another day, another statue - this one i like to call supertavi

a typical zermatt dusk

milk was a bad ideeeaaaa!

other people on the tour started to catch on and now take silly pictures, like on the coin operated kids rides. what can i say, we're trendsetters.

everywhere - cow bells! they're to help a farmer find his stock, but from the top of a mountain they form a curious and unmistakable chorus.

today we're riding the glacier express - 3 1/2 hours of scenic panoramic views from our train. and on that note...back to sightseeing!

the tavi in her natural environment (check out my 1337 braidz)

WC later stood for Water-related Catastrophe. the mcdonalds cup is a nice touch

proof that my sense of humor is appreciated abroad

...but there's always toblerone. and marmots

saturday, september 11th

three year anniversary of 9/11. after the glacier express train - which, btw, had a hole for a toilet that let you pee directly onto the tracks - we went to lugano. this swiss city is a large part of the italian speaking portion of switzerland. it revolves mostly around 3 large sister lakes, the largest one being lake lugano.

we took a boat cruise to the swiss miniataur - a tiny theme park that recreates a number of landmarks in 1:25th of their original scale.

i, of course, took the opportunity to go tav-zilla on their asses. those poor little swiss...they never stood a chance.

on the boat ride back to our hotel the guidepointed out the lavish summer home of sophia loren. at night we got ice cream and walked the lakefront. mom said the misquitos were awful
but i didn't see any.

matt the marmot. short for 'matt'erhorn

be sure to note the humping cartoon elephants

me and guiseppe, attempting to speak italianish/spanglian

the view from the glacier express

5 seconds later - the same room, covered in mom's blood for waking me

the sleepy miniataur village welcomes another peaceful dawn

i suppose they are sometimes visited by peaceful giants...

but wait...what's that....NOOOOOOO!

RAWR! must...find...chocolate!

alternately titled - tavi does switzerland

i told lufthansa i would have my revenge...why didn't they believe me?

last but not least, venice

i saw others feeding them and the pigeons sit on your arm to eat from your hand. how exciting, but the birds around me looked unimpressed. so i took a big handfull of seed and tossed it out on the ground before me. that must be the ticket, because a second later i was covered in birds. my hands, arms, shoulders, and head - pigeons landed on other pigeons in an attempt to shove them off. it was a really amazing experience. they have these soft feathery little bodies.

i bought two more bags, or was it three? i became bird-lady. little girls walked up, wanting to hold one. if you lift your arms up slowly, then drop them real fast, they all fly off in a flutter. it was magic.

imagine: i'm feeding a crowd of pigeons in venice. italy. never in a million years would i have guessed, or even dared to hope. my arms were covered in tiny scratches, and i was too elated to care.

we spent the night outside the city playing cards. today it's back into the mountains toward germany. tomorrow is our lasty full day, in salzburg, austria.

little known fact: italy is also the home of crazy people

st. mark's basilica

one of many venetian canals

the skiing village of cortina, northern italy

i am tavi's full-blown marmot obsession

those italians sure like their nudity. well fuck that

sunday, september 12th - last day

yesterday we stopped in cortina, another ski resort village in northern italy. we only had an hour or so, and i was sort of queasy from the bus, but it was still a very cool place. i stopped to pick up a plastic container of farm-fresh raspberries...sweet and tart and bright red. they settled my stomach a little as we walked around.

we looked into some shops and went to the co-op grocery for an italian comic (spawn) and lunch stuffs for later: 2 pizzettes, rosemary breadsticks and a liter of cola. afterwards we picked a bench in front of the churchyard and snacked, watching tourists and locals pass by.

more driving, then a brief stop in grossglockner - a high mountain rest area in the austrian alps. the view was impressive as hell, and i finally saw my first real-life marmot. (they're as big as housecats, but this guy was too far away for a good photo.)

i bought some chocolates - ugh nasty rum balls - and we split a plate of weinerschnitzel and fries for lunch.

then we drove even more, while watching the sound of music, out of the mountains and straight towards salzburg. we spent the night outside in farm country and i tried hausschnitzel (it has cheese and bacon) and hash browns for dinner.

our shower was demented...many showers here are demented.

this time at least one big freaking log between us & 1200 ft. somersault

a little late, but my overseas competitor. oh, and JAPANESE TOURISTS

though he was born here, mozart reportedly hated the city

a friendly neighborhood sign instructs me to go to hell

here's perspective for you: i'm the little blue/green thing

why wolfgang, you shouldn't have