Working my way closer to the Switzerland border. Fog in the morning that turned into another day of rain
I came upon 2 huge rabbits getting into a fight. They looked like miniature kangaroos boxing. They took off upon seeing me. Now I know why they eat these guys, compared to the 100s of domesticated ones that roam my yard back home.
I made pretty good time today since there was no reason to stop.
Things started to clear by the afternoon as I descended into my lodging at the Haldenhof Mountain Inn.
This place reminded me of a movie you might see where a weary traveler comes upon a seemingly deserted castle in search of shelter from the storm. Little does he know that he has stumbled upon Dracula’s Lair. The door was locked and after 10 minutes it creeks open and the smell of decay hit me in the face. No one spoke any English and they were surprised to see me. “I have a reservation?... Oh, of course sir, right this way.” Speaking of Souvenirs to bring home, this guy in my room seemed like a beautiful centerpiece.
I set my stuff out to dry and walked around the property because there really wan’t anything else to do
I was constantly being watched, much like the paintings in the castles where the eyes are switched out for a real person’s behind the wall. But in this case, there was no attempt at secrecy
I enjoyed a private meal in the main dining area, and had to blow cobwebs off the breakfast offering the following morning.
The next more I awoke without puncture wounds in my neck. I was quick to take my leave. Another rainy day.
I reached a highpoint on the trail and sat at a bench under a lookout tower. I figured the clouds would blow by as soon as I left, as so often happens, so I vowed to wait for a view. I got no view.
I hiked down into the town of Kandern. I bustling metropolis compared to last night.
Found an Italian restaurant for dinner.
Today is my final day of hiking. Walking out of Kandern I kept seeing cars where the hatchback looked like the back of police car. I had to do some Googling. Apparently Germany has some strict laws on how to secure a pet in a car. I am hesitant to learn what events led to this law. I think its bad when I see cat carrying a dead chipmunk in its mouth. I now have visions of a German Shepard showing up at the door with a schoolchildren hanging from its jaw.
I had 1 more hill to get over before descending into Basel, my destination city in Switzerland.
Most of the day was going in and out of small towns. It was kinda strange as I had no idea what country I was in. Was I still in Germany? Would border guards pop out of the bushes and arrest me for trying to smuggle weed across the border into Switzerland. I basically just looked for what flag was flying in people’s yards to judge my location.
I am guessing by the sign above that I just crossed over. Due to Germany and Switzerland being a part of the Schengen Area, there is no documentation checkpoint. Kinda strange, but much appreciated. It seemed like such a logistical mess to deal with before, and even still. When you fly into an airport you need to route them based on where they come from. Even with all my International travel I still get this weird feeling when getting off a plane. “Did I just walk into the concourse? Can I just exit the airport without immigration? Did I just find a loophole?” But more importantly, “Wait, I want my passport stamp!” So, a brief explanation; the Schengen Area is a group of 27 countries in Europe that don’t require inter-country documentation once you get in through your port of entry. This is different from the EU which is all these countries plus I think Cyprus and Ireland. I like to say, “I think” because it makes you think I am pulling these facts from my brain instead of the separate tab I have open on my browser.
I am now walking into Basel Switzerland.
At this point I am not hiking. I am just a borderline homeless guy walking through the city.
Now as I walk under an overpass, I am officially just a homeless guy walking through the streets. Something struck me as funny. Everyday on this hike I kinda just walk into a town, get the lay of the land and then figure out where to find my lodging and a meal. I am now doing the same thing in a major city. Never once have I been back in the US, arrived into, let’s say Denver, walked out of the airport, stretched my back out extended my arms a bit and said, “okayyy, let’s just walk around a bit and see where we go from there. Left or right? Let’s head this way and see what we see.” But, now I am spending 2 hours hiking from the outskirts of city into the main area to find some trouble to get into.
I made it to the river, still looking homeless, and checked into the Marriot.
I walked into the elevator, the door closed, and I pressed the button for floor 5. Stood there reading a sign on the elevator wall….a few minutes later the doors open. This is a huge atrium, I thought. I said, "Man, these floors have some high ceilings, impressive. I can get used to this place!” A lady gets on before I have a chance to get off. She looks at me and says, “I saw you get on. You know you have to scan your room key before the elevator will go to your floor?” You know the Edibles have kicked in when you have been standing in a closed elevator for the last 5 minutes and not moved from the lobby. I immediately thought to myself 2 things. First I saw myself in a rocket ship, when the second stage booster kicks in.
Then my next thought was the scene from Seabiscuit where the horse is racing his final race and going slow, then an former rider pulls up next to him to motivate Seabiscuit, and once Sea Biscuit gets that fire, he leans over and says, “Have a nice ride” and Seabiscuit takes off. I imagined the older lady in the elevator leaning over and saying that to me as my second stage edibles kicked in, "Have a nice ride Darren."
I did not venture far from the hotel that evening as I was tired of walking.
The next day I hit the farmers market, the museums and churches.
I stopped for lunch at restaurant below
At one point the owner asked if I could move seats to accommodate a larger party. I was happy to oblige. He then proceeded to punish me with free shots of Jaegermeister for the remainder of the afternoon. That put an end to the sight-seeing, and I was asleep (passed out) in my room by 6pm.
The next day I caught the train to Heidelberg Germany. I walked the city, taking in all the old buildings spared from WW2 destruction.
It is a funny thing when you can’t talk to people. I sit and watch people closely. I become more aware of their mannerisms and emotions, undistracted by their words. I could see the troubles they were carrying even on a beautiful day. Almost like a movie where you brush someone’s arm and their life story is transferred to you. I just sat drinking beer, eating sausage taking in the scene.
The next morning I caught a train back to Frankfurt and back to the US.
I was thinking about travel in the age of Artificial Intelligence. Many people who travel seem to travel simply to add another country to their list, or add a picture in front of the Eiffel Tower to their Instagram. Will travel look the same in 5 years? With Virtual Reality and Artificial Intelligence you really wont need to physically travel to places. You can experience a location and even get the photo evidence. Even now you can do virtual private tours over Zoom with locals showing you around the canals of Venice. Will people still bother with the hassle of flights and trains? Gosh, that is one trend I hope takes off for my own selfish reasons.
Until Next Time
Darren
« "Danke Schoen" (Part 2 of 3) | Main | “Bruuuuce!” “Hurry Up Sundown”»