SOLO

So, I'm now writing from the relatively remote confines of Ehenbichl, following an intense 11 hour/7 transfer train journey from Chamonix to Reutte. We all left Chamonix at 7:40 AM, and traveled more or less together until Zurich. At Zurich, I split off, and through a couple of very local trains, found myself in Reutte, Austria right around 7:00. I'm kind of in the middle of nowhere. On each train, a Deutsch Bahn employee felt the need to clarify where I was going, as it must have seemed preposterous that a lone American was traveling so far into the middle of nowhere. Not really the middle of nowhere, but not the big cities. Anyways, after getting lost in Reutte, I managed to walk to Ehenbichl, a tiny village about a mile down the road. The atmosphere is amazing though. My hotel is right underneath the Ehrenburg castle ruins, which are perched high above on a hill, and lit up at night. There is a light snow falling, complementing the snow already on the ground. And there are Christmas lights everywhere. Good stuff. Reutte/Ehenbichl is in Tirol, which is the Austrian equivalent of Bavaria. It's only a half hour bus ride from Fussen, where I'm headed tomorrow to check out Neuschwanstein Castle, the fairly tale-esque home of Mad King Ludwig. Then I hope to bus back to Reutte and check out the hilltop castle ruins. All in all, I'm looking to relax a bit before catching up with everyone in Prague on Wednesday. Let me tell you, one of the most nervewracking things is not being able to communicate freely, like me not knowing a bit of German. It's very unnerving. But it's going to be good, I can tell. I have a single room in a family run guesthouse. They're going to drive me to the bus station after breakfast in the morning, just a glimpse of how folksy this is. As much as the hostel lifestyle is glorified, there is nothing like having a private room, complete with TV and bathroom. So tonight, I think I'll just chill out and watch some English CNN, which I seem to get. For those who wondered, the rest of the time in Chamonix was great. We went up the Aiguille du Midi cable car some 12,000 feet up. Damn, it was unbelievable. I think everyone in the group agreed. I have some photos that will blow the mind. Kudos to Mary for overcoming her fear of heights, because we were definitely very high. Anyways, I just got back from a splurged 11 Euro meal of wiener schnitzel, a ton of French fries, salad, and Kaiser beer in the only restaurant in this tiny village, served by a man who spoke no English. This is the sort of experience I hope to find in abundance in the coming weeks.