Sofia - Munich - Sion - Hägglingen - Munich

Thursday: For some reason, the arrival of my train was supposed to be at 10:35. Yana was coming to wait for me at the train station, but she saw on the Bulgarian Railways that the train didn't get in until 12:00. After all, she decided to trust me and came a few minutes after I thought I was supposed to arrive. In the end, it turns out she was right as I actually got in at 12:40. We headed to her flat to drop off my bag, then went to the mall to have lunch. I was somewhat tired after my train, even though I was able to laze around most of the morning, so we went to watch "Due Date" with Robert Downey Jr. and Zach Galifianakis. It's basically the same premise as "The Hangover", but with two less people and a child birth to get to from the other side of the country. Afterwards we headed back to her place, watched some TV shows and ordered pizza.
Friday: I walked to the hostel from Yana's flat to go check in as her roommates were coming back from Romania. I spent the afternoon on the computer before heading out to see Harry Potter 7. I came back and talked with Racheed and Yana over a few drinks.
Saturday: Got up and had breakfast, then watched a few movies with Bekim, Daniella and Sonja. Played a few games of pool with them as well. I watched the Bayern v Schalke game, which Bayern lost 2-0. Went out with Racheed and a few other people from the hostel to a nightclub nearby.
Sunday: I relaxed most of the day, recuperating from the night out. I played some more pool against Bekim and then eventually Yana came to the hostel so we could go watch "The next three days". Afterwards we walked to a restaurant so that Yana could have supper as she was used to her night-shift schedule. She went back to her flat and I went to the hostel and talked with Racheed.
Monday: I went to visit the Ladies' Market in the afternoon with Bekim and Adam. Afterwards I had some shopping to do so that I was ready for my next day on the train. I went back to the hostel and when it was time to call the taxi, it didn't come, so Stan from the hostel came outside with me and flagged one down while explaining where I was going. Go onto the train no problem, but it was late into Belgrade (by an hour and forty minutes... welcome to the Balkans) so I missed the train going directly to Munich.
Tuesday: I had to catch a train to Budapest first, and my connection in Budapest was about 15 minutes. Well, the train was 10 minutes late (although for a 8 hour train that isn't bad) so I had all of 5 minutes to get off and find the train I had to get onto, but that went without a hitch, even had a couple of minutes to spare. Got into Munich at about 10:45 PM after having left Sofia the previous evening at 8:40 PM. Thankfully, I had deliberatley booked a hostel right next to the Munich Hauptbahnhof.
Wednesday: Turns out that a lot of people in the hostel were there for the Bayern Munich v FC Basel match. One of my roommates, Nick, is a huge Bayern fan, and also speaks great German because his parents are from Germany. We talked a bit before he went out to do the walking tour, while I visited the city alone (having already done the walking tour). We agreed to go to the match together, and we left at about 7 PM. The Metro was obviously packed, and once at the stadium, we found our tickets and went in. Turns out we were seated at opposite ends of the pitch. Bayern are really improving with the return of Breno and Ribery. Bayern created quite a few chances, Ribery especially, but Bayern will have to work on timing and positioning, because Gomez was constantly in the wrong spot to receive Ribery's crosses. Bayern went on to win the match 3-0. I met up with Nick and we headed to the Metro, which was even more packed than on the way in. You quite literally didn't even have to hold on to anything while standing, because you were completly surrounded by other people.
Thursday: I was planning on leaving for Sion, but as it was snowing the trains were quite delayed out of Germany and I missed the one I was planning on taking. I decided to stay in Munich another day. It gave me the chance to visit the Weihnachtmarkt (Christmas market) and to try some delicious Glühwein (mulled wine). I walked around the Altstadt (old city) which has the markets on pretty much all of the pedestrian streets.
Friday: I got up early and went to the train station. I spent about 10 hours on various trains, going through Stuttgart, Karlruhe, Basel, Visp and finally arriving in Sion. When I got in I called Michel as he had offered to come and pick me up. I visited with him and Rose-Marie for a bit, then went to Gregoire's to go to bed.
Saturday: I went skiing with Gregoire at Ovronnaz, which was great fun. I haven't skied for about 10 years, so the first couple of minutes were used to getting used to it again, but after that it was really great fun. We had Swiss fondue at the restaurant on the mountain, with a bit of Fendant wine. In the evening we visisted a "cave" with Guy and Isabelle. I bought a couple of bottles from there, and then we went to another "cave" where I bought another few bottles. We went to have supper and afterwards Emilie took me out to Britannica. Gabriel came to pick us up and drove me home.
Sunday: I had some fun repacking my bag with all the wine bottles I bought. Emilie picked me up with Tania and Philippe. We headed to Montreux to visit the Christmas market there. After a few hours of walking, I went to the train station to catch a train to go to Lenzburg. I go in at about 6:30 PM, and Ursula was already at the train station so we just had to find each other. She drove back home to Hägglingen, where I met the family and we had a wonderful supper. Afterwards, Ursula, her daughter Corrine and her boyfriend Marco and I went to an Irish pub in Lenzburg to meet up with a couple of Ursula's friends: Anja and Daniella. We had a few drinks and I told some stories about my trip.
Monday: I headed off to Zürich with Ursula and Corrine. We walked down the Bahnhofstrasse, then grabbed a tram to the edge of the Zürich lake. We then walked through the old city, named Niederdorf, seeing the Grossmünster church. We walked back to the train station and went back to Hägglingen. Corrine's friend came over after supper and we all looked at a photo album of when Ursula came to Canada.
Tuesday: Anja and Daniella offered to take me to Luzern to visit the city. We took the scenic route there to see some very nice Swiss countryside. In town we saw the Jesuit church and the Kapell-brücke (chapel bridge) and walked around the old city. We visited one of Anja's friends at work, before heading for lunch. Eventually we went back to the car to pick up my bag and I went to my train back to Munich.
Wednesday: I took the S-Bahn, which for some reason was running slow, to go to the Munich airport. Got there later than I wanted but checked in, got through passport control and security without a problem. Got on the plane and when we landed in Philadelphia, I saw that they lost my back-pack. Went through US Customs no problem and when I got to my gate for my flight to Montreal, it was cancelled, so I had to wait another two and a half hours for the next one. Of course, the lost baggage counter was closed, so I went home quickly.

Belgrade - Sofia - Istanbul

Tuesday: I got into Belgrade, walked past my hostel but stumbled upon an Internet cafe, where I learned that I had to walk back 10 minutes towards the train station. I still had trouble finding the Green Room hostel, since it isn't all that visible from the street (it's only one floor of a six floor building). I found out that Partizan Belgrade was playing against Shakhtar Donetsk the same evening so I decided to go, and one of the employees at the hostel offered to come and buy the ticket with me, which I found incredibly helpful. I had trouble finding the correct trolley-bus, but when I did, most of the people on it were going to the stadium so I just followed them. Although FK Partizan played a good first half, Shakhtar Donetsk eventually overpowered them and won the match 3-0. Number 10 for Partizan, Moreira, was easily the best player on the team.
Wednesday: I did the walking tour of Belgrade, which starts out at the Horse monument (actually a monument to Prince Mihailova, but all the locals call it the horse monument). We walked around and saw the main sights, including a grafiti of the Partizan fan club (called the grave-diggers) in a zone of the city called Alcatraz. This grafiti is actually surveilled 24 hours a day to avoid anyone painting over it. We also saw the only reamining mosque in all of Belgrade, though it used to be under the Ottoman empire and had hundreds of them. We also saw the zoo, which is one of the best in world for the animals, since they mate in captivity. We then walked up to the fortress, which is where Belgrade got it's name (Beograd, beo = white and grad = city, the castle is white and is the first thing you see when coming up the river Danube). The people from the tour stuck together and we kind of wandered around the city. Eventually we came upon a cafe and stopped. I didn't know what I wanted really, so I just pointed to some random item on the menu and it turned out to be delicious mulled wine. I grabbed some Chinese food and ate it at the hostel before heading out for my night-train to Sofia (София).

Thursday: The train conductor woke me up when we were in the station, so I had pack the things I took out quickly and then get off the train. Walked for about 25 minutes to the hostel, and the whole time I was basically trying to actually get my brain to wake up. I got in and relaxed for a while and then eventually went to book my night-train to Istanbul. I came back and started chatting with the people at the hostel. Yana (Яна) and I talked for a bit before I went to bed.
Friday: I did the walking tour which took us around the city to see the main sights, such as some of the remains of buildings built by the Romans. We also saw the changing of the guard, the parliament building, the national theatre, the church of St. Nicholas the Miracle-Maker and a few other sights. I then went to meet Yana at the Mall of Sofia. We had lunch, shopped and eventually we went back to her place since she had to change before going to work. Racheed tried quite a bit to get me to go out with him, a few other people from the hostel and Damien, one of the employees who has to be our guide, but I was feeling too tired to go out.
Saturday: I was walking around the shopping district when I bumped into Phil and Stewart. We walked around a bit and then came back to the hostel to play pool and relax. I eventually had to head out to catch my night-train, though the train station in Sofia is horrible, with some sort of track numbering system consisting of Latin and Arabic numerals. I eventually found my train, good luck another part of the train coming in from somewhere else was late. The Bulgarian border was a normal one to cross, passport control in the cabins, but at the Turkish border we had to get off the train to verify the passport, then buy entry visas (for some reason the most expensive is for Canadians citizens) and then get the visa verified and stamped. All in all it consisted of a stop-over of about 45 minutes at 3AM.

Sunday: Got into Istanbul. I had walking directions to get to the hostel I had reserved, but had no inclination of walking, especially since the streets in Istanbul are all about 200 meters long, so a 20 minute walk consisted of about 12 streets. I finally found out that a tram led to the Sultan Ahmet (Blue) mosque, which was very close to my hostel. After having looked around for a while and being unsuccessful at finding the hostel I had reserved, I stumbled upon the Orient hostel, which Phil had recommended. I walked in and they had room so it was a done deal. I walked into the room and was greeted by four extremely friendly roommates, who told me the story of one of the other previous roommates who actually got kicked out of the room for extreme snoring. They were headed out for some sightseeing, so I decided to follow them as I didn't really have a plan for the day. We walked along the highway that runs along the Bosphorus from the southeast to the northeast of the Fenerbahçe neighborhood and we saw the lighthouse on the way. We visited the spice market, and then went inside the New mosque (Yeni Cami). We then tried to go to the Grand Bazaar, but it was closed. I headed back to the hostel to nap while the others continued sightseeing. In the evening we all went out for kebabs and came back to a bar across the street from the hostel to smoke hookah. In the bar we saw the final minutes of the Galatasaray v Beşiktaş game, both neighboring districts on the Northern European side of Istanbul. The away team, Beşiktaş won 2-1, and since we were on the Southern European side, we didn't really hear any kind of street rioting or whatnot happen.
Monday: I went for a haircut and a shave, keeping only my Movember mustache on. I then went to join the rest of the group at the Blue mosque (Sultanahmet Camii). We then headed over to the Grand Bazaar (Kapalıçarşı), which happens to be one of the oldest and largest covered markets in the world, and basically the inspiration for shopping malls, where, as everyone else, we got lost and came out at a different exit. We saw a pizza delivery man that looked completely clueless as to where he was supposed to go. To give you an idea of the size, the West Edmonton Mall has an area of 570,000 square meters, whereas the Grand Bazaar has an area of 307,000 square meters. We had a great fish sandwich by the river as a snack. Greg and I went over to Üsküdar, the Asian side of Istanbul for a little more than an hour. On our way back, before getting onto the ferry, we had a french fry sandwich, which I think is just about the definition of junk food. I had a typical meze plate for supper, which consists of four different sauces. I'm quite sure one of them was aubergines, another one very similar to tzatziki, some salsa-like sauce and hummus. It also had rice-stuffed vine leaves and is eaten with a bread similar to pitas. I then went to a bar next door to watch the El Clasico (one of the biggest derbys in the world, the game actually has a name), Real Madrid CF visiting FC Barcelona. To give you an idea, it's much more than about just the football. It's a time when the ideology and culture of two very distinct regions of Spain meet. The capital and where all of the decisions are made, against the the capital of Catalonia, a region that has long wanted independence from the central government. Real Madrid is the rich club, the New York Yankees of Spanish football, the club that considers players as stock, to be bought and sold as much as possible. Always buy the best players, that's their ideology. Barcelona is the complete opposite. They have a very good youth development program, with many of their current stars having gone through it. They consider their players as an investment that will bring them victory and thus money. There could never be two more different clubs. All of this in a country that is mad for football. Barcelona ended up winning 5-0 and you can be sure that Barcelona now has bragging rights, until the next El Clasico is played.
Tuesday: I woke up to find my cellphone wasn't working, so I spent part of the day trying to unsuccessfully fix it. I guess that will have to wait until I get back. In the evening I went out to supper with Greg and David, had manti, a type of Turkish ravioli. We then smoked hookah for the rest of the evening.
Wednesday: I went up to the Topkapi palace, though I didn't actually want to go inside. I crossed the Galata bridge, and found a used book store. I then went to a barber to get a shave, including the mustache this time. I then walked up to Taksim square, where a bombing took place about a month ago. I took a historic tram back to the edge of Galata, then an underground train to get closer to river. I had to walk back uphill to see the Galata tower (the train passes underneath it). I then went to the spice market and the Grand Bazaar to do some Christmas shopping. I came back to the hostel to drop off my stuff before heading back out to take a Turkish bath, which consists of a guy throwing water at you (no small exaggeration, he literally throws it at you). Then he peels your skin with a special glove, and gives you a foam massage. Afterwards you rinse and you're as good as new. I had a beef McTurco for supper (folded pita bread with a beef patty inside). After that I was quite relaxed and set for the night-train, which again consisted of getting up and going outside at the Turkish border for passport control.

11 days in Budapest

Thursday: Matt and I got into to Budapest and walked to the hostel. When we got there, we had a cup of coffee and talked with the people there for a while. I wasn't sure what I wanted to do for the day, so I hung around the hostel and got to know the people that were staying there. In the evening, I went out to Instant, but decided to come back early as I was feeling quite tired. I slept for a full 12 hours, so I think that my body really needed the rest.

Friday: I visited the Buda castle Labyrinth with some people from the hostel. It's a cool concept, but they make it kind of cheesy. The signs around the labyrinth talk of this civilization that never actually existed. On our way there we stopped at the Fisherman's bastion and St. Matthias church. In the evening we went to Grandio hostel, a sister hostel of Carpe Noctem, where we had a Jager train. Red bull is poured into bigger glasses, and shooters of Jagermeister are ligned up on top of them. Someone pushes the first shot glass, and as dominoes, all of the shooters fall into the glasses (see video). We then went to Corvin night club and had a lot of fun.

Saturday: I took the afternoon easy. In the evening I went out on a pub crawl.

Sunday: I went to Arriba for lunch, a Mexican place right next to the hostel. In the evening, I had a true Hungarian four course supper. A bowl of soup, some weird appetizer, then the main dish of Goose neck with mashed potatoes, then a shooter of Palinka (a fruit brandy) as a digestif and apple crepes for dessert. We then went to bar downstairs in the Grandio, of "the cave" as they call it.

Monday: I went out for karaoke night at Morrison's.

Tuesday: I had to look for a costume as today it was dress-up when we went out, the theme: Cowboys & Indians. Found a plaid shirt and a toy gun, combined with my Levi's 501, I figured I was dressed-up enough. We went out to a different bar, though it was still karaoke. I ended up leaving early as Cassie and I were pretty lame, though we brought Damien back as he was pretty far drunk.

Wednesday - Sunday: I got food poisoning and had a cold at the same time, so I spent these days doing as little as possible to rest. On Friday I changed hostels to the Carpe Noctem Penthouse and went out to Liszt fest, which is some kind of music and wine festival. I had supper at a pretty nice place and tried out two types of Tokaji, the first wine subject to appellation control. I also tried some Unicum as a digestif. On Sunday I went to the Szecheney thermal baths.

Monday: I did a tour of the city. We started out at Heroe's square, then we visited the Vajdahunyad castle, St Stephen church and the Buda castle. I then went to the synagogue, Europe's largest and the worlds second (behind New York). Afterwards I went to the train station to reserve my couchette on a night train to Belgrade.

Mid-travel thoughts

Here I will post some thoughts and things I would recommend for the different places I've visited until now.

I will also be using the self-invented PHLB (price for half a liter of beer) and PDK (price for a doner kebap), both in Euros, to give an idea of the cost of travelling in these cities. Except accomadation and what not to follow the same scale.

Munich: Though much of what North Americans think of when they think Germany is in fact Bavarian, most of the language stuff (classes, phrase-books, etc.) will of course be High German, which is more similar to what they speak in the north (though absolutley every region, even neighbooring towns have local variations). Thus, the typical salutation "Hallo" will have you looking like either a northerner or a foreigner (obviously depending on your accent). Try "Gruß Gott" (pronounced like "Goose" with a rolled R and got as in "I have got it") or "Servus". "Servus" can also be used to say goodbye, and is again much more local than the High German "Auf wiedersehen" (number of times I heard "Auf wiedersehen" during my two weeks in Munich: 0).

PHLB (obviously this excludes overpriced Oktoberfest, at 5€): 2.50-4€

PDK: 3€

Berlin: This is where the transition to "north german" happens. Thus "auf wiedersehen" is the correct way to say goodbye. Also, whereas they use "Samstag" in the south for Saturday, the north uses "Sonnabend" (literally "Sun(day) evening") which I think could get confusing, if you're example invited somewhere on a Sunday evening ("Sonntag abend").

PHLB: 3-3.50€

PDK: 3€

Hamburg: Much of northern Germany is built on dried out marshes. Don't wonder who farted if it stinks, that's what a marsh smells like.

PHLB: 3.50-4€

PDK: 3.50-4€

Cologne: Though beer connaisseurs know that Kölsch is supposed to typically have at least somewhat of a spicy taste, all of the big breweries have gone the way of their Lagered bretheren and are now almost tasteless. If you want to try a tasty Kölsch, head to Braustelle, Cologne's smallest brewery, who brew an authentic (and delicious) Kölsch on the spot.

PHLB: 4-5€

PDK: 3-4€

Amsterdam: Whereas Germans typically will speak quite good English, they never seem to enjoy speaking it (maybe the grudge that Anglo-saxons overtook Germans in importance through England and the USA), just about anyone under 40 in Amsterdam will basically speak almost perfect English, and will be happy to speak it as well. I believe this comes from the fact that, being such a small country, they have always been very open-minded and international, since a big part of their wealth comes from imports and exports.

PHLB: 5-6€

PDK: 5€

Sion: Switzerland is expensive. A big thanks to everyone who hosted me there, Michel, Marie-Rose and Gregoire, as well as Emilie and Gabriel for taking me out to see so much while I was there.

PHLB: 6-7€

PDK: 7€

Vienna: I would say that this is where the transition from Western to Eastern Europe becomes apparent. Though still using the Euro, everything is a bit cheaper than in neighboring Germany.

PHLB: 2-3€

PDK: 3.5€

Bratislava: As Slovakia joined the Euro less than a year ago, everything is quite cheap there still (expect prices to go up). I would say that the city really surprised me, I wasn't expecting as much as it had to offer. I would definatley recommend it for anyone looking to have fun on the cheap, or to relax, since most of the important sights can be seen and visited in a day or two, leaving lots of time off. Also, it is small enough that walking is a very convenient way of moving around.

PHLB: 1.10-2.10€

PDK: Unknown (as eating at a sit-down restaurant is so cheap).

Prague: The Czech Republic still uses the Czech crown, which means that everything is extremely cheap. It feels and looks similar East Berlin, though the city is much smaller, so walking still remains a very good means of transportation, and also from what I've heard, the public transport can be somewhat confusing. Although drinking in the street is accepted, it isn't practiced much, mainly because street vendors typical sell beer the same price or more than a bar.

PHLB: 0.80-1.25€

PDK: 3€

10 days in Prague

Sunday: I got up at midday and killed oI the afternoon in a cafe nearby, having breakfast and a few coffees followed by a few beers. In the evening I went to the bar downstairs in our hostel to talk and drink. Eventually we headed out to a club nearby, but I didn't stay very long since it wasn't the kind of music I like.

Monday: I did the Sandeman's New Europe free tour, which started in the main square. From there we saw the main churches in the sqaure, as well as the astrological clock and the Jan Hus statue. We went on to see the other main sights, including Winceslas square, the Power tower, the Franz Kafka statue and the Rudolfonium. We finished right next to the Charles bridge, and I went up to the Metronome with David and Pieta, an australian couple I met on the tour, to take panaromas of Prague. We also went to the statue at the Franz Kafka museum of two men peeing on a fountain the shape of the Czech Republic. Afterwards I asked them if they wanted to join up for supper at Ferdinand, the same place I went the evening before, later in the evening and they agreed. I went back the hostel to shower and relax a bit before heading out again. I met up with them just by chance on the street corner after having went in to confirm they weren't already inside. We had supper, I tried out the blue cheese pork steak which was simply delicious. Both of them were very nice and we had some great conversation about travelling, they had some good tips about Turkey. They were extremely generous and payed for my supper. We talked more while walking to the start of the pub crawl and my night out began. I met a group of American students studying abroad and we talked quite a bit. After a few bars and clubs, I came back but decided to start my search for a kebab stand with two dutch girls. We were unsuccesful, and after 30 minutes had to settle for hot dogs, at which point I came back to the hostel.

Tuesday: I didn't get up to much today. Late breakfast, spent some time in the afternoon on the computer. In the evening I went to the bar in the hostel to watch the Tottenham - Inter match.

Wednesday: I visited the ossuary at Kutna Hora with Matt and Ema. I tried to find a sports bar near the hostel to watch the Bayern Munich match, but the one I found was playing another champion's league game, so I went to pick up a pizza and went back there. I spent some time talking with Ema and an australian we met there. I met Virginia when I came back, a girl from Boucherville.

Thursday: I visited the Prague Castle with Virginia, Aaron and Ethan. We then went to the statue of two guys peeing and on our way back Virginia and I visited the Torture museum. We stopped for sushi on our way back to the hostel, where we got ready for the pub crawl that about 10 people from the hostel were going to, which was awesome cause so many people knew each other.

Friday: We got up and Seth offered to cook breakfast, so we headed out to get groceries. He made us pancakes, eggs and some pork and we had a plate of fruit and chocolate as well. Afterwards we watched "The Kite Runner" and napped, getting ready for another night of partying. Rod, one of the guys who works at the hostel, had about 20 czech people over to the bar in the hostel as they were celebrating something. Seth took some amazing black and white pictures, as he's a photographer. Eventually we headed out to Jack Rabbit Slim's to continue the party.

Saturday: I took the afternoon easy, watching a movie. I went out to a pizza restaurant around the corner from the hostel and had the house variety, which came with a scoop of sour cream in the middle. Rod took us out again to a different bar but I hadn't fully recuperated from the previous days so came back early.

Sunday: I took the day slow again, watching a couple of movies with Virginia. We played some drinking games in the evening, and when the others headed out I just went to bed.

Monday: I visited the Pilsner Urquell brewery with some guys from the hostel. Pilsen, as the name suggests, is the birthplace of the Pilsner, the first bottom-feremented (lager yeast) beer. The first batch was brewed on the 5th of October 1842, and from then on changed the face of the pale-lager style. We visited the bottling plant (capacity: 120000 bottles and 40000 cans an hour), the old brewery then the new brewey and finished in the cellar, where maturing still takes place. There we were able to taste an unfiltered version of the product, still fermented in the oak vats. Afterwards we went to see the synagogue in Pilsen, the second biggest in Europe and third in the world. On our way back we stopped at "The Pub", a chain of bars accross the Czech Republic where there are taps on the tables. The concept is that you pour your own beers, and somewhat of a competition begins, with a system that calculates the amount of beers poured and comoares them on a scoreboard, between the pub you're in and the other pubs around the country. We came back to Prague and had supper at a local restaurant that serves a "farm plate": a whole bunch of different meats. We headed back quickly to the hostel before leaving again to go join the Prague Underground pub crawl.

Tuesday: I took the day slow again and watched Pulp Fiction. We played some drinking games and then headed out to Jack Rabbit Slim's again, which was unfortunatley quite empty, so we ended up coming back pretty early.

Wednesday: I went for a day trip to Karlovy Vary (Karlsbad), the filming location of Casino Royale (the Pupp hotel is there) with Matt. Came back to the hostel to chat with the people there before heading back to the train station to grab the night train to Budapest. The night train actually left from Berlin so the compartement I was in already had four people sleeping in it.

Tour of Vienna/Bayern 2 - 1 Bremen - Night out with Andrew - Vienna to Bratislava - Day in Bratislava/Bayern 4 - 2 Freiburg - Bratislava to Prague

Tuesday: I arrived very early in Vienna on a night train from Zurich, so I went straight to the hostel to go check out what sights to see. I ended up going to the tourist information center, and they had a self-guided walking tour of the more important sights of the city. It starts off at Stephan's church, takes you to the Hofburg palace, past the square inside (where there happened to be an army demo since it was Austria's national holiday), Museumsquartier, Sezession monument, the Mozart monument and you end up at the Opera. Towards the end I saw brew-pub and stopped for a pint of a delicious IPA and true to style Dunkel (dark malts only). After all that walking I went back to the hostel to find a sports bar showing the German cup (DFB-Pokal) match of Bayern v Bremen. Bayern played their typical poor forn of late, what with all the injured players. Bastian Schweinsteiger was the hero of the match, with both goals, one a real cracker from 30 meters out, yelling beforehand for the ball with just enough space to get a slight first touch before rocketing it past the keeper.

Wedensday: In the afternoon I went to see Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (sorry Nic). In the evening I met up with Andrew, who I met in Hamburg, and who is studying in Vienna. We went to the Travel shack, where we involuntarily started doing the drinking challenge. One of the barmaids told us about it two dribks in: a shot of Viennese blood (a chili liquor which you swish in your mouth for 10 seconds), a fireshot of sambucca, a snuff shot (a eucalyptus aroma something that you inhale) and finally a half-liter of beer through a beer bong. We then got our rewards: our faces painted and writing our names on the wall. After a couple other drinks we left.

Thursday: I decided to visit a few of the filming locations of "The Living Daylights" (James Bond number 15, 1987) in Vienna. I started at Schloß Schönbrunn, before heading to Schwarzenberg palace, then Prater park and to finish off the afternoon I visited Gasometers. I also visited Schloß Belvedere. I then took a one hour train to Bratislava, and checked into my hostel there.

Friday: I walked around Bratislava for the afternoon and saw the important sights, the presidential palace, the philharmonic orchestra house, the Danube river and the Bratislava castle. In the evening I went to a small local restaurant to have supper and try out Kofola, a slovak soft drink that tastes like a less sweet version of Coke with a slight citrus and cardamome flavour. I then went to a sports bar to watch the Bayern Munich match. On the main floor there was a Halloween party, so they were showing the match in the VIP room upstairs, where me and a german man watched the match. Sorry to sound like a broken cassette, but Bayern played their typical bad form of late in the first half. A headed goal from Demichelis (39') right before half-time and most likely one of van Gaal's classic motivational speaches saw a more confident Bayern come out of the tunnel for the second half. Gomez eventually put one of his multiple chances into the back of the net with a simple header from a corner (69'). Freiburg pulled a goal back and the game got tense again. Right afterwards Tymoschuk got Bayern's third (72'), taking his time with his first touch before sneaking it past the keeper in the far bottom corner. Kroos scored his first goal (80') for Bayern with a lovely distance shot and just enough space to put it into the top corner. To end the night, substite Braafheid scored his opener for Bayern, though it was an own goal.

Saturday: I returned to Vienna (since I learned that Slovakia isn't on the Eurail pass, I thought it was better to pass through Austria) to then head to Prague. I met a Canadian couple and we talked for the whole train ride. They invited me to supper with them in a typical Prague pub-restaurant, where we seemed to be the only foreigners. We then walked around the main pedestrian street before calling it a night.

Geneva - Tour of Anniviers valley - Evening out in Sion - The baths at Saillon - The castles of Sion and night train to Vienna

Thursday: I went to Geneva for the day and saw the city with Emilie. Though she has been living there for more than a year, for her studies, she never really played tourist there. She knows the important sights, but it was a discovery for both of us. We visited the Brunswick fountain first, then we saw the "jet d'eau" (water fountain) which throws water up to 180 meters. It was originally an pressure release for one of the hydroelectric damns near Geneva, but the locals like it so much that they made it a permanent installation. We then went to the English garden nearby, though most of the flowers had been removed for the winter. We saw the "mur des reformateurs" (wall of the reformers), all of them Genevois (as everywhere in Switzerland, people feel a stronger affiliation to their Canton than to the Swiss Confederation). The most notable is Calvin. We visited the crypts of the St. Nicholas church, which was expanded a total of four times before being it's current size. We finished the day off by visiting the UN and the botanical gardens, with a quick trip to "Les Brasseurs", a brew-pub, where I tried a cherry beer, before catching the train back to Sion.

Friday: Gregoire and I visited the valley of Anniviers in the morning. We stopped at Grimentz to have a look at the old town, before heading to the Eastern side of the valley to visit the tourist town of Zinal, which was obviously quite dead at this time of year. Afterwards we visited the Wine and vine museum in Salquenen (or Salgesch in German). This part of the Valais is where the transition from French to German happens (called the Rösti line). It was fun to see all the progress that was made in the past centuries in terms of equipment and knowledge. We then went to the second museum of the same name in Sierre (Sidders). It is a bit more modern and there is quite a bit less technical stuff. We then headed over to Provins, which is the dealer who Michel sells his grapes to. They were having a degustation of three different Fendants, a local AOC. To end the afternoon we visited "La Sierrvoire", a brew-pub in, you guessed it, Sierre. They also had a degustation, and we tried three varities, the "Clair" a slightly spicy pale ale, the "Blanche" a belgian style wheat beer and the "Rousse" an incredebly malty red.

Saturday: For lunch Rose-Marie (Michel's wife) made a wonderful tomatoe and cheese fondue, which you spread over potatoes. In the afternoon I went to Gaya's (a friend of Emilie) mother's sled-dog kennel to help Emilie feed them. Gregoire and I made some spaghetti bolognese thinking that Emilie and Gabriel might come and join us for supper, but they had sabdwiches after doing the invetory of a grocery store. Afterwards, I went bowling with Emilie and Gaya, and for once wasn't the worst player. Gaya went home after two games and Emilie took me to "Le Baroque", a small bar where we talked for a while before she took me back to Gregoire's.

Sunday: For lunch I went to Gisele's, who is Michel's sister, with Gregoire, Emilie and Gabriel. In the afternoon Gabriel and I were supposed to go rock-climbing, but both places were closed, so we went to the baths at Saillon with a friend of Gabriel's and her sister. I had supper at Jean-Luc's, with him as well as Emilie and Gabriel. Afterwards I went to see "Les petits mouchoirs", a French film, with Gregoire.

Monday: Gregoire took me to a small mountain with a great view over the valley. The snow had set in at higher altitudes, so when we got to a nice plateau we stopped climbing as the paths were slippery. I was able to take some great pictures from up there. We came back into Ardon and took an apero at the bistro where Gregoire's friends, who went to the play with us, work. In the afternoon I visited the two castles of Sion, Valere and Tourbillon, which are both on neighbooring hill tops overlooking the Valais. Afterwards I got my pack ready and went for a last supper at Michel and Rose-Marie's. They made me a typical valaisan supper, the "croûte au fromage" (cheese crust): bread with a bit of wine drizzled on, topped with ham slices, cheese and two eggs, quite a hardy meal. Then it was time to go grab my first train to Visp, then Zurich where I took a night-train to Vienna.