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Europe Journal May - July 2001 England Scotland Wales France Switzerland Italy Austria Germany Luxembourg May 23 (Wednesday) - I flew out of OKC around noon. Dad saw me off. I changed flights in Dallas and then flew straight into Gatwick, London. On the flight to Gatwick I sat next to a business man from Finland who had a cold. Poor guy, lucky thing I had tissues....well not any more. May 24 (Thursday) - I arrived in London around 8:00 a.m. This was the first time I really ever have flown by myself. My flight home from Tel Aviv last summer really didn't count because I was with Gary until Dallas and he saw me to the OKC gate. From the airport, I took the train to Victoria Station and then walked four long blocks (28 pound backpack would make any distance long) to the hostel we booked, the Astor Victoria. The hostel was under construction so only a few rooms were open and there were only two showers. It was kind of funky, the walls were painted wacky colors and rock was blaring over the speakers. There was a quote pasted up on the mirror that said "The liver is evil, the liver is bad. Kill the liver." If there was a hostel in the Paseo, that is what it would look like. Construction or no, I took a shower and sprawled out on the couch to wait for Brian. There were a few other kids in the lobby. I met a guy from Australia who had been living as a wrestler in Dublin, a guy named Josh from Arizona, and a couple OSU students. Brian got there around 10:00 and we went to eat at a nearby pub. We walked around Lester and Trafalger square and got reacquainted with the subway system. We ended up spotting a Les Miserables theater and since Brian had never seen it, I insisted we check it out. They were having a show that night and so we bought tickets for only 15 pounds. We stopped at a Planet Hollywood and ate before the show. I love Les Miserables, but it was totally a different production. Sitting in a box seat right off the stage gives a totally different feel than sitting in the last row of the Mezzanine at the Civic Center. The theater was awesome and the performance was grand. We were close enough to see the makeup. If I could ever be in a Broadway show, I would play Eponine in Les Mis. May 25 (Friday) - We couldn't find a vacant hostel in London (well, we could have stayed another night at the Astor, but...). Plus, Brian and I had both been to London before and I was ready to scout out new territory. So we took a very crowded train to Edinburgh where I had to stand for the first two hours because I refused to stay in the smoking car. Brian was already picking up the accent and convinced these two old men that he was a native Scotsman. We stayed at the International Youth Hostel, which we booked that morning from London. The UK had great travel services. You could walk up to a travel booth and book a hostel for anywhere right then and there. This hostel was much nicer and split up boys and girls and had a nice park out front. It is really a great place to stay, but is a walk from the castle and town center. We just walked around and ate at an Italian restaurant. May 26 (Saturday) - We woke up and went in search of a bakery and bank (they charge an outrageous fee for exchanging currency). Then we walked the two miles to the train station (yesterday had taken a taxi). I wanted to do the walk because, one we needed the exercise (right) and two, we still hadn't really seen the city. Last time I was in Edinburgh, we hung out a lot at this one Tarten shop ran by these cute guys. I tried to remember where the place was, but had to give it up. We took the train to Inverness and I am now writing from the Eastgate Hostel in the heart of the town. Eastgate, like the Astor, is co-ed, which I don't mind except that guys have a tendency to snore more often than not. For privacy, I hung my wrap skirt (from Jerusalem) up around my bunk. We walked the city, ate at a pizza place, and are going to try for the Isle of Skye tomorrow. Inverness is a pretty town; if you are all for pubs, quiet, and more pubs, this is the place to be. But I am anticipating Paris museums, architecture, and cafes. Inverness was just a tad too slow for me at the moment. While walking the town, we were approached by a drunk, Joseph "without his Technicolor coat" who hit Brian up for a few pence and proceeded to tell us that we need to visit Cyprus. Nice guy, that Joseph, first time I had ever seen someone with so called "cotton mouth." That night we talked to some of the kids in the hostel. One of the guys at the pub is just hitchhiking his way across the country. That's what's great about Europe, you can do stuff like that without worrying about ax murderers or serial rapists. We went out to Black Friars pub where they had live music. Lucky for Brian, they played "Hotel California." I think that song is a bit of an obsession with him. May 27 (Sunday) - Sunday morning and the rest of the town was in bed or at church. The only place open at 9:00 a.m. is McDonalds. Ah, McDonalds...there's no place like home. Also, no trains were running to Skye cause it was Sunday. We missed the morning bus to Skye and so we bought tickets for the 5:00 p.m. bus and then did the Inverness tour bus twice, well we slept the second time. But if you're in Inverness, you should see Cuollordan battlefield. Afterwards, I finally found a shop with a snowglobe for mom (one down). Now we are on the bus waiting to take off for Skye. The drive from Inverness to Skye looked a lot like the drive through Glen Coe. Awesome! Cluanie, Inverinate, and Dornie are gorgeous. Besides the accent, this is why I most like Scotland. We were dropped off at the bus stop and walked the 800 yards to the hostel (I give these details because they were greatly important to us at the time with us carrying our backpacks and all), where Brian discovered he had lost his hostelling card. We walked some around the coast and then went for drinks (well, tea for me) at the only pub in town. That, besides a couple of restaurants and bakery makes up the town of Broadford. Dad would have loved it. We are staying two nights at the IYH here. I asked the hostel manager if he knew of a French resturant where I had eaten back in '96, but he said that it had closed. May 28 (Monday) - We took the bus to Kyle of Lochish. We were going to catch the 8:30 bus but Brian overslept and so we took the 10:00. When I went in search of Brian I found him and his roommates all snuggled in their bunks drinking coffee. Boys. We could tell quite early that Brian and I had different purposes for this trip. He would stay up until 5 or so talking and hanging out with other people in the hostel or going to a local pub. Then he would sleep in until 10 or 11. I, on the other hand, turned in around midnight and was up before 8:00 and ready to go. It's my fault because I had told Brian I didn't want to do the whole touristy thing, but at the same time how can you be in say Paris and not go to the Louve? But Brian usually took my nagging for him to wake up very well. In Kyle, we walked across the bridge to Kyleakin on the island side. We took a boat tour and Brian was smitten with the guide, who reminded me of Devra. The captain of the boat was really cute too. The guide was pretty cool and very excited about showing us the sites (sea lions and a shipwreck). We walked back across the bridge right before it started raining. There is a cool plant that grows in Skye. It had yellow flowers and smells just like my car freshener, but I have no clue what it's called. May 29 (Tuesday) - We got up this morning and took the bus to Aramdale, the ferry to Mallaig, the train to Glascow, and then to Crew. We are going to try to stay in Shrewsbury tonight. So far this trip seems to be just a lot of training, sleeping, and eating (well, that's Scotland for you). We made it to Shrewsbury but not before poor Brian got approached by an elderly Jewish Scotsman who wanted to talk and hold his hand. At first Brian thought he was just a nice, though senile, old man. But once the man started discussing his sexual preferences, Brian was ready to make a fast get away. Finally to get away from him, Brian came and said he needed to sit by me. I was going to scoot over and let him in, but Brian said no. He had to be by the window so I could protect him. Brian ended up having to petend he was asleep the rest of the trip. When the man came by to check up on him, I told him that Brian was very tired. But if he woke up, I would let him know he stopped by. We are staying at the YHA in Shrewsbury and it is awesome. It is a big old house off the main road and down this hedged in drive. Although eight can fit in the room we are in, Brian and I are the only ones in it. I think we are staying another night. May 30 (Wednesday) - We decided to stay another night so we slept in and took off for the town center around 10:00. We stopped at a bakery (why don't we have bakeries?) and then just shopped. Shrewsbury is an awesome little town and is the hometown of Charles Darwin. We visited the castle, got our e-mail, and then went and watched Blow at the movies. May 31 (Thursday) - We slept until 9:00 and then got up and caught a train to Hereford. There are no hostels in Hereford and Hay-on-Wye is completely booked because of a festival there, which Bill Clinton and Paul McCartney both attended. So we stayed at a B&B in Hereford. They didn't take credit cards which forced us to make another trip to the bank (can you tell I have issues with banks?). This is the first B&B Brian had ever stayed in and really was your typical B&B. But we ran into problems. There was only one standard size bed in the room. Don't think less of me, but it really didn't matter to me. Brian, on the other hand, said that next time we only had one bed he would just sleep on the floor. We caught a 1:30 bus to Hay-on-Wye, my favorite town in the world, and shopped for books. I found a little copy of Pilgrim's Progress which I think I will give to Tim. We caught the last bus back to Hereford and walked the town. June 1 (Friday) - We woke up for Breakfast at 8:15. Brian is in the shower and we are getting ready to take a train down to Newport (our little bit of Wales for this trip). We arrived in Newport and discovered there are no hostels so we got back on the train and went back up to Cardiff. The hostel is about two miles from the station so we took a bus. We dropped off our stuff and went to eat and walk around. Cardiff is a cute town. We walked around the castle and saw Pearl Harbor on opening night. We stopped by the grocery store and decided to cook pasta for supper since we have a kitchen at the hostel. We shared the kitchen with a group of Italians and ended up giving them our left over pasta (we couldn't cook it all). It was funny. When I finally found one of the guys who could speak English, I asked if he and his family would like the pasta and bread we had left over. And he said, "Of course, we are Italian." Wonder what he would have said if we had cooked chinese. June 2 (Saturday) - We left the Cardiff YHA hostel and caught the 9:40 train to London, then had to change stations, then caught the train to Dover. In Dover we took the hydroferry across the English Channel to Calais. (Just like in the Scarlet Pimpernel, except they had a yacht). There is a holiday this weekend. Every single hotel was booked and the tourist information was closed. Brian contemplated sleeping on the beach and we talked about knocking the door of a church. But we ended up taking a taxi ($80) to Bologna and although most hotels were booked, we finally found a room. The hotel manager was the sweetest little man, such a relief with all the trouble we had been having. After dropping off our stuff we went to go eat seafood. Brian drank a whole bottle of wine and tried to teach me some French. Brian, you must forgive me, but it was too funny. After all that wine, Brian just couldn't stop giggling. It was so funny. June 3 (Sunday) - We overslept. The one hour time change messed us up and so we woke up at 10:00 instead of 8:00. We left the room around 10:30 but the guy didn't make us pay another night and still served us breakfast. We walked to the train station and discovered there was a hostel right across the street (go figure). We had to kill three hours before the train left so we went to the old town and walked along the wall. Every few yards there would be excerise equipment (like monkey bars or chin bars), kinda funky. Now we are on the train and I am trying to figure out our expenses (the problem was that whenever we ate, they would just bring us one bill. Brian and I had been taking turns on who paid, but I wanted to keep track...I think this annoyed him a bit.) We made it to Paris in one piece. But when I got off the train I saw that my pack was unzipped and my newly bought copy of Pilgrim's Progress, my sunglasses, and my sandals were gone. We tracked down a hostel but it was full. So to save time we called and found a B&B with openings but when we went looking for it, we couldn't find the right street. We turned into a hotel to get directions. Brian was speaking to the guy in French and so I had no idea what was going on until Brian pulled out his credit card and booked three nights...so much for budgeting our expenses. It was already evening so we just walked around and ran into an American highschool group from Missouri touring France. June 4 (Monday) - This morning when we woke up I saw that my red tank was missing and now writing this I have just found that all my film, including the roll taken in the UK is gone! France is screwing us over. Brian is missing his cologne, gel, and toothbrush. I think when we were running late that morning in Bologna, we forgot to pack some of our things. So, ok, besides that, Paris is gorgeous. All the buildings look the same, though, so it is really easy to get lost. We walked to the Sacre-Coeur..many many steps. Outside there were people dressed in total white. They looked just like statues, but then they would move and shock some unknowing tourist. We walked the streets of Montmarte and tried to find a cafe Natalie wanted a picture of, but we couldn't find it. We ate crepes and chocolate for lunch and found an internet cafe (our link to home). Then we took the metro to Notre Dame, but didn't go inside cause of the huge line. I wanted to do the bus tour to make sure I saw everything. We took the bus to the Eiffel tower and went up to the top. Then we walked up to the Arc de Triomphe and down the Avenue des Champs, took the metro to the Hard Rock Cafe. Tomorrow we are going to try to see Versailles and visit the Asterix Theme Park (for Brian) and Wednesday see the Louve and head for St. Michel. We will see what happens and what turns up missing next. June 5 (Tuesday) - Holiday is over and all the shops were open. We slept in and then took the metro to "The Road." We shopped and booked our Versailles tour. Versailles is pretty awesome, especially the gardens. The house isn't worth going into unless you are really into ornate furniture, but the grounds are free and the fountains are so cool. We walked around a couple of hours and then the bus dropped us off at the Louve. I found mom a Paris snowglobe. June 6 (Wednesday) - D-Day. We got up early so I could go to the Louve but when we got there the line was half way wrapped around the building so we caught a 12:00 train to St. Malo instead. This means I need to come back to Paris one day. We sat in the smoking car, yuck, by my mistake. At the station we ran into a girl from Toronto and a guy from Montreal also heading to the St. Malo youth hostel. Outside the trian station, we took the bus. But the Canadians decided to walk it. We beat them to the hostel, but made sure that there was another room available for them. I told Brian I had no clue what to see here and so he would have to be the tour guide. After stopping at a grocery for fruit, we found our way to the old town and the beach. So awesome and I'm bummed that I didn't have my camera. June 7 (Thursday) - We woke up to the sound of screaming kids down the hall, who also had screamed until about midnight the night before. Then we went to the bus stop to go to Cancale because St. Malo hostel is booked tonight. We saw the Canadians again and they are on their way to St. Michel, also our destination after we drop off our stuff. Well, we didn't make it St. Michel. The bus doesn't go through so tomorrow we have to go back to St. Malo to get a bus. Our bus driver to Cancale was cool. When we got on the bus we only had a 200F bill so he had to stop on the way to get change. Well, in stopping he went the wrong way up a one way street and had a hard time getting the bus back on track. We heard him talking under his breath "mer mer mer." But he wasn't mad at us. The bus driver let us off on the road to the hostel and we dropped off our stuff and went to see the town. On the way back from town our bus driver saw us and gave us a free ride back to the hostel. After stopping in at the hostel, we sat out the other way to the beach. From the coast we could see St. Michel in the distance. It started to rain on us as we headed back. Tonight we are sharing the hostel with a school group from Bristol. We heard the screaming before we actually saw anyone. As I was leaving the room, I ran into the leader of the group and he said that we were sharing the hall with about 20 twelve year olds (oh joy). Most of the hostels have internet access. While I was getting my e-mail, one of the kids, John, came up and asked if he could read my letter. I had just finished writing Jenny about the screaming twelve year olds and John pointed out that he was thirteen not twelve. John and his friend Stephen kept Brian and I company as we cooked dinner. They said it wasn't fair that we got to cook pizza and that they didn't have much more than bread and water to eat. Poor kids, it must be horrible touring France as a class trip. Stephen was adorable, he looked just like Dodger on "Oliver." The kids had been touring France for about two weeks and were not impressed (that is what they told us). That night, Brian and I went down to the bar at the hostel and visited with Ludevic, the bar tender (so so so hot). Some of the kids came down too and wanted to play cards. They all loved Brian. The girls wanted to hear him speak "American" and the boys wanted to play poker. I just sat and made eyes at Ludevic. June 8 (Friday) - Guess what, we slept instead of getting up to see St. Michel. Oh well, I am just going to have to come back. I want to sail the coast anyway and hit Penzance and St. Ives on the UK site and St. Michel on the French. We took the train to Lyon and got in around 10:30 p.m. June 9 (Saturday) - Last night Brian hung out with some of the kids in the hostel until around 5:00 a.m. Actually they turned out to be the ska band Catch 22 on tour. We didn't see Lyon very much, instead we made our way to Geneve, Switzerland because Brian said he wanted to buy chocolate for some friends. Geneve is pretty sweet, but though I searched, I could not find John Calvin's house. I made Brian look with me for about thirty minutes, but it was agony for him since he had to use the bathroom. At the hostel, I was sharing my room with a couple girls from New Zealand and one from Florida (who was on internship at the UN). They were going out for drinks, but I ended up hanging out in the laundry room. There were a couple recent med school graduates there from Michigan. I gave my e-mail address to Vince, who said he could try to hook me up with a job in Silicon Valley. June 10 (Sunday) - Another Sunday, which means nothing was open, which means we did not get our Chocolate. We took a train to Nice and since the hostel was located outside of town, we opted for a hotel instead. The weather has really warmed up. Its great to be able to stash my coat. UK and northern France had still been pretty chilly. We walked along the English Promanade, the boardwalk along the coast. June 11 (Monday) - We visited a candy flower factory. I think the name is self-explanatory. But if not, they make flowers into candy. Some of the candy still has the petals and leaves inside them. Then we went to the beach, yes, the nude beach. I am afraid that the American boys betrayed their nationality. It was funny watching them trying to discreetly look at the sunbathers. The beach is all rocks, not exactly easy walking. We saw a French resistance memorial built into the side of the cliff. June 12 (Tuesday) - Today we headed into Italy to Pisa. You will know when you cross the border because of the drug dogs. There is no hostel in Pisa so we found a hotel. On the train we had met a newly married couple from Montana (what an accent, didn't realize there was such a difference) who were headed to southern Italy to fight forest fires. Cool honeymoon. We had planned to meet up with them at the tower but never found them again. There were a lot of Americans on our train and most were headed to Cinque Terre, which I had never heard of before, but I guess it is the place to go. June 13 (Wednesday) - After all our problems with hostels being filled up, I insisted we make reservations for Rome and so I booked us for four nights at the Casa Nova. We took the train down to Rome. We weren't on the metro five minutes before this kid tried to pick my purse. Here I was, poor kid with a backpack, and I notice that this guy kept getting closer and closer to me. I would back up and he would lean in more. Finally I noticed that his hand, with his coat drapped over his arm, was unzipping my purse. I gave him a dirty look and zipped up my purse, though I felt like punching him. My first impression of Rome was not too great. June 14 (Thursday) - Ok, Brian stayed up until 5:00 a.m. and I couldn't get his butt out of bed until like 10:30. We took the metro to the Coliseum, saw Trevi fountain and the Pantheon. Then I saw an art exhibit by Rene Margarite (so watch Thomas Crown Affair) and found the Dying Gaul at the Capital Museum while Brian chilled and got his e-mail. Then we took the metro to the Spanish Steps and ate dinner. Now, a note about our hostel. The Casa Nova is a place that has to grow on you because I was a little freaked out when we first got there. Basically it is in a residential area pretty close to the Vatican. Casa Nova consists of a three bedroom apartment, a small lounge area, and a front desk. There are only six beds in every room, so it is probably the smallest hostel we stayed at. Also, it is run by two girls, one American and one British. The kids were all awesome and we had a great time. But anyway, if you want to know why it freaked me out, you will just have to ask. June 15 (Friday) - Today we headed to the Vatican. We consisted of me, Brian, and Aaron, a Canadian on his way to Greece. We had to stand in line about an hour. Rome is the only place where poverty was visible. There were a number of beggers and gypsies on the street. Brian would always keep change in his pockets and gave to everybody. At the Vatican museum we saw the Sistine Chapel, Raphael's "St. Peter's Deliverance" and "School of Athens". Then Brian went to nap, Aaron went to shop, and I headed to the Burghese gallery all by myself. It was worth the trip though, I saw Canova's "Venus Victorious' and Bernini's "David" and "Apollo and Daphnee." (Bernini is my favorite sculptor) That night a group of us from the hostel went out to a pub. I visited mostly with Steve, a British screenwriter. Wow, what a story. A lot of his family lives in Malta (next trip). June 16 (Saturday) - Today, Brian, Steve, Aaron, Nicole and Alison (California), Angela and Katy (Canada), and I took the metro to the Coliseum and walked all the way to the catacombs (we are talking three or four miles). They kids were a lot of fun and the catacombs are definitely worth the visit. That night, all of us, minus Steve, went to the pub crawl (i.e. lots of American kids drinking, being stupid, and trying to find a date). Nicole hooked up with a couple of guys and Brian had to turn a girl down who desperately wanted to take him home. I pretty much hung with Aaron and tried to make sure Nicole didn't get into any trouble with one of her guys (which I would have done anyway, but she did ask me to make sure I wouldn't let her go home with anyone). June 17 (Sunday) - We said our good-byes and headed to Florence. We are staying at a converted convent, which is cool, but they only turn on the hotwater from 6:00 to 9:00. But, besides the hostel, I love Florence. I was so glad to get out of Rome. Though I loved the kids we met, it was just too big. Florence is just pretty and nice. Musicians were playing the theme from "Romeo and Juliet" in the city square, vendors were all over the place, and there was a small marionette show. June 18 (Monday) - Last night I had to do laundry. There were these two Italian guys who only spoke French and Italian. One of them was pretty cute and he wanted to help me do my laundry. Aftewards they wanted to take me out for gellato (ice cream), but I already had on my pajamas. Plus, I didn't want to go out on the town with two strange guys who I couldn't even talk to. I told them "tomorrow" and they said "No tomorrow, leave tomorrow." June 19 (Tuesday) - I got up early and told Brian I would meet him at the train station at noon. I went to the gallery Academia and stood in line to see the David. If you go to Florence, you have to see David, but you will probably agree you only have to see him once. As I was walking back, three guys pushing a wheelbarrow started calling out "You're beautiful, I love you." They were so cute. Can you see why I love Florence? I met up with Brian at the station and we went to Padua (Padova). Padua is so gorgeous. I didn't know what was there, only that it was a town cited by Shakespeare and since we didn't go to Verona I wanted to see it. Well, by accident we came to the town square and in the center is this round park with a fountain and there are probably a hundred statues lined up along the edge of a moat. It is just cool. That night, I shared a room with three girls from Australia. One had the cutest little girl named Anya who kept wanting to jump off the top bunk bed. Anya was three years old and had curly curly hair. So cute. June 20 (Wednesday) - We got up and walked back the train station and then took the train to Venice. We wondered around the streets and had to find an internet cafe so Brian could get the location of the Alba'od campground he booked us at. It was actually a nice for a campground, lots of kids, and a swimming pool. I laid out and then we took the bus into town and walked around. June 21 (Thursday) - In Florence I had gotten a sore throat and after spending a night in a little metal shed with no air conditioning and no hot water, it was worse. Brian was also sick and so instead of staying another night, we packed up and went into town and stayed at the closest hotel to the train station. The only requirement was hot water and AC. We each got a room for two nights and I spent it sleeping and reading. June 22 (Friday) - Brian said he was heading to Murano, a nearby island, but I decided to just take it easy. I have found a bookstore and a grocery store, so I am set. June 23 (Saturday) - We took the train to Salzburg. We decided to skip Vienna since we spent an extra day in Venice. At the train station, there was this loud mouth American from Oklahoma. I think everyone in the station could hear what he was saying. He was obviously trying to pick up this girl. The entire station learned that he had studied art for awhile overseas, what he was doing here, what his favorite European towns are, etc. On the train we met this man from Greece and he bought us yogurt and water. He felt sorry for us poor sick kids. Then on the next train we sat in the kiddie car and watched Toy Story in German. June 24 (Sunday) - This morning there was no hot water. The only other time this had happened was at the camp ground. We are staying at a pretty decent hostel in Salzburg, but there is no hot water. Things like these are important after you have just taken a cold shower. We spent the day walking the town, which is gorgeous, and shopping. It is a perfect little Austrian town, stree musicians, vendors, and lots of food. We found the palace gardens, the statue of mozart, the cemetery and green tunnel off the Sound of Music. That night we ended up eating at an Australian restaurant listening to an Austrian guitarist who plays in an Irish folk band. I headed to bed around midnight but Brian stayed and talked to the guitarist. There was also a huge concert going on in the square, Austria's most famous folk rock star. June 25 (Monday) - We took the train to Munich and found a hostel, but they only had private rooms left. We walked to the town center and saw the clock, but it didn't go off at 6:00 so we left. Then we went to dinner at a Beer Garden Brian had found. At 9:00 the clock lit up and a little guy went across but the really big thing goes off at noon I guess. June 26 (Tuesday) - Today we went to Dachau and went through the memorial there. Most striking to me was the fact that those buildings were built around the same time many of our houses were built. 1930s and 1940s. They looked just like some ordinary buildings. I guess I was expecting to be run down or just dark and gloomy or something. Brian's grandfather had been one of the soldiers that helped liberate Dachau. Dachau never had a working gas chamber and so the only really hard thing to stomach was the ovens. Most of the camp has gravel walks, which makes it look really barren. At one end of the camp is now a convent. June 27 (Wednesday) - Brian was going to take the train all the way up north to cruise the Rhein, but I told him we should take an extra day in Luxembourg and do the Rhine then cause it was closer. So, instead we went to Neuchwanstein castle. It was a two hour train ride and we shared our car with a dozen screaming Italian kids (honest, I love kids, but they do seem to always be screaming). The castle was pretty awesome, though smaller than I had imagined. We also went inside, which was even better because all the walls were painted with murals from Wagner's operas. The castle is only a little more than a century old and only one floor was completed before mad King Ludwig died, but it is worth the visit. We walked to a bridge to get a better look at the castle. On the trek up, I met a guy named Adam from Hawaii who was staying at the Big Tent in Munich. We talked with him on the train ride back and then planned to meet up at the Beer Garden later. We found out that Brian's Beer Garden was the Hoffer Haus, Munich's most famous Beer Garden. At the hostel Brian found a couple Aussie guys who wanted to go but we lost them along the way. So, after meeting up with Adam, it was just the three of us. After the place closed, we headed to a hotel bar which Brian found had live jazz. I headed back to the hostel around 12:30. I think Brian got in around 2:00. June 28 (Thursday) - Today we rode to Bacharach, a little town on the Rhein which has a castle youth hostel that Adam told us about. We stayed two nights in Bacharach, which is a sweet little town. Along the Rhein between Koblenz and Mainz are about a dozen little towns and lots of castles. June 29 (Friday) - Today, Brian and I were going to split up and do our own thing, but we ran into each other in downtown Bacharach and so we both took the 10:15 ferry north. I found out from a mom and daughter I had roomed with that the ferry is free with your Eurorail pass. While waiting for the ferry, Brian and I decided to play chess on this big outdoor chess board right by the dock. After we got it all set up, these two little boys, they looked around 7, came up. We couldn't talk to them because we couldn't speak German and they couldn't talk to us because they couldn't speak English, but we figured out they wanted to play so we let them. It was pretty funny watching them take the pieces and ram them into each other. The boat ride upstream from Bacharach to Koblenz was about three hours. I got a picture of the same castle that my mother had taken a picture of when she had packed Europe at age 23. Well, Brian ended up getting off with me in Koblenz, though I lost him later on. I got my e-mail and went book shopping. I found him again at the train station. June 30 (Saturday) - The train ride to Luxembourg was pretty short. We arrived and took a bus to the only hostel in the city. Luxembourg is a nice town but don't stay at the hostel if you can help it. There were about 40 girls in my room and there were only two private baths...though there was a huge community shower available. The girl opposite my bunk sort of wigged me out. She kept staring at me and so I slept with my pack at arms length. I cannot think of anything too spectacular about Luxembourg. It is a walled city, and you can still see and walk around the ruins. The train station is really pretty. July 1 (Sunday) - We took the train to Paris via Mentz and got hotel rooms at the Isbis by the airport. Brian is going to fly out tomorrow and so I am on my own. I spent the day reading, getting acquainted with the airport, and taking it easy. July 2 (Monday) - I took the train into Paris. It is about 30 minutes and then walked about four blocks to the Louve. It was about an hour wait, but it was pretty funny listening to two American guys behind me telling everyone that they had to go to "the end of the line" and wave them off. I ended up talking to them for a little while, they are from D.C. The Louve was great. It is so big. They have a better archaeological collection than the Egyptian museum. I found the Mona Lisa and David's works. Go Liberty. Unfortunately, the Rembrandt section was closed, but all in all I think I saw everything I really wanted to (Andrea's 4 hour speed tour of the Louve). July 3 (Tuesday) - I flew out of Paris around noon. I had made sure the day before that I knew exactly where I was going and so I got on without a hitch, though I did get there way too early. The first leg landed me in Zurich (why they directed me to Zurich, I don't know). I had enough time, so I went out through customs and sweet talked the guy to stamp my passport. Then, on to Chicago and then to OKC. I made it home safe and sound and mommy picked me up at the airport with flowers. Stopped at Wal-mart on the way home to drop off the film ;-) |