Dave’s Euro Trip!

I ate snails!  They were pretty tasty, served in their shells with some kind of buttery pesto sauce.  Some of them put up a good fight as I tried to extricate them from their shells, even though I was armed with utensils that looked like medieval torture devices. 

Yesterday I took a bike tour of the city, from the same company “Fat Tire” that I used in Berlin.  It was a great way to see the city, and check off a lot of the sights all at once.  We got a lot of historical background on some of the older streets and plazas in the city, from public guillotine sites used during the French Revolution, to the streets where the Allied Troops marched through when Paris was liberated from Nazi control.  Again, I was reminded of stories my grandfather told me about WW II.  He was among those troops marching through Paris, and a little girl ran up to him and handed him a small figurine of Napoleon, a token of thanks which he kept on the windowsill in the living room.

I posted a message in the couchsurfing forum for Paris that I was traveling solo, and looking for other solo travelers to meet up with.  Yesterday I got a response from a fellow CSer named Jules who is from Berlin.  We met up in a park in the afternoon, and sat and watched a drum and dance performance put on by a group of rhythmically-gifted individuals from Sierra Leone.  Then, remembering some advice from Anna about how to truly enjoy a relaxing day in Paris, I suggested we go to the store.  We brought a whole heap of cheese, wine, and bread back to the park, and slowly grazed while enjoying the music.  All the stories I heard about the bread in France were indeed true.  It was so wonderfully crispy-crunchy on the outside, and perfectly soft on the inside.  And oh how I wish we could get giant hunks of delicious brie for €1.50 in the states.

Today, Jules and I are going to meet up and explore the “Catacombs” of Paris.  Apparently long ago the cemetaries here were overcrowded and they exhumed thousands of skeletons and stuffed them into underground tunnels which you can now walk through.  Lonely Planet calls it “creepy, but fascinating”.  After that, we are going to try and check out the Tour de France.  The final stretch is running right through Paris so hopefully we will be able to catch a glimpse.

-d

Hello friends…

I am writing from the lobby of a youth hostel in the historic French town Besançon.  Just crossed the Switzerland-France border earlier today.

I ended up spending four nights in the Swiss town Gryon, high up in the Alps.  The hostel there is wonderful, and many of the occupants were “long termers” who come back every summer and stay for weeks or even months.  I can understand why; it was paradise.

My days were spent going for beautiful hikes in the mountains, along rivers, up mountain-sides, and next to sweeping views of lush valleys.  I love the Alps.  I made some friends with some fellow hostelers who shared my same passion for hiking, and funny enough several of them were from California.  We cooked some nice group dinners in the hostel kitchen, including the first Mexican food I have had in over a month!  One guy in the hostel is from Mexico and he made the best ceviche I have ever tasted.  Nights involved drinking wine by a bonfire, playing my drum along with singing and guitar-playing travelers, and enjoying the crisp Alpine breeze.

It was hard to pull myself away from Gryon, but JB’s wedding is coming up soon and I want to get a good taste of France!  Not much seems to be happening in this town–I picked it due to its proximity to the border.  I think tomorrow I will take the high speed train to Paris.  Probably will skip most of the southern cities, as I have heard they are overrun with tourists, overpriced, and crowded.

So far Switzerland might be my favorite country of all.  Between the great outdoor activities, the incredibly friendly people, the richest chocolate I have ever tasted, and cheese that smells like the feet of angels, I was one happy Dave.

Just wanted to share some pictures from a hike I took in the Swiss Alps the other day.  Picture a small
trail snaking through gigantic snow-capped mountains, with sweeping
panoramic views of valleys and towns below… small farms here and
there with herds of cows grazing, their cowbells ringing loudly
together like a symphony of windchimes.  I hiked for five hours, on this incredible trail that Bettina recommended to me, and it was so much better than any packaged tour I could have arranged on my own.  The only people I saw along the way were older Swiss hikers.  Not a fanny pack or guidebook in sight.

Next, I will be heading to a small town in the Alps called Gryon, which was enthusiastically recommended to me by Jocelyn and Jerica who both have stayed there.  There is a hostel which faces the mountains, and offers a very home-like atmosphere with a fireplace, large communal kitchen, and has wine and chocolate tastings every night.  They also arrange camping trips, rock climbing, and paragliding in case I get bored of just sitting and appreciating the nature.

After that, I will make my way over to France.  I got a few recommendations of coastal towns to visit in the south on my way to Perpignan.

Cheers!

Dave

Greetings from Interlaken, a beautiful small town nestled between two enormous lakes and surrounded by mountains. I am couchsurfing with a local journalist named Bettina who met me at the train station yesterday. She went to work, and it’s raining this morning, so I decided to post some photos:

http://picasaweb.google.com/eurodave2008

Some hilights from the last week or so:

• Eating the best pizza in the world, in Naples, from a pizzaria that has been open since 1870.
• Hanging out in a plaza in Naples late at night with a girl Giovanna that works at the hostel and could translate Italian for me. Making several Italian friends who gave me lots of travel advice.
• Wandering through the ruins of Pompeii, an ancient city which was frozen in time when it was buried under a blanket of ash and lava in 79 AD following the eruption of Mt Vesuvius.
• Taking a night train from Naples to Riomagiorre, the first of five coastal towns that comprise the “Cinque Terre”. Sleeping on the street, right next to the ocean, until the hostel opened up.
• Breathtaking views of coastal towns and cliffs, hiking on the Cinque Terre footpaths
• Playing my aluminum djembe (which I bought in Naples) on the beach at night.
• Cooking dinner for a group of eight in Cinque Terre. First good serving of veggies in quite a while. Pasta with mushrooms, spinach, garlic, and peppers served with the finest local boxed wine. Check out a video that my friend Hunter made, documenting the occasion: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHZ-WJiSCxY
• Italian espresso and gelato every day
• Arriving in Interlaken, Switzerland, marveling at the nature, the physically-fit older people, and the bilingual small children
• Being greeted by my incredibly kind couchsurfing host Bettina who is a local journalist. Cooking dinner together, learning about all of her favorite mountain hikes (which I will explore once it stops raining).

Still trying to decide if I should splurge on skydiving or bungee jumping… hmm…

After overdosing on museums, churches, and crowds of tourists, I was starting to feel burned out.  I talked to some people in my hostel in Naples and they recommended I go to the island of Ischia which is a one hour ferry ride off the coast.  What a good idea that was.  Here’s a brief recap:

Day 1: Arrived at the hostel on the island, run by three Italian brothers.  Will have to post some pictures soon because words won’t do it justice.  The island is mostly a big hill/mountain getting steeper as you go further inland.  The hostel is perched with a beautiful view of the mountain and the houses built right into it, and you can see the sunset and the ocean from the terrace on top.  The brothers have a family restaurant, and they give people in the hostel a free ride there at night if they want to go.  So a group of eight of us went.   The food was so good… I sampled a bunch of different Italian foods, made by the brothers’ mom, and lots of good wine.  Nice bonding experience with the others in the hostel as well.  At night, I went down to the beach with a few of my new friends with a guitar from the hostel, and a small metal djembe that I bought in Naples.  We had a beach jam session, singing horribly off-key and taking turns strumming the guitar randomly (nobody knew how to play).  Dipped my feet into the ocean which was as warm as bath water.

Day 2: Took a trip to some natural hot springs with some of my friends from the hostel.  We decended some steep steps down a cliff, and saw the springs… an oasis of emerald colored water, with smooth round rocks dotting the bottom.  The ‘hot’ end of the springs was marked with a warning sign in seven languages, and with good cause.  Somebody actually was making hard boiled eggs in it.  We positioned ourselves at a safe distance where hot currents from the springs mixed with cool currents from the sea in a delightful tango of temperatures.  We spent several hours there, soaking, swimming, floating around, and generally just being blissful.  Went back to the hostel, fell asleep in a hammock, read for a few hours, and went out to dinner at the brothers’ restaurant again.

Day 3: Woke up early, hiked up to the top of the island mountain, which used to be a volcano.  It was about an hour of steep climbing, but it was worth it for the view: a 360 degree sweeping vista of the island, mainland Naples, and the whole bay.  After the hike back down, we rewarded ourselves with some lunch, big bottles of Italian beer, and a dip in the sea.  After another nap, went out to a different restaurant with some people.  Got a delicious seafood rissotto, tasty white wine, and finished it off with tiramisu.

It was a great vacation from the vacation, and it made me realize that traveling for me has to be a lot more than crossing things off the ‘must see’ list.  I can certainly appreciate man-made things such as castles, bridges, and even the most beautiful sculptures, but seeing them will never be as personally rewarding for me as something so simple as sitting on a beach staring off into the ocean.

Had a good day in Naples today, wandering around with a friend I met at the hostel.  Taking the train up to La Spezia today, which is a jumping-off point for Cinque Terre: Five coastal towns in Italy connected by coastal foot paths with incredible views of the sea.  Will be spending three nights there before heading up to Switzerland.

In a few days, it will be the one-month mark of my trip.  It has flown by, but I am also getting homesick some times.  I’d love to hear some updates from all of you, my dear readers!  And if anyone in San Francisco knows a way to send me a Tacqueria Chile Verde burrito via an overnight courrier service, I will be your best friend forever.  There is no mexican food anywhere and it’s killing me!

Ciaoooo…

Some highlights:

Prague: Another great couchsurfing experience with my new Czech friend Djali.  We made dinner, went to a pub in the middle of the woods, and drank Czech beer for hours, talking about traveling.  A good example of the bitter-sweetness of what Chuck Palahniuk called “single serving friends”.

Vienna/Klagenfurt: Met up with my good college buddy Sara who is living in Austria with her boyfriend.  He happened to be in Vienna on business, and his company had overbooked hotel rooms so I got to have my own hotel room for free!  It was such a luxury.  Sara and her boyfriend played a joke on me, and called up my room in the morning, pretending to be from the company, and asking who I was since my name was “not on the list”.  I almost had a heart attack.  Then we went back to Klagenfurt where they live, and Sara and I went for a nice bike ride around a lake, and went swimming.  We finished off the day with some traditional Austrian food, beer, and gelato.

Florence: Michaelangelo’s David was breathtaking, even though my breath is not prone to being taken by sculptures.  The sheer size of the sculpture, and the anatomical detail in all the muscles, veins, and bone structures was way beyond anything I had ever seen.  Florence was ridiculously hot though, and the crowds of tourists were even more stifling.  I decided I needed to seek out some nature, instead of focusing on seeing the sights.  On my way out of Florence, there was a national strike on the train lines.  Luckily I found one that was running to get me away.

Naples: I heard stories about Naples being dirty, gritty, full of garbage and congested with traffic.  But I love it here.  I went for a walk yesterday and got lost in a neighborhood where there was not one other foreigner.  The narrow streets were filled with old men playing cards, children playing, clothes hanging between buildings, and vespas zipping around at alarming speeds.  At night, I went to a jazz concert with some people from the hostel.  After we found ourselves in a plaza where the local 20-somethings hang out drinking beer sold by the local shopkeep who happily stays open all night.  I met a few locals who gave me some travel advice, particularly about the south of France.  One even offered to host me in Paris when I arrive, as he will be going back.

Today I am off to the island of Ischia, a one hour ferry ride from Naples.  While it is a big touristy island, I have also read about secluded beaches, and long hikes that take you to hilltops where you can see all the islands in the bay.   The temperature is supposed to be more mild, as well, which will be a nice break from the heat.

Ciao!

I’m currently in Klagenfurt, Austria visiting my ol’ buddy Sara from college who lives here with her boyfriend.  I gotta get to bed so I can get up early and go on a 50 mile bike ride down a mountain with Sara in the morning.

For now, check out these pictures I just posted to the album:

http://picasaweb.google.com/eurodave2008

It’s a really hot day in Prague, so I thought I’d duck into an internet cafe to escape the sun, and give some updates.

First of all, I just have to say that couchsurfing.com is my new best friend.  I know I’ve blabbed on and on about this to many of you already, but here’s a quick recap: Couchsurfing is a website that aims to create a worldwide network of trust-worthy people who can host and be hosted during their travels around the world.  Whenever a potential host receives a request from a surfer, the host can check the profile of their potential guest and vice versa.  The profile contains all sorts of information, such as a short biography, travel philosophies, likes/dislikes, and most importantly a list of recommendations from other couchsurfing users.  Over time, as a surfer becomes more experienced, they build up more credibility making it even easier to find hosts.

Sure, it saves the long-term traveller a good chunk of change, but the real value lies in the opportunity to gain a “local” as opposed to “tourist” perspective of the place you’re visiting.  When I stayed with Andreas in Berlin, that’s exactly what I got.  The first night I stayed with him, there were two other American guys surfing his living room as well.  Andreas had to get to bed early, but he directed us to a small club that he frequents on the weekends.  The bartenders were surprised to meet us, since they didn’t remember any foreigners ever coming in before.  They chatted us up all night, giving us lots of free drinks.

My second day in Berlin was more low-key.  I caught up on some sleep, did some train route planning, and cooked dinner with Andreas when he got home from work.  He made a delicious stew of pork, mushrooms, onions and rosemary served over pasta, served along with a salad of lettuce, apples, and asparagus.  We washed it down with some local white wine.  Since he knew I like to cook, I got to play the part of assistant chef, chopping, mixing, and keeping an eye on the stove, as he explained the recipe to me.

On my third day, I took the train up north to visit the Sachsenhausen concentration camp, which was used by the Nazis between 1936 and 1945.  Over 200,000 prisoners passed through its gates, which were marked with the German phrase, “Arbeit Macht Frei” (Work will make you free).  While the camp was not intended for mass executions like Auschwitz, it is estimated 100,000 people died there due to exhaustion, malnutrition, medical experiments, and violence committed by the guards.  It was a powerful experience, walking through the camp, imagining the atrocities committed not long ago in our history.

The experience also brought up memories of my grandfather who served in the Army Corps of Engineers during World War II.  He never said much about his experiences, but he did share one story with me when I was young.  Since he was an engineer in the Army, his unit would move ahead of the front lines, clearing minefields and building bridges to support the advancing troops.  On one occasion, his unit arrived at a concentration camp just after it had been liberated by allied troops.  I still remember his eyes tearing up as he recalled the horrors he saw.  He remembered that there were people who died upon being given food; they were in such advanced stages of starvation that their bodies could not handle it.

Some people I’ve spoken with were surprised why anyone would want to visit a place like Sachsenhausen.  I think the reason can best be described by a quote on a piece of paper that Anna slipped into my backpack just before I left:

The only real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes. - Marcel Proust

Now, I’m off to meet my next couchsurfing host in Prague!  More updates about my Czech experiences soon.  Tentative upcoming cities: Vienna, Florence, Rome, Cinque Terre (5 coastal villages in Italy),  Zurich, Interlaken…