Roger J. Wendell
Defending 3.8 Billion Years of Organic EvolutionSM
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Travel Two |
After some great trips to Africa, China, Japan, the UK, Mexico, South America, and all over North America I found that I'm running out of bandwidth and storage space for all these web pages! So, I'll be using this page to kind of summarize subsequent trips and travel...
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Click Here for my main travel page... |
Any Road
George Harrison
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Oh I've been traveling on a boat and a plane In a car on a bike with a bus and a train Traveling there and traveling here Everywhere in every gear |
But oh Lord we pay the price with the Spin of a wheel - with the roll of the dice Ah yeah you pay your fare And if you don't know where you're going Any road will take you there |
And I've been traveling through the dirt and the grime From the past to the future through the space and the time Traveling deep beneath the waves - in watery grottoes and mountainous caves |
Europa! European Union 1957-2007 |
For the first two weeks of September, 2007 I had the good fortune to join a half dozen CMC friends for some hiking, climbing, and wandering around the part of our world that Rumsfeld referred to as "Old" Europe. Old or new, Europe remains an exciting place that's prospering more and more each year. At the time of our visit, in '07, the European Union was comprised of 27 member states with three official candidate countries and four officially recognized potential candidates.
Also, at the time of our visit, the European Union had a combined GDP of $15.7 trillion (the world's largest!) with the euro trading at about 40% higher than the dollar. However, like America, Europe remains grossly overpopulated with a questionable distribution of wealth and unresolved immigration issues. Anyway, the first week of our trip, throughout northern Italy, was lead by Marianne Curtis. Marianne, along with our guide Markus, took the eight of us all over marvelous terrain throughout the Dolomites. We did a great deal of hiking in addition to climbing some really classic "Ferrata" - bolted climbing routes that are now the rage throughout Europe. For the second week the group split up a bit with some of us going to Switzerland (under Dianne Edward's tutelage), some back home, and others visiting different parts of Europe. |
München
(Munich, Germany)
The Munich Metropolitan area is home to over two and half million people.
The city gets its name from the Old German word for "Monk." The "S-Bahn"
is the city's very modern subway and railway system. For ten euros (10 €)
I was able to purchase a one day unlimited pass that allowed me complete
access to their buses, trains and subways - this was a great way for me to
"acclimate" while waiting for the remainder of our group to assemble the
following day!
 S-Bahn |
 S-Bahn |
 S-Bahn |
 Small car |
 Mannequin |
 Small car |
 München |
 München |
 Kaufingerstr - München |
 München |
Austria
Driving around Europe is easier than ever - not only have most of the border
stations been eliminated but it's really hard to even see any signs delineating
one country from the next. Austria didn't seem to be much different in that regard,
either. Although we all watched outside the van's windows, carefully, I don't think
we ever saw a sign saying we were in Austria. What we did see, somewhere near where
the border between Austria and Italy should have been, was a radar policeman at our
gasoline stop. As you can see, further below, he allowed us to photograph him...
 Dianne and our rental van |
 Esso and the Water Closet |
 Mayonnaise in a tube |
 Roger in Austria |
 Dianne & Polizei |
 Me and the police! |
 Harald the gentleman |
 Marianne fuels us |
 Insbruck |
 Signs, signs |
Dolomites
(Northern Italy)
 7 of us (photo by Markus) |
 Wolkenstein, Italy |
 Wolkenstein, Italy |
 Rifugio Passo Sella |
 A boy and his truck |
 Lunchtime at the Rifugio |
 Skiing |
 Signs |
 Trail |
 Jill, Robert, Markus & Dianne |
 Tracey |
As you can see, back in Wolkenstein we were always very comfortable with plenty to eat! |
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Click Here for my climbing page and pictures of Italy's vie ferrate... |
Bolzano, Italy
(Tyrol and the Iceman)
Tyrol is an historical region which includes the Austrian state of Tyrol and the Italian region known as Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol. It is here, in the town of Bolzano, that the 5,300 year old mummy of "Ötzi the Iceman" is kept on display. Although we weren't allowed to photograph Ötzi, or any of the artifacts, it was well worth the visit to learn about Europe's oldest natural human mummy. The nickname "Ötzi" comes from the area where the mummy was discovered at an elevation of 10,531 feet (3210 m) in the Ötztal Alps. Ötzi was discovered by two German hikers, in 1991, almost exactly on the Austrian/Italian border - creating a bit of an ownership dispute for the first couple of years.
 Iceman entrance |
 Iceman hologram |
 Oom-pah band |
 Dianne and Robert |
 Spaghetti Western |
 Alcohol tester... |
 Royalty on parade |
 Italian grapes |
As you can see, in addition to spending a few hours with Ötzi that day we also enjoyed an Oom-pah band and other attractions in and around Bolzano.
Dachau
On March 22, 1933, a few weeks after Adolf Hitler had been appointed Reich Chancellor, a concentration camp for political prisoners was set up in Dachau. This camp served as a model for all later concentration camps and as a "school of violence" for the SS men under whose command it stood. In the twelve years of its existence over 200,000 persons from all over Europe were imprisoned here and in the numerous subsidiary camps. More than 43,000 of them died. On April 29 1945 American troops liberated the survivors. [from The Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site Guide - 2007]
 Me at the entrance |
 Arbeit Macht Frei |
 Jourhaus (the only entrance) |
 Barracks interior |
 Watch tower |
 Fence line |
 Fence line |
 Fence line |
 Fence line |
 Fence line |
 Bunk beds |
 Dachau toilets |
 Poplars planted by prisoners |
 Sculpture |
Lechtenstein!
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The Principality of Lechtenstein, one of the world's tiniest countries, is slightly smaller than Washington, DC but well worth the visit! Lechtenstein is located in central Europe, between Austria and Switzerland, and had a population of about 34,000 (roughly six percent the population of Washington, DC's 582,000!) at the time of our visit. It's a beautiful, scenic place but we were in too much of a hurry for our next climb - Thankfully the group indulged me long enough to stop and take this photo! |
The Eiger Sanction
CH - Confoederatio Helvetica
(Jungfrau Region - Switzerland)
Dianne led what was left of our climbing group to Grinderwald where we took the Jungfraubahnen to Kleine Scheidgg. This is the exact same area where Clint Eastwood filmed his 1975 climbing classic, The Eiger Sanction. In fact, we even stayed at the Bellevue Des Alpes, the same place ol' Clint hung out with his film crew. With the Bellevue Des Alpes as our base, we were able to do a lot of hiking around the Eiger. Dianne and Allison took the train to the "Top of Europe" observatory while Tracey and I did a lot of hiking that took us along the base of the Eiger, to Alpiglen, and then back to Kleine Scheidegg. We also climbed part of the Klettersteig Rotstock up part of the Eiger, itself, but were still a few thousand feet below its 3970 m summit. Either way, it's a fantastic area that's well worth your time (and money!) even if you have no intention of hiking or climbing!
 Dianne, Tracey & Allison |
 Tracey & me |
 Jungfraubahnen Railway Station |
 Tracey on the Eiger |
 Roger climbing the Eiger |
 Kleine Scheidegg from above |
 Trail obstacles... |
 Eiger Rotstock via ferrata |
 Eiger (3970 m - 13,380 ft) |
 Eiger out my window |
 Swiss honey |
Like I've said before, you can never have enough grocery store photos when you travel! |
Chamonix, France
Despite all the conservatives complaining about it, I still enjoy visiting France and am glad I got this special look at Chamonix. Filled with skiing, climbing, hiking, and hang-gliding - the place kind of reminds me of Vail or Aspen (even including the same high prices!). I stopped by a real estate shop and noted that many of the houses, immediately in and around the main part of town, were easily selling for 2 to 3 million euros at the time - roughly 3 million USD, just like in Aspen!! Okay, so I won't be buying a vacation home in Aspen or Chamonix, anytime soon, they're still fun places to visit so I'm glad Dianne took us to Chamonix!
 Border |
 Allison & Tracey |
 Chamonix |
 World War I |
 Chamonix |
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Click Here for my page on France... |
Belgium and Luxembourg
At the end of our trip, just like in the beginning, I found myself with an entire day on my own in Munich. So, I decided to fly from Geneva, to Bruxelles (Brussels) and then back to München again before flying home. In Brussels I rented a car for a quick 250 mile roundtrip to Luxembourg. Luxembourg, itself, is almost the size of Rhode Island while Belgium is considerably larger at about the same size as Maryland. So, driving across them in less than a day's time, especially at European road speeds, is very "doable"Anyway, despite the comparatively smaller land areas throughout Europe the driving seems to be much faster and safer than what we're accustomed to here in the "States." I don't know what it is but Europeans are definitely much more aware of their surroundings when it comes to driving down the road. Almost nobody, except the occasional "novice" truckdriver from the former eastern block, holds up traffic in the left lane. The left lane was always wide open everywhere I went - from the Italian Autostrada and German Autobahn to the very fast E411 that allowed me to average 160 kph (100 mph) from Buxelles to Luxembourg.
Ahh, but for every grand road adventure there seems to be some trouble or rough spot along the way. In the case of my 120 mile drive from Brussels to Luxembourg I "burned out" the third, fifth, and reverse gears in my rental car! I don't know why such a weird combination of gears would fail, in a manual transmission, but it sure made things nerve-racking trying to keep up with everyone in 4th gear as they all sped by me in excess of 100 mph. Luckily I finally made it back to Brussels without having had to impede too much traffic behind me! However, I did have to push my car, backwards, out of the gas station where there was a bit of a traffic jam - that reverse gear never came back to life...
 Luxembourg |
 Commune D'Eruope |
 Luxembourg |
 Belgium |
 Cambio - Munich Airport |
From Bruxelles I flew back to München where I had to spend the night on the airport floor since there was no lodging available for 100 km in any direction - I think everyone was "gearing up" for Oktoberfest or something. Anyway, it was surprising how quiet the Munich airport became between midnight and 4 am - I was actually able to sleep a bit and then "freshen-up" in the men's room. But, as you can see from this final photograph, I had a considerable amount of trouble exchanging my euros for dollars - and it wasn't because the dollar was at an all-time low, either!
Anatomy of a Road trip:
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Although they should probably have been discouraged, Tami and I have always loved a great road trip! Between 1977 and 2007 (when this entry was created), we had completed at least 20 trips in excess of 1,000 miles. For our November '07 trip we thought we'd take some notes, for historical purposes, since the world was approaching peak oil and such excursions in the future would be considered an extravagance!
For this particular trip we departed our Denver foothills home late on a Saturday morning (we like to let the traffic beat us) after having picked the rental car up the before to run a few errands. Since our own cars are so old and unreliable (my Toyota Tercel was 14+ years old at the time of this trip) we try to rent something that's efficient and economical. Unfortunately the demand for large cars is still too strong so all the rental company could offer us was a Subaru Forester with an automatic transmission - rats! Since the total rental expense turned out to be $222.26 it wasn't a bad deal except for the fuel inefficiency (detailed below). |
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Wasn't this special? In 2007 we learned that the credit card companies had been gouging most of us engaged in foreign travel! Luckily some of our countrymen (Thank you, whoever you are!) took the credit card companies to court and won a class-action settlement for nearly a decade in overcharges. I, myself, took the second option and estimated that I had engaged in a few months of travel over the period in question. I'll be curious to see how much my refund is but will appreciate anything since I had always felt the credit card companies were getting a bit carried away with their foreign travel fees and conversion charges... |
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