The Glacier,snow, Liechtenstein and Austria

Ill start with the week after the cruise(last week). On monday me and 2 friends took the Berninabahn(train) south towards Italy. On the way we passed an impressive glacier which I cant remember the name of at the moment. Not much more that week. Worked a bit in the garden. And it snowed for the first time here in town. the picture is from my window. Im getting pretty excited about the winter. I got my snowboarding boots a few days ago, so I just have to wait until theres enough snow--hopefully sometime next month. Then on saturday I went and saw the movie Chuck and Larry(in english). It was funny. The theater was interesting...I think everything was scaled down a little, but I got in with a backpack on and my own drinks, plus there was an intermission, which was cool. Monday of this week I had my rotary meeting. It went well, I gave my presentation(in german of course). We ate lunch at an enormous expensive hotel, so that was cool. Afterwards me and my counsellor drove first to Vaduz, Liechtenstein(probably the smallest capital city in Europe, or maybe the world) and then to Feldkirch, Austria. I liked Feldkirch--nice atmostphere. Vaduz wastnt anything too special. So anyway I got to see 2 new countries in one afternoon--very awesome. Current count of countries is 8- Switzerland, Austria, Liechtenstein, Italy, Vatican City, Spain, France, and kinda great Britain(Gibraltar). didnt get any pictures of Vaduz so its only Feldkirch.

The Cruise

A little about the cruise in general. We were on the MSC Lirica. While we were on I think there were about 1600 other passengers. There were several restaurants on the ship. For dinner we always ate at the same table same restaurant, but breakfast and lunch were open, there was a buffet that was always open. There was a pile of bars, a little casino, a theatre and a disco on board too. So after dinner we would go and watch the show--a mix of singing, dancing, juggling, and chinese acrobats. The chinese were amazing--I was impressed. After that I would go to the disco. Most of the young people that I hung out with were swiss, but there was 1 australian, and 1 german too. We had a great time together. Language was interesting. Anything written or spoken to the passengers was in 5 languages--english german spanish italian and french.

The Cruise-Thursday and Friday/On the sea and Rome

Thursday was rather uneventful. We were on the sea the whole day so I just chilled. There were some good hot tubs on the ship. Friday was Rome. We actually had to take an hour and a half bus ride from the port to get there. It started raining right about when we got there. So that slowed us down a bit, but we managed to see just about all of the major structures in Rome, if not very thoroughly. So Rome was just as amazing as id thought it would be even through the rain and lack of time. It would definitely take several days to see everything in detail. There were so many tourists there it was unbeleivable and traffic was horrible. The pics: of course st peters square, castle of angels, the ruins, the lucky fountain, the pantheon, the coloseum, a swiss guard and the artistic subway.

The Cruise-Wednesday/Malaga Spain

Malaga is an interesting city. Theres a large castle on the top of the hill as well as a fairly long intact wall. We spent a bit of time climbing the hill up to the castle and then walking through courtyards and along the walls looking down over the city. Theres also a pretty big garden with all kinds of tropical plants. Theres a bull ring too.

The Cruise-Tuesday

We were supposed to go to Tangier(Morocco) for the day, but apparently it was too windy and they wouldnt let us dock there. So Ive still never been in Africa. Instead we turned around and went to Gibraltar. I really didnt know anything about the place but its a British Colony. Its also the only place in Europe that has wild monkeys(didnt see them). It was getting dark and everything was closed when we got there. But it was interesting that everything was written in English. Thats Gibraltar with the big dark cloud over it. The other is the Moroccan coast.

The Cruise-Monday/Valencia Spain

Im not sure why exactly but Valencia was extremely beautiful. The sidewalks were made of marble and the buildings were monstrous. We went into the cathedral of Valencia. It had a museum, as well as lots of stained glass, gold, and history. Thats the preserved arm of some saint.

The Cruise-Sunday/Marseilles France

We got into the city about 9 in the morning. It was funny the only people out were the tourists from the ship. First we walked through an interesting fish market on the docks. Yes those are eels for sale. We then took a little tour of the old town in the "petit train".(in picture) The old town was somewhat decaying but still interesting. Afterward we walked to the Notre Dame cathedral. not the notre dame but a notre dame actually. Later that day there were heaps of British people. apparently the rugby world cup is going on right now.

The Cruise-Saturday/Genoa Italy

Wow, last week was a very long/great week. Starting saturday, we drove to Genoa Italy. I think it took about 5 hours. I was a little surprised at the border. There were a few guards standing around, but they didnt even stop us. first impression of Italy: beautiful. people, language, geography. I will say it isnt nearly as clean or organized as Switzerland though. Once we got to Genoa we had a bit of trouble finding the parking lot. After almost an hour of doubling back and asking people we made it though. Around 4 the ship was off--direction France.
I didnt get any great pictures but heres one near the dock with several cruise ships in the background.