apriha.com » Italy http://apriha.com A photo weblog of my travels. Tue, 31 Aug 2010 21:57:53 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 en hourly 1 The Great Untold Adventures of Yesteryear http://apriha.com/2009/03/01/the-great-untold-adventures-of-yesteryear/ http://apriha.com/2009/03/01/the-great-untold-adventures-of-yesteryear/#comments Mon, 02 Mar 2009 02:53:51 +0000 Andrew Riha http://apriha.com/?p=756 Observant readers will remember a brief mention of Eurotrip III back towards the end of 2007, with no word since. (Sorry, things were busy.) Over the next few months I plan to remedy that and tell the tales about the trips that have taken place since then and that I haven’t had a chance to write about yet.

Included in this recap of past trips are Eurotrip III (Germany and Spain), a trip to Turkey (Istanbul and Ankara), a ski holiday in France, a road trip through the American West, and Eurotrip IV (Hungary, the Czech Republic, Germany, and Italy). Stay tuned!

]]> http://apriha.com/2009/03/01/the-great-untold-adventures-of-yesteryear/feed/ 1 Milan Train Station http://apriha.com/2007/10/16/milan-train-station/ http://apriha.com/2007/10/16/milan-train-station/#comments Tue, 16 Oct 2007 09:55:17 +0000 Andrew Riha http://apriha.com/2007/10/16/milan-train-station/ No matter how we looked at it, getting from the Cinque Terre to Gimmelwald, Switzerland was not going to be easy. I knew this from the instant I saw possible train schedules on the Swiss Rail website. The best trip would take nine hours and would involve six tight connections between five trains, a bus, and a cable car. Missing any one of these connections would leave us stranded in a train station late at night with no place to sleep and would set our trip behind by at least a day. We could not miss a connection.

As a testament to the difficulty of our plan, the friendly ticket lady in the Florence train station laughed at the schedule I handed her and called over her colleagues to look at it. Yes, even a seasoned railway employee thought we were nuts. We must’ve earned her respect, though, since she was more than eager to help us work out the details of the mandatory train reservations.

Swiss trains are notorious for their timeliness, literally departing and arriving within seconds of their scheduled times. Therefore, we were somewhat concerned when we pulled into the Milan train station with only ten minutes to get to some unknown platform and on the train to Switzerland. Needless to say, the instant the train stopped we had no choice but to run!

Dodging in and out of the crowd with full packs, we made our way to the front of the surprisingly long train on platform 18. We soon learned that our Swiss train was on platform 3, which was the complete opposite side of the station. Another run ensued, and we boarded just minutes before the conductor blew his whistle. We were off to Switzerland.

A date with destiny: my ticket to Switzerland.

T-minus 11 minutes and still on the train rolling into Milan.

We made it, with two minutes to spare!

]]> http://apriha.com/2007/10/16/milan-train-station/feed/ 1 The Cinque Terre http://apriha.com/2007/10/15/the-cinque-terre/ http://apriha.com/2007/10/15/the-cinque-terre/#comments Mon, 15 Oct 2007 21:57:01 +0000 Andrew Riha http://apriha.com/2007/10/15/the-cinque-terre/ After Pisa, we CouchSurfed with Ernesto in La Spezia before we entered the Cinque Terre. The Cinque Terre (literally the five lands) consists of five coastal villages along the Mediterranean and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

With Ernesto’s help, we planned a five hour visit of the Cinque Terre combining trains and hiking. John and I started in Riomaggiore, and to make a long story short, trains were delayed, hiking trails were closed, and we were soon “stuck” for two hours in the second smallest village of Manarola.

I’m sad to say we had become “checklist” travelers – we were focussed on getting out of Manarola and continuing down the Cinque Terre in order to see as much as possible in our five hours. Once we realized this, we were finally able to open our eyes and see the amazing scenery surrounding us. A valuable lesson learned, the two hours we spent hiking around Manarola were some of the best spent in the Cinque Terre.

After Manarola, we visited Vernazza and Monterosso before it was time to master public transportation.

The sky begins to clear.

The way is closed; our plans change as we become “stuck” in Manarola.

Facades in Manarola.

Vernazza from the hiking trail.

Monterosso during the off-season.

]]> http://apriha.com/2007/10/15/the-cinque-terre/feed/ 0 Pisa http://apriha.com/2007/10/12/pisa/ http://apriha.com/2007/10/12/pisa/#comments Fri, 12 Oct 2007 19:46:06 +0000 Andrew Riha http://apriha.com/2007/10/12/pisa/ The next stop in our journey was the Piazza Dei Miracoli in Pisa to pose with the Leaning Tower. We arrived just as it was getting dark, and coupled with the rain, we found ourselves in a deserted plaza gazing on “one the world’s greatest cock-ups,” as Lonely Planet so affectionately refers to the tower.

Obligatory tourist photos in hand, it was time to run to catch our train to the Cinque Terre!

John pushing the Leaning Tower…

…and me holding it up.

]]> http://apriha.com/2007/10/12/pisa/feed/ 0 Florence http://apriha.com/2007/10/11/florence/ http://apriha.com/2007/10/11/florence/#comments Thu, 11 Oct 2007 22:08:46 +0000 Andrew Riha http://apriha.com/2007/10/11/florence/ There’s quite a bit to see in Florence, so in an attempt to maximize the experiences/time ratio, our day there was spent walking around the city guided by Lonely Planet, climbing the dome of the Duomo cathedral, and eating lots of food (steak, buffalo milk mozzarella, tortellini with rabbit, and gellato).

Unfortunately, it was also one of the five days a year it rains. And when it rains, it poors – luckily for us the streets were flooded with street vendors selling umbrellas for the bargain price of €3.

Florence from the dome of the Duomo.

According to legend, if you rub the porker’s snout and drop a coin in the fountain, you’re going to return to Florence. Here’s to hoping that’s true!

The best Bistecca alla Fiorentina (T-bone steak) that I’ve ever had.

The Ponte Veccio (old bridge) in Florence.

]]> http://apriha.com/2007/10/11/florence/feed/ 1 Rome http://apriha.com/2007/10/10/rome/ http://apriha.com/2007/10/10/rome/#comments Wed, 10 Oct 2007 16:00:31 +0000 Andrew Riha http://apriha.com/2007/10/10/rome/ Given the breakneck pace of our trip, I only had one day to see Rome (John had already been there for two days). Utilizing Metro Lines A and B, we managed to see the Sistine Chapel, St. Peter’s Basilica, the Colosseum, Palatine Hill, and the Roman Forum. Not bad for about 7 hours, but I definitely want to come back someday to see it again.

The Hall of Maps in the Vatican Museum.

Inside St. Peter’s Basilica.

The view of the Roman Forum from Palatine Hill.

Inside the Colosseum - the floor has been partially reconstructed.

The Colosseum.

Metro B on the way back to Roma Termini.

]]> http://apriha.com/2007/10/10/rome/feed/ 0 Italy http://apriha.com/2007/10/09/italy/ http://apriha.com/2007/10/09/italy/#comments Tue, 09 Oct 2007 21:24:20 +0000 Andrew Riha http://apriha.com/2007/10/09/italy/ With no other means of communication, John and I arranged to meet by the spire of the Pantheon in Rome at 6:00pm on September 25th. I arrived an hour late because of transportation to find John walking around the spire looking for me amongst the crowd. Not wanting to mess up an opportunity for the perfect surprise, I tapped him on the shoulder saying, “Wow, that sure is somthing – that’s been there for over 2000 years!” The Eurotrip had officially begun!

Our journey through Italy would last 3 days, with stops in Rome, Florence, Pisa, La Spezia, the Cinque Terre, and the Milan train station.

The photos below are from the flight to Rome and my first night there.

Flying Ryanair near Eindhoven, the Netherlands.

The 2000 year old Pantheon and its spire.

Inside the Pantheon.

Me drinking from the fountain in the Piazza di Spagna.

John on the steps of the Piazza di Spagna.

]]> http://apriha.com/2007/10/09/italy/feed/ 1 Eurotrip I http://apriha.com/2007/10/08/eurotrip/ http://apriha.com/2007/10/08/eurotrip/#comments Mon, 08 Oct 2007 19:04:54 +0000 Andrew Riha http://apriha.com/2007/10/08/eurotrip/ From September 25 – October 6, I traveled with a friend from Minnesota on a whistle-stop tour of Europe. Over 11 days, John and I managed to visit four countries (Italy, Switzerland, Germany, and Belgium), master public transportation, witness a small avalanche, hike into a glacier, eat amazing foods, participate in the world’s largest fair, and take over 1000 photos. Over the next few days I’ll be posting some of the highlights of the trip and my favorite photos.

To answer the popular question, yes I am taking classes this semester! Because of the scheduling here at TU Delft, though, I only have one class this quarter, which meets once a week. So, there’s some free time to explore a bit. :)

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