We left Abu Dhabi on a Tuesday night with Lufthansa and connected in Frankfurt to Paris. Somewhat delirious from the red-eye in Frankfurt, we were delighted to explore the airportwhich features, among other things, many pork products every ten yards or so, which gave us all the assurance we needed that we were not in the Middle East any more!
When we arrived at the airport in Paris we hit a bit of a stumbling block as there were massive lines full of tourists to take the train into town. We could not use automated machines with our credit cards, so we decided to take a taxi to our hotel. Our driver was from Morocco, and we impressed him with our extremely poor and limited Arabic as he got us through town, to our very basic hotel (with the world's smallest elevator) near Place de la Republique.
After a bit of rest and a shower, we hit the streets for a nice (late) cafe lunch, and after that we took the Metro to Notre Dame, not far from where we stayed. Tim thoughtfully prepared for us to be able to listen to Rick Steve's audio tours at several points during our vacation, and we enjoyed hearing his take on the history of the cathedral and the religious symbolism of its design. After, we walked back through a nice neighborhood to our hotel, and enjoyed a two-course dinner before an early bedtime.
The next day we did our best to rise early and took the Metro to the Eiffel Tower, where we enjoyed the scenery but steered clear of the long lines to go up. From there we took the Metro to the Arc de Triumph, built prematurely for Napoleon, which we did go up. From the Arc we could see most of Paris, and it was nice to get an orientation to the city.
In the afternoon we went to Montmartre, where we had lunch at a popular local bakery. After that we took a free tour with Discover Tours, which is run at a nice, leisurely pace by French university students. We saw Moulin Rouge, the bakery from Amelie, and got to know the place a little better, which sits on a hill overlooking Paris and is now quite touristic thanks to its quaint, artsy feel. From there we also entered the stunning Sacre Coeur basilica, and the Dali museum.
In the evening we had dinner and took a boat cruise through the heart of Paris. The cruise was pleasant, and as the sun set we saw the Eiffel Tower and other monuments being to glow and sparkle. This was a long day, and we ended up sleeping in a bit in the morning from all the activity!
Our final day in Paris was only slightly more laid back. In the morning we walked through the Louvre (not through the museum, but through the buildings) on route to the D'Orsay Museum, which focuses more on impressionism and the best of early-modern European and especially French art. It was once again made more meaningful thanks to Tim's Rick Steve's guide, though unfortunately some of the exhibits had been moved around so that the guide was difficult to use in its set order.
After the museum we grabbed baguette sandwiches on our way to the Rodin Museum and statue park, where we cut in line, arms full of food, as we had purchased a combo pass at the D'Orsay. After eating a fine picnic lunch in the park, we enjoyed walking around the gardens and former home of Rodin at a leisurely pace, taking pictures with La Penseur (the thinker) and other sculptures.
From there we headed back to our hotel for a quick nap before our evening activities. First we went to the science and technology museum near our hotel, which featured all kinds of inventions and machines from all of human history, from ancient cameras and music players to old vehicles and Foucault's pendulum. Then we went to a slightly fancier-than-usual dinner which we were grateful that Tim had booked ahead. We enjoyed eating nearly everything we ordered in Paris, though sometimes the price was a bit high! After dinner walking through the neighborhood we stumbled along a local concert in a park, and we enjoyed listening to live rock music in a thick crowd of Parisians...though we were hating life in the morning, when we had an early train ride to Neuchatel, Switzerland.
This was our first of 5 days using the EuroRail pass, and by far our fanciest train ride. Sitting in a silent first class car we were given wonderful breakfast meals with extra croissants to take with us, before I dozed off, while Tim watched the green hills roll larger and larger, until we were in a country of mountains and lakes: Switzerland.
We knew we were somewhere enchanting as we connected in Lausanne, on Lake Geneva, and Neuchatel was like a modern-day fairy-tale land with charming houses cluttering the steep narrow lanes taking us from the train session to our hotel on the lake. Our hotel room was much nicer than the cheap room I found us in Paris, and after checking in and relaxing a bit, we explored the quaint town, including its main church and its old medieval prison with a panoramic watchtower.
The main reason Tim chose Neuchatel town however was so that we could get in a fantastic day hike in a nearby village. In the morning we had a big breakfast before a ten-minute train ride to the entrance of the Creux de Van trail. Though the weather was not great when we arrived, and thunder struck as we entered the deep, dark, forest up the mountain, things cleared up along the way so that we could see stunning sights as we made it through 14 switchbacks to the top of the amphitheater. However after getting a nice clear view from the top the weather turned again dramatically, and we got soaked to the bone in pelting rain as cool wind rushed past. Fortunately the hike featured many stopping and rest points, and the next one was our planned lunch stop. Taking a detour from the hiking trail we were nervous about what we would encounter as we got colder and more hungry, and were relieved to see a charming farmhouse in the distance, with smoke rising from the fire chimney. Inside we sat by the fireplace and I ordered Fondue and Tim had a wonderful mustard pork and a hot chocolate.
Reluctant to get back in the cold and wet weather we enjoyed the fire and company of other startled Swiss hikers, who eventually teamed up with us to take a taxi back to the town we started from, as the sudden, massive rain storm made the hike down the hill not only unpleasant but possibly dangerous. So our hike in the mountains turned into more of a cultural experience as we commiserated and took turns warming ourselves at the fireplace in rural mountain Switzerland.
The next day we entered the even more magical landscape of the Alps as we took another first-class train (or rather a series of trains--we were continually impressed with the Swiss rail system) to Interlaken, at the base of the mountains Jungfrau (virgin), Monsch (Monk), and Eiger (ogre). A great map of the region is here.
From Interlaken we took an old-fashioned narrow-gauge train to Lauterbrunnen which sits in the valley beneath the mountains. With the windows of the train open we could smell the alpine air while watching the slushy river rush past, until we arrived in a place surrounded by tall peaks, stunning, wispy waterfalls...and many more tourists than we ran into in either Paris or Neuchatel.
Running to catch a seat on yet another train (I think that was our fourth train that day) we started going straight up a mountain to our hotel in Wengen, which is about one-third the way up to the top, at 4180 feet (Jungfrau is nearly 14,000 feet). From there our hotel seemed about a mile away, all up hill, but the views from the room were worth it. As we sat on our balcony with snacks, we could see Jungfrau and another smaller mountain, Breithorn, which faded in and out of view as clouds came and went. We had our first taste of German Swiss cuisine and culture in town before making an early night of it, and as day turned to night the moon rose from behind the pink glittering mountains, causing many astonished sighs to emerge from hotel balconies surrounding us, and providing Tim with some spontaneously picture-perfect moments.
Though Tim had planned to go to the Jungfrau region more for great hiking opportunities, once I got to the place I became fascinated with the idea that we could take a train all the way to the top. With the weather volatile in such mountainous areas I learned that only on a clear day was the trek worth it, which costs over $100 per person even with our rail pass. In the morning the weather was ideal, and we had reason to believe it wouldn't stay that way, so we thought about what we would and would not regret later in life with regard to spending money, and departed Wengen to Jungfrau.
The train ride was a bit scary as it seemed to be straight up, but the scenery was amazing as we ascended green grassy hills to snow-covered valleys and peaks. After a long time in a tunnel going up and up and up we arrived at the Jungfrau station, which boasts several viewing points, walking paths through the snow with great views of the major glacier, and an awesome ice palace, which I had to go back to for a second time because I enjoyed it so much. It was wonderful to be under the glacier, to see the stacks of ice, and to see what the world looks like from one of its higher points.
After making the most of Jungfrau, we stopped at Kleine-Scheiddeg, the highest ski resort in area, about two-thirds up, and a good middle point between Jungfrau and Wengen to snap some more shots and enjoy the day. That evening we were exhausted from the movement, elevation, and commotion, and rested as well as we could in our hotel which was inferior in most regards, except for the view.
Our last day in the region was a rainy one. However Tim had just the plan for a rainy day: a small walk to Trummelbach Falls, which features one of the largest (in quantity) waterfalls in the world, which rushes from the glaciers and snows of the alps to sea level through rock. Feeling slightly discouraged by bad weather and high costs at this mid-point in our holiday, we were inspired by an English lady we met in the line going up, who reminded us that most people save up their whole lives to go to Switzerland, and that maybe there are 15 days a year as beautiful as was the day we visited Jungfrau. Though the line was a bit long, the falls were awesome, shooting through canyons at amazing speeds, giving a great real-world demonstration of how erosion works. It was a great rainy-day activity.
The next morning we departed the alps for Lucerne, our last stop in Switzerland. Planned mostly as a convenient layover by Tim, once I remembered that my foreign-exchange student friend from high school Corinne was Swiss, and from Lucerne, I was fortunate to be able to make a plan to also see her there. We spent the day seeing the sights of town, like the town walls, the big church, and a dying Lion sculpture which Mark Twain declared was the saddest piece of rock ever, before Corinne met up with us for dinner and drinks. After 14 years it was amazing to see an old friend, and in her own stomping grounds for the first time, and it was also to nice to hear a local perspective on the world, which can sometimes be hard to get traveling as a couple.
Finally we left Switzerland for Venice and Rome. They say Europe is fantastic for the many cultural landscapes you find clustered tightly together, and Tim gasped in astonishment as building patterns changed as we entered Italy, more rugged, and less glitzy and quaint, than Switzerland. We also found Americans for the first time in our travels in Italy, which was full of them!
However the places were still remarkable. Once in Venice we took a ferry to our bed and breakfast which was a traditional residence overlooking the alleyways of the city. Once settled we proceeded with our usual wandering, grabbing snacks and delicious, cheap dinner, along the way (I ate tuna and onion pizza about five times on this trip--my favorite Italian combo!). The next day we did sight-seeing and wandered through the town, going up the watch tower and through St. Mark's and other beautiful churches. We even took a gondola ride, which I enjoyed more than I thought I would, though the main canal through Venice is not for the faint-hearted in the middle of summer (talk about congestion!). The back allies were peaceful and thought-provoking in comparison.
In the evening, exhausted though we were, we were given no choice but to enjoy Venice's largest annual event which we only accidentally stumbled upon, which is a civil event celebrating the end of the Bubonic Plague with fireworks to match the glitter of Venice's churches and basilicas, which jealous Romans were known to suggest did more to promote Venice than any higher power. (We had no choice because it was really loud outside during before bedtime!) It was by far the most extravagant fireworks display we'd ever seen, but I was grateful to sleep soundly after it was finished, as we raced along with everyone else in Venice through cramped allies back to our rooms.
Our last stop, Rome, was also a bit more frantic, with too many tourists along with Romans who we had to sift through in order to do anything. Upon arriving we went to Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon, and the Colosseum, the latter of which was positively overrun with tourists. However our wait that day paid off in the morning, when our combo tickets got us past the lines at the Forum, the main Ancient Roman ruins. The Forum came alive for us with the help of Rick Steve's audio tour, which reminded us of how these ruins once formed a civilization we Westerners associate ourselves with this to this day, of democracy and liberty. The guide also mentioned to us that low-life scum like tourists and sight-seers would be around even in Ancient Rome, along with souvenir hawkers and the rest!
After a reflective walk around the ruins of Ancient Rome we took a glass elevator ride up the Vittoriano Monument, a particularly grand building, to see all of Rome.
At the suggestion of our guest house, we went to the Vatican in the evening, first to the Sistine Chapel, via the rest of the ornate Vatican Museum, and then to St. Peter's Basilica. Again we enjoyed Rick Steve's historical impressions as we learned where the Pope stays and other interesting facts about the artworks, the buildings, and the place. After a fantastic dinner (mmmm Italian pizza...) we were thankful for having a nice guesthouse and air conditioning and slept in our last day in Europe.
On our last day we checked out a few more major Roman attractions, including the Spanish Steps and another viewpoint of Rome, this time taking a nice leisurely walk on very sore feet. We ate and went to bed early, as we had a taxi pick us up at 4 the next morning for our return through Frankfurt.
We arrived back in the evening, and were very sorry to find that our bags, which had been very hastily and strangely checked at Frankfurt (they were not oversized, and there was plenty of room on the plane) did not make it to Abu Dhabi, causing some hardship for ourselves and other victims, who only wanted the bags they prepared for carry-on to arrive with them. The next day the bags arrived to our door step however, Shannon and Sam departed, and our new life in our new apartment really began.
Now we have telcom (Skype!), gas (home-cooked meals!), functioning bank accounts and the rest. Life is hot and interesting with Ramadan nearing (more on that later), but comfortable and satisfying after a whirlwind year and a fun but fast-paced European adventure. Now to earn that dough!
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