venice to hamburg

The next stage of our journey got us up at five in the morning to catch the boat to the Venice airport. With everyone asleep but the vaporettos dotting the city and setting ripples across the water, we glided through the fog which set all the buildings into an austere revery as if they were involved in higher things than paving stones and wet concrete.

The plane came next and what a short flight it seemed. I'm so used to three hour flights to and from uni in the States, not to mention that my latest flight was ten+ hours to get to the UK that the two hour hop to Germany seemed like nothing.

The first thing that we did when we got there was head to the harbor. Always the harbor. But really. You can see where I get it from because when my family's with me we're still always ending up around boats. Besides, Hamburg is known for its harbor all around the world. It was especially crucial during WWI and suffered severe bombing and is the port from which and through which thousands upon thousands of immigrants have entered and left Europe for decades.

[photo credit: rs]

We watched the massive cargo ships pass by one after another as we sat in the sun. My brother and I headed out onto a water break. Not expecting the waves to be as large as they were and having a little brother who enjoys a laugh, I ended up with quite a splashing. In the warmth of the evening it was soon dry.

[previous two photo credit: rs]

[photo credit: jr]

Next we had a tour of places with deep family history from my Opa* who grew up in Hamburg during and after World War II. The flat he grew up in (second story on the right**), the birth tree he carved his initials in, his father's grave stone.

[previous two photo credit: rs]

I have wanted to visit Hamburg with my Opa and see where he grew up for so long that it seems almost unreal to have finally gotten to do it. And what a joy to have most of my family with me as well! 

[photo credit: rs]

* "Grandfather" in German

** US 2nd story, UK 1st story

venice

Piazza San Marco.

[photo credit for immediately above: jr]

The Bridge of Sigh, from which both Oxford and Cambridge built their bridges.

Cafes, markets, and fresh seafood. The cuttlefish linguine is particularly delightful, despite the jet black color from the ink.

Taking the vaporetto. Quite a wonderful way to travel, the public boat transportation. 

[photo credit: jr]

Of course, you could potentially have your own boat and park it somewhere like this, but lets not dream too much.

If you ever want a safe place to go get lost in where you will find no end of interesting things to look at, go to Venice.

monterosso to venice

While I have been all over the place during my travels and slept in several countries now, the thing that gets me most is how many places I have been through on the train. As we railed to Venice from Monterosso, we passed through several famous places, including Verona of Romeo and Juliet fame. I couldn't help but get a snapshot of the station even though we couldn't get out and look around.

Looking out for their first view of Venice:

Some of the sights on the vaporetto as we headed towards Piazza San Marco, our reference point for our new flat.

cinque terre

Our second day in Italy. We headed off that morning with boat passes in hand and hopped from one town to the next in search of dead ends, windy stair cases, and memorable food.

The area is known for its marble quarries because of the many different color combinations they have locally. While I didn't knowingly see any architecture or interior decoration from those quarries, we got to enjoy it anyway. The water breaks all along the Cinque Terre are boulders of marble and made me feel as though I were some small creature among the pebbles of a rock beach like the ones we have in the Puget Sound, filled with brightly colored stones. The only difference was that they were bigger than I was rather than small enough to fit ten in the palm of my hand.

The little towns are so old that the buildings are stacked together with tiny passageways between. extensions being built on. They're all in different colors as well, but because they're all in oranges, golds, and brick reds but for the occasional water blue one, they maintain a jumbled uniformity.

While the Cinque Terre now survive on tourism, they were once working villages. Their streets still thread down to the water. It's quite wonderful, especially for someone like me who has very little sense of direction. The cup shape of the valleys that hold them against the water make it so that all one need to is walk down hill in order to reach the harbor. 

We found this wonderful perch in which to sip a cup of tea and eat some biscuits before heading back to Monterosso and getting a good night's rest before heading off to our next destination, Venice.

[photo credit: jr]

monterosso

After saying "see you" to Sonya, I trained along the Mediterranean coast from Nice to Monterosso, the first village in the Cinque Terre in Italy. It was pouring down rain but, thanks to the wonderfully diminutive size of the town, it was a thirty second straight walk down the street from the train station to the little flat I would be staying in. Not ten minutes after I was let into our room, my family arrived (!!!) and I couldn't have been happier to see them.

The next few days consisted of us exploring the Cinque Terre and finding as many dead ends as possible. Because we stayed in Monterosso, we explored it first.

On that first day, little by-the-wind sailors were lining the beaches. They've always fascinated me because of the complete and utter lack of control that they have and yet the wonderful places that they end up. Slight tip: they stain canvas shoes blue.

Atlas also frequents this beach. He used to hold up a dance floor but since it was washed away by a storm many years ago, all he holds is potted plants.

Up into the surrounding hills we went and, what do you know, we found a harbor. Each boat was handily tied bow and stern in what is sensibly called "med mooring," or "Mediterranean mooring." 

The castle above the old town, once used as a stronghold against frequent pirate raids, is now transformed into a cemetery. One could wander for hours in all the twists and turns only to realize that they'd been going in tight circles. Every single spare inch has been used and generations on generations of the same families that have lived in Monterosso for centuries are all close to one another.

Back at the main water break in front of Monterosso itself, my mom and I got to sit with our feet in the water as the drizzle came down. Being from Seattle, it didn't bother us a bit and gave us the whole dock to ourselves. While our legs weren't long enough to reach the water, waves came every so often that dunked them in and got surprised laughs from us. Nothing replaces a good talk with your mother after three months of being apart.

[all photo credit: jr]