I found these journal entries on my phone from my first few days in Europe last fall. They made me smile with nostalgia, so I thought I would share. Apologies for the informal grammar.
October 5-6. 2014
Spokane, WA to Munich, Germany
1.5-hour drive to Spokane, 42 minute flight to Seattle. Uneventful. Didn’t know Sea-Tac had a shuttle system. Luckily, I figured it out pretty quick. It was really efficient. Smacked my forehead on the overhead compartment door. Typical me.
7-hour flight to Iceland via Icelandair. Long. Had an aisle seat. Some guy trying to reach his carry-on in the compartment above me practically set his junk on my shoulder. I mean, he was wearing pants. But still. Come on dude, personal space. Watched Sound of Music. It was nice to watch something familiar when I was surrounded by things completely new and foreign to me. Flew over Canada and watched the sun set over the Canadian horizon. Water was deep, depths of the ocean blue. The sunset was a beautiful gold, orange, and magenta. My butt hurt.
Used lavatory twice (it’s called the “salerni” in Islenska, which is Iceland’s language). Didn’t know meals weren’t included with the flight so I had to buy a ham and cheese sandwich for €6 or 900 Icelandic currency things. I was definitely glad I packed Clif bars in my carry on. Those things are lifesavers. So is complimentary orange juice. Read for awhile, tried to sleep but couldn’t. My pillow had an Icelandic lullaby on it:
Bye bye and hushabye,
Can you see the swans fly?
Now half asleep in bed I lie,
Awake with half an eye.
Heyho and welladay,
Over hills and far away.
That’s where the little children stray,
To find the lambs at play.
Flew over the polar ice cap but it was pitch black outside. As if a colossal squid had inked over the world. Too bad, I would have liked to see it. Though that would mean staring intently in the direction of my seat mates who probably think I am some creeper from America. An Icelandic couple sits next to me. The woman is reading Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, but it’s in Islenska. The woman across the aisle from me is watching Fault in Our Stars. I keep waiting for her to cry but she doesn’t. Kudos to you strange lady. You’re a stronger woman than me.
Flight to Frankfurt: 4 hours, read most of the way, tried to sleep but couldn’t. It’s fun to dip beneath the clouds and see my first glimpse of Germany. Stopped for lunch in the airport. Ate frankfurter wurstchen with potato salad. Hit the spot after a day of Clif bars and one small sandwich.
Train to Munich: Gah, what a crazy experience. Thank goodness for nice, bilingual people. I would not have made it otherwise. A nice employee helped me activate my Eurail pass, then I got on the train and had no idea what to do. I was expecting assigned seating but it was a free-for-all. It became a scavenger hunt for a seat that wasn’t reserved for any portion of the trip. After awkwardly holding up the boarding line, blushing profusely and stammering apologies in English, I finally found an open aisle seat next to a young German man. Then he got off the train at Manheim, and I took his window seat.
Beautiful views of the Bavarian countryside for the entire journey (about 4 hours). At this point, I had been awake for 22 hours straight and it was finally starting to hit me. I tried very hard to stay awake so I could go to sleep at my hostel. My contacts were still in, and I had brushed my teeth in the airport bathroom. There’s a little German boy in the seat in front of me making fart noises and giggling. Guess fart jokes are universally appreciated. Solar panels everywhere.
October 7, 2014
Getting on the train to Salzburg, Austria from Munich
I woke up late. Rushed to shower, eat my complimentary breakfast (fruit cocktail topped with yogurt and dry oatmeal and a glass of orange juice), and check out of the hostel. I speedwalked for 10 minutes down the streets of Munich to Hackerbrücke, a train and bus station.
I made it to the platform with 15 minutes to spare. You’re supposed to be there with 30. I was sweaty and red-faced, but I made it! Then the bus ended up being at a different platform, and I only figured that out thanks to a traveling couple who asked me if
I was going to Salzburg too and directed me to the other platform. Thank goodness for nice people.
The bus was quite nice and there was only a handful of people on the upper deck where I was sitting. It took us 45 minutes to get out of Munich. Traffic was slow, but I enjoyed looking at all the German car brands I hadn’t heard of. Then we got on the highway. It was surrounded on both sides by trees, some of which were starting to change colors for Fall. It was beautiful. Also the German word for “exit” is “Ausfahrt” so I giggled every time we passed an exit haha.
October 9, 2014
Heading back to Munich from Salzburg
Oy vey. Well this morning started out crazy. I thought I was getting this whole international travel thing under control, but turns out when I’m stressed I don’t know the difference between a bus and a train. I bought my €6 bus ticket back to Munich last night, but this morning I got so flustered at the Salzburg train/bus station that I accidentally hopped on a train instead of the bus. Whoops. Takes me to the same town (different transportation station) so I guess it all works out. But man… I felt pretty stupid haha.
Thank goodness I have a Eurail pass, and I just whipped that out to cover my butt when the ticket guy stopped by. And thankfully we were already back across the border in Germany when he checked it. It doesn’t work in Austria. Otherwise, I would be out on the street somewhere between Salzburg and Munich. Just wasted €6 on the bus ticket, I guess. Go me haha. Geez. Europe 1, Meredith 0.
Countries represented on the Sound of Music tour in Salzburg (from what I gathered):
Israel
Canada
USA
Brazil
Guatemala
Japan
Russia
England
New Zealand
Australia
Meredith Metsker 