So as you can probably imagine, getting up at 6am to catch our train was a bit of a struggle...just a tad...yeah...
The ride was fairly uneventful. We slept a lot and at some point picked up these 3 guys that sat in front of us who seemed like they were headed to college next fall. One was going to SLo so every now and then one of us would start chanting "State school" and "Slooowwwwmoooos." Gotta love that central coast rivalry.
So we get to Prague and were instantly blown away. The centuries old architecture, cobbelstone streets, and gold-laden churches and towers were incredible. Our hostel ended up being a right in the middle of old town so we dumped our stuff and went exploring.
Our first beer in prague? The original Budweiser of course! It's funny because Prague and Anhieser-Bushc are still fueding over this and evry banner for Bud you see in Prague says "The original Pilsner." Go America. :-p
The first stop was old town square which is famous for it's churches and the old town tower. The tower is the big attraction. There is a celestial clock on one side and every hour the chimes are rung by the skeleton of death and the 12 apostles march by. It really cool to see. We then walked out to the Danube and found a small cafe where we sat own on the side of the water and drank czechk wine as we watched the sun drop over the Prague Castle. It was spectacular. That night was wandered around Old Town and found a bar called Harley's that had a DJ spinning all types of American rock songs. Add the gorgeous and fun eastern block chicks and we were in the middle of a pretty good party.
(Side note about the eastern block women: Gorgeous and fun! I imagine SoCal girls without the prissiness and insecurity. I may have to figure out how to bring one of these girls home by the end of the trip.)
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Munich day 2
Why is my vision so foggy and my head in pain. Oh yeah...oh well, nothing to do but power through
Today we took a trip out to Dachau, a former Jewish concentration camp. I won't get too down in this post, but craziness includes the "Work will set you free" melded into the iron gate (yeah right), the former firing range where it's pretty obvious that's not red clay on the ground, and the crematorium (enough said). Pretty heavy, but we felt it was important (I think I can put this one on my parents taking me to Gettysburg, the Smithsoniam, and other sites in the US for my natural draw to historical landmarks).
Upon getting back we headed to another beerhaus for the night with our new roommate Dennis from St. Petersburg. He was a good guy (an econ teach from a university) and we went to the Augustinekiller which is a nice beer haus that is mostly outdoor under a grove of trees. It was much more of a local crowd than at the Hof and Dennis helped get us in with the locals who may have just been curious to see Americans and Russians drinking together in Germany.
We stayed for a few extra after Dennis left and then headed back. On the way though we saw a beer we hadn't had on a sign outside a bar, so we cruised in to try it. The beer was ok, but the highlight came when Greg met Andy. Andy was a Swiss from Zurich who had an Irish accent because he spent 5 years there and his wife has one. At first he was just kinda shooting the shit with us - talking football (Ämer vs Euro) and about how he was at a conference and looking for hookers. Then he gets up like he's going to the restroom and before he completely goes he throws his arm around Greg and says out loud "But you know what there's nothing like anal. Am I right? HAHAHA" and then heads to the can. I'm still convinced he wanted Greg to join him. We bounced soon after that, but I'm probably going to be ripping on Greg for a few years for that one.
Off to Prague at 6AM tomorrow morning...
Today we took a trip out to Dachau, a former Jewish concentration camp. I won't get too down in this post, but craziness includes the "Work will set you free" melded into the iron gate (yeah right), the former firing range where it's pretty obvious that's not red clay on the ground, and the crematorium (enough said). Pretty heavy, but we felt it was important (I think I can put this one on my parents taking me to Gettysburg, the Smithsoniam, and other sites in the US for my natural draw to historical landmarks).
Upon getting back we headed to another beerhaus for the night with our new roommate Dennis from St. Petersburg. He was a good guy (an econ teach from a university) and we went to the Augustinekiller which is a nice beer haus that is mostly outdoor under a grove of trees. It was much more of a local crowd than at the Hof and Dennis helped get us in with the locals who may have just been curious to see Americans and Russians drinking together in Germany.
We stayed for a few extra after Dennis left and then headed back. On the way though we saw a beer we hadn't had on a sign outside a bar, so we cruised in to try it. The beer was ok, but the highlight came when Greg met Andy. Andy was a Swiss from Zurich who had an Irish accent because he spent 5 years there and his wife has one. At first he was just kinda shooting the shit with us - talking football (Ämer vs Euro) and about how he was at a conference and looking for hookers. Then he gets up like he's going to the restroom and before he completely goes he throws his arm around Greg and says out loud "But you know what there's nothing like anal. Am I right? HAHAHA" and then heads to the can. I'm still convinced he wanted Greg to join him. We bounced soon after that, but I'm probably going to be ripping on Greg for a few years for that one.
Off to Prague at 6AM tomorrow morning...
Munich day 1
I think Munich is a pretty sweet town. In spite of the fact it rained the first morning there, we hit a bunch of spots. First we ended up at the Marianplatz, which houses one of those clock towers with puppets that move every hour. Opposite that was St. Peter's, one of the tallest churches in town. We paid 1,50 to climb to the top (300+ stairs) and got an awesome panorama of the city.
Next we hit the Science Museum (yes, because we're engineers - shut up). It had some pretty amazing exhibits including a full-size cross-section of a U-boat (I now know what engine is going to be in my future boat), the first jet aircraft, and even an Enigma machine. Interestingly enough, the on Bismark ship they had was a cruisliner and we didn't see any German tanks. Hmmmm...
(Note - We've been cracking the "Nothing happened! Everyone was on vacation!!!" joke from Family Guy ever since :-p)
We then headed back to our hostel to check in. Thia was a major upgrade from AMS. In AMS we were in a 20 person room, here we had 3 beds and we were two of them. Waaay better. We ended up in the bar and met two Canadians, Mike and Ashley, who had yet to go to the Hofbrahaus, so we all joined up to go. They even had bought a subway pass good for up to 4 people (Mooching FTW!) We figured that 1L of beer is about 3.25 cans, so a baker's dozen later we were flying. I vaguely remember over the course of the night meeting some smoking hot spanish chicks and watching Greg hit on some girl who's brother had to inform him she was 15. Oh, and Mike got shit housed and swore the guy bringing us our beer was out to get him. Oh those silly Canadians. More to come...
Next we hit the Science Museum (yes, because we're engineers - shut up). It had some pretty amazing exhibits including a full-size cross-section of a U-boat (I now know what engine is going to be in my future boat), the first jet aircraft, and even an Enigma machine. Interestingly enough, the on Bismark ship they had was a cruisliner and we didn't see any German tanks. Hmmmm...
(Note - We've been cracking the "Nothing happened! Everyone was on vacation!!!" joke from Family Guy ever since :-p)
We then headed back to our hostel to check in. Thia was a major upgrade from AMS. In AMS we were in a 20 person room, here we had 3 beds and we were two of them. Waaay better. We ended up in the bar and met two Canadians, Mike and Ashley, who had yet to go to the Hofbrahaus, so we all joined up to go. They even had bought a subway pass good for up to 4 people (Mooching FTW!) We figured that 1L of beer is about 3.25 cans, so a baker's dozen later we were flying. I vaguely remember over the course of the night meeting some smoking hot spanish chicks and watching Greg hit on some girl who's brother had to inform him she was 15. Oh, and Mike got shit housed and swore the guy bringing us our beer was out to get him. Oh those silly Canadians. More to come...
I'm on the Nighttrain!
...or is it the Orient Express?
The train system in Europe rocks. You get on, have a beer with some other travellers, get gently rocked to sleep (thanks dad for all the nights camping out on Snakebit), and you wake up in the next city ready to rock.
We did have a running joke though because we saw maybe 10 asians in 4 days in AMS, and then all of the sudden there are 50 of them on our train to Munich. Too funny...
The train system in Europe rocks. You get on, have a beer with some other travellers, get gently rocked to sleep (thanks dad for all the nights camping out on Snakebit), and you wake up in the next city ready to rock.
We did have a running joke though because we saw maybe 10 asians in 4 days in AMS, and then all of the sudden there are 50 of them on our train to Munich. Too funny...
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Amsterdam - For the Win!
(...and the occasional loss)
What a town! Prostitutes, drugs, and sex shows that would make the donkey show in TJ look like an afternoon with your reverend - this city is crazy. I'm sure I'm going to leave out at least 20 things that happened, but as for the stuff I can remember:
Day 1- Lazy - didn't do much b/c we were exhausted and still kinda tripped out by our transportation here. We just spent the afternoon walking around the canals as we forced ourselves to stay up until dark so we could pass out and wake up all adjusted...except we are so far North (like, parallel w/ Canada) that the sun doesn't set until 10:30 and rises at 4:30. For dinner we found this spectacular cafe that had a good selection of drafts and amazing food (lamb meatballs and bruscetta param) and afterwards we called it a day.
Day 2 - Kicking it up - Since we had 3 beers our first day, we decided to make it a mission to have 3 new beers every day. We decided this meant heading towards the South to the Heineken Experience. We rented bikes and took a trip by the Van Gogh Museum to see how long the line was. It was very short so we decided to do it before the HE. Pretty incredible stuff. The collection is massive (3 floors) and there are numerous pieces from every phase of his career. I'm sure if I'd ever had an Art History class I could geek out on this for pages, but I'll just mention that the one I thought was the best was a painting of a wheat field with crows descending on it. It is though to be his last painting before killing himself. Craziness. Van Gogh Museum - For the Win!
From the VGM we were off to the Heineken Experience. Let me preface this by saying I'm not a huge fan of Heineken, but every said it tastes waaaaayyyyy better over here. They're mostly full of crap. The only difference I could tell was that it didn't have the nasty finish. Otherwise it was still the same boring beer. Heineken Experience - For the Loss.
After that we decided to bike over to an old opera house that has been converted into a museum dedicated to Jews who had been held there during the holocaust years. It was pretty amazing to see how they banded together during that time (more to come in the Anne Frank house).
Finally after enough touristy stuff...into the Red Light District! Even though it was 4pm the windows were packed with girls beckoning in anyone walking by, hosts outside of sex shows were trying to make deals. It's unlike anything I've ever seen. You just have to experience it. We threw back a few beers and decided to take our bikes back and get some dinner before coming back later that night. By the time we were headed back to the RLD that night we were ready to party...and this place doesn't disappoint. Every street you walk down looks like it was ripped right out of Vegas. Fluorescent red lights are everywhere, the bars are packed to the walls, the coffee shops look like a fog bank moved in. By this time we'd averaged out our 3 new beers per day to 10. Darks, lights, ambers, blonds - we got hammered. The only details I can remember are us running into a bachelorette party and the bride being all over Greg - who she kept yelling was Ross from Friends - high comedy.
Day 3 - Peaking -
So we went from no sleep on the plane, to waking up around 10am to waking up at 2pm this afternoon. Of course when you go to bed at 4am it doesn't sound too bad :-p.
For our tourist stops this day we went up into the tower of the tallest church in Amsterdam, the Westerkerk. It had a whole tour that went over the history of the tower and then finally got the to terrace at 142 feet to look out over the city. The view was incredible and you really get a feel for how tightly constructed the city is.
Next we went down to the Anne Frank house. The walking tour takes you through every room, passed the secret doors and into the cubby spaces the Frank family hid out in. There are videos of interviews with the various people that helped them through their hiding and there are numerous original papers throughout the house. It's all pretty surreal. Historical perspective - For the Win!
So after a little more culture...back to the RLD! This place never stops. Somehow we managed to find 6 new kinds of beer and not buy a 20 mins with a hooker (I think) or get sucked into a sex show (though we got close). After meeting some Aussies that were looking for a fight and some Americans that were stuffing themselves with some fungus, we called it at about 2am b/c we had to get out of our hostel by 10am.
Anyway, I'm sure more details will come to me as my head levels back out, but until then we're off to Munich. Can't find any new beers there... :-D
What a town! Prostitutes, drugs, and sex shows that would make the donkey show in TJ look like an afternoon with your reverend - this city is crazy. I'm sure I'm going to leave out at least 20 things that happened, but as for the stuff I can remember:
Day 1- Lazy - didn't do much b/c we were exhausted and still kinda tripped out by our transportation here. We just spent the afternoon walking around the canals as we forced ourselves to stay up until dark so we could pass out and wake up all adjusted...except we are so far North (like, parallel w/ Canada) that the sun doesn't set until 10:30 and rises at 4:30. For dinner we found this spectacular cafe that had a good selection of drafts and amazing food (lamb meatballs and bruscetta param) and afterwards we called it a day.
Day 2 - Kicking it up - Since we had 3 beers our first day, we decided to make it a mission to have 3 new beers every day. We decided this meant heading towards the South to the Heineken Experience. We rented bikes and took a trip by the Van Gogh Museum to see how long the line was. It was very short so we decided to do it before the HE. Pretty incredible stuff. The collection is massive (3 floors) and there are numerous pieces from every phase of his career. I'm sure if I'd ever had an Art History class I could geek out on this for pages, but I'll just mention that the one I thought was the best was a painting of a wheat field with crows descending on it. It is though to be his last painting before killing himself. Craziness. Van Gogh Museum - For the Win!
From the VGM we were off to the Heineken Experience. Let me preface this by saying I'm not a huge fan of Heineken, but every said it tastes waaaaayyyyy better over here. They're mostly full of crap. The only difference I could tell was that it didn't have the nasty finish. Otherwise it was still the same boring beer. Heineken Experience - For the Loss.
After that we decided to bike over to an old opera house that has been converted into a museum dedicated to Jews who had been held there during the holocaust years. It was pretty amazing to see how they banded together during that time (more to come in the Anne Frank house).
Finally after enough touristy stuff...into the Red Light District! Even though it was 4pm the windows were packed with girls beckoning in anyone walking by, hosts outside of sex shows were trying to make deals. It's unlike anything I've ever seen. You just have to experience it. We threw back a few beers and decided to take our bikes back and get some dinner before coming back later that night. By the time we were headed back to the RLD that night we were ready to party...and this place doesn't disappoint. Every street you walk down looks like it was ripped right out of Vegas. Fluorescent red lights are everywhere, the bars are packed to the walls, the coffee shops look like a fog bank moved in. By this time we'd averaged out our 3 new beers per day to 10. Darks, lights, ambers, blonds - we got hammered. The only details I can remember are us running into a bachelorette party and the bride being all over Greg - who she kept yelling was Ross from Friends - high comedy.
Day 3 - Peaking -
So we went from no sleep on the plane, to waking up around 10am to waking up at 2pm this afternoon. Of course when you go to bed at 4am it doesn't sound too bad :-p.
For our tourist stops this day we went up into the tower of the tallest church in Amsterdam, the Westerkerk. It had a whole tour that went over the history of the tower and then finally got the to terrace at 142 feet to look out over the city. The view was incredible and you really get a feel for how tightly constructed the city is.
Next we went down to the Anne Frank house. The walking tour takes you through every room, passed the secret doors and into the cubby spaces the Frank family hid out in. There are videos of interviews with the various people that helped them through their hiding and there are numerous original papers throughout the house. It's all pretty surreal. Historical perspective - For the Win!
So after a little more culture...back to the RLD! This place never stops. Somehow we managed to find 6 new kinds of beer and not buy a 20 mins with a hooker (I think) or get sucked into a sex show (though we got close). After meeting some Aussies that were looking for a fight and some Americans that were stuffing themselves with some fungus, we called it at about 2am b/c we had to get out of our hostel by 10am.
Anyway, I'm sure more details will come to me as my head levels back out, but until then we're off to Munich. Can't find any new beers there... :-D
Saturday, July 7, 2007
Crazy first day
3 stories just to make it to Amsterdam:
1) The first leg: LAX-DET
Greg gets stuck next to 6-4 300+lb of a man-beast who as soon as the plane starts to taxi out wraps his bandanna over his eyes to pass out. The guy seriously looked like he was trying to get focused for his Jedi training. Greg then has to spend the rest of trip half-lodged into this guy's sweaty armpit while the guy tries to make his best chainsaw impression. Mean while to avoid being crushed he leans out into the aisle where he gets slammed by the drink cart every 20 mins.
2) The overnight: DET-Brussels
After spending the first leg in the 3rd circle of hell Greg catches a break with an empty row to lay out in. I get one where the middle seat is empty next to a retired college professor who was pretty cool. We start talking about where we're headed and the row behind me overhears that Greg and I are starting in Amsterdam. The ladies in the row tell us their headed that way to - only driving not by train - and were wondering if we'd like to tag along to help navigate and such. We're down b/c that saves us one of the travel days on our railpass.
3) This bitch is crazy
So it turns out the two women are a 44 yr old teacher who's married but left her husband and kids behind so she could take her former student that she moved into her house to Europe. Hang on, it gets crazier. The older woman is basically having the first break from her family in 20 years so her neurons are firing at least 30x faster than normal...and at 150km/hr on the Brussels to Amsterdam highway. After regaling us with fantastic stories of having an uzi pulled on her while visiting her husband, her 70 yr old father who cultivates weed in the greenhouse in her backyard, the way she got her house in San Jose by suing the guy that pulled the uzi on her and using the winnings as a down payment, and how she has a deep belief in Judaism...and she's a practicing Catholic. Greg said it was hilarious to watch the younger girl just sit in the back seat squirming at every comment
So the moral of the story kids: always hitchhike with crazy people. The fun never ends!
1) The first leg: LAX-DET
Greg gets stuck next to 6-4 300+lb of a man-beast who as soon as the plane starts to taxi out wraps his bandanna over his eyes to pass out. The guy seriously looked like he was trying to get focused for his Jedi training. Greg then has to spend the rest of trip half-lodged into this guy's sweaty armpit while the guy tries to make his best chainsaw impression. Mean while to avoid being crushed he leans out into the aisle where he gets slammed by the drink cart every 20 mins.
2) The overnight: DET-Brussels
After spending the first leg in the 3rd circle of hell Greg catches a break with an empty row to lay out in. I get one where the middle seat is empty next to a retired college professor who was pretty cool. We start talking about where we're headed and the row behind me overhears that Greg and I are starting in Amsterdam. The ladies in the row tell us their headed that way to - only driving not by train - and were wondering if we'd like to tag along to help navigate and such. We're down b/c that saves us one of the travel days on our railpass.
3) This bitch is crazy
So it turns out the two women are a 44 yr old teacher who's married but left her husband and kids behind so she could take her former student that she moved into her house to Europe. Hang on, it gets crazier. The older woman is basically having the first break from her family in 20 years so her neurons are firing at least 30x faster than normal...and at 150km/hr on the Brussels to Amsterdam highway. After regaling us with fantastic stories of having an uzi pulled on her while visiting her husband, her 70 yr old father who cultivates weed in the greenhouse in her backyard, the way she got her house in San Jose by suing the guy that pulled the uzi on her and using the winnings as a down payment, and how she has a deep belief in Judaism...and she's a practicing Catholic. Greg said it was hilarious to watch the younger girl just sit in the back seat squirming at every comment
So the moral of the story kids: always hitchhike with crazy people. The fun never ends!
Thursday, July 5, 2007
Final countdown...
So I'm going to give this blog thing a shot. I may quit after this first post, I may go the distance. I make no promises. Either way, I hope I can use this to keep everyone up to date on my trip without having to copy/paste the same story into 20 different emails. Those stories by the way, will be semi-filtered. I want to share all the absurd crap I do, but I may want to keep this blog as a personal record to read again some day, so I'll try to keep it all to vague references that will make for great stories later and hope I can drink away the gory details by next 4th of July. Let's just say expect a NC-17 rating.
I've got a lot of crap packed.
After 7 months of planning, 10,000 airline points, 125 emails, the time in here. In 7.5 hours we'll be gear-up on our way to Europe. It definitely has a much different feel than my last two international trips (maybe it's the whole NOT getting dumped on a plane with 3 days notice to work on cellphones in a 3rd world country). This one is pure excitement. We definitely set an ambitious itinerary (see below). We sort of go from fast-paced to low-key all along the way, so in the end I think we can pull it off (have the new livers on standby just to be sure). The Prague - Vienna - Venice stretch is currently not booked for the sake of being flexible.
Speaking of "we", my buddy Greg from UCSB has signed up to take on my 4th continent with me. You may remember him from such adventures as Shasta Slam 2006 or as the guy who moved out on me, bringing Jordt - along with the Superbowl song, moonshine, rockets, stolen keg shells, pasty white ass hanging off the balcony and a couch thrown off the second story - into our lives (anyone who says NOT to take that 5th year of college is a damn fool).
Anyway, the 'planned' itinerary:
Amsterdam (~7/10) - We may never leave, rendering the rest of the list pointless
Munich (~7/13) - Hofbrahuas!!!
Prague (~7/16) - Home of the original Budweiser
Vienna (~7/18) - Totally need to rock a Governator shirt
Venice (~7/19) - Hopefully I break my record of destruction within a year to cities below sea-level I've visited (Sorry New Orleans!)
Cinque Terre (~7/23) - Ocean view apt on the Italian Riviera? Yeah, that won't be awesome
Paris (~7/31) - Wedding the 28th, Tour de France ends on the 29th. I hope their medical care is socialized too...
Time to try to get some sleep...Catch ya in Amsterdam.
I've got a lot of crap packed.
After 7 months of planning, 10,000 airline points, 125 emails, the time in here. In 7.5 hours we'll be gear-up on our way to Europe. It definitely has a much different feel than my last two international trips (maybe it's the whole NOT getting dumped on a plane with 3 days notice to work on cellphones in a 3rd world country). This one is pure excitement. We definitely set an ambitious itinerary (see below). We sort of go from fast-paced to low-key all along the way, so in the end I think we can pull it off (have the new livers on standby just to be sure). The Prague - Vienna - Venice stretch is currently not booked for the sake of being flexible.
Speaking of "we", my buddy Greg from UCSB has signed up to take on my 4th continent with me. You may remember him from such adventures as Shasta Slam 2006 or as the guy who moved out on me, bringing Jordt - along with the Superbowl song, moonshine, rockets, stolen keg shells, pasty white ass hanging off the balcony and a couch thrown off the second story - into our lives (anyone who says NOT to take that 5th year of college is a damn fool).
Anyway, the 'planned' itinerary:
Amsterdam (~7/10) - We may never leave, rendering the rest of the list pointless
Munich (~7/13) - Hofbrahuas!!!
Prague (~7/16) - Home of the original Budweiser
Vienna (~7/18) - Totally need to rock a Governator shirt
Venice (~7/19) - Hopefully I break my record of destruction within a year to cities below sea-level I've visited (Sorry New Orleans!)
Cinque Terre (~7/23) - Ocean view apt on the Italian Riviera? Yeah, that won't be awesome
Paris (~7/31) - Wedding the 28th, Tour de France ends on the 29th. I hope their medical care is socialized too...
Time to try to get some sleep...Catch ya in Amsterdam.
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