Dave the Nomad

I took an overnight train from Paris to Bayonne with great success compared to my ordeal in Innsbruck. I overslept to my delight after a sleepless start to the ride and woke up in the nearby border city of Hendaye. I decided it would be a good place to wander around, and was even more keen on the idea when I found a map displaying several beaches. I walked through town to the beach just as the sun was peaking over the hill on the east side of the city and watched early morning runners skim across the clean packed wet sand beach as low-tide was approaching. To the left side of the beach are two pillars of stone reaching up out of the sea that looked intriguing.

After a quick dip in the brisk but refreshing water, and a breakfast on a nearby bench, I could see locals heading towards the rocks being uncovered by the receding water. I had my full pack with me, and as such sticked to a drier course but still managed to see the near transparent shrimp, anemones, crabs and urchins in the tidal pools being prodded by people with long poles. As I walked over to the cliffs and protruding pillars I found a small alcove beach that looked interesting. The sun was successfully warming up the land and there was a constant sound of wet movement as crabs scattered for cover and barnacles sealed themselves off until the waves lapped back inland. It was almost perfect white noise with the waves in the background, and a steady fizz around me. I found a couple shelters on the beach and decided it would be a safe place to drop my pack and relax.

As it happens my curiosity got the better of me and I started climbing up the steep trail out of the alcove beach and ended in a Sound-of-Music like green field. I peaked the trail just as a group of elderly people were walking by on a tour. They were quite perplexed by my sudden appearance. From up here I could see the Atlantic Ocean clearly, and had a good sight on my pack below and the abandoned rocks protecting it.

I walked along the trail to the cliff edges to find not only an amazing view, but also several WWII era bunker turrets. All but one were fenced off and obviously heavily damaged. There was one that was open and had a memorial on top of it. Really cool to see and just an amazing sight. My camera died while in the bunker, but I continued to hike around the cliff a bit more and went back for my pack and headed back into the city to catch a train to Biarrtiz.

Biarritz is a small surf town made famous by Napolean as a summer get-away. The hostel I stayed at was open spacious and filled with a group of NATO student representatives in town for a conference on Afghanistan. As they all left for a conference event I decided to walk into town and check out the local flavor. The Basque people are very proud and distinctly different than both the French and Spanish. The architecture had bits of Norman and French influence, but the roofs had a clear Terra Cotta feel. After chatting with some newly made friends at the hostel and I took some quality internet time to read up on the lovely economic and political events back in America ,

I finally decided to board a train to my next stop, Salamanaca. The ride has been outstanding. The hills are bursting with unique topography and sun drenched forests and and glens. Its hard to get any quality photos as the trees are constantly in the way. The sun creates a bronzing effect on the tips of the deciduous trees, and the grandiose clouds are holding off just enough to create a contrast in lighting.

Sometimes borders on trains are seamless and unnoticed, and other times they are not. No one has checked my tickets or presence on the train since Paris, but at Irun (in Spain) I had to change trains, go through a security checkpoint, with x-ray and metal detectors, seen security guards on every train platform, and have had my ticket checked after every stop made by the train.

After Salzburg, I took a train into Innsbruck, and had one real goal: take the tram up to the top where my dad took pictures. He said the tram was so fast he had a headache for a couple days afterwards. I was looking forward to getting up high after the spectacular train ride, and play in the snow for a bit with the knowledge of a warm place to go to afterwards.

Innsbruck was home to the Olympic Games twice in the last 50 years, and as such had a solid infrastructure and nice tourist maps. I arrived into town about the same time the clouds did. I checked right away with the tourist office, and they said the weather would be getting worse rapidly. I decided to take my chances with the closer tram in town versus the glacier 40 km away in hopes of getting up and actually being able to see something. Fortunately, I made it up, and had a great view of the city. However, there was no snow, and I knew it wasnt the same peak my dad had visited. Miffed by the increasing cloud cover. I stopped on the second highest stop, as the peak was already engulfed in clouds. People coming down from the top said you couldnt see a thing. Now, if you haven’t been on top of a mountain in pea soup thick clouds, you should. Its has a eerie suspenseful aura worth experiencing. My luck with mountains in the past has already given me this wonderful experience, and I decided to stay here and enjoy the view while I still could.

A bit saddened by missing the same photos, I knew I would have a chance to climb more in Switzerland, and settled for heading into the old town and checking out Innsbruck as the rain started to pitter patter. As I only had one real goal for Innsbruck, I had booked a seat on a night train to Zurich to save on money. There was plenty to do to entertain me around the city, and as night settled in I stopped in a bar/restaurant at the train station to make sure I wouldn’t miss my train.

I was scheduled to take the 12:10 train to Zurich, around 11:35pm the departure board said our train from Hungary was delayed by two hours…. Bummer. The train station closed down, and I felt like a wandering soul in this purgatory of a stop. Just around midnight we had an update, the train wouldn’t get in until 4:40 am…. this brilliant idea was looking grimmer by the minute. I decided to cut my losses, and went into one of the sheltered sitting areas on my platform and shamelessly took out my sleeping gear and alarm clock and set my alarm.

A security guard came by around 1:30 am woke me up. I kindly showed him my ticket, we had a good laugh, and he let me go back to sleep. I awoke to businessmen with briefcases talking loudly, and gave up on sleeping until the train arrived. The train ride was smooth sailing into Zurich, and I was planning to go to Interlochen to have some fun in the Alps. My next train was connecting in Bern, and along the way travellers said the weather was terrible in Interlochen and wouldn’t be improving anytime soon. When I arrived in Bern I checked out the weather, and I wouldn’t be seeing any part of the mountains above 100 m ceiling in Interlochen for a solid four days. I decided I would pay a visit to Switzerland later in the trip, and started my way up towards Amiens.

This is the first time on the trip where I’ve been somewhere for a couple days, and feel like I’ve completely missed out. I did have some delicious chocolate, and swiss cheese, but the Alps are definitely a place I’ll be back to visit.