I got up at 8am, and managed to be completely ready and packed by 8:30am -- which surprised me a lot. I picked up a couple roll-like things at the nearby bakery and headed on the U-bahn. I made it to the train platform with a good 20 minutes to spare.
The funny thing about my first train ticket, the one entirely in Austria, was that you don't have a reservation or assigned seat. So I got in one of the earlier compartments that looked quite nice. Naturally they were first class, and so 15 minutes into the trip I had to grab my backpack and head to the second class section -- literally feeling like a second class citizen :P
I tried to sleep a bit, read a few more Asimov short stories, and then watched some of the Austrian landscape speed by. I took a few pictures, hopefully at least some of them turn out alright.
Now it is about 3pm and I'm waiting at the Innsbruck station for my next train that will take me to Verona Porto Nuova, which leaves at 3:27pm. I should arrive around 7pm in Verona. I made a reservation at a hostel for 3 nights, it is set up more like a hotel/apartment. You could get your own room for something like 50-60 euros, or you can share with 2-3 other guys and it is 25 euros -- I went for the latter, so 75 euros for 3 nights.
===============
On the final train between Innsbruck and Verona, everything was going great until the very last hour or so of the journey. The people sitting around me had all gotten off at different stations and this old Italian guy sat down across from me and tried to talk to me. I looked confused and pointed at myself saying "American" and he acted like he understood, but still tried to talk to me using only like a couple English words and 95% Italian words.
When the communication didn't work so well he started trying to read my Asimov book, but I could tell he was just pretending because he kept jumping around and reading random parts of the book -- considering they are a set of short stories, I don't think even an English speaker would get much out of that.
When he saw the ticket guy going around he motioned that he was going to go to the bathroom and then did the 'Shhh' sign like it was our little secret, I'm guessing he hadn't paid for the train ticket.
Not long after he came back he seemed to get irritated and tried to talk in Italian to the older lady sitting next to me, but she completely ignored him. So he got frustrated, got up, and left. I was quite thankful, and the older lady actually talked to me a little bit, which makes me think she thought the old guy was crazy/weird as well.
Getting off at Verona's Porto Nuova station, I found my way to the outside and saw a like 5+ different places to wait for buses. I knew I wanted to get on either the 11, 12, 13, or 91, 92, 93. But I was having a terrible time, and I also didn't know where to get bus tickets! So I wandered around aimlessly for about half an hour before deciding to go inside the bus/train station area. When I saw a tobacco shop I remembered reading something about how you can get tickets there, so I went and asked for a bus ticket and that ended up being about 1 euro.
Then when I got off at the bus stop, I only had a street name. When I asked a couple of black women where to go, they pointed off to the left, so I went that way but it was getting into neighborhoods and I remembered that it was in a more open area on a large street. So after circling the block I asked a woman on a bike and she pointed me in the right direction. I should have gone right instead of left way back at the beginning.
The hard part behind me, it was easy to get to the hostel, get to my room, go on the internet, and then I found a pizza place to ease my hunger. One word of advice to the weary, pizza-hungry traveler...do not order pepperoni in Europe (I did it in Germany and Italy), unless you want to get red and yellow peppers on a cheese pizza. What an actual American pepperoni pizza is called over here, I have no idea.
In the internet room I met some Texans who had a class in Verona, so had been here for 2 weeks or so. Their test was the next morning, so they were procrastinating. I talked for an hour or two with a couple of them before heading to bed...
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Europe Trip: Day 14, June 3rd
Has it been two weeks?! Hard to believe.
I had to get up a bit earlier because Julius' ex-roommate had to come to get his couch back. Which also means I no longer could use that couch! So he ended up getting a roll-up thing that is between a mattress and a sleeping pad, more towards the sleeping pad. I'll manage.
Since I had gotten up earlier, I also left earlier, but I really needed to stay on my laptop and get some CouchSearching done. It is June 3rd, and I leave for Verona on June 4th...with absolutely ZERO couches set up for the rest of my trip.
My first stop was to Westbahnhof to get my train ticket, it cost about 94 euros to get from Vienna to Innsbruck to Verona -- unfortunately there was no direct connection. Then I took the U-bahn to Stephansplatz and found a cafe that had Wifi, ordering a hot chocolate so they wouldn't kick me out.
I sent out a good 20+ couch requests in mostly Florence and Rome, but a couple more in the Verona area. I finally got a bit of luck with someone in the Tuscany area, not in Florence but 30-50 kilometers away offering his couch for the 9th-11th. So there is getting to be some hope.
I also wrote down the location of a couple different possible hostels that cost around 20-30 euros per night in Verona. Still within my budget, but much harder to get around and it is nicer to spend that on other things that where I stay :)
I am hopeful that my work today will turn out some success, but we shall see.
My host, Julius, is now cooking dinner for me. Something with this onion sauce and beef as the meat. It smells good, hope it tastes as good! After that we might go to his friends birthday party for a little bit and then maybe watch Fight Club.
Then it is off to bed, because my train leaves at 9:40am. If I miss it, then I have to pay another 40 euros to get to Verona. Italy is not as kind as Austria in when you use their trains, you have a reservation and you'd better make it.
I had to get up a bit earlier because Julius' ex-roommate had to come to get his couch back. Which also means I no longer could use that couch! So he ended up getting a roll-up thing that is between a mattress and a sleeping pad, more towards the sleeping pad. I'll manage.
Since I had gotten up earlier, I also left earlier, but I really needed to stay on my laptop and get some CouchSearching done. It is June 3rd, and I leave for Verona on June 4th...with absolutely ZERO couches set up for the rest of my trip.
My first stop was to Westbahnhof to get my train ticket, it cost about 94 euros to get from Vienna to Innsbruck to Verona -- unfortunately there was no direct connection. Then I took the U-bahn to Stephansplatz and found a cafe that had Wifi, ordering a hot chocolate so they wouldn't kick me out.
I sent out a good 20+ couch requests in mostly Florence and Rome, but a couple more in the Verona area. I finally got a bit of luck with someone in the Tuscany area, not in Florence but 30-50 kilometers away offering his couch for the 9th-11th. So there is getting to be some hope.
I also wrote down the location of a couple different possible hostels that cost around 20-30 euros per night in Verona. Still within my budget, but much harder to get around and it is nicer to spend that on other things that where I stay :)
I am hopeful that my work today will turn out some success, but we shall see.
My host, Julius, is now cooking dinner for me. Something with this onion sauce and beef as the meat. It smells good, hope it tastes as good! After that we might go to his friends birthday party for a little bit and then maybe watch Fight Club.
Then it is off to bed, because my train leaves at 9:40am. If I miss it, then I have to pay another 40 euros to get to Verona. Italy is not as kind as Austria in when you use their trains, you have a reservation and you'd better make it.
Europe Trip: Day 13, June 2nd
I spent the morning and early afternoon trying to do some planning, but eventually I headed out the door. The plan was to see some of the big churches, maybe climb to the top of one or two, and then wander around a bit in Vienna trying to find this coffee shop that Julius had said he thought was the best in the city.
The first stop was at Karlsplatz, and it was surprisingly easy to find Karlskirche. It had a very interesting look with the green copper dome and two large pillars in the front that had carvings or detailed pictures all over them.
The entrance was on the right side, and it was something like 4 euros to take the elevator and then walk up some rickety scaffolding that served as stairs to the top of the dome. Unfortunately there wasn't much of a view of the outside city, but there was a closeup view of the beautiful paintings on the inside dome.
I took a break then in the park outside the church, just lazing about for an hour or so. Then I jumped on the U-bahn and headed for the city center, Stephansplatz.
It turns out that I got there a little bit too late to climb to the top of the big tower at Stephansdom, it closed at 5:30pm and I got there at like 5:45-6pm. So I decided to wander in what I thought was the correct direction, but as I got further from the center of the city I realized I had chosen incorrectly. Nonetheless it was interesting to see new parts of the city.
I ended up going into this bar where I got a drink and had a schnitzel -- much cheaper than at the other place the day before, but still not bad. It was funny since some of the guys looked a bit 80's and they played quite a bit of American music like the Rolling Stones. Tennis was on TV so I watched that, rooting for Federer even though he was down 2 sets to nothing. Amazingly he made a comeback and won it 3 sets to 2!
I was a little bit worried about where I was since I hadn't seen any U-bahn stations, but I found my way to a major street and after about 5 minutes I saw the sign and then a couple connections later I was back home (at least my current one).
We watched a Futurama movie, which was actually very funny. I might have to watch some more of it when I get back to the States.
The first stop was at Karlsplatz, and it was surprisingly easy to find Karlskirche. It had a very interesting look with the green copper dome and two large pillars in the front that had carvings or detailed pictures all over them.
The entrance was on the right side, and it was something like 4 euros to take the elevator and then walk up some rickety scaffolding that served as stairs to the top of the dome. Unfortunately there wasn't much of a view of the outside city, but there was a closeup view of the beautiful paintings on the inside dome.
I took a break then in the park outside the church, just lazing about for an hour or so. Then I jumped on the U-bahn and headed for the city center, Stephansplatz.
It turns out that I got there a little bit too late to climb to the top of the big tower at Stephansdom, it closed at 5:30pm and I got there at like 5:45-6pm. So I decided to wander in what I thought was the correct direction, but as I got further from the center of the city I realized I had chosen incorrectly. Nonetheless it was interesting to see new parts of the city.
I ended up going into this bar where I got a drink and had a schnitzel -- much cheaper than at the other place the day before, but still not bad. It was funny since some of the guys looked a bit 80's and they played quite a bit of American music like the Rolling Stones. Tennis was on TV so I watched that, rooting for Federer even though he was down 2 sets to nothing. Amazingly he made a comeback and won it 3 sets to 2!
I was a little bit worried about where I was since I hadn't seen any U-bahn stations, but I found my way to a major street and after about 5 minutes I saw the sign and then a couple connections later I was back home (at least my current one).
We watched a Futurama movie, which was actually very funny. I might have to watch some more of it when I get back to the States.
Monday, June 1, 2009
Europe Trip: Day 12, June 1st
Quite the interesting way to celebrate the beginning of the new month a very late night and a late start to the day...
As I mentioned at the end of the last blog, I slept until about 1pm. Then I got ready before Julius woke up. He woke up at around 2pm when his Mom called him, inviting both of us over for lunch/dinner at 3pm. So we went over, and they were very nice people.
Both parents spoke quite good English and we talked about politics, health care, and even Biology since Julius' mother had gotten her doctorate in Zoology, but is now working in politics.
Following his parents advice, we went over to this big park overlooking an imperial palace. We walked down the hill, and then around the palace grounds which had some nice gardens. It is quite a beautiful place, so I hope to go back there one of these days. Plus it is right next to the zoo, which Julius' Mom recommended I go to.
I had talked to a CouchSurfing friend of mine who also goes to BSU, named Conor. We had talked before I left and I found out that he was going to Vienna for an internship, and he agreed to meet up with me that night. So at 6:30pm I met up with him and another intern who had just flown into Vienna a few hours early, Javier. At the restaurant we met two more interns, Mark and Andrew I think there names were. Got to hear some interesting stories, a couple of them were from Boston, one had gone to Yale.
After hanging out for a bit and eating a snitzel, I headed back to Julius' place. A few of his friends had came over, but didn't stay too long. We decided to just take it easy after the previous night, and so we just watched Boondock Saints. Unfortunately about halfway through the English version stopped working. The German version worked fine, but we couldn't change the language or add subtitles. Eventually Julius said he was too tired and went off to bed. I tried watching for a bit longer, but wasn't getting much out of it. So I shut it off and called Mom, Dad, Grandma Shirley, and Jeff.
Now it is already past 1am again! So I am headed off to bed. At least I'm completely caught up now after several long nights that prevented me from writing these. Depending on the social aptitude and sleeping habits of my CS hosts, I may get behind like this. But no worries, I am keeping notes and I will catch up after not too long.
As I mentioned at the end of the last blog, I slept until about 1pm. Then I got ready before Julius woke up. He woke up at around 2pm when his Mom called him, inviting both of us over for lunch/dinner at 3pm. So we went over, and they were very nice people.
Both parents spoke quite good English and we talked about politics, health care, and even Biology since Julius' mother had gotten her doctorate in Zoology, but is now working in politics.
Following his parents advice, we went over to this big park overlooking an imperial palace. We walked down the hill, and then around the palace grounds which had some nice gardens. It is quite a beautiful place, so I hope to go back there one of these days. Plus it is right next to the zoo, which Julius' Mom recommended I go to.
I had talked to a CouchSurfing friend of mine who also goes to BSU, named Conor. We had talked before I left and I found out that he was going to Vienna for an internship, and he agreed to meet up with me that night. So at 6:30pm I met up with him and another intern who had just flown into Vienna a few hours early, Javier. At the restaurant we met two more interns, Mark and Andrew I think there names were. Got to hear some interesting stories, a couple of them were from Boston, one had gone to Yale.
After hanging out for a bit and eating a snitzel, I headed back to Julius' place. A few of his friends had came over, but didn't stay too long. We decided to just take it easy after the previous night, and so we just watched Boondock Saints. Unfortunately about halfway through the English version stopped working. The German version worked fine, but we couldn't change the language or add subtitles. Eventually Julius said he was too tired and went off to bed. I tried watching for a bit longer, but wasn't getting much out of it. So I shut it off and called Mom, Dad, Grandma Shirley, and Jeff.
Now it is already past 1am again! So I am headed off to bed. At least I'm completely caught up now after several long nights that prevented me from writing these. Depending on the social aptitude and sleeping habits of my CS hosts, I may get behind like this. But no worries, I am keeping notes and I will catch up after not too long.
Europe Trip: Day 11, May 31st
After another late night at Robert's, we decided to sleep in. I woke up an hour or so before he did, got ready and packed up my stuff. We left his place by about 11:30am or so in order to get a traditional Bavarian breakfast, which turned out to be these white sausages with a big pretzel. They were actually quite good, maybe in some ways like Norwegian hotdogs I've ate at Grandma Anna's, but with no spices at all.
We relaxed there for a while, and he offered to walk me over to the train station. I got a last look at downtown Munich, and made it to Hauptbahnhof (central station) with 10-15 minutes to spare.
Nobody sat in the seat next to me, and it was a quiet ride all the way to Vienna. The Austrian countryside was quite beautiful, especially near Salzburg. The view as we made our way to the Hbf train station in Salzburg (one of the stops) was very picturesque and made me consider visiting it someday.
I met my host, Julius, at the U-bahn stop right near his place. Then we walked to his apartment and I was able to drop off my stuff. He then offered to show me around downtown and give me a sort of mini tour to get my bearings and see a bit of what Vienna has to offer. So we walked all around, seeing some of the key places, and went on quite the search for a restaurant. Since it was Sunday, many places were closed, and it took us like half an hour of searching just to find out that his favorite Austrian restaurant was closed! So he called his dad and we found a Greek restaurant to eat at, both ordering Giros.
Since Monday was a day off for everyone in Austria, Julius had one of his friends, Marcus, come over. We watched the Matrix on TV, which was in German -- hilarious, by the way, Morpheus loses all of his bravado in the dubbing.
Then after much coaxing, I finally gave in to peer pressure and agreed to go downtown with them to this electro club. There was a famous British DJ who was there. Unfortunately this meant that the cover, which was usually 10 euros, went up to 20 euros! I must admit, though, that it was quite an interesting experience. The DJ played drum-bass and it was well worth it.
We left the club at about 5:30am, and it was already light in Vienna, grabbing a hotdog (meatier than it sounds) on the way to stave off hunger. Marcus split when we entered the U-bahn and Julius and I headed back to his place to collapse and get as much sleep as we could manage -- he managed a bit more than me :P I woke up quite a few times and ended up getting up for good around 1pm.
But now I'm starting to mix up this entry with the one for the next day :)
We relaxed there for a while, and he offered to walk me over to the train station. I got a last look at downtown Munich, and made it to Hauptbahnhof (central station) with 10-15 minutes to spare.
Nobody sat in the seat next to me, and it was a quiet ride all the way to Vienna. The Austrian countryside was quite beautiful, especially near Salzburg. The view as we made our way to the Hbf train station in Salzburg (one of the stops) was very picturesque and made me consider visiting it someday.
I met my host, Julius, at the U-bahn stop right near his place. Then we walked to his apartment and I was able to drop off my stuff. He then offered to show me around downtown and give me a sort of mini tour to get my bearings and see a bit of what Vienna has to offer. So we walked all around, seeing some of the key places, and went on quite the search for a restaurant. Since it was Sunday, many places were closed, and it took us like half an hour of searching just to find out that his favorite Austrian restaurant was closed! So he called his dad and we found a Greek restaurant to eat at, both ordering Giros.
Since Monday was a day off for everyone in Austria, Julius had one of his friends, Marcus, come over. We watched the Matrix on TV, which was in German -- hilarious, by the way, Morpheus loses all of his bravado in the dubbing.
Then after much coaxing, I finally gave in to peer pressure and agreed to go downtown with them to this electro club. There was a famous British DJ who was there. Unfortunately this meant that the cover, which was usually 10 euros, went up to 20 euros! I must admit, though, that it was quite an interesting experience. The DJ played drum-bass and it was well worth it.
We left the club at about 5:30am, and it was already light in Vienna, grabbing a hotdog (meatier than it sounds) on the way to stave off hunger. Marcus split when we entered the U-bahn and Julius and I headed back to his place to collapse and get as much sleep as we could manage -- he managed a bit more than me :P I woke up quite a few times and ended up getting up for good around 1pm.
But now I'm starting to mix up this entry with the one for the next day :)
Europe Trip: Day 10, May 30th
Since it was Saturday, we slept in at Robert's place. After we were both up and ready we discussed where a good place would be to go. My original plan had been to go to Neuswanstein castle, which is the fairy tale one that Disney used as its signature. But when we looked at how long it was going to take us, almost 3 hours by train. And when we looked at how much it would cost me, something like 40 euros to get there, plus you have to be in a tour group in order to get access -- more money.
So instead of the fairy tale castle, we decided to go to a monastery. It was much closer, only an hour or an hour and a half away by S-bahn. Also, I will admit that Robert said it was famous for brewing beer and he thought I had to go.
Once we got to the town we started asking locals how to find the trail up to the monastery. The first group of locals pointed us in the right direction, and the next person ended up being someone who worked there, a Turkish guy. He was kind enough to drive us up the 4-5 km (about 3 miles) we would have to hike.
After getting some food and a half liter of dark beer, we sat down next to a Lithuanian guy and two British girls who he was showing the place. We ended up talking a lot and spent the entire afternoon with them.
We ended up splitting up once we got back into the town, because we got confused and exited on different sides of the track.
So, back to being by ourselves, Robert took me over to a place to eat and said I should try some traditional Bavarian food. I ended up getting something akin to macaroni and cheese with onions on top. After eating and talking for a couple hours we headed back to his place.
Over all quite a simple day, meeting some nice people -- once again it showed me that it can be quite comforting just to meet some fellow native speakers. Nothing against my hosts, who spoke very good English and have shown me such kindness, but nonetheless it is nice. Maybe I am getting pathetic and showing homesickness, who knows :)
So instead of the fairy tale castle, we decided to go to a monastery. It was much closer, only an hour or an hour and a half away by S-bahn. Also, I will admit that Robert said it was famous for brewing beer and he thought I had to go.
Once we got to the town we started asking locals how to find the trail up to the monastery. The first group of locals pointed us in the right direction, and the next person ended up being someone who worked there, a Turkish guy. He was kind enough to drive us up the 4-5 km (about 3 miles) we would have to hike.
After getting some food and a half liter of dark beer, we sat down next to a Lithuanian guy and two British girls who he was showing the place. We ended up talking a lot and spent the entire afternoon with them.
We ended up splitting up once we got back into the town, because we got confused and exited on different sides of the track.
So, back to being by ourselves, Robert took me over to a place to eat and said I should try some traditional Bavarian food. I ended up getting something akin to macaroni and cheese with onions on top. After eating and talking for a couple hours we headed back to his place.
Over all quite a simple day, meeting some nice people -- once again it showed me that it can be quite comforting just to meet some fellow native speakers. Nothing against my hosts, who spoke very good English and have shown me such kindness, but nonetheless it is nice. Maybe I am getting pathetic and showing homesickness, who knows :)
Europe Trip: Day 9, May 29th
I somewhat apprehensively asked my host, Robert, about going to Dachau concentration camp for the day. He surprised me by saying that it was a great idea and something that would probably be very interesting for an American to see. When I asked what Germans thought about it, he said that in general there is an attitude that it wasn't something they did, it wasn't something their parents did, and at least in his case it wasn't even something his grandparents did. So why should he feel guilty? Yes, it was a horrible thing, but it wasn't a horrible thing that he feels responsible for. I think it might be similar to an Americans view on slavery or what happened to the Native Americans.
In order to reach Dachau you have to take the S-bahn, and since it goes outside of the city limits I had to buy a day pass for additional 'circles'. It took about an hour to get there. After getting off at the Dachau S-bahn station, which is in the nearby town, I went over to a big map that they have showing the different tourist places to go to. As I was reading it, I heard some English behind me and a guide started talking about how they were going to take the bus soon to reach the concentration camp. I listened to him, and decided to try and infiltrate the group, after all having someone knowledgeable is much better than not.
The best part of this trip was that I didn't have to pay for anything. Once I had paid for my day ticket everything else was free from the tour (okay, it probably shouldn't have been) as well as the entrance to the concentration camp.
I spent all afternoon at Dachau, first with the tour that lasted from around 1:30pm-4pm, and then another hour or so looking in the museum and at some of the monuments.
The stories definitely hit your emotions, when you hear the horrible atrocities committed by an "advanced" civilization similar in many ways to our own. How could people do such a thing? Are people naturally so cruel and evil? It is easy to lose your faith in humanity when you actually see all the pictures, and the places where these acts were done. How can you think of people as being good when you are standing next to the gas chambers and furnaces that were developed at Dachau and later implemented in the extermination camps to kill millions of people, mostly Jews? But you do feel some hope, feel it as a shiver in your spine, when you read of the acts of solidarity and bravery and kindness by people in the camps. Even when they are being slowly tortured and starved to death, there are still rays of hope.
So I left Dachau with mixed feelings. You can't call it a 'fun' place to visit, but it is an important thing to see and to know. This is not something that should be forgotten. Similar things are being done even today, especially in Africa.
After that I just hung out with Robert, we went and got something to eat, went around the city a bit. Just more of getting a feel for Munich and taking it relatively easy.
In order to reach Dachau you have to take the S-bahn, and since it goes outside of the city limits I had to buy a day pass for additional 'circles'. It took about an hour to get there. After getting off at the Dachau S-bahn station, which is in the nearby town, I went over to a big map that they have showing the different tourist places to go to. As I was reading it, I heard some English behind me and a guide started talking about how they were going to take the bus soon to reach the concentration camp. I listened to him, and decided to try and infiltrate the group, after all having someone knowledgeable is much better than not.
The best part of this trip was that I didn't have to pay for anything. Once I had paid for my day ticket everything else was free from the tour (okay, it probably shouldn't have been) as well as the entrance to the concentration camp.
I spent all afternoon at Dachau, first with the tour that lasted from around 1:30pm-4pm, and then another hour or so looking in the museum and at some of the monuments.
The stories definitely hit your emotions, when you hear the horrible atrocities committed by an "advanced" civilization similar in many ways to our own. How could people do such a thing? Are people naturally so cruel and evil? It is easy to lose your faith in humanity when you actually see all the pictures, and the places where these acts were done. How can you think of people as being good when you are standing next to the gas chambers and furnaces that were developed at Dachau and later implemented in the extermination camps to kill millions of people, mostly Jews? But you do feel some hope, feel it as a shiver in your spine, when you read of the acts of solidarity and bravery and kindness by people in the camps. Even when they are being slowly tortured and starved to death, there are still rays of hope.
So I left Dachau with mixed feelings. You can't call it a 'fun' place to visit, but it is an important thing to see and to know. This is not something that should be forgotten. Similar things are being done even today, especially in Africa.
After that I just hung out with Robert, we went and got something to eat, went around the city a bit. Just more of getting a feel for Munich and taking it relatively easy.
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