Europe 10.00London Calling21-AUG-2010 00:59:48Friday August 20- Wednesday August 25
Spent much of the first few days in the Brent district of London in zone 2 where our hostel was, Saturday we went into the city centre and roamed around. Spent time in Piccadilly Circus and the south bank of the river. We split up in the evening, I went back to the hostel while Alex explored more. We met up again at midnight at the tube stopf for Ministry of Sound, a clubwe had heard great things about. “For dance music this is one of the top five clubs in Europe,” one of the people in line told us.
The £18 cover did not suit us, so we searched around for another club/ pub/ whatever. We found one, the Nomad London, which was a lot smaller and had a £6 cover. The DJ was a small Asian woman in her 20s, the drinks were reasonable, and the crowd was fun. You had people getting really, almost obnoxiously, into dancing along with slower more awkward dancers (some preventing drinks from spilling, others just awkward) and every type in between; I was closer to the first type. We ended up catching the night buses just in time before our day transit passes expired at 4:30 am.
On Tuesday we decided that finding suitable places to work and live were not what we were really after (even though I spent 4+ hours on Monday night looking at places to stay and contacting landlords). So we started planning our trip around Europe.
Wednesday we went back to centre London hoping to see what was left to find. I walked around the Regent’s Park for a while where in the distance I saw, and was drawn to like a bug to a lightbulb, by the BT Tower. After getting up close I went to a pub for lunch where I had my first real English meal; a sausage and onion sandwich with a side salad covered in mayonnaise along with a warm English beer.
At 14:00 Alex and I met back up for a Beatles walk called The Magical Mysetery Tour around London. It was exciting to see sites where Beatles history was made; it was especially entertaining when we ended at Abbey Road Studios to watch people posing on the famous crosswalk while cars and buses alike honked at them for holding up traffic. On the Abbey Road wall I searched for, “Hi, John Lesko. And Dani too,” but it had unfortunately been painted over as I’m sure it has to be done annually due to how much people write and draw on the wall.
It had started to downpour during the tour and Alex and I got drenched so we went to the hostel afterward for a few hours to dry off and recouperate. That night we went to White Chapel to look for Jack the Ripper stuff and a pub. The pub we found was nice and offered salsa dancing lessons on Tuesday and Wednesday, but we did not participate. Having seen that one of the murder scenes was behind the White Chapel tube station from the pub menu, Alex immediately ran off to it when we left. Not knowing where he was going or what he was doing I stayed in the front, and when he got back he said that the area was probably just as shady as when Jack hung out there.
So I had to carry Alex’s corpse with me on the tube right before it closed. While traveling to Kilburn a group of three really drunk women and one man got on, the drunkest of the ladies went in and out of consciousness and singing Bad Romance. I’m not the only one!, Thursday August 260Prehistoric Journey26-AUG-2010 14:03:34Thursday August 26
We took a trip to Stone Henge, a place I have wanted to go since I saw it in an episode of the cartoon Mighty Max when I was little in which the site had ancient magical powers affecting time and space. It was anti climactic to learn that it was just a bunch of rocks and that the mystery had been deciphered about who made it and when. It was built around 3,000 BC and by the English, or whoever lived there at the time. They built it so that the sun rises on a specific stone at special times throughout the year; the solstices and equinoxes.
With our tour we got to see Old Septum, which was just reminants of a castle, very few reminants of a castle. One of the only things that was left and clearly identifiable was the bathroom, which I decided not to use. The best part really was going to the town of Salisbury, which still looks like a medieval town because of the layout and because many old buildings still stand.0The Long and Winding Road28-AUG-2010 04:09:07Liverpool: Friday August 27
It was dark and rainy when we left London at 7:00 in the morning making our departure even more burdensome along with pulling our luggage. Because we intended on staying in London for a while and residing there, we had much more with us than needed for a trip around Europe, which I expect will continue to be inconvenient as we move along. It was a long train ride but when we got to Liverpool it was warm and sunny out, the best we could have hoped for with the events that ensued.
We went directly to a tattoo parlor for Alex to get part of the Revolver cover tattooed on his arm, but they said that the only artist they had skilled enough to do that was booked for the next four weeks! It didn’t happen. The hostel was out of the main part of town so we needed to take a bus to get there. After waiting at least a half an hour at the bus station one came and we took it to Everton where our hostel was and then kept going. After a while we noticed we were well beyond Everton and got off the bus. We had to wait another while to get a bus in the right direction of Everton. We got on the wrong bus.
While on the bus I caually asked someone who was sitting near me if she knew where the Royal Liverpool hospital was, because it is a landmark we were told is near the hostel, she asked her friend, who asked someone else. Soon enough we had the front half of the filled bus all telling us to get off at the next stop because we were on the wrong bus to get to Everton.
Taking their advice we got off. About one minute later Alex realised he left his laptop on the bus, so we did the most logical thing anyone would do. We got a cab and told it to find the number 20 bus and catch it. After making a call or two the cabbie made moves to cut off the bus at the stop where it terminates. We got there just as it was pulling away, Alex jumped out of the cab and started banging on the door of the bus. He got in and got his laptop. We took the cab to the hostel because there was just no point in wating for another transportation mishap.
At 14:57 we got to the hostel where they made us wait three minutes until official check in. We put our bags in the room and I ate an orange, the first thing I had eaten all day. Our next mission was to do the Beatles tour around town, which we luckily had a map for.
We went around to Panny Lane, went to the barber shop, saw the nursery school that John and George went to, visited Strawberry Field, John’s house, the ___ cathedral where John met Paul and Eleanor Rigby is buried, the John Lennon airport, and to Paul’s house. It was interesting to note that John’s house had become a national monument with tours while Paul’s house was still someone’s house with just a small sign in the hedges in the front. We know someone still lives there because Alex walked up the walkway and the resident banged on the front window for him to get out.
It was almost 22:00 when we got to a restaurant and had our first real meals of the day. I got a cottage pie, which is mince meat with peppers and onions and a coat of mashed potatoes on top. It was glorious.
We then went to the Cavern Club where the Beatles had their start and saw a bunch of cover bands play. The first group we saw was the Beatelles, a group of four women all from Liverpool. Other groups of note were Back From the USSR, a group of old Russian men with a beautiful young woman singer (one of the guitarist’s daughter) and Marcelo Carrato and Gleison Tulio who are two Brazilian men who just played amazing and unique renditions of classic songs. Marcelo played Another Brick in the Wall Parts 1 &2 with just his guitar and synthesizer that was as good as anything I had ever seen.
When we got back to the hostel two very drunk young Irish lads played around with us and it was one of the most interesting experiences that I can barely describe because they were so crazy. They tried to play billiards with us, got mad when I cheated then forgot a minute later, us friend random people on facebook, and hide behind furniture when we heard noises.0Edinburgh on the Fringe30-AUG-2010 23:56:04Saturday August 28- Monday Ausgust 30
After a long few days of moving from place to place with a lot of activity and not much sleep, we basically just crashed when we got to Edinburgh. At night we decided to go to one of the Fringe shows, Guilty Pleasures, which I read about; however, I did not really know what it was about, just that it was fun. We got there and a DJ was spinning up songs and dancing and a small crowd was gathering, eventually the place filled up and the show sold out. The crowd was mixed ages from 18 to probably early 50s. A lot of the music played was from the 70s, mixed with some 80s and 90s and a few songs from the last decade. The show took a different turn when three scantally clad men with painted faces, colourful mohawks, and loads of glitter joined the dancing DJ. They left after one song and came back for another one later.
Alex and I were having a great time dancing and singing and having strange interactions with other showgoers. A woman who looked like she was in her early 40s started dancing near me and was apparently hitting on me because her friend pulled her away and said, “You’re too cute,” as she kissed me on the cheek. At the end the troupe of three unique looking men came out again and danced for the final few songs. One of them gave me a look and pointed to me while singing and at the end Alex went up to one of them and stuck his face in the man’s belly. It was one of those atmospheres where anything goes and it was just amazing fun. I relate the scene to a flamboyant family camp dance filled with Scots.
On Sunday night we went to a comedy show featuring four Scottish comedians, because Bo Burnham was sold out. We had mixed feelings going into it, but we sat in the front row and had a great time being the two Alexes from America. We threw the comedians off their games a little every time they asked for our input. Alex rapped and did a party trick on stage, he told them he was Toby MaGuire and I told them I was Screech from Saved By the Bell. They were funny though and the show was a good consolation.
On Monday we went out to check out the Edinburgh Castle. As we were heading towards it we lost each other, and I got caught up in the street performers on the last day of the Fringe Festival. We eventually met up again and went around the castle. It was neat and informative, they had POW cells that had American soldiers during the Revolution which I never knew. I found that I had a rather unexpectedly emotional reaction to the World Wars memorial in the castle recognizing the fallen Scottish soldiers, and I spent some time there feeling the aura of the building I was in.
After that I went on the exciting tour, the tour of Scotch whiskey. The first part was a mini ride like one from an amusement park where I sat in a moving barrel and moved along a track watching different parts of the whiskey making procedure. After that I went into a room with a bunch of other people, all of whom looked at least 10 years older than I, and we learned about the differences in the Scothes from each of the four regions. We got to choose one type to try, I was brave enough to take on the Islay Scotch which has the most overbearing (not necessarily because of the alcohol) taste. This building is also home to the largest collection of Scotch with more than an entire room filled with bottles. Afterwards, because I got the gold package, I got to try all four types of Scotch and I was given a membership card for the Scotch Appreciation Society (or something like that, I don’t have the card in front of me).
To complete my Scotland experience I went to a restaurant and ordered Haggis. I didn’t know what haggis was, but I knew I should try it. In hindsight I did it in the right order. I looked at what haggis is when I got back to the hostel and realized that it is minced sheep organs slow cooked in a sheep stomach and mixed with onions, suet, spices, and oatmeal.0Seeing Duble04-SEP-2010 00:02:13Wednesday we met up with some people at Trinity University for a pub crawl which had a diverse group of all guys. No one was particularly happy about that and the host said it was highly unusual. We started out at the student bar and drank on the steps next to a field as the sun went down.
At the second bar Alex and I sat upstairs with a Brit and a Canadian in the group and got to know one another a little. They convinced me that in France I just need to remember, "Par evu Ingle?" (Phonetic and probably horribly misspelled)
Alex and I sat down and chatted keeping pretty much to ourselves at the third bar; nothing much to it.
At the fourth bar there were beer pong tables set up. Alex and I played 10 cup against our new found friends with silly accents using their rules, which would make anyone from Elon cringe. Every shot had to bounce once and you could lean over the table as far as you liked. Of course Alex and I won being from a superior country and all, but it was close.
We made it to the final destination of our crawl, a club packed with Spanish and Italian girls. But by this time the rest of the night was catching up to me, and I couldn't really enjoy the scene. After my drink I told Alex, "I'm going, you can stay if you want." I turned around and left without waiting for a response. I made it back to the hostel in one piece, Alex however, left several minutes after me and could not find his way back and took a cab.
On Thursday we went out to a pub called The Porterhouse that produces its own beer. Some had entertaining names such as Brain Blasta or Wrassler. They had a live band that played everything from Stevie Wonder to Queens of the Stone Age, to Prince, to the Beatles and were quite entertaining.
Friday we went out into the city during the day with the intent on going to the Guinness Storehouse. We first wanted to see what else there was to see in Dublin that was not alcohol related. There was a Leprechaun museum, but at ten quid it wasn't worthwhile considering it was really small. Alex wanted to go check out the wax museum and I headed to Dublin castle. I interpreted the signs I saw as saying the only way to see the castle was to take a guided tour for €3.50 and I didn't feel like following a guide. So I left and explored the area and found some cool stuff. When I got back an hour later to meet back up with Alex he said he got in the castle and showed himself around for free. Oh well.
We then headed to Guinness. It was one of those walks where you know you are close, but you never get there. The storehouse was neat, it had exhibits on how the ingredients are grown, harvested, and brewed to make beer. On higher up floors the storehouse went more in depth into Guinness advertising with adverts and commercials everywhere as well as any type of merchandise one might think of. On the top floor was the "Gravity Lounge" with a 360 degree view of Dublin where you get a free pint for finishing the tour. We left at closing time which was around 7pm and went back down through some of the building taking funny pictures with one of the attractions and then acting out the end of the Luke/ Darth Vader lightsaber fight in Return of the Jedi by the exit.
Alex wanted to go eat after we left and I wanted to check out some more attractions in the city so we split up. I ended up getting incredibly lost and to make things worse I really needed to go to the bathroom. So I went where I thought I needed to go, but eventually had to ask directions back to the City Centre. On my way back to the hostel I went through a shopping district and ran into a Burger King to relieve myself. I made it back in one piece and made dinner.0Un Beau Désastre08-SEP-2010 11:22:38September 4th-7th, Saturday- Tuesday
Paris. Where to begin? As an American growing up in a time where the French were seen as our reluctant allies, from both sides, I never really expected much from this city. It is wonderful to say the least. All around the city is beautiful. Only one non- monument building is over nine stories tall and I cannot argue with how pretty that keeps it. Even the people seem classy, Parisian street musicians tend to set up a mini orchestra, which I saw this on many occasions throughout the streets and metro stations. That is not to say all of them are classy, many were rude and if you look around some dark coners you could find unattractive ones.
We got in and went to our hostel, which made me yearn to be back in the Dublin one. This place has five floors with no elevator and a toilet and a shower to each floor. The only upgrade is that you can control the shower temperature, but you still have to push in a button the whole time. There are a few computers downstairs that you can pay €3 for a half an hour and no wi-fi. In the previous place we were supposed to be gone from 11-15 o'clock, but they didn't really kick you out. Here they open every door and tell anyone inside to leave. The people at the desk are rude too and some of the only unattractive people in Paris, quite literally I might add. There are more beautiful people here per capita than anywhere else except maybe Elon.
On Saturday we each went to a supermarket for dinner, seeing as the hostel only has a microwave and sink for a kitchen our options were limited. I got a carrot, a pear, a bagguette, and some brie. I went to pay for it, but I was supposed to print out a label for my produce and the ordeal was quite confusing. I ended up paying for the produce, but not the rest meaning it was one time that it pays off not knowing the language.
Later we tried to meet up with Amber Christino from Elon, but Alex and I arrived at the meeting spot almost 40 minutes late and she had left. So we went out to a few places for fun and ended up going to a really overpriced bar where a band was playing American music. And the bartender made us sit down in between two couples at a table. Awkward experience, but we kept to ourselves and it worked out.
On Sunday we did meet up with Amber and she showed us around Paris and explained the public transportation. She was very helpful especially when it came to a point where we went to a place to eat and Alex needed something without meat. It is invaluable to have someone who speaks the native language along with you. We went to the Eiffel Tower and Avenue des Champs-Élysées among other places I cannot remember because they are French.
That night we met up again and hung out on the Pont des Arts (the art bridge) drank wine and enjoyed the atmosphere. And some creepy, or funny depending on how you look at it, guy jumped at Alex and said, "Boo!," then walked away.
Monday morning we went to the train station to reserve seats on the trains we needed to take to Barcelona the following day. No dice, the attendant worked very hard, but said that Spain and Italy make international train travel difficult and said it was impossible even if we paid full price. That took much longer than I am writing by the way, it was a long and very frustrating time and again if Amber had not been there it would have been quite a bit more difficult. So we booked another night in our hostel and planes from Paris to Barcelona and Barcelona to Rome.
Then Alex and I went to Basilique du Sacré-Cœur, which is supposed to be the best view of the city for it is a church with a dome on top of a mountain. It was breathtaking. Then we went to the Red Light District where we saw the biggest sex shop in Paris, the Sexodrome, and Moulin Rouge.
On Tuesday Alex and I did the free walking tour of Paris where our tourguide, Alex, showed us around and gave a lot of history as well. It was well worth the money and very enjoyable. That night I went out to dinner with Amber and we said our goodbyes.
As we were getting ready to leave the hostel, the zipper on Alex's suitcase broke and was unrepairible. The best idea we had was to duct tape it because we didn't know where to buy a new suitcase; however, we didn't know where to find duct tape either. Alex had his own mini adventure, found, and bought duct tape. We bound the baggage to the best of our ability, and set off.
We got to the airport after a very long shuttle ride (I didn't time it, but I think more than an hour and a half). When we got to the RyanAir reception desk they informed us that it was a 40 euro fee to not print out your boarding pass. There was also a fee of 20 euro for even kilogram over 15kg for baggage. So my 25kg bag and Alex's 26kg bag along with the boarding pass charges were going to add up to 500 euro. We complained and the manager had no sympathy and said we could buy more bags and pay an extra baggage fee that would cost less than the overwieght, but still expensive; furthermore, she mentioned that RyanAir does not give refunds of any kind.
So after contemplating for a while, deciding we had to take the flight and cut our losses, we each threw out some of our baggage, and rearranged stuff for our carry-ons and went to a new attendant who said we could have up to 20kgs, I ended up having the perfect weight and Alex was 3kgs over. So we got screwed, but it could have been worse. After loving the sights and atmosphere of Paris, I was more than ready to leave.0A Walking Tour of Barcelona11-SEP-2010 00:07:17Sept. 8th- Sept. 11
This leg of the trip may have saved my sanity. We left Paris on a serious low with travel issues and rain, then arrived in the sunny beach paradise of Barcelona where Alex could speak the language and I could get by. A wave of relief washed over me once we walked out of the airport.
In Barcelona we stayed at the Hostel Sant Jordi, which was on the second floor of what I believe to be an apartment building. It was again, a godsend. Very friendly staff, comfortable living area, right in the middle of the city, and a small but fully functional kitchen. Furthermore each night they arrange going out activities so we go to good places, we are informed on what they will be like before we go, and get to travel in a group.
The first night we went to a cheap bar, €2 for a beer, where Alex and I talked and played games with some Kiwis (New Zealanders if you don't know). Then we went to a club where I unexpectedly ran into three Elon girls studying abroad, Danielle, Christine, and Allie. It was really entertaining how unexpected it was. We talked for a little, but then they got in the VIP. Allie tried to get me in too, but I was declined entry. No big deal actually, the people in the VIP were all just talking and buying expensive drinks while I was on the dance floor. A little after 3 o'clock I noticed Alex needed to go back to the hostel, so I helped him back but I wasn't going to be allowed back in. Que lastima.
On Thursday I got up and mailed the two post cards I had and went to the grocery store to get food. After lunch and lying down for a little I decided I wanted to go to the beach.
Now I knew it was pretty far away so I wanted to take a bus so I could see the city while I was making my way to the beach; however, there were not any buses around me that would go to the beach, and because I wanted to see the city I didn't want to take the metro. So at a few minutes passed 3pm, I decided to walk.
I started heading south and bearing east toward the beach seeing what the city had along the way. When I got to a cool looking side street I took it, and then another, and then another all the while knowing I was headed in the right direction and I would reach the beach. I went around the university, passed the contemporary art museum, and then found my way to a stadium.
This is when I said to myself, "Where the heck am I? This is not the beach, and I cannot find where I am on the crappy map I have." I couldn't find myself on the map because I was looking in the wrong part. I saw Espanya metro station and looked for that. It was in the western part of the city and not much further south than the hostel. The Moors of old Spain built their cities to be confusing to invading enemies, hundreds of years later they still work.
I got my bearings and headed down a main street leading to the beach. My path was unwavering because if I got lost again there is no telling where I would have ended up.
Finally I made it to the beach at 5 o'clock. The sun was still out and the beach was still pretty crowded, but people were gradually starting to leave. I found a spot to lay down and just rested after an arduous journey to find a place to relax.
After laying down, getting my feet wet in the Mediterranean, and sitting down on the pier I decided to head back to the hostel before sunset so I would have some sort of compass as to which direction I was heading.
I didn't want to walk more, but I was also in no hurry to get back to the hostel, make dinner, and sit around for a while. So I figured I had already walked all over the city, why not walk more? Finding and taking one main road was my best coarse of action, which I did and I was able to get back to the hostel in less than an hour and before sundown.
After dinner we made caipirinhas, a Brazilian drink, at the hostel where I hung out with some British boys and an Louisianan girl and a German girl. We then left and took the metro to a club on the beach. The club was fun for a while, but the dj wasn't very good and I stopped drinking because I knew it would not be worth the money. I really wanted to stay late, but it was getting boring so Alex and I left around 3.
When we left Alex decided to take the night bus, but I was so confident that I could get back walking, that I did just that and gave Alex my map. As it turned out I was right by the area of the beach I was at earlier in the day, so I took my same straight shot back on the main road and made it back in half an hour; a few minutes before Alex got back.
For the last day of Barcelona I just wanted to go to the beach. Now that I knew how to get there and back and I had already seen some cool stuff that I didn't expect to see. I also wanted to help Alex ship his stuff back to the US and show him how to get to the correos where I mailed my post cards. It took a while to pack and seal his stuff and then fill out some forms at the correos.
Afterward Alex wanted to see the gotic area and on the map it looked like we would have to pass it anyway to get to the beach, so we went that way and then went through some shopping districts that I must have missed the day before.
We got to the beach a little after 5 again, which was a little disappointing but no big deal. Alex went swimming, but I didn't want to get soaked and then have to walk home wet due to neither of us bringing a towel. I layed out and Alex swam while women and men came around the beach selling massages and beverages, some even trying to sell marijuana. I've learned that the best way to get people away is to respond to them in either a language they probably won't know, or gibberish that sounds like a language. After a while a drenched Alex and a dry Alex walked back to the hostel together.
I didn't really feel like going out this night because I had been doing so well saving money, but the group was going to a hotel bar with a great view, a really big and cheap bar, and then to the largest club in Spain. I got talked into going to the first place because I was told it was close. So when the group left I went with them, but then they headed to the metro and I realized that it wasn't going to be as close as I had hoped.
We got off and went to the hotel bar, which was really nice and had an amazing view of Espanya Circus?. (This is the only picture I took in Barcelona; partly because there seemed to be enough tourists, and partly because I didn't want to ruin it at the beach.) As I said the place was really nice, so I decided to test the price waters and just order a soda. It turned out to be a €5 soda; I wasn't going to test the waters again. Although I didn't want to buy any drinks, one of the Kiwis I was with bought a €10 drink and gave it to me because she didn't like it.
We stayed there way too long, everyone was getting restless because the drinks were expensive and you cannot just look at a street and a fountain for over an hour. So we left and went on a new metro to the next place, and one of the Kiwis bought my metro ticket, yay! When we got off I tried very hard to remember where the metro was so I could stay at the bar until 1:15 and then catch the last metros back to the hostel.
The bar turned out to be enormous. It had the look of a medieval mess hall with wooden tables set up in rows and high ceilings held up by oak pillars. The bar was in the front and in the basement a live band was playing; however, I just stayed on the first floor and hung out with the Kiwis and got a very inexpensive beer.
Sidenote: Before I went out Alex and I both shared the same feelings about not wanting to go out, but also feeling that we didn't want to miss out on an awesome time. When the group left he was in the shower so I left without him not knowing where he was. He caught up with the group at this bar. Later he told me that I walked right by him once on my way to the bathroom, and then I stood in front of him, like several feet away, a second time and just did not notice him at all.
I left around 1:15, after my beer, and headed the way I thought the station was. As was my tendency for the city of Barcelona, I got lost. I frantically tried to retrace my steps, but finally I had to ask a bellhop who showed me the way. I made it to one of the entrances, but the gate was shut. My heart sunk because I did not know where I was and I knew I was far from home and I didn't want to take a bunch of buses or a taxi. Fotunately I saw across the street people exiting from undergraound, ANOTHER METRO ENTRANCE. I ran over and got in and made the two trains I needed then got back ot the hostel and to my bed in one piece.
Leaving Barcelona was just as easy as getting there, we checked out of the hostel, hopped on the metro a few stops, then took the shuttle bus to the airport, our bags we fine, and we got on the plane. Finally we were able to travel easily.0There's No Place Like Rome15-SEP-2010 01:28:01Saturday September 11- Wednesday September 15
Getting into Rome by plane in the EU was just as easy as Barca, got our bags and walked outside. Then took a train to Tiburtina station where Federica would pick Alex and I up. It had been around seven years since I had seen her, so I was a little worried we would not recognize one another. As I got off the train I saw a woman and a young boy waiting for someone and after a few seconds of awkward staring I knew it was her and Alesandro.
They took us back to their apartment just a few blocks away and Alex and I put our stuff away in a small room they set aside for us. Fausto arrived a little while later just returning from a three day Harley Davidson convention.
Then they all went out for a few hours and Alex and I watched some Serie A football on tv and I used their computer to skype Andrea. When they got back I was still video messaging her and the family all said hi and the kids made faces at her.
On Sunday Alex and I wanted to go to the SS Lazio football game at 15:00. We heard that getting tickets was a pretty arduous process where you had to go to a stand and show your passport to get tickets. These measures were implemented to prevent rowdy fans and to let police know everyone who is at the match. We got to the stadium at a little before 14:00 and looked for tickets there. A man sitting at a table told me that I had to go to a street a few blocks away to get tickets, so Alex and I hurried in that direction.
We did not really have any idea where we were going, but I saw a man talking to someone at a Lazio gear stand about his counterfeit ticket he just bought. The attendant told him to go to the police and tried telling the very upset man where and how to get tickets. I asked the attendant if he would show me, and he took us to where the tickets were sold.
There was a huge crowd around a store with people all waiting impatiently to get tickets. A security guard was standing in front of the door yelling out numbers and telling people to get back. I found out that you had to take a number to get in and that they stop giving them out an hour before the game begins.
This news broke my heart a little. There was no way of knowing this exact process, no way we could have arrived earlier, and seemingly no way we would get into the game. My stomach felt sick as if it was twisting and rolling over itself in disappointment. I wanted to see a football match while in Europe and why not see an Italian one which should be really good. It seemed like my best shot at going to one was gone.
While these thoughts and feelings were coursing through me I noticed that a middle aged man gave his ticket to the man in front of me who looked about my age. I asked the man what number he had and he said he had two now and gave me one.
I was ecstatic that we would now be able to get in the game. My ears perked up and began to listen carefully for the numbers being called. As it turned out the number I has was a little more than a hundred away from being called, so Alex and I walked around the block got some water and sat down in the shade.
After a while we got up and went back to the slightly diminished mob and noticed that our number was around fifty away, but the line was moving faster because some people had left. While eagerly waiting a Hungarian about my age approached me and asked if I could use my number to buy him a ticket as well. I accepted and when my number was finally called he handed me €50 and his passport with complete trust.
Good thing I'm trustworthy. I went into the store, went up to the desk, and bought three €16 tickets. Easy, that is really what I was waiting for? We all then went to the stadium and had to go through security twice before arriving at our seats that turned out to be pretty close. It was halftime and the section we sat in was pretty empty. The section to our right was about two thirds full with Lazio fans and to our left was a small concentrated force of Balonga fans. However directly across from our section, behind the visitors' goal for the second half were three filled sections of screaming Lazio fans.
When the second half started Alex and I chose sides. I was for Lazio and he cheered for to funny-named Balogna. The scoreboard was rotating advertisements and did not show the score. Not knowing how to ask and needing to know, I checked my phone and saw that it was 0-0 right as Lazio broke the tie and scored.
The crowd lost it and all around us fans cheered, waved flags, and sang fight chants. We had apparently not missed a thing and made it to the important half. A few minutes later Lazio scored again followed again by emphatic reactions from the crowd. Shortly after Balogna scored delighting the cluster of their fans along with Alex. Finally in the 90th minute Lazio got a penalty in the box and scored making the final a 3-1 Lazio victory.
After the match Alex and I went back to Termini station and to a restaurant in the area for an early dinner. We got a pitcher of wine and each a personal pizza. We finished both, then Alex got another pizza and we got another pitcher to accompany it. Finally Alex had some Tirramisu to cap off the two and a half hour dinner.
Monday was a different and less exciting ordeal. I needed to mail a package to Andrea so it would get to her the following week for her birthday, and Alex and I had to get our train tickets to Zurich on Thursday. Federica told me about a post office near the house, so I looked for it for about half an hour holding the assortment of small objects in a large ziplock bag that I was guarding with my life. Unable to find the post office I met up with Alex at the bus stop and figured I would look around Termini for one.
There was a long line for train tickets when we arrived, so I went ahead and looked for a post office. It went fairly smoothly, there happened to be one inside the station, until I had a box half full of stuff some of which were fragile with no means of cushioning. The attendant said I couldn't write fragile, nor did he have anything I could buy to cushion the contents of the package. After a minute or so of staring at each other over how to solve this, he told me to wait and went in the back. He came out with a newspaper which we crumpled up and stuffed in the box. All that was left was for me to make up an Italian return address, not knowing Federica and Fausto's, and pay for it.
I went back to the train line to find that Alex was gone, so I got in line and waited hoping he would come back to see if I was there, say he got his ticket and that it was easy. No such occurrence, but I did go through the line fairly quickly and easily got my train ticket. I found Alex later in the station bookstore and we looked for a gift for the family.0Rome part 215-SEP-2010 01:40:30I maxed out the characters so I had to split this journal, sorry for those of you reading this.
Tuesday was sightseeing day. Alex and I got sightseeing hop on, hop off bus tickets for the day. We got off at the stop for the president's house and walked down a hill towards it. At the bottom of the hill was a man dressed as a gladiator who invited us to take pictures with him. We had a fun few minutes posing with him then he asked us for €10. I expected some payment but not €5 from each of us. I handed him a 10 and walked away. Later Alex went back to him and haggled for €5 back.
I walked up to the Palazzo del Quirinale and that is the last time I saw Alex. I walked around it for a while and then went inside, which turned out to be a museum. In the museum there were many war artifacts and paintings, which I was able to look at for close to two hours.
When I left I hoped back on the bus and got off at the coliseum. I didn't want to pay another €12 to get in, so I just walked around it once half looking at it and half looking for Alex before I got on the next bus.
The next stop that I got off at was for Tiber Island. I walked around the area for a good amount of time, close to an hour, and I got some delicious lemon gelato because it was a hot day.
The next stop I went to was Navona. I got off because from the bus it looked like a lot of people were walking around and going to shops. So I started looking around to see if there were things I liked. I went into a souvenir shop and saw some cool paper mache masks. I figured I could get one of these for Andrea because I as part of my gift I was going to get her something from Italy. The one that I liked had some chipped paint and was listed as €15. I talked to the attendant and tried to shave off €5 because of the imperfections, but he told me that if I didn't want to pay €15 for that one then I should just pick another. So I left and said I might be back.
Now I was determined to find a cool mask for less than €15, especially because I walked into an African shop and saw an exquisite wooden African mask for €15, so I looked around more figuring that the paper mache mask had to be of lesser value. I passed a few places with them but the selections didn't seem very good. Finally I reached a place kind of far from where I started by a main road. I went in and saw a really neat one for €25. I told the attendant I liked it and I would pay €10. She seemed to agree and I was shocked, and excited. But when I asked to confirm it she said, no it is €25. So I said I won't pay more than €15, she said that it was hand crafted in Italy and worth more than my offer. I told her that we are in Italy so you are not making a good argument and I said I was leaving. She asked if she could call her manager and see if the manager would accept my offer.
A few minutes later a tiny Asian woman came in and spoke to the attendant in an Asian language I couldn't understand, basically about the interaction we just had. The manager said that the paint was expensive and the price was €25. So I left and went to a shop a little down the street, the attendant here was also Asian and I picked up a mask that said €18 and I was about to haggle until the same manager from the other store walked in and I walked out. Down the road a little further was another similar store with an Asian attendant, but I decided I did not want to risk inflating this woman's ego anymore in case she owned this store too and walked on.
While on my mission I passed through many side street piazzas with gathering people, fountains, and statues making my journey not completely in vain whether or not I succeeded. Finally I walked by this big building with a dome and pillars that had a lot of people around it, but it didn't look exciting to me so I just went down another side street nearby.
At this point I just wanted to give in to the first place and get the imperfect mask that I liked for the asking price which apparently is pretty low. I passed a shop with a bunch of masks but the model I was looking for was at least €30 and it seemed like it would only get worse. Incredibly there was a shop opposite this store that had a good selection of masks including the one I wanted for...€15! I went in confirmed the price and didn't even attempt to bargain. I got the mask I desired, flawless and at the lowest price around without sacrificing my ego.
It was getting close to dinner time so I got back on the bus and went to the Basilica di San Pietro, the place on the tour that I wanted to see the most. I knew about it from somewhere and I figured it was an art history class I took, until I realized that I was in the Vatican.
The cathedral was magnificent. While inside I was just in awe thinking that I have been to so many cathedrals and this is THE cathedral. The statues were perfectly toned, no ruins, just completely intact. I wanted to feel some sort of spiritual presence, but I did not until I got close to the alter. There was not too much to it, but it was so powerful at the same time.
In the basilica penance sessions were also going on in Italian and in other languages. I felt an urge to go to one, for it had been years since I last did. I began thinking of all the sins I have committed since I was in seventh grade and I thought that I could confess them, but what would happen when I get to the part where I say I don't have a genuine belief in God, this probably isn't going to change my view, and saying 50 Hail Mary's won't either. So I decided not to.
Now it was getting close to seven, dinner being at eight, so I hopped on the bus and saw some of the sites I wished I had time to go see from the top deck and made it back in time for dinner. Afterward I called home and talked to Mom for a little over an hour on skype for about $1.50.
On Wednesday Alex and I chose three places we wanted to see. One was a park in northern Rome, the Sistine Chapel, and the Pantheon. We went to the park first and we each found a place to go and relax. It was really nice, just a park around some run of the mill ruins, which I can't think anywhere else that I would be able to say that about. I liked seeing locals going on walks, laying in the grass with lovers, and exercising. After spending over an hour there we started looking for how to get to the Vatican. I let Alex find directions and lead.
We got to a fork in the road where one way was the metro station and the other way lead off the map. Alex continued to lead and we went left and walked about 3km before we noticed we were off the map. I didn't mind getting lost, I partially expected to with Alex leading and I accepted it and we saw more of the local life before turning around and getting on the metro to the Vatican to find the Sistine Chapel.
We found out when we got there that the Sistine chapel has an entrance fee, typically a long line, and was closed for the day. Alex walked around the Basilica while I waited outside having seen it the day before and we went towards the Pantheon. As it turned out the unimpressive dome with pillars that I passed by the day before was the Pantheon. So we went in and the only part I really paid attention to was Raphael's grave. Then we went home for some delicious pesto pasta and calimari sticks with the family.0Pretty...21-SEP-2010 01:41:25Sept. 16- 21
The title of this entry refers to how I saw Zurich. It was pretty expensive, pretty annoying to get around, pretty entertaining with signs saying, "Fahrt" everywhere, pretty much nothing to do, but nearly everything there was just pretty.
The EuRail passes finally worked! Our journey from Rome to Zurich was pretty smooth other than the Italian border control searching Alex for drugs, but there is not much to that story considering they didn't find anything. Once we arrived in Zurich we converted money to the pretty Swiss francs, reserved seats for a train to Munich, and found our way to Winterthur where my mom's coworker's sister, Laura, lives.
Laura's daughter Melissa picked us up at the train station and helped Alex and I get settled. We had an air mattress and another regular mattress set up for us in Laura's other daughter's room from when she lived there. The apartment was small but had everything we needed including a dishwasher that was so good one apparently does not have to rinse their plate before putting in. I guess that isn't too interesting to most people but it blows my mind.
The next day we left the apartment and went to Zurich in the late afternoon and went to see what the city had to offer. This is the one place we've been to so far where things looked further away on the map than they actually were. We saw all the architectural sites we wanted to see and went to the Kunsthaus museum, but didn't go in to the exhibitions.
So then we walked around a little making our way to the university to see if there were inexpensive places to eat or drink. No such luck with that, the places around the university were just as pricey as everywhere else, so Alex and I headed back to the train station and stopped to eat along the way.
The meal we had was nothing to rave about, but the apple juice I got was delicious. It was carbonated and tasted better than the American juice I am accustomed to. I would rank it 3rd in apple juice number 1 is Japanese which is by far the best.
After eating we decided to finally take advantage of being on a continent without open container laws, so we grabbed a six pack and sat on a bench on an island in the middle of an intersection and entertained ourselves. Eventually I had to use the bathroom really badly, and no public toilet was in sight so I went to the Starbucks across the street. There was a man waiting for the bathroom who noticed that there was a code to get in. He got it from the counter, which was helpful because I was not about to buy a 10chf coffee so I could have a place to pee. The code is 4711 just in case anyone reading this is in Zurich about two blocks from the train station and has to use the men's room.
The next day Alex and I went to see Reichenbach falls which is the site of Sherlock Holmes' vanquishing of Professor Moriarty and his own presumed death. It was a three hour train ride through the Alps with beautiful views of the Swiss countryside.
When we finally reached Maringe no one we spoke to knew how to get to the falls. Even at the small Holmes museum the person at the desk sold Alex a combined ticket for the falls lift and the museum and was only able to point and say that way. After walking in a big circle around the town we found the lift to the falls. I got a ticket up and I decided I would walk back after.
We got up and the falls were pretty cool but not the most impressive, what was impressive however was the view of the town. Alex and I made our way to the top and then to the site of the Holmes- Moriarty fight. While there we had a photo shoot of us fighting using the selftimer on Alex's camera. Even before we started we knew it was a bad idea, the metal barrier was a little less than waist high making it pretty easy to fall. Alex had been annoying me so I pushed him off and made it look like an accident then headed down the mountain back to town.
Once I got through the forest part of the mountain there was a field with a house or two and what I like to call a Swiss minefield. I had no choice but to walk about half a kilometer of grass with cow and sheep crap littering the ground. I don't mean like every meter or so, I mean every step I made had to be carefully calculated to keep my sneakers the most clean.
I got to the road and made it down the rest of the mountain to the town. Nothing really interesting here, it turns out Alex survived so I just sat around waiting for him to see the museum and I got some weird Goldfish that were "Original" flavor but were like half pretzel and looked strange.
We returned to Zurich around 9 at night and looked for a supermarket so we could do our public six pack. Once we bought one we went to a modern sculpture between two buildings. I was on the phone for a few minutes with Andrea who had just been awarded sweetheart of Sigma Pi and was, let's just say, not so easy to hold a conversation with.
When we decided to leave Alex wanted to go to the Hooters, we think the only Hooters in Switzerland. So we got there, it was in a part of town that contained many strip clubs and if there was ever going to be a homeless person in Zurich, he or she would probably have been here.
The Hooters was just as disappointing to me as every Hooters I've been to. Decent quality food at a price that would make you believe otherwise with waitresses who think they are better looking than they are just because they work at Hooters. The only consolation to this meal of incredibly expensive nachos was the nostalgia of watching a live college football game at around midnight.
And now the sad part of the story...
We left Hooters and headed toward the train station, I checked the schedule and we had 10 minutes to catch the Winterthur train or else we would have to wait another hour. I said this to Alex and I hurried up while he didn't. The train got there and I didn't see him, but I figured he would get on so I got on myself. Uneventful trainride and then got off at Winterthur station and I looked for the connection to Seen. There was none. The trains to Seen had stopped two hours before.
I looked around the station for Alex, but he was nowhere to be seen. I asked someone how to get to Seen and they said it was really far, no help, so I called Laura and she said the only logical way to get back would be to take a cab. So I was alone at the train station and I didn't want to take a cab without Alex, but then I also didn't know if he was here, in Zurich, or if he found his own way back. My plan was to wait for the next train to come in from Zurich which would be about half an hour, but then when I got back to the track I saw Alex walking by himself. I got him and told him the situation and we took a cab back to the Seen train station where we could walk back to Laura's from.
Sunday was not so eventful. Alex and I slept in and then stayed at the apartment most of the day until about 5 o'clock when we accompanied Laura to her office to help move some things and then to the supermarket in the airport mall.
For dinner she made us a traditional Swiss meal called Ractelette which features ractelette cheese and a ractelette grill. Basically one puts the cheese on the grill and waits for it to melt while setting up his or her plate with potatoes, tomatoes, sausage, other vegetables, and whatever tastes good with cheese. It was an amazing meal, we ate until there was nothing left and no room in my stomach. After eating Alex and I watched The Incredible Hulk seeing as it was the only movie on in English, which was more than enough entertainment for me considering the day/ night before.
On Monday Melissa dropped Alex and I off in downtown Winterthur where we walked along a main shopping strip, stopped by two small parks, and found a gift for Laura. At dinner the night before Laura had mentioned that she would like a cat, but she wouldn't want to keep it indoors all the time; therefore, our goal in a gift was to get her some sort of cat.
We went into a toy store where they had some stuffed animal cats, but they were expensive WWF toys, so we moved on. Then there was a cosmetics store we walked into because there was a cat statue in the front window. It was affordable, but not the prettiest thing to put in one's home, it was also a little big. Finally we went to a store that had a lot of art and basically home decorating accessories, mostly from the middle east, where we could not get away from cat statues. This store was a gem, there was nothing that logically matched its price tag as in I would expect to pay almost double for most of the things I saw, especially considering it was in Switzerland. I would have gone to town buying things if I didn't have to take them all with me across Europe and if I had more than ten francs left.
This night was pretty easy going again, Alex and I were alone and we each made our own dinners and stayed in.0Reichenbach Falls21-SEP-2010 11:16:16This is just to show where i was; Meiringen, Switzerland.0Oktoberfest24-SEP-2010 23:21:33Discretion: Some details of this entry are debated. This is my account of the events that occurred in Munich
Sept 21- 24
Upon arrival I saw people dressed in lederhosen and other traditional German garb and it was awesome. It was early afternoon so Alex and I got some food and got some Bavarian beer with our meal. Everyone was in the Oktoberfest spirit with what they were wearing and with the amount they were drinking.
Because we were not meeting our host, Simon, until 18:30 we decided to go to the festival. We pretty much followed people in the lederhosen and they took us right there. This was incredible. A huge carnival with people dressed like huntsmen and St. Pauli's girl fueled by beer and sausage. We walked around a bit and saw really just enjoyed the atmosphere until we had to go meet Simon.
We were a little nervous about meeting him, this was the first time either of us had couchsurfed and it was the first time he had as well. His profile did not have much on it and after Alex searched through copious amounts of profiles in Munich he finally gave us a response. We met him and he didn't look like a serial killer, so that was good.
He took us to his apartment and to the supermarket across the street where we got supplies, beer is so cheap. It cost less about 50 cents for crappy beer, but still less than one euro for a good beer, so we got a bunch and food as well.
When we got back to the apartment Simon asked us to photocopy our passports for liability reasons and if nothing was wrong with the apartment when we left he would dispose of them. Probably because I am a trusting person and because I some beer in me I immediately handed mine over, and Alex his shortly after. It wasn't until later that we decided that might not have been the smartest decision.
We hung out at the apartment for a little while and then his girlfriend drove us to the Oktoberfest. This time Alex and I decided to participate in some of the attractions. We started with bumper cars and then we went into a haunted house. It didn't even try to scare us, but we still decided to run around it screaming as if there was something to be afraid of. Alex got taken out and I made it to the end where there was a ride, I think it's called a gravitron, where you are in a room and you get spun really fast and the centripetal force allows you to climb the walls.
After that the fair was starting to close so Alex and I hung out at the exit and as a birthday present to Alex I went up to people and made obscene comments or asked them weird questions. We left when most of the people were gone.
We got off the subway at the stop for Simon's apartment and walked to where we thought it was. Then we turned around and walked the other direction. It ended up that Alex and I walked in all four directions away from the metro station and did not find the apartment. All we knew was that it was across the street from a super market so we got a cab to take us there and found the apartment. Simon was at his girlfriend's place for the night so I took his bed and Alex got the cot.
The next day was spent looking up online what Simon could do with black and white photo copies of our passports and basically just hanging out at the apartment. The apartment had a balcony with a plastic shade that came down over the door. I opened the shade a little too hard and it went up further than it is meant to and it broke. This gave us something new to worry about. Simon's reason for getting copies of our passports was to make sure we would pay for any damages, we didn't anticipate any so it seemed like we could have him destroy them when we left. Now something was broken and we had a problem.
For a while we tried to fix it, but the pullstring would not work and the shade would not go even halfway down. Finally we fixed it the best we could and decided to cut our losses and try to enjoy the rest of the day even though it was now evening.
We went downtown to find Oktoberfest, but after walking a little while we were unable to find out how we got there before. Neither of us had eaten dinner, so we went to an Indian restaurant nearby. The place was empty, but we sat down and the food was good. Alex fell in love with his dish, and mine was good but very spicy and upset my stomach a little. After the meal we decided to go back and call it a night because it wasn't worth looking around for the fair when it was late and we didn't know where to go and I wasn't feeling well. Again Simon wasn't there so I slept on the cot with Alex most of the night until I figured Simon wasn't coming back and I took his bed again.
On Thursday we found our way to Oktoberfest and got there at 17:00 and we split up to look on our own for about an hour and a half. I went around the whole place and saw the rides, attractions, and the beer gardens. I got a spiebraten (I think) sandwich that looked like it was chicken and bbq sauce, but it was really good. I also passed by a man who looked like he was in his 20s sitting leaning against a wall drifting in and out of consciousness. Most people walked by him staring a little, some approached him and asked if he was okay, and one group of guys posed for a picture with him.
When Alex and I met back up I called Simon and asked if we were going to see him again and mentioned the shade was not working. He said he would be there that night and that he would look at the shade. Then Alex and I decided to look for a beer garden to go to.
The beer gardens were funny and awesome to even just walk through. Imagine hundreds of people in traditional German clothes drinking beer by the liter, singing, and dancing on tables to a band playing German and American music. There were a bunch of these places, but every one we went in was filled inside and out and we could not be served unless we had a seat. While walking around the fair I saw a few more people sitting on the ground some with puke next to them, apparently Oktoberfest is too much for some. After over an hour of searching we found a place to sit at an outside table.
We sat down and got a liter of beer each. When Alex was about 3/5 done his beer he claimed that he didn't know what this rumor about Oktoberfest beer being stronger was all about; he said he didn't feel anything. I told him it was not the same circumstance for me. We each got another liter and then a third. When we were on our third liter, the place was getting ready to close so we had to leave our table and stick around while we finished our beers.
We left after finishing and got back on the subway toward the apartment. When we got off at the stop Alex sat down next to a trash can and said he could not go any further. Trains came and went and I tried to convince Alex we needed to get going and it was not much further. Finally two girls got off a train and convinced Alex that they would help him back and if he stayed the police would get him. True to their word they picked him up with one arm over each of them and walked with me back to Simon's place. Their conditions for helping were that if I ever come across a German or Canadian (their two nationalities) who had drank too much and needed help, I would help them.
The group of us arrived at the apartment to see Simon and his friend listening to records and taking shots. We put Alex on the cot, the girls left, and Simon immediately freaked out about the shade. I tried to explain, but he was livid and didn't care about how just that I had broken it. My original plan was to give him €50 and tell him if it cost more then for him to email a copy of the bill and we'd settle it, but he rejected the offer so I gave him €100 and said to still send a copy of the bill and if there is extra to keep it as an apology and a thank you for letting us stay.
To make matters worse I asked him to give us the copies of our passports because we didn't know his intentions. Simon reiterated that he just made them to go after us for any damages and asked what I was worried about. I told him that we didn't know each other and that for all we know he could be trying to make counterfeit passports. He did not much like the idea that we were suspecting him of such an act and he and his friend started freaking out more. It is difficult to tell someone you are afraid of their intentions without accusing them of anything, but I tired the best I could. Finally his friend set up shots for the three of us to make peace.
We calmed down and Simon said he didn't want to kick us out on the street and that he didn't want to take all of our money before he knew the total cost of damage because he doesn't want us to have a bad experience in Europe and go home broke. His friend left and we went to bed; Alex lying on the folded up cot, Simon on his bed, and me on the wood floor.
Simon got up for work at 8:30 and told me where I could leave the key, and when he left I got on his bed. Around noon I got up and went to the super market for some food. When Alex got up he went to the bathroom where he must have unleashed everything in his stomach from the last day and a half. We made our train to Vienna, but the whole day Alex was feeling physically miserable.0No Museums In MuseumTown26-SEP-2010 23:34:20September 25-28
The first day, Saturday, in Vienna we went to a restaurant down the street for lunch. My intention walking in was that I would order Wiener Schnitzel because it is what you eat when you are in Vienna; however, upon taking my first glance at the menu a different dish jumped out at me, The Lady Gaga. Now I cannot read the vast majority of German words and the English translation was not that good, but I saw chicken and I figured I could go for it. It turned out to be like a chicken cordon bleu with hot peppers and lemon with rice and a few mixed vegetables, quite good but too much food for one sitting. Afterward Alex and I got our train reservation for Prague and then went our separate ways.
I went to the supermarket and got two bananas, a pack of three sausages, a block of pepperjack cheese, some pita bread, a red bell pepper, and bag of mini pretzel rods. This grocery store detail may not seem important now, but it is for the next entry.
My next destination was the museum district, which was very close to the hostel. We had been told by the hostel concierge as well as hostels.com that this hostel was in walking proximity to most of the major sites in Vienna and that neither a special transportation pass nor a bus tour would be necessary. Alex bought a 72 hour unlimited pass and I did not.
Anyway I was walking around the museum district admiring the scenery and seeing what was what when I saw in the distance a giant inflated American football player. My interest was piqued and I headed toward it.
It turned out to be a huge sports fair called Tage Des Sports.10 with a host of sponsors including McDonald's and Chevrolet. There was award ceremony that I didn't understand, autograph signings by people I've never heard of, and tents for every organized sport imaginable. Name an obscure sport and it had a tent. American football, baseball, cricket, mini golf, handball, pickleball, floorball, mountain climbing, several kinds of martial arts, jump rope, and even sports psychology.
I walked around looking at all the sports and the activities collecting literature in German along the way. The whole time I was just in awe of what I stumbled upon. It wasn't that it was the most spectacular event, not like Edinburgh fringe, just that it was not a common Vienna tourist experience and it was funny watching Austrians attempt sports they didn't know about. Perhaps the most entertaining one was people square dancing to a man who looked like Arlo Gutherie (It might have been Arlo himself, I don't know what he is up to these days) singing "City of New Orleans."
After I left the sports fair I walked around the museum district some more then returned to the hostel where I finished my Gaga and stayed in for the night.
Second full day in Vienna, Alex and I again had different schedules so we went about our day separately. I woke up around 11 a o'clock and chopped up part of my pepper and a sausage, put them in pitas that fell apart easily, and microwaved them with the cheese for my first meal. It was hardy, but the pita annoyed me.
I decided that I wanted to see an opera because I could get a cheap standing spot, Mozart's grave, St. Stephen's cathedral, and if I had time the modern art museum. The standing tickets for the opera did not go on sale until 15:00, so I decided to go to Mozart's grave first because it was the most out of the way and that way I could see it then go get opera tickets and hang around that area because St. Stephen's and the museum were close by.
If I was not yet sure that I am incredibly stubborn and at least slightly crazy, this is the day that I found out. I left the hostel around noon and headed toward the cemetery. There were two cemeteries on the map, the Marx church one where Mozart is buried and one about 3.5 km further. The weather called for rain all day, but as I left it was only partly cloudy yet very windy. It was so windy in fact that my map got ripped in two pieces as I was trying to get my bearings, stupid wind.
I almost gave up and took the metro that would have lead me right to the spot that I needed to go, but I had a lot of time, I wanted to see what the above ground was like, and I eventually found my way to the street that would take me right there. I walked and walked and walked passing by a really cool looking park, two brothels, a huge T mobile building, and into a pretty run down area. On the map it looked like St. Marx was on one side of the road and the graveyard was on the other right on the side of the road. I saw some signs for St. Marx and figured I was close until I stopped seeing signs and saw a church.
The problem with this was that the church was in the right side of the road when it was supposed to be on the left. I went in and noticed that it was not St. Marx, so I pulled out the pieces of my map and noticed that I was at a church about 1.5 km passed St. Marx. But all was not lost, I realized that a now I was only two km from the other graveyard which was huge on the map, had nothing written about it, yet had intrigued me since I first laid eyes on it.
Now since I middle school when I walked about a mile and a half to school everyday I have had ingrained in my head that it takes roughly 15 minutes to walk one mile. A kilometer is what? 2/3 of a mile? So it should take about 20 minutes to walk two miles.
I didn't really feel like doing the actual math and the clock on the church struck 2 o'clock. My thought process was that it would take 20 minutes to get there, spend 10-20 minutes there, then head back make it to St. Marx by 15:30, take a quick look at Mozart, and then get to the opera to buy a ticket by 16:00, and then kill time around St. Stephan's until show time. Again I was right by a metro station where I could have gone just one stop to reach the cemetery, but I was happier to keep my €1,80.
So I walked and it seemed like 2km had magically become further since I was 14, but I eventually saw some headstone retailers and then a block later the cemetery. And let me tell you it was huge. I didn't bring my camera because it would have just been too cumbersome to walk with, but I couldn't help but taking photos with my phone of the exotic and funny graves that I saw. People buried here were definitely on the wealthier side of the spectrum because most of the head stones were not your average cut off ellipse or cross with names and dates carved in it. Many had engravings of faces, or sculptures added to them, one looked like an oddly formed rock with roots coming out of it along with statues of several eagles killing a dragon. My favorite is one is a grave I saw of a statue of a mourning woman, which is what I decided I want should I be buried when I die. I want someone to always be mourning me even if they are not real.
I spent much more time here than I anticipated because I never know if I will be there again, so why just go for the sake of being there if it isn't even a real landmark? Anyway it finally began to drizzle and the wind picked up again and I still needed to see Mozart's grave at the other cemetery. I really almost got on the metro this time, but if I was able to walk here why not walk back, even though there is nothing to see and I will be able to relax and save 5km on my legs.
After torturing my legs beyond reason I arrived at the St. Marx cemetery and went to the grave of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. This site is not marked as a big tourist spot for good reason; when I was in elementary school I learned that Wolfy spent all of his money during his life and ended up in a pauper's grave. I figured it would be cool to see how crappy his grave would be. It turned out to not be so bad. It is white with "W.A. Mozart 1756-1791" engraved in gold with a broken pedestal and a child angel looking down at him. Not as fancy as some of the graves in the big cemetery, but still good and set off by itself away from all the other graves.
Now it was 16:30 and I didn't want to miss out on the opera tickets, so I hurried there as the rain and wind began to really show some fury. I made it to the, thankfully, indoor line at about 5 o'clock.
For the end of my Vienna trip, read "The Opera" and "I Expected More Buddhas" entries.0The Opera26-SEP-2010 23:45:29It was a fairly long line and the ticket box was not open so there were quite a few people sitting down in line. Quickly the line began to build up behind me making my timing seem perfect; not waiting too long, but still getting a good spot.
Right behind me in line was a woman who looked about 24, maybe a little younger doubtfully much older, who began asking me questions about the opera. I didn't know the show, why the line wasn't moving, nor what time it started, I was just happy that I was still going to have a chance at a place to stand.
Eventually the line started moving, we found out the opera was Pique Dame and it started at 19:00. I got my €3 ticket for the lower balcony and then searched for how to get there. When I found my direction I had to get in another line before entering. This time the young woman was in front of me in line. She and I began talking, she was annoyed that we had to wait in another line and asked if I could hold a spot for her because she wanted to eat before the three hour performance.
DEAR GOD! I didn't know it was going to be three hours! I had been walking all day over 10 kilometers and now I was about to subject myself to standing over three hours to hear people singing in a language I did not understand, not to mention I had not eaten in six hours. I told her I too had concern for my poor stomach, so we decided to get other people to save us spots.
As it turned out we didn't need to. Several minutes after 6 o'clock they let us in and handed us strips of paper to tie around the railing where we wanted to stand to mark that it was taken. We did so and then left and went to dinner at McDonald's several blocks away.
We ate and talked, her name was Yelena, which she explained is the Serbian version of Helen. Of course she was Serbian and was staying in Vienna for three months working an internship with a construction company, which was going towards her master's degree. She laughed when I told her I was a communications major because I was not much of a talker, so she asked what I want to do with my life. That is such an annoying question from someone I don't really know when I don't have any specific objectives or any plans to put them in motion. Anyway I made up an answer, and we headed back to the opera.
The remainder of this entry is about Pique Dame, so if any reader is thoroughly interested in the opera and does not want me to ruin it with my synopsis and commentary then it would be best for you not to read ahead.
Pique Dame
To start let me mention that in front of every seat, and standing spot, there was a tiny screen to translate the opera which is why I know what happened.
It started out with the protagonist, Herman, mentioning to his friends that he saw a woman that made him instantly fall in love, but she cannot be his because she is of noble birth. The next scene you see the woman, Lisa, being proposed to by a prince. She had apparently also found an interest in Herman when she saw him before because of the passion in his eyes.
Shortly after she is in her bedroom thinking over how the prince is such a great man with everything she wants in a man, but she is unable to get over the other man. Herman jumps through her window, tells her that she everything he ever wanted, and that if she cannot be his then he will die. Lisa tells him to leave and threatens to scream and call the guards. He begs her not to scream, pleads to let him bask in her beauty for just a moment, and then pulls out a gun and points it at his head. "Because you cannot be mine, I shall die!," he sings. She tells him to stop and that she is his and then they make love.
Really the most romantic thing I have ever come across, practically every woman's fantasy.
Later on there is a party where the host has performers: women in corsets and men in their underwear dancing and singing and making sexual moves on one another. For the grand finale the guests get involved with the overtly sexual performers and money and confetti fall from the ceiling.
Lisa leaves her prince who tells her that he can tell she has feelings for another and just wants her to have what she wants, such a nice guy. Herman knows he cannot give her the life he thinks she needs, so he decides to find out a gambling secret from her grandmother, the queen. In the process Herman accidentally kills the old woman failing to obtain the secret of the three cards.
Lisa sees him with the body and suspects him of murder, but he never admits it claiming that she just died and he didn't even use the gun in his hand. Apparently violently shaking an old woman until she dies does not count as murder.
The next day is the funeral, and Herman and Lisa have are to meet at midnight to bask in their love. After the funeral Herman goes after the corpse and yells at her for dying without telling him the secret. Suddenly the queen starts speaking from beyond the grave (this was surprisingly the least weird part of the opera for me) and tells him the secret because she wants him to take care of Lisa.
Lisa is meanwhile waiting rather impatiently for Herman, singing to herself that if he is late then he is a murder and a monster, but if he is on time then he is the man she hoped he would be.
Just like a woman, really, if he does not meet me the minute that we agreed on then it automatically means he murdered my grandmother and is a monster.
Herman shows up a few minutes late, but Lisa forgives him immediately anyway. He is obsessed with the fact that he just learned a gambling secret so he confesses how he killed the queen but it doesn't matter because now he has her secret and basically ignores that this tears Lisa apart. He leaves and she kills herself.
The final scene is at a casino with Herman and a bunch of his friends and the prince. Herman bets his money on the first card and wins. He bets on the second card and wins. No one can believe it and he puts all of his money on the third card, no one will take the bet, no one but the prince. The final card is turned and it is not the card Herman chose. He curses the queen for lying to him, weeps over how he treated Lisa, then shoots himself.
Absolutely riveting.
During the intermission while many people went outside for a smoke or a drink I sat down in the coat room to save my legs. After the opera I went back to the hostel and made my second meal of microwaved bratwurst, peppers, and cheese.0I Expected More Buddhas28-SEP-2010 23:49:39Because my Vienna entry is so long, I decided to make Budapest its own adding the final Vienna details at the end.
Sept. 27, and Sept. 28 in Vienna
It was our intention to take the 9:50 train from Vienna to Budapest, but I was running late and taking my time so we just missed it. Alex was livid and I had no excuse other than I thought we would be alright on time, which I was apparently wrong about.
He said that all that was left to do now was to call the prostitute who approached us our first night in an alley and gave us a card with her phone number and her name, Kitty. I told him about the brothels that I passed by the day before and that I looked up online how prostitution is legal as long as it is government regulated in Austria meaning that a brothel was a much better place. Prostitutes are required by law to have health screenings twice a week making them some of the healthiest people in Austria.
So we went to Lust Haus 70 and I paid for half of Alex's girl because I felt badly. They said I was a good friend and gave me a free lapdance.
Of course none of that actually occurred, other than the business card; we made the train and arrived in Budapest in the early afternoon.
Right away I noticed two depressing things. First there were a lot of poor people around, more than I had seen in my first half hour in any other place. Second the exchange rate for Hungarian forints was pretty good for the euro, but then thinking about it critically it was only slightly better having the US dollar; get your act together America!
Alex and I went to the spot where the free walking tour was meeting and found a pizza place to eat nearby because it seemed like all traditional Hungarian dishes contained a lot of meat and we were in somewhat of a rush. I ordered a pizza loaded with vegetables that was pretty good. Alex got a pizza that was advertised on the menu as great for ladies, it was. When our food came his had a bunch of lettuce in the middle and it turned out to be filling in the hole that was in the middle of the pizza. Needless to say he kept a slim figure this day.
Our walking tour was themed towards the communist and the post-communist Budapest and Hungary. The tour guides Agnes and Gabor were very knowledgeable having grown up during the communist period. They were very quick to mention that it was not all bad and not all good during both periods of Hungarian history. For one, under communism, everybody had a job; however, no one had to work hard, so no one did.
They explained how the Hungarians had things much better than the other nations in the Warsaw Pact because they had an uprising in 1956. The Soviets quickly suppressed them, but realized that the Hungarians did not want communism so they were more lenient. Hungarians had coca cola and pepsi whereas none of the other Warsaw Pact countries did. In the 80s Hungary got Mtv. Gabor described the 50s and 60s as dark communism, but during the 70s and 80s it was more happy communism.
We passed by many communist buildings that were distinctly plain and buildings that were pre-communism that were falling apart except for the first floors which had been renovated. During the communist period no old buildings were renovated, if they fell then a new communist building was erected in place.
Another good thing about communism was that everyone had free healthcare, but because doctors had pretty much the same salary as everyone else it became customary to tip them either with a gift or money in an envelope. This custom is carried on to present day, even though the people pay taxes for public doctors these days.
At the end of the tour Agnes and Gabor showed us relics of the communist times including, little drummer memorabilia (Communist version of scouts), good worker medals, propaganda cards, communist party member book, and more.
When we got back to Vienna Alex went to a restaurant near the hostel and I went to make the rest of my sauage, cheese, and pepper meal. When I looked in the refrigerator the bag with my name on it containing my food was gone, but the cheese remained. This was disheartening and suspicious, but I got over it and went to the restaurant to eat with Alex.
The next morning I used my cheese to make myself grilled cheese sandwiches for breakfast using the free bread they provided, so it did go to good use. I tossed the leftover pitas because they were barely food and I shoved a bunch of pretzel sticks and a banana down the maid's throat for throwing away my food ultimately asphixiating her...just kidding about that last part.0000000000000000000000000000000000000