Canada meets Germany

So we met our long lost German friend Judit in Basel Swizerland last weekend, which was fantastic! It was so great to meet up with a friend, especially after not seeing her for the last year and a half. After the hugs etc. Judit drove us down to the waterfront and showed us how the Germans really drive! Swerving through traffic, cutting people off etc…. But no actually Judit was a great driver. She showed us all around the city and paid for us to take a ferry a crossed the Rhine. It was an exciting moment for me because all I could think about was, how many armies have crossed the Rhine in the last 2500 years? So sweet. Judit then took us via the autobahn (speed limit 120km/h) to her little German village where she grew up, which was super cool. We got to meet her family who all spoke great English, were really hospitable and fed us a great German meal. The next day we headed through the black forest and did some hiking on the way to Freiburg, where Judit is going to University. After our hike we were really tired and decided to go swimming. In true European fashion Judit took us to a nudist beach! Haha, not really. In her defence she thought it was the clothes mandatory part of the lake, but the reality is that the clothes were optional where we ended up…. Oh well swim with your eyes down I guess. 

Judit and Sophie along the Rhine in Basel Swizerland

That night we headed out on the town and had some more German food like Schnitzel and other German foods that have long names that I won't try and spell. We got some gelato and joined the locals in the town square where everyone just sits in circles and drinks and socializes. Half the street was blocked but everyone just sits there in the street socializing. It was pretty interesting and fun! 

The next day we went to Judit's church where half the songs were english and the sermon was translated into english as well which was great. More gelato afterwards of course and then some Chinese food, German style. 

Dinner in Venice courtesy of Nelly

On Monday we were back in Basel catching the train to Milan and then Venice. We booked all our trains in advanced, as it is mandatory to do so in Italy. However we soon learned that Swiss trains are always onetime and Italian train are always late. Our train from Switzerland to Milan was late and as we were running to transfer train in Milan we got there just in time to watch our train pull out. Oh well, we got fixed up with the next train on the next hour out to venice and got to sit around in the train station for a bit, just part of travelling. Finally arrived in Venice. All of the guidebooks say you are going to get lost in Venice no matter what. I took this as a personal challenge. I got us right to the address ( we were renting a room in someones flat for two nights) and then realized that the address said 1138 and that on this street there was 1138A, 1138B,….1138R etc. Dang. I gave our hosts a call and they came out on the balcony to wave us to the right door. We had a great room with a beautiful view over the city and onto a canal. Unfortunately it was a busy canal with lots boat traffic so it was a bit hard to sleep but it was worth it still. 

Instead of challenging the guidebook and trying not to get lost I decided to embrace the confusion and just wander our way around Venice the next day. It was great, we got to see lots of back alleys and canals, it really is a maze. But in the end we found our way out towards some of the main attractions. Venice is beautiful and definitely worth a visit. But it is choked with tourists and sometimes you have to fight through crowds in the small alleys. 

Looking statuesque

After two days in Venice we hopped on the train to Florence. We ended up sitting beside this 80 year old italian man and his son. After offering them some of our Milka chocolate (courtesy of Judit), the old man became very friendly and talked to me in heavily accented english for a large part of the trip. It was funny because he starting talking about Obama and how he is the best president the U.S. has ever had and then talked about how the latest Italian president was just a gangster. His poor son, who didn't speak english, was getting embarrassed because his dad was just talking about politics in front of the whole train. He wrote down directions to the 'best cafe in Napoli' for us as well.

Now we are here in Florence, the birthplace of the Renaissance! The place we are staying has no wifi, just a computer to use. We have spent our time leisurely walking through all the sights. I am becoming quite the art connoisseur and have impressed Sophie with my limited knowledge of art haha! Florence apparently has the best gelato in the country so tonight Sophie is making me buy her a huge cone! After Florence we are off to Rome!