(no subject)
I'm cold
2:30 am
at a computer
tired but don't want to sleep
Ha, whats new.
Go half way around the world and nothing really change
So, Munich... Ya, I stayed there for a day and a half and left on an early train to Zurich, then to Lucerne, then finially stopping at Lausanne for the night.
I have a Eurail pass that let me take unlimited trains in participating countries, but it counts by days. So by going to Zurich and Lucerne in one day, it only counted for 1 of the 5 days of my pass.
Zurich and Lucerne are beautiful little cities, but wow is it expensive. I mean drinks are expensive anywhere I went in Europe, but for the price of one meal in Switzerland was equivilant of 2 very nice meals in Germany. Definitly not a country you want to have extended stays in, if ur on a tight budget. But thats not to say the cities weren't nice. They were amazing. There are rivers that run through the very center of the cities, like all major European cites. And the river side views are just absolutely stunning. There's nothing like it in the US. The cristal clear water, stone-paved(there's a word for that) roads, narrow allyes between the beige colored walls of the old houses with red tiled roofs, little cafes by the river. Although it did get kinda repetitive after a while when I was getting tired and I was at the 3rd city of the day, the cities become kinda similar. I'm also saying this because I'm getting the cities mixed up in my head, I'll have to look back at the pictures.
So ya, I stayed about 2 hours in Lucern, 2 in Zurich, and the night and half of the next day in Lausanne. 2-4 hours is about all you really need to see Lucern and Zurich if u just want to look around at the major attractions. They are pretty small cities. Lausanne was a bit bigger, and I judge this by the number of train stops along the way. Lausanne had 2. Or was this Geneva? See what I mean... Actually, make that Geneva big, Lausanne small. Lausanne was cool, but I really didn't find it that attractive. They have this this part of the city that is like 20 feet below the other parts, and its like a shopping district which is lit up at night with cool colors, but It didn't really impress me that much. They didn't have a big river, maybe thats y I didn't think it was as pretty. But after seeing Paris, there really is no compairson.
Geneva: My first experience was not too pleasent. I arrived at the Geneva station at like 1 and hauled my 70lb backpack round trying to find the tourist information which I didn't find that first day, so I had no map. And I guess I was spoiled cus my last 2 hostels where located right next to the train station, the one in Geneva is a bit further. I had this little map that was printed off the internet of where the hostel was located, but I couldn't seem to find the right direction, so I ended up going the wrong direction for about 10 min, back-tracked to the trainstation, found the right direction, and hiked for another 15 min. But even 15 min seems like forever when you've been hauling a 70lb backpack for the past hour. I almost missed the road sign too because they put plaques on the walls of the buildings and not posted on the street like in the US. Anywayz, I finially got there, and only later found out that there's a better one located 2 mins away, but it was full.
So yes, Geneva, big. But the good thing was that there was a free bike rental just north of the train station, and they give you this really fancy bike with disk breaks and a fancy built-in lock that locks up the gears. Its basically free advertisement, cus they put ads on the bikes and you ride it around. The bike riding was an experience alright. In most major European countries, like Berlin, Munich, Geneva and Paris, they have bike paths everywhere because it is such a convienient form of transportation. The ones in Geneva are on the streets right along side the cars, and at points, they merge togeather so you are riding right along side the much quicker cars. Riding in a foreign country on bike paths next to cars merging in and out on a bike where I can't quite reach the ground comfortabily was quite fun. At points I just gave up and rode on the sidewalks. Geneva on a bike actually turned out to be quite a enjoyable experience. The city was big, but the bike made it manageable. Geneva has this hugh water fountain on lake Geneva that shoots this jet of water like a hundred and some feet into the sky. It was off on the first day I was there, but I went back the next morning right before the train to paris to see it. From there, I bought some over priced food for the TGV train to Paris, and its off to PARIS!
Got to go, since its only 3:42 am... I'll have to finish up later..
Au revoir,
~ Hector
2:30 am
at a computer
tired but don't want to sleep
Ha, whats new.
Go half way around the world and nothing really change
So, Munich... Ya, I stayed there for a day and a half and left on an early train to Zurich, then to Lucerne, then finially stopping at Lausanne for the night.
I have a Eurail pass that let me take unlimited trains in participating countries, but it counts by days. So by going to Zurich and Lucerne in one day, it only counted for 1 of the 5 days of my pass.
Zurich and Lucerne are beautiful little cities, but wow is it expensive. I mean drinks are expensive anywhere I went in Europe, but for the price of one meal in Switzerland was equivilant of 2 very nice meals in Germany. Definitly not a country you want to have extended stays in, if ur on a tight budget. But thats not to say the cities weren't nice. They were amazing. There are rivers that run through the very center of the cities, like all major European cites. And the river side views are just absolutely stunning. There's nothing like it in the US. The cristal clear water, stone-paved(there's a word for that) roads, narrow allyes between the beige colored walls of the old houses with red tiled roofs, little cafes by the river. Although it did get kinda repetitive after a while when I was getting tired and I was at the 3rd city of the day, the cities become kinda similar. I'm also saying this because I'm getting the cities mixed up in my head, I'll have to look back at the pictures.
So ya, I stayed about 2 hours in Lucern, 2 in Zurich, and the night and half of the next day in Lausanne. 2-4 hours is about all you really need to see Lucern and Zurich if u just want to look around at the major attractions. They are pretty small cities. Lausanne was a bit bigger, and I judge this by the number of train stops along the way. Lausanne had 2. Or was this Geneva? See what I mean... Actually, make that Geneva big, Lausanne small. Lausanne was cool, but I really didn't find it that attractive. They have this this part of the city that is like 20 feet below the other parts, and its like a shopping district which is lit up at night with cool colors, but It didn't really impress me that much. They didn't have a big river, maybe thats y I didn't think it was as pretty. But after seeing Paris, there really is no compairson.
Geneva: My first experience was not too pleasent. I arrived at the Geneva station at like 1 and hauled my 70lb backpack round trying to find the tourist information which I didn't find that first day, so I had no map. And I guess I was spoiled cus my last 2 hostels where located right next to the train station, the one in Geneva is a bit further. I had this little map that was printed off the internet of where the hostel was located, but I couldn't seem to find the right direction, so I ended up going the wrong direction for about 10 min, back-tracked to the trainstation, found the right direction, and hiked for another 15 min. But even 15 min seems like forever when you've been hauling a 70lb backpack for the past hour. I almost missed the road sign too because they put plaques on the walls of the buildings and not posted on the street like in the US. Anywayz, I finially got there, and only later found out that there's a better one located 2 mins away, but it was full.
So yes, Geneva, big. But the good thing was that there was a free bike rental just north of the train station, and they give you this really fancy bike with disk breaks and a fancy built-in lock that locks up the gears. Its basically free advertisement, cus they put ads on the bikes and you ride it around. The bike riding was an experience alright. In most major European countries, like Berlin, Munich, Geneva and Paris, they have bike paths everywhere because it is such a convienient form of transportation. The ones in Geneva are on the streets right along side the cars, and at points, they merge togeather so you are riding right along side the much quicker cars. Riding in a foreign country on bike paths next to cars merging in and out on a bike where I can't quite reach the ground comfortabily was quite fun. At points I just gave up and rode on the sidewalks. Geneva on a bike actually turned out to be quite a enjoyable experience. The city was big, but the bike made it manageable. Geneva has this hugh water fountain on lake Geneva that shoots this jet of water like a hundred and some feet into the sky. It was off on the first day I was there, but I went back the next morning right before the train to paris to see it. From there, I bought some over priced food for the TGV train to Paris, and its off to PARIS!
Got to go, since its only 3:42 am... I'll have to finish up later..
Au revoir,
~ Hector