(Bjar, 10/12/11)

(Béjar, 10/12/11)

We walked by a "children's swimming pool," which I thought looked more like a concentration camp than a nice recreation area. Continuing on, we encountered an area which I like to call "Picnic Stonehenge." There were about 12 tables in the clearing, and some of the stones had fallen off. Of course, we took that opportunity to dance on the tables.

(Florence, 8/23/11)

Florence turned out to have every bit of Italian Renaissance history that I had forgotten from my 10th grade European history class. I remembered Ghiberti's brass doors of the baptistry, Michelangelo's David, Brunelleschi's duomo, etc., but my favorite thing was the Ponte Vecchio. I was intrigued that it was the only bridge remaining from the bombings during World War II--probably because Hitler liked art.

The bridge itself is beautiful--the whole thing is lined with colorful stores. Nowadays, they're all jewelers, but they used to be butcher shops before the Medici family (probably) kicked them out due to the smell. Each store closes its wooden panelling when it closes, which is beautiful in itself. 

The history major in me loved Florence.

(San Sebastian, 10/15/11)

La Playa de las Conchas (Shell Beach) in San Sebastian had all types of sand castles. At one end, the castles were made from solo cups, and the other... well, let's just say that mini sand gladiators would be content with their venue.

(Manarola, 08/27/11)

Here's Manarola in all of its daytime glory. This was the most picturesque of the 5 towns, and it was less touched by tourism than some of the others as well.

To get between the towns, we rode the local train ran along the coast. The second picture is a view of Corniglia (where we stayed) from Manarola. You can just barely see the train station at the bottom of the cliff and the town at the top, which we climbed up and down every day. The view was always worth the pain.

(Interlaken, 08/16/11)

I was surprised to find this playground at the top of Harder Kulm, elevation 1322m. The swing was the only safe part of the playground, which included a precarious slide--now closed because some child flew off the mountain at a curve (probably). 

(San Sebastian, 10/16/11)

Spain's older population loves to go for walks in the late afternoon and on Sunday mornings. This past sunday, I encountered this pair chatting by the ocean. In Basque. In berets.

The tradition lives on.