Tim in Europe

My time at Cinque Terre, located on a beautiful portion of coast in the Italian Riviera, was brief but enjoyable. It was a relaxing experience and I took full advantage of the opportunity to swim in the Mediterranean Sea. It didn't take very long to get to the sea from my dorm room. All I had to do was walk down a steep set of stone steps and I was at the dock. A quick walk along the coast and I was at the beach, albeit a rocky beach. And not just any kind of rocks, slippery rocks. If you wanted to enter the water you literally had to crawl (or you could attempt to walk and just fall your way in). That being said, I did see 80 year old women walk there way in with no trouble. Maybe the locals have a trick.

There were sandy beaches, but not in the town of Riomaggiore where I was staying. Going to the sandy beaches required traveling to a couple of the other towns in the Cinque Terre (there are five towns in the Cinque Terre, which literally means 'The Five Lands'). You could go by train or you could walk the partially grueling path that goes along the picturesque coast between the picturesque towns (seriously, the whole place felt like a postcard). I headed out with some friends for the 'five hour' hike (it really only takes three and a half). It was boiling hot and we were all sweating amounts we had never thought possible. When we arrived in the town of Vernazza we took a small break (about three hours ) to take a nice long swim (with a sandy beach) and eat some pizza before finishing off the journey in the more touristy feeling town of Monterosso. We took the train back to Riomaggiore and recovered from our hike with cookies, playing cards, and limoncello.

Rome changed my "cities I have stayed in where it hasnt rained" count to one. Thats right, the previous eight cities I had stayed in had at least a few drops of rain. Nevertheless, a little rain may have been a better alternative to the hot, humid, sweat-inducing experience I enjoyed. Even worse, I only really had two days to explore all of Rome/Vatican City. As both the Vatican and the Colliseum were closed on my second day there (a Sunday), I had to explore all of their grandeur in one day. Both were massive and amazing, but not surprising. As a whole, the major attractions were about what I had come to expect. If I looked on the toursity map I was carrying, many of the smaller sights were even less impressive than the pictures led me to believe. Its always the places I dont know about that impress me most. I probably should have done more aimless wondering and experiencing rather than simply checking things off a list. I did enjoy how many ruins were pooly marked and nearly ignored. If such ruins were located in Canada, there would be a large amount of fanfare involved. But the history of Rome is so large and impressive that it would be difficult to highlight everything.

Crossing over the awe-inspiring mountains from Austria into Italy, I found myself in Venice. Venice really wasnt as smelly as I had been told, but it sure was dirty. That being said the streets and canals of are lovely. It was nice to escape the annoyance of cars in the completely walkable city (although I did splurge for a shared canal ride). Despite its small size, Venice is a city that it is easy to get lost in. Fortunately, I was travelling with some newly made friends and, if we ever did get lost, there were a few things Italian that could comfort us. Im talking about gelato, pizza, and pasta. I had plenty of the first two and a helping of the third as well. Although Venice was flooded with resturants, I was struck more with the number of mask shops. I think they had enough masks for every person in the world to have one. Back at the hostel, I enjoyed the greatest of the Italian comforts - wine.

My time in Austria was brief, a mere three nights. I stayed in Vienna but hardly saw a thing in the city (sorry Vienna, I'm sure you are very nice). To be fair it rained buckets on my alloted day of exploration. I had headed out with some Australian friends for what turned out to be only a brief foray into the city. We opted instead for the much drier, slightly less miserable, and admittingly unadventurous option of playing cards in the hostel. Although I still like to think of it as somewhat of an Australian "cultural experience." You see, after all the exposure to Australians during my trip I have begun to unknowingly saying "dodgy", "heaps", "thongs" (flip flops), and sometimes even "Canadia" (I actually like the ring to it). The previous night we had braved the rain for a sparsely attended pub crawl. I like to think the rain added to the experience. Its smart to be an optimist when you travel.

The following day we headed out on a cycling wine tour along the Danube River in the beautiful Wachau Valley (about an hour and a half north of Vienna). The wine was good, the lunch was better (two types of sausage and a steak), and I enjoyed climbing up a giant castle ruin and playing/winning a game of beach soccer along the way. Getting slightly drunk off wine on the train ride home wasnt half bad either.

To me, Cesky Krumlov felt a little bit like paradise. It actually felt like a vacation. The town of Cesky Krumlov itself feels like a picture perfect European stereotype. It has giant castle which towers above a cobblestone street lined with shops. Thats right, there really is pretty much just one street in Cesky Krumlov. Well, only one significant one anyways.

But as lovely as the town was, my true highlight belonged on the Vltava River. There is little better one can do then to float down a river, beer in hand, on a beautiful sunny day. Along the way were campsites with bars serving everything from beer to absinthe. It was essentially a pub crawl on the river. Local Czechs take to the river as well, many of which were convinced they were pirates. In reality they were just middle aged men in speedos with a tendency to scream 'Ahoy!.'