So it's been a while since I've blogged but I hope you still enjoy.
Before we left for Amsterdam, we collected two other travelers trying to reach the Mecca of my people. They were both from Germany and very nice. At one of the train stations, we saw a drunk guy singing and dancing…and then poop himself. When the people around him made him aware of his accident, he just shrugged, took another swig of his Heineken and started burning up the dance floor. We spent all day on trains and finally made it to the city…after most everything had closed. So we found ourselves a nice Kebabery and ate and fell asleep. Speaking of, I have had more kebabs and doner meat than I would care to remember on this trip. They seem to be the equivalent of cheap, fast food in Europe. While McDonalds and KFC’s definitely exist they are pretty damn expensive compared to in the US.
The next day, one of our German companions went to go camping and the three companions left went into the center of town. Amsterdam is amazing. The city is filled with canals, beautiful, tall, blonde people, bikes, and so many flowers… and did I mention they have coffee shops in Amsterdam? We spent that day walking around the city. We visited the flower market which is so beautiful. I was so impressed with all the flowers all over Europe. I also bought a ¾ size classical guitar, which has allowed me to continue writing music and allowed me to meet some very cool people! We smoked and drank that night and I started writing another song.
The next day, our other German companion peaced. Ross and I went and rented bikes to experience Amsterdam like the real Dutch. It was so much fun. We rode all over the city visiting many beautiful parks including the location of the Olympic stadium in Amsterdam. That night, I decided to try some busking. I made about 10 euro after playing for about an hour. The following day, it rained, very typical of our European trip. After it stopped, Ross and I busked again. We made about 20 euro this time until some Dutch fellow whined and told it was too late to be playing music at 11:15 pm. We had made enough for a trip to a coffee shop so we were happy. Ross played a pretty mean egg shaker and looked pretty homeless without shoes, so he probably helped make our money.
I’ve noticed that my memory of my times in Amsterdam is a bit blurry…but I DO remember that it was one of my favorite places I have ever visited. So beautiful and everything is legal…within reason and sometimes not even that. Anyways, the next day we headed for Brussels. Brussels was cute and had a very nice center square. The beer was also very good and cheap but other than that I wasn’t all that impressed. We met a very cool guy in our hostel from Korea. Together with Ross and I, all three of us went to the center square to busk a bit. We made enough to pay for beer for the night and by the time we were done, about 2 dozen folks were listening, which is further encouraging me to ignore reason and try to become a musician. After drinking, Ross and I decided to go play in the center square again, only we found out that it was illegal to do so after Belgian Police kicked us out of the square. At least we didn’t get arrested or fined. Meh
At 7 am that morning I was awoken to banging and shouting. It was pitch black and it sounded like someone was trying to knock down the door. Someone in our room was shouting that the guys upstairs had trashed the hostel and might set it on fire. After going upstairs to investigate, she insisted that the guys had tear gassed her as she went up the stairs. She said that we should all leave the hostel. I rolled over and slept for a few more hours. As it turns out, 3 French travelers had come back to the hostel very drunk and decided to make a mess. They threw coffee grounds on the floor downstairs, broken down the door to our room and sprayed the fire extinguisher all over- no tear gas or fire.
That day, we went to the ATOMIUM (it must be spoken in a booming tone), where they held the World’s fair in 1952ish. It was shaped sort of like an atom and was relatively cool. We also saw a planetarium show narrarated by Captain Jean Luc Picard- I mean Patrick Stewart. After returning to our hostel we decided to busk again and got through one song before being kicked out of the main square a second time- we feigned ignorance of the law against playing in the main square. We did make 7 euro on one song however! That night we went out with some folks in our hostel from the California and Canada and one of their mothers and played drinking games at a bar- they were younger than Ross and I-precious. We drank until very late and I was feeling it the next morning.
Ross and I headed to Bruges. We had wanted to go there since seeing the movie, “In Bruges” with Colin Farrel. It was even better than I expected and soooo beautiful. It is a very medieval looking town, filled with cobble stone streets and canals. It’s main square is even cooler than that of Brussels. All that day, Ross and I spoke in a weird accent that resembles Australian, British, Irish, and Scottish. WE decided it was probably how people from Fiji speak. Anyways, Bruges was great. We found a cool park, walked around a lot, found some very cool windmills and generally had a great day. That was also the day of the creepy naked guy. In our hostel, this fellow took a shower, came back in his robe, and as they were only several people in the room, he decided to undo his robe and walk around. He hadn’t put underwear on before it was a bit too weird for me and left.
The next day, we rented bikes…excuse me bike, a tandem bike, to be precise. Since my first year of college, I have always wanted to ride on a tandem bike with my life companion Rossicle, and that day my dreams came true. Ross and I rode all over bruges ringing the bell on our bike. We ventured to the main square in Bruges that was made famous for Ross and I by the movie “In Bruges” and if truth be told, that movie was THE reason we went to Bruges in the first place. At the main bell tower, besides a splendid view of the city, there was also a Dali exhibition that was amazing. I never realized how sexual Dali was. Practically all of the paintings showed had either a naked woman or at least one pair of breasts. I also coerced Ross into going on a long bike ride which turned into an even longer bike ride when we got lost. We went all the way to a Belgian coastal town, whose name escapes me. There we had pancakes and beer, a meal fit for a Belgian nobleman.
The following day we headed to Munich. We spent all day on trains and finally made it to Munich in time to fall asleep at a couch surfer’s apartment. The next day, Ross and I ventured up a mountain to the Kloster Andechs, which is a mountaintop monastery complete with brewery. If I were a monk, I would be drunk all the time. We sweated our way to the top in the very hot German sun and took respite at the top and drank a liter of beer apiece. One of the beers was sickly sweet however and we had to force it down, many pretzels were consumed in the process. Eventually we made our way down the mountain and found a beautiful beach. We spent some time there enjoying the view and the sun.
Once back in Munich, we met up with our host Christoph. Christoph was very fond of Americans and had even spent some time as a student in the US. We went out to the beer gardens and continued to have a few more liters of beer. The US should really take note of these beer gardens as they are outdoor pavilions with lots of wooden tables, good food, and great beer (kind of like He’s Not in Chapel Hill but lacking in pretty much all of the things I said). We were trying to leave the following day but the package Ross was waiting for never arrived so we spent another night in Munich. We hung out at the couch surfer’s place mostly and spent some time in the city proper including a trip to some gardens and the Olympic plaza where the 1972 Munich Olympics were held (Sports!).
On the 26th, we found ourselves back in Amsterdam, it’s funny how that kept happening. We got there pretty late so instead of spending money on a hostel, we decided to stay up all night. That night is still kind of a blur for me, so I can’t exactly put that night in order but I do remember eating at this restaurant called Wok to Walk, which Ross literally could not get enough of, at least twice, going to several coffeeshops, drinking at least one bottle of wine, walking around the red light district, getting a little weirded out by the red light district, going to Vondel Park when it was wicked dark (where we saw some hooligans break a flag pole), falling asleep next to one of the many canals, and eventually opening starbucks. It was probably the first time I have been happy to see one. That morning, we went to the Van Gogh Museum which was amazing. He has become one of my favorite artists and his story is so fascinating. In particular, Van Gogh’s “Sunflowers” really appealed to me. There is something about the texture of that painting that cannot be fully appreciated by a print. Afterwards, I took a 5 hour nap. It was great.
Later that evening, we made our way to the Red Light District for a Sex show. The sex show had several acts including 2 different sets of couples having sex, two women having sex, a woman who put a pen in her vagina and wrote on an audience member’s chest, a banana show( which consists of a woman putting a banana in her va jay jay as my friend Aaron used to call it and then having audience members eating a bite until it gets to…well I think you can figure it out), and a woman smoking a cigar with her vagina, which I gotta say I did not know was possible. We went back to our hostel happier, more confused individuals.
The next day, it rained (joy). However, we had made plans to visit the zoo so we weren’t going to be deterred by a little rain. The zoo in Amsterdam is not to be missed. Ross and I spent probably a good 30-40 minutes each at the gorilla and the chimp exhibits. The gorillas were throwing sticks at the glass separating them from people which was fun to watch and the chimps were chimps so I was enthralled. We also had the good fortune to view the Maned Wolf exhibit, which left Ross and I in fits of hysterical laughter because it looked more like a fox crossed with a deer. I wonder if it realizes how freakish it looks. The zoo is also where I freed my new friend Artie who is going to be coming along with me on my travels to India and China.
The following day we headed for Paris which took a long time and we didn’t arrive until late in the evening. Ross and I went exploring and found a great view of the city of lights near a church whose name was something like Sacre Couer. It truly was the city of lights, especially the Eiffel tower which has a little light show that displays at a certain time every evening. We also found a sweet little hookah bar where we enjoyed ourselves with one of our favorite past times of blowing and watching smoke. Ross and I made it our mission to French Inhale as much as possible.
The next day was one characterized by death. France has several enormous cemeteries, and Ross and I visited the graves of Oscar Wilde and Jim Morrison. We also visited the catacombs, which were interesting. You have to walk down a long flight of stairs to reach the bottom. Once at the bottom, you are struck by how vast the passages go. Every hundred feet, other passages lead off from the main one, but you are restricted to the main path. The bones of millions of dead Parisians are stacked decoratively on either side of the path.
This entire trip, Ross and I had been complaining of how we hadn’t found anyone to play basketball with but we did in Paris. We had a great time. We played with some women who were wicked good and the game eventually had to stop when I hurt my ankle (shitsweak). We went to the hookah bar again that night and had a blasty blast. They had the best tea.
The next day, we visited Versailles, palace of Louis the XIV, the Sun King. The palace was beautiful but the gardens and outlying lands were breathtaking. I enjoyed them much more than the palace and entrance to the gardens was free. If I were to do it again, I would skip the palace and just stroll the gardens. However, it was interesting to view the palace to see how highly the king thought of himself. Ross left me that night. It was a sad day, but one I knew must come. We said our goodbyes and I haven’t found a better traveling companion since…Artie is good and all but he doesn’t talk much.
The next day, I had some serious alone time. I read for hours, played some guitar, cooked food, and eventually went to see Rise of the Planet of the Apes by myself, which was a quality film that I recommend to anyone who enjoys primate antics. When I went back to my hostel, I met some cool travelers from London named Angie and Maja. We ended up going out to 2 clubs with an Australian, a Canadian, a Brazilian, and another Londoner. Oh yeah, the clubs were gay clubs. At the second of the two, a man was taking a shower in a glass box. It was different. We ended up staying up until 6 am, much of the time spent on the sketchy street outside our hostel. The Australian fellow I was with shouted out at a passing car for cocaine and low and behold he came up and asked us if we wanted cocaine. Not my cup of tea.
The next day, I had to wake up very early to get to my new hostel which was in a much nicer area in Paris. I went to the Musee d’ Orsay, which was located in an old train station next to the seine. The paintings and the artwork was incredibly beautiful. It also had a number of Van Gogh pieces which I really enjoyed. I spent the rest of that day chilling out and I got to skype my friend Brittany, which was muy bueno. I have begun to really miss my friends and family on this trip. I’m looking forward to seeing them all when I get back.
On the third of September, I met up with the Londoners Angie and Maja that I had met the other night and we went to the Notre Dame, or we were going to before we met up with some random French blokes who like the sound of my guitar. We bought some wine and went to a local park. We spent hours there, smoking cigarettes, drinking wine, and singing, which made my life. Eventually I had to go catch my flight, so I said my goodbyes and made my departure. Then, lo and behold, it started to rain. Dripping wet and tired, I made it to my flight which took me to Moscow, which would eventually lead to India- the land of a million smells, most of them bad.
