Wallet: Day 26
BLOODY HOT!
Christina and Alice’s apartment is pretty well described by the as a windowless hole. Ventilation is not easy to come by so everyone was up early, awoken by the morning heat. We all got ready to move and headed to a food place down the street called The Wrap. After a delicious brunch Loyd and Christina headed back to sleep a bit more and Alice and I headed to a massive park about 20 minutes walking away.
The city architecture of Madrid is truly amazing. I took pictures of nearly every building we walked by. The park did not disappoint either. We walked by a huge pool full of row boats and found a nice shade spot. I laid down & passed out instantly. We sat in the shadow a massive Glass Palace, an impressive structure made entire of – you guessed it – glass.
I woke up feeling great and started reading Barack Obama’s book. Alice and I started a great political conversation that took a good few hours. Just as we finished our conversation the chapter I began was exactly on what we spoke about – I shared it with her. Loyd and Christina arrived shortly thereafter and we hung out for a few hours. Next thing we knew it was 8 PM and none of had eaten since noon. We headed back in the direction of their place and stopped on the way at a restaurant called Arabia. The food served was a lot of the ethnic cuisine my mom makes so well. We dined on humus, couscous, and chicken straight out of the Tajeen. Incredible.
One home we showered and headed out at a relatively early hour of 1 AM. It is truly awesome how the city only starts to wake up at midnight. We spent time at a bar called Comedia, enjoying the Air Conditioning and the Hip-Hop. After that bar unexpectedly closed at 3 AM we met up with a few other NU students living and working in Madrid. Loyd and Christina headed home while the rest of us continued to a club called Sweet. In between hardcore house tracks the DJ played an uninterrupted track of Gangster’s Paradise. I was in Paradise!
Alice and I made it home around 6:30 AM. Yikes. There is a bullfight tomorrow – that should be a serious experience. Andale!
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Familiar Faces 8/1/08
Wallet: Day 25
Shorts and T-shirt
We awoke in our deserted hostel. Such a weird feeling being in a building with so many beds yet no one sleeping in them. It was an early morning wake up as people in Lisbon feel the need to honk their horns incessantly at 8 AM. We got ready and headed out to do some touring of the city. Our flight was scheduled to leave at 2 so we had few hours to walk around.
The city of Lisbon is quite beautiful, with the Atlantic Ocean lining it shores. The Ocean air can be smelt at all times. The streets are as narrow as possible, often without room for people and cars to go down together. As we walked around the windy streets and up the hills, we became tired quickly. Even in the early hours of the morning the heat is intense. We snapped our last few pictures from the top of the hills and headed down towards the internet café. We surfed and made a few more arrangements for our trip. Loyd managed to piss off the manager, as he was trying to hack the system to use the internet free. Classic.
Once we packed all our stuff we headed towards the bus station to catch our ride to the airport. The ride went smoothly, with a local lady telling me to get on a different bus than we planned because it had less stops. We checked in to our flights and headed towards security. That’s where the adventure began. As soon as our packs were checked in and were out of our possession, Loyd remembered that he had his wine key from Bordeaux still in his backpack. He also had 2 lighters sitting in the front pocket. I tossed the lighters into the trash we decided to try to sneak the wine key through security. It’s Europe, I thought – What do they care?!
I went through security first and was stopped immediately. As they opened my bag they found the 2 leftover beers we had from the previous night. Our plan was to drink them before we got on the flight so I apologized and explained. The security guard was young and laughed when he saw my expression. He said in his best English “Can you drink them fast?!” I answered with of course I can, so I started drinking. He said I had until his supervisor saw so I was moving quickly. I didn’t want to drink Loyd’s so I wanted a bit. His security check was taking forever, I watched as they opened his backpack and took everything out piece by piece. Within a few minutes the supervisor saw me with the beer and ordered me to throw it away – damn. Loyd was still getting searched at that point so it was getting ridiculous. I started laughing when he shot me this WTF look.
Finally, the lady scanned everything for the 2nd time, all separately, and found the wine key. They allowed Loyd to mail it to the US, thankfully. As we walked towards our gate Loyd told me the full story of how he tried to hide the wine key in his pocket during the inspection only to have second thoughts and put it back in the pack as she was ravaging through it. Hilarious.
We waited for plane to arrive and the line began to form for boarding a good 30 minutes before our scheduled departure. On EasyJet there are no seat assignments so people are always thinking about where they are going to sit. Loyd wanted to get up immediately but I told him to just chill out, since we were sitting so close to the gate. Just as they opened up Section B of boarding, which we had been assigned to – I slipped into the front of the line. We were the first two people on from our section. As we stood waiting for Section A to finish boarding we took a fake picture of us – while actually taking a picture of the huge line behind us.
As the plane started to take off my heart began to race, it had been almost a month since I had left the ground. It was strange to travel so far in Europe without ever using a plane. The flight was so quick there was barely enough time for me to read 5 pages in my book.
We were entertained on the flight by a couple in front of us who couldn’t seem to keep their hands off each other…gross. We touched down in Madrid a short 55 minutes after we took off. We grabbed our packs and headed towards Christina & Alice’s.
The subway ride to their area of town took longer than our flight. We dropped our stuff after Alice came to found us after we got ourselves completely lost in their neighborhood. The girls offered us their apartment for however long we wanted, you have to love fellow NU students!
We hung out until Christina came back from her last day at work. She was pumped to be finished so all four of us walked down to the Sol neighborhood and grabbed a great dinner. Around midnight we got moving in terms of night plans. We headed to another NU student’s apartment and pregamed for a big night. We made it to a club called Pacha around 3 AM and partied it up 6, when our bodies started to give out. The party was still raging but I felt finished. As we arrived home and after a little discussion both Loyd and I agreed that we couldn’t only stay for one night so we might as well stay for 3 so we can see a bullfight on Sunday! So from Madrid – ADIOS!
Shorts and T-shirt
We awoke in our deserted hostel. Such a weird feeling being in a building with so many beds yet no one sleeping in them. It was an early morning wake up as people in Lisbon feel the need to honk their horns incessantly at 8 AM. We got ready and headed out to do some touring of the city. Our flight was scheduled to leave at 2 so we had few hours to walk around.
The city of Lisbon is quite beautiful, with the Atlantic Ocean lining it shores. The Ocean air can be smelt at all times. The streets are as narrow as possible, often without room for people and cars to go down together. As we walked around the windy streets and up the hills, we became tired quickly. Even in the early hours of the morning the heat is intense. We snapped our last few pictures from the top of the hills and headed down towards the internet café. We surfed and made a few more arrangements for our trip. Loyd managed to piss off the manager, as he was trying to hack the system to use the internet free. Classic.
Once we packed all our stuff we headed towards the bus station to catch our ride to the airport. The ride went smoothly, with a local lady telling me to get on a different bus than we planned because it had less stops. We checked in to our flights and headed towards security. That’s where the adventure began. As soon as our packs were checked in and were out of our possession, Loyd remembered that he had his wine key from Bordeaux still in his backpack. He also had 2 lighters sitting in the front pocket. I tossed the lighters into the trash we decided to try to sneak the wine key through security. It’s Europe, I thought – What do they care?!
I went through security first and was stopped immediately. As they opened my bag they found the 2 leftover beers we had from the previous night. Our plan was to drink them before we got on the flight so I apologized and explained. The security guard was young and laughed when he saw my expression. He said in his best English “Can you drink them fast?!” I answered with of course I can, so I started drinking. He said I had until his supervisor saw so I was moving quickly. I didn’t want to drink Loyd’s so I wanted a bit. His security check was taking forever, I watched as they opened his backpack and took everything out piece by piece. Within a few minutes the supervisor saw me with the beer and ordered me to throw it away – damn. Loyd was still getting searched at that point so it was getting ridiculous. I started laughing when he shot me this WTF look.
Finally, the lady scanned everything for the 2nd time, all separately, and found the wine key. They allowed Loyd to mail it to the US, thankfully. As we walked towards our gate Loyd told me the full story of how he tried to hide the wine key in his pocket during the inspection only to have second thoughts and put it back in the pack as she was ravaging through it. Hilarious.
We waited for plane to arrive and the line began to form for boarding a good 30 minutes before our scheduled departure. On EasyJet there are no seat assignments so people are always thinking about where they are going to sit. Loyd wanted to get up immediately but I told him to just chill out, since we were sitting so close to the gate. Just as they opened up Section B of boarding, which we had been assigned to – I slipped into the front of the line. We were the first two people on from our section. As we stood waiting for Section A to finish boarding we took a fake picture of us – while actually taking a picture of the huge line behind us.
As the plane started to take off my heart began to race, it had been almost a month since I had left the ground. It was strange to travel so far in Europe without ever using a plane. The flight was so quick there was barely enough time for me to read 5 pages in my book.
We were entertained on the flight by a couple in front of us who couldn’t seem to keep their hands off each other…gross. We touched down in Madrid a short 55 minutes after we took off. We grabbed our packs and headed towards Christina & Alice’s.
The subway ride to their area of town took longer than our flight. We dropped our stuff after Alice came to found us after we got ourselves completely lost in their neighborhood. The girls offered us their apartment for however long we wanted, you have to love fellow NU students!
We hung out until Christina came back from her last day at work. She was pumped to be finished so all four of us walked down to the Sol neighborhood and grabbed a great dinner. Around midnight we got moving in terms of night plans. We headed to another NU student’s apartment and pregamed for a big night. We made it to a club called Pacha around 3 AM and partied it up 6, when our bodies started to give out. The party was still raging but I felt finished. As we arrived home and after a little discussion both Loyd and I agreed that we couldn’t only stay for one night so we might as well stay for 3 so we can see a bullfight on Sunday! So from Madrid – ADIOS!
Are we there yet? 7/31/08
Wallet: Day 24
Same outfit as yesterday…unfortunately
I was in an out of consciousness from about 10 PM when the bus left until around noon. That’s just how exhausted I was. I got a legitimate amount of sleep considering the comfort of the hardly-reclining seats. We stopped one last time at a café for 3 minutes. I took the opportunity to brush my teeth and wash my face.
About an hour later we rolled into Lisbon. We grabbed our bas and hopped on a #28 bus like the directions the Lazy Crow Hostel sent us. We arrived at what looked like a small apartment after climbing what felt like Mount Everest, completely with our full packs.
I pounded on the door of the building and ran the bell, to no avail. We looked through the mail slot and saw a kitchen with full of pots and pans. The lights were out so we were unsure what to do. To top it off, there was no sign outside indicating it was a Hostel – so we weren’t even sure if we were at the right place. Confused, we sat in the shade and tried to call the hostel, again to no avail. We both stayed calm and sat down to relax. I really needed a shower after overexerting myself on the climb up there.
After about 30 minutes a guy strolled up to the door and unlocked it, completely nonchalant. I jumped up and asked if we were at the Lazy Crow and he responded yes but looked bewildered. “We are not open for business yet” he said. WHAT? I said I had made a reservation online and he asked for my name. When I said Aviad he suddenly remembered. He told us that the hostel was not opening for another until the weekend but it was no problem, we could just stay here by ourselves. To top it off, the only reason he came back to the hostel was because he left something behind – he didn’t expect to come back for a few days otherwise. Yikes.
We dropped our things off, took turns showering and passed out for a good few hours. It was nice to sleep in something other than a bus chair. I woke up a few hours later with my mind racing. The website for this hostel made it seem as if it was spring break in Lisbon and now we were the only 2 guests in a hostel that was a grand total of two rooms. I looked through our hostel book from where I got the review and saw that the address listed in the book was different from that of where we were staying. But, honestly, how many hostels can have the name Lazy Crow?! I was determined to either get us another place in Lisbon or stay for a little time as possible.
Once Loyd awoke we talked to Paulo, the guy who made our reservation and seemed a little too excited to have us, where we could find an internet café. The second we found the café I started looking for flights to Madrid. Lisbon seemed so incredibly dead, with very few people walking around. Also, Lisbon is somewhat of a dead end for traveling by train, if we wanted to go south for a few days we would have to backtrack all the way to Lisbon to go into Spain. So we decided to just ditch Portugal after 1 day and get our butts to Spain. Flights on EasyJet were only 88 Euros so we bought them. The advantage of flying also allowed us to get another night in Madrid, since the only train from Lisbon to Madrid is an overnighter.
Happy with my work I suggested we head back to the hostel to eat some of our food we still had from our bus odyssey and drink another bottle of wine from Château La Riviere. We met up with our friend we made at the Internet Café, Griffith. We spotted what looks like a Golden Gate Bridge along the river and walked down to relax as the sun was setting. We walked around a few squares in the area and killed a few hours. Around 11 we headed back to the hostel and crashed. We had every intention of going out but had no idea where to go. I woke up at 3 AM and realized both Loyd and I were sleeping on top of our beds fully clothed. So it’s off to Madrid tomorrow – SWEET!
Same outfit as yesterday…unfortunately
I was in an out of consciousness from about 10 PM when the bus left until around noon. That’s just how exhausted I was. I got a legitimate amount of sleep considering the comfort of the hardly-reclining seats. We stopped one last time at a café for 3 minutes. I took the opportunity to brush my teeth and wash my face.
About an hour later we rolled into Lisbon. We grabbed our bas and hopped on a #28 bus like the directions the Lazy Crow Hostel sent us. We arrived at what looked like a small apartment after climbing what felt like Mount Everest, completely with our full packs.
I pounded on the door of the building and ran the bell, to no avail. We looked through the mail slot and saw a kitchen with full of pots and pans. The lights were out so we were unsure what to do. To top it off, there was no sign outside indicating it was a Hostel – so we weren’t even sure if we were at the right place. Confused, we sat in the shade and tried to call the hostel, again to no avail. We both stayed calm and sat down to relax. I really needed a shower after overexerting myself on the climb up there.
After about 30 minutes a guy strolled up to the door and unlocked it, completely nonchalant. I jumped up and asked if we were at the Lazy Crow and he responded yes but looked bewildered. “We are not open for business yet” he said. WHAT? I said I had made a reservation online and he asked for my name. When I said Aviad he suddenly remembered. He told us that the hostel was not opening for another until the weekend but it was no problem, we could just stay here by ourselves. To top it off, the only reason he came back to the hostel was because he left something behind – he didn’t expect to come back for a few days otherwise. Yikes.
We dropped our things off, took turns showering and passed out for a good few hours. It was nice to sleep in something other than a bus chair. I woke up a few hours later with my mind racing. The website for this hostel made it seem as if it was spring break in Lisbon and now we were the only 2 guests in a hostel that was a grand total of two rooms. I looked through our hostel book from where I got the review and saw that the address listed in the book was different from that of where we were staying. But, honestly, how many hostels can have the name Lazy Crow?! I was determined to either get us another place in Lisbon or stay for a little time as possible.
Once Loyd awoke we talked to Paulo, the guy who made our reservation and seemed a little too excited to have us, where we could find an internet café. The second we found the café I started looking for flights to Madrid. Lisbon seemed so incredibly dead, with very few people walking around. Also, Lisbon is somewhat of a dead end for traveling by train, if we wanted to go south for a few days we would have to backtrack all the way to Lisbon to go into Spain. So we decided to just ditch Portugal after 1 day and get our butts to Spain. Flights on EasyJet were only 88 Euros so we bought them. The advantage of flying also allowed us to get another night in Madrid, since the only train from Lisbon to Madrid is an overnighter.
Happy with my work I suggested we head back to the hostel to eat some of our food we still had from our bus odyssey and drink another bottle of wine from Château La Riviere. We met up with our friend we made at the Internet Café, Griffith. We spotted what looks like a Golden Gate Bridge along the river and walked down to relax as the sun was setting. We walked around a few squares in the area and killed a few hours. Around 11 we headed back to the hostel and crashed. We had every intention of going out but had no idea where to go. I woke up at 3 AM and realized both Loyd and I were sleeping on top of our beds fully clothed. So it’s off to Madrid tomorrow – SWEET!
A Day of Goodbyes 7/30/08
Wallet: Day 23
Shorts and T-shirt
Waking up at 11 has become all but standard over past week in France. We dined on deliciously fresh croissants and tea, per usual. Lauren has to catch a flight to Paris this morning so Coco, Ryan and Loyd went to drop her off. I stayed back to blog a bit. A few hours later it was Ryan’s turn o leave so I joined that trip to the airport. We nearly ran out of gas on the way but somehow made it. Once we left Coco went to fill up the tank. 100 Euro later, it was full, YIKES!
Coco’s mom fed us one last dinner and we bought a few groceries so we would have food for our 18 hour trek. Around 8 Coco took us to the Chateau where they buy their jugs of wine. We got a free tour even though Coco had never been. Inside they had HUGE containers of wine & valve that let out a liter of wine every 2 seconds. Powerful stuff.
Shortly thereafter we were on our to the “bus stop”, if you can call it that. What it was was more like a mass of disorganized people with luggage, just sitting around. A bus rolls up the curb, people flock towards it and then learn if it is the bus going where they need to go. From what I saw, at least 10 different destinations are served from this one corner. Twice, a bus would roll up, we would wait in line and find out it wasn’t going to Lisbon. Finally, our bus arrived – a full hour and a half late. We put our bags under the bus and boarded the packed, humid beast. Within minutes, both Loyd and I were asleep. So it’s off to Lisbon, where we will roll in around 3 PM tomorrow, a total of 18 hours of travel. So here is to it.
Shorts and T-shirt
Waking up at 11 has become all but standard over past week in France. We dined on deliciously fresh croissants and tea, per usual. Lauren has to catch a flight to Paris this morning so Coco, Ryan and Loyd went to drop her off. I stayed back to blog a bit. A few hours later it was Ryan’s turn o leave so I joined that trip to the airport. We nearly ran out of gas on the way but somehow made it. Once we left Coco went to fill up the tank. 100 Euro later, it was full, YIKES!
Coco’s mom fed us one last dinner and we bought a few groceries so we would have food for our 18 hour trek. Around 8 Coco took us to the Chateau where they buy their jugs of wine. We got a free tour even though Coco had never been. Inside they had HUGE containers of wine & valve that let out a liter of wine every 2 seconds. Powerful stuff.
Shortly thereafter we were on our to the “bus stop”, if you can call it that. What it was was more like a mass of disorganized people with luggage, just sitting around. A bus rolls up the curb, people flock towards it and then learn if it is the bus going where they need to go. From what I saw, at least 10 different destinations are served from this one corner. Twice, a bus would roll up, we would wait in line and find out it wasn’t going to Lisbon. Finally, our bus arrived – a full hour and a half late. We put our bags under the bus and boarded the packed, humid beast. Within minutes, both Loyd and I were asleep. So it’s off to Lisbon, where we will roll in around 3 PM tomorrow, a total of 18 hours of travel. So here is to it.
1st Beach Day of the trip! 7/29/08
No wallet today
Boardshorts and T-shirt…obviously
I couldn’t be more excited this morning. We are heading to a beach an hour away from Coco’s house. Early this morning Kim nearly missed her flight back to Dublin. Close call. The rest of us are looking forward to getting some much needed sleep while sunbathing.
On our ride to the beach we heard our Bordeaux theme song at least twice, Amy McDonald – This is the life. It just says summer to us. We jammed out and next thing we knew, where were at the beach. The summer heat smacked us the second we got out of the car. To say I am pumped to sit on the sand get into the ocean is an absolute understatement.
The second my bare feet touched the soft Southern France sand, I knew summer had arrived. The waves at the beach were nothing short of epic, they were massive. All I wanted to do was rent a surfboard and ride them. First things first, set up the towel and get into that water.
The ocean can never be described as truly warm but this water looked so blue and clear, it didn’t matter. Loyd recorded – on his waterproof camera – our dash into the water. Within a few minutes of absorbing these beasts of waves, I was exhausted. I body surfed one of the biggest ones onto the beach. What a rush.
The moment my head met the towel on the warm sand, I was out. A few hours later I awoke to the sound of French being spoken. Coco’s friend Camille had come and joined us at the beach. Once everyone was awake, we ate our lunch. I felt myself really starting to like the Goose Pâté, it’s a new thing for me to eat meat out of a jar. We sipped on the Rose we bought at the Château yesterday. Basically, life is good.
We sat for a few more hours before the clouds gathered and the temperature at the beach went down significantly. We took a few more pictures by the water, jumped in one last time and left. The plan was to rise off and head to the restaurant where Camille works for dinner.
One we were all cleaned up we drove down to A Boulan. Camille’s restaurant specializes in two things, Oysters and Pâté. I’ve never tired Oysters but this trip is all about trying new things so bring it on. We ordered 36 for Coco, Ryan, Loyd and me. It seemed like a ton to me. The plate came out and I tried my first Oyster. Slightly slimy and salty, I wasn’t sure what the rave was all about. After about 3 of them and mixing it with buttered bread ad lemon. Suddenly, I found myself starting to like these strange creatures. We took some funny pictures and a video of Lauren trying her first Oyster.
We chilled and watched the sunset from the table which sat at the edge of a marina and low tide. It was cool to see all the sailboats resting at their side due to the lack of water.
Once Camille finished up her shift and closed up the restaurant we headed to her co-workers. We sipped more wine and enjoyed some French pizza. We then walked down to a local bar in the fisherman’s village. We absolutely took over the place. The evening was full of jokes and stories. Eventually, we headed back to Coco’s and the only two people who managed to stay awake were Coco and Loyd. Once we got home everyone crashed, it was another exhausting day in wine country. We’re off to Lisbon tomorrow night on an 18 hour bus, somehow I’m not really looking forward to that…
Boardshorts and T-shirt…obviously
I couldn’t be more excited this morning. We are heading to a beach an hour away from Coco’s house. Early this morning Kim nearly missed her flight back to Dublin. Close call. The rest of us are looking forward to getting some much needed sleep while sunbathing.
On our ride to the beach we heard our Bordeaux theme song at least twice, Amy McDonald – This is the life. It just says summer to us. We jammed out and next thing we knew, where were at the beach. The summer heat smacked us the second we got out of the car. To say I am pumped to sit on the sand get into the ocean is an absolute understatement.
The second my bare feet touched the soft Southern France sand, I knew summer had arrived. The waves at the beach were nothing short of epic, they were massive. All I wanted to do was rent a surfboard and ride them. First things first, set up the towel and get into that water.
The ocean can never be described as truly warm but this water looked so blue and clear, it didn’t matter. Loyd recorded – on his waterproof camera – our dash into the water. Within a few minutes of absorbing these beasts of waves, I was exhausted. I body surfed one of the biggest ones onto the beach. What a rush.
The moment my head met the towel on the warm sand, I was out. A few hours later I awoke to the sound of French being spoken. Coco’s friend Camille had come and joined us at the beach. Once everyone was awake, we ate our lunch. I felt myself really starting to like the Goose Pâté, it’s a new thing for me to eat meat out of a jar. We sipped on the Rose we bought at the Château yesterday. Basically, life is good.
We sat for a few more hours before the clouds gathered and the temperature at the beach went down significantly. We took a few more pictures by the water, jumped in one last time and left. The plan was to rise off and head to the restaurant where Camille works for dinner.
One we were all cleaned up we drove down to A Boulan. Camille’s restaurant specializes in two things, Oysters and Pâté. I’ve never tired Oysters but this trip is all about trying new things so bring it on. We ordered 36 for Coco, Ryan, Loyd and me. It seemed like a ton to me. The plate came out and I tried my first Oyster. Slightly slimy and salty, I wasn’t sure what the rave was all about. After about 3 of them and mixing it with buttered bread ad lemon. Suddenly, I found myself starting to like these strange creatures. We took some funny pictures and a video of Lauren trying her first Oyster.
We chilled and watched the sunset from the table which sat at the edge of a marina and low tide. It was cool to see all the sailboats resting at their side due to the lack of water.
Once Camille finished up her shift and closed up the restaurant we headed to her co-workers. We sipped more wine and enjoyed some French pizza. We then walked down to a local bar in the fisherman’s village. We absolutely took over the place. The evening was full of jokes and stories. Eventually, we headed back to Coco’s and the only two people who managed to stay awake were Coco and Loyd. Once we got home everyone crashed, it was another exhausting day in wine country. We’re off to Lisbon tomorrow night on an 18 hour bus, somehow I’m not really looking forward to that…
A Lesson in Classic Wine Making and Tasting 7/28/08
Wallet: Day 22
Shorts and T-Shirt
I woke up to crashing lightning and thunder from outside. Bordeaux is so humid they regularly have the lightning and thunder storms Boston is known for. We clearly were not heading to the beach so we got ready for a day of wine tasting.
Our drive out to the Chateaus was substantially more comfortable considering we had slightly bigger car and no luggage. The drive winded through what seemed like endless vineyards, it was incredible. We stopped by an amazing Chateau and took a few pictures. The landscape of this area of France is truly amazing.
We made it to a small town called Saint-Emilion, made up of cobble stone streets and more wine stores than you could count. The narrow streets reminded me of pictures I have seen of Italy, something I will hopefully get a chance to see later in this trip.
We ate lunch in the town where Coco looked through a tourism book and spotted a Chateau about 20 minutes away. The picture in the book made it look like massive castle. Coco called and reserved us spots on the tour a few hours away. Once done with lunch, we made our way to Chateau de La Riviere. The setting of this Chateau was nothing short of epic, sitting atop a hill, overlooking the vineyards where the grapes come from. It has all the making of a castle, complete with towers. We started the tour and learn that the Chateau has 6 acres of wine cellars beneath the castle. The guide led us down to the old stone quarry where over 1 million bottles are stored, dating back all the way to 1962. They have barrels ad bottles ranging up to 15 liters! The bottles were MASSIVE. The cool and moist atmosphere down in the quarry led to some mushroom growth on the bottles. The guide informed us that it doesn’t affect the wine but it was a little unnerving.
Next, of course, was the wine tasting. We tried the incredible wines they produced right there and felt the need to buy a few bottles for ourselves. Just as we were set to leave the rain and lightning began. It was amazing to watch the lightning in the valley from atop the hill. On our way home, everyone passed out except Coco, she was stuck driving. We got home and we were all treated to another amazing meal consisting of rabbit and fresh mashed potatoes. No one had any leftovers on their plates. We took a few more 5 liter jugs of wine out and polished them off. The champagne got bought out around 4 AM. What a crazy night it became, full of amazing laughs. So hopefully, it is off to the beach tomorrow.
Shorts and T-Shirt
I woke up to crashing lightning and thunder from outside. Bordeaux is so humid they regularly have the lightning and thunder storms Boston is known for. We clearly were not heading to the beach so we got ready for a day of wine tasting.
Our drive out to the Chateaus was substantially more comfortable considering we had slightly bigger car and no luggage. The drive winded through what seemed like endless vineyards, it was incredible. We stopped by an amazing Chateau and took a few pictures. The landscape of this area of France is truly amazing.
We made it to a small town called Saint-Emilion, made up of cobble stone streets and more wine stores than you could count. The narrow streets reminded me of pictures I have seen of Italy, something I will hopefully get a chance to see later in this trip.
We ate lunch in the town where Coco looked through a tourism book and spotted a Chateau about 20 minutes away. The picture in the book made it look like massive castle. Coco called and reserved us spots on the tour a few hours away. Once done with lunch, we made our way to Chateau de La Riviere. The setting of this Chateau was nothing short of epic, sitting atop a hill, overlooking the vineyards where the grapes come from. It has all the making of a castle, complete with towers. We started the tour and learn that the Chateau has 6 acres of wine cellars beneath the castle. The guide led us down to the old stone quarry where over 1 million bottles are stored, dating back all the way to 1962. They have barrels ad bottles ranging up to 15 liters! The bottles were MASSIVE. The cool and moist atmosphere down in the quarry led to some mushroom growth on the bottles. The guide informed us that it doesn’t affect the wine but it was a little unnerving.
Next, of course, was the wine tasting. We tried the incredible wines they produced right there and felt the need to buy a few bottles for ourselves. Just as we were set to leave the rain and lightning began. It was amazing to watch the lightning in the valley from atop the hill. On our way home, everyone passed out except Coco, she was stuck driving. We got home and we were all treated to another amazing meal consisting of rabbit and fresh mashed potatoes. No one had any leftovers on their plates. We took a few more 5 liter jugs of wine out and polished them off. The champagne got bought out around 4 AM. What a crazy night it became, full of amazing laughs. So hopefully, it is off to the beach tomorrow.
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Off to Bordeaux...Eventually 7/27/08
Wallet: Day 21
Shorts and T-shirt
This morning I woke up something was missing. My Livestrong band that I have worn for over 4 years had fallen off at some point in the night. It was slightly ironic because today was the final stage of the Tour de France and we went to Champs Elysee to see the finale. Weird coincidence.
Loyd, Kim and I headed to the train station near Audrey's so that Loyd and I could get tickets to Bordeaux. It was good Kim joined us because the ticket she had printed out back in Dubin was in fact just a confirmation so she would have had to pay full price for a ticket on the train. Loyd & my tickets each cost 3 Euros, not bad for a 4 hour high speed train.
We finally made it home after another hot and humid metro ride. Once gain, it had been over a day since I last showered, I can't believe I am starting to get used to it; especially considering how I generally shower twice a day. Once clean we went to Arc De Triumph and saw the madness that is the Tour de France finish line. It was nice to see so much commotion and excitement over the is race that nearly lost its legacy recently with all the doping scandals.
Time was flying by so we headed back to Bree's apartment to catch the 5:15 train to Bordeaux. We made it to the station with very little time to spare and Loyd and I had to walk a good half mile down the track to the first car. Adding the distance and the packs on our backs, and the heat of the day and you have a lethal combination. The AC on the train couldn't cool us down any faster, we were drenched.
4 hours later we arrived in Bordeaux. Coco led all 6 of us to her car around the corner from the station;. It was absolutely one of the smallest cars I have seen but all 6 of us managed to pack in with all our bags. It was a sight to see. We arrived at Coco's moms house as the sun was setting. I took some amazing pictures of the sunset.
We were served an incredible dinner of roasted duck and pasta. We were also introduced to the jugs of wine people in Bordeaux consume on a daily basis. The wine is made 2 minutes from Coco's house and couldn't be more fresh or tasty. We enjoyed more than 5 liters of wine that night and got to be around 3. Our plan for tomorrow is to either go to the beach or check out some of the surrounding Chateaus. Win/Win situation...without a doubt.
Shorts and T-shirt
This morning I woke up something was missing. My Livestrong band that I have worn for over 4 years had fallen off at some point in the night. It was slightly ironic because today was the final stage of the Tour de France and we went to Champs Elysee to see the finale. Weird coincidence.
Loyd, Kim and I headed to the train station near Audrey's so that Loyd and I could get tickets to Bordeaux. It was good Kim joined us because the ticket she had printed out back in Dubin was in fact just a confirmation so she would have had to pay full price for a ticket on the train. Loyd & my tickets each cost 3 Euros, not bad for a 4 hour high speed train.
We finally made it home after another hot and humid metro ride. Once gain, it had been over a day since I last showered, I can't believe I am starting to get used to it; especially considering how I generally shower twice a day. Once clean we went to Arc De Triumph and saw the madness that is the Tour de France finish line. It was nice to see so much commotion and excitement over the is race that nearly lost its legacy recently with all the doping scandals.
Time was flying by so we headed back to Bree's apartment to catch the 5:15 train to Bordeaux. We made it to the station with very little time to spare and Loyd and I had to walk a good half mile down the track to the first car. Adding the distance and the packs on our backs, and the heat of the day and you have a lethal combination. The AC on the train couldn't cool us down any faster, we were drenched.
4 hours later we arrived in Bordeaux. Coco led all 6 of us to her car around the corner from the station;. It was absolutely one of the smallest cars I have seen but all 6 of us managed to pack in with all our bags. It was a sight to see. We arrived at Coco's moms house as the sun was setting. I took some amazing pictures of the sunset.
We were served an incredible dinner of roasted duck and pasta. We were also introduced to the jugs of wine people in Bordeaux consume on a daily basis. The wine is made 2 minutes from Coco's house and couldn't be more fresh or tasty. We enjoyed more than 5 liters of wine that night and got to be around 3. Our plan for tomorrow is to either go to the beach or check out some of the surrounding Chateaus. Win/Win situation...without a doubt.
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Parisian Insanity 7/26/08
Wallet: Day 20
Stupidly wore jeans today - crazy heat wave
Today a few other NU kids are coming into Paris and our plan is to meet up with them and their French friends from study abroad in Ireland. Zoe, an Northeastern student made us pancakes for breakfast and gave us authentic Vermont maple syrup on them, from her home state. Great way to start the day. Lyuba, Loyd and I headed back to Bree's place with our stomachs full after spending the night at Zoe's and Audrey's. We got back to the apartment and could think of only one thing - showering. I hadn't showered in almost 30 hours, the longest I have gone so far this trip.
I emerged from the shower a new person. I came into the living room and said hi to Kim and Lauren, both of which I know from school. I had heard that there was a 3rd person coming with them and when I asked about it they told me that Ryan had been held back in Dublin and was taking a later flight. We made our way to Jardin du Luxembourg which surrounds the French Senate. All the lawns but one are blocked off and the one that was open was absolutely packed with people. We managed to find a small patch and pack ourselves in. We opened the two bottles of wine we brought and got the party started. We arrived at the park around 2 with 8 people in tow but by 7 the group had expanded to 11. 6 more bottles and a full French meal was shared amongst all of us. It was a great way to spend an afternoon.
The night only got better, we met up with Bree, her boyfriend Alex and 4 other Northeastern kids behind Notre Dame Cathedral. We sat by the river and sipped the evening away. We watched one of the most spectacular sunsets as the sun lowered behind the Cathedral towers. As it got darker the group of 15 began to move towards to the metro, as Alex suggested we check out a park that has a view of the entire city.
Once at the base of a hill, which sits about 300 steps below the park, we began the most serious hike we had taken on the trip. We all reached the top of the hill panting. It was that brutal. Truth is, the effort was entirely rewarded, as the view was incredible and the park was filled with young people sipping wine and listening to the live band covering songs. We jammed away until the rains came and dispersed the crowd. Instead of scurrying to cover as everyone else did, our group stayed out in the rain and started an impromptu sing-along. I shot quite a few videos and from the looks of them, they will be classics very soon.
We finally left our spot at the top of the hill with a few Parisians in tow. The rain was coming down hard at this point so we jetted into the first bar we saw. We were thrown out within minutes, classic Parisian rudeness. The second bar we found had live music and fit our attitudes perfectly. We absolutely took over the bar, packing it in with some of NU's finest. I started a Bon Jovi Livin' on a Prayer chant that picked up so much steam that I'm sure the next bar could hear it perfectly. The guitarist came back from his break and acknowledged it as the best cover he'd ever heard of Bon Jovi. Amazing.
We all finally split up as the bars were closing and made it back to Audrey's. Somewhere along the adventure today were invited to stay with Kim, Lauren, Ryan (who joined us after making his 2nd flight from Dublin) at their friend Coco's place in Bordeaux. So no Switzerland for now...off to WINE COUNTRY FRANCE!
Stupidly wore jeans today - crazy heat wave
Today a few other NU kids are coming into Paris and our plan is to meet up with them and their French friends from study abroad in Ireland. Zoe, an Northeastern student made us pancakes for breakfast and gave us authentic Vermont maple syrup on them, from her home state. Great way to start the day. Lyuba, Loyd and I headed back to Bree's place with our stomachs full after spending the night at Zoe's and Audrey's. We got back to the apartment and could think of only one thing - showering. I hadn't showered in almost 30 hours, the longest I have gone so far this trip.
I emerged from the shower a new person. I came into the living room and said hi to Kim and Lauren, both of which I know from school. I had heard that there was a 3rd person coming with them and when I asked about it they told me that Ryan had been held back in Dublin and was taking a later flight. We made our way to Jardin du Luxembourg which surrounds the French Senate. All the lawns but one are blocked off and the one that was open was absolutely packed with people. We managed to find a small patch and pack ourselves in. We opened the two bottles of wine we brought and got the party started. We arrived at the park around 2 with 8 people in tow but by 7 the group had expanded to 11. 6 more bottles and a full French meal was shared amongst all of us. It was a great way to spend an afternoon.
The night only got better, we met up with Bree, her boyfriend Alex and 4 other Northeastern kids behind Notre Dame Cathedral. We sat by the river and sipped the evening away. We watched one of the most spectacular sunsets as the sun lowered behind the Cathedral towers. As it got darker the group of 15 began to move towards to the metro, as Alex suggested we check out a park that has a view of the entire city.
Once at the base of a hill, which sits about 300 steps below the park, we began the most serious hike we had taken on the trip. We all reached the top of the hill panting. It was that brutal. Truth is, the effort was entirely rewarded, as the view was incredible and the park was filled with young people sipping wine and listening to the live band covering songs. We jammed away until the rains came and dispersed the crowd. Instead of scurrying to cover as everyone else did, our group stayed out in the rain and started an impromptu sing-along. I shot quite a few videos and from the looks of them, they will be classics very soon.
We finally left our spot at the top of the hill with a few Parisians in tow. The rain was coming down hard at this point so we jetted into the first bar we saw. We were thrown out within minutes, classic Parisian rudeness. The second bar we found had live music and fit our attitudes perfectly. We absolutely took over the bar, packing it in with some of NU's finest. I started a Bon Jovi Livin' on a Prayer chant that picked up so much steam that I'm sure the next bar could hear it perfectly. The guitarist came back from his break and acknowledged it as the best cover he'd ever heard of Bon Jovi. Amazing.
We all finally split up as the bars were closing and made it back to Audrey's. Somewhere along the adventure today were invited to stay with Kim, Lauren, Ryan (who joined us after making his 2nd flight from Dublin) at their friend Coco's place in Bordeaux. So no Switzerland for now...off to WINE COUNTRY FRANCE!
Paris Sightseeing 7/25/08
Wallet: Day 19
2 days of Shorts & T-shirts in a row!
The sun poured in through the living room french doors. It was going to be a great day, I could tell. Our plan was to head to the TGV (The French Train Company) office down the street from Bree's and book our tickets to Lisbon and then go walk around Paris. Once we got ourselves together, we headed to the office. The line was nearly non-existent so we felt that were in luck. The customer service we received lived up to every bit of the stereotypical Parisian rudeness. The ticketing agent seemed impatience from the moment we sat down. When we told him where we wanted to go he casually started searching. 10 minutes later he still had not looked back at us and had not said a word. Finally, he threw his hands up and said the system was down and he couldn't help us. I asked him when we should come back and he said the he didn't know, 10 minutes maybe 2 hours. Ugh.
We headed back to the apartment to eat a quick lunch and figure out what the hell we were going to do next. The street where Bree lives is lined with shops and bakeries, making it a cool place to walk around. The food we picked up was so delicious it lifted our spirits, seriously. We put another load of laundry in the washing machine and readied ourselves for round 2 at the ticketing office. The moment we walked in we got a bad look from the guy who we talked to before but we casually grabbed a new number and sat down. About 10 minutes later he got up and decided it was time for his break, leaving his desk empty. Eventually, the one lady left working got to our number. She seemed ready and happy to help it was actually a pleasant experience working with her...mostly. What we found out was there were no trains available on our Eurail pass and we would have to pay full price to get to Lisbon, an astounding 158 Euros. Ridic. Not happening.
Suddenly, I had a though - why don't we go to Switzerland instead? We would at least be working ourselves somewhat south and could probably find a train from there to Lisbon. The ticketing agent quickly found us two tickets for two days from now and we were set. Off to Bern and then Zurich. Total cost 10 Euros, much better.
We walked out of the office and towards the Eiffel tower feeling good about ourselves. We headed straight for the base of the Tower, it is so impressive. It seems to loom over practically everything in its' vicinity. You feel absolutely minuscule when you stand beneath it. We then headed up to the lookout point and took a few of our jumping pictures. They came out absolutely amazing. As we walked away, a man stopped us and showed us his camera, he had taken a shot of us jumping from another angle. We were tempted to ask for his email info so he could send it to us but his English was pretty hard to understand so we moved on. I'm still somewhat kicking myself for not getting that picture.
We took a short metro ride to Champs Elyses and walked to the Arc de Triumph. The whole street is lined with shops like Louis Vitton and Versace. We walked under the roundabout and to the base of the the Arc. Snapping a few pictures and seeing the view all the way down Champs Elyses was a good time. I took a look at our map and saw that if we headed straight down from where we were standing we would run into the Louve. As always, we decided to go with it, so off we went.
We made it to the Louve about 45 minutes later, feeling somewhat overheated from the incredibly hot day. I remembered reading that Louve closed at 6 and it was 5:30 so sat near the fountain and dipped our feet to cool off. After 20 minutes I saw there was still a line forming so I looked through our Paris book and was shocked to see that on Fridays it is open until 9. Sweet deal! We grabbed our things and got right in line.
As we made our way down to the lower floor where tickets are purchased a guy in an orange shirt stopped us. I figured he was trying to sell us something so we brushed him off. He switched from French to English and said, as students, if we waited until 6 PM you two will get in for free. RIGHT ON! We grabbed a cup of coffee at the cafe and went into the first part of the museum. The caffeine provided a serious boost to both of us.
We spent the most time in the Egyptian Mummy Exhibit, something I found absolutely amazing. We toured the multiple floors of the museum and later made our way to the Mona Lisa, also known as the massive disappointment. I was expecting some massive painting but its more the size of two postcards put together. I found the crowd gawking at the painting more interesting than the painting itself. I manged to get myself to the front of the crowd to get a good picture of the painting but more importantly a picture of the hundreds of cameras snapping away pictures.
Two and a half hours at that museum absolutely flew by and we made our way back to Bree's to shower up and get ready for another night out in Paris. Bree texted us directions on where to meet up and we made our way to a cool area of the city known for bars packed with students. We spent the rest of the night making up shots and chanting NU songs. Good times.
So again, from Pariiii, Au Revior!
2 days of Shorts & T-shirts in a row!
The sun poured in through the living room french doors. It was going to be a great day, I could tell. Our plan was to head to the TGV (The French Train Company) office down the street from Bree's and book our tickets to Lisbon and then go walk around Paris. Once we got ourselves together, we headed to the office. The line was nearly non-existent so we felt that were in luck. The customer service we received lived up to every bit of the stereotypical Parisian rudeness. The ticketing agent seemed impatience from the moment we sat down. When we told him where we wanted to go he casually started searching. 10 minutes later he still had not looked back at us and had not said a word. Finally, he threw his hands up and said the system was down and he couldn't help us. I asked him when we should come back and he said the he didn't know, 10 minutes maybe 2 hours. Ugh.
We headed back to the apartment to eat a quick lunch and figure out what the hell we were going to do next. The street where Bree lives is lined with shops and bakeries, making it a cool place to walk around. The food we picked up was so delicious it lifted our spirits, seriously. We put another load of laundry in the washing machine and readied ourselves for round 2 at the ticketing office. The moment we walked in we got a bad look from the guy who we talked to before but we casually grabbed a new number and sat down. About 10 minutes later he got up and decided it was time for his break, leaving his desk empty. Eventually, the one lady left working got to our number. She seemed ready and happy to help it was actually a pleasant experience working with her...mostly. What we found out was there were no trains available on our Eurail pass and we would have to pay full price to get to Lisbon, an astounding 158 Euros. Ridic. Not happening.
Suddenly, I had a though - why don't we go to Switzerland instead? We would at least be working ourselves somewhat south and could probably find a train from there to Lisbon. The ticketing agent quickly found us two tickets for two days from now and we were set. Off to Bern and then Zurich. Total cost 10 Euros, much better.
We walked out of the office and towards the Eiffel tower feeling good about ourselves. We headed straight for the base of the Tower, it is so impressive. It seems to loom over practically everything in its' vicinity. You feel absolutely minuscule when you stand beneath it. We then headed up to the lookout point and took a few of our jumping pictures. They came out absolutely amazing. As we walked away, a man stopped us and showed us his camera, he had taken a shot of us jumping from another angle. We were tempted to ask for his email info so he could send it to us but his English was pretty hard to understand so we moved on. I'm still somewhat kicking myself for not getting that picture.
We took a short metro ride to Champs Elyses and walked to the Arc de Triumph. The whole street is lined with shops like Louis Vitton and Versace. We walked under the roundabout and to the base of the the Arc. Snapping a few pictures and seeing the view all the way down Champs Elyses was a good time. I took a look at our map and saw that if we headed straight down from where we were standing we would run into the Louve. As always, we decided to go with it, so off we went.
We made it to the Louve about 45 minutes later, feeling somewhat overheated from the incredibly hot day. I remembered reading that Louve closed at 6 and it was 5:30 so sat near the fountain and dipped our feet to cool off. After 20 minutes I saw there was still a line forming so I looked through our Paris book and was shocked to see that on Fridays it is open until 9. Sweet deal! We grabbed our things and got right in line.
As we made our way down to the lower floor where tickets are purchased a guy in an orange shirt stopped us. I figured he was trying to sell us something so we brushed him off. He switched from French to English and said, as students, if we waited until 6 PM you two will get in for free. RIGHT ON! We grabbed a cup of coffee at the cafe and went into the first part of the museum. The caffeine provided a serious boost to both of us.
We spent the most time in the Egyptian Mummy Exhibit, something I found absolutely amazing. We toured the multiple floors of the museum and later made our way to the Mona Lisa, also known as the massive disappointment. I was expecting some massive painting but its more the size of two postcards put together. I found the crowd gawking at the painting more interesting than the painting itself. I manged to get myself to the front of the crowd to get a good picture of the painting but more importantly a picture of the hundreds of cameras snapping away pictures.
Two and a half hours at that museum absolutely flew by and we made our way back to Bree's to shower up and get ready for another night out in Paris. Bree texted us directions on where to meet up and we made our way to a cool area of the city known for bars packed with students. We spent the rest of the night making up shots and chanting NU songs. Good times.
So again, from Pariiii, Au Revior!
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Seeing the sights in Strasbourg & Enjoy some wine along a canal in Paris 7/24/08
Wallet: Day 18
Wow, what a difference a night of no partying can do for your body. I woke up this morning feeling the best I have felt on this trip. Elian and Daniel told us to be ready by 10 so we awoke and get packed up early. After taking a scaldingly hot shower, we headed down to the lobby to wait for them to arrive. Just as planned, they arrived at 10 and we were on our way to seeing the sights in Strasbourg.
With the little English and Hebrew we were able to communicate with we learned that the Cathedral in Strasbourg dates back over 600 years. The building itself is quite impressive. We walked around the old city and toured the new area as well. I spotted an REI looking store along the way and stepped in to replace the towel I had left behind in our mad dash out of the train from Budapest. 27 Euros later I had my replacement towel. Yikes.
We headed back to Eliane and Daniel's for lunch and enjoyed a delicious meal. Daniel took us to the train station around 3 and we got our tickets for a later train (at 5) to Paris as there were no remaining reservations for the train at 3:20. We decided to risk it and try to get on the earlier train. The conductor initially hesitated but eventually she gave in and told us to walk to the front of the train and get in. What we found at the front of the train was a private cabin with two doors isolating it from the rest of the cars. Baller. Status.
Once we made it to Paris we hopped off the train and celebrated getting there so quickly. Bree, Meghan's close friend was nice enough to offer us a place to stay in Paris. She had emailed me directions a few days earlier so we followed them and soon made it to her apartment. We were so intensely looking for her apartment that we didn't even notice the Eiffel Tower looming just two blocks away from us. Once we met up with Bree I got an overwhelming sensation, meeting up with someone familiar is something that is easy to take for granted.
We were shown her absolutely incredible apartment and dropped our bags and headed out all together. We headed over to meet with a few other Northeastern students studying in Paris on a canal in the city. The ride to the canal was intense, full of people jam packed into the metro cars. It was worth ever second as the evening was nothing short of incredible. We sat and enjoyed a typical Parisian summer evening, sipping wine with 1,000 or so of Parisian neighbors. Not long after we arrived we had run out of wine so Loyd and I went out to purchase some more. We were pleasantly surprised by the 3 Euro wine and bought a few bottles to share with the others. The evening was full of laughs and reminiscing about the incredibly city Boston is. Before we knew it, the metros were about to close so we hustled back to make it home. We emerged from the metro station at the best look out point at the Eiffel Tower and I had no choice but to snap quite a few pictures. Arriving home around 1:30 we all crashed.
So, from the shadow of the sparking Eiffel Tower, Au Revior!
Wow, what a difference a night of no partying can do for your body. I woke up this morning feeling the best I have felt on this trip. Elian and Daniel told us to be ready by 10 so we awoke and get packed up early. After taking a scaldingly hot shower, we headed down to the lobby to wait for them to arrive. Just as planned, they arrived at 10 and we were on our way to seeing the sights in Strasbourg.
With the little English and Hebrew we were able to communicate with we learned that the Cathedral in Strasbourg dates back over 600 years. The building itself is quite impressive. We walked around the old city and toured the new area as well. I spotted an REI looking store along the way and stepped in to replace the towel I had left behind in our mad dash out of the train from Budapest. 27 Euros later I had my replacement towel. Yikes.
We headed back to Eliane and Daniel's for lunch and enjoyed a delicious meal. Daniel took us to the train station around 3 and we got our tickets for a later train (at 5) to Paris as there were no remaining reservations for the train at 3:20. We decided to risk it and try to get on the earlier train. The conductor initially hesitated but eventually she gave in and told us to walk to the front of the train and get in. What we found at the front of the train was a private cabin with two doors isolating it from the rest of the cars. Baller. Status.
Once we made it to Paris we hopped off the train and celebrated getting there so quickly. Bree, Meghan's close friend was nice enough to offer us a place to stay in Paris. She had emailed me directions a few days earlier so we followed them and soon made it to her apartment. We were so intensely looking for her apartment that we didn't even notice the Eiffel Tower looming just two blocks away from us. Once we met up with Bree I got an overwhelming sensation, meeting up with someone familiar is something that is easy to take for granted.
We were shown her absolutely incredible apartment and dropped our bags and headed out all together. We headed over to meet with a few other Northeastern students studying in Paris on a canal in the city. The ride to the canal was intense, full of people jam packed into the metro cars. It was worth ever second as the evening was nothing short of incredible. We sat and enjoyed a typical Parisian summer evening, sipping wine with 1,000 or so of Parisian neighbors. Not long after we arrived we had run out of wine so Loyd and I went out to purchase some more. We were pleasantly surprised by the 3 Euro wine and bought a few bottles to share with the others. The evening was full of laughs and reminiscing about the incredibly city Boston is. Before we knew it, the metros were about to close so we hustled back to make it home. We emerged from the metro station at the best look out point at the Eiffel Tower and I had no choice but to snap quite a few pictures. Arriving home around 1:30 we all crashed.
So, from the shadow of the sparking Eiffel Tower, Au Revior!
On to Strasbourg, the apparent 2nd Morocco 7/23/08
Wallet: Day 17
Jeans & Sweatshirt
What a crazy night we had. Our hostel room was in shablmes and 9 guys' stuff scattered all over. We scampered down to breakfast to enjoy of the best ones we've had in a while. Plenty of fresh fruit and even a grilled cheese maker...MONEY! We gout our stuff out of the clutter and barely made it out for the 10 AM check out.
We chilled in the amazing atrium for a few minutes and talked about what we wanted to do that day. I wanted to see the nearby concentration camp so we made our way to the train station across the street.The tour was due to leave at 10:15 and we got to the meeting point at 10:20. I forgot that we were in Germany and when the say 10:15 they mean 10:15. Another tour guide told us we had already missed the tour but helped us by calling the tour leader. The train to the concentration camp had already left so we would have to wait another hour and a half to catch it. Opportunity lost but I am sure that I will be doing another Germany trip so I will make sure to see the camps.
We rehuddled and decided to check out the BMW factory. It is a short subway ride and sits right by the site where the Olympics were held. The moment we emerged from the subway I had a feeling of uneasiness in my stomach, at the site were I was standing Israeli Olympians were held hostage and later murdered. A tough sensation to describe but I felt haunted.
The BMW factory and museum sit just across the street. As we made our way over we spotted a BMW 7 series with the large Hydrogen writing on the side. We were both so impressed by this amazing technology, with the only emissions from the vehicle being pure water. Very cool stuff.
The Factory was one of the less educational experiences thus far but we did manage to see some of the very cool cars they have created over the years. Loyd felt a bit sick from the previous evening's festivities so we headed back for a bit more rest.
As we sat in the atrium at Wombat's I flipped through the Eurail train schedule and saw that there was an early train to Strasbourg. Without much debate we walked the block and a half to the station and for the first time on this trip, the schedule booklet was inaccurate. The book did tell us which transfer station we had to get to so we took the first train there.
Once at the transfer station we waited 2 hours to catch the train to Strasbourg. We killed the time by sitting outside a Burger King and watching a flock of pigeons go absolutely nuts over scraps of food. There was such a tremendous number of the in the restaurant that people would through food at them just to get the away from their tables. Frightening!
The train finally arrived and we boarded as fast as possible. We arrived around 8 PM and the train station was absolutely dead. I had made a reservation at a hostel near my cousins house so we used the directions provided in the confirmation email and made it without much of a problem. The site was looked more like a YMCA camp ground than a hostel. The facilities were not much better with the bunks feeling like summer camp. The second we got into our room we dropped our bags and ran back to the bus. I had received directions on how to get to my cousins house a few stops away but we were already late for dinner. Once we made it to the stop I joked with Loyd that we were totally living in that situation your parents told you avoid as a kid, some stranger coming and telling you to come with them. Luckily, my cousin Daniel came to get us and the way he shouted my name and opened his arms he reminded me more of a huge Papa Bear. He hugged and kissed both Loyd and I just as the rest of my Moroccan family does.
Once at his house I met the last surviving member of my grandparent's generation, my grandfathers sister. She took one look at me and began to tear up and saying in french that I looked like Michu (my father). She absolutely peppered my cheeks with kisses and I felt at home instantly. We were treated to a delicious meal prepared by Daniel and his lovely wife Eliane. The conversation was strained as French was the main language and English was nearly non-existent. Nonetheless, we had a blast with these amazingly warm people.
Daniel gave us a quick ride back to the hostel and told us to be ready at 10AM for a tour of the city with him and Eliane.
So from the 2nd coming of Morocco, Bon Nui!
Jeans & Sweatshirt
What a crazy night we had. Our hostel room was in shablmes and 9 guys' stuff scattered all over. We scampered down to breakfast to enjoy of the best ones we've had in a while. Plenty of fresh fruit and even a grilled cheese maker...MONEY! We gout our stuff out of the clutter and barely made it out for the 10 AM check out.
We chilled in the amazing atrium for a few minutes and talked about what we wanted to do that day. I wanted to see the nearby concentration camp so we made our way to the train station across the street.The tour was due to leave at 10:15 and we got to the meeting point at 10:20. I forgot that we were in Germany and when the say 10:15 they mean 10:15. Another tour guide told us we had already missed the tour but helped us by calling the tour leader. The train to the concentration camp had already left so we would have to wait another hour and a half to catch it. Opportunity lost but I am sure that I will be doing another Germany trip so I will make sure to see the camps.
We rehuddled and decided to check out the BMW factory. It is a short subway ride and sits right by the site where the Olympics were held. The moment we emerged from the subway I had a feeling of uneasiness in my stomach, at the site were I was standing Israeli Olympians were held hostage and later murdered. A tough sensation to describe but I felt haunted.
The BMW factory and museum sit just across the street. As we made our way over we spotted a BMW 7 series with the large Hydrogen writing on the side. We were both so impressed by this amazing technology, with the only emissions from the vehicle being pure water. Very cool stuff.
The Factory was one of the less educational experiences thus far but we did manage to see some of the very cool cars they have created over the years. Loyd felt a bit sick from the previous evening's festivities so we headed back for a bit more rest.
As we sat in the atrium at Wombat's I flipped through the Eurail train schedule and saw that there was an early train to Strasbourg. Without much debate we walked the block and a half to the station and for the first time on this trip, the schedule booklet was inaccurate. The book did tell us which transfer station we had to get to so we took the first train there.
Once at the transfer station we waited 2 hours to catch the train to Strasbourg. We killed the time by sitting outside a Burger King and watching a flock of pigeons go absolutely nuts over scraps of food. There was such a tremendous number of the in the restaurant that people would through food at them just to get the away from their tables. Frightening!
The train finally arrived and we boarded as fast as possible. We arrived around 8 PM and the train station was absolutely dead. I had made a reservation at a hostel near my cousins house so we used the directions provided in the confirmation email and made it without much of a problem. The site was looked more like a YMCA camp ground than a hostel. The facilities were not much better with the bunks feeling like summer camp. The second we got into our room we dropped our bags and ran back to the bus. I had received directions on how to get to my cousins house a few stops away but we were already late for dinner. Once we made it to the stop I joked with Loyd that we were totally living in that situation your parents told you avoid as a kid, some stranger coming and telling you to come with them. Luckily, my cousin Daniel came to get us and the way he shouted my name and opened his arms he reminded me more of a huge Papa Bear. He hugged and kissed both Loyd and I just as the rest of my Moroccan family does.
Once at his house I met the last surviving member of my grandparent's generation, my grandfathers sister. She took one look at me and began to tear up and saying in french that I looked like Michu (my father). She absolutely peppered my cheeks with kisses and I felt at home instantly. We were treated to a delicious meal prepared by Daniel and his lovely wife Eliane. The conversation was strained as French was the main language and English was nearly non-existent. Nonetheless, we had a blast with these amazingly warm people.
Daniel gave us a quick ride back to the hostel and told us to be ready at 10AM for a tour of the city with him and Eliane.
So from the 2nd coming of Morocco, Bon Nui!
Quick Apology
I wanted to quickly apologize to all of those waiting for an update on this blog. I have fallen desperately behind but have managed to keep my journal up to date so I will be adding entries in the next few days. I hope you all find them entertaining and provide me those comments I so cherish.
Cheers,
Aviad
Cheers,
Aviad
Friday, August 8, 2008
Munich, World of Beer & Brats 7/22/08
Wallet: Day 16
Jeans & Sweatshirt again
The conductor knock on the cabin door at 5:30 AM. Brutal. He tossed a few croissants and OJ containers into the room. Even though our train had left Budapest nearly an hour late we were right on time in Munich at 6 AM. Once I got myself out of bed by rolling off I walked out into the hallway. Everyone from the other cabins was waiting to get off the train and none of us in ours had even started to put our stuff together. I rushed back in and packed my stuff up quickly. I told Loyd to see if I forgot anything and left the train. Loyd was the last one off the train and he told me that the conductor was yelling repeatedly "please leave, PLEASE LEAVE!!". We made our way to a cafe in the station and sat for a bit. About 20 minutes later my heart skipped a beat, I realized I had hung up my towel overnight in the train and in my mad dash to get out, I had left it hanging there. I sprinted down to the platform where our train was and saw it was already gone. I guess my towel is somewhere in Budapest at this point.
We called our hostel to see if we could drop off our stuff and possibly check in early. They said check was at 2 PM without exception. Seeing it was 8 AM we decided to go drop off our stuff and then find something to entertain us for 6 hours... I looked at the directions and realized that the hostel was across the street from the station so the walk over was quick. As we walked in I noticed a few people on what looked like hammocks in the next room but I didn't pay too much attention. We put our bags into the luggage room and then I got a good view of the next room, it was an atrium full of hammocks, massive bean bags and benches. SCORE!!! Both of us snagged a spot in the room and were out within seconds. I woke up 2 hours later and looked around, I spotted Loyd laying face down. We were that tired from our trip.
There were signs in the hostel for a free walking tour leaving directly from the hostel. Although our past experience was, shal I say, less that ideal we decided to do it anyway. As soon as the tour guide started talking we knew we made a good decision. The tour guide was a flamboyant gay guy from the states who had moved to Berlin because his grandfather, who was German had caught "the fever"...jungle fever - which is why he's black. He was cracking us up from second one. He was exactly what we needed that morning -entertainment. He started the tour with a thorough review of the history of Germany, the high and the lows, the fact that before WWII and the Nazi party coming to power. I didn't know that the money in Germany was so worthless that they only printed it on one side. We left the hostel and headed through the city.
We stopped by a few churches and then at a beer garden, packed with people on a weekday afternoon. Loyd and I enjoyed 1 liter beers each, amazing. We continued the tour after the beer garden in much happier spirits. The fact that I hadn't showered in 30 hours wasn't bothering me so much. We learned about Hitler's failed Beer Hall Putch (coup) and saw where it all went down. The tour went on for a few more hours and finally ended with our brains hurting from so much information being pumped in. On the tour we met a brother and sister from Santa Barbara, Diana and Jacob. Once the tour ended we headed back to the beer garden for another round.
A little while later we finally made it back to the hostel and got that much needed shower in. We met back up with Diana and Jacob and headed to another Beer Hall that Ozzie had recommended. The food was cheap and the beer was delicious. A great dinner and a brew cost us each 10 euros, not bad! We headed back to our hostel for a pub crawl but just as we left the Beer Hall, the rains began. It was absolutely pouring. By time we made it back to the hostel 10 minutes later, we were all soaked head to toe. Instead of the pub crawl we decided to relax a bit in the bar in the hostel. We enjoyed the Happy Hour and 1 Euro beers and played some card games. Eventually we made it out of the hostel and to the Hofprahouse, where that failed Hitler coup occurred.
We finally made it home after an absolutely epic night. We're off to Strasbourg tomorrow but I knew from moment one that we had spent far too little time in Munich. Germany has absolutely been the best country we have visited yet. Off to FRANCCCEE!
Jeans & Sweatshirt again
The conductor knock on the cabin door at 5:30 AM. Brutal. He tossed a few croissants and OJ containers into the room. Even though our train had left Budapest nearly an hour late we were right on time in Munich at 6 AM. Once I got myself out of bed by rolling off I walked out into the hallway. Everyone from the other cabins was waiting to get off the train and none of us in ours had even started to put our stuff together. I rushed back in and packed my stuff up quickly. I told Loyd to see if I forgot anything and left the train. Loyd was the last one off the train and he told me that the conductor was yelling repeatedly "please leave, PLEASE LEAVE!!". We made our way to a cafe in the station and sat for a bit. About 20 minutes later my heart skipped a beat, I realized I had hung up my towel overnight in the train and in my mad dash to get out, I had left it hanging there. I sprinted down to the platform where our train was and saw it was already gone. I guess my towel is somewhere in Budapest at this point.
We called our hostel to see if we could drop off our stuff and possibly check in early. They said check was at 2 PM without exception. Seeing it was 8 AM we decided to go drop off our stuff and then find something to entertain us for 6 hours... I looked at the directions and realized that the hostel was across the street from the station so the walk over was quick. As we walked in I noticed a few people on what looked like hammocks in the next room but I didn't pay too much attention. We put our bags into the luggage room and then I got a good view of the next room, it was an atrium full of hammocks, massive bean bags and benches. SCORE!!! Both of us snagged a spot in the room and were out within seconds. I woke up 2 hours later and looked around, I spotted Loyd laying face down. We were that tired from our trip.
There were signs in the hostel for a free walking tour leaving directly from the hostel. Although our past experience was, shal I say, less that ideal we decided to do it anyway. As soon as the tour guide started talking we knew we made a good decision. The tour guide was a flamboyant gay guy from the states who had moved to Berlin because his grandfather, who was German had caught "the fever"...jungle fever - which is why he's black. He was cracking us up from second one. He was exactly what we needed that morning -entertainment. He started the tour with a thorough review of the history of Germany, the high and the lows, the fact that before WWII and the Nazi party coming to power. I didn't know that the money in Germany was so worthless that they only printed it on one side. We left the hostel and headed through the city.
We stopped by a few churches and then at a beer garden, packed with people on a weekday afternoon. Loyd and I enjoyed 1 liter beers each, amazing. We continued the tour after the beer garden in much happier spirits. The fact that I hadn't showered in 30 hours wasn't bothering me so much. We learned about Hitler's failed Beer Hall Putch (coup) and saw where it all went down. The tour went on for a few more hours and finally ended with our brains hurting from so much information being pumped in. On the tour we met a brother and sister from Santa Barbara, Diana and Jacob. Once the tour ended we headed back to the beer garden for another round.
A little while later we finally made it back to the hostel and got that much needed shower in. We met back up with Diana and Jacob and headed to another Beer Hall that Ozzie had recommended. The food was cheap and the beer was delicious. A great dinner and a brew cost us each 10 euros, not bad! We headed back to our hostel for a pub crawl but just as we left the Beer Hall, the rains began. It was absolutely pouring. By time we made it back to the hostel 10 minutes later, we were all soaked head to toe. Instead of the pub crawl we decided to relax a bit in the bar in the hostel. We enjoyed the Happy Hour and 1 Euro beers and played some card games. Eventually we made it out of the hostel and to the Hofprahouse, where that failed Hitler coup occurred.
We finally made it home after an absolutely epic night. We're off to Strasbourg tomorrow but I knew from moment one that we had spent far too little time in Munich. Germany has absolutely been the best country we have visited yet. Off to FRANCCCEE!
Free Tour? There must be a catch... 7/21/08
Wallet: Day 15
Jeans & Sweatshirt
This morning we woke up and had the least nutritious breakfast I have ever had. It consisted of a single slice of white bread and some apricot jam from a jar made of brown plastic. It didn't exactly scream GOOD MORNING! That was all that was available to us at this Hostel, pretty pathetic even for Hungary.
After eating that measly meal Loyd and I headed to a nearby square where a free tour was meeting, when I asked the guy at reception at our hostel about it he had no idea it even existed...good to know. We had already gone a few of these tours but they were usually well known by the hostel staff. We needed something to do so we went anyways. As soon as we arrived I knew something wasn't right. The tour guide stood holding up a sign that as we got closer I realized was upside down. As soon as he saw us walk up he stopped, midsentence, and asked where we were from. When I said Seattle he looked confused and looked to Loyd who answered New York. He repeated "New York, very nice" tat he would start his presentation over, much to the chagrin of the others in the group. At first it seemed like nothing when everyone sighed when he started again but it only took a few minutes before someone else joined the group and just as he did with us he started his whole thing from square one. Oh yeah, it didn't help that the guy was Hungarian and couldn't speak English outside of his prepared speech.
Nonetheless, it was a free tour so we stayed on for the first bit. About an hour in the guy pulled out a map he made in High School to demonstrate the changes in Hungarian history. That was it, final straw, I'm not staying and looking at handmade maps. I bit my tongue as looked at Loyd, looking more board that I ever thought was humanly possible. As soon as the next intersection came up, we went the opposite direction of the group. I saw a bench nearby and sat down. I saw the group walking the other way so I felt it was ok to just chill. Not two minutes into my nap I got this strange feeling that someone was looking at me so I opened my eyes. To my horror, the tour guide was standing next to me, looking at me and said "You need nap?". I have never jumped up faster in my life. Loyd could hardly contain himself he was laughing so hard. Needless to say, we rejoined the group until we could see a place to escape from. The second we saw a street nearby we ran down and turned a few corners...free at last!
We hopped on a metro across town towards Heros Square. As we started to set up for another one of our jumping pictures we caught the attention of a nearby family. As soon as we got the picture taken, the family started to do it as well. We have officially started a trend in Europe. As we walked around the nearby park we spotted the two Parisians we met in the train station the day before. They waved us over and we sat down with the two of them on the edge of a pond. Both of them had these great attitudes towards Americans so I joked with them that they weren't living up to their Parisian reputation of hating Americans. They joked with us that its not Americans they hate, its Bush...touche
The Parisians headed off to the Turkish Bath nearby, we had to head home so we split up. Before I could leave I had to change back the $300 plus I had left in Hungarian currency. As I exchanged them back into Euros I could feel myself getting ripped off. Problem was I couldn't do anything about it. We picked up our bags and made it to the station a good 2 hours before our train was due to leave. We did a Budpaest summary video and spend some time just relaxing. About 20 minutes before we were set to board Loyd jumped up from the stairs we were sitting on. A bird had just pooped on his hand. As bad as I felt for him I had to make a commotion, I yelled EW at the top of my lungs. A few other backpackers offered some wet wipes and purell. Nice people, I just stood and laughed.
We boarded the train and were instantly confused. The train is supposed to be a sleeper train but there were only two beds. A few minutes later 3 Korean kids came into cabin. He spoke pretty good English so explained to us that there we 6 beds in the cabin, the conductor would come around and transform what looked like a wall and the benches
we sat on into two more. Craziness.
A few hours into the trip the conductor did just what they said and made the room into 6 beds. I had about 10 inches between my face and the next bed. Good times. Our train was arriving in Munich at 6 AM so we tried to get to bed as early as possible. So from a train traveling through the back country of Hungary, goodnight!
Jeans & Sweatshirt
This morning we woke up and had the least nutritious breakfast I have ever had. It consisted of a single slice of white bread and some apricot jam from a jar made of brown plastic. It didn't exactly scream GOOD MORNING! That was all that was available to us at this Hostel, pretty pathetic even for Hungary.
After eating that measly meal Loyd and I headed to a nearby square where a free tour was meeting, when I asked the guy at reception at our hostel about it he had no idea it even existed...good to know. We had already gone a few of these tours but they were usually well known by the hostel staff. We needed something to do so we went anyways. As soon as we arrived I knew something wasn't right. The tour guide stood holding up a sign that as we got closer I realized was upside down. As soon as he saw us walk up he stopped, midsentence, and asked where we were from. When I said Seattle he looked confused and looked to Loyd who answered New York. He repeated "New York, very nice" tat he would start his presentation over, much to the chagrin of the others in the group. At first it seemed like nothing when everyone sighed when he started again but it only took a few minutes before someone else joined the group and just as he did with us he started his whole thing from square one. Oh yeah, it didn't help that the guy was Hungarian and couldn't speak English outside of his prepared speech.
Nonetheless, it was a free tour so we stayed on for the first bit. About an hour in the guy pulled out a map he made in High School to demonstrate the changes in Hungarian history. That was it, final straw, I'm not staying and looking at handmade maps. I bit my tongue as looked at Loyd, looking more board that I ever thought was humanly possible. As soon as the next intersection came up, we went the opposite direction of the group. I saw a bench nearby and sat down. I saw the group walking the other way so I felt it was ok to just chill. Not two minutes into my nap I got this strange feeling that someone was looking at me so I opened my eyes. To my horror, the tour guide was standing next to me, looking at me and said "You need nap?". I have never jumped up faster in my life. Loyd could hardly contain himself he was laughing so hard. Needless to say, we rejoined the group until we could see a place to escape from. The second we saw a street nearby we ran down and turned a few corners...free at last!
We hopped on a metro across town towards Heros Square. As we started to set up for another one of our jumping pictures we caught the attention of a nearby family. As soon as we got the picture taken, the family started to do it as well. We have officially started a trend in Europe. As we walked around the nearby park we spotted the two Parisians we met in the train station the day before. They waved us over and we sat down with the two of them on the edge of a pond. Both of them had these great attitudes towards Americans so I joked with them that they weren't living up to their Parisian reputation of hating Americans. They joked with us that its not Americans they hate, its Bush...touche
The Parisians headed off to the Turkish Bath nearby, we had to head home so we split up. Before I could leave I had to change back the $300 plus I had left in Hungarian currency. As I exchanged them back into Euros I could feel myself getting ripped off. Problem was I couldn't do anything about it. We picked up our bags and made it to the station a good 2 hours before our train was due to leave. We did a Budpaest summary video and spend some time just relaxing. About 20 minutes before we were set to board Loyd jumped up from the stairs we were sitting on. A bird had just pooped on his hand. As bad as I felt for him I had to make a commotion, I yelled EW at the top of my lungs. A few other backpackers offered some wet wipes and purell. Nice people, I just stood and laughed.
We boarded the train and were instantly confused. The train is supposed to be a sleeper train but there were only two beds. A few minutes later 3 Korean kids came into cabin. He spoke pretty good English so explained to us that there we 6 beds in the cabin, the conductor would come around and transform what looked like a wall and the benches
we sat on into two more. Craziness.
A few hours into the trip the conductor did just what they said and made the room into 6 beds. I had about 10 inches between my face and the next bed. Good times. Our train was arriving in Munich at 6 AM so we tried to get to bed as early as possible. So from a train traveling through the back country of Hungary, goodnight!
Off to Budapest! Land of Interesting Characters 7/20/08
Wallet: Day 14
Back to Jeans and Sweatshirt
This morning we all woke up feeling rested. I got to shower for the first time since London without Sandals...SWEET! Before we took the train to Budapest around 2, Meli wanted to show us one more thing the Danube Tower which sits on the banks of the river. She drove us over and we headed up the huge monument. The weather was not fully cooperating, as it was crazily windy at the top. We walked around and snapped some pictures of the beautiful city Vienna is. Not before long, we were all freezing and needing to get inside. We decided to try to grab some food at the restaurant at the top of the tower, much like the Space Needle.
At first we were told there were no seats but after some negotiation and pointing towards empty tables, we were seated at a table with an amazing view. The tower seemed to spin substantially faster than what I remembered the Space Needle ever spinning, leading to both Loyd and I feeling dizzy when we looked anywhere but straight outside. It was somewhat of a trippy experience.
Meli suggested we try the apple struddle, so we ordered one for the 3 of us to share. WOW, it was one of the most delicious things I have ever eaten in my life. After trying just about everything to get our waiters attention, we finally received our check and headed back towards the elevator. When we initially walked in a guy took a picture of us with a blank background and when we left the image had been printed out with the Danube Tower inserted behind us. The price of the picture was an astounding 6 Euros so we beat the system by taking a picture of the picture using Loyd's camera...classy, I know.
We made it to the station without a problem and Meli came onto the train to wish us goodbye. We tried to convince her to come with us but she clearly couldn't. The feeling shared by all of us in that train car was bittersweet, it had been a really fun time enjoying Austrian culture and Meli's family had been so hospitable to us, it was tough to leave. Eventually, the inevitable happened and Meli had to get off because the train was leaving. Loyd and I waved goodbye as we left the station.
One we got back to our cabin, we met a young Ukrainian. Turns out he is studying at Boston University Medical School and he entertained us the entire 3 hour trip to Budapest. He is living there for the summer so he shared with us some good places to see before we left.
Once we arrived in Budapest and got off the train I suggested to Loyd that we reserve our spaces on our first overnight train, to Munich. The atmosphere in the train station is closer to chaos than it is organized, people stand in a huge crowd and watch the ancient train schedule board. There isn't a TV or Digital system anywhere in sight. We took a number and waited, I looked up at the numbers being served and we were still 150 people away. After a few minutes I decided my time was probably better spent going to find some Hungarian currency, since they do not run on the Euro. The ATM in the station went through all the motions with me, asking for my PIN and amount I wanted to take out before it gave my card back and said that the ATM was out of order...HUH? Bad start for this city...
I decided to go take a look around and found a bank a few blocks outside the station. I put my card hoping I would actually get money this time. The options for withdrawal amounts ranged from 1,000 to 150,000 FTs. Geez, I had no idea what a normal amount was to take out so I went somewhere in the middle, 50,000 FTs. I only later found out that I had taken out close to $350 for the 48 hours we were spending in this city! BAD CALL!
Once I got back into the station, I was stopped by a couple Americans who spotted my Prague Pub Crawl t-shirt I was wearing. They were heading that direction so I happily gave them my advice of the best things to do in the city. In return one of the guys gave me one of their numbers in line and it was only 20 away from being called. Clutch. We quickly got called up and got our reservation.
We headed down to the metro to get over to the area where we lived and on the way we met two Parisian girls who needed help figuring out how to get out money. I pointed them towards where I had successfully been able to get some out. I bought Loyd and I 4 single use tickets for a grand total of 400 FTs. I realized that I still had 49,600 FTs left...I think that I may have taken out too much money. Even more sketch than that was the fact the lady behind the desk sort of threw a few bills and met with some change and started helping the guy behind me. I walked away and looked the amount of money she gave to me. I had handed her a 10,000 FT bill and had gotten back only 4,600. I got right back in line, hoping she wouldn't just plainly deny the whole thing. As soon as I got close to the front of the line she gave me this strange wink and handed me back the remaining 5,000 bill she had stashed in an envelope next to her full of cash. This was a scheme she was running on EVERYONE!!! Wow, Hungary is already sketching me out...
We managed to find our hostel even if it was on the most random street in the entire city. Once inside we realized how cool of spot it was, with two main rooms off the lobby with 15 foot ceilings. I walked into the full kitchen and met an Aussie named Al. We started chatting it up about our trips. Turns out he is backpacking alone for a full year, A FULL YEAR! He had already traversed Asia, the Middle East (including a trip to Israel which he loved) and Africa. Our conversations were classic from moment one, swapping stories of ridiculous people met along the way. We had both been ripped off by the lady in the train station, although I had managed to notice, Al only realized when he got the hostel.
After showering up and getting ready Al, Loyd and I headed out to explore the city and pick up a few brews. Once we got back to the hostel we sat around some more and listened to Al's insane adventure stories. A few guys from Amsterdam joined our conversation and told us about a few clubs that we should check out. We headed out with them only to be massively disappointed. The first one was open air, which is a cool idea except the moment we arrived the rain and lightning began. The place emptied out pretty quickly. The second place was a hardcore hike from the first one and once we arrived it was also completely dead. The 3 of us laughed about but were not terribly happy with our decision to leave the hostel in the driving rain.
The Dutch guys tried to convince us to visit one more place but I was having no part of it. I went to the bar and tried to order Loyd and I some Jaeger shots and caught the attention of a few Hungarian girls sitting at the bar. They asked us where we were from in impeccable English. We joined their group of people at their table and enjoyed some Hungarian specialty wine concoction. Al and the Dutch guys left for the 3rd club. Loyd and I enjoyed the new company until the restaurant closed. We hopped into a cab to avoid the driving rain and got back to the hostel dry. As soon as we walked in we saw Al walking in completely drenched. Turns out the 3rd club was closed and they had hiked all the way back across the city in the rain. Even in the horrible situation, Al was finding humor in it...you have to love the Aussie disposition in life.
We got to bed pretty late and planned on being productive tomorrow, doing some touring around the city. So goodnight from BUUUUDAPEST!
Back to Jeans and Sweatshirt
This morning we all woke up feeling rested. I got to shower for the first time since London without Sandals...SWEET! Before we took the train to Budapest around 2, Meli wanted to show us one more thing the Danube Tower which sits on the banks of the river. She drove us over and we headed up the huge monument. The weather was not fully cooperating, as it was crazily windy at the top. We walked around and snapped some pictures of the beautiful city Vienna is. Not before long, we were all freezing and needing to get inside. We decided to try to grab some food at the restaurant at the top of the tower, much like the Space Needle.
At first we were told there were no seats but after some negotiation and pointing towards empty tables, we were seated at a table with an amazing view. The tower seemed to spin substantially faster than what I remembered the Space Needle ever spinning, leading to both Loyd and I feeling dizzy when we looked anywhere but straight outside. It was somewhat of a trippy experience.
Meli suggested we try the apple struddle, so we ordered one for the 3 of us to share. WOW, it was one of the most delicious things I have ever eaten in my life. After trying just about everything to get our waiters attention, we finally received our check and headed back towards the elevator. When we initially walked in a guy took a picture of us with a blank background and when we left the image had been printed out with the Danube Tower inserted behind us. The price of the picture was an astounding 6 Euros so we beat the system by taking a picture of the picture using Loyd's camera...classy, I know.
We made it to the station without a problem and Meli came onto the train to wish us goodbye. We tried to convince her to come with us but she clearly couldn't. The feeling shared by all of us in that train car was bittersweet, it had been a really fun time enjoying Austrian culture and Meli's family had been so hospitable to us, it was tough to leave. Eventually, the inevitable happened and Meli had to get off because the train was leaving. Loyd and I waved goodbye as we left the station.
One we got back to our cabin, we met a young Ukrainian. Turns out he is studying at Boston University Medical School and he entertained us the entire 3 hour trip to Budapest. He is living there for the summer so he shared with us some good places to see before we left.
Once we arrived in Budapest and got off the train I suggested to Loyd that we reserve our spaces on our first overnight train, to Munich. The atmosphere in the train station is closer to chaos than it is organized, people stand in a huge crowd and watch the ancient train schedule board. There isn't a TV or Digital system anywhere in sight. We took a number and waited, I looked up at the numbers being served and we were still 150 people away. After a few minutes I decided my time was probably better spent going to find some Hungarian currency, since they do not run on the Euro. The ATM in the station went through all the motions with me, asking for my PIN and amount I wanted to take out before it gave my card back and said that the ATM was out of order...HUH? Bad start for this city...
I decided to go take a look around and found a bank a few blocks outside the station. I put my card hoping I would actually get money this time. The options for withdrawal amounts ranged from 1,000 to 150,000 FTs. Geez, I had no idea what a normal amount was to take out so I went somewhere in the middle, 50,000 FTs. I only later found out that I had taken out close to $350 for the 48 hours we were spending in this city! BAD CALL!
Once I got back into the station, I was stopped by a couple Americans who spotted my Prague Pub Crawl t-shirt I was wearing. They were heading that direction so I happily gave them my advice of the best things to do in the city. In return one of the guys gave me one of their numbers in line and it was only 20 away from being called. Clutch. We quickly got called up and got our reservation.
We headed down to the metro to get over to the area where we lived and on the way we met two Parisian girls who needed help figuring out how to get out money. I pointed them towards where I had successfully been able to get some out. I bought Loyd and I 4 single use tickets for a grand total of 400 FTs. I realized that I still had 49,600 FTs left...I think that I may have taken out too much money. Even more sketch than that was the fact the lady behind the desk sort of threw a few bills and met with some change and started helping the guy behind me. I walked away and looked the amount of money she gave to me. I had handed her a 10,000 FT bill and had gotten back only 4,600. I got right back in line, hoping she wouldn't just plainly deny the whole thing. As soon as I got close to the front of the line she gave me this strange wink and handed me back the remaining 5,000 bill she had stashed in an envelope next to her full of cash. This was a scheme she was running on EVERYONE!!! Wow, Hungary is already sketching me out...
We managed to find our hostel even if it was on the most random street in the entire city. Once inside we realized how cool of spot it was, with two main rooms off the lobby with 15 foot ceilings. I walked into the full kitchen and met an Aussie named Al. We started chatting it up about our trips. Turns out he is backpacking alone for a full year, A FULL YEAR! He had already traversed Asia, the Middle East (including a trip to Israel which he loved) and Africa. Our conversations were classic from moment one, swapping stories of ridiculous people met along the way. We had both been ripped off by the lady in the train station, although I had managed to notice, Al only realized when he got the hostel.
After showering up and getting ready Al, Loyd and I headed out to explore the city and pick up a few brews. Once we got back to the hostel we sat around some more and listened to Al's insane adventure stories. A few guys from Amsterdam joined our conversation and told us about a few clubs that we should check out. We headed out with them only to be massively disappointed. The first one was open air, which is a cool idea except the moment we arrived the rain and lightning began. The place emptied out pretty quickly. The second place was a hardcore hike from the first one and once we arrived it was also completely dead. The 3 of us laughed about but were not terribly happy with our decision to leave the hostel in the driving rain.
The Dutch guys tried to convince us to visit one more place but I was having no part of it. I went to the bar and tried to order Loyd and I some Jaeger shots and caught the attention of a few Hungarian girls sitting at the bar. They asked us where we were from in impeccable English. We joined their group of people at their table and enjoyed some Hungarian specialty wine concoction. Al and the Dutch guys left for the 3rd club. Loyd and I enjoyed the new company until the restaurant closed. We hopped into a cab to avoid the driving rain and got back to the hostel dry. As soon as we walked in we saw Al walking in completely drenched. Turns out the 3rd club was closed and they had hiked all the way back across the city in the rain. Even in the horrible situation, Al was finding humor in it...you have to love the Aussie disposition in life.
We got to bed pretty late and planned on being productive tomorrow, doing some touring around the city. So goodnight from BUUUUDAPEST!
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
A True Austrian Experience 7/19/08
First actually nice day of the trip! Shorts and T-Shirt!
This morning stared of spectacularly. The sun was shinning through the window and a warm breeze accompanied it - great way to start the day, to say the least. I felt completely refreshed even though I had slept barely 5 hours. We checked out of the Wombat and headed to the subway to get to Meli’s house. Meli picked us up after a little confusion on where to meet, in a sweet Mercedes. Both Loyd and I have been amazed by the cars that people drive in
Once we arrived at her parents house we were served an amazing breakfast of meats and cheeses. Delicious. I overate and ended up needing a powernap so I laid down. Around 1 we all got up and got moving into the city center. On the way we stopped at Zendral Friedhof – the largest cemetery in
We got back on the tram and rode it all the way to central
As we walked up to the Belvedere, we stopped to take one of our classic jumping pictures. About 5 tries later, we figured out we should try to use our burst shooting modes since, we kept jumping at the wrong moment. I used two large beer cans a stand and we finally had our picture. It came out amazing.
Once we finally made it into the museum there was a Gustav Klimt exhibit on display. I was excited to see it until we saw the museum closed 30 minutes later. There was no way we could justify 12 Euros on a museum we spend so little time inside. We decided to walk around the museum’s outside and take some more pictures. The grounds were impeccable.
After relaxing a bit in the shade we walked down to the City Hall, where we were the previous evening. We ate an authentic Austrian dinner of a Melonenbowle, Eirschwammer sause with Semmelknodel, Paprikahuhn mit Nockerln and Altwiner Reifsleisch. I know none of that is in English but I got Meli to write down the names since they were all so delicious.
We watched the beginning of an Opera they were showing at that evening and soaked up the incredible evening. What a classy place
Off to Wien, aka Vienna 7/18/08
Wallet: Day 12
Jeans & Sweatshirt: Day 3
I woke up this morning feeling slightly better but still feeling the effects of this random sickness. The room we were staying in was incredibly hot so I was pretty toasty all night.
We headed to the train station to try to catch the early train to
We walked up to the platform a good half hour before the train arrived and Loyd went off to use up the remaining Czech money we had. He came back with 2 water bottles, a kit kat bar and orange tic-tacs, I couldn't have picked more random things had I tried. No worries, we were off to Vienna on what must have been The Czech's nicest train, yet it still looked around 15 years old and had a funky smell to it.
Once we got onto the train itself, we realized just how valuable our seat reservations were. The train was an absolute madhouse. There were people with reservations and people who were trying to squat it seats. The result was craziness - people yelling at each other in different languages, kids crying and massive disorder. Loyd and I climbed on, found our seats and sat down, completely avoiding the insanity. It was slightly entertaining to watch, I have to admit. Two girls we saw come on the train had to switch seats 3 times in a matter of 2 hours. That's how crazy it was.
About 3 hours into the trip, most of the people had either found their seats or gotten of the train and the next stations. We were cruising into the Austrian countryside when two older plain-clothed policemen approached us. One of them was carrying a laptop and the other flashed his "badge" if you can even call it that. The thing was the size of a quarter and could be easily replicated in a trip to Staples and an arts and crafts store. They said in their best English that they were passport control and needed to see our documentation. Clearly not a problem, Loyd pulled out his passport and they inspected it and typed a few numbers into the laptop. Then they asked me for mine. When Loyd pulled mine out from the same bag, they were puzzled. It took a good 30 seconds for them to realize that were travelling together. Eventually, they took a half-second look at mine and handed it back. They proceeded to walk all the way through the car, passing the 70 or so other passengers sitting in the car.
Loyd looked at me and asked "how did they know we are Americans". I answered him "Look at us man, I have Barack Obama's book in my hand, typing on a Blackberry while listening to my Zune and you are sitting listening to your iPod, how much more American could we look?!" We laughed it up and chilled for the rest of the train.
Once we got to
The trip to our hostel took about half and hour and we as soon as got in we realized we couldn't do our typical set our stuff and down and pass out for a few hours - since Meli was coming in a few hours. We rinsed our faces and headed out to do some touring. We hopped back onto the U-Bahn near our hostel and headed towards the museum area on the map. We emerged from the station in one of the coolest settings yet, there were old buildings and statues everywhere. We started imitating the poses of the statues and took some really great pictures. We wandered around and found ourselves in the middle of a film festival that was going on, full of food and drink vendors. We each ordered big beers and began sipping away at the Austrian goodness.
Once we were done with that we walked over to the Parliament building and Opera house. I was snapping away pictures as the sun was setting behind these amazing buildings. I looked down at my watch and realized 4 hours had flown by so we had to rush home to shower and get ready for our night with Meli and her friends. We made it back to the hostel a short while later and once we had finished showering, we headed down to the bar in the lobby. It was packed with American tourists, you could hear the English immediately. We sat down with a group of girls at one of the tables and did introductions. One of the girls was from
Meli and her friends arrived a short while later and brought a wine bottle with them. We made our way to the U-Bahn with the bottle in hand. It is so strange how liberal they are in
Monday, July 28, 2008
My Body Catching up to the Abuse 7/17/08
Wallet: Day 11
New Jeans & Sweatshirt Streak: Day 2
I woke up this morning around 9:30 feeling awful. My throat was throbbing and it felt like I had a slight fever. Going out partying on consecutive nights for more than a week has to eventually catch up with you. After a quick breakfast I headed back to bed, I had zero energy. When I woke up at noon I didn't feel much better. I knew I had to get up - it would be such a waste to not take the day to tour around Prague. So I popped an Extra Strength Tylenol I had in my bag and got moving. Those who know me will understand that it was THAT bad, I never take pain killers so I was in really bad shape.
We headed to the camera store to pick me up a new camera. On the map it looked pretty close to our hostel but I was nowhere near on my game and ended up getting pretty lost. The free maps the hostels provide highlight the big cites but getting to them can be a challenge, considering the street names change ever block in the Czech Republic. While we were walking down a random street that we couldn't pronounce the name of, we found the shop. We walked in and saw the store walls were absolutely plastered with thousands of cameras and cell phones. I managed to find the Casios in the clutter and saw my camera, just in red. I didn't even hesitate, I walked over to the lady sitting at the cash register and in my slowest English told her the camera I wanted. After the confusion you might expect when a Czech is trying to understand an over-excited American, we figured it out and I had my camera. It is the exact same model, with the same battery so now I have a European charger and an extra battery. SOLID!
Happy as I was going to get considering my physical state, we headed towards Wenceslas Square and checked out the Czech National Museum. Just as we were leaving the less than impressive museum, the rain drops started to fall. After a quick look at the map we headed towards the Fredand Ginger Dancing Building, which looked like a ginomous blob. It had to be seen. Once we made it there, the building lived up to its image on the map, it looked like they chose the ugliest piece of the Experience Music Project and moved it to Prague. Wierd to say the least.
We then headed across the river towards the Petrin Tower, which looks a lot like the Eiffel Tower when we looked at it on the map. As we started up the hill towards it, it became very clear to me that I was not in any shape to hike up a huge hill so I told Loyd I had to stay back. I sent a few emails on the BlackBerry and the next thing I knew, Loyd was back from his hike. He wasn't too impressed with the tower, good thing I didn't go.
Around the time we left the base of the hill, that initial dose of Tylenol I took started to wear out and my body started to ache again. We stopped into a pharmacy and I picked up some throat lozenges, hoping they would help me get some rest. On our way home, Loyd was feeling hungry so we stopped into the local American Embassy for a quick bite. You know the embassy I am talking about, the one with two yellow arches and the funny red-headed clown mascot? Good ol' McDonalds! They are EVERYWHERE in Europe. Loyd ordered his Big Mac and was asked, as you would expect, if he wanted a meal. He obliged and the tray started to fill up, starting with fries, the burger box, a fountain drink, a water bottle and a mystery box. Loyd handed the kid behind the counter his credit card and the kid gave him a bewildered look. He walked to the back of the restaurant and got his manager. 10 minutes later, no joke - 10 minutes, Loyd was handed back his credit card with a receipt to sign. We walked over to a table and Loyd started to inspect this mystery box. It turned out to be fried shrimp, RANDOM! Then Loyd got an email from Bank of America, as he typically does when he uses that credit card, and told him how much the meal cost. What he expected to be a cheap bite ended up costing 12 dollars! I couldn't stop myself from laughing, it was a needed relief.
We got back to the hostel and I fell asleep again for a few hours. I felt a little better when I woke up but decided that I had to have a chill night unless I wanted to deal with this cold for a while longer. I got back in bed for good at 10:30 and as much as it sucks to go to bed early in such a big city with so much going on, it was a sacrifice I felt I had to make.
So we are heading to Vienna tomorrow to meet up with my friend Meli. Off to Aussie, just not the one with Kangaroos!
New Jeans & Sweatshirt Streak: Day 2
I woke up this morning around 9:30 feeling awful. My throat was throbbing and it felt like I had a slight fever. Going out partying on consecutive nights for more than a week has to eventually catch up with you. After a quick breakfast I headed back to bed, I had zero energy. When I woke up at noon I didn't feel much better. I knew I had to get up - it would be such a waste to not take the day to tour around Prague. So I popped an Extra Strength Tylenol I had in my bag and got moving. Those who know me will understand that it was THAT bad, I never take pain killers so I was in really bad shape.
We headed to the camera store to pick me up a new camera. On the map it looked pretty close to our hostel but I was nowhere near on my game and ended up getting pretty lost. The free maps the hostels provide highlight the big cites but getting to them can be a challenge, considering the street names change ever block in the Czech Republic. While we were walking down a random street that we couldn't pronounce the name of, we found the shop. We walked in and saw the store walls were absolutely plastered with thousands of cameras and cell phones. I managed to find the Casios in the clutter and saw my camera, just in red. I didn't even hesitate, I walked over to the lady sitting at the cash register and in my slowest English told her the camera I wanted. After the confusion you might expect when a Czech is trying to understand an over-excited American, we figured it out and I had my camera. It is the exact same model, with the same battery so now I have a European charger and an extra battery. SOLID!
Happy as I was going to get considering my physical state, we headed towards Wenceslas Square and checked out the Czech National Museum. Just as we were leaving the less than impressive museum, the rain drops started to fall. After a quick look at the map we headed towards the Fredand Ginger Dancing Building, which looked like a ginomous blob. It had to be seen. Once we made it there, the building lived up to its image on the map, it looked like they chose the ugliest piece of the Experience Music Project and moved it to Prague. Wierd to say the least.
We then headed across the river towards the Petrin Tower, which looks a lot like the Eiffel Tower when we looked at it on the map. As we started up the hill towards it, it became very clear to me that I was not in any shape to hike up a huge hill so I told Loyd I had to stay back. I sent a few emails on the BlackBerry and the next thing I knew, Loyd was back from his hike. He wasn't too impressed with the tower, good thing I didn't go.
Around the time we left the base of the hill, that initial dose of Tylenol I took started to wear out and my body started to ache again. We stopped into a pharmacy and I picked up some throat lozenges, hoping they would help me get some rest. On our way home, Loyd was feeling hungry so we stopped into the local American Embassy for a quick bite. You know the embassy I am talking about, the one with two yellow arches and the funny red-headed clown mascot? Good ol' McDonalds! They are EVERYWHERE in Europe. Loyd ordered his Big Mac and was asked, as you would expect, if he wanted a meal. He obliged and the tray started to fill up, starting with fries, the burger box, a fountain drink, a water bottle and a mystery box. Loyd handed the kid behind the counter his credit card and the kid gave him a bewildered look. He walked to the back of the restaurant and got his manager. 10 minutes later, no joke - 10 minutes, Loyd was handed back his credit card with a receipt to sign. We walked over to a table and Loyd started to inspect this mystery box. It turned out to be fried shrimp, RANDOM! Then Loyd got an email from Bank of America, as he typically does when he uses that credit card, and told him how much the meal cost. What he expected to be a cheap bite ended up costing 12 dollars! I couldn't stop myself from laughing, it was a needed relief.
We got back to the hostel and I fell asleep again for a few hours. I felt a little better when I woke up but decided that I had to have a chill night unless I wanted to deal with this cold for a while longer. I got back in bed for good at 10:30 and as much as it sucks to go to bed early in such a big city with so much going on, it was a sacrifice I felt I had to make.
So we are heading to Vienna tomorrow to meet up with my friend Meli. Off to Aussie, just not the one with Kangaroos!
Off to Prague! 7/16/08
Wallet: Day 10
Back to Jeans & Tshirt
This morning we woke up and got moving quickly. We wanted to check out St. Thomas Church where Bach is buried before we headed to Prague. We made it to the Church and heard some amazing organ music and saw Bach's tomb, pretty cool stuff. All in all, I didn't get to see all that much of Leipzig but I know that I will be back here in the future, hopefully on a family trip.
We checked out of the hostel and headed for the train station. We were supposed to get on a train to Dresden that arrived at 1 in the afternoon and our connecting train left for Prague at 1:10. Needless to say, we were cutting it close. As we rolled into Dresden we had only two minutes to get off the train, buy tickets since our Eurail passes don't work in the Czech Republic and find the track where the train was. Yikes. I was sure we had missed the train but we ran up to the platform a good 10 minutes after the train should have departed. To our surprise, the train was still sitting at the track so we hopped on. Sweet!
Once we arrived in Prague, the station we pulled into set the mood very quickly. Unlike the high ceilings and large stations we have been used to seeing at each of our stops, the Prague station screams old Eastern Europe, with concrete everywhere and rusting metal abound. We found and information booth in the station that was littered with backpackers. The location of our hostel is right in the Stare Mesto or Old Town of Prague where the Jewish area used to sit. Once we dropped our belongings off at the hostel we left to walk around. We explored the map and headed towards the Vltava River that runs directly through Prague. We crossed the Manesur Bridge and walked down the river towards the more famous Charles Bridge. As we walked down Cihelna street I snapped a picture of Loyd in the smallest entrance I have ever seen to a restaurant. The entrance walkway was so narrow that there was a traffic light that guided traffic. After I took the picture I let go of the camera, assuming the wrist strap was still on but then I felt something horrible, the weight of the camera didn't catch on my wrist and I watched the camera plummet towards the cobblestone street. SMASH! The camera had still not completely shut off so the lens was still out and it took the brunt of the force. I picked up the camera and I knew it was done for, the lens was bent and the camera was making crazy noises. Also, the die cast metal body had a deep dent in it. GAME OVER.
My reaction was what you may expect, totally bummed out. Luckily, Loyd and I started coming up with different ideas of how I could get a new camera since there was no way I was going to spend the next 6 weeks without a camera. As we made our way back to the hostel we had already come up with about 4 different ideas. As soon as we got back I hopped onto one of the computers in the lobby and started looking for cameras online and camera shops in Prague. I figured my parents could FedEx me the camera overnight. I googled camera shops and found one nearby that said it had Casio cameras. I circled it on my map for us to check out the next day. By the time I was done with all of that and starting to feel better about the situation, it was 8:15 and we still had no plans for the night. The lobby area was packed with flyers for Pub Crawls so we grabbed the one that looked most appealing to us and headed over to the restaurant where it met, about 2 minutes away. The biggest draw in for us was the offer for a free t-shirt and considering how sick we already are of our clothes, a new shirt sounded excellent.
We arrived at Bohemian Bagel and grabbed dinner and some free beer they were handing out. I had to put some food in my stomach since we hadn't eaten since we were in Leipzig. A good bagel sandwich always seems to do the trick for me. We paid 15 Euros and got our wristbands. We toured a few local bars including one where Loyd had his first Absinthe shot. I snapped a few pictures using his camera of his reaction and they came out priceless. Later on we hopped on some party buses that took us to a massive club outside the city called Mecca. There was a rave going on there, it was absolutely crazy. The house music was blasting, the drinks were flowing, and the people were mingling. We danced the only dance that you can when house music is playing, whatever random movement your body has you do. It is always a good time.
It was great night capped off by a crazy taxi cab ride home through the Prague streets. The cabbie had no idea where he was going so our prenegotiated price of 20 dollars turned out to be our savior since he drove around for close to an hour. We made it home around 3 AM and crashed, we have a jam packed day tomorrow including hopefully picking up a new camera for me!
Cheers from Prague!
Back to Jeans & Tshirt
This morning we woke up and got moving quickly. We wanted to check out St. Thomas Church where Bach is buried before we headed to Prague. We made it to the Church and heard some amazing organ music and saw Bach's tomb, pretty cool stuff. All in all, I didn't get to see all that much of Leipzig but I know that I will be back here in the future, hopefully on a family trip.
We checked out of the hostel and headed for the train station. We were supposed to get on a train to Dresden that arrived at 1 in the afternoon and our connecting train left for Prague at 1:10. Needless to say, we were cutting it close. As we rolled into Dresden we had only two minutes to get off the train, buy tickets since our Eurail passes don't work in the Czech Republic and find the track where the train was. Yikes. I was sure we had missed the train but we ran up to the platform a good 10 minutes after the train should have departed. To our surprise, the train was still sitting at the track so we hopped on. Sweet!
Once we arrived in Prague, the station we pulled into set the mood very quickly. Unlike the high ceilings and large stations we have been used to seeing at each of our stops, the Prague station screams old Eastern Europe, with concrete everywhere and rusting metal abound. We found and information booth in the station that was littered with backpackers. The location of our hostel is right in the Stare Mesto or Old Town of Prague where the Jewish area used to sit. Once we dropped our belongings off at the hostel we left to walk around. We explored the map and headed towards the Vltava River that runs directly through Prague. We crossed the Manesur Bridge and walked down the river towards the more famous Charles Bridge. As we walked down Cihelna street I snapped a picture of Loyd in the smallest entrance I have ever seen to a restaurant. The entrance walkway was so narrow that there was a traffic light that guided traffic. After I took the picture I let go of the camera, assuming the wrist strap was still on but then I felt something horrible, the weight of the camera didn't catch on my wrist and I watched the camera plummet towards the cobblestone street. SMASH! The camera had still not completely shut off so the lens was still out and it took the brunt of the force. I picked up the camera and I knew it was done for, the lens was bent and the camera was making crazy noises. Also, the die cast metal body had a deep dent in it. GAME OVER.
My reaction was what you may expect, totally bummed out. Luckily, Loyd and I started coming up with different ideas of how I could get a new camera since there was no way I was going to spend the next 6 weeks without a camera. As we made our way back to the hostel we had already come up with about 4 different ideas. As soon as we got back I hopped onto one of the computers in the lobby and started looking for cameras online and camera shops in Prague. I figured my parents could FedEx me the camera overnight. I googled camera shops and found one nearby that said it had Casio cameras. I circled it on my map for us to check out the next day. By the time I was done with all of that and starting to feel better about the situation, it was 8:15 and we still had no plans for the night. The lobby area was packed with flyers for Pub Crawls so we grabbed the one that looked most appealing to us and headed over to the restaurant where it met, about 2 minutes away. The biggest draw in for us was the offer for a free t-shirt and considering how sick we already are of our clothes, a new shirt sounded excellent.
We arrived at Bohemian Bagel and grabbed dinner and some free beer they were handing out. I had to put some food in my stomach since we hadn't eaten since we were in Leipzig. A good bagel sandwich always seems to do the trick for me. We paid 15 Euros and got our wristbands. We toured a few local bars including one where Loyd had his first Absinthe shot. I snapped a few pictures using his camera of his reaction and they came out priceless. Later on we hopped on some party buses that took us to a massive club outside the city called Mecca. There was a rave going on there, it was absolutely crazy. The house music was blasting, the drinks were flowing, and the people were mingling. We danced the only dance that you can when house music is playing, whatever random movement your body has you do. It is always a good time.
It was great night capped off by a crazy taxi cab ride home through the Prague streets. The cabbie had no idea where he was going so our prenegotiated price of 20 dollars turned out to be our savior since he drove around for close to an hour. We made it home around 3 AM and crashed, we have a jam packed day tomorrow including hopefully picking up a new camera for me!
Cheers from Prague!
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Back to my Family Roots: Leipzig 7/15/08
Wallet: Day 9
Shorts and T-shirt: Day 2!
We woke up this morning slightly exhausted from the partying the night before. But we managed to head to breakfast before it was over. On our way there the guy working the reception desk asked us if we were checking out today. I told him tomorrow (the 16th) was when we planned to check out. Apparently, when I first booked this hostel I messed up the dates and I was told there were no rooms at the Hostel for us to stay in. The amazing thing was, the guy sprang into action, asking me where we wanted to go next so I told him Leipzig. He immediately pulled out a book and started searching online. He told us to go have breakfast and pack up and by the time we were done he would have something for us. Sure enough, after chowing down on some delicious waffles and nutela, he found us a hostel very close to the train station in Leipzig, called the Sleepy Lion Hostel. We saw that it has received great reviews and the price was great for the two of us so we went with it.
Our original intent was to do Leipzig as a day trip but why not just go for the night? We hopped one of the hourly trains from Berlin to Leipzig and we were off. It was an amazing high speed train, 1st class all the way! There were LCD screens that said the speed the train was travelling and at one point we hit 200KM an hour or 120 MPH. It was an amazingly smooth ride as well. Once we arrived at the station we headed to our hostel using the handy directions the guy at our hostel in Berlin printed out for us. The walk was no more than ten minutes. Once we got to our hostel and walked in the door, we were greated by a total African theme, from the music to the stuffed animals that were all over the place. Sounds tacky but they actually pulled it off pretty well.
We got to our room and dropped our stuff off, we had a total of 8 beds in the room with our own shower and toilet. This place turned out to be a steal! The hostel also rented bikes, so clearly - after our amazing tour in Berlin - we had to rent them. The bikes we got were slightly different from the ones we had ridden the day before. These bikes were from 1940, with hard leather seats and no suspension to speak of. There was only one gear as well. The receptionist explained to us that the bikes were left by the Swiss Army at some point and now they are collectors items. Didn't matter much to us, we had our bikes and we were going to do some touring!
We took a map from the front desk and headed out. We circled the college area and the city square. We stopped in Johanna Park (my grandmother´s name, who was from Leipzig). We sat on a park bench for a while and I talked about the amazing woman my Omi was. I pictured her and my grandfather as kids sitting in the grass laughing. It was a really special moment on this trip.
After riding around for a few more hours we headed back and caught a little sleep before we went out for the night. We met some of roommates when we woke up, there was a girl from California, an Australian lady and a guy from Italy who was visiting Leipzig because he was competing in the Organ competition at St. Thomas Church, we Bach is buried. We wished him luck as he left for his audition at 11PM. Craziness.
We strolled around the area near our hostel and found a cool strip of relaxed bars with seats on the sidewalks. We sat down at few of them and relaxed the night away. Leipzig had a relaxed feel to it from the beginning. It was a relatively early night for us since we were still recovering from the previous night in Berlin, so were back in our room by 1. I am sorry I didn't get a chance to spend more time in Leipzig because we are leaving for Prague in the morning, but I know I will be back here in my lifetime, hopefully with my whole family in tow.
So its off to the Czech Republic tomorrow!
Shorts and T-shirt: Day 2!
We woke up this morning slightly exhausted from the partying the night before. But we managed to head to breakfast before it was over. On our way there the guy working the reception desk asked us if we were checking out today. I told him tomorrow (the 16th) was when we planned to check out. Apparently, when I first booked this hostel I messed up the dates and I was told there were no rooms at the Hostel for us to stay in. The amazing thing was, the guy sprang into action, asking me where we wanted to go next so I told him Leipzig. He immediately pulled out a book and started searching online. He told us to go have breakfast and pack up and by the time we were done he would have something for us. Sure enough, after chowing down on some delicious waffles and nutela, he found us a hostel very close to the train station in Leipzig, called the Sleepy Lion Hostel. We saw that it has received great reviews and the price was great for the two of us so we went with it.
Our original intent was to do Leipzig as a day trip but why not just go for the night? We hopped one of the hourly trains from Berlin to Leipzig and we were off. It was an amazing high speed train, 1st class all the way! There were LCD screens that said the speed the train was travelling and at one point we hit 200KM an hour or 120 MPH. It was an amazingly smooth ride as well. Once we arrived at the station we headed to our hostel using the handy directions the guy at our hostel in Berlin printed out for us. The walk was no more than ten minutes. Once we got to our hostel and walked in the door, we were greated by a total African theme, from the music to the stuffed animals that were all over the place. Sounds tacky but they actually pulled it off pretty well.
We got to our room and dropped our stuff off, we had a total of 8 beds in the room with our own shower and toilet. This place turned out to be a steal! The hostel also rented bikes, so clearly - after our amazing tour in Berlin - we had to rent them. The bikes we got were slightly different from the ones we had ridden the day before. These bikes were from 1940, with hard leather seats and no suspension to speak of. There was only one gear as well. The receptionist explained to us that the bikes were left by the Swiss Army at some point and now they are collectors items. Didn't matter much to us, we had our bikes and we were going to do some touring!
We took a map from the front desk and headed out. We circled the college area and the city square. We stopped in Johanna Park (my grandmother´s name, who was from Leipzig). We sat on a park bench for a while and I talked about the amazing woman my Omi was. I pictured her and my grandfather as kids sitting in the grass laughing. It was a really special moment on this trip.
After riding around for a few more hours we headed back and caught a little sleep before we went out for the night. We met some of roommates when we woke up, there was a girl from California, an Australian lady and a guy from Italy who was visiting Leipzig because he was competing in the Organ competition at St. Thomas Church, we Bach is buried. We wished him luck as he left for his audition at 11PM. Craziness.
We strolled around the area near our hostel and found a cool strip of relaxed bars with seats on the sidewalks. We sat down at few of them and relaxed the night away. Leipzig had a relaxed feel to it from the beginning. It was a relatively early night for us since we were still recovering from the previous night in Berlin, so were back in our room by 1. I am sorry I didn't get a chance to spend more time in Leipzig because we are leaving for Prague in the morning, but I know I will be back here in my lifetime, hopefully with my whole family in tow.
So its off to the Czech Republic tomorrow!
Berlivin' it up! 7/14/2008
Wallet: Day 8
NO Jeans OR Sweatshirt today!!!
Laundry Day! Wow, I have never been this excited to was my clothes as I was this morning when I woke up. On our way to the Hostel last night Loyd spotted a laundromat 2 blocks away. Today we are going to wash pretty much everything we brought, especially those jeans and sweatshirts that have been getting abused by daily wearing. What that also means is that now I am forced to wear something other than that awful outfit. So.pumped.
We washed our clothes and even that was an adventure for us. Between a German lady claiming that I used up her credits, to figuring out how use a machine that is completely in German (including what temperature and spin cycle we need to use, don't they just have Permanent Press and Cottons settings here?!) to understanding which of the 4 holes to put our detergent in, it was hilarious.
After we loaded the machines and got them started we headed back to the Transit Hostel to have breakfast. Half an hour later, filled with Brie cheese and yogurt, we headed back to the laundromat to switch our clothes into the driers. Once we stuck our clothes in these MASSIVE driers were about 10 loads of laundry could fit, we found a Internet cafe so we could post some blogs. I managed to pump out 3 blog entries. I was in the zone, chief (shout out to my new haircut). An hour absolute flew by and we headed back to fold our clothes.
The smell of clean laundry has never felt more like heaven. Everything we had was spotless, especially our socks which have taken an especially hard beating so far. Every time I looked over at Loyd folding his clothes he had a huge smile on his face. In a word, FREEESHHH!
We dropped our clothes off at the hostel and headed to the nearby Jewish Museum. What a place that was, the architecture was stunning and the effects it put on the visitor were astounding. We spent the 2.5 hours there and still felt rushed. The z had a tremendous collection of personal items from people who had perished in the Holocaust. Every piece gave its explanation and background info. The halls were mostly blank and somewhat disorienting. There was a space, one of many they call Holocaust tower. Here is a link to the museum at some of the pictures of it's architecture (http://www.juedisches-museum-berlin.de/site/EN/05-About-The-Museum/04-Photos/Libeskind-Building-inside/libeskind-building-inside.php). Zou walk in a room which is completely made of concrete. The only light or sound in the room comes for a skylight that is in the corner of the room, it is incredibly powerful. We stayed in there for a few minutes and soaked it all in Claustrophobia starts to creep in after that amount of time.
We continued on the Garden of Exile, around the corner. The iPod we had around our necks for the audio guide told us that the floor in the garden was at a 20 degree angle, which gives visitors a sense of vertigo and can cause nausea. It definitely worked on me. The affect of standing underneath the 49 pillars that line the garden is something like claustrophobia and being overwhelmed by the openness yet closed feeling the area gives. It is really hard to describe.
After that we headed to the last space or void in the museum called Fallen Leaves. This time as we approached it I got a feeling like we were getting close to a kitchen since there was a lot of clanking noises coming from it. When we turned the corner my jaw dropped. The void is a 3 story room with metal round faces all over the floor (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Sahlechet_P7160078.JPG). The design of the exhibit is to have people walk across it and make noise with each step. Again, it is so hard to describe what this space does to you but it definitely gave me a feeling of the sheer number of people who were buried in the mass graves in the concentration camps. The iPod recording explained that each of the faces were hand made out of iron and there around 10,000 on the floor. The pictures I captured will hopefully do some justice to this exhibit.
We had to run through the other two exhibits because the bike tour began at 4 and we were an easy half hour away from the TV tower, at least by foot. One of the exhibits we was on the 2,000+ year history of Jews in Germany and other parts of Europe. The other was all about stereotypes, both about Jews and other people. The one piece that really stood out to me was a Barbie doll wearing Tefillin and a Talit, talk about breaking the mold.
We rushed and ran to the TV tower. We made it...barely. The tour was run by a Texan named Wolf who we later found out owns the company, Fat Tire Bike Tours. Their motto is printed on all the workers shirts: 'Walking sucks!'. If anyone visits Berlin in the future I HIGHLY recommend this company, our tour was amazing. Bike tours allow for so much more to be seen in less time as well. We're hooked, without a doubt. So now to what we actually saw and did.
We weaved in and out of the Berlin streets from the old East, Communist/Social st area to the old West and Democratic/Capitalist area. We stopped by a few WWII important spots like Hitlers bunker. Wolf talked about how the area was now part of a Condominium complex as the Government is not trying to commemorate anything about his existence. Wolf lead the tour to the next stop but I felt I had to do something before I left that spot so I got of my bike and walked to the spot where he said Hitler was burned after killing himself and I spat. I said out loud 'You tried to kill us, but we're still here'. It gave me a little relief but still was a tough thing to place to see.
The tour also stopped at the Berlin Holocaust memorial which had great similarities with the one at the Jewish Museum. We stopped in a few other very important historical areas and I snapped away pictures vigorously. Berlin had so much to take in, I wanted to capture it all. We stopped by a local beer garden and caught an amazing sunset by the German Parliament.
The tour ended up taking about 5 hours to complete, ending around 9:30 PM) was worth every penny of the 18 € it costs (paid AFTER the tour was over, again with the trusting everyone). By the end of the tour I had pretty much maxed out my first 2GB memory stick, it was that good!
We met a few Aussie blokes on the trip and Wolf told us about a pub crawl his company works with so we decided to head over there right after we got back. Mind you, I was still in the shorts and t-shirt I put on at 9 am that morning. Our first stop was a ping-pong bar where everyone stands around the table and plays one game, sort like musical chairs. There is a first time for everything, I guess. We swung by few other bars and finally made it to a club as our last stop. We had an absolutely amazing evening as evidenced by us arriving home around 6:30 AM. So to sum it up, we Berlived it up to the maximum!
NO Jeans OR Sweatshirt today!!!
Laundry Day! Wow, I have never been this excited to was my clothes as I was this morning when I woke up. On our way to the Hostel last night Loyd spotted a laundromat 2 blocks away. Today we are going to wash pretty much everything we brought, especially those jeans and sweatshirts that have been getting abused by daily wearing. What that also means is that now I am forced to wear something other than that awful outfit. So.pumped.
We washed our clothes and even that was an adventure for us. Between a German lady claiming that I used up her credits, to figuring out how use a machine that is completely in German (including what temperature and spin cycle we need to use, don't they just have Permanent Press and Cottons settings here?!) to understanding which of the 4 holes to put our detergent in, it was hilarious.
After we loaded the machines and got them started we headed back to the Transit Hostel to have breakfast. Half an hour later, filled with Brie cheese and yogurt, we headed back to the laundromat to switch our clothes into the driers. Once we stuck our clothes in these MASSIVE driers were about 10 loads of laundry could fit, we found a Internet cafe so we could post some blogs. I managed to pump out 3 blog entries. I was in the zone, chief (shout out to my new haircut). An hour absolute flew by and we headed back to fold our clothes.
The smell of clean laundry has never felt more like heaven. Everything we had was spotless, especially our socks which have taken an especially hard beating so far. Every time I looked over at Loyd folding his clothes he had a huge smile on his face. In a word, FREEESHHH!
We dropped our clothes off at the hostel and headed to the nearby Jewish Museum. What a place that was, the architecture was stunning and the effects it put on the visitor were astounding. We spent the 2.5 hours there and still felt rushed. The z had a tremendous collection of personal items from people who had perished in the Holocaust. Every piece gave its explanation and background info. The halls were mostly blank and somewhat disorienting. There was a space, one of many they call Holocaust tower. Here is a link to the museum at some of the pictures of it's architecture (http://www.juedisches-museum-berlin.de/site/EN/05-About-The-Museum/04-Photos/Libeskind-Building-inside/libeskind-building-inside.php). Zou walk in a room which is completely made of concrete. The only light or sound in the room comes for a skylight that is in the corner of the room, it is incredibly powerful. We stayed in there for a few minutes and soaked it all in Claustrophobia starts to creep in after that amount of time.
We continued on the Garden of Exile, around the corner. The iPod we had around our necks for the audio guide told us that the floor in the garden was at a 20 degree angle, which gives visitors a sense of vertigo and can cause nausea. It definitely worked on me. The affect of standing underneath the 49 pillars that line the garden is something like claustrophobia and being overwhelmed by the openness yet closed feeling the area gives. It is really hard to describe.
After that we headed to the last space or void in the museum called Fallen Leaves. This time as we approached it I got a feeling like we were getting close to a kitchen since there was a lot of clanking noises coming from it. When we turned the corner my jaw dropped. The void is a 3 story room with metal round faces all over the floor (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Sahlechet_P7160078.JPG). The design of the exhibit is to have people walk across it and make noise with each step. Again, it is so hard to describe what this space does to you but it definitely gave me a feeling of the sheer number of people who were buried in the mass graves in the concentration camps. The iPod recording explained that each of the faces were hand made out of iron and there around 10,000 on the floor. The pictures I captured will hopefully do some justice to this exhibit.
We had to run through the other two exhibits because the bike tour began at 4 and we were an easy half hour away from the TV tower, at least by foot. One of the exhibits we was on the 2,000+ year history of Jews in Germany and other parts of Europe. The other was all about stereotypes, both about Jews and other people. The one piece that really stood out to me was a Barbie doll wearing Tefillin and a Talit, talk about breaking the mold.
We rushed and ran to the TV tower. We made it...barely. The tour was run by a Texan named Wolf who we later found out owns the company, Fat Tire Bike Tours. Their motto is printed on all the workers shirts: 'Walking sucks!'. If anyone visits Berlin in the future I HIGHLY recommend this company, our tour was amazing. Bike tours allow for so much more to be seen in less time as well. We're hooked, without a doubt. So now to what we actually saw and did.
We weaved in and out of the Berlin streets from the old East, Communist/Social st area to the old West and Democratic/Capitalist area. We stopped by a few WWII important spots like Hitlers bunker. Wolf talked about how the area was now part of a Condominium complex as the Government is not trying to commemorate anything about his existence. Wolf lead the tour to the next stop but I felt I had to do something before I left that spot so I got of my bike and walked to the spot where he said Hitler was burned after killing himself and I spat. I said out loud 'You tried to kill us, but we're still here'. It gave me a little relief but still was a tough thing to place to see.
The tour also stopped at the Berlin Holocaust memorial which had great similarities with the one at the Jewish Museum. We stopped in a few other very important historical areas and I snapped away pictures vigorously. Berlin had so much to take in, I wanted to capture it all. We stopped by a local beer garden and caught an amazing sunset by the German Parliament.
The tour ended up taking about 5 hours to complete, ending around 9:30 PM) was worth every penny of the 18 € it costs (paid AFTER the tour was over, again with the trusting everyone). By the end of the tour I had pretty much maxed out my first 2GB memory stick, it was that good!
We met a few Aussie blokes on the trip and Wolf told us about a pub crawl his company works with so we decided to head over there right after we got back. Mind you, I was still in the shorts and t-shirt I put on at 9 am that morning. Our first stop was a ping-pong bar where everyone stands around the table and plays one game, sort like musical chairs. There is a first time for everything, I guess. We swung by few other bars and finally made it to a club as our last stop. We had an absolutely amazing evening as evidenced by us arriving home around 6:30 AM. So to sum it up, we Berlived it up to the maximum!
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Eurail to the rescue? We´ll see... 7/13/2008
Wallet: Day 7
Jeans & Sweatshirt: Day 9
So after a memorable stay in Amsterdam we are off to Berlin for a few days. The train to Berlin runs through a nearby town, called Amersfoot, so we need to get there first and then transfer trains. Once we finished eating breakfast we decided to check out one more place on our map, the De Gooyer Windmill. We walked over there and very quickly realized how huge this thing was. I mean it is MASSIVE! Loyd was wondering if it still spun and just as we arrived it began spinning slowly. That slow spin became faster within a minute or so, it was crazy to see this very old Windmill still work.
It was around 10:30 by the time we finished up at the windmill so I suggested we go to the train station to pick up our train tickets a few hours before we left. We really had no idea how these Eurail passes worked so we thought we should get someone to explain them to us. It turned out to be the best decision we have made in a while as when we arrived at the Centraal Station, the place was in absolute disarray. The average wait time to pick up tickets was over an hour and a half. We got a ticket at the kiosk for people trying to leave on trains in the next hour, we had no intention of waiting an hour and a half to have our questions answered. The wait was on 30 minutes, luckily. The customer service rep wasn´t exactly helpful but she was able to tell us what platform to go to and validated our passes so they were usable. We asked about reserving seats and she brushed us off with 'it will cost you extra, just go!'...Thanks lady I thought.
We headed back to our hostel and grabbed our bags, what an ordeal that was. At the Bulldog there was a large room where everyone had room to put down their bags. At the Y Hotel (not recommended under any circumstances), it was a singular closet. We were lucky because our bags were near the top but there was a guy with us who was trying to get his bag out, there were about 30 bags on top of his. Poor bloke. We tried to help but in the end he just needed space in the small hallway to set other people´s bags down.
Once we got out of that place we headed to the station to try to grab an earlier train. Our energy level was close to zero at this point, Amsterdam completely drained us. I had serious trouble staying awake once I down anywhere. In the end, we took an early train to Amersfoot and we finally got to see our Eurail tickets in action, it was mesmerizing. Not. I couldn´t believe my eyes when I saw the scrutiny that they put these passes through, ZERO! The conductor checked Loyd´s pass by glancing at it for about half a second and just saw the cover of mine and walked on.
The trip on the train itself was pretty easy, we rotated naps and got up every few hours to walk around. I must have snapped close to 70 pictures along the way, the countryside was amazing. The changes in landscape and scenery was a sight to see. Being out of the city, with the rural and wild nature is such a nice break, I think we really needed it.
About 5 hours into the 7 hour train ride a man came over to us and in his best English he asked if we were touring Germany. I was skeptical of why he was asking at first but still said yes. He got incredibly excited at my answer and said there was a big monument coming upon the side of the mountain we were coasting next to. The monument is called Porta West Falica and he was right, it really was incredible. After we passed it, I said thank you nicely to him and he answered ENJOY GERMANY! People amaze me with their outgoing nature around here.
We arrived in Berlin just as the sun was setting. The colors in the sky were stunning. I kept snapping away pictures as the train rolled in. My first reaction to Berlin was that the city is absolutely stunning. We found our way to our hostel by train (we didn't purchase tickets for the train out of ignorance but it was no problem, their system is bizarre - I will explain later).
Our hostel is located in Southern Berlin in a pretty hoppin' neighborhood. We dropped our stuff off in our room after we checked without paying or even providing any identification. Bizarre again. The Germans are incredibly trusting people, apparently. In our room we met a British couple from Manchester and they gave us a few tips of things to do in Berlin, specifically a bike tour that leaves from the Big TV tower by Alexanderplatz. It is a monument you can see from anywhere in the city. We decided that we would absolutely check it out.
I then realized I hadn´t eaten a solid meal all day. So we headed out into the city streets to find a restaurant that was open at 1 AM. After getting some directional assistance from some Copenhageners (sp?) staying at our hostel we found a Mexican joint. Perfect, right? First night in Germany and we are eating some enchiladas and drinking Coronas...Oh, Globalization.
We both absolutely housed our food (scarfed it down). The second we finished we realized just how exhausted we were and decided to call it an early night. We had big plans for the following day so we strolled back and passed out as soon as we got in.
Cheers from Berlin, tomorrow is shaping up to be a huge day!
Jeans & Sweatshirt: Day 9
So after a memorable stay in Amsterdam we are off to Berlin for a few days. The train to Berlin runs through a nearby town, called Amersfoot, so we need to get there first and then transfer trains. Once we finished eating breakfast we decided to check out one more place on our map, the De Gooyer Windmill. We walked over there and very quickly realized how huge this thing was. I mean it is MASSIVE! Loyd was wondering if it still spun and just as we arrived it began spinning slowly. That slow spin became faster within a minute or so, it was crazy to see this very old Windmill still work.
It was around 10:30 by the time we finished up at the windmill so I suggested we go to the train station to pick up our train tickets a few hours before we left. We really had no idea how these Eurail passes worked so we thought we should get someone to explain them to us. It turned out to be the best decision we have made in a while as when we arrived at the Centraal Station, the place was in absolute disarray. The average wait time to pick up tickets was over an hour and a half. We got a ticket at the kiosk for people trying to leave on trains in the next hour, we had no intention of waiting an hour and a half to have our questions answered. The wait was on 30 minutes, luckily. The customer service rep wasn´t exactly helpful but she was able to tell us what platform to go to and validated our passes so they were usable. We asked about reserving seats and she brushed us off with 'it will cost you extra, just go!'...Thanks lady I thought.
We headed back to our hostel and grabbed our bags, what an ordeal that was. At the Bulldog there was a large room where everyone had room to put down their bags. At the Y Hotel (not recommended under any circumstances), it was a singular closet. We were lucky because our bags were near the top but there was a guy with us who was trying to get his bag out, there were about 30 bags on top of his. Poor bloke. We tried to help but in the end he just needed space in the small hallway to set other people´s bags down.
Once we got out of that place we headed to the station to try to grab an earlier train. Our energy level was close to zero at this point, Amsterdam completely drained us. I had serious trouble staying awake once I down anywhere. In the end, we took an early train to Amersfoot and we finally got to see our Eurail tickets in action, it was mesmerizing. Not. I couldn´t believe my eyes when I saw the scrutiny that they put these passes through, ZERO! The conductor checked Loyd´s pass by glancing at it for about half a second and just saw the cover of mine and walked on.
The trip on the train itself was pretty easy, we rotated naps and got up every few hours to walk around. I must have snapped close to 70 pictures along the way, the countryside was amazing. The changes in landscape and scenery was a sight to see. Being out of the city, with the rural and wild nature is such a nice break, I think we really needed it.
About 5 hours into the 7 hour train ride a man came over to us and in his best English he asked if we were touring Germany. I was skeptical of why he was asking at first but still said yes. He got incredibly excited at my answer and said there was a big monument coming upon the side of the mountain we were coasting next to. The monument is called Porta West Falica and he was right, it really was incredible. After we passed it, I said thank you nicely to him and he answered ENJOY GERMANY! People amaze me with their outgoing nature around here.
We arrived in Berlin just as the sun was setting. The colors in the sky were stunning. I kept snapping away pictures as the train rolled in. My first reaction to Berlin was that the city is absolutely stunning. We found our way to our hostel by train (we didn't purchase tickets for the train out of ignorance but it was no problem, their system is bizarre - I will explain later).
Our hostel is located in Southern Berlin in a pretty hoppin' neighborhood. We dropped our stuff off in our room after we checked without paying or even providing any identification. Bizarre again. The Germans are incredibly trusting people, apparently. In our room we met a British couple from Manchester and they gave us a few tips of things to do in Berlin, specifically a bike tour that leaves from the Big TV tower by Alexanderplatz. It is a monument you can see from anywhere in the city. We decided that we would absolutely check it out.
I then realized I hadn´t eaten a solid meal all day. So we headed out into the city streets to find a restaurant that was open at 1 AM. After getting some directional assistance from some Copenhageners (sp?) staying at our hostel we found a Mexican joint. Perfect, right? First night in Germany and we are eating some enchiladas and drinking Coronas...Oh, Globalization.
We both absolutely housed our food (scarfed it down). The second we finished we realized just how exhausted we were and decided to call it an early night. We had big plans for the following day so we strolled back and passed out as soon as we got in.
Cheers from Berlin, tomorrow is shaping up to be a huge day!
Checking Out 7-12-2008
Wallet: Day 6
Jeans and Sweatshirt: Day 8
This morning is check out from the Bulldog Hostel, where we have called home since we arrived in Amsterdam. I am actually sad to leave, as it is so full of fun kids from all over the world. Pretty much everyone we met was friendly. Its been a great location to stay and would definitely recommend it to any students who will be traveling in the future.
Katie, or Canadian roommate I mentioned yesterday told us about this free walking tour of Amsterdam that leaves from Dam Square, literally a block from us. We checked out of the Bulldog and left our bags in their luggage room and headed for the tour.
As we met the tour group, the rain cods started gathering. We took a gorp picture just as the last rays of sun hit Amsterdam. Just as Sean started the tour the ran drops starting to drop and they were dropping with a vengeance. I had finally had enough of this endless rain and bought a small umbrella. Nonetheless, the tour was off to not quite the right start...
Our tour guide Sean was awesome, he mixed in plenty of history with humor. Amsterdam is a city filled with so much history. My guess is that 90% of the tourists that come here never learn about. He weaved us through the canals and neighborhoods. When he talked about the Jewish history in the city, my interests peaked. He spoke about the Sephardic Jews arrived to Amsterdam wealthy and educated, leading them to be welcomed with open arms. They were provided with a section that is known in the city as the Jewish Quarter. In fact, Rembradt lived in the Jewish neighborhood where the Sephardim lived. Amsterdam was all about commerce and business so it comes as no surprise that they welcomed these foreigners so happily. When many of the Ashkenazic Jews arrived from Eastern Europe, they arrived as farmers and desperately poor. Unfortunately, the Ashkenazim were not welcomed so easily and tended to live in the Ghettos and worse neighborhoods in town. I didn´t get a chance to visit the great Great Synagogue the Sephardim built in the city, but I will have to come back and check it out at some point in my lifetime.
The tour covered a huge chunk of the downtown area and the insights Sean provided were awesome. He showed us off-the-beaten-path areas such as the smallest house in Amsterdam
. The house is 6 feet wide total. Since Amsterdam is built on what used to be bogs and swamps they would use wooden posts to build on top of. As that wood rots, the houses start to lean and sag. The solution the Amsterdammers utilize? Pouring concrete between the building to stabilize them (temporarily) and passing on the problem, at a more expensive rate, to the next generation. Hilarious.
As we stepped through an old convent, there was a wedding getting out. It was nice to see the family dressed and enjoying their special day. I started talking to a couple of girls on our trip from Germany - Theresa and Sarah. We got along great right off the bat so once the tour ended at Anne Frank´s house we decided to go continue our tour together, walking through the streets on our own.
Before we left the trip Sean told us one more thing about the Holocaust and how the residents of Amsterdam dealt with the Nazis. When we visited Anne Frank´s yesterday I wondered how the residents just let the Nazis run amok. Sean explained that when the Nazi decree came down and said that Jews have to wear yellow stars, many of the Amsterdam residents responded by wearing yellow flowers everywhere. The locals viewed the Jews as citizens so the Nazis were disturbing the peace between citizens. The kindness and sympathy didn´t stop the terrible things that ended up happening.
The tour was absolutely amazing and we will definitely look for this company in other cities. So we headed off with Sarah and Theresa to the city library to see what Sean described as the best view of the city. The view from the Cafe at the top of the building was amazing. Outside there were bikes scattered everywhere, the wind was blowing them over. The scene was so chaotic that the picture I took could easily look staged. We headed to a coffee shop that we stopped by during our tour and saw where the beginning of Ocean´s 12 was filmed. We walked along the canals for a few more hours and headed back to the Bulldog to grab our bags and checked in to our new hostel. We fell asleep early that night but was a great day and perfect ending to an awesome stop in Amsterdam.
Off to Berlin!
Jeans and Sweatshirt: Day 8
This morning is check out from the Bulldog Hostel, where we have called home since we arrived in Amsterdam. I am actually sad to leave, as it is so full of fun kids from all over the world. Pretty much everyone we met was friendly. Its been a great location to stay and would definitely recommend it to any students who will be traveling in the future.
Katie, or Canadian roommate I mentioned yesterday told us about this free walking tour of Amsterdam that leaves from Dam Square, literally a block from us. We checked out of the Bulldog and left our bags in their luggage room and headed for the tour.
As we met the tour group, the rain cods started gathering. We took a gorp picture just as the last rays of sun hit Amsterdam. Just as Sean started the tour the ran drops starting to drop and they were dropping with a vengeance. I had finally had enough of this endless rain and bought a small umbrella. Nonetheless, the tour was off to not quite the right start...
Our tour guide Sean was awesome, he mixed in plenty of history with humor. Amsterdam is a city filled with so much history. My guess is that 90% of the tourists that come here never learn about. He weaved us through the canals and neighborhoods. When he talked about the Jewish history in the city, my interests peaked. He spoke about the Sephardic Jews arrived to Amsterdam wealthy and educated, leading them to be welcomed with open arms. They were provided with a section that is known in the city as the Jewish Quarter. In fact, Rembradt lived in the Jewish neighborhood where the Sephardim lived. Amsterdam was all about commerce and business so it comes as no surprise that they welcomed these foreigners so happily. When many of the Ashkenazic Jews arrived from Eastern Europe, they arrived as farmers and desperately poor. Unfortunately, the Ashkenazim were not welcomed so easily and tended to live in the Ghettos and worse neighborhoods in town. I didn´t get a chance to visit the great Great Synagogue the Sephardim built in the city, but I will have to come back and check it out at some point in my lifetime.
The tour covered a huge chunk of the downtown area and the insights Sean provided were awesome. He showed us off-the-beaten-path areas such as the smallest house in Amsterdam
. The house is 6 feet wide total. Since Amsterdam is built on what used to be bogs and swamps they would use wooden posts to build on top of. As that wood rots, the houses start to lean and sag. The solution the Amsterdammers utilize? Pouring concrete between the building to stabilize them (temporarily) and passing on the problem, at a more expensive rate, to the next generation. Hilarious.
As we stepped through an old convent, there was a wedding getting out. It was nice to see the family dressed and enjoying their special day. I started talking to a couple of girls on our trip from Germany - Theresa and Sarah. We got along great right off the bat so once the tour ended at Anne Frank´s house we decided to go continue our tour together, walking through the streets on our own.
Before we left the trip Sean told us one more thing about the Holocaust and how the residents of Amsterdam dealt with the Nazis. When we visited Anne Frank´s yesterday I wondered how the residents just let the Nazis run amok. Sean explained that when the Nazi decree came down and said that Jews have to wear yellow stars, many of the Amsterdam residents responded by wearing yellow flowers everywhere. The locals viewed the Jews as citizens so the Nazis were disturbing the peace between citizens. The kindness and sympathy didn´t stop the terrible things that ended up happening.
The tour was absolutely amazing and we will definitely look for this company in other cities. So we headed off with Sarah and Theresa to the city library to see what Sean described as the best view of the city. The view from the Cafe at the top of the building was amazing. Outside there were bikes scattered everywhere, the wind was blowing them over. The scene was so chaotic that the picture I took could easily look staged. We headed to a coffee shop that we stopped by during our tour and saw where the beginning of Ocean´s 12 was filmed. We walked along the canals for a few more hours and headed back to the Bulldog to grab our bags and checked in to our new hostel. We fell asleep early that night but was a great day and perfect ending to an awesome stop in Amsterdam.
Off to Berlin!
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Museum Day June 11th 2008
Wallet: Day 5
No sweatshirt today but still wearing jeans
For those who I may not have explained it to before, the wallet count above is part of an experiment I am conducting on this trip. I am carrying an empty wallet in my back pocket and waiting to see how long it takes for it to get stolen. Should be interesting...
So this morning I woke up feeling rested. I am finally relaxing and beginning my vacation. I took a look into Rick Steve's book have been lugging around with us and not using. In that book he completely ignores Brussels and instead guides through another city in Belgium. So, so far he has not been much help. Today, however, he was amazing. Turns out the Van Gogh museum stays late on Fridays until 10 PM. Most people are completely unaware of this so the lines in the evening should be slim to none. So the plan is to head there tonight and check it out.
So before we headed to the Van Gogh museum tonight we decided to check out the Anne Frank house. The walk there was filled with crossing the remarkable canals that line Amsterdam. The city is set up like a half-onion. Each layer of the city is built up around the Central Station. It is a really interesting set up.
As we arrived at the house, the line seemed not too long so we jumped right into it. 10 minutes later, we were in. Right away, the striking blank walls set the tone. On the first floor there were only a few quotes etched into the walls. I took a sample of them throughout the tour, hoping to capture the best ones. I will provide them at the end of this post.
As the tour begins and you ascend to the secret section of the house, you immediately realize how small of a space this living area was. The stairs are incredible steep and creaky. The people hiding in this house must have avoided them at all costs. A sign informs visitors that when Otto (Anne's father) returned to the house after the Holocaust, and seeing that everything had been taken out, he chose it leave it as it was. The affect the empty area gives is incredibly powerful.
We wandered in and out of the rooms and read every plaque and watched every movie clip with as much care as possible. I was trying to absorb every second that I was there. As we walked out of the house, I was near tears. Her house was just feet from a large church. A thought ran through my head - had Anne Frank not been Jewish she may have never had to hide. It tripped me out. I kept wondering how the people of Amsterdam could have sat watched its own residents be abducted and taken away? Also, there is a tree outside Anne's house which they named Anne's tree. In one of the audio clips in the museum Anne refers to this tree as the only way she knew what season it was. The concept of living in fear 24/7 is so beyond me.
All in all, they job done on the Anne Frank House is incredible.
We headed home from the Anne Frank House with our heads a little lower than on our way there. We were both in our own worlds for much of the walk. We did spot an Apple store along the way and stepped in for a quick look. We ended up spending 2 hours using their free internet access to write some more up to this blog.
We decided to head back tyo our hostel to relax before we trekked over to the Van Gogh museum, which was on the other side of the city from where we were staying. Our new roomate Kate had just moved in as we arrived. She had a punk outfit on with pink strands painted into her MxPx style girl hair (Tam will get that reference). Kate was full of awesome tips and tricks for us to use on our trip. I wrote down nearly a page of things she recommended. I asked if she was interested in seeing the Van Gogh museum but she already had plans to go on a red-light district tour...only in Amsterdam!
On our way to the Van Gogh museum we ran into the Northeastern kid we met on the train before and his older brother. They told us that there was a cool "I amsterdam" statue nearby. That slogan is posted in nearly every corner of this city so we had to check it out. We got some sweet pictures on and around it, including ones jumping from one letter to the other.
Once we arrived at the Van Gogh museum there was no line whatsoever to get in. Without a doubt, this was the one location I felt that I had to visit on this trip. I have always had a connection with the works of Van Gogh and have been fascinated by them since youth (the fact that we share birthdays is also part of it).
The tour of the museum begins with an introduction to the man Vincent Van Gogh was. Most of the history I was aware of other than the fact he became an artist even though he didn't believe he had any talent. It seems odd considering he is considered one of the pioneers of art during his time. His first few works on display were all in the same dark green colors. I mentioned to Loyd that he must have been so poor that he couldn't have afforded other colors. Also, throughout his career he indicated his current mood through the usage of colors.
Most of my favorite pieces were on display: the Potato Eaters, one of his sunflowers renditions, his bedroom and the Almond Blossom. A few of his self-portraits were up as well. I was a little disappointed by the fact that two of my absolute favorites, Starry Night and the Self-portrait after he cut his ear off were not in the collection.
We headed home after a few hours at the museum and then out to Leipzenplain, a young hip part of town. Its full of fun bars and cafes, we found finished the night off walking around the city streets and absorbing all that Amsterdam is. What a place.
Here are few quotes I captured from the Anne Frank Museum, as you read these imagine a young girl scared for her life writing this profound words:
-"During the day our curtain can't be opened, not even an inch"
-"I long to ride a bike, dance, whistle, look at the world, feel young and know I am free"
-"The english radio says they're being gassed"
-"I can shake of everything if I write, my sorrow disappear and my courage is reborn" (my personal favorite)
-"Some of us read Anne Frank's diary on Rubben Island and derived much encouragement of it" - Nelson Mandela
No sweatshirt today but still wearing jeans
For those who I may not have explained it to before, the wallet count above is part of an experiment I am conducting on this trip. I am carrying an empty wallet in my back pocket and waiting to see how long it takes for it to get stolen. Should be interesting...
So this morning I woke up feeling rested. I am finally relaxing and beginning my vacation. I took a look into Rick Steve's book have been lugging around with us and not using. In that book he completely ignores Brussels and instead guides through another city in Belgium. So, so far he has not been much help. Today, however, he was amazing. Turns out the Van Gogh museum stays late on Fridays until 10 PM. Most people are completely unaware of this so the lines in the evening should be slim to none. So the plan is to head there tonight and check it out.
So before we headed to the Van Gogh museum tonight we decided to check out the Anne Frank house. The walk there was filled with crossing the remarkable canals that line Amsterdam. The city is set up like a half-onion. Each layer of the city is built up around the Central Station. It is a really interesting set up.
As we arrived at the house, the line seemed not too long so we jumped right into it. 10 minutes later, we were in. Right away, the striking blank walls set the tone. On the first floor there were only a few quotes etched into the walls. I took a sample of them throughout the tour, hoping to capture the best ones. I will provide them at the end of this post.
As the tour begins and you ascend to the secret section of the house, you immediately realize how small of a space this living area was. The stairs are incredible steep and creaky. The people hiding in this house must have avoided them at all costs. A sign informs visitors that when Otto (Anne's father) returned to the house after the Holocaust, and seeing that everything had been taken out, he chose it leave it as it was. The affect the empty area gives is incredibly powerful.
We wandered in and out of the rooms and read every plaque and watched every movie clip with as much care as possible. I was trying to absorb every second that I was there. As we walked out of the house, I was near tears. Her house was just feet from a large church. A thought ran through my head - had Anne Frank not been Jewish she may have never had to hide. It tripped me out. I kept wondering how the people of Amsterdam could have sat watched its own residents be abducted and taken away? Also, there is a tree outside Anne's house which they named Anne's tree. In one of the audio clips in the museum Anne refers to this tree as the only way she knew what season it was. The concept of living in fear 24/7 is so beyond me.
All in all, they job done on the Anne Frank House is incredible.
We headed home from the Anne Frank House with our heads a little lower than on our way there. We were both in our own worlds for much of the walk. We did spot an Apple store along the way and stepped in for a quick look. We ended up spending 2 hours using their free internet access to write some more up to this blog.
We decided to head back tyo our hostel to relax before we trekked over to the Van Gogh museum, which was on the other side of the city from where we were staying. Our new roomate Kate had just moved in as we arrived. She had a punk outfit on with pink strands painted into her MxPx style girl hair (Tam will get that reference). Kate was full of awesome tips and tricks for us to use on our trip. I wrote down nearly a page of things she recommended. I asked if she was interested in seeing the Van Gogh museum but she already had plans to go on a red-light district tour...only in Amsterdam!
On our way to the Van Gogh museum we ran into the Northeastern kid we met on the train before and his older brother. They told us that there was a cool "I amsterdam" statue nearby. That slogan is posted in nearly every corner of this city so we had to check it out. We got some sweet pictures on and around it, including ones jumping from one letter to the other.
Once we arrived at the Van Gogh museum there was no line whatsoever to get in. Without a doubt, this was the one location I felt that I had to visit on this trip. I have always had a connection with the works of Van Gogh and have been fascinated by them since youth (the fact that we share birthdays is also part of it).
The tour of the museum begins with an introduction to the man Vincent Van Gogh was. Most of the history I was aware of other than the fact he became an artist even though he didn't believe he had any talent. It seems odd considering he is considered one of the pioneers of art during his time. His first few works on display were all in the same dark green colors. I mentioned to Loyd that he must have been so poor that he couldn't have afforded other colors. Also, throughout his career he indicated his current mood through the usage of colors.
Most of my favorite pieces were on display: the Potato Eaters, one of his sunflowers renditions, his bedroom and the Almond Blossom. A few of his self-portraits were up as well. I was a little disappointed by the fact that two of my absolute favorites, Starry Night and the Self-portrait after he cut his ear off were not in the collection.
We headed home after a few hours at the museum and then out to Leipzenplain, a young hip part of town. Its full of fun bars and cafes, we found finished the night off walking around the city streets and absorbing all that Amsterdam is. What a place.
Here are few quotes I captured from the Anne Frank Museum, as you read these imagine a young girl scared for her life writing this profound words:
-"During the day our curtain can't be opened, not even an inch"
-"I long to ride a bike, dance, whistle, look at the world, feel young and know I am free"
-"The english radio says they're being gassed"
-"I can shake of everything if I write, my sorrow disappear and my courage is reborn" (my personal favorite)
-"Some of us read Anne Frank's diary on Rubben Island and derived much encouragement of it" - Nelson Mandela
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