Blog Archives

A Swiss Incident

10/31/2014

By Jed

People are staring to gather wondering what is going on

To get around Switzerland with my parents (who were visiting us), we decided to be adventurous and rent a car. It seemed like a pretty good way to change things up, but got off to an ominous start when we got off at the wrong bus stop over a mile away from the car rental place and then were told the office was closed when we got there. Fortunately, the Hertz guy was not too far from the office and came back to give us our car for our remaining 7 days in Switzerland. Further good news (or so we thought), we ended up getting a free upgrade to a real schmancy BMW instead of our scheduled Toyota!

We were quite excited about our free upgrade to this nice car with all its bells and whistles, but were a bit overwhelmed when we stepped in the car and couldn't understand what half of the buttons did. Oh well, off we went to our first stop at Interlaken. After a walk around town, we were at the gate to leave the parking lot when we realized we had forgotten to pay for the parking, so we quickly ran to the machine while a line of cars formed behind us to get out. After a few minutes struggling with the machine, we were paid and ready to go. But, our car wasn't. The electronic gear shift would not go into drive! No matter how many times we pushed it into drive, it would just chime but stay in park. Take 1, take 2, take 15. Nothing. The line grew longer and the awkwardness grew stronger. The man in the car behind us got out, opened our car door and yelled something at us in German. Try, try again, push every button we can find. Nothing. And then, it got worse. All of a sudden, an extremely loud alarm started going off. We weren't sure if it was the gate alarm or the car or what was going on, but it was loud, and very annoying. FINALLY, we somehow got the car in drive and off we went...but the alarm went with us! It was indeed the car making the racket and it would not stop even though we were off and driving. We could barely hear each other talk it was so loud. What had we done to the car?!

So we pulled over and tried pushing buttons...ALL of the buttons. Nothing. We turned the car off, and on, and off again, moved it, pushed buttons on the remotes and any button we could see, but nothing. Oddly, the alarm seemed to be coming from the interior and not coming from the external part of the car. So we got out and flagged some random Swiss people to help us read the German car manual. We then flagged anyone we saw with a BMW to see if they had any insight. We tried calling some Swiss BMW dealers who gave us a few ideas, but nothing seemed to work. Person after person came to see if they could lend a hand but none could get this extremely loud and annoying alarm to stop. A small crowd even started to gather our their windows to see what the commotion was. Finally, we gave up and called Hertz to send some help. They agreed to send someone, but he was over an hour away! So we waited, put in earplugs, and continued to try everything we could think of.

Finally, 90 minutes later, the mechanic showed up...and he didn't speak a bit of English. However, no communication was necessary as his grumpy and annoyed look was not hard to read. The mechanic was completely stumped. He got on the phone to a mystery man who seemed to have no better answers. He pushed buttons, checked out the engine and eventually disconnected the battery. Even after he unhooked the battery, the alarm KEPT GOING. That was it, he had it. After about 2 hours of trying numerous solutions, he had given up. So we covered our ears, got in the car and drove to the local Hertz office (which was already closed for the day). He called his boss and we called Hertz who were not at all helpful at first. There apparently were no cars in all of Switzerland available for the next 2 days. We were frustrated. After 3+ hours of this alarm and no answer in sight and no replacement car, we had had it. We went off on Hertz, telling them that it was completely unacceptable and something had to be done. After speaking with 3 different Hertz offices, we finally were given an out: they would pay for a taxi to get us to our next destination and get us a car in a couple of days. It was going to have to do.

Excited to finally have a solution and a temporary end to this ordeal, we unpacked our bags from the car to prepare for our taxi. As soon as I put my backpack down on the ground, I saw a look on Caitlin's face that I had rarely seen and she shouted my name. My heart skipped, what had happened?! Did I break something valuable?! Did I spill something all over her clothes? Nope, much worse. “Your Personal Alarm!!!!” She shouted. My face turned green as I realized what she was saying. That loud, annoying, non-stop car alarm that had delayed us for hours, stumped numerous people and cause us to have rage blackouts at Hertz had actually been caused by MY own travel safety alarm that I had in my bag. It had nothing to do with the car!! I had accidentally pulled the alarm in the struggle to get the car out of the parking lot. I had serious egg on my face. I couldn't believe the ordeal I had just put everyone through. There were apologies from me to my family, and many apologies from us to Hertz and the mechanic. Fortunately, the grumpy mechanic seemed to have a sense of humor about it and smiled for the first time of the day. After a long, arduous ordeal, we were finally, sheepishly on our way...in silence.

Looking Guilty

So you too can feel like you were there that day, here is how the alarm sounded:

5 Comments

Shut Your Von Trapp (Salzburg, Austria)

10/26/2014

8 Comments

By Caitlin

Woah! Austria really exceeded my expectations. From its super nice, fast trains, to the best beer gardens and pastries, I loved Austria.

Crossing the border from Slovenia into Austria via train, we had to change trains from a Slovenian train to an Austrian train, which seemed annoying at first until: Upgrade! Austrian trains are among the nicest in Europe. One nice but strange consequence of the particular Eurail train pass we bought was that the pass entitles us to 1st class seats.

Unfortunately, the train to Salzburg was really full, but we eventually found a mostly empty cabin with a couple of super snobby Austrian flight attendants who deigned to let us sit in their cabin. The initial ride from the bottom of Austria to the top happened to go through the Hohe Tauern Nation Park: my first sign that Austria was going to be beautiful. I spent most of the ride craning my head to stare at the mountains through the window. It's definitely a quintessential European train ride of small villages, meandering rivers and mountain peaks. We eventually got to Salzburg, the beautiful setting of "Sound of Music."

Our first stop in Salzburg was the Augustiner Brau beerhall. This remains one of my favorite Euro experiences and probably my favorite beer consumed in Europe. Its like stepping back in time, or at least into a storybook. Set up like an indoor flea market, there are food stalls around the outside with a large beer hall featuring communal tables in the middle. Then the crucial part: getting the beer.

Step 1: Select your beer stein from the wall of steins. Go for the large 1 Liter mug. I promise you won't regret it later as you stumble up the hill for a beautiful view of Salzburg.

Step 2: Take your stein to one of the giant water fountains and rinse your mug out to you own satisfaction. (I assume they were previously washed, as everyone treats this as ritual more than necessity.)

Step 3: Pay for your beer at the register.

Step 4: Take your empty stein to the counter to be filled. Usually there are only two choices, Light or Dark (Dunkel). Both are good but its more fun to say Dunkel.

Step 5: Walk hesitantly into the open beer hall to find a seat. Look awkward enough that a kindly local will invite you to his table.

Step 6: Befriend a Berlin couple who will ask you if you actually like beer. “Yes?” It's strange for a woman, apparently.

Step 7: Fail to take a photo of Berlin couple when asked because you are halfway through the Liter and don't know how to operate an iPhone.

Step 8: Leave the beer hall and follow the not-so-steep path up the Monchsburg hill. It will seem very difficult, but that is just the beer.

Step 9: Enjoy amazing views of Salzburg! You may get lost 3 times on the path, but that is just part of the adventure.

Other than the delicious beer, Salzburg is beautiful and full of history and culture. Its the birthplace of Mozart and Mozart balls (chocolate truffle things that they sell everywhere..see photo over at our food photo blog). While we are not classical music enthusiasts, we couldn't help but love the musicality of the city. Instead of being filled with acoustic guitar street musicians, there are violin trios. We were inspired by the atmosphere and thus we ventured off to partake in Mozart combined with another Austrian tradition: the Marionette Theater's production of The Magic Flute. You may just have to trust us on this one but opera + puppets is actually a lot of fun!

Salzburg also has one of the most interesting castles we saw in our time in Europe. The Salzburg Fortress was home to the Salzburg Prince-bishops for centuries and we easily spent a day exploring and enjoying more views of Salzburg.

I have to admit to an initial reluctance to spend much time in Europe, for various reasons (budget not least among them). However, Salzburg was enchanting enough to really excite me about the next few weeks in Europe. I realized how much I forgot about Western European history, art, music, politics, etc. Austria, Germany and the other countries that followed were an opportunity to straighten out all that in my head...oh, and to drink quality coffee and beer as much as possible.

Here are a few pics from Salzburg, Innsbruck and Vienna:

8 Comments

Wherever the Takeover Part 3/3: Budapest

10/13/2014

1 Comment

By Brad, Jamie and Dan (Guest Bloggers)

To get to Budapest from Krakow, we had to take a ten-hour, overnight, six-bunk train. As you can see from the picture, it was basically as economical as you would imagine that kind of cabin to be. After the initial hilarity of getting all our stuff onto luggage racks and our bodies into the beds, the train ride was met with mixed reviews: some members of the Warsaw Pact described the train as “the best sleep I had this whole trip” and, with its gentle rocking, “womb-like,” while others, pressed for comment, generally scowled and indicated that the sleep was less than ideal.

That spoke somehow is Bacon

The comfort of the train aside, it gave us the added benefit of rolling into Budapest, the capital of Hungary, with an entire day to explore the city. We spent Friday checking out Hungarian food – goulash, of course, plus chicken stew and, most exciting to Brad, a weird way of preparing bacon Hungarian style, where the bacon is somehow cut into a spoked wheel. That evening, we took a tour of the river Danube at night, which was incredible – each of the buildings is lit up, and we were able to see the amazing Castle Hill, the Hungarian Parliament, and numerous other buildings from the river that separates Buda and Pesht (The city is actually broken into two parts).

Castle Hill at night

Saturday was met by Jed and Caitlin coaxing us out for yet another walking tour. Though at least two thirds of Branmie were in severe pain from alcohol intake, sleep deprivation, or both, all three of us managed (with differing degrees of grumpiness) to march behind them as they led us to the tour. The tour was great, leading from the flat Pesht side (where we were staying) across the chain bridge linking (and creating) Budapest to the hilly, older Buda side. We trekked the (painful, but worth it) hike up to Castle Hill, upon which both the Palace and St. Mattias Church sit. We were rewarded with some amazing views of the city on both sides of the Danube.

Saturday evening, we had a reservation at one of the most desired attractions in Budapest – a “puzzle dungeon” enigmatically titled “Claustrophelia.” We were unsure what to expect, except that we would be locked into a room and forced to solve various puzzles to escape. When we stepped into the room listed on our receipt, it immediately locked behind us and a clock began ticking. We proceeded through four rooms of puzzles, with each containing progressively more difficult challenges. Some would lead to keys that would unlock doors into the next rooms; other puzzles would provide us with tools that we could use to get keys or combinations for various locked trunks around the apartment. Eventually (and slightly after the allotted hour), we found the final key to free us from the dungeon – a feat that the attendant later told us was only accomplished by about 30 percent of participants. Yay us!

That led into Saturday night, which we had designated as our big night out in Budapest. Sometimes, people ask, or at least are impressed – or horrified – at our continuing club-going, as most of us press into our 30s. The answer to the “How do you keep doing this once you are old?” question is that it takes much more careful planning than when we were 21, gleaned from years of doing it in Chicago and Vegas. The five of us went down for a several-hour nap after our puzzle dungeon escape, packed our earplugs, were ensured by a club promoter that we would be in an area with plenty of elbow room, and wore only fancy enough clothes to minimally comply with the dress code (“elegant and cool” the website recommended).

The end result was all of us on a platform next to the DJ booth at Legit, a multi-roomed Vegas-esque affair complete with lights, go-go dancers, and bottle service. The outside, however, dispelled the illusion somewhat: the club was located in a relatively seedy city park, under a highway, which led to some fairly sketchy adventures getting to the place. But all was well, and we stayed out way too late as the DJ blasted hits (and new Hungarian favorites).

We will admit that we did fail to finish off one of the bottles of vodka that we had purchased. Jed, ever the philanthropist, handed the remainder to a Hungarian guy who, in return, gave Jed several pieces of bubblegum. Jed kindly informed the gentlemen that together, the two of them had “improved Hungarian-American relations” for years to come, to which the man promised to always provide Jed with gum, whenever he needed it, for the rest of his life. The rest of the night is a blur, with us getting separated, casinos and after-bars being involved, and most of us not getting into bed until after sunrise. Take that, 30s!

Sunday, our final full day in Budapest, we saved for the activity that we thought would most likely be best after a long night at the club: the Turkish baths. Budapest has several spread throughout the city, remnants of the city’s Ottoman occupation, and we picked the largest and seemingly most well-known. The baths were incredible, with Turkish architecture and domes overlooking a gigantic indoor courtyard with multiple pools. Inside the gigantic halls were at least 15 more pools, all varying in temperature and in the minerals they contained. We went on a tour through these – sometimes jumping from ice-cold pools into scalding hot tubs – and generally relaxed the day away.

For our last evening, we went to Budapest’s famed ruin bars – run-down apartment buildings that were once abandoned during the days of Communism, but were converted into bizarre, labyrinthine-like bars containing, for example, furniture on the ceilings and a giant sculpture with an owl’s head.

That bizarre image closes out the Warsaw Pact, our amazing experience joining a leg of the Wherever the Wind tour, and an incredible ten days that flew by. We’re happy to report that Jed and Caitlin are basically seasoned world travelers at this point, and it was great to see how well their trip is going first hand. If you can find a way to meet up with them – do! Thanks to Jed and Caitlin for an amazing trip, for refusing to let us slow them down, and for giving us the opportunity to hijack their blog. ‘Til next time!

1 Comment

Wherever the Takeover Part 2/3: Auschwitz

10/8/2014

0 Comments

By Dan (Guest Blogger)

Jed, Caitlin, Jamie and Dan decided to visit Auschwitz (Brad guiltily declined, as having toured Dachau on a previous trip was enough for a lifetime). What is referred to as if it were one camp actually was comprised of numerous camps spread across this general area of Poland and combining to serve as the largest of the Nazi concentration and death camps. (Concentration camps are where victims were forced into extreme labor with unspeakably horrible conditions that ultimately led to many of their deaths, often in just a month or two. Death camps are where victims were intentionally murdered en masse in gas chambers.) 1.3 million victims were sent to Auschwitz over the course of the war. Of those, 1.1 million were Jews (most of whom, particularly in the later years of the war, were sent straight from the train to the gas chamber). Overall, more than 1.1 million victims died at Auschwitz.

A small portion of the thousands upon thousands of victim's shoes

Our visit began at Auschwitz I, the initial camp created by the Nazis, which was largely destroyed by the fleeing Nazis when Russian invasion became imminent. We were led on a guided tour through buildings showcasing many indescribable horrors: unimaginable living conditions in the quarters, remnants of starvation and standing prison cells, and, perhaps most powerful, various displays of what was left behind: 2,000 pounds of human hair removed from Jewish victims (more than three times that amount was found after the liberation), rooms piled high with thousands upon thousands of victims’ sunglasses, shoes, suitcases and other such belongings – even children’s clothes, toys, and dolls.

Later, we took a bus to Auschwitz II (also known as Birkenau), a much more expansive area built later in the war to accommodate the ever increasing number of victims being sent to the camp. Auschwitz II was kept entirely in its initial state. It was overwhelming to look at the train tracks in the middle of the camp and imagine thousands upon thousands of victims – those who even survived the week-long train ride packed without enough food and barely enough oxygen – leaving the train and lining up before a Nazi “physician” who, one by one, would send them to the left (the concentration camp, where they would be worked, most likely, to death) or the right (the death camp, where they would be forced into a massive gas chamber and ruthlessly murdered).

The Nazis destroyed what they could before abandoning the prison toward the end of the war, but remnants of some of the four huge gas chambers and crematoriums remained. On the other side of the camp were dozens and dozens of shacks with tiny wooden “beds” (shared by up to 6 persons), as well as a room that had served as a huge, incredibly unsanitary latrine where prisoners could use the bathroom only for brief moments of the day. Cleaning the waste from this latrine was actually considered one of the best jobs a prisoner could receive; it was indoors, away from the often harsh weather, and it provided separation from the Nazi supervisors who were afraid to set foot inside it due to its disgusting conditions.

Remnants of a gas chamber, which the fleeing Nazis tried to blow up

A housing room which was not destroyed and is in original condition

Sleeping space shared by up to 6 persons

A long stretch of "toilets"

Both Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II were indescribably impactful. Auschwitz I’s individual exhibits, particularly the unthinkable amounts of hair and belongings from the million plus who were murdered there, made the incomprehensible acts of the Nazi regime sink in. But Auschwitz II was perhaps even more powerful; walking around the massively expansive camp (which cannot be described or adequately shown with pictures), seeing much of the camp which hadn't been destroyed in its original condition, looking across from the many wooden lodging cabins to the train tracks and the gas chambers on the other side, provided a feeling words cannot express.

0 Comments

Wherever the Takeover Part 1/3: Warsaw and Krakow, Poland

10/2/2014

3 Comments

By Brad, Dan and Jamie

We interrupt your regularly scheduled Wherever the Wind blogging for this guest blog/forcible blog takeover. Branmie (Brad, Dan, and Jamie) have seen first-hand how hard Jed and Caitlin work on their blog posts, so we thought we would relieve them of this duty for the two countries over which we tagged along on their world tour. Our schedules all lined up to put us in two countries to which none of us had ever been: Poland and Hungary. With our first stop being Warsaw, we jokingly named the plan the Warsaw Pact after the Cold War security agreement, and set off on our way.

Warsaw
Saturday, after we all met up at our Warsaw apartment, we had some groggy jetlagged/train-lagged pizza (actually, due to some translation issues, we had five pizzas, which we proceeded to destroy entirely). The five of us love to go out to the clubs, but we’re also, admittedly, not 21 anymore. This started a string of fairly embarrassing Google searches like, “large, un-crowded Warsaw clubs.” After a few delicious Okocim beers at the apartment, we headed to a club located in the basement of the Tower of Science and Culture called Club Mirage. The place was perfect, complete with an expansive dance floor encircling a huge fountain and a DJ who took whatever request we held up on our phone (he may have just been excited someone was paying attention to him).

Following the club, at which we stayed way longer than planned, we topped off the night at a casino (where – certain parties (I.e. Brad) may have made jokes comparing our blackjack victories to Polish failures during various wars; Brad wholeheartedly denies said allegations) and McDonald's, like true Americans.

The casino story is a good place to bring up Jed and Caitlin’s meticulous budgeting system. The two of them track each expense, no matter how small, on apps on their phone, which are automatically converted to dollars and measured against their planned budget for the particular country. The budgets are even broken down into categories so they know how they are doing (Jed’s lament at one point: “I am under budget on everything except ‘entertainment’” [read: casino losses]).

Sunday was our big tourist day in Warsaw. Our first stop was the Warsaw Uprising Museum, chronicling the attempts during World War II to oust the Nazis from Warsaw as the Russians approached the city. The museum offered a lot of explanation of the confusion and general awfulness of the time, even containing newsreels and various underground newspapers from the time, and a huge sobering memorial wall of the people who died during the uprising and the subsequent Nazi retaliation, which leveled the city. We were pretty sleep deprived and probably didn't get the full effect, but one thing that stuck out is how World War II really sucked for the Polish: their uprising failed, their city was destroyed, and then they ended occupied by the Russians anyway.

The evening found us wandering around Warsaw’s Old Town, which we heard in a few places described as “Disney Old Town.” Warsaw was leveled in the war, so they rebuilt the old town to look like an old European city. The effect was a little bit cheesy, but we did find a restaurant to try some Polish dishes – pierogies and, for adventurous Dan, pork knuckle: tender meat wrapped it its original fat and served with spicy mustard, horseradish, and sauerkraut. Nom nom.

Monday morning, with only a little time before our train to Krakow, we took cabs to the Lazienkowskie Gardens. Sort of Warsaw’s version of Central Park, the gardens were a huge expanse of trees, streams, and paths in which we could have spent hours. Unfortunately, we only had time for a quick tour (including numerous selfies in front of the main area) before we had to head to the train. We did manage to squeeze in a lunch at the (appropriately) Chicago-themed restaurant outside of our apartment.

Moment of admiration for the Wherever the Wind duo: even after only two days of travel, the three of us had trouble stuffing our belongings into our massive suitcases. Jed and Caitlin, old pros, got everything into their (much smaller) backpacks, and we were off.

Krakow
The train to Krakow was smooth, with the five of us sharing a cabin with one unfortunate Polish businessman. We went to the restaurant car for a while, where the friendly – but constantly upselling – clerk, Maicek, gave us some Polish beers and regaled us with his English (it was basically saying “okie dokie” a lot).

Tuesday morning kicked off with an apparent Wherever the Wind staple, the free walking tour. The tour started in Krakow's main square, which is the largest medieval town square in Europe, and walking around it alone took the first part of the tour. Our guide gave us a condensed history of what must be one of the most beautiful and storied cities in Poland: capital of the country during its independent years in the mid-1000s, the seat of its kings, and its subsequent years of occupation, uprisings, and nonexistence. Our guide dryly noted that Poland was good at throwing uprisings, but not really good at winning them – over the years of occupation by Prussians, Russians, Austrians, Germans, and Russians again, Poland rose up against its occupiers a number of times, but they were put down every time. Still, they had the last laugh: free elections in Poland first took place in 1989, months before the fall of the Berlin Wall.

The walking tour took us up to Krakow’s castle, with awesome views over the Vistula River, and complete with a fire-breathing statue of a dragon. By that time, we were wiped – these walking tours are no joke; Jed and Caitlin will have calves of steel when they return.

After lunch and a long nap, we were ready to hit the town. On recommendation of our host, we hit up a bar that boasted 100 vodkas in its inventory. We ordered a tasting of everything from raspberry to hazelnut flavors, and one that tasted suspiciously like Apple Pucker. After that, we crawled (figuratively, mostly) through Krakow’s clubs, ranging from the underground-and-empty to a second-floor bar that was surprisingly happening on a Monday night (no doubt aided by our vodka-fueled debates happening in the lounge area).

After that long night, we split up into separate factions on Wednesday. Dan and Jamie headed to the factory owned by Schindler’s List’s eponymous Oskar Schindler. The factory was converted into more of a general World War II museum, with mention of Schindler and his list limited to just a few rooms. It was, however, a very interesting museum, with immersive exhibits, and served as an effective prep for the trip to Auschwitz to come. Brad, despite being exhausted from staying up to watch the sunrise from one of Krakow’s bridges, somehow managed to crawl to the top of the Krakus Mound, a prehistoric structure overlooking the city. Jed and Caitlin got an experience with Polish socialized medicine, with Caitlin twisting her ankle in a fall – but she bounced right back after a short stay in a weirdly vacant Polish hospital. Total bill: $70. Reconvening, we had awesome Italian food near the main square (Wherever the Wind pro tip: walking tours make you crave carbs like no other) and prepared ourselves for a rough, emotional day to come.

Stay tuned for parts 2 and 3 of "Wherever the Takeover" coming soon....