Frankfurted so I gave his head a Krakow. He Pragably won't do it again

Czesc,

Mr. Grindy and myself finished up our time in Prague with style. We went to another eclectic bar with a bunch of old gizmos on the wall such as wheel parts and typewriters. They served traditional Czech brew which was delicious to say the least. The next day we traveled around the city a little more and viewed the castle up close as well as visiting the Kafka museum. I don't know if I will ever have the capacity to fully understand the exhibit, but it was quite interesting none the less. After a wild day of sightseeing we decided to unwind with a Karaoke bar. I have never sung real karakoe before, but it was quite the epic experience. There were some highs and some lows, but we all had a great time until the cops came and told us all to quite down. This warning went unheeded and they had to come back a second time. Interestingly enough a friend we had met was singing both times the police came. I'm not pointing any fingers, but kind of a strange coincidence, not?

After Prague Mark and I traveled to Krakow for a few glorious days. Here we accomplished quite a bit. In terms of touristy stuff we traveled to Auschwitz concentration camp which was among the most sombering experiences of the trip. However, on a bright note, the chicken soup that they serve there was some of the best I´ve ever had in my entire life. JooJee can attest to that as well. After the concentration camp we also did a tour around the city of Krakow with a stellar tourguide.

In terms of drinking, we enjoyed the brew of Poland in a couple of fine establishments with a few friends we met on the train headed to Krakow. These Polish beverages were accompanied by a bountiful amount of Peirogies which I had been craving since Warsaw. We also went to a swanky place in the Jewish Quarter where the DJ let me use the internet to look up stuff about the Schengen zone. Regardless it was awesome.

The last day in Krakow was rainy and chill so JooGee and I went to see the flick entitled 'Inception' starring the homely Leo DiCaprio. It was a very good movie and was interesting to watch with the Polish subtitles.

After the movie we hung around the hostel before getting on the train back to Prague. Just before boarding we were warned by the porter about roaming groups that would rob us in our sleep. Fearing for our junk we swaped sentry duties throughout the night and were subsequently exhausted the next day.

That day we traveled out of the city to a small (formerly prosperous) town, named Hutna Hora, in the boonies of the Czech Republic. Here we witnessed some impressive old churches including one (Sedlec Ossuary) which was full of bones dug up from people who all died of some plague or something. It was a super creepy place, but the entire trip was very nice.

The next day JooGee left for the US and I hung out with Jade for the rest of the day running some very important errands and then I left on a night bus to Frankfurt and the twilight of my time in Europe.

Frankfurt has rubbed me the wrong way since the moment I got here. I was hungery from my long bus ride so I grabbed some McDonald´s (the only thing open) and the burgers were disgusting even by my standards. I then found the hostel after some searching only to discover they did not have any reservation from me. After sorting that out I went to my room for some nice shuteye only to find that there was a chatfest going on in my room between these slow witted Irish people, a dry Indian, and far to bubbly Finnish girl. This loud conversation lasted until 2 in the morning, much to the shigrin of the other 4 people in the room who were trying, to no avail, to get some deserved rest. Today I set out to get some good Asian grub at a buffet across the street and it was, mark my words, `THE WORST ASIAN BUFFET EVER`. My contempt for this place is so great I won´t even try and make a joke about it. Moral of the story all food in Frankfurt sucks and hostels are bad as well.

Anyways, this city has made me very happy to be going home. See you all soon. My flight is less than 24 hours away!

Tschüß,
Eurokid

I thought I'd Pragueably be sick of Europe by now...Bratislava it!

Dobrý den,

Disclaimer: I am in a very noisey resturant/clubish thing right now having a mixture of Queen and Operatic music blasted at me with a chorus of drunkards mumbling along in the background, so the amount of ramblings and misspellings are bound to be greater than in other posts I have made.

After leaving Dresden and the fine comfort of my hostpitable hosts, I arrived in Bratislava on a whim. On the surface the city was less than exciting. I decided that I did not need to book a hostel before I arrived. I soon found a hostel on the side of the road and took up residence there for a few days. I mostly just hung out in the hostel and actually saw no sights the entire time I was in the city. The first day I went out with a Danish guy and a girl from New York and we explored the town finding it to be similar to a morgue on a monday night.

The next day I spotted a KFC with the most padded, cushiony seats in existance that side of the Danube. I then spent the majority of the day reading Atlas Shrugged (which I am not even half done with) and munching on chicken wings and mashed potatoes.

Later that evening I met up with some English people and an Italian I met the previous day and we went out and had a much more exciting evening. The next day the whole crew went out on an adventure and found the most exciting and memorable part of Bratislava; a crystal clear lake in the middle of the city. The whole day we spent lounging on the beach swimming out to the depths and diving off a dock they had. It was awesome to be out enjoying the sunny weather and getting a tan in my speedo which no one seemed to mind me wearing.

I then traveled to Prague where I met up with a friend, Jade, whom I encountered on a bus ride from Budapest to Dresden. We hung out for the day and she showed me around the city. Later that night we went to an club where they only played 80's and 90's music. With this they show the music videos on a huge screen. The whole time I felt like I'd look over in the corner and see a young Mary Dittrich and Kevin Henle jamming in the corner. To my relief they were nowhere to be found.

The next morning Jade and I traveled to the airport to pick up Mark Grindy who arrived at 8 AM. Due to a late night and some oversleeping we got there at 9 and could not find him anywhere. After running to every terminal we found him scrunched up by a computer with horrible internet access trying to get a message to me. In the end it all worked out and we have been seeing sights and sampling local brews ever since. One place in particular, hippy bar, which was set in someones apartment was one of the highlights and coolest, chill bars yet encountered.

At this very moment we are exploring how to make it to our next destination, Krakow, but are finding it slightly difficult to find a bus company to provide. Perhaps we will be training our way there...

After a few days in Poland we will find ourselves back in Prague where Mark has to fly home from. Then I will take off to Frankfurt where I will depart as well. I can't believe its almost the end of my trip...

Zbohem,
Eurokid

I've been Dresden the end of my journey, but I guess it will be Budapest

Jó napot

Hungary was crazy.

The trip to Dresden was also full of inconviences. I was set to meet Diana's (a German friend who lives in New Ulm) parents at the bus station at 4 PM. This was primarily delayed by a gimongous crash that backed up traffic all the way to Romania. After waiting at a standstill for 2 hours and not being allowed off the bus, we finally drove by the carnage. At least 3 cars were totaled and a semi with two large bucket trailers had pulled a Michael Richards and crashed, burned, will never be seen the same again. After this hiatus, we arrived in Prague to pick up new passagers which included one shifty Asian guy. An hour later (when we were but 20 km away from Dresden) the Polizei pulled the bus over and took a look at passports. All was fine save this Asian guy who held the bus up for another hour. They ended up taking him in their van to do police things to him and we continued on our way. I tried to find a cellphone or some means to contact Diana's parents, but to no avail.

When I finally did arrive at the station I found a payphone and imediatly dialed their number. I found out later they had waited 2 and a half hours, went home, and had just arrived there when their cellphone rang. Talk about horrible timing.

After this all things in Dresden went well. I spent a day with Diana's friends who gave me a grand tour of the city. I had come down with a very sore throat at the time so it was great that I could do a lot of sightseeing and not much talking. One of the best things I did view was Raphael's Sistine Madonna. It has now become a goal of mine to see the most famous peices of art created by all the ninja turtles. Sadly that will have to wait for another journey because Italy doesn't look to be on the agenda.

The next day I traveled with Diana's parents to see some of the more remote sights. We saw some ancient and unique tramways that glide residents to a hill village by Dresden and crossed over the famous Blue Wonder bridge. We then went to a lush garden palace in the next town and had a picnic. I usually don't find trees amazing, but this place had the sweetest old forest where ever tree was a different conifer. It looked awesome.

Finally we ended the day with a tour of an old castle/fortress called Königstein. It was one of the most well preserved, historic castles I've seen and it was friggin huge. We also could catch a glimpse of the entire Elbe River valley and Ore Mountains which were quite an impressive sight to behold.

Some last minute changes have altered my course and I now find myslef in Bratislava where I have no idea what to expect. I didn't even book a hostel before I came here. I don't know if I'm getting lazy, tired, or just more comfortable traveling around Europe and having strange langauges shouted at me.

On a side note my former roommate, Mark Grindy, the little scamp, will be traveling to Prague and meeting up with me on the 21st. I am looking quite forward to this and don't know how to contain my almost schoolgirlish excitement.

Viszontlátásra,
Eurokid

I Hamburglieve this journey is Ulmost over

Hallo,

My time in Olso ended with a very intreresting experience. Due to exorbanent prices of hostels and a general lack of planning on my part I had no place to stay for 1 night in Oslo as my friend headed back to his hometown for a festival. With my flight being the next day I decided to spend the night in the Oslo airport rather than be a bum on the streets. This could have been a lot worse, but has deffinaltly been the worst night of sleep I got the whole trip. However, a few valuable things came out of the experience. First, I learned to appreciate being able to sleep horizontally. Second, I began reading a book I bought in the airport. The tome, entitled Atlas Shrugged is one I have attempted to read several times before, but could never get past the first 30 pages. This means nothing in a book thats over 1200 pages long. The night at the airport, however, gave me the perfect oppertunity to be force to read. So far it is going quite well. Finally the night was made bareable by the free internet that they had at the airport (thanks to everyone who was online and spoke to me in this time of need). It kept me awake and sane as I waited 16 hours for my flight.

Departing Scandinavia, I soon found myself looping back around to Hamburg where I met up with my friend Holger and a few of his friends. The city was 7.27 times more exciting than the last time I was there. For instance, I actually knew some people and wasn´t lost on the Reeperbahn alone. The place we stayed was a little outside the city center in an office. When Holger had told me we would be staying in a friends office I was quite skeptical and figured I could be curled up in a cubical under a desk hopeing to not get strangled by computer cords as I slept. Apparently the German version of an `office`is quite different. The place was formerally a flat and was absolutely enormous. It was clean, sleek, and open with a full shower, jacuzzi tub, and swimming pool in the yard.

We did a few other things in Hamburg including seeing and crawling around in a old Russian submarine, visting the largest model trainset in the world (which was absolutly astounding in detail and hilarity) and also ate at an amazing Brazilian resturant where they brough giant spears of meat to your table and hacked them off right on your plate. It was absolutely great.

After Hamburg I travled with Holger to his home in Senden where I spent the night. Last year I had also visited his house and met his lovely family. They are all even more wonderful than I remember.

From here I will travel to Budapest and stay in a hostel for the first time in about a month. It will be a groovy transition. I can´t believe I have less than a month left...

Tschüß,
Eurokid

Oslo you were Stockholm, so I thought I`d come visit

Hei,

I know it`s been a while since a post, but again, extended internet access has been patchy.

After leaving Copenhagen, I rode the fast train up to Stockholm for a last few days with my parents before they had to go back to the US. During round 2 in the city I met up with a friend I had shot guns with in Vilnius. She was doing the Scandinavian trip that I was doing except in reverse. With her a friend I had made on the trip, but definitely not the last time.

After Stockholm I met up with another friend who lives north of there in Uppsala. This marks a new phase in the European Excursion as I now am on a campaign of staying with friends instead of in hostels. I hung out with her and her flatmate and another friend who showed me around the city (which mostly consisted of a huge church, a castle occupied by a mayor, and a modern art garden). We also explored a phenomena called `student nations`. To my understanding they are student organizations (sort of like fraternities that students are forced to join) based on geographic locations around the country that have bars in the basement that serve beer at student prices. It was great. By the way if anyone asks I`m still a student.

After Uppsala I traveled to Oslo to stay with a Norwegian friend I went to Carlson with. He showed me around Oslo which is a super beautiful city with awesome statues and gardens. The only downside is the prices of everything. I heard that things were expensive, but I never really realized that it would actually be expensive. For example a beer is around 13 dollars and that's the lowest quality one on tap.

Soon I will be headed for the land of beer again, Germany, to meet up with another friend who I met on my previous trek through Europe, Holger. Life is good.

Ha det bra,
Eurokid

How Swede it is to be loved by you

Hej,

Sorry for the lack of updates lately, but hanging with my parents has really threw off my `backpacker internal blog clock´. I will attempt to catch you up.

I met up with my Kevin and Mary in Stockholm where we all hung out and did family things, such as testing out every Swedish beer we could find and sleeping in till noon. We also went to a museum on a ship called the `Vasa´which was a really big, really old built of the finest Swedish engineering that sank 20 minutes after it lauched. In the 50´s they dug it up from the depths of the harbor and it is now on display.

After Stockholm the Henle´s traveled to Borås to meet up with the expansion pack to the family, Karl. We stayed with his parents and toured around his hometown. I had been there 5 years ago with Erik Braegelmann it the city really hasn´t changed a whole lot. They have more statues than before, but the McDonalds, main square, and establishments are all still in their spots. They did however remove a outdoor urinal/toilet that I remember an angry Finnish guy storming out of last time. I also met up with a few of Karl´s friends, one of which remembered Erik and I vividly and actually (to my absolute amazement and glee) remembered the chorus of `I Like Beer´.

Once our time in Borås came to an end we headed to Copenhagen for a few days where we are currently staying. Our accomodations are...unique. It is a cabin style room that looks like its straight out of a Japanese apartment. The beds are all stacked on top of each other and the entire bathroom converts into a shower. I´ll have to check this place out a little more and give you an update.

Next stop is back to Stockholm for a flight (possibly).

Adjö

Put a chicken in the ocean and Helsinki

Päivää,

Wow, that "hello" doesn´t even look real, but it´s what google told me... My trip to and from Helsinki has been a super unique one. I left Tallinn, after staying an extra night, on a fast ferry that skirted me over to Helsinki in only an hour and a half. During the trip we passed beautiful scenery of the Estonian and Finnish shoreline, marvelous rain showers in the distance, and majestic ships plowing their way through the smooth Baltic waters. However, I was oblivious to all of this because I was sleeping during the whole excursion. I had to be up at 7:45 AM which my body is equating with bedtime lately rather than a time to get up.

Relaxed from my nap, when I was ejected from the ferry to the shores of Finland I was ready to explore. I searched all around and found another ferry line which I used to book a passage to Stockholm where I would meet my parents. Once I had the ticket in hand I explored 2 nearby churches and feasted in an open market which served me a hearty portion of potatoes and reindeer meatballs. Donner was delicious.

The real fun happened on the cruise I took from Helsinki to Stockholm. At first it appeared as if I was the only one who fit into the age demographic of 17 to 35 year olds. This was reinforced by the other 3 guys in my cabin, one of which had the smelliest feet in all of history. I had to exit the room several times to gag and get fresh air. On one such get away, I managed to see the largest rainbow in the world. I don´t even know how to describe how big it was, but it stretched across the entire sky like the gates of Mordor (did I reference that right JooJee?), and I couldn´t even fit the whole thing on my camera. I did take a load of pictures though...

Later on I went to a live music show and found my kin. 3 people who were right age bracket (one of which I actually knew, and have been stalking since Warsaw always a few days behind). It was a groovy time of live music, disco, and Finnish beer. All I´ve ever wanted in life. I was in such a good mood that I didn´t even smell stinkfoot when I returned to the cabin and slept until we hit the dock in Sweden.

Now I´m in Sweden hanging with my parents which is an abrupt change of pace. I´ll let you know how it turns out!


Näkemiin,
Eurokid

Charming, Tallinnted individual

Tervist,

To sum up Tallinn in one word: touristy. The whole old town outside my hostel is pumped full of wenches wearing typical peasant garb and barking at me to come and eat their wild boar stew. At first it was charming, but after getting handed the 556th flier it gets a little old. The city itself is really clean and beautiful though.

To keep busy I've done two tours in the city. The biking tour which I went on today took me around the city, to a market where we all were given a mission by the guide to buy the best pair of panties we could find for under $0.40, and to a prison that was just decommissioned in 2005. The former Soviet jail was super creepy. They just left all the equipment, such as operating tools, scalpels, typewriters, vials of clear liquids, ect...

The walking tour I participated in the day before was a different story. To preface, I'd been suffering from a headache the previous day, (possibly caused by the solid chunk of sausage that acted as my entire meal of the day) so I decided the best course of action was to rehydrate. I did this by ingesting nearly 3 liters of water and a liter of OJ. About half way during the tour the liquid groaned within me and the only toilet near cost 3 Krooni. This comes to about a $0.25, but I only had a $500 Krooni bill with me. So I quickly ditched the tour and waddled back to a free toilet by the old church we started at. After remedying my condition, I entered the church and took a look at the Danse Macabre that is lodged within.

I'm slightly over half way done with my European Exursion and it just feels like a started. Tomorrow I'm grabbing a ferry to Helsinki where I will spend the day, then I plan on taking a night ferry over to Stockholm where I hear some of my relatives might be visiting.

Head aega!

Eurokid

Magical MysteRiga Tour

Sveiki!

Latvia has been a strange land. My bus ride from Vilnius was a great deal shorter than the ride from Warsaw which was much appreciated and I was much more prepared in terms of food and beverages. Pretzels and nuts nourished me during my trip and the conversation was also stimulating. I found myself sitting on the bus next to a big player from the Netherland's Christian Democratic Party. He filled me in on his party and how he is involved with an orphan reduction program in Africa. He was really an interesting guy and it was great hearing his story.


Riga itself is a luscious city, but the heat here is putting a damper on my site seeing. As a fellow traveler, Brittney, told me in Berlin, "this is vacation dude, do whatever you want". So, apart from a brief walking tour, I've been laying low and drinkin in the hostel trying to fend off the heat.

Last night I did experience a completely new level of cool. The owners of the hostel organized a group of 8 people for a BBQ at a campsite by the Baltic Sea. We headed there and ate a huge pile of smoked meat after swimming in the Baltic (it was that hot up here). Additional coolness was added because it stays so much lighter here due to the latititude. In fact, the sunset was around 10:15 last night. We stayed in the water until the sun set, were accosted by flies the size of butter sticks, and then went home. It was by far the best Riga offered.

I am now in Tallinn (I didn't have time to blog on location, Buhh) and it seems to be even better here. I will report back with my findings.

Uz Redzešanos
Eurokid

P.S. I have also received a request for pictures on this here blog. Most of mine have not been uploaded onto a computer, but these were e-mailed to me by a guy who went to the BBQ too. Pardon the poor layout.

You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and Vilnius

Labas!

The experience of Lithuania has been an odd one to say the least. The bus trip here took 12 hours from Warsaw, but since it was a night bus with no one in the seat next to me it was acceptable. Plus I actually remembered to buy food and water before the bus left. This was not the case during the 12 hour Berlin-Warsaw ride where a family ate an entire cooked chicken in the seat next to me while I tried to savor my remaining 3 Tic-Tacs. However, upon arriving in Vilnius I realized I forgot my travel planner I've been keeping. This planner contained all the info for the hostel I am staying so it was a major annoyance to lose. I ended up getting an inadvertent tour of the city as I roamed the streets in search for the internet.

The hostel, "Jimmy Jumps", is soo cool. The Canadian guy who owns and operates it is absolutely the coolest and I've spoke with him a bunch about how he got into the business and just started up the place on a whim and is now terribly successful. It feels more like you are staying at an awesome friends house that serves free waffles in the morning. The people here are also very cool and we have went out several times to check out the night life which is curiously much more hoppin' than Warsaw.

However, the craziest thing that has happened was going shooting with a group from the hostel. Apperently Lithuania doesn't believe in huge gun regulation like some European countries. We went with an army guy to an old Soviet bunker in the middle of nowhere (a little dodgy I admit) and shot the s*** out of everything. We had 12 different guns too including M4's and AK 47's. I don't really get into guns in general, but it was a super wild experience. Don't worry Mom, it was safe.

Next stop is north to Riga where more Baltic suprises are sure to crop up.

Viso Gero,
Eurokid

I came, Warsaw, I conqured

Cześć

Eastern Europe, what a place. I have entered a realm of backpackers who stray from the beaten paths and traditional tourist sites of the West and it has been amazing.

Getting to Warsaw was an adventure in itself. The bus ride from Berlin was 12 hours and I was the only American (or native English speaker) on board. Luckily I met a few really awesome people who helped me out. All were super hospitable and I didn't feel quite so terrible about leaving the more English speaking city of Berlin.

I haven't done a lot of sight seeing in Warsaw especially when compaired to Berlin where I went on several tours and walked around extensivly. I did see a museum today about the Polish uprising that took place in WWII and it was very intense. Some of the scenes and exhibits probably wouldn't have been displayed in US because they were so graphic. Overall it was a sombering experience but a good one none the less.

Luckily the rest of the time in the city has been the funniest I've had in a while. The people in the hostel are really close and bond really quickly. We've went out just about every night but it is much different than Berlin. For one they do not seem to believe in clubs here in Warsaw. Last night for instance we went out to a bar to watch the world cup match and then went to another pub (which closed at midnight). This forced us to wander the streets looking for something that was open. Unfortunatly nothing, and I mean absolutly nothing, was open and we just came back to the hostel.

One intersting thing about Warsaw is how awful the bike riders are here. The first night that we went out to eat we saw a biker plow into the menu sign outside the resturaunt and totally wipe out and take the menu board with him. Today, we saw a biker crash into a waitress at a different resturant we ate at which sent glasses and bottels everywhere. Compaired to the rest of Europe (especially Amsterdam where bikers are everywhere and thus the populous has mastered the art) the Poles seem to be terrible drivers.

Next on the tour is further into the unknown, Vilnius in Lithuania. What awaits is anyone's guess, but so far Eastern Europe has been a blast and I've got high expectations.

Do zobaczenia,
Eurokid

Berlin' alive

Guten Abend!

So much awesomeness has been condensed in the few days it is hard to begin...

My last night in Hamburg was by far the best in that city. The hostel still was a ghost town, but I met a fellow solo traveler who was awesome and we toured the churches during the day and ate some of the most filling mustard-salami sandwhiches that side of the Elbe. However the real awesomeness came during the evening when we went to a really super sweet bar to watch the football game. We sat in this bar and the guy to my left started talking to us. He turned out to be a local who know a load of info about Hamburg and took us on a personal tour of Hamburg. We wound up going to a pub on a boat and seeing the harbor and seeing where the Beatles started their career. It was super awesome and I left Hamburg on a postive note.

Berlin is a much different city. The hostel actually had real live people staying there and they were super cool. I use the past tense because the majority just left today. It is such a weird cycle of meeting people making fast friendships that quickly form and fade as people travel from city to city.

We have a roof that all the people at the hostel can go out and hang out on and that is where most of the drinking and bonding takes place. We have also went to some rockin Berlin clubs. The nightlife here is much more intense and awesome than back home. I hope that lazers don`t cause health issues because I got zapped in the eyes by quite a few.

Also it has been ungodly hot here. Almost over 100 degrees for the last 3 days. The room I sleep in is a legitimate sweatbox and smells pretty aweful, but luckly this place has a nice mainroom and plenty of ventalation.

The plans for the future look like Warsaw Poland on the near horizion and after that its just a big honkin´ ?

I´ll let you know when I`m in Poland!

Prost!

Eurokid

1 world cup, 5 beers, and 1.8 million Hamburgers

Guten Tag,

The hostel I'm staying at in Hamburg has by far been the quietest yet. It has set the mood for my stay here over the last few days. The first day I explored the city quite thoroughly walking around and noting the architecture and marveling at the parks (which most cities in Europe excel at crafting). It also got me contemplating the varying etiquettes used by the locals when it comes to crossing the street in various countries.

To illustrate: In London people crossed the street whenever then wanted and the colour of the light made little to no difference. In fact, if you stood waiting for the light to change when there were no cars coming you might be pushed over by the mass of people behind you waiting to get across. Conversely, here in Hamburg there may be one person waiting at an intersection with absolutely no cars on the horizon and the light just turned red and they will wait a full 4 minutes for the walk sign to reappear. At first I felt out of place just walking across, fearing that Hamburgeain J-walking laws may be the strictest of the EU, but I have yet to encounter any resistance.

My other pastime here has been visiting the Harley Davidson festival which is occurring a few blocks from my (eerily empty) hostel. The rally just ended today, but I saw my fill of Road Kings and Sportsters. Also set up at the rallypoint were tents to watch the World Cup matches. It has been great to visit these, drink a beer, and get into the games. As of today Germany just beat England (in a stellar performance) and the city erupted with honks and cheers. It has been about 4 hours since the game ended and people are still driving down the streets celebrating and waving flags. I am switching my support based on the country I am currently in and supporting the local team. This helps in making friends and with the US out, why not?

One more full day in Hamburg then off to Berlin!

Tschüs!
Eurokid

...more like Campsterdam

Hallo,

Greetings from Amsterdam! It has been quite a journey from Brussels. The bus ride took a little under 4 hours and the last few days have been spent exploring this majestic city, mostly in an attempt to get away from our first hostel. Of the ''hostels' we have stayed at so far, it has been the worst. Let me try and explain the facility; At first I thought we had stumbled upon a set for Hostel 3 (they actually have a poster for the original movie "Hostel" in one of the trailers. Pretty out of place if you ask me. Thought Jeri might get a kick out of that). The place is actually more of a campsite than a hostel, filled with a number of small trailers no longer on wheels where everyone sleeps. The kitchen and eating area are outside. This makes for annoying breakfasts when it is raining in the morning. Bathrooms are located in an outside building but are surprisingly acceptable. However, the worst aspect of all is the tram ran by the campsite that we must take every time we go the city. 1 € per ride. It could be worse. There was one cool aspect a small movie trailer that claimed to be the world's smallest cinima. We watched District 9 in it and it was nice just sitting back and watching a movie. Regardless, in upcomming hostels I will make it a point to search for a high "location" score.

Amsterdam itself is quite amazing. Raven and I went to the Anne Frank house (thanks Steve) and spend several hours reading signs as we walked through the structure. It was a somber experience walking through the house, but good none-the-less. After this we met up with some friends we had made back in England. It was great catching up with them and seeing how their journey was shaping up.

As of this post Raven's journey on the trip has come to an end as she took off for the airport yesterday morning. I certainly will miss the company and correct directions she provided during her duration. I have since moved from the scuzzy campsite to a normal hostel in the center of the city where I have 1 more night. The 24th I will be taking off for the green fields of Germany as I head for Hamburg.

Thanks for following!

Eurokid

If ya can't Belgium, join em'

Hallo!

I will preface this post with a brief statement on the way Belgian's set up their computer keyboards. In short this is the most annoying one yet encountered. Just a few letters are out of place, but not enough to warrent constant monitoring of the keys I stroke. This ultimately ends up to cause more work as the backspace must be freauently employed. Ah the trials of travel... But who cares about keyboards lemme fill you in on Brussels.

So far the city has been rated the highest in the 'Character' category by both Raven and myself. Lots of cool sites to see in the city that I feel is grossly over underrated and often forgot about. One of my favorite sites has been of the peeing boy . Dunno how or why its popular, but it was cool to look at. Tomorrow we tour a Brewery which I will scrutinize fully and compare to the superior Shell's Brewery.

After that excursion we leave for Amsterdam the next day via bus. It is the last stop for Raven on her tour and the place the solo journey begins.

Farvel!
Eurokid

P.S. We did get waffles and they were decent, but I think what the Belgians started, Eggo may have perfected.

I´d be Lyon if I said we were in France

Bonjour All,

Well, due to some miscalcuations of flight times Rav and I missed our flight to Lyon. The next day´s flight was full so we could not leave then either. As a result we have spent the last 2 days laying on the beach in Barcelona. Not the worst place to be stuck and an important life lesson learned: always quadruple check the airline check-in times.

On a sunny note, our tans are awesome.

We will now only be in Lyon for one night and one night only, but we have a good portion of both days to check out the city before we take off for Brussles. I think I shall sample the waffels there but may pass on the sprouts.

Au revoir,
Eurokid

OMG!

I´ve been only blogging once per city but this occasion calls for an additional post.

As Raven and I watch a stellar performace by the famous water fountian in Barcelona we decided to grab a cheap bite to eat at a small pizza parlor. After trying a pizza with some weird, sweet meat paste we glace over my shoulder and who is standing next to me but the famous MACAULAY CULKIN! He literally was right next to me in this pizza bar accompanied by two punkish body gaurds. For the record he is really short.

I´m still comming down from the excitment. Great end to a great stay in faboulus Barcelona. Lyon has a lot to live up to.

Eurokid

Two backpackers walk into a Barcelona...

Hola!

It is as if each new place we travel to keeps getting better and better. I fear that this trend cannot be sustained much longer.

Barcelona is absolutely great. The hostel where we have been staying has the best showers of the entire trip thus far. It is a huge improvement over the ones in London where, to operate, a button had to be pressed every 15 seconds or the water would stop and there was no temperature control. Other than the awesome bathrooms the facility is clean and has a quaint kitchenette where simple meals are easily produced.

The people here are also super fun. The first night the hostel organized a sangria night where we met a huge group of friends. The next night we went out with a group of 9 people to grab kebabs before heading out on the town. (FYI: drinks in Barcelona are extreeeeeeeeemely expensive if you are on La Rambla, the main street. We are talking €6 bottles of budwiser, €8 Vodka Redbulls, €8 Bloody Mary´s (sorry Kem), or €10 Mojitos. This is a far cry from the €1.8 liter bottles of beer in Lisbon. Moral of the story: pregame)

Today it was raining in the morning, but it cleared up and we made our way to the beach. This officially marked the first time I had set foot in the Mediterranean. It was awesome except for the large wave that almost stripped me of my speedo. Needless to say it was a huge wave. Tomorrow we plan on climbing a mountain that is only a few blocks away from our hostel and do some minor sight seeing before we leave the day after.

The trip will march forth as Raven and I fly to Lyon, France. A lot of other French cities would have cost over €100 to fly/train/bus to. Dunno what awaits on on the next leg, but if the past is any indication, it is going to be epic.

Adios!
Eurokid

Lisbon up! InPortugal announcement!

Ola!

Portugal is an unplanned success. Flying here was last minute worked out great. We flew EasyJet which was very nice and landed yesterday. It was a little sketchy comming in at night, but everything worked out well. After a few minutes of wandering around downtown Lisbon we found our Hostel, convientiely named "Home". After meeting a few English speakers from Kansas City and Austrailia it seemed to be appropriatly named.

Today Raven and I explored downtown where there are a multitude of statues and uneven streets. We also went to the ocean were a school of Magikarp tried to swim up on shore in an expansive school of lameity. Finally we and went to the local castle where the ramparts were ungaurded and deadly, but we managed to navigate them successfully and escape with our lives. It was sunny and a great day for walking. We also purchased some swimwear for tomorrow when we will travel to the beach with is about 30 minutes away.

Lisbon is great, but I still hold the west coast of the US in higher esteem. Next is Barcelona, in which I hope to utilize the 2 years of C+ Spanish I pushed out in highschool.

Hope all is well back home in the great state of Minesooooooooota.

Adeus!
Michael

Jolly Old England

Greetings from the tiny hamlet of London. It has been quite a trek so far and we are only 3 days in!

To recount the tale thus far, we had no issues at the MSP airport as we flew out of the Humphrey terminal. The flight to Iceland was pretty long. I was thinking it was a lot closer to North America, but now realize why it is still considered Europe. However, Iceland Air did provide me with ample leg room which I fancied.

Iceland was a barren desert and they have only a paltry selection of goods to consume in the airport: be advised.

The next leg flew us into London Heathrow and the fun began. We took the tube right to our hostel in Camden Town. We looked at the shops in the area. There are tons of them that have every single item you could ever want. The fashion here is pretty different too. I would venture to say different in a good way. After that we went back to the hostel for the night and passed out right away.

The next day we took in more traditional sights. We strolled through Regents Park, Queen Mary's Garden (Grandma Onie would love it), and down to the Eye of London. We didn't ride because the line and pricing were ridiculous. Instead we went to the aquarium which was delightful. After a long day of walking we tubed home and enjoyed a few glasses of London Ale. During this we met a load of people staying in the Hostel. 4 guys from Austrailia, 2 girls from the US, a girl from Canada, and one from Brazil. Everyone was super nice and we might hook up later on the trip.

Today was more a relaxing day in which I took not 1, but 4 naps. A little more strolling was done and now we will have our last night in London.

Small change in plans. We are going to Lisbon tomorrow instead of Paris because it worked out better.

I'll tell the story later my time is almost out.

Cheers!

Michael

The Sendoff

Tomorrow I leave for the Twin Cities where I will depart with my friend Raven on the European journey. The flight leaves from Minneapolis at 18:30 and I will arrive in London, Heathrow on the morning of the 2nd. I already booked my hostel over there for the first 3 days and will give an update on the venue as soon as I am able.

Thanks to everyone for your support over these last few weeks. I will be sure and keep this blog up to date with entertaining factoids about my trek.

Again thank you all!

Eurokid

First Entry

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