http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/shartbeck/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from shartbeck en-us Sat, 12 Dec 2009 05:26:41 +0000 Sat, 12 Dec 2009 05:26:41 +0000 Ya wan 'nutha bawket asked the British bartender from Liverpool as I scanned the walls of The Shipwreck in Clearwater Beach. I duly noted the kitschy pirate flags life rings and skulls proudly albeit precariously hanging. This was the kind of place straight out of the Eighties comedy Summer Rental with John Candy. Sure I said and popped the top off a cold Yuengling beer as I reveled in the http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Florida/Tampa/blog-405345.html AllWell we had a pretty precarious journey from Gimmelwald to Prague on Sunday night. We were supposed to catch an overnight train from Zurich to Prague which had been listed in my handy Eurail timetable book as leaving at 1040. We caught the tram down the mountain from Gimmelwald and while we were waiting at the Interlaken Ost train station decided to stroll in and get our reservations for t http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Czech-Republic/Prague/blog-329649.html AllWell we had a wonderful albeit quick stop in the Alps at the Mountain Hostel in Gimmelwald Switzerland. We arrived on Saturday afternoon around three and then were there about 24 hours or so. In that time though we were able to get some good hiking done and just relax after the craziness that was the Oktoberfest. We started getting the most of our railpasses right after Oktoberfest as we http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Switzerland/South-West/M-rren/blog-329416.html AllWell I know it has been a while since I updated the weblog and that has been for a couple reasons first the computers at the hostel in Munich were not able to have my camera attached to them and secondly most days were jampacked with activity. The only time we had to knock out some blogging was late at night and of course all the internet cafes were closed at that point. Well ... we had http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Germany/Bavaria/Munich/blog-328400.html AllIf you are not a st. louis sports radio listener you probably wont get the title just thought i would pass that along. well we have actually just arrived in Munich via an overnight train frmo Zagreb Croatia and are starting prep for two days of Oktoberfest. Our last day in on Hvar was actually a bit cloudy and we tried to take a ferry over to Brac or Korcula but the times just didnt mat http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Croatia/Dalmatia/Hvar/blog-326669.html Alright well time for an update from Croatia. We are doing great having a blast here on the island of Hvar. After publishing our last blog we found and awesome deli in Ancona and had some sandwiches made i had an unreal Prosciutto and buffalo mozzarella one and Chris had a mix of a few Italian meats needless to type they were amazing and tided us over over the Adriatic. The overnight ferry we http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Croatia/Dalmatia/Hvar/blog-326230.html Ok well it seems like it has been a long time since I updated but my calendar assures me it has actually only been a couple of days so let me let you know what we have been up to. We left Lisbon in the wee hours of Wednesday and took a rainy cab ride to the airport and caught an early morning flight to Rome. The Lisbon airport was really nice and things ran smoother there than we had ever expe http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Lazio/Rome/blog-325192.html AllWell we are about 5 hours away from catching an early early morning flight to Rome and we are coming off a really full day here in Lisbon. We actually were able to sleep in for a change today even though we had a late hour for sleep the night before it still felt good to sleep near noon. For the first time on our trip we actually saw clouds today so that changed our plans which had been http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Portugal/Lisbon-and-Tagus-Valley/Lisbon/blog-324445.html AllWell hello from the westernmost reaches of the European continent here in Lisbon Portugal. The title certainly does not sum up our departure from Madrid and our early hours in Lisbon. Our train ride was about as good I suppose an 10 hour overnight train can be. I slept a nice chunk of it Chris slept a little less I think. Anyway had a minor issue when we were getting our 15 day Eurail pas http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Portugal/Lisbon-and-Tagus-Valley/Lisbon/blog-324218.html Well our second and last day in Madrid was a blast as we finally recovered from the jet lag enough to get a little sleep in and then see a little bit more of the city. We started out by trying to do the free walking tour that departed from Plaza Mayor at noon but when we got there we could not find anyone who looked like they were leading it. So we headed back to the hostel and then got our ga http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/District-of-Madrid/Madrid/blog-323824.html AllWell yes we have finally made it to Madrid and had one full night here. Getting here was quite the adventure though. When we had booked our flights We were supposed to go from St. Louis to Boston and then Boston to Madrid. About a week after we booked those flights our itenarary changed and added in an additional flight to JFK and that was where we would be heading to Spain from. So we al http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/District-of-Madrid/Madrid/blog-323240.html Well here I am again writing a blog in preparation for an upcoming trip to Europe. Seems like only yesterday traveling abroad was just a pipe dream something that was always talked about with an asterisk but never executed. The asterisk was It will never happen ... too hard too expensive too scary and for Christ's sake how are you going to get that time off. Sure I could record Europ http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/District-of-Madrid/Madrid/blog-297283.html AllFirst I have no idea why it is typing in bold but secondly today is the day I come back to STL so it is time to hit the road.It is so weird to be so sad to leave some place but just as excited to come home at the same time. I am sure everyone has had that feeling before.Well last night myself and 5 other American guys and girls kind of did a mini pub crawl around town finishing at the Ho http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Germany/Bavaria/Munich/blog-296393.html llCause whatever it is that describes Munich. This place is coasting to first place on my rankings of cites. I mean the beer alone is enough to make it an awesome destination but the combo of History and Bavarian culture take it over the top.Last night after I updated I ended up hanging out with a bunch of awesome hostel mates and we decided to go over the the Famous HofBrau Haus and it was http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Germany/Bavaria/Munich/blog-296390.html AllWell I arrived in Munich today at 245 with a bittersweet feeling in my stomach. This is the last stop of my trip and as excited as I am to see the sights and drink more unreal Weissbier it also means that the trip is over. But I cant dwell on that.So after checking in I headed for the HofbrauHaus and it was pretty cool just like you see on tv. I had the Weissbier and then the Weissbier http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Germany/Bavaria/Munich/blog-296389.html AllI finished up my time in Interlaken by seeing a movie film about U.S. A at room in Bern with large screen. The weather was kinda crummy again so I decided to see Borat and of course I loved it. Well today started out with me waking up 2 hours late for my train. I guess staying up til 3 am and waking up at 5 wasn't a good plan from the get go. So I woke up showered and sprinted to the http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Veneto/Venice/blog-296388.html AllWell luckily Friday was a WOW day here in Switzerland.It was one of those days that gave me chills and showed me the reason why I am traveling. It actually started out on a bad note by coming face to face with one of the most notorious Hostel villians ... the cold shower .. dun dun dun . This shower was so cold this morning that I actually got a brain freeze while in it now that is col http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Switzerland/South-West/Interlaken/blog-296385.html AllWell after the horrendous travel day of Wednesday I was rewarded with an awesome day yesterday. I woke up early and just kind of walked around Interlaken getting to know the city. After the bustling capitol cities I have been in during recent days Interlaken is a sleepy little village so that is actually kind of refreshing.After the walk and breakfast I headed out solo to the train lin http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Switzerland/South-West/Interlaken/blog-296383.html AllWell unfortunately today was a throw away day I left Prague at 9am and just arrived to Interlaken Switzerland a short time ago. It was an extremely long day.It started out on the wrong foot as I forgot to validate my metro ticket in Prague and somehow an undercover guy asked me to show him the validation and since I forget to do that i had just bought the ticket mind you and I had t http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Switzerland/South-West/Interlaken/blog-296379.html AllWell today was a great one. I had a couple Amazing Race moments which is always a reminder of kinda why I am traveling. So I woke up at 9 which is like noon on this trip since most days I have been waking up at 6ish. I woke up and went to Old Town Prague to rent a bike. Well both bike shops were closed and I was getting really frustrated.So I wandered into a travel agency and asked http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Czech-Republic/Prague/blog-296378.html