Oslo Opera House
The top of Mt Zugspitze with Jon Lurie
Enjoying a Beer Garden with Kenny and Rob
Partying with the Panter
Guttentag!
I cannot tell you how comfortable travelling Europe has been, great efficiency and the many conveniences. Good news, Marina has successfully gained her necessary visas for Africa, so we are rearing to go; however, will enjoy the next two weeks in Europe. The European summertime is incredible!
My path thus far: Oslo > Munich > Garmisch-Partenkirchen > Munich
Norway, Europe's second richest country, is very well off indeed. Norway's tourists always complain about the price of beer and well the price of EVERYTHING in Norway; so let me elaborate: Beer (pint) is $13-18 EACH!! I didn't eat at Burger King, but a Whopper meal is $16!
Perpetual daylight, Oslo is north enough to be free from any true darkness during the summer months. The sky is dark blue from 11pm - 3am when the sun starts to rise; very enjoyable when exploring Norway's capital.
Summer houses: Norwegians and especially Oslo's residents go to their summerhouses on the fjord for boating, swimming and relaxing. For my next trip there, I want one!
Sunday - Boxing: By 8pm I was checked into my hotel and was out seeing Oslo. I found a sports bar to watch the Haye v Klitchko fight. There I met quite a few Norwegians that took this lone solo traveler under their wing. Although Haye didn't win, most of us were cheering for him and had a good night.
Monday - 4th of July party: Being Sunday (the 3rd), I suppose the Americans in Oslo, there must be a lot of us, threw a huge party in central Oslo with lots of BBQ stands, live music and a car show.
Tuesday - All nighter: I was glad to get a good sleep the night before as this was going to be a long day. My bus to the airport would leave at 4am to the airport so I didn't keep my hotel room; you can guess these aren't cheap either. I spent the day seeing Oslo's sights. Notably, the Viking Museum with its original ships, the Framm museum showing Norway's explortion of the North & South poles including the actual ship which they sailed, also the Kon-Tiki museum which is a tribute to Thor Hezerdahl who sailed all over the world in a boat made of papyrus reeds. Later I toured the Nobel (Peace Prize) museum and then the Royal Palace, which was open just for a month in July. Towards the end of the day I took a Fjord cruise seeing many of the summer houses and gorgeous scenery. If anyone is wondering, a fjord is just an underwater valley which typically provides numerous islands. Around 11pm I went out to have a few beers and more Norwegians again were very hospitable taking me into their group which quickly killed the hours before I needed to get my bus. They distracted me enough to not leave early and when I reached the bus station, the room containing lockers (and my bag) were LOCKED!!! You can imagine how I felt! Thankfully a cleaner showed me an open door allowing me to get my bag, just 10 minutes before the bus left. There was not another bus for 4 hours and I can only guess what a 90 minute taxi in Norway would cost...
Deutschland - aka Germany!!!!
I've been to Germany a few times before so I knew what to expect, however the biggest surprise has been the food. I have somewhat written off German food, but every meal I've had has been delicious! The general theme of food is pork, beef or chicken, with potatoes and gravy. Maybe I'm just missing this type of food, but it has been excellent! I can say, I love Bavarian food!
German Beer - I don't need to tell you how good this stuff is, its arguably the best in the world, my rankings put it just after Belgium as the number two. One piece of advice when getting beer in Germany - don't order a Radler! It's not beer! Brits - think Shandy... yuk!
Olympic Bid -Sadly, Germany had prepared numerous festivities for their win of the 2018 winter Olympics, but Korea spoiled our party :( However, people just seemed to get on with it and still have a good time in the beer gardens.
Tuesday - Garmisch: Jon Lurie, who shared the best man job with Raj for my wedding was arriving in Munich that night to hangout for the next few days. Until then, I needed to kill about 9 hours in Munich, remember I hadn't slept the night before. I did a fairly good job, but wisely, I noticed a lot of people sleeping or relaxing under trees in the parks of Munich. Not being in South America, I felt pretty safe and enjoyed a few hours of fantastic sleep! Jon landed as planned and soon we were in route to the Bavarian town of Garmisch. We didn't waste time and were soon out enjoying Germany's tastiest product - BEER!
Wednesday - Zugspitze: Well, I'd like to add the Zugspitze to the list of mountains climbed on this trip, but we took the lazy way up. On top, nearly 3,000 meters high (10,000 feet) is Germany's highest beer garden where we indulged in both delicious beer and filling food. Today was the day when Germany lost the Olympic bid, but that didn't keep us down, in fact, Jon had his first ever Jagerbomb!
Thursday - Neuschwanstein castle: Leaving Garmisch we drove to see the place Disney modeled their castle after. Neuschwanstein is the perfect example of Bavarian architecture! We spent the night in Munich visiting beer gardens along with Jon's friend Christian; such a great time!
Friday & Saturday - Munich's kicking nightlife: For the weekend I stayed with a good friend from MessageLabs - Kenny Abe. During the day visited a posh beer garden in the suburbs and then headed to Lake Starnburg. There we rented a boat with a few of his friends, swimming and cruising around. Both nights we went to happening bars staying up to the early hours. Felix Panter joined us on Saturday night making the weekend a cool MessageLabs DACH reunion!
So what's next; I will go to Strasbourg, France; then up to Luxembourg for my last European country. When I say last, yes, I will return to London, but more interesting - I will have now seen every country in Europe! I am pretty excited, so bring on Luxembourg!
Auf Wedersehen
Dan
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