Wengen, Milan, Helsinki and Stockholm Madness!

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Dearest readers,

By crikey its been a while (sorry, practicing my Australian). I am rather sorry, however you must understand that there is a rather good reason for my delay in getting around to updating you with all the latest goss (I'm also practising what 'the kids of today' are saying).

So I left you in Wengen. Well, not really, but you know what I mean. This is where our story begins. I'm sorry Unkie Chris, but this might be another long one - I hope work can afford the extra paper (he keeps copies you see, and highlights his favorite bits - especially those referring to Phillip). Right, so Wengen. It took quite a while to get there from Luzern. We had to catch one train, then another train, then a cable car. We were lucky enough to meet one of the friendly locals on our first train who proceeded to tell us that we were second class trash. That was a lovely beginning to our hike to the delightful town. Wengen is a small skiing town in Switzerland halfway up the mountain "Jungfraujoch" - which is apparently the highest train station in Europe. The weather was bitterly cold, but the surrounding mountains were spectacular. You look in one direction and the mountains are clear of snow, and you look the other way and the tops are covered. It was amazing. When we finally arrived, we dropped our bags at the hostel (which also doubles as a animal haven - yay!!. And we have a balcony!!) and went to pick up a map of the walking tracks in the area. As it had started getting darker earlier now they are heading into their winter, we just took a small one to the lookout Staubbachbanki (no Bread, I didnt mash the keyboard - it really is a place). The lookout wasnt that spectacular - or maybe it is and I was just frustrated that Barclay wouldnt take a good photo because it was dusk. There were the longest waterfalls we have ever seen and they looked like they were moving so slow, as if they were strings of lace just moving with the wind (how is THAT for imagery. Eat your heart out Shantaram). We decided that the next day we were going to do a day trip to the top of Jungfraujoch. To get there, we had to catch a cable car up another measure and then catch the train the rest of the way. It was supremely expensive (welcome to Switzerland!) - we would have hated to see the price if it was the middle of their peak season. As you are heading to the top on the train there are two lookouts which you hop off to have a look at. Its not until the top though, that you get the really spectacular views. The further you climb the closer you get to the snow - which actually just turned out to be layers and layers of ice. We got to the top and walked through all of the lookouts. All of the inside is floor to ceiling windows which are exceptionally clear, which is a good thing as some of the most beautiful views are from inside and you can take photos through the windows (well, Barclay can). The lookout from the top is lovely and you can see down the valleys and just imagine how fantastic it would be to ski there. The other view you can actually go outside (and make an ice-man). Inside there is also an ice palace where you can walk past ice-statues and walk/slide through tunnels. Sadly much of it was closed for renovations or just because it wasnt the right season for it. We would have loved to have gone dog sledding and cuddled them after. Neither of those possibilities were available though 😞. We then decided to head back down the mountain to the end of the train line and walk down a walking track to the town. We walked for a while then stopped for lunch at a small lookout and then kept on moving. We then came to a gorgeous lookout with a spectacular valley looking back down into the smaller towns and behind us there was the snow-covered mountain. I thought - this would have been a better place for lunch. Nick thought - I'll ask her to marry me here. And he did. If you need me to do the math for you (sorry, Scotty is reading right now) - we are engaged!

The next day we were off to Milan and began our loooong descent back down the mountain. After all of the changes, we finally got to our train and made our journey across to the city. We were greeted by spectacularly awful weather and attempted to make our way to the hostel. This was painful to say the least. We firstly made our way to the ticket machine to buy the onward journey to the hostel and were exposed to our first scam (the first is always the worst). He organised the tickets for us on the machine - despite the fact that we could read English and were ambidexterous. He then asked us for money, to which I exclaimed with laughter in my voice and horror in my heart.. NO! No I SHANT give you any money! I thought this was the beginning of the end of our lives. He was quite angry. Lesson learnt! We got off at the station where the hostel proclaimed it was easy to reach from. This is where we learnt another lesson - dont believe everything you read on the Internet. We were assisted by a lovely man (who didnt ask for money) and walked and walked and walked but still didnt come across the accommodation. A rather scruffy man asked if we were looking for ElPaso Milano and as we had forgotten what the place was called (I know - I cant believe it either) we dismissed him rather aggressively. We then realised that was where we were staying after all and went back to the place where he was helping us. We squeezed into the lift and made our way to the hostel which was bound to have toilet facilities. Alas, no one was home. We waited for a while and then I walked down to see if the concierge could help us with our plight of being able to enter our accommodation. Lo and behold the concierge was the man who had already tried to help us outside. Unfortunately he was furious at how he had been dismissed and proceeded to yell at me. Upon the verge of crying, I went in search of a telephone box which he said was just outside (not the case at all) and I was berated by Italian men who rather seem to like short blonde Australians. Rather upset I went up the stairs and begged Scotty to go and talk to him, but the jerk had locked his door to avoid further discussion with his nemesis. After about an hour a gorgeous little Italian Pony came out of the elevator like the toilet angel sent from heaven. That night we sampled the local cuisine (Italian funnily enough) and slept comfortably with a full belly and an empty bladder.

The next days entertainment consisted of seeing the few sights of Milan. We walked all the way from the hostel (which was quite far) and had Italian coffee (YAY!) and the best salad I have ever had in my life. We eventually made it through the most expensive shopping precinct in the world to the Piazza Duomo. Outside we were harassed every 5 seconds by people wanting to give us lucky wrist bands, which we kept trying to refuse until one eventually caught my hand and placed it on me. And then asked me for money. I thought it was free!!! You can imagine how panicked I was considering that we had been scammed several times, harassed and now were being touched. I feared for the new bling on my left hand. We saw the inside of the cathedral which had amazing stained glass windows (dont they all!). We also walked through the famous mall which begins with a huge arch and then through the old castle Castello Sforzesco to the Arco della Pace where we were entertained by some tourists who we walking around and around and around the front of the arch - backwards. If it wasnt so cold, I would have loved to know how long they kept it up for. We walked the wrong way home and several hours later with the sorest feet you can imagine we had arrived back at the hostel to attend a food establishment (but they were all closed). Eventually finding food, we crashed in the hostel only to move on the following day to Helsinki.

Arriving quite late into Helsinki and having to travel quite far to the accommodation we didnt go out on the evening, but walked past several drinking establishments which were playing music that got me rather excited. We put on our washing to remove the grime and left it overnight to ensure that the time spent doing laundry in Helsinki was minimised. However, it was not to be and it was discovered that winter and Explorer socks dont mix as the socks refuse let your clothes or themselves dry. Once we were fresh and clean we headed on a small walking tour of the city (guided by yours truly). We made it as far as Senate Square and were excited to find that we had arrived in Helsinki on an exciting day for the city and that they Mayor was coming to open Christmas street. I had been waiting and waiting for there finally to be some Christmas celebrations happening when we were travelling and this was our moment! We were not to be disappointed with Christmas carols - some normal, some with the accompaniment of Helsinkis finest rap acts - yet still sound strange in another language, reinactments (three men, the one who was singing would walk through the other two who had crossed swords. You would think that the one walking through would get the hint and maybe walk around one another. Obviously they have crossed swords for a reason), and kids shows (really bizarre in another language. That and they do heads, shoulders, knees and toes wrong). Having two more days left (and it being a Sunday night) we headed back to the hostel for the evening in minus 4 degrees. I have never been so cold in my life!

The next day we both woke and discussed what else we were going to see in Helsinki. We agreed that there isnt a lot to see and we were kidding ourselves somewhat to pretend that there was. We continued the walking tour and saw a lot of.. nothing. The tour took us to Parliament House (brown), a lake (half frozen) and a church which has been built into a rock. The church was actually kind of cool, despite being overly grey. There was a creepy bird watching us walking around that we ended up standing right next to. We were thinking it was frozen in the puddle, but it turns out that it just had nerves of steel. Now that we are near Scandanavia there isnt a lot of light in the day and it was pitch black by 3.30 in the afternoon. It is amazing what it does to your body clock. It just feels exceptionally late so very early and you find yourself wanting to go out for a few drinks and listen to rocking music - but it's only 5pm and the bars dont open until at least 9 and wont be busy until at least 11. The next day we checked out and walked around aimlessly whilst we waited for the boat to Stockholm that evening. We actually came across some really interesting parks which had dragons, birds on poles and polar bears. The time rolled around to go to the port and we boarded the sleeper boat to our next destination. We were excited to find that the boat was full of entertainment and cheap drinks. We began with bingo - which we couldnt play as they dont speak English for the boat entertainment (as they have to already speak in both Finnish and Swedish). We did, however, watch the man in front of us play bingo. When I realised that he was missing numbers and had the potential to win, I duly informed him. Much to Scottys horror. You liked it mate, thats why you put a ring on it! A few cocktails later there was a band where old people waltzed in a circle and then the main act, the highlight of the evening... a Rod Stewart impersonator!! He was actually very good and even held my hand and sang into my eyes. I hope thats something that Rod does - otherwise that is a very very creepy thing to do. Entertainment over, we headed into the tiny cabin to sleep/pass out.

Early morning arrival into the dark and dreary Stockholm. The problem with moving through all of these countries that have different currencies is that you dont arrive with any money so if you need to get a connecting bus to get into town you have quite a mission on your hands. Once we had aquired money however and made our way in the rain to the cheaper bus station, the ticket machine wasnt working... and unfortunately you cannot get tickets on the bus. So furious we walked the hour and a half journey to the hostel. Eventually arriving we realised that we were staying right in the heart of the city and the place was lovely. The hostel also provided entertainment which you could book in for. The hostel was great because they had emailed us in advance with what we could do during our stay and we had booked to go on a Viking Sauna tour the following day. Exhausted, we aimlessly walked around for a few hours afore crashing into our exceptionally comfortable beds (in a room of people who didnt snore!!). The next day we were up bright and early to have our expensive and small breakfast (although had lovely coffee) to meet up with our guide to take us on the tour. It was quite a bit out of town, but public transport in Stockholm is fantastic. Everything just.. works. So quicker than you would have imagined we were walking to the raft where our sauna was waiting. While we waited for it to heat up we walked to the castle/house next door to look at the view of Stockholm from the roof. We all stripped down (some more than others - you're supposed to be nude!) and headed into our sauna. The sauna started at 50degrees celcius and worked its way up to the peak of 90! When the sauna got too hot for you - you went outside of the raft and jumped into the 4 degree lake outside! The headrush that you experience from this is out of this world. You can see why its such an addictive thing for Scandanavians to do. The sauna would not only become more hot through putting water onto the coals, but also salt and beer. The salt made it exceptionally hot and made many of us rush outside, and the beer made it taste and smell like freshly baked bread. There were also a few beers for us to consume which is a) hard to drink out of a can in 90 degrees and b) one can make you rather light-headed. There were 8 of us on the tour and 6 of us were Australian. We hadnt realised how much we missed being able to speak English to people who understand your sense of humour and what you're saying if you speak for longer than a few seconds. We were there for about 5 hours and it was absolutely fantastic - the best thing that we have done which was actually value for money. We were absolutely exhausted when we arrived back at the hostel and we were excited to see that all of our room-mates had left - and were not to be replaced. Free private dorm room!! No photos of Stockholm though - Barclay is a bit tired.

.... I have just realised how long this already is and I think I will cut it short. We will be back shortly with our adventures in Norway, our time back in England and what went down in India town!

Love to all.

NJ&NJ&Phillip

xxx

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Comments

[Gollum]

My Precious
We swears to serve the master of the precious. We will swear on... on... the precious. It came to me, my own, my love... my... preciousssss.

[Sarah]

What fabulous adventures you've had. What a wonderful place to propose. Congratulations again :)

[Ninja Toitle]

Now in Wengen, Papah you did not tell me how cold it was, I forgot my scarf. Getting close now, I can smell that pesky wabbit. Eventually reached top of Jungf#2@*ch (however you say it). Found fresh droppings and spoke to frosty (what was left of him); I knew I was close. Wabbit was headed back down; bugger, no time for sightseeing. Sliding down; I knew this shell would come in useful, came across a strange looking guy. He kept talking about “My Preciousssss”, weird. He told me to follow the three shiny rocks as they are engaged. I thought, and thought and thought, and then realised this will be the next adventure. Reached bottom of mountain in quick time, what a rush, shell worn, but man what a rush. Spoke to a Gentle man who said he had been shouted at by young blonde girl with a rabbit peeking out her rucksack. I knew I was close now. The trail took me though Helsinki and Stockholm, spoke to Rod who sang into my eyes – this guy has got a problem…Following up rumour they are headed to Norway. Saw strange person sitting on step, crossed to other side of road. Getting close wabbit; I can smell you.