Travel Tips

I was travelling from Chamonix to Zermatt . The train pulled into the Brig station around 7:00 pm . It had been a very long day . For some reason , probably fatigue , I did not move fast enough to get off to take the cog railway from Brig to Zermatt .

The train pulled out of the station , entered a tunnel and was soon travelling 300 kmph. This did not feel right . Soon an Italian Passport officer entered the car . Now it did not look good as I was not supposed to be going to Italy . Then the conductor came , pointed out the error , and said that the train would stop at the end of the tunnel at a town called Iselle, where I could get off and take the next train back to Brig . Eventually the train stopped at the Iselle station .

So there I was standing on the station platform at 8:00 pm , not a soul in sight , mountains all around and it was snowing heavily . After an hour wait a north bound train came along .

It stopped but not at the platform so I had to jump down to the track level and hauled my luggage , skiis and all ,across the tracks to the train . The train was full of Italians headed to Paris . They helped me get my luggage on to the train . They were quite intrigued by my presence .

Soon the train was moving northward , back into the tunnel and moving at 300 kmph . " This thing better stop at Brig. I am not supposed to go to Paris ". It did stop at Brig , but not at the platform . No problem , just jump down to the track level and drag the luggage over to the platform . It is safe doing this , at night , and over tracks on which trains travel 300 kmph . This is Switzerland for heavens sake .

I caught the last train up to Zermatt.

This happened on the first day of my second week in Europe . TRAVELLING IS FUN .

In case you are interested the tunnel was the Simplon Tunnel, which is quite famous.

Did the overnight trip from Paris to London . Train to Calais and a ferry to Dover . Arrived in Calais around 1:30 am , boarded the ferry and followed others to the lowest deck where everyone camped out on the floor. The others seemed to know something that I was unaware of .

During the crossing the ferry was making funny noises. At 6:00 am I assumed wew were approaching Dover and since I had to see the Cliffs I decided to go to the upper deck . As I ascended it became apparent that we were in stormy seas as it was difficult to walk straight .

On the upper decks everyone was seasick . Like Bad. You could not even stand at a urinal to pee correctly due to the motion of the ferry. I went outside to see the blessed cliffs and got sick instantly .The ferry eventually docked . Through the sea spray I did see what I thought were the cliffs . But I did not care.

On the return trip to the continent I got to see the cliffs on a sunny day .

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AN AK47

TRAVEL BLOOPER #3 - THE AK-47

I was hitchhiking from Hamburg to Berlin at a time when there was a wall and an East Germany . The last ride to the East German border was with a US Army Officer . He drove up to the border and parked between a guard booth and the very large border fence .

I got out of his car , thanked him , and proceeded to walk toward the border fence and the big gate , to contiune with my hitchhiking .On the other side of the fence were a few tanks and machine gun posts . However a young ( 17 year old at best) East German soldier blocked my way and he had an AK47 to make his point .

He seemed to be gesturing me to go back , so I logically assumed that maybe he wants me to show my passport to the guy in the guardbooth . So I walked back to the booth , snuck behind it , out of site of the guard booth officer , and approached him from the west side. He looked at my passport and waved me on , so I went back to the big gate . The 17 year old was still there with his AK47 . The passport routine did not work .

Then I figured it out. There is no hitchhiking in East Germany . You have to enter in a vehicle . Back I go. As I am walking westward a West Berlin truck drive , parked on the side of the road waves me over.He had been watching all of this and so he offered to drive me to Berlin . Success.

So we started toward the fence and the big gate , and who do you think is standing on the road. The 17 year old with his AK47 . He wants me to open the door . One more thing . He wants five Marks for the transit visa. We were off . The ride was very informative at the truck driver pointed out all sorts of interesting things.

Hitchhiking from Nurnburg to Prague . Got to within 20 km of the Czech border . Took a while to get a ride . Around 10 to 15 cars passed . Finally I got a ride from a Germen farmer who drove me to the border. The cars that passed me by were all lined up at the border check point . I proceeded to walk past the cars to the front of the line .

A Czech border guard came in my direction and guess what he was carrying ? " An AK-47 ". This was just 5 days after the last occurence . At least this guy was a bit older say 18 years old.

He asked for instructions from his superior and they let me walk to the front of the line.

The first car , a sports car , was owner by a rich German . He said jump in , and drove me to Prague .
Unfortunately the hostel was full and I ended up sleeping in a park . It was not a warm night . The next day I got into the Hostel which was a very nice one .

The plan for Rome was a seven day stay and day two was the Vatican . I got an early start but I did not have a map of teh Vatican proper. As you approach St. Peter's you can go either left or right . The Cistine Chapel is to the right .

I went left , wandered around , walked past two Swiss Guard , and entered the grounds behind St. Peter's . Maybe security is better now.

It became apparent that the buildings back there were not open to the public and there were no directions posted showing teh way to the Cistine Chapel .

After 10 to 15 minutes of wandering I approached what looked like a more senior Swiss Guard rtype and asked for directions. He was not to happy and yelled something to the two Swiss Guards at the entrance gate . I walked out as if nothing was out of order, and did find the Cistine Chapel .

NOTE: The Swiss Guard did not carry AK47's . Maybe they do now.

We had arrived in Seattle after doing the west coast drive from San Francisco . At Pike's Fish Market we bought two large salmon and phoned home to invite friends over for a BBQ when we got home . The fish were packed in ice.

The next day we were at the Seattle airport to catch a 10:30 pm flight to Vancouver and then take the red-eye special back to Toronto . We had everything checked in including our salmon on ice .

The shuttle arrived from Vancouver but after it reached the gate there was an announcement that sid the 10:30 pm flight to Vancouver had been cancelled. WHAT . Where is our luggage and the SALMON ?.

We found an AA red-eye flight to Chicago and onward to Toronto , but our luggage and the FISH were still somewhere within the Seattle airport . After some scurrying around , including going out on to the tarmack to check some luggage carts , our luggage and the salmon box were rerurned to the check in area .

Everything worked out and we had a great BBQ . The moral of the story is this . If you are ever in Seattle or Vancouver and wanta souvenir buy smoked salmon and carry it on to the plane .