Wow, I’ve been busy… I’m not sure where to start.
I’ve been in Europe since June 6th and it’s been nonstop. I started in Dublin visiting my friends Deb and Colin. They’ve got a really nice place and they are two of the coolest people I know. Colin took time off from work and accompanied me along all of the touristy stuff (the Guinness Factory was a definite highlight) and then took me along the coast of the Irish Sea. They took me to a great pub and we stayed in and cooked one night. All in all, it was a great time and I look forward to my next visit.
After that, I flew over to London and spent a few nights there wandering the city. I took one of those free walking tours and I got to see the main sights. I got to meet up with my friend Wojtek for a bit and then headed out to my gig in Italy.
Italy this year was pretty frustrating. This is my third summer working for this company (La Musica Lirica) and it was definitely the most disappointing. I mean, I’m proud of the work the interns and I did. The task at hand was nearly impossible. We had a mere two weeks to build a permanent universal set (this was a series of wheeled, skeletal structures to support scenic flats and accommodate for doorways and windows, etc. for all of the company’s operas), the scenic flats for two operas (big ones – Boheme and Figaro) with just one saw and one drill, extremely limited resources/budget - all in the middle of small town Italian culture (language barrier, noon-4:30 store closings, etc.) without a car, cell phone or realized budget. The interns worked their tails off. Tech week was hell and by the end, the product that I was presenting was (forced by my restrictions) severely mediocre. Never in my life have I labored so very hard on something for it to come out so embarrassingly lukewarm. It wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t what I wanted to present.
I hold a very high standard for the product I put out and I found it hard to find that balance of: A) hanging my head in shame from not being able to accomplish what I wanted and B) lifting my head up for the immense amount of shear labor my team and I put ourselves through. I found myself conflicted between approaching my colleagues with my tail between my legs or approaching them defensively like a beaten dog knowing full well that they didn’t have the slightest clue as to how much work had truly gone into this project. Trust me, keeping sleep deprived, volunteer workers’ moral up after the director tells them after opening night how disappointed he was as they limp and hobble into the meeting, covered in bruises, scrapes, cuts and paint was a challenge in and of itself. I was happy however that once the tours began to run, I was able to let the interns go to the beach and sleep in a bit. They worked very hard and I truly appreciated it and give them much respect.
After the program, I decided to take two weeks and travel a bit. It was just what I needed after the year I had - let alone the program I just left. That pretty much brings me up to date. I spent the first part of my travels in Rome with the interns and Jason (who was able to come out and visit!!) On my last day in there, after two interns and Jason went back to the states, Molly and I rented a scooter and cruised through Rome, spinning around the Coliseum then out to the beach – definitely one of the coolest things I’ve done – very. very. fun.
My next destination was Switzerland with a pit stop in Pisa to see the famed leaning tower. As my train coasted north along the western shoreline, my eyes were fixed out the window at the absolute beauty of northwest Italy. The sea was a deep, rich, sparkling blue with some of the most vibrantly colored flowers and foliage surrounding every orange-roofed home and lazy walkway. I watched as the sun drenched everything, speeding past the locals and winding along the sandy beaches and rocky cliffs that make up the coast. Amazing.
I arrived in Interlaken, Switzerland in the early evening – just in time to watch the sun set behind the Alps. Breathtaking. The hostel I had hastily booked turned out to be ok. It was a bit of a party hostel with a bar and club attached, but I didn’t much care for it. I was out hiking by 8:30 in the morning. Both of the lakes were beautiful. The water was a bright, blue – crystal clear. The trails were beautiful and I was able to hike to a couple of old ruins. I hiked up the side of one of the mountains for one insane view of the eastern lake. Gorgeous. I wasn’t prepped for how much Interlaken was an adrenalin, extreme-sport town. Everywhere I looked there was a booth for paragliding, skydiving, canyoning, etc. If I ever make it back there, I’ll have to budget for it, because it all looked like so much fun. I’d look up and see over a dozen paragliders soaring through the sky like aimless birds.
As I looked for a hostel for my next destination I couldn’t find any that fit my price range. I had waited too long to book a cheap hostel in Bern or Luzern and the internet at the hostel in Interlaken was expensive and I only had three minutes left in my session. I quickly found a random hostel in a random town that fit my price and had good reviews. As I printed out the confirmation, I realized I’d never heard of this town. I looked on the Eurail map and it wasn’t on there either. I panicked for a bit but when I went to the train station and asked for a ticket to a town called Gryon, the ticket agent told me that my Eurail pass covered it. I had to transfer a couple times and the final train I took was a cog train up to this smaller mountaintop where Gryon is located, surrounded by the most impressive set of mountains I’ve ever seen.
This has been BY FAR the most amazing hostel I’ve ever stayed in. It’s a chalet hostel resort totally secluded from everything. Spotless clean and ridiculously ornate, the large, open, rustic style of this chalet gives way to a truly relaxing and carefree break from the rest of the world. I walk out to the large back deck, take in a deep breath of clean fresh air, look out to the vast view of the Swiss Alps and hear nothing but the sweet sounds of nature. There are hammocks, overstuffed leather couches, multiple lounge areas, great beds, a nightly campfire and a large kitchen with outdoor grill. It’s summer camp for twenty somethings. So many people here have stumbled across this place and simply stayed, canceling the rest of their plans to stay in paradise.
Yesterday, I took the hike of my life. It was a 9 hour hike up to the top of this ridge surrounded by massively jagged, awe-commanding mountains. I passed through farms, forests, rivers, waterfalls and paths of stone. At the top, there’s a view of the next set of mountains and (randomly) a very small, family ran farm with a modest restaurant for passing hikers. I sat at one of the outdoor tables and had an incredible meal of ham and potatoes and continued around the ridge to circle back home. Filling my water bottle straight from the waterfalls, I hiked along the river and watched the sunset turn the grey Alps to silver, to pink, to purple, to heavy blue. That night (last night) I sat around the campfire with a bottle of wine and met a few other travelers and watched the stars.
This has been the highlight of any of my travels. This is a place I’d come back to in a heartbeat. It’s good for hiking, skiing, glacier hiking, mountain climbing, etc… but also good for doing simply nothing. The people are great and the atmosphere is unbeatable.
Tomorrow I head to Vienna, Austria. I’m looking forward to it. I’ll get to meet up with a friend there from the Italy program. Then, I’m off to Hungary before going back to New York. I’m starting to miss home and I’m very much looking forward to settling in and getting stable as I’m sure Jason is too. It may be rocky for the first couple weeks back home as I look for a job and get my feet back on the ground, but things will be good. Things are looking bright. ☺
