old tiger's Blog

Chur-Bellinzona is a stretch..I wouldn't forget..
it's a very mountaineous road..via San Bernardino pass..
I couldn't get enough of the scenery..very curvy roads..
specially around Spl?gen and towards Bellinzona..
Bellinzona and Lugano are in the Italian part of Switserland..
Lugano..in these these days..was also known for the rich..
who got their villas there..real nice lake there..
very beautiful area of Switserland indeed..but expensive..
I crossed the Italian border at Chiasso=very busy place..
italy was so different..looked poorer of course then Switserland..
but I did like the sunshine..the people..I spoke some Italian..
Italians are emotional people..they talk with their hands..
they say it *straight in your face* I always liked that attitude..
nowadays..people..judge to easy on false beliefs..
I did not see that in Italy..I mean..in that time..perhaps..
they have changed as well now...and don't reflect..
what they feel inside their heart??who can tell??
I didn't go back to Italy since mid 70's..
the lake around Como was lovely..just as I expected..
http://www.initaly.com/regions/lombardy/como.htm
i slept somewhere outside....space enough..
once you walked out of a place..easy to find a spot..
to spread my sleeping bag...i felt like a free dude..
in a free world..will tell you more about Italy..
in next posting..I went to Milano...and Venice..
awww..Venezia...awwww..what a place..
Tiger

So...Luzern..nice town..Switserland is one of the cleanest places
I had seen..Norway was the same..they treasure their nature..
got a ride along the 4 Waldst?ttersee(lake around Luzern)
towards Altdorf..very nice scenery..one could sniff mountain air..
the road towards Glarus-Chur goes up into mountain scenery..
http://www.myswitzerland.com/en.cfm/destinations
people who drive these Swiss postbuses..omg..they know how..
to drive a bus..not easy on these sharp curvy bends..
I reached Chur late afternoon..typical Swiss town..
slept somewhere outside in a field in the outskirts of Chur..
direction Bellinzona..space enough in Switserland..
I liked these empty stables and barns..even hay in it sometimes..
yes..tomorrow..I guess it would be Italy..
my plan was to hitch down towards Lugano..
and cross into Italy via Como..
will tell you all in a later posting..
tiger

after Ulm I hitched towards Stuttgart-Karlruhe..
was a detour in fact..but I wanted to cross into Switserland..
via Basel...and then continue towards Luzern-Chur-Lugano..
finally cross into Italy..hitch down to Brindisi..and take a ferry..
towards the isle of Corfoe(Greece)long haul indeed..
about Switserland..I can only say one word..beautiful..
if I have to make a list for Europe..it gets second place..
after Norway..so..hitching from Ulm towards Basel..
was a piece of cake..lots of traffic on that stretch..
Switserland..was more difficult for getting a ride..
but I reached Luzern...and stayed in the local Youth hostel..
awww..Luzern..and the lake around it..it's loveley scenery..
http://www.about.ch/
I'll tell you more next posting..
Tiger..

SO..Bochum..very industrial regio of Germany..
it was mid june..good weather..and holiday season..
means lots of traffic on German highways..
in my opinion Germany and the UK..and Netherlands..
were best bets for hitching a ride mid 70's..
in Germany..one could hitch from rastst?tte to rastst?tte..
a rastst?tte is a place on highways where people could make
a stopover to eat,tank benzine,just a relax in travell..
if one could stand on the exit where the cars were going back
direction highway..one easily got a ride sometimes..
i used to write a destination on a piece of cardboard..
so that the driver knew...were I wanted to go..
I reached K?ln in 1 go..K?ln is very big..a maze of highways..
from K?ln got a ride towards Wiesbaden-Mainz..
stood there for a while..and reached Frankfurt..
from there I took direction W?rzburg..and finally reached Ulm..
my aim next day..was reaching Switserland mountain areas..
like St.Moritz..Davos..very well know for wintersports..
Tiger

So..I did a bit of this and that..to get some money..
on june 15th..i set off from home..hitched a ride to Amsterdam..
i don't recall why I went to Amsterdam..but this city..
I've always had a connection with it..it's a city of my taste..
I stayed in Kabul Hotel=Warmoesstreet..close to red light district..
this hotel was popular with travellers of all kind..
in the bar of this place..I met Doreen..from Pennsylvania...
nice woman...the usual stuff..broken relationship..
we had a talk about life..no bullshit..she was intelligent..
for the rest..Amsterdam..is always so vibrant..so full of life...
I probably have put this link somewhere..
but..I'll put it again here..in the evenings..I used to go..
to Paradiso..on Weteringschans..they used to have gigs there..
http://www.visitamsterdam.nl
I stayed a few days in Amsterdam..and hitched out..
towards Den Haag..made my India visum there..
they could issue it..very quick..hitched a ride again..
towards Germany..and reached Bochum..
that's in the Ruhr area..very industrial..lots of highways..
slept outside somewhere on a raststatte..
damn...it was good to be on the road again..
I always loved that challenge..what's the next day gonna be like??
Tiger