Nothing like waking up in a super comfy bed to a bowl of shreddies. We got up and out and on our way to London to meet San Sebastian Sam at a pub near his office/bank/wherever he is claiming to work today. We love the English way of pints at the pub during a break from the office. That's a work environment we could get used to...maybe we need to expand the Australian job hunt to the UK as well. Epic news, we were early! Sam arrived and we cheersed our Doonbar's to adventures, present and future. (Jessie Foley if you are reading this prepare to be weirded out...) Sam turned to Jenny and declared that he worked with a girl she went to school with when she lived in the UK, Shona (thanks Mark Zuckerburg for the mutual friends facebook feature). Jenny hadn't seen Shona since she was 11 years old so when she turned up at the pub it was one crazy coincidental reunion! The 4 of us briefly caught up until the duties of this real world we have heard about called Sam and Shona away. We were left to wander Soho and window shop before heading back to Kingston on a train ride that suited us both for a little snooze. We explored Kingston shopping area, getting lost even though we should know our way around these parts like champs by now. In a sneaky deal with Tim and Shirley we had swapped babysitting Jen's cousin Loius in exchange for a free ride to the airport before the crack of dawn. Babysitting consisted of a little kid food cooking (Jen's specialty) and a coreographed dance routine - video will be making it's way to the blog sometime soon. Cherades rounded out our super babysitting evening before bed for Louis, and chores for Jenny and Kelly.
For some reason this was a moment that it both really hit us...We were going home...not home the way we refer to whatever hostel we are staying in that night, or even home the way we walked about our temporary residence in Costa Rica. Home sounded strange, scary, unfamiliar, overhwelming as well as exciting, relaxing, cleansing and routine. We have a LOT of packing to do, thanks a lot over packing prior selves! In retrospect we feel like this experience has flown by, and could easily have been a long and detailed dream. They say home is where the heart is but we think our hearts are with backpacking, at least for now.
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Thursday May 4th - Don't worry, be happy
"Don't worry...be happy..OooOOohhHH..." This is the song that Stena Line uses as an alarm clock via the loud speaker, not too shabby. 5:30 am wake up announcements had us wishing we could stay in our dark warm cabin for days. But we managed to get ourselevs up and off the boat (not last this time). Jenny noticed on our ferry ride that we had re-emerged into an english speaking country for the first time in months! What a luxury it is...but also strange that everyone can understand us now as well. ah oh!
Our rail and sail passes had us jump right on a train from Harwich to London; from there we bought train and tube passes for the day. We took the tube to Waterloo station, hoping to take the train to Kingston, change, drop off our backpacks and head back into London. We quickly realized there were NO trains leaving and an announcement on the board said someone had been hit by a train at Charing Cross. What a sad story! We gathered it would be a while before we could set off, so we made an executive decision to stash our bags in lockers and go shop despite our appearence and dirty clothes and scraggle hair. Hungry hippos as usual, we popped in a bar at the station for a 4£ english breakfast to start the day off right.
Zara, Top Shop, H&M, boutiques...we hit all the major spots and left happily at the end of the day, each with one new item to treat ourselves. Backpacking is not a pretty sight on your blogging hosts, and we became enthralled with women in Top Shop who were threading eyebrows (it's weird, google it). We are usually wax girls, but this opportunity to look a little more human was too tempting. Ouch...but we feel like new people with shaped brows :) awww coming back into the real world.
We finally made our way to Kingston around 7, with plans of going back into London to meet Sam and James, our friends from San Sebastian who live in london. We showered, fell in love with the suitcase of clean clothes we had left here, and chatted with Tim, Shirley and Louie. It felt so nice to be back here, and a bit surreal as well. Opening our suitcases was like every Christmas and birthday ever. We have been living in the same 5 t-shirts, 3 pairs of pants, 1 fleece and a few misc. items for 2 months. Our prior overpacker selves had stuffed everything we could into giant suitcases, and coming back to these was the ultimate ecstacy. Honestly a feeling that we can't describe and most likely won't remember, but we are sure a feeling that every backpacker knows.
We quickly showered and got ourselevs together but our timing was pretty off tonight. By the time we made it to London, we only had an hour before we had to catch the last train back to Kingston. Poor Sam met us at a bar by the station for quick Mojitos in Cubana, and a brief game of catch up. He was a great host for the 45 minutes we were with him! We decided it just wasn't enough time with good ole Sam, so we made plans for lunch tomorrow in town.
Luck was in our favor as we parted ways with our friend and caught the train. We watched a drunk couple scarf down food and pass out while we dozed a bit ourselves. The couple bolted off nearly missing their stop about 30 minutes later and we couldn't help but crack up and a guy across from us joined in. We struck up conversation with this tattoed, british young man about our story and his. He recently started his own music company and plans to move back to L.A. by the end of the year... such a nice guY!
We paced home quickly, not fans of English weather. Alice's new room was the next best thing to our own beds...only 1 more nights.....
Our rail and sail passes had us jump right on a train from Harwich to London; from there we bought train and tube passes for the day. We took the tube to Waterloo station, hoping to take the train to Kingston, change, drop off our backpacks and head back into London. We quickly realized there were NO trains leaving and an announcement on the board said someone had been hit by a train at Charing Cross. What a sad story! We gathered it would be a while before we could set off, so we made an executive decision to stash our bags in lockers and go shop despite our appearence and dirty clothes and scraggle hair. Hungry hippos as usual, we popped in a bar at the station for a 4£ english breakfast to start the day off right.
Zara, Top Shop, H&M, boutiques...we hit all the major spots and left happily at the end of the day, each with one new item to treat ourselves. Backpacking is not a pretty sight on your blogging hosts, and we became enthralled with women in Top Shop who were threading eyebrows (it's weird, google it). We are usually wax girls, but this opportunity to look a little more human was too tempting. Ouch...but we feel like new people with shaped brows :) awww coming back into the real world.
We finally made our way to Kingston around 7, with plans of going back into London to meet Sam and James, our friends from San Sebastian who live in london. We showered, fell in love with the suitcase of clean clothes we had left here, and chatted with Tim, Shirley and Louie. It felt so nice to be back here, and a bit surreal as well. Opening our suitcases was like every Christmas and birthday ever. We have been living in the same 5 t-shirts, 3 pairs of pants, 1 fleece and a few misc. items for 2 months. Our prior overpacker selves had stuffed everything we could into giant suitcases, and coming back to these was the ultimate ecstacy. Honestly a feeling that we can't describe and most likely won't remember, but we are sure a feeling that every backpacker knows.
We quickly showered and got ourselevs together but our timing was pretty off tonight. By the time we made it to London, we only had an hour before we had to catch the last train back to Kingston. Poor Sam met us at a bar by the station for quick Mojitos in Cubana, and a brief game of catch up. He was a great host for the 45 minutes we were with him! We decided it just wasn't enough time with good ole Sam, so we made plans for lunch tomorrow in town.
Luck was in our favor as we parted ways with our friend and caught the train. We watched a drunk couple scarf down food and pass out while we dozed a bit ourselves. The couple bolted off nearly missing their stop about 30 minutes later and we couldn't help but crack up and a guy across from us joined in. We struck up conversation with this tattoed, british young man about our story and his. He recently started his own music company and plans to move back to L.A. by the end of the year... such a nice guY!
We paced home quickly, not fans of English weather. Alice's new room was the next best thing to our own beds...only 1 more nights.....
May 2nd...and 3rd - aaaand Kelly's thinking about chocolate milk again
As Kelly turned our alarm off this morning she scrolled through all the usual iPhone apps of Facebook, Twitter and CNN to learn about Osama Bin Laden being killed. In quite a bit of shock we read aloud various articles online about what had happened and the celebrations taking place in the states. Moments like this we feel far from home, and remember that we are often out of the loop more than we realize. We showered and packed up quickly (baffled that it was our last hostel night) so that we could watch the news over our last free breakfast. We were glued to the TV as we watched the US and global reactions to what was happening. Trying to get our heads around it all was pretty difficult, but the oh so wise Patti Foster articulated it best (stay tuned for wise quote).
Our ideal situation for this day was as follows: hop on a short train ride to Basel, Switzerland in order to enjoy another full day here...then take an overnight direct train to Amsterdam for a small fee, in order to spend the afternoon tomorrow there before catching our ferry from Hook of Holland tomorrow night. But that would just be too easy wouldn't it? Of course.
Actual series of events went as follows:
The dweebster train station ticket man informed us the night train we wanted to take would cost us over 200 euros. HA! That was never going to happen, so we figured we would figure out our own route, which is nottttt easy. Getting timing and fees and countries on our Eurail pass right was a serious challenge. We hopped on a train to Basel, got kicked out of 1st class (again) and an hour later we were in the bustling station hearing nothing but bad news from the friendly information man. Our route to Holland was getting more and more difficult. Wifi was crucial in this moment, so we bought tickets to Paris (our in between spot, yes it was necessary) and set into town to find internet on our hour and a half layover. After a Switzerland priced coffee where the wifi ran out, Kelly eventually found a Starbucks just down the road. We examined all our options and decided we had about a 20 minute window to get off our train in Paris to a bus station (via Metro) and take an overnight bus to Amsterdam like we had early in the trip. We knew this was a risk but it was our cheapest and least homeless gamble.
Somehow, we always keep ourselves entertained on trains, but for some reason this 4 hour trip to Paris was most bored we had ever been. Of course our lack of things to do had us cracking up most of the ride at our own weirdness. And of course we put a hefty dent in our groceries.
Our train pulled into Paris at 11:05pm, approximately 15 minutes late, meaning we were stuck in Paris, homeless and exhausted. If it hadn't been the LAST time this would happen we would have been more bothered perhaps, but this wasn't our fault and luckily we planned ahead and knew how to get ourselves to the hostel here we liked so much.
A short metro ride later (yes, Paris still gives us the heeby jeebies at night), we were waiting in line at St. Christopher's Inn. our hope was to chill in the busy bar til it closed and then hopefully loiter around til 5am-ish when we would leave to get on a 7am bus to Amsterdam. But we knew it was more likely we would paying for a dorm for the next 5 hours. As we waited in line, the friendliest of all hostel workers we had met our first time here spotted us and recognized us! What a crazy good memory! We explained our situation in small talk, and he offered us to chill in the bar and then just hang with him and some other people who work there til we have to leave...Liam to the rescue! Times like these are what redeem any negative encounters with people...Liam barely knew us and went out of his way to save our wallets and time. What a gem!
We sat around for a while until the bar closed, at which point our crew for the night began to appear. Liam, our Australian host, introduced us to Cristian the Brazilian chef, Marly the quirky Australian hostel guest who has befriended the hostel staff, and Rashid the Moroccan chef. We played pool as the night crew cleaned up and Cristian became hero #2 by bringing out huge bowl of potato wedges and nachos for all of us. Friending the staff is definitely not a bad route to go... chefs especially if you are hefs like us. After a couple hours, we sneaked into an empty room and Liam set up his laptop for a movie. We piled around and watched "True Romance"...the movie was so awesome that as it ended we realized it was 5am and we had made it! Victory! We said our goodbyes and thank yous and strapped Burt and Dewey to us in hopes of making a morning bus. As we left St. Chris, I guess we realized that was our last homeless nomad night and we felt really amazing about it. Nights like that are what it's all about...in a moment of unknowing, we found ourselves pulling an all-nighter with two Aussies, a Moroccan and a Brazilian all living in Paris...all because of one nice saving gesture. They were great people and it was a perfect ending to a failed travel attempt.
As we stood purchasing our metro passes a man approached us...several full bags with him, and asked where we were from. He questioned us about our feelings on Bin Ladens death and was obviously a looneytoon, which started our morning in Paris off on a shakey note. So far we have not encountered almost any anti-American sentiment... we were hopeful it wouldn't begin now. Shortly after as we scanned a metro map, 3 Parisian army men approached us from behind and our stomachs knotted up yet again. Turns out the straight faced men were just trying to help us, but it's kind of hard to listen to someone who's holding an AK-47 to your back...
The bus station brought us further bad news, and we discovered there was no early morning bus to Amdam today! Which means the later bus was too late to make our ferry. Trains it is.
Long story short...trains were expensive. Trains were full. Repeat. Repeat. Ticket line, train line, ticket line, train line. Oh Paris, land of the helpful and friendly. Finally, we had tickets. Our lack of sleep, combined with a FREEZINg train station and stressful morning got the best of us for a few minutes, we admit. Luckily, we usually have our weakest link moments at different times and are able to support each other when there seems to be no light. We waited for our train in a station cafe where we were completely ignored by every waiter for nearly an hour as we tried to pay...we decided it was a perfect time to get rid of all of our 1 and 2 cent euro coins...7 euros later we pured our change into our Parisian waiters hand. It was a victorious moment for us, so we left and played cards until our train arrived! Kel & Jen-1, Paris-0. So, one far to expensive train ride later we made it to Amsterdam! We felt like we had just been here and had trouble believing we had begun here nearly 2 months ago. Our short afternoon visit confirmed that we still LOVE this city. We snacked on a bench, browsed the afternoon prostitute selection, and sipped big coffee in a coffee shop...really we just had coffee..geeez.
We walked around downtown and shopped for souvenirs when suddenly two old men came into the shop we were in...our ears perked up when one of the men (seriously, were talking remember when TV was invented old) asked the young hippy sales clerk: "Now this may be a dumb question, but can you tell me where we can buy a space cake?!". Let's just say it took every fiber of our being to not fall over laughing... obviously we followed the two men to the coffee shop they were directed too. Inside jenny got distracted by the dazed and confused black cat on a bar stool. Little guy was OUT, reminding us of a VERY scary magician and rabbit duo at Alex's birthday party a few years back. The AARP crowd left with a space cake in hand, leaving our minds racing with thoughts of the rest of their day.
Time was up and we had to head towards the train station...we didn't have time to see our Canadian buds again or the fabulous Mr. Lee Waddle for dinner, which was kind of bummy. But we were so focused on a cabin for sleeping and taking these backpacks off we honestly didn't mind to be traveling again so soon.
An couple hours later we were back to Hoek van Holland, where our Stena Line ferry awaited us as a proper ferry should (screw you janky Minoan ferry lines). Our cabin was the happiest place in the world...showers and comfy beds. Asleep by 10o'clock? Damn right...
Our ideal situation for this day was as follows: hop on a short train ride to Basel, Switzerland in order to enjoy another full day here...then take an overnight direct train to Amsterdam for a small fee, in order to spend the afternoon tomorrow there before catching our ferry from Hook of Holland tomorrow night. But that would just be too easy wouldn't it? Of course.
Actual series of events went as follows:
The dweebster train station ticket man informed us the night train we wanted to take would cost us over 200 euros. HA! That was never going to happen, so we figured we would figure out our own route, which is nottttt easy. Getting timing and fees and countries on our Eurail pass right was a serious challenge. We hopped on a train to Basel, got kicked out of 1st class (again) and an hour later we were in the bustling station hearing nothing but bad news from the friendly information man. Our route to Holland was getting more and more difficult. Wifi was crucial in this moment, so we bought tickets to Paris (our in between spot, yes it was necessary) and set into town to find internet on our hour and a half layover. After a Switzerland priced coffee where the wifi ran out, Kelly eventually found a Starbucks just down the road. We examined all our options and decided we had about a 20 minute window to get off our train in Paris to a bus station (via Metro) and take an overnight bus to Amsterdam like we had early in the trip. We knew this was a risk but it was our cheapest and least homeless gamble.
Somehow, we always keep ourselves entertained on trains, but for some reason this 4 hour trip to Paris was most bored we had ever been. Of course our lack of things to do had us cracking up most of the ride at our own weirdness. And of course we put a hefty dent in our groceries.
Our train pulled into Paris at 11:05pm, approximately 15 minutes late, meaning we were stuck in Paris, homeless and exhausted. If it hadn't been the LAST time this would happen we would have been more bothered perhaps, but this wasn't our fault and luckily we planned ahead and knew how to get ourselves to the hostel here we liked so much.
A short metro ride later (yes, Paris still gives us the heeby jeebies at night), we were waiting in line at St. Christopher's Inn. our hope was to chill in the busy bar til it closed and then hopefully loiter around til 5am-ish when we would leave to get on a 7am bus to Amsterdam. But we knew it was more likely we would paying for a dorm for the next 5 hours. As we waited in line, the friendliest of all hostel workers we had met our first time here spotted us and recognized us! What a crazy good memory! We explained our situation in small talk, and he offered us to chill in the bar and then just hang with him and some other people who work there til we have to leave...Liam to the rescue! Times like these are what redeem any negative encounters with people...Liam barely knew us and went out of his way to save our wallets and time. What a gem!
We sat around for a while until the bar closed, at which point our crew for the night began to appear. Liam, our Australian host, introduced us to Cristian the Brazilian chef, Marly the quirky Australian hostel guest who has befriended the hostel staff, and Rashid the Moroccan chef. We played pool as the night crew cleaned up and Cristian became hero #2 by bringing out huge bowl of potato wedges and nachos for all of us. Friending the staff is definitely not a bad route to go... chefs especially if you are hefs like us. After a couple hours, we sneaked into an empty room and Liam set up his laptop for a movie. We piled around and watched "True Romance"...the movie was so awesome that as it ended we realized it was 5am and we had made it! Victory! We said our goodbyes and thank yous and strapped Burt and Dewey to us in hopes of making a morning bus. As we left St. Chris, I guess we realized that was our last homeless nomad night and we felt really amazing about it. Nights like that are what it's all about...in a moment of unknowing, we found ourselves pulling an all-nighter with two Aussies, a Moroccan and a Brazilian all living in Paris...all because of one nice saving gesture. They were great people and it was a perfect ending to a failed travel attempt.
As we stood purchasing our metro passes a man approached us...several full bags with him, and asked where we were from. He questioned us about our feelings on Bin Ladens death and was obviously a looneytoon, which started our morning in Paris off on a shakey note. So far we have not encountered almost any anti-American sentiment... we were hopeful it wouldn't begin now. Shortly after as we scanned a metro map, 3 Parisian army men approached us from behind and our stomachs knotted up yet again. Turns out the straight faced men were just trying to help us, but it's kind of hard to listen to someone who's holding an AK-47 to your back...
The bus station brought us further bad news, and we discovered there was no early morning bus to Amdam today! Which means the later bus was too late to make our ferry. Trains it is.
Long story short...trains were expensive. Trains were full. Repeat. Repeat. Ticket line, train line, ticket line, train line. Oh Paris, land of the helpful and friendly. Finally, we had tickets. Our lack of sleep, combined with a FREEZINg train station and stressful morning got the best of us for a few minutes, we admit. Luckily, we usually have our weakest link moments at different times and are able to support each other when there seems to be no light. We waited for our train in a station cafe where we were completely ignored by every waiter for nearly an hour as we tried to pay...we decided it was a perfect time to get rid of all of our 1 and 2 cent euro coins...7 euros later we pured our change into our Parisian waiters hand. It was a victorious moment for us, so we left and played cards until our train arrived! Kel & Jen-1, Paris-0. So, one far to expensive train ride later we made it to Amsterdam! We felt like we had just been here and had trouble believing we had begun here nearly 2 months ago. Our short afternoon visit confirmed that we still LOVE this city. We snacked on a bench, browsed the afternoon prostitute selection, and sipped big coffee in a coffee shop...really we just had coffee..geeez.
We walked around downtown and shopped for souvenirs when suddenly two old men came into the shop we were in...our ears perked up when one of the men (seriously, were talking remember when TV was invented old) asked the young hippy sales clerk: "Now this may be a dumb question, but can you tell me where we can buy a space cake?!". Let's just say it took every fiber of our being to not fall over laughing... obviously we followed the two men to the coffee shop they were directed too. Inside jenny got distracted by the dazed and confused black cat on a bar stool. Little guy was OUT, reminding us of a VERY scary magician and rabbit duo at Alex's birthday party a few years back. The AARP crowd left with a space cake in hand, leaving our minds racing with thoughts of the rest of their day.
Time was up and we had to head towards the train station...we didn't have time to see our Canadian buds again or the fabulous Mr. Lee Waddle for dinner, which was kind of bummy. But we were so focused on a cabin for sleeping and taking these backpacks off we honestly didn't mind to be traveling again so soon.
An couple hours later we were back to Hoek van Holland, where our Stena Line ferry awaited us as a proper ferry should (screw you janky Minoan ferry lines). Our cabin was the happiest place in the world...showers and comfy beds. Asleep by 10o'clock? Damn right...
Packing up Burt and Dewy one last time...
A glimpse at the life (and sleep techniques) of a nomad...
Juuust the two of uUuussSs....
Sunday May 1st - Not Wood Like the Boner
Rise and shine early in Interlaken for a full day of Swiss exploration. We know nothing about Switzerland but we know that we like it, and that's enough for us. As wise travel savy (psh) Kelly had guessed last night during our pitch dark arrival, the mountains were indeed all around us...and huge for that matter! Staring up at them, some snow covered and rocky, some coated with lush green trees, we were amazed at a little building that sat on top of one of the mountains. Who the heck would build that, and who the heck would ever go up there?!
With the guiadnace of our super awesome hostel staff (Balmers Herbage is awesome!) we headed off to do some hiking. We were warned that it was a pretty hard hike and we would be very happy to get to the top. After Cinque Terre we were pretty certain we were the hiking masters...before we got schooled by a Swiss mountain. This hike was 3 hours straight up with rocky, tree stump floored trails. The views were UNBELIEVABLE! The city of Interlaken lies between 2 lakes which are both literally aqua blue. A picture can't capture this color but it looks like the most amazing bright gem in a piece of jewelry. Tree blanketed mountains are next to snow covered ones going up into clouds so thick they look like billows of white smoke. Switzerland is so crisp with insane natural beauty. About half way up we got to a tiny house surrounded by cows grazing while the noise of their huge cow bells chimed into the surrounding silence. This made us miss our pet cowgoats in CR, which seems worlds away from this mountain. As we climbed up we hit rain, super hot patches, freezing areas, and cool breezes. Mountain climates are a mystery to us but walking in and out of rain storms made Switzerland even stranger to us. We finally got to the top!!! And looked out and realized we were in the tiny building we had spotted on top of the mountain earlier that day. If we had known our destination there is no way we would have attempted this crazy hike! We enjoyed the view from the top and the satisfaction of our day before starting our long decent to the bottom. As wel walked down we met young American siblings enjoying time off work together in Switzerland and then Spain, reassurance that once we woman up and get real jobs vacations still exist! We deserved a legit siesta once we got home, after which Kel booked a flight for the final leg of her journey home. We haven't really processed going home yet but we know it's going to be strange and different.
After a failed hunt for an open grocery store we settled for nutella sandwiches for dinner and sat down in the cozy movie room to watch Calendar Girls, a feel good flick about old fogies who make a nudie calendar for charity. Good to know there is much fun to be had in the saggy tit era of our lives. We talked to a really nice interesting Australian couple who had to be in there mid 60's. Our conversation turned to politics and recessions - apparently Australia's prior prime minister saved them from recession. Maybe we need to move there and job hunt instead?
In addition to our cheerful friendly interesting Australians we met a Canadian traveler who taught us a valuable lesson. Do NOT become people who talk incessently about travel and backpacking as if we have seen/done/know it all. It is not only obnoxious but puts a nasty damper on the glorious free childlike feeling of travel. If we knew it all, we wouldn't have gone on this trip. Much like our knowledge of Switzerland, we know pretty much nothing about this life we are living, but we know we like it and that's enough for us.
With the guiadnace of our super awesome hostel staff (Balmers Herbage is awesome!) we headed off to do some hiking. We were warned that it was a pretty hard hike and we would be very happy to get to the top. After Cinque Terre we were pretty certain we were the hiking masters...before we got schooled by a Swiss mountain. This hike was 3 hours straight up with rocky, tree stump floored trails. The views were UNBELIEVABLE! The city of Interlaken lies between 2 lakes which are both literally aqua blue. A picture can't capture this color but it looks like the most amazing bright gem in a piece of jewelry. Tree blanketed mountains are next to snow covered ones going up into clouds so thick they look like billows of white smoke. Switzerland is so crisp with insane natural beauty. About half way up we got to a tiny house surrounded by cows grazing while the noise of their huge cow bells chimed into the surrounding silence. This made us miss our pet cowgoats in CR, which seems worlds away from this mountain. As we climbed up we hit rain, super hot patches, freezing areas, and cool breezes. Mountain climates are a mystery to us but walking in and out of rain storms made Switzerland even stranger to us. We finally got to the top!!! And looked out and realized we were in the tiny building we had spotted on top of the mountain earlier that day. If we had known our destination there is no way we would have attempted this crazy hike! We enjoyed the view from the top and the satisfaction of our day before starting our long decent to the bottom. As wel walked down we met young American siblings enjoying time off work together in Switzerland and then Spain, reassurance that once we woman up and get real jobs vacations still exist! We deserved a legit siesta once we got home, after which Kel booked a flight for the final leg of her journey home. We haven't really processed going home yet but we know it's going to be strange and different.
After a failed hunt for an open grocery store we settled for nutella sandwiches for dinner and sat down in the cozy movie room to watch Calendar Girls, a feel good flick about old fogies who make a nudie calendar for charity. Good to know there is much fun to be had in the saggy tit era of our lives. We talked to a really nice interesting Australian couple who had to be in there mid 60's. Our conversation turned to politics and recessions - apparently Australia's prior prime minister saved them from recession. Maybe we need to move there and job hunt instead?
In addition to our cheerful friendly interesting Australians we met a Canadian traveler who taught us a valuable lesson. Do NOT become people who talk incessently about travel and backpacking as if we have seen/done/know it all. It is not only obnoxious but puts a nasty damper on the glorious free childlike feeling of travel. If we knew it all, we wouldn't have gone on this trip. Much like our knowledge of Switzerland, we know pretty much nothing about this life we are living, but we know we like it and that's enough for us.
Interlaken
hikemania
Local waterhole
When you come to a fork in the road, take it!
Saturday April 30th - Mother Goose is definitely Swiss
Time to hike our bootys off in Lago de Como, and inevitably end up lost in George Clooney's backyard who will no doubt welcome us inside with open arms for a cookout...him and Kelly are both Kentuckians so obviously they will become fast friends, while Jenny will remain a little skeptical that he is probably an asshole but enjoy her Clooney cooked hamburger nonetheless. Let's just say our day didn't go exactly as we had planned.
We wanted to leave Bert and Dewey (our backpacks not our new boyfriends, duh) at our hostel and take a 3-4 hour hike up into the hills and mountains surrounding lago de como to get a better glimpse of the beautiful scenery. This was a no go since there was no good place at our bogus hostel to leave our luggage (Menaggio Youth Hostel = not so helpful) and because we wanted to go to switzerland, but the train there was going to take some serious time. We decided that due to our lack of hiking time dilemma we should compromise. We stashed Bert and Dewey in an outdoor shed (they are tough and dirty, they were okay with it) and went for a semi-hike up a steep hill to take in Lago de Como's epic scenery. Now this is a place to revisit with some mula. We would kill weeks enjoying fine dining on a five star hotel balcony here. Instead we settled for carrot sticks and granola bars on our hostel deck playing a seriously competitive game of Egyptian ratscrew (which Jenny dominated in, obviously). We got on our 55 minute bus to Como train station, which was one hell of an experience as the roads are crazy narrow and our bus driver was clearly an angry looney or seriously hopped up on stimulants - slow and steady was out the window for crazy turns, lots of honking, and serious pumping of the brakes. The scenery was gorgeous (ask Kelly, Jenny was power napping as usual like a damn cat) and there were huge beautiful villas lining the clear water. We can understand why George wants to live here...but can't be as understanding about why he didn't invite us over for a barbecue. We decided that Italy has some of the most incredible natural scenery (Cinque Terre & The Almafi Coast in addition to Lake Como) as well as an enchanting charm, bold pride, and unfussed feel. Italy is amazing because it is what it is without hesitation or apology. We like that about it and it's a good lesson for us to take away. Be happy with yourself and proud of yourself, flaws and imperfections included (not that there isn't always room for a little improvement :))
From Como we took a train to Arth- Goldau sitting across from an Australian lady originally from Hungary who had been looking at property on lake Como during her visit to her daughter living in Switzerland. Next we got on a train to Luzern and from there to Meiringen. As evening crept up we both stared out the window of our train totally amazed by the most brilliant scenery we have encountered. We passed storybook villages in valleys of snow covered mountains where the houses are nestled into the rich vegetation. The villages are tiny and houses look randomly sprinkled around, like monopoly houses that have been strewn across the lush green grass. There is literally no concrete to be seen as we whizz by tiny village after tiny village. This is the place where nursery rhymes were born, we decided. Hansel and Gretel must have been in a Swiss house, wizarding families must be living in these dimly lit wooden cabins. We arrived at Interlaken, a city we know nothing about but had a hostel recommendation for. As we walk to Bamer's Herbage in the dark we are amazed by how silent it is here. Even in the dark we can make out that every lawn is perfectly manicured, trees are pruned and flowers grow in organized patches along pretty fences. There is not a twig out of place or a person in sight. It is literally dead silent. Kelly speculated that we were probably surrounded by mountains, although the opaque darkness prevented us from making a conclusion about this. It was both beautiful and picturesque and slightly ominous at the same time. We decided this place, and the villages we had seen during our day of trains, were like the beginning of a novel where everything is depicted as extremely perfect...too perfect. The books you read and think "somethings got to go wrong any minute." The beauty of Switzerland is that it hasn't. They have remained in a state of neutrality since 18...? refusing to join the UN and holding on to their own currency in favor of the euro. The people are nice and helpful. The economy is thriving and adults here have the most wealth of any country in the world. Even the water that came out of the sink at our hostel was ice cold and better than Evian. We could definitely stay a while...if it wasn't so damn expensive!
We wanted to leave Bert and Dewey (our backpacks not our new boyfriends, duh) at our hostel and take a 3-4 hour hike up into the hills and mountains surrounding lago de como to get a better glimpse of the beautiful scenery. This was a no go since there was no good place at our bogus hostel to leave our luggage (Menaggio Youth Hostel = not so helpful) and because we wanted to go to switzerland, but the train there was going to take some serious time. We decided that due to our lack of hiking time dilemma we should compromise. We stashed Bert and Dewey in an outdoor shed (they are tough and dirty, they were okay with it) and went for a semi-hike up a steep hill to take in Lago de Como's epic scenery. Now this is a place to revisit with some mula. We would kill weeks enjoying fine dining on a five star hotel balcony here. Instead we settled for carrot sticks and granola bars on our hostel deck playing a seriously competitive game of Egyptian ratscrew (which Jenny dominated in, obviously). We got on our 55 minute bus to Como train station, which was one hell of an experience as the roads are crazy narrow and our bus driver was clearly an angry looney or seriously hopped up on stimulants - slow and steady was out the window for crazy turns, lots of honking, and serious pumping of the brakes. The scenery was gorgeous (ask Kelly, Jenny was power napping as usual like a damn cat) and there were huge beautiful villas lining the clear water. We can understand why George wants to live here...but can't be as understanding about why he didn't invite us over for a barbecue. We decided that Italy has some of the most incredible natural scenery (Cinque Terre & The Almafi Coast in addition to Lake Como) as well as an enchanting charm, bold pride, and unfussed feel. Italy is amazing because it is what it is without hesitation or apology. We like that about it and it's a good lesson for us to take away. Be happy with yourself and proud of yourself, flaws and imperfections included (not that there isn't always room for a little improvement :))
From Como we took a train to Arth- Goldau sitting across from an Australian lady originally from Hungary who had been looking at property on lake Como during her visit to her daughter living in Switzerland. Next we got on a train to Luzern and from there to Meiringen. As evening crept up we both stared out the window of our train totally amazed by the most brilliant scenery we have encountered. We passed storybook villages in valleys of snow covered mountains where the houses are nestled into the rich vegetation. The villages are tiny and houses look randomly sprinkled around, like monopoly houses that have been strewn across the lush green grass. There is literally no concrete to be seen as we whizz by tiny village after tiny village. This is the place where nursery rhymes were born, we decided. Hansel and Gretel must have been in a Swiss house, wizarding families must be living in these dimly lit wooden cabins. We arrived at Interlaken, a city we know nothing about but had a hostel recommendation for. As we walk to Bamer's Herbage in the dark we are amazed by how silent it is here. Even in the dark we can make out that every lawn is perfectly manicured, trees are pruned and flowers grow in organized patches along pretty fences. There is not a twig out of place or a person in sight. It is literally dead silent. Kelly speculated that we were probably surrounded by mountains, although the opaque darkness prevented us from making a conclusion about this. It was both beautiful and picturesque and slightly ominous at the same time. We decided this place, and the villages we had seen during our day of trains, were like the beginning of a novel where everything is depicted as extremely perfect...too perfect. The books you read and think "somethings got to go wrong any minute." The beauty of Switzerland is that it hasn't. They have remained in a state of neutrality since 18...? refusing to join the UN and holding on to their own currency in favor of the euro. The people are nice and helpful. The economy is thriving and adults here have the most wealth of any country in the world. Even the water that came out of the sink at our hostel was ice cold and better than Evian. We could definitely stay a while...if it wasn't so damn expensive!
Cloudy but beautiful day in Lago de Como
Interlaken, Switzerland
Friday April 29th - Excuse me, are you going to the national jogging convention?
Today was our first and only day in Milan. We had a hostel booked in Lago de Como (Lake Como, and home of George Clooney, to those of you who are still hanging onto every word of our gripping blog from the US or UK - exciting stuff, huh?) this evening which we would make it to...eventually. First things first, Milano in a day. And what an amazing day it was! Hotel RossoVino started us off right with breakfast in bed. We will point out they throw the term "breakfast" around a bit loosely in Europe, except in England, the master/founder of delicious breakfast, and Amsterdam, the master/founder of the hungry stoner. Anyway, breakfast croissants did the trick and we hopped on a tram and made our way to the Duomo di Milano, a really amazing building in a big square full of people. The inside was amazing with huuge tables ablaze with prayer candles and the highest ceilings we have seen. The gothic interior is very different than a lot of the cathedrals and sanctuarys we have seen and the dark vibe and impressive stone gives you goosebumps. The stained glass windows were unlike any we have ever seen, made up of square panels depicting scenes of people. After we had taken in the beautiful strangeness of the Cathedral of Milan we strolled through a huge indoor shopping mall with McDonalds next to Gucci and Louis Vuitton, coming out to Piazza Scalable, where we sat on a stone bench and people watched for a moment. We kept on walking to the other big sight we had been told to see, Castelo Sforzesco. The old castle ruins were pretty cool but we were more taken with the beautiful sunshiney weather. We decided the educational sight-seeing part of our day was pretty much over so we followed some outdoor music and lay in a beautiful huge park, Parco Sempione, taking in all the groups of people walking by and hanging out. After a sufficient snooze/life chat about our friendship and how lucky we are in this particular moment, we were ready for some good old aimless wandering. We found ourselves in the Golden Quad, home of original designer stores and more runway fashions, both on manicans and wealthy shoppers, than we could count. Walking down the cobblestone road was a great way to get a taste of why this city is the fashion capital of the world. We pondered the pros and cons of various get-rich-quick schemes as we stared at all the stores we would most likely never shop in. If only we had no morals or an eligable sugar daddy...
By the end of our wandering it was somehow evening. We still needed to make our way to Lake Como, but obviously we should put that off to get a taste of Milan evening life. We sought out a great apperitivo place with a good vibe but none of them seemed as fun and delicious as our spot last night. Good Times Lounge round 2 it was, for the most apperitivos anyone has ever consumed in one sitting with a few pre-train cocktails.
What happened next should be preluded with a lesson we had during our 3 hours as TEFL students, which compared 3 types of travelers in an analogy about teaching styles. Traveler A plans every detail of their trip- they maps routes, schedule transportation, lodging, museum visits, reserve researched restaurants etc. Traveler B plans general guidelines, maybe booking or transportation, and has rough ideas about what they want to do, but is flexible with plan changes and willing to do things spur of the moment. Traveler C plans nothing, they show up where they want to be with no preparations and free as a bird open to any suggestion or chance encounter. On our first day of TEFL class we were asked to identify ourselves as one of the 3 travelers, and conclude pros and cons of each traveling style (a lesson that we must admit we found to be pretty stupid at the time, but in retrospect was the most unreal forshadowing and a discussion we often recall). Both Kelly and Jenny found themselves somewhere between traveler A and B, concluding that traveler C was a total nutter putting themselves in stressful, and even risky situations and missing out on good things due to lack of research. It is safe to say that as our plans have changed and our organization has dwindled over the past 3 months, that we are both officially that unplanned nutter. The traveler C in us was ever apparent during the next few hours of our lives. We hopped on a bus to the train station, which apparently didn't go there, we should have taken the tram. A Milano woman clued in on the fact we were lost (maybe due to our dazzed expressions or huge backpacks?) and she pointed to a nearby Subway entrance - which successfully got us to the train station. We hopped a train to Lago de Como, arriving there just after 10pm. Right, we should probably look at the directions to the hostel and catch a bus or walk there as usual. We had thought ahead and had the directions pulled up on Jen's phone....but clearly not thought quite enough ahead to glance over them. We discover that the hostel we reserved that morning is...a 55 minute bus ride from the Como train station. Cue the rain, literally. We learn that the last bus left at 8:30pm. It is currently 10:17pm. Our inner traveler C has totally screwed us and after being approached by a drunk dude who had just finished peeing in the street it seemed like things couldn't get much worse. Sidenote, Kelly has been ridiculing Jenny for her ridiculous marathon outfit of long leggings tucked into her gym shoes all day, Jenny gets on a bus to ask the driver if his route goes anywhere near Menaggio when Kelly wins the ultimate victory. A guy yells from the back of the bus "excuse me! Are you going to the national jogging convention?" If Jen was in any other mood she would have been hysterically laughing but the stress of the moment made her just stare blankly at the (German?) guy instead. A nice waiter at a nearby pizzeria took pity on our soaked selves and called a cab for us...which was going to cost 80€. If it weren't for the fading memory of our incredibly fun cocktail and apperitivo dinner we would definitely both have burst into tears. We do NOT spend the equivalent of $112 on transportation, especially when missing the free bus was self inflicted and avoidable. Holy shit, what are we going to do. We stood outside the cab and weighed our options...realizing that there weren't any, so we got in and braced our wallets.
Our cab driver was one crazy dude who seemed to have all the Lake Como gossip and no filter. He told us that the Heinz family (think ketchup) lived in Clooney's house before he did, and he used to be their driver. He didn't have a whole lot to say about the Heinz fam but had plenty to say about their secretary...mainly that her face was a tragedy...so terrible..like something out of a carnival. To add insult to injury he said you would be terrified if you came across her even in the dark. Something about his lack of filter and total rudeness made him hilarious. At least our huge lump of money was going to a cab ride and comedy show. He said George Clooney's gf was an absolute idiot and known for it. Apparently she can't speak English and the Cloon can't speak Italian...but when you look like that who needs the ability to communicate?
We made it to our hostel, momentarily seriously miserable as we walked up the steep long ramp from the road in the pouring rain with light wallets after our major Traveler C mishap. Once we were dry and whispering in our dark hostel dorm full of sleeping people we realized what an amazing day we had in Milan. Milan in a day, a learning experience, and waking up in a new place for new adventures. We don't have a complaint in the world :) except that we haven't seen all of it yet. Right before Jenny fell asleep she started cracking up about the jogging convention inquiry. The guy didn't have much of a sense of humor so maybe her was serious? Kelly's vote is Jen got totally clowned...either way, she won't be rocking the tucked in legging gym shoe combo anytime soon.
Italia loves Italia...and so do we!
Romantic park self portrait
no castle is complete without a waterfall
Gothic cathedral
Cathedral of Milan
By the end of our wandering it was somehow evening. We still needed to make our way to Lake Como, but obviously we should put that off to get a taste of Milan evening life. We sought out a great apperitivo place with a good vibe but none of them seemed as fun and delicious as our spot last night. Good Times Lounge round 2 it was, for the most apperitivos anyone has ever consumed in one sitting with a few pre-train cocktails.
What happened next should be preluded with a lesson we had during our 3 hours as TEFL students, which compared 3 types of travelers in an analogy about teaching styles. Traveler A plans every detail of their trip- they maps routes, schedule transportation, lodging, museum visits, reserve researched restaurants etc. Traveler B plans general guidelines, maybe booking or transportation, and has rough ideas about what they want to do, but is flexible with plan changes and willing to do things spur of the moment. Traveler C plans nothing, they show up where they want to be with no preparations and free as a bird open to any suggestion or chance encounter. On our first day of TEFL class we were asked to identify ourselves as one of the 3 travelers, and conclude pros and cons of each traveling style (a lesson that we must admit we found to be pretty stupid at the time, but in retrospect was the most unreal forshadowing and a discussion we often recall). Both Kelly and Jenny found themselves somewhere between traveler A and B, concluding that traveler C was a total nutter putting themselves in stressful, and even risky situations and missing out on good things due to lack of research. It is safe to say that as our plans have changed and our organization has dwindled over the past 3 months, that we are both officially that unplanned nutter. The traveler C in us was ever apparent during the next few hours of our lives. We hopped on a bus to the train station, which apparently didn't go there, we should have taken the tram. A Milano woman clued in on the fact we were lost (maybe due to our dazzed expressions or huge backpacks?) and she pointed to a nearby Subway entrance - which successfully got us to the train station. We hopped a train to Lago de Como, arriving there just after 10pm. Right, we should probably look at the directions to the hostel and catch a bus or walk there as usual. We had thought ahead and had the directions pulled up on Jen's phone....but clearly not thought quite enough ahead to glance over them. We discover that the hostel we reserved that morning is...a 55 minute bus ride from the Como train station. Cue the rain, literally. We learn that the last bus left at 8:30pm. It is currently 10:17pm. Our inner traveler C has totally screwed us and after being approached by a drunk dude who had just finished peeing in the street it seemed like things couldn't get much worse. Sidenote, Kelly has been ridiculing Jenny for her ridiculous marathon outfit of long leggings tucked into her gym shoes all day, Jenny gets on a bus to ask the driver if his route goes anywhere near Menaggio when Kelly wins the ultimate victory. A guy yells from the back of the bus "excuse me! Are you going to the national jogging convention?" If Jen was in any other mood she would have been hysterically laughing but the stress of the moment made her just stare blankly at the (German?) guy instead. A nice waiter at a nearby pizzeria took pity on our soaked selves and called a cab for us...which was going to cost 80€. If it weren't for the fading memory of our incredibly fun cocktail and apperitivo dinner we would definitely both have burst into tears. We do NOT spend the equivalent of $112 on transportation, especially when missing the free bus was self inflicted and avoidable. Holy shit, what are we going to do. We stood outside the cab and weighed our options...realizing that there weren't any, so we got in and braced our wallets.
Our cab driver was one crazy dude who seemed to have all the Lake Como gossip and no filter. He told us that the Heinz family (think ketchup) lived in Clooney's house before he did, and he used to be their driver. He didn't have a whole lot to say about the Heinz fam but had plenty to say about their secretary...mainly that her face was a tragedy...so terrible..like something out of a carnival. To add insult to injury he said you would be terrified if you came across her even in the dark. Something about his lack of filter and total rudeness made him hilarious. At least our huge lump of money was going to a cab ride and comedy show. He said George Clooney's gf was an absolute idiot and known for it. Apparently she can't speak English and the Cloon can't speak Italian...but when you look like that who needs the ability to communicate?
We made it to our hostel, momentarily seriously miserable as we walked up the steep long ramp from the road in the pouring rain with light wallets after our major Traveler C mishap. Once we were dry and whispering in our dark hostel dorm full of sleeping people we realized what an amazing day we had in Milan. Milan in a day, a learning experience, and waking up in a new place for new adventures. We don't have a complaint in the world :) except that we haven't seen all of it yet. Right before Jenny fell asleep she started cracking up about the jogging convention inquiry. The guy didn't have much of a sense of humor so maybe her was serious? Kelly's vote is Jen got totally clowned...either way, she won't be rocking the tucked in legging gym shoe combo anytime soon.
Italia loves Italia...and so do we!
Romantic park self portrait
no castle is complete without a waterfall
Gothic cathedral
Cathedral of Milan
Monday, May 2, 2011
Thursday April 28 - I'm a street walking cheetah with a heart full of napalm
Usually high hopes lead to a major let down but we can honesty say that Venice exceeded even our super raised expectations. Venice is beyond enchanting with winding alley ways and curving canals, making the entire city a mysterious maze. Jade green water in the place of roads gives the entire place an unreal "pinch me" effect. UPS and ambulance boats whizzing by seem bizarre. The insanity of a place where front doors open directly onto deep water is completely eliminated by the magical charm. We love Venice, and we must admit we were more be'ers than do'ers here, but the vibe seems as if that's what this place is for. We never got over the unexpected beauty of the old, rather decrepit, buildings with bottoms covered in barnacles and dark algae and foundations totally burried under the opaque green canals. We strolled around observing and browsing the last of the quaint little Venitian stores, wishing we had the space and the money to buy souvenirs for everyone at home.
Afternoon rolled around and we decided we should head to Milan and see what the fuss was all about. In true penny pinching backpacker style we decided to skip the high speed train leaving in 15 minutes for 10€ and wait 2 hours for the slow janky free train. This gave us time to sit on the step of the train station beside the Grand Canal and watch the swarms of people of all nationalities arriving and departing, and the boats and gondolas drifting by.
The janky train was super janky (got to love the italian train system) but we arrived in Milan and hopped on a bus to our budget hotel, RossoVino (obviously we wanted to stay somewhere called Hotel Red Wine) which was nice and not far from the city center. Our tiny Chinese roommate, Shen, talked about the woes of being away from home for 10 days "such a long trip!" she sighed. Try 13 weeks Shen! We simultaneously thought to ourselves how woe'less our 13 weeks had been and felt happy and fulfilled.
Hungry and tired left us feeling stressed about still not booking a flight home. We had missed the time for Milans famous appertivo scence, but we thought it was worth venturing out to try and find some anyway. Shen had offered us her laptop, so we felt like we had to take advantage and book our flights tonight. We strolled down the road and came across a bar where the appertivos looked like a wedding buffet. Um, yes please! 5euro cocktail and all the food we could eat! They were closing up but said they would leave it out for us for a while, so we ordered mojitos and bloody marys and snacked away. They brought us out a plate of miscelaneous meats which had carnviore jenny one happy camper. Full and satisfied, we set off back to our hostel. With the help of Shens computer we managed to book the best flight to New York we could...from there the rest will fall into place. It was an instant lift off of our shoulders. Yet, the reality set in we were going home. And so the mixed feelings begin as we wrap up our European tour....
Afternoon rolled around and we decided we should head to Milan and see what the fuss was all about. In true penny pinching backpacker style we decided to skip the high speed train leaving in 15 minutes for 10€ and wait 2 hours for the slow janky free train. This gave us time to sit on the step of the train station beside the Grand Canal and watch the swarms of people of all nationalities arriving and departing, and the boats and gondolas drifting by.
The janky train was super janky (got to love the italian train system) but we arrived in Milan and hopped on a bus to our budget hotel, RossoVino (obviously we wanted to stay somewhere called Hotel Red Wine) which was nice and not far from the city center. Our tiny Chinese roommate, Shen, talked about the woes of being away from home for 10 days "such a long trip!" she sighed. Try 13 weeks Shen! We simultaneously thought to ourselves how woe'less our 13 weeks had been and felt happy and fulfilled.
Hungry and tired left us feeling stressed about still not booking a flight home. We had missed the time for Milans famous appertivo scence, but we thought it was worth venturing out to try and find some anyway. Shen had offered us her laptop, so we felt like we had to take advantage and book our flights tonight. We strolled down the road and came across a bar where the appertivos looked like a wedding buffet. Um, yes please! 5euro cocktail and all the food we could eat! They were closing up but said they would leave it out for us for a while, so we ordered mojitos and bloody marys and snacked away. They brought us out a plate of miscelaneous meats which had carnviore jenny one happy camper. Full and satisfied, we set off back to our hostel. With the help of Shens computer we managed to book the best flight to New York we could...from there the rest will fall into place. It was an instant lift off of our shoulders. Yet, the reality set in we were going home. And so the mixed feelings begin as we wrap up our European tour....
Parking garage?
Hate to say goodbye
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