Barelona

Hola muchachos!
Well, I guess I'll start this blog talking about the train. I met this guy, by the name of 'yuukyuu' on the train, who was a Brazilian that lived in Japan. It was really cool because in Brazil they speak Portugese, which is similar to Spanish. So, on the train, I was speaking English, Spanish, and Japanese for several hours, switching to whatever language was most appropriate to our conversation. It was great to use the languages that I've forgotten after so long.

Anyway, One of the things that was the best for me on the trip occurred within the first hour or so. Everyone warned me about the Catalan people (Barcelona area) as far as pickpocketing goes, so I had my guard up. Anyway, as I was going down the escalator of the subway, there was a girl in front of me with a bandana in her hand and purse in front of her. She leaned forward to open the backpack-purse of the girl in front of her, but I put my hand on her shoulder, spun her around, and gave her the 'don't do that or you'll pay serious consequences like... hey, you're pretty cute!' look. Actually, it gave me great satisfaction to stop a pickpocket. I told the victim to check her stuff, and it was all there. I just got a 'thank you', but it really made my day.

After I got to my hostel, I decided to walk around and see what was about. I went throught a market, a harbor, and found my way to my first 'topless' beach. When I say topless, I just mean that women didn't get in trouble for not having tops on, but the vast majority of females had tops on. Anyway, I walked up the (really steep) beach until I found a place on the rocks to sit, and I just enjoyed the time of that I knew would be one of my last days in Europe on this trip. However, as I was walking along, I had a thought. In order to get energy, humans must burn something, causing global warming. But, we'll run out eventually. Therefore, the only way to avoid diminishing resources and global warming is to resort to a more simple life without as much energy, much as life was back in ancient times. In fact, a lot of people that I have talked to have said they would like to return to such times. I know it's a dumb thought, but I'm just thinking out loud.

One other thing that I had an idea about (sorry, I know it's not Barcelona-related, but I am just going over the thoughts I had at the time) is that I want to be able to honestly say that the least important thing in my schedule is me. Not that I'll be any Mother Theresa, but I want to be remembered as a person that is willing to drop whatever I want to do for me in order to help someone else out who is in trouble. That's all of my non-Europe related thoughts for now.

Not to sound like an alcoholic, but Barcelona has this GREAT Sangria (of which I was already a fan before I went) for incredibly cheap prices (about 2 Euro a bottle, which is about $2.60). It tasted delicious, but it left you with the hangover from hell (even if you didn't drink enough to merit a hangover). However, it was tasty, and I took advantage of the cheap availability while there. Something neat that I saw while utilizing such wonderfully cheap wine was a football (soccer) game in a town square in the middle of a bunch of buildings. There was no grass, no goals, but they enjoyed the game just as well. I wish I had gotten to see more, but the BCNet of Barcelona, which is responsible for cleaning the streets EVERY night came and 'firehosed' us out of there.

Anyway, on the first night, I met a couple of girls from Ireland, and I was going to go out to find something to do, so they came with and told me about a fountain that was supposed to be really beautiful. We hopped on the subway to get there, but they were closed. Just was we got back to the subway, they closed the doors. So, we didn't get to see anything good, but we did hang out on a park bench for a few hours and have some really good conversation until the wee hours of the morning.

The next day, I went to Guell Park, which was a park that sat on top of a hill, and the highest point had a great view of all of Barcelona. It was really nice to just walk around for a few hours, trying all the paths and seeing the unique architecture by Gaudi nearby. Then, as may be foreshadowed, I went to the Gaudi museum, which is simply his house. It was just a house with stuff in it, and not really worth a visit if anyone is thinking of going to Barcelona. However, Guell Park was great. The best part of that area was the architecture of the buildings, as it was very unique.

Next, I went to Sagrada Familia, which is probably Gaudi's most famous building. Unfortunately, it was being remodelled, so there was lots and lots of ugly construction equipment around. Despite all that though, it was really pretty and interesting to see his methods of designing. I was very surprised to see how mathematical he was, as he used conic sections (hyperbolas in particular) in order to form the shapes of the columns and ceilings. It was really a neat building.

Later on, I went to a GIGANTIC car show with something like 96 world companies there. I saw prototypes of concept cars and racecars and all sorts of really cool stuff (I probably took too many pictures of the cars). Anyway, I decided that my next car will be the Mazda Hakaze, which is a really sleek and futuristic looking car. It would be totally sweet to own one, and own one I will! Anyway, the car show actually took place in front of a giant gallery (where the fountains that I mentioned before are), so I went up to check out the building. Along the way, I took a detour to see the site of the 1992 Summer Olympics. The stadium was pretty big, and the 'courtyard' was rather pretty. It was really neat to think about how some of the world's most elite athletes were competing in that spot. I wish I could have been there.

After seeing the Olympic Stadium, I went to sit in front of the gallery to relax for a bit. There was actually a guy there playing some really mellow and soothing (saddening almost) flamenco guitar. I sat there for probably close to 45 minutes, just enjoying the sight of the entire city, the nice breeze, and the wonderful music. I never realized until I was sitting there how mountainous Spain really was (Barcelona at least). It was really pretty, and I enjoyed my day immensely. I guess that was the way to balance out what was to come.

The next day, I got up, wandered about for a bit, sat on the beach for a while, and then decided to head to Reus airport per the instructions from the guy at the hostel. So, I headed to the bus station where he told me to go, but unfortunately, he told me the wrong place to go (there was no bus for Reus airport at that bus station). With about 4.5 hours to go and not knowing how to get to my flight to London, I started to panic. I asked the guy at information where I should go to get to Reus airport, and he sent me to a station on the other side of the city. I hopped back on the subway to get there, and I went into the train station. I tried to get an answer to find out where to go, and a woman told me that I need to take the train on platform 3 to Reus airport. So, I went to platform 3 with my ticket, but there was a long queue of trains, and I didn't know which one to take. So, I ran back up to the ticket window to wait in the LONG line, as valuable time was ticking away (about 3 hours left at this point, and I was told that it's about 1.5 hours to Reus). I then find out that the train I was going to take only went to Reus city, NOT the airport. So, once I got to Reus, about 1.5 hours before my flight acccording to my calculations, I would still have ot find a bus or taxi to the airport. Then, I asked a guy which train to take on platform 3, since none of them actually said 'Reus'. He told me 'Lleda' should be the one, but just to double check (since nobody seemed to know where the hell to go), I asked another employee to confirm I was going to get on the right train. He told me that I wanted to go to Lleda, but the airport was very far away from the train station. With time ticking, and my panic growing (I honestly can say that I've NEVER in my life been half as stressed as I was at this moment), I went to platform 3. I waited about 1/2 hour for my train, and only about 5 minutes before I was going to get on my train, I saw an American and asked him if he was going to Reus airport. He said that he was not, but his friend was going for the same flight that I was on. He instructed me to go to the bus station across the street and wait for a bus that was specifically for the flight that I was to take back to London. I ran out of the train station, asked where to find the bus station (again, nobody seemed to know anything), and 15 minutes later I was trying to buy tickets for the right bus. I actually had to wait an hour for the bus to come, and the fare was paid on the bus itself. While panicked out of my skull and waiting for the bus, I found the friend of the guy I saw at the train station, and I introduced myself, and I was eventually calmed down, knowing I was finally in the right spot.

The guy's name was Brandon, and he was from Florida State but he had just finished a study abroad in London, very close to the London city center. We stuck together and talked for several hours, including all the way back to London (we had open seating, and sat together on the plane). He was really a cool guy, and I had a great time with him. Actually, once we landed, he let me stay with him in the study lounge at his dorm (he didn't have his room anymore because his program was over, but he still had access to the building). We got some food, beer, and watched movies in the study lounge until we fell asleep. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank Brandon so much for bailing me out of a tight spot, and thank his friend too (I never caught his name) for being my saving grace from God. Anyway, I got up in the morning, only to be subject to more panic.

I got up about 4.5 hours before my flight, and I gave myself enough time to go see the Tower Bridge. It was a bit longer of a walk than I had anticipated, and I started to get a bit worried when I fell behind schedule. When I got to the subway station, I asked for a one way fare to Heathrow airport, but the guy said I couldn't get there via the underground. I asked, "What about the Piccadilly line? I came in on that. Doesn't that go to Heathrow?" His reply was, "Yes, when it's working." [enter additional panic, stage left]. He told me how to get to Heathrow, but I was still worried about time. When I got to the airport, the line for Virgin Atlantic was a mile long, and I knew that I'd never get through it in time for my flight. However, as I got in line, I heard a guy call for Chicago flights, and he put me in a separate line that was only about 5 people long, so I was all set to get on my flight on time. I arrived at the gate about 30 minutes before my flight took off, and I could finally relax. I think I spent a whole 3 years of stress hormones in that 18-hour period, and I never want to feel like that again. BUT, I made it home to the States OK, then had a nice dinner with my college friends Margaret and Carissa, which was a great welcome home (especially to see faces that I knew). I went to the Amtrak station, and got on a train that was delayed 2 hours. Frustrating, but everything in the end turned out OK. My next blog entry will have my final thoughts on everything... just hang tight!

Here are Barcelona pics

Here are my London, again pics

Le Cinque Terre

This is the most beautiful place I've ever seen. Because of that, I will let the pictures do most of the talking. Anyway, on the train (at the Italian border), my bag got searched by the police for drugs, so I was put off quite a bit. However, I didn't let that spoil my trip. I got to Le Cinque Terre at about 2:30 in the afternoon or so, then took a train to villiage number 1, known as Riomaggiore. Now, in case you don't know anything about Le Cinque Terre (as I did before my trip), it is a series of 5 towns that all run along the coast of Italy (in the "armpit"), and there are trains and trails that lead from one to another. I had actually heard about this while in Europe, and after seeing pictures, I decided that I had to go and check it out myself. As soon as I got there, I set out to find a place to stay, as the websites all said that there were tons of bed and breakfast places around. However, I ended up walking all the way to villiage 3 (Corniglia) before I was told to head back. I wasn't bitter at all, but as the sun started to go down, and I didn't have a place to stay, I began to get a bit worried (not so worried that I didn't stop to take pictures though).


Once I found a hostel to stay in, I took a shower, grabbed some dinner and wine, and headed down to the rocks, where all sorts of people just sat there enjoying the scenery and conversation with other travellers. I met lots of people from the States, Austrailia, and New Zealand, and we had lots of discussion about our travels throughout Europe. It was unanimously agreed upon that Le Cinque Terre was the most beautiful and relaxing place people had gone to, as all the shops close down early and there is nothing to do but enjoy the sea and take life at a bit of a slower pace.


The next day, I got up and went kayaking for 2 hours in the sea. It was really nice to be free from everything and just enjoy the waves and wind and water and mountains. I was amazed at how blue the water was, and the rocks were very pretty as well. After that, I just explored for a while longer before heading out on the train.


Of all the places I went, Le Cinque Terre was the one where I wish I had spent more time. It was beautiful, relaxing, and not overcrowded with tourists. If anyone (reading this) ever wants to take a vacation to a miniature paradise, I would definitely recommend this place. It has everything necessary to take life at a very slow pace, and I loved it. Also, if you (the reader) look at ANY pictures in my entire blog, the ones from Cinque Terre are the ones most worthwhile (in my opinion).

Check out these sweet pics

Vienna

I apologize to my loyal blog readers for the giant gap in my blogging... I didn't really have much internet access to update my blog for the last week or week and a half of my trip. Now, I'm back in the States, but I'll recall everything as if I'm still abroad. I have about 4 more entries to go.

My next stop, as foreshadowed by the title above, my next stop was in Vienna, Austria. I decided to go there because Dominik, an exchange student who joined the Judo club at U of I, suggested that I come visit him and his family while I was wandering throughout Europe. The first thing that I have to say about my stay in Vienna was that the hospitality was amazing; I was treated like an absolute king during my stay. I'll get to the why soon, but that was my biggest impression of my stay, and I wanted to thank everyone involved in making my stay there amazing.


I got into Vienna early in the morning, and Dominik was there to pick me up. We went to overlook the city, then his house right away and there was a breakfast waiting. I met his mother, who was incredibly hospitable, and she spoke English very well, which was great for conversation (Austrians and Germans all generally have very good English). During breakfast, I learned an Austrian myth that the frog can tell the weather, based on an idea that if you put a frog in a jar with some stones, the height at which the frog perches indicates what type of weather is coming. I always like learning myths and tales of other cultures, it's interesting to see the differences between theirs and mine. Anyway, after a filling breakfast, during which I had hazelnut butter for the first time (DELICIOUS!), we went downtown to do some sightseeing. We walked around downtown for a while as I took pictures of everything, and I was told a great deal of history about the city (Dominik is very knowledgable of such things). We then spent a few hours at a public beach on a river bank baking in the sun and just relaxing. It was nice to go for a swim, as I hadn't been in the water much since having been in Europe.

Next was dinner. Dominik's father once spent a day in the kitchen of a very upscale restaurant in downtown Vienna helping the cooks and watching the process of kitchen. While I was staying with them, he invited Dominik and I to go to the restaurant for a nice dinner at his expense (I tried to help pay, but no dice). Anyway, I couldn't believe how the experience went. When we got there, we were seated immediately, then a waiter came over and translated every single item on the menu for me, in addition to explaining what each thing was and how it was prepared. The menu reading took about 15 total minutes... I was impressed. For dinner, we had several courses that were all absolutely DELICIOUS (I'm not the only one in the restaurant who took a picture). We were served a couple of the things that we had weren't even on the menu, such as leberkase. The funny thing about leberkase is that it literally means "liver-cheese", but neither liver nor cheese are a part of the dish. The other funny thing about leberkase was that it is generally fast food, but I made a comment to Dominik about how I really liked it, so he asked the waiter if they had some and they made it for us. I didn't know it was fast food at the time, but it was certainly delicious. With each course, we had a wine (one course had beer), and the dinner lasted a good 2-3 hours. I couldn't believe the hospitality of the restaurant, and I don't even want to know what the bill was (I guess about 200 Euro, or about $250 for the two of us).

After dinner, Dominik took me to a few bars where we just enjoyed the beautiful evening and met up with some of his friends, who were all very friendly. We then went to a giant party at the Rathaus, which was the town hall downtown. The venue was cool, but the bartenders were terrible, so we went to a local club known as Chelsea, which was amazing.
We spent the whole night crammed in a room with hundreds of other people, drinking beer and dancing and singing. I would say it was comparable to a rock concert at Bogart's. Anyway, the evening was a ton of fun, and I even got to see the pretty dawn over the vineyards across the street from Dominik's place.


Dominik and I both got up the next day about 12:30, since we were out all night. We had a bit of lunch where I was able to try some hollunder sirup (syrup), which syrup extracted from a flower and concentrated. It was so tasty (I'm going to try and get some here, but I doubt I'll find it). Anyway, after lunch we went downtown again and got caught in a torrential downpour for about a half hour. It was kinda funny watching the police stand around trying to figure out what to do. Nothing you can do about Mother Nature. I actually got a pic of a trolley getting towed by a huge truck. After that, we walked around the city some more seeing buildings and talking politics. When we were done, we picked up Dominik's car (which we'd left downtown overnight), and returned to his house where I found shirts that I had in his room ironed. His sweet mother had seen my nicer shirts sitting on my bag, and she took it upon herself to iron them and return them, without saying anything. I noticed and, of course, thanked her. That night, we went again to see the city from atop one of the hills on the way to dinner with his mother. It was tasty, and I was able to have an assortment of Austrian food.

For the evening activity, Dominik took me to a pig roast in honor of one of his friends' birthday. It was really a fun group, and they all spoke English very well. However, most of the conversation was in German, so I didn't understand too much (however, I did learn a fundamental truth: despite the fact that I couldn't understand what they were saying, I couldn't help but smile and laugh when they did, thus proving that smiles are contagious). Anyway, through conversation with everyone, I learned that I was in the presence of the coach and entire Austrian national hammerthrowing team (male and female). They were so kind to me while I was there though. They made sure I was fed, tried Austrian desserts, and the father (coach) even started serving me wine that had to have been expensive. I felt a bit guilty about being treated so well, Dominik told me not to worry about it because the guy likes to spend his money (he was rather wealthy, as was evidenced by the size of his house). Anyway, part of our conversation that was very interesting to the Austrians was when they started asking me about guns in the US. Since I know close to nothing about guns (I've never even touched a gun), I didn't feel like I could answer very well, but it actually turned out to be pretty funny because they started posing "what if..." questions about when you can and can't shoot someone. Anyway, the father (coach) told Dominik of a couple places to go the next day where people owe his company favors, so we could go and put our orders on the company tab (which was very nice of him).

The next day, Dominik took me to a museum of work done by Hunderwasser Friedensreich, which is really cool. The guy was generally distrusting of straight lines and such, claiming that they have no place in reality, so the floors were all curvy. In the museum, I read a quote that I felt worth writing down: "If we do no honour our past, we lose our future. If we destroy our roots, we cannot grow." (If you don't like it, I didn't want you to read it anyway). The museum was cool, and we got free lunch at the cafe from the hammerthrowing coach. We then went to Vienna Palace, which was really amazing. The most impressive part of the palace was the garden, where you can walk to the top of a hill and look back at the palace. They also had a shrub maze, which of course I had to walk through (come on, honestly, who DOESN'T want to do a shrub maze in their lifetime?).


Lastly, we went to a Judo practice where, again, I got my ass whooped all over the place. I enjoyed the practice, but with having 3 weeks of time off, I had very short wind. I never want to feel that out of shape again (it was also a million degrees in the dojo, so that didn't help). Anyway, they were very kind to me, and I actually picked up a few techniques, so that was pretty cool.

Immediately after Judo, I got on the train to Le Cinque Terre. However, along the way, I went through Switzerland and took some pictures of the BEAUTIFUL landscape from inside the train, so I hope you can enjoy those as well. I will definitely be going to visit the Swiss on my next trip. OK, on to Cinque Terre!

Pictures of Vienna

Pictures of Switzerland

Venice

I got to Venice at about 5:30 in the morning, just in time to get some beautiful pictures of me in the rising sun. There were not really many people around, and I had a walk for a few hours, covering the majority of the important stuff. It was absolutely gorgeous, and a great chance for me to relax and enjoy my surroundings. I walked about 3-4 hours in one direction, crossing through the ever-so-famous San Marco Square, but when I was there it was too early for there to be people (you can see it when I get all the pictures up). The walk was absolutely incredible, and I started to understand why retirement is such a popular thing to do. However, on the return, thousands of people crowded the streets, street vendors were everywhere, and it was really a tainted scene.

However, let's focus on positives. They use the old-style 'Wicked Witch of the West' brooms in Italy, which was really neat (though they seemed ineffective). The scenery is wonderful when there aren't people, and defintely a romantic place (though not when travelling alone). Tourist season is NOT the time to go. The place is a complete maze as well, which is great for wandering but bad for being punctual or trying to find a specific place. I learned that 'Venice' is Italian for 'labyrinth'.



This place is also very expensive (1 Euro to pee, 8 Euro for a taxi by boat). However, I did have a really cheap thrill that I enjoyed, which was buying a packet of seeds for 1 Euro and feeding them to the birds (more like them taking the seed out of my hand and climbing all over me). They were really funny, especially when the bird seed ran out and they would start smacking one another with their wings.

Anyway, I spent pretty much the whole day wandering around taking pictures. I did NOT do the gondole ride, as they are 80 Euro, and I wasn't proposing to anyone, so why bother? I had gelato (Italian ice cream) about 3 times, and it is truly delicious. That's about all I have to say about Venice. One day was entirely enough for me. A romantic place, but not the place you go alone and not during travel season.

See pictures here

Rome

What can I say? This is ROME. Think about how long ago the Roman Empire existed. Now, think about how long ago the States began. BIG difference, right? That is not nearly as impressive as some of the structures that exist in Rome. It is not the simple fact that they exist which is so neat, but the fact that these things are HUGE that makes the difference. I'll get to that, however. First, let me start from the beginning.

I got to Rome, and I had been warned by at least ten people to keep my wallet and camera close, so of coures when I got off the train I was clutching my stuff like a mother holder her baby. I felt like I fell right into the middle of a Godfather movie. The guys had their hair slicked back and looked like Rico Suave and the women were beautiful. Also, like in Berlin, there was lots of graffiti, but it wasn't very good. After I found out how to get to my hostel, I took the trains and such, and actually met a Japanese girl waiting for the shuttle bus like me. Who knew that I would go to Rome to speak Japanese all day?

Anyway, after checkin we went to the Vatican. There I saw just about everything except for the Sistine Chapel. I went into St. Peter's, saw the tomb of the Popes, and climbed to the top of St. Peter's to the cupola, which gave a gorgeous view of Rome (I will upload the pics when I get back to the States). I then tried to go to the Sistine Chapel, but they close at 3:00, so I just moved n to the St. Angnes' Castle, which was a bit of a waste of time. Just an old castle with some art galleries inside. After that, we just made our way back to the hostel, and I hung out with a bunch of people I met there and we stayed at the bar all night.

The next day was a day that I spent travelling alone. I started by trying to get into the Sistine Chapel, but the line was ridculously long because all of Vatican City was packed due to the Pope giving an address. So, I decided I would try again the next day. Next, I headed to the obligatory Colosseum, which was really spectacular in my opinion. This was the first of many very impressive structures throughout Rome. It is just really cool to think about all the battles and such that have taken place there hundreds of years ago. Next, I walked over to Palatino, which is a large garden with all sorts of ruins throughout. I have no idea what the ruins were previously in history, but they were still really neat to see. There was also a castle that was absolutely falling to bits that was ENORMOUS (momentarily forgetting the name), so I had a visit (I was in a world of pain from walking so much that day, but I went anyway). I just returned to the hostel after that.

The third and final day in Rome I decided to start by getting to the Sistine Chapel when it opened in order to beat the crowd. Good idea, right? Well, since Bush was in Rome, the thing was closed for the day, so I didn't ever actually get to see the Sistine Chapel. That was really a bummer for me. But, I trekked on to the busy part of Rome to see the Pantheon, another church (don't know the name), Vittoriano, and a very popular fountain known as Trevi Fountain. The Pantheon is a church with unique architecture, and it was cool to see, but nothing too special. The second church was pretty, but again, nothing special. Vittoriano is a war memorial to Romans, and it was also known as the Memorial of the Unknown Soldier. It is absolutely GIGANTIC! They have all sorts of war relics and statues and such, and even a modern art museum for some reason. Trevi Fountain was absolutely awesome. This was not only massive, but it was beautiful too. I noticed a bunch of people throwing change backwards over their shoulder into the fountian, and I later found out that it means you shall return to Rome, so I guess I'm never going back (though I want to, because there is a lot of stuff that I missed). Anyway, I spent the rest of the day at the pool at the hostel enjoying a beer and relaxing (something I haven't done too much of).

Overall, Rome was very impressive and beautiful, not as expensive as I had anticpated, and defintely worth another visit. Take a gander at some of my pictures.

Munich

Beer & pretzels. They are delicious. However, in Munich, they are immaculate. Of the coutries to which I've been (on this trip), Germany takes the cake. The culture is rich, the sites are beautiful, the people are friendly, the food is tasty, and the beer is amazing. Actually, I feel like Germany has turned me into a total beer-snob now. It's just great!

Before I start talking about Munich though, I'd like to finish my last two entries. Before leaving Dublin, I saw the movie Zodiac, which actually turned out to be pretty good. It is based on true events from the 60's about a serial killer case. Now, with regards to Berlin: after I wrote the last blog, I wandered around trying to find a place to eat (preferrably traditional German). I found a nice little pub-like place, and I got some weinerschnitzel with some weissen beer and potatoes. It was SO tasty. I had always thought (until recently) that weinerschnitzel was some form of sausage or weiner, but it's really just breaded and friend meat. They made it nice and tasty, and I left Berlin very satisfied (except for the fact that about 15 minutes before I was leaving my hostel, I found a place RIGHT ACROSS THE STREET that had Judo... that was irritating, but I doubt they had practices on the weekends b/c it doesn't seem like too much of Europe does).

OK, now on to Munich. I got in at about 7:00 in the morning, checked in to my hostel, and then went downtown. It wasn't even 10:00 and I was wearing my Holland sweatshirt that I bought when a guy came up and said he would exchange me shirts right then and there. I said that I had just bought it two days prior, and he said, "OK, at least come have a beer with me and my friends. I'm Dutch, and they'll think it's funny if you come." Of course I went. I met a few people, drank a couple of beers, then showed a couple of magic tricks, at which point one of the guys started telling other tables about the tricks, and I had to perform them multiple times (one for a REAL Bavarian named Paul, who was apparently sitting at the VIP table with all his friends). Everyone seemed to enjoy them, and one of the best parts was that I didn't have to pay for a thing! I tried and offered, but they wouldn't let me. They were so friendly and welcoming. Afterward, one of them took me around for a bit (I had plans to go on a free tour at 11:45, so I couldn't spend too much time with them). He showed me a very famous market, bought me another beer, and we just chatted. On several occasions (probably because he'd been up all night drinking), he mentioned how, "Bavarian colors are blue and white, just like the sky. If you go into outer space and look back at the Earth, you'll see blue and white... that's Bavaria!" They were a very nice bunch of guys, and I had a great time with them.

Next, as I mentioned, I had a tour to go on. We walked around the main parts of Munich for about three hours, stopped for a beer and snack, and had overall a really great time talking and seeing the sights (I took about 80 pictures in Munich... it's really a beautiful place). When we stopped for the snack, I had something resembling a meatloaf sandwhich that they call 'Leberkassemel', and it was simply delicous). One of the things that I have seen now (actually 3 times before leaving) is the Glockenspiel, which is simply a giant cuckoo clock. Every day, at 11:00, 12:00, and 6:00 (it may be 5:00, I forget), the clockworks perform and the crowd is disappointed in the anticlimactic show. There are 3 main things that happen when the Glockenspiel plays (bells are sounding throughout the whole 'performance'): 1) the top layer spins, which represents a wedding (I forget who the wedding was between), at the end of which is a joust (of course the Bavarian knight wins) 2) after the top is done, the bottom layer of people dance with one and and one foot raised and the other hand on their hip while they spin in circles. This was the sign back in the old days to indicate that the plague was over, and 3) a golden bird flaps its wings and cuckoos 3 times.

After the tour, I ended up going to the English Garden with one of the girls that I met on the tour who had been studying abroad this past semester in Prague. She was from St. Paul, Minnesota, so we had at least some common ground. We just kinda wandered around and enjoyed the beautiful scenery (my camera ran out of batteries, so I didn't get any pictures). Essentially, the English Gardens is just a lake with trees and people, but they also had a biergarten (of course, we stopped to get a beer and a big pretzel). We walked back to the hostel, and I then got ready for a big night of going to the Hoffbrauhaus alone and enjoying a beer and pretzel by myself. While I was playing with my Rubick's cube, a couple asked me to join them and talk for a bit. I beleive that one was from South America and the other from Spain. We had a nice conversation, then I went home. The rest of the next day was simply filled with walking around and enjoying the sights. I had quite a bad allergic reaction to the flowers around, but I still enjoyed myself while walking through the parks.

Before I left, I decided that I needed to try some German sausages. I had them and some saurkraut at the German restaurant where I drank the first morning, then got ready for the night train to Rome. I wasn't even going to head to Rome until Dominik, my Austrian friend, told me that I HAD to go to Rome... how wonderful can it be, really? Guess I'll find out. Brost!

Want some pictures of München (Munich), click here!

Berlin

Berlin is GREAT!!! I love it here. Not only is everything really cheap compared to the rest of the places I've been, the people are incredibly friendly and the city it Beautiful. I got in at about 8:00 in the morning, found my hostel with ease, and asked the clerk where all to go. I went to a FREE bike tour around the city that lasted for four hours, and I got to see all the major sites while orienting myself and scoping out what else I wanted to see. It was really awesome. We saw all sorts of museums, monuments, parks, stopped at a beer garden for some GREAT German beer and a giant pretzel, and just had a good time getting to meet people. Two places in particular that I'll mention are the place outside the Humboldt University library, where 20,000 Jewish books were burned, and the Memorial of the Murdered Jews (Commonly and erroneously referred to as the Holocaust Memorial).

The first one that I mentioned has a neat little memorial that you can see. It is a clear piece of glass that has empty shelves beneath it to represent the books that are missing due to the burning. Somewhat prophetically, about a century before the Holocaust, a man (whose name has escaped me) said that burning books will always result in burning people. Not just regarding the Holocaust but other mass slaughters in history progressed as such. So, as a result, the glass at the memorial is very reflective so that the person looking at it sees themself, as a reminder that each individual is responsible for supressing hate. Pretty powerful idea.

The Memorial for the Murdered Jews was neat, HUGE, and interesting to think about. The person who designed it never let the meaning out to public in order to inspire thoughts. My impression was that each stone was without identity of any sort. Sure, they were all unique in their own way, but there was no way to distingquish one from the other. This is how the Jews were treated during the concentration camps, stripped of all their identity and anything that would make them unique, even wedding rings. The sea of blocks just felt so plain and lifeless. That was my interprettation anyway. Interstingly, when the memorial was going to be built, several ideas were passed around, but this one won. However, in order to prevent neo-Nazis from defacing it, each stone was covered with an anti-graffiti chemical. It was later discovered though that the same company that supplied the chemical had also supplied the gas for the gas chambers in the death camps. This caused a public stir, but eventually it was used because that had already done many things for reparations.

Speaking of graffiti, Berlin has TONS of it, and it is actually really cool. Very artistically done (there's a picture on Kodak Gallery).

Anyway, after the bike ride, I went up the street to a nice little German restaurant and had some great beer and food (it was a glorified mac & cheese, but very good). While I was eating, a Hungarian guy probably in his forties joined me. He was on a business trip to sell street lamps and bid on a project here. We had a nice chat.

Next, I went back to the hostel and showered and got ready for a barcrawl that ended up being quite rowdy and fun. So much that the police got called to the train station when we overloaded the trains. I went with a few guys from the States that I met at the hostel (a few of whom were lacrosse players). It was a pretty crazy night, and my favorite part was a bar that had a band outside and sand on the ground and just an overall great atmosphere.

Today I went to a science museum (I am kinda getting bored of regular museums), and that was a bit disappointing. It wasn't until I sat down to write this blog that I realized that I missed the kind of stuff I was looking for, so that sucks. However, I did get to see some Dutch windmills (the ones up in Holland are the modern kind, so ironically I had to go all the way to Eastern Germany to see the Dutch windmills). I walked around the city after that and visited a lot of the places that I had on the bike tour. I went in to see an Egyptian exhibit at one of the museums, and that was a bit anticlimactic. Oh well, can't alwazs come out on top, right?


Now, I am getting ready to head out for dinner and maybe shop a bit before I catch my night train to Munich. I am having a great time, and I hope everyone is enjoying my posts! (although, nobody is making comments, so maybe not) ;-) I'll try to write again in a few days!

See more pics of Berlin here

Amsterdam

After flying out of Dublin, I landed in Brussels and took a bus to the train station in Charlerois, a small city in Belgium. Since I had a bit of time before my train left, I decided to wander and try to find a waffle. However, to my disappointment, I was unable to find one, so I had to instead settle for what had to have been the most delicious pastry I've ever had... it was really tasty. Then, I hopped on the train and headed to Amsterdam.

sin - noun
1 a : an offense against religious or moral law b : an action that is or is felt to be highly reprehensible
2 a : transgression of the law of God b : a vitiated state of human nature in which the self is estranged from God

Yep, that pretty much describes this place. This city was a very interesting mix of beauty and trash. The city has many canals spread throughout, and there are all sorts of cruise tours that you can go on (I didn't though), similar to Venice (although I don't think as prevalent). There are TONS of Americans there, most likely to indulge in the abundance of sex and drugs around the red light district, and NOTHING is free (nor do they offer student discounts on anything).

Anyway, I got in at about 4:00 or so, and I immediately went to my poorly-located hostel, checked in, then booked it to get into the Heineken brewery before it closed. It was a brewery tour that gave you three beers (not proper beer though... maybe a half-pint each) and a Heineken bottle opener as a gift at the end. It wasn't as thorough in content on the process as Guinness was, but seemed to divert focus to marketing. I would describe the Guinness tour as 'posh', and the Heineken tour as 'new age'. It was OK, but nothing special.

That night, I just kinda wandered around the streets to see what the place was like. Of course, in doing so, I ran across the famous red light district, which was really interesting. No matter what street you walk down, the windows are filled with prostitutes knocking on windows and trying to entice men to shell out some cash for a 'fun time'. Also present in the district are lots of guys asking if you want cocaine or ecstasy. I was literally offered about 4 times within 10 minutes. They also have tons of cafes where you can buy and smoke marijuana in many forms, but since I don't smoke, I didn't really venture into any of those venues. I found a bar to grab a beer at, and met a dude from the Czech Republic that was 7 foot 1. Huge dude. Then, I just went back to the hostel to turn in for the night. (I don't have any pictures because cameras in the red light district are a BIG no-no).

The next day I spent seeing things, starting with the Rijkmuseum, which is just a museum. Nothing special about it, and no pictures allowed. After that, I went to a concert hall for a FREE concert (I couldn't believe something in Amsterdam was FREE). It was a nice trio of a cello, violin, and some similar instrument between the two in size. They played one of Beethoven's symphonies, and it was rather pleasant.

Next I did what I consider to be the most worthwhile thing to do whilst in Amsterdam: the Van Gogh museum. I never liked Van Gogh much, and like most of the painters who were considered the greatest, I thought he was overrated. However, after going to the museum, I totally changed my perspective. This guy was a total artistic genious. He experimented with many different types of paintings, using different techniques and styles. The thing that was most impressive was the way he used brush strokes for texture, which can't really be captured in a printed book. I really thought this museum was well worth the money I paid, and I was going to buy a poster of my favorite work of his if I didn't have to carry it around for the rest of the trip. Here is a link to what it looks like if you are interested: Flowering Plum Tree

The rest of the day I just wandered around, and I was going to go on another backpacker barcrawl, but I fell asleep in my bed at the hostel and didn't wake up from my nap until morning (I saved a lot of money doing that though, so I'm OK with it).

The next morning, I checked out, and went to the Anne Franke house. It was OK, and I was able to sneak a few pictures in, but it was overpriced. It was really just a tour of the house where the Franke family hid during the Holocaust, and you weren't even allowed to go into the top room, they just provided a mirror to see the room (there is a picture of it in my photos through Kodak Gallery). While I was standing in line, I met a couple of girls from Cincinnati, so we chatted for a while. Then, after leaving the house, I showed them around a bit (they liked Amsterdam even less than I did), and I spent the rest of my time shopping. That night, I hopped on a night train to Berlin, and slept horribly.

Overall, I would say that Amsterdam is nice for a visit, but not the most fun place to go while travelling alone. In summary, overcrowded, overpriced, and overrated.

See more Amsterdam pictures here!