From crawling in caves to relaxing in thermal baths...

Day 43

On my overnight train with two other people in my compartment. This time, I was on the bottom bunk. Annoying thing is that the bottom bunk is converted from the chairs, hence everyone sits on them until they want to sleep and that's when the chairs are flipped to become a bed. Thus you can't sleep until everyone else is ready to go to bed. Also it's a lot harder to sleep when the lights from outside are flashing in your face since the blinds don't go all the way down. Had a moment of panic halfway through the night when I woke up to see someone standing over me, but then realised it was just one of the guys in my room trying to unlock the compartment door to go to the bathroom. Another downside to being on the bottom bunk. Honestly I don't think there's any advantage to being on the bottom bunk. At least breakfast was provided which was a nice start to the day after such a restless night.

Braving the elements in Copenhagen...

Day 33

Checked out of my hostel in Stockholm and headed to Copenhagen. As the long train journey began, I noticed that the usual panels above each seat indicating whether it was reserved or not were missing from this train. I then heard over the PA that it was a high speed service to Copenhagen. Shit. It was then that I realised that this train required a reservation. I checked my book and sure enough it said a reservation was required. However I then checked my app which I've been using quite religiously on this trip and it said a reservation wasn't required. Nevertheless, it was pretty obvious that one was required.

Not the last time I'll see Budapest...

Day 21

Time to leave Croatia and head to Hungary. Got to the station and was so confused with the train. All the carriages were labelled differently indicating that somewhere down the track they would be splitting off and heading to different destinations. For anyone planning to travel Europe, make sure to check where your carriage is heading. Don't just assume that the by being on the right platform that you'll end up in the right destination. After finally finding the only carriage heading to Budapest, we were off.

White Christmas in the Austrian mountains...

It's now the 29th of December, 2010, and it's been a few days since I arrived back in Switzerland after my Eurotrip. Technically, my Eurotrip hadn't ended since we ended up going to Austria for the snows, rather than the Swiss Alps like I had told everyone lol. But yeah, I got back into Switzerland from Florence on the 23rd, and on the morning of the 24th, my relatives and I headed over to a place called Arlberg in Austria for our snow break. Anyways, more on that later. Last I left off, I was about to head back to Switzerland.

Rome was disappointing...

So last time I posted, I was about to head off and catch my overnight train to Rome. It's now five days later and I'm in Florence (so much for posting once I got to Rome lol). Anyways, my email had been hacked in that time, so I've been trying to sort all that out, as well as making sure all my other accounts were OK. If you have received an email from me saying that I'm in the UK and need money desperately, ignore it. If you've been following my blog, then you'll know that I'm fine and am nowhere near the UK. Anyways, I'm now in Florence, and I have free time, so let the recounting begin.

Vienna made me happy for reasons other than being in Vienna...

It's now 5:45pm, and I've been sitting in this net cafe for the last 7 hours. I'm currently in Vienna, and I managed to see a lot of the city yesterday and I just wasn't in the mood to see anymore. Besides, I actually enjoyed being indoors and getting my fix of email, Facebook and catching up on TV shows. Will need to head off in an hour or so in order to catch my night train to Rome. But for now, since I have time to kill, and I've caught up on everything, I will blog. One last note, I know that my parents read this. A simple message to them: I am fine. There is nothing to worry about. I am the most cautious/paranoid person that anyone will ever meet (ask my friends). I am very responsible. I know how to take care of myself very well. And I will return home in less than a month safe and sound. On that note, let's begin the recount.

Still alive after Hamburg, Berlin and Prague...

Well well well...once again, it's been a long time since the last post. I am still alive. In the past nine days, I've been to three cities: Hamburg, Berlin and Prague.

Day 40: Leaving Amsterdam for Berlin. Was woken up quite early by the Brits who had an extremely early plane to catch. Mind you, they were still quite high on weed and shrooms. Used the early wake-up call to get everything packed and was curious to see what the Brits had left behind in their sleep-deprived and high state. Looking around on the ground, I saw a few coins, which added up to about 10 euros. But my most impressive find was when I looked under one of the beds and found a phone. It was a Nokia something, designed as a music player. Looks like I got myself a new phone (albeit quite scratched). But I doubt I'll be using it since I don't have the charger plus I really want a different phone lol.

Let it snow...

Day 30: The original plan was to go to Musee D'Orsay but I woke up to see a bright blue sky, and knew that I needed to take advantage of it. So without even having breakfast, I rushed straight over to the Eiffel Tower and was surprised to see that the line wasn't that long. Odd. It was ridiculously long the other few days that I had walked past, and those days were miserable. Guess I was in luck. After waiting in line for 20 minutes, I was on my way up!! However, apparently they don't have a lift which takes you all the way to the top, which is really disappointing. Had to get out on the second floor to wait in line for another 20 minutes for another lift. But then it was only up from there!! And when I got out of the lift at the top, the wait was definitely worth it. The view is gorgeous from up there. I never knew Paris was such a white city. Everything looks white from way up there. They were also selling ridiculously overpriced champagne up there (20 euros for a flute). I guess they were trying to take advantage of the lovers up there who were desperate to toast their love for each other. Anyways, I did laps around the top of the tower taking photos from almost every spot to capture the entire scope of awesomeness that is the top of the Eiffel Tower. It seriously is breath-taking, and it is one of the highlights of my trip so far.

Out of Marseille and into Madrid...

Thought I'd mention this here since it doesn't really relate to anything. At the French railway stations, before they make a PA announcement, they always start off with three tones. Now to me, those three tones sound exactly like the three tones that start Soulja Boy's "Crank Dat (Superman That Hoe)". As a result, every single time there's an announcement at the train station, I'm so tempted to yell out "NOW WATCH ME YOUUUU" and do the corresponding "interpretive dance". Fortunately, I have been able to resist humiliating myself in public, but in my head, I'm doing it.