Had a few minutes to bring this thing up to speed while I wait for my train that'll bring me to my ferry to Ireland. No pictures right now though since the computer here doesn't have a place to plug in my camera.
After Paris it was on to Amsterdam. My first stop there was the Heineken Experience. Went through the brewery and got some fresh Heineken. It tastes so good when it hits the lips.
After that I went out with a some other people from the US that were in my hostel as well as a couple of Brits. We painted the town red. Actually, I take that back since I think that expression might take on a whole different meaning in Amsterdam with it's, umm, "special districts".
Amsterdam really is a town where you can find anything you want though. If I hadn't brought this up before, the only pop they have in Europe is Coke, Sprite, Orange Fanta, and Pepsi. So imagine my delight when I walked into a store in Amsterdam that had Mountain Dew and A&W, and at only $4 for one can!
There really wasn't a whole lot more to see as far as landmarks in Amsterdam besides a few churches. One other place that was interesting was Anne Frank's house. I got to walk through the factory her father owned and then upstairs into the secret door behind the bookcase to the rooms where they were hiding for a few years before the Nazis caught them.
After Amsterdam I hit up Brussels. Was actually planning on going to Ghent where there was a festival, but I was all partied out after Amsterdam so I just stayed in Brussels. I stopped in one of the many bread stores unti lI found one with a man working the counter. He was about 6'4" but not full of muscles. I asked if I could get a pciture of myself buying bread from him, but he evidently didn't see the little humour involved in recreating a verse from a Men at Work song. Oh well.
From Brussels it was on to Bayeux in Normandy, France. I knew it was near the D-Day beaches, but later found out it was actually the first town liberated by the Allies once they began the push into France from Britain.
I met up with a girl from South Africa who also wanted to see the beaches, so we went together.
At her insistence we started at Pointe du Hoc, an outcrop of land where the Germans had a bunch of guns stationed and could hit Utah or Omaha beach. 225 US rangers assaulted it and only 90 of them survived, but they did capture it. Next we were going to head East to Omaha beach. We walked, and walked, and walked. It was a long way, something I tried to tell her when she decided to see the Pointe. Not wanting to walk the whole way we tried to hitchhike. One good thing about having a good looking blonde girl traveling with you in France is just about any guy will pull over to give you a lift. The guy that happened to pull over for us had a car that smelled horribly of fish. I was glad for the lift, and even happier when he dropped us off and I smelled my clothes to find the fish odor hadn't stuck with me. We walked down Omaha Beach, and it was easy to see why the Germans weren't expecting an attack there. the beach is very wide, making crossing it very time consuming. Plus it's all lined by hills.
After seeing the memorial on the beach, we made our way to the cemetery which was another long hike, but definitely worth it. Over 9600 white crosses line a plateau that looks out over the sea. You'll see in the pictures I have that it's incredible.
And that brings me to now.
Have to get headed to the train station. I'll post the last of the pics and some good movies once I'm back in Dubuque in a few days.
Later.
Sunday, July 22, 2007
Monday, July 16, 2007
Catching up and winding down
Only 8 more days before I return to the motherland. This might be one of the last updates as the last few days will probably go pretty quickly. I have one more night in Paris, then it's off to Amsterdam for a few nights, then Ghent and Brussels in Belgium, Bayeux back in France to see the D-Day beaches, then finally up to Dublin for a few nights before I fly out.
Haven't done anything quite so crazy as my last couple of posts, but saw some cool stuff, so here it is.
After Pamplona I made my stop on the French Riviera in Beziers. Had some good luck as I got into town during some big town festival where they had a concert in the main plaza which was right outside my hotel room:
The next day I spent at the beach. This isn't really a tourist beach... I think it's where all the French people go since the tourists are at Cannes, Nice, etc. Was surprised to see some French kids playing football on the beach. Not soccer football, football football.
After Beziers, I went to Lyon. Every French town has 2 or 3 Notre Dame's. This is one of Lyon's.
Here was the view out of the hostel, not too bad.
Like most things in Europe, Lyon was created by the Romans. Here's some of the Roman ruins. Just the old stones...not the big concert set up.
Took a daytrip from Lyon to Bourg-en-Bresse, a small town like 30 minutes away and caught the Tour de France. There was a lot of sitting around and waiting considering the actual bikers going through took all of 10 seconds. Still a cool experience and I got a lot of free crap from the parades.
After Lyon, it was on to Paris. My first day I hit up the real Notre Dame. Me looking very authoritative:
You can climb the steps up on top of the cathedral to get a close look at the gargoyles:
You can also get up in the bell tower. In this next picture I wasn't imitating the hunchback, that's just how my back looks after carrying my huge backpack all over Europe.
After that I went over to Champs-de-Elysses, a huge strip that leads from the Louvre to the Arc de Triomph and beyond. Here's the Arc from far away (obviously).
Teresa you were right, Champs is crazy. Every kind of store you can think of. Chanel and Dolce next to McDonald's and Virgin Records. Car dealerships, night clubs...anything you can think of.
My first night also happened to be Bastille Day night. Bastille Day I think is like France's 4th of July or something. So once again I got fireworks, and once again there was no music. If you're gonna take the time to plan a big fireworks show, set it to music. I mean come on, that's like eating pumpkin pie without whip cream. Sure it'll taste pretty good, but just that little extra step and you have an immaculate creation. Metaphors (or is that a simile? I've been out of school too long) aside, I thought the French were artistic.
They did do one cool thing though. They had lights on the Eiffel Tower that made it look like it was sparkling. I have a video of that and some fireworks, but once again, I can't get the videos working. Well anyway, here's the Eiffel with it's normal night lighting.
I took that on one of the bridges over the Seine. As I was sitting there, three of the girls I had gone canyoning with in Switzerland saw me and came up to me and we chatted a while about what we had been doing since. Crazy coincidence.
The next day was a long one. I started out in the morning at the catacombs. The catacombs are quarries that run all under Paris that they couldn't dig in anymore for fear of collapse. Since the cemeteries were overflowing at the time and people were getting sick from them, they started throwing bodies down in the quarries. Today there's like 6 million bodies worth of bones down there, stacked in fun little rows. Nice to know I was down in a tunnel 150 feet underground with horrible ventilation with a bunch of corpses that were moved because they made people sick.
You couldn't use flash down there out of respect for the dead, so pictures were hard to come by. Here's one that at least shows something.
After the catacombs, I headed over to the Louvre. The Louvre is huge. I thought it was just paintings, but it's all kinds of crap. This is looking out from one wing over the famous pyramid.
Next few pics are all from the Louvre.
Here's Napoleon's mirror. I didn't know he was so Liberace-esque.
The Venus de Milo. Just a normal statue in my opinion. I guess it has some history though.
Here's the Mona Lisa room. It's the lone picture on that middle wall. It was a bit of a fight to get up to the front, but I eventually made it. Would post a picture from up front, but I'm assuming you all know what it looks like.
Next for my favorite pictures.
Didn't know he was so big in France... in the 1750's. But here's Keanu Reeves.
I think the correct answer in the 1700's to, "Does this dress make me look fat?" was, "Yes, huge. You've got an enormous ass honey."
After the Louvre it was off to Versailles. Here's a view from outback in the gardens looking at the chateau. Nice digs.
Here is the Hall of Mirrors where Louis XV held all his keggers.
That was a long day.
This morning it was time for the tower. Me in front.
And here's a view from the top. It's a rip off. There's 3 levels and you can take the stairs up the first 2. But you have to take an elevator up to the top which is another $5. Not horrible, but you have to wait 45 minutes at least to get on. And of course it started raining when I was up there to go along with the gale force winds.
Eventually got up there though. Here's the view from the top looking west over the main park (Bois I think).
And now you are up to the minute. Here was one last sign I saw on the way home that I thought was kind of funny. Apparently if you're in the Paris metro and lightning strikes, limbo under it.
Got to run. Out of time. Talk to you later.
Haven't done anything quite so crazy as my last couple of posts, but saw some cool stuff, so here it is.
After Pamplona I made my stop on the French Riviera in Beziers. Had some good luck as I got into town during some big town festival where they had a concert in the main plaza which was right outside my hotel room:
The next day I spent at the beach. This isn't really a tourist beach... I think it's where all the French people go since the tourists are at Cannes, Nice, etc. Was surprised to see some French kids playing football on the beach. Not soccer football, football football.
After Beziers, I went to Lyon. Every French town has 2 or 3 Notre Dame's. This is one of Lyon's.
Here was the view out of the hostel, not too bad.
Like most things in Europe, Lyon was created by the Romans. Here's some of the Roman ruins. Just the old stones...not the big concert set up.
Took a daytrip from Lyon to Bourg-en-Bresse, a small town like 30 minutes away and caught the Tour de France. There was a lot of sitting around and waiting considering the actual bikers going through took all of 10 seconds. Still a cool experience and I got a lot of free crap from the parades.
After Lyon, it was on to Paris. My first day I hit up the real Notre Dame. Me looking very authoritative:
You can climb the steps up on top of the cathedral to get a close look at the gargoyles:
You can also get up in the bell tower. In this next picture I wasn't imitating the hunchback, that's just how my back looks after carrying my huge backpack all over Europe.
After that I went over to Champs-de-Elysses, a huge strip that leads from the Louvre to the Arc de Triomph and beyond. Here's the Arc from far away (obviously).
Teresa you were right, Champs is crazy. Every kind of store you can think of. Chanel and Dolce next to McDonald's and Virgin Records. Car dealerships, night clubs...anything you can think of.
My first night also happened to be Bastille Day night. Bastille Day I think is like France's 4th of July or something. So once again I got fireworks, and once again there was no music. If you're gonna take the time to plan a big fireworks show, set it to music. I mean come on, that's like eating pumpkin pie without whip cream. Sure it'll taste pretty good, but just that little extra step and you have an immaculate creation. Metaphors (or is that a simile? I've been out of school too long) aside, I thought the French were artistic.
They did do one cool thing though. They had lights on the Eiffel Tower that made it look like it was sparkling. I have a video of that and some fireworks, but once again, I can't get the videos working. Well anyway, here's the Eiffel with it's normal night lighting.
I took that on one of the bridges over the Seine. As I was sitting there, three of the girls I had gone canyoning with in Switzerland saw me and came up to me and we chatted a while about what we had been doing since. Crazy coincidence.
The next day was a long one. I started out in the morning at the catacombs. The catacombs are quarries that run all under Paris that they couldn't dig in anymore for fear of collapse. Since the cemeteries were overflowing at the time and people were getting sick from them, they started throwing bodies down in the quarries. Today there's like 6 million bodies worth of bones down there, stacked in fun little rows. Nice to know I was down in a tunnel 150 feet underground with horrible ventilation with a bunch of corpses that were moved because they made people sick.
You couldn't use flash down there out of respect for the dead, so pictures were hard to come by. Here's one that at least shows something.
After the catacombs, I headed over to the Louvre. The Louvre is huge. I thought it was just paintings, but it's all kinds of crap. This is looking out from one wing over the famous pyramid.
Next few pics are all from the Louvre.
Here's Napoleon's mirror. I didn't know he was so Liberace-esque.
The Venus de Milo. Just a normal statue in my opinion. I guess it has some history though.
Here's the Mona Lisa room. It's the lone picture on that middle wall. It was a bit of a fight to get up to the front, but I eventually made it. Would post a picture from up front, but I'm assuming you all know what it looks like.
Next for my favorite pictures.
Didn't know he was so big in France... in the 1750's. But here's Keanu Reeves.
I think the correct answer in the 1700's to, "Does this dress make me look fat?" was, "Yes, huge. You've got an enormous ass honey."
After the Louvre it was off to Versailles. Here's a view from outback in the gardens looking at the chateau. Nice digs.
Here is the Hall of Mirrors where Louis XV held all his keggers.
That was a long day.
This morning it was time for the tower. Me in front.
And here's a view from the top. It's a rip off. There's 3 levels and you can take the stairs up the first 2. But you have to take an elevator up to the top which is another $5. Not horrible, but you have to wait 45 minutes at least to get on. And of course it started raining when I was up there to go along with the gale force winds.
Eventually got up there though. Here's the view from the top looking west over the main park (Bois I think).
And now you are up to the minute. Here was one last sign I saw on the way home that I thought was kind of funny. Apparently if you're in the Paris metro and lightning strikes, limbo under it.
Got to run. Out of time. Talk to you later.
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
You may be right, I may be crazy. -Billy Joel
It´s been a pretty wild time since my last post. I´ll pick it up where I left off. After a fairly laid back trip in Grindelwald, Switzerland (minus the hiking up mountains), I needed to get to Geneva for the biggest 4th of July celebration outside the US. So from Grindelwald I went back to Interlaken where I saw this slice of Americana I had somehow missed before:
I didn´t stop there, I swear.
Arrived in Geneva and did some walking around. Not really a whole lot to see there. Here´s the world´s largest fountain...and it is pretty big, look at the people at the bottom.
And right near that is a flower clock they´re especially proud of.
Unfortunately, the enormous 4th celebration they have there was cancelled because they couldn´t get enough sponsorship. Not many people heard this ahead of time, apparently, as there were no rooms in the city. I ended up staying at the university in the dorms there. While I was hanging out in the lobby I saw some people wearing Duke stuff, so I struck up a conversation and found out there was about 30 people from Duke at the university doing a study abroad thing and they were planning on a little BBQ. We didn´t have any fireworks, but since it was raining on and off during the BBQ, we had some of nature´s fireworks:
I´m some kind of poet.
I didn´t stop there, I swear.
Arrived in Geneva and did some walking around. Not really a whole lot to see there. Here´s the world´s largest fountain...and it is pretty big, look at the people at the bottom.
And right near that is a flower clock they´re especially proud of.
Unfortunately, the enormous 4th celebration they have there was cancelled because they couldn´t get enough sponsorship. Not many people heard this ahead of time, apparently, as there were no rooms in the city. I ended up staying at the university in the dorms there. While I was hanging out in the lobby I saw some people wearing Duke stuff, so I struck up a conversation and found out there was about 30 people from Duke at the university doing a study abroad thing and they were planning on a little BBQ. We didn´t have any fireworks, but since it was raining on and off during the BBQ, we had some of nature´s fireworks:
I´m some kind of poet.
Anyway, at around 10:30 they all went to the bars. I would have gladly joined up, but I guess people like me using the dorms as a hotel have to be in before 11 or you get locked out for the night. So dejected I went back to my dorm. I had seen a bunch of bags from Carmel College in all the dorms earlier, so I figured I´d have some Californian company when I got back to the dorms. But, as I soon found out, it was not people from Carmel, California, and it wasn´t college in the American sense. It was college in the British meaning, i.e. high school. It was some group of sophomores on a class trip. But as soon as I walked in they offered me shots and drinks of all the hard liquor they had, which was quite a bit. Not wanting to do any more damage to international relations after the Romanian incident, I had to drink.
Eventually their chaperones came in and I figured the party was over. Apparently I don´t understand British custom, because the chaperones didn´t seem to mind. It ended up being an OK night.
Eventually their chaperones came in and I figured the party was over. Apparently I don´t understand British custom, because the chaperones didn´t seem to mind. It ended up being an OK night.
After Geneva it was onward to Pamplona and the Running of the Bulls.
Here's some things I picked up from books, random people or first hand experience. San Fermin starts on the 6th of July and goes through the 14th. There is a bull run every morning at 8 an starting on the 7th. Between bull runs all everyone does is drink and sleep on the street. And while there aren't rules against changing your clothes, no one does. This is especially bad since everyone is wearing the same white shirt. After a few hours of joining in the fun, your shirt will be more sangria red than white because people like to fill up waterguns and balloons with sangria and use them on eachother.
Since no one really visits there except during San Fermin, there isn't nearly enough room in hotels for everyone, so people sleep in doorways, on benches, in parks... where ever there is a spot.
Here's some things I picked up from books, random people or first hand experience. San Fermin starts on the 6th of July and goes through the 14th. There is a bull run every morning at 8 an starting on the 7th. Between bull runs all everyone does is drink and sleep on the street. And while there aren't rules against changing your clothes, no one does. This is especially bad since everyone is wearing the same white shirt. After a few hours of joining in the fun, your shirt will be more sangria red than white because people like to fill up waterguns and balloons with sangria and use them on eachother.
Since no one really visits there except during San Fermin, there isn't nearly enough room in hotels for everyone, so people sleep in doorways, on benches, in parks... where ever there is a spot.
Hands down it was the wildest city I've ever seen. One day there is almost too much, and I tell you from experience that two and a half days is way too much. It is literally a non-stop party all day and night, every day and night. Maybe it's a bit more tame as the festival wears down, as my first night there was the second night of the festival and a Saturday night.
Enough with the lead-in though, to the pictures!
Here's a map of the place. As with all of the pictures you can click on it to get a bigger view. The red dotted line that runs through the center of the map to the Plaza del Toros is the bull run. For some perspective, the run is 850 meters (half a mile).
The Plaza de San Francisco is where I hung out a bunch of the time sipping (that may be putting it lightly) the $2 liters of Sangria. It was where the luggage place was so it was a good place to meet people.
After a few sangrias, it sounded like a good idea to join some Australians in a game of rugby on the plaza... which is made of cement... and covered in glass from all the broken sangria and beer bottles from the previous night's party.
No one got excessively injured when you factor in the playing surface. Here's a video of one of the many bands that marches around all day when they cut through our playing field.
After a few sangrias, it sounded like a good idea to join some Australians in a game of rugby on the plaza... which is made of cement... and covered in glass from all the broken sangria and beer bottles from the previous night's party.
No one got excessively injured when you factor in the playing surface. Here's a video of one of the many bands that marches around all day when they cut through our playing field.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=8o6CnIO3XEQ
The bands act as a Pied Piper for the really drunk people who jump up to follow them around doing drunken dances. It's cool.
Here is the Plaza del Castillo, the main plaza in Pamplona (9 on the map). This place is always happening as most of the bars and good restaurants are around here including Ernest Hemingway's old hang out where he wrote the books that made the Running famous.
Every night they light off some fireworks for like 15 minutes. It was my own personal 4th of July a few days late. But, they didn't have any music to go with the fireworks so it was pretty boring.
The bands act as a Pied Piper for the really drunk people who jump up to follow them around doing drunken dances. It's cool.
Here is the Plaza del Castillo, the main plaza in Pamplona (9 on the map). This place is always happening as most of the bars and good restaurants are around here including Ernest Hemingway's old hang out where he wrote the books that made the Running famous.
Every night they light off some fireworks for like 15 minutes. It was my own personal 4th of July a few days late. But, they didn't have any music to go with the fireworks so it was pretty boring.
Eventually I ended up crashing that night with 5 other people I'd met up with in the park in the northeast corner of that map. It was warm that night and we had nice pieces of cardboard to sleep on, not like the next night...
This is me along with a couple of the guys from our party who were planning on running. I loved that hat.
That was taken about 30 minutes before the police camein and kicked us out because they needed to get the number of runners down. Obviously I wasn't happy about this. A bunch of other people started running down a side street to try to cut in at an earlier point, which seemed like a good idea. Unfortunately some other cops didn't think so and they started beating the hell out of the people in front of the line to get them to push the crowd backwards. So the whole crowd kind of shifted back until the police could close a gate. Here is said gate.
Then to make people back away from the gate they started cracking people's heels with batons under the gate. I caught a couple of those before I pushed everyone back a bit. I was still under the impression that they'd open the gate and at least let us watch since the side streets aren't very numerous and good vantage points are hard to find. So I was happy to see the gate start to open about 10 minutes later, but then not so happy when the cops poured out of it swinging the batons. Everyone else had the same reqctionand everyone turned to stampede. I caught a baton on my thigh where I had a nice welt, but fortunately for me I'm quick and don't mind pushing people out of the way and I got out before the cops could rain more blows upon me.
At this point, I'm slightly madder than before. All around me though are people who are quite a bit more distraught. Angry people plus an endless supply of sangria and beer bottles + cops within throwing range = bad news.
No I didn't throw anything, I was filming... sideways, for some reason.
No I didn't throw anything, I was filming... sideways, for some reason.
That carried on for about 10 minutes before the riot police came out and everyone dispersed for the most part.
Got split up from my party in the melee, so I decided to go catch up on my sleep in one of the parks. Found a bench with other people passed out and got comfortable. About 15 minutes later I was half asleep when something woke me up. Some guy was trying to pickpocket me. I knocked his hand away and punched him in the chest. He stood there for a second before he jogged off... I think he was surprised I wasn't passed out and I was somewhat sober.
Not feeling sleepy anymore I headed back to Plaza de San Francisco to repeat the previous day's activities.
That night, I talked to some people who were going to sleep in the train station. That was a good idea since it was down around the 50°s that night and sleeping outside would be rough with only a jacket to keep me warm. Got there and it was great for 30 minutes, before they kicked us all out. So I spent the coldest night of my life ever on the little green in front of the train station. Didn't feel so hot, but I was determined to run.
Got into town and lined up by Dead Man's Curve (that's the couple little turns about midway through the course). Met up with some more Americans there. Here's me looking great again in my hat and the same clothes I'd had on for 2 days at that point.
Got split up from my party in the melee, so I decided to go catch up on my sleep in one of the parks. Found a bench with other people passed out and got comfortable. About 15 minutes later I was half asleep when something woke me up. Some guy was trying to pickpocket me. I knocked his hand away and punched him in the chest. He stood there for a second before he jogged off... I think he was surprised I wasn't passed out and I was somewhat sober.
Not feeling sleepy anymore I headed back to Plaza de San Francisco to repeat the previous day's activities.
That night, I talked to some people who were going to sleep in the train station. That was a good idea since it was down around the 50°s that night and sleeping outside would be rough with only a jacket to keep me warm. Got there and it was great for 30 minutes, before they kicked us all out. So I spent the coldest night of my life ever on the little green in front of the train station. Didn't feel so hot, but I was determined to run.
Got into town and lined up by Dead Man's Curve (that's the couple little turns about midway through the course). Met up with some more Americans there. Here's me looking great again in my hat and the same clothes I'd had on for 2 days at that point.
That piece of plywood over my left shoulder is the place where all the bulls slide and fall as they take the corner and crash into the wall. This confuses them and pisses them off, which is when they look to hurt people, i.e. Dead Man's Curve.
Now for the anticlimatic end. I ran and pushed and jumped over fallen people with the bull's right next to me, but you aren't allowed to take pics for your own safety. If you do the cops take your camera.
I managed to accomplish the ultimate goal, aside from staying alive, which is to make it into the arena at the end of the run. They close the door immediately after the last of the 8 bulls gets in the gate. Once in those bulls go straight across the arena into their pen. Here's me in the bullring, happy I survived, but oblivious to what came next.
I managed to accomplish the ultimate goal, aside from staying alive, which is to make it into the arena at the end of the run. They close the door immediately after the last of the 8 bulls gets in the gate. Once in those bulls go straight across the arena into their pen. Here's me in the bullring, happy I survived, but oblivious to what came next.
About 5 minutes after they close off the ring, they let loose the first of 5 more younger bulls with horns they dulled a bit. He comes charging out of the gate and jumps the people who kneel down in front of it (you'll see what I mean in the movies), then runs around for about 5-10 minutes while people try to touch him or jump him, generally just piss him off, before they herd him in and unleash the next. It's kinda crazy because there are so many people in there you lose sight of the bull. Then all of a sudden everyone starts running towards you then parts until only the bull is left coming straight at you. A little intense.
Fortunately, I have a ton of movies from this with people getting run down, funny stuff. Unfortunately, I'm having trouble trying to upload them. Having spent like 20 dollars at internet cafes trying to get them to work, I think I'll have to just hold off and get them up when I get home in a few weeks.
I needed a vacation after Pamplona, so I went to Beziers, on the French Riviera and laid on the beach for a day. Wanted to go to Nice and Monte Carlo instead, but all the cheap rooms there are booked. Oh well, still had a good time laying around, and I caught a festival that happened to be in town.
Right now I'm in Lyon, getting ready for tomorrow when I head to a small town called Bourg-en-Bresse where I'm going to catch a leg of the Tour de France. Should be fun.
That's all for now.
Monday, July 2, 2007
Catching Up on Pics (Really Long Post)
Gotta rewind a bit here to get caught up on pics. First, Budapest in Hungary. Was only there for a day, but saw quite a bit.
Here's the biggest synagogue in Europe (2nd in the world). Can't really tell since getting a big picture of it is impossible as it's surrounded by other big buildings.
Buda and Pest are actually two cities separated by the Danube. Here's a look over the Danube at Castle Hill in Buda.
I went into caves under the castle that have been in use for like 1000 years, but nothing down there was original (like this cave drawing) and they play this scary music. The scary music worked though. It was spooky since I was the only one down in the entire caves.
Contender #1 for the 4th Street Elevator's title as shortest and steepest railway. This was coming down from Castle Hill.
After Budapest, I hopped the train to Vienna. Arriving there I had to use the facilities. Those Viennesse know how to make anything sound fancy.
Here's the Royal Theater. I didn't go in there. I did catch Romeo & Juliet at the State Opera House the next night though. It was a ballet, they hopped around A LOT.
Went up in the famous ferris wheel. James Bond fans might remember this from one of the movies.
After Vienna, it was off to Salzburg. Here's looking over some gardens at the castle on the hill.
Happened to walk into the main square right as they were tapping a barrel forsome festival. Free beer? Yes, please.
Went up to the castle on the hill. On the way back down I got on the 2nd contender for the 4th Street Elevator's title.
Walking back to the train station I saw this store. Nice.
After the afternoon in Salzburg it was off to Munich. The first morning there I was looking for a place for breakfast and happened upon a beer hall. I really wanted a Coke or something to wake me up, but Coke, in a beer hall?
It was only 10 AM, but there were a couple large groups of Germans tying one on. 5 o'clock somewhere I guess. Here's one of the few original old buildings in Munich. Pretty cool.
The next day I went to Englischer Gartens, the huge park in Munich. Here's a link to the video of the guys surfing on the small river there:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vRSnQ-VgUY
And here is the park. Look close, it's a fully nude park...
Next day I went to Dachau, but it was closed. Here's the main gate, one of the few buildings I had a good view of.
After Munich, I cruised down to Venice. Not sure what I was expecting, but stepping out of the train station to see floating buses wasn't exactly it.
Here's the main church there. I believe it's San Marco Cathedral.
Couldn't go to Venice without riding on the canal, but since gondolas are really expensive, I hopped on the boat bus thing.
Here's a view of Venice from the Campnile in San Marco's Plaza. Very crowded.
After Venice I headed up into the Alps to hit Switzerland. The train was driving on the edge of a cliff for like 2 hours.
The first day I was there I did some bike riding. A quaint countryside shot.
On a smaller trail winding up the mountains i passed a farm with some hippy cows. Get a haircut, hippy.
On the way back down I got lost and ended up riding on the highway shoulder. I don't know if that's allowed in Switzerland, though, as many people honked at me. It's too bad I didn't have a car from the 70's. The roads are clearly marked that it's OK to drive them.
The next day I did the coolest thing of my trip yet, went bungee jumping. Me looking very GQ sporting my gear.
This was about the moment I asked myself, "Wait a second, what the hell am I doing."
Down I go. 450 feet, the second highest in Europe.
The boat that eventually picked me up.
It was choice. If you have the means, I highly recommend it. (we watched Ferris Bueller one of the nights in the hostel)
The next day I went canyoning. This cliche was guarding the meeting place.
Looking good.
Canyoning is essentially rappelling down into a canyon, then swimming, climbing, jumping rappelling through the rapids in the canyon. It was also a great time. No bungee jumping, but still cool.
After Interlaken, I went up the mountain a bit further to Grindelwald. Not much to do there except hiking, so that's what I did, and a lot of it. Here's me studying the effects of global warming on a glacier.
On the way down, I took the bobsled thing, like they have at Chestnutt. My sunglasses fell off and I ran over them. That sucked. On to pair number 4 for the trip.
The next day I hiked up the mountain on the other side of the town and caught a local festival with all the traditional stuff. It was very cool. Here's some yodeling:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=806JDw8UY-U
and some alp horns:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JyGhGDPYVoY
and finally a shot of the festival. I wasn't lying when I said it was up in the mountains.
Well that's it for now. Probably won't be too much more until after the 4th. I'm currently making my way to Geneva which hosts the largest 4th party outside of the US. Should be crazy as finding a place to stay was almost impossible.
Catch up with ya later.
Here's the biggest synagogue in Europe (2nd in the world). Can't really tell since getting a big picture of it is impossible as it's surrounded by other big buildings.
Buda and Pest are actually two cities separated by the Danube. Here's a look over the Danube at Castle Hill in Buda.
I went into caves under the castle that have been in use for like 1000 years, but nothing down there was original (like this cave drawing) and they play this scary music. The scary music worked though. It was spooky since I was the only one down in the entire caves.
Contender #1 for the 4th Street Elevator's title as shortest and steepest railway. This was coming down from Castle Hill.
After Budapest, I hopped the train to Vienna. Arriving there I had to use the facilities. Those Viennesse know how to make anything sound fancy.
Here's the Royal Theater. I didn't go in there. I did catch Romeo & Juliet at the State Opera House the next night though. It was a ballet, they hopped around A LOT.
Went up in the famous ferris wheel. James Bond fans might remember this from one of the movies.
After Vienna, it was off to Salzburg. Here's looking over some gardens at the castle on the hill.
Happened to walk into the main square right as they were tapping a barrel forsome festival. Free beer? Yes, please.
Went up to the castle on the hill. On the way back down I got on the 2nd contender for the 4th Street Elevator's title.
Walking back to the train station I saw this store. Nice.
After the afternoon in Salzburg it was off to Munich. The first morning there I was looking for a place for breakfast and happened upon a beer hall. I really wanted a Coke or something to wake me up, but Coke, in a beer hall?
It was only 10 AM, but there were a couple large groups of Germans tying one on. 5 o'clock somewhere I guess. Here's one of the few original old buildings in Munich. Pretty cool.
The next day I went to Englischer Gartens, the huge park in Munich. Here's a link to the video of the guys surfing on the small river there:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vRSnQ-VgUY
And here is the park. Look close, it's a fully nude park...
Next day I went to Dachau, but it was closed. Here's the main gate, one of the few buildings I had a good view of.
After Munich, I cruised down to Venice. Not sure what I was expecting, but stepping out of the train station to see floating buses wasn't exactly it.
Here's the main church there. I believe it's San Marco Cathedral.
Couldn't go to Venice without riding on the canal, but since gondolas are really expensive, I hopped on the boat bus thing.
Here's a view of Venice from the Campnile in San Marco's Plaza. Very crowded.
After Venice I headed up into the Alps to hit Switzerland. The train was driving on the edge of a cliff for like 2 hours.
The first day I was there I did some bike riding. A quaint countryside shot.
On a smaller trail winding up the mountains i passed a farm with some hippy cows. Get a haircut, hippy.
On the way back down I got lost and ended up riding on the highway shoulder. I don't know if that's allowed in Switzerland, though, as many people honked at me. It's too bad I didn't have a car from the 70's. The roads are clearly marked that it's OK to drive them.
The next day I did the coolest thing of my trip yet, went bungee jumping. Me looking very GQ sporting my gear.
This was about the moment I asked myself, "Wait a second, what the hell am I doing."
Down I go. 450 feet, the second highest in Europe.
The boat that eventually picked me up.
It was choice. If you have the means, I highly recommend it. (we watched Ferris Bueller one of the nights in the hostel)
The next day I went canyoning. This cliche was guarding the meeting place.
Looking good.
Canyoning is essentially rappelling down into a canyon, then swimming, climbing, jumping rappelling through the rapids in the canyon. It was also a great time. No bungee jumping, but still cool.
After Interlaken, I went up the mountain a bit further to Grindelwald. Not much to do there except hiking, so that's what I did, and a lot of it. Here's me studying the effects of global warming on a glacier.
On the way down, I took the bobsled thing, like they have at Chestnutt. My sunglasses fell off and I ran over them. That sucked. On to pair number 4 for the trip.
The next day I hiked up the mountain on the other side of the town and caught a local festival with all the traditional stuff. It was very cool. Here's some yodeling:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=806JDw8UY-U
and some alp horns:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JyGhGDPYVoY
and finally a shot of the festival. I wasn't lying when I said it was up in the mountains.
Well that's it for now. Probably won't be too much more until after the 4th. I'm currently making my way to Geneva which hosts the largest 4th party outside of the US. Should be crazy as finding a place to stay was almost impossible.
Catch up with ya later.
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