Hello! This past weekend was a holiday weekend for us, as Monday the 25th was a bank holiday. Officially, I believe it's called the Summer Bank Holiday. Yeah, sounds kinda strange, but we don't get Labor Day so don't get too jealous. In fact, the UK really doesn't get any extra holidays. It works out to be about the same. The advantage is the number of vacation days they get through work. Standard begins around 20-25 days per year!
Check out pics of this blog post here: http://picasaweb.google.com/bbergey/SummerHolidayWeekend
So the weekend started on Friday, when I went to Central London and met a co-worker for a drink and a movie. We went to an area I hadn't been yet called Leichester Square. It's in the middle of the bustling center of town, but it was actually really nice. There is a big square with trees and stuff, surrounded by all kinds of cool restaurants, bars and pubs. It also has a number of movie theaters right on the square, including the big Odeon complex where all the big London premiers are. I'll have to head down some night and see the red carpet. We saw a movie in a smaller theater called Man on a Wire. It's a documentary about a French guy who tight-roped between the World Trade Center Towers in NY shortly after they opened...pretty crazy!
On Saturday, Oktoberfest preparations began! Hayley and I took her dad's large tent down to Ealing Common where she lives, which is a huge Common/Park. We got a lot of stares, but eventually got the tent up. We were surprised to see the tent has a floral pattern to it with a large deer head painted on the front. It was pretty funny, but at least we know we will be prepared to camp at Oktoberfest and won't have any problem fitting 3-4 of us in the tent. Later that night, I met up with Hayley and a bunch of her friends at a pub. It was bday night for her girlfriend and her gf's co-worker. We stayed at the pub for a while and then headed down to Central London for a bit more fun!
On Sunday I got up and decided to go explore a new area of London, so I got on the tube and headed down to the areas of Shoreditch and Spitalfields. They are known for their Sunday markets, along with cool shops, restaurants and night-life. It is the new ground zero for cool in London, according to my guidebook. It was pretty cool though. I started in Shoreditch where I explored a few of the cool shops, and became very jealous of some neat looking coffee shops and natural food markets. I then went to the Columbia Street flower market, which was a long road full of flower stands and other shops. Merchants were constantly yelling out different deals that they probably made up on the spot. It was pretty cool and they all kinds of different flowers and plants, including olive and lemon trees!
I then made my way down Brick Lane. Apparently this area has really grown over the last few years and it is full of vintage clothing shops, neat thrift stores, exciting nightlife, and all kinds of coffee shops and restaurants. The streets here were also lined with merchants selling all kinds of stuff from fruits and veggies to flea market items. I stopped at the famous Brick Lane Beigel Bake, which was started by some Jewish families who originally settled in the neighborhood and still live there. It is open 24 hours and is apparently always busy. It was pretty cool because you could see the area where they make and bake the bagels while you waited in line. I had a hot salt beef bagel sandwich. I'm not really sure what hot salt beef is, but it was meat. I'm guessing it's prepared similar to corned beef. It was delicious!
After making my way into the Spitalfields area, I meandered through the Sunday Up Market and some of the vintage shops in the area. The market had an amazing food selection with foods from all over the world. I took some pics of the more elaborate displays. At the end of my walk was the Spitalfields Market itself. This market was definitely much more organized and posh than the others, and had more of a normal Saturday Market feel. All in all it was really a good day exploring the streets and the markets and I'll definitely head back when I need to do some actual shopping.
On Monday a co-worker, Fran, and I went to Notting Hill to check out the Notting Hill Festival. The festival is the largest street fair in Europe, and is second in the world behind Rio de Janeiro. The festival itself has a very Caribbean feel and all of the entertainment and food is the same. The fest was absolute mayhem. The area it covered was absolutely enormous, yet no matter where you went the streets were packed with people. The festival is surrounded by a parade route that lasts all day. However, it's not a normal parade. Most of the "floats" were large buses that blasted music that people surrounded and started dancing too. There were also a lot of colorful costumes and outfits that were on the parade route as well. A lot of the residences in the area would hang out in their windows and patios and enjoy the music and festival from above, many of whome would dance like crazy! A lot of the residents would also sell access to their toilet for 1pound and also sell items like water and snacks. The most popular food item was Jerk Chicken, and I enjoyed mine with rice and beans and some salad. It was great!
8.25.2008
8.20.2008
Llandudno and Snowden
Last weekend I took the train up to north Wales to the seaside town of Llandudno, which sits just outside Snowdonia National Park. Snowdonia is a mountainous region that has the highest peak in Wales (which is also the higher than England's highest peak that I already hiked, Scafell) at 1085 meters.
To see pics of my journey, click here: http://picasaweb.google.com/bbergey/Snowden
My trip started on Friday afternoon when I left work and took the tube to the train station. I was able to pack a bit lighter this time since I had booked a hostel instead of camping. The train ride took about 3.5 hours and I finally got to the town of Llandudno and my hostel. Since it was already pretty late, I walked around the center of town for a little while and then went to bed. I was the only one in my room of 10 beds the first night! Some of you have asked what the hostels are like, so I've included some pics of mine this time. It was in an old Victorian row house and was pretty nice. It had a large common room downstairs with a TV, a few shared bathrooms, and a dining room downstairs where they served a free light breakfast. They had dormitory rooms, which is where I stayed, and a few smaller rooms with just 2 or 3 beds each.
The girl I met a month earlier in the Lake District was in the same town for the week with some family and we had planned to hike Snowden on Saturday. Her uncle gave us a ride to the trailhead, which was about a half hour's drive from town. Unfortunately the weather wasn't clear, but it didn't rain that much on us. It was pretty windy on the ridges and summit, and there was a definite point where we were in the clouds instead of under the clouds, so the view from the top was non-existent.
Snowden is quite touristy since it has a small rail car that takes passengers up the better part of the mountain. We hiked up the back-side which was less crowded and very nice. We passed a couple lakes as we gained elevation and there were a few waterfalls falling from the higher surrounding peaks. There was also a really neat ruin near one of the lakes. I'm not sure what it was, but likely just an old house. Once we approached the final ridge to the summit, we were surrounded by many other walkers, most of whom likely got off the train and were walking the last part. The top of the mountain itself was extremely crowded and windy. We reached the top, took a pic, and then walked down a bit before taking a break for a quick snack. There was a small group of guys who carried up a keg of Guiness and were selling pints for charity. They ran out just after we got there.
The hike down was a little less appealing. For the most part, it followed the train route and was also less scenic. Near the bottom, I twisted my ankle pretty bad, which was still weak from when I twisted it running a few weeks ago. I managed to slowly make my way down the rest of the way where we caught the bus back to Llandudno, a journey that took nearly 2 hours!!
When I visit Wales, I feel like I'm visiting a foreign country. It's so odd to me that the Welsh language is still spoken and used in daily life. Everything you see is written in both English and Welsh, and the hardest part is that it is impossible to pronounce! For example, look at the following sentance:
Dewch i ddarganfod Eryri dros eich hunain!
First, how do you even begin to say any of those words? Second, there is no way you would ever know that it actually means: Come and discover Snowdonia for yourself! The name of my town, Llandundo is actually pronounced klan-did-no. The double "L" has more of a "K" sound. Weirdness.
After getting back to town we chilled out for a bit and then met up for dinner. We found a Thai place that looked pretty good and decided to eat there. After asking what they had to drink, we were told that they no longer served alcohol but we were welcome to walk across the street to the discount liquor store and get our own. That was pretty weird, but Sarah got us some nice local beer to enjoy during our meal. After dinner, we ventured over to the main pub in town where we heard loud German music coming from before. It just happened to be the weekend of the first annual Cottage Loaf Beer Festival at the Cottage Loaf Pub. It was complete with 20 kegs of local beers, a large outdoor covered seating area (despite the pouring rain) and some great live music. We decided to check it out, thinking that we'd have a beer and head home. Many pitchers of beer later, we were having a great time chatting with some new friends we met at the bar and wearing our festival t-shirts that were given to us free. I guess we met the right people! Unfortunately, the pubs in town shut down at midnight, but it didn't stop us from going to our new friends' flat and playing Play Station kareoke until 3am. Needless to say, it ended up being a long day and a very fun night.
The next day we woke up and met for some coffee and breakfast before strolling around town one last time and getting on the train. The train ride back to London was a bit longer and lasted over 5 hours. But I guess it was a relaxing way to end the weekend.
To see pics of my journey, click here: http://picasaweb.google.com/bbergey/Snowden
My trip started on Friday afternoon when I left work and took the tube to the train station. I was able to pack a bit lighter this time since I had booked a hostel instead of camping. The train ride took about 3.5 hours and I finally got to the town of Llandudno and my hostel. Since it was already pretty late, I walked around the center of town for a little while and then went to bed. I was the only one in my room of 10 beds the first night! Some of you have asked what the hostels are like, so I've included some pics of mine this time. It was in an old Victorian row house and was pretty nice. It had a large common room downstairs with a TV, a few shared bathrooms, and a dining room downstairs where they served a free light breakfast. They had dormitory rooms, which is where I stayed, and a few smaller rooms with just 2 or 3 beds each.
The girl I met a month earlier in the Lake District was in the same town for the week with some family and we had planned to hike Snowden on Saturday. Her uncle gave us a ride to the trailhead, which was about a half hour's drive from town. Unfortunately the weather wasn't clear, but it didn't rain that much on us. It was pretty windy on the ridges and summit, and there was a definite point where we were in the clouds instead of under the clouds, so the view from the top was non-existent.
Snowden is quite touristy since it has a small rail car that takes passengers up the better part of the mountain. We hiked up the back-side which was less crowded and very nice. We passed a couple lakes as we gained elevation and there were a few waterfalls falling from the higher surrounding peaks. There was also a really neat ruin near one of the lakes. I'm not sure what it was, but likely just an old house. Once we approached the final ridge to the summit, we were surrounded by many other walkers, most of whom likely got off the train and were walking the last part. The top of the mountain itself was extremely crowded and windy. We reached the top, took a pic, and then walked down a bit before taking a break for a quick snack. There was a small group of guys who carried up a keg of Guiness and were selling pints for charity. They ran out just after we got there.
The hike down was a little less appealing. For the most part, it followed the train route and was also less scenic. Near the bottom, I twisted my ankle pretty bad, which was still weak from when I twisted it running a few weeks ago. I managed to slowly make my way down the rest of the way where we caught the bus back to Llandudno, a journey that took nearly 2 hours!!
When I visit Wales, I feel like I'm visiting a foreign country. It's so odd to me that the Welsh language is still spoken and used in daily life. Everything you see is written in both English and Welsh, and the hardest part is that it is impossible to pronounce! For example, look at the following sentance:
Dewch i ddarganfod Eryri dros eich hunain!
First, how do you even begin to say any of those words? Second, there is no way you would ever know that it actually means: Come and discover Snowdonia for yourself! The name of my town, Llandundo is actually pronounced klan-did-no. The double "L" has more of a "K" sound. Weirdness.
After getting back to town we chilled out for a bit and then met up for dinner. We found a Thai place that looked pretty good and decided to eat there. After asking what they had to drink, we were told that they no longer served alcohol but we were welcome to walk across the street to the discount liquor store and get our own. That was pretty weird, but Sarah got us some nice local beer to enjoy during our meal. After dinner, we ventured over to the main pub in town where we heard loud German music coming from before. It just happened to be the weekend of the first annual Cottage Loaf Beer Festival at the Cottage Loaf Pub. It was complete with 20 kegs of local beers, a large outdoor covered seating area (despite the pouring rain) and some great live music. We decided to check it out, thinking that we'd have a beer and head home. Many pitchers of beer later, we were having a great time chatting with some new friends we met at the bar and wearing our festival t-shirts that were given to us free. I guess we met the right people! Unfortunately, the pubs in town shut down at midnight, but it didn't stop us from going to our new friends' flat and playing Play Station kareoke until 3am. Needless to say, it ended up being a long day and a very fun night.
The next day we woke up and met for some coffee and breakfast before strolling around town one last time and getting on the train. The train ride back to London was a bit longer and lasted over 5 hours. But I guess it was a relaxing way to end the weekend.
8.09.2008
Isle of Wight
Tally Ho!
Last weekend my wonderful co-worker, Hayley, and I took a spontaneous trip to the Isle of Wight, a small island off the south coast of the UK in the English Channel. By spontaneous, I mean that we came up with the idea on Friday around 5pm, booked our ferry ticket at 6pm and left first thing Saturday morning. This blog is a story of our journey and adventure in the squirrel filled island of the quaint and beautiful Isle of Wight!
Pictures of this adventure can be found here: http://picasaweb.google.com/bbergey/IsleOfWight
Before we embarked on our journey, we had to take care of other things first. In the office we tend to call the later part of the day "Pimm's o'clock." This is similar to saying "Beer o'clock," meaning it's time to go to the pub and have a drink. Pimms refers to a kind of alcohol they have here that is often mixed with lemonade and then served in jugs over ice with orange & lemon slices, mint, and cucumber. I had my first Pimms on Friday and it was great! We enjoyed it at a pub along the river a short walk from work and my flat.
Saturday morning I packed up my pack and met Hayley at her flat. We packed up her girlfriend's car (a mini cooper) and headed southwest to the port town of Southampton. Southampton is the town where the Titanic departed. We had a couple hours to explore the waterfront and old-town area. There were a number of memorials for the Titanic and Navy sailors lost at sea. We randomly found a really cool pub where we enjoyed an excellent lunch. The barkeep was very cranky, but the food was amazing and the pub seemed like it had been untouched for hundreds of years. It was really dark, the floors were often sunken, and in places it seemed like the balcony and walls were ready to cave in. We think it was originally a courthouse. Check out the picture I took of a poster inside.
After filling up on lunch, we boarded the ferry and set off toward the Isle. After an hour we approached the island and the sun started shining. We also found out that it was the weekend of a giant sailing festival and the sea was filled with literally hundreds of sailboats. Some of them looked like they were racing. There were also tons of people enjoying the festival along the waterfront. After landing we headed toward the center of the island, found a grocery store and stocked up on food for the weekend. We brought our camping gear and planned to find a random place to camp that night. We also had a stove and a disposable bbq.
Our real journey begins here as we left the city of Newport and headed toward the west side of the island. We were surprised how small the island really was; towns on the map came much quicker when we were driving than what we expected. We also learned that there are many types of squirrels on the Isle of Wight. We saw a road sign telling us to watch out for squirrels. A few hundred yards later we saw another sign telling us to watch for red squirrels. Apparently the two colonies of squirrels do not mingle.
The west coast of the island is pretty quiet and not very crowded. Our first stop was a neat geological feature called The Needles. As you'll see, they are a series of rocks that stick out of the ocean near the shore. There was a very small and eerie, deserted amusement park near the shore of The Needles that was reminiscent of a horror movie. As we headed down the coast, we made a few stops at some small towns and beaches along the way. The scenery was very nice and the hilly countryside was filled with farmland, trees and neat houses with the occasional red, or plain, squirrel.
We passed a number of campgrounds, but our goal was to find a random place to camp outside of a campground since most of them were just big fields. However, we found this very hard to do. There certainly weren't any places along the road and the land was open farmland. We kept driving in hopes that we would find a nice place to perch for the night, but as it got later, the prospect of finding one was getting grim. Eventually we made a few random turns onto some backroads and found a nice place to park the car and walk a few hundred feet to the bottom of a field surrounded by trees. It was here that we set up camp for the night and enjoyed an evening filled with burgers, smores, cider and wine.
After a night of light to medium rain, we woke up the next morning and made some breakfast. Egg sandwiches, beans and another smore just for fun! It was Hayley's first time eating smores so we had to eat as many as we could. Since we had made our way half way around the island, we had the whole day to explore the busier, east side of the Isle. It is definitely filled with bigger, touristy towns, but it was still really nice to spend some time on the beach and explore the shops and sights along the way. Our first stop was at a Rock Shop in a smaller village. A Rock Shop refers to a coastal English candy tradition, just like we enjoy salt water taffy in the States. Rock is just a stick of hard candy. I picked up a bag of mixed flavors and Hayley got a bunch to take home.
We then made our way to the highlight of our trip, the small yet busy village of Godshill. Godshill is full of small shops and restaurants, a really old village church atop the hill, and best of all a small model village. We visited the model village which was surprisingly large and extremely detailed. It even included a section that was a model of the village of Godshill, included a model of the model village! We then walked up the hill to the church, which was surrounded by really old tombstones that couldn't even be read. The houses around the church were really quaint and cute, most of them even having thatch roofs. After leaving Godshill, we headed back to the east coast to the town of Sandown where we had some lunch, went to the pier, and spent some time on the beach, despite the rain. Sandown was probably really cool 20 or 30 years ago when everything was new and touristy, but I don't think it's been updated since so it's more of a cheesy place if anything else. But the beach and waterfront was still really nice, nice enough for us to buy a $2 kite fly it until it ripped! We eventually made it up the coastline and back to East Cowes and the ferry dock where we took the ferry back to Southampton and then drove about 2 hours back to London.
Overall, the trip was really really nice. It was absolutely wonderful having someone to travel with other than myself. Hayley and I had a great time and spent our time in the car listening to cheesy girl-rock and making fun of English phrases and banter. It was also nice riding in a car again. Windows down, music up, and the flexibility to go anywhere you want. The train is a good way to see the countryside, but nothing beats the car. Hopefully it's the first of other similar trips with good company. Thanks Hayley!
Last weekend my wonderful co-worker, Hayley, and I took a spontaneous trip to the Isle of Wight, a small island off the south coast of the UK in the English Channel. By spontaneous, I mean that we came up with the idea on Friday around 5pm, booked our ferry ticket at 6pm and left first thing Saturday morning. This blog is a story of our journey and adventure in the squirrel filled island of the quaint and beautiful Isle of Wight!
Pictures of this adventure can be found here: http://picasaweb.google.com/bbergey/IsleOfWight
Before we embarked on our journey, we had to take care of other things first. In the office we tend to call the later part of the day "Pimm's o'clock." This is similar to saying "Beer o'clock," meaning it's time to go to the pub and have a drink. Pimms refers to a kind of alcohol they have here that is often mixed with lemonade and then served in jugs over ice with orange & lemon slices, mint, and cucumber. I had my first Pimms on Friday and it was great! We enjoyed it at a pub along the river a short walk from work and my flat.
Saturday morning I packed up my pack and met Hayley at her flat. We packed up her girlfriend's car (a mini cooper) and headed southwest to the port town of Southampton. Southampton is the town where the Titanic departed. We had a couple hours to explore the waterfront and old-town area. There were a number of memorials for the Titanic and Navy sailors lost at sea. We randomly found a really cool pub where we enjoyed an excellent lunch. The barkeep was very cranky, but the food was amazing and the pub seemed like it had been untouched for hundreds of years. It was really dark, the floors were often sunken, and in places it seemed like the balcony and walls were ready to cave in. We think it was originally a courthouse. Check out the picture I took of a poster inside.
After filling up on lunch, we boarded the ferry and set off toward the Isle. After an hour we approached the island and the sun started shining. We also found out that it was the weekend of a giant sailing festival and the sea was filled with literally hundreds of sailboats. Some of them looked like they were racing. There were also tons of people enjoying the festival along the waterfront. After landing we headed toward the center of the island, found a grocery store and stocked up on food for the weekend. We brought our camping gear and planned to find a random place to camp that night. We also had a stove and a disposable bbq.
Our real journey begins here as we left the city of Newport and headed toward the west side of the island. We were surprised how small the island really was; towns on the map came much quicker when we were driving than what we expected. We also learned that there are many types of squirrels on the Isle of Wight. We saw a road sign telling us to watch out for squirrels. A few hundred yards later we saw another sign telling us to watch for red squirrels. Apparently the two colonies of squirrels do not mingle.
The west coast of the island is pretty quiet and not very crowded. Our first stop was a neat geological feature called The Needles. As you'll see, they are a series of rocks that stick out of the ocean near the shore. There was a very small and eerie, deserted amusement park near the shore of The Needles that was reminiscent of a horror movie. As we headed down the coast, we made a few stops at some small towns and beaches along the way. The scenery was very nice and the hilly countryside was filled with farmland, trees and neat houses with the occasional red, or plain, squirrel.
We passed a number of campgrounds, but our goal was to find a random place to camp outside of a campground since most of them were just big fields. However, we found this very hard to do. There certainly weren't any places along the road and the land was open farmland. We kept driving in hopes that we would find a nice place to perch for the night, but as it got later, the prospect of finding one was getting grim. Eventually we made a few random turns onto some backroads and found a nice place to park the car and walk a few hundred feet to the bottom of a field surrounded by trees. It was here that we set up camp for the night and enjoyed an evening filled with burgers, smores, cider and wine.
After a night of light to medium rain, we woke up the next morning and made some breakfast. Egg sandwiches, beans and another smore just for fun! It was Hayley's first time eating smores so we had to eat as many as we could. Since we had made our way half way around the island, we had the whole day to explore the busier, east side of the Isle. It is definitely filled with bigger, touristy towns, but it was still really nice to spend some time on the beach and explore the shops and sights along the way. Our first stop was at a Rock Shop in a smaller village. A Rock Shop refers to a coastal English candy tradition, just like we enjoy salt water taffy in the States. Rock is just a stick of hard candy. I picked up a bag of mixed flavors and Hayley got a bunch to take home.
We then made our way to the highlight of our trip, the small yet busy village of Godshill. Godshill is full of small shops and restaurants, a really old village church atop the hill, and best of all a small model village. We visited the model village which was surprisingly large and extremely detailed. It even included a section that was a model of the village of Godshill, included a model of the model village! We then walked up the hill to the church, which was surrounded by really old tombstones that couldn't even be read. The houses around the church were really quaint and cute, most of them even having thatch roofs. After leaving Godshill, we headed back to the east coast to the town of Sandown where we had some lunch, went to the pier, and spent some time on the beach, despite the rain. Sandown was probably really cool 20 or 30 years ago when everything was new and touristy, but I don't think it's been updated since so it's more of a cheesy place if anything else. But the beach and waterfront was still really nice, nice enough for us to buy a $2 kite fly it until it ripped! We eventually made it up the coastline and back to East Cowes and the ferry dock where we took the ferry back to Southampton and then drove about 2 hours back to London.
Overall, the trip was really really nice. It was absolutely wonderful having someone to travel with other than myself. Hayley and I had a great time and spent our time in the car listening to cheesy girl-rock and making fun of English phrases and banter. It was also nice riding in a car again. Windows down, music up, and the flexibility to go anywhere you want. The train is a good way to see the countryside, but nothing beats the car. Hopefully it's the first of other similar trips with good company. Thanks Hayley!
8.06.2008
Switzerland, Episode 3 (Finally!) - Zermatt, Matterhorn, Lausanne, and Geneva
The bolded sections below are what this post covers.
Day 4: Finished backpacking to Kandersteg, train to Visp and then Zermatt, Gondola to the Matterhorn, train back to Visp and then Lausanne, train to Geneva. Stayed in hostel.
Day 5: Geneva, fly back to London.
Pictures from this post can be seen here! http://picasaweb.google.com/bbergey/SwitzerlandEpisode202
I know, I know, I'm a little behind. Well, a lot behind. But here it is! 2 weeks later and I'm finally posting about the end of my Switzerland trip, which is good because I already have another adventure to write about.
So this episode starts with my train ride from Visp (last episode) to Zermatt, a high mountain town that sits at the foot of the Matterhorn. I was very intrigued by Zermatt due to it's proximity to the Matterhorn, it's ski-town/resort status, and the fact that there are actually no cars in the town. Other than very small hotel shuttles that help people and their luggage get from the train station to the hotel, it's all horse carriages and feet. I had considered basing my mountain portion of the trip in Zermatt and spend a couple days hiking there instead of the Jungfrau region, but after I arrived I was immediately relieved that I didn't do that. As lovely as the town is, it's busy and crowded with tourists. Posh tourists. Further, virtually anywhere that is possible to hike is also accessible by some kind of gondola. So you could hike hours up 1000s of feet to the foot of the Matterhorn or other nearby peaks, or just take a short (yet expensive) gondola ride.
I decided to take the Gondola up to the very base of the Matterhorn. It was just too expensive (about $50) to justify taking it as high up as it goes atop nearby peaks. Even up there, surrounded pristine mountain and glacier views, was horribly commercialized. Just below the gondola stop and restaurant, they were mining rocks and constantly taking them, by helicopter, up the mountain. They were probably using them on some new building or something. It was really annoying hearing the constant helicopters and having the landscape ruined by large amounts of mining and digging. Regardless, it was very cool to see the Matterhorn. I can check that off the life list now. Yet I was fairly relieved to get down and leave Zermatt.
From Zermatt I took the train back down to Visp and then to Lausanne and the French/Southern portion of the country. Lausanne sits on the north end of Lake Geneva and I couldn't help but get off the train and explore for a few hours. The waterfront was absolutely beautiful. Lots of fountains, boats, people, and great views. Lausanne also hosts the International Olympic Center and Museum, which was unfortunately closed for the night, but still very nice to walk around. I explored the streets along the water and up the hill into the older parts of town. Even though it was French, there was an abundance of pizza places, so I stopped for some pizza (my first real meal after backpacking) and salad and it was delicious!
I then got back on the train and headed down the lakeside to Geneva. Along the way I met a girl who has been living in Geneva for a couple years and told me a few places to check out. I arrived in Geneva around 10pm, walked to my hostel about 15 mins from the train station, chatted with my Swiss/German roommates for the night who were on a cycling trip through Switzerland and France, and went to bed.
The next morning I got up early as I wanted a full day to explore the city. After walking around the area of my hostel, visiting the tourist office, and dropping off my pack in a train station locker, I went to see if I could rent a bike from a place I read about. The rental was actually free for the first 4 hours and then only 1 Swiss Franc per hour after that. 1 Swiss Frank roughly equals about 1USD. So at times it seemed like things were fairly cheap when converted to the pound, but in reality Geneva is one of the most expensive cities in the World.
I also think it's probably one of the most beautiful major cities. It sits right on the bank of Lake Geneva, surrounded by hills and the peaks of the Alps. It is very old and rich with history, and also very French. I found it much harder to speak to people when needed and was always relieved when people spoke good English. Renting a bike was the best idea ever. I was able to see 50 times more than I would have ever seen by foot. I was able to get lost in neighborhoods and explore areas further out from downtown. It was great! Geneva is also full of parks and green spaces, and all of Switzerland is full of fountains. Lots and lots of fountains. And all of them spout fresh, drinkable water. So I never had a problem finding a place to fill up my nalgene. It was great!
I started my day along the east side of the lake, rode along the waterfront, visited a couple large parks, got lost in a neighborhood, and slowly made my way towards Old Town. Old Town sits up a small hill from the waterfront and is pretty much the center of town. In the very center is an open square with a fountain, a few shops, and lots of great restaurants. The narrow, cobblestone roads wind their way around Old Town allowing endless exploring opportunities (and kodak moments). The monument-like Saint-Pierre Cathedral sits at the very top of the hill surrounded by the historic builds of Old Town. The cathedral itself was stunning inside, but the trip to the top provided excellent 360 degree views of the entire and lake. It was amazing, as you can see in my pics.
Since my train pass included a free visit to the local museums, I thought I would check out the History museum nearby. I'm really not one for museums, let alone going in and reading about things in Museums. But I can tell you that there were a lot of old things inside. Really old things. After about 15 minutes I left and had lunch! I ate at a small place in Old Town where I got a half chicken, potatoes, bread and salad. I think I need to start a food blog as well!
After lunch, I explored the city more, ran into a large flea market and made my way down the west coast of the lake to a number of parks and the Botanical Gardens. The weather was absolutely perfect, sunny and low 80s. I took a rest and short nap in one of the parks along the water before heading back into town to return the bike and find a place for dinner. I got to the airport with plenty of time to spare, especially because my flight was delayed over an hour, which put me back in London after midnight! On top of that, after taking the shuttle into London, I got on the wrong city bus, which added an hour to what should have been a 15 bus ride home. It's funny how I can go to a foriegn country without knowing much about it at all and not get lost or have any problems getting around, yet I come back to London and get lost taking a wrong bus.
So that's it! It was a wonderful trip, and I'm already dreaming of returning to the country this winter for a ski trip or two. And hopefully again to do some hiking as well. But I guess I have plenty of other places to visit as well. Until next time...
Day 4: Finished backpacking to Kandersteg, train to Visp and then Zermatt, Gondola to the Matterhorn, train back to Visp and then Lausanne, train to Geneva. Stayed in hostel.
Day 5: Geneva, fly back to London.
Pictures from this post can be seen here! http://picasaweb.google.com/bbergey/SwitzerlandEpisode202
I know, I know, I'm a little behind. Well, a lot behind. But here it is! 2 weeks later and I'm finally posting about the end of my Switzerland trip, which is good because I already have another adventure to write about.
So this episode starts with my train ride from Visp (last episode) to Zermatt, a high mountain town that sits at the foot of the Matterhorn. I was very intrigued by Zermatt due to it's proximity to the Matterhorn, it's ski-town/resort status, and the fact that there are actually no cars in the town. Other than very small hotel shuttles that help people and their luggage get from the train station to the hotel, it's all horse carriages and feet. I had considered basing my mountain portion of the trip in Zermatt and spend a couple days hiking there instead of the Jungfrau region, but after I arrived I was immediately relieved that I didn't do that. As lovely as the town is, it's busy and crowded with tourists. Posh tourists. Further, virtually anywhere that is possible to hike is also accessible by some kind of gondola. So you could hike hours up 1000s of feet to the foot of the Matterhorn or other nearby peaks, or just take a short (yet expensive) gondola ride.
I decided to take the Gondola up to the very base of the Matterhorn. It was just too expensive (about $50) to justify taking it as high up as it goes atop nearby peaks. Even up there, surrounded pristine mountain and glacier views, was horribly commercialized. Just below the gondola stop and restaurant, they were mining rocks and constantly taking them, by helicopter, up the mountain. They were probably using them on some new building or something. It was really annoying hearing the constant helicopters and having the landscape ruined by large amounts of mining and digging. Regardless, it was very cool to see the Matterhorn. I can check that off the life list now. Yet I was fairly relieved to get down and leave Zermatt.
From Zermatt I took the train back down to Visp and then to Lausanne and the French/Southern portion of the country. Lausanne sits on the north end of Lake Geneva and I couldn't help but get off the train and explore for a few hours. The waterfront was absolutely beautiful. Lots of fountains, boats, people, and great views. Lausanne also hosts the International Olympic Center and Museum, which was unfortunately closed for the night, but still very nice to walk around. I explored the streets along the water and up the hill into the older parts of town. Even though it was French, there was an abundance of pizza places, so I stopped for some pizza (my first real meal after backpacking) and salad and it was delicious!
I then got back on the train and headed down the lakeside to Geneva. Along the way I met a girl who has been living in Geneva for a couple years and told me a few places to check out. I arrived in Geneva around 10pm, walked to my hostel about 15 mins from the train station, chatted with my Swiss/German roommates for the night who were on a cycling trip through Switzerland and France, and went to bed.
The next morning I got up early as I wanted a full day to explore the city. After walking around the area of my hostel, visiting the tourist office, and dropping off my pack in a train station locker, I went to see if I could rent a bike from a place I read about. The rental was actually free for the first 4 hours and then only 1 Swiss Franc per hour after that. 1 Swiss Frank roughly equals about 1USD. So at times it seemed like things were fairly cheap when converted to the pound, but in reality Geneva is one of the most expensive cities in the World.
I also think it's probably one of the most beautiful major cities. It sits right on the bank of Lake Geneva, surrounded by hills and the peaks of the Alps. It is very old and rich with history, and also very French. I found it much harder to speak to people when needed and was always relieved when people spoke good English. Renting a bike was the best idea ever. I was able to see 50 times more than I would have ever seen by foot. I was able to get lost in neighborhoods and explore areas further out from downtown. It was great! Geneva is also full of parks and green spaces, and all of Switzerland is full of fountains. Lots and lots of fountains. And all of them spout fresh, drinkable water. So I never had a problem finding a place to fill up my nalgene. It was great!
I started my day along the east side of the lake, rode along the waterfront, visited a couple large parks, got lost in a neighborhood, and slowly made my way towards Old Town. Old Town sits up a small hill from the waterfront and is pretty much the center of town. In the very center is an open square with a fountain, a few shops, and lots of great restaurants. The narrow, cobblestone roads wind their way around Old Town allowing endless exploring opportunities (and kodak moments). The monument-like Saint-Pierre Cathedral sits at the very top of the hill surrounded by the historic builds of Old Town. The cathedral itself was stunning inside, but the trip to the top provided excellent 360 degree views of the entire and lake. It was amazing, as you can see in my pics.
Since my train pass included a free visit to the local museums, I thought I would check out the History museum nearby. I'm really not one for museums, let alone going in and reading about things in Museums. But I can tell you that there were a lot of old things inside. Really old things. After about 15 minutes I left and had lunch! I ate at a small place in Old Town where I got a half chicken, potatoes, bread and salad. I think I need to start a food blog as well!
After lunch, I explored the city more, ran into a large flea market and made my way down the west coast of the lake to a number of parks and the Botanical Gardens. The weather was absolutely perfect, sunny and low 80s. I took a rest and short nap in one of the parks along the water before heading back into town to return the bike and find a place for dinner. I got to the airport with plenty of time to spare, especially because my flight was delayed over an hour, which put me back in London after midnight! On top of that, after taking the shuttle into London, I got on the wrong city bus, which added an hour to what should have been a 15 bus ride home. It's funny how I can go to a foriegn country without knowing much about it at all and not get lost or have any problems getting around, yet I come back to London and get lost taking a wrong bus.
So that's it! It was a wonderful trip, and I'm already dreaming of returning to the country this winter for a ski trip or two. And hopefully again to do some hiking as well. But I guess I have plenty of other places to visit as well. Until next time...
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