Lynn Lynn

I said farewell to Germany, headed south to Switzerland. Well you already know the good time I had in Interlaken from my hang gliding adventure. But I was left with an adrenalin rush and was itching for more. Back at the hostel I celebrated my survival in the lobby bar while contemplating plans for my last full day in Interlaken. Going on a hike seemed like a good idea and so I asked Tomas, the bartender, if he could recommend something close by. Conveniently he pointed at the mountain just outside the window. He proceeded with directions to “Walk down the road, head in the direction of (somewhere that started with an "H")...only an hour hike up to the top…when get there take the train back down, its better on the knees…no more than 2 hours ... read more

After Vienna, I enjoyed a scenic train ride westward along the base of the northern edge of the Eastern Alps - a colossal sight and quite a contrast from the flat plains I was used to seeing traveling through the Northwest part of Europe. By this point I was three weeks into my trip and had been go-go-go since I started back in London. I was a bit drained from all my hustle and bustle and needed some time to myself to relax and unwind. I set my sights for two days in Salzburg, Austria the birthplace of Mozart, headquarters of Red Bull, and the scenic backdrop of the Sound of Music movie. There was obviously no couchsurfing for me this time but instead I checked myself into a single room at the Hotel-Pension Adlerhof. I ... read more

RHINE RIVER CRUISE I left Cologne in the early morning headed south to Frankfurt to meet up with Sheila, a CS friend from Long Beach also doing some traveling through Europe. I hopped on a train as usual but an hour into the trip I ditched the train in the town of Koblenz. My plan was to catch a 6-hour ferry boat along the Rhine River to experience the scenic route of medieval castles along the way, but things didn't go quite my way. When I arrived in Koblenz I was pressed for time with only 45 minutes until the ferry was scheduled to depart. The ferry landing wasn't exactly near the train station and I imagine it would not have been too long a walk, but I didn't want to risk being wrong so I ... read more

THANKSGIVING IN ITALY So I spent Thanksgiving in Italy, but not alone, as I was fortunately blessed to spend it in good company with friends from LA: Louise from Carson, Emily from West LA, and Mario from San Pedro (now living the Allah life in Egypt). We stayed in an apartment just outside of Sorrento in the town of Massa Lubrense. It was a bit of a mission getting to town taking a 3-hour train from Rome to Naples, stopping at Di Micheles for Naples famous Margherita and Marinara pizza, hopping on the regional Circumvesuviana train for an hour to Sorrento, and then final taking a 20 minute SITA bus ride cliffside along the Sorrento coast into the town square of Massa Lubrense. We settled into the apartment and got things in order with Luigi, the ... read more

Okay, so let the Germany blogs begin, but let me preempt this blog by stating it will be of more particular interest to former colleagues as its "work-related", and may bore the rest of you. The only thing of general interest perhaps would be that I got to see Alicia Keys live in concert, which I will go into more detail about later. Suit yourself....feel free to read on, skip to just the pictures, or bypass this blog all together if you wish. OBER-WHERE? Oberhausen. A city in the Northwest region of Germany and a 2-hour train ride from Amsterdam. Oberhausen isn't exactly the place that travelers frequent, but nonetheless has a worthy industrial history to Germans in once being a steel mill and coal mine town. My reason for visiting: SMG, my former employer at ... read more