What America could learn from Europe

 

It's a travel day. We went from Macon back to Lyon. We are at a hotel at the airport. Leave tomorrow for Valencia, Spain. We will be back to France - to Paris - at the end of October. It was only a 45 minute train ride here to Lyon. Then a tram ride to the airport. 

I've been thinking...uh oh. As we have gone to each country, I have looked at the history because I find it interesting. It's really opened my eyes to the difference between the U.S. and just about any other country in the world. They have a long history and we don't. It's obvious, but I never really thought about how that would affect peoples character. 

Europe can trace its history to very ancient times. They lived through two world wars that affected everybody's lives directly. That obviously shapes a people and how they think.

In France, for example,  they lived under nazi occupation for 4 years. There are still people alive who remember that. Their children were told the stories. That happened in many countries here.

Each country here has its own history and culture. Each is distinct. People know the history and are proud of it. They share cultural traits.

Everything is so old here - the housing, the buildings. There are historical sites thousands of years old. The way people live is different than the US. Housing is not necessarily brand spanking new, in fact the majority of it isn't. Old buildings don't have air conditioning, window screens, dryers, etc., things we take for granted in the U.S.

I'm not saying having that stuff is better. A lot of people here think it's just unnecessary.  They have fans or open their windows. They hang their clothes on dryer racks. 

People here don't seem as frantic as people in the U.S. They aren't as stressed, at least it doesn't feel like it. They are more relaxed. There is not the level of violence here.  There is violence, but not everybody owns a gun. There are homeless here but they don't seem to be as numerous. People do sleep on the street but you don't see as many. The homeless here sit with a cup out. 

I don't mean to make it sound like this is an ideal society. It isn't. It does feel much calmer. It feels kinder. It feels like they try to deal with problems rather than just talk about them. 

America is such a young country. It has so many different kinds of people trying to get along. The disparity between rich and poor or even middle class is so wide. It is so fast paced. The social safety net isn't as strong.

We have so much to learn from these countries with their long histories and stories of survival through trying times. I wish we would listen more.

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September 30, 2022 at 08:31PM

La Resistence in Macon, France

Free France Resistance flag

When we arrived in Macon, France it was raining on the way to the airbnb. It rained yesterday  and half of today . Then it was partly cloudy and about 60.  So we were able to walk around the town. It's a town of 33,000 people but seems bigger than that.

Macron started as a Celtic settlement in the 1st century BC. Then along came the Romans, known to be here then because of a large coin, plate and figurine stash found here in the 17th century. Therer were probably 30,000 gold and silver coins that disappeared (stolen) at the time. Eight figurines and a plate were left, that are now in, wait for it, the British museum.

In the middle ages this town controlled access to the wine growing area and lay between two kingdoms. It made a  lot of money off all of that.

It lived under Austrian occupation 3 times in its history. 

In World War 2 it was the northernmost city in unoccupied France. It was one of the centers of the French Resistance. 

We sat in a square today that has a memorial to those who died from Macon in the German occupation. There is a special plaque to memorialize Berty Albrecht, considered a heroine of the Resistance movement. She helped start a major part of the Resistance. She was tricked by the gestapo to go to a meeting in the square where she was arrested and then imprisoned. After being tortured, she committed suicide.

The Resistance involved all layers of French society and every occupation. They sabotaged German infrastructure, gave  information to the Allies and helped prisoners escape. A general said they supplied 80% of the information before D-Day.

Ninety thousand Resistance fighters were killed in the four year German occupation. 

The things you learn in a small town in France.

 

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September 29, 2022 at 08:38PM

Macon,France is where that glass of Chardonnay comes from

 Its raining today so reading about France and Macon.

France has 13 regions. Next, there are 96 departments in the regions.  Those 96 departments are divided into 320 arrondissements. The arrondissements are divided into 1995 cantons. The cantons are divided into 34,826 communes. This for a country smaller than Texas. They all serve different functions and control certain things. The communes have councils and mayors and are equivalent to municipalities or townships. 

Macon, where we are is part of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comte region. It in the department of Saone-et-Louire. The arrondissement is Macon. There is a Macon 1 and 2 canton. Finally it's a commune with its own mayor and council.

That's a lot of organization. When it is so divided this much  a lot of people have a say in what goes on and politicians have to at least listen.

Why did I look into this? Because when I looked up Macon it said it was a commune and I wondered what that was.

The Maconnais wine region in the south of Burgandy is centered around - and named after- the town of Macon. They specialize in white wine made from Chardonnay(grape) and red wine from Pinot Noir(grape). There are many churches, chapels and castles in the middle of vineyards. 

There is a place near here called the Aze cave which has been occupied by humans and animals going back 300,000 years.

Even small towns have interesting histories!

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September 28, 2022 at 06:36PM

No room at the inn

 We are in authentic small town France. The town is Macon, 45 minutes north of Lyon.  Macron has a little over 33,000 people. It is on the Saone river. 

It has narrow little cobblestone streets with old buildings with shutters on the windows. It seems like a bigger town than it is. 

How did we end up here? Well, let me tell you. It was a series of mishaps, one big mistake by yours truly. 

So we left the fruit fly infested  and gross airbnb and went to a hotel last Tuesday. We stayed there til Saturday ready to go to the next airbnb in Lyon. Everything was copacetic.

We're sitting at the bus stop on Saturday with our luggage outside the hotel when I check the airbnb about where we're going. All of sudden, my stomach drops as I discover that I scheduled it for the wrong date. Instead of September 24-Oct 1, I had scheduled it for Oct 1-8. Uh oh, now what?

I quickly looked to see if the hotel we had just left had a room for that night. They did - at a cheaper price!  So we went back to the room we had been in. 

So now  what do we do for the rest of the week? So I called the desk and asked if the room was available until this Saturday. It was available through Monday night only. There was some big event occurring starting Tuesday. 

Ok, let's look for another hotel. There were no hotels within 20 miles of Lyon unless you wanted to pay $500 a night and there wasn't even many of those. Uh oh, now what? 

We ended up booking an Airbnb until Friday in Macon. It was the only option fairly close to Lyon. We have to go back to catch a plane on Saturday out of Lyon. 

I would like to say on my behalf, that with the many airbnbs, hotels, trains, planes we have been in and on, this is only my 15th mistake.  Really, it's the first time it's happened. So sue me.

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September 27, 2022 at 06:40PM

Vienna and Edinburgh - my future homes?

 

When M and I talk about where we would live if we decided to come back over here and stay a while, he likes Lyon and London. 

Lyon because of it's a pretty rivers and houses on the hills surrounding the city. It's picturesque. The buildings are beautiful. It is diverse. It's stylish. History, culture. Not overpopulated. Kind people.

London because there is lots to do and you will never see everything. Interesting neighborhoods. Probably the most diverse city. Speak English. 

For me it would be Vienna and Edinburgh. 

Vienna is just awe inspiring. The architecture may me almost over the top, but spectacular nonetheless. It has so many museums, concerts, cultural places. It could keep you busy for years. Great public transportation. Calm people.

Edinburgh was just fun. The Scottish people are outgoing, proud of their heritage, like to have a good time. Edinburgh is full of interesting old buildings and nooks and crannies. It is mysterious and moody. Weather is temperamental. I loved Linlithgow where we stayed and it's beautiful Loch. Beautifu scenery. Great castle on the hill.

Those are two countries I would definitely return to. 

. 

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September 26, 2022 at 07:08PM

There is a giant orange man on a mobile phone in Lyon France

There is a giant orange man on a mobile phone in Lyon France

 

The area we are in is called citi internationale. It is centered around a convention center. It is 79 acres.

As you start on the street toward our hotel there is Interpol, the international police organization that is a central location for training, technical assistance and super secret spy stuff. Then corporate offices. There's an apartment. A bank. 

The area here is a series of connected buildings. There are 4 hotels as part of it. One is a Marriott with a casino in the basement. Right next to the Marriott is a strip club. It's done in a way that it doesn't stand out. There is a movie theater.

Then there there is the convention center.

Part of the whole area is a museum of contemporary art. What's interesting about it is the front of it. This whole area used to be a set of buildings that were built in the 1930s for the trade fair. They moved the trade fair in the 80's and started building all this. The front of the art museum uses one of the old facades of the trade fair. 

There are many restaurants here, mostly pricey. Lots of outdoor seating. The latest addition is an amphitheater which seats 3200. In front of the amphitheater is a giant sculpture of an orange man on a mobile phone. It is part of 6 sculptures in the citi internationale called The Inhabitants.

Quite an interesting place. All this is across from a beautiful big park and beyond that is the river Rhône. 

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September 25, 2022 at 07:20PM

The hill that prays in Lyon, France

 It has been pouring rain, hailing here tonight in Lyon. It doesn't seem to want to stop.  Might have to head for the ark.

So I tell the history of things because it's interesting and I want to remember what I learned. 

So todays history lesson: Fourviere. It is a hill that overlooks the city. The Roman's established a city there in 43 B.C. There was a forum established. The Roman's lasted until the Middle Ages. The forum collapsed and the stone was used for other things. The hill lay dormant until the 16th century when there developed religious cults around St Thomas and then Mary in the area. 

A chapel was built in their honor  on the site of the old forum. There were plague epidemics in the 1600s. An annual pilgrimage was started up the hill to the chapel to ward off future epidemics.

In the 19th century a gold statue of Mary was commissioned and place on top of the chapel. A basilica was also built. The architecture is neo-Byzantine. People believed that Mary watched over the city and protected it. 

A pilgrimage continues every year on December 8 up the hill. People put a candle or lantern on their sill and walk up the hill with candles.

The basilica on the hill is seen as a symbol of Lyon. The Fourviere is known as "the hill that prays".

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September 24, 2022 at 07:07PM
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September 24, 2022 at 07:07PM

Brad Pitt, Interpol, YokoOno in our neighborhood in Lyon

 So I'm sitting in a French cinema (movie) watching and listening to previews in French. I love the way the language sounds. Seeing Bullet Train. Why? For the hell of it.

Today is a day of relaxation.  I walked around the lake in Lyon's largest park: Parc du la Tete d'Or. Very nice. It's across the street from the hotel. 

Now I'll watch Brad Pitt on the big screen. (Later: a violent comedy that is over the top but fun)

Neighborhood we are in is interesting. A couple of blocks down is the International Interpol headquarters. Interpol is an:

"International Criminal Police Organization and we are an inter-governmental organization. we have 195 member countries, and we help police in all of them to work together to make the world a safer place. 

To do this, we enable them to share and access data on crimes and criminals, and offer a range of technical and operational support."

"International Criminal Police Organization and we are an inter-governmental organization. We have 195 member countries, and we help police in all of them to work together to make the world a safer place." (From their 

Oookay then...I really don't want to know..

Down the street from them is a fine art museum. In front of it is a railroad car. It is from Germany during the WW2 era. There are bullet holes in it. Lord knows what happened there.

Somehow this ended up in Mexico. A few years ago, a group of Mexicans trying to get to the U.S, got in it and the door was locked at some point. The car was abandoned in the desert and they all died. 

Yoko Ono inspired by this incident, made the car into an art piece, "expressing resistance, healing, and hope for the next century." It has travelled the world.

Inside it is a very bright light that illuminates the bullet holes and her music plays.

And that folks is our neighborhood in Lyon.

Vieux Lyon was almost a freeway

 

I was in yet another cathedral here in Lyon called Cathedrale Saint-Jean Baptiste. Catholic, but not as fancy as others. The architecture is Romanesque. Building started in 1100's and finished in late 1400's.

Romanesque traits are massive stone and brickwork, tall round arches, small windows, usually housing sculpture depicting. Biblical scenes. This has all of those features. 

While I was there, they were tuning the organ. It was installed in 1841 and added on to in 1875. It made quite the sound in the massive cathedral.

The cathedral has an interesting feature- the Lyon astronomical  clock.. It has an astrolabe in it which is a handheld model of the universe. It was used to identify precise locations of planets and measure latitudes and other stuff I don't understand.

It has several dials. One shows the sun and moon revolving around the earth (like they used to believe) on the horizon of Lyon. Another dial shows minutes numbered one to sixty.

Another part shows a calendar that works for 66 years. So it was set 66 years ago, but stoped in 2017 two years short. There are plans to reset it.

On the top is a automoton that has various figures among them Jesus and Mary that rise according to the day of the week. So  Chist rising on Sunday, Death on Monday(because they've known for centuries that Mondays suck), Saint John the Baptist on Tuesday, Saint Stephen on Wednesday, Christ with a chalice on Thursday, a child with a cross on Friday, Mary on Saturday. (per Wikipedia)

This Cathedral is in the Vieux Lyon, the Renaissance area. An interesting thing about the area: in the 1960's the mayor wanted to tear it  all down and put in an expressway because the area was unloveable. Protests stopped that and renovations began. It is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  

We had to leave our air bnb.

M on glass walkway

 This has not been the best of weeks. 

We arrived at creepy 17th century apartment on Saturday. It was like air bnb from hell. The four keys to get in plus code for the elevator started it off.

Now I can appreciate an older building as much as the next person but going inside and living in a 300+ old building is another story. It definitely looked it's age.

We start from the massive wooden door with the weird key to get in. As you enter, there is a long cement hall. You come to a staircase. Beside the staircase is a small courtyard that has an old well they used to get their water from. On the other side of the door is a door to the cellar where the ghosts of past residents roam.. 

We were on the 5th floor, so we used the tiny elevator which required a code to go to the floor. When you get to the floor, you step out on to a landing this is in the courtyard five stories up. Couple of steps up and you are in the hallway. First door that requires a key. Go in that door, go a short way down the hall to another door, another key. You havre arrived at your apartment door area and another door, another key. Go to the actual door of the apartment use another to get in. 

You enter into a combination living room, kitchen, dining area. It has the  original stone floor. The walls are old stone. There is a bathroom on this floor with the original old door. 

There is a very narrow iron spiral staircase to the left of the door. Going up is manageable. Coming down is dangerous. At the top is a bedroom with a closet and a bed up on a platform with stairs at the end. There is a sliding door that leads to a glass walkway that leads to another bed in a nook with slanted ceiling. You can see through to the 1st floor as you walk across the walkway.

I decided against sleeping on the 2nd floor due to the stairway. I'm 67 and it really was kind of dangerous. So I slept on the couch. 

The first night we noticed fruit flies. We thought, no big deal, They will go away. Nope . It was bad. They didn't go away. They were more and more of a nuisance. We tried the vinegar trick. Nope. Didn't work. So we decided we had had enough and moved out. The place had other problems. We are in a hotel til our next airbnb date.

Not a good week.

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September 21, 2022 at 06:50PM
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September 21, 2022 at 06:50PM

France is everything you thought it would be

 It feels like there is such a contrast between France and Switzerland , Germany and Austria. This is my personal perception of course. The later three felt conservative.  Switzerland seemed perfect but it wasn't.  The German and Austrian  people seemed stoic, family oriented, traditional.

France honestly feels likea wild card. The first day here we could see this was going to be different. Very diverse. People obviously feel they can be whoever they want here.  There is a big alternative culture.

What struck me the most is how everybody here looks like a million bucks. At least they did on a Saturday night.  The young people had on the latest sportswear, hip trends, soccer jerseys. Women here know how to look chic with little effort.  The men look cool. 

You may say - oh get over it, there are fashionable people everywhere...but I'm telling you that what you hear about the French sense of fashion is true. 

It is already fun here. There were some street performers  imitating Michael Jackson's dancing. Not the first time we've seen that on this trip. One of the guys was really good.  No Elvis impersonators yet. We saw five young  women filming a video in a public square.  Their dancing was very good. A teenager was kicking a soccer ball down the street and he'd kick it to random strangers, some of whom played with him for a couple of minutes. Skateboarders in a plaza, trying to do a hard trick, surrounded by people of all ages cheering them on.

In the middle of all this are beautiful French apartments with ornate wrought iron balconies, centuries old buildings, fountains. There are restaurants and bakeries with real croissants. And to think we've only been here two days. 

N 

S

Austria was 

Will we continue this trip for a year?

Will we continue this trip for a year?

 I have to say there have been days of doubt and homesickness on this this trip on the regular. 

For me it's moving place to place in airbnbs and hotels. You never know what your gonna get in these places. Your standards might not be theirs. It's hard living in a place that isn't yours with your stuff. You don't realize how important your home is til you don't have it. It's a place of comfort and security. 

Going to new places, you hope the neighborhood is decent and safe. We really haven't  had a problem with that so far. Where is the grocery store? Figuring out the transportation system.  How much is it? Where is it? How do we use it? 

In the airbnb how do you operate the stove, dishwasher, washing machine. Instruction manuals online are a beautiful thing. 

For M it's all of the above and having to ride the trains from one country or town to another. Sometimes even trying to figure out how to buy tickets is hard. Often if you are going any distance you are riding two or three different train systems.  There are times you transfer 2 or 3 times.  It's exhausting. The scenery makes up for it though like the route from Geneva to Lyon along the river through the hills was beautiful. 

Lastly, this is expensive. Going to major cities is expensive. Even in an airbnb. We had planned to go Berlin in September but it was just too expensive. So we decided to break up September into Vienna, Augsburg, Germany and Lausanne Switzerland and Lyon. We really hadn't had plans to go to Austria or Switzerland but it was probably one of the best parts of the trip. 

Vienna was stunning and I want to go back there. Augsburg was fun because of the Plarrer. Switzerland was probably one of the beautiful places in the world. 

Paris is another very expensive place even on the outskirts so we have put it off so the prices will be lower. We are in Lyon for 2 weeks because we needed to stop the one week here and there thing. Then the plan is to to Spain for most of October and Paris in November. 

Will we continue this for one year? Don't know at this point. If we were to quit after six months, it would be disappointing but not the end of the world. We have done a really cool thing either way. Only time, 

and how we feel, will determine it.

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September 18, 2022 at 06:59PM

We're living in a dungeon in Lyon France

We're living in a dungeon in Lyon France

 So we are now in Lyon, France. Our airbnb is in a 17th century building. I really didn't realize it would be like this when I booked it. 

When we came, the entrance there was this massive door. The guy who owns it let us in and showed the way to the apartment. We went past some courtyard where people used to got their water from a well. There was an area that led to a cellar. We went up an an elevator down a hall to another door and finally to the apartment. It has a stone floor and all these beams of wood. 

There is a a narrow spiral staircase that leads up to the bedrooms. One bed is a loft with a window with a beautiful view of the river. The other bedroom is across this glass walkway that looks below to the first floor. 

After the guy left, we sat there kind of stunned, looking around. Not what we expected. There are skylights. The windows in the living room look into the sort of courtyard that looks

Coming in the door feels like coming into a dungeon. You have to actually use four keys and a code to get to your floor on the elevator.  It's like you are entering the CIA headquarters.

To think people lived here 300 years ago. I'm sure their ghosts haunt the halls.

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September 17, 2022 at 08:26PM

Switzerland and the Truman show have a lot in common

 Switzerland is a fascinating country. It is almost too good to be true. It's kind of reminds me of the Truman show where everything  seems perfect but you wonder what in the hell is going on behind the scenes?!!  Har. 

People here are happy, have good salaries, good healthcare, excellent infrastructure. It's a beautiful country. Its diverse. They won't get involved in anybody else's war. It's too bad they're stark raving mad!! (Just kidding)

So here are some fun facts about Switzerland:

1) I don't know about other cities in the country, but Lausanne has few traffic lights and no stop signs. When drivers see pedestrians, they stop and let them cross. I may move here just for that.

2) It's not unusual to see soldiers on trains with their assault rifles. I sat next to one today. Men have to do either military or civilian service. They go through basic training for about six months and then have annual training every year for 10 years. If you choose not to comply, they take 3% of your salary til age 37.

3) A Five Guys cheeseburger is $15.

4) Sundays are sacred. You are to do nothing to disturb your neighbor: mowing the lawn, washing clothes, hanging laundry, parties, etc. it is a day of quiet to spend with family and friends. Nothing is open.

5) Switzerland has a low obesity rate. With all these steep streets, I can see why.

6) Woefully behind on womens rights. Women did not get the right to vote until1971!!  One small district didn't pass the right to vote until 1991. YEAH 1991.

7) The Landsgemeinde.  Switzerland has 26 cantons(districts or states). Historically, four times a year, people would gather in large groups in 8 of the cantons. Anyone could propose a new law or amend an old one. It was majority rule, by show of hands. This still happens in a couple of places.

8) Switzerland has shelters for every single person in the country in case of nuclear war. It's the law. Large complexes have to build it into the building. The biggest one is in Lucerne which is built under a motorway and can hold 20,000 people. These are kept up and have necessities to live for months.

And there you have it, wonderful and quirky Switzerland!

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September 16, 2022 at 07:43PM

What the heck is the Sch-Sch-Schengen?

 I had never travelled out of the U.S. except  in 1990 on my way to the Middle East. We had stopovers in Frankfurt and London. Never saw anything except the base. So I had no idea how to do any of it. I didn't even have a passport. 

Never had to find out about entering other countries, how long you could stay, etc. Didn't know what to expect at customs. I did a lot of research. Got true and false information. 

As an American, it's fairly easy to enter the UK and Europe. In England you line up, scan your passport and it takes your picture and that's it. Once you are in the UK, you don't have to show your passport again. As of now, passing into Ireland from Northern Ireland, at least, by train,  required no passport. I think they are still negotiating the border situation after Brexit. .

When we entering Europe it changed. We entered the Schengen zone, made up of 26 countries in which you can travel without showing passport for 90 days. (By the way,  Ireland is not in the Schengen and neither is the UK).

Leaving Ireland our passports were checked. When we got to Vienna, checked again and asked where we were going and how long we would be there.

If you overstay in the Schengen even one day, you can be fined, jailed or banned. You can spend 90 days in the Schengen every 6 months.  So we will leave here after 90 days. 

We will have to spend 90 days outside the Schengen. We plan to go to Morocco and Turkey and another couple places yet to be determined. 

Mint juleps at Melty in Lausanne Switzerland

We are in Renes, a district of Lausanne.  There are under 2,00 people in this area.it does have a very small business street with 2 grocery stores and restaurants and shops. 

So today we were there at the grocery store and on our way back to the airbnb. I wanted a coffee so I looked for a place. I came across a shop with cups on the front so walked in and noticed no list of prices so I walked out. 

I'm a little leary after paying 8.50 for a mocha at Starbucks. One of the guys came out and asked what we wanted.I said coffee and I asked how much it was. He said free! Free for you today! It's your lucky day!

So we went in and it was obvious their business was in the process of being set up. It was a brand new place that was opening next week. 

One of the women offered us a mint julep with no alcohol. Sure, we'll try it. The man kept asking if we wanted coffee. At one point he offered to fix us something to eat. All for free.

We said no. We asked about the restaurant and the man's son said it was a family effort, first time they had done it. The original man was his father. The son had his son there too, maybe about 14.There was a women who made the drink. 

They showed us what the menu would look like. It looked good. As we left I gave the lady a tip for making the drinks for us. They were a very nice family here's hoping that Melty (store name) succeeds.

You can make $53,000/yr at McDonalds in Switzerland

In Switzerland you can make $53,000 working at McDonalds. Not bad for flipping burgers. The salaries are high here. The minimum wage is $23/hr.  The salaries have to be high here because it's so expensive to live in Switzerland.

You find that out real quick. Early on, I went to Starbucks, not paying attention, order a small(tall) mocha. It was 8.50! No Starbucks mocha is worth that much. You might as well say that everything here is twice as much as it would be in the U.S. 

Whats weird is that our Airbnb was relatively cheap. We are in a 2 bedroom condo with two balconies overlooking Lake Geneva and two sets of mountains. Lausanne lies between the Jura mountains and the Swiss Alps. I'm sure this condo is worth a couple mill.

We are up the hill in Lausanne in Renes. To get down to Lausanne we take a train for 5 minutes. Sounds weird but otherwise it's a 52 minute walk down there. You would not want to walk back up. Just walking from the Renes train station up the hill to the air bnb is a challenge.

This entire city is on 3 hills. From the shore of Lake Geneva to where we are is straight uphill. It's amazing. I see people biking up the hills and I can't believe it. Lots of practice I guess. 

It makes for beautiful views.

I get the feeling that Lausanne is made up of the rich and everybody else. The average house price here is just under 2,500,000. Obviously the vast majority live in apartments.  The average house price in the whole of Switzerland is 1,092,000. 

Switzerland has one of the highest standards of living in Europe. Great schools, public transportation, environmentally progressive, absolutely beautiful. College for bachelors and masters is $400- 3700 a year. BTW, everything is closed on Sunday.

Renato Hausler watches over Lausanne from 10 pm to 2 am

 

Switzerland is surrounded by five countries:  Germany, Austria, France, Italy, Liechtenstein. The official language is Swiss German but there are areas of the country where the language is French and Italian. Lausanne is a French speaking area. 

Lausanne is a combination of Swiss and French and the architecture reflects that. The house have tiled red roofs that are upturned. In the downtown area there are apartment buildings that look like they could be in France.

The steep winding cobblestone streets look European. This is the first place that we have been in that has more of a European feel. No sidewalk cafes though, the streets are too steep. 

They have the Norte Dame cathedral, built in the 1100's. (Weren't they all built in the 1100's?) It started out Catholic with all the fancy statues and doo dads of your typical Catholic cathedral. In 1500 the Protestants took over and removed all of that. It is now very simple and stark. 

Interesting thing about the cathedral is that it has a night watchman. From 10 pm to 2 am, he stands in the bell towers and each hour shouts the time. Historically he rang the bell too but it's automated now. The  role was also to keep watch over the city, protect it, watch for fires. This has been going on for 600 years. Current watchman is Renato Hausler.

The Switzerland you never knew

The Switzerland you never knew
The Switzerland you never knew

 

What do I know about Switzerland? Swiss cheese, Swiss chocolate, Swiss banks, Swiss watches, Alps. I know it is neutral. Oh yeah, Geneva convention. 

We hadn't planned to come to Switzerland. We needed places to substitute for planning to stay in Berlin which was too expensive. Geneva became one of those places. We ended up in Lausanne - about 30 miles from Geneva. So glad we did. It is so beautiful. 

Swiss cheese. Ham and Swiss sandwiches popular in US. Swiss cheese has holes in it because of carbon dioxide bubbles that form in the cheese. Swiss chocolate. More milk than other chocolate. I like Cadbury better. Swiss banks-advantages are economic stability of the Switzerland  and privacy. I didn't know Rolex is made in Switzerland So is Tag Huer, Omega. I'm glad I can look at them through a window. 

The beautiful Alps. Sixty five percent of Switzerland is covered in mountains. There are two mountain ranges - the Alps and the Jura mountains. There is a plateau in between them and that is where most cities lie. The tallest mountain is the Dufourspitze at 15,203 feet. 

Switzerland is a neutral country. In its constitution it says it cannot get involved in any wars among other countries. It will defend itself obviously and has a military. Men have compulsory military service. They go through basic training and then have yearly training for ten years. You can choose civilian service instead. People who do neither are fined 3% of their salaries until age 37.

During WWII Switzerland sold arms to the nazis. They kept their gold in their banks. They refused Jewish refugees after the war. Not good. 

Last, the Geneva convention, something every soldier knows about. It lays out rules of humane treatment during times of war.

Switzerland is one of the most expensive places to live in Europe. It has a very good quality of life and stunning scenery. I have decided I am never leaving. (Har)

*Picture is Lake Neufchâtel. Another beautiful lake we saw on the train here.

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September 11, 2022 at 08:07PM
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September 11, 2022 at 11:03PM

The most interesting man in the world was on my train

 

Today I took a trip withe most interesting man in the world. Remember that commercial? Well this was the guy or perhaps his brother. 

So this man, probably in his 60's sat next to a kid in his early 20's for over 3 hours. He proceeded to tell this kid everything about himself. (Yes I'm an eavesdropper and proud of it)

He was born in Germany. He is a linguistics professor. He apparently travels the world giving lectures. He knows 50 languages. Literally you name the country and this guy claims to speak the language , German, Swiss German, French, Russian, Korean, Spanish, several African languages, English of course. 

He has also lived in Germany, Switzerland, Costa Rica, Africa, United States, Mexico, etc etc etc. He was jailed in Switzerland for 3 days for something. 

This kid was a college student wanting to be a doctor and he barely got a word in edgewise. Every time he would bring something up, the guy would relate some part of his life it and tell about the time he....

He has Two kids, both girls. The whole family travelled the world. Oh I forgot he trained for the Olympics in running. Don't know what came of that. Played a musical instrumental at some point.

What can't this guy do? He has yet to negotiate world peace. There's still time. 

Is this trip really worth it?

 

There are times whenI think about just going home. 

I am 67 years old and this isn't easy physically. I am walking up to 8 miles some days. Ridiculous. I was walking 4-5 miles a day most days at home so that has helped a lot. I still get sore legs. Sore back. I've got really good shoes that were expensive but I'm glad to have them.

So there's the physical aches and pains. Then there is the mental/emotional part. The physical aches and pains get me down and I find myself questioning whether I can do this for a year. 

Mentally it's hard to constantly going from place to place. Different place to stay, different bed. In Vienna the bed was like a rock. Air bnbs are far from perfect and you never know what they will be like.

Trying to figure out food is probably the worst. It unrealistic to think you are going to make complicated meals in an Airbnb. You would waste a lot of food. So you have keep it real simple. At hotels you to eat out, which is expensive. So keeping a somewhat good diet is hard. 

You probably think what a whiner! Most people would love to be in my position. I know that. I wouldn't change anything and I intend to complete the year. This is a life changing, exciting experience and I still cant believe we're doing it. 

I want to give a real picture of what it's like to do this. It is challenging . There are ups and downs. But it's so much fun!

**The picture above is Lausanne,Switzerland, our next destination. It's outside Geneva.

Fun at a German laundromat

 Went the laundromat one block from the hotel today by myself. I had looked at German laundromats and their were actual videos so I new I didn't need change and sort of how they work.

They are all computer driven. You put money in a machine at the wall, choose the number of the machine and you can now use that machine. If only it were that simple. 

Put the clothes in, detergent in. Then there is an electronic display asking what temp you want. So I pressed the lowest and start. Nope. Nothing. Tried a couple more times. Nothing. There was a old guy there and I threw my hands up and he came to help. He spoke no English. Tried same thing, pressed every temp except the last one with the word. Pressed that and it started. Yippee! 

Guy left to get coffee (asked if I wanted one). I'm sitting there and a guy comes in to repair a machine. Turns out he's the owners son, speaks English. He gave me a free dry after a woman was taking so long at the thing you put your money in. 

So he spoke good English, got into a long conversation. He told me about Augsburg, prices of apartments and houses. How houses are out of reach of average person. How the Plarrer was Augsburgs version of Octoberfest just earlier in the fall. The cost of beer at Octoberfest is $14 for a liter. (The beer mugs at the Plarrer probably hold a liter). Outrageous prices at Octoberfest he says. 

All in all, a really nice guy. It really is fun to talk to locals. You find out everybody has the same problems and views no matter where you go. You find out what everyday life is life. No different than yours.

Augsburg Plarrer is magic

I walked 8 miles today.  A little over 1 mile to train station. Train to Munich about 45 minutes. Walked 6 miles in Munich. Then train back from Munich and mile back to hotel.

I would like some sympathy please....

Going from Vienna to Germany, there is a stark contrast. They feel as different as night and day. Vienna felt very fancy, opulent. In Germany, you come back down to earth from your lofty perch. Germany doesn't feel fancy, it feels practical. The architecture is distinct, but now showy. 

The people here in Augsburg like to have a good time, as witnessed by the folk festival (Plarrer)  going on next to the hotel. We went and listened to music in one of the beer tents last night and people were standing on the seats, singing along, shouting, clapping. It was really fun. Many were wearing their lederhosen and dirndl. 

The Plarrer has made staying in Augsburg really fun. Everyday, thousands of people go, taking their kids on rides, trying carnival games, drinking in the beer tents, listening to music. The German food is great. It's different every day. 

This place is where you see who German people really are, fun loving and proud. I am so glad we are staying in this smaller town (200,000) rather than a large city. It's a lot more fun.

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September 07, 2022 at 07:49PM

Augsburg renters pay 87 cents a year for an apartment

 Once upon a time there was a rich man named Jakob Fugger who was very rich and powerful and also a Count in the Holy Roman Empire. This guy is considered one of the richest guys ever. He lived in the early 1500's.

Now unlike some rich people, Jakob had a good side. He was a Catholic which is important to this story. In 1516 he built Fuggerai "as a place where the needy citizens of Augsburg could be housed". By 1523, 52 houses had been built. 

Eventually it expanded. A square and church were added. A wall was built around it with gates. It become like like a small medieval town. People were only charged what would have been equivalent to 87 cents a year, equal to one months pay back then. 

The main rule Jakob made was that the price would never go up and the place would exist forever. So the rent remains 87 cents a year for tenants to this day, 500 years later. 

It now consists of 67 houses, 147 apartments. About 150 people live there. There is a church. The rules he made were:

1) You had to be Catholic (they were a minority in Augsburg and lived poorly)

2) You had to have good standing in the community

3) You had to be poor.

4) You had to do some job in the complex part time. 

The houses have 2 stories, an apt on each level, consisting of a living room, kitchen, bedroom and small extra room. Originally they didn't have bathrooms but they do now. It was communal. The first floor has a back garden. The 2nd floor has use of an attic.

The gates close at 10 pm. Anybody trying to get in after 10 is fined.

If you visit there is a museum with a model of the original apartments. Then there is another model with the modern version. Both are very well done. It's obvious that he wanted them to live in quality places and that continues today. 

People of all ages live there and can stay as long as they want. There is a social worker to help. There is a resident council and administration. 

Nineteen generations later, the Fugger family still runs it and there is a foundation that supports it through investments. Jakob put money in an account for investment way back in the 1500's. His nephew set up a financial structure to insure the future of the community. Amazing!

The end.

Pictures: 1) street with homes

                2) All the homes look alike. People would go in other peoples places by mistake. So the made a door knocker on a string. Ever place has a different pull design. Problem solved.

  

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September 06, 2022 at 08:41PM

Travel lessons learned

Warning: Bit of a rant ahead. 

 How am I feeling about the trip? Good. I think we have made some mistakes in planning this month.

So originally we were going to go to France, to Paris, for the month of September. It is expensive in Paris. Too expensive. We’ll go to Paris in October we thought, less expensive. So let’s go to Berlin. Again still too expensive now.

Now what? How about a week in Vienna? Found a reasonable airbnb. Ok. Done. Let’s go to Munich for a week. Done. Then let’s go to Geneva for a week. Then to Lyon. That takes up the month we would have been in Paris and going there in October, it will be cheaper.

Can you see where we went wrong? What we’re we thinking spending a week here and there? Crazy idea. Not only too short of a time at these cool cities but running ourselves ragged with the transport.

We started this part flying from Dublin to Vienna. No problem. Figured out how to get to our air bnb easily. Transport to center easy. Too little time in a great city like Vienna. Then things get tricky. 

We took train to Augsburg, outside Munich. That involved 4 trains and a 20 minute walk to the hotel. Turns out Augsburg is 45 minutes away from Munich and it’s not a cheap ride there. Hotel is not really conveniently located even within Augsburg. We’re mostly walking. 

Next stop Lausanne, Switzerland, outside Geneva. One week. It will take us 7 hours to get there. Should actually be a nice place on Lake Geneva and there are mountains right near there.

After that Lyon, France. One week. Only two hours from Geneva. 

So the point of all this? We never should have stayed in these places a week. It’s too little time, too much travel time.  Another lesson learned.

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September 05, 2022 at 08:06PM

Are people from Bavaria lederhosen wearing beer swizzlers?

 This city we’re staying in, Augsburg,was founded in 15 BC by order of Roman emperor Augustus. It was conquered by the Huns, Charlemagne. Cant say I know much about them. There was war between the Catholics and the Protestants (who always seem to be fighting each other).

It is part of Bavaria and the area is led by a political party called the Christian Social Union. They have been referred to as “lederhosen wearing beer swizzlers”. They espouse family values based on catholic teaching but are forward thinking in many others area such as the environment.

Maybe the Christian part of the Christian Social Union explains why nothing here is open on Sunday. Grocery stores, most restaurants, malls, you name it. I guess everybody is in church.

After church they came to the Augsburg Plaerrer, a 2 week folk festival, and partied like it was 1999.  Many wore lederhosen and the gals wore traditional dresses and drank from huge beer mugs. There were jaunty hats.

They ate schnitzel (what a great word), brats and very large pretzels. There were six large horses hitched up to pull a wagon of beer kegs. Fun was had by all.

So are people from Augsburg lederhosen wear beer swizzlers? No. They are proud of their traditions and like to have fun.

Train travel sucks everywhere

 These train days are gonna kill me. So this morning we took U Bahn (sort of subway) to Westbahnhoff station to get on the West Bahn train to Munich. Found platform fine. 

We get on train and you can check in automatically with a QR code on seat in front of you. It takes you to the train site, you put your seat number in and you are checked in. No ticket check necessary. Pretty cool.

It’s a four hour ride . It is so quiet on the train. On Ireland and English trains it was party city with people drinking and carrying on. Beautiful mountains along the way. 

We get to the German border crossing and the police come on to check passports and IDs. Takes a long time. Put us behind schedule. 

On to Munich. Now we thought we could go to Augsburg, where we are staying, from that station. We buy the tickets and look for the platform. We don’t find it. Of course we don’t.

So we go to the information and are told we have to go to another station for that train about 6 miles away. We need to take the subway to the new station. So we find that. Get to the station, find the platform, almost get on going the wrong way. Get on right train and get to Augsburg. It is a 20 minute walk to the hotel. We could have taken the tram but who wants to try and find that at this point? 

So just before we get to the hotel we find a carnival going ona bock away. M refuses to go on a ride with me. 

Another travel day in the books and ten more grey hairs.

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September 03, 2022 at 08:25PM

Top ten highlights of year long journey so far

Here are top ten fun takes on the trip so far:

1) Best looking men: Dublin hands down and I’m not saying that because I’m Irish.

2) Best transport system: Vienna. Its fairly cheap, easy to understand, clean, rarely jam packed. 

3) Best Mexican food so far: Pablo Picante, Dublin. It has become our mission to find good Mexican food in every city.

4) Best country so far: …and the award goes to Scotland. Scotland is beautiful. It is moody and dark. It really seems to celebrate its culture. I mean where else does a street performer get himself out of a straight jacket and chains? I loved it. 

5) Most interesting place: Ireland. It has such an interesting history and the history is all around you if you look for it. It haunts Ireland.

6) Most surprising place: Cardiff, Wales. We hadn’t planned to go to Wales. It’s not a place you hear much about. I really enjoyed how down to earth the people were. Not fancy.  Wales is beautiful and has a rich history. It is unappreciated.

7) Most diverse: London. It is a city filled with all different kinds of people . It felt like more people spoke foreign languages than English. The neighborhoods are diverse and interesting.

8) Grandest city: Vienna. The architecture is beautiful. It has hosted Beethoven, Brahms, Mozart. It has 450 balls a year. This fills like a city made for rich people. If you have money, you can live the high life here.

9) Funnest place: London. From its packed underground to its grand palaces to its funky neighborhoods like Camden town, it is just a lot of fun. So much to see.

10) Where I want to go back to: Scotland. I would like to see the rest of this beautiful country. I would like to return to Litlingow and the gorgeous Loch there. I just love the culture, the nooks and crannies and stories in Scotland. 

The end.

Is Vienna too good for mere mortals?

 

Vienna is a place that leaves you awestruck. It is one beautiful building after another. Even the big apartment buildings people live in are elaborate. 

In the central part of Vienna there is an area called the Innere Stadt. It is a sort of oblong circle. It is the place where the Roman’s originally made a settlement. It was surrounded by stone walls, like many ancient towns, for defense. 

As the city grew outside the walls into the the mid 1850’s, the walls were destroyed but a wide boulevard remained now called the Ringstrabe. Elaborate buildings were built in the baroque style of architecture, many were museums, government buildings, libraries along the boulevard.

So many of the opulent buildings of central Vienna were built in the last part of the 19th century. Looking at them, you would think they are much older but they aren’t. The architects built them in old architectural styles like Baroque.

I had been wondering why so many buildings had statues along the top edge and this is part of the Baroque style. Baroque is dramatic, has elaborate details. Doorways are often embellished. Architectural details are added to even simple, practical buildings like apartment buildings. 

If you could use a couple of words to describe Vienna , it would be dramatic, opulent. Everything is bigger here and more opulent. Ordinary stores, apartments are in beautiful buildings. This place is so grand it feels too good for mere mortals.

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September 01, 2022 at 08:14PM