first, for those who prefer not to read things, go look at pictures:
http://gallery.me.com/jacobdanger
second, for those who are literate, here's some stuff to read:
this will be a wrap-up of my trip, along with a B-sides and rarities edition, just things i forgot to include.
Paris was great. i ate curried chicken, did Two Princes at karaoke, went to the top of the Eiffel Tower and got vertigo, drank a bottle of wine by myself, saw the Mona Lisa, and slept a little.
woke up at 6am to catch a 9:15 plane. but it's okay, because the plane was delayed. yay. it dropped me off at Dusseldorf, where i had 4 hours to kill. i finished Ask The Dust and charged my phone. i also ate crappy fish 'n chips.
the eight-hour flight to New York was mostly unspectactular. got very bored, finished Everything Is Illuminated again, couldn't sleep.
at the baggage carousel i started talking to Kate. it was nice to talk again. we had a smoothie together, then chocolate, then a really boring old couple was really boring.
my 4 hour layover in New York turned out to be an 8 hour layover, due to tornado-y weather. it was horribly dull and i daren't go to sleep, for fear i'd miss my plane completely. fear was aided by the fact that they changed my departure gate thrice. ugh.
because of the delay, JetBlue decided everyone on my plane got to watch a movie for free (they're normally $6), so i watched Iron Man 2. and that was okay. my parents were waiting at the airport for two hours, from 2:30-4:30am, because my sleep-deprived math was not correct. hooray me. i slept from 5am to 10am, and that's pretty much it. hooray.
now the B-sides. just stuff i noticed or made note of, but for various reasons didn't put in my blogs. (the reasons are mostly that i forgot)
Dante's giftshop is surprisingly kid-friendly.
i saw a man in a camo baseball cap, with CostCo backpack and fat children and fat wife. the man himself, while not fat, was chunky and defeated. really, America? is this how we represent ourselves to other countries? REALLY?!?
Epic Fisherman's Beard on a generic-looking probably teaches high-school science guy = really, i'm not sure it's so epic anymore.
eight year olds should never be allowed to wear a shirt that says "want commitment: buy a dog". who the crap okayed that shirt in kids sizes?!?
why the hell are there seven-goddamn-teen giftshops in the Uffizi? wait, SHOES?! WHO BUYS SHOES FROM THE UFFIZI?!?
redheads.
had a Croque Monsieur in Paris. i'm not sure it was a good example of a Croque Monsieur, but i thought it was tasty. then off to a random coffee-shop, where they were playing Placebo. it was awesome.
AirBerlin injects their pretzels with the blood of virgins to be extra delicious.
sampled a vodka at the Duty-Free shop in Dusseldorf. Europe is awesome.
this German still water tastes like carbonated water gone flat. oh well.
So there it is. my European adventure. there are probably a few other bits you could coax out of me, but that's all i'm writing down. i know it wasn't as fun for you to read as it was for me to do, but i hope you enjoyed it anyway. again, forever, thank you for reading, and drive safely. Thanks.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Venice, Paris and Gorron
hullo all! did you miss me? i'll assume you responded in the affirmative, and shall continue.
after Florence (you may remember when i blogged about Florence. if not, don't worry. you won't need to know about it to keep up.), i went to Venice. took the train, about 3 hours or so, and holy crap Venice is beautiful! canals and boats and tourists and i still can't read Italian! i got lost every time i left the hostel, and that was good. i could've bought a Vaporetto (water bus) pass, and take that when i want to go places, but i figured naw forget, yo holmes to Bel Aire! so i didn't. walking is clearly the superior method of transport.
there was this tiny little dock that another hosteler gave me directions to. it opened out onto the main canal, but it was sort of hidden, so it was peaceful. i watched boats go buy and some french kid drawing a nearby building. would've stayed longer, but he tried to talk to me. there are bridges and restaurants and many buildings just open out into the water. just, front door, MAYBE a step, then BAM! water. sure, there are sidewalks, but sometimes there aren't.
the hostel where i stayed may or may not have been a museum before. very laid-back staff, free wifi, friendly hostelers. met people, laughed with them, made an ass of myself. Israelis, Mormons, Aussies, British, Canadians, Germans, Americans, and me. went out both nights, did not, in point of fact, almost fall in the canals, and i'm proud to say i was laughed at quite a bit.
then! to Paris! took a plane cuz i can't be arsed to plan far enough in advance to get a train. booked a hostel the day i arrived, got rather lost in the airport, then the train station where i transferred, then thankfully the directions to the hostel were clear enough. checked in, went out for dinner and a bit of wine with two British girls and an Israeli girl, all of whom i had just met randomly. quite fun. i had some pasta dish, we walked to Notre Dame, found a tex-mex restaurant, and had chips & salsa with our wine. salsa wasn't good, but perhaps i have high standards. then stayed up until 4am talking.
next day, i missed my planned train to Gorron (i was two minutes late). the couple who are currently hosting me contacted me to tell me that there was another person joining me to be hosted, he's also in Paris, and here's his phone number. so Michael (that's his name) and I collaborated on a train time and meeting place. with that planned, i had a bagel-sandwich-thing. not bad, i guess. spent three hours in the train station, determined not to miss the next train. about an hour before the train arrived/departed, i bought a sandwich and chips and water from a store in the station and this isn't really interesting, is it? i'll skip ahead a bit. met Michael on the train, we talked, arrived in Flers, got picked up and taken to Grappay Charpentier by Graham, the male half of the couple hosting us. it was cool, blah blah blah.
Graham and Ailsa are freakin' awesome! ridiculously interesting and storied couple. they've got facebooks, so i'll not go into detail. the work Michael and I do is basic stuff: raking, feeding trees, building a chicken house, playing with a scythe, wanting to learn to play the banjo. we talk a lot with G&A, and most of the food we eat is apparently grown in the garden out back, and it's delicious. i'm enjoying very much this helpx experience.
yesterday afternoon/evening Michael took G&A's bike, rode to Flers (about 4 hours away), then took a train to Paris for the weekend. he's going to some sort of retreat or something, should be back tomorrow. so today i was all alone with G&A. we worked on the chicken coop, Graham took me into town and we had a coffee in the town square. (i'm trying really hard to not devolve into "y'all, it's freakin' GREAT here!")
i should be planning my return to and stay in Paris, choose my hostel, all that. but i'll do it tomorrow. tonight, after getting groceries, Graham and I discovered one of the neighbor's rabbits had escaped into Graham's barn. so we got Ailsa and spent maybe an hour chasing the rabbit around, trying to catch it so we could return it. eventually we named him Brian and got him pinned in a corner. we built a very very temporary pen for him and tomorrow we'll try to return him. i'll go talk to him make sure he's okay, see if he needs anything, in a bit. after this. now.
goodnight folks! remember to spay or neuter your relatives!
after Florence (you may remember when i blogged about Florence. if not, don't worry. you won't need to know about it to keep up.), i went to Venice. took the train, about 3 hours or so, and holy crap Venice is beautiful! canals and boats and tourists and i still can't read Italian! i got lost every time i left the hostel, and that was good. i could've bought a Vaporetto (water bus) pass, and take that when i want to go places, but i figured naw forget, yo holmes to Bel Aire! so i didn't. walking is clearly the superior method of transport.
there was this tiny little dock that another hosteler gave me directions to. it opened out onto the main canal, but it was sort of hidden, so it was peaceful. i watched boats go buy and some french kid drawing a nearby building. would've stayed longer, but he tried to talk to me. there are bridges and restaurants and many buildings just open out into the water. just, front door, MAYBE a step, then BAM! water. sure, there are sidewalks, but sometimes there aren't.
the hostel where i stayed may or may not have been a museum before. very laid-back staff, free wifi, friendly hostelers. met people, laughed with them, made an ass of myself. Israelis, Mormons, Aussies, British, Canadians, Germans, Americans, and me. went out both nights, did not, in point of fact, almost fall in the canals, and i'm proud to say i was laughed at quite a bit.
then! to Paris! took a plane cuz i can't be arsed to plan far enough in advance to get a train. booked a hostel the day i arrived, got rather lost in the airport, then the train station where i transferred, then thankfully the directions to the hostel were clear enough. checked in, went out for dinner and a bit of wine with two British girls and an Israeli girl, all of whom i had just met randomly. quite fun. i had some pasta dish, we walked to Notre Dame, found a tex-mex restaurant, and had chips & salsa with our wine. salsa wasn't good, but perhaps i have high standards. then stayed up until 4am talking.
next day, i missed my planned train to Gorron (i was two minutes late). the couple who are currently hosting me contacted me to tell me that there was another person joining me to be hosted, he's also in Paris, and here's his phone number. so Michael (that's his name) and I collaborated on a train time and meeting place. with that planned, i had a bagel-sandwich-thing. not bad, i guess. spent three hours in the train station, determined not to miss the next train. about an hour before the train arrived/departed, i bought a sandwich and chips and water from a store in the station and this isn't really interesting, is it? i'll skip ahead a bit. met Michael on the train, we talked, arrived in Flers, got picked up and taken to Grappay Charpentier by Graham, the male half of the couple hosting us. it was cool, blah blah blah.
Graham and Ailsa are freakin' awesome! ridiculously interesting and storied couple. they've got facebooks, so i'll not go into detail. the work Michael and I do is basic stuff: raking, feeding trees, building a chicken house, playing with a scythe, wanting to learn to play the banjo. we talk a lot with G&A, and most of the food we eat is apparently grown in the garden out back, and it's delicious. i'm enjoying very much this helpx experience.
yesterday afternoon/evening Michael took G&A's bike, rode to Flers (about 4 hours away), then took a train to Paris for the weekend. he's going to some sort of retreat or something, should be back tomorrow. so today i was all alone with G&A. we worked on the chicken coop, Graham took me into town and we had a coffee in the town square. (i'm trying really hard to not devolve into "y'all, it's freakin' GREAT here!")
i should be planning my return to and stay in Paris, choose my hostel, all that. but i'll do it tomorrow. tonight, after getting groceries, Graham and I discovered one of the neighbor's rabbits had escaped into Graham's barn. so we got Ailsa and spent maybe an hour chasing the rabbit around, trying to catch it so we could return it. eventually we named him Brian and got him pinned in a corner. we built a very very temporary pen for him and tomorrow we'll try to return him. i'll go talk to him make sure he's okay, see if he needs anything, in a bit. after this. now.
goodnight folks! remember to spay or neuter your relatives!
Thursday, September 2, 2010
welcome to Florence!
i have a confession: i've been to Florence before. i visited here one day instead of working in the olive grove. i saw the Uffizi, after standing in line for 2 hours. it was good. i wasn't moved or anything, but it was good.
so hello! i'm in Florence, obviously. said goodbye to the Reinhardts, and arrived here yesterday. checked into my hostel and wandered the city for a while. stood in line for Leonard Cohen tickets for over two hours, only to be told it's sold out. i was so angry i drank three beers without eating dinner. i met a brother and sister from Bristol while standing in line, so they joined me for the beers. good times had by at least me. then back to the hostel, and sleep. i was alone in the room last night, which was nice.
i woke up at 5am for reasons still unknown. may have dozed for half an hour somewhere around 7, but not sure. at 8 i got up and showered (cold shower), then hung around the hostel until 11. walked to the Acedemia (however it's spelled, it's where The David lives), and the line for that was only 20 minutes. which was quite nice.
The David finally got a reaction out of me. i will say this once and you will take it to be the Gospel Truth, never doubted: if you haven't been to Florence to see The David, you've never seen The David. full stop, end of story.
after The David i wandered in to the statue room next to it. was instantly put in mind of the Weeping Angels, and left shortly thereafter. bought postcards for those who expressed wishes for mail, and left without seeing any other art. "But Jacob," you may be saying, "surely you missed out on other master works and brilliant examples of art? didn't you maybe rob yourself of more experiences?". to which i say this: no. i missed out on nothing, i deprived myself of nothing. i saw The David, which got more of a reaction out of me than all the other art i've seen in all the other places i've been COMBINED. (note: a small reaction is more than no reaction at all.) so there.
after The David, i walked to the Duomo and paid €8 to go to the top of the dome. 463 steps up, dizzying heights, and, in some places, a marble floor that looks disconcertingly like plywood. i took pictures from the top, and had my picture taken. i'm afraid of heights, so this was no easy trip for me. but well worth it.
after the Duomo, feeling all arted out and not wanting to climb the Campanile for a less impressive view, i walked to a restaurant for a burger. then to a bookstore, bought a book, and then back to the hostel for a nap.
woke at 6, read until 8, had dinner, chatted with fellow hostelers, now it's almost 11 and i think it's nearing time for some gelato.
going to Venice tomorrow. i've heard it's expensive so i'm only staying two days. then to France, where i've got another volunteer experience waiting, then Paris for a few days, then back to the US. we'll see what happens.
that's it for now, i think. any questions?
so hello! i'm in Florence, obviously. said goodbye to the Reinhardts, and arrived here yesterday. checked into my hostel and wandered the city for a while. stood in line for Leonard Cohen tickets for over two hours, only to be told it's sold out. i was so angry i drank three beers without eating dinner. i met a brother and sister from Bristol while standing in line, so they joined me for the beers. good times had by at least me. then back to the hostel, and sleep. i was alone in the room last night, which was nice.
i woke up at 5am for reasons still unknown. may have dozed for half an hour somewhere around 7, but not sure. at 8 i got up and showered (cold shower), then hung around the hostel until 11. walked to the Acedemia (however it's spelled, it's where The David lives), and the line for that was only 20 minutes. which was quite nice.
The David finally got a reaction out of me. i will say this once and you will take it to be the Gospel Truth, never doubted: if you haven't been to Florence to see The David, you've never seen The David. full stop, end of story.
after The David i wandered in to the statue room next to it. was instantly put in mind of the Weeping Angels, and left shortly thereafter. bought postcards for those who expressed wishes for mail, and left without seeing any other art. "But Jacob," you may be saying, "surely you missed out on other master works and brilliant examples of art? didn't you maybe rob yourself of more experiences?". to which i say this: no. i missed out on nothing, i deprived myself of nothing. i saw The David, which got more of a reaction out of me than all the other art i've seen in all the other places i've been COMBINED. (note: a small reaction is more than no reaction at all.) so there.
after The David, i walked to the Duomo and paid €8 to go to the top of the dome. 463 steps up, dizzying heights, and, in some places, a marble floor that looks disconcertingly like plywood. i took pictures from the top, and had my picture taken. i'm afraid of heights, so this was no easy trip for me. but well worth it.
after the Duomo, feeling all arted out and not wanting to climb the Campanile for a less impressive view, i walked to a restaurant for a burger. then to a bookstore, bought a book, and then back to the hostel for a nap.
woke at 6, read until 8, had dinner, chatted with fellow hostelers, now it's almost 11 and i think it's nearing time for some gelato.
going to Venice tomorrow. i've heard it's expensive so i'm only staying two days. then to France, where i've got another volunteer experience waiting, then Paris for a few days, then back to the US. we'll see what happens.
that's it for now, i think. any questions?
Sunday, August 29, 2010
here's a photo of me one day after work. what you can't see is that i haven't shaved, showered or changed clothes in 3 days. the little girl is Rufta, she's the daughter of the Eritrean family i'm sharing a house with. she likes me but doesn't know what to do with me. the feeling is mutual. here you go:
that's all for now, come back again!
that's all for now, come back again!
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
if you're wondering where i am...
here's the website:
http://www.giardinoreinhardt.com/it/index.html
also, extra credit: i've heard this movie was filmed and takes place in the area:
Under The Tuscan Sun
i've yet to see it, but i will. feel free to watch it and let me know, yeah?
http://www.giardinoreinhardt.com/it/index.html
also, extra credit: i've heard this movie was filmed and takes place in the area:
Under The Tuscan Sun
i've yet to see it, but i will. feel free to watch it and let me know, yeah?
Friday, August 20, 2010
photo update!!
right. quick update:
i've uploaded all my photos so far, and you can now view them here:
http://gallery.me.com/jacobdanger
enjoy!
i've uploaded all my photos so far, and you can now view them here:
http://gallery.me.com/jacobdanger
enjoy!
Friday, August 13, 2010
This is the time. And this is the record of the time.
Greetings, my frisky little brain surgeons!
i know it's been over a week since i last updated, but this computer hasn't been able to access the internet and i'll be danged if i'm gonna update by phone. so hi!
Blogspot just deleted my entire post, leaving only what's above in a draft form. no me gusta. no va bene. so, here goes with the rest of the post as i remember it:
still in Cortona, Italy. working a little, getting some sun and eating. the Eritrean (google it) family i'm staying with made me some zighini. it's vegetables and meat in a bit of sauce, served on plates of this spongy bread-like thing. similar to a taco, which i tried very hard to eat like a taco, but not similar enough. you rip off a piece of the bread-like thing, scoop the vegetables and meat onto it, and put it in your mouth. no silverware needed. it's good, a little spicy.
i've also eaten... falafel, ratatouille, countless pastas, two pizzas, and one lasagna. i'm eating well.
work is good. gardening and nipping buds and weeding and trimming and watering and such. it's different, but not too bad. i've discovered i rather enjoy weeding. it combines my slight destructive urges with my tendency to focus on tiny details to the point of neglecting the bigger picture. so it works well for me, i think. there are only two problems with this. 1)sitting or knealing hurts my back after so long, and 2) i only know two kinds of weeds, so i know i'm missing many other kinds. i'm not efficient enough, but i enjoy it anyway.
i've met many different kinds of spiders. and lizards and frogs and mosquitos and bees and wasps and beetles. but the spiders interest me most. i'm not as afraid of them as i used to be, i think. but maybe i'll change my mind if/when one of them attacks. mostly i think they're interesting, the way they look, and how they interact with their webs and how they live with the other animals. FYI: spiders LOVE daylillies.
anyway. i'm slowly learning the language, picking up words here and there. i use a translator app i put on my iphone when i need to say something to my coworkers, and that seems to be working out okay for now. i've gotten to the point where i can understand most of the directions i'm given. well, most of the directions, i can understand most of them. if that makes sense.
on Tuesday i got a ride into Cortona to run some errands. i got groceries, work pants, and a haircut. i feel much better now.
the haircut was kind of awesome. the guy used only scissors on my whole head. i was impressed.
then i got a coffee, then a beer. waiting for my ride to pick me up and take me back to my apartment. she went to the post office while i was in the hair salon. it worked out well, and a good time was had by all.
i've worked out that i'm only allowed to stay in the European Union for 90 days. so in a little over a month, i have to leave Italy. either go back to the US, or to China, or to some country outside the EU, but there i'd have to stay for 90 days before i could come back to the EU. not sure yet which i'll do, but at least now i know what my options are. extension visas are granted, but only for certain reasons (business and schooling are common. i doubt i'd make a compelling reason.)
so there's that. i think i'm done now. i'm sure i forgot something, but oh well. have fun, and drive safely!
i know it's been over a week since i last updated, but this computer hasn't been able to access the internet and i'll be danged if i'm gonna update by phone. so hi!
Blogspot just deleted my entire post, leaving only what's above in a draft form. no me gusta. no va bene. so, here goes with the rest of the post as i remember it:
still in Cortona, Italy. working a little, getting some sun and eating. the Eritrean (google it) family i'm staying with made me some zighini. it's vegetables and meat in a bit of sauce, served on plates of this spongy bread-like thing. similar to a taco, which i tried very hard to eat like a taco, but not similar enough. you rip off a piece of the bread-like thing, scoop the vegetables and meat onto it, and put it in your mouth. no silverware needed. it's good, a little spicy.
i've also eaten... falafel, ratatouille, countless pastas, two pizzas, and one lasagna. i'm eating well.
work is good. gardening and nipping buds and weeding and trimming and watering and such. it's different, but not too bad. i've discovered i rather enjoy weeding. it combines my slight destructive urges with my tendency to focus on tiny details to the point of neglecting the bigger picture. so it works well for me, i think. there are only two problems with this. 1)sitting or knealing hurts my back after so long, and 2) i only know two kinds of weeds, so i know i'm missing many other kinds. i'm not efficient enough, but i enjoy it anyway.
i've met many different kinds of spiders. and lizards and frogs and mosquitos and bees and wasps and beetles. but the spiders interest me most. i'm not as afraid of them as i used to be, i think. but maybe i'll change my mind if/when one of them attacks. mostly i think they're interesting, the way they look, and how they interact with their webs and how they live with the other animals. FYI: spiders LOVE daylillies.
anyway. i'm slowly learning the language, picking up words here and there. i use a translator app i put on my iphone when i need to say something to my coworkers, and that seems to be working out okay for now. i've gotten to the point where i can understand most of the directions i'm given. well, most of the directions, i can understand most of them. if that makes sense.
on Tuesday i got a ride into Cortona to run some errands. i got groceries, work pants, and a haircut. i feel much better now.
the haircut was kind of awesome. the guy used only scissors on my whole head. i was impressed.
then i got a coffee, then a beer. waiting for my ride to pick me up and take me back to my apartment. she went to the post office while i was in the hair salon. it worked out well, and a good time was had by all.
i've worked out that i'm only allowed to stay in the European Union for 90 days. so in a little over a month, i have to leave Italy. either go back to the US, or to China, or to some country outside the EU, but there i'd have to stay for 90 days before i could come back to the EU. not sure yet which i'll do, but at least now i know what my options are. extension visas are granted, but only for certain reasons (business and schooling are common. i doubt i'd make a compelling reason.)
so there's that. i think i'm done now. i'm sure i forgot something, but oh well. have fun, and drive safely!
Friday, August 6, 2010
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Today we escape.
today is the first day ever i could say: i'm glad i didn't shave this morning. it just wouldn't have been worth it.
welcome, one and all, to another edition of America's least favorite game show: things i've put in my mouth that were not meant to go in my mouth! today's addition to the list: a lighter. not a Zippo, which would've been more awesome, but just a normal crap lighter like you have three of in your couch cushions, whether you smoke or not.
Whistling: because saying the person's name is too damn hard.
and now for the actual informative part of the update:
hi everyone! i'm not dead! i'm in Cortona, in Italy. working in a garden/olive grove. it's very different from what i'm used to, it's some digging and carrying plants and trimming flowers and trees and pulling weeds and i sweat a lot. mostly because i sweat a lot, not because i'm doing sweat-making activities. but it's good so far. i've been here one week so far. according to the owners of the place, a couple named Reinhardt, i can pretty much stay as long as i like, as long as i'm contributing. so that's good. not sure how long i'll actually stay, though. at least a month, maybe. depends on how stir-crazy or homesick i get. but they'll definitely need the help in the next few weeks.
they've been feeding me three meals a day pretty regularly. sometimes i have to fend for myself for breakfast, tonight i'll have dinner alone, but they always warn me so i'm prepared. they gave me money and a ride to the store for food, so i've got a crap-ton of pasta and some fruit and meat and yeah. so i'm good for a while. they're vegetarians, so the only meat i eat is when i feed myself, but it hasn't been a problem yet. they give me too much food, it's insane. although, to be fair, i tend to eat the last bits of pretty much anything they offer, so perhaps i choose to eat too much. i'd be more worried about getting fat if i weren't sweating and working in the sun every day. maybe i'll get fat anyway, just for the heck of it.
Sunday i went to a town about 45 minutes from here, called Perugia. it's the capital of Umbria. i missed the Umbria Jazz festival, which i've been told is quite nice, but i did get to wander a bit the underground city. i had pizza and Italian coffee and bought an Italian-English dictionary and another guidebook to Italy. so i'm set on Italian reading for now. something i've been thinking about is buying a book in Italian that i've already read in English. like Dracula or a Palahniuk or something. but i'm not sure that'd be very helpful to me, so i may have to settle for See Spot Run. anyway. Perugia was nice, but mostly closed on Sundays, so i may try to go back another time and see more. and ride the Mini-Metro (it's adorable!).
here's how to make Italian coffee, near as i can tell. you need coffee grounds, boiling water, and a shot glass. one part coffee to two parts boiling water. fill the shot glass with the ingredients. add sugar and milk to taste. drink. it's... different from what i'm used to.
on either Monday or Tuesday i FINALLY met an Anti-American. worse, she was British, which means i understood everything she said. i'm kinda socially inept, so i didn't really notice the contempt dripping from her every syllable, but i've heard accounts of the meal from those who are more in tune with such things. and i know it's not just me she hated, because there was a couple from Connecticut at the meal too, and they got the same treatment. i really don't understand Nationalism like that, and i'd like to ask her about it, but i don't think she'd answer me, even if i could somehow convince her i wasn't trying to start a fight. oh well.
i flew from Prague to Vienna, Austria to Florence last Wednesday. stayed in Florence one night, then train to Camuchia-Cortona (they're both really small and close to each other, so they share the train station.) in the Prague airport, waiting for my flight, i decided to spend as much of the last of my Czech crowns as i could. it was just pocket change, so i walked into a coffee shop/snack bar/diner thing, like you would find in any airport, and i ordered an orange juice. i sit at one of the tables, take out my book and a packet of nuts i bought earlier. one minute after i finish the juice, the waitress/barista walks over to my table, sets down a bacon sandwich, takes my empty juice glass, and disappears. as soon as i realize what happened, i look around for someone to talk to ("um, i didn't order this") or even to thank. there's two other customers, but neither makes eye contact or gives any indication that they have a clue what's going on, and the barista is still missing. i wasn't even that hungry, but i ate it. i'm still trying to process how i felt about receiving the sandwich. it's a simple emotion, i think, but unfamiliar. anyway. i finished the sandwich, looked around again for someone to thank, and, finding no one, walked out. it was weird, but not in a bad way.
by the time i got to my hostel in Florence, it was 1a.m. got up the next morning, checked out, and sat around the train station for two hours until my train came. not a great story, i'll admit.
Tuesday night i went to Cortona with one of the other employees of the olive grove, a 25-year-old named Tommy. he's learning english and already pretty good at it, so we talk a lot. i'm not learning nearly enough Italian from him, i think. anyway. we met up with two of his friends and had some drinks together. so it was an American (me), an Italian, a Swiss girl, and a German. an odd mix, but it was okay. sometimes i worry that i'm forgetting how to talk to people. not that i forget words, but how to put them together in a meaningful and inoffensive, hopefully encouraging way. the night's conversations did nothing to assuage that irrational fear. but it was nice to get out a bit.
i have no TV, no computer in my "apartment" that i share with the family of another employee. husband, wife, daughter, then me. i have my own room, but everything else is shared. actually, i've been meaning to talk to Tommy about getting a TV so i can watch movies in Italian with English subtitles. i think that might help me learn. also i downloaded an app onto my phone. not so much with the talking to people yet, but it'll come.
actually, now that i mention it, i'm on a computer in the main house, just after lunch (which is an hour and a half long). i'm supposed to be making the printer work, but it's just not happening, it's ticking me off. perhaps i should finish this and get back to the printer or maybe the garden?
since i'll probably be here a while: if you want to send me something (e.g. money, books, food, money, tear-stained love letters, etc.), let me know and i'll see about getting an address to you, at which i can be reached. or if you'd like mail from me, that can be arranged too. just say the word.
alright, i think that's it. if you've made it this far into the post, i owe you a cookie. goodbye for now!
welcome, one and all, to another edition of America's least favorite game show: things i've put in my mouth that were not meant to go in my mouth! today's addition to the list: a lighter. not a Zippo, which would've been more awesome, but just a normal crap lighter like you have three of in your couch cushions, whether you smoke or not.
Whistling: because saying the person's name is too damn hard.
and now for the actual informative part of the update:
hi everyone! i'm not dead! i'm in Cortona, in Italy. working in a garden/olive grove. it's very different from what i'm used to, it's some digging and carrying plants and trimming flowers and trees and pulling weeds and i sweat a lot. mostly because i sweat a lot, not because i'm doing sweat-making activities. but it's good so far. i've been here one week so far. according to the owners of the place, a couple named Reinhardt, i can pretty much stay as long as i like, as long as i'm contributing. so that's good. not sure how long i'll actually stay, though. at least a month, maybe. depends on how stir-crazy or homesick i get. but they'll definitely need the help in the next few weeks.
they've been feeding me three meals a day pretty regularly. sometimes i have to fend for myself for breakfast, tonight i'll have dinner alone, but they always warn me so i'm prepared. they gave me money and a ride to the store for food, so i've got a crap-ton of pasta and some fruit and meat and yeah. so i'm good for a while. they're vegetarians, so the only meat i eat is when i feed myself, but it hasn't been a problem yet. they give me too much food, it's insane. although, to be fair, i tend to eat the last bits of pretty much anything they offer, so perhaps i choose to eat too much. i'd be more worried about getting fat if i weren't sweating and working in the sun every day. maybe i'll get fat anyway, just for the heck of it.
Sunday i went to a town about 45 minutes from here, called Perugia. it's the capital of Umbria. i missed the Umbria Jazz festival, which i've been told is quite nice, but i did get to wander a bit the underground city. i had pizza and Italian coffee and bought an Italian-English dictionary and another guidebook to Italy. so i'm set on Italian reading for now. something i've been thinking about is buying a book in Italian that i've already read in English. like Dracula or a Palahniuk or something. but i'm not sure that'd be very helpful to me, so i may have to settle for See Spot Run. anyway. Perugia was nice, but mostly closed on Sundays, so i may try to go back another time and see more. and ride the Mini-Metro (it's adorable!).
here's how to make Italian coffee, near as i can tell. you need coffee grounds, boiling water, and a shot glass. one part coffee to two parts boiling water. fill the shot glass with the ingredients. add sugar and milk to taste. drink. it's... different from what i'm used to.
on either Monday or Tuesday i FINALLY met an Anti-American. worse, she was British, which means i understood everything she said. i'm kinda socially inept, so i didn't really notice the contempt dripping from her every syllable, but i've heard accounts of the meal from those who are more in tune with such things. and i know it's not just me she hated, because there was a couple from Connecticut at the meal too, and they got the same treatment. i really don't understand Nationalism like that, and i'd like to ask her about it, but i don't think she'd answer me, even if i could somehow convince her i wasn't trying to start a fight. oh well.
i flew from Prague to Vienna, Austria to Florence last Wednesday. stayed in Florence one night, then train to Camuchia-Cortona (they're both really small and close to each other, so they share the train station.) in the Prague airport, waiting for my flight, i decided to spend as much of the last of my Czech crowns as i could. it was just pocket change, so i walked into a coffee shop/snack bar/diner thing, like you would find in any airport, and i ordered an orange juice. i sit at one of the tables, take out my book and a packet of nuts i bought earlier. one minute after i finish the juice, the waitress/barista walks over to my table, sets down a bacon sandwich, takes my empty juice glass, and disappears. as soon as i realize what happened, i look around for someone to talk to ("um, i didn't order this") or even to thank. there's two other customers, but neither makes eye contact or gives any indication that they have a clue what's going on, and the barista is still missing. i wasn't even that hungry, but i ate it. i'm still trying to process how i felt about receiving the sandwich. it's a simple emotion, i think, but unfamiliar. anyway. i finished the sandwich, looked around again for someone to thank, and, finding no one, walked out. it was weird, but not in a bad way.
by the time i got to my hostel in Florence, it was 1a.m. got up the next morning, checked out, and sat around the train station for two hours until my train came. not a great story, i'll admit.
Tuesday night i went to Cortona with one of the other employees of the olive grove, a 25-year-old named Tommy. he's learning english and already pretty good at it, so we talk a lot. i'm not learning nearly enough Italian from him, i think. anyway. we met up with two of his friends and had some drinks together. so it was an American (me), an Italian, a Swiss girl, and a German. an odd mix, but it was okay. sometimes i worry that i'm forgetting how to talk to people. not that i forget words, but how to put them together in a meaningful and inoffensive, hopefully encouraging way. the night's conversations did nothing to assuage that irrational fear. but it was nice to get out a bit.
i have no TV, no computer in my "apartment" that i share with the family of another employee. husband, wife, daughter, then me. i have my own room, but everything else is shared. actually, i've been meaning to talk to Tommy about getting a TV so i can watch movies in Italian with English subtitles. i think that might help me learn. also i downloaded an app onto my phone. not so much with the talking to people yet, but it'll come.
actually, now that i mention it, i'm on a computer in the main house, just after lunch (which is an hour and a half long). i'm supposed to be making the printer work, but it's just not happening, it's ticking me off. perhaps i should finish this and get back to the printer or maybe the garden?
since i'll probably be here a while: if you want to send me something (e.g. money, books, food, money, tear-stained love letters, etc.), let me know and i'll see about getting an address to you, at which i can be reached. or if you'd like mail from me, that can be arranged too. just say the word.
alright, i think that's it. if you've made it this far into the post, i owe you a cookie. goodbye for now!
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Lucille Has Messed Up My Mind
(and by "Lucille" i mean "Prague".)
apparently i haven't updated this once since i've been in Prague. sorry about that.
so, let's see... i stayed one night in a party hostel. crappy beds and loud kids and totally not my scene. and i mean really crappy bed. orphanage-style bed frames, and lawn-furniture pads instead of mattresses. bleh. the second hostel is much, much better. Chili Hostel, look it up.
the only bad thing i can say about this hostel is that breakfast isn't free, and there's no elevator. staying on the sixth floor isn't so easy with 30 lbs on your back when you arrive and leave the city. anyway.
i've seen castles and the Sedlec Ossuary and wandered the streets of Prague for days. I've spent a good deal of my nights with other hostelers, for maybe the first time since i started travelling i've felt like i made friends. which was very, very nice after a month of Single Serving Friends. anyway.
HelpX finally came through! i'm going back to Italy tomorrow! staying the night in Florence, then taking a train to Cortona where i'll apparently be picked up by the couple that runs the olive grove where i'll be working. not sure what the internet status is, or completely clear on the work or sleep situation, so it's one big adventure all around. don't even know how long i'll be there, or if i'll be paid anything at all besides food & shelter. adventure.
i had goulash the other night, and i've also tried Budvar. goulash is a traditional Czech meal, ridiculously filling and not too heavy on taste. it was good. Budvar is one of the first beers made in Czech, created in Czech, and either stolen or exported as Budweiser. but it tastes very different.
i've not been eating much breakfast, and pasta pretty consistently for dinner. tonight i have pasta with bolognese sauce, and an apple. delicious!
oh! they sell Communist Army & Navy belts at some souvenir shops here! i wants one! the Navy belt has a silver buckle with the Communist logo over an anchor, and a black belt. DO WANT! i'd buy one but it's about $40. so i'll google or ebay it and see what's what before i commit. (edit: just checked. yeah, it's on ebay for $30, free shipping. and it's totally awesome. BUY ME ONE!)
oh! on Sunday night i watched Straw Dogs at an expat coffeehouse. that was kinda odd. great great movie, but being in Prague, surrounded by Americans, most of whom live there, and none of them talked to me and i talked to none of them, i dunno. it was nice. i didn't even realize i missed the cinema experience. also i ate "Real American beef chili", and it was great.
one day i paid 500 Czech crowns for a Communism & Underground Bunker tour, along with four of my hostelmates. the Communism part was kind of boring and mostly not worth it, but the Underground Bunker was awesome! we were led all throughout one that is apparently rented out for parties and concerts and such, then we were each given a beer (which we quickly dubbed either Bunker Beer or Communist Unity Beer), and shown photos of Communist events in Prague. the rise, the fall, the death, everything. it was surprisingly somber. then party time again when we were allowed to try on authentic gas masks and communist army uniform jackets & hats. so i can now proudly say there is a photo in existence of me in a gas mask. i get to check (Czech?) that off my list. so it was good, generally.
almost forgot to talk about Kutna Hora and the Sedlec Ossuary. Kutna Hora is the town where the Ossuary is, FYI. very sleepy, friendly, rather nice town. if i come back to Czech Republic, i may stay in Kutna Hora just for the general feel of the place. so, Sedlec. sorry Alina, the skulls were all tagged like cows or expensive items at the store. so no skull for you. i was a little disappointed in the local gift shops, too. not nearly weird or morbid enough for the attraction they're leeching off of. anyway. back to Sedlec. you walk in, pay 50 crowns (about $2 at most), then go down the stairs. immediately at the bottom, on the right, is the name of the decorator, spelled out in bones. right in front of you is a chandelier made up of at least one of every single bone in the human body. in the four corners, fenced off, are free-standing pyramids of human bones. skulls and tibias and scapulas oh my. at the four corners around the chandelier are small towers with skulls and a few other bones tastefully arranged up them, until they culminate in a statue of a cherub. the statue is usually holding an actual human skull. to the left of the stairs is apparently some royal shield, formed out of bones. it's completely bizarre and more than a little morbid and i took plenty of pictures. no postcard this time, mom, don't worry. after the Ossuary i walked around Kutna Hora with a random Canadian i met walking there. it was a good day all around.
today so far: had breakfast and wandered the town with the French & German & Assyrian kids who were in my hostelroom last night. we napped in a park. it was much fun, but i don't have any proof that it happened. then i wandered to a mall, one of the first i've seen in all of Europe. that was okay, but definitely something i don't miss. i bought a flashlight to replace the one i lost, and another pair of sunglasses to replace my first replacement pair, which themselves got scratched up. good times. soon is dinner, then, i dunno. it's my last night in Prague, i wanna do something special. on the other hand, i've been staying up too late lately, and i'm a little under the weather. we'll see how i feel after eating, i guess. wish me luck!
man, Prague is stupid cheap. if you ever get the chance, you need to come here. so much history and culture, so little money. i think, of all the places i've seen thus far in my travels, Prague may be my favorite. well, factoring out the families i've stayed with and that. (sorry Mel & Nicola!)
so i guess that's it for this update. let me know if i missed anything, yeah? thanks for coming!
apparently i haven't updated this once since i've been in Prague. sorry about that.
so, let's see... i stayed one night in a party hostel. crappy beds and loud kids and totally not my scene. and i mean really crappy bed. orphanage-style bed frames, and lawn-furniture pads instead of mattresses. bleh. the second hostel is much, much better. Chili Hostel, look it up.
the only bad thing i can say about this hostel is that breakfast isn't free, and there's no elevator. staying on the sixth floor isn't so easy with 30 lbs on your back when you arrive and leave the city. anyway.
i've seen castles and the Sedlec Ossuary and wandered the streets of Prague for days. I've spent a good deal of my nights with other hostelers, for maybe the first time since i started travelling i've felt like i made friends. which was very, very nice after a month of Single Serving Friends. anyway.
HelpX finally came through! i'm going back to Italy tomorrow! staying the night in Florence, then taking a train to Cortona where i'll apparently be picked up by the couple that runs the olive grove where i'll be working. not sure what the internet status is, or completely clear on the work or sleep situation, so it's one big adventure all around. don't even know how long i'll be there, or if i'll be paid anything at all besides food & shelter. adventure.
i had goulash the other night, and i've also tried Budvar. goulash is a traditional Czech meal, ridiculously filling and not too heavy on taste. it was good. Budvar is one of the first beers made in Czech, created in Czech, and either stolen or exported as Budweiser. but it tastes very different.
i've not been eating much breakfast, and pasta pretty consistently for dinner. tonight i have pasta with bolognese sauce, and an apple. delicious!
oh! they sell Communist Army & Navy belts at some souvenir shops here! i wants one! the Navy belt has a silver buckle with the Communist logo over an anchor, and a black belt. DO WANT! i'd buy one but it's about $40. so i'll google or ebay it and see what's what before i commit. (edit: just checked. yeah, it's on ebay for $30, free shipping. and it's totally awesome. BUY ME ONE!)
oh! on Sunday night i watched Straw Dogs at an expat coffeehouse. that was kinda odd. great great movie, but being in Prague, surrounded by Americans, most of whom live there, and none of them talked to me and i talked to none of them, i dunno. it was nice. i didn't even realize i missed the cinema experience. also i ate "Real American beef chili", and it was great.
one day i paid 500 Czech crowns for a Communism & Underground Bunker tour, along with four of my hostelmates. the Communism part was kind of boring and mostly not worth it, but the Underground Bunker was awesome! we were led all throughout one that is apparently rented out for parties and concerts and such, then we were each given a beer (which we quickly dubbed either Bunker Beer or Communist Unity Beer), and shown photos of Communist events in Prague. the rise, the fall, the death, everything. it was surprisingly somber. then party time again when we were allowed to try on authentic gas masks and communist army uniform jackets & hats. so i can now proudly say there is a photo in existence of me in a gas mask. i get to check (Czech?) that off my list. so it was good, generally.
almost forgot to talk about Kutna Hora and the Sedlec Ossuary. Kutna Hora is the town where the Ossuary is, FYI. very sleepy, friendly, rather nice town. if i come back to Czech Republic, i may stay in Kutna Hora just for the general feel of the place. so, Sedlec. sorry Alina, the skulls were all tagged like cows or expensive items at the store. so no skull for you. i was a little disappointed in the local gift shops, too. not nearly weird or morbid enough for the attraction they're leeching off of. anyway. back to Sedlec. you walk in, pay 50 crowns (about $2 at most), then go down the stairs. immediately at the bottom, on the right, is the name of the decorator, spelled out in bones. right in front of you is a chandelier made up of at least one of every single bone in the human body. in the four corners, fenced off, are free-standing pyramids of human bones. skulls and tibias and scapulas oh my. at the four corners around the chandelier are small towers with skulls and a few other bones tastefully arranged up them, until they culminate in a statue of a cherub. the statue is usually holding an actual human skull. to the left of the stairs is apparently some royal shield, formed out of bones. it's completely bizarre and more than a little morbid and i took plenty of pictures. no postcard this time, mom, don't worry. after the Ossuary i walked around Kutna Hora with a random Canadian i met walking there. it was a good day all around.
today so far: had breakfast and wandered the town with the French & German & Assyrian kids who were in my hostelroom last night. we napped in a park. it was much fun, but i don't have any proof that it happened. then i wandered to a mall, one of the first i've seen in all of Europe. that was okay, but definitely something i don't miss. i bought a flashlight to replace the one i lost, and another pair of sunglasses to replace my first replacement pair, which themselves got scratched up. good times. soon is dinner, then, i dunno. it's my last night in Prague, i wanna do something special. on the other hand, i've been staying up too late lately, and i'm a little under the weather. we'll see how i feel after eating, i guess. wish me luck!
man, Prague is stupid cheap. if you ever get the chance, you need to come here. so much history and culture, so little money. i think, of all the places i've seen thus far in my travels, Prague may be my favorite. well, factoring out the families i've stayed with and that. (sorry Mel & Nicola!)
so i guess that's it for this update. let me know if i missed anything, yeah? thanks for coming!
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
greetings, my furry little donkeys!
this kezboard is totallz messed up. the quick brown fox jumped over the layz dog. +ěščřžýáíé (that was the numbers row. man, foreign keyboards are WEIRD.)
so, hi. i´m in Prague!
last night: after i got my hostel and flight to Prague sorted, i booked a hostel for one night, my last night in Rome. i wish i´d known about this hostel earlier, because it was awesome. ran into some dudes who i first met in London, that was weird. my last night in Rome was spent properly: karaoke. the drunks thought i was awesome.
this morning was mostly just a morning. packed, got to the airport, was worried i´d miss my flight, bought a travel guide about the Czech Republic, may have fallen asleep on the plane, got a bit lost finding the hostel. by the way, two things: i´m getting kind of tired of staying in hostels on the edge of town. they´re shady, hard to find, and usually too warm.
second thing: i don´t understand why people feel the need to applaud when the plane lands. the pilot´s just doing his job. it´s not like he just saved your life or pulled off a wicked hard guitar solo. do you applaud when the bus driver stops at the bus stop? no. do you applaud when the chef doesn´t give you food poisoning? no. so why applaud the pilot? i don´t get it. moving on.
an Italian girl met a girl from Prague on the plane. they spoke english. it was weird.
oh, one quick thing: European women. everyone you´ve ever heard talk about them sazs that they´re more beautiful than American women, right? well i figured it out. they´re not reallz more beautiful, they´re less ugly. and there are more of the upper end than in America, and fewer of the lower end. to sum up: the uggos are less ugly and fewer than in America, the hotties are more plentiful but not more hot. okay, glad we got that straightened out.
i saw three women breastfeeding in public while i was in Rome. which is two more than i´d ever seen anywhere ever. ever.
today, after i checked into my hostel, i went out for a Czech meal. no mom, i´m not eating out every meal, i just figured it´d be nice to eat some local fare on my first night. anyway. i had a delicious pork steak with grean beans and onions, and i ate the garnish too. then i had head cheese with red onions. i´m not sure what head cheese is, but i don´t want to google it, in case it´s something bad.
tonight i drank a pint of the world´s first lager, in the city that created the world´s first lager. it´s okay to be jealous.
i have with me a general European phrasebook/dictionary. i noticed tonight that it´s missing what is, without a doubt, the single most important phrase one can ever learn in a foreign language: "how do you say ____?"
also, Rick Steves was right: don´t be afraid to make a fool of yourself. when the check came i pointed to my phrasebook, the phrase "the meal was delicious, thank you." the waiter said the phrase, then i had to point to "could you please speak more slowly?" he laughed, then repeated it until i was able to say it back to him. we had a moment. he appreciated that i wasn´t just wantonly butchering his language, and i learned a useful phrase. win-win!
there´s no smoking ban here. so the restaurant where i ate actually had a non-smoking area. i giggled when i realized. and eating in a smoking restaurant wasn´t nearly as bad as the anti-smoking propaganda and my memory makes it seem. just sayin.
there´s a "night clubs" about two blocks away from this hostel, called Sweet Paradise. no, i´m not sure what it really is, nor do i want to know. and yes, all the signs for it call it a "night clubs". what´s the Czech version of Engrish called?
right. that´s it. tomorrow i´m going to see the local castle, and try to apply for a Chinese visa. then Friday i´m going to the Sedlec Ossuary (google it.)
goodnight all!!
this kezboard is totallz messed up. the quick brown fox jumped over the layz dog. +ěščřžýáíé (that was the numbers row. man, foreign keyboards are WEIRD.)
so, hi. i´m in Prague!
last night: after i got my hostel and flight to Prague sorted, i booked a hostel for one night, my last night in Rome. i wish i´d known about this hostel earlier, because it was awesome. ran into some dudes who i first met in London, that was weird. my last night in Rome was spent properly: karaoke. the drunks thought i was awesome.
this morning was mostly just a morning. packed, got to the airport, was worried i´d miss my flight, bought a travel guide about the Czech Republic, may have fallen asleep on the plane, got a bit lost finding the hostel. by the way, two things: i´m getting kind of tired of staying in hostels on the edge of town. they´re shady, hard to find, and usually too warm.
second thing: i don´t understand why people feel the need to applaud when the plane lands. the pilot´s just doing his job. it´s not like he just saved your life or pulled off a wicked hard guitar solo. do you applaud when the bus driver stops at the bus stop? no. do you applaud when the chef doesn´t give you food poisoning? no. so why applaud the pilot? i don´t get it. moving on.
an Italian girl met a girl from Prague on the plane. they spoke english. it was weird.
oh, one quick thing: European women. everyone you´ve ever heard talk about them sazs that they´re more beautiful than American women, right? well i figured it out. they´re not reallz more beautiful, they´re less ugly. and there are more of the upper end than in America, and fewer of the lower end. to sum up: the uggos are less ugly and fewer than in America, the hotties are more plentiful but not more hot. okay, glad we got that straightened out.
i saw three women breastfeeding in public while i was in Rome. which is two more than i´d ever seen anywhere ever. ever.
today, after i checked into my hostel, i went out for a Czech meal. no mom, i´m not eating out every meal, i just figured it´d be nice to eat some local fare on my first night. anyway. i had a delicious pork steak with grean beans and onions, and i ate the garnish too. then i had head cheese with red onions. i´m not sure what head cheese is, but i don´t want to google it, in case it´s something bad.
tonight i drank a pint of the world´s first lager, in the city that created the world´s first lager. it´s okay to be jealous.
i have with me a general European phrasebook/dictionary. i noticed tonight that it´s missing what is, without a doubt, the single most important phrase one can ever learn in a foreign language: "how do you say ____?"
also, Rick Steves was right: don´t be afraid to make a fool of yourself. when the check came i pointed to my phrasebook, the phrase "the meal was delicious, thank you." the waiter said the phrase, then i had to point to "could you please speak more slowly?" he laughed, then repeated it until i was able to say it back to him. we had a moment. he appreciated that i wasn´t just wantonly butchering his language, and i learned a useful phrase. win-win!
there´s no smoking ban here. so the restaurant where i ate actually had a non-smoking area. i giggled when i realized. and eating in a smoking restaurant wasn´t nearly as bad as the anti-smoking propaganda and my memory makes it seem. just sayin.
there´s a "night clubs" about two blocks away from this hostel, called Sweet Paradise. no, i´m not sure what it really is, nor do i want to know. and yes, all the signs for it call it a "night clubs". what´s the Czech version of Engrish called?
right. that´s it. tomorrow i´m going to see the local castle, and try to apply for a Chinese visa. then Friday i´m going to the Sedlec Ossuary (google it.)
goodnight all!!
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
i am officially out of cotton swabs!
i bought a 30-pack of cotton swabs for my trip, and today i used the last one! i've been travelling for one month. *tiny happy dance*
still in Rome, this is supposed to be my last day. waiting to hear back from a lady with a job and place to stay somewhere in Italy. if i don't hear back soon i will either have to cut my losses or stay here another day. we'll see. i can get a plane to Prague for about €80 today. which is silly cheap. i'll give her a few more hours. i do need to buy more cotton swabs, after all. she has time.
saw the Vatican, Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's Basilica yesterday. i'm starting to think i don't react to stuff like most people do. it was impressive, yeah, but i wasn't blown away. got a few pictures of the Sistine Chapel, even though photos are strictly prohibited there. but that's not really enforced, so i guess it's cool. saw a lot of sculpture and paintings and surprisingly not a lot of depictions of Hell. anyway.
outside St. Peter's i ran into a girl who's staying at my hostel. we had some dinner together and walked back to the hostel. that was okay. then i played solitaire and ate a real dinner. tried to decipher a local newspaper using only a "European Phrase Book", but dang it's too hard. gave up, played more solitaire, read a bit, went to bed.
i've taken a lot of pictures so far, one of Jesus being really scared, and hopefully i'll be able to upload them somewhere soon.
i think that's all i did yesterday. have no real idea what i'll do today. i'm pretty much out of things i want to see here. well, there's always more to see, but i've hit the big ones. dunno.
right. here we go!
still in Rome, this is supposed to be my last day. waiting to hear back from a lady with a job and place to stay somewhere in Italy. if i don't hear back soon i will either have to cut my losses or stay here another day. we'll see. i can get a plane to Prague for about €80 today. which is silly cheap. i'll give her a few more hours. i do need to buy more cotton swabs, after all. she has time.
saw the Vatican, Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's Basilica yesterday. i'm starting to think i don't react to stuff like most people do. it was impressive, yeah, but i wasn't blown away. got a few pictures of the Sistine Chapel, even though photos are strictly prohibited there. but that's not really enforced, so i guess it's cool. saw a lot of sculpture and paintings and surprisingly not a lot of depictions of Hell. anyway.
outside St. Peter's i ran into a girl who's staying at my hostel. we had some dinner together and walked back to the hostel. that was okay. then i played solitaire and ate a real dinner. tried to decipher a local newspaper using only a "European Phrase Book", but dang it's too hard. gave up, played more solitaire, read a bit, went to bed.
i've taken a lot of pictures so far, one of Jesus being really scared, and hopefully i'll be able to upload them somewhere soon.
i think that's all i did yesterday. have no real idea what i'll do today. i'm pretty much out of things i want to see here. well, there's always more to see, but i've hit the big ones. dunno.
right. here we go!
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Saturday, July 17, 2010
9 minute update, GO!
hi! i'm in Rome! i have yet to see the Pope, but i'm sure it's just a matter of time, right? he lives here, there've got to be some great Pope-spotting areas. anyway.
tomorrow i'm going to St. Peter's Basilica. should be good.
let's see... in Rome... what have i done... oh yeah!
i toured the Coliseum, the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill, an odd little crypt, and i ate dinner at Piazza Navona. oh! and today i went into the Pantheon. The Parthenon is in Athens.
my life isn't changed, as somebody *ahem* assured me it would be, simply by being in Rome. but i am rather tan and i've been told several times that i look like a native. in my dressing, as well as my skin-tone.
that reminds me! i ran into a newlywed couple while i was looking for the crypt, and the three of us spent the rest of the day together. we amused each other. at least, i assume so. they amused me and i'm pretty sure they amused themselves. anyway. that reminded me of a thought i've had several times throughout this trip: i think it might be more fun if i weren't alone. oh well.
um... so i'm not sure where i'm going next. i've put a few lines out on some websites, but if they don't bite it'll either be a RIDICULOUSLY CHEAP city such as Prague (i think i might go to Prague. i don't know if you figured that out by the several times i've mentioned it, but now you know) or back to the US. but i dunno. i kinda feel like my trip isn't done. i can't go back yet, there's more to come. or something. i dunno.
i started making a list last night of Things I Miss, and Things I Don't Miss. inspired by the snoring jerk in the room with me. not an interesting list, but it's mine.
right, i think that's, no wait! it's ten minutes! dang! bye!
tomorrow i'm going to St. Peter's Basilica. should be good.
let's see... in Rome... what have i done... oh yeah!
i toured the Coliseum, the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill, an odd little crypt, and i ate dinner at Piazza Navona. oh! and today i went into the Pantheon. The Parthenon is in Athens.
my life isn't changed, as somebody *ahem* assured me it would be, simply by being in Rome. but i am rather tan and i've been told several times that i look like a native. in my dressing, as well as my skin-tone.
that reminds me! i ran into a newlywed couple while i was looking for the crypt, and the three of us spent the rest of the day together. we amused each other. at least, i assume so. they amused me and i'm pretty sure they amused themselves. anyway. that reminded me of a thought i've had several times throughout this trip: i think it might be more fun if i weren't alone. oh well.
um... so i'm not sure where i'm going next. i've put a few lines out on some websites, but if they don't bite it'll either be a RIDICULOUSLY CHEAP city such as Prague (i think i might go to Prague. i don't know if you figured that out by the several times i've mentioned it, but now you know) or back to the US. but i dunno. i kinda feel like my trip isn't done. i can't go back yet, there's more to come. or something. i dunno.
i started making a list last night of Things I Miss, and Things I Don't Miss. inspired by the snoring jerk in the room with me. not an interesting list, but it's mine.
right, i think that's, no wait! it's ten minutes! dang! bye!
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
greetings, my (plural noun) of (verb)!
i spent all day in Cinque Terre. it's ridiculously pretty, but i realized something today: i can barely swim. what the hell am i doing in the ocean?!?
but yeah. i swam. i think i lost a Euro in the ocean. and i jumped off a high rock thing into water. once.
after i updated last night i went to bed and decided a sleep mask would've been a good idea. alas.
fun fact: the Amsterdam airport specifically prohibits nunchucks.
remind me, if i ever find someone i'm interested in for more than a week (slight exaggeration. slight.), to take them here. seems like it'd be a very romantic place.
dinner tonight was Trofie al Pesto, which was just some funny-shaped noodles in pesto sauce. it was good. looking around at the tables and the diners, i thought if i had a girl here, the only thing missing would be that song from Lady And The Tramp. you know the one. instead i'm alone and hearing "Pretty Fly (For a White Guy)". there was a way to tell that story funnier, but i missed it. oh well.
i realized tonight that i know how to say "thank you" and "you're welcome" in Italian, but i don't know "i'm sorry." i wonder if that fact reveals anything about my character?
man, this travel blog actually has very little travel information in it. if i were you, i'd want my money back.
i bought new sunglasses today. not thrilled with them, but they were the cheapest pair i could find that i didn't absolutely hate. and then my earbuds broke. well, the left side doesn't transmit sound unless you pinch the base of the cord in just the right way. crap.
i bought a new book: Chuck Palahniuk's Snuff. it's short but good so far. donated my last book to a fellow traveller who just finished his. we didn't trade, i'd rather not read The Great Gatsby again.
i'm thinking about going to Prague next, but i'll probably stay another night here, just so i have time to research it. figure out costs, see if i can't crash a couch, look into jobs, that sort of thing. a fellow traveller suggested Southeast Asia because it's apparently stupid cheap, so i'm looking into that as well. i dunno. where do you think i should go? (and yes, i actually expect a response. i know you all have places you think everyone should visit, or that you'd really like to go some time. out with it. if you tell me, i may go, then we'll have loads of stuff to talk about when i get back, and you can visit a foregin country vicarously through me. it'll be great.) so yeah. where should i go next? the polls are open!
i spent all day in Cinque Terre. it's ridiculously pretty, but i realized something today: i can barely swim. what the hell am i doing in the ocean?!?
but yeah. i swam. i think i lost a Euro in the ocean. and i jumped off a high rock thing into water. once.
after i updated last night i went to bed and decided a sleep mask would've been a good idea. alas.
fun fact: the Amsterdam airport specifically prohibits nunchucks.
remind me, if i ever find someone i'm interested in for more than a week (slight exaggeration. slight.), to take them here. seems like it'd be a very romantic place.
dinner tonight was Trofie al Pesto, which was just some funny-shaped noodles in pesto sauce. it was good. looking around at the tables and the diners, i thought if i had a girl here, the only thing missing would be that song from Lady And The Tramp. you know the one. instead i'm alone and hearing "Pretty Fly (For a White Guy)". there was a way to tell that story funnier, but i missed it. oh well.
i realized tonight that i know how to say "thank you" and "you're welcome" in Italian, but i don't know "i'm sorry." i wonder if that fact reveals anything about my character?
man, this travel blog actually has very little travel information in it. if i were you, i'd want my money back.
i bought new sunglasses today. not thrilled with them, but they were the cheapest pair i could find that i didn't absolutely hate. and then my earbuds broke. well, the left side doesn't transmit sound unless you pinch the base of the cord in just the right way. crap.
i bought a new book: Chuck Palahniuk's Snuff. it's short but good so far. donated my last book to a fellow traveller who just finished his. we didn't trade, i'd rather not read The Great Gatsby again.
i'm thinking about going to Prague next, but i'll probably stay another night here, just so i have time to research it. figure out costs, see if i can't crash a couch, look into jobs, that sort of thing. a fellow traveller suggested Southeast Asia because it's apparently stupid cheap, so i'm looking into that as well. i dunno. where do you think i should go? (and yes, i actually expect a response. i know you all have places you think everyone should visit, or that you'd really like to go some time. out with it. if you tell me, i may go, then we'll have loads of stuff to talk about when i get back, and you can visit a foregin country vicarously through me. it'll be great.) so yeah. where should i go next? the polls are open!
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
BACON!!!
this keyboard is much closer to what i'm used to. hooray!
hi, i'm in Corniglia (google it). i walked up 382 steps to get here and i'm staying two nights. it's ridiculously beautiful. even if it is a pain in the ass to get here.
last night: stayed in hotel, as i posted yesterday. it was nice. both Burn Notice and Supernatural in German. although, they weren't as much fun as i'd hoped, because i didn't already know the episodes. i guess Arnold Shwarzenegger (spelling?) in Espanol just kind of set a high bar.
this morning: BACON!!! and real coffee and orange juice and scrambled eggs and sausage and sheep cheese! it was the best breakfast i've had since Ogbourne St. George. delicious!
got to the airport, checked in, had time to kill. would've bought a Germany button for my bag (my lone souvenir and proof of travel), but they were €4. smurf that.
oh! the van driver from the hotel to the airport was a crazy person. she'd whistle a little tune then have half a conversation. it was weird. yes, a bluetooth headset would explain the conversation, but there's no explaining the whistling that immediately preceeded EVERY conversation.
i brushed my teeth for the first time today after i arrived in Italy. i felt gross and self-conscious. but now it's okay.
in the Munich airport i watched an old man get up and walk away from the wheelchair he was just sitting in. i should've taken it for a ride. silly cripple, just walking away from his only means of transportation.
i composed a little poem when we landed, about being in Italy, but it's not appropriate for civilized conversation.
oh! the Italians have Ikea! proof that they're not all mindless bloody savages!
i've finished my fourth book of the trip. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. bought it yesterday, went through it like a fat girl through cake. donated it to one of the other hostelers. now i guess i'll have to actually talk to people to amuse myself. this will not end well.
today: took the train three times back and forth, until i finally got on one that went to Corniglia. that was fun. ate dinner-ish, went for a quick swim in the ocean, and now i'm so bored my nipples are about to fall off. so there's that.
...and i think i've overstayed my €1 for 15 minute internet agreement. time to settle up, then maybe walk around town in the dark and hope i don't fall down, down, down, into the ocean. hopefully the ocean doesn't want me today.
hi, i'm in Corniglia (google it). i walked up 382 steps to get here and i'm staying two nights. it's ridiculously beautiful. even if it is a pain in the ass to get here.
last night: stayed in hotel, as i posted yesterday. it was nice. both Burn Notice and Supernatural in German. although, they weren't as much fun as i'd hoped, because i didn't already know the episodes. i guess Arnold Shwarzenegger (spelling?) in Espanol just kind of set a high bar.
this morning: BACON!!! and real coffee and orange juice and scrambled eggs and sausage and sheep cheese! it was the best breakfast i've had since Ogbourne St. George. delicious!
got to the airport, checked in, had time to kill. would've bought a Germany button for my bag (my lone souvenir and proof of travel), but they were €4. smurf that.
oh! the van driver from the hotel to the airport was a crazy person. she'd whistle a little tune then have half a conversation. it was weird. yes, a bluetooth headset would explain the conversation, but there's no explaining the whistling that immediately preceeded EVERY conversation.
i brushed my teeth for the first time today after i arrived in Italy. i felt gross and self-conscious. but now it's okay.
in the Munich airport i watched an old man get up and walk away from the wheelchair he was just sitting in. i should've taken it for a ride. silly cripple, just walking away from his only means of transportation.
i composed a little poem when we landed, about being in Italy, but it's not appropriate for civilized conversation.
oh! the Italians have Ikea! proof that they're not all mindless bloody savages!
i've finished my fourth book of the trip. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. bought it yesterday, went through it like a fat girl through cake. donated it to one of the other hostelers. now i guess i'll have to actually talk to people to amuse myself. this will not end well.
today: took the train three times back and forth, until i finally got on one that went to Corniglia. that was fun. ate dinner-ish, went for a quick swim in the ocean, and now i'm so bored my nipples are about to fall off. so there's that.
...and i think i've overstayed my €1 for 15 minute internet agreement. time to settle up, then maybe walk around town in the dark and hope i don't fall down, down, down, into the ocean. hopefully the ocean doesn't want me today.
Monday, July 12, 2010
FREE DINNER WOOHOO!
greetings from airport-esque Munich!
i äm borrowing the hotel's computer so i can't be long. plus the keyboard on this thing is freaking confusing.
my plane out of Amsterdam got delayed due to weather, so i missed my second plane to Genoa. the airline comped me a free hotel room, with dinner and breakfast. i am happy with this beyond all reasonable explanations.
my plane is at 9am tomorrow so i can't stay up late, but this place has a sauna!
from Genoa i'm planning on train-ing to Cinque Terre (google it), where i will spend no more than three days. promise. after that, who knows? maybe home, maybe not. right now that thought excites me, in three days it'll probably terrify me.
as a test, hereäs what happens when i trz to tzpe without looking at the kezs.
the "z" and "y" are switched, the @ is on the Q, the ? is on the number row at the top, cats and dogs living together, mass hysteria!
mental note: i really need to stop putting in my mouth things which are not meant for my mouth. today's item: a 2 Euro coin. i'll add to this list as i go.
oh, food! for lunch i had *shudder* Burger King. it was literally the cheapest meal in the Amsterdam airport. (that place is expensive! €5 for a freakin' sammich!) i prayed for forgiveness from the Travelling Gods, for the crap 'merican meal.
dinner, which i just had, was... pasta with some kind of chicken sauce, grilled bell peppers, potatoes prepared in some way, and i think it was some kind of gumbo but i'm not sure. related note: i still don't like potato salad, even in Germany.
more people are being bussed in by the minute. i'm expecting that little girl who glared at me in the airport any minute now.
so, the moral of the story: fly Lufthansia if you're flexible on dates and like free hotels. don't fly them if you need to be somewhere at a specific time. but whatever happens, enjoy!
i äm borrowing the hotel's computer so i can't be long. plus the keyboard on this thing is freaking confusing.
my plane out of Amsterdam got delayed due to weather, so i missed my second plane to Genoa. the airline comped me a free hotel room, with dinner and breakfast. i am happy with this beyond all reasonable explanations.
my plane is at 9am tomorrow so i can't stay up late, but this place has a sauna!
from Genoa i'm planning on train-ing to Cinque Terre (google it), where i will spend no more than three days. promise. after that, who knows? maybe home, maybe not. right now that thought excites me, in three days it'll probably terrify me.
as a test, hereäs what happens when i trz to tzpe without looking at the kezs.
the "z" and "y" are switched, the @ is on the Q, the ? is on the number row at the top, cats and dogs living together, mass hysteria!
mental note: i really need to stop putting in my mouth things which are not meant for my mouth. today's item: a 2 Euro coin. i'll add to this list as i go.
oh, food! for lunch i had *shudder* Burger King. it was literally the cheapest meal in the Amsterdam airport. (that place is expensive! €5 for a freakin' sammich!) i prayed for forgiveness from the Travelling Gods, for the crap 'merican meal.
dinner, which i just had, was... pasta with some kind of chicken sauce, grilled bell peppers, potatoes prepared in some way, and i think it was some kind of gumbo but i'm not sure. related note: i still don't like potato salad, even in Germany.
more people are being bussed in by the minute. i'm expecting that little girl who glared at me in the airport any minute now.
so, the moral of the story: fly Lufthansia if you're flexible on dates and like free hotels. don't fly them if you need to be somewhere at a specific time. but whatever happens, enjoy!
Sunday, July 11, 2010
i've been in this city too long.
i'm leaving tomorrow, and it's not too soon.
currently aiming for Italy, the Cinque Terre. just need to find the cheapest flight and hostel, and i'll book it. also, having my credit card on me would be mighty helpful.
i heard my last name pronounced perfectly yesterday, by a woman who spoke broken english. it was weird, but kinda cool.
also in the weird but cool category: my hostel room has a tv and it's usually on. i was lying about yesterday and i swear i heard "Most Awesome ekta alba inte Ever!". the bilingual thing is kinda weird. but cool.
right. my plans for the rest of the day, in roughly chronological order: food, book flight and hostel, read about Italy, hopefully learn some Italian, bed. notice only one "food"? yeah, me too.
sorry this one's short and not very amusing. ill try to have a better one for you next time.
currently aiming for Italy, the Cinque Terre. just need to find the cheapest flight and hostel, and i'll book it. also, having my credit card on me would be mighty helpful.
i heard my last name pronounced perfectly yesterday, by a woman who spoke broken english. it was weird, but kinda cool.
also in the weird but cool category: my hostel room has a tv and it's usually on. i was lying about yesterday and i swear i heard "Most Awesome ekta alba inte Ever!". the bilingual thing is kinda weird. but cool.
right. my plans for the rest of the day, in roughly chronological order: food, book flight and hostel, read about Italy, hopefully learn some Italian, bed. notice only one "food"? yeah, me too.
sorry this one's short and not very amusing. ill try to have a better one for you next time.
Friday, July 9, 2010
Laundry Day 3: Dream Warriors
next time i go travelling, i'm gonna learn or write a bunch of songs on guitar so i can keep up with the stoned hippies.
hello all! today is laundry day, so it's sort of like my day off. which is nice. i'm doing nothing but this, seeing nothing interesting, not getting pelted by rocks or roses thrown by locals, just a lazy day.
Wednesday: did nothing interesting, really. wandered around the city, saw a park. there is nothing free in this city except oxygen and heat. so i got a lot of both.
Thursday: saw Anne Frank's house. worry not: my cold, dead heart felt nothing, admitted nothing. but i did have a bit of something in my eye towards the end. they don't allow cameras in AnneFrankHuis, so there are no photos. i actually skipped out of the tour after Anne Frank died. everything after that was sentimental crap about how parent's rarely know their children's true feelings and thoughts, and how through awareness we can prevent Nazis from returning without becoming Nazis ourselves, and won't you please give generously to the Anne Frank Foundation? and then there's the gift shop. bleh.
Thursday night: went to a coffeeshop that's apparently sort of famous, i guess. i had a hot chocolate and a bag of chips. talked for a little bit to some Spaniards, but they had the worst english of anyone i've met here so far, and that was boring. met some British girls and was unable to get a word in edgewise for a while. then i wandered the Red Light District. i availed myself of no one's services. but it was an interesting sight. i was actually looking for some place called The Grasshopper, but i didn't find it until after i'd given up looking. i bought some generic but sufficiently spicy pseudo-chinese food and was looking for my bus-stop when i happened upon it. may go back tonight, but more likely it'll be tomorrow.
i then walked into a circle of hippies/gypsies/homeless kids/travellers/whatever, sitting around smoking and playing guitars. so i sat and sang a bit and played Karma Police and that was okay. it was 2am when i got to Centraal Station (not a typo) for my bus, so it was 3am by the time i got to my hostel. i missed breakfast this morning, so the leftover chinese-ish food in my bag is totally calling my name.
i think that's mostly it, really. running out of money (send money). job-hunting time or tuck-tail-and-return-to-the-US time coming soon. it's too early to come back, so i'm gonna push my luck a bit, i think. (send luck) oh, if anybody has any friends or family in Europe who might be able to help me out, don't hesitate to let me know!
alright, i'm gonna sit under this desk and eat and cry for a bit. have a good day, thanks for stopping by!
hello all! today is laundry day, so it's sort of like my day off. which is nice. i'm doing nothing but this, seeing nothing interesting, not getting pelted by rocks or roses thrown by locals, just a lazy day.
Wednesday: did nothing interesting, really. wandered around the city, saw a park. there is nothing free in this city except oxygen and heat. so i got a lot of both.
Thursday: saw Anne Frank's house. worry not: my cold, dead heart felt nothing, admitted nothing. but i did have a bit of something in my eye towards the end. they don't allow cameras in AnneFrankHuis, so there are no photos. i actually skipped out of the tour after Anne Frank died. everything after that was sentimental crap about how parent's rarely know their children's true feelings and thoughts, and how through awareness we can prevent Nazis from returning without becoming Nazis ourselves, and won't you please give generously to the Anne Frank Foundation? and then there's the gift shop. bleh.
Thursday night: went to a coffeeshop that's apparently sort of famous, i guess. i had a hot chocolate and a bag of chips. talked for a little bit to some Spaniards, but they had the worst english of anyone i've met here so far, and that was boring. met some British girls and was unable to get a word in edgewise for a while. then i wandered the Red Light District. i availed myself of no one's services. but it was an interesting sight. i was actually looking for some place called The Grasshopper, but i didn't find it until after i'd given up looking. i bought some generic but sufficiently spicy pseudo-chinese food and was looking for my bus-stop when i happened upon it. may go back tonight, but more likely it'll be tomorrow.
i then walked into a circle of hippies/gypsies/homeless kids/travellers/whatever, sitting around smoking and playing guitars. so i sat and sang a bit and played Karma Police and that was okay. it was 2am when i got to Centraal Station (not a typo) for my bus, so it was 3am by the time i got to my hostel. i missed breakfast this morning, so the leftover chinese-ish food in my bag is totally calling my name.
i think that's mostly it, really. running out of money (send money). job-hunting time or tuck-tail-and-return-to-the-US time coming soon. it's too early to come back, so i'm gonna push my luck a bit, i think. (send luck) oh, if anybody has any friends or family in Europe who might be able to help me out, don't hesitate to let me know!
alright, i'm gonna sit under this desk and eat and cry for a bit. have a good day, thanks for stopping by!
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
i'm thinking of a Ray Charles song...
Greetings from Amsterdam!
the library here is absolutely amazing! 8 stories, Space Chairs!, restaurant at the top, it's great. i could spend all day in here, if i never got hungry.
the time is now 1pm, so good morning to most of you, and good day to the rest.
got in to Amsterdam from Luton airport at around 9pm. due to "machine failure", we were sent from Baggage Belt 21 (remember that, it's important later) to Baggage Belt 13. we then waited for no less than 2 hours for our luggage to arrive. at several points during that time i honestly wondered if i'd ever see my luggage again, maybe my luggage caught fire, or maybe my bag broke the Baggage Belt? eventually i wandered back to Baggage Belt 21 to find that all our luggage had been waiting here for us this whole time! sneaky airline, delivering baggage where they said they would! i then spent maybe half an hour trying to remember enough faces to tell as many people as i could that their bags were at Belt 21. most didn't believe me, and as far as i know they are still waiting at Baggage Belt 13.
anyway. from the airport i got on a train to Sloterdijk, then caught the number 14 bus to 'Plein 40-45. my hostel is right beside the stop, so that was easy. ta-da!
yesterday i met and spent the day with a German named Katja. we mostly just wandered around a bit lost. not much to speak of, really. went to bed early.
today: will be mostly spent wandering around as well. going to the Anne Frank House later, and i have a postcard to send, as soon as i find a post office. i still also have to buy myself a souvenir. (no, that's not a codeword)
it's an odd feeling, beng surrounded by people who speak a different language. although i was very amused when i went into a Burger King yesterday and realized i understood almost every word spoken at the register. not that i picked up any restaurant dutch, but that it was all broken english. "whopper, supersize, coke." "ketchup, mayo, extra?" so at least i know i'll be able to survive myself on fast food. unless i'm not able to survive on fast food, that is.
one little note: this computer is convinced i'm misspelling every second word. it amuses me.
well, that's it for today. i'm off like a prom dress!
the library here is absolutely amazing! 8 stories, Space Chairs!, restaurant at the top, it's great. i could spend all day in here, if i never got hungry.
the time is now 1pm, so good morning to most of you, and good day to the rest.
got in to Amsterdam from Luton airport at around 9pm. due to "machine failure", we were sent from Baggage Belt 21 (remember that, it's important later) to Baggage Belt 13. we then waited for no less than 2 hours for our luggage to arrive. at several points during that time i honestly wondered if i'd ever see my luggage again, maybe my luggage caught fire, or maybe my bag broke the Baggage Belt? eventually i wandered back to Baggage Belt 21 to find that all our luggage had been waiting here for us this whole time! sneaky airline, delivering baggage where they said they would! i then spent maybe half an hour trying to remember enough faces to tell as many people as i could that their bags were at Belt 21. most didn't believe me, and as far as i know they are still waiting at Baggage Belt 13.
anyway. from the airport i got on a train to Sloterdijk, then caught the number 14 bus to 'Plein 40-45. my hostel is right beside the stop, so that was easy. ta-da!
yesterday i met and spent the day with a German named Katja. we mostly just wandered around a bit lost. not much to speak of, really. went to bed early.
today: will be mostly spent wandering around as well. going to the Anne Frank House later, and i have a postcard to send, as soon as i find a post office. i still also have to buy myself a souvenir. (no, that's not a codeword)
it's an odd feeling, beng surrounded by people who speak a different language. although i was very amused when i went into a Burger King yesterday and realized i understood almost every word spoken at the register. not that i picked up any restaurant dutch, but that it was all broken english. "whopper, supersize, coke." "ketchup, mayo, extra?" so at least i know i'll be able to survive myself on fast food. unless i'm not able to survive on fast food, that is.
one little note: this computer is convinced i'm misspelling every second word. it amuses me.
well, that's it for today. i'm off like a prom dress!
Sunday, July 4, 2010
hello! since im travelling all day tomorrow, i figured i'd update now, let you all know what's going on. although updating by phone was probably a horrible idea.
today i did naught but book flight and hostel for Amsterdam. it was a great day.
tomorrow i spend most of the day in London, flight is at 7pm. might try to find a barber to trim the back of my head. dunno.
if you haven't heard from me by Wednesday, i'm either dead or in a coffee shop somewhere. cheers!
today i did naught but book flight and hostel for Amsterdam. it was a great day.
tomorrow i spend most of the day in London, flight is at 7pm. might try to find a barber to trim the back of my head. dunno.
if you haven't heard from me by Wednesday, i'm either dead or in a coffee shop somewhere. cheers!
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Hello and welcome, race fans!
how was that? pretty good opener, eh? i thought of it all on my own! *beams with pride*
right. so today i walked along The Ridgeway (google it), from Ogbourne St. George (google it) to Avebury (don't google it, i'll explain in a bit.) took me three hours, call it 9 to 10 miles. beautiful scenery, lots of animal droppings. The Ridgeway, i mean. Avebury is the next paragraph. apparently The Ridgeway is some ancient footpath leading (presumably) to Avebury. what i've heard is that it's not so much a trade route as it is just a path to the stone circle. creepy, ooooooooooooooooh!
Avebury: a tiny village town built around/beside standing stones, much like Stonehenge but smaller and you can touch them. equally mysterious, though. terribly mysterious. and i hear they can cut guns in half! with their mind! ...wait, got distracted there. anyway. i touched many stones, but alas, i didn't develop super powers, nor did i meet any witches, Sorceror's Supreme, ancient forbidden gods, nor (and this is the most disappointing) any Doctors. oh well.
while in Avebury i ate at the only restaurant in town, a pub called The Red Lion. decent place, i suppose. good food, cold beer, it hits all the selling points. i ate some sork sausage thing with mashed potatoes and "root vegetable crisps" in red onion gravy. it was nice. then i walked to the store, bought a take-away sandwich and a bag of crisps. went back to The Red Lion, had a last beer and filled my water bottle (with water, duh) and was on my way.
on the way back to Ogbourne St. George i saw many sheep. some had numbers spray painted on their sides, so i can only assume they're racing sheep. so when next i see Nicola or Chris i'm going to ask when and where the Sheep Races are held, and i'm gonna see if i can't win some money. also: the movies lied to us. i tried the "Bah Ram Ewe" thing from Babe: didn't work. at all. not even a little. i even tried saying to the sheep "Bah Weep Grah Nah Weep Ninnibong", but i guess Big Red gum doesn't work as well as Energon Cubes, for this too was denied. alas and alack.
the trek back took me about 4 hours, the extra hour due to having to walk through Ogbourne St. George (google it again, i know you've forgotten). when i got back to the house where i'm staying, the 8 year old asked me what i'm doing tomorrow. i looked at my feet and said "hopefully, nothing." actually, at this point i sort of hope i never walk again. some aloe for my neck would be nice, though. (send aloe) as for my actual plans for tomorrow: dunno. i think i heard something about church in the morning, but i dunno. and i still have to plan where i'm going next and how i'm getting there. i guess i have a full day of sitting on my arse tomorrow, better get plenty of rest!
i dunno. how'd i do guys? informative and entertaining enough for you? leave your feedback in the comments section!
how was that? pretty good opener, eh? i thought of it all on my own! *beams with pride*
right. so today i walked along The Ridgeway (google it), from Ogbourne St. George (google it) to Avebury (don't google it, i'll explain in a bit.) took me three hours, call it 9 to 10 miles. beautiful scenery, lots of animal droppings. The Ridgeway, i mean. Avebury is the next paragraph. apparently The Ridgeway is some ancient footpath leading (presumably) to Avebury. what i've heard is that it's not so much a trade route as it is just a path to the stone circle. creepy, ooooooooooooooooh!
Avebury: a tiny village town built around/beside standing stones, much like Stonehenge but smaller and you can touch them. equally mysterious, though. terribly mysterious. and i hear they can cut guns in half! with their mind! ...wait, got distracted there. anyway. i touched many stones, but alas, i didn't develop super powers, nor did i meet any witches, Sorceror's Supreme, ancient forbidden gods, nor (and this is the most disappointing) any Doctors. oh well.
while in Avebury i ate at the only restaurant in town, a pub called The Red Lion. decent place, i suppose. good food, cold beer, it hits all the selling points. i ate some sork sausage thing with mashed potatoes and "root vegetable crisps" in red onion gravy. it was nice. then i walked to the store, bought a take-away sandwich and a bag of crisps. went back to The Red Lion, had a last beer and filled my water bottle (with water, duh) and was on my way.
on the way back to Ogbourne St. George i saw many sheep. some had numbers spray painted on their sides, so i can only assume they're racing sheep. so when next i see Nicola or Chris i'm going to ask when and where the Sheep Races are held, and i'm gonna see if i can't win some money. also: the movies lied to us. i tried the "Bah Ram Ewe" thing from Babe: didn't work. at all. not even a little. i even tried saying to the sheep "Bah Weep Grah Nah Weep Ninnibong", but i guess Big Red gum doesn't work as well as Energon Cubes, for this too was denied. alas and alack.
the trek back took me about 4 hours, the extra hour due to having to walk through Ogbourne St. George (google it again, i know you've forgotten). when i got back to the house where i'm staying, the 8 year old asked me what i'm doing tomorrow. i looked at my feet and said "hopefully, nothing." actually, at this point i sort of hope i never walk again. some aloe for my neck would be nice, though. (send aloe) as for my actual plans for tomorrow: dunno. i think i heard something about church in the morning, but i dunno. and i still have to plan where i'm going next and how i'm getting there. i guess i have a full day of sitting on my arse tomorrow, better get plenty of rest!
i dunno. how'd i do guys? informative and entertaining enough for you? leave your feedback in the comments section!
Friday, July 2, 2010
Day... eh, forget it.
Greetings, my spazmodic squirrels of love!
i've got at least two days worth of happenings for you! but first, i have to go to the bathroom.
there. much better. so, where were we? oh yes! hi, i'm in Ogbourne St. George today. google it. i'm staying with Mel's sister for the weekend, because she's not far from Avebury. on Monday i'm pretty sure i'm off to Amsterdam! wheee!!
let's see... what did i do yesterday and today? well... not much, really. oh wait! i did laundry yesterday. and played Neil's guitar, so that was good. man, this is a really boring one. maybe you should just come back tomorrow, hopefully it'll be interesting.
oh wait! there were a few things today that i thought were interesting. like the creepy leering guy with a button-down shirt just barely buttoned and one nipple showing, he was following some young girl, completely obviously leering and i think he might've been talking to himself. he was fun.
also, last night i went out and drank and did karaoke and drank and danced and got lost on the way home and it was a dumb idea to begin with. luckily this morning i managed to sweat out my hangover, by running from Mel's to the bus stop and just barely making it on time. also had to run to the travel agency's office and plead with them to print out another copy of my bus pass since i stupidly left mine at Mel's and left the key inside. whoever that lady who helped me, she's awesome.
before the drinking and karaoke and getting lost, i wandered down to the beach in search of The Best Fish N Chips In Brighton. i was directed to this place called The Regency. i had a choice of cod, plaice or haddock. i chose plaice randomly. it was great. although ordering fish'n'chips at the Regency is a bit like going to a foreign restaurant and ordering the most americanized meal you can, a bit "why are you bothering me with this? there's a McDonald's down the street" sort of thing. not their fault, i just felt a bit that way. anyway.
today was my second, third and fourth bus rides in England. the third was finally the sort of experience that people in the US seem to fear public transport being. loud kids, annoying passengers, the air is full of the scent of sickly sweet feces. it was great.
the fourth bus was my first city bus in the UK. all previous busses took me from city to city, but this one was just inside the township. it was okay. except for when i didn't know where my stop was and the driver neglected to let me know and i had to wait until someone else wanted on to figure out i'd missed it and i started the 3 or so mile walk back to the last bus stop but i wasn't sure where it was buti was sure i was going in the right direction so Nicola had to come pick me up. except for that, it was a decent bus ride. i dunno.
got to Nicola's, she made me pasta, then after the game Chris, Nicola's husband, took me to get some curry. we drove in to town, ordered the curry, then nipped off to a pub to pass the time. we were late picking up the curry. then back to Nicola's, and eating curry in front of the TV and now this. ta-da!
be sure to join us again tomorrow, same Bat-time, same Bat-channel!
i've got at least two days worth of happenings for you! but first, i have to go to the bathroom.
there. much better. so, where were we? oh yes! hi, i'm in Ogbourne St. George today. google it. i'm staying with Mel's sister for the weekend, because she's not far from Avebury. on Monday i'm pretty sure i'm off to Amsterdam! wheee!!
let's see... what did i do yesterday and today? well... not much, really. oh wait! i did laundry yesterday. and played Neil's guitar, so that was good. man, this is a really boring one. maybe you should just come back tomorrow, hopefully it'll be interesting.
oh wait! there were a few things today that i thought were interesting. like the creepy leering guy with a button-down shirt just barely buttoned and one nipple showing, he was following some young girl, completely obviously leering and i think he might've been talking to himself. he was fun.
also, last night i went out and drank and did karaoke and drank and danced and got lost on the way home and it was a dumb idea to begin with. luckily this morning i managed to sweat out my hangover, by running from Mel's to the bus stop and just barely making it on time. also had to run to the travel agency's office and plead with them to print out another copy of my bus pass since i stupidly left mine at Mel's and left the key inside. whoever that lady who helped me, she's awesome.
before the drinking and karaoke and getting lost, i wandered down to the beach in search of The Best Fish N Chips In Brighton. i was directed to this place called The Regency. i had a choice of cod, plaice or haddock. i chose plaice randomly. it was great. although ordering fish'n'chips at the Regency is a bit like going to a foreign restaurant and ordering the most americanized meal you can, a bit "why are you bothering me with this? there's a McDonald's down the street" sort of thing. not their fault, i just felt a bit that way. anyway.
today was my second, third and fourth bus rides in England. the third was finally the sort of experience that people in the US seem to fear public transport being. loud kids, annoying passengers, the air is full of the scent of sickly sweet feces. it was great.
the fourth bus was my first city bus in the UK. all previous busses took me from city to city, but this one was just inside the township. it was okay. except for when i didn't know where my stop was and the driver neglected to let me know and i had to wait until someone else wanted on to figure out i'd missed it and i started the 3 or so mile walk back to the last bus stop but i wasn't sure where it was buti was sure i was going in the right direction so Nicola had to come pick me up. except for that, it was a decent bus ride. i dunno.
got to Nicola's, she made me pasta, then after the game Chris, Nicola's husband, took me to get some curry. we drove in to town, ordered the curry, then nipped off to a pub to pass the time. we were late picking up the curry. then back to Nicola's, and eating curry in front of the TV and now this. ta-da!
be sure to join us again tomorrow, same Bat-time, same Bat-channel!
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
"Golf is a good walk spoiled"
right. i noticed i didn't post yesterday, so i'll have to post twice as hard today. here we go!
yesterday: i walked in to Brighton proper from Mel & Neils, had some chips (french fries), and walked back. stopped at a few shops on the way down, got a bit lost on the way back. not too much worth mentioning, actually. found a few places i'd been passively looking for, and walked through a few other shops that were decent. yeah.
sorry, just watched the "Sweet Child O' Mine" bit at Glastonbury this year. not bad.
today: i took the train to Glynde (google it), then walked the absolutely amazing, pastoral pseudo-trail to Lewes. the views were amazing, i can't possibly explain it, you'll just have to go yourself. or view my pictures and pretend. either way. oh, i saw sheep! and sheep shit. and only one other person on the entire 3 mile, 2 or so hour walk. beautiful weather, my knee started to hurt a bit towards the end, and at one point i distinctly remember thinking "do sheep eat people? i hope not. i'd like my body to be identifiable if/when i die." there was a bit where a ram followed me to the gate, and i'm not sure if he was keeping me safe or making sure i left. it was fun. so much fun.
at the end of the walk was, unfortunately, a golf course. thus the Mark Twain quote above. Lewes was nice, though. it's the home of a brewery, so of course i tried to tour it (hoping for the free beer at the end). turns out there's a two-year waiting list to tour it. bugger. so i bought a sampler of beers, which i shared with Neil, and it's okay. i may go back tomorrow, apparently there's some sort of occult bookstore with a weird vibe and creepy witch-types for customers. should be good.
god, i could fall asleep on the couch here with the TV on.
i had at least a half-pint of local beer at every pub i passed, just because i couldn't get in to the tour. yeah, me drinking more. that'll teach 'em. sure.
when i got back to Mel's, the kids had eaten and Mel had taken a nap, so the eldest and i started planning a meal of pasta for me, when Mel awoke and came in to take over. she added bacon and prawns and spinach and roma tomatoes and it was freakin' delicious. i could stay here forever, i swear. probably best i don't, though.
on a serious note, this family has a dynamic i've not seen in a long time, if ever. it feels natural, it's amusing, it's welcoming. i'm gonna talk about something else now.
hey, how 'bout that weather, eh?
no? huh. um... hey look over there! it's elvis! *runs away*
yesterday: i walked in to Brighton proper from Mel & Neils, had some chips (french fries), and walked back. stopped at a few shops on the way down, got a bit lost on the way back. not too much worth mentioning, actually. found a few places i'd been passively looking for, and walked through a few other shops that were decent. yeah.
sorry, just watched the "Sweet Child O' Mine" bit at Glastonbury this year. not bad.
today: i took the train to Glynde (google it), then walked the absolutely amazing, pastoral pseudo-trail to Lewes. the views were amazing, i can't possibly explain it, you'll just have to go yourself. or view my pictures and pretend. either way. oh, i saw sheep! and sheep shit. and only one other person on the entire 3 mile, 2 or so hour walk. beautiful weather, my knee started to hurt a bit towards the end, and at one point i distinctly remember thinking "do sheep eat people? i hope not. i'd like my body to be identifiable if/when i die." there was a bit where a ram followed me to the gate, and i'm not sure if he was keeping me safe or making sure i left. it was fun. so much fun.
at the end of the walk was, unfortunately, a golf course. thus the Mark Twain quote above. Lewes was nice, though. it's the home of a brewery, so of course i tried to tour it (hoping for the free beer at the end). turns out there's a two-year waiting list to tour it. bugger. so i bought a sampler of beers, which i shared with Neil, and it's okay. i may go back tomorrow, apparently there's some sort of occult bookstore with a weird vibe and creepy witch-types for customers. should be good.
god, i could fall asleep on the couch here with the TV on.
i had at least a half-pint of local beer at every pub i passed, just because i couldn't get in to the tour. yeah, me drinking more. that'll teach 'em. sure.
when i got back to Mel's, the kids had eaten and Mel had taken a nap, so the eldest and i started planning a meal of pasta for me, when Mel awoke and came in to take over. she added bacon and prawns and spinach and roma tomatoes and it was freakin' delicious. i could stay here forever, i swear. probably best i don't, though.
on a serious note, this family has a dynamic i've not seen in a long time, if ever. it feels natural, it's amusing, it's welcoming. i'm gonna talk about something else now.
hey, how 'bout that weather, eh?
no? huh. um... hey look over there! it's elvis! *runs away*
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Day I Forget What Number
currently watching the Buffy The Vampire Slayer movie while i type this and chat with my parents. i quoted this movie earlier and was me with blank stares. alas.
today was a very quiet sort of day. had a bacon roll for breakfast, steak and pork for lunch, then pork and chicken and salad and corn for dinner. Mel and Neil have fed me very very well.
Mel and Neil have three kids, ages 8 1/2 to "15 1/2" (that's what Mel told me), and today the youngest got a bit itchy to go out. so it was decided to go to the beach during the England match. the older two declined, their loss.
the beaches here aren't like most beaches you know. instead of sand they have pebbles and rocks, they call them "shingles". cons: it's not as comfortable to walk on. pros: you'll never eat a literal sandwich.
anyway. i didn't feel like swimming, so i wore a hooded long-sleeve shirt i bought in London, and my jeans. put the hood up and lay so there was no exposed skin on me. i must've looked odd, but i don't mind. i took a nap.
i never noticed how the vampires in this movie are almost black&white. interesting visual choice, that. and holy crap Ben Affleck!
after the beach, the youngest took me to the park near the house for a bit, then dinner. crossword and Strongbow and talk of, but no actual, Trivial Pursuit. since it's sunday all the kids have school tomorrow and that meant after-dinner conversation was concentrated on homework and exams. so i watched part of a movie while that got sorted.
i would've gone to bed a while ago, Mel and Neil did, but i wanted to talk to my parents. now i've done so and can think of nothing else worth saying, so i'm going to bed. setting an alarm and (hopefully) getting things done tomorrow. goodnight all!
today was a very quiet sort of day. had a bacon roll for breakfast, steak and pork for lunch, then pork and chicken and salad and corn for dinner. Mel and Neil have fed me very very well.
Mel and Neil have three kids, ages 8 1/2 to "15 1/2" (that's what Mel told me), and today the youngest got a bit itchy to go out. so it was decided to go to the beach during the England match. the older two declined, their loss.
the beaches here aren't like most beaches you know. instead of sand they have pebbles and rocks, they call them "shingles". cons: it's not as comfortable to walk on. pros: you'll never eat a literal sandwich.
anyway. i didn't feel like swimming, so i wore a hooded long-sleeve shirt i bought in London, and my jeans. put the hood up and lay so there was no exposed skin on me. i must've looked odd, but i don't mind. i took a nap.
i never noticed how the vampires in this movie are almost black&white. interesting visual choice, that. and holy crap Ben Affleck!
after the beach, the youngest took me to the park near the house for a bit, then dinner. crossword and Strongbow and talk of, but no actual, Trivial Pursuit. since it's sunday all the kids have school tomorrow and that meant after-dinner conversation was concentrated on homework and exams. so i watched part of a movie while that got sorted.
i would've gone to bed a while ago, Mel and Neil did, but i wanted to talk to my parents. now i've done so and can think of nothing else worth saying, so i'm going to bed. setting an alarm and (hopefully) getting things done tomorrow. goodnight all!
Friday, June 25, 2010
end of Day 7.
Neil, Mel's husband, is driving a toy radio-controlled car around the dining room table while i'm typing this, and Mel is on facebook. their 15 year-old-daughter is trying to get them to go to bed.
hi, i'm in Brighton. i've been welcomed with open arms, near as i can tell. Mel had Neil fire up the grill and i ate more tonight than i have all week. then we, the of-drinking-age adults, went down to the local pub and had grown-up conversations. now there's the remote controlled car and conversations about Michael Jackson and i'm drinking beer alternating with Black Currant tea. Mel is trying to explain chavs to me. (they're basically DudeBros, but they haven't discovered Icing yet.)
i'm having difficulty blogging and having a conversation at the same time.
can... can i have some rock'n'roll french fries? oh. oh. can you just call them that? call them rock'n'roll french fries?
spent the day walking around Brighton. oh wait, i didn't talk about last night. hold on a moment.
right. everyone else is gone to bed, now it's down to business. where was i? oh yeah.
last night: finally had fish and chips, although i've been told since that the place i went isn't very good, so perhaps i'll have to try again. i spent yesterday hanging out with two random Australian girls, friends, they didn't seem to mind my presence so much. we saw Kele Okereke of Bloc Party, who just put out a solo album, play live at some club called Digital. it was really good and something i'm pretty sure i would've never seen in America. i took a picture as proof, maybe i'll show it to you.
after Kele, the girls and i wandered a little more, then ended up back at the bar beneath the hostel. turns out Thursday night is karaoke night at the bar. it's a contest, winner gets a bottle of champagne. so of course i competed.
one of the Ozzie girls also competed. she's not a great singer, but she's animated and bubbly and kind of cute so she had quite a few fans. she and i both thought we were doing quite well in the contest, until Bilbo and Beth showed up. ringers. he did a Sinatra-esque croon, i can't remember the name, and she did Holding Out For a Hero. they shared the bottle. the karaoke host sort of realized i got robbed, i think, so he bought me a shot and wished me luck next time. then i went to bed. it was about 3am.
woke at about 6:30, but i and the other four people in the room, though all awake, pretended we were still sleeping, each afraid of being the one who officially wakes the others accidentally with a squeaky floorboard. we played that game until about 7/7:30, when a loud American moseyed in. i was ashamed for my country, he was talking loud, not showing an ounce of courtesy for the five apparently-sleeping people in the room. jerk.
then it was breakfast. then i checked my backpack in at the hostel and went to say hi to Mel. found her work, let her know what i look like, then spent the day seeing Brighton. felt a bit like my skin was going to catch fire, from the heat. tried to stay out of direct sunlight, not sure i succeeded. i saw the museum and the shopping mall, and i bought aftershave (my face kinda burns if i don't use it) and moisturizing lotion (my hands are dryer than a desert).
caught up with Mel at her work's closing time, she drove me to her home, and now you know the rest of the story. going to bed now, goodnight.
for the record: Flight of the Conchords - Most Beautiful Girl (In The Room), The Killers - Mr. Brightside, Placebo - Nancy Boy, Soft Cell - Tainted Love.
hi, i'm in Brighton. i've been welcomed with open arms, near as i can tell. Mel had Neil fire up the grill and i ate more tonight than i have all week. then we, the of-drinking-age adults, went down to the local pub and had grown-up conversations. now there's the remote controlled car and conversations about Michael Jackson and i'm drinking beer alternating with Black Currant tea. Mel is trying to explain chavs to me. (they're basically DudeBros, but they haven't discovered Icing yet.)
i'm having difficulty blogging and having a conversation at the same time.
can... can i have some rock'n'roll french fries? oh. oh. can you just call them that? call them rock'n'roll french fries?
spent the day walking around Brighton. oh wait, i didn't talk about last night. hold on a moment.
right. everyone else is gone to bed, now it's down to business. where was i? oh yeah.
last night: finally had fish and chips, although i've been told since that the place i went isn't very good, so perhaps i'll have to try again. i spent yesterday hanging out with two random Australian girls, friends, they didn't seem to mind my presence so much. we saw Kele Okereke of Bloc Party, who just put out a solo album, play live at some club called Digital. it was really good and something i'm pretty sure i would've never seen in America. i took a picture as proof, maybe i'll show it to you.
after Kele, the girls and i wandered a little more, then ended up back at the bar beneath the hostel. turns out Thursday night is karaoke night at the bar. it's a contest, winner gets a bottle of champagne. so of course i competed.
one of the Ozzie girls also competed. she's not a great singer, but she's animated and bubbly and kind of cute so she had quite a few fans. she and i both thought we were doing quite well in the contest, until Bilbo and Beth showed up. ringers. he did a Sinatra-esque croon, i can't remember the name, and she did Holding Out For a Hero. they shared the bottle. the karaoke host sort of realized i got robbed, i think, so he bought me a shot and wished me luck next time. then i went to bed. it was about 3am.
woke at about 6:30, but i and the other four people in the room, though all awake, pretended we were still sleeping, each afraid of being the one who officially wakes the others accidentally with a squeaky floorboard. we played that game until about 7/7:30, when a loud American moseyed in. i was ashamed for my country, he was talking loud, not showing an ounce of courtesy for the five apparently-sleeping people in the room. jerk.
then it was breakfast. then i checked my backpack in at the hostel and went to say hi to Mel. found her work, let her know what i look like, then spent the day seeing Brighton. felt a bit like my skin was going to catch fire, from the heat. tried to stay out of direct sunlight, not sure i succeeded. i saw the museum and the shopping mall, and i bought aftershave (my face kinda burns if i don't use it) and moisturizing lotion (my hands are dryer than a desert).
caught up with Mel at her work's closing time, she drove me to her home, and now you know the rest of the story. going to bed now, goodnight.
for the record: Flight of the Conchords - Most Beautiful Girl (In The Room), The Killers - Mr. Brightside, Placebo - Nancy Boy, Soft Cell - Tainted Love.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Day 6.
yes, this is, of course, hello. i thought about typing in all Bjork-ese, but decided against it. the "k" key sticks here and i hate that.
Karl was right. dammit.
finally had curry last night. i mention it because it seems to be the actual British pub food, not fish & chips or toad in the hole or spotted dick or blood pudding or whatever you think of when you think of British food. no, it's thai or chinese. odd. anyway. i had "jungle curry" and it was good. a mix between chinese food and soup, and rather spicy and the girl who cooked it at the pub said i have a nice smile. also i took photos of the pub where i had it, because it had great decoration.
the name of the place was "The Horse", and i've got a theory that it's a british pub version of american bars/clubs. unusual and ironic decor, blaring boots'n'pants music, yeah. but it was a good place.
i didn't realize how much i missed orange juice until i saw it listed on a menu sign and simply had to have it. it was better than i remember it, better than it had any right to be.
so, i'm in Brighton now. it's a seaside town, bit touristy but good. i did laundry today so i'm wearing clean but still wet jeans, and i feel great. rooming with and Australian girl, i've spent most of the day with her. i'm pretty sure she thinks i'm weird and creepy, but she's yet to mention it to me, so i continue haha.
oh, i'm paying for the internet here as well. £1 for 20 minutes. it's currently 7:44, 7:32, 7:26... (it takes time to type, yo.)
let's see... i caught myself getting maudlin today, so i listened to The Blood Brothers until it went away.
just put another pound in the machine, so i'm at 26:13, 26:07...
i still need to email Mel, let her know i'm in town. i'll do that after i finish this, yeah?
i'm suddenly not sure why i put more money in the computer. there's a beach just there, with a Fisherman's Wharf style pier, and several eateries where i can get fish & chips, so i'm very much a man with Things To Do.
24:28, 24:23, 24:16...
i failed to get back to Winchester Cathedral today, and i feel a bit bad about that, but i'll try to go back sometime. hopefully soon.
i'm not currently sure what else to say.
Karl was right. dammit.
finally had curry last night. i mention it because it seems to be the actual British pub food, not fish & chips or toad in the hole or spotted dick or blood pudding or whatever you think of when you think of British food. no, it's thai or chinese. odd. anyway. i had "jungle curry" and it was good. a mix between chinese food and soup, and rather spicy and the girl who cooked it at the pub said i have a nice smile. also i took photos of the pub where i had it, because it had great decoration.
the name of the place was "The Horse", and i've got a theory that it's a british pub version of american bars/clubs. unusual and ironic decor, blaring boots'n'pants music, yeah. but it was a good place.
i didn't realize how much i missed orange juice until i saw it listed on a menu sign and simply had to have it. it was better than i remember it, better than it had any right to be.
so, i'm in Brighton now. it's a seaside town, bit touristy but good. i did laundry today so i'm wearing clean but still wet jeans, and i feel great. rooming with and Australian girl, i've spent most of the day with her. i'm pretty sure she thinks i'm weird and creepy, but she's yet to mention it to me, so i continue haha.
oh, i'm paying for the internet here as well. £1 for 20 minutes. it's currently 7:44, 7:32, 7:26... (it takes time to type, yo.)
let's see... i caught myself getting maudlin today, so i listened to The Blood Brothers until it went away.
just put another pound in the machine, so i'm at 26:13, 26:07...
i still need to email Mel, let her know i'm in town. i'll do that after i finish this, yeah?
i'm suddenly not sure why i put more money in the computer. there's a beach just there, with a Fisherman's Wharf style pier, and several eateries where i can get fish & chips, so i'm very much a man with Things To Do.
24:28, 24:23, 24:16...
i failed to get back to Winchester Cathedral today, and i feel a bit bad about that, but i'll try to go back sometime. hopefully soon.
i'm not currently sure what else to say.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Day 5, i think.
hold on, let me check my notes.
yes. hello. i keep notes on my iphone, when something occurs to me or i see something interesting, that sort of thing. i then use those notes to compose what you're currently reading and what you will soon be done reading. anyway.
i've sort of run out of interesting things to see or do in London that aren't eye-gougingly expensive or stereotypically touristy. although i'm going to tour Westminster Cathedral tomorrow, so there's that. on the bright side i'm leaving the city on Friday. maybe tomorrow. going to Brighton for the weekend, should be nice. i'm pretty sure they have beaches so i may get lobstery red, and that'll look very odd on me. anyway.
i realized yesterday that i've taken quite a few pictures, but not one of them includes me. so i have actually no proof at all that i've been here. perhaps i'll risk getting my camera stolen and actually exist in a photo for once. dunno.
to everyone who talked me out of wearing my Cons in Europe: thank you so very very much. it still hurts a little to walk, from my "adventure" Monday night, but here's a story: i was riding the tube up to Camden yesterday, and this couple walks on. definitely backpacking around England, these two. he's wearing athletic shoes, Nikes or such, and she's wearing Cons. they get on the tube, sit down, and she immediately takes one of her shoes off to tend her many, many blisters. her feet were bandaged and simply existing was clearly painful to her. so again, everyone who poo-pooed the Cons, thank you.
back to the "tube to Camden" part of the story. went to Camden, met up with Peggy and Babs, friends of friends sort of thing. we went to a restaurant called The Ice Wharf. the place had a dinner special, Steak With A Drink, £6.59. (for those of you who want to know how much that is in "real money", it's about $9.75) so i had salmon, vegetables, chips (french fries), and a beer for dinner. i think it was a good decision.
after dinner we all had another beer, then went to this bar called The Fifty-Five. more expensive drinks, but a fun place. kind of dead, since it was Tuesday, but that's not unexpected. so it was okay. i had a margarita. well, it was trying very hard to be a margarita, but it couldn't quite get it right. it wasn't bad, but it wasn't a real margarita. anyway. tried chatting up the lady bartender, it didn't go well. she introduced me to her fat friend, which i took to be a sign. alas. moving on.
i caught the last tube back to the hostel at just midnight. whoever said London closes early was right. got back to the hostel, then stayed up until 3am talking to whoever was around. fellow hostelers, previous employees of the pub below the hostel, and i had a rather long and diverse conversation with Jose the barman. good times. i slept until noon. not so good times.
today so far: i tried to watch the American football match, at this place called Texas Embassy restaurant, but they were at capacity. Peggy invited me, i guess she thought i'd like to be reminded a bit of home or something. actually, i may go back to Texas Embassy for the food, just to see how authentic it is. as for the game, i heard US won. and that's okay.
after i got shut out of Texas Embassy, i decided to check out Westminster Cathedral. yes, i already said i'm going tomorrow, but bear with me. i went to Westminster, found everything closed except the gift shop. plus i didn't have my camera with me. so tomorrow i'm doing it right. i just need to find some virgins to sacrifice on the altar. that's what they do there, right? eh, bad joke. moving on.
so that's basically that. i'm going to Brighton tomorrow, i've got a hostel reservation for one night, then i'm staying with a friend of my mother's. should be interesting, and hopefully i'll have more internet access, so i can actually tweet and facebook and all that really important stuff that keeps me from living. hooray!
yes. hello. i keep notes on my iphone, when something occurs to me or i see something interesting, that sort of thing. i then use those notes to compose what you're currently reading and what you will soon be done reading. anyway.
i've sort of run out of interesting things to see or do in London that aren't eye-gougingly expensive or stereotypically touristy. although i'm going to tour Westminster Cathedral tomorrow, so there's that. on the bright side i'm leaving the city on Friday. maybe tomorrow. going to Brighton for the weekend, should be nice. i'm pretty sure they have beaches so i may get lobstery red, and that'll look very odd on me. anyway.
i realized yesterday that i've taken quite a few pictures, but not one of them includes me. so i have actually no proof at all that i've been here. perhaps i'll risk getting my camera stolen and actually exist in a photo for once. dunno.
to everyone who talked me out of wearing my Cons in Europe: thank you so very very much. it still hurts a little to walk, from my "adventure" Monday night, but here's a story: i was riding the tube up to Camden yesterday, and this couple walks on. definitely backpacking around England, these two. he's wearing athletic shoes, Nikes or such, and she's wearing Cons. they get on the tube, sit down, and she immediately takes one of her shoes off to tend her many, many blisters. her feet were bandaged and simply existing was clearly painful to her. so again, everyone who poo-pooed the Cons, thank you.
back to the "tube to Camden" part of the story. went to Camden, met up with Peggy and Babs, friends of friends sort of thing. we went to a restaurant called The Ice Wharf. the place had a dinner special, Steak With A Drink, £6.59. (for those of you who want to know how much that is in "real money", it's about $9.75) so i had salmon, vegetables, chips (french fries), and a beer for dinner. i think it was a good decision.
after dinner we all had another beer, then went to this bar called The Fifty-Five. more expensive drinks, but a fun place. kind of dead, since it was Tuesday, but that's not unexpected. so it was okay. i had a margarita. well, it was trying very hard to be a margarita, but it couldn't quite get it right. it wasn't bad, but it wasn't a real margarita. anyway. tried chatting up the lady bartender, it didn't go well. she introduced me to her fat friend, which i took to be a sign. alas. moving on.
i caught the last tube back to the hostel at just midnight. whoever said London closes early was right. got back to the hostel, then stayed up until 3am talking to whoever was around. fellow hostelers, previous employees of the pub below the hostel, and i had a rather long and diverse conversation with Jose the barman. good times. i slept until noon. not so good times.
today so far: i tried to watch the American football match, at this place called Texas Embassy restaurant, but they were at capacity. Peggy invited me, i guess she thought i'd like to be reminded a bit of home or something. actually, i may go back to Texas Embassy for the food, just to see how authentic it is. as for the game, i heard US won. and that's okay.
after i got shut out of Texas Embassy, i decided to check out Westminster Cathedral. yes, i already said i'm going tomorrow, but bear with me. i went to Westminster, found everything closed except the gift shop. plus i didn't have my camera with me. so tomorrow i'm doing it right. i just need to find some virgins to sacrifice on the altar. that's what they do there, right? eh, bad joke. moving on.
so that's basically that. i'm going to Brighton tomorrow, i've got a hostel reservation for one night, then i'm staying with a friend of my mother's. should be interesting, and hopefully i'll have more internet access, so i can actually tweet and facebook and all that really important stuff that keeps me from living. hooray!
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Day 4 already? really?
hello and welcome to another blog post thing. i'm your humble host, Jacob. let's get to it, shall we?
yesterday recap: there was a beautiful, absolutely perfect cloudless sky in the morning. but then later in the day the weather realized where it was and the clouds came back. can't have a cloudless London, after all.
i know what the sky looked like in the morning because yesterday i went out shopping with some of the other hostelers: two Latvian girls, about age 20. not a great choice, but i needed something to do. of course, since they're from Europe, we went to Abercrombie & Fitch. i abandoned them shortly after that. they're not talking to me anymore, i think.
a quick note here, i've had it written down for days, but just haven't posted it yet for reasons unknown. i never loved the Wolf Parade song "No More Dinnerbells" until i was on an airplane with it at 7:45a.m., unable to sleep.
i've been getting around London in kind of an odd manner, i haven't really been using a map. maps look like tourists. but i've got a little map of the tube system, and before i set out every day i make a mental note of where i want to go and where it is. so i get off at the correct tube stop, then sort of wander in what i think is the correct general direction of what i'm looking for. it means i'm walking more than i need to, but i'm seeing so much more than i would otherwise. especially when i walk in the wrong direction.
yesterday i ate at the Chinese place down the street again. i had "Kung Po Chilli Chicken", which actually was spicy. hooray. it was a good meal, but i'm not sure what it would be called on another menu, and that's okay. i honestly don't remember what else i ate yesterday. oh well.
i attempted to go out drinking last night. i've been told that Camden is a good place for it, so i went there. as usual, i'm pretty sure i went in the wrong direction for the bar/club i was looking for, and eventually settled on a random pub i passed. said pub happened to also be a hostel, so i ended up talking to a couple Australian guys about our various travel stories and why we were drinking what we were drinking.
the pub closed, so i headed down to another pub, and tried to convince the barmaid i'm unusual. she didn't buy it, so i finished my beer and left.
figured out at about that time that the tube stops running at around midnight, so i was in for a hell of a walk. more on that later, though.
started walking in what i hoped was the right direction for my hostel, passed an actual bar. stopped in, had some beers with the local kids. some random girl stole my hat, flirted hardcore with me, then made out with her boyfriend beside me. typical. i got my hat back, then stole away into the night.
now comes the very long walk. Google says it's about 4 miles, but google's a filthy liar. i stopped for directions several times. i figured i'd have a better chance of getting to the River Thames (the big frickin' river that runs through the heart of London.) so i asked which way to the River Thames instead of Lambeth North tube stop. what are the chances that someone who lives in London wouldn't know about the BIG F***ING RIVER THAT RUNS RIGHT THROUGH THE CITY?!? apparently pretty good. sorry, it's a bit of a sore spot with me. literally. it hurts to walk today. i got back to the hostel around 4am, and i assume i fell asleep, i honestly don't remember. woke up this morning and had to discover where i'd stored the stuff i kept in my pockets. ate two pieces of toast, drank a cup of instant coffee *shudder*, then went back to sleep. bleh.
so. now it's about 4:30pm, i'm just now leaving the hostel for the first time today, and i'm taking it very easy. i googled the place i'm going, took screenshots of the maps on my phone, and yeah. let's hope i don't screw this one up. i'm supposed to be meeting up with some friends of friends at 7, so i'm hopeful. and that's pretty much that. i've bought one more night at this hostel, which means i'm a free agent on Thursday morning. we'll see what happens.
one last thing: while i was walking last night, i ran across a guy who asked me for a cigarette. at least, i think that's what he asked for. he opened his mouth and spoke complete gibberish at me (not really complete. i'm pretty sure it was a really thick dialect. pretty sure.), and put two fingers to his lips in the near-universal sign for "hey man, got a cigarette i can have?". i said no, we kept walking. i chuckled a bit at our exchange.
oh, one more thing. i affected several British accents when talking to people last night, because i was a bit lost and freaking out and somehow thought i'd get more/better help if i didn't sound like an American. nobody said anything, so i assume i was convincing. but damn if i could keep an accent going for any real length of time. maybe they thought i was just nuts? dunno. oh well. ooh! time to eat!
yesterday recap: there was a beautiful, absolutely perfect cloudless sky in the morning. but then later in the day the weather realized where it was and the clouds came back. can't have a cloudless London, after all.
i know what the sky looked like in the morning because yesterday i went out shopping with some of the other hostelers: two Latvian girls, about age 20. not a great choice, but i needed something to do. of course, since they're from Europe, we went to Abercrombie & Fitch. i abandoned them shortly after that. they're not talking to me anymore, i think.
a quick note here, i've had it written down for days, but just haven't posted it yet for reasons unknown. i never loved the Wolf Parade song "No More Dinnerbells" until i was on an airplane with it at 7:45a.m., unable to sleep.
i've been getting around London in kind of an odd manner, i haven't really been using a map. maps look like tourists. but i've got a little map of the tube system, and before i set out every day i make a mental note of where i want to go and where it is. so i get off at the correct tube stop, then sort of wander in what i think is the correct general direction of what i'm looking for. it means i'm walking more than i need to, but i'm seeing so much more than i would otherwise. especially when i walk in the wrong direction.
yesterday i ate at the Chinese place down the street again. i had "Kung Po Chilli Chicken", which actually was spicy. hooray. it was a good meal, but i'm not sure what it would be called on another menu, and that's okay. i honestly don't remember what else i ate yesterday. oh well.
i attempted to go out drinking last night. i've been told that Camden is a good place for it, so i went there. as usual, i'm pretty sure i went in the wrong direction for the bar/club i was looking for, and eventually settled on a random pub i passed. said pub happened to also be a hostel, so i ended up talking to a couple Australian guys about our various travel stories and why we were drinking what we were drinking.
the pub closed, so i headed down to another pub, and tried to convince the barmaid i'm unusual. she didn't buy it, so i finished my beer and left.
figured out at about that time that the tube stops running at around midnight, so i was in for a hell of a walk. more on that later, though.
started walking in what i hoped was the right direction for my hostel, passed an actual bar. stopped in, had some beers with the local kids. some random girl stole my hat, flirted hardcore with me, then made out with her boyfriend beside me. typical. i got my hat back, then stole away into the night.
now comes the very long walk. Google says it's about 4 miles, but google's a filthy liar. i stopped for directions several times. i figured i'd have a better chance of getting to the River Thames (the big frickin' river that runs through the heart of London.) so i asked which way to the River Thames instead of Lambeth North tube stop. what are the chances that someone who lives in London wouldn't know about the BIG F***ING RIVER THAT RUNS RIGHT THROUGH THE CITY?!? apparently pretty good. sorry, it's a bit of a sore spot with me. literally. it hurts to walk today. i got back to the hostel around 4am, and i assume i fell asleep, i honestly don't remember. woke up this morning and had to discover where i'd stored the stuff i kept in my pockets. ate two pieces of toast, drank a cup of instant coffee *shudder*, then went back to sleep. bleh.
so. now it's about 4:30pm, i'm just now leaving the hostel for the first time today, and i'm taking it very easy. i googled the place i'm going, took screenshots of the maps on my phone, and yeah. let's hope i don't screw this one up. i'm supposed to be meeting up with some friends of friends at 7, so i'm hopeful. and that's pretty much that. i've bought one more night at this hostel, which means i'm a free agent on Thursday morning. we'll see what happens.
one last thing: while i was walking last night, i ran across a guy who asked me for a cigarette. at least, i think that's what he asked for. he opened his mouth and spoke complete gibberish at me (not really complete. i'm pretty sure it was a really thick dialect. pretty sure.), and put two fingers to his lips in the near-universal sign for "hey man, got a cigarette i can have?". i said no, we kept walking. i chuckled a bit at our exchange.
oh, one more thing. i affected several British accents when talking to people last night, because i was a bit lost and freaking out and somehow thought i'd get more/better help if i didn't sound like an American. nobody said anything, so i assume i was convincing. but damn if i could keep an accent going for any real length of time. maybe they thought i was just nuts? dunno. oh well. ooh! time to eat!
Monday, June 21, 2010
Day 3
so this post will be a combination of yesterday's events and todays so far. roughly chronologically.
yesterday: after i posted, i walked to a chinese food place down the street from this "internet cafe", and got the Chicken in Satay Sauce. it was supposed to be spicy, but i learned that "bland white person" spicy is not limited to America. while eating, i got a show: a protest parade thing. i don't know what it was about, but there were a lot of people marching down the street, all of them with white umbrellas. there was a drummer or drumbeat at the front, announcing the procession, and police with cones and tape at the beginning, end, and throughout to keep the peace. it was one of those moments where i would've said "god bless america", but somehow that didn't seem appropriate.
oh. somebody asked me about the food i'm eating while abroad. now, i'm not much of a foodie, i prefer to keep eating what i've previously enjoyed mostly. but, since i am in a different country, i've been trying a few different things. but only a few. the list: chicken in satay sauce, fish-fingers sandwich, prosciutto sandwich. pretty snazzy, huh? that's all i can remember right now, but it's about time to eat, so i'll probably have something for you tomorrow.
i had a beer yesterday with my fish-finger sammich. i mention this only because i'd heard and read about the Brits preferring warm or lukewarm beer. yeah, that's crap. or at least it was untrue about the beer i ordered at random yesterday. perhaps more "research" is in order haha.
someone else asked me what my travel plans are, so for those who i didn't tell, or who don't know have my facebook (hello random person!) or however it may have happened: i'm in London now. i have contacts in Brighton and Bristol, so i'll most likely visit them. after that i have intentions to visit Amsterdam and Italy, but no plans thus far. i'll keep going as long as i have money to keep going. (send money.)
i burned my tongue either yesterday or the day before. i'm not sure how i did it, but it's pissing me off.
one thing i noticed here is a scarcity of American chains. actually, that's how i can tell when i'm in or near an overpriced, touristy area: Starbucks and McDonalds. i've not eaten either, nor do i plan on eating at any establishment that i know i have access to in america. so there.
now that i'm officially here, i don't really want or need my man-purse. kinda sucks, because it was great for the flights, but now it's mostly just dead weight and take up space i could better utilize or, more ideally, not utilize at all. less weight is good weight.
my hostel smells a little like feet sometimes.
today was my "museum day". i saw The Tate Modern, The National Gallery, some other places, some bridges, and yeah. i was pretty bored with the museums, honestly. but i took pictures of the architecture and outsides of places, because that's neat. so, don't tell my parents i didn't like the museums, i'm just gonna pretend i saw and remember stuff there.
as for the photos i took and am taking, i've got a .Mac account i'm supposed to be pouring them into, but have no access to a mac, and trying to put photo programs on this piece of crap computer is most likely more trouble than it's worth. so we get to hope that either nothing bad happens to my camera until i get home, or i get to use a mac soon. (send a Mac.)
man, i really hope nobody i know wants a souvenir from my trips, because, we'll screw that. i'm kidding, of course. or am i?
yesterday: after i posted, i walked to a chinese food place down the street from this "internet cafe", and got the Chicken in Satay Sauce. it was supposed to be spicy, but i learned that "bland white person" spicy is not limited to America. while eating, i got a show: a protest parade thing. i don't know what it was about, but there were a lot of people marching down the street, all of them with white umbrellas. there was a drummer or drumbeat at the front, announcing the procession, and police with cones and tape at the beginning, end, and throughout to keep the peace. it was one of those moments where i would've said "god bless america", but somehow that didn't seem appropriate.
oh. somebody asked me about the food i'm eating while abroad. now, i'm not much of a foodie, i prefer to keep eating what i've previously enjoyed mostly. but, since i am in a different country, i've been trying a few different things. but only a few. the list: chicken in satay sauce, fish-fingers sandwich, prosciutto sandwich. pretty snazzy, huh? that's all i can remember right now, but it's about time to eat, so i'll probably have something for you tomorrow.
i had a beer yesterday with my fish-finger sammich. i mention this only because i'd heard and read about the Brits preferring warm or lukewarm beer. yeah, that's crap. or at least it was untrue about the beer i ordered at random yesterday. perhaps more "research" is in order haha.
someone else asked me what my travel plans are, so for those who i didn't tell, or who don't know have my facebook (hello random person!) or however it may have happened: i'm in London now. i have contacts in Brighton and Bristol, so i'll most likely visit them. after that i have intentions to visit Amsterdam and Italy, but no plans thus far. i'll keep going as long as i have money to keep going. (send money.)
i burned my tongue either yesterday or the day before. i'm not sure how i did it, but it's pissing me off.
one thing i noticed here is a scarcity of American chains. actually, that's how i can tell when i'm in or near an overpriced, touristy area: Starbucks and McDonalds. i've not eaten either, nor do i plan on eating at any establishment that i know i have access to in america. so there.
now that i'm officially here, i don't really want or need my man-purse. kinda sucks, because it was great for the flights, but now it's mostly just dead weight and take up space i could better utilize or, more ideally, not utilize at all. less weight is good weight.
my hostel smells a little like feet sometimes.
today was my "museum day". i saw The Tate Modern, The National Gallery, some other places, some bridges, and yeah. i was pretty bored with the museums, honestly. but i took pictures of the architecture and outsides of places, because that's neat. so, don't tell my parents i didn't like the museums, i'm just gonna pretend i saw and remember stuff there.
as for the photos i took and am taking, i've got a .Mac account i'm supposed to be pouring them into, but have no access to a mac, and trying to put photo programs on this piece of crap computer is most likely more trouble than it's worth. so we get to hope that either nothing bad happens to my camera until i get home, or i get to use a mac soon. (send a Mac.)
man, i really hope nobody i know wants a souvenir from my trips, because, we'll screw that. i'm kidding, of course. or am i?
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Day 2
i would've posted yesterday, but wireless networks are scarce on planes. landed in London, England almost three hours ago. rode the tube, switched tubes, checked in to my hostel. kind of a shady looking place, but i'm sure it'll be okay.
the trip over was mostly uneventful. spent way more time than i would've liked waiting for the next plane, except in Shannon, Ireland, where i and a few fellow passengers rushed from one plane to the next, lest we miss our flight. that was fun.#
my carry-on bag got searched in Shannon, too. cute, young security guard. so i did the last thing i should've done: joked and flirted. she played along and all was indeed groovy. the weird part of that is the couple getting their stuff next to me kept giving me looks like "shut up man! you'll ruin the plan!" and continued giving me those looks all through the plane ride.
bought a soup and a $10 beer at the New York airport. remind me to never do that again. it was good, but not worth it.
i'm tired, feel like i smell bad, and just want to rest and not have hat hair, but proper check-in time for the hostel isn't until 2, so i'm forced to find things to do until then. first: food. then: unknown.
i'm at a crappy "internet cafe", which means they charge by the hour so i can type on a Windows 98 machine or some such. i'm not even sure this computer is connected to the internet.
oh! i figured out, if i remember correctly, i can receive any and all texts for free, but not send them. sending is like, $0.50. so send me whatever you want, but don't necessarily expect a response. and twitter and facebook will likewise be sporadic. and now you know.
okay, i'm off like a prom dress! maybe i'll make some expensive calls to friends or friends of friends.
the trip over was mostly uneventful. spent way more time than i would've liked waiting for the next plane, except in Shannon, Ireland, where i and a few fellow passengers rushed from one plane to the next, lest we miss our flight. that was fun.#
my carry-on bag got searched in Shannon, too. cute, young security guard. so i did the last thing i should've done: joked and flirted. she played along and all was indeed groovy. the weird part of that is the couple getting their stuff next to me kept giving me looks like "shut up man! you'll ruin the plan!" and continued giving me those looks all through the plane ride.
bought a soup and a $10 beer at the New York airport. remind me to never do that again. it was good, but not worth it.
i'm tired, feel like i smell bad, and just want to rest and not have hat hair, but proper check-in time for the hostel isn't until 2, so i'm forced to find things to do until then. first: food. then: unknown.
i'm at a crappy "internet cafe", which means they charge by the hour so i can type on a Windows 98 machine or some such. i'm not even sure this computer is connected to the internet.
oh! i figured out, if i remember correctly, i can receive any and all texts for free, but not send them. sending is like, $0.50. so send me whatever you want, but don't necessarily expect a response. and twitter and facebook will likewise be sporadic. and now you know.
okay, i'm off like a prom dress! maybe i'll make some expensive calls to friends or friends of friends.
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