In the middle of this semester was a 2 week "study break". Before this break came along, i had talked with my friend Alanna about going on a trip to Europe. After some discussion, we decided to go to Berlin, Germany, Lucerne, Switzerland, and then Milan, Florence and Rome in Italy.
The trip had a bit of an inauspicious start. Alanna and i arrived at the Dublin airport ontime, or so we thought, but soon discovered that we had both made the mistake of thinking that our plane was scheduled to leave at 6 the evening, while it had actually left at 6 in the morning. So we bit the bullet, each bought a ticket for the next morning, and slept in the airport over night. Things went smoothly once we were in Berlin. We saw the Riechstag, the Brandenburg gate, the Jewish Memorial, the remains of the Berlin Wall, now covered in art and graffiti, as well as several interesting museums. We stayed at St. Christopher's Hostel while in Berlin. In retrospect, St. Christopher's spoiled us as far as hostels go for the rest of the trip. It was secure, well maintained, and we even got what could be considered a typical American continental breakfast.
The trip had a bit of an inauspicious start. Alanna and i arrived at the Dublin airport ontime, or so we thought, but soon discovered that we had both made the mistake of thinking that our plane was scheduled to leave at 6 the evening, while it had actually left at 6 in the morning. So we bit the bullet, each bought a ticket for the next morning, and slept in the airport over night. Things went smoothly once we were in Berlin. We saw the Riechstag, the Brandenburg gate, the Jewish Memorial, the remains of the Berlin Wall, now covered in art and graffiti, as well as several interesting museums. We stayed at St. Christopher's Hostel while in Berlin. In retrospect, St. Christopher's spoiled us as far as hostels go for the rest of the trip. It was secure, well maintained, and we even got what could be considered a typical American continental breakfast.
After just 2 days in Berlin, we took a train (on the slightly confusing Eurail pass) to Zurich and then a shorter train ride into Lucerne. Just the travel took up almost the entire day, but even in the evening, we could tell that Lucerne was beautiful. With all its hills, old fashioned bridges and character, Lucerne was a great place to spend just a day in. The swiss chocolate was also important to our enjoyment of Lucerne.
Our next stop was Milan. The journey to Milan was fun in itself, with the weather changing from spring to winter and then back to spring again in just the course of a few hours, as the train wound through the mountains. We arrived in Milan in the evening, and did end up having some trouble getting to our hostel "Hotel Greco Milan". While in Milan, we saw the Duomo (the Cathedral), a museum with a special exhibit of Magritte, and explored the massive castle in the center of the city.
We then moved on to Florence, which is in Tuscany. If i was forced to make a choice, i would say that Florence was my favorite stop on the trip. It was a smaller city than Milan, and maybe due to that fact, it was a very inviting city. It was easy to walk around and explore the city with all it's statues, markets, gelaterias, and restaurants. The Duomo in Milan was also remarkable; the dome atop the cathedral was the first large dome to be built in Europe after the pantheon was constructed in Rome. On our last morning in Milan we climbed a hill and were able to see the entire town, which was quite a sight.
The last stop on our journey was Rome. I had been to Rome once before, so this time i was really excited to see everything that i wanted to again, or see anything that i missed. Even though Florence was probably my favorite part of the trip because of the atmosphere, i cannot deny how fascinated i am by Rome and all of it's history. I guess Rome is one of the only places that i can be and feel like my four years of high-school Latin have really paid off. Everything in Rome is so monumental in terms of beauty, history, and even religious importance; it was the perfect grand finale to the Spring Break of a lifetime.
