"Limoncello? Ho, ho, my boy!"

Unfortunately, other than the pizza and nice bed and breakfast, there really wasn't much to do or see in Naples. It is crippled by crime and corruption, and a rather dirty place.

But. It is a great launching point for other adventures around the area. Our first adventure? The Amalfi Coast.

A quick train ride via the Circumvesuviano will deposit you in Sorrento, a place of excellent pasta, huge lemons, and all sorts of lemon products - including the infamous limoncello. This is a trip I highly recommend, and if I could do it again I would just skip staying in Naples and pay the extra Euro cent to stay somewhere on the Amalfi Coast. Before I go any further, the Amalfi Coast is a region in Southern Italy comprised of five towns, two of which we visited (Sorrento and Positano).

Since we didn't have much of a plan for Sorrento other than going and having a wonderful time, there were plenty of opportunities to wander and take some nice pictures. Here are a few:

From 1 Amalfi Coast

From 1 Amalfi Coast

From 1 Amalfi Coast

During our wandering, we enjoyed lunch at a nice little pasta place tucked in the wall of one of the many narrow streets. Nearby was another road that was home to all the limoncellerias. Limoncello is a thick liquor made from lemon zest, and it is...well, incredibly zesty. We all sampled a little bit of it (not too much, because it really didn't taste all that great) and along the way bumped into a group of old, British tourists. They found the idea of a street filled with people offering you free alcohol heavenly, and took full advantage. As we walked away, one of them explained "be careful or you'll have jelly legs like me!" as he struggled to stay standing. Noted.

An advantage to the Amalfi coast is that everything is relatively close by. For 5€ you can purchase a round trip bus ticket that will take you to the other towns, so we decided to go to Positano. The bus rise itself was harrowing: the bus driver whipped the tour bus around sharp curbs overlooking very steep cliffs on narrow roads, and I'm pretty sure he was well over the speed limit the entire time.

From 1 Amalfi Coast

From 1 Amalfi Coast

However, when we leveled out from our last major curb, the view that awaited us was well worth it.

From 1 Amalfi Coast

Positano is a little more off the beaten path, which means instead of an abundance of British travelers, you have American students and Navy personnel (from the nearby base). It is perched on the side of a hill and, accordingly, instead of sidewalks there are staircases. The staircases go up and down, side to side, and sometimes around things in no logical order. Clearly, the whimsical and laid back nature of the people who live there influenced their architecture. Positano is known more for its seafood, which I enjoyed for dinner, and its beautiful beach. The experience of walking through its winding roads and peaking in the little boutiques was well worth it. If you've got the time, I've heard taking the boat to Capri is worth it, and its already on my list of things to do when I come back someday. And yeah, you better believe I'm going to.

From 1 Amalfi Coast

From 1 Amalfi Coast

After another harrowing bus ride back to Sorrento and an hour long train ride back into Naples, it was time to call it a night. Operation Amalfi Coast: Successful.

Next Mission: Pompeii

Cols des Mosses, The Palais des Nations and Other Adventures

Since leaving Lully, the wonderful comfort of Annia's home and saying goodbye to paddling the shores of Lac Léman (Lake Geneva), my time with the Kent State program has been great so far. I arrived at the John Knox Center, the location of our dorm, classrooms, and cafeteria, the night before the rest of the students. I had time to move in to my tiny little room and get settled, stay up late on Skype, and then get some sleep.

The group arrived a little late on Monday thanks to air travel, and had just enough time to drop their stuff off before we all hopped on a bus to head to Cols des Mosses, which is a good distance east of the Lake. Upon arrival, we stayed at a little chateau hotel in a quiet village and were helped to sleep by the sounds of cow bells echoing through the mountains and a gentle Alpine breeze disrupting the curtains of our opened windows. The next morning, we woke up and hiked to a fromagerie, or a cheese farm, and watched a friendly Swiss man named Blaise make Gruyère cheese and listened to him tell us about how he lives his daily life. Being a farmer, regardless of what country or continent you live on or the trade of your farm, is difficult. Every day he milks the cows, processes the cheese by building a fire then pressing it, recycling the leftover whey, and checking on the aging wheels at least five times a day. He was, though, incredibly nice and happy to show us his livelihood.

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After a sampling of what is probably the best Gruyère cheese of my life, we hiked up to Lac Lioson, a secluded, spring-fed, Alpine lake. The water was perfectly clear and sapphire in color. We filled up our bottles straight from the shore before enjoying ice cream at a café next to the lake, then hiking back down to the chateau. That afternoon we took a cable car up to the top of Mont Moléson and enjoyed a spectacular view of the Alps. We then visited the town of Gruyère itself, which is an old, medieval town, and then went back to the hotel. That night, after a talk with Dr. Patrick Low, a professor at the program and Chief Economist at the WTO, we wandered into town to a restaurant. As we got close, we heard the Star Spangled Banner being hummed by a group of British travelers we had met the night before! Our best allies have a warm (yet sometimes biting) sense of humor. We talked with them about the Matterhorn, their travels around the world, and listened to an argument about Scottish beer before going to bed ourselves.

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Wednesday morning came quick and early and, after a light breakfast of toast, jam, and muslï, we went to the Collier chocolate factory for a quick tour and, more importantly, ravaging of the free sampling room. We then went to visit the Chateau Chillon, which just celebrated its 1004th birthday and has great walls and battlements for climbing on, and then ate outside Lausanne before returning to the John Knox Center where we cleaned up before either bedding down or going to explore Geneva at night. There isn't really much to do downtown at night other than look at all the restaurants and bars and hope that you don't miss the last bus home, neither of which proved to be too stressful. After another late night on Skype, jockeying for good Internet (it's pretty terrible in the John Knox Center), myself and the group went to bed.

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This catches you, the curious and attentive reader, up to the most recent events. We all woke up early to eat breakfast and then leave the Center at 9:30 for our tour of the Palais des Nations, the seat of the United Nations in Geneva. This was a dream come true for me and, I'm comfortable saying it, most of the group as well. We went in to three seperate meeting rooms including the largest, which hosts the biggest of meetings and conventions. The art and architecture around the campus of the Palais des Nations were breathtaking, all gathered from donors around the world and representative of an international mission of peace. I know there are times where I am skeptical of the effectiveness of certain UN departments, but to see everything together and the enthusiasm of the staff and representatives for what they do was just amazing. We ate lunch in the UN cafeteria, which was great, and then walked to the United States Mission in Geneva. There we were briefed by the Chargé d'Affaires, who is currently directing the mission, as well as several US delegates to UN organizations. This, too, was like a nerd-child's dream come true. At the days end, I was in possession of many pictures, a UN access card to the library and facilities, and a renewed enthusiasm for and interest in international relations, particularly security.

From The Great Swiss Adventure

From The Great Swiss Adventure

From The Great Swiss Adventure

From The Great Swiss Adventure

Most people have now gone to bed, since tomorrow morning we will be waking up for a meeting on life in the John Knox Center and a guided tour of the old city in Geneva. I'm usually not one to enjoy guided tours, but a wonderful person reminded me that you can learn in just about any situation provided you want to. Thanks to her for that. I'm sure I'll enjoy things tomorrow, which is also the last day of our orientation week before classes begin on Monday.

Enjoy the pictures! Santé!