The Gadabout Map

Bryan arrived home on Friday, July 20 at JFK Airport, having been gone since June 4th. We had a long drive through traffic and drizzle but we were there in plenty of time to grab a coffee and wait. It was great to see him - he looked good! Healthy, happy, clean, nice haircut. He looked after himself quite well.

Then we had a long drive home, which was nice because we got to hear all about his trip. He enjoyed his bonus day in Zurich. Said his fav city was probably Krakow, but enjoyed so many of the cities, including Munich and Amsterdam.

Bryan's route

He's been back over a week already and is settling into life at home. He's looking forward to starting work in  Sep and saving for his next long trip! He's got the travel bug even more now.

And speaking of bugs ... he did not encounter any bed bugs. Phew.

Lucky me

Celebrating my birthday at Grato Restaurant last night

Birthday cards

That time of the year again! It's so fun to open cards, and read through facebook posts and emails from friends nearby and far away.

Here's an eCard that I enjoyed! It is so true! I think my Dad gave out cigars - the thing to do then, which of course, is a no-no these days.

We're heading out to dinner soon.

A final day in Zurich

Bryan's journey home is like his journey to Europe - interrupted by circumstances beyond his control.

Don woke up during the night and put Bryan's flight into his flight tracker app (honestly Don has become a smart phone app addict) and expected to see Bryan's flight path making its way to the west. Instead he saw that Bryan's flight was cancelled. He was to go from Paris to Zurich, which he did, then Zurich to Newark. In Zurich weather was bad so all flights cancelled.

He was in some massive line to re-book when Don called him. It was easier for Don to re-book him by phone, but its not until tomorrow and he lands at JFK, rather than our convenient Newark airport. Don told Bryan he could book a hotel on us - live it up his last night - but he has found a hostel near the train station. He didn't make it to Zurich on his travels so it could be viewed as a bonus to spend a day getting to know another city.
Still, no birthday arrival for me.

Its okay, I'm just happy to hear he's okay. That is always a gift.

France

What's with France and their gypsies?!  We have gypsy stories too - all in France. They are everywhere like pesky gnats. Here's Bryan's encounter today: 

Just about to leave for the train station here in Lyon. I couldn't find a hostel for a second night unfortunately because it's pretty nice here. I'm going to Clermont-Ferrand for 2 nights. They have some buildings there and a dormant volcano overlooking the town so it sounds like there will be enough to do. 

I had a pretty interesting first experience of Lyon yesterday just before dad called. There were these gypsy kids hanging out by the ticket gates in the metro by the train station. When they hear the ticket machine give you change they run over and ask for it. One boy runs over to me, he's probably about 8-10 years, and tries to grab the change before I can. I reacted fast enough and grabbed both his hands with one of mine then grabbed my change with the other. When I let go he follows me to the gates pretending to punch and kick my legs, I was giving him looks. Then I put my ticket through the machine to open the gate and he tries to grab it as it comes out the other end, but I managed to beat him to it (it was a 24-hour pass ticket so I needed it still). Then I'm through the gate and I turn around to give him a cocky smile and he spit in my face. It wasn't anything nasty just a few drops but a really weird experience, he didn't say a word the whole time.  

Then as soon as I got on the metro 2 ladies got into a huge shouting match over one bumping the other with a stroller. It lasted a good 10 mins. It was awesome.

Clermont-Ferrand  from google images

 Bryan is just 4 hours south of Paris where he needs to be on Thursday morning to catch his plane home.

Munich & Lyon

Rec'd from Bryan on Friday, July 14 - 

Got in at six this morning its been good so far maybe going to one of the big beer gardens tonight, lots to do here. Google the tent in Munich, that's where im staying its awesome. 

Also I'm grilling up some mean sausage right now. Bought it straight from the butcher today. 

Going to Lyon Sunday.

Don spoke to Bryan today so we know he arrived in Lyon. Only a few days left in the gadabout.

Ljubljana, Slovenia bound

Today:  

On a train to the Slovenian capital. Only spending tonight and tomorrow there then night train to Munich.

Photo from Belgrade to Ljubljana train 

I asked Bryan about the hostels a few days ago:

Hostels have been decent so far on average. Some are really good for making friends. Others are more difficult but I think it depends more on the people staying there than the actual facilities. I've noticed that the cheaper the hostel, the better the people are, usually more solo travelers or just interesting people traveling on tight budgets. So I've been booking the cheapest hostels I can find for the past few weeks and it's been great. The biggest room I've stayed in so far was in Sarajevo, there were 21 beds in my room all were occupied. Also most have a checkout time of 10 or 11 and a check in time of 2 or 3. But the enforcing of those rules varies, I've been in hostels were they slam on doors to wake people up to checkout and others where you can sleep until the next person checks in.