Well it's been a few months since my last post, which really has been since I last traveled. I felt like writing another, more reflective post after having some time to get settled and reflect on the events surrounding this blog/travel excursion.
A quick update: I have been in Chicago for 8 months now and have gotten a very good feel for the city I would say. It took me 4 months to find and start a job that is just what I was looking for. That is much longer than I thought it would have taken but in relating to others who were or have been in the same situation i was in it actually was not very long at at all (especially considering the state of the economy, being fresh out of college and in a brand new city). My work, is working with abused children at residential treatment facility where they are basically given many different therapeutic outlets in order to come to terms with their inner demons and build skills to change their behavioral problems. After us they usually move on to another placement somewhere depending on the progress they've made. My job consists of interacting with the kids pretty much the entire time and keeping them on track with the daily routine we have.
My living situation is the same. I live with the same two guys but now I am on the lease and have a door and some more furniture in my room. They aren't as ideal of roommates as I would have hoped but given the cheap price and quality of our living space there really isn't too much to complain about. I've been able to meet a good group of people out here and a few others that i have enjoyed spending time with as well. I also really enjoy the company of people that I work with as well. I have to work on the weekend evenings a lot and that kinda blows. But all in all I feel that I am definitely set up here and in a very workable routine with some familiar faces.
So with all of that being said, I think I must honestly say that I think about coming back to the west coast at least 3 times a day, quite often more. I'm glad to be in Chicago and I feel that the experience that I have gotten and am getting here is great (work and life) but I'm not sure how much longer I really want to be here. I think about all my great friends in Oregon all the time and how much I feel that the distance is creating a gap between us that I just can't stand sometimes. I think about how even in Oregon transit to the bay area was much more feasible. Here it is a hassle to get there and I've gone a long time without having visited there. Going somewhere, like the bay, for the weekend is a huge hassle now. And with working on the weekend evenings here it has made it much harder to go out and have fun and continue to be social the way I would like to be. I've found this to be something that I value a lot. Not even really going out and partying but socializing with people all evening is something that I've discovered to be very important to me.
My work, is great and bad. It is a very stressful job so that is the bad part. There are some bad days where I don't want to be there at all or the kids have done something to really piss me off. Ultimately though, this is the exact job that I wanted. And there are a lot of good days and certain things i enjoy about my work. Just goofing around with the kids is fun and having a good time with my co-workers is a lot of fun as well. I love the facility and the way they've set it all up. I know that the experience I'm getting here really lays a foundation down for a lot of opportunities in the future. And I can honestly have a lot of fun there too. I run a cooking group for the kids, we'll go on walks to the park and hang out, we'll go to the gym and play basketball for an hour, with the Finals on TV we can just sit around and watch the game. But sometimes the kids are very volatile and it's tough do have to tough on them for being disrespectful. I do feel that if I were on the west coast this would be much easier.
In many ways I still feel like I'm traveling. Now that I have money I take one of my days off as an opportunity to just explore a new neighborhood of Chicago I haven't been too, and make no mistake, this city is vast. I also feel like I'm learning about a new region of the world by living there. It may still be the same country and a liberal city but it's much different than the San Fran bay area or Eugene, OR. It's just been a damn long traveling experience in some ways. The tough part is I feel like I'm stuck here sometimes.
I burned through all of my money traveling and not having full-time work for 4 months. Now I have money that I owe on my credit card and as much as it sucked I do owe my Dad some money too. On the plus though, I'm making a lot more money then I'm spending so it should only take me a few months to pay everything off (which is barely anytime). I get great paid leave from work (1 month and 1 sick week on top of that) but I can't use that until I've been there for 6 months (I've been there for 4 months). All of that combined leaves with this feeling of being trapped sometimes, which is very tough to deal with seeing as for a long time I never felt that way and loved feeling that way. I don't have the finances to pick up and leave, I really should leave my first job out of college in the field that I want to be in until I've been there for a year and I don't have access to really take some time off work to do some more things that I'd like to do (like explore the Midwest more or come back to the west coast for a bit).
My roommates are good people but I honestly feel like I live with a couple of teenage girls sometimes. They are very possessive about their things sometimes and frankly I think they're just self-centered. One is much worse than the other. The good friend of mine out here I still enjoy his company a lot (and the other roommate too) but one thing I've learned since coming out here is that I don't think him and are really that amazing of friends. I don't think he is a very good friend to me sometimes and I think he his still has his personal things that he has to deal with (which often get in the way of how he socializes with other people). I feel like since I got here with them they've judged me a lot for being younger than them in what can be fair sometimes but is unfair a lot of the time. And when i was looking for work I felt that they were both much more critical than they needed to be which made a tough time for me even tougher (especially considering that I was really missing the west coast at that point). Once again though, the roommate that I didn't know that well before hand is and was much worse about this then the other.
However, even with all these stressors I don't regret my decision for one second. There was a point before I decided to leave and go to Chicago that I thought I was going to have to stay in Oregon and that was a very unfortunate and just fucking trapped feeling. Some of my friends have expressed they felt this way to me and to those that have I must say i understand your pain, even if I onyl felt it for a week or so. I know that if I had stayed there I would have felt like I was trapped and not making the most out of an opportunity. The weight off my shoulders of having left and doing everything that I did and still do is more than worth it. Plus, I have the rest of my life to live on the west coast but I won't always be able to pick up and leave for a year or 2 if I want. It really does feel good to know that I was able to go to a brand new area and establish myself the way that I have. Chicago is a truly amazing city. It is a city that has always had an appeal with me and getting to know it and see it the way I have is something that I know I will always appreciate. All the stressful aspects, I appreciate those too. They are annoing, but because of them I have been able to learn vast amounts about myself. It has shed light for me on some of my past experiences in ways that I am still wrapping my head around. In coming out here I think I was truly able to appreciate Oregon and the bay area for what they were to me. I needed that other perspective/experience/geographic area to put things into better context for me. This was something I though going to a new area might do. Plus just the fact that I saw that I wanted to do something and then got up and did it (and found a way to do it) is just awesome. It's an important thing to be able to do I think in order to make the most out of your life.
The most troubling thing for me though is that I feel like my optimistic and sometimes faithful (without too much spiritual) attitude has changed. I think that my have something to do with the friends that I have around me some now. It may be my roommates who are definitely more pssimistic. Not having the set of friends that I had in Oregon around me is a big part because I felt we were all very open to meeting new people and just going with the flow. The trapped feeling from work and finaces certainly may have an affect on that. But ultimately I think it rests on me. The experiences I've had here may have made it harder for me to keep that mindset, but when you are challenged that is when it is important to stick to your goals and values. I think I haven't been steered off course but I could to a better job of staying the course (I don't like George W. Bush, I just think the quote fits). I definitely do enjoy the experiences that I have and the new and interesting things that I do get to do, but it would just be nice if it wasn't such a pain the ass sometimes. Enough of that though. Chicago hasn't worked out to be exactly what I was hoping for but I really do enjoy exploring the neighborhoods, talking with people from different regions here, the work that I do, looking at that gorgeous lake, riding the L train to work everyday, going to a couple of local bars and feeling like if I had the money I could go anywhere and do anything now that I've done something like that. Things aren't ideal, I don't think this is the right region for me and I miss the west coast dearly...but I know everything will be alright.
Monday, June 15, 2009
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Chicago, Illinois
Well hello. I doubt anyone is reading this anymore so this is really just for myself to read a little later. Well I've been in Chicago for almost 2 weeks now. It's been quite an adjustment. I had that direct flight from Dublin, which I didn't sleep on, and then just jumped into everything. I've been incredibly fortunate that Ben and his roommate Dave, now my roommate, decided it would be easier and more beneficial to all of us if I just moved in with them. So I've taken residence in their former guest/music room and I now have a place to live, and a good one at that. I think the 3 of us will all be good roommates. So far it's been working out great. Ben is the cynic, Dave is the idealist and I'm the realist. Dave and I can gang up on Ben and make fun of him when he's being a little uptight, Ben and I can gang up on Dave when he's being a little too out there and unrealistic and the two of them can gang up on me when I'm starting to be a little too goofy or ridiculous. We were talking about this some at dinner the other night and Dave made a good point. See part of the reason i moved out here was because I thought it would be fun to live in a new awesome city while in my 20's. Just working and going with friends and stuff. Dave pointed out that not only are the 3 of us doing that right now but we're all in a good and similar situation to be doing that. We're at similar points in our lives that brought us together at this time. Plus we're all pretty open-minded and like to go out out exploring and doing different social things. It's a good situation for all 3 of us to be in.
There have already been a lot of events going on since I got here. It was a good time to arrive socially that is. When I got here on Monday October 20th we just went out and got a couple of drinks. That Friday Dave and his band Modern Conversation had a show that they invited some people too. We went to that and then went out again and had a good time. The night after that Ben and I went to o costume party with out friend J.P. Ben was a 70's character, I was Dr. Doug and J.P. was beer man. All very good costumes. There were a lot of people involved in the improv scene in Chicago there and I got to meet some cool new people. Then on Monday the 27th it was J.P.'s birthday so we went to a dollar beer night and just kicked it there for a bit. Once again, I met some more people. That Thursday was Ben's celebration for his birthday and we went out and got some drinks and dinner and hooka and such. Then Friday was Halloween. We ended up going to this party in Chinatown which is on the south side of Chicago with these people Ben and Dave new well. I had a really good time there. The people were friendly and some of the people there I knew from meeting previously so that was pretty cool. It was one of the 1st parties where I wasn't just meeting fresh brand new people. I still didn't know them that well though, but cool people nonetheless. There was a lot of booze and I probably had a bit too much. I was tired and I accidentally fell asleep on the El train on the way back. Ben thought I was right behind him until he realized I was still on the train. I woke up at the last stop and had to get my way back down to where we were though. It all worked out though ad we met back up. I ended getting into this bar for free and skipping the $10 cover charge. That was lame so I left and just went back to bed.
Then yesterday I went to this local bar just to watch the Oregon vs. Cal game. Oregon lost, which sucked, but sitting next to me was this nice woman named Christy who started talking with me. We talked for a good while in between watching the multiple games that were on. She was a local and a regular so she introduced me to some of the bartenders and it was cool to just go out and meet someone new on my own. Last night though we went to another, and hopefully final, costume party. Ben and I went and we met up with this guy in Dave's other band, a Beatles cover band, named Daniel or George Harrison. We talked with him some and met some girls who were in town from Michigan for the weekend. We ended up getting there numbers before we all had to leave. They work in the dorms at this small liberal arts school in Michigan, Adrian college, and were heading back today. Although we texted some back and forth and are facebook friends already so I'm very confident that we'll probably end up meeting up with them again at some point. Chicago is like the hub for this region of the States so they'll probably be back at some point soon.
After all this though there's still more. Dave has another concert tonight back in Chinatown and Ben and I will be going to that. Tuesday is election day and it looks like Barack is going to win. He's making his base in Chicago and he's already rented out a big ass park for people to come and "celebrate" at where he'll be giving a speech. They're expecting a million people to attend and you can bet I'll be one of them. After that it's my birthday on Saturday so we'll go out and do something fun then.
So while all this is going good it's still quite an adjustment. I'm doing a lot of fun things and I have a good living situation with guys I know well. I am out meeting people on a regular basis so I'm not just sitting at home doing nothing. It's still tough though. Meeting new people when you're brand new to an area is always a challenge. It's something that just takes time to feel like you've got some good friends you could hang out with. I'm also missing Oregon and California a lot. I know people out there, I like it out there and I'm comfortable out there. Plus as cool as I think Chicago is I've always kind of pictured going back to the west coast in the end. Only time will tell but that's just what I always thought. Hell I miss traveling too. I didn't think I would at first but I met a lot of great people there and would know people in just about any area I went too. I'm already going back to the bay for Thanksgiving and I'm trying to put something together in December to go to Oregon. I think going back would help me want to be back in Chicago as well. That's how it was before when I moved to Oregon. I needed to leave for a little bit to want to get back to there. It will be good to see people I haven't seen in a while and I'll probably end up thinking about how it will be good to get back to some of the things I like here in Chicago. Also I think getting a job would help that out. I could have done a little more as far as job searching goes but I was still kind of adjusting to just being back and not being on the west coast. I've already had a couple of interviews and they'll take a little while to hear back from. So if I get those then it'll all be good but I really shouldn't be depending on those. I've got two more applications that look promising that I'll be sending off with cover letters tomorrow. But getting a source of income would help me adjust even more so.
Basically, and I've said this before, this is a major transition period on my life. From just graduating college and trying to find a job in "the real world", to picking up and leaving an area that you love and enjoy, to moving to a brand new city in a brand new area where you barely know anyone and having it all coincide directly after you finished traveling and backpacking around Europe by yourself it is a lot to deal with. I knew it would be a lot to handle and in some ways I was really hoping it would be, because when I come out on the other side it will all have been a fantastic experience that I know I will have enjoyed. It's just a lot for me to deal with right now. But I'm a pretty strong willed confident person and I know it's going pretty damn well so far. It's just hard to silence that self doubt and second guessing. I've gotten better at doing that now then 4 years ago but it'll always be there. I just gotta keep truckin through. Things could be worse thought and I am enjoying myself. So if anyone reads this, this is how I'm doing and this is how I'm adjusting. Peace out.
-Doug
There have already been a lot of events going on since I got here. It was a good time to arrive socially that is. When I got here on Monday October 20th we just went out and got a couple of drinks. That Friday Dave and his band Modern Conversation had a show that they invited some people too. We went to that and then went out again and had a good time. The night after that Ben and I went to o costume party with out friend J.P. Ben was a 70's character, I was Dr. Doug and J.P. was beer man. All very good costumes. There were a lot of people involved in the improv scene in Chicago there and I got to meet some cool new people. Then on Monday the 27th it was J.P.'s birthday so we went to a dollar beer night and just kicked it there for a bit. Once again, I met some more people. That Thursday was Ben's celebration for his birthday and we went out and got some drinks and dinner and hooka and such. Then Friday was Halloween. We ended up going to this party in Chinatown which is on the south side of Chicago with these people Ben and Dave new well. I had a really good time there. The people were friendly and some of the people there I knew from meeting previously so that was pretty cool. It was one of the 1st parties where I wasn't just meeting fresh brand new people. I still didn't know them that well though, but cool people nonetheless. There was a lot of booze and I probably had a bit too much. I was tired and I accidentally fell asleep on the El train on the way back. Ben thought I was right behind him until he realized I was still on the train. I woke up at the last stop and had to get my way back down to where we were though. It all worked out though ad we met back up. I ended getting into this bar for free and skipping the $10 cover charge. That was lame so I left and just went back to bed.
Then yesterday I went to this local bar just to watch the Oregon vs. Cal game. Oregon lost, which sucked, but sitting next to me was this nice woman named Christy who started talking with me. We talked for a good while in between watching the multiple games that were on. She was a local and a regular so she introduced me to some of the bartenders and it was cool to just go out and meet someone new on my own. Last night though we went to another, and hopefully final, costume party. Ben and I went and we met up with this guy in Dave's other band, a Beatles cover band, named Daniel or George Harrison. We talked with him some and met some girls who were in town from Michigan for the weekend. We ended up getting there numbers before we all had to leave. They work in the dorms at this small liberal arts school in Michigan, Adrian college, and were heading back today. Although we texted some back and forth and are facebook friends already so I'm very confident that we'll probably end up meeting up with them again at some point. Chicago is like the hub for this region of the States so they'll probably be back at some point soon.
After all this though there's still more. Dave has another concert tonight back in Chinatown and Ben and I will be going to that. Tuesday is election day and it looks like Barack is going to win. He's making his base in Chicago and he's already rented out a big ass park for people to come and "celebrate" at where he'll be giving a speech. They're expecting a million people to attend and you can bet I'll be one of them. After that it's my birthday on Saturday so we'll go out and do something fun then.
So while all this is going good it's still quite an adjustment. I'm doing a lot of fun things and I have a good living situation with guys I know well. I am out meeting people on a regular basis so I'm not just sitting at home doing nothing. It's still tough though. Meeting new people when you're brand new to an area is always a challenge. It's something that just takes time to feel like you've got some good friends you could hang out with. I'm also missing Oregon and California a lot. I know people out there, I like it out there and I'm comfortable out there. Plus as cool as I think Chicago is I've always kind of pictured going back to the west coast in the end. Only time will tell but that's just what I always thought. Hell I miss traveling too. I didn't think I would at first but I met a lot of great people there and would know people in just about any area I went too. I'm already going back to the bay for Thanksgiving and I'm trying to put something together in December to go to Oregon. I think going back would help me want to be back in Chicago as well. That's how it was before when I moved to Oregon. I needed to leave for a little bit to want to get back to there. It will be good to see people I haven't seen in a while and I'll probably end up thinking about how it will be good to get back to some of the things I like here in Chicago. Also I think getting a job would help that out. I could have done a little more as far as job searching goes but I was still kind of adjusting to just being back and not being on the west coast. I've already had a couple of interviews and they'll take a little while to hear back from. So if I get those then it'll all be good but I really shouldn't be depending on those. I've got two more applications that look promising that I'll be sending off with cover letters tomorrow. But getting a source of income would help me adjust even more so.
Basically, and I've said this before, this is a major transition period on my life. From just graduating college and trying to find a job in "the real world", to picking up and leaving an area that you love and enjoy, to moving to a brand new city in a brand new area where you barely know anyone and having it all coincide directly after you finished traveling and backpacking around Europe by yourself it is a lot to deal with. I knew it would be a lot to handle and in some ways I was really hoping it would be, because when I come out on the other side it will all have been a fantastic experience that I know I will have enjoyed. It's just a lot for me to deal with right now. But I'm a pretty strong willed confident person and I know it's going pretty damn well so far. It's just hard to silence that self doubt and second guessing. I've gotten better at doing that now then 4 years ago but it'll always be there. I just gotta keep truckin through. Things could be worse thought and I am enjoying myself. So if anyone reads this, this is how I'm doing and this is how I'm adjusting. Peace out.
-Doug
Monday, October 20, 2008
Dublin, Ireland...One Last Time
Well I left on in Krakow last time. After I was done writing the last entry a little bit of a fiasco happened at our hostel. See we were in a hostel with what appeared to be a family of Russian's who were out of a home. In general the hostel was full of people that did not speak English but were giving us weird and rude looks all the time simply for having dinner and laughing some. I guarantee you we were not being offensive. So at 1:30 am one of these Russian guys came in and turned on the bright ass lights, waking me up. I was pissed at him already because he had been rude and was quite cranky as well. So I reached over and turned of the light. he came back and turned it on and then said something to me in Russian. I pointed to my clock and all the people in the room and then he just went ballistic. He started yelling his ass off in Russian. I don't know what pissed him off with my logic, especially since he only turned the light on to take off his pants and shirt. So I just said that I didn't speak Russian and put my head down while he was yelling to himself with the lights off. We were ready to leave the next morning.
After that was Auschwitz during the day. It was a very powerful place to say the least. It was a bit surreal for me. I don't think the weight of everything fully hit me. I know that Mariel felt it though. The first camp, Auschwitz 1, was just a holding camp. That one was a bit more informative and quite frankly had a lot of tourists. The death camp, Auschwitz 2 - Birkenau, was something else. Less tourists but it was just absolutely massive. You couldn't believe how many people they were holding there all at once. And the train tracks running into the center of the camp and right to where the gas chambers use to be was very eery. One good thing, in my opinion though, was that there was a large group of Israeli students on a mission trip walking through there no problem. They were all wearing Jewish star clothes and many of them had Israeli flags that they were waving everywhere with pride. To me it was very significant that they were able to do this in what used to be one of the worst places possible for them to be anywhere near. It showed how far things have come since that time and the opportunities that they now have. Also kind of a big fuck you to the Nazi's parading through their camp that used to a tool of fear and a deadly weapon for them.
After that we took a train to Prague. We didn't get in until late that night and just passed out. We woke up and just had a day of wandering around Prague basically. We walked through the Old Square, the Jewish quarter another popular strip and had a damn good Czech lunch with 2 beers each. That was one thing that was awesome about traveling with Mariel. She was always down to sit down and chill out with a good beer multiple times a day. So we took full advantage of that. We came back and went on a pub crawl that night. Oh Deary it was wild. We showed up at 8:00 and the deal was you get free drinks at this first bar for a while before you head out. So I knew that I had to take full advantage. They gave us a shot of absinthe to start off. Mariel didn't want hers so I had it as well as mine. They had shots of mixed cranberry and vodka and free beer galore. I had plenty of both. We started talking with this Kiwi named Chris who was traveling alone and had a good chat with him. Mariel made out with him, which was good for her because he was a good chap. That lead me to start talking with some people from this group of students from the University of Florida who were studying aborad for their graduate school program and all traveling around a little bit beforehand. Mike and Amanda are the names I remember but there about 6 others that I was chattin up as well. I started talking with them by asking if I could join in on their game of quarters and Mike was very happy to oblige. Him and I talked about SEC footbal and he told me that they gave the PAC-10 no respect. I said that while it's not as good as the SEC surely you must give some temas some respect. He did not. I was a little angry but then he poured me a beer and it was all good. I also started talking with some dude from Colorado for a while and we had some good ass talks. I spilled his free shot so I offered to buy him another. I did and we talked and I guess all the tour guides though I was gay and making a move on him. Mariel had to explain that I'm just like that sometimes I guess.
Anywho I woke up quite hungover but also feeling quite fantastic. I walked back to my hostel because I did not end up at my hostel that night and met Mariel for breakfast. We then walked around all day across the Charles Bridge, up by the castle and in this awesome park that had a great view of Prague. We got a cheap lunhc because we were low on Korun's and it ended up being a hefty plate and pretty damn good. It re-energized me. We walked back and just took it easy that night. We met these 2 Canadian ladies traveling around and talked with them for a bit. They were cool but once again low on funds and beat from partying last night that we just stayed in on a Friday night in Prague. We woke up, got breakfast withe the Canadiens and went for a little walk to start the day. Then it was time for me to leave and catch a flight to London. Mariel and I said goodbye and hugged it out, then I hopped on the metro and got the airport in fashionable timing.
I decided to go to london because there are some dirt cheap flights to London, I know some people there and I had a night to kill so I figured why not Saturday night in London with some friends. The customs person was giving me the 3rd degrre because I didn't have a printout of my flight out of London and she thought I was going to stay and work for some reason. I stayed with my two friends Kim and Becca that I met on the bus trip in Ireland. they let me crash on their couch and we went out and had a damn good time. My other friends that Pat and I met in Italy when we traveled last year Pete, Darsh and Ben all came out and met up with us. Darsh had to get home early but that didn't stop him from having a couple of beers before he left. Ben, pete and I drank...and then we drank some more. We all talked about our adventures last time while traveling and what we were up to at the moment. Sounds like they're doing just fine. Kim and Becca got quite drunky as well. I bought them a drink and all of us a round of cheap shots that to be honest were quite harsh. Ben and Pete ended up leaving so I stayed with Kim and Becca and we drank some more. There's pictures of me lifting them up, biting their head, and giving granpa kisses and them loving every moment of it. There are also pictures of us on our crazy bus ride home at the top of one of those red London buses. We kept the party going on that bus. Then we went to a party at their neighbors house where I had a long ass conversation with their friend Pete and this 38 Welsch man about women. I don't know how the Welsh guy got there. Kim and I watched Lost in translation but I was asleep pretty fast. I also got my hand got in the futon when we folded it open. It didn't hurt at all thought for some reason.
I woke up and woke Kim up by acting just plain silly. She made me coffee and the 3 of us sat and talked for a bit. After that I had some time to kill so I said buy to the two of them and told them that when they come to Chicago, because they are from Ohio and go by Chicago from time to time, they are more than welcome to stay and that we would paint the town red, white and blue. Then I took the underground to Big Ben, The Parliament Building, Wesminster Abbey, St James's Park and Buckingham Palace. Walked by all of them for a while and had a good sit down thinking session at the park. I walked back and got a good ass burger with a coke for damn cheap and startedmy trek to Heathrow airport. From there I caught a flight to Dublin. Let me tell you the pilot looked like they were drunk or something. I've flown on a lot of planes and this was one of the sloppiest take off's and sloppiest landings as well. She kept swaying back and forth having one side of the plane go up and then down and shaking all the overhead compartments as soon as we were in the air from the ground and right as we were desending about to touch down.
Other than the plane though Dublin has been pretty good. I think it's very appropriate for me to end my European excursion back in Dublin. It was interesting taking the bus into downtown and comparing how I felt last night to when i first arrived in Dublin nervous and confused as hell. Same bus ride and it showed to me some of the changes in me and my viewpoints I've been through and what I've been able to do since I've been out here. I stayed at the same hostel, Kinlay House, as I did last time when I took the bus tour. The bus tour I took ended on a Sunday and guess what day it was. When i arrived I the receptionist was one of the people I had gotten some drinks with before and she told me that the tour guide, my buddy Dr. Kev, was out back having some drinks with his other 3 day tour that just ended. I walke outside and he promplty told me to sit down and have a drink once he was over the shock of seeing me. I had a couple of pints of Guinness and we talked about my travels, our bus tour, the tour he had just been on, Chicago (which he may be traveling to soon) and what the bus driver Dave was up to. I also started talking with some of the people that were just on his tour for a little bit as well. After he left though it was time for me to go because I wasn't going out on a complete bender the night before I had a flight back to the States. So that's where I am now. I have a flight straight to Chicago in about 5 hours and then I'll just be getting set up there.
It's weird because for a good amount of time I've been thinking that it'll be fun to get back to the States and get going in Chicago. Although I've continue to have fun and make the most out of each place that's what I've been looking forward to. Although this morning and even last night some I was also very sad to leave. I've had a fucking awesome time and I've been meeting up with a lot of people that I know here. I don't feel to disconnected from the States and I know people all over here that I could easily be incredibly good friends that I would hang out with regularly. I was talking with Kevin and it sounded like it wouldn't be out the question for me to get a job at the hostel here in Dublin and possibly with the Shamrocker bus tour company. but alas, I have a flight, responsibilities to get to and a life to get to in the States that I like and enjoy. More so than last time though I don't feel like I'll land and it will be as if I'm finally back. I feel like I'll land and just continue on with what I've been doing...living life. I'll just really miss the people that will be quite a distance away and straight up the adventures that are waiting around the corner. However, there are plenty of adventures ahead and life always presents adventures if you keep your eyes open. Mostly I just can't figure out exactly what this journey has been for me. It wasn't just Europe that was nuts but that's what I'm focusing on. it's also been Boston, Vancouver, the bay area, leaving Oregon, leaving the West coast, graduating from college, evn the road trip with the bro's and now Chicago. I basically just need some time to reflect and think about all this stuff. I do know that I've put a lot of thought into my decisions and so far when I take well thought out chances the experience ends up being good for me and something I appreciate and am glad that I did. That's especially been the case so far and I hope it continues.
After that was Auschwitz during the day. It was a very powerful place to say the least. It was a bit surreal for me. I don't think the weight of everything fully hit me. I know that Mariel felt it though. The first camp, Auschwitz 1, was just a holding camp. That one was a bit more informative and quite frankly had a lot of tourists. The death camp, Auschwitz 2 - Birkenau, was something else. Less tourists but it was just absolutely massive. You couldn't believe how many people they were holding there all at once. And the train tracks running into the center of the camp and right to where the gas chambers use to be was very eery. One good thing, in my opinion though, was that there was a large group of Israeli students on a mission trip walking through there no problem. They were all wearing Jewish star clothes and many of them had Israeli flags that they were waving everywhere with pride. To me it was very significant that they were able to do this in what used to be one of the worst places possible for them to be anywhere near. It showed how far things have come since that time and the opportunities that they now have. Also kind of a big fuck you to the Nazi's parading through their camp that used to a tool of fear and a deadly weapon for them.
After that we took a train to Prague. We didn't get in until late that night and just passed out. We woke up and just had a day of wandering around Prague basically. We walked through the Old Square, the Jewish quarter another popular strip and had a damn good Czech lunch with 2 beers each. That was one thing that was awesome about traveling with Mariel. She was always down to sit down and chill out with a good beer multiple times a day. So we took full advantage of that. We came back and went on a pub crawl that night. Oh Deary it was wild. We showed up at 8:00 and the deal was you get free drinks at this first bar for a while before you head out. So I knew that I had to take full advantage. They gave us a shot of absinthe to start off. Mariel didn't want hers so I had it as well as mine. They had shots of mixed cranberry and vodka and free beer galore. I had plenty of both. We started talking with this Kiwi named Chris who was traveling alone and had a good chat with him. Mariel made out with him, which was good for her because he was a good chap. That lead me to start talking with some people from this group of students from the University of Florida who were studying aborad for their graduate school program and all traveling around a little bit beforehand. Mike and Amanda are the names I remember but there about 6 others that I was chattin up as well. I started talking with them by asking if I could join in on their game of quarters and Mike was very happy to oblige. Him and I talked about SEC footbal and he told me that they gave the PAC-10 no respect. I said that while it's not as good as the SEC surely you must give some temas some respect. He did not. I was a little angry but then he poured me a beer and it was all good. I also started talking with some dude from Colorado for a while and we had some good ass talks. I spilled his free shot so I offered to buy him another. I did and we talked and I guess all the tour guides though I was gay and making a move on him. Mariel had to explain that I'm just like that sometimes I guess.
Anywho I woke up quite hungover but also feeling quite fantastic. I walked back to my hostel because I did not end up at my hostel that night and met Mariel for breakfast. We then walked around all day across the Charles Bridge, up by the castle and in this awesome park that had a great view of Prague. We got a cheap lunhc because we were low on Korun's and it ended up being a hefty plate and pretty damn good. It re-energized me. We walked back and just took it easy that night. We met these 2 Canadian ladies traveling around and talked with them for a bit. They were cool but once again low on funds and beat from partying last night that we just stayed in on a Friday night in Prague. We woke up, got breakfast withe the Canadiens and went for a little walk to start the day. Then it was time for me to leave and catch a flight to London. Mariel and I said goodbye and hugged it out, then I hopped on the metro and got the airport in fashionable timing.
I decided to go to london because there are some dirt cheap flights to London, I know some people there and I had a night to kill so I figured why not Saturday night in London with some friends. The customs person was giving me the 3rd degrre because I didn't have a printout of my flight out of London and she thought I was going to stay and work for some reason. I stayed with my two friends Kim and Becca that I met on the bus trip in Ireland. they let me crash on their couch and we went out and had a damn good time. My other friends that Pat and I met in Italy when we traveled last year Pete, Darsh and Ben all came out and met up with us. Darsh had to get home early but that didn't stop him from having a couple of beers before he left. Ben, pete and I drank...and then we drank some more. We all talked about our adventures last time while traveling and what we were up to at the moment. Sounds like they're doing just fine. Kim and Becca got quite drunky as well. I bought them a drink and all of us a round of cheap shots that to be honest were quite harsh. Ben and Pete ended up leaving so I stayed with Kim and Becca and we drank some more. There's pictures of me lifting them up, biting their head, and giving granpa kisses and them loving every moment of it. There are also pictures of us on our crazy bus ride home at the top of one of those red London buses. We kept the party going on that bus. Then we went to a party at their neighbors house where I had a long ass conversation with their friend Pete and this 38 Welsch man about women. I don't know how the Welsh guy got there. Kim and I watched Lost in translation but I was asleep pretty fast. I also got my hand got in the futon when we folded it open. It didn't hurt at all thought for some reason.
I woke up and woke Kim up by acting just plain silly. She made me coffee and the 3 of us sat and talked for a bit. After that I had some time to kill so I said buy to the two of them and told them that when they come to Chicago, because they are from Ohio and go by Chicago from time to time, they are more than welcome to stay and that we would paint the town red, white and blue. Then I took the underground to Big Ben, The Parliament Building, Wesminster Abbey, St James's Park and Buckingham Palace. Walked by all of them for a while and had a good sit down thinking session at the park. I walked back and got a good ass burger with a coke for damn cheap and startedmy trek to Heathrow airport. From there I caught a flight to Dublin. Let me tell you the pilot looked like they were drunk or something. I've flown on a lot of planes and this was one of the sloppiest take off's and sloppiest landings as well. She kept swaying back and forth having one side of the plane go up and then down and shaking all the overhead compartments as soon as we were in the air from the ground and right as we were desending about to touch down.
Other than the plane though Dublin has been pretty good. I think it's very appropriate for me to end my European excursion back in Dublin. It was interesting taking the bus into downtown and comparing how I felt last night to when i first arrived in Dublin nervous and confused as hell. Same bus ride and it showed to me some of the changes in me and my viewpoints I've been through and what I've been able to do since I've been out here. I stayed at the same hostel, Kinlay House, as I did last time when I took the bus tour. The bus tour I took ended on a Sunday and guess what day it was. When i arrived I the receptionist was one of the people I had gotten some drinks with before and she told me that the tour guide, my buddy Dr. Kev, was out back having some drinks with his other 3 day tour that just ended. I walke outside and he promplty told me to sit down and have a drink once he was over the shock of seeing me. I had a couple of pints of Guinness and we talked about my travels, our bus tour, the tour he had just been on, Chicago (which he may be traveling to soon) and what the bus driver Dave was up to. I also started talking with some of the people that were just on his tour for a little bit as well. After he left though it was time for me to go because I wasn't going out on a complete bender the night before I had a flight back to the States. So that's where I am now. I have a flight straight to Chicago in about 5 hours and then I'll just be getting set up there.
It's weird because for a good amount of time I've been thinking that it'll be fun to get back to the States and get going in Chicago. Although I've continue to have fun and make the most out of each place that's what I've been looking forward to. Although this morning and even last night some I was also very sad to leave. I've had a fucking awesome time and I've been meeting up with a lot of people that I know here. I don't feel to disconnected from the States and I know people all over here that I could easily be incredibly good friends that I would hang out with regularly. I was talking with Kevin and it sounded like it wouldn't be out the question for me to get a job at the hostel here in Dublin and possibly with the Shamrocker bus tour company. but alas, I have a flight, responsibilities to get to and a life to get to in the States that I like and enjoy. More so than last time though I don't feel like I'll land and it will be as if I'm finally back. I feel like I'll land and just continue on with what I've been doing...living life. I'll just really miss the people that will be quite a distance away and straight up the adventures that are waiting around the corner. However, there are plenty of adventures ahead and life always presents adventures if you keep your eyes open. Mostly I just can't figure out exactly what this journey has been for me. It wasn't just Europe that was nuts but that's what I'm focusing on. it's also been Boston, Vancouver, the bay area, leaving Oregon, leaving the West coast, graduating from college, evn the road trip with the bro's and now Chicago. I basically just need some time to reflect and think about all this stuff. I do know that I've put a lot of thought into my decisions and so far when I take well thought out chances the experience ends up being good for me and something I appreciate and am glad that I did. That's especially been the case so far and I hope it continues.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Krakow, Poland
So that Friday night in Berlin we worked some shit out at the internet cafe and then painted the town red, white and blue. We really just went to the Wombat's Hostel bar but that's a pretty damn good bar and it was also the Wombat's bar in Munich that I had such a wild time at. We got a couple of beers at the internet cafe because it was a joint cafe/grocery store. The bar was on the 7th floor which was the top floor and it had a great view of the TV Tower which is in Alexanderplatz. We got some drinks up there, I played a vicious game of ping pong with a Danish man (I also whooped Mariel with ease but grace) and we talked to this Irish woman after we had had a few and just could barely make out what she was saying. She had a heavy southern ireland accent and she was just chatting away. that night Mariel woke up to our Asian room,ate from brazil (????????????) ass naked at 4 in the morning in our room. Later on he was on standing on my bed right next to her face on the top bunk because he was "trying to look at her clock to get the time". I slept right through this of course.
We woke up and got a good breakfast at the hostel for 3.50 Euro and jacked a bunch of sandwich stuff so that lunch was free later. We walked by the TV Tower, this market where I bought a German beer glass with a lid, this awesome park called Tiergarden with amazing fall leaves. We walked up this monument which is symbolic for all of Berlin, went to Hitler's former bunker. they had a Holocaust memorial that had sloping hills with different sized pillars to represent the uncertainty and confusion for jewish people during that time and afterwords. We saw where the Berling wall first came down, the government building (where I almost got in trouble because I had my knife on me when i entered and it's technically illegal to be carrying around in public in Germany). There was a political march that just didn't quite seem right hearing everyone yelling in gemran for a political cause and then the book burning memorial on our way back to our hostel. We did a lot of stuff. Then we painted the town red, white and blue again that night. We met our new roommate who Mariel decided to name "Jafar" because he had crazy/wild black hair and didn't speak much English. We got a drink and then mariel quickly made friends with some Jews from Israel. they though she was a JAP (Jewish Americna Princess) at first but then they realized that she was hard core. We drank with them for a while and then I made some friends with these 2 Aussies and we just had a little party going in the Wombat's again. The Asian/Brazialian guy was there and he was acting a little wierd to Mariel again. I think he had a big old crush on her but she wasn't even slightly interested. That night "Jafar" gave Mariel quite the scare so she slept with her knife open. Silly goose. I slept through another fiasco where he got up and looked out the window for a while and then our other rommate Alex stumbled in at 6:30 am to pack and leave. I slept like a baby.
That Sunday we walked down to the East Gallery which looked like an awesome museum but ended being a long as pasture of the Berlin wall with lots of graffiti art and tagging on it. Mariel and I wrote our names on it but also wrote our pretend German names on it (Hans and Gitl). She was a little upset because she had to go to the bathroom so we had to walk the to a restaurant instead of the bathroom at the museum which I had promised. Whoopsiedaisy. We then walked through what looked like the middle eastern neighborhood of Berlin. All of Berlin is incredibly international so it was awesome to see these different communities of people around the world. We had Thai food the first night for dinner and Japanese the second night. After a stop for our free lunch again thanksd to Wombat's we walked to the German Jewish Historical Museum. We talked about life and relationships and what we plan to do after we're done with our time in Europe. The Jewish museum was a very impressive museum. It started with some Holocaust victims personal items that were found with a brief description. An artisitc architect from Poland designed it and he had some interesting things throughout. He designed the building with empty rooms that were all concected in certain points to represent but couldn't be reached to represent the absence of Jews in certain parts of German culture throughout its history. The museum really wasn't just about the Holocaust. It covered everything from the 1200's on and while it covered the Holocaust didn't put any extra focus on it. Mariel already knew most of the history but I learned a lot of facts tha gave me a better understanding of Jewish culture in Germany and really a lot of Europe as well. We walked back by Checkpoint Charlie (which was the American part of the Berlin Wall) but that was kind of a joke as far as being informative and interesting so we barely spent any time there and went back to our hostel. We took a night train to Krakow and just had a little giggle fest the probably annoyed our neighbors but made Mariel just go crazy with laughter.
We got to Krakow that morning and dropped our stuff of once we found our hostel. The conversion rate in Poland is quite in our favor so we went and got a huge but delicious lunch for about 2 hours in the Jewish neighborhood of Krakow. We had perogi (which I kept caling paella accidently even though they are 2 completely different things) which is a Polish dish and awesome. It's a potato dumpling filled with eather meat, vegetables, cheese, dessert, or whatever combo you want. I had the the double cheese one and Mariel had the cabbage and mushroom one. We split a dessert platter of them which also rocked and we washed it all down with some good Polish beer. We ventured into a synagogue which looked to be orhtodox and Mariel explained some of the interest aspects of this synagogue to me. We went into the cemetary and I was required to where a kippa (yamaka-esque) because all men are. We left and took a little break, refresher. We took care of trains, cooked some food and went out to the Jewish area again to get a drink at this pretty damn cool jazz club. there was dead rat right on the street that we and the people next to us watched people get freaked out when they saw it and a middle aged guy accidently step right on without even noticing. Yeah Krakow!
Today Mariel and I got up and had some free breakfast like usual. But we went out and saw the sights today. We went to the Wawel castle which is the main tourist attraction and housed Polish royalty for centuries. They had a lot of interesting archaelogy and apparently a dragons lair which is how Krakow got it's reputation. We wanted a good old lunch again so we went to the Jewish quarter and just ended up at the same restaurant. This time we got different types of perogi and had a vodka apple drink which is supposed to be very Polish. I also sipped on a shot of good Polish vodka. We walked up to the Old Town after that which was surrounded by a wall because it used to be the barrier to outside forces. They had some absolutely beautiful chuches and a gorgeous center sqaure. A market with some very tempting things for sale. We stopped for a bit and got a beer and some beet soup (Mariel's new favorite dish) and on the way back to the hostel we saw an accordian band which rocked. Mariel also loved them and I was considering buying their CD. After a souvenir vodka stop we got some food for tommorow and came back and had some dinner. We would have gone out tonight but we're getting up early tomorrow to go to Auschwitz and Mariel has some family ties there so it will be a serious day all around. Then off to Prague and sleep that night and we are going to paint Prague red, white and blue the whole fucking time! So that's that. Mariel and I have just been cracking goofy jokes that really would probably make people question our sanity if they could understand us. Some of it is mildy offensive, some of it is incredibly offensive and some it makes no sense because we are just saying obscure phrases or making wierd noises. We have named ourselves Hans and Gitl and we talk with silly German accents. We also say "Oh Deary Me" like Mrs. Doubtfire. These are just some of our little shenanigans. So that's Krakow.
We woke up and got a good breakfast at the hostel for 3.50 Euro and jacked a bunch of sandwich stuff so that lunch was free later. We walked by the TV Tower, this market where I bought a German beer glass with a lid, this awesome park called Tiergarden with amazing fall leaves. We walked up this monument which is symbolic for all of Berlin, went to Hitler's former bunker. they had a Holocaust memorial that had sloping hills with different sized pillars to represent the uncertainty and confusion for jewish people during that time and afterwords. We saw where the Berling wall first came down, the government building (where I almost got in trouble because I had my knife on me when i entered and it's technically illegal to be carrying around in public in Germany). There was a political march that just didn't quite seem right hearing everyone yelling in gemran for a political cause and then the book burning memorial on our way back to our hostel. We did a lot of stuff. Then we painted the town red, white and blue again that night. We met our new roommate who Mariel decided to name "Jafar" because he had crazy/wild black hair and didn't speak much English. We got a drink and then mariel quickly made friends with some Jews from Israel. they though she was a JAP (Jewish Americna Princess) at first but then they realized that she was hard core. We drank with them for a while and then I made some friends with these 2 Aussies and we just had a little party going in the Wombat's again. The Asian/Brazialian guy was there and he was acting a little wierd to Mariel again. I think he had a big old crush on her but she wasn't even slightly interested. That night "Jafar" gave Mariel quite the scare so she slept with her knife open. Silly goose. I slept through another fiasco where he got up and looked out the window for a while and then our other rommate Alex stumbled in at 6:30 am to pack and leave. I slept like a baby.
That Sunday we walked down to the East Gallery which looked like an awesome museum but ended being a long as pasture of the Berlin wall with lots of graffiti art and tagging on it. Mariel and I wrote our names on it but also wrote our pretend German names on it (Hans and Gitl). She was a little upset because she had to go to the bathroom so we had to walk the to a restaurant instead of the bathroom at the museum which I had promised. Whoopsiedaisy. We then walked through what looked like the middle eastern neighborhood of Berlin. All of Berlin is incredibly international so it was awesome to see these different communities of people around the world. We had Thai food the first night for dinner and Japanese the second night. After a stop for our free lunch again thanksd to Wombat's we walked to the German Jewish Historical Museum. We talked about life and relationships and what we plan to do after we're done with our time in Europe. The Jewish museum was a very impressive museum. It started with some Holocaust victims personal items that were found with a brief description. An artisitc architect from Poland designed it and he had some interesting things throughout. He designed the building with empty rooms that were all concected in certain points to represent but couldn't be reached to represent the absence of Jews in certain parts of German culture throughout its history. The museum really wasn't just about the Holocaust. It covered everything from the 1200's on and while it covered the Holocaust didn't put any extra focus on it. Mariel already knew most of the history but I learned a lot of facts tha gave me a better understanding of Jewish culture in Germany and really a lot of Europe as well. We walked back by Checkpoint Charlie (which was the American part of the Berlin Wall) but that was kind of a joke as far as being informative and interesting so we barely spent any time there and went back to our hostel. We took a night train to Krakow and just had a little giggle fest the probably annoyed our neighbors but made Mariel just go crazy with laughter.
We got to Krakow that morning and dropped our stuff of once we found our hostel. The conversion rate in Poland is quite in our favor so we went and got a huge but delicious lunch for about 2 hours in the Jewish neighborhood of Krakow. We had perogi (which I kept caling paella accidently even though they are 2 completely different things) which is a Polish dish and awesome. It's a potato dumpling filled with eather meat, vegetables, cheese, dessert, or whatever combo you want. I had the the double cheese one and Mariel had the cabbage and mushroom one. We split a dessert platter of them which also rocked and we washed it all down with some good Polish beer. We ventured into a synagogue which looked to be orhtodox and Mariel explained some of the interest aspects of this synagogue to me. We went into the cemetary and I was required to where a kippa (yamaka-esque) because all men are. We left and took a little break, refresher. We took care of trains, cooked some food and went out to the Jewish area again to get a drink at this pretty damn cool jazz club. there was dead rat right on the street that we and the people next to us watched people get freaked out when they saw it and a middle aged guy accidently step right on without even noticing. Yeah Krakow!
Today Mariel and I got up and had some free breakfast like usual. But we went out and saw the sights today. We went to the Wawel castle which is the main tourist attraction and housed Polish royalty for centuries. They had a lot of interesting archaelogy and apparently a dragons lair which is how Krakow got it's reputation. We wanted a good old lunch again so we went to the Jewish quarter and just ended up at the same restaurant. This time we got different types of perogi and had a vodka apple drink which is supposed to be very Polish. I also sipped on a shot of good Polish vodka. We walked up to the Old Town after that which was surrounded by a wall because it used to be the barrier to outside forces. They had some absolutely beautiful chuches and a gorgeous center sqaure. A market with some very tempting things for sale. We stopped for a bit and got a beer and some beet soup (Mariel's new favorite dish) and on the way back to the hostel we saw an accordian band which rocked. Mariel also loved them and I was considering buying their CD. After a souvenir vodka stop we got some food for tommorow and came back and had some dinner. We would have gone out tonight but we're getting up early tomorrow to go to Auschwitz and Mariel has some family ties there so it will be a serious day all around. Then off to Prague and sleep that night and we are going to paint Prague red, white and blue the whole fucking time! So that's that. Mariel and I have just been cracking goofy jokes that really would probably make people question our sanity if they could understand us. Some of it is mildy offensive, some of it is incredibly offensive and some it makes no sense because we are just saying obscure phrases or making wierd noises. We have named ourselves Hans and Gitl and we talk with silly German accents. We also say "Oh Deary Me" like Mrs. Doubtfire. These are just some of our little shenanigans. So that's Krakow.
Friday, October 10, 2008
Berlin and Before
Well I´m in Berlin, Germany right now but a lot has happened since then. First of the rest of The Black Forest. Well I pretty much did what I said. I just relaxed, got some correspondence done and went on some hikes. The second day I was there I went on a shorter hike where I ended up walking by an some sort of elk confine where there was a family of elk and one beast of a father. he had some massive horns. The last day there though was the best. I didn't have to do any internet stuff so I just went on a long ass hike that was about 25 kilometers at least without stopping. I intended to stop at certain points but I just ended up continuing. I didn't go to that other town Schitalch I just walked a circle around Freudenstadt basically, just a fat circle. I walked by some smaller villages and through a lot of forests with fall leaf colors of dark to light orange, dark to light yellow and a whole array of green. The map they gave me was a bit tough. I really had to use my direction skills with this thing. It was harder to navigate through the Black Forest then it was in Venice or in Amsterdam. Either way though it was pretty sweet. I walked by an awesome lake and trudged through a little bit of what looked like an off trail path that was a shortcut through a region. When I got back I was limping a little because of my blisters. The hostel wasn't serving dinner and I didn't feel like walking into town so I just bought like 6 of their candy bars for dinner because I hadn't eaten since breakfast. It was like the day after Halloween as a kid all over again.
Then I moved on through Switzerland to Torino, Italy. It was a marathon train day with 4 trains so 3 changes that took 12 hours. It was still pretty sweet though. After walking all day I just relaxed and looked at the scenary. Switzerland is beautiful and I'd been there before but not through some of the center parts that I went and the Swiss Alps are just an amazing view. I also went down by Lake Como and the Ticino part of Switzerland which is just like Italy. That area is gorgeous. It was cool to see the landscape change as well. I talked with a Romanian couple on the first rain about Gypsies, Romania, their kid, parenting and what type of work they do. I talked with 3 people from Chicago on the 3rd train, one of whom was living in Basel Switzerland for the last 20 years. We talked about sports, traveling, Basel, life and they gave me some damn good tips on Chicago. I also got to finish Barack Obama's book which was pretty sweet.
When I got to Torino there was some train issues but I was still able to meet up with my good friend Lauren who is an Au Pair there. She just met me at the station and we walked towards my hostel and then she went back to her host/employer family's house. The next day we met up and just walked through the center of Torino with all the squares and stuff. We stopped and talked a lot and just had some fantastic talks the whole time we were there. She showed me the Mole which is the main monument building there and we went back to her place for coffee and an afternoon snack. Then she had to pick up her kids at school and so i walked to meet them because they were extremeley excited about meeting an American guy. they had never met one and asked about how tall and big I was before I got there. then I walked through the old district of Torino, got some gelato and went back to my hostel to take care of shit. Lauren and I got drinks that night but nothing serious.
The next day we did a lot of the same exploring. Went to a park and a fake Mideveil castle. But first we went out to a big old Italian lunch with her other American nanny friends (Tiffaney the Mormon, Lindsay the crazy cool one, and Aubrey the international traveler/lifestyle) and just had a good ass lunch. I had the pesto pasta with the chicken dish later and orange cake. they had fancier names but I just don't remember. When Lauren left I took that opportunity to go to this dope cafe I found that was what I think a North African theme and great outdoor seating. then I walked through another part of town that she hadn't even been too and along one of their rivers which was great. The walk was awesome and Torino is beautiful It didn't seem like it at first but it has this homey feel. plus they have great monuments all over the place that are beautiful. After that I was invited over to her house for an Italian dinner cooked by her host mother Patricia (who was abosultely awesome and spoke fluent English as well). The husband Alfonso couldn't be there but the boys Filipo and Rugie were. It was a great meal and I liked those two kids. Reminded me of my cousins and I definitely got some throwing them around on the couch play time in. I helped Lauren put them to bed but then earlier in the day Lindsay said she was pheaning for a drink so Lauren had to stay in while Lindsay, Aubrey and I went out for drinks. We just had a couple but it was a good time. I accidently dropped a serious that's what she said line.
The next day Lauren and I met up again. She came to my hostel this time and we went back to the city center. We didn't even go anywhere we just sat and had another great talk for a couple of hours. She's and old friend of mine and we did a counseling group together in high school so we know each other very well and can have very serious conversations with ease. I really enjoyed not only catching up but spending time with her. I left and went to Florence (but not before Lauren gave me a luch that she packed for me) just for the night to meet up with my friend Mariel who I am traveling with now. I went to her host parents house, because she is studying abroad, and had another bomb ass Italian dinner. It was huge and they hate leftovers. they spoke just a little English but they were very friendly and with my Spanish and Mariel's translation we communicated very well. We talked about politics, the US economy and what I'm doing with my life. It was cool and Mariel and I set up lodging for the rest of our trip. We're in Berlin, going to Krakow, Auschwitz and Prague. She also snuck some laundry for me. My hostel was dope and I would've stayed longer but alas I wasn't there to sightsee. Plus I was there a year before for 5 nights.
Mariel and I went to the Pisa airport way earlier then we need to and let me tell you it is a blast traveling with her already. When we hang out we just act incredibly goofy around each other all the time. I can't explain it, it just has to be seen. There's nothing intellectual (or crude) about our little jokes but we find them hilarious and many times nothing even needs to be said. It's nice traveling with someone at this point and we'll have a lot of fun. She had some credit card problems but that all got sorted out so now we're just gonna paint the town. I'm gonna head out now because I can't wait any longer to have some fun in Berlin on a Friday night so peace out ya'll.
Then I moved on through Switzerland to Torino, Italy. It was a marathon train day with 4 trains so 3 changes that took 12 hours. It was still pretty sweet though. After walking all day I just relaxed and looked at the scenary. Switzerland is beautiful and I'd been there before but not through some of the center parts that I went and the Swiss Alps are just an amazing view. I also went down by Lake Como and the Ticino part of Switzerland which is just like Italy. That area is gorgeous. It was cool to see the landscape change as well. I talked with a Romanian couple on the first rain about Gypsies, Romania, their kid, parenting and what type of work they do. I talked with 3 people from Chicago on the 3rd train, one of whom was living in Basel Switzerland for the last 20 years. We talked about sports, traveling, Basel, life and they gave me some damn good tips on Chicago. I also got to finish Barack Obama's book which was pretty sweet.
When I got to Torino there was some train issues but I was still able to meet up with my good friend Lauren who is an Au Pair there. She just met me at the station and we walked towards my hostel and then she went back to her host/employer family's house. The next day we met up and just walked through the center of Torino with all the squares and stuff. We stopped and talked a lot and just had some fantastic talks the whole time we were there. She showed me the Mole which is the main monument building there and we went back to her place for coffee and an afternoon snack. Then she had to pick up her kids at school and so i walked to meet them because they were extremeley excited about meeting an American guy. they had never met one and asked about how tall and big I was before I got there. then I walked through the old district of Torino, got some gelato and went back to my hostel to take care of shit. Lauren and I got drinks that night but nothing serious.
The next day we did a lot of the same exploring. Went to a park and a fake Mideveil castle. But first we went out to a big old Italian lunch with her other American nanny friends (Tiffaney the Mormon, Lindsay the crazy cool one, and Aubrey the international traveler/lifestyle) and just had a good ass lunch. I had the pesto pasta with the chicken dish later and orange cake. they had fancier names but I just don't remember. When Lauren left I took that opportunity to go to this dope cafe I found that was what I think a North African theme and great outdoor seating. then I walked through another part of town that she hadn't even been too and along one of their rivers which was great. The walk was awesome and Torino is beautiful It didn't seem like it at first but it has this homey feel. plus they have great monuments all over the place that are beautiful. After that I was invited over to her house for an Italian dinner cooked by her host mother Patricia (who was abosultely awesome and spoke fluent English as well). The husband Alfonso couldn't be there but the boys Filipo and Rugie were. It was a great meal and I liked those two kids. Reminded me of my cousins and I definitely got some throwing them around on the couch play time in. I helped Lauren put them to bed but then earlier in the day Lindsay said she was pheaning for a drink so Lauren had to stay in while Lindsay, Aubrey and I went out for drinks. We just had a couple but it was a good time. I accidently dropped a serious that's what she said line.
The next day Lauren and I met up again. She came to my hostel this time and we went back to the city center. We didn't even go anywhere we just sat and had another great talk for a couple of hours. She's and old friend of mine and we did a counseling group together in high school so we know each other very well and can have very serious conversations with ease. I really enjoyed not only catching up but spending time with her. I left and went to Florence (but not before Lauren gave me a luch that she packed for me) just for the night to meet up with my friend Mariel who I am traveling with now. I went to her host parents house, because she is studying abroad, and had another bomb ass Italian dinner. It was huge and they hate leftovers. they spoke just a little English but they were very friendly and with my Spanish and Mariel's translation we communicated very well. We talked about politics, the US economy and what I'm doing with my life. It was cool and Mariel and I set up lodging for the rest of our trip. We're in Berlin, going to Krakow, Auschwitz and Prague. She also snuck some laundry for me. My hostel was dope and I would've stayed longer but alas I wasn't there to sightsee. Plus I was there a year before for 5 nights.
Mariel and I went to the Pisa airport way earlier then we need to and let me tell you it is a blast traveling with her already. When we hang out we just act incredibly goofy around each other all the time. I can't explain it, it just has to be seen. There's nothing intellectual (or crude) about our little jokes but we find them hilarious and many times nothing even needs to be said. It's nice traveling with someone at this point and we'll have a lot of fun. She had some credit card problems but that all got sorted out so now we're just gonna paint the town. I'm gonna head out now because I can't wait any longer to have some fun in Berlin on a Friday night so peace out ya'll.
Friday, October 3, 2008
Freudenstadt, Germany...The Black Forest
Here I am in Freudenstadt. First though Oktoberfest. Well that shit was crazy, and I didn't even go that crazy at the actual Oktoberfest tent areas. First I arrived and just thought I'd walk around there and check it out. It was pretty nuts and just a fuckload of drunk people with some families as well. There were tons of rides like at the state fair that people were riding left and right. All the bright lights of a fair as well, and the rides look pretty damn fun. I came back, sat down at the bar to have my free shot of Jaeger (that was the name of the hostel) and started talking with the guy next to me when the bartender decided to give everyone at the bar a free shot of tequila. The guy next to me was named Mick from Australia and we basically became running mates for the next 2 nights. Our hostel bar was pretty cool and we talked with a couple of Canadien guys there, but when they left to go on a night train we though we'd head out to the actual Oktoberfest. We walked outside and within a matter of seconds 3 drunk Canadien women walked by and started chatting us up. We decided we'd roll with them and that got us about one and a half blocks before we turned around and headed to their hostel bar which was right next door, before a stop off for a shot of Jaeger at our hostel bar. This Wombat's hostel was one of the nicest hostels I've seen with and outdoor type relax area INSIDE and their bar was just a damn good and wild bar. I barely remember being there and somehow I woke up in my bed. I haven't blacked out like that in a while and when I asked Mick about it the next morning he said that he kept buying me beers and shots because he felt like it and that I was keeping the party going for him. So at least it was because a drink was placed in my hand constantly. I didn't puke or anything and I do remember bits and pieces. Plus this guy Mick is more innapropriate than I'll ever be. I did start talking to some girl in (I think this is how you spell it) liederhosen and assumed incorrectly that she worked at Oktoberfest, and she was not too happy about that. But I remember my hangover more than anything.
I took full advantage of the coffee and bread breakfast that morning and then Mick and I headed out to see a little bit more of Munich then just beer. We ended up walking all over the town without trying to. Southwest to Central East and then up to Northwest. We saw the downtown central area and ended in the old Olympic Park area which was amazing. Great park and still beautiful stadiums. Right next to the BMW museum and factory as well. Mick and I talked about travel and family a lot. He met his lady while traveling in Asia and they traveled for 2 months together. She was from England and at the end of that he just said well you want to come to Sydney and give it a try. That was for years ago and now they're engaged witha 7 month old daughter. They were in England for a couple of weeks visitng her family and she agreed to let him get away from Dad and husband to be responsibilities for 3 days so this was his time to pursue as he said was one of his passions, drinking. He's a good guy who was just making the most out of the little freedom he could muster up and he knew what his responsibilities were. After walking around though we were pretty beat and I was still feeling the effects of last night so we decided to just take the metro back. We got separated for a bit because Mick assumed I had taken a nap and he wanted to get to drinking more. So he left a little early and ended up slamming down 5 liters of beer at the beer tents over a period of a few hours. I just made friends with this Indian (the country) dude who is an engineer for Haliburton at their branch in Cairo, Egypt. We hit up the beer tents ourselves but unlike Mick I only had one liter. I came back and talked with some of the people in my room before heading down to the bar. I figured I should make the most out of it, my hangover gone at this point and I knew I was just going to be recouping for the next few days. Who should I run into there but Mick who called me over to buy me a drink and a tequila shot.
We went straight over to Wombat's after that and had another wild night but I didn't black out this time. We met these other Candian/Aussie dudes and dudetes and had some drinks with them. One of the guys got dressed in his friends liederhosen (I think) and looked like a drag queen. Then he took it off and was in his underwear. One of his buddies came up and gave him such a severe wedgie that it ripped his underwear in the back. He decided the only reasonable thing to do was just take of his underwear in the middle of the bar and the thing is it wasn't even a problem for anyone. he put his clothes back on though and it was basically just a giant party. I remember getting home and talking with my roomies Aleisha from Brisbane and Kelly from LA before bed and I woke not in the best shape but better than before.
Now in the Black Forest my plan has been just to recoup and go hang out in nature for a bit. So far I've done all that. That guy David in Luxembourg reminded me that some people go from city to city with no plan as to where they're going to sleep because they like the adventure of figuring it out along the way. The rest of my trip is basically booked so I thought I'd take his view on it here and so I arrived with no destination. I got off the train, got some info and food, went straight to the information area in the middle of the city, got hostel info, b lined it to the hostel and got the perfect hostel for what I'm looking for. I had my own room last night and it looks as if that will continue and all i really want to do is just relax, organize, do some simple vacation things, sleep and see some nature. I've managed to do that so far. I slept a lot this morning. I made a list of things to do today and I've gotten a lot done. A couple of hostel bookings, shaved, showered, reorganized my pack, took care of a lot of correspondence online and posted my resume online at Monster.com as well. I also got a short hike in for a couple of hours. Tomorrow I'll do some more errands and relaxing as well as another short hike. Then On sunday it looks like I'll be able to do a long 28 kilometer hike to the next city, look at that place and then take the 20 minute train back. Then through Switzerland off to Turin, Italy to meet up with my friend Lauren.
I know I was just writing about partying a lot but Oktoberfest helped cement certain things now for my partying habits. For a long while now I've known my level of content with crazy ass partying has been declining. I was generally figuring after this trip I was going to stop going wild like that with such frequency anyways. At Oktoberfest I just fully felt that while I enjoy having drinks with friends and always will I've done enough crazy drunken things in my life at this point that I don't feel the need to keep pursuing that part of my life. I always thought, "Do it now while you're young and it's still a blast" or "You don't want to look back and think that you missed out on that part of life." Well I can say without a doubt that I have not missed out on that part of life. It wasn't just the hangover though, it's been a slow decline. I kind of viewed the trip as a last harrah to these crazy days and I actually thought Oktoberfest might have that effect on me. Plus this whole summer I've been planning things out but working evenings at a restaurant meant I'd get done with work right when people were going out and I didn't have to be at work until 5 or 6 sometimes the next day. This isn't to say that I'll never be drunk again or that I'm going to change my life or the person I am. I will always like going out with friends, I'll be going out while in Europe and back in the States and I will have more wild and crazy adventures. I just don't feel this desire to pursue the wildest party adventures anymore. After 6 years of that stuff I think I can say I've been there.
That aside though I had a nice litte moment while on the hike today. I stopped and had a good German beer under some covering. Just one and just because there's almost always room for a good beer. The Black Forest is beautiful and I was just sitting there enjoying my beer, looking at the scenary and thinking about life. I'm glad to be in Europe and it feels really good to have worked hard to get here and feel like I'm making the most out of my situation and opportunities in life. I always thought it would be awesome to see all of Europe when i was growing up more than any other place and by the end of this trip I'll really have seen a whole lot of it at such a young age. But I'll be glad to get to Chicago and start building something up there. I also always thought it would be awesome to live in a big city where it snowed in my 20's and I'm going to go do that too. Plus even though I'm on vacation and all right now it's been a pretty long break. Not just Europe and my time in the bay and Canada but also the summer. Like I said I was out just having a good time for the whole summer in Eugene. Going to different events and not really having to work that hard. I also went on a kick ass road trip and really just had the exact last 4 1/2 months that I wanted. But there's a certain satisfaction that comes with some good hard at the end of the day or the end of the week or just towards something. I'm feeling that now but I want to knuckle down and just get to work on setting up my life in Chicago. I want to get a job, find a place that I like, get back into the gym and work out mode, explore/get to know the city/ midwest area and start socializing with people that I'll hang out with in a week or more and proably become good friends with down the line. I'm gonna make the most out of my time here but I want to make the most out of the next step in my life as well.
Well that's that. I'm kinda tired right now and I don't feel like editing this so that's your loss. Hope everybody is well and I'll talk to you all when i get back to the States (or online before that).
I took full advantage of the coffee and bread breakfast that morning and then Mick and I headed out to see a little bit more of Munich then just beer. We ended up walking all over the town without trying to. Southwest to Central East and then up to Northwest. We saw the downtown central area and ended in the old Olympic Park area which was amazing. Great park and still beautiful stadiums. Right next to the BMW museum and factory as well. Mick and I talked about travel and family a lot. He met his lady while traveling in Asia and they traveled for 2 months together. She was from England and at the end of that he just said well you want to come to Sydney and give it a try. That was for years ago and now they're engaged witha 7 month old daughter. They were in England for a couple of weeks visitng her family and she agreed to let him get away from Dad and husband to be responsibilities for 3 days so this was his time to pursue as he said was one of his passions, drinking. He's a good guy who was just making the most out of the little freedom he could muster up and he knew what his responsibilities were. After walking around though we were pretty beat and I was still feeling the effects of last night so we decided to just take the metro back. We got separated for a bit because Mick assumed I had taken a nap and he wanted to get to drinking more. So he left a little early and ended up slamming down 5 liters of beer at the beer tents over a period of a few hours. I just made friends with this Indian (the country) dude who is an engineer for Haliburton at their branch in Cairo, Egypt. We hit up the beer tents ourselves but unlike Mick I only had one liter. I came back and talked with some of the people in my room before heading down to the bar. I figured I should make the most out of it, my hangover gone at this point and I knew I was just going to be recouping for the next few days. Who should I run into there but Mick who called me over to buy me a drink and a tequila shot.
We went straight over to Wombat's after that and had another wild night but I didn't black out this time. We met these other Candian/Aussie dudes and dudetes and had some drinks with them. One of the guys got dressed in his friends liederhosen (I think) and looked like a drag queen. Then he took it off and was in his underwear. One of his buddies came up and gave him such a severe wedgie that it ripped his underwear in the back. He decided the only reasonable thing to do was just take of his underwear in the middle of the bar and the thing is it wasn't even a problem for anyone. he put his clothes back on though and it was basically just a giant party. I remember getting home and talking with my roomies Aleisha from Brisbane and Kelly from LA before bed and I woke not in the best shape but better than before.
Now in the Black Forest my plan has been just to recoup and go hang out in nature for a bit. So far I've done all that. That guy David in Luxembourg reminded me that some people go from city to city with no plan as to where they're going to sleep because they like the adventure of figuring it out along the way. The rest of my trip is basically booked so I thought I'd take his view on it here and so I arrived with no destination. I got off the train, got some info and food, went straight to the information area in the middle of the city, got hostel info, b lined it to the hostel and got the perfect hostel for what I'm looking for. I had my own room last night and it looks as if that will continue and all i really want to do is just relax, organize, do some simple vacation things, sleep and see some nature. I've managed to do that so far. I slept a lot this morning. I made a list of things to do today and I've gotten a lot done. A couple of hostel bookings, shaved, showered, reorganized my pack, took care of a lot of correspondence online and posted my resume online at Monster.com as well. I also got a short hike in for a couple of hours. Tomorrow I'll do some more errands and relaxing as well as another short hike. Then On sunday it looks like I'll be able to do a long 28 kilometer hike to the next city, look at that place and then take the 20 minute train back. Then through Switzerland off to Turin, Italy to meet up with my friend Lauren.
I know I was just writing about partying a lot but Oktoberfest helped cement certain things now for my partying habits. For a long while now I've known my level of content with crazy ass partying has been declining. I was generally figuring after this trip I was going to stop going wild like that with such frequency anyways. At Oktoberfest I just fully felt that while I enjoy having drinks with friends and always will I've done enough crazy drunken things in my life at this point that I don't feel the need to keep pursuing that part of my life. I always thought, "Do it now while you're young and it's still a blast" or "You don't want to look back and think that you missed out on that part of life." Well I can say without a doubt that I have not missed out on that part of life. It wasn't just the hangover though, it's been a slow decline. I kind of viewed the trip as a last harrah to these crazy days and I actually thought Oktoberfest might have that effect on me. Plus this whole summer I've been planning things out but working evenings at a restaurant meant I'd get done with work right when people were going out and I didn't have to be at work until 5 or 6 sometimes the next day. This isn't to say that I'll never be drunk again or that I'm going to change my life or the person I am. I will always like going out with friends, I'll be going out while in Europe and back in the States and I will have more wild and crazy adventures. I just don't feel this desire to pursue the wildest party adventures anymore. After 6 years of that stuff I think I can say I've been there.
That aside though I had a nice litte moment while on the hike today. I stopped and had a good German beer under some covering. Just one and just because there's almost always room for a good beer. The Black Forest is beautiful and I was just sitting there enjoying my beer, looking at the scenary and thinking about life. I'm glad to be in Europe and it feels really good to have worked hard to get here and feel like I'm making the most out of my situation and opportunities in life. I always thought it would be awesome to see all of Europe when i was growing up more than any other place and by the end of this trip I'll really have seen a whole lot of it at such a young age. But I'll be glad to get to Chicago and start building something up there. I also always thought it would be awesome to live in a big city where it snowed in my 20's and I'm going to go do that too. Plus even though I'm on vacation and all right now it's been a pretty long break. Not just Europe and my time in the bay and Canada but also the summer. Like I said I was out just having a good time for the whole summer in Eugene. Going to different events and not really having to work that hard. I also went on a kick ass road trip and really just had the exact last 4 1/2 months that I wanted. But there's a certain satisfaction that comes with some good hard at the end of the day or the end of the week or just towards something. I'm feeling that now but I want to knuckle down and just get to work on setting up my life in Chicago. I want to get a job, find a place that I like, get back into the gym and work out mode, explore/get to know the city/ midwest area and start socializing with people that I'll hang out with in a week or more and proably become good friends with down the line. I'm gonna make the most out of my time here but I want to make the most out of the next step in my life as well.
Well that's that. I'm kinda tired right now and I don't feel like editing this so that's your loss. Hope everybody is well and I'll talk to you all when i get back to the States (or online before that).
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
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