The last hurrah

So! It's been a while since I've updated -- between work and travel (and the fact that I don't have Internet in my apartment), it has been difficult to update regularly. Aaanyway. So, since my last blog...I've been to Italy, and Vienna. Both were very excellent trips, and as usual, pictures + commentary follow: First up was Italy -- particularly, Rome and Pompeii. We managed to fit in a bit of time in Naples as well (pretty much just for dinner one evening on the way back from Rome and Pompeii -- best pizza ever), and we also went to Ostia Antica (which can kinda be counted as Rome, I guess). Despite the autumn, we were blessed with excellent weather. The following picture is taken from the Piazza Venetia, which is the old Venetian embassy to Rome. It currently houses the tomb of the Italian Unknown Soldier, and also offers a spectacular view over the Roman Forum and Colosseum, as you can see.

At night, a lot of the sights were just as, or even more, spectacular. Due to its central location and it being a great place for people watching, not to mention its very close proximity to some of the best gelato I have eaten in my life, we ended up spending a lot of time at the Trevi Fountain, both at day and at night -- here's a picture of the latter.

Pompeii was interesting -- so much of the stuff is so brilliantly preserved, and walking around with a city map and everything, it kind of occured to me that we were basically sightseeing around a city like usual -- except this time, everything is, well, dead. I remember seeing the preserved bodies, curled up in death, in a history textbook back in school; I have to say that it is somewhat more disturbing when viewed in person. I had a rather visceral reaction the first time I saw one of them; eegh. So instead I offer you this picture of me, standing in the beautifully restored and preserved garden of an old Roman noble's vacation villa:

On our last day in Rome we managed to get out to Ostia Antica, the old port for Rome. The entire area was built up during the Mussolini and post-war years, and now in addition to the restoration of the old port, now also boasts marinas and beaches for the lesiure of modern Romans. We decided to hit up the old port city though -- very interesting; the Lonely Planet guide was not kidding when it said that Ostia was a 'fascinating contrast to Pompeii' -- while the latter was a resort town for well-to-do nobles, it was pretty clear that Ostia was for business. Here's a picture overlooking a complex of buildings...

A couple of weeks later we headed on to Vienna. The night train was surprisingly comfortable this time around (contrast: see the trip to Prague...ick). Hence we were able to get out and explore just about right away, which was good considering we only had a weekend. Our hostel was in very close proximity to the Schloss Schönbrunn, which was, if I recall correctly, the residence of the Hapsburgs for a while. It is nice, and the grounds are expansive, encompassing a zoo, and a maze, among other things. It's too bad it's autumn bordering winter right now; I'm sure that the gardens would have been quite a sight to behold, rather than being just fallow soil.

We were pleasantly surprised to find out that the weekend we were there was also the first weekend that the Christmas markets were open in Vienna! It was great to walk around them, nursing a Glühwein or Punch to keep warm, and looking at the stalls, full of gifts and decorations. I didn't buy anything, as I had packed my backpack rather unwisely and didn't have much room at all for stuff, but I'll be sure to pick stuff up in the Würzburger Weinachtsmarkt!

They also had bands playing all day at these things, which was cool. There's just something powerfully festive about seeing a brass band play in front of a brightly lit Christmas tree, people milling about, chatting, sipping hot drinks, and just generally having a good time.

There are many markets like this in Vienna! The next day we went to the one in front of the Rathaus (city hall), and it was considerably more massive (not to mention busy, being a Sunday). What was really interesting was that a bunch of windows were marked with the numbers 1-24...indeed it's a massive city-hall-building sized advent calendar! Unfortunately we went before December so everything was still closed up but it's still a really cool idea.

So, I suppose the question remains, what next? This weekend I was supposed to go to Berlin. ...I didn't. I'm not sure how much more travelling I want to do. It's a question of Lust haben I suppose. On one hand I really want to capitalize on this opportunity while I am still here in Europe, but on the other hand I feel like I already have taken advantage of it enough already. There's still Greece right at the end, though. In addition, the other two possibilities on my list are Berlin and Brussels...both pretty reasonable price- and time-wise, so the question is just whether I feel like it, and of the two, which I would prefer. I'll also be going to the Nürnberger Christmas Market, it's arguably the oldest and most well-known of them all. Hmm...