Time to Split!

So on May 26 I took the bus from Dubrovnik to Split. It was a really beautiful bus ride along the coast

Though I was mostly on the side that had the mountains

Which was just tragic

Because the mountains in Croatia are so ugly.

So the bus ride took about 4 hours and actually went through Bosnia-Herzegovina, because Dubrovnik, back when it was an independent republic sold a little bit of the coastline to Bosnia. This was because Bosnia was controlled by the Ottoman empire at the time, and most of what is today Croatia was controlled by the Venitians. Now, the people of Dubrovnik were not on good terms with the people of Venice, and their territories touching made conflict inevitable. In order to prevent these border skirmishes, the people of Dubrovnik just said, "screw it! Hey, Ottomans, want a couple miles of shoreline? Great. You got it. Now the Italian jerks are your problem!" And that is why I wound up buying Pringles in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

The music playing on the bus radio was also interesting. When we were going through border control into Bosnia, for example, they were playing "Cotton Eyed Joe." In 2015. In the Balkans. I don't even.

But yeah, it was a nice, pretty and fairly uneventful bus ride. I looked out the window, eavesdropped on the obviously wealthy family from Connecticut that was sitting across from me, and listened to music.

I loved seeing these mountains. They are such a different shape from the mountains in the US. They look like a sleeping dragon. They also run RIGHT ALONG the coast, so from where we were, which was almost sea level, looking up to the top of the mountains, they felt so huge.

As we pulled into Split around 4pm, the sky began to darken considerably. It was actually genuinely scary. It was that dark dark grey where it doesn't look like there are clouds, just like the sky is become dark in preparation for the apocalypse. And then it started to pour. Also as we pulled into Split "Who Let the Dawgs Out" began to play on the bus radio, heralding my arrival to the town. But seriously, who was in charge of this radio station?

So I got off at the Split bus station and was immediately mobbed by people meeting the bus from Dubrovnik offering places to stay in English. Fortunately, I already had a place to stay, so I just went off to find that. I did find it, and rang up to the apartment my hostel was located in and... nobody answered. So I rang again. And then I called the number the hostel had given me and managed to reach the owner of the hostel. This poor woman had somehow mis-written something down or the system had messed up and she thought I was coming the next day at 5. The hostel was actually supposed to be CLOSED that night, because the owner was in London. However, she admitted this was her fault and I still got to stay in the empty hostel once her mother let me in.

But at this point, the hostel wasn't my priority. I had two days in Split, so I needed to go see things! I dropped my stuff and headed to the tourist information office to ask what to do. Because that's always a good first step.

The tourist office is located inside the city's biggest tourist attraction: Diocletian's palace. After the Roman emperor resigned, he built a massive palace complex in the city that is today known as Split, where he lived until his death. After the fall of the Roman empire, the palace was constantly altered to fit the needs of the city, and so it has managed to both become integrated into the city proper and remain a clear part of the city and a historic landmark. It was really cool. It felt very historic, and most of the time I spent in Split on the 26th was just wandering around the palace and the surrounding streets, since it was late enough that most things were closing and I wanted to have plenty of time to spend in the more official areas. 

But I got to see some beautiful sights as I was wandering. There was also a group of traditional Dalmatian singers who were putting on an impromptu outdoor a cappella concert in one of the domes of the old palace, and I stopped and listened to that for a while. 

I also got a little bit lost, but I ultimately found my way outside the walls of the old palace

to a little park where there is a great statue of an old Bishop of the city

and if you rub its toe, it's supposed to bring you luck, so

This picture also gives you an idea of just how rainy it was when I was there. 

Honestly, it was so rainy that after wandering around for a little while, I decided that I was cold and tired enough that I found a really nice modern Spanish-y restaurant and ate there. They all looked at me like I was crazy, possibly because I was dripping wet and came in through a large portal that wasn't actually technically a door. Whoops. But the served me anyway and I had a nice glass of local wine and pasta with prosciutto and truffles. It wasn't too bad. 

Then I went back to the very very quiet hostel that I had to myself and I took this opportunity to wash some of my dirty clothes, since I was rapidly running out of socks. I just washed everything in the sink in the bathroom and dried them overnight in the second bathroom in the hostel, since I wasn't using that one! 

Then I drank tea, read, and went to bed, because travel makes you tired. 

The next morning I woke up fairly early and headed out to see the city. It was a beautiful day, if a little bit windy, and I was determined to do as much as I could while I was in Split. So I headed back to Diocletian's palace and went into the Cathedral and the Treasury. Where it was forbidden to take pictures. But they were both really lovely. The cathedral was originally the mausoleum where Diocletian was buried, and then after Christianity became the big thing, they changed it to a cathedral. Because they were that kind of person. 

After the cathedral I climbed the bell tower which was... honestly one of the more terrifying experiences I've had in the last year. 

Because I am mildly scared of heights, and this was no small tower. But I went up the first half with no problem. It was all inside with nice stone stairs that are sturdy and solid and only mildly dangerous. 

I went up past the bells to the terrifying part of the tower

Those stairs. I climbed those stairs. Those were not sturdy stairs. And they are open to the outside through those holes that the pillar things are in. 

And you know how I mentioned it was windy earlier?

It only gets worse the higher up you get.

But I somehow survived the rickety stairs climbing up the windy tower feeling like I was going to be blown away. 

And the views from the top were spectacular.

 The harbor was lovely

 and being up in the tower was a really awesome experience.

So I'm glad I faced the terrifying ascent (and descent) and made the climb. 

I went down and saw some more sights. There was a little sightseeing guide and I just followed the numbers and read about the city and saw it a little bit. I then went to Jupiter's old palace, which then became the baptistry for the town. And I also went down to the crypts, which were really cool. 

Then I ventured into the basements of the palace

Which were kind of creepy but super amazing. So there was some logic to basically building the palace on top of a substructure, and they happened to make the substructure almost identical to the palace above it. However, while the palace was changed over the years, the people of Split basically just threw rubble into the basement for years and years, which had the side effect of perfectly preserving the substructure. It was incredible. They're still working on clearing it out, but they have artifacts from different time periods down there, and you get a feel for what the palace was like in its heyday. 

So then I went and ate a sandwich along this promenade

It was such an eyesore. 

I got gelato after lunch and then I walked towards that green mountain you see in the far left go both pictures to go wander around the park that's just outside the city

And the views were spectacular

 In all directions

 It was really just a gorgeous day.

So I wandered around the park for a while. I found a really cute church

and... this thing

which honestly looks like the kind of team building exercise you do at the annual KGB retreat. 

but is apparently artwork. According to the English sign. It's an interactive sculpture. I'm still not convinced that isn't code for "torture device" based on the number of chains involved, but whatever. 

I finally reached the lookout point at the top of the mountain

Which was very pretty. 

There was also a cross there

Because in Catholic countries, I feel like the general reaction to seeing a mountain is, "We could put a cross and/or Jesus on that mountain." And so they do. I really like that, actually, since I find mountains to generally be thin places for me. And I like to think that Jesus liked mountains too and that he was just a bro like that. 

So then I got lost. I was trying to get out of the park and find an art gallery and I though there was a shortcut, 

but when you don't know a place shortcuts are rarely a good idea,

 because you wind up wandering through a park for an hour with no clue where you are because your map is super crappy and just kind of hoping you're going the right direction 

and then finally taking a tiny footpath down a mountain through somebody's back yard. At least it was gorgeous. 

But I somehow wound up at the art museum. I'm honestly not sure how I found it. But I did.

And it was really lovely. It was dedicated to the works of the sculptor Ivan Meštrović, who is a huge deal in Croatia, and he actually did work internationally as well. He also built that mausoleum I saw on top of the hill in Cavtat back when I was in Dubrovnik. He's incredibly impressive, both in terms of resumé and actual work. 

This one is called "Triumphant Youth", and it was one of my favorites, but I also really liked his biblical work. This is a sculpture of Job, 

Which I think really captures the story and the anguish of Job. 

And the gallery was really beautiful as well, of course. Because this is Croatia, and only the communist wineries are ugly

After my time in the main museum I walked down the road 

along the coast to this little chapel that featured carvings by the same artist. 

Also, beautiful views

How is this place even real?

So I saw the carvings, which were amazing and went through the entire life of Jesus, but I wasn't allowed to take pictures. So I headed back to the main part of the city for dinner. I walked by the harbor

and up to a little restaurant just up the hill. It was nice and it was just really great to sit down after walking on concrete all day. After dinner I went back to the hostel, which was suddenly filled with people, met my new German roommates and CRASHED. It was a long day, but a great one. 

On the Road Again

I’M BAAACKK!!!

Hey everyone, I hope you’re all doing well, and welcome back to To Valencia and Beyond, the continuing adventures of the fun travel things I’m doing.

My excuse for travel this summer is a study abroad program in Germany during the month of June, but there will also be Ireland, Croatia, France, Belgium, and Scotland, because once you’re over here, you might as well do as much as you can.

This missive is brought to you by the 6 hour layover I’m currently experiencing in the Frankfurt airport, because that’s when the magic happens. And by magic I mean that I have enough time on my hands to ramble onto a keyboard for a while.

SO it’s day… umm… well it depends on how you count. So let’s just start from the beginning:

May 20^th!

I got on a plane from Greenville, SC to Charlotte, SC. I then got on another plane to Dublin, Ireland. I watched movies, I didn’t sleep, I ate subpar airplane food and drank horribly overbrewed tea. It was a transatlantic flight.

But I did get to watch the new version of Annie and The Imitation Game, both of which I thoroughly enjoyed. 

May 21^st!

I got off the plane at 06:35 Dublin time, which is approximately 1 in the morning Eastern Standard Time, and the fun began. I got on a shuttle and headed to my hostel. I wound up chatting with a bunch of people in line for the shuttle and on the way to the hostel. Apparently I give off an air of knowing what I’m doing during travel, so I had a number of people ask me for directions or advice, which is kind of a strange feeling, but also a really great compliment, and I tried to help the best I could.

The hostel I was staying at was the same one I stayed at last summer in Dublin, which was really nice, because I knew what landmarks to look for when I got off the shuttle and how to get most important places from there. The first thing I did after I dumped my luggage was go shopping. Because the one thing I forgot back home was a jacket, and it was like 40 degrees Fahrenheit (6 degrees Celsius) in Dublin. And I was wearing a t-shirt and jeans. So I bought a nice bright purple jacket and went back to the hostel to take the free walking tour at the hostel, because I needed something to keep me on my feet and occupied.

And the tour was great for that. I don’t think I did a tour last time I was in Dublin, so it was really great to get to hear some of the history of the city and see some of the sights. Being in Ireland also really helps me appreciate how terrible the English were to the Irish for a long time, because even the symbolism in the government buildings is just… awful. For example, there is a statue of Justice on top of an arch, but this Justice isn’t blindfolded, because Justice was NOT blind when it came to the Irish. Justice watches and remembers. Shudder

But tragic history aside, we saw a bunch of cool stuff, and I had a great time. I met an Australian guy and we discussed the merits of traveling alone, and I managed to shock everyone by not liking beer, chocolate, and cheese.  It was hilarious. 

After the tour I went and ate an absolutely delicious meat pie before heading back to the hostel.  I checked in, read, and tried desperately not to go to sleep. I had been falling asleep standing up by the end of the walking tour. I was trying to get through the day on caffine and sheer force of will, but it was HARD. So I made myself get up and do things. I went to the Oscar Wilde memorial, which is just one of my favorite memorials for anyone ever. I probably wrote about it in my blogs for my trip to Dublin last time, but it really struck me again this time. 

Because what the Oscar Wilde memorial makes me realize is how impersonal most memorials are. They tend to be big blocks of stone, and the most personal touch is a quote or a statue, but I always go to the Oscar Wilde memorial and think that the people who designed it understood Oscar Wilde. There’s the terribly gaudy mutl-colored marble statue of him, which I would hate in any other context, but Oscar Wilde is not a plain, classy white marble kind of guy. And this statue is reclining on a giant rock, smoking a pipe, and looking like he’s judging you. 

Which he probably is, let's be real. And then there are the pillars. There are two of them, each with a statue on top: one male and one female. The pillars themselves are black and covered in quotes from Oscar Wilde. 

And actually, there was a special adornment on the memorial when I was there because on Friday Ireland had a referendum on whether or not to allow same-sex couples to marry. There were posters all over the city, most featuring either the word "YES" very large or "NO" very large. And on Thursday when I visited the Oscar Wilde Memorial, someone had done this 

I think Oscar would have approved. And that's really the thing. I feel like this whole memorial really captures the spirit of the man its dedicated to, and it really shows how Oscar Wilde would have liked to be remembered. 

So then I went and wandered a little bit. I did a little shopping, sat in St. Stephen's Green and read, wandered, and got take out samosas from an Indian restaurant on my way to the Anglican Cathedral of Dublin. I went and listened to evensong service, which was beautiful. Sung services are absolutely my favorite kind. Unfortunately, the sitting listening to beautiful music in a prayerful attitude made me very sleepy indeed, and I may have dozed off slightly, but I'm glad I went nonetheless. After that I  headed back to my hostel, took a much-needed shower, and hit the hay. 

Even as tired as I was my first day in Ireland, it was really good to be back here. Ireland is one of my favorite places on Earth and it felt like coming home to be back in Dublin. I missed the way things felt in Europe: the atmosphere, the pace of life, the ubiquity of churches, the different accents and multiple languages. Coming back to Dublin was great, because I knew my way around, I knew landmarks, and, more esoterically, I knew the sights and smells and rhythms of the city. I'm really glad that I chose to fly into Dublin, and I'm even more glad that I'm back on my proper content. 

Next time on Katie's Blog 2.0....

the non-jetlagged day in Ireland. 

The Münsters

ZURICH! So, I got to Zurich and there was some sort of strange Dance thingy going on in the station, and there were like 300 people all swing dancing in the middle of the train station while somebody called the steps in a wonderful mix of German and English. It was a great way to get into the city.

Then I stopped by the tourist office to pick up a map and some directions to my hostel. My hostel was… a ways from the city center. It was nice enough, just far away. Hosteling isn’t a thing in Switzerland like it is some places, it would seem. Because I didn’t have a lot of choice in location. But it worked out.

So after I checked in, I headed back out. I went for a lovely walk along the shores of lake Zurich, which, like Geneva is in a basin on a lake surrounded by mountains. It is truly lovely.

So the tourist map has this recommended route on it, and I decided to take some of it, and walked by the plaza with the opera in it. While there I bought a bratwurst and some bread from a vendor, because that’s about what I could afford for dinner (seriously. So expensive.) and sat by the lake a while.

I then continued on up the river to the Grossmünster, which in German means something along the lines of “Greatminister” (like Westminister). But my knowledge of German combined with my English brain just sees, “BIG MONSTER” which is funnier. (“groß” means “big” in German) But it was a lovely church. That did not permit any photos. Which was SAD. Because it was beautiful. It’s the most important church in Zürich, and was the home base of Zwingli. Because Switzerland was all about dat reformation (well, about half of it was. The other half… not so much.) And it’s really cool looking, inside and out.

So then I walked uphill, just kind of exploring the city, and I found some nice gardens that looked out over the city and the lake, so I sat and read there for a while and admired the view. I kept climbing and found the university, which likewise has a nice view, and the hospital, which has a nice park attached. I just kind of chilled and read and enjoyed the view for a bit. When it started to get later, I headed back down the hill (and bought a 24 hour tram pass. Which was a good investment) and back to my hostel. I chilled there for a bit and hit the hay. The people in my room were very interesting, and I did stay up later due to conversations with them. There was a woman living in Spain, so we had a good time comparing stories, and a Kiwi who lived in Florida for a year, and seemed to have a generally interesting life.

The next day, I got up early (watched the penultimate episode of OUAT this season), ate breakfast, and headed out. I took a free walking tour of the city, which is always fun. We visited several famous and important sites, including the Fraumünster (again, Dameminister? Lady Minister? Something. “Frau” is woman/Mrs./Ms./Ma’am. But I’m like, “LADY MONSTER.” And that’s what they call maturity.) Which actually has a supercool history. Because apparently, there was some King, and he wanted to give his daughter a present, so he built a convent there, and the nuns there basically ruled Zurich for a while. Like, they chose the mayor and collected all the taxes. And then for some reason the guilds in the Middle Ages didn’t like a bunch of nuns telling them what to do and they seized power. Whoops.

Also, Tina Turner got married there.

And then we walked up a very tall hill to the OTHER famous Church in Zurich, which fortunately for all of you, the good people of Geneva decided to call St. Peter instead of like PETERSMONSTER! I mean, minister. And then after the tour the guide was very nice and gave us chocolates, and one of the tour people gave her chocolates to me. Because I was easily the youngest person on the tour, and we had been talking, and she wanted to help out the “starving college student” which was nice. Those chocolates constituted a decent portion of what I ate that afternoon. The other bit was the brownie voucher we also got at the end of the tour. I ate the brownie. Not the voucher. Eating the voucher would have been a waste.

So then I went off and explored some more. I found the place where Vladimir Lenin lived when he was exiled from Russia before the whole Bolshevik revolution.

Oh, so then I did stop at a grocery store and have a chicken curry strudel for lunch. If that isn’t multiculturalism I don’t know what is. It was also delicious. And then I sort of followed the rest of the recommended tourist route, which was nice.

I then took advantage of my bus pass and went up to some further out part of town, where I caught a funicular up one of the mountains surrounding Zurich. I’m not 100% sure of where I wound, up but it was gorgeous, and had a beautiful view of the city and the lake and the mountains. So I was pretty content to just wander around out in the sunshine and the beautiful day. I then walked about half an hour through some trails to the zoo. I didn’t actually go to the zoo, but I walked around some of the area outside it, which was stunning. It made me feel like I was in the Sound of Music. It was great.

But then I went back down the mountain to continue on with the PLAN. Which involved continuing on with the recommended tour, right by the post office, and on to the docks. From there, I took a nice little 30 minute cruise up and down the river, which was a lovely way to see the city. Then I went back to the grocery store in an attempt to eat and not bankrupt my entire family for generations to come. Then I went back to the docks, and took a much longer cruise around the upper part of lake Zurich.

This was truly spectacular. I got to see the mountains, get out of town for a little bit, enjoy the crisp spring air. It was great. I even met a very nice guy from North Africa, and got to practice my French. Which is turning out to be a very useful language. Glad I’m learning it.

So after the delightful boat ride (that I have lots of pictures from) I walked back to the train station to await my night train to Budapest. Most entertainingly, I found a bookstore, which had an English section, and I enjoyed seeing what they had.

But yeah, I got on my train to Budapest at like 10:30, settled into my bunk, and passed out pretty quickly.

And that was Zurich.

Do You Want A Reformation?

 This is irrelevant, but it's from my morning in Cherbourg. Because I was unaware that Earl Grey was a person, or that he continued to provide his stamp to the tea named after him. I was amused.

SO! I woke up pretty dang early the next morning and packed my still slightly damp clothes up, ate breakfast, and headed out to the train station. Fortunately, it was drizzling a bit, which concealed the fact that I had to don the wettest of my clothes. So I got on the train to Paris, and it was nice. I mean, not perfect, but it wasn't a bad ride.

Then I got to Paris and had to change train stations, which was a bit crazy, because dealing with the Paris metro can be difficult, especially when busy, and I was carrying 20kilos of stuff. But I got through it. And getting through stuff like that is a very positive thing for me. It reminds me that I can do this. Because I can.

So anyway, uneventful train ride to Switzerland.

Which was just as lovely as you might expect.

 Seriously,

First Ireland was stereotypical, 

 Now Switzerland. Not that I'm complaining.

So I got to Lausanne and changed trains for Geneva, once again, without incident. I also got some money out, because for the first time since January, I was off the Euro. I missed the Euro. I know how to deal with the Euro. It doesn't require thought anymore, the Swiss Franc... required effort. But at least it wasn't as bad as the Hungarian Forint, that required effort and MATH. But more on the delights of the Forint later.

I got safely to Geneva and found my airbnb after getting only slightly lost. My hosts seemed very nice, and my futon comfy, so I headed out to see the sights.

 And sights there were.

 So I walked along the edge of the gorgeous Lake Geneva

 past the harbor,

 and the lovely tree-lined avenue that runs by the lake

 and stared off at the mountains in the distance.

 Even the water looked nice.

 Though it was WAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYY to cold to think about getting in it.

 So I just took pictures of all the lovely views.

 Because Switzerland is a picturesque place.

 And so is lake Geneva.

 It is also a very windy place.

 I'm sorry, I just love that picture. I look like a puppy dog.

 So this is the famous Geneva Jet d'eau. It was turned off the entire time I was there.

 And that's called irony, folks.

 These are the big hotels in the city

 and they are surprisingly lovely from the outside as well.

 And that's the lighthouse and the harbor entrance.

 There were a lot of boats

 and also flags.

 I'm not gonna lie,

 whenever I see flags, or type the word I think of that Eddie Izzard sketch.

 and in my head I say it in his British accent like,

 "FLAAAAAGSS"

 So, the weekend I was there was also the weekend of the Geneva marathon, which wound up being really cool.

 The main center of activities was in a park that I had to pass to get to the city center, so I got to see all the festivities and such. It was cool.

 So continuing across the bridge where the river meets lake Geneva,

 there was a boat with a comically large Swiss flag.

The Swiss like their flag. 

 This is the statue that commemorates Geneva's entrance into the Helvetic Confederation (which later became Switzerland.

 And this is the bridge.

 Not the the flags.

 It's the flag of Geneva, the UNICEF flag (because that's what the marathon was sponsoring) and, of course, the Swiss flag.

 It was very windy,

 note the flags,

 But a beautiful day nonetheless.

 What I really loved about Geneva

 other than the obvious religious history there

 (more on that tomorrow)

 I don't know what that building is, but it was pretty.

 Oh, yeah, that way to Montana. (I think it's the name of a hotel, but I was amused)

 ANYWAY, what I loved about Geneva is that it's this beautiful lake town

 that sort of sits in this bowl

 surrounded by all these mountains,

 and just everywhere you look

 there's something spectacular.

 So, yeah,

 basically I just had a good time walking around

 taking pictures, relaxing after the travel day.

 Though when I went back by the marathon, there were a bunch of people doing Zumba, so I joined in for a couple songs. It was really fun. I needed to move after being on a train all day, and then a ferry the day before.

 And yeah, I walked along the marathon route

 fortunately, the marathon wasn't til Sunday.


So then I went and had some very expensive Chinese for dinner (seriously, Switzerland was SOOOOOOOOOOO expensive. I saw a vending machine where a candy bar cost $3. WHAT IS THIS?!!!?

And then I went back to my airbnb and went to bed.

The next morning, I headed out back along the marathon route and by the lake. I went to the tourist information office and got a map, and to the train station and got some tickets for my future journeys in Switzerland, and then I started walking over to the UN. On the way I stopped for lunch.

 I passed the University of Geneva, which the Rockerfellers apparently sponsored. Actually, I've seen several things with that name on it in my travels. Go figure.

 And saw the UN building.

 And a very famous statue of a chair with a broken leg.

 Side note: it was windy.

 But the UN was nice.

 And there was a cool little park beside it.

 With these maps of the world.

 Look, that's where I came from!

 And that's Asia.

 I'm pretty sure I was trying to point to Geneva in that picture, but I was obviously unsuccessful.

 Then I went to the botanical gardens,

 beaus that's always a nice walk.

 And then I walked back towards town along the lake.

 It was really beautiful.

 And really

 REALLY

 cold.

 I was not anticipating the cold.

 But the wind was coming really strong off the lake

 and it was just cold.

 Nonetheless,

 it was a really nice walk.

 There was also this exhibition of political cartoons along the shore, and I had a really great time reading those. They were from all over the world, which was FASCINATING.

 and the lake

 the source of the wind.

 And then it got CLOUDY.

 Which was terribly dramatic and all.

 Especially for my walk out to the lighthouse. But note the person hiding behind the wall to get out of the wind.

 Gee, I wonder why.

 Hey guys! You know how I like to take pictures of signs telling me not to do something I'm about to do?

 I didn't do this one.

 FLAAAAAAGGGSSSS

 So Geneva is very proud of its role in the Protestant Reformation

 As well they should be.

 So in this square they have St. Peter's Cathedral,

 which is the church that John Calvin adopted when he wound up in Geneva.

 Also, the museum of the reformation

 Which is very nice.

 and may have lead to major dorking out.

 I have to go back so I can actually go inside it.

 They also have the building where... I don't know, but it's got something to do with Calvin.

 But that is the awkward looking main entrance to the cathedral. Who decided to go neoclassical?

 That's much better.

 What a cathedral should look like.

All Gothic.

 Calvin's chair.

 So I know it used to be a proper Roman Catholic sort of church

 but it was surprisingly sumptuous for a Church that the protestants got their hands on.

 I climbed the bell tower.

 Which is always cool.

 I mean, look at that view.

 It was also very very cold up there.

 More so than down on the ground.

 Obviously.

 Sometimes it's just too dark.

 So there were views all around

 not just of the lake,

 and there were bells, as one would expect.

 I don't know what that is, but it looks funny.

 But despite its protestantism, it kind of looked like a normal cathedral.

 With the requisite spectacular views

 because Geneva is a lovely place.

 bit windy, though.

 Wow. The lake is a much prettier color than even I remember.

 I think I was just cold at that point.

 A model of the church.

 in all its neoclassical glory.

 ALL THE STAIRS!

 This was my favorite chapel.

 I did always like the Rohirrim

 For those of you who missed that joke, it's Lord of the Rings.

 One of the countries is named Rohan.

 Also, apparently some duke in France or Switzerland or something.

 This is an old chapel that was redesigned in...

 neo-gothic?

 I'm not as good at architecture as I would like.

 I think it was originally flamboyant gothic

 but I know that when I see it.

 and it's much less warm.

 But it was pretty

 and very elaborate.

 And it had a very old organ.

 Which the protestants didn't use.

So then I left the cathedral and headed out to the Reformation monument.

 And passed some random cannons.

 So this is the reformation monument

 It's got statues of a bunch of famous reformers

 and these are the big ones.

 One of them is Calvin, and I think another is Zwingli, but I'm not sure. None of them are Luther. In fact, Luther does not have a statue, which initially concerned me, because SERIOUSLY??!!?!?

 But they actually gave him his own plinth off to the side.

 That would be the "u" in "Luther"

 Because I'm pretty sure doing that would have pissed off the reformers.

 Oh, no Zwingli got his own plinth too.

 So you know how there's that stereotype of old men playing chess in the park?

 It's a little cooler than that in Geneva.

 So then I walked on to the Opera house.

 Which made me want to see opera.

 So nothing new, really.

 This is the famous flower clock of Geneva.

 And it is lovely.

 also, accurate.

 It does have numbers, they're just made from the flowers.

So then I got really cold, and I was very tired, and had things to do, so I went back to the apartment and did them and then crashed.

The next morning, I woke up and headed out to the train station with all my stuff.

 It was kind of cold and windy.

 Also, the marathon was going on.

 And it was really fun to walk past that.

 Everybody was cheering and having fun and I'm glad I got to be there.

And I got to the station and got on my train for Zurich. And that was