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Wandering Europe
Oh ok so i changed this postcard from the previous posting cause it was gonna be all about switzerland and i was gonna go and title it as austria....i think that is just cruel to any of you whom are geographically impaired.....(mother) and so i figured i should split the postcards up....so here is the wrapup of munich again and interlaken....
Oh this is so cool...i needed two pics for austria and low and behold they have two pics of things i have seen today.....but before i get ahead of myself i should mention the final day in munich and then interlockin and then i can get to vienna.....so actually i should be putting this under interlockin but i am lazy.......ok so the final day in munich was excellant.....that night after i posted and such we had a wonderful dinner.....they lost their water and so helga just kinda threw together foods and it was amazing.....such good food and without water....go ahead try to cook a meal without water it is really rough.......well then david offered to take me to a party in a nearby town but i was just needin to relax and get up ontime the next morning so i decided to stay in.....well the next morning i got in a nice shower and all my clothes got cleaned the night before so i was doing amazing.....and as you can see they got their water back shortly after dinner.....well then had a nice little breakfast and since helga was heading into town to go to work i got a ride with her.....and being the most amazing host as we are leaving she is filling my arms with food and drinks for the train......i said goodbye to all the bovarians and we headed to munich.....and as she lets me out and against my will she goes down the subway station to get me a tix for the metro so i get to the main station properly.....so nice.....well did the goodbyes and i was off to make the 1218 train.....yeh it is sad i am remembering the train scheduals....anyway so then it is off to interlockin...used another rail day for the trip.....well actually first was venice and then i decided to let fate take me the rest of the way.....next train be it luciene or interlockin i was gonna take.....luciene didnt happen for at least a few more hrs so interlockin it was with only a five minute wait.......well i was so hungry cause i had already downed helgas foods she gave me and i had no swiss franks yet....and dinner was approaching....then it passed and i kinda forgot about food.......but on the train to interlockin was this guy and his son who had been on a bike trip over the weekend.....well he was all about chatting with the american tourister...well prolly also cause his kid was really cute so i smiled and yeh we chatted......anyway he has been all over the world like 7 times cause he gets 3 months off a year for work....and he travels aditionally for work....he was in hartford a short time ago and raved about how nice hartford was.....i then questioned his sanity but maybe he was being polite......well he told me about this amazing laser/club/dancing/festival thing going on in zurich the next night and that 750000 people would eb there and i had to go.....well.....sounds like fun but it sounds like backtraking and it doesnt so much sound like me.....but he kept telling em i had to go......anyway so they departed and i arrived in interlockin around 7ish i think and the sky opens up......rain starts pouring down.....yeh not so cool....well then i find that the ticket and info office is the same place and looky what they had.....oh nothing other then the famous ticket line system....i am growing to like them but it was funny....and it is funny to see people have to use em for the first time....well i get me number and there is a girl a bit a head of me that is going to a hostel as well......well i asked if i could bum he directions instead of waiting to ask the same question......so she tells me em and they are a bit vague and seem too easy but ok.......so then we end up both tryin to wait out the storm a bit before departing.......she was a teacher from ontario...i think....something like that......after chatting with her for about 5 minutes it seemed like this would be an intresting little venture to find the hostel......our personalities were so different.....not sure if she noted it but i certainly did.....well the rain lets up enough that we both decided to make a go at it.....well we follow her directions she got and they are completly wrong.....well not wrong come to find out but she either mishheard the lady or i dont know what....yeh so as we are goin the way her directions say we stop twice for her to adjust her pack/suitcase deal......she had one of those suitcases with wheels but it also had backpack straps on it.....well she wasnt so used to carrying the 40 pounds or whatever in it and complained the entire time.....and then she was so really weird about the rain......she would go way out of her way to go under eves of the buildings and then have to come way back to get on the sidewalk for only 10 yards of rain free walking....and by this point it is not raining much and she has an umbrella......that with the stopping i knew this was not gonna be a fun walk....well we decided to turn it around and head a different way that seemed better....i ask for directions and got some and again the whole time we have to keep stopping for her to adjust he pack....or she would decided to wheel it for a bit.....but then decide it might get too wet so back on the back.....i could go on but lets just say it was a long walk and finally we find a hostel that we know is near where hers is......well by then we had directions for her hostel but since i was gonna go in to see if they had rooms free she asked me to ask just to make sure.....by then i was like whatever....so i go in they have rooms free so i am gonna stay there then i ask for directions and the guy says i dont know thats not me.....i was like oh no i will definatly stay here and pay now it is for someone outside and he just looks at me.....ok forget i asked.....so much for small town friendlyness......so i told her he wont tell me but that i am gonna stay here and she gets all flustered.....i was so tired of dealing with it i was just like i am sorry i tried and wished her well......it ended up being like another 50 yards down the road....i was just so happy to be on my own and remembered some of the perks of traveling alone....
...to continue.....yeh it was so nice to not be having her cling along....so then i book the room and at first i think the guy is joking when he say oh it is in a tent and points to this picture....i was like yeh for 20 (usd) i hope it isnt a tent....i didnt say this but i thought it and then come to find out he is quite serious...hummm intresting.....and it was no where near the hostel.....ok that is an exageration 10 minute walk down the road and they had a shuttle every 30 minutes or something......so well i decided with the pack and not knowing where the tents were to wait for the shuttle......a few other people also arrive including one guy who is from boston......and he is quite talkative to everyone on the shuttle.....it was weird to cause it was like it was forced and he was really trying to talk to everyone and make lots of conversation but i think that is just his personality.....well we arrive at our fine tents and it ends up that they are not too bad.....3 bunk bes in each and there are a makeshift toilet and shower setup outside and the tent even comes with a heater and work lamp so it could be worse.....besides it is all about the experience......well he and i had both not eatten food.....well he has been told the only cheap good place to eat is hooters.....yup hooters in switzerland......it went against everything i stood for cause i wanted as little american and as much culture as possible....well i wasnt gonna argue though so i said sure lets go....and it was actually a fairly welcome change to have a good old grilled chicken sandwich.....and that my second trip to hooters is in another country....well we had a decent chat and he is this engineering major who is doing a grad school excahnge deal for 3 weeks.....and he is thinking about doing what i am doing next year......so it was nice conversation.....well then we went back to the hostel and he wanted to go socialize and that sounded good to me and the hostel had a bar.....well we go in and it ended up being a club.....not huge but definatly like any club one would see in the states and the vast majority of people were english speakers.....well i wasnt exactly feeling the club thing so i jetted and he came soon after......so we go to bed and then i get woken up by him (this is bad but i dont remember his name....i think it was steve...) and some swiss army guy fighting.....in my blurred eyes it was obvious the swiss guy was completly trashed (we had also seen him and his 5 buddies macking it at the bar...in full regalia none the less)....well the swiss guy wanted to fight and i got slightly worried but just rolled back over and went to bed.....so the next day steve was doing what every other person goes to interlaken for...outdoor sports....these include everything...bungy jumping, sky diving, paragliding, canoening, white water rafting, kyaking etc etc.....all started off at like 100 dollars or something completly rediculous....even the low key like hiking in the glacier area was a ton....i was tempted but for that price hiking was just fine with me......so day one i hiked this hill right by interlaken......kinda made it into a longer hike then it needed to be cause the trail was marked with the name of the mountain but i followed the one that said loop and not summit (it was in another language of course) and ended up doign the long way....but it was a great walk.....let me tell you it showed me just how outta shape i was....there was this trucker festival in the valley and so i could faintly hear the live band playing what sounded like classic rock the whole time......then toward the top i there was like this grove of evergreens....cool little place and i am looking at the trail sign and all i hear is buzzing.....i look around and there are all these bees...everywhere......but they are not really acting like bees.....they are hoovering too much and it was weird but i jetted óff....turns out they are what david called fake bees and they are just some fly.....some story i know....then as i took a new trail down i came accross a typical european resturant on the mountain which was really nice to have a salad (as it was the only relivivly normal priced thing on the menu)....so i decended for the day and hung out at the hostel.....glad i didnt stay too much longer as the skies opened up and it began to pour.....yeh fun stuff.....but i did my journal project and finished divinci code for the second time....with critiques and eevrything.....i went to bed early too around 11 i think....next morning i got up and splurged for the 5 francs for eggs and bacon with my bread and water.....but the hostel was impressive with all it had to offer and as it should cause it is one of the top 10 hostels in the world.... www.famoushostels.com ...baumers was the name.....so it had a nice faclity.....well i wake up and eat and then i decided to go to the next valley after talkign with some of the other hostels the day before and try the hiking out there......it ends up being amazing.....it will be a day i will not forget...the pic above is where my train arrived and i have pics of that exact waterfall...ws amazing.....so yeh continuing i hit up the waterfall which is not far out of town (you can see it from in town..) and then i got some supplies and i was off.....the trail which double as an acess road for some of the locals lucky enough to live there parralled this stream which was quite fast moving....it was all white water so i am thinking it comes from melting snow so that makes sense.....kidding.....but it was quite fast moving and would make for a great rafting adventure.....the hike was beautiful cause most people were not doing the hiking deal and those that were seemed to be locals.....so then i found my path upward....and the little instruction i had warned it was 1500 feet vertical rise and sure enough it was not a foot less.....well it migth have been but it was steep...definatly the most intense hiking i had done yet....thought the trail was really well manicured and upkept so it was not rough climbing like in germany.....(dont get me wrong the rough hiking is that much more rewarding this was just different....) anyway so on the way up there is no one going up or down cause everyone is taking the railcars or cablecars.....so it was quite peaceful and the whole way it is kinda hugging the mountain going in and out of valleys so there are waterfalls and flowing water everywhere.....really cool....i think i counted seeing 8 waterfalls in all......large ones too....well at the top there was a town which was slightly disconcerting cause that means you can drive up it as well but it was a nice little town......and though you kinda get bombarded after such a nice hike with all the people that have gotten a ride up and it is kinda depressing the town was wonderful.....and that day it was sunday and they had this little parade that they have once a year....it was the greatest....all this traditional wear......sorta like a sports parade but other things were in it.....fire and ambulance included....but very homely little parade nothing big......everything was either hand pulled or animal powered....and there was an exchange student and her host "sister" there so they told me a bit of the history making it that much more intresting......got a few souvenirs and because i had a train that nigth at 740 i didnt want to chance the timing deal and took the train down the mountain.....i did it backward...climbed up and railed it down.....but it was cheap cause it was downhill so it worked for me....anyway got back got a shower and made dinner.....in the process i met two other guys just arriving who were kinda in my same situation...not there for the adventure sports but the hiking and i totally wished i coulda stayed another day.....but being that the tix was already paid for it would ahve been poor economy to stay.....well i cooked dinner again off at the tents cause it was too crowded at the hostel courtward and i woulda gotten weird looks.....btu in doing so i definatly almost missed my train....hoped on with 2 minutes to spare as i raced across town.....quite rough.....but i made it and on the night train i was asked to switch cars so these two girls could be together....i didnt mind being that i am all alone and i actually got upgraded to a 4 person instead of a 6 person room and i went from the top to the bottom.......so needless to say it was a good move.....and there was a french/hungarian family there.....really nice guy but he was definatly one who liked politics a bit and so our current status with france his native land made it intresting......he was the first i met to be so strong about politics but was still very social with me and intrested in my journeys.....only thing was no matter what i said he kinda was like yeh that is typical american thing to do, or additude etc....but eh....he was a dentist and had fairly recently got divorced....and he as well adviced me to never get married as some other have as well......makes you wonder if it is just like a recoup thing they are going through and on the defense or if they really beleive it.....he said marrage has no benofits no a days which i disagree with but it is a changing thing...anyway...ok so yeh i got to bed fairly early and a decent nigth sleep.....arrived in vienna and decided to stay in the city (though my train did keep going to budapest so it was tempting to stay....)....well please see the vienna card for continuing....
Oh this is so cool...i needed two pics for austria and low and behold they have two pics of things i have seen today.....but before i get ahead of myself i should mention the final day in munich and then interlockin and then i can get to vienna.....so actually i should be putting this under interlockin but i am lazy.......ok so the final day in munich was excellant.....that night after i posted and such we had a wonderful dinner.....they lost their water and so helga just kinda threw together foods and it was amazing.....such good food and without water....go ahead try to cook a meal without water it is really rough.......well then david offered to take me to a party in a nearby town but i was just needin to relax and get up ontime the next morning so i decided to stay in.....well the next morning i got in a nice shower and all my clothes got cleaned the night before so i was doing amazing.....and as you can see they got their water back shortly after dinner.....well then had a nice little breakfast and since helga was heading into town to go to work i got a ride with her.....and being the most amazing host as we are leaving she is filling my arms with food and drinks for the train......i said goodbye to all the bovarians and we headed to munich.....and as she lets me out and against my will she goes down the subway station to get me a tix for the metro so i get to the main station properly.....so nice.....well did the goodbyes and i was off to make the 1218 train.....yeh it is sad i am remembering the train scheduals....anyway so then it is off to interlockin...used another rail day for the trip.....well actually first was venice and then i decided to let fate take me the rest of the way.....next train be it luciene or interlockin i was gonna take.....luciene didnt happen for at least a few more hrs so interlockin it was with only a five minute wait.......well i was so hungry cause i had already downed helgas foods she gave me and i had no swiss franks yet....and dinner was approaching....then it passed and i kinda forgot about food.......but on the train to interlockin was this guy and his son who had been on a bike trip over the weekend.....well he was all about chatting with the american tourister...well prolly also cause his kid was really cute so i smiled and yeh we chatted......anyway he has been all over the world like 7 times cause he gets 3 months off a year for work....and he travels aditionally for work....he was in hartford a short time ago and raved about how nice hartford was.....i then questioned his sanity but maybe he was being polite......well he told me about this amazing laser/club/dancing/festival thing going on in zurich the next night and that 750000 people would eb there and i had to go.....well.....sounds like fun but it sounds like backtraking and it doesnt so much sound like me.....but he kept telling em i had to go......anyway so they departed and i arrived in interlockin around 7ish i think and the sky opens up......rain starts pouring down.....yeh not so cool....well then i find that the ticket and info office is the same place and looky what they had.....oh nothing other then the famous ticket line system....i am growing to like them but it was funny....and it is funny to see people have to use em for the first time....well i get me number and there is a girl a bit a head of me that is going to a hostel as well......well i asked if i could bum he directions instead of waiting to ask the same question......so she tells me em and they are a bit vague and seem too easy but ok.......so then we end up both tryin to wait out the storm a bit before departing.......she was a teacher from ontario...i think....something like that......after chatting with her for about 5 minutes it seemed like this would be an intresting little venture to find the hostel......our personalities were so different.....not sure if she noted it but i certainly did.....well the rain lets up enough that we both decided to make a go at it.....well we follow her directions she got and they are completly wrong.....well not wrong come to find out but she either mishheard the lady or i dont know what....yeh so as we are goin the way her directions say we stop twice for her to adjust her pack/suitcase deal......she had one of those suitcases with wheels but it also had backpack straps on it.....well she wasnt so used to carrying the 40 pounds or whatever in it and complained the entire time.....and then she was so really weird about the rain......she would go way out of her way to go under eves of the buildings and then have to come way back to get on the sidewalk for only 10 yards of rain free walking....and by this point it is not raining much and she has an umbrella......that with the stopping i knew this was not gonna be a fun walk....well we decided to turn it around and head a different way that seemed better....i ask for directions and got some and again the whole time we have to keep stopping for her to adjust he pack....or she would decided to wheel it for a bit.....but then decide it might get too wet so back on the back.....i could go on but lets just say it was a long walk and finally we find a hostel that we know is near where hers is......well by then we had directions for her hostel but since i was gonna go in to see if they had rooms free she asked me to ask just to make sure.....by then i was like whatever....so i go in they have rooms free so i am gonna stay there then i ask for directions and the guy says i dont know thats not me.....i was like oh no i will definatly stay here and pay now it is for someone outside and he just looks at me.....ok forget i asked.....so much for small town friendlyness......so i told her he wont tell me but that i am gonna stay here and she gets all flustered.....i was so tired of dealing with it i was just like i am sorry i tried and wished her well......it ended up being like another 50 yards down the road....i was just so happy to be on my own and remembered some of the perks of traveling alone....
...to continue.....yeh it was so nice to not be having her cling along....so then i book the room and at first i think the guy is joking when he say oh it is in a tent and points to this picture....i was like yeh for 20 (usd) i hope it isnt a tent....i didnt say this but i thought it and then come to find out he is quite serious...hummm intresting.....and it was no where near the hostel.....ok that is an exageration 10 minute walk down the road and they had a shuttle every 30 minutes or something......so well i decided with the pack and not knowing where the tents were to wait for the shuttle......a few other people also arrive including one guy who is from boston......and he is quite talkative to everyone on the shuttle.....it was weird to cause it was like it was forced and he was really trying to talk to everyone and make lots of conversation but i think that is just his personality.....well we arrive at our fine tents and it ends up that they are not too bad.....3 bunk bes in each and there are a makeshift toilet and shower setup outside and the tent even comes with a heater and work lamp so it could be worse.....besides it is all about the experience......well he and i had both not eatten food.....well he has been told the only cheap good place to eat is hooters.....yup hooters in switzerland......it went against everything i stood for cause i wanted as little american and as much culture as possible....well i wasnt gonna argue though so i said sure lets go....and it was actually a fairly welcome change to have a good old grilled chicken sandwich.....and that my second trip to hooters is in another country....well we had a decent chat and he is this engineering major who is doing a grad school excahnge deal for 3 weeks.....and he is thinking about doing what i am doing next year......so it was nice conversation.....well then we went back to the hostel and he wanted to go socialize and that sounded good to me and the hostel had a bar.....well we go in and it ended up being a club.....not huge but definatly like any club one would see in the states and the vast majority of people were english speakers.....well i wasnt exactly feeling the club thing so i jetted and he came soon after......so we go to bed and then i get woken up by him (this is bad but i dont remember his name....i think it was steve...) and some swiss army guy fighting.....in my blurred eyes it was obvious the swiss guy was completly trashed (we had also seen him and his 5 buddies macking it at the bar...in full regalia none the less)....well the swiss guy wanted to fight and i got slightly worried but just rolled back over and went to bed.....so the next day steve was doing what every other person goes to interlaken for...outdoor sports....these include everything...bungy jumping, sky diving, paragliding, canoening, white water rafting, kyaking etc etc.....all started off at like 100 dollars or something completly rediculous....even the low key like hiking in the glacier area was a ton....i was tempted but for that price hiking was just fine with me......so day one i hiked this hill right by interlaken......kinda made it into a longer hike then it needed to be cause the trail was marked with the name of the mountain but i followed the one that said loop and not summit (it was in another language of course) and ended up doign the long way....but it was a great walk.....let me tell you it showed me just how outta shape i was....there was this trucker festival in the valley and so i could faintly hear the live band playing what sounded like classic rock the whole time......then toward the top i there was like this grove of evergreens....cool little place and i am looking at the trail sign and all i hear is buzzing.....i look around and there are all these bees...everywhere......but they are not really acting like bees.....they are hoovering too much and it was weird but i jetted óff....turns out they are what david called fake bees and they are just some fly.....some story i know....then as i took a new trail down i came accross a typical european resturant on the mountain which was really nice to have a salad (as it was the only relivivly normal priced thing on the menu)....so i decended for the day and hung out at the hostel.....glad i didnt stay too much longer as the skies opened up and it began to pour.....yeh fun stuff.....but i did my journal project and finished divinci code for the second time....with critiques and eevrything.....i went to bed early too around 11 i think....next morning i got up and splurged for the 5 francs for eggs and bacon with my bread and water.....but the hostel was impressive with all it had to offer and as it should cause it is one of the top 10 hostels in the world.... www.famoushostels.com ...baumers was the name.....so it had a nice faclity.....well i wake up and eat and then i decided to go to the next valley after talkign with some of the other hostels the day before and try the hiking out there......it ends up being amazing.....it will be a day i will not forget...the pic above is where my train arrived and i have pics of that exact waterfall...ws amazing.....so yeh continuing i hit up the waterfall which is not far out of town (you can see it from in town..) and then i got some supplies and i was off.....the trail which double as an acess road for some of the locals lucky enough to live there parralled this stream which was quite fast moving....it was all white water so i am thinking it comes from melting snow so that makes sense.....kidding.....but it was quite fast moving and would make for a great rafting adventure.....the hike was beautiful cause most people were not doing the hiking deal and those that were seemed to be locals.....so then i found my path upward....and the little instruction i had warned it was 1500 feet vertical rise and sure enough it was not a foot less.....well it migth have been but it was steep...definatly the most intense hiking i had done yet....thought the trail was really well manicured and upkept so it was not rough climbing like in germany.....(dont get me wrong the rough hiking is that much more rewarding this was just different....) anyway so on the way up there is no one going up or down cause everyone is taking the railcars or cablecars.....so it was quite peaceful and the whole way it is kinda hugging the mountain going in and out of valleys so there are waterfalls and flowing water everywhere.....really cool....i think i counted seeing 8 waterfalls in all......large ones too....well at the top there was a town which was slightly disconcerting cause that means you can drive up it as well but it was a nice little town......and though you kinda get bombarded after such a nice hike with all the people that have gotten a ride up and it is kinda depressing the town was wonderful.....and that day it was sunday and they had this little parade that they have once a year....it was the greatest....all this traditional wear......sorta like a sports parade but other things were in it.....fire and ambulance included....but very homely little parade nothing big......everything was either hand pulled or animal powered....and there was an exchange student and her host "sister" there so they told me a bit of the history making it that much more intresting......got a few souvenirs and because i had a train that nigth at 740 i didnt want to chance the timing deal and took the train down the mountain.....i did it backward...climbed up and railed it down.....but it was cheap cause it was downhill so it worked for me....anyway got back got a shower and made dinner.....in the process i met two other guys just arriving who were kinda in my same situation...not there for the adventure sports but the hiking and i totally wished i coulda stayed another day.....but being that the tix was already paid for it would ahve been poor economy to stay.....well i cooked dinner again off at the tents cause it was too crowded at the hostel courtward and i woulda gotten weird looks.....btu in doing so i definatly almost missed my train....hoped on with 2 minutes to spare as i raced across town.....quite rough.....but i made it and on the night train i was asked to switch cars so these two girls could be together....i didnt mind being that i am all alone and i actually got upgraded to a 4 person instead of a 6 person room and i went from the top to the bottom.......so needless to say it was a good move.....and there was a french/hungarian family there.....really nice guy but he was definatly one who liked politics a bit and so our current status with france his native land made it intresting......he was the first i met to be so strong about politics but was still very social with me and intrested in my journeys.....only thing was no matter what i said he kinda was like yeh that is typical american thing to do, or additude etc....but eh....he was a dentist and had fairly recently got divorced....and he as well adviced me to never get married as some other have as well......makes you wonder if it is just like a recoup thing they are going through and on the defense or if they really beleive it.....he said marrage has no benofits no a days which i disagree with but it is a changing thing...anyway...ok so yeh i got to bed fairly early and a decent nigth sleep.....arrived in vienna and decided to stay in the city (though my train did keep going to budapest so it was tempting to stay....)....well please see the vienna card for continuing....
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