Sweating It: The Ride to Nice

If you've been following my posts, you'll know that the morning of July 15, 2010 found us on the journey from Locarno, Switzerland to Nice, France by way of Milan and Genoa, Italy. Our trek that day began at ~8:30 AM and lasted until close to 5pm. As I partially explained in previous posts, the day had its moments of excitement and drama. First there was the near miss of our connecting train in Milan, followed shortly after by my comical disagreement (in italiano) with a rude woman on the Milan train and the hot, crowded train cars.

We also had some uncertainty about our lodging in Nice. We'd been very excited about our plans to stay in a rental apartment in downtown Nice for our 3 night stay. However, on the afternoon of the 14th I was notified by the property manager that the air conditioner in our rental unit had broken and would probably not be repaired in time for our arrival. She was also quick to remind me that according to the rental agreement I'd signed I was not entitled to a refund, even if we chose not to stay there due to the broken AC. Given the heat wave southern Europe was experiencing that week, the news had my beloved husband a little hot under the collar.

Thus, we lay back and bore the mildly stifling and so very scenic ride to the French Riviera. We headed south from Milan, toward Genoa. That portion of the journey was forgettable, but once we reached Genoa and began to travel in a southwestern arc along the Mediterranean coast line, the view was breathtaking. We passed through miles and miles of sun baked shores with that sparkling azure sea tempting and teasing us as we perspired within the close quarters of our 2nd Class (no air conditioning) train compartment. I alternately dozed off to the soothing music from my iPod, gazed out the window, and made small talk in English and broken French with my traveling companions. In our compartment we had a newlywed couple from Romania, a young male backpacker from Brazil, a young female medical student from Denmark and eventually a 50-something Parisian woman. Over time, we shared travel plans, snacks and a few simple jokes. Everyone was friendly and in good humor despite the mild discomfort caused by the heat and humidity.

Around 3pm, our train finally pulled into the town of Ventimiglia which sits on the border between Italy and France. (Ventimiglia is the Italian spelling--the French call it Ventimille.) We got off and found our way (with some confusion because the train schedule had changed) to our connecting train which was bound for Monte Carlo. Once at Monte Carlo, we had to change a final time to a local train bound for Cannes. In a word, the train from Ventimiglia was funky. I was seated across the aisle from a northern European who seemed to not have worn deodorant or brushed his teeth. His scent was eventually and unfortunately overpowered by the unique fragrance of turpentine and ass worn by the man who sat down next to me about halfway through the ride. He had specks of paint on his hands and arms and several days worth of stains on his clothing. I may never forget these guys. By the time I got off the train my head was spinning. Needless to say, I was VERY happy to change trains at Monte Carlo. Apart from being extremely crowded, that ride was mercifully funk-free and brief.

We got off the train at the Riquier station instead of the main station (Ville). I'm not sure why our tickets had Riquier as our final destination, but next time I'll be more mindful of which station we pick as our end point. We walked down to a taxi stand and hailed a ride to the rental unit at 26 rue de la Buffa in the Carre d'Or (Golden Square) neighborhood of Nice. I'd agreed to at least visit the apartment and see if we thought it could still work for us despite broken air conditioning. The place was tiny, cute, and offered at a 20 (then 30) percent discount. Unfortunately, it was also hot as hell without being well-exposed to the sunshine. We promptly left, having secured a promise of a full refund from the property management company.

Great... We'd have our money (420 Euros) back in a day or two, but that did not solve our problem of having no lodging arrangement to replace the darling apartment. We put our heads together and came up with a plan: pull our luggage down the block and around the corner to the Splendid Hotel to cool off in their air conditioned lobby, use our netbook and the hotel's free wifi to search for a hotel. After a few minutes on TripAdvisor.com we found a great deal at the all suite Novotel Suitehotel located near the airport on Boulevard René Cassin. I pulled out our handy little Nokia cell phone with a French number (we'd ordered it online from Call In Europe and as advertised it had been an easy, low-cost cell phone solution for traveling in Europe) and called the hotel to reserve a room for our 3 night stay. We paid 134 Euros per night for a spacious, clean and modern suite. Our room had a comfy queen sized bed, a sitting area w/ a twin-sized day bed, a large desk, a small fridge, a microwave oven, and a wet bar with water heater and coffee/tea service. Our bathroom had a large bath tub and a separate shower. The place was not luxurious, but practical. We were relieved to find it and very comfortable the entire time.

By 5pm, we'd checked in, taken showers and climbed into the bed for a much needed nap. A few hours later, we jumped on a local train across the street at the St. Augustin rail station and headed back downtown to meet our friends Chuck and G who were staying in the heart of the tourist zone at the Four Points by Sheraton hotel. We got off the train at the Ville station and walked a few blocks to the tram station on avenue Jean-Médecin.

The city was alive with residents and tourists of all ages, everyone hungry for a good meal and a good time. We struggled initially to figure out the self-service ticket machines, but eventually we were on the tram and gliding down the road to the waterfront. Once we met our friends down there, we found a nice spot to sit and enjoy dessert. Among us, we had a croque madame (grilled ham and cheese sandwich dipped in egg batter and cooked until it's gooey and brown) several scoops of gelato, 2 dessert crêpes and at least one cocktail. Considering the long and hot journey that brought us to Nice, each of us had high hopes for a good stay. By the time we left on the 18th of July, I would venture to guess that all were glad we'd made the trip.

Locarno, Switzerland: Palm Trees in the Alps?

It's been nearly a week since our wonderful European vacation ended, but I want to follow through on describing our experiences and reflections from each of the places we visited. So far I've blogged our time in Lausanne, Switzerland and Milan, Italy. What remains is our visit to Locarno, Switzerland (1 night) followed by a 3 night stay in Nice, France and one last night in Europe which we passed in Geneva, Switzerland. My memory of the places and events has already begun to fade, but I will attempt to remember the highlights of the trip nonetheless.

The purpose of our brief visit to Locarno was to catch one of our all-time favorite bands, Jamiroquai, in concert at the Moon and Stars Festival. Thus, we departed Milan by train at approximately 11am on Wednesday, July 14.

From Milan to our first transfer point in the southern Swiss town of Bellinzona, we were seated next to a lovely Canadian couple called Mimi and John. We began with small talk and quickly discovered that we had much in common with this friendly pair. Mimi is a retired math teacher who continues to instruct as a private tutor. She's also a therapeutic touch practitioner and was kind enough to perform an impromptu treatment on John to help clear up the head cold he'd been dealing with since our last night in Lausanne. Mimi's husband John, on the other hand is a retired school counselor who now serves school districts through his own private practice. Both were so engaging and fun to talk to. It was a treat to discover that they also share our spiritual point of view and each of them managed, through casual conversation, to offer us encouragement and insight in the parts of our lives where we currently face the steepest challenges. I feel all warm and tingly when I remember the encounter with Mimi and John. I'm convinced that our meeting was important and purposeful. I have already written John, using the address on his business card. I sincerely hope we will have the pleasure of their company again someday.

After we changed trains in Bellinzona, we had a 20 minute ride to the station in Locarno. The town of Locarno is situated on the northern shores of Lake Maggiore which spans part of the border between Switzerland and Italy. It's a fun little resort town with outstanding lake views, gorgeous mountain views and palm trees EVERYWHERE. We had a very short (less than 5 minute) stroll from the train station to our hotel, which was right across the street from a lakeside park. On the walk there, we stopped to take a few pictures of the lake front. As we made our way through the park, I noticed an elderly couple sharing a little nap on a park bench. They were huddled together, with her head resting on his chest and his head resting atop hers. They looked to be upward of 70 years old, but very vibrant and fit in their shorts and hiking sandals. They were the picture of commitment and contentment. We discreetly snapped a few pictures of them and I silently prayed that John and I would someday be that old, healthy and happy together.

Our hotel in Locarno was sufficient. We stayed at a Ramada Inn called the La Palma au Lac. True to its name, the hotel is at the lake. And, like most Ramada properties I've been to, it lacked character, but was reliably clean and efficiently run. Our room was clean, large, modernly furnished and quite comfortable. We had a very nice view of the back parking lot and the steep mountain slopes upon which are built many lovely homes and churches. Given that our check-in was at 2pm and our concert was at 8pm, we didn't have much time to spend in the room. After checking in, we quickly freshened up, checked email, and headed out in search of lunch. For lunch we had lasagne and gelato near the town square. The meal was just OK, but nothing to write home about.

After leaving the restaurant we wandered toward the Piazza Grande where the evening's concerts would be staged. On the way, I found a very inexpensive pair of sneakers to wear to the show which was a necessity for all the standing that would be involved. We also found a grocery store where we purchased bug spray, a few toiletries, and some snacks to take back to our room. By this point, both of us were tired and in need of a nap before returning to the square for the concerts. As we cut across the piazza en route to our hotel, we were stopped in our tracks by the appearance of the opening act, Corinne Bailey Rae, doing her sound check. We stopped for several minutes to watch and listen and take photos of Corinne. We got some great shots which have been posted by John to our SmugMug site.

After a short nap back in the room, we got dressed, doused ourselves in insect repellent, and walked back to the Grand Piazza to enjoy the music. It was a lovely evening, with clear skies and warm air. The square was packed with revelers and drunkards. We hung out at the very back of the crowd (farthest from the stage) and caught the last 3 or 4 songs performed by Corinne. She and her band of fellow singers and guitar players plus a pianist and drummer did their thing nicely, but the crowd was clearly there to see Jamiroquai. What I appreciate about Corinne's performance is that she and the band sounded great and they were really into their performance. They might be a shy group when compared to the stage presence of other contemporary acts, but they are soulful and earnest and grateful for the opportunity to share their art with us. I especially liked their bluesy rendition of the old Doris Day standard "Che Sera Sera". She had this male guitarist backing her up and when he opened his mouth to sing "the future's not ours to see..." the crowd went wild in response to his righteous style.

After a 20 - 30 minute break, on came Jamiroquai! They were so good! The lead singer, Jay Kay, is such a showman and his live performance is always as brilliant as his studio recordings. John and I have been devoted fans of this group since 1995 and we've been watching videos of their concert performances ever since people started posting them on YouTube, so we've seen our share of live Jamiroquai performances, all of which are awesome. This one was no different and worth all the time, money and effort involved to get there for it. The band, the background singers, the lighting, the sound and most of all Jay's singing and dancing were spectacular. They did several of our favorites including "When You Gonna Learn," "Blow Yr Mind," "Love Foolosphy," "Little L," "Alright," and "If I Like It I Do It". John filmed as much of the concert as his phone (dying battery) would allow. For my part, I danced and jumped as much as my own fading energy reserves would permit. A quick Google search has turned up a complete set list from the concert along with corresponding videos. Ain't the "information superhighway" grand? :)

Euphoric after a great concert, we stopped at a nearby drink stand so that I could purchase "a little sangria". For my 7 Euros, there was nothing little about the 16 oz serving of sangria I received. It took every ounce of discipline in my body to stop drinking that stuff when my cup was about half empty and I had begun to feel slightly off balance. What remaining strength and discipline I had went into helping me walk back to the hotel without falling, colliding with people and fixtures or making a spectacle of myself in some other embarrassing fashion. In other words, the sangria was POTENT. The sangria was also quite YUMMY. I won't forget it and the way it had me feeling for a long while.

Given all the heat, travel, and gelato and / or sangria consumption of previous days, our 8:45am departure from Locarno on the following morning was a tall order. We drug ourselves out of bed, quicly reorganized our possessions into our bags, checked out of the hotel and made our way back to the train station with headaches and bleary eyes, but minimal problems. The ride back to Milan--where we were hoping to make a tight connection with the train to Ventimiglia (on the coast between Genoa and Monte Carlo)--was uneventful, but running several minutes late. We pulled into the Central Station of Milan at 11:03. With our next train scheduled to depart at 11:05, we were very eager to get off the train and find our connection.

After disembarking the train from Bellinzona we found ourselves on Track 8 in the hot, crowded station. We rushed toward Track 6 to view the LCD display of train departures and track assignments. To our horror, our train was due to leave in 2 minutes (luckily, it too was running behind by a few minutes) from Track 20! We quickly turned and ran as fast as the crowded platforms and clumsy luggage would allow. We climbed aboard our train at Car 2, having decided that we could take our time in weaving our way the train's packed corridors to our assigned seats in Car 8. This was a smart move on our part, but it was not without cost. Halfway through Car 2, drama ensued when I took the bait and descended into an episode of momentary grouchiness in response to an unfriendly confrontation with another passenger. If you've been reading these blog posts from the beginning, you've already learned about this incident. If you haven't, but are curious, go read my post about rail travel in Italy.

My next post will be about our time in Nice, France.

Hell on Wheels: Rail Travel in Italy

As I mentioned in the previous post where I described some of the highlights of our time in Milan, there were also some low points of our visit. For sure, the atmosphere in Milan was very different from what we experienced on the laid-back Swiss Riviera. In Lausanne, many of the people we encountered were also tourists and their primary focus seemed to be relaxing, partying or taking in the sights. In Milan, where we opted to use public transportation or walk instead of using taxis, we were in the company of local residents who were intently going about their daily business. For some of these Milanese, their daily business apparently centers on getting money by dubious or dishonest means from unsuspecting tourists. We believe we were targeted by slicksters at least 3 times, and we're glad to report that after the first encounter of this kind, we put up our guards and managed to quickly squash their game without much ado.

The game began almost immediately. On our first trip down into the subway system in Milan, we were approached by a pushy Italian guy who involved himself in "helping" us buy our subway passes. We were doing just fine when he elbowed his way into our personal space and began pushing buttons. Then when it was time to pay 11 Euros for the passes, he encouraged us to feed a 20 Euro bill into the machine. Once the passes were issued, he doled them out to us as if we'd purchased them from him and then he "suggested" that we let him have the 9 Euros of change that were dispensed from the ticket machine. As I mentioned earlier, coming from the laid-back atmosphere of Lausanne, we had our guards down and were even a bit amused by the guy. Rather than back him down, we were both in a somewhat passive and observant state and we let him see his routine to its finish and did not object to him taking our 9 Euros. Yet and still, after that experience, we were in agreement that we would not be "hiring" additional "help" for the remainder of our stay.

The next day, we were purchasing tickets for our day trip to Lake Como when another pair of "helpers" approached and began interfering with our process. I wasted no time in telling them, "Non ti pago!" which means, "I'm not paying you!" Sure enough, they quickly lost their desire to be helpful and they stepped back to wait for another target.

Hmmm… It has dawned on me as I collect my thoughts about all the somewhat negative drama that occurred in Milan that almost all of it is directly related to train travel. Word of caution: traveling by train in Italy is not for the faint of heart or the meek tourist. Readers may recall how we talked our way out of a fine in the range of 50 – 200 Euros on the train ride from Milan to Varenna. To this day, we’re still not sure if the conductor was telling the whole truth about having to immediately pay a fine for being apprehended without a validated ticket. John and I would definitely still travel by train in Italy, but we’re glad to have had these experiences because they have made us savvier, hipper travelers.

One last bit of drama that I experienced on an Italian train occurred on the morning of the 15th as we left Milan en route to Nice, France. John and I had spent the night of the 14th in the resort town of Locarno, Switzerland which was the site of the Moon and Stars Festival which featured one of our favorite groups, Jamiroquai, in concert. Our train from Locarno arrived late to Milan and we had less than 5 minutes to make our connection for the 5 hour trip to Nice. The mad dash to make our train created quite an adrenaline rush in me. We felt triumphant as we boarded carriage 2 of the train before it pulled out of the station, but neither of us was prepared for the crowding and chaos on the train as we made the slow progress of maneuvering our bags down the packed aisles to our reserved seats in carriage 8.

As I made my way down the length of the train, I was on the lookout for our friends who were likely seated in carriage 2. At one point, my progress was hindered by the presence of some exceptionally large suitcases parked in the aisle outside of a first class compartment on carriage 2. On a mission to reach my seat and stowe my bags, I did not hesitate to gently reposition the offending bags so that I could more easily wheel my suitcase past.

The owner of one of those bags was an Italian woman who looked to be approximately 70 years in age. She sharply told me in Italian to leave her suitcase alone. I did not like her tone and frankly, with all that adrenaline still racing through my system, I got a little pissed. I told her (also in Italian) to move the bag because it was way too big to be in the aisle on such a crowded train. She responded that I could easily turn my own bag to the side and slide it past her luggage. Then, she put her hands on MY suitcase and began to demonstrate. It’s been a long time since I’ve come across anyone as rude as this woman, and (adrenaline in effect) I stomped my foot and commanded, “Segnora, non toccharla!” which means, “Lady, don’t touch MY bag!”

As I grabbed the handle of my suitcase from my adversary, I glanced up and noticed my dear friends and traveling companions "Chuck" and "G" seated awkwardly within the same compartment as "the Bag Lady". Seeing their faces and realizing how out of character it is for me to be arguing with senior citizens, I cooled down and proceeded to roughly move myself and my bags on down the line after briefly exchanging pleasantries with our friends who were relieved to see that we'd made our connection from Locarno. By then, I knew how ridiculous the whole argument had been and I decided to get in one more dig just for fun. I waved at the mean old lady and told everyone that I'd be back later for a little social call. And then I loudly announced to all within earshot that "Questa donna non é simpatica!" which means that she's not nice.

I wish I'd had a video camera running to capture the looks on people's faces when I returned that woman's agression with some of my own, in her language to boot. As I mentioned a moment ago, it really is out of character for me to get into confrontations with strangers and it was fun to blow off some steam. I will admit that I not only enjoyed being a bit of a badass in the beginning, but I also liked the look on her face when I returned to that cabin to sit and chat with my friends for a while after the train was in motion. As I entered the space, I smiled sweetly and excused myself as I stepped over her feet to reach the open seat by "G". she'd been chatting with the woman next to her, but clammed up and didn't say a word the entire time I was in that compartment which was probably 20 minutes. I think her poor husband wanted to thank me for coming back; my 20 minute visit was probably the longest time he's ever experienced peace in her presence. I can't help but think that just maybe that lady will learn to be more cautious and polite when dealing with strangers in public environments. As for my lesson: strangers get testy when I touch their luggage, especially when it's full of gold bullion or body parts as that woman's bag surely must have been.

We had a few things go unexpectedly wrong during our short stay in Milan, but it was nothing we couldn't handle and certainly, some of these situations make for the best stories later.

Milano

After leaving Lausanne, Switzerland we took a scenic and comfortable 3 hour train ride through the Swiss mountains and countryside to bustling Milan, Italy. Our time in Milan was fun and memorable. I've recalled some of the highlights of our visit to Milan and the surrounding area below.

Meeting best-selling Israeli author Shifra Horn: We were seated next to Shifra and her long-time companion (or spouse) Peter while enjoying coffee and dessert near the Duomo. Shifra and Peter are such kindly and interesting people. They divide their time among their homes in Israel, Australia and New Zealand. She writes and he performs volunteer work as a dentist. We chatted with them about literature, politics, culture and travel for close to 30 minutes on Sunday afternoon.

Sharing a few moments of light-hearted laughter with the waitstaff of a downtown cafe as we sipped espresso and tried to find our way to a nearby store: The coffee was great in this cafe, but the personalities of the staff were even better. They were located on one of the more commercial, less touristy side streets not far from the Duomo. I got the impression that the busiest time of their day is when locals who work in the nearby offices come in for lunch. Our waiter got a kick out of John's enthusiasm for their espresso flavored milkshake and my ability to speak their language coupled with my apparent inability to understand their spoken directions to where we were trying to go.

Shopping for snacks and bottled water at a busy supermarket on our first day in town (Sunday the 11th): We arrived in town on a Sunday and most restaurants were closed. Those that were open had very limited offerings of mainly beverages and sweets. Thus, we chose to find a supermarket and purchase provisions to get us through the night in our hotel room. The store is called Billa and it's on Via Torino. The Europeans have lots of yummy snacks that are very hard to find in US stores such as boxes of individually wrapped croissants filled with Nutella and potato chips flavored with African spices and sweet paprika. We loaded up on goodies and took the metro back to our room.

Touring the quaint and scenic towns of Varenna, Bellagio and Como: We got a late start on Monday afternoon, after allowing extra time for John (who had gotten a head cold) to sleep in until nearly 11am. Once we finally left our hotel room, we headed downtown to purchase tickets for the Pat Metheny Group concert. Having found the TicketOne counter with a little help from our friends at the cafe mentioned above, we made our way to the Central rail station and boarded a slow-moving and OLD train bound for Varenna which is halfway up the eastern shore of Lake Como. We had to run to make the train and it was so crowded that it took a while for us to find a pair of available seats near each other on the hot and somewhat dirty train. Fortunately, the views of the countryside, mountains and lake were spectacular.

We got off the train in Varenna (not without some drama concerning our train tickets--more on that later) and we headed down to the lakefront. Varenna was gorgeous, but quite small and sleepy. We looked around for a few minutes, snapped a few photos and then jumped on the first lake ferry bound for the much bigger and more touristy Bellagio. While in Bellagio we climbed the steep walkways in search of a place to have lunch. It was very hot (probably 95 degrees F) and uncomfortably humid, but we did not let the weather deter us from exploring. We found an open restaurant with a large, shady patio. The menu looked good so we sat down and ordered a meal. The best part, hands down was the cous cous with fondue appetizer which John and I promptly renamed "Koo Koo La Due" just for laughs.

Talking our way out of a 200 Euro fine on the train to Varenna after the conductor discovered that we had not validated our tickets prior to boarding the train: When the conductor came along to check tickets on the train ride to Varenna, he informed us that it was Italian law for him to assess a 50Euro fine ON THE SPOT because while we had purchased the correct tickets for our trip, we had not gotten our tickets date stamped to prevent them from being reused. (In Italy, you can purchase a ticket that can be used one time within 3 months of purchase date.) We'd read something about "validating" our tickets in one of our guidebooks, but had not done that in our hurry to board the train before it pulled off. We vaguely remembered something about a fine, but could not recall how much it might be.

He asked if we spoke Italian and I decided to play dumb and would only speak to him in English. The situation worsened for several minutes as he informed us that failure to pay him 50 Euro while on the train would result in the need for us to pay 200 Euro at our destination train station. Although we did have the 50 Euros on hand at the time, we had doubts about the absolute truth of his assertions. So, we decided to call his bluff and insisted that we did not have enough cash to pay the fine. We offered to pay by credit card, but that was unacceptable to him. Finally, he began to write up a citation and asked to see our identification documents. At that point, we pulled out our US passports and he concluded that we were dumb tourists who didn't know better. The situation was resolved when he scribbled some notation that none of his colleagues would ever see on our tickets and walked away.

Having a picnic dinner in the car with our travelling companions while we were parked near the site of Tuesday evening's Pat Metheny concert in the nearby town of Monza: The concert was held in the foreground of a gorgeous historic site called Villa Reale in the Milan suburb of Monza. The performance began around 9:30pm and we had arrived in Monza close to 2 hours early. We wanted to find a nice place to grab a light meal before going to the concert venue. Unfortunately, we were not successful in finding a good place. We thought we had found a good place and pulled off the roadway in search of parking. As we got closer to the eatery we saw that it was a cheesy looking Mexican place. Call us crazy, but none of us were willing to take the gamble on eating Mexican food in Italy.

Our search for food continued. We were running out of time when we saw a supermarket. We went in and split up so that everyone could quickly gather his or her favorite snack foods. Having made our purchases, we jumped back in the car and drove a short distance to the parking lot close to Villa Reale. One we were parked, we pulled out our food and began our meal. Everyone was in a good mood and as the food was shared and eaten, the jokes and teasing began. John and I have been friends with these guys for nearly 12 years and we know them well. No one was safe from the ribbing and no topic was too sacred. I laughed til my abs hurt. I only wish I had recorded everything on our video camera.

Chatting in English and Italian with fellow Metheny concertgoers and then joining them in singing our favorite parts of the songs performed by the Metheny group: Wfor e entered the concert grounds and found our seats, which were excellent. We had a 35 minute wait until the show began and gradually each of us began to engage the people seated near us in small talk. By the start of the show, we'd befriended Phillipo, an Italian architect who lived for several years in Miami, Florida and spoke excellent English; and Lorenzo and Marsia who were a very cute couple. Turns out that Lorenzo was actually born and partially raised in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He currently resides and works in northern Italy, but still speaks excellent English.
Marsia and I talked for a long time in a mix of English and Italian. She works for a fashion company based in Rimini, Italy which is not far from Venice. I actually visited Rimini with my parents and sisters in 1985. Marsia was only somewhat familiar with the Metheny Group's songs, but the rest of us are big fans. When our favorite songs were played, we threw our heads back and sang to the starry sky. All in all, it was una sera perfetta e tutti sono stati molto felici.

More Stories: I do have other, less favorable (but still entertaining) stories to share about Milan. I will save those for another post, soon to follow.

Last day in Lausanne

Saturday, July 10th was our last day in Lausanne. We woke up mid-morning and dressed for a day of exploration in and around town. We considered a ferry trip to the nearby French town of Evian (famed source of the bottle water we know so well in the US) or a trip to the Baths at Lavey or even a visit to the fancy spa at the Beau Rivage Palace which was next door to our hotel and for which we had a pair of free passes. In the end we did none of that. Instead, we had a little breakfast by the lake and took a few photos of the lakefront. Then, we decided that we weren't in the mood for anything but a nap, so we headed back to our room for some rest.

After several hours of sleeping and chilling, we got up, dressed in street clothes and headed out of hotel room again. We were in the mood for some traditional Swiss cuisine and headed up to Old Town Lausanne in search of some fondue. Turns out fondue is mostly served in the winter. Given the July date, we decided to save the fulfillment of that fondue wish for another time. We traipsed around Old Town, watching people and taking snapshots of the scenic neighborhoods through which we passed. Eventually, we jumped on a city bus and rode it to the main railway station in town. Once at the train station (gare) we located the Tourist Information shop to get more ideas on where to have dinner. We were more than a little amused when the lady behind the counter recommended a traditional Swiss restaurant that's on the same block as our hotel. She told us they specialized in Rösti which we'd seen at the jazz fest in some of the more crowded food booths. To many Americans, Rösti will resemble hash browns (the kind where the potatoes are grated) that have been cooked with bits of meat and/or some combination of cheese, ham, or sausage, fish, or mushrooms. Our mouths began to water at the thought of it. We jumped on the first metro back to Ouchy, the section of town closest to the lake and the location of our hotel.

For dinner we ordered two types of Rösti (mine with ham, onions and fondue cheese; John's with smoked sausage. We also split a large house salad with marinated onions, walnuts, olives, pancetta and tomatoes. Both the meal and the service were very good. Fat and happy, we hustled down the block to our hotel, hoping to avoid the impending rain storm. We spent the remainder of our last night in Lausanne watching the championship soccer game between Spain and the Netherlands, reading from our Kindle and repacking our suitcases for the next day's move to Milan, Italy.

All in all, the time we spent in Lausanne, Switzerland was delightful even though we didn't do half of what we'd planned doing while there. It's just so beautiful there and our accommodations were excellent. We'd love to return some day.

Montreux Jazz Festival

At the time of writing, it’s 11 AM on Sunday, July 11, 2010. I dedicate this post to my beloved cousin Derrick who would be 43 years old today if he were still living. The way D lived and even the way he died taught me valuable lessons about how to make this life--be it long or short--count.

John and I are on a train approaching Milan, Italy. We’ve just spent 3 fabulous days in Lausanne, Switzerland. While there, we went to the Montreux Jazz Festival. This post will describe our experience at the jazz fest, thus, it’s fitting that I happen to be listening to a very nice version of “Edith and the Kingpin” by Herbie Hancock, featuring Tina Turner, on my iPod.

We took the 5:20pm train from Lausanne to Montreux on Friday, July 9. It was sunny, humid and close to 90 degress F. The train was crowded and, in the 2^nd class cars, without air conditioning. I listened to my iPod and amused myself at the spectacle of John taking still shots and HD video of EVERYTHING with our fancy new Canon PowerShot camera.

The train ride was only 23 minutes long. We disembarked in Montreux and headed downhill from the station toward the lake. At the lakefront we encountered vendor stalls, restaurants, street artists and musicians, and lots and lots of people. We strolled along the embarcadero in search of something good to eat. We took some great shots of the lakefront and the mountains across the water in France. Then we headed in the direction of Miles Davis Hall and the Stravinsky Auditorium which are the primary venues for the major concerts at the festival. The carnival atmosphere is hard to describe. So many people, vendors, eateries, bars, and lounges w/ DJs! We took it all in and eventually purchased a bratwurst with fries and a few drinks.

After eating, we traded our concert tickets for admission bracelets. Then we made our way to the auditorium entrance around 7pm to get good spots on the floor (standing room only) for the Angelique Kidjo tribute to Miriam “Mama Africa” Makeba which would be followed by an OUTSTANDING Youssou N’dour concert. The shows were outstanding, but the true highlight of our evening was making friends with a swiss couple called Valerie and Buba. She’s a native-born citizen of Switzerland, whereas he was born and raised in Mali. Talking to them was challenging and funny. They could speak some broken English. I could speak some broken French. Valerie and I also had some success in speaking a little Italian to each other.

Valerie and Buba were so kind. They helped me stumble through badly worded (but apparently well-pronounced) French sentences. And they invited us to their home on their next mutual day off from work, but unfortunately, we could not accept because we will have left the area by then. Together we listened to the performers and danced to the music. During intermission, Buba brought us some ice-cold bottled water which we sipped while waiting for N'dour's band to set up. I was moved when he told us that he has dreamed of walking on the Brooklyn Bridge someday. It amazes and humbles me how much of my own life experiences and surroundings I take for granted.

When the concert ended at 12:45am, John and I posed for some pictures with our new friends. Then we said good-bye (with each of them kissing me 3 times on my cheeks and her also kissing John similarly) and parted ways after having exchanged email addresses. Maybe we'll have the pleasure of getting to know them better and perhaps someday meeting up again for more good times.

Speaking of good times, the partying outside the concert halls were just getting started when we exited the building around 1am. John and I were hungry and we had a 40 minute wait until the next train, so we bought a large bowl of pasta ala carbonara (noodles, creamy parmesan sauce and flavorful pancetta) to share. As we ate, we chatted with another nice Swiss couple. These people spoke English quite well and offered many interesting insights into what life is like in their country. I shared with them my first experience of jet lag which occured when I was 12 years old and my father moved us to Italy. They shared a few fun travel stories of their own and then we parted ways. Meeting people is definitely one of my favorite parts of traveling.

Eventually, John and I made our way to the Montreux Gare for the last train back to Lausanne. we got back to our room at close to 3:30am. We were exhausted, but glad to have had such a great night out. I hope we can return to the Montreux Jazz Festival again sometime in the future.

July 9 in Lausanne

It is day 5 of our European adventure. Nine o’clock AM local time finds John and me comfortably settled in a first class coach on a EuRail train bound for Milan, Italy. We enjoyed every minute of our time in Lausanne and Montreux. At the same time, we are extremely excited to experience the energy, pace, fashion, and cuisine of Milan. While there, we’ll also take a day trip north to Italy’s lake region. Most likely we’ll take a train from Milan to the city of Varenna which sits on the eastern shore of Lake Como. After exploring Varenna, we’ll board a ferry and float south back toward Como where we can take another train or a bus back south to Milan.

Another highlight of our time in Milan will be our attendance at a Pat Metheny concert on the night of the July 13. As I mentioned in an earlier post, we’re big Metheny fans so this concert is a very special treat. Another reason we look forward to our time in Milan is that we’ll be rejoined by our dear friends “Chuck” and “G” who flew with us from the States to Geneva, but then boarded a train for Paris on July 8th. They will go with us to the concert and hang with us for some sightseeing on the 14th. They’ll remain in Milan for one day after we leave for the Music and Stars Festival across the border in Locarno, Switzerland. Then, we’ll be reunited one final time for a train journey to Nice. We’ll spend 3 nights in Nice checking out Monaco, Cannes, Antibes and the countryside of Provence. Then on the 18th we’ll board an easyJet flight back to Geneva for a final night before returning by airplane to the US.

Seeing as I have not posted an update since our first day in Switzerland (July 8), I will provide a recap of the time John and I spent on the Swiss Riviera (Lake Geneva, also known as Lac Léman locally). We were eager to explore the city of Lausanne on the morning of July 9th. We did not have to deliberate much on how to dress, given that we only had the outfits we’d flown over in. Our bags had been lost during our trip and would not reach us until later in the day (first John’s suitcase was delivered around 10am and mine showed up in our room sometime between the hours of 5pm and 3am while we were in the nearby town of Montreux at the world-famous jazz festival). After showering and donning our hand washed undergarments and our sole outfits, we headed out into the sunny, warm weather. Our hotel, the Angleterre & Residence, is located in the Ouchy district (the waterfront) of Lausanne. There’s a ferry dock, paddle boats and bicycles for rent, a lovely public garden with a play area for children, loads of restaurants, hotels and an Olympic festival area in this part of town. As I mentioned earlier, the International Headquarters of the Olympics is located in Lausanne.

We walked around for a while and then made our way up to Old Town on the Metro (funicular) that runs every 10 minutes. We wandered around in search of an inexpensive clothing shop. By this point in our day, we’d received John’s suitcase, but had no idea if mine was going to reach us prior to our departure for the evening’s concert in Montreux. I’d been in my travelling clothes since 6am on July 7th, so I was ready for something different to wear that night. We were also looking for crêpes for late breakfast or lunch. We found both in the old town. First, we had a delicious meal at a place called Chandeleur on Rue de la Mercerie.

The food was not what we expected. For example, I ordered my crêpe with fromage (Gruyère cheese), saucisse (sausage) and œuf (egg). I’d imagined the sausage would be browned, cut into bite sized pieces and mixed in with a scrambled egg. To my surprise and displeasure, it was more like a steamed hot dog sliced lengthways and laid atop a sunny-side-up egg which rested on a generous amount of cheese all of it inside a buckwheat pancake. The crêpe was open in the middle rather than totally enclosed the way I usually see them in the States. It struck me as funny how that undercooked egg yolk was featured as a treasure in the crêpe opening like a pearl is displayed on an open oyster. I'm sure the presentation was intended to dazzle me. Unfortunately, I'm no fan of undercooked egg yolks.

Not wanting to make an ass of myself by playing the fussy, touriste américaine, I sucked it up and adapted. The buckwheat crepe was still steaming from the griddle so I quickly flipped it in half in an attempt to trap the steam and use it to cook the yolk more to my liking. It worked well enough. In the end, the meal was satisfying. I wish I’d taken a pic of the thing when it first arrived. And John wishes he’d snapped a shot of my facial expression when I first saw it.

Another good find in old town Lausanne that day was an English language bookstore aptly named “Books, Books, Books”. I went in and with the help of the American expatriate clerk, selected a French phrase book to help us make our way for the rest of our time in French-speaking Switzerland and Nice. After leaving the bookshop, we began the walk back to the Metro stop. Along the way, we happened upon an H&M store. They were having a great sale, so I went in and purchased a new top for the bargain price of 10 CHF (Swiss Francs; ~$9 US). Fiercely independent, the Swiss have not adopted the Euro as their national currency. After my shirt purchase we headed back to the hotel to rest a spell and freshen up before the concert. Our evening in Montreux was eventful, memorable and just plain great. I’ll write about it in a separate post.

Love's Holiday

After at least a decade of general and unmotivated yearning and seven months of real saving and planning, my baby and I have arrived in Europe for an 11 night vacation. We begin our adventure in Lausanne, Switzerland, home of the Olympic Headquarters. While in Lausanne we will visit the Montreux Jazz Festival, sip some real Evian water and take a dip in the therapeutic Baths of Lavey. To view the galleries of our vacation pics, visit our homepage on SmugMug.com.

Following three lovely nights at the gorgeous Angleterre & Residence in Lausanne, we depart for a 3 night stay in bustling, fashionable Milan, Italy. While in Milan, we'll meet up with some good friends who are currently touring in Paris, take in the sights, eat, sip espresso, eat, hit at least one disco, eat, and then with great excitement we will go to a Pat Metheny Group concert! Two of us are really big Metheny fans and one of us (yours truly) likes most of their songs. The only other time I've seen PMG live is July 1998 when John and I visited Seattle. We were living in Idaho at the time and we caught them at the Pier on a quintessentially perfect summer's day. (Yes, it is rainy or misty for about 9 months of the year in Seattle, but when summery finally comes, the bright cloudless skies will take your breath away.) Metheny fans are special people. Together we sings songs that have no words. And the experience is magical.

After Milan, John and I will make a quick one night excursion to the lakeside Swiss town of Locarno which sits on the northern shore of Lake Maggiore along the Italian border. We will lose our minds and dance our butts off in Locarno at the Moon and Stars Music Festival. Our event of choice: a JAMIROQUAI concert. We've been fans since they started recording nearly 20 years ago. I keep pinching myself that I get to see them in concert at an outdoor festival in a Swiss town square (piazza).

The final site of our holiday will be the French Riviera. My love and I have booked a 3-night stay in a 1 bedroom apartment in the Carre d'Or (Golden Square) section of Nice, France. Our plans while in Nice include chilling on the beach in Antibe, cruising through Monaco (just because) and soaking up the local flavors at the open-air markets and cafes.

We'll wrap up our getaway with a quick easyJet flight from Nice to Geneva, a one night stay in Geneva and an early morning flight back to the USA. While we're on this journey, we will take lots of pics and try to post a few more blog entries. We hope our friends and family enjoy the posts and pics.