The Hills Were Alive! - Sort Of

Last Thursday morning I flew from Rome to Munich, and then from Munich to Salzburg by train. That part of Europe is very pretty and it was great to see green fields. Interacting with Germans in the airport and then Austrians in Salzburg, my perception of the German language and culture has greatly changed. Before, I always thought the language was very harsh and angry, yet now, I think I like German more than French (sorry Jess!)! And the people were very friendly and helpful, I think more than Italians or Belgians, and certainly more than the French, at least the little bit of interaction I had in France.

Anyways, Salzburg is a very pretty city, but it was a bit disappointing that there were clouds and haze to the south so I could not see the beginning of the Alps very well. On Friday, my first full day in Salzburg, I went to Haus der Natur, a natural history museum, but with many interactive scientific exhibits like that place in San Francisco (I’m blanking on the name). My favorite was playing with all the exhibits! Probably one of my favorite ones shows the basic concept of how a jet engine works. I had fun with that! After the Haus der Natur, I wondered around for a while and saw a very pretty cemetery and just some cool old buildings in the historic city center. Then, I went up the mountain to the Fortress in Salzburg, with a great panorama view of the city. It was so pretty! But that haze was still over the mountains to the south, so you could only just make out the mountains. While I was at the Fortress, I stopped for lunch and had sausage and sauerkraut. That was my first time having sauerkraut and it was ok, definitely a good thing I didn’t know ahead of time that it’s pickled cabbage!

The next morning I went on the Sound of Music tour and that was a fun experience! The tour starts in the center of Salzburg, right next to the Palace (not an impressive one) where they filmed them running through the garden singing Do-Re-Mi, and the tour takes you to all the spots where they filmed on location and the tour guide tells all sorts of little anecdotes about the movie. The thing I found most interesting is that the Von Trapp house in the movie is actually two different houses in real life. One for all scenes in front of the house (and when they are set in the backyard yet you see the house) but then all back scenes where you don’t see the house but you see the lake were filmed at a different house! That was really cool to find out! And the mountain that they climb over in the end, was filmed on the mountain to the south (so they’re heading the wrong direction if they’re going to Switzerland, which is very far away), which is the mountain Maria is supposed to be playing in during the opening of the movie. And somehow she makes it from this mountain to the Abbey, 20 km away, in only a few minutes. That’s cinema for you! Anyways, the tour was very informative and fun (we sang songs on the bus, but I only joined in a bit for one or two) and it was really awesome to see some of the landscape around Salzburg!

The main sight I was hoping to see did not happen, though, which was a huge disappointment. My plan all along was to visit Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest in Berchtesgaden in Germany, which is very very close to Salzburg. To get to the nest, you have to take a special bus up a very steep road, but this road is closed until May 15. So, I missed out by a month. A huge bummer. That would have been so pretty to see. Oh well. I’m still glad I went.

Much like the week before, I had to put my trust and faith in Christ once again. Because of the volcano in Iceland and the canceled flights across Europe, I had to find another way back to Rome. Originally I was hoping that Munich would still be open on Sunday, because it had still been open on Saturday, but no doing. So instead, I went to the Salzburg train station and booked trains to get me to Italy. First, at 2 in the afternoon, Salzburg to Innsbruck, and then from Innsbruck, to Bolzano Bozen in Northern Italy. When I finally got into Italy, though, I had to wait about 6 hours for a train at one in the morning to Rome, and this train was packed, so I ended up sleeping on and off on the floor. In Florence, though, a bunch of people got off so I was able to get a proper seat. It was easily not my best train experience, but I tried to look at the bright side of things. I was on a train to Rome and not stuck in some other city and I had my jacket, flannel, and a blanket so at least I was mostly warm. There are many people in worse situations all over, so I was thankful that I was provided for in such a way.

So far my entire time abroad has not been what I expected, but I do not regret coming here because of how this experience has impacted my relationship with Christ. In many instances now, I have had to rely on Him alone. He has protected me and comforted me and gotten me where I need to go. I am very thankful that He has not given up on me over the years and I pray that He will continue to urge me on towards Him (and that I’ll be able to come home when I’m supposed to!). Thank you all for your prayers for me!

Enjoy some of Salzburg! Love you all! See you in two weeks!!

Ending of Spring Break - Nice/Monaco

So continuing where I left off a few weeks ago, after Spa, I flew from Brussels to Nice. Since it was a late evening flight, I was flying over the Alps just after sunset and that was awesome to see them with a blue tint from the moon. Very cool! And since the Alps are very close to the coast in this part of France, just a few minutes after seeing the Alps, I could see all the lights lining the coast to the east. As we got closer to landing, the approach is very similar to landing in SFO, but a bit more nerve racking. I knew we were landing on tarmac and I trusted the pilot to give us a safe arrival, but at the same time, that is the closest to the water I have ever been in an airplane. I mean, I can’t even estimate how far above the water we were, but during landing, all you see is water, then grass, then tarmac, then touchdown, all in about 3 or 5 seconds. Safe arrival, nonetheless.

That night in the hostel, I met a guy from the States that had been studying in Rome and he and I had a pretty lengthy conversation and he had mentioned how he was going to Monaco the next day. However, when I woke up the next morning, he was still sound asleep, so I decided to go to the train station on my own to go to Monaco, but the next train wasn’t for hours. I headed back to the hostel and got on the computer, trying to think of what to do. Then he came down later and starting talking to the girl who had been sitting next to me. It was his friend that was going to Monaco with him and they were taking the bus, so they said I could tag along. The bus ride was definitely longer than the train but it was a great surprise to hang out with people from the States and that certainly made the day more enjoyable.

When we got to Monaco, the first thing I wanted to do was walk the track and they were agreeable to that. What was awesome for me is that they were already underway with preparations for the Grand Prix that’s going to be held there in a month, so the guardrails and a lot of the fencing was already put up and the stands were in construction. It made it much easier to envision the track. Eventually, the two I was with began wondering about the race and I got to talk about racing for most of the day. Definitely fun for me! And the one and only time I will ever gamble, I can say I gambled in the Monte Carlo Casino. So that’s cool!

After walking the track and a bit of gambling, we headed back to Nice, which feels very much like Las Vegas in San Diego. The main strip along the coast is 6 lanes wide (3 each way) with a palm tree median and lit up casinos all along the way. The stretch of coast is long and very pretty to look at, yet the beach was a bit of a letdown. The dude and I went to the beach for a bit and eventually started throwing rocks into the sea. The beach is not a nice sandy one, but rather, rocks as small as your thumbnail up to the size of your fist. That was a bit of a disappointment but still cool to be near the Mediterranean Sea.

The next day, the two I had been hanging out with me had a flight that evening from Nice back to Rome, but I had been planning all along to take the train (Nice -> Ventimiglia -> Genova -> Rome) so I said bye to them. But when I got to the train station, the next train from Nice to Ventimiglia was at 15.33. However, the train I needed to catch in Ventimiglia to Genova was at 14.58. Once again, I prayed for comfort and a solution and made my way to the airport as quickly as I could to buy a ticket on plane to Rome. Luckily, there was still room, but it was still a stressful few hours to get that figured out. And it was a bit frustrating that the day before when I was out exploring it was a bit cool and slightly overcast, yet the day I was sitting in the airport for hours and hours, it was sunny and warm. Oh well, I got back to Rome when I needed to.

Overall, I did enjoy my time in Nice and my spring break in general. There were certainly ups and downs but for the most part, a positive experience and I’m very glad I visited where I did. Things might not have always gone according to plan, but if I had not tried, I would have regretted it. It was also a week that forced me to rely on God for guidance, comfort, and safety. I feel like that’s been His plan for me and He has not stopped pursuing me and that’s a great thing!

Anyways, here is some of Monaco and Nice!

Interesting Day

Since I have been writing these in chronological order, scroll down to "Post - Long Time Coming" or use this link to get to the first post I wrote about spring break.

http://danielagee.blogspot.com/2010/04/post-long-time-coming.html

To continue about break, after Bruges, I took a train ride to the small town of Spa. I had in my mind that Spa is a pretty little town, and the green hills were a very welcome sight. However, the trees of Belgium have not gotten the memo that it is spring! All of the trees looked dead, like it was the middle of the winter. Brown leaves from the fall still cover the ground and it doesn't even look like the trees are beginning to show life. That was a huge let down, but I still tried to remain positive.

A few weeks ago, the tunnel under Blanchimont (one of the corners of circuit) leading to paddock collapsed. Because of this, all track activities were cancelled. I knew this since the moment it happened, yet I still figured that the track would be open to visitors wanting to look around. Unlike Monza, though, which is in a public park, Spa had closed its gates. I took an indirect (only route possible) bus ride from Spa to Francorchamps, where the track begins, only to find the main gate closed. However, I saw a sign pointing to Eau Rouge. So I hiked along the highway, with only the guardrail and prayers to God for safety as protection. Yet through the trees I could see the exit of the La Source hairpin and hiked through the trees to peer through the fence to see the track.


I hiked along this fence until I found an opening large enough to see Eau Rouge and take a picture of it.


Oh man is Eau Rouge daunting! TV does no justice for how steep and blind it is. Dad, you'll be the only one to really understand this, but imagine driving the other direction and up turn 9 at Laguna Seca at full speed and then having the Corkscrew be your apex at the top of your eye sight. That's what you see from the bottom of Eau Rouge. Once through that corner, that main, long straight is so uphill! The TV barely shows that! And here's the exit of Pouhon where you can see the descent of the track.


But anyways, back to my hiking. So at the bottom of Eau Rouge, there is a creek that runs under the circuit (it's red because of the soil, thus the name of the corner) and to stay going along with the fence, I tried to cross the creek. Well, the first step I took, I tried placing my right foot on a rock and immediately slipped and fell backside first into the creek. Luckily I wasn't in the middle of the creek at the time, but nonetheless, my whole backside was soaked. Thankfully my camera and phone were in my front pockets! Regardless, it put a huge damper on the day that was already not going as I hoped. I tried to remain positive and decided to keep trying to trek around the track, but I had to hike back to the highway and along side it before I got anywhere near the track again.

I found one spot in the fence at the exit of Eau Rouge to see a very obstructed view, but had to keep hiking along the highway before getting to Les Combes, right where the old track used to turn away towards Stavelot, for my next photo opportunity. I found a whole in the outer fence and hiked again through the trees until I came to the main fence that separates spectators from the track. This was the closest I got to the track and if I had really felt like, I could have followed this path along the track to the interior of the track, but I didn't know this at the time so I went back through the whole in the fence to continue around the track.





Eventually I made it to Pouhon, the farthest away point on the track from Francorchamps. I climbed through some trees and then a rock face to maintain going along the fence as the track turned back towards Francorchamps. This part of the track is extremely downhill, another thing the camera does not show, so my hike was downhill until I made it to a bog with basically know where to go and no sign of the track. I climbed my way back out to the road I had been on. I thought of what to do and I saw signs for Rivage, a town part of the track nears, but the road looked to only go on away from the track. Hopelessly, I turned back the way I came and made the trek back along the highway until I finally made it to a bus stop, almost back at Francorchamps. All in all, I hiked 7 miles and only got a small glimpse of the track.


I am very happy that I made the effort to see the track, because it is my most favorite track of all time and from I could see, the coolest track to drive! But it was very frustrating and disappointing to hike forever, soaked from the creek, to only see probably a quarter of the track. I would certainly like to see the track again, but who knows if that will ever happen. Sadly, the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps might just have to be a track I enjoy with TV. Anyways, here are some more pictures from Spa.





In currently sitting in the Brussels airport and am flying to Nice in two hours. I'll be in Nice for two nights and will visit Monaco tomorrow. Hopefully you have enjoyed all of my adventures so far and I'll post more when I'm back in Roma.

I miss all of you and can't wait to be back in California in a month! Love you!

Monza, Milano, and Bruges!

So on the 1st, Jess departed for home in the morning, while I waited around in the airport for my flight to Milan. It was hard saying bye, but like I said in the last post, 5 weeks is very manageable now. Anyways, I knew it would be interesting traveling own my own for 8 nights. With two nights still to go, it's been a fun week, but short of expectations.

After a short flight to Milan, I spent that night catching up with all that went on during the week Jess was here. Friday, though, was the real beginning of the events. The night before it had hailed and a small thunderstorm rolled through, yet Friday was perfect weather! After a train and taxi ride, I finally made it from my hotel to the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza! Oh man was that awesome! At first it was super quiet, although I heard some noise. I figured it was just an engine of some construction equipment but next thing I knew, I heard the engine rev up and hit the track. I sprinted towards the nearest fence and climbed up in the stands to see Audi's newest sportscar prototype, the R15 Plus carve through the Ascari Curves. I was not expecting that at all! The R15 plus hasn't even raced yet, only select testing, so that was the coolest surprise to see that on the track. It only did a dozen or so laps, though. Either Audi had a problem or they took an extended lunch break because by the time I left the track around 2.30 or so, it hadn't run any more laps.




Either way, it was so awesome to see Monza. That track has such an incredible history so to see it and climb up the old banking was awesome. In two spots, I climbed over the fence (obviously done many a time before) to step onto the old banking. Thinking, though, that wasn't allowed, I was nervous to make a full attempt to climb up to the top so I never made it more than 2/3s of the way because it's so steep. One time, I was trying to take a timed shot, so I could be in it, when a service truck started coming my way. I scrambled, grabbed my jacket and camera, and tried clammering up the dirt banking to get back on the other side of the fence. When the truck passed me, the guy gave me the weirdest look. Later, I found a perfectly open entrance to the old curve, no fence climbing needed, so I guess it was ok to be on the old banking. This time, I knew I was in allowed territory so I made a real attempt to climb the banking, 80 degrees steep at the top, and finally succeeded! It was awesome!











I left the track and wandered towards the train station, through the town of Monza. It is such a pretty town and felt a bit more like home than Roma, although still very European. I discovered some hidden treasures and saw the perfect example of how much Italians love their signs!






Eventually, I arrived at the Monza train station and headed back to Milano to see the huge cathedral my roommate Eddie had told me about. Eddie had said it was more impressive than any other he has seen in Italy and boy was he right! Done in a Gothic style, the Duomo (official Italian name for the main church of a city) is huge! Such an imposing sight to see! Easily the coolest one I've seen, just ahead of the Basilica di San Marco in Venezia.





All in all, I have to say that I much prefer Milano over Roma. Milano is more modern with much more green spaces, yet still has the feel of having a history. I feel like it's a place many people have heard of yet few would ever visit. I wish I had spent at least another day there. So much to see!






From Milano I flew into Brussels and took the train to Bruges, which is in Belgium. I first heard of Bruges from the movie "In Bruges" and it is a very touristy place, but very cool nonetheless. I wandered some the first day but didn't do too much. The next day, as it was Easter Sunday, I originally planned to find a service to attend, but saw a few helicopters flying overhead so I went to the city center to find out why. It was a bike race! All the big name riders like Armstrong, Hincapie, Cancellara, etc. were there. Since I was late getting to the square, I didn't get a great spot to see the riders, but it was still cool to experience. After all of those festivities, the stage started (I was on the wrong side of the square to see the start). Once everyone began filing away, I went back to my hostel to catch the end of the Formula 1 race. When that ended, I explored in Bruges for several hours, seeing many of the churches scattered throughout the city. Eventually, I ended up at the Basilica of the Holy Blood. Here, I touched Jesus' blood! Ok, so legend has it that the Crusaders brought it back from Jerusalem in the 12th Century. It's a piece of cloth with dried blood on it, said to be Jesus' blood, and one day it was said to have turned back into liquid. So, who knows if it really is Christ's blood or not, but it was still cool to touch the vile, and say a prayer, thanking Christ for replacing me on the cross, dying for my sins, and doing that on Easter! After that I explored some more, but then had a low key evening back at the hostel.

The next day, though, before traveling to Spa, I did the two main tourist attractions in Bruges: climbing the bell tower and taking a boat ride. Unfortunately, the bell tower is being renovated so the view was extremely limited but it was still awesome to see! The boat ride was very fun, and Bruges, as advertised, is the Venice of the North. The boat ride lasted about 30 minutes and covered 5 km of water. The water level of Bruges is even controlled, unlike in Venezia, which I thought was pretty cool. Bruges was a very awesome stop that I'm very glad I made it, too. And being in Belgium, I ate so much meat! Such a nice change from the pasta and pizza of Italia!

Anyways, here are pictures! For those of you on Facebook, I've tried many different times to upload all of my Bruges pictures, but have had problems. All 300 or so of those will follow soon, hopefully.