Europe Day 13: Munich, Germany

Took the rail from Lugano to Munich. Checked into the Mariott Courtyard and re-visited our favorite places in Munich. Had dinner at Augustiner and made friends with a newlywed couple who just moved to Munich, saw the Glockenspiel show that I missed last time.

Europe Day 10, 11, 12: Ticino, Switzerland and Como, Italy

We dropped off the car at the Hertz near the Innsbruck train station, and hopped onto the train from Innsbruck to Zurich. This was the nicest train I've been on to date. The first class seats were clean, leather, ergonomic, seat numbers were electronically indicated, seat occupancy was at 40% and they even served a complimentary snack. Thank you Euro Rail!

Went from the train station and took the bus and walked to the Hertz about a half mile away. Drove around Zurich and after seeing how clean and proper the city is, we began heading south to Ticino, our desired destination. We drive from about 17:00 and reach Hotel Alexandra at 23:00. Making that drive through the night bought us an extra day in Ticino (the area in south Switzerland encompassing a handful of lake-cities).


Hotel Alexandra, in Locarno, has a great breakfast, very classy. We drove to and walked around Lugano. They have free wi-fi throughout the whole city, but I couldn't connect my phone due to a T-Mobile glitch. The company I worked for at the time has an office in Lugano, where my direct-manager was stationed at. We tried to visit but couldn't get internet anywhere to obtain the address.  So we saw the main plaza and had lunch at this restaurant I can't remember the name of, but it was located directly to the right of its direct competitor. We ordered the capricciosa pizza (olives and anchovies). It was a traditional italian-style pizza and tasted spectacular. An European couple sitting next to us befriended us and we learned that (1) the pizza at that restaurant is authentic Italian and better than many pizzas in Italy , and (2) we should check out Lake Como. So we got the car and drove to Italy and had coffee at Lake Como, walked around and drove back!

Then we walked around the Piazza Grande in Locarno. We were sad to learn we just missed the film festival, where they play old movies outdoors for people to watch int he Piazza. We picked up some food and a bottle of wine somewhere and enjoyed dinner at the outside patio at our Hotel Alexandria. We even got to borrow wine glasses from them.

Switzerland photos here.
Como photos.

Europe Day 9,10: Innsbruck, Austria

Out of Salzburg by lunch and checked into Batzenhausl in Innsbruck by 16:00. Innsbruck is a small town at the top of a mountain where people go for ski resorts. We took the bus that takes you down the mountain, through downtown Innsbruck, and back up the mountain. It was a great idea to see Innsbruck quickly and for cheap (less than 1EUR). This way we were both able to see how spectacular the valley looks while the bus driver takes us down and up the mountain. A block away from our hotel was a nice grocery shop with tons of bargains. We bought prosciutto, bread and wine (they had delicious Barolo wine for ~20EUR!!!!).

Innsbruck photos here.

Europe Day 8: Salzburg, Austria

We only wanted a night in Vienna to experience the Opera house. With our dreams fulfilled, we checked out of Do Step Inn in the morning and headed to Hertz to pick up our rental car to begin our roadtrip through Austria. The car was an appropriate idea because Austria is a beautiful green country to drive through. We (my dad) drove from 10 to 17:30.

Entering Salzburg was refreshing. The air was so light! We checked into Muffin hostel (50EUR/two), which I admitedly booked solely judging by the name. Max, the front desk attendant, was very friendly and Jack Johnson was playing while we were checking in. This was a very good first impression for me of the people of Salzburg. Though, honestly, they had me at Sound of Music, which we saw the entire movie that night (it was one of the perks of the hostel)! We took a stroll around Salzburg (within a 5-mile radius of the hostel), through the open fields and limitless greenery. After the walk, we played Foosball, watched the sound of music DVD, and caught up on some sleep. This hostel had plenty to do to keep yourself entertained and the property is spacious. After breakfast at the hostel the next morning, we drove through the city center and tried to find a few of the famous locations from the sound of music (saw the gazebo from 16 going on 17, the house they used as the back of the house that's facing the lake, the memorable MARIBELLE GARDENS, and the far away looking castle).

Pictures of Salzburg trip here.

Europe Day 7: Vienna, Austria

Rode the train from Budapest (1pm) to Vienna (4pm). We checked into Do Step Inn hostel ($50/room) and took the subway to ringstrasse to attend our Mozart concert in historical costumes at the VIENNA STATE OPERA HOUSE!!! What an epic venue and fun concert. It was very good fortune to have Mozart, because of the familiarity to his songs, and to have some of the best musicians play while dressed in costume completely added to the experience. Not to mention we got 4th row seats!!!!! Found it for 108EUR/two. If you want to attend and tickets are a steep price, the rumor on the street is that you can also obtain standing tickets for 15EUR a piece. The walk to the opera house is enjoyable. Similar vibe to 3rd street in Santa Monica, with high-end shops and musicians populating the pedestrian-friendly street. You start your walk at the gorgeous Stephansplatz where Stephen's church is, and end at the Opera house.

Vienna photos here.

Europe Day 5,6,7: Budapest, Hungary

Our last day in Prague we explored a few more coffee shops and walked around Wenceslas Square again. We also saw the big museum from outside and ate at Como (highly recommend). We had to kill time until our overnight train departed for Budapest. Through the Euro Rail pass, I bought an extra ticket in advance (while still in the U.S.) to cover the portion of the trip where we passed through Slovakia. The bed cabins were fine and worth the time savings. There were 3 bunk beds but only 2 of us, luckily. There is also a lock on the cabin door, so we were able to sleep without having to worry too much about thieves or villains. 

The Budapest main train station was the most challenging place to get out of. Whenever you arrive in a new country, the biggest obstacle is usually getting out of the airport/station. You have to adapt, find your location and destination, and exchange currency if needed to buy tickets. There was not much written in English and when I asked for directions I would get pointed in a random direction. I got to the exchange place where a guy standing outside the counter offered to give me a better exchange rate than the counter. No thanks, I'm just exchanging $20.

We stayed in the Eurostar Budapest Center through our time in Budapest ($78/night). I loved this hotel and would highly recommend it. It's newly built, clean, sharp design, and heated bathroom floors! Yes, this means backpackers like myself can dry socks by laying them on the bathroom floor.

The Danube cuts Budapest into two cities. Buda is the fairytale-touristy old town where most people live, while Pest is the urban-industrial-business city center. 

We ate at Cyrano for lunch. They had a tasty set menu. The art-mozaik festival was going on so we caught an outdoor orchestra performance while walking by the river (Duna korzó). We crossed the main bridge(Chain Bridge) into the Buda side. We opted to walk to the top of Buda Hill instead of taking the funicular train (Siklo) up. It was quite a climb. There we found the Buda Castle. Good view from the Fishermens Bastion. Other good views we climbed up to see on a separate occasion were the view from Janos Hegy (where the Elizabeth watchtower, or Erzsébet kilátó, is located), and the view from the Citadel at Gellert Hill (where we also brought bread and wine in water bottles for a nice sunset meal). Buda Hill had the Mestersegek Unnepe (Festival of Folk Art) happening the day we went. Not sure how it happened but we went through one of the entrances into the festival while sight seeing and skipped paying for entrance. People bring their arts and you walk from tent to tent. The basement of the Marriott or Hilton is where I had made reservations for a wine tasting experience. It took us 3 hours to find out it was in the basement of the hotel. That was a bad experience. No one had heard of the Faust wine cellar we went to because it is new. The wine tasting is quiet and the sommelier is very courteous. Tried Palinka for the first time. Tastes like fire. I read somewhere that the subway system is one of the oldest in Europe. You can also tell in person by the style of the train, and the absence of machines (the ticket checkers are people not machines). Be careful to only go through after you are sure you are on the right side. We almost had to buy another ticket because we were on the wrong side of the track, but the man was nice enough to be understanding of what happened (went to New York 6 months later and made the same mistakes, but the machines were not as nice).

Other buildings or sights we saw were the Parliament House, the Pesti Vigado, St Stephens Basilica, Mathias Church, Heroe's Square (an amazingly wide and open plaza), Central Market Hall (indoor farmer's market with the best Saurkraut in the world. So good I might want to go back to Hungary just for it) . And we got to meet my good friend Emily's cousin OG before we took off to the main train station.

Budapest photos here.

Europe Day 2, 3, 4: Prague, Czech Republic

The breakfast at the hostel was complete and better than any regular hotel. They had Nutella, salami, yogurt/granola/fruit, and a ton of other choices. I was very happy! We caught the 9am train to Prague. I will also share with you the logistic details of the trip, as I worked for weeks to plan this trip to obtain the best rates. For transportation between countries, I bought the Rail Europe Rail 'n Drive pass. You can mix and match whatever options best fit your needs. I selected the pass that gives you 4 days, 4 countries and 2 days of driving ($985/two). Then I worked with the Rail Europe customer service to set up reservations for routes that were in high demand (these came at an additional charge).

During the long train ride, we saw the scenery completely change and become more Eastern European as we entered Czech Republic. It was pretty fascinating getting an in-person feel of a place so foreign looking. Eastern Europe is full of historical and old buildings that are still standing, which makes for breath-taking views. We drop our stuff off at Corinthia Hotel Prague ($82/night). The 5-stars is way overrated and the only pro of staying there is that it's calm, next to metro, and you get a very nice view of Vysehrad/Zone 4 (a very residential neighborhood with Soviet-era residential towers far from the city center). This view is not easy to get because this is not a touristy area. Prague is divided into 10 districts (i.e. Prague 1, Prague 2,) which refer to each of the Prague neighborhoods; in many cases locals use the neighborhood names i.e. (Stare Mesto, Mala Strana, Vinohrady, etc) more frequently than the district numbers . Our first night we walked through New Town (Nové Město) and ate at Uno at a large shopping mall. Goulash was alright, the meat pancake was excellent, and the Tiramisu was good enough to order a second.

In the morning we went to old town Prague (Staré Město) to meet with our tour guide. This is a must for Prague because it is full of history and architecture, and a tour guide makes learning the facts possible and efficient. After meeting the guide in the Old Town, we took a coach to the Prague Castle (at the highest point in Prague) located at Hradčany (Prague 1). We saw the St. Vitus Cathedral (my favorite church in the trip, with Stephan's church in Viena as a close second). You can get a good view of Prague from Hradcany. Then we walk through the coblestone-filled Nerudova Street through Mala Strana (Lesser Town). We see St. Nicholas Church then have lunch (Goulash and beer) at an old Medieval tavern. Next we walk through Charles Bridge, one of Europe's oldest stone bridges, and board a small boat for our one hour river cruise. We see the bridge from the viewpoint of the water. Then a walk through the Old Town Square. There is the Lenon Wall, which started with people writing their thoughts during a time full of censorship and people continue to write on it, which means the wall continues to change over time. Tthen we also saw the love gate, where lovers go and put a lock on the gate and it is supposed to symbolize them locking their love together. Other superstitions include certain statues in the Charles Bridge, where if you touch the figure, it means you will be back to Prague within a year. The city is known for its stories, superstitions, and ghost tales. We also saw the Jewish Quarter (once the largest Jewish ghetto in Europe). Our tour guide was knowledgeable and personable, I would recommend the pragueexperience.com tour (950czk/adult). Tired of eating goulash, we bought wine, cheese, olives and amazing jamon from a local butcher and rested and feasted in the room.

The next day we checked into Miss Sophie's Prague (2510CZK/night). I loved this apartment hostel. You have to stay here if you're in Prague and like the idea of having your own kitchen. It's clean with a minimalist design and quiet view of the side street. On the third day we saw Wenceslas Square on our own and re-visited some areas we liked, and bought foods to cook at the apartment. At night, we had the memorable pleasure of enjoying a 100CZK beer at the patio of one of the restaurant in the center of Old Town, where you can people watch and enjoy the night view of the Astronomical clock and surrounding churches.

Prague has many nice cafes. This city has the best selection of breakfast places. The subway system is notably efficient and Prague has the fastest and longest escalator I have ever been on.

View photos of the Prague trip here.

Europe Day 1: Munich, Germany

Scored an aisle seat in the middle row first seat in the economy section. Nice leg room and vacant seat next to me to enjoy The Last Song, Mr. Wright, and Shrek 2. Arrived Monday morning of the 16th to Munich airport and started following signs. Having a good impression of Germany so far, everything is so logical. I like the way they think. The streets are very quiet as I travel in the S-Bahn towards the city. It is about a 20 minute walk to the hotel where my dad was staying (he arrived on the 16th), but I make it without getting lost and freshen up to get the airplane stink away. I hate the smell of an airplane cabin. It was nice to see my dad again. Last time we met was December, in my Asia trip where we spent time with family in Taiwan, adventured in Hong Kong, and hung out in Shenzhen.

Marienplatz

We took the U-Bahn to the city center to drop off our bags at the Euro Youth Hostel, our first hostel. My dad had already explored downtown the day before, and had remembered seeing a row of hotels and guided us in the right direction. Downtown is definitely city-like. The Germany parts I've seen near the airport were pretty quiet but the city is busy, noisy, and crowded. We saw Karlsplatz, walked down the streets full of shops, and found Marienplatz, a nice castle looking structure that pops out of nowhere. I suppose that is the old town part of Munich? Haufbrauhaus is a famous beer hall that attracts numerous tourists every day and I definitely thought it was worth checking it out... except once we got there my dad suggested that we would be waiting very long for our food because they are incredibly busy. The pubs are cafeteria-style where you sit next to anyone--there's no 'one-table-per-party' rule. I waited for a bit and realized he was right and we found a pub right across the street, Augustiner. Much more mellow with the best beer in the world and incredibly delicious Bavarian cuisine. I ordered the daily chili special (I forgot what it was called) and the Bavarian pork roast. It came with mashed potatoes that had the texture of mochi-- my dad loved it. The pork roast was my favorite dish in my whole entire Europe trip. It was that good. While dining we ended up becoming friends with Ben, who was sitting next to us. We chatted about Europe, our trip plans, customs. The beer at Augustiner is their own beer and they tap it out of a wooden keg. Every hour they tap a new one out by taking the tap and hammering it into the wooden keg. Ben says a strong guy who's good at it can get it in 1,2 hits. It is a lot harder than it seems. It was so fun to drink great beer out of a 1.5 liter stein. German-licious! Ben was there chilling out and having beers long before we got there and was still there when we left. So chill!

1.5L stein at Augustiner

During this trip, I sharpened my skills in map reading (pedestrian and freeway maps). I think I was a pretty awesome map reader and navigator. I got lost, sure, but I was always able to find my way back. And if not, I did this a lot, "Hey stranger, 'vo is [insert place name]'?" I love speaking foreign languages. It's so much fun to me.

We checked out St Peter's church after and made the hike up to the top to get a view of Marienplatz and surroundings. I flashed my USC ID and got a 0.50EUR discount :) The climb wasn't too bad, but as far as climbing to see top views, I think one climb per trip is enough.

After a day long of walking and sightseeing, we returned to the hostel. We were spent from day 1 and my dad suggested we go to the happy hour I scheduled in the itinerary I made. Despite it being a youth hostel, you could find more mature clientele in every 1 in 15. I was surprised/excited that my dad was down for getting happy hour beer at the hostel bar. For 1.50EUR a beer how can you not be down for it, right? We drank and chatted, and I enjoyed going online before bed for one of the few times I had internet access in Europe.

View from atop St Peter's Church (2EUR)

Munich photos here.

Wisconsin Dells Trip - Noah's Ark (America's Largest Waterpark)

"Go to Wisconsin Dells" is in the "List of things to do before leaving the Midwest." With summer 2/3 gone, Brian and I took advantage of a promising Sunday weather forecast and decided to venture out to WI this weekend. Wisconsin Dells, WI is a city full of water parks. Brian describes it as the "Vegas strip with water parks instead of casinos." There you will find the Kalahari, the largest indoor water park in the country, and Noah's Ark, America's largest waterpark. You'll notice as I write more that with almost every ride they try to break a record, whether it be largest, longest, or first.

The Dells is a 3-hour drive from Naperville, so we headed out on Saturday afternoon to stay in Madison, WI in order to wake up on Sunday morning and only drive an hour to get to the park. On our way to Wisconsin, we stop for dinner at Fudruckers. They have a lot of burgers made from different animals, and Brian has the Elk burger (made from Elk meet) while I stick with the boneless buffallo bites. We stayed at the Cambria Suites in Madison. It was fantastic! I got a deal through Hotwire and ended up getting this 3/3.5 star hotel for $54! It happened because I paid for a hotel that was overbooked and when that happens Hotwire accommodates you by re-booking you into a hotel that's at least a half star higher and covering the difference. That was pretty nice because I was mad when I found out my first hotel was full and they still took my money. Worked out well. Brian and I took advantage of the room fridge, the pool, jaccuzzi, and hotel bar!

Sunday morning we feasted on McDonald's breakfast to ready ourselves for Noah's Ark. We arrived 5 minutes after the park opened (9am) and got a shaded spot very close to the ticket booth/lockers.

 Our first ride was Time Warp, which had a surprisingly humongous drop close to the beginning. It was amazing how fast that ride was and how deep the drops were. The idea is that it uses centrifugal forces to keep you spinning through the funnel until you fall through at the bottom. I remember hanging onto the raft handles really tightly because you do feel like you're going to get blown off the raft. My butt popped off the seat and everything! It is officially the World’s Largest Bowl Ride. Kind of a crazy way to start your day/theme park experience, eh?

 Our second ride was Bermuda Triangle. You have to pick up your own yellow raft and bring it up the stairs to the ride. This one was a bit frightening because the raft kept seeming like it was going to slide out of the tube. It would go really high up the slide when you were turning corners.  Apparently you can ride it alone too which I didn't know until now.

Ah, Dark Voyage, one of the least favorite of the day. You "set off on a 4-person raft into total darkness to encounter the twisting, turning, mammoth rapids and other surprises within." I don't really like a ride where you can't see anything and they spin you and twist you. It made me pretty nauseated. 

Congo Bongo seemed easy enough to go on even though I felt a bit sick. We were paired up with a mom(?) and her daughter(?), the latter was terrified and had a crying face going into the ride. I sucked up my nausea for her and me and Brian tried to be good sports and pretend the ride was nice and fun. You have to cross your legs when you go into this ride. It's a 5-person circular ride, 700ft long. You're twisting in circles the whole time so sometimes you're going down backwards (p.s.: basically 80% of my Time Warp ride was backwards, so this happens on other rides too. Congo Bongo is not that special but it's family friendly).

SlideWinders was fun. It was our first solo ride of the day. Brian and I raced each other going down the body slides a few times.There are 3 slides to choose from and there is virtually no line. They are the blue tubes in the picture to the right, right behind the elephant.

In the Paradise Lagoon, the pool is 11 ft deep. On the left side, you can see the cable drops I went on (you start off at the top and ride it down and get dropped in the pool and swim out). What's tricky is that some people couldn't support their body weight so right when they pushed off the dock, their hands let go and they fell 11ft into the water (vs the 2in. at the end). On the right side, you can see the canon ball slide tube that ends about 5 feet in the air. When you go down the slide, you basically get tossed into the pool instead of crashed into the pool.

They also have these "lilly pads" that you skip on that seems kind of fun. I didn't see it until now. Would have probably tried it!

Then we went on Jungle Rapids. This is another one where you have to take up your own blue raft. "You’ll experience winding twists and turns, fast accelerations and gentle cruising stretches." Nice and easy. I loved this ride after

The Plunge (two blue slides on the right)

"When it comes to thrills, why not dive in head-first? Going feet first? That’s kid stuff. No, for real thrills, it’s time to face your fears and take The Plunge– the only extreme head-first waterslide in the Midwest. Race a friend or go it alone on one of two side-by-side slides that will leave you screaming for more!" This ride, while scary, is my second favorite of the park (after Anaconda). You pick up a blue mat that comes with two iron handles you can hang onto. As you go down the slide, the first hump lifts your body off the mat for a quick second. The second hump sends your body flying off the mat as you go down (see picture on left). It's very fun because you feel scared, excited, and a little safe since you're still holding onto the mat. It feels like you're flying throughout the ride.

This all happened by 11. In 2 hours we were able to take advantage of the short lines and conquer half the park! We took a lunch break and had a horrible meal at the Deli stand accross the ticket booth before walking to the other side of the park for Black Thunder, where we tried 3 of the 4 slides.

 Black Thunder requires you to carry up your own neon green raft. "If a waterslide with mind-bending twists and turns have you a little concerned, don’t worry. You won’t even see them coming inside the total darkness of Black Thunder. Of course, that’s the fun! Choose from four different slides, including the Twin Twisters and Witches Gulch, each offering their own unique thrills. And be sure to watch for the special effects, waterfalls and other surprises along the way!" I was a fan of Witch's Gulf and Brian liked the twin twisters. My hat flew off during Witch's Gulf , which was very sad (you can see the big dip in the picture. It's tubes 2 and 3). Fortunately, the hat floated very close to the stairs so Brian was able to grab it. Readers out there, do not try this at home as if you lose an item and it is too far from you, you could get hit by oncoming traffic when you go retrieve it.

We thought this was an indoor thrill ride but it's not! It's a haunted house with an optical illusion ride thrown in the middle. The ride is very nauseating as they lift your seat up really high and it looks kind of terrifying. Ugh I hated it, it was long and not fun. It was the opposite of fun if anything. Negative fun.

Finally, we decided to brave the line and wait for Black Anaconda. The wait was about 45 minutes and the ride was fantastic! My favorite of the park. They really splash you with a lot of water during the ride and it's very smooth and fast and thrilling.
"At over 1/4-mile long, Black Anaconda is America’s Longest Watercoaster—a diabolical combination of water slide and rollercoaster... [the] Black Anaconda swallows you whole, sending you spiraling down at 30 miles per hour. Then defy gravity as rushing waters push you up the creature’s six humps and lash you about in its dark coils. Black Anaconda lets you experience thrills on a whole new scale!" -Noah's Ark. They do wheel you up the humps really fast, it was good machinery work by the construction people! What's also cute is that you end the ride coming out of the Anaconda's mouth (see pic below).

After this, we wanted to line up for Scorpion Tail but came upon an obstacle. The lifeguard wanted us to remove our rashguards due to the fact the extra clothing might slow us down. Scorpion Tail has a lot of restrictions, and it is mainly because you have to get enough speed through the ride to make your way through the loop. So we went on a couple more rides that we liked again and then lined up.

"Ten stories high. 400-feet long. An initial drop that sends you plummeting down at more than 50-feet per second. Oh, and did we mention America’s first nearly vertical waterslide loop? Meet the Scorpion’s Tail. Yeah, this might sting a little." (Do you see the steep drop? Well that's only maybe 2/3 up the initial drop!)

The wait was soo long at 1.5 hours and the last 20 minutes were agonizing. You get to watch people fall through the tube and it makes you very anxious. You climb into the tube, they close the door, the computer counts down from 3 and the floor falls out from under you and you are launched down the tube/scorpion's tail and through the loop and 300ft below you come out. You have to keep your feet together and your arms crossed. First I stood on their weight balance, then I climbed into the tube. I think the scariest part is those last 10 minutes and the moment before the floor drops. When the floor disappears and you launch through it, I had my eyes closed so it felt very serene. It was quiet all of a sudden and I could feel the water splashing around me. You feel that weightlessness feeling but your gut doesn't quiet make it to your mouth on this one. I  When the drop finally ends and you are sliding through the loop. I open my eyes close to the end of the fall and start enjoying the ride more. I make my way up the loop ("hee hee") and then feel lost in time and start sliding head first ("oh no is it happening?") and then feel another twist and start going forward feet first ("this must be the crazy loop. maybe i'm upside down right now") then I finally go heads first through the ride ("ok I am officially stuck in the Scorpion's Tale. The rules sign said to wait until I stop moving and lay flat until someone comes.") and when I go forward feet first I come to a stop. The water is spraying in my face and I wait about a minute and someone pops out of the ceiling and says I can come out. So I exit through the staircase. Brian makes me feel better about getting stuck and we swap stories about our experiences on the Scorpion Tail ride. We go on Blue Rapids two more times to leave the park on a good note. That was really really fun! I was a kid at play.

You can watch a video of all the rides at:
http://www.noahsarkwaterpark.com/category/attractions/attractions-list/
Other cool rides:
http://www.womansday.com/Articles/Family-Lifestyle/Travel/9-Raging-Water-Rides.html