ok I need to work on this theme some more.
The final leg of my adventure was to travel
by train around a Europe. The land of
fairytales shouldn’t come as a surprise as it was here that castles surrounded
by moats, churches with robed monks, villages nestled into hillsides with
bubbling brooks and stone bridges became the setting of all these tales. It is
here that Knights of old and maidens fair first came into existence and even
the odd witch and dragon all originated in this part of the world.
I arrived in London a little jetlagged
after some 38hrs of travel from Buenos Aires but was happily greeted by grey
skies, cool weather and some friendly faces to take me to the local pubs. After
a few days in London I took the train to Paris to meet up with the some friends
from Sydney; Gerard and Suz who last year made Paris their home. We had a great
time visiting cool suburbs and tasting both the cuisine and famous French
wines. Paris is an easy city to get around and aside from bus and train you can
cover many famous sites on foot.
I had read about the French government
making a concerted effort to convince the population to change the
international reputation they have for being rude to tourists. I must say I was
pleasantly surprised although perhaps it had more to do with most people
confusing me for being local given the fluency of my language skills. On the
Sunday afternoon, after a few hours wandering around a fun local neighbourhood,
the 3 of us stopped at a very small local bar for a glass of something cool to
whet our whistles. As we entered the premises it was clear the place hadn’t had
a makeover since the 50’s and I was pleased to see an old photo on the wall of
presumably famous French writer who in the mould of Hemingway spent his days in
the bar. The photo showed a man undoubtedly aged through hard living with a
grey beard and unkempt hair. I’m not sure why all great writers look like sweatytoothed
madmen.
Suz and I found a table near the bar (in
fact all the walls were only 3 feet from the bar so everything was near) and
Gerard sidiled up to make the order. In front of him was a young attractive
French maiden with her back to him dancing as she pretended to clean bottles in
a micro pair of cutoff shorts, cowboy boots to the knee and a top that ... well
let’s say she was provocatively dressed. Gerard being ever the gentleman waited
for a while but eventually realised she wasn’t paying him any attention so he
interrupted her... and at this point a chill came across us all as she turned
and shot him a look that at best could be described as hostile.. I guess she never
read the memo from the government about being nice to the tourists. We stayed
there for a number of drinks and took turns being glared but loved every second
of the place.
Eventually my liver told me to leave the
McCords and jump a train to see more of Europe so I headed to Brussels. As I
departed I felt assured that spending some time on my own travelling would a
nice change as the previous few months had included some hard living of my own
and I was looking like a sweatytoothed writer. Within hours of entering the
Belgium capital I began to recall their specialities; beer, chocolate, waffles
and fries with mayo.. god help me. The city itself is gorgeous but after a few
days of sightseeing it was time to jump on the steel horse again. I headed a
few hours north to the Netherlands and the capital Amsterdam. I was lucky
enough to find a great little boutique hotel which was a converted cannel house
and began exploring the city by foot and ferry. I was shocked to hear that
80,000 bicycles are stolen in Amsterdam each year which sounds like an
extraordinary number until you realise just how many bikes are there.. <Note
- speak with my broker about buying some shares in Melvin Star>
A few more days of life to the excess and I
boarded my train yet again this time to cover a greater distance leaving
Amsterdam and travelling through Germany from north to south and then east to west
before jumping off in Munich.
Once again I was in a city of 1000 years
old churches and medieval castles. I had eaten or drunk in establishments
across Belgium, Netherlands and Germany all older then western settlement of my
homeland. I took a short trip from Munich and visited the town of Dachau which
is most famous for having one of the original and largest concentration camps
during WW2. It was a somber experience and one I will never forget. War is such
an evil thing and its ability to change men and allow them to do these things
to each other is shocking.
I returned to Munich and began exploring
the culture. I started in a beer garden and progressed to beer halls and in
between visited local markets where German sausages are served with..beer.
I was falling into an endless cycle so
departed Germany for the precision of Switzerland and her capital Zurich. You
would not believe my surprise when I came across 1000 year old churches in the
city centre and markets and alleyways that were hundreds and hundreds of years
old. Zurich like those cities before her was easily covered on foot with a few
stops along the way looking for a nice watch to buy.. I didn’t make a purchase in
the end as watches like many other things in Zurich are ridiculously expensive.
The train ride from Zurich to Milan took me
via Austria (check a map as that is odd) but it did mean I went directly
through the Alps and at times was surrounded with beautiful snow capped
mountains and small little townships made of stone and included babbling brooks
and women twirling as they sung about doe eyed dear.
From Milan I headed directly to Venice. I
was back in Italy again. Ahh the food ohh the wine and yes the city is pretty
and romantic but when travelling by yourself you skip some bits. I must tell
you though that the secret is out about Venice. The main section, Santé Marco
is more like grand central station at peak hour then an old Italian plaza,
fortunately you can walk about 10 minutes and be away from most of the tourist
to find a quiet little spot to have an espresso or some penne and a bottle of Chianti,
whichever is your preference.
Three days whizzed past before I was back
on the train and heading to Nice in the south of France. The train ride was
unbelievable as once we left Milan was started following the coastline of at
first Italy and then eventually France with hundreds of little Mediterranean towns
with sunburnt building facing the beautiful blue water. I was surprised that
the train line followed the coastline all the way and in fact in many cases was
less than 50 meters from the water and what would be considered the some of the
most prime real estate in the world. I would look down from the train to see
the clear water with boats bobbing in the distance and people (often sans tops)
sunbaking on the beach.
Nice itself has a lovely promenade which
runs the length of the city although it will take me a lifetime to refer rocks
beside the ocean as truly being a beach.. they need to import some sand. I
found the smaller and quainter townships within minutes of Nice to be much
nicer (sic) and even spent a great day having lunch in the sun in Monte Carlo
ogling mega yachts. I was disappointed to see it was bring your own super model
day in Monaco and no one told me and it isn’t just the thing you can pick up
there.
I am writing most of thing from my seat on
train as I slowly head home to Hong Kong. In a few hours I will arrive in Paris
for the last night with the McCords and then off to London for a day and a few
goodbyes before boarding the big bird to Honkers.
Europe is truly a beautiful place full of
rich and interesting histories. It looks, sounds and tastes just as you would
expect in something from a fairytale and I have no doubt I will need to come back
to have more.
