Europe '09: July 2009

Thursday, July 30, 2009

Website addresses for Photos

Sorry for the delay in making a closing post. Variety of reasons for it but don't need to go into that. Part of it was that I wanted to gather information and my thoughts on the past 6 weeks. First...some of the numbers of the trip. It totaled 37 days I believe and took me to 10 countries (if you count Northern Ireland and Scotland as separate from the U.K.). When I got back, I had lost 10 lbs and my best guess is that I walked between 400-500 miles. If my counting is accurate, my methods of transportation included: 68 trains, 24 buses, 5 airplanes, 4 ships, 4 subways, 3 cars, 1 riverboat, and a bicycle that broke down on me.
Looking back on the trip, I'm so glad that I took it. It's not only the adventure that takes place as you travel to the various places, but there's also an adventure that takes place from within. You get a tremendous sense of accomplishment when you're able to navigate your way around the various places and figure your way out of some of the situations that always seem to arise. I felt a great sense of accomplishment a number of times along the way. Getting to Avoca, Ireland by walking was probably the first one. Using what little French I know to board the correct buses to both St. Mere Eglise and Carentan was another. Riding that bike to Normandy, hiking to Eltz castle, and getting to Bastogne were others. The research I did in advance proved to be pretty valuable to me. Those 75+ maps that I copied from the internet were a big help, though I wish I had a few more in some cases. Recent research also brought my attention to a few things that otherwise I doubt I would have experienced. That restaurant in Cesky Krumlov and the Lipizzaner stallions come to mind. Other experiences, I'd researched along time ago so have known about for some time like the "Jack the Ripper" tour and the chance to raft the Vltava river at Cesky Krumlov.
It's hard to come up with single answers to some questions that I might be facing when I get to the classroom, but I think I'll try right now with what might be a few:

Highlight of the trip: Getting together with Bill and then going to the British Open those 2 days.
Favorite Country: Probably Ireland.
Favorite City: Probably Prague. I was also very successful in Paris this trip.
Favorite People: Ian, Darrah, Dirk, and Angela, everyone that worked at the Dublin hostel.
Most stress: It's always stressful finding a place to stay...I experienced it finding the Glasgow
hostel on that Saturday night after the golf tourney.
Low moment: My roommates in Prague?
Luckiest moment: When we found the room in Troon, Scotland to stay in.
Least favorite place: Hard to say...Munich wasn't that great this time around so guess I'll go
with that.
From rags to riches days: From the one hotel in Prague to the other.
Worst days: The rainy Sunday in Vienna...I kind of just waited for hours for the train.
Grand Slam Days: Scotland, Normandy, the castles in Germany, Avoca, and Bastogne.
Most beautiful place: Naturally it's either the Rhine river or the Austrian Alps
Most beautiful city: I think Prague edged out Vienna on this trip.
Most scared: Wasn't really scared anywhere to be honest. Maybe when I was trying to
find the campground in Metz, France not knowing if they'd let me in.
Worst luck: That bike breaking on me in Normandy wasn't the greatest luck.
Failures of the trip: Not getting to Zell am See cuz I didn't get off at the right stop, and missing
the World War I tours in France.
Most fun: The British open, Dolphins, crawling through tunnels, and the Austrian toboggan.
Wierdest place I slept: The alleyway on the night train from Berlin to Paris.

Generally speaking, I'd say I was over 95% successful in seeing and doing what I had hoped to when I first went over. I did have some injuries but that was to be expected. All the walking took a toll on my legs. I had a terrible case of shin splints in one leg from Bastogne to Prague which was like 7-9 days. My knees also swelled up some so was glad I had packed some ibuprofen. Otherwise, I stayed pretty healthy which I was very thankful for. Oh, I did get some "face time" at the British Open also I discovered. My brother DVR'd it and I picked myself out pretty easily. If you copied it, you need to watch Stuart Cink play the 18th hole. Right after he hits his approach shot into the green, they show him walking down the fairway. I'm right along the fence as he passes by.
I brought back a few souvenirs this time which I haven't done much of in the past. I liked buying refrigerator magnets because a bunch were very creative and they also pack pretty light. I did bring back quite a bit of stuff from the British Open which really blew my budget....oh well. I also brought back some miniature, Medieval weapons from Castle Eltz. Included were two "sword" letter openers, and a tiny, Medieval maze. Since getting back to Broken Bow, I've been spending alot of time uploading, organizing, and labeling the many photos I took on the trip. I took over 1300 photos and have over 9 hours of video I think. I'm not sure but I might be able to include some websites to go to so that you can see them even if you're not a member of Facebook, so I'll check into that and if I find out that it works, I might have to publish one last blog with those address...we'll see.
One post trip experience has been my dreams. It's kind of funny actually, but I'm still travelling in my head. About four nights ago, I dreamt I was somewhere in Russia looking for the correct ship to take me somewhere. Another night, I was looking for a place to stay. Two nights ago, I was in Scotland again going to the British Open again, though this one was at St. Andrews instead of Turnberry. There was more last night also, though I can't remember what it was now. In closing, I'll just say it was a great trip!!! I've got lots more information that will make me a better teacher and I'm looking forward to sharing it with my students this next year and years beyond. Simply speaking, it was a great adventure and just tons of fun!!! I'm very glad I did it!

God Bless Always,
SNorris
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Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Experiencing "the lasts"

I only have one night left now in Europe. I can feel myself on the back end of a trip when I start noticing the "last" of things. My last moment in a country that wasn't English, my last time at wondering whether I was going to find the place I needed to stay at (Glasgow, Scotland), my last time of struggling with the transportation (probably yesterday morning going by train from Glasgow to Stranauer and then catching the ferry across the Irish sea to Belfast), spending my last English pounds and cents (I don't like carry money that I can spend anymore so I just kind of buy anything and everything on the last day), riding my last train (that was yesterday in Scotland), checking into my last "new" hostel (that was Glasgow), and checking into my last hostel (that was this morning in Dublin). After checking into the Belfast hostel yesterday, I went out souvenir shopping and also went to the "Avoca" cafe right next to the Belfast main square. Spent some down time then back at the hostel cleaning up and got a pretty good night's sleep. Since I had "pounds" to spend this morning, I went to the grocery store first and bought stuff for my 3-hour (without a toilet) bus trip from Belfast to Dublin. Of course, I had to make sure that after my shopping spree I still had 13.05 GBP (British pounds) to pay for my bus ticket. It was raining when I got to Dublin (just like it was when I arrived the first time) but it cleared up the rest of the day. It was funny coming back to Dublin and very nice because I had gotten so familiar with the city only 1 month earlier. I think that I take familiarity with things for granted most of the time, but not so on a trip like this where almost everything seems new. I spent today just walking around Belfast mostly and making sure that things are set for tomorrow. I've got to catch an early bus to the airport so that I'm there in plenty of time before my 9 am flight. With the time change and everything, I believe I'm supposed to get into Omaha sometime after 3:00 pm which includes like a 3 hour layoff in Newark. Have been buying some souvenirs and getting rid of my extra Euros (less the cost of the bus fare and some extra money to buy food/liquid for the plane ride. Not sure when my next post will be...just know it will be done from the computer at my folk's farm most likely. I'll save my final thoughts for then. That's it. Hope everyone is well.

God Bless,
SNorris
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Sunday, July 19, 2009

So close....

I forgot to mention yesterday that while in Troon, Bill and I drove out to see Royal Troon Golf Course. On the way from there into town, I got to drive on the left side of the road (legally) and in a car with the wheel on the right side for the first time. Thought I did ok...at least the pedals and 5-speed shift was the same...that helped. I got up early this morning to head to the train station. Kind of got lost but recovered quickly. Caught the earliest train out to Gervin and found myself in Turnberry for Championship Sunday at about 9:00 or so. I went to the back nine first, and eventually settled in on a spot on a hill between the 10th (incredible hole next to the see and right beside the light house) and the 12th. I was able to watch approach shots from both fairways and saw alot of big names pass by. Probably stood up there for an hour and a half before moving on. I saw most of the big names today that were in the tourney hit at least one shot. Watson's tee off time was around 2:20 so I went up and lined the fairway about where I'd figure he'd hit to. Then I tried to make my way up to the green as he approached. I followed him around til after the 5th hole. By then, the traffic of people was so bad that I figured I'd spent most of the time walking and I wouldn't be able to see any golf, so I decided to go find a spot where I could see the approach shots to the 18th green clearly. On numerous occasions, their tee shots were within 25 yards of where I was. If they went a bit right into the rough, I was almost in their back pocket. I would mention that the best way to watch golf is on the t.v. The cameras are everywhere and they get in the way of the spectator (as do other spectators, the t.v. people, the marshalls, volunteers, etc. etc. etc.). However, there is no replacing the electricity that was in the air when Watson was up 1 and he put his drive in the fairway on 18. People around were saying "I can't believe he might do this!" I was right behind him on his approach at 18, staring down his line of flight and it looked perfect. He just "juiced" it a little I guess. Plus, he did have a strong wind that I thought was directly behind him. Too bad what happened in the playoff to him, but I was also happy for Stuart Cink. I stuck around and was able to watch him lift the "jug" and give his acceptance speech. Then I did pretty much the only jogging I've done on this trip. Back to the bus to take it to the train station in Gervin. I did make all the connections but I didn't get back to Glasgow til past 10 pm and then I had about a 40-45 minute walk to the hostel. I hate walking that late at night in unfamilar surroundings. Fortunately, that's the last time I'll have to do that. I've found the "Scots" to be wonderful people (but of course!!!!) and it is so nice that English is the language again. To quote Steve Martin, "it's like those French people have a different word for everything!!!!" and that does add a significant degree of difficulty to things when you are travelling. I'll move on tomorrow morning from Glasgow. Hard to believe I've only got 3 more nights left in Europe. Time to get.

SNorris
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Saturday, July 18, 2009

The Luck of the Irish...in Scotland.

Bill and I found each other. Ends up I was on the computer as he was arriving in Belfast so he just drove right to the place I was staying and stayed there. Yesterday morning, we embarked on a bit of an adventure to try and get to Scotland. After seeing a bit of Belfast, we took a bus to Larne, Scotland which is north of Belfast. From there, we got on a ferry across a very rough, Irish Sea to Troon, Scotland. Bill had rented a car so it was waiting there when we arrived. We decided to stop at the Anchorage Hotel right next to where the ferry came in just to see what prices were. The guy at the reception told Bill there were no rooms available in the area period. However, he said someone had called earlier that had rented some rooms there. So he returned the call and it ends up that the guy cancelled one of his rooms, so we were in....very fortunate. Today, we took the train to Ayr. Fortunately, we ran into some nice people from Georgia who told us how to get where we were going. At Ayr, we took a train to Gervin. And from Gervin we took a bus to.....Turnberry Golf Course!!! It was absolutely awesome!!! Despite Tiger not making it, it was such a great time. We just walked all over the course. We followed Stuart Cink and Lee Westwood for a while and Jim Furyk and Angel Cabrerra a little also. I also saw Tom Watson bogey the 15th....we had to leave so didn't see him come back with his birdies on 16 and 17. Presently, I'm in Glasgow, Scotland. Had to walk to the place I'm staying...about 2 miles but I did find it and will soon get to bed. I left Bill at Troon as he had to get down to Manchester, England tonight as his flight leaves tomorrow morning sometime. Not going to tell you what I'm doing tomorrow though I bet some of you can guess. Here's a hint.....mom/dad, Steve, Dave, somebody.......will you tape it for me???? Hope you're all well.

SNorris
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Thursday, July 16, 2009

Have arrived in Belfast

Not alot to report on really but since I don't know how the next few days are going to work and if I'll be making a report for a few days, I thought I'd add a quick one. Left the hostel around 7:15 a.m. this morning in London, walked to the Cannon Street "tube" station and got on a train to Heathrow airport. Navigated Heathrow pretty well though I was glad that I got there early as there was quite a line to check in bags. I had to check in my backpack at a special place cuz of all the straps but after a 1 1/2 hour flight, I picked up my pack at baggage claim and it all seemed to be intact. Caught a bus to the Victoria train station and then began my walk to the hostel. My map ended up sending me about an extra 1/2-1 mile in the wrong direction which I blame on the internet having the place in the wrong location. We checked on it here at the hostel and that seems to be the case. The rest of the afternoon will be doing exciting things like: shaving, showering, laundry, and hopefully getting a hold of Bill. I just left an email for him so hopefully he'll be in touch soon that he's board a flight soon. That's about it. Not sure when I'll be blogging next. It might not be til next Monday when I'm back at this hostel before traveling down to Dublin. Later everyone!

God Bless,
SNorris
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Wednesday, July 15, 2009

France's parting gift

France didn't want me to leave...let me explain. Yesterday was July 14th...France's "Liberty" day or Bastille Day. As a result, the 6:27 train I wanted to get on, didn't exist. In fact, I had to get to another station in Lille in order to catch a 9:12 train that "kind of" took me to the town of Calais, more accurately the countryside outside of Calais. From there it was a bus into the town, and then another bus to the ferry. Then it was across the English channel. So good to just speak English. I don't have to think now before I say anything which is so nice. From Dover where the ferry docked, I got a bus to London and I arrived at around 4:00 p.m. yesterday. I walked to my hostel because they wanted about 6 bucks for a ticket. Once checked in, I went to the Globe theater and bought a ticket for the 2:00 show today. Later last night then, I went and met up with 150-200 other people to go on the "Jack the Ripper" walk. It was very interesting as we walked around London's east end learning about the autumn of 1888. Creepy story and I will admit I didn't sleep all that great last night. Today, I walked...and walked....and walked. My pedometer read 7.32 miles when I left this morning....it now says 29.87 miles. I hit most of the tourist sites of London, and walked through some rain in the process...not downpours at least, more moderate to light. At around 1:00 p.m. I headed to the Globe theater which is a remake of Shakespeare's theater. I paid 5 pounds which is around $7.50 to be a groundling. That's pretty much a "peasant" and I stood for around 3 hours watching the show. Besides the toil on my legs, I enjoyed it. I couldn't understand all of that old English stuff but I still enjoyed it. The show was "Troilus and Cressida." After that, I walked across Tower Bridge, past the Tower of London and then back here. I also got some information about what I need to do tomorrow which is get on the Tube and get to Heathrow airport so I can fly to Belfast. Big plans for tomorrow in Belfast....shower, shave, laundry, maybe a nap?, and try to get ahold of Bill. That's about it. Hope all is well.

God Bless,
Scott
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Monday, July 13, 2009

...back to rags.

The Berlin to Paris train was interesting to say the least. With 6 people in the cabin facing each other, there wasn't much sleep going on for me. At around 2:00 a.m. I noticed some people that had sacked out on the alleyway outside the cabin, so I decided to join them with my sleeping bag. Suprisingly, despite the noise of sleeping on the train floor, I got about 5 1/2 hrs of good sleep. Traveled to Lille, France yesterday and then headed out to Arras to catch a tour of a WWI battlefield. And it was here that I made my first, research error of the trip I feel. There was no tour!!! Not sure how I messed that one up but I did. So I was left in the position of trying to find something to do around here for today. So I ended up travelling to Rouen, France. This is where Joan of Arc was burned at the stake in 1431? Ended up being a pretty good trip. Of course, I had a tough time catching a train out of the town and ended up having to kill about 4-5 hours but that was o.k. Tonight is my last night on the continent and it is a bit of a relief. From now on, I'll be dealing with the English language. I'll catch a train to Calais, France tomorrow and then take a ferry from Calais to Dover, England. Then to London for a few days before flying to Belfast, Ireland....where they also speak English. I did save alot of money by not having to pay for any of the World War I tours I was originally planning on taking. I think I have an idea of how I can spend that extra money toward the end of the trip....any guesses out there??? I'm sure there's more but there's a line developing to use the computer so I'm going to sign off. It's hard to believe that my trip is winding down so quickly. It's been enjoyable and the next week should be alot of fun as well.

God Bless,
Scott
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Saturday, July 11, 2009

From rags to riches...

Sorry for the delay but I've got reasons. I'm in the main Berlin train station right now and it's around 12:30 p.m. here. Last time I wrote was Prague so I'll try to pick it up from there. After meeting up with a friend at their hotel, I decided to stay with them since they had an extra bed. Talk about going from the outhouse to the penthouse. My first night in Prague I was waking up to a bunch of drunken roommates showing up at about 1:00 in the morning....my next two nights, I'm staying where Pres. O'Bama stayed while he was in Prague a few weeks ago....just a tad bit of a difference there! My second day in Prague, I took a train to the town of Kutna Hora to see the Bone Church....google it. It was interesting. Upon getting back, I just walked around Prague. I was able to find so many things. I went to the church where the final showdown happened in the WWII mission, "Operation Anthropoid." (also worth googling). The next day then, I took a trip down to the beautiful little town on Cesky Krumlov where I ate in an old Medieval dungeon, and rafted down the Vltava river for 15 kilometers. Unfortunately, after about the 1st kilometer it began to rain and it poured then beginning with the 2nd kilometer. The sun came out again just as we got finished. Fortunately, I had extra clothes and I'm not feeling any effects from getting wet and cold...it just made me paddle faster is all. I left Prague yesterday morning and rode 6 hours to Berlin. I stayed in the town of Wittenberge about 50 kilos/miles ? south of Berlin. It is where Martin Luther began the Protestant Reformation in 1517 when he nailed his 95 theses to the doors of the church there. The place I stayed was right next to the church. Today, I have been out to Potsdam to see Frederick the Great's "Sanssouci" which means "without a care" I think. To me it should mean, "without a golfcourse" because I can't believe how much land is there without a fairway in sight. I walked about 6 miles around it, to it, and to the train station after it so it's been a long day. Oh....I've booked a night train to Paris that leaves at 7:30 p.m. Til then, I've got lots more things to see in Berlin. Oh, I'm sorry about not writing the last few days, but that real nice hotel I stayed in......they wanted 12 dollars to use the internet.....for only 30 minutes. Oh, and I've been doing something different here lately. I've been using the net to book rooms so that takes some stress out of things. I'm already booked for the next two nights in Lille, France and then the 2 nights after that in London. Hard to believe this trip is winding down but it really is. Well, time to go. Hope everyone is well.

God Bless,
SNorris
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Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Night train to Prague

Got up yesterday morning and travelled to Vienna again. Stowed my pack in a locker at the train station and headed out on the town. Was able to find a church that contains the remains of some of the Hapsburg emperors, and on the way I found an apple streudel to enjoy while sitting in the park by a Mozart statue. After that I just walked around Vienna alot. I ended up having both a sashatorte desert and also one of those fancy cups of coffee that I don't even know what it was cuz I'm not a coffee drinker. But it was good and just something I felt like I needed to do in Vienna. Had some other thoughts of things to do with a very free afternoon, but that was stopped by a downpour of rain that lasted a long time. So an awful lot of yesterday, I spent in the train station waiting for my 10:22 p.m. night train to Prague. Surprisingly, I got some pretty good sleep last night. Though there were three beds in the cabin I was in, I was the only one in there so I was happy about that. I'm here in Prague now and they have free internet here!!! Spent this morning finding the place in the northern part of town where a World War II assassination took place. Had no idea how far away it was when I first began walking, but I did find it and then took the subway for part of the trip back. After checking into the place I'm staying (the same place in Prague I stayed 12 years ago), I went downtown, got lost of course (the streets curve), but eventually found Jenny at her hotel. I had just sat down on a couch at the reception desk, when she walked around the corner, so the timing couldn't have been more perfect. We visited for about 2 hours before I left to go find something else in town I wanted to see. Now I'm back here and I really need a shower and shave so think I'll give that a try and then maybe turn in early again. I got good information about some trains for where I want to go tomorrow so I'll look over them as well. Guess that's it.

God Bless,
SNorris
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Sunday, July 5, 2009

Vienna....awesome again!

Early rise at 5:00 this morning to catch an early train to Vienna. Everything has gone so well today! Found a place right away within 5 minutes of the station. Then I managed to use the subway and get to the Spanish Riding School Visitor Center early enough to get a ticket to see the Lippizauner stallions. It wasnt a regular show but I did see some of the 3 year olds and some of the mares & colts, along with watching them pull some of their coaches. Also went so a museum way south in town to see some of the stuff that began World War 1. I then made it to another museum and then just walked around Vienna for quite a while. Such a beautiful city....one of my favorites!! It truly was a very good day! Tomorrow, I'll spend the day in Vienna.....I want to eat a Wiener Schnitzel, Apple Streudel, Sashetorte, and also have a coffee/espresso, etc at one of those Vienese coffee houses. Then I plan to catch a night train to Prague. Oh....I had to wait, but tonight the internet was free at the place I'm staying at...yeah!!

SNorris
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Saturday, July 4, 2009

Austria

It's been a tough couple of days. Yesterday, I headed up into the mountains outside Salzburg to try my hand at "sommerrodelbahn." Basically, it's a tobaggon run. Weather made me wait a few hours to do it as they won't go if it is raining. Finally, I got to give it a try but only once as the weather came back. Played it conservative the first time down, and was hoping to open it up the 2nd but that didnt happen. I did get some fun footage with my video camera going down it. Today, I took a train to Branau am Inn which was Hitler's birthplace. I wanted to symbollically do something to make the guy roll over in his grave, so did an incredibly American thing while in the town....ate at McDonalds. Had a Big Mac, pomme frites...that's fries, and a coke. Even made some of my fries into a swasticka before eating them. I think it's great that there's a McDonalds now in the town he was born. I had hoped to get to another place out in the country but didn't get off at the right stop which prevented me from catching the next train, etc. Concerned that I might get stuck out in the country and not make it back to Salzburg, I decided to play it conservative and just get back to town where I am now. It's about 6:30 pm here now and am not sure what I'll do the rest of the evening. Maybe just lounge around and turn in early as I have to be up early to catch a train to Vienna. So far by the way, I think I've been on some 35 trains, 6-8 buses, 2 cars, and 2 boats. I think I've walked around 197 miles according to the pedometer which is likely not that much since it records even little steps as going 3 feet. Guess that's it for now.

God Bless,
SNorris
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Thursday, July 2, 2009

Head in the Clouds...literally.

I left the castle along the Rhine two days ago to travel to Munich, Germany. Found a place to stay after being turned down at a couple others, and after getting settled in, I went to find the "3rd Reich Tour." It lasted about 3 hours....lots of information but not much seeing the sights. The guy giving it sure did know lots of things and confirmed many things I had heard before. This morning then, I headed from Munich to Berschtesgaden, in the Alps of southern Germany. The big thing here was to see Hitler´s Eagle´s Nest which was his 50th bday present from the Nazi party. It was a very expensive busride up but since it was THE reason why I came down here, I decided to take it. Once we got up there, we had a decent view early and then the clouds came in....hence the title of this particular blog. Still, I´m glad I went up to the top. After this I decided to head to Salzburg, Austria to get lodging for tomorrow and the next day. Weekends can be kind of hard to find places to stay so thought this was best. Good thing I did as I had a tough time finding a place. Looks like I´ll have to adjust my agenda again as a result of transportation logistics. Not sure I´ll be able to get out to Hallstadtt, Austria now. But I have some pretty good substitutes that I´m looking at. Wanted to make sure that I wrote again tonight as I´m not sure when the next entry will be coming. After Friday and Saturday in Salzburg, I´ll go to Vienna, Austria for a few days. From there, it´s in to the Czech Republic. Happy 4th of July to everyone. I´ll be spending the 4th in Salzburg, which ironically is the 2nd time I´ve spent the 4th in Salzburg since this is where I was at 12 years ago. Oh, I´ll be staying in the same hostel that I stayed in 12 years ago as well. Hope all´s well. I plan to get in a shower tonight (maybe shave), sleep in a little later tomorrow (something you can do when you already have the next day´s lodgings taken care of), and eat a hearty breakfast here at the hostel tomorrow morning before leaving. Oh, last thing. On the walk back about a half hour ago, a critter came out of the woods to the middle of the road. I got it on tape and asked for confirmation of what it was from some people here at the hostel....European version of a badger. Time to go.

God Bless,
SNorris
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Europe '09