Eurotrip Summer 2022
Summer 2022 is the first time I haven't had responsibilities in years.
- Boston: July 5-6
- London: July 7-10
- Amsterdam: July 10-13
- Paris: July 13-16
- Geneva: July 16-18
- Fiescheralp: July 18-19
- Denges: July 19-20
On July 5th I took an Amtrack from NYC to Boston to meet up with Cadin. We had never seen each other in the US before.
Cadin just finished a masters in mechanical engineering. Now he's a research fellow at BU building stuff that goes to space.
Click here, here, and here for some previous European adventures with Cadin.
In the morning he showed me around the machine shop and in the afternoon we ran some errands, then we got on a plane to London.
London
We left in the evening when the sun was up, and we arrived in the morning, sun still up. It's a weird feeling to have one super long day on both sides of the Atlantic ocean.
The British come up with some silly names.
As soon as we landed the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, resigned.
The first night we stayed in a hostel that turns into a dance party at night. Not good for the jetlag.
On July 7th Tolu arrived. I still have never seen Tolu in the US. For some previous European adventures with Tolu click here, here, and here.
We did a lot of walking and saw the sights. Unfortunately I was jetlagged and sick for most of London and I think that kind of spoiled my impression of it. Next time I'll share my less biased thoughts.
The royalty used to give each other exotic animals as gifts. What do you do when someone gifts you an elephant? You let it roam around in the castle, of course.
We met Tolu's friend Lara, who showed us around and was so nice.
Look at the contrast between the old historic buildings and the new shiny skyscrapers.
There's this one street that's basically only Indian restaurants. Each one has a dedicated person who goes up to people and makes the case why their restaurant is the best on the street. Our guy was very pursuasive.
The O2
On July 10th at 5 AM I briefly split with Cadin and Tolu to catch the last day of Wimbledon.
Wimbledon
To get tickets to Wimbledon you can either:
- Pay an outrageous amount of money
- Plan more than a year in advance
- Wait in the queue
So I got up at the crack of dawn and joined the queue.
The queue is a Wimbledon tradition. People literally camp for days to get tickets to the biggest matches. See the tents?
I arrived at 5:45 AM and I was #282 in the queue.
Wimbledon is somewhat of a religious experience for a tennis fan. Especially on the final Sunday!
Graeme could beat these 14 year olds.
#282 was good enough to get tickets to watch the boys final on Court 1.
This was a very cool experience, I hope I will be able to come back.
On July 10th I got on a plane (not a train, I don't want to talk about it) to Amsterdam to rejoin Cadin and Tolu.
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is unlike any place I've been.
It's like if you took a normal city, stretched the buildings vertically, replaced half the roads with water, and gave everyone six bikes each.
Bikes and boats, everywhere.
The first meal Tolu ate in Amsterdam was an English breakfast... right after leaving England.
Amsterdam reminded me a little bit of pleasure island from Pinocchio.
It would be cool to work remotely from here.
Biking around Amsterdam at night was so fun.
Paris
The last two times in Paris - April and June 2019
We were in Paris for Bastille day (July 14th), which is the French independence day. They have some nice fireworks shooting out of the Eiffel tower and a whole bunch of people going nuts.
Cadin and I went to the Père Lachaise Cemetery, which is somewhere I never would have thought to visit. I like cemeteries, this one is especially cool.
We hung out with Sal who is starting a phd in astrophysics. Sal is a really cool guy.
Paris was good.
The final leg of our journey was in Switzerland.
Geneva
Geneva is a special place.
Because the jet d'eau is in Geneva.
And the best Döner boxes are in Geneva.
And lake Geneva is in Geneva.
Aletch Glacier Hiking
On July 18th, Tolu and I went to Riederalp to do a hike while Cadin went to hang out with Ben in Denges.
This place makes Vail look like a joke.
Part of our hike was through a tunnel straight through the mountain. It was over a mile long.
The hike ended in a tiny town in the mountains called Fiescheralp. Tolu ran off to catch the last gondola down and a train to Basel, where he hung out with Elisa and swam in the Rhine river. I spent the night in Fiescheralp to hang out with the mountain cows and enjoy the views.
My hotel room had the best view ever.
Denges
We spent the last day in Denges with Ben. It was not good timing because Ben had to work on his thesis the whole time, but it was really good to see him (and Denges).
Ben is incredibly good at being in the moment, which is why I didn't get any pictures with him.
I'm looking forward to the next European adventure with Cadin and Tolu. This was a good one.