...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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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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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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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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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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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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Got my lesson plans for World History done!

So many things went right today. Caught a 6:20 am train to Koblenz and then another to Moselkern on the Mosel river, arriving around 8:00 a.m. From there I hiked about an hour back into the woods to Eltz castle....the most intact Medieval castle around. Got there about 10 minutes before it opened. Since I was the only one there who needed an English tour, I got a private tour. It was really impressive and I really wished I had students there to experience it. I gave in to temptation at the souveneir store and also had myself a bratwurst and fries with curry sauce at their little restaurant. So I kind of splurged today which is okay cuz I really havent done it all that much. The 2nd castle I visited was Rheinfels at St. Goar. This one was in ruins as it had been destroyed by the French Revolutionary army. I had printed off a tour from the internet and it worked well. It even led me through the underground passages beneath the castle which required a flashlight....I only made one wrong turn. I got envious at this castle as their were a bunch of school groups there that were doing all sorts of activities....sword fighting, crossbow shooting, archery, etc. and then were given a tour. I knew the kids I teach would love something like this and I couldnt help but think if they showed any Fenskes I know (or some of their friends), that they would have it mastered within 5 minutes and then could have defeated the instructors and taken over the place. What Louis the 14th's army couldn't do, I think Fenske and friends could have. By this time, it was around 5:00 pm with storm clouds looming overhead, I hopped on a boat to ride up the Rhine river from St. Goar to where I am staying at Bacharach.....beautiful trip. Tomorrow I will be off to Munich (Munchen) with maybe a stop at Mainz before. I thought it would be an easy walking day today but I ended up puting in another 10 plus miles I think. My pedometer turned over again which is the 3rd time now....it turns over after 50 miles. Gotta get.

SNorris
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