Europe trip, 2007
I am sitting in a hostel in Dusseldorf, Germany, killing time before going to sleep before waking up tomorrow at around 5am to go to the airport in Frankfurt, so I decided to write about my trip right now. It's been awesome.
LONDON: My trip started when two weeks ago, Saturday night, I flew into London to spend two nights at my friend Nikki's. She was one of my best friends when I lived in Bourges and I hadn't seen her in 3 years, so right off the bat it was so great just to see her. She has an incredible flat in Battersea which is a great, young area of London. I got in around noon on Sunday. We just hung out, talked, went to her friends' apt. to talk to other people (all British people are so witty and hilarious in my opinion, so just sitting and listening to a group of them talk back and forth was amusing). Day two I walked all around the city because Nikki had to work... I saw the same sites I had seen before and a whole new neighborhood never explored. London is such an amazing place and definitely somewhere I could see myself living someday, except for the expensiveness. Night two we got fish and chips for dinner, got a quick drink at a bar, and just talked for awhile to catch up more. Tuesday morning I left very early in the freezing rain for...
AVIGNON: In the summer of 2002 I lived for 6 weeks in a town in the south of France called Avignon, where I studied photography and written plays, and lived with a host mother named Marie, who is one of the best people I know. It was one of the best experiences of my life, so I try to get down there as often as I am in France to visit Marie and the town. She let me crash at her place for two nights, even though she currently is housing another student who is doing the same program I did! The student's name was Leigh and she was very nice as well. I hung out a lot with Marie and Leigh, went to see the old American University, ate at my favorite restaurant in town (Chinese.Thai.Vietnamese), and just generally was happy and relaxed.
Wednesday night I got to see two old friends. When I lived in Avignon, the last night I was there, I met a boy named Sebastien (Seb). We kept in contact over the years by email, and Ive seen him a few times since then (I always try to visit him and his girlfriend Beatrice when I pass by Avignon). Well, they are now engaged! Anyway, they invited Leigh and I over to their apartment for a delicious homecooked meal and great conversation. At this point, my french had already come back in droves, out of necessity, and it was great to practice and to catch up with two people who I consider to be some of the greatest, friendliest, and most fun to hang out with in the world. It did me a lot of good to see them and Marie and just Avignon. It's a shame I chose to leave after a short day and a half to go to...
BOURGES: Bourges. What can I say about Bourges? I think that after living there for 10 months, having come back and lived in New York for 2.5 years, I still have not made peace with that city. As the train approached the city from the South, I felt a chill come over my body. The weather seemed to abruptly turn grey and cold, as it had been for 7 of the 10 months I lived there. I could feel the dreariness of the center of France and the coldness from it's inhabitants. Even though I spent one of the most incredible years of my life there, I still had no desire to go back, except to visit one person, Mrs. Tran, a Vietnamese/French elementary school teacher I English assisted while teaching English there in 2003/2004. She was like my mom while I lived there, and maybe one of the few decent people I met in the town, besides my amazing assistant friends. It was so great to see her, and her husband and daughter Vivi and get to just relax with them and chat. I also got to watch some french TV which I miss a lot, specifically my favorite Spanish show, un dos tres, dubbed in French. Friday day I went into the center of Bourges for about an hour, just strolled around and saw my old stomping grounds... my old apartment with the huge green door on the main street, my old bakeries and fast food restaurants, the bars we used to go to, the place where I was spit on, my favorite clothing stores... it was interesting. I was glad to no longer be living there. The frustration of every day life there seeped back into my mind as memories from three years ago flooded into me and made me happy, then sad, then happy, then wanting to just leave it all behind again, just like I couldn't wait to do the first time. Friday night I spent with wonderful people, just reminiscing in a broken franglais (french and english) and prepared for my next stop...
PARIS: Saturday morning, I met up with Mary Kate and Melissa, who invited me on this trip in the first place, at a hotel in Paris. It was so great to see Mary Kate as she is an old college friend and a vet of being a server at Ivy's Grill in Gainesville, FL where we went to school. I knew Melissa a little bit because she was a hostess there for awhile that I worked there. We all spent an awesome three days and nights in Paris. I think we saw everything there is to see, and it was great for me to be there with people, as most of the time I have spent in Paris has been on my own. During the days we went to museums, walked around like crazy, ate our weight in pain au chocolats, crepes, steak/frites, salades poulet, and chocolate mousse... and cafes. We rode the metro everywhere. One time, there was a woman having a seizure on the train we were about to get on... it was a horrible sight, her laying on the floor bleeding from her face, and people running and screaming for doctors. As this tends to happen around me a lot (people getting hurt), I jumped into my usual useless Carin action mode, where I just run and try to find help. I ran up five flights of metro stairs like they were nothing, even though usually I can't make it up one step without panting, and tried to find someone... anyone on the street who might be able to help. Of course, I couldn't, and by the time I had asked someone how to dial the police, I was told that the paramedics had thankfully already arrived on the scene. The good end to that story is that she was ok and breathing when we left for our destination.
Paris was great. Paris is without a doubt my favorite city in the world and everytime I'm there I just feel happy and stress free. At night, we would go out to bars, usually near our hotel, but the last night we went to this awesome Australian bar in the Chatelet area and got pretty drunk off of free shots from the bartender and other various drinks. It was definitely a fun night and a great end to Paris, even though we had to wake up the next morning to go to...
AMSTERDAM: Oh, Amsterdam. What an incredible place. It was nothing like I expected, which I guess was a tiny, grassy knole with friendly people holding hands and being happy. Ok, it was kind of like that, only much larger and cooler. The city is beautiful and peaceful and full of canals. The people are tolerant, as they like to say a lot, and happy. People choose to live there, I think, and I can see why. Everything they do as a country makes sense to me. They are tolerant of everything, when someone wants someting, the government makes an effort to try to change it, and they do things like having employees on call at their minimum wage jobs until they are really needed. But let me first explain the hostel we stayed at, The Flying Pig, one of the craziest, coolest places I've ever seen in my entire life. You walk in to a billow of smoke wafting from the couches on the left, where stoned people are grazing and just hanging out, maybe beating some drums. In front of you is check in and the bar, a pool table, and dozens of kids just sitting around drinking and talking. There is an elevator and tons of floors of rooms, each with it's own bathroom and shower! (which is extremely rare for any hostel) This particular hostel is very popular and people come and stay there for long periods of time.
Our first day there we got in fairly late in the afternoon and just decided to go see the Anne Frank House first. It was incredible and very sad. You get to actually walk through the annex where the Franks lived in hiding and read a lot of information on their life there before and after. It's eerie and sad and informative, and very worth seeing. Afterwards, we ate a great thai dinner in the city and went back to the hostel where we just drank amd relaxed the rest of the night. The second day, we got an early start and went on a free walking tour, hosted by this hilarious kid from Canada who had been living there two years (who body pierces on the side). After that, to the Rijk and Van Gogh museums, each of which was interesting, and then a quick dinner and back to the hostel. We were all pretty beat at this point from either 1 or 1.5 weeks of travel, so we had an oddly early second night in Amsterdam. Our roomate was a very nice kid from Aruba who works in Amsterdam.
This morning, being Thursday, we woke up early and took yet another train into Dusseldorf, checked into the hostel, and spent the whole day walking around, trying to find whatever it is to do that people do here. Collectively, we only know about 5 words of German, so it's been interesting. Dusseldorf is pretty, but I wouldn't want to stay here for more than a day, which is perfect because tomorrow morning we are leaving before dawn for...
FRANKFURT AIRPORT, where we will catch our respective flights back to the states (me to JFK, Mary Kate to San Francisco, and Melissa to Tampa, FL). It's really been an incredible trip, getting to see so many old friends from my time spent here in Europe previously, and also getting to see a bunch of new things and see new places that I can't wait to go back to. I'm oddly not dreading work on Monday, and will have about 2 days to rest it out in my cozy apartment back in New York. I'm exhausted from dozens of train rides, bus rides, flights, and miles of walking with my gigantic backpack over the last 2 weeks and can't wait to just vegitate. Europe was awesome and did me a lot of good just to be there. I can't wait to go back. Maybe I won't wait 2.5 years this time...
LONDON: My trip started when two weeks ago, Saturday night, I flew into London to spend two nights at my friend Nikki's. She was one of my best friends when I lived in Bourges and I hadn't seen her in 3 years, so right off the bat it was so great just to see her. She has an incredible flat in Battersea which is a great, young area of London. I got in around noon on Sunday. We just hung out, talked, went to her friends' apt. to talk to other people (all British people are so witty and hilarious in my opinion, so just sitting and listening to a group of them talk back and forth was amusing). Day two I walked all around the city because Nikki had to work... I saw the same sites I had seen before and a whole new neighborhood never explored. London is such an amazing place and definitely somewhere I could see myself living someday, except for the expensiveness. Night two we got fish and chips for dinner, got a quick drink at a bar, and just talked for awhile to catch up more. Tuesday morning I left very early in the freezing rain for...
AVIGNON: In the summer of 2002 I lived for 6 weeks in a town in the south of France called Avignon, where I studied photography and written plays, and lived with a host mother named Marie, who is one of the best people I know. It was one of the best experiences of my life, so I try to get down there as often as I am in France to visit Marie and the town. She let me crash at her place for two nights, even though she currently is housing another student who is doing the same program I did! The student's name was Leigh and she was very nice as well. I hung out a lot with Marie and Leigh, went to see the old American University, ate at my favorite restaurant in town (Chinese.Thai.Vietnamese), and just generally was happy and relaxed.
Wednesday night I got to see two old friends. When I lived in Avignon, the last night I was there, I met a boy named Sebastien (Seb). We kept in contact over the years by email, and Ive seen him a few times since then (I always try to visit him and his girlfriend Beatrice when I pass by Avignon). Well, they are now engaged! Anyway, they invited Leigh and I over to their apartment for a delicious homecooked meal and great conversation. At this point, my french had already come back in droves, out of necessity, and it was great to practice and to catch up with two people who I consider to be some of the greatest, friendliest, and most fun to hang out with in the world. It did me a lot of good to see them and Marie and just Avignon. It's a shame I chose to leave after a short day and a half to go to...
BOURGES: Bourges. What can I say about Bourges? I think that after living there for 10 months, having come back and lived in New York for 2.5 years, I still have not made peace with that city. As the train approached the city from the South, I felt a chill come over my body. The weather seemed to abruptly turn grey and cold, as it had been for 7 of the 10 months I lived there. I could feel the dreariness of the center of France and the coldness from it's inhabitants. Even though I spent one of the most incredible years of my life there, I still had no desire to go back, except to visit one person, Mrs. Tran, a Vietnamese/French elementary school teacher I English assisted while teaching English there in 2003/2004. She was like my mom while I lived there, and maybe one of the few decent people I met in the town, besides my amazing assistant friends. It was so great to see her, and her husband and daughter Vivi and get to just relax with them and chat. I also got to watch some french TV which I miss a lot, specifically my favorite Spanish show, un dos tres, dubbed in French. Friday day I went into the center of Bourges for about an hour, just strolled around and saw my old stomping grounds... my old apartment with the huge green door on the main street, my old bakeries and fast food restaurants, the bars we used to go to, the place where I was spit on, my favorite clothing stores... it was interesting. I was glad to no longer be living there. The frustration of every day life there seeped back into my mind as memories from three years ago flooded into me and made me happy, then sad, then happy, then wanting to just leave it all behind again, just like I couldn't wait to do the first time. Friday night I spent with wonderful people, just reminiscing in a broken franglais (french and english) and prepared for my next stop...
PARIS: Saturday morning, I met up with Mary Kate and Melissa, who invited me on this trip in the first place, at a hotel in Paris. It was so great to see Mary Kate as she is an old college friend and a vet of being a server at Ivy's Grill in Gainesville, FL where we went to school. I knew Melissa a little bit because she was a hostess there for awhile that I worked there. We all spent an awesome three days and nights in Paris. I think we saw everything there is to see, and it was great for me to be there with people, as most of the time I have spent in Paris has been on my own. During the days we went to museums, walked around like crazy, ate our weight in pain au chocolats, crepes, steak/frites, salades poulet, and chocolate mousse... and cafes. We rode the metro everywhere. One time, there was a woman having a seizure on the train we were about to get on... it was a horrible sight, her laying on the floor bleeding from her face, and people running and screaming for doctors. As this tends to happen around me a lot (people getting hurt), I jumped into my usual useless Carin action mode, where I just run and try to find help. I ran up five flights of metro stairs like they were nothing, even though usually I can't make it up one step without panting, and tried to find someone... anyone on the street who might be able to help. Of course, I couldn't, and by the time I had asked someone how to dial the police, I was told that the paramedics had thankfully already arrived on the scene. The good end to that story is that she was ok and breathing when we left for our destination.
Paris was great. Paris is without a doubt my favorite city in the world and everytime I'm there I just feel happy and stress free. At night, we would go out to bars, usually near our hotel, but the last night we went to this awesome Australian bar in the Chatelet area and got pretty drunk off of free shots from the bartender and other various drinks. It was definitely a fun night and a great end to Paris, even though we had to wake up the next morning to go to...
AMSTERDAM: Oh, Amsterdam. What an incredible place. It was nothing like I expected, which I guess was a tiny, grassy knole with friendly people holding hands and being happy. Ok, it was kind of like that, only much larger and cooler. The city is beautiful and peaceful and full of canals. The people are tolerant, as they like to say a lot, and happy. People choose to live there, I think, and I can see why. Everything they do as a country makes sense to me. They are tolerant of everything, when someone wants someting, the government makes an effort to try to change it, and they do things like having employees on call at their minimum wage jobs until they are really needed. But let me first explain the hostel we stayed at, The Flying Pig, one of the craziest, coolest places I've ever seen in my entire life. You walk in to a billow of smoke wafting from the couches on the left, where stoned people are grazing and just hanging out, maybe beating some drums. In front of you is check in and the bar, a pool table, and dozens of kids just sitting around drinking and talking. There is an elevator and tons of floors of rooms, each with it's own bathroom and shower! (which is extremely rare for any hostel) This particular hostel is very popular and people come and stay there for long periods of time.
Our first day there we got in fairly late in the afternoon and just decided to go see the Anne Frank House first. It was incredible and very sad. You get to actually walk through the annex where the Franks lived in hiding and read a lot of information on their life there before and after. It's eerie and sad and informative, and very worth seeing. Afterwards, we ate a great thai dinner in the city and went back to the hostel where we just drank amd relaxed the rest of the night. The second day, we got an early start and went on a free walking tour, hosted by this hilarious kid from Canada who had been living there two years (who body pierces on the side). After that, to the Rijk and Van Gogh museums, each of which was interesting, and then a quick dinner and back to the hostel. We were all pretty beat at this point from either 1 or 1.5 weeks of travel, so we had an oddly early second night in Amsterdam. Our roomate was a very nice kid from Aruba who works in Amsterdam.
This morning, being Thursday, we woke up early and took yet another train into Dusseldorf, checked into the hostel, and spent the whole day walking around, trying to find whatever it is to do that people do here. Collectively, we only know about 5 words of German, so it's been interesting. Dusseldorf is pretty, but I wouldn't want to stay here for more than a day, which is perfect because tomorrow morning we are leaving before dawn for...
FRANKFURT AIRPORT, where we will catch our respective flights back to the states (me to JFK, Mary Kate to San Francisco, and Melissa to Tampa, FL). It's really been an incredible trip, getting to see so many old friends from my time spent here in Europe previously, and also getting to see a bunch of new things and see new places that I can't wait to go back to. I'm oddly not dreading work on Monday, and will have about 2 days to rest it out in my cozy apartment back in New York. I'm exhausted from dozens of train rides, bus rides, flights, and miles of walking with my gigantic backpack over the last 2 weeks and can't wait to just vegitate. Europe was awesome and did me a lot of good just to be there. I can't wait to go back. Maybe I won't wait 2.5 years this time...