8/26, Ready to travel south

[Aaron Doss]

As pointed out by several people, I made a little error in my last email,  I was thinking Dolomites but wrote Pyrenees.  We will be in northern Italy so we plan on going to the Dolomites.  Too many guide books open, too many options, sometimes it's confusing..

 

Our trip to Belgium was nice, Brugge is a very interesting city.  (New photos up on the pbase website http://www.pbase.com/aarondoss).  In many ways it probably has not changed much over the centuries.  There is something deep and unchangeable about the layout of old European cities; old defensive walls, streets layed out in confusing patterns to mislead enemy forces attempting to conquer the city, markets and squares, churches, those remaining are mostly catholic.   A paradox of new and old mixed together,  old villages with volumes of history, now with small strip malls cutely integrated into the ancient architecture.  Corner buildings where bread has been baked since before the new world was "discovered" next to sex shops and Pizzahut.  Old and new trying to integrate, you will never know what to expect around the next corner, it's always exciting. 

 

It's true that every country/culture has is charm and annoyances, I find the simplest of things to be the most annoying sometimes.  For example, it is not customary to get water with your meal in Europe as it is in the states, you must purchase it, and the only water for sale is expensive bottled water.  Even more annoying, public toilets are quite rare and you must pay to use them, typically 20-50 euro-cents.  Pay to receive water, pay to get rid of water, so the dance goes...     

 

Nathalie's sister (Judith) works for Sheraton hotels and is able to get rooms at discounted rates for family members.  Five star hotels with rooms which usually cost $200-$300 per night can be had for $30-$50, so we asked her to try and find us a room near Salzburg.  Just for fun we asked if we could get a room at the Hotel Schloss Fuschi, a five star hotel (some would call it a six star hotel).  The rooms are nearly $500 per night.  We just heard that she wasn't able to get us a room for $50 there but at great discount, the thing is that she won't tell us how much the room was because I guess Nathalie's parents and sisters chipped in to get the room for us as a gift (they are so nice!)..  Check out the pictures in the link below.  I am a bit embarrassed as we will be arriving in a economy rental car instead of a Rolls Royce and we will have our hiking backpacks as luggage instead of designer leather suitcases. 

 

http://www.starwoodhotels.com/luxury/property/overview/index.html?propertyID=1366

 

We leave for Salzburg on Monday.  I admit that I am a bit nervous to drive in Europe for several reasons, 1) I haven't really driven a car for about four months 2) it's an extremely fast paced driving environment 4) the signs and driving rules are mostly the same as in the states but still different enough to get into trouble 3) I haven't driven a manual transmission car that much (like only 10 times in my life).  Oh well, no better way to learn than actually doing it and I have Nathalie who knows how to drive over here so I am not that concerned..   

 

I hope to get more pictures up soon.. till then..

 

Aaron