Alright my avid readers (and those who mistakenly got suckered into opening this page). I know I owe you all about 18 days of travel stories from my last adventure to England, Scotland, Ireland and Paris, but I am going to skip into the future (really the present) and give you an update on my journey.
Being away for the holidays is a very hard thing. You don't always realize how much you take your friends, family and food for granted on those days. Missing Halloween with friends was difficult as it is one of my favorite holidays. Luckily for me I had a great time in Budapest with Matt and Edit at a party where we did dress up, but it still just isn't the same as the Mountain Dewds Halloween party where my friends go all out for their costumes each year.
The second holiday I missed was Thanksgiving and this was much harder. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday of the year. You get all the benefits of Christmas (Family, food, fun +football) without any of the holiday stress (presents, shopping, etc). I was very blessed though as my roommate in Budapest, Matt Shaw, has parents living in Germany right now. They drove all the way (12-hours) to Budapest, brought a full Thanksgiving feast they bought on a US military base (food imported from the States) and then cooked the feast for us. So I got to have Thanksgiving with Matt, his parents, Edit, her brother Bobby and later Rozie who joined us after work. (Oddly enough they don't give Thanksgiving off in Europe....silly Europeans!)
It was a great time, but I still missed my family. I missed the cheesy potatoes, the pies, the jokes, the second cousins I see once or twice a year, I missed it all still. I thought, at least I will still be home for Christmas though.
All the while, Matt, Edit and his parents were talking about Matt and Edit's wedding on January 7th. I have been pretty bummed that I will be missing it, but money is running low and my visa expires before then. Matt and Edit have been sad too. I have been living with Matt for 3 months in a foreign country and I leave shortly before the wedding. He jokes that I am staying, whether I know it yet or not.
The more I listen the more I realize what I am really missing by not being there. Matt has become one of my closest friends these past three months. I have gotten to know Edit much better too and in her own country, where I am the foreigner instead. I have developed relationships with both of their families as well. Some friends are coming into Europe just for the wedding and let me tell you, this wedding is going to be crazy-awesome. I have seen the plans, it's going to be good.
Letting this all sink in I realize I do have a choice. Go home for Christmas or stay for the wedding. I can always leave the Schengen Zone - where my Visa has only 90 days - for a a few days and travel to some new countries, extending my visa back in Hungary. Also, but traveling less the last month and just hanging out in Hungary where it is much, much cheaper I can prevent my self from going completely broke.
So now I have two viable choices. Go home or stay an extra month. I feel so torn between the two. I am starting to really miss my family, friends, American food (seriously, don't take chipotle for granted people) and making money compared to just spending it. But Matt is a close friend, it's going to be an amazing wedding and other friends will be coming in for it.
On Thanksgiving I end up Skyping with my entire family while they celebrate the day. I got to talk to my family, and cousins and aunts and uncles. It was great and reinforced my desire to be home for Christmas, but I still couldn't shake the feeling that if I went home and missed the wedding I would forever regret it. It was that same feeling I got when I thought about choosing to keep my job and not travel to Europe.
So I did the only logical thing, called my parents and asked for advice. You may be thinking, "Asked your parents, come on man." But here is the truth, my parents are awesome, smart, experienced and honest. They give me real feedback, even if it goes against their own interests. I can really trust the advice they give me they have thought about.
When I explain my dilemma the first thing my Mom says is, "You should stay, you will regret it if you don't. I will miss you for Christmas, but we will have lots more Christmases. Figure out the cost of staying, if you can afford it and then decide, but I would stay." My Dad echoed the advise. They told me to live life, avoid regrets and take advantage of unique opportunities like this. I have the rest of my life to do average things, take the opportunities to do the unique.
I call US Airways, which I have had terrible customer service experience with before and ask about flight changes. They person I got was awesome. She found a flight leaving a month later from the same location, no additional cost past the change-flight fee ($250) and she waived the fee to change it through the customer service line. I told her what I was doing and we had a great 10 minute chat about how she did the same thing at my age and its the best decision she ever made.
With that I changed my flight, added a month to my journey and was able to give Matt and Edit an awesome wedding gift. It is the wedding gift because I can't really afford another now. And it came with the condition that they had to keep housing me up until the wedding. Not a problem luckily.
So now I come home on January 12, instead of December 14th. I will miss Christmas with my family and my cousin Kelsey's wedding. (I am sorry Kelsey! you won't notice my absence, so it is okay, you will be having too much fun) But I get to explore some new countries, be there for my friends wedding and act as a tour guide to my friends that are coming into Budapest.
A hard choice, but one with out regret. I can only hope to keep that up the rest of my life.
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Monday, November 21, 2011
Oh London, What Else Can You Offer?
One of the main advantages not spending money to do tours of the attractions is you spend less time at each attraction giving you more time to see more attractions. I have mastered the art of flying through a city and seeing all the sites. I spend enough time at each one to soak it up and starting to get that tingle of boredom that nudges me to move on. Art museums are the worst, I can only see so many pictures of Jesus painted in the same style before I start to envy him knowing that in that painting, his end is coming soon and I still have about 100 rooms of similar paintings to see. Don't get me wrong, I love Jesus, but I can only see so many depressing paintings of him hanging on a cross before I lose my appreciation for Renaissance painters.
But I digress. Today is my last full day in London and I still have quite a few things to see. I start my morning with a lovely English breakfast. That is baked beans, ham, cereal, yogurt and toast. That is quite literally the famous English breakfast and my hostel has it for free every morning from 7am-11am (awesome).
After my tasty breakfast I decide to go to see the Tower of London first. I go to the metro (called the "tubes" in the UK), buy my day pass for 6 pounds and make my way there. The ticket to enter is about $20, which isn't too bad since it comes with a free tour from a Beefeater. Beefeaters are the guards of the Tower of London. They have silly looking outfits and usually have a halberd as their weapon of choice (imagine a spear with an axe added into it). Yes, the Gin, Beefeater, is named after them.
We go on start the tour and right away I can tell my guide is great at his job. Good wit, great joke timing and has a way of seeing when the crowd is growing restless and shaking things up to get their attention back.
He tells us the history behind this bloody fortress/castle. My favorite moment is when he notices a little kid staring out a window a few stories up. It looks very erie because the window is kind of foggy and makes the kid look ghost like this. I had noticed this too. Taking advantage quickly, he tells the story of a ghost in these parts and says, "he takes the form of a 12-year-old boy and can sometimes be seen looking out that window." (pointing to the window of the boy). People look up, some gasp, some jump, a few mildly scream with fright and others laugh. The kid just stares at us 50+ people not staring at him and he waves. His father (I assume) walks up tells him to come on and then looks out and sees all of us staring at him. He awkwardly steps back out of view. It was great and you could tell by the guides chuckle the timing was perfect and it was all impromptu.
He goes on doing a great job of entertaining and educating us. His favorite way to get our attention is to out of no where turn and scream at the person next to him mid-sentence. I saw one lady jump about 3 feet in the air and tuck into a ball fearing for her life. He finally takes us into the church they have there, gives us some more information and then answers questions...kind of. He reads our minds instead and answers those questions, which happen to be all the ones people wanted to ask....damn he is good.
Great facts:
- No one knows where the term Beefeater comes from. It got made up at some point and just stuck.
- Being a Beefeater is one of the greatest honors. You have to serve 20+ years in the Royal Army, Navy or Airforce to qualify. The benefits are great and leisurely. You are also part of the Queen's Royal Guard and occasionally, but rarely escort her places.
- You get a free bottle of Beefeater from the company every year on your birthday
After the tour I go and see the royal jewels, housed in the Tower. Let me say, OH MY GAWD! They are incredible. The Star of Africa (biggest cut diamond in the world) is amazing. I could stare at it for hours. I spent the entire time thinking how could I steal the crown jewels, in fact. You may not be a fan of jewels, but you need to see these if you are ever in London. The value of them would literally rival and exceed a great deal of smaller nations.
I then went through the armory. They have historical weapons, but also a display of modern ones and gifts over the last few hundreds of years from other countries. I even saw a hand gun coated in diamonds and saffaires. They even made a dragon out of weapons, which is the coolest dragon I have ever seen.
After getting my fill of Royal wealth I decide to leave the tower, wander through the city and eventually end up at the modern art museum. The building is as ugly as it gets. Think 1984 factory and you got the building. Maybe what they were going for, not sure, but if it was ugly, they nailed it.
I am not a huge fan of modern art, but they have some Van Gogh, Dali, Matese and Piccaso, so it is a must see. I don't spend a lot of time in there. I got yelled at by some high school trying to draw a Dali painting because I was looking at it. I spent half my visit thinking about how I should have told her off for how rude she was and that you can't expect people not to look at famous pieces of artwork because you want to sit 15 feet from it and draw it for 4 hours.
After the museum, I wander the city more. I find my way to the Occupy London protest area. They are camped out. I walk around and see how things are set up. It is pretty interesting. They have housing areas, a tent for food with supplies, a command tent where they get together to discuss various things. It is pretty well organized to be honest.
After this I make my way back to the British Museum. I only saw about 1/3 of the museum and wanted to see the rest or at least just more. When I finally leave the museum it is about 5pm, dark and pouring rain. I have to run to the metro station, which gets me completely soaked in the process. So soaked that when I got back to my hostel I had to use a towel to dry off.
With the rain going full speed I spent the rest of the night in the bar making new friends and in the lobby milling around on my iPad and watching cheesy British tv shows. Some of which are hilarious and I could see my self getting into if I had the time....oh wait, I do, but I am busy watching Community at this point.
After a long day of walking I hit the hay, knowing tomorrow I leave London and head first to Lavenham to visit where my Mom's side of the family is from and then to meet up with my Chris Stewart who is living just North of there. Going to be a good day I can tell.
But I digress. Today is my last full day in London and I still have quite a few things to see. I start my morning with a lovely English breakfast. That is baked beans, ham, cereal, yogurt and toast. That is quite literally the famous English breakfast and my hostel has it for free every morning from 7am-11am (awesome).
After my tasty breakfast I decide to go to see the Tower of London first. I go to the metro (called the "tubes" in the UK), buy my day pass for 6 pounds and make my way there. The ticket to enter is about $20, which isn't too bad since it comes with a free tour from a Beefeater. Beefeaters are the guards of the Tower of London. They have silly looking outfits and usually have a halberd as their weapon of choice (imagine a spear with an axe added into it). Yes, the Gin, Beefeater, is named after them.
We go on start the tour and right away I can tell my guide is great at his job. Good wit, great joke timing and has a way of seeing when the crowd is growing restless and shaking things up to get their attention back.
He tells us the history behind this bloody fortress/castle. My favorite moment is when he notices a little kid staring out a window a few stories up. It looks very erie because the window is kind of foggy and makes the kid look ghost like this. I had noticed this too. Taking advantage quickly, he tells the story of a ghost in these parts and says, "he takes the form of a 12-year-old boy and can sometimes be seen looking out that window." (pointing to the window of the boy). People look up, some gasp, some jump, a few mildly scream with fright and others laugh. The kid just stares at us 50+ people not staring at him and he waves. His father (I assume) walks up tells him to come on and then looks out and sees all of us staring at him. He awkwardly steps back out of view. It was great and you could tell by the guides chuckle the timing was perfect and it was all impromptu.
He goes on doing a great job of entertaining and educating us. His favorite way to get our attention is to out of no where turn and scream at the person next to him mid-sentence. I saw one lady jump about 3 feet in the air and tuck into a ball fearing for her life. He finally takes us into the church they have there, gives us some more information and then answers questions...kind of. He reads our minds instead and answers those questions, which happen to be all the ones people wanted to ask....damn he is good.
Great facts:
- No one knows where the term Beefeater comes from. It got made up at some point and just stuck.
- Being a Beefeater is one of the greatest honors. You have to serve 20+ years in the Royal Army, Navy or Airforce to qualify. The benefits are great and leisurely. You are also part of the Queen's Royal Guard and occasionally, but rarely escort her places.
- You get a free bottle of Beefeater from the company every year on your birthday
After the tour I go and see the royal jewels, housed in the Tower. Let me say, OH MY GAWD! They are incredible. The Star of Africa (biggest cut diamond in the world) is amazing. I could stare at it for hours. I spent the entire time thinking how could I steal the crown jewels, in fact. You may not be a fan of jewels, but you need to see these if you are ever in London. The value of them would literally rival and exceed a great deal of smaller nations.
I then went through the armory. They have historical weapons, but also a display of modern ones and gifts over the last few hundreds of years from other countries. I even saw a hand gun coated in diamonds and saffaires. They even made a dragon out of weapons, which is the coolest dragon I have ever seen.
After getting my fill of Royal wealth I decide to leave the tower, wander through the city and eventually end up at the modern art museum. The building is as ugly as it gets. Think 1984 factory and you got the building. Maybe what they were going for, not sure, but if it was ugly, they nailed it.
I am not a huge fan of modern art, but they have some Van Gogh, Dali, Matese and Piccaso, so it is a must see. I don't spend a lot of time in there. I got yelled at by some high school trying to draw a Dali painting because I was looking at it. I spent half my visit thinking about how I should have told her off for how rude she was and that you can't expect people not to look at famous pieces of artwork because you want to sit 15 feet from it and draw it for 4 hours.
After the museum, I wander the city more. I find my way to the Occupy London protest area. They are camped out. I walk around and see how things are set up. It is pretty interesting. They have housing areas, a tent for food with supplies, a command tent where they get together to discuss various things. It is pretty well organized to be honest.
After this I make my way back to the British Museum. I only saw about 1/3 of the museum and wanted to see the rest or at least just more. When I finally leave the museum it is about 5pm, dark and pouring rain. I have to run to the metro station, which gets me completely soaked in the process. So soaked that when I got back to my hostel I had to use a towel to dry off.
With the rain going full speed I spent the rest of the night in the bar making new friends and in the lobby milling around on my iPad and watching cheesy British tv shows. Some of which are hilarious and I could see my self getting into if I had the time....oh wait, I do, but I am busy watching Community at this point.
After a long day of walking I hit the hay, knowing tomorrow I leave London and head first to Lavenham to visit where my Mom's side of the family is from and then to meet up with my Chris Stewart who is living just North of there. Going to be a good day I can tell.
Saturday, November 19, 2011
Stonehenge
For my second full day in England I am leaving the city and going a place I have dreamed about seeing since I was a little kid; Stonehenge. It is about 2-2.5 hour drive from London. I book a day tour out there for about $40 (cheapest way there). I have to get up at 6:30am (I hate mornings) to catch the bus there, but worth it.
After a bit of a bus drive, a little napping and some snacks I arrive at this fabled location. I can't begin to explain my excitement. These stones are even bigger than I thought. I always thought it was amazing that humans somehow built this structure, but being there made it even more incredible. I learn about how some of the stones (10 tons+) were brought over 100 miles to the site....5000 years ago. How do you even do that? Aliens and magic that is how. Or at least those two theories are gained weight in my mind since seeing these amazing structure.
We have about an hour and 1/2 at the site. I walk around, take as many pictures as humanly possible and listen to an audio tour. Mostly, I just take in the environment. It is an amazing feeling checking off a dream on your list that has been there since you were 8.
After a peaceful drive back through the southern English country side I arrive back in London. It is about 1pm and it gets dark around 4:30pm already. I go get lunch and head to the Natural History Museum, which is close to the drop off point from my recent excursion.
At the museum I walk around most of the attractions, but focus mostly on the geology section. They have an awesome rock and gems collection. They have a bunch of rare jewels that are impressive in size and quality. One diamond changes 4 or 5 colors based on where you look at it and is like 50 Karats (for non-gem enthusiasts, if a guy buys his fiance a 1 karat diamond it means true love, 50 karats is the wife asking if she can add more women to the relationship). Additionally, they have a sweet collection of moon rocks and meteors.
After leaving the museum I hop onto a city tour bus (using it for transportation). I end up sitting next to a guy my age and girl from Belgium who are vacationing in London for a few days. After talking for a bit I find this guy is as much a gamer as I am. We start talking about new games that have come out, what we are playing, what we have played etc. Our taste seems to be pretty similar, if not the exact same. The girl is rolling her eyes and laughing at us. She was really cute too. I wanted to ask if it was his GF or family member, but never dared. I rode on the bus with them for about 30 minutes, then got off and parted ways never to see each other again. I didn't think about exchanging Facebook info or something until after. Oh well I guess.
I walk back to my hostel as it is getting dark at this point. The walk takes about 40 minutes, but is nice and relaxing. This gives me more of a chance to see the city.
That night at the hostel I hang out in the bar attached to it (same owners). Three of the staff members have just started learning Texas Hold'em and wanted to play that night. Over hearing this I offer to join. Four of us spend the next 2 hours or so playing some cards and chatting. One of them is the manager of the hostel and bar and gets us all free drinks while we play (worth the 5 pounds I lost). I won a grand total of two hands. It was not a good night for me, I couldn't get a good hand to save my life, let alone my chips. But it was fun none the less.
After the game and another beer I decide to hit the hay. I have been up since 6:30am at this point and ready to collapse. Tomorrow is more London tourist sites, including the Tower of London that my Mom made me promise I would pay to tour (on threat of my life). I just hope the weather works out.
After a bit of a bus drive, a little napping and some snacks I arrive at this fabled location. I can't begin to explain my excitement. These stones are even bigger than I thought. I always thought it was amazing that humans somehow built this structure, but being there made it even more incredible. I learn about how some of the stones (10 tons+) were brought over 100 miles to the site....5000 years ago. How do you even do that? Aliens and magic that is how. Or at least those two theories are gained weight in my mind since seeing these amazing structure.
We have about an hour and 1/2 at the site. I walk around, take as many pictures as humanly possible and listen to an audio tour. Mostly, I just take in the environment. It is an amazing feeling checking off a dream on your list that has been there since you were 8.
After a peaceful drive back through the southern English country side I arrive back in London. It is about 1pm and it gets dark around 4:30pm already. I go get lunch and head to the Natural History Museum, which is close to the drop off point from my recent excursion.
At the museum I walk around most of the attractions, but focus mostly on the geology section. They have an awesome rock and gems collection. They have a bunch of rare jewels that are impressive in size and quality. One diamond changes 4 or 5 colors based on where you look at it and is like 50 Karats (for non-gem enthusiasts, if a guy buys his fiance a 1 karat diamond it means true love, 50 karats is the wife asking if she can add more women to the relationship). Additionally, they have a sweet collection of moon rocks and meteors.
After leaving the museum I hop onto a city tour bus (using it for transportation). I end up sitting next to a guy my age and girl from Belgium who are vacationing in London for a few days. After talking for a bit I find this guy is as much a gamer as I am. We start talking about new games that have come out, what we are playing, what we have played etc. Our taste seems to be pretty similar, if not the exact same. The girl is rolling her eyes and laughing at us. She was really cute too. I wanted to ask if it was his GF or family member, but never dared. I rode on the bus with them for about 30 minutes, then got off and parted ways never to see each other again. I didn't think about exchanging Facebook info or something until after. Oh well I guess.
I walk back to my hostel as it is getting dark at this point. The walk takes about 40 minutes, but is nice and relaxing. This gives me more of a chance to see the city.
That night at the hostel I hang out in the bar attached to it (same owners). Three of the staff members have just started learning Texas Hold'em and wanted to play that night. Over hearing this I offer to join. Four of us spend the next 2 hours or so playing some cards and chatting. One of them is the manager of the hostel and bar and gets us all free drinks while we play (worth the 5 pounds I lost). I won a grand total of two hands. It was not a good night for me, I couldn't get a good hand to save my life, let alone my chips. But it was fun none the less.
After the game and another beer I decide to hit the hay. I have been up since 6:30am at this point and ready to collapse. Tomorrow is more London tourist sites, including the Tower of London that my Mom made me promise I would pay to tour (on threat of my life). I just hope the weather works out.
My 20 Euro Lesson on Scams
I have been pretty proud of myself while in Europe. I have spotted and avoided numerous scams. I have steered clear of dangerous situations, haven't been pick-pocketed or had anything stolen in a hostel. The problem with continued success is you eventually let your guard down. You think your self too lucky or invincible. As soon as you are confident you can't be scammed, you will be.
Here is my scam story. I am in Paris, walking along the beautiful river on my way to Notre Dame. I stop on a bridge to watch a group of people bet on the old "which cup is the ball in" game. It was slightly different though. There were 3 black coasters, one had a white mark on its bottom. I watched for awhile, people winning and losing and every guess of mine was correct. I told a few people which one to pick, they won 50 Euros and it was a good day. They tried to get me to play, but I only had 5 Euros on me and the minimum bet was 50. The guy next to, who I just won 50 Euros offered me his and said "just go to an ATM and pay me back if you lose." I ignore this and keep watching.
Now, the real trick I noticed is that when the person reaches for their wallet to bet, the guy switches the coasters real fast. You are certain it is the left, which it was, but that 1/2 second glance away he switches it to the middle. I have watched this and am ready. I am positive which one it is (the right) and take the 50 and bet. Boom, I am wrong. It was the middle. But I was so careful to keep my eyes on the coaster, what happened?!
Rule number 1 on getting scammed: If you are absolutely sure you will win, you are guaranteed to lose.
Scammers don't want 5 bucks, they want 50. They don't want you to be unsure, because if you bet unsure and lose you walk away. If you win you might walk away too. They want you to be 100% convinced you are right, because that is when you go all in. And when you lose, that is when you bet a second time to prove your self right, make your money back, etc.
So I lost and the guy next to me suggests we go get the money. My Spidey Sense has been tingling this entire time, but I am curious just how far the rabbit hole goes, so I go with it. We go find an ATM. He asks a few people where one is, but at the same time, he seems to know (Flag #1).
While walking we chat, he is from Pakistan visiting his uncle for 3 weeks in Paris, doesn't make a lot back home (economy) and wants to move to Europe where you make a lot more. (flag #2, he is better 50 euros and doesn't make a lot?) He is around the same age I am, mid-twenties.
Along the way a few people holler at him, which is strange if he is new to the area (flag #3 and the one that fully convinces me he is in on the scam).
When we get to the ATM he waits across the street for my privacy (flag #4 - he seems to know what he is doing and not wanting to be seen).
So we start walking back to the bridge, he makes a phone call that no one picks up (flag #5, warning his conspirators). I don't give him the money. I say I will give it to him when we get back to the game (playing my cards now). When we get somewhat close he stops and says "oh no, cops at the bridge, we shouldn't go over there, you can just pay me here."
Now it is my turn. He has fully revealed he is in on the scam, there is no question in my mind anymore. I say, "oh man, I don't see any cops, but even if there are did we do anything illegal, right? Lets keep walking and see what is up, there shouldn't be a problem." He says something about not having his papers and not wanting to risk it. I said that is fine, but I am going to the bridge and they is where he will get paid.
We start walking again, about half way there from where we first stopped, he stops me again and says "see them!" At this point he starts getting very close to my body and behind me. Not in a threatening way, but it is a pick-pocketing move. He is trying to get at my wallet. Too bad for him I am aware of how pick-pocketers work and I box him out, not letting him get in position, eventually pinning my wallet against a wall. He gives up after a few seconds and backs off. He keeps claiming there are police, I say where, he points at normal people. There are no police.
This is where I turn it. I say, "Listen, I know this is a scam, I knew it was a scam when we started walking to the ATM (list off reasons). You are in on the scam with the other people playing. You win and lose, duping people to play, distract them while they switch and then go to the ATM with them to collect the money they owe you. Very crafty, nice try." He tries to deny it, but he loses his poker face. I called him on the scam to the T and he knows it, he can't hide that he is partly afraid I will go to the cops, partly impressed that I nailed it. He says, "fine, no money." Then he says, "Twenty, just twenty." This only proves more that it is a scam. Why would anyone settle for part of the money I "owed" them.
I give him 20 Euros anyway. You may be thinking, "WHAT?! Why? you had him, you didn't have to give him a dime, why give 20 Euros to a scammer?" Because, I needed to learn my lesson. In order to learn a lesson like this, I need a negative consequence, a.k.a. losing money. I called it my 20 Euro lesson. I handed him the 20 and said, "Good scam, I am not giving you this because I owe you any money, I am doing it to teach my self a lesson. I have to lose to learn." He grins, confused but satisfied, possibly a little pity and I walk back to the bridge.
The people playing are all gone, as I thought. I decide to head back and see if I can't find the guy. I find him, talking to another guy who I think was at the game. I say they are gone, compliment him on the scam and let him know he is the first person to get me while in Europe. He continues to deny it, but eventually breaks. He finally says, "This is how I make my living, this is my job." I laugh, he laughs and we rid our selves of the barrier that was the lie.
I start to ask him more about the scam. He explains how they work together, how they switch the coasters, etc. He gives me all the details and it is pretty interesting to learn about. He looks at the guy next to him, says something in another language, the guy looks confused and concerned and then reaches into his pants (not his pockets, his pants) and pulls out three coasters. The guy takes them and shows me how they move them so quickly and stealthily. I feel pretty honored at this point. The other scammer obviously thought he was crazy for showing this all to me.
The guy says, "I like you, you are quick, no one ever calls me out on it." He tells me never to play any street games, they are all scams. I ask him about some other scams in Paris.
He tells me about a few different ones to look out for. The most annoying is these girls who ask for your signature for the handicap. I have already been assaulted by at least a dozen of these people. They are everywhere. After you sign, the bother you for a Euro or two. They often won't let you pass. One refused to let me pass. It was literally about 30 seconds of me trying to side-step her. I finally looked at her and told her to "move now" in a very unpleasant voice and she bitterly walked away. The scam is they don't work for anyone, they just take your euro for themselves (big surprise). I have a policy of not signing anything. I only sign things I have fully researched and am 100% certain the paper I am signing is officially part of that organization, but I digress.
I keep chatting with him and his friend for a little bit. At the end he says, "here you can have your 20 Euro's back." That is right, the scammer offered me my money back. I never asked, he offered. That showed me he wasn't kidding when he said he was impressed. I told him, "No thanks, I was serious when I said I need to lose to learn my less. 20 Euros is the price I paid to teach me never to play games like that again."
You might wonder why I need to lose to learn my lesson. Can't I just learn it from the experience and be smarter? No, do you remember in the start of this post about how we become confident and think we are too smart for scammers or invincible? That is why. Even after it all if I walked away unscathed I would still have the feeling of invincibility. I would think even if I get scammed, I can talk my way out of it (probably true). I need a scar to look at every time and think, "nope, you don't walk away unscathed." If I would have gotten my money back, I would have been winning, not losing and losing teaches us not to do it again.
A waste for 20 Euros to you is a great blog post for me. Plus I felt the guy got me pretty good, he earned some of that money. I am not a easy person to scam, though it is possible.
Here is my scam story. I am in Paris, walking along the beautiful river on my way to Notre Dame. I stop on a bridge to watch a group of people bet on the old "which cup is the ball in" game. It was slightly different though. There were 3 black coasters, one had a white mark on its bottom. I watched for awhile, people winning and losing and every guess of mine was correct. I told a few people which one to pick, they won 50 Euros and it was a good day. They tried to get me to play, but I only had 5 Euros on me and the minimum bet was 50. The guy next to, who I just won 50 Euros offered me his and said "just go to an ATM and pay me back if you lose." I ignore this and keep watching.
Now, the real trick I noticed is that when the person reaches for their wallet to bet, the guy switches the coasters real fast. You are certain it is the left, which it was, but that 1/2 second glance away he switches it to the middle. I have watched this and am ready. I am positive which one it is (the right) and take the 50 and bet. Boom, I am wrong. It was the middle. But I was so careful to keep my eyes on the coaster, what happened?!
Rule number 1 on getting scammed: If you are absolutely sure you will win, you are guaranteed to lose.
Scammers don't want 5 bucks, they want 50. They don't want you to be unsure, because if you bet unsure and lose you walk away. If you win you might walk away too. They want you to be 100% convinced you are right, because that is when you go all in. And when you lose, that is when you bet a second time to prove your self right, make your money back, etc.
So I lost and the guy next to me suggests we go get the money. My Spidey Sense has been tingling this entire time, but I am curious just how far the rabbit hole goes, so I go with it. We go find an ATM. He asks a few people where one is, but at the same time, he seems to know (Flag #1).
While walking we chat, he is from Pakistan visiting his uncle for 3 weeks in Paris, doesn't make a lot back home (economy) and wants to move to Europe where you make a lot more. (flag #2, he is better 50 euros and doesn't make a lot?) He is around the same age I am, mid-twenties.
Along the way a few people holler at him, which is strange if he is new to the area (flag #3 and the one that fully convinces me he is in on the scam).
When we get to the ATM he waits across the street for my privacy (flag #4 - he seems to know what he is doing and not wanting to be seen).
So we start walking back to the bridge, he makes a phone call that no one picks up (flag #5, warning his conspirators). I don't give him the money. I say I will give it to him when we get back to the game (playing my cards now). When we get somewhat close he stops and says "oh no, cops at the bridge, we shouldn't go over there, you can just pay me here."
Now it is my turn. He has fully revealed he is in on the scam, there is no question in my mind anymore. I say, "oh man, I don't see any cops, but even if there are did we do anything illegal, right? Lets keep walking and see what is up, there shouldn't be a problem." He says something about not having his papers and not wanting to risk it. I said that is fine, but I am going to the bridge and they is where he will get paid.
We start walking again, about half way there from where we first stopped, he stops me again and says "see them!" At this point he starts getting very close to my body and behind me. Not in a threatening way, but it is a pick-pocketing move. He is trying to get at my wallet. Too bad for him I am aware of how pick-pocketers work and I box him out, not letting him get in position, eventually pinning my wallet against a wall. He gives up after a few seconds and backs off. He keeps claiming there are police, I say where, he points at normal people. There are no police.
This is where I turn it. I say, "Listen, I know this is a scam, I knew it was a scam when we started walking to the ATM (list off reasons). You are in on the scam with the other people playing. You win and lose, duping people to play, distract them while they switch and then go to the ATM with them to collect the money they owe you. Very crafty, nice try." He tries to deny it, but he loses his poker face. I called him on the scam to the T and he knows it, he can't hide that he is partly afraid I will go to the cops, partly impressed that I nailed it. He says, "fine, no money." Then he says, "Twenty, just twenty." This only proves more that it is a scam. Why would anyone settle for part of the money I "owed" them.
I give him 20 Euros anyway. You may be thinking, "WHAT?! Why? you had him, you didn't have to give him a dime, why give 20 Euros to a scammer?" Because, I needed to learn my lesson. In order to learn a lesson like this, I need a negative consequence, a.k.a. losing money. I called it my 20 Euro lesson. I handed him the 20 and said, "Good scam, I am not giving you this because I owe you any money, I am doing it to teach my self a lesson. I have to lose to learn." He grins, confused but satisfied, possibly a little pity and I walk back to the bridge.
The people playing are all gone, as I thought. I decide to head back and see if I can't find the guy. I find him, talking to another guy who I think was at the game. I say they are gone, compliment him on the scam and let him know he is the first person to get me while in Europe. He continues to deny it, but eventually breaks. He finally says, "This is how I make my living, this is my job." I laugh, he laughs and we rid our selves of the barrier that was the lie.
I start to ask him more about the scam. He explains how they work together, how they switch the coasters, etc. He gives me all the details and it is pretty interesting to learn about. He looks at the guy next to him, says something in another language, the guy looks confused and concerned and then reaches into his pants (not his pockets, his pants) and pulls out three coasters. The guy takes them and shows me how they move them so quickly and stealthily. I feel pretty honored at this point. The other scammer obviously thought he was crazy for showing this all to me.
The guy says, "I like you, you are quick, no one ever calls me out on it." He tells me never to play any street games, they are all scams. I ask him about some other scams in Paris.
He tells me about a few different ones to look out for. The most annoying is these girls who ask for your signature for the handicap. I have already been assaulted by at least a dozen of these people. They are everywhere. After you sign, the bother you for a Euro or two. They often won't let you pass. One refused to let me pass. It was literally about 30 seconds of me trying to side-step her. I finally looked at her and told her to "move now" in a very unpleasant voice and she bitterly walked away. The scam is they don't work for anyone, they just take your euro for themselves (big surprise). I have a policy of not signing anything. I only sign things I have fully researched and am 100% certain the paper I am signing is officially part of that organization, but I digress.
I keep chatting with him and his friend for a little bit. At the end he says, "here you can have your 20 Euro's back." That is right, the scammer offered me my money back. I never asked, he offered. That showed me he wasn't kidding when he said he was impressed. I told him, "No thanks, I was serious when I said I need to lose to learn my less. 20 Euros is the price I paid to teach me never to play games like that again."
You might wonder why I need to lose to learn my lesson. Can't I just learn it from the experience and be smarter? No, do you remember in the start of this post about how we become confident and think we are too smart for scammers or invincible? That is why. Even after it all if I walked away unscathed I would still have the feeling of invincibility. I would think even if I get scammed, I can talk my way out of it (probably true). I need a scar to look at every time and think, "nope, you don't walk away unscathed." If I would have gotten my money back, I would have been winning, not losing and losing teaches us not to do it again.
A waste for 20 Euros to you is a great blog post for me. Plus I felt the guy got me pretty good, he earned some of that money. I am not a easy person to scam, though it is possible.
Thursday, November 17, 2011
The American Dream
Traveling in Europe has completely changed me in a great number of ways, including mental, spiritual and even to a lesser degree physically. These changes have come from a series of revelations and epiphanies. The one I personally found most profound and personally influential is the reality of the American Dream.
I have spent this journey figuring out who I am, who I want to be and what I want to do with my life. These three questions are not easy to answer, but when better than backpacking across Europe by myself. While focusing on what I want to do with the rest of my life I started thinking about what are my dreams, what have my dreams been in the past and etc.
I started thinking about the American Dream. The concept of getting a good education, that leads to a good job, that leads to a well paying career, that leads to a family with a nice house, nice car, etc. This was the dream I was chasing for so long. I had a great job, a serious girlfriend, was payed decently and had money in the bank. I was strolling along life at a great pace. Then the girlfriend left and I was, for the first time in a long while, forced to review my dreams and think about my future. I realized that I was no longer pursuing my dream, my future was good but completely uninteresting to me and something needed to change. That is when I remembered my dream of traveling Europe. I quit my job (on good terms) and 4-weeks later was in Europe. I didn't think about the American Dream or any bigger picture, I just wanted to take this one step at a time.
While here in Europe I started diving deeper into my future and dreams and again started thinking about the American Dream. I kept thinking that it sounds nice, but I get the feeling inside like I want to run away from it. Something about it feels wrong, out of place, unnerving. But why? Why does the concept of a good job, nice house, happy family unnerve me? That is when it hit me. I has nothing to do with the dream, it is that fact that the American Dream is not mine, but someone else's.
This American Dream we have been born and raised to chased is not our own, but instead the dream of someone decades ago that was so appealing that they convinced the rest of the world that is what their dreams should be too. The American Dream is a dream for people who can't find their own. That is why it made me uncomfortable. The dream itself was fine, it was my instinct telling me that it wasn't my dream though. Run, find your own dream, chase that.
When you think about it, the American Dream promotes a lot of problems as well. It teaches us that you always need more, nothing is ever enough. A better paying job, a bigger house, a nicer car and so on. You are not fulfilling the dream until you have more. Look at the problems we have, people can't afford their bigger houses, their nicer cars and so many people I meet hate their jobs, but have to work them to "pay the bills." The bills are for things they don't even care about, but the American Dream has told us we need.
The two biggest dangers the American Dream has created are:
1) It has taught us to not to be content with what we have. We always need more and better.
2) It makes us unhappy for the sake of having more. It lures us into jobs/careers we hate without realizing it because we want more money, a bigger house, a nicer car.
Now I want a good job, I want a family someday and a house, but I want I job I really enjoy, even if I make less. I want to provide for my family, but they don't need the world given to them. A house is a house, if there is a roof, it is in a safe area, I am good. I don't need 3 rooms I hardly use.
But most important those are not my main dreams. When I cleared my vision of the fake American Dream I started seeing all the other dreams of mine that should be considered just as equal or more than the others.
I want to travel and see the world. If my job doesn't facilitate that, then I will find a new one. Life is too short to spend it doing things I don't enjoy. Maybe I will change my mind when/if I ever have kids, but I don't think I will. I think I will be willing to do more I dislike to provide for them than I am now, but I believe I will hold true to my belief and teacher them to do the same.
I want to take back the American Dream. I want to change it from acquiring more to pursuing happiness. That should be the American Dream, the pursuit of happiness. Go out and find your dream. Don't be afraid to leave a job. Jump into the dark, scary unknown. I did and it was the best choice I have ever made. I am now on the road to finding my own dream instead of living someone else's.
I have spent this journey figuring out who I am, who I want to be and what I want to do with my life. These three questions are not easy to answer, but when better than backpacking across Europe by myself. While focusing on what I want to do with the rest of my life I started thinking about what are my dreams, what have my dreams been in the past and etc.
I started thinking about the American Dream. The concept of getting a good education, that leads to a good job, that leads to a well paying career, that leads to a family with a nice house, nice car, etc. This was the dream I was chasing for so long. I had a great job, a serious girlfriend, was payed decently and had money in the bank. I was strolling along life at a great pace. Then the girlfriend left and I was, for the first time in a long while, forced to review my dreams and think about my future. I realized that I was no longer pursuing my dream, my future was good but completely uninteresting to me and something needed to change. That is when I remembered my dream of traveling Europe. I quit my job (on good terms) and 4-weeks later was in Europe. I didn't think about the American Dream or any bigger picture, I just wanted to take this one step at a time.
While here in Europe I started diving deeper into my future and dreams and again started thinking about the American Dream. I kept thinking that it sounds nice, but I get the feeling inside like I want to run away from it. Something about it feels wrong, out of place, unnerving. But why? Why does the concept of a good job, nice house, happy family unnerve me? That is when it hit me. I has nothing to do with the dream, it is that fact that the American Dream is not mine, but someone else's.
This American Dream we have been born and raised to chased is not our own, but instead the dream of someone decades ago that was so appealing that they convinced the rest of the world that is what their dreams should be too. The American Dream is a dream for people who can't find their own. That is why it made me uncomfortable. The dream itself was fine, it was my instinct telling me that it wasn't my dream though. Run, find your own dream, chase that.
When you think about it, the American Dream promotes a lot of problems as well. It teaches us that you always need more, nothing is ever enough. A better paying job, a bigger house, a nicer car and so on. You are not fulfilling the dream until you have more. Look at the problems we have, people can't afford their bigger houses, their nicer cars and so many people I meet hate their jobs, but have to work them to "pay the bills." The bills are for things they don't even care about, but the American Dream has told us we need.
The two biggest dangers the American Dream has created are:
1) It has taught us to not to be content with what we have. We always need more and better.
2) It makes us unhappy for the sake of having more. It lures us into jobs/careers we hate without realizing it because we want more money, a bigger house, a nicer car.
Now I want a good job, I want a family someday and a house, but I want I job I really enjoy, even if I make less. I want to provide for my family, but they don't need the world given to them. A house is a house, if there is a roof, it is in a safe area, I am good. I don't need 3 rooms I hardly use.
But most important those are not my main dreams. When I cleared my vision of the fake American Dream I started seeing all the other dreams of mine that should be considered just as equal or more than the others.
I want to travel and see the world. If my job doesn't facilitate that, then I will find a new one. Life is too short to spend it doing things I don't enjoy. Maybe I will change my mind when/if I ever have kids, but I don't think I will. I think I will be willing to do more I dislike to provide for them than I am now, but I believe I will hold true to my belief and teacher them to do the same.
I want to take back the American Dream. I want to change it from acquiring more to pursuing happiness. That should be the American Dream, the pursuit of happiness. Go out and find your dream. Don't be afraid to leave a job. Jump into the dark, scary unknown. I did and it was the best choice I have ever made. I am now on the road to finding my own dream instead of living someone else's.
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
London Day 1
London is much bigger than I thought. That may sound stupid, but what I have learned is that most cities in Europe are much smaller that we imagine in the States. In the States our cities are built much larger and more spread out, not so in Europe. London is pretty damn spread out. I tried walking from place to place, but it took way too much time and energy. The city is already pretty confusing compared to a lot of other cities. Finally, I decide to go the easy route. I buy a ticket on one of the "hop-on Hop-off" tour buses. This gives me free transit for the day and a rough layout of the city.
The full loop is a little over 2 hours. I do most of it seeing the major sites (London Bridge, Tower Bridge, London Tower, Big Ben, Parliament, the giant ferris wheel, etc). Pretty much most of the buildings to see. It gave me a great mental layout of the city and allowed me to map out my route for where and when I want to visit specific attractions.
I stop at Buckingham Palace first because I just happen to be in time for the Changing of the Guards, which only happens once a week. I watch the festivities with the other few thousand people there, listen to the music, etc and then decide to stroll through the beautiful park next to the palace.
I get on the bus again and get off near the British Art Museum and Traflagar Square. I hear there is a free Harry Potter walking tour leaving from this spot and decide to go on it. I have 45 minutes until it starts so I walk around the beautiful and large square. It has some monuments, giant lions you can climb on, the worlds largest ship-in-a-bottle and a giant count-down clock for the Olympics.
Finally, the tour starts and we start walking. The tour focuses on scenes from the movie that were filmed in London. It starts over very slow and sadly doesn't get any better. The tour guide is slow, it is taking forever and the stuff we are seeing isn't very impressive. It is small things. Then he says incorrect information about the movies. He describes a scene and completely gets what happens wrong. (when they are knocking out MM personal to steal their identities and Ron is dragging the women into the closet - the guide says he is saving Hermonie who has been knocked out when showing the photo). At this point I bail, not worth the time.
I decide instead to visit the art museum. A lot of it didn't interest me as it was similar Renaissance work I have seen too much of on this trip already. The exciting part was the Van Gogh's, Monet's, and Rembrant's they had. Including Van Gogh's Sunflower painting and Monet's Waterlillies. I admired those paintings for quite some time.
Eventually leaving the art museum I decide to head to yet another museum, but this time history instead of Art. I went to the British Museum as it is called. They have a hued collection of Egyptian, Roman and Greek artifacts. Including the Rosetta Stone. I stared at that stone for at least 20 minutes. It is both huge and beautiful. It has three languages on it. Hyroglypics, Ancient Greek and the Egyptian phonetic language.
I then walked around and saw plenty of other artifacts. They have the largest collection of pieces from the Parthenon from Greece outside of Greece. I just love history and got to see so many incredible pieces in one place. Soon after this the museum starts to close and I head back to my hostel.
Again, I find out how large the city is. My hostel doesn't seem far on the map, but the walk took 40+ minutes when it looked like 10 compared to other cities I have been in.
The night was pretty boring. At this hostel, I sadly haven't met any fun people to go out with at night so far, so I wander the area around my hostel and then chill out in the lobby chatting with random people and surfing the web.
But tomorrow, STONEHENGE!
The full loop is a little over 2 hours. I do most of it seeing the major sites (London Bridge, Tower Bridge, London Tower, Big Ben, Parliament, the giant ferris wheel, etc). Pretty much most of the buildings to see. It gave me a great mental layout of the city and allowed me to map out my route for where and when I want to visit specific attractions.
I stop at Buckingham Palace first because I just happen to be in time for the Changing of the Guards, which only happens once a week. I watch the festivities with the other few thousand people there, listen to the music, etc and then decide to stroll through the beautiful park next to the palace.
I get on the bus again and get off near the British Art Museum and Traflagar Square. I hear there is a free Harry Potter walking tour leaving from this spot and decide to go on it. I have 45 minutes until it starts so I walk around the beautiful and large square. It has some monuments, giant lions you can climb on, the worlds largest ship-in-a-bottle and a giant count-down clock for the Olympics.
Finally, the tour starts and we start walking. The tour focuses on scenes from the movie that were filmed in London. It starts over very slow and sadly doesn't get any better. The tour guide is slow, it is taking forever and the stuff we are seeing isn't very impressive. It is small things. Then he says incorrect information about the movies. He describes a scene and completely gets what happens wrong. (when they are knocking out MM personal to steal their identities and Ron is dragging the women into the closet - the guide says he is saving Hermonie who has been knocked out when showing the photo). At this point I bail, not worth the time.
I decide instead to visit the art museum. A lot of it didn't interest me as it was similar Renaissance work I have seen too much of on this trip already. The exciting part was the Van Gogh's, Monet's, and Rembrant's they had. Including Van Gogh's Sunflower painting and Monet's Waterlillies. I admired those paintings for quite some time.
Eventually leaving the art museum I decide to head to yet another museum, but this time history instead of Art. I went to the British Museum as it is called. They have a hued collection of Egyptian, Roman and Greek artifacts. Including the Rosetta Stone. I stared at that stone for at least 20 minutes. It is both huge and beautiful. It has three languages on it. Hyroglypics, Ancient Greek and the Egyptian phonetic language.
I then walked around and saw plenty of other artifacts. They have the largest collection of pieces from the Parthenon from Greece outside of Greece. I just love history and got to see so many incredible pieces in one place. Soon after this the museum starts to close and I head back to my hostel.
Again, I find out how large the city is. My hostel doesn't seem far on the map, but the walk took 40+ minutes when it looked like 10 compared to other cities I have been in.
The night was pretty boring. At this hostel, I sadly haven't met any fun people to go out with at night so far, so I wander the area around my hostel and then chill out in the lobby chatting with random people and surfing the web.
But tomorrow, STONEHENGE!
And Off to England!
England is one of the destinations I am most excited about visiting for a host of reasons.
1) It has been #2 on my countries to visit since I made that list (#1 being Italy, #3 Japan). Just visiting there will finish off #2, while #1 already got taken down at the start of my travels.
2) A great deal of my ancestors are English. My Mom's family (The Springs) were a wealthily family in a small town called Lavenham from 1200-1800 roughly. I wanted to visit this village where the church is covered in our family crest. On the stone, in stain glass windows and the rich patron, Thomas Spring, is buried inside the church. Any of our family that has visited England has been to Lavenham, so it feels like a right of passage.
3) Stonehenge and the Rosseta Stone are both in England. Growing up I was obsessed with Stonehenge and the mysteries it creates. This is a dream in its self just visiting. Rosseta Stone is a smaller victory, but it is one of the artifacts I have most wanted to see in my life. I have always said I will see it before I die.
4) One of my good friends from high school, Chris Stewart, is living in England right now and it will be great to visit another friend.
I left around 3pm and flew into Brussels and took the EuroStar train from Brussels to London (2 hours or so). Now I did this to save money, but def. failed because of a lack of planning ahead. A flight to Brussels was $60. A flight to London was $160. That is a no brainer. But I didn't realize the train was going to be so family expensive. ($110). So I ended up spending more and taking longer to get there. Bummer, but that is okay. Life is a journey and more often than not, when my plans go wrong or I fail to plan, that is when the best things happen. So I am okay with these kind of travel mistakes.
It was rather exciting to get on the train too. I forgot that the UK is not under the same travel agreement that most of Europe is. You have to go through customs and get your Visa stamped. While I am about to customs I am reading a sign that says you can't bring in guns, mace, explosives and knives to the UK....wait...knives.....like the one in my back pack that has a 6 inch double-sided blade that I carry for worst case scenarios........whelp that bag is about to go through the scanner. I am thinking "do I tell them and just ask them to throw it away or play it cool and say I forgot?" My bag goes through, they hand it back to me and say have a nice day. That is right, they did not catch a decently large knife. Given it is just a train, but still. Think about it, I am officially a weapon smuggler. Already illegally smuggled a knife into the UK! (And then threw that sucker away when I got in the country because I have no desire to get caught with it!)
I had a great train ride talking to a variety of other passengers. Some from England who loved America and hate the French. A great quote is, "I hate the chunnel, I wish we could build one with America and blow this one up, who needs the French!" I played Gin with some New Zealanders who are living and working in England for a year or two. All and all it was a great time.
I got off the train at King's Cross. I then promptly looked for my train to Hogwarts (it is the station they take in Harry Potter to go to Hogwarts).
I head off for my hostel, which luckily for me is two blocks over. I check in (it is around 9pm), settle into my room and read a poster that says "halloween party on patio." I think okay, kind of lame I am sure, but than I read the part that says, "free food," and think this might be an awesome party.
I go to the patio for my free food and there are about 15 people there. You can carve pumpkins for free, eat food and drink mulled wine. I see a group of 5 girls so naturally I introduce myself and sit down. I had a good conversation with them. Each is living and working in London, but from a different area. 1 from Germany, 1 from Spain, 1 from Italy and 2 from Australia.
After some good chatting I decide to call it a night and hit the hay excited for my first day in London!
1) It has been #2 on my countries to visit since I made that list (#1 being Italy, #3 Japan). Just visiting there will finish off #2, while #1 already got taken down at the start of my travels.
2) A great deal of my ancestors are English. My Mom's family (The Springs) were a wealthily family in a small town called Lavenham from 1200-1800 roughly. I wanted to visit this village where the church is covered in our family crest. On the stone, in stain glass windows and the rich patron, Thomas Spring, is buried inside the church. Any of our family that has visited England has been to Lavenham, so it feels like a right of passage.
3) Stonehenge and the Rosseta Stone are both in England. Growing up I was obsessed with Stonehenge and the mysteries it creates. This is a dream in its self just visiting. Rosseta Stone is a smaller victory, but it is one of the artifacts I have most wanted to see in my life. I have always said I will see it before I die.
4) One of my good friends from high school, Chris Stewart, is living in England right now and it will be great to visit another friend.
I left around 3pm and flew into Brussels and took the EuroStar train from Brussels to London (2 hours or so). Now I did this to save money, but def. failed because of a lack of planning ahead. A flight to Brussels was $60. A flight to London was $160. That is a no brainer. But I didn't realize the train was going to be so family expensive. ($110). So I ended up spending more and taking longer to get there. Bummer, but that is okay. Life is a journey and more often than not, when my plans go wrong or I fail to plan, that is when the best things happen. So I am okay with these kind of travel mistakes.
It was rather exciting to get on the train too. I forgot that the UK is not under the same travel agreement that most of Europe is. You have to go through customs and get your Visa stamped. While I am about to customs I am reading a sign that says you can't bring in guns, mace, explosives and knives to the UK....wait...knives.....like the one in my back pack that has a 6 inch double-sided blade that I carry for worst case scenarios........whelp that bag is about to go through the scanner. I am thinking "do I tell them and just ask them to throw it away or play it cool and say I forgot?" My bag goes through, they hand it back to me and say have a nice day. That is right, they did not catch a decently large knife. Given it is just a train, but still. Think about it, I am officially a weapon smuggler. Already illegally smuggled a knife into the UK! (And then threw that sucker away when I got in the country because I have no desire to get caught with it!)
I had a great train ride talking to a variety of other passengers. Some from England who loved America and hate the French. A great quote is, "I hate the chunnel, I wish we could build one with America and blow this one up, who needs the French!" I played Gin with some New Zealanders who are living and working in England for a year or two. All and all it was a great time.
I got off the train at King's Cross. I then promptly looked for my train to Hogwarts (it is the station they take in Harry Potter to go to Hogwarts).
I head off for my hostel, which luckily for me is two blocks over. I check in (it is around 9pm), settle into my room and read a poster that says "halloween party on patio." I think okay, kind of lame I am sure, but than I read the part that says, "free food," and think this might be an awesome party.
I go to the patio for my free food and there are about 15 people there. You can carve pumpkins for free, eat food and drink mulled wine. I see a group of 5 girls so naturally I introduce myself and sit down. I had a good conversation with them. Each is living and working in London, but from a different area. 1 from Germany, 1 from Spain, 1 from Italy and 2 from Australia.
After some good chatting I decide to call it a night and hit the hay excited for my first day in London!
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Eastern Hungary Day 2
We all get up pretty early, have a traditional Hungarian breakfast and start discussing on plans for the day. Now, part of the reason I wanted to come to Edit's this weekend was that she lives near the Tokai wine mountain. There is this one mountain/really large hill in Hungary that they grow and make a golden wine. Its sweeter than a normal wine, but you can also get it very dry. It is the best tasting alcoholic drink I have ever had. I am become mildly addicted to this stuff, drinking a glass or two each night.
What makes the wine so special is that the cold winds coming over from the Russian Ural mountains starts to raisin the grapes on the vine while they grow. This creates a very different, special flavor that only happens on this hill. The wine has greatly different tastes depending on what side of the hill it is even grown on.
We drive the 45 minutes to the hill, taken there by Edit's dad. We drive up to the top of the hill and look out over the beautiful farm land. This is a giant hill in the middle of a very, very flat land. I assume God liked Tokia wine so much he wanted to share it with humans, but to prevent everyone from drowning themselves in it, created only one hill it could be grown on. Well played, God, well played.
After we go to the top of the hill we start searching for some wineries. Now, every single house in the village is a winery. Not kidding. Everyone who lives there grows their own and makes wine in their basement. We stop by one house, go to the basement, taste three different types. Full dry, 1/2 dry and full sweet. The 1/2 dry is the best. She then fills a plastic 2-liter for us full of this wine. How much does a 2-liter of it cost you ask? About $3.
Matt and I each get one and to our surprise Edit's dad pulls out his wallet and pays for it. Matt and I both try to protest, but he won't have any of it. He gave us a stare that said, "put the wallet away or lose the hand." I decided to keep the hand. He also gets us a 1-liter of the very sweet wine. It is more expensive, almost $10. It is more expensive because it is pre-bottled in glass and regulated by the government, so there is tax on it.
We decide to go explore the village more, walking around, visiting more stores (Edit gets some wine) and finally viewing a beautiful river. Edit's dad explains that two rivers meet here (you can see that), but they have different colors so if you look you can see where they meet they don't blend, one is a very dark green and one a very light green. It looks awesome. You can follow down the river and see as they blend together.
Edit's dad then says he will go get the car and we keep walking around. When we meet back up with her dad he has presents for both Matt and I. Again, I am just flabbergasted about his generosity. He got Matt a really cool wine bottle that is shaped like a bunch of grapes. He got me a beer mug that has the village info on it and then a small wine bottle with a glass grape bunch in side. The cool thing about the bottle is the bunch is separate, so you put two different kinds/colors of drink inside and you can see the difference.
At this point Matt and I think Christmas came early. Best day ever. We keep thanking her dad and promise when he finally comes to KC how we are going to treat him to BBQ like he has never imagined.
We had back to Edit's house as it is almost lunch time. We get back and Edit's dad asks Matt and I if we want a small drink of Palinka. Small means two very different things to us. We get huge shots of the hazzie again. I have this look of utter defeat on my face and sends Matt into a fit of laughter. It was like going into battle confident you are ready for the fight, only to come over a hill to see an army of 10s of thousands prepared for battle against just yourself. That was the look. Either way we take our shots with pride and a small bit of whimpering.
Now, while we have been away getting wine, Edit's mom and grandma have been at home cooking a full feast and it is war. Again, cooking for your family is one of your greatest prides. Not just filling their stomachs, but tantalizing their taste buds as well. Women in the kitchen don't work together, they work against each other to win. Matt put it best, "It is like a war, but where the bystanders always win and win big."
Oh and did we ever win. A four course meal, with traditional goulash, ribs, salad, bread, beef and so on. Best part, every single ingredient was from the village. Even the milk mixed in. How awesome is it to have an entire feast all from local gardens and small farms, all bought that morning. The meal was so good that when they asked me how it was my response was, "Find me a Hungarian wife quickly." Which they offered to do and gave me a list of pretty, single girls in the village. I told them I will be returning soon. My second request was to move in. They said they would gladly accept me and put me to work in exchange for food.
We sit around and continue to talk, but have to catch our train back to Budapest shortly. Edit's dad again bought those tickets as well and wouldn't hear out attempts to repay him. He loves having guests and it is his honor to provide for them. There is a lot of pride about being able to provide gifts for your guests here. It isn't shameful to accept them, it would be shameful to reject. It isn't presented as "you need it more than me," it is presented as, "thank you for being my guests."
That man will be getting a lot of BBQ and steak when he comes to KC in a few years. Like a Lannister, I always pay my debts.
The train ride back is pretty calm. I destroy Matt in two back-to-back games of Monopoly and then he makes me his toy in a game of Risk (all on the iPad).
When we get back it is around 7pm and we head to Edit's apartment to hang out. I thought about just staying there since it is a 45 minute trip back to my apartment, but around 11pm I decide to go back. The metro has stopped running so I have a new adventure. I have to figure out the night bus system and get back home. Like a badass I succeed with little issue, getting home about an hour after I left (good time).
I already miss the food and wine....I will be back.
What makes the wine so special is that the cold winds coming over from the Russian Ural mountains starts to raisin the grapes on the vine while they grow. This creates a very different, special flavor that only happens on this hill. The wine has greatly different tastes depending on what side of the hill it is even grown on.
We drive the 45 minutes to the hill, taken there by Edit's dad. We drive up to the top of the hill and look out over the beautiful farm land. This is a giant hill in the middle of a very, very flat land. I assume God liked Tokia wine so much he wanted to share it with humans, but to prevent everyone from drowning themselves in it, created only one hill it could be grown on. Well played, God, well played.
After we go to the top of the hill we start searching for some wineries. Now, every single house in the village is a winery. Not kidding. Everyone who lives there grows their own and makes wine in their basement. We stop by one house, go to the basement, taste three different types. Full dry, 1/2 dry and full sweet. The 1/2 dry is the best. She then fills a plastic 2-liter for us full of this wine. How much does a 2-liter of it cost you ask? About $3.
Matt and I each get one and to our surprise Edit's dad pulls out his wallet and pays for it. Matt and I both try to protest, but he won't have any of it. He gave us a stare that said, "put the wallet away or lose the hand." I decided to keep the hand. He also gets us a 1-liter of the very sweet wine. It is more expensive, almost $10. It is more expensive because it is pre-bottled in glass and regulated by the government, so there is tax on it.
We decide to go explore the village more, walking around, visiting more stores (Edit gets some wine) and finally viewing a beautiful river. Edit's dad explains that two rivers meet here (you can see that), but they have different colors so if you look you can see where they meet they don't blend, one is a very dark green and one a very light green. It looks awesome. You can follow down the river and see as they blend together.
Edit's dad then says he will go get the car and we keep walking around. When we meet back up with her dad he has presents for both Matt and I. Again, I am just flabbergasted about his generosity. He got Matt a really cool wine bottle that is shaped like a bunch of grapes. He got me a beer mug that has the village info on it and then a small wine bottle with a glass grape bunch in side. The cool thing about the bottle is the bunch is separate, so you put two different kinds/colors of drink inside and you can see the difference.
At this point Matt and I think Christmas came early. Best day ever. We keep thanking her dad and promise when he finally comes to KC how we are going to treat him to BBQ like he has never imagined.
We had back to Edit's house as it is almost lunch time. We get back and Edit's dad asks Matt and I if we want a small drink of Palinka. Small means two very different things to us. We get huge shots of the hazzie again. I have this look of utter defeat on my face and sends Matt into a fit of laughter. It was like going into battle confident you are ready for the fight, only to come over a hill to see an army of 10s of thousands prepared for battle against just yourself. That was the look. Either way we take our shots with pride and a small bit of whimpering.
Now, while we have been away getting wine, Edit's mom and grandma have been at home cooking a full feast and it is war. Again, cooking for your family is one of your greatest prides. Not just filling their stomachs, but tantalizing their taste buds as well. Women in the kitchen don't work together, they work against each other to win. Matt put it best, "It is like a war, but where the bystanders always win and win big."
Oh and did we ever win. A four course meal, with traditional goulash, ribs, salad, bread, beef and so on. Best part, every single ingredient was from the village. Even the milk mixed in. How awesome is it to have an entire feast all from local gardens and small farms, all bought that morning. The meal was so good that when they asked me how it was my response was, "Find me a Hungarian wife quickly." Which they offered to do and gave me a list of pretty, single girls in the village. I told them I will be returning soon. My second request was to move in. They said they would gladly accept me and put me to work in exchange for food.
We sit around and continue to talk, but have to catch our train back to Budapest shortly. Edit's dad again bought those tickets as well and wouldn't hear out attempts to repay him. He loves having guests and it is his honor to provide for them. There is a lot of pride about being able to provide gifts for your guests here. It isn't shameful to accept them, it would be shameful to reject. It isn't presented as "you need it more than me," it is presented as, "thank you for being my guests."
That man will be getting a lot of BBQ and steak when he comes to KC in a few years. Like a Lannister, I always pay my debts.
The train ride back is pretty calm. I destroy Matt in two back-to-back games of Monopoly and then he makes me his toy in a game of Risk (all on the iPad).
When we get back it is around 7pm and we head to Edit's apartment to hang out. I thought about just staying there since it is a 45 minute trip back to my apartment, but around 11pm I decide to go back. The metro has stopped running so I have a new adventure. I have to figure out the night bus system and get back home. Like a badass I succeed with little issue, getting home about an hour after I left (good time).
I already miss the food and wine....I will be back.
Trip to Eastern Hungary
I have spent more time in Hungary than any other European country so far (would never have guessed that), but yet I have only been in Budapest. Given, Hungary has a population of 10 million and 2 million of them are in Budapest. The second largest city is 500K or so. So in all fairness, Budapest is the place to be.
Seeing as how Edit is from a small village in Eastern Hungary and her and Matt were going home for a weekend it seemed the perfect opportunity to explore more of the country. Matt and Edit went there Friday evening, while I joined them on Saturday afternoon. After a 3-hour bus ride I reach Edit's home town.
The town is close to a larger city, but itself is a smaller village. It is 1.5 hours from Ukraine. I meet Edit's parents, who do not speak a word of English, so everything has to be translated and they are just great people. In Hungary, mothers love to cook. It is one of the main ways they take care of their family. And it is a big deal, much bigger than anywhere in the states that I have experienced. Almost the first thing that happens once I walk through the door is I am sat down and presented with nearly a feasts worth of food. Apparently, I am too skinny and need to eat more. I won't complain when the food tastes this good.
Edit's mom asks a lot of questions and Edit translates our conversation back and forth. It is a slower way to have a conversation, but I am just happy to be able to communicate as well. I also got to see Matt using his Hungarian. I have seen him use it a little here and there and honestly (sorry Matt), he seems to struggle. But here at Edit's home he is just unleashing his vocabulary left and right and there seems to be very little miscommunication. As Matt put it, Hungarian is such a different language that you have to get warmed up. Once he has been speaking only it for a while he does alright. Switching back and forth is very, very difficult for him and that is all I had seen so far.
Shortly after dinner Edit's dad comes home. Now, Edit warned me in advance and her dad loves Palinka and always offers it to guests, A Hungarian custom. What is Palinka you say? It is a very strong alcohol really only drank in Hungary and a little of Austria. The Hungarian's call Russia's children for drinking their children's drink, Vodka. Real men drink Palinka. Now, most Hungarians both buy it from the store and make their own, called (spelled wrong) Hazzie. Store bought it is 30-35% alcohol. Not proof, percent. Hazzie is 50-60%. You may not know me, but I don't drink heavy and rarely liquor and even more rare potent liquor.
Edit's dad tells us a joke. The men are arguing over who can beat a bear in a fight. A German, Russian and Hungarian. First the German goes in and after some screaming gets tossed from the ring. Second the Russian goes in and lasts a little longer but still gets tossed out. The Hungarian pulls out a bottle of Palinka, takes a shot and goes in. After a few minutes they hear a roar and the bear comes flying out of the ring. Palinka makes you a fearless man who can fight even bears.
So Edit's dad comes in, our greetings are translated and he disappears and moments later reappears with a bottle of hazzie and 3 shot glasses. I look at Matt with a look of fear as I realize that this family has just fed me and is housing me tonight, no is not an option. Shots poured, we say our cheers and down the hatch. Now let me just tell you how much it burns. It is like fire that I have never experienced. It smelled like nail polish remover to boot. When the blurring of the eyes stops I get the punch line. With just one shot I feel like I conquered everest and am ready to take on a bear.
The night goes on, we all continue talking and enjoying a quiet evening in the Hungarian country side. We go to bed pretty early as we have a lot to accomplish on the morrow.
Seeing as how Edit is from a small village in Eastern Hungary and her and Matt were going home for a weekend it seemed the perfect opportunity to explore more of the country. Matt and Edit went there Friday evening, while I joined them on Saturday afternoon. After a 3-hour bus ride I reach Edit's home town.
The town is close to a larger city, but itself is a smaller village. It is 1.5 hours from Ukraine. I meet Edit's parents, who do not speak a word of English, so everything has to be translated and they are just great people. In Hungary, mothers love to cook. It is one of the main ways they take care of their family. And it is a big deal, much bigger than anywhere in the states that I have experienced. Almost the first thing that happens once I walk through the door is I am sat down and presented with nearly a feasts worth of food. Apparently, I am too skinny and need to eat more. I won't complain when the food tastes this good.
Edit's mom asks a lot of questions and Edit translates our conversation back and forth. It is a slower way to have a conversation, but I am just happy to be able to communicate as well. I also got to see Matt using his Hungarian. I have seen him use it a little here and there and honestly (sorry Matt), he seems to struggle. But here at Edit's home he is just unleashing his vocabulary left and right and there seems to be very little miscommunication. As Matt put it, Hungarian is such a different language that you have to get warmed up. Once he has been speaking only it for a while he does alright. Switching back and forth is very, very difficult for him and that is all I had seen so far.
Shortly after dinner Edit's dad comes home. Now, Edit warned me in advance and her dad loves Palinka and always offers it to guests, A Hungarian custom. What is Palinka you say? It is a very strong alcohol really only drank in Hungary and a little of Austria. The Hungarian's call Russia's children for drinking their children's drink, Vodka. Real men drink Palinka. Now, most Hungarians both buy it from the store and make their own, called (spelled wrong) Hazzie. Store bought it is 30-35% alcohol. Not proof, percent. Hazzie is 50-60%. You may not know me, but I don't drink heavy and rarely liquor and even more rare potent liquor.
Edit's dad tells us a joke. The men are arguing over who can beat a bear in a fight. A German, Russian and Hungarian. First the German goes in and after some screaming gets tossed from the ring. Second the Russian goes in and lasts a little longer but still gets tossed out. The Hungarian pulls out a bottle of Palinka, takes a shot and goes in. After a few minutes they hear a roar and the bear comes flying out of the ring. Palinka makes you a fearless man who can fight even bears.
So Edit's dad comes in, our greetings are translated and he disappears and moments later reappears with a bottle of hazzie and 3 shot glasses. I look at Matt with a look of fear as I realize that this family has just fed me and is housing me tonight, no is not an option. Shots poured, we say our cheers and down the hatch. Now let me just tell you how much it burns. It is like fire that I have never experienced. It smelled like nail polish remover to boot. When the blurring of the eyes stops I get the punch line. With just one shot I feel like I conquered everest and am ready to take on a bear.
The night goes on, we all continue talking and enjoying a quiet evening in the Hungarian country side. We go to bed pretty early as we have a lot to accomplish on the morrow.
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Downtime in Budapest
I'll spare everyone the tedium of my day-to-day while in Budapest. I spent a lot of the time relaxing, hanging out with Matt and Edit and exploring the city.
Highlights - One day I was wondering around along the river and say a large cross on a hill under the Citadel (a fortress on the highest hill/cliff face in the city). As I start climbing towards it, I find it is part of a cave church. I decide to pay the $2 to tour the church that is literally just in a long cave. It was pretty cool. Afterwards I just kept walking up the hill and eventually found my self at the Citadel. Now, I thought the palace had the best view of Budapest, but I was wrong, the Citadel wins outs.
Another day Bobbi and I went and explored a large indoor market that sells all local, hungarian made items. It is a best stop for tourists trying to get authentic souvenigns.
One night Matt and I decide to climb the Citadel again, but this time at night, which is equally a spectacular view as during the day.
On the Friday before Halloween Edit got invited by one of her co-workers to a Halloween party and was told to bring her "American Friends" along. Hungary really doesn't celebrate Halloween, so Matt and I decided we didn't need to go all out, but still have to represent the States. Edit came up with the idea as going from things from Minecraft, a video game. We made masks. Matt and I went with Creepers (green guys that sneak up and then explode) and Edit went with a duck. The best part was Matt and wore our helmets/masks/hats on the subway. One girl started getting on and screamed, backing out quickly. Realizing it wasn't a monster she slowly comes back in and sits down with her friends. They can't look at Matt and I without blushing and trying to hide, either embarrassed about screaming or still scared. So of course Matt and I decide to just stare at them for a few minutes. Edit wasn't with us (we were meeting her), but we had her duck costume with us. Different people were taking pictures of us, getting a real kick out of it. A 10 year old really liked our costumes, so Matt offered him the duck one to wear. He sat with us for the ride having the time for his life.
The party was pretty good, too. Matt and I defiantly had the best costumes. We represented well. The party was pretty small, about 10 people.
And that folks is our Budapest recap. Stay tuned for more.
Highlights - One day I was wondering around along the river and say a large cross on a hill under the Citadel (a fortress on the highest hill/cliff face in the city). As I start climbing towards it, I find it is part of a cave church. I decide to pay the $2 to tour the church that is literally just in a long cave. It was pretty cool. Afterwards I just kept walking up the hill and eventually found my self at the Citadel. Now, I thought the palace had the best view of Budapest, but I was wrong, the Citadel wins outs.
Another day Bobbi and I went and explored a large indoor market that sells all local, hungarian made items. It is a best stop for tourists trying to get authentic souvenigns.
One night Matt and I decide to climb the Citadel again, but this time at night, which is equally a spectacular view as during the day.
On the Friday before Halloween Edit got invited by one of her co-workers to a Halloween party and was told to bring her "American Friends" along. Hungary really doesn't celebrate Halloween, so Matt and I decided we didn't need to go all out, but still have to represent the States. Edit came up with the idea as going from things from Minecraft, a video game. We made masks. Matt and I went with Creepers (green guys that sneak up and then explode) and Edit went with a duck. The best part was Matt and wore our helmets/masks/hats on the subway. One girl started getting on and screamed, backing out quickly. Realizing it wasn't a monster she slowly comes back in and sits down with her friends. They can't look at Matt and I without blushing and trying to hide, either embarrassed about screaming or still scared. So of course Matt and I decide to just stare at them for a few minutes. Edit wasn't with us (we were meeting her), but we had her duck costume with us. Different people were taking pictures of us, getting a real kick out of it. A 10 year old really liked our costumes, so Matt offered him the duck one to wear. He sat with us for the ride having the time for his life.
The party was pretty good, too. Matt and I defiantly had the best costumes. We represented well. The party was pretty small, about 10 people.
And that folks is our Budapest recap. Stay tuned for more.
Brussels
Brussels was mostly a bust. It is a very beautiful city, but nothing particularly amazing. I woke up after some bad sleep with a stiff neck and headache that didn't go away.
I woke up, got a map of the city highlighting the main attractions and set off walking. I walked around from about 10am to 4pm seeing the different sites, but not going inside anything. The architecture was beautiful. They have a lovely palace for their royal family. But again, nothing more stunning than I have seen before.
What was awesome was Belgian waffles and chocolate. A stereotype that is quite true, they are both that good!
My day was ruined early afternoon though by a migraine. Rarely do I get two so close to each other. I loaded up on some medicine and hit the sack around 5pm. I slept until 9am the next morning.
The next day I woke up and found it raining out side. Instead of my nice walk to the station, I was scrambling to figure out how to run to the nearest subway and stay dry. Luckily, there was a subway close. I bought my ticket and about one stop short of train station we get kicked off the train. Then I notice a lot of police officers, which sparked my interest, but I ignored it trying to get to the train station.
I go outside the subway and try to figure out the best way to run to the station while finding the most cover possible. I don't care about personally getting wet, but I am worried about my bags.
I get to the station and everything seems normal, except none of the subways are running to it. Now, I don't need a train here, I need a bus that goes to the airport I am flying out of. It is about 45 minutes from the train station. I find the bus and head off to the airport.
While at the airport - have 3 hours till my flight - I meet a nice Brazilian girl who has been living in Europe for the last 12 months studying abroad. First in Sweden and then in Belgium. She casually asks if I heard about the bomb threat to the train station in Brussels. It all hit me in one second and I respond no, but that makes sense and explain the subway thing. Crazy! Bomb threat was my first thought, but I disregarded it pretty fast based on how casual everything seemed.
I keep talking to this girl about life, travel experiences, how excited she is to go home finally. She starts to tell me about her crazy grandma. So one day her grandma (80) comes to her and asks where she can get a fake id. Yep, grandma needs a fake id. So grandma has started dating some young hunk who is 40 and she has been claiming she is only 60 years old. They have been dating for over a year now. She even created fake back stories for the rest of her family and made all of them younger. She gave them all handouts on their new ages. Awesome. Apparently, grandma is pretty convinced he not really 40, but closer to 50 or 60 and lying about his age as well.
Well played, Grandma, well played.
After my new friend leaves, I kill the last few hours on the ol' iPad and fly home to Budapest. After 19 days on the road it is a great feeling being home. I go to my new apartment that Matt has already moved into. It is odd, returning to a foreign city, but to have the feeling when I got there of returning home. That relaxed feeling where you can start to unwind. I can only imagine how much bigger that will be when I return to Kansas.
I woke up, got a map of the city highlighting the main attractions and set off walking. I walked around from about 10am to 4pm seeing the different sites, but not going inside anything. The architecture was beautiful. They have a lovely palace for their royal family. But again, nothing more stunning than I have seen before.
What was awesome was Belgian waffles and chocolate. A stereotype that is quite true, they are both that good!
My day was ruined early afternoon though by a migraine. Rarely do I get two so close to each other. I loaded up on some medicine and hit the sack around 5pm. I slept until 9am the next morning.
The next day I woke up and found it raining out side. Instead of my nice walk to the station, I was scrambling to figure out how to run to the nearest subway and stay dry. Luckily, there was a subway close. I bought my ticket and about one stop short of train station we get kicked off the train. Then I notice a lot of police officers, which sparked my interest, but I ignored it trying to get to the train station.
I go outside the subway and try to figure out the best way to run to the station while finding the most cover possible. I don't care about personally getting wet, but I am worried about my bags.
I get to the station and everything seems normal, except none of the subways are running to it. Now, I don't need a train here, I need a bus that goes to the airport I am flying out of. It is about 45 minutes from the train station. I find the bus and head off to the airport.
While at the airport - have 3 hours till my flight - I meet a nice Brazilian girl who has been living in Europe for the last 12 months studying abroad. First in Sweden and then in Belgium. She casually asks if I heard about the bomb threat to the train station in Brussels. It all hit me in one second and I respond no, but that makes sense and explain the subway thing. Crazy! Bomb threat was my first thought, but I disregarded it pretty fast based on how casual everything seemed.
I keep talking to this girl about life, travel experiences, how excited she is to go home finally. She starts to tell me about her crazy grandma. So one day her grandma (80) comes to her and asks where she can get a fake id. Yep, grandma needs a fake id. So grandma has started dating some young hunk who is 40 and she has been claiming she is only 60 years old. They have been dating for over a year now. She even created fake back stories for the rest of her family and made all of them younger. She gave them all handouts on their new ages. Awesome. Apparently, grandma is pretty convinced he not really 40, but closer to 50 or 60 and lying about his age as well.
Well played, Grandma, well played.
After my new friend leaves, I kill the last few hours on the ol' iPad and fly home to Budapest. After 19 days on the road it is a great feeling being home. I go to my new apartment that Matt has already moved into. It is odd, returning to a foreign city, but to have the feeling when I got there of returning home. That relaxed feeling where you can start to unwind. I can only imagine how much bigger that will be when I return to Kansas.
Last Day in Amsterdam
My last day in Amsterdam was a bit more relaxing. Slept in, got up and enjoyed a large breakfast and started the day by just wandering around the city. So far on this trip I have been out with people and going to specific destinations. Today I just wandered for the first part of it, finding new streets, appreciating the canals, etc.
After awhile I head back to my hostel and run into the two sisters again. They are with another friend from the Netherlands that came down to Amsterdam to meet up with them. They are going to the Heineken Brewery for a tour. Kind of embarrassing, but until I came to Amsterdam I always thought Heineken was German....sorry Netherlands, now I know!!
They invite my along and I gladly accept. I have never been on a brewery tour before, so this seems like a good start. The tour was pretty good, nothing super exciting. The things I learned that caught my attention were that what makes Heineken different is that one of the first Heineken's invited a specific type of yeast, called Yeast A, which is the secret ingredient to their beer and makes them stand out. Also, though Heineken is brewed all over the world, they get the barley and hops from only one area and then distribute that to all their breweries. That is how they claim to keep such a universal taste to their beer across the world.
During the tour we were showered with plenty of free beer. By the end of tour we were in the bar inside with two free drink coupons. I will say, drinking it fresh makes it taste a lot better for whatever reason. I also discovered that super-chilled, I like beer even more.
We left the brewery and it was about time for me to catch my train to Brussels. I got back to the hostel, backed my bags and was off to the train station. I barely missed the train I wanted to Brussels and had to wait an hour till the next one. It was kind of frustrating because their system for buying tickets is different and they don't really explain it and you have to stand in a long time until you can talk to someone who will explain it. The people behind the help desks don't seem in a rush or really enthused about their career choice.
I finally got on my train and enjoyed the 2-hour ride to Brussels. It still blows my mind that in the same time I could drive from Kansas City to Manhattan, KS I can change countries and be in another major city and then I could be in London or Paris after another 1-2 hours.
Now, when I got to Brussels it was about 9pm and I, like the idiot I am sometimes, did not print directions to my hostel or even write down the address. Luckily, I knew the name, but that was all. It was a Sunday night, so everything was closed. After a question to a cabby, an hour of walking and a lot of confusion I found my hostel. It would have been a 15 minute walk if I knew where I was going. Well played, Tom, well played.
The person working the front desk wasn't too pleasant sadly. In Belgium they speak French or Flemish. He spoke French and barely muttered English to me. He had the reaction like I was a very annoying object that was interfering with his work. Buddy, you work at the front desk of a hostel, I am your work. After finally getting checked in I also find out they charge an arm and a leg for Wifi access. I pay it anyway. To top off my experience with this guy he answered a bunch of my questions incorrectly, which I find out yesterday and failed to tell me I can't be in my room from 11am-4pm for "cleaning."
This hostel wasn't a great experience. The bed was hard as a rock, the sheets were wool and scratched and the pillows I am pretty sure were lumps of plastic. Needless to say, they weren't going to get a great review from me. But I went to sleep anyway.
After awhile I head back to my hostel and run into the two sisters again. They are with another friend from the Netherlands that came down to Amsterdam to meet up with them. They are going to the Heineken Brewery for a tour. Kind of embarrassing, but until I came to Amsterdam I always thought Heineken was German....sorry Netherlands, now I know!!
They invite my along and I gladly accept. I have never been on a brewery tour before, so this seems like a good start. The tour was pretty good, nothing super exciting. The things I learned that caught my attention were that what makes Heineken different is that one of the first Heineken's invited a specific type of yeast, called Yeast A, which is the secret ingredient to their beer and makes them stand out. Also, though Heineken is brewed all over the world, they get the barley and hops from only one area and then distribute that to all their breweries. That is how they claim to keep such a universal taste to their beer across the world.
During the tour we were showered with plenty of free beer. By the end of tour we were in the bar inside with two free drink coupons. I will say, drinking it fresh makes it taste a lot better for whatever reason. I also discovered that super-chilled, I like beer even more.
We left the brewery and it was about time for me to catch my train to Brussels. I got back to the hostel, backed my bags and was off to the train station. I barely missed the train I wanted to Brussels and had to wait an hour till the next one. It was kind of frustrating because their system for buying tickets is different and they don't really explain it and you have to stand in a long time until you can talk to someone who will explain it. The people behind the help desks don't seem in a rush or really enthused about their career choice.
I finally got on my train and enjoyed the 2-hour ride to Brussels. It still blows my mind that in the same time I could drive from Kansas City to Manhattan, KS I can change countries and be in another major city and then I could be in London or Paris after another 1-2 hours.
Now, when I got to Brussels it was about 9pm and I, like the idiot I am sometimes, did not print directions to my hostel or even write down the address. Luckily, I knew the name, but that was all. It was a Sunday night, so everything was closed. After a question to a cabby, an hour of walking and a lot of confusion I found my hostel. It would have been a 15 minute walk if I knew where I was going. Well played, Tom, well played.
The person working the front desk wasn't too pleasant sadly. In Belgium they speak French or Flemish. He spoke French and barely muttered English to me. He had the reaction like I was a very annoying object that was interfering with his work. Buddy, you work at the front desk of a hostel, I am your work. After finally getting checked in I also find out they charge an arm and a leg for Wifi access. I pay it anyway. To top off my experience with this guy he answered a bunch of my questions incorrectly, which I find out yesterday and failed to tell me I can't be in my room from 11am-4pm for "cleaning."
This hostel wasn't a great experience. The bed was hard as a rock, the sheets were wool and scratched and the pillows I am pretty sure were lumps of plastic. Needless to say, they weren't going to get a great review from me. But I went to sleep anyway.
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