DAY 17: Geneva and Bern

Wednesday, August 23rd 2010

We got up insanely early, at 6 am. Packing the tent was a bit of a nuisance because it was all wet on the outside. We tried wiping the bottom of it with paper towels (it was muddy), but that didn't help much. We didn't bother waiting til 9 for the reception to open, and just left. We figured we could do that since we paid when we got there. We took a train to Geneva. It stopped in Zurich, Bern, Lausanne and Fribourg, and the journey took about 3 hours. 

In Geneva, we left our bags in a security locker at the station. We didn't have the right amount of coins for it, but some nice locals exchanged a 2 CHF coin for two 1 CHF coins, which was very friendly of them. We wanted a map of the city, and headed for the tourist info, which was supposed to be near the railway station. It took us a while to find it, but eventually we did, and got ourselves maps, yay.

Our second mission was finding a place to eat, and we settled on a Mexican restaurant that seemed affordable. There was a couple speaking English at a table close to ours, and both of us were eavesdropping on their conversation. It seemed like they were on a date, and the guy made very bad small talk: he started talking about how once he ate so much mango he got a migraine, and then continued with how people that suffer from migraines are prone to suicide. Smooth. Very smooth. 

There hasn't been a picture of food in a while :P

There was an ad for some internet cafe in the map, and it said that you get 15 minutes of free internet if you show your map there. We did that, and it was nice to connect to the outside world for a little bit. After that break we started exploring Geneva. We walked to St Pierre's Cathedral, which was quite a long way uphill. After that we walked downhill to the University, and saw the Reformation Wall as well. Realized that neither of us really know much about the significance of it. I'd at least heard of John Calvin, Pinky hadn't. I guess it's safe to say that neither of us is a history nerd :P 

St Pierre's Cathedral, or at least the part that fit into the picture...

 Gigantic chess in the University park, and the Reformation Wall

The University

We walked through the park by the University and ended up on a street that we nicknamed "Helvetin Bulevardi". Followed that until we reached the shore, and then walked up to the Jet d'Eau - the very tall fountain in the lake. We got quite close to it, and at one point the direction of the wind changed, so we got some water on us. But not too badly. It would've been possible to walk through the jet, but neither of us dared. It wasn't a very warm day, so it would've taken too long to dry.

 Heh heh heh, easily amused? Who, me?

Jet d'Eau

We continued towards Jardin Anglais, where the flower clock is situated (it wasn't as cool as I thought it would be), and then back towards the railway station because it was starting to get late. Made a pit-stop at Starbucks, after which took a train to Bern. There, it took us a while to get our hands on a map, because there was a line at the tourist info. After that we had to figure out whether or not we could get a discount from travel tickets with our InterRail passes. Turns out we couldn't, so we just got a ticket for 6 trips and took the two buses to Camping Eichholz. While looking for the correct bus stop we saw a bus going to a place called Wankdorf, which amused us greatly :D 

Taken from the train, somewhere close to Bern

Anyways. We got to the camping site and checked in. The receptionist was very nice and helpful. He gave us another map of the city, along with an info booklet, and also explained where the nearest grocery store is. We had about 20 minutes until the store would close, so we left our bags at the reception and hurried back up the hill to the main road. Found the Coop shop and got what we needed. We even bought a couple of strange flavored beers, forgetting that we didn't have a bottle opener with us. But we managed to open them with a can opener - took like half an hour, but I felt very proud of our success.

We got back to the camping site, put up our tent for the last time, and eventually went to sleep. There was a pretty bad thunderstorm in the middle of the night. It rained heavily, and there was thunder and lightning. It was a bit scary to be in a tent in that kind of weather, but we survived.

-Brain

DAY 15: The journey to Switzerland

Saturday, August 21st 2010

We left the ever-so-lovely Natterersee Camping with the 10:17 bus. Had brunch at a cafe near the railway station, bought some snacks for the road and went to the platform. 

Goodbye, Innsbruck, you will be missed

Our train left at 11:58 and it was a pretty long train ride (~3.5 hours). There were some lovely views out of the window though, gorgeous scenery:

We arrived in Zurich and went looking for an ATM to take out some Swiss money. Tried two different ATMs (different banks) and neither of them worked - they said our cards are damaged and we need to contact our bank. I started getting a bit worried about the prospect of having no cash. Luckily, we managed to get money at Western Union, phew. Swiss money looked like Monopoly money, and don't even get me started on their coins... Like what is the deal with the 1/2 coin???

Once we had the money problem solved, we took a train to Winterthur, which is where we were gonna camp. The train ride took about half an hour, and then we had to take a bus as well. We asked the bus driver for two tickets, but he said that we can't buy them from him, we need to use the machine outside. The instructions were all in German and we didn't really get them, so we asked a young woman for help. She told us what to do, but we didn't have enough coins for two tickets, so I had to get one from a nearby kiosk. So complicated. Why can't the bus driver sell tickets?? We'd only been in Switzerland for a few hours and were already irritated by those little things.

Anyways. We took a bus towards Rosenberg, got out at the right stop, and had no idea which way to go. So we just started walking along the road until we passed some guy and asked him for directions. Turns out we were going in the right direction, which was a relief. We found the camping site (Camping am Schutzenweiher), and the reception was closed. We sat outside for like 15 minutes and there were two men sitting at a table eating and talking. Then some lady came there and asked us something in a language we didn't understand. Then she asked in English if we wanted to check in. We said that we did, and she told us to just go and put up our tent somewhere, and take care of the paperwork later. She also said something to the men, and it seemed like she was telling them off for not telling us that we didn't need to wait for the reception to open. More annoyance :P 

We found a spot for our tent and got settled, then returned to the reception which was now open. Took care of the paperwork and paid for two nights. The lady gave us tokens for the shower, and I was a bit worried about those. Only 5 minutes of hot water seemed like very little. We asked the lady about a grocery store, and she said that most places close early on Saturdays, but that there is a small shop at the gas station that is always open. So that's where we headed. We found the gas station, and got ourselves food. Barely anything had a price tag, so we had no idea how much anything cost. But we needed food, so we didn't really have a choice.

We got back to our tent and just chillaxed until bedtime. Our tiny flashlight died, so we had to use our cellphones to get some light inside the tent. It was very very dark in the evening.

Our tent, and the laundry line :D

-Brain

DAY 14: Innsbruck

Friday, August 20th 2010

We got up early as usual and got ready to go. The first bus to Natters left at 10:17, so we aimed for that one. It was a very nice summery day, so we decided it would be a good day to go swimming. Oh, and here are some clickable pictures of the best camping site we'd been to:

Pinky really wanted to go see the Bergisel ski-jumping tower, so we asked the bus driver to drop us off at a stop closest to that. We got out, and walked up the hill towards the tower. It was a pretty steep climb, and I was tired and a bit cranky. The entrance fee to the tower was 8.5€, and I wasn't too interested in the place because I'm not a sports fanatic, so Pinky went up there and I stayed behind and waited down below. I think I'd better leave it to her to tell about the Bergisel experience :)

View over the city. Note the Alps in the background.

After that we walked down the hill and towards the old town of Innsbruck. It wasn't very far, and just about all the historical sites were close to one another. We saw all the old buildings, statues, etc that were highlighted on our map, and it didn't take us very long. The gardens of the Imperial Palace were pretty. There was some energy stone there, that apparently was a present to the city from the organizers of the Feng Shui Congress 2000. Pinky went and touched it, but didn't feel any more energized. I climbed up some cool-looking tree and then later noticed the sign saying "Don't climb the trees". Oooops, my bad.

 A street in the old town, and a silver lady with a dog

 In the Imperial gardens

We walked along the river Inn, which was a very interesting greenish color, and also cloudy. Never seen water like that before. The river + Alps = gorgeous. 

The river Inn

Did I mention I love those mountains?

It got very hot and sunny very fast, so we started looking for a cocktail bar. Found some quiet place and I ordered a Mojito, while Pinky ordered a Caipirinha. Both had like 5 cl of booze in them, which to me seemed like a lot. I don't think we have such strong cocktails in Finland. Afterwards we went looking for an Internet cafe, because we had to check train timetables and other important stuff, such as Facebook :P We found an internet cafe right by the railway station, and paid 2€ for one hour. Most of the computers were in use, and the one next to ours was occupied by a young guy who was playing World of Warcraft and kept smoking. Almost everyone else in the place was smoking as well, and the cigarette smoke was nauseating. I realized how glad I am that it's not allowed to smoke indoors in Finland. We checked everything we needed to check, even the lyrics to "My favorite things" from Sound of Music. It was bugging us for a few days, ever since Salzburg.

We got back to the camping site, and changed into our swimwear. The weather was really nice, so we went swimming in the artificial lake. The water was quite cold and refreshing. 

The artificial lake at the camping site

Afterwards we ate at the restaurant there and later in the evening had our biggest argument of the trip. I mentioned something about the song "My favorite things" and how she sings about apple strudels, and Pinky was so sure that there was nothing about them in the song. She even texted one of our friends, who at first agreed with her, but then googled the lyrics. "Cream colored ponies and crisp apple strudels, doorbells and sleigh bells and schnitzel with noodles". Yep, I was right!

It's always nice to end with a picture of a sunset

-Brain

DAY 11: Vienna

Tuesday, August 17th 2010

We woke up fairly early and took our time getting ready. It was very cold in the tent during the night, and the morning was quite cold as well. Not very nice. We got breakfast from the nearby supermarket and didn't realize to read the fine print, so ended up having to pay about 7€ each. Furthermore, our credit cards were not accepted once again. We didn't bother changing our purchases for something cheaper though, just paid with cash and went back to the camping site to eat.

After breakfast and all that, we went to the amusement park that houses Vienna's Giant Ferris Wheel. We didn't go on the wheel itself though, because it was expensive. Instead, we rode the smaller Ferris wheel and then an insane ride - Prater Turm. It was 117 meters high and very scary. I was afraid that my glasses would fall off the entire time, because it was so windy up there (up until last week, Prater Turm was the scariest and coolest attraction that I'd been on). That amusement park was nice, and there was no entrance fee to the park itself, so we just strolled around for free :)

The view of the Giant Ferris Wheel (and the rest of the amusement park) from the smaller Ferris Wheel

Prater Turm. Yikes.

On our way out, we passed a restaurant that seemed affordable, but since we were low on cash, we walked out of the amusement park and started looking for an ATM. Found a bank, took out money and went all the way back to the amusement park. And of course then we noticed an ATM on the amusement park grounds. Oh well, too bad. At the restaurant we both ordered Wiener Schnitzel and when the waiter asked if we wanted salad, answered affirmatively. The menu sounded like the salad was included. The portions were quite giant, but very good. Especially the salad. I'm proud of us both for finishing all that meat though. The waiter brought the check, and it was more than we'd expected, but I guess he just added the service fee. Or then the salads weren't included in the price, but again we weren't bothered to find out.

Wiener Schnitzel and salad. If we hadn't said "yes" to salad, it would've just been two pieces of meat!

We left the amusement park and had to buy new Vienna cards because our old ones had expired. Then we took the U-Bahn to the St Marx cemetery. An S-Bahn would've taken us much closer, but we would've had to wait for half an hour for one of those. We didn't spend much time at the cemetery because it was starting to rain. We did manage to find Mozart's grave though. It wasn't too fancy, just a small statue there.

Pinky felt like she was coming down with a cold and wanted a cocktail or a hot beverage. We couldn't find a cocktail bar, but settled for Starbucks. I got an Ice caramel latte macchiato (I think I'd developed a small addiction to those, lol).

The final sight we wanted to see in Vienna was Schloss Schönbrunn. I must say my expectations weren't all that high. I thought it would be just another palace. The palace itself looked like it was made out of cardboard - not real. We walked around to the other side of it and I think my jaw actually dropped. The garden was absolutely gorgeous, and there was a hill directly behind the palace with some sort of a viewing station (the Gloriette, according to Wikipedia). And an awesome-looking fountain. Naturally, we had to climb up the hill, which wasn't bad at all because there were no stairs to climb. The view from up there was unforgettable. The whole city, or at least a very large part of it, was visible and it was all very picturesque. From what I'd seen that was my favorite place in Vienna. Here are some pictures, all of which are clickable, btw.

The view of the garden behind Schloss Schönbrunn

The Gloriette and the Neptune fountain

View of the city from the top of the hill

The garden was quite nice too

Schloss Schönbrunn main entrance

The zoo and the labyrinth were already closed, because it was past 19.00, so we didn't get to see them. I suppose that is just something I'll have to see on my next trip to Vienna then!

It got late and quite dark, so we headed back to the camping site. We thought it would be a good idea to make our own rum 'n' coke's to help Pinky beat her cold. So we did just that - there was nothing else to do at the camping site in the evening anyways :P

-Brain

Camping in Denmark

So I think I found a good camping site in Denmark - Vejle City Camping. It's in Vejle - a small town halfway between Copenhagen and Billund. InterCity trains from Copenhagen to Vejle go every hour (18:50, 19:50, 20:50 and so on) and the trip takes about 2 hours. It'll be much easier to get to Legoland from there - we won't need to get up insanely early, cause the bus trip from Vejle to Billund only takes about an hour (e.g. X-Bus 907X leaves from Vejle Trafikcenter at 9:14 and arrives at Legoland (Billund) at 10:00, which is right when the place opens :D)

The camping site is pretty cheap - 75 DKK / person (~10€) and looks decent, at least according to the pictures on the website... It says that a camping pass is necessary to enter the camping site and that it can be purchased there for 35 DKK / night (~5€). I guess it's not a universal camping pass that could be used in other places, but it applies to the whole household, so an extra 2.5€ per person ain't too bad.

Yesterday I e-mailed the owner and asked whether it is necessary to make reservations and if they have a curfew. I'm guessing his English isn't very good, cause his answer was "NO." and "Oben 7:30-22:00" :D

A little update: Posts, Trangia and Tent

Sooo I've been kinda lame and haven't updated this blog about Innsbruck's part 2 or Prague. I don't think I will have any time to do that for 3 weeks. Maybe I'll be able to finish the post about Innsbruck but I make no promises. I don't know what I've been doing lately, nothing, but still I haven't managed to write. I have all the things about Innbruck written down so all I would need to do is type it up. Prague pictures I don't have here, and those I most likely cannot access until the end of July. 

Brain and I tested a tent yesterday that can we put it together, and we could. I tested another tent today and it was easy too. The tent is shaped differently. It's not a square, it's some shape that I don't know how to describe. It is sturdier in the wind than the one we tried yesterday. My brother has used the first tent as well and it wasn't good if it's windy, the sticks bend down to the ground. But not in the second tent. 

He showed me how to use the Trangia. 

( Trangia ) 

There's no coffee pot in ours but that's what it looks like otherwise, and we have a possibility to use gas instead of the liquid that is poured in the bronzy thingy that cannot be found from central Europe unfortunately. I don't know why, but it's not sold there.

It's just that since we are flying back, a can of gas (about 10€) or the liquid, cannot be taken back to Finland with an airplane. I'm not even sure that can Trangia be in the luggage because either the middle part, the burner, will have some liquid residue, I don't know what the liquid is called (methylated spirit according to wikipedia), and then there's the other part (not in the picture) that connects to the gas bottle.

We need to read more about the campsites and that do they have kitchens, because this Trangia business might be a little problematic. Trangia itself does not weigh much, but the gas bottle or the methylated spirit bottle does weigh something.