Eurotrip: On to Amsterdam

Day 10 - Amsterdam is Chock Full of Bikes

We spent half the day on the train, which I know Sarah didn't like esp since we had to stop someplace for what seemed like a million hours (I think it was only 10 minutes, but anyway...). It was still drizzly in Germany when we woke up which made me feel a little less guilty about not having seen ANY of Heidelberg except the woods! So not much happened on the train... except this girl sat down near us for most of the ride and for some reason, she really bugged us. So, Sarah and I talked about how much she was annoying us until she stopped one of the train people and asked them a question-- in English! We were horrified, to say the least but thankfully, we soon arrived in Amsterdam.

One of the first observations we made about this city is "look at all the BIKES!" There had to be about about a thousand of them at this little parking garage place right outside of the train station (not even exaggerating!!). It was INSANE!! Amsterdam is also arranged around a bunch of canals that are in a ring pattern, which I guess is a little helpful because you can pretty much figure out where you are and where to go if you know which canal you are at.

We passed on the €1 map at the info desk and used my printed out directions to get to the hostel, which took such a long time! Once we arrived (it was a Christen hostel which didn't allow drinking, smoking, alcohol, drugs or being drunk or under the influence of anything) we dropped our stuff and decided to head straight to the Anne Frank museum.

It was pretty much across the canal at the end of the street. Very sobering place, but good to see after reading her diary. There were little videos or things to look at in each room, and no furniture. There was one room at the very end that focused on the impact of Anne's diary and it had a display of the book in about 60 different languages as well as three screens showing different version of her diary in movies and on stage. I noted in my daily journal that I didn't really focus on the actual rooms I went thru, I think because there was so much other stuff to look at besides the small, empty rooms.

After the museum, we headed out to find some grub. We walked down a few streets and across some canals looking for cheap food and finally decided on an Italian place. After finishing our delicious dindin, we decided to just walk and let Amsterdam show us something exciting. Amsterdam is filled with graffiti (which I thought was pretty cool!) and we passed a tiny picture of a gnome... then another... and then another! I call this the Gnome Series:










We found the single open grocery store and got some cookies and water. I also had to get deodorant having just run out- which I thought was annoying because I only had about 5 days left in Europe! So I got some crazy liquid stuff that rolls on... very interesting stuff.... Also in the grocery store, the lady in front of us asked Sarah about the candy she was buying. Then once outside, the same lady came up to us as and asked if we were American. We had a long chat (with her doing most of the talking!) and found out that she was from Chili and that she was a feminist. Eventually, we parted ways and then it began sprinkling.

Sarah and I walked quickly, but no use! The rain came anyway so we stopped a few times under awnings to try to stay dry as well as get our bearings. We ended up stopping right by the Anne Frank house with an old Irish couple who were also waiting for the rain to let up. They were very friendly and nice and we talked for a little while until the rain calmed down. Once back in our room (which we were sharing with 18 other girls) we hung up our wet stuff all over the place which was hard because it was so cramped!

Fun Picture Link

Here is a link for my album on Facebook which has a series of pictures of me "pondering" various locations in Europe! You don't need to sign in to see it:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2064541&id=11001360&l=4ae0e76665

Eurotrip: Salzburg to Heidelberg

Day 9 - Welcome to Heidelberg

Although Austria was lovely, Sarah and I had to move on in order to hit all of our Eurail countries. So after packing up and checking out of the hostel, we enquired at the train station of the next departure to Heidelberg, Germany! We decided against Berlin because it was way too far away and both agreed being on a train for 24 hours or something was not a whole lot of fun. So, Heidelberg and Frankfurt were our choices for mid-way-thru-Germany cities that we had actually heard of, and Heidelberg won. The next train was noontime, so we had breakfast and for our few spare hours, basked in the sun in the Mirabellgarten.

This, I learned from our Sound of Music crash course, was ripe full of movie locations. So after my breakfast had digested, I left Sarah to get a sunburn (she wanted it!) and found not only the little greens covered tunnel where the kids frolic thru, but also the statue that all the kids tap on the head. I especially wanted to find this statue, since in one of our 60 photo albums, there's a picture of Dad posing with it/ like it. This one:

like father, like daughter?

I collected Sarah and we paused and did a photo shoot at the frolic-thru-the-garden area. It was hilarious. Thankfully, the greens were grown in, so not too many people watched us do this:

After we took our pictures, it was about time to get to the train, so we grabbed our stuff and got right onto our waiting train. About an hour into our ride, a group of about 8 old ladies got on and shamelessly kicked us out of our seats! We were outraged. They, however, had reserved the seats, so we grudgingly moved. We had to switch trains one stop from Heidelberg, and the ride was only like 10 minutes, but I enjoyed it because I finally got to ride on the top level of a double decker!! There weren't any overhead racks, so Sarah and I took up 2 seats each- one for us and one for our enormous backpacks.

We got out at our destination, and it was sprinkling. We shrugged it off and wolfed down some pizza in the station for dinner (since we weren't very smart and hadn't packed lunch. oops) Since we hadn't picked Heidelberg until the day or 2 before, we had no hostel picks from online. My big guidebook, however, had a few so we picked one close to the castle and headed to the info booth. We asked for a map and the lady was like, "sure! it's 2 euros." Sarah and I were like "WHAT?" and decided amongst ourselves that she was being outrageous- all of our other maps had been free! There was a big map right there on the counter, so we checked it out real quick then whipped out our rain gear and headed out.

I was pretty confident in my sense of direction/ map reading skillz, so I picked the likely direction towards the castle and we busted out. In the rain. With our huge backpacks. I was using my guide book's map, but it didn't have the train station on it, so we were basically guessing which way to go. We walked. And then, bad news: we hit the river, which meant we were going in NOT the right direction. So we turned right, crossed the street and walked in some neighborhood. The road we were on kind of ended in the direction we were going, but there was a parallel road. We were standing on that corner when a very nice man (pushing a stroller) asked us if we needed directions. I guess we looked a little confused! We showed him the dinky map in the guide book and he pointed which direction to go as well what to do to get to the hostel (it involved either walking or taking the public transportation).

We felt a lot better to have someone orient us and found the plaza the guy pointed us towards. We did a little dance when we got there, but after trying to figure out which bus we were supposed to take, we kind of stopped being so happy. The guy had told us it would be about 30 minutes to walk to the hostel from the plaza, and since it was raining and our pants and socks were getting soaked, we thought taking the bus would be a good investment and a good idea. The problem was how confusing the bus map thing was. There were about 10 lines, 3 different types of buses/ tram things and everything was going in opposite directions. We wanted to go towards the castle, so we narrowed it down to 3 lines that seemed like they were going near our hostel.

We eventually just sat in a little shelter thing and debated if we should sneak onto a bus (we picked #39) and attempt to find the hostel or just get a hotel and save Heidelberg for the next time. We spent probably 30 minutes just resting and debating. Eventually, we decided- yes, hotel tonight, let's go. Then bus #39 pulled up- the one that only came every hour. We looked at each other, then Sarah was like, "Let's get on! Why not?!" so we scrambled on with about 10 other people and a dude with a bike.

It turns out that bus #39 was not the right bus at all- so we had a nice hour long tour of the woods around Heidelberg! At one point, we were the only people left on the bus, and the bus driver just stopped! We were scared (maybe just a little) but Sarah asked him what the deal was and he told her the route was a giant loop- and this was the midway. We jumped off #39 back at the main plaza and decided no more buses, get a hotel!

So that's what we did. We picked up dinner on the way (it included chips, cherry coke and candy) and went to the hotel practically on top of the train station. Sarah's Mom offered to pay for it, so I would like to thank her again right now for sponsoring us: THANK YOU!!

Photo EXTRAVAGANZA! part 2

Some more super pictures from my travels - London...

Westminster Abbey (Feb)

***

The following are of the Victoria Memorial in front of Buckingham Palace (this was during a break in the weather... after I took these, it got cloudy again and started pouring!)

Eurotrip: Salzburg & the Sound of Music

Day 8 - The Hills are Alive...!

The Sound of Music-- a pretty classic movie I would say-- did you know that Austrians don't really even know what it is? Yeah, apparently "sound of music" doesn't translate into German or something, so they have another version of the story. But without all the catchy tunes, unfortunately for them! However, thankfully for me and my fellow English speakers, we have the great movie AND a tour that goes with it! For about 30 euros, we did the touristy thing and hopped on a brightly painted bus and saw a bunch of locations they used for the movie (and of course learned about Maria's story on the way).

After breakfast, we watched the movie (the hostel played it everyday on the wide screen tv) and I enjoyed it- it was a lot better than I remembered! We had plenty of time to get over to the plaza where the tour left from and conveniently, there was even a lady right there selling a variety of pretzels for lunch! We ate our pizza pretzels outside then decided we should get on the bus at some point and try for a good seat. Then, we were on our way!

The first stop was the lake where scenes at the back of the house were filmed, including when Maria and Capt. Von Trapp dance, where Maria and the kids all fall into the lake and where the kids all hung off the trees, picking fruit (or something like that). We didn't spend that much time there, just long enough to take some crazy pictures then it was back on the bus!

Salzburg was set up kind of interestingly from the other side of the castle- it was pretty much flatness and fields. (I guess the city was pretty flat too, but there were no buildings or trees on the side we were on). Anyway, we drove by the "front" of the house location (where Maria sings "I have confidence" and where the family tries to sneak out with the car at the end) which was pretty much in the middle of a field and not really near the lake either. We also saw the Abbey, which is on top of the big hill with the castle- interesting fact- none of the movie was filmed inside the Abbey only the scenes at the gate were the actual building!

Next stop was the gazebo- "I am 16 going on 17"- yep, where Liesl and Rolfe danced a little and sang a bit. However... it was locked shut because a few years ago, an 86 year old lady was pretending to be Liesl, slipped off the bench (or just missed it) and ended up with a broken hip!

We left Salzburg at this point and took a nice drive into the mountains and ended up at my *gold star location* of probably all of Europe: a summer toboggan run! At first I decided I didn't want to pay for it. I sat for about 5 minutes, then eventually changed my mind (1- I am in Europe. 2- I have done winter tobogganing, but not summer. 3- it's not even €4 4- it looks like a ton of fun) and Sarah and I were all in. She gave her camera to our tour guide, and I kept mine then we hooked up the toboggan, took a seat and got pulled to the top!

The view:


We decided that to do this thing right, we had to go full speed the entire way down. I volunteered to be the driver, so I got to be in the front. I tried to be as slow as I could so there would be lots of space between us and the lady in front of us (who was telling her kids that she would be slow, so she would be behind them). We clambered on... and then we were off! Little less than halfway down, we had to screech to a halt because Slow Lady and her 3 kids were stopped for some unknown reason (I guessed that someone fell off, so everyone stopped so they wouldn't run him over). Fortunately, no one was right behind us, so after they all started to go again I had some time to let them get a good head start. Then, as some grandparents came around the corner behind us, I let'er rip and didn't brake until we were in danger of crashing into the end of the course!


I think people could hear us down at the bottom of the mountain- we were yelling and hooting the whole way down and just having a good time! It was so much fun- I would recommend this tour, even a trip to the city of Salzburg to take this tour so you can toboggan. Seriously! After that amazing-ness, we piled back on the bus, took a quick stop at a really beautiful spot that overlooked a town called St. Gilgen and a lake, Lake Wolfgang, then drove to the pretty town of Modsee.


Modsee was another film location, this time used for the wedding scene of Maria and the Captain. (Obviously, it wasn't filmed in the Abbey, since no filming was allowed there.) The cathedral was nice. It was yellow (unusual!) but it fit in with the other buildings around the town, which were brightly painted. We had about 45 minutes to wander around, so I took some pictures and Sarah got apple strudel then it was back on the bus and back to Salzburg!

Once we were back in town, we wandered around for a LONG time looking for the beergarden our tour guide recommended. We got some help and finally found the place. I was very excited to finally have some real, traditional Bavarian food! We ate outside next to a live band. It was really great! After dinner, Sarah and I took a stroll along the river and enjoyed the nice weather. This was pretty much a great day. The tour was super (it was enhanced by the fact we had seen it immediately before taking the tour AND they played the soundtrack during the drive), the weather was amazing, and the scenery was gorgeous. (It actually reminded me a lot of NH- except the Alps made it much more dramatic than home.)

Eurotrip: The Ensuing Train Ride to Salzburg

Day 7

We finally got onto that train and our compartment was dark and the curtain was pulled across. We opened it anyway and found a family (mom, dad and little girl) and a guy called MARIO all stretched out across the seats. We were a little dismayed but glad that we actually had seats. So we sat in the seats closest to the door and tried to nap. We basically had a terrible night's sleep- the Italian family was obnoxious. The mom called someone on the phone and talked really loudly for a long time. The little girl was kinda cute- she didn't like me tho. I made faces at her and she just stared at me! Tough crowd. The dad and Mario kind of talked a little and got up every now and then to go smoke. And of course when they came back they stunk up the compartment. The mom put the little girl on her lap and stretched her feet out... all the way into my side. Those pointy boots are not fun when they are poking the liver. She also got up every now and then to yell out of the compartment door asking where we were stopped. And she didn't mind knocking into Sarah's legs either while she yelled.

A few minutes after we finally pulled out of Roma, these two guys from South America sat down in the aisle next to our door (there were flip down seats along the wall). They had a couple of huge backpacks filled with random crap, some strapped to the back- a sample of their luggage: a broom, a unicycle, plunger, bowling pin things to juggle... it was strange. They spoke about 3 different languages and apparently, they juggled as well!

We attempted to sleep as best we could- this is where the ipods came in handy! At 3 am, we stopped at a place called Bologna or something like that and the family got off (whew!). Mario, Sarah and I immediately stretched out and actually fell asleep!

When I woke up, I needed to find a working toilet w/tp (it took about 4 tries) and discovered that we were the second to last carriage, which meant I could see out of the back! It was pretty cool- I took some pictures when we were still in Italy:

After a little while we went into a big tunnel, so I sat back down. A few minutes later... we popped out and were surrounded by huge mountains! The view was pretty spectacular

a crazy bridge:

We had to switch trains at Innsbruck, but thankfully we didn't have to wait long- a train was already waiting to go to Salzberg and left within 5 minutes. The ride was about 2 hours and at one point, Sarah and I were both napping with our feet up on the seat. The ticket guy opened our door and began speaking rapid German to us. I tapped Sarah's feet to put them down while I hurriedly got the tickets out. He checked them, then left! I guess he got upset about our feet on the seats...

We arrived in Salzburg about 2 and got a free city map then headed to our #1 hostel pick. We were disorientated for some reason, but managed to find which direction to go eventually. About halfway there, out of nowhere it started raining! It was crazy- there were blue skies on either side of us, but overhead was a dark gray cloud with lots of rain and some lightning too. Sarah and I huddled under a tree for a few minutes, then got out rain gear and decided to just keep going. We made it to a little overhang thing where about 5 other people were waiting as well and then... the sun came back out. (Title of photo: Welcome to Salzburg!)

We shrugged, then found the hostel and got a room, easy as pie. Speaking of food, we didn't really have anything to eat on the train ([snacks] * no meal cart that we knew of + 14 hours on a train = really hungry people ) so we headed to a little shack thing that sold food, got some food, ate the food then headed over (the long way, we found out later) to the old part of the city.

It was a really nice day (since there were no clouds anymore) and a nice temperature. The city was nice as well, tho not much going on since it was Saturday and a lot was closed. But we did end up watching a kids race (we clapped for the kids the whole time they were running by) eating a giant, chocolate-covered pretzel and having a raddler (same drink as Munich... half beer, half Sprite). The old city was nice; we wandered around the streets and checked out a few shops. And bonus- it was all pedestrian, so no need to watch out for or dodge crazy drivers.

We decided to find a cheap internet cafe (which we did) and then I had all types of problems including my computer freezing up, the printer not working, the owners being mean and I was 10 cents short of printing a receipt for my Scotland tour. After way too much stress, I finally got the 10 cents I needed to print my paper (some very nice man window shopping nearby gave me the 10 cents!) and we went back to the hostel, took much needed showers then fell right asleep.