Country #38 - Switzerland

The Cheese

Today was a long day but filled with a lot of rest. I left Hotel Bristol around 7:00am to make my train to Mulhouse Ville in France. Thankfully the train station was just around the corner! After a two-hour train ride I arrived in Mulhouse Ville I had to wait for three hours before transferring onto my two-hour train to Zurich, Switzerland. When I arrived in Zurich it was not much more than a fifteen-minute walk to my hotel, Hotel Kindli. However, that walk involved a few hills and by the time I arrived I was definitely out of breath.

My first impressions of Zurich was that it was just as I had imagined: beautiful, quaint, and very Swiss. Hotel Kindli was located right in the heart of town and I received a very warm welcome. My room was very cozy and I really loved the unique style of Hotel Kindli. Thank you so much to Hotel Kindli for sponsoring this night of my trip! By the time I arrived I was exhausted and actually accidentally fell asleep for a few hours. I guess the jet lag plus the long travel day got to me! When I woke up it was dinner time so I decided to find a Swiss meal for dinner.

I would have preferred fondue but unfortunately for one person, it is very hard to find at a reasonable price. Honestly, anything is hard to find at a reasonable price in Switzerland. I love the stunning country but that conception is very true. It was like $5 for a bottle of water at any restaurant or store on the street so I waited to buy water in a grocery store for much cheaper. Anyways, I found a restaurant that met my needs of being Swiss and inexpensive and, bonus, all about cheese!

It wasn’t hard to choose Raclette Factory AG once I found it. I love Raclette cheese and this unique spot tried to serve the meal for a reasonable (but still not inexpensive price) at a trendy location in the heart of Zurich. I really enjoyed my meal which was basically just really good melted cheese with a few potatoes. My only qualm was that the service took forever - I know that this is a European thing but it took longer than it even should in Europe, especially for a casual restaurant.

After dinner, I walked around for a bit before heading back to my hotel to get a good night’s sleep before really exploring the city tomorrow.

The Lake

I’ve been to Switzerland once before, to Zermatt to see the Matterhorn, but never to Zurich. I loved the small town feel of Zermatt (and highly recommend it), but I was happy to find that even in the much bigger town of Zurich that I still got the quaint Swiss feel I had in Zermatt. I think I am stating to catch a cold so I slept in way past when I should have but I still had plenty of time to make it a great day. I started by walking up to Lindenhof which was a hill right up the street from Hotel Kindli. It had amazing views out over the city and I really enjoyed watching a cute puppy play frisbee.

From Lindenhof, I made my way to Bahnhofstrasse which is the high street in Zurich. I had a nice walk down it for a bit, and then made my way to St. Peter. St. Peter is famous for the large clock face that can be seen all around this side of Zurich. Inside it was a very small yet beautiful church with white walls inside. From St. Peter I then went to Fraumünster Church. No photos were allowed inside but it was very unique. The most famous part of the church are the Marc Chagall stained glass windows which definitely lives up to the hype. They are so unique and unlike any other stained glass windows, I have ever seen. It’s a shame Chagall only started to do stained glass so late in his life! There was also a nice small museum under the church which was nice to learn more about the history.

After Fraumünster I headed to the Bellevueplatz area. It is mainly just an intersection but I found a small place to eat lunch - I had an inexpensive sausage called spezial servelat. It was really good and so was the bill for Switzerland! I didn’t buy water though because $5 is insane for a bottle - I asked for tap water like an obnoxious American but I’m sorry Switzerland has some of the cleanest water in the world it is a waste to spend that much. Anyways I got my tap water and all was well. I then made my way down the street to Movenpick to try famous Swiss gelato maker. From a self-proclaimed gelato snob’s opinion, it was actually quite good!

I ate my gelato as I walked along Lake Zurich. I never realized how big Lake Zurich was, but it is giant. I walked for about an hour and barely even touched the surface. I enjoyed my walk immensely, though. The lake was beautiful and it was so interesting to people watch as there were so many locals out enjoying the lake and the parks and other public spaces along it. My hour-long walk back was just as enjoyable minus the gelato.

When I got back to town I walked to Grossmünster, another prominent Zurich Cathedral. Unfortunately, it was already closed, but the outside was still very pretty. Afterwards, I just spent time walking through the streets of Zurich. Specifically, I enjoyed walking down Niederdorfstrasse, one of the main typically Swiss streets. I then walked back along the water to Hotel Kindli where I called it an early night. I have a super early morning tomorrow and by this time tomorrow, I will have been in four countries in one day so the more sleep the better!

38 countries down, 158 to go.

To learn more about Hotel Kindli click here.

Country #37 - Luxembourg

The Caves

This morning I had a 7:00am train out of Frankfurt, Germany towards Luxembourg. I didn’t have a direct train but instead, I connected to a double-decker bus in Saarbrücken. I got the front seat on the top level so I had a great view for the beautiful drive through the countryside. I arrived at the main train/bus station in Luxembourg and walked about three minutes to my hotel, Hotel Bristol. Thank you so much to Hotel Bristol for sponsoring this night of my trip! I checked in and left my luggage before setting out to explore Luxembourg City.

Within minutes of walking, I was blown away by the beauty and views in Luxembourg, and there was much more to come over the next few hours. My first stop was lunch in the heart of the city where I had a great crepe. While eating a tiny marching band walked through the city which was adorable and definitely a unique sight. After my meal, I first walked to Place d’Armes, the central square in Luxembourg City. It was very cute and there was a market going on. The heart of the city is not very large and it is a very walkable city. From there I walked to City Hall and then visited Cathédral Notre-Dame. The doors were closed so I was unsure if it was open, but I was very glad to see someone walk in. It was a very pretty Gothic church well worth going to see. Afterwards, I walked past Palais Grand-Ducal which was, in my opinion, the exact building I would think of when I think of Luxembourg.

I walked past Palais Grand-Ducal on my way to the Musée national d’histoire et d’art Luxembourg (MNHA). It was a great museum! It was really large but I loved the design of the museum. The bottom few floors are only in French which was not ideal, but I enjoyed walking around the floor about Luxembourg’s history as well as the art floor and the special exhibit about Portugal. After the museum I walked to Chemin de la Corinche, which is known as “the most beautiful balcony in Europe.” I don’t know if this is true, but it is definitely up there. The view was amazing - it looks out over the idyllic historic houses in the Grund area as well as the Neumünster Abbey Cultural Exchange Center which is just gorgeous.

After taking plenty of pictures I made my way to one of the most unique stops on my trip so far, Casemates du Bock. Casemates is a series of tunnels built into the side of the Luxembourg City that looks out onto the Grund area. It was so cool to spend an hour literally walking in the side of Luxembourg City. The tunnels span quite a ways. There are a few dead ends and twists and turns, but I really enjoyed walking through the entire tunnel system, as well as seing the views when being on the main floor of tunnels.

After Casemates du Bock I decided to visit MUDAM Luxembourg, Luxembourg’s modern art museum. It is a little ways out of town, but I am so glad that I made the trip! The good news is that on weekends the city bus system is free to use for anyone! So after a fifteen minute bus ride I was dropped off right by both the EU Court of Justice and the European Investment bank which were both unexpected and interesting to walk by. The buildings themselves were really cool! I arrived at MUDAM and was immediately so glad that I decided to visit. The museum itself was architecturally unique and I loved the style of modern art inside - big, bold, but thought provoking works. I’ll post some photos of my favorites. After finishing MUDAM and drinking a lemon soda in the cool museum cafe I walked to catch a bus back into town.

I was dropped off near the top of the Grund area which I then walked down through. The houses were so cute as was basically the entire area. I was glad to find a bus to take me back uphill because it had been a long walk down. I got off the bus basically right in front of Hotel Bristol and ate dinner across the street at a really cute Italian place called Bella Napoli. I of course had pizza - it was very filling after such a long day filled with walking. I made my way across the street to my hotel where I moved my bags into my cozy room where I fell asleep quickly. Looking forward to tomorrow - I’m headed to Zurich, Switzerland!

37 countries down, 159 to go.

To learn more about Hotel Bristol click here.

Country #36 - Germany

The Rain

After a few days at home, I’m on the road again! I’m going back to Europe for about a week where I’ll be visiting Germany, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Monaco, and France. I flew from Birmingham to Dallas this morning and then went to eat lunch with my Aunt Donna and grandparents before my flight to Frankfurt. Everything was going great until I got to the restaurant and realized that it now looked like I might not get on my flight to Frankfurt. I was flying on a family pass again, which if you have been reading the blog you know comes with its own source of stress. I’ve decided from here on out though that I’m only going to use them to fly out and then buy my tickets flying back to the U.S. to avoid getting stranded in a foreign country again (i.e. Italy)  as much as I can. Using a pass to fly out of the U.S. is also ideal because if you are lucky enough to get business class the flight out of the country is the one you need to sleep on.

All of that aside, I panicked at lunch attempting to find any other way I could get to Europe. Flights from Dallas to every other American Airlines hub in the U.S. all looked bad, so I was stuck flying out of DFW. I finally found a flight that looked okay, from Dallas to Amsterdam where I could then take a train to Frankfurt from. The problem was it was an hour earlier than my Frankfurt flight, so I had to leave lunch right after ordering and only just saying hi to everyone.

I got to the airport and went to the Amsterdam gate, by which time the direct flight to Frankfurt started to look like I would make it again. I asked the gate agent for his advice because it was such a toss-up situation, and I decided to, after all of that, just try for the original Frankfurt flight. Which, it turned out, was the right decision. I made it on and the person in the middle seat next to me ended up being a no-show which was so nice on such a long flight that was otherwise almost completely full.

I tried to sleep as much as I could and arrived in Frankfurt to a brand new Taylor Swift song - if you know me you know that this was a really big deal. I definitely had mixed feelings upon my first listen of Look What You Made Me do after a nine-hour flight while walking through the Frankfurt airport, but after a few listens it grew on me substantially and now I know all of the words so all is right in the world. Anyways, Taylor Swift news aside, I easily went through immigration and customs and took a bus to the other terminal where I then took the train into town.

After a short train ride, I arrived at the central station, which thankfully was within a five-minute walk from my hotel, Le Meridien Frankfurt. When I arrived I was greeted by Christina, who I had communicated with via email to arrange my stay. She was so kind, and we sat and had coffee (I had OJ) while waiting for my room to finish being prepared. I really enjoyed talking with her! I then met Anouschka, who showed me to my room along with Christina, and she was so sweet as well! She gave me a great introduction to the city that was so helpful for when I explored later in the day. While we were walking to my room they let me know that there was a surprise in the room, and I had no idea what to expect! The room itself was beautiful - it was huge with a TV that swiveled to face either side of the room, a giant sitting/desk area, and a great view out at the city as well. I still didn’t know what the surprise was, but then we entered the bathroom.

I was floored! Someone who works at the hotel is an artist, and she drew a map of the world on my bathroom mirror, with the countries that I had visited so far colored in and Germany highlighted. It was so thoughtful I couldn’t believe it! After an incredible introduction to the hotel and everyone who worked there, this was the icing on top of only the beginning of my stay. It was so sweet, and I am so thankful to them for everything. Thank you so much, again, to Le Meridien Frankfurt for sponsoring this night of my trip!

After the great introduction to my room I then promptly fell asleep for a few hours. I know it’s not the best thing to do after a flight, but it was very necessary to help me get through the day. I had a great nap and then set out to explore the city! I walked to the Main river where there was a really cool festival going on all along the water! My first stop for the day, though, was the Städel Museum. It had art from the 1800s to modern, which is my favorite range. I especially loved the modern art floor. It was my first art museum in a while (not counting the Vatican which I don’t because it is a whole different situation) and I was so excited to just relax and spend time walking through.

After the museum, I walked along the river through the festival! It’s things like this that just make me fall in love with Europe - a picturesque festival set along a river that I was not expecting in the slightest. I found a bratwurst for dinner before making my way to the main bridge, Eiserner Steg. From Eiserner Steg I took tons of pictures of the town as well as the river. I could tell that it was about to start pouring rain at this point - I called my dad to load the radar because mine was not working and he gave me a few minute prediction. Literally the second I put up my camera it started to pour. I found a ledge to stand under while I got my rain jacket out of my backpack. Here’s a tip - always carry a rain jacket in Europe, because you literally never know when it will rain and it allows you to keep walking. Mine also takes up less space than an umbrella and it’s not going to fly away.

It wasn’t just rain, though. After a few minutes of the pouring rain, it started to lightning as well. I made my way across town in spurts, stopping every few minutes to go in a store or stand under a large awning. I headed to Zeil, the main shopping street in Frankfurt. As it was almost night time shopping centers were really my only option for something dry and open. I stopped at Galeria Kaufhof Frankfurt An der Hauptwache. It was kind of like a Harrods or Saks with lots of floors and a food hall. I walked up to the panoramic top floor, but it wasn’t really an option to look out at due to the pouring rain.

After a few minutes of walking through I made my way next door to MyZeil. It was the coolest mall ever! I honestly have no idea what stores were in the mall, but I was just amazed by the architecture. It was curved glass and really hard to describe but here is a picture to help. I never thought I would think a mall in Frankfurt would be so cool but here we are! It was awesome, especially with the rain falling on it.

Eventually, the rain let up enough for me to walk to the idyllic old part of town, Römer. Römer is what a lot of Frankfurt looked like before World War II. It’s such a picturesque area and amazing to think what the city used to look like when it all looked like Römer. I also walked by the Frankfurt Cathedral which was obviously closed but very unique from the outside. From there I walked through the financial district of town, which Frankfurt is known for, on the way back to my hotel. I was still sopping wet from the rain, but it was definitely worth it to be able to see more of the city.

I arrived back at my hotel and after a long day and a lot of jet lag fell asleep pretty easily. I have a 7am train tomorrow to Luxembourg, but I had a great day exploring Frankfurt for the first time! I have a very mixed track record when it comes to visits to Germany, so I was very glad to have such a great trip to Frankfurt. I visited in the fifth grade on a choir trip with my mom and only remember good things about Germany, but my only other trip to the country was to Berlin with my brother last year. It was an absolute nightmare, and if you want my advice I would never visit Berlin if you have any choice in the matter. It is the only city in Europe I have truly had a horrible time in from start to finish. Not that it matters now, thankfully, because I had an incredible time in Frankfurt!

36 countries down, 160 to go.

To learn more about Le Meridien Frankfurt click here.

Country #34 - Italy Day 2

The Touristy Spots

After doing Vatican City earlier in the day today, I then spent the second half of my day exploring Rome a little more. I walked from Vatican City to the bridge past Ponte Sant’Angelo, Ponte Umberto I. Ponte Umberto I actually has the best view to take a picture of the Tiber and the Vatican from. I walked through a little market on my way there, and after crossing I made my way to Giolitti. Giolitti is located right by the hotel that I stayed at on my first trip to Rome four years ago so I went for sentimental reasons, but regardless it is definitely one of the top places to get gelato for a reason. It’s pretty fantastic gelato and the atmosphere inside is really unique and worth seeing.

Gelato in hand, I then made my way to some of the main tourist spots in Rome. Piazza Navona was my first stop. This is my favorite square in Rome and honestly is probably that for most people. It has a great vibe and there are always things to see. Personally, I like walking in the small church, Sant’Agnese in Agone. I sat and ate my gelato and just people watched for a while before heading to my next stop, the Pantheon.

There was a long line to enter the Pantheon, but it moved so quickly. Like, I was inside within two minutes. That didn’t stop two separate attempts by people to break me in line! I refused both attempts, but two of the guys just went behind me. They were Americans giving us a bad name, and I gave them a look throughout the visit. If you can’t wait two minutes in line then I think that’s a problem. The other would be line breaker (also American) thankfully went to the end of the line. I guess maybe I just look like an easy person to break in line in front of, but that’s not going to happen on my watch!

The Pantheon is interesting, but as it was my second visit it was definitely a quick walkthrough, as there is not a ton to see. Afterwards, I walked to the infamous Trevi Fountain. I found a spot to sit for a bit and, once again, just enjoy the fountain. I made sure to throw in three coins as is tradition, and it’s a good thing that I did - it means I’ll definitely make my way back to Rome someday!

If you were wondering, all of these stops are within really close walking distance to each other, so thankfully I was not running myself silly all over the city. My last stop before dinner was the Spanish Steps. The Spanish Steps, while not super exciting in theory, are one of my favorite things to see in Rome. They are beautiful and an amazing place to just sit and watch the city. The view from the top is great, and I just really love the vibe that I get when I’m there. After sitting for a bit I made my way to the top of the steps to take the metro to dinner.

I was going to try another one of the top rated pizza places in Rome, but unfortunately, I failed to realize that it was a national holiday until I arrived. This meant that, even though it was a summer month and Rome was filled with tourists, almost every restaurant was closed for dinner, which was obviously not ideal. I ended up walking back to Trastevere, but it felt completely different to how it felt yesterday. Yesterday it was lively and filled with tons of people, but today I struggled to find an open restaurant.

I eventually found a spot (after tons of walking) and ordered, of course, a Margherita pizza. It was really tasty, but the best part of dinner was making a new friend! Sitting at the table next to me was a man from Chicago. We talked about all sorts of things including my trip, his work in the music industry, and travel in general. It was a super interesting conversation and I really enjoyed it! After a longer than expected dinner, I then walked back along the Tiber towards the Vatican. I found an open gelato shop, L’arena Sto Gelato, but it is not one that I would recommend. The size was much too small for the price compared to much better spots in Rome! However, it was still gelato, so I wasn’t too disappointed.

I made my way back to Hearth Hotel for a good night’s sleep before an early flight back to the U.S. tomorrow!

The Travel Nightmare

Today started off like any other early travel day, but it quickly turned into a mess. I made my way to the Rome Airport (FCO) by taking the train from Roma Termini, where I would be flying on a family pass (non-rev) back to the United States on American Airlines. The flight had plenty of open seats, so it should not have been a problem. Easier said than done, however. In an earlier blog, I talked about how flying on a pass can be either a blessing or a curse, and today was the epitome of the curse.

With all of the open seats, myself and all of the other non-revs were waiting to be issued our boarding passes. However, they never called our names. Instead, after many questions and much confusion, we learned that they would not be allowing us on a flight (that has over 30 open seats) due to a weight restriction. I have flown a lot on passes throughout my life, but this was a brand new one to me and everyone else who was flying.

The worst part, though, was that they would not switch us to any of the other U.S. bound flights that were leaving at around the same time, and wouldn’t seat us if we switched ourselves. It was insane and unlike anything I had ever encountered. Left without any options, it looked like I would be waiting to fly out until tomorrow.

By this point, it was around noon, and it would be really expensive and complicated to go back to Rome for another day. Luckily, in the new international terminal, the Rome Airport has a ton of comfy chairs and even a couch. After a few hours, I decided to stay in the airport and work and try to spend the night there. I was joined by two fellow non-revs who were about my age who decided to the same. This worked out really well because we could watch each other's things when one of us wanted to walk around.

I worked for a while, walked around the airport for a bit, found pizza and gelato for dinner, and then made my way back to try and sleep for the night. We were worried that eventually, they would kick us out, but amazingly it never happened. I decided to sleep on the couch and actually slept quite a bit. Other than the sound of the TVs and the cleaning crews there was nothing to disturb us as we were literally at one point the only people in the terminal.

After a better than expected night’s sleep I made my way to my new gate and boarded within an hour of waking up. The best part about the entire conundrum was that I was able to get a business class seat on the flight back home. So I went from being entirely messed up by flying on a pass to having one of the best seats on the plane in twenty-four hours. Literally a blessing and a curse. I slept a few more solid hours on the plane before arriving in Chicago where I had a few hour delay before finally flying to Birmingham.

It was a very long two days of travel, but it could have always been much worse. I had an incredible time in Italy and am looking forward to having a few days to rest before leaving again for Europe!

35 countries down, 161 to go.

Read about my first day in Italy here.

Read about my day in Vatican City here.

To learn more about Hearth Hotel click here.

Country #35 - Vatican City

The Church

Today I woke up to another great breakfast at Hearth Hotel before heading to stand in line to visit the Vatican Museums. Technically I had already entered Vatican City multiple times (when you walk in front of St. Peter’s Basilica you are technically in Vatican City). The line was so long. Like wrapped around multiple city blocks long. There was no way I was going to spend my entire day in line so I looked online on the off chance that an online booking had opened up. And it was my lucky day! A booking for a few hours later had come available, and I bought it as quickly as I could. So instead of standing in the sweltering heat for four hours, I was able to go back to Hearth Hotel, print the ticket, and then go ahead and visit St. Peter’s Basilica! Moral of the story, though, is to definitely buy your Vatican Museum tickets ahead of time.

There was a line and obviously security, but it was not near as long as to enter the Vatican Museums. St. Peter’s is one of the most beautiful churches in the world in my opinion. It is just so grand that it is hard to beat. My favorite part, though, is definitely Michelangelo's Pieta. It’s one of my favorite sculptures because it is just so lifelike. I could spend hours marveling at St. Peter’s, but I only walked through for about thirty minutes.

I still had time to eat lunch before entering the Vatican Museums, so I grabbed another quick prosciutto and mozzarella sandwich. After pizza and pasta, this is definitely my third favorite Italian meal! It was a quick meal close to the Vatican which made it really easy to enter right after. I walked right in, went through security, got my signatures saying I was in the country, and then started walking.

I have visited the Vatican Museums before, but they were much busier this time. I highly recommend you avoid visiting Italy in the summer because it is hot and so busy. I could barely move in the museum there were so many people. I’ll never understand the politics behind the Vatican having so much priceless art, but I really enjoyed seeing the huge collection of all types of art. The rooms of the Vatican museums leading up to the Sistine Chapel are all so beautiful, and definitely worth walking through. There is an option to walk straight to the Sistine Chapel, but I would highly advise against it unless you are in a huge hurry because you would miss so much.

Once you make it to the Sistine Chapel cameras are not allowed, but you should definitely just sit in one of the seats along the wall and take it all in. Because there is a lot of it, and it’s pretty extraordinary. After staring at the ceiling for a while, I then finished making my way through the museum. There is just so much to see, but I guess it makes sense when you remember that you are literally seeing an entire country in one museum. It took me a few hours to see everything in the Vatican Museums, and St. Peter’s took me about an hour. I would say that St. Peter’s is my favorite part of Vatican City along with St. Peter’s square, but the Vatican Museums are great as well. I really enjoyed my few hours in Vatican City, and am looking forward to the rest of my day exploring Rome again!

35 countries down, 161 to go.

Read about my first day in Italy here.

Read about my second day in Italy here.