June 3 - London

My 12th and final city and 14th stop overall on my journey (2 stops in London and Vienna), and man, I am pretty exhausted. It's been such an unbelievable trip, I have had so much fun it's not even possible to elaborate, and yet I can't believe it's just about over. Part of me would love to stay here and travel more, because this has truly been an amazing trip and probably the best month of my life, but the other part of me is pretty ready to get home and get back in touch with normal life. Or, I suppose, as much of a normal life as a jobless, homeless guy can have!! I'm pumped to see my family and friends, and less than thrilled with the prospect of looking for a job. Oh well. I can't thank all of you enough for coming on this wild ride with me. The emails, facebook messages and comments here on the blog have really kept me going. It's been a somewhat mentally challenging time for me, as I have had to constantly self-motivate to get going, plan, sightsee, walk, wander, explore and travel - and yet all of the correspondence I've gotten has made it all easier, knowing that the next time I check email I'll have a nice note from one of you. So thank you.

My last day/night in Amsterdam was great. The city is very conducive to mellow strolls along the canals, and stopping into a cafe for a beer on a beautiful square or popping in to a bar to catch some of the French Open. So I did that pretty much all day. I think I spent a grand total of 11 hours in my hotel room in 2 days because I was walking all around the city. Unfortunately, I didn't get to take the tour of the Anne Frank House - the lines were insane - but I walked by and took pix, and also know a lot of the history of her story, so I am a bit disappointed but not crushed. Going back to the bike bell story, because it still terrifies me - the 'bling a ling ling' that is most often associated with a 4 year old girl's little pink bike with training wheels is now is officially my least favorite and most scary tune or jingle. Call me a wuss or whatever, but it frightens me! It has surpassed the Halloween horror flick someone-is-about-to-die jingle as the scariest jingle ever. I will never be the same. Those bike riders are nucking futs. I nearly had one more biker drill me, he nearly rammed the bike up my ass sideways, so that was fun.

I also want to comment on the red light district. Yes, of course I walked through the area, and no, of course I didn't sample. It's a must-see area because of the originality of it all, and it's crazy. Women sitting in bikinis in their little windows doing whatever - eating, smoking, talking on their phones - crazy. And they're out all day! No joke. 1pm and they're out there soliciting. I couldn't believe it. At night it gets scarier - not because of the seedy, shady dudes walking around, of which there are many - but because the women are like caged animals. A couple of them scared the bag out of me as I walked by. After walking by a large, incredibly unattractive behemoth, she poked her head out her door and started yelling at me - "baseball cap, BASEBALL CAP COME BACK HERE!" I turned, looked back in astonishment, and ran the other way. I guess they all have their go-to moves. Some whistle, or wink, some rap on the door, some yell at you, and one even growled at me. I don't know if that was supposed to be a good or bad thing, but it was something all right.

Walking around for 12 hours each day took its toll on me, and yesterday I was wiped. It was a travel day, so at least I was able to relax. Hopped the train from Amsterdam to Brussels, and then had a change over to take the train under the English Channel. Unfortunately, I was so tired that I was passed out for the ride under the channel, which sort of pissed me off because I was looking forward to it. I woke up as the train hit the brakes in London, so i guess I needed it. I got off the train, and hit a pub to meet up with a high school friend - Ali Terrell - that I hadn't seen in roughly 12 years or so (isn't facebook great??). Her and her husband Ian are super nice, and it is so heartwarming that they opened up their house to me despite the fact that we hadn't seen or talked in so long. We met at a pub by the station and had a couple pints, but since it was a schoolnight for them, it didn't get crazy. It was still very cool to see Ali and catch up after so long. She is so sweet, and I am still lounging at her place, as I am still pretty wiped out, watching Serena in the French Open. I am heading to a hotel by Heathrow later today, as my flight home is tomorrow. Sniff sniff.

Thanks again for reading. It's been a lot of fun to write, so I hope you've all enjoyed it. Catch you back in the States!!

June 1 - Amsterdam



Hey. Ahhhhhhh. hmmmmm. uuuuhhhhh. hi. what?



So Berlin was awesome. Such a beautiful city, and such a cool time there. After I left you, after such a seriously comical night was such a great way to start. Friday I woke up sorta early and headed over to the Holocaust Memorial, which was tough. Very sad statistics, there was a strong focus on a lot of families history, which made it almost tougher to take. Then I headed over to Checkpoint Charlie, went thourhg an exhibit titled the "Topography of Terror,"which was on the site of the former SS (a group of powerful, ruthless Nazi police) headquarters. It gave a history of the old, famous German building in the pre-Nazi days, then when the a-holes came to power they took it over. Then, later, we bombed the shit out of it, so it no longer exists. Also hit the Jewish Museum, Alexanderplatz, scared the shit out of myself again on a walk up to the top of the Berlin Dam, the big cathedral. I did so much that day that I took it pretty easy and woke up early to go check out the Schloss Charlottenburg (a big castle used mainly by Prussian-era rulers as their residence). I was out the door at 9:30am and found a massive party scene on the way to the subway I had to take. Literally hundreds of people raging like it was normal that people were raging at 9:30am. Turns out the German Bundesliga's (best pro soccer league) tournament final was that night, Werder Bremen and Bayer Laverkusen. Saturday night. In Berlin. It was nuts. People everywhere in jerseys, singing, chanting, drinking, screaming, cars honking, drinking, yelling and drinking. I was taken aback and seriously impressed.

Anyway, Napolean compared the grounds with those of Versailles, so pretty massive and opulent. Wandered through there, with a nice gardens in the back, then cruised back over to Alexanderplatz, a big shopping/eating district. Then I headed back towards my hotel....and the massive outdoor sauce-fest. Had a beer or 2, then found an irish pub with the English tournament final...yes. Cept it was full of Bremen and Laverkusen fans, in the bar, chanting, drinking, singing, banging drums. Crazy. Beers were flowing pretty easily, but I had a 6:45am train - had to do it, it's like 6.5 hours from Berlin to Amsterdamage. Errrr... Asterdam.

So I got in yesterday afternoon, and realized I was staying about a block from the Van Gogh Musuem. It was my top priority coming here, and I walked right in after the hotel checkin and perused. Again, I'm not really much of an art guy, but Van Gogh is great. This museum had over 200 of his paintings, plus several other exhibits with other artists. Then I wandereda bit, and then found a canal cruise and hopped on a sweet hour long cruise through the canals. The bridges are cool and it was a nice, chill time on the back of a boat. It was 80 and sunny yesterday so everyone had their boats out, so it was very peaceful. After that, I walked some more. And for those of you who have been to Amsterdam before probably know what I'm talking about. But walking around here can be hazardous to your health - the bikers and scooter drivers here are fucking nuts. I mean crazier than a shithouse rat. I am legitimately terrified of that little ringer bell that bikers use - you know, when they are just about to anally probe you with their front tire. Same as that hummm the scooter makes when it;s going. I had such a traumatic first walk in the city that I wanted to go to my hotel, curl up in the fetal position, and weep. I swear this happened - at two different times, about 4 and a half minutes apart - a biker almost castrated me with his front handlebars. 2 different dudes, flying, ringing, nearly de-nutting me. Making matters so much better, I almost had 2 scooters give my colon an unscheduled check up. So yeah, the bell and humm crush me - I tense up and almost crap my pants. It's terrifying. Whenever I hear one behind me, I simultaneously execute a 3 part safety jump. 1. jump in the air 2. with left hand, quickly check shorts, and 3. land on nearest curb or as close to building as possible. Those drivers freaking crazy. Anyway, sorry for the ramble. It's been a great time here, Amsterdam's laid back lifestyle has been a perfect, relaxing last stop before heading back to London tomorrow to finish up the trip. Can't believe I've been gone this long and yet it feels as though it's gone so quickly.