So I haven't told you guys much about Interlaken. I'm pretty sure this is the coolest place in the world. Much better than Venice as you can see in my last post.
We got here Tuesday and did pretty much nothing but relaxation on Tuesday night as we were very tired. We also did our laundry (which was much over due!) and talked to our roommates from Alabama.
We woke up Wednesday morning (yesterday) and found that the hostel serves an "all you can eat" continental breakfast. This was by far the best breakfast we've had since we've been in Europe. I had cereal and I tried this chocolate spread that goes on your bread called "Nutella". This is the best stuff on earth. I gotta buy some when I get home. Chocolatey breakfast. hmmmm.
After the breakfast, Dan and I packed up for the day and went to Daniel's Fun Rental to rent what's called a 'funcar'. Basically, it's a two door mini car that doesn't have windows. It was pretty awesome and very useful. Alot of Swiss natives gave us funny looks because of the car.
After getting the car, the lady at Funrental gave us a map and said it would be a good idea to head North to Lauterbrunnen and See the Brimmelbach cascades. When we first started driving it was cloudy and chilly so it was a cold ride there. But we got great video of the surrounding mountains as we drove through a nice valley. We past through many small villages on the way. Once there, we paid the price and took a lift that went through a mountain a few hundred feet up and worked our way down seeing ten cascades in all. Because it had heavily rained the night before, the cascades were really powerful. Dan and I thought this was awesome and took many pictures.
It was neat to see how powerful it could be.
Once done that we headed back towards Interlaken but changed direction and drove through Grindelwald. On the way, many people passed us on the road as our car couldn't go that fast.
Once in Grindelwald, we parked our car and sat at the base of The Jungfrau mountain region. That's the highest point in all of Europe. We noticed how much snow and ice were at the top of the mountain and how neither I or Dan had seen a mountain that big. I much enjoyed this because my love for nature. I have never hiked a mountain higher than 2,000 feet above sea level and these mountains were easily above 10,000 feet.
We got back in the car and headed back to Interlaken to see the West sides lake of the town. Filled with boats and beautiful blue water, we took some pictures and then departed back to the Funrental place.
After this, we had lunch in a grocery store. I won't go into details here as it is pretty boring, just people eating:)
Later in the day, we went to Seilpark Outdoor Interlaken to do the rope course. This was a huge surprise to me. After suiting up, Dan and I began climbing up into the trees ziplining and balancing through the course. After doing several of the beginner courses and a medium course, we decided to try the expert trail, the covetted "Eagle". Once up in the air, we had a challenge of a life time. We struggled to get our feet in these pedals that went from tree to tree. We both laughed at eachother struggling through. Once done the course, we felt equally accomplished and soar from our waist up. Alot of upper body strength was definetely used.
After this, we enjoyed a hamburger dinner and did not that much for the rest of the night.
Today was just as fun as yesterday. We woke up and ate breakfast and then decided to go to a watch shop that we could collect a free gift. We like anything free. Then we headed to the "best souvenir shop" in Interlaken and bought souvenirs for all you people reading this right now.
When we got back we prepared for an amazing day: Canyoning the Saxeton.
If you are reading this, you probably don't know what Canyoning is. That's because back in the states it's illegal. To put it roughly, it's like white water rafting without the raft.
Once picked up from our hostel, we headed to Outdoor Interlaken and got our wet suits on. We had a body suit, shoes, a helmet, a wetsuit jacket and a life preserver. Once all 7 of us were suited up, we headed up the Saxeten trail. Ten minutes of hiking and we arrived at the start point. To do Canyoning, instructions are key. As soon as we got in the water, it was cold for about 2 minutes then our wetsuits kicked in the heat. Once in the water we followed the group leaders and started sliding down slides, rapelling, and jumping down waterfalls. The scariest part was my first jump. Basically, we had to jump over a waterfall and you had to land perfectly on your back in the correct part of water. At first I thought there might be a rock right where I land, but once I jumped and posed for the picture I landed in the cool brook that swept me down stream a little bit. Dan enjoyed his jump to. The whole group got along great and had a wonderful time in the water. Once back at the site, everyone got a free bier(as the swiss say it) but Dan and I didn't drink and the workers thought this was kinda odd. Power to us.
Now we are back in the hostel and have completed all our activities here in Interlaken. Tomorrow morning at 9:04 AM we depart for a two hour train to Lucerne.
Hopefully I'll be able to update.
End note, Tyler
Time:5:25PM
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Sorry For the delay
Man, it's been a while since we've had internet connection. So that means one thing.
I have a ton of updating to do on here. So here it goes:
Saturday was a fun filled day. We took the Metro-Line Red to the Ottaviano station and walked 4 or 5 blocks to the entrance of the Vatican Museum. Once inside, we we're busy recording video and taking pictures of the historical pieces such as statues, fountains, and tons of frescoes. It got really packed in there, which made it a little complicated, but we made it through. Once we made the long journey to the end of the museum we arrived in the legendary Capella Sistina, or the 'Sistine Chapel'. I hadn't seen a picture of Michaelangelo's masterpiece in years so it made it all the better. Dan decided to 'bend not break' the rules and take a video of the room, much to the disproval of the museum polizia officer. lol.
Later, we went to the entrance of the Vatican and admired the St. Pietro De Basilica, we decided against going on because the line was forever long.
After, we walked along the Il Passetto and found the Castle Angelo. We did alot of walking around that day. We guess we walked about 25 total miles in our stay in Rome.
The last few days have been pretty discouraging.
Monday morning we checked out of the Mosaic Hostel in Rome and heading for the Termini to depart our 9:00 AM train ride to Firenze SMN. We then switched there and headed to Pisa. Once outside the Pisa Centrale stazione, we walked one mile north to the site of the leaning tower. On the way, we stopped for pizza and got charged a whopping four euros for a can of sprite. (That's 6 US dollars folks!)
Once on the property, we went to the ticket booth and bought a 5 entrance pass to the things around the tower. We didn't however climb the tower as it was kind of pricey.
The property was much relaxing. We toured a basilica, then a couple boring, empty museums. We spent about an hour inside the Baptisteri, which had an echo display. Feeling tired we layed inside and played papi man on dan's ipod touch. Book this: As soon as I get home, I must get me one of these devices. I had a lot of fun playing on it.
We decided to go back out in to the hot sun and take the funny pictures where you pose like your holding up the tower from falling. I took my picture as if I was pushing over the tower. After this, we got a whistle blowed at us by the guard for being on the grass. We thought this was pretty fun.
Then, we relaxed outside the basilica in the shade for maybe 2 and half hours. I read 'Angels and Demons', which is a great book I really recommend it and Dan journalled. This was probably the highlight of the day as we had no hostel to go to so it was the only relaxation we would get.
After a lengthy stay on the tower grounds, we made our way back through the city and got to the train station. Once there, we had to wait about 3 hours for our night train back to Firenze SMN( that would eventually go to Venice). We sat at our platform for about an hour and talked. Once on board the train, we saw the train-ticket-checker lady yell at about 3 people next to us for not having the correct tickets. We noticed how vigilant at her job she was. About an hour and a half later we arrived at Firenze SMN at 11:45 PM. We then needed to take a different train to Venice. Here's the catch: this train we needed to catch was at the Firenze Campo di Marte station, way on the other town.
So here we are, in town we've never heard of, with a language we don't speak, and at an hour where there are no workers to help us, looking for a bus to get us to the station. The first couple bus drivers had no clue what we were talking about, and didn't seem like they wanted to help.
But then we got lucky. A bus driver stopped at the train station and said in english that he could take us there. About ten minutes later, he said 'Campo di marto' so we got off and he pointed in the direction that we needed to go. Here we were, walking the side streets in a very quiet, but scary town. I was worried and tried to walk as fast as I could. About 5 blocks later, I found the entrance to the station and was filled with relief.
Unfortunately, we had to wait about an hour in the lonely, empty station for our train. While sitting down, you could here the crickets. That's how quiet it was.
An hour later, our one way train to Venezia pulled up. Once inside, we were in the shocker for a lifetime. We opened up our 6 seater car and and found 2 men already inside. We were immediately hit with a funk smell like none other. Sleep no longer was the main objective. Staying alive was more important. We couldn't open up a window because it was really cold outside. Luckily I brought a small blanket it on the trip and wrapped it around my face to block out the smell. I got about 2.5 hours of sleep while dan may only have gotten one on the 3.5 hour train ride to Venezia.
At 5:26 AM sharp, we arrived in Venezia-Santa Lucia. We got off and found that the bathrooms and luggage storage would not open for a half hour. How convenient. We needed to drop our main bags because we were only in venice for the day, no hostel, another night train at 7:57 PM. As I waited for it to open, I began to ask myself, how am I gonna make it through 13 hours in this city? And how will I sleep on the night train tonight?
Once the bathroom opened, I struggled to brush my teeth in the less then sanitary public restroom. Dan didn't seem to enthused as he was walking on one hour of sleep.
When we got to drop our bags off, the guy was a complete jerk. Not wanting to look us in the face, we left with the first bad taste for venice. Then we decided to make our reservation for the 7:57PM train to Interlaken, Switzerland. We weren't greeted with much respect at the ticket window either.The ticket window guy would not look at my sheet with the train number, and refused to look at the computer screen to make sure the price. He just blurted out, "25 EUROS". Not having enough money, we walked outside the train station with yet another bad taste for Venice.
Once outside, we instantly found the main river that runs through venice. We walked over the bridge and began walking through the town. About a half mile into the town, we came across about 5 people. Two of them city workers cleaning the streets, 2 of them citizens and the other one a school kid late for school. We found this to be very boring. We then decided to take refuge on a bridge. Dan sat on one side, while I on the other, not blocking people from walking. Then a grumpy citizen walked on the bridge began yelling Italian obsenities targetted right for us. Even after he walked by us he kept going. We were startled and offended by this man. Both in agreement, we almost said at the same time, "why don't we go back to the train station and find the fastest way to Interlaken as soon as possible". So here's hour our Venice stay went:
We arrived at 5:26 AM.
We departed at 8:50 AM.
Talk about a not lengthy stay at a city I had always dreamed about. Here's a city, since I was 8, had always loved and admired for its unique design and had always wanted to see. And set off by three very rude people, we decided to head to Interlaken early for a bed later that night.
By 3:57 PM, we arrived in the quiet district of Interlaken, Switzerland. "ahh" we thought to ourself.
We checked into the hostel and had a good nights rest. We have had a ton of fun in the course of 24 hours, I will fill you in when I get a chance. Now is dinner.
End note, Tyler
Time: 7:43 PM
I have a ton of updating to do on here. So here it goes:
Saturday was a fun filled day. We took the Metro-Line Red to the Ottaviano station and walked 4 or 5 blocks to the entrance of the Vatican Museum. Once inside, we we're busy recording video and taking pictures of the historical pieces such as statues, fountains, and tons of frescoes. It got really packed in there, which made it a little complicated, but we made it through. Once we made the long journey to the end of the museum we arrived in the legendary Capella Sistina, or the 'Sistine Chapel'. I hadn't seen a picture of Michaelangelo's masterpiece in years so it made it all the better. Dan decided to 'bend not break' the rules and take a video of the room, much to the disproval of the museum polizia officer. lol.
Later, we went to the entrance of the Vatican and admired the St. Pietro De Basilica, we decided against going on because the line was forever long.
After, we walked along the Il Passetto and found the Castle Angelo. We did alot of walking around that day. We guess we walked about 25 total miles in our stay in Rome.
The last few days have been pretty discouraging.
Monday morning we checked out of the Mosaic Hostel in Rome and heading for the Termini to depart our 9:00 AM train ride to Firenze SMN. We then switched there and headed to Pisa. Once outside the Pisa Centrale stazione, we walked one mile north to the site of the leaning tower. On the way, we stopped for pizza and got charged a whopping four euros for a can of sprite. (That's 6 US dollars folks!)
Once on the property, we went to the ticket booth and bought a 5 entrance pass to the things around the tower. We didn't however climb the tower as it was kind of pricey.
The property was much relaxing. We toured a basilica, then a couple boring, empty museums. We spent about an hour inside the Baptisteri, which had an echo display. Feeling tired we layed inside and played papi man on dan's ipod touch. Book this: As soon as I get home, I must get me one of these devices. I had a lot of fun playing on it.
We decided to go back out in to the hot sun and take the funny pictures where you pose like your holding up the tower from falling. I took my picture as if I was pushing over the tower. After this, we got a whistle blowed at us by the guard for being on the grass. We thought this was pretty fun.
Then, we relaxed outside the basilica in the shade for maybe 2 and half hours. I read 'Angels and Demons', which is a great book I really recommend it and Dan journalled. This was probably the highlight of the day as we had no hostel to go to so it was the only relaxation we would get.
After a lengthy stay on the tower grounds, we made our way back through the city and got to the train station. Once there, we had to wait about 3 hours for our night train back to Firenze SMN( that would eventually go to Venice). We sat at our platform for about an hour and talked. Once on board the train, we saw the train-ticket-checker lady yell at about 3 people next to us for not having the correct tickets. We noticed how vigilant at her job she was. About an hour and a half later we arrived at Firenze SMN at 11:45 PM. We then needed to take a different train to Venice. Here's the catch: this train we needed to catch was at the Firenze Campo di Marte station, way on the other town.
So here we are, in town we've never heard of, with a language we don't speak, and at an hour where there are no workers to help us, looking for a bus to get us to the station. The first couple bus drivers had no clue what we were talking about, and didn't seem like they wanted to help.
But then we got lucky. A bus driver stopped at the train station and said in english that he could take us there. About ten minutes later, he said 'Campo di marto' so we got off and he pointed in the direction that we needed to go. Here we were, walking the side streets in a very quiet, but scary town. I was worried and tried to walk as fast as I could. About 5 blocks later, I found the entrance to the station and was filled with relief.
Unfortunately, we had to wait about an hour in the lonely, empty station for our train. While sitting down, you could here the crickets. That's how quiet it was.
An hour later, our one way train to Venezia pulled up. Once inside, we were in the shocker for a lifetime. We opened up our 6 seater car and and found 2 men already inside. We were immediately hit with a funk smell like none other. Sleep no longer was the main objective. Staying alive was more important. We couldn't open up a window because it was really cold outside. Luckily I brought a small blanket it on the trip and wrapped it around my face to block out the smell. I got about 2.5 hours of sleep while dan may only have gotten one on the 3.5 hour train ride to Venezia.
At 5:26 AM sharp, we arrived in Venezia-Santa Lucia. We got off and found that the bathrooms and luggage storage would not open for a half hour. How convenient. We needed to drop our main bags because we were only in venice for the day, no hostel, another night train at 7:57 PM. As I waited for it to open, I began to ask myself, how am I gonna make it through 13 hours in this city? And how will I sleep on the night train tonight?
Once the bathroom opened, I struggled to brush my teeth in the less then sanitary public restroom. Dan didn't seem to enthused as he was walking on one hour of sleep.
When we got to drop our bags off, the guy was a complete jerk. Not wanting to look us in the face, we left with the first bad taste for venice. Then we decided to make our reservation for the 7:57PM train to Interlaken, Switzerland. We weren't greeted with much respect at the ticket window either.The ticket window guy would not look at my sheet with the train number, and refused to look at the computer screen to make sure the price. He just blurted out, "25 EUROS". Not having enough money, we walked outside the train station with yet another bad taste for Venice.
Once outside, we instantly found the main river that runs through venice. We walked over the bridge and began walking through the town. About a half mile into the town, we came across about 5 people. Two of them city workers cleaning the streets, 2 of them citizens and the other one a school kid late for school. We found this to be very boring. We then decided to take refuge on a bridge. Dan sat on one side, while I on the other, not blocking people from walking. Then a grumpy citizen walked on the bridge began yelling Italian obsenities targetted right for us. Even after he walked by us he kept going. We were startled and offended by this man. Both in agreement, we almost said at the same time, "why don't we go back to the train station and find the fastest way to Interlaken as soon as possible". So here's hour our Venice stay went:
We arrived at 5:26 AM.
We departed at 8:50 AM.
Talk about a not lengthy stay at a city I had always dreamed about. Here's a city, since I was 8, had always loved and admired for its unique design and had always wanted to see. And set off by three very rude people, we decided to head to Interlaken early for a bed later that night.
By 3:57 PM, we arrived in the quiet district of Interlaken, Switzerland. "ahh" we thought to ourself.
We checked into the hostel and had a good nights rest. We have had a ton of fun in the course of 24 hours, I will fill you in when I get a chance. Now is dinner.
End note, Tyler
Time: 7:43 PM
Friday, May 22, 2009
Te Amo from Napoli è Roma!
Yesterday, we took a trip to 'Pompeii Scavi' meaning Pompeii ruins. It was a sight. Lots of old historic buildings, pots, even a body, stray dogs, and of course plenty of camera ready tourists. Dan took a lot of videos, while I focused on pictures. On the train ride there two Italians played the accordion and sang which was much enjoyable.
When we got back to our hostel, we had to pick up our bags and head to Napoli Centrale Stazione for Roma. Our bags weighed about 35 pounds, and we had to walk about a mile and half, which was very strenous. Upon arrival at the train station, Dan and I were clueless. How ironic, the informazio desk was closed and we were left in a shuffle looking how to book a train to Roma. Soon enough we found the appropriate window and validated our cheap 3 country eurail ticket. Our train left at 16:38. On the way, Dan and I read books and enjoyed the views from the mediterranean and the many mountains that we passed through.
Once out of the Roma termini, we walked the short trek of 4 blocks to our hostel. As soon as we walked in it was dinner time and we got a free bowl of pasta for free. We loved this!
We walked around a little at night before we called it a day.
Today has been great. We saw the Colosseum and Palentino Palace which was gigantic. We're going out later tonight.
Oh and for lunch today we had these pizza sandwiches, which of course we're spectacular.
End, Tyler
When we got back to our hostel, we had to pick up our bags and head to Napoli Centrale Stazione for Roma. Our bags weighed about 35 pounds, and we had to walk about a mile and half, which was very strenous. Upon arrival at the train station, Dan and I were clueless. How ironic, the informazio desk was closed and we were left in a shuffle looking how to book a train to Roma. Soon enough we found the appropriate window and validated our cheap 3 country eurail ticket. Our train left at 16:38. On the way, Dan and I read books and enjoyed the views from the mediterranean and the many mountains that we passed through.
Once out of the Roma termini, we walked the short trek of 4 blocks to our hostel. As soon as we walked in it was dinner time and we got a free bowl of pasta for free. We loved this!
We walked around a little at night before we called it a day.
Today has been great. We saw the Colosseum and Palentino Palace which was gigantic. We're going out later tonight.
Oh and for lunch today we had these pizza sandwiches, which of course we're spectacular.
End, Tyler
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
First Day at a Glance
Time- 1905 (italia time)
So 17 hours of travelling later, and we finally arrive in Naples, Italy. We couldnt be happier. We made it completely safe, not being delayed by any flight or anything. So far we have been here for a few hours and have seen the historic district with plenty of smart cars and mopeds flooding the streets.
Going to the castle soon!
So 17 hours of travelling later, and we finally arrive in Naples, Italy. We couldnt be happier. We made it completely safe, not being delayed by any flight or anything. So far we have been here for a few hours and have seen the historic district with plenty of smart cars and mopeds flooding the streets.
Going to the castle soon!
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