Mia and I visited Europe in September 2006.

Our trip started in western Switzerland.

She presented at a conference in Switzerland, which gave us the excuse.  Our trip was 3 days in Switzerland,
followed by 4 days in Venice, 4 days in Paris, and 4 days in Brussels, approximately.


The beautiful countryside surrounding Villars-Sur-Ollon, southeast of lake Geneva, the town where Mia's
conference was held.


How they keep the mountainsides looking so beautiful.  This probably also negatively affects the cost of living.
On this road, we're headed out of Villars-Sur-Ollon on our way to the roads along the Glacier Express Route
and to Lia, a relative living in Davos.




Along the way, there were many quaint towns, where the road would get very narrow.  The views are
more open and the land more lush in comparison to the Rockies along I-70, making the views more muted too.


I thought it would be a relatively quick drive, and the weather was gorgeous, but some of the mountainsides (FurkaPass here) took a
while to get up and down.


Here we are in Lia's home.  Mia has really enjoyed meeting my relatives, and has known my grandmother (Lia's sister-in-law) and mother.
She said that of all the people we saw in Davos, Lia is the one she thought I would be related to.  On the right, on top of one of the
Davos mountains.  It looked like a moonscape up there.


Heading back down from the mountain into Davos.


We then drove to Venice.



The first full day there, we started with a trip along the No. 1 vaporetto along the Grand Canal. This is at
the Rialto Bridge.


The doorways opening directly at water level is pretty neat, and a little trusting.  It's really awesome to think
of people going so far out of their way to, over hundreds of years, build a city on top of virtually nothing. 
Some interesting forces at work.  Also, we noted that with all the tourist money coming in, they might be
able to restucco and polish off some of the dilapitated look of the place.  It's as if the city stopped caring
for itself the day Napolean came, 200 years ago.  Anyway, I don't want to get on a rant.


Also along the Canal were a number of beautiful churches.


At St. Mark's Square and Basillica.  Throughout our adventures, these one-handed shots are quite common.  They may get a little old...


At the Doge's Palace, neighboring St. Mark's Basillica.  This was very cool. 
A note: We bought Venice Cards for our trip.  Many of the conveniences seemed like a good deal.  I'm not sure we got our money's worth,
since you don't actually get a savings from the card (it's only a convenience).  Also, the vaporetto pass was relevant only the first time we
got on boat, and we had to insist they sign it.  No one checks pretty much, unless you have luggage with you.  If I were more adventurous,
I might buy a ticket booklet for insurance, and just act like I belong on the boats.


Left: an example of the many interesting places you can find yourself in. 
Right: On the island of Murano, where our hotel was.  We stayed at the Al Sofiador, which is a difficult hotel to locate on the
internet if you don't already know it exists.  It's rates were reasonable (90 euros a night in September is reasonable I guess.
Is that funny to anyone reading this who's stayed comfortably at 20 euro hostels?  Again, it's just not our style.  The hotel
though was great, very quiet and a beautiful room (room number 1 I think)). 


After Venice, we took a long trip to Paris, with a stop in Dijon.

Mia and I had planned on taking two days to get to Paris from Venice, so we could relax a little.  But unlike here, in Europe
the driving directions time of travel estimates are underestimated, in my opinion, and I didn't shy away too much from 130 km
around blind turns.  People drive nuts though.  Anyway, I was in a rush before letting us stop at one place along the way for a
few hours.  I told Mia the route, and she immediately found 4 or 5 things to do in Dijon.  It was a very beautiful town.


In Dijon.  We visited patisseries, then the Hotel de Ville, a museum with some pretty neat stuff.


At the gardens in Dijon.  This was a nice and relaxed visit.

Then we continued on our way to Paris.


Coming up on the Eiffel Tower, and the view from the first level.  It's like 5 euros to the first level and 11 to the top.
I felt we had to go to the top, but if you don't feel that way let me save you the money.  Paralax says the view is
pretty much the same, even less interesting in that everything is smaller.  A very beautiful view though. 

At Notre Dame.  Coming from Venice, one thing I noticed is that the distances one must travel seem huge. If you
stay for a while, do the walking thing once, but use the Metro often.


At the Louvre.  This was a very reasonably priced museum.  For 8 euros you get more pricelessness than you can shake a stick at.
We saw the Mona Lisa, and didn't take an illicit photo like everyone else did.  Warning: I may ruin someone's future impression
here:  The Mona Lisa looks surprisingly exactly like every Mona Lisa picture you've ever seen.  I never really got the Mona Lisa,
and being in its presence didn't help.  That said I'm glad I saw it.

We spent the most time in Paris of all the places we visited.  In the end, we really didn't see a lot.  If you want to really see Paris
and not make a chore of it, you should probably spend a week.  But I can fairly say that of all these places (except Davos,
which can be done in a day, at least in the summer).


Finally, we drove to Brussels and stayed with my uncle Patrick.


The first day, we took the slow train to Amsterdam for an afternoon.
The area we walked around in has three parts, a legitimate commercial area, an area full of bars
and cafes, and a red light district.  Maybe there are more interesting places in Amsterdam,
but I doubt it.


Left: The facades look comical.  Pretty neat.
Right: Near the commercial area, where we picked up some stirfry. This is also where we had awesome fries with garlic mayo sauce.



When we got back to Brussels, Patrick toured with us.  We had five things we had to do in Brussels,
which I would recommend to you as well:

Eat chocolate, Eat fries, Eat mussels, Drink beer, Eat a thick belgian waffle.  

We got to do all of them, and are satisfied with our trip. 


At la Grand Place, day and night.  There's Patrick and Blanche, whose attractiveness as a dog is disproportionate
to the attention garnered by and the impositions endured for her. 
 

Also at the Grand Place, eating snails.  The salty sauce is the best part.  It's hard not to make face like Mia's.


At the Atomiom.  We were in too much of a hurry to want to get inside.  We had stuff to eat, after all.
In fact, that's the approach I hope to take in later vacations.  No tourist trap should bore me when
interesting food is somewhere nearby.


At A La Mort Subite, a bar near the Grand Place where they sell a self-titled beer, that is the best beer I
have ever tasted.  I'm a High-Life man myself, so you may take my opinion how you see fit.  But it's
awesome, with a flavor that lasts.  I mean as long as you're into a nasty acquired taste like beer, this is
damn good stuff.

At Patrick's house, which was my grandmother's.  I'm very relieved that Patrick has secured the
property from being sold out of the family, and that I got to show Mia the place, despite its
current disrepair.

There you go.  That's europe, ruined by my monologue.   One more note, a to-europe onboard movie
was Nacho Libre. ...awesome :-).