Europe - Roamancing

Roamancing Liechtenstein

January 16, 2013 by Megan Ho 8 Comments

“Why are you going to Liechtenstein? There’s nothing there!”

That was the response my family got when we told our relatives in Zurich we were going to Liechtenstein for a day. We were only in Switzerland for a few days, and after exploring the Swiss countryside my sister had the idea to go to the nearby principality of Liechtenstein, a small country between Switzerland and Austria. Her reasoning: How many people can say they’ve been to Liechtenstein? I had hardly known the country existed before this trip, so a visit was a pretty interesting idea.

On our way!

So, armed with a rental car and a GPS (key), we set off the next morning for Liechtenstein. We headed for Vaduz, the capital and main town of Liechtenstein. The beauty of Europe meant it only took a couple hours to reach another country, and we were in Vaduz by lunchtime. We strolled down the main street of the town which, at just seventeen square miles, didn’t take long. Stopping for lunch, we took the opportunity to try a Liechtenstein beer, Brauhaus and to people watch.

Brauhaus beer

The day before, our relatives had tried to discourage our visit because, “there’s nothing in Liechtenstein.” Sitting on the restaurant patio, we did not find this to be the case. As we ate, we noticed a number of football (soccer) fans in blue and white roaming up and down the street. Upon inquiry, our waitress informed us there was a big Bosnia-Liechtenstein football match that day in Vaduz, and it was common for Bosnian supporters to visit for away games. Fans walked up and down the street, cheering, singing, and drumming. By the end of our lunch, the number of fans seemed to have doubled. This was certainly not the quiet, boring Liechtenstein our relatives had warned us against!

Walking up to Vaduz Castle

After lunch, we headed to Vaduz Castle, the castle overlooking the town of Vaduz. Though we were unsure of the route, we followed a path on a map, passing by beautiful large houses and vineyards. As long as we were going up, we reasoned, we must be on the right path. Partway up the hike, we spotted a viewpoint overlooking the town. Even from up there, we could still hear the shouts and songs of the Bosnian football fans!

View of Liechtenstein

Hot and sweaty from the hike, we made it to the top of the hill and Vaduz Castle. Unfortunately, we couldn’t go in as the castle remains home to the Prince of Liechtenstein, but we were able to admire it from afar. Apart from a few other tourists, it was quiet and still around the castle – quite the departure from the noisy streets of Vaduz!

Vaduz Castle

Back in town, we found the Bosnian football fans had congregated into one crowd. We had mistakenly thought earlier that all the fans were in Vaduz to attend the game, but learned that many were unable to attain tickets and were just there to show their support and enjoy themselves. We inadvertently joined the crowd, and a few fans even adorned us with team scarves and asked to take a photo with us. Despite the language barrier and my utter lack of sports knowledge, the excitement in the crowd was infectious and I couldn’t help but grin at the rowdy, singing, loyal fans.

Bosnian football fans

Bosnian football fans

We left not long after, as we needed to be back in Zurich that evening. We read later in the news that the Bosnian team had won the match 8-1, and we imagined the Bosnian fans must have been so happy. I knew the cheers and songs would go on late in Vaduz that night. It just goes to show that even in the quietest, sleepiest towns, there is always something to be found. We couldn’t wait to regale our relatives with stories the next day!

On the drive back to Zurich

Filed Under: All Aboard!, Around the World, Europe, Liechtenstein, Megan Ho, Our Travelers, Planes, Trains ..., Road Trips Tagged With: beer, bosnia, bosnian, brauhaus, brauhaus beer, castle, fans, football, hike, liechtenstein, prince, prince of liechtenstein, soccer, vaduz, vaduz castle

Travelling by Train Across Switzerland

October 20, 2012 by Megan Ho 7 Comments

A couple of months ago, I unexpectedly found myself in Switzerland. How does one unexpectedly end up in Switzerland, you might ask? Well, while I thought it might be a few years before I found myself in Europe again, a cousin of mine announced she was getting married and the next thing I knew, I was meeting my dad and two sisters in Geneva. Though the wedding was in Zurich, we started in Geneva to explore the beautiful country on our way to Zurich.

With limited time, we decided to spend one day travelling from Geneva to Zurich while making stops along the way. My sister, a cheese fanatic, insisted we stop in the town of Gruyère (yes, of the cheese). We also chose to stop in Lucerne before arriving in Zurich that evening.

We caught an early morning train out of Geneva, transferring in Montreaux to catch the scenic GoldenPass train, a train with overhead windows for maximum scenery. As it was my first time in Switzerland, it was the perfect way to catch some panoramic views of the beautiful Swiss countryside. The hills and mountains were so picturesque that all I wanted to do was run out and yodel.

Train to Gruyères

We transferred to another train, this time a smaller one, and arrived at the Gruyères train station. The medieval town, surrounded by a castle wall, was up on a hill so we had to hike up from the train station to reach it. We were rewarded with a charming little town and beautiful scenery of the surrounding area.

Town of Gruyères

We visited the Castle (Chateau Gruyère) first, wandering around the various rooms and admiring the armour of knights long ago. However, my favourite part was the gardens, which were blooming with colour, and the views looking out, which were like a pastoral heaven.

View of the gardens from inside the Castle

By the time we finished at the Castle, our bellies were rumbling so we stopped for lunch at Chalet de Gruyères. When in Gruyères, what else do you get but cheese fondue? We helped ourselves to bread, potatoes, shallots and gherkins dipped in melted Gruyère cheese. For dessert, we enjoyed Gruyère cream over meringues and fruit – I confess, we may have had meringues and cream almost every day we were in Switzerland.

Fondue

Dessert

Before leaving Gruyères, we stopped, of course, at the cheese factory. A short tour took us through an informational exhibition and to the production area where we watched raw milk swirling around in copper vats. Afterwards, we were able to view the many wheels of cheese aging in the storerooms. More than one mouth may have begun to water at that point. Despite our fondue lunch, I admit my favourite part of the tour was the complimentary Gruyère cheese samples.

Cheese Factory

Following the tour, we hopped onto a train to Lucerne. We knew nothing about Lucerne; a woman at the train station in Geneva had recommended the city for a visit. Luckily, we found a tourism office which produced a wonderful self-guided tour map. The walking tour took one through the city with suggested stops and sights along the way. Since we were only there for a few hours, it was the perfect way to acquaint ourselves with the city.

Crossing the Kapellbrücke

We started off by crossing the Kapellbrücke, or Chapel Bridge, a covered footbridge across the Reuss River. I was most keen on seeing the Lion of Lucerne, a memorial to Swiss mercenaries who were killed at Tuileries during the French Revolution. Mark Twain called the cliff face sculpture “the saddest and most moving piece of rock in the world,” and when I saw it I couldn’t help but agree. It brought to my mind The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and the scene where Aslan sacrifices himself on the Stone Table.

Lion of Lucerne

We continued to walk around Lucerne, visiting the Old Town as the sun went down. We were all smitten with Lucerne and its lovely river and beautiful buildings. ”If I were to live in Switzerland, Lucerne is where I would want to live,” my sister said. We all concurred. There was a romantic feeling to the city we couldn’t deny.

Buildings in Old Town

We finished the day off with dinner along the river where I had the best beet soup of my life. Months later, my sister and I are still drooling over the memory of it. It was the perfect end to our time in Lucerne. After dinner, we strolled back along the Kapellbrücke to catch our train to Zurich. Though Zurich and my cousin’s wedding were always our destination, I think it’s the memory of the day we spent travelling through Gruyères and Lucerne that will stay in our hearts the most.

Lucerne at night

Disclaimer: A train pass was provided by Swiss Tourism. However, my opinions on travelling through the country are my own.

Filed Under: All Aboard!, Around the World, Europe, Megan Ho, Our Travelers, Planes, Trains ..., Switzerland, Train Travel Tagged With: Chalet de Gruyères, Chapel Bridge, Chateau Gruyère, cheese, cheese factory, cheese fondue, fondue, geneva, goldenpass, GoldenPass train, gruyere, Gruyère cheese, Gruyère cream, Gruyère cream over meringues and fruit, Kapellbrücke, Lion of Lucerne, lucerne, Reuss River, switzerland, train, zurich

Pocket Travelers Adventures in Europe

July 8, 2012 by Megan Ho 6 Comments

Last summer, after studying abroad in Bristol, UK, I went travelling for two months through France, Italy and Greece with my friend Chloe. Chloe flew in to England at the beginning of the summer and we met in Bristol before we began our travels. With her she brought an envelope from our friend Theresa which was marked not to be opened until we were together in England. Inside, we found a cut-out picture of Theresa and her boyfriend Steven mounted on popsicle sticks and a request from Theresa that we photograph the two on our travels in order to surprise Steven.

Theresa suggested posting the photos on Facebook but Chloe and I, inspired by the film Amelie, had the ingenious idea to print the photos as we went along and mail them back to Steven as postcards. As Steven had been left in the dark about the whole thing, he would have no idea who the pictures would be from, just like in the movie. The idea of Steven receiving a postcard of a photograph of himself and his girlfriend halfway across the world seemed wonderfully hilarious.

We started at Bristol’s most famous landmark, the Clifton Suspension Bridge. It took a few tries to fit Theresa & Steven properly into the frame and we definitely got some stares as we took our photos – I’m pretty sure people thought we were some crazy tourists! We had to pack it in pretty quickly when it started raining and our pocket travelers started getting wet.

At the Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol, UK

Our next photo came on a day trip to Wales. At Tintern Abbey, a medieval abbey near Chepstow, we took a photo complete with cows in the background. (Shame it wasn’t sheep – kidding!)

Back in Bristol, we had the photos printed at Boots, but were unable to buy stamps before leaving for France. As a result, we were unable to send the postcards until I flew through England on my way home to Vancouver at the end of summer. This in fact turned out to be a good thing, as a postcard from Bristol would have immediately given away who the mysterious postcards were from.

At Tintern Abbey in Chepstow, Wales

After travelling from Bristol to Paris, our next outing with the pocket travelers was at the Eiffel Tower. Despite their name, they in fact did not fit into our pockets, and we kept forgetting to take Theresa & Steven along with us in our purses. On our last day in Paris, we finally remembered and snapped a photo of the two in front of the romantic landmark.

Unfortunately, our next stops in France were in Avignon, Marseille, and Cassis, small towns where we could not locate a photo print shop. As a result, we weren’t able to print the photo until we arrived in Venice, Italy. However, Chloe and I were determined to have the photo sent from France. Chloe still had one French stamp left from sending postcards in France and we thought it wouldn’t be the same if Steven received the photo with an Italian postmark. As luck would have it, when we arrived a week later in Cinque Terre, we met an American named Kevin headed to Paris! After a bit of awkward explanation about the concept behind the pictures, we persuaded him to mail the photo for us from France. We sent the photo along with him and hoped for the best.

At the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France

A week and a half later, we arrived in Rome and decided we had to get a photo of Theresa & Steven in front of the Trevi Fountain. Thankfully, the crowds tossing coins and taking photos in front of the fountain were preoccupied enough to not wonder what we were doing and we photographed our pocket travelers without a hitch.

Getting the photo printed was another story. The woman at the print shop was very kind, but because of the language barrier she thought I wanted all of the photos on my camera printed, rather than just the one. It took many hand gestures and both of us repeating ourselves countless times, but in the end we understood each other and I sent the second postcard off.

At the Trevi Fountain in Rome, Italy

For our last postcard, we took a photo of Theresa & Steven at Knossos, the Minoan Palace on the Greek island of Crete. Originally, we wanted a photo at the Acropolis of Athens, but Athens was our last stop on the entire trip and we decided not to risk being unable to send it before leaving. As it was, the Acropolis turned out to be far too windy – our pocket travelers would have been swept right out of our hands! It was a good thing we had got our photo in Crete.

At Knossos, the Minoan Palace on the island of Crete, Greece

At summer’s end, upon returning to Vancouver and reuniting with Steven, I immediately bombarded him with questions: Did he receive all the postcards? What was his reaction when he received the first one? Did he figure out who sent them?

Steven had in fact received all the photos! (Kevin, if you’re reading this, thank you!) He had been highly confused at the arrival of the first photo as many of his friends were travelling in Europe that summer, but Theresa had filled him in when he’d asked. But neither of them had expected another postcard after the first… and then another and then another.

While the concept of pocket travelers may seem crazy to some, the amusement and hilarity that ensued around the Theresa & Steven cut-out ended up being one of the most fun parts of my whole trip. From taking the photographs, to finding a printer, to sending them off from the correct country, we had the best time with our little stowaways.

Filed Under: All Aboard!, Around the World, England, Europe, France, Greece, Italy, Megan Ho, Our Travelers, Wales Tagged With: Amelia, bristol, Chepstow, Clifton Suspension Bridge, Crete, Eiffel Tower, europe, famous landmarks, France, fun photo project, Greece, Italy, Knossos, landmarks, Minoan Palace, Paris, photo project, photos, picture cut outs, pictures, pocket, pocket travelers, postcards, Rome, Tintern Abbey, travel photo project, travelers, Trevi Fountain, UK, Wales

Visit England’s London 2012 Fan in the Van Search

March 27, 2012 by Emme Rogers 10 Comments

After having been a part of Vancouver 2010, as a local Vancouverite, writing about the cultural side of the Olympic Games (Cultural Olympiad), I have to say it was a pretty amazing world wind of an experience, and that’s coming from somebody who was not thrilled with how we, as locals were being treated leading up to the experience. Somewhere along the way, I thought rather than fighting it to embrace it and offered a room for rent at my place (I was near one of the venues), arranged for media passes for myself, booked two-weeks off work and decided what it was that I wished to write about around the games ~ the culture, arts and entertainment. I’m glad I did, as I had an exhaustingly good time and met all sorts of wonderful people.

New friends from the Netherlands

Fond memories of La Maison de la Suisse

Roamancing is actually one of the results of those two-weeks for me. I’d been toying with the idea for some years, but the travel inspiring culture of the Games and experiences I had at Cultural Houses like Saxony House and La Maison de la Suisse, with the scrumptious food and drink, wonderful music and great people helped push the titillating dream to a reality. That and the Ursula from Swiss Tourism, who really got what I was talking about around story and gave me the nudge I needed.

The Cultural Olympiad was a tremendous amount of fun. I even hosted my own Olympic Challenge with Vancouver blogger and traveler Hummingbird604 to see who could get the most Olympic dates. I came out of the gates with a healthy lead, managing three dates my first night out …

Olympic Dates 2 & 3 (a few minutes earlier & Date 1 would have been pictured here too)

… to steal a kiss with Saxel from the wilds of Saxony (Saxony incidentally had the best beer of any house [and darn good sausages], so not surprisingly I was found there a lot) …

Saxel, a moose that stole my heart

… to receive a very real kiss during the early morning taping of NBC Today Show atop Grouse Mountain …

… and unexpectedly find myself in a very real Olympic relationship, which gave Hummingbird604 the edge he needed to pull ahead to win the Gold and leave me trailing behind to receive a Silver medal, in what was certainly a well loved match.

Hell, we even created our own House in Sleepy Little Steveston to celebrate the lone Filipino athlete in the Games …

… and I may have been seen dancing on a table or two during the Opening Night of the Filipino Bungalow!

Good times! Had I had it all to do again, I would have planned my storytelling earlier, to take advantage of the various opportunities that existed to a weaver of tales. I mention this as Tourism England (aka. Visit England / Enjoy England) has a pretty gosh, darn cool opportunity for a UK digital storyteller leading up to London 2012, in the form of the Fan in a Van Search.

Will you be the fan in the van?

Basically they are putting one lucky budding digital storyteller with a passionate love for England in an iconic Anglomobile, decked out with everything they need to get started on a 70-day, all-expenses-paid trip around their green and pleasant land, following the Olympic Torch. In return, the fans job is to entertain England with videos, photos, tales of adventure and lots of fun. Having lived the Games, I can honestly say, this would be a once in a lifetime experience.

So how do you win? It is a 3-round competition with the Round 1 deadline fast approaching. Here are the details on entering from EnjoyEngland.com:

Round One – words and pictures

To put yourself forward as an England fan, simply send us 100 words on your favourite place in England and why you love it, accompanied by a picture you’ve taken to go with it. Deadline: Midnight on Monday 9 April.

Our favourites will carry on to the next two rounds.

Round Two – roll the cameras

Send us a 60 second video clip telling us why you love where you live.

Round Three – come and say hello

Meet the team at VisitEngland HQ and tell us why you’re the best person for the role.

… and here is where to go to to apply.

Good luck and have fun with this!

Filed Under: All Aboard!, Around the World, BC, Canada, Contests, Emme Rogers, England, Europe, Events, Meeting Mr. / Ms. Right (or Right Now), Olympics, Our Travelers, Perfect Dates, Roamancing, Switzerland, Travel TV Tagged With: cultural houses, cultural olympiad, digital storytelling, digital storytelling around London 2012, digital storytelling around the Olympics, England, fan in the van, Filipino Bungalow, Games, Gross Mountain, hummingbird604, La Maison de la Suisse, London, London 2012, london 2012 torch relay, NBC Today Show, Olympic Cultural Houses, Olympic Games, olympic torch relay, Olympics, saxony house, Stevetson, UK, Vancouver, Vancouver 2010, Visit England, VisitEngland

Great Eats, Local Finds & the MUSEUMS in the MuseumsQuartier, Vienna’s Outdoor Living Room – Part 2

January 17, 2012 by Jacqueline Swartz 2 Comments

This is the second part of a 2-Part Series by travel writer Jacqueline Swartz on Vienna’s MuseumsQuartier. This second part focuses on the restaurants, shopping and museums.

Here’s the first part in the Series: Celebrating a Decade of the MuseumsQuartier

MuseumsQuartier Wien, as photographed by Damien Roué

MuseumsQuartier’s (MQ) restaurants add to the artfully casual ambiance. On summer nights, the outdoor cafes buzz; when the weather turns grey, people head indoors. One popular place, Die Halle is in the former riding stables of the Emperor. With soaring ceilings and leather covered benches, it’s a cunning mixture of old and new. It looks like a chic restaurant, but it’s casual and inexpensive, great for solo travelers like myself.

Breakfast is served until late, and there are salads, soups and wraps – Die Halle satisfies. The bar offers an extensive wine list, including the Austrian specialty, Gruner Veltliner, a crisp mineraly white.

The flagship event marking the the MQ’s tenth anniversary was the reopening of the MUMOK (Museum of Modern Art Ludwig Foundation Vienna), the largest museum for modern and contemporary art in Central Europe. The collection includes early 20^th century paintings and sculpture from Wassily Kandisky, Paul Klee and Alberto Giacometti. There are important Pop Art works by Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein, as well as conceptual art from the 70’s. In February 2012, MUMOK will hold a major exhibit of the early works of Claes Oldenburg, which will tour major museums, including The Modern in New York.

Of course, the MUMOK has its own restaurant, with freshly sourced ingredients.

You can order food to go and sit in the cobblestone courtyards, where molded plastic seating is spread around in colors that change every year and configurations that are creations in themselves (see the igloos during the winter). Designed by architects, these plastic chaise lounges, called Enzis, are typical of the new Vienna, where contemporary design mixes with grandiose palaces.

The Courtyard at the MQ, as photographed by Daniel Nunes

There are many other choices of cafes and restaurants. One, Corbaci, is next door to The Austrian Museum of Architecture (Architekturzentrum Wien). It has a domed ceiling covered with ceramic tiles. The food is Austrian casual. Lentil soup, with or without smoked sausage, spaetzle (dumpling-like noodles) with leek; and of course homemade strudel. Next door, The Austrian Museum of Architecture is easily accessible on the ground floor. It offers a journey of the history of city’s architecture through displays and videos. The experience is all the better because visitors rub shoulders with architecture students.

Leopald Museum, photographed by Christian Moennig

Just down the cobblestone courtyard is one of the most popular attractions in the MQ, the Leopold Museum. This is all about Vienna’s glorious, doomed turn of the century.

What a time it was: Gustav Klimt was painting The Kiss, while Freud was exploring the subconscious. Mahler was composing his heart-breaking music (and lying on Freud’s couch while he anguished over his wife Alma’s infidelity). From the arts and crafts movement, known as the WienerWerkstatte, emerged art nouveau and deco-like designs that still beguile today. The stylish, provocative eroticism of that time remains part of the Vienna vibe, along with a robust enthusiasm for the arts.

The Leopold is my favourite museum in Vienna. It has the world’s largest collection of works by figurative painter, Egon Schiele; there are also paintings by his teacher, Gustav Klimt and other contemporaries. A permanent exhibit, called Vienna l900 is an experience in time-traveling; there are displays architecture, ceramics and furniture of the early 1900’s, along with the paintings. On the wall are large chunks of text from Sigmund Freud: “The unconscious is the true psychological reality”, it read. Freud said, describing a certain male complex; “Where he loves he cannot desire, and where he desires he cannot love.” Sounds like some boyfriends I have known.

The creator of psychoanalysis famously asked what do women want. Klimt’s drawings of women in frankly erotic solo reveries seemed to hint at an answer. I put on the headphones hanging from a circular couch and heard a bittersweet melody by Mahler. It was the perfect soundtrack to that time of elegance and dissonance, with a waning monarchy that would dissolve with the assassination of Archduke Franz- Ferdinand in 1914.

The Leopold has a lively rooftop café, with wraps and other casual fare and a fine view of Vienna. It also has a nifty museum shop. I bought a locally made ring with a square pink Swarovski crystal set in a band made of rubber, very glitz/grunge.

There aren’t a lot of stores in the MuseumsQuarter, but one that stands out is Combinat; it sells cool clothes by local designers. It’s in the part of the MQ called Quartier21, which has workshops and studios and temporary exhibits.

An Exhibit at Quartier21, photographed by Lorenz Seidler

To get the lowdown on what is happening, check out eSel Rezeption. It’s on Electric Avenue as soon as you enter the MQ. It describes itself as an art information office and “a micro museum shop for the dissemination of art in everyday life and on the forms of intelligent conversation.”

I want to return. First to the 2112 mega exhibits of Klimt in museums all over the city. Then to check out what’s being called the Year of Fashion at the MQ. And, of course, just to hang out.

Vienna Vacations