My last day in Brussels was pretty boring. I walked around a little bit more before decided to just go back to my hostel and kill the rest of the day there reading. In the morning, I walked to Brussels Midi, the main train station, and bought a ticket to Paris. Only a one and a half hour ride, wonderfully short! When I got there, I tried to get to our hostel but didn't print out directions or an address, but I thought I remembered the directions. Either they were bad directions, or I didn't remember them well, or both... So after wandering around for a bit, I saw someone else in the group and we found the hostel together.
After catching up with the people who where there, we took the metro to the Eiffel Tower and climbed the stairs to the 2nd level, 668 stairs. Not that bad. We would have walked the whole way but it is a hazard or something thing to walk to the third level so we took the elevator. It was a clear day so the view was really nice, except for the smog, but oh well, it's a big city after all!
After we walked back down, I split up from the group to do some last minute shopping and walked around the city for a few hours. I impressed myself because I walked from the Eiffel Tower to our hostel and wound my way around the city without getting lost! Yeah, I'm pretty skillful. That night, Carly, Ian and I went out to get one last French dinner. I got creme burlee for dessert! I had to have it at least once in France right? Mmm, twas delicious! After a bit more socializing at the hostel, we all went to bed. We had to leave at 930 for the airport. Our flight left at 230 and we got through security and to out gate without much problem. Until I tried to get on the plane. As I gave them my ticket, they pulled me aside and I had to go through security again. A full check, pat down, take off shoes and swab them, look through my carry on, everything! They kept asking me where and when I went through security. Apparently I should have been searched when I first went though but they didn't see the ticket on my ticket, I dunno. But I got on the plane fine and started off to the USA!
The 10 hour plane ride went by really fast. We watched a few sitcoms, Wall E, and National Treasure 2. Also, it was nice to know the people in the program better so we could talk about our travels and what not. We got into O'Hare, and customs was a breeze. When we got to our next gate, I got my first American food in 4 months, a Chicago style hot dog with everything on it. It was amazing! Then the ride back to Minneapolis went by like nothing. An hour and 20 minutes seems short after a 10 hour ride right?
Finally! I'm home!!! I didn't sleep at all on the plane and I got home at about 11pm, had a beer with mom and dad and went to sleep! So I went to bed at a normal time and haven't experienced any jet lag! That's nice, I'm pretty good at fighting it off I think. It's good to be home and I am looking forward to going back to school in the spring.
So!
I went to Paris, London, Geneva, Leeds, Knaresborough, York, Dublin, Maynooth, Nancy, Evry, Levanto, Rome, Catania, Rethymno, Athens, Thessaloniki, Budapest, Prague, Berlin, Brugges, Brussels. I read 11 books, was on a train for far too long, and slept in a lot of different beds. Now I have my own bed! It's good to be home.
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Ich Bin Ein Berliner
From Prague, I took a train to Berlin where I would meet my friend from high school, Micah, at the train station. The ride was about 5 hours, and went by really fast. I was reading my book and when I looked at the clock I was like, "whoah, we're almost there!" Guess that'll happen when you are used to 19 hour rides... But I prefer the shorter rides, that's for certain. So I met him at the station and we took the metro to his apartment. It's a really nice place he has. South Berlin, one roommate, his own room. Full kitchen and bathroom. Nice place. After a little settling in, we went to get a case of German beer to have. That night we ended up having a crazy fun dance party with his roommate. Good times of singing and dancing.
The next day, Micah had class from 2-8 so I had some time to kill. After I did some laundry, I went to do what I do in most cities; wander the town for a while. Micah had given me a metro map and wrote where the Berlin Wall was so I started in that direction. I didn't really know where I was most of the time but I just kept close to the underground and would match stations to my map to find out where I was. I walked through a Christmas market on Alexandarplatz and got my first German brat. Tasty. Then I kept on walking because for as far as I've gone, I was only half way... I got to the station Micah said it was by and wandered around there for a while. I would have thought that being something that seems kind of important and could be a tourist attraction, there would be signs pointing to it, but no such luck. So I took the metro back because I had walked about 4km to get there.
When I got back, I went online and found that the Aussies from Budapest were going to an opera then going out after that night. So I decided that I would meet up with them after the opera but they didn't really give me clear directions on which one it was. So after a bit of searching and guess work, we found one so I gave it a try. I got off the train and took a right and walked till I found an opera house. I waited there for 20 minutes or so and no one came out (part of the guess work was that we knew it got out at 22h00) so I was majorly bummed and didn't want to go back so I went for a walk instead. After a walked a few blocks I came across another opera house that had just let out. Darn! So close! Still missed em though... So I kept going on my walk and had a nice time wandering in the dark.
I have been wanting to go to a German Christmas market for a while because everyone says they're so great. So Micah found one online and we went there, and it was totally lame and dead. Bummer. Micah's roommate Hannah came with us and knew of a gay and lesbian museum so we were like, what the heck, why not? It was an interesting exhibit thing, yeah, interesting... And a little boring, but maybe that's because everything was in German so I could only look at the pictures. Whatever. After that we wandered around so more looking for a German restaurant but came up short, so we had kabobs instead. That's basically German.
Today, Micah and I went to see the Berlin Wall since I missed it when I tried. Now I had someone who knew where it was! When we got off the train, we got a currywurst each and some famous shop. I dunno, but it was good! Then we started off for the wall, but when the wrong direction... So much for knowing where he was going. But after a short right turn we randomly ended up at the wall! How convenient! It was cool I guess. I peeled a little of the wall off and Micah yelled at me, but then he realized it was just paint and then didn't care as much. There was at least an inch of paint on there. We thought the whole wall might have been made of paint, then we wondered how they did the first layer...
Well, after the wall, we found 2 playgrounds and played on them for a while. I like playgrounds, who says they're just for kids? Eh, I'm basically a kid anyway. Then more wandering around Berlin. After all the walking we were getting tired, thirsty, and bored of the area we were in so we decided to jump on the train to a new area. We also bought a Beck's Green Lemon beer. If you can call it a beer... But something unique to Germany (I think) is you can drink pretty much anywhere. On the street, the metro, bus, whatever! So we took around "beers" on the train and headed off. When we got off and walked a little, we ended up find a 2 Christmas markets. So we walked that for a while. I don't remember why, probably cuz we didn't have anything else to do but then we went into the mall next to the market and it had an awesome fountain in it. I probably can't describe it very well, so I won't try and leave you all in suspense!!! Eh, it's just a fountain, don't get all work up. I think we went to another place and found yet another market. On the day that we weren't even trying we found a bunch of nice markets! What's up with that?! Don't ask don't tell I guess.
After wandering around the market and smelling the good smells, we were getting hungry so headed to a German restaurant. I like to sample the local food, and I couldn't skip out on sausage, kraut, and beer now could I!? I got a brat with potatoes and kraut and apple strudel for dessert. It was all really good! Especially the kraut. I know! Since when have I liked kraut?! Does it matter? No. So it was a good meal and then we headed back to his place to relax the rest of the night away.
Since the market smelled so good before, we went back to indulge in some German market food. I got a half meter brat (long, but skinny), some pocket kabob type thing, and chocolate covered strawberries. All delicious. Then we went to his friend's apartment to watch some soccer. After the game was over, I noticed that he had a Sega Genesis (but over here it's called a Megadrive). So we busted that out and played Sonic 2 for a while, along with a few other games, but I like Sonic, so there. But that was a good time. We then went to a dance club and danced the night away. There were 2 floors; one was a normal type dance floor and music and the other was playing some techno polka stuff. I liked that one better. So it was a fun time too. Then we went back to his place because it was late and we were tired. Crash.
Saturday was a very laid back day. I spent the whole day reading The Green Mile and finished it. Micah was doing school work so there wasn't much to do. When we were both done we cooked up some dinner, yeah, it was pretty good, mostly because we can cook pretty good. Jealous? After that, we went to a party someone invited Micah to, I tagged along because I could. It was a pretty laid back party. I felt a little awkward though because of the language everyone there could speak at least 2 languages (minimum). But dancing is a universal language so I did that. It was another late night and I was heading to Brugges in the morning. Time for bed!
I woke up early (8am! Well, I have been sleeping in lately) got pack, said ciao and went to the station. It was a 9 hour ride to Brugges and for most of the trip I was facing backwards. I don't like to face backward! I get sick feeling... So I tried to ignore it and sleep but it was a long time to just sleep! I got in around 18h30 and went to find my hostel. The directions from online said to look on a map. How helpful. For some reason my compass wasn't working right or I wasn't reading it right because it took me far to long to get going in the right direction. So eventually after walking around most of the city, I found the hostel. After putting my stuff down I went to get dinner. I found a nice little restaurant not too far away and had a good little 3 course meal. Delightful! Sleepy.
The next morning after breakfast, I circled places I wanted to see on my map. I saw Michelangelo's Madonna statue and went on a beer tour. I also rented a bike but needed gloves so my hands wouldn't freeze so I picked up a nice pair that worked very well! After the tour I got some fries and headed out on what ended up being about a 40km bike ride. I rode from Brugges to the North Sea and back. It was a nice easy ride but I must have bruised my butt because I am not used to sitting in bike seats and I'm sure that one wasn't designed with distance riding in mind. When I got back, I went to a little cafe that was suggested on my map and got a huge bowl of spaghetti that made even me think that I should have gotten the small one. It was only 5.50 euro though! And I finished it pretty easily, after all, I had just rode 40km! I also got a cherry beer that was quite refreshing! Then I returned my bike, showered, and read (since I finished the Green Mile, Micah traded me one of his books) until I feel asleep.
Since I only have a few days left, I only spent 2 nights in Brugges before moving on to Brussels. I will only spend 2 nights here as well. Then Paris for one night then I will be back in the US of A. So I got into Brussels after a really short train ride (45 mins is much better than 40 hours) and found my hostel. After checking in, I walked around Brussels and I think I covered the whole city, so now I have to figure out what I'm gonna do tomorrow! Oh well, it's a nice city so I'm sure I can find something! Right now I'm gonna go find a restaurant and have some mussels for dinner! Should be delicious!
The next day, Micah had class from 2-8 so I had some time to kill. After I did some laundry, I went to do what I do in most cities; wander the town for a while. Micah had given me a metro map and wrote where the Berlin Wall was so I started in that direction. I didn't really know where I was most of the time but I just kept close to the underground and would match stations to my map to find out where I was. I walked through a Christmas market on Alexandarplatz and got my first German brat. Tasty. Then I kept on walking because for as far as I've gone, I was only half way... I got to the station Micah said it was by and wandered around there for a while. I would have thought that being something that seems kind of important and could be a tourist attraction, there would be signs pointing to it, but no such luck. So I took the metro back because I had walked about 4km to get there.
When I got back, I went online and found that the Aussies from Budapest were going to an opera then going out after that night. So I decided that I would meet up with them after the opera but they didn't really give me clear directions on which one it was. So after a bit of searching and guess work, we found one so I gave it a try. I got off the train and took a right and walked till I found an opera house. I waited there for 20 minutes or so and no one came out (part of the guess work was that we knew it got out at 22h00) so I was majorly bummed and didn't want to go back so I went for a walk instead. After a walked a few blocks I came across another opera house that had just let out. Darn! So close! Still missed em though... So I kept going on my walk and had a nice time wandering in the dark.
I have been wanting to go to a German Christmas market for a while because everyone says they're so great. So Micah found one online and we went there, and it was totally lame and dead. Bummer. Micah's roommate Hannah came with us and knew of a gay and lesbian museum so we were like, what the heck, why not? It was an interesting exhibit thing, yeah, interesting... And a little boring, but maybe that's because everything was in German so I could only look at the pictures. Whatever. After that we wandered around so more looking for a German restaurant but came up short, so we had kabobs instead. That's basically German.
Today, Micah and I went to see the Berlin Wall since I missed it when I tried. Now I had someone who knew where it was! When we got off the train, we got a currywurst each and some famous shop. I dunno, but it was good! Then we started off for the wall, but when the wrong direction... So much for knowing where he was going. But after a short right turn we randomly ended up at the wall! How convenient! It was cool I guess. I peeled a little of the wall off and Micah yelled at me, but then he realized it was just paint and then didn't care as much. There was at least an inch of paint on there. We thought the whole wall might have been made of paint, then we wondered how they did the first layer...
Well, after the wall, we found 2 playgrounds and played on them for a while. I like playgrounds, who says they're just for kids? Eh, I'm basically a kid anyway. Then more wandering around Berlin. After all the walking we were getting tired, thirsty, and bored of the area we were in so we decided to jump on the train to a new area. We also bought a Beck's Green Lemon beer. If you can call it a beer... But something unique to Germany (I think) is you can drink pretty much anywhere. On the street, the metro, bus, whatever! So we took around "beers" on the train and headed off. When we got off and walked a little, we ended up find a 2 Christmas markets. So we walked that for a while. I don't remember why, probably cuz we didn't have anything else to do but then we went into the mall next to the market and it had an awesome fountain in it. I probably can't describe it very well, so I won't try and leave you all in suspense!!! Eh, it's just a fountain, don't get all work up. I think we went to another place and found yet another market. On the day that we weren't even trying we found a bunch of nice markets! What's up with that?! Don't ask don't tell I guess.
After wandering around the market and smelling the good smells, we were getting hungry so headed to a German restaurant. I like to sample the local food, and I couldn't skip out on sausage, kraut, and beer now could I!? I got a brat with potatoes and kraut and apple strudel for dessert. It was all really good! Especially the kraut. I know! Since when have I liked kraut?! Does it matter? No. So it was a good meal and then we headed back to his place to relax the rest of the night away.
Since the market smelled so good before, we went back to indulge in some German market food. I got a half meter brat (long, but skinny), some pocket kabob type thing, and chocolate covered strawberries. All delicious. Then we went to his friend's apartment to watch some soccer. After the game was over, I noticed that he had a Sega Genesis (but over here it's called a Megadrive). So we busted that out and played Sonic 2 for a while, along with a few other games, but I like Sonic, so there. But that was a good time. We then went to a dance club and danced the night away. There were 2 floors; one was a normal type dance floor and music and the other was playing some techno polka stuff. I liked that one better. So it was a fun time too. Then we went back to his place because it was late and we were tired. Crash.
Saturday was a very laid back day. I spent the whole day reading The Green Mile and finished it. Micah was doing school work so there wasn't much to do. When we were both done we cooked up some dinner, yeah, it was pretty good, mostly because we can cook pretty good. Jealous? After that, we went to a party someone invited Micah to, I tagged along because I could. It was a pretty laid back party. I felt a little awkward though because of the language everyone there could speak at least 2 languages (minimum). But dancing is a universal language so I did that. It was another late night and I was heading to Brugges in the morning. Time for bed!
I woke up early (8am! Well, I have been sleeping in lately) got pack, said ciao and went to the station. It was a 9 hour ride to Brugges and for most of the trip I was facing backwards. I don't like to face backward! I get sick feeling... So I tried to ignore it and sleep but it was a long time to just sleep! I got in around 18h30 and went to find my hostel. The directions from online said to look on a map. How helpful. For some reason my compass wasn't working right or I wasn't reading it right because it took me far to long to get going in the right direction. So eventually after walking around most of the city, I found the hostel. After putting my stuff down I went to get dinner. I found a nice little restaurant not too far away and had a good little 3 course meal. Delightful! Sleepy.
The next morning after breakfast, I circled places I wanted to see on my map. I saw Michelangelo's Madonna statue and went on a beer tour. I also rented a bike but needed gloves so my hands wouldn't freeze so I picked up a nice pair that worked very well! After the tour I got some fries and headed out on what ended up being about a 40km bike ride. I rode from Brugges to the North Sea and back. It was a nice easy ride but I must have bruised my butt because I am not used to sitting in bike seats and I'm sure that one wasn't designed with distance riding in mind. When I got back, I went to a little cafe that was suggested on my map and got a huge bowl of spaghetti that made even me think that I should have gotten the small one. It was only 5.50 euro though! And I finished it pretty easily, after all, I had just rode 40km! I also got a cherry beer that was quite refreshing! Then I returned my bike, showered, and read (since I finished the Green Mile, Micah traded me one of his books) until I feel asleep.
Since I only have a few days left, I only spent 2 nights in Brugges before moving on to Brussels. I will only spend 2 nights here as well. Then Paris for one night then I will be back in the US of A. So I got into Brussels after a really short train ride (45 mins is much better than 40 hours) and found my hostel. After checking in, I walked around Brussels and I think I covered the whole city, so now I have to figure out what I'm gonna do tomorrow! Oh well, it's a nice city so I'm sure I can find something! Right now I'm gonna go find a restaurant and have some mussels for dinner! Should be delicious!
Monday, December 1, 2008
Czech This Out!
I bought a ticket to Prague there so I wouldn't have to deal with it later. Then I found my hostel without much trouble. I went to my room and ate some food I bought at Tesco after I got off the train. This hostel was called the 11th Hour Cinema Hostel because they had a large movie collection. When I was down there, someone put Family Guy on so I grabbed a bean bag chair and chilled for a while. I think I deserved it after my ordeal. I watched it for a few hours and when people came back from dinner, they asked "you're still here?" and "have you moved?". Whatever, I was comfy. The hostel also served hot wine which is one of my new favorite drinks. When they were first making it, it smelled like cookies! It was really good. Next, someone put on "No Country for Old Men", quite a strange but good movie. Yeah, that's about all I can say. A little gory though... Well anyway, when I went back to my room, some people who were watching the movie were there and said they were going on a cave tour tomorrow. Cool, I want to do that, and they said I could tag along with them. And tonight I got to sleep in a REAL BED!!! Good sleep.
In the morning I asked at the desk and paid. When they came down, we set off the walk the town for a bit before the tour started at 15h45. They were 4 people from Australia. Dan, Tom, Tom, and Teagan. After a bit of talk, I found out they were going to Berlin at the same time I would be there, so we would try to meet up there. 3:45 rolled around and we set off to the meeting point. Someone had told me the caving tours were cool and the tour guides start off being closed and quiet when you first meet them but when you get in the cave, they open up and are crazy. That's exactly what happened with ours. It was really funny because I could not understand half the stuff he said but that didn't matter. Before we got in the cave, we got suited with overalls and a helmet with a light on it! Sweet! Being in the cave was a lot of fun and I climbed around on all the rocks and had a good time crawling through the little spaces. I'd probably be a good spelunker because I'm so skinny!
Once back at the hostel, I didn't shower even though I was covered in cave dust, eh, I'm not trying to impress anyone. We got some more hot wine and watched Juno. It was really nice to have time to chill and watch a movie. Seems like I haven't gotten to do that in a long time. I said goodbye to them then because I would be getting up early to catch a train to Prague.
In the morning I walked to the metro and walked passed the ticket office without noticing it and ended up at the train, so I thought I would risk it and see if I got caught or not. Well, I got caught. And paid 6000 Fourint, about 30 dollars. Oh well, that's what you get! I caught the train to Prague just fine and made my way to that hostel. After I got settled in, I asked the reception where a good place to get some turkey would be. After all, today is Thanksgiving! I ended up at a place and ordered turkey stuffed with cheese and cranberries with a side of Bohemian potatoes and a Budweiser! Pretty good Thanksgiving dinner, and Czech Bud is really good. Too bad the US had to ruin the name...
The hostel I was at (Czech Inn) let you rent an unlimited public transportation pass for 70 crown, or about $2.50 so I did that. My first mission was to get breakfast which I did at a bakery. The next was to buy myself a sweatshirt. After looking around for a while, I decided that I would not be able to get a good sweatshirt, they were all too thin! So I went on a search for a jacket. I found one I liked at Tesco. It's comfy and warm. Kinda looks like a pilot's jacket. I also bought a new long sleeve shirt because all I had was my plaid and for some reason, people picked me out as American really easily. I don't know why. When I put this jacket on, I all of a sudden got a lot of people approaching me thinking I was Czech or a local or something. Guess it worked in that regard! Now that I had food in my belly and a warm jacket, I was ready to see the city! I took the tram to Prague's Castle and went in the Cathedral. That was big with a lot of cool stain glass. After a bit of wandering around there, I went to the mini Eiffel Tower next. Climbed to the top of that and got a good view of the city. Since it starts to get dark around 3, I started to walk back. I walked across St. George's bridge on the way back, neat thing, but I don't know much of the history there. While walking, I picked up a cup of hot wine for 35 crowns. Mmmm. Then I was getting hungry and wondering if it were dinner time, but it was only 16h30, so I got a kielbasa to hold me over. That was tasty! Except I dripped mustard everywhere... Finally after waiting, I found a restaurant and ordered an amazing mixed grill with sausage, duck, ham, turkey, bread and potato dumplings, and cabbage. I also got a side of cole slaw. Delicious dinner! Czech food is good!
The next day, November 29th, I got something I've been craving for a while: a real breakfast. My hostel served an all you can eat breakfast so I got 2 plates of eggs and break, 2 bowls of granola with yogurt, 4 glasses of OJ and some tea. So good, so full. Most of today was spent wandering the many markets because they are a fun place to be around. I saw St. Wenceslas' square, which isn't so much a square as a really long thing. After a day of walking, I went back to my hostel and went to a book store nearby and picked up a new book since I'm done with all the ones I bought in England. This time I got The Green Mile. We'll see how I like it. For dinner I got Goulash! Never had that before, but it was pretty good too. Well, now I'm not really gonna complain about food. I've come to have little peaks of what it's like to not have it. I'll take what I can get!
Again I had an awesome breakfast and set off to wander a while. Before I left I asked the front desk if there were any hockey games going on and after a little searching, we found one in town, sweet! One thing I really wanted to do was go to a Czech hockey game. The game was a 5 so back to the markets for a while where I bought myself a new hat! It's really warm an green! When 15h00 rolled around I made my way up to the arena and bought my ticket, 200 crowns (10 bucks) for a really great seat! When I got in, I got my first beer at a sporting event, a 30 crown bud, beer is so cheap! Gonna be weird to go back home... Then the game started and I was really happy because I haven't gotten to watch a hockey game for a really long time and I'm missing Wild and Falcon hockey right now! Aye aye aye. It was a good game and the home team won. One thing I noticed was the refs were not sissies. When there was a fight or something like that, they jumped right in the middle to break it up. Not like the NHL refs who watch it happen and don't interfere until they fall. I know, it' for the fans and what not, but still. Tough refs!
That was my last night in the hostel and in the morning I caught a train to Berlin. I changed my status on Facebook (for you who don't know what that is, don't worry, it's not important) to say I was going to Budapest. One of my friends from high school saw it and said he was making a trip to Budapest in December. I asked him if he was in Europe and turned out he is! He's got an apartment in Berlin and it letting me stay with him. So I'm on his computer typing this now and that makes it free!
Ok, I've been typing for a while because I had a lot to catch up on but now I'm gonna go catch up with him. Hope you enjoyed the read!
I'm Going Off the Rails on a Crazy Train
Hey there gang, how ya doing?! That's good to hear. So, where was I? Rethymno? Ok. Well, I ended up switching rooms because I didn't want to deal with that guy anymore and ended up with a room to myself the whole stay. Always a nice treat when you're staying in a hostel. My main reason for going to Greece was for the food. Did I mention that before? I don't remember, if I did, it's for reiteration, if not, it's for information. Anyway, I basically went around from day to day waiting for the next meal. Let's see what I ate: Lunch: Tzaziki, Wild Rabbit and a Mythos, first time I've had rabbit, it was good! and the tzaziki was good too. Dinner: A simple gyro plate and a Mythos, it was alright, didn't really care for the restaurant. Breakfast: Chocolate filled croissant and a cherry Danish. Lunch: Chicken Souvlaki in a pita, quite tasty. I ate it on some rocks by the water, a delightful lunch! Dinner: Stuffed Wine Leaves, Moussaka and a Mythos. The stuffed wine leaves was good, basically grape leaves with rice. Moussaka was good too, I'm gonna try to make that when I get home! Lunch: A gyro in a pita, simple but good. Dinner, since it was my last night, I treated myself: Greek Salad, Feta from the Oven, Chicken Souvlaki, and an Alfa. The feta has something like vegetable stew on it and it was super good! In case you didn't (k)no(w)tice, Mythos and Alfa are beers, Hellanic Lagers to be exact. I liked Mythos better than Alfa. So that was my food, and it was delicious!
Hmm, what else did I do there? Well, in Rethymno, there is a fortress so I wandered around that for a while. That was a cool little bit of old stuff. I also went on a hike around the city, and climbed a little mountain/hill. Twas a nice day around town. That night (Nov 21st, special day anyone?) I was to catch a ferry to Athens. It would take 8 hours and that is where my adventure begins........
I took a bus to the port which was about an hour from Rethymno and boarded the boat. I bought a deck ticket so I did not have a specified chair or room or anything. Just chill around the boat until we landed. It was an 8 hour ride over night. So I got on and went into a lounge and watched Demolition Man with Sly Stallone and Westley Snipes. Terribly awesome 80s movie. In the lounge, they would not let you lie down on the couches so I sat up the whole time. When the movie ended, I walked around to find a place I could lie down and sleep for a while. I found a covered area on the deck that people were sleeping on so I found a little piece of the couch for me and settled in for a few hours. I slept lightly because I wanted to be aware of what was going on around me. After a few hours I got a little chilly because all I had was my flannel and rain jacket on, not too warm. So I went inside and found a place on a stair landing (people were sleeping there too). I didn't like that though, I was too paranoid about someone walking by me or waking me up. After I was a little warmed up, I went back out on deck and we docked about 30mins later. So it was 5am in Athens. I had booked a hostel for one night so I wouldn't have to stress about getting in and out right away.
I found my hostel at about 8am and checked in and was oddly enough let into my room at that time. I found that strange because most hostels won't let you in until 1 or 2. But I wasn't complaining. I took a 2 hour nap because of obviously not sleeping well on the boat. From there I set off to see the Acropolis! That was really neat to see. I started off walking the park area around it and saw a few temples and other old stuff. Then I bought a ticket to go in and see the Parthenon for 6 euro. I snuck a 50% student discount from them, but I'm not sure if I really should have got one. It was really cool up there too but there is a lot of scaffolding on the Parthenon because of the big reconstruction process they are going through. Still, cool to see. As I was about to leave, the it started to clear up (it had been cloudy all day) so I took a few more pictures in the better light and explored more of the grounds. Pretty nifty stuff going on there. I ate lunch at some restaurant and got had the worst gyro I've had, so that was very disappointing. Oh well.
After all that, I went back to my hostel to use the internet to plan out the rest of my travels. After looking around a bit, I went to the train station to find a way to Budapest. After getting an itinerary and rough price, I went back to search for a better deal but didn't find any so I booked some hostels (Budapest and Prague) and went back to the train station. The itinerary went as follows: 23h00 Athens to Thessaloniki, 009 Thessaloniki to Bukuresti, 18h00 Bukuresti to Budapest. So according to that, I should have arrived in Budapest the next day in the evening. Well, I don't know my European geography very well so I didn't know how far it was or anything like that so I went with it. When I went back to the station to buy the ticket, the train that would leave for Thessaloniki tomorrow was full so I would have to take the one that left tonight if I were to stay on the schedule. Alright, whatever. I bought that ticket and cancelled my hostel, but it wasn't that bad. 10 euro for a nap, place to keep my bag and internet, I'll pay that. So I waited around until it was time to leave which took quite a long time. Finally I got on the train and found my seat. It ended up being a 7 hour ride that took all night.
At the next station I bought my ticket for Bukuresti that left at midnight that night. So I had all day to kill in Thessaloniki. The day was spent with me walking around with my pack on for a while until I went to a Starbucks and stayed there for about 6 hours. I read one of my books, The Lonely Hearts Club, cover to cover. Now, Thessaloniki was a nice town, but I didn't want to lug my bag around with me all day because that thing gets heavy! So I relaxed in a Starbucks. It was a nice time, I talked with a Greek couple for a little bit. Then I set off to find the train station again and wanted to hit up a grocery store to buy food for the ride. Well, it was a Sunday so all the stores had closed already... I ended up buying 2 sandwiches from the station, some pringles, cookies, and water. I ate half of that for dinner and the rest would be for lunch.
After a few more hours of waiting, I got on the train and found an empty compartment. After fiddling with the heat for a while, I figured it didn't work so put on an extra tshirt and pair of socks. It was really all I could do. So I huddled up using my bag as a pillow and went to sleep. When I woke up a few hours later, there was a Greek guy on the bench across from me. He woke up a little later and we talked for a while, mostly about how cold it was. Then, at his stop, they made everyone get off as they switched the cars, maybe because the heat wasn't working in the first one. Well, no I was alone and the heat still didn't work. So I went to sleep again to kill time. This time, when I woke up I was WARM! The sun had been shinning in on me while I was sleeping and made me nice and toasty warm! It was a very pretty ride through a ravine or something, so quite enjoyable. Except that it took 19 hours... So it ended up being my best and worst ride I've had, neat! I killed the rest of the time reading, sleeping, and throwing cards into a hat.
I got into Bukuresti at 7pm and went to buy my ticket for Budapest. I bought that ticket and the train left at 23h45. Well, this made me pretty upset and with the lack of sleep and food, it kinda got to me. There wasn't much I could do but wait so I went into the waiting room and caught up on my journal. While I was writing, a Romania lady started talking to me and we had a long conversation with a big language barrier. I don't know if it was because I was too tired to analyze it or I knew some of the Latin derivatives but I could understand a lot of what she was saying. She also kept says "supero" after everything she said. She kind reminded me of Aunt Gail because she was friendly, talkative, and looked similar. Well, at about 11 I went to get dinner and caught my train. I did not realize when I bought it, but I got a sleeper car. I probably would have declined because it costs more but oh well. It ended up being really nice. I was alone so could sleep without any disturbances and got a full night's sleep. I really needed it because I woke up feeling a lot calmer than I had the day before. So it was worth the extra money. Plus, it was the fanciest sleeper car I've seen. It looked like a cabin on a cruise ship just a lot smaller. So that was cool.
I finally made it to Budapest! I arrive at about 14h45 on November 25th. About 40 hours total on a train in 3 days. It had been 4 days since I slept in a proper bed, even though the last night was nice, I don't really consider it proper because it was on a train... And I had yet another lacking of food, but again, not on purpose, there was just no way for me to have known it would be so crazy. It's not what the guy at the first station told me. Whatever, I made it to Budapest and only lost 1 night of my 3 night booking.
Monday, November 17, 2008
Roamin' Rome
A group of 8 of us set out for Rome at 9am. It was a 6 hour train ride with one transfer in Pisa, so kind of long, but not really I guess. We just stretched out our legs and enjoyed the ride. It was raining on and off the whole ride so we got to see a few rainbows too! Always neat. When we got into Rome, 4 of us were at one hostel 3 at another and 1 at a hotel. So we set out to find them. Ours was only 2 blocks from the train station. I'd call that conveniently located! It was kind of a strange place though. I booked a room with Heidi and our room wasn't located where the reception and other rooms were. We had to go outside and half way around the block to get to our room. It was located in an apartment type thing. I'm pretty sure we slept in the utility room because it was small, completely tiled, and the water heater was there. But whatever, we were only going to be using that for sleep.
A nice thing about that hostel was it served dinner, included in the price. So we ate there, and boy, I sure was hungry! I hadn't eaten much except a smaller hostel breakfast, and an orange and a cookie on the train. Now it was 7pm. And don't you go and think I'm not taking care of myself because there are times I don't eat. Trust me, it's not because I don't want to, it's because there is no food around at all and I wasn't expecting that to be the case. But I ate dinner and was still hungry so Heidi and I went to the grocery store and I got sammich materials and after that, I was feeling much better. I got to talking to a few boys from Leeds and we played cards for a while. Then a few other people came in and we pretty much talked the rest of the night until "curfew" at 1130, then bed.
In the morning, we had a hostel breakfast and headed to the Colosseum to meet up with everyone for a day of exploring the city. Well, half the group decided to go to the Vatican first. Whatever. We then went inside and walked around. It was very cool and one of the places that I actually wanted to pay for to go see. It was 12 Euro to get in. We could have gone on a tour for 22, but they didn't want to. I did, but after walking around and seeing other tours, I realized that I still don't like tours regardless, so I saved money. But it was still very cool inside. Imagine yourself there when the games were going on. 50,000 people fit in there. 50,000 screaming Romans, must have been intense. Heidi and I then went to see the exhibits they had, basically it was old art. One thing I noticed and thought was strange was when referring to the gods, they used the Greek names instead of the Roman. Weird right? Maybe I'm just a nerd... Well, after that, we got split up from the other people and stuck around for a while looking for them. At this time, the rain had really started and looked as if it didn't want to let up. It didn't. So we looked inside and didn't see them then walked around the building twice and didn't see them and by that time I had to get away from there. In Rome, I think there are people that live underground and when they feel one raindrop, they all pop out and try to sell you umbrellas. Since we didn't think it was going to rain, we were a prime target. After being asked so many times, I was getting very frustrated and ended up yelling "No, I don't want an umbrella, leave me alone!" Well, of course after I said that 3 people simultaneously said "My friend, do you want an umbrella?" Oh my goodness gracious, can you see why I may have gotten a little upset? I was just tired of people approaching me trying to sell me something. There were also people trying to sell me a tour of the Colosseum. They would approach you and ask "Do you speak English?" As we were about to go in, one guy did that to me and I tried to ignore him but he wouldn't go away so I said I didn't speak English and was from France. Then I started to walk toward the entrance and turned around and said "No, I'm just kidding" to his reply "Well, have fun waiting in a 40 minute line!" So I thanked him and went on my way. I probably should have said I was deaf because I know more ASL than French...Next time right?
Anyway, we started to walk in the opposite direction of the Colosseum to get away from tourist-town. We were also getting hungry and a little chilly; I was only wearing my flannel. We stumbled upon a little pizzeria and the people there were very friendly. Before we even said anything they handed us paper towels to dry off a bit. They also offered to let me put my flannel on the pizza oven. I refused but later thought I should have taken them up on that. I would have gotten wet after, but at least it would have been warm when I put it back on! But they were really nice and just what I needed after the money hungry solicitors. Plus, the pizza was really good.
After lunch we decided to go see some other sights, but it was still rainy and we were still cold, so we thought, let's walk for a while and then stop for some tea or hot chocolate or something and then see what we want. Well, we certainly walked for a while. The rain was constant but varied in intensiveness. So basically we were soaked to the bone and wanted something warm. We found one place and needed to cross the street to get to it and while we were waiting at the stoplight, a kind local came and sheltered us under his umbrella. I had heard that the Italians where kind of stuck up, but I think that it is just the ones by the popular spots or something because once a little off the beaten path, people were nice to us. Maybe just out of sympathy since we were soaked to the bone, through the bone, rain was coming out of our bones. Well, we got to the restaurant and asked for some hot chocolate and the guy behind the counter asked if we wanted to sit at a table, so we did. Then finally, after all the walking though the rain, we got our delicious hot chocolate. It may have been the best I've ever had, and not just because I was cold. It was thick, the hot liquid pudding! Mmmm, good. They also gave us a menu to look at so we looked to see how much hot chocolate was. Before, I was thinking I would get another cup regardless of the price. Then I saw it was 5 euro, holy crap! It was good, but kind of small for 5 euro. Then we got the bill and there was a 20% table charge so we paid 12 euro for 2 cups of hot chocolate. We got ripped off! But oh well. Then we walked back to the hostel and saw another rainbow! Once back, we changed into dry clothes and Heidi showered. I wrapped myself up in a blanket and read until I fell asleep. I think I took a 2 hour nap or so. Musta been tired. We had dinner at the hostel and went to the grocery store to buy food for our train the next day. Gonna be prepared this time! We only stayed in Rome for 2 nights and I was glad to get out. I have not been a fan of the big cities, they are too big... Back at the hostel, we talked again till curfew. There was a guy from Cali, New York, a Frenchman, 2 Brazilians, and one guy from England. Quite a mix. I had a fun time talking with all them.
Our train went to Catania Sicily and left at 7am. This one was a 9 hour ride but we didn't have to transfer at all. So there was a lot of reading and playing cards. And I was so happy we stopped for food otherwise I would not have been a happy kid. There was a food cart that I could have bought stuff from but it would be over priced. We got into Catania and it was dark already. And we had no idea where the hostel was. So we started walking and asked 3 or 4 people but no one knew where it was. Finally, I asked a taxi driver and he told us where it was, or he could drive us for 10 euro. So we took the cab and good thing we did. I don't think we would have ever found it. After checking in, we went to a laundromat because we still have wet stuff from the day before and I hadn't washed for about 3 weeks. Seemed like a good idea. Clean clothes are nice. We signed up for a volcano tour of Mt Etna for the morning and then went to bed.
A nice thing about that hostel was it served dinner, included in the price. So we ate there, and boy, I sure was hungry! I hadn't eaten much except a smaller hostel breakfast, and an orange and a cookie on the train. Now it was 7pm. And don't you go and think I'm not taking care of myself because there are times I don't eat. Trust me, it's not because I don't want to, it's because there is no food around at all and I wasn't expecting that to be the case. But I ate dinner and was still hungry so Heidi and I went to the grocery store and I got sammich materials and after that, I was feeling much better. I got to talking to a few boys from Leeds and we played cards for a while. Then a few other people came in and we pretty much talked the rest of the night until "curfew" at 1130, then bed.
In the morning, we had a hostel breakfast and headed to the Colosseum to meet up with everyone for a day of exploring the city. Well, half the group decided to go to the Vatican first. Whatever. We then went inside and walked around. It was very cool and one of the places that I actually wanted to pay for to go see. It was 12 Euro to get in. We could have gone on a tour for 22, but they didn't want to. I did, but after walking around and seeing other tours, I realized that I still don't like tours regardless, so I saved money. But it was still very cool inside. Imagine yourself there when the games were going on. 50,000 people fit in there. 50,000 screaming Romans, must have been intense. Heidi and I then went to see the exhibits they had, basically it was old art. One thing I noticed and thought was strange was when referring to the gods, they used the Greek names instead of the Roman. Weird right? Maybe I'm just a nerd... Well, after that, we got split up from the other people and stuck around for a while looking for them. At this time, the rain had really started and looked as if it didn't want to let up. It didn't. So we looked inside and didn't see them then walked around the building twice and didn't see them and by that time I had to get away from there. In Rome, I think there are people that live underground and when they feel one raindrop, they all pop out and try to sell you umbrellas. Since we didn't think it was going to rain, we were a prime target. After being asked so many times, I was getting very frustrated and ended up yelling "No, I don't want an umbrella, leave me alone!" Well, of course after I said that 3 people simultaneously said "My friend, do you want an umbrella?" Oh my goodness gracious, can you see why I may have gotten a little upset? I was just tired of people approaching me trying to sell me something. There were also people trying to sell me a tour of the Colosseum. They would approach you and ask "Do you speak English?" As we were about to go in, one guy did that to me and I tried to ignore him but he wouldn't go away so I said I didn't speak English and was from France. Then I started to walk toward the entrance and turned around and said "No, I'm just kidding" to his reply "Well, have fun waiting in a 40 minute line!" So I thanked him and went on my way. I probably should have said I was deaf because I know more ASL than French...Next time right?
Anyway, we started to walk in the opposite direction of the Colosseum to get away from tourist-town. We were also getting hungry and a little chilly; I was only wearing my flannel. We stumbled upon a little pizzeria and the people there were very friendly. Before we even said anything they handed us paper towels to dry off a bit. They also offered to let me put my flannel on the pizza oven. I refused but later thought I should have taken them up on that. I would have gotten wet after, but at least it would have been warm when I put it back on! But they were really nice and just what I needed after the money hungry solicitors. Plus, the pizza was really good.
After lunch we decided to go see some other sights, but it was still rainy and we were still cold, so we thought, let's walk for a while and then stop for some tea or hot chocolate or something and then see what we want. Well, we certainly walked for a while. The rain was constant but varied in intensiveness. So basically we were soaked to the bone and wanted something warm. We found one place and needed to cross the street to get to it and while we were waiting at the stoplight, a kind local came and sheltered us under his umbrella. I had heard that the Italians where kind of stuck up, but I think that it is just the ones by the popular spots or something because once a little off the beaten path, people were nice to us. Maybe just out of sympathy since we were soaked to the bone, through the bone, rain was coming out of our bones. Well, we got to the restaurant and asked for some hot chocolate and the guy behind the counter asked if we wanted to sit at a table, so we did. Then finally, after all the walking though the rain, we got our delicious hot chocolate. It may have been the best I've ever had, and not just because I was cold. It was thick, the hot liquid pudding! Mmmm, good. They also gave us a menu to look at so we looked to see how much hot chocolate was. Before, I was thinking I would get another cup regardless of the price. Then I saw it was 5 euro, holy crap! It was good, but kind of small for 5 euro. Then we got the bill and there was a 20% table charge so we paid 12 euro for 2 cups of hot chocolate. We got ripped off! But oh well. Then we walked back to the hostel and saw another rainbow! Once back, we changed into dry clothes and Heidi showered. I wrapped myself up in a blanket and read until I fell asleep. I think I took a 2 hour nap or so. Musta been tired. We had dinner at the hostel and went to the grocery store to buy food for our train the next day. Gonna be prepared this time! We only stayed in Rome for 2 nights and I was glad to get out. I have not been a fan of the big cities, they are too big... Back at the hostel, we talked again till curfew. There was a guy from Cali, New York, a Frenchman, 2 Brazilians, and one guy from England. Quite a mix. I had a fun time talking with all them.
Our train went to Catania Sicily and left at 7am. This one was a 9 hour ride but we didn't have to transfer at all. So there was a lot of reading and playing cards. And I was so happy we stopped for food otherwise I would not have been a happy kid. There was a food cart that I could have bought stuff from but it would be over priced. We got into Catania and it was dark already. And we had no idea where the hostel was. So we started walking and asked 3 or 4 people but no one knew where it was. Finally, I asked a taxi driver and he told us where it was, or he could drive us for 10 euro. So we took the cab and good thing we did. I don't think we would have ever found it. After checking in, we went to a laundromat because we still have wet stuff from the day before and I hadn't washed for about 3 weeks. Seemed like a good idea. Clean clothes are nice. We signed up for a volcano tour of Mt Etna for the morning and then went to bed.
It was a nice hostel except for 2 things. The beds were really loud when you moved around in them, and their were little mosquitoes and ate you alive in your sleep, so I woke up itchy. We went down for breakfast and learned that the tour was canceled due to bad weather so that day we decided to go for a walk and explore the coast instead. It was supposed to storm in the afternoon but ended up being a beautiful day with only a little rain in the morning. So we started out toward to coast and walked up and down it, I have no idea how far. Approximately all day. But there were a lot of stops for pictures. When we went back, we stopped at a market to buy stuff for dinner since the hostel had a kitchen. Ground beef, spaghetti, parmesan, tomato sauce, lettuce, and broccoli. Made spaghetti and meatballs. We didn't have real dressing for the salad so we used olive oil, red wine, salt and pepper, and cheese. A pretty decent dressing. It made a lot so we had left overs for the next day! At this hostel, we met 2 aussies, 3 english guys, and 2 dutch girls. What else is there to do except a some wine, talk and play cards all night? I think I'm getting the hang of this hostel business because these last hostels have been fun. We also signed up for another volcano tour but after Heidi went to bed, I talked with one of the aussies and she said she and her friend were going up there tomorrow too but not taking the tour. I thought that sounded more fun but I didn't cancel until I found out it was ok with Heidi. That morning I found out it was so I cancelled and waited for everyone to get ready. But, since it is not tourist time, there are not many buses that go to Etna so we missed the only one going. Darn. Another day of exploring the island. And buy did I have fun. We took the bus till we were a little further than we went yesterday I walked north. Pretty much the whole time we walked, I was running and jumping over the rocks. That was so much fun! Made me want to go to Interstate park when I get home but then I realized it would be the middle of December...
The end of the line for us was at _____. Yeah, I don't remember the name but it is where the Cyclops threw huge boulders at Odysseus after he escaped. They are still there, neat huh?! We ate at a shore side restaurant and I had seafood risotto. They know their food they do! Then after stopping to get gelato (pistachio) we jumped on a bus back to the hostel. We met another Aussie and Heidi invited him to eat dinner with us since we weren't that hungry and had food to eat. I had also invited the other aussies to eat so now I thought we might not have enough food. But the new aussie (Alex) felt bad so bought more pasta and sauce. I think he was going to buy the normal sized 90 bag but he came back with a kilo of pasta! No shortage now. The stove I was using was like a little camper stove that had a lid you could close when no using it. It was leaning against the wall and I thought it was semi secure. But when I was moving around pots I bumped it and it fell over pushing off this huge pot of boiling water and pasta. Fortunately, with my quick reflexes and shoes I moved out of the way and only got a splash on my shoe that started to get hot. No serious burn. Also, the pot landed up so we only lost a little pasta! Kind of funny. Good thing it wasn't the sauce or that could have been messy!
After 5 of us had eaten, there was a lot left so Heidi searched the hostel to find hungry people. I guess no one was really there cuz she only found 2, and older German man and an Asian kid. So we fed them with more leftover. What to do that night but more talking and cards? Good stuff. After an hour or 2 passed, I got hungry again and ate the rest of the food.
My nest destination was Crete. I bought a plane ticket here with 2 transfers that cost $350 but got here in one day. I could have taken the train but it would have been 200 something dollars and taken a day or 2. So the plane sounded better. The first flight left at 710am so I got to the airport at about 5. When I was checking in, something happened that that flight might have been cancelled so I got switched to an earlier flight that was leaving very soon. So I ran to security and budged A LOT of people but I didn't care, I didn't want to miss that flight. I made it, got on and fell asleep. I think that might be a good way of doing things. If I had a day of travels ahead of me, just stay up really late the days before it and sleep during the travels. On 2 out of 3 of the flights I don't remember take off or landing. I also took a nap in the airport waiting for the next flight but got kicked awake by the police who told me to sit in a chair. You couldn't lay down in the chairs though cuz there were arm rests, and the floor was so comfy! Oh well, I had to get my boarding pass anyway. I flew from Catania to Rome to Athens to Crete, 7 hours. When I got to Crete, I grabbed my bag and found they took everyone out of the top pouch so I lost all my pens except the one I had with me. Usually I keep a mini notebook and alarm clock there but I had those with me. I don't remember what else might have been in there but it wasn't important. Sucks I lost my pens though... Well, then I caught a bus to Rethymno and found my hostel. Seems like a nice place. One of the girls in the program stayed here and really liked it. So I dropped off my stuff and went out to eat. I wanted a nice Greek restaurant and found one. For dinner I had a Greek salad, feta from the oven (awesome), and a gyro. It was all really good and I was nice and full and happy. Then it was off to the shower and bed.
Well, I was sleeping good but I guess I was keeping someone awake by snoring. At about 3 or 4 in the morning he shook my bed and came over and said "You're snoring, stop it." Like you can make yourself stop snoring. Whatever, I ignored it and fell back asleep. Then 2 hours or so later he kicked my bed again but didn't say anything. The last time he kicked it was at about 7 or 8 and I am pretty sure I wasn't even asleep. It was pretty irritating and he's kind of a jerk, or maybe had a bad day. In either case, snoring is to be expected in a hostel. Deal with it. Well, this morning, I talked to the manager and switched rooms so I don't have to talk to him or deal with him for the rest of my stay. Seriously? Stop snoring? Some people...
The end of the line for us was at _____. Yeah, I don't remember the name but it is where the Cyclops threw huge boulders at Odysseus after he escaped. They are still there, neat huh?! We ate at a shore side restaurant and I had seafood risotto. They know their food they do! Then after stopping to get gelato (pistachio) we jumped on a bus back to the hostel. We met another Aussie and Heidi invited him to eat dinner with us since we weren't that hungry and had food to eat. I had also invited the other aussies to eat so now I thought we might not have enough food. But the new aussie (Alex) felt bad so bought more pasta and sauce. I think he was going to buy the normal sized 90 bag but he came back with a kilo of pasta! No shortage now. The stove I was using was like a little camper stove that had a lid you could close when no using it. It was leaning against the wall and I thought it was semi secure. But when I was moving around pots I bumped it and it fell over pushing off this huge pot of boiling water and pasta. Fortunately, with my quick reflexes and shoes I moved out of the way and only got a splash on my shoe that started to get hot. No serious burn. Also, the pot landed up so we only lost a little pasta! Kind of funny. Good thing it wasn't the sauce or that could have been messy!
After 5 of us had eaten, there was a lot left so Heidi searched the hostel to find hungry people. I guess no one was really there cuz she only found 2, and older German man and an Asian kid. So we fed them with more leftover. What to do that night but more talking and cards? Good stuff. After an hour or 2 passed, I got hungry again and ate the rest of the food.
My nest destination was Crete. I bought a plane ticket here with 2 transfers that cost $350 but got here in one day. I could have taken the train but it would have been 200 something dollars and taken a day or 2. So the plane sounded better. The first flight left at 710am so I got to the airport at about 5. When I was checking in, something happened that that flight might have been cancelled so I got switched to an earlier flight that was leaving very soon. So I ran to security and budged A LOT of people but I didn't care, I didn't want to miss that flight. I made it, got on and fell asleep. I think that might be a good way of doing things. If I had a day of travels ahead of me, just stay up really late the days before it and sleep during the travels. On 2 out of 3 of the flights I don't remember take off or landing. I also took a nap in the airport waiting for the next flight but got kicked awake by the police who told me to sit in a chair. You couldn't lay down in the chairs though cuz there were arm rests, and the floor was so comfy! Oh well, I had to get my boarding pass anyway. I flew from Catania to Rome to Athens to Crete, 7 hours. When I got to Crete, I grabbed my bag and found they took everyone out of the top pouch so I lost all my pens except the one I had with me. Usually I keep a mini notebook and alarm clock there but I had those with me. I don't remember what else might have been in there but it wasn't important. Sucks I lost my pens though... Well, then I caught a bus to Rethymno and found my hostel. Seems like a nice place. One of the girls in the program stayed here and really liked it. So I dropped off my stuff and went out to eat. I wanted a nice Greek restaurant and found one. For dinner I had a Greek salad, feta from the oven (awesome), and a gyro. It was all really good and I was nice and full and happy. Then it was off to the shower and bed.
Well, I was sleeping good but I guess I was keeping someone awake by snoring. At about 3 or 4 in the morning he shook my bed and came over and said "You're snoring, stop it." Like you can make yourself stop snoring. Whatever, I ignored it and fell back asleep. Then 2 hours or so later he kicked my bed again but didn't say anything. The last time he kicked it was at about 7 or 8 and I am pretty sure I wasn't even asleep. It was pretty irritating and he's kind of a jerk, or maybe had a bad day. In either case, snoring is to be expected in a hostel. Deal with it. Well, this morning, I talked to the manager and switched rooms so I don't have to talk to him or deal with him for the rest of my stay. Seriously? Stop snoring? Some people...
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
I Climbed Lady of the Lake
Nancy was fun. It was a lot of fun to see someone in Europe who I know and could show me around his town. We went to a few cathedrals and the park and went on a hike. The nature hike was a lot of fun. Blake said that there were no squirrels or wild life in Nancy and I did not believe him at all. So on our hike I had my eyes pealed for a squirrel and I did not see one! I was so shocked. Seems really weird that they wouldn't have any. But they have a lot of pigeons and crows. We did see a couple rens and bats. That was neat. A bat is like a rat is like a squirrel. Does that count? Dang. But the walk was fun anyway. Nice to walk through the forest for a while. I could not do that in London.
After the walk, we had dinner in their cafeteria. I haven't eaten cafeteria food in a while, but it wasn't too bad. Then we went out to another bar but again, I didn't really want a beer so I got a nougat milkshake instead. Only it was more milky than shaky. But it was still good I guess. Then another early-ish night. I got the floor this time and it wasn't that bad. Just a couple blankets laid on the ground but good enough for me!
There was also a little zoo we went to a few times. They had peacocks that just walked around wherever they felt, in a fenced area or out. There were also goats, rams, and various water fowl. The best thing was a family of macocks, they're like monkeys. They were funny little guys that got into lots a of mischief. Their was a baby that clung to his mummy the whole time. Also, there was a little guy that liked to start fights with others. It was fun to watch them but also said because they were in a zoo...
On another day, we went to the library and I got on the internet and Blake studied for a bit. After that was done, we went a got a pastry! Yummy, mine was called religious (but in French) and had a lot of chocolate filling. Oh it was good! We ate that in the park and then went on another walk around the town. The day after that, I caught my train back to Paris to connect to Evry. That ride went just fine. I got there and jumped on the RER to Evry and checked into my hotel without much troubles there.
Now, Evry is next to Lisses and Courcouronnes. These towns are were David Belle and his friends started parkour, so it was fun for me to go and see all the places I've seen in the videos. There is a climbing wall called la Dam du Lac that is very iconic in the parkour community. Technically, it is blocked off to the public, but just by a fence, so it's not hard for someone like me to get over! I climbed on it one day and it was really cool to do. I will have to come back in a few years and climb on it again. That was basically all I did while in Evry. Everyday I went to the Dam du Lac and just looked at it. Fun for me!
The first day I got into Evry was the 4th, I think we all know what was going on on that day. I tried to watch the coverage but I only have French channels. There were some covering it, but speaking french so I watched those a caught a bit of English and looked at the pictures. I wanted to stay up and watch the electoral votes come in, but at 2 McCain was winning 13 to 3 and I was tired, so I set an alarm for 7 to see the results. When I got up, I wasn't exactly sure who won, but they were talking about Obama a lot so I could only assume he did. It really wasn't as exciting as it would have been to hear straight up 'the next president of the US will be Barack Obama'. Oh well, he won and that's all that matters. Thank goodness!
The last day I was there, I caught a train back to Paris and spent the day there wandering around because my train to Milan didn't leave until 745pm. Not much excitement here, I saw the Arc de Triumph which was neat for a minute or 2. Then I got bored. That night I wanted to have creme bruleé but didn't, so I have an eclair instead. A real French one too! Just as good right? I'll be back anyway, I'll get it then. The train to Milan was a sleeper so that was an experience. I didn't really sleep though because, again I was nervous about getting the right stop and the ticket man took my passport but he took everyone else's so it must have been normal but I wanted to know when I would get it back! So I got about 3 or 4 hours of sleep and got into Milan at 540. My train to Levanto left at 610 and was just a few platforms over so no worries on that. I slept a bit on that train and got to see the sunrise which was very pretty! Didn't get pictures though cuz I didn't want to get my camera out, sorry. I got into Levanto at 9 and found our hostel. Ian's wife was there on the computer and I sat down next to her and said 'uff-da'. She turned to me and without recognizing me (she really had no reason to do so) asked where I was from. I said Minneapolis and she said, me too, well 30 minutes from there in a town called River Falls. So I said, oh, I actually go to River Falls. She was surprised and said really?! But then it dawned on her. Kind of funny to play a little trick on her. Funny to me at least.
I was the first person to get there so I went on a hike with her and Ian. There are 5 villages in this area with paths between them so we walked one of those. I had been in shoes for a very long time and it was finally warm and safe enough (no glass) to go barefoot which was lovely. But I did get many strange looks again. I don't understand why though. One lady even took and picture of my feet. Weird right? I didn't care, I was happy with the cool mud I was walking on. The hike lasted about 3 hours and ended in a beer by the water. We then headed back to see who else had arrived. We got back and I went with those people to find food but it was about 430 and places around here don't open for dinner until 7 so we had to wait around hungry for a few hours before we could get any food! Ended up at an Italian place (surprised?) and got pesto! It was good, but I thought there would be more food because I was still hungry, but oh well. Time for bed.
The next day, I went out with Heidi and climbed around on the rocks by the sea for a while. I love doing that and Heidi isn't very experienced in that area but she was a trooper and did everything I did (almost). I was proud of her and I think she surprised herself. I liked coaching her on hand and foot holds. I think I could be a good rock climber coach! But I've been doing that a lot back home at Minnehaha Park so I have some experience. We went probably half a km before heading back. Then we walked on the beach and I made a sandcastle! Of course I did. It was a nice one too. Just a mound of sand, but I gave it rocks on top and rock windows and rock doors and a moat and a bridge. Very nice. Then I jumped on it. My philosophy is that when I leave, if I don't jump on it, someone else will, so why shouldn't I have that fun?
Well now I was dirty so we jumped in the water and swam around for a bit. It was chilly but you got used to it. Then it got chilly again. Maybe I just need a bit more fat on me to keep me warm in the water. Or not. The shower warmed be back up. Then a lot of card games before dinner. That night, we went to another Italian place (is that worth saying?). I got spaghetti frutti e mare. Sea food pasta basically. It had mussels, prawns, shrimp and calamari in it. It was yummy! Then someone couldn't finish their pizza so I ate that too! Ended the night with some gelato, and was that good! I had strawberry, pistachio, and chocolate, mmmmm. I like Italian food. After that, we went to the beach and talked in groups for a while. Not much night life in Levanto so we had to do something!
Today I went out by myself and played on the beach for about 4 hours. There is a little fresh water run off stream that goes to the sea so I found a coke can and made a little boat with a rudder and sail to float down that. I also made a few sand dams and just threw sand into the water for fun! It was a good time. When I got back, I found people playing cards again so I joined them and we played for a while. Then I got on the internet and it is free here, even though it says you need to pay, no one does, and no one says too. So yeah. Gonna have a group dinner in a bit so I have to shower up before that.
Oh yeah, one more thing; Now that I'm starting to travel, I don't know where I will be able to find internet or for how long. When I do find one, my first priority will be to find where I will be staying next so I cannot say how often I will be able to update this but I will do my best. So if nothing comes for a while, don't worry, I am most likely ok, I just haven't been able to find time and a computer. Got it? Good, I'm gonna go shower...
After the walk, we had dinner in their cafeteria. I haven't eaten cafeteria food in a while, but it wasn't too bad. Then we went out to another bar but again, I didn't really want a beer so I got a nougat milkshake instead. Only it was more milky than shaky. But it was still good I guess. Then another early-ish night. I got the floor this time and it wasn't that bad. Just a couple blankets laid on the ground but good enough for me!
There was also a little zoo we went to a few times. They had peacocks that just walked around wherever they felt, in a fenced area or out. There were also goats, rams, and various water fowl. The best thing was a family of macocks, they're like monkeys. They were funny little guys that got into lots a of mischief. Their was a baby that clung to his mummy the whole time. Also, there was a little guy that liked to start fights with others. It was fun to watch them but also said because they were in a zoo...
On another day, we went to the library and I got on the internet and Blake studied for a bit. After that was done, we went a got a pastry! Yummy, mine was called religious (but in French) and had a lot of chocolate filling. Oh it was good! We ate that in the park and then went on another walk around the town. The day after that, I caught my train back to Paris to connect to Evry. That ride went just fine. I got there and jumped on the RER to Evry and checked into my hotel without much troubles there.
Now, Evry is next to Lisses and Courcouronnes. These towns are were David Belle and his friends started parkour, so it was fun for me to go and see all the places I've seen in the videos. There is a climbing wall called la Dam du Lac that is very iconic in the parkour community. Technically, it is blocked off to the public, but just by a fence, so it's not hard for someone like me to get over! I climbed on it one day and it was really cool to do. I will have to come back in a few years and climb on it again. That was basically all I did while in Evry. Everyday I went to the Dam du Lac and just looked at it. Fun for me!
The first day I got into Evry was the 4th, I think we all know what was going on on that day. I tried to watch the coverage but I only have French channels. There were some covering it, but speaking french so I watched those a caught a bit of English and looked at the pictures. I wanted to stay up and watch the electoral votes come in, but at 2 McCain was winning 13 to 3 and I was tired, so I set an alarm for 7 to see the results. When I got up, I wasn't exactly sure who won, but they were talking about Obama a lot so I could only assume he did. It really wasn't as exciting as it would have been to hear straight up 'the next president of the US will be Barack Obama'. Oh well, he won and that's all that matters. Thank goodness!
The last day I was there, I caught a train back to Paris and spent the day there wandering around because my train to Milan didn't leave until 745pm. Not much excitement here, I saw the Arc de Triumph which was neat for a minute or 2. Then I got bored. That night I wanted to have creme bruleé but didn't, so I have an eclair instead. A real French one too! Just as good right? I'll be back anyway, I'll get it then. The train to Milan was a sleeper so that was an experience. I didn't really sleep though because, again I was nervous about getting the right stop and the ticket man took my passport but he took everyone else's so it must have been normal but I wanted to know when I would get it back! So I got about 3 or 4 hours of sleep and got into Milan at 540. My train to Levanto left at 610 and was just a few platforms over so no worries on that. I slept a bit on that train and got to see the sunrise which was very pretty! Didn't get pictures though cuz I didn't want to get my camera out, sorry. I got into Levanto at 9 and found our hostel. Ian's wife was there on the computer and I sat down next to her and said 'uff-da'. She turned to me and without recognizing me (she really had no reason to do so) asked where I was from. I said Minneapolis and she said, me too, well 30 minutes from there in a town called River Falls. So I said, oh, I actually go to River Falls. She was surprised and said really?! But then it dawned on her. Kind of funny to play a little trick on her. Funny to me at least.
I was the first person to get there so I went on a hike with her and Ian. There are 5 villages in this area with paths between them so we walked one of those. I had been in shoes for a very long time and it was finally warm and safe enough (no glass) to go barefoot which was lovely. But I did get many strange looks again. I don't understand why though. One lady even took and picture of my feet. Weird right? I didn't care, I was happy with the cool mud I was walking on. The hike lasted about 3 hours and ended in a beer by the water. We then headed back to see who else had arrived. We got back and I went with those people to find food but it was about 430 and places around here don't open for dinner until 7 so we had to wait around hungry for a few hours before we could get any food! Ended up at an Italian place (surprised?) and got pesto! It was good, but I thought there would be more food because I was still hungry, but oh well. Time for bed.
The next day, I went out with Heidi and climbed around on the rocks by the sea for a while. I love doing that and Heidi isn't very experienced in that area but she was a trooper and did everything I did (almost). I was proud of her and I think she surprised herself. I liked coaching her on hand and foot holds. I think I could be a good rock climber coach! But I've been doing that a lot back home at Minnehaha Park so I have some experience. We went probably half a km before heading back. Then we walked on the beach and I made a sandcastle! Of course I did. It was a nice one too. Just a mound of sand, but I gave it rocks on top and rock windows and rock doors and a moat and a bridge. Very nice. Then I jumped on it. My philosophy is that when I leave, if I don't jump on it, someone else will, so why shouldn't I have that fun?
Well now I was dirty so we jumped in the water and swam around for a bit. It was chilly but you got used to it. Then it got chilly again. Maybe I just need a bit more fat on me to keep me warm in the water. Or not. The shower warmed be back up. Then a lot of card games before dinner. That night, we went to another Italian place (is that worth saying?). I got spaghetti frutti e mare. Sea food pasta basically. It had mussels, prawns, shrimp and calamari in it. It was yummy! Then someone couldn't finish their pizza so I ate that too! Ended the night with some gelato, and was that good! I had strawberry, pistachio, and chocolate, mmmmm. I like Italian food. After that, we went to the beach and talked in groups for a while. Not much night life in Levanto so we had to do something!
Today I went out by myself and played on the beach for about 4 hours. There is a little fresh water run off stream that goes to the sea so I found a coke can and made a little boat with a rudder and sail to float down that. I also made a few sand dams and just threw sand into the water for fun! It was a good time. When I got back, I found people playing cards again so I joined them and we played for a while. Then I got on the internet and it is free here, even though it says you need to pay, no one does, and no one says too. So yeah. Gonna have a group dinner in a bit so I have to shower up before that.
Oh yeah, one more thing; Now that I'm starting to travel, I don't know where I will be able to find internet or for how long. When I do find one, my first priority will be to find where I will be staying next so I cannot say how often I will be able to update this but I will do my best. So if nothing comes for a while, don't worry, I am most likely ok, I just haven't been able to find time and a computer. Got it? Good, I'm gonna go shower...
Halloween night
So, it started out just dandy. At 7pm, I went and got dinner from a middle eastern place which was good. I got a large kabob donnar or something like that, it was good though. Then I met Carly at the Greenman and we deiced that we would go out with the big group of people who were going out too instead of us just going together. We hopped on the train to go to the Fabric again but once again, the line was half way around the block so we all said screw that, we aren't waiting in that. So then we were gonna hop back on the tube and go to Leicester Square because apparently there are a lot of clubs in that area. But I didn't want to pay 4 pounds again because that's like 8 dollars so I just followed behind someone to get through the gate. When we got off, I had a little scare because when I followed someone back, I kind of ran into the gate as it was shutting but managed to squeeze though. I thought the guards saw me so I walked casually out of their sight and waited until everyone was out. And I didn't get caught. Even if I did, it was only a 20 pound fine so not really THAT bad. We then hit up a club that had a nice short line. I don't know what it was called but that doesn't matter much right? So we got in and I checked my coat and they gave me a ticket and I was like, dang, I hope I don't lose this... After that, we hit the dance floor. I really liked that club because they didn't constantly play crappy music. There was actually good music going on and a variety. When we first got in, Michael Jackson was playing so it had to have been a good place right? Then we danced the night away, but I could only dance half the night away because I had to get back to catch a bus to the airport at 3.
Now here is where the fun comes in. I left the club at about 2-2:15. I went to the coat room and realized I did lose my ticket and there was no way for me to get my jacket back. So I lost my Dickies sweatshirt. Good thing it wasn't my Carhartt though. I asked some people who were staying if they could try to grab it at the end, but they weren't able to so oh well, don't cry over spilled milk, right? But I really liked that sweatshirt...I did decide that I would buy one in the Czech Republic and then could say I got my jacket in the Czech Republic which would be pretty cool, plus, I think that's where I'll start to need it. Anyway, I ran back to the Greenman, about 2 miles I'd say. I only stopped when there was a car. I always amaze myself when I can run for a long time without having worked out in quite some time. Plus, it probably helped out that I was warmed up from dancing.
I got back at 2:45, grabbed my bag and ran to the bus stop. That was only about 4 blocks away, so not bad, but still a annoying to run with that big bag. When I finally got there, I was tired and hot and ugh! But I caught my bus okay. On the bus ride though, I was getting pretty queasy running, and car sickness but I managed to hold it in. My head was certainly spinning though. I caught my plane fine as well and slept the hour flight. Being asleep makes flights go by much faster.
I got into Charles de Gaulle, Paris at 840 and my train for Nancy left at 905. So I ran to an info desk and asked where the train station was, which was a 10 minute walk in the airport from where I was. So I grabbed my bag and booked it again. I got the the train station there and went to another info desk and she said I was at the wrong station. Crap. So I missed that train. I jumped on the RER (metro) and went to the right station, Gare de l'Est. When I got there, I looked for a ticket office but had a hard time finding it. Eventually I did though and waited in a 20 minute line. At the desk, the guy said that refunds could only be made within an hour after departure and it had been and hour and 10 or 20 minutes. But he was nice enough to refund it anyway so I only had to pay 20 extra Euro. That helped out the day a bit. I jumped on the train at 1042, about the time I was supposed to be in Nancy, but I wouldn't get there until 12:15. I was meeting my friend Blake there and hopefully he would be there or something. I was trying to send him my thoughts saying I was on the next train. So while on that train, I slept sporadically. I don't like sleeping on something where I don't know where I am because I don't want to miss my stop. Well, I successfully made it to Nancy but Blake wasn't at the station. So I wandered around looking for an internet cafe because I though he would have sent me a message. I found an apple store so I got on for free. Sneaky eh? He had sent me his number so now I needed to find a phone. The dumb thing about Nancy is that their pay phones will only accept a credit card that has a smart chip. I don't have that. So I ran around town looking for a phone I could use. I found a Best Western and asked in there. The lady replied asking if I had a room and obviously I didn't so she said 20 euro. What? do you mean 20 euro or 20 cents? Nope, 20 Euro, but I'd get it back. Kinda strange. So I made the call and it ended up only costing 90cents. And I finally got to meet Blake at the station. Quite an ordeal eh? Then we went back to his room and I met a few of his friends but had a very hard time keeping my eyes open. I think I took maybe a 15 or 20 minute nap and was dead to the world, according to Blake. After that, we went to get some food because I hadn't eaten much except 2 apples and something from a vending machine since 7pm the day before. It was now about 7pm the day of. After that we went to a bar and had a few drinks. I didn't want a beer so I had 5 glasses of water. It was good. Then finally we went back to his room and talked a bit and then went to sleep. That night he gave him his bed while he slept on the floor. Nice guy. So all in all, I had been awake with only an hour or 2 of sleep for about 40 hours. Wow. But why not? I'm in Europe. And it hasn't been too bad of a story right?
Now here is where the fun comes in. I left the club at about 2-2:15. I went to the coat room and realized I did lose my ticket and there was no way for me to get my jacket back. So I lost my Dickies sweatshirt. Good thing it wasn't my Carhartt though. I asked some people who were staying if they could try to grab it at the end, but they weren't able to so oh well, don't cry over spilled milk, right? But I really liked that sweatshirt...I did decide that I would buy one in the Czech Republic and then could say I got my jacket in the Czech Republic which would be pretty cool, plus, I think that's where I'll start to need it. Anyway, I ran back to the Greenman, about 2 miles I'd say. I only stopped when there was a car. I always amaze myself when I can run for a long time without having worked out in quite some time. Plus, it probably helped out that I was warmed up from dancing.
I got back at 2:45, grabbed my bag and ran to the bus stop. That was only about 4 blocks away, so not bad, but still a annoying to run with that big bag. When I finally got there, I was tired and hot and ugh! But I caught my bus okay. On the bus ride though, I was getting pretty queasy running, and car sickness but I managed to hold it in. My head was certainly spinning though. I caught my plane fine as well and slept the hour flight. Being asleep makes flights go by much faster.
I got into Charles de Gaulle, Paris at 840 and my train for Nancy left at 905. So I ran to an info desk and asked where the train station was, which was a 10 minute walk in the airport from where I was. So I grabbed my bag and booked it again. I got the the train station there and went to another info desk and she said I was at the wrong station. Crap. So I missed that train. I jumped on the RER (metro) and went to the right station, Gare de l'Est. When I got there, I looked for a ticket office but had a hard time finding it. Eventually I did though and waited in a 20 minute line. At the desk, the guy said that refunds could only be made within an hour after departure and it had been and hour and 10 or 20 minutes. But he was nice enough to refund it anyway so I only had to pay 20 extra Euro. That helped out the day a bit. I jumped on the train at 1042, about the time I was supposed to be in Nancy, but I wouldn't get there until 12:15. I was meeting my friend Blake there and hopefully he would be there or something. I was trying to send him my thoughts saying I was on the next train. So while on that train, I slept sporadically. I don't like sleeping on something where I don't know where I am because I don't want to miss my stop. Well, I successfully made it to Nancy but Blake wasn't at the station. So I wandered around looking for an internet cafe because I though he would have sent me a message. I found an apple store so I got on for free. Sneaky eh? He had sent me his number so now I needed to find a phone. The dumb thing about Nancy is that their pay phones will only accept a credit card that has a smart chip. I don't have that. So I ran around town looking for a phone I could use. I found a Best Western and asked in there. The lady replied asking if I had a room and obviously I didn't so she said 20 euro. What? do you mean 20 euro or 20 cents? Nope, 20 Euro, but I'd get it back. Kinda strange. So I made the call and it ended up only costing 90cents. And I finally got to meet Blake at the station. Quite an ordeal eh? Then we went back to his room and I met a few of his friends but had a very hard time keeping my eyes open. I think I took maybe a 15 or 20 minute nap and was dead to the world, according to Blake. After that, we went to get some food because I hadn't eaten much except 2 apples and something from a vending machine since 7pm the day before. It was now about 7pm the day of. After that we went to a bar and had a few drinks. I didn't want a beer so I had 5 glasses of water. It was good. Then finally we went back to his room and talked a bit and then went to sleep. That night he gave him his bed while he slept on the floor. Nice guy. So all in all, I had been awake with only an hour or 2 of sleep for about 40 hours. Wow. But why not? I'm in Europe. And it hasn't been too bad of a story right?
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