day 40 prague

29 june 2009

free walking tour! we joined the one that stops at our hostel and were shown around by sophie, this little ball of blonde welsh energy. on the way to the main rendez-vous point (tram), this little kid with huge glasses that reminded me of the jerry maquire boy kept staring at me, and morgan (edmonton girl we met today) kept laughing at the situation.

tour start... sophie makes the dud of an astronomical clock a lot more interesting with descriptions of the dials and statue figures involved. she also mentions how there is a rooster that "CAWS" at the end, but i guess we missed that yesterday. a lot of history thrown at us that i appreciated, talk of the charles bridge using egg yolk as a solidifier (yeah right) and then an answer re: relative unscathed nature of prague despite war after war... ceasefire agreement in WW2... they left peacefully. true? maybe.


then the tour ended and kim, morgan, nusbaum and i went to the site of the czech senate, which also has a weird black artificial grotto that we saw from the palace yesterday. peacocks tried to hump (one would have none of it though, despite persistent attempts) and a cool exhibit on czech history. morgan the IR kid seems to know her stuff about the advent of the EU. ps. pak is wrong. the uk (or great britain) is part of the EU.


got back to hostel and promptly did laundry (much needed after sweating thru everything when i had a fever). found out that poor rich is stuck in paris because someone called in a bombthreat.


i have also suggested a travel plan to nusbaum, and we'll see how he takes it.


1. nice-marseille
2. marseille-bordeaux
3. bordeaux-biarritz
4. meet him in paris and he caan go do stuff til then
5. paris-normandy
6. normandy-paris

we met up with sturgess again for dinner and we ended up at this littly dingy looking place that served frigging huge portions! smoky as hell inside too. then we went to a nearby place for drinks and kim was chatting with some random drunk czech guy through the window who seemed to have an irish accent.


walking back from metro to hostel, some guy puked hard in front of us and we had to hurry by fast or else kim said she would puke too. lovely.

day 39 - prague

28 june 2009

we went to see prague castle today and told the ticket girl we were students, and she believed we were under 26. woohoo!

most of the time was spent in st.vitus's cathedral which had amazing vaulted ceilings and side chapels with detailed stained glass windows. i remember listening to the audioguide and hearing about a saint who had his son strangled, but then he repented and became a devout christian... and then he became a saint...


we also saw the dalibor tower, a medieval prison, and checked out the place where "the defenestration" occurred with 3 guys chucked out a window and survived, whereupon they were shot, but also survived... wow.


after, we strolled along charles bridge which was riddled with touristy booths and construction, but i can see it being very beautiful with less people. there were musicians playing as well, and this one group was playing chilled jazz.

at old town hall, we saw a michael jackson vigil which was a little weird. how could the king of pop have possibly touched the lives of teenagers so deeply? oh well. we made fun of them.


then we hung around to watch the astronomical clock do it's thing, eager to see just how crappy it is (after james let us know how budget it really was). he was soooooo right. it blew. hard.


walked to wenceslas square and saw the saint's kickass statue, then came back to the hostel.

in the metro, we witnessed a group of guys getting fined 700Kc for not having a ticket... that's about CAN$43

went out to get a quick bite to eat where nusbaum lost the credit card draw (finally) and then we played a last round of asshole.

other: kim chen in response to what has scarred her travelling with us, "the random 'wh@re c$%t' is a little much." (editor 2010 - this is very innocent actually, and makes sense if you have seen the james lipton extra on the old school dvd. if this makes no sense to you, so be it. probably for the best)

day 38 vienna - prague

27 june 2009


i felt much better this morning, though my head still feels a tad heavy and on the dozy side.

apparently the horse training and show we saw last night had historical military applications... really? perhaps it was to throw off the enemy and catch them subsequently off-guard with them in amazement.


um. once again. screwed by eurorail. delay of about 2-3 hrs, only after we asked. train ahead broken down... wtf?

the AC also went dead and we started to boil. memories of overnight train... i was psyched out twice by a noise that i thought was the AC coming on, but was actually two trains passing by. eventually got in around 6pm with no staff to help break our Kc money (editor 2010 - currency used in prague) so we just walked to the plus prague hostel which wasn't too far away. it pretty much resembles the hostel that kevin and christine were at in florence so that was nice.






we arranged to meet up with kate sturgess at a traditional czech fair pub and had 13% unfiltered beer (that tasted surprisingly mild), goulash with bread and speck dumplings (with bacon inside!) and some shots from a german bachelor party that kate ushered over. i thought she meant the guy was there for the rowdy table of singing and dancing 50 year olds behind us, and i thought that was odd.


we then went to "al capone's" a little dive bar to have another drink, and kate almost took the waitress's eye out, and the waitress almost got bitch-slapped by kim. then we went to another bar called "harley's" where they were rocking out to 80s tunes. one guy got tackled by his buddy and hit the floor hard.


at this point a cough that had been developing was getting pretty bad but i was good for one more place so kate took us to this massive 5 floor discotheque along the bank of the river. wow. young rowdy crowd with some very interesting dancing. i watched and mockd from a key vantage site.


after a long night, we walked kate back to her place and then took a cab back to the hostel.


other:
- rich puts on the big boy pants and finally learns how to hold 13 playing cards in one hand like a man
- couldn't physically buy transit tickets as no staff were working and machines only accept coins (w/no change machines), so we just walked on to subway. kate later tells us there are huge fies for doing so.
- nusbaum washes his shoes... really? metro boy.

day 37 vienna

26 june 2009


let's see... what did i do today. oh yes. that's right. i slept.

woke up in the morning and was persuaded to go to the palace but then decided to stay in and rest instead. in the evening, we wet to see the spanish riding club performance. pretty cool considering the timing, synchronicity and trust involved. note: young horses do not like clapping. scares the heck out of them. the coolest trick was what looked like the horse equivalent of a jumping heel click. (editor 2010 - now that i read this, i can totally tell that i was sick and a little delirious. the spanish riding club is all about some really old school horse training that dated back to when horses were used in combat. the tricks that they perform were originally meant for warfare, so that made it pretty cool, although i think the tricks would more confuse/astonish the enemy long enough to get a clear shot with a cross bow or something because i cannot see how it would give them a solid advantage. "general look! the enemy horses are clicking their heels! how beautifu...AAAAAHHHH!". and the clapping thing is about the audience clapping. obviously horses do not clap.)


i came back to hostel after that just so i can rest more to try and kick whatever bug i have.


other:
- people generally do not jay-walk here. i find that rather frustrating. is there a fine in doing so?
- toilet bowl in hostel is designed all wrong
- quick lee fast food (asian) has a very un-pc logo
- two girls with no concept of sharing computer time. idiots
- i paid off the toll balance from italy! i knew it!

day 36 vienna

25 june 2009


a recurring discussion topic. if the locals spell this city as "wien", why do we say, "vienna"?


i have been a zombie most of today as i had that fever last night and baked in general on the top bunk. waking up, i took a big swig of the bottled water provided only to discover that it was sparkling... not my favourite.


i took my breakfast to an empty car to be alone a bit in my feverish misery.

dropped our bags off at the do step inn right next to westbahnhof train station (thank goodness) and then we went exploring. a lof of h&ms and skate stores here, and prices are much more reasonable here.


kim, pak and i went to snack at a little cafe right beside st.stephen's cathedrale, and then to mozart house, which was rather disappointing. audioguide clips were too long and no real coherent storyline.


we also got tickets to a lipizzaner horse show for tomorrow evening and we might go see terminator 4 tonight. plan change: kim and i went to the leopold museum with works by gustav klimt, egon schiele and josef maria auchentaller. the advent of the vienna secession also seems to have inspired print posters that modern day rock shows have adopted. i started feeling crappy again so we left. i was on a mission for soup or stew, to no avail and resulting in my getting lost in vienna. sigh...


other:
- this is written 2 days later when i feel a bit better...
- klimt had this one tiny oil painting of a little girl. the face looked like a photo... unreal
- schiele draws in a unique way, and frank miller may have learned a few things from egon
- michael jackson died today (or i found out today)
- (editor 2010 - today we also got kate (sister in law) some "mozart balls" sweets. i don't quite understand the appeal)

day 35 interlaken - vienna (overnight train)

24 june 2009


last night i passed out pretty quick and missed the talk of how kim kissed one of the guys last night at baumer's. i only found out in the morning, after receiving the "dragonball hair" comment.


nusbaum made omelettes this morning, but not with stupid hardboiled eggs we bought...

kim was going to go on the canyon swing but it got cancelled. we played cards on the patio, and i gave my pack to the bartender who needed a good pack for his card tricks (that were actually pretty impressive). was walking around in town too and saw paragliding lands and amazing mountain backgrounds. i was going to spend my swiss francs since we were leaving, but then realised (after considering the purchase of lauterbrunnen map for andree and i) that i was coming back!


took the train from interlaken ost to bern, bern to zurich, zurich to vienna, of which the latter was an overnighter... it sucked. bianca and chris from australia were our roommates, so 6 of us in a little room with poor poor AC circulation to the 2 top couchettes that pak and i were in. 2 crappy things:
1. soooo many empty cars, or cars with only one person in it
2. i had a fever and sweated most of it out all night


oh wait, 3rd,... i smacked my head on the sharp light cover twice. ouch.


other:
- andree texts me to inform me that shops in paris are only allowed to have "soldes" (editor 2010 - sales) twice a year. now and in january.
- started filling in kim re: our inside jokes e.g. fire it up, t-rex
- bumped into high school graduate girls we met in interlaken on same train platform in zurich (they were heading to barcelona)

day 34 interlaken

23 june 2009


despite rainfall, canyoning is a go today! got picked up by toby who has deadpan but awesome humour and change into even tighter suits! started doing the obligatory lunges just for fun. on the drive in, kim also talks about my sleep talking clear voice. last night i said, "YEP. LET'S DO IT". probably in reference to adventure stuff we were in the mix of.


the alpin raft photographer for today also looked like neil patrick harris, and we had the doogie howser theme song in our heads all day. canyoning was pretty awesome with rock sliding and cliff jumping. at one point when i was at the front, the owner who was also one of our guides told me, "jump across this gap in the rocks and land on your back on that face and you will slide down into the water". i was waiting for him to say, "just kidding", but he wasn't. it was totally fine and fun though (phew!). nusbaum's helmet was labelled "punani" which made us laugh.

after some rest time at the hostel, we went into town for swiss fondue dinner and passed by some weird mannequins(man-gina, mustache, grimace). at baumer's pub again, we got pretty drunk. the high school girls were there again and we got a repeat of the worm by request. kim was on fire too with the guys and i kept doing the "fire-it-up" dance around her. i was also annoyed by 2 guys and i ended up kicking one of them, to grand applause and laughter.

we also identified a guy who we thought was interested in nusbaum, and apparently he tapped nusbaum's ass at the end of the night.

other:
- CHF: confederation helvitica francs. so as to not get mixed up with sweden
- "you know what the hardest thing about zorbing is?" (editor 2010 - ask either kim, steve, pak or i for the punchline)
- kevin haley (editor 2010 - guy we met in italy) was in interlaken too and he bumped into us at the bar!
- i introduced the duncan-barber-creepy-stare-mouth-wipe to the gang              

day 33 interlaken

22 June 2009


initially planned to go canyoning but apparently there was too much water given the recent rainfall, so it was cancelled. so we went to the coop grocery store at interlaken ost to get some groceries etc, and nusbaum got really excited about the no name tall boy lagers going for 60 cents. scheduled ourselves in for 11:45am pickup and carlos came to get us to go whitewater rafting with alpin raft company.


we got the feeling that carlos was severely flirting it up with kim and we will probably tease her about it for the rest of the trip.


at the base site, we were suited up into wicked wet suits, life jacket and helmet. for our boat of 8, we got screwed with a family who looked like fish out of water. the rafting itself was awesome and out guide told us at one point that we could jump into the river. so we did, and got a wall full of cold water as we hit a rapid!

we also "raced" a few times with other rafts, although one time, we were beaten by a boat of girl scouts. what the hell? nusbaum and i were in front and paddling like crazy so we were baffled. however, we learned later that the family with us were lazy or worried about their nails or something stupid like that. as i write this, i realise i am getting angrier as i think more about it (editor 2010 - as i type this up one year later, i am also getting mad).


there was beer, cheese, bread and some awesome pie waiting for us at the base when we were done, and we hung out more with brad and laura who we introduced ourselves to when we first arrived. back at the hostel (after walking around interlaken a bit), rich and i started making dinner (first one in a loooong time) and then all but nusbaum went out for drinks to baumer's metro pub.

we missed the last bus into town by seconds so caught a cab instead (audi) where at one point we had a stare down with a cat on the road. it is also around this time that kim, pak and i realise this is an all asian outing. at the pub, brad and laura were there, and kim had a dance off carlton style with some guy. they basically started off the dancing at the pub. these girls that had just finished highschool performed a stirring rendition of the worm which all were in awe of. they also used us as protection from creepy guys like carlos.

brad asked here nusbaum was, and then told us two terms they have for that in australia, "soft cock" and "girl's dick". that killed me.


the cab ride back screwed us with a fare of 67CHF, which we talked down to 55 (going there was only 30!). pak passed out in like 15 secs.


other:
- kim tells people she works for "the number one dealership" in canada :)
- the water in my right ear all day finally drains as i am falling asleep

day 32 venice - interlaken

21 june 2009

meeting up with the guys and christine, i gathered drunkeness had ensued the night before with christine drinking venice canal water for 10e and swimming across for 50e.

at the train station, we had to ask to figure out that we needed the "basilea" train to head to our spiez destination (not apparent at all!). christine was on the same train but different car but she managed to hang with us in our car, even after her ticket was checked (editor 2010 - she had 2nd class ticket, while we had 1st class - standard with eurorail pass)

we quickly remembered that none of us had swiss francs, so to determine how much we might need for the 3 days in interlaken, we used the big mac as a basis for overall cost of living here. i believe we calculated that most things are double what they are back home (CHF~CAN)

had some food (as the stupid train ride did not include complimentary meal service... we were spoiled by the thalys line from paris to amsterdam) and then caught the 3 bus to iseltwald which cost us 7 francs! at lake lodge hostel we were very happy to see that we were on the lake shore and surrounded by lush green mountains. very much reminded me of home. settled in quickly, and while the guys took a nap, i went for a little hike along the lakeshore, listening to music, singing when i thought i was alone, and absorbing the fresh air and beautiful sights. the water in the lake brienzersee has this ethereal turquoisey glow to it that is simply captivating.

after returning, we went into town to try and pickup kim who had flown into zurich and was spending the day there before making her way to interlaken. it was also then that we realised the last bus left interlaken ost (editor 2010 - ost=west) at 8:04p! luckily, we bumped into kim on the last 3 bus.

came back to hostel, let kim settle in and then we taught her how to play asshole, and nusbaum broke out a bottle of sparkling red wine to toast the addition to our travelling circus

other:
- i have been horrible with the travelling circus blog. oh well
- the road to iseltwald is tiny!
- discovered that kim is a photo-taking machine
- glad that our hostel provided us with a bus pass!

day 31 venice

20 june 2009


returned pak's rain jacket in the morning and we realised their room smelt pretty gross. the odd combination of pizza, beer, sweat and dudes (plus christine). after missing the 6 bus to venice, we went to the corner store to get some fruit for the day. once in venice it started to rain, and i used my pack cover for the first time!


we walked over to st. mark's square and had over-priced (but good) cappucino (6e!), next to the live band which was nice. we then started to head towards the basilica and noticed that you could go up the bell tower. so we did, and in the process was able to break the 500e bill. the sign on the ground level said it was cold and windy, and they meant it. getting off the elevator, we were hit hard by the strong wind (one of the huge bells was swinging due to the wind!), but it was worth it. the view was awesome.


in the square we also saw a pigeon with no tail, and a lady standing with 2 pigeons in her hands! i fed one for a photo op :)


went to the train station to meet up with everyone, and andree fed rich a cherry that had been on nusbaum's lips. what a cute couple pak and nusbaum make.


at lunch, we convinced christine that spike could read (editor 2010 - rich's dog), and at the end of the meal, andree got shat on by a pigeon which they were trying to say was good luck.


after going our own way andree got us a small bottle of red wine and we made our way to the gondola guys. 70e offer (originally supposed to be 100e) did not fly, but 80e did. i also decided to sing to her, so busted out elvis presley's "it's now or never", frank sinatra's "i've got you under my skin" and righteous brother's "you've lost that loving feeling". she liked :)


made our way to murano by water bus, but not before foregoing map and getting lost in venice, just wandering around. when we returned, i noticed that some of the sidewalk was minorly flooded and i got very excited at the possibility of a flooded st. mark's square after hearing about it from andree's visit years ago, and seeing postcard pics.

when we hit the square, i was in awe. it was covered! and upto almost a foot deep! andree and i took off our shoes and walked around just because we had to. amazing. poor cafe's though with flooded seating areas... the restaurant we were going to eat at was flooded too!


we found somewhere else to eat though, got drunk and walked back to piazzale roma (bus depot).


other:
- luka the water bus guy jokingly offering to let andree secure the vessel to the pier
- when we got lost, some nice old lady clearly saw this and asked us, "san marco?" to which we eagerly responded with yes! such a nice lady. (editor 2010 - san marco is st.mark's which we were indeed looking for at the time)

day 30 florence - venice

19 june 2009


another bright and early morning for us, waking up to about 6 mosquito bites. i do not like this hostel at all. in addition, it is a good thing we got our things out of the "safe" with the front desk last night, because noone was around til we were leaving.


not sure how the drive to venice (mestre to be exact) was as i slept thru most of it. room is ok only because it is a smoking room so kinda smelt gross, but housekeeping managed to somehow (i think at least) remove the smell.


pak, nusbaum and christine somehow managed to get 3 single beds! (editor 2010 - until now, pak, steve and i have NEVER been able to get three single beds when we stayed in a hotel)


after a rest, and figuring out the bus system in venice, we were on our way. i bought a map upon arrival which was important because the roads, streets, rivers, canals are crazy! similiar to amsterdam with network of canals and bridges, but different because of architecture, age and dilapidated buildings that are bending all weird due to the poor foundations. there are these bolts or wedge systems visible on the sides of affected buildings to keep the building under compression, and hence stronger.


after lunch where we subjected poor christine to more of our immature mannerisms, behaviour and jokes, we wandered around just soaking in the beautiful sites.


at SS apostoli, nusbaum and i contemplated how the clock on the tower worked. we threw the challenge to pak and christine and then decided to see how many people we could get to look up at the sky with us pointing and focusing on the clock. we actually got quite a few takers!


then at somepoint teams of pak and christine and the steve's raced to see who could make it to ponte dell'accademia first. we won and started drinking beers to appear as though we had been there a while. the losers joined us with a beverage and then soon thereafter we witnessed a short chase between hawkers and some kind of unarmed law enforcement. merchandise was dropped and destroyed by authorities, and apparently one guy was in a headlock before being released. one of the escapees bumped into nusbaum and he dropped his beer, with a much deflated and audible, "awwwww..."


we then followed the confiscated merchandise to see if more stuff would go down, and one of the hawkers returned to exchange words (w/yelling). nusbaum asked two nearby gondola guys to translate what just happened but with no luck due to lack of english. when christine referred to "gondola" guys, apparently they perked up, thinking she wanted a ride.


made it to the impressive st. mark's square and decided to return tomorrow. managed to book it back to bus terminal with deft navigational skills courtesy of team steve.


once andree arrived, we decided to go into venice to make the most of our trip, and arrived at 11:20p, mainly for dinner. coming back, it started to rain with lightning and thunder, and it was just starting to come down in torrents when we arrived back at the hotel. thanks to pak for lending me his jacket. we watched the storm for a while from the room window which was awesome.


other:

- bruce nauman "topological gardens" art exhibit. best time yet at a modern art museum/exhibition due to photo-taking (a la ferris bueller's day off)
- nusbaum's attempt to jump backwards into a tiny statue alcove
- giraffe-cannon or something art exhibit: crap
- after missing venice bus with andree, we decided to get gelato... limone!
- origin of "catfish" term. wow.

day 29 florence (cinque terra)

18 june 2009


after eating "natural" flavoured yoghurt that expired today (hence the 1e for 4), we hit the road to cinque terra to hike all day and see the UNESCO world heritage villages of riomaggiore, manarola, corniglia, vernazza and monterosso


on the first section even before the hike route began, nusbaum almost slid in slow motion down a rock in the water after slipping. the official first section is known as lover's walk and has padlocks hanging from the fences. symbolic of love? i don't get it. the villages themselves are gorgeous with terraced landscape and colourful architecture but even more so are the views of the mediterranean sea! so beautiful!


in corniglia we are pizza and fed a cat just on street into the village off the hike path, and stopped at beaches/water-front to cool off at both vernazza and monterosso.


very awesome hike, but poorly signed in many parts (much like the roads in italy). in the end, the train back to riomaggiore took 8 minutes, which is a little anticlimactic after hiking all day in the sun :)


we were thinking earlier on of hitting up pisa, but then thought screw it. on last toll, we were spewed money out of the automatic payment machine and then we underpaid and were still let out, although i think they have a record of the plate number...


went for dinner at the same place just up the street and called it an early night for venice trip tomorrow!


other:
- carbonara!