I said that I would elaborate further on the splendor of our favorite non-UK country, Ireland. How to start, how to start?
And now, for the tailes of Ireland:
The people of Dublin, while some of the nicest I have ever met, are also the most entertaining. They made the city come alive with culture and pschotic affairs.
My hostel, serving as a cheaper, and often last resort option for backpackers and foreign workers alike, actually kept me in the city longer than I originally planned on staying. Each day (or night) convinced me to stay another day longer, until my intended one-night visit turned into five.
Surprisingly it was not the broken water heater (fixed 3-4 times per day), the seamingly unchanged douvet and pillow covers, nor the toilets in full view of the cornering bedroom and courtyard that kept me re-checking in every day at 11am. It wasnt even the reception guy who began talking to me in a baby voice while tickling my stomach once taking a liking to me.
The people I hung around with from the hostel were the entertainment I seaked and watched for 5 days. I think I was the odd man out as the lone backpacker, as the rest were all there on work visas, in search of a job and a less sketchy place to rest their heads.
We didnt even bother with formalities and the inevitable fate of forgotten first names and inquiries of origin, and thus mixed the two together to form extremely ideal hostel nicknames: Melbi, Aussie, Swedie, Rhodie, and Seattle we became. These four were not the main sources of entertainment, but rather the people I could interact sanely with and enjoy the insanity of other hostel dwellers and locals alike. They were, of course, lots of fun, but by no means like the others we encountered, who I could just put in a box and watch for hours on end.
Characters like the Swedish horse jockey who woke up with a beer in-hand at 9am and ready for his breakfast pint at 10. I was introduced to him by Rhodie (from Rhode Island) and Swedie (the other Swedish guy from Malmö) while watching Spongebob in galic on the TV in the hostel common room. They invited me to tag along in search of a place that served both coffee and beer for breakfast. I had 2 euros left, so I figured I would get a coffee if cheap enough. Three hours later, we were propperly fed thanks to the Jockeys generosity and never-ending cash wad. We listened to his rediculous stories, one after the other and got our kicks. For example: "I once fell asleep in Sweden and woke up in Madrid". How thats possible, I have no idea, but in no way surprising for this guy. I responded with "Thats like a 3 day train ride, and you dont remember how you got there?" He nodded, shrugged, smiled, and then seemed somewhat entertained by the story himself, as if he had never really though about why that would be out of the ordinary. I think my brother would have loved this guy.
Following a couple nights wandering in the Temple Bar area, watching a street performing band rock and crazy 15-16 year old girls drinking and dancing to them at midnight on a school night (and wondering where their parents were), I finally hopped the train to Galway to see the familiar face of my friend Vanessa, aka "Boots".
It was in Galway that the meaning of "walking" and "rain" and "walking in the rain for 30 minutes everywhere" became known. Vanessa wasnt lying when she said "word to the wise: bring an umbrella". Being a proud Seattlite, I ignored her wise words and wound up with wet shoes, wet clothes, and wet coats to go along with those fun walks in the rain.
Vanessa brought me the her apartment in Corrib Village, student housing for first year and study abroad students. Surrounding her appartment (complete with one girl from Italy, one from the Netherlands, one from Germany, a complete dish set (minus the collander), and a couch-filled TV lounge) were mostly other foreign student, including one from Bellevue! Like this trip has revealed to me before: Small, small world.
Once again I scored in the "awesome host/hostess" department, because not once was Vanessa anything but that. And being the social butterfly that she is, even had a birthday party lined up for us for the night! We walked there (30 min), sang happy birthday, played cards, and gave the birthday boy our fabulous gag gift of storebrand, generic label (Tesco), cheap as cheap can get, Whisky with matching Cola. I didnt go near it.
The next day we took a bus tour to Callamara, and while it was long, it was filled with gorgeous lakes, fields, castles, and a sleezy old bus driver that had crushes on us. hehehe... he even gave Vanessa his number incase she ever "needed a ride anywhere". Afterall, he did win the only prize for "best tourbus driver in 2003, 2004, AND 2005"! Or so we heard 3 times in a row like everything else on the trip... including his singalongs to his favorite Irish songs over the intercom. No doubt we were entertained on that trip!
Oh, and I got my first day of class out of the was at Vanessas "Service Management" class. I was so excited because I missed school so much, that I took noted and everything! I know... Im a nerd. Now I just wait for my school to start on the 2nd of October, and then Ill be set!
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
New Friends and Camping Kitchens
Howdy all!
Life on the road has definitely picked up since I last wrote. I am somewhat back-dated on all of my emails, so I think I'll skim over the last few weeks (excluding this week) briefly.
From Germany Patrick and I headed east in search of cheap prices and (hopefully) sun. We only ended up spending about 6 hours in Budapest, 3 hours in a Hungarian bath house (i.e. lots of fun, different temp. pools and saunas) and 3 hours walking around and waiting for our train out of there. Although Patrick had a whole trip around Romania planned out, complete with about a week of seeing castle after castle and camping for free everywhere (sounds fun, huh?), he finally got with it and bailed that plan for Croatia. We arrived in Split to be welcomed by about 15-20 ladies holding up signs advertising their available room(s) for rent and you guessed it: rain. We were so bummed out that we simply booked a bus ticket down to Dubrovnik (in the very southern tip of Croatia), one of the sunniest places on earth. Turns out that patience was a virtue that neither of us had, and we got slapped in the face by that fact when the sun broke through the clouds the moment we hopped on the bus.
The same bunch of women (well, not literally the same women, but the same kind) greeted us once again in Dubrovnik, and we turned down one after another due to sheer poverty... and wanting to camp. Our timing was absolutely amazing, because the moment we got off the metro bus by the campsite, we found 2 other couples our age going there as well. It so turned out that situations like this are the perfect opportunities to make insta-friends ("Fresh out of the packet!"), and the six of us saw quite a bit of each other over the next five days... especially around dinner time when we were all pooling our resources to make dinner... over our coal 'stove'. The first night's dinner was a bit rocky (frozen fish sticks and sliced potatoes) but soon got better over the next few nights. One night we even finished dinner off with an apple strudel! Now that’s what I call camping.
Anyway, we left Dubrovnik with one of the couples, Nick and Pip, ending up in Venice the next day with LOTS of passport stamps (we asked at each border control stop... and made the whole bus wait. hehehe). The first night in venice will probably be one of the most memorable from the trip. You see, after taking out pizza to go and we sat around the corner with a water-front view (if you've ever been to venice, you'll know that every corner has a water-front view) and became scenery for the passing-bye gondolas, personal speed boats, and water taxis. Then we proceeded to pull an ultimate poor backpackers move, in the most ideal place for doing it. We slept on the street. It turned out that the alleyway perpendicular to the pizza place that we ate at was perfect for it. It was a dead end alley with an narrow passage way that blocked us from view of people on the other street. Only one group of people walked by us after parking their boat at the end of the alley, and we simply pretended to be asleep already to avoid confrontation. The rest of our 3 day stay in Venice was spectacular as well, and we even got to see the annual gondola races!
After Venice we popped back up to Berlin to visit the family we stayed with before. It was then that Patrick and I split ways; he went up to Stockholm again before flying home, and I went west to Brussels. Or at least with the intention of going to Brussels... after I slept through my stop and wound up in Paris... again. Never again do I want to go there. I have seen the likes of Paris' train stations WAY too much for comfort.
Long, boring story short, I am now in Dublin for the one-night-turned-five-nights stay. I have to say. If you are at all into people watching, this is the place for you. I’ll elaborate later.
Life on the road has definitely picked up since I last wrote. I am somewhat back-dated on all of my emails, so I think I'll skim over the last few weeks (excluding this week) briefly.
From Germany Patrick and I headed east in search of cheap prices and (hopefully) sun. We only ended up spending about 6 hours in Budapest, 3 hours in a Hungarian bath house (i.e. lots of fun, different temp. pools and saunas) and 3 hours walking around and waiting for our train out of there. Although Patrick had a whole trip around Romania planned out, complete with about a week of seeing castle after castle and camping for free everywhere (sounds fun, huh?), he finally got with it and bailed that plan for Croatia. We arrived in Split to be welcomed by about 15-20 ladies holding up signs advertising their available room(s) for rent and you guessed it: rain. We were so bummed out that we simply booked a bus ticket down to Dubrovnik (in the very southern tip of Croatia), one of the sunniest places on earth. Turns out that patience was a virtue that neither of us had, and we got slapped in the face by that fact when the sun broke through the clouds the moment we hopped on the bus.
The same bunch of women (well, not literally the same women, but the same kind) greeted us once again in Dubrovnik, and we turned down one after another due to sheer poverty... and wanting to camp. Our timing was absolutely amazing, because the moment we got off the metro bus by the campsite, we found 2 other couples our age going there as well. It so turned out that situations like this are the perfect opportunities to make insta-friends ("Fresh out of the packet!"), and the six of us saw quite a bit of each other over the next five days... especially around dinner time when we were all pooling our resources to make dinner... over our coal 'stove'. The first night's dinner was a bit rocky (frozen fish sticks and sliced potatoes) but soon got better over the next few nights. One night we even finished dinner off with an apple strudel! Now that’s what I call camping.
Anyway, we left Dubrovnik with one of the couples, Nick and Pip, ending up in Venice the next day with LOTS of passport stamps (we asked at each border control stop... and made the whole bus wait. hehehe). The first night in venice will probably be one of the most memorable from the trip. You see, after taking out pizza to go and we sat around the corner with a water-front view (if you've ever been to venice, you'll know that every corner has a water-front view) and became scenery for the passing-bye gondolas, personal speed boats, and water taxis. Then we proceeded to pull an ultimate poor backpackers move, in the most ideal place for doing it. We slept on the street. It turned out that the alleyway perpendicular to the pizza place that we ate at was perfect for it. It was a dead end alley with an narrow passage way that blocked us from view of people on the other street. Only one group of people walked by us after parking their boat at the end of the alley, and we simply pretended to be asleep already to avoid confrontation. The rest of our 3 day stay in Venice was spectacular as well, and we even got to see the annual gondola races!
After Venice we popped back up to Berlin to visit the family we stayed with before. It was then that Patrick and I split ways; he went up to Stockholm again before flying home, and I went west to Brussels. Or at least with the intention of going to Brussels... after I slept through my stop and wound up in Paris... again. Never again do I want to go there. I have seen the likes of Paris' train stations WAY too much for comfort.
Long, boring story short, I am now in Dublin for the one-night-turned-five-nights stay. I have to say. If you are at all into people watching, this is the place for you. I’ll elaborate later.
Tuesday, September 05, 2006
Never-ending Sun
Written June 29th, 2006
I briefly wanted to let you know of my current status and location. Firstly, the more I see, the more I want to see, and the longer I want to see it. I can't wait for the rest of our journey, and am considering traveling the US or south america after I graduate... more of a challenge than Europe. We're in stockholm right now and it is absolutely GORGEOUS! It's like the beauty of seattle times 30! We're going up to the Fjords in Norway tomorrow to see the 24 hours of light, and I suspect it will be quite spectacular. Right now stockholm has 20 hours of light. Last night we stayed up until about 1:30 AM after going for a long walk. It's pretty amazing being able to watch the sun set and rise in the same sitting. "darkness" hits between 10pm and 2am.
I also wanted to say that I'm sorry I havent been able to call or write, the internet has been quite a problem recently... Patrick usually bums wireless internet off of his neighbors up here, and it seems that the regular victim has left for the summer. We're heading to germany after Norway, and I suspect that there will be more accessable internet there. I'll post some blogs once I get more consistent access.
I briefly wanted to let you know of my current status and location. Firstly, the more I see, the more I want to see, and the longer I want to see it. I can't wait for the rest of our journey, and am considering traveling the US or south america after I graduate... more of a challenge than Europe. We're in stockholm right now and it is absolutely GORGEOUS! It's like the beauty of seattle times 30! We're going up to the Fjords in Norway tomorrow to see the 24 hours of light, and I suspect it will be quite spectacular. Right now stockholm has 20 hours of light. Last night we stayed up until about 1:30 AM after going for a long walk. It's pretty amazing being able to watch the sun set and rise in the same sitting. "darkness" hits between 10pm and 2am.
I also wanted to say that I'm sorry I havent been able to call or write, the internet has been quite a problem recently... Patrick usually bums wireless internet off of his neighbors up here, and it seems that the regular victim has left for the summer. We're heading to germany after Norway, and I suspect that there will be more accessable internet there. I'll post some blogs once I get more consistent access.
Torro!
Written July 16th, 2006
Hola mi amigos! I am in San Sebastian, Spain right now, ready to depart for Nice and Italy in about 4 hours. I would say this is one of the most beautiful and lively places we´ve visited yet. Of course, it is spain, so liveliness is to be expected. The beaches here are amazing, and the surfing just a bit too difficult to catch a wave. We did try, though. And failed. And got kicked around by some pretty narly waves. And then traded our surf boards in for body boards. It was fun, though, and if my lip didnt still hurt and my knee werent all scraped up, I´d probably do it again if we had time. Nights so far have consisted of following a drum group down the street and dancing along side with the funny old men, and looking for seemingly non-existant salsa clubs that the guys wouldnt have to pay for. Oh yes, and a game of truth or dare (aka dare) on the boardwalk with strangers. Example dare: run up to a strange man and sing "I will always love you". Fortunately the girl on that guys arm didnt pummle anybody.
We have been traveling with a girl named Kristen (from Florida) for the past few days, who we met at the subway station in Barcelona (while lost and looking for the train station). She was on her way to San Sebastian, but was easily persuaded to hop of the train early for Pamplona and running of the bulls. Even though I told you, Dad, that I wasnt going to run - and wasnt planning on running - having two other girls to run with made it a quick decision. I didnt prepare for it, seeing as how I wasnt planning on running, so I didnt quite have the propper attire for the running (white pants, white shirt, and a red scarf and saché). Surprise, surprise! I improvised in quite a novel way according to tradition. My outfit consisted of a white skirt (practically unheard of for this run), a white tank top, and running shoes. If your wondering about the actual run, the closest we got to the bulls was about 3 feet, and we were probably the safest you could be for actually being within the fence with the bulls. But thats all Im telling you unless you ask. Oh- and nobody we knew got hurt, so you can relax and exhale now (not that you were holding your breath to start with). I would say that it was one of the most amazing experiences of my life thus far. Experience of a lifetime, hands down.
Thats all I have for you right now, but please email me if you want to know more! I would love to hear about what youve been doing!
Hola mi amigos! I am in San Sebastian, Spain right now, ready to depart for Nice and Italy in about 4 hours. I would say this is one of the most beautiful and lively places we´ve visited yet. Of course, it is spain, so liveliness is to be expected. The beaches here are amazing, and the surfing just a bit too difficult to catch a wave. We did try, though. And failed. And got kicked around by some pretty narly waves. And then traded our surf boards in for body boards. It was fun, though, and if my lip didnt still hurt and my knee werent all scraped up, I´d probably do it again if we had time. Nights so far have consisted of following a drum group down the street and dancing along side with the funny old men, and looking for seemingly non-existant salsa clubs that the guys wouldnt have to pay for. Oh yes, and a game of truth or dare (aka dare) on the boardwalk with strangers. Example dare: run up to a strange man and sing "I will always love you". Fortunately the girl on that guys arm didnt pummle anybody.
We have been traveling with a girl named Kristen (from Florida) for the past few days, who we met at the subway station in Barcelona (while lost and looking for the train station). She was on her way to San Sebastian, but was easily persuaded to hop of the train early for Pamplona and running of the bulls. Even though I told you, Dad, that I wasnt going to run - and wasnt planning on running - having two other girls to run with made it a quick decision. I didnt prepare for it, seeing as how I wasnt planning on running, so I didnt quite have the propper attire for the running (white pants, white shirt, and a red scarf and saché). Surprise, surprise! I improvised in quite a novel way according to tradition. My outfit consisted of a white skirt (practically unheard of for this run), a white tank top, and running shoes. If your wondering about the actual run, the closest we got to the bulls was about 3 feet, and we were probably the safest you could be for actually being within the fence with the bulls. But thats all Im telling you unless you ask. Oh- and nobody we knew got hurt, so you can relax and exhale now (not that you were holding your breath to start with). I would say that it was one of the most amazing experiences of my life thus far. Experience of a lifetime, hands down.
Thats all I have for you right now, but please email me if you want to know more! I would love to hear about what youve been doing!
Life is random and familiar
Written July 26th
I am, indeed alive and doing well here in Italy! The past few days of entertainment have made me laugh. They consisted of seeing my friend Brandon from high school randomly in Cinque terre at the train station- I only spotted him by the Sammamish duffle bag he was toting around, which, of course, caught me by total surprise. We went to the beach for 7 hours in Monterossa (one of the 5 towns in Cinque Terre), at dinner at the hostel, and then slept in the basement of an elderly Italian couple. We then took a train to Milan at which point Patrick and I decided to takea little break from eachother to avoid murdering eachother. He headed off to greece early, and Brandon and I went into the suburbs of Milan to watch my friends softball game. 30 minutes of being lost in Milan, 3 cheesburgers, one small fry, 3 poppers at McDonalds, and 2.5 km of walking with all of our stuff on later, we arrived at the fiield for the last 20 minutes of the game. We got a free place to stay on their floor and I took an actual BATH for the first time this trip! I am now just outside the train station in Milan about to go to Ancona to catch a 21 hour ferry ride to Greece. Oh and the ferry has a pool, which I am very excited about.These days a 21 hour ferry ride sounds like cake. Much has changed in that department since I left home.
I am, indeed alive and doing well here in Italy! The past few days of entertainment have made me laugh. They consisted of seeing my friend Brandon from high school randomly in Cinque terre at the train station- I only spotted him by the Sammamish duffle bag he was toting around, which, of course, caught me by total surprise. We went to the beach for 7 hours in Monterossa (one of the 5 towns in Cinque Terre), at dinner at the hostel, and then slept in the basement of an elderly Italian couple. We then took a train to Milan at which point Patrick and I decided to takea little break from eachother to avoid murdering eachother. He headed off to greece early, and Brandon and I went into the suburbs of Milan to watch my friends softball game. 30 minutes of being lost in Milan, 3 cheesburgers, one small fry, 3 poppers at McDonalds, and 2.5 km of walking with all of our stuff on later, we arrived at the fiield for the last 20 minutes of the game. We got a free place to stay on their floor and I took an actual BATH for the first time this trip! I am now just outside the train station in Milan about to go to Ancona to catch a 21 hour ferry ride to Greece. Oh and the ferry has a pool, which I am very excited about.These days a 21 hour ferry ride sounds like cake. Much has changed in that department since I left home.
Greece: Oy veh!
Written July 29th
Wow has it been an exciting turn of events. Last night was the first in 5 that I had actually slept in a bed, and it was glorious. After sleeping in the train station in Ancona, Italy and getting kicked off the floor, we made our way to the ferry docks to buy tickets to Patras, Greece. The 21 hour ferry wasnt so bad, even though we only had deck tickets and had to sleep on benches. I got a nice 5 minute swim in at the pool on the ferry before feeling uncomfortable enough to get out and continue to be gawked at by the creepy Greek men. The ferry ride was beautiful and I finished the book A Movable feast by Hemingway in almost a day. Traveling with someone who likes to read has gotten in me in the mood to do the same, and I have already finished two books now and started on a third, On the Road. It also helps that he has about 4 english books in his bag, so I can just swap one out when Im done with the last.
After ariving in Patras, we hopped a train to Corinth (on the way to Athens)- or so we thought. And so the train said. Only it was not going to Corinth. It was headed towards Kalamata, the opposite way that we needed to go. We only found this out until we were just about at Kalamata, and the Train conductor told us to get off of the train and catch a bus before even reaching Kalamata. Stuck in the middle of nowhere, Greece with another couple that was lost on the way to Athens, and all we could seem to do was get more lost. The other couple from Romania somehow caught all of us a ride to an even smaller town to catch a different bus straight to Athens. The man who drove us was increadibly nice and happened to live in Chicago for a little while, so his english was good enough to get by. Get by with tourists that is-- in the middle of Greece. We arrived at a corner in the middle of a greek highway, holding a store with wine and cooked pig. They also sold bus tickets. Brandon and I were told that our Eurail passes would work on the buses too, so we didnt buy tickets. It turns out that our Eurail passes didnt work, and we had to spent 15 euros each on bus tickets- about 6 euros cheaper than what the couple payed at the store. It seems that the market enjoyed giving the "special price for travelers who dont speak greek" quite often, as we also got ripped off on a slab of meat.
It was 9:30pm by the time we arrived in athens, and we had no other choice to stay the night. The Romanian couple was also quite nice, and just as lost as us, so we decided to look for a cheap room together and split the cost. Anything to avoid getting ripped off again, we ignored the taxis and caught the bus to the train station. We were all on a budget, so we searched for the sketchy looking hotels, with no fancy lights and no fancy signs, and succeeded with a hostel room for 50 euros. It even incuded breakfast (if you can call it that for an egg and a few pieces of bread).
After finding out that the ferry tickets to crete are about 35 euros each way, i think that Im just going to stay on the mainland until I have to be in Zurich by the 8th, and then head to Crete after that. Who knows what will happen, though. Clearly the unpredictablility is unpredictable.
Wow has it been an exciting turn of events. Last night was the first in 5 that I had actually slept in a bed, and it was glorious. After sleeping in the train station in Ancona, Italy and getting kicked off the floor, we made our way to the ferry docks to buy tickets to Patras, Greece. The 21 hour ferry wasnt so bad, even though we only had deck tickets and had to sleep on benches. I got a nice 5 minute swim in at the pool on the ferry before feeling uncomfortable enough to get out and continue to be gawked at by the creepy Greek men. The ferry ride was beautiful and I finished the book A Movable feast by Hemingway in almost a day. Traveling with someone who likes to read has gotten in me in the mood to do the same, and I have already finished two books now and started on a third, On the Road. It also helps that he has about 4 english books in his bag, so I can just swap one out when Im done with the last.
After ariving in Patras, we hopped a train to Corinth (on the way to Athens)- or so we thought. And so the train said. Only it was not going to Corinth. It was headed towards Kalamata, the opposite way that we needed to go. We only found this out until we were just about at Kalamata, and the Train conductor told us to get off of the train and catch a bus before even reaching Kalamata. Stuck in the middle of nowhere, Greece with another couple that was lost on the way to Athens, and all we could seem to do was get more lost. The other couple from Romania somehow caught all of us a ride to an even smaller town to catch a different bus straight to Athens. The man who drove us was increadibly nice and happened to live in Chicago for a little while, so his english was good enough to get by. Get by with tourists that is-- in the middle of Greece. We arrived at a corner in the middle of a greek highway, holding a store with wine and cooked pig. They also sold bus tickets. Brandon and I were told that our Eurail passes would work on the buses too, so we didnt buy tickets. It turns out that our Eurail passes didnt work, and we had to spent 15 euros each on bus tickets- about 6 euros cheaper than what the couple payed at the store. It seems that the market enjoyed giving the "special price for travelers who dont speak greek" quite often, as we also got ripped off on a slab of meat.
It was 9:30pm by the time we arrived in athens, and we had no other choice to stay the night. The Romanian couple was also quite nice, and just as lost as us, so we decided to look for a cheap room together and split the cost. Anything to avoid getting ripped off again, we ignored the taxis and caught the bus to the train station. We were all on a budget, so we searched for the sketchy looking hotels, with no fancy lights and no fancy signs, and succeeded with a hostel room for 50 euros. It even incuded breakfast (if you can call it that for an egg and a few pieces of bread).
After finding out that the ferry tickets to crete are about 35 euros each way, i think that Im just going to stay on the mainland until I have to be in Zurich by the 8th, and then head to Crete after that. Who knows what will happen, though. Clearly the unpredictablility is unpredictable.
Zurich Recap
Written August 25, 2006
So... I left off in Munich. Next stop was Zurich (or more specifically,> Stäfa), my former home of 5 years, and one of the most beautiful cities in the world. There we thoroughly enjoyed all of the things that had been missing on our trip: fine food, fine wine, fine parties, fine sleep. And more fine sleep. After being warmly welcomed into the home of our old neighbor and family friends, Bruno and Ruth, all we could do was stare off of their balcony at what must have been one of the best views in Stäfa, overlooking the Zeurisee (lake Zurich) and Luzern-- or what Bruno called "the sink" of the area (behind the "cold coast"), as they apparently take all the rain away from the "gold coast", when we were staying. I cant help to wonder whether the US referrs to Seattle as "the sink" as well. Regarless, we still experienced rain, and still went swimming in it... and then sprinted back to our unsheltered clothes in time enough that they were not completely soaked yet.
Of course, a trip to Switzerland is not a trip to Switzerland if you havn't seen the Alps. After seeing those babies I was almost convinced that I was> not living anywhere else in the world ever again. Only problem is that one I am not a farmer, and two I am not a billionaire. So, unless I learn how to speak flawless swiss german and somehow manage to get a job up there, I dont see that happenning anywhere in the near future.
We were also fortunate enough to arrive just in time for the Zurich street parade, a once a year event drawing millions of partiers from around Europe in their most outrageous clothing to dance for hours in the street, fore and behind semi trucks towing trailers full of more dancing people, including a trailer for the local strip club. It would be a lye to say that people weren't excited about that one... One of Bruno's coleagues from Florida invited us to come along to their annual street parade party, hosted in their 4 or 5 star hotel, and catered by their personal waiter, who flawlessly made a point to keep our champaign glasses full and to keep food on our plates at all times. Of course, parties lasted until all hours of the night, even including one at the train station (which, of course, I went to as well). The night I spent with my old childhood friend, Daniella, and her friends. I even met a swiss guy who was attending UW in the fall! Imagine the odds of that, will ya? And so, I went about my duty as a husky and informed him of cheers, rules, etc. Can't leave a guy hanging around Seattle with an umbrella and looking like a foreigner... Once again, I must continue later. Need to go eat lunch at the student caffeteria here in Karlsruh, Germany! Bet you've never heard of it, have you? Thats what I thought. Me neither before we came here. Maybe Ill continue this later today, maybe when we get to Romania (tomorrow or the next day) where internet (and the cost of living) is DIRT cheap. Yay for being poor and stinky!
So... I left off in Munich. Next stop was Zurich (or more specifically,> Stäfa), my former home of 5 years, and one of the most beautiful cities in the world. There we thoroughly enjoyed all of the things that had been missing on our trip: fine food, fine wine, fine parties, fine sleep. And more fine sleep. After being warmly welcomed into the home of our old neighbor and family friends, Bruno and Ruth, all we could do was stare off of their balcony at what must have been one of the best views in Stäfa, overlooking the Zeurisee (lake Zurich) and Luzern-- or what Bruno called "the sink" of the area (behind the "cold coast"), as they apparently take all the rain away from the "gold coast", when we were staying. I cant help to wonder whether the US referrs to Seattle as "the sink" as well. Regarless, we still experienced rain, and still went swimming in it... and then sprinted back to our unsheltered clothes in time enough that they were not completely soaked yet.
Of course, a trip to Switzerland is not a trip to Switzerland if you havn't seen the Alps. After seeing those babies I was almost convinced that I was> not living anywhere else in the world ever again. Only problem is that one I am not a farmer, and two I am not a billionaire. So, unless I learn how to speak flawless swiss german and somehow manage to get a job up there, I dont see that happenning anywhere in the near future.
We were also fortunate enough to arrive just in time for the Zurich street parade, a once a year event drawing millions of partiers from around Europe in their most outrageous clothing to dance for hours in the street, fore and behind semi trucks towing trailers full of more dancing people, including a trailer for the local strip club. It would be a lye to say that people weren't excited about that one... One of Bruno's coleagues from Florida invited us to come along to their annual street parade party, hosted in their 4 or 5 star hotel, and catered by their personal waiter, who flawlessly made a point to keep our champaign glasses full and to keep food on our plates at all times. Of course, parties lasted until all hours of the night, even including one at the train station (which, of course, I went to as well). The night I spent with my old childhood friend, Daniella, and her friends. I even met a swiss guy who was attending UW in the fall! Imagine the odds of that, will ya? And so, I went about my duty as a husky and informed him of cheers, rules, etc. Can't leave a guy hanging around Seattle with an umbrella and looking like a foreigner... Once again, I must continue later. Need to go eat lunch at the student caffeteria here in Karlsruh, Germany! Bet you've never heard of it, have you? Thats what I thought. Me neither before we came here. Maybe Ill continue this later today, maybe when we get to Romania (tomorrow or the next day) where internet (and the cost of living) is DIRT cheap. Yay for being poor and stinky!
Memoirs from 10 weeks in...
Written Sept 4th, 2006
Zurich was the last of luxury that we have seen, and probably will see for a long, long time. Let me explain. We departed Zurich on August 13th in search of the sun that we had been sadly missing for over 2 weeks. Because we are, of course, the smartest two travelers around, we darted off to the south, Barcelona more specifically, in a wild goose chase to reunite with the tans that we had lost along with the sun. Our vanity seemed to overpower our wits, however, as we failed to even check a weather report before leaving. So, of course, we wound up in Barcelona around 15 or so hours later to find nothing else but the same bad weather we left the day before. Unmotivated to even walk around the town again without so much as the reward of a warm, sunny beach with crystal blue waters, I failed to step outside the train station before departing again, this time north to France to avoid the expensive Spanish reservartion fees.
About 3 days later we finally settled in Paris for two nights (one of which being in the train station), after spending one night camped out in a random field near the French-Spanish border, and stopping briefly (and I mean very briefly) in Bordeaux before realizing our lack of a city map and after realizing our laziness to find one or ask directions to the hostel. Trains at least kept us warm and out of the rain. Plus they helped us break our record of longest period traveling straight.
Paris was expensive this time around, and this fact was made very, very apparent to us once we realized that neither of us has any money to our name. We walked around Paris for a day and sat outside the Louvre for 3 hours while deciding that we hated being tourists and hitting the road again. The only reason we had any direction was because we finally got in contact with one of Patrick's friends from Stockholm, Benny, who invited us to come stay with him on his family's farm in the Black Forest area of Germany. Hope was restored in us as we moved east toward free accomodation and a friendly face.
I was forced to practice my German while there, as Benny's family spoke no English. His mom showered us with kindness, as she cooked us authentic German meals (as it seems all Germans do so well) and baked 2 cakes a day. She spoke German slowly enough for me to understand, and at times spoke to Patrick before turning around and realizing that it was Patrick, the only non-German speaker in the house, and laughing it away.
Zurich was the last of luxury that we have seen, and probably will see for a long, long time. Let me explain. We departed Zurich on August 13th in search of the sun that we had been sadly missing for over 2 weeks. Because we are, of course, the smartest two travelers around, we darted off to the south, Barcelona more specifically, in a wild goose chase to reunite with the tans that we had lost along with the sun. Our vanity seemed to overpower our wits, however, as we failed to even check a weather report before leaving. So, of course, we wound up in Barcelona around 15 or so hours later to find nothing else but the same bad weather we left the day before. Unmotivated to even walk around the town again without so much as the reward of a warm, sunny beach with crystal blue waters, I failed to step outside the train station before departing again, this time north to France to avoid the expensive Spanish reservartion fees.
About 3 days later we finally settled in Paris for two nights (one of which being in the train station), after spending one night camped out in a random field near the French-Spanish border, and stopping briefly (and I mean very briefly) in Bordeaux before realizing our lack of a city map and after realizing our laziness to find one or ask directions to the hostel. Trains at least kept us warm and out of the rain. Plus they helped us break our record of longest period traveling straight.
Paris was expensive this time around, and this fact was made very, very apparent to us once we realized that neither of us has any money to our name. We walked around Paris for a day and sat outside the Louvre for 3 hours while deciding that we hated being tourists and hitting the road again. The only reason we had any direction was because we finally got in contact with one of Patrick's friends from Stockholm, Benny, who invited us to come stay with him on his family's farm in the Black Forest area of Germany. Hope was restored in us as we moved east toward free accomodation and a friendly face.
I was forced to practice my German while there, as Benny's family spoke no English. His mom showered us with kindness, as she cooked us authentic German meals (as it seems all Germans do so well) and baked 2 cakes a day. She spoke German slowly enough for me to understand, and at times spoke to Patrick before turning around and realizing that it was Patrick, the only non-German speaker in the house, and laughing it away.
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