Oh my, how the time flies! I just realized I have lacked some updates for a while. In my defence though, I´d just like to say I have been having too much fun to get on a computer =)
Lets see, well, after Prague, I purchased a train ticket into Germany. To clarify, the Eurail pass does not include the Czech Republic, so you have to purchase your own way in, and your own way out. Now the original plan was to shoot straight into Berlin, but after finding out it would cost nearly 60 Euros, I opted for the closet border town in SE Germany along the rail line, and that ended up being Dresden. I spent a whole two days there in what turned out to be the major hippy side of town. How do I know I was in the hippy side of town? Well, there were an assortment of stores named "THC Headshop" and "Purple Haze", not to mention the extreme number of people who walked around without shoes and looked baked to hell! It was a fun part of town though.
On the first night, I was really hungry (this shouldn´t be any news) and wandered into a Cuban restaurant to eat. I was extemely indecisive about where to sit (outside vs. inside) but eventually settled for the biggest table I could find. Then of course, the place starts to fill up and I feel like a jackass for taking the table of 20 when I´m only a party of one. No worries though, this German couple asks if they can sit at my table (its only actually a four person table, I felt I had to exaggerate for emphasis) and they do. We start chatting and it turns out the lady used to live in San Fran for a couple years and speaks pretty fluent English. The guy though, he´s German through and through! He was involved in an unfortunate motorcycle accident that has put him in the hospital for the last 6 months and is super excited to have a visitor (the lady) who was able to check him out of the lock down house and out for a party! He had broken English to start - I have zero German except to say "Nein, das is mein hamburger" which means "No, that is my hamburger" which I learned from some drunk Aussies in France...nevermind though...his English started getting worse and worse as he was pounding back Mojitos and even occasionally throwing in some Spanish here and there. LUCKILY the lady was there and able to do translations back and forth. Makes me kind of sad though that I can go anywhere in the world and rely on English. I feel like it sort of cheapens my trip, and if I were have been forced to learn and use a foreign language, that I´d have a richer experience. No worries, next time...!
During the daytime, the hostel, Lollis Homestay, had a free bike rental program. Free ninety nine...I´m all over that junk. So I ended up renting a bike and riding throughout the city, weaving in and out of traffic with such precision that the Germans would have been proud. It was an awesome experience, I mean, come on, when was the last time you can honestly say you´ve ridden a bike around for me? Try it, its guaranteed good times! The only problem was, I took the bike for the day and wanted to make the most of it, so I biked around for roughly eight hours and learned the hard way the next day how sore your ass can get when riding over cobble stone for that long! In between riding, I also polished off "Into Thin Air" which is a journalists account of the 1996 Everest Expedition that lost many many lives. Good thrilling read if you get a chance!
Dresden overall was luke warm in terms of fun, but I was ready to get on with the main attraction...that being Berlin.
I arrived in Berlin care free and first impressions were, "This place is HUGE". I had very vague instructions on how to get to my hostel from the train station. The actual instructions (not ver batim) was something like, "From Zoo station, take the 110 bus until ______, transfer to 115 bus until _____, exit and walk to end of street. Turn left at end of street and continue to walk until dead end. Hostel is right there". If you´ve been to Berlin, you´ll know that the Zoo station is a pretty central hub, so I assumed the hostel couldn´t have been far. Can you see I´m trying to build up the story here? I eventually found a city map and was attempting to find the street needed in small circles starting out from the Zoo in hopes of being able to walk to the hostel, catch some sight seeing along the way, and enjoying the beautiful day. No, I´m not gay. Well, after 10 failed minutes, I start looking for bus routes and notice the hostel is not ANYWHERE near the station. Its on the farthest SW corner of the map. As a matter of fact, I´m still not even sure it was within city limits. Needless to say, I managed to find the place after multiple bus rides and transfers only to realize the hostel is located in the forest. Yes, IN the forest. In order to get there, you do the bus transfers as noted above, you walk to the end of the street as they say, but the kicker is that when you turn left, you are surrounded by trees and walking on a dirt path that leads to the hostel! And when I say the hostel is in the forest, I really mean I could hear some wild animals making noises...and brief thoughts of getting eaten and making international headline news did flash across my mind! The hostel ended up being really nice but just was not my style so I ended up staying one night and moving on out to the sister hostel located IN the city.
Now, this other one, called JetPak City, was INCREDIBLE. On top of being new and extremely clean, they provided free internet access via Macs, iPod chargers and iPod speakers in each room, and one of the most amazing showers I´ve ever used. I´m not picky by any means for showers, but this had a seat, a shower head, some other over the top sprinkler, and some insane side jets that would...well, I´m not exactly sure what they were for, but the looked cool!
I almost immediately made a group of friends and ended up wandering out to take the "New Berlin Tour", another event that was free ninety nine (it is tip based but you don´t have to pay anything up front). I don´t know if I´ve mentioned them before, but very good quality tours for getting your feet wet! Actually, much better than the majority of paid tours I´ve even taken. It turned out to be extremely hot that day and I was somewhat dragging along towards the end, UNTIL we took a lunch break at Schlotschi´s (that is horribly spelled) Deli. Why...well, because they had FREE refills on drinks, which is the first one I´ve seen in Europe while I´ve been here. Normally I don´t even care that much for soda, but that day, I must have drank 5 cups of mouth satisfying Sprite! Okay, to sum up, the tour was great, it was just too hot outside.
Now on top of the "free" tour the company offered, they also have some paid trips and of course, a pub crawl. A group from the hostel got together and decided to check this thing out. Lets say, it was intense and wore me out the next day. It was also a little out of my element...maybe I´m getting old, but a group of around 100 drunk American college students trying to outdo each other the whole night became tiring. And I felt bad that I was lumped in with the group at times! Regardless, we hit up 3 bars and 2 clubs so it was a great chance to see the nightlife of Berlin. One of the bars in particular, I think its called Zapata, located near Orienburger (I call it Orangeburger) street, looks like an abandoned five story builing with graffiti throughout. What I think it is, is a place used by artists as studios and whatnot. It had a sand filled outdoor area with an assortment of items including a section of a helicopter, a VW van, movie theater seats, large metal welded alphabet letters, and almost anything else you can think of. Quite a cool place and I actually went back later to take pictures! The pub crawl ended at a club called "Matrix" located on the FAR east side of Berlin. I thought the area was sketchy and at this point realized if I got separated from the hostel group, I´d have to sleep under the stairs or on a park bench in East Berlin. Lets say, I feel extremely lucky to have made it back to my own hostel bed at the end of the night!
Overall, Jetpak was really cool and had a great group of people. I hung out with a good number of them and they were mostly real chill people! As a group, we went out at night and checked out this awesome local rock band that was jamming hard. Good times! There was however two girls, one of who I only heard about and didn´t really talk to, that were nicknamed psycho girl, and bitch girl. Haha...I thought that was funny!
But now, I unfortunately decided to move hostels and try out a new section of Berlin. I seem to have bad luck, because I booked a hostel and ended up pretty far in the middle of nowhere again! Spent the night there but luckily ran into a friend during the day and checked out a funky Jewism museum along with the parliament building (has a clear dome that you get to go up) and the Sony Center (just think of a futuristic plaza with a Sony store, Legoland, an interactive VW store, and an IMAX theater). Back to the hostel situation though...(its Monday morning) and I´ve decided to move out. I went hostel shopping for half a day yesterday and feel I´ve found some really cool ones! But officially, I have hostel-homeless right now because I don´t have any reservations. Thats pretty cool, I´m homeless!!
The plan is to spend 3 more nights in Berlin and move onto Amsterdam by Thursday. Spend a week there, and move on, eventually landing me back home to North Carolina by late May. I think I´m ready to start winding down and eventually get back to some structure in my life!
I´ll check in soon, have fun in the meantime!
Monday, April 30, 2007
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Praha
Praha has been next to amazing! I was originally semi-skeptical about coming here because of how much it was hyped up. But now I understand the hype, its gorgeous. For the last couple of days, I have wandered throughout the city center and taken in the finely preserved architecture and other sights.
Initially, the week started off very slowly as I arrived and failed to instantly surround myself with a group. To be honest, I started to get a little down since I felt like "that" outcast traveler that no one wants to associate with. But of course, the tide changed and I met a great group of people to hang out with.
Of them, met a cool Aussie couple who have purchased a car and, instead of taking trains around Europe, have decided to do the adventure while driving. They were in my original dorm room! Also met two guys from London through a walking tour and ended up hanging out with them for a day.
So instead of boring you with all the sights I've seen, I'm instead going to focus on the adventures of today:
It all started off with a cool idea to see the "Bone Cathedral" located 75km east of Prague. The two English guys, along with the Aussie couple decided to make the trek together. Started off mid day, and instantly, it was action packed. We started off by almost missing the train to Kutna Hora (the town where the Bone church is located). We basically had to RUN to the correct platform after purchasing our tickets last minute. Of course though (because of the perfect day) the train was delayed by 10 minutes...to wait up for us! Once we got to Kutna Hora, we walked to the Bone church. For those of you who are not familiar, this gothic style church is decorated with the skull and bones of 40,000 people. Supposedly, the area had holy soil spread on it and became a very popular burial ground. Later on, the plague hit, leaving MANY dead people...actually too many for the small cemetary. They contemplated what to do with all the human remains and decided to decorate the inside of a church with the bones! Included are two large cups (made of bones) along with a chandelier made with every part of the human body. It was pretty creepy in my opinion, but definitely worth the trip out for.
After, we heard of another gothic church that was supposed to be fantastic. Since we already made it out so far, it was a no brainer to also check this one out. We attempted to get the train to the city center, but after waiting at a shady train station (it completely looked like the train station from Eurotrip when the main characters were in Bratislava), we decided to talk along the train tracks in order to find the church. This was pretty amazing, as we were able to follow a path off the main road, along a stream, all the way into the old town center.
Constant jokes were thrown out about how it was such a perfect day and perfect situation that it MUST be the start of a horror movie! Of course, the foreign looking guy (which would be me) always dies...so I was semi-worried if the plot was going to develop as planned. As we elaborated on each others stories, we eventually decided there were going to be ninjas hidden along the path who were hiding but would asassinate us in our journey. Luckily, it didn't pan out and we safely made it to this AMAZING hilled and walled in church area. Of course, instead of going to check out the church, we nestled ourselves in this quaint little restaurant overlooking the city and ate some fantastic food (was very cheap too). After the meals and beer, we finally made it to the church only to discover it was already closed.
Eventually we trotted our way back to the city center station and found a way back to Prague. In order to get to the main Kutna Hora station though, we had to ride this crazy single carriage "train". Of course, we made it safely and arrived at the main Kutna Hora station only to find mass confusion on how to best get back to Prague. During our confusion, we were on one train, got off, decided to get back on, and jumped off at the last minute! And I really do mean we jumped off. Somehow the doors don't lock as the train moves, and in our last minute group decision, we figured it would be best to try another train. By now the train has left the platform and is picking up speed. One by one, we jump off a moving train in our attempt to switch trains. For some reason, I laughed so hard about what we did, and it was the definite highlight of my trip.
The rest was pretty smooth and we arrived back in Prague before nightfall! In our day long adventure, EVERYTHING just went perfectly and I realized that the majority of the memories I'll have of Europe will not be of the museums I've seen, great squares I've lounged in, but instead, the people I've hung out with, and all the stupid stuff we do along the way! I guess you really had to be there with us...I can't even describe all the events in the detail they deserve, but it was just 100% perfect in every aspect!
The near future plan is to get out of Prague by Tuesday morning en route to Dresden, Germany. Whats in Dresden...who KNOWS?! Who cares...its just one more opportunity to meet people, hang out, and experience some amazing journies!
Until next time...best to you!
Initially, the week started off very slowly as I arrived and failed to instantly surround myself with a group. To be honest, I started to get a little down since I felt like "that" outcast traveler that no one wants to associate with. But of course, the tide changed and I met a great group of people to hang out with.
Of them, met a cool Aussie couple who have purchased a car and, instead of taking trains around Europe, have decided to do the adventure while driving. They were in my original dorm room! Also met two guys from London through a walking tour and ended up hanging out with them for a day.
So instead of boring you with all the sights I've seen, I'm instead going to focus on the adventures of today:
It all started off with a cool idea to see the "Bone Cathedral" located 75km east of Prague. The two English guys, along with the Aussie couple decided to make the trek together. Started off mid day, and instantly, it was action packed. We started off by almost missing the train to Kutna Hora (the town where the Bone church is located). We basically had to RUN to the correct platform after purchasing our tickets last minute. Of course though (because of the perfect day) the train was delayed by 10 minutes...to wait up for us! Once we got to Kutna Hora, we walked to the Bone church. For those of you who are not familiar, this gothic style church is decorated with the skull and bones of 40,000 people. Supposedly, the area had holy soil spread on it and became a very popular burial ground. Later on, the plague hit, leaving MANY dead people...actually too many for the small cemetary. They contemplated what to do with all the human remains and decided to decorate the inside of a church with the bones! Included are two large cups (made of bones) along with a chandelier made with every part of the human body. It was pretty creepy in my opinion, but definitely worth the trip out for.
After, we heard of another gothic church that was supposed to be fantastic. Since we already made it out so far, it was a no brainer to also check this one out. We attempted to get the train to the city center, but after waiting at a shady train station (it completely looked like the train station from Eurotrip when the main characters were in Bratislava), we decided to talk along the train tracks in order to find the church. This was pretty amazing, as we were able to follow a path off the main road, along a stream, all the way into the old town center.
Constant jokes were thrown out about how it was such a perfect day and perfect situation that it MUST be the start of a horror movie! Of course, the foreign looking guy (which would be me) always dies...so I was semi-worried if the plot was going to develop as planned. As we elaborated on each others stories, we eventually decided there were going to be ninjas hidden along the path who were hiding but would asassinate us in our journey. Luckily, it didn't pan out and we safely made it to this AMAZING hilled and walled in church area. Of course, instead of going to check out the church, we nestled ourselves in this quaint little restaurant overlooking the city and ate some fantastic food (was very cheap too). After the meals and beer, we finally made it to the church only to discover it was already closed.
Eventually we trotted our way back to the city center station and found a way back to Prague. In order to get to the main Kutna Hora station though, we had to ride this crazy single carriage "train". Of course, we made it safely and arrived at the main Kutna Hora station only to find mass confusion on how to best get back to Prague. During our confusion, we were on one train, got off, decided to get back on, and jumped off at the last minute! And I really do mean we jumped off. Somehow the doors don't lock as the train moves, and in our last minute group decision, we figured it would be best to try another train. By now the train has left the platform and is picking up speed. One by one, we jump off a moving train in our attempt to switch trains. For some reason, I laughed so hard about what we did, and it was the definite highlight of my trip.
The rest was pretty smooth and we arrived back in Prague before nightfall! In our day long adventure, EVERYTHING just went perfectly and I realized that the majority of the memories I'll have of Europe will not be of the museums I've seen, great squares I've lounged in, but instead, the people I've hung out with, and all the stupid stuff we do along the way! I guess you really had to be there with us...I can't even describe all the events in the detail they deserve, but it was just 100% perfect in every aspect!
The near future plan is to get out of Prague by Tuesday morning en route to Dresden, Germany. Whats in Dresden...who KNOWS?! Who cares...its just one more opportunity to meet people, hang out, and experience some amazing journies!
Until next time...best to you!
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Bratislava, and beyond
How do I begin to describe Bratislava? Well...lets start by how it is different from Eurotrip!
How its different:
-its not completely run down. The city center area is actually meticulously clean with work crews going back and forth to pick up all litter.
-it wasn't that scary. Even though I have never seen "Hostel", I had at least a dozen people ask me about it when I mentioned I was going to Bratislava. Now even though I didn't see the movie...I still got the jist of it though, being that there was a lot of gore, violence, etc. and 100% of it being taken out on the hostelers. To be completely honest, I was semi scared to go out after night fall, but in the day time, it was completely safe!
-SOME people are very up to date on fashion. Again, in the city center, I found all the high end shops you'd expect in a big fashion capital. But then again, I also found some clothing that seemed to come from...Walmart + Thrift Store + years or not washing clothes + anything else weird you can think of. It was strange...
-it was NOT cheap to find housing. In it, they book a five star hotel for a nickel. I booked a hostel not even in the city center for 15 Euro!!
But of course, it also has similar elements to Eurotrip:
-drinking is dirt cheap
-there are quite a few run down buildings that look like they were were the shooting locations of the movie
-there are WEIRD people. When I got off the train and was looking for the hostel, I saw a drunk man with his pants down, facing the bush, taking a leak. About 50m ahead, this old lady (in an open space) pulled down her pants and hiked up her dress and popped a squat, and there were MULTIPLE old drunks staggering around. This was when I was semi-scared...because the sun was going down and I started whining and bitching, instead of just looking and seeing the huge sign for the hostel!
But either way, I'm glad I went to Bratislava; I'm also glad I have left. Today, I have safely arrived in Prague, Czech Republic. I plan on logging a week here before moving on! This place seems cool, and I'm excited to explore every nook and crany it has to offer. Suggestions always welcome.
Until next time...
How its different:
-its not completely run down. The city center area is actually meticulously clean with work crews going back and forth to pick up all litter.
-it wasn't that scary. Even though I have never seen "Hostel", I had at least a dozen people ask me about it when I mentioned I was going to Bratislava. Now even though I didn't see the movie...I still got the jist of it though, being that there was a lot of gore, violence, etc. and 100% of it being taken out on the hostelers. To be completely honest, I was semi scared to go out after night fall, but in the day time, it was completely safe!
-SOME people are very up to date on fashion. Again, in the city center, I found all the high end shops you'd expect in a big fashion capital. But then again, I also found some clothing that seemed to come from...Walmart + Thrift Store + years or not washing clothes + anything else weird you can think of. It was strange...
-it was NOT cheap to find housing. In it, they book a five star hotel for a nickel. I booked a hostel not even in the city center for 15 Euro!!
But of course, it also has similar elements to Eurotrip:
-drinking is dirt cheap
-there are quite a few run down buildings that look like they were were the shooting locations of the movie
-there are WEIRD people. When I got off the train and was looking for the hostel, I saw a drunk man with his pants down, facing the bush, taking a leak. About 50m ahead, this old lady (in an open space) pulled down her pants and hiked up her dress and popped a squat, and there were MULTIPLE old drunks staggering around. This was when I was semi-scared...because the sun was going down and I started whining and bitching, instead of just looking and seeing the huge sign for the hostel!
But either way, I'm glad I went to Bratislava; I'm also glad I have left. Today, I have safely arrived in Prague, Czech Republic. I plan on logging a week here before moving on! This place seems cool, and I'm excited to explore every nook and crany it has to offer. Suggestions always welcome.
Until next time...
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
...and then I got horribly sick...
The rest of Budapest was excellent. I feel like I can claim the award for "most slack traveler" since I really didn't do anything except hang out, eat, and drink. Thats a pretty amazing way to spend an entire week in my opinion.
I think I left off stating I was going caving. Well, on the brochure, it mentions that you will be on your hands and knees, crawling through holes, etc. An overall suit and helmet (with headlamp) was going to be provided. WELL, for some reason, that didn't really register in my mind. I always imagined a guided path to walk along, maybe lit the majority of the way, and definitely something with a hand rail to guide visitors along. BOY was I surprised! Lets just say, I feel like I experienced some REAL caving. For 2.5 grueling hours, I was crawling through TINY holes, worming through rock "slides", scrambling up and down large boulders, and using muscles I never knew existed! I feel the brochure should start using some bold font when explaining that you will be crawling, ohh...about 75% of the time! But regardless, I went with a group from the hostel, and it was an incredible time shooting the shit and laughing in there even though I was scared I was going to fall into some unknown crack and get stuck forever. To top it off, one of the girls that came along was clautraphobic, and KNEW it ahead of time, but she tackled those caves like it was no ones business.
Eventually, Budapest came to an end, and I moved onto Vienna, Austria. Ended up that three other people from Budapest were also making way to Vienna so we all became an improv posse and hung out in two different countries. If thats not ballin', I don't know what is! About the night before departing though, I hung out with a bunch of hostel people and just about all of them had some sort of cough going on. I'm come to grips with this, but my immune system sucks. By the end of the night, I start to get the sniffles, by next morning...a slight runny nose. By the end of a three hour train ride into Vienna, I feel a full on cold developing. I'm thinking, "well, nothing you can do. I'll just drink lots of fluids, pop a few Advil, and life will go on". Unfortunately, by mid afternoon, I start getting a bit of a temperature and decide to take a nap before going out to explore. I know something is wrong after I wake up and have sweated through my sheets though, but by this point in time, my temperature feels normal again. The group (from Budapest) minus one girl who had to leave decides to go to the Opera House and catch an opera or ballet show. I probably should not have gone but decide this is one of the MUST DO items in Vienna, so I tag along.
The ballet performance was very unique and cool, and well worth the experience. Tickets were cheap also, running us only 3.50 each for the standing section. I obviously have no clue how long a ballet takes, and assume it CANNOT be longer than 1.5 to 2 hours. Long story short, by the end, I'm feeling like absolute shit, hungry, and exhausted. The ballet was called "Manon" and about some love triangle scenario. I was in a half delerious state near the end, and all I really remember was that the main woman was supposed to die (I read the synopsis between the acts), but she kept on fake dying, getting up, prancing around, rinsing and repeating! It was near maddening to see her get up repeatedly. I was thinking, "DIE ALREADY SO I CAN LEAVE". Finally, she dies, the play is over, and I'm about to leave. But of course, now there is a 10 minute curtain call process where everyone stays and claps. Since I'm with the group, I stay and clap...blah blah blah, finally, we leave.
After I get back, I crash almost immediately and sleep 12 solid hours. Next morning when I wake up, I somehow manage to feel WORSE. Now I'm definitely running a temperature, I feel extremely dehydrated, and I can't hold ANY food or water down. Long story short, I spend the ENTIRE day in bed in a state of extreme dehydration, exhaustion, profuse sweating, runny nose, massive headache, runny shits, and the whole 9. I honestly can't remember the last time I got sick that bad. I felt like I was going to die at one point!! About midway through, I somehow stumble to the pharmacy and mutter to the attendant that I need some fever medicine. Whatever he/she gave me was incredible and made me all better by the next morning! In the end, I feel I have learned an important lesson. Lesson being, don't eat kehabs, drink beer, and wash it all down with a McD's ice cream for lunch...followed by a huge Hungarian dinner, beer, and more ice cream...concluded by more beer. The human stomach cannot handle that much stress and will quit on you at some point in time (that time, I figured out the hard way, is roughly one week).
Basically then, I saw just about none of Vienna except the inside of my dorm bed. I made it out this morning and took a brief walking tour with the one remaining Budapest friend and made the most of the day. I think I will be eating bland foods for the next week, and drinking ZERO beer to give my system a little time to refresh and reset.
I have already left Vienna and now arrived in Bratislava, Slovakia. I would have never came except that I watched Eurotrip and it sort of inspired me to give it a try! All I have to say on first impression that it is somewhat similar (in terms of dirty)...but yet very different (in terms of price). They grossly exaggerated when they only had $1 and lived like kings. For f*ing sake, the hostel costs 17 Euro a night!! To top it off, right when I got off the train station, I saw a large group of homeless people chilling out, followed by a dude pissing on the bus stop pole, FOLLOWED by a homeless woman popping a squat at the intersection! Luckily I found my hostel relatively pain free because I was starting to freak out, and it was NEAR sun set!
I'll check in soon...if I don't get killed in Bratislava!!
I think I left off stating I was going caving. Well, on the brochure, it mentions that you will be on your hands and knees, crawling through holes, etc. An overall suit and helmet (with headlamp) was going to be provided. WELL, for some reason, that didn't really register in my mind. I always imagined a guided path to walk along, maybe lit the majority of the way, and definitely something with a hand rail to guide visitors along. BOY was I surprised! Lets just say, I feel like I experienced some REAL caving. For 2.5 grueling hours, I was crawling through TINY holes, worming through rock "slides", scrambling up and down large boulders, and using muscles I never knew existed! I feel the brochure should start using some bold font when explaining that you will be crawling, ohh...about 75% of the time! But regardless, I went with a group from the hostel, and it was an incredible time shooting the shit and laughing in there even though I was scared I was going to fall into some unknown crack and get stuck forever. To top it off, one of the girls that came along was clautraphobic, and KNEW it ahead of time, but she tackled those caves like it was no ones business.
Eventually, Budapest came to an end, and I moved onto Vienna, Austria. Ended up that three other people from Budapest were also making way to Vienna so we all became an improv posse and hung out in two different countries. If thats not ballin', I don't know what is! About the night before departing though, I hung out with a bunch of hostel people and just about all of them had some sort of cough going on. I'm come to grips with this, but my immune system sucks. By the end of the night, I start to get the sniffles, by next morning...a slight runny nose. By the end of a three hour train ride into Vienna, I feel a full on cold developing. I'm thinking, "well, nothing you can do. I'll just drink lots of fluids, pop a few Advil, and life will go on". Unfortunately, by mid afternoon, I start getting a bit of a temperature and decide to take a nap before going out to explore. I know something is wrong after I wake up and have sweated through my sheets though, but by this point in time, my temperature feels normal again. The group (from Budapest) minus one girl who had to leave decides to go to the Opera House and catch an opera or ballet show. I probably should not have gone but decide this is one of the MUST DO items in Vienna, so I tag along.
The ballet performance was very unique and cool, and well worth the experience. Tickets were cheap also, running us only 3.50 each for the standing section. I obviously have no clue how long a ballet takes, and assume it CANNOT be longer than 1.5 to 2 hours. Long story short, by the end, I'm feeling like absolute shit, hungry, and exhausted. The ballet was called "Manon" and about some love triangle scenario. I was in a half delerious state near the end, and all I really remember was that the main woman was supposed to die (I read the synopsis between the acts), but she kept on fake dying, getting up, prancing around, rinsing and repeating! It was near maddening to see her get up repeatedly. I was thinking, "DIE ALREADY SO I CAN LEAVE". Finally, she dies, the play is over, and I'm about to leave. But of course, now there is a 10 minute curtain call process where everyone stays and claps. Since I'm with the group, I stay and clap...blah blah blah, finally, we leave.
After I get back, I crash almost immediately and sleep 12 solid hours. Next morning when I wake up, I somehow manage to feel WORSE. Now I'm definitely running a temperature, I feel extremely dehydrated, and I can't hold ANY food or water down. Long story short, I spend the ENTIRE day in bed in a state of extreme dehydration, exhaustion, profuse sweating, runny nose, massive headache, runny shits, and the whole 9. I honestly can't remember the last time I got sick that bad. I felt like I was going to die at one point!! About midway through, I somehow stumble to the pharmacy and mutter to the attendant that I need some fever medicine. Whatever he/she gave me was incredible and made me all better by the next morning! In the end, I feel I have learned an important lesson. Lesson being, don't eat kehabs, drink beer, and wash it all down with a McD's ice cream for lunch...followed by a huge Hungarian dinner, beer, and more ice cream...concluded by more beer. The human stomach cannot handle that much stress and will quit on you at some point in time (that time, I figured out the hard way, is roughly one week).
Basically then, I saw just about none of Vienna except the inside of my dorm bed. I made it out this morning and took a brief walking tour with the one remaining Budapest friend and made the most of the day. I think I will be eating bland foods for the next week, and drinking ZERO beer to give my system a little time to refresh and reset.
I have already left Vienna and now arrived in Bratislava, Slovakia. I would have never came except that I watched Eurotrip and it sort of inspired me to give it a try! All I have to say on first impression that it is somewhat similar (in terms of dirty)...but yet very different (in terms of price). They grossly exaggerated when they only had $1 and lived like kings. For f*ing sake, the hostel costs 17 Euro a night!! To top it off, right when I got off the train station, I saw a large group of homeless people chilling out, followed by a dude pissing on the bus stop pole, FOLLOWED by a homeless woman popping a squat at the intersection! Luckily I found my hostel relatively pain free because I was starting to freak out, and it was NEAR sun set!
I'll check in soon...if I don't get killed in Bratislava!!
Friday, April 13, 2007
Pest, Buda
Budapest has been great. Thats about the only way to describe it. Ive spent close to a week bumming around the city now and have still barely seen any of the major sites! Thats not really because there is just THAT much to do, but instead, Ive taken part in alternative activities such as caving, bathing, and drinking.
Met a whole bunch of cool people at the hostel (Vamhaz Hostel) and have mainly lounged around with them in my adventures. For instance, yesterday, we went the the bath house - which is very famous in Budapest. I tried to be a badass and suggested we stay there for at least eight hours (understand though, I was completely joking). Well, we got there, and after two hours, I sort of start to wonder if people have taken me seriously! After three hours, I am burning up and antsy and ready to go. Around three and a half hours into it, Im starving, dehydrated, and worried. After four hours, we finally left! During those four hours though, we tested out 38C natural hot springs, 34C, 60-80C sauna (I almost died), and other sets of medicinal hot springs! Even though I was itching to get out, the whole experience was extremely relaxing...a natural high you could say!
(This is out of chronological time order, but just follow me) The day before yesterday, the hostelers and I got this great idea to check out this dodgy area of town called Chinese Markets. Lets just say, its located next to a set of abandoned railroad tracks in a shanty town environment and beside a cemetary. Does that give you any idea what it might look like? It was supposed to be filled with stolen items, designer knock offs, and for some reason, lots of weird looking underwear! I had a great time, though I think of the the guys was scared shitless...
Today in the afternoon, Im going caving under Budapest! Tell me that doesnt sound like a dangerous idea. Im not sure of the exact details...but...we are all required to wear a hard hat, and the brochure explains that we will be crawling, scrambling, and be exposed to a real sense of adventure!! Im pumped!
Finally to top off my alternative sight seeing adventure in Budapest, Ive decided to skip museums and art galleries in favor of interesting, unique bars and extra filling restaurants! I have ate like a king and drank like there is no tomorrow =)
Until next time...enjoy your workday, school, or whatever activity that takes up your day!
Met a whole bunch of cool people at the hostel (Vamhaz Hostel) and have mainly lounged around with them in my adventures. For instance, yesterday, we went the the bath house - which is very famous in Budapest. I tried to be a badass and suggested we stay there for at least eight hours (understand though, I was completely joking). Well, we got there, and after two hours, I sort of start to wonder if people have taken me seriously! After three hours, I am burning up and antsy and ready to go. Around three and a half hours into it, Im starving, dehydrated, and worried. After four hours, we finally left! During those four hours though, we tested out 38C natural hot springs, 34C, 60-80C sauna (I almost died), and other sets of medicinal hot springs! Even though I was itching to get out, the whole experience was extremely relaxing...a natural high you could say!
(This is out of chronological time order, but just follow me) The day before yesterday, the hostelers and I got this great idea to check out this dodgy area of town called Chinese Markets. Lets just say, its located next to a set of abandoned railroad tracks in a shanty town environment and beside a cemetary. Does that give you any idea what it might look like? It was supposed to be filled with stolen items, designer knock offs, and for some reason, lots of weird looking underwear! I had a great time, though I think of the the guys was scared shitless...
Today in the afternoon, Im going caving under Budapest! Tell me that doesnt sound like a dangerous idea. Im not sure of the exact details...but...we are all required to wear a hard hat, and the brochure explains that we will be crawling, scrambling, and be exposed to a real sense of adventure!! Im pumped!
Finally to top off my alternative sight seeing adventure in Budapest, Ive decided to skip museums and art galleries in favor of interesting, unique bars and extra filling restaurants! I have ate like a king and drank like there is no tomorrow =)
Until next time...enjoy your workday, school, or whatever activity that takes up your day!
Monday, April 9, 2007
The unthinkable has happened...
...I lost my bank card. To put it into better perspective, I feel like I have lost my leg. Not just from the knee down either, it feels like I have lost the entire leg.
Why am I blogging about this and not frantically trying to solve the problem? Well, I thought you (my dear readers) can live vicariously through me and experience the raw feelings I am going through. Just kidding, chill out, I have already called and canceled the card, and a new one is on the way. The only damage done is a 16 dollar service fee...
Now story time, and the question to be answered, "how did you lose it"? Let me start by saying I wasnt mugged, conned, or raped. Instead, this was out of my own stupidity really. Ive heard for a while now that you shouldnt carry your bankcard in the wallet since (1) its not used everyday anyways and (2) if the wallet gets jacked, so does the card. With this in mind, I finally decided to change locations, and of course, when I arrived in Budapest, I thought, now is a good time. After arriving to the hostel, I quickly meet a group of people and we all head to dinner. Before leaving, I take my bank card out, and secretly place it in with my camera case, and lock both up for the night. After dinner, I feel pretty exhausted and fall asleep almost immediately. The next morning (today) I woke up bright and early, ready to take about a million and one pictures of the city. What I forgot was, the card was in the camera case now. Actually, I forgot about it all day, and it wasnt until I was looking through my wallet that I realized, "OH SHIT". Im sure my poor card is laying out on the street getting trampled on, bent, broken, or maybe, even attempted to be used!
Ive hard such good times with my card, so good that I even just memorized the number. Now, I have to stew around, and wait until Wednesday when the new card should arrive. Please pray, do the rain dance, or whatever else and hope that it arrives safely! Ill keep you updated...
Why am I blogging about this and not frantically trying to solve the problem? Well, I thought you (my dear readers) can live vicariously through me and experience the raw feelings I am going through. Just kidding, chill out, I have already called and canceled the card, and a new one is on the way. The only damage done is a 16 dollar service fee...
Now story time, and the question to be answered, "how did you lose it"? Let me start by saying I wasnt mugged, conned, or raped. Instead, this was out of my own stupidity really. Ive heard for a while now that you shouldnt carry your bankcard in the wallet since (1) its not used everyday anyways and (2) if the wallet gets jacked, so does the card. With this in mind, I finally decided to change locations, and of course, when I arrived in Budapest, I thought, now is a good time. After arriving to the hostel, I quickly meet a group of people and we all head to dinner. Before leaving, I take my bank card out, and secretly place it in with my camera case, and lock both up for the night. After dinner, I feel pretty exhausted and fall asleep almost immediately. The next morning (today) I woke up bright and early, ready to take about a million and one pictures of the city. What I forgot was, the card was in the camera case now. Actually, I forgot about it all day, and it wasnt until I was looking through my wallet that I realized, "OH SHIT". Im sure my poor card is laying out on the street getting trampled on, bent, broken, or maybe, even attempted to be used!
Ive hard such good times with my card, so good that I even just memorized the number. Now, I have to stew around, and wait until Wednesday when the new card should arrive. Please pray, do the rain dance, or whatever else and hope that it arrives safely! Ill keep you updated...
Sunday, April 8, 2007
Munich...the summary
Sorry for the absence of posts lately, I was in Munich and out and about so much that I didn´t get time to update the blog. Actually Im not really sorry at all =)
For those of you who got lost, Ill give you a brief summary of how I even ended up there (and please bear with the bad grammar and missing symbols...all these keyboards are weird). The original plan was to go to Salzburg, Austria and never into Munich, but because I travel day to day and really without a plan, I just assumed there would be availability. Of course during the last day of Florence, I finally muster up the idea to book a hostel only to find there is NOTHING. Partly, this is due to tourist season starting to pick up, but mostly, I believe it was due to Easter holidays for the Europeans. Either way, Salzburg was immediately eliminated (and I really wanted to do the Sound of Music tour too), and an alternate destination was pondered over. My thoughts were to get OUT of Italy since I had already been to Rome, Cinque Terre, and Florence, and getting too far East on a "last minute" scamper didnt seem like the most logical move. Somehow though, my eye caught MUNICH, it sounded cool, so I just booked a place and jetted out of Florence the next day. Now the only reason why Munich was a problem was because my guidebook doesnt have ANYTHING about the city...DAMN you Rick Steves and your Best of Europe Guide. No, Im only kidding, that book has been my bible. Anyways, I arrive in Munich in the early evening with NO clue how the city looks, how far away my hostel is, etc. This may not be a big deal for groups of travelers, but for a single traveler, this could mean disaster, and getting mugged, and conned, and forced to sleep under a bridge...for the rest of your life! Fear not though, I found my hostel without too much of a problem, and it was sweet 3 star hostel! How does a hostel get rated so nicely - well for starters, they give down comforters, sweet ass beds, 24 hr reception, and breakfast which for some odd reason has sandwich meats and cheeses!
Okay though, enough about GETTING to Munich. While there, I participated in a lot of drinking at night, and also drinking during the day. What can you do though, its basically one of the beer capitals of the world. Well during the days, I actually kept very busy despite not having a real tour book to guide me along.
Day 1: took the New Europe Tour of Munich (free ninety nine in cost) that lasted 3 hours and walked around the city center of town. Also drank at some beer gardens for 30 minutes in between and munched on brats.
Day 1 night: met two girls from the hostel, and went across the street to the Augustiner brewery restaurant and consumed about 2 liters too much beer. I asked for something local for food, and got half a crispy pork leg (bone hanging out) and a 1 liter beer to start...it was overwhelming and I felt like a barbarian...it was cool. It was adventurous afterwards...if I know you, Im sure Ill tell you the complete story at a later time. Lets just say, it involved too much drinking and an attempted hike that lasted into the wee hours of the morning.
Day 2: took part in a FREE bike tour of the city. Free ninety nine is the theme of my trip. This may have been the best worst idea ever. The tour was good and dandy, but the potential problem was, halfway through zigzagging through the city on some bikes that didnt have brakes (only had the kind where you reverse on the pedals), you end up at the Chinese Beer Garden and drink massive amounts of beer, and then get back onto the bike and ride around for another hour. In hindsight, Im extremely happy that I have all limbs in tact and functional...not very smart, but so cool when you are doing it. During this tour, we went through this huge park called English Gardens, and they have a nudist area. Of course we rode around it, and I almost crashed as I was riding by this old lady (who at this time had her bathing suit on) but decided to strip butt naked and jump into the river JUST as I was riding by. I was completely caught by surprise.
Daz 3: took a serious tour, of Dachau concentration camp. This was the only tour that cost money up front (the others were tip based...dont worry, I tipped them!), but it was probably the BEST tour I have ever taken. For those of you not familiar, Dachau was one of (if not) THE first concentration camp to be opened and used as a model for all the other future ones. It is in amazing condition whereas others were torn down or destroyed along the way. Anyways, our tour guide was absolutely amazing and had infinite ranges of wisdom about the camp, and about the whole subject in general. If anyone goes to Munich, I strongly encourage you to take it...you wont regret it at all.
Day 4: left Munich, should have stayed a little longer though!
Overall, each city I have been to has been so differnent, yet the same at the same time. Munich felt most like an American city just because of how new everything was. A large percentage of it was bombed during World War II but yet they rebuilt it and kept much of the old architectual style in tact. It was very clean (compared to Italy). People didnt jay walk AT ALL...not even if it was the smallest cross walk, as long as the walking light was red, they waited. Everyone spoke English and most people even apologized for the "little" bit of English they spoke, which of course turned out to be PERFECT. Lets see, what else...oh, people drink beer for breakfast, lunch, and dinner (I think). Oh oh, finally, the "y" key and the "z" key are backwards on the keyboard which becomes extremely frustrating!
Thats a pretty decent summary of my Munich experience I think! As Im writing this though, Ive already left and made my way to Budapest, Hungary. Met a couple random guys at the hostel and went to get dinner. We were searching for local and authentic food, but of course, ended up in the most American restaurant in all of Budapest! Any recommendations for what I should do here? Ill check back in a few days!
For those of you who got lost, Ill give you a brief summary of how I even ended up there (and please bear with the bad grammar and missing symbols...all these keyboards are weird). The original plan was to go to Salzburg, Austria and never into Munich, but because I travel day to day and really without a plan, I just assumed there would be availability. Of course during the last day of Florence, I finally muster up the idea to book a hostel only to find there is NOTHING. Partly, this is due to tourist season starting to pick up, but mostly, I believe it was due to Easter holidays for the Europeans. Either way, Salzburg was immediately eliminated (and I really wanted to do the Sound of Music tour too), and an alternate destination was pondered over. My thoughts were to get OUT of Italy since I had already been to Rome, Cinque Terre, and Florence, and getting too far East on a "last minute" scamper didnt seem like the most logical move. Somehow though, my eye caught MUNICH, it sounded cool, so I just booked a place and jetted out of Florence the next day. Now the only reason why Munich was a problem was because my guidebook doesnt have ANYTHING about the city...DAMN you Rick Steves and your Best of Europe Guide. No, Im only kidding, that book has been my bible. Anyways, I arrive in Munich in the early evening with NO clue how the city looks, how far away my hostel is, etc. This may not be a big deal for groups of travelers, but for a single traveler, this could mean disaster, and getting mugged, and conned, and forced to sleep under a bridge...for the rest of your life! Fear not though, I found my hostel without too much of a problem, and it was sweet 3 star hostel! How does a hostel get rated so nicely - well for starters, they give down comforters, sweet ass beds, 24 hr reception, and breakfast which for some odd reason has sandwich meats and cheeses!
Okay though, enough about GETTING to Munich. While there, I participated in a lot of drinking at night, and also drinking during the day. What can you do though, its basically one of the beer capitals of the world. Well during the days, I actually kept very busy despite not having a real tour book to guide me along.
Day 1: took the New Europe Tour of Munich (free ninety nine in cost) that lasted 3 hours and walked around the city center of town. Also drank at some beer gardens for 30 minutes in between and munched on brats.
Day 1 night: met two girls from the hostel, and went across the street to the Augustiner brewery restaurant and consumed about 2 liters too much beer. I asked for something local for food, and got half a crispy pork leg (bone hanging out) and a 1 liter beer to start...it was overwhelming and I felt like a barbarian...it was cool. It was adventurous afterwards...if I know you, Im sure Ill tell you the complete story at a later time. Lets just say, it involved too much drinking and an attempted hike that lasted into the wee hours of the morning.
Day 2: took part in a FREE bike tour of the city. Free ninety nine is the theme of my trip. This may have been the best worst idea ever. The tour was good and dandy, but the potential problem was, halfway through zigzagging through the city on some bikes that didnt have brakes (only had the kind where you reverse on the pedals), you end up at the Chinese Beer Garden and drink massive amounts of beer, and then get back onto the bike and ride around for another hour. In hindsight, Im extremely happy that I have all limbs in tact and functional...not very smart, but so cool when you are doing it. During this tour, we went through this huge park called English Gardens, and they have a nudist area. Of course we rode around it, and I almost crashed as I was riding by this old lady (who at this time had her bathing suit on) but decided to strip butt naked and jump into the river JUST as I was riding by. I was completely caught by surprise.
Daz 3: took a serious tour, of Dachau concentration camp. This was the only tour that cost money up front (the others were tip based...dont worry, I tipped them!), but it was probably the BEST tour I have ever taken. For those of you not familiar, Dachau was one of (if not) THE first concentration camp to be opened and used as a model for all the other future ones. It is in amazing condition whereas others were torn down or destroyed along the way. Anyways, our tour guide was absolutely amazing and had infinite ranges of wisdom about the camp, and about the whole subject in general. If anyone goes to Munich, I strongly encourage you to take it...you wont regret it at all.
Day 4: left Munich, should have stayed a little longer though!
Overall, each city I have been to has been so differnent, yet the same at the same time. Munich felt most like an American city just because of how new everything was. A large percentage of it was bombed during World War II but yet they rebuilt it and kept much of the old architectual style in tact. It was very clean (compared to Italy). People didnt jay walk AT ALL...not even if it was the smallest cross walk, as long as the walking light was red, they waited. Everyone spoke English and most people even apologized for the "little" bit of English they spoke, which of course turned out to be PERFECT. Lets see, what else...oh, people drink beer for breakfast, lunch, and dinner (I think). Oh oh, finally, the "y" key and the "z" key are backwards on the keyboard which becomes extremely frustrating!
Thats a pretty decent summary of my Munich experience I think! As Im writing this though, Ive already left and made my way to Budapest, Hungary. Met a couple random guys at the hostel and went to get dinner. We were searching for local and authentic food, but of course, ended up in the most American restaurant in all of Budapest! Any recommendations for what I should do here? Ill check back in a few days!
Tuesday, April 3, 2007
A dime a dozen
I've spent a few days in Florence now, and its been wonderful! Instead of going to see all the museums and famous statues, I decided to go against the flow. Whereas one might plan an early morning at the Accademia and an afternoon at the Ufuzzi (sp?), I shopped around from street markets to lounging at piazzas, to people watching the day away!
From all the cities, towns, and tourist traps I've been to, I've noticed just about ALL street vendors sell the same crap. You always get the Asian people doing the calligraphy writing of peoples names that look like animals, you always get the black people selling "Gucci" bags and "D&G" sunglasses, and you always get the random assortment of people hasseling you to buy x/y/z junk! You might think I hate street vendors, but actually, I thoroughly enjoy wandering between shops just to blow some time!
Now you might have wandered why I didn't visit any museums. Well, for one, I don't know about artwork and history. Secondly, I think I have already visited too many museums and churches in my lifetime...its to the point where everything looks the same! Don't worry, I did get to see the fake David statue though! Instead, I sat around and wrote in my diary, and attempted to draw sketches in the many piazzas I sat in. To me, that was much more relaxing and unique than fighting through lines in order to see some art work! I may loose a lot of friends by saying that, but oh well =)
Rick, the author of my guidebook (we are very close and on a first name basis now) recommends Gelato in Florence. As a matter of fact, he states that the best gelato is found in Florence. Well, that is some solid advice in my opinion. I obviously have taken his advice and ate at some of the more popular ones around the city. My feeling is that...gelato is just a super rich form of ice cream. Its very good, don't get me wrong, but at the same time, I think McD's ice cream is just as good (if not better!). Don't take my word though, try it out, but then, do let me know what you think.
I had plans to leave Venice and make way to Salzburg, Austria. Well, after writing my last post and actually checking for hostels, I noticed that most of it was already full. I think being close to Easter holidays, most Europeans travel. After a few minutes of freaking out, and a few more of looking on my map to figure out a logical location, I settled on Munich! I have no clue what is there, but I have heard they have good beer, and is part of the "Free Europe Tours" group that I did in London. If they are there, that alone is worth the trip!
That is all for now. Oh, who won the NCAA tournament? I have no clue, and no one here seems to care about basketball!
From all the cities, towns, and tourist traps I've been to, I've noticed just about ALL street vendors sell the same crap. You always get the Asian people doing the calligraphy writing of peoples names that look like animals, you always get the black people selling "Gucci" bags and "D&G" sunglasses, and you always get the random assortment of people hasseling you to buy x/y/z junk! You might think I hate street vendors, but actually, I thoroughly enjoy wandering between shops just to blow some time!
Now you might have wandered why I didn't visit any museums. Well, for one, I don't know about artwork and history. Secondly, I think I have already visited too many museums and churches in my lifetime...its to the point where everything looks the same! Don't worry, I did get to see the fake David statue though! Instead, I sat around and wrote in my diary, and attempted to draw sketches in the many piazzas I sat in. To me, that was much more relaxing and unique than fighting through lines in order to see some art work! I may loose a lot of friends by saying that, but oh well =)
Rick, the author of my guidebook (we are very close and on a first name basis now) recommends Gelato in Florence. As a matter of fact, he states that the best gelato is found in Florence. Well, that is some solid advice in my opinion. I obviously have taken his advice and ate at some of the more popular ones around the city. My feeling is that...gelato is just a super rich form of ice cream. Its very good, don't get me wrong, but at the same time, I think McD's ice cream is just as good (if not better!). Don't take my word though, try it out, but then, do let me know what you think.
I had plans to leave Venice and make way to Salzburg, Austria. Well, after writing my last post and actually checking for hostels, I noticed that most of it was already full. I think being close to Easter holidays, most Europeans travel. After a few minutes of freaking out, and a few more of looking on my map to figure out a logical location, I settled on Munich! I have no clue what is there, but I have heard they have good beer, and is part of the "Free Europe Tours" group that I did in London. If they are there, that alone is worth the trip!
That is all for now. Oh, who won the NCAA tournament? I have no clue, and no one here seems to care about basketball!
Sunday, April 1, 2007
An amazing week in Cinque Terre
Sorry for not getting on the computer and updating this, but I got way too carried away with enjoying Cinque Terre. For those of you who do you know, its five costal towns located on the Italian Riviera. These five towns are very much isolated from your typical tourist places and are really only traveled by train. I stayed in Riomaggiore (the Southern most town) and enjoyed a week of 'real' vacation with no museums, tourist sites, and (for the most part) crowds.
I can't stress how amazing and gorgeous this whole place is, so I'll just quit trying. BUT if you ever have a place you want to go to relax, folks, this is it.
One of the big things to do while in Cinque Terre is a hike between the five towns. Its advertised at 6 miles (give take) but due to a recent landslide, one of the easy sections was shut down. Lucky for me though, I wore hiking boots and came prepared. On one fine morning, I set out with a bottle of water, a monsterous sized chocolate bar, and an apple. The hike takes you through every imaginable scenario. There were cliff side narrow passages, switchbacks up mountain sides, paved roads, and potentially 783,294 stairs to conquer. (disclaimer: about to be disgusting, if you don't want to read, go to the next paragraph) It was all fine and dandy for me until I took a break at the third town. Let me backtrack slightly...the night before, I think I ate 4 or 5 servings of pasta because I'm a fat slob. Anyways, by the time I sit to take a break, I'm thinking, "hmmm, I need to poop". Of course, when the need arises, there is never a bathroom in sight. Then a brilliant idea comes to me, "Of course, I'll just find the train station because there is always a bathroom there". This idea would have been great, but I was in Corniglia, and the town is separated from the train station by about 300+ vertical feet of stairs. Since I didn't know this, I follow all the signs and finally come to the point where I realize this. Now right here is a big decision point - if I go ALL the way down the stairs and there isn't a bathroom, I'm screwed. If I look around the town (which is where I am), and can't find anything, I might not be able to make it down the stairs later (keep in mind, 4 or 5 servings of pasta). I decide to take the risk and head down, LUCKILY there is a bathroom, but of course, no toilet paper. By now I'm hurting, and I go into the station to attempt to get some from the attendent. BY THE WAY, I don't know any Italian, and the guy couldn't understand what "toilet paper" was! I had to act out the motion, and then he informed me there wasn't any. By now, I'm thinking, "oh my...do I have to climb this MASSIVE stair case to town and look"? I do a mental check, and nope, I don't think I can make it. Plan B: find some paper. To cut the story short, I had to look in the trash and find clean looking napkins. There you have it, the lesson should be: always carry some form of TP with you! Afterwards, I was 100% better and did the rest of the hike with no problems! I only wish I could upload some pictures of the trails so you could get an idea how cool this was!
Back at the hostel, there was much to do! The place I stayed at was more or less a complete apartment with 5 beds. The first night, by complete chance, I end up staying with two guys who I met and partied with in Nice. Later in Rome, I also ran into them on the streets. By the time I got to Cinque Terre, by luck of the draw, we end up staying at the same place! Cinque Terre night life is not so great, but we managed to get a few drinks at the local bar. They left the next day, and I had a bunch of other great roomates. During the process, I noticed how picking hostels can be completely hit or miss. You could end up in the 'worst' rated hostel, yet have a bunch of cool people around, and it turns out to the the 'best'. Also, you could book the 'best' rated hostel and have a bad experience, and you'd find it to be horrible...so fickle. In my case, I had an awesome experience!
Finally, I would like to conclude this entry by saying, socks and sandals, no matter how gay looking, is actually very comfortable. I have always been against socks and sandals, but my hiking boots have started to smell so bad from daily wear, that I tested out the waters with Tevas and socks. Now, I am in the know, and I want you to know, its really comfy!
Just to shed some light on my geographical location, I have now left Cinque Terre this morning and arrived in Florence, Italy. I'll spend a few nights here and then make my way to Salzburg, Austria. Sound of Music anyone?!!
I can't stress how amazing and gorgeous this whole place is, so I'll just quit trying. BUT if you ever have a place you want to go to relax, folks, this is it.
One of the big things to do while in Cinque Terre is a hike between the five towns. Its advertised at 6 miles (give take) but due to a recent landslide, one of the easy sections was shut down. Lucky for me though, I wore hiking boots and came prepared. On one fine morning, I set out with a bottle of water, a monsterous sized chocolate bar, and an apple. The hike takes you through every imaginable scenario. There were cliff side narrow passages, switchbacks up mountain sides, paved roads, and potentially 783,294 stairs to conquer. (disclaimer: about to be disgusting, if you don't want to read, go to the next paragraph) It was all fine and dandy for me until I took a break at the third town. Let me backtrack slightly...the night before, I think I ate 4 or 5 servings of pasta because I'm a fat slob. Anyways, by the time I sit to take a break, I'm thinking, "hmmm, I need to poop". Of course, when the need arises, there is never a bathroom in sight. Then a brilliant idea comes to me, "Of course, I'll just find the train station because there is always a bathroom there". This idea would have been great, but I was in Corniglia, and the town is separated from the train station by about 300+ vertical feet of stairs. Since I didn't know this, I follow all the signs and finally come to the point where I realize this. Now right here is a big decision point - if I go ALL the way down the stairs and there isn't a bathroom, I'm screwed. If I look around the town (which is where I am), and can't find anything, I might not be able to make it down the stairs later (keep in mind, 4 or 5 servings of pasta). I decide to take the risk and head down, LUCKILY there is a bathroom, but of course, no toilet paper. By now I'm hurting, and I go into the station to attempt to get some from the attendent. BY THE WAY, I don't know any Italian, and the guy couldn't understand what "toilet paper" was! I had to act out the motion, and then he informed me there wasn't any. By now, I'm thinking, "oh my...do I have to climb this MASSIVE stair case to town and look"? I do a mental check, and nope, I don't think I can make it. Plan B: find some paper. To cut the story short, I had to look in the trash and find clean looking napkins. There you have it, the lesson should be: always carry some form of TP with you! Afterwards, I was 100% better and did the rest of the hike with no problems! I only wish I could upload some pictures of the trails so you could get an idea how cool this was!
Back at the hostel, there was much to do! The place I stayed at was more or less a complete apartment with 5 beds. The first night, by complete chance, I end up staying with two guys who I met and partied with in Nice. Later in Rome, I also ran into them on the streets. By the time I got to Cinque Terre, by luck of the draw, we end up staying at the same place! Cinque Terre night life is not so great, but we managed to get a few drinks at the local bar. They left the next day, and I had a bunch of other great roomates. During the process, I noticed how picking hostels can be completely hit or miss. You could end up in the 'worst' rated hostel, yet have a bunch of cool people around, and it turns out to the the 'best'. Also, you could book the 'best' rated hostel and have a bad experience, and you'd find it to be horrible...so fickle. In my case, I had an awesome experience!
Finally, I would like to conclude this entry by saying, socks and sandals, no matter how gay looking, is actually very comfortable. I have always been against socks and sandals, but my hiking boots have started to smell so bad from daily wear, that I tested out the waters with Tevas and socks. Now, I am in the know, and I want you to know, its really comfy!
Just to shed some light on my geographical location, I have now left Cinque Terre this morning and arrived in Florence, Italy. I'll spend a few nights here and then make my way to Salzburg, Austria. Sound of Music anyone?!!
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