lyon and rest

Lyon to me was supposed to be just rest ans catching up. But patty had gave me a mission to see some sights that i didn't even think of checking out. One was the foruvrie then the park dotore and last was a restaurant that served an amazing lyonaise salad. I woke up late in nice and wanted to catch the train quickly and head to lyon fast. When I got to the train station their was some kind of political March going on and it was very lively and loud. I headed inside to get a ticket using my eurail pass but somehow there was only 1 train that day and it was already almost fully booked. Because it was almost full I had to pay 35 euro to get a ticket. I have the Eurail pass but eurail only buys so many seats in a train after all the seats are taken you are pretty much at the fate of the ticketeers graces. I waited for the train and noticed alot of men wearing what looked liked Robin Hood hats with feathers and lots of medals. Every hat was different and had all kinds of decorations. I realized the hats were for french veterans who had served. My train to lyon was a bullet train and was going to be a fast ride. I quickly grabbed my seat and put my backpack in the luggage rack. I put on my head phones and dozed off. The hours went by and I just woke up in time for the train to stop. I followed the instructions that hostel world gave me in the confirmation email for the hostel. It was a but hard to find the street at first but rereading the email I realized the hostel is next to the canal which is fairly big and can't be missed. Soon i had ruched Cool and Bed. This hostel was very nice and had the lounge/kitchen and bar are very close to each other. I was pretty tired from my trip and needed to desperately do laundry. Luckily the hostel had laundry available but it was way different than the other hostels. You paid 5 euro and the receptionist did your laundry for you. So you don't waste any time not seeing lyon on living life. I took the opportunity to catch up in some much needed sleep and blog writing. My room had 16 beds but no one was in the room. The room was Egyptian themed and had graffiti paint all over the walls. My bed was a bottom bunk but the bunks here had been fitted with 2 outlets and a mini light. That was a lot of cool bonuses for how little I was already paying. I wrote my blog and dozed in and out of perpetual slumber. While in a small nap I heard someone enter the room and saw an Asian girl put her bags on the tip bunk of my rack. She was very quite and noticed my gaze on her. She quickly put away whatever she bought and said in a quite tone "good bye". I soon woke up and had the feeling she wanted to talk and be sociable. An hour went buy and i had wanted to go buy some pasta and sauce to make a quick and cheap dinner. I walked to the local Carrefour store and bought rotinni pasta and some sauce.  I also picked up a baguette and some orange juice. After making my purchase I walked back to the hostel and went into the room. The girl from earlier was there and I greeted her an asked her name. She was from Beijing had been in france or study accouting and was in lyon for a small vacation before she returned back home to start working. Her english was pretty good and she was very lively when I asked her anything. She explained that it was hard for her to talk to anyone because she felt rat some people do not have the patience to speak to someone that doesn't speak a local perfectly. I assured her I had alot of foreign friends and had lived and visited alot of foreign countries sp a language barrier was kids play for me. She then asked what I was doing in europe and i replied I was backpacking. She was very eager to see what kind of pack I had and what kind of transportation I was using to get around europe.  I explained to her the Eurail pass and how many liters my backpack was and how much it could way. Soon another roomate overheard our conversation and had joined in. This time it was another girl born in Beijing but had lived in Canada for the majority of her life. We all chatted for an hour about travelling and what there was too see in lyon. After that I went to cook my dinner. The kitchen was being used by an aussie guy who was bycicling europe and another Canadian girl. Soon i got my stove burner hot and cooked the pasta. I sat down to eat and was joined by a guy from Taiwan.  He was backpacking europe on an extremly tight budget and explained that you could live off of 6 euro a day for food. Up until this point the idea of living super frugal like that hadn't occurred to me and I thought maybe I should try and save on some things. We were joined later by the girls from earlier and the group was eager to hear about my travels so far and my stories from the navy. I usually try not to gloat about my navy career to anyone because to me it's old news ans really overplayed, but poeple love sea stories.  After about and hour or so i decided to call it a night and go to bed. I washed my dishes and brushed my teeth and had a great night sleep. When I woke up I saw some girls in straight pajama dresses at breakfast, some girls that travel dont care abiut ehat they wear. The breakfast was cereal, baguettes with Nutella and jam and orange juice or milk. After devouring my breakfast I got the map from the front desk. I mapped out where the park, church, and good spots might be. I began my walk with my day pack and baguette at the ready and walked for what seemed like half an hour to get to the city center. I saw the sign for the church on a staircase that seemed to go on forever. Patty had warned me about the hike i preceeded to start the climb. It took me roughly 24 minutes to reach the top and see the church. The view was pretty worth it and had the breeze up the too was very welcoming. I took a quick break to take good pictures ans take in the scenery. I went into the church and admired all the art and sculptures. I could take pictures because it's a church and i could possibly annoy the people who do go to that church to pray. Soon i left and walked down the summit towards the parks direction. I ran into another church and a really cool street full of restaurants and stores that made no sense in what they sold. One of those stores was a pirate's candy store. Which look like a ripoff of the cartoon show flapjack. Alot of cool food stores and jewelry stores. I looked on the map to see how far away the park was and kept on walking. The park was actually very far and I was beginning to lose faith in finding it. Soon though i reached the giant golden gated entrance.  The park was amazing. Prefect green cut grass. No stray leaves on the green and the lake was picturesque. I walked to the left side and came upon a family of 20 ducks full of males, females, and baby chicks. at first I stood there taking pictures of then at a distance but the chicks walked right up to me to ehat I was holding in my hand. I got a very nice recorded closeup of a Chick that was very curious. The animals here I'm guessing relied alot on the locals for food and had become used to human contact. Every time I walked by a pigeon, duck, or squirrel they all looked and waited for any kind of food. I began to see that the park went in a circle so i figured I would end back at the gate. The park on the back was full of spots were you can sit and eat or read a book and not be bothered by anything.  Lyon knows how to take care of its parks and keep the poeple happy. There was a lot of flowers and fountains everywhere.  I could probably come here everyday if I lived here. I finally made the giant circle around and was happy because I was beginning to get hungry. I walked back to the city center and wanted to try tge magical salad patty told me about. It took me alot longer to find the restaurant. When I found it the place had closed for the day. So i settled for a kebab. It was getting late anf sunlight was beginning to be scarce. I felt as If the walk back was super long and I would never reach the hostel. I reached it softer an hour of walking and took a shower and fell sleep soon. When I woke up the next day I was very lazy and tired from from the previous dsy. Today I just wanted to explore and get ready for my trip to Paris. I walked the city center I wandered into an absinthe store. The shop owner was very informative on the history of absinthe and the laws and controversy that follow it. It was ilegal not not too long ago but had been legalized just recently. His store felt like an apothecary and had an old vibe to it. I asked for any hints to some hole in in the in the wall spots and he showed me a door that goes under a big portion in in the city called a traboull. I had a new sense of enthusiasm now and ventured into the dark passage. It was alot shorter than I previously thought but still enjoyed it. On the other side I found a medieval boutique that that also sold steampunk gear. I geeked out for 20 minutes and looked at everything inside. I had the funds and luggage I would've probably bought a full costume.  I wandered around for hours until I decided to climb the mountain again to see the Roman ruins that had also been up next to the church. I saw tge ruins and took my last pictures In lyon. I walked back to the hostel to repack my bag and get and get ready for paris the next day.

"I haven't been everywhere, but it's on my list" - Susan Sontag