Saturday, July 14, 2007

   One more beach and then location change . . .
It's the weekend, so I'm gonna add a little more to this post. I'll get to that later, though. First:

• Re: Canadian Footprint: During the Battle of Normandy in 1944, the easten end of Normandy was liberated by the British and the Canadians while the Americans swept the west (to make the story short). The battle for Caen was long and involved a joint British and Canadian force which eventually captured and liberated the city. Thus, there are many memorials, flags, and even street names that are in honour of the Canadians in Caen (as well as many other places, like Dieppe).
  
• Re: Pegasus Bridge Memorial: It's just a really, really well done museum there. It's right next to the actual bridge, is very well designed and displayed for its size . . . and in the outdoor area connected to it you can see and stand on the actual, original bridge they captured in 1944 (the current bridge is a larger replica so bigger ships can go under it). There is also a scale model of a military troop glider, among other things . . . so yeah, it's cool.
  
• Re: My horrible French: My French sucks. It was basically a step up from pointing and grunting. And yes, while pointing and grunting is still a means of communication, it ain't pretty.
  
• Re: "Green man says go!": It's possible my brother said it first, but for a lot of my time in Europe - especially once I was on my own in Normandy - it was something I was always muttering to myself when I waited at street corners. Y'know . . . walk / don't walk signs . . . so yeah, when the green man pops up, it means you can go . . . . . umm . . . that's about it, really.
  
• Re: Nasal voice: Yes. I was sick since Paris. Any time I mention coughing, it's because I was sick.
  
• Re: Asians: True, Vietnam was once a French colony . . . much as how many places were once British colonies. And yes, there is a large Indian population in London . . . but that's London. Similarly, you could probably find more asian people in Paris . . . . . not in small towns in Normandy, though. Very unlikely.
  

Alright, so today we shall go over my first day at Juno Beach (yes, first day), and then my first day moving my base of operations from Caen to Bayeux (further west, better for visiting the American landing beaches and stuff, among other things). After that, I'm gonna give another long report I wrote up while at Juno Beach . . . heh, I wrote another one a few days later, but until we get there . . .

Caen/Courseulles-Sur-Mer (June 3):

• Germans @ the castle, Japanese @ the bus station . . .
  
• . . . Canadians on the bus! I should say hello . . .
  
• But I'm finally going to Juno Beach!
  
• . . . and then 5000 motorcycles rode in front of us . . . . . the hell?
  
• Nevertheless, we arrived @ Canadian WW2 Geek Mecca . . . Centre Juno Beach.
  
• . . . Very, VERY compact w/ tons of stuff to read inside!
  
• . . . people DEFINITELY must come here!
  
• Juno Beach running tour along the beach . . .
  
• 101st Airborne Cosplayers . . . . . they were French!
  
• Ultimately . . . the beaches of Normandy today . . . are just beaches.
  
• Secret unlocket bunker home to frogs . . . bwahaha . . .
  
• Oh, and apparently Bush is gonna complicate my time in American zones . . .
  
• Back on the same exact bus! Haha!
  

Caen -> Bayeux (June 4):

• Running into a lot of English-speakers . . .
  
• Hotel room above a bar. Love it. Cheap as dirt.
  
• Bayeux Tapestry is cool.
  
• Battle of Normandy Museum? Also cool.
  
• I'm buying a lot of crap now . . . damn . . .
  
• Kebab is freakin' tasty . . .
  
• All in all, I kinda wish I was in Bayeux longer . . . great place.
  
• And guided Normandy tour tomorrow! Yeah!
  
• . . . and I'll probably miss the Omaha Museum. Crap!
  
• Spending money a lot more freely . . . huh . . .
  

Courseulles-Sur-Mer, Seawall (June 3):

It's an absolutely beautiful Sunday afternoon here! It does kinda suck that the bus schedule is really tight so my ability to get home to Caen is less open than any other day . . . but I think it'll work out.
Funny sidebit . . . there are a lot of poodles here. I mean there's a lot of dogs period, but a good share have been poodles! Only funny because this is France, really . . .
. . . I need to buy two more crickets . . .
. . . Time to write inspirationally? Okay!

I'm learning something about battlefield tourism. Ultimately, 60 years later, the Beaches of Normandy are now just beaches. Kids play ball on 'em, young people make out on 'em . . . and big fat guys in red speedos sunbathe on 'em (my first guided image of Juno Beach). Make no mistake, there are flags and memorials (and tanks) dotted all along these coasts. But all these kids walking across the cracked seashells (what was he thinking?!), they have no idea and will probably not have any real idea for a long time to come. Kinda like the Soviet submarine at the New West. Quay; I didn't care back then, and now it's gone.

Granted, it'll take a lot to make these beaches disappear (global warming notwithstanding). But it really must crack the locals up to see pockets of Canadians come and just walk on the beach, take pictures of the beach . . . well, we'll see how this beach holds up in the time to come . . . . .
Nevertheless, I remain very proud to be here. And should by some freak chance someone asks me where I'm from, I can proudly tell them, "Je suis Canadien."

This is honestly a really nice beach to hang out at, in any case . . . . .
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Friday, July 13, 2007

   Calvados War-Tourism . . .
Not too much to really respond to, so I'll keep it simple: it looks like I was freaking out about language a lot because those two entries were in the span of two back-to-back days AND I was trying to waste time. So yes, it was on my mind but not to the point that I wasn't enjoying myself or anything. So don't worry . . .


Today begins the SERIOUS tour of Normandy, where I was actively going out to big museums and locales that involved bus rides and such. 'Cause Dieppe was neat and all, but ultimately it was tiny and there wasn't THAT much to see . . . still glad I was there, but yeah . . . the real meat of WW2 Normandy sight-seeing is around Caen and Bayeux . . .

Caen (June 1):

• Long walk over highways to reach the Caen Memorial.
  
• . . . and I get there 15 minutes before they open . . .
  
• . . . Amazing memorial well worth the 17€ admission, despite school kids everywhere.
  
• . . . Lunch @ "Le Restaurant" (Eisenhower?)
  
• (I love it when they realise my French sucks and save me.)
  
• Re: Caen Memorial: People MUST come here!
  
• Caen has a very large Canadian footprint on it.
  
• "Green man says go!"
  
• Done my "Green Bus" scouting. Next 2 days should be okay!
  
• I'm not homesick, but I miss conversation w/ others!
  
• . . . and I don't think the old Dutch guy w/ the bad leg counts . . .
  
• SERIOUSLY need to work on my French!
  

Caen/Ouistreham/Bénouville (June 2):

• I WOULD be in Caen during the weekend . . .
  
• Luckily, figured out the (expensive) Bus Vert . . . but still! Ow!
  
• No 4 Commando Museum . . . yeah, it was a'ight.
  
• Sword Beach itself . . . . . heh, today it is just a beach . . .
  
• . . . nice memorial, though; saw naval-types practicing for Wednesday. (They were marines)
  
• Fed a dog. Damn things are cuter than Gypsies . . . . .
  
• Really nice weather in Ouistreham . . .
  
• Nice old people @ bus stop.
  
• Pegasus Bridge Memorial = BADASS!
  
• . . . Marines were there too!
  
• Lotsa Brits here today . . . but oh wow, very cool . . .
  
• I think I'm spending too much money . . . . .
  
• I'm really tired of my sick, nasal voice . . .
  
• Not enough time to see Le Grand Bunker! Dang!!!
  
• Bus back to Caen, dozen or so people, half = asian! Twisted!
  

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Thursday, July 12, 2007

   Normandy, longhand version . . .
Today's vacation post'll be a bit different. I'll get to that in a second, though . . . first off:

• Re: bringing baguettes home: Considering that after I left Normandy I didn't come home for another full month . . . no, I did not bring home any baguettes.
  
• Re: French in general: French is not a good language for online translators. It gets really messy really fast.
  
• Re: Comp': Seems okay so far. I think I'm okay . . . I think.
  
• Re: Royale with Cheese: Indeed, that was the primary reason I wanted one in the first place; good ol' Pulp Fiction references . . . oh yeah, European coffee kicks ass. Just sayin'.
  
• Re: Taste of Baguettes: Baguettes, also known over here as "french bread", is quite tasty. The design is that the crust is very crisp and sorta thick, while the inner bread is extremely soft. People tend to use baguettes to make garlic bread. Garlic buttered or just plain munching on it as you walk down the sidewalk, it's wonderful stuff.
  

Alright, so as I said, today is gonna be a little different from the other point-form references. While I was lost in Normandy, trying desparately to fill the days with things to do . . . I inevitably started writing more and more journal-type stuff. Not just the point-form things that got longer, I even wrote some full-page longhand stuff. So here are a couple of 'em - one from the very end of my Dieppe journey, and one from my first full day in Caen (which I still have yet to discuss in point-form). As always, I'm open to any questions or queries you may have about anything I write here. So here we go:


Solo-Trip: End of 1st Leg (May 31st):

So here I am in my cute little hotel room in Dieppe, France. It was scary as hell to get here (am I on the right train? Do I need to validate my ticket?), but I made it. Further, my credit card is working spectacularly, so my biggest fear is killed!

2nd biggest fear? Language . . . but we'll see. In Dieppe alone, there are a LOT of tourists from over the channel! But alas, the English over here just ain't what you're hoping for. Food seems to be working so far, though. I need to study my French more . . .

But now I'm off to Caen! All new adventures!

* * * * * * * * *

Meantimes, here I am in Le Gare, having a cup of café crème with 40 minutes to go before the train arrives. I'm glad the humble Canadian approach worked ("Excuze-moi, je ne parle pouvais pas beacoup Francais"), and I finally got confirmation that I DON'T need to validate my tickets! (The coffee is really good here!) I'm still hoping beyond all hope that Caen, as a wartime tourist attraction, shall have some decent English around. But we'll see . . . definitely so far so good . . .

So when I arrive, do I dare go to the youth hostel? Or do I just take the cheal hotel? Hmm . . . I feel as though today shall be an expensive taxi day . . . dang . . .

. . . . . suddenly I wish I learned more French . . . dang dang . . . . .


Solo Trip: Early in the 2nd Leg (June 1st):

I'm sitting in a little area with a giant (fake?) gold statue of Jeanne D'arc in front of me. It's still way too damn early for dinner, Caen doesn't seem to have souvenier shops, and I miss talking with people! I suppose I could hit up that internet café again . . . but I really don't wanna rely on that. Sidenote, my shoes are still gross from the mud earlier in the day . . . I was quite miffed by that. More miffed by the bottom of my jeans, though . . .
I should head down to the train station, see about getting to Bayeux on Monday. I'll hafta check out early, too . . . alright, trip to the train station! Heh, all for the sake of killing time.
I've learned something about myself: I'm frighteningly intruigued by looking out castle battlements! And what the hell, I thought people were smaller in the olden days! Blasted Normans . . . ah well.
So, the weather in Normandy is absolutely schizophrenic! Sunny first, then cloud cover, then ten minutes of hard rain, then stop, then peeking sun again. It's getting nuts!
Nevertheless, I am still having fun. I wish I could share this with someone else, but well . . . I guess I'll take what I can get . . .

Heh, Twisto . . . . .

* * * * * * * * *

. . . . . you DON'T go to France and drink beer! Why haven't you learned this yet?!?!
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Wednesday, July 11, 2007

   Normandy Cont'd. . .
Alright . . . now before I go into the post-specific stuff, I wanna reiterate some points I wanna make about the comments specifically:

-I'm scared because I'm ON my own and expressed it by shouting "shit!" afterwards. I am not scare OF my own shit.
-The jail hotel was in Lucerne, Switzerland. That is somewhat different from Paris, France . . .

Reading is an important skill, guys. Don't be afraid to practice it. It makes everyone feel happier and less-embarrassed about it afterwards. Anyways, what were you asking now?

• Re: Baguettes: I know I can get baguettes where I live. However, we're talking about REAL French baguettes fresh from the boulangerie in the morning. It's good stuff, yo.
  
• Re: my bro's head: Yeah, he was fine. He was laughing more than anyone else after the impact . . . it's just funny, y'know?
  

This post'll finish up my time in Dieppe, followed by my entrance into Caen . . . and yes, now we're down to two days per post since I wrote more per day during this week . . . not including the "continued" bit from last day which spilled over onto the next page at the time . . .

Dieppe (May 29 cont'd.):

• 9pm and it's still REALLY sunny out!
  
• . . . gonna feel guilty about all my early nights . . . hate being sick, too . . .
  
• I REALLY need to look up train schedules re: Dieppe -> Rouen -> Caen!
  

Dieppe (May 30):

• Late morning up. Nice.
  
• Saw the castle; saw the beaches; saw the cliffs.
  
• "Japonais?" "Chinois."
  
• High schoolers said hello and giggled . . . I think I got ripped on . . .
  
• 19 Aug. 1942 museum was really nice. Shame no pictures allowed . . .
  
• I THINK I have my train schedule figured out . . .
  
• And then I got evicted from my 59€/night room @ Hôtel Les Arcades . . .
  
• . . . and was put in a 39€/night room @ Hôtel Aguado (***)!!!
  
• . . . And my credit card works!!!!! YES!!! I AM INVINCIBLE!!!
  
• (There's a lot of dog poop in Dieppe . . .)
  
• 1 liter of mussels for dinner for 10€ . . . booyah. AND waiter spoke Anglais!
  

Dieppe -> Caen (May 31):

• Baguettes for breakfast end tomorrow!
  
• Got into Caen no fuss. Booyah.
  
• Guy @ Tourism Office was awesome. Very useful.
  
• Hotel in Caen 'til Tuesday morning (5 nights) . . . switch to 4 nights . . . (Done!)
  
• Alright, time to hammer out an itinerary . . .
  
• Talked to Ed, talked to Amy . . . learned Shanny's havin' a horrible month . . .
  
• . . . I promise, darlin', I'm sending' ya all my well wishes . . .
  
• Went to McDonald's. Had a Royale with Cheese . . .
  
• And then I watched infomercials. Gugh . . . . .
  
• 9pm bedtimes . . . what happens when you travel alone, I guess . . .
  

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Tuesday, July 10, 2007

   Paris -> War-tourism
Paris was the final city of the Contiki "European Discovery" tour. Paris was a fun city to be in . . . but first:

• Re: Beating up Gypsies: None of us actually got to beat up any aggressive gypsies. We were disappointed. The closest we got was when a guy elbowed my brother in the head on the bus while lifting up his armrest (leading to the line, "I'm not a gypsy, damnit!").
  
• Re: Jail Hotel: While in Lucerne, we stayed at the Lowengraben Jail Hotel. Essentially, it was built as a prison for over a century until the end of the 20th century. Now all the cells are hotel suites; it's classy like that . . . very unique and cool.
  
• Re: The frog eats the grapefruit: In French, "La grenuille mange le pamplemousse." Originally from The Simpsons, it is, according to my brother Jessie, the funniest phrase you can possibly say in French.
  
• Re: Language-changing: Sometimes it messed you up . . . but Germany and Austria both speak German, then it was 4 days of Italian, then we went back to German once we hit Lucerne. Ultimately, not so bad. We did often want to say "grazie" in Lucerne now and then, but that was about it.
  
• Re: Skateboard-boy (part 2): The tour manager gave us several examples of the gypsies/beggars we could expect to see. Once we saw "skateboard-boy" with his hand out, well . . . it fit the description, so it was a safe bet.
  
• Re: Little Michelle's French: she was from Ontario, I think, and was still studying French in school (though in Virginia now). Unfortunately, she was but one person; there were 50 of us on this tour, and we were rarely all together; at the most, groups of 2-5 would be off around town together generally unless we were going out for dinner or drinks. Luckily for me, I hung out with Little Michelle and my brother (whose French was still pretty good). Why we were REALLY worried, though, is that France is notorious for being mean to the English and the Americans; when you're in France, you MUST at least try to speak a little French or else they shall destroy you. Could be worse, I suppose . . .
  

After Paris, we begin my solo-adventures in Normandy . . . the posts'll probably start getting longer around this point (more time on my hands, you know how it is). And if things seem confusing, tell me what and I'll gladly explain 'em!

Paris (May 27):

• Mmm . . . sleep is good . . . cough is bad . . .
  
• Eiffel Tower, holding the line . . . proposals, real and otherwise . . .
  
• Napoleon, war stuff . . . dragging Little Michelle around . . .
  
• Rain. Metro. Hotel. Metro. Rain. Walk. Long line. Damn.
  
• 5€ umbrella? Non, messieur . . . "blalaagh!"
  
• Losers not listening to me re: stops . . . Camera-bitch -> Epiphany-guy!
  
• Café de Deux Moulin . . . nice. Awesome waiter.waiter.
  
• O'Sullivan's Pub . . . good times, drunkenness . . . coughing . . . . .
  
• Not . . . Enough . . . TIME!!!
  

Paris -> Arras -> Dieppe (May 28):

• Good-byes . . . aww . . .
  
• FINALLY got "Stays in Mexico" playing!
  
• Vimy Ridge history lesson . . . Canadians work the site . . .
  
• Annnd . . . now I'm scared shitless . . . on my own . . . shit!
  
• . . . it was fun to see the shock when I left, though . . .
  
• Well . . . so far trains seem to be working . . . (Arras -> Amiens -> Rouen)
  
• Evidently, lady at the Rouen train station bakery says I smell. Great. (Like I don't know, right? Strike one, France . . .)
  
• Made it to Dieppe!!!!!
  
• "C'est la Normandie..."
  
• 59€/night . . . ouch. We have to not do this too often . . .
  
• . . . people are nice, though . . . Hôtel les Arcades.
  

Dieppe (Tuesday, May 29):

• Nice jacket weather here . . .
  
• Fresh baguettes = the win.
  
• Evidently, museums are closed on Tuesdays . . .
  
• AWW! There was a WAY closer laverie!!!
  
• Nice view, though . . .
  
• And . . . evidently I'm having curry for dinner.
  
• Cheap internet - and apparently Starcraft 2 was announced.
  
• I also love baguettes now . . .
  
• Beer to taste instead of beer to save face is a nice change.
  
• Got suckered by "English spoken" sign . . .
  
• "Welcome, English Spoken" works really well even though we still speak French . . .
  

(In other news, last night I stepped on an internet landmine and had to hunt down and destroy an absolutely frightening smitfraud trojan . . . not fun, not fun, not fun . . .)
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Sunday, July 8, 2007

   Florence to Paris . . .
One more post and I'll wrap up the Contiki tour! Goodness . . . anyways, you wanted some info? Let's see:

• Re: Venice and no trees/plants: Being that Venezia is a city built ON the sea, it's a completely man-made city. The whole city is basically floating, or sitting on poles; thus, no earth and as such no grass or trees or plants that aren't just potted or vines. I felt oddly strange until I figured out the lack of plantlife was why (they do have lots of vines, though).
  
• Re: Gypsies: Gypsies . . . make an entire career out of looking poor and impoverished so that they can beg or steal your money from you. Our tour manager told us to be extremely careful of our belongings while in Italy (and especially while in Rome). As he put it, "Italy is the only place where you will be allowed to kick a beggar."
  
• Re: Pigeons: Oh no, believe me, English pigeons are infinitely better than Venetian pigeons. See, in Venice, they're EVERYWHERE. Further, they're protected by law so you can't touch them (goes back to the founding of the city, where pigeons flew over the shallow sea). The pigeons know this, too, and are fearless - they'll dive-bomb ya if it'll make ya drop your food. That, and they're powerfully dirty there . . . rats with wings indeed . . .
  
• Re: Gondola driver: He was funny, he sang to us, he danced, he picked flowers off some vines and tossed them to the girls in the boat . . . he took group photos with our cameras for us . . . he kicked ass. I have some video and such which will eventually go online at some point.
  
• Re: Dirty Rome: The Vatican may be holy central, but it's the bright clean spot in a big messy mess of a metropolis. Rome was great, make no mistake . . . it just ain't the cleanest city you'll ever see.
  
• Re: Italian Cosplay: Italians sitting against the Colosseum dressed in gladiator garb. There was also one dude dressed in Senator's robes elsewhere. Yeah, 'nuff said.
  
• Re: Fighting Gypsies: After the tour manager gave us the prep-speech on how to watch out for our stuff and to be wary of gypsies . . . we weren't scared. We were excited! I'm not kidding, we were suddenly all scheming, planning for how we'd bait the gypsies, catch them in the act, and beat the hell outta them! We got pretty ridiculous with all this . . . I even came up with a "gypsy formation" for when our groups got separated . . . this became a running gag for the rest of the tour (it'll come up again later on . . .)
  
• Re: Skateboard boy: "Skateboard-boy" was a gypsy/beggar in Rome. He sat on a skateboard and pushed himself around with one hand while holding the other out for money; you see, his legs were completely emaciated and possibly broken as well. Worst part about it is that his mother probably did it to him at a younger age just so he'd have this sympathy advantage for begging later in life . . . that's how it was over there . . .
  
• Re: Sistine Badassery: Hey, places can be holy and badass all at once. I reckon so, in any case . . .
  

Today we shall cover Florence (great, relaxed Italian city), Lucernce (neat little Swiss city), and our first day in Paris (crazy cool gigantic city). Again, any points seem too weird or random, tell me and I'll elaborate:

Rome -> Florence (May 24):

• "Destination unknown...known...known...known..."
  
• I'm having too much fun speaking sucky Italian.
  
• Florence is so laid back . . . I love it!
  
• Mmm . . . leather . . . I have assassin gloves finally!
  
• Not . . . not, not, not enough time to see anything!
  
• Freakin' line-up for David . . . ruined everything . . .
  
• Tuscan dinner . . . we kicked that other Contiki's asses!
  
• "Heeeey, Macarena!"
  
• Discoteque-ah! Um . . . less said the better . . .
  
• Little Michelle thinks of Jessie and I as protective brother-types . . . aww . . .
  
• Gavin didn't wanna leave . . . . . blah!
  

Florence -> Lucerne (May 25):

• Yeah, Gavin didn't make it . . . MIA . . . a shame . . .
  
• And now bus-sleep time!
  
• Oh yay! We found Gavin!!!
  
• Jessie: "I'm not a gypsy, damnit!"
  
• Huh . . . Switzerland is way more militaristic than I thought . . .
  
• Francs . . . blah!
  
• Fun night, though. Very relaxed.
  
• 116, 201, 207 . . . Jail hotel!!!
  

Lucerne -> Paris:

• People are REALLY getting worried about speaking French!
  
• Petite Michelle = French master!
  
• Bus drama . . . blargh . . . . . bus coughing . . . blargh . . . . .
  
• "The frog eats the grapefruit."
  
• Yeah, long-assed bus ride . . .
  
• Drove through the storm . . .
  
• Jess' hit the Carolingian power on "Little A" . . . 3 cheers for Booker!
  
• Yeah, we all got sick . . . . . blargh!
  
• But here we are! And Paris isn't boiling hot!!! Yes!
  
• Bus tour . . . good times . . .
  
• "Danger Zone", seatbelts, Arc De Triumph . . .
  
• Sean = badass bus driver!
  

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Saturday, July 7, 2007

   Italia!
Yes, yes, yes, we've all established that I'm a lucky bastard. I'm lucky because I've finished school, quit my part-time job making less than $10 an hour, and then spent six to eight thousand dollars to travel about seven weeks all over Western Europe. Yes, very very lucky. Not that I don't appreciate your consent on this, but let's see what else you guys can notice. Meantime, here's what you guys asked about last time:

• Re: Jessie: My brother was still in the room we were hanging in the night before after we got back from the beerhall. When I woke up and he wasn't in the room, I stomped back down to that other room; as I got there, he was coming out. I worried less after that.
  
• Re: self-washing toilets: The German rest stops were like, ultra high-tech. I didn't see it myself, but I heard them . . . essentially, after you flushed the toilet a water jet would spray across the seat top. I heard it was quite amazing.
  
• Re: Tom Cross: "Tom Cross is gay" was graffiti in the stairwell going up into the dome of St. Peter's Cathedral in Munich. I took a picture and will show it once it's photobucketed.
  
• Re: Alcohol: Contiki is basically a company specialising in travelling tours for young people, aged 18-35. That said, it involves a lot of drinking nights . . . like, a LOT . . .
  
• Re: Midgar Guy: I'unno, London's got mixed ethnicity but it's not THAT mixed. But that's me and my Vancouver mindset . . .
  
• Re: How drunk I was in St. Goar: not nearly as drunk that night as I was in Munich . . . actually, I was more drunk in Austria . . .
  
• Re: driving people home: perks of a coach tour: no one's drivin' no one nowhere!
  
• Re: Seeing Germany: Technically, Munchen and St. Goar which is a little town famous for beersteins and cuckoo clocks. Drove through the rest of the country, though.
  

So now we're off from Germany into Italy . . . also known as "pickpocket-land", according to the tour manager. So remember, any points perk your interest, tell me and I'll elaborate.

Munich -> Venice (May 21):

• Venice has no grass/trees!!!
  
• Glass-blowing = neat.
  
• Getting lost/caught w/ shoppers . . . less neat.
  
• Gypsy-talk . . . now we wanna fight 'em . . . (Don't see squat!)
  
• Pigeons = ew.
  
• We had a kick-ass gondola driver (driver?).
  
• Hooray for bank machine!
  
• Less drinking = actual sleep!
  

Venice -> Rome (May 22):

• Lotta gypsies, eh? (crack knuckes . . .)
  
• Skateboard-boy . . . nice.
  
• Rome is . . . . . very dirty . . .
  
• Getting very hot . . . . . damn . . . . .
  
• Roman water fountains are glorious things . . .
  
• Roman mosquitoes love my blood.
  
• I wish I remembered more Latin . . .
  
• Yeah, this day was a blur . . .
  

Rome (May 23):

• Mm . . . crusty bread again . . . . . well, I like it!
  
• Swiss guards have swords!!!
  
• Long wait for the Pope . . . but it was neat.
  
• "Gypsy!!!" "Gimme your tears, gypsy..."
  
• Sistine Chapel - badass.
  
• "Follow tha guiiide . . . Contikiiii . . ."
  
• Colosseum - badass. SO badass!
  
• Italian cosplay!!!
  
• Our hotel sucked, though . . .
  
• It's HOT!!!
  

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Friday, July 6, 2007

   Amsterdam to Austria . . .
By the way, Transformers is a fun movie. Giant robots rule. And now for some answers:

• On the 14th, I called the house we were staying at to say we were on the way back from downtown London. She asked if we had eaten dinner yet or not; we replied no. She asked what we wanted to eat and suggested KFC, Chinese food, or pizza. Over the phone, she said, "what do you want, Kentucky Chinese pizza?" Incidentally, we went with The Colonel that night.
  
• Once we got to Italy, my Italian did get a bit better. However, Italian restaurant in London? Not so good . . . both the food and my ordering of my meal.
  
• Totally didn't get to see Stonehenge. While we were in Britain, we only ever saw London (while cool, was only but a piece of the whole country that I'd love to see. Next time, I guess . . .)
  
• These were indeed from the legendary red travelling clipboard, definitely.
  
• My particular dinosaur phase actually lasted a long time, from the age of five to twelve, arguably even beyond that. So it was cool to see all the dinosaur stuff at the Natural History Museum.
  
• Old guy at Midgar was not Reno, no. He was in fact just an old guy who rambled for a bit until he shouted "fucking asians!" after we walked past him. Then I figured he was probably talking to us. It must be fun to be a crazy person sometimes . . .
  

And now for my Germanic leg of the trip . . . ish . . .

Amsterdam -> Rhine Valley (May 18):

• Well . . . we woke up, so that's a plus . . .
  
• Anne Frank House - almost lost it in there (very emotional)
  
• Amsterdam is a city of tourists . . . and it's VERY different in morning!
  
• Mmm . . . Belgian Fries . . . frites, if you will . . .
  
• Germany: Self-washing toilets @ rest stop!
  
• Muppet Show . . . bahaha . . .
  
• Rhine Valley = gorgeous!
  
• More drinking tonight . . . good times . . . wine-tasting, etc . . . then wine festival . . .
  
• "Less Tall Michelle" has your Europe adaptor!
  

Rhine Valley -> Munich (May 19):

• Beer steins = badass. St. Goar = badass.
  
• Sausages are kicking my ass . . .
  
• Anyways . . . Munich rules. Very cool place.
  
• Taught people how to do laundry.
  
• St. Peter's Cathedral . . . entombed saint, bell tower . . .
  
• "Tom Cross is gay"
  
• The Glockenspiel is banal . . .
  
• Hofbräuhaus . . . booyah. Big beers. I had 2 . . . others, more so.
  
• Snuff. Gross but neat. Pretzels . . . salty. Pork . . . yummy (hair).
  
• Happy Birthday Shawn!
  
• Jessie is drunk . . . but he's a big boy, he'll get home . . .
  

Munich -> Austria (May 20):

• . . . . . evidently, he's not . . . idiot . . .
  
• I love Germany . . . but Austria is gorgeous . . . . .
  
• Austrian mountains pwn the Rockies . . . holy crap . . .
  
• We had a powerful rafting team.
  
• "White Party" - good times. Made friends w/ Maureen . . .
  
• Hung w/ Big Austrian biker man . . . good times . . .
  
• Getting people to bed = fun.
  

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Thursday, July 5, 2007

   London to Amsterdam . . .
In response to the questions pertaining to my posts (you wanna learn what a man whore is, google it):

-Dreamgirls is a pretty good movie. Goes without saying that the music is especially good.
-Europe continues to be a much more religiously-focused land than North America. Thus, many places close on Sundays, whether they be shops, banks, markets . . . apparently even Starbucks. I think we did find one that was open later, though . . .

I think I'm not gonna comment on every single thing mentioned unless there is actual desire for elaboration. That cool? Cool.


The next bit of journal should finish off my adventures in London/England in general and bites into the very, very early period of my European Discovery tour with Contiki:

London (May 14):

• Natural History Museum . . .
  
• . . . I miss going through my dinosaur-phase . . .
  
• Victoria & Albert Museum . . . damn, lotsa stuff . . . (changed batteries here!)
  
• Evidently, Big Ben is bloody big!
  
• Westminster Abbey? Also quite big.
  
• Chaucer's Tomb!!!
  
• Buckingham Palace's guards are a lot more contemporary than I thought . . .
  
• Enfield SA80 rifles are badass . . .
  
• Picadilly Circus . . . a.k.a. Midgar from FFVII! (Mouthy old guy here . . .)
  
• Canada House . . . heh, go fig!
  
• Trafalgar Square . . . Nelson rules . . .
  
• "Kentucky Chinese Pizza..." . . . (Heh, Pepsi bottle . . .)
  

London (May 15):

• Imperial War Museum . . . Greatest place EVER!!! (Didn't mean to spend so long . . . but . . . . . Trench Experience!)
  
• Crappy "Three Stags". Horrible, horrible . . . ah well.
  
• Globe Theater . . . couldn't go into actual Globe . . .
  
• . . . Everything around it was cool, though . . .
  
• . . . Remains of Rose Theater under London Bridge . . . nice . . .
  
• . . . I probably enjoyed it more than Jessie . . . probably . . .
  
• Brother needs to learn how to sleep on public transportation . . . he fails . . .
  

London (May 16):

• St. Paul's Cathedral . . . holy mother . . . big cathedral . . .
  
• British Museum . . . holy mother . . . big museum . . .
  
• . . . Not too many katana, sadly . . . they had Zulu stuff, though . . .
  
• My Italian sucks . . .
  
• Tour guide thinks our passports are funny . . .
  
• Lots of sirens around Russell Square . . .
  
• 5:45am wake-up call?!
  

London -> Road/Amsterdam (May 17):

• Started making friends . . .
  
• Dover is pretty . . .
  
• Rundown of Amsterdam . . . interesting . . .
  
• Mmm . . . bagels . . . . .
  
• Fancy truck stop . . . had pineapple pastry . . .
  
• Amsterdam-proper . . . very nice city, much culture . . .
  
• . . . drank a lot on the cruise . . . fun . . .
  
• . . . saw a "cultural show". One word: Batman.
  
• Brother had a very "productive" night . . . he made it home, luckily . . .
  
• Good bonding night for Team Contiki!
  

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Tuesday, July 3, 2007

   Y'know . . .
I really have no idea how to attack this recap of my vacation. It was six, maybe seven weeks of travel. I did check back now and then whenever I could, so I'd probably end up going over things I've already mentioned.

Alright, how about this: for all my journeying I kept a short, point-form journal of my travels. Every post I'll type about four or five days' worth of journals at a time. If there's any point along the way you want more elaboration on, I can give it to you - for the most part, after all, those short points were only meant to jog my memory so I could explain them better. So in the next post I'll give the extra info asked of me and after that continue on with the next set of journal entries - it'll kinda be like how people like to respond to comments before their posts, y'know? Just like that.

Still, this is the best way I can think of for attacking this mother. Heh, not to mention I still have to photobucket my photos . . . gack . . . but hey, if you guys have a better idea, I'm all ears. Probably. Anyway, we'll probably try this and see how it works.

To get the ball rolling, let's do the first two days:


Vancouver -> London (May 11/12):

• Flew north of Hudson Bay, over Greenland.
  
• Movies: Dreamgirls, Music & Lyrics(?), The Queen . . . Happy Feet!!!
  
• Dude in front of us works for airline; got photoed while asleep.
  
• Socks outside washroom . . .
  
• People have issues w/ washroom door (despite labelling of "push").
  
• Belfast to London/Gatwick: Quick flight. Easy.
  
• Soooo sleepy . . . . .
  

London (May 13):

• Note: Must call home re: Mother's Day . . .
  
• Fish, chips . . . & PEAS!!!
  
• Trains are nice . . .
  
• "Tower" of London feels like a misnomer . . . cool, though.
  
• Nock Volley Gun!!!
  
• Rain. Sucky.
  
• HMS Belfast. Nice.
  
• Apparently French high school girls liked me . . . huh . . .
  
• Starbucks closed on weekends?!
  
• "Mind the gap . . ."
  

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