What I Learned In Europe

1. Where there's castle, there's hill.
2. 'Foxy' brand tissues from Poland are the best tissues, and they're scented.
3. The Catholic Church and the Nazis are the mass murder champions of Europe.
4. People who design railway stations don't carry their own luggage.
5. The south of France looks just like the south of France and the Swiss Alps look just like the Swiss Alps.
6. The Swiss will almost always stop for pedestrians, the French almost never will.
7. The French love smoking and dog-shit, and they never check your train ticket (SNCF).
8. The Germans and Austrians don't like the Turks.
9. Cobblestone streets are pretty to look at. Asphalt streets are easy to pull luggage on.
10. If the service is poor, the tip is probably included on your bill.

Carcassonne, France Arrival

Saturday October 30, 2010

Today we are taking it easy because tomorrow will be a full day of walking in the old city of Carcassonne. We  took a short walk around to scout out where we want to shoot tomorrow to get the wide shots of the old city.

Le Petit Montmartre, Beziers France

Thursday, October 28, 2010

We asked the staff at our hotel desk to recommend a restaurant and it was  suggested we visit Le Petit Montmartre. Since we now weren't going to be visiting Montmartre in Paris, due to the strikes in the city, we decided to check it out.

Beziers, France

We arrived in Beziers and checked in to our hotel. It is a mid-sized city and looks much like others in the area.

Beziers if famous for three things; The first is it's four day bull fighting festival in August of each year; Feria en Aout. That may soon end, as it has in nearby Spain. Animal rights activists are trying to have the grotesque 'sport' banned. We did not attend a bull fight.

Lyon Layover

Our 'high speed' train turned out to be a low-speed train, but we made it to Lyon and are killing time here by wandering around the big mall near the train station and having a bite to eat.

 

Mall food is mall food everywhere and the 'service' (I use the term loosely) at this restaurant was terrible and so was the food. At least they are consistent. 

I am happy to see that Lyon has a great bike sharing program with more than 300 locations! Lyon saw a 500% increase in bicycle ridership following the unveiling of the system in 2005.

 

Later the same day...

We have arrived in Montpellier. Our hotel room is small and spartan, but it is all we need. It is late and we are just sleeping here tonight and catching a train to Beziers  in the morning.

We went for a walk to get some juice and beer. I have never seen so much dog shit on the streets of a city in all my life. There is much more to Montpellier than the few streets I saw, and I'm sure some of the attractions are nice. But my current opinion, based on what I saw is that this place is disgusting and I will not be rushing to visit again.

Just google; dog, shit and France and see what comes up!

Bettmeralp, The Better Alp (so they say)

Today is a beautiful day  with crystal clear skies and we are both excited and full of anticipation for our trip up the mountain.  We have to take a short 15 minute train ride on the Matterhorn Gottard Bahn, a privately run railway to get to Betten, which is where we will connect with the cable car. 

Stockalper Castle, Brig Switzerland

Monday, October 25, 2010

Brig is a very pretty old town in the Valais region. It is a hub for tourists visiting other places in the area, but has some very nice attractions too. 

Early on today we decided to take it easy, do some shooting, but nothing too major. We have decided to stay for another night and tomorrow will do a day trip to experience a cable car  ride up the mountain and hopefully see the Aletsch Glacier. For now we are heading to the castle to take some pictures and shoot some video.

Bregenz, Austria

Switzerland; Sunday October 24, 2010

Last night we spent our last night in Austria near the Swiss border in a town called Bregenz. It is a nice enough town situated on a lake, but we arrived late and only had time to find a meal, our hotel and then it was time for bed.

Dead tired in Vienna

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Today we walked around Vienna, had a beer at a cafe and took lots of pictures. By mid-afternoon we were both exhausted. Our travelling had caught up with us. We headed back to the hotel, got some beer and stayed in and watched BBC Entertainment and rested. And as the CBC news loves to say; "There was a Canadian Connection". I watched my first ever episode of 'Casualty' and was tickled to hear a reference to the iconic Canadian CTV show "The Littlest Hobo". 

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Wiener (Vienna) Mozart Konzerte (Concert)

Wednesday October 20, 2010

We bought tickets to see a Mozart concert at the Wiener Konzerthaus from the hotel tonight. The players all dress in period costume and play selected Mozart tunes. The idea is for the audience to experience the concert as it would have been during the Baroque period. And you know what they say; "If it's not Baroque, don't fix it!" (that was for you honey).

It was a great show. It was very entertaining and we had lots of fun with audience participation even!

When we arrived the usher didn't show us to the seats on our tickets, but put us right up front in the second row. There were many empty seats, so I suppose it looks better for them to do this. We also got a 'free' CD of the orchestra.

 

 

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Vienna, Austria

We arrived in Vienna this morning at six am.  The sleeper car on the train was quite comfortable, but I stayed up too late editing and the result is about four hours sleep. The geniuses at Eurorail printed Wien Westbahnhof Station on our tickets and the train stopped at Wien Meidling Station, a few kilometers away. It's like buying a Via Rail ticket to Union Station in Toronto and being dropped off at Greenwood without being told.

I feel like I shouldn't be complaining, but really! It wouldn't be a big deal if we were in a city we knew, but when you come out to the street in the dark and don't know where the hell you are it is not very pleasant, especially at six am on four hours sleep.  We found a coffee shop near the station, waited for it to open and eventually figured out where we were and where we were going.

We are now about half way to our hotel, and have entered the Twilight Zone. It started to rain so we've stopped at the old restaurant that happened to be next to us when the rain began: The 'Cafe Westend'.

I can only describe this place as vintage. The waiters are in full black suits with bow ties, and the place looks like it hasn't been redecorated since sometime around 1944. There are velvet green banquettes built in with black marble topped tables and large chandeliers overhead.

I'm half expecting Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall to walk in at any moment. The smoking section adds to the ambiance, and poor air quality, by the way I have stopped smoking again, for those of you keeping track.  The Cafe opened in 1859/60. The breakfast of bacon and eggs was mediocre, but my cup of tea is perfect.

I can see the Westbahnhof station out the window. It is being rebuilt which explains our rerouting. Too bad they could't have told someone at Eurorail. You can be sure they will be receiving a very strongly worded letter from me in the near future. 

Update: When we left Vienna, we had to depart from the Westbahnhof station. It is open and I have no idea how Eurorail managed to screw up on our arrival, but we will let them know.

Krakow, Poland (Eat, Pray, Pray, Pray, Love)

Krakow, Poland: October 16, 2010.

There were several nice little bistro type places on our street near our hotel, so we thought we'd try one of them. One italian place very close by looked nice and had a live jazz band playing so we decided to go inside. The place was packed and a frazzled waiter brusquely told us "NO", followed by some Polish which was unintelligible to me. I have come to realize that the Polish and Germans have a bit of an edge when they speak English and can come across as being bit abrupt, but I think it is generally not intentional, just a different inflection than what the average English speaker is used to. In this case, the guy was very busy and overwhelmed, and I can certainly understand.

We made a hasty exit and decided to try out the Horoscope Restaurant on the corner at the end of our street. The place was a quaint Polish bistro with plenty of candles, low red lights and interesting wall decor. We did some quick math and realized the prices were more than reasonable compared to what we pay in Canada for a meal at a restaurant of similar quality.

Krakow maple leaf. I have maple leaf pics from Paris, London, Rennes, and a few other places.

We ordered appetizers. David had the fried camembert with almonds and a raspberry compote. This was more than enough for two people and reasonably priced.

For mains I had the 'rabbit, in it's own sauce', beetroot and gnocchi. David went for the 'chicken in it's own sauce' with a side of roasted potatoes.

To drink, we chose a Chianti, the best one on the menu, which we would never normally do at home, but the price was right, and we are on our honeymoon after all.

The busy little restaurant served delicious food that was inexpensive, and had a homemade and robust quality to it.

The staff were friendly and helpful, spoke some English and the restroom was tiny, but clean and pleasant

My first impressions of Krakow are good. I'm an atheist, but if I was a praying man I'd have a difficult time deciding which church I'd attend. There are literallly some 31 churches shown on the map of the area immediately surrounding our hotel.

I do enjoy the architecture of churches, let's face it, they cost a fortune and the faithful don't mind spending on their places of worhsip, and I get to enjoy the visual result.

Krakow is VERY Catholic, the late Pope John Paul II was the archbishop of Krakow and he is the main man here. You will see him all over the place, along with other various saints, martyrs and other religious types. 

I covered the eat and the pray.

The love is for my husband, and I now also love Krakow and can't wait to return and see the rest of it.

Like this post? Hate it? Please leave your comment below, all are appreciated!    ~ Mark Daye

Pompidou

Tower Bridge, London, UK

Centre Georges Pompidou

Prague Tower

A Prague Mural

In my opinion this illustrates the basis of the american economy.

The Wing

TGV In Rennes

This is the TGV train we rode from Paris to Renne. The super fast train runs at speeds in excess of 300 KPH (186 MPH) and is very smooth and comfortable, not to mention regularly on time! Unheard of on a Via train.

Pictures From France

Uncle Mikes