Traveling Tips for Europe

We are home now from our excellent adventure and this will be my last post. The trip was so exciting and I learned alot about myself and others. Most people repond positively to a smile regardless of language differences. As Americans, we could learn alot from the Europeans about cleanliness, recycling and reducing waste, and how to savor life. Below are some insights that the 6 of us came up with on our way home. Hope they prove useful to you!

• Most restrooms are free and you don't need to bring toilet paper but a few require a coin to open the door.




• The Eurorail is a quick, comfortable, easy way to get around from city to city or country to country.




• Hop On, Hop Off buses are inexpensive ways to tour a city efficiently.




• Research your hotels. We had one that was not in a safe area of town.




• Check out local groceries for cheaper soft drinks and snacks.




• Water is not free at restaurants and neither are refills.




• Be prepared to drink all drinks without ice.




• You will be charged for ketchup even at McDonald's.




• Stay out of the bike lanes, bikers will run you down.




• People do not yield way when walking.




• Internet in hotels is very expensive...look for an Apple store where you can use computers free.




• Pre paid phone cards are pretty much useless!




• Weather can change radically overnight so bring layers.




• Many shops and restaurants close for a couple of hours in the middle of the day for lunch.




• If you use washcloths, take them because they aren't usually supplied.




• Beds come with a bottom sheet and a duvet...no top sheet.




• Most stores, restaurants and hotels do not have air conditioning and windows don't have screens.

Interesting Terms

On our trip we noticed some interesting terms:

• Pay phone booths are called phone cabinets
• restrooms are called water cabinets and men have two separate restrooms- one for # 1 and a different one for #2
• the overhead bins above on planes are called overhead lockers
• there were signs that said "Mind your head"
• in one of our tour brochures when discussing high altitudes, the directions stated that if you start feeling "peckish" you should eat something
• yield signs state: "give way"
• carryout is referred to as take away in restaurants
• trash cans are called rubbish bins

Zurich

Zurich: beautiful, eclectic, expensive!

We soon found out that Zurich was the most expensive place we had visited. We had to do the switch from Euros to Francs which were about equal to American dollars but the prices on things were pretty outrageous. We found out that most of Zurich's work force lives outside the city due to the high cost of living. On Thursday, we got a view of the office workers headed to the train station at the end of the work day. ....looked like a bunch of bees flying out of the hive. It was all over in about 10 minutes....amazing!

Zurich is a blend of old and new. It is set on a river and lake and the views are amazing. Many of the streets in the old part are windy and have cobblestones. There are lots of little outdoor cafes where you can sit and people watch. We spent Wednesday afternoon walking all over the city to check it out and take pictures.

Kelly, Georgianna, and Anna decided to eat lunch at McDonald's but Robin, Claudia and I wanted something a little more native so we chose an outdoor cafe for lunch. Food was great but prices high. Our waiter was named Gabriel and spoke perfect English since he lived in the US unti age 15. He was actually born in Brazil, moved with his family to California and then onto Zurich. His plans was to leave at the end of the month to attend school in London. He was a polite, friendly young man who made our lunch enjoyable.

Moving on to Zurich

Wednesday morning we boarded the Eurorail and headed to Zurich. The trip went smoothly and we arrived around noon, got picked up by our driver and spent the afternoon checking out the city. Zurich is a beautiful city especially the old par of the city with its curving cobblestone roads, cafes, and eclectic shops. We quickly found out that Zurich is expensive. We switched from Euros to Francs. Francs are about equal to American dollars and we soon realized that prices were higher on most things in Zurich than in Munich or Vienna. Our hotel, the Seidenhof was a very nice and located in a great area for walking to the train station, bus station, and nearby shops and restuarants.


Thursday morning we walked to the bus station to board a bus for our Mountain, Cheese, and Chocolate tour. The drive through the Swiss countryside was beautiful although it was raining. There were farms and pastures of cows all along the drive with a background of mountains. We visited the small town of Appenzill where we ate lunch and visited some shops before boarding the bus to travel on to chocolate factory. Getting off the bus was a pleasure as we sniffed the wonderful aroma of chocolate. The factory no longer allows tours so we headed to the outlet store where we were able to buy chocolate to bring home.


After that we boarded a boat to ride to the town of St. Gilgen. Beautiful scenery along the way but rain continued to fall as we made our ride to the small town. There we boarded the bus to head to the cheese factory. It was interesting but the cheese was a little stronger than most of us cared to eat. It was a full day and we enjoyed it in spite of the rain.


On our trip we had made new friends with a couple of our fellow bus riders. Peter was from Ireland. He told us about the beauty of his country. He has 9 bothers and 1 sister and described his parents as a "loving couple" who would be married 50 years the end of the month. Hannah was a young lady from Ohio who had just completed an internship in Dublin. She was spending some time traveling around before heading back to the states. Both were delightful and joined our group for lunch. Everywhere we went, we made new friends that will long be remembered!

Salzburg

Tuesday we took a day trip to Salzburg, a beautiful, picturesque city. Just two problems: it rained off and on all day and it was very crowded due to a festival in town. We had a delightful guide on the bus named Uta and we really enjoyed her accent and her delightful attitude. I will share more about her the next time I post. Salzburg is the birth place of Mozart and we heard some beautiful music from musicians there. There was a beautiful Christmas shop with hundreds of decorated eggs. I will post pictures when I return home. On the way to Salzburg we passed many farms on beautiful rolling country. Uta said that a large farm would have only 30 cows. Most of the farm houses are connected to the stable.....bet the aroma is something else in that homes! In the country the ladies still wear the dirndal dresses and have everyday and dressier ones for church. We did see a few in them in Salzburg. We learned that Salzburg is famous for having dreary, drizzly days most of the year so I guess we saw typical weather while there. It was delightful...would like to return one day when less crowded.

Monday in Munich

We started the day waiting a little worriedly for our driver to arrive. Robin was most nervous and began looking outside the hotel lobby for anyone who might be there to pick us up. At one point she had a little guy follow her in the lobby who didn't speak English and had the clerk ask him if we was there to pick up 6 women and take them to the train station. Turned out he was not. We wondered why in the world he followed Robin into the lobby of he hotel. It was hilarious!

The Eurorail ride to Munich was 4 hours and was a great ride. I recommend it for anyone traveling in Europe. That afternoon we rode the Hop On, Hop Off bus and got a 2 and a half hour tour of the city. It was interesting.

Facts about Munich:

1. founded in 1158

2. over 1000 trains come into Munich each day

3. 1 million, 300 thousand people live there

4. the first McDonald's in Munich was built for the 1972 Olympic games



I got to visit the site of the 72 Olympic site. That was special for me since my brother, Stanley, had gone there to see the Olympics that year. Perhaps I walked some of the same ground he had.



I have to be honest and say that Munich is not a place I would ever wish to return to. It is too big and not very attractive or easy to navigate. Pictures will be posted when I return home.

Last Day in Vienna

Sunday was our last day in Vienna. We went out to the summer palace of previous royal families called Schloss Schonnbrunn. It was originally built by Maria Theresa and later lived in by her grandson Josef and his wife Elisabeth. I will be unable to post pictures until we return home but it makes the Biltmore look small in perspective.

We also visited the Prater wheel which was once the world`s largest ferris wheel built again by Maria Theresa and given to the common people. It was destroyed during WW II and rebuilt after the war since it was so well loved by the people.

We also went to see the Vienna International Center where Dick worked for the International Atomic Energy Association and United Nations.

The last visit of the day was the Hunterwasser House built by the architect of that name. He was tired of the classic architecture of the city and decided to build this bizarre building for low income housing. Again, I will post pictures when we return to the States.