Six-hundred-thirty-eighth Post
Day 1
For my 2019 Big Vacation, I decided to wiggle my way through the Alps in central Europe: Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and Austria, with small excursions into pieces of France, Germany, and Italy as well.
One thing I noticed that was different than my previous vacations to Japan and Britain is that I seemed less...enthusiastic about it? Not like I wasn't excited to be going-I was-but that it was harder to spend as much time looking and planning as I usually do. Part of that was probably that it was a more decentralized trip (it's harder to find unified resources for such a wide, politically-diverse area) and partially because a lot of the available resources were in French or German, depending on the area.
As I was in the last leg of preparations for the journey, I also found myself more apprehensive than usual. I was wondering if this were a good idea or if I should be doing it. I'm not sure why I was feeling like that, but it was a niggling sensation regardless. Maybe it had to do with the fact that it was back-to-back with a work trip.
Regardless, I set out on this newest journey...
...and immediately ran into a few roadblocks. Flight delays kept me in Newark, NJ, for nearly 8 hours, and once I got on the plane, I found myself incapable of sleeping (a problem I've never had on an international flight before). What that meant was that-upon arriving in Switzerland-I had only had 4 hours of sleep in the last two days, and then it was time to drive in a foreign country! But much to my surprise, the steering wheel was on the correct (read, left) side of the car, and driving is done on the right (read, correct) side of the street. So it was mosty just about adjusting to the foibles of Swiss traffic arrangements.
In lieu of traffic signs, it seems like half the instructions on their roads are done in the form of arrows painted on the roadways. Lots of arrows. Like, three times as many arrows as necessary. They're everywhere.
Anyway, since I arrived 5 hours before my AirBnB was going to be ready, I had to find somewhere to kill time.
I also needed to stop by an ATM to get some Swiss Frankencash to pay for a few of my accommodations and when faced with stores that did not take cards. I ended up at the Shopping Rest Würenlos, which was like a little mall that stretched across the A1 highway. It had everything: a grocery store, a couple of restaurants, a chocolatier, a preserved-meats-and-cheeses shop, and an adult toy store. It also had my first encounter with infamous Swiss public pay toilets.
I had the most intensely strawberry-flavoured ice cream I've ever had there, as well. At one of the restaurants, not in the toilet.
Luckily, whilst on the verge of passing out, my AirBnB host contacted me asking when I would be in. I told him I was already in the area and he let me check in early, come to his (admittedly very nice) house, and pass out for 14 hours.
For my 2019 Big Vacation, I decided to wiggle my way through the Alps in central Europe: Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and Austria, with small excursions into pieces of France, Germany, and Italy as well.
One thing I noticed that was different than my previous vacations to Japan and Britain is that I seemed less...enthusiastic about it? Not like I wasn't excited to be going-I was-but that it was harder to spend as much time looking and planning as I usually do. Part of that was probably that it was a more decentralized trip (it's harder to find unified resources for such a wide, politically-diverse area) and partially because a lot of the available resources were in French or German, depending on the area.
As I was in the last leg of preparations for the journey, I also found myself more apprehensive than usual. I was wondering if this were a good idea or if I should be doing it. I'm not sure why I was feeling like that, but it was a niggling sensation regardless. Maybe it had to do with the fact that it was back-to-back with a work trip.
Regardless, I set out on this newest journey...
...and immediately ran into a few roadblocks. Flight delays kept me in Newark, NJ, for nearly 8 hours, and once I got on the plane, I found myself incapable of sleeping (a problem I've never had on an international flight before). What that meant was that-upon arriving in Switzerland-I had only had 4 hours of sleep in the last two days, and then it was time to drive in a foreign country! But much to my surprise, the steering wheel was on the correct (read, left) side of the car, and driving is done on the right (read, correct) side of the street. So it was mosty just about adjusting to the foibles of Swiss traffic arrangements.
In lieu of traffic signs, it seems like half the instructions on their roads are done in the form of arrows painted on the roadways. Lots of arrows. Like, three times as many arrows as necessary. They're everywhere.
Anyway, since I arrived 5 hours before my AirBnB was going to be ready, I had to find somewhere to kill time.
I also needed to stop by an ATM to get some Swiss Frankencash to pay for a few of my accommodations and when faced with stores that did not take cards. I ended up at the Shopping Rest Würenlos, which was like a little mall that stretched across the A1 highway. It had everything: a grocery store, a couple of restaurants, a chocolatier, a preserved-meats-and-cheeses shop, and an adult toy store. It also had my first encounter with infamous Swiss public pay toilets.
I had the most intensely strawberry-flavoured ice cream I've ever had there, as well. At one of the restaurants, not in the toilet.
Luckily, whilst on the verge of passing out, my AirBnB host contacted me asking when I would be in. I told him I was already in the area and he let me check in early, come to his (admittedly very nice) house, and pass out for 14 hours.