Week 8: November 1st

Germany. Austria. Switzerland.

Reading week was this week, and I of course spent the week reading like the excellent student that I am. I did get some work done this week, but I wanted to make the most of my time off, and get some travelling in. I told my mom about my plans for this trip, and I was perfectly content to go on my own, but she was worried about me travelling solo, and jealous of my plans, and decided to tag along. Travelling with her is not bad most days, but someone tell this lady I'm a full capable adult when she's not around! Moms will be moms I suppose.

On Thursday, I caught the 8am bus to Dublin to meet my mom at the airport, and headed to Munich. After a long day of travelling (I won't complain too much though because my mom had flown in from Toronto), we checked into the hotel in downtown Munich, and immediately fell asleep. Friday, we woke up and explored the city by foot. I finally got used to looking right, then left when crossing the road, so being back in a country where the cars drive on the right side of the road had me all kinds of confused. We met a woman on the plane who suggested surhaxe while visiting, so we went to the Hofbräuhaus for lunch. I'm really picky, but I'm up for trying new things, but this was boiled pork elbow, served with sauerkraut and horse radish. It tasted alright, but the texture really threw me off, and I won't be ordering that again. We got pretzels by the Marienplatz, because when in Munich right? It was sunny, and since that doesn't happen in Sligo, I didn't have any sunglasses so I did some shopping. I got sunglasses, a new sweater, and a cute new hat to wear in the Alps this week. I also saw a makeup store, and got some new lipsticks, because I forgot my favourite red one in Canada. We went back to the Marienplatz for 5pm to see the figurines inside the clock dance. There were girls there holding up the Catalonia flags, celebrating their independence which was cool to see.

Friday afternoon we headed to Salzburg, Austria for a few days. The train ride was beautiful, you could see the mountains coming into view, and I was thrilled as that's what I was most looking forward to. Saturday, I was up and ready to go at 9am, while my mom lounged until 11am. This is usually the other way around, but I think I was just very excited. Plus I was sick, and my snoring is bad when I'm sick, so I think it kept her awake all night. When we headed out, it was raining as soon as we got outside, and was crazy windy. We braved the conditions, and spent the day walking around Salzburg. My favourite part of the day was walking up to the fortress. As the buildings and mountains came into view, a huge gust of wind came and there was a beautiful swirl of fallen leaves. At the same time, the rain stopped, and a rainbow appeared across the sky, making the view even better. The fortress itself was closed, so we couldn't go all the way to the top, but we walked around the fortress walls for a bit before heading to a restaurant for lunch. Sunday, we spent the day exploring, and eating mostly. I had schnitzel for dinner, which was way better the surhaxe I had in Germany.

Monday morning, we took the train to Zurich, and although it was five hours, it was actually a great ride as the views were incredible. Way more mountains than the train ride to Salzburg, and blue skies! Our time in Salzburg the weather was horrible, but the weather report called for sunny skies all week in Zurich. The train was late, but I didn't mind. I had a quality nap, and pretended to be productive, while really looking at the mountains. Upon arriving in Zurich, we had quite a few obstacles to overcome. I was already pretty hangry (angry from lack of eating if you didn't know- it's too real), and my mom was busying momming (telling me where to walk, and just generally bossing me around), so my mood wasn't great. My phone stopped working, despite the fact that I put money on it before leaving Ireland. Looking back, I've realized that my plan includes data for all EU countries- and Switzerland is not an EU country, so I quickly ran out of money. We had been using my phone for directions, but with no data that wasn't an option. Every WiFi network available required you to receive an SMS code to use it, super helpful for travellers. We found the information desk and got directions to our hotel. After walking confidently in the wrong direction, I hesitantly admitted I was wrong about the directions, and we headed the right way. When we arrived, it was one of those hotels with no reception desk. You simply type the reservation code in, and it spits out a key for your room. But again, I had no data on my phone, and couldn't access the email with the code included. After walking around for a bit, we found a Starbuck's, where the WiFI would not work. Frustrated, tired, and hangry, I had a good cry in the Starbuck's bathroom. I pulled myself together, and asked for some help. The woman working offered to hotspot from her phone so we could access the email, bless her. We finally arrived at the hotel at around 8:30pm, exhausted, frustrated, and just so over the crappy day, I went straight to sleep, and slept through the night. My mom, on the other hand did not. The hotel was near the red light district, which didn't bother me, I could sleep through a natural disaster, but my mom didn't like it. So we switched hotels on Tuesday, and stayed in a more central location.

Tuesday, we spent the day exploring Zurich by foot. We walked to the Opera House, and by some churches, and just sort of walked around. Wednesday, we headed to the tourist information, and purchased some 24 hour transit tickets, and headed into the mountains for a hike. We took the train in, and did a two hour hike. The view from the top was beautiful, and definitely looked too good to be true. I didn't take many pictures, because I kind of thought it would be a waste. There's no way it would do that view justice. The hike ended at a cable car that took us straight back to the train station, and then back into Zurich city centre.

We booked a trip into the mountains tomorrow. The tour is called "Titlis- Eternal Snow and Glacier", and goes to the top of the mountain at 3020m and features magnificent views the alps. I'm really excited for the Cliff Walk, which is Europe's highest suspension bridge, and only partly because mom's afraid of heights. More details on that next week though.