A Week's Travels, Part 3: Amsterdam & Home

Well, this is getting old. I've got wireless again, though for how long is anyone's guess, so I'm going to try and get pics of Amsterdam up while I've got a chance.

Wendesday afternoon was pretty quiet. We got lost on the way to the hostel (why they keep giving me the map I honestly can't figure out!) and wound up walking for a few blocks through the red-light district. It was... interesting. Let's just put it that way. No pictures; my camera was still in my backpack, and either way, the girls apparently really don't like it when people take their pictures. Walked around the city a bit, just to get our bearings, but that was about it.

Thursday we took the walking tour. Interesting, but there really wasn't much to see. Not many pictures, either; the streets are so narrow that it's nigh impossible to get a decent shot. I'll post what I have, though.











After the tour, we went to the Anne Frank Museum (top picture). It was an incredibly moving, incredibly sobering experience. The museum is located in the same building that Anne Frank and her family hid in, and part of the tour includes the famous Secret Annex. Honestly, words fail me in describing the place. If you are ever in Amsterdam, this is one place you must go.

Later that night, Sam and Dreama did the Red-Light District Tour. I passed. Honestly, I saw enough of it in the daylight.

Friday was an adventure in and of itself. Our original schedule was to take an ICE high-speed train from Amsterdam to Frankfurt Airport, another ICE from Frankfurt Airport to Munich Central Station, and then a standard EuroCity train from Munich Central to Salzburg. Well, our first ICE developed a technical problem about 2/3 of the way for Frankfurt Airport and dumped us off in a city we weren't even scheduled to stop in. There was a half-hour wait for the next train, which turned out to be the same ICE we were scheduled to pick up in Frankfurt. Unfortunately, the train was filled to begin with, and another half a trainload of people got on along with us. So I go to ride in the aisle for 40 minutes until we got to Frankfurt and our reservations became effective and we got seats. Trust me, standing up in an aisle jam-packed with luggage at 300 kph (186 mph) is an experience.

So, anyway, even after we got to Frankfurt, the train still was overbooked, so we had people riding in the aisle all the way to Munich. Thank God we had seats; it was a four-hour train ride. Then, we get to Munich Central, only to find out that our EuroCity doesn't start in Munich Central, it starts in Munich West, and we had to take a local train to get there. So we take the local train, which dumps us out onto a platform where another train is waiting for us. Only the displays indicate that this train doesn't go to Salzburg. We stand there puzzled for a few minutes until I notice that the display lists the mystery train's number as the same train number we're scheduled to be on. No sooner do I notice this than the train's doors close and it starts to pull away. We chase after it, but to no avail. We ask a woman in a uniform on the platform if that train was going to Salzburg, she looks at us like we're crazy and says "of course." Fortunately, she tells us that there's another train leaving for Salzburg, and it was leaving in 15 minutes from the same platform.

The train was late. And it was about 35 degrees out. And it was raining. Hard. And when the train finally arrived, it had to wait another 20 minutes before it could leave. And it wasn't an intercity train; it was a regional, which meant it stopped in every single town between Munich West and Salzburg.

Long story short, we were scheduled to get into Salzburg at just after 8:00 PM, and we got in just before 10:30. We were so exhausted, we sprung for a cab back to Haus Wartenberg.



So, that's the end of my adventures from last week. I'm still pretty beat, so I'm taking this weekend off. So no new updates for a while. No idea what I'm gonna do next weekend. It's an extended weekend, no class on Thursday., so I've got an extra full day. I guess I'll try to organize a trip to Normandy or something. I'll be sure to plan and book everything in advance this time. Well, whatever I plan, I'll be sure to keep you all posted.

Until then, peace.

-Raptor.

PS. Feel free to leave comments when you read. I like to know who's visiting the blog.

This is Getting Old

Well, wireless is down again, so I'm stuck using this Mac again, which means no pictures of Amsterdam until it comes back up. This is getting real old real fast.

Peace.

-Raptor

A Week's Travels, Part 2: Paris

Okay, I've got wireless back now. Turns out it's been on for a while, but I only found out about it now. What are you willing to bet it came back right after I posted tat it had gone down?

Anyway, back on topic...

We got into Paris late Sunday morning. No, that's not right; we got into Gare De l'Est just about 10:00 PM, but we spent the next two hours wandering hopelessly lost around a Metro station, and then on the streets of Paris because the directions our Hotel gave us were crap (go to this Metro station and walk 300 meters. In which bloody direction?) So we didn't get to our hotel until after Midnight on Sunday.

Sunday was kind of a boring day. Samantha has a friend who lives in Paris, so she went to hang with her while Dreama and I wandered the streets for a while. Eventually, we made our way to the Arc de Triopmhe, then met up with Sam at the Eiffel Tower.





Honestly, I have to say that the Arc was quite underwhelming. It's much smaller (10%-15%) than I'd expected. The Eiffel Tower was nice, about what I though, and I must say I was somewhat impressed by it.

Monday we did the Free Walking tour of Paris. That was interesting. While we never made it back to either the Arc or the Tower (though we did get glimpses of both), we saw pretty much everything else there was to see in Paris, including Notre Dame, the Paris Opera House (of Phantom of the Opera fame), the Louvre, and a whole bunch of other places that I really can't remember. Sorry (it has been a week, after all!)

Well, anyway, here are some pics of everything.











After the walking tour, we went back to the Louvre and went inside for a little while. Found both the Mona Lisa and the Venus de Milo.





I'm almost ashamed to say this, but neither work of art impressed me much. No, that's a lie; the Venus is quite magnificent. The Mona Lisa, on the other hand... it's... it's just... tiny. I mean real tiny, like smaller-than-your-average-portrait small. Honestly, it wouldn't look out of place hanging on my living room wall back home (and that's saying something).

So, anyway, getting myself back on topic before I go of on a pointless rant about art...

Tues, we tried to get to Normandy Beach. I say tried, because we made it as far as this little nowhere town called Bayeux, about 4.5 miles due south of Omaha Beach and the American Cemetery, before everything fell apart. According to our guidebook, you could either hire a special taxi service or take a tour bus once you get to the train station. First thing we saw after getting off the train was a sign for a taxi service. We call the number, and they say they'll be right there. Half-hour later, no-show. We call back, and they tell us that they're not running the taxis any more that day. So I run across the street to the tour bus station (it's just after 1:00 by this point), and ask if there's room on their 1:15 tour. Guy at the counter says the bus just left, and it was the last tour of the day. Even though it wasn't scheduled to leave for another 15 minutes. So all we could do was wait for the next train back to Paris.

Does the word "heartbroken" mean anything to you?

We were able to salvage some of the day; I got to see the Eiffel Tower lit up at night. That was pretty spectacular.



Wednesday, we left for Amsterdam. I'll do a quick post on that in a little bit.

Until then, peace.

-Raptor

Stupid Wireless!

Okay, so, first off, I apologize for not getting Paris and Amsterdam pictures up yet. Had two tests this week, and studying for them took priority. Now that it's the weekend (yay), I planned on putting those pics up. Unfortunately, Haus Wartenberg's wireless is acting up (again), so I can't get online via my laptop. Instead, I'm using one of HW's desktops (and it's stupid Euro-spec keyboard) right now. No idea when wireless is going to be fixed, but once it is I'll get Paris and Amsterdam up straightaway.

Until then, peace.

-Raptor

A Week's Travels, Part 1: Lucerne and Interlaken, Switzerland

We left early (as in 12:45 AM) last Friday morning for Lucerne, Switzerland, on an overnight train. Never, ever doing that again. Four people (the three of us plus one other woman) trying to sleep in a compartment that can sort-of-comfortably sleep three is not an experience I care to repeat any time soon. Anyway, we got to Interlaken at about eight in the morning, checked into our hostel, and then promptly all went back to sleep and didn't get up until after noon.

Lucerne was pretty enough, but since most of the city's attractions are actually outside the city, and thus require a dedicated day-trip, and we were only there for one night, we didn't actually do all that much. One thing we did do was check out the Glacier Gardens, which is an area that was carved out by glaciers thousands of years ago. It's really quite something to see.





At the top of the Gardens, which is really the side of a small mountain, there's a rickety old observation tower where you can get a great view of the city.



Also, just below the Garden there is a monument to a group of Swiss Mercenaries who fought on the side of King Louis XVI during the French Revolution and were sent to the guillotine by the victorious revolutionaries.



Aside from that, though, there really wasn't much to do in Lucerne, like I said, so we just mainly hung out near Lake Lucerne and the Reuss River.





One funny story from our time in Lucerne: the three of us (Samantha, Dreama, and myself) were waiting for the light to change so we could cross the street when a brand-new Ferrari (F430 Scuderia Spider 16M, if you're really interested) turns the corner and roars past us. Me being me, I stare after it with my mouth hanging open. Sam and Dreama just roll their eyes and say "Dude, come on, it's just a car." To which I respond "It's not just a car, it's a Ferrari." They repeat themselves. "It's just a car." "It's a Ferrari." "It's a car." "It's a Ferrari." So we go back and forth like that for a minute, and the whole time there's this little old man standing on the sidewalk with us. All of the sudden he turns around and gives us a stern glare. I figure he's about to yell at us for being rude Americans when he starts wagging his finger at us. Then he starts to talk. "Is a Ferrari," he firmly declares in the thickest Italian accent I've ever heard.

So, the next day, Saturday, we took a train to Interlaken. Only spent a few hours there before our train to Paris left (actually the train that took us to the TGV that took us to Paris). Oddly enough, even though we were only there for five hours, I think it was my favorite spot in the whole trip, probably because it was so beautiful.









One interesting bit of trivia about Interlaken; they filmed a good portion of the James Bond film On Her Majesty's Secret Service near the town. The hotel that features prominently in the film, Piz Gloria, can actually be seen from the town square on a clear day. BTW, if you've never heard of the movie, it's the only one where George Lazenby played 007. If you haven't seen it, rent it. Despite the no-name actor in the lead role, it's actually one of my favorite Bond films.

So, after spending too few hours in Interlaken, it was off to Paris, which will be featured in my next post. So look for Part 2 of my write-up coming soon!

Also, the Toblerone bars in Switzerland are absolutely huge!



That one weighs 400 grams (the ones you can find in the states only weigh 100, for comparison), but they come even bigger; 750 grams are also common, and if you look hard, you can find bars that weigh a whopping 4.5 kilograms! Unfortunately, while I did see a few of those huge bars, I couldn't afford one; they cost upwards of 25 Swiss Francs (one SF is just about equal to one US Dollar).

So, anyway, look for my write-up on Paris soon (probably tomorrow). Until then, peace.

-Raptor