Catching up from Dublin

I arrived in Dublin, Ireland last night around midnight. I stayed in a hostel located in the city center and will be meeting up with a family friend today, Annie Johnson, to head with her to Galway to meet her boyfriend and a few of his friends. I have heard a lot of great things about the Western part of Ireland and I am excited to go with Annie.



I will catch up on a few things up until this point of my spring break:



I met up with Rob Armstrong (college buddy) in Zurich, Switzerland on April 2nd. I arrived in the airport and Rob was there holding a "DIESEL" sign waiting for my arrival. The good majority of my college friends and fraternity brothers all call me Diesel. My room mate when I lived in the house started calling me that, without specific meaning, but we decided it would stick because of the second name given to Budweiser, which is one of my preferred beers. We arrived in Zurich fairly late and only had time to have a couple of beers at a neighboring bar before the pubs closed. Speaking of Budweiser, did anybody know that there is a German beer (I think it is German) also named Budweiser? I took a picture of the bottle, so eventually I will post it so you can see the difference.



The next morning we woke up and caught a train to Interlaken, Switzerland. The train ride in gave a good preview of the beauty that we would eventually see. We would pass crystal clear lakes, most likely fresh glacier water. They had a big snow fall the week before so the mountains were still iced with a thick layer of snow. We arrived in Interlaken and went to our hotel called Rugenpark. I made a small mistake booking the room and booked a "double room" and not a "twin room". I guess the double meant double bed, and the twin meant two beds. I thought it would be the other way around. The lady at the front desk questioned us and asked if we were a couple, but fortunately enough she had a spare twin room and we avoided that problem. The couple that owns the hotel are fantastic hosts. If anybody makes plans to go to Interlaken I would recommend the Rugenpark B&B in a second. They helped every guest find exactly what they wanted to do with their stay. I had thoughts of going sky diving so that was the first suggestion I made. We didn't have much time on that Thursday (April 3rd) to jump out of any air planes so we decided that we would spend the afternoon thinking about it and would let her (the lady at the front desk) know later for the following day. Instead, she gave us a good "hike" to go on. The hike which required cable cars, like a ski lift to the top of a mountain, took about an hour and a half to reach the city Murren which was our destination. The city at 5,300 feet has a population of less than 500 where cars are not allowed, simply stated, vehicle free. All the houses are log cabins with only paths to reach each restaurant and bar. We had lunch on an outdoor patio overlooking the Alps. After lunch we went to a small bar where we played darts and pool while enjoying a few beers. Time slipped away a bit and it became dusk. We never thought of our way down until about 8 o'clock. I decided to leave the bar while Rob watched our jackets, to go check the schedule and see what time the last cable car went down. The last cable car left in 6 minutes.... I ran back to the bar, finished our drinks, went to the bathroom quickly, and we bolted out of the doors. We got to the cable station and visibly saw the last car leave. Kind of funny now, but I took a picture of it departing. We had no idea what to do so we decided to chase the car. Keep in mind that it was now getting dark. We were walking through the snow in the Alps finding bear tracks and saw a deer cross our path. We found a small house with a family inside and they helped relocate us to another part of the city about a 30 minute walk away, where another station was located. I left out a few details but we made it safely back to Interlaken. I actually had to use my Spanish to get help from a local guy that was there working in a restaurant. He ended up joining us at a Hooter's (very random) for a couple of beers. That night I talked Rob into going sky diving with me. I was not to sure myself if I wanted to go but with the help of a few drinks I convinced him that it was safe. The next day we went to book the sky diving trip but the weather was not allowing us. I guess they were expecting some type of storm later in the afternoon. That was fine with us because we thought we could go the next morning on Sunday. We'll that day was Palm Sunday and they were closed. I thought it sounded like a great idea to go on Palm Sunday, we would be getting a little help from the man upstairs! Anyways the skydiving fell through but it was probably for the better. It was expensive and neither of us were that "gung ho" about doing it. We looked at it like it was a sign, either to stay alive, or to save us some money.

Switzerland was magnificent. In my opinion Interlaken could be the most beautiful place in the world. I have had the chance to see a few beautiful cities, and I think San Sebastian is one of the finest, but this was different. On the way in Rob was talking about how he thought the Rocky Mountains were great but he quickly changed his mind in favor of the Swiss Alps. To go along with the breath taking views, the people were charming, mainly speaking English. I know that Switzerland is on the top of my list for returning cities.

On Sunday, April 5th we caught a train to Florence, Italy. The next post I make will go through my time in Italy but right now I have to head out to meet up with Annie.

Take care everybody!