#interrail 2019

[ionasadventures]

Interrail Day 17

Today we had a good ole explore of Bern! First stop - the Bear Pit! It’s literally a pit with a family of bears in it in the middle of Bern. There was only one beat out today and they were slomberin in the sun, but it was kinda cool! ((They were fixing the actual pit part, hence why the bear is in more of an enclosure but it is an actual pit!)). Next, we headed off to Einstein’s House! He lived in Bern for a few years, but it was here he wrote his Theory of Relativity! He lived in Bern with his first wife, Mileva Marity (Maric), from 1903 to 1905. His house was kinda small, and it must’ve been super crowded with him, his wife, and his child ((his oldest son was born whilst they lived here)). After we had Lunch, and we headed to the History Museum of Bern. That was creepy as HECK man. In the basement, they had all the original statues from the Bern Minster, and the lightning was quite minimal so as to avoid damaging the artefacts even more. Very very creepy. Like straight out of a weeping angels doctor who episode. As it was quite late in the day, we were the only people there too which made it more terrifying as it was SO quiet. Unfortunately the translation of the information from German-English wasn’t as good, so we got a basic description of what it was, however not much background information about it. Although, you may notice some of the statues do not have noses, and that in some cases the heads have been removed from their bodies - this was a deliberate desecration of these statues. Unfortunately there was no reason given as to why. Upstairs, there was a section on Bern up until present day. It was equally interesting. For example, Lenin himself lived in Bern whilst he was in exile. Also, the Bond Girl from Dr. No, Ursula Andress, was from Bern, as was the String Quartet from the movie “Titanic” ((you know, the ones who play as the ship is sinking...)). It also highlighted a lot of interesting facts about Switzerland’s neutrality during the war. As they were neutral, they traded equally ((or certainly were willing to trade equally)) to both “sides” of the war. During World War Two, this meant that they bought and sold a lot of stolen Jewish artefacts, particularly gold, which they then either melted down or sold for profit. Equally, it meant that they turned away a lot of refugees from invaded countries. It seems that whilst they did not want to take in refugees, particularly Jewish ones, so as not to appear to be taking sides, they were more than happy to take money and stolen goods. The main money making from the war did come from artefacts the Nazi’s stole as they surrounded Switzerland on all sides during the war, but they equally made money off of the artefacts stolen by the Allies too. Kind of grim when you see the truth, as Switzerland being neutral always seemed, certainly when I learned about the war waaaay back in school, that they had nothing to do with anyone on either side. But that’s not true at all. Quite interesting and harrowing at the same time, however I am appreciating (certainly central) Europe’s dedication to remembering and talking about the bad things they did in the past. They don’t glorify it, they retell it to make sure they remember what they did and to learn from it. There’s no point in only mentioning the good parts of history - how else are we to learn from our mistakes, and grow?

[ionasadventures]

Interrail Day 14

Two weeks already??? Oh Lordy! Today was a relaxed day, although we did have to get an early train from Florence ((where it was already 25 degrees at 9am!)). A quick change at Milan, which has a beautifully ornate station (picture 1), and then it was off to Switzerland! The scenery change from city to alpine was amazing, and it was absolutely beautiful. You get this tiny little bus-like train from Brig to Zermatt, and it has these massive, wide windows so that you can see the beautiful Matterhorn Valley on the way up the mountain. It was breathtaking, rounding the corner and being able to see for miles down this beautiful mountain range. Zermatt is 1km (1000m) above sea level, so the altitude is quite high! Zermatt itself is basically a stereotypical alpine chalet town times a million. There’s SO MANY hotels and chalets all over the place. Luckily, we’re in their off season so it’s not too busy ((not empty though!)). It was a little difficult to find our accommodation, as they seemed to be doing construction work on every street leading to it. But we managed! It was actually a relief to get off the train and it only (only!) be 16/17 degrees and raining. Hopefully it won’t rain too much tomorrow so we can go on a walk around! But now, sleep!

[ionasadventures]

Interrail Day 10

Today was a bit of an adventure! The place we are staying at has the option for you to rent some bikes for getting around the area, so we thought why not! and headed out towards the Almsee, a glacial lake at the foot of the Austrian Alps. It was a 3-4hour hike, but allegedly could still be cycled. Our hosts at the hostel gave us directions that were simple enough for us idiots to understand, and off we went! Grünau is a beautiful, quaint little village that looks absolutely sublime to stay in (it kinda reminded me of a smaller Falkland, but waaay warmer as it was about 28/29 degrees out!). There was a little Spar that was closed on a Sunday, and even took an hours break for lunch at midday. We cycled for aaaages. About 2 hours to get to the lake. My legs were absolutely killing me, but my bum was the worst. The seats were NOT comfortable, and I have a notoriously boney bum which did NOT help! But we did it! Despite the heat, and despite the effort and the fact I’ve not done physical exercise on this level in like ... an embarrassingly long time. The lake was beautiful. It was absolutely crystal clear, you could see the bottom and everything in it. It was PERFECT for swimming. So after being doused in suncream, I headed in. But of course this is a Glacial lake, meaning the water comes from the glacier. The frozen glacier. Yea the water was cold. It was like swimming in the sea at St. Andrews, in the North Sea. After a while I got used to it and swam around (my two travelling companions took a while longer to get in, eventually being persuaded by the fact that I was yelling at them calling them cowards). But we all went in! I’m not sure how long we were actually in the water, but after a while we came out and sat down in the sun to dry off. Which took aproximatley two minutes because of how warm it was. We headed back to where we had stored our bikes (a little restaurant on the other side of the lake) and decided that perhaps we would try and get the bus back, as all of us were super tired and aching. The bus pulled up, which looked promising - it even had an under carriage for luggage that could easily fit our bikes - but the driver said he wasn’t letting bikes on. Shite. So after he drove away, we filled up our water bottles (from the pristine alpine water - tastes amazing!) and began the hard cycle back. I was particularly dreading it because it had been difficult for me on the way there, and I thought it was all uphill on the way back. Turns out the opposite was true! It was mostly downhill! We arrived back in Grünau in about an hour! The hardest part however was Grünau to our accommodation, as there was a HEFTY hill to get up. My knees felt like they were going to fall out, and ye gads did my thighs ache. But mentally, I didn’t really mind because it was so breathtaking cycling past these amazing views?? It was incredible to look at, and I didn’t feel bad for taking a few rests as it was amazing to take in the views. We managed to get back and, coupled with the great news that my companions had achieved excellent results in their degree specifications, we decided to have our dinner then head to the little bar in the hostel. I greatly enjoyed not walking around, and it was a lovey little break. Our room has a balcony, so we sat out on it and chilled for a while in this idyllic surrounding, the early evening sun still absolutly scorching. We’ve a bit of a long journey tomorrow, and I’m a little sad to leave here, but nevertheless I’m looking forward to the next leg! This was a lovely, well needed “holiday from our holiday”, an escape from the city.

[ionasadventures]

Interrail Day 4

Ayyyyyeee Day 4 completed!! Today we bid Saluu to Belgium and crossed over to Germany! We had a reasonably early start as there was only one direct train (the rest involved 2-3 changes minimum or a hefty reservation fee yikes) but we were waved goodbye to by a cute (very well behaved) doggy!! We got off at Cologne initially, as the train would get us in to Frankfurt waaaay too early. Cologne is very interesting! Right out the central station you are greated with the MASSIVE Cologne Cathedral. It’s dedicated to St. Peter, And is the seat of their Archbishop. It’s also the second tallest cathedral spire in Europe, and boy is it tall! Allegedly, in its shrine to the three kings, the box at the altar contains their bones which was so cool to learn! Also during World War II, it was the only building in Cologne left standing, as the Bomber pilots would use it as a landmark to find the city. Further round the corner from the catheral is the Hohenzollern Bridge, which is covered in so many love locks that they have done permanent structural damage! I believe the council regularly removes them in order to preserve the bridge, as it is used still for the trains! Before you get to the bridge, there is this sorta brick circle path that leads past it. This is actually the roof of the Philgarmonic Opera House! It’s underground, and when a concert is in session (like it was today when we went) you cannot walk over it as they can hear your footsteps in the theatre beneath. It must have amazing accoustics though! After that, me and two other members of the Squad™️ went to the “Museum Ludwig”, which is an art gallery strangely enough (yes I did go willingly and yes I am just as shocked as you!). It was pretty standard, but there was some amazing original Picasso’s, Dali’s, and Warhol’s which is always cool to see! The toilet was... weird. Idk if it itself was meant to be a modern art feature, but if you look at the picture you’ll notice that the toilet roll is about 6ft off the ground, and about 4ft from the toilet itself. The rest of the squad went to sit in a German Beerhall, which looked really cool and traditional inside! I’m not a beer fan (((good choice coming to Belgium and Germany eh))) but it still had a nice environment. Then we got on the train to Frankfurt. Unfortunately, the directions we had to the hostel were for the wrong one initially (there are two hostles, both by the same company, in the city : one just by the train station and one over an hour away. Guess which one we got :) ) but we found the place and it’s really nice! It feels like a hotel more than a hostel. However I forgot that some places in Europe charge a city tax for tourism, so there was a brief moment of panic when we thought we hadn’t actually paid ANY of it but it’s all sorted. Our plan was to buy food in and cook it in the hostel, but we forgot it was Ascension Day. Germany is a very catholic country and as a result almost everywhere was closed. Eventually we found a Turkish restaurant and had what was essentially a German-Turkish hoagie. It was delishious. So far on this holiday I have walked so much my legs are aching and my back is so sore from carrying my bag so I am ALL SET for an early bed and to just chill. We’re going on a walking tour early tomorrow morning so hopefully my legs will have recovered by then! Also managed to find some BumBums which I am very pleased about!!!!

[ionasadventures]

Interrail Day 20

Last day before we leave for home! I can’t believe this has flown by so quickly! I have had so much fun travelling with my friends, and I will absolutely miss them all (even the gremlins) very much after we’re back! Hopefully we will do this again sometime soon! I hope everyone has been enjoying reading about this as much as I have! Also cheeky wee shout out to Alicia, Michael’s mum - glad that you’re enjoying this and you’re very sweet so thank you!!! Promise that we won’t leave your son stranded in another country! ;) As said before, we just had a chill day today. Or at least that was our intentions! We decided to go to the Lyon Pride parade that was going on, and it looked amazing! However, almost immediately after doing it the most torrential rain downpour EVER happened! It was straight up thunder and lightning, and we were soaked in seconds! We watched the parade for a bit but then the rain was so bad and the lightning was getting a little too close for comfort! After that we chilled in the accommodation, and then ordered “tacos”. They’re essentially what the French call Hoagies, but in a tortilla wrap thing instead. I had one with chips, cheese, and chicken nuggets IN it. It was delicious and I would 10/10 have again. An early night tonight as our train to Paris is at 07:30 tomorrow and we live about 40 minute drive away.

[ionasadventures]

Interrail Day 19

Quelle surprise, another walking tour! The weather was a little shite, it was pretty rainy but not as awful as in Zermatt! So we decided to do a walking tour of Lyon. Lyon is ok I guess, it’s not a super interesting place but there were a few nice gems! We started off outside the town hall, which is a pretty cool! It has statues on top of it of Hercules and Athena. It usually is closed, but today it was open as there was a blood drive on! Lyon was a Roman city (well, it originally was a small sorta tribe here before the Roman’s invaded), and Emperor Claudius was born here, so he made it famous and built temples and amphitheatres, and even gave the Lyon citizens the right to be roman citizens! There was a lot of secret passageways around the city - doors that lead to little side alleys, which were pretty cool cause it means you weren’t always walking down the middle of a road. There equally was a lot of cool street art, which I certainly found very interesting! Our guide was nice but there’s not really a lot to talk about in Lyon, as a lot of it’s the same. Like it’s cool to see all the Roman architecture and the art, but it’s usually by the same people and thus will involve regurgitating the same information. One aspect that I thought was cool was that there was a series of painted facades depciting famous people born in Lyon. They looked pretty cool! It started to rain, so we headed back to our accommodation and just chilled. In the evening, we went to a highly rated bar for a few end of exams drinks. Turns out it was a super nerdy gamer bar, and it was cool! Though there was a group of people playing uno VERY loudly right next to us - they kept slamming the cards down on the table which was kinda weird. But the cocktails we had (Taric, Spectrum by Logitech, and The Horde respectively) were really good! Intend to have a chill day tomorrow as it’s our last day before we leave!

[ionasadventures]

Interrail Day 18 - part 3

After the tour, we went to CERN ((I mean you can hardly go to Geneva and not go here!!)). The museum part, albeit pretty small, was very interesting! It showed you all about the Large Hadron Collider and how it worked. This thing is MASSIVE. It’s an incredible feat of science and engineering. When we’d finished, we set off to get our train to Lyon. Only two hours. Simple, right? WRONG. We arrived at Bellegarde, a small station in the French countryside area. We stopped there, and an announcement came over: a train had broken down further down the track, and we had to wait whilst they moved it. Ok no problem. We waited for a long time - probably close to an hour but also I am dramatic so it could’ve been 10 minutes. Eventually, everyone started getting off the train. A kind person explained to us that this train had now broken down, so we got off and made our way to the station. Once in, everyone who was also on our train bombarded the information desk. There was a lot of shouting and (probably) swearing, and then a few people started slamming on the glass of the information desk, and they slammed the shutters shut. ((I think they also called the police cause a squad showed up a few minutes later but that’s fair tbh there’s no need to get that ragin)). Our friend from earlier translated that basically the desk was advising to wait for the next train, which was in about 3 hours. I guess this was an affront to nature for some people? As they were super aggressive afterwards. But hey ho. We waited, and then the next train was announced and given a platform number. However, there was another train, going the opposite direction, due in at the same time and at the same platform. We asked the staff and they said that we were on the right platform for the Lyon train, and all the other people who were on our initial train were waiting there too. However, at about a minute before the train was due to depart, they changed the platform number to over the other side. Queue 100 or so people making a mad dash to the platform, only to find its 30 minutes late in leaving ((so like the train was there at the station, but it wasn’t leaving for another 30 minutes)). When on the train, after the initial 30 minute delay, a FURTHER announcement came over the tannoy saying that due to a train that had broken down further down the track, they had no idea when our train would actually be leaving. We originally were meant to arrive in Lyon at 19:45. We actually arrived in Lyon at 00:45. We were so lucky that our hosts at our accommodation were super kind and trusting, and they left us instructions on how to use everything and how to check out, they were so very kind and we got so lucky that they were understanding. We did finally make it to Lyon, and pretty much collapsed into bed.

[ionasadventures]

Interrail Day 18 - part 2

Further on still, we came to St. Pierre Cathedral - one of the only Protestant cathedrals in the world, and the church where Calvin himself preached. It used to be a catholic cathedral until Calvin and the Reformation, with the building on the right of the main part being used to hold the bones of various bishops and important catholic priests. When Calvin came around, he through out all the bones into the river, and promptly used the building to store salt. Inside, you can see the chair where Calvin would sit and preach from. It’s relatively plain inside (as one would expect with a Calvinist church), but the organ looks like something out of Star Wars tbh! Finally, at the main square bit, there is a carving depicting Geneva helping refugees. That refugee looks mighty familiar... cause it’s Daddy Lenin! Whilst in exile in Switzerland, he lived in Geneva for a while. His library card is still stored at the University Library, and he only ever checked out one book that he didn’t return (no points for guessing what book THAT was). Paul Beux sculpted it, and seemingly he and Lenin were good friends. We finished the tour at that giant water jet that shoots out of Lake Geneva. Initially, it was to let out the excess water pressure generated from something ((I’ll be honest it was very warm and I was kinda tired so I forget exactly what it was about but it looked cool)). Across from us was the Hotel where Empress Elizabeth of Austria (who was also the Queen of Hungary) was stabbed by an Italian anarchist - initially the empress thought she had only been punched, so continued on to the boat she was invited to, but then they noticed a blood spot in her dress. They removed her corset, and subsequently removed the pressure that was keeping the blood in, and she immediately bled to death. Yikes!