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!!
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Monday, June 1, 2009
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.
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.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Maz 28-29 - Berlin
Not that I am bitching here or anything, but 2 straight posts and no comments. Guess either my readers have declined, or people have stopped caring. Or both.
Normally, I´d wait a couple days to update, but I´ve been in Berlin for less than 8 hours and have had soime ridiculous shit happen, so I felt like attacking it when its fresh. I jsut got home from a pub after dinner (much more on this later) so I fekt like sharing. Seeing as how everyone loved my last drunken post, well, here´s the sequel.
But first, my final night in Prague was relatively tame. The previous 3 weeks have kicked my ass. I went to a pub called the Dubliner for the UEFA Champions final, and unfortunately Man U lost, and looked pretty horrendous doing so. I was downing Guinness like it was going out of style. But after that, I decided to head to the hotel. Enough was enough. I´ve been in Europe for 3 weeks and 2 days (which have been the fastest 3 weeks of my life by the way) and can count my sober nights on 2 fingers.
There was a nice, relaxing 4.5 hour train ride from Prague to Berlin, where I had some serious ipod time. I´ve obviously had a lot of walking and train time, so my ipod has ben my best friend. Since this blog is all about me sharing, here are some of the tunes that I can´t get enough of right now. For all those shrinks out there, don´t read too much into these, it just seems like when one of these songs comes on I smile, have to turn it up or listen to it 3 times. You all know that feeling I´m talking about
- Through the wire and American Boy - Kanye
- I wish you would and Stay with me - Train
- Somebody´s crying - Chris Isaak
- Closer to Love and Undeniable - Mat Kearney
- New York, New York´- Ryan Adams
- Somewhere only we know - Keane
- Crack a bottle - Eminem (I´m a thug)
- Live your Life - TI
- Tie my hands - Lil Wayne
- Sunday Mornign - Maroon 5
- I´m no angel - Dido
- Rehab - Rihanna
OK, so Berlin. I got into my hotel, dropped my shit and started walking. Popped in the ipod, and Bob Marley´s "Positive Vibration" came on. For some reason, the lines of "Cause it´s a new day, a new time, a new feeling, a new sign, oh whhat new day" just reasonated with me, in that I was in Berlin, which is a city that with the fall of the wall created a new day, a new time and a new feeling. I don´t know.
So after walking around for about 3 hours and seeing some amazing stuff (the Reichstag, the Holocaust Memorial, Potsdam Plaza and parts of the Berlin Wall) I started walking towards home to find some dinner. And before you pass judgment on this story, please wait till the end. So I see a leggy brunette walk out of an apartment building with white thigh high fuck me boots, ooohh. Whoooaaaa, tiny miniskirt too. Wait, is her thong hanging out too?? WTF?? Is she?? Is...she....a....hooker??? Yep. Nasty nasty nasty. Gross. So she walks to the street corner, throws the fuck me eyes to like 10 passing cars, and no lie, 20 seconds after walking out, a car stops. She walks to drivers side, then 2 secnds later walks around and gets in. I guess some jobs arent adversely affected by the economy. Economic downturn my ass. I was taken aback. It's 8:30 pm and still light out!!! I continue my walk, and at the next intersection i look right. At a hot pink tight top mini skirt one piece awful thingy. I look left. Fishnet stockings, fat ass hanging out everywhere. Now Im thinking....holy shit, what neighborhood am I in? Where am I? I gotta get the fuck outta here. Stat.
Make my way back to normalness, or so I thought. Found an irish pub (hey, its my first night, you go with what you know...) and a live band comes on. I'll listen to live music anywhere...even if its Germans in an Irish pub in Germany singing American tunes. Erik and the Dominos come on, and they're not that bad. They open wuith Dire Straits' Sultans of Swing, and its solid. So I stay for beer 2. They prep for song 2 and the dude is jabbering in german for like 30 seconds, then they bustz into Great Balls of Fire. Again, not bad, but just didnt seem right with the german intro. Beer 3. This is when thigs turn odd and I start to figure things out. The lead singer looks like Wilford Brimley with shades on. The lead guitarist looks like a 55 yr old version of Seth Jacobsen - tall, gangly, goofy messy blonde hair. Some dude sitting up front looked like Richard Petty, circa 1979 - cowboy hat, tight jeans, boots, the whole shebang. He's in the crowd, people, not the band! I look to my left, and a Billy Ray Cyrus clone from his Achy Breaky Heart days is sitting next to me. Talk about a Germullet, that head of hair was fierce. The dude to my right looks like he just shit his pants. Not a sudden look, like "holy shit I just shit my pants!!!", a constant, uncomfortable look like he just did and he's OK with it. We've all seen them before - a perpetual look of anguish, almost like they are squinting as they are staring into the sun, furrowed brow, nose perked up. What's that smell?? I'm beginning to think he did just shit his pants. Where the fuck am I??? I feel like I smoked crack and time warped back to 1983. Beer 4. I give the waitress a 10, so beer with tip is 6 bucks. 6 in german is sechs. So I say "sechs please" and giggle. Like I said, I'm a juvenile. Her name is Bianka. Beer 5 and it gets funnier. "sechs please, danke bianka." Now I rhyme. The band busts out CCR. No way. Germans singing CCR should be illegal. In fact, there should be some Geneva convention outlawing any non-americans from singing CCR. Now they brought Richard Petty on stage. He is 5'2, tops. I can't remember what they were playing because I was laughing too hard. So Richard Petty sits down and starts rocking out on the spoons. This is not a joke. He busts them out and starts going buckwild. He is jamming almost uncontrollably, and then finishes up when I notice something - he carries his spoons in a fucking holster!!! This guy is fucking unreal. He even did the wild west spoon spinnerama finish and tucked them into the holster. Complete and utter hilarity. I walk out when they start into Hotel California. I dont care what country I am in. I fucking hate the Eagles
(not the Phiadelphia Eagles for those wiseasses out there. the band. I felt compelled to add this because some dipshit would inevitably say something)
Not that I am bitching here or anything, but 2 straight posts and no comments. Guess either my readers have declined, or people have stopped caring. Or both.
Normally, I´d wait a couple days to update, but I´ve been in Berlin for less than 8 hours and have had soime ridiculous shit happen, so I felt like attacking it when its fresh. I jsut got home from a pub after dinner (much more on this later) so I fekt like sharing. Seeing as how everyone loved my last drunken post, well, here´s the sequel.
But first, my final night in Prague was relatively tame. The previous 3 weeks have kicked my ass. I went to a pub called the Dubliner for the UEFA Champions final, and unfortunately Man U lost, and looked pretty horrendous doing so. I was downing Guinness like it was going out of style. But after that, I decided to head to the hotel. Enough was enough. I´ve been in Europe for 3 weeks and 2 days (which have been the fastest 3 weeks of my life by the way) and can count my sober nights on 2 fingers.
There was a nice, relaxing 4.5 hour train ride from Prague to Berlin, where I had some serious ipod time. I´ve obviously had a lot of walking and train time, so my ipod has ben my best friend. Since this blog is all about me sharing, here are some of the tunes that I can´t get enough of right now. For all those shrinks out there, don´t read too much into these, it just seems like when one of these songs comes on I smile, have to turn it up or listen to it 3 times. You all know that feeling I´m talking about
- Through the wire and American Boy - Kanye
- I wish you would and Stay with me - Train
- Somebody´s crying - Chris Isaak
- Closer to Love and Undeniable - Mat Kearney
- New York, New York´- Ryan Adams
- Somewhere only we know - Keane
- Crack a bottle - Eminem (I´m a thug)
- Live your Life - TI
- Tie my hands - Lil Wayne
- Sunday Mornign - Maroon 5
- I´m no angel - Dido
- Rehab - Rihanna
OK, so Berlin. I got into my hotel, dropped my shit and started walking. Popped in the ipod, and Bob Marley´s "Positive Vibration" came on. For some reason, the lines of "Cause it´s a new day, a new time, a new feeling, a new sign, oh whhat new day" just reasonated with me, in that I was in Berlin, which is a city that with the fall of the wall created a new day, a new time and a new feeling. I don´t know.
So after walking around for about 3 hours and seeing some amazing stuff (the Reichstag, the Holocaust Memorial, Potsdam Plaza and parts of the Berlin Wall) I started walking towards home to find some dinner. And before you pass judgment on this story, please wait till the end. So I see a leggy brunette walk out of an apartment building with white thigh high fuck me boots, ooohh. Whoooaaaa, tiny miniskirt too. Wait, is her thong hanging out too?? WTF?? Is she?? Is...she....a....hooker??? Yep. Nasty nasty nasty. Gross. So she walks to the street corner, throws the fuck me eyes to like 10 passing cars, and no lie, 20 seconds after walking out, a car stops. She walks to drivers side, then 2 secnds later walks around and gets in. I guess some jobs arent adversely affected by the economy. Economic downturn my ass. I was taken aback. It's 8:30 pm and still light out!!! I continue my walk, and at the next intersection i look right. At a hot pink tight top mini skirt one piece awful thingy. I look left. Fishnet stockings, fat ass hanging out everywhere. Now Im thinking....holy shit, what neighborhood am I in? Where am I? I gotta get the fuck outta here. Stat.
Make my way back to normalness, or so I thought. Found an irish pub (hey, its my first night, you go with what you know...) and a live band comes on. I'll listen to live music anywhere...even if its Germans in an Irish pub in Germany singing American tunes. Erik and the Dominos come on, and they're not that bad. They open wuith Dire Straits' Sultans of Swing, and its solid. So I stay for beer 2. They prep for song 2 and the dude is jabbering in german for like 30 seconds, then they bustz into Great Balls of Fire. Again, not bad, but just didnt seem right with the german intro. Beer 3. This is when thigs turn odd and I start to figure things out. The lead singer looks like Wilford Brimley with shades on. The lead guitarist looks like a 55 yr old version of Seth Jacobsen - tall, gangly, goofy messy blonde hair. Some dude sitting up front looked like Richard Petty, circa 1979 - cowboy hat, tight jeans, boots, the whole shebang. He's in the crowd, people, not the band! I look to my left, and a Billy Ray Cyrus clone from his Achy Breaky Heart days is sitting next to me. Talk about a Germullet, that head of hair was fierce. The dude to my right looks like he just shit his pants. Not a sudden look, like "holy shit I just shit my pants!!!", a constant, uncomfortable look like he just did and he's OK with it. We've all seen them before - a perpetual look of anguish, almost like they are squinting as they are staring into the sun, furrowed brow, nose perked up. What's that smell?? I'm beginning to think he did just shit his pants. Where the fuck am I??? I feel like I smoked crack and time warped back to 1983. Beer 4. I give the waitress a 10, so beer with tip is 6 bucks. 6 in german is sechs. So I say "sechs please" and giggle. Like I said, I'm a juvenile. Her name is Bianka. Beer 5 and it gets funnier. "sechs please, danke bianka." Now I rhyme. The band busts out CCR. No way. Germans singing CCR should be illegal. In fact, there should be some Geneva convention outlawing any non-americans from singing CCR. Now they brought Richard Petty on stage. He is 5'2, tops. I can't remember what they were playing because I was laughing too hard. So Richard Petty sits down and starts rocking out on the spoons. This is not a joke. He busts them out and starts going buckwild. He is jamming almost uncontrollably, and then finishes up when I notice something - he carries his spoons in a fucking holster!!! This guy is fucking unreal. He even did the wild west spoon spinnerama finish and tucked them into the holster. Complete and utter hilarity. I walk out when they start into Hotel California. I dont care what country I am in. I fucking hate the Eagles
(not the Phiadelphia Eagles for those wiseasses out there. the band. I felt compelled to add this because some dipshit would inevitably say something)
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
May 27 - Prague
My final night in Vienna - night of rest and relaxing - what just what the Dr. ordered to prepare me for Prague. This city has a reputation for a lively nightlife, and it hasn't dissapointed by any means. This is my 3rd, and final, night here, so I am going to enjoy it. After my train ride from Vienna, I got in and had a nice sweaty walk to my hotel. It was hot as bollocks here the past 2 days (more on that later). So on Monday, I decided to just grab my camera and go wandering to acquaint myself with the city. Prague is a beautiful place, yet at the same time has a large amount of sketchiness. Apparently the cabs here are as corrupt as Bernie Madoff, so I have avoided them thus far. So I walked around, found the Charles Bridge, the National Museum, and several beatuiful squares. My first night I found a good Irish pub called Caffrey's and had a couple there, then wandered some more. Found another good bar or 2, then stepped into a club to see what was going on. Surprisingly, for a monday, it was packed, and, thankfully, there were actually young people there! Imagine my surprise after my previous club going experiences. Left there around 3:30ish, grabbed a sausage for the walk (it's like Boston almost - sausage vendors on many corners) and hit the hay.
Let's just say that yesterday was pretty miserable for me. 85 degrees + no clouds + no breeze + hilly terrain + hangover = Chris is a sweaty, dehydrated mess. All day. It was almost embarassing. I usually sweat like a whore in church, but this was different - I felt like I looked like I just went running. Oh well, as I definitely wasn't the only person sweating a bit out there... I walked over the Charles Bridge and went up to the Petrin Observation Tower, which is sitting on a hill overlooking all of Prague. It's an Eiffel Tower replica, only smaller, and I had every intention of walking up it to the top to get the vantage point. However, upon getting there and seeing not only the treacherous stairs up it, but also the less than confidence-inspiring catwalk on the top, I chickened out. Looked good though. The I walked over to the immense Prague Castle, where I spent a couple hours wandering around. It's huge, and very cool. Then, after about 5 hours of walking, I grabbed a late lunch and took a little, much needed nappypoo. When I woke up, my plan was to take a relatively easy night walking around, so that I could take some night pictures. But a monsoon forced me to alter those plans pretty quickly. I walked, then when the rain got too bad, I poked into a pub for a spell. Then walked again, and ducked my head into a place called Harley's. I walked in, and was the only person in there. But it was cool cause they had a baseball game on (Cubs v. Pirates), so I didn't care. Had a beer or 2, then decided to pull the trigger on something that I've only heard about, but been curious to try. Absinth. So I ordered one shot, and took it down. Next thing I know, I see Mr. T singing "Take me out to the ballgame" in Wrigley, and wasn't sure if that was the absinth or it actually happened. Then they flashed back to when he threw out the first pitch - he's a southpaw! Who'da thunk it. I pity the fool. About 10 minutes laterI started feeling a tad fuzzy and had some funny thoughts, so here's what I wrote down:
- why is my shirt glowing???? what's going on here?? Oh, I'm wearing white and there's a blacklight in here. settle down.
- I am sweating! Why? Oh, I sweat a lot. And now I am tingling. Why? Oh, absinth.
- The game jumped from the 7th inning to the 3rd inning, and then to the 9th inning. Either I am Superman or ESPN America is royally fucking with me. Pretty sure I am not Superman, and tomorrow I'll feel like Clark Kent on qualudes. (turns out ESPN America doesn't show commercials and skips around at times. that info would have helped me out bigtime last night.)
Overall, absinth was a bit overrated I felt. I just got a little tingly, that was all. Nothing serious. Maybe I didn't do enough of it? Doesn't matter.
So today I was up early and feeling good, and walked around a lot more. Hit some more churches, walked up to 2 towers and took some great pix, so I am psyched. At this point in my trip, though, I have looked at so many maps, gone to so many historic sights, and seen so many museums and churches, I feel like a less suave, much less religious combination of Indiana Jones and the Pope.
It's been a great stop here in Prague, and I am pumped to hit a pub for the UEFA Champions League Final tonight, Man U v. Barcelona. Go Red Devils. Off to Berlin tomorrow. Peace!!
Oh, and if anyone has a spare liver, please let me know - I'm going to need it when I get back to the states.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
May 24 - Vienna
I'm back in Vienna after 2 nights in Budapest with my buddy Alex Meier. He had to go to Budapest for work for the weekend, so I went down and crashed in his hotel room. Gotta take advantage of the free lodging, right??!?! I took a 5:50 train down, and with the 3 hour trip and about a half hour lateness, I arrived in Budapest around 9:30pm, with a heaping side order of anxiety. Both Alex and my trusty guidebook gave the same, explicit directions: under no circumstances do you get into a cab that you have not called yourself, as illegitimate taxis in Budapest are a large source of crime. So, as the train approached Keleti Station I had terrible images in my head of getting beaten up, my cash and bags stolen, or worse...getting Marcellus Wallace'ed in some old beat up basement in a Budapest slum by angry Eastern Europeans. And after getting off the train, and subsequently power-walking with Olympic gold medal speed to the cab I called and arranged, took a deep breath and settled down.
I made it to the hotel raring to go around 10. Alex and I went to a bar around the corner from the hotel (it was the nice section of town) and had a couple pints, and then found a club and walked in. For some reason, Alex and I have been magnets to clubs where we feel very young and at the same time are full of geriatrics making out. It was funny and incredibly gross at the same time. Don't know what it is. So yesterday (Saturday) Alex had to do work stuff, so I set out on my own and saw some of Budapest's sights. The Hungarian Parliament building was immense and incredibly beautiful. It is the 2nd largest Parliament building in Europe, after London, and it was a Gothic masterpiece. Too bad for the Hungarians it was built with a much larger empire in mind than the one that currently exists. I walked down to the St. Stephen's church, which was amazing, and made a pretty bad mistake - I decided to walk up to the tower and get the panoramic view of the city. You'd think I'd have learned my lesson from Florence. But nooooooooooo. At least this time I wasn't viciously hung over. Just a mild one this time... But I got up, took some nice pix, and got the F down. After that, I walked over to the famous Chain Bridge and up to Castle Hill, which provided even more beautiful overlooks of the city. After walking for a solid 5 hours, I headed back to the hotel for a little nap to regenerate, and man, I sure needed it.
Alex and I headed out to bar around 10ish to get the night started, and then we headed over to another bar, where his Hungarian buddy Peter was hanging. So we went there, and discovered that the Hungarians love their Vodka. Or, as they say, Wodka. I had shudders up my spine just thnking about it. Hung there for a while, and then we all headed over to a club called Cha Cha Cha. Just thinking about the name makes me laugh. And no, it wasn't a strip club for those who are curious. It was a good spot, lots of fun. Astonishingly, we looked down at our watches and it was 4:30, so we decided to head home, with probably the best gyro I've ever eaten. Alex and I woke up feeling like someone was bashing our heads with baseball bats, and decided to hit the free breakfast the hotel provided (Hilton WestEnd Budapest is a nice place for anyone going to Budapest in the future). We attacked the free buffet as if we were 2 homeless men. We then hopped on the train and headed back to Vienna, which is where I am now. I was originally planning on going straight to Prague from Buda, but the past several weeks have started to take a toll on me, so I decided to have a nice chill night at Alex's place (again, love the free lodging) and will head to Prague tomorrow. I am so fortunate that Alex has been so generous to let me crash here for so many nights, and it has been truly awesome to hang with him for this much time. I've had a blast. Thanks for everything Hanz. Love you brother.
I'm back in Vienna after 2 nights in Budapest with my buddy Alex Meier. He had to go to Budapest for work for the weekend, so I went down and crashed in his hotel room. Gotta take advantage of the free lodging, right??!?! I took a 5:50 train down, and with the 3 hour trip and about a half hour lateness, I arrived in Budapest around 9:30pm, with a heaping side order of anxiety. Both Alex and my trusty guidebook gave the same, explicit directions: under no circumstances do you get into a cab that you have not called yourself, as illegitimate taxis in Budapest are a large source of crime. So, as the train approached Keleti Station I had terrible images in my head of getting beaten up, my cash and bags stolen, or worse...getting Marcellus Wallace'ed in some old beat up basement in a Budapest slum by angry Eastern Europeans. And after getting off the train, and subsequently power-walking with Olympic gold medal speed to the cab I called and arranged, took a deep breath and settled down.
I made it to the hotel raring to go around 10. Alex and I went to a bar around the corner from the hotel (it was the nice section of town) and had a couple pints, and then found a club and walked in. For some reason, Alex and I have been magnets to clubs where we feel very young and at the same time are full of geriatrics making out. It was funny and incredibly gross at the same time. Don't know what it is. So yesterday (Saturday) Alex had to do work stuff, so I set out on my own and saw some of Budapest's sights. The Hungarian Parliament building was immense and incredibly beautiful. It is the 2nd largest Parliament building in Europe, after London, and it was a Gothic masterpiece. Too bad for the Hungarians it was built with a much larger empire in mind than the one that currently exists. I walked down to the St. Stephen's church, which was amazing, and made a pretty bad mistake - I decided to walk up to the tower and get the panoramic view of the city. You'd think I'd have learned my lesson from Florence. But nooooooooooo. At least this time I wasn't viciously hung over. Just a mild one this time... But I got up, took some nice pix, and got the F down. After that, I walked over to the famous Chain Bridge and up to Castle Hill, which provided even more beautiful overlooks of the city. After walking for a solid 5 hours, I headed back to the hotel for a little nap to regenerate, and man, I sure needed it.
Alex and I headed out to bar around 10ish to get the night started, and then we headed over to another bar, where his Hungarian buddy Peter was hanging. So we went there, and discovered that the Hungarians love their Vodka. Or, as they say, Wodka. I had shudders up my spine just thnking about it. Hung there for a while, and then we all headed over to a club called Cha Cha Cha. Just thinking about the name makes me laugh. And no, it wasn't a strip club for those who are curious. It was a good spot, lots of fun. Astonishingly, we looked down at our watches and it was 4:30, so we decided to head home, with probably the best gyro I've ever eaten. Alex and I woke up feeling like someone was bashing our heads with baseball bats, and decided to hit the free breakfast the hotel provided (Hilton WestEnd Budapest is a nice place for anyone going to Budapest in the future). We attacked the free buffet as if we were 2 homeless men. We then hopped on the train and headed back to Vienna, which is where I am now. I was originally planning on going straight to Prague from Buda, but the past several weeks have started to take a toll on me, so I decided to have a nice chill night at Alex's place (again, love the free lodging) and will head to Prague tomorrow. I am so fortunate that Alex has been so generous to let me crash here for so many nights, and it has been truly awesome to hang with him for this much time. I've had a blast. Thanks for everything Hanz. Love you brother.
Now that I know how to upload photos, I am trying t0 upload some more of the 400+ that I've taken so far....but blogspot isn't letting me. So I'll try again soon. Sorry!
Friday, May 22, 2009
May 22 - Vienna
What's up. From some of the feedback I've gotten, my last post (ie. the drunk one) was good...unfortunately I am sober right now. Had a blast the last several days, they have been quite memorable. Also, it's been a ton of fun spending time in Austria so I can speak some German. Granted, my German is pretty crappy after not having used it in 10 years, but still fun to fumble my way thru. After I left you all in Innsbruck, I hopped a quick 2 hour train to Salzburg for a night. Great place. On the smaller and pricier side, but very cool. I stayed in a hotel right near Mozartplatz, which, you guessed it, is named after Mozart, as he was born and lived in Salzburg. I wandered around for a while around the Old Town, which was very cool. The best part about Europe is wandering around cities that are 500+ years old, walking the same streets and seeing some of the same buildings that people did a long, long time ago. I took the tram up to the Hohensalzburg Fortress, which sits up on a hill overlooking the entire city with an amazing view. Very cool fortress, toured aroud there for a while and took some pix (I think I figured it out....look below). After the fortress, I went thru the Dom, aka the Salzburg Cathedral, which was insanely beautiful inside. The churches here really don't compare to anything you see in the states, the european churches blow them out of the water.I walked to Mozart's birthplace and then his residence, then made it over to the Mirabell Gardens. Then it was time to get a beer. Found a Irish pub, and then decided to make my way over to a beergarden called Augustiner Braustubl. Great choice.
So I walked in and grabbed a beer stein. The not so helpful and very condescending beer stein dick laughed at me when I grabbed the smaller one, which still held about 20 ounces of beer. After I finished that, I went back to kick him in the dick (I didn't, but I wanted to show that I wasn't a total wuss) so I grabbed the big one. He looked me up and down, scoffed, and walked away. I thought it was great. Anyway, so I grab my beer and walk into one of the rooms to get a table. I hear a raucous table a ways away, and they look like Americans - the giveaway were the baseball hats. So I walked over and struck up some convo. Turns out they are 7 business school students/texans from TCU, who were in Prague for a weeklong course and then are travelling around. They invited me to have a beer, so I sat down. Great call. We start pounding down beer steins like they are water. A while later, the waiter comes by and shushes us. So we tone it down for about 3 seconds...and about 15 minutes later we get shushed again. Couldn't believe it. After another beer or so, he comes by and says, "so, when are you guys heading out of here?" So we took our cue and walked outside...we got kicked out of a beergarden. None of us could believe it. But it was pouring, and there were no cabs. So what did we do? We walked back in, took a table in another room, and ordered some more beer. I'm sure you can guess what happened next. We get shushed again after a couple more beers.... at this point we are all pickled and dont really care, but its still funny... Then...we got kicked out. Again. It was awesome. So we found cabs and headed to another bar. Big trouble... but it was a great night. Had a blast.
The next day, I hope the train, this time to Vienna. A very good college buddy of mine, Alex Meier, moved here about 2 years ago, so it's been awesome seeing him. I arrived on Tuesday late afternoon, and after heading to his place to dump my bags, we went out and grabbed some dinner. Then to another bar, and then to a club, which was hilarious. It's been a long time since I've felt young in a bar, but I felt like a child here. Older people acting like college kids - horrendous dancingto 70s and 80s music, which, incidentally, was the last time most of the wome there were attractive, Saturday Night Fever rocking on the TV's, old people making out all over, it was a lot to digest. Unintentional comedy level was very high. The next day, I had a lazyish day, slept in and then did some sightseeing. Went to the Schloss Schonnbrunn, a beautiful, Versailles-esque palace. Awesome. That night, Alex and I went out to dinner and got some authentic Austrian schnitzel, and a beer or 2 as well.... Last night was also very cool. I didn't hang with Alex, as he had to go to Budapest for work. But 2 very good frinds from Florida - Pat and Kathy - were here on their honeymoon so (I know, I know, I missed their wedding and crashed their honeymoon, but they assured me it was cool!!) we met up and had a great night. Had some drinks before dinner, hit another authentic Austrian place called Plachutta (amazing food) and then went out later. SO Vienna has been an amazing stop for me. It's great hanging out with friends from the US in another country. So much fun! Now, I am off to Budapest for 2 nights to hang with Alex, which is going to be great. Can't wait!!
I think I have some pix below...
Sunday, May 17, 2009
May 17 - Innsbruck
Sorry I missed y'all from Florence. There was a big combination of too much to do and see, and not so fun mornings.... oh well. I am sure you didnt miss me all that much. This will be my first somewhat rambling, lack of coherence blog post, as, yeah, you guessed it, I am not all that sober right now. I think that, relatives aside, you've been expecting this, so there's a damn good chance of spelling, grammatical, punctuation, and other errors. And rambling. Its 11:15pm inInnsbruck, and its funny to me that I I shoudnt be in a bar right now, yet I am tapping away at a computer. Go find that logic somewhere. I´ve got a lot to catch up on, so here we go. (please note that due to my less than sober mindframe, there will be an editors´s note or 2 thrown in here - random thoughts thatI felt needed to be said)
Edinburgh was great, I think I´ve already gone there. I got into Florence on thursday and immediately knew it was a great call. I would do the entire city a serious injustice by trying to describe what the city is like, so I am not even going to try. Words cant describe how beautiful Florence is, so Im taking a pass. Do yourself a favor and get there sometime. Seriously. I wouldnt really call myself an art guy, per se, so that should tell you something. Just go. You have to. (EN - there´s a McDonalds next to my hotel in Innsbruck - Gasthof Weisses Kreuz - so I am drilling some fries right now. so good. how about that for an american cultural invasion and ruining my nice florentine intro)
Thursday I got in and wandered around. Id like to thinkI have a decent sense of direction, but in Florence I was royally fucked. I got lost more times than....I dont know. Got lost a lot. After a nice walk, I hit the Trattoria Pendemonio for dinner, which was recco´d to me by a good friend (thanks Natalie). They didnt serve wine by the glass, only the bottle. After about a half a second of wrangling and arm twisting, I relented and got a bottle, which we all know didnt stand a chance. It was my first night in Italy. Come on. A phenomenal 3 course meal later, and an empty bottle, I was feeling good. There were a lot of Americans at the restaurant, some fun, some not. One table of a family of 4 next to me looked as if they were having as much fun as a prostate exam. Ive had more fun at job interviews. No joke. The family buzzkill left and the next thing I knew, the waiter dropped a comp'd bottle of Limoncello on my table. Bad news. For me. Limoncello in italian means lemon death mix in american. Not kidding. I was pouring shots for me, the table next to me, the table next to them, and the italian grandma in the corner. (EN mmmmm fries). This shot was toxic, I had 2 or 3 and I may be a wuss but grandma took it down with ease and essentially called me a ____ (EN you all know what Im saying).
Friday, predicatably, I woke up feeling less than stellar. But i had a big day planned and wasnt going to let a top 10 hangover stop me. Again, I cant do any justice to the sights I saw, so please do yourself a favor and go to Florence and see what I saw. ( EN - I know I have a juvenile sense of humor. I laugh at farts and whenever anyone says the words`"rod" or "sack" - what can I say?? So I got lunch at some pizza place, ordered a sausage slice, which was awesome - I love the language barrier, as the hot server girl came by asked me, no joke, "So, how is your sausage??" After 10 seconds of uncontrollable laughter, I said "amazing" and had to walk out. Not kidding. I wouldnt make this up.) Then I hit the Uffizi, the Galleria Dell Accedemia (both amazing) and then the Duomo. Not just the Duomo, I had a bright idea of going up to the dome of the Duomo. 475 steps. This was the single most harrowing experienjce of my life. I hope you are laughing at me. I went up about 250 steps., and the next thing I knew, I was on a catwalk the width of shoulders....looking down 250 fucking feet. When you combine someone who is afraid of heights with vicious hangover anxiety, you get someone (ie. me) who was scared shiteless. Actually, scared shitless is a monumental understatement to how I felt. Made it to the top though, and have pix to prove it (EN - I still dont know how to upload photos. Me = idiot) I had another 3 course meal that night at Trattoria Zaza, which was awesome, and then hit the hay.
On Saturday, I had another sightseeing day (EN - mmmm fries are good). I hit the Bargello, Museo di San Marco (thanks Dor) and then the Boboli Gardens and Palazzo Pitti. Great day. I went out to dinner and decided to trat myself, as it was my last day in Italy. Got a bottle of wine for dinner (ummm, they only served bottles....wink wink) and another 3 course meal that would make you weep. The table next to me was a super sweet Swiss couple from Bern who were back to Florence for their 30th wedding anniversary, Dieti (his name is Dieter, but he is Swiss German and thus anti German, dont as me, so he goes by Dietie) and Madelaine and they were very, very nice. As a solo traveller, one of the toughest adjustments for me has been to eat all of my meals alone, so the way they interacted with me was very heartfelt. So kind. After dinner, they bought me a shot of grappa, which had a 2fold effect - 1. kicked the sobriety right the fuck out of me and 2. put hair on my chest. No kidding. I went from 6 to 13 after drinking it. And then, much to my dismay, out came the Limoncello/Lemon death mix. Thankfully, I somehow made away with just one shot - after Madelaine took her shot, she was so drunk she looked like she was pledging a soroity - and wandered home. My hotel was about 2 blocks away, yet it took me a solid 15 minutes to get there.
So now I am here in Innsbruck, probably my favorite city on earth. (EN - for my 1 or 2 euro readers out there, please help me understand 3 things about euro men´s fashion - I realized this after people watching for 2 weeks. 1. why do euro men wear skintight shirts?? not a good look. 2. why do euro men wear capri pants? most women dont even wear them also not a good look. 3. why are euro men trying to bring back the mullet?? spanish mullet, english mullet, italimullet....so bad. all 3 looks flamed out (no pun intended) in the 80s - that should have been a sign for them to die and never come back.) I waled around and refreshed my loive for this city. There is something quaint and charming about this place - small town surrounded by mountains. I grabbed dinner at an outdoor garden and decided to try something I had never eaten before. Venison. Much like bungee jumping, a new beer, or a new sex position, this could go one of 2 ways - 1. incredibly amazing and lived up to the hype, or 2. horrendously and famously wrong. Thankfully, my experience was the former and Bambi was delicious. (EN - I hope that made at least one person laugh, because I actually had misgivings about using that joke...)
Alas, my ramblings are coming to an end for tonight. I hope you enjoyed reading about it as much as I did living it.
Sorry I missed y'all from Florence. There was a big combination of too much to do and see, and not so fun mornings.... oh well. I am sure you didnt miss me all that much. This will be my first somewhat rambling, lack of coherence blog post, as, yeah, you guessed it, I am not all that sober right now. I think that, relatives aside, you've been expecting this, so there's a damn good chance of spelling, grammatical, punctuation, and other errors. And rambling. Its 11:15pm inInnsbruck, and its funny to me that I I shoudnt be in a bar right now, yet I am tapping away at a computer. Go find that logic somewhere. I´ve got a lot to catch up on, so here we go. (please note that due to my less than sober mindframe, there will be an editors´s note or 2 thrown in here - random thoughts thatI felt needed to be said)
Edinburgh was great, I think I´ve already gone there. I got into Florence on thursday and immediately knew it was a great call. I would do the entire city a serious injustice by trying to describe what the city is like, so I am not even going to try. Words cant describe how beautiful Florence is, so Im taking a pass. Do yourself a favor and get there sometime. Seriously. I wouldnt really call myself an art guy, per se, so that should tell you something. Just go. You have to. (EN - there´s a McDonalds next to my hotel in Innsbruck - Gasthof Weisses Kreuz - so I am drilling some fries right now. so good. how about that for an american cultural invasion and ruining my nice florentine intro)
Thursday I got in and wandered around. Id like to thinkI have a decent sense of direction, but in Florence I was royally fucked. I got lost more times than....I dont know. Got lost a lot. After a nice walk, I hit the Trattoria Pendemonio for dinner, which was recco´d to me by a good friend (thanks Natalie). They didnt serve wine by the glass, only the bottle. After about a half a second of wrangling and arm twisting, I relented and got a bottle, which we all know didnt stand a chance. It was my first night in Italy. Come on. A phenomenal 3 course meal later, and an empty bottle, I was feeling good. There were a lot of Americans at the restaurant, some fun, some not. One table of a family of 4 next to me looked as if they were having as much fun as a prostate exam. Ive had more fun at job interviews. No joke. The family buzzkill left and the next thing I knew, the waiter dropped a comp'd bottle of Limoncello on my table. Bad news. For me. Limoncello in italian means lemon death mix in american. Not kidding. I was pouring shots for me, the table next to me, the table next to them, and the italian grandma in the corner. (EN mmmmm fries). This shot was toxic, I had 2 or 3 and I may be a wuss but grandma took it down with ease and essentially called me a ____ (EN you all know what Im saying).
Friday, predicatably, I woke up feeling less than stellar. But i had a big day planned and wasnt going to let a top 10 hangover stop me. Again, I cant do any justice to the sights I saw, so please do yourself a favor and go to Florence and see what I saw. ( EN - I know I have a juvenile sense of humor. I laugh at farts and whenever anyone says the words`"rod" or "sack" - what can I say?? So I got lunch at some pizza place, ordered a sausage slice, which was awesome - I love the language barrier, as the hot server girl came by asked me, no joke, "So, how is your sausage??" After 10 seconds of uncontrollable laughter, I said "amazing" and had to walk out. Not kidding. I wouldnt make this up.) Then I hit the Uffizi, the Galleria Dell Accedemia (both amazing) and then the Duomo. Not just the Duomo, I had a bright idea of going up to the dome of the Duomo. 475 steps. This was the single most harrowing experienjce of my life. I hope you are laughing at me. I went up about 250 steps., and the next thing I knew, I was on a catwalk the width of shoulders....looking down 250 fucking feet. When you combine someone who is afraid of heights with vicious hangover anxiety, you get someone (ie. me) who was scared shiteless. Actually, scared shitless is a monumental understatement to how I felt. Made it to the top though, and have pix to prove it (EN - I still dont know how to upload photos. Me = idiot) I had another 3 course meal that night at Trattoria Zaza, which was awesome, and then hit the hay.
On Saturday, I had another sightseeing day (EN - mmmm fries are good). I hit the Bargello, Museo di San Marco (thanks Dor) and then the Boboli Gardens and Palazzo Pitti. Great day. I went out to dinner and decided to trat myself, as it was my last day in Italy. Got a bottle of wine for dinner (ummm, they only served bottles....wink wink) and another 3 course meal that would make you weep. The table next to me was a super sweet Swiss couple from Bern who were back to Florence for their 30th wedding anniversary, Dieti (his name is Dieter, but he is Swiss German and thus anti German, dont as me, so he goes by Dietie) and Madelaine and they were very, very nice. As a solo traveller, one of the toughest adjustments for me has been to eat all of my meals alone, so the way they interacted with me was very heartfelt. So kind. After dinner, they bought me a shot of grappa, which had a 2fold effect - 1. kicked the sobriety right the fuck out of me and 2. put hair on my chest. No kidding. I went from 6 to 13 after drinking it. And then, much to my dismay, out came the Limoncello/Lemon death mix. Thankfully, I somehow made away with just one shot - after Madelaine took her shot, she was so drunk she looked like she was pledging a soroity - and wandered home. My hotel was about 2 blocks away, yet it took me a solid 15 minutes to get there.
So now I am here in Innsbruck, probably my favorite city on earth. (EN - for my 1 or 2 euro readers out there, please help me understand 3 things about euro men´s fashion - I realized this after people watching for 2 weeks. 1. why do euro men wear skintight shirts?? not a good look. 2. why do euro men wear capri pants? most women dont even wear them also not a good look. 3. why are euro men trying to bring back the mullet?? spanish mullet, english mullet, italimullet....so bad. all 3 looks flamed out (no pun intended) in the 80s - that should have been a sign for them to die and never come back.) I waled around and refreshed my loive for this city. There is something quaint and charming about this place - small town surrounded by mountains. I grabbed dinner at an outdoor garden and decided to try something I had never eaten before. Venison. Much like bungee jumping, a new beer, or a new sex position, this could go one of 2 ways - 1. incredibly amazing and lived up to the hype, or 2. horrendously and famously wrong. Thankfully, my experience was the former and Bambi was delicious. (EN - I hope that made at least one person laugh, because I actually had misgivings about using that joke...)
Alas, my ramblings are coming to an end for tonight. I hope you enjoyed reading about it as much as I did living it.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
May 13 - Geneva
Checking in from a pretty sweet internet cafe in Geneva. It has a bar, pool tables and internet, so I may be here a while...and it's called 'America's' - I wonder if I can move in.
After I left you, my awesome cousin James and I.....well, to be honest, I didn't do jack....James cooked a nice dinner and we had a couple drinks. After that, we hit the town to experience the Edinburgh nightlife. We made it to a bar to meet one of his buddies, and then we went to a club. Very cool spot with some very danceable music. Unfortunately, I didn't have my requisite 10+ pre-dancing cocktails in order to get the cojones to hit the dance floor, so I did my best Night at the Roxbury impression on the sidelines. There were a handful of decent dancers but many more with less rhythm than Elaine Benes (including me but not James), one shitfaced guy dressed up in a 3 piece white suit with gold shoes doing his best impression of Travolta in Saturday Night Fever (yet failing more miserably than me in Latin 101 at Dickinson) and overall a good time. The next morning was set perfectly, as we walked up Arthur's Seat and exercised the booze right out. After a nice hike, it was nice to chill and take in the beautiful views of Edinburgh - very peaceful and serene up there. I took some nice pictures, but of course forgot the computer connection, so no pix yet. Then was walked the Royal Mile back up to the Scotch Whiskey tour, which was badass. A nice background on the making of Scotch Whiskey, then we were taken into an amazing room where a Scotch collector donated his private stash of Scotch - 3500+ bottles. And then the tasting, which was delicious, but I would have preferred a larger glass. Shocking, right??? After that, James and I headed back to his place, as I had an early flight out of Edinburgh to Geneva, where I am visiting my Aunt and Uncle. Edinburgh is sick. Such magnificent buildings, churches, and incredibly walkable. I had a blast.
Fast forward a couple hours, and I'm in Geneva. After a nice tour of my Uncle's office - he works in Geneva at the Ecumenical Institute for the World Council of Churches (yeah, we are all surprised we share the same blood), I headed into downtown Geneva for some sightseeing. It is truly a beautiful city, with Lake Geneva and the Rhone River running through the center providing a beautiful downtown area. I wandered around the Jardin Anglais (translation - beats me) and took some pix of the Jet d'Eau (ibid) and got a little lost, which I enjoyed. Headed back to my Aunt and Uncle's house, which is awesome. They live across the border in France in Versonnex, but it is just 20 minutes to Geneva, so it's very easy to get into the city. Their house is awesome - almost a rural setting, with a horse farm behind their house, beautiful flower gardens line the driveway and backyard, a beautifl backyard with a stream on one border of the property, woods behind, and the interior is sweet as well. That night I mapped out my itinerary for the next 3 weeks, but I'm not telling you what it is. That wouldn't be much fun, would it?? Topping it off, one side of the house faces the Juras Mountains - including my bedroom. So I wake up and when I look out the windows I see mountains. Great way to start the day.
Yesterday was a great day. I headed into the city and hit a couple museums. The first was Maison Tavel, hich is the oldest private residence in Geneva, originally built in the 12th century and was rebuilt in 1334 after a huge fire in Geneva destroyed much of the city. The attic was my favorite room, with a 24x18 (fet) replica of Geneva circa 1850. Other cool tidbits were 2 columns from the riginal Library of the Academy, now known as the University of Geneva, which was founded by the Protestant Reformation leader John Calvin. Afer that, I took a tour of the Museum of the Reformation, which was packed with info, and a bit overwhelming. One small detractor about that musuem was, although I had an audio guide, a lot of the exhibits had plackards describing what they were - in French. No English. So I basically walked up to them, gave an approving nod as if I knew what they said, and walked to the next one. They all could have said "Chris, you're an idiot" and I would have given it an approving nod. After that, I wandered some more, and then took a super touristy yet quite enjoyable boat tour of Geneva on Lake Geneva. It gave some very nice vantage points of key landmarks, of which I am brainfarting on most, but it was cool. Saw the Palais of Wilson, which was the original HQ for the League of Nations, formed after WWI and named after President Woodrow Wilson, who essentially got the ball rolling for te creation of it, although it was unsuccessful. I got some other good pix as well. Then rolled back to the house, hada great dinner with my Aunt and Uncle, and hit the hay.
I had another awesome day today. I took a tour of the United Nations building, which was sick. Saw some cool conference rooms, and although it is an official working office building, it's like a musuem as well. A lot of the decorations are donations from member countries, so there is an immense amount of culture around the building. I know that's not a landmark comment, seeing as how it is the UN after all, but it's cool. The UN building in Geneva is the 2nd largest UN building in the world, after the UN headquarters in NYC, and is focused on peacekeeping and diplomatic relations, whereas the NYC building essentially focuses on political functions. The tour was interesting and informational, and well worth the time for anyone who visits Geneva. After that, I walked right across the street to the Internation Museum of the Red Cross and Red Crescent. Again, well worth the time. The Red Cross was essentially started by a man named Henry Dunant, a Geneva businessman who encountered the remnamts of the Battle of Solferino in 1859, a battle where 40,000 men were killed and wounded in one day, as the French and Piedmontese drove the Autrians out of North Italy. Arriving on the scene, Dunant was horrified to find the dead and wounded abandoned on the battlefield, and he mobilized the local population to tend to them. As much as I would love to say I wrote all of that, I can't... I pimped it from a brochure. After this, Dunant wrote "A Memory of Solferino" where he called for the nations to form some sort of international body to tend to the relief of wounded. (That was all me, baby) And so the Red Cross began. The museum was great, yet at the same time heartbreaking, as some of the Red Cross's most necessary times were in that of war, so there were a lot of pictures of Red Cross workers on a litany of battlefields. So you see how needed and imprtant the Red Cross is, yet at the same time a lot of death and suffering. Somewhat sobering considering current events. On a more uplifitng note....then I walked into more of the Old City in Geneva and took in some more sights. All in all, a great visit. Awesome seeing my Aunt and Uncle, as it's always great seeing family, especially those that you don't get to see very often. And lot of culture and great sightseeing.
I'm off to Florence tomorrow! Which will be the beginning of my train travels across Europe, which I am pumped for. If anyone has any recommendations about what to see or where to eat, please post a comment or email me to cpwhite@aol.com
Thanks for reading!! Catch you in a couple days
Checking in from a pretty sweet internet cafe in Geneva. It has a bar, pool tables and internet, so I may be here a while...and it's called 'America's' - I wonder if I can move in.
After I left you, my awesome cousin James and I.....well, to be honest, I didn't do jack....James cooked a nice dinner and we had a couple drinks. After that, we hit the town to experience the Edinburgh nightlife. We made it to a bar to meet one of his buddies, and then we went to a club. Very cool spot with some very danceable music. Unfortunately, I didn't have my requisite 10+ pre-dancing cocktails in order to get the cojones to hit the dance floor, so I did my best Night at the Roxbury impression on the sidelines. There were a handful of decent dancers but many more with less rhythm than Elaine Benes (including me but not James), one shitfaced guy dressed up in a 3 piece white suit with gold shoes doing his best impression of Travolta in Saturday Night Fever (yet failing more miserably than me in Latin 101 at Dickinson) and overall a good time. The next morning was set perfectly, as we walked up Arthur's Seat and exercised the booze right out. After a nice hike, it was nice to chill and take in the beautiful views of Edinburgh - very peaceful and serene up there. I took some nice pictures, but of course forgot the computer connection, so no pix yet. Then was walked the Royal Mile back up to the Scotch Whiskey tour, which was badass. A nice background on the making of Scotch Whiskey, then we were taken into an amazing room where a Scotch collector donated his private stash of Scotch - 3500+ bottles. And then the tasting, which was delicious, but I would have preferred a larger glass. Shocking, right??? After that, James and I headed back to his place, as I had an early flight out of Edinburgh to Geneva, where I am visiting my Aunt and Uncle. Edinburgh is sick. Such magnificent buildings, churches, and incredibly walkable. I had a blast.
Fast forward a couple hours, and I'm in Geneva. After a nice tour of my Uncle's office - he works in Geneva at the Ecumenical Institute for the World Council of Churches (yeah, we are all surprised we share the same blood), I headed into downtown Geneva for some sightseeing. It is truly a beautiful city, with Lake Geneva and the Rhone River running through the center providing a beautiful downtown area. I wandered around the Jardin Anglais (translation - beats me) and took some pix of the Jet d'Eau (ibid) and got a little lost, which I enjoyed. Headed back to my Aunt and Uncle's house, which is awesome. They live across the border in France in Versonnex, but it is just 20 minutes to Geneva, so it's very easy to get into the city. Their house is awesome - almost a rural setting, with a horse farm behind their house, beautiful flower gardens line the driveway and backyard, a beautifl backyard with a stream on one border of the property, woods behind, and the interior is sweet as well. That night I mapped out my itinerary for the next 3 weeks, but I'm not telling you what it is. That wouldn't be much fun, would it?? Topping it off, one side of the house faces the Juras Mountains - including my bedroom. So I wake up and when I look out the windows I see mountains. Great way to start the day.
Yesterday was a great day. I headed into the city and hit a couple museums. The first was Maison Tavel, hich is the oldest private residence in Geneva, originally built in the 12th century and was rebuilt in 1334 after a huge fire in Geneva destroyed much of the city. The attic was my favorite room, with a 24x18 (fet) replica of Geneva circa 1850. Other cool tidbits were 2 columns from the riginal Library of the Academy, now known as the University of Geneva, which was founded by the Protestant Reformation leader John Calvin. Afer that, I took a tour of the Museum of the Reformation, which was packed with info, and a bit overwhelming. One small detractor about that musuem was, although I had an audio guide, a lot of the exhibits had plackards describing what they were - in French. No English. So I basically walked up to them, gave an approving nod as if I knew what they said, and walked to the next one. They all could have said "Chris, you're an idiot" and I would have given it an approving nod. After that, I wandered some more, and then took a super touristy yet quite enjoyable boat tour of Geneva on Lake Geneva. It gave some very nice vantage points of key landmarks, of which I am brainfarting on most, but it was cool. Saw the Palais of Wilson, which was the original HQ for the League of Nations, formed after WWI and named after President Woodrow Wilson, who essentially got the ball rolling for te creation of it, although it was unsuccessful. I got some other good pix as well. Then rolled back to the house, hada great dinner with my Aunt and Uncle, and hit the hay.
I had another awesome day today. I took a tour of the United Nations building, which was sick. Saw some cool conference rooms, and although it is an official working office building, it's like a musuem as well. A lot of the decorations are donations from member countries, so there is an immense amount of culture around the building. I know that's not a landmark comment, seeing as how it is the UN after all, but it's cool. The UN building in Geneva is the 2nd largest UN building in the world, after the UN headquarters in NYC, and is focused on peacekeeping and diplomatic relations, whereas the NYC building essentially focuses on political functions. The tour was interesting and informational, and well worth the time for anyone who visits Geneva. After that, I walked right across the street to the Internation Museum of the Red Cross and Red Crescent. Again, well worth the time. The Red Cross was essentially started by a man named Henry Dunant, a Geneva businessman who encountered the remnamts of the Battle of Solferino in 1859, a battle where 40,000 men were killed and wounded in one day, as the French and Piedmontese drove the Autrians out of North Italy. Arriving on the scene, Dunant was horrified to find the dead and wounded abandoned on the battlefield, and he mobilized the local population to tend to them. As much as I would love to say I wrote all of that, I can't... I pimped it from a brochure. After this, Dunant wrote "A Memory of Solferino" where he called for the nations to form some sort of international body to tend to the relief of wounded. (That was all me, baby) And so the Red Cross began. The museum was great, yet at the same time heartbreaking, as some of the Red Cross's most necessary times were in that of war, so there were a lot of pictures of Red Cross workers on a litany of battlefields. So you see how needed and imprtant the Red Cross is, yet at the same time a lot of death and suffering. Somewhat sobering considering current events. On a more uplifitng note....then I walked into more of the Old City in Geneva and took in some more sights. All in all, a great visit. Awesome seeing my Aunt and Uncle, as it's always great seeing family, especially those that you don't get to see very often. And lot of culture and great sightseeing.
I'm off to Florence tomorrow! Which will be the beginning of my train travels across Europe, which I am pumped for. If anyone has any recommendations about what to see or where to eat, please post a comment or email me to cpwhite@aol.com
Thanks for reading!! Catch you in a couple days
Saturday, May 9, 2009
May 9 - Edinburgh
Where did I leave you all?? I think it was my last night in Dublin. Oh yeah, that was it. So I left the internet cafe and wandered around a bit more. I stopped in to grab some grubb at a restaurant called the Elephant and Castle, as it turns out, there's one in NYC with the same name that is owned by the same guy. I don't think the one in Boston is part of the same deal. Anyhoo, pretty chill place, and I took down the Elephantburger, and Mom, before you bug out, it wasn't elephant - it was their signature burger - bacon, cheddar, tomato and sour cream. I'm sure both of you that are reading this are surprised I took down a bacon cheddar burger - especially one that sounds so healthy and nutritional... Then it was pint time. One thing that surprised me about Dublin, however, was that the beers were relatively pricey - perhaps it was because I was in touristland, perhaps that's the going rate, but anyway I was a tad surprised. Roughly 5 or 5.50 euros (almost 7 bucks or so) for a pint - so Mom, I spent 11 euros total on beers in Dublin. Wink wink. At this point, I set a 10pm curfew for myself, as I knew I had an early wakeup call to get to the airport for my flight to Edinburgh.
After trying to walk off the Ellyburger, which didn't work, I decided to try to drown that damn elephant. Drew McLaughlin told me he got his first pint in Dublin at the Palace Bar, so I walked down there and had a seat next to a sober 65ish Irish man. We were chatting and it somehow came up that I was from the US....and he said that 1 of his 10 kids lives in Jersey. He then tried to rattle off where the other 9 lived, and unless 3 of them are currently living in Jersey, well, let's just say he had a memory problem. I couldn't have more than 1 beer with the guy because the unintentional humor level was off the charts. So I walked down a ways and stopped off at the Auld Dub, and then down to the Temple Bar in Temple Bar, which was a great spot. Packed with people (ie. tourists) and bumping with live music, so I felt at home. At this point, I blew right past my curfew, and surprisingly, I didn't really care all that much. The Guinness were too good, and it was my last night in Dublin, so it was an easy decision.
I made the flight a-ok, so it was cool. Though I didn't get to see any of the famed Irish countryside in my relatively short 2 night stay, I had a total blast in Dublin. I was a little surprised about how many non-Irish people were around Dublin - but perhaps that was due to the area and pubs I was in. However the people were all very nice, the city was very clean and incredibly walkable, so I was able to see everything that I planned on with ease, and it was an overall great time. My favorite 2 parts were inside St. Patrick's Cathedral, which was simply amazing, and the pint of Guinness in the Gravity Bar above the Brewery, because of the astounding view of the entire city.
I arrived around 8am in Edinburgh yesterday, and my awesome cousin James met me at the airport to escort me into the city. We got back to his place, dumped my pack, and went for a walk around the area of Edinburgh where he lives (Tollcross). Then we walked to another area called Grassmarket and got some lunch. After that, he had some work to do , so I took a little catnap to refresh after a short night's sleep from the prior night. We then went back into Grassmarket and had a nice dinner and a couple beers and called it a night.
Woke up this am and walked down to a very cool green market in the shadow of the Edinburgh Castle to get some supplies for dinner (which James is currently cooking and smells awesome). Then we took off for a tour of the Castle. And just want to say that I was very surprised at the Castle. I had thought that, perhaps naively, it would have just been a tour of an old stone castle, but it was so much more. Yes, it was an old stone castle, but it was essentially a gigantic museum with 25 different rooms/exhibits to explore. In addition, there were breathtaking views (not Seinfeldian breathtaking) of Edinburgh and other monuments and parks, as well as Arthur's Seat. I highly recommend it to everyone. After spending close to 2 hours wandering through the castle, I walked the Royal Mile down to Holyroodhouse, stopping in the High Kirk of St. Giles, which was amazing and the museum of Edinburgh on the way. Also with some uber-touristy moments of busting out the camera. This is when I, the adopted Floridian who is used to flat land and warm weather, got to soak in the Scottish culture, literally. It decided to piss rain all afternoon, so I got to wander the hills of Edinburgh in a cold, biting wind with steady rain. Wahhh me. Stopped in for a pint at the World's End pub, and then James and I walked down to New Town and up Prince's St. Got back here, and James started cooking! So it's been an awesome day - James has been an incredible host and even better tour guide, so it's been a lot of fun. We're going to take a walk up Arthur's Seat, and then hit the Scotch Whiskey tour tomorrow, which should be another great day!
Where did I leave you all?? I think it was my last night in Dublin. Oh yeah, that was it. So I left the internet cafe and wandered around a bit more. I stopped in to grab some grubb at a restaurant called the Elephant and Castle, as it turns out, there's one in NYC with the same name that is owned by the same guy. I don't think the one in Boston is part of the same deal. Anyhoo, pretty chill place, and I took down the Elephantburger, and Mom, before you bug out, it wasn't elephant - it was their signature burger - bacon, cheddar, tomato and sour cream. I'm sure both of you that are reading this are surprised I took down a bacon cheddar burger - especially one that sounds so healthy and nutritional... Then it was pint time. One thing that surprised me about Dublin, however, was that the beers were relatively pricey - perhaps it was because I was in touristland, perhaps that's the going rate, but anyway I was a tad surprised. Roughly 5 or 5.50 euros (almost 7 bucks or so) for a pint - so Mom, I spent 11 euros total on beers in Dublin. Wink wink. At this point, I set a 10pm curfew for myself, as I knew I had an early wakeup call to get to the airport for my flight to Edinburgh.
After trying to walk off the Ellyburger, which didn't work, I decided to try to drown that damn elephant. Drew McLaughlin told me he got his first pint in Dublin at the Palace Bar, so I walked down there and had a seat next to a sober 65ish Irish man. We were chatting and it somehow came up that I was from the US....and he said that 1 of his 10 kids lives in Jersey. He then tried to rattle off where the other 9 lived, and unless 3 of them are currently living in Jersey, well, let's just say he had a memory problem. I couldn't have more than 1 beer with the guy because the unintentional humor level was off the charts. So I walked down a ways and stopped off at the Auld Dub, and then down to the Temple Bar in Temple Bar, which was a great spot. Packed with people (ie. tourists) and bumping with live music, so I felt at home. At this point, I blew right past my curfew, and surprisingly, I didn't really care all that much. The Guinness were too good, and it was my last night in Dublin, so it was an easy decision.
I made the flight a-ok, so it was cool. Though I didn't get to see any of the famed Irish countryside in my relatively short 2 night stay, I had a total blast in Dublin. I was a little surprised about how many non-Irish people were around Dublin - but perhaps that was due to the area and pubs I was in. However the people were all very nice, the city was very clean and incredibly walkable, so I was able to see everything that I planned on with ease, and it was an overall great time. My favorite 2 parts were inside St. Patrick's Cathedral, which was simply amazing, and the pint of Guinness in the Gravity Bar above the Brewery, because of the astounding view of the entire city.
I arrived around 8am in Edinburgh yesterday, and my awesome cousin James met me at the airport to escort me into the city. We got back to his place, dumped my pack, and went for a walk around the area of Edinburgh where he lives (Tollcross). Then we walked to another area called Grassmarket and got some lunch. After that, he had some work to do , so I took a little catnap to refresh after a short night's sleep from the prior night. We then went back into Grassmarket and had a nice dinner and a couple beers and called it a night.
Woke up this am and walked down to a very cool green market in the shadow of the Edinburgh Castle to get some supplies for dinner (which James is currently cooking and smells awesome). Then we took off for a tour of the Castle. And just want to say that I was very surprised at the Castle. I had thought that, perhaps naively, it would have just been a tour of an old stone castle, but it was so much more. Yes, it was an old stone castle, but it was essentially a gigantic museum with 25 different rooms/exhibits to explore. In addition, there were breathtaking views (not Seinfeldian breathtaking) of Edinburgh and other monuments and parks, as well as Arthur's Seat. I highly recommend it to everyone. After spending close to 2 hours wandering through the castle, I walked the Royal Mile down to Holyroodhouse, stopping in the High Kirk of St. Giles, which was amazing and the museum of Edinburgh on the way. Also with some uber-touristy moments of busting out the camera. This is when I, the adopted Floridian who is used to flat land and warm weather, got to soak in the Scottish culture, literally. It decided to piss rain all afternoon, so I got to wander the hills of Edinburgh in a cold, biting wind with steady rain. Wahhh me. Stopped in for a pint at the World's End pub, and then James and I walked down to New Town and up Prince's St. Got back here, and James started cooking! So it's been an awesome day - James has been an incredible host and even better tour guide, so it's been a lot of fun. We're going to take a walk up Arthur's Seat, and then hit the Scotch Whiskey tour tomorrow, which should be another great day!
Thursday, May 7, 2009
May 7 - Dublin
Chilling in an internet cafe in Dublin - in Temple Bar on Wellington Quay for those of you who are familiar... had a great time in London with Ed and Sam (2 blokes who are very good friends of a good friend of mine from the Poconos) and 2 new introductees - James and Sam's brother Jack. Before the Man U v. Arsenal game, Ed and I took the train into London and got off at famous Waterloo station (which was in the 3rd Bourne movie) and we got a pint right on the River Thames. We walked up the river a bit and I got a great view of the House of Parliament and Big Ben (look kids, Big Ben, Parliament....hahahahha I can't get left!!!) which was cool to see. Then we met everyone at a pub called the Pineapple for the Man U game, which was awesome for everyone except Jack, an Arsenal supporter... so much fun, and glad that Man U won. The pints were delicious and plentiful, needless to say.
I hopped a nice quick flight yesterday to Dublin for the start of my visit here, and I've had a blast. I'm staying right in the Temple Bar area, which is bouncing with people, so it's a great place to be. After checking into the hotel, I wandered around the city for a bit - took a look at the Dublin castle, Trinity College and St. Stephen's Green - and then took off for my first authentic pint of Guinness at the Oliver St. John Gogarty. Great first pub experience for me - the Guinness was delish, and I also was lucky enough to experience 2 other traditional Irish standby's - old dudes rocking out traditional Irish music at the pub, and a piss drunk mid 20's Irishman. Phenomenal.
And let me just say that however delicious Guinness is over in the states, it doesn't really compare to how good it is here. It's like the nectar of the drinking gods. So good. Then I walked over to a bar called the Quay's and took in the Chelsea v. Barcelona game....and one or 2 more pints. The Quay's was mobbed with people, and it was great fun. An Irishman walked up to me and asked if I was American. I said, "yes, and how could you tell?" His reply - "because you have perfect teeth" and walked away. No lie.
Today has been my tourist day, as well as the first day that it actually hit me that I was in Europe for a month of fun. I was walking around, giddy, smiling, loving life. It's been quite an easy city to go sightseeing, as Dublin is a very walkable city. I started my day off with a traditional Irish breakfast, and then made my way to Christ Church, and then I went to see St. Patrick's Cathedral. And both were mindblowingly beautiful. The interior of St. Patrick's is unlike any church in the US. I'm not even going to try to desribe it, which is why I took pictures...that I haven't figured out how to post yet.... Then I walked to St. Audoen's church - and let me just say that I was shocked that I made it in and out of 3 churches without getting struck down by a flash bolt of lightning. So I decided I needed to go see a church of another ilk - the Guinness Storehouse and Brewery. Took the tour thru, and it was so cool. The 7th floor of the Brewery is called the Gravity Bar - a circular bar with glass windows providing a 360 degree view of Dublin. So I took in my complimentary pint, as well as the best view of Dublin in the city. After that, I wandered over to the famous O'Connell street - which struck me as a street that you could find in NYC or Boston. Pedestrians, bikers, tons of people. I then walked down to Trinity College again, and then over and through Merrion Square, and then back through St. Stephen's green - a beautiful park that reminds me of the Boston Common. In fact, there are a lot of things about Dublin that remind me of Boston, and, as I love Boston, I'm not surprised that I love it here.
Time for some more walking...and maybe another pint. I'm heading to Edinburgh tomorrow to spend the weekend with my cousin, so I'll check in there. Slainte!!
Chilling in an internet cafe in Dublin - in Temple Bar on Wellington Quay for those of you who are familiar... had a great time in London with Ed and Sam (2 blokes who are very good friends of a good friend of mine from the Poconos) and 2 new introductees - James and Sam's brother Jack. Before the Man U v. Arsenal game, Ed and I took the train into London and got off at famous Waterloo station (which was in the 3rd Bourne movie) and we got a pint right on the River Thames. We walked up the river a bit and I got a great view of the House of Parliament and Big Ben (look kids, Big Ben, Parliament....hahahahha I can't get left!!!) which was cool to see. Then we met everyone at a pub called the Pineapple for the Man U game, which was awesome for everyone except Jack, an Arsenal supporter... so much fun, and glad that Man U won. The pints were delicious and plentiful, needless to say.
I hopped a nice quick flight yesterday to Dublin for the start of my visit here, and I've had a blast. I'm staying right in the Temple Bar area, which is bouncing with people, so it's a great place to be. After checking into the hotel, I wandered around the city for a bit - took a look at the Dublin castle, Trinity College and St. Stephen's Green - and then took off for my first authentic pint of Guinness at the Oliver St. John Gogarty. Great first pub experience for me - the Guinness was delish, and I also was lucky enough to experience 2 other traditional Irish standby's - old dudes rocking out traditional Irish music at the pub, and a piss drunk mid 20's Irishman. Phenomenal.
And let me just say that however delicious Guinness is over in the states, it doesn't really compare to how good it is here. It's like the nectar of the drinking gods. So good. Then I walked over to a bar called the Quay's and took in the Chelsea v. Barcelona game....and one or 2 more pints. The Quay's was mobbed with people, and it was great fun. An Irishman walked up to me and asked if I was American. I said, "yes, and how could you tell?" His reply - "because you have perfect teeth" and walked away. No lie.
Today has been my tourist day, as well as the first day that it actually hit me that I was in Europe for a month of fun. I was walking around, giddy, smiling, loving life. It's been quite an easy city to go sightseeing, as Dublin is a very walkable city. I started my day off with a traditional Irish breakfast, and then made my way to Christ Church, and then I went to see St. Patrick's Cathedral. And both were mindblowingly beautiful. The interior of St. Patrick's is unlike any church in the US. I'm not even going to try to desribe it, which is why I took pictures...that I haven't figured out how to post yet.... Then I walked to St. Audoen's church - and let me just say that I was shocked that I made it in and out of 3 churches without getting struck down by a flash bolt of lightning. So I decided I needed to go see a church of another ilk - the Guinness Storehouse and Brewery. Took the tour thru, and it was so cool. The 7th floor of the Brewery is called the Gravity Bar - a circular bar with glass windows providing a 360 degree view of Dublin. So I took in my complimentary pint, as well as the best view of Dublin in the city. After that, I wandered over to the famous O'Connell street - which struck me as a street that you could find in NYC or Boston. Pedestrians, bikers, tons of people. I then walked down to Trinity College again, and then over and through Merrion Square, and then back through St. Stephen's green - a beautiful park that reminds me of the Boston Common. In fact, there are a lot of things about Dublin that remind me of Boston, and, as I love Boston, I'm not surprised that I love it here.
Time for some more walking...and maybe another pint. I'm heading to Edinburgh tomorrow to spend the weekend with my cousin, so I'll check in there. Slainte!!
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
May 5, 2009 - London
Cheers! I made it to London...duhh. Hurry up and wait seemed to be the theme for yesterday, as all I did was sit around waiting for the flight...and then it got delayed. However it all worked out and I made it to London Heathrow this morning around 9:30 London time. I got my backpack, made it through the body cavity search at customs unscathed, purchased a cell phone for the trip, where you 'top up' (as in add minutes as needed, I dig the English vernacular), and hopped on the Underground to go meet my buddy Ed. I was able to catch a couple of zzz's on the flight, thanks to some scotch and red wine, (British Airways rocks by the way - free booze, free dinner, free movies, I watched Taken, great experience) but not enough to feel like a normal human being, so I crashed on Ed's couch and now I feel normal. Or as normal I can possibly feel...ba dum dumm. We are about to head out and go wander around Ed's neighborhood ( he lives a couple Tube stops away from Wimbledon) and then stop in one of the local pubs and see what happens there. And then we're going to another pub to watch the Manchester United vs. Arsenal UEFA Champions league semifinal game...so tonight's going to suck. I'll check back in either tomorrow or the next day, from Dublin.
I love the posted comments - keep em coming!!
-Chris
Cheers! I made it to London...duhh. Hurry up and wait seemed to be the theme for yesterday, as all I did was sit around waiting for the flight...and then it got delayed. However it all worked out and I made it to London Heathrow this morning around 9:30 London time. I got my backpack, made it through the body cavity search at customs unscathed, purchased a cell phone for the trip, where you 'top up' (as in add minutes as needed, I dig the English vernacular), and hopped on the Underground to go meet my buddy Ed. I was able to catch a couple of zzz's on the flight, thanks to some scotch and red wine, (British Airways rocks by the way - free booze, free dinner, free movies, I watched Taken, great experience) but not enough to feel like a normal human being, so I crashed on Ed's couch and now I feel normal. Or as normal I can possibly feel...ba dum dumm. We are about to head out and go wander around Ed's neighborhood ( he lives a couple Tube stops away from Wimbledon) and then stop in one of the local pubs and see what happens there. And then we're going to another pub to watch the Manchester United vs. Arsenal UEFA Champions league semifinal game...so tonight's going to suck. I'll check back in either tomorrow or the next day, from Dublin.
I love the posted comments - keep em coming!!
-Chris
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Welcome to my Euro Trek blog
hello friends and family, and welcome to my blog!
As some of you know, I am leaving on Monday, May 4 to go on a month long backpacking trip across parts of Europe. I am immensely excited, and as I write today, the day before I leave, words can't accurately describe how I am feeling. Needless to say, I'm pretty pumped. After an overnight flight, I arrive at my first stop - London - around 9:30 AM on Tuesday, May 5. So my next posting will be from across the pond!
I am travelling by myself, but I will be seeing friends and family as I make my way from city to city, and I can't wait to share my experiences with you all. I will do my best to update where I've been, what I've seen and done, and where I'm going, as well as other other random thoughts and musings during my time in the cities, airports, train stations, hotels and hostels - and even though you aren't travelling with me, I want you to join me! So if you want, please feel free to bookmark my blog and check in periodically - I am going to try my best to update it from every city I am in, or at the very least every several days. I will also be checking my facebook page and my email address (cpwhite@aol.com), so feel free to send me a note any time.
Talk to you soon!
-Chris
As some of you know, I am leaving on Monday, May 4 to go on a month long backpacking trip across parts of Europe. I am immensely excited, and as I write today, the day before I leave, words can't accurately describe how I am feeling. Needless to say, I'm pretty pumped. After an overnight flight, I arrive at my first stop - London - around 9:30 AM on Tuesday, May 5. So my next posting will be from across the pond!
I am travelling by myself, but I will be seeing friends and family as I make my way from city to city, and I can't wait to share my experiences with you all. I will do my best to update where I've been, what I've seen and done, and where I'm going, as well as other other random thoughts and musings during my time in the cities, airports, train stations, hotels and hostels - and even though you aren't travelling with me, I want you to join me! So if you want, please feel free to bookmark my blog and check in periodically - I am going to try my best to update it from every city I am in, or at the very least every several days. I will also be checking my facebook page and my email address (cpwhite@aol.com), so feel free to send me a note any time.
Talk to you soon!
-Chris
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