I know Ive only been gone for 3 months, but it feels much longer than that. Its very strange to think that Ill be back on a plane tomorrow and flying to California. I cant wait to see my family and friends, and get my hands on a Cali burrito, some sushi and Del Taco. All of Europe has been the most exciting place in the world. There is always something going on, always something to see or do. I wasnt bored at all for the whole time Ive been here.
I know everyone is going to be asking me what my favourite cities are and stuff like that, so I have been thinking about that a lot lately. The places that I consider my favourite will be based a lot on my personal experience there for example, if I met nice people, stayed in a decent hostel, found some cool locals, and ect. I think I had the best experiences in Budapest, Dubrovnik, Ljublijana, Munich, Paris with Hammi, Florence, and Spain in general (which is strange because I wasnt even planning to hit Spain before I left).
I am so happy that I chose to travel alone, I have met so many good people and a couple of them I was blessed enough to get pretty close to and feel quite comfortable with. What I consider a good friend would be someone I can talk for hours with about things we both find interesting, but at the same time be able to sit in a quite room with for just as long and feel completely comfortable, no awkwardness thinking one of us has to speak sort of thing.. if you know what I mean. I guess I just appreciate silence every once in a while, and finding people that can appreciate that along with me is a cool thing. I actually have met a couple people that I had pretty emotional goodbyes with. Most of those people were Australian funny enough. I traveled with Sean for pretty long time, and we went through a lot of crazy stuff together. I met an Australian guy named Mark and we had a pretty emotional goodbye, nothing like a firm man hug that you know means a lot. It was that situation where we both have to leave, both go in opposite directions but had formed such a bond in such a short amount of time. It was pretty neat. He had a girlfriend traveling with him and they were such a cool couple. I really would love to have a companion like that to travel around the world with me. I met a girl that had been working abroad for 4 years and we got along so well had so many good conversations, but unfortunately she was 29 haha. One of these days I guess. I am not coming home married like some people joked would happen, but I did get pretty close lolz... Thats a good story. I guess just the fact that I was traveling alone and got to meet so many people was one of the best experiences of the trip. I havent been alone for a while, meeting new people all the time, and it just working out that you spend the entire time with them.
I learned a lot and got to see so much, but I am not coming home 'a completely different person'. Just a more experienced one I guess. Traveling like this is a great way to get out of some bad habits, which I didnt think about too much. Having no cell phone, no computer is a relieving experience. Making plans to meet people at a certain land mark at a certain time, and just hoping things work out is awesome. I would think I would have anxiety in those situations because I have no way to communicate and find out if they will still be there or any other complications that may arise. I think of myself as a pretty laid back kind of person, I am good at going with the flow. I think I am even more so now because I have adopted the attitude of not worrying about any sort of deadline, or timetable in regards to certain things. Of course I was always punctual and think I am even more so now after getting used to catching trains at certain times and meeting people at certain times, checking out on time, waking up on time are all pretty important when traveling.
I have learned some important things on this trip. Maybe learned is not the right word and 'realized' would be more specific. I will not compromise my values or morals for any one, or anything. I dont and wont succumb to pressure of societies thoughts of what I should be, what I should do. However I will always continue to look upwards, look for ways to do better and be a better person. I am so thankful for the pleasures and joys I have experienced on this trip and the pleasures and joys I have not yet experienced in this life. I have learned to take advantage of the opportunities I am presented with. However, I will remain a skeptic. I dont give away my trust too easily. Its hard sometimes to speak your mind, but I have learned to continue to do so as much as I can. I have learned to put myself in vulnerable situations more often, no matter how uncomfortable I think they might be. Life is a giant risk. Most importantly, I will keep trying to understand Gods plan for me. This trip has taken my faith to another level and for that I am grateful.
Im going to fly into LAX and spend some time at home home, and then make my way down to San Diego. Take some tests for grad school applications. Do some research on studying abroad maybe. Do some reasearch on jobs I can do as well. Ill also be taking a trip to San Francisco pretty soon to see all my friends up there. I really want to keep traveling, I want to visit Australia, and Argentina. Maybe do an Egypt Greece Turkey Israel kind of trip, of course that is probably a little ways off since Im going to need a job first. Love you all.
Ciao
-Kyle
Thursday, April 30, 2009
San Sebastian Paris London
I ended up staying in San Sebastian for a little while longer that I had originally intended, which was awesome. This would have been a normal thing to do if the weather was good, but it rained every single day that I was there. We did get a couple breaks for sun, and just enough time to run to the beach and hang out for a couple hours, but thats about it. I pretty much sat around all day and talked with the people in the hostel, and it was perfect.
I made some of the best friends of my trip in San Sebastian. In particular there was an Australian couple who had been together for about 5 years. Couples are usually hard to hang out with for whatever reason but they were much different. Lots of good company, good laughter, and good conversation in San Sebastian. I met another Australian couple and ended up traveling with them to Paris and spending a couple days with them.
Visiting Paris and London again was pretty cool because I felt like I knew the place. I was very comfortable and had a good time there. However because they were my first couple of cities I dont think I got to know them as well as I did other places, so I got to do a lot of new stuff as well.
I might treat myself to the Lion King musical before I leave tomorrow, just because I love the Lion King and its supposed to be pretty cool. I was thinking about the 3 movies that I have watched the most in my lifetime and came up with The Lion King, The Rock, and Independence Day. I started busting up laughing when I thought of that, its a pretty random list, but awesome at the same time. I am living above a pub in London because it was the cheapest place I could find, but got lucky that there are some cool people staying there as well. At midnight the pub closes to the public and the hostel guests are the only ones allowed in and there is a nintendo wii, which is pretty cool. It is starting to sink in that I have to leave tomorrow which is a weird feeling.
I made some of the best friends of my trip in San Sebastian. In particular there was an Australian couple who had been together for about 5 years. Couples are usually hard to hang out with for whatever reason but they were much different. Lots of good company, good laughter, and good conversation in San Sebastian. I met another Australian couple and ended up traveling with them to Paris and spending a couple days with them.
Visiting Paris and London again was pretty cool because I felt like I knew the place. I was very comfortable and had a good time there. However because they were my first couple of cities I dont think I got to know them as well as I did other places, so I got to do a lot of new stuff as well.
I might treat myself to the Lion King musical before I leave tomorrow, just because I love the Lion King and its supposed to be pretty cool. I was thinking about the 3 movies that I have watched the most in my lifetime and came up with The Lion King, The Rock, and Independence Day. I started busting up laughing when I thought of that, its a pretty random list, but awesome at the same time. I am living above a pub in London because it was the cheapest place I could find, but got lucky that there are some cool people staying there as well. At midnight the pub closes to the public and the hostel guests are the only ones allowed in and there is a nintendo wii, which is pretty cool. It is starting to sink in that I have to leave tomorrow which is a weird feeling.
Friday, April 24, 2009
Finishing Madrid - On to San Sebastian
I met some really cool people in Madrid, once again. It is amazing how in pretty much every place I stop I am able to find some really genuine people to hang out with, enjoy conversation with, and just get to know pretty well during our few days together. Putting myself out there and getting to know complete strangers is something I would hardly ever do before I left on this trip. Its pretty cool. I have really appreciated not having a computer or phone for this long as well, and considering how much I am on the computer at home, its pretty incredible.
Anyway thanks to a few recommendations from a friend of mine I found some cool places to hang out at in Madrid. I took my new friends there and they all enjoyed them as well. One of the people I was spending time with works 6 months of the year as a tour guide taking people all throughout Europe on busses. The more we talked about it the more it sounded like a great opportunity and it is something that I am thinking about applying for, and since she has worked for the company for 4 years Im sure that her recommendation would get me the job. We´ll see how that works out though, because I am not sure if I want to do that right now. The next opening would be a year and a half from now anyway.
I am still not sure what I want to do when I get home, in terms of school, work, traveling, etc. but I do have a lot more options going through my head, which is good. I think it would be awesome to move somewhere exciting and just get a job doing who knows what. I think I was too concentrated on looking for something that I wanted to do for the rest of my life before I left. Its a pretty American idea to start your career right after you finish school. Not saying that is a bad thing. I got a new book called ¨Whats so great about America¨ which is by, who is becoming my favourite author, Dinesh Dsouza. He is the guy that wrote ¨Whats so great about Christianity¨which I loved so much. This book is just as good and just as easy to read, Ill probably finish it quite soon. Especially considering the train rides I have coming up. San Sebastian took 5.5 hours, to Paris will take about 8 (hopefully at night) and to London will take 3 on the super fast train. During the flight I think Ill get up to date on all the movies I havent seen. Its weird not watching TV or a movie for this long.
San Sebastian is a nice city. Small enough to walk everywhere. The weather today was unfortunately not beach worthy, so instead I went on a hike to the castle of San Sebastian where there is a giant statue of Jesus that they have in the middle of the city, above the castle, on a mountain. It was pretty cool. This whole part of the country is really cool. Really green, lots of hills, some mountains, there is ocean, it rains a good amount, its sunny and warm usually.. all together its pretty neat.
Apparently San Sebastian has more bars and restaurants per square meter than any other city in the world. They have some of the best rated restaurants in the world as well. I think there are 2 Michelin 3 star restaurants here which is incredible. I looked at the menu and I could get a 12 course meal for 140 Euros including wine paired with each dish. Maybe one day.
The pintxos which are tapas in the Basque region are amazing. By far the best Ive had. I got here last night and just wandered around the old town looking for places that were crowded, would have a tiny beer and a pintxo and move on. They charge you by the pintxo and they are usually about 2-3 euros each. All of them are delicious.
So it looks like Im just going to chill in San Sebastian a couple more days and then go back to Paris. There are a couple more hikes I can do here, but Im hoping for some beach weather.
CIAO
-Kyle
Anyway thanks to a few recommendations from a friend of mine I found some cool places to hang out at in Madrid. I took my new friends there and they all enjoyed them as well. One of the people I was spending time with works 6 months of the year as a tour guide taking people all throughout Europe on busses. The more we talked about it the more it sounded like a great opportunity and it is something that I am thinking about applying for, and since she has worked for the company for 4 years Im sure that her recommendation would get me the job. We´ll see how that works out though, because I am not sure if I want to do that right now. The next opening would be a year and a half from now anyway.
I am still not sure what I want to do when I get home, in terms of school, work, traveling, etc. but I do have a lot more options going through my head, which is good. I think it would be awesome to move somewhere exciting and just get a job doing who knows what. I think I was too concentrated on looking for something that I wanted to do for the rest of my life before I left. Its a pretty American idea to start your career right after you finish school. Not saying that is a bad thing. I got a new book called ¨Whats so great about America¨ which is by, who is becoming my favourite author, Dinesh Dsouza. He is the guy that wrote ¨Whats so great about Christianity¨which I loved so much. This book is just as good and just as easy to read, Ill probably finish it quite soon. Especially considering the train rides I have coming up. San Sebastian took 5.5 hours, to Paris will take about 8 (hopefully at night) and to London will take 3 on the super fast train. During the flight I think Ill get up to date on all the movies I havent seen. Its weird not watching TV or a movie for this long.
San Sebastian is a nice city. Small enough to walk everywhere. The weather today was unfortunately not beach worthy, so instead I went on a hike to the castle of San Sebastian where there is a giant statue of Jesus that they have in the middle of the city, above the castle, on a mountain. It was pretty cool. This whole part of the country is really cool. Really green, lots of hills, some mountains, there is ocean, it rains a good amount, its sunny and warm usually.. all together its pretty neat.
Apparently San Sebastian has more bars and restaurants per square meter than any other city in the world. They have some of the best rated restaurants in the world as well. I think there are 2 Michelin 3 star restaurants here which is incredible. I looked at the menu and I could get a 12 course meal for 140 Euros including wine paired with each dish. Maybe one day.
The pintxos which are tapas in the Basque region are amazing. By far the best Ive had. I got here last night and just wandered around the old town looking for places that were crowded, would have a tiny beer and a pintxo and move on. They charge you by the pintxo and they are usually about 2-3 euros each. All of them are delicious.
So it looks like Im just going to chill in San Sebastian a couple more days and then go back to Paris. There are a couple more hikes I can do here, but Im hoping for some beach weather.
CIAO
-Kyle
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Madrid
When I first arrived in Madrid I thought I was in LA. It just seemed really dirty and full of seedy people. Fortunately I was just in the bad part of town and this wasnt how the actual city was.
The keyboard realyl sucks on this computer.
Madrid is a really big city, and since I am all about walkign and not taking the metro whenever possible, I h ave been getting a ton of road work in. Looking at my shoes ,they look terrible. They will barely make it through this trip in one piece. Hopefully. I have had great weather in Madrid so far and am actually getting a tan. It will be funny to come home with a tan I think. I am going to San Sebastian next, which is a beautiful surf town from what Ive heard. Bryce I know youre jealous. After that Ill really have a tan.
Madrid is full of nice streets, good people, good food, nice parks, and some nice monuments and museums. I found myself getti ng lost in the almost too big Museo de Prado. There is also a massive central park type area that I spent a nice afternoon in. The chorizo (not the mexican kind) is a delicious spicy sausage that I have been eating a lot of. The meat in Madrid i ssome of the best quality in the world, from what Ive tried and heard. There is even a museum of jamon (ham). I have been getting good at makign lunch while on a budget. I have been having nice unches of sandwiches with cheese and meat, a couple pieces of fruit, and a fruit juice drink, which is essentially a mix of fruit juice water milk and sugar. Sounds gross but its good and gives me all my vitamins.
There is a nEgyptian temple on a hill overlooking most of the city , so it has lots of good views. Its a really cool part of town and the story behin dthe temple is very cool. It was a gift from the Egyptians to the Spanish for helping them divert some flood waters and move some temples out of the way of a flood in Egypt. So the Egyptians gave them a temple of their own, its quite nice.
I have been doing lots of cool things that my friend who lived in Madrid for a year has told me about. There is a tapas bar in general where you go there and order a cana (small beer) for about a euro and then they bring you mounds and mounds of greasy delicious tapas. After the first cana im stuffed and after the second I couldnt possibly eat any more. The place is always packed and its really easy to meet and talk to people there. My Spanish is not as bad as I t hought it was, and I can actually undestand a lot and hold a conversation with most people. I can ask for directions and order food a swell... pretty cool , but I think its one of those things Im going to want to perfect when I get home.
Iwandered into the Cathedral on sunday and randomly got there in time for the fiesta de la misericordia, which is a pretty big deal in Madrid and I had no idea about before. From what I understood, since it was all in Spanish, its celebrated on the 9th day after Jesus was put on the cross to symbolize the 9 hours of misery. At least I think that is what wa sgoing on. There was standing room only in the Cathedral and I got to see the senior cardinal or something. It was pretty cool.
I had the best meal of my life the other night. I walked past a restraunt one night and saw that they were roasting pigs, and the place was p acked, so I made a reservation for the next night. I decided to splurge and go for the Cochonillo Asado, something I really wanted to do in Spain. So I show up to the place in my ´rock star clothes´which my friends have started to call them, and am escorted to a table in the middle o fthe place and surrounded by people wearing suits. It was a cool feeling to be eating alone in a restraunt like this and knowing that everyone was looking at you. I got the cochinillo asado which is a tiny baby pigthat has only been fed the milk of its mother, which is then taken and shoved onto a spike and roasted on a fire for hours while the chef dumps sauces on it to make the skin ncie and crispy. I also ordered a half bottle of a tempranillo from rioja in spain from 2004. Baisically my favourite wine. So I look like a baller to everyone in the place, the suckling pig is amazing, its meat is some of the most tender Ive ever had, like biting butter. The flavour is amazing. The crispy skin is i cing on the cake. There is a nice layer of fat between the meat and the skin which is also exceptional. I was chewing all the meat off the little baby pig ribs. I ate the cheek meat which was delicious. I had a couple pig organs. I ordered extra pan just to soak up the 100% fat juice that the cochinillo was served with. There was not one p iece remaining of the poor little guy. I could make this description beter but I seriously hat e this keyboard right now and am running out of time o nthe internet.
Ciao.
The keyboard realyl sucks on this computer.
Madrid is a really big city, and since I am all about walkign and not taking the metro whenever possible, I h ave been getting a ton of road work in. Looking at my shoes ,they look terrible. They will barely make it through this trip in one piece. Hopefully. I have had great weather in Madrid so far and am actually getting a tan. It will be funny to come home with a tan I think. I am going to San Sebastian next, which is a beautiful surf town from what Ive heard. Bryce I know youre jealous. After that Ill really have a tan.
Madrid is full of nice streets, good people, good food, nice parks, and some nice monuments and museums. I found myself getti ng lost in the almost too big Museo de Prado. There is also a massive central park type area that I spent a nice afternoon in. The chorizo (not the mexican kind) is a delicious spicy sausage that I have been eating a lot of. The meat in Madrid i ssome of the best quality in the world, from what Ive tried and heard. There is even a museum of jamon (ham). I have been getting good at makign lunch while on a budget. I have been having nice unches of sandwiches with cheese and meat, a couple pieces of fruit, and a fruit juice drink, which is essentially a mix of fruit juice water milk and sugar. Sounds gross but its good and gives me all my vitamins.
There is a nEgyptian temple on a hill overlooking most of the city , so it has lots of good views. Its a really cool part of town and the story behin dthe temple is very cool. It was a gift from the Egyptians to the Spanish for helping them divert some flood waters and move some temples out of the way of a flood in Egypt. So the Egyptians gave them a temple of their own, its quite nice.
I have been doing lots of cool things that my friend who lived in Madrid for a year has told me about. There is a tapas bar in general where you go there and order a cana (small beer) for about a euro and then they bring you mounds and mounds of greasy delicious tapas. After the first cana im stuffed and after the second I couldnt possibly eat any more. The place is always packed and its really easy to meet and talk to people there. My Spanish is not as bad as I t hought it was, and I can actually undestand a lot and hold a conversation with most people. I can ask for directions and order food a swell... pretty cool , but I think its one of those things Im going to want to perfect when I get home.
Iwandered into the Cathedral on sunday and randomly got there in time for the fiesta de la misericordia, which is a pretty big deal in Madrid and I had no idea about before. From what I understood, since it was all in Spanish, its celebrated on the 9th day after Jesus was put on the cross to symbolize the 9 hours of misery. At least I think that is what wa sgoing on. There was standing room only in the Cathedral and I got to see the senior cardinal or something. It was pretty cool.
I had the best meal of my life the other night. I walked past a restraunt one night and saw that they were roasting pigs, and the place was p acked, so I made a reservation for the next night. I decided to splurge and go for the Cochonillo Asado, something I really wanted to do in Spain. So I show up to the place in my ´rock star clothes´which my friends have started to call them, and am escorted to a table in the middle o fthe place and surrounded by people wearing suits. It was a cool feeling to be eating alone in a restraunt like this and knowing that everyone was looking at you. I got the cochinillo asado which is a tiny baby pigthat has only been fed the milk of its mother, which is then taken and shoved onto a spike and roasted on a fire for hours while the chef dumps sauces on it to make the skin ncie and crispy. I also ordered a half bottle of a tempranillo from rioja in spain from 2004. Baisically my favourite wine. So I look like a baller to everyone in the place, the suckling pig is amazing, its meat is some of the most tender Ive ever had, like biting butter. The flavour is amazing. The crispy skin is i cing on the cake. There is a nice layer of fat between the meat and the skin which is also exceptional. I was chewing all the meat off the little baby pig ribs. I ate the cheek meat which was delicious. I had a couple pig organs. I ordered extra pan just to soak up the 100% fat juice that the cochinillo was served with. There was not one p iece remaining of the poor little guy. I could make this description beter but I seriously hat e this keyboard right now and am running out of time o nthe internet.
Ciao.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Valencia
Valencia is the most laid back town Ive been in so far. There is no rush whatsoever, especially after coming from Barcelona which is always busy. The first thing I did when I got here was had a nice glass of the best horchata Ive ever had while sitting in the shade and just relaxing. Valencia is also quite affordable compared to the other places Ive been that use the Euro.
Paella was invented here and you can definately tell. They cook it with chicken and rabbit instead of using seafood and it is really delicious... much better than the Barca version. I attended a class and learned how to cook it along with mixing up some nice sangria.
Valencia has a lot of older influence and it blends well with the more modern parts of town. There is a dryed up river bed that runs through the city and Valencia has turned it into a public garden full of fountains and flowers and green trees. It is a great place to go for a walk or hang out with friends or ride a bike etc. It is also convenient because you can follow it to the ocean and the city of arts and sciences.
The city of arts and sciences is the museumish area that is home to some really spectacular looking modern buildings as well as the largest aquarium in Europe. I went to the aquarium and was really happy I did. It is nice to take a break from looking at art and churches and touristy stuff to look at fish and sharks and dolphin shows. Of course I would have rather been there with someone else, and there was no one there my age for their own enjoyment, but I had a good time regardless. The Cathedral here claims to have the official Holy Grail, which I doubt because it is covered in jewels and stuff, which I dont think is how the real one would look.
For breakfast most people get chocolate con churros. Once you have had the hot chocolate in Spain you wont be able to have it anywhere else. I dont think they add any water or milk to the chocolate, it is quite literally just heated up chocolate, which means it is quite thick. Perfect for dipping a churro into, but not my ideal breakfast. I cant handle that much sugar in the morning. My favourite breakfasts so far are the German ones. The hostel Im staying at is quite cheap and also has a fully equipped kitchen so I can buy groceries and not spend so much money on food. I have been loving the tapas bars accompanied with the Aqua de Valencia which is spanish champaign, cointrau and fresh squeezed Valencian orange juice.
Siestas are actually practiced in Valencia and most of the shops are closed from noon-4. Its pretty cool. I still want to go see a bull fight while in Spain just to experience some more culture but I think that will wait until Madrid. Ill probably end up spending another day or two in Valencia, especially if its beach weather and then head to Madrid. I have a ticket from Paris to London for the 28th of April which I got for suuuuper cheap, and then I fly home from London on May 1st. Weird to think about.
Paella was invented here and you can definately tell. They cook it with chicken and rabbit instead of using seafood and it is really delicious... much better than the Barca version. I attended a class and learned how to cook it along with mixing up some nice sangria.
Valencia has a lot of older influence and it blends well with the more modern parts of town. There is a dryed up river bed that runs through the city and Valencia has turned it into a public garden full of fountains and flowers and green trees. It is a great place to go for a walk or hang out with friends or ride a bike etc. It is also convenient because you can follow it to the ocean and the city of arts and sciences.
The city of arts and sciences is the museumish area that is home to some really spectacular looking modern buildings as well as the largest aquarium in Europe. I went to the aquarium and was really happy I did. It is nice to take a break from looking at art and churches and touristy stuff to look at fish and sharks and dolphin shows. Of course I would have rather been there with someone else, and there was no one there my age for their own enjoyment, but I had a good time regardless. The Cathedral here claims to have the official Holy Grail, which I doubt because it is covered in jewels and stuff, which I dont think is how the real one would look.
For breakfast most people get chocolate con churros. Once you have had the hot chocolate in Spain you wont be able to have it anywhere else. I dont think they add any water or milk to the chocolate, it is quite literally just heated up chocolate, which means it is quite thick. Perfect for dipping a churro into, but not my ideal breakfast. I cant handle that much sugar in the morning. My favourite breakfasts so far are the German ones. The hostel Im staying at is quite cheap and also has a fully equipped kitchen so I can buy groceries and not spend so much money on food. I have been loving the tapas bars accompanied with the Aqua de Valencia which is spanish champaign, cointrau and fresh squeezed Valencian orange juice.
Siestas are actually practiced in Valencia and most of the shops are closed from noon-4. Its pretty cool. I still want to go see a bull fight while in Spain just to experience some more culture but I think that will wait until Madrid. Ill probably end up spending another day or two in Valencia, especially if its beach weather and then head to Madrid. I have a ticket from Paris to London for the 28th of April which I got for suuuuper cheap, and then I fly home from London on May 1st. Weird to think about.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Finishing Barca
I stayed in Barcelona for quite a while because a lot of the friends I have met on my travels were coming here this last week. I got to see a few people that I have become friends with, and also ran into a few people that I had barely met while in other cities. Barca must just be a huge tourist destination... which unfortunately is its down side. My first few nights I was staying in the really popular and touristic part of town pretty much on La Rambla street, which is the most famous street in Barcelona. You can not walk outside there at night without being asked to buy drugs, being potentially pickpocketed, or being mobbed by prostitutes. You learn to stay away from all Moroccans and all African girls because apparently all of them are seedy people that lack all morals. They come up to you and grab you and surround you looking for opportunities to steal from you, its really disturbing. The police are all very corrupt and dont do anything about whats going on there. I had a run in with the police but am ok. Thats all the details you need about that. They really take Barcelona down a notch, because without these particular characteristics it would be one of the best towns in the world.
I eventually moved away from the seedy area and to where more of the local stuff was, and it was a great decision. The beach was so close and I wasnt hasseled at all while I was there. The city is the most beautiful one I have visited on my travels. It is like walking through a museum. It has the best architecture and the best parks and fountains, it has some cool churches and museums, the weather was great and there are lots of palm trees. The city itself has about 3 miles of sandy beach which was nice to enjoy. One day I was lying on the sand and a girl ran over to me and pulled me off my towel. At first I was wondering what was going on and then she pointed to the sand, and there was a spider about 4 INCHES long climbing into my shoe, of course was shocked and everyone around me jumped up and started looking at the ground. Then some Indian guy came and killed it and threw it away. I dont know if it was poisonous or not but it was huge. The girl that got my attention brought her stuff over to where I was lying down and we bought some beers from the Indian guy (there are Indian guys everywhere carrying around 6 packs of beer selling them for 1 euro, you cant go more than 10 seconds without one of them walking by and hearing ¨cervesa, cold beer¨) and we enjoyed the rest of the day together, which is how I got sunburned.
I got to see my good friend Sean that I traveled through Eastern Europe with. He is going to Nice to work on a cherry farm for a few months, a job that I was offered as well. That would be a really cool experience. Sean went to the Barcelona game also but had a really good seat, and we were pretty pumped still so we were singing all the Barca songs together which was pretty funny. Baisically we were just up to our usual antics which you can learn about later.
I have not been eating that well in Barca for the most part. I had a day where I ate nothing but chinese food, and I also had my first burrito in a while. It was good but it doesnt compare to Albertacos cali burritos. I did however find one of the best things Ive eated on this trip. There is a place that I found that is only open for lunch and only open on the weekends. What they do is roast chickens on a rotisary(spelling?) thing and drench them in a marinade every so often while they roast. The chicken itself is amazing but what made the meal is this: The chicken juices drip down and form a bit of a pool on the bottom of the oven, which is heated. That juice burns off and sits there for a bit, and the guy roasting the chickens throws a ton of garlic into that juice on the bottom and then a bunch of cut up potatos on top of that and mixes it all together. So you have these amazing roasted garlic potato bits that are cooked in the juice that is dripping off the chicken. It really is delicious. The sangria in Barca was also good, but its really hard to not have good sangria. I am really craving sushi and a real burrito.
The beds in my last hostel were by far the worst. It was like sleeping on a wooden plank. They creeked a ton and the hostel doesnt provide blankets for free, so I was sleeping in all my clothes to keep warm instead of paying 5 euros or whatever for a blanket. Everything is so expensive that uses the Euro, its really sad, California is going to seem really cheap compared to most of the places Ive been.
The coffee in Spain sucks, but I think that it is because I am just coming from Italy where I had the best coffee ever and it was only a euro or less, where as in Spain I am getting worse coffee for about 3 euros.
I found an English speaking non denominational church in Barcelona for Easter, and afterwards I was invited to a wedding, which was cool. You are asked to stand up and introduce yourself if you are new there, and through that got to meet some good people. It was nice to have fellowship once again.
My last few days in Barcelona were spent with a group of 5 French people who were a lot of fun and I really enjoyed their company. Fortunately Im in Valencia now and I love it here. Ill make a post about Valencia tomorrow I suppose. I have 2 weeks left in Europa and that seems like nothing, the time really few by. Time to organize my thoughts and get back to reality. I think Im going to get back home, see my parents for a bit and then get down to San Diego. Take some tests to apply for grad school while looking for a job. I really like the idea of going back to school at this point though.
Adios ?¿?¿?
-Kyle
I eventually moved away from the seedy area and to where more of the local stuff was, and it was a great decision. The beach was so close and I wasnt hasseled at all while I was there. The city is the most beautiful one I have visited on my travels. It is like walking through a museum. It has the best architecture and the best parks and fountains, it has some cool churches and museums, the weather was great and there are lots of palm trees. The city itself has about 3 miles of sandy beach which was nice to enjoy. One day I was lying on the sand and a girl ran over to me and pulled me off my towel. At first I was wondering what was going on and then she pointed to the sand, and there was a spider about 4 INCHES long climbing into my shoe, of course was shocked and everyone around me jumped up and started looking at the ground. Then some Indian guy came and killed it and threw it away. I dont know if it was poisonous or not but it was huge. The girl that got my attention brought her stuff over to where I was lying down and we bought some beers from the Indian guy (there are Indian guys everywhere carrying around 6 packs of beer selling them for 1 euro, you cant go more than 10 seconds without one of them walking by and hearing ¨cervesa, cold beer¨) and we enjoyed the rest of the day together, which is how I got sunburned.
I got to see my good friend Sean that I traveled through Eastern Europe with. He is going to Nice to work on a cherry farm for a few months, a job that I was offered as well. That would be a really cool experience. Sean went to the Barcelona game also but had a really good seat, and we were pretty pumped still so we were singing all the Barca songs together which was pretty funny. Baisically we were just up to our usual antics which you can learn about later.
I have not been eating that well in Barca for the most part. I had a day where I ate nothing but chinese food, and I also had my first burrito in a while. It was good but it doesnt compare to Albertacos cali burritos. I did however find one of the best things Ive eated on this trip. There is a place that I found that is only open for lunch and only open on the weekends. What they do is roast chickens on a rotisary(spelling?) thing and drench them in a marinade every so often while they roast. The chicken itself is amazing but what made the meal is this: The chicken juices drip down and form a bit of a pool on the bottom of the oven, which is heated. That juice burns off and sits there for a bit, and the guy roasting the chickens throws a ton of garlic into that juice on the bottom and then a bunch of cut up potatos on top of that and mixes it all together. So you have these amazing roasted garlic potato bits that are cooked in the juice that is dripping off the chicken. It really is delicious. The sangria in Barca was also good, but its really hard to not have good sangria. I am really craving sushi and a real burrito.
The beds in my last hostel were by far the worst. It was like sleeping on a wooden plank. They creeked a ton and the hostel doesnt provide blankets for free, so I was sleeping in all my clothes to keep warm instead of paying 5 euros or whatever for a blanket. Everything is so expensive that uses the Euro, its really sad, California is going to seem really cheap compared to most of the places Ive been.
The coffee in Spain sucks, but I think that it is because I am just coming from Italy where I had the best coffee ever and it was only a euro or less, where as in Spain I am getting worse coffee for about 3 euros.
I found an English speaking non denominational church in Barcelona for Easter, and afterwards I was invited to a wedding, which was cool. You are asked to stand up and introduce yourself if you are new there, and through that got to meet some good people. It was nice to have fellowship once again.
My last few days in Barcelona were spent with a group of 5 French people who were a lot of fun and I really enjoyed their company. Fortunately Im in Valencia now and I love it here. Ill make a post about Valencia tomorrow I suppose. I have 2 weeks left in Europa and that seems like nothing, the time really few by. Time to organize my thoughts and get back to reality. I think Im going to get back home, see my parents for a bit and then get down to San Diego. Take some tests to apply for grad school while looking for a job. I really like the idea of going back to school at this point though.
Adios ?¿?¿?
-Kyle
Thursday, April 9, 2009
BARCA
Ok so I have to post a little bit about the football game. I dont think I could have picked a better game to go to, especially it being my first soccer experience. The entire city of Barcelona is out in force for each game and it was truely one of the cooler things to see. Everyone is on the streets the whole day in their jerseys walking around with ice chests full of cervesa. There are police everywhere dressed in all of their riot gear, just in case something goes wrong. There were a lot of people from Germany that traveled here specifically for this game, and they were all walking around doing their futbol chants. None of the Barca fans seemed to mind the German fans, and the most conflict I saw was a little bit of joking around between the two sides. I was hanging out with some German guys before the game learning all the Bayern songs and chants, and enjoying a couple of beers. Lots of the munich fans wear leiderhosen and a soccer jersey to the game, which I thought was pretty funny. I think I might want a pair now... Mom was right.
I got to Camp Nou, which is the stadium, pretty early. The stadium is the biggest in Europe and holds 98000 fans. What an experience in and of itself. I saw a huge crowed gathering so I went to see what was going on and there were about 20 police cars driving in the street. They would one by one block off the intersections so that they could make traffic only one way. Then off in the distance was a giant Bus, which was what all the players were riding to the game. Its incredible that they need a police escort like that just to get to the stadium.
The game started and I was sitting with a bunch of roudy Barca fans. They were all really nice and explained to me a lot of what they were saying and how to sing the songs and do the chants. Most of which arent even saying words just making noise.
I got to see Messi (the best player in the world) score 2 goals. Henry who used to be the best player in the world for a while also scored. The end result was 4-0 Barca which means that there were partys in the street the whole night. I went to bed at 6am and I could still hear the chanting and screaming from the streets when I rested my head on my pillow. Ive seen a lot of good art while in Europe and watching Barcelona play Munich ranks up there with the best of them. Definately worth the price of admission.
It was sunny today which means I got to relax on the beach all day. Lots of the girls go topless even though I dont think its a nude beach. Pretty sure Im going to be sunburned tomorrow, but hopefully Ill just get a nice tan. Barca is not as cheap as I thought it would be, so I think after Easter Ill go to some smaller coastal town, or maybe venture to Madrid to eat some roast succling pig.
I got to Camp Nou, which is the stadium, pretty early. The stadium is the biggest in Europe and holds 98000 fans. What an experience in and of itself. I saw a huge crowed gathering so I went to see what was going on and there were about 20 police cars driving in the street. They would one by one block off the intersections so that they could make traffic only one way. Then off in the distance was a giant Bus, which was what all the players were riding to the game. Its incredible that they need a police escort like that just to get to the stadium.
The game started and I was sitting with a bunch of roudy Barca fans. They were all really nice and explained to me a lot of what they were saying and how to sing the songs and do the chants. Most of which arent even saying words just making noise.
I got to see Messi (the best player in the world) score 2 goals. Henry who used to be the best player in the world for a while also scored. The end result was 4-0 Barca which means that there were partys in the street the whole night. I went to bed at 6am and I could still hear the chanting and screaming from the streets when I rested my head on my pillow. Ive seen a lot of good art while in Europe and watching Barcelona play Munich ranks up there with the best of them. Definately worth the price of admission.
It was sunny today which means I got to relax on the beach all day. Lots of the girls go topless even though I dont think its a nude beach. Pretty sure Im going to be sunburned tomorrow, but hopefully Ill just get a nice tan. Barca is not as cheap as I thought it would be, so I think after Easter Ill go to some smaller coastal town, or maybe venture to Madrid to eat some roast succling pig.
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Time to enjoy Barcelona
I am still a little upset about the whole camera thing, but not nearly as much as I was when it first happened. Thanks for everyones encouragement.
Barcelona is actually a very pretty city. It isnt quite what I expected, which was more of a smaller beachy town. Barca is massive, and very urban. There is so much to see here, and do. I am living right off of La Ramba street which is a famous street that is lined with flower shops and those creepy people that dress up like statues and expect to get money. They are the most elaborate costumes Ive seen so far which is saying a lot. The weather has been so so, with scattered rain so I havent been able to appreciate the beach.
Well when I was feeling my worst, I had some good things happen to me. I ran into Mitra and her family who were in Barcelona and got to hang out with them for a little while. We went to the church of the Sacred Family which is unlike any other cathedral ive seen so far. After seeing so many different churches they all kind of start to look the same in certain ways. However since this cathedral was designed by Gaudi it is wayyy different. It is very nature inspired and quite pretty. The outside is very modern and almost abstract looking. The spires are decorated unlike any others Ive seen as well. The inside looks like a forest, with the columns holding up the roof made to look like tree trunks in a way, and the top can be seen to look like leaves. Very cool. Pretty much all of Gaudis work around the city is really cool, and I have only just started to see it.
I ran into another friend that I met in Paris, just by chance, and she told me about a spanish guitar concert that night which she wanted to go to. We ended up doing that, which was amazing, and afterwards she took me flaminco dancing, which of course I wasnt very good at, but started to get the hang of a little bit. The sangria is amazing here, however I do miss the food in Italy. By far the best and cleanest food Ive had this trip. I had the best pasta, the best pesto, the best pizza, the best steak, the best lasagna, and the best sandwiches that I have ever tasted. After having sea food risoto in Italy, the pallea in spain is only average.
Tonight I am going to the FC Barcelona vs. FC Bayern Munchen football match. It is the semifinal of the Champions League, which for anyone that doesnt know is kind of a big deal. Its like Im going to the NFC Championship game x100. The ticket was a little expensive but its a once in a life time experience.
My friend Sean is also in Barcelona now and we will probably meet up tomorrow, althought I have a feeling he might be going to the football match as well. Its pretty cool how I have all these contacts around Europe now haha. Its like I am hardly traveling alone. My hostel is full of a group of Germans and a group of Irish people, they are all really noisy and think its amusing that I am German and Irish and living in the same room as all of them.
As far as coming home early goes, I suppose that was just me being upset. I did see everything I set out to see, and did everything I set out to do. At this point I would have to fly to other destinations, which would be a bit costly. Ive already spent so much money on this trip and I have tried to budget myself very well. I havent bought any clothes or touristy souveniers. Half because they are expensive and half because I dont want to carry them around everywhere.
Sorry to bring everyone down with that last post. I am still enjoying my travels and nothing will take that away from me.
CIAO
-Kyle
Barcelona is actually a very pretty city. It isnt quite what I expected, which was more of a smaller beachy town. Barca is massive, and very urban. There is so much to see here, and do. I am living right off of La Ramba street which is a famous street that is lined with flower shops and those creepy people that dress up like statues and expect to get money. They are the most elaborate costumes Ive seen so far which is saying a lot. The weather has been so so, with scattered rain so I havent been able to appreciate the beach.
Well when I was feeling my worst, I had some good things happen to me. I ran into Mitra and her family who were in Barcelona and got to hang out with them for a little while. We went to the church of the Sacred Family which is unlike any other cathedral ive seen so far. After seeing so many different churches they all kind of start to look the same in certain ways. However since this cathedral was designed by Gaudi it is wayyy different. It is very nature inspired and quite pretty. The outside is very modern and almost abstract looking. The spires are decorated unlike any others Ive seen as well. The inside looks like a forest, with the columns holding up the roof made to look like tree trunks in a way, and the top can be seen to look like leaves. Very cool. Pretty much all of Gaudis work around the city is really cool, and I have only just started to see it.
I ran into another friend that I met in Paris, just by chance, and she told me about a spanish guitar concert that night which she wanted to go to. We ended up doing that, which was amazing, and afterwards she took me flaminco dancing, which of course I wasnt very good at, but started to get the hang of a little bit. The sangria is amazing here, however I do miss the food in Italy. By far the best and cleanest food Ive had this trip. I had the best pasta, the best pesto, the best pizza, the best steak, the best lasagna, and the best sandwiches that I have ever tasted. After having sea food risoto in Italy, the pallea in spain is only average.
Tonight I am going to the FC Barcelona vs. FC Bayern Munchen football match. It is the semifinal of the Champions League, which for anyone that doesnt know is kind of a big deal. Its like Im going to the NFC Championship game x100. The ticket was a little expensive but its a once in a life time experience.
My friend Sean is also in Barcelona now and we will probably meet up tomorrow, althought I have a feeling he might be going to the football match as well. Its pretty cool how I have all these contacts around Europe now haha. Its like I am hardly traveling alone. My hostel is full of a group of Germans and a group of Irish people, they are all really noisy and think its amusing that I am German and Irish and living in the same room as all of them.
As far as coming home early goes, I suppose that was just me being upset. I did see everything I set out to see, and did everything I set out to do. At this point I would have to fly to other destinations, which would be a bit costly. Ive already spent so much money on this trip and I have tried to budget myself very well. I havent bought any clothes or touristy souveniers. Half because they are expensive and half because I dont want to carry them around everywhere.
Sorry to bring everyone down with that last post. I am still enjoying my travels and nothing will take that away from me.
CIAO
-Kyle
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Traveling to Barcelona.. ;(
I finally had to leave Florence. My San Diego friends were done with spring break, and Roman girl had to go on a school trip thing south. Getting from Florence to Barcelona by train is easier said than done. After I wished Mitra a safe journey I went to the train station and got on the first train I saw going North. I ended up in Pisa, then took another train north to Genova. Took a train south to Nice, stopped there looked around. The south of France is really beautiful.. seriously. Its like a movie or something. I took a train from Nice to Toulouse and then from Toulouse I had to backtrack and get to Narbonne and from Narbonne I got to Barcelona. I was planning on sleeping in a park or something in Nice because I thought I had missed the night train to Toulouse, but luckily I made it. I was feeling a little anxious and didnt get any sleep on the trains. The total train time was about 26 hours. I also didnt have a chance to get any real food during the trip.
Traveling like this can get a little hectic and crazy but I have my gear, and I have my money. The worst that could happen would be getting on a wrong train and ending up somewhere foreign and unique, and getting to my destination a day later. No big deal. What an adventure I am on. I have felt so blessed by God this last week and a half. Unfortunately that great feeling was stripped away from me.
This is the low point of my trip. 26 hours on a train, 28 hours without food, and only being able to rest my eyes for an hour or so. When I got to Barcelona of course I was starving so I started to look for food. I was pretty delirious and ended up down an alley. I was approached by someone who was being pretty nice, asked me where I was from, he told me I look English. Then Bam, my head is slammed against the wall and held there. Before I know it both my arms are being held against the wall as well and then someone grabs my feet from under me and flips me to the ground. My camera is pulled out of my hand. They struggle trying to get my pack off, which is strapped to me across the chest and the waist. A few seconds go by and they are gone. I didnt know what hit me, it took me a while to make sense of everything. Did I still have my money, did they get my passport? What is missing?
I realize that my camera is gone, my pictures are gone. I didnt have a chance to back them up or anything. The precious memories that this trip was all about were somewhat stripped from me. There were so many times I found myself saying.. I cant wait to show this picture to my children, or to my family, or to my friends at home. The faces of the people Ive met along the way are going to slowly drift away. I dont know what to do.
I went from an extreme high point of my trip having companionship and friendship, having fun every day and loving Florence. To an extreme low point, getting mugged being tired and hungry and feeling bitterly alone.
I havent felt this bad for a really long time. I dont know if I should come home a little early. I dont know if I should buy a new camera. I only have 3 weeks left anyway. This is the first time I have truely missed home. I want to cry. I have now felt every conceivable emotion while on this trip and unfortunately this is the worst one of all. There have been plenty of times on my trip where I have felt lost and confused, but I could always find help. When I am slammed and held against a wall there was no one there to help me. Hopelessness is the emotion that I never want to feel again. I dont really feel like doing anything. I woke up today at noon, the most Ive slept in the whole trip and I went to a computer. I am in a beautiful city with a beach and instead of seeing all the work of Gaudi or laying on the sand I am in front of a computer. I know Ill feel better eventually, but every time I see something and grab for my camera and every time I think back on where I have been and realize I dont have any pictures of it I get depressed again. Could really use your prayers.
-Kyle
Edit: I may have found a way to feel a little better, which would be to splurge and buy tickets to the Barcelona vs. Munich soccer match. It doesnt get much better than that, definately a once in a life time experience.
Traveling like this can get a little hectic and crazy but I have my gear, and I have my money. The worst that could happen would be getting on a wrong train and ending up somewhere foreign and unique, and getting to my destination a day later. No big deal. What an adventure I am on. I have felt so blessed by God this last week and a half. Unfortunately that great feeling was stripped away from me.
This is the low point of my trip. 26 hours on a train, 28 hours without food, and only being able to rest my eyes for an hour or so. When I got to Barcelona of course I was starving so I started to look for food. I was pretty delirious and ended up down an alley. I was approached by someone who was being pretty nice, asked me where I was from, he told me I look English. Then Bam, my head is slammed against the wall and held there. Before I know it both my arms are being held against the wall as well and then someone grabs my feet from under me and flips me to the ground. My camera is pulled out of my hand. They struggle trying to get my pack off, which is strapped to me across the chest and the waist. A few seconds go by and they are gone. I didnt know what hit me, it took me a while to make sense of everything. Did I still have my money, did they get my passport? What is missing?
I realize that my camera is gone, my pictures are gone. I didnt have a chance to back them up or anything. The precious memories that this trip was all about were somewhat stripped from me. There were so many times I found myself saying.. I cant wait to show this picture to my children, or to my family, or to my friends at home. The faces of the people Ive met along the way are going to slowly drift away. I dont know what to do.
I went from an extreme high point of my trip having companionship and friendship, having fun every day and loving Florence. To an extreme low point, getting mugged being tired and hungry and feeling bitterly alone.
I havent felt this bad for a really long time. I dont know if I should come home a little early. I dont know if I should buy a new camera. I only have 3 weeks left anyway. This is the first time I have truely missed home. I want to cry. I have now felt every conceivable emotion while on this trip and unfortunately this is the worst one of all. There have been plenty of times on my trip where I have felt lost and confused, but I could always find help. When I am slammed and held against a wall there was no one there to help me. Hopelessness is the emotion that I never want to feel again. I dont really feel like doing anything. I woke up today at noon, the most Ive slept in the whole trip and I went to a computer. I am in a beautiful city with a beach and instead of seeing all the work of Gaudi or laying on the sand I am in front of a computer. I know Ill feel better eventually, but every time I see something and grab for my camera and every time I think back on where I have been and realize I dont have any pictures of it I get depressed again. Could really use your prayers.
-Kyle
Edit: I may have found a way to feel a little better, which would be to splurge and buy tickets to the Barcelona vs. Munich soccer match. It doesnt get much better than that, definately a once in a life time experience.
Florence
Florence was some of the best times of my life. I met some girls from San Diego, while in Rome, and decided to tag along with them and go back to Florence. There really is something magical about the city. Apparently there is a statue in Florence and if you rub its nose the story says that you will come back to the city. I did this without knowing the story, and thought it was really cool that it actually worked. I was sure to rub it again because I will come back to that city.
Anyway the girls I was with were a lot of fun. Very happy go lucky, the more the better type of people. I was a little worried at first that I would be interrupting their vacation by me being there but I got lots of reassurance that I was more than welcome to be with them. I ended up staying on their floor a couple of nights which means I saved about 20 euros by not getting a hostel. I am getting good at not paying for rooms. I met someone named Bob Crocker who is about 50 years old and works 6 months of the year and travels the other 6. He is all about sleeping under the stars. All his friends say that the number of toys (he means jet skiis, trucks, boats, guns etc.) a man has is what determines how good of a life they have. Bob thinks its based on how many nights you have slept under the stars. By that he means without a tent, just sleeping with a tarp over you and a sleeping bag around you. He had quite an interesting perspective on life. Anyway..
In the beginning of the week though I was still staying in a hostel, and we were staying out pretty late every night just having fun. Not serious partying, just hanging out and laughing type of stuff. I was getting back to my Hostel pretty late/early in the morning and every time I would book another night. This is because I would always just book one night because I didnt know where I would end up the next day. I ended up getting to know the front desk people quite well because of this. One night in particular, which I will talk about more later, I got home really early, and the girl at the front desk saw me come in, threw me a key and told me I was all checked in, I just needed to move my luggage. I moved my luggage into the room and realized that I had a queen size bed with a flat screen TV in front of me, a private shower and bathroom, and a pretty decent view. I was getting VIP status. She upgraded me for free also so I was paying just as much as I would if I was staying in a dorm. That night we went out to a couple places and I met a girl from Rome. She was very pretty, quaint, and spoke good English, with a cute italian accent. We went to Pisa together the next day. Basically some of the crazier funner times of my life and I would love to share the story when I get home.
I would meet Katie, Melissa, and Mitra for lunch every day, and we would usually hang out the rest of the day doing all the things that Florence has to offer. The view from Piazza Michaelangelo is one of the things that Ill never forget. Hiking up there with a bottle of wine and just relaxing and appreciating the views and the conversation with a couple of friends is my idea of a good night.
I am pretty sure I have been to every museum and every place of interest in Florence by now. I dont feel rushed at all any more. I love just sitting in a piazza and having a cup of coffee. There is a certain swagger that comes from being in Florence.. at least for me. I am getting hit on like crazy. Older Italian women especially, its a little creepy. I walked by the Duomo and had all the artists shouting at me. It was pretty funny. Hearing ¨David Michaelangeo be my model¨ yelled at you is just a bit of a confidence booster.
I saw a flier for a rock show one night that was on the very edge of town. I got there, had some wine, but apparently was really early. I went into the warehouse that it was being held at and was told to come back at 11. So I walk around a bit and see a giant sign with Florence and an X through it.. meaning I am about to leave Florence, so I went back. Got to the venue at about 1030 and all the band members were in there. I was invited in, and sat down at these giant last supper type tables. I didnt really know what was happening until bowls and bowls of pasta appeared out of no where and I was given a plate and spooned a giant mound of food. There was so much wine there as well, in the biggest jugs Ive seen. So I am sitting and having dinner with all these musicians who speak really good English just talking and having a good time before the show. The show starts and its just really heavy music with no lyrics. Think italian explosions in the sky. Really cool night.
I went wine tasting another night with myself and 9 girls in a 13th century Italian wine cellar. We got to taste really good balsamic vinegar, really good olive oil (which they made you drink). A different type of salame for every wine, and some great aged parm cheese. I of course impressed everyone with my wine knowledge, and picking out flavours, even if I was pulling a Greg some of the time and just BSing. They especially liked the ¨oh yeah I can tell this was aged in an oak barrel, with a leather strap¨. The Chianti region is beautiful. Santa Croche is beautiful.
We took a day trip to Cinque Terre and it is easily one of the most beautiful places in the world. Go on google and look at the pictures. The cliff towns are all so well preserved and awe inspiring. The hike from the bottom town to the top was a little tough at times but very rewarding. I was very impressed that the girls were able to do the hike without too much of a break. I took my backpack and carried around all our food and clothes and shoved everyones purse in there so they wouldnt have to carry anything. It reminded me of Dad on our family trip to the Grand Canyon. We stopped in every town and relaxed or had a cup of coffee. Bought some sandwiches or local wine. The local wine by the way is some of the best Ive had on this trip. The whole hike is through the vineyards for the most part and the cliffs are littered with vines. We hiked down to the Ocean and layed out for a bit, I found a nice big rock to sit on. There was a waterfall that I went under to wash off and cool down. In the last town me and Mitra actually went into the Ocean which was beyond freezing. We have a picture of us soaking wet and freezing while someone is sitting on the beach in a jacket and scarf, just to give a little perspective.
The girls from San Diego are definately going to be friends for a long time. I am really happy about meeting them and I think its cool to meet them in this situation. I dont think they are the type of people that I would just become friends with if we met at a coffee house, or walking around on the street. Hopefully that means I am getting over a little bit of judgementality and vanity. Hanging out with them for so long made me learn alot about myself. ´Our eyes look outward, but we need the eyes of someone else to help us look inward´.
I started thinking alot about what I was going to do for the next month. I have seen pretty much everything that I really wanted to see on this trip. I have experienced all that I was thinking I would experience. And it only took 2 months. If you look at the route that I took I think it would look like it would take 4. There is so much about Florence that I love. If I had a job there I dont think I could ever leave. I could easily be a barista or something at a coffee shop. We´ll see.
Anyway the girls I was with were a lot of fun. Very happy go lucky, the more the better type of people. I was a little worried at first that I would be interrupting their vacation by me being there but I got lots of reassurance that I was more than welcome to be with them. I ended up staying on their floor a couple of nights which means I saved about 20 euros by not getting a hostel. I am getting good at not paying for rooms. I met someone named Bob Crocker who is about 50 years old and works 6 months of the year and travels the other 6. He is all about sleeping under the stars. All his friends say that the number of toys (he means jet skiis, trucks, boats, guns etc.) a man has is what determines how good of a life they have. Bob thinks its based on how many nights you have slept under the stars. By that he means without a tent, just sleeping with a tarp over you and a sleeping bag around you. He had quite an interesting perspective on life. Anyway..
In the beginning of the week though I was still staying in a hostel, and we were staying out pretty late every night just having fun. Not serious partying, just hanging out and laughing type of stuff. I was getting back to my Hostel pretty late/early in the morning and every time I would book another night. This is because I would always just book one night because I didnt know where I would end up the next day. I ended up getting to know the front desk people quite well because of this. One night in particular, which I will talk about more later, I got home really early, and the girl at the front desk saw me come in, threw me a key and told me I was all checked in, I just needed to move my luggage. I moved my luggage into the room and realized that I had a queen size bed with a flat screen TV in front of me, a private shower and bathroom, and a pretty decent view. I was getting VIP status. She upgraded me for free also so I was paying just as much as I would if I was staying in a dorm. That night we went out to a couple places and I met a girl from Rome. She was very pretty, quaint, and spoke good English, with a cute italian accent. We went to Pisa together the next day. Basically some of the crazier funner times of my life and I would love to share the story when I get home.
I would meet Katie, Melissa, and Mitra for lunch every day, and we would usually hang out the rest of the day doing all the things that Florence has to offer. The view from Piazza Michaelangelo is one of the things that Ill never forget. Hiking up there with a bottle of wine and just relaxing and appreciating the views and the conversation with a couple of friends is my idea of a good night.
I am pretty sure I have been to every museum and every place of interest in Florence by now. I dont feel rushed at all any more. I love just sitting in a piazza and having a cup of coffee. There is a certain swagger that comes from being in Florence.. at least for me. I am getting hit on like crazy. Older Italian women especially, its a little creepy. I walked by the Duomo and had all the artists shouting at me. It was pretty funny. Hearing ¨David Michaelangeo be my model¨ yelled at you is just a bit of a confidence booster.
I saw a flier for a rock show one night that was on the very edge of town. I got there, had some wine, but apparently was really early. I went into the warehouse that it was being held at and was told to come back at 11. So I walk around a bit and see a giant sign with Florence and an X through it.. meaning I am about to leave Florence, so I went back. Got to the venue at about 1030 and all the band members were in there. I was invited in, and sat down at these giant last supper type tables. I didnt really know what was happening until bowls and bowls of pasta appeared out of no where and I was given a plate and spooned a giant mound of food. There was so much wine there as well, in the biggest jugs Ive seen. So I am sitting and having dinner with all these musicians who speak really good English just talking and having a good time before the show. The show starts and its just really heavy music with no lyrics. Think italian explosions in the sky. Really cool night.
I went wine tasting another night with myself and 9 girls in a 13th century Italian wine cellar. We got to taste really good balsamic vinegar, really good olive oil (which they made you drink). A different type of salame for every wine, and some great aged parm cheese. I of course impressed everyone with my wine knowledge, and picking out flavours, even if I was pulling a Greg some of the time and just BSing. They especially liked the ¨oh yeah I can tell this was aged in an oak barrel, with a leather strap¨. The Chianti region is beautiful. Santa Croche is beautiful.
We took a day trip to Cinque Terre and it is easily one of the most beautiful places in the world. Go on google and look at the pictures. The cliff towns are all so well preserved and awe inspiring. The hike from the bottom town to the top was a little tough at times but very rewarding. I was very impressed that the girls were able to do the hike without too much of a break. I took my backpack and carried around all our food and clothes and shoved everyones purse in there so they wouldnt have to carry anything. It reminded me of Dad on our family trip to the Grand Canyon. We stopped in every town and relaxed or had a cup of coffee. Bought some sandwiches or local wine. The local wine by the way is some of the best Ive had on this trip. The whole hike is through the vineyards for the most part and the cliffs are littered with vines. We hiked down to the Ocean and layed out for a bit, I found a nice big rock to sit on. There was a waterfall that I went under to wash off and cool down. In the last town me and Mitra actually went into the Ocean which was beyond freezing. We have a picture of us soaking wet and freezing while someone is sitting on the beach in a jacket and scarf, just to give a little perspective.
The girls from San Diego are definately going to be friends for a long time. I am really happy about meeting them and I think its cool to meet them in this situation. I dont think they are the type of people that I would just become friends with if we met at a coffee house, or walking around on the street. Hopefully that means I am getting over a little bit of judgementality and vanity. Hanging out with them for so long made me learn alot about myself. ´Our eyes look outward, but we need the eyes of someone else to help us look inward´.
I started thinking alot about what I was going to do for the next month. I have seen pretty much everything that I really wanted to see on this trip. I have experienced all that I was thinking I would experience. And it only took 2 months. If you look at the route that I took I think it would look like it would take 4. There is so much about Florence that I love. If I had a job there I dont think I could ever leave. I could easily be a barista or something at a coffee shop. We´ll see.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Italy so far
Well when I got to Italy I was exhausted. I spent about 3 hours walking around from hostel to hostel looking for a room to stay in until Bryce got here the next day. Finally found a place with ice cold showers and a rock hard matress to stay at. It definately beat the previous 4 nights I had where I didnt have a hostel at all. I thought that when Bryce got here I would be able to relax because I wasnt going to be traveling around a lot, but I was wrong. After Bryce got here, which was an adventure in itself from what he told me, we went on a hard core mission to see everything we possibly could. As soon as he got here we got some of the most amazing pizza we have ever had, and attempted to go on a walking tour with a guide, but instead ended up doing it ourselves. We did all the ancient Rome stuff that day. My favourite was the Colloseum. Its so unbelievable the stuff that went on in there. I think what made it better was the fact that we watched Gladiator that night just by coincidence. Apparently I have gotten really good at walking because Bryce could hardly keep up with my pace. I guess thats what happens when you do nothing but walk everywhere for a couple of months. Bryces legs and feet were sore, but he kept up quite well.
The best part of hanging out with my brother in Rome was watching him experience all the weird quirky stuff about traveling that I have become used to. His first time using the subway I could see that he was really excited and unsure of what exactly to do. Crossing the street for him was a challenge and eventually he learned to just follow me like a little duckling. Not gunna lie, Im pretty good at crossing the street now. The locals even follow me; a true sign of an accomplished traveler. I also took for granted how easy EuRail pass makes traveling. Watching Bryce have to wait in lines to buy train tickets and validate them (Which he forgot to do once and got a huge fine) makes me realize just how awesome EuRail is.
The Vatican was simply amazing. The museum and the sistine chapel were breathtaking. St Peters Bastilica took me by complete suprise. The inside of it is awe inspiring, I cant describe the way it makes me feel. Bryce brought me a couple of good books to read as well, which I was desperate for.
All the churches here are amazing. The David is really awesome, which I wasnt expecting it to be, I thought it would just be another statue. My favourite though is a statue of Michael slaying Satan. Such an epic statue, I think Ill buy a mini one to put on my desk at home.
Florence and Siena are in my opinion superior to Rome. Rome of course is awesome to see the art and the history of, but the feel of the city is a bit dirty and not what I would consider authentic Italian. Florence is an awesome city, and I love how walkable it is. Siena is beautiful, has some of the most amazing views so far this trip, and the plaza that I cant remember the name of, where people are just sprawled out on the ground, is one of my favourite places so far this trip. I could lounge there for hours in the sun. Speaking of the sun its such a relief to have some warm sunny weather, even though its raining right now; at least it gives me a chance to get on the computer ;). I did get a little sunburned on my face due to not seeing that much sun in a while. I am a big fan of Italy but for the most part Im not really into the people here. The food is ridiculous, me and Bryce ate quite well while we were here. The Gelato is amazing as well, unless you get tricked into buying a cone for 9 euros. My favourite flavours are banana and melon.
My favourite part of Florence was just having a bottle of Chianti and listening to some guy play guitar and sing covers of Oasis in front of the Uffizi at night. Free awesome concert baisically. Anyway it was an awesome experience to have my brother here with me for a week, and we had a lot of good times, and good memories.
Anyway I went from Rome to Florence to Rome and now I am back in Florence. I met someone that goes to school in Florence right now so I think Ill hang out here for a bit. This is the beauty of traveling alone and with no itinerary, I wouldnt have it any other way. I think Ill day trip to Cinque Terre and then go to Nice, followed by Barcelona, try and get a plane to Ireland for cheap, then get back to London to fly home. I think it would be cool to be in Barcelona for Easter, but Ill have to check and where there are any big festivals. I have a month to do that so I get to take it nice and slow. Of course the last time I had an idea of where I was going I ended up in Bosnia, so wel see where I end up next.
Once again sorry for not posting that often, just been so busy with stuff to do and things to see. I have been meeting some really cool people which is good. There is so much I could write about Italy but simply dont have the time. Thanks for keeping me in mind
Kyle
The best part of hanging out with my brother in Rome was watching him experience all the weird quirky stuff about traveling that I have become used to. His first time using the subway I could see that he was really excited and unsure of what exactly to do. Crossing the street for him was a challenge and eventually he learned to just follow me like a little duckling. Not gunna lie, Im pretty good at crossing the street now. The locals even follow me; a true sign of an accomplished traveler. I also took for granted how easy EuRail pass makes traveling. Watching Bryce have to wait in lines to buy train tickets and validate them (Which he forgot to do once and got a huge fine) makes me realize just how awesome EuRail is.
The Vatican was simply amazing. The museum and the sistine chapel were breathtaking. St Peters Bastilica took me by complete suprise. The inside of it is awe inspiring, I cant describe the way it makes me feel. Bryce brought me a couple of good books to read as well, which I was desperate for.
All the churches here are amazing. The David is really awesome, which I wasnt expecting it to be, I thought it would just be another statue. My favourite though is a statue of Michael slaying Satan. Such an epic statue, I think Ill buy a mini one to put on my desk at home.
Florence and Siena are in my opinion superior to Rome. Rome of course is awesome to see the art and the history of, but the feel of the city is a bit dirty and not what I would consider authentic Italian. Florence is an awesome city, and I love how walkable it is. Siena is beautiful, has some of the most amazing views so far this trip, and the plaza that I cant remember the name of, where people are just sprawled out on the ground, is one of my favourite places so far this trip. I could lounge there for hours in the sun. Speaking of the sun its such a relief to have some warm sunny weather, even though its raining right now; at least it gives me a chance to get on the computer ;). I did get a little sunburned on my face due to not seeing that much sun in a while. I am a big fan of Italy but for the most part Im not really into the people here. The food is ridiculous, me and Bryce ate quite well while we were here. The Gelato is amazing as well, unless you get tricked into buying a cone for 9 euros. My favourite flavours are banana and melon.
My favourite part of Florence was just having a bottle of Chianti and listening to some guy play guitar and sing covers of Oasis in front of the Uffizi at night. Free awesome concert baisically. Anyway it was an awesome experience to have my brother here with me for a week, and we had a lot of good times, and good memories.
Anyway I went from Rome to Florence to Rome and now I am back in Florence. I met someone that goes to school in Florence right now so I think Ill hang out here for a bit. This is the beauty of traveling alone and with no itinerary, I wouldnt have it any other way. I think Ill day trip to Cinque Terre and then go to Nice, followed by Barcelona, try and get a plane to Ireland for cheap, then get back to London to fly home. I think it would be cool to be in Barcelona for Easter, but Ill have to check and where there are any big festivals. I have a month to do that so I get to take it nice and slow. Of course the last time I had an idea of where I was going I ended up in Bosnia, so wel see where I end up next.
Once again sorry for not posting that often, just been so busy with stuff to do and things to see. I have been meeting some really cool people which is good. There is so much I could write about Italy but simply dont have the time. Thanks for keeping me in mind
Kyle
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Dubrovnik and Ljubljana
The bus ride to Dubrovnik was long but amazing. The Croatian coast is amazing. Everything is a mix between Eastern European and Italian it seems. The food, the people, everything. The city of Dubrovnik itself is amazingly beautiful, and I dont think I could have been there at a more perfect time. The weather was sunny, and the tourist crowd was not there yet. I felt like we had the city all to ourselves. I think that when someone asks me what city they need to include when they visit Europe, Dubrovnik is on the list. Really... once I can upload pictures, anyone who hasnt seen Dubrovnik will be in awe. Its a real good place to just chill out and relax. The seafood was ridiculous the views are unbeatable. The strangest part of the city was when we ventured outside of the main area and went to a Croatian farm run by some crazy man, and when we visited the fortress on top of the mountain looking down on Dubrovnik. They show the footage of Dubrovnik being attacked at the fortress and its insane to think that the city was under siege not too long ago.
The next stop was Ljubljana which is in Slovenia. This city wasnt even on my radar to begin with, but I am glad we made the stop. It seemed like a Vienna, with some nice water walks and nice buildings.
Well for the last 2 days I have taken an 11 hour bus ride, a 5 hour train ride, another 5 hour train ride, and a 6 hour train ride so that I could get back to Rome. I havent stayed in a hostel the last 2 nights, slept a little on the transportation as well as in the train stations. I stink, I need to shave, I need some sleep. But thought I would do laundry first and blog while that is going on. I am in Rome now, just waiting for Brother to get here in the morning. Im sure I missed a ton in the last couple posts but it had been soooo long since I said anything so I decided to just throw some stuff down. I am not going to be traveling like I did the last couple weeks, so I shouldnt have any more of those gaps like that.
The next stop was Ljubljana which is in Slovenia. This city wasnt even on my radar to begin with, but I am glad we made the stop. It seemed like a Vienna, with some nice water walks and nice buildings.
Well for the last 2 days I have taken an 11 hour bus ride, a 5 hour train ride, another 5 hour train ride, and a 6 hour train ride so that I could get back to Rome. I havent stayed in a hostel the last 2 nights, slept a little on the transportation as well as in the train stations. I stink, I need to shave, I need some sleep. But thought I would do laundry first and blog while that is going on. I am in Rome now, just waiting for Brother to get here in the morning. Im sure I missed a ton in the last couple posts but it had been soooo long since I said anything so I decided to just throw some stuff down. I am not going to be traveling like I did the last couple weeks, so I shouldnt have any more of those gaps like that.
Eastern Europe Tour
The last couple of weeks have been exhausting to say the least. I got a nice rest from snowboarding when I was in Vienna, and while there ran into a couple people I had met earlier. I went to the Opera and walked around the city a lot. There is a lot to see in Vienna but unfortunately it was really windy the whole time I was there. I think thats normal for Vienna though. Staying in my room was a guy from Australia named Sean and we seemed to get along quite well. Eventually we made plans to go to Budapest together.
Budapest-
What an amazing city. There is so much to do and see here, its overwhelming. Budapest is one of the places that I would tell everyone I wanted to go, and almost everyone would say how much they loved it or how many good things they have heard about the city. So my expectations were high to begin with. Budapest is full of amazing statues, lots of history, massive monuments, and of course the weird public baths. I spent a good 6 hours in the baths in total, which are these large thermal pools, each pool containing different minerals and different temperature water. The majority of the people in the baths are old men with giant pop bellys but there are a good amount of younger people as well. Everyone is so relaxed in the pools and the saunas it was definately a cultural experience. Budapest has some of the nicest, most beautiful people I have seen as well. Everyone is willing to help. There are also some really cool bars and places to hang out, that have a great vibe to them. Its not a city full of pretentious snoody people that go to their expensive hang out places to feel better than others. Its a great town. Eventually after talking with Sean we decided that we had a good time together and should travel all through Eastern Europe until I had to be in Rome and he had to go back to Prague, where he was working.
Next stop was Romania, not much to say specifically except that there were stray dogs everywhere. The people are typical Eastern European. We stayed the night there and decided to pack up to Serbia the next day.
Serbia was an experience. The bus ride took so long to get to Belgrade, and once again we had no idea what to expect. We kind of just assumed we would figure out what we wanted to do and see in Belgrade once we got there. We ended up staying 2 nights in total, and were pleasantly suprised with the city. Luckily my friend Mina who is from Serbia told one of her friends that we were coming to the city and she was nice enough to show us around. There is nothing like a local tour guide, and Slavika did a great job showing us around. The coolest parts of the city are the giant white church that you can see from almost every part of the city. St. Slavas is the worlds largest orthodox church and our hostel was about 25 meteres from it. The other part of the city is the fortress, which is nice to visit. I did notice that the Serbians dont talk that much about the war compared to the Bosnians and Croatians. The weirdest/coolest part of Serbia though was that when me Sean and Slavika walked into the ? Cafe which is the oldest in the city, I heard my name full name called out for the first time in a while. "Kyle Healy?" I turned around and Colin O'Leary my cousin. I was in shock, first of all I am lucky if I get to see him once every couple of years because he lives in New York and goes to school at Yale, and secondly I had no idea he was going to be in the Balkans. Unfortunately he was getting ready to leave Serbia and we had just got there. It was still a pretty cool experience though. Next stop was going to be Bosnia.
Sarajevo was not what we were expecting, but we didnt really know what to expect. First we had no idea that it was in the mountains, oops. We also didnt know that it was so dangerous. I had never had so many people ask me "Why are you here". Like we were crazy for being in Bosnia. The first thing you notice is all the grave sites packed full of grave stones. Over 11000 people died in Sarajevo while the city was surrounded by the Serbian army. We learned alot about the war and how no one could go out during the day because of snipers. There is a part of the city called sniper alley where there are still bullet holes from them. The apartment buildings look like they were just under attack, holes in them and massive caliber bullet holes in them. It was a freaky site. There are still so many buildings that are in ruins and have not been repaired yet. The city seems to be doing well despite the war but the people are still a little cold. The food was good as well. There were a couple of scary experiences including every time we crossed the border in and out of bosnia, a total of about 9 times, for various reasons. The worst one was when we got our passports checked the guy got a real strange look on his face. He made the bus stop for about an hour and called in reinforcements. We got our backpacks disassembled and the contents layed out in front of them, and they went through everything we owned. They then had the dogs come and smell everything. While this was going on the soldiers still had our passports and seemed like he wasnt going to give them back. Eventually he did though and we were on our way. It was freaky because they carry some pretty big guns with them and I had a really bad vibe that he was going to plant some sort of drugs on us or something. It was creepy. Another situation was when we were just exploring the ruins of one of the buildings, and looking at shrapnel on the ground, just wandering around, we stumbled into a mine field that still had not been cleared of mines. The only thing telling us this was a thin line of yellow tape that looks like it had been there for ages. Some local man started yelling and waving his arms at us to get out, but of course we had no idea what he was saying so we walked closer to him, he freaked out more, and somehow we got the message that we should go out the way we came in. Pretty strange experience. Anyway we decided to go to Dubrovnik as soon as possible.. knowing that would be a nice oasis away from the crazyness.
Budapest-
What an amazing city. There is so much to do and see here, its overwhelming. Budapest is one of the places that I would tell everyone I wanted to go, and almost everyone would say how much they loved it or how many good things they have heard about the city. So my expectations were high to begin with. Budapest is full of amazing statues, lots of history, massive monuments, and of course the weird public baths. I spent a good 6 hours in the baths in total, which are these large thermal pools, each pool containing different minerals and different temperature water. The majority of the people in the baths are old men with giant pop bellys but there are a good amount of younger people as well. Everyone is so relaxed in the pools and the saunas it was definately a cultural experience. Budapest has some of the nicest, most beautiful people I have seen as well. Everyone is willing to help. There are also some really cool bars and places to hang out, that have a great vibe to them. Its not a city full of pretentious snoody people that go to their expensive hang out places to feel better than others. Its a great town. Eventually after talking with Sean we decided that we had a good time together and should travel all through Eastern Europe until I had to be in Rome and he had to go back to Prague, where he was working.
Next stop was Romania, not much to say specifically except that there were stray dogs everywhere. The people are typical Eastern European. We stayed the night there and decided to pack up to Serbia the next day.
Serbia was an experience. The bus ride took so long to get to Belgrade, and once again we had no idea what to expect. We kind of just assumed we would figure out what we wanted to do and see in Belgrade once we got there. We ended up staying 2 nights in total, and were pleasantly suprised with the city. Luckily my friend Mina who is from Serbia told one of her friends that we were coming to the city and she was nice enough to show us around. There is nothing like a local tour guide, and Slavika did a great job showing us around. The coolest parts of the city are the giant white church that you can see from almost every part of the city. St. Slavas is the worlds largest orthodox church and our hostel was about 25 meteres from it. The other part of the city is the fortress, which is nice to visit. I did notice that the Serbians dont talk that much about the war compared to the Bosnians and Croatians. The weirdest/coolest part of Serbia though was that when me Sean and Slavika walked into the ? Cafe which is the oldest in the city, I heard my name full name called out for the first time in a while. "Kyle Healy?" I turned around and Colin O'Leary my cousin. I was in shock, first of all I am lucky if I get to see him once every couple of years because he lives in New York and goes to school at Yale, and secondly I had no idea he was going to be in the Balkans. Unfortunately he was getting ready to leave Serbia and we had just got there. It was still a pretty cool experience though. Next stop was going to be Bosnia.
Sarajevo was not what we were expecting, but we didnt really know what to expect. First we had no idea that it was in the mountains, oops. We also didnt know that it was so dangerous. I had never had so many people ask me "Why are you here". Like we were crazy for being in Bosnia. The first thing you notice is all the grave sites packed full of grave stones. Over 11000 people died in Sarajevo while the city was surrounded by the Serbian army. We learned alot about the war and how no one could go out during the day because of snipers. There is a part of the city called sniper alley where there are still bullet holes from them. The apartment buildings look like they were just under attack, holes in them and massive caliber bullet holes in them. It was a freaky site. There are still so many buildings that are in ruins and have not been repaired yet. The city seems to be doing well despite the war but the people are still a little cold. The food was good as well. There were a couple of scary experiences including every time we crossed the border in and out of bosnia, a total of about 9 times, for various reasons. The worst one was when we got our passports checked the guy got a real strange look on his face. He made the bus stop for about an hour and called in reinforcements. We got our backpacks disassembled and the contents layed out in front of them, and they went through everything we owned. They then had the dogs come and smell everything. While this was going on the soldiers still had our passports and seemed like he wasnt going to give them back. Eventually he did though and we were on our way. It was freaky because they carry some pretty big guns with them and I had a really bad vibe that he was going to plant some sort of drugs on us or something. It was creepy. Another situation was when we were just exploring the ruins of one of the buildings, and looking at shrapnel on the ground, just wandering around, we stumbled into a mine field that still had not been cleared of mines. The only thing telling us this was a thin line of yellow tape that looks like it had been there for ages. Some local man started yelling and waving his arms at us to get out, but of course we had no idea what he was saying so we walked closer to him, he freaked out more, and somehow we got the message that we should go out the way we came in. Pretty strange experience. Anyway we decided to go to Dubrovnik as soon as possible.. knowing that would be a nice oasis away from the crazyness.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Budapest Pictures
awesome statue/monument, one of the most enjoyable so far
Climbed that and got amazing pictures of the city, could see everything it was awesome.
Vienna Pictures
WINGS + SWORD YES
friends, after the opera so i was still dressed up, only one person wanted to go with me to it. I actually liked it a lot.
i went to the opera
Supposedly the best chocolate torte in the world. Ive had better chocolate cake tbqh
Snowboarding/Switzerland/Austria Pictures
the pictures dont do it justice
11 kilometer run
Fondue
im a gangster
Frankfurt/Hofheim Pictures
Lisa Kathrin Moritz Myself
All the houses in Hofheim are pretty, and there are castles scattered throughout the area. I really liked it there
Eyeball monster graffiti down the drive way of Kathrins house
Went exploring the forest and climbed this giant observation tower with something like 300 steps to the top
View of Hofheim... kinda
The skyline is really nice in Frankfurt, wasnt expecting it
Sunday, March 8, 2009
This is unreal
Snowboarding post.
Starting off in Switzerland, I got there and there was more or less a blizzard. Luckily I didnt arrive in Interlaken until the night so none of my plans were ruined. I met a nice guy named Dylan and we decided to go skiing together. He is a pretty good skier and we decided that it would be better to ski with some one the next day because there was such a high risk of avalanch. Anyway we woke up bright and early for the free breakfast and were amazed to see that it was perfectly clear out. The mountain was empty for some reason. The cool thing about Jungrau is that there are these alpine trains that take you up to the summit. And there are a couple of runs where you can ride all the way from the top of the mountain to the bottom and take the train all the way to the top again. Its about an hour cycle to do that trip. Another cool thing is that when you do that run you end up going through a couple of small mountain towns on your way to the bottom. So I am crossing roads and bridges on icey snow covered paths on my way to the bottom. It was pretty cool. The mountain is definately a skiiers mountain because there are several flat sections where poles would come in really handy. It was no big deal though because I would just have to avoid those sections. Anyway I skiied there a couple days and it was amazing. Honestly not the best snow or runs but you cant beat the views.
Austria was the best snowboarding I have ever seen. I think I was lucky because I got here just after a huge storm, and the two days I snowboarded we had perfect visabiliy and some nice sun on one of the days. The off piste action was amazing here, the powder was knee high in most sections. The groomed runs were also amazing and there wasnt too many bumpy sections. Sunday was the best day of snowboarding I have had. The sun was out, everything was beautiful and the runs were in perfect condition. The bottom of the mountain got a bit slushy towards the end but other than that I was in heaven. I went on the longest run in Europe a 11 kilometer run from the top of the mountain down to a small town. I actually ended up doing it 4 times because the cable car that takes you back to the mountain was pretty quick. I would have to take the cable car then 2 more ski lifts to get back to the top of the run but it was worth it. I cant wait to upload a couple of pictures from the mountains. The place I am staying at here in Austria I thought was too good to be true, but its not. This really is unreal, I could not have pictured a more ideal place to stay, and its only 15 euros a night. Plus they give you a voucher to rent a board and boots for only another 13 euros a day. They also have one of the better free breakfasts with all you can eat nutella, honey, bread, cereal, milk, orange juice, cheeses, and cold cut meats. Dad will be happy to know that I skiied from 9 (opening) to 43ß (closing) everyday without taking a break for lunch.
I am going to Vienna or Wien tomorrow to recover. I am sooo exhausted from all the non stop boarding, and I dont think I could go all out for another day of riding. The cost of boarding and renting all my gear tends to add up as well. A friend of mine that I met in Munich let me know that she was going to be in Vienna with some friends she met in Prague, so it looks like Ill be going to the opera tomorrow with them. Its nice having no itinerary at all. People get so jealous when I tell them that I really have no idea where I will be next, and its always nice to change plans when a friend comes along.
Starting off in Switzerland, I got there and there was more or less a blizzard. Luckily I didnt arrive in Interlaken until the night so none of my plans were ruined. I met a nice guy named Dylan and we decided to go skiing together. He is a pretty good skier and we decided that it would be better to ski with some one the next day because there was such a high risk of avalanch. Anyway we woke up bright and early for the free breakfast and were amazed to see that it was perfectly clear out. The mountain was empty for some reason. The cool thing about Jungrau is that there are these alpine trains that take you up to the summit. And there are a couple of runs where you can ride all the way from the top of the mountain to the bottom and take the train all the way to the top again. Its about an hour cycle to do that trip. Another cool thing is that when you do that run you end up going through a couple of small mountain towns on your way to the bottom. So I am crossing roads and bridges on icey snow covered paths on my way to the bottom. It was pretty cool. The mountain is definately a skiiers mountain because there are several flat sections where poles would come in really handy. It was no big deal though because I would just have to avoid those sections. Anyway I skiied there a couple days and it was amazing. Honestly not the best snow or runs but you cant beat the views.
Austria was the best snowboarding I have ever seen. I think I was lucky because I got here just after a huge storm, and the two days I snowboarded we had perfect visabiliy and some nice sun on one of the days. The off piste action was amazing here, the powder was knee high in most sections. The groomed runs were also amazing and there wasnt too many bumpy sections. Sunday was the best day of snowboarding I have had. The sun was out, everything was beautiful and the runs were in perfect condition. The bottom of the mountain got a bit slushy towards the end but other than that I was in heaven. I went on the longest run in Europe a 11 kilometer run from the top of the mountain down to a small town. I actually ended up doing it 4 times because the cable car that takes you back to the mountain was pretty quick. I would have to take the cable car then 2 more ski lifts to get back to the top of the run but it was worth it. I cant wait to upload a couple of pictures from the mountains. The place I am staying at here in Austria I thought was too good to be true, but its not. This really is unreal, I could not have pictured a more ideal place to stay, and its only 15 euros a night. Plus they give you a voucher to rent a board and boots for only another 13 euros a day. They also have one of the better free breakfasts with all you can eat nutella, honey, bread, cereal, milk, orange juice, cheeses, and cold cut meats. Dad will be happy to know that I skiied from 9 (opening) to 43ß (closing) everyday without taking a break for lunch.
I am going to Vienna or Wien tomorrow to recover. I am sooo exhausted from all the non stop boarding, and I dont think I could go all out for another day of riding. The cost of boarding and renting all my gear tends to add up as well. A friend of mine that I met in Munich let me know that she was going to be in Vienna with some friends she met in Prague, so it looks like Ill be going to the opera tomorrow with them. Its nice having no itinerary at all. People get so jealous when I tell them that I really have no idea where I will be next, and its always nice to change plans when a friend comes along.
Friday, March 6, 2009
Whats on your mind
So everyone loves the little updates about what Im doing, but apparently people want to hear about what I have been thinking about and etc. I suppose that stuff is a little harder to share, but since I was on the train today for a good 13 hours and had to switch trains 5 times I had a lot of time to think.
So I was reading though Psalms waiting for something to jump out at me and it did. In Psalm 90:12 there is a line that says: Teach us to number our days so that we may gain a heart of wisdom. Of course I am all about gaining wisdom, learning as much as possible, and reading all that I can so I was interested in how I could gain wisdom from numbering our days. So I did it, I determined Ive been here for about 8300 days if you round up. The way I took the scripture to mean was that we need to treat every day like a gift and make the most of it. The bottom line is to not have any wasted days. So when I look at something like 8300 days I cant help but think of how many days Ive already wasted without being aware of it. If I am lucky I could live to be 100 which means about 365,000 days are in total. It brings me joy to think of this because I am making the most of every day that I am on this trip. I havent had a single moment when I have thought I have wasted an opportunity. I guess the wisdom comes from making the most of every day and being aware that we only have a limited time to experience all that we can on earth. I feel like there is so much to experience in the world and I would be foolish to not try and experience all these different places and cultures. To at least have a little taste of all that has been put here for us to experience is all that I ask for.
This brought me back to a conversation I was having with someone I ran into along the way when we were talking about our travels and what we are trying to accomplish on our journeys. He had some feeling that life owes him and that he deserves to see everything out there, where I on the other hand was stressing that life owes us nothing, but we in fact owe everything to life. I feel like he was traveling to escape his life, where as I am traveling to make sure that life doesnt escape me. I hope that no one at home thinks that I was trying to escape from them, the truth is I cant wait to get back home and see friends and family again, but that doesnt mean I am not also enjoying every moment I am having abroad.
Anyway I think maybe the point is that the real path to wisdom is to try and experience everything that God, by his magesty and grace, has given us the opportunity to experienece. Life is a risk, and that you never know who youre going to meet and who wil have an impact on you, or challenge you. I said I was getting tired of telling people the same old story about who I am and what I am doing and luckily I have realized that I should not get tired of that. I need to put myself out there even if its just for an hour or two. I need to take chance, take risks, and if it doesnt go how I wated I will never see those people again. Of course it going how I wanted is a hard to do since I have yet to find anyone whos standard for human interaction has been as high as mine.
Anyway, this took me back to a previous thought that dealt with shareing thoughts. I believe its hard to write everything that Im thinking in a readable and linear way because thoughts are, in fact, not linear at all. I am fascinated with the articulation of thoughts. I believe it is a subconscious goal of mine to reach a point where I can write down what I am thinking in a coherent way. A way which would inspire others. Inspire others to think, but not think like me, but to think for themselves. By using a medium that I have deemed as imperfect to track my thoughts and journey while in Europe I am not necessarily doomed for failure. I have learned this from CS Lewis, from Dostoevsky and Rand that writing can be extremely efficient. I believe all people have profound things to say, but those that have been given the gift of articulation, thereby the gift of reaching people and having an impact on them… they are remembered forever. That is what is so appealing about writing. This is why I inevitably feel as though I need to document my trip and give people a chance to reflect on it. I fear that I will lose track of what I wanted to write, or not get my thoughts across and therefore have only shared about what I have encountered. I do not think that will stop me from transferring my scattered thoughts onto these pages. Even now my head is full of things to write down about my trip and to get off my mind. Luckily I have a journal for most of the scattered things flying though my head. The presence of such an overwhelming amount of thoughts, ideas, commentary, which are present in every person make it a chore to organize them and articulate them in a manner fitting for others to see. Fortunately for me these pages do not tremble. These pages don’t blush, and there is no such thing as a shy blog. If anything this medium has the potential to let people know what I am really feeling. We´ll see how that works out.
Cant wait for you to get here brother. Two more weeks!
-Kyle
So I was reading though Psalms waiting for something to jump out at me and it did. In Psalm 90:12 there is a line that says: Teach us to number our days so that we may gain a heart of wisdom. Of course I am all about gaining wisdom, learning as much as possible, and reading all that I can so I was interested in how I could gain wisdom from numbering our days. So I did it, I determined Ive been here for about 8300 days if you round up. The way I took the scripture to mean was that we need to treat every day like a gift and make the most of it. The bottom line is to not have any wasted days. So when I look at something like 8300 days I cant help but think of how many days Ive already wasted without being aware of it. If I am lucky I could live to be 100 which means about 365,000 days are in total. It brings me joy to think of this because I am making the most of every day that I am on this trip. I havent had a single moment when I have thought I have wasted an opportunity. I guess the wisdom comes from making the most of every day and being aware that we only have a limited time to experience all that we can on earth. I feel like there is so much to experience in the world and I would be foolish to not try and experience all these different places and cultures. To at least have a little taste of all that has been put here for us to experience is all that I ask for.
This brought me back to a conversation I was having with someone I ran into along the way when we were talking about our travels and what we are trying to accomplish on our journeys. He had some feeling that life owes him and that he deserves to see everything out there, where I on the other hand was stressing that life owes us nothing, but we in fact owe everything to life. I feel like he was traveling to escape his life, where as I am traveling to make sure that life doesnt escape me. I hope that no one at home thinks that I was trying to escape from them, the truth is I cant wait to get back home and see friends and family again, but that doesnt mean I am not also enjoying every moment I am having abroad.
Anyway I think maybe the point is that the real path to wisdom is to try and experience everything that God, by his magesty and grace, has given us the opportunity to experienece. Life is a risk, and that you never know who youre going to meet and who wil have an impact on you, or challenge you. I said I was getting tired of telling people the same old story about who I am and what I am doing and luckily I have realized that I should not get tired of that. I need to put myself out there even if its just for an hour or two. I need to take chance, take risks, and if it doesnt go how I wated I will never see those people again. Of course it going how I wanted is a hard to do since I have yet to find anyone whos standard for human interaction has been as high as mine.
Anyway, this took me back to a previous thought that dealt with shareing thoughts. I believe its hard to write everything that Im thinking in a readable and linear way because thoughts are, in fact, not linear at all. I am fascinated with the articulation of thoughts. I believe it is a subconscious goal of mine to reach a point where I can write down what I am thinking in a coherent way. A way which would inspire others. Inspire others to think, but not think like me, but to think for themselves. By using a medium that I have deemed as imperfect to track my thoughts and journey while in Europe I am not necessarily doomed for failure. I have learned this from CS Lewis, from Dostoevsky and Rand that writing can be extremely efficient. I believe all people have profound things to say, but those that have been given the gift of articulation, thereby the gift of reaching people and having an impact on them… they are remembered forever. That is what is so appealing about writing. This is why I inevitably feel as though I need to document my trip and give people a chance to reflect on it. I fear that I will lose track of what I wanted to write, or not get my thoughts across and therefore have only shared about what I have encountered. I do not think that will stop me from transferring my scattered thoughts onto these pages. Even now my head is full of things to write down about my trip and to get off my mind. Luckily I have a journal for most of the scattered things flying though my head. The presence of such an overwhelming amount of thoughts, ideas, commentary, which are present in every person make it a chore to organize them and articulate them in a manner fitting for others to see. Fortunately for me these pages do not tremble. These pages don’t blush, and there is no such thing as a shy blog. If anything this medium has the potential to let people know what I am really feeling. We´ll see how that works out.
Cant wait for you to get here brother. Two more weeks!
-Kyle
Switzerland
Switzerland is so incredibly beautiful. The hostel I stayed at is pretty world famous and I met a lot of good people there. I was super excited to do some snowboarding. I was suprised at how wide open the mountain is. We snowboarded on Jungfrau which I believe is the tallest mountain in Europe, or one of them, because they kept calling it the top of Europe. Anyway there are no trees on any of the runs which I am definately not used to. The swiss also ski kind of weird, no one really goes super fast down the mountain, and instead just try and make sure they have perfect form. No one skies when it snows either. So the first day it was nice a clear and there wasnt really many people there, and the second day when it was snowing and full of powder there was no one on the mountain.
The snow isnt as good as Utah or California but the scenery can not be matched. The views from the mountain are incredible. The Alps are so steep and massive that wherever you look there is a giant face stareing back at you. So I snowboarded 2 days with a couple of guys I met, and afterward had some good times in the bar. Also went on a 60 km bike ride around one of the lakes of Interlaken with some crazy Canadian triathalon chick. It is a pretty cool town, and would be fun to come back to in the Summer to do some skydiving or cliff jumping or something.
I am in Austria now and my hostel is 50 m from the nearest lift to the top of the mountain, and 50 m in the other direction are some world famous hot springs to relax in after skiing all day. Its snowing now and tomorrow will be nothing but powder.
Really need to get some sleep and the computers here are expensive and you cant upload pictures so this post is a little lack luster. Oh well.
The snow isnt as good as Utah or California but the scenery can not be matched. The views from the mountain are incredible. The Alps are so steep and massive that wherever you look there is a giant face stareing back at you. So I snowboarded 2 days with a couple of guys I met, and afterward had some good times in the bar. Also went on a 60 km bike ride around one of the lakes of Interlaken with some crazy Canadian triathalon chick. It is a pretty cool town, and would be fun to come back to in the Summer to do some skydiving or cliff jumping or something.
I am in Austria now and my hostel is 50 m from the nearest lift to the top of the mountain, and 50 m in the other direction are some world famous hot springs to relax in after skiing all day. Its snowing now and tomorrow will be nothing but powder.
Really need to get some sleep and the computers here are expensive and you cant upload pictures so this post is a little lack luster. Oh well.
Hofheim slash Frankfurt
Frankfurt was pretty cool. I spent most of the time in a suburb outside of Frankfurt called Hofheim, though, and it was one of the better times Ive had on the trip so far. I think it helped me realize that I like the smaller cities, and Hofheim is perfect because you can jump on the S-Bahn and be in Frankfurt in about 20 minutes.
Frankfurt has a real big city feel to it. The skyline is very impressive, and has some of the cooler and bigger buildings Ive seen.
Spending some time with Kathrin and her family was exactly what I needed. When I got there I was completely exhausted. I tried not to show how tired and lazyI was at first, but I really needed a nice rest. There was so much sight seeing and traveling that I rarely had time to just take a break and rest. So when I found out that I was going to have my own warm bed, in a nice house, with a home cooked meal I was pretty excited.
Kathrin was nice enough to introduce me to all her friends and show me around Hofheim and Frankfurt. We went to Moritz, a friend of hers, house and had a nice meal with Kathrins friends. Went into the city to see some museums and enjoy the sights of Frankfurt. We played soccer with some people (Im actually not that bad). One of the funnier nights was when we tried to go clubbing. Without getting too much into the story we ended up getting lost on the way there, getting lost after we parked, and eventually going into the wrong club. We made the most of it though.
I was on a mission to try all things German, most of which are different varieties of candy or strange looking sausages in the meat market. The gummy bears are awesome, as is the Toffeefee and Marshmallowcreamychocolate things. Kathrins mom made us an amazing meal one night, with some friend potatoes, some sort of pork, and some sourkraut.
We had a really fun night before I left when Me, Kathrin, Moritz and Liza went downtown to just hang out. There wasnt much going on since it was monday, but we ended up finding some crazy guy who bought us all drinks. The most fun though was just walking around with Kathrin looking for castels in the forest, or enjoying a nice tea at the house. Had some good laughs, and I really wish I could spend some more time in Hofheim. I was definately looking forward to doing some snowboarding though. Im a little rushed and I could probably type forever but dont have that much time and cant upload pictures so Ill do that later.
-Kyle
Frankfurt has a real big city feel to it. The skyline is very impressive, and has some of the cooler and bigger buildings Ive seen.
Spending some time with Kathrin and her family was exactly what I needed. When I got there I was completely exhausted. I tried not to show how tired and lazyI was at first, but I really needed a nice rest. There was so much sight seeing and traveling that I rarely had time to just take a break and rest. So when I found out that I was going to have my own warm bed, in a nice house, with a home cooked meal I was pretty excited.
Kathrin was nice enough to introduce me to all her friends and show me around Hofheim and Frankfurt. We went to Moritz, a friend of hers, house and had a nice meal with Kathrins friends. Went into the city to see some museums and enjoy the sights of Frankfurt. We played soccer with some people (Im actually not that bad). One of the funnier nights was when we tried to go clubbing. Without getting too much into the story we ended up getting lost on the way there, getting lost after we parked, and eventually going into the wrong club. We made the most of it though.
I was on a mission to try all things German, most of which are different varieties of candy or strange looking sausages in the meat market. The gummy bears are awesome, as is the Toffeefee and Marshmallowcreamychocolate things. Kathrins mom made us an amazing meal one night, with some friend potatoes, some sort of pork, and some sourkraut.
We had a really fun night before I left when Me, Kathrin, Moritz and Liza went downtown to just hang out. There wasnt much going on since it was monday, but we ended up finding some crazy guy who bought us all drinks. The most fun though was just walking around with Kathrin looking for castels in the forest, or enjoying a nice tea at the house. Had some good laughs, and I really wish I could spend some more time in Hofheim. I was definately looking forward to doing some snowboarding though. Im a little rushed and I could probably type forever but dont have that much time and cant upload pictures so Ill do that later.
-Kyle
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Munchen Pix
Munich was awesome. Lets see.. I think Im uploading a couple pictures of the people I hung out with. I picture of the GLOKENSPIEL or something like that. Its a giant clock that makes annoying bell noises and has about 4 moveing pieces that spin around and looks dumb. But for some reason people love video taping it and gathering around it every day at 11 and 12. It is one of the few thing that did survive the bombing of Munich along with the 2 tower dome things you can see in one of the pictures.
Its strange how all the WW2 memorials are all on the ground somewhere and in places where you will just walk by them without noticing them. There is absolutely nothing to do with Hitler anywhere, even in the Hofbrauhaus which was baisicallz his main base in the beginning of his rise to power. There are some pictures of the house of parliament which I thought looked cool, as well as the river, and some food. The picture is of the schweisswurst and semilknoddle or however its spelled. Greg would be thrilled to know that Schneiders makes one of the better weissbiers in Munich. There is a picture of the market area, where you can do all your food related shopping and get things really fresh and reallz good looking. That is where I would get the spicz red bratwurst that I fell in love with. I went to the BMW headquarters and show room where you can see all the futuristic models of cars thez plan on making as well as the cars thez have out right now. There is also a museum.
I also decided to go to the Olzmpic Stadium in Munich, it was prettz amaying. I was told there was a view point where you can climb the highest peak in Munich and see all of the citz and all of the Olzmpic area. Thez said no one goes up it in the winter, but I decided to do it anzwaz. It was a long hike to get to the top, and the picture of it doesnt do it justice, and the pictures from the top of it dont do it justice either, except for the one of me at the top with the stadium and TV tower in the background. The citz szmbol of Munich is the Lion so there are statues of Azlan everzwhere. I want one. Anzwaz Frankfurt is nice, and Im going to Interlaken on Tuesdaz, going to snowboard Jungfrau and then going to the Gastein area in Austria to do some more snowboarding, probablz spend a daz or two in Vienna recovering and sitting at their famous cafes, then to Budapest, make a stop in Croatia and on to Rome to meet brother there. At least thats the plan right now. I dont know if Ill have the chance to post when Im in the Alps since Ill be gone all daz and exhausted at night, but we shall see.
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