Europe '09

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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