» France
Last Days of Swiss Country
After leaving Interlaken, Switzerland, which was probably one of few places I was very sad to leave (its breathtaking but randomly they have a hooters restaurant), would go back and wanted to stay another day, I headed off to Bern. Before I go on to that, I must say that you all must try paragliding. It feels so safe and its a wonderful experience. My instructor says that he has guided people from 3 to 92. Even launching was easy and not scary at all. All I did was run down a gentle slope (maybe 5 steps) and then I was flying. Also, did I tell you all the I rode on the back of Peaches’ (my guide) motorcycle up the mountain. That was another first. Taking the curves was scary (you feel like you are going to fall over), but as he told me, just lean into the turn. That’s what I did and all I could hear was the wind blowing. All I could see was the mountains to my left and lakes down below, and scary curves up ahead that I didn’t know what was on the other side of. But I made it.
 |
| Bern |
Next, I was off to Bern, the capital city of Switzerland. I was only there for a day, but it was nice. Bern it known for its clock towers (there are about 11 in the Old Downtown area), its fountains and it affinity to the bear. Bears are everywhere – statues, flags and there is even a bear park, with live bears. Naturally, I visited all those sites as I walked around the city. I also went up to the rose garden for a birds eye view of the city with its clock towers, cathedrals, narrow streets and the river running through it. It kind of reminded me of a gingerbread village. Great View!!!
Since it was my last night in Switzerland, I decided to treat myself to a nice meal. I desperately wanted to taste some Rostii, a Swiss potato dish. Its fried potatoes like shredded home fries but a lot better. Rostii comes with a variety of different things mixed in it from vegetables to meat or eggs. I got the sausage (I was trying to be a Swiss as possible), leeks and cream. It was so very good (most things with heavy cream are). Best meal I had in a few weeks.
Back to France
I have the pleasure of spending this past weekend in Compiegne, France and got a breath a fresh air visiting friends of a friend. Compienge is a small town about 40 minutes outside of Paris. If you are wondering, I have been to Paris before, which is why I did not make stop there on this trip.
I went from a tourist to a visitor, or even more appropriately, a guest. Just saying this makes me want to bust out with Beauty and the Beast’s “Be our Guest” – which happens to be one of my favorite movies and also happens to take place in France. Although my hosts were definitely not animated dishware that sing “Be our guest! Be our guest! Put our service to the test Tie your napkin ’round your neck, cherie And we’ll provide the rest….” I digress, but if you know me, these jukebox tendencies are normal. After over a month of hostels, sightseeing for a living and having the same surface conversation with other travelers, it was nice to be in someone’s home that actually lives in the country you are visiting and can show you around.
Whats the difference between being a tourist and a guest:
Tourists – stay in hostels or hotels, mostly eat in restaurants, visit tourist sites, never really interact with locals and usually just mingle with other tourists. Most of their visit is self lead touring or hired guides. The experience is mostly about sightseeing.
Guest – have home cooked meals, sleep in homes of natives, interact with locals, their friends and family and may go to a few tourist sites, but have a richer experiences just interacting with the culture and guided by locals around their territory. Its a cross cultural experience around fellowship.
I was a guest of the Farelly’s and hung out with them and their 3 kids, which are massively cute and fun. While there, they were gracious enough to invite over some of their friends for dessert and I put on a mini poetry reading with some of my old poems and some from the trip. I think all had a good time and it kind of made me remember what the trip is about and look forward to presenting my complete works/story with pictures, video and poems representing this adventure to you all when I return…..yes there will be a nice shebang.
I was very thankful for meaningful conversation, sleeping I a queen sized bed, home cooked meals, going to church (albeit it was all in french, but it was nice anyway), being in a family environment and all of the good fresh fruit and nuts. It seems like fruit and nuts trees are everywhere in and around Compiegne. There were pear, apple, plum trees raspberry bushes in backyards and the Farelly’s had a hazelnut tree. It was eventful just cracking the nuts with the kids, whom did all kinds of other tricks I enjoyed. Lastly, I must say that though France , was probably the place I was least looking forward to in Europe, it was one of my best experiences and a pleasant surprise. I was sad to leave both Nice and Compiegne, which were both relaxing and refreshing for very different reasons, but both respites.
 |
| Compiegne |
The Best of Belgium: Beer, Chocolate and Waffles
On my way to the Netherlands, I stopped for today in Brussels, Belgium. Since I was only here for today, I made an effort to eat as many Belgian things that I could. This ultimately resulted in a slight stomach ache, but we wont go into that. First, I wanted to the Grand Place, which is the main public square and had some french fries ( I think they originated here and are very big tourist thing to eat). Then, I went to the Delirium Village which is a pub which has over 2000 beers and 25 on tap. Next, I had a waffle with chocolate and vanilla ice cream. To walk that off, I went over to the famous Rue de Bouchers which has a bunch of restaurants (mostly mussels and other seafood) and the Galleries of St Hubert which is what seems like a long hall of chocolate and jewelry shops. There are countless postcard and paraphernalia of this little boy urinating (it like a Belgium symbol). Its called the Manneken Pis, and is rather small and absurd. Nevertheless, I saw the real thing and I got a picture in front of a life sized one with a waffle in his hand (classic!!!). After all of that, I had room left for a fruit beer and two chocolate pralines before I headed back to my hostel. Bye Bye Belgium Tonight and Hello Holland Tomorrow. I will spend two days at the beach in Nordwick and a few days in Amsterdam. I have noticed I need a mix of city/nature mix to keep me sane.
 |
| Brussels, Belgium |
Randomness
Legend has it that Compiegne was the last place Joan of Arch was before she was burned on a stake. I also visited an ancient castle outside of Compiegne which was massive and beautiful and the set of a TV show as well.
After being in Europe almost 5 weeks, I must say that I generally like the smaller cities that have natural beauty with less sites and more character a lot better than the big mega tourist cities with all of the sightseeing to do. I am also tired of talking to other travelers and have been keeping to myself, which I also have been enjoying (I like my own company better than most). This last week has been more quiet, reflective and peaceful. All of the traveling and sights keep me from getting lonely, constant stimulus.
I have nothing to wake up early for, but my eyes pop open every day around six which is so very annoying especially since I go to bed around 12 most evenings and walk around all day.
I am on the final book in the Millennium trilogy….The girl who kicked the hornets nest.
I have taken over 2,600 pictures and I think Brussels is my 28th city visited on this trip. More to come….
» France
Mellow Marseille
I was quite tired from my time in Spain, so I have taken 5 days to relax in France before I am off to Italy (Rome, Florence & Venice). My time here has been well spent.
After arriving at the wrong branch of my hostel in Marseille and having to metro over and walk way to far with 40 lbs on my back, I was able to relax. Vieux Port (Old Port) is one of the oldest ports in France. It was nice to be so close to the water (my hostel was 3 blocks away) and the beach (maybe a 15 minute walk).
I only had one full day here because I arrived at 7 the day before, so I just went to the beach for part of the day and then went up to the church there (Notre Dame) and took in the view. You can see the entire city from here, the mountains, the port and the Mediterranean. One is able to walk around the top to get a 360 view. This wins the award for one of the best views I have seen. His comes of course after walking for about 30 minutes walking up the steepest hill in life. There is not much to do in Marseille, but its a nice smaller city with a tram, metro, lots of shops, outdoor seating and buildings you can tell are hundreds of years old. I really enjoyed it.
One of my favorite things about Marseille, is they have this public art display of globes, a lot of cities have other things (like cow, fish etc) in the us that people paint and put in public squares. I think the best one was a globe where each country was painted with its flag. Since there are over 50 countries in Africa, that side was particularly impressive.
The niceties of Nice
Now, I am in Nice.I must say, I like Nice (pronounced like niece). Its on the Cote D’azur which is basically Frances’ Riviera and it is wonderful. Its basically beach, after beach, after beach on the Mediterranean. The water here is a wonderful shade of aqua on the shore and beautiful royal blue out to sea. There is no sand, its all rocks (no pebbles but rocks) so is hard to walk on and get used to, but at least no sand to get into every area of your belongings. No sand castles here kiddies!!!
There are many public spaces, and fountains, my hostel is about 5 minutes from the beach, there are many many outside cafe’s, crepe places and much to much ice cream and gelato to be had. I would say, seafood, salad and pizza dominate the menus. One of he main attractions is a fruit and flower market that is open daily. You can buy all type of soaps and seasonings as well. Another is “The Chateau” which is a park on a hill behind the beach, which just happens to have a waterfall at the top and more excellent views of the city. If you want to nice vacation – vacation in Europe I would recommend here, there are about 7 day trips you can take to nearby, villages, beaches, islands and many water-sports to be played. I went on a short cruise down the shore and pretty close to the border of Italy. I almost went scuba diving, but decided you shouldn’t do deep water sports if you cant swim. Nice is also the playground of the rich, so the ports are full of private yachts.
Its quite the lively spot at night as well. I just missed a jazz festival. The first night I got there, there was a concert going on that I got to sit outside of and listen to. The beach is still lively after 10 – probably more people walking on the board walk then in the day. In the big square here, I saw a Micheal Jackson wanna be dancing like a fool and then I saw the strangest thing. You know those doll, which dance and play songs (usually dog or something). Well there was a black one it was a male( supposed to be a rapper). His hat which was turned to the side read “black music” he had on a gold chain and baggy clothes and was playing “yeah” but Usher. Too too much.
Yesterday, I went to Monaco which is about 30 minutes from here by bus, that was nice as well. More big yachts, palaces, casinos, villas on the hills etc. Generally though, I have been taking it easy because my legs and feet are rather tired. Today is a do nothing day and later when it gets cooler, I will go finish the book “the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” which is fabulous by the way. I am not into murder mystery, but I am dying to read the next one… I could use it on my 9 hour train ride to Rome, my next stop.
Randomness
Back at the hostel, I’ve met more Aussies of course, and people from Sweden, Germany, Canada and Turkey. Best thing about this hostel is free breakfast with about 8 cereal and 12 computers and the great air conditioner. Its rather hot here.
And speaking of hot, by hair is getting longer and is on the back of my neck (also hot). I have way too much hair on my head and its been quite annoying in this summer weather.
Below are some pics of random french sweets. So sweet in fact, there was a gang of bees buzzing around them.
French people are much nicer then I remember them being in Paris when I went a few years ago.
Not so much here, but in Spain, there was an overwhelming abundance of African street merchants selling glasses, bags etc, which reminded me of the merchants in Peru. The when the police are near you are likely to see 4-6 African men (I think some are from Senegal) fleeing with their merchandise in a large piece of cloth that was once the display base for their sales. Being hassled is annoying but it got me to thinking what must be like to have to sell things on the street and what’s the story behind it. This I wrote in Cusco, but it can still apply in places I have been here.
Desperation
No gracias
No gracias
No gracias
Its become my middle name
I get haggled to buy junk from street merchants constantly
Its driving me insane
No I dont want it -
Dont need your crap
No hats, bags or sunglasses
No massages
No tours, paintings, postcards or alpaca sweaters
Move out of my way, get out of my face
and off my back
No gracias
No gracias
No gracias
Its all I hear all day
At least one of these wealthy westerners needs to buy something from me today
I cant leave here with no money in my hands
I need to make as many sales as I can
There is not time to be meek
that only results in hunger rocking my babies to sleep
The only option is to sell these goods or this week nobody in my house eats.
» France
Mediterranean Blue
For my last day in Barcelona, I went to the beach and boy was it beautiful. I went mid afternoon, so the sun was not too hot and it was probably one of the most pleasant beach stays that I have had. The weather in Barcelona is somewhere in the 80′s, the water was nice and cool, and a different color blue then I can describe and it made me really wish I could swim (no I cant swim).
One glance at the sea
and it was then I knew
that there is not a color alive
to describe this hue
so I took the liberty to name it
Mediterranean Blue
The entire beach was crowded with people. Great for people watching.
Observations:
One – obviously being topless is not a problem in Spain, because several women went topless like it was an everyday occurrence. There were also a lot of naked babies, so maybe they don’t have baby swim suits in Spain. European mean seem to think its perfectly fine to sport speedo’s over trunks.
Two – there are people all over trying to sell you things like massages, food, drinks and even donuts. There was this guy with a stack of donuts on a wood board balancing on his head and he was running all around the beach selling donuts. There are also many street musicians playing music all along the beach and boardwalk, so this was all with the soundtrack of constant drumming and distant song that you could hear but not necessarily see.
Sunset at Port Vell and Waterworks at Magic Fountain
After being a beach bum for a few hours, I watched the sun set on Port Vell adjacent to the beach , then headed over to the magic fountain in Park Montijuc/Placa Espanya, sites left overs from the Olympic grander. If you have been to Vegas and seen the water show at the Bellagio Hotel, well this is like 10 times better. There must have been at least 5 thousand people there all for the 10:00pm waterworks. The water alternated between every color in the rainbow, twisted, turned, reached for the heights descended and did aerobatic moves synched to classical music. All this in front of a huge castle with lights beaming from behind up with the moon hanging in the sky. Impressive!!!
Randomly, back at my hostel was a mojito making class, which I just missed, lead by one of the most eccentric people I have ever met, Rafael. When first walked into my hostel, I was greeted by him with a smile, a derby with a long ponytail hanging down a bare chest and some pants made in India which resembled a skirt. He wears a leather fanny-pack thing on his back, but its much nicer than a fanny pack and something a modern person might actually wear. He is probably one of my favorite people I have met on this trip. He is Brazilian, is all about sustainability and loves weed. The other night, he invited me to join him for dinner, we ate pasta on the terrace, and as I recited poetry, he busted out a joint (from weed which he grows himself I might add). He also lives in a wood house on the roof of our hostel (he works there). I wasn’t a huge fan of this hostel, the rooms were small, but he was such a character that it made up for it.
Cruising along the Mediterranean
On my way to Italy, I will be cruising along the Mediterranean and visiting France, more so as a stop over because the train ride to Italy is long and requires many transfers. Just today, it was an 8 hour trip requiring three transfer to get to Marseille, France. I might add that having a Euro-rail pass is a mess. You can ride the train in 5 countries with the pass I have, but for most of the trains you need a reservation (which you have to pay extra for). To get a reservation, most of the time you have to do so days in advance (there are limited seats for pass holders) that you need to stand in long lines to make. You also can not make a reservation from a neighboring country. This meant, I arrived to France, had to get in line and buy a ticket with about 3 minutes to spare before the train left. It was one of those home alone dashes to the train, but I made it.
The scenery from Spain to France is nice, a lot of greenery, castles, vineyards, beaches and ports with boats out to sea. As I write this I am even seeing some snow capped mountains to the left, so I cant really complain about the train ride.
Randomness
For all of you who may be the slight bit envious, I am blessed to be on this journey, but backpacking is nothing close to a vacation, its hard work. On any given day I have walked between 5-9 hours a day sight seeing, I live out of a bag, so I never know where anything is. I am always trying to figure out a map, a bus or train system, make hostel or train reservations, decide when and where to eat, how to get there and how to do what you want to do while on a budget. Then you have to try and communicate with people who don’t necessarily speak your language. And hostels are hit or miss, it may sound nice and get great reviews, but it may have small rooms or bathrooms, and lack some of the amenities you would desire.
Just today for example, after an 8 hour train ride, i arrive at my hostel which was actually the wrong hostel (they have two) because after asking for directions twice via email i went online where they only have diretion to their main hostel. So with my tired self and a heavy 40+ pound backpack, i had to go across town on the metro, walk 5 blocks and up and hill and then up 4 flights of steps before i am finally there. But, how much can i complain i am like 3 blocks from Vieux- Port right on the Mediterranean and its lovely. Tomorrow is Notre Dame and the beach again.
» France
I know I have been quiet this week, but that didn’t make it any less eventful. I have just been rather sick, so I had to rest up. Since returning from Machu Picchu last weekend, I have had this nasty cold/cough – for the first few days of the week. I kind of felt like I was gonna cough up a lung. I think all of the dust here has begin to irritate my lungs. This has had me either in the bed or going to bed early most of the week. But I managed to have a few adventures nonetheless.
Monday – The Squatter Toilet
The first adventure of the week was using a squatter toilet for the first time. Its basically a whole in the ground. I try not to use the bathroom at my volunteer school, because most of the time they reek of urine, the floors are wet and there is not tissue nor soap to wash your hands. But, my bladder was not having it on Monday, so I toughened up and went. Below is what at swatter toilet looks like. It wasn’t half bad, I actually managed not to completely wet my pants. For some reason i cant find my pic of it, but here is basically what it looks like. 
Tuesday – Immigration
What happens when you loose the immigration form that they stamp when you arrive and don’t tell you to keep? You either are not allowed to leave the country or you have to get a duplicate. What does that entail? 1St – I had to go to the volunteer office before 1pm (which is when the immigration office closes) and get someone to escort me to the immigration office. Once there, I collected the necessary forms. 2Nd – I had to go pay for the duplicate form at the national bank. Mind you the bank is a madhouse and is seriously crawling with people. Its closer to an ant farm then a bank. There were at least 100 people in front of me in line, but I waited patiently to pay my $8.28 soles (about $3). Then I had to go back to the volunteer office to pick up my escort, make a copy of my passport and go back to the immigration office. There, I filled out my forms and then and only then did I get my duplicate quarter sheet of paper that says I indeed arrived in Peru on June 28th. Mission Accomplished !!!
Randomly – I also had a pork sandwich and Inca cola at a random eatery. Both were good. I was surprised that I did not get food poisoning from the sandwich. 
Wednesday – Hacking to the Pharmacy
Still coughing like a maniac – my roommate who has the same symptoms was diagnosed with bronchitis by one of the doctors the medical placement she volunteers with. The rumor of the week among the volunteers at my house was that I was coughing up blood. I am not sure where they got that from. I got some cough medicine at the pharmacy. I had my conversation partner Nick accompany me just to make sure I did not get something wrong. God only knows what that stuff I got is but it tastes like cough medicine and was made in Portugal. It seems to have slightly worked. I had to leave volunteering early and needed to peace out on Spanish conversation after the pharmacy run.
Thursday – Headache and Toothache
It was my last day at my volunteer placement and boy was I happy. This week I got two new teachers – Brad and Ben, to help with class, which was nice. That however did not make it any more manageable. They are good kids but it went haywire. We played a bunch of games to review what we have been teaching over the past few weeks – family, time, body parts etc – which they loved, but the noise level and energy level was a 10 out of 10 the whole 3 hours. And above all of that, there was always at least 5 boys calling “teacher” “teacher” at once. I still managed to snap a few good pics though. My favorites were Roberto and Yen. Two eager students, who always knew the right answers, were paying attention and eager to volunteer. As a side note, all of the boys were obsessed with getting all the questions on our worksheet right so that I could write “excellent” on the tops of their page. There was always a line of them waiting for me to write this on their worksheet.
On top of my bronchial problems, I always managed to develop a tooth ache in the later half of the week. I visited a dentist on Thursday once the pain came to a constant throb. I got a recommendation from the volunteer headquarters. The dentist came and picked me up and take me to what I thought was going to be her office. We arrived at her house actually, no signs or anything. She had this makeshift dental room in her house which kind of sketched me out. However, she was clean, had all the necessary equipment and all ended up fine. Oh did I mention she didn’t really speak English? The dentist is not place you want to have a language barrier. Thank God, between her English and my Spanish we managed to communicate quite well. I just had to ask her to repeat everything twice though. In the end, my gums were inflamed, so she cleaned the area, wrote me an anti-inflammatory prescription and told me to brush with sensodyne. I paid about $14 for the service. As an aside, earlier that day, I saw a sign for $8 extractions, thats damn good my wisdom teeth cost $500 a piece. Anyway, I am all better now, but I did not know what was gonna happen when we walked in that room. I wasn’t even sure she even had gloves.
Next Steps
This weekend, I was gonna go to this lake that I a huge tourist attraction, but I heard there was a strike and some people got stuck there. No thanks, I had enough of negotiating with strikers last weekend. So I am going to chill.
I was able to get my flight changed for free to leave a week early, so I am leaving here for Spain on next Tuesday. I bought my eurorail pass which will allow me to travel to 15 cities in 5 countries. I will be gallivanting for 7 weeks and hope to make it to Spain, Italy, France, Switzerland, The Netherlands Brussels and London. Europe is going to break my bank and I have decided that spending more than 3 weeks in one country is too much, so I will be home probably about a month or so early.
Randomness
One of the things I will not forget about Latin America are the shower heads which are these electric shower heads that you can not touch or you will be electrocuted. Just thought I would share what they look like.
Here is my least favorite dessert. Its a purple slime kind of pudding, it tastes like hot cough medicine and its called Chi-Chi Morada (same as the purple drink I like). Its beyond nasty and has a unappealing consistency.
This week we eat a lot of pesto – it was fresh pesto that my host mom liz made from basil – pesto rice, pesto pasta and pesto chicken. All were very good. Breakfast is always the same – cornflakes, yogurt and bread with jam. Lunch is surprising and sometimes disappointing. Like today, we had lentils over rice. Half the plate or lentil the other half was white rice. Dinner I usually delicious. Today – the pesto arroz con pollo.
In the morning I am awakened by pigeons, cooing I guess, whatever it is that birds do. Its annoying. At night, I go to sleep to a chorus of stray dogs barking outside, perhaps they are singing to the full moon.