Enjoyment in Europe - 25 December 2005

It has been a while since I sent out one of these ePostcards so this one is long. I have so many cool photos that I want to include. It’s been quite an effort to cull them out!

Oh Italy

San Michael Angelo Piazza, Florence

How could I top the experience of the wedding? It’s simple really, you can’t. However there was plenty more of Italy to experience. Daniela, one of the guests at the wedding invited me to come and visit her city, Turin, the host of the next Winter Olympics.

I was tempted to head straight to Turin but couldn’t leave Tuscany without seeing Florence. Making the effort was so worth it! It is typical of other Tuscan towns in that it is gorgeous, but because it is a city it simply goes on. You could easily spend days indulging your favourite Italian passion, architecture, museums, people watching, eating, the list goes on… My highlight was the walk up to San Michael Angelo Piazza to watch the sun set.

Turin is better known as an industrial town and not a tourist destination, however its proximity to Courmayeur and Monte Bianco make it a great place for the Olympics. Daniela was great and I got to meet a lot of her friends. This was awesome as they were real Italians. Up to now the only Italians I had dealt with were in the tourist industry and had a somewhat jaded view of the average tourist. So I enjoyed hanging out with some genuine, friendly Italians.

Turin may be regarded as an industrial town, however there is still plenty to admire	A walk in the mountains behind Coumayer. Monte Bianco range is in the background. I can’t believe I’m not skiing here!

I had spent nearly a month in Italy and it was time to move in. I love this place and want to spend some serious time here sometime, so it was with some regret I boarded a train to Switzerland.

In 1997 I did a two year overland trip from the UK to NZ and in the process made a lot of new friends. For some reason many of them were Swiss! So I was looking forward to spending time catching up with many old friends.

Bern was the first destination and it was great to stop travelling for a while.

HEAVY METAL!!!!

The stage started up at about 10am and went through til about 1am. Lower piccy is the permanently attached wrist entry pass. The diehards were sporting many years worth.

However the guys in Bern had other ideas and before long we were off to Balingen in Germany for the “Bang Your Head” Heavy Metal Festival.

Yup, you read right, Heavy Metal. Me. Actually it was a great time. While I’m not vaguely a Heavy Metal fan, seeing it live is something else.

A large part of the entertainment is visual. It’s serious stuff. The stage has a vast array of techno lighting complete with giant metal hands and plenty of smoke and flames. The clothing is an art form and both performers and punters take it very seriously. Start with basic black and decorate! Tattoos, scarves, bright t-shirts, anything – as long as it has the look. Add copious amounts of alcohol and you have the recipe for an entertaining time. Surprisingly (to me) the crowd was very mellow and over the four days I didn’t see any aggression. Well not from the humans anyway. The weather, on the other hand, was a different story.

For most of the time we were in 38 degree heat which was really nice, however it did brew up an awesome summer storm one night. One of the five campsites was completely flattened. Ours fared a little better with only some tents destroyed. However we did end up with four ambulances in our campsite. I never found out why but I suspect the number of shredded trees may provide a clue.

From Bern I was off to Seegräben to check out a bit of Swiss family life then it was on to Zurich to help a mate shift house.

The Swiss are renown for their intense attitude towards cleanliness and I guess there is always an exception to every rule. Well I guess I found their cleanliness exception. The house we were to shift into was absolutely filthy! It took me a whole day just to clean the bathroom. Ick. We celebrated moving in by going out for a wee drink in Zurich. After missing the two night busses I caught the 6:30am train home. Gotta love bars being open all night!

While having fun in Switzerland I was actually looking for work and had possibilities in London, Zurich and Valencia. Finally one firmed up and I was off to London.

Yuk, work…

View from the London Eye. Surprisingly underwhelming!

While I was partying up in Switzerland the 7^th July bombings had occurred in London and unsurprisingly they had beefed up their boarder security somewhat. Unfortunately my number must have come up and I got put through the mill. I didn’t end up walking with a mince, however everything else got thoroughly searched! Spending four hours at Stansted Airport isn’t my idea of fun.

I spent a number of years in London in the 90’s and was really looking forward to being back. I guess I’d forgotten how polluted, difficult and expensive living in the UK is. I never managed to open a bank account but did succeed in getting an eye infection from cycling in the polluted air.

However it wasn’t all bad, the great things about the place were still there, the theatre, the pubs, superb restaurants, good pay rates and the ability to visit other places.

Such as Paris and Turkey…

The Eiffel Tower still rocks!	Ephesus in Turkey

Back Home!

There isn’t much else to say about London except work, work, work! Definitely a major shock to the system! Eventually that too came to an end and it was time to head back to NZ to apply for visas, sort out a divorce, do Xmas and prepare for the coming year.

What a year it is going to be too! First I am back off to Canada to do another ski season but based in Fernie this time. After the snow I am off to London for some more work and then I plan to go to South America for another season in the snow! Wohoo, I am soooo looking forward to it all.

All there is left to say is:

Merry Christmas!!!!