Day 4 Scandi-Baltic Tour

Last day in Stockholm and again sun shining and gorgeous! We started off with a bike tour highly nerve racking because we had to go through a fair bit of traffic and it's on the right side of the road which in spite of being in Europe for 6 weeks, I haven't got the hang of at all.
However we're mostly on bike paths so it wasn't too bad. We rode around Stockholm and then onto to the other islands. It took 3 hours, involved a few hills, was 10km long and I stacked the bike once but other than that did pretty well so I'm a bit proud of accomplishing it. Couldn't sit for a few hours, need a bit more padding on my derrière.
On the tour there were plenty stops to hear some history and what's happening in Sweden today. For instance Swede's are notoriously shy and aren't good at meeting people. Out of the 9 million population, 4 million are online dating. I'm clearly living in the wrong country!!
After the bike tour we went and tried another speciality of Sweden, cinnamon rolls. Absolutely delicious. Then checked out the markets and I had yet another hot dog!
Then it was back on the ferry for another overnight cruise. This was a much smaller cruise ship and the food very expensive and not very good. That being the case we decided to have picnic on the deck because the weather was so nice.
This time I was sharing a cabin with Chloe and Freya two sisters from Sydney and poor Albert the American who was stuck in a very small cabin with 3 girls! It also meant that if anyone needed something from their bags everyone had to sit in their bed and one person could open their bag at a time!
After a quick shower it was up on the deck to watch our route through the Swedish islands.
Then we found a good spot and said goodbye to Sweden with schnapps and pickled fish (Swedish tradition). After our picnic dinner we went to the on board entertainment. We had very low expectations because Anna our guide had said it was usually terrible and they were also doing rock of ages.
However instead of the program of rock of ages they had a south american troop called Amazonian. They were acrobats and were just amazing!! (Also helped that the men were delightfully ripped and can do flips like you wouldn't believe!!) So that was an absolute gem. Then to Anna's delight we caught one of the world cup semi finals, Germany v Brazil where Germany smashed Brazil to pieces 7-1.
A good end to a good day!

Day 3 Scandi-Baltic Tour

When we woke up this morning we were in Sweden! Country number 3. We landed and for a bus to our hostel. We dumped our stuff and set out to the old town to explore Stockholm. We started with a Viking walking tour. Obviously the focus was on Vikings (for instance did you know that didn't actually have horns on their helmets? They found horns in the graves of the Vikings and assumed they went on the helmets but they were actually for drinking out of) but we also had a bit of modern day knowledge and some history incorporated.
We saw the royal palace and heard about the king, queen, prince and princesses and how they are token rulers now.
We heard about the executioner of mediaeval times usually a condemned man who is given the option of this job or death. If he chooses the job then they dress him in a red vest so everyone knows who he is, tattoo the city seal on his forehead and cut off his ears in case he thinks about escaping. However he is allowed still to go to the pub but no one sits with him.
Stockholm is an island with a few surrounding ones and they used to hang the condemned on one of these islands. They would wait until they had 9 condemned and do them all at once. Once they were dead the local brewery masters would go over and chop off a bit of the bodies and stir into the next brew of beer to give it more 'body' (ewwww).
Modern day Sweden however is very progressive. They have 46% of the parliament as women (the second highest in the world). All the political parties are varying degrees of lefties described as mostly left to extreme left. They have the most impressive parental leave, 480 days of paid leave at 80% of wage (that is week days they also get weekends off). 2 months is allocated for women only and 2 months for men only -which is a brilliant concept. Other parts of there socialist welfare state includes free kinder from age 3 months (all day) and free education. However there are downsides to Sweden. Everything is terribly expensive and winter lasts 6 months and they only a few hours of sunlight per day during it.
Luckily for us it was a glorious sunny day so we saw the best of Stockholm. After the tour one of the Megan's and I went off and had hot dogs (invented in Sweden) and took a boat trip around the islands.
Then we met the others and did the most Swedish thing we could do in Stockholm. We went to IKEA! They have a free bus!! We went there for dinner. We had Swedish meatballs and IKEA brewed beer (of course they have their own beer!). A quick explore of the oldest and biggest IKEA in the world and then back to the city with ice creams. The whole meal was incredibly cheap! Only €7.
After that to a funky coffee house, Sweden is even only with Denmark with the reputation as the biggest coffee drinkers in the world. On average they'll have 4-5 cups per day. So we tried the coffee (well the others did) and apparently it was excellent.

(There are no photos with this blog my phone battery has died)

Day 2 Scandi-Baltic Tour

Waking up in Finland with my new roommate Rachel a serial traveler from Melbourne we headed to the buffet breakfast and to plan our day. A group of us decided to go to the island just off Helsinki and check out the fortress. It was a lovely sunny day and the island was pretty. We got a ferry there and back and were followed by hopeful seagulls the whole way.
Once back in mainland we checked out the markets and got a massive bag of succulent strawberries. From there we went to the oldest cafe in Helsinki and I got a feast of chili chocolate cake and the 'special Helsinki' hot chocolate which provides you with melted chocolate, hot milk, cream, spices and mint rocks. Then you mix it up to your taste. I nearly had a cardiac arrest but it was totally worth it!
We then tried to find the beach but was running out of time so we went back to the hostel to meet the others.
From there we boarded an overnight cruise the Stockholm. I've never been on cruise so it was quite an experience! I was sharing cabin with a lovely American accountant and a data analysis from Manchester, Emily and Laura, very chilled girls. We explored the boat, the sun deck and the shops and bought some Spanish wine in duty free.
Then it was time for the buffet dinner, all you can eat and drink for €38. I hung with Adam and Alice teachers from Newcastle (Australia) and Adam and I competed to see who could eat the most. I managed 4 plates of mains and 2 of desserts. Adam was nearly undone by the caramel ice cream but we called it a draw.
From there it was time for the on board entertainment a cheesy stage show with the songs from rock of ages. I then danced the night away with two different Americans Arielle and Shona from Chicago who were burlesque dancers. We met some Finnish boys who attempted to teach us swing dancing, extremely funny. Then to bed and reset or watches because it's another time zone!

Day 1 Scandi-Baltic Tour

Today I met with my new tour group at hostel in Tallinn in Estonia. An excellent collection of Australians, Americans and one Brit. We started off by meeting the lovely Anna our busabout tour guide who was actually German and has a very funny dry wit and when telling us stories makes them so matter of fact.
We dumped our bags and went on a walking tour of Tallinn which is the capital of Estonia. It was a funny old day sunny but with this freezing cold mist that wafted off the sea.
We walked around the outskirts of the city and saw the old city walls and then into old town. Poor old Estonia had been through the wars, invaded by first the Danish, then the Swedish, then Russians, then Germans and then Russians again. While behind the Iron curtain 1/3 of the population was sent to workers camps and the country was repopulated with Russians. This means there is a heavy Russian influence in the country.
We actually arrived in the middle of their annual folk song festival so there was a fantastic vibe in the city. People were walking around and just randomly singing and in traditional folk dress.
The song festival dates back to when Estonia was under soviet union rule and didn't want to be. Whilst under the soviet rule they weren't allowed to exhibit any of their traditional history and were severely repressed.
In 1987 in act of peaceful resistance 5000 people came to freedom square (called something else back then) and sang their folk songs. Then they did it again in '88 but this time 20,000 people came. Then in 1989 the Baltic Chain was created where 2,000,000 stood in 600km human chain across the 3 Baltic states and held hands in peaceful resistance. This marked the collapse of the soviet union and the eventual freedom of Estonia. So they mark the occasion by having the folk festival.
Tallinn especially gets into the theme of mediaeval times with themed restaurants and archery. They also offer bear on the menu for a fairly exorbitant price.
I befriended to lovely girls from Brisbane both conveniently called Megan and a nice pharmacist from las Vegas called Albert. We went in search of food and found a little cave like restaurant that served elk soup from a big vat, pickles that you could fish for and these delicious pies, golden pastry and plethora of fillings (choices included cow, pig, apple, spinach, apple and elk). The soup was amazing and it cost about €6 for 2 pies and soup and the hilarity of the barmaid who determinedly stayed in character the whole time!
So that was that for Estonia because then it was on to the ferry bound for Finland. We crossed the Baltic sea caught to trams and we were in Helsinki!
Another walking tour and we heard how Finland were under Swedish rule for about 600 years and were unimpressed by that and felt very repressed so they asked the Russians to come in and get rid of the Swede's. The current Russian ruler Alexander II Czar was very benevolent and once in he allowed the Finnish to create their own language, gave them the capital of Helsinki and said go ahead and govern yourselves. The czar was pretty happy with how it was going in Finland and thought about doing that in Russia and was all set to sign the paperwork that would make him just a figurehead and then he was assassinated (survived 8 other attempts but they got him in the end). His son who succeeded him decided to forget his dad's plan and just stay ultimate ruler but that didn't work out either because it marked the beginning of the Russian revolution.
The Finnish broke free of the Russians in 1918 and managed to keep a precocious hold on their country by playing the Germans off the Russians and making pacts that meant they didn't get invaded.
The Finnish are a pretty cool lot, they have a wife carrying festival (if you win you get your wife's weight in beer), a mosquito killing festival (23 is the number to beat in 5 mins) and a mobile phone throwing contest.
After the walking tour we went out for some traditional Finnish food, reindeer and salmon. A drink in a pop up pub and then we ended the night by going to the top floor of a hotel that was reputed to have a toilet with the best view in Finland. It took us awhile to find it but was spectacular especially because we were there in time for the sunset!!

Final day in Switzerland

So today I'm leaving Schaffhausen and heading off on a new adventure!! But it wasn't going to be till late in the afternoon so I checked out, left my bag behind and sought out the local museum.
It didn't open til 11 so I went to a nearby cafe and once again attempted a hot chocolate. I've had a few goes in Europe for a decent hot chocolate and mostly they have been unimpressive. This one was the most surprising so far in that the waitress gave a me a cup of hot milk and a packet of powdered chocolate to make my own. And you know what? It was the best so far!
Anyways then off to the museum. It was all in German but they gave you an English translation book for all exhibitions. It started off with a settlement of the area and moved through time to show how Schaffhausen became what it is today. This was combined with general history of the area. I learnt all about knights of the area that created Schaffhausen; they were once nobles who decided to make themselves knights. Then monks that settled in the area, then the richest noble who owned Schaffhausen who gave the town to the monks. And of course of the Rhine which is what Schaffhausen is dependent on. Also that the definition of the name is ram town (but no one knows why, at first they thought it was ladle town but decided that ram made more sense!)
The museum took most of my time because it was so fascinating and then I treated myself to a final Swiss lunch.
Then a train ride later and I'm at the airport. Two flights later and I've started my new adventure in the middle of the night in Tallinn Estonia.
I got to the hostel at about 1am Estonian time (yep changed time zone did not realise that all, nearly missed my second flight!). It was called love peace hostel and you left your shoes at the door and then apparently went out and got drunk. I was a bit boring and just went straight to bed!

Day 4 Switzerland

Today was supposed to be warm and 27 so I headed out for more hiking. My plan was to go out to the wine region and I had found a hiking route on the tourism website to do. It was supposed to start in Schaffhausen but for the life of me I couldn't find the starting point. Also it was cold and foggy and I seriously considered going back and changing into pants.
Eventually I found what I thought looked like the right direction and had the right route number. It led me up into the hills and suburbs of Schaffhausen. By the time I got to the outskirts of Schaffhausen the sun had come out and it was turning out to be a nice day.

 I ended up walking in the forest and then popped out above the village of Merishausen according to the sign. This was unfortunate because it wasn't on my route. Luckily I had a map and it was written on the map. Less helpfully was that all the destinations that were on the sign weren't on my map. So I decided to walk in the direction of the village.

While on the way I noticed another sign that indicated a walking trail in brown. I followed that for a few minutes but felt like I was doubling back so abandoned that plan and went to the village. Once in the village there were numerous yellow walking signs but all places indicated weren't on the route that I wanted. So I went through the map and found another walking route that involved Merishausen and decided to go with that. It was mapped about in green and there was another route in the same area in brown. Reevaluating the signs there were ones indicating a brown trail and a green one. So I thought I'll just follow that and see where it takes me. So I followed it above the village and around some fields and some cows and then realised I was actually walking in circles. Oh good grief I was unhappy! The green signs were actually for a nature walk for the region (everything written in German so took me ages to figure out), sigh so in spite of walking for hours in what was now a very hot day when you are hiking (we hit the 27 degree by now)I had gotten absolutely nowhere. 

So I found a yellow sign (back on the walking trial) that said Beggingen only one hour away. It was past lunchtime so I thought walk there,  have some food and re plan. So I headed in that direction. And it was uphill for a long long time. Eventually I reached the top and it was a bloody mountain!! 890m high!! Who doesn't right that on a sign!!

So at the top I was totally deserving of food so rewarded myself with a le snack and apricots. It took me an hour and half to get to the top and I was think what is with these crazy Swiss that leap up mountains in no time but on reassessment of signs it turns out it was 2 hours to Beggingen, oh sigh.

Luckily for me what goes up must come down so I got to go down hill through a forest. When I came out of the forest I was overlooking the valley and the village of Beggingen. Firstly... ohhh wow talk about beautiful! It was covered fields, all different colours, perfectly set out and so incredibly Swiss. It actually made the walk so worth it (mind you this is at the point after I got off the mountain). 

I walked into the village which was very peaceful and immediately found the nearest pub complete with toilet and large beer! After a rest I felt that I could keep going. So off I went again.

Now beer and 6 hours of walking will cloud your judgement somewhat because it never occurred to me that once leaving a village in a valley that you climbed a mountain to get to, that would have to climb another mountain to get away from it. Sigh and so I ended up climbing up a mountain again thankfully not as steep as the previous one. I was almost to the top when I came to an intersection with no signs. Not a single flipping sign and 4 possible directions in which to take. I walked along for about 5 minutes to see if there was a sign further along but no joy.

Now I don't know if you have been lost up a mountain in the middle of Switzerland by yourself at about 4 in afternoon having walked all day and and having an overactive imagination, but it is not a good time. I started thinking of all the things that could possibly go wrong (mostly incredibly unlikely ones, like being killed by a bear), so I decided to back track to the village. This was sensible because by the time I got down to the village again it was already 5. So I got a bus back to Schaffhausen in absolute relief.

Once home and having had a fabulous shower I took myself out to dinner, to a slow cook Swiss restaurant and had rosti (like a potato pancake) which made it all worthwhile. And I slept very well that night!!

My well earned beer!

Fields on my accidental nature walk

My first mountain I climbed (was much steeper than it looked)

Cows!! They have bells around their necks in case they get lost, you can hear them a mile away!! It's very Swiss!

A butterfly who wanted to live on my bag forever

Halfway into Beggingen

My delicious slow cooked dinner!

Day 3 of Switzerland

The lovely lady in the tourist info informed that in Switzerland "when it rains the Swiss; we like to go on boats".
So today it rained, therefore I decided I go out on a boat!
Firstly I set out on a train to Kreuzlingen on the lake. It started off drizzling and by the time I got there it was pouring. I saw the town and then went down to the waterfront.

Alongside it was a massive park complete with a zoo and playground. Not as much fun in the rain by I scored with a fantastic structure on the edge of the park and the lake that was dry and had views! I went up there and had a picnic lunch, met a nice Swiss woman who told me all about her life and then ventured out into the rain again. By now it was freezing so I found a conveniently located cafe and indulged in a hot chocolate.

And then it was time for the boat! I braved the up top which was covered and if you sat in the middle you didn't get wet. The trip was lovely, took 4 hours and we gently cruised down stopping at villages along the way.

Eventually the smokers drove me inside. But by then most of tourists left so I could have a quiet drink.

Sadly we got back to Schaffhausen all too soon but for dinner I had my first Asian food in forever complete with a nice bottle of wine (no one panic I didn't drink the whole thing). The Thai was brilliant! Ah I miss Asian food.

Waiting area for the boats

Steps down off my picnic lunch structure

View down to the lake

Hot chocolate to warm me up

Villages on the lake

Schaffhausen red wine, pinot noir

Thai and wine for dinner!!

Day 2 of Switzerland

Waking up to a blast of sunshine today was a welcome change from the rains of the past two days. With that in mind I headed out for a wee bit of a hike. Walking along the river Rhine, I went from the old town of Schaffhausen to the largest waterfall in Europe the Rhinefalls. It was an impressive ton of water but not really what I was expecting. I had thought height of the falls as opposed to width and volume of water. Still it was gorgeous. 

I had originally planned to get a boat out to the rock to get a close up but the place was crawling with tour buses and my least favourite type of tourists-teenagers. No matter what country they are from teenage tourists are the most annoying as well as the rudest. I say this a wealth of tourist experience and snobbery.

So that scuppered that plan so I continued along the right side of the Rhine bank. It was glorious. I stopped for a picnic lunch (there were many picnic benches along the way) and walked a total of 17km till I stopped at the tiny village of Jestetten then I crossed the river. I walked back along the river and then to the top of the Rhinefall. Back around to the other side of the falls again and then a well earned beer overlooking the falls.

Along my walk I encountered bright blue dragonflies longer than my fingers, snails the size of my palm, black sheep, donkeys, an animal I can only presume is a cross between a goose and a turkey and an alpaca called Romeo.

Also a lovely lady in a canoe in her 50s. We had a great chat, she couldn't quite understand why on earth I was traveling in Switzerland by myself, she has never her village of 135 people let alone gone to another country. She has 3 daughters and one of them is away for 2 weeks and she has found it really hard and is missing her so much. I tried to explain the reasons for traveling but we lost a lot in translation.
Anyway after the falls again I got back to Schaffhausen into for the Swiss playing in the world cup. I had walked a total of 40km plus so I was more than happy to sit down with a beverage.

The game went for two hours and for reasons I can't fathom all the extra time was to allow the Swiss tone to score (must get Conor to explain all that when I get home) but unfortunately the Swiss couldn't and so they are out. Everyone was a bit woeful for a while but they rallied well!!

Cordon bleu with Gorgonzola cheese in front of the soccer

Picnic lunch overlooking the river

Fields of wheat and sunshine

Schaffhausen on the river

Beer over the Rhine falls

The falls!

Wine and soccer

The Rhine

Day 1 Schaffhausen!

Today was a well earned rest day. I am a firm believer in having days off while travelling. If you spend every second leaping at out of bed at the crack of dawn and sightseeing all day then you exhaust yourself and stop caring about what you're seeing. And especially when one has her own king size bed and should be indulged! So after a sleep in (by which I mean 8am-incredibly late by my current standards) I organised the rest of my day. I found a supermarket and picked up some fruit, breakfast stuff, and ham, cheese and tomato for lunch. My hostel doesn't have a kitchen but if I propped the window open in my room and put the cold stuff on sill it was as good as a fridge!

My second problem was washing. After investigation on the net, I discovered Schaffhausen doesn't have a laundromat. I asked the hostel for suggestions, this caused much consternation. I think they were already fairly bewildered by having an Australian English speaking tourist in their midst, I've discovered that this hostel caters mainly to bike riding German speakers or construction workers (there are big works going on next door). They were looking somewhat askance at me for leaving home without washing my clothes (which to be fair was 5 weeks ago!). Eventually post negotiations they agreed I could use their machines (the pub ones) for a brilliant price ($12 AUD which is a steal by backpacker standards!) 

I then investigated the tourist information place which I'm happy to report is the best I've ever been to inspite of the fact that it doesn't open til after lunch. The lovely lady planned my whole stay and I'm super excited!! 

After putting on my washing on I went and did a self guided tour of the Old Town;  marvellous buildings with renaissance frescoes and Gothic facades. Lovely fountains, a few obligatory statues and magnificent views from Munot an impressive city fortification which sits over the city and the Rhine built in the 1500s. It has a moat filled with deer!

A few words about Schaffhausen itself. The old town is paved and pedestrian only. The people are lovely, really friendly and obliging and LOVE saying hello to you at every opportunity. It's like a small country town everyone is calling out to each other and hugging everyone (either they know everyone or they are super friendly to strangers). They all speak English which is excellent because so far I have mastered hello (which is hello), thanks, please, beer (which is also beer) and staring blankly at people (which is the face I make when I'm trying to figure out if they are speaking English, Italian, German or French and then once I've got that, what it is they said and then realising that I haven't said anything in a really long time). 

They are also super proud of being Swiss and really good behind the wheel. They very nicely always stop at pedestrian crossings and give a gleeful wave in a "go on, please cross it'll make me so happy" kind of way.

In fact the only thing I don't love so far about Schaffhausen is the smoking. I can't remember if when I was previously in Switzerland that they all smoked so much or maybe it was the areas I was in and they were more populated by tourists (yes by the way I'm the only non German speaking tourist here). Anyway they all smoke and everywhere. In pubs, cafes, bathrooms, houses, shops everywhere!! As an Australian of my generation this is quite bizarre. Not only that cigarettes are advertised everywhere!! I cannot remember when I last saw cigarettes advertised in Australia. The other astonishing thing is the smokers are all youngish (TEENS -openly smoking, 20s, 30s, 40s). In fact it was hard to find older people smoking, I can only presume it's because they are all dead from lung cancer. I guess it's so surprising because I would be hard pressed to find many people my age in Melbourne smoking, and if they are then they are hiding away in corners. The Swiss are standing on street corners chain smoking. 

Anyway enough of all that I'm currently sitting in the pub (again) although this time it's because I'm waiting for my clothes to dry. Yet again I'm watching the soccer, France are playing now (people aren't as excited as yesterday), really should've brought Conor with me, he would've appreciated all this endless soccer. (Honestly the way they carry on when they fall over is so annoying, seriously man up! That and the lack of scoring, but I'm keeping my views to myself). 

So this incredibly long blog is what one does when then have excellent WiFi and a slow dryer. I have also a plethora of 90s music to entertainment, just heard mumbo number 5 and now spice girls! Have also just realised they serve Guinness, this needs investigating!

Romanesque Cathedral Tower built in 1200s (courtesy of the walking tour)

The Swiss are out and proud!

Church built on a fish market site, described as Gothic with various styles but is 34m wide!

The most awesome tourist information centre ever

A cute frog (you can never have enough of those)

Cigarette advertising!!! ( funny that it's the sort of thing a tourist would take a picture of these days)

Italy then Switzerland

So an early start and I'm leaving Italy after 3 weeks of awesomeness and saying goodbye to Mum and Linda.

Off on the 730 train to Milan, only 2 and a bit hours (slight issue when my suitcase took off along the corridor but it's OK I got it back with minimal bruises) and then successfully found my train to Zurich. Managed to get my suitcase in an excellent spot with no lifting required and avoided to scary people who "help" you with your luggage and then demand money. It was all going smoothly until the lady on the loudspeaker informed there were criminals afoot and the police needed to search all trains. So we were delayed somewhat (a policeman came and looked at me suspiciously which immediately made me think of all the things I've done wrong but he didn't arrest me which was nice) and then on our way!
It was 4 hours to Zurich and it was cloudy cold and raining pretty much the whole way. However it didn't prevent Switzerland from being absolutely gorgeous and the having giant lakes and never ending waterfalls! A very pleasant journey.
Luckily for me I arrived in Zurich in time to catch my final train to Schaffhausen my destination for the next 5 nights. It was close call what with the delays and the Swiss efficiency. Another 40 mins and I had arrived.
On the banks of the Rhine river Schaffhausen has an old town and a castle (is there anywhere in Europe that doesn't have a castle??).
My hostel is conveniently opposite the train station and inconveniently my room was on the top floor (no lift sigh). However I have a giant room to myself with a king size bed which after sharing with women for 5 weeks is absolute bliss!
I do appear to be the only person in the hostel which was quite surprising but it is a Sunday.
I had a quiet evening, went out and explored a little of old town and had a dinner in a pub. Actually outside it they can still smoke inside in Switzerland and ohhh boy do they! Much fresher outside.
Has a rather funny conversation with the waiter in an attempt to learn a bit of German ( the main language in Schaffhausen) but it turned out he was Czech and kept trying to teach me French. However there was beer! I did manage to order dinner, schnitzel and noodles (actually pasta quite hilarious considering that's all I've eaten for the past 3 weeks).
The hostel I'm staying at has a pub underneath and I saw the end of the Netherlands v Mexico game quite exciting for the Dutch in the pub. Then quietly to bed!! Hello Switzerland this will be fun!!