First and foremost - holy moley, Jeff! I'm surprised I didn't hear that shirt all the way here in Europe. It's so... eccentric. Awesome, man.
After that shirt, my day doesn't look as fun. This morning I went on Salzburg's world famous "Sound of Music Tour". Haha. Believe me, if you come to Salzburg, you probably won't be able to avoid the ads for it. Originally, I wasn't planning on going. I hadn't seen The Sound of Music in ages, and now that I think about it, I don't know if I've seen the entire thing. But I was talking to my mom and she said I should try to go to various tours and what not, to really be able to see a city and know what you're looking at rather than seeing it on my own. She said I should go on this one for the hell of it.
So I did and it was actually pretty interesting. Salzburg and the surrounding towns have such picturesque scenery with lakes and beautiful green hills, I was actually glad I went because if I were on my own, I wouldn't have seen it. And now if I ever watch that movie again, I'll have been to some of the spots in it.
After the tour I explored the Salzburg fortress thing (I forget the name). It was pretty cool, but again, another beautiful 360-degree view of surrounding areas, all the way to the Alps.
Tomorrow I leave for Zurich to meet up with Blake, an Australian that my family and I met on our tour. From there we'll be heading off to the last weekend of Oktoberfest. I'm pretty excited about the beer festival. I've heard so many fun stories about it and I'm looking forward to it. Anyhow, I'll get going now. So long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, good bye.
Wednesday, September 29, 2004
Tuesday, September 28, 2004
Monday, September 27, 2004
Vienna II
It's almost like one of those damn jokes...
So a Spaniard, an Australian, and an American walk into a bar... and whatever. I'm too drunk too complete the joke.
So a Spaniard, an Australian, and an American walk into a bar... and whatever. I'm too drunk too complete the joke.
Sunday, September 26, 2004
Vienna
I don't really have much to blog since I just blogged last night. I just thought I'd let everyone know I'm in Vienna now. I'll be spending tonight and tomorrow night here, and then I'm off to Salzburg.
One thing that is a little interesting, though: You notice pretty quickly from the various buildings and how everything looks when you come from an Eastern block country in Europe like the Czech Republic and Hungary to another country like Austria. Although their's graffiti everywhere, there's isn't as much. Budapest had a bunch of broken glass on various buildings. Maybe I was just in the wrong part of town, but things look newer and what not in Austria. And changing from the Firent (Hungarian currency) back to the Euro was welcome. Doing conversions when Firent notes are in multiples of 100 and 1000 are tough. I really wish I had found that calculator watch.
One thing that is a little interesting, though: You notice pretty quickly from the various buildings and how everything looks when you come from an Eastern block country in Europe like the Czech Republic and Hungary to another country like Austria. Although their's graffiti everywhere, there's isn't as much. Budapest had a bunch of broken glass on various buildings. Maybe I was just in the wrong part of town, but things look newer and what not in Austria. And changing from the Firent (Hungarian currency) back to the Euro was welcome. Doing conversions when Firent notes are in multiples of 100 and 1000 are tough. I really wish I had found that calculator watch.
Saturday, September 25, 2004
Budapest
Crazy adventure in the last 24 hours or so.
So last night, a travelling buddy and I had planned to take the night train from Prague to Budapest. We figured it would be cool since it was like a nine hour train ride and we could sleep on the sleeper trains and not have to pay for a hostel.
At around 10:30PM we leave the Prague hostel and head to the train station. We get there at around 11:00 and board the train at around 11:10 for an 11:35 departure. I thought this would be great since all the trains I had gotten on thus far usually started boarding like 10 minutes before departure. We'd be able to hop into our compartment and just take it easy. Goodness was I wrong.
It turns out they had overbooked the sleeper carriage we were on. After giving our ticket to the young, little conductor guy, we got onto the train and entered one of those super small hallways you see trains with rooms might have. Two people walking in opposite directions have to go sideways to pass. Imagine me with my huge ass backpack. Going sideways doesn't help. And to make matters worse, there's a crowd in the hallway because of the mixup. Two foreigners end up leaving before the train departs. There are two people in the room that me and my travelling buddy are booked to be in. This isn't good.
While trying to figure out what the hell is going on (everyone is speaking in Czech and we have no f***ing clue what anyone is saying), this fat guy is trying to walk down past us. He's able to pass by my friend who is asking the guys in our room what's happening. But I'm thinking to myself, "There's no way in hell this fat guy is gonna pass me." We try to figure it out. I back up a little and luckily, it seems, there's this open room with a lady in there wondering what the commotion is about.
I back up and try to get the guy to go into the room so that I can pass. There's a little bit of pushing going on when I think to myself, "Do I have my wallet?" So I check for it. It's not there.
"Hey! Where's my wallet!?" And then I shove the guy into the room. I set down my backpack and ask again "Where's my wallet!?" It's a bit easier to move now that I have my backpack off. Then suddenly he pulls out this little pocket knife. I ask him where my wallet is again and then in an instant he sort of comes toward me. I grabbed the arm holding the knife to keep it away and then elbow him in the nose. And then I pull down his head into my knee and he drops the knife and I quickly pick it up. He stays hunched over and gives me my wallet back. Then we waited for the police to get there.
That's the exciting story.
Haha. The real story goes like this: The fat guy got my wallet and I yelled "Hey! Where's my wallet!?" and pushed him. Then he gave it back to me and he just kept going. I warned the others behind me but I didn't want any trouble so didn't call the police or anything. Haha. Way more boring, huh.
But that was just the beginning of our interesting night. Because of the overbooking, my friend and I and the chinese couple are the only ones left without a room for like an hour. Eventually, the conductor guy figures out a way for us to get a room and we get one. We're able to settle in and go to sleep.
But then there's a bunch of knocks on the door. It's passport checking time. They bang on your doors loudly. Then my friend went to go use the toilet and the conductor tells him that he's going to have to add another person to our room (it sleeps 3). So we're waiting for a new roommate when someone knocks on the door again. It's the conductor and he says "Problem," and then closes the door. Another banging on the door comes. This time, it's a guy maybe 4 inches taller than me. He doesn't see me because I'm on the top bunk but he asks my friend for help. "Do you have a weapon? Help me fight."
The fat guy tried to strike again.
After that, we just closed our door and locked it up. My friend slept with his knife by him. I just slept. Haha. Crazy night. I was pooped.
So last night, a travelling buddy and I had planned to take the night train from Prague to Budapest. We figured it would be cool since it was like a nine hour train ride and we could sleep on the sleeper trains and not have to pay for a hostel.
At around 10:30PM we leave the Prague hostel and head to the train station. We get there at around 11:00 and board the train at around 11:10 for an 11:35 departure. I thought this would be great since all the trains I had gotten on thus far usually started boarding like 10 minutes before departure. We'd be able to hop into our compartment and just take it easy. Goodness was I wrong.
It turns out they had overbooked the sleeper carriage we were on. After giving our ticket to the young, little conductor guy, we got onto the train and entered one of those super small hallways you see trains with rooms might have. Two people walking in opposite directions have to go sideways to pass. Imagine me with my huge ass backpack. Going sideways doesn't help. And to make matters worse, there's a crowd in the hallway because of the mixup. Two foreigners end up leaving before the train departs. There are two people in the room that me and my travelling buddy are booked to be in. This isn't good.
While trying to figure out what the hell is going on (everyone is speaking in Czech and we have no f***ing clue what anyone is saying), this fat guy is trying to walk down past us. He's able to pass by my friend who is asking the guys in our room what's happening. But I'm thinking to myself, "There's no way in hell this fat guy is gonna pass me." We try to figure it out. I back up a little and luckily, it seems, there's this open room with a lady in there wondering what the commotion is about.
I back up and try to get the guy to go into the room so that I can pass. There's a little bit of pushing going on when I think to myself, "Do I have my wallet?" So I check for it. It's not there.
"Hey! Where's my wallet!?" And then I shove the guy into the room. I set down my backpack and ask again "Where's my wallet!?" It's a bit easier to move now that I have my backpack off. Then suddenly he pulls out this little pocket knife. I ask him where my wallet is again and then in an instant he sort of comes toward me. I grabbed the arm holding the knife to keep it away and then elbow him in the nose. And then I pull down his head into my knee and he drops the knife and I quickly pick it up. He stays hunched over and gives me my wallet back. Then we waited for the police to get there.
That's the exciting story.
Haha. The real story goes like this: The fat guy got my wallet and I yelled "Hey! Where's my wallet!?" and pushed him. Then he gave it back to me and he just kept going. I warned the others behind me but I didn't want any trouble so didn't call the police or anything. Haha. Way more boring, huh.
But that was just the beginning of our interesting night. Because of the overbooking, my friend and I and the chinese couple are the only ones left without a room for like an hour. Eventually, the conductor guy figures out a way for us to get a room and we get one. We're able to settle in and go to sleep.
But then there's a bunch of knocks on the door. It's passport checking time. They bang on your doors loudly. Then my friend went to go use the toilet and the conductor tells him that he's going to have to add another person to our room (it sleeps 3). So we're waiting for a new roommate when someone knocks on the door again. It's the conductor and he says "Problem," and then closes the door. Another banging on the door comes. This time, it's a guy maybe 4 inches taller than me. He doesn't see me because I'm on the top bunk but he asks my friend for help. "Do you have a weapon? Help me fight."
The fat guy tried to strike again.
After that, we just closed our door and locked it up. My friend slept with his knife by him. I just slept. Haha. Crazy night. I was pooped.
Wednesday, September 22, 2004
Prague
Hey folks. So meeting people has been pretty cool. What I've learned so far is you have to stay at the right hostels. Staying at the wrong ones is trouble. My first night in Berlin was rather bad because the hostel I ended up staying at was pretty small and seemingly catered to only Germans. Everyone I met there spoke German so talking to them was tough. I ended up sleeping early that first night.
But then I moved on to a better hostel in a better location and actually met people there. There's some interesting characters at these hostels. I've met a ton of Australians, a good amount of Americans, and various other Europeans.
It's been fun for sure. But yeah, seriously, I have until October 28. Someone really should come out here. I just keep thinking it would be fun with friends around. All these people love to travel and it's just amazing some of the stories they've told me. This one guy woke up hungover and decided to quit his job. He put his resignation in that day and has now been travelling throughout Europe for 4 months. Money is replaceable, the experience isn't. Haha. Be young. Email me for my revised itinerary. Hahaha.
But then I moved on to a better hostel in a better location and actually met people there. There's some interesting characters at these hostels. I've met a ton of Australians, a good amount of Americans, and various other Europeans.
It's been fun for sure. But yeah, seriously, I have until October 28. Someone really should come out here. I just keep thinking it would be fun with friends around. All these people love to travel and it's just amazing some of the stories they've told me. This one guy woke up hungover and decided to quit his job. He put his resignation in that day and has now been travelling throughout Europe for 4 months. Money is replaceable, the experience isn't. Haha. Be young. Email me for my revised itinerary. Hahaha.
Monday, September 20, 2004
Berlin
I´m in Berlin right now after having spent two nights in Amsterdam. I know it´s only been three nights that I´ve been on my own but occasionally, like right now, I get homesick. I´m hoping this feeling will pass (really soon) but right now, I think I´m just too use to having familiar faces around, especially family and friends. It sort of sucks having to make friends only to leave the next day and then try to make new friends again in a new place.
Right now, I know I´m just being cynical but I want to get out of Berlin, rush through Prague, and get to Oktoberfest in Munich already. I think I´ll still swing through Vienna and Salzburg, but I just want to get through to Munich. And then Italy, France and Spain, where I think I´ll enjoy the scenery more. Yeah, the weather makes it gloomy with the clouds and stuff. Someone meet me up! Haha.
Right now, I know I´m just being cynical but I want to get out of Berlin, rush through Prague, and get to Oktoberfest in Munich already. I think I´ll still swing through Vienna and Salzburg, but I just want to get through to Munich. And then Italy, France and Spain, where I think I´ll enjoy the scenery more. Yeah, the weather makes it gloomy with the clouds and stuff. Someone meet me up! Haha.
Sunday, September 19, 2004
Amsterdam
Hallo, folks. I'm here in Amsterdam for my last night. It's been a really fun time. I've met some cool people out here for sure. I hope everyone's as friendly at other hostels but I won't keep my hopes up.
So last night I got pretty damn wasted. I was with these very cool people I had just met and we were just going around. For two hours straight I was on mute. Everytime they asked me a question, I'd say "Dude, I'm fucked." Good times. I felt obligated to apologize for being unsociable so I did the next morning. And also said sorry for the snoring. It's a good thing I've only been staying at places one night at a time so far. Haha.
Tomorrow I'm headed off to Berlin then Prague. I think this is the scariest part of my journey just because I'm worried about any possible racism. Haha. Maybe I'm just being dumb. Anyway, till next time. Take care everyone.
So last night I got pretty damn wasted. I was with these very cool people I had just met and we were just going around. For two hours straight I was on mute. Everytime they asked me a question, I'd say "Dude, I'm fucked." Good times. I felt obligated to apologize for being unsociable so I did the next morning. And also said sorry for the snoring. It's a good thing I've only been staying at places one night at a time so far. Haha.
Tomorrow I'm headed off to Berlin then Prague. I think this is the scariest part of my journey just because I'm worried about any possible racism. Haha. Maybe I'm just being dumb. Anyway, till next time. Take care everyone.
Friday, September 17, 2004
Paris
Bonjour. So I hopped into an internet cafe to post a quick blog. I'm on my own and right now, I'm actually sort of bummed. My family just left and it was great having their company. And I just spoke to some folks back home, too (Happy belated Birthday, Ei!). Now I shall roam the streets of Paris by myself until tomorrow when I'm off to Amsterdam to... stock up. Haha. The past two weeks or so have been really fun despite the early wake up calls and fast pace. Now I can take my time but without the great company. I miss everyone out there. If anyone has a free long weekend and is fortunate enough to find a good, cheap airfare deal I'd appreciate the company. Anyhow, I'm off to see if I can stay at a local hostel. Au revoir.
Saturday, September 11, 2004
Rome I
The albatross is a vicious bird. We were in Venice (Venezia), Italy the other day in La Plaza di San Marco when we saw an albatross attack a pigeon. The albatross is a bit bigger than the pigeon and it was such an unfair fight -- unless the millions of other pigeons ganged up on the single albatross. But this albatross, goodness gracious. It grabbed hold of this pigeon's wing and just went crazy. And then it kept stabbing it with its beak so much that its beak was caked with blood and feathers. Viciously disturbing.
We're in Rome now, just a couple of meters away from the Spanish Steps. We went to the Vatican, Colosseum, Pantheon, and Roman Forum. And we still haven't seen everything. Tonight's our last night here but I definitely plan to come back here when I'm on my own.
Anyway, we're just wrapping up a pizza meal in front of a computer so I thought I'd blog. It's also September 11. It was rather nice of our tour director from Holland to ask for a moment of silence and nice of the Australians, British, and other assorted nationalities to oblige. Anyhow, till next time.
We're in Rome now, just a couple of meters away from the Spanish Steps. We went to the Vatican, Colosseum, Pantheon, and Roman Forum. And we still haven't seen everything. Tonight's our last night here but I definitely plan to come back here when I'm on my own.
Anyway, we're just wrapping up a pizza meal in front of a computer so I thought I'd blog. It's also September 11. It was rather nice of our tour director from Holland to ask for a moment of silence and nice of the Australians, British, and other assorted nationalities to oblige. Anyhow, till next time.
Monday, September 6, 2004
Brussels
Our family is the dark chinese family on the tour. Haha. Not really, but occasionally it seems that way. While we were taking a taxi around London, we were chatting with the driver. It was the six of us (my siblings, parents, cousin Cheryl and I) and we were just asking him what sites he would recommend, places to shop, and restaurants to eat at.
"What's some English food that we should be trying?" we'd ask.
"Well, if you're able to remember, I'd recommend a good place to get some good mash and fish and chips in the morning. But they're closed now. We have a great little China town with good Chinese food. I can show you where."
"Are there any other places open right now to get some fish and chips?"
"Not that I can think of. But I can show you where China town is if you like."
Haha. I forget how the conversation went but it seemed he kept trying to steer us to go to China town. Hahaha. Despite this, the few taxi drivers in London we were able to speak to were pretty cool. London, in general, is way overpriced from what we saw, though. The taxi driver was saying he laughs at us Americans when we complain about paying $2 a gallon for gas. They pay about 3-4 pounds a gallon or so for gas. The conversion rate is roughly 1 pound for every 2 US dollars, so that comes out to like $6-8 per gallon. Absoultely ridiculous.
Anyway. I haven't blogged since my first London stopover I think. Since then, we've spent a full day in Amsterdam, a full day in London, and now we're here in Brussels. I had a belgian waffle. Pretty good. Haven't had belgian chocolate yet and it doesn't look like I'm going to get to try it unless I come back on my own. I have to get up in about 6 hours so we can head off to Switzerland.
Hm. So I sort of stole this Internet time, too. They're not very bright. They have this glass case with the cards with passcodes on them for Internet access. I memorized the top card and jumped online. Haha. I'm not about to pay 10 Euro for 45 minutes of Internet time. That's crazy talk. But yes. I'm going to sign off now. Ciao.
"What's some English food that we should be trying?" we'd ask.
"Well, if you're able to remember, I'd recommend a good place to get some good mash and fish and chips in the morning. But they're closed now. We have a great little China town with good Chinese food. I can show you where."
"Are there any other places open right now to get some fish and chips?"
"Not that I can think of. But I can show you where China town is if you like."
Haha. I forget how the conversation went but it seemed he kept trying to steer us to go to China town. Hahaha. Despite this, the few taxi drivers in London we were able to speak to were pretty cool. London, in general, is way overpriced from what we saw, though. The taxi driver was saying he laughs at us Americans when we complain about paying $2 a gallon for gas. They pay about 3-4 pounds a gallon or so for gas. The conversion rate is roughly 1 pound for every 2 US dollars, so that comes out to like $6-8 per gallon. Absoultely ridiculous.
Anyway. I haven't blogged since my first London stopover I think. Since then, we've spent a full day in Amsterdam, a full day in London, and now we're here in Brussels. I had a belgian waffle. Pretty good. Haven't had belgian chocolate yet and it doesn't look like I'm going to get to try it unless I come back on my own. I have to get up in about 6 hours so we can head off to Switzerland.
Hm. So I sort of stole this Internet time, too. They're not very bright. They have this glass case with the cards with passcodes on them for Internet access. I memorized the top card and jumped online. Haha. I'm not about to pay 10 Euro for 45 minutes of Internet time. That's crazy talk. But yes. I'm going to sign off now. Ciao.
Thursday, September 2, 2004
London Stopover
English accents are pretty cool. My siblings and I arrived in London Gatwick a little while ago. I'm keeping this blog short since it's only a stopover till we head out to our first real destination - Amsterdam. But yes. As little a thing as announcements over the intercom or conversations I've eavesdropped on have been all the more interesting because of the accents. I guess I'm just being a dumb dope though.
This airport is pretty big and super busy. There's not much more to say beyond that, yet, so I'm signing off. Perhaps a blog from the Netherlands will be next if I'm not... uhm... inebriated.
P.S. My blog times are still in Pacific Standard Time. It's probably a little past 10AM here but I don't have a clock.
This airport is pretty big and super busy. There's not much more to say beyond that, yet, so I'm signing off. Perhaps a blog from the Netherlands will be next if I'm not... uhm... inebriated.
P.S. My blog times are still in Pacific Standard Time. It's probably a little past 10AM here but I don't have a clock.
Wednesday, September 1, 2004
Gone Till (November)...
Alright. I sort of made a calendar for those of you who are interested. I don't know how closely I'll be following it because it really only allows one day to enjoy each city with the exception of a few. I may be throwing some cities out and possibly (but not likely) adding other cities. You can find the calendar here.
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