Well another late post, this trip was aver a month ago now. Gosh, time is flying by for us. Ryan however did not come on this trip. I went with two friends, Reneé and Taylor. We were heading to Krakow with the main destination of Auschwitz. Ryan said it wasn’t on the top of his list, so he stayed back, but went on a little road trip all on his own to Lake Garda in Italy. I’d tell you to check his blog to see how that trip was, but I think everyone reading my blog who wants to read his knows he has stopped posting.
So we arrived in Krakow late at night but with the help of a German girl and Turkish man who now live in Krakow we were able to find our hostel with ease. And we quickly changed and prepared for bed.
The next morning Reneé had to wake me up because I was finally sleeping soundly in the morning. You see we had all had a horrible nights sleep because someone in our room was the worst snorer I’ve ever heard in my whole life. I thought Ryan was bad, but his snoring is more like purring in comparison to that man. Thank goodness I have blocked the actual noise from my mind at this point, but in the night when I was happening everyone in the room with the three of us was awake and growing closer and closer to attacking this guy. I even started wadding up sheets of paper I had and throwing them at him to try and stop him. Taylor was on the bunk above his and shook the bed violently, but nothing stirred him and nothing stopped him. It was awful. So when he finally woke up and stopped and I fell asleep I was so tired I didn’t wake up until Reneé nudged me and said I better start getting ready for the day.
On our first day in Krakow we headed out to explore the city. We thought a great way to get a lay of the land would be to join the free city tour. However after maybe 45 minutes we basically ran away. The tour had been boring from the get go. The guide was not entertaining and spent at least 10 to 15 minutes right off the bat telling the group why he was such a great tour guide was because he was certified and he paid all this money to take tests and blah blah blah as we stood in the fridge temped weather shivering. Then after awhile had passed Reneé was up front walking by him between one site and the next because she is a ridiculously fast walker. And out of the blue this guy said, “do you believe in evolution.” Reneé was so taken aback by the question that she just sort of stuttered. He then went on to say that the reason Polls and the rest of Europe hate Americans is because we are idiots for allowing people to choose between evolution and creation. He stated that obviously evolution is the only logical option and anyone who would believe otherwise is stupid and any country that would allow people to choose something so illogical is also idiotic. She was so flabbergasted she didn’t know what to say. But she tried to gather her words and told him that she believes one of the great things about our country is that we allow people to make that type of choice, that our country is founded on freedom and one of those freedoms is to choose a religion and if a person’s religion leads them to believe in creation then they are free to do that. He didn’t let down though and instead of saying something like, well I guess we’ll have to agree to disagree, he said, “well you’re wrong but we don’t have to talk about it anymore.” Can you believe that? So as soon as all this happened we turned on our heals and ran away from this crazy Polish man. Has it never occurred to him that he works only for tips and when he says offensive things to people he will make less money. We weren’t the first people to leave the tour either.
So then we just wandered. We found a Polish restaurant and has some perogie (Polish dumplings filled with different things. Taylor and I shared and ours had mushrooms and cabbage. Reneé’s had potatoes. And they were delicious. Eventually we found our way to the castle but we didn’t pay to go inside because the exhibits didn’t sound interesting to us. And we went in a beautiful very dark and gothic church on the castle grounds. And after that we decided to head to a tourist information center to find out what they recommend to do in Krakow because we realized it was still afternoon and we were running out of ideas.
The nice woman there gave us a great idea to go see Schindler’s factory. If you have seen the movie Schindler’s list you know whom I’m talking about. If not and you want to watch it prepare yourself with a box of tissues. With a great map from the TI and Taylor’s impeccable navigation skills we easily reached our destination on the great tram sytem Krakow has.
The museum was very interesting and showed a very different side if Oscar Schindler. The movie, as I remember it, left me with the impression the man was a hero through and through for paying to get Jews and others out of concentration camps to come work I his factory. He paid not the captives to work for him, but the Nazi party to allow them to work and make things for the soldiers. He did do heroic things, but I know see the man for who he was and he was no saint. He actually was imprisoned for embezzlement early on before he started doing his good works. And I believe he was a bit of a womanizer. The Polls definitely painted a realistic picture of him in the exhibition that is housed in what was formerly his factory. But despite his flaws he did save a great number of people and at the end of it all he looked at his wedding band and thought that if only he had sold that he could have saved a few more people. I think it shows that we are all capable of great things. He was just as human as the rest of us are today, but he started to notice what was going on and he did something. The whole time I was in the exhibition I kept thinking, what would I have done if I lived during that time? My fear is that I am often so disconnected from the news and the rest of the world that I wouldn’t have paid close enough attention to realize something drastic needed to be done.
Right next to the Factory was a wine shop so on our way out we stopped in there. They were having a wine tasting that night, but we didn’t have anything to do in this industrial area for the hour until it started, so they were kind enough to let us each taste a red wine from Georgia since their tasting would be Georginian wines. And that is Georgia the country. It was a very unique red wine and I liked it, but Taylor loved it and bought a bottle. Then we took the tram back to what we thought was a winery but turned out to be a restaurant that served wine. We still had a couple glasses there. We asked the waitress for a dry red. She recommended something that we thought, sure, why not. But when she brought it we couldn’t believe how sweet and fruity it was for what she told us was a dry red. So the next one we just ordered and didn’t ask for input. After both were finished she asked which we liked better and all of us emphatically told her the second one. Her response was, “oh you really do like dry red wine.” Uhhh yes, that is what we told you and that is what we said we wanted.
Most places I go I like to look up vegetarian restaurants in the area and I did stumble upon a couple in a travel book I had looked at before we left that were in Krakow. One just happened to be a few doors down from the “winery” so that is where we ate dinner. It was SO GOOD! I had a stuffed red bell pepper, more perogies, and a brusselsprout salad that was cold. I have never had cold brussel sprouts but this was absolutely outstanding. They were cooked of course and pretty garlicky with a little diced red pepper for color, simple but flavorful and fantastic. Yum!
On the way back to the hostel we stopped for a night cap. Actually I don’t know exactly what a night cap is, but we stopped for a cocktail at a bar Taylor thought looked fun earlier in the day. It was pretty disappointing though. It was empty of people, smelled like smoke, and our drinks were disappointing. Taylors Tequila Sunrise tasted like straight up orange juice over ice and my Cosmo was good, but very small. Reneé was most please with her white Russian I think. Oh I guess we had one more drink because we hadn’t used our welcome drink coupons at the hostel’s bar the night before, so we went to have our free beer there. I am probably making myself sound like a lush, but I promise that I normally don’t drink this much and also everything we had was more spread out that it sounds so non of us even had a buzz.
The next day was our day to see Auschwitz. We could have paid to do a tour that picked us up in Krakow for the day but decided to be money savvy and do everything on our own. So we walked to the bus station and took the 1.5 hour bus to the camp. At the camp it was super cheap to do the guided tour of both the Auschwitz and Birkenau camps. I’d never even heard of Birkenau, but apparently many of the main concentration camps had sub camps and Birkenau was a sub camp of Auschwitz. And it was where more of the gas chamber deaths happened than Auschwitz.
Originally Auschwitz had been a Polish Army Camp, so the buildings although old now are still strong well built brick buildings that have plumbing and hardwood floors. I learned that most people who came to Auschwitz survived because in comparison the conditions were actually quite nice. Just being inside the brick walls kept to much body heat inside that it helped to keep people alive. At Auschwitz we also were able to go inside a gas chamber. This chamber had not been used for a long time even before the war ended so it was not demolished by the Nazis before the camp was liberated. It was… I don’t know how to put words to what it feels like to be in a room where you know the way people were murdered right there where you stand.
Birkenau is a whole other story. There are very few barracks left but all the chimnies remain to show that at one time rows and rows and rows of one level wooden shacks basically stood on this massive piece of ground. The “bathrooms” where in a wooden shack that had “toilets” of just wooden holes cut in a board all one next to the other and back to back. Can you imagine? And with all the awful diseases people would get and have to use the bathroom, but of course there were rules to how often you could go and how long you could stay in there. Our tour guide, who was fabulous by the way, said one of the better jobs a prisoner could have was to clean the “bathroom” building because at least it meant they could stay inside since winters get so cold. And with a job like that you’d have a better chance of surviving longer.
Also in Birkenau there is a gate that opens for a train to come through and the tracks lead into the center of the camp. When the train stopped and people disembarked they believed they were coming here and could stay with their family, they had packed bags, they thought everything would be okay. Of course this was a lie. A man stood and as each person stepped forward would point left or right. One direction meant they look capable enough so kept them here and they will work. But for everyone else who was pointed the opposite direction they were taken to the gas chambers. Once at the chambers they were told to undress in one room and that they’d be bathing, to remember where all their things were because they’d be coming back to them shortly. I guess the only good thing you can try to take from this was that they really weren’t afraid for days or even hours before arriving. Everything seemed good I’m sure until the gas started pouring into the chamber they were ushered into. The killing was quick. But what took a long time was taking the bodies to be burned and that took a very long time otherwise I’d be afraid they may have wanted to kill even more people at Birkenau.
Another way people often died was not at the camp but when they made the march to other camps, which could have been days and days of walking. This was particularly the case when they expected the liberation was coming and they tried to move as many prisoners as they could before hand.
I always had thought that Anne Frank had died at Auschwitz, but actually no she was moved and died at a different camp.
Overall it was a very somber place. Seeing the gas chambers at Birkenau although destroyed was heart breaking. And there are pond still a murky gray where all the ashes of these victims were dumped. This history is very worthy of us paying attention to because I would hope we never let anything happen like this again. And yet, think of the genocides we often don’t think about in the world. And what are we all doing about it?
We took the bus back to the city and decided to try another of the vegetarian restaurants I had written down. This one was awesome too. Everything was premade and on a line like a cafeteria. You choose what size plate you wanted, which also indicated how many dishes you could tell them you wanted as you went down the line. I can’t remember each individual dish but I know we all three really enjoyed our meal. Afterward though we were pretty tired from the day so we went back to the hostel. But since it still felt too early to go to bed Reneé and Taylor got a beer in the bar and I sat with them while we chatted awhile until we did feel it was a decent time to go to bed.
The next morning we got up with enough to time to go into town one more time before we headed to the airport. Reneé also likes to get to airports when she flies hours and hours before the flights are suppose to leave. Although I do find her a little excessive in how early she likes to get places clearly I should also take a lesson from her and maybe come up with something in the middle ground after my missed flight and a huge headache from yesterday.
This morning I was able to get online at our hostel and see that there were flights on Lufthansa to Athens today that I was hoping they could just cancel our other flight from Porto to Frankfurt and Frankfurt to Athens and rebook us on that one. All the flights I looked at to Porto were around $800 a person so there was no way were could try and go there to save part of our trip and also fly out to Athens tomorrow night as planned. So I called Lufthansa and although the woman wasn’t rude on the phone she wasn’t helpful either. She said she could not change our flight. So I asked if we took the train to Frankfurt if we could get on the second leg of the journey and she said we better not do that because when we don’t show up in Porto they will cancel our itinerary and they won’t allow us to get on in Frankfurt either. I asked if there was anyone on her end or in Frankfurt specifically I could talk to explaining our situation and that we could be in Frankfurt for the flight. She said no, no, no, no, no.
There was nothing to be done, period. There goes my opinion that Lufthansa is known for great customer service. I am highly disappointed in them right now because they didn’t offer to do anything, she didn’t even offer to help me find a flight that would work for us. I even offered to pay for switching and she just said no it was not possible. I have been feeling lately, and maybe it is partially because I’m in Europe and not America, that the idea of customer service has gone out the window. Especially now that so many companies do so much online I’ve on numerous occasions not been able to find the help I need. If I go to a website wanting to contact someone first they want me to read through all the frequently asked questions and if my questions isn’t one of them after reading for awhile I have to hunt down their email or phone number and sometimes I don’t have any luck with that. And if I email I often haven’t heard a reply. Ugh, it is so frustrating and I’m just sick of it. I sometimes wish things could go back to a simpler time. It seems but a faint memory to me, but I bet many of you reading this have much more vivid memories of a simpler these tech savvy life. Of course there are reasons it is great. If it weren’t for Internet I wouldn’t have this blog to keep everyone up to date on this. But it would also mean I’d have to hand write letters to people. I guarantee you wouldn’t get many from me, but doesn’t it make you feel special sometimes to just get one. Anyway this is my little rant.
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
I had a bad day
Today was not a good day. Today was supposed to end perfect, but now I feel because of my stupidity this day is ending far from perfect.
Last Friday, November 5th, marked Ryan and my 4th anniversary. To celebrate this I had previously booked Ryan and I a flight to Porto, Portugal on our two-day weekend. While we were in Spain we received an email from our supervisor at work that she had granted us time off to go to Greece as well. However at this point Ryan still did not know I had the trip to Portugal booked. So being sneaky I booked our flight to Greece to leave from Porto, but then fly back to Athens at the end of our time there.
On our anniversary I gave Ryan a card that I had secretly encrypted with the word Portugal as a clue to where we were going. Unfortunately Ryan did not figure out the message on his own and I had to continue to give him verbal clues until he could figure it out. He finally did though and was very excited we would begin our vacation in Porto. Although it would be flying in the opposite direction as Greece it is somewhere we’ve wanted to go and with so much time off why not hit two countries important to us?
Ryan has been so diligent for the last few days looking up information about Greece and planning that part of our trip. I on the other hand have spent almost all my time looking for a cute hostel in Porto because when the hostel has character we’ve learned it can really add to the experience there. Somewhere thought there must have been a disconnect in my brain because although I did look at the train schedule I was stupid enough to think we would make our flight if we took the 6:04 train. Well we had to train from Garmisch to Munich for 1.5 hours, then change trains to get to Memmingen for another 1.5 hours, then it is a 12 minute taxi ride to the airport. We have to go all the way to Memmingen because that is where the discount airline Ryanair flies out of. And although it would only be 1.5-2 hours to drive there we weren’t going to fly back to the same airport and would have to train back to get the car and thought it would be less expensive to train than that option. Also when we had to change trains I had seen online there was one leaving at 19:34 but when we arrived with just enough to time catch that one it was no where to be found and the next one didn’t leave until 19:51, which I started to realize might be too late.
Well as it turns out it would have been less expensive than throwing money away I did. We missed our flight to Porto, if you haven’t picked up on that yet. We got their about 9:30 and the flight was scheduled to leave at 9:50 but apparently Ryanair believes that is the time the plane will be in the air not the time they let late arriving passengers run their behinds off to get on their plane and breath a sigh of relief once they are in their seat. UGH! I can’t believe I did this. I feel so stupid. I am so mad at myself. I am so sorry for Ryan that I ruined what was supposed to be a gift to him. And I feel absolutely awful that what I have done is being a very poor steward of my money and money management is something I take very seriously. My parent’s taught me well. Unfortunately I didn’t channel my Dad in regard to checking the train schedule 10 or more times, printing it, thinking of every possible scenario, and double and triple checking with my own calculations and having someone else look it over to make sure we’d arrive on time. So now 20 euros is gone from the flight, 15 euros for the bag I added the day before we wanted to check, 20 euros for the train pass we had to buy, 19 euros for our two taxi rides, about 10 euros worth of food we bought during the travel, 10 euros for the hostel we had to stay in back in Munich, oh and at least the deposit for the hostel in Porto we’ll see if they are kind and don’t charge me everything for the two nights and of course the hours and hours from our lives. I am so upset with myself and I really don’t know how to fix it.
It is now Wednesday morning. Ryan is still asleep and I am eating breakfast at our hostel. We had to take another taxi from the airport back to the train station. Then take the train another 1.5 hours back to Munich and then we walked 15 minutes down the road to a hostel we thankfully knew was there because we stayed here the first night of my Mom’s visit. The first thing we have to do this morning is figure out if we can get a hold of Lufthansa and see if they can change our departure airport from Porto to Munich. And if they can’t we need to see how much it would cost to fly to Porto today or tomorrow. And if none of that works then my bill of wasted money is about to more than double and I don’t even like to think about that.
Last night on the second train as we went along and it occurred to me we likely would not make the flight I prayed so hard for God to have mercy on my stupidity and show me Grace. I wish I could blame him for not delaying the plane or stopping time, but I know it was not his fault. And although when I prayed for mercy and grace it was in regard to making our flight I saw Him pouring out both these things in another way. I could not ask for a better person in my life than Ryan. From the moment we knew we were not getting on the plane he was calm, cool, and collected. I knew he was disappointed, but he held himself together and he comforted me when the whole thing was my fault and he could have gotten very angry at me. He showed me mercy and he offered me grace. As awful as I still feel I am glad I have him by my side.
So you’ll just have to stay tuned to figure out if we have a vacation or just 10 days off work stuck in the land of the cold and the occasional snow.
Last Friday, November 5th, marked Ryan and my 4th anniversary. To celebrate this I had previously booked Ryan and I a flight to Porto, Portugal on our two-day weekend. While we were in Spain we received an email from our supervisor at work that she had granted us time off to go to Greece as well. However at this point Ryan still did not know I had the trip to Portugal booked. So being sneaky I booked our flight to Greece to leave from Porto, but then fly back to Athens at the end of our time there.
On our anniversary I gave Ryan a card that I had secretly encrypted with the word Portugal as a clue to where we were going. Unfortunately Ryan did not figure out the message on his own and I had to continue to give him verbal clues until he could figure it out. He finally did though and was very excited we would begin our vacation in Porto. Although it would be flying in the opposite direction as Greece it is somewhere we’ve wanted to go and with so much time off why not hit two countries important to us?
Ryan has been so diligent for the last few days looking up information about Greece and planning that part of our trip. I on the other hand have spent almost all my time looking for a cute hostel in Porto because when the hostel has character we’ve learned it can really add to the experience there. Somewhere thought there must have been a disconnect in my brain because although I did look at the train schedule I was stupid enough to think we would make our flight if we took the 6:04 train. Well we had to train from Garmisch to Munich for 1.5 hours, then change trains to get to Memmingen for another 1.5 hours, then it is a 12 minute taxi ride to the airport. We have to go all the way to Memmingen because that is where the discount airline Ryanair flies out of. And although it would only be 1.5-2 hours to drive there we weren’t going to fly back to the same airport and would have to train back to get the car and thought it would be less expensive to train than that option. Also when we had to change trains I had seen online there was one leaving at 19:34 but when we arrived with just enough to time catch that one it was no where to be found and the next one didn’t leave until 19:51, which I started to realize might be too late.
Well as it turns out it would have been less expensive than throwing money away I did. We missed our flight to Porto, if you haven’t picked up on that yet. We got their about 9:30 and the flight was scheduled to leave at 9:50 but apparently Ryanair believes that is the time the plane will be in the air not the time they let late arriving passengers run their behinds off to get on their plane and breath a sigh of relief once they are in their seat. UGH! I can’t believe I did this. I feel so stupid. I am so mad at myself. I am so sorry for Ryan that I ruined what was supposed to be a gift to him. And I feel absolutely awful that what I have done is being a very poor steward of my money and money management is something I take very seriously. My parent’s taught me well. Unfortunately I didn’t channel my Dad in regard to checking the train schedule 10 or more times, printing it, thinking of every possible scenario, and double and triple checking with my own calculations and having someone else look it over to make sure we’d arrive on time. So now 20 euros is gone from the flight, 15 euros for the bag I added the day before we wanted to check, 20 euros for the train pass we had to buy, 19 euros for our two taxi rides, about 10 euros worth of food we bought during the travel, 10 euros for the hostel we had to stay in back in Munich, oh and at least the deposit for the hostel in Porto we’ll see if they are kind and don’t charge me everything for the two nights and of course the hours and hours from our lives. I am so upset with myself and I really don’t know how to fix it.
It is now Wednesday morning. Ryan is still asleep and I am eating breakfast at our hostel. We had to take another taxi from the airport back to the train station. Then take the train another 1.5 hours back to Munich and then we walked 15 minutes down the road to a hostel we thankfully knew was there because we stayed here the first night of my Mom’s visit. The first thing we have to do this morning is figure out if we can get a hold of Lufthansa and see if they can change our departure airport from Porto to Munich. And if they can’t we need to see how much it would cost to fly to Porto today or tomorrow. And if none of that works then my bill of wasted money is about to more than double and I don’t even like to think about that.
Last night on the second train as we went along and it occurred to me we likely would not make the flight I prayed so hard for God to have mercy on my stupidity and show me Grace. I wish I could blame him for not delaying the plane or stopping time, but I know it was not his fault. And although when I prayed for mercy and grace it was in regard to making our flight I saw Him pouring out both these things in another way. I could not ask for a better person in my life than Ryan. From the moment we knew we were not getting on the plane he was calm, cool, and collected. I knew he was disappointed, but he held himself together and he comforted me when the whole thing was my fault and he could have gotten very angry at me. He showed me mercy and he offered me grace. As awful as I still feel I am glad I have him by my side.
So you’ll just have to stay tuned to figure out if we have a vacation or just 10 days off work stuck in the land of the cold and the occasional snow.
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Sweet sweet Seville
I love this place. It is a dream come true. I thought Italy had a permanent place in my heart for favorite European country, but now Spain seems to have pulled into the lead. I'll have to see after we are no longer in the country if my feelings remain this way.
We took a city bus from our hostel on Saturday morning to the main bus station where we caught a bus directly to the airport in Bilbao a little over an hour away. We got there pretty early, so we each had an espresso and sat and read our books until it was time to board. The flight was short and easy. We sure feel like we fly a fair amount. I used to like it a lot when I was younger, but the more I fly I feel like I like it less. You are just so cramped and there is not getting out or taking breaks like when you are in the car. But you can't beat the speed of flying.
We arrived at the airport and took the bus into the city. Right at the last stop where we got off the bus was a "Festival of the Nations" taking place which runs for about a month and has many different booths offering food and goods for sale that represent countries from around the world. It reminds me so much of Tollwood the festival in Munich that I fell in love with over the summer, which Ryan and I went to with Michelle during her visit. I'd still say Tollwood is cooler though. Oh and get this... they had a booth of American food. Not surprising to see hamburgers, hot dogs, and fried chicken ranch sandwiches, but what I was astounded by was that they had cases stacked six high of DUFF beer. The only time I have ever seen Duff beer to know it exists outside of the Simpsons is when my friend Reneé found a six pack in a due out she cleaned and gave me one because she thought they were gross. And they are. Apparently Spain associated America with the Simpsons and Duff beer. They also had a large poster of the Hollywood sign up, and Uncle Sam poster, a Obama poster, and the America Flag. Isn't it interesting to see how foreigners view us?
Ryan and I were really hungry having not eaten in many hours and finally decided on each having falafel tortilla wraps from the Egyptian booth. Then we went to the Brazil booth and thought we were ordering a whole fresh coconut with the top chopped off to drink the coconut water inside but instead the woman made up some gross mixed coconut cocktail drink, so that was disappointing. I managed to walk out of there with only one other purchase which was some Indian tea that we gave one of our three bags to our couchsurfing hosts.
From the festival we walked toward the river and then along it until we headed a few streets in land to the home we are currently staying in. The nice couple Jordan and Sarah are registered on couchsurfing and I contacted them through there. But they also happen to work for the school here in Seville that George Fox Students study abroad at. Our friend Brett was here for Jordan and Sarah's first semester working for the program. We are so thankful Brett recommended them to us as hosts and they have been truly wonderful hosts.
After meeting them and visiting for a little bit we hit the town. We went first to Plaza de Espana which is having their grand opening right now. It is a huge magnificent old building but the moat and grounds in front of the building have been under construction for the whole time Jordan and Sarah have lived here. There were so many people enjoying the beautiful plaza and the perfect weather we've had here in Seville our two days. They were even renting row boats for really cheap to row around on the moat, but the line was way too long for us to find worth it.
From that Plaza we entered a park garden area that was very nice to stroll through. We wandered down the river and across a bridge into a fairly residential part of town but there was a pedestrian street with shops that we discovered and mosied (sp?) down stopping here and there to go in and have a look in certain stores.
We then walked along the river again looking for a good restaurant to stop at and have some Sangria while sitting by the river. On our way though we saw a woman being arrested. She was resisting the arrest and it took two officers to pin her to the pavement to keep her still. Then back up came flying in from every direction and the news media pulled up in a van but never though it was important enough to get out and film I guess. We have no idea what happened but they got her in a police car and drover her to the station that we discovered later in our walk was only about 200 meters further down the river front. There were so many people watching the action though, I just wish I understood some Spanish to try and understand what she had been arrested for.
Eventually we found a perfect spot to stop for a drink. They had seats right up against the river and although I was disappointed to see him get a premade store bought Sangria mix out of the fridge opposed to a housemade Sangria it was still refreshing on a hot day and what the heck, we're in Spain.
After that siesta we headed back to the other side of the river and just walked and walked and walked in the direction Jordan had showed us on our map (which they kindly gave us) that they like to go get tapas for dinner sometimes. On the way we found some tents selling lots of cool things I like to look at and Ryan was nice enough to let me stop and do so.
We made it to the area he'd recommended but we hadn't asked for any specific recommendations so really we had no idea where to go. In the end we just went into a place that had lots of people, since that is usually a good sign. Tapas in Seville is very different from pintxos in Donostia. For one thing the portions are much larger. We ordered three different things and were stuffed when we had finished them. One was potatoes with a slightly spicy red sauce, the next spinach with garbanzo beans and lots of olive oil and garlic cooked with it (I think this was both our favorite), and lastly chunks of cooked tuna with onion in a broth. All three were good but not quite as gourmet as Donostia. It didn't make me want to keep eating forever even when I was full.
And from there we headed back to Jordan and Sarah's because we weren't sure their schedule and when they like to go to bed and didn't want to be rude guests who come back way late at night. Yet when we arrived back they were just about to have friends over, Wesley and Emma (also Americans who just arrived to teach English through a different organization). They had made brownies and then had plans to go to a bar where there was going to be flamenco dancing. They kindly invited us to come along, or did I ask and they kindly said of course, anyway, I was so excited because I had really hoped to find some random flamenco show while we were here. It even got better because I got an email from Brett this morning and he told us to check out this one totally hidden place that you can't even tell is a bar unless it is open at night with lots of people and music. And of course it is the same place we went last night. The unfortunate part was that the bar was really crowded and we couldn't see the dancers feet which is a huge part of flamenco and it was also really smokey and I don't think any one in our group liked that one bit. So after while we left and Jordan and Sarah walked us around a bit on the way back pointing out places of interest and things we might be able to do the next day.
When we got back we checked our email, got ready for bed, and at least Ryan fell asleep really quickly because I could hear him snoring like an animal. We haven't seen Jordan and Sarah yet today to ask them, but I really really hope he did not keep them up. I love their apartment. It is so cute, but also very small. You enter into the living room/kitchen. There is a door off that to their bedroom and the bathroom. And then there is a loft over the kitchen where we are sleeping. So all that being said there is not much space or many walls to drown out the noise from Ryan's nose. And I stayed awake for a good portion of the night hitting him trying to keep him quiet so they didn't wake up. I guess we'll see them later tonight and hopefully they slept alright.
Of course I have all of today to tell you about too, but I think we better head out for dinner at the place Brett claims is the best tapas in Seville. I'll let you know my review later. And in the morning we already have our bus tickets to Tarifa where we will cross to Straight of Gibralter to Morocco. We looked up ferry prices and are not thrilled with what we see we'll be paying for each of our round trip voyages, but at least we are saving money with couchsurfing here in Seville and we have a host waiting for us in Morocco as well.
Adios Amigos!
We took a city bus from our hostel on Saturday morning to the main bus station where we caught a bus directly to the airport in Bilbao a little over an hour away. We got there pretty early, so we each had an espresso and sat and read our books until it was time to board. The flight was short and easy. We sure feel like we fly a fair amount. I used to like it a lot when I was younger, but the more I fly I feel like I like it less. You are just so cramped and there is not getting out or taking breaks like when you are in the car. But you can't beat the speed of flying.
We arrived at the airport and took the bus into the city. Right at the last stop where we got off the bus was a "Festival of the Nations" taking place which runs for about a month and has many different booths offering food and goods for sale that represent countries from around the world. It reminds me so much of Tollwood the festival in Munich that I fell in love with over the summer, which Ryan and I went to with Michelle during her visit. I'd still say Tollwood is cooler though. Oh and get this... they had a booth of American food. Not surprising to see hamburgers, hot dogs, and fried chicken ranch sandwiches, but what I was astounded by was that they had cases stacked six high of DUFF beer. The only time I have ever seen Duff beer to know it exists outside of the Simpsons is when my friend Reneé found a six pack in a due out she cleaned and gave me one because she thought they were gross. And they are. Apparently Spain associated America with the Simpsons and Duff beer. They also had a large poster of the Hollywood sign up, and Uncle Sam poster, a Obama poster, and the America Flag. Isn't it interesting to see how foreigners view us?
Ryan and I were really hungry having not eaten in many hours and finally decided on each having falafel tortilla wraps from the Egyptian booth. Then we went to the Brazil booth and thought we were ordering a whole fresh coconut with the top chopped off to drink the coconut water inside but instead the woman made up some gross mixed coconut cocktail drink, so that was disappointing. I managed to walk out of there with only one other purchase which was some Indian tea that we gave one of our three bags to our couchsurfing hosts.
From the festival we walked toward the river and then along it until we headed a few streets in land to the home we are currently staying in. The nice couple Jordan and Sarah are registered on couchsurfing and I contacted them through there. But they also happen to work for the school here in Seville that George Fox Students study abroad at. Our friend Brett was here for Jordan and Sarah's first semester working for the program. We are so thankful Brett recommended them to us as hosts and they have been truly wonderful hosts.
After meeting them and visiting for a little bit we hit the town. We went first to Plaza de Espana which is having their grand opening right now. It is a huge magnificent old building but the moat and grounds in front of the building have been under construction for the whole time Jordan and Sarah have lived here. There were so many people enjoying the beautiful plaza and the perfect weather we've had here in Seville our two days. They were even renting row boats for really cheap to row around on the moat, but the line was way too long for us to find worth it.
From that Plaza we entered a park garden area that was very nice to stroll through. We wandered down the river and across a bridge into a fairly residential part of town but there was a pedestrian street with shops that we discovered and mosied (sp?) down stopping here and there to go in and have a look in certain stores.
We then walked along the river again looking for a good restaurant to stop at and have some Sangria while sitting by the river. On our way though we saw a woman being arrested. She was resisting the arrest and it took two officers to pin her to the pavement to keep her still. Then back up came flying in from every direction and the news media pulled up in a van but never though it was important enough to get out and film I guess. We have no idea what happened but they got her in a police car and drover her to the station that we discovered later in our walk was only about 200 meters further down the river front. There were so many people watching the action though, I just wish I understood some Spanish to try and understand what she had been arrested for.
Eventually we found a perfect spot to stop for a drink. They had seats right up against the river and although I was disappointed to see him get a premade store bought Sangria mix out of the fridge opposed to a housemade Sangria it was still refreshing on a hot day and what the heck, we're in Spain.
After that siesta we headed back to the other side of the river and just walked and walked and walked in the direction Jordan had showed us on our map (which they kindly gave us) that they like to go get tapas for dinner sometimes. On the way we found some tents selling lots of cool things I like to look at and Ryan was nice enough to let me stop and do so.
We made it to the area he'd recommended but we hadn't asked for any specific recommendations so really we had no idea where to go. In the end we just went into a place that had lots of people, since that is usually a good sign. Tapas in Seville is very different from pintxos in Donostia. For one thing the portions are much larger. We ordered three different things and were stuffed when we had finished them. One was potatoes with a slightly spicy red sauce, the next spinach with garbanzo beans and lots of olive oil and garlic cooked with it (I think this was both our favorite), and lastly chunks of cooked tuna with onion in a broth. All three were good but not quite as gourmet as Donostia. It didn't make me want to keep eating forever even when I was full.
And from there we headed back to Jordan and Sarah's because we weren't sure their schedule and when they like to go to bed and didn't want to be rude guests who come back way late at night. Yet when we arrived back they were just about to have friends over, Wesley and Emma (also Americans who just arrived to teach English through a different organization). They had made brownies and then had plans to go to a bar where there was going to be flamenco dancing. They kindly invited us to come along, or did I ask and they kindly said of course, anyway, I was so excited because I had really hoped to find some random flamenco show while we were here. It even got better because I got an email from Brett this morning and he told us to check out this one totally hidden place that you can't even tell is a bar unless it is open at night with lots of people and music. And of course it is the same place we went last night. The unfortunate part was that the bar was really crowded and we couldn't see the dancers feet which is a huge part of flamenco and it was also really smokey and I don't think any one in our group liked that one bit. So after while we left and Jordan and Sarah walked us around a bit on the way back pointing out places of interest and things we might be able to do the next day.
When we got back we checked our email, got ready for bed, and at least Ryan fell asleep really quickly because I could hear him snoring like an animal. We haven't seen Jordan and Sarah yet today to ask them, but I really really hope he did not keep them up. I love their apartment. It is so cute, but also very small. You enter into the living room/kitchen. There is a door off that to their bedroom and the bathroom. And then there is a loft over the kitchen where we are sleeping. So all that being said there is not much space or many walls to drown out the noise from Ryan's nose. And I stayed awake for a good portion of the night hitting him trying to keep him quiet so they didn't wake up. I guess we'll see them later tonight and hopefully they slept alright.
Of course I have all of today to tell you about too, but I think we better head out for dinner at the place Brett claims is the best tapas in Seville. I'll let you know my review later. And in the morning we already have our bus tickets to Tarifa where we will cross to Straight of Gibralter to Morocco. We looked up ferry prices and are not thrilled with what we see we'll be paying for each of our round trip voyages, but at least we are saving money with couchsurfing here in Seville and we have a host waiting for us in Morocco as well.
Adios Amigos!
Chocolate y Churros
I'm sort of disappointed. :( And I hate to disappoint the numerous people who told Ryan and I to try this delight. But I think we have both been disappointed to find that the churros here are very different than anything we've ever had. Our guess is that the churros we are used to eating are more of a Mexican style. The ones here don't even have cinnamon and that is one of our favorite parts. The first place we tried them (of course we didn't give up after only the first place) the chocolate was a bit too thick and kind of lumpy. It is definitely not normal drinking chocolate. I would say it is like a thinned out version of homemade chocolate pudding. The second place the chocolate was better. Both those places were in Donostia. Now we are in Seville and tried a really thick short churro filled with cream and already covered in chocolate. That was pretty good although it wasn't warm and we wish it had been. Today we tried a churro that was really long and curled in a spiral- again it was not warm and we wish it had been but the chocolate was probably my favorite for dipping this last time. All together I can't really give rave reviews about these Spanish treats. In fact it sort of just makes me want to go back to costco and get one from their food stand. I never though I'd be desiring food from the food stand at Costco but that is where I find myself.
Friday, October 22, 2010
What a beautiful day!
God has definitely answered my prayers for good weather in San Sebastian. Although the leaves on the trees are changing color and drifting from the branches to the pavement it still feels more like summer than fall- thank goodness. Yesterday was superb and today there is supposed to be a high of around 75 degrees, however right now a cloud cover came in and is hindering the sun's ability to really heat things up.
We had another lazy morning not getting out of the hostel until about noon. Then we tried to go to a recommendation of the reception for some tempura prawn pintxos, but Pacco Bueno was closed. :( Instead we tried a couple other pintxos bars that were very busy last night, which we took as a good sign. The things we had were pretty good as everything has been in our time here.
From there we headed to the beach to soak up some rays. Oh how I wish everyone could be here to enjoy these beaches. The sand is so fine and soft and beautiful and perfect. If I felt like getting really sandy I would not even bother with a towel because I think it would feel great to just be fully emersed in this stuff. As soon as my toes bury in the sand any worry I had seems to just melt away. Ahhhh it is so nice. We lay on our towels for awhile and then read the Bible together for awhile. Eventually though the cloud cover kept growing instead of moving on, so we packed up our towels and headed back to the hostel.
We just got some good tips from reception on where to find the best churros and chocolate (as many friends have recommended we try) so that is where we are off to next.
OH and I must tell you about dinner last night. Another bar crawl as that is just what people seem to do here. We started at A Fuego Negro one of Brett's recommendations. It is very innovative. We had a cold tomato soup over bread crumbs that came in the form of a ball. I do not know what the shell was made out of but when you bit into it there was the soup made thick with the bread crumbs. It was very good. We had a mini (slider style) burger with chips. It was kobe beef which is the beef raised in Japan. It is fed beer and they massage the cows to make it supposedly the most tender meat you'll ever find. If you are wondering if I tried the meat, yes I did. The cow is massaged... being the foodie I am I had to judge if this really makes the meat that good. And my review....drum roll please.... yeah the burger was the best I have ever tasted and cooked pretty rare but perfectly done. WOW! Who would have thought I would give such a review on meat. Not that it will change my eating ways- no worries. :) We had some cod with cauliflower and curry. It was a small square of cod with grated cauliflower and dusted with curry powder, so different but oh so good. Oh and for Brett we tried Hongo. It is mushrooms with a egg on top of them. I do not know how to describe the egg. When Brett was hear and asked people around him how the cook got it to do what it did they all told him MAGICO! It was unique. Sort of poached but not slimy and the outside seemed almost broiled. Unique but not my favorite as far as flavor.
After that we were just walking along looking for another busy place to try. We ended up a a place that had a lot of mini croissants with different raw fish in them. We had one with salmon lox. If you like lox go buy some with croissants. The falky butteryness of the croissant with the full flavor of the lox is delicious. We also at olives, peppers and sardines on a toothpick. And millions of fish eggs encased in I probably don't want to know what on a toothpick topped with a square of onion and sprig of parsley. Interesting, fishy, glad I did it, probably would not do it again.
On our way back to the hostel we stopped for a crepe filled with apple compote and cinnamon. Delcious as crepes always are. :) Then we shared out bottle of sider from the grocery and hit the hay.
Ok we are all up to date. Now I have got to go find those churros and chocolate!
We had another lazy morning not getting out of the hostel until about noon. Then we tried to go to a recommendation of the reception for some tempura prawn pintxos, but Pacco Bueno was closed. :( Instead we tried a couple other pintxos bars that were very busy last night, which we took as a good sign. The things we had were pretty good as everything has been in our time here.
From there we headed to the beach to soak up some rays. Oh how I wish everyone could be here to enjoy these beaches. The sand is so fine and soft and beautiful and perfect. If I felt like getting really sandy I would not even bother with a towel because I think it would feel great to just be fully emersed in this stuff. As soon as my toes bury in the sand any worry I had seems to just melt away. Ahhhh it is so nice. We lay on our towels for awhile and then read the Bible together for awhile. Eventually though the cloud cover kept growing instead of moving on, so we packed up our towels and headed back to the hostel.
We just got some good tips from reception on where to find the best churros and chocolate (as many friends have recommended we try) so that is where we are off to next.
OH and I must tell you about dinner last night. Another bar crawl as that is just what people seem to do here. We started at A Fuego Negro one of Brett's recommendations. It is very innovative. We had a cold tomato soup over bread crumbs that came in the form of a ball. I do not know what the shell was made out of but when you bit into it there was the soup made thick with the bread crumbs. It was very good. We had a mini (slider style) burger with chips. It was kobe beef which is the beef raised in Japan. It is fed beer and they massage the cows to make it supposedly the most tender meat you'll ever find. If you are wondering if I tried the meat, yes I did. The cow is massaged... being the foodie I am I had to judge if this really makes the meat that good. And my review....drum roll please.... yeah the burger was the best I have ever tasted and cooked pretty rare but perfectly done. WOW! Who would have thought I would give such a review on meat. Not that it will change my eating ways- no worries. :) We had some cod with cauliflower and curry. It was a small square of cod with grated cauliflower and dusted with curry powder, so different but oh so good. Oh and for Brett we tried Hongo. It is mushrooms with a egg on top of them. I do not know how to describe the egg. When Brett was hear and asked people around him how the cook got it to do what it did they all told him MAGICO! It was unique. Sort of poached but not slimy and the outside seemed almost broiled. Unique but not my favorite as far as flavor.
After that we were just walking along looking for another busy place to try. We ended up a a place that had a lot of mini croissants with different raw fish in them. We had one with salmon lox. If you like lox go buy some with croissants. The falky butteryness of the croissant with the full flavor of the lox is delicious. We also at olives, peppers and sardines on a toothpick. And millions of fish eggs encased in I probably don't want to know what on a toothpick topped with a square of onion and sprig of parsley. Interesting, fishy, glad I did it, probably would not do it again.
On our way back to the hostel we stopped for a crepe filled with apple compote and cinnamon. Delcious as crepes always are. :) Then we shared out bottle of sider from the grocery and hit the hay.
Ok we are all up to date. Now I have got to go find those churros and chocolate!
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Thank you Brett Tallman!
My friend Brett studied abroad in Spain last Fall. While he was there he visited the Basque region where he fell in love with the town of San Sebastian, known as Donostia to the Basque people. He sent me an email saying he guaranteed I too would fall in love with this gem of a desination on the Northwest Coast of Spain. So since the moment I knew I would be living in Germany San Sebastian has been on the top of my list to vist. I have no idea why it has taken me so long to visit Spain, but the wait has been well worth it. And Brett was right, I am in love with this very special place.
We flew from Munich to the island of Mallorca. And then from Mallorca to Bilbao. We took a bus to the city of Bilbao to check out the Guggenheim Museum. We did not go for what was inside the museum though, we went for the exterior. The only other building remotely similar to this is the Experience Music Project (EMP) in Seattle. I cannot upload picture here but I promise I will when I get back. Yes, I know I never upload pictures but I really am going to get some up SOON. The building is a collaboration of so many shapes and is mostly made out of titanium. It is just fantastic to look at. We walked over a bridge and then along the river across from the museum taking oh so many pictures.
When we had seen the structure from I think every angle possible except from the air we took the bus the rest of the way to the main bus terminal to catch the hour and 15 minute bus to San Sebastian. It was perfect timing because we boarded the bus just before it pulled out.
We were not sure how to take a city bus to the old town where we are staying, so we had a lovely walk along the river board walk. It was a perfect night and I am so glad we were able to walk. Once in town we struggled to find out hostel at first, but eventually with the help of some other travellers we ran into and a nice lady in a pastry shop we found our hostel that was right under our nose just with limited signage.
After settling into our room and getting some great directions and a map from our reception we headed out to dinner. Brett also gave me great advice. The main fair here is Basque tapas known as Pintxos pronounced peen-chose. Many restaurants have these things out on the counter of the bar. It costs less to stand and eat at the bar rather than at a table. You can also order things from the kitchen but all of it is in small portions. I LOVE IT. You get to have so many different things. So perfect for me.
First we went to a place and were sort of getting the feel for what to do. We ordered a sider which is famous here. It is made out of fresh apples without added sugar or carbonation. It is poured from high above the gladd and in small amounts so you consume it in only a few drinks because the longer it is in the glass it looses the little bit of natural carbonation it has. I really like the unique flavor of it. We ate five different pintxos on baguette and then ordered a shrimp skewer that was mmmmm so good. It was a recommendation of the receptionist.
Our next stop was one of Brett's favorite places and now I know why. We each had a glass of the white wine special to the region that was very good. Then I asked for three fish pintxos whatever he decided. My tastebuds have seldom been in a grater state of pleasure than eating those three dishes. A scallop, fish with onions under it, and octopus. I don't know what they did to them but WOW!
After than we wandered a little but were pretty tired so we headed back to bed.
This morning we got up pretty late and it felt so good. :) We left the hostel around noon and headed toward Gros on the other side of the river where we were told is not touristy at all and has a nice beach that many people surf at. For a couple hours we just wandered around. We saw the craziest dog that I think the lady dreaded it's hair. We have a picture of that too because I really wanted it and so we ran after the lady for blocks until Ryan got a good shot. Good thing she didn't notice her stalkers. We also found this awesome store that I treated myself to a few new clothing purchases because they had a whole rack of items for only 5 euro each. I was loving it. Then we went to a grocery store where Ryan got a couple snacks and a bottle of sider that is currently chilling in the fridge for later. It was only 1,50 euro for the bottle. What a deal. We tried to find a pintxos bar the reception told us about in the morning but we could not find it and they were hesitant on the street and the name so who knows if we were even in the right place. But we went somewhere else and enjoyed what we had especially the big green olives that he poured some garlic and olive oil on. Mmmmmmm And after that we went to the beach for over an hour just sitting, reading, splashing in the waves, taking pictures, and enjoying God's magnificent creation that has been named Donostia.
After the beach we walked all along the water on the board walk for hours. Eventually we stopped and each had a drink at a sea side outside restaurant. I tried the red wine cola combo that they drink here. I always like to try what the locals do. Can you believe it I did not hate it? I am going to start mixing all sorts of things with wine and beer after the combos I have tried in Europe.
And now we have been back at the hostel for a couple hours having what Ryan is calling our siesta. He has been sleeping mostly and I have been reading about Spain and now look at how productive I am on my blog. A treat for all my readers and also for me because now I am one step ahead of where I normally am. Even though I have a lot of catching up to do from my last few trips.
Well that has been everything so far. Now I need to go get Ryan up so we can go pleasure ourselves wtih more pintxos for dinner. Adios amigos! (trying to learn Spanish and oddly I am telling Ryan Spanish words even though he is the only one of the two of us who studied it haha)
We flew from Munich to the island of Mallorca. And then from Mallorca to Bilbao. We took a bus to the city of Bilbao to check out the Guggenheim Museum. We did not go for what was inside the museum though, we went for the exterior. The only other building remotely similar to this is the Experience Music Project (EMP) in Seattle. I cannot upload picture here but I promise I will when I get back. Yes, I know I never upload pictures but I really am going to get some up SOON. The building is a collaboration of so many shapes and is mostly made out of titanium. It is just fantastic to look at. We walked over a bridge and then along the river across from the museum taking oh so many pictures.
When we had seen the structure from I think every angle possible except from the air we took the bus the rest of the way to the main bus terminal to catch the hour and 15 minute bus to San Sebastian. It was perfect timing because we boarded the bus just before it pulled out.
We were not sure how to take a city bus to the old town where we are staying, so we had a lovely walk along the river board walk. It was a perfect night and I am so glad we were able to walk. Once in town we struggled to find out hostel at first, but eventually with the help of some other travellers we ran into and a nice lady in a pastry shop we found our hostel that was right under our nose just with limited signage.
After settling into our room and getting some great directions and a map from our reception we headed out to dinner. Brett also gave me great advice. The main fair here is Basque tapas known as Pintxos pronounced peen-chose. Many restaurants have these things out on the counter of the bar. It costs less to stand and eat at the bar rather than at a table. You can also order things from the kitchen but all of it is in small portions. I LOVE IT. You get to have so many different things. So perfect for me.
First we went to a place and were sort of getting the feel for what to do. We ordered a sider which is famous here. It is made out of fresh apples without added sugar or carbonation. It is poured from high above the gladd and in small amounts so you consume it in only a few drinks because the longer it is in the glass it looses the little bit of natural carbonation it has. I really like the unique flavor of it. We ate five different pintxos on baguette and then ordered a shrimp skewer that was mmmmm so good. It was a recommendation of the receptionist.
Our next stop was one of Brett's favorite places and now I know why. We each had a glass of the white wine special to the region that was very good. Then I asked for three fish pintxos whatever he decided. My tastebuds have seldom been in a grater state of pleasure than eating those three dishes. A scallop, fish with onions under it, and octopus. I don't know what they did to them but WOW!
After than we wandered a little but were pretty tired so we headed back to bed.
This morning we got up pretty late and it felt so good. :) We left the hostel around noon and headed toward Gros on the other side of the river where we were told is not touristy at all and has a nice beach that many people surf at. For a couple hours we just wandered around. We saw the craziest dog that I think the lady dreaded it's hair. We have a picture of that too because I really wanted it and so we ran after the lady for blocks until Ryan got a good shot. Good thing she didn't notice her stalkers. We also found this awesome store that I treated myself to a few new clothing purchases because they had a whole rack of items for only 5 euro each. I was loving it. Then we went to a grocery store where Ryan got a couple snacks and a bottle of sider that is currently chilling in the fridge for later. It was only 1,50 euro for the bottle. What a deal. We tried to find a pintxos bar the reception told us about in the morning but we could not find it and they were hesitant on the street and the name so who knows if we were even in the right place. But we went somewhere else and enjoyed what we had especially the big green olives that he poured some garlic and olive oil on. Mmmmmmm And after that we went to the beach for over an hour just sitting, reading, splashing in the waves, taking pictures, and enjoying God's magnificent creation that has been named Donostia.
After the beach we walked all along the water on the board walk for hours. Eventually we stopped and each had a drink at a sea side outside restaurant. I tried the red wine cola combo that they drink here. I always like to try what the locals do. Can you believe it I did not hate it? I am going to start mixing all sorts of things with wine and beer after the combos I have tried in Europe.
And now we have been back at the hostel for a couple hours having what Ryan is calling our siesta. He has been sleeping mostly and I have been reading about Spain and now look at how productive I am on my blog. A treat for all my readers and also for me because now I am one step ahead of where I normally am. Even though I have a lot of catching up to do from my last few trips.
Well that has been everything so far. Now I need to go get Ryan up so we can go pleasure ourselves wtih more pintxos for dinner. Adios amigos! (trying to learn Spanish and oddly I am telling Ryan Spanish words even though he is the only one of the two of us who studied it haha)
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Lichtenstein to Lucerne
Back to my travels while my Mom was here. After our first trip we had to come back and work a few days. And then Ryan and I went on the employee river raft trip in Austria, which was very fun, while my Mom went to the Passion Play in Oberammergau.
The following day we loaded up the car with our bags and camping gear and headed to Switzerland. On the way we wanted to see a teeny tiny little country known as Lichtenstein. When we first crossed into Lichtenstein we tried to get our passports stamped, but no matter where we went to ask they all pointed us toward somewhere else and back again to where we started, so eventually we realized that just wasn't going to happen.
To drive from one side of Lichtenstein to the other took about 15 to 20 minutes. It is so small that they even have a running race during the year where you run through the whole country the long way and I'm not sure it is even a full marathon. We stopped in one town and found there to be nothing there, so we got back in the car after walking around and headed to the capital. Right before we reached the city center there was a winery that we stopped at and waited for them to open. Once we were let inside they said they wouldn't do a tasting because we didn't have a group of 10. Sheesh! So we drove on into town and parked to get out and walk around and we found a Doner Kebab shop for lunch because everything else we would have had to sell and arm and a leg to afford. Lichtenstein is very expensive. When we left here we were into Switzerland in two minutes.
Our destination was Lucerne. I'm so glad we met the Swiss guy Jens in Dresden the previous week and he said we should go to Lucerne over Zurich. It was absolutely stunning. The town is around Lake Lucerne and the natural beauty here was breath taking.
Switzerland is also ridiculously expensive. I didn't expect it because $1=1.12 swiss franc however that doesn't mean they won't charge 2 or 3 franc for something you'd expect to cost a dollar. All the hostels and hotels I looked at were out of my price range, so I found us a great camp ground right across from the lake. I'm so glad that Ryan and I have acquired a couple tents while being here because camping was a perfect option.
Food was just as expensive as hostels so we avoided restaurants like a plague and followed the suggestion of my travel book to eat in the cafeteria/deli places that are in department stores or at grocery stores. The food was simple but not bad.
When we got up the next morning we headed into town and wanted to check out the market along the river. I love markets everywhere I go and this one was no different. We found food here and there to nibble on. I got some apple cake that made me think of my Granny who I remember made an apple cake that I used to love when I was little. The market ran along both sides of the river and on the far side was a bunch of middle eastern food we shared for lunch such as tabbouleh, falafel, pita, and hummus.
We had noticed some sort of a festival getting set up an an open area that we went to check out. It turned out this was Political Immigration Day in Lucerne. They celebrate all the people who have immigrated here from around the world one day a year. There were numerous food booths where people were making a selling food from their country of origin. There was also a stage that had rotating bands playing music from their home countries. It was really really cool and I think made our time in Lucerne so much more special. At least for me because I love this kind of thing but I know my mom liked it too and Ryan is so easy going he likes most anything.
We didn't eat right away since we'd just eaten at the market. We kept walking around the streets of the town. We wandered up the hill a ways to find the old city walls which you can mount and walk along and up into the clock tower in the center. It gave us a nice view.
Eventually thought we did make it back to the Festival and ate till our stomachs couldn't fit anymore. We had food from Afghanistan, East Africa, Sri Lanka, India, and the Philippines. It was awesome to see so, so, so many people from around the world. There was an African band I really enjoyed while we sat and ate, but when the next band came on from maybe Russia we were not so much enjoying their music or their cigarettes hanging out of their mouths as they sang. During the African band a group of guys all dressed a like showed up and a couple of them were in crazy costumes and it was funny seeing them dance in the dancing area with everyone gathered around. It was a very fun event.
Our walk to and from the campground was nice because we could walk along the lake in the nice park. It was a bit of a walk back and forth but it was enjoyable and I preferred it to our option of taking the bus.
Oh goodness I was almost going to skip an exciting part of our trip. That evening we went to an English Pub to watch the US and England face off in the first round of the World Cup. It was nice to have the commentary in English and it was fun to be in an atmosphere with so many die hard England fans and then the few of us rooting for the USA. The game ended in a draw which was maybe the best for us since I would hate to think of what they could have done to us if we had beat them. :) After the game we headed back to the campground for bed.
The next day we didn't go back into town. Instead we went not even a mile down from the campground to the Transportation Museum. This museum was awesome. We learned how tunnels are drilled through mountains today and went on a ride in a cart to learn how it was done way back in the day when Switzerland was first starting to put in tunnels way before all the modern conveniences we have today. We saw up close and personal so many trains, cars, and airplanes I don't even have a guess how many in total there were. The museum was in sections based on the type of transportation. The car area had a cool thing that had a different car from every year and it would bring a car down one at a time to tell you about the history of it and it's functions. It was really nifty. There was even a planetarium that we went to a show in. I was disappointed though because the show was all about zodiac signs and I wanted to learn more about constalations and planets rather than how the zodiacs line up one a month and that is why we have signs for when we are born. But at least it was a comfy seat and I may have dozed off a little bit.
After several hours in the museum we decided we should be getting on the road. We had already packed up our tents, so we just went to fetch the car at our site. We decided to drive to Zurich on the way back and stop for dinner since it was on the way. In a Rich Steve's book I had he recommended a buffet restaurant that was Vegetarian and reasonably priced, so after some searching around the city we found it. Well it wasn't exactly what I'd call reasonably priced. It cost 6 swiss francs for 100grams of food I think. You took your plate and got what you wanted from the buffet and then they weighed it and you paid. I have no clue how much 100 grams is and apparently neither did my Mom or Ryan because in total our meal was 100 swiss frans which is almost $100. Yikes! That was a shocker to all of us. We had been worried about all the extra swiss money we had exchanged, but hadn't spent. I can tell you that was the end of that worry. The food was really good, thank goodness. And when we had all finished we were stuffed, so that was good too. While Ryan was eating some hummus on his plate he bit into a plastic bottle topper that had obviously accidentally ended up there. He took it to the counter and they were very apologetic. The offered him a free drink, which he didn't really want so then they offered free dessert which he accepted. When we had finished our dinner and he went to ask about the dessert they said he could have anything he wanted and as much of it as he wanted. AWESOME! So we had a HUGE bowl of chocolate mouse from the buffet and a piece of some sort of cake from their case. They even had a chef from the back come out and explain what the piece was that Ryan had bit into and the chef made the comment, "at least it wasn't meat." Of course Ryan isn't a vegetarian and probably wouldn't have thought twice if meat had been in something he was eating. So if we go back to Zurich (which I don't care too it didn't strike me as all that nice just a big city) I would probably not eat here unless I found a money tree between now and then OR I ate a much much smaller amount of food.
We had a fantastic trip to Switzerland. I'd love to go back before we are done in Europe. We loved traveling with my Mom and we are so thankful that she was able to come over. I know that she had a wonderful time and I hope she knows that we had a great time having her here and traveling with her.
The following day we loaded up the car with our bags and camping gear and headed to Switzerland. On the way we wanted to see a teeny tiny little country known as Lichtenstein. When we first crossed into Lichtenstein we tried to get our passports stamped, but no matter where we went to ask they all pointed us toward somewhere else and back again to where we started, so eventually we realized that just wasn't going to happen.
To drive from one side of Lichtenstein to the other took about 15 to 20 minutes. It is so small that they even have a running race during the year where you run through the whole country the long way and I'm not sure it is even a full marathon. We stopped in one town and found there to be nothing there, so we got back in the car after walking around and headed to the capital. Right before we reached the city center there was a winery that we stopped at and waited for them to open. Once we were let inside they said they wouldn't do a tasting because we didn't have a group of 10. Sheesh! So we drove on into town and parked to get out and walk around and we found a Doner Kebab shop for lunch because everything else we would have had to sell and arm and a leg to afford. Lichtenstein is very expensive. When we left here we were into Switzerland in two minutes.
Our destination was Lucerne. I'm so glad we met the Swiss guy Jens in Dresden the previous week and he said we should go to Lucerne over Zurich. It was absolutely stunning. The town is around Lake Lucerne and the natural beauty here was breath taking.
Switzerland is also ridiculously expensive. I didn't expect it because $1=1.12 swiss franc however that doesn't mean they won't charge 2 or 3 franc for something you'd expect to cost a dollar. All the hostels and hotels I looked at were out of my price range, so I found us a great camp ground right across from the lake. I'm so glad that Ryan and I have acquired a couple tents while being here because camping was a perfect option.
Food was just as expensive as hostels so we avoided restaurants like a plague and followed the suggestion of my travel book to eat in the cafeteria/deli places that are in department stores or at grocery stores. The food was simple but not bad.
When we got up the next morning we headed into town and wanted to check out the market along the river. I love markets everywhere I go and this one was no different. We found food here and there to nibble on. I got some apple cake that made me think of my Granny who I remember made an apple cake that I used to love when I was little. The market ran along both sides of the river and on the far side was a bunch of middle eastern food we shared for lunch such as tabbouleh, falafel, pita, and hummus.
We had noticed some sort of a festival getting set up an an open area that we went to check out. It turned out this was Political Immigration Day in Lucerne. They celebrate all the people who have immigrated here from around the world one day a year. There were numerous food booths where people were making a selling food from their country of origin. There was also a stage that had rotating bands playing music from their home countries. It was really really cool and I think made our time in Lucerne so much more special. At least for me because I love this kind of thing but I know my mom liked it too and Ryan is so easy going he likes most anything.
We didn't eat right away since we'd just eaten at the market. We kept walking around the streets of the town. We wandered up the hill a ways to find the old city walls which you can mount and walk along and up into the clock tower in the center. It gave us a nice view.
Eventually thought we did make it back to the Festival and ate till our stomachs couldn't fit anymore. We had food from Afghanistan, East Africa, Sri Lanka, India, and the Philippines. It was awesome to see so, so, so many people from around the world. There was an African band I really enjoyed while we sat and ate, but when the next band came on from maybe Russia we were not so much enjoying their music or their cigarettes hanging out of their mouths as they sang. During the African band a group of guys all dressed a like showed up and a couple of them were in crazy costumes and it was funny seeing them dance in the dancing area with everyone gathered around. It was a very fun event.
Our walk to and from the campground was nice because we could walk along the lake in the nice park. It was a bit of a walk back and forth but it was enjoyable and I preferred it to our option of taking the bus.
Oh goodness I was almost going to skip an exciting part of our trip. That evening we went to an English Pub to watch the US and England face off in the first round of the World Cup. It was nice to have the commentary in English and it was fun to be in an atmosphere with so many die hard England fans and then the few of us rooting for the USA. The game ended in a draw which was maybe the best for us since I would hate to think of what they could have done to us if we had beat them. :) After the game we headed back to the campground for bed.
The next day we didn't go back into town. Instead we went not even a mile down from the campground to the Transportation Museum. This museum was awesome. We learned how tunnels are drilled through mountains today and went on a ride in a cart to learn how it was done way back in the day when Switzerland was first starting to put in tunnels way before all the modern conveniences we have today. We saw up close and personal so many trains, cars, and airplanes I don't even have a guess how many in total there were. The museum was in sections based on the type of transportation. The car area had a cool thing that had a different car from every year and it would bring a car down one at a time to tell you about the history of it and it's functions. It was really nifty. There was even a planetarium that we went to a show in. I was disappointed though because the show was all about zodiac signs and I wanted to learn more about constalations and planets rather than how the zodiacs line up one a month and that is why we have signs for when we are born. But at least it was a comfy seat and I may have dozed off a little bit.
After several hours in the museum we decided we should be getting on the road. We had already packed up our tents, so we just went to fetch the car at our site. We decided to drive to Zurich on the way back and stop for dinner since it was on the way. In a Rich Steve's book I had he recommended a buffet restaurant that was Vegetarian and reasonably priced, so after some searching around the city we found it. Well it wasn't exactly what I'd call reasonably priced. It cost 6 swiss francs for 100grams of food I think. You took your plate and got what you wanted from the buffet and then they weighed it and you paid. I have no clue how much 100 grams is and apparently neither did my Mom or Ryan because in total our meal was 100 swiss frans which is almost $100. Yikes! That was a shocker to all of us. We had been worried about all the extra swiss money we had exchanged, but hadn't spent. I can tell you that was the end of that worry. The food was really good, thank goodness. And when we had all finished we were stuffed, so that was good too. While Ryan was eating some hummus on his plate he bit into a plastic bottle topper that had obviously accidentally ended up there. He took it to the counter and they were very apologetic. The offered him a free drink, which he didn't really want so then they offered free dessert which he accepted. When we had finished our dinner and he went to ask about the dessert they said he could have anything he wanted and as much of it as he wanted. AWESOME! So we had a HUGE bowl of chocolate mouse from the buffet and a piece of some sort of cake from their case. They even had a chef from the back come out and explain what the piece was that Ryan had bit into and the chef made the comment, "at least it wasn't meat." Of course Ryan isn't a vegetarian and probably wouldn't have thought twice if meat had been in something he was eating. So if we go back to Zurich (which I don't care too it didn't strike me as all that nice just a big city) I would probably not eat here unless I found a money tree between now and then OR I ate a much much smaller amount of food.
We had a fantastic trip to Switzerland. I'd love to go back before we are done in Europe. We loved traveling with my Mom and we are so thankful that she was able to come over. I know that she had a wonderful time and I hope she knows that we had a great time having her here and traveling with her.
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