Solo Travels...Part Uno.

I have recently unearthed the journal I kept during my 2007 solo trip to Western Europe (UK, France, Belgium, Germany, Netherlands, and Switzerland) and it is pretty funny to look back on. I learned a lot on that trip...not only about traveling alone but about my patience, my ridiculous sense of paranoia, and how to appreciate a good beer. The excerpt below is word for word how I wrote it on my trip. I don't really know why I kept a journal other than the fact that I was traveling alone and needed someone to talk to. Maybe that makes me schizophrenic, but in the end I'm glad I did it.

Let's get to it.

September 11, 2007: Train from Paris to Amsterdam.  (My current thoughts are in italics)

I am currently sitting on a train from Paris to Amsterdam. I woke up at 7am this morning to pack and get my train at 8:15. Freaking 8.50 Euros to get to the station (geez I'm cheap). I would have walked had I not been so freaking far away or lost on my way in (Story of my life on this trip...I was constantly lost and I have an AMAZING sense of direction. What's up with that?). Anyways, I got to the station and the window was closed so I was freaking a little bit but the dude came at 8:40 finally. I got the 8:58 to Paris (from Bayeux) and then decided I would walk to Paris Nord from Lazarne, the end point of my train. The metro map made it look like I would have to change trains like 3 times and my street map made the stations look decently close together so walking it was. So of course things are a hell of a lot more confusing in real life than on a map but I managed to find Rue de Lafayette by accident thank God. Then I followed that for a good 45 minutes. Not Kidding. I really should have taken the metro. My feet are killing me. And along the way some woman asked me if I spoke English and I stupidly said yes. Then she flashes a postcard at me with some sob story about Bosnia written all over it. I was in a hurry and not the mood to be scammed so I said NO and she begged some more and I left. Simple. But there were probably some pickpockets lurking nearby to knife me or something (I was overly paranoid the entire trip...Mom you should be proud). Not 30 seconds later another woman asks me if I speak English and I say NON as French-ly as possible. I get to the station around 12 (my train got in at 11:05 so I'd been doing a lot of walking).
The line at the ticket counter was so long that I thought I'd miss my 12:55 train. Thankfully I got through the line around 12:20. However, the woman at the counter scared the crap out of me when she said the train was fully booked until the night. (Please excuse the language I'm about to use in the next little bit...I was totally confused and completely pissed at my situation. You live, you learn kiddos). And now an interjection about that disaster: Apparently my Eurail pass is for 15 days...which I thought meant 15 days of travel, but NO!! It means 15 consecutive days (how was I not aware of this?!? I mean I must have looked at my Eurail pass a million times. It is incredibly obvious that it is 15 consecutive days. Oh the youth these days...). All I can say is FUCK. I don't want to get it validated until after my long stay in Amsterdam otherwise I will use up 5 days of travel AND have to pay for tickets in Switzerland and Germany (the Eurail pass is a complicated beast but I still recommend them!). Fucking hell. So instead of using the Eurail pass and starting the 15 day clock, I had to fork over 100Euro for a damn STANDBY ticket. So now since I wasn't given a seat number for this 5 hour journey I am SITTING IN THE LUGGAGE COMPARTMENT of the train. There are a few fold down seats in here and they are right in the doorway. These are like the seat you might find on a bus or subway. And I get to enjoy this for 5 long hours. I am sharing my compartment with a rather large French speaking girl. She as that f-ing annoying frog ringtone that was all the rage 3 years ago in Australia (Haha wow. I still really hate that ringtone. What an annoying frog). Also she has a HUGE bag of food with her. WTF. And she threw her pack on top of mine. Ugggg, blast!!! Ok now she just moved (what a riveting play by play. You're welcome). I wonder if she is going to find a seat. Yes she did. Fuck it I'm going to look for one before I go crazy. (Can you feel the anger and frustration? This is the stuff Rick Steves never talks about). 

*** (Yes, I added in little "time has passed" stars in my journal)

Ok wow that failed miserably. So I had been eyeing this open seat for an hour - the guy who had been sitting there appeared to have found another place to sit. The seat is in one of those 4 person things with the table in the middle. Anyways he was gone basically from Paris to Brussels. Where the F he went I don't know but he came back and I had to move. Now there is even more luggage crammed in the with me from 20 Japanese businessmen who just got on. Wow the next few hours are going to suck.

*** (More time passing stars!!)

So as if sitting in steerage could not get any better, the 20 Japanese businessmen decided that they should come get their 40 Samsonite bags 20 minutes before their stop (if this has ever happened to you on a train, bus, or metro I'm sure you can relate. It annoys me to no end when people freak out about exiting the vehicle so they HOVER by the door for 20 minutes or slowly creep closer and closer to make sure they don't miss the stop). WTF?! I couldn't move an inch and I was blocking the door. Don't they realize that this luggage compartment is MY SEAT?! I decided to just say fuck you  Japanese businessmen (again, sorry about so much use of the F-word...it tends to happen when you are treated poorly whilst taking up residence on the floor of a dirty train) and not move an inch until we had come to a full stop (Normally I'm the "grin and bear it" type so I'll politely make room for others). It was apparent that I was going to have to get off the train so they could get by. So TEN MINUTES before their stop one of the assholes taps me on the shoulder and motions me to stand up. I glare at him with the meanest F-YOU look I can muster. By this point I've been sitting in FREAKING STEERAGE for 4 hours. I don't budge. What a jerk. I was happy when they got the hell off.

I did eventually make it to Amsterdam without biting anyone's head off. The story ends there because I was so excited to have my personal space back that I neglected to write for the next day or so. If this incident has taught me one thing it is this: RESERVE YOUR TRAINS IN ADVANCE OR PREPARE YOURSELF TO JOIN THE LUGGAGE. Oh and if a Japanese businessman is rude to you, simply ignore and prosper. 


Ciao for now!

Fjord-ing

When I think of Fjords I always think of the Swedish Chef from the Muppets.  Is that weird? It just sounds like every other word he says is "fjords" or "fjordy" or something like that.

Anywhozzle...next up on the Epic European tour is Norway (not Sweden yet...sorry chef!) and the beautiful fjords! After our stay in Bergen, T-Friend and I will be heading to the Sognefjord - Norway's largest and most spectacular fjord. We have decided against doing the more formal "Norway in a Nutshell" tour and have instead opted for our own itinerary that will allow us to actually spend the night in the fjords. We're all about getting off the beaten path and this will be a great opportunity to do so. We'll be taking yet another ferry from Bergen, this time heading to the quaint town of Balestrand. From what I've read in the guidebooks, Balestrand used to be THE place for vacationing celebs and royalty. And when I say "used to be" we're talking centuries ago. But, alas, Balestrand has since fallen off the paparazzi radar and instead hosts fjord-lovin tourists like us.

We've narrowed it down to two options as far as accommodation goes for our one-night stint in the town. We can either rough it in a pretty awesome little hut or comfortably rough it in the centrally located hostel. Both options are pretty amazing.

Should we live it up at Sjotun Camping?!

Or take in the views at Kringsja?! 

Surprisingly, the prices are relatively the same so this could be a rather difficult decision. While in Balestrand we plan to take a day trip of the fjord and possibly rent bikes, go on a hike, or rent some kayaks. Since the weather is typically around 70-73 degrees in July, we should have excellent conditions for outdoor fun. 

Speaking of weather, and digressing back to Bergen, AND segueing into my travel essentials (whew!), apparently Bergen gets more rain than it doesn't. Yup, we are pretty much guaranteed to be rained upon during our stay there. This knowledge, accompanied by the fact that I spent a fair amount of time in my sweet yellow rain coat during my last European jaunt has convinced me to invest in some new rain gear. 

I am a giant lemon. 

It may be snazzyawesomeyellow but that thing is about 2 sizes too big and makes me look like a shapeless lemon or someone who is trying way to hard to stand out. Enter the need for new rain gear. 

I'm thinking something like...

Can't really go wrong with NorthFace (and I'm also kind of obsessed with the Eiger...the mountain for which the NorthFace is named. But that' another story.)

From the makers of the oh-so-lovely lemon jacket: Columbia. I'm loving that cinched waist. 

Or maybe I'll stick to my annoying colorful guns...Marmot. 

Next up on the journey...the night train from Oslo to Stockholm! And maybe a cameo by the Swedish Chef. 

Eurailin it!

Oh happy day! My Eurail pass has finally arrived in the mail! So now once I get over the pond I can actually travel around worry free.

T-Dizzle and I opted for the 4-day Scandinavian Eurail pass which basically means we can use it any four days in a one month period. That might not seem like much for a $250 pass, but when you start adding up the train costs from city to city they really start to add up. The Eurail pass definitely saves money! Imagine traveling all over the US for only $250?! That'd be quite the bargain.
The whole "4-day" thing means that we can travel on any train to any place for any distance 4 different days of our trip. This works out well for us because we have 3 major travel days planned: Copenhagen to Hirtshals, Bergen to Oslo, Oslo to Stockholm, and one day that we'll use the last day as "flex". If we had purchased those legs of the trip without the Eurail pass, it would have been well into the $300 range, especially considering the Oslo-Stockholm leg is a night train.

On my trip to Europe in 2007 I was completely new to the concept of a Eurail pass and didn't realize that some longer trains still require you make a reservation despite the fact that you have the pass. I ended up on a train from Paris-Amsterdam literally sitting on the floor in between cars with all the luggage. It was horrible torture. And loud. And long. And I felt like a loser. This time around I'll be making sure we have seats!

In other trip planning news, we may be adding another fabulous addition to our trip...my bff KRIS!! She currently lives in London but is hoping to make at least part of the trip with us. I'm crossing my fingers she can make it work because we'd have a ridiculous time if the three of us get together :)

What can I say? I heart her. 

In other, other news, how beautiful is my grandmother?! I never actually got to meet her, but wow, she's awesome!!! I think she looks a lot like my two cousins, Tamsin & Chelsea. I'll be visiting them in the Netherlands :) 

Carrie On!

p.s. I totally cupcaked in April and May...I'll be sure to mention my recipes in the next post!