The Final Post - Goodbye Europe

I just posted the story of my weekend in London so if you want to hear about the 49ers game make sure and check that out.  This post, which will be my final one, is a goodbye to Europe and a thank you to anyone that is still reading the story of my trip.

First of all, goodbye to the trains of Europe.  I have spent a ridiculous amount of hours riding them around, as you can see from the map of my journey.

13 Countries, 87 Days

Goodbye to the Hostels, especially the Hostel Peter Pan in Rome.  I enjoyed my stay most everywhere, except for the Hostel Peter Pan in Rome.  By the way, the Hostel Peter Pan in Rome sucks.

Goodbye to the Euro (Pound, Koruna, Zloty, Florint and Franc).  I can't wait to have a $1 bill instead of a coin.  Also none of your money has Andrew Jackson (the most bad-ass president) on it, so it is automatically inferior. 

Goodbye to every language that I did not understand.  On the flipside I am now fluent in grunting and making hand gestures to get what I need.  Well I guess I was always fluent in that.

Goodbye to my backpack.  I have grown way too attached to you and your black and green design.  You were the only thing with which I spent every single day of the trip.

Most notably, goodbye to all of the people I have met all over Europe.  My trip would not have been the same without you and here's to hoping we can keep in touch.  Anyone who became one of my ten million new Facebook friends is welcome anytime in Chicago.

Hello USA, home of baseball, football (the real one) and excellent customer service.

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A quick thank you to everyone who has kept up with reading the blog.  The hardest part of a long trip is maintaining a sense a purpose.  The blog gave me that purpose and will now become a log of my PG-13 memories of the trip.  (Don't worry Mom and Dad, there are no R-rated memories).

At the risk of rambling, this trip has been an amazing experience.  Hopefully reading my adventures has made you want to travel and make memories of your own.  Its definitely worth it.

Thank you to everyone back in the US for keeping in touch.

One last thank you is in order.  Thank you mom.  This trip would still be just a dream without your encouragement and financial support.

If you are in Chicago, see you tomorrow.  If not, hopefully I can come visit you soon.

GO GIANTS!  Aubrey Huff literally just went deep.  If you want to watch Game 5 with a Giants fan, give me a call tomorrow.

"The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page." - Saint Augustine

Scott

Days 85-87 - A 49er-Filled Weekend in London

After taking a full day to get from Luxembourg to London it was time to see the rest of the sights.  A walk along the South Bank led me to Shakespeare's Globe, a reconstruction of the famous theater.

The walk itself provided great views of London, especially the skyline.  Another benefit was seeing ads for the NFL Rally at Trafalgar Square, an event I did not know about.

The rally was a melting pot of NFL fans and they were surprisingly few 49ers fans in attendance.

Commissioner Roger Goodell gave a speech where he said that he wants to add a franchice in London.  Steelers owner Dan Rooney joined him on stage and said a few words.  After the speech both of them walked around and interacted with some of the fans.

Goodell is in blue and Rooney has the white hair

At night Bruce (my mom's cousin) and I went to the London Sports Cafe to watch some college football.  I stayed to watch the Giants game and sadly the Rangers ruined my night.

The next morning it was finally time for the match-up of the year: 49ers vs. Broncos.  When 1-6 meets 2-5 its a game that can't be missed.  In all seriousness though the game was awesome.  I think we all know what its like to go to an NFL game so here are some pictures.

Wembley Stadium

The Golden Gate Bridge

My Chemical Romance performing near the flags of all 32 NFL teams

The opening kickoff

The only thing I will say about the experience is that it was hysterical.  The people here mostly understood the major rules but the details of being a football fan were lost on them.  For example, I had to teach my section how to properly chant De-Fense.  In case you are wondering the 49ers won. 

The game consumed much of the day and inched me ever closer to my departure.  At this time tomorrow I will hopefully be sitting in my apartment in Chicago.

Scott

Days 81-84 - Zurich, Frankfurt and Luxembourg

When I last left the blog it was time to start making my way to London.  I am nearly there (Luxembourg tonight) after spending the last four days traveling at a feverish pace.  Following a travel day I spent one day in Zurich, one in Frankfurt and one in Luxembourg.  It has of course been rather tiring to head to a new city each day (especially with getting up to watch the Giants) but it has been well worth the effort.  Here are my impressions of each of the cities.

Zurich

The largest city in Switzerland is located to the north of the country in the middle of the Alps.  With 370,000 residents it still felt like a small town. 

The city is constructed at the mouth of the river as it opens up into a lake.  The river was one of the clearest bodies of water I have ever seen. 

The main tourist attractions of Zurich (other than cheese and chocolate) are the various churches.  The one above has the largest clock face of any clocktower in Europe.

A view of Zurich from near the city center

No trip to Switzerland would be complete without an attempt to open a bank account.  Unfortunately I was just short of the minimum 1,000,000 Dollar minimum balance so I left empty-handed. 

The only downside of Switzerland is the cost of living.  It remains the most expensive place I have visited in the world.

Frankfurt

Frankfurt is the financial capital of the EU and one of the only cities with a large amount of modern skyscrapers.  This means that most things are translated into English which is a nice sight for a weary traveler. 

The financial center

A brief walk from the train station through the red light district leaves you at the city center.  Most of it was destroyed during WWII but it was rebuilt in its original style. 

Frankfurt is certainly worth seeing and I am glad I randomly decided to spend a night there. 

Luxembourg

Do you know what country is located between Germany, France and Belgium?  Until yesterday I had no idea.  The sole reason for coming to Luxembourg was to cross another country off of the list.

The city of Luxembourg is absolutely worth a visit.  I did not think I could be impressed by scenery after seeing so much of it but Luxembourg somehow managed to make an impression. 

The setting feels straight out of a Disney movie, especially with the fall colors. 

As I sit writing this I have come to the realization that this is my last night in a hostel.  (I will be staying with family in London.)  The trip to London tomorrow morning will be my last train journey of The European Adventure.  What a ride it has been.

I will have a post from London and then one last one after that to say goodbye to Europe.

The trip is almost over?

Scott

Days 78-80 - The End of Rome and One Day in Venice

After crossing The Colosseum (and other sights) off of the list it was time to check out the Vatican.   The Basillica of St. Peter was the first stop and after a brief wait we made our way inside.

As you might expect it was extremely crowded inside so a bit of the church mystique was lost.  A portion of it was closed for a special ceremony but the parts that were open were impressive.  I actually caught a glimpse of the ceremony.

In the back a woman was dressed in funeral attire and was accompanied by two men.  I can only assume that this was part of a funeral and she was the grieving widow of an important person.

With the tour of the church complete the time came to wander about the Vatican Museum.  I did not know much about the museum, only that other travelers had told me it is worth the money.

Room after room was full of paintings and every ceiling was immaculately decorated.  The Louvre is more impressive for its individual paintings but the Vatican Museum takes the cake for the building itself. 

Painted by Van Gogh

The Sistine Chapel is actually part of the Vatican Museum.  There are no pictures allowed in the masterpiece of Michelangelo so use google images if you are curious.

The last day in Rome was a bit more laid-back.  It was relaxing to just walk around the city and see what Rome has to offer.  I found out that Duff Beer (from the Simpsons) is real and made in Germany.

Day 80

Unfortunately the one day spent in Venice was full of rain.  It still looked like a cool city although visiting here appears to be more about the novelty of the canals.

My Hostel

One of the famous canals

As you probably know I only have a week left of my trip.  I am heading to Zurich today and then making my way to London by the 29th.

One last important thing:

FEAR THE BEARD.  2010 NL CHAMPION SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS. 

Al Bello/Getty Images

 The best song ever made.



Scott

Day 77 - A Long Day of Touring Rome

Where do you think the first place to go is when you reach Rome?  If you said the Colosseum then you are correct.

700,000 people died over the life of the Colosseum.  It was free for Romans to attend the "games" but they were seperated by class within the 60,000 seat stadium.  One random fact I picked up is that the word arena actually means sand.  Sand was placed on the floor of the Colosseum to soak up the blood and over time the word came to be synonymous with stadium. 

The next stop was the Roman Forum, which happens to be right next door.  The Forum is comprised of the ruins of ancient Rome, many of which are still be excavated. 

After the Forum it was off to the Pantheon.  On the way I noticed a crowd gathered on the sidewalk watching a man carve.  He was turning carrots and beets into various small figures over the course of five minutes. 


Nearby another man was spray painting pictures. This may not sound exciting but take a look at the picture below.

No idea how he does it

The Pantheon itself was a bit dissapointing.  It did not really compare to all of the churches I have seen in different Europen cities but it was still cool because it is almost two-thousand years old. 

When I heard that St. Ignatius of Loyola church was only a few blocks away I had to pay it a visit.  It was far more impressive but I may be a little biased because of where I went to school.

St Ignatius of Loyola

The book that St. Ignatius is holding is inscribed with the phrase Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam.  As anyone who went to Loyola knows AMDG is inscribed everywhere on campus so I felt like I was back in Chicago. 

The last stop of the day was Trevi Fountain.  The fountain is located in an alley and actually forms the side wall of a building. 

Just walking around Rome was amazing.  There is so much history everywhere you look, a feeling that is hard to re-create in the United States. 

I have two more days in Rome and then its off to Venice.  From there I will be making my way to London with stops in Switzerland and probably Paris (If the French stop striking). 

Scott

Days 72-76 - Florence to Cinque Terre and Back to Rome

It amazes me that five days have passed since I last posted. As the end of the trip has neared the days have sped up at an exponential rate. It has become increasingly harder to make decisions regarding what to see because I no longer have the luxury of time. Nonetheless here is what has been going on since my Florence arrival.

The best part of Florence was meeting the people staying in the hostel. It was an extremely large place and I found it very easy to meet fellow backpackers. In fact, we all became good friends and three of us have currently met back up in Rome. Below is Geoff, a traveller from Northern Ireland who wants to be a music teacher. Walking around with him was fascinating since he would spontaneously rock out with street musicians. He even managed to book a gig at an Irish pub so the hostel crowd went to see him two nights in a row.

Another highlights of the city was attending an Italian Opera. With a discount from the hostel the price was only 10 Euro. The performance was in a converted church with great acoustics.

You may be able to tell from the blurry photo that the singer is in fact Asian. She was singing in Italian and the performance was in Italy so I am still going to call it authentic.

Unfortunately my converter and iPhone charger were lost in Florence so I spent most of the city picture-less. If you want to know more about the city I'll show you some pictures from fellow travelers as soon as I get my hands upon them.

Cinque Terre was the next destination after three nights in Florence. I didn't expect much, after having been to the Amalfi Coast. I soon found that the Amalfi Coast pales in comparison to what I have termed my favorite place on Earth. Again an uphill battle against my iPhone battery was fought but I still managed a decent set of pictures.

Above is the Walk of Love.  When a couple goes on this walk they buy a padlock, lock it to the fence and then throw the keys into the ocean.  Below are some of the locks.

The two days were spent hiking through the national park, enjoying wine during the sunset and having more than a fair share of gellato. My legs are still sore from the vertical hiking but it was worth it for the breath-taking views.

There was even a place to feed some cats during the hike.

Tonight I sit just outside of Rome after two of the most relaxing days of my life. You may remember that I didn't see any of the city my first time in Rome so this will be the first chance to tour it.

Tomorrow should be a fun day, if for the sole reason I can get away from the strange hostel bathroom policies.

I'll try my best to post in a few days after touring Rome

Scott

Days 68-71 - The Amalfi Coast and Arriving in Florence

Melissa and I awoke in Salerno and had to figure out how to get to the Amalfi Coast.  If you think this is a simple task you have never tried to navigate the bus system in Italy.  We walked to the stop and then realized we had no idea which bus we needed to get on or what time it came.  After a walk back to the hostel to use the internet we figured out that there as a 12:45 pm bus to Amalfi.  When we tried to board the bus we were asked for our tickets which you aparrently are unable to buy on board.  In the time it took to buy the tickets the bus left so we had to ride the 1:30 pm bus to Amalfi.  From Amalfi another bus was necessary to Agerola and of course it was not until 5 pm.  We essentially spent a whole day travelling to an area that was about 20-25 miles away from Salerno.  The view was well worth the time it took to get there.


The view from near the hostel

The bus rides up to where we stayed were absolutely insane.  In some places the road is barely wide enough for the bus to pass a car so the busses have to honk around all of the blind corners.  I made the mistake of sitting seaside in the back of the bus and I paid the price.  By the time the bus ride ended I was as white as a sheet. 

There were not many touristy things to do in Agerola since we were well off of the beaten path.  It was refreshing to get away from monuments and other sightseeing for a few days. 

One of the highlights of the Coast was the walk from Agerola to Amalfi.  This involved descending 2039 stairs (I counted) and then walking along the narrow road trying not to get hit by busses. 

The path to Amalfi

Check out the building

The most random moment of the walk: spotting this building on the side of the cliffs.  I cannot imagine how or why this was built but I am sure there must have been a good reason.

Another picture from the walk

Getting closer to Amalfi...

We made it

Like I mentioned earlier it was nice to explore the countryside, even though Melissa had to make friends with every dog we passed...

and pose with ridiculous signs...

The plan was to leave Agerola and head to Venice. Unfortunately the cheap lodging was booked and to be honest neither one of us wanted to endure the train ride. We made our way to Florence instead and that is where we are now.

Scott