HI LET'S GO TO EUROPE

A twenty-one-year old girl from Manila goes on twenty-eight days of backpacking adventure fun in Europe starting May 7, 2012

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STOPOVER.

We waited for a train to Interlaken from the Spiez train station in Switzerland. Here is what we saw from the tiny viewing deck, just a short walk away from the train station. 

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Sign on the back of a van in Interlaken.

Whatever that word means must be really important, if they had to give it that many letters!

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You'll find this little stall somewhere in the middle of Interlaken. Sometimes, there's a cool guy named Dimi on shift (he's the bald guy with the shades in this photo) - and he's a great help (also apparently a pretty good DJ/musician). 

Here, you can sign up for some of the awesome extreme outdoor sports that Interlaken is known for! Paragliding and Skydiving are the most popular of them all. You can also do hang gliding, but there is another company handles that (more on that later). 

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On the Lazy Falken Backpacker Hostel in Interlaken & More on Hostel Booking

Above is a screen shot of my review of the Lazy Falken Backpacker in Interlaken, Switzerland (for some reason, the rest of the page appears in Spanish - sorry about that)

Apparently, it wasn't just the four of us who had had a negative encounter with this Thierry character. Apart from seeing some similar reviews on Hostelbookers, we also met someone in town the next day who said there had been a lot of complaints about this guy, and that he just didn't belong in the hostel business. 

Still, we could have avoided all this by planning out that night better (learn from us!) - although a little hospitality and politeness might have made a big difference for us unlucky backpackers in a strange new city.

I might also be comparing to the expectation-exceeding reception we got at the other hostels we stayed at - like the Eastern Comfort Hostelboat (Berlin), Rome Accommodation Hostel, and especially the Mad House (Prague), and Hostel One Paralelo (Barcelona) where everyone was just so patient, friendly, and accommodating. 

Based on my experience, a lot of the time, it's really the staff who can transform the hostel from just a bed and bath into a very pleasant home away from home.

Next time I decide to book a hostel, I'll definitely be paying more attention to staff ratings in the reviews!

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Last Words About Our First Night in Interlaken

Part 1 | Part 2

The Morning After Picture:

Just check out Gabbie's tired, empty expression, and that messy-haired, drained look by me. 

We tried to spend the entire night on those steel benches near the field, but it didn't seem like we were going to survive it. By around 5 or 6, it had gotten way too cold for comfort. We decided to go back to the Lazy Falken Backpacker, and try our luck at getting an early check-in.

Unfortunately for us, a very unfriendly employee at the Lazy Falken Backpacker named Thierry was going to be the next addition to our Interlaken Welcome Party. Going back to the hostel turned out to be a pretty bad decision. To find out more about that, see my review of the hostel here.

In any case, we ended up going back out to find a place to rest - it was too cold to enjoy the night, and we were too fatigued to try and make something of it anyway. We were starting to feel very unwanted and out of place!

When the train station opened that morning, we tried to look for a spot to sleep there, and some interesting characters popped up - one was a drunk man right outside the station who suddenly threw his beer bottle at the station. Good thing we were inside. Another one was a young guy with a lot of tattoos and piercings who started what seemed like a monologue in Swiss German inside the station. He seemed to be appealing to us about something - but all we understood were a few English words like "tattoo" and "business" - and that he was very distressed. I shrugged, and wished I could have said something to make him feel better.

We checked into the Falken at 4:00 PM, and after a good, long rest, we picked ourselves up again to give Interlaken one more chance! 

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First Night in Interlaken: Part 2

Like I said, it was 10PM, and we had just arrived in Interlaken, Switzerland. We'd heard it was going to be really pretty, so we couldn't wait to step out into the town and have a look around! 

You have to understand why we had to consider not booking a hostel for that night - first of all, it was so close to midnight! Hostels in Interlaken aren't the most affordable; how much were we really willing to spend to have a bed for a few hours? Also, we were feeling pretty good about ourselves just because we'd had worse in terms of temperature (Amsterdam, and Berlin were colder) - so why couldn't we save a bit on a hostel and let Karla check something off his bucket list (I think it was "sleep on the streets")? 

But first, we had to do something about our packs. Good thing there was the 24-hour Information Service, which we used to call our hostel for the following night - The Lazy Falken Backpacker. A lady answered, and we asked if the four of us could secure our bags with them for the night. She agreed, and we made our way from the Interlaken Ost station to the Lazy Falken Backpacker on foot. 

Unfortunately, when we arrived, there was no one to receive us, and none of the other guests in the common area had any idea where the receptionist or the luggage room was. Since it was past reception hours, we would have understood if the girl who had answered the phone when we called told us they couldn't take our things in. But since she told us we could, it was disappointing for us - but we left our bags in the common room anyway and decided to find a place to rest for the night. 

We came across this inviting Youth Hostel as we walked along that night. "Tempting, but we'll pass."

Coming up: Part 3!

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Finally - HOW did this happen!?

IMPORTANT: No matter how well you try to organize your trip, you can't expect everything to go perfectly! It helps to be alert and ready to think of alternatives when things don't go the way you planned. 

Especially if you've been with me from the conception of this blog, you should know that there a whole lot of planning went into this trip. It involved a whole lot of research, interviews, and even spreadsheets - and yet, we end up spending one night out on the cold streets of Switzerland! 

It all started in Rome. We had originally planned on taking a night train to Interlaken (via Spiez) on the 26th, so we could check in at our hostel on the 27th - and stay just one night before moving on to Barcelona. Unfortunately, there weren't any night trains to Interlaken, and the best alternative was the 4:30 train, which was to arrive in Interlaken at 10 in the evening.

CRITICAL MOVE: We booked those tickets! (Another night in Rome was going to be expensive, and we definitely wanted a full day in Interlaken without having to cut days from our stay in Barcelona!) Then, we entertained the inevitable thought of booking another hostel for that additional night. And then, we dismissed it. A lot of words like "bucket list", "adventure", and "play it by ear" may or may not have been said.

So it was, that the four of us, in such an adventurous mood stepped upon Interlaken soil and said, hey, this isn't so bad. We meant the cold, we'd had worse in Amsterdam and Berlin, we said. But that was at 10 PM. 

More on this incident in my next entry!

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An Egyptian obelisk in Rome, near Villa Borghese. 

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The train ride from Rome to Switzerland took around 6 hours! Since we had run out of food, Gabbie, Bruce, and I decided to try something out on the dining train. 

Be warned!!! Train food can be ridiculously expensive. We could only afford to get starters. While Bruce and I each had a warm, comforting soup, Gabbie had a carrot salad, which she found to be less than enjoyable. 

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At Interlaken West station, there is a 24-hour phone which you can use to call hostels for free! There is a directory of hostels which show the name, number, and address of each hostel next to a button. You'll also find a big map of Interlaken above it, and whenever you press a button, a little red light will pop up on the map to show you where the hostel is. 

Great for finding last minute accommodations - and probably also what we should have used on our first night in Interlaken, instead of being homeless! 

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Here's a picture of Bruce, Karla, and Gabbie in the Rome Accommodation Hostel. We had our own 4-bed room and a private bathroom. 35 euro per person a night seemed to be an average price to pay in Rome, and the rating was also a very convincing 94.9%.

A very kind lady took us to the Sun Room when we arrived. There was a warm, welcoming atmosphere as we walked in to find the most delightful shade of orange on the sheets and curtains. With all the playful tribal decorations on the walls, it reminded us of a little kid's room - but we didn't feel the slightest bit out of place. It was perfect for us four, all excited to skip around the city with smiles on our faces and cones of gelato in our hands!

Breakfast was free - from 7 to 9pm, we could step outside into the dining area where we would each get a tray of cereal, yogurt, bread, jam, and nutella! On the day that we visited the Vatican, we left before 7, and found our breakfast in a little paper bag on our doorknob. How thoughtful!

Also, this was the only hostel we stayed at wherein the staff would tidy up the rooms while we were away. We were surprised to find our beds made and our bathroom cleaned after our first day out in the city!

All in all, we had a very pleasant stay at this hostel, and I would definitely recommend it if you plan to visit Rome. Make sure you visit Alfredo's, a really good (and reasonably priced) restaurant which is just a short walk from the hostel. You'll also get a discount if you let them know you're staying at Rome Accommodation Hostel. 

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Taking A Break!

Just taking care of real life things for now, but I'll get back to posting photo memories of our trip when I get the chance! :)

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Towards the middle of our trip, we realized that even though we were sad to leave each city, there was always something in the next one to look forward to! So saying good-bye to Rome wasn't so hard, because we were really excited for Interlaken, Switzerland - also known as the extreme sports capital of Europe. 

Our first night there wasn't exactly a walk in the park (dun dun dun! details to follow in a new entry), but the view we got the following morning was enough to get us back on our feet and ready for adventure!

And yes - this is the view you get just walking along the streets of Interlaken. Surrounded by trees, mountains, rivers, it's a little town right in the middle of a nature paradise. And when I say little, it really is little! We could walk from one end to the other in just around 30 minutes.

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Villa Borghese is the largest park in Rome! We spent the afternoon exploring it, enjoying the great weather, and being a little silly. Good times!

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An arc at the park

- Rome, Italy

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We love this Dutch specialty called pancakes - they're not exactly like the pancakes that I'm used to. They are more of a cross between a crepe and the usual fluffy breakfast pancake. 

Pancakes can be sweet or savory, and the shops usually have a long list of choices on the menu. Good for lunch if you take one for yourself, and also great as a snack! 

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Never too old for the playground! Since there was no one else around, we big kids got to dominate this park.

In Westbroekpark, The Hague, Netherlands (an hour away from Amsterdam)