My Name is Freedom

Yesterday Chris and I were on a tram in Zurich when it came to a screeching halt. We could hear yelling and chanting when immediately in front of us a group of Muslim demonstrators passed us. There were probably 100.

The man's sign reads:
"My name is Freedom born in Tunisia.
Grown in Egypt.
Studied in Yemen.
Fought in Libya and I will grow in all Arab countries."

Other signs read, "Down with tyranny" and "Lybia is a beautiful land without you and your band".  Many signs had pictures of the those that died during the protests. 


I am truly grateful for the freedoms I posses.  I have the right to vote.  I have freedom of religion.  I have the right to free speech and to protest.  I have the right to a fair trial.  I have the freedom to gain an education and to work.  I know these rights came at the price of an unimaginable number of casualties, but aren't they worth fighting for?

"Freedom is never voluntarily given to the oppressed, it must be demanded by the oppressed."
-Martin Luther King Jr. 

Valentine's in Venezia

Chris and I decided to take a long weekend over Valentine's and drive to Venice, Italy. It was only a 5 hour drive on the fast Italian Autostrade!

Chris on the bridge by our hotel. It was in a great location. Super close to everything and if we opened our window, we could hear the Gondolier's singing to their customers.

We started our trip at Basilica San Marco which had incredible mosaics and marble columns brought back from Constantinople. That night we ate at a traditional Venetian restaurant.

Poor kid getting attacked by dirty pigeons in Piazza San Marco. Yeah, I didn't get near the birds...

Ponte de Rialto on the Grand Canal. I started my Christmas shopping at the Rialto Market which pretty much starts on the bridge and continues along the other side of the Grand Canal. There was tons of Venetian glass, Carnival masks, t-shirts, gondolier outfits and street food.

Top of the Basilica and Doge's Palace taken from the Campanile.

San Giorgio taken from the top of the Campanile. This photo reminded us of our two homes... It was foggy the entire trip like NorCal and there were cranes all over the city just like Swissland!

I really wanted to go to a glass factory on Murano so we asked our concierge to suggest a place. She called one of the factories and they sent a boat to pick us up. The driver dropped us off in front of the factory. We started to get in line to get in and the driver started yelling something and a guy came out of the factory and escorted us in. We totally got the VIP treatment!

This is the master artist working on a glass horse. We had our own tour guide who explained the glass blowing process. Then our guide took us to view their "Masterpiece" collection. When he figured we didn't want to afford any of their 14,000 masterpieces, he kindly escorted us into the gift shop. I mean there are only so many places you can put a $10,000 glass clown.

These are my new friends that were a little early for Carnival. And yes, Ms. White had a 5 o'clock shadow...

Chris in the courtyard of the Doge's Palace.
I'm a little embarrassed to say that we ate dinner Hard Rock Cafe one night. It's been so long since I've had a good hamburger I just couldn't resist.

Chris fell asleep on our gondola ride it was so relaxing. Our gondolier was so nice and tried to sing some American songs for us. I love when people make up their own words...

He was also very good at making cat noises. I don't know if that is a talent they all possess, but it was entertaining none the less.
This quick trip was so fun! I hope we can return when it is a little warmer.

What is that giant orb ablaze in the sky?

After weeks of cloudy gray skies and while Chris was back in SR for work my friend, Amanda, and I decided to head down to Ticino, Switzerland for some sun.
We headed into the 11 mile Gotthard Tunnel leaving behind bleak, freezing Zurich and emerged from it into gorgeous sunshine and 50 degree temp!

We went to Bellinzona which is known for its 3 castles: Castelgrande, Montebello, and Sasso Corbaro.

Courtyard of Castelgrande overlooking the old city and Collegiata dei Ss. Pietro e Stefano (the church). Also, Montebello on the adjacent hill and Sasso Corbaro on the hilltop.

Cool stairs. They totally freaked me out when I was trying to come down them.

Before heading to the other castles, we had a leisurely walk through the old city and had a great lunch. This is in front of Collegiata dei Ss. Pietro e Stefano.

We didn't really know how to get to the hill top where Sasso Corbaro was so we found a map and put the road into the GPS. It took us on a incredibly winding, one-lane, partially dirt road, but we made it.

View from Sasso Corbaro.

Needless to say we did not take the same road back. We took the easy way and pretty much ran into Montebello which was both of our favorites.

Who wouldn't love a 12th century castle with working drawbridges?