Sedrun, Switzerland

Something great about Switzerland is that everyone wears hiking boots.

The train ride to Sedrun was breathtaking. The train traveled along cliffs high in the Alps giving all the passengers spectacular views of rivers, valleys, mountains and birds’ eye views of some of the towns along the way. I was absolutely mesmerized by the sheer beauty surrounding me. My couch surfers from Zurich had invited me to stay with them at their parents’ cabin in Sedrun. When they showed me to the room I would be staying in, I could not believe the view from my window. It looked like something out of a fairy tale. Shuttered windows, perfect drapes and wooded framed windows opening up to a gorgeous view of the Alps brought a vast smile to my face. I had arrived just in time for dinner. Christine made some excellent pasta before we headed out to join in the festivities of National Day.

How cute is this…

We found our way to the center of town where it seemed like everyone was gathered to celebrate. The area was decorated with Swiss flags, and the state flags. In addition there was a band playing traditional music and they were serving sausage and beer. We jumped right in and got ourselves some of the local brew, and brats. The music was strange but I enjoyed listening to it and being a part of another countries national day.

Children are given Swiss flag – paper lanterns with a candle inside. Once they were lit, they started walking down through the town to a giant bonfire with us in tow. While standing near the bonfire it was really cool seeing the hillside with a scattering of lanterns from all of the children. After the sun went down fireworks began from all areas. Also, bonfires started to appear everywhere. You could see bonfires on all of the surrounding hills, and on some occasion’s fireworks accompanying them. It was a fantastic night.

We headed back and went to sleep rather early. In the morning after breakfast I headed out to catch a train back to Zurich. Along the way the train stopped in Disentis for a bit. I decided to get out and do some exploring even though it was starting to rain. I began walking around the very small town and admiring the quaint buildings and churches. I started walking around the outskirts of a church to find one of my friends’ last names, Loretz. I was surprised to find it several times. By this time the rain has started to become a downpour and I was totally soaked. My coat kept me fairly dry, but my shoes were seriously soaked, and I was pretty cold. I headed for a nearby monastery to get out of the rain for a while before heading back to the train station.

I enjoyed my ride back through the Alps to Zurich where I caught a connecting train to Bern.

Lucern, Switzerland

With my bread in hand I was off to Lucern, named by many as the most beautiful city in Switzerland. It is known for its two wooden bridges with historic paintings every few feet, their picturesque lake, and a crying lion carved out of stone in a hillside.

While I walked along the bridge I was sure to take a picture of each of the painted panels. Some of them were very interesting, using skeletons to depict certain characters from their history. After the bridges I headed up a hill toward a few old towers, and hiked up the narrow stairways to the top for a breathtaking view of the surrounding area. Seeing a nearby clock tower, I hiked up to it and conquered the steep steps and up to the top. Seeing a chateaux on the other side of the hill, I found my next challenge. Briskly walking up a very steep hill to a beautiful chateaux where I got to see the two towers I climbed across the way. Since I had been running through Lucern and up hills I was drenched with sweat. I  found a trough with flowing water where I rinsed off and drank from. I figured, eh this water is probably fine, Im in Switzerland.

This panel was my favorite, a skeleton watering some guy...

The chateau I hiked up to

The trough I used to clean up

Heading back down the hill I found the crying lion in the hillside, which despite my expectations was quite spectacular, but no time to see it too long, I had a series of trains to catch to Sedrun.

Zurich, Switzerland

Arriving in Zurich, I met up with my couch surfers Christine and Jens, they were very friendly people and we got along great! They even let me use their washer and dryer. I was surprised to find that they had a dryer, it was the first I had seen in Europe. But upon opening it, I noticed that they used it for storage of extra toiled paper. People just air dry their clothes, which I have become more of a fan of. For dinner we had a wonderful Swiss dish where by cheese is melted in small personal “frying pans” and then drizzled over potatoes, tomatoes and other mouth watering foods. It was ridiculously delicious. Real Swiss cheese is the BEST!

These are the spatula/frying pans used to melt the cheese on the potatoes

Which created this delicious meal

We decided that I would see the majority of Zurich in the morning, then see Lucern and then accompany them to Sedrun, a small town in the Alps for National Day festivities. Christine and Jens were biking towards Sedrun while I explored.

First stop was Zurich.

Zurich is a beautiful city, which I had the pleasure of visiting on August 1^st, National Day, very similar to the 4^th of July, in the USA. Situated on a lake, it has a river flowing through the heart of the city. Along the banks you find magnificent buildings, clock towers, and bridges. Walking through the old streets made of cobble stone, I couldn’t help but smile. Everyone seemed very happy, everything was clean, organized, just how I like. I got to see a church with the largest clock face in Europe!

I took a boat tour of the city. The bus ticket is good for use on the boat as well, which takes you up the river and into the lake a ways. I was able to get a nice vantage point of the city. It was so relaxing that I may have even fallen asleep when we were out on the middle of the lake. J However, as we got closer to town I certainly couldn’t rest anymore due to the chiming of the bells on all of the clock towers. The amount of bell noise was astounding, and being in the middle of it all was even more intense!

After hopping out of the boat I raced to the train station to catch the next train to Lucern. Since it was National Day I bought a special bread that is sold only on August 1st. It comes with a little Swiss flag sticking out of the top, it is a delicious bread!

Happy to have my bread!

Vaduz, Liechtenstein

Taking a bus into the capital of one of the smallest countries in the world is an experience, it only takes a few minutes to drive across the country. The land was very green and mountainous. It looked as if I would enjoy it in the winter time, skiing along the ridges and slopes of the gorgeous range that plows through this small country. One of the interesting things to notice about this country is that it is ruled by a monarch who still lives in an old castle up on a hill.

(just a really colorful truck)

The country is known very well for skiing and banking, the areas that I saw certainly looked very affluent. In the heart of the capitol you can’t help but notice the strange statues and fountains that ornament the main drive.

(this was a fountain)

But the water was inside!

(I liked this one, it looks like a sink the water from it runs through the intersection into another part of the fountain.)

There was a beautiful church that I saw. Nice doors.

Another thing that they are known for is people sending post cards home with a stamp from Liechtenstein. I of course had to have this little novelty, so I sent one home.

After I ate my tuna out of a can on a park bench I headed out of that country towards Switzerland.

Seewalchen, Austria

Arriving in Seewalchen, I realized that it was a cute little town on a beautiful lake. I got off the bus and walked to the closed tourist information center. Baffled that it was closed at noon, I found a map and noticed a campground around the east side of the lake. I started hiking toward it, ready to try out my new Bivy sack I had purchased in Innsbruck. I actually had made up my mind during my walk that I wouldn’t stay in the campground, but rather in the forest someplace for free. So, during the walk in the direction of the campground I kept my eyes peeled for a forested area easily accessible that I could stay at. After walking for sometime with no real good opportunities I came across an abandoned building that was under construction. Walking by I thought about staying in it, thinking to myself, “Hey, its got a roof, and no one would go in there at night.” Then I realized that if you actually consider staying in an abandoned building that is in ruins, you might just be a hobo. Passing up that opportunity I kept heading down the road. Earlier I had bought some tuna and fruit cocktail from the grocery store. I found a beautiful area near the shore to rest and eat my dinner. Yes, just popin’ the tops off can food and eating it in a park, I am almost certain that the people nearby thought I was a homeless man, which technically I was.

A fountain made to look like a map of the lake, the spout out is the river

Abandoned building I thought twice about staying in

Continuing on down the road I finally found an area between two lots that looked promising. Carefully timing it so no cars would see me, I ducted into the forest and headed up the hill. I soon realized that I was between two peoples houses, I couldn’t tell if I was on their property or just open forest. Because of this I tried to keep a low profile. I kept quiet and kept my movements as stealth as possible. After finding a suitable area to set up “camp” I began to clear a place for myself and really start to make the area invisible. I found a bit of white cord buried in the dirt which I used to make a perimeter around where I would be sleeping. I leaned random branches, sticks, twigs, logs, grasses and any other forest material up against the cord in order to camouflage my area. I went into a nearby field to grab several armfuls of grasses for my bedding and to further camouflage my sleeping area. The Bivy sack has a section that needs to be suspended off my head, for this I used a bit more of the white cord and three sticks to make a tripod. Soon my “compound” was complete. I took my bladder bag down to the lake, filled it up, stripped down to my “skivvies” and took a dip. The water was surprisingly warm and pleasant. After swimming and filling up my water supply I headed back up the hill across the road and into the darkening forest.

My camp

My bedding

I did some last minute preparations to my camp, like putting my backpack in a plastic bag, etc and then crawled into the Bivy sack for the night. Quick note: You are supposed to use a sleeping bag with the Bivy sack so you stay warm. I did not have a sleeping bag with me. Just me in this sack made out of nylon. As you can imagine, with no real roof over my head it was tough to get to sleep.

Lying in a dark forest in a small town in Austria I started to second guess what I was doing. I have no idea what kinds of animals, insects, snakes etc there are around here. Am I on someone’s property? Can people see me from the road? It’s just a stone’s throw away. What if someone spots me? Are there bears in these woods? Am I in the middle of their path to the water?  Thoughts like these kept me from getting a good nights rest. Hearing a dog barking in the distance would wake me up and cause me to become alert and thus keep me from getting any sleep. After finally getting to sleep I may have rested my mind of the troublesome questions about the area and the uncertainties for about an hour.

BAM! The next thing I know is that I am being abruptly awoken from my slumber by getting hit in the face, the ribs and on my legs simultaneously. Three big blows to my body at the same time causes me to mentally freak out. I begin to panic. For one, I am trapped inside my Bivy sack and turned around to where my movements are restricted. Secondly, it is pitch black outside. I was basically blind at this point. Thirdly I couldn’t move. All of the original thoughts I had about bears, snakes, animals, people all come rushing back to me. This was the first time in my life that I have actually froze with fear. I was facing the ground, trapped inside my Bivy sack trembling with fear. What happened? Did a bear walk through my camp area and trip on me? Is he still there? Was it a deer? The dog I heard earlier? An angry person? After about 30 minutes of not moving I letting my mind “cool off” and I started to think reasonably again. What could have possibly hit me? I then realized that I was turned upside down and twisted in the Bivy sack, which means that I pulled the tripod and a nearby branch onto myself. That was it. No bears, no wild dogs, just a few sticks.

Scared, ashamed and relieved I decided that my mind was not settled enough for the dark forest. So I packed up all of my stuff in the veil of night and headed down toward the waters edge. There was a clearing/ campsite that I decided to try out for a few hours, which was much more relaxing, until about 4:00am when I awoke to a car door slam and a baby crying. Again, my mind began to race in all the wrong directions, (worst scenario first) someone drove out to this lake at 4 am to kill their unwanted baby! No, too far fetched. Someone was going to come down to the waters edge I figured, and at 4 am I suspected foul play. I got out of my Bivy sack and sat up ready with a small flashlight and a big stick, just in case. I had no idea what I was preparing myself for. I was certainly on edge. Being homeless in a strange place does not calm your mind.

Once light broke, I crept up to the street to see what was up there. Of course, how simple, there was a travel trailer parked on the side of the road. Feeling silly that I had caused myself that much trouble I headed back down the road toward the main area of Seewalchen where the bus stop was. I found a small park by the water where I spread out on one of the benches. At 6:00 am I was one of the only ones out and about in the town. I ate some breakfast, and brushed my teeth, and spread some of my wet clothes out on the bench. I certainly felt like a hobo. After cleaning up, I headed to the bus stop and awaited to be taken to my next destination.

Innsbruck, Austria

I arrived in Innsbruck very late at night, with no plans for a place to stay. I knew that I needed to find shelter for some time during the night and I decided to walk around through the town that was obviously sleeping to find a pub that would be open all night, I figured if I found one I could just sit down in the back and maybe catch a small nap. Walking through the town I didn’t find anything too promising. One of the towns squares was under construction, while walking through I was making sure to avoid any rubbish and debris from the construction site and almost stepped on a young man about my age laying down next to a make shift fence. He was laying on his back, half in the closed pedestrian street, and half on the sidewalk. Upon realizing that there was a person laying in the dark, I may have freaked out a bit. It certainly surprised me.

Being a bit spooked I decided that the train station would be the best place for me. I decided to go out to the platforms trying to find one that did not have any arriving trains for a few hours. I found an enclosed waiting area on the platform and rested on the ground. Later in the middle of my sleep I was awoken by some jerk who came and sat down next to me and started eating loudly. He had a loud crinkly bag and some loud snacks. Annoyed, I got up and headed back into the main building. I spotted a bench in the distance that I started to head for, but right before I got there another homeless person took it. It was at that point I realized that I was starting to act like a hobo. Disappointed I laid against a wall on the ground and caught another 20 minutes or so of rest and then looked for another location to rest. Downstairs I found an enclosed waiting room that was warm! I was so happy. I sat down and slept for the rest of the night. Waking up only to find two security guards asking to see our train tickets, making sure that we were in fact waiting for our train, luckily having a Eurail pass I was able to keep resting.

Early in the morning I started exploring Innsbruck, more than I had done the night before. The town is very nice, it is surrounded with huge mountains and has several pretty gates and buildings. During my sightseeing I was on a mission to buy a Bivy Sack for my upcoming stay in Seewalchen and in Switzerland near the Matterhorn. For those of you who don’t know what a Bivy Sack is, let me explain. A Bivy Sack is a protective waterproof “shell” that you can put your sleeping bag into in lieu of a tent. It keeps you warm enough for the night, with of course the sleeping bag, and a pad. I figured, oh its summer it will be warm enough. So while walking around I kept my eye out for stores that might carry such a product. Finding several I went ahead and shopped around and got one.  Pleased and excited about my purchase I headed back to the train station.

Store I bought the Bivy Sack from

Following my fathers suggestion I headed to a small town called Seewalchen. He raved about how pretty it was, so I figured I would check it out.

Salzburg, Austria

Because I have a Eurail pass I can basically jump on any train I want. I desperately needed to go to the bathroom and since almost all of the bathrooms require a fee, I decided “Hey, I can just use the one on the train!” So I jumped on a train headed from Graz to Salzburg. I arrived in Salzburg, after of course using the facilities on the train, and had only 2.5 hours to see the town. With my lonely planet book in hand I followed the streets to the heart of the old town. Briskly walking and taking photos of every interesting building along the way I finally reached my destination across the river, the heart of town. It had narrow cobble stoned streets lined with shops and tourists, several bustling squares and many areas with concentrated amounts of tourist food under the obligatory beer company umbrellas. Several streets were closed due to live performances. I saw a bit of a theatrical performance and heard a bit of another musical performance on a different street. Walking through the narrow streets you can’t help but hear classical music, namely Mozart. As this is his birth town. The town has a beautiful castle adorning one of the nearby hills, even though I was pressed for time, I decided to run up the countless stairs to the top of the monstrous hill and up through the castle for a glimpse of the beautiful city below. At the top I was exhausted, sweaty and panting taking as many pictures as I could of the castle in the darkening light and the views of the city with the river snaking through it. After only a few minutes of being up there, I ran down the hill and tried to make my way back through the hordes of tourists to the train station. I stopped briefly at a fountain that was marked “okay to drink” and took a giant gulp and continued with my near-run walking pace to be stopped by a crowd in the middle of the street watching a street performer, darting down another alleyway I avoided the bulk of the crowd and continued toward the train station. I made the train by the skin of my teeth, but I am certainly glad I went to Salzburg, it was one of the prettiest and most interesting places I have been, I wish I could have spent more time there. 2.5 hours just wasn’t enough.

Radiohead

Radiohead concert ticket… 55€
Reservation to Prague from Paris and back…12 €
Getting to see your favorite songs and band live in the Czech Republic during a journey around the world…PRICELESS

I know im jumping several countries, but I just wanted to give a brief update.

The concert was amazing, by far the best I have ever been to.

Graz, Austria

Arriving in Graz via car I was dropped off at the train station where I confirmed my train information for the evening. Upon completion I headed out in the direction of the old town.

First finding a hill Lonely Planet mentioned I started climbing up a few hundred stairs or so to the top to see the clock tower and the beautiful views of Graz. After exploring the gardens and taking some time out to relax I headed back down the hill and wandered around the town looking for a few of the sights outlined in my Lonely Planet guide, one was a beautiful wood facade on a shop, the other was a bit more difficult to find but very impressive. It was a double spiral staircase. It looked like two double helix´s crashed into one another and somehow had cement poured on them. It looked like something Dr. Seus would have made. Also, the river flowing through Graz has a unique cafe situated in the middle of the river. Made of glass it appears to be two shells one up and one down in the water. There is also a building which they refer to as The Friendly Alien. Which looks like something that just landed from the far reaches of the galaxy. I also found the church that has stained glass windows depicting Hitler and Mussolini looking at Jesus while he was being tortured. Unfortunantely it was closed so I wasnt able to see them.

I found my way to a small eatery where I had Schnitzel again! Man I love that stuff. I can see why Arnold Schwarzenegger got so big in his home town, from eating so much Schnitzel!

After a great day in Graz I headed to Innsbruck

Vienna, Austria

From the Largest Natural Arch in Europe we headed to Vienna, the gorgeous capital of Austria. Breaking the theme of getting into a city and wandering around the center, we headed directly to a place to sleep. We found a cheap hotel that was suitable for us plus the addition of 3 others (Carolynn, Allison and Pat). We basically slept the majority of the day, going out in the evening to a resturant our Pennsioners suggested as fairly cheap yet good food. The establishment was Centimeter. A cute little chain of places throughout Vienna serving Beer by the Centimeter. At this place you can order a meter of beer which is actually 8 beers of differing varities. Also they have another beer… 5 liter beer, served in a giant glass that took two people to carry. It was silly. We stuck to our Radler (Lemonade Beer) and I of course had the Schnitzel, while Carmen had something equally delicious, Meat Pancake things with Gravy and such. It was really good. So was my Schnitzel, I wish I had some right now.

After such venture we walked around a bit more and headed back to the station where we rode the trolly around, hoping we could see the city at night via a quaint trolly ride. Unfortunately the lights on the inside of the trolly were a bit too intense creating more reflections than desired.

After seeing some of the buildings we headed back and slept more. Traveling at Schnell Speed does make one tired.

Feeling bad that we slept the whole of yesterday, we decided to get up and make the most of our new day in Vienna. But still being really tired we slept in and didnt get around to seeing Vienna until well into the afternoon. We walked around a bit seeing the magificent churches and cathedrals. Vienna is gorgeous. We wandered around a bit more and then met up with Carolynn, Allison and Pat and headed back to the room. After figuring out a plan for the morning… Carmen and Carolynn to the airport, Pat to the train station and Allison and I heading to Graz, Austria with Allison continuing on to Italy to soak up the sun on the beach. That night we squeezed four of us on the bed and surprisingly we all were able to wake up and get ready in good sequence with only one bathroom. We were then off to the airport while Pat slept in at the hotel room a bit longer. After dropping Carmen and Carolynn at the airport Allison drove me to Graz, Austria where I continued once again on my travels alone.

Taking a picture of myself while doing a handspring

Better luck when Carmen took the picture

View from the hotel room