Overall, a couple lazy days, with some time to do some work on Splody.
I do a little exploring on my first full day in Venice, deciding to head over to a church which has a flooded crypt you can tour. On my way, I pass through Campo di San Marco (“St. Mark’s Square”), the biggest tourist hub in Venice. It is full of tourists so I run the other way, but not until after grabbing a shot of the front of Basilica di San Marco. Continue reading “Venetian Wanderings”
In the morning I board my 6 hour train trip from Zermatt to Venice, with just one transfer near the beginning of the trip, so most of it is spent comfortably in the high speed train going from Brig to Venice. It is a nice train, and my Eurail pass gets me first class seats which are even better. I finally get a few hours to just spend working on Splody so do not notice much of what the train passes by, though a lot of it is in tunnels or through uninteresting urban areas. In the afternoon I am greeted with my first sight of Venice, and the city is covered in clouds, and being rained on, which I later deduce must happen a lot of days in the early afternoon, but it is pretty clear by the time I get off of my train, onto the city, and walk a bridge across the Grand Canal.
When I watched the first couple episodes of Your Lie in April at Fanime, I got really into it, and was very excited to have my anime night start watching it. However, when we started watching it as a group, one episode a week, I did not get anywhere near as into it as I remembered I had been. I’m not sure about the other members of my group, but I don’t think any got really caught up in it. I chalked this up to my sleep-deprived state at Fanime giving me a skewer perception of the show or something. However, I watched more of Your Lie in April both Saturday and Sunday night, and after a couple episodes, I started getting really invested in it again, with episodes easily bringing tears to my eyes as the first couple did when I first watched them. Continue reading “Anime Marathon Musings”
Back in Zermatt, I start the morning with one of the cans of Mountain Dew I brought back with me from Lucerne. This made-in-Germany Dew is not quite the same as what I’m used to. The ingredient list looks different, and not just because it’s in German. Sugar and not high fructose corn syrup. No Yellow 5. That last one is very noticeable as I pour the contents of the can into a glass, and it looks more the color of brandy, and less the color of radioactive urine. Though very similar in taste, I guess I’m particular, and I’d rank this around the same as most other sodas I might enjoy – Dr Pepper or Cherry Coke – but not the precise acquired taste I have for Mtn Dew. Continue reading “Zercatts”
The day before, when walking past the beautiful Jesuit church, the doors were locked, but I saw they had a 7am daily mass, so this morning I wake up with the sunrise intent on catching the morning mass and having a look around the church. Sadly, when I got there, a moment before 7, the doors were still locked. After a bit of exploration I deduce there must be some back entrance the faithful use, but I am unable to find it before it is too late to be proper to walk in. I guess I’ll give myself more time when I next try to find my way into a seemingly locked building. Continue reading “Trains, Planes, Automobiles, and Boats”
More than two days in a row skiing is too much for me, so I decided to go to Lucerne for a couple days. This was the one place that I seemed to have been recommended the most when talking about my trip, despite having never heard of it before. I got up and caught an early train to Lucerne, and when I got there I was starving, so went in to the nearest shop that looked inexpensive, and a pizza was consumed.
Today my legs are feeling a bit burnt out from all of the powder skiing yesterday, and the snow conditions have reverted to pretty mediocre – everything melted and froze over night, so it’s ice in the morning and slush in the afternoon – so only a little skiing today, with frequent photo stops, and then some exploring of the other tourist sites available up on the glacier.
I walk with my skis to the base of the gondola, a little far away, but not a bad walk. As I walk I get my first glimpse of the Matterhorn, dominating the horizon from below, though was not as impressive up closer, as is often the case with large things. Lift tickets are expensive here, even more expensive than the recent price increases at Tahoe! As I ride the gondola up, I get nice views of Zermatt, covered in snow. Continue reading “Fresh Powder!”
My first long distance train travel in Europe! First of many, I’m sure.
I have too much stuff.
Luckily half of this stuff (my skis, boots, and winter gear) is only going as far as Zermatt, but it’s slightly more than I can carry reasonably, so I end up exhausted after the rather short walk to and from the train station. Luckily I have plenty of time to rest on the trains. This train ride is where I started processing my photos and preparing my blog posts. As I write and edit this, I’m preparing my next set of blog posts on a train on its way to Lucerne, so I think this will become a pattern for me. Continue reading “To Zermatt!”
Slept in quite late, I think I slept 10-11 hours, feeling a bit groggy, but probably over my jet-lag. Feeling a bit sad about time lost to sleeping that could have been working on my Ludum Dare submission (or touristing), but recovering from jet lag is important.
Spent the morning programming, and then went out to find some lunch. I sat down at an outside seat at a nice little pub, which was completely empty, that had reasonably priced sandwiches, placed my order, and then it started raining hard and gusting wind, so I moved inside, as did a bunch of other passerbys and in moments it was a pretty popular place. Continue reading “Ludum Dare in Geneva Day 2”
Jimbly's Wanderings 