Krakow

I survived another leg. Here's how my connection from Paris to Krakow went.

Left Paris, metro to get bags, metro to train station, train to airport, shuttle to hotel, hotel overnight, different shuttle to airport, flight to Krakow, shuttle to train stations, train to Krakow, walk to hostel.

All of that just to get from point A to point B. This European travel is so exhausting. See why I screwed up on day one and ended up going the wrong direction? Try all of that with all signs and directions given in French (or worse yet, Polish). You can't even pronounce Polish names. When I go up to the ticket window in Krakow to buy a train ticket, I actually have to pull out my phrasebook and write down what I want. Otherwise, I might end up in Venice, instead of Vienna.

Krakow has indeed ended up being a slight letdown. The weather was much cooler (mid 60s, cloudy and breezy). That was fine after the Paris heatwave. The tourist infrastructure has significantly improved in Eastern Europe over my Budapest experience two years ago. Prices has jumped too! There's still plenty of bargains over here, but they are quickly catching up to Western standards in the bigger tourist destinations.

I wasn't sure what I had walked into in Krakow this afternoon. I went to the main square after checking on and found it to be....Halloween?

Seriously, it's the end of the semester here and I believe all of the college coeds were decked out in costumes. We had Palestinian bombers, nurses, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, beer mugs...you name it...it was in the main square. And I thought I had missed summer and it had turned fall already, considering the weather.

I'll be going to Auschwitz tomorrow for most of the day (a day trip). I'm sure it will be a very sobering moment.

I'd like one of these

Imagine the gas mileage on one of these suckers. Wouldn't this be nice for you daily commute to work every morning?

Just...don't take it with you if you go out on any dates...or a family trip...or to get groceries...or...

It would be nice as a secondary car tho, especially with $4 gas on the way. I've heard the "smart cars" are coming to America...we'll see if they catch on.

The best part about them? Try parking at UT games with one of these things! It would be a cinch!

Paris out...Poland in

I'm near the airport tonight...coming home? no. I just finished up my last day in Paris this evening and I will be flying to Krakow, Poland in the morning. The last four days has been magic. I think I can favorably say that Paris is my most favorite city in the world I have been to. The food, the museums, the variety of people, the history...I loved it!

Day three (yesterday) was the best day I had had. I bought a museum pass that gets you unlimited visits to almost any attraction in Paris (for a hefty fee, of course), so I was in "hyper" mode all day trying to squeeze as much in as possible. I concluded my day with a climb up the Eiffel Tower at sunset. I only went up halfway...and I walked it (500 vertical feet too). Ain't so bad. Word is that the top is so high that you can't even make out sites any longer. In was beautiful tho watching the City of Lights transfer before my eyes as the sky darkened.

My only concern about the great trip I've had to Paris...will the rest of the trip even come close to matching it? I hope so. We'll start with Krakow in the morning.

The weather: still warming up and still sunny without a cloud. It hit the upper 70s...maybe even 80 today. I actually saw a few of the coats go away. But don't fear, there are plenty of diehards. I saw one kid wearing his hoodie WITH THE HOOD ON this afternoon. Why??? I have no idea.

Living like a King (just not Louis XVI)

Since I spent ALL FREAKING DAY (almost) at Versailles today, all you get is a history lesson from me today. Well, I spill my day out first...then the history lesson.

I was up early (6:30) this morning. That's not easy to do when you're not going to work...lol. But you have to if you want to see Versailles before it turns into the History Ride @ Disney World. I got there just after opening at 9a after riding the local train system (no mistakes!!!...I'm getting GOOD now). The palace @ Versailles is about 12 miles outside of Paris. I spent the rest of my day walking the streets of Paris again...mostly along the Left Bank, or the more artsy, commoners area. That included a stopover at the Luxembourg Gardens, Paris' largest park.

But on to Versailles. Versailles is important, very important to history even today. Versailles is the giant (and I mean GIANT) palace that was built by the very popular King Louis XIV in the 1600s during the heights of French domination in Europe. The palace was extravagant and every way possible. The French kings (14, 15 & 16) ruled here for a century before the heavenly lifestyle they were living led to the monarchy's downfall (the French Revolution, which happened around the same time American was ratifying the Constitution).

Versailles wasn't only the palace fit for a king. It contains more history than any other single spot in Europe. Napoleon was coronated as Emperor of France here in the early 1800s. The German state was born here in 1870 when the French were defeated by the Prussians. The Treaty of Paris was signed here ending World War I and is where all of Europe and the US came together to decided the fate of the entire world. Decisions that were made in that peace conference still have major ramifications today in Europe, Africa, and especially the Middle East.

The palace was huge, the staterooms extravagant, and the gardens...wow. Words can't describe the gardens, but they went on and on for, what I presume to be, thousands of acres. Pictures could never do Versailles justice.

Thanks to everyone posting comments. If you post questions, I'll try to answer them by personal email.

oh...and I'll have some picture posting delays. My camera batteries aren't going to make it if I'm only downloading them every night.

A Paris heat wave

Seriously! Another 70+ sunny day and the world seemed perfect. No mishaps today...just lots and lots of walking. I bet I covered 8-10 miles on foot. Paris is awesome. I'll list some of the sites I visited at the end of the post, but I think the most impressive thing to me was yet another cathedral. Usually after about two of these they get rather mundane in Europe, but Notre Dame was pretty impressive to me. It's another medieval Gothic stature...this time for the 12th Century. I also saw the spot where the dreaded guillotine chopped so many heads off during the French Revolution.

Speaking of Parisians, they seem to have the desire to just hang onto winter. They supposed dress nice, yeah, pants and jeans...even when it's hot out...that's ok. But what's up with the layering and the sweaters and even the heavy jackets? I've seem so many people dressed for 45 degrees instead of the 75 we're having. It's crazy. I can still imagine them dressed like this when they have one of those rare heat waves. Looks miserable.

Oh yeah...and the contraption from yesterday. I'll post a pic. Would you trust your luggage and valuables to this? It actually takes your luggage underground...somewhere.

I made it!

I hope nobody had any doubts. The day did have it bumps though.

The plane ride was fine. It was a smaller Delta jumbo jet and surprisingly it didn't have any of the seatback video consoles. I was pretty bummed about that. It didn't help I was sitting 20' from the tiny movie screen and I didn't bring any glasses since you need 20/20 vision to see one that small. I opted for my iPod instead.

I took the train once I got to Dusseldorf...platform 4...9:32a...hear comes the train and right on time. No problems right? Wrong! I was on the train for 30 minutes and the conductor asked for my ticket and then told me I was going the wrong direction. WHAT??? What was supposed to be a 40 minute ride to Cologne (Koln) turned into an hour and a half mini-mess. I still don't know what happened. I read my ticket over-and-over and still can't figure out what I did wrong *shrugs*. Stupido American I guess.

Koln was bombed and basically destroyed by the Allies during WWII. For the most part it, and most off Germany for that matter, was mostly rebuilt in the 1940/50s. Koln doesn't have much of an Old Town or a historical center to it's town, but it does have a massive Gothic cathedral that isn't but a couple hundred yards from the station. Koln's cathedral was built in the 13 century, so it's very old and very impressive. Koln is also situated on the banks of the Rhine River, which gives it a very cool riverfront scene too. It is also home to the Lindt chocolate factory.

I can't post a pic yet, but I'll hopefully edit this post tomorrow when I find my USB cable. I have another story to share about the station's automated luggage storage system.

Anyway...I'm in Paris for the night now. Got a nice hostel I'm staying at, but I've arrived late and I'm pretty tired after only having about four hours of sleep on the plane. Tomorrow is a big touring day.

Au revoir!

It's almost time!!!

It's lunchtime here on Friday and I'm frantically trying to get everything in place here at work so that I can leave in good standing...lol.

Everything is pretty much packed. I'm carrying EVERYTHING in my backpack...all 30 lbs, so I might need to schedule a chiropractor appointment for when I get back.

I'm flying out tomorrow (Sat)...Knoxville - Atlanta - Dusseldorf, Germany, so here's my flight schedule for those of you following along...

Delta 4415 Knoxville to Atlanta from 1:20p to 2:20p
Delta 24 Atlanta to Germany from 4:35p to 1:40a (EDT)

There's an 80% chance of STORMS in Knoxville and Atlanta tomorrow so.....*gulp*

More from me later....