Earlier this year I took a trip from Vienna to Zaragoza by train, stopping many places along the way. I had work in both of those cities, but vacation in between. I went to Vienna, Munich, Murren, Bern, Florence, Nice, and finally Zaragoza. All of these cities were great, but Vienna and Florence were my favorites. Vienna because it has a wonderful mix of Old World grandeur and easy living. Florence had great food, art, wine, and happily chaotic streets. I was happy to have Rick as my tour-guide-of-sorts through his audio tours of cities and museums, especially since I was traveling alone for work.
One of my favorite things was meeting people. Even if it's just for a meal or a quick chat, it's wonderful to make those small connections, even if you'll never meet that person again.
Sometimes memorable events can be the unexpected ones. After leaving Murren, I planned to stop in Bern for just an hour or two and then continue on to Florence for the night. I'd checked the train schedule and saw there was a train leaving Bern at 3pm, and I assumed there would be more leaving after that. But when I arrived in Bern just after 3pm (I found it hard to leave the wonderfully scenic Murren), I found out that there were no other trains heading to Florence for the day, except for a night train with awful hours. This stung, since a hotel was already waiting for me in Florence. Regardless, I got a hotel just outside of Bern and spent the evening exploring Bern.
As I was exiting the Old Town of Bern on my way to the rose garden that evening, I noticed a group of people surrounding a nondescript metal door leading into a steep hill. When the door was opened, I asked if I could go inside with them. The door led into a narrow, roughly-hewn tunnel with small puddles on the floor. The tour was all in Swiss German, so I didn't quite understand what the place was at first, but one of the other people explained it to me: Back during WWII, Bern tried to construct a bomb-proof shelter under the hill. They eventually had to give up due to flooding. The place was small, but this was a neat, unexpected peak at something I had no idea existed.
Some photos:
Vienna - the view from the Stephansdom: https://photos.smugmug.com/Trips/Around-Europe/i-XfS653j/0/357c7b49/X2/DSC_7057-X2.jpg
Vienna - the Natural History Museum: https://photos.smugmug.com/Trips/Around-Europe/i-qS6SN9b/0/64647a09/X2/DSC_7136-X2.jpg
Munich - an Oompah band in the Hofbrauhaus: https://photos.smugmug.com/Trips/Around-Europe/i-wbbPt6G/0/49d82954/X2/DSC_7415-X2.jpg
Murren - buildings and mountains: https://photos.smugmug.com/Trips/Around-Europe/i-vVPSHpL/0/d5e3a0c9/X2/DSC_7528-X2.jpg
Bern - the Old Town: https://photos.smugmug.com/Trips/Around-Europe/i-T9rggGg/0/09b2051e/X2/DSC_7890-X2.jpg
Florence - lively streets and gelato!: https://photos.smugmug.com/Trips/Around-Europe/i-RKBmqxj/0/e8ae5cf2/X2/DSC_8081-X2.jpg
Nice - the V-E Day ceremony: https://photos.smugmug.com/Trips/Around-Europe/i-JsVKZQ6/0/7797dbbd/X2/DSC_8309-X2.jpg
Zaragoza - lights at night: https://photos.smugmug.com/Trips/Around-Europe/i-ctDCr59/0/6b1ac24b/X2/DSC_8329-X2.jpg
Anyone have good stories from any of these places?