Blitz Blog

I am on my way out of Köln right now and I have too much to update for the nine minutes remaining on my internet login. I have survived Amsterdam. I opted for the mellow tour more than the nightlife, partially because the nightlife is hit or miss during the week and partly because I desperately needed rest. I haven't yet had time to sit and collect my thoughts so I'll update for the last few days tonight in berlin. Just wanted to let anyone who might be interested that I'm still truckin. Berlin should be amazing with the germany-argentina game tomorrow and i'll be in the heart of it. okay, train to catch.
Auf weidersehen!

Day six. I am a vagabond. I made a half-assed effort at my Brugge hostel to find a place in Amsterdam for Saturday night. No luck so I booked for Sunday. Hopping the train with the intention of finding a place once in Amsterdam, I sat next to a Brugge resident who told me Antwerpen was nice. He left so I moved next to a striking young woman with crystal blue eyes. She also said Antwerpen was nice and after 30 minutes of converstation offered to host me in Budapest.

She left and I was left with a decision 10 minutes later at the Antwerp station. I got off the track thinking I could scope the city briefly and hop on the next train to Amsterdam if I came up cold. A brilliant tour guide answered every question I could have asked as soon as I said, "Hi, I've just arrived and am looking for places to stay." He directed me to "the cheapest hostel in town, The Boomerang," and circled on the map all the place I might like to see.

Half an hour later I had walked to where the hostel was supposed to be...95 Lang Leerstraadt, and saw nothing but a little grocery store and some derilect buildings. A local pointed out that the 95 was written discreetly near the door so I buzzed the place. Inside, I learned that Migumi and her husband prefer to keep the place hidden to avoid unwanted attention. I booked a room and breakfast for 14.5 euro, seriously the best price I've seen. The 16 person bunked room was nice and the beds were fine. I was thrilled. I also had the first moment of quite repose yet on this trip. I am beginning to understand what seasoned travelers say about giving yourself some quiet time. I expect to get that here in Amsterdam at some point. I'll be here for a few days so there's no need to wear myself out futher.

Antwerp is dynamic. There are hip, young, rich kids who party till the sun comes up (I know, I walked home surrounded by birdsongs at dawn) and there are intellectual art types from the city's two large art schools. They were out to party in celebration of completed exams. I wandered the city in search of cheap food and found a portugese street party fueled by cupra libre's and mohitos. The city is also a cultural smorgasbord, pick a nationality and it's probably represented. The cheap food turned out to be one of the ubiquitous pita shops where I had a pita that curbstomps Pita Pit. It was one mean pita. The pita maker directed me to the red light district and a number of the best clubs in town.

Wandering in the direction of said red light district, I came across an art exhibit. "Art exhibit" is a widely used term in Antwerpen, I believe. Artists will take/acuire/rent/squat an unoccupied space and create/show art. So this particular exhibit (opening last night with a party) was a white room dominated by a spiderweb of wooden planks contrasted with an intricately placed design in gravel on the floor. Modern? yes. Art? who's to say it isn't? Anyway, that group took me underwing and we strolled through the city and turned out to be wonderful company for stimulating coversation over good beer. Our visit to the red light district was...eye-opening. At the entrance of this government controlled "institution??" was a big red sign reading "WHY NOT?" Hm...not something our 9th grade health teachers want us questioning. It was weird and actually put me off a bit. Didn't stop me from hitting the hottest club in town (smack dab in the middle of the R.L.Dist.) Sweet setup but I was too tired/sober to enjoy it fully so I hit the nearest snack shop (also conveniently located withing the R.L.Dist) for some local-style snacking (belgian fries with mayonaise). SO good! Full and exhausted I returned to my hidden gem of a hostel. The breakfast was amazing, too, and in the company of several VERY hung over english chaps celebrating a rich kid's 21st birthday.

Now I'm in Amsterdam getting ready to find food. I've established a routine with each place I encounter. First, find a map. Then, find a place to sleep and hopefully store my stuff safely. Finally, locate food. Time for the last step in my Amsterdam orientation.

Cheers!

windmills and towercranes

wow. europe is fun. im typing on a pay by the minute computer where some clever business person has rearranged the entire keyboard to keep me here as long as possible. typos are expected. yesterday i arrived in brugge to find the info peopel quite friendly and helpful (much better than brussles train station.) i walked along the canal surrounding the city and was coaxed down a cobblestone street by an interesting sign. turned out t was a stationary shop not often visited by tourists. i chatteed with the woman and her young empoyee for a while and in parting was offered a bike for my stay by the girl. i was hesitant at first seeing how these people ride their bkes at breakneck speeds but had to accept such a gracious offer. best decision i coud have made here. after a wobbly start i was cruisg around the city like a local, blasting past confused toursists. following the advice of a young fa,ily out for a stroll, i started riding in the direcection of damme, a small town about a half hours ride outside brugge. the belgian country side is gorgeous (with windmills and tower cranes on the horizon in theh drection of brugge) wandering through damme was like being in some bbc production, well dressed people hapily enjying their belgian beer in courtyard restaaunts. i found a bar to spend a lazy half hour enjoying raspberrry beer and dark ale. the ride back was ,ore enjoyable than the ride there. the bartenders in damme gave ,e advicefor the trendiest nightclubs in town, the coulessum and the...so,e strange word meaning firehall. returning to brugge i dined on the best chicken in red wine sauce with scalions (now its bread and cheese for the next few days!) the best tour of this cobbled city is to simply get lost in the back streets. its surrounded by a canal and all roads eventually lead to the markt square with the huge bell tower as a land,ark. the nightlife was fantastc but i felt lke i was having far ,ore fun than the locals. big groups of girls would be doing the bobbing-not-quite-dancing dance so of course id invite them to the dancefloor. met with laughing dismissal, iùd ask where theyre from. 4 times out of 7 theyd be locals. pffssh! the tourist girls on the other hand where there to party. im going to have to sleep more at some poiunt but that can wait for germany. right now iù, off to peddle around a bit ,ore before returning the bike then its time to find a place to sleep in amsterdam. right, im off! cheers!

the u.k. unload

right, so it's almost two in the morning and i've got to take advantage of my last bit of free internet access of the trip. this means i'll actually spell check and edit as i type. i refuse to capitalize my words because i'm using a funky keyboard and keep hitting the \ button each time i reach for 'shift.' silly brits.

here's a picture of emily, ben, and me in london.

on with the show: my first full day in london was spent as it was meant to be...as a tourist! this means a lot of walking, map-reading, and photographs. emily and i hopped on the tube (subway) and headed to waterloo station (a big rail station) just after the early morning peak hour. exiting the station we strolled along the thames river (london's stinky ol' river) and popped up on the street staring at big ben and the house of parliment. big ben isn't as big as i expect but he's still quite good looking for his age. oh, and the hourly bonging is delightful.

then we took the walk recommended by rick steves. side note: seriously, this guy is my best friend on this trip. i've taken to saying things like, 'emily, i don't know where we should go now that we're in leicster square...rick, what do you think?' as i reach into my rucksack for the guidebook of all guidebooks. anyway, rick had us walking up past a bunch of official building with guards and little black fences around manicured green lawns. walking past tony blair's place on 10 downey street we ended up in trafalgar square, formerly known as pigeon center of the world. i was a bit let down when i only saw maybe 75 of the winged rats fluttering about. crossing the pigeonless square we entered--and spent the next two hours in--the national gallery. housing famous painting from van gogh, monet, rembrandt, and botticelli, we were able soak up some classic culture and critique to our hearts' content. 'honestly, i know van gogh's famous and it looks splendid and all, but in the end, isn't it just a chair?'

after a leisurely picnic lunch in a park, we hit the british library where books are cool because they're older than jesus. well, then there are all the ones that are about god, greater meaning, religion and so forth. each book is literally a work of art with hand written pages and meticulously detailed art. then came gutenburg and *poof* went the art of book making while !Ka-BLAMO! went the availability of information. oh, and we saw handwritten music by beethoven, mozart, the beatles, and chopin. far more exciting than the average cultural dilettante might believe.

from there it was a double-decker bus ride and a crossing of the millenium bridge to the tate modern where monet mingled with pollack and one exhibit titled 'the wrong display' was simply a receiver and a sub-woofer on the floor in a small closet enclosed by a modern glass door in front and an old wooden one in back. modern art = wha-?! the night was topped off with the best chinese food in west putney hosted by emily's amazing sister, charlotte. oh, and at night we watched top gear (the absolute sweetest car show ever, maybe even sweetest show ever).

Today was another long, fun day of touristy stuff mixed with local spice. now that i'm about to leave, i've got a fairly strong grasp on the london underground system as well as the bus transport. emily and i started off the morning strong with an irresistable attraction. 'Bodies...The Exhibition' is set up at earl's court, not 15 minutes from where i'm staying. if you don't know, 'Bodies' is a controversial display of...well...human bodies. they've all been polymerized (i'm making up verbs to suit my needs) so they're essentially plastic replacements of intricate parts of the bodies. can't describe it. look it up and go see it if possible. somehow i still had an appetite after that which was promptly cured by two pasties (delicious little savory pasteries).

then we spent most of the day walking. through hyde park, past buckingham palace (i phoned ahead to liz and asked if she'd pop her head out the window for a photo, but she was busy), around westminster abbey (tried to get in the back door to avoid lines and high price by asking to pay respects to britain's unknown soldier and would have but for the ongoing service, according to the friendly guard).

all that walking worked up a monumental appetite which was cured by the markedly courtious staff at belgo central, the big belgian restaraunt near covant garden. amazing food and beer at about six quid a pop (~11 bucks a plate, really good here). following such a lovely dinner, we headed to the globe theatre for a rousing rendition of shakespeare's 'titus andronicus.' for five quid each we got standing tickets on the floor. this means that for less than ten bucks we got to stand right up front next the stage and interact with the players as they marched through and around the crowd. i actually boo'ed the bad guy, aaron, as they sent him to be punished for his horrendous acts of cruelty. the play was so bloody, gorey, and distrubing i can see why it was one of ol' bill's most popular acts back in the day. if i'd had a rotton cabbage i would have hucked it at the mean players, just to add a dash of authenticity.

bollocks! it's late. i'm headed to belgium first thing in the morning. in about 16 hours i expect to be eating the world's best mussles and drinking its best beer in brugge.

cheerio!

Rockin' the U.K.

I've successfully made it to London and met up with my hosts, Emily and her sister. After a much needed shower, I joined Emily at a loca pub for the England vs. Sweden game. What an experience! Cheering, yelling, drinking, singing, beer spilling, and British accent cursing for a solid 90 minutes. Too bad it was only a draw, that place would have been explosive if we (England, of course) had won. Plan for tomorrow is to be a tourist and perhaps catch a play at The Globe.

A prost: to early a.m. naps

In two hours I leave my little Forest Grove safehaven to begin the greatest journey of my life. I am as ready as I want to be. At this point I am mildly numb to the magnitude of this event. I am finally going to Europe. Since childhood I have wanted to follow dad's example of experiencial travel, to be the world tourist who doesn't want to simply be a tourist. Now I have that opportunity. Right now. Well, in a few more hours anyway. RIGHT now I'm going to sleep on the last familiar, comfortable bed of the summer. Again, I intend to post to this site as often and thoroughly as possible. Once I figure out the details of tranferring photos I'll try to spice up the text a bit.
Cheers!

Preparations

I'm new to this world of blogging. In fact, up until now, I scoffed at the thought of creating a journal for all the world wide web to see. In light of my fast-approaching trip, however, I'm hoping this simple little site will allow anyone who might be interested to live Europe vicariously through me. I'll do what I can to post frequently and with pictures. Thanks for reading!