to have it for ourselves until the next morning. Matt, who went to culinary school at OCC, cooked dinner on the boat that night. As we sat around the table, we played cards and sipped on wine enjoying the boat for the last night. The next day we took a bus to Zadar and an eight euro flight to Bari, Italy. Then an overnight train back to Florence. Below is the link to more pictures on facebook.

Croatia

Florence & Friends

Sorry for the lack of posting.
On the weekend of May 28-30, I decided not to travel outside of Italy because we had midterms coming up. But I mainly wanted to experience more of Florence (and of course the Florence Gelato Festival). A lot of people in the house decided to do the same thing, so it was fun to go out together at night. On Friday night, almost the whole house went to a Mexican restaurant called Tijuana's. It was great to have a margarita and chicken fajitas, instead of the usual pasta. Afterwards we enjoyed more of Florence, eating gelato around the Duomo and the Ponte Vecchio. On Saturday night, Kristina, Kim, Krista, Parker and I took the bus (which stops right by our place) up to Piazzale Michelangelo for the sunset. Here is a picture with my small camera which doesn't do it justice..



Then we went to a restaurant on the other side of the Arno called Dante's. I loved it because they serve free water, free bread, and if you're a student... free wine! The two days spent around Florence was very satisfying. I love getting to know all of the streets of the city and calling Florence my home. Whenever we return from a trip I immediately feel at home when I step off the train in Florence. On Sunday we took a day trip to the Viareggio, a beach on the west coast. It was nice to enjoy the sun, sand, and ocean for a change. But the beach was swamped with umbrellas and chairs which blocked any view of the beach. It was also my first time having lasagna on the beach..
I love Florence!

Rome & Vatican City

I left for Rome Friday morning, May 21st, intending to stay there for two nights. We bought a Roma pass, which gave us free public transportation, free entry to our first 2 museums/sites, and discounted entry prices from then on. Before I explain our first stop, I should probably catch you up on what happened with our return from Germany. Long story short, I was walking barefoot on the overnight train home, and stubbed my toe extremely hard. Later I went to the hospital finding out that I fractured it. Now we continue where I left off, ready to walk Rome with 9 toes... We started off with the Colosseum. It completely captured my imagination. I began thinking of the history behind it, seeing flashes of the film Gladiator, and hearing some familiar music play through repeatedly in my head. I even recorded a video of what I was hearing...



Next we walked through the Roman Forum and the Palantine Hill. This required a bit more imagination because much of the buildings no longer stand. Although, simply walking through the centralized area of ancient Rome was remarkable. It was hard on my foot/toe, but I enjoyed it greatly. Then we went by the Pantheon, the Trevi Fountain, and the Spanish Steps.
At the Trevi:


After all of that time on our feet, we went to the Villa Borghese gardens to unwind, laying on the grass for a nap. After some dinner, our group split up when the girls and I decided to enjoy the Trevi Fountain at night along with some wine. I opened the bottle with the same swiss army knife my Dad used when he traveled Europe when he was young. My first hostel experience was at a camping village that was only €10 per person. The next morning we woke up early to avoid the lines at the Vatican Museum. We were able to see a lot of paintings and sculptures that we had been talking about in class. The Sistine Chapel lived up to the hype, as it made me want to look at it for 2 hours. When we went inside St. Peter's Basilica, the sheer size of it overwhelmed me. After being inside, we knew we had to climb the dome.
Here is a picture of the view:



After the dome, I went to the Colosseum with some friends who had not yet gone. Then we went to the church of bones that our teacher told us about. It was a crypt filled with the remains of thousands of Capuchin friars. I snuck a picture:


I decided to take a train home Saturday night, because I needed to stay off my feet the rest of the weekend.
Here is an album with more pictures:
Rome & Vatican City

Pictures!

I finally figured out the best way to share all of my photos with you. Below are the links to my Facebook albums of each of our trips as well as our time around Florence. The link will take you right to the album. Also, all of my pictures that I have posted on the blog can be enlarged by simply clicking on them.

All things Florence

Pisa/Lucca/Florence

Germany

Munich and Heidelberg

Our train left for Munich at 10 pm Thursday night. We celebrated Dave's birthday for the first hour in our 6-bed couchette with a bottle of wine that our bartender friend Thomas gave us for free. After all of the planning and trouble we had getting the train reservations, I was so excited to spend the weekend in Germany for my birthday. We woke up at 6:30 am in Munich, grabbed some food, and then headed to Dachau, the Nazi's first concentration camp in Germany. We got there 45 minutes before it opened, but were still able to walk around, reading the signs that were scattered all over the camp. Walking the same roads and hallways the prisoners and germans walked impacted me the most. After we quickly went through the museum, we left for Munich, just as hundreds of people began to show up.

The gate entrance to the camp: "Work Brings Freedom."


From there we went back to Munich, where we planned to go on Mike's Bike Tour. My brother Craig took the same tour when he was in Munich almost 4 years ago, and he advised me to do the same (he also told me about Dachau, what a guy!). Kristina, Kim, and I went on the tour, while Krista, Dave, Parker, and Karissa bailed (big mistake). I absolutely loved the tour. We rode around all of the inner city, then out to the English Gardens (30% bigger than Central Park in NY), randomly stopping for a 5 minute lecture at historic sites. Connecting the past with where you are standing is my favorite thing about being in Europe.

We stopped by Munich's only surf spot.. I got an awesome video of a guy jumping and landing on his board into the wave..


The Hitler and WWII stories intrigued me the most.
Which brings us to our next stop: our birthday celebration at the Hofbrauhaus. (mmm.. Royalty.) Bike tour facts: Hitler used to give speeches here, the 2nd floor was blown off during WWII, and the American troops used it as a mess hall. The whole group met here to have some beers, bratwursts, and pretzels. We spent a few hours here, waiting for our departure for Heidelberg. It was a relaxing time and we had a lot of fun.

Since only the top floor was destroyed, the ceiling of the 1st still remained. Here are the Bavarian flag colors, covering up the swastikas above the lights:


No, the kid with the glasses is not in our Pepp group.. And yes, he is 16...


We arrived to the Pepperdine Moore Haus in Heidelberg late Friday night. It is the oldest overseas program in our school and the house itself is over 100 years old. All of the students that are in the program were traveling, so we had the house to ourselves, accompanied only by our host, the daughter of a professor. After a long day Friday, we slept in Saturday morning and started the day off by visiting the Heidelberg Castle. From there we walked down some famous stairs to the Old Town, where we explored the streets the rest of the day until we left for the overnight train back to Florence.

The Moore Haus on a hill:


Parker and I with the view of the castle from the Old Bridge:


The view from the Heidelberg Castle:


The Pepperdine crest in the house:

Germany, here we come...

I am very excited for this weekend. It is our first major trip by ourselves, and we are taking the overnight train to Munich, Germany. We will be in Munich all day Friday till about 7pm, then we head to the Pepperdine house located in Heidelberg. Our group is David, Parker, Krista, Kristina, Kim, and Karissa. David's birthday is on Friday, the 14th, while mine is on Saturday. I cannot believe we'll be celebrating at the Hofbräuhaus!! Gotta run!

Siena, San Gimignano, Pisa, Lucca, Soccer!

Our whole group left the villa Friday at 9 am for a full day trip to Siena and San Gimignano. I was excited to visit Siena because my brother, Craig, told me of their famous horse race they have twice a year in the main square. It will be held July 2nd, the last day of our Pepperdine program, so I plan to attend the race by myself!! It is called the Palio di Siena, and it is held in the Piazza del Campo. After viewing a few spectacular churches, walking around the city, and having pizza & wine for lunch, I knew I had to come back for the race. Then we visited San Gimignano, a small walled medieval town known for its many towers. We hiked up to a look out point to take pictures and view the surrounding landscape. For the rest of the time, we walked all over the city and sat down for some cappuccino.

At the Piazza del Campo with Krista, Kim, and Kristina:


The next day we had no mandatory trips with the group and could travel anywhere we wanted. Without having our eurail passes yet, we decided to make a cheap train ride to Pisa and Lucca. Pisa was very boring, we only stayed for an hour to take some pictures. Then we took the train to Lucca, another very small city with Renaissance-era city walls. We had lunch in a secluded peaceful alley and rented bikes to circle the outer edges of the entire city. We rode on a path that sat on top of the walls so that we could look outside the city and within the city.

Our best Pisa shot:


Green everywhere you looked:


Then on Sunday, we went to the local soccer game, Fiorentina vs. Siena. Fiorentina controlled the whole game having many shots on goal, which made it a very exciting game to watch. The crowd chanted and yelled throughout almost the whole game, which made it more suspenseful at the end when it was tied 1 to 1. Although, the home team couldn't capitalize on opportunities late, so it ended in a tie. After the game, we had dinner at our director's house. She has been director at this program for 14 years, as well as attending this same program when she went to Pepperdine. Her house is away from the city and is simply beautiful. The Pepperdine basketball team joined us for dinner because they had a game the day before in Florence. After dinner, Parker, Matt, and I played an intense game of bocce ball on her bocce court.

Game time:


With Parker, Matt and Dave, who was not happy about the tie:

Behind

I am really behind in my blog! We have been doing so many activities everyday, I haven't had the time to post!
We are going to a soccer game today! I will post after that...

Arrival And Adaptation

The adventure begins... (yes, my first post title is lame.. it's MY BLOG!)

I flew out of LAX at 7pm. The flight: 12 hours. My expectation: torture. The result: nirvana. With the combination of no leg room and my horrible knees, I knew I would regret this whole Europe thing. Instead, I popped some Tylenol PM and slept for 10 hours straight! (Astor pride)

I arrived in Florence to an empty house. My fellow Pepperdine students were out touring the city. Once they got back, they gave me a tour of the villa and we headed out for some drinks and conversation. The next day was filled with orientation and more touring the city. The group headed out for some gelato at night, at a place right next to the famous towering Duomo of Florence.

The next day the whole group took a trip to Piazzale Michelangelo and Fiesole. The Piazzale Michelangelo is a square famous for it's panoramic view of Florence. I'll post some photos of that. We then traveled up higher for a better view of Florence to the small town of Fiesole. My buddies David, Parker, Matt, and I walked around the town taking pictures and enjoying the view. I have thoroughly enjoyed exploring the city and getting to know it as my new home for the next 2 months.

At Piazzale Michelangelo:


A view from Fiesole: