I promised I would end this blog when I returned home, so that is what I will do. The adventure of backpacking Europe was unreal. I had a great time and met so many amazing people. I am glad that technology allows me to stay in touch with those people I met some five thousand miles away. It feels great to be home, but I was only home for 2 nights before I left to visit Champaign once again. That means that in exactly one month I had not spent more than 3 nights in a single city... it is a strange feeling. Now I am home for good and writing this blog. The plane ride home was super long, about 10 hours in all, but the feeling of being home helped us through. I am going to keep this short, just because I have learned from blogging throughout my trip that I am not the blogging type. First... my favorite city(ies) were Barcelona and Paris. Both cities were beautiful and warm so that could be part of it. Barcelona was amazing simply because of the people that I met there and because of the championship that the city won while there. I did not really have much of a least favorite city, but if I could cut out a part, I would take out the UK so we could have spent more time in the other cities on the mainland. I recommend to everyone who has been reading any of our blogs to take a trip like this sometime in your life... even if you are older and out of college. Find time for a trip like this, it is a once in a lifetime experience that is well worth the money.
I would like to thank my mom and dad for all the support they have given me in making some of my wildest dreams come true. Traveling Europe had been a dream of mine for sometime now, and I was able to accomplish that with help from them.
Thanks to everyone who read my blog even though it was a bit bland. I appreciated all the comments which made me feel closer to home.
Jonathan
Monday, June 15, 2009
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Amsterdam Day 1,2,3 and Amsterdam to London
Sooo... It took many different forms of travel but we made it to Amsterdam after a morning scare of a possible cancelled flight. We flew out of Berlin wayyyy to early in the morning, but we had a very nice and long first day in Amsterdam. When we arrived we got to our Hotel and dropped our things off. We headed down to the city centre and watched a match of volleyball that was taking place right in the centre... weird. The summer in Holland is terrible, it was mostly cool and rainy while we were there. After the city centre we walked around and took many pictures of the beautiful city... I think my blog is becoming redundant. I do not believe we did much on the first day since we had zero energy from traveling and our early morning. We went back to the hotel to play cards and eat some food. Before bed we watched Discovery Channel on our sweet flat screen (our first TV in some time) about some baby cheetahs. As I am sure you have read from Nick's blog, I was the only one awake when one of the Cheetahs was killed by a Lion. Nick tried hard to get the story straight in his blog, but he was in and out of sleep during most of it!
We woke up in the morning and had breakfast before moving to a hostel right in the thick of it all. The location was hundred times better, but the hotel was cheaper for the one night. We left our things at the hostel and made of for the Van Gogh Museum. When we got to the museum we found out that we were going to make Vincent Van Gogh's Colours of the Night Exhibition! This meant that I viewed the painting, Starry Night!!! This painting is usually only at the Museum in New York City.. lucky us. After leaving the Van Gogh Museum we did nothing most of the day because of the rain and because there is not really much to do in Amsterdam that was of interest to us. We played more cards and ate more food. We woke up after a little nap and decided that the Red Light District needed a visit. We took a stroll down to the good ol' RLD and saw a bunch of ladies in windows. Talk about a terribly awkward walk down a street. I won't hate on any of them or any of the people who use the service, but I just find it odd that they are in what seem like cages. Scaryyyy. We made our way back, but not before getting pastries. I had an eclairs and a chocolate brownie from a simple Dutch bakery.. needless to say it was super delicious. As soon as we got back I passed out, end of day 2.
Day 3
We woke up a tad earlier than days before because we wanted to make an effort to see some things since we were there. First, we went out and had breakfast. We got pancakes that were more like crepes, but they still sufficed (except for Jed). I had chocolate syrup/flakes on my pancake, while the other two had banana's and Jed had a plain one. We left the pancake house and Jed was in a terrible mood about his pancake and he decided he would rather not spend money on the sights we were going to visit today. First we made our way back to the RLD and viewed the Hemp Museum and the Hemp Gallery (all in one ticket). It was pretty much a waste of time so we quickly moved on (like always) and made our way over to the Anne Frank House. It was pretty cool to see a place that had so much history. Being inside the actual hiding place, behind the actual book shelve that moved was pretty neat. The tour of the house was very quick so it was not too long before we were back at the hostel to pick Jed up for dinner. We ate dinner at the same place we had lunch the day before (that I did not mention; 5 euro pizzza!) I was so tired after dinner that we decided to play cards and after that Dan and Jed would venture back down to the RLD. We played cards for some time, mainly rummy, cribbage, and euchre. During a game of cards a friend of Nick's who use to live on his dorm floor Sophomore year entered the room. How do you like that one for odds? He would be our 8Th and final roommate for the night; occupied by us 4, Tundae, a Chinese guy, and two girls from the States. Dan and Jed left, while Nick and I went to BK for more food. We then passed out seconds after our arrival home.
Day 4 Amsterdam to London
Woke up a little later than we wanted... we had missed our chance to visit the Heineken Brewery. None the less we took what was given and grabbed lunch. We went back to the hostel to print out all of our boarding passes and made our way to the airport. We had no troubles once again, but it was clear that everyone was tired and looking forward to their own bed. It has been merely 20 days, spending at most 3 nights in a city. Moving from city to city gets very old and you wish to be in a more stable environment. We arrived in London and got raped for our Dollars (the exchange rate for the pound was 1.77). After a good amount of time we got to our hostel and dropped our things off so we could see a little bit of London. We took the train into the city centre and were let off right next to Big Ben (not so big). He was connected the House of Parliament so we killed two birds with ones stone. To make it even better, the Ferris wheel was right across the river! We hurried over to the Ferris wheel only to be disappointed by a 17 pound admission. Who charges that much money to ride a Ferris wheel.. honestly? At this point Sally.. I mean Nick.. was fed up with walking, so he went back. Dan, Jed, and I moved forward destine to see all that London had to offer. We saw Westminster Abbey and Buckingham Palace. We ever got to see the guards change at 7pm! whoooooooooooooooohoooooooooooo
Since the trains stopped running at 7pm because all everyone does is strike here, we had to walk back. Before the walk back we came within steps of going to the Royal Marine Band show... the best Marching Band in the entire world. After we asked if Her Majesty would be there and found out she would not be attending until Thursday, we left. We spent the next 2 hours walking back and enjoying the views of the city. London is full of large beautiful parks, much like the one I posted about in the beginning of my trip. Since we left the hostel I have not been back, but I decided to come here to the Internet cafe to write this. I will post again when I am home about my adventure from London to Chicago. It will feel good to lay on a couch and watch a baseball game.
I apologize that my blog had gotten very bland but it is hard work. Along with hard work was the fact that we had to find a computer first, or share one.
Hope you enjoyed and I have over a thousand of my own pictures and countless minutes of video footage. I cannot wait to share it with whomever would like to see it.
Cheer from London!
Chi-Town tomorrow!
We woke up in the morning and had breakfast before moving to a hostel right in the thick of it all. The location was hundred times better, but the hotel was cheaper for the one night. We left our things at the hostel and made of for the Van Gogh Museum. When we got to the museum we found out that we were going to make Vincent Van Gogh's Colours of the Night Exhibition! This meant that I viewed the painting, Starry Night!!! This painting is usually only at the Museum in New York City.. lucky us. After leaving the Van Gogh Museum we did nothing most of the day because of the rain and because there is not really much to do in Amsterdam that was of interest to us. We played more cards and ate more food. We woke up after a little nap and decided that the Red Light District needed a visit. We took a stroll down to the good ol' RLD and saw a bunch of ladies in windows. Talk about a terribly awkward walk down a street. I won't hate on any of them or any of the people who use the service, but I just find it odd that they are in what seem like cages. Scaryyyy. We made our way back, but not before getting pastries. I had an eclairs and a chocolate brownie from a simple Dutch bakery.. needless to say it was super delicious. As soon as we got back I passed out, end of day 2.
Day 3
We woke up a tad earlier than days before because we wanted to make an effort to see some things since we were there. First, we went out and had breakfast. We got pancakes that were more like crepes, but they still sufficed (except for Jed). I had chocolate syrup/flakes on my pancake, while the other two had banana's and Jed had a plain one. We left the pancake house and Jed was in a terrible mood about his pancake and he decided he would rather not spend money on the sights we were going to visit today. First we made our way back to the RLD and viewed the Hemp Museum and the Hemp Gallery (all in one ticket). It was pretty much a waste of time so we quickly moved on (like always) and made our way over to the Anne Frank House. It was pretty cool to see a place that had so much history. Being inside the actual hiding place, behind the actual book shelve that moved was pretty neat. The tour of the house was very quick so it was not too long before we were back at the hostel to pick Jed up for dinner. We ate dinner at the same place we had lunch the day before (that I did not mention; 5 euro pizzza!) I was so tired after dinner that we decided to play cards and after that Dan and Jed would venture back down to the RLD. We played cards for some time, mainly rummy, cribbage, and euchre. During a game of cards a friend of Nick's who use to live on his dorm floor Sophomore year entered the room. How do you like that one for odds? He would be our 8Th and final roommate for the night; occupied by us 4, Tundae, a Chinese guy, and two girls from the States. Dan and Jed left, while Nick and I went to BK for more food. We then passed out seconds after our arrival home.
Day 4 Amsterdam to London
Woke up a little later than we wanted... we had missed our chance to visit the Heineken Brewery. None the less we took what was given and grabbed lunch. We went back to the hostel to print out all of our boarding passes and made our way to the airport. We had no troubles once again, but it was clear that everyone was tired and looking forward to their own bed. It has been merely 20 days, spending at most 3 nights in a city. Moving from city to city gets very old and you wish to be in a more stable environment. We arrived in London and got raped for our Dollars (the exchange rate for the pound was 1.77). After a good amount of time we got to our hostel and dropped our things off so we could see a little bit of London. We took the train into the city centre and were let off right next to Big Ben (not so big). He was connected the House of Parliament so we killed two birds with ones stone. To make it even better, the Ferris wheel was right across the river! We hurried over to the Ferris wheel only to be disappointed by a 17 pound admission. Who charges that much money to ride a Ferris wheel.. honestly? At this point Sally.. I mean Nick.. was fed up with walking, so he went back. Dan, Jed, and I moved forward destine to see all that London had to offer. We saw Westminster Abbey and Buckingham Palace. We ever got to see the guards change at 7pm! whoooooooooooooooohoooooooooooo
Since the trains stopped running at 7pm because all everyone does is strike here, we had to walk back. Before the walk back we came within steps of going to the Royal Marine Band show... the best Marching Band in the entire world. After we asked if Her Majesty would be there and found out she would not be attending until Thursday, we left. We spent the next 2 hours walking back and enjoying the views of the city. London is full of large beautiful parks, much like the one I posted about in the beginning of my trip. Since we left the hostel I have not been back, but I decided to come here to the Internet cafe to write this. I will post again when I am home about my adventure from London to Chicago. It will feel good to lay on a couch and watch a baseball game.
I apologize that my blog had gotten very bland but it is hard work. Along with hard work was the fact that we had to find a computer first, or share one.
Hope you enjoyed and I have over a thousand of my own pictures and countless minutes of video footage. I cannot wait to share it with whomever would like to see it.
Cheer from London!
Chi-Town tomorrow!
Amsterdam with zero time on the computer...
I am sorry there have not been many posts since my arrival in Amsterdam, but we only have two computers that are free in our hostel and they are always in use. I am on now finally but we are leaving to catch our flight to London. I hope to post about Amsterdam tonight!
3 Nights.. 3 Cities (Amsterdam, London, and Chicago!)
3 Nights.. 3 Cities (Amsterdam, London, and Chicago!)
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Amsterdam
Wope up early this morning in Berlin, right around 500am... We then took a tram, to as bus, to a delayed plane, to a train, to a bus... and We are finally in Amsterdam!
HOLLAND
HOLLAND
Friday, June 5, 2009
Zeeeee Germans!
Day 1...
Our first full day in Berlin we decided to catch the 1pm free tour, just like the one in Paris (We love free stuff, who doesn't) That took another 4 hours and we learned a ton about the history of this country. Man did Germany go through some tough times... East and West Germany and all that fun stuff. We started at the Brandenburg gate, which is the window to the east (or west whichever way you are looking I guess) before the start we had seen our first rain of the trip, but it is very on and off here. We have lucked out big time with the beautiful weather that keeps following us around. After the history run down underneath the Gate we moved on to see The Reichstag, which I believe is the building of the Republic here in Germany. All I could think about during the tour was how cold it was and how I wished I could be back in Paris! Right down the street from the Gate and the Reichstag was the Holocaust Memorial, dedicated to all of the Jews who were murdered in WWII. It was quite the site, and the winning design was won by an architect from New York... it was just completed in 2005. There isn't a whole lot to see in Berlin or talk about so here is a list of the others things we saw on our walking, eco-friendly tour.
Over Hitler's Bunker
Checkpoint Charlie
SS Headquarters
The Berlin Wall
The TV tower
and ending at the Berliner Dom.
We ended up going inside the Dom, which was a giant church. The view from top was amazing and we were able to get our panoramic view from the top. In the basement was the crypt of the Royal Family of Fredrick the Great. It was weird being around a bench of caskets that were so old and not in the ground. Berlin did not really tickle my fancy, especially since it was so cold. We did see a lot and learned a lot during out tour, but it is nothing to write home about.. so I won't bore you with that. After the Dom we made our way back to the Hostel, which is super nice, especially for only 9 euro a night. We had dinner at BK and showered up before going out to the Bar Crawl. The bar crawl was only 11 euro with free beer for an hour and jager shots with every drink you buy at every bar. At the first bar we drank our share of the beer (I had about 6) and mingled with people. We met Luke from St. Louis and his buddy Pat. They were good guys and we ended up hanging out most of the night. We also met Haas, Dill, and Sheeha from Sri Lanka.. They were all brothers who worked in different parts of the States and UK. As soon as the beer ran out the eight of us took a shot of jager and we could feel like buzz coming on. Before we knew it we were off to bar number 2. I quickly ran in and grabbed a drink with Luke before the Bar filled up, and also took our free jager shots. Little did I know that Dan had just bought a round of jager shots, so I had another. I had one drink and one shot at each bar from here on out, and I was feeling terrific by the end of the night. At the 3rd bar Dan and I got on the foosball table and kicked the crap out of Jed and his drunk partner. This guy was taking trash in Dan's ear so we made him step up to the plate and walk the talk. He did so. I had never seen someone so good at foosball and we ended up losing 2-9. It was fun and we had a blast getting owned by the Germans. When we left that bar, Kevin (the German who owned us in FB) let me ride his scooter around for a while so I could entertain myself. At the fourth bar Haas, Dill, and Sheeha went an got Kebobs, I was pissed that they told me they were getting hot dogs.. so I dawged them the rest of the night (but I got mine eventually). At the 4th bar we met some Irish guys, one who I talked to for some time name Phillip. He was a real cool guy and we talked and drank and before we knew it again, it was on to the last bar/club. At this point I was drunk and it was fun , since I rarely get drunk. The club was packed but it was nice since we were VIP and did not have to pay. I made one trip through the place and decided I was going to leave; Nick was in too. Jed stayed back and hung out with some girl before getting back into the room around 630am. Nick and I took the Tram back and I got my Kabob, which was even better drunk. We went to BK so Mr. picky could have his food too and we went back to the hostel and jumped on the computer. I skyped my buddy Eric Feldbucsh, but I do not know if he knew how hammered I was; either way it was nice to hear from him. I went back upstairs and had a conversation with another giant like myself, and his name was Dave. He was an Aussie who was travelling around with his mum! We had a good chat and went separate ways... it always nice to meet new people. I got up to the room and Dan was already there... I have no idea how, but I was not going to ask questions since our two other female roommates were sleeping. We always seems to be paired with two other girls, but I have yet to actually meet this girls since there are out of the room by 7am... sick.
Day 2 in Berlin...
I woke up at 630am when Jed walked back in the room and I just laid there smiling at him and laughing. Since I was sleeping on the top bunk he did me a huge favor and filled my water bottle for me. It was huge because I was hung-over and my mouth was extremely dry. I woke up about 2 hours later with a throbbing head ache so I jumped down and took my ib profen. I jumped back up into bed and passed out until we all woke up around noon. There was not much left to see here in Berlin, so we naturally dragged rear until finally getting ready and eating lunch at BK.. again... haha. We hopped on the Tram and like all the other times we were on it we did not pay. Two stops after getting on we were approached by a Tram police guy and were ushered off. We were written tickets for 40 euro for trying to dupe the Germans. It was a hefty fine indeed, but we had ridden the tram so many times, that we only really paid 20 euro! We took the tickets in stride and paid on sight so they would not have to send them home. We got a good laugh when Dan asked if they could write us the ticket anyways so we could have it for a souvenir. We all got our tickets and we took a picture with both guys who wrote out the tickets. This is the only flaw in our trip thus far, so we laughed it off and made the best of it. We were all smiling in the picture! After that mess we made our way to the Pergamon Museum. Inside there was all sorts of ancient ruins from Mesopotamia times, ancient Rome, and Greece. In the first room there was an entire front of an alter. They physically took a whole pyramid and reconstructed it inside the museum, with its original marble staircase an all. My favorite exhibition was the sculptures of Greek and Roman Gods and Goddesses. We spent about 2 hours there listening to an audio tour and also taking a self tour of the things we wished to see. Nick and Dan eventually split off and went back to the hostel, while Jed and I went to visit the Holocaust Memorial Museum. We walked for about 2 miles and did some more sight seeing along with souvenir shopping. We went to the museum and it was basically everything we had learned in school, just more real... It was sad and definitely put a damper on the rest of our day. We walked back to the tram station and wisely paid for a ticket and went back... I am here now writing this after a short, but long day of sight seeing. We leave tomorrow on a flight at 845am so we are going to bed early tonight. Amsterdam in the morning!
I hope to blog while in Amsterdam a couple times! Only a handful of days left here. I am sorry that my post on Berlin is so bland, but I am just saving you all from a real snoozer.
Our first full day in Berlin we decided to catch the 1pm free tour, just like the one in Paris (We love free stuff, who doesn't) That took another 4 hours and we learned a ton about the history of this country. Man did Germany go through some tough times... East and West Germany and all that fun stuff. We started at the Brandenburg gate, which is the window to the east (or west whichever way you are looking I guess) before the start we had seen our first rain of the trip, but it is very on and off here. We have lucked out big time with the beautiful weather that keeps following us around. After the history run down underneath the Gate we moved on to see The Reichstag, which I believe is the building of the Republic here in Germany. All I could think about during the tour was how cold it was and how I wished I could be back in Paris! Right down the street from the Gate and the Reichstag was the Holocaust Memorial, dedicated to all of the Jews who were murdered in WWII. It was quite the site, and the winning design was won by an architect from New York... it was just completed in 2005. There isn't a whole lot to see in Berlin or talk about so here is a list of the others things we saw on our walking, eco-friendly tour.
Over Hitler's Bunker
Checkpoint Charlie
SS Headquarters
The Berlin Wall
The TV tower
and ending at the Berliner Dom.
We ended up going inside the Dom, which was a giant church. The view from top was amazing and we were able to get our panoramic view from the top. In the basement was the crypt of the Royal Family of Fredrick the Great. It was weird being around a bench of caskets that were so old and not in the ground. Berlin did not really tickle my fancy, especially since it was so cold. We did see a lot and learned a lot during out tour, but it is nothing to write home about.. so I won't bore you with that. After the Dom we made our way back to the Hostel, which is super nice, especially for only 9 euro a night. We had dinner at BK and showered up before going out to the Bar Crawl. The bar crawl was only 11 euro with free beer for an hour and jager shots with every drink you buy at every bar. At the first bar we drank our share of the beer (I had about 6) and mingled with people. We met Luke from St. Louis and his buddy Pat. They were good guys and we ended up hanging out most of the night. We also met Haas, Dill, and Sheeha from Sri Lanka.. They were all brothers who worked in different parts of the States and UK. As soon as the beer ran out the eight of us took a shot of jager and we could feel like buzz coming on. Before we knew it we were off to bar number 2. I quickly ran in and grabbed a drink with Luke before the Bar filled up, and also took our free jager shots. Little did I know that Dan had just bought a round of jager shots, so I had another. I had one drink and one shot at each bar from here on out, and I was feeling terrific by the end of the night. At the 3rd bar Dan and I got on the foosball table and kicked the crap out of Jed and his drunk partner. This guy was taking trash in Dan's ear so we made him step up to the plate and walk the talk. He did so. I had never seen someone so good at foosball and we ended up losing 2-9. It was fun and we had a blast getting owned by the Germans. When we left that bar, Kevin (the German who owned us in FB) let me ride his scooter around for a while so I could entertain myself. At the fourth bar Haas, Dill, and Sheeha went an got Kebobs, I was pissed that they told me they were getting hot dogs.. so I dawged them the rest of the night (but I got mine eventually). At the 4th bar we met some Irish guys, one who I talked to for some time name Phillip. He was a real cool guy and we talked and drank and before we knew it again, it was on to the last bar/club. At this point I was drunk and it was fun , since I rarely get drunk. The club was packed but it was nice since we were VIP and did not have to pay. I made one trip through the place and decided I was going to leave; Nick was in too. Jed stayed back and hung out with some girl before getting back into the room around 630am. Nick and I took the Tram back and I got my Kabob, which was even better drunk. We went to BK so Mr. picky could have his food too and we went back to the hostel and jumped on the computer. I skyped my buddy Eric Feldbucsh, but I do not know if he knew how hammered I was; either way it was nice to hear from him. I went back upstairs and had a conversation with another giant like myself, and his name was Dave. He was an Aussie who was travelling around with his mum! We had a good chat and went separate ways... it always nice to meet new people. I got up to the room and Dan was already there... I have no idea how, but I was not going to ask questions since our two other female roommates were sleeping. We always seems to be paired with two other girls, but I have yet to actually meet this girls since there are out of the room by 7am... sick.
Day 2 in Berlin...
I woke up at 630am when Jed walked back in the room and I just laid there smiling at him and laughing. Since I was sleeping on the top bunk he did me a huge favor and filled my water bottle for me. It was huge because I was hung-over and my mouth was extremely dry. I woke up about 2 hours later with a throbbing head ache so I jumped down and took my ib profen. I jumped back up into bed and passed out until we all woke up around noon. There was not much left to see here in Berlin, so we naturally dragged rear until finally getting ready and eating lunch at BK.. again... haha. We hopped on the Tram and like all the other times we were on it we did not pay. Two stops after getting on we were approached by a Tram police guy and were ushered off. We were written tickets for 40 euro for trying to dupe the Germans. It was a hefty fine indeed, but we had ridden the tram so many times, that we only really paid 20 euro! We took the tickets in stride and paid on sight so they would not have to send them home. We got a good laugh when Dan asked if they could write us the ticket anyways so we could have it for a souvenir. We all got our tickets and we took a picture with both guys who wrote out the tickets. This is the only flaw in our trip thus far, so we laughed it off and made the best of it. We were all smiling in the picture! After that mess we made our way to the Pergamon Museum. Inside there was all sorts of ancient ruins from Mesopotamia times, ancient Rome, and Greece. In the first room there was an entire front of an alter. They physically took a whole pyramid and reconstructed it inside the museum, with its original marble staircase an all. My favorite exhibition was the sculptures of Greek and Roman Gods and Goddesses. We spent about 2 hours there listening to an audio tour and also taking a self tour of the things we wished to see. Nick and Dan eventually split off and went back to the hostel, while Jed and I went to visit the Holocaust Memorial Museum. We walked for about 2 miles and did some more sight seeing along with souvenir shopping. We went to the museum and it was basically everything we had learned in school, just more real... It was sad and definitely put a damper on the rest of our day. We walked back to the tram station and wisely paid for a ticket and went back... I am here now writing this after a short, but long day of sight seeing. We leave tomorrow on a flight at 845am so we are going to bed early tonight. Amsterdam in the morning!
I hope to blog while in Amsterdam a couple times! Only a handful of days left here. I am sorry that my post on Berlin is so bland, but I am just saving you all from a real snoozer.
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Paris Posting
I will post asap on Paris when I have time to sit down and do it tonight or tomorrow night... It is tricky to time sight seeing, going out at night, and writing post. Just not enough time in the day for all of these wonderful things.
6 days left on our trip...
6 days left on our trip...
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Paris and all of it's greatness
Day 1 in Paris..
I woke up early and tried to find a bank so I could cash my traveller’s checks, but of course out of all the days in the year to be in Paris we are there during a national holiday; Pentecost or something of that nature. Having no cash I walked back to the hotel and we had a buffet breakfast which consisted of some pastries, hard boiled eggs, and juice... This was the start of a terribly long day, which proved to be a common theme throughout out time in Paris. We left to catch a free tour of the city at 11am by St. Michel Fountain. We started at the fountain which symbolized Lucifer being booted out of heaven by Saint Michael... pretty cool. We started walking and viewed Notre Dame from a distance, but since this was a walking tour we really did not stop and visit place... we learned more history while talking past sights or viewing them from a distance. We did end up going back and visiting the main attractions on following days, so stay tuned. After crossing the bridge we moved down the the west bank along the river where we received a quick run down of the history of Paris; I am not recapping that on this blog. We walked further down and crossed a bridge in front of the Louvre that was a hot spot for many artists who paint and draw pictures of the city. The size of the Louvre was magnificent and I could not believe there were over 35,000 paintings inside. Imagine trying to view every piece of art that they had to offer, it might take you up to six years! Seeing the "invisible" glass pyramids from the Da Vinci Code, we broke up for lunch and of course we picked the most convenient place... McDonalds. It taste about the same in every country, but some countries offer different menus; Paris offers the Royal with bacon. We met back up with our group and continued onward, moving on to see the gardens infront of the Louvre. The gardens were mostly just plains of grass with a lot of open space and white rock/gravel for walk ways. For some reason it was particularly bright in this area, so I did not fancy it all that much. At the very end of the gardens you could see the Eiffel Tower, what a cool sight that was. All these years of seeing and hearing about it and I was finally right there. The tour was moving quickly and we were educated on our walk down the Champs Elysees about the "gypsies." Our tour guide was acting like there were animals and whispering about how they were live gypsies in their natural habitat (I laughed). We ended our four hour tour outside the Petit Palace and the Grand Palace; but which are not palaces at all, but exhibition area like McCormick Place. If they are not being used for specific exhibitions than they are empty and just huge rock buildings taking up room in the centre of the city. Our tour ended so close to the Arch de Triumphe that we decided to make a run/hobble for it (Nick was struggling with blisters). The arch was originally dedicated to Napoleon I believe, but was later used to remember all the soldiers that had fallen in WWI and also had a marked grave of the Unknown Soldier. It was a spectacular sight indeed and it was surrounded by the largest round about in the world. It is actually so dangerous that insurance companies do not insure cars that get into accidents in the round about; and accident occurs there about every 30 minutes... scarrrry. Since we were feeling ambitious we took a bunch of pictures and tried to make it back to the Louvre before they stopped selling tickets.. It was a hell of a walk and it took a lot out of us. At this point my legs and feet hurt badly and when we got down to the machines to purchase our tickets, it was closed. We all let out a sigh before trying to figure out what to do with our few hours of sun light. Nick was hurting so he went back; while Jed, Dan and I went on to see Sacre Coure. I had no idea how far it was and it ended up being at least a 5 mile walk (all up hill) from the Louvre. I had no idea what to expect at the top, but after climbing what felt like a 1000 stairs we finally had made it. The area around the church was buzzing with people, artist, and tourist. It was a very neat little area and once we made it to the front of Sacre Coure I realized why it was so worth it. The church was HUGE and the inside was brilliant. We were not able to take pictures inside so we just revelled in it all. Once we walked outside the front doors, we had a panoramic view of the entire city. Climbing all those stairs and sweating that much was worth the view alone; it was breath taking. Since the boys were heading out on the bar crawl, we had to meet Nick back so we decided to leave and try and find a way home. At this point we were confused by the rail system so we walked back. This walk was the end of me, and it made me decide that I would not be going on the bar crawl since I had walked from 10am till 730pm. I was starving by the time we got back so I offered to grab Kabobs while they got ready to go out. I must have finished mine in under a few minutes, barely taking the time to chew. The night life here is fun, but it would be much better if Larisa were here with me... it would have been a lot more enjoyable. Those three departed for the bars while I relaxed and used the internet, shaved, and got to journal a bit about the things we had done. When I talked to my sister that night I learned about the AirFrance flight that did not make it to its destination, and I was able to relieve some stress by letting people know I made it to Paris just fine. I was able to watch TV since we were staying in a hotel, so it was nice to watch CNN for a bit to catch up. It is weird not watching TV or using a phone for so long... I enjoy staying in touch and communicating with the people I love. I ended my night by watching Wally on Dan's Zune and falling a sleep. One by one through out the night the guys made there way home and for the most part I believe they had a good time. Gooodnnighhhtttt
Day 2 in Paris...
Today I woke up on a mission. First of all I was going to find Jim Morrison's grave and second I was going to cash my traveller’s checks in for euro. I failed miserably at both during my first attempted which led to me walking around for about an hour looking for a bank. I went back to the room and learned that Dan had taken a personal day. It would just be me, Nick, and Jed for the day. I let them get ready while I went back out and found a place to exchange my checks. After about an hour and a half walk I found a place that had an awesome exchange rate with zero tax and zero commission. After I got my euro I took off sprinting for the hotel. It took me about 2 hours to get back, and when I returned I was sweating like a pig so I had to re-shower before we left. The three of us went down to Notre Dame where we took about an hour to look around and soak in all the greatness of the church. When we had gotten there a little old lady had fallen and passed out, so emergency personnel were transporting her to the hospital. I tried to take pictures of the paramedics, but I think my shots were a bit blurry. We moved quickly through the church since it had been hours upon hours since we had last ate. Jed and I got some sandwiches and coke for 6 euro and Nick got Subway (I still say he is a picky eater!) We ate our lunch in a park where we were able to rest our feet for a while; the pain would no subside at any point from the day before. Next on the list was Museum Orsay. I was pumped to see some Van Gough, but was deeply disappointed when I saw his small room on the map. We saw various paintings by Monet and quickly ran upstairs to see the Van Gough room. It was small and had only his self portraits, the painting of the workers taking a siesta, and the sad old man painting. These were the painting I was most familiar with, and I was sad that Starry Night was not in this gallery or his painting of Paris at night. I hope to see more of Van Gough's work in Amsterdam! There was zero time for down time during this day so we quickly made off for the Park de Princes and saw the stadium along with Rolland Garros. I was at the site while the French Open was being played. It was an awesome feeling to be so close to the best tennis players in the world. We could not buy tickets for that day and since we did not have time the next day, we decided being right outside was good enough. We grabbed dinner and got on the Metro to see the main attraction; the Eiffel Tower! When we got there we were astonished, there is something so surreal about standing underneath the Eiffel Tower when you were just standing in the Coliseum 2 days prior. Since the cheapest way up was to walk, we did so. It was hard work and hard on the feel but we made the best of it. The sight from the first and second tiers made it worth the walk.. You could see everything in the city. I think I took about 100 pictures while in top of the tower and once we got up we stayed up there for some time. Around 9pm we headed for the bottom so we could set up base camp in the park right in front of the Eiffel Tower. Jed split off to find Kristen and Jessica (our lady friends we met in Dublin) since he told them to meet us under the tower around 9-930. Nick and I wondered until we found a supermarket where we picked up wine, crackers, and cheese. I bought some postcards as well, just like I had been in every city. We ran back to meet Jed with our cheap wine and he was sitting on a bench with Dan when we returned. The four of us reunited and decided it was time to grab a spot on the lawn. Coincidentally when we started walking to find a spot we saw Kristen and Jessica and they joined us. We had a nice little group while we sat and watch the sun set and the tower light up. The wine that we got for 4 euro was cheap, but really really good. We took swigs out of the bottle while eating crackers and cheese for about 2 hours. I could not believe I was sitting right in front of the tower.. The pictures are amazing. It was truly a great night and I am glad we met up with the girls; they are a lot of fun. We all wanted to get to bed early and be able to take the Metro back, so since it stopped running around 12 we decided it was best to go back. We clowned around on our walk to the station and got on the train after Jed struggled with buying a ticket... he struggles all the time but we still love him :) We hopped on the train and when the girls reached their stop we said our goodbyes and continued on. We got off at an early stop because we wanted to find some crepes. That did not happen so we just walked a little more than needed. Jed had to urinate so bad that he could not walk any further so he dropped shop and pee'd right in the street. I had seen some guy just whizzing in the street during broad day light, so I guess it is not a big deal. Minutes later we got back to the hotel and Nick and I decided we could not go to bed hungry. We ran off to the same kabob place we had been too about 3 other times. It was great, but I do not think Nick is a fan of Kabobs... he was just that hungry. When we got back from food I showered and as soon as I hit the bed, I passed out. I got a great night of comfortable sleep which helped rejuvenate me for the next day... I cannot wait to sleep in my own bed...
Day 3 in Paris...
Since I had failed my mission on the previous day I decided I would get up a little early and take a little trip to the "East Cemetery." This is a famous cemetery where tons of artist, musicians, and famous people are buried. It took me a few transfers to get to the cemetery, but when I walked up the steps it was right there. The cemetery had to be able 3 square miles so it took me about 45 minutes worth of walking just to find the correct section of the cemetery. I finally found Jim Morrison's grave site. A couple I was standing next to said that about 20 years ago when they were first there a bunch of people were singing and reading poetry around the grave. Other graves around Jim's were marked with graffiti related to Jim Morrison's. Graves that were not even close to his, but on the same path were marked with red arrows and "saying" which point you in the way of his grave. It felt so awesome to be so far away from home, and so close to one of the greatest artist of psychedelic rock. I took a good amount of pictures and even documented my "mission" on video. The cemetery was spectacular and if I ever visit Paris again, I will spend more time there. Since I was on a tight schedule to meet the guys at the Louvre at noon, I quickly departed and grabbed my first crepe! I got a nutella crepe which is just chocolate spread... it was awesome. I rode the metro back to the the Louvre where I met up with the guys. I sat outside for a bit before they got there and enjoyed the scenery and all of the fountains surrounding the pyramids. Since the Louvre is just ridiculously big we made a game plan to see mostly main attractions... we saw the Mona Lisa, Venus De Milo sculpture, paintings from the French revolution, and so on. There is so much that we saw but it would take hours to explain all of it. We took as many pictures as we could.... we even saw a mummy! Right before we saw the Venus de Milo Jed ran into his ex girlfriend and got flipped off. It was quiet ridiculous and what are the odds that they are in the same city, same museum, same corridor, and the same exact time. I love how things like that work, plus it gave us a good laugh of disbelief. We left the Louvre after about 2 hours and got on the metro back to the hotel to pick up our bags. We hailed a taxi and made off to the airport. Everything has gone smoothly so far (knock on wood) and we got on our plane to Berlin without a hassle... we actually managed to get emergency exit seats, which were nice for the legs.
Some good quotes from Paris-
"I'm not gay I am just lazy!" Jaqueline our Tour Guide
"I am going to sleep until I wake up..." Jed the infamous
I woke up early and tried to find a bank so I could cash my traveller’s checks, but of course out of all the days in the year to be in Paris we are there during a national holiday; Pentecost or something of that nature. Having no cash I walked back to the hotel and we had a buffet breakfast which consisted of some pastries, hard boiled eggs, and juice... This was the start of a terribly long day, which proved to be a common theme throughout out time in Paris. We left to catch a free tour of the city at 11am by St. Michel Fountain. We started at the fountain which symbolized Lucifer being booted out of heaven by Saint Michael... pretty cool. We started walking and viewed Notre Dame from a distance, but since this was a walking tour we really did not stop and visit place... we learned more history while talking past sights or viewing them from a distance. We did end up going back and visiting the main attractions on following days, so stay tuned. After crossing the bridge we moved down the the west bank along the river where we received a quick run down of the history of Paris; I am not recapping that on this blog. We walked further down and crossed a bridge in front of the Louvre that was a hot spot for many artists who paint and draw pictures of the city. The size of the Louvre was magnificent and I could not believe there were over 35,000 paintings inside. Imagine trying to view every piece of art that they had to offer, it might take you up to six years! Seeing the "invisible" glass pyramids from the Da Vinci Code, we broke up for lunch and of course we picked the most convenient place... McDonalds. It taste about the same in every country, but some countries offer different menus; Paris offers the Royal with bacon. We met back up with our group and continued onward, moving on to see the gardens infront of the Louvre. The gardens were mostly just plains of grass with a lot of open space and white rock/gravel for walk ways. For some reason it was particularly bright in this area, so I did not fancy it all that much. At the very end of the gardens you could see the Eiffel Tower, what a cool sight that was. All these years of seeing and hearing about it and I was finally right there. The tour was moving quickly and we were educated on our walk down the Champs Elysees about the "gypsies." Our tour guide was acting like there were animals and whispering about how they were live gypsies in their natural habitat (I laughed). We ended our four hour tour outside the Petit Palace and the Grand Palace; but which are not palaces at all, but exhibition area like McCormick Place. If they are not being used for specific exhibitions than they are empty and just huge rock buildings taking up room in the centre of the city. Our tour ended so close to the Arch de Triumphe that we decided to make a run/hobble for it (Nick was struggling with blisters). The arch was originally dedicated to Napoleon I believe, but was later used to remember all the soldiers that had fallen in WWI and also had a marked grave of the Unknown Soldier. It was a spectacular sight indeed and it was surrounded by the largest round about in the world. It is actually so dangerous that insurance companies do not insure cars that get into accidents in the round about; and accident occurs there about every 30 minutes... scarrrry. Since we were feeling ambitious we took a bunch of pictures and tried to make it back to the Louvre before they stopped selling tickets.. It was a hell of a walk and it took a lot out of us. At this point my legs and feet hurt badly and when we got down to the machines to purchase our tickets, it was closed. We all let out a sigh before trying to figure out what to do with our few hours of sun light. Nick was hurting so he went back; while Jed, Dan and I went on to see Sacre Coure. I had no idea how far it was and it ended up being at least a 5 mile walk (all up hill) from the Louvre. I had no idea what to expect at the top, but after climbing what felt like a 1000 stairs we finally had made it. The area around the church was buzzing with people, artist, and tourist. It was a very neat little area and once we made it to the front of Sacre Coure I realized why it was so worth it. The church was HUGE and the inside was brilliant. We were not able to take pictures inside so we just revelled in it all. Once we walked outside the front doors, we had a panoramic view of the entire city. Climbing all those stairs and sweating that much was worth the view alone; it was breath taking. Since the boys were heading out on the bar crawl, we had to meet Nick back so we decided to leave and try and find a way home. At this point we were confused by the rail system so we walked back. This walk was the end of me, and it made me decide that I would not be going on the bar crawl since I had walked from 10am till 730pm. I was starving by the time we got back so I offered to grab Kabobs while they got ready to go out. I must have finished mine in under a few minutes, barely taking the time to chew. The night life here is fun, but it would be much better if Larisa were here with me... it would have been a lot more enjoyable. Those three departed for the bars while I relaxed and used the internet, shaved, and got to journal a bit about the things we had done. When I talked to my sister that night I learned about the AirFrance flight that did not make it to its destination, and I was able to relieve some stress by letting people know I made it to Paris just fine. I was able to watch TV since we were staying in a hotel, so it was nice to watch CNN for a bit to catch up. It is weird not watching TV or using a phone for so long... I enjoy staying in touch and communicating with the people I love. I ended my night by watching Wally on Dan's Zune and falling a sleep. One by one through out the night the guys made there way home and for the most part I believe they had a good time. Gooodnnighhhtttt
Day 2 in Paris...
Today I woke up on a mission. First of all I was going to find Jim Morrison's grave and second I was going to cash my traveller’s checks in for euro. I failed miserably at both during my first attempted which led to me walking around for about an hour looking for a bank. I went back to the room and learned that Dan had taken a personal day. It would just be me, Nick, and Jed for the day. I let them get ready while I went back out and found a place to exchange my checks. After about an hour and a half walk I found a place that had an awesome exchange rate with zero tax and zero commission. After I got my euro I took off sprinting for the hotel. It took me about 2 hours to get back, and when I returned I was sweating like a pig so I had to re-shower before we left. The three of us went down to Notre Dame where we took about an hour to look around and soak in all the greatness of the church. When we had gotten there a little old lady had fallen and passed out, so emergency personnel were transporting her to the hospital. I tried to take pictures of the paramedics, but I think my shots were a bit blurry. We moved quickly through the church since it had been hours upon hours since we had last ate. Jed and I got some sandwiches and coke for 6 euro and Nick got Subway (I still say he is a picky eater!) We ate our lunch in a park where we were able to rest our feet for a while; the pain would no subside at any point from the day before. Next on the list was Museum Orsay. I was pumped to see some Van Gough, but was deeply disappointed when I saw his small room on the map. We saw various paintings by Monet and quickly ran upstairs to see the Van Gough room. It was small and had only his self portraits, the painting of the workers taking a siesta, and the sad old man painting. These were the painting I was most familiar with, and I was sad that Starry Night was not in this gallery or his painting of Paris at night. I hope to see more of Van Gough's work in Amsterdam! There was zero time for down time during this day so we quickly made off for the Park de Princes and saw the stadium along with Rolland Garros. I was at the site while the French Open was being played. It was an awesome feeling to be so close to the best tennis players in the world. We could not buy tickets for that day and since we did not have time the next day, we decided being right outside was good enough. We grabbed dinner and got on the Metro to see the main attraction; the Eiffel Tower! When we got there we were astonished, there is something so surreal about standing underneath the Eiffel Tower when you were just standing in the Coliseum 2 days prior. Since the cheapest way up was to walk, we did so. It was hard work and hard on the feel but we made the best of it. The sight from the first and second tiers made it worth the walk.. You could see everything in the city. I think I took about 100 pictures while in top of the tower and once we got up we stayed up there for some time. Around 9pm we headed for the bottom so we could set up base camp in the park right in front of the Eiffel Tower. Jed split off to find Kristen and Jessica (our lady friends we met in Dublin) since he told them to meet us under the tower around 9-930. Nick and I wondered until we found a supermarket where we picked up wine, crackers, and cheese. I bought some postcards as well, just like I had been in every city. We ran back to meet Jed with our cheap wine and he was sitting on a bench with Dan when we returned. The four of us reunited and decided it was time to grab a spot on the lawn. Coincidentally when we started walking to find a spot we saw Kristen and Jessica and they joined us. We had a nice little group while we sat and watch the sun set and the tower light up. The wine that we got for 4 euro was cheap, but really really good. We took swigs out of the bottle while eating crackers and cheese for about 2 hours. I could not believe I was sitting right in front of the tower.. The pictures are amazing. It was truly a great night and I am glad we met up with the girls; they are a lot of fun. We all wanted to get to bed early and be able to take the Metro back, so since it stopped running around 12 we decided it was best to go back. We clowned around on our walk to the station and got on the train after Jed struggled with buying a ticket... he struggles all the time but we still love him :) We hopped on the train and when the girls reached their stop we said our goodbyes and continued on. We got off at an early stop because we wanted to find some crepes. That did not happen so we just walked a little more than needed. Jed had to urinate so bad that he could not walk any further so he dropped shop and pee'd right in the street. I had seen some guy just whizzing in the street during broad day light, so I guess it is not a big deal. Minutes later we got back to the hotel and Nick and I decided we could not go to bed hungry. We ran off to the same kabob place we had been too about 3 other times. It was great, but I do not think Nick is a fan of Kabobs... he was just that hungry. When we got back from food I showered and as soon as I hit the bed, I passed out. I got a great night of comfortable sleep which helped rejuvenate me for the next day... I cannot wait to sleep in my own bed...
Day 3 in Paris...
Since I had failed my mission on the previous day I decided I would get up a little early and take a little trip to the "East Cemetery." This is a famous cemetery where tons of artist, musicians, and famous people are buried. It took me a few transfers to get to the cemetery, but when I walked up the steps it was right there. The cemetery had to be able 3 square miles so it took me about 45 minutes worth of walking just to find the correct section of the cemetery. I finally found Jim Morrison's grave site. A couple I was standing next to said that about 20 years ago when they were first there a bunch of people were singing and reading poetry around the grave. Other graves around Jim's were marked with graffiti related to Jim Morrison's. Graves that were not even close to his, but on the same path were marked with red arrows and "saying" which point you in the way of his grave. It felt so awesome to be so far away from home, and so close to one of the greatest artist of psychedelic rock. I took a good amount of pictures and even documented my "mission" on video. The cemetery was spectacular and if I ever visit Paris again, I will spend more time there. Since I was on a tight schedule to meet the guys at the Louvre at noon, I quickly departed and grabbed my first crepe! I got a nutella crepe which is just chocolate spread... it was awesome. I rode the metro back to the the Louvre where I met up with the guys. I sat outside for a bit before they got there and enjoyed the scenery and all of the fountains surrounding the pyramids. Since the Louvre is just ridiculously big we made a game plan to see mostly main attractions... we saw the Mona Lisa, Venus De Milo sculpture, paintings from the French revolution, and so on. There is so much that we saw but it would take hours to explain all of it. We took as many pictures as we could.... we even saw a mummy! Right before we saw the Venus de Milo Jed ran into his ex girlfriend and got flipped off. It was quiet ridiculous and what are the odds that they are in the same city, same museum, same corridor, and the same exact time. I love how things like that work, plus it gave us a good laugh of disbelief. We left the Louvre after about 2 hours and got on the metro back to the hotel to pick up our bags. We hailed a taxi and made off to the airport. Everything has gone smoothly so far (knock on wood) and we got on our plane to Berlin without a hassle... we actually managed to get emergency exit seats, which were nice for the legs.
Some good quotes from Paris-
"I'm not gay I am just lazy!" Jaqueline our Tour Guide
"I am going to sleep until I wake up..." Jed the infamous
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