Switzerland

23 & 24 October 2013

The red dot is Chur (pronounced "Kurr"), Switzerland

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Our Airbnb was in the home of a nice young couple, Christian and Theresa. This is the beautiful view from their kitchen. The autumn colors were breathtaking.

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The train is not an "express" in the sense of being a high-speed train, but rather, in the sense that it provides a one-seat ride for a long duration travel. In fact, it has the reputation of being the slowest express train in the world.

Note that grin on Joey's face...another train ride! He loves trains.

The lush green rolling landscape prevails throughout this area, even in late October.

The Glacier Express in motion....

Black-necked sheep-goats...are these not the coolest goats!

It has never been quite established whether the origins of this ancient Valais species can be traced back to arrivals from Africa or if they are descended from the Italian "Kupferziege" goats, but the features remain recognisable today. In olden times, the half-black, half-white goats with the sturdy physique were mostly to be found in Lower Valais. They're called a "glacier goat".

The Rhine River begins in the southeastern Swiss Alps, flows through Germany, eventually emptying into the North Sea.

Many small villages exist throughout...agriculture, goats, cows, sheep, a few pigs, and horses call these hills "home".

Miles and miles of railroad tracks, many beautiful bridges...

These are a few of the countless waterfalls that feed into the Rhine River.

The Matterhorn is a mountain in the Pennine Alps on the border between Switzerland and Italy. Its summit is 4,478 meters (14,691 feet) high, making it one of the highest peaks in the Alps...majestic to say the least.

Venezia Italia

20 - 22 October 2013

Venice (see the red marker to locate approximately where we stayed), the "City of Canals", is also called the "City of Bridges" because of its more than 400 bridges that crisscross its waterways.

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Our arrival in Venice - the train station...

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We did a "change up" this time for our lodging. Although we've had some great Airbnb experiences, we decided to book through "Monastery Stays". We're at the Istituto Sainte Giuseppe, run by the Order of the Sisters of St. Joseph. We had a nice room but had a curfew of 10:30 PM (not usually a problem for us).

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Fun photo opportunity... Out for a walk in the morning before our Venice Walking tour...The Laguna Veneta off to the right side and The Doge's Palace & St. Mark's Square to the left. The Laguna Veneta,

the Italian name for the Venetian Lagoon, is the enclosed bay of the Adriatic Sea in which the city of Venice is situated. The Lagoon was formed about six to seven thousand years ago.

The Doge's Palace is one of the main landmarks of the city.

The Doge's Palace

This is inside of the palace that was the residence of the Doge of Venice (sometimes translated as Duke). The Doge was the chief magistrate and leader of the Republic of Venice for over a thousand years. The architectural style of the palace is Venetian Gothic.

The Lions' Mouth - At various locations in the palace, we saw the "Lions' Mouths" used to collect citizens' complaints anonymously. Inside the palace, this special Lions' Mouth was used like a direct line to the ancient equivalent of the IRS!

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Basilica Cattedrale Patriarcale di San Marco

The Patriarchal Cathedral Basilica of Saint Mark

This cathedral is the most famous of the city's churches and one of the best known examples of Italo-Byzantine architecture. Note the people-everywhere!!

There is nothing certain, but it is estimated that this Basilica was constructed in 1073 and consecrated in 1084-85.

Photos do not do this justice... Virtually all of the walls and ceilings were covered in mosaics. There are literally millions upon millions of tile and glass chips that make up all of what we could see in this interior. The artists were generally unknown.

While the basic structure of the building has not been altered, its decoration has changed greatly over time. The overall impression of the interior with a display of gold ground mosaics on all ceilings and upper walls remains the same.

A marble design in the floor of the Basilica...

A mosaic design in the floor of the Basilica...

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A view from one of the balconies of the Basilica looking out at St. Mark's Square...Take a look at the water puddling. These are the drains to let the rainwater out of the square. What you're seeing is water coming back up from the lagoons and canals as the tide rises which occurs everyday. Yes, this is sea level.

The buildings in Venice are sinking 12 centimeters (4.72 inches) every 10 years and have been for hundreds of years. Many buildings, including Basilica Cattedrale Patriarcale di San Marco, have water inside on a regular basis. To help this situation, there are portable raised walkways situated in many areas, especially the heavily visited tourist areas.

View from a balcony from St. Mark's Bacilica looking south toward Laguna Veneta...

St. Mark's clock is a 24 hour clock housed in the clock tower on the Piazza San Marco. It was one of a number of large public astronomical clocks erected throughout Europe during the 14th and 15th centuries. This clock's face was restored in 2006.

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Marco was our tour guide. This fellow, though only a tour guide for 3 months, had an amazing amount of information - so much that we could hardly take it all in - and with a great energy. (If you saw our Berlin guide, you might see that we specialize in tall guides - or are we just short?)

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A typical bridge over one of the many canals...

Gondolas everywhere - and all the same color "black" to alleviate the need to outdo the others.

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These musicians, and 2 other groups of musicians, were in St Mark's Square - playing all day long.

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Murano is an island just a 20 minute water bus ride from Venice.

Murano is known for its glass. We were able to take a tour of a working factory.

Watch the steps in the next 4 photos

...All in about 10 minutes

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Hard Rock Cafe

One of the things we noticed in all of the tourist areas is there is quite unsightly advertising in many of the most beautiful and reverent places. The great thing about the Hard Rock Cafe in Venice is it's off of the beaten path and not an eyesore of advertising to the masses. (Not a bad burger also!)

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St Mark's Bacilica at sunset...

St. Mark's Square at sunset...this was awesome.

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The staging of Giuseppe Verdi's La Traviata has strong ties to Venice, where it was performed for the first time in 1853. We enjoyed the opera performed by Musica a Palazzo, a cultural association of classical musicians, at the Palazzo Barbarigo Minotto. This 15th century Venetian gothic palace faces the Grand Canal.

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The only picture we took of the renouned Rialta Bridge... We were standing at a water bus stop at 4:33 AM - on our way to the train station to go to our next destination - Switzerland.

A Stop in Lyon France

18 & 19 October 2013

On a "spur of the moment" decision, we decided to stop in Lyon, France for a day to see the sights we've heard so much about and to break up our long train trip to Venice, Italy.

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We've arrived at our Airbnb lodging - a very nice place with a wonderful host.

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Oh let's see... Honestly, we do not recall the name of this structure! We just saw it, and took the picture.

There are hills and stairs in Lyon. After accidentally getting off of the bus at Marie the 1st (should have exited the bus at 4th - ooohhhhh, learning French has its challenges), we had to walk up this flight with suitcases and backpacks. From the bottom of the hill to the top was 201 steps. In retrospect, of course, we would get back on the next bus. Each time we go, we pack lighter and lighter.

After settling in and recovering from the walk up the stairs, we decided to head for town.

Cheers to conquering the many steps:)

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Did we mention the hills?

So many great looking restaurants to choose from during our short stay.

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Our host, Christel, prepared a delicious breakfast with her homemade jams and cakes.

Christel's flat was located in what was once a silk factory. She, her son and daughter, have lived there for about a year and a half and she's been doing Airbnb since April.

With the help of an Architect, Christel designed the entire interior for the flat. Now a 3 floor apartment, she created loft- like balconies and stairways to maximize the use of her space with a wonderful sense of simplicity and usefulness. The materials used in creating her flat were mainly metal, stone, and wood.

You can get an idea of the loft feel of the flat...

The fixtures and design made for a quite comfortable stay.

The stairway to the upper loft floors...

Many windows for incredible natural light...

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Christel directed us to this incredible building in Lyon. "Le Mur des Canuts" translates to "The Wall of the Silk". In 1986 the Avenir company wanted to use mural paintings to decorate a huge blind facade and highlight five of its advertising hoardings. At that time, the wall was a hideous eyesore along the Boulevard des Canuts. It called on the mural painters of the cooperative CitéCréation to carry out the decoration. However, they asked if they could paint the entire 1200 square meters illustrating all that is typical of the Croix Rousse (a hill in this area of Lyon).

A picture of the original wall...

The first painting in 1987...

In 1997 the mural painters decided to enthuse new life into this mural work, testifying to the changes that had occured over the previous decade. The buildings had changed, the colors of the facades had brightened, shops had opened on the ground floors, stairs had come alive, and the characters in the version had aged 10 years.

Once again in 2013, the mural painters used their fresco to record the new changes that have occured, while keeping the original composition and spirit of the evolving work. They have updated the architecture, facades and shops, aged the characters 15 years, added to families, given life to the squares, stairways and alleys, giving this new version a dimension of urban equity and sustainability.