Sitges

More adventures on the trains as we headed from Tarragona to Sitges. Sitges lies between Tarragona and Barcelona, so obviously we would be on a train headed to Barcelona, but this time I checked the TIME of our departure to be sure we got on the right train. About three stops into our journey we had a very long stop. Just as I was beginning to wonder what was taing so long, a ticket agent got on board and started yelling in Catalan and pointing to a train across the platform. So everyone on board had to get off and switch trains. Mom especially loves times like these for all the pushing and shoving (ha). So we arrived in Sitges a little later than we had planned, but only about an hour. It was beautiful. Our hotel was right onthe beach, and the city stretches out along the coast with about nine beaches to choose from. The weather was sunny and beautiful. We spent most of our time wandering the beaches. We had a fun time gathering shells-something you don't see much of on the So-Cal beaches anymore, but there were tons of them here. We had a late lunch on the outdoor patio of the hotel overlooking the beach. The carnival was also going on in Sitges with plenty more costumes and another parade, although it wasn't as exciting as in Tarragona. We walked up and down the entire coast, Sitges was very relaxing and in perfect time as we were getting a little road weary from all the travelling. I couldn't believe the weather, I even had a tan line from our afternoon out and all I could think was how it was snowing in Switzerland. While we were enjoying our almost 60 degree weather I heard it was 80 in Phoenix. Wow.

The following afternoon we returned to Barcelona. The train station in Sitges has only one platform so we only had to concern ourselves with making sure we got on a train headed in the correct direction this time, and it was only about 30 minutes or so to Barcelona. We went out for tapas in the evening and returned to the hotel fairly early. On Tuesday we had a flight home but not until 6pm so we went in the city and rode a tour bus around all day. It was a very nice day so we enjoyed the last bit of nice weather. There was still a little snow on the ground when we got home. I was at least warmer than when we left though.

Tarragona

Thus began the adventure of the trains. Our hotel in Barcelona was located very near the airport. The airport in Barcelona has a small train station with one train and one platform that will take you to the main train station where you can connect to any other train. So we packed our bags, took the free shuttle to the airport, got on the only train and went to Sants Station to buy our tickets to Tarragona. They only cost like $7, which was great, but the ticket lady was not so friendly and barked for us to go to 9. We presumed this meant platform nine but went to check the board. Like all trains, they are listed by their final destination. Of course Tarragona is an intermediate station and of course it was not listed anywhere. I couldn't recognize any matching locations on my rail map that seemed to be going in the correct direction. However, we have learned to take advantage of the information booths as they are always very friendly and helpful. I asked them for help and they also told me to go to platform nine. So we went to platform nine and got on the train and it took us back to the airport. I asked a ticket agent there to help me and he told me to go back to Sants and connect there. We went back to Sants and found another ticketing agent and asked him. I was told again to go to platform nine. I asked him to clarify the final location so I knew which train to get on at platform nine because I had already been there and it went back where I had already come from. All he kept saying was to go to platform nine. By this point we had to go back through the turnstile and the ticket wouldn't work anymore. So we said screw it and bought another ticket. I was growing increasingly angry as the morning went along. However, this ticketing lady was very nice and very helpful, told me the time the next train departed (of course we just missed one and the next was over an hour) and also told me the final destination so I knew I was getting on the correct train. After the whole ordeal we arrived in Tarragona about three hours later than we had planned. I had a map and walking directions to get to the hotel. Fortunately Tarragona is easy to navigate because I was very grouchy and Mom is bad with maps so I found the way very easily. Tarragona was totally dead when we went out, likely because it was a Saturday and the middle of the afternoon. We found a tapas bar to have some lunch and then explored the city. The city iself is very cool, a mini-Rome, actually an important city within the Roman Empire that used to have twice the population it has today. Much of the old Roman wall remains, as well as the amphitheatre, forum, and circus. There is an old Cathedral built on the remains of a Temple to Jupiter built around 200BC, supposedly a site where Paul preached. We saw the archeaological museum in addition to all the major sites. We had noticed in Barcelona on Friday that there were a lot of people in costumes, and more and more began to appear in Tarragona. The city was dead at 3pm but by 7pm it was crazy. Everyone was out, everyone was dressed up. There was a parade and fireworks, and some very creative costumes. We saw the Flinstone family complete with their car, pac-man being chased by ghosts, a box of donuts, a group of men dressed as cheerleaders with their wives dressed as football players. We did not realize this was carnival week, the final celebration before Lent-the Spanish equivalent of Mardi Gras. We had dinner at a restaurant called San-Ric. They had a very ice collection of wines, we got a ten year old bottle for only 20 euros and it was very good. We did a lot of walking that day as well and were very tired. On Sunday we went to Sitges, another adventure by train. I'll add more about that later.

Barcelona

We started our trip in Barcelona, then spent a day in Tarragona, a day in Sitges, then returned to Barcelona before flying home. There are lots of stories to tell about each place. It was so great to be in weather that was sunny and warm! Most of the time I didn't need a jacket but even when I did no scarf! no gloves! no hats! We left Switzerland in the snow and in Barcelona it was in the high 50's (that's degrees F not C). That is way too cold for a California or an Arizona girl but those days long gone and it felt awesome. When I get back to Phoenix in August I'm going to hate it more than usual, I won't be able to stand the heat. (Who can?) While the official language in Barcelona and the region is Catalan, most signs and all the people also speak Spanish. Just as I had gotten used to all the phrases in French, I had to remind myself to start thinking in Spanish. It's hard on the brain. Now, my Spanish is not good, but compared to my French it is spectacular, and I actually felt much more comfortable being in Spanish speaking surroundings than I do in French. I can read a menu very well in Spanish, while in Switzerland if I forget the phrase book most of the menu is still a mystery. We're working on that though.

Our trip was an adventure from the start, to say the least. As we were about to walk out the door, Mom went to make sure she had her house keys and couldn't find them. Fifteen minutes later she found them (in her suitcase) so we hustled through the snow and got to the train station just in time to see our train leaving. Fortunately, trains head to the airport about every ten minutes or so, so we got the next one. The flight was delayed, and apparently everyone decided to start drinking beer while we waited. (This was 9:30 in the morning). The laws are different here, you can take your beer to the gate with you, and you can drink at 16 years old, so people were drinking while waiting in line to board. I use the word "in line" quite loosely, its more of a crowd pushing and shoving with no sense of order. It was very un-Swiss. There was a rowdy group of boys laughing and singing at takeoff and landing, and we arrived about an hour or so later than planned.

We checked into the hotel and went in to town. We started at La Boqueria, Barcelona's outdoor market. It is an orgasm of food, it makes Seattle's market look cute. Everything was so fresh and colorful. I bought some hot chilis to make some salsa. Spicy food doesn't exist in Switzerland. I had a really bad map and couldn't find the restaurant I wanted to go to for lunch, so we just wandered and found a place, then spent some time wandering the streets and shopping. The shops all had a little more flavor to them than in Switzerland but the best part was the prices. Everything in Switzerland is so expensive that everything in Spain seemed so cheap. We really enjoyed wandering the streets. We headed over to the cathedral and to the Basilica. The Basilica was boring but the Cathedral was impressive. I love gothic architecture and the old churches always aim to impress.

In the evening we went to a flamenco show. We originally got a phone call that the show was cancelled, but later on they caled us back to say the show was still on. In any case, it was pretty empty, presumably because of the economy and time of year. There was only one other table, about 6-8 people, and the two of us. The show was a lot of fun but at the last number the other group got up and left in the middle! It was obviously the last dance, but apparently they didn't want to wait 5 minutes, so as the show ended Mom and I were the only guests left. It was a little awkward.

On the second day we tok a shuttle into the Plaza Espanyol and planned to go to the Castle on Montjuic, which is at the top of a hill. We were advised to take the city bus, but there was some sort of strike going on in the circle that was holding up traffic so we decided to walk. There were lots of sights to see on the way up the hill, although the Magic Fountain was closed for construction. We went in to the Olympic Park where the 1992 Olympics were held, passed over the botanical gardens and made our way to the Castle, which now houses a military museum with lots of weapons. It was a tiring walk up and we rode the bus back down (we're a little backwards) and went to lunch at an all organic vegetarian restaurant. It was written up in a tour book so I figured it would be good and of course it's right up my alley but I was worried it would be too weird for Mom. Actually, she approved, and even said she loved the soup. We returned to the Boqueria again for some shopping and sat down for a coffee.

We then made our way to Sagrada Familia, an unconventional church designed by Gaudi, considered his greatest work and still under construction nearly 100 years after his death. Unfortunately we were unable to go up in the tower because it was closed, but the church is spectacular.

We had dinner at a restaurant called 7 Portes, which has hosted the likes of Winston Churchill and Che Guevara and speacializes in Paella. My favorite part was that they brought bread with a carousel of olive oil so we sampled and compared each one. I also love the fact that most restaurants bring you a dish of olives, which I usually ate most of before Mom even tried any. We might have overdone it on the walking because we were thoroughly exhausted by the end of the day and went to bed kind of early. The next morning we headed to Tarragona which was an adventourous journey. I'll add more on that later. For now I've added a link for Spain which contains three sub-albums: Barcelona, Tarragona, and Sitges.

Geneva

Last Tuesday it snowed very hard all day in Lausanne. On Wednesday Mom and I went on a day trip to Geneva with the American Women's Club. Despite the fact that there was still a ton of snow on the ground in Lausanne, it had fortunately not snowed at all in Geneva. It was still plenty cold, but I guess we're pretty used to it by this point. I added a few pictures of the snow under a new sub album in the "Around Lausanne" link. All the photos are out the window or balcony of the apartment. In Geneva we saw a few museums and went to lunch. It was a nice day, but Geneva is not nearly as pretty as Lucerne and in my opinion less interesting than Lausanne. I have added the photos I took in Geneva under a new link. The following day we headed to Spain, so there are a lot more photos coming.

Chateau de Chillon

Today we drove just past Montreaux and visited the Chateau de Chillon, the most popular castle in Switzerland. It is situated on right on the shores of Lac Leman (Lake Geneva), Montreaux to one side and the Alps to the other. The drive was very beautiful, with views of vineyards, the water and the Alps all along the way. I drove in Switzerland for the first time yesterday, and Mom drove today. Generally it is not that hard. The only confusing thing is that there are lights for each lane, usually because one will be a turning lane. So there will be a green light and a red light right next to each other and you have to pay attention to the proper light. We are still using a loaner car, but our vehicle is supposed to be here on Thursday.

The castle was freezing, but besides that was very enjoyable. It is over 1000 years old, and the dungeon served as the inspiration of Lord Byron's poem "The Prisoner of Chillon" which he incidentally wrote while staying at a hotel here in Lausanne near the Lake. The Castle is now a museum, although there is not much furniture or anything remaining inside. However, they have restored much of the paintings on the walls and the audio guide provided a lot of historical information about the place. I have posted pictures of the castle under a new link to the right.

Every Saturday there is an outdoor market, but we keep sleeping in. Yesterday we finally got up early enough to go, even though it was snowing - which doesn't stop anyone else from going, by the way. Actually, we enjoyed it very much, despite being covered in snow. There was a much better selection of produce, nuts, cheeses, etc. than you can get in the grocery store here, which is generally always not of the freshest quality either. Still, there are those few things that just don't seem to exist out here...you'd think you could find some Swiss chard in Switzerland, for example, although it is out of season so maybe we will see some when the weather is warmer. There are about three original "Swiss" meals, and I'm pretty sure they all include some form of melted cheese. Fondue, obviously. There is also a dish called Raclette, which I ate at a restarant. Basically, it is a plate of melted cheese with a side of fingerling potatoes and pickles and some pickled cocktail onions. When you go to the grocery store, the potatoes are not named by the type of potato (russet, fingerling, etc) but by the dish. They do this with some of the cheeses as well. There are raclette potatoes and baked potatoes. There is fondue cheese and raclette cheese. I find this all very amusing, although it is a bit of a challenge at times as well, particularly because no one at the grocery store speaks any English. I went to get sugar and there was a candy sugar, fruit sugar, cane sugar, cubed sugar, powdered sugar, dextrose, each in a square cardboard box that all look the same. No brown sugar, though. Then the flour. There were about five different kinds and each one had a picture of a different kind of bread on the front. I got the white flour and the whole wheat flour, but there is no all-purpose flour as far as I can tell and the white flour is not quite the same, which we learned when mom tried to make pie crust and it was a disaster. Sometimes a simple trip to the grocery store can take quite a while because it's tough to find the right thing. However, there are always great fresh made breads, interesting cheeses, and good cheap wine (French, Italian, or Spanish..Swiss wine is not very good). In any case, it's always an adventure. We've generally got the kinks worked out by now. Almost.

Bureaucracy

Today was a beautiful day, perhaps the clearest day I have seen since we have been here, and the views of the Alps were awesome. I regret I did not take my camera out with me. Mom has been moaning quite a bit about how no one speaks English, so she was surprised and pleased today that nearly everywhere we went people switched over to English: the post office, department store, and restaurant tonight for dinner-quite impressive. Not only that, but she also spoke more French today than she has since we have been here. Why is it that she has an easier time speaking French when the people she is speaking to understand English? I guess it's a mental thing-she won't have to panic that someone is going to start rattling off in a foreign language.

Overall, it was a good day, although apparently the Swiss authorities think that I have been in the country since December 1st (got here Jan 19th) so now we have to prove when I got here. It still makes no sense though. They think I got here the first because I was on the original paperwork for a residence permit but got denied. So they denied me, but still presumed I came and now want me to get a residence card that I can't actually legally get, because they denied me a residence permit to begin with. Fortunately for me, I haven't had to deal with it-lucky Dad. He is having a very difficult time.

Reading about permits in Switzerland, I find the following passage quite telling: "most Swiss companies and many foreigners in Switzerland, sooner or later become entangled in the complex and bureaucratic nightmare of the Swiss permit system (do Swiss officials really understand it?)."

It's funny, because it's true.

More Rules

Today, Mom went to a meet and greet at the American International Womens Club all by herself (big deal). She was nervous, but met some new people and even decided to join a group which does various outings, next week in Geneva. She even went to the grocery store by herself once last week. We're taking baby steps here!

A week from tomorrow we will be heading to Barcelona and a few surrounding towns for five nights. I am in charge of planning this one, so we'll see if I pass the test and meet Mom's standards! (I will). Then we will be home for two weeks before heading to Ireland for almost two weeks. We will be in Dublin on St. Patrick's Day, just Mom and me so I told her she better get geared up because it is going to be crazy.

I have received two letters from the Swiss Cantonal Office (used to be in the building next door that has been torn down). They are written in French but from the parts I can make out they are requesting that I announce my arrival (required of all new residents) and pay 135CHF and bring my passport and two photos to get an ID card. Of course, I am not a resident here because they would not approve me for any type of Visa. I'm not really sure how they even know I am here but they have their rules and they want my money! We'll see how this will work out, but Dad's work is writing a formal letter that I am not here to live, only to visit. Technically, however, tourists are only permitted to stay for 90 days without a visa. They issue tourist visas, but they only issue them for 90 days (how does that make sense?) so if they really get on me I think I have to be out of the country for a month once my 90 days is up in April. Which is fine, but how would they know? (As Maureen said, I'm on the International Grid!) Maybe if I got my passport stamped, but traveling within the EU so far they have not so much as even asked for passports (even though Switzerland is not a part of the EU they allow the free movement of people with EU countries). The Swiss have rules for everything and none of them make sense. For example, you can't get a work visa unless you already have a job here. But if you come here as a tourist and get a job, you are not permitted to apply for a work visa until you have left the country. Logic doesn't matter, only rules!

Smoking, Drinking

In Switzerland, the drinking age is 16. It used to be 18 but they lowered it. So when you go to a bar, all the signs say you can't drink if you are under 16. But the smoking age is 18. How logical!?

Innsbruck

So we rode another 8 hour train to Innsbruck. This was a little confusing because we had to switch trains in Linz, but finding the train we were supposed to be on was confusing because trains are listed by their final destination, and Innsbruck is an intermediate destination and was not listed on the board anywhere. So I got some help and we realized that we had a good 45 minutes to spare so we sat down at a cafe and ordered two beers and two sandwiches. The beers came, we drank them, we waited, and waited, and waited....and 35 minutes later our sandwiches came out. We realized too late that there was only one cook in the kitchen. So we bagged them to go quickly and ran to catch the train.
On that note, I have to say, I want to be a server in Europe. In the US you have to be constantly checking on people, running around, making sure everything tastes ok, and god forbid they have to ask you for their check. In Europe, they take your order, they bring your food, and they never check on you again. If you need something you better find them and ask for it, and they do not bring the check unless you ask for it. Food generally takes a long time, and the pace is generally much slower. They do not have to rush around. And in Switzerland, the tip is included. In other places it is not always included, but they certainly get paid more than $3.90 an hour! It is a much easier job, I must say.

The train ride through the Alps was very beautiful. There was a lot of snow in some places, and the villages in the mountains are quite picturesque. The forecast said it would snow and rain when we were in Insbruck, and to our lucky surprise the sky was clear and blue without a cloud to be found. It was clearer than any days we have had so far in Lausanne. We have a nice view of the Alps in Lausanne, and Lucerne was surrounded by mountains, but neither can compare to Innsbruck. They tower over the buildings and completely dominate the landscape. It is beautiful.

Generally Innsbruck attracts skiers, especially this time of year. Their main tourist attraction is the Golden Roof. This sounded quite impressive to me and the first time I saw it I didn't realize that was it. It's a building with a balcony and the Golden Roof covers the balcony. I'm sure it was quite expensive and it is impressive to have a roof made of gilded tiles, but in comparison to the ornate cathedrals and palaces all over Europe, it just looked sort of...cute. Ok, so we looked at it, very nice, and that's it. We arrived in town in the evening and set out to fnd a place to eat dinner. Mom had something that recommended this place called Papa Joe's. As we walked there we passed all sorts of cute cafes and restaurants, but decided we would go with the recommendation and found ourselves in a place that resembles something like TGI Friday's or Chili's. (Mom ordered a White Russian and the bartender got all excited and brought it out and said "The Big Lebowski's favorite drink!"). The food was crappy, but the highlight of the place were the nine drunk Finnish men who stumbled in and got 9 mojitos and 9 half yards of beer. One of them had a helmet on and he made it his business to sit down and talk to us once he heard us speaking English. He was quite taken with Mom, although he did mention that he was married with four kids.....they were on a skiing trip, but from the looks of them, they weren't going to be getting a whole lot of skiing done. Not the next morning anyways. We got out of that place as fast as we could.

For our next day we started the morning at the AlpenZoo, the highest elevation zoo in Europe, specializing in Alpine animals. We had the option to either hike up a trail or take a cable car but decided to walk. We were warned against it by the hotel receptionist, but I think it's because we are American. Our tour guide in Prague also mentioned several times about Americans complaining about walking. In any case, it was not a hard walk at all, although yes it was uphill, as were most of the trails in the zoo, but nothing too steep. The animals were cool, we saw a lynx, ibex, caribou, lots of exotic birds, etc. However, we were extremely disappointed at the small enclosures for the animals. Some of the bird enclosures were no more than 6 ft high, hardly room to fly. The wolves were running in circles around their area because it was really very small. I think in the US a zoo like that would have been critisized, so we were a bit disappointed with that. Even the fish in the aquarium seemed crammed in.

After the zoo we walked around Innsbruck to see the various sights. The Golden Roof (ok that takes 30 seconds) and we climbed the city tower (#2 attraction) and looked at the views over the city. We saw a few churches and enjoyed walking the streets of the city. We also ate at restaurants with good food.

Our hotel was right in the city center, and had been around and in the family for hundreds of years. Apparently Mozart even stayed there. Naturally it was small, but the staff were very nice and the hotel was very cute. Our final ride back took about 6 hours by train. We arrived in Lausanne in the rain and went out to dinner with Dad and his colleague Bert at a British pub in Ouchy. Perhaps the first loud bar we have found in Switzerland! As we were about to leave two students from the hotel management school approaches us and said hello because they overheard us talking and were relieved to talk to some other Americans. They were very friendly and we sat and talked to them awhile. It is nice to meet some random Americans around here every once in a while.

Prague

So we rode an all night train to Prague.... 2 hours to Basel on the border then we switched trains to head on to Prague. The journey took about 14 hours total. We didn't get sleeper cars because it cost about twice as much, so instead we got the sleeperet car, which basically means reclining seat so its a bit like riding an airplane. I slept pretty well (thank you Ambien) and we arrived in Prague about 11am. We were staying in a hotel with Dad on a business trip but he was flying in (lucky bastard) and not due to arrive until 5 pm. Mom read up about how the taxis were run by the mafia and was throughly freaked out but the hotel was walking distance and we found our way pretty easily. I say "we" loosely there. I found the way. Mom walked right past every street I told her to look for so I took over navigating. Kelly said Prague was very confusing, but that probably had to do with his rule of no maps and no backtracking. The streets all run every which way but once you get a feel for it, it's not bad at all.

We checked in to the hotel and then headed into the city for lunch. We went to the communist museum first, which was pretty cool. I found it ironic that the museum is located behind a large McDonald's and next to a casino. I also noticed that there were quite a few casinos and McDonald's in Prague. There are two McDonald's in Wenceslas square alone, which only covers about 1km. Our tour guide the next day was proud to mention that Ray Krock's mother was Czech. After the Museum of Communism we stumbled upon another museum that had a Leonardo da Vinci exhibit so we went in. Mom was shocked because she thought he was just an artist, she didn't realize that he was the Renaissance Man! They had various models of his designs: parachutes, an early model of a helicopter, catapults, even a robot and a tank. Afterward we had a cappuccino in a cafe near Wenceslas Square and then headed back to the hotel for dinner with Dad and several of his colleagues.

On our second day in Prague we had a 4.5 hour walking tour. We went all over the old town, the new town (new means founded in the 1300's), St. Charles Bridge, Prague Castle, the Astrological clock, and all the other main sights. Mom is officially hooked on walking tours after we had one in Rome in 2007, and they really are very interesting. One cool thing about Prague is that they did not suffer much damage in WWII so they have a lot of old buildings. They also take great care to protect them. Our tour guide kept saying "in Prague, just because something is old doesn't mean you can tear it down." Actually, they have strict laws protecting old buildings. In one case she showed us a shopping center that was being built when they discovered archeological remains from the 14th century underneath. Building had to be put off for two years while an archological crew was brought in, all this at the expense of the owners.

After our tour we had a nice lunch and thawed out. It was freezing but we were lucky it did not rain like the forecast said. We took a nap at the hotel and then headed back out to explore a bit after dark. Prague is a beatiful city. I loved it, but more importantly, Mom loved it.

Dad returned to Lausanne the second day, while we spent one more night at the hotel and then headed to Insbruck, Austria.

Back Home

We arrived back from Innsbruck this evening and I have posted pictures. I will add some notes about our trip tomorrow.

Snow

Woke up this morning to snow on the ground again. This evening we take an overnight train to Prague. We will be in Prague two nights and then Innsbruck two nights before heading home. Expect lots of photos when we return.