Breaking News

I interrupt this story of adventure to bring some sensational news.

 Its arrived! Its ARRIVED! Ahahahahahahahaha.

Hell yes; Copenhagen here I come. Trust me, there will be more news on this coming your way on after the 10th of May! (I may be slightly excited)

Interlude #7: Um, are you lost?

I do not think anyone who actually visits this blog will get this entry. Anyway, there I was minding my own business eating lunch in a pub in Exeter when who should wander past...

Ne...Neil! What are you doing here?

Italy: Milan

While I was staying in Switzerland I realised something totally amazing; I was really close to five different countries. As an Australian this bordered on the surreal. The next thing I realised was that I had friends I had met friends in EF in nearly all of them. I quickly jumped on a map to see who was closest to Winterthur and BAM I ended up in Milan visiting Paola.

I had no pictures of Paola in her native habitat, but I found a picture of her from the EF Malta activities office (she's the blonde one, the other EF leader is clearly Maltese).

I stayed in Milan for four or five days and Paola showed around all the local sites. We visited the Duomo of Milan which rivaled the massive Russian cathedrals in sheer massiveness. The artworks inside I am sure are also very impressive but I do not know too much about art to be able to truly appreciate their historical significance (sorry art buffs) but I particularly liked a statue of an emaciated man, which after visiting another blog I have found is called the St Bartholomew statue. There was also sarcophagi of multiple archbishops scattered inside. The decor, both outside and inside is extremely complex and there are not enough words residing inside my head to be able to do it justice, so you'll just have to visit it for yourself...

Milan Duomo. I had to stand waaaaay back just to fit it in.

We visited her boyfriends house and he kindly cooked me pasta. I was pretty excited about my first Italian prepared  pasta meal. I told him this and I think it made him slightly self conscious and he complained bitterly that it had been overcooked. This was fine as he is not a chef. He also made up for it by taking us to a restaurant that served the BEST pizza ever. We visited the San Bernardino alle Ossa, a nearby church with a famous ossuary that what pretty much full of human skulls. This was about the time Paola regaled us with her ghost stories of the area.

Its okay, I took photos of the ghosts' bodies to steal their souls. This is the ossuary in San Bernardino alle Ossa, ij case you were wondering.

Next up I convinced her to take me around the castle Sforza. Most importantly it had a working fountain (which, if you have read my previous posts will realise that after seeing so many fountains turned off for winter I am now excited every time I see one spurting out water) and a magnificent park out the back.

The fountain (and some castle if you think that is important).

Other than that Paolo took me to the local restaurants and eateries as well as a tour of the fashion district, you know; Armani, Prada, Dolce and Gabbana, etc. The eateries were actually quite cool; if you rock up during happy hour you get a table and as long as you are buying drinks you get to help yourself to a buffet that included all the Italian favourites; bread, cured meats, pizza, etc. Fashion I don't quite get but its good to know where I will be shopping once I have earned my millions.

Baiky in Sempione Park (near the castle).

I spent one day by myself, so I took a tour of the San Siro stadium, home to AC Milan and Inter Milan football clubs. As I'm not really a soccer fan I wasn't blown away by the being in the dressing rooms but the stadium was pretty advanced. There were TVs in the backs of the seats for those with the dosh to fork out for the expensive area, you know, just in case watching the game live is not quite your thing. I wandered through the sports museum there. It had the history of soccer in the area and various pieces of apparel worn by famous players but nothing I really recognized. That evening I stressed out a local restaurant trying to order food even though there was a slight communication barrier (I love ordering food when no one shares a common language).

Baiky enjoys the good seats at San Siro stadium.

All too soon it was time to head back to sunny Switzerland (Milan was overcast the whole time, although I insisted on wearing my sunglasses anyway). I found my way back to the Central train station (Milano Centrale, which in itself is an architectural masterpiece) for the long trip back through the Swiss mountains. One thing I regret was not being able to see the Last Supper by Da Vinci, the waiting list to see that artwork as longer than visiting Chernobyl so I guess I'll have to postpone that until my next visit!

The biggest foosball table I have ever seen; just outside Milano Centrale. Milano, what a place!

Switzerland

Haha, Switzerland. In all honesty it is probably my favourite place that I have visited. There's waterfalls, there's mountains, there's beer, and, most importantly, there's Stephan (the 7 foot smurf)!

Stephan. He is tall. Like really tall. His last name is Schlumpf, which, in German, means Smurf. I believe Alanis Morissette wrote a song about that.

I met Stephan while he was on exchange at the ANU. He lived on my floor in my first year, I lent him a sheet for toga night...and...best friends ever after. He visited me in Malta and whilst there he told me how he played in a band and they had a gig at a lindy hop dance lesson thingy (just like we do salsa in Canberra). I thought that was as good excuse as any to go visit and so visit I did.

Luckily, no one was aware I spent six months working as a postman. (For the uncouth, 'die' means 'the').

I will warn any would-be travelers of two things. Firstly, Switzerland is expensive - I chewed through many Swiss franc sampling their itty bitty nation. Secondly, its awesome - I spent a few days trying in vain to find work but unfortunately my German is pretty poor and my Swiss German is even worse.

 

...and there are wolves - did I warn you about the wolves?

In stayed at Stephan place in Winterthur, a city not far out of Zurich. It had wonderful parks that I ran through, I nice change from Malta, an animal park that I spent some time at, as well a lot cultural galleries and museums that I skipped. Insead I did some day trips to the country side to see waterfalls and REAL mountains.

Great Dividing Range eat your heart out. This is where IB should be run. This is lake Sämtisersee in the Appenzell Alps. From here I ran across the ridge to the peak in the distance and than down to the lake. Super. 

Whilst wandering through Winterthur photographing artworks such as upturned cars, playing football (soccer), and sampling beers I also stumbled across a riot. Hilariously, it was all well planned and organised with riot police, riot tanks, and riot fences all set. Yup, you cannot fault Swiss efficiency!

My first nature visit was to the Rhinefall, the largest plain waterfall in Europe. There was also a castle which I ignored because it didn't look like a massive fortress.They falls were nice, but there were craploads of tourists and after a summer in Malta I had lost my patience with tourists. 

 Rhinefall with Laufen Castle just behind me. I took a ferry to the large rocks in the background but there were so many stupid people with stupid cameras all complaining about how there were too many people to take good photos. It was stupid (I got good photos though). Oh, and the view was spectacular, just like the rest of this country.

My second trip was to the Appenzell Alps. These were the best! I tested out my newly healed back by chucking on my running backpack and running following the ridge of the Alps before dropping down in gorgeous valley. People thought I was a bit crazy running around but I did not care. Usually I find that photos do not do the scenery justice and even the photos shown here are awesome they are no exception. That should give an idea of how lovely the area is.

I took a cable car up to the peak in the centre of the photo - then I started running.

Next, Stephan took me to see my first ice hockey game. We went to Ripperswil, a city on Lake Zurich which is where he grew up. We wandered around a bit before enjoying carnage on ice. Unfortunately the Ripperswil Lakers lost quite heavily but it did not seem to diminish their enthusiasm.

I've been told blood bounces off the ice...

My final trip, before heading off to my next destination (Berlin) was Zurich. I spent a day wandering around here including visiting the museum to learn about Swiss history (which is as fascinating as Singapore's), climb to the top of  a cathedral, and gasp in awe at the biggest clock face in Europe.

Zurich from the top of the cathedral. I think the clock face is the biggest in Europe. If its not that one it is the one just out of frame to the left. They were both pretty big, but in all honesty I am not to impressed by big things. After all, the big merino is in Goulburn

I can't wait to get back, and Stephan has invited back for some hiking in the summer. I just hope my back heals up in time so that I can return and see some more cows!

 I also have a score to settle...