Journal dump

Berlin is HOT...in more than one way. but the weather is sunny skies and wicked hot heat. it also happens to be THE most happening city in the world right now. well...friday night was, hands down. Germany's victory over argentina ignited the entire city for the entire night. i was at the brandenburg gate fan fest along with a million screaming fans. Okay, so I'll try to be better about posting because now I have some catching up to do.

Amsterdam: a waste of time without a bike. I rented a bike as soon as I could and was advised by the bike rental guy to go to Broeke in Waterland for a beautiful taste of the netherlands countryside. he was right. my leisurely ride took about 40 minutes and brought me in the path of a few friendly, helpful locals. i explored little villages and wandered through elegant old churches. a random picnic bench in the middle of canaled pastures gave me the perfect lunch.

biking back into the city, to my utter astonishment, i ran into lis. to clarify, lis is a usc grad i had met briefly in brugge and exchanged emails with the realization that we'd both be in amsterdam. just arrived and still burdened by luggage, lis was in that "wow, i have no idea if i'm going the right way to my hostel" phase. i helped her in the quest to find her destination and we spent the rest of the evening exploring a city with much to explore. amsterdam is a difficult city to navigate, it's canals and streets are curved and much of it looks the same.

The next morning (tuesday) lis and i met up with a couple she had met in brugge. beat the crowds to the anne frank house. that was a sobering exhibit. not to be left in a state of solumn reflection for the rest of the day we nabbed some wicked strong espresso and hit up the van gogh museum. great visit but we were museumed out by the fourth floor (more obscure works). After a relaxing lunch along a canal we fed some nice ducks and were attacked by mean swans. who knew? they look so graceful but they're really winged assholes. To round out our museum experience for the day, we toured the sex museum. truth be told, for 2.50 euro it was a great display.

at some point i decided my plans were flexible and lis booked us for a hostel in köln. plans were made for a morning bike ride from nearby haarlem to the beach with lis' friends dani and chad. lis opted for a quiet morning alone so i hopped a train to haarlem with my bike. that's when i was almost deported. well it wasnt that bad, but i did get yelled at by the conductor because i forgot my eurail pass and hadnt bought a ticket for the bike (i played stupid tourist and got off free). the beach trip was amazing, i hadnt realized the netherlands had such a beautiful beach. it looked like newport.

railed with lis to köln. wandered around köln drinking cheap beer with other travelers for the night. the morning was the real treat. lis had found a walking tour phamplet so we picked out the best sights and checked them out. our stroll brought us past a church tucked back behind a shopping center just in time for a practice recital of a mahler concert. refreshed with a generous serving of culture, lis and i parted ways and i headed to berlin.

train to berlin: met some americans fresh into the backpacking lifestyle. i was happy to share my insights and they were happy to hear them. my first impression of berlin was eastern bloc. the station was graffittied and dark. happily, that was an outlier and berlin has a fabulous public transport system. i hit the jackpot with my hostel accomodations (good thing, too, considering i was paying 30 euro a night) anyway, my roommates were two laid-back beauties from canada. love at first sight. in berlin for over a week, sonia and heather were fixed to party. we took off looking for the scene and ended up at a huge nightclub filled with football fans. it was a late night, my other roommate, wes, and i walked home as the sun came up.

friday. game day. the whole city was pulsing and fan fest was the heart. over a million people gathered to watch germany and argentina on 17 gigantic screens. i met up with a festive group led by a stunner named yanna. they were generous with gifts and drinks and delighted to have me along, despite knowing very little english. then i found out they were 16. eh well, still more fun to cheer with them than by myself. germany'd nailbiting victory ingnited the whole city. cars honking, everyone cheering, polizie patrolling, and smiles all around (except argentina fans).

heather and i hit the town in search of a party (sonia took a much deserved night off in light of thursday night). tahalaus (sp?) was the place to be for a while with its beach party outside and multi floored parties inside. craziest club i've ever seen. used to be a deserted department store or something. taken over by artist squatters it was converted to a multi themed party building. parted with heather at some point and met up with four locals at the station. they showed me around the nightlife (including the redlight) and even bought me beer. i had my first german language lesson compliments of the two girlfriends. "you are beautiful" and "i'm in berlin for one night" were the takeaway bits. again, stayed out till the sky brightened.

all day saturday was sightseeing with sonia and wes as heather recharged. saturday night we took advantage of a pub crawl with a bunch of other tourists and a few locals who knew a good deal when they saw it. 10 euro for five club entires and free drinks. exhausted from the days events i called it an early night at 3. nearly fell asleep on the train, but i'm feeling like a local riding the rail with no map.

today: hot. still not sure if i'm spending the night here or on the rail to prague. time to eat, then think on it.