Chris and Europa

The final countdown begins…as I head to London before heading home.

Internet at the place I’m staying costs 2euros and hour. With that price I haven’t had time to update Berlin. Fun times and a few videos. Out of all the places I’ve been, I found it to be one of the most interesting. It helped that I had a chance to hangout with people who live there. They were able to share their thoughts etc.

I’ll try and post at least before I get home. LOL.

Final NEW country Amsterdam!

Arrived in Amsterdam a couple of days ago without incident. The usual problems, but very minor.

Had dinner and asked the waiter where was “the city”? Where I was is so laid back it seemed a little odd. He explained that it’s about a 10 minute walk away. He said he would show me after they closed the restaurant. There was no one but me there. LOL They closed a little early and we walked to the heart. Nice guy, from Malta. He filled me in etc. and another goodbye. Lot’s of that on the trip.

I’m currently doing the tour thing and will probably rent a bike tomorrow at the reco of many people including my roommate.

It’s kinda funny, you never know what people are thinking. I saw the guy at breakfast sitting by himself. Later that night we saw each other in our room and ended up having the best 4 hours of conversation. I guess how it was supposed to be. He left this morning. Another Aussie. :) I’ll have plenty of people to meet up with when I go there.

At this point in the trip it’s hard to be objective with what I’m seeing. I’ve seen a lot.

Amsterdam, is a nice place. For me it doesn’t really stand out as much as some of the other places.  Great night scene of course, but a little to “springbreak” for me at this point. I’m sure I would be more inclined to be mischievous if it were earlier in the trip. Alas, things are winding down and so am I.I sorta new that I would be winding down at this stage, which is why I picked a calmer place to stay for my last few days.

I’ll for sure enjoy the last few days of adventures and a nice full day in London.

Off to tour.

The road to Zurich

Fresh off a great Paris trip, I embark on a LONG LONG train ride to Zurich. The train ride was fine. The first class on the Swiss trains is really nice. Aside from the train ride from London to Paris I haven’t really noticed the difference in first and second class. In fact looking back on booking my tickets, the price between first and second didn’t seem to be that drastic.

So, the service on long train rides is when it matters the most.  You can imagine.

My fun training experience happens on the train ride itself. It turns out I’m sitting in the wrong seat #41. I’ve been here the entire day. OK, so a lady taps me on the shoulder and says that this is her seat. I’m like, I’ve been here all day and have been checked by train attendant etc. Long story short. I had the correct seat, but wrong car. This happens frequently. I’m just surprised that no one verifies anything. You only find out by another person.

So, I get my stuff and go to my car. Of course someone is in MY seat. A grumpy old man. I’m like, I’m not touching this one. I get the train attendant and explain to him the situation. He said, he would walk over with me. Perfect.

So, the guy is told that he is in wrong seat and that he has to move. This is all being spoken in German. There definitely was grumbling. The guy apparently should have been in 2nd class. He did not like having to move. It was pretty classic. The train attendant was flawless in his delivery. LOL

I make my connections as planned. All is right with the world. UNTIL….

I’m now at the Zurich train station. The directions to hostel were not the best. I see no information booth and everyone speaks German. NOT starting out as a fun place.

I leave train station ask a tour bus ticket guy and he’s like, “I’m not tourist info”. I walk back to train station and continue to walk around. I hit the jackpot and see another section of the train station. I find the tour office and all is right with the world.

The place I was staying has taken the prize for least favorite place I have stayed. At first I was a little hard on them because of the price, but having experienced the rest of the area, I now understand why the hotel seemed expensive. The prices for everything there are the most expensive of anywhere that I have been.

My Venti coffee cost 5.60. Bottled water was 6.00 CRAZY.

The city itself was pretty. I was only there for a short time so I can’t really make a detailed assessment. I would go back at least for a day. :)

I’ll post a couple of pics.

Farewell Paris!

So, Paris week ended up being very busy. It was busy with plenty of random encounters, lots of sight seeing and late night conversations. I can’t forget the rotation of 9 different roommates. Some roomies I saw and others I only heard voices. Crazy, but at this point I’m used to it.

The most interesting encounter doing Paris week was running into “the couple”. An actual couple that I roomed with in Barcelona. I kinda gave them the nick name of “the couple” for some strange reason. We only spoke briefly in Barcelona, but definitely made up for lost time in Paris. They later get names. LOL You’ll see them in a video.

Along with meeting those two, I met many others throughout the week. Some of which I will talk to again and perhaps visit, and others just fond memories.

I decided to do the 2 day jump on and jump off the bus tour. It was really worth it. I got to see a large portion of Paris. I was also able to go back and revisit certain areas.

I took a day trip to Brussels. Brussels is actually a nice place. I wish I had stayed there for a night. Of course you don’t go to Belgium without trying 2 things. A Belgium waffle and Belgium beer.

Let me tell you that waffle was AMAZING. It had white chocolate drizzled over it. I was literally in heaven. Before I left I just had to try the beer. In fact i had about 5 different ones before I got on the train. They were 2.40euro which is VERY cheap compared to many other places.

Yes, Paris was definitely a cool place. I’m a semi expert on the metro there. :) In fact I’m getting pretty good on many metro systems. LOL

It was bittersweet farewells and off to Zurich. To be continued.