Monte Generoso

"Climb the mountains and get their good tidings.  Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees.  The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves. " John Muir

After our intro to finance final exam, we had the opportunity to go to the top of Monte Generoso, our last chance before the train shuts down for the winter season. We were supposed to take the train part of the way up and hike the remainder for about an hour, but unfortunately because of the snow on the footpath we had to take the train almost the entire way up. The views at the top of the mountain were unbelievable. On one side you could see Italy and Lake Como, and on the other you could see Switzerland and the Matterhorn. The sky was clear and it couldn't have been a more gorgeous day to trek to the top of the mountain. We'll have to see how the views hold up against Jungfraujoch (the highest point in Europe!!!) in Interlaken this weekend though :)

Bellinzona

This weekend I friend and I took an excursion to Bellinzona on Saturday afternoon. We walked around two of the three castles in Bellinzona, Castel Grande and Montebello. Even on a rather cloudy and dreary day, the castles were still awe inspiring. Here's just a brief history about them:

Castle Grande: The site on which Castelgrande stands is rich in history and archaeological findings unearthed during excavations in 1984-85 confirm that the site was inhabited as far back as the Neolithic period (5500-5000 B.C.) and though to Roman times. The castle as we see it today was built in various stages and has undergone several restorations. Construction of the castle began in the 13th c.; it was enlarged in 1473-86 and later restored in the 17th and 19th centuries.

Montebello Castle: The castle's origins date back to the late 13th century; it is documented for the first time, albeit indirectly, in 1313. The fortress was probably built by the illustrious Rusca family from Como and passed into the hands of the Viscontis at the close of the 14th century. After an initial stage of extensions (in the middle of the l4th century, presumably as part of the work to connect the stronghold to the fortifications in the town) there followed a period of neglect: as can be read in complaints by Milanese officials around 1460, the buildings no longer fulfilled the defensive requirements of the fortifications in Bellinzona, which were being enlarged at that time. Successive extensions and renovations, between 1462 and 1490, transformed the ancient 13th/14th century castle into the complex of fortifications as we see it today. Montebello fell into neglect once again in the 19th century, and around the year 1900 its state of disrepair made it a sorry spectacle; signs of the consolidation and other additional work, carried out from 1903 onwards, can be seen in the brickwork which separates the old parts of the walls from the new.

(Retrieved from UNESCO World Heritage)

It was such a refreshing and relaxing day, and it made the perfect study break from Finance. Here are a few of the photos I snapped during the day:

Church in the city center

 

 At Castel Grande, with Montebello Castle in the background

 Random photo I snapped of a dad helping his daughter at Castel Grande,

I thought it was adorable :)

 

 Me at Castel Grande again

 

Leaving Montebello castle

Vineyards at Castel Grande, absolutely beautiful

Vienna, Austria

Nearing the end of our 10 day break, we arrived in Vienna around noon on Saturday. Our hostel, 'Wombats', was right across from the train station. It was a great hostel, very clean, young crowd, easy to access public transportation from. After checking in when went to a Viennese restaurant down the street and had some delicious food. We went into the city and first went inside St. Stephan's Basilica. The stained glass inside the church was beautiful, it wasn't quite as spectacular as the St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, but still wonderful. We walked around the city and saw the Albertina, which is a popular art museum, and the Opera house. To maximize our limited time in Vienna we rented bikes to take around the city. On our bike ride we saw the Royal Palace, the Parliament building, and a fantastic park with a statute dedicated to Mozart. We rode up and down the river and it was a beautiful day (the first bit of sun we'd seen in a while) so I really had a great time. After spending the day riding around the city, we decided to go back to the Viennese restaurant we'd been to earlier since we loved it so much (the restaurant is named "Mariahilfer Restaurant"). For dessert we all got strudels since it's supposed to be a Viennese specialty, and it sure was amazing. We called it an early night since we had to catch a train back to Riva early in the morning. We didn't get to see much in Vienna because of the limited time we had there, but as first impressions go, that was probably my favorite out of all the places we visited and I fully intend on spending more time there in the future.

 Inside the St. Stephan's Basilica

 In the park with Melissa by the Mozart statue

 Building in front of the park 

 The Royal Palace

 Parliament building

We had a long 12 hour journey home, but the views from the train once we got to Zurich made the ride incredible. The sky was clear blue and now that the leaves are starting to change color, the mountains looked even more spectacular than usual. Back at Riva, we've began our finance classes which makes for long and tiring days. A short day of class is 6 hours, and other days it's around 9. Definitely not easy but I feel like I'm really learning a lot. Time for Italian class, Ciao!

Train ride through Zurich on the way home

Budapest, Hungary

We were supposed to leave Prague at 7:30 AM for Budapest, but we ended up getting more turned around than expected on our way to the train station, so we had to take a train that left 4 hours later instead. We got to Budapest around 8 PM and took a cab to our hostel. The hostel we stayed in was named "Paprika", it was alright but definitely not my favorite of hostels I've stayed in so far. It was owned by a few young guys and it was more like an apartment with rooms full of bunk beds rather than a hostel. It was great from the standpoint of meeting other young people and socializing, but I wouldn't recommend it if you have higher standards or want a little quiet at night. After getting settled, we decided on TGI Friday's for dinner (we've been missing our typical American restaurants for quite a while now, so we were able to justify our decision).

We did a free walking tour in the city on Friday morning and I definitely recommend. We got to see the major highlights in the city and got recommendations for nightlife and restaurants, all for free. At the start of the tour, the guide pointed out the many different architectural styles-Classical, Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque and Art Nouveau, that result from their unique history. We got to see the Parliament building, the bridge connecting Buda and Pest, and the Basilica on the Pest side. We walked to the Buda Side where the Royal Palace grounds are. Security is so lax and the threats so small in Hungary that you were able to walk right past the President's house, with no security outside. In Holy Trinity square we saw a fantastic church with intricate colorful tiled roofing. There was the most amazing little castle close to the Palace grounds that reminded me a lot of a Disney castle :). There were underground labyrinths on the Buda side, we didn't get a chance to go inside any of them but we got to see the entrance. Also on the Buda Side was a statute that the Communist built in honor of the unification of the Buda and Pest sides. The Buda side is much hillier and is known for being pricey, whereas the Pest side is known for it's nightlife and more affordable prices. Budapest is famous for it's bath houses with hot springs, I was disappointed we didn't have time to go check one out. After finishing up the walking tour the guide took up to a canteen style restaurant called "12 markets" which traditional Hungarian food. I got vegetable soup and gnocchi with mushroom sauce, it was good but nothing special, once again because most Hungarian specialties contain meat so my options were limited.

Later in the afternoon we did the free Communist walking tour. The tour was interesting but I recommend the first tour over this one. The guide started the tour by giving us a brief run down of the history of communism in Hungary. She said that in the 50's and early 60's it was a depressive state and if you were to go against the idea of communism in any way you would be tortured or killed. The communist had social housing projects where they built extremely small 1-2 bedroom apartments, the idea was that people should all be working and shouldn't be spending much time in their apartments anyways. People would become trapped into being 'informers', and once you became involved in communism, you couldn't escape. In the 70's the idea of "soft communism" developed and people weren't as repressed, shortly after, people were finally allowed to travel. Some people received a red passport which meant they could travel to other communist controls, and others received a blue passport which meant they could travel anywhere, this was a monumental event for Hungarians. In 1989, Hungary was no longer a communist country, however to this day the long lasting effects of communism are ever present in the country. The guide was telling us that the health care system is extremely corrupt. Everyone should have access to health care and equal benefits. This isn't the case- because doctors are paid so little they will take bribes from people that can afford to pay more in exchange for better health care services. If doctors weren't to take bribes, they would be too poor to remain in Hungary and Hungarian health care providers would dwindle even more. At the end of the tour the guide showed us samples of the red and blue passports and pictures of Budapest during communist rule. It was a great day all in all and I felt like I got to learn an extensive amount about Hungary in the short time I was there.

We went out to a fun bar named Szempla with the people from our hostel later that night, I definitely recommend the bar. It was partially indoors and partially outdoors, full of tourists and locals, and it had a great atmosphere and music. And the next morning the journey continued to Vienna, Austria!

 Basilica on the Pest side, close to the city center

 Castle on the Buda side near the Royal Palace

Example of one of the communist housing projects from the walk

 View of the Pest side from the Royal Palace grounds in Buda

Overlooking the Danube River

Prague, Czech Republic

Exhausted after a non-stop weekend in Munich, Germany, we left Monday morning to head to Dachau before continuing to the next destination on our 10 day, Prague. Unfortunately, upon arrival in Dachau we learned that on Monday of all days, Dachau is closed. We were disappointed but I enjoyed walking around the parks in Dachau before the long bus trip. We had a smooth trip to Prague and arrived at our hostel around 7 PM. The hostel we stayed in was St. Christopher's Inn @ the Mosaic House and it was more like a high end hotel rather than a hostel- AMAZING! The bathrooms had rain showers and the bar downstairs played live music during the happy hour, it was also full of young people. After getting settled, we walked down the street and found a Thai restaurant for dinner, I had fantastic green vegetable curry. We were all exhausted still from Oktoberfest so we called it an early night.

On Tuesday morning we woke up early for the free Prague walking tour. We made friends with a few Aussies that were also staying at our hostel. On the tour we were able to see the Astronomical clock, Old Town Square, Tyn Cathedral, Old Town Hall, St. Nicholas' Church and the House of the Black Madonna. The tour began in Old Town Square where we first saw the Astronomical clock. The dial in the middle of the clock shows the position of the sun and the moon, the clock was built in the early 1400's. The clock chimes every hour and when it does, the 12 apostles take turns peeping through little doors above the center dial. Tyn Cathedral was very beautiful, the two columns are different sizes, so the story goes that Adam is the taller one who is watching over Eve, the shorter of the two. However, it's more likely due to the fact that there were two different architects working on each of the columns. The House of the Black Madonna was built in a Cubist style architecture, and inside the museum and the cafe, everything is cube shaped including the light fixtures and decor.

 Astronomical Clock in Old Town Square

 Museum of the Black Madonna- Cubist Architecture

Jewish Quarter- rebuilt, thriving, and beautiful

Leaving Old Town Square we walked to the Jewish Quarter. I learned that the the Quarter essentially became a disease filled ghetto when Jewish people were forced to leave their homes and the area became extremely overpopulated. Eventually, Jewish people were allowed to leave the quarter and the Czech government helped to rebuild the quarter, now many people, not just Jewish people, occupy the area. Many of the synagogues and important buildings survived the wars and were not torn down by the Nazis. Our tour guide told us this is because when Hitler and the Nazis began their invasion, Hitler had planned to keep Jewish Prague as the one remaining monument of the Jews, incredibly sobering. They had a museum full of drawing from Jewish children placed in a camp that was kind of an intermediary between the ghettos and transfer to actual concentration camps, we didn't have a chance to actually go inside and look though.

Immediately following the Prague Walking tour we did the Prague Castle Tour (I highly recommend both). The Prague Castle is actually the largest coherent castle complex in the world. We got to see several of the gardens, churches, halls, and the Old and New Palace inside the complex. The history of the castle construction dates back to the 9th century, all the way until the last major rebuilding in the 18th century. The castle construction took such a long time because new rulers kept starting projects and never finishing them, and with another new occupant came another project. There are many different architectural styles in the castle complex- Gothic, Renaissance and Bohemian.

After leaving the castle when we back to the hostel to get ready for the evening. Melissa and I ate at a nearby Czech Restaurant, I got grilled vegetables and a typical Czech potato soup, it was pretty good but I wouldn't say the Czech's specialize in vegetarian food. We started off the evening down at the bar in the hostel chatting with our Aussie friends we had made earlier. Later we went to a popular 5 story club, it was a lot of fun, they played 80's music which I always love :)

The next day I did a little shopping in the 5 story mall called the Paladrum and had Thai food (again) for lunch. After wards I went to the National Museum and it was interesting, I got to see a mineral exhibit, anthropology exhibit, fossil exhibit, and a special exhibit they had on Czech legends and folk lores. Thank goodness most of it was actually in English. After the museum I went to the National Hall to see a symphony orchestra concert, although classical music isn't typically my thing, the experience in itself was wonderful and the music was beautiful. After the concert I walked to Old town Square to see the Astronomical Clock go off at night, then I walked to Charles Bridge to snap a few pictures of the Prague Castle from a far. It was a perfect last day in Prague.

Just a few of the pictures I snapped while exploring Prague:

 Prague Castle during the walking tour, we got to see the changing of the guards, very cool

 National Museum built in 1899

 Inside of the National Museum

 After the symphony orchestra concert in National Hall

 Astronomical clock at night after it went off

Tyn Cathedral in Old Town Square