Thursday, June 19, 2008
If it's Tuesday, it must be Italy!
As you might have guessed, I have had no internet connections for the last week...and a lot has happened in that time..I can only give the summary version now and will post pictures and descriptions when I return home...I met up with my friends at the Strasbourg train station on Friday afternoon..we walked around Strasbourg, looking at the magnificent cathedral. I had seen it from the train when I traveled from Brussels to Zurich five days earlier and noted the incredible architecture as we sped by. It was stunning to see it close up! Strasbourg is in the heart of the Alsace region of France - where my mother's family was from (I remember her mentioning the Alsace Lorain area as being her roots, but I knew little about it). Well, as soon as we sat down to dinner at an Alsace restaurant, I felt like I had come home. The cooking - especially the sauerkraut and stew-like dish reminded me so much of some of my childhood meals; the decorations and kitsch in the homes and restaurants also was very familiar. It was pretty cool to get a sense of some of my roots. That evening we stayed high atop the mountains at a monastery - Mont St. Odile...an amazing place! Saturday we drove into Germany to Frieburg and wandered around the market and went into the Cathedral and saw some beautiful stained glass windows. We went back into France and continued our tour of the Alsace area stopping in Eguisheim - a lovely, quaint French village with lots of flowers and brightly colored painted houses. Sunday we went back into the mountains in Germany - driving up and down through the Black Forest area, stopping briefly at the Black Forest Academy to see the school that some of our students at Wheaton have studied at. We made our way to Zurich and walked around the old city, stopping to see the Marc Chagall windows in the Frauminster church, my second time to do so and saw a few other places. We made our way to Cham, a ways south of Zurich where we stayed that night...it was difficult to find places to stay right around Zurich because of Euro2008 - the football competition, as Switzerland and Austria are co-hosts this year and many, many people were in town for the games! Monday, we drove south through Switzerland over the mountains, the tops of which were mostly covered because of the clouds and later the rains. It continued to rain as we made our way into Italy, but stopped by the time we drove through Milan. We stopped in Pisa to see the leaning tower (the weather was perfect by that time) and the stunning church and old city. We stayed in a farmhouse the small town of Vinci - where Leonardo was born! We went to Cinque Terra on Tuesday - more on that when I have pictures; we went to Florence yesterday and saw Michaelangelo's David - which was incredibly stunning in person. Tonight we are in Mestra - which is just outside of Venice where we will be tomorrow! That is the short version, but all I have time for right now. It has been an amazing week!
Some thoughts on train travel
Note: this was written on the train from Zurich to Strasbourg on Friday, June 13..
As I walked into the large central Zurich train station (HB) today on my way out of town to Strasbourg, I utttered the words, "I love this place!" It is full of life and vitality! Shops that are open when other stores have long closed in the city - grocery stores close early in Switzerland so if you need eggs or wine or bread, a quick trip to the to the Zurich HB or stop in between trains will meet more than your transportation needs. Needless to say, the station is quite busy with almost 60 tracks carrying people all over the city, country and to other places in Europe. After spending so much time on the European trains in the last week (Belgium, France and Switzerland), I have come to love the smooth, quiet and fast ride and on-tine efficiency of the system. It is so much less stressful than flying - and so much more comfortable, to say nothing of the opportunity to actually see the country instead of flying over it!
As I walked into the large central Zurich train station (HB) today on my way out of town to Strasbourg, I utttered the words, "I love this place!" It is full of life and vitality! Shops that are open when other stores have long closed in the city - grocery stores close early in Switzerland so if you need eggs or wine or bread, a quick trip to the to the Zurich HB or stop in between trains will meet more than your transportation needs. Needless to say, the station is quite busy with almost 60 tracks carrying people all over the city, country and to other places in Europe. After spending so much time on the European trains in the last week (Belgium, France and Switzerland), I have come to love the smooth, quiet and fast ride and on-tine efficiency of the system. It is so much less stressful than flying - and so much more comfortable, to say nothing of the opportunity to actually see the country instead of flying over it!
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Zurich, part two
Zurich has continued to be a time of new experiences! I have found few places in my travels where one can get around on public transportation using so many different modes of travel. Yesterday, I traveled by train, tram, bus and boat. The transport system is excellent here - the trains are so smooth, it is easy to fall asleep; the trams are a little louder and not as smooth but take you to many convenient places; the buses fill in the gaps and the boats are a wonderful change of pace, as there are several lakes and rivers nearby to explore.
On Tuesday, we went to Stein am Rhein - a small medieval town on the Rhein River, northeast of Zurich. It was only an hour train trip and after having an amazing crepe lunch - both savory and sweet (white, dark and milk chocolate in one crepe - the most amazing taste to behold!), we wandered around this little quaint town and left the town via a boat that took us down the Rhein River to Schaffhausen, where we took a train the rest of the way to Zurich. The boat trip was so relaxing and it was another nice day. Along the way we passed a small nude beach (people were out sunning themselves, which is why we knew it was a nude beach), as well as some nice homes. At one point we went under a low bridge and the captain had to lower the upper portion of the boat in order to get under the bridge..never saw that before. The day ended quite differently as a nasty thunderstorm came up really fast and as we left the train, we got completely drenched! Even if we had had our umbrellas (I know, never go without your umbrella), we would have been just as wet as the wind was very strong. But it was another adventure and fortunately there is an efficient drying room in the apartment building so our clothes were dry by morning!
Wednesday, we went into Zurich and walked around the old city, visiting a couple churches: the Fraumunster, where there is a gorgeous set of windows created by Marc Chagall. We also went to the Grossmunster, where Zwingli began the Reformed movement in Switzerland. Of great interest to me, was seeing the Cabaret Voltaire - where the Dada movement began in 1916. Every year I talk about that movement in my 20th century music history class and mention its start in Switzerland and it was cool to see exactly where it was. There are still a few items on the walls pointing to the important events.
Today, Thursday, Susan and I took the train to a cable car and went up the side of a mountain near Zurich. We ate lunch at the wonderful restaurant at the top and then since she had to retrieve Lucky, her dog, I decided I wanted to hike the ridge of the mountain to another prominent place. So I went on a 5.5 kilometer hike which gave me some beautiful views of the city of Zurich below. It was challenging at times - the markers said the trail was easy and flat - I decided that compared to hiking the Matterhorn, this was probably easy and flat, though my experience is that the Swiss definition of flat must be the average of up and down! Anyway, the weather was beautiful and there were some cool breezes along the way and I took my time. I enjoyed it very much - especially toward the end when I heard a variety of cowbells on the cows that were roaming in the pasture below me. It made me smile, because every time they moved, it created a wonderful counterpoint of beautiful metallic sounds...I heard it for more than 20 minutes after I left the pasture - it just echoed throughout the valley. I took a train back down to Zurich once I finished the two hour hike - tired but very happy for my accomplishment and the time to enjoy God's beautiful creation, including the clean, fresh air! It was a great day!
On Tuesday, we went to Stein am Rhein - a small medieval town on the Rhein River, northeast of Zurich. It was only an hour train trip and after having an amazing crepe lunch - both savory and sweet (white, dark and milk chocolate in one crepe - the most amazing taste to behold!), we wandered around this little quaint town and left the town via a boat that took us down the Rhein River to Schaffhausen, where we took a train the rest of the way to Zurich. The boat trip was so relaxing and it was another nice day. Along the way we passed a small nude beach (people were out sunning themselves, which is why we knew it was a nude beach), as well as some nice homes. At one point we went under a low bridge and the captain had to lower the upper portion of the boat in order to get under the bridge..never saw that before. The day ended quite differently as a nasty thunderstorm came up really fast and as we left the train, we got completely drenched! Even if we had had our umbrellas (I know, never go without your umbrella), we would have been just as wet as the wind was very strong. But it was another adventure and fortunately there is an efficient drying room in the apartment building so our clothes were dry by morning!
Wednesday, we went into Zurich and walked around the old city, visiting a couple churches: the Fraumunster, where there is a gorgeous set of windows created by Marc Chagall. We also went to the Grossmunster, where Zwingli began the Reformed movement in Switzerland. Of great interest to me, was seeing the Cabaret Voltaire - where the Dada movement began in 1916. Every year I talk about that movement in my 20th century music history class and mention its start in Switzerland and it was cool to see exactly where it was. There are still a few items on the walls pointing to the important events.
Today, Thursday, Susan and I took the train to a cable car and went up the side of a mountain near Zurich. We ate lunch at the wonderful restaurant at the top and then since she had to retrieve Lucky, her dog, I decided I wanted to hike the ridge of the mountain to another prominent place. So I went on a 5.5 kilometer hike which gave me some beautiful views of the city of Zurich below. It was challenging at times - the markers said the trail was easy and flat - I decided that compared to hiking the Matterhorn, this was probably easy and flat, though my experience is that the Swiss definition of flat must be the average of up and down! Anyway, the weather was beautiful and there were some cool breezes along the way and I took my time. I enjoyed it very much - especially toward the end when I heard a variety of cowbells on the cows that were roaming in the pasture below me. It made me smile, because every time they moved, it created a wonderful counterpoint of beautiful metallic sounds...I heard it for more than 20 minutes after I left the pasture - it just echoed throughout the valley. I took a train back down to Zurich once I finished the two hour hike - tired but very happy for my accomplishment and the time to enjoy God's beautiful creation, including the clean, fresh air! It was a great day!
Monday, June 9, 2008
How did I get to Zurich, you ask?
Greetings from Zurich - on a beautiful day!
I am sitting here with German translations on this computer, listening to an Italian TV station in the background broadcasting the Italy/Netherlands Euro 2008 Football game! Ah the joys of travel are great...
So how did I get here? Well, last Saturday morning at about 7:45am I said goodbye to the Arts in London students and several hours later made my way to the Eurostar fast train to Brussels. Oh, that it would have been that easy. I went back to finish my packing and found that I couldn't get everything into my suitcase. Because I am eventually coming back to London to fly home, I left two suitcases there and had already taken them to store them. So my hosts graciously volunteered to take the extra stuff (including my computer) to the place I am storing them... Then I got on the Tube to go to the Kings Cross Station. You need to understand that while my suitcase is a medium size, it is not light, so it was a chore to haul it down the steps (I'm not as young or as strong as I used to be). Well, I allowed plenty of time (always a good policy) which was good this time, as the station I needed to exit was CLOSED! So the train went on and I'm thinking...well I can't write all I was thinking but I got off at the next Tube station, lugged my suitcase up the stairs, asked those friendly gate agents what I should do and then began to lug my suitcase down the stairs when an angel, disguised as a young lady, asked if she could help. I got on the next train going back in the direction of the station I needed. I was a little flustered but found my way, and went through all the premliminaries and boarded the Eurostar. Two hours later I was in Brussels Midi train station and easily found my friends, Julianne and Michael. We took another train one stop to the Brussels Central station, nearer to where my hotel was located, and I checked in. If you ever find yourself in Brussels and need a hotel, check out the Hotel Alma! It was charming, contemporary and clean; my room was geometrically fascinating, complete with a spiral staircase down to the bathroom, a floor below (I was not as charmed in the middle of the night when I had to get there), but it was very cool! I took pictures, but given that I am not on my own computer, you will have to wait!
I got an amazing tour around Brussels, starting with the Grand Place, which was just a couple blocks away from my hotel - what a beautiful place - difficult to put into words. We walked around, saw the city from some high viewpoints including the Catholic Cathedral, walked past the Musical Instruments Museum, which I hope to see at the end of my trip, and learned a lot of interesting facts about Brussels. We had a yummy dinner at a Flemish restaurant; many of the people in Belgium are Flemish and they work hard to keep their heritage and language alive in this strongly French-influenced country. I said goodbye to my friends (I will see them again in less than a week) and I had a reasonable sleep in my cool room, watching a little CNN in English, getting caught up on the recent presidential politics. In the morning I had an amazing breakfast, which turned out to be one of the most important events in my day and then made my way to the Central train station back to Brussels Midi to catch my train to Zurich. I had way too much time on my hands, so I bought water and passed up any food as I was full and it didn't look too appealing and I thought I would just get food on the train. Well, I got on my train at 1:00, found my seat in first class - also a very good decision for an eight-hour train ride and got settled in. It was a very smooth ride and it was wonderful to see the countryside of Belgium, France, Luxembourg, France again and finally Switzerland. There was no sense of borders, except for perhaps a change of style in the housing I would see along the way. However, when the train came to Basel, the Swiss came on board and asked to see my passport, as Switzerland is not part of the European Union.
Along the way, I saw quaint little towns, gently rising hills, farmland, lots of church steeples dotting the land, rivers next to the train tracks, people working in their gardens, mountains in the distance, a variety of brightly colored houses in some French towns, a lot of sun and some rain toward the end of the trip and so much more. I stayed awake for all of the trip except for the last 30 minutes when I dozed off.
Remember when I said having a good breakfast was significant....well, about three hours into the journey I discovered that for this entire 8 hour trip, there was no food available on the train - you see I was the only person to travel the entire 8 hours from Brussels to Zurich..others got on and off and people had brought food to eat with them..So I ate three Trader Joes granola bars which were packed in my suitcase...I spaced them judiciously and drank 3 liters of water and it was fine. I also learned a lesson - make no assumptions when you travel!
My friend, Susan met me in the large, busy Zurich airport without any trouble. Right now everything is focused on Euro 2008, as Switzerland and Austria are co-hosts for this important sports event, so there was lots of activity at the main train station along with many, many Swiss police! We traveled back to her home and I settled in..
Today, the weather was gorgeous and we took a long boat trip on Lake Zurich including a visit to Rapperswil, a small medieval Swiss town that was absolutely amazing. We had a great day and will venture out again tomorrow..Pictures will appear later - for now, you will need to use your imagination!
I will stay here in Zurich until Friday, when I train back to Strasbourg where I will meet my dear friends, the Funks and the four of us (a fifth will join us on Sunday) will travel in a mini-van for two more weeks - through Alsace Lorain, back to Zurich for a day, several days in Tuscany, then Venice, and onto the Salzburg area for four days before we return to the Brussels area when I train back to London to fly back to the States. I will blog as I can!
I am sitting here with German translations on this computer, listening to an Italian TV station in the background broadcasting the Italy/Netherlands Euro 2008 Football game! Ah the joys of travel are great...
So how did I get here? Well, last Saturday morning at about 7:45am I said goodbye to the Arts in London students and several hours later made my way to the Eurostar fast train to Brussels. Oh, that it would have been that easy. I went back to finish my packing and found that I couldn't get everything into my suitcase. Because I am eventually coming back to London to fly home, I left two suitcases there and had already taken them to store them. So my hosts graciously volunteered to take the extra stuff (including my computer) to the place I am storing them... Then I got on the Tube to go to the Kings Cross Station. You need to understand that while my suitcase is a medium size, it is not light, so it was a chore to haul it down the steps (I'm not as young or as strong as I used to be). Well, I allowed plenty of time (always a good policy) which was good this time, as the station I needed to exit was CLOSED! So the train went on and I'm thinking...well I can't write all I was thinking but I got off at the next Tube station, lugged my suitcase up the stairs, asked those friendly gate agents what I should do and then began to lug my suitcase down the stairs when an angel, disguised as a young lady, asked if she could help. I got on the next train going back in the direction of the station I needed. I was a little flustered but found my way, and went through all the premliminaries and boarded the Eurostar. Two hours later I was in Brussels Midi train station and easily found my friends, Julianne and Michael. We took another train one stop to the Brussels Central station, nearer to where my hotel was located, and I checked in. If you ever find yourself in Brussels and need a hotel, check out the Hotel Alma! It was charming, contemporary and clean; my room was geometrically fascinating, complete with a spiral staircase down to the bathroom, a floor below (I was not as charmed in the middle of the night when I had to get there), but it was very cool! I took pictures, but given that I am not on my own computer, you will have to wait!
I got an amazing tour around Brussels, starting with the Grand Place, which was just a couple blocks away from my hotel - what a beautiful place - difficult to put into words. We walked around, saw the city from some high viewpoints including the Catholic Cathedral, walked past the Musical Instruments Museum, which I hope to see at the end of my trip, and learned a lot of interesting facts about Brussels. We had a yummy dinner at a Flemish restaurant; many of the people in Belgium are Flemish and they work hard to keep their heritage and language alive in this strongly French-influenced country. I said goodbye to my friends (I will see them again in less than a week) and I had a reasonable sleep in my cool room, watching a little CNN in English, getting caught up on the recent presidential politics. In the morning I had an amazing breakfast, which turned out to be one of the most important events in my day and then made my way to the Central train station back to Brussels Midi to catch my train to Zurich. I had way too much time on my hands, so I bought water and passed up any food as I was full and it didn't look too appealing and I thought I would just get food on the train. Well, I got on my train at 1:00, found my seat in first class - also a very good decision for an eight-hour train ride and got settled in. It was a very smooth ride and it was wonderful to see the countryside of Belgium, France, Luxembourg, France again and finally Switzerland. There was no sense of borders, except for perhaps a change of style in the housing I would see along the way. However, when the train came to Basel, the Swiss came on board and asked to see my passport, as Switzerland is not part of the European Union.
Along the way, I saw quaint little towns, gently rising hills, farmland, lots of church steeples dotting the land, rivers next to the train tracks, people working in their gardens, mountains in the distance, a variety of brightly colored houses in some French towns, a lot of sun and some rain toward the end of the trip and so much more. I stayed awake for all of the trip except for the last 30 minutes when I dozed off.
Remember when I said having a good breakfast was significant....well, about three hours into the journey I discovered that for this entire 8 hour trip, there was no food available on the train - you see I was the only person to travel the entire 8 hours from Brussels to Zurich..others got on and off and people had brought food to eat with them..So I ate three Trader Joes granola bars which were packed in my suitcase...I spaced them judiciously and drank 3 liters of water and it was fine. I also learned a lesson - make no assumptions when you travel!
My friend, Susan met me in the large, busy Zurich airport without any trouble. Right now everything is focused on Euro 2008, as Switzerland and Austria are co-hosts for this important sports event, so there was lots of activity at the main train station along with many, many Swiss police! We traveled back to her home and I settled in..
Today, the weather was gorgeous and we took a long boat trip on Lake Zurich including a visit to Rapperswil, a small medieval Swiss town that was absolutely amazing. We had a great day and will venture out again tomorrow..Pictures will appear later - for now, you will need to use your imagination!
I will stay here in Zurich until Friday, when I train back to Strasbourg where I will meet my dear friends, the Funks and the four of us (a fifth will join us on Sunday) will travel in a mini-van for two more weeks - through Alsace Lorain, back to Zurich for a day, several days in Tuscany, then Venice, and onto the Salzburg area for four days before we return to the Brussels area when I train back to London to fly back to the States. I will blog as I can!
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