Rafting Pictures

Costa Rica: Pacuare White Water Rafting and a few Notes (8/23/06-9/1/06)

So I never got around to expounding on my Cliffs Notes version of my Costa Rican vacation. I did, however (and contrary to Sir Charles’ advice), spring for the professional pictures from the rafting trip and I recently received those in the mail. There are pictures from the rafting trip, then a few generic pictures from Costa Rica. Unfortunately I cannot claim having taken any of these:

http://www.imagestation.com/album/pictures.html?id=2101264329&code=24435469&mode=invite&DCMP=isc-email-AlbumInvite

A few more comments to add to my rather scanty first blog:

One of the best things I did was snorkeling in Tamarindo. On the boat trip to the snorkeling areas, but saw the first dolphins our guides had seen in a couple months. We were a very small group, so our guides we really good about pointing out all the sea life for us. I was usually the first out of the boat and in both locations I was paid off, once with a good look at mating sea turtles and the other time with a glimpse of four stingrays. I saw and handled blow fish (they feel like the rough side of Velcro), porcupine blowfish, starfish and all sorts of colorful fish.

Other than seeing lots of great places and some really cool animals, I think the people I met made my trip. For better or worse, it was the low travel season because it is the rainy time of year. There are not as many travelers to meet in the hostels, but I was thankful for the friends I made. The first night I met an… interesting tree hugger from Phoenix. She was headed to one of two communes to work, despite her trepidation that they sounded slightly like cults.

The second day, near Arenal Volcano, I met the group I just could not shake. Or maybe they could not shake me. I was the one who caught up to them a couple times. I ran into Cam and Connie, my Canadian buddies, at breakfast in La Fortuna, then again a couple days later at a treetop café for lunch in Monteverde. I went out one night with Daniel, my Swiss friend, as we talked about the places I visited and remembered in Zurich, where he lives and where I studied last year. Then there was Rita and Sir Charles. He was from Austin and she from Houston, but they now live in southern California. After running into them a couple times in Fortuna, I met up with these last three for dinner in Monteverde. They tried to run away, but I hunted them down and made them go to dinner with me. Like I said, maybe I was the stalker.

I did not meet many people at the beach. I do not think I fit in with the surfer crowd. That was quite a surprise for a hard core skater dude like me.

The last three nights I spent in San Jose and managed to meet some interesting people. There were a couple British girls headed to the Caribbean coast to work at one of the sea turtle preserves for a few weeks. There was a teacher from New York whose flight was cancelled and he was hanging around the hostel until he received the call telling him he could leave. Then there was an interesting Swedish guy who went on the same rafting trip as I did. He is a self proclaimed capitalist living in a half-socialist country. I would claim that they are fully socialistic, but that was only the beginning of a long, interesting conversation about economics and politics.

And last, but not least, a bit of travel advice for those of you who managed to finish reading this blog entry. When you are in Costa Rica, drink Café con Leche: coffee with milk. Or, to stay healthy, wealthy and wise, try my morning cocktail to keep you… regular: café con leche con multivitamin con pepto-bismol. Sure, it makes the coffee a little pink, but I think the end result is worthwhile.

Costa Rica Pictures

Costa Rica: Cliffs Notes Version (8/23/06-9/1/06)

For those of you who wish to simply skip to the pictures and would rather not waste time reading through my blathering, here is the short version of my Costa Rican holiday… but with as long as it’s taken to produce this, there may not be a longer version:

8/23/06: Arrive in San Jose. First installment of Arroz con Pollo (rice with chicken). Another dirty city. Friendly hostel. Pleasant weather.

8/24/06: Public bus to La Fortuna. Short hike to volcano; saw monkeys and sloth at a distance. Watched active Arenal Volcano. Sat in Tabacon Hot Springs. Ate buffet, first of many meals with the gang: 1 Switzerlander, 2 Canucks, 2 Texans turned Californians. Arroz con pollo.

Arenal Volcano tour: http://www.imagestation.com/album/pictures.html?id=2102250027&code=23974772&mode=invite&DCMP=isc-email-AlbumInvite

8/25/06: Hiked down to Fortuna Waterfall. Cool. Hiked alone to dormant volcano Cerro Chato: stupid. Fair weather. Met turncoat Californians for dinner. Arroz con pollo.

Waterfall: http://www.imagestation.com/album/pictures.html?id=2102157403&code=24063312&mode=invite&DCMP=isc-email-AlbumInvite

Dormant volcano hike: http://www.imagestation.com/album/pictures.html?id=2102157949&code=24063322&mode=invite&DCMP=isc-email-AlbumInvite

8/26/06: Cano Negro wildlife tour. Lots of monkeys. Illegal trespassing in Nicaragua. Arroz con siempre (rice with always).

Wildlife: http://www.imagestation.com/album/pictures.html?id=2102153147&code=24063308&mode=invite&DCMP=isc-email-AlbumInvite

8/27/06: A bumpy road to Monteverde. Very bumpy. Indiana Jones bridges. Canopy tours: zip-lines through the jungle. No rice: just beans.

8/28/06: Another bumpy road, to Tamarindo. As advertised, an amazing sunset. Arroz con siempre.

Tamarindo: http://www.imagestation.com/album/pictures.html?id=2102153665&code=24063309&mode=invite&DCMP=isc-email-AlbumInvite

8/29/06: Snorkeling: stupendous… dolphins, sea turtles, blowfish, stingrays and tropical fish. Another long shuttle trip, to San Jose. Arroz con siempre.

8/30/06: 4-in-1 Best of Costa Rica Tour. A coffee plantation, waterfalls, a butterfly farm, a sulphurous, steaming volcano. Arroz con siempre.

La Paz Waterfall:
http://www.imagestation.com/album/pictures.html?id=2102260401&code=23974770&mode=invite&DCMP=isc-email-AlbumInvite

Paos Volcano:
http://www.imagestation.com/album/pictures.html?id=2102260289&code=23974771&mode=invite&DCMP=isc-email-AlbumInvite

8/31/06: White-water rafting. The best ever. Drank lots of water and was blinking sediment out of my eyes for two days. Pictures should be arriving soon.

9/1/06: The trip home.

Blog #14: It's Like ManyFaces from He-Man

Blog #14: The Many Facets (and Titles) of My Weekend In Italy

This is the blog of many titles. The Italians deserve it, for better or worse. I have taken the liberty to divide the trip up into cities, then I have given an appropriate title to each of the three days.

Blog #14a: Florence, Italy (6/25/2005 to 6/27/2005)

Day 1: It’s Not a Purse; It’s a European Carry-All!

I arrived in Florence thinking that I would have a nightmarish time getting into the more popular museums and I would pay exorbitant prices for everything. While the latter is true, the former was not. I thought I would need to make reservations for the museums on Saturday to see them on Sunday, but it did not work out that way. The first order of duty was to check into a hostel. The suggested place, Ostello Archi Rossi, did not have a dorm bed open, so I sprang for the extra 6 euros and got a single. While the privacy was nice, I hate not having opportunities to meet people, so I only stayed one night there and one in another hostel.

The first place I visited was the Duomo. This is the dome of some big church there in Florence. It is a quite impressive ceiling and I have posted pictures. The view from the top was great, but, as I have found with most tower views, the pictures do not do it justice. However, this was 6 euros ($7-8) and about 45 minutes of my day spent.

The next stop was the Uffizi. This means office in Italian and was once the offices for some famous rulers. When I thought I was waiting in line to make a reservation for a Sunday viewing, I was actually in line to see the museum. I talked with an American mother and son in line from the Ohio area. It is always nice to run into other travelers who have found out the tricks of the city. I was happy to only wait a little over an hour in line—after hearing horror stories of 2-3 hours. Now the Uffizi is a museum covered with expensive paintings and statues. My main motivation for going there was that Dana had told me there are so many statues there and I have become a real fan of statues in the last few years. I was quite impressed. Yet again, about $10 and two and a half hours spent.

One of the tips these Ohioans gave me was for lunch. Good old Rick Steves suggested a small restaurant just south of Duomo. It was absolutely amazing. I had a great gnocchi with blue cheese and pistachios. It would be hard to find a better combination. Their other tip was to see Accademia in the evening. Uffizi and Accademia are probably the most popular attractions. I arrived about an hour before it closed, waited in line 20 minutes and had more than enough time to see everything. Just about the only thing to see at Accademia is Michelangelo’s David. It is truly impressive. He stands about 25 feet tall, by my guess, then is raised on an 8-10 foot base in a vaulted room built especially to hold David. As everyone says, and I agree, Michelangelo’s attention to detail was incredible. I managed a few pictures (even though I was not supposed to take one) and have posted one—you will probably recognize it. This one hour excursion set me back about $10.

That evening I took Cho’s (one of the other Americans from TU) advice and saw the sunset from Piazzale Michelangelo. This area is now a parking lot on a hill with a great view of the city, its river and the sunset. Also in this area is another of the Davids on display in Florence. All in all, it was a relaxing end to a museum-filled day. I broke my own rule of visiting no more than two museums in a given day, but my average over Saturday and Sunday was only two, so I do not feel so bad.

Day 2: Calcio Storico: As If Italian Men Need An Excuse To Let Testosterone Flair

The day started with a train reservation and me being suckered into the European Carry-All. I did it to myself. I know that was the title of Day 1, but it was too good of a title to pass up. I was simply tired of carrying my water bottle and stuffing my pockets with maps. Do not be deceived: this is most definitely not a fanny pack! This goes over the shoulder. I would rather be accused of carrying a purse than a fanny pack.

Then I wandered around trying to find this ancient history museum, Museo Archeologico. After figuring out how to read a map and road signs, I found this gem. I was enthralled by the ancient Egyptian and Greek relics. I saw part of the Book of the Dead, which I know nothing about, but it is in The Mummy and a couple other bad semi-horror movies, so it must be important. I was particularly impressed with the number of actual Egyptian artifacts they are hiding in this tourist-free museum.

This was the day for not finding what I wanted. I looked for a hostel and found nothing. Apparently the little slip of paper that had been taped on the buzzer had been removed. Has anyone there ever heard of a sign? Then I walked about a mile too far in my attempt to find a restaurant, La Magniatoia, suggested by on of my Romanian friends in Zurich. After sweating like a mad beast and nearly dehydrating because it was just plain hot in Italy, I found this place. Lunch is the biggest meal of the day in Italy and I took advantage of it. I loved my food and went into a food coma promptly afterwards.

I went back to find that the hostel sticky-note had been reattached, so I was able to check in. I asked about Calcio Storico, a sporting event purported to be a precursor to soccer. The guys at the hostel said it is basically soccer for convicts. They were right. This “sport” is played on a sand court only slightly larger than a basketball court. This is 27 on 27. The ball is supposed to be wooden—not a good sign. The travel guide said this would be half soccer, half riot. I beg to differ. When they threw the ball in the air, about 1/3 of the guys started to play, the remaining “players” just started brawling. I saw blood, players being carted off the field on stretchers and seemingly useless referees trying to bring order to this mayhem.

And I repeat: do we really need to give Italian men another excuse to let their testosterone flair? I will let you draw the only humane conclusion that exists. Feel free to talk amongst yourselves.

Once I finally found this fabled hostel, the Firenze Inn, I was glad I did. I met some people and they took us out to dinner (for free!) that night. It was quite nice. I met some nice people… OK, nice girls. Like I said, I was the only guy in sight! My life is so hard. At this pub where we got dinner, there was an interesting poster on the wall. It took a while for it to register, but there was a series of posters from famous Native American chiefs. As I read one, I remembered what I have been thinking since my arrival in Europe. It strikes me that, whatever other people think or whatever Americans may think, America is the place where people can achieve their dreams and live (within some bounds) with freedom and possibilities unsurpassed in history. And yet look at who else has been a proponent of such ideas. While I have always heard about the tragedies inflicted up the Native Americans, it took a smoky, dingy pub in the middle of Italy to really touch me.

Chief Joseph, 1879: “Let me be a free man, free to travel, free to stop, free to work, free to trade where I choose, free to choose my own teachers, free to follow the religion of my fathers, free to think and talk and act for myself….”

Florence (Firenze), Italy: http://www.imagestation.com/album/pictures.html?id=2124420182&code=16912609&mode=invite&DCMP=isc-email-AlbumInvite

Blog #14b: Venice, Italy (6/27/2005 to 6/28/2005)

Day 3: If You Have Not Been Lost in Venice, You Have Not Been to Venice; or, Italy: Haven of the Euro-Mullet

First of all, there is a God and he likes air conditioning. Second, I think the signature picture for this trip is of the Departures board at the Milan train station. It should read “Ritardo? Is it anything else?” In other words: Late? Absolutely. Instead, the answer to the question was 40 minutes, but quickly became 55. Some other backpackers were telling stories that they were worried because the Italian train employees were on strike sometime last week. On a very normal basis, Italians are late. On the other hand, I was talking with friends last week and we were joking about the Swiss. We came to the conclusion that when they go on strike they are five minutes late. If they ever did it, the entire country would be in turmoil.

Venezia was a nice city. Although I was unable to see inside any of the churches or museums, I was able to see a good amount of the city and squeezed in a boat ride, as well. After taking the Let’s Go travel guide advice, I simply started wandering in the right direction and was not too concerned about making it to the hostel in an efficient manner. After about a half hour of wandering around with my 40 pound pack, I decided it would probably be a good idea to start actually looking for my hostel. A sweaty half hour later, I stumbled up the stairs and was able to drop my pack. Upon receiving directions from a couple of Canadians sitting around, I found my way back to the station in 10 minutes.

As for my hostel, I met some interesting characters. First of all, I do not know where all the guys have been of late, but I have been in hostels that are absolutely chalk full of girls. I am not complaining, per say, but allow me to give you an example of what I have been facing…..

Other than being traumatized by meeting seven different Canadians in one day, one was extremely tortuous. She considers herself an actress. If she means she is a bleeding heart, loud, obnoxious attention whore, she must be the best actress who has ever walked the face of this earth. One of the Texan girls I ran into made a flippant comment about being glad that at least we have the U.S. dollar and it is usually strong enough, but it could suck to be an Australian or Canadian because their dollars are weaker. Reasonable comment. Unreasonable response from the Canadian flake: Tell that to my friend Poombi in Thailand who has no arms. Alex, I will take Overkill for $800, please. Yes, Poombi, we do feel bad for you. If she considers you a friend, having no arms is the least of your worries.

I walked around the city quite a bit in my day there. I must have walked for miles, although that has become the norm, of late. I heard that a great way to see the city from the canals was to just get the public transportation boats. For about $6, a reasonable price for such a touristy place, I was able to take a boat almost all the way around the city. It was a nice change from walking. So I did not do a romantic gondola ride around the canals… but you all know me better than that.

Venice (Venezia), Italy: http://www.imagestation.com/album/pictures.html?id=2124416339&code=16914513&mode=invite&DCMP=isc-email-AlbumInvite

Blog #15: Last Details and a Little Fun

Blog #15: Finals Week in Zurich (6/28/2005 to 7/3/2005)

The last few days have been fun and good. I have actually studied… I think for the first time all semester. I have a few more days of that and then no more for quite a while! I still do not know how I feel about actually finishing school. I have already started a list of things that I may want to take as night classes, namely, I have developed quite a need to know more languages than English in the last few months. German, French, Spanish and Australian are currently on the list. Maybe I will take a cooking class, too. We shall see.

The first final and the first last class were not the best I have ever had. Our presentation could have been better and the final exam… you guessed it: it could have been better. It is, however, over. That is important. I ran down to the Hauptbahnhof, Zurich’s train station, to meet Alex. If you remember from Blog #13, she is the Aussie girl I met in Munich. I had finally suckered someone into visiting me in Zurich! Actually, it was quite nice to repay the backpacking community by hosting someone with a free floor to sleep on since I have crashed at other people’s places for so many nights. In fact, Alex was great. We had a lot of fun and I had the opportunity to see some things in Zurich that I would not have, otherwise.

The first thing to know about Alex is that she is Australian, but Greek by heritage. I actually asked her if her life is like My Big Fat Greek Wedding and she had to admit that, while the movie was a bit extreme, there was a nugget of truth in it. The second thing is that she is serious about food. She worked at a food magazine in Australia for five years. Now while I may have been able to fool some of you out there into thinking that I know what I am doing in the kitchen, I knew that this young lady would see right through my home-grown knowledge. As a matter of fact, my strange tuna pasta leftovers that I had just thrown together did receive accolades, but that does not mean that I was not on my toes in the kitchen around this professional. The other night we made some really good pork with green salad. All in all, I managed to not land flat on my face in the kitchen, so I was happy.

We went out for a walk in the city to see all the popular stuff. We strolled the Bahnhofstrasse, the street where you can buy your Rolex and Armani, down to the Lake of Zurich and up through the residential areas. This is where my excellent tour guide skills failed me. My excuse is that I did not have my compass with me. I think it was a latent desire to prove to Alex that compasses are good companions for travelers. So we were walking, and walking, and walking. Finally, not willing to admit that I was tired of walking, Alex suggested we catch the tram. We found the next tram station, I deciphered the map and judged that we could actually walk uphill faster than we could take the tram back to town, since the tram did not go straight uphill. So this was a failed attempt to reach home, as well. One thing this venture proved to both of us is that you do not have to go very far in Zurich before you are in the wilderness. After thinking we had reached our destination, we had actually reached the end of the line for the tram we had decided to not take because it would take so long. We finally found a grocery store so we could eat that night and made it home, weary from a good day of walking.

On Thursday we experienced the great Lindt Let-Down. Lindt is a very popular Swiss chocolate made here in Zurich. While we were told we could not see the factory, we made it to the headquarters so we could see the one-room museum and hope to taste some of the chocolate. After about an hour of travel time, we arrived at Lindt. The construction was a foreboding clue, but… you guessed it… the museum was closed. It was quite appropriate since it was the only thing Alex actually wanted to do in Zurich, other than visit yours truly. We were given some excellent (chocolate) parting gifts that all but appeased our sense of loss. It was really funny, though, because Alex has an old family friend who works in marketing at Lindt. OK, this is a chocolate factory… his name is John Candy. That is funny. Admit it. He was in a meeting and we were unable to meet him, but we left a note and headed back to Zurich for lunch.

As we waited in the train station for our train to Zurich, we inspected a particularly sketchy (that’s Australian for “questionable”) looking vending machine. Other than selling AA batteries, this machine contained iced tea. This was not just any iced tea. No, no, you couldn’t have that in Switzerland. It was flavored with Swiss cannabis. Yeah. This stuff came in a cardboard “can” and we had to get a picture of Alex posing with the drink and vending machine. Alex claims she could not tell the difference in taste, but she did not grow up near the South where people know how to make iced tea. Imagine iced tea that had been used to wash your dirty socks. I do not suggest this: it does not clean the socks and does not help the tea.

To continue in theme that this was a day for drinks, we found a shop later in the day that actually sold Dr. Pepper! Alex spotted it because we had talked about how I had been unable to find it in Europe and she thinks it tastes like medicine. I do not understand why people say that—it must be psychological because of the name. I paid about $2.50 for a 12-oz can, but it was worth it. It’s Dr. Pepper! I even posed for a picture in front of the store with my prize. Just when I thought Europe was uncivilized, they surprise me yet again.

We met up with Cho in Zurich for lunch. We were in search of Thai food, but we (and by “we” I mean Cho) did not know exactly where this place was located. After searching and asking, then asking again, we found a Thai place that was, by Zurich’s standards, reasonably priced and very tasty. We then wandered around this great walking district and hit a couple second-hand stores. As with most things in Zurich, these stores are amazing, albeit exorbitantly priced.

My second last class was good. It was short. There was one group presentation and our professor wrapped up with a few short lecture notes and closing statements. I really enjoyed this class… I just hope it likes me back!

After spending Saturday packing and wrapping up some loose ends, I went with Cho and Ben, our German friend, so see War of the Worlds. Not a bad movie, but I do not see it winning a Movie of the Year award. Just call it a hunch. There was a narration by Morgan Freeman and a really creepy, short part by Tim Robbins. We wrapped up the evening with more Thai food at the place we had discovered with Alex on Thursday.

Now we come to the end. I am turning in my key to my dorm room today. I have two more weeks to jaunt around Europe before I head home to the good old U.S. of A. I have loved my time here, have met some great people and learned quite a lot, but I will not regret returning home. I have learned the value of being able to buy whatever I want, at anytime of the day, at Walmart. I will probably stand speechless for 5 minutes in front of the first clothes dryer I see. A tear may even form in my eye. I will eat more Mexican food than should be humanly possible. I will buy Dr. Pepper because it is cheaper than water or beer. I will turn the air conditioning on full-blast and freeze my fingers and toes, just because I can. I will go to a restaurant, drink a coffee and talk as loudly as I want because there is no touchy Viennese lady at the next table who can “hear everything I am saying.” And if there is: we are in America and you can move to another table, thank you very much. I will not pay to use a toilet. Period.

In the next couple weeks I will try to make the most of my time in Europe. I leave Zurich today and will fart around in Switzerland for a couple days before I have to be in Geneva for a final I am taking early. Here is my schedule (subject to some change) for the last couple weeks before I return home.

Sunday 7/3 leave Zurich, Lucern
Monday 7/4 To Lugano
Tuesday 7/5 Lausanne
Wednesday 7/6 Geneva (exam at 3:15)
Thursday 7/7 Berlin
Friday 7/8 Berlin
Saturday 7/9 Berlin
Sunday 7/10 Brugge, Belgium
Monday 7/11 Brugge
Tuesday 7/12 Paris
Wednesday 7/13 Paris
Thursday 7/14 Paris
Friday 7/15 Normandy
Saturday 7/16 London
Sunday 7/17 London
Monday 7/18 London
Tuesday 7/19 fly to KC
Wednesday 7/20 Home

Feel free to email me while I am on the road. I have a tentative schedule for my trip to Oklahoma and Texas at the end of July. Here it is…..

Location To Do
Tuesday 7/19 Missouri Arrive late
Wednesday 7/20 Springfield Crash
Thursday 7/21 Springfield
Friday 7/22 Springfield
Saturday 7/23 Springfield
Sunday 7/24 To DFW
Monday 7/25 San Antonio Dr. Ingram
Tuesday 7/26 Houston
Wednesday 7/27 Houston Big get-together at Wen's
Thursday 7/28 Houston
Friday 7/29 Houston
Saturday 7/30 Houston/Conroe
Sunday 7/31 Tulsa Libby
Monday 8/1 Tulsa Around town, Andrew
Tuesday 8/2 Springfield
Wednesday 8/3 Springfield Pack to move
Thursday 8/4 Rolla Dan, Wilsons
Friday 8/5 Chicago
Saturday 8/6 Chicago Find Apartment
Sunday 8/7 Chicago
Monday 8/8 Chicago
Tuesday 8/9 Chicago
Wednesday 8/10 Chicago Work


Pictures from Finals Week in Zurich: http://www.imagestation.com/album/pictures.html?id=2124410263&code=16919216&mode=invite&DCMP=isc-email-AlbumInvite

Blog #13: Everything in Temperance

Blog #13: Munich and Dachau, Germany (6/21/2005 to 6/23/2005)

Just when I thought I was really getting the hang of these night trains, I went to Munich. Maybe I had slept too well the night before and I was just not tired, but I could not get to sleep. I arrived in Salzburg at 4:28 to catch a connection to Munich, so it was a short night, regardless. It may have simply been a nightmare, but I think I woke up at one point to a group of 5-6 guys walking around without their shirts off. Maybe they were drunk and got hot. It is an unpleasant memory.

I arrived to Munich early and had to shoot some time before my bike tour. I took the advice of a friend and decided to do a bike tour of the city so I could get a quick overview and decide what to do from there. To pass the time I went into the trendiest McDonald’s I have ever seen. They even had a Big Eggs & Bacon. Not having actually seen real bacon in Europe before, I partook. I have yet to see real bacon in Europe. There is something they do not understand about smoking the meat. It is a simple concept. Since no one else in his or her right mind would order such a breakfast, I had to wait a while to get it and was repaid with an extra coffee and an OJ. I needed the coffee.

I took a short walk around the city and took a few pictures. I saw the Glockenspiel, but not in motion. Then it was off to Mike’s Bike Tour. At first it was funny because I was playing the same “Lost” game in my head that Dana was at the Pilsner Urquell Brewery in Plzen. I picked out the slightly dysfunctional dating couple. The rather clueless young college girls out “doing” Europe. The bashful guys over in the corner looking like scared rabbits. The cynical, half delirious marathon runner. That was me. I was half delirious from lack of sleep, cynical because of it, and you know I am not a marathoner but I was sweating like one. I have probably said this many times before, but if sweating becomes an Olympic sport, I would be in the running for the bronze. I would say the gold, but I never like to set my sights too high.

One of the funniest things that our humorous tour guides said was in reference to Canadians. As they were giving introductions to the bike tour and the city, Frankie asks if there are any Canadians in the group. When no one replied, he just said, “Oh, good.” I do not know what it is about Canadians… maybe we just like to make fun of them. Then again, Blog #14 (arriving soon) has some Canadian references and I think I understand Frankie a little more. The second funniest thing he asked was, “Who here has seen the Glockenspiel?” A few people hesitantly raised their hands. The reply to which was, “Well, for most of you, that’s good: it is something you can never un-see.” After witnessing a similar clock tower in Prague… I understand. My question was: And people wait around to see this?

The bike tour was fun and informative. We road for a couple hours and saw a good bit of the old town. We stopped for lunch at China Garden, one of the largest beer gardens in Munich, the home of beer gardens. For those of you planning to visit Munich, beer gardens have some of the best local foods at reasonable prices. The beer isn’t so bad, either. After an hour break from riding in the warm weather, we hopped back on our bikes. I have neglected to mention that this beer garden is in the middle of the largest inner city park in the world. Once upon a time it was the royal hunting grounds, but in an effort to win the people over it was donated to the city. Like most things royal, I do not think the gesture worked. Now the park is treated as a nude “beach.” There is even surfing on the river. Check out the pictures. Fortunately for you and me, I did not take pictures of the nudes at the “beach.” Let me reiterate my rule of thumb for Europe: if it is nude, there is an extremely good chance you do not want to see it. This particular park is the favorite gay hangout.

That first night I was rather out of it because of my short night and profuse sweating. I was dehydrated all day long. Despite this, I went out with some friends and got back to the hostel late. Have I mentioned yet that it was hot in Munich? The hostels do not like air conditioning, either.

After sleeping in, I decided to go to Dachau for the day. If you do not remember it off the top of your head, Dachau was one of the infamous work camps in WWII. It was not like Auschwitz, an extermination camp, although it did have a gas chamber and crematorium facilities. While the Nazis claimed that these facilities were unused, many people were still executed or died from starvation. This was quite a sobering experience. As a history buff and eternal student (c’mon people! I’ve been at it for 13 + 8 = 21 years! Half the travelers I meet aren’t this old.), I think it is valuable to have a first-hand account of this particular darker side of humanity. While I normally shy away from such abject atrocities on any level, I think it is important to remind future generations what can happen to us. It was one of those days where I stared at the pictures and soaked it in very quietly because it felt like a place where reverence was prerequisite. It is, quite literally, the death place of thousands of people and witness to some of man’s worst accomplishments.

On a lighter note, back at the hostel I met one of the girls in my dorm room. This Aussie was meeting some other Australian friends for dinner and invited me along. I was glad she did, for meeting people and/or making friends at a hostel can make or break the backpacking experience. Thus far, I have been fortunate to meet friendly people in my travels. While I was the guide for the group because I asked where the best local cuisine restaurant was located, I was the only non-Aussie in this group of 12. Most of the group knew each other because they are traveling on the same route at roughly the same time. They all use this guide company called BusAbout, a hop-on, hop-off bus tour spanning Europe.

My tour guide from Mike’s Bike Tour, Sigi (pronounced Ziggy), works at the hostel where we all stayed. He suggested this restaurant called Lamm’s. It provides excellent Bavarian cuisine at decent prices. Much of the group went for the special: knee of pig. Although I heard it was quite good and I am always up for some good swine, I passed. This waitress, very good for putting up with and having patience for a large group of non-German speaking tourists, actually answered the question(s) I always like to ask: “What is the best? What do you like?” I have been surprised because only two Europeans have actually answered that question. It is quite strange. However, #454 was an absolutely amazing dish. There were three meats (chicken, pork and beef) in a creamy mushroom sauce, with Bavarian-style gnocci. I was in pain from stuffing myself with this wonderful concoction.

The most fortunate result of this evening, other than some amazing food, was that I met Alex. She was serious when she said she is passionate about food. She worked at a food magazine for five years and knows more about food than I do. I rarely run across a person like this. It was also nice to run across someone else who is traveling Europe, for the most part, just to experience the different foods. After Lamm’s, we visited the famous Hofbrauhaus. This was a really funny place. Inside it was quite nice… and then there were all the drunks and the Bavarian band. We had been told by the tour guides that you can pay something like 10 or 20 euros to actually conduct the band. That could be a fun picture, if it weren’t so expensive. They also said that the Asian tourists have a great affinity for this experience. Our experience confirms this: of all 6 people that conducted the German band, all of them were Asian tourists. Now that is just funny. Picture the lederhosen and the hats, the brass instruments… and the Japanese tourist, without a clue, attempting to conduct. Funny.

My last day I spent at the Deutsches Museum. This is Munich’s science and technology museum. While I only spent a little over two hours there and literally flew threw what I saw, I still did not see everything. If you can imagine it, they had it: music, airplanes, ships, submarines, atomic physics, medicine, Einstein, electrical tools, steam engines, mining, oil drilling, math, computers, and the list goes on. It was, by far, the best 3 euros I have spent in Western Europe. It would have been nice to spend more time, but I needed to catch a train and after about two hours at any museum I start going wall-eyed, anyway.

Now comes the part where Chad justifies his assertion that he has yet to miss a train. I returned to the hostel to pick up my pack when I remembered that Wendy (my middle sis, for those who do not know her) told me I had to try “café and kuchen,” or coffee and cake, while in Munich. Well, after the receptionists at the hostel stopped laughing at my reprehensible German, they told me about a great place to find genuine, homemade kuchen. I dash back across town on the subway and am unable to find this place. I actually walked by it about 5 times before I saw the minute sign. On my last attempt, just before I called it quits, I found the place and bought coffee and cake. Now it was time for a mad dash back across town with my pack, sweating in the heat and spilling hot coffee on myself.

As I said, I did not miss the train. There was not a train to miss, but if there had been a train, I probably could have jumped on as it was pulling out of the station. If I only knew how to read a train schedule, I would have known this. Now, with two hours to kill before the next train, I could eat my café and kuchen in peace.

On the train from Munich to Zurich, I was in a compartment with a Swiss guy named Chris. He commutes to Munich every week. We spent nearly two hours talking about the European Union and Switzerland. What I took away from the conversation was that the EU is even more screwed up and has fewer hopes for success than I had formerly believed. In an effort to create a market competitive with the U.S., they have imposed a ridiculous amount of quotas and restrictions on agriculture and industry. Forgive me for playing the fool, but aren’t they trying to catch up to the U.S. because we have encouraged competition and hard work? I don’t understand. Socialism makes no sense to this simple Midwestern boy.

Check out pictures from Munich: http://www.imagestation.com/album/pictures.html?id=2124754754&code=16786449&mode=invite&DCMP=isc-email-AlbumInvite

Blog #11: Finally in France

Blog #11: Montpellier, France (6/14/2005 to 6/16/2005)

This was my first trip into France. It occurred to me that, although I live in Switzerland, that as of two weeks ago I had yet to visit France, Germany or Italy, all less than 4 hours away by train, while I have visited countries 36 hours away by train. I guess some of the reason is that I very quickly realized there are too many things to see in Europe in four months, so I started writing some destinations off. Paris, London, Rome, Ireland: they can wait for their own trips when I can find a cheap flight out of Chicago O’Hare. That list of destinations is also growing. From the people I have met on the road, Australia and Thailand have definitely been added to the list with India. Ah, so many places to see….

To start, the whole reason I went to Montpellier was to visit a girl I had met in Salzburg. We were staying at the same hostel there and ran into each other the night I was leaving. I said that I had yet to make it to France and she said her exchange student roommates had just left, so she had a couple extra beds free. It was a good enough invitation for me!

My visit to Montpellier was a nice little trip. There are not many tourist attractions in Montpellier so Caitlin, doubling as my tour guide, showed me the town in just a couple hours. I took some pictures of the cool areas in the center of town, where everyone hangs out and drinks coffee, and some old aqueduct. We spent a lot of time here in the next couple days because we would visit the cafés or run errands. We rode a few trams because Caitlin’s apartment was about a 20-30 minute walk from the middle of town. I have to admit that those trams were the nicest I have yet ridden. They are new, relatively clean, there are seats and some of these leaning areas that are a great idea and, most importantly, they are air conditioned. Other cities need to follow suit. It is about time Europe has discovered air conditioning on a larger scale. And they wonder why something like a thousand people died from heat exhaustion in Paris a couple years ago!

Since it was the end of the semester for them there were, on average, two people leaving every day. This meant going-away parties and last trips to the beach. By the way, what people say is true about European beaches: the ones who are going nude are the ones you definitely do not want to see. At least the only distinctly homosexual nude area I have had to misfortune of visiting was a park in Munich. Since all of Caitlin’s friends are Americans studying French, I was able to brush up on my own French. Now my rusty, embarrassing French is only slightly less atrocious. At least my French is better than my German.

One of the fun, new things I have learned from Caitlin’s friend John is guerilla photography. What is that? It is easiest with a digital camera, but with a little good aim and auto focus you can capture people in their natural states. It is a little like those guys who photograph gorillas eating ants off each other, except you will not catch me photographing people eating off of other people. My friend from Tulsa, Jason, tries to catch people in their natural habits, but he has a camera the size of a small dog and he is Korean. He has a knack for standing out in Europe.

Pictures from Montpellier, France: http://www.imagestation.com/album/pictures.html?id=2124947408&code=16710374&mode=invite&DCMP=isc-email-AlbumInvite

Blog #10: Closer to Heaven… the Swiss Alps

Blog #10: Gimmelwald, Switzerland. (6/11/2005 to 6/13/2005)

I was headed to the little town of Gimmelwald (population about 150) and I knew I was in for a treat. Other than being high in the Swiss Alps, it comes highly recommended by my onetime travel partner Dana, as well as her hero and travel guide, Rick Steves. Two trains, a bus and a quick ascent on a lift deposited me on the doorstep of… something close to heaven. I actually gave into my tourist urge and bought a T-shirt that says, “If heaven isn’t what it’s cracked up to be, send me back to Gimmelwald.”

I arrived in the afternoon, ditched my backpack and started stomping around the Alps. A quick hike up to the larger town of Mürren provided me with a hiking map. Now I was set. They pointed me in the right direction and I was off. I took the North Face Trail, a loop around one mountain that provides some great views of some of the highest mountains in the Alps: Eiger, Monch and Jungfrau. If you have seen the popular winter-wear brand North Face, this is where they got the name. It is worth a line of clothing and then some. There are more pictures of flowers and cows and mountains than I care to wade through, but I pared it down to the essentials. Interestingly, the mountains are named The Ogre, The Monk and the Young Woman. I think the monk is supposed to be keeping the ogre away, so there is probably some interesting Swiss mythology behind that.

When I stumbled back down the hill a few hours later, slightly more sun burnt than when I went up, I checked in to my hostel. The Mountain Hostel is where Dana spent nearly two weeks soaking in the glow of the Swiss Alps… and the hot tub. I was unable to indulge in the hot tub because in the evenings it was almost always overrun by drunken Canadians. Those drunk Canadians, however, have provided an ample supply of Canadian T-shirts to Petra, Mountain Hostel’s owner, manager and resident smart ass. I cannot figure her out, though, because I heard stories from Dana and people I met there about her making fun of everyone, but she simply did not waste the effort on me. I have two theories: she did not like me and did not want deem me worth the effort, or she felt sorry for me for having spent two weeks with Dana. I am still recovering my self esteem.

At the hostel I met a crowd of Americans traveling in Europe. The group that I ended up spending a lot of time with was the UVA crew. There was a group of seven, six of whom had just graduated from University of Virginia and decided to treat themselves to three weeks backpacking in Europe. One of their group left town and went his own way, and two of them (Benton and Martha) went paragliding, but I spent the second day with the rest of the group.

Jack, Will, Elizabeth, Megan and I went up to the top of this lifts to Schilthorn. This is where they filmed one of the 007 movies, back in 1968 or 1969. What was a home in the movie is now a revolving restaurant with a 360° view. If you happen to make it up there, splurge on the 22 CHF (about $18) James Bond breakfast. They do not tell you this, but eat as much as you want because it is all-you-can-eat. It should be for as much as it costs to get up there. The trip up yielded a great view and I have posted a few of the pictures, including one of the UVA crew.

After the trip to the top of the mountain by lift, we decided we needed some exercise. There was a medium-difficulty hike up to a waterfall called Sprutz. This was a fun hike and well worth it. There is a rock shelf under the fall where the trail winds behind the fall. I also hiked downstream a little, slipping and sliding on rocks the whole way, to snap a few pictures. We were all a bit winded, but we came to the conclusion that it was the thin air and could not be blamed on our poor physical conditions.

We hiked further up this valley and made a picnic. Two of our group were nursing ankles and knees, so they stayed behind with three of us hiked up this small mountain. About halfway up we ran into this nice couple from Tennessee who warned us that we would have to go off-trail to make it to the top because the trail went away from the peak. He told us for this steep grassy area where would could go on all-fours almost to the top. He, however, did not scale the 15-foot cliff face to the actual top. This crazy-steep grass slope is where my hiking boots came in handy. Jack’s and Elizabeth’s street shoes did not like the rocks and slippery grass, but we all made it. We almost gave up a couple times, but we kept on and succeeded.

After having made it so far, Jack determined that he would make it to the top. I did not want to be air-lifted off the mountain, so we let him go it alone. A few minutes later we hear, “Hey guys, you are not going to like this.” I was afraid of that. I was certain there would be some old couple or a cow up there chewing his cud, wondering why we came the hard way. Well there was a path, thank you very much. Picking our way around the cliff face, we made it to the path and the top. There is a really great picture posted of the three of us at the top of this 2025 meter mountain. We signed a little book they keep in a box for people who make it. It took us probably over two hours, albeit lazy ones, to reach the summit from the town, but that did not match some Aussie who managed it in 54 minutes. Those crazy Aussies.

Needless to say, we were tired that night and lazed about the hostel that night. The next morning I headed down the mountain with the UVA crew. It was nice to have some travel buddies for the couple days I was in Gimmelwald. After lunch I was off to Zurich and they were headed to Florence and Rome.

Check out the pictures from Gimmelwald, Switzerland: http://www.imagestation.com/album/pictures.html?id=2124938273&code=16784023&mode=invite&DCMP=isc-email-AlbumInvite

Blog #8: Chillin’ in Plzen

Blog #8: Plzen, Czech Republic (5/31/2005 to 6/2/2005)

Plsen was a great little town to visit. At this point, I was near the end of my two weeks with Dana, the traveling guru. After over-touristy Prague, it was a good change. The central town area is small and can be completely explored in under an hour. We discovered this when we continued to search for places to eat and we were continually coming up to the same choices. The first day we unwound over some good food and a few beers. As we were warned in Prague by our host Pavel, the Czech Republic really likes pork. Every menu asked you: would you like pork... or something else? Usually, pork was the right answer. If you know me, you know I will rarely turn down a good taste of pig, but I think even I reached my limit in Plsen.

Plsen was unusual in that it was very friendly, at least ostensibly, to Americans. Most places I have visited tolerate Americans and show very little ill will toward them, but I cannot help but believe that some of it is because we are there spending money. Plsen, however, remembers WWII. Patton’s troops actually liberated Plsen back in 1945. I had forgotten that it was recently Memorial Day, but Plsen dedicated a statue and memorial to Patton and his troops just a few weeks before we arrived.

The second day we visited the world famous Pilsener Urquell brewery. This was quite a fun tour. Not only did they show us the new brewing technology (i.e., big metal tanks), they showed us the cellars and old oak barrels that had been used since the 1840s. The coolest part was that they still brew some of the beer in oak barrels, the old-fashioned way. For a tour it was a nice attraction, but it also makes sense because they use the authentic, oak barrel method for quality control with the mass-produced product. The funny part of the tour was doing it with Dana. She was over there playing an episode of Lost in her head. I have never seen it, but it is the popular show where the plane crashes on a remote island and everyone is surviving, blah, blah. It has been done before. However, this was funny because Dana was picking people out: the group leader (the cocky Italian-looking guy), the first person to be eaten (the obnoxious Aussie with all the questions and socks pulled up to his knees), the cynics (that was us).

The major reason that we went to Plsen, other than to get out of big, touristy cities, was because Dana has a connection in the town. Her grandmother has had a pen-pal in Plsen for about 20 years and they have never met. Since Dana was in the area, she decided she had to meet this friend. Since I was only in Plsen for a couple days, she waited until I was gone to contact Blaza. I wish I had been there when she did, though. From what I hear, Blaza showed her pictures and told stories about when the troops liberated Plsen so long ago. She actually stayed in contact via letters with one of the GIs she met. What an amazing perspective!

So getting OUT of Plsen was one of the bigger adventures I have had thus far. The people at the train station in Plsen did not speak English, but I was able to understand enough that I was to buy a ticket to the next big town, then I would have to buy a ticket from there, and so forth. Not a problem. I get to the next big town and it is too late to make reservations for the night train back to Zurich. Same story, second verse: buy a ticket to the next town and deal with it from there. This is a problem. I buy the ticket and hop on the train to Linz, in hopes that I will be able to weasel my way onto the train. You see, sometimes train schedules are not the most helpful things in the world… and sometimes ticket agents are nigh the most useless things in the world. In the end, I obtained a seat on the train, although from my train schedule I was uncertain if there would be any seats on the night train. You see, with my Eurail I can take a seat on a night train for free, but the beds require reservations. Then I found $5. Yeah, that story went nowhere.

Again, it was not until I left that Dana found the Patton Memorial we had searched for. Apparently it was outside of town a little way, not where we had expected it. I enjoyed the town, but apparently not as much as Dana. She was tired of traveling after three months constantly on the road, so this was as good a place as any to hang out for nine or ten days. She made friends, stayed in somebody’s apartment for free and met up with Blaza a couple times. Meanwhile, I was returning to Zurich for class. Poor me.

Pictures of Plsen are in Blog #7.

Blog #7: Fun & Heat in Praha

Blog #7: Prague, Czech Republic (5/28/2005 to 5/31/2005)

So this has been my most delayed blog. I like to say that I am just relaxing and really getting into this European, laidback attitude. To be honest, I am just getting lazy. There is a reason why they call it “good old American work ethic.” The rest of the world, for better or worse, does not share our pace of life.

I was still traveling with Dana when in the Czech Republic. We arrived on the night train at about 5:30 on Saturday morning. What a glorious train ride it was! If those engineers ever figure out how to drive a train, it will be a cold day in hell. They have verily mastered the art of the five-meter stop. At least I was only thrown into the wall instead of onto the floor as I lay trying to sleep. One thing I will give to Prague is that it is still awake at 5:30 a.m. The down side is that it is far easier to find a beer than a coffee at that time of morning. We were surrounded by two groups of people, all of whom looked and smelled surprisingly similar: the drunk homeless and the drunk Limeys.

Visiting Prague was an unusual change from my other travels in April and May. I had been out of the States for two months and was unaccustomed to hearing English. Everywhere I went in Prague, I heard English. At first it was surprising, then it just got annoying. I do not know how I will cope when I get home… it will feel like I am eavesdropping on everyone. I know the first person I see in the States I am going to ask, “Sprechen Sie Englisch?” Prague is the first of the cities I visited that is quite touristy.

In Prague we stayed with a friend named Pavel. He had just graduated from high school, so he had some free time to show us around. He cooked some interesting, authentic Czech dishes for us, so that was quite a treat. The first night Pavel gave us a guided tour around the city. The castle and the city lights were nice because we were able to see quite a bit without being surrounded by tourists. The castle was great at night. I was most impressed by the church in the castle because the mosaics and stained glass are only about 70 years old, were recently restored and have retained much of their color.

On Sunday and Monday we actually toured the different parts of the castle, visited the National Museum and walked across the Charles’ Bridge. All of these were worthwhile sights, even if we were tripping over tourists at every turn. I have since grown accustomed to that. On Monday we were forced to seek shelter because of a storm that came in quickly. There was hail like I have not seen since living in Texas. It was bouncing all over the place, quite a welcome sight after the 90 degree days, the hottest weather Prague had yet seen.

On our last night we went out to a student bar with Pavel and we met a few of his friends. First of all, they the Czechs obviously do not have as many puritanical hang-ups that most of us Americans retain. There was a large party at the bar for some guy’s birthday and his friends got him a stripper. This was a regular bar. You have to go to special places for this kind of entertainment in the States and, from what I have heard, most places will not let it go this far. Anyway… the more interesting part of the night were Pavel’s pictures of his trip to eastern Czech Republic. Get this: he read a survival book and decided that he needed to “do some of that stuff.” On his Christmas break he and two friends went hiking and camping up in some snowy mountains for 8 days. Actually, one of the friends gave up after just a couple days. Now this was a hard-core holiday. They made it to the top of the mountain and had a great, unbearably miserable time, I am sure. What Pavel tried to brush under the carpet was that, after this 8 day trip, he spent 9 days in the hospital thawing various of his body parts. Now that is a bit too far for me. If it were only 7 days, that would be a little better because at least the vacation was longer, but 9….

Prague and Plzen, Czech Republic: http://www.imagestation.com/album/pictures.html?id=2125794135&code=16383471&mode=invite&DCMP=isc-email-AlbumInvite

Blog #6: Parasliding, A Sport For All Ages

Blog #6: Pécs, Hungary (5/25/2005 to 5/27/2005)

Pécs was a nice side trip after Budapest. And it is not pronounced PEKS, it is PAYCH. It is about two hours south of Budapest on the Inter City train. Interesting point of fact: yes, there are ostriches near the tracks between Budapest and Pécs. Dana may still be crazy, but at least she was not imagining the large, flightless birds.

We were having a hard time finding our host because, yet again, European phones are counterintuitive to us Americans. However, Maria spoke English and was very nice both times we mistakenly called her. So we just start wandering toward the town center in hopes that we can find a nice rubbish heap to sleep in for the night. Matters did not deteriorate to quite this level because, as we are just walking along, this guy comes up and asks, “Are you Dana?” No, I reply, I’m not: but she is. Luckily, Szilard decided to ask the two clueless looking backpackers who we were. He had been following us for a few blocks, so we knew that he was either our host or our stocker. He ended up being our host.

Szilard and his friends were really great. He showed us around Pécs over the next couple days. We were sitting around talking the first night and I was asking about his hobby, paragliding. I have never known a paraglider before. So he responded to my interest with, “So do you think you are man enough to paraglide?” How could I say no?

At our picnic brunch the second day, he also introduced us to my new favorite traveling sandwich. First of all, Hungarian bread is a nice change from Swiss bread. Don’t get me wrong, I like their hearty, crusty, semi-dry loaves, but they are better for dipping in soup than making sandwiches that you do not have to choke down. Hungarian bread is soft and white, but a few significant steps above Wonder Bread. Next comes the standard meat and cheese, choices vary by country and region. The topper, though, is the slice of paprika. Not only do Hungarians love their dried, ground paprika, they exploit the wonderful, fresh, sweet paprika. I like it.

After breakfast we went for a drive. It was fun to get out into the countryside and see the terrain. We visited a small castle in a town called Siklos, maybe a half hour from Pécs. I posted some pictures.

Next came the exciting part. Szilard took us out paragliding. We had to find the right hill with the right wind, but when he found it we had fun. Since I was the one opening my big yap the night before, I was the first guinea pig. I must say that I took to it rather well: three runs and I made it into the air twice. This was a small hill and I was going solo. This was not a tandem run. I was pretty happy with myself. Then came Dana. To her credit, the wind was not helping her and she is nowhere near as fat as me. My body is heavier so it was easier to just barrel down the hill and get enough speed to get into the air. I think I actually stopped counting around five attempts, but when I tell the story I always say that Dana was 0 for 7. She tried hard. In trying, however, she invented a new sport we dubbed “paraSLIDING.” I actually have a picture with her at the bottom of the hill… and a trail of mowed-down grass where her butt just scooted all the way down the hillside. It was funny. Then there was the time she pushed Szilard over, hurtled him and kept on running, only to reach her own demise about two steps later.

All in all, it was a great time. This was another one of those times when I was excited to get out of the big capital city and into the countryside. I have enjoyed seeing the smaller, slower-paced towns. I don’t feel bad about not making it to all the museums because there are no museums. My only real goal is to find the best regional food. It takes devotion.

Pictures of Pécs, Hungary: http://www.imagestation.com/album/pictures.html?id=2125794520&code=16383146&mode=invite&DCMP=isc-email-AlbumInvite

Blog #12: Weekend with Jamison

Blog #12: Zurich, Schaffhausen, Basel and Glarus, Switzerland (6/17/2005 to 6/19/2005)

For those of you who do not know Jamison, he is a friend from school in Tulsa who is finishing an internship in London. I actually met up with Jamison in London in March, on my way to Zurich for a weekend in Edinburgh, Scotland. This last weekend he came to Zurich to hang out. I was just arriving on a night train from France when I went to pick up Jamison at the airport on Friday. After running home for a shower, I made him wander around Zurich for a few hours while I went to class. I know: I had a friend in town, it would only be logical to skip class… but when you only have class one day a week it is a little hard to justify skipping.

Friday night we met up with Sulley, one of the other guys from TU studying with me in Zurich, and Jacqueline, our Swiss friend who studied in Tulsa last fall. We went to dinner at an outdoor place on the Lake of Zurich. The weather was pleasant, the food was great and at a surprisingly reasonable price. Being the wimp that I am, I hit the sack early and let all the other boys and girls stay out all night partying. I think Jamison said he slept better on the bench at the Central Tram Stop than he did on my floor.

The next morning came too early for some of us, but we finally made it out the door to Schaffhausen. We went to the waterfall I visited last month with a group from Vinzenz, the place where I live. I took a few more pictures because, if you remember a previous blog, this was when my camera died and I could not take all the pictures I wanted. We enjoyed the excursion and, being the efficient guys we are, were done in less than two hours and headed back to Zurich.

Jamison and I headed from Zurich to Basel, a city situated in Switzerland and on the borders of both Germany and France. After a short walk around the city, we met up with Yves, a friend from one of my classes. He was home for the weekend to visit his parents, who live in a small town outside of Basel, Liestal. Yves picked us up and we went to the Novartis Family Day. Granted, none of us work for the pharmaceutical giant Novartis, but Yves scored some free passes because his sister works there. She even has a chauffeur for work… she may share him with others, though. Anyway, these people blew massive amounts of money for this event. They had a few different themed tents with free food and drinks, as well as bands and other sorts of entertainment. In the first tent we had schnitzel and pommes frites (French fries), the second had a Latin American theme and we ate Chili con Carne. Along the way we had Cokes, Rivella (an excellent Swiss drink with milk serum…), some Elmer Fudd drink reminiscent of Sprite, and a beer or two.

We spent the night at Yves’ parents’ house. It is a really nice place and has a great backyard patio area where we ate breakfast on Sunday. Of course we had two things to see when we were at his place: his Porsche and his gun. Yves has apparently done well for himself in a little website design company he had after high school and decided to indulge in his dream car. Unfortunately, his cherry red beauty was side-swiped by some guy and has just been repaired. Jamison and I were also interested in Switzerland’s compulsory military service and were talking about it over dinner. After one year of service, all Swiss men keep their rifles and have about three weeks of training every year, in addition to their marksmanship qualifications. This was no ordinary pellet gun. Although we were informed that this is not a fully automatic rifle, it still fires off 20 rounds a minute. Next time I get the urge to invade a country, somebody out there please remind me to cross Switzerland off the list.

After our outstanding breakfast, of course with a healthy selection of cheese, we headed to Jacqueline’s house in a town southeast of Zurich. We saw her home and met her parents while waiting for Sulley to meet up with us. They also had a really nice balcony garden area with a great view. I am beginning to think that is a prerequisite for houses in Switzerland. The interesting thing we learned about, however, was this milk serum (milchserum in German) in Rivella. I always thought it was whey, the leftovers when making cheese. It just sounds like a non-wasteful, European thing to do. And, if you learn nothing else about Switzerland, know that they take their dairy products very seriously. When one of our TU professors, Dr. Burgess, visited last week to treat the three of us exchange students to dinner, he said he would not drink Rivella until someone could finally tell him what milchserum is. After searching far and wide, I finally found a Swiss person with our answer. I was right. Of course the whey is filtered a little bit, but I was still right.

An interjection from our dinner with Dr. Burgess and his wife, Ellen. We had a great dinner in Zurich at the end of their European vacation. They had been traveling for about four weeks around Switzerland and Greece. I can think of worse ways to spend my summer. Here is a bit of advice, straight from me to you, that I received from these experienced travelers: “The clothes don’t change, the people do.” I think the only implied constraint is the sniff test. If you wear it too long, you must decide to burn it or wash it.

Back to the afternoon with Jacqueline. Sulley finally caught up to us and we headed to the lake. I have posted some great pictures from our trip out there. We roasted some bratwursts and laid out in the sun at the side of this beautiful lake for a couple hours before we had to head for the train station. We were back to Zurich in plenty of time for Jamison’s flight and our whirlwind tour of Switzerland was over.

Pictures of the weekend: http://www.imagestation.com/album/pictures.html?id=2124952532&code=16706575&mode=invite&DCMP=isc-email-AlbumInvite