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Wednesday 30/9/10 PM
Interlaken, Austria
After blogging my previous entry I went for a walk around the town. Interlaken is a smallish tourist town set in between two lakes and beautiful mountains. Its a bit of an outdoor adventure centre but as with zurich everything is excessively expensive which put me off doing most of the things on offer. In hindsight, I should have just done it and worried about the money later! I went down to one of the lakes and sat by the shore for a little while taking everything in. The water is a strage opaque bluey-green colour but still looks inviting! In the evening, after making myself dinner, I watched a film with a couple of aussie girls from my dorm.
Thursday 30/9/10
Interlaken, Austria
Had a bit of a quiet morning. Did some well overdue washing in the morning, regretted taking so few clothes but I guess the back pack is heavy enough! Decided I'd go for a bike ride but it started raining just as I made my way over and I decided to put it off for a day. The computers at the hostel were freely available so I took the opportunity to upload some photos. This is clearly doomed to failure as everything kept crashing and I spent all afternoon just to get a small portion of them onto facebook! Very frustrating! There are loads to come, one day I will sort it out! Anyway, by this time evening had come and the two aussies invited me out as it was one of their birthdays. We cooked fondue (when in rome...), which I didn't really take to and then we hit the town. Not that interlaken is particularly rocking on a Thursday in late september but we had a good time and stretched it out into the small hours! I showed the girls a few dance moves from my repetoire but I kept the famous 'lewis spin' under my hat.
Friday 1/10/10
Interlaken, Austria
We had agreed the night before to go on an early boat trip on the lake. We'd heard that our train passes were valid but in the event they weren't and it was excessively expensive (does anyone detect a pattern emerging?) So we walked around it instead. Saw some swiss cows with the bells round their necks, some nice waterfalls and some distinctly swiss looking villages with some seriously old timber houses. Got back around one and hired a bike on my own. It was great to get some exercise and get out of the town into the hills. The scenery is stunning but all the valleys seem to be occupied with roads, trains, houses or farms and it was a bit disappointing to not find somewhere completely untouched. However, I met some more cows, some fellow cyclists and a very friendly cat. On the way back I went through another pretty old village with a couple of houses from the 16th century. Before dropping off the bike I went back to the lake and had a quick swim. It was cold but it felt very liberating, I made a mental note to try and take in a few more scenic places rather than just cities all the time. I felt refreshed but tired so had a quiet evening in the hostel.
Saturday 2/10/10
Interlaken, Austria
I'd planned to get the train higher into the mountains and do some walking but once aboard I was abruptly informed that my pass wasn't valid and that I'd have to pay the full fare. This was ridiculously expensive for the distance so I declined and was ushered off at the next stop! I then walked back to town feeling a little sorry for myself and sat in the park wondering what to do. I eventually decided to hike up the mini mountain right next to the town. This took me about 1.5 hours and was bloody hard work, especially as it was a warm day. Once at the top, dripping with sweat, I admired the impressive view. I came back down on the funicular railway, picked up some lunch and headed back to the hostel. I couldn't resist tuning into the blog of the saints bmth game and tried to sort out my plans for the next stage of my trip. I had a frustrating afternoon as not only did bmth lose but I had real difficulty finding any hostels/cheap accommodation in either lyon or avignon which I had planned as my next 2 stops. I also tried geneva and all the areas around lyon but to no avail. Eventually I bit the bullet and booked 2 nights in a F1 hotel on the outskirts of lyon and worked out a route from there to nice that allowed me a couple of hours in avignon for a look round on the tuesday. I then made sure I had some accommodation booked for nice.
Sunday 3/10/10
Interlaken - Brig - Geneva - Lyon
I checked out and headed for the train station. I'd organised a scenic route that would take me through the mountains to geneva to pick up my connection to lyon, rather than getting the direct train. This proved worthwhile even though I had to make several stops. Eventually the train came out of the mountains on the eastern edge of lake geneva, we went through one town just east of lausanne which has one of the most breathtaking settings I have ever seen. The weather was really good as well which made it even more impressive. Once we got to geneva city, at the western edge of the lake the scenery was still pretty but less spectacular. I had about 2 hours before my train for france so I put my stuff in a locker and had a look round. I thought geneva was lovely and it was nice to hear the french accent for the first time in years! It reminded me of many a happy holiday from my youth! I dusted off my french and found I could communicate a little better than I had expected. Although my german is probably better than my french I seem to be able to pick up what french speakers mean much easier, plus, generally they don't jump straight into english, which I actually prefer sometimes. To get the train to lyon I had to go through some french border control officers. This was the first time I had experienced this since gatwick. Clearly convinced that I wasn't a romany they let me through with a smile. I arrived in lyon around 8, it was really warm and muggy and I was keen to get to the hotel after a long days travelling. I found some refreshingly good value food and then got a taxi. This was 24 euros which kind of wiped out the savings I had made on the out of town accommodation! However, in line with my new attitude that I developed on the train after some consideration of my swiss experience I concluded, 'f@ck it! I've got an overdraft and a credit card - stop worrying'! I went to bed after being checked in by a man who was determined to prove that the french really are rude (everyone else was lovely by the way).
Monday 4/10/10
Lyon
After breakfast at the hotel I decided to walk into town as I had all day. Left about 9.30. Got lost. Eventually made my way into the city centre about 12. Having chatted to a few people in interlaken and found it so difficult to find accommodation here I was wondering whether lyon was actually going to be worth visiting as a tourist. As with vienna, in the end I was very pleasantly surprised. The city is large, bustling, varied and interesting. As with nearly all the cities I have visited it also has a superb public transport system and it turns out I could have saved 23 euros on my taxi the night before! Anyway, Cest la vie! Lyon lies at the confluence of the rhone and saone rivers which has the effect of dividing it into three sections. I picked up some new clothes to try and delay my next washing day and looked round the newer central and eastern sections which are relatively grand and spacious with lots of attractive squares, neo classical buildings and a sprinkling of interesting modern ones. Then, for the fourth time on my trip, I got caught in a monumental downpour! I took refuge in a cafe-restaurant and grabbed some lunch. The rain eased off a little and I visited the old town which was completely different but full of character. Its made up of narrow streets and tiny squares, quiet but definetly alive and almost completely lacking any touristy influences. I wandered around here for a while, criss crossing the saone, and eventually I found the cathedral. I then discovered that there was a funicular railway that accessed a roman ampitheatre overlooking the modern city. I was interested in this so I went up. As I emerged from the station at the top the rain came again, but even harder than before. I sheltered in the station for 20 minutes or so and then in a phone box for around half an hour until it finally eased off slightly. I walked over to the ruins which were very interesting. There's a theatre and a smaller music venue there and the original forms are still quite appreciable. Apparently the theatre held 10000 in its day. Unfortunately it started pouring again and I made a dash back to the station. Later on the rain cleared and I made my way down to the football ground but couldn't get close enough for a proper look. I then went back to an area near where I was staying where they had made a sort of open air exhibition of the work of the early twentieth century architect/planner tony garnier. Garnier had quite influential ideas about how to solve the problem of the overcrowded industrialised cities of that era and he created a whole city plan for a reborn lyon using a fresh new style. I know it is hard to believe that a planner might be involved in some progressive, constructive thought but this guy was for real. I think it must have been the architect in him! ;-) The area of the exhibition was the part of the city where his plans were realised and his drawings have been reproduced in enormous murals on the gable ends of his apartment blocks. By the time I had finished here it was getting dark so I headed back to the hotel. I checked my arrangements for the trains the next day and went to bed.
Tuesday 5/10/10
Lyon-Avignon-Nice
Got up early, had breakfast and headed for the train station. I Picked up the train to avignon where I stopped off for a couple of hours. When I arrived in avignon the weather was beautiful and it really felt like I had arrived in southern europe. Avignon is a pretty town with a lovely laid back feel but the main attraction is the fortified palais des papes (popes palace) where the catholic church was centred for the most part of the 14th century during a period of unrest in rome. I paid to have a look round here which was interesting but took up all my time and nearly made me miss my train when I couldn't find the way out! Once I was safely at the station I boarded my first tgv, to nice. We did indeed go at 'grand vitesse' until we reached marseille, the provence scenery en route was beautiful as well. We then crawled along the coast to nice and arrived in the early evening. I made my way up to the hostel, checked in and met a guy from brighton who was studying in nice. Its interesting just how few brits I have come across so far, everyone seems to be australian! The hostel was really nice, it served decent food and 1 euro beers at the bar, which was nice! The bar was lively in the evenings so we stayed there and I met a few other people, eventually I went to bed slightly worse for wear!
Wednesday 6/10/10
Nice
I shook off my hangover and headed into the town for some sightseeing. I have to say I wasn't that impressed with nice. I found it to be noisy and scruffy and the stony beach was a bit of a let down too. Having said that there are some nice bits, the weather was beautiful (25 degrees) and I enjoyed wandering around. I went up the castle overlooking the city which gave great views and in the afternoon I went to an area of quite substantial roman ruins including a church, some baths and an auditorium. Although the city wasn't that impressive there was plenty to do and see in the area so I booked in for another night then headed to the bar again but had a relatively early night.
Thursday 7/10/10
Nice, Villefrache Sur Mer
I had tried to book onto some of the activity tours that the hostel organised but both the canyoning and the scuba diving were cancelled due to lack of numbers so I had some time to kill. I went down to the port area saw some impressive yachts then I took the bus to a place called villefranche sur mer which is a stunning little town in the next cove along the coast from nice. There was a lovely beach there and I sunbathed for a little while and had a paddle in the med! I then looked around the old town and got the train back as all the buses were full. I picked up some food and made myself dinner at the hostel then had a few drinks in the bar with the australian girls from interlaken who had suddenly turned up. Went to bed worse for wear again!
I write from the train to genoa, where I need to change trains for milan. I plan to stay there for 2, maybe 3 nights, then I'm heading down to florence and rome. I hope everyone is well back home, its good to hear from people on the message board so keep it up!
Nick
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