Today was a day to relax and take for myself. I really needed it. Being on the road non stop and always feeling like there is something you need to see can get tiring. I know I have seen most of what there is to see here in Luzern back in 99' and I have already taken a quick refresher of the town. I still have another 4 days to see the major stuff. And for that, today wasn't exciting to read about, unfortunately. But it was exciting for me to do some shopping and get some gifts for the fam and Ellie. I hope you all like everything. I also got myself a sweet Swiss army knife. It is more of a souvenir, then for use, but sweet non the less. You would have to see it to appreciate it. Did some more walking around town and deeper through the streets and through old town. I heard some music as I was walking through the town and turned the corver to find the Swiss Army Band playing for a massive group of people. The music was awesome and the drum line was even more entertaining. It was a good, free, one hour show. I headed back to the hostel to have my spaghetti dinner once again, load more photos and post pictures to facebook. I hope you all enjoy them, even if it is a fraction of what I was able to experience.
Not a long blogg, but just a quick update. Talk to you tomorrow.
Kurt
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
August 22nd, 2010
I was woken up after my long night of partying at the festival, by the mats being picked up all around me.Apparently check out was 9am. Since it was Sunday and the last day of wrestling and the festival, no one would be staying in the gym another night. So they were kicking everyone out. The two girls (the reason I never say their name is because they are crazy Swiss names and can't pronounce, let alone spell their names) were still there and were slowly getting up aswell. I still don't have a hostel booked anywhere. The girls knew this and offered me a ride back to Luzern, where they both live. One of them knew of a good Hostel close in town that we could check out. How could I refuse this free ride with no worries on a train to catch or search for a hostel. We made the hike through the thousands of cars and I threw my stuff in.....I woke up in Luzern. It was great. lol. They called on the hostel and took me there to check in. I booked 3 nights, thanked the girls for everything and they were on their way. I had a full backpack of laundry to do and finally gave in to paying the reception 10 Franks for a wash and a dry (the Frank to Dollar is pretty much exactly the same). I napped in between cycles until it was time to check in at 4pm. After check in, I took a stroll down the road to see the town. My camera was dead though. It was great to see the beautiful Swiss town though.
I headed back to the Hostel after a bit and met the guy who was staying in my room. He had just been hiking up at Pilatus. He told me it was gorgeous. We then discussed how outrageous prices are here in Switzerland. We were both getting hungry for dinner, so we decided to take a walk into town to the grocery and make some dinner. He just grabbed some beer, while I bought spaghetti supplies. It came to 22 Franks. The noodles were 3 franks alone. The 1 lbs. of meat was 8 franks!! Crazy expensive. I cooked the whole batch that night and had left overs for 3 more meals. I had to put the left overs in 3 separate bowls, because they have nothing bigger here. It fed me for the next day and the following morning after that though. Nothing much more to say about this day, except IT IS GREAT TO BE A SWISS!!
Love,
Kurt
I headed back to the Hostel after a bit and met the guy who was staying in my room. He had just been hiking up at Pilatus. He told me it was gorgeous. We then discussed how outrageous prices are here in Switzerland. We were both getting hungry for dinner, so we decided to take a walk into town to the grocery and make some dinner. He just grabbed some beer, while I bought spaghetti supplies. It came to 22 Franks. The noodles were 3 franks alone. The 1 lbs. of meat was 8 franks!! Crazy expensive. I cooked the whole batch that night and had left overs for 3 more meals. I had to put the left overs in 3 separate bowls, because they have nothing bigger here. It fed me for the next day and the following morning after that though. Nothing much more to say about this day, except IT IS GREAT TO BE A SWISS!!
Love,
Kurt
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
August 21st, 2010
Like I mentioned in my last post, I didn't sleep too well. Probably because I was constantly worrying about missing my stop, even though the train wasn't going anywhere after the Zurich stop. When I arrived in Zurich, I knew I had to get to Frauenfeld. I also knew that mom had gotten Willi's phone number to his mothers house and that Nathan and I have been talking via Skype. But, since I was so rushed to make my train and no Internet on the trains, I could neither facebook Nathan, or skype mom. I was heading to Frauenfelt knowing nothing. I took the next train from Zurich to Frauenfeld. It was a short 45 minutes and I met some cool dudes that were in boy scouts and who swore it is not like it is in the States. I didn't believe them. lol. After they got off, I noticed a girl next to me wearing a shit that had Swiss wrestlers on it and said Frauenfeld 2010. I figured she must be getting off at the same stop as me. I need to get to the Schwingfest, the eidgenössisches! She said to follow her off the train, because there are shuttles that take people from the train station to the festival. I walked with her to the festival and told her how I have no where to sleep and that my plan was to just catch a train back to Zurich. But at the same time I would have to Lug my backpack everywhere. As we got closer to the entrance of the festival, I noticed tents everywhere! I asked if that's where she was staying, because she had a pack with a sleeping bag. She said she may, or she may not depending on what friends she meets there. I told her I had to tent, sleeping pad, or sleeping bag. She gave me option number two, which was that they were letting people sleep on the gym floor of a school.And the best part is, they supplied pads. She pointed me in the right direction to talk to someone about it. When I asked if there were sheets or a pillow with this pad, the best English he could come up with was that, "It is like a bed, but not a bed." haha. I mean, my fault for not knowing Swiss German while in Switzerland, but it was just funny. It cost 35Franks for a piece of real estate on the floor. With that as one of my options, I headed back to the train station to find Internet. The lovely lady at he information's desk was a sweetheart. when i told her I was American and here to watch some of my friends from back home wrestle, she knew exactly who they were. telling me that one of them was on TV. This was Nathan. I was pretty excited that people in the Town of Frauenfeld knew the American wrestlers. She then showed me where I could find Internet and also where to score free beer in the festival, although I never found the place. I B-lined it for the Internet cafe to get Willi's number and try to catch him before they left home. I had little hope though, since it was 12 noon. Of course Nathan wasn't going to reply to my FB messages that day, because he was wrestling. I decided I needed to just go back to the festival and get a spot on the gym floor. So I did.
Unfortunately, check in wasn't untill 3. it was half past 12. He showed me on the map where this gym was and told me they might be letting people in early. I was desperate to dump my pack somewhere, anywhere remotely safe. I was tired of carrying it through the 90 degree weather. I walked over the river and around the bend like he said, but I saw no Gym.Or anything that was marked as something that was part of the festival. There were a lot of big buildings in this industrial like area, but nothing marked that I could see. I approached 2 Swiss Army fellas and figured they must know where it is, because I knew I was in the general area. Maybe a block away (I was. I was less than a block away). But he didn't know and looked on his military map and was trying to line the roads and river up with my map then pointed in a direction to give me his best guess. With no other option, I headed that way. I walked and walked. Comparing names on the map and the ticket I got for the gym with the signs on the road. Everything was in frickin Swiss German. Again, my fault, not theirs. But it got really frustrating, really fast. Nothing came close where I was now to a school gym. I stopped an elderly gentleman who was walking and asked if he spoke English.He said a little. He really meant a little. I pointed to the map, he gave me his Swiss German jibber jabber. I said ya ya. I was thinking, no no. Jibber jabber. Ya ya. Jibber jabber. LOST. He finally pointed and I told him thank you in German the best I could and waited for someone else to wal by. But I was in farm ville on the back streets and the outskirts of the festival. There was a car or two, but no walkers. I found some shade to wait. I waited. I sat. I waited. I leaned on my pack. I waited. I laid on my pack. I waited......Lights out. I was so tired, I had fallen asleep on the sidewalk against an old building in the shade. It felt so good. I felt so lost. I needed a little bit of sleep to escape the frustration.
I got up about an hour later and feeling a lot more energetic. I felt good. I was ready to give it another go. I walked across the street and back toward where I came from. I saw some sings on a post about 20 meters down that looked like they were part of the festival. i wondered down the driveway and figured out it was a parking lot for the festival. i walked a little further in and saw across the way, a building that looked like a gym. I thought to myself, no way did I pass that on my way in. My eyes must have been glued to the map. I headed for the building. Past a barn and around a tractor. I got excited when i saw someone closing the back doors to the gym looking building. He must be working there. I got around to the other side, and sure enough, that was it! I was so relieved. The guys there spoke really good English and were really helpful. I told them I had no sleeping bag and asked for a blanket. they had non, but they told me they would fine something. One guy came back with sheet and the other with a pillow. This was working out great!! I was set! I threw my pack down and tried out the pad. It was thick and very comfy. this was around 3:30. With knowing no one, having no ticket inside the wrestling stadium and after making a round through the festival, I went back to my pad to take a nap.
I was woken up at 5:00 by two girls loudly talking in Swiss German. I looked up and they blabbed something at me. I said, sorry, I don't speak German...English? They said ohhhhh.....what are you doing here. I told them them about how I Swiss wrestle back home and my friends are there and what not. I asked them, "What are you 2 doing here?" they said to drink beer. I said, really? you don't have a ticket to watch the wrestling? they said no. I thought perfect, and said, Me either. This couldn't be working out any better. They asked if I wanted to join them. I said of course, I don't know anyone and don't have a ticket either. I showered quick, dried off with my shirt (I forgot my towel at the last Hostel) and we were off. There were so many people drinking beer at this place under dozens of huge tents, I felt like I was at Octoberfest. It was a lot of fun. Drank some beer, had some Jager.
I even watched a little bit of the wrestling highlights on the big screen. We went to this bar that served this hard coffee stuff. It was delectable. it was getting later and later. I watched people and rode a mechanical bull. That was a lot of fun. I was getting so angry with these people who rode it with both hands on the horn. Don't these hicks know you are supposed to put one hand in the air. I gave it my best shot with one hand and think I did pretty well. I got thrown off pretty bad so everyone could laugh. But that is the whole point of it anyways. I know I was laughing at everyone who got in that thing. Even the two girls who went double. The crowd went crazy for that. lol. Everyone whipping out their phones and cameras to snap a picture. We went to a club and danced all night before going to bed. I had such a great time. Met a lot of other random people on the way who I could barely tal to. Met some older folk that I needed to get translated for me. The older generation really gets excited when I tell them I am part Swiss (a guy told me today, the 25th, on my hike that I was a homesick Swiss. I told him exactly. He is visiting Switzerland, where he was born, for 3 weeks. He has been living in South Africa for the past 25 years). I had a great nights sleep on my pad, sheets, and pillow. It really was like a bed........... But not. The guy couldn't have been more right with his choice of English words.
It was scorching today during the festival. Another reason why I didn't need more than a sheet.
Hope all is well and you all have god weather back home as fall comes creeping in.
Love you all,
Kurt
Unfortunately, check in wasn't untill 3. it was half past 12. He showed me on the map where this gym was and told me they might be letting people in early. I was desperate to dump my pack somewhere, anywhere remotely safe. I was tired of carrying it through the 90 degree weather. I walked over the river and around the bend like he said, but I saw no Gym.Or anything that was marked as something that was part of the festival. There were a lot of big buildings in this industrial like area, but nothing marked that I could see. I approached 2 Swiss Army fellas and figured they must know where it is, because I knew I was in the general area. Maybe a block away (I was. I was less than a block away). But he didn't know and looked on his military map and was trying to line the roads and river up with my map then pointed in a direction to give me his best guess. With no other option, I headed that way. I walked and walked. Comparing names on the map and the ticket I got for the gym with the signs on the road. Everything was in frickin Swiss German. Again, my fault, not theirs. But it got really frustrating, really fast. Nothing came close where I was now to a school gym. I stopped an elderly gentleman who was walking and asked if he spoke English.He said a little. He really meant a little. I pointed to the map, he gave me his Swiss German jibber jabber. I said ya ya. I was thinking, no no. Jibber jabber. Ya ya. Jibber jabber. LOST. He finally pointed and I told him thank you in German the best I could and waited for someone else to wal by. But I was in farm ville on the back streets and the outskirts of the festival. There was a car or two, but no walkers. I found some shade to wait. I waited. I sat. I waited. I leaned on my pack. I waited. I laid on my pack. I waited......Lights out. I was so tired, I had fallen asleep on the sidewalk against an old building in the shade. It felt so good. I felt so lost. I needed a little bit of sleep to escape the frustration.
I got up about an hour later and feeling a lot more energetic. I felt good. I was ready to give it another go. I walked across the street and back toward where I came from. I saw some sings on a post about 20 meters down that looked like they were part of the festival. i wondered down the driveway and figured out it was a parking lot for the festival. i walked a little further in and saw across the way, a building that looked like a gym. I thought to myself, no way did I pass that on my way in. My eyes must have been glued to the map. I headed for the building. Past a barn and around a tractor. I got excited when i saw someone closing the back doors to the gym looking building. He must be working there. I got around to the other side, and sure enough, that was it! I was so relieved. The guys there spoke really good English and were really helpful. I told them I had no sleeping bag and asked for a blanket. they had non, but they told me they would fine something. One guy came back with sheet and the other with a pillow. This was working out great!! I was set! I threw my pack down and tried out the pad. It was thick and very comfy. this was around 3:30. With knowing no one, having no ticket inside the wrestling stadium and after making a round through the festival, I went back to my pad to take a nap.
I was woken up at 5:00 by two girls loudly talking in Swiss German. I looked up and they blabbed something at me. I said, sorry, I don't speak German...English? They said ohhhhh.....what are you doing here. I told them them about how I Swiss wrestle back home and my friends are there and what not. I asked them, "What are you 2 doing here?" they said to drink beer. I said, really? you don't have a ticket to watch the wrestling? they said no. I thought perfect, and said, Me either. This couldn't be working out any better. They asked if I wanted to join them. I said of course, I don't know anyone and don't have a ticket either. I showered quick, dried off with my shirt (I forgot my towel at the last Hostel) and we were off. There were so many people drinking beer at this place under dozens of huge tents, I felt like I was at Octoberfest. It was a lot of fun. Drank some beer, had some Jager.
I even watched a little bit of the wrestling highlights on the big screen. We went to this bar that served this hard coffee stuff. It was delectable. it was getting later and later. I watched people and rode a mechanical bull. That was a lot of fun. I was getting so angry with these people who rode it with both hands on the horn. Don't these hicks know you are supposed to put one hand in the air. I gave it my best shot with one hand and think I did pretty well. I got thrown off pretty bad so everyone could laugh. But that is the whole point of it anyways. I know I was laughing at everyone who got in that thing. Even the two girls who went double. The crowd went crazy for that. lol. Everyone whipping out their phones and cameras to snap a picture. We went to a club and danced all night before going to bed. I had such a great time. Met a lot of other random people on the way who I could barely tal to. Met some older folk that I needed to get translated for me. The older generation really gets excited when I tell them I am part Swiss (a guy told me today, the 25th, on my hike that I was a homesick Swiss. I told him exactly. He is visiting Switzerland, where he was born, for 3 weeks. He has been living in South Africa for the past 25 years). I had a great nights sleep on my pad, sheets, and pillow. It really was like a bed........... But not. The guy couldn't have been more right with his choice of English words.
It was scorching today during the festival. Another reason why I didn't need more than a sheet.
Hope all is well and you all have god weather back home as fall comes creeping in.
Love you all,
Kurt
Monday, August 23, 2010
August 20th, 2010
When we got home around 7 in the morning, Meichy was telling Laura and Marcel that his friend game him 4 tickets to Berlin's Friday soccer match, which gives him an extra ticket. I spoke up and told him that if he needs someone to take it, I would! He offered it to me and we got to thinking about how I could make this work. I go to the game, then take the overnight to Zurich, then take the train into Frauenfeld for the huge Schwingfest! we checked the times and got it planned out. What I failed to book was a hostel back in Zurich where I could sleep sat night after the festivities. I wast worried though. I don't know how I had the energy at 7 in the morning, but I even squeezed in a video skype sesh with Ellie. With our plans set for tomorrow and a pad on the floor as my bed, it was lights out. We all slept till 3 in the afternoon. Before long, it was off to the soccer game. On our way, we stopped to check the details on my overnighter. It was a direct ride, which I was stoked about. I got my bed reserved and my ticket. We were good to go, and cintinued to the game. I was so so stoked to see a European soccer match!! Everyone was decked out in their Berlin Hertha gear. When we got to Olympic stadium, it was everything I expected and more. Chants and songs. Crazy fans. And an entertaining game with lots of goals, which gave everyone a chance to go nutty ballistic! Lol it was so much fun. I had a blast and was really starting to get sad about leaving Berlin and the great company I was in. But of course it had to come to an end, but not after a bit of excitement/adventure. So, of course on the way to the game Meichy was leading us everywhere. On the way back, he was still leading us everywhere but a different way. There were loads of people trying to cram into 2 different trains. It looked like we would be able to all fit in the next train. The next train arrived and Meichy kept telling me that I really had to push hard. We were all trying to get in one door and then we jumped over to the door next to is where there looked like there was some space. Keeping up mu aggressive attitude, I saw some space and took it. The 3 others hesitated and in that second, the doors closed behind me. I turned around and saw the only German speaking and the only person who knew where I was supposed to go, on the otherside of the glass. Meichy came running to the door and tried to pry it open. He made a small crack. With my help on the other side we made a bigger tiny crack in the rubber of where the doors come together. Usually a train leave pretty quickly after their doors shut. We got lucky though. The train delayed and we used that time to quickly communicate where I needed to go. He put his mouth to the crack and my ear presses against the other side when he told me to "get of at the @@&$8:$ station." I said what?!!! He told me this over about three times when I desperately asked him to spell it, spell it, spell it. I only caught the first 3 letters as the train pulled away and Marcel held his cell phone to the window and moved it infront of my face on the other side. I could not make out the small text.and with that, I was on my own. I only caught WAR. I was hoping very badly there was only one stop that started with WAR. luckily, there was. I was repeating to myself WAR WAR. When we arrived at my stop I recognized the station and knew I was in the right place. I was to wait for the rest of the group there. After three trains emptying their passengers, me having an overnight train to catch in one hour and no sign of the others. I started for Meichy's apartment. I knew the street the station put me on was the same street Meichy lives on. I knew what direction as well, so I hopped on the trolley in that direction. I was so nervous. What if they are waiting for me, looking for me. What if no one is home at the apartment to let me in to grab my pack, what if I miss my train to Zurich. After 3 stops and one to go, the greatest feeling in the world came to me. Mothers all over the world must experience this same feeling when finding their lost child. At that stop, Laura Marcel and Meichy all walk onto the trolly!! I was so relieved!! I gave out a hey!! OMG!!! Meichy threw his hands to his head as I threw mine in the air with my shoulders to my ears, then slapping my hands hard to my knees. We all then burst into laughter not believing what had happened and how it all worked out. It was a crazy experience. But we couldn't laugh for too long. I still had a train to catch. When I was frantically packing my bag, I regret to inform you, I dropped Jibb's head on the floor. It shattered into 5 little ceramic pieces with a bang. I was so sad. "Little sailor......I am so sorry," I said. I had to move on though. I set up Jibb's remains on Meichy's shelf in the kitchen so he could remember the great times we had. Now there is only 30 min left till my train departs. After quickly storing some directions to the dome and my hugs goodbye, I ran down the stairs. Ran to the trolly. Ran to the train station then ran to the correct platform of my train to Zurich.
I found my car, cabin and bed with no problem. Some others had a little more trouble. I noticed a bunch of ruckus from the cabin next door and peaked my head I. 5, 19year old guys traveling back home to Zurick. Swiss dudes. I was stoked. I told them how hungry I was and a couple of them gave me their left over burger and fries. I was satisfied. One of the guys and I started talking about how we wanted to hit the bar. We did just that. I made my bed and we hit the bar, on a moving train, headed for Switzerland. I was so pumped. We stayed up til about one thirty talking about all the things men talk about. It was a blast, but I had to get some sleep eventually. Zurich was the last stop and from there I am going to Frauenfeld to watch real Swiss wrestling at the worlds largest schwingfest. Keep in mind I have no idea where I am staying. Tonight I will not sleep well, but some sleep in a bed is better than non. Next is Frauenfeld and yet another adventure. I hope you are all doing well. I miss everyone and my own bed. Weather was hot today. Talk to you soon.
Sincerely,
Kurt
I found my car, cabin and bed with no problem. Some others had a little more trouble. I noticed a bunch of ruckus from the cabin next door and peaked my head I. 5, 19year old guys traveling back home to Zurick. Swiss dudes. I was stoked. I told them how hungry I was and a couple of them gave me their left over burger and fries. I was satisfied. One of the guys and I started talking about how we wanted to hit the bar. We did just that. I made my bed and we hit the bar, on a moving train, headed for Switzerland. I was so pumped. We stayed up til about one thirty talking about all the things men talk about. It was a blast, but I had to get some sleep eventually. Zurich was the last stop and from there I am going to Frauenfeld to watch real Swiss wrestling at the worlds largest schwingfest. Keep in mind I have no idea where I am staying. Tonight I will not sleep well, but some sleep in a bed is better than non. Next is Frauenfeld and yet another adventure. I hope you are all doing well. I miss everyone and my own bed. Weather was hot today. Talk to you soon.
Sincerely,
Kurt
Sunday, August 22, 2010
So I am now in Luzern. I know I have not wrote to you all in a while so I am going to hit on a few things briefly but also have some good stories and easily tell you about the funnest experience of possibly my life. So I will take you back to berlin now.
The pub crawl was awesome. Like always. Unfortunately I did not make it to the last pub because I hot sepperated from the group. The next day I was up by 9am and met my tour group to see the concentration camp. The only think I can say is that you will never believe it till you see it. I think everyone needs to see one at least once. This particular camp was not a death camp, although thousands were killed. A death camp is a place where execution was it's only purpose. This was after a while of concentration camps existing. The holocaust became worse and worse over time. There were 60k people at this huge camp at one point. The property is huge, but there are not a lot of bunks. There was also a prison for soviet soldiers at this camp where torture was used in attemp to gain intelligence from these people. People because there were not only soldiers here another man was someone who tried to assassinate Hitler. They thought he was a British spy, therefor they did not have him killed. There was one particular piece of torturing that was terrible. There were 3 poles in the open area outside the barracks. This pole had a piece of metal poking up at a slight angle from being exactly perpendicular to the pole. Mens hands would be tied behind their backs and hooked on this piece of metal while standing on a stool, then the stool would be kicked out and he would fall, dislocating both shoulders immediately. I also saw the ovens where all the prisoners were burnt after being executed or dying. After the concentration camp tour was over and I got home, it was dinner time. I got to talking with 3 other girls that were in the room. We all went out for dinner and then to the grocery store to get beer. It was so funny to me that none of the beer came in cases, just singles. We had a little basket full of Becks. It was a funny sight. My friend Laura, who I met in high school during her exchange, is visiting her cousin Meichy in Berlin with her bf Marcel. I met up with her and we were planning on going out for my last night in Berlin,but we ended up talking about German history till 4 in the morning. Miechy told me that i absolutely HAD to stay another night so we can go to a disco tech. He offered me to stay at his place. best descison of my life. After thanking him in advance, I got a cheap cab back home and was up and showered ready to check out by10. I then plugged in all my devices and fell asleep on the couch till about 1 in the afternoon. Lol. I made my way over to meichy's around 2 or 3, still without eating anything all day. After resting for a bit in the apartment I walked across the street to get some lunch. The lady there spoke no English, but luckily she could translate bratwurst. I ordered two with fries. It ended up being a currywurst, nut I ate all of it anyways because I was so hungry. I just scraped off the curry ketchup. I even bought some ice cream when I was done, which was amazing. The language barrier is starting to get to me more and more. I was spoiled in Ireland and england. After my filling lunch I headed back up to the apartment to see what the game plan for the day was. We headed out to walk around east Berlin. Meichy showed us his stomping grounds and his favorite party street. As we were walking we came across this small little beer shop. Marcel asked if I wanted a beer, and of course I did. They popped the cap and proceeded to walk down the street drinking their beer. I had to ask if it was legal, because there was no way I was getting in any trouble over seas. They both gave me a confused look followed with a chuckle and asked me if I was serious. I said, of course I am serious. We cannot do this in the states. I was so surprised and excited. I wanted to drink a beer everywhere it is illegal in the states. So that is what we did on our way back from visiting the Berlin wall and buying me a patch. We went into the grocery store to buy a cheap 4 pack each. The first thing when I got out if the store was crack my beer. I am very excited and pumped. I just could not believe what I was doing. We had to catch a tram back to the apartment but before we got on, I asked if I could drink my beer on it. They all laughed and said yes. Marcel even told me that I could go to the grocery store, buy a beer, crack it open and drink it while doing the rest of my shopping. As long as I pay fir it in the end, it is totally legal. With that said, I suggested we do it with a very excited voice. They again just laughed, but when we got back to the apartment, we did just that. It was awesome. Laura has pictures off it all, so when she sends them to me, you will see them on facebook. We all had spaghetti and beer. Then when 12 rolled around, we headed off to the club. I am nit sure who had the idea to grab the flat volleyball that was sitting outside the door, but we kicked it all the way there. There were a few times we almost lost it on balconies or over fences, but it survived the journey. Meichy asked the door man if he could watch it for us, and sure enough, after 5 hours of partying and the sun coming up, it was waiting for us when we left. It was soo great. I kitterally parties till the sun came up. As we were kicking the ball back home in complete day light, some English men joined us. We were passing, then guarding, then keeping away and it started to get a little competitive. We agreed we needed to play a game, but this is in the industrial district with nothing but concrete buildings and steel. That does not get in the way of a good old 3 on 3, German vs England bout. We found a huge patch of a concrete slab that was the foundation and floor of some warehouse. I was a guest player for the Germans and after throwing our shirts, coats and backpacks on the groud as goal posts, the game was on. Meichy and Marcel did work And scored goals up front, while I held it down in the backfield. It felt like was in a dream. It was so awesome, so much fun, I was pinching myself. With the game set to the first to 3 and us up 2-1, the pressuere was on. Just one more and we can celebrate in our jeans next to the graffitied walls. I unfortunately let one past me to tie up the score at 2-2. I was so nervous. I did not want to let my friends down and I wanted to be on the winning team as an American. Meichy had a misses shot on goal, but not to worry, for Marcel has his opportunity and slammed one in for the win. I went crazy. I was so excited that We beat a team of English kids who live by this game. I was so blown away. One of the greatest moments of my life. Who plays a pick up game of soccer, on concrete, at 5 in the morning, after partying all night, in a warehouse, IN BERLIN!!!! so awesome.
There is much more I need to tell you, but I also need a break from typing. I will post this for now so you all have something to read. Need to run some errands. Enjoy
Kurt
The pub crawl was awesome. Like always. Unfortunately I did not make it to the last pub because I hot sepperated from the group. The next day I was up by 9am and met my tour group to see the concentration camp. The only think I can say is that you will never believe it till you see it. I think everyone needs to see one at least once. This particular camp was not a death camp, although thousands were killed. A death camp is a place where execution was it's only purpose. This was after a while of concentration camps existing. The holocaust became worse and worse over time. There were 60k people at this huge camp at one point. The property is huge, but there are not a lot of bunks. There was also a prison for soviet soldiers at this camp where torture was used in attemp to gain intelligence from these people. People because there were not only soldiers here another man was someone who tried to assassinate Hitler. They thought he was a British spy, therefor they did not have him killed. There was one particular piece of torturing that was terrible. There were 3 poles in the open area outside the barracks. This pole had a piece of metal poking up at a slight angle from being exactly perpendicular to the pole. Mens hands would be tied behind their backs and hooked on this piece of metal while standing on a stool, then the stool would be kicked out and he would fall, dislocating both shoulders immediately. I also saw the ovens where all the prisoners were burnt after being executed or dying. After the concentration camp tour was over and I got home, it was dinner time. I got to talking with 3 other girls that were in the room. We all went out for dinner and then to the grocery store to get beer. It was so funny to me that none of the beer came in cases, just singles. We had a little basket full of Becks. It was a funny sight. My friend Laura, who I met in high school during her exchange, is visiting her cousin Meichy in Berlin with her bf Marcel. I met up with her and we were planning on going out for my last night in Berlin,but we ended up talking about German history till 4 in the morning. Miechy told me that i absolutely HAD to stay another night so we can go to a disco tech. He offered me to stay at his place. best descison of my life. After thanking him in advance, I got a cheap cab back home and was up and showered ready to check out by10. I then plugged in all my devices and fell asleep on the couch till about 1 in the afternoon. Lol. I made my way over to meichy's around 2 or 3, still without eating anything all day. After resting for a bit in the apartment I walked across the street to get some lunch. The lady there spoke no English, but luckily she could translate bratwurst. I ordered two with fries. It ended up being a currywurst, nut I ate all of it anyways because I was so hungry. I just scraped off the curry ketchup. I even bought some ice cream when I was done, which was amazing. The language barrier is starting to get to me more and more. I was spoiled in Ireland and england. After my filling lunch I headed back up to the apartment to see what the game plan for the day was. We headed out to walk around east Berlin. Meichy showed us his stomping grounds and his favorite party street. As we were walking we came across this small little beer shop. Marcel asked if I wanted a beer, and of course I did. They popped the cap and proceeded to walk down the street drinking their beer. I had to ask if it was legal, because there was no way I was getting in any trouble over seas. They both gave me a confused look followed with a chuckle and asked me if I was serious. I said, of course I am serious. We cannot do this in the states. I was so surprised and excited. I wanted to drink a beer everywhere it is illegal in the states. So that is what we did on our way back from visiting the Berlin wall and buying me a patch. We went into the grocery store to buy a cheap 4 pack each. The first thing when I got out if the store was crack my beer. I am very excited and pumped. I just could not believe what I was doing. We had to catch a tram back to the apartment but before we got on, I asked if I could drink my beer on it. They all laughed and said yes. Marcel even told me that I could go to the grocery store, buy a beer, crack it open and drink it while doing the rest of my shopping. As long as I pay fir it in the end, it is totally legal. With that said, I suggested we do it with a very excited voice. They again just laughed, but when we got back to the apartment, we did just that. It was awesome. Laura has pictures off it all, so when she sends them to me, you will see them on facebook. We all had spaghetti and beer. Then when 12 rolled around, we headed off to the club. I am nit sure who had the idea to grab the flat volleyball that was sitting outside the door, but we kicked it all the way there. There were a few times we almost lost it on balconies or over fences, but it survived the journey. Meichy asked the door man if he could watch it for us, and sure enough, after 5 hours of partying and the sun coming up, it was waiting for us when we left. It was soo great. I kitterally parties till the sun came up. As we were kicking the ball back home in complete day light, some English men joined us. We were passing, then guarding, then keeping away and it started to get a little competitive. We agreed we needed to play a game, but this is in the industrial district with nothing but concrete buildings and steel. That does not get in the way of a good old 3 on 3, German vs England bout. We found a huge patch of a concrete slab that was the foundation and floor of some warehouse. I was a guest player for the Germans and after throwing our shirts, coats and backpacks on the groud as goal posts, the game was on. Meichy and Marcel did work And scored goals up front, while I held it down in the backfield. It felt like was in a dream. It was so awesome, so much fun, I was pinching myself. With the game set to the first to 3 and us up 2-1, the pressuere was on. Just one more and we can celebrate in our jeans next to the graffitied walls. I unfortunately let one past me to tie up the score at 2-2. I was so nervous. I did not want to let my friends down and I wanted to be on the winning team as an American. Meichy had a misses shot on goal, but not to worry, for Marcel has his opportunity and slammed one in for the win. I went crazy. I was so excited that We beat a team of English kids who live by this game. I was so blown away. One of the greatest moments of my life. Who plays a pick up game of soccer, on concrete, at 5 in the morning, after partying all night, in a warehouse, IN BERLIN!!!! so awesome.
There is much more I need to tell you, but I also need a break from typing. I will post this for now so you all have something to read. Need to run some errands. Enjoy
Kurt
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
August 17th, 2010
August 17th, 2010
So this morning I got up around quarter to ten. Showered and got ready to hit the walking tour. On the way I popped into this little cafe that served fresh sliced ground pork that came off a huge block on a rotisserie. It was shoved in this grilled flat bread along with veggies and bigMack like sauce. Needless to say, it was bomb and kept me going till 5 o'clock while walking around all day. The motherload cost only €3!!
The walking tour was so much fun. Our tour guide was full of energy and knew what he was talking about. It was a lot easier for me to comprehend and understand German history because it is all so recent. I love the german history. I was eating it up. We walked through the lost Jews of Berlin memorial, which was honestly somewhat of an emotional experience. From there we saw multiple other significant structures from the parking lot to where Hitler's bunker stood and what is left of the underground portion, which is a lot, has been filled in. To the berlin wall. The underground portion of he bunker was so strong that after they bombed the bunker twice, all they got was the roof to collapse. Now, like I said, it is a gravel parking lot with a path running down the middle. It is the most common path fir dig walkers, because everyone knows what dogs do on their walks. Seeing the wall and hearing some of the stories how people got in to western Berlin and over the wall was breathtaking. One particular story is hilarious. Two men hand made a cow suit and literally mooed their way into western Berlin. Lol awesome. After our guide finished with the story of how the wall came down, a bunch of us headed to a restaurant to get a good, cheap German meal. On the way I met a guy from the group who just graduated UW, played lacrosse with a good friend of mine and knows Mindi. His name is escaping me now, but I will meet him on the pub crawl tonight. And on that note, I need to change and head out to our meeting spot. Fwi, I just came back to my room, loaded photos and took a nap. I will write you all tomorrow after I visit a concentration camp up north. Today was mild with some sun breaks. Hope all is well.
Sincerely,
Kurt
So this morning I got up around quarter to ten. Showered and got ready to hit the walking tour. On the way I popped into this little cafe that served fresh sliced ground pork that came off a huge block on a rotisserie. It was shoved in this grilled flat bread along with veggies and bigMack like sauce. Needless to say, it was bomb and kept me going till 5 o'clock while walking around all day. The motherload cost only €3!!
The walking tour was so much fun. Our tour guide was full of energy and knew what he was talking about. It was a lot easier for me to comprehend and understand German history because it is all so recent. I love the german history. I was eating it up. We walked through the lost Jews of Berlin memorial, which was honestly somewhat of an emotional experience. From there we saw multiple other significant structures from the parking lot to where Hitler's bunker stood and what is left of the underground portion, which is a lot, has been filled in. To the berlin wall. The underground portion of he bunker was so strong that after they bombed the bunker twice, all they got was the roof to collapse. Now, like I said, it is a gravel parking lot with a path running down the middle. It is the most common path fir dig walkers, because everyone knows what dogs do on their walks. Seeing the wall and hearing some of the stories how people got in to western Berlin and over the wall was breathtaking. One particular story is hilarious. Two men hand made a cow suit and literally mooed their way into western Berlin. Lol awesome. After our guide finished with the story of how the wall came down, a bunch of us headed to a restaurant to get a good, cheap German meal. On the way I met a guy from the group who just graduated UW, played lacrosse with a good friend of mine and knows Mindi. His name is escaping me now, but I will meet him on the pub crawl tonight. And on that note, I need to change and head out to our meeting spot. Fwi, I just came back to my room, loaded photos and took a nap. I will write you all tomorrow after I visit a concentration camp up north. Today was mild with some sun breaks. Hope all is well.
Sincerely,
Kurt
August 16th, 2010
August 16th, 2010
Well I have been riding trains for 7 hours now. Emily and I got up early at six to shower and pack our stuff. We had a nice breakfast then got all our rain gear on to head outside and catch the underground to Midi station. Emily is heading to Bruges for the night before meeting her mom in Paris tomorrow. Her train leaves every half hour and is a one hour train ride. I got my rail pass validated and got itinerary for Berlin. I have 3 lay overs, non being longer than an hour. I was on the train fir 9 hours total, well including waiting at the train stations. When I got off the train, it was super easy to find. The hostel is vey vey nice. Probably the nicest I will see while on my trip. Huge lockers in the rooms along with a separated shower and toilet, also in the room. As soon as I got all my stuff unpacked, I headed down to the bar and met a guy who was over in Ireland for a bachelor party last weekend and the wedding is not till this upcoming weekend. So he headed off for the week by himself. He is a nice guy and we shot the shit for a while before sitting down to watch the Manchester united vs. Newcastle game. After the game, I headed up to the room to grabb my computer and jumped on to video chat with Ellie for the first time. It was so nice to be able to see her while we chatted. I went into the hall to avoid keeping my roommates up when a couple French dudes who were passing by on their way out invited me along. We caught the train to one of their hostel's for a bit and then hoofed it out to this underground bar that was super small, but very unique and was playing some hard hitting, base throbbing electro music. Everone was smoking down there and after a while, I just couldn't take it anymore and caught a cab home. It was raining all the way to and from the club. It was called edelweiss, by the way. Thought that was cool. Tomorrow is the walking tour, then pub crawl. Should be a good day. I love the whole feel of Berlin already. Talk to you all tomorrow!!!
Kurt
Well I have been riding trains for 7 hours now. Emily and I got up early at six to shower and pack our stuff. We had a nice breakfast then got all our rain gear on to head outside and catch the underground to Midi station. Emily is heading to Bruges for the night before meeting her mom in Paris tomorrow. Her train leaves every half hour and is a one hour train ride. I got my rail pass validated and got itinerary for Berlin. I have 3 lay overs, non being longer than an hour. I was on the train fir 9 hours total, well including waiting at the train stations. When I got off the train, it was super easy to find. The hostel is vey vey nice. Probably the nicest I will see while on my trip. Huge lockers in the rooms along with a separated shower and toilet, also in the room. As soon as I got all my stuff unpacked, I headed down to the bar and met a guy who was over in Ireland for a bachelor party last weekend and the wedding is not till this upcoming weekend. So he headed off for the week by himself. He is a nice guy and we shot the shit for a while before sitting down to watch the Manchester united vs. Newcastle game. After the game, I headed up to the room to grabb my computer and jumped on to video chat with Ellie for the first time. It was so nice to be able to see her while we chatted. I went into the hall to avoid keeping my roommates up when a couple French dudes who were passing by on their way out invited me along. We caught the train to one of their hostel's for a bit and then hoofed it out to this underground bar that was super small, but very unique and was playing some hard hitting, base throbbing electro music. Everone was smoking down there and after a while, I just couldn't take it anymore and caught a cab home. It was raining all the way to and from the club. It was called edelweiss, by the way. Thought that was cool. Tomorrow is the walking tour, then pub crawl. Should be a good day. I love the whole feel of Berlin already. Talk to you all tomorrow!!!
Kurt
August 13, 14, 15th 2010
August 13, 14, 15th
First off, I would like to apologize greatly to you strict followers of my blogg (Nany and Nany. Lol). The past three days in Brussels has been a lot of fun but has a little twist thrown in at the end. We will get you there soon enough, but allow me to pick back up in Bath.
13th
Emily and I woke up to have our first real hot breakfast in Europe. She had French toast while I enjoyed a loaded omelet. We ate in the restaurant in the hostel. It cost us about €3 each. It was a great deal. After breakfast Emily was on a journey to find herself a new straightener since she blew her last one up. I still don't know how she managed to do that. When we finally found Boots and got Emily her straightener and a package of every adapter you need for around the world, we headed for the train station and en route to Brussels. We had to go back to London and catch the chunnel train to Brussels from there. That train hauled some serious ass! We were flying! I slept the entire time we were under water and a lot of the remaining trip. We arrived in Brussels just as the sun was setting and darkness quickly following. The only information we wrote down, besides the name, was the address and the bus number from the underground station. We were so lost. Only a select few signs were in English. My French has never been better, but it just wasn't cutting it. I know about 3 words and 1 phrase from the Mulan Rouge and that wasn't going to get me anywhere in this situation. Lol. After walking in circles with no map, no idea how to pronounce anything and being in what I would consider a bad part of town, we hailed ourselves a taxi. Luckily the hotel was close and didn't cost us much. We checked in and headed up to our room in the smallest elevator I have ever seen. It had a 3 person maximum and I would have to agree. The best part is, when we arrived at our floor the elevator doors opened, but there was a big blue wall that had the number 5 on it. I soon figured out that it was a swinging door we had to open. It was the most bizarre thing. Emily and I were laughing the entire time and even more when we saw our room. The description of our room said one room and two separate twin beds. It sounded perfect. It worked out just fine, but I just thought it was funny how they said two "separate" beds, because they were pushed right up next to each other and looked more like one king size bed. Lol. It was nice to have our bathroom, that's for sure. The downfall of being in a hotel room versus a hostel is there isn't anyone at the front desk who speaks good English and our age who we can ask about what to do. At the hostels, there are posters and hand made bulletins that have upcoming events and highlight what to see in that given area. We did our own research that night and I sewed on my two patches from England and Ireland, before heading to bed. Weather is cold, but not raining.
14th
Emily and I were both very shocked when we realized it was past noon when we got up. I even told her when I woke up and saw she was up, "your up early." little did I know it was half twelve. While still in disbelief, I had myself a shower that stayed running. The ones in our last hostel had a timed push button. It felt great to step out and not have to walk across the building to my clothes. We both got dresses quickly and headed out after a quick stop at the front desk for a map. We saw some sweet looking buildings and statues, most of which were built during the gothic era of architecture. We past many chocolate shops with one in particular taking my the pocket change of euros. We continued on in search of breakfast, well at this point it was lunch. What better than some good ol' Belgian waffles! They were soo good. I had mine with strawberries and ice-cream. We continued on sight seeing but still had no idea what all these great statues meant, so we hopped on the first "hop on hop off" tour bus we saw. We stayed on that for a good three hours or so and drove past this huge structure called Automium. As we got closer, I noticed there was someone on top. I thought, maybe they were doing maintenance until I saw someone slide off of it. They were zip lining from the top!!! A 250m descent!! Emily and i both said that we would do it, if the price was right. We continued on the tour and saved it for the next day Emily and I were both hungry after the tour and we spent the next couple of hours finding a place and sitting down to eat. We both ordered a pizza at a kittle hole in the wall down a skinny street full of other little other restaurants. Apperently here, one person eats an entire pizza to themselves. I had seem a couple people around me finishing up their last bites of their pizzas, so I was determined to eat all of mine. When I got my pizza, I didn't think it could be done. The pizza was delicious, and I finished it. Lol. It wasn't as bad as I thought. When we were through it took our server a long time to get us our check. I have noticed this a couple times now. We were going to try and make it to this park Emily read about called, Mini Europe that has a firework show every night. Tonight was their last night, so I was in a hurry to get there. When I asked Emily if she recalled the time of the fire works she said 7:30 and it was a quarter to seven at the time. We decided we were not going to make it, so walked around some more down town and came across a huge flower display called, Carpet of Flowers. It was laid out in the town square, which was surrounded by amazing buildings. Some covered in gold and all very Gothic looking. It was a great sight. Emily and I decided we should head back and get a good nights sleep so we don't sleep in again and are able to get up and see mini Europe and the Atomium. On our way back I stepped into a little shop and got me a Belgium national flag patch to add to the collection I have on my pack. I was downstairs making phone calls, and as soon as I got off the phone with Ellie, 4 English speking gentleman who looked my age looked like they were going out. I asked them and they responded with a yes and an invitation to join them. Knowing it was Saturday and I had only had one beer from this city that is known for their great beer selection, I told them of course. I went up stairs to change and invite Emily out. She wanted to stay in, so it was just us guys out on the town with no idea what was a good spot. We went into one bar that looked good, right in the town square, but they were super expensive. I read about a dance club disco that is supposed to be the biggest in Brussels. We asked these two girls sitting by us if they knew where Fuse was. They didn't speak English and we were not going to waist our money on this over priced brew, so we left. As we were walking down the street, one of the guys spotted a group of girls and approached them to ask the same question. One gal spoke very good English, Mathilda is her name. She threw her head back and told us ohhh, well that is 30 min away by car. So we asked where the good bars were around here and after a moment of French jibber jabber between her friends, she told us to follow them. All us guys looked at each other with an expression as to say, Score!! The first place we went into served over 2,000 different kinds of beer from all over the world. The two I had were very good. We all then. Went to a hooka bar where I of all people had to smooth talk the bouncer to let the girls in because they were 17 and you have to be 18. Only 16 to drink though. When we were done there, the guys ditched me and the girls. When we got outside, they were gone. It was supposed to be a girls night for the girls and the plan was for us guys to go somewhere else. Now that I couldn't do that, I waited through a longer conversation of French jibber jabber and Mathilda finally said it was ok if I went with them. We went to a dance club where they played some good electronic and where the girls had a lot of friends. I pretty much sat with a few of the girls while the rest danced. I tried my luck at their version of dancing and I was just getting laughed at the majority of the time, so I kept it to the table. When all the girls left, I walked with them to get a cab and thanked them very much for being so friendly and letting me tag along. I then spent the next hour hoofing it home in the rain, because I am too cheap for a cab. I made it home, no problem, and hit the sack hard. I was regretting getting up in the morning.
15th
It was hard to get this morning but I did it. Emily and I went down stairs to get directions to mini Europe and while she was talking to the receptionist, I heard some silverware being clanked around and wondered if there was still some breakfast left even though it was after 10. There was, and the lady working was so sweet. She noticed I cleaned up the rest of the meat and cheese so she asked if I would like some more. I told her no thanks because I am leaving soon. Not even a minute later, she brought out a plate of ham and cheese and some coffee. I thanked her dearly, threw my meet and cheese on a croissant and hit the road. We took the underground to mini Europe and the Atomium, which was right next door. It was time to look into zip lining prices!! Only €25 each!! So we did it and it was awesome. It was kind of scary at the top, with the wind blowing hard, and by far the highest thing I have ever gone off of. I got some pictures of Emily and a short video of me, but you can't see much. After the ride, we went through the exhibit portion of Atomium. It didn't take us long and I was getting tired. Since we were as closest we were going to get to the only Starbucks in Brussels, Emily told me she would pay for the cab there so she could get their souvenir Brussels mug. €50 later, we were at the airport. Emily got her mug and we grabbed a coffee. I was so shocked at how much the cab ride cost. I couldn't believe it. When she was getting more money out I asked a teller how to get home via transit. €5 each and two train rides later, we were home. Lol. I felt so bad. I was dragging and pretty tired. Tonight is our last night in Brussels, before heading to Berlin for the next 3 days. I told Emily I wanted to get up early to catch the train, since it is about 9 hours of train riding to Berlin. It was only 8:30 but I laid down anyways to rest. With no plans tonight, I figured I would just try and sleep through the night and get some good rest. Around 10 Emily asked if she could use my iPod and skype to call her mother, and I said of course. I fell back asleep until Emily came back in the room. She asked if I was awake, because we. Needed to talk. I thought, now I am but asked her what was up. She told me her mom is flying into Paris in two days and that she won't be continuing on to Berlin with me. I found this shocking. I had no idea there was any possibility of her mom coming over. I asked her if there was something she needed to tell me or If there was any other reason why this came about and she said no. I can only assume the trip was not going as she expected and maybe was getting home sick, because it is a totally different experience traveling without family. I understand and just have to move on. I just hope I didn't offend her in anyway while we were together. I wished it could have worked out. With me wide awake now, I went downstairs to make some phone calls and sent off some post cards. Around midnight I finished up and headed back to bed. The plan is to get up at 6 am tomorrow. It has rained the majority of the day and is poring right now. Tomorrow I make my long journey to Berlin.
Hope all is well and I know the sun is shining back home. Enjoy it!!
Sincerely,
Kurt
First off, I would like to apologize greatly to you strict followers of my blogg (Nany and Nany. Lol). The past three days in Brussels has been a lot of fun but has a little twist thrown in at the end. We will get you there soon enough, but allow me to pick back up in Bath.
13th
Emily and I woke up to have our first real hot breakfast in Europe. She had French toast while I enjoyed a loaded omelet. We ate in the restaurant in the hostel. It cost us about €3 each. It was a great deal. After breakfast Emily was on a journey to find herself a new straightener since she blew her last one up. I still don't know how she managed to do that. When we finally found Boots and got Emily her straightener and a package of every adapter you need for around the world, we headed for the train station and en route to Brussels. We had to go back to London and catch the chunnel train to Brussels from there. That train hauled some serious ass! We were flying! I slept the entire time we were under water and a lot of the remaining trip. We arrived in Brussels just as the sun was setting and darkness quickly following. The only information we wrote down, besides the name, was the address and the bus number from the underground station. We were so lost. Only a select few signs were in English. My French has never been better, but it just wasn't cutting it. I know about 3 words and 1 phrase from the Mulan Rouge and that wasn't going to get me anywhere in this situation. Lol. After walking in circles with no map, no idea how to pronounce anything and being in what I would consider a bad part of town, we hailed ourselves a taxi. Luckily the hotel was close and didn't cost us much. We checked in and headed up to our room in the smallest elevator I have ever seen. It had a 3 person maximum and I would have to agree. The best part is, when we arrived at our floor the elevator doors opened, but there was a big blue wall that had the number 5 on it. I soon figured out that it was a swinging door we had to open. It was the most bizarre thing. Emily and I were laughing the entire time and even more when we saw our room. The description of our room said one room and two separate twin beds. It sounded perfect. It worked out just fine, but I just thought it was funny how they said two "separate" beds, because they were pushed right up next to each other and looked more like one king size bed. Lol. It was nice to have our bathroom, that's for sure. The downfall of being in a hotel room versus a hostel is there isn't anyone at the front desk who speaks good English and our age who we can ask about what to do. At the hostels, there are posters and hand made bulletins that have upcoming events and highlight what to see in that given area. We did our own research that night and I sewed on my two patches from England and Ireland, before heading to bed. Weather is cold, but not raining.
14th
Emily and I were both very shocked when we realized it was past noon when we got up. I even told her when I woke up and saw she was up, "your up early." little did I know it was half twelve. While still in disbelief, I had myself a shower that stayed running. The ones in our last hostel had a timed push button. It felt great to step out and not have to walk across the building to my clothes. We both got dresses quickly and headed out after a quick stop at the front desk for a map. We saw some sweet looking buildings and statues, most of which were built during the gothic era of architecture. We past many chocolate shops with one in particular taking my the pocket change of euros. We continued on in search of breakfast, well at this point it was lunch. What better than some good ol' Belgian waffles! They were soo good. I had mine with strawberries and ice-cream. We continued on sight seeing but still had no idea what all these great statues meant, so we hopped on the first "hop on hop off" tour bus we saw. We stayed on that for a good three hours or so and drove past this huge structure called Automium. As we got closer, I noticed there was someone on top. I thought, maybe they were doing maintenance until I saw someone slide off of it. They were zip lining from the top!!! A 250m descent!! Emily and i both said that we would do it, if the price was right. We continued on the tour and saved it for the next day Emily and I were both hungry after the tour and we spent the next couple of hours finding a place and sitting down to eat. We both ordered a pizza at a kittle hole in the wall down a skinny street full of other little other restaurants. Apperently here, one person eats an entire pizza to themselves. I had seem a couple people around me finishing up their last bites of their pizzas, so I was determined to eat all of mine. When I got my pizza, I didn't think it could be done. The pizza was delicious, and I finished it. Lol. It wasn't as bad as I thought. When we were through it took our server a long time to get us our check. I have noticed this a couple times now. We were going to try and make it to this park Emily read about called, Mini Europe that has a firework show every night. Tonight was their last night, so I was in a hurry to get there. When I asked Emily if she recalled the time of the fire works she said 7:30 and it was a quarter to seven at the time. We decided we were not going to make it, so walked around some more down town and came across a huge flower display called, Carpet of Flowers. It was laid out in the town square, which was surrounded by amazing buildings. Some covered in gold and all very Gothic looking. It was a great sight. Emily and I decided we should head back and get a good nights sleep so we don't sleep in again and are able to get up and see mini Europe and the Atomium. On our way back I stepped into a little shop and got me a Belgium national flag patch to add to the collection I have on my pack. I was downstairs making phone calls, and as soon as I got off the phone with Ellie, 4 English speking gentleman who looked my age looked like they were going out. I asked them and they responded with a yes and an invitation to join them. Knowing it was Saturday and I had only had one beer from this city that is known for their great beer selection, I told them of course. I went up stairs to change and invite Emily out. She wanted to stay in, so it was just us guys out on the town with no idea what was a good spot. We went into one bar that looked good, right in the town square, but they were super expensive. I read about a dance club disco that is supposed to be the biggest in Brussels. We asked these two girls sitting by us if they knew where Fuse was. They didn't speak English and we were not going to waist our money on this over priced brew, so we left. As we were walking down the street, one of the guys spotted a group of girls and approached them to ask the same question. One gal spoke very good English, Mathilda is her name. She threw her head back and told us ohhh, well that is 30 min away by car. So we asked where the good bars were around here and after a moment of French jibber jabber between her friends, she told us to follow them. All us guys looked at each other with an expression as to say, Score!! The first place we went into served over 2,000 different kinds of beer from all over the world. The two I had were very good. We all then. Went to a hooka bar where I of all people had to smooth talk the bouncer to let the girls in because they were 17 and you have to be 18. Only 16 to drink though. When we were done there, the guys ditched me and the girls. When we got outside, they were gone. It was supposed to be a girls night for the girls and the plan was for us guys to go somewhere else. Now that I couldn't do that, I waited through a longer conversation of French jibber jabber and Mathilda finally said it was ok if I went with them. We went to a dance club where they played some good electronic and where the girls had a lot of friends. I pretty much sat with a few of the girls while the rest danced. I tried my luck at their version of dancing and I was just getting laughed at the majority of the time, so I kept it to the table. When all the girls left, I walked with them to get a cab and thanked them very much for being so friendly and letting me tag along. I then spent the next hour hoofing it home in the rain, because I am too cheap for a cab. I made it home, no problem, and hit the sack hard. I was regretting getting up in the morning.
15th
It was hard to get this morning but I did it. Emily and I went down stairs to get directions to mini Europe and while she was talking to the receptionist, I heard some silverware being clanked around and wondered if there was still some breakfast left even though it was after 10. There was, and the lady working was so sweet. She noticed I cleaned up the rest of the meat and cheese so she asked if I would like some more. I told her no thanks because I am leaving soon. Not even a minute later, she brought out a plate of ham and cheese and some coffee. I thanked her dearly, threw my meet and cheese on a croissant and hit the road. We took the underground to mini Europe and the Atomium, which was right next door. It was time to look into zip lining prices!! Only €25 each!! So we did it and it was awesome. It was kind of scary at the top, with the wind blowing hard, and by far the highest thing I have ever gone off of. I got some pictures of Emily and a short video of me, but you can't see much. After the ride, we went through the exhibit portion of Atomium. It didn't take us long and I was getting tired. Since we were as closest we were going to get to the only Starbucks in Brussels, Emily told me she would pay for the cab there so she could get their souvenir Brussels mug. €50 later, we were at the airport. Emily got her mug and we grabbed a coffee. I was so shocked at how much the cab ride cost. I couldn't believe it. When she was getting more money out I asked a teller how to get home via transit. €5 each and two train rides later, we were home. Lol. I felt so bad. I was dragging and pretty tired. Tonight is our last night in Brussels, before heading to Berlin for the next 3 days. I told Emily I wanted to get up early to catch the train, since it is about 9 hours of train riding to Berlin. It was only 8:30 but I laid down anyways to rest. With no plans tonight, I figured I would just try and sleep through the night and get some good rest. Around 10 Emily asked if she could use my iPod and skype to call her mother, and I said of course. I fell back asleep until Emily came back in the room. She asked if I was awake, because we. Needed to talk. I thought, now I am but asked her what was up. She told me her mom is flying into Paris in two days and that she won't be continuing on to Berlin with me. I found this shocking. I had no idea there was any possibility of her mom coming over. I asked her if there was something she needed to tell me or If there was any other reason why this came about and she said no. I can only assume the trip was not going as she expected and maybe was getting home sick, because it is a totally different experience traveling without family. I understand and just have to move on. I just hope I didn't offend her in anyway while we were together. I wished it could have worked out. With me wide awake now, I went downstairs to make some phone calls and sent off some post cards. Around midnight I finished up and headed back to bed. The plan is to get up at 6 am tomorrow. It has rained the majority of the day and is poring right now. Tomorrow I make my long journey to Berlin.
Hope all is well and I know the sun is shining back home. Enjoy it!!
Sincerely,
Kurt
Friday, August 13, 2010
August 12th, 2010
August 12, 2010
Today has been a substantially good day. Everything worked out for it being thrown together last minute. We got up with time for me to send some things home that were taking up too much room in my pack. I got rid of some shirts and a rugby ball I bought at Trinity College. From there we made our way to the train station to book our tickets for bath. With our tickets booked, there was some time to spare. Guess where we spent it? Let me give you a hint. There is a Starbucks in the train station. Lol. Our train left a little late, but we arrived with plenty of time to check into our hostel. It was a little misleading, because the bar tender and receptionist were the same person.lol Once we made the journey up the smallest and steepest stairs ever, we headed to the ancient Roman Baths. The experience was amazing and purely unfathomable for me. I have the hardest time putting history into a time line and to where I can understand just how long ago emperors and slaves used these baths. It is getting easier with learning more European history and putting a date with events. I was able to enjoy these baths so much, because it is the only thing I remember from my world history classes. Lol. I just remember learning about how all the naked Romans would take baths together. Lol. Of course it had a greater purpose than that, which I now know. Even though some pools were used mainly for pleasure, the main reason why the rich and the poor would travel long distances to visit the baths were to seek healing and worship the goddess, which the Romans believed provided the hot springs. Another reasons was to request vengeance through the hands of this goddess, on the people who have hurt them or stolen from them (I can't remember her name or what exactly she was the goddess of). They would write their requests on thin sheets of lead and throw them into the bath. For example, someone may have a suspicion that someone had stolen some of their money. It was believed the more specific you were with naming the parson, the more likely it was for the request to be answered. Some would even have the messages written fir them, because they could not write in Latin themselves. There would be wounded warriors to children to princesses sharing these baths. It was simply breathtaking to witness the same pools that were used by high priests and roman princesses hundreds of years ago. There is still water flowing into the pools today. I was surprised how hot it was. Like a hot tub. All around, it was a great museum and great experience. I am glad things turned out the way they did and we had to come over here. It is only about 20 min east of Whales.
After the baths and getting lost trying to find our way back, Emily and I went out for tapas and a drink. It was soo good to enjoy some Mexican food. I feel like all I have been eating over here si far is sandwiches. Knowing we still hadn't made reservations for where to sleep tomorrow night, we headed straight back to the hostel bar to use the Internet. A few hours later, we decided we are going to take the train back to London, the Chunnel train from there into Brussels. We also completed booking for three days in Brussels and three more after that in Berlin. It felt good to have the next week planned out and the only thing to worry about is transportation from Brussels to Berlin, but that will be easy enough to do when we arrive at the train station in Brussels. I will get all the information I need for a train to Berlin three days later.
With all that figured out, we were both able to relax. Emily headed up to shower and ended up going to bed, while I stayed in the pub and enjoyed a couple drinks with two of our room mates. They are both from Sydney. It is now one a.m. and i am off to bed. Talk to you all in Belgium!! We will see how it goes not speaking English for the first time in Europe. Wish us luck!
All the best,
Kurt
P.s. Enjoy the hot hot weather that is coming your way. Oh and it was sweatshirt weather still.
Today has been a substantially good day. Everything worked out for it being thrown together last minute. We got up with time for me to send some things home that were taking up too much room in my pack. I got rid of some shirts and a rugby ball I bought at Trinity College. From there we made our way to the train station to book our tickets for bath. With our tickets booked, there was some time to spare. Guess where we spent it? Let me give you a hint. There is a Starbucks in the train station. Lol. Our train left a little late, but we arrived with plenty of time to check into our hostel. It was a little misleading, because the bar tender and receptionist were the same person.lol Once we made the journey up the smallest and steepest stairs ever, we headed to the ancient Roman Baths. The experience was amazing and purely unfathomable for me. I have the hardest time putting history into a time line and to where I can understand just how long ago emperors and slaves used these baths. It is getting easier with learning more European history and putting a date with events. I was able to enjoy these baths so much, because it is the only thing I remember from my world history classes. Lol. I just remember learning about how all the naked Romans would take baths together. Lol. Of course it had a greater purpose than that, which I now know. Even though some pools were used mainly for pleasure, the main reason why the rich and the poor would travel long distances to visit the baths were to seek healing and worship the goddess, which the Romans believed provided the hot springs. Another reasons was to request vengeance through the hands of this goddess, on the people who have hurt them or stolen from them (I can't remember her name or what exactly she was the goddess of). They would write their requests on thin sheets of lead and throw them into the bath. For example, someone may have a suspicion that someone had stolen some of their money. It was believed the more specific you were with naming the parson, the more likely it was for the request to be answered. Some would even have the messages written fir them, because they could not write in Latin themselves. There would be wounded warriors to children to princesses sharing these baths. It was simply breathtaking to witness the same pools that were used by high priests and roman princesses hundreds of years ago. There is still water flowing into the pools today. I was surprised how hot it was. Like a hot tub. All around, it was a great museum and great experience. I am glad things turned out the way they did and we had to come over here. It is only about 20 min east of Whales.
After the baths and getting lost trying to find our way back, Emily and I went out for tapas and a drink. It was soo good to enjoy some Mexican food. I feel like all I have been eating over here si far is sandwiches. Knowing we still hadn't made reservations for where to sleep tomorrow night, we headed straight back to the hostel bar to use the Internet. A few hours later, we decided we are going to take the train back to London, the Chunnel train from there into Brussels. We also completed booking for three days in Brussels and three more after that in Berlin. It felt good to have the next week planned out and the only thing to worry about is transportation from Brussels to Berlin, but that will be easy enough to do when we arrive at the train station in Brussels. I will get all the information I need for a train to Berlin three days later.
With all that figured out, we were both able to relax. Emily headed up to shower and ended up going to bed, while I stayed in the pub and enjoyed a couple drinks with two of our room mates. They are both from Sydney. It is now one a.m. and i am off to bed. Talk to you all in Belgium!! We will see how it goes not speaking English for the first time in Europe. Wish us luck!
All the best,
Kurt
P.s. Enjoy the hot hot weather that is coming your way. Oh and it was sweatshirt weather still.
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
August 10th & 11th
So I have to make up for the past two days.
The 10th was a great day. Emily and I got up early to eat our free breakfast and set out on our free walking tour. We got down stairs with, what we thought, plenty of time to get her, oh so precious, Starbucks coffee. The tour started 45 min earlier than what we thought and by the time we got down stairs, the group was about to leave. We saw many different things and had a great tour guide who told many great stories of t history on England and the city of London. Even some not so good stories of Grim the Reaper. I wish I could tell you of all the places we saw, but frankly, I don't remember the names. A few were: a quick glimpse of Buckingham palace, Big Ben and Westminster Abby, The House of Parliament, and the other royal house where the Queens son lives......Can't remember the name. We got up close to the guards, but since 2002, no one is allowed next to them. I was thoroughly disappointed when I heard this news and saw my dreams of posing nearly naked next to and English guard fade away. We saw the 2 guards change with 2 fresh guards,which was very cool to see. We made our way around London and saw the building where Rugby Union was first established. We started at quarter past 10 and didn't have a break till 2 in the afternoon. We were very hungry. The cereal and toast just didn't stick with us. The tour guide suggested a place where we can go to eat with a discount and where he will be having lunch. Almost everyone popped in for lunch and a cold Brew. Emily and I bought our tickets to the pub crawl while we were there as well. It was raining cats and dogs when we left for the Hostel. We both had a nap and were off again. The first place was in a very nice shopping part of town. Emily and I were able to see 2 very cool bars and 2 clubs. I drank Emily's share of drinks, while she kept the good ol English Brew to a minimum. We didn't get to bed till late and we booked one more night here in London. We are having a very hard time finding a hostel in Amsterdam to accommodate 2 people for 6 days. We are not quite sure what we are going to do yet. We were up fairly early for check out. At least earlier than "I" would have liked.
August 11th
I ran over to get some water, juice, and loaf of bread to kick start and replenish the system for the morning. After we checked out and locked up our bags till we could check in again at 2. In the meantime, we walked to the Starbucks down the street to get the princess her Starbucks. lol. We both had a little bite to eat with our drinks and spent the next few hours figuring out where we are going to sleep the next couple of days. It really isn't that serious, but I was starting to get very worried. Amsterdam is busy, and what we hear is full of high hippies. I decided I could probably spare a day or two of the 6 to go somewhere else. We decided we are going to go up to Bath for the day and one night. The hostel we are staying at here in London has a branch up there.
After we got our sleeping arrangements established, we headed out to see the Eye of London, Buckingham palace and St. John's Cathedral. All of out stops were breathtaking in their own respects. The great view from the eye, pondering what exactly is in the palace and what one person needs all that room for, and the outrageously huge cathedral. Since we got a late start on our outing today, we had dinner at an American/Italian restaurant, which was much needed. We were both very hungry and craving something cold to drink. OH yeah, So I have noticed all the runners around here wear backpacks. I pointed this out to Emily and she started pointing out non backpack runners. She couldn't get past one. EVERYONE wears a backpack. We were wondering if it was for weight or if they are running to and from work. When we were walking from Buckingham Palace to catch the underground to St. John's I decided I am going to ask this lad who was running toward us why he wears his backpack while he runs. I politely put my hand out as he was approaching and said, "Excuse me sir, I have a question for you."
At this point he was right next to me. He said without breaking stride "yeah?"
When he kept on running away from me, I hesitated and didn't know what to say or do.
Luckily he read the look on my face quickly and told me to come along.
I jumped on my horse, to now catch up with him, and asked was able to ask my question as we ran together. He told me he runs to and from work. I just said, "ok, that's what I thought. Cheers" then about faced to make my way back up to Emily.
I got a couple souvenirs, but they are a surprise. lol.
The weather was much nicer today, but got chilly quick when the sun went down.
After the tube ride home, Emily and I started a load of laundry and have been charging our electronics in the meantime. Our clothes are probably well done by now and Emily went up to check on them quite some time ago, while I stayed down here to upload my photos, finally fill out my post cards from Ireland, and catch up on my Blogger! Wish us luck on finding a place to sleep!
Best Regards,
Kurt Haisch
The 10th was a great day. Emily and I got up early to eat our free breakfast and set out on our free walking tour. We got down stairs with, what we thought, plenty of time to get her, oh so precious, Starbucks coffee. The tour started 45 min earlier than what we thought and by the time we got down stairs, the group was about to leave. We saw many different things and had a great tour guide who told many great stories of t history on England and the city of London. Even some not so good stories of Grim the Reaper. I wish I could tell you of all the places we saw, but frankly, I don't remember the names. A few were: a quick glimpse of Buckingham palace, Big Ben and Westminster Abby, The House of Parliament, and the other royal house where the Queens son lives......Can't remember the name. We got up close to the guards, but since 2002, no one is allowed next to them. I was thoroughly disappointed when I heard this news and saw my dreams of posing nearly naked next to and English guard fade away. We saw the 2 guards change with 2 fresh guards,which was very cool to see. We made our way around London and saw the building where Rugby Union was first established. We started at quarter past 10 and didn't have a break till 2 in the afternoon. We were very hungry. The cereal and toast just didn't stick with us. The tour guide suggested a place where we can go to eat with a discount and where he will be having lunch. Almost everyone popped in for lunch and a cold Brew. Emily and I bought our tickets to the pub crawl while we were there as well. It was raining cats and dogs when we left for the Hostel. We both had a nap and were off again. The first place was in a very nice shopping part of town. Emily and I were able to see 2 very cool bars and 2 clubs. I drank Emily's share of drinks, while she kept the good ol English Brew to a minimum. We didn't get to bed till late and we booked one more night here in London. We are having a very hard time finding a hostel in Amsterdam to accommodate 2 people for 6 days. We are not quite sure what we are going to do yet. We were up fairly early for check out. At least earlier than "I" would have liked.
August 11th
I ran over to get some water, juice, and loaf of bread to kick start and replenish the system for the morning. After we checked out and locked up our bags till we could check in again at 2. In the meantime, we walked to the Starbucks down the street to get the princess her Starbucks. lol. We both had a little bite to eat with our drinks and spent the next few hours figuring out where we are going to sleep the next couple of days. It really isn't that serious, but I was starting to get very worried. Amsterdam is busy, and what we hear is full of high hippies. I decided I could probably spare a day or two of the 6 to go somewhere else. We decided we are going to go up to Bath for the day and one night. The hostel we are staying at here in London has a branch up there.
After we got our sleeping arrangements established, we headed out to see the Eye of London, Buckingham palace and St. John's Cathedral. All of out stops were breathtaking in their own respects. The great view from the eye, pondering what exactly is in the palace and what one person needs all that room for, and the outrageously huge cathedral. Since we got a late start on our outing today, we had dinner at an American/Italian restaurant, which was much needed. We were both very hungry and craving something cold to drink. OH yeah, So I have noticed all the runners around here wear backpacks. I pointed this out to Emily and she started pointing out non backpack runners. She couldn't get past one. EVERYONE wears a backpack. We were wondering if it was for weight or if they are running to and from work. When we were walking from Buckingham Palace to catch the underground to St. John's I decided I am going to ask this lad who was running toward us why he wears his backpack while he runs. I politely put my hand out as he was approaching and said, "Excuse me sir, I have a question for you."
At this point he was right next to me. He said without breaking stride "yeah?"
When he kept on running away from me, I hesitated and didn't know what to say or do.
Luckily he read the look on my face quickly and told me to come along.
I jumped on my horse, to now catch up with him, and asked was able to ask my question as we ran together. He told me he runs to and from work. I just said, "ok, that's what I thought. Cheers" then about faced to make my way back up to Emily.
I got a couple souvenirs, but they are a surprise. lol.
The weather was much nicer today, but got chilly quick when the sun went down.
After the tube ride home, Emily and I started a load of laundry and have been charging our electronics in the meantime. Our clothes are probably well done by now and Emily went up to check on them quite some time ago, while I stayed down here to upload my photos, finally fill out my post cards from Ireland, and catch up on my Blogger! Wish us luck on finding a place to sleep!
Best Regards,
Kurt Haisch
Monday, August 9, 2010
August 9, 2010
Last night I stayed up till about 3am loading pictures and talking to Ellie. I wasn't too concerned because I wanted to be able to sleep the 5 hours on the bus. Adam woke me up a quarter after 6 to head to the bus station. Him and I were both getting worried when I got out of the shower with little time left to get me to the bus station on time. I had to pack all my stuff yet. A few quick burnt liters of diesel later I was at the bus station with plenty of time to spare. Adam made sure I was at the right gate before we said our goodbyes. I tried to think of what I had to look forward to, instead of the great people I had met and was leaving behind. Nothing could hold back the tears, though. Lol. Jk. I am sure Adam thinks I am a proper cry baby anyways like his brother and his shoulder injury. Ha ha. Jk Dan. Anyways, after I pulled myself together, I had to wait at the gate till half seven for the bus. It was supposed to depart at ten after, but the driver claims he was stuck in accident traffic. I got myself a window seat and 4 hours later I woke up as we were pulling into London. Still had another hour of stops and working our way down town though. When I got off at Victoria station, the sun was shining and fairly warm, 70's maybe. I only knew the address of the hostel. So the first thing I needed to do was get a map. I went to the first booth I saw. It was some travelers agent and he wanted 3 quid for a bloody map. He warned me that if I wanted to get a free one I would have to go across town to get one. Well, without a map there was no way I was going to make it across town and I could tell this guy did not want to spend the time to write me out directions. In disbelief that I couldn't find a free map, I took another look around the station and found someone sitting behind the ticketing booth. I asked him for a map and as he quickly spun around to grab me a map, he asked me where I was going and extended me the map. I told him London bridge. He pointed me in the right direction of where to catch the underground, and I was on my way. On my way out I passed the first booth. As I passed I made eye contact and simply raised my new "free" map in the air and gave it a sarcastic shake. What a wanka! I followed the second mans directions and was blown away by how many people were in this massive station/food court combination. I felt like I was in NYC. I had a difficult time finding an info booth, so I followed my map to buckingham palace. I didn't see any guards where i was, but I did see a pole with a bunch of arrows on it, one of them reading, tourist information. I followed that back to where I started. Lol. I had made a complete circle. But at least I ran into a man that worked for the transit that was very helpful and let me know exactly what ticket to buy and which train to catch. After talking with him, it all made sense and was quite easy getting to London bridge. I made my way down the street my hostel is addressed to when a red sign in a window caught my eye. It was a Seattle's best coffee advertisement. I snapped a quick picture, took two steps and was at the front door of my hostel. I checked in and found my room. I quickly made friends with a Brazilian, named Ciro, who is staying in the same room. We agreed to head out and find a place to eat together, but I let him know I had to be back at 8 to meet Emily back at the hostel. We walked along the river and snapped some pictures in front of Tower Bridge, which I was really looking forward to seeing. We walked across the bridge and I saw a fish and chips stand. The fish was literally a half of a full size fish. A huge fillet and chips. I do have to say it was very good and tops the Ivers dish. There was just so much meat and the perfect amount of batter. We then walked along the river on the other side, crossed the London bridge, saw Globe theater and headed home. We went to the bar in the hostel where they were serving 2 quid pints. That is a good deal here in England, especially London. I was relaxing in bed talking to Karl when Emily walked through the door. She looked exhausted, and respectively so, for she had been traveling for the past 24 hours. She dropped her bags and we went downstairs to get the starving girl some dinner. After Emily's dinner, I was pretty beat and it was getting late. We decided to call it early so we can get up early enough in the morning to catch free breakfast and a solid days worth of site seeing. Now after writing this blog it is 12:30, but still fairly early. Probably my earliest night yet. Talk to you after a day in London. My main goal for tomorrow is to find a London flag speedo. My plan is to wear in under my shorts and when I see a guard to strip down to the bathing suite and snap a picture. Lol. You will enjoy this one Ellie, since I know how much you like speedos.
Till then,
Kurt
Till then,
Kurt
August 8th, 2010
Today has been very uneventful. We woke up around 9 and went over to Emma and Matt's to get some things and hang out. After about 10 minutes on the couch, I was counting sheep. I didn't end up waking up till noon. I spent the rest of the afternoon working on getting my transportation down to London figured out and how and where I am going to meet Emily. I called the hostel to confirmed our reservations and look up directions from the bus station to the hostel. I leave tomorrow at 7:10 for London and arrive 12:30. Check in is not till 2 and Emily doesn't get in till 8. I figure I will just have a walk around town and have some lunch before Emily arrives. Adam has been raving about England's fish and chips. We will see how it compares to our NW, fresh catch, Ivers fish and chips. By the way I have just remembered that I have not been telling you all about the weather here. Both days I have been here it has been cold. Jumper(jacket) weather for sure. It has even rained a little bit.
Around 6pm, Adam and I went to his dads house for Sunday tea, which is Sunday dinner. His dad lives in this huge 300 year old castle looking house. I put pictures on Facebook. Supposedly, there are still hidden underground tunnels in the yard from when the monks lived there, for sneaking people in and out of the property. They still haven't been found. After a tour, many pictures and meeting up with Dan and his girlfriend, we stepped out the backyard door into the middle of this small little village center. It was the coolest thing! All these little restaurants with hotels above them now, which I assume only sleep a dozen or two. There two small streets that fingered up and continued up the hill. It was so spectacular. I literally felt like I had gone back hundreds of years. I found myself stopping, looking around and thinking of what was going here hundreds of years ago. A bunch of people walking around coming to trade goods and food? Knights and their swords. I don't know, but it sure is cool to wonder. After trying to eat at two different places and getting refused, we jumped in the restaurant that was directly behind their dad's house. I had some pesto pasta, which was excellent, and everyone else either had beef or lamb. Even though their dad did not come to dinner, he treated all of us and I made sure to tell him twice how much I appreciated it. It was getting late after dinner and I have an early bus ride in the morning, so we loaded up for the 40 min ride through the beautiful country of farm land, back to his mothers house.
I am up in Dan's room now typing away and loading pictures. I will try and make some phone calls before heading to bed. Next time you hear from me, I will be in London!!!!!!! So stoked!!
All the best,
Kurt
Around 6pm, Adam and I went to his dads house for Sunday tea, which is Sunday dinner. His dad lives in this huge 300 year old castle looking house. I put pictures on Facebook. Supposedly, there are still hidden underground tunnels in the yard from when the monks lived there, for sneaking people in and out of the property. They still haven't been found. After a tour, many pictures and meeting up with Dan and his girlfriend, we stepped out the backyard door into the middle of this small little village center. It was the coolest thing! All these little restaurants with hotels above them now, which I assume only sleep a dozen or two. There two small streets that fingered up and continued up the hill. It was so spectacular. I literally felt like I had gone back hundreds of years. I found myself stopping, looking around and thinking of what was going here hundreds of years ago. A bunch of people walking around coming to trade goods and food? Knights and their swords. I don't know, but it sure is cool to wonder. After trying to eat at two different places and getting refused, we jumped in the restaurant that was directly behind their dad's house. I had some pesto pasta, which was excellent, and everyone else either had beef or lamb. Even though their dad did not come to dinner, he treated all of us and I made sure to tell him twice how much I appreciated it. It was getting late after dinner and I have an early bus ride in the morning, so we loaded up for the 40 min ride through the beautiful country of farm land, back to his mothers house.
I am up in Dan's room now typing away and loading pictures. I will try and make some phone calls before heading to bed. Next time you hear from me, I will be in London!!!!!!! So stoked!!
All the best,
Kurt
Sunday, August 8, 2010
August 7th, 2010
-It is currently the mornign of the 8th-
So I made it to England!! Up here in the north, it is nearly impossible to understand a conversation between two Brits. It is easier to understand the women when they talk directly to you. Adam is the worst. Even the locals have a hard time understanding his thick accent. It is a lot different from a London accent, and much harder to understand than the Irish. It is odd because they have no problem understanding me but said they can't understand the Irish.
The rest of the ferry ride went well. I was able to sleep a bit after my new little Irish friend, Nicola (Nick-lah) settled down. You will see pictures of her soon enough. She is soo cute. I was also able to sleep the majority of the bus ride into Bradford. The back rom of seats opened up after the first stop. There were 5 seats across the back, which made it nice and easy to stretch out and get comfortable. I woke up again 5 hours later at 5:00 in the morning, in Leeds. There, I contacted Adam and let him know I would be taking the connecting bus to Bradford for 2.20 quid (pounds, £). During the time I was waiting for Adam, I made my way to the neighboring train station and looked into train rides downn to London on Monday. A 3 hour trip to london cost me about £45. Adams mother later told me that seemed expensive and that she would look for flights when she got home. I would rather avoid airports at all costs, at this point. Plus, it don't have to arrive so early and there is no pressure to making it to the airport on time because if you miss your train, you simply hop on the next. The women at the train station told me that I should have no problem just coming in the day of my departure to book my ticket.
The first car ride in Adam's car was quite the experience. I have a video of it, but I am having a lot of trouble uploading them. When I play them back it is choppy. I hope it is just the player and not getting that way during the upload. Adam told me I can drive his van if I wish. I am not sure about it, even though it would be legal. He drives a stick as well. It would be quite the challenge, but I don't have any extra money to be spending on the damages of a car. After the 20 min ride through the country with the scenery of rolling green hills, cattle, castles and short stone walls that appear to go on forever, we arrived at Adam's house. After watching a TV show of Wayne Rooney we went to get a proper good English breakfast. Eggs, Bacon (real bacon than is thick and very very good), sausage, tomato, and baked beans. lol. I have no idea why there is baked beans or tomatoes, but it was very good. From there we went to the super market to get Adam some orange juice before heading over to one of his really good friends Emma and Matt's house. There house is 110 years old and is very big for over here. After hanging out for a bit here and hacing lunch we went to watch Adam's brother, Dan and Matt play in their semi final Rugby League match for the Old Victorians. It is a team in the open age rugby leage. When we got to the visitors club house, we went upstairs to get a pint of Carling. During half time of the match, Adam and I walked across the street and got a 8 pack of Carling and enjoyed them on the side line. Everyone on the side line got a kick out of me throwing the rugby ball like a football. They were cracking jokes about how every american can throw a football far. I taught Adam how to throw the Rugby ball and we played a little catch, American football style. He was done after about 3 passes. I was impressed though because one of those throws had a tight spiral and actually made it to me. After the game, we went back to the away club house and drank beer while everyone was cracking jokes and telling stories. I could only understand a few words and most of the time could't understand the joke. The coach was trying to get me to move over and play league for him. I had so many questions about Rugby League to ask him and he asked me all about Rugby Union. Rugby league doesn't have rucks and mauls, soafter your tackled you stand back up and roll the ball between your legs. Each team announced their players of the match for the apposing
team followed by a good ol' traditional rugby boat race. The rugby match may determine who moves on and keeps playing, but the boat race determines the true winner. A team composed of the 5 fastest beer drinkers from each side. Even though Matt and Dan's rugby team lost, their boat team won and are seen as the winners in my eyes. Following the boat race and after everyone left, we headed back to the ol' Vic's club house to finish a couple more pints over story telling and meet some more old time Vic lads. We then decided to stop by the local shop and grab a couple of cases of beer to bring over to Matt and Emma's house where they were hosting some friends before going out on the town. After a couple hours of drinking and not getting much sleep the night before and being up since 6 in the morning, I decided to take a little nap on the livingroom couch. If I wasn't convinced before that i was in good company, I was when I woke up covered by a blanket with the lights turned off and door shut. I went into the kitchen to meet the rest of the group: Ella-handro (like the lady gaga song), Cottinglay, gay James, and little Lee (Adam's Protege). I caught the tail end of the froggs drinking game before we all headed out to our first club/pub. The first pub was more like the traditional bar in the states with a lounge, bar, and dance floor. Everywhere here in Europe plays good music. After enjoying some dancing socializing we went to a traditional European club. The place was HUGE and had 3 different dance floors, each on its own level. There were some 5 or six sepperate bars distributed throughout the club. On the second floor was the main dance area that had lazers going everywhere and a huge raised dance floor in the middle that was packed with people. At around 2am we left the club to get some curry next door. I had some chicken dish and experienced the world's largest piece of bread. Then call it naan and it is like flat pitta break that litterally was the size of teh table. I could have wrapped it around me like a blanked. We did not finish it. There will be pictures of it on FaceBook. After dinner we all got a taxi home. I slept in Dan's room and he stayed at his girlfriends place. A very good first day in England.
P.S. I learned that Cheers means thank you here, so it makes no sence to end my bloggs in Cheers. lol
Some English terms I have picked up while being here:
-Rougher than a badgers nager
-Rubbish, That top your wearing is rubbish
-Proper, She was proper upset about the situation or it was proper funny
-Telly, rather than TV
-Fit, she it quite fit (Good looking rather than the body type)
-Floozy
Friday, August 6, 2010
Last nights pub crawl was so much fun. I was with the Italians all night. They are great and too much fun. I was learning Italian phrases all night. They even told me I have a good accent. I think they were being generous. We went to 4 pubs, 1dance club. The first pub had free beer from 7:30 till 8, which was amazing!!! The second, free shot with any beer. I had some cherry shot and raspberry beer. The third had beer pong!! I was so stoked!! All the Italians had no idea what it was. I explained and Enrique was my partner. We had two cups left to make and Enrique sank the front cup and I won it with making it in the same cup. Everyone went crazy and one of our French buddies lifter Enrique up in the air and we all tossed him up and down. It was sloop awesome!!! I have video of the game, but not the end unfortunately. The 4th pub had two DJ brothers and a small dance floor up stairs. They played great music. -it is so weird seeing black or Asians with an Irish accent- The last place was a dance club we got into for free and they had lasers and fog going everywhere. My first taste of a "real" European dance club. One of the guys that Enrique and I beat in beer pong bought me 2 Jäger bombs. It was pretty cool. Great sportsmanship. Lol
I had to have heard sirens 20 times today because the Dublin Fire Brigade and Garda station are right across the street from the hostel.
Everyone wears sweat suites. I thought that was a 90s thing. I guess not.
Wake up in time for breakfast and check out. Skype call. Set out to get my haircut. I remembered seeing a small little shop on the street I walked 3 times when I first got here, but there is also one the door next to the hostel. It was packed and cost 25E, so I walked down the street to the first one I saw. I walked into an empty shop. A middle aged man walked out from the back and greeted me well. He keeps a very modern and clean shop and was super nice. I joked with him and told him I was questioning his competence because I was the only one in there. He honestly replied that it's that way due to the location and that he has been cutting hair since he was 15 and took over his dads business. He was very friendly. His name is Karl. Second Irishmen named Karl in 3 days. Karl gave me one hell of a hack. He did a great job and used only scissors. Def more of a 50E haircut, not 15. Oh, and no one tips here. It is awesome. Not even in the pubs. I do think tips are expected in the restaurant though.
Bus to airport. Waited in security line. Out of line to put Toiletries in plastic bag that cost me 1E and I already had a bunch of bags. Back through line. Ticket wouldn't scan to enter security. To desk. Told to go to other desk. At that desk told to go to another desk. A different desk again. There she noticed that the ticket is booked for 6 days later. Can't change it, can't cancel it, even though I bought cancelations insurance for 5E through the booking web site, just to be told on the next page that the airlines does not accept cancelations. The next flight tomorrow is 250E. Bus ride back to hostel. Walk to travel-bus station to book a 12 hour bus/ferry ride. Walk back to hostel and grab a Supermac's burger and "chips" on the way. It was 2 shops down from McDonalds. Lol. I literally had to use the toilet minutes after devouring that crispy bacon double cheese burger like a fat American. I was walking across the street while taking a huge bite and leaning forward as to avoid getting any if its oozing super sauce on me. I can only imagine what those right seated, right side of the road drivers were thinking. Ha ha. Back to station an hour early for check in. Almost pick pocketed. Saw the old guy crouched down by by bag/pocket. Stood straight up when I turned around. Ironic part is, there was a warning announcement to be weary of pick pocketing operations. Went out to the gate area and saw a girl my age crying because her wallet got stolen. There is not a more uncomfortable feeling than looking around and thinking to yourself that anyone around me could be looking to steel my stuff. I only have my iPod and 5E in my pockets. Everything else is strapped to my crotch in my money pouch. I have it under my pants where it can't be touched ...... Or seen. I am writing this on my iPod, so I apologize for the poor writing, although it is not any better on my computer. Started it off as a list using the Notes application. I am now sitting on a bus ready to embark on a journey to continue this very unpleasant day. My worst day of the trip so far. But I have all my belongings, I am well, and have a fresh new hair cut, although it itches like crazy because I was checked out and couldn't wash my hair. Might have to sink it. Lol. But I am in Europe enjoying the adventure!!!! Til tomorrow,
Cheers!!
I had to have heard sirens 20 times today because the Dublin Fire Brigade and Garda station are right across the street from the hostel.
Everyone wears sweat suites. I thought that was a 90s thing. I guess not.
Wake up in time for breakfast and check out. Skype call. Set out to get my haircut. I remembered seeing a small little shop on the street I walked 3 times when I first got here, but there is also one the door next to the hostel. It was packed and cost 25E, so I walked down the street to the first one I saw. I walked into an empty shop. A middle aged man walked out from the back and greeted me well. He keeps a very modern and clean shop and was super nice. I joked with him and told him I was questioning his competence because I was the only one in there. He honestly replied that it's that way due to the location and that he has been cutting hair since he was 15 and took over his dads business. He was very friendly. His name is Karl. Second Irishmen named Karl in 3 days. Karl gave me one hell of a hack. He did a great job and used only scissors. Def more of a 50E haircut, not 15. Oh, and no one tips here. It is awesome. Not even in the pubs. I do think tips are expected in the restaurant though.
Bus to airport. Waited in security line. Out of line to put Toiletries in plastic bag that cost me 1E and I already had a bunch of bags. Back through line. Ticket wouldn't scan to enter security. To desk. Told to go to other desk. At that desk told to go to another desk. A different desk again. There she noticed that the ticket is booked for 6 days later. Can't change it, can't cancel it, even though I bought cancelations insurance for 5E through the booking web site, just to be told on the next page that the airlines does not accept cancelations. The next flight tomorrow is 250E. Bus ride back to hostel. Walk to travel-bus station to book a 12 hour bus/ferry ride. Walk back to hostel and grab a Supermac's burger and "chips" on the way. It was 2 shops down from McDonalds. Lol. I literally had to use the toilet minutes after devouring that crispy bacon double cheese burger like a fat American. I was walking across the street while taking a huge bite and leaning forward as to avoid getting any if its oozing super sauce on me. I can only imagine what those right seated, right side of the road drivers were thinking. Ha ha. Back to station an hour early for check in. Almost pick pocketed. Saw the old guy crouched down by by bag/pocket. Stood straight up when I turned around. Ironic part is, there was a warning announcement to be weary of pick pocketing operations. Went out to the gate area and saw a girl my age crying because her wallet got stolen. There is not a more uncomfortable feeling than looking around and thinking to yourself that anyone around me could be looking to steel my stuff. I only have my iPod and 5E in my pockets. Everything else is strapped to my crotch in my money pouch. I have it under my pants where it can't be touched ...... Or seen. I am writing this on my iPod, so I apologize for the poor writing, although it is not any better on my computer. Started it off as a list using the Notes application. I am now sitting on a bus ready to embark on a journey to continue this very unpleasant day. My worst day of the trip so far. But I have all my belongings, I am well, and have a fresh new hair cut, although it itches like crazy because I was checked out and couldn't wash my hair. Might have to sink it. Lol. But I am in Europe enjoying the adventure!!!! Til tomorrow,
Cheers!!
Thursday, August 5, 2010
August 4, 2010
Yesterday was amazing. I didn't have the opportunity to write last night (the 4th) because I had no time in the evening.
I started off the day with a great little sandwich for only 3 Euro and a phone call back home. From there I got ready to head out to tour Trinity College (tour and book of Kells), Grafton st/shopping district, lunch at Havana, and the Guinness brewery tour. When I arrived at Trinity I bought my ticket for the tour, which included a ticket into the museum of the Book of Kells. Then tour was short, although gave me good little overview of the college. Unfortunately, the whole tour group went under the bell. I was a little nervous, but when I asked the guide if I will get my degree, he told me that the bell has to be ringing, but almost every undergrad avoids it if at all possible. lol. When the tour was over I headed into the Book of Kells exhibit. It was simply AMAZING! Just unfathomable. It was really hard to put into perspective what 12,000 years ago really is. This manuscript is suspected to be written in 800 A.D. by the Catholic monks of Ireland. From the exhibit I went on to "the long room" of the old library. It too was amazing and a spectacular site. It is some 400 meters in length and all the old books are arranged not by alphabetic order, but size of the book. All the big books on the bottom of the shelves, and all the small ones on top, only accessible by skinny ladders. At the end of the tour I got some post cards, which some of you may be getting :) and a Trinity Rugby ball.
From Trinity I headed south on Grafton st., window shopping and people watching. I took some photos but didn't buy anything. I heard that Dublin just got their first Starbucks. It was very cool to see it. Cool to know that Starbucks started in my home town. At the end of my walk and closer to the Hostel, I had a couple tapas at Havana. Had a great cup of tomato soup and a ham quesadilla. I made it back to the Hostel with little time to make a few phone calls. I was exhausted after being on my feet all day. I really wanted to take a nap, but I had already paid for the Guinness brewery tour. i am glad I had, because it was totally worth the 2 Euro Redbull to keep me awake through it. The view from the top of the warehouse at Gravity Bar was so spectacular! It is one of the tallest buildings in Dublin. -there are a bunch of Spanish kids cooking lunch right now and it smells sooooooo good!!- I bought a souvenir Guinness t-shirt and we were on our way back. So I thought. After we got off the bus, the person that took us on the trip, who works at the hostel, took us across the Liffy River to some bar that was connected to a hotel. This bar is known for their free Irish dance and music show. We had two tables waiting for the group when we got there. We just needed to buy a pint if we wanted to watch the show . .. . . . .NO problem, serve me up a Guinness! haha. The dancing was great and the women were beautiful ;) Not one of them had red hair though. Well one guy did. Reminded me of a tall David. haha.
I met 2 Italian couples who loved that I am from Seattle because they love live music and know Seattle's great music scene. I told them to come visit any time. They live on the eastern coast of the Heel of the boot of Italy. I forget what the region is called. They were telling me all about the beautiful views and refreshing ocean. I was talked to one of the couples and the guy told me that his family owns a corporation of Hotels in Italy and that if I come to their home town I can stay for free of charge. All this time he was telling me this the guy from the other couple was not paying attention and later in conversation, he started telling me about his friends hotel. He told me (thick Italian accent), "This guy owns the most Beautiful hotel in my entire region in Italy!! It is soooo Beautiful!" When he was done telling me this he exchanged a look with his friend, looking for affirmation to tell me I could stay there. lol. Little did he know. I looked at him and told him, "That's what I heard. He told me I could stay there for free."
his response while throwing his hands into the air was, "OOHHHH MYYY, Are you serious!? . . . it is the best hotel in all of my region...you are sooooo lucky!! It is so beautiful."
This got me really excited and I told them I will try and make it down there. Maybe skip Florence and hit Rome then over there, instead.
After the show I headed back to the hostel quick to change and then meet up with my new Italian friends at 12:30am at Temple Bar in Temple Bar district. Kaycee and I headed out there to meet up with them, but were a little late getting there and could not find them. After walking around for a bit and checking out different spots and getting stuck in a bunch of random different conversations, we stumbled into a loud and crowded pub. The majority of the population was retired old men. lol But these guys loved the music that was playing. Old American Music with some Irish tunes as well. It was so cool to see the whole pub with glasses in the air chanting the words to a familiar song. I had a few beers, but was too busy enjoying the crowd and talking to some Brits that were over from Manchester to watch their football team slaughter the local Irish team. Kaycee all the while is making conversation with all the old men. lol. When she was tired of getting hit on and violated by all the old men, we headed home.
Today I have loaded my pictures and I need to figure out my itinerary for tomorrow so I can make it over to England. I plan on taking a foot tour around town or maybe finding something else to do. Head into a pub for lunch and a beer before hitting it hard tonight. Thursday night is the night the Hostel takes whoever wants to go on a Pub Crawl. It only costs 10Euro and from 7:30-8 at the first pub, it is all you can drink. Then crawl to 3 other pubs and end at a night club surrounded by people who are all heading home to the same place, which apparently is a good thing at the end of this night. lol. I am looking forward to it. I am loving Ireland and Dublin thus far. I am having a great time. All the people and staff here are so friendly! Talk to you all soon.
Check out my Dublin Photos here at http://picasaweb.google.com/kurthaisch
Cheers
I started off the day with a great little sandwich for only 3 Euro and a phone call back home. From there I got ready to head out to tour Trinity College (tour and book of Kells), Grafton st/shopping district, lunch at Havana, and the Guinness brewery tour. When I arrived at Trinity I bought my ticket for the tour, which included a ticket into the museum of the Book of Kells. Then tour was short, although gave me good little overview of the college. Unfortunately, the whole tour group went under the bell. I was a little nervous, but when I asked the guide if I will get my degree, he told me that the bell has to be ringing, but almost every undergrad avoids it if at all possible. lol. When the tour was over I headed into the Book of Kells exhibit. It was simply AMAZING! Just unfathomable. It was really hard to put into perspective what 12,000 years ago really is. This manuscript is suspected to be written in 800 A.D. by the Catholic monks of Ireland. From the exhibit I went on to "the long room" of the old library. It too was amazing and a spectacular site. It is some 400 meters in length and all the old books are arranged not by alphabetic order, but size of the book. All the big books on the bottom of the shelves, and all the small ones on top, only accessible by skinny ladders. At the end of the tour I got some post cards, which some of you may be getting :) and a Trinity Rugby ball.
From Trinity I headed south on Grafton st., window shopping and people watching. I took some photos but didn't buy anything. I heard that Dublin just got their first Starbucks. It was very cool to see it. Cool to know that Starbucks started in my home town. At the end of my walk and closer to the Hostel, I had a couple tapas at Havana. Had a great cup of tomato soup and a ham quesadilla. I made it back to the Hostel with little time to make a few phone calls. I was exhausted after being on my feet all day. I really wanted to take a nap, but I had already paid for the Guinness brewery tour. i am glad I had, because it was totally worth the 2 Euro Redbull to keep me awake through it. The view from the top of the warehouse at Gravity Bar was so spectacular! It is one of the tallest buildings in Dublin. -there are a bunch of Spanish kids cooking lunch right now and it smells sooooooo good!!- I bought a souvenir Guinness t-shirt and we were on our way back. So I thought. After we got off the bus, the person that took us on the trip, who works at the hostel, took us across the Liffy River to some bar that was connected to a hotel. This bar is known for their free Irish dance and music show. We had two tables waiting for the group when we got there. We just needed to buy a pint if we wanted to watch the show . .. . . . .NO problem, serve me up a Guinness! haha. The dancing was great and the women were beautiful ;) Not one of them had red hair though. Well one guy did. Reminded me of a tall David. haha.
I met 2 Italian couples who loved that I am from Seattle because they love live music and know Seattle's great music scene. I told them to come visit any time. They live on the eastern coast of the Heel of the boot of Italy. I forget what the region is called. They were telling me all about the beautiful views and refreshing ocean. I was talked to one of the couples and the guy told me that his family owns a corporation of Hotels in Italy and that if I come to their home town I can stay for free of charge. All this time he was telling me this the guy from the other couple was not paying attention and later in conversation, he started telling me about his friends hotel. He told me (thick Italian accent), "This guy owns the most Beautiful hotel in my entire region in Italy!! It is soooo Beautiful!" When he was done telling me this he exchanged a look with his friend, looking for affirmation to tell me I could stay there. lol. Little did he know. I looked at him and told him, "That's what I heard. He told me I could stay there for free."
his response while throwing his hands into the air was, "OOHHHH MYYY, Are you serious!? . . . it is the best hotel in all of my region...you are sooooo lucky!! It is so beautiful."
This got me really excited and I told them I will try and make it down there. Maybe skip Florence and hit Rome then over there, instead.
After the show I headed back to the hostel quick to change and then meet up with my new Italian friends at 12:30am at Temple Bar in Temple Bar district. Kaycee and I headed out there to meet up with them, but were a little late getting there and could not find them. After walking around for a bit and checking out different spots and getting stuck in a bunch of random different conversations, we stumbled into a loud and crowded pub. The majority of the population was retired old men. lol But these guys loved the music that was playing. Old American Music with some Irish tunes as well. It was so cool to see the whole pub with glasses in the air chanting the words to a familiar song. I had a few beers, but was too busy enjoying the crowd and talking to some Brits that were over from Manchester to watch their football team slaughter the local Irish team. Kaycee all the while is making conversation with all the old men. lol. When she was tired of getting hit on and violated by all the old men, we headed home.
Today I have loaded my pictures and I need to figure out my itinerary for tomorrow so I can make it over to England. I plan on taking a foot tour around town or maybe finding something else to do. Head into a pub for lunch and a beer before hitting it hard tonight. Thursday night is the night the Hostel takes whoever wants to go on a Pub Crawl. It only costs 10Euro and from 7:30-8 at the first pub, it is all you can drink. Then crawl to 3 other pubs and end at a night club surrounded by people who are all heading home to the same place, which apparently is a good thing at the end of this night. lol. I am looking forward to it. I am loving Ireland and Dublin thus far. I am having a great time. All the people and staff here are so friendly! Talk to you all soon.
Check out my Dublin Photos here at http://picasaweb.google.com/kurthaisch
Cheers
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
August 3, 2010
Hey Hey Hey Hey Hey,
First day in Dublin has been interesting. The weather is overcast and a little rainy. Feels just like home. I have no idea how much sleep I have gotten. I rode the bus in from the airport for 2.20 Euro and when I got off had no idea where I was. I was told directions 4 different times and walked the same stretch of street i don't know how many times. I literally just needed to cross the street from where I got off the bus and would have walked to the front door of my Hostel. When I got in I checked my backpack into a locked room, and waited til 2 to check in. In the mean time I read about Irish history and passed out on the table. Once 2 o'clock rolled around I headed to my room to claim a bed and take a "quick" nap. 3 hours later I woke up and took a shower before eating some free pasta and a free drink compliments of the hostel.
My dorm room has 8 beds/4bunks and each bunk has 2 cages to lock up luggage. I am on the top bunk. There is a nice bathroom and shower. I met one of my roommates, Kaycee who is a med student working over here. She met some Brazilians last night who we might go out with tonight. At dinner, I also met 7 dudes who tossed me my first Guinness and who are from the Seattle area. They will be here for the next week. I guess the bars close at 11:30 and there are a few others that open then and run till 2. It is getting later around here and I am wide awake and ready to go out. I hope I can sleep tonight.
My plan for tomorrow is to take a tour of Trinity College, avoiding walking under the bell. Rumor has it, you will not graduate if you walk under it. From there I am going to check out a museum and then walk Grafton st., which is the main shopping street here in Dublin. I am looking forward to picking up a few souvenirs.
Now it is time to figure out where everyone is going and hit the town. Everything is within walking distance, which is very nice and cheap. I hope all is well back home.
Cheers
First day in Dublin has been interesting. The weather is overcast and a little rainy. Feels just like home. I have no idea how much sleep I have gotten. I rode the bus in from the airport for 2.20 Euro and when I got off had no idea where I was. I was told directions 4 different times and walked the same stretch of street i don't know how many times. I literally just needed to cross the street from where I got off the bus and would have walked to the front door of my Hostel. When I got in I checked my backpack into a locked room, and waited til 2 to check in. In the mean time I read about Irish history and passed out on the table. Once 2 o'clock rolled around I headed to my room to claim a bed and take a "quick" nap. 3 hours later I woke up and took a shower before eating some free pasta and a free drink compliments of the hostel.
My dorm room has 8 beds/4bunks and each bunk has 2 cages to lock up luggage. I am on the top bunk. There is a nice bathroom and shower. I met one of my roommates, Kaycee who is a med student working over here. She met some Brazilians last night who we might go out with tonight. At dinner, I also met 7 dudes who tossed me my first Guinness and who are from the Seattle area. They will be here for the next week. I guess the bars close at 11:30 and there are a few others that open then and run till 2. It is getting later around here and I am wide awake and ready to go out. I hope I can sleep tonight.
My plan for tomorrow is to take a tour of Trinity College, avoiding walking under the bell. Rumor has it, you will not graduate if you walk under it. From there I am going to check out a museum and then walk Grafton st., which is the main shopping street here in Dublin. I am looking forward to picking up a few souvenirs.
Now it is time to figure out where everyone is going and hit the town. Everything is within walking distance, which is very nice and cheap. I hope all is well back home.
Cheers
Monday, August 2, 2010
August 2, 2010
Hey everyone. Nothing really exciting today, just a plane ride. I had a hard time saying bye to Ellie this morning, but we have skype. Lol. I am about to board the plane for Dublin and arrive 9am local time 6 hours ahead of PST. I will write again tomorrow evening. Well just wanted to keep on the one post a day schedule. If anyone has any suggestions of what to see in Dublin, please let me know.
Cheers
Cheers
Sunday, August 1, 2010
The Night Before
It is 10:30pm here in Sumner. I am getting more and more excited by the minute, but nervous as well. I feel like I am going to forget something. My plane leaves at 11:35 am tomorrow morning of August 2nd. Ellie is here helping me things get all in a row and going through my checklist with me. She has gone over it with me more than once. Tomorrow I am starting off the morning having breakfast with Craig and Ellie at the Berry Land Cafe, then it is off to the airport. I will be gone till September 17th with no cell phone, so don't call. lol. I will try and write once a day where I am at and I think there is a map on here where I can indicate where I am. Back to packing.
Cheers
http://picasaweb.google.com/kurthaisch/Europe2010#
Cheers
http://picasaweb.google.com/kurthaisch/Europe2010#
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