I got to Lyon during their annual Festival of Lights - a 4-day party filled with lights in celebration of the Virgin Mary. I arrived at the train station, not knowing about the festival, thinking I would just find the metro - not usually hard from the train station - look at the map of the trams, find the one I needed and be off. I had a very limited map of the town, I knew which metro stop I needed, and had walking directions to the hostel from there. I was going to pick up a better map of Lyon at the hostel. That should have been enough, right? Not during the festival, it's not. It took me over an hour and a half to get from the train station to the hostel, including 2 Very Long lines for the Metro, a cabbie laughing when I told him where I wanted to go - they had shut down the center of town and no traffic could go in or out, and yet another long line for the funicular (gondola) up the hill.
By the time I finally got to the hostel, the last thing I wanted was to leave again, but I did need to find some dinner. However, I decided I was done with metros and funiculars for the night. I set off on foot to find a restaurant. I was in luck, there was a good looking place at the bottom of the hill, which meant a walk back uphill after dinner. On the way back, I caught a little piece of the amazing light show. From my spot up on the hill, I could also see the thousands of people that were in town for the Festival. Wow!!
The next day I saw the Notre Dame Basilica in Lyon and The Roman Theatre. They were both pretty cool, but I knew I was off to Rome soon and would see more. Most of my time in Lyon was spent wandering around Vieux Lyon (Old Town) and fighting the crowds. This is what traveling during the summer months must be like. I think I will stick with my off-season travels, thank you! Next stop - Venice!
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