While in Gimmelwald, CH in '05 I meet a fellow traveler by the name of David Powell. He and I became good friends over the years through our shared passion of travel. We had always talked about meeting up over in Europe for a Euro Trip someday. So when he let me know about the planned trip he was going on in the Spring of '08, I had to join!
I cashed in 50K skymiles through Delta and after spending two and a half hours on the phone with them was able to arrange all the flights that I would need to match up with my travel buddy Dave.
All I ended up paying was the tax on all my flights. So I got the flight from SLC-ATL, ATL-FCO(Rome), FCO-PMO(Palermo/Sicily), BGO(Bergen/Norway)-AMS(Amsterdam), AMS-ATL, ATL-SLC; all for only $78!! Got to love skymiles!
The following are my journal entries for Euro Trip '08
5/7/08
Salt Lake City, UT:
Heading back over to Europe next week for another grand adventure. It has only been 6 months since I was over there, but I can't pass up the deal I got on a flight and all the places I will be seeing.
Starting in Sicily and working my way up through Italy to Switzerland. There I will stay in one of my most favorite places on this planet; Gimmelwald. I will fly to Denmark explore a bit there, then it's off to Sweden by train. After Sweden I jump on an overnight boat to Helsinki Finland. After exploring Finland I will catch a flight to Oslo Norway; take in quite a bit of Norway before jumping on another flight to Amsterdam where I have a one day layover before heading back home.
I will be traveling with a good friend who I met in Gimmelwad Switzerland back in 2005.
5/12-13/08
Salt Lake City - Atlanta - Rome, Italy - Palermo, Sicily:
My day started off like most early morning days, except instead of cursing my alarm for waking me up for another day of work I sang its praises because today is the start of my Euro Trip ’08. Overnight a storm had rolled into the Salt Lake valley and put some fresh snow up in the mountains; the snowline was almost down to the benches. What a drastic change I would be seeing in 24hrs; going from snow in the mountains to warm beaches in Sicily.
The flight from SLC to Atlanta was non eventful, I was stuck next to a strange lady but lucky for me she did not talk. I immersed myself into the Bill Bryson book I picked up for this trip: ‘Neither here nor there.’ I thoroughly enjoyed his ‘Notes from a Small Island’ while I was over in the UK last fall. I am half way through this book so far and I must say, Mr. Bryson has entertained me thus far on my trip. I checked to see if I could get an emergency row seat or aisle seat for the transatlantic flight. The flight was overbooked so I was out of luck. Now being one that is not vertically challenged nor horizontally challenged like most of my fine American counterparts who take the term “all you can eat” literally. I feel that if you are not over 6’0 you should NOT be allowed to sit in the emergency row and those 6’0 or over should have the choice of taking the aisle seat if they get to their seat only to find and escape midget from the circus seated in the aisle seat and they are relegated to sitting crammed next to the window.
Thus I boarded my flight and to no surprise I found that ALL the emergency row seats were occupied by men that would smack their faces into the middle of my chest if I ran into them, and larger short women. I guess these people feel they need the extra room for all the crap they inevitably term as “carry on” items. Someone needs to explain to these people that those seats offer more leg room not more butt room.
I finally settled into my seat next to a dwarf of a man after running the gambit of older women with their too large for overhead storage carry on bags that need a professional wrestler to heave the bag into the overhead bin before wrestling it shut. For the next ten hours I would be crammed up next to the window, just as I was getting used to this fact the short girl in front of me put her seat all the way back into my lap; "Ohh GREAT!" After an hour or so of this she got up and I quickly pushed her seat back to the full upright position. Now if I remember correctly there is a guy out there that made a wedge device that keeps the chair in front of you from going all the way back. I will have to look into that for future travels.
I quickly took a magazine and began to fashion together a crude wedge. Just in case this did not work I would keep my knees right up against the chair and not let it go back all the way. When she sat down she sure gave the seat a go, but my legs were not budging! After four to five hard attempts she gave up; this would turn into a cat and mouse game that would last the rest of the trip.
I can never get really good rest/sleep on flights, just as I am starting to fade into a deep sleep someone makes a loud noise or the person behind me stands up using my chair to pull themselves up. I maybe got an hour of sleep on this flight, with a few cat naps here and there along the way over.
Landing in Rome it is over cast humid and slightly raining. Now in Atlanta I checked with Delta if I needed to claim my checked bag since I was going to be flying domestic once I reached Rome. They said "Yes"; one word that would lead me down a stress filled hour in Rome.
I got to the bag claim carousel only to stand there for a good forty minutes wondering where my bag was. I headed up to the service desk and stood in line for another twenty minutes just to find out that my bag was just transferred over to my domestic flight to Palermo.
WOW, that was a relief to find out! So now it was on to seeing if I could talk my way on to an earlier flight to meet up with Dave in Palermo. My original flight was scheduled to leave Rome around 17:30, and get into Palermo around 18:40. I was really not looking forward to wasting an entire day in the Rome airport; if I could not get an earlier flight I was considering jumping a cab to the city and take in a few sites. After talking with a few different ticket agents I was able to talk with a very nice Italian lady who took care of me and got me on the 13:15 flight which would put me into Palermo right before Dave gets there.
So here I am in the Rome airport typing this up waiting for my flight to board. Next stop is Palermo and if all goes well I should see Dave in the airport. I will finish this off tonight, that is if I wake up once my head hits the pillow in Palermo. I am going to try to go out and walk around and not take a 5 hour nap once I get there.
I arrived in Palermo and found Dave standing waiting for me in front of the gate my flight landed at. That was quite the relief; the only difficult part on this trip was the meeting up part. There were so many factors that just had to go right for us to be able to meet up on this day with no hitches. We then went down to get my bag and head off to find the bus.
After standing around for a bit Dave found out that the international luggage was in another room near customs. I went in and grabbed my bag and walked right back out the same door I walked in; so much for going through customs.
We found the bus to Palermo right out front of the airport. Driving through the congested city streets of Palermo was quite amazing in this big bus. It’s a miracle that we did not run over 50 scooters on the way to our destination. Dave and I had a short walk from Piazza Caselnuovo to our hotel. The room is great, looked right out over the harbor and the busy city street (Francesco Crispi) so we stood out on the balcony watching cruise ships come in and people nearly get killed on scooters down bellow us.
After a short nap it was time to head out for some dinner. The meal was perfect, some home made pasta, swordfish and eggplant mixed together. After dinner we walked around Palermo for awhile. I wanted to test out my new camera at night. I still need to play around with the settings but so far I am very impressed with the pictures it takes.
I took us down to Teatro Masimo; the 2nd largest indoor stage in all of Europe . The climatic scene in Godfather Part III was shot here. With a quarter moon hovering above the Teatro and all the columns lit up it was quite the sight.
It is time to call it a night here in Palermo.
Buonanotte!!!
5/14/08
Palermo to Taormina:
Our second day in Palermo started off with a nice breakfast at the hotel which was included in the price of the room. There we sat on the top floor with an excellent view of the harbor eating our typical European Breakfast (ham, rolls, cereal and yogurt) amongst a bunch of German tourist. I would from time to time catch a few words here and there and listen in on the conversations; felt like I was back in Germany more than I was in Italy .
We caught the 10:20 Roma train out of Palermo and took that as far as Messina where we jumped on a train to Taormina .
Taormina sits up on the cliffs above the Mediterranean so you either need to take a bus or taxi up to the city center. We took the bus since the same ride up in a taxi would have cost us 15 euros but on the bus it was 2.30 each. After a hike from the bus stop we found the hostel we are staying at for the next few nights. It is a very nice place down a quiet street (Odyssey Hostel).
Once again a short nap was in order before we would explore the city. We are in an eight bed room, but only have one other guy in the room, a very friendly chap from the Netherlands. He speaks English amazingly well with little to no accent.
After the nap we headed out to see the city and get some dinner. We found a nice place called, La Trattoria Pizze Specialita Casarecce; A fresh pizza sounded excellent! After dinner the city center foot traffic had slowed down a bit so it was much more enjoyable walking around snapping a few pictures. The overlooks down to the Mediterranean are amazing!!
Back at the hostel I had told Dave by just looking at our room mate I could tell he would be a snorer. So when we walked into the room at 22:30, sure enough the man was snoring away. Dave was blown away by this. I guess I have been in enough hostels and can read people very well that with one look I can usually tell who is going to be a snorer and who is not. After some reading I turned the lights out around 23:30, shortly after our room mate got up and disappeared for awhile. When he returned he broke out a CD player and began to listen to some club music at a very high volume; enough so I was woken from my dreams and was about to get out of my bed and start busting some moves only us white boys would call dancing. Not long after that did he decide that he needed fresh batteries in his player. After dropping the batteries to the hard floor bellow from the top bunk and spending the next few minutes scrambling around to find them he finally settled in and went back to snoring. I was only woken a few more times by him, once because he said something about a cat, so I woke up thinking there was a cat in the room. The next time he swore at someone in his dream; surprisingly all of this was in English. I had finally had enough so I picked up one of my sandals and smacked it against the ground with authority all while adding some kind words. Dave just about leaped from his bed. Well the snoring stopped so it worked.
5/15/08
Taormina Day 2:
Today started off very slow; I got out of bed around 08:00 and after a shower I sat in the room talking with Dave and our snoring friend from the Netherlands. We talked world politics, 9/11 theories, the US presidential race and so much more. It was nice sitting around relaxing and just having a good conversation with a foreigner; this is one of my favorite parts of traveling! Speaking of our new friend, he was just recently in Salt Lake City . He was traveling in the US and went to SLC. I had no idea there was a hostel in SLC but now I do since he stayed in the hostel there.
Getting off the subject a bit; I am sitting in the room right now writing this up and next door is a worker singing in Italian while he is working on the house.
Dave and I headed down to the Teatro Greco (Greek Theater). It is a very neat structure with an AMAZING view! The Mediterranean bellow and Mt. Etna in the background; but we have been unlucky so far when it comes to being able to see Mt. Etna. The clouds have been hanging around the volcano ever since we got here. Last week there were some eruptions and the girl running the hostel said she could see the lava coming down the mountainside at night. I hope the clouds clear out so we can see such a sight.
We did some more walking around the city before grabbing a nice lunch then walked through a park with some spectacular views. Here it is 16:30 and it is time for nap after writing this up.
After a quick nap we walked back into the main town and got a bite to eat. After dinner we walked back over to see if we could see Mt. Etna. The whole day I just had a feeling things would clear out and we would be able to see Mt. Etna. Sure enough there she was and low and behold there was some lava flowing out of the top. It was one of the neatest sights I have seen! Every once and awhile it would damn itself up then break through in two different streams. From the distance we were watching this; it reminded me of watching forest fires at home from a distance. From time to time Etna would let off a little burp and a good amount of lava would flow out. I got some pictures but from the distance I was shooting it was quite hard to get real good pictures.
That night I got a bit of a stomach ache, I think it is from all the rich Italian food over here. After reading my Bill Bryson book from 03:00-06:00 I finally fell asleep before having to wake up at 08:30 to start a very long day of traveling.
5/16/08
Taormina to Positano Via The Bus Ride From Hell:
Little did I know what fun adventures were ahead of me today.
The day started off alright with a walk down to the bus stop and a short ride back down to the train station.
From there we took the train to Messsina where the train cars were loaded on to a ferry and we were all sent over to the mainland. So we are no longer on the football, we are now on the boot of Italy. It was very cool seeing the train cars loaded on to the ferry; the ride over to the mainland was a very short one, spent most of it out on the deck taking in the view. From there we headed to Salerno where we caught a bus that would take us to Positano.
The fun started once we stepped foot into the main square of the Salerno train station. Nowhere were there signs about bus tickets, so after going to the information desk, the train information desk and then finally to the ticket counter that was not marked at all we were given passes instead of tickets. The guy told us he had week passes not one way tickets…Welcome to Italy!
We loaded on to the bus and began the long journey to Positano. The bus quickly became standing room only as it twisted down the narrow Amalfi coastline. We pulled into Amalfi and I was very ready to get off the hot bus and stand for a bit. I do not see how people take these buses in the middle of summer down this road. If you experience car sickness, DO NOT take this road! I swear we must have made well over 1,000 turns around corners only wide enough for one bus at a time.
The next bus took us from Amalfi to Positano. This was the worst stretch of them all, standing the whole time I was starting to feel the effects of the lack of sleep, water, A/C and food. Plus at the time I did not realize that I had a good sunburn on my head from standing out on the deck of the ferry. Our stop could not have come soon enough, clambering out of the bus knocking over small women and children I was released from the grasps of Hell.
Positano is a city built on the cliffs of the Amalfi coast. The houses are all painted such beautiful colors and the water of the Tyrhenian Sea is such a dark blue, but near the coast it is a very light blue. Add all this along with the green trees that are all over the cliff sides and this little town becomes quite the vast cornucopia of colors and beauty. I was just wishing I was feeling better so I could truly enjoy it all. We checked into the hostel only to find out they did not have their WIFI up and the dorm room they had us in was the smallest room I have ever seen 20 beds crammed into. Memories of the small haunted crypt I went into last fall in the Edinburgh cemetery came rushing back. The lady told us the beds in the back would be the quietest. I enquired if they came with O2 tanks so we would not die during the night from lack of oxygen. We talked our way into an upgrade and got our own room. I would have settled for a smaller dorm room but she had none.
This place was not very organized at all! They did not show us the facilities, or make any attempt to talk about the city. My ’08 guide book says breakfast is included, but again no surprise to us it was not. Another fun thing about this place, only one toilet seat in the entire place and that was up in the women’s WC. I hope my bombardier skills are on par tonight.
While sitting out on the deck I noticed one of the guys running the place had a gun holster on his belt. Looked like a .38 special, nothing too big but a gun none the less; just another one of the fun things to add to the list for the hostel. We later found out from some other people that they paid 5 Euros for a dinner and was given a very small plate of rice. If you are wondering which place this is, it is the only hostel in Positano (Ostello Brikette). The place itself is very nice, but the people and the facilities need some help.
I showered and tried to cool off from the long bus ride that had Beelzebub at the helm.
Crawling into bed I discovered not only did they have the plastic still on the mattress but also had a plastic mattress protector over that; guess I don’t have to worry about making that walk to the restroom late at night.
One very tired Judge singing off from Positano.
5/17/08
Positano Day 2:
Feeling much better today; I am ready to see this beautiful city now!
After a meat, cheese and Nutella sandwich we headed down to the beach to see the rest of Positano. To get down to the beach from the hostel we had three options. Take a bus down, walk the many stairs, or just take a tumble down the first staircase and keep rolling until we felt water. We decided to just walk down and save the tumbling down hillsides for the Alps.
It was a warm day today, and with one glance you could tell the tourist from the locals. All of tourists were the ones with white skin hanging out in the shade. The locals had golden bronzed skin and were out sunbathing. Walking around we found a nice place in between the shops and sat down for a cold bottle of water and some people watching. Down near the water is where one will find all the tourist shops and art galleries. The setting is the only thing special, everything else you will find in any other touristy town.
We opted for the bus ride back up; with the sun still high above us the bus sounded far too good to pass up!
Once again I find myself tired from all long day in the sun, so it is time for a nap. The pace so far of this trip has been very easy. Last year while traveling alone I was running around all day long trying to see as much as I could and to keep myself entertained. It is nice having a buddy along this time to just hangout with when I feel like relaxing and taking in the scenery.
For dinner I found a suggestion from the 'Let’s Go' travel book I have. The restaurant was just up the hill from our hostel (Da Constantino) the host’s name…are you ready for this? LUIGI!! He is a very friendly guy, told us about some of the famous people who have dined there. Our server was a very cool guy too. He liked the NBA; well the NBA 15+ years back; he hates Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls. This would come back to be a funny thing later on in the evening.
The view from this place was the best we had the entire time we were in Positano. Soon the moon was coming out and reflecting off the sea bellow. Mental note to myself; bring a date to this place next time.
Not long after we had ordered, a girl sat down behind us by herself. I could hear she was speaking English. As I was snapping away some pictures of the view of Positano Dave asked her where she was from. Turns out she is from the Chicago area and over in Spain on a study abroad program. Wait, did she just say Chicago? A few minutes later our waiter asks her this same question and then gives us a look after she says Chicago. Dave and I just laughed.
Our dinner was fantastic; I had a pizza and a salad. Dave enjoyed a very nice plate of mixed fried fish with some of the best calamari I have ever tasted! After dinner we invited Alison from Chicago over to our table to chat with us; she too is staying in the hostel.
The three of us walked back down to the hostel; Alison and I stayed up for a few hours chatting out on the terrace about traveling and the like. Turns out she is coming out to Utah for a class she is taking back in the States. In the class they are reading Edward Abbey and traveling out in the four corners region. Just so happens I finished The Monkey Wrench Gang a few months back. She has yet to read this outstanding book. I could have stayed up the entire night chatting with Alison about traveling all over the World, but alas we said our goodnight's.
Tomorrow we are off to Naples via Sorrento and Pompeii .
5/18/08
Positano to Naples via Pompeii:
Another fun ride on the bus along the Amlafi cost awaited me this morning.
This time it was only an hour long ride to Sorrento where we would be jumping on a train to Pompeii .
The bus was late, go figure! Again it was standing room only, but this time it had air conditioning and it was working.
Funny part is when the bus pulled up there was hardly any room under the bus for packs. Dave pulled open the back compartment door open that looked like extra storage area but it was full of batteries and such for the engine. Soon the bus driver came out waving his hands in the air and doing the infamous fingers under the chin gesture, he even started talking to the locals sitting at the cafe. I was too busy laughing at all this to take any offense.
We crammed our way on to the bus pushing the other American and European tourists out of the way that just seemed to not understand that to fir more people on the bus they were going to have to get to know one another a little more intimately than the 5 foot personal space they were trying to keep around themselves. Not that I want to stand any closer to a profusely sweating overweight Texan, but one must do what they have to do.
Not far outside of Sorrento a girl started to get sick, I gave her one of my plastic bags and a few wet wipes to try to calm her down and clean herself up with, the twisty road got to her. Good thing the smell did not get that bad or it would have been a scene reminiscent of the classic pie eating scene in the movie ‘Stand by Me’. “Hey Lardass! Chow down Wideload!”
When the bus pulled into Sorrento there were many people asking if this was the stop for the train station. The bus driver pointed up the street and then indicated that you must get off the bus here at this stop. So many of us got out and began the walk up the street to the station. As soon as we walked around the corner and saw the station there was the bus and our driver. We both gave him a very nice Italian gesture as we walked by. I think he did that to get back at Dave for opening up the wrong doors on the outside of the bus. We jumped aboard a train that would take us to Pompeii then to Naples .
Stepping off the train in Pompeii I had a bad feeling about maybe not being able to find a good place to store our bags. After some searching we found a nice hotel that let us store our bags by the front desk.
Now it was time to walk through the ancient city of Pompeii . We skipped the guided tours and audio tours; I had my guide book and have seen plenty specials on television about Pompeii to know enough about it.
Looming high above and not in the so far distance Mt. Vesuvius has a very commanding presence about it; especially knowing that it had wiped out this city that I am now walking through. After a few minutes of walking around I was busy snapping pictures when all of the sudden I noticed out of the corner of my eye a familiar person. It was RICK STEVES’!!! I have always wondered if I would run into this guy while out on my European Adventures, but the odds are so astronomical. Before this trip Dave and I even discussed it and I told him that I had a feeling we might run into him. He was on a tour gathering notes to for an update on his book; I was very impressed that he still does a lot of that on his own. I got a picture with Rick; we ended up running into him several other times while walking through Pompeii .
This is one place I never thought I would see in my life time; just goes to show not to think I will never see a place.
It was time to move on so we picked up our bags and headed off to Naples . As the train moved through the outskirts of Naples the alleyways were full of garbage. This would only be a taste of what was to come.
Naples is known for having some very shady people that like to prey on tourist so in every guide book I have read they tell you to be extra careful with your belongings and money in this town. I had my baton in one pocket ready to use if need be. Not far from where we were waiting for the local bus there was a big pile of garbage on fire, the fire just became bigger and bigger as time passed. There were signs of many other fires all over the place; trees and signs were all burnt where at one time there sat a big pile of garbage.
The hostel we are staying at is very nice for a big city hostel. It is right down near the harbor and have free wifi! For dinner I had a great margarita pizza; after all Naples is the birthplace of Pizza. I snapped a few pictures down near the harbor but then decided to call it an evening.
Today was a great day! I got to see Pompeii , ran into Rick Steves and got to see the wonderful garbage fires of Naples.
Tomorrow we are off to Rome.
5/19/08
Naples to Rome:
We walked over to the bus stop and stood waiting for the R2 bus to come along. Many buses were going the other way but I had not seen any Orange city buses. I was not too worried yet because there were plenty locals standing around but I could see by their facial expressions and their body gestures (got to love the Italians and their hand/body gestures) that there was something a foot here in Naples.
Dave was content on waiting around for the bus but I was starting to think about making the long walk to the station. I could see the square we needed to get to way down at the end of the street, but time was not on our side. Many of the locals started to walk away from the bus stop. I began to look for a taxi to hail but they were all going the opposite direction. I finally said to Dave; “If we are going to make this train we got to go NOW!”
So off we went down the street with me guiding the way through the sidewalks full of people diving for shelter as this mass of man and bag came hurtling towards them as Dave followed in my wake. I noticed he was falling behind because he had to drag his bags over the curbs, so I stepped back and grabbed his second bag and resumed my relentless surge forward through the crowds. Arriving at the train station sweating buckets and sporting some soar legs from that hurried walk we just made our train. I was very much looking forward to just relaxing on the train now.
At first it was nice and cool in our car compared to running down the street with a good 50lbs worth of gear between my full bag and Dave’s bag. Soon an American couple from North Carolina sat down in the seats next to us. We had a nice conversation with them along the ride to Rome . Not long after we pulled out of the station I noticed it was getting very warm in the car we were stuck in. After walking to another car I realized how hot it was in our car. The next few hours we were stuck in a warm car with very little air circulation; just glad it was not summer time!
The plan once we hit Rome was to catch a taxi and get to the hotel we would be staying at, drop off our luggage and go like the wind to see the sights of Rome .
Next stop Rome.
Rome, Italy:
Arriving in Rome we grabbed a cab and went straight to our hotel. We quickly ditched our bags and off we went to do a whirlwind tour of Rome.
Our hotel is right near the Piazza Venezia and the Museo del Risorgiemtno, which is a huge building like none that I have ever seen before. Enormous statues are on the rooftop of this building and along the stairs. After a quick walk through the museum and up to the top floor for a quick birds eye view of the city we were off to the Pantheon.
Pictures of this place do not even come close to doing it any justice. Standing in front of this building I started to feel like I was actually in Italy . The crowd was not too bad so we went in and walked around, after awhile we took a seat and I got out my MP3 player to listen to a Rick Steves’ audio tour of the Pantheon. On Rick Steves’ website I was able to download some audio files of sights in Italy.
We then headed over to Trevi Fountain; Dave said it looked much better than the last time he saw it in ’97. There was a mass of people just hanging out here but I was still able to walk around and toss some change into the fountain. Makes me wonder how much money they pull out of that fountain each year? I am sure the number would shock most people! Legend has it if you toss one coin into the fountain you will have a speedy return to Rome , two and you will fall in love there, three and wedding bells will be in the near future. Not knowing this until I just read it in the guide book, I tossed three coins back over my shoulder into the fountain. Well mom I guess you will be happy.
Next up was the Colosseum; the line was not too bad so I jumped in line and had a short ten minute wait. I listened to another Rick Steves’ audio tour as I walked all over the Colosseum. Again this is another structure that pictures just don’t do it justice. The one my friend Colin and I visited in Pula Croatia in the fall of ’06 is much more in tact, but this one is ENOURMUS! The skies opened up and the rain began to teem down as we ran back to the hotel.
I waited for a bit before changing into some pants so I could get into St. Peter’s Basilica; didn’t want to walk all the way down there and get stopped by the pants Nazi’s. I made record time walking down to Vatican City , reached it in 15 minutes (the same distance on the way back took me over 30 at my regular pace). I called this my Vatican Shuffle.
Arriving at the Vatican sweat pouring off me I headed straight into St. Peter’s; there was no line this time of the day ( 17:00 ). What a place this is! I was taken back by the sheer magnitude of its beauty and grandeur. At the same time I shook my head about the cost this place must have exacted on the people. Being raised a Catholic I can appreciate the significance of going to this “ Mecca ” but too me personally the true grand cathedrals will be seen in a few days when I get to Switzerland (The Alps).
I spent a few hours just walking around the Basilica taking it all in before I headed out to St. Peter’s Square. Add the Vatican City and all 108.5 acres of it to my list of countries I have now been too. I did not have the time to get into the Sistine Chapel, I will just add it to my list of things I need to do next time.
By the time I got back to the hotel my feet were a barking. It had been a very long day of walking all over the city of Rome. After a late dinner (I had another good pizza) I was ready for some shuteye.
Next stop Florence .
5/20/08
Florence, Italy:
We caught an early morning train out of Roma to Firenze ( Florence ). We lucked out again and had a very friendly Italian lady sitting with us. She lives up in the Northern Italian Alps north of Verona ; she spoke very good English and talked with us on the entire trip up to Florence.
Arriving in Florence there was an obvious American family standing back by the train door waiting to get off the train. How do you tell an American Tourist from a European? Their bags are as big as they are and they have as much excess baggage as they do fat hanging around their bellies. As these wonderful people attempted to unload all 7 bags between the three of them the wife asked the husband to move them aside so people could get by. His response was, “They will wait.” She then asked again and his next response is one that Dave and I still joke about to this day. “LET E’M WAIT!!!” Dave and I laughed out loud when he blurted this out. Besides our current president it’s people like this who give our country a bad rap. Since we were not in a rush we waited for them to move all their bags and get out of the way. If we would have had a three minute connection like we would the following day, their bags would have been kicked from the doorway like a David Beckham free kick.
Walking out of the Florence train station we were greeted by a downpour. After donning our rain gear we trudged on to find our hotel; it was a short walk from the train station. However, it never fails the first time we try to find our place we inevitably take a much longer and more arduous path while attempting to locate the hostel/hotel.
After checking in we are taken to the room by a maid. At first we figured she was just trying to get a tip from us, but after winding around a maze of hallways on the “European” first floor watching the room numbers go from the 100’s to the 200’s on the same floor, we arrived at a small elevator. I walked in then Dave along with the maid walked in, a red warning light came on saying we were too heavy for the elevator. The maid stepped out, still too heavy, and then Dave stepped out. I was alright by myself with my pack and the small little maid. She pushed floor 0; this is where the problems started. Our room number was 321, so Dave walked up some stairs to the logical place the 300’s would be. He forgets; “We are in ITALY !!” So here the maid and I stood on the ground floor looking at room 321 but Dave was two floors above us. She began to call up the stairway “Signor!”
The room is nice but there is no internet or guest laundry facility as listed on their website. The room also has a very peculiar control unit for the A/C, even though you can try to control it; the thing has a mind of its own.
Since the rain has stopped we run out to try to get into the Accademia to see the statue David. On the way there we stopped at a crosswalk for a bus, and Audi tucked in behind the bus and gassed it so he would not have to stop for us and the other people standing in the middle of the road. His window was half way down and I saw my chance. I put my hands up just as the Italians do and began to make the hand gestures while yelling out: “Hey Hey Hey, I’m a walking here!” He in turn tried to yell something else back but he was too shocked that some tourist had the nerve to give him a little Italian attitude.
Finding the line stretched well around the block to get into the Accademia we headed off to the Duomo. There too was also a good line to get into the Duomo, but there was no line to climb up to the rooftop; a view I would much rather have. So we paid our 6 Euros and began our accent to the roof of the Duomo.
This would not be a task I would attempt in the middle of summer. I could not imagine being crammed in this little stairway in 90 degree weather with a bunch of sweaty tourist all gasping for air. This time of the year the line never came to much of a halt on the way to the top.
We emerged upon a walkway just bellow the dome hundreds of feet up above the people far bellow us. This is the view of the inside I wanted; we are right under the dome and the paintings are larger than life from our vantage point. Again we walk back into the walls and make our way to the roof. The ceiling begins to slant and you can tell you are walking along the dome as the wall on the right is curved. There was a nice traffic jam at the top, since towards the top both acceding and descending parties have to use the same stairs for a bit. Now logic would tell oneself to have some sort of system in place to allow a number of people up and down at a time, that way there is no major problems. Again, I forget we are in ITALIA!!
Breaking out into the light I have a birds eye view of the city. WOW! That was well worth the price of admission and any sort of discomfort on the way up (I did bang my head into a light trying to get around people coming down). Round two of the storms were off in the distance and the contrast it made with the beautiful rays of sun coming down on the red rooftops made for some excellent pictures.
After spending some time up on the roof we began the descent back into the abyss called the DUOMO. This time when we emerged into the dome we were on a walkway even higher than before. The paintings up this close are incredible. How did anyone ever paint such works of art this high up? The rest of the walk down the many stairs went smoothly. By the time we walked out of the Duomo it had begun to rain again. We were on a mission, so putting the rain gear back on we made our way back to the Academia to see if the lines had died down because of the rain. Half way there the rain stopped, so anyone who might have got out of the line quickly got back in.
We turned around and headed for Ponte Vecchio, stopping at Piazza Della Signoria along the way.
I spotted a girl pick pocket as she cruised around the Piazza trying to blend in with the crowds. I watched her for a bit as she never looked at any of the sights or around as she would be if looking for a lost friend. She eventually moved on to terrorize some other popular tourist sight in the city.
Ponte Vecchio is a bridge that has a bunch of shops built on it. The street itself really isn’t much too look at I think, but the true beauty can be seen from Ponte alle Grazie just down the river. Here one can see all the beauty of the colors and architecture, and if you are lucky as I was you can see this all while the sun is starting to set.
Round three of the storms was looming behind us so we decided to head off to find a bite to eat and wait it out in a café of restaurant. We ended up back near our hotel so I ditched my day bag and we went into a place close by. From the menu and the looks of the establishment I would say it was alright. After and during dinner Dave would have begged to differ. I was going to order a pizza because it takes a moron to really make a bad pizza. Instead I went for a calzone and Dave went for a plate of pasta. Dave’s dinner came out first with compliments from Chef Boyardee, not only that but it looked as if they only gave him half the can of Chef Boyardee. My calzone soon arrived and I thought Dave was going to break down and cry when he saw what my meal looked like compared to his.
After dinner it was time to hit the local Laundromat and get some clothes washed. This is one of those parts of traveling that really can be very boring, but we pass the time talking, reading and laughing about Dave’s dinner.
Also can be used as a great time to catch up on the trip journal or getting around to some postcards to send back home.
I head back down to the Duomo to get some night shots before calling it a night; there was a lot of activity going on down in that area of town around 23:30.
It was another busy day of sightseeing and walking all over another city, would like another day to see some of the museums here, but to me the true beauty of a city is in the architecture and not what is stored inside of these buildings.
Tomorrow we head back into Switzerland one of my favorite countries.
5/21/08
Florence, Italy to Finhaut, Switzerland:
This is going to be a very long day of traveling. We are leaving behind Italy and heading up to Switzerland and the Alps. Both Dave and I are very glad to be heading to Switzerland!
The journey begins with the 11:14 train from Florence to Milan . Again we had a good person to talk with, but this time the person spoke very little English. Dave sat next to him and was able to have a good conversation even though both were very limited in each others languages.
In Milan we caught a train to Brig Switzerland , then another train to Martigny. Before crossing into Switzerland we gave our final respects to Italy; fingers bellow the chin and with a quick flick of the wrist outwards we said goodbye.
In Martigny they speak French, even though we are in Switzerland. The country of Switzerland has four official languages; German, French, Italian and Romansh
The final train of the day would take us from Martigny to Finhaut. This train climbs straight up the mountain hugging the edge of 1,000ft cliffs. The view from this train is unforgettable! Waterfalls across the valley, hawks soaring on the updrafts and a long way down bellow a river makes its way down to the valley.
We had a ride waiting for us at the station in Finhaut, we pulled in just before 19:00. The walk is not bad from the station to where we are staying but it is pretty much straight up. After checking in it was obvious that we had this entire place to ourselves, not only the hotel but the whole town! We headed out for a short hike; the clouds were hanging in the valley so it blocked our view of the glacier above. With all the moister in the air and the low hanging clouds, this area reminded me of the Pacific Northwest. After the hike we sat in the hotel bar and Dave spoke with the only other patron, who so happened to work for the private railroad that goes up the valley to Chamonix. He informed us that the rail workers would be going on strike the next day. So there went the possibility of heading to Chamonix and a lift up to Mont Blanc. “Just like the French!!!” A quote Dave likes to repeat that he heard a British woman say on a train ride.
That night all alone in the hotel I thought up a great idea for a movie about Gnomes attacking backpackers high up in the Swiss Alps. This was all brought about because of all the Gnome statues that were EVERYWHERE in this small town. Needless to say this put us on edge whenever we heard a small noise come from somewhere in the empty hotel. The next morning we would find Gnome statues on the window ledges down by the front office.
The sun was just starting to come out and the clouds lifted for a few hours in the morning before we had to leave. So we went out for a short hike; half way through the hike the clouds came rolling up the valley and once again things were socked in.
Next stop Gryon, Switzerland.
5/22/08
Finhaut to Gryon:
We headed back down the cliff edge railroad with our heads out the window looking down to the valley floor. Many times it appears as if the train is going to go straight off the tracks as it comes to a curve. After that fun ride down from Finhaut we grabbed a quick bite to eat at the Martigny rail station. Next stop was Bex where we jumped on to a narrow gauge rack train. On the train were two downhill mountain bikers with their bikes. The bikes were coated with nice fresh mud, the kind that gives optimal traction when downhilling. I was so envious of them; would have paid some good money to have had my bike there with all my gear. There were quite a few other downhillers that the train picked up along the way up to our stop in Gryon. Also along the way we passed four carts for peoples snowboards and skis; looks like this place gets a lot of people during the winter months. I wish we had a nice train system like this back in Utah up to all the resorts!
At Gryon we are staying in a nice hostel called the Chalet Martin; reminded me very much of Walters place in Gimmelwald. It is an old wooden building with creaky floors and lots of character. When walking in, one must leave their shoes/boots in a little room before entering the hostel. After seeing some of the boots of peoples once they have been out on hikes I can see why they require people to do this.
Our room is a 6 bed room with bunks. Dave and I have it all to ourselves; we have a great balcony that looks right across the valley to some incredible mountains. Just as we were arriving the clouds were beginning to break and the sun was coming out. The guy at the hostel told us it has been nothing but clouds for the last few weeks. So far on this trip we have brought fairly good weather with us everywhere we have gone. I took a top bunk next to a small window so I could lie in bed and look out over the valley. What a view this would be on a cold winter night during a snowstorm. Every half hour the church bells from bellow us ring out.
It was now time for a good hike! We walked up the road parallel to the train tracks then headed off into the forest to take a trail to Villars. At one part during the trail we had to scamper around a landslide that had taken place recently. We then came across a meadow with three cows in it. To walk through the meadow we had to go through turnstiles near the gates. The view behind us was amazing so I pulled out my camera from my pack and snapped off a few shots. While doing this one of the cows slowly walked our way checking us out. All of them had cowbells on, so it was not too hard to hear that they were coming up to us. While I was taking the pictures I told Dave about a time that my buddy Beavis and I got chased by cows while we were biking down in BrianHead, Utah . Right after telling Dave this he decided he would begin walking towards the gate at the other side of the meadow, I told him I was fine and would just jump the fence next to me if need be. No sooner did I say that, all three cows charged us. With my pack over one shoulder and camera in one hand I made a flying leap over the fence, landing on my feat I had enough time to turn around and watch Dave run for his life as the first cow charged him. The other two that came after me were now in hot pursuit of Dave. If there would have been 5 more yards for Dave to run he would not have made it; he crashed through the turnstile turning around in time to yell at the three cows as they came skidding to a halt. I made some mountain lion sounds and the cows ran off. Dave walked back into the meadow with his hanky out playing like a matador. Within a blink of an eye the head cow came charging back at Dave as he dove for the turnstile for the second time. I then headed back to the first turnstile and plotted my path around the cows and to the safety of the second turnstile. With the three cows eying me I made a mad dash for the turnstile just as they got up the nerve to make one final charge. I turned around stomping the ground yelling and sent them running. This came to be known as 'Running of the Cows, Swiss Style.'
The rest of the hike was very calm compared to being chaseed by three cows! There was not much going on up at Villars; we stopped at a hotel and had a drink out on the back deck in the sun. We headed back to the hostel to have some dinner out on the balcony. I then headed up the road with my laptop to try to log on to an unsecured wireless network. The hostel had wifi, but was charging 10chf for an hour. Sure enough I was able to log on to the unsecured network and send some e-mails while getting caught up with things. While on the hike up to Villars we walked past this house which had a Tibet flag on the outside and I just had a hunch that they would have an unsecured network. I had checked with my wifi detector and I was correct.
Sitting on some steps near the road I had a great view of the mountains, what a backdrop for doing some e-mailing! The road is very quiet during the day so as the sun set and dusk settled in I found myself all alone with not a soul around. I was talking with a friend on MSN messenger telling her about the cow chasing incident, when right behind me I heard what sounded like a dog walking down the road. I turned around to see what appeared to be a smaller dog but in fact it was a red fox!! He paid little attention to me since I was out of his sight line and making no movement or noise. I watched as he walked down the street then took a walking path down to the city; I was no more than 10 feet away from him.
Returning to the hostel I crawled into bed looking out over the city bellow from my perch, I said goodnight and fell fast asleep. There is no better sleep than a nice nights rest up in the mountains.
Tomorrow we are off to Solothurn Switzerland.
5/23/08
Gryon to Solothurn:
Waking up early, it was to be another long day of traveling ahead of us. Back down the mountain on the narrow gauge rack train then on to Morges. Pulling into the train station at Lausanne , there were a ton of people on the platform waiting for the train. They all pushed and shoved their way on to the train filling every square inch of the train with one big mass of human flesh. I was not giving my seat up to anyone so I pulled my hat down over my eyes put my sunglasses on and faked that I was asleep. The train sat in the station for fifteen minutes; I guessed something was not quite right when I spotted a television crew out filming all the people on the train and interviewing those who could not get on to the train.
The train pulled out of the station and got up to cruising speed, when suddenly the train dumped the air and the brakes went on. Here we would sit for the next forty five minutes with no explanation of to why. One of the locals said this was the first train since 08:30 this morning; hence explaining the hoards of people waiting at the station. This line takes people to the Geneva airport, glad I was not trying to catch a flight that morning! After twenty minutes, there was an alarm and one of the train doors opened. A man got out and started to walk back towards the city. Guess he had enough of waiting on a crowded train. He was on his mobile phone as he walked back between the train tracks. I can just hear his conversation now. “Yes could you send me a taxi to pick me up, um I am in a field near some train tracks outside of Lausanne .”Turns out that one of the electrical lines broke that morning and it had caused massive delays all over the area. I was expecting something like this in Italy , not in Switzerland !!
We got to Morges and sat in that train station waiting for the next possible train for us to take to Bienne/Biel. Next train would be in an hour, then it was delayed some more, then it just disappeared from the listing and was flat out canceled. While standing in line at the shop at the station I was watching the news and there was the footage shot this morning at the train station in Lausanne. So after two and a half hours we finally got on a train and made our way to Solothurn. The original plan was to go to Bienne/Biel and catch a boat down the river Aare to Solothurn. We had to bag that and just go straight there on the train.
Solothurn is a very nice little city along the river Aare, with many nice bars and restaurants lining the river. We are staying in an International Youth Hostel, which requires you to have a membership card. Colin and I got one back in 2005, they are good for a year. Mine expired in ‘06, but last year while staying in Belfast I needed a card, so that ’06 magically turned into a ’08; not quite sure how that happened.
We are sharing the room with a family from Bulgaria, the older daughter lives in England, and a family from Switzerland which has two young girls with them, ages 9 & 11. The family from Bulgaria (mother, brother, and daughter) are in town for a wedding. The Swiss family are here for a holiday.
Dave and I headed out for dinner and to walk the city. We had some drinks down by the river Aare then had dinner up in one of the main squares in town. Again I found myself eating a pizza. Only thing open it seemed like that night were Pizza joints or restaurants that mainly served Italian food.
Returning to the room we found that everyone was out but the little girls who were up in the loft where their family is sleeping. I saw two heads peak down to see who walked in the room, I then heard some giggling. I started up with my Beavis & Butthead routine and those little giggles turned into loud laughs. Soon there were animal noises coming from above so Dave and I joined in making dog, cow, cat, monkey, birds, and just about anything else you might find at the zoo noises. Dave and I were laughing because here are these little girls who speak hardly any English at all but are laughing and having a fun time making all these noises. Suddenly out of nowhere a stuffed animal came flying from the loft at me, one of the little girls had a stuffed monkey and tossed it at me. I tossed it back up at them and before we knew it they were starting to hang from the ladder that went up to the loft making all sorts of monkey noises. I grabbed the railing and started to do the same, Dave almost rolled out of his bed from laughing so hard. The neighbors above and next to us must have thought a zoo moved into the room. The girls were bouncing off the walls and running all over now. Both Dave and I were looking at each other going, “Oh GREAT!” I was waiting for their parents to come walking in at any moment and wonder what in the hell was going on. I opened up the window more to let some cool air into the room and there were three people on the sidewalk bellow looking up at the window wondering what kind of crazy party was going on up there.
The girls finally settled down and went back up to the loft, few minutes later their parents came walking through the door; talk about timing! I got ready for bed and read for a bit, soon as I turned off my light a small head looked down from the loft and said, “Goodnight.”
Tomorrow we are off to Lugano Switzerland, where they speak Italian.
5/24/08
Solothurn to Airolo (bike ride to Biasca) then on to Lugano:
Today we are heading to Airolo where we will rent some bikes and ride down to Biasca. This sounds like great fun and is guaranteed to have some spectacular views along the way, with excellent picnic spots to boot. Well this would be the case if it wasn’t pissing down on us. The heavens above decided to open up and storm on us for the entire day. The bikes we rented were of a standard fair, thankfully they had fenders and some lights with a wheel generator that would power the lights when need be. We got outfitted with our bikes and helmets; I put on my fleece jacket and rain jacket. I was really now wishing I would have brought a pair of bike gloves and some wet weather biking gear.
We start off on the ride heading down the main road; the route will lead us through dark tunnels, over dirt paths, paved bike paths, and through the center of what appears to be abandoned villages. Once we hit the downhill I am off like a bat out of hell, tucking into my aerodynamic position I accelerate quickly down the wet highway. After awhile I decide to play it a little safer and not go quite like I would if I was on my bike at home. We approach our first tunnel and flip the wheel generators against the back wheel to power the headlight and taillight. It was very nice going through the tunnels since it was dry and we didn’t have to worry about the wet road.
The rest of the ride was wet and cold, but not too cold. The views were spectacular but I would have enjoyed it much more if we could have stopped and took it all in.
On the outskirts of Biasca Dave starts to yell something. My first thought is that he had left something up the trail where we stopped to rest for a bit. When I turned to see what he was pointing at, there in front of me on the overpass was: “JUDGE DREAD IS THE KING OF SKA.” Some one had spray painted this on the overpass, naturally I had to get a picture in front of that. Judge Dread is a ska artist and my nickname is Judge Dredd after the comic book character. So many of these kinds of coincidences have happened on this trip.
We arrived to the Biasca train station a good hour before the guy with our bags would be down to drop them off and collect the bikes. Not much was open in Biasca, so off I went to raid the vending machine for some much needed food. The guy showed up and we picked up our bags then jumped a train to Lugano, Switzerland where we would be spending the night.
Lugano is right on a lake and faces towards the Italian border; in Lugano they speak Italian. By this time we were both famished and needed some food! Dave told me that this city would be pulsing being a Saturday night and all. Well we found quite the opposite to be true. The city was dead! The only places open for dinner were pizzerias, and I was not feeling like paying 17chf for a pizza. One place had burgers and that sounded good, but not for 13chf! So I hung my head low and walked into Burger King. I know, I am so ashamed, but oh did it taste so good and a complete meal for only 9chf. I could have pounded a few of those double bacon burgers, but knew I would pay the price later if I did.
Sitting in Burger King they had a Switzerland football match on the television. Turns out the national team was playing in Lugano. Oh I was bent when I found this out; would have been so much fun to have seen that match. After dinner we walked around the city and through the park down near the lake. All the streams are really flowing high this time of year over here, and are exceptionally higher than normal.
Soon all over the city there were car horns blaring and people running around waving Swiss flags; the Swiss national team just won 2-0. These mini parties and antics went on for a good hour or so after the match.
We ended up at a top of a hill by our hostel that has a phenomenal view out over the city and lake. I took some pictures while up there then just sat there looking out over the city. Tomorrow we are back on the rails and heading to Chur Switzerland where we will stay for TWO NIGHTS!!!
5/25/08
Lugano to Chur:
Last night was a rough night in the hostel in Lugano. Stuffy room, loud room mates and after riding in the rain for a few hours yesterday I am feeling a bit worn out.
Today we took a bunch of very fun train rides up over some of the most beautiful terrain I have ever seen! There is a very famous line over here called The Glacier Express; it is run by a private rail company and is quite expensive to take. We found out that our rail pass would get us on a portion of this line and on a train that we could pull the windows down and stick our heads out to watch the passing landscape. Maybe when I am 70 and don’t feel like standing for hours with my head out the window feeling the cold wind against my face I will then take The Glacier Express.
In this one day we left Lugano and palm trees, went through a mountain pass with snow and ice covered lakes, and then descended down through wildflower filled meadows next to a river. This by far was the best day on the trains!
We had heard that Chur had a big celebration going on for the opening of their new train station. So as soon as we walked out from the train station there was a band playing and thousands of people there to great us. I was quite taken back that Chur would give us such the red carpet treatment; and people say Americans are not liked over here in Europe..Ha!
The hotel we are staying at for the next two nights is very nice. We are on the top floor with a commanding view through five windows of the mountain side and the church steeples throughout the city. I dropped off my bags and collapsed on to my bed for a few hours. It was a long day of train riding!
After dragging myself out of bed and down to the city all the festivities had come to an end. So with a quick walk around the city we decided to watch a movie on my laptop; watched 'Motorcycle Diaries.'
It is so nice knowing that I don’t need to wake up in the morning, grab my pack and jump on a train!
Tomorrow we will be heading over to the country Liechtenstein.
5/26/08
Vaduz, Liechtenstein:
Being so close to such a small country I just had to take a day trip to see the capital Vaduz. Liechtenstein is the sixth-smallest independent nation in the world, by land area; the five independent countries smaller than Liechtenstein are Vatican City, Monaco, Nauru, Tuvalu, and San Marino.
To get to Vaduz we took a quick train ride to Buchs Switzerland then jumped on a Liechtenstein bus. It was a short 15 minute ride from the station to downtown Vaduz. We did not even notice the Liechtenstein sign as we crossed the river into the country; it was that short of a ride.
The city of Vaduz is very small and very clean! With only 5,248 people calling it home how could it not be? Perched up on the hilltop overlooking the city is the Schloss Vaduz. It is the official residence of the royal family and can not be toured. Vaduz has several interesting modern structures and the city has a very artsy feel to it.
While picking up a Swiss Euro 2008 team scarf, the guy working in the store mentioned that the UEFA European Football Championship Cup was across the street on display. I walked over to see it and got a few pictures of it and one of me standing next to it. I was kicking myself for not having my RCB scarf with me to have taken a pic with the RCB scarf and the Cup.
After spending the afternoon in Vaduz we headed back to Chur. Add another country to my list; this was the third new country I have been to on this trip, Italy, Vatican City and now Liechtenstein.
5/27/08
Chur to Gimmelwald via Zurich & Bern:
The part of the trip I have really been looking forward to has finally arrived. I am going back to Gimmelwald Switzerland !!
We left Chur changing trains in Zurich and Bern. Arriving in Interlaken was very different from when Colin and I arrived in a downpour back in June of ’05. Today was a bright sunny but windy day. We jumped on the train that will take us up to Lauterbrunnen and then jump on a bus to Stechelberg where we then get on a cable car that takes us straight up the side of a cliff next to a waterfall.
Stepping from the cable car is like stepping out into heaven. Gimmelwald is perched on the edge of cliff high above Stechelberg. One would be hard pressed to find more breathtaking views anywhere else on this planet! We are staying in Hotel Mittaghorn, better knows as “Walters.” This is where Colin and I meet Dave back in '05 while we were staying up in the loft. Unfortunately the loft has been closed but we have a good sized room that has a balcony with a million dollar view. I found out about this place from watching a Rick Steves' video and reading about it in his book back in ’04 when planning out my first trip with Colin.
Clouds are hanging over the top of the mountains, but we can still see and hear the waterfalls across the valley. The waterfalls are really going compared to when I was here in ‘05, and there is so much more snow up on the mountains. We chatted with Tim (he helps Walter who is 84 run Hotel Mittaghorn). Tim has been working here for the last seven years, he came here from England to paraglide in the summer months. With each passing year he stays longer and longer.
Dave and I went out for a quick hike before dinner, I wanted to keep going but looked at my watch and saw that we had a half hour to get back up to Gimmelwald. All the trail signs around here have estimated times on them on how long it will take a person to hike to the destination listed on the sign. The one for Gimmelwad said 30 minutes. I knew I could do it in 20 so I stuck it in high gear and took off up the hill. 17 minutes later I was at the front steps of Walters just in time to cool off a bit before dinner.
Here at Walters dinner is quite the occasion, it is either spaghetti or Swiss Chicken; our first night is spaghetti and since we are here four nights we will have both meals twice. Dinner is also fun because you get to talk with all the other guests in the place. This however becomes almost scripted every night; people talk about the same hikes, Rick Steves, but from time to time something new comes up.
As my grandmother always says, “Everything tastes better in the mountains!” It is so very true here at Walters, the meals and company are priceless.
After one spends time here they will truly understand the saying; "If Heaven is not all it's cracked up to be, send me back to Gimmelwald."
5/28-29/08
Gimmelwald:
Well not a whole bunch to write up for these days. It has been rainy off and on and I have come down with a head cold. It started off as allergies but my head is now all congested. So with the pissy weather and not feeling that hot, the only hiking I have felt up for is the paved hike up to Murren; which is one of the most beautiful walks that one can take.
We have free wireless here at Walters so that has been the saving grace for the last few days. Most of the time I have spent looking out from the windows at the waterfalls and just relaxing while trying to shake off this cold. Getting sick while traveling is hard, but you must soldier on and make the best of the situation. This year I packed very minimal amounts of allergy pills thinking I would have no problem finding them over here. Wrong, I would need to go to a doctor to get the ones I get back in the States. Next year I will pack what I need.
The last few dinners we have had a good group of people. Since Dave and I have been here a few times everyone asks Dave, Tim or I about the area. Dave has some fun multiple choice and true and false questions about Gimmelwald, people really like tackling these questions.
Walters is a 99 year old building with creaky wooden floors & steps, doors that squeal when opening & closing, showers that give 5 minutes of hot water for 1chf and views that are truly worth a million dollars. This place is run by three people; Walter the founder who is 84 years old, Tim the flying British vagabond, and Rose Marie the sweet older but not quite all there Swiss lady. This place truly is a gem and I hope it stays this way for as long as possible.
5/30/08
Gimmelwald:
Waking up today I feel so much better and along with that the clouds look as if they are going to give us a little bit of a break. So we decide to head up to the Schilthorn (Schilthorn is a 2,970 meter high summit, 9,744 feet .) There is a panoramic revolving restaurant, named Piz Gloria, at the summit, which is where the James Bond movie On Her Majesty's Secret Service was set. A famous black diamond ski run featured in the film starts at the summit and leads down to the Engetal below Birg. The restaurant revolves a full 360 degrees in 55 minutes.
To get up to the Schilthorn from Gimmelwald we take three cable cars. One from Gimmelwald to Murren, Murren to Birg and finally Berg to the Schilthorn. Going from Murren to Birg was mostly in clouds, but right before we arrived at the Birg station we broke out of the clouds and there behind us was the Eiger with blue sky all around it; what a sight!! From Birg to the Schilthorn is the most dramatic of the rides up to the top. Arriving at the summit we head into the Piz Gloria restaurant to have the 007 breakfast. It is a very good breakfast buffet and we were the only ones there for the next hour.
Ten minutes into eating a worker down bellow on the observation deck began to spray the windows with water, then soap, followed by a squeegee to clean the windows. Logic would tell one to go against the rotation of the restaurant, but this guy decided to go along with the rotation. So for the next hour and a half we had a very good view of water, soap and a squeegee. Even the workers of the restaurant were laughing about this and one went down to try to explain this to the guy cleaning the windows but he did not understand what she was trying to tell him. Well we did have some very clean windows to look out of!
After breakfast we went out on the observation deck to take some pictures. There was so much snow compared to late June of ’05 when I was last here, today I could not even walk off the observation deck because of all the snow. Standing out on the deck, clouds came up from the valley bellow and engulfed the Schilthorn for awhile before a gap would appear and all the surrounding mountains and the green valley bellow would be visible. We then went back into the Schilthorn and watched a short video of clips from the James Bond movie that was filmed up here also watched a short film about the Schilthorn and surrounding area.
Back out to the observation deck we went; it would be so much fun to have the opportunity to sleep up here. We spent the next hour just hanging out on the deck and watching the clouds come and go.
Heading back down to Murren we decide to hike back up to the Spielbodenalp which is in one of the valleys bellow the Schilthorn. From Murren we embarked on our hike through green fields full of wildflowers. We came across one section with cows, flashbacks to being chased by three of them kept us on our toes as we made our way past them; the cows up here are much friendlier! We stop a few times to just relax and look at the scenery. Eventually we make our way down to Sprutz falls. This is a very cool waterfall which the trail goes right behind it. I could not believe how much water was coming down Sprutz! I snapped a few pictures then made a mad dash behind the falls snapping off one quick picture before running out the other side. The rest of the hike is through the forest emerging above the town of Gimmelwald. Again we sat down and just looked out over the valley bellow us enjoying the good weather and blue skies. From time to time there would be a slight sound from just above us and a paraglider would glide right over our heads and make their way across the valley.
What a day this was, I feel so much better and the weather is just about perfect. Now this is the Gimmelwad I truly love!
Tomorrow we head to Zurich to catch a flight to Copenhagen, Denmark.
5/31/08
Zurich, Switzerland to Copenhagen, Denmark:
Today was a very long day of traveling, just a little over 12 hours to be exact!
Day started off with breakfast in Gimmelwald. It was hard to leave, I was so comfortable and with how good of a day we had yesterday it was even that much harder to leave. The weather this morning in Gimmelwald was overcast with off and on rain. So that part was not hard to leave!
We headed down the cable car and took the bus and train back down to Interlaken . The plan for the day was take a scenic rail ride to see some more of Switzerland before showing up at the Zurich airport for our flight to Copenhagen Denmark.
The train passed through some amazing mountains and next to some of the bluish green lakes I have ever seen! By the time we got on the final train to Zurich airport I was ready to be off the trains especially this one since it was so hot and very little air was flowing.
We had a few hours to kill at the airport so we checked our bags and went into a big lounge, restaurant, and duty free shops area. Once our gate was posted we headed for the section to go through security. It is so much easier over here in Europe; no taking off my boots or fussing with so many other things.
When boarding time came it was organized chaos in its purest forum. We had assigned seats but people just seemed to line up for no other reason than to stand in a very long line and revert to the herd mentality that people always seem to do when in a big line.
Finally on the plane we were getting close to departure time when the captain came on and announced that the skies over Germany were busy and that we would have an additional 40 minute wait on the ground before they could turn on the engines and even think about pushing off from the gate. I pulled out a book that I am currently reading, ‘The Rule of Four.’ It’s a good book thus far; easy read. When not reading I kept myself entertained by laughing at the people sitting around Dave. The man in front of him kept putting all his read newspapers and magazines under his seat directly on Dave’s feet. I told Dave to just keep kicking it all back up to the man, but Dave was being too nice. By the time the guy was done I swear Dave had the equivalent of a weeks worth of paper on his feet. The couple sitting right next to Dave was from China . Oh and the wife who on a good day would be struggling to call herself 5’ tall was seated in a seat that has no seat in front of it because of the emergency exit. Why can they not make it a rule that no one 6’ and under can sit in these seats or emergency row seats? If you are small enough to sit in coach and put your foot up on your knee crossing your legs, you are way too small to begin even thinking about sitting in an emergency row! Not too long and the Chinese man had his chin against his chest and was sleeping all the while drooling on himself. He had a very long strain going for a bit, I was going to start betting Dave on how long that guy would get it before he either woke up or it fell into his lap.
Once airborne we hit some turbulence over Germany and they did not even turn on the fasten seatbelt sign once or announce for people to take their seats. The pilot must have been ex-Swiss air force and just thought: “Oh this is not turbulence, this is nothing!” I could see the look of concern in the flight attendance eyes as they wrestled with the drink cart in the aisle, so I knew it was not just a few small bumps. Eventually the air calmed and we made our way to Copenhagen.
Arriving in Copenhagen we went through the usual task of going through customs; I got a stamp for my passport. Then we picked up our bags and set off for the train to take us into the city. We are staying just a few stops away from the center of downtown Copenhagen.
Tomorrow we are heading into the city to see the sights before moving on to Sweden. The hotel we are staying at is built RIGHT next to the rail line! If you ever wanted to experiance how it must feel to be a bum who sleeps down by the train tracks come stay here. When they were looking for a place to put in a hotel did they see the train tracks and say to themselves. “What a great place for a hotel, people will love to hear the train’s rocket past their rooms a mere ten feet away all night long; it will be relaxing just as if they are near the ocean and listening to the surf.” BRILLIANT!!
Unless a train derails tonight and ends up sleeping in my bed with me, my next update should be tomorrow.
This is Box Car Willie saying goodnight from Denmark!
6/1/08
Co"PIN"hagen to Malmo Switzerland:
Last night was just like sleeping in a train yard. Oh wait I basically did sleep in a train yard!
Around 02:00 I was woken by a train thundering down the track just feet away from the window. I just about jumped out of my bed; I had no idea where I was at first and what was going on. My first thoughts were I was either in an earthquake or the Luftwaffe was bombing the city. I then realized that it was a train and that I was not in any immediate danger unless one of the train cars comes rolling through the wall.
Again around 07:00 I was woken by another train, this time it was not on the tracks closest to the window.
This morning was spent touring Copenhagen; we went out on a boat tour that took us down the canals and out into the harbor. While sitting in the boat waiting for the tour to start Dave notices two guys doing something weird up on the dock. One of them hands the other money then he leans over and snorts something off the dock right in front of everyone. I could not believe I was seeing someone doing coke out in the open like this! An hour later when we pulled back into dock these two guys were fighting!
The boat tour also went through a part of town known as Christiania ; it is basically a hippie commune.
” Christiania, also known as Freetown Christiania (Danish: Fristaden Christiania, Faroese: Frístaðurin Christiania) is a partially self-governing neighborhood of about 850 residents, covering 34 hectares ( 85 acres ) in the borough of Christianshavn in the Danish capital Copenhagen. Christiania has established semi-legal status as an independent community, but has been a source of controversy since its creation in a squatted military area in 1971. Its open cannabis trade was tolerated by authorities until 2004. Since then, measures for normalizing the legal status of the community have led to conflicts, and negotiations are ongoing.”
After the tour we watched the two guys fight over something drug related then walked a little further only to find three guys sitting on the ledge of the canal, one of them passed out leaning over the canal. His “friends” decided to have some fun with him and pulled his shorts down, stuck a cigarette in his butt cheeks, and a beer on top of his butt. This all taking place right in front of all the nice cafes along the canal; they were even telling people to take pictures of their buddy. “It’s OK, take a picture, he is more famous than the Little Mermaid!”
Speaking of the Little Mermaid; we then headed back down to see the famous statue. When we went by it on the boat tour there was a bus load of Japanese tourists taking pictures and trying to crawl over the rocks to get closer to the statue. I had my camera ready to take a picture of one of them slipping on a wet rock and falling into the water.
“A statue of The Little Mermaid sits on a rock in the Copenhagen harbor at Langelinie. This small and unimposing statue is a Copenhagen icon and a major tourist attraction.”
After taking a few pictures of the statue we walked back to the hotel to collect our bags and head off to Malmo Sweden.
Funny thing happened while we were in Copenhagen, which Dave and I now refer to as Co”PIN” hagen. They must have the worst case of credit fraud or every credit card thief in the world calls this place home. When you try to use ANY credit card you also have to type in a PIN code. Now this is alright if you are using a debit card but a standard Visa or American Express has NO BLOODY PIN!!! The cashiers look at you as if this is the FIRST time they have every encountered this problem. I ended up using my AMEX card a few times with no problems, but the third time would not be the charm. Leaving this place behind with all their PINS was very nice. We crossed the new bridge over into Sweden and are now in Malmo Sweden.
Malmo is a very nice old quaint city with a beautiful city center and park. Dave and I went out exploring both and got in a nice walk before calling it a day.
Tomorrow we are off to Stockholm, Sweden.
6/2-3/08
Stockholm, Sweden:
We left Malmo Monday morning and took a four hour train ride up to Stockholm. It was not the longest train rides I have been on, I was wiped out by the time we got to Stockholm and found our place. Dave was a little lost for awhile when we first walked out of the central station. I pulled out my GPS and we found our way to the hostel.
We are staying in a nice Backpackers Hostel here in Stockholm; sharing the room with two Germans. Dave and I got some dinner and then walked around the main pedestrian streets ending up on a hilltop where the old city observatory is. There were so many people up there picnicking and enjoying the amazing weather.
Returning to the hostel it was a night for getting laundry done.
I can’t believe all the good looking girls/women in this city! I have heard stories about this city, but my goodness! They are a penny a dozen up here. Toss a penny into a crowd and you are bound to hit a dozen of them, haha!
Tuesday morning we got a quick breakfast then headed down to get on a boat tour of the Stockholm bay. It was a great way to see some of the city from the waterfront. After that we headed over to the royal palace to watch the changing of the guard. It was quite the production! It went on for a good thirty minutes, with marching band and all. After that we walked around the old city (which dates back to the 1300’s) and had some lunch. Now we are back at the hostel just kicking back and relaxing from a long day of walking around and being out in this beautiful sunny weather. Later we are heading out for a big food festival they have going on here in the city.
Tomorrow evening we board a boat and take an overnight cruise over to Turku Finland where we will catch a train and head to Helsinki for the day. It will be a whirlwind tour of the city. After touring the city we will then jump on a flight to Oslo Norway
I see some light at the end of this tunnel and it is scary (only 9 more days left). I am not ready for this great adventure to be over with. I could easily spend another month over here in Europe!
6/5/08
Helsinki, Finland:
Yesterday evening we boarded a boat headed for Finland (Silja Festival). It was a cruise ship more than a ferry. This was my first overnight adventure on a boat, furthest east (9 hour time difference from SLC) and north I have ever been as well. Right now we are inline with Juneau Alaska, and we are not too far from the North Pole.
The boat ride over was very nice; there was not many people on that big boat. We had a nice cabin that could sleep four easily. We spent the first few hours up on the top deck watching all the scenery and the beautiful sunset. There were several hundred seagulls that followed the boat out for quite sometime gliding behind the boat waiting for some fish to be churned up. From time to time one or two would glide right up next to the deck within arms reach. Passing through some of the several thousand islands that are off the coast of Stockholm there are hundreds of houses and little communities. We stood up on the sun deck at the same level with the bridge. I snapped off a few pictures of the setting sun and just stood there enjoying the nice weather and beautiful sunset.
Since Finland is one hour ahead of Sweden the time quickly passed and it was almost midnight and the sun was still setting. We retired to our quarters to call it a night since we had to wake up bright and early at 06:00. I turned on my mp3 player to my sleep music and drifted off aboard the Silja Festival.
We docked at Turku, Finland just a little after 07:00. Disembarking we discovered that the train we wanted was not at the train station at the docks but at the main Turku station. After talking to a few people and the bus driver we got to the main station and made the earlier train that would take us to Helsinki.
Arriving at the central station in Helsinki we figured out which tram to take to get to our hostel. I got out the GPS again to help lead us to the doorstep. Riding on the crowded tram a girl asked me in Finnish about all my patches on my pack. She quickly found out I understood not a single word she just said. She spoke excellent English and we had a nice chat about my trip and the US. Her father is sending his Harley over to the States to ride from the East Coast to the West Coast. I told her how Colin and I want to send BMW bikes over to Europe and ride all over some day. We both laughed about how her father wants to do the American thing and Colin and I want to do the European thing; the common bond being the motorcycle.
Every time I tell people that I am from Salt Lake City, Utah I usually need to tell them it’s not too far from Las Vegas; 95% of the people I meet have no idea where SLC is. Some might know it’s out West somewhere, but just about everyone knows or has a general idea where Vegas is. I was chatting away when Dave jumped up and signaled that this was our stop. Glad Dave was paying attention; I would have ended up talking well past our stop.
We are staying in an International Youth Hostel here in Helsinki. From the looks of it I would say it is nice, but the bed mattresses leave a lot to be desired. We are only here for one night so we should survive. I wish I had my camping air mattress that I dragged around Europe for two months in ’05 and NEVER used. I would be putting it to good use tonight! I did discover that during peak occupancy there is pull out bed/matresses bellow one or two of the beds in the room so they can add an additional person or more to each room. I pirated the mattress from the pullout bed and placed it on top of mine. This made the bed somewhat bearable.
After getting all checked in we hoped on a tram that would take us in a large circle around the city. This gave me a good look at the city of Helsinki. It was lunch time and we gambled on a place that served Mexican food. I wanted a burrito but knew it would be a far cry from anything found in the Western US. I was right, but it still tasted very good. We then jumped on to another boat (I have been on more boats in the last 5 days than I have in more than half my life) and headed out to Sea Fortress Suomenlima out on the Baltic Sea. It is a good sized island just outside the Helsinki port. Construction on the sea fortress began in the 1700’s when Finland was part of the Kingdom of Sweden. The people of those times generally referred to it as the ‘ Gibraltar of the North’. The Russians surrounded it in 1808 and it was surrendered, after which Finland became part of Russia until the October Revolution in 1917.
After the boat ride back we walked over to the Senate Square & Cathedral. There were about one hundred people scrubbing the steps up to the Cathedral. It looked like just a bunch of volunteers, not an organized workforce. I walked up and looked inside the Cathedral. After all that walking it was time to kick the feet up and relax a bit. So we are back at the hostel doing that. I plan to head back out at night to get some night pics of the Cathedral.
Well I scraped the idea of shooting any pics at night. By 01:00 it was still a little light out so the shots would not have been as good as I wanted. Tomorrow we are flying to Oslo, Norway where we will be staying for two nights.
Hyvää yötä from Helsinki.
6/6/08
Helsinki, Finland to Oslo, Norway:
With a just little more than twenty four hours spent in Helsinki we were back on the move; this time we are off to Oslo, Norway.
I feel as if we are on some great race to rack up as many countries as humanly possibly. Today we are flying out of Helsinki; greatly reducing the time it would take by train or boat to get to Oslo. The flight from Helsinki to Oslo was a short one but had some good scenery along the way. It is amazing how many islands are off the coast of Finland and Sweden!
Arriving at the Oslo airport we were once again denied passport stamps; BUMMER!!! We took the train into Oslo and walked across the street to the Clarion Hotel where we will be staying for the next two nights. The weather here is sunny and warm; we must have brought up all the good weather from Italy, and left the rainy weather in Gimmelwald.
This evening we walked down to the harbor area along the pedestrian streets. On the way down there we ran into some Scientologist doing free stress tests on the street. Funny thing is I was showing Dave some videos about Scientology and some of the crazy beliefs they have just a few nights back. Would have never thought I would run into them over here. I was waiting for Tom Cruise to come jumping out of nowhere.
So many people were down there eating at outdoor restaurants and just out enjoying the warm evening. There was a small food tent set up right at the docks. It had a bunch of fresh fish so Dave and I jumped in line and got the fish special dinner. It had a mix of a bunch of different fish. We got talking to the chef and he ended up giving us a little piece of whale patty. Now normally I would have turned this down in a heartbeat since I think the hunting of whales is such a waste of time and a fools task. The dinner was amazing!! Even the piece of whale patty tasted very good, it had some spices on it so I am not quite sure how it would have tasted without the spices.
After dinner we walked back up a few other pedestrian streets back to the hotel. Here it is almost 23:30 and is still remarkably light out. I better turn in for the night since we are going to get an early start on the day. I have the entire city to see, and I am going to try to get out on a high speed boat:
It has three 275 horsepower engines and can go over 70 knots! Sounds like one hell of a good time to me!! Hope I can get out on it.
God Natt from Oslo Norway.
6/7/08
Oslo Day 2:
Well it never got dark last night; at 03:00 there was still some light high up in the sky.
After a good breakfast at the hotel, and yes I made sure I packed a good lunch while at the breakfast buffet. We were off to hit the town before the sun got high up in the sky and begins to bake this city.
The Resistance Museum was first on the list of sights to see. It is located down at the harbor on the same grounds as the castle. I greatly enjoyed this museum since I consider myself a student of WWII history. After walking through the museum we walked up on the high castle walls. There were a handful of cannons covered up and I could tell that they are used on a regular basis. No sooner did I point this out, up came a bunch of soldiers to prepare these guns for the 12:00 firing.
We stuck around to watch them fire all 21 shots from the cannons. I had my earplugs with me so I stood just off to the side off the cannons to shoot video of the firing. When the first one went off, the concussion was a little of a shock. A few guys attempted to stand up near me and take pictures and videos; after a few shots they went running for cover. I laugh that hundreds of people gather around to watch the 13:00 gun fired once at the Edinburgh Castle, and here they fire 21 shots and less than 50 people were there to watch this.
It was hard to leave the shade and the cool breeze from up on top of the walls of the castle. We headed down to take a tram around the city to do a little sightseeing from the tram. After a little more than half way to our destination I caught sight of the hotel and I was jumping out of that hot tram as fast as I could. I was done, well baked. It feels much better back in the nice cool room relaxing. Going to go hit up the swimming pool in a little bit and just relax until the sun starts to set. Today in the shade it is 89 degrees, out in the sun I am sure it close to 95.
I took a good nap this afternoon and just relaxed indoors while it was so hot outside. While walking around today I noticed a bunch of stages being set up all over the city. The Oslo music festival is going on today so that would explain all the stages. After searching online I found out that one of my favorite bands is in town; Ministry. I could not believe that this band was in town the night I am here. I checked into tickets and they are going for $53. OUCH!!! I was going to bite the bullet and just go for it since this is their farewell tour and I had to miss them when they were playing in SLC a month back.
An online friend of mine I know threw a traveling website called Travbuddy.com came into town to meet up and hangout with Dave and I. Her name is Liz, she use to live in Oslo but now lives an hour north of the city. The three of us walked back down by the harbor and had some drinks and chatted for hours. Around the time the concert was going to start Liz and I walked back towards the hotel and we just ended up chatting for the next several hours. I decided to skip the concert because I have seen these guys play a few times already, $53 was not worth it, and Liz and I were having a very nice time talking about traveling, our countries and everything else under the sun.
Tomorrow Dave and I are off to Flam, Norway where hopefully I will be able to meet up with my other Norwegian friend (Angelica) who Colin and I meet in ’06 while staying in Slovenia.
6/8-9/08
Flam, Norway:
Our train is scheduled to leave Oslo at 08:11 and the breakfast buffet starts at 07:30, so it was a hurried up breakfast/make a few sandwiches for lunch. Lucky for us the central station is right across the street from where we are staying so it was a quick walk over to catch the train.
Our seats where next to a family from the Boston area and a guy from Melbourne Australia; we ended up talking to all of them for the majority of the trip. By the end of the ride we had exchanged cards and made good friends yet again. That is one of the joys of traveling like this is meeting new people from all over the world, and other Americans that share the same passion for traveling the world.
The train ride itself was a very dramatic one; going from warm climate in Oslo to a snow covered mountain top back down a very steep slope into a lush green valley with waterfalls and the beginning of one of the fjords just past the end of the tracks; this is where one will find Flam Norway.
It was a short walk to the hostel we will be staying at for the next three nights. The weather here is good at the moment, but it looks as if it will change and continue to change throughout our stay here. Dave and I got settled into our room then walked into the town of Flam. Well I would not call it a town but more of a train stop with a small grocery store and a few cafes. Being Sunday the grocery store closed at 15:00 and here it was 17:00. Much too early to eat, but we are bored already and there is not much to do here.
We hiked down to the end of the land before it dips into the water. The amazing thing about this water is that it is the ocean. Here we are a few hundred miles away from the ocean yet it has come all the way inland through the fjords. After walking around for a bit we decided it was close enough to dinner time to eat. Both of us had an excellent Salmon dinner at one of the cafes, I even indulged myself with a slice of Cheesecake for desert.
Now that dinner was out of the way we pondered on what to do. Times like this it is very nice to have the laptop loaded with movies. We started watching a movie when suddenly one of the owners of the hostel came in and said someone was here looking for us. My friend Angelica finally made it here. She had stopped on the way here and took a 5 hour nap; that was after she told herself she would just close her eyes for a half an hour or so. The rest of the evening the three of us sat around talking and laughing a lot.
Next thing we knew it was almost midnight and it was still plenty bright outside; looked as if it was 19:00 not MIDNIGHT!
The next day we were going to rent bikes and put them on the train taking the train halfway back up the mountain then ride the bikes back down. Only problem is that the weather was constantly changing on us. One minute it looked very threatening and the next the sun would peak out. We decided to take a picnic and hike up to a waterfall that would give us a commanding view of the city and the start of the fjord. After a steep hike up to the the waterfall we found a nice patch of grass with a million dollar view (we have had several of these views this trip) and sat down to enjoy a picnic and talk. Finally the sun came out for a few minutes and it felt so good to sit in the sun. Spring has come very late here so things are in full blossom and so is all the pollen. Wish I would have brought more allergy meds with me! The hike back down was fun; I made my way down the hill in leaps and bounds wishing the whole time I was on my bike.
After the hike I crashed for a good nap. We found a hotel that has wireless service but it is password protected so I just casually asked the reception if they had wireless and they gave Dave and I 24hr access to their network. I was expecting them to ask what room we were staying in but they did not; goes to show that it never hurts to ask.
We were going to cook dinner back at the hostel, but yet again the grocery store closed early on us and there we were again back at the café eating dinner. After dinner it was movie night at Cinema Judge; we finished watching the movie Dave and I started the other night. After that we watched a short BBC special on how George Bush stole the election in 2000; that was VERY interesting.
Tomorrow is suppose to be very rainy and already outside it had begun to rain. So I am not sure what we will be doing. One idea is to take a small boat cruise through this fjord. It is not nearly as fast as the boat I wanted to go on in Oslo but I saw it out on the water and it still moves plenty fast. The company provides people with full wet/cold suites so with rainy weather this might be our only option unless we want to go on another cold wet bike ride or hike.
6/10/08
Flam Day 3:
Today was a lazy day in Flam. The weather has been off and on rain all day so the plans for renting bikes went right out the window. The three of us ended up watching a movie on my laptop 'In the Valley of Allah' and talking all day. It was nice to have a day like this to just wind down from all the traveling and go go go pace we have been on. However, with the time to think about things I find myself looking at my watch and seeing that the days over here are coming to an end.
It has been nice having my friend Angelica here for the last few days. I have greatly enjoyed her company. Wish we had the time to go to her town, Stavanger, Norway .
Angelica’s rental car had one tire that had a slow leak, so she and I drove to the next town to find an air compressor and get some fix a flat sealant for her tire. The drive was nice and I got to see some more of the fjord; it really is amazing to see these big cruise ships in this little valley. We had dinner at the usual café, and once again I had the fresh salmon fish. Since Angelica and I go there right before they stopped serving I got an extra serving of Salmon for no extra charge. I thought Dave was going to start crying after he looked at my plate full of Salmon. The fish here is so fresh and tastes so good!
The rest of the night we just sat around talking and laughing. It truly was a nice relaxing day here in Flam.
Tomorrow we are off to Bergen, Norway via boat ride through the fjords and a winding bus ride up the steepest road in Norway then finally a train into Bergen.
6/11/08
Flam to Gudvangen to Voss to Bergen, Norway:
Today is going to be a busy day of traveling via boat, bus, and train.
The original plan was to catch the 11:05 boat out of town but it starts running in July so we were stuck until 13:20.
This gave us some more time to hangout with Angelica which was nice. The three of us had some food at the café and talked about future trips. We said our goodbyes and boarded the boat to Gudvangen.
Thanks for coming out to Flam Angelica, it was great seeing you!
The boat ride through the fjords was amazing! So many times we got so close to the walls of the mountain, but there was never a worry about sandbars or beaches. We passed through the deepest fjord in the world; it is over 3,000ft deep! Now this would be the place to give someone some cement shoes; no one is finding them at that depth. It is hard to imagine while sitting on the boat that the bottom is some 3,000ft bellow us. Wonder what kind of creatures are lurking down there? Nessie are you down there?
I am sitting in the hostel right now typing this up and I can hear in the distance Foo Fighters playing the song (Hero). They are in town tonight playing; I can’t stand them so here I sit typing up this instead of joining the mass of people down at the concert. It is still kind of funny sitting here hearing the band play and everyone screaming. It is 22:20 and the sun is still setting in the distance; this is amazing!
Back to my trip today; so last I left off I was passing under snowcapped mountains with waterfalls that fell thousands of feet eventually going into the fjord. This truly was amazing and I agree with Rick Steves. If you visit Norway and don’t take a cruise down the fjords you should have your passport revoked!
After the cruise through the fjords we jumped on a buss that took us up to Voss. Along the way the buss heads up the steepest road in Norway; 18% grade!!! Good thing no buses were coming down the road, just one car and one van. The guy in the van must have been looking off at the scenery because he just about ran into the front end of the bus. Once we were past the several steep switchbacks we were out of the fjord. I don’t know what it is about bus rides but man do they make me sleepy. The only thing that was keeping me awake was watching a Japanese tourist in front of us falling asleep. He would start falling asleep then jerk his head back upright; this went on for several miles and gave me enough amusement to keep me awake.
The train ride from Voss to Bergen was a straight shot with just a few stops along the way. It had some nice scenery as we skirted along the side of a big lake for many miles.
Bergen gets over 200” of rain a year and every time Dave has been here it is raining. So stepping out from the train station I was ready for it to be pissing down from the get go. It was a little overcast with some blue sky and sun from time to time. Very strange for this city! We checked into our hostel and headed out to take a quick walk around the city. Eventually we ended up at Pepe’s Pizza where I had a $23 hamburger and Dave had a $19 salad.!!! 25% food tax here!!! OUCH!!! Well with that I was ready to call it a night! So here I am back at the hostel typing this up watching the sunset at 23:00 and listening to the Foo Fighters along with all the screaming Seagulls that are flying around here.
Tomorrow is the last day of this grand adventure. Went by much too quickly and I am so not ready to head home! I could easily spend another month over here. Dave e-mailed Tim at Walters to see if there are any jobs in the area; preferably one at a bike shop for me that would also allow me to take people out on English speaking mountain bike guided tours. I could easily be talked into hang out in the Swiss Alps for the summer biking.
Tomorrow we are flying to Amsterdam. We might go to The Hague (Den Haag) for the day since both of us have already been to Amsterdam. If not we will head into Amsterdam and take a canal tour and just hang out and enjoy the last day.
6/12/08
Bergen, Norway to Amsterdam, Netherlands (Last Day):
A few funny things from last night after lights out. We were sharing the room with an older Italian couple, a guy from Mexico City and one from Tenerife. The Italian couple came in right around 23:30 when I was just finishing up reading for the night. They began banging doors, going in and out of the bathroom door which is inches away from my head on the bunk; finally they turned out the lights and I plugged in my mp3 player queuing up my sleep music. Soon one of the nastiest odors I have smelt in my life grabbed me by my nose and just about threw me to the ground bellow. The Italians had taken off their shoes and I just about lost it. People who know me well know that I have the nose of a blood hound. I asked Dave if he smelt that nasty odor, but it took him a few minutes before he caught a whiff. I am surprised he didn’t see the green cloud of death floating in the room before he smelt it. It kind of reminded me of the green cloud of death in the movie ‘Ten Commandments.’
After smothering my nose into the sheets I was finally able to block out the smell and fade off into my dreams. A little after midnight the Tenerife guy came in making very little noise. I fell back asleep until the Mexico City guy came in around 03:30. Again I started up my music and went back to sleep; this would be a theme that would be repeated several times the rest of the night. Around 05:00 someone’s phone began to ring and ring. After about 10 rings I yelled out, “Either answer the phone or turn it OFF!” The Italian lady got up muttering something, which Dave later said sounded as “Sorry.” She then walked into the bathroom and then back out leaving the door and all its miraculous 05:00 light streaming right into my eyes. Once again I queued up my music and went back to sleep. Around 05:50 the screaming gulls outside woke me up, I was just about ready to call it good and leave that place. I decided to try to sleep until my alarm was set for 08:00. Around 07:00 I woke up and jumped into the shower hoping to get a nice warm shower. How quickly I forget I am at a YMCA youth hostel where they treat you as a YOUTH! The shower was limited on how hot one could make it and at that hour it was not nearly hot enough!!
I grabbed all my gear and departed from that room as quickly as I could. With a quick bite to eat at the 7-11 we were off to catch the bus for the airport. While waiting for the bus on the sidewalk I caught a nasty smell once more. At first I thought the Italians from the room were out walking barefoot. But this smell was not nearly as bad and smelt more like a dog. I turned around just in time to see a dog leaving a mess a few feet from where we stood. The owner cleaned it up and within a few minutes the smell had past. I went back to getting into my pack when suddenly I caught the whiff of dog crap again. Dave was busting a gut when he saw the foul look on my face from the smell. I turned around to see another dog had found the spot and decided it was a great place to leave a dump. After that I decided it was time to move away from the pet relief corner on the sidewalk.
Well the day I knew would come way to quick has arrived; the final day of the Euro Trip ’08. It is always inevitable that this day comes to all great adventures, but I always hope I can postpone it as long as possible.
After the dogs in Bergen saying goodbye to us we jumped on the airport bus; which I think is just a fancier city bus that they can charge people more to ride. It took us a good 40 minutes to wind through the city and surrounding neighborhoods. I was expecting him to start stopping at houses to pick people up! He even dropped a person off that was not going to the airport. At one stop people loaded their bags underneath where Dave and I had our bags. Well the last person did not close the luggage door and the bus driver went to take off with it open. I jumped out of my seat yelling to “HAULT!” Since the guy who failed to close it along with the bus driver was too lazy to close it I got off the bus and closed the door.
The flight from Bergen to Amsterdam was through KLM on a 737. I had an emergency row window seat so all was good for me.
After arriving in Amsterdam we headed to the Hilton at the airport where we will be staying for the night. Dave used some of his reward points for us to stay here tonight. After checking in we got into the room and the phone rang. The front desk now wanted more points to stay here; flashbacks from the experience Colin and I had in Prague came flooding into my mind. After Dave talked to 4 different people over the course of an hour and still did not get an answer. Since this was eating into our last day here we just decided to go into the city and deal with all this later.
Full Circle:
First thing on the agenda was to take a canal boat ride. In ’05 when I was here with Colin that was one of the things we never got time to do. We jumped on a boat and basically had a private boat. We shared the back boat with a couple from New Zealand. The four of us had a good chat while going around through the canals of Amsterdam. After a few minutes we quickly found out that this would be no tour, just a ride through the canals; which was OK. It was really neat to see the city from this vantage point; glad I finally got to do this.
After the boat ride Dave and I just walked around the city. We ended up down near the Anne Frank house; I quickly got my bearings and began to lead Dave back towards the hostel Colin and I stayed at in ’05. Along the way we found an excellent restaurant (
Restaurant het Zwaantje). After a very good meal I was off to find the hostel Colin and I stayed at. After walking down a few streets I found the street corner he and I stood at for hours after arriving in town while we waited for the hostel to open. A wave of flashbacks hit my like a tsunami. It was very strange to walk down these streets that I remembered so well from three years prior. I really never thought I would be back walking down these streets again. Wish you could have been here Colin! Truly feels as if I have come full circle.
On the way back to the train station we walked into the Red Light District to see how things were going there. I have only been over here once before and it was much later at night. Not much was going on tonight, the sun was still setting so things looked normal, or as normal as they possibly can when there is big signs in neon that read “SEX SHOP”.
Well it was finally time to say good bye to Amsterdam and head back on the train to the Hilton at the airport. On the way into Amsterdam this afternoon I pointed out the station I had to make a mad dash to find a taxi because of a broken down train in ’05. I just barley made my flight home that year. No sooner did we pass that station tonight, the train came to a dead stop on the tracks. Dave just gave me a look….Several times on this trip I have been talking about one thing and within a few minutes that thing appears. One of these things happened to be a DHL canal boat today in Amsterdam . Another time I was talking about the new Mini Clubman cars, and the coup de gras would be talking about running into Rick Steves on this trip and then we did.
Well it has been a very fun trip; I have seen 7 new countries and covered several thousand miles by train, plane, boat and bus. I am not ready to head home yet, and already good to go for another trip. I truly feel as if my touristic batteries were recharged today.
I hope you have enjoyed reading about my adventures that I have had on this trip as much as I have enjoyed having them and writing about them. I will post all my pictures when I get home and make sure you all get e-mailed a link for the pictures as soon as they are up; could take awhile since I have taken a little over 1,300 pictures.
Goodnight one last time from Europe …Next stop Atlanta Georgia , USA !
6/13/08
Amsterdam to Atlanta to Salt Lake City:
What a trip that was!
I was so not ready to come home yet; could have easily stayed for another month.
I am now posting all my pictures on Flickr from this trip. It is going to take me quite awhile before I get all 2,000+ online!
Thanks for reading my adventures..Hope you enjoyed them as much as I did.
Check out my Pictures
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