Finale

Had to edit this when I pasted it in, as it lost a lot of spaces and returns. So if you find a few words run together, they're the ones I missed.

Well, this will be the last of the series. I’m home, unpacked, Christmas is past, and a nice one it was. Although it wasn’t a white Christmas. Since it wasn’t white, it was nice that the weather was sunny and reasonably warm. Droughtbuster Dick is working his magic as I write this. On Christmas nite, or perhaps this morning, it started to rain lightly here in Bear Valley. And now it’s turned into a rather heavy rain, mixed in with a little sleet, or maybe even hail. Can snow be next?

I’ll give you all a brief summary of the last few days of the trip. I made a big mistake in Zurich. I chose Sunday to walk around town, see the sights, and visit the churches, things like that. Then Monday, since my train for Berlin didn’t leave until 7:00 PM, the plan was to visit the museums. The first half of the plan worked OK. The old town of Zurich is quite nice. Covers both sides of the Limmat River. Lots of narrow streets, cobblestone, of course. Somewhat like Lucerne, but without the murals that were painted on so many of the buildings in Lucerne. The transition between the old town and the modern business and shopping areas is almost transparent, if that’s the right word. I got a great view of the city and the lake from the top of one of the towers of the Grossmunster church. Although the wind was pretty cold!

The plan for Monday, as I said, was museums. The first museum I wanted to see had an exhibit on the 14 Dahli Lamas, with quite a bit on the current one, it appeared. That would have been interesting. On the door was the sign “Montag Geschlossen”. It means the same as “Hetfo Zarva” (or something similar) did in Budapest. “Closed Monday”. Oh well, why not a boat rides on the lake, then the historical Museum? Got to the lake 6 minutes after the boat left and no more trips for an hour and a half. So on to the museum. You can guess the sign on the door there. I really didn’t want to go back to the lake and wait for the boat, so I just wandered about. And it was getting colder.

I went into the train station around 4:00 PM and just window-shopped in the many stores there. Dinner in a restaurant there was my first experience on the trip of a waiter trying to take advantage. My meal cost 24chf, so I gave him 30chf. He said thanks and walked off, I thought to make change. But he never came back. I finally got his attention, and he gave me the change, begrudgingly. 6chf was too big a tip for the mediocre service. While I was wandering in the station, it started to snow. By the time the train was ready to board, it was doing so in earnest, with more than an inch, and coming down steadily.

That nite, I slept with two women.

And three guys.

In a room the size of a king size bed.

On the train.

Yeah, in a compartment with three bunks on each wall, and a narrow space between. I boarded the train, saw the compartment, and remembered my overnite trips to and from Istanbul. I wondered why they reserved the middle bunk for me, and not the bottom, as I figured there wouldn’t be anyone else. Wrong! A hippy, and I don’t use the term loosely, joined me before we left Zurich. Long hair, lived in a commune north of Berlin. Then at the next stop, Basel, a man and a woman joined us. Next, not sure where, another woman. And somewhere in the middle of the nite, another guy. I decided against changing into my jammies early on. Should have figured there would be more folks going from Zurich to Berlin than to and from Istanbul.

Morning came, and we all managed to get our shoes on, etc. and our various pieces of luggage together as we approached Berlin. Believe me, there wasn’t much room for luggage in that compartment. I’m glad I was there first. I got a prime spot under a bottom bunk for mine.

Berlin was a piece of cake. No snow, just a light rain. The bus to the airport was right outside the station, and got me to the airport with no trouble. Lots better than my experience in Bratislava, I can tell you. I did have to haul my luggage around with me, as they wouldn’t check it in until 1 ½ hours before flight time, and I arrived nearly 3 hours early. Darn train, got me to Berlin on time.

The flight home was uneventful. And that’s a good thing. I can’t think of many eventful things on aplane that are pleasant. Although two of the recipients of this met on a plane, and that was, I think, a pleasant event, wasn’t it, LR and LR? We had a two hour layover in London. There were 6 or more choices for movies on the final leg, but “Batman Begins” was the only one I hadn’t seen that looked interesting. And watching a movie while flying across the Atlantic, isn’t the most thrilling way to see a movie. Particularly a movie I probably wouldn’t pay to see at home.

My son Doug met me at LAX. I spent the nite with them. His and Tammy’s son, Ryan, born in late July, has sure grown! Amazing what three months can do at that age. And on Christmas, I saw Mason, just over a year, and now walking! More on the family in the Christmas letter, which I’m going to post on a blog when I get around to it. If interested, the blog willbe:

www. 2005-family-newsletter.blogspot.com

I’m really into this blog thing, aren’t I?

Now it’s several days later. The rain I mentioned ended up almost ½ inch, and since we’ve had another ¼ or more. With more to come. Don’t take Droughtbuster Dick lightly.

It’s Dec. 31 now, and it’s beginning to drizzle. That’s about it for the trip. Might as well close by boring you with some of my thoughts and recommendations on traveling in Europe, or anywhere, for that matter.

Lonely Planet books do the best job, in my opinion, on providing travel information. Before my trip last year, I compared some of the places I’d seen in my limited travels with what was in the various guidebooks. LP came out closest to what I’d remembered.

Look for the local Tourist Information outlet in any reasonably large city you visit. They usually have maps, and a local guidebook with listings of eating places, shopping, sightseeing recommendations, hotels, etc. You can even find out what days the museums close, IF you take the time to read a bit, as some folks don’t do.

Credit card companies, at least the two I deal with, charge about 3% on each transaction. There isn’t a fee when withdrawing cash with a debit card using an ATM with the Cirrus symbol. I couldn’t always find an ATM (Bancomat in most of Europe) with Cirrus, but I haven’t found any withdrawals that had any fees added.

Whoops, I just found out that my bank does charge 1% on "foreign-Initiated transactions" from ATM's, but that's still better than 3%, isn't it?

On the subject of cash and credit cards, considering my experience, I started carrying only enough cash to get through the day in my wallet, and kept all my cards and back-up cash in a pouch around my neck. And my wallet in a zipped up jacket pocket. After Prague, that is. Having cash is often the only option. I found a number of places that wouldn’t take plastic.

In much of Eastern Europe, it’s a challenge to leave a country with a minimum amount of their currency. The exchange fees are not low. And often higher in theAirport/Rail terminals than in the cities.

Hostels are a relatively inexpensive option. Call ahead, or contact them on the Internet for a reservation. Some will make a reservation for you at your next destination. Most have single rooms, or will put you in a 2 or4 bed room, but not put anyone with you. I never quite managed to try the dorms. Just not ready for that type of companionship. And do bring your own towel and toiletries. Some provide them, some don’t.

While I didn’t use it too much, as I enjoy walking and looking, public transportation is a great option in the major cities. Get help with the routes at the Tourist Info centers, or the place you’re staying.

You don’t need to pack as many clothes as you think. Laundromats were relatively easy to find. Most of them will do your laundry for you for not much more than the cost of using the coin operated machines. And you can eat a decent meal while they do it, so you won’t have to kill time waiting.

I think I’ve said this, but be prepared to watch a lot of CNN and/or BBC news on your room TV. Or speak the local language. Several English language newspapers are available, but at premium prices.

I’ve thought about where the best places were. It varies, depending on available time. With only one or two days to spend in Europe, I’d go back toInterlaken, because of the scenery surrounding it, summer or winter. For a week, Rome and Athens are about equal. For a month, Greece. And all the other places rank just below those.

While visiting in fall/winter resulted in fewer tourists, it also meant that many attractions were on an abbreviated schedule. Or in some cases, not even available. Local cruises on the Danube stand out in my mind in that category.

I can’t think of any more advice, and you probably don’t want any, so I’ll stop. Hopefully, when I get my photos organized, I’ll put some on the web. If I do, I’ll let you know where to look. Internet access through a modem, my only option at home, is really slow, so don’t hold your breath.

Attached is a photo from Athens, taken from theAcropolis. Hadrian’s Gate is the arch in the foreground, behind it the pillars are the Temple of Olympian Zeus, and the white area on the upper left is the Athens Stadium. Perhaps you can see why I exclaimed “WOW” the first time I saw it from on high. And a photo in no way does it justice.

Also attached is one reason why I think so highly of the Interlaken area, taken from Jungfraujoch.

(Not sure I remember how to get them into the blog, so they may not appear there)

In closing, I’d like to sum up my thoughts on Europe. And my friend Pepe, from the island of Menorca, does a much better job than I could. So with many thanks to Pepe, and with sadness that Menorca wasn’t on my itinerary, here is how Pepe summarizes Europe.

I'm enjoying a lot about your trip's descripction. All of them reflected perfectly the life in the old Europe You can understand the principal: Europe is very old, and close bigger than USA, but there are many differents cultures in each country: languages is theprincipal difference and mark all the ways of every people. That's can be difficult to undeerstand for a"yankee" with only one language and very similar ways to cook, movies, sensibilities for music, landscapes, ways of locomotion, borders...etc. The weather helps a lot with the differents humour of the countries. In Central and North Europe with many rain and cloudy days, people is more closed than in the sunnier mediterranean àrea. Greece or Italy are very differents to Swiss, Austria, inland people. In Spain, it happens the same . There are many differents sensibilities about cook, local music an ways to live and also differents from cloudier north than mediterranean or south àrea.

Muchas Gracias, Mi Amigo

And that’s it until the next trip.

Happy New Year

Love,

Dad/Dick/Grandpa