Pisa and Cinque Terre

On Wednesday I jumped on the train over to Pisa. There wasnt much in town, so just went across to the Leaning Tower of Pisa to get the obligatory photo infront of it. I didnt know it was the bell tower for the church. After 2 hours in town it was time to continue on to the town of Riomaggiore, a small village on the coast and the starting point for the Cinque Terre trek. I arrived and all the hostels looked pretty full. There was a kiwi girl that was staying with some old guy that had offered his spare room, but she was feeling pretty uncomfortable there so I claimed the other spare room. That didnt stop the old guy from trying to hit on her though. We went to a restaurant for dinner, only to get microwaved pasta for dinner.
The next day the sun was shining so we began the trek. Passing through the five villages which were impressively set on the top of the cliffs. The mountains here dropped suddenly into the ocean. We stopped at Vernazza for lunch at the lookout and then again at the next town for some gelato. Caught the train back and cooked a feed back home. The next day we headed down to the beach where the swell was getting bigger. Enjoyed the sunshine for a few hours and then I jumped on the train to Rimini. This was a gruelling 8 hour trip but I arrived just before midnight and found the Sunflower hostel.

Firenze (Florence)

I arrived to Florence in the evening. I had planned to stay with some guys in a little village out of town, but couldnt get onto them. So after running around town I managed the last hostel bed in town. However could only stay there two nights before they closed it for winter and turned it into a homeless shelter. Went to watch a band playing on the Ponte Vecchio (the famous bridge with houses on it) before calling it an early night. On Saturday I visited the St Maria Novella church, the Duomo cathedral, the Palazzio Vechio which all had lots of famous paintings that I'd never heard of. In the evening I headed up to the Mechelangelo plaza for a great view of sunset over the city and surrounding mountains.
On Sunday I had to change hostels and got there just in time for the free guided tour around town. It visited most of the same places again but was nice to hear some stories about the stuff. Afterwards a group of us retired to a restaurant for some fantastic italian pizza, then went to see the real Michelangelo sculpture of David which was big. We went back to the terrace at the hostel to enjoy a local wine before heading back to another restaurant for more pizza.
On Monday I went with Yvonne to Siena, only an hour out of town on the train. It was an old medievil town with lots of winding streets and a cool plaza with a big tower. We saw the sights and then got away from the centre to find a nice little restaurant and had some fantastic pasta with meat sauce. We went back to Florence and headed back up to Michelangelo plaza for a view over the city, but it was pretty dark by then. Headed out to an irish pub and then on to the disco which was cranking. Bit expensive though.
Today just have a relaxing day with a trip to Fiesole just out of town, walk back to Florence and enjoy the view over the city again. Spent the evening with a few of the guys for a few drinks in the local Florence establishments.

Rome

Flew in to Ciampino on Sunday 28 and got the bus and metro into the central station. Found the hostel which is pretty cool with a great party atmosphere. In the evening I went for a walk around the Plaza Venice where there were old roman ruins laying all over the place and around the outside of the Colloseum. At night we went with a big group from the hostel with a few bottles of good Italian wine to drink on the Spanish steps.
The next day it was time to hit up the Vatican. The plaza there was pretty cool, but the queue was enourmous to get into the Museum... took just 20 minutes to walk past the queue to get to the front. The guys at the front had been waiting for 3h, so I formed a new line for Australians and got straight in, followed by crowds of more Aussies. The museum was pretty cool with plenty of painted walls, egyption mummies and fancy paintings and sculptures. The cistine chapel was pretty fancy with some colours on the ceiling and everyone sneaking in some photos. Once they stopped singing in the Basilica I checked that out and also saw the tombs for all the popes underneath.
On Tuesday I visited the Basilica Santa Maria Maggiore, Quattro Fountains, Quirinale which appeared to be the presidential palace, the Trevi fountain, the Tritone fountain and the spanish steps. Rome is pretty cool that you can just wonder around and find these cool places.
On Wednesday 31 Oct I visited the ruins near the Colloseum, and came across the San Giovanni church which had some steps from Jerusalem that Jesus had supposedly walked up. Everyone was trying to get to the top by only walking on their knees. I thought they were all crazy and just walked up some other stairs.
With all the americans at the hostel we decided to throw a Halloween party. We gathered several hundred euros and got ourselves a good stash of drinks before getting into the erasmus (exchange student) welcome party.
Thursday was a public holiday in Italy. I visited the Palatine hill which had more ruins. There wasnt too much to see up here, just the foundations for the old palaces, etc. Then went inside the Colloseum which looked just the same as from outside. I came across some church that had a big statue of a mouth with a line of tourists getting photos of their arm stuck down its throat. Apparently some 'mouth of truth'. The hostel found out at 11pm that they had chronically overbooked, so we all had to share beds, but decided just to head back to Trevi fountain and Spanish steps with some wine and then returned to the hostel with more McDonalds than we've ever seen.
In the morning I had I had lunch in a plaza in Rome and then took the slow train up to Florence.

Nijmegen

On Thursday 25 Oct I got the train from Hilversum over to Utrect. I had a quick walk around town where there was another big church and some nice shopping streets with an old river port running through the centre of town. Then I got the train over to Nijmegen where I checked out the park with the ruins of an old castle but there wasnt much left of it. I met Ewe and stayed at her place.
The next day I borrowed Ewe's bike and went for a ride up to Berg en Daal which must be the only hill in Holland, but is right on the German border. Cruised around some wetlands and then checked out the centre of town. Ewe's mate Christoph came over in the evening to cook up some traditional polish food... was like potato cake but was actually pretty nice. We hit up a little bar in town and found that my pool skills have diminished somewhat.
On Saturday Ewe and I took the car and cruised all over Holland. First stop was Breda so she could do some shopping and I checked out town, we had lunch in a restaurant at Middelburg and then checked out the beach. Drove over some big dykes that stop Holland from going underwater and drove back through Rotterdam to Nijmegen.
The next morning I got the bus over to the airport in Germany for my flight down to Rome.

Luxembourg

On Sunday I got the train from Trier to Wasserbillig, right on the border, and then the bus over to Echternach. This was a lovely town with a lively market going on in the centre and a great river through town (the german border) which was perfect for a walk along. I met Kevin in the afternoon and went with his family for dinner at a restaurant in Beaufort.

Trier

On Friday I wanted to leave Hiedelberg for Trier. Most of the trains werent operating due to a train driver strike, but lukily the 2 trains I needed were going, although they were packed full with drunk old german men singing and dancing trying to pick up old german ladies.
The trip from Mainz along the Rhine river to Koblenz was really nice with lots of hills and castles - the perfect place for a weekend of cycling. I arrived in Trier about 1400h and had lunch at the palace gardens. I also visited the Jesuit church which used to be the throne room for the roman emperors when they were in town. In the evening I met Raphael and after cooking up a great meal we headed to the Panic Club party for the night.
On Saturaday, Raphael, his girlfriend Julie, his housemate Julia, and I took the tourist train around town. It was a popular town being the oldest north of the Alps. Every construction site keeps getting shut down when they inevitably dig up some more roman ruins. We relaxed away the afternoon with a few beers in the plaza.

Black Forest, Karlsruhe and Hiedelberg

On Wednesday 3 Oct it was a public holiday in Germany to celebrate the reunification of east and west. I left Stuttgart and took the train to Bad Wildbad in the middle of the northern part of the Black Forest. It was a nice place with rolling hills and the sun shining in the resort town of Bad Wildbad. There was a huge queue for the fernicular up to Sommerberg so I walked up instead. It would be a nice place to go walking for a couple of days, but I didnt have time so just got to the top and back down again. Then I got the train to Karlsruhe. It had a huge zoo in the middle of town and on the other side another big palace. It had some nice gardens too full of people enjoying the sun, and even an old steam train driving around. In the evening I caught the train over to Hiedelberg which turned out to be really back on the tourist trail. Walked from the train station along the longest shopping street I have come across in a little university town and found a pub with a spare bed.
On Thursday I explored Hiedelberg. It is famous for a huge castle up on the hill overlooking town, so I went up there. It was nice enough but couldnt get inside. I walked up the hill on the opposite side of the valley for a view across town and went to have a beer at one of the terraces in town. In the evening I went out for a few drinks with some Americans, which turned out like any night out with Americans.

Stuttgart

On Sunday 30 Sept I jumped on the ICE train from Munich to Stuttgart. I met Christoph at the railway station. First stop was the top of the railway station tower for a view over the city. Contrary to what people from Munich say, it was a very nice town set up in the valley. The World Cycling Championships were being held this week, with the Men's grand final just underway, so we headed up and saw them all wizz past, but didnt hang around to see them do all 200 laps. In the evening I went for a walk around the centre of town. The Schlossplatz and the many gardens in town were really nice to lay on the grass and enjoy a beer.
On Monday I went for a walk out of Stuttgart to the 3 lakes area, Pfaffersee, Neuersee, and Barensee. I came across the little castle of Barenschlossle where everyone was enjoying a coffee in the sun. I also enjoyed the sun as it was the first sun since a whole rainy week in Munich. I continued on to Solitude Castle but it was closed on Mondays, however it was nice enough from the outside. Afterwards I got the bus and old tram up to the TV Tower which is one of the most famous landmarks in Stuttgart. From the top of the 150m tower I had a great view over the entire region of Stuttgart and the black forest.
On Tuesday I took the train out to Ludwigsberg to visit a big palace there. The tour was in German so didnt understand too much, but like all the other palaces there were plenty of fancy rooms, paintings and furniture. One interesting fact was how the Queen went to the toilet. Apparently they didnt have toilet paper back then and you werent allowed to wipe, so after doing her business in a bucket so simply sprayed on some perfume and that was it.
In the afternoon I headed back into town and visited the Mercedes Benz museum. Stuttgart is the headquarters of Merc and Porshe so there were plenty of cars here to see. In the evening I went with Christoph to the Kellar Klub to see a local band do their last performance before going on tour around Australia.

Munich

On Tuesday 25 Oct I got the train from Luzern to Zurich and onto St Margarthen. Here I had a look around town but it was rainy and not much to see. I got the train over to Bregenz in Austria which was a much more interesting place and the rain started to ease up. Lots of old buildings and would have been nice to sit outside for a beer if the sun was out. It is on the shores of Lake Konstance so went for a walk along there, before stocking up on some beers and getting the train up to Munich. I arrived at about 1700 and found the campsite at Thirkichen (Thai Chicken). The place was full of thousands of campers, but the tents all looked like they had been demolished... sleeping bags all in big piles in the rain and tents destroyed, all under a heavy layer of beer bottles. I found a spare spot and put up my $17 tent in the rain, threw my bag inside and headed into the Oktoberfest. Met up with Catt and we made our way to the Lowenbrau beer tent for a couple of beers. Not too big a night since all the tents close at 10:30. The partying continued back at the campsite, and I discovered that my tent was not the most waterproof one around.
The next day I went into Munich to see some sights around town. The centre was quite nice and some big churches and plenty of beer halls around. I caught up with Catt and headed to the roudiest beer tent we could find. The beer tents were very impressive with thousands of people all dancing on the tables. All the locals were dressed in their maid outfits and ledderhosen, and the beer ladies did a good job delivering 8 steins of beer through the drunken crowd. We quickly met some more Aussies and partied on until the tent closed down. Being my birthday, this was too early to finish up with the partying. I headed back to Thai Chicken and along with some more Aussies, we started our new party... security quickly put an end to that but we resumed in the dryness of the toilet block. A busload of Italians turned up almost immediately and started cooking up a huge feed of pasta, and made sure that any girls wanting to go to the toilet were forced to join the party.
On Thursday I visited the Residence Museum which was the old palace for the local kings. It was full of fancy rooms, gold plates and paintings of kings. Called into a couple of the beer tents but decided to not have a huge night.
Friday I visited the Dacau concentration camp just outside of the city. This was the first concentration camp set up my the Nazi's and the only one that operated for the entire duration of their rule. A chilling place with several of the rooms having been reconstructed and the crematorium open for visiting. I then headed back to Oktoberfest but it was too late to get in on a Friday night... all the tents were full and had huge queues. Instead I checked out some of the rides around... one ride was pulling 6Gs and not the sort of thing I would want to be doing after a few drinks. The most popular ride was just an escalator that people had to jump on to get to the top of a slide, but after many drinks they would jump on and end up going head first. This drew a huge crowd and provided entertainment for hours.
On Saturday we knew it would be busy, so along with another few Aussies from the campsite we headed in at 9am. We were worried that all the tents looked full already, with enormous queues, but we quickly found out that the front doors never get opened on the weekend, so we headed round the back and got ourselves a table and a few litres of beer. Unlucky for everyone waiting the whole day at the front door.

Thun

On Tuesday we were hoping to head up to the mountains, but the weather had turned terrible with rain so Nadine and myself opted to go on a cruise on the Thunersee. This was very enjoyable passing little villages along the way. The rain eased a little so we got off at the far end of the lake and walked through Interlaken and to the Brienzersee. Returned to Thun to have the traditional swiss dish of Racelette for dinner. This is melting bits of cheese under a special grill and then serving them on potatoes and bacon, etc. Banana, potato, bacon and cheese turned out to be a pretty good comination.
On Wednesday the sky had cleared so I went to the train station only to find that the trains where running 20 minutes late, when I finally got to Spiez to connecting train had also gone, so with a spare hour to waste I checked out the local cast on the lake, then caught the train up to Erlenbach. From here the cablecar went up to the top of Stockhorn. Great views out over much of Switzerland. Walked down to Oberstockenalp, then around Oberstockensee, Vorderstocken and to Chrindi. Took an adventurous route back up to the summit via Chummli.
Thursday the weather was perfect so I got the train over to Grindelwald, and the cablecar just short of First, at Schreckfeld. Walked up to First where there were thousands of old tourists having lunch in the sun, so had to escape quickly. Great views out to Grosse Scheidegg, Wetterhorn and Mettenberg. Got to Backalpsee for the postcard pictures of the lake and the snow capped mountains like a mirror image. Continued up to the summit of Faulhorn (2686m) which offered the most amazing views to the Eiger, Monc and Jungfrau, many other mountains, the lakes to Thun and the middle lands of CH. Walked back to Grindelwald via Bussalp.
On Friday I went for a bike ride with Nadine from Thun up to a nearby lake. We were hoping we would be able to get to the lake, but it was still ina pretty natural state and surrounded by mud and reids. Nice ride back through the forrest. In the evening went over to Murten and met up with another of Nadine's mates. We went for a cruise on the lake to Neachatel which was quite enjoyable with a bottle of champagne, some snacks of salami and dips, sitting on the roof looking out to the alps as the sun was setting. We called past Bern on the way home for some drinks in a cool bar that had been setup in an old gym... complete with basketball hoop still intact.
On Saturday I got the train back to Luzern, but had to jump off in Meiringen for a quick trek given the weather was perfect again. Took 4 cablecars up through Hasliberg to get to the AlpenTower (Planplatten). Great views to titlis and Eiger, also jumping point for skydivers. Walked down through Gummenalp and Hasliberg Reuti to meiringen to get the train back over the Brünigpass to Luzern.
On Sunday I visited the school fete where Timo was hanging out then visited Christine in Zurich with Kurt. Went for a walk by the lake before returning to Luzern.
Today the weather was again perfect so took the train up to Engleberg, and then the cablecar up to Trübsee. Had a magnificent walk up to Jachpass, around the ridge to Schaftal, Tannalp, Tannensee, Melchsee-Frutt and down to Stöckalp and got the PostAuto back to Luzern. Tomorrow catching the train up to Münich for Oktoberfest.

Laussane, Vevey and Montreux

On Friday I got an early train down to Laussane. The locals made sure you never forgot that this is the Olympic capital, whatever that means. I guess it is just the home of the IOC. Visited the cathedral where a bloke was giving the new organ a run for its money, the chateau and the nice tribunal buildings overlooking the lake to France. Saw the last remaining watch tower and climbed up to the sauvabelin viewing tower. Nice pedestrian streets to have lunch and some people watching. I headed to Vevey in the evening to stay for a couple of nights since it was a smaller town and closer to the lake and mountains, however couldnt find any nightlife in town.
Saturday morning i went over to the Chillon castle. This was built back in the 1400's and mostly used by the bernese. It was situated in a great spot next to steep mountains and on a rock in the middle of the lake. Checked out the torture chambers, duke's bedroom, and a pole where some guy was chained to for 4 years.
In the afternoon took the bus up to the village of Jongny, and continued p the hillto the top of Mont Pelerin (1086m). Didnt bother going up the tower on the top, but returned down through the vineyards with great views to the mountains across the lake and to France. In the evening a group of young Americans turned up at the hostel. They just moved to Lugarno to complete their entire 4 year uni course there. They had a bit much sambuka and cointreau so I helped them finish it off. We then piled in to their van and drove over to laussane in search of some nightlife. We hit up a few bars and had a good time onthe dancefloor. Unfortunately Lacie overdid herself a little, and after releiving herself on the front steps of the Swiss Supreme Court, decided it would be best to drop here off back at the hostel. The CHF 255 taxi ride home turned out to be pretty expensive, but glad she was willing enough to pay most of it, and I figured that most of the cost must be from her making a mess out the window anyway.
On Sunday I went for a walk up the gorge from Montreaux all the way through the forest to Les Avants. I continued up from here to Sunloup, and then returned to Montreaux from the other side.
Monday it was time to get traveling again. i took the golden pass Panoramic train through Montreaux, Montbovon, Chateau D'Oex, Saanen and Gstaad. i jumped out at Gstaad for walk up to Eggli mountain. Returned in a rush to catch the train from Saanen back through Zweisimmen, Spiez and to Thun to visit Nadine.

Fribourg

On Thursday in Fribourg it was time to explore this old university town. There was a big old cathedral which was impressive enough, little medievil alleyways and some huge bridges over the river. Walked through the university with its old buildings, down through the old town and around the old city wall. Walked up the hill, over a huge bridge, nice little church with good view over the city. Had to wait till 11pm until Lara could let me back in, but wasn't much to see around town at night.

Bern

On Monday morning I took the train over to Bern. The main square, parliament building, cathedral and several other landmarks where all wrapped up in scaffolding in preparation for the hosting of the big soccer competition in town next year. Nevertheless, the buildings in town were very nice built out of greet stone, with arches over all the streets so you can walk anywhere in town without getting wet in the rain. There were some great fountains in town made with big statues, my favorite of course being the soldier in the middle of eating a small child. Checked out the bear pits where the bears where busy rolling on their backs catching grapes that people where throwing down to them. Went to visit Toby and Severin at their place close to the centre. We headed out to a little bar by the name of paradisili. It was set up in an old farm barn. Monday nights were jam sessions which attracted the best musicians in town who were giving some asesome tunes without any pressure to perform. Plenty of people from the crowd were bringing along their own instruments to join in. We retired to a little bar downtown once the music slowed up.
The next day I explored the rest of Bern... more cool fountains, the rose garden overlooking the old city and river, and plenty of green buildings. Went for a walk up the town hill, Gurtenwald where their was a viewing tower on the top. Went down the other side to Gurtendörfli, Kehrsatz and back to town along the River Aare.
On Wednesday I went out to Murten, an ancient town on the shores of the Murtensee. It had the old town wall and fortresses still intact, and very pretty old buildings. Went for a walk from town around the lake and up the Mont Vully hill on the other side. This was a strategic military position in the world war and had plenty of old bunkers and thinks to explore. It was also over in the french side of the country so I practiced my bonjours and then got back to the german speaking side. Relaxed by the lake until 10pm then caught the train down to Fribourg and stayed on campus at the local university. Unfortunately most the students were away on holidays, but still had a good time.

Around Luzern

On Friday 7 Sept I went over to Zurich to drop off the clothes I'd borrowed. Went for a walk along the Limmat as far as Höngg. There was a big swimming area in the river but was a bit too cold for anyone to brave a dip. Took the tram back through the centre of town to Triemli for another walk up Uetliberg. Back down the bottom took the tram from Albisguetli to the gold coast for a walk along the lake foreshores at sunset. Went for a tram ride out to Oerlikon for something to do then went back to Luzern.
The next day we went to the neighbourhood soccer competition. Everyone was dressed in their team colours and taking the event quite seriously. Timo captained his team to victory and I enjoyed a bratwurst. In the afternoon we went to see Eliane perform at the church, followed be a great dinner with many courses at a nearby restaurant. Finished the night with a party of someones birthday.... could have been Eliane's friends parents or something like this.
On Sunday despite being a nice sunny day I had to spend a few hours planning out the holidays for the upcoming months. In the afternoon went for a bike ride along the lake lake through Horw, Hergiswil and out to Stans. In town I caught the tail end of a local festival and street parade. Everone was dressed in their traditional costumes with plenty of alphorns and flag twirling.

Mythen and Engelberg

Monday the weather turned back to rainy so spent most the day inside except for a quick walk by the lake to Lido and got drenched. On Tuesday it was time for a haircut by what must have been the only non-english speaking hairdresser in town, followed by lunch with my cousins. In the afternoon the weather was looking better so went for a walk from the hotel across the hill to the little town of Adligenswil, through the Meggwald forest to Meggen and then followed the lake back to Luzern. Still a bit of rain about so couldnt see much of the surrounding alps but was nice to get out nonetheless.
On Wednesday morning the weather was starting to look better so took the train over to Schwyz. The bus driver at the train station said there wasn`t a cablecar but I didn`t beleive him since it was clearly on the map and I`d been on it previously. Walked through town and stocked up with some rations and then on to Rickenbach only to find that they were busy tearing down the cablecar. Now my quick 10 ride to Rotenfluh turned into a 2.5 hour, 1000m ascent up the side of the mountain. Passed through all the farmers paddocks and through plenty of mud to finally make it up to the top of the ridge. Followed it along to Holzegg which was meant to be the start of the walk up the Grosse Mythen mountain. With only 3 hours until the last bus was leaving from Brunni I didn`t have time to make a dash to the top. Instead I followed the panoramic trail for a while and had lunch looking out to the snow capped mountains across the lake. They were properly covered in fresh snow after the heavy dump they had the day before. In the afternoon I caught the bus from Brunni down to Einsiedeln. Here there was a huge monastery hosting some conerts in the evening so checked that out and then got the train back to Luzern.
Today the weather was finally perfect with clear blue skies... an opportunity I wasn`t going to waste. I jumped on the next train straight up to Engelberg, the starting point for the tourist cablecar route up to Titlis. But I went up the Brunni cablecar (www.brunni.ch) on the opposite side of the valley. From here I trekked up around towards Rickenbach but just after the Älplerbeizli Rigidalalp restaurant, near Tüfelstein the snow got too deep and I had to take the trail up to the Brunnihütte (1860m). Here the views to the snow covered mountains of Titlis and the other peaks were amazing. Here there was another restaurant and the little lake of Härzlisee, setup with a foot massage walk where you went in the water and back out walking on different timbers and stones. Followed the trail around past Walenpfad where there were great views to the back of Pilatus and Stanserhorn, and then returned past Ristis and Flübmatt back to Engleberg. Checked out the walk over Jochpass that I also wanted to do but it was really snowed over, but hopefully will be able to do that in a few days once the snow has melted away a little.

Baden

On Friday the weather cleared up a little. Unsuccessfully searched for a hairdressers that didnt charge CHF50 then went for a walk further up Sonnenberg. Had some great views out to Pilatus and Stanserhorn. At the back of the mountain I came across the blackberry jackpot and settled down to eat for a while. Headed out to see the Luzern nightlife but it was very superficial and pretty boring.
In the morning I headed over to Baden for the annual party of the climbing club. I met Yvonne at the train station and then headed up to the forest behind the city. The party was set in a clearing in the forest by a big cave. We were certainly not roughing it with a fridge for all our beer, party lights, a full band to play a few tunes and plenty of party lights. We tried a new method of cooking chickens... stuffing them, then wrapping them in some cabbage leaves, then a layer of clay. The chickens were then backed in the fire for several hours and came out very tasty. Along will all the salads and swiss desserts none of us 40 partyers were going hungry that night. Late in the night we rolled out the sleeping bags under the stars.
On Sunday morning we enjoyed freshed baked zopf (swiss bread). I called past Wettingen for lunch at Yvonne`s. We then caught up with the others by the river in Baden. They were all mad climbers (with enough injuries to show for it) and did slack rope walking to improve their balance. We hung a rope across the river and 2 of us (not me) managed to walk across the river, while attracting plenty of audience.
In the afternoon I went to see the original Baden fort overlooking the town and then went to Zürich for a quick walk up Uetliberg before getting back to Luzern by 10:30.

Luzern

Flew into Zürich on Sunday evening, grabbed a nüsgipfel from the nearest bakery and then got the train down to Luzern. In the morning I got myself connected to the world again and then headed to Zürich to borrow some nicer clothes. In the afternoon I got to Optikon, and then back to Luzern after a wander down Bahnhofstrasse and along the lake a little. In the evening I went up to Utenberg just behind the hotel and along the northern side of Vierwaldstattersee. By now the rain had set in an looked like it was going to stay that way for a while.
Wednesday it was still raining constantly but eventually ventured outside and checked out the old town wall which was cool since you can climb up all the towers and get a good view of the town and also the mountains when the clouds parted briefly. continued on around the southern side of the lake and grabbed some bratwurst for dinner.
Today its still raining and so staying inside given its pointless to head up to the Alps with this weather.

Rovaniemi

Arrived to Rovaniemi in the evening and was glad to get off the train after 9 hours. I went down to the University of Lapland where Venkata let me into the student residences. With many of the students on summer holidays it was easy to find a spare space to sleep.
On Tuesday I went for a walk around the little lake near the uni and crossed over the river to have a picnic lunch looking back over to town. In the afternoon I went to the Arktikum, which contained the Museum of Lapland and the Arctic Centre. Saw plenty of traditional Lappi costumes, and information about climate change, the Lappland culture and the impact of the wars (the germans burnt every town to the ground here as they retreated).
On Wednesday I waited for the rain to clear and then met Anna-mari to stay at her place for a few days. We went for a walk up Ounasvaara hill, a popular place for the locals to go skiing, running and picking berries. We found a whole hillside full of blueberries just waiting to be eaten. This occupied us until it was almost getting dark (11pm) and time to begin the Rovaniemi pub crawl. First stop was a Finnish pub with the local football hooligans to see Finland beat Kazakstan. Then it was onto Irish Times (what town doesnt have an irish pub) and then finished the night off at Hemmingways.
Thursday it was time for me to visit the most famous attraction in Rovaniemi... a visit to the real Santa Claus. The village on the arctic circle was all decked out with plenty of cheesy souvenir shops and christmas carols being blasted out over the plaza. This is also the site of the Santa Main Post Office where they receive thousands of letters each day all addressed to Santa at The North Pole. The highlight of course being the opportunity to meet santa and find out what happened to my christmas orders from the last 23 years. Went for a walk to Santa`s forest to get stuck into some more blueberries.
On Friday I went back to Ounasvaara and treeked along the ridge past Isorakka and found a good clearing in the pine forrest to make a fire and cook up my lunch of Makarra (Finish sausage) with Sinappi (weird sauce). In the evening we headed to see a local band consisting of just a drummer and bass player (but not drum and bass music) who were bashing out some cool tunes.
On Saturday I stocked up on food for the trip back to helsinki and got the 1300 slow train to Oulu and then the Pendolino (super fast, over 205km/h for the last 2 hours of the trip when the driver found the accelerator) through Tampere to Helsinki. I dropped my bags at the EuroHostel and headed into see the nightlife at BarFly.
Sunday enjoyed a huge salmon for breakfast/lunch by the port and then got a plane down to Zürich, CH.

Jyväskylä

Arrived into Jyväskylä on Friday afternoon and met up with Jaarko. We went for a drive up to the town's ski jump which was up on a little hill but was enourmous. These people who jump must be crazy. From here we had a good view over the town, pine forests and lakes. We then enjoyed a beer in the pedestrian mall in town while the girls bought a huge salmon for dinner which was delicious.
On Saturday I did a lap of the lake which took a couple of hours. All the locals were out on their rollerblades and nordic walking poles making them look like spiderman. In the afternoon I went with Jaarko to see some of the suburbs and visit the water tower in the middle of town to get a better view of town. Enjoyed a great big fondue for dinner, good preparation for going to Switzerland next week.
Sunday was a day to relax. I went for a walk around the other side of the lake, through the centre of town and up the hill behind the house.
The next morning I caught the train to Rovaniemi up on the arctic circle. This was a long 9 hour trip through Pieksämaki, Kuopio, Kajaani, Oulu and Kemi.

Tampere

On Sunday afternoon I arrived on the train to Tampere. At the last moment I was able to find somewhere to stay with a Finnish bloke called Lari who had an apartment right in the middle of town. I went for a wonder around town. Tampere is between 2 big lakes, with a set of rapids flowing between them. These rapids were the source of energy for the mills, and the town quickly grew as an industrial centre. The city still has enormous brick chimmneys towering over the city centre, but the factories have mostly been converted into modern shopping areas, bars and theatres. I had a look around town then we watched a movie back at home.
In the morning I headed into town and saw the Finlayson old mill, Näsinpuisto park with a view over the lake and theme park, and then relaxed in the sun by the beach at Pyynikki. In the evening we had some drinks in the famous shipyard bar with Lari and a few of his mates.
On Tuesday I met up with Susanna in the afternoon who just returned from a trip to Ecuador. She was an avid salsa dancer so we headed down the the central park in town where everyone had gathered to dance salsa. Afterwards we headed to a little bar where there was a blues band playing with a very energetic singer / harmonica player who would often be laying on the stage blowing on his instrument.
Wednesday morning we went for a drive out to the village of Norda in the area of Vesilahti. This was a really nice spot with just a few houses and on the side of the lake. We went for a walk down to the lake and up some hill that had several russian trenches and bunkers from world war 1. In the afternoon I got my hands dirty painting the balcony fence, but they insisted with staying with the Finnish red rather than my suggestion of an Australian design of green and gold stripes with kangaroo motifs.
The next day we went for a drive to some sights in the local area. This included a big manor from an old guy that used to rule the area, and a nice peninsula where there were cliffs into the lake. We had some mushrooms for dinner then yheaded back to Tampere were we went to Henry's bar to see the live funk band perform.
On Friday morning we went to the local markets and enjoyed a big salmon hamburger for breakfast, and then I jumped on the train to Jyväskylä.