I’ve traveled to more countries in one week than I had ever been to by the age of 21. Since I last updated, I’ve gone to England, France, the Netherlands and Belgium. London was nice. Everything was very grand but we did arrive during a weird time in London. Riots had been going on in London and the surrounding areas. In fact, many people were arrested and 3 people were killed. The riots started after one individual was shot by police but soon escalated into something much more sinister. Businesses were destroyed, homes were lost, and the rioters cited economic motives but I find it hard to imagine how burning someone’s car will help you make money.
Regardless, our trip to London was pleasant enough. Our first day, my phone was having issues so we were unable to meet up with my friend Jess or Andrea, our friend we met in Dublin. It was a sad state of the world, but we were able to visit Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, and Buckingham Palace, for which I am sad to say I was not so impressed. While the grounds of the palace were quite nice the actual building was somewhat lacking in the grandiosity that was characteristic of London in general. The next day, Ross and I rented bikes and traversed the city on the wrong…excuse me, left, side of the road all the way to London Tower, which was more of a castle than a spire. After several messages describing how flawed we were in planning I met up with my friend Andrea who is currently living in the south of England. Ross’s friend Samantha also joined us. Fun fact about Samantha: She received the same scholarship to go abroad that Ross and I did but after leaving to travel the British Isles, she never came back to the States and is currently residing in Wales for the conceivable future. Anyways, we viewed the city from atop the London Eye- very beautiful- and spent some time conversing in Trafalgar square before the other two headed for home.
The following day, we left for the coast of France to go to a music festival called La Route Du Rock. This festival was located in a beautiful little town on the coast of Brittany, France. After travelling under the English Channel, we eventually made it to Paris and then to St. Malo, France. The main part of town was situated in a stone fort and several castles were scattered along the coast of the town less than a mile from shore. However, like most places in Europe during our adventure here, it was overcast and raining slightly. The first day of the festival we listened to several bands we had never heard of and won’t care to hear again. Practically none of the bands had lead singers and most played some type of math rock – jam bands without creativity( sorry if you like math rock). The music on the second day was greatly improved, however the weather worsened significantly. Like much of our trip in Europe it has rained a lot, but on this particular day the bottom dropped out. Ross and I arrived early so he could watch the Low, his new favorite band (seriously though, Ross hates them with good reason) so we were plenty rained on by the time the better bands started coming out like Cuults and Blonde Redhead. We were also front row at that point so we weren’t too upset. Then, the Kills came out and the place exploded. They rocked our extremely wet socks off. After the Kills finished melting faces, we left for home, soaked but content. At the last day of the festival we got to watch Okkervil River play a great set; their lead singer was so charismatic. However, my mind was officially blown when the Fleet Foxes showed up to play. I noticed the lead singer offstage right before they were set to come on stage so I raised my arm and shouted “Fleet Foxes Rule!” Just as I was about to retract my arm, the lead singer returned my salute and I lost my mind. Their set was ridiculously good, very ethereal while still rocking out to tunes like Mykonos, Blue Ridge Mountains, and White Winter Hymnal. I loved every second of it. However, festivals in Europe and the US are very different. For one, there are sooo many festivals in Europe but they don’t have nearly as many headliners. Also, the crowd is much less flamboyant and there are no illicit drugs as far as I could see…weird at a music festival.
After leaving St. Malo the following day, we tried to make our way to Bruges, but because it was some sort of holiday in Europe we couldn’t get there unless we paid about 100 euros and as we had already shelled out $300 on a eurail pass we couldn’t justify that kind of cash. What were two young travellers to do? As it turns out, one place our eurail ticket could take us was Amsterdam…so that is exactly what we did J until we meet again dear reader…
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