Hello from Malaga, Spain!
Sorry for the lack of updates recently, the internet availability has been lacking ever since we left Germany. So a little catch up since I last updated on the 28th.
The 29th Brendan and I went to Dachau in the morning, which was one of the largest concentration camps in Germany. It is infamous for being the place where all SS officers were trained. It is also the only place with crematoriums still standing. I had actually previously visited it, but it was still just as powerful to see it the second time. The thing that stood out to me previously was a sculpture they have, and I was pleased that it was still as meaningful the second time around. That afternoon we went to the BMW factory and Olympic Village just north of Berlin. We were hoping to grab some lunch at the beer garden in the Olympic Village, but it was closed by the time we got there. The BMW museum and tour was very interesting and I think the engineering nerds in both Brendan and I were quite entertained. It was very neat because we got the chance to see some people who had just bought their cars drive them off the line. We had dinner that night at a cafe/beer garden place near our hostel called teh Gap and then chatted with people around the hostel a bit.
The 30th we had some breakfast and then went shopping for some long pants as we left for Gimmelwald that afternoon. After 3 trains, 1 trolley on steroids, 1 bus and a gondola we arrived in Gimmelwald, Switzerland which is just outside Interlaken. Fortunately our hostel was just a stone´s throw away from the Gondola so we were able to get in and relax right away. After a long day we were very happy to reward ourselves with some Captain and Cokes and some Toblerone.
The 1st we speant wandering around on walking paths in the area. Frist we walked to Murren where we bought some supplementary breakfast in the form of fresh fruit and then explored the shops in the village. After a little while we headed out for a hike. We ended up on the "Children´s Adventure Trail", but it was a lot of fun because there was a zip line as well as many forts to explore. We made it up a ways to a restaurant/ski lodge (in the winter) where we got some Goulash before continuing our hike. We made friends with quite a few cows and sheep along the way. We then headed back to Murren to pick up some supplements for our dinner that night. Unbelievably we ran into Bobby Powers (his brother) and Zimmer, who were traveling and happened to be at the same place. I had also met a ND alum that morning (09) which meant there were 6 Domers all staying at the same hostel at the same time in a little town in Switzerland. Dinner ended up being very good (we cooked ourselves) and the entertainment of the night consisted of chatting with quite a few fellows who were celebrating Canada Day.
The 2nd we woke up to a completely clear sky and decided to make a big for the summit of Schilthorn about 5,600 vertical feet above us. We ended up taking the more difficult path, which was practically sheer cliffs up. I was struggling, but I felt better when Brendan said that though the altitude affects were not as bad, in some ways he thought the climb was as difficult to his summit of Mt. Ranier. I ended up being very happy I had bought some warmer clothes as well as a fur hat in Poland to keep me warm since there was still snow on the summit! It took us 4hrs 38min, which is a good time as they say it usually takes at least 5hrs. We then spent some time at the top restaurant catching our breath and eating at the small restaurant there where we made fun of the "cheaters" who took the gondola to the summit. A neat fun fact is that one of the James Bond movies was filmed there: On Her Majesty´s Secret Service. After an Irish Coffee, a plate of goulash each, some french fries and some coke we were ready to begin our descent. (Not bad considering we had already eaten a lunch on the way up!) We made the very smart choice of taking the easy route down and we were shocked by the difference between the two routes. We rushed down to Murren (2 hrs 28 min) to try and make it there before the grocery store closed, but unfortunately it closed early on Saturdays. We still managed to have a very good dinner and rewarded ourselves by getting chocolate fondue at the hostel.
The 3rd (Sunday) we woke up and had a wonderful breakfast of fresh eggs (from a farm we had passed on the way home the day before), waffles and jam. WE then spent the rest of the day traveling to Lake Como after a brief walk around the village. It took us a while, but it was worth it. Lake Como was absolutely beautiful when we got there...just in time for dinner and a sunset. The hostel we were staying at had locals that cooked dinner so we had a 3 course meal for a very reasonable price; consisting of gazpacho, beef stew and broiled peach halves with gelato. The hostel also had some freshly made sangria which was also a big plus. After dinner we wandered into the town (we were staying in Menaggio), got some gelato and took some pictures of the town the sun set.
The 4th of July! We spent the day exploring the different towns around Lake Como, starting with Varenna, very picturesque but without many things to do, and then going to Belaggio which is more built up and has more touristy things. We did not do much, but enjoyed the time looking at the different shops and getting snacks and a nice meal as we went. That afternoon we went into a wine bar and got some very good wine and a sundae while we watch the Tour de France. The owner must have decided he liked us because he gave us free cheese and two small pizza slices. The wine was delicious as well, a 2004 DOCG that was very reasonably priced. By that evening we were not very hungry so we spent the rest of the evening hanging out by the hostel, having some snacks and a few drinks.
The 5th (Tuesday) we had very strict plans to do nothing and just enjoy lazing about as a real "do nothing" day towards the end up the trip (since we knew the rest of the trip would be packed with busy things in Spain). We had originally planned on going sailing, but no one else expressed interest in the hostel so it was going to be very expensive, but that is ok because I am looking forward to going sailing in Chicago soon! We had lunch from a sack lunch we bought from the hostel that had some delicious ham and brie sandwiches and generally spend the day wandering, reading and enjoying the sunshine.
In order to catch the trains to Venice we had a very early bus on the 6th, so we got up around 6am. By doing that we were able to only take regional trains which cut the price of transportation about 60% for the day. We spent a little time between Como and Venice in Milan where we wandered around a bit. We had our bags with it and generally did not get a great impression of the city (it was ridiculously hot as well) so we did not make it to the city center for exploring, but we got a small taste of the city. We then caught our train to Venice and arrived there early evening. We then caught a vapporetto (a water bus) to our hostel and got settled there a little bit. We then decided to do a Rick Steve´s suggested tour and took a vapportetto through the Main Canal in Venice, which allowed us to see many of the palaces and city buildings you cannot truly see from land (as all the original entrances were from the water). I thought this was very cool as I had not really gotten a chance to see that angle of Venice at all when I had done the day trip with Karl. I think the two of us really enjoyed just being on the water and so we were in no rush to get anywhere. After the tour we spent some time wandering the main square before going back to our hostel and get some bruschetta and pizza from a place nearby that was very delicious.
The 7th we spent wandering around the mainland of Venice, seeing the shops and generally sightseeing. Two of our accomplishments we were proud of were finding homemade very good marzipan for Brendan and some very good fruit licorice/taffy for me. Venice is a city that is impossibly not to enjoy the window and actual shopping. the glass there is very popular so going into the boutiques to see the different pieces is quite interesting. We got some bruschetta again (amazing!) and drinks before going back to the mainland for gelato at a highly recommended place. Once we got back to the hostel later we were hungry again so we got pizza at the place nearby again that was just as good as the day before. They make it right in front of you and though it is made in an oven tasted like it was wood baked.
Yesterday we got up early again and took a vaporretto and bus to the airport to catch our flight to Sevilla. The flight went smoothly and we even managed to get seats in the exit row which was nice. First we went to the park where the world fair was once held, but it was so hot we didn´t stay there long. Afterwards we headed to a tapas place that was recommended by Lonely Planet. It was very very good food, though we liked what we ordered so much we didn´t branch out too much on our second round! (Cod fish baked with a tomato sauce and carmelized onions on warm brie on bread were favorites).
We then headed to the Cathedral and were hoping to tour it, but it turns out it was a holiday and was closed for something private. We had extremely high hopes of getting COOKIES at El Torno, which is the convent Jack was nice enough to look up for me (it is where we went when we were there), but it turns out they are no longer open in the evenings and we were absolutely crushed. We were quite disappointed by then that we had not gotten the cookies or seen the cathedral so we found a cafe and got some sangria until it was time to head to the train station.
One train later we made it to Malaga where we checked into our hostel and got settled. Even though it was late we were very excited because we had picked up some microwave popcorn at a grocery store at near the train station. As such we stayed up late to catch up a little on urgent emails and decompress a bit and eat our popcorn before crashing for the night.
This morning (Saturday the 9th) we slept in quite a bit since we hadn´t gotten too much sleep the night before. We got some breakfast and fresh fruit (mango, watermelon, peach and apple) with yogurt and then did a free walking tour which ended up being quite funny and interesting. It was a good way to get a feel for the city for sure. Some of the best sites included seeing some of the major places that Pablo Picasso lived while he was in the city, the port, some of the oldest churches and a market where we picked up cherries and olives. That took about 3 hours and then we headed to a cafe for some sangria & a slice of chocolate/orange tart before stopping by the hostel for a break.
We have been hoping that we would be able to find a place to see Cars 2 in English, but the past few days everywhere we have asked has not had the original language version. This has been quite depressing as they were all over the place in France and we were hoping we would be able to at least find one. Maybe in Valencia or Barcelona!
The rest of the trip is planned as such:
10th: Malaga and then train to Valencia at some point during the day
11th: Valencia
12th: Valencia and then train to Barcelona during the day
13th: Barcelona
14th: Barcelona and FLY HOME to JFK where we will each catch respective connecting flights.
I have been having a lot of fun, but I am looking forward to being home quite a bit. If you asked me how long it feels like I´ve been traveling I would say maybe 2 weeks, which certainly isn´t true, but I can tell I´m getting a little burned out of living out of a backpack. That being said though, we paid to have our laundry done overnight and this morning after amazing showers and clean clothes I feel like an entirely new person!
