Athens, Greece - Day 1

Once again, we woke up early Wednesday morning, prepared for a long day of traveling, and walked to the Thessaloniki train station to board our train to Athens. Unfortunately, the train was delayed by over an hour. And, even when it came, we spent over 30 minutes trying to find our seats. It was hard to communicate not knowing the language. However, we were able to find some English speaking people. They directed us a few carts down, which was a sleeping cart, where we were not allowed. After being told to go to the same cart 3 or 4 different times, then getting kicked out of it for being in the wrong place, we finally gave it one more shot. This time, the sleeping cart had magically turned into a normal cart, and our seats were exactly where everyone had been telling us. Weird that they changed carts during our boarding time! That made it very confusing! At least we got to where we needed to be. I wish I had understood some of the language!

The train ride to Athens from Thessaloniki was pretty long, but at least I was able to spend a lot of the 6 hours catching up on a bit of sleep, as well as enjoying some beautiful scenery. The surroundings quickly became much different, as cities became harder to find and the landscape became very rocky and mountainous.

When we finally arrived in Athens, we took a short bus ride into the city, to the Athens International Youth Hostel. The hostel was pretty nice, and we stayed around that vicinity for the night, as it was already very late. Other than going out to get a quick gyro within a few blocks of the hostel, we just stayed in. We did get some neat sights from the balcony though. First, a covered motorcycle drove by, with a German Sheppard “surfing” on its roof. Minutes later, a cat across the street was jumping balcony to balcony, a couple of stories up. Athens sure had some crazy animals!

Before heading to bed, we packed up all of our belongings appropriately into our carry-ons, as we had yet another trip to make in the morning. This one sounded well worth the effort though: A short flight to the island of Crete!

Thessaloniki, Greece

We woke up early once again on Tuesday morning, and jumped on a train from Vienna to Thessaloniki, Greece. I was very excited to be on my way to Greece, as it is one country I had always hoped to get to. We arrived at the train station in Thessaloniki pretty late, and walked a couple of blocks to our hostel. Along the way, we quickly realized that it would be a lot harder for us to communicate in Greece. The writing on the signs was like nothing I have ever seen before. I knew it would be different than our phonetic language, but I had no idea the extent of it. After all, how are you supposed to pronounce a word that begins with a triangle?

Luckily, the receptionist at our hostel spoke English, and we brought our luggage to our room. Then, we went out to look for something to eat. First, we stopped for a quick gyro. Then, since we were looking to save a bit of money, and had a long train ride ahead of us in the morning, we stopped at a grocery store and picked up some food for the next day’s breakfast and lunch. We also picked up some Grecian beer, Mythos and Vergina, for that night.

Of course, since we were in Greece, Matt and Sherman found it necessary to buy an entire block of feta cheese, and eat it all back in the room. I gotta say, that was one of the grossest things I have ever witnessed. There is almost nothing more disgusting than people digging into a floating block of cheese. After trying hard not to gag, and finishing off the beer, we headed to bed to get ready for our long trip to Athens in the morning.

Vienna, Austria

While I was sad to be leaving Salzburg early Sunday night, it was still exciting to be on a train heading towards Vienna, the famous capital city of Austria. We arrived in Vienna within a few hours, and made our way to our hostel. Since it was already very late, we set down our luggage, and headed into the city for dinner. After looking around for a bit, because almost everything is closed on Sundays, we finally found a small restaurant to sit down in. There, we ordered schnitzel and the local beer called Gösser. While German is the country’s language, people spoke much differently than people in Germany, almost to the point where it was often very hard to understand a lot of what they were saying….similar to the difference between English spoken in the USA and England. Nevertheless, we were able to survive no problem. After dinner, we headed back to the hostel for the night, eager to get a good night’s sleep after sleeping on the train the night before. Before heading to bed, we met a handful of our roommates, who were from Nebraska, Brazil, and Australia, and who were all very nice. After a few drinks with them, we headed to sleep, so that we could wake up early the next morning.

As we hoped, we woke up relatively early on Monday morning, and headed into the city to explore. After stopping at a small store to pick up some stuff for breakfast and lunch, we made our way into the heart of the city. As we stepped out of the subway, we wandered into the Stephansplatz, a famous square in the center of Vienna. There, we got to see the Haas-House, a strange glass building, and one of the world’s largest churches in the Stephansdom. The church itself was not only huge, but beautiful as well, and the square was absolutely packed. Not only were there tourists as well as locals everywhere, but there were also numerous street performers: painters, singers, guitarists, break dancers. The number of people was absolutely incredible.

Past the Stephansplatz, we made our way along the Ringstraβe, a famous boulevard on which most of the city’s monuments, parks, and famous building lie. Our first stop was at the beautiful Rathaus, which was surrounded by gardens, parks, and water fountains. In addition, directly in front of the Rathaus, a large stage and bleachers were being set up, as a viewing point for the upcoming 2008 European Cup soccer tournament. It looked like it would sure be a lot of fun, especially as Vienna would be hosting much of the tournament.

Continuing along the Ringstraβe, we next passed the Peterskirche, Burgtheater, Vienna University, the Parliament of Austria with the famous monument of Pallas Athena, the Museums of Natural History and Fine Art, the Hofburg and outer Burgtor at the Heldenplatz, and the Staatsoper. From there, we passed the Votivkirche, then relaxed for a bit in the Park Burggarten, dedicated to Mozart, and next to the House of Butterflies. Shortly after, we passed by the Michaelerkirche and the old Hofburg, and passed through the arch at the Michaelerplatz.

Next, we made our way to the Schwarzenbergplatz, where we saw the large fountain, the Hochstrahlbrunnen, and the Monument of the Red Army. We continued on past the Karlskirche, then walked to the enormous Belvedere, where we went through the mazes of gardens and fountains. At the souvenir shop just outside the gates of the Belvedere, we were laughing at a sign above the door that said “Sharon Stone’s choice,” when the guy in the picture ran over all excited to say that was him shaking Sharon Stone’s hand. It was pretty funny just how excited he was….he felt like a celebrity!

From the Belvedere, we took a bus to the city center, and walked along the Graben, another famous street in the heart of Vienna, known for its Pestilence Column. There, we stopped for dinner on a small side street, before heading back to the hostel. Once at the hostel, we mat back up with some of our roommates, and headed to a nearby pub for a few drinks before we headed to bed for the night.

Salzburg, Austria

The weather had finally become beautiful in May, and I was outside at a cookout in the field behind Weststadt. I was talking to two of my friends, Matt and Sherman, who I met here in Braunschweig, and who are both from Canada. Between beer, bratwurst, and football, they were telling me all about their upcoming excursion to Austria and Greece, which sounded like a lot of fun. (BTW….What a small world! I met another kid who had just moved into Weststadt 2 days earlier at the cookout. From where? Right outside of Worcester. How weird!). Anyways, after telling me all about the trip they were planning, Matt and Sherman invited me along with them. It was certainly tempting, but I knew that it would be tough to miss more work, especially since I would be going home for Rachel’s graduation. So, I took about two minutes to think about it, before I realized that, hey, I’m not getting paid for work, I’ll do whatever the hell I want. With that, I signed myself up for the 10 day trip that would begin the following week.

On May 10, me and Sherman caught the 6:20 pm train to Hannover, where we met up with Matt, who was returning from a soccer game. The station was absolutely packed with people from the game. It doesn’t take long to realize that people here in Europe practically worship soccer, and a lot of the fans can get pretty crazy. At least we had some entertainment, with all of the big, drunk, German guys singing soccer cheers together while sucking down the last of their mini-kegs.

After a brief stop in Hannover and some quick dinner, we jumped on the 7:41 train to Salzburg, Austria. The train ride was pretty long, but we were at least able to get a couple of hours of sleep. Thank God for my fully charge iPod! We finally arrived in Salzburg around 5:15 the following morning, and stowed our luggage in the train station lockers, as we were only in the city for the day. We had a quick breakfast, and were off and about.

The moment we stepped out of the train station, I knew that I would love Salzburg. Right on the Salzach River, Salzburg is a relatively small city, or more like a town, surrounded by mountains on all sides. Two small mountains, the Mönchsberg and the Kapuzinerberg, are directly within the city, while alpine peaks begin only kilometers away with the 1972 m Untersberg. This landscape was quite a contrast to the busy cities we usually visit, and an outdoorsman’s paradise.

We began the day by crossing the Salzach River, and heading into the beautiful Old Town, which has been named a World Heritage Site. We passed Wolfgang Mozart’s birth-house, and continued to make our way along the famous Getreidegasse, from where we could see the incredible Fortress Hohensalzburg high above the city, resting upon a hill.

The morning was absolutely beautiful, and with the incredible scenery, it was easy to see why Salzburg was chosen as the location where the filming of The Sound of Music took place. The mountains were just as amazing as the film made them out to be. With plenty of time to explore, we began a hike up the Mönchsberg towards the fortress. Along the way, we enjoyed plenty of once-in-a-lifetime views of the surrounding Alps. Finally, we reached to fortress gate, and the trees opened up to the city below, offering another incredible, birds-eye view, of all of Salzburg.

After spending hours wandering the mountain, we descended back into the city for lunch. We passed the Salzburg Cathedral and Nonnberg Abbey, as well as numerous churches along the way. After a quick bit to eat, we stopped at a couple of Biergartens for a few pints of the local Austrian beers, before we had to head back to the train station. Even with Vienna coming up, I knew Salzburg was one city that I would be sad to leave.

Paris, France - Day 2

We woke up early the next morning, hoping to get in a few more sights before leaving in the afternoon. First, we made our way to the Musée du Louvre, hoping to get inside and see some of the famous works. Unfortunately, the line was hours long. Since we didn’t have much time, we decided to move on. However, we did get to see the Louvre courtyard, with the Louvre Pyramid, the Inverted Pyramid, and the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel. From there, we stopped by the The American Dream Restaurant for lunch, and then headed to the City Island.

Along the way, we passed the Place Saint-Michel and La Conciergerie. Finally, we arrived at the Notre Dame Cathedral, which was terrific to see. Although it was getting late, we decided to try to see to The Moulin Rouge, so we quickly took the metro in the right direction. We weren’t exactly sure where we were going, but we ran right into the Sacré-Cœur Basilica, which looked beautiful atop its hill. Then, up around the corner, we found the Moulin Rouge.

After having seen just about all we could, we headed back to our hotel, picked up our bags, and took the metro back to the Palais des Congress, from where we caught a bus to the airport. There was a lot of traffic, and we barely made our flight, but we were back in Bremen before we knew it. We took the first Bahn back to the Bremen train station, but we missed the last train to Braunschweig for the night by 10 minutes. So, we took the last train to the Hannover train station. There, we passed 4 hours until the next train home, mostly sitting in McDonald’s. At least something was open! Finally,we made it back to Braunschweig around 6:00 am, where we decided to catch up on some sleep. Paris was a great trip, and I’m so glad that I finally got to see the city!

Paris, France - Day 1

Mid March, a week after Chris and Allison were here, Erin came to visit for the week, and it was great to have some more company. On Wednesday of the week, Erin and I decided to take a two night trip to Paris, France. Of course, traveling is never as easy as it should be, and we ran into a problem right away. Our Bahn to the Braunschweig train station didn’t show up, so we had to cut it close and take the next one. However, for some strange reason, the next Bahn was rerouted, and didn’t go to the train station. We got off about a mile away from the station, and our train to Bremen was leaving in 5 minutes. Another Bahn came by shortly, but we were five minutes late for our train. Amazingly, the train was delayed five minutes, and we made it on seconds before it left. We made it to the Bremen train station in 2.5 hours, and then took a Bahn to the Bremen airport.

Our flight out of Bremen to Beauvais, France went fine, and we arrived at Beauvais airport no problem. From there, we were able to take a bus a bit over an hour away to Paris. We were dropped off near the center of Paris, at the Palais des Congress. Unfortunately, we didn’t have a map, we didn’t know where we were, and it was already dark. Surprisingly, we found the nearest metro station, we were able to figure out how to buy tickets, and we even were able to find our metro stop on a map at the station. We had about a half an hour ride to our stop, where we got off, and followed directions to our hostel, which was in the middle of nowhere. We check in with our luggage, got a map, and it turned out that the hostel was actually pretty nice. By then, however, it was already past midnight. Since there was not much around, we were stuck having Swedish Fish for supper, before we went to bed.

We woke up early Thursday morning and went downstairs for breakfast, which was much needed after candy for supper. It was pretty weird seeing “pain,” the French word for bread, on the menu. Right after breakfast, we grabbed our bags, and headed to the Campanile Hotel. Since I booked the hotels so late, we had to use two different ones. Luckily, the Campanile Hotel was very near the center of the city, so it was easy to find and very convenient. While we couldn’t check in at that time, we were allowed to lock up our bags there, so we didn’t have to carry them around.

From there, we headed off for the day to see the city. First, we took the metro to Champs-Elysées avenue, which is known as the most beautiful avenue in the world. It certainly offered some great sights. We took a turn off of the avenue, and walked past the huge Charles De Gaulle statue. From there, we walked between the Petit Palais and the Grand Palais, before hitting the famous Pont Alexandre III Bridge, from where we could see the Eiffel Tower in the distance. We walked back up the way we came, hit the avenue again, and began to walk towards the Arc de Triomphe. After stopping for a while at the arc, we walked along the Seine River, past the Musee D'Art Moderne. As we crossed the river to the Eiffel Tower, we could see the Palais de Chaillot, and we walked past the Musée du quai Branly, which has a wing completely covered in moss. The Eiffel Tower came into view quickly, and was even larger than I imagined it was. We were going to take the lift to the top, but the line was hundreds of people long. So, we decided to wait. Instead, after walking around and under the tower, we stopped for lunch nearby. Then, we walked across the Champ de Mars public green, to the Peace Monument and the Ecole Militaire, from where we could see the enormous Montparnasse Tower. We walked to the Musee de L'Armee, which was complete with cannons and an emptied moat, and went inside. From there, we walked back across the Pont Alexandre III Bridge, went back to the metro, and headed back to the Campanile Hotel. There, we grabbed some brochures, checked into our room, and decided on where to go for supper.

For dinner, we decided to get some “normal” food at the Hard Rock Café Paris. Along the way, we got off one metro stop early, so we could stop by to see the Opéra Garnier. Once we got to the Hard Rock café, we put our names on the list, and sat at the bar for 20 minutes and had a couple of drinks. Soon, we were brought to our table, where we were introduced to our waiter, “Home Boy.” Home Boy talked to us for nearly 10 minutes, and it turned out that he lived in Germany for a few years.

After a delicious meal, we decided to head back to the Eiffel Tower, so we could see it lit up at night. Along the way, we walked past the Madeleine, before stopping in the Place de la Concorde to see the fountains, the Obelisk of Luxor, the Galerie Nationale du Jeu de Paume, houses of the French Naval Ministry, and the Hotel de Crillon. We continued on along the Seine, where we past a lit up exhibit at the Musée du quai Branly. Finally, we arrived back at the Eiffel Tower, just in time to see it sparkle for 10 minutes on the hour. It started to rain, but there were no lines, so we decided to take the lift up the tower. Unfortunately, due to it being so late, we were only able to go up to the second platform, instead of all the way to the third. But, it was an amazing view nonetheless. The city looked beautiful completely lit up, and it showed a clear reason why Paris is known as the “City of Light.” After 10 minutes at the top of the tower, the weather started to get really bad. It started to pour, and the wind was unbelievable, making the entire tower seemingly sway. We quickly made our way back to the bottom, crossed the river, found the nearest metro, and headed back to the hotel.

Prague, Czech Republic

After quite a wait, we got a new train and were finally off. It had already been a long day of traveling, but we still had a couple hours left. Fortunately, there were a lot of neat sights while driving through Eastern Germany and the Czech Republic. There were all kinds of little villagers built alongside hills and rivers, and the view was enough to at least keep us awake.

We finally arrived at the Prague train station. Unfortunately, it was a couple of hours later than expected, so Chris and Al had already headed to the hostel. We got directions to the hostel, and took the subway to the stop nearby. We managed to get to the hostel no problem, signed in, and put our luggage in our room, where we learned that we missed the others by 20 minutes. So, we got a map and went out exploring.

First, we headed to Wenceslas Square, where we saw the Czech National Museum and the King Wenceslas Monument. We walked around for a while, before stopping for a great dinner and a couple of drinks.

It was still pretty early, so we headed towards the Old Town Square, where we heard that a pub crawl met up near the Astronomical Clock. We waited for others to show up for a while, but only one other guy did. So, instead of paying to go on the crawl with just a few people, we went out for drinks instead. We stopped at a nearby pub for a few hours with the other kid, who was from Dublin, Ireland, and went to a small club afterwards for a short time. Around 1:00 am, we decided to call it quits for the night and head back to the hostel, as we planned to get up early the next day. We met Chris and Al back there, and we made plans to get up early to see the rest of the city.

We woke up very early the next morning, had a quick breakfast at the hostel, and went out to explore. First, we headed back to Wenceslas Square, where we could see much more in the light. From there, we went back through the Old Town Square, where we saw the Old Town Hall Tower, the Old Town Market, where we got fried dough, the Astronomical Clock, the St. Nicholas Church, the Týn Cathedral, the Prague Opera House, and numerous other clock towers and churches.

From the Old Town, we walked along the Vltava River, across the famous Charles Bridge. We passed under the Old Town Bridge Tower, from where we could see the Petřínská Rozhledna up on the nearby hillside. Along the bridge, we stopped for a minute to rub the statue of St. John of Nepomuk, which is considered to be good luck.

Then, we made our way through the other bridge tower, and began our trek up the many steps to the Prague Castle, the largest ancient castle in the world. Luckily, we made it to the castle entrance just in time to see the changing of the guards, which was a pretty neat ceremony. While the location of the castle offered a terrific view and some great sights, we were forced to head back to the hostel to pick up our bags, so that we could catch our train back to Braunschweig.

Once again, we hit a bit of trouble getting home. Our first train showed up 45 minutes late, so we missed each of our trains from there on out. We made it to Hannover no problem, but had to wait another couple of hours for the next train to Braunschweig. It was another long day, but we got to see a lot. Prague turned out to be an amazing city.