The Road to Tuweep and other Death Defying Adventures

I'm not quite sure why I thought the Angel's Landing hike would be manageable. I guess I assumed the nine or so people who had died doing the "hike" since 1983 had been careless. As I hung from a chain percariously perched above certain death I realized they probably had not been careless, just unlucky. I didn't finish what I no longer call a "hike" and am basically just glad we all got down alive.



It all starts innoncently enough on the shuttle bus. You get off and head up the trail for a nice hike through Zion Park. No problem, tra-la-la it is a beautiful hike and nice weather. At Scout's Landing, a sandy spot maybe two hours in the trail stops and the rocks start. It is no longer what I would call a hike because there is no trail, but hell, maybe I'm just picky. Instead of a trail there is a giant rock with chains on it. You are basically balanced against the side of this giant rock with air below you and chains to "assist". Chris was the first to decide this wasn't the best time she had ever had. KH, OK and I continued on from chain to spots without chains (YIKES!) to chain until we reached what I have heard referred to as Quitter's Point. Ahead lay the "spine" exposed to death on both sides going up to Angel's Landing. I felt lucky I had make it that far and knew I still had to get back. Several other people were stopped at the same place contemplating the same issues. I had had enough of a death defying adventure for one day and still had to get back across the abyss so decided visiting Angel's Landing was one dream I would have to forgo. KH had had enough as well. OK probably would have gone on if either of us had and I hope she gets to do it again some day. I inched my way back to safety hoping not to leave my daughters motherless as there is one spot where there really wasn't any ledge left to walk on. KH could reach across it since he's almost a foot taller than I am. OK walked out on a little outcropping below it without holding onto the chain and suggested I do the same. KH and I looked at each other in horror and I sorta lept across holding the chain while he grabbed me from the other side. I will NOT be doing that again. Ever. I was also very happy when KH said he saw Chris because that meant she was still alive. I am not kidding. I guess I have to finally admit I'm just getting too damn old for this stuff. As far as I'm concerned the way up to Angel's Landing is not a hike but rather a climb, just without the requisite safety gear.



The strenous hike to Observation Point the next day was thus a relief. We did get a little rain but actually walked vertically the entire way through great scenery including a magnificent canyon. People coming down told us there was a rattlesnake sleeping under a tree at the top and sure enough we found what OK thought and later verified was a diamond back. It is the first, and quite possibly the only and last, rattlesnake I have ever seen in the wild. And the view was spectacular and looked down (HA! Take That!) on Angel's Landing.



Since the world famous Narrows was running too high to hike because of snow melt, I had gotten us a permit for the Subway, another river hike in the Kolob section of Zion. We hurried to the Backcountry office on Tuesday after coming down from Observation Point to pick up our permit for the next day and encountered Rangerzilla. We figured she took one look at us (we are in better shape than we look, ok?) and assumed we didn't stand a chance in the river and proceeded to treat us like wayward children. We were relieved to hear from a younger, fitter (yeah, thinner) looking couple that evening that she had been quite negative to them as well. Weeeellll, turns out, at least regarding me, she was right. This adventure was not quite as death defying as Angel's Landing but we certainly never actually made it to the Subway. The water in the river was running high and walking through it would have involved lots of boulder hopping. We went along the banks which meant lots of up and down, find it impassable, look for a place to cross the river, up and down, find it impassable, look for a place to cross the river, ad infinitum until I went on strike. "That's it, I'm done, I'll just wait for you guys here." Well, splitting up didn't seem like a great option so we all headed back which still was something of a major feat since we had quite a serious, hot climb up to get back to the car. We had a cooler with cold beer in the car and that was, without a doubt, the best beer I have ever had.

Bryce was pleasant and uneventful except for Chris got sick. Page, AZ and especially Bashful Bob's Motel was strange. First, Bob wasn't there although his office was open and we waiting a long time. So we left for lunch. Came back and a French couple was there also looking for Bob. (He later told us his place is very popular with young French people.) OK finally decided he might be in trouble and was talking to the police when he wandered out of a nearby RV clearly just getting up from a nap.

OK was kinda freaked out by the place because it is pretty much of a dump. I can't recommend it unless your standards are low. While staying in Page we toured the Glen Canyon Damn, went to Lee's Ferry, looked at Horeshoe Bend and walked through lower Antelope Canyon. I hadn't told Chris about the tourists who had died in Antelope Canyon because I didn't want to freak her out but there is a small monument to them so it was hard to miss. Apparently they had been in there without a guide when the flash flood came. Lower is more challenging than Upper, according to what I've read, and the guide walked with us to a crack in the ground and indicated we should go in there so we did. Very weird, very beautiful and deadly in a flood; there would be no way to save yourself. I probably won't go in there again but if I am in the area will probably have a look at the Upper Antelope Canyon across the road. Very unfortunately, our power boat supported kayak trip out to Rainbow Bridge got cancalled because of high winds. Damn, that was pretty disappointing. My fear is by the time I get back to do it again I'll be too old. Oh, and even though all four of us tried separately none of us got a permit for the Wave. Maybe next time...

Since this was late May the main thing that surprised us at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon was the inch of snow we woke up to! I knew it would be chilly but I hadn't expected snow. We had thought about camping there so were happy we had gotten a cabin instead. We were planning on driving out to Tuweep and thought it wouldn't work with the snow so checked with a ranger who told us there wouldn't be any snow there since it was lower. Elevation matters!

So we started to Tuweep. The issue is the 60 miles of dirt, sand, rock road you have to cross to get there. KH and I had pretty much agreed without telling Chris and OK we would go until we got a flat and then turn around since we only had one spare. Also, it wasn't clear to me then or now if the rental car insurance was valid off pavement so was nervous about that as well. We had a great big SUV with four wheel drive but it wasn't a jeep. KH did a great job getting us to the primitive campground until we finally just had to stop because it was basically steep rock. The edge is about a mile from the campground and is spectacular but then pretty much any part of the Grand Canyon is. There are only 10 or some sites out there so it is quiet and isolated. I'm glad we went and am very thankful we didn't get a flat. The car was covered in dirt. Because the risk of a flat is so high, I doubt I'll ever go back. We did learn that you actually can fly internationally with enough camping equipment to actually camp providing your friends bring the cooking stuff.

Getting out of Tuweep was equally exciting and I was glad KH was driving and not me. On the way to St. George we stopped at a site on the way out with some ancient art which was interesting. We also stopped at an old abandoned school house which has been turned into a museum and there ran into a 13 person family which must have come from the nearby polygamist town of Colorado City. We were as fascinating to the kids, who we think had never seen anyone in shorts before, as they were to us in their old fashioned long dresses for the girls and long pants for the boys.

Since we had camping stuff with we had decided to spend another night camping and went to Snow Canyon State Park outside of St. George. It was a beautiful campgrounds and MUCH easier to get to than Tuweep. While there we drove up to Mountain Meadows to see a historic massacre site that OK and I had read about in Under the Banner of Heaven and also went to the Dinosaur Site Museum which actually might have been a dinosaur dance floor. I was really interested and impressed with both and was glad we stopped. I was also surprised at how nice a town St. George is.

Vegas was the next stop and we took Chris to the airport and OK, KH and I went to the Flamingo Hotel and enjoyed the pool and then dinner at Battaglia's around the corner that night before we flew out the next day. KH and I spent a few days in North Carolina hearing live country and bluegrass music and driving a bit on the Blueridge Parkway. Boy did that all look different from the Southwest!

It was a great trip and I hope my meniscus heals enough to I can keep hiking.

Death (not ours!) in the Valley!

Our trip to the Kaisertal this year started out at a record time, ie. we finally got started at 11 a.m., later than we ever have before. Sigh. Why we are incapable of getting a normal, early start is beyond me. Jessi came with us this year so maybe we can blame it on her. Yeah, that's right, it was all Jessi's fault but only because Karen was too far away to blame.

Since I have to walk around every two hours or so to make sure I don't get blood clots in my legs, another sigh, and of course there was quite a bit of traffic we finally rolled into Kufstein shortly before 6 p.m. (good grief) and started up the 200 something steps shortly thereafter. Fortunately, this year we only went up to the Ritzau Alm http://www.ritzaualm.com/instead of the Vorderkaiserfeldenhuette http://www.vorderkaiserfelden.com/so we knew our hike in would be about a half an hour shorter which was good since it wasn't exactly bright and early.After we made our way up the steps, with at least one person coming down asking where we thought we were going so late, we found a new plaque commemorating someone's death in the valley. You see these every so often in the valley but most of them are old. This one was from this past June when a 76 year old died there of a heart attack after getting up the stairs which is not at all hard to imagine. He was probably so happy he made it up the steps and then keeled over and died.

We had beautiful weather, hiked up the steep incline and made it to the Ritzau Alm at about 8:15 p.m. and it turned out they were serving dinner until 8:30 p.m. Timing! This place is a luxury hotel compared to the Vorderkaiserfelderhuette. KH and I had a beautiful headboard with the names Josef and Sylvia Ankar hand carved into it above our bed and our very own very new looking bathroom! Jessi's room didn't have it's own bathroom but she actually had a TV and a balcony! And we had keys to the rooms and could lock them! We didn't even know this place had rooms until we stopped and asked on our way down from the hut last year and a dark-haired woman told us about the rooms and the prices. That is the other interesting thing; it only costs a couple of Euros more than the hut and actually ends up being cheaper for us because breakfast was included. If you are a member of the Alps hiking club the huts are about half price but then you have to pay to join the club so that only works out if you hike in a Alps way more often than we do.Unfortunately, the food at dinner was really terrible, way too salty and ideally if we can ever get an earlier start I would like to stay at the alm but hike up to the hut for dinner. It could be a hike within a hike. Maybe if we pack the car the night before...In the dining room we ate in (there were two) there was a large familiy portrait and across from it an individual picture of the mother of the family. I thought it was nice if a bit self absorbed that the family immortalized itself so publicly. The girl/woman who waited on us was a pretty much grown daughter included in the family portrait around Jessi's age.

It was a full moon that night and the view was gorgeous, mountains in moonlight are hard to beat. A couple there was going to hike back down to Kufstein at about 10 p.m. under the full moon to take advantage of it. They had headlamps as well and I think it was a nice hike out.

The beds were great and we all slept well and enjoyed the breakfast of bread, cheese, sausage and coffee the next morning. I forget what time we started hiking but it wasn't late. We were heading to the Hans-Berger Haus which is past the Anton Karg Haus because the woman at the Anton Karg Haus screwed up our reservation and we called a few days earlier and got a four bed room at the Hans-Berger Haus as a substitute.

On our way out we stopped and had a look at the little chapel they have there and something was different from last year; the same picture of the woman was up and some writing indicated she had died the previous September in a mountain accident! Good God, she was only 43! Now the picture in the dining room made more sense; it is a memorial. The 76-year-old hiker's death was sad but this one was horrifying. It was her name carved into our headboard and she was also the woman who told us about the place last year in August. About five weeks later she was dead. We certainly weren't going to ask anyone there what happened.

We took the same easy route we took last year heading first to the Anton Karg Haus. This way is pretty easy with only a narrow bit in the middle and even Jess, who is afraid of heights, made it without any problems. There is simply no comparison to the horror of the "high route" although KH and Karen's memories of it don't seem as bad as mine. It only took us a few hours to get to the Anton Karg Haus where we stopped for something to eat. I asked the waiter about Silvia Anker's accident but he said he didn't want to gossip which seemed an odd response to me and indicated there had been some gossip.

The walk from the Anton Karg Haus to the Hans Berger Haus is only about a half an hour and easy. The Hans Berger Haus had obviously just been completely renovated and they had turned much of the dormitory into rooms. KH and Jessi saw our room first and I hear exclamations before I saw it. The room was smaller than the single Jessi had had the previous night with two sets of bunk beds at right angles to each other. All three of us could stand in it at one time, but barely. The toilet was down the hall and the communal woman's shower one floor down. Everything was new, functional but minimal. I prefer the Anton Karg Haus mainly because they rooms are a little bigger and we'll try and stay there next year again if the manager can manage not to lose our reservation. We now know that email doesn't function very well with her and the phone is a better option although I think our phone reservations there the first year we stayed also got screwedup.

The views from the Hans Berger Haus were lovely and the food was great too. There seemed to be quite a few people staying for a few days and on the meal plan. There were also climbers with helmets and ropes pointing at rock faces tallking about climbing routes so KH, Jessi and I did that a bit too although I suspect no one fell for our ruse. Because we had taken the easy route we had lots of time to relax and we played a few hands of a simple German board game that night. In the dining room inside we had an assigned table for that evening and for breakfast the next morning as well. Next year I think I'll bring a deck of cards and maybe something to read as well. Last year it rained on us on the way in and out of the valley. This year it was beautiful the entire time and our hike out was uneventful and pleasant. Since the tunnel opened in 2008 we did notice a bit more traffic and the cars all have license plates on them now. We also saw some bikers and I thought perhaps they had sneaked up the tunnel since it is forbidden for them to use it but maybe they carried their bikes up the 200 odd stairs.

Since getting back we have googled Silvia Anker and she died on a new climbing route that had opened shortly before she tried it. I have no idea what gossip could be associately with her death although it seems she was climbing alone and I suspect that is not a good idea. I'll include a link to the route she died on. I certainly wouldn't try it but it sounds like she had lived in the mountains all her life. The route she took is called the "Kufsteiner Klettersteig". If you scroll down you can see some of the pictures which make it look very scarey to me. Someplace I read she died of head injuries from the fall. It really is just tragic. http://www.roberge.de/ You may have to click on "Klettersteig" on the left and then scroll down to Kufsteiner Klettersteig to see it. Apparently the main initiator of buiding the "Steig" was the husband of the woman who runs the Anton Karg Haus so perhaps that explains some of the reluctance of the waiter there to talk about it. Her death has made me even more grateful that nothing terrible happened to us on our killer hike in 2007 particularly as the tunnel wasn't open then.We got to Garmisch the on Saturday, August 9th and relaxed in the cabin for the week and played golf on the three hole beginners course (generally badly although Jessi make a remarkable 30 foot putt), hiking and taking a day trip to Chiemsee and the Shoe Barn (I got two pair although I actually didn't need any ;-)). Oh, and we met Ewan and Linda at the fest in Partenkirchen and Ewan now is a tour guide for AFRC.Now we think we'll go back in January because Katie wants to try snowboarding so I've reserved a cabin for Jan. 2nd. However, we'll only go if her school work is o.k. since KH and I aren't dying to see all the snow although we'll probably enjoy it. We just gotta get chains since KH doesn't have snow tires. And I imagine we'll go back next August if you guys can make it.

No bull, Istanbul is really cool.

KH had gotten some kinda deal with Lufthansa, a twoferone, and we were both going to get to Istanbul and back for something like 187 Euros total. At that point, how can you not go? I am very glad we did.

Jessi drove us to Frankfurt International at about 7:30 a.m. on Sunday, March 29th. So the flight was fine and we got to Istanbul about 1 p.m. which is an hour later than German time. We knew we had to take the metro and then the tram and it was all really easy except in the middle of the tram ride there was some kind of announcement. I figured something was wrong and the Turks motioned for us to get off and we switched to a different tram and rode into the city and got off at the stop for our hotel which happened to be at a park. We went to sit in the park and get our bearings when the first rug salesman immediately approached us. Half the population of Istanbul seems to be trying to make a living selling tourists rugs. They are generally quite nice if perisistent. We never look at anything or go into any shops because we don't want to buy anything and I think once you look it is nearly impossible to get away without buying anything. That goes for drinking tea too; they offer tea and if you accept it you will need to buy something from them. He did tell us where our hotel was which was only about a two minute walk away and we got there about 3 p.m. We think we got pretty lucky with the Hotel Hali http://www.halihotel.com/. I think I found it on Tripadvisor.com and we thought it was a great place to stay. It is within easy walking distance from all the major sights, clean, cheap and the view from the balcony off the breakfast room was fabulous.

Some other street salesman had told us something about the Cathedral Cisterns being closed the next day so after we dropped our bags we went over to see them. We didn't know what to expect but it sounded like something good to do when you didn't have a lot of time and it was. Apparently this big hole in the ground with many columns was built as a giant water tank. They have built walkways through it and you can wander around in the cool, dark dampness and look at the columns and the fish swimming in the shallow water below the walkways. When we were in Istanbul the weather was very pleasant but this would be a great thing to do in summer when it is really hot outside. Personally, I won't go to Turkey in the summer. http://www.istanbultrails.com/2008/06/the-basilica-cistern-the-coolest-spot-in-town/

After the cistern we walked over to Hagia Sophia but it was already pretty late and it would close at 5 p.m. so we decided to see it some other time and went over to the Blue Mosque. All of these sights are just a few minutes walking from each other. On the way there we bought some of the worse grilled corn we have ever had and some so-so chestnuts from a street vendor. These guys were everywhere and maybe some of them have decent corn but the corn we bought was cold and dried out so we never tried it again. The Blue Mosque was closed for prayers (no tourists allowed then) and so we went back to the main drag and had a doner while we were waiting. At the mosque we had to take off our shoes but there were plastice bags to carry them in and the entire place was carpeted. I used a scarf but I did notice some other women did not. The Blue Mosque was nice but the room that was marked for women looked rather not surprisingly pretty second class to me. My general recollection is big, domed, round, beautiful and peaceful. It is a lovely place but there isn't that much in there to spend time looking at since it is really designed for prayer.http://www.sacred-destinations.com/turkey/istanbul-blue-mosque.htm Outside of the mosque is the Hippodrome which now is basically a park but used to be used for chariot races among other things. There are several ancient artifacts here that are pretty underwhelming particularly the snake sculpture with the heads missing. And one of the obelisks sure looks like it's been touched up. http://www.travelsignposts.com/wordpress/turkey/things-to-see-in-istanbul/the-hippodrome-istanbul We walked back to our hotel through a circuitous route that took us through some pretty crummy looking areas and got back at about 6:30 p.m. feeling like we had already seen some interesting stuff.

After we rested up in the hotel a bit we went back out in the dark to see the Blue Mosque at night. Lit up, it might be even more spectacular. We went back to a restaurant we had seen earlier and I had fish and KH had some spicey meat. On the way back to our hotel we stopped and bought an bottle of red wine at a little hole-in-the-wall market. We are not picky, but it was the worst wine either one of us has ever had. It made me understand the term "rot-gut". My advice: in Turkey stick to the beer.

Unfortunately, that night the guy in the next room talked on the phone until late but we were tired enough we mostly slept anyway. I need to always remember to bring ear plugs when traveling. And at 5:40 a.m. we heard the first call to prayers but it wasn't too bad and we both managed to go back to sleep.

Breakfast upstairs on Monday (included for the 50Euro price of the room) was simple but o.k. There was white bread something like Italian bread, yogurt, tomatoes, olives, cheese, jelly, honey and hard boiled eggs all served buffet style A server brought you coffee or tea. I had coffee the first day and it tasted like instant to me. My advice: in Turkey stick to the tea.

After breakfast we walked over to Topkapi Palace. This place was more interesting than I had anticipated, actually quite astonishing. We went through the harem which costs extra but there is a good chance we'll never get back so why not. There are also very famous "treasures" like a giant diamond and a bejewelled dagger on display. But the greatest part for me was that there is a reliquary there which I hadn't anticipated containing, not only muslim relics, but also Moses' rod and St. John the Baptist's arm and skull! Whoa, ho, boy was I surprised! Moses' rod looked like it had been varnished and looked pretty fake. St. John's bone pieces were encased in gold or gold colored metal and decorated as seems to be typical of these types of relics. The reliquary for the arm and hand were arm and hand shaped with an opening so you could actually see the bone inside.http://www.mgr.org/JdBRelics.jpg Not only were these wonderful relics in their own right but it was also very interesting to see them along with all the muslim relics and to note how similar some things are. There were lots of pieces of the beard of the prophet and someone obviously had the foresight to save them. There was also am imprint of his foot in some clay and his cloak too which had been carried into battles several times as a good luck charm. And a bowl he used which I thought was odd to be kept as a relic. In the reliquary there was a guy who was reading (it sounded like chanting to me) from the Koran the whole time we were there and apparently there is someone (I assume male) there doing that whenever it is open. We spend a good half day at the palace and it is definitely worth seeing especially the relics. When we got there in the morning it was relatively peaceful but by the afternoon it was pretty jammed so go early.

After that we wandered over to the train station where the Orient Express used to operate because KH was interested. It only had a couple of tracks and was much smaller than the stations in Europe but I think it is not the majore station in town. We were going to take a boat trip the next day and KH wanted to check out the location so we walked down to the harbor and along the way I bought an ice cream from a window. The guy made scooping the ice cream into a theatrical presentation including ringing a bell and getting some ice cream on my nose. With all the antics he actually broke my cone and had to start all over. I think they do it to try and attract other customers.

The harbor was interesting but it took us some time to find the place where our boat would leave in the morning. We wanted to take the regular ferry but there are other trips available and several guys came up to us trying to get us to take the other trips. There are vendors all along the docks. and along the way KH had a fish sandwich which was pretty good and also bought some very bizarre pickeled vegetables including cabbage and I think carrots that were in a spicy red liquid in a cup. When I first saw it I thought it was some kind of jello. I thought it was o.k. and KH said he enjoyed it. There were guys on big boats in the water grilling fish and selling it from the boats too.

We walked briefly through the Egyptian Spice Bazaar and then through a more modern and very crowded shopping area outside. Eventually we stopped because I wanted a doner and we sat outside on miniture chairs to eat. We walked through part of the Grand Bazaar just to see a bit and stopped to sit on a bench in an upscale street in a nice neighborhood. There we saw the only bad salesman we saw in Turkey selling candy on the street. He didn't say anything or approach anyone, just waited for customers to come to him. On the back to our hotel we stopped at a Dia Supermarket to get a candy bar and another of hopefully better bottle of wine.

That night we went to a hamam. We've been to hotel hamams many times but this was a public one so we had to pay 35 Turkish lira to get in and were separated by sex. In the hotels you leave on your swimming suits and go together. Here you are separated and get a towel to wear. It was crowded and had sorts of a "cattle call" feel to it. While I was lying on the hot marble slab in the middle someone poked me and I thought, What, I know someone here? but it was just one of the ladies who worked there wanting me to move so she could scrub someone down. When I met KH in the reception afterwards I said it was weird experience and he agreed. We wouldn't do it again and I was glad I hadn't paid to get a scrub/massage. I think that was also the night we stopped at a bakery and each had one of the amazing sweets they have that seem to be soaked in honey.

Our hotel was across from a park and that night a couple of guys were hanging out there singing together and it was actually quit pleasant.

Tuesday morning after breakfast outside on the wow view terrace we walked down to the harbour to take the ferry. We decided to just take it for an hour and then get off and take the bus back. On the ferry we met two sisters from Mt. Prospect Illinois. Small world. The ride was pleasant enough but I didn't think it was as great as some of the reviews for it. I think the town we got off in was called Satiyer and we were on the ferry on the Bosphorus for about an hour. In the town we walked along the waterfront until we found a restaurant we liked. The menu had some stuff translated into what they thought was English and I guess it was kinda: KH ordered cigars and got chees filled pastry things and I ordered fried faggots and ended up with fried slices of sausage. Who knew?

We found the bus stop without too many problems as it was a small town. Someone motioned to me to move and I shrugged as to why and they pointed to the roof of the bus stop and there were a couple of guys up there hosing it down. We took the bus back to the outside of Istanbul for three Euros each, unfortunately it was slow because there was a lot of traffic. From the bus we switched to the tram which took us back to the Galata Bridge. We got off on the other side of the Golden Horn and took the steep walk up to the Galata Tower to see the view which was great. From there you could really see how much water from the Bosphorus, the Golden Horn and the Marmara Sea there is around Istanbul. All this water and the beautiful giant mosques (and Hagia Sophia) are what make the city so beautiful.http://www.turkeytravelplanner.com/go/Istanbul/Sights/Beyoglu/GalataTower.html After we left the tower we stopped at a rooftop restaurant we had seen from the tower and KH had coffee, and I had tea and cookies. We happened to get a corner table directly overlooking the Golden Horn and the view was also great. Unfortunatley, neither KH nor I can remember the name of the place. After that we walked back to our hotel with a stop at our regular Dia Supermarket for apples, wine and candy. KH got us seat reservations for our flight back the next day and I checked email on the computer in the lobby.

Later that evening we walked back to the bridge to have dinner. On the way there a guy with a shoe shine case "dropped" a brush and we told him. He then insisted on giving KH's hiking boots a shine and then wanted money for it. In the middle of this his "brother" showed up and wanted to brush my Nikes! I wouldn't let him. KH and I walked farther when I said I thought it was all just a trick. About five minutes later another guy with another shoe shine case dropped another brush. We both just stepped around it this time. Between those two events I managed to trip and fall to my knees. This was not only really embarassing but also hurt quite a bit as well. Once I got over the shock I seemed to be o.k. and we walked the rest of the way to the restaurant. The lower level of Galata Bridge is filled with restaurants and we picked one with an o.k. menu and a good view and sat outside both on one side looking over at Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque and the spectacular skyline. And we ate some fish and had some beer. It was a really nice spot.

Wednesday was our last day and we still hadn't see Hagia Sophia so that was on the top of our agenda. The first thing I did when I woke up was to check my knees to make sure they were o.k. and I'd be able to walk because sometimes injuries like that are worse the next day. They were a little sore but fortunately o.k., thank the heavens. It was only a 10 minute or so walk to Hagia Sophia from the hotel. The building started as a church, was converted to a mosque and eventually to a museum to avoid controversy and potential violence. So in the museum are remnants of both religions which makes for a rather odd combination. Of note are several old Christian mosiacs which had been uncovered and the giant dome. There are also giant round things with arabic writing on them and places on the wall where you can tell crossses were ripped out. It has two levels that you can visit and is definitely worth seeing.http://www.sacred-destinations.com/turkey/istanbul-hagia-sophia.htm

Our final "stop" was the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts which is right across from the Blue Mosque. There was a nice collection of carpets in there as well as many embellished Korans among lots of other items. We liked it but all the other sights we saw should be higher priorities for anyone visiting.

There were many women dressed in very conservative religious clothing but many were not as well and I was not uncomfortable in my regular clothes. Of course the conservative clothing some of the women wear is remarkably similar to the habits the nuns at Immaculate Conception Elementary School wore when I was young. Revealing, sexy clothing would be a bad idea, however. The nuns wouldn't have like that either.

I would highly recommend getting to Istanbul is you get the chance. It really is a fascinating city. Of course, for us in Europe it is a lot easier and cheaper and we can reasonably go for four days like we did. It was fascinating to have visited both rome and Istanbul within a few months of each other and be able to compare how these two major relitions threat sacred buildings and objsts. My impression is they are treated in remarkably similar manners.

Addendum: I need to start taking notes instead of relying on memory when writing up trip reports. I just read this one and realized I had left out seeing the very impressive mosiac floor of a an old palace. I'm not sure when we saw it but maybe it was between the Hagia Sophia and the museum. In any case, it is not hard to get to, doesn't take much time and is not expensive so it you are in the area, go have a look. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Palace_Mosaic_Museum

Rome again, naturally

TeresaandPeter had a baby boy! In anticipation of that event, Karen, her friend Cathy and Karen's mom also named Kathy decided to take a trip to Bratislava to see the new addition. Karen's seen quite a bit of Gernsheim so we decided to meet in Rome since all roads lead there anyway.

But I flew because it was a lot faster and got Ryan.air flights for a total of 40Euros. It's about a two hour drive from home but the price is right! It cost me the same to park for five days as it did for the flight. I arrived on Thursday, January 15th.

The cheaper flights are at odd times so after I took the shuttle bus to downtown Rome I ended up at the train station after 11 p.m. I had booked the same hotel Rose and I used two years ago so knew it was just two minutes away from the train station but it took me a few minutes to orient myself. But I was freaking out a little because it was somewhat late, I was alone , dragging a suitcase, and the train station area is a little iffy. So in my haste I didn't read a street name completely and got myself more lost and disoriented. After wandering around for about 10 or 15 minutes I finally pulled out a map, looked at the street signs right, and found my hotel. I took the elevator up to the fifth floor and walked in expecting to see a receptionist like last time. No one was there. I waited. No one came. I yelled "Hello!" No one answered. I finally went out into the hallway and looked around and found a sign that said the reception was downstairs. They had changed it and I had come from a different direction. Lesson: never expect things to remain the same. So I went downstairs, got checked in and watched a movie in Italian before going to sleep.

My room on the street side was pretty noisy early (I need to remember to always bring ear plugs) so I woke up even before my alarm and went down to breakfast which was now served downstairs behind the reception area. I bought a three day bus/metro ticket for I think 11 Euro at a tobacco store on my way to the station and took the metro over to the colesium stop since the forum is right nearby and that was my goal for the morning before Karen and Cathy would arrive. I think I was the first person there and asked about the audio tours. The guy in the booth said there was no power so they didn't work. I asked when they might work and he had no idea. Hmmm... I decided to look around anyway using my outdated guide book. You really need some help interpreting the forum because it's pretty ruined but the weather was great for January and I wandered around there and up on Palatine Hill as well which this year was included with the forum ticket as opposed to our experience in 2007. The other sight that Rose and I had missed in 2007 (I'd seen it in 1978 but that was awhile ago) was the Pantheon so after the forum I took a bus which got me in the approximate area. Impressive building considering it has been standing for 2000 years. I hope I got that right. Sure seems remarkable. I used the audio tour there and was glad it is currently a church so there was pews to sit in as my feet had already started to hurt. The day after I got back from Rome was President Obama's inaugeration and when I saw the place the politicians had lunch that day I thought it looked strikingly like the Pantheon. Many of the building in Washington remind me of Rome. From the outside most of the churches in Rome look more like government buildings than churches to me. Directly across from the Pantheon is a McDonald's and after looking at the building I had a hamburger there on the plaza looking right at the Pantheon. Nice contrast. And a movable band of a bass player, a violinist and a saxophonist played a couple of numbers before passing the hat. It was warm enough for me to sit outside. Nice.

I'd told Karen I'd be at the hotel at 3:30 p.m. on Friday since their flight from Bratislava was getting in at 2:30 or so so headed back there and got there about an hour early. I'd already gotten a larger, bigger room with a balcony overlooking the courtyard that morning. My single room had been 50 Euro per night, the triple was going to be 75. We had the best room in the hotel, which wasn't saying much.

Karen and Cathy showed up at about 3 p.m. having taken a shuttle bus from the airport which conveniently took them directly to the hotel door. We wandered in the direction of the train station and because the girls hadn't eaten stopped at an Italian place with a "barker" who sucked us in. They got their mass tran tickets at the tobacco store and we took a bus to the Trevi fountain. The buses in Rome and plentiful but rather confusing. I bought a bus map which just tended to confuse us more but somehow we did end up getting everywhere we wanted to go. The Trevi was nice at night, we tossed our coins and then went across to a church called Santi Vincento & Anastasio which was still open figuring we'd make it a two for one deal. The most interesting thing about the church was a bunch of padlocks on the fence outside which Karen thought had something to do with bikes. I bought a candle for two euros from some guy selling them by the door in order to have the right to ask him about them. Apparently, couples in love or getting married write their name on the locks and then throw the keys in the Trevi Fountain. This seems to be happening in other places as well. http://www.italymag.co.uk/italy/lazio/love-locks-appear-trevi-fountain

I think it was the guide book I had from the library that claimed some of the best ice cream in Rome was right around the corner so we went to the place although the name now escapes me. It was very modern looking with really good but way over-priced ice cream like 10 Euros for a dish. It was interesting but I wouldn't do it again and don't think it is a "must do".

Karen and Cathy thought it was be nice to see the Vatican at night so we got on another bus and ended up on St. Peter's Square. We passed by several Swiss guards that Karen was excited to see in their winter cloaks and berets. She thought the outfits were really cute. Judge for yourself: http://www.panoramio.com/photo/17963149 although I think the ones we saw didn't have the striped spats but rather just tights. Seeing the Vatican at night was a great idea! The lighting was beautiful and it is eery in an awe-inspiring way. We walked past an open barricade and got reprimanded by a Swiss guard which pissed Cathy and me off since we didn't think it was well marked but I think Karen was happy to get another look at their outfits fashionista that she is. There was a giant larger -than -life-sized Nativity set near the obelisk and we watched as an Italian cop or security guard got up on a ladder and adjusted St. Joseph's headwear at the direction of an old nun who was about four feet tall and dwarfed by the statues in the scene. Rather disturbingly to me at lease, Baby Jesus' crib was empty and he was represented by a toddler sitting on his mother's lap. Odd. This is it provided by another tourist I don't know: http://lh6.ggpht.com/_wW5TBqSdTgs/R4330L3I8wI/AAAAAAAAADE/vcpxnt6PTc4/P1050746.JPG Other pictures I found on the internet of the same Nativity show baby Jesus in his manger (http://cache.daylife.com/imageserve/0aQx6vJ7o89R3/610x.jpg ) so I guess the nuns in charge of it may just rearrange stuff sometimes like girls with dollhouses this just being a really giantic, really religious version. We eventually took the bus back to our lowscale hotel and got doners and beers at a place next store and took a few beers with us back up to the room and watched some Italian TV until we went to sleep.

When Rose and I were in Rome in 2006 the lines to get into the Vatican Museum and the Sistine Chapel were enormous with many thousands of people waiting. I had prepared the girls for this and we got up early on Saturday to take the metro down there and try and get in relatively early. We got there and basically walked in the door with no waiting. Incredible! You could spend a lot of time in the Vatican Museums. We took the shortest route to the Sistine Chapel which takes you through the map room and past lots of wonderful artwork including the School of Athens http://mv.vatican.va/3_EN/pages/x-Schede/SDRs/SDRs_03_02_020_big.html by Raphael being one of my favorites because I remember it from art history classes and like that it is so much bigger than I had imagined. Just the ceilings in this place make it worth seeing. At the end you are rewarded with the Sistine Chapel with its relatively newly clean ceiling and walls. Karen managed to find both St. Bartholomew's skin and a snake apparently chomping on some guy's penis represented in the Last Judgement and thus managed to gross herself completely out all on her own. They are both in this link if you scroll down and Karen I think you probably shouldn't you being such a delicate flower. http://www.vaticanotours.com/sistine-chapel-last-judgement.html Every once in awhile a gong goes off in the chapel and they ask everyone to keep the noise level down because it is, after all, a church. We eventually wandered out of the chapel and saw a sign to the "Carriage Pavilion" or something similar and went just for the heck of it. Basically, it seemed like an underground garage with old papal carriages, horse tack, sedan chairs and--all right!--two, not one but TWO popemobiles! Of course the popemobiles made us about as happy as the great art so I think we can accept that we are heathen Americans.

Next we wandered over to St. Peter's Basilica and headed straight for the cupola. We took the elevator after a short wait and then the stairs and my heart rate was right up there after the first 100 or so stairs. There are signs up that people with heart problems or claustrophobia should skip it and I think that is good advice. We looked down on the altar from the inside of the cupola and went up to the top outside and looked at the spectacular 360 views of Rome. On the way down we stopped at the gift shop on the roof of St. Peter's that Rose and I went to two years ago. Cathy bought a small nativity set. Karen bought many holy cards and she and I both got little holy water bottles with Vatican written on them. I thought I would give some holy water from the Vatican to my mother-in-law for her 84th birthday which was coming up. I asked where we could get the holy water and a non-nun sales woman told me we should get it in the church downstairs. Seemed a little odd but what do I know. I also got my mother-in-law a picture of the German pope. I wanted something for Rose and Karen picked up a shot glass with the Vatican on it. We both thought this was pretty funny and we laughed about it apparently really pissing off a nun that worked there. I got one for Rose and Karen got one for her brother Matt with the nun telling us we didn't HAVE to use them and some people collect them you know blah, blah, blah. Well, Rose loved hers and if I get back there I'll probably get more AND use them.

After the roof we went down to the basement and saw the tombs of many popes and I also saw one of the nuns from the rooftop gift shop praying at the tomb of the last pope. Then we finally went into the main part of the church. Karen and I pulled our little Vatican holy water bottles out and were filling them up by dunking them in one of the giant holy water fonts in St. Peter's. It took us a bit to find one that had enough water to dunk them in it. Weellll, apparently that is not where you get the holy water. After a minute a guard (not Swiss) appeared and indicated we couldn't do that. But he also indicated we could finish filling them if we did it quickly but we were too embarassed and stopped with them not really being full. But he never gave us any indication where we could fill them. I still don't know where you are supposed to get the holy water or if they just sell the bottles and you can't get any. Karen and I were both rather put off by the whole experience.

Rose and I had missed seeing the Treasury when we were there so I wanted to go in but Karen and Cathy did not so I went in while they looked at the church. The treausry had lots of relics which always appeal to me including one finger in a reliquary in the shape of a finger. Very cool.

While I was doing that Cathy and Karen saw the church and Karen wanted to pray in a chapel reserved for prayer but got turned away. Karen is on her church council and teaches Sunday school and some guard in St. Peter's wouldn't let her in to pray. She was pissed off and so was I when she told me. So she showed him by praying someplace else. Take that!

We then took a bus to the Pantheon with a nice Italian woman telling us where to get off and Karen and Cathy went to look at it while I went to McDonald's since I had just been there the day before. Unfortunately, they couldn't really go in because there was a mass going on as it was Saturday evening so we decided to walk over to The Church of the Gesu since it should have been right near by. We, however, walked in the wrong direction but had a nice tour of the neighborhood before we found it. To my delight, there is a chapel with a reliquary containing St. Francis Xavier's hand on the right hand (no pun intended) side of the church. If you use this link and scroll down you can see a picture of it in all its grotesque glory. http://grevy525.multiply.com/photos/album/60/The_Gesu_The_Jesuit_Mother_Church_in_Rome#58 While we were there, mass started so we just stayed for mass and Cathy and Karen even went to communion. By then we were all pretty tired so took a bus (I think) back to the train station and had dinner at Cecilio right across the street from our hotel.

Sunday we got a slightly later start after breakfast in our hotel. We (bus? metro? I gotta take notes)went to St. Peter in Vincoli which I believe is one of the Pilgrim's churches. There is a very famous and very weird statue of Moses by Michaelangelo there. I quietly leaned over to Karen and said, "Are those horns?" So we looked in the guidebook and indeed Michaelangelo gave Moses horns. One of those things that make you go hmmm...The guidebook says it was because of a translation error but there seems to be disagreement as to why Moses is horned. There are also some chains that had held St. Peter that got "miraculously" fused and a pretty creepy skeleton with wings carved into a wall. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Pietro_in_Vincoli

From there Karen and Cathy headed over to the Coliseum, Roman Forum and Palatine Hill but since I had just seen that I didn't go. I walked over the Circus Maximus to St. Maria in Cosmedin which is famous for its Mouth of Truth which was in Roman Holiday, a movie with Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn. The marble mouth is actually outside on the church porch and there was a line and a 50 cent charge to stick your hand in the mouth and have your friends take your picture. Since I was alone and without a camera, I skipped it and went into the church to find my so far favorite Roman relic, St. Valentine's skull apparently knawing on another of his bones. It is pretty grotesque and fortunately someone has posted a picture of it on flickr! http://www.flickr.com/photos/paullew/2262875989/ That picture and the postcard I bought both show it better than you can actually see it because it is poorly lit in person but still quite remarkable. I am astounded that the skull is decorated with artificial flowers as if that somehow makes it "prettier". The church is within walking distance of the Colesium and I highly recommend it if you are interested in the bizarre. After that I walked to a flea market recommended by the hotel clerk and it was a total waste of time with just a lot of junk. So I took a bus back to the hotel and was happy to pass the pyramid C&K has mentioned seeing. Walking back I passed an internet cafe so emailed home and to TeresaandPeter that we were all well since somehow I had not managed to charge my cell phone and it had no juice.

Apparently Karen had some issues with the Coliseum which I can understand. I still want to see it at night sometime and will make a point of that on my next trip. We ate at an cheap Indian Pizzeria (actually, I had already stopped at another cheap place) and then walked, partially in the metro tunnels because we mistakenly thought we'd have to take the metro, to Santa Maria della Vittoria. This church wins the prize for overall bizareness of all the ones we saw. First of all, there is the very famous statue of St. Theresa (unfortunately not MY St. Therese) in Ecstasy. http://www.flickr.com/photos/raimist/49868722/ The stautue is phenomenal and kinda embarassing because, particularly if you read what St. Theresa said which they have available, it sure sounds and looks like a pretty carnal as opposed to mystical kind of ectasy. It's like very beautiful, very soft porn in marble. I am not the only one to reach this conclusion. Karen called the whole church itself "super-gaudy" and I can't disagree . Lotsa gold, lotsa marble. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fd/Santa_Maria_della_Vittoria_-_5.jpg

On the right side of the church there is what appears to be a life-sized replica (doll?) of St. Victoria on what I think is her tomb. The postcard I bought says "Santa Vittora, virgine e martire" and here is a not very good picture. http://www.esnips.com/doc/4c11e513-d016-4af4-8a71-45260733bf31/Santa%20Vittora,%20virgen%20y%20martir There was a doorway to the left of Santa Vittora with some kind of indication that the hallway would lead to souvenirs and postcards. While I was trying to figure out what Santa Vittora was made of Karen started to wander down the hall and then chickened out and came and forced me to lead the way. At the end of the hall you could see an Italian priest sitting at a desk talking to a couple. It sure looked like we were about to invade his office but I went in anyway and next to his desk were shelves with souvenirs like guidebooks, post cards, holy cards, bath salts, booze, candy and some other food items. I'm really kicking myself for not buying some food or booze there. At some point Karen indicated that there were some skulls in a reliquary in the hallway so I went back out there with her to see. Karen has a good eye for the grotesque which I appreciate. Here they are: http://www.flickr.com/photos/tyrven/2701467165/ Like the person who posted the picture, I have no idea whose heads these are. I looked through the English guidebook sold in the church and there was not mention of them. I've looked online and nothing. I couldn't ask the priest because I don't speak Italian. I may have to learn how to ask, "Whose skulls are those?" in Italian and go back and ask because I am curious. I'll go back to this church the next time I am in Rome just because it is so weird.

After that we walked to Santa Maria della Angeli which had been Roman baths but were turned into a church by Michaelangelo when he was 85. That guy sure had a long career. This church seems to be orienting itself to science and the sky with a sundial, pendulum and a Galileo exhibit towards the back of the really big church. There was a mass for immigrants going on when we were there. We also noticed there was a statue of the BVM with a lighted halo which Karen said made her feel like we were in Mexico. http://www.sacred-destinations.com/italy/rome-santa-maria-degli-angeli-pictures/index.htm

Karen had read "Angels and Demons" and wanted to see the Chigi Chapel mentioned in the book at Santa Maria del Popolo. (Yes, yet another church dedicated to Mary.) So we took the Metro there. The chapel was unfortunately being renovated so wasn't completely visible but has statues by both Rafael and Bernini. There was another chapel across from it that was almost completely marble that we thought was more interesting. http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=Santa+Maria+del+Popolo%20Rome&w=all

We wandered outside to the Plaza del Popolo where there is a fountain, an Obelisk (seem popular in Rome), a pair of matching churches and a statue of a she-wolf feeding Romulus and Remus.http://www.redbubble.com/people/chord0/art/1179137-1-statues-at-plaza-del-popolo-rome http://www.aviewoncities.com/rome/piazzadelpopolo.htm

It was getting late, around 6:30 p.m. but we decided to take the metro to San Giovani in Laterno to see if we could still see it but went to the Holy Stairs first since they are diagnolly across the street. Amazingly, we were the only people by the stairs except when a man came in for a few minutes. The stairs were open and with great fanfare I went up two of them on my knees, Karen one, and we decided it was too hard to do. Cathy was cleverly keeping as much distance as possible between herself and us to avoid the lightening bolt she was pretty sure was going to kill us because we were being a quite sacrilegious. I suspect we didn't get the promised indulgences. Now that she knows there are indulgences involved Rose wants to go back and do them. If I'm with, I'll watch. http://www.medjugorjeusa.org/holystairs.htm

By the time we got to San Giovani in Laterno some guy at the door waved us away as the church was closing which was probably just as well because I'm not sure we could have handled yet another church that day.

We took the metro back to our neighborhood, ate at the same place we ate on Friday and had a humorous waiter called Yogi or Jogi who liked to make jokes like pretending to spill a cup of coffee on me but the cup was empty. Ha, ha but he was actually o.k. just trying to earn a living. I don't remember what we ate but I'm pretty sure it was some form of pasta. So ended an exhausting Sunday and we finally went back to our cheap hotel.

We were all leaving on Monday, Cathy and Karen in the middle of the afternoon and me at night. So back to San Giovanni in Laterno we went since we had missed it the previous night. It is also pretty easy to get to since there is a metro stop not too far away. Rose and I went to mass there when we were in Rome two years ago. The altar is supposed to contain the heads of of St. Peter and St. Paul. Sure. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilica_of_St._John_Lateran As we left the church some guy was walking his dog without a lease and a woman was eating a sandwich on a bench outside of the church. Not surprisingly, the dog decided he wanted some of the sandwich and took off towards the woman who apparently was afraid of dogs so she dashed behind Karen while grabbing Karen's arm convincing Karen she was trying to steal her money. Fortunately, the lady was not a pickpocket and the man got the dog under control but everyone was a bit shaken up by the incident except me because I'm a mean person and mainly found it humorous since I didn't happen to be involved.

We took the metro back to the train station area to see Sant Maria Maggiori which is near the train station and our hotel. This basilica supposedly has pieces of the crib (aka manger) of Baby Jesus in a reliquary. http://www.sacred-destinations.com/italy/rome-st-mary-major.htm I remembered that there is a minor basilica called Santa Prassede right across a plaza so we went there too. I mean, you can't really see too many churches, can you? There is a great little chapel with mosaics that you can light up if you throw a coin in a box and off that in a small room is what is titled "The Column of the Flagellation of Jesus Christ" which Rose and I had seen and loved two years earlier. It's basically a broken marble column is a golden reliquary. Scroll down in this link and it's pictured as are the mosiacs. http://www.sacred-destinations.com/italy/rome-santa-prassede.htm Karen said she thought the column might be an actual relic. I said I didn't believe any of them are actual relics, not one. And then I turned and bought postcards of the column. Karen says I am the most Catholic lapses Catholic she knows. Cathy and Karen were running out of time so we walked back to our hotel, got their bags and took a long walk to the train they would take to the airport. We said our fond fairwells and I went back into the train station to find someplace to sit down. Did I mention my feet? I really didn't have the right shoes and my feet were killing me. Based on Cathy's example, the next time I go to Rome I'm wearing hiking shoes. Really. So I sat and ate something at the train station and planned my next move. I still had quite a bit of time until I had to catch my bus to the airport at 7 p.m. so had to decide what to do. After Rose and I returned from Rome in 2006 I had heard a report on NPR about San Clemente which is a church built on a church built on Roman ruins and had decided I wanted to see that the next time I was there. So I found out it was near the Coliseum and limped to the metro and limped to the church and found out it was closed for lunch. A lot of churches in Rome close for lunch. Now I had an hour to kill with nothing to do. I limped around the neighborhood a bit and-- allelujah--found an Internet Cafe. Hell, I would have paid them the same amount just to set in a chair at that point.

Eventually the hour passed and I went back to the church. The first floor is a pretty standard Roman church; it is really in the basements that this place shines. Because they are underground they are dark, kinda dank and especially the Roman ruins are pretty eery particularly as I ended up being completely alone when I looked that part over. I'll probably go back sometime. http://www.sacred-destinations.com/italy/rome-san-clemente.htm Even after I wandered pretty slowly through San Clemente I still had time left so followed my map up a hilll on my aching feet to Basilica (how many basilicas can they have in one town?) Santi Quattro Coronati. This places looks way more like a fortress than a church and I guess at some point it was used as such. I went through two courtyards feeling like I was going back in time and go to the church door and heard singing. What, I thought, another mass? But it's Monday for God's sake and walked in and found the all nun choir practicing. I just sat in a pew and listed and boy could those nuns sing. It was overwhelmingly beautiful and I was sad it only lasted for about 15 minutes. The cloister was closed and I didn't even know about some other chapel up there so will definitely have to get back so see them. But it will probably never impress me as much without the music. http://www.initaly.com/regions/latium/church/4cor.htm

By this time I could barely walk but got myself to the metro stop over by San Giovanni in Laterno, picked up my bag at the hotel, stopped for to eat some mussels, and got the bus to the airport to find my flight was delayed. Sigh. So I had some wine and bought an Italian soccer jersey that was on sale (Saldi!) for Cathy because she had mentioned she wanted one and eventually flew back to Germany and drove home literally in the middle of the night.

Rome is an odd place. Karen said it was like Wisconsin Dells for Catholics and that she thought the churches are like the water slides. I think for practicing Catholics it can be a little like pulling back the curtain because there are some disconcerting parts like selling Vatican shot glasses, holy water bottles with no holy water or getting indulgences for kneeing your way up stairs. But I'll certainly go back. It is quite overwhelming because there is so much to see and after about three churches in a day they do start blending together so more shorter trips are definitely better. In four days I saw 15 churches. No wonder I'm confusing them. And really comfortable shoes are a must. My blister is still healing. Guess I missed the miracle. Maybe I should ask to use some of my mother-in-laws holy water which thrilled her by the way and she is saving for her last rites. Oh, and January was a great time to go. We got lucky with the weather and while I assume Rome is always busy the overwhelming crowds were gone. I shall return!

Chartres

I just got back from Rome where I saw Karen D. and need to put something in here about that trip but it reminded me of our trip to Chartres and it made me curious why I never wrote anything about it here. It was all the way back in 2005 and I want to mention it before I get too old to remember it at all!

It was in August, 2005, which was the first year we went to Kufstein. That first year we stayed in a cheap hotel in Kufstein and Rose and Patrick were along as well. It was our first trip into the Kaisertal and now KH and I go every August.

Once we got back from Austria, Karen and I went to see one of the best if not THE best Gothic cathedral in the world in Chartres an hour or so outside of Paris. I had been wanting to get back there for at least 25 years. It took us about eight hours to drive there mainly because we got lost and almost circled Paris. Our maps just weren't good enough and we really didn't know where we were going and we certainly didn't have a GPS back then. What adventures we all had before GPS! I'm surprised we got anywhere although I have to admit I've spent a lot of time lost. That time we just weren't prepared. It took Karen and I quite a bit of time before we realized "port" in French did not mean harbor, but rather exit. Duh! I was driving, circling Paris in my Plymouth Voyager minivan and Karen was freaking out since we were totally lost. I was mainly concentrating on not getting into an accident. I finally stopped at a gas station in a tunnel and some immigrant from north Africa helped us get our bearings. We spent one night and were surprised to find that the French light the cathedral up at night like a haunted house. We found that bizarre although some young French boy really liked it and his was about the only French I understood:"C'est spectacular, c'est magnifique!" O.k., not very hard French. Englishman Malcolm Miller was still giving English tours and has been since 1956 and we went on his tour the next day. I took his tour in 1977 by accident and really enjoyed it. He seems a bit burnt out at this point and has probably had his fill of the same questions from tourists. I think he probably started doing it for love but now is basically in it for the money. He does not approve of the light show. We looked at the Cathedral is almost every way possible and I feel I don't need to get back there for a very long time and am happy we went. On the way out of town we stopped in a giant, modern French supermarket and the contrast really shocked Karen. The area around Chartres is old and protected and getting deserted and somehow like an middle ages amusement park. We even took a little train ride around. There were still restaurants near the church and we ate there before the unanticipated light show started. But we had the feeling not very many people wanted to live in the old houses with tiny rooms and nowhere to park.

Oh, and the whole giant church was built to honor a "piece" of the BVM's veil. And, according to an email I just got from Karen, we actually did circle Paris. And she says our little train ride was a near death, out-of-control crazy ass tram ride around the old town. And that the area around the cathedral is a medieval-themed amusement park.

The Coast of Blue (and Berlin too).

Jessi and I were both on spring break and had decided to go to Nice for a few days because I had found cheap flights (about 100Euros each). KH was busy with work, Katie just not interested. I don't remember how I found Hotel Villa la Tour http://www.villa-la-tour.com/hotel_in_nice.php but certainly checked it on http://tripadvisor.com/ .

Rose drove us to the airport because KH was in Brussels and as so often we got there too early especially since I had already printed out our boarding passes and selected seats online. This stuff all sure is easier than it used to be. The flight was maybe two hours and once we got there we took the bus into the center of Nice to the bus station. I had at least three set of directions to the hotel and after being disoriented for a minute or two we found it just about five minutes from the bus station as promised. This is a nice budget hotel in a convenient location. If you are looking for a beach vacation it is not the right place to be but March is too cold for swimming and with its proximity to the bus station it was a great choice for us. However, do NOT get the smallest room as it is miniscule and really too small for two. It would be o.k. for one person.

On Sunday night we wandered around the old city for a bit looking for a restaurant and ended up back at one close to our hotel since many were closed as it was Easter Sunday. The food was extremely so-so and my impression is that it is hard to find reasonably priced good food in Nice. The hotel had an extremely small roof terrace where I would sit out at night drinking wine while Jessi would watch TV in the room. Jutting essentially out of our building was the tower (tour) the hotel is named for and it was extremely impressive, big, ornate with a large functional clock on it.

The old town in Nice is narrow and windy and reminded me of parts of Naples, Prague and the Left Bank in Paris. I suspect these places were all built about the same time. When it is night and especially if rainy, these old towns can be creepy which was Rose's and my impression of Naples and somewhat my first impression of the old town in Nice. However, during sunny daytime the shops open and move part way out into the lanes they are bustleing with people and activity. I am thinking I would have a really different feeling about Naples if I saw more of it during the day.

My French isn't that good so I don't quite understand it but apparently the communities on the French Riviera are subsidizing bus travel to reduce the amount of cars used in the area which makes sense because it is congested and the roads are small and narrow. What this means is that at least from Nice everywhere else we went on the Riviera only cost a Euro which is about the deal of the century. The buses where comfortable, frequent and you didn't even need exact change!

Monday morning we took the bus to Monaco with the intent to get there by 11:55 a.m. in time to see the changing to the guard at the palace. Monaco is only about 18 kilometers from Nice so we got there pretty early and first stopped for breakfast in a bakery since we had left Nice without eating. (We had checked the bus times and one was about to leave so we hopped on.) You hike up steps to get up to the palace although buses apparently go up there as well. Since we still had some time to kill and I was mildly interested we went into the Napoleon museum that is set up in one end of the palace. It was interesting enough for a short look and wasn't expensive either four euros each, I think. The hightlight there was seeing two of his funny hats and also many pictures and a sculpture of him. When he was young he was actually pretty good looking.

The changing of the guard looked like it was a scaled down version of what they do in the summer. About 20 soldiers were involved in outfits that made them look something like toy soldiers to me. There were drums and horns and it was fun to see but I would not go way out of my way for it. After that we walked over to the Cathedral where Grace Kelly married Prince Rainer back in 1956 to much hoopla. She died in a car crash on one of those twisty roads in 1982 and pretty much everyone who visits the cathedral walks past her and her husband's tombs which are in the church. I, however, was most more thrilled to find a relic of a saint there as well. Located in a golded display case in ANOTHER golden display case was a pretty large bone piece from St. Devote who apparently is the patron saint of Monaco. Then we went onto what they call the Musee Oceanographic where is a really outstanding aquarium with a nautical museum above it. The aquarium is built directly on the Mediterranean and salt water is pumped in. There are recreated coral reefs with some of the most interesting fish I have ever seen. I haven't been to an aquarium in a long time but I thought this one was really great. The nautical museum had the first submarine ever made which they claimed had been used in the American Revolutionary War. There was a large but of course not to size model of the Santa Maria and lots of fish and whale bones. The aquarium was more interesting but together this is definitely a place worth seeing. There is also a nice open air cafe with lovely views on the roof where we stopped for a break and watched the people behind us feed french fries to a seagull, perhaps not the best thing for the bird.

We wandered back down from the rock trying to figure out how to get to the Jardin Exotique. We eventually figured out we had to take a bus and the bus across town in Monaco was 30 Euro cents more than the one all the way from Nice. This is a very cool succulent/cacti garden built into the rocks overlooking Monaco. There are giant examples of all different plants and at the bottom there is a "grotto" or interesting cave you can explore with 300 steps down and then again back up of course so good shoes are necessary. This was also worth doing. Theoretically, they have tours down into the cave but they just let us wander down there and back ourselves although they made us wait almost an hour to do so.

Catching the bus back to Nice was a bit confusing but we managed. That night we ate at an o.k. place we found in one of our guide books and I had Salad Nicoise just because we were there and it was fine if not spectacular. We talked a bit to a couple next to us as we were sitting crammed together anyway. They were French and she was a local lawyer and he was her client and a businessman from Paris. We spoke English, naturally, but it was nice to talk to some locals. I spent the latter part of the evening out on the tiny roof terrace drinking wine and watching some seagulls I am convinced had some green lights on them. No, I only had a little wine.

Tuesday we took the bus to Grasse which was about an hour ride away because Jessi was interested as they had read the book "Perfume" in school and it was set in that town. We went to the Frangonard factory museum and they told us a bit about how perfume is made. Of course, at the end of the tour you are dumped into the perfume shop and the guide tries and sells you perfume. Actually, they had wonderful perfume for reasonable prices but we weren't buying. We found out the next day that you can see about the same think at another Fragonard factory in Eze which is much closer. In any case, it was interesting to travel through the countryside and we had a look at a small mueum with provincial clothing as well.

That night a restaurant recommended in both our guide books finally opened again. This restaurant is NOT open on the weekends. It is called Acchiardo and is in the old town not far from our hotel. We went in before 8 p.m. and the place was already packed. We got the last table available without reservations. The food was reasonably priced and good. I had something they called scorpion fish on the English menu and I think I may have seen them in the Monaco aquarium the day before! I don't recall ever having had a scorpion fish before. We made reservations for the next night as well since it was the best place we had been to so far and getting in seemed to be an issue. Every restaurant we went to in Nice had tables jammed in next to each other. Jessi said you could have eaten off your neighbor's plate.

After dinner we bought ice cream from a place called Funnocio or something similar. They offered more ice cream flavors (more than 80) than I have ever seen and several of them (olive, tomato) I assume only for novelty purposes.

Wednesday we took the bus (again, only 1 Euro!) about 25 minutes to a town up on a cliff called Eze. I had emailed and made a reservation for a guided tour of the old town with the tourist information office. The tour was going to cost us each six euros but included the entrance to the exotic garden (apparently popular in these parts) which would have been five euros anyway. We really had no idea what to expect. We got there well before our 1 p.m. appointment and stopped by the tourist office to check on things. We told the guy there that we had the appointment and he said he was the guy I had emailed with, Monsieur Patrick Le Tiec, and would give us our tour once he co-worker showed up at 1 p.m. So in the meantime we went on another Fragonard tour and at this facility there actually seemed to be people doing some work. Once again, at the end of the English tour given by an Asian woman in so-so English we were again in the store smelling perfume and we were again not buying despite the temptation. After the perfume tour we stopped for a snack at a little outdoor snack bar (the weather was lovely the whole time we were there) and then went back to the Tourist Information office. Good to his work, Monsieur Le Tiec was ready to give us a walking tour of the old city for 12 Euros for the two of us. We wandered all over the small town or fortress for about an hour with him and it was definitely worth it since the garden at the top would have cost five euros each anyway. Sometimes we had problems understanding his French accent but overall it was fun. He pointed out things we wouldn't have been able to discover ourselves like a house used in Hitchcock's "To Catch a Thief". The old town of Eze is essentially a tourist attraction and he also told us only about 15 people actually live there now. At the end of the tour I gave him a five euro tip. What the hell. After the tour we went back up to the very top where the castle was originally. There is a cactus garden somewhat like the one in Monaco but with even better views. They also had built some wooden lounge chairs for people to relax in and it was lovely to sit there for a bit and look out at the Mediterranean. Actually, spectacular.

After our bus ride back to Nice, we ate at Acchiardo again and talked to some Germans sitting right next to us. They had been in Nice before in the summer and really recommended against it as it was too hot. The food was pretty good again although not excellent but was a good value as was the house wine. I spent the evening out on the roof terrace again enjoying the tower and our last night.

We were leaving Thursday evening so had decided to stay in Nice that day to make sure we didn't miss the plane. So we asked at the hotel and they told us how to get up to the Chagall museum again by bus. We also went to the Matisse museum as well but decided that would be too much. The Chagall museum was nice providing you like Chagall which I do but relatively small. We also went to the market that day and had some fresh socca which is a pancake they make with ground up chick peas which is better than it sounds. We sat on a bench near the stoney beach for awhile just enjoying the fun and had lunch outside at a wine "cave" across the street from the hotel. I had pasta (keep in mind this area once belonged to whatever preceeded Italy and Italy is just down the road) and Jessi had what looked like goat cheese melted on toast. It never would have occured to me to melt goat cheese but have since tried it here and it is great.

I thought the bus system down there was great and would not want to try and drive around there myself. Not only driving but parking also would be difficult. There are supposed to be some sandy beaches in the area but we didn't see them. Of course, we didn't look either. I read that Cannes has a sandy beach and a friend mentioned Menton. The beach at Nice is not particularly nice; it is relatively small and rocky.

In general, I think it is a lovely area and it is yet another place I would be happy to visit again. I would not go in summer because of the heat and crowds both of which drive me crazy. There was a hotel around the corner from where we stayed called the Hotel Picardy or Hotel Au Picardy which apparently is cheaper than the place we stayed and I might try that next time.

Two days after I got back from Nice I took the train up to see NK in Berlin. Normally I would have liked more time between trips but that is when she was there from Minnesota and I was on break. We stayed in the same place we stayed in before the Berolina Hostel in Charlottenberg which is REALLY basic with bathrooms in the hallway but is safe, clean and in a great location so we'll probably stay there again.

We went to the Berlin Philharmonic and heard some really modern pieces which I completely enjoyed but like Rose says, you have to be there. I suspect if you heard them recorded they would just sound odd.

Barcelona

Patty, Rose and I were hanging around last July all kinda depressed. My cure for depression is planning a trip so I suggested we figure out someplace to go. Patty said "Barcelona" and Rose and I were both immediately on board because it is a place we both had long wanted to see. We looked and looked for dates we could all make it and then cheap flights and a hotel. We ended up setting it up for October with Rose and I taking a late flight on Saturday night from Frankfurt and Patty coming really early on Sunday, fun day.

Rose and I took a bus from the airport to Pl. Catalunya and then wandered to our hotel in the Gothic quarter. It was night and we got a bit lost on our way to Hotel Regencia Colon but it wasn't a big deal and we never felt threatened whatsoever. It is a nice hotel, better than I usually stay at with a fabulous location just about a stone's throw from the cathedral. After dropping our bags we asked the guy at the hotel reception where we could go for a drink and he said there was an Irish Pub not too far away. Ahem, we found this suggestion rather humorous so went out and wandered around the cathedral plaza for a bit looking around almost making a circle back to our hotel when we found a small, local bar essentially next to the hotel. (Does the reception guy not look around when he walks in the door to work? We later told him we went to the place next door and he actually looked surprised like he didn't know it was there. Maybe he gets a kickback for sending people to the Irish Pub.) This was a GREAT bar called La Bambia on Sagristans and became our regular nighttime haunt for our time in Barcelona. Small, intimate, and pretty much only locals. Rose was impressed I could order two beers in Spanish. It's because KH is proud of being able to order beer in MANY languages and practices at home so I've picked up this practical information.


Patty showed up early on Sunday. It was a perfect day, weather wise. After a quick bite to eat, we hung out on the plaza in front of the Cathedral waiting for the locals to start dancing the Sardena which our guidebooks said is the national dance. The tourists trying to watch the dancers outnumbered the dancers at least two to one. It is one of those circular folk type dances but this one has pretty complicated footwork. I like to folk dance and normally would have given it a shot but this was WAY too hard. It is also apparently not exactly catching on with the Spanish youth since most of the people dancing were middle aged and up. A small group of musicians sat on the Cathedral steps to play live music for the dancers. The musicians were mainly geezers with one young kid in the group. The music was a bit odd. It was interesting to watch particularly as the weather and the setting was so nice.


After we got tired of watching the dancers, we walked over to Las Ramblas. The Gothic quarter where we were staying is old with small curvy streets similar to the old part of Prague, and the Latin Quarter in Paris. These lead us to the very famous Las Ramblas which is a large boulevard with a pedestrian walkway in the center. We had read you need to be careful of pickpockets and con artists there so I was a tiny bit apprehensive. I thought it might be tough in a port city kinda way with flimflam artists and and rough types around. If they were there, we sure didn't see them. The street is lined with beautiful Spanish "colonial" buildings and the walkway is full of street entertainers, merchants, cafes and tourists. The street entertainers either did the "living statue" bit or played music or danced which is all fine with me. It was simply lovely and not at all run down or sleazy. I was starting to really like this city.

At the end of Las Ramblas we hit the port on the Mediterrranean and there were palm trees too which always make me happy. Naturally there were tour boats which go out into the harbor. I like boats, at least ones that don't go TOO far out, and it was a beautiful day so suggested we take a boat ride! Yeah! So we did! It was only 10 Euros. And it was great until we got out of the harbor. And hit the waves. Head on crashing some over the tops. Which I kinda liked but Rose did not. And she freaked because they were letting a 12-year-old drive. And Patty got seasick. Not the best experience although I had a pretty good time but kinda felt guilty about it since my freinds were in distress. Well, I guess we won't be booking a cruise anytime soon, huh ladies? We did get to see what the city looked like from the water and it is a nice city indeed.


After our boating adventure we needed something to eat. One or more of our guidebooks recommended a little restaurant down by the port in an area called Barcelonetta. It was a cute, cheap place where I had mussels and Rose had many extremely fried things including octopus. I don't remember what Patty had. Patty needed a nap (she had had an extremely early flight) so Rose and I took a tram up to a park on Montjuic and basically got lost but had a nice walk and a cable car ride with beautiful views of the city out over the Mediterranean.


That evening we took the metro over to La Sagrada Familia. The metro is another thing that is great about Barcelona. Having it means you can get around quickly, easily and cheaply. People in Barcelona seem to call this church the "Temple". I think it is to distinguish it from the Cathedral. I was looking for pictures of La Sagrada Familia on the web once we were back and found one picture of the cathedral labeled as La Sagrada Familia. I bet that isn't the only person who has gotten the two confused.


At night you can only see the outside which is nicely lit. There are two facades finished and one was done completely by Gaudi and it is very dense in terms of the statuary on it. Very, very dense. We should have had binoculars which I meant to bring but naturally forgot. If you go, take them. I liked this church more than I expected. The pictures of it always make it looks something like a sand castle, almost childish, and just don't do it justice. In person, you can distinguish much more of the various components and it makes it infinitely more interesting.


We had gotten a late start and had a very late really so-so dinner at a restaurant in the area. By the time we got done the metro wasn't running anymore and so we had a LONG walk back to the hotel but that was o.k. because we got to see a lot more of the city that way. Rose and I stopped at La Bambia for a nightcap.


The next day we took the train out to Montserrat, a monastery about an hour away from Barcelona perched on a mountain. We got a slightly late start and had to really hurry to try and hear the boys' choir which performs daily at 1 p.m. On the way to the church I also almost gave CPR to some man lying on the ground but he started talking so we kept going and entered the church exactly as the boys started to sing. Unfortunately, they only sang two songs or so which was a bit short. The church was packed so I was a bit away from Rose and Patty and Rose said someone else fainted in the church doorway. I think it must be the altitude combined with religious fervor which overwhelms some pilgrims. I've seen a lot of churches so am not easily impressed but this one was actually worth the trip. It helps that the mountain setting is so beautiful as well. There is also a tradition of different groups donating beautiful hanging lamps to the church. In a side chapel, there was a giant crucifix with handles on it and I thought the handles were there so you could steady yourself while you kissed the statue. So I grabbed it and almost knocked the statue over. I was there looking up in absolute horror as Christ wobbled and wobbled on his cross in his holder and I was so terrified I could not move or think or anything to do other than to wait until he crashed down on me and I lay on the church floor crushed under a priceless church art piece I had destroyed. I was very close to either fainting or having a heart attack not from fervor but from fear. I was also thinking it just figured something like this would happen to me since my relationship with the Catholic Church is iffy at best. It was like it was some kind of sign. Patty happened to walk into the side chapel as this was happening (thank God (how ironic!) no one else was in there at the time) and was a BIT taken aback by my cringing under the wobbling Messiah. He finally slowly settled back into his holder. Thank you Jesus for not crushing me! I think the handles are there to transport the crucifix in case it needs to be moved. However, it would take more than one person to carry it. And it could really use a more stable base. Even as I write about it my heart starts beating a bit faster, that's how scared I was.


The church also has a black Madonna statue which is revered for some reason I don't quite remember. I think she miraculously survived something. It's always something. She has a stunning mosaic alcove just for herself. You wait in line to "venerate" her and can touch her hand which protrudes through a plexiglas covering. If you are in Barcelona it is worth it to take the train over to Montserrat. It's only about an hour anyway.


Rose and Patty had both seen a tourist video about Barcelona that recommended a restaurant called El Rey de Las Gambas down at the port so we headed there Monday night for dinner after returning from Montserrat. They kept commenting that it must have been redecorated because it didn't look the same and later we discovered the original was down the street; we were at number two. We had Paella for dinner and ice cream on the way as we walked home to our hotel. Patty, the sane one, went to bed. Rose and Terry went for another nightcap at La Bambia. We were rapidly becoming regulars.


Tuesday we got tickets for the hop on hop off bus. The weather was nice enough we could sit on the open top level. At one point we were parked under some trees and there were canaries in them we could almost touch. We got off at House Battlo which is one of Gaudi's famous houses in town. I don't remember what we paid to get into the house but it was completely worth it. There are several levels to look at and the architecture is wavey and blue. There are lots of mosiacs on the roof chimneys which is also open to tourists. It is very cool. Even cooler may be Parc Gruell which we also hopped off to see. The park was also designed by Gaudi and was supposed to be a housing development which never materialized. There are a few interesting buildings there and some nice outside installations like the famous lizard and the extremely long mosiac bench.

That night we tried to have dinner on a boat restaurant we had seen in the port but unfortunately it was closed. So we just went to another random restaurant where Rose and I accidently got giant beers the size of the ones you get at Octoberfest here. Patty was good and went to bed. When Rose and I showed up at La Bambia the bartender waved and smiled and asked "Dos Cervesas?" O.K., now we were definitely regulars so decided to celebrate it with brandy as well as our beers!

Wednesday was our last day and Patty had an early flight out. Rose and I had time to kill before our late evening flight so we went back to La Sagrada Familia in the daylight and went in. A different guy at our hotel had told us it wasn't worth going in because it was just a construction zone. He was completely wrong and I will henceforth be extremely skeptical of hotel desk workers. We got the audio tour and loved this place. A good portion of it is already done and you can see some of the stained glass windows and the spectacular ceiling that mimics a forest. It was started in 1886 is supposed to be done in 20 years. We are hoping to get back before then. Rose and I had lunch sitting outside the Temple across the street watching cranes working on it.

Barcelona far exceeded my expectations. What a great town! I definitely want to go back. We liked the hotel but it was a bit pricey and there is a hostel nearby that looked nice called Itaca http://www.itacahostel.com which would have the same great location right near our La Bambia bar but would be cheaper. We can fly down there from Germany for about 100 Euros round trip if we go at off times so it is clearly affordable for a short trip from here. Patty and Rose liked it as well, Rose so much she now wants to learn Spanish. I'm going to Nice with Jessi in March and I'll be curious how these two Mediterranean towns compare. I'm beginning to think that almost anyplace on the Mediterranean is nice.

Terry

Surviving the Alps OR How Could I Be THAT Stupid?

This 2007 vacation actually started in 2005. Rose found an offer for a cheap week in Kufstein, Austria for herself and her son Patrick and Karen, KH and I all tagged along. While there we took a guided day hike into the beautiful Kaisertal, the last inhabited valley in Austria with no road access. You hike about 300 log stairs to get into the valley. The cars the locals use to drive around in the valley are either winched up, brought up in pieces or lifted in by helicoptor. Since then, I wanted to go back and hike the area more extensively. I'd heard there are huts in the mountains you can use to sleep overnight, some pretty simple and some essentially like bed and breakfasts with shared baths. Hiking hut to hut in the Alps became a goal; something about it sounds so idyllic and beautiful.

Finding out information about these huts is not very easy. There are lots of them but most of the information I found was in German. Most are run by various branches of the Alps climbing clubs and don't do much marketing, especially in English. Another problem is that most of the huts are dorm style with large groups of strangers sleeping together in one big room. This had no appeal whatsoever so I only looked for huts with single rooms. I finally found a suggested route in the mountains around Kufstein for three nights which seemed to be a nice, short introduction into hut-to-hut hiking in the Alps. However, I changed the middle hut to another one in the area since the one on the suggested itinerary I had found only had dorm rooms and the one I substituted had individual rooms.

Karen and her sister Teresa flew in from the States on Sunday. They, KH and I drove to Kufstein on Wednesday, August 8th. Teresa's husband Peter was driving from Bratislava and was going to meet us either on the trail or at the first hut. We got to the trailhead at about 3:30 p.m. and headed up the several hundred wooden stairs to the trail. The estimate I had to get to the hut was between two and three hours. After the steps the trail is pretty level for awhile. At one point I saw what looked like a tunnel and a local hiker confirmed what I had earlier read; they were finally builing a road into the valley. It would only be for use by the inhabitants, she said. ( I have since found a NYTimes article about the tunnel and will copy it at the end of this.)Eventually we came to a choice with one trail taking more time and the other less. We chose the quicker one although Karen claims she objected. I honestly don't remember that. Here shorter apparently meant steeper. Teresa, being the youngest, skipped ahead most of the time but once waited for us to catch up to her and commented, "This trail is challenging!" Uh huh, that it was. Pretty wide and easy to navigate, but very take-your-breath away steep. We went up quite a bit and got a serious cardio vascular workout which was fine with me. We were almost to the hut when Peter caught up with us (hey, he's only 26!) at a tiny chapel similar to so many you find all over southern Germany and Austria. They seem to often be constructed by particular families as symbols of gratitude. At one point Teresa came back to report cows had made the path impassable. By the time we got there they had moved aside. Cows became rather a recurring theme. KH, Karen and I struggled in behind TeresaandPeter with me crossing into the yard of the Vorderkaiserfelden Hut at about 7:30 p.m. I had taken me about TWICE as long to get there as the Austrian plan had estimated. And I hadn't felt like I had taken it particularly easy.

Calling the places we stayed "huts" is ridiculous. They are much more what I would call lodges. However, you can really only get to them by hiking. When we walked into the Vorderkaiserfeldenhuette there were about 15 people sitting around the dining room eating or playing games. At least five of them were small children. They only way in was to hike so that must be how they got there. We were the last arrivals. We checked in and our rooms were long and narrow with two single beds against the wall and a small table attached to the wall across from the beds. We were expected to use sleeping bag liners under the quilt and we all had them along. (I knew this from my research. We had silk ones as they are the lightest.) I think there was a chair and there were hooks on the wall. The toilets and sinks and shower were down the hall. Everything was wood and I think the "hut" was something like a hundred years old. There were dormitory beds with basically just matresses on the floor one floor higher and a family from Holland (one of the groups with kids) was staying up there. These are essentially open areas so we could go up briefly and have a look. Our "private" rooms had no locks. KH and I propped a hiking pole against the door that night just for the heck of it.

We had a great dinner and beer. The view out over the mountains was spectacular but it got dark pretty quickly after we arrived so we didn't get to see it for too long. Karen was curious about the ethnicity of the people running the restaurant. They were different from the people in charge of the rooms and did not look Austrian. Eventually the guy told us he was from Nepal. Apparently there is some exchange between the Alps and whatever mountains they have there. He also had jewelry and hats for sale he had brought with from Nepal so Karen and Teresa both managed to get some shopping in on the top of a mountain in the Alps and best of all the stuff they bought was from Nepal. Talk about globalization.

I really liked this lodge although the woman who ran it was not the friendliest person I have ever met. As mentioned, most of these "huts" are owned by the Alpine club and they get people to basically rent them and run them. I think is a lot of work and a rather isolated job although I suspect having internet access has helped quite a bit. Here is a link to information about this hut if you are interested: http://www.vorderkaiserfeldenhuette.at/. Unfortunately it is only in German but at least you can get a feel for what it looks like. Oh, yeah, the going price for these Alpine club huts is 22 Euros per person per night. Showers are an extra three Euros. The food had average restaurant prices and was consistently good.



We had breakfast the next morning, packed our packs and with a tra-la-la headed out at abut 10:30 a.m. It was wet but not pouring. We had a hiking map of the area but the trails were generally well marked with signs and estimated hiking times. We saw two different signs for the Anton Karg Haus, our next hut, and chose the one with the slightly longer time (something like three hours) because we thought the trail would be less steep. I remember thinking it was kind of a narrow trail when we started out but thought it might widen up as we went further along. Well, it didn't. Actually, as Karen said, when you thought it couldn't get any worse, it did. Much of this approximately six inch wide trail was covered by interlacing tree roots which were wet since it had rained and was still drizzling and thus EXTREMELY slippery. If there weren't slippery tree roots there were boulders. Or just fields of rocks with this tiny, tiny path carved out of the extremely steep slope. Or steps minimally carved out of a rock face. Sometimes I would look up and think, YIKES! That's steep! I tried not look down but when I did I had to force myself not to freeze up with fear. It was a long way down and at many places if you had fallen you would have just keep going. This was a really, really bad and perilous trail. Karl-Heinz and Karen each fell twice. Karen actually fell off the trail once and I'm still not sure how she managed to stay alive. "Just about killed myself" was what she yelled back and it was not an exaggeration. I didn't fall because I moved like a turtle and slowed us all down. But I feared twisting an ankle and really causing problems. I had no idea how anyone could rescue me if I was hurt. I mainly looked down at the path in front of me and the only wildlife I saw were ants crossing my path. First we went up, up, up and then we went down, down and down some more. At one point I thought I would burst into tears from fear but decided it wouldn't help so didn't. Did I mention it was DANGEROUS? I felt like I was on some weird survival trip, perhaps our plane had crashed on the mountain and our only way to survive was down this wicked path. Karl-Heinz would stop whenever something extraordinarily bad was on the trail to help me through. Without him I would not have survived. I am not kidding. (Thanks, dear.) However, it meant I began to dread seeing him stop. It meant something terrible was coming. We crossed streams on half-submerged stones and wobbley logs. We walked on miniscule ledges with extreme drop offs to the side. We never met ANYONE else on the trail because the locals and anyone with a lick of sense were way too smart to try it. Rose had thought about coming with us and I just kept thinking how grateful I was she had not since she is afraid of heights. Ha! I am NOT afraid of heights and I was afraid. The trail went on and on and on. At about 3:30 p.m. Karl-Heinz looked out over the mountains and shouted, "Where's the damn hut?!" TeresaandPeter were quite a bit ahead of us but had some issues as well. Finally at about 5:30 p.m. we saw the hut with TeresaandPeter on the terrace just getting ready to come back and mount a rescue. The "three hour" tour took us about SEVEN hours. I was starting to notice a trend with the "estimated" times. I was delighted we had all made it out unscathed. I think we were extremely lucky and had experienced a miracle especially since about five minutes after we got into the hut it began to pour. I cannot imagine how we would have made it out of there in a downpour. But we were obviously making mistakes. We needed more information about any trails we would take in the future.



The first hut we had been in was high in the mountains. We had pretty much hiked down to the second one so now we were in a valley. This hut was also all wood and huge. We checked in (nice rooms for that sort of place) and then went for dinner. Trying to be smarter, I checked with the waitress about the trail we had taken and the one we had planned for the next day. We could have aborted the trip and taken an easy trail back to Kufstein. She agreed the one we had taken was bad and said the one for the next day was fine although somewhat steep. We all agreed to continue onto the next hut. After the five out us had a nice dinner in the dining room alone she asked when we wanted breakfast. She asked if we could have it a bit later since we were the only guests and that meant they could sleep in. This "hut" can sleep approximately 100 people and we were the only guests! ( We has assumed everyone else had already eaten. Hikers tend to be early to bed types.) It was during the week (Thursday night) and the weather wasn't very good but it was still a bit strange to be the only guests in the giant wooden hut in the mountains. Karen says it made her feel like she was in an episode of "Scooby Doo". We had the dining room to ourselves the whole night and played poker with puzzle pieces. Karl-Heinz basically never bet and Karen basically never stopped.







At breakfast a different woman waitressed and I checked about the trail again. (I wasn't going to make the same mistake twice!) She said it was an o.k. trail, steep at first, then level and then steep again. And she asked if we had good shoes. I had read that the Anton Karg house had been closed for awhile and asked her about it. She said the previous woman who had been running it had psychiatric problems and had to leave. Go figure. Isolated in an Alpine valley. More Scooby Doo. Now the woman speaking to us said her family was running it but only from May to October. Here is something about the Anton Karg hut, again in German: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anton-Karg-Haus OH, and in this place you could even lock your door.







So with Karl-Heinz yodelling we were off again on another hike to another hut. What we shortly came to realize is that what is "somewhat" steep varies greatly between mountain folk and us flatlanders. There were steps that were suspiciously simlar to ladders. After several hours, Karl-Heinz did mention that all he saw ahead was sheer rock and wondered where the trail was going but I chose to ignore those comments. It was a much better trail than the preceeding day and I never actually feared for my life, at least until Karl-Heinz, stopped, turned back and said, "Um, here is some of that iron stuff." Oh great. They hadn't mentioned that and it wasn't on the map. It was a bit of a Via Ferrata ( Iron Way) which is hiking on rocks aided by iron steps or ladders pounded into them. It means that you are pretty much in an area that can't be hiked and has to be "climbed". This was the rock Karl-Heinz had been seeing. So we packed out poles in our packs and used the cables on the sides and the iron rebar steps to help us over the rock. It wasn't as bad as it looked and still not as bad and the trail from the preceeding day. A bit farther up I heard Karl-Heinz saying, "Welcome to the other side." He wasn't kidding. We had just climbed over a mountain and were now in an entirely different valley. The first one was dramatic. The one we entered looked like something out an animated Disney cartoon. Cute Alpine houses, cows with bells, flowers. I expected to hear flute music. Just a different world. The rest of the way to the Kaindlhuette was a cakewalk. However, it still took us about twice as long as the trail sign said. We rolled in sometime in the late afternoon. TeresaandPeter were already there sitting on the terrace as were several other people. It was now Friday and we were closer to the town than we had been before so this hut was MUCH busier with maybe 30 people staying there. It was also privately run and smaller than the other two with much more limited bathroom facilities and no showers. For 50 Euros per person we got dinner, rooms, and breakfast. Dinner was served family style with them bringing the food to our assigned table. There were quiet hours and I sort of felt like I was at summer camp for hikers. There were also farms in the area and it was much less isolated than the other two. It was nice as well but I liked the other two huts better. This was another one without locking doors. Here is it's website: http://www.kaindlhuette.de/. Everything they serve there seems to be organic which we don't care but some people do. That evening we had a few rousing hands of the children's game Memory.

The next day I took a chairlift back down to Kufstein while everyone else hiked. I was hiked out and chair lifts can be fun. I was the only customer. So ended a quite remarkable experience.

At the huts there were brochures available describing various hikes. The ones we had taken were recommended for experienced, surefooted hikers. NOW they tell me, I thought. For anyone interested there is also a website with several hikes mapped on at http://www.huettentrekking.de/ but again only in German. I unfortunately did not have the brochures nor had found that website before we went.

Now that we've been there I know what easy trails to take if we ever go back to that valley. And we probably will. If you like to hike, it is hard to beat these so-called huts, at least the ones we stayed at. We thought they were generally nice although clearly not luxurious. The food was good and everything seemed very reasonably priced to us. That is at least partially because they have been around so long and are generally owned by the various branches of the Alps clubs. However, unless you don't mind sharing a room with strangers, you need to find the ones with private rooms which is challenging.

On Saturday we drove back into Germany and onto Garmisch. I wish I could say our week in Garmisch was uneventful, but no, we took yet another of what Karl-Heinz calls our "murder" hikes and again it was unintentional. By then TeresaandPeter had gone back to Bratislava. We had never been through the Hoellentalklamm which is a high gorge up from Grainau just outside of Garmisch. We thought it would be a pretty short hike so didn't hurry and got started about noon. We hiked through the gorge and should have turned back. But we kept going, without water, and ended up crossing another mountain. We missed the gondola we wanted to take down since it only ran until 5:30 p.m. So after going up one side of the mountain we walked down the other, the last half an hour in dark. At one point I tried to convince Karl-Heinz and Karen we should just sit down until morning but they insisted we continue and we slowly made it down using our hiking poles like blind people use their canes. If I could hike faster we probably would have made it down in the light. Karen wants to train me to hike faster billy goat style. Hmmm...we'll have to see about that. How we were that stupid after our other adventures I'm not quite sure. This is especially bizarre considering I ended up hiking out of the Grand Canyon with Chris for an hour in the dark in May 2006. I really gotta start taking along a flashlight whenever I go hiking. (I know, the brighter hikers are all shaking their heads in astonishment.) Here is a link to some pictures of what I believe is a similar hike. http://www.germanhikes.co.uk/hike05/2005oct/Oct04/Oct04.html The hike this person posted pictures of looks like essentially the same hike we did only we missed the gondola and had to hike back down.

This is getting as long as some of the hikes so I'm stopping. Thanks to TeresaandPeter, KH and Karen for tolerating my ignorance and slowness and to KH for basically getting me off that killer trail. Never again! O.k., again but not the same trails. There is a good chance at least KH and I will be back in Garmisch and maybe Austria next August again so if anyone wants to come they should let me know. You need to be in pretty good shape, however. Sometimes I felt like a cartoon character with my heart beating OUT of my chest. Oh, and it helps not to be afraid of heights. Really. And see below for the Times article about the Kaisertal.

Terry

KAISERTAL JOURNAL; Modernity Drills Through RockToward an Alpine Hamlet E-MAIL Print Permissions Save By MARK LANDLERPublished: April 24, 2007Years from now, if Sarah Leitner ever wants to regaleher children with stories about her daily walk toschool, she will not have to embellish, even a little:this plucky 8-year-old must hike a mountain to get toher home in this remote Alpine valley. True, there are 300 wooden steps winding up the steepslope. And her mother, Ursula, waits for her at thetop, in a rusty, mud-spattered car that bears nolicense plates because it never sees a regular road. The Leitners live in the Kaisertal, one of the lastinhabited valleys in the Alps not connected by road tothe outside world. In this isolated mountainsettlement, food and fuel are carried in on an aerialropeway. Its few vehicles were winched up the stairsmany years ago, and are now stranded there, in anArcadian landscape of fields and farmhouses, circledby jagged, snow-capped peaks. For the 30 people who live in the Kaisertal, there hasalways been one way in and one way out: on foot. Next March, however, work will be completed on a2,690-foot tunnel through the mountain, and thevalley's splendid isolation will come to an abruptend. It cannot end fast enough for Sarah Leitner. ''I'll be really glad when the road comes,'' she saidthe other day, trudging up the steps, her backpackbobbing like a buoy in a choppy sea. ''Finally, myfriends will be able to come visit me.'' The decision to build the tunnel was made afterdecades of dispute over whether to make the valleymore accessible, and it is still arousing complexemotions among people in this gentle land ofgingerbread houses and onion-domed churches near theGerman border. Residents of the Kaisertal generally welcome theconnection, citing the ease of shopping, going to adoctor or seeing a movie, without having to put onhiking boots and go on a wilderness walk. But nature lovers who savor such pursuits say thetunnel will bring taxis and tourists, followed by realestate development -- spoiling one of the last trulypristine valleys in the Tyrolean Alps. To prevent that, Ebbs, the town that includes theKaisertal, plans to limit access to residents,emergency vehicles and service people. It will issuethem a plastic card, with an encoded chip, that willopen a gate at the mouth of the tunnel, next to thetown. Over time, however, critics predict that thelimitations on access will be relaxed, particularly asthe economic incentives of opening up the valley tooutside traffic become more tantalizing. ''This region is an El Dorado for people who live inBavaria; they can drive here in an hour,'' saidNorbert Wolf, an environmentalist who has campaignedagainst the tunnel for years. ''I'm very skepticalthat this tunnel will only be used by the people wholive there.'' Today, the 30 residents subsist on farming and runningsmall guesthouses, which also sell beer and applestrudel to passing hikers. The valley's population wasonce about 70, but it has dwindled as residents,particularly young ones, have left for opportunitiesin the outside world. Josef Ritzer, the mayor of Ebbs, said the remainderwould eventually have packed up, too. Showing visitorsaround the other day, he pointed to an abandonedAlpine house, clinging stubbornly to a hillside. ''Without the tunnel, the rest of the valley will endup like that,'' Mr. Ritzer said. ''We want people tostay, but to do that, we have to give them the sameopportunities as people in the town.'' The project is budgeted at nearly $9 million, of whichthe province of Tyrol is kicking in roughlythree-quarters. Austria specializes in highlyengineered tunnels, and this one has its own marvels,including a 180-degree curve in the middle. Workers are blasting a path through a ridge to connectthe tunnel to a dirt road in the valley. Theirjackhammers echo noisily off the mountains, somethingnot lost on the project's critics. Mr. Wolf does not dispute that the residents neededsomething more convenient than a winding staircase.His solution would have been to replace the aerialropeway -- a rickety contraption -- with a moderngondola that could have carried people as well asprovisions. He noted that other places thrive while banningprivate cars. The glamorous Swiss ski resort Zermatt,for example, requires visitors to park outside townand take a train or taxi the rest of the way. In the Kaisertal, however, people have simplerdesires. Ursula Leitner said she would like to be ableto carry her groceries home, rather than putting themon the ropeway. She would like to go the annual ballin Ebbs without having to hike down with her shoes andgown in a bag. More important, the family could get prompt access tomedical treatment. Last fall, Sarah became violentlyill with a stomach virus and had to hike down to adoctor. A group of walkers, not understanding thegirl's distress, poked fun at her as she and herparents hurried past. There are longer-term drawbacks to life in theKaisertal. Young people struggle to find spouseswilling to move here. Failed relationships are common.Loneliness hangs in the thin mountain air. Yet there is also romance and idealism to living inthis Alpine version of Walden Pond. Neighbors takecare of one another. Each Monday, they gather at oneof the guesthouses to play cards. It's like one big family, though, as JosefSchwaighofer, 43, the owner of the guesthouse, notes,''None of the families is related.'' Pausing, he addswith a twinkle, ''that we know of.'' Mr. Schwaighofer, who grew up here, has neverconsidered leaving. But he said fewer and fewer peopleappreciate the valley's slow rhythm of life. For them,the tunnel is an escape hatch. ''They want to get intotown quickly,'' he said with a hint of sadness. ''Lifetoday is getting faster and faster.'' ____________________________________________________________________________________Need