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.
Monday, October 20, 2008
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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