Jeff's Euro Trip

Happy Birthday Mom

2008-10-26T16:41:00.000-07:00

To my mother of 28 years, I wish you a Happy Birthday. 55 has never looked this good.

Bon Appetit

2008-10-08T16:26:00.000-07:00

So now that I won't be a secret agent assassinating people, perhaps I will pursue another quasi-dream of mine: being a movie writer. With the likes of Beverly Hill Chihuahua and Saw 53,235 coming out, I don't see how I could do much worse.

I went to Utah in August to visit the Benders and their parents graciously took us all out to tepanyaki for dinner. As we sat there watching the chef twirl his knives and oil, I thought of a short film I'd like to make.

It would start with a mob boss and his thugs entering a tepanyaki restaurant for dinner. Privy to this and entering through the back of the restaurant is our protagonist, a CIA operative. He stealthily takes out the cook (who is evil) and puts on his uniform. He then rolls out the cart to be used in cooking. The camera pans over the cart to show the viewer the different ways which the operative could kill the mob boss. We see sharp knives of all sorts, vials of poison, and msg.

The dinner then commences and the suspense builds as the agent prepares each course. Every time he twirls a knife you expect him to thrust it into the villain's heart. The camera follows the chef's hand as he reaches for ingredients, barely grabbing the soy sauce instead of the poison. When he squirts the oil into the sliced onion to make the flame volcano, you anticipate him dousing the mobster and setting him afire as well.

And on it would go, just building and building, keeping the viewer guessing about just how the thug will be eliminated. Even when he opens his fortune cookie, he has a worried look on his face, but when the fortune is shown, it's just written poorly and his scowling was simply due to the illegibility of it. Then, after all the buildup and anticipation where the audience expects some sort of elaborate killing, the agent takes out a gun, calmly shoots the mob boss and his cronies, and leaves.

Excuse me while I call my buddies in Cannes.

Still a Nerd

2008-09-25T10:17:00.000-07:00

A couple posts back I had mentioned about a friend interviewing with the C (filler to prevent google search) I (stupid, I know) A. Well, then I took it out because indeed that friend was in fact myself and I didn't want to compromise anything. Sadly, I regret to inform you that I will no longer be considered for the position, so my tell all book will arrive early in the form of this post.

For those that didn't know, I applied for a position as a clandestime servcie offcier (intentionally misspelled, you never know), or in other words, a spy. It had always been my dream to sit in a café in Paris, scoping out some terrorist a few tables away. Perhaps take pictures of him, develop them in my apartment (black and white of course), and deliver them in a manila envelope to my superiors, preferably at a park bench.

I applied for the job not expecting anything to come of it. I just didn't want to be on my death bed some day, regretting that I never tried to be a spy (I'll have plenty of other regrets to take me into the hereafter). So, I filled out the necessary forms online and waited. I got a call about a month ago informing me that they would like to talk. So I had a 30 minute phone interview with a gentleman at Langley, after which he said they would discuss, at their monthly meeting, my profile(the contents of which I can only assume were a small photo paper-clipped to the folder, my resume, some stats, and perhaps a few pictures I drew in grade school).

In our phone interview, he of course started off by asking me why I wanted to join the agency. As a word of advice for any potential candidates, don't reference "Men in Black" at any time in your answer, no good can come of it. He also asked about my mission. I recounted the stories of Arabs attacking me in France, Elder Bender's pasta surprise, and other mission tragedies.

The coolest question was the following (keep in mind this was at the end of August): What event in the last month do you think is of greatest importance to US foreign policy makers?

I suppose there could be many answers, but I chose the Russia/Georgia conflict. He then asked me to describe the situation. I was going to crack some Peach state joke but by this point I was starting to realize that this guy doesn't appreciate sarcasm as much I do. So I just did my best, throwing some key words out that I thought would impress him, like South Ossetia, Medvedev, and Glasnost. I think he was impressed.

He then asked me: The Russians viewed the whole ordeal as no different than the US and UN's involvement where? For whatever reason, I didn't hear the UN part, so I started going through US history and had nothing. I was getting frustrated, thinking perhaps the Civil War because they wanted to breakaway? No…or maybe when we invaded Canada during the War of 1812? I doubt Russia even knows that. Anyway, add your guess as a comment if you'd like, but the UN thing should help.

I guess in the end, this is for the better. Oh well, back to this trial balance.

Toilet Humor

2008-09-12T09:56:00.000-07:00

As part of my job, I'm almost always traveling around, setting up shop at a new place for a few weeks and then moving on. It is not unlike the circus, sans the smell of cabbage. As I visit the different offices where my clients reside, I'm exposed to a variety of bathrooms and cultures. As such, I consider myself somewhat of an expert in the area of toilet etiquette. Since there is no official written standard, I'd like to use this entry to set forth various guidelines that should be followed, regardless of your place of work. Obedience to the rules will increase productivity and satisfaction at the office. Think of this as the Bathroom Constitution, and amendments are welcome, but I hold veto power.

1. This should go without saying, but you must wash your hands. Now, with the technology we have these days, there may be instances where you might think washing isn't necessary. I applaud your skills, but nonetheless, if others are in the room, you must wash your hands. It's akin to saying "God Bless You" after a sneeze. You just do it to make others feel comfortable, even if it doesn't have a real benefit.
2. When possible, there should ALWAYS be a one stall buffer between you and me. Why on earth, when there are 3 stalls and I'm in the last, would you pick the one right next to me? There are few moments I detest more in life than seeing the feet of a person doing their business no more than 15 inches away. And yes, I did note what shoes you're wearing, so you better follow rule #1 or else...
3. If you come into the bathroom and hear that I'm finishing up my business, please note that it should take me no more than 30-40 seconds longer to exit the premises. Therefore, I simply ask that you wait a few moments before turning the bathroom into Milpitas, so that I may be spared
4. No talking. Unless you're informing me of my imminent death, I can think of nothing that cannot wait for a time when our pants are not at our ankles.
5. Finally, show some restraint. Releasing one's flatulence in an adjacent cube would bring untold embarrassment upon yourself, and yet for some reason once you enter this magical tiled room you feel that there are no restrictions? I understand it is designated for such practices, but that doesn't mean the Geneva Convention should be ignored.

I just can't stand the things some people do in the bathroom, have they no decency?! Okay, I'm done, I need to flush and get out of here, someone just walked in…

Encore

2008-08-30T21:30:00.001-07:00

When the Eiffel Tower was built for the 1889 Exposition, it was supposed to be temporary and was to be demolished in 1909. However, as it began to grow on people and used in productive ways (radio tower), it survived. This blog will be my Eiffel tower. Perhaps someday this too will be visited by millions of people, complete with couples proposing at the site, groups of Asian tourists taking pictures of themselves, and an overpriced restaurant in the corner. Don't worry though, no phallic symbology here, just good ole sarcasm. During my trip, I had music representing the areas I went to, so why stop?

I doubt I'll post often but I had a bit of news. I bought a car today. I had been eyeing the Infiniti G35 for awhile and rented one while I was in Utah. I fell in love, especially with the new styling and found a used one out in Livermore. Long story short, I got a pretty good deal. I'll probably have buyer's remorse soon, but hey, buyer's remorse never looked this good…

It gets better gas mileage than the Explorer and is a thrill to drive.

Madrid

2008-07-21T12:02:00.000-07:00

Well I’m pooped. I think I’ve hit the proverbial wall, and it couldn’t have come at a better time as I’ll be heading to the airport in about 7 hours. Here are some numbers relating to this trip:

17- Number of cities that I dined in.
13/8- Number of cities/countries I slept in.
65 – Approximate hours spent in trains
27 – Approximate times I’ve listened to Blink 182’s Enema of the State

I don’t think I realized how fast I was moving/seeing stuff until I hung out with those Korean girls and they kept complaining that I run instead of walk. Indeed, I have gone very quickly, but that’s the way I like it.

You'll notice the title is no play on words, nor is there music. One might guess that this is because I'm tired and lazy. Although partly true, it is also sort of an artistic expression as my trip comes to its end. Sort of like on "24" when the ticking numbers don't make any noise after the finale.

Back to the trip... I slept in yesterday since I finally had a nice room to stay in and this is supposed to be a vacation. I know Madrid is huge and I could spend days here, but I decided to head straightaway to Segovia, a small town to the north. I had seen pictures and heard it was a settlement that predated even the Romans, so I had to go. I was very pleased. Here’s a picture of the meal I had right next to a 2,000 year old aqueduct (I think coke should pay me for this pic):

The Romans were incredible, I was amazed by the buildings in Rome, but it just blows my mind that even in these small cities on the outskirts of the empire, they still built these magnificent structures. I haven’t been to Pont du Gard in France, but I will definitely go someday. The rest of the town was really cool and there’s a castle on the edge of the hill that looked like the one at the Magic Kingdom. I know the castle at Neuschwanstein (sp?) is the real inspiration, but this one ain’t bad:

Here's a pic of the cathedral there, quite impressive and supposedly the last gothic cathedral built in Europe:

I returned to Madrid at about 5:30 and headed to the Prado museum to take advantage of the free admission on Sundays between 6 and 8, nice! It was a cool museum, but I think I’m just not an art guy. I think they’re very nice pieces, but I don’t know what’s good and what’s not. I was proud of myself for recognizing a Caravaggio before knowing that it was indeed his work. I liked his stuff that I had seen in Rome. I think it was Velazquez (or was it Goya?) who painted a lot of the kings and queens of Spain on horseback. I learned on my Paris tour that if the horse’s left leg is raised, that means the person died a natural death. If its right leg is raised, the person was murdered. And if both legs are in the air, the person died in battle. But, my guide also said some incorrect things, so although I’m not sure if that is true, it was consistent with the paintings at the Prado, so I thought that was kind of cool.

Today I did one of those tourist buses again, which at this point in my fatigue is exactly what I needed. I got off quite a few times to check out the sites, but I was happy just sitting there, listening to the commentary. I was excited to see another PwC office though:

Madrid is a very nice city, lots of trees and very clean. I really enjoyed my break in the large park they have (Retiro, I think), where I dozed a little and ate a sandwich. I did a tour of the Royal Palace:

And just walked around the main parts of the city, admiring the architecture. I think I need to read up on Spain’s history, I’m not sure why I never found interest in it before. I didn’t even know Toledo was the capital up until right before the Spanish Armada. You can probably tell by my lack of jokes and rather bland commentary that I’m exhausted, it is no reflection on the city as Madrid is great, we can talk more when I get home, I’m just tired.

Thanks again for following and adding your comments, it’s been an incredible trip, but I’m excited to come back to the states. I made my last Euro withdrawal the other day, which I believe coincided with the Euro’s all time high against the dollar, I apologize for that. Once I exchange my Euros back to dollars, watch for a dollar rally, oil to tumble, and the economy to rebound.

Hello Mudda, Hello Fadda

2008-07-19T13:14:00.000-07:00

Aahhhh...I'm not gonna lie, I'm getting pretty tired. This has been the most incredible trip I've ever been on, but it is starting to take its toll. I don't like to toot my own horn often, but considering I made the train/accomodation travel plans in about 4 days, and then the rest of the trip over 2.5 weeks, that ain't bad. I'm now in Madrid, in an air conditioned hotel and I love it.

For the music, I thought I'd put in my own video, which I'll discuss later:

So I got to Granada, and my hostel was in the Albaicin district, which was the old Arab quarter of the town. For those that don't know, Granada is located in the very south of Spain in a region that was controlled by the Moops until 1492, when the reconquest of Spain was completed. It was really cool to see the Arabic influences on the buildings. The Albaicin area is on a hill next to the Alhambra, with spectacular views, narrow streets, and white buildings. I'm not going to be able to post too many pictures on here, but I have a lot that I will need to show you at some point. Here's a couple from the area I stayed in:

Typical street

View from my area, unbelievable

The hostel's rooms were extremely small. Mine was about the size of my room at Rainwater Ct, but there were 6 of us. There were two Korean girls and an American girl that I made friends with and we went out that first night. I had only heard of Flamenco briefly on So You Think You Can Dance, but I guess it originates in this area. So we walked around to find an authentic place and went to this cave, essentially, which was the home of this gypsy/Spanish family that does Flamenco dancing every night. This was a really cool experience. One guy plays the guitar, others clap, and another guy will often sing some sort of arabic scat, if you will. I guess it sort of originates from the Muslim call to prayer and it does indeed sound like that. In the video above, the guy isn't doing it, but it's hilarious to watch, because he's kinda yelling at the dancer. Plus, the guy kinda looks like Paul Giamatti, so that made it even funnier.

So, while some of you were watching SYTYCD, I was watching real flamenco in a gypsy cave in the hills above Granada:

Do I hear my male readers swooning? Oh excuse me, that was me.

The next day I went to the Al Hambra. The Korean girls came again, even though their English was quite poor. They thought I looked like Brad Pitt, which was hilarious because I look absolutely nothing like him. I'm not trying to be modest either, I simply don't look like him. The reason I mention it is because I think Asians see white people sort of like we sometimes see them in that we think they all look the same (tried to word that delicately and failed). Another funny thing happened that Becca would like...remind me to tell you later.

Back to the Alhambra. The Alhambra is the Anti-Jeff. Those that know me are probably aware that I like to do the bare minimum. In school I always aimed for a 89.5% so I could get that A-. Not to say I'm lazy, I just think I'm efficient. Anyway, the Alhambra is the complete opposite of me, but as Paula Abdul taught us, opposites attract and indeed, I fell in love with the Alhambra. Francisco De Icaza said, "There is nothing in life so cruel as being blind in Granada," I couldn't agree more. I can certainly understand why Reagan decided to invade this place in 1984. Pictures do not do it justice, but I'll throw a few on here anyway:

You just need to see the detail close up, it is incredible, and it just goes on and on. Just as Hemingway made the running of the bulls famous, I guess Washington Irving made the Alhambra famous when he stayed there for awhile and wrote stories about it. In fact, the audio guide was some of his journal entries or something about the place. It was interesting but the way he'd describe things seemed kind of pretentious after awhile.

The views of the valley were great, here's a picture from the Alhambra of the area where I stayed:

At night, we went to a restaurant and had tapas. I don't know what the big deal is with tapas, they're just small plates of snacking food.

Today, I obviously came to Madrid, but decided to stop in Seville for a few hours as it looked like a cool town. I only had about 3 hours and wanted to see the cathedral, which is the largest roman catholic cathedral in the world. But Jeff, you say, what about St. Peter's? Ah, but that is a basilica not a cathedral. But Jeff, what's the difference? No more questions.

It was huge inside, very much like St. Peters, only Gothic instead of Baroque. The tower, which I climbed, was originally a minaret for the mosque that the church took over and expanded in the 14th and 15th centuries. Here's a pic where you can tell this to be true:

The streets of Seville were really neat, I liked the overhanging things between the buildings to provide more shade.

It kinda reminded me of an Arabic town, even though I've never been to one but I've seen Aladdin a few times. It has been really hot, i think over 100 degrees (41 C today).

I looked unsuccessfully for a place to get my haircut. Well, I just wanted to take a picture of it, I'll let you figure out why. Oh well.

Ok, time to get some rest before my final two days. I probably won't post again until I'm back in America. Thanks again for following along, traveling alone is great a lot of the time, but there's also those moments when you want to share the experience with others, so this has been a nice medium.

The Smell of Punic Air

2008-07-19T12:41:00.000-07:00

Another song with Queen, I got permission from EMI though Laura, I asked where you were and they said they just wake you up for the staff meetings.

I’m currently sitting on the tracks somewhere outside of Cordoba and will be more than 5 minutes late to Seville, so this portion of the trip will be refunded. Since I have a railpass, I assume they’ll only give me the supplement I paid, but still, that’s 24 euros, so I’ll take it. Hopefully we’re not too late, otherwise I’ll miss my train to Granada.

I left Pamplona around 7 and got to Barcelona by noon, spending an hour in Zaragoza. I didn’t really know what to expect from Barcelona but I had heard a lot of good things. Barcelona is said to have been founded by Hamilcar Barca, father of Hannibal, a Carthaginian general whom I’ve found great interest in during my life. Hannibal is the one who led his army (famous for including elephants) over the Alps and into Italy during the early 200s BC (or I guess it’d be late 200s, it was like 220-205 BC), starting the Second Punic War. Although I’ve been to Italy, it was cool to think that Hannibal probably spent time there recruiting some mercenaries before heading onto Massalia and then the Alps.

My hostel was really close to the train station, which was great, and it was nice and clean. After grabbing a bite to eat, I headed out on foot to explore. For some reason I felt like walking, so I probably ended up walking over 10 miles that afternoon (in flip flops), including up and down Montjuic. First though, I headed to Plaza Espanya and up to the Royal Palace of Palau, the pit stop on my race around the world! (this was one of the locations for Amazing Race):

If I remember correctly, they showed the contestants huffing a puffing as they reached that point, but there are escalators people. I would have owned that show. Behind the building is the Olympic Stadium (1992) and grounds, which were pretty cool.

Further up there was a castle overlooking the entire city on one side and Mediterranean on the other.

The architecture of the city is very beautiful. The second day I got a pass on the Bus Turistic that goes all around the city to the major sites and has audio explaining everything. It’s an open top bus and was really nice to see all the buildings. Antoni Gaudi, an architect from Barcelona who lived in the late 1800s and early 1900s, designed many of the buildings and the main cathedral, the Sagrada Familia. In fact, it isn’t finished yet, even though construction began in 1882. Completion is anticipated in the year 2026. He also designed the Park Guell, on another hill overlooking the city. In all his works, it seems like he has a ‘melting’ theme, here are some pictures:

Sagrada Familia

Park Guell

Barcelona is a major port, and I saw the Brilliance of the Seas docked there yesterday. In fact, I spoke with a guy who was on the ship, they just returned from a 12 night cruise with stops in Nice, Florence, Rome, Naples, Athens, Mykonos, Santorini, and Ephesus (may have missed one). I was thinking, how cool would it be for a family reunion to go to Pamplona, run with the bulls in the morning, and then take a train to Barcelona to start a cruise like that? What a sight to see us all running down the narrow streets, I think everyone’s true colors would come out in that situation.

Back to Barcelona, they have a main touristy street called La Rambla with a lot of street vendors and performers. On the first night, I found a restaurant and sat outside, eating seafood paella (of course) and people watched. The second night I attended a concert in the very old Esglesia Santa Maria del Pi, named after a nun from the 11th century, who miraculously recited pi to the 1000th decimal during easter mass. The concert was only two people playing Spanish guitars (is there a difference?) and it was really cool. The selling point for me was that they would play, amongst other things, pieces from Bizet’s Carmen, which I like. They were very good and it was quite enjoyable.

Barcelona is a very cool town, it just seems hip. The beaches are great too and they have a very famous soccer team, if I spoke Spanish, I’d consider living here for awhile.

Christopher Columbus monument

As I pass through Spain, I gotta say, it ain’t no Switzerland. It’s dry and very flat (at least in the middle). The occasional medieval town gives it some charm though. And whatever it lacks in landscapes it makes up for in its women, at least its train stewardesses. As I head into the more hilly south, I’ll agree with mom that it is very reminiscent of California, especially since they also have the Sierra Nevadas and they speak Spanish.

NON TRAVEL COMMENTARY: I’d just like to take this moment to vent about a few things European. First of all, everyone smokes, a lot. I think I’m allergic to it because I start sneezing and have a runny nose when I’m around smokers. I’m curious why Americans don’t smoke as much, they have those death warnings on the boxes here too, and it seems that Americans are always labeled as the unhealthy ones.

Second, the youth have absolutely no sense of style. Well, I’ll say the girls dress well, but the guys wear the weirdest clothes. And, most of them have that long, straight, brushed over the face hairdo, like a male version of Zac Efron. I mean, maybe that’s the style now, but I think they look ridiculous.

Finally, man capris. I remember this epidemic last time I was here and feared its infiltration into the US. Now, I admit I have worn and still wear some things that I thought I never would, things that quite frankly were influenced by women. I’m talking about a purple shirt, a pink tie, or argyle sweater. But I am sorry, there is no way on Earth I will ever be caught dead in man capris. Please don’t let this spread to the US.

The Sun Also Rises

2008-07-14T13:35:00.000-07:00

I hope everyone was expecting this song:

All I can say is wow, and I mean that about everything that has happened. First, when I arrived, I had no idea how to get to my hotel so I took the wrong bus and soon realized I was headed in the opposite direction. It was very frustrating not speaking Spanish, but I eventually found my hotel. I then walked to the part of the city where all the action is, and it was pretty crazy. Pamplona during St. Festin time makes a frat house look like a church. It was cool that everyone was wearing white with red scarves, it was a blood's dreamland. I had to fit in, so I bought a scarf, which I've been wearing ever since.

I walked to the course, sort of a dry run, to see where the good and bad spots were. I found a good one near the beginning where I'd have room to run off to the side. I then headed back to the hotel to get more sleep than most these people get all week. I got up at 6:30 the next morning. You have to be in the course before 7:30 and the bulls are released at 8. I met a couple Americans that I hung out with until 8. They were really nice, both doctors, one from Manhattan Beach, and the other from Orange County. They were actually OBGYNs, so their skills would be sort of useless if I were to get gored. We kinda stuck together and made a plan. As 8 o'clock approached, I started wondering what the heck I was doing there. Then at 8, I heard the shotgun signaling the opening of the corral. At this point, you're supposed to pray to St. Festin. I prayed to him and every other deity I could think of, just to be sure. Then a second firing moments later meant the bulls were on the run.

Now, I know there are tons of people and the likelihood of getting hurt is low, and it might not look that scary on TV. But when you look down the street and see 6 1200 pound bulls with sharp horns charging at you, I don't care how many people there are, it is mortifying. Plus, I learned that on the last day they run the biggest and fastest bulls...great. I had a good vantage point as I was near the end of the first long street. I watched them coming and the people scurrying to the sides. I didn't want to risk much so I started running when they were about 100 feet away. I ran probably 200 feet, into a more open area and slid quickly to the side. The beasts stormed by, but a good 10 feet from where I was standing. These dudes are big, holy smokes, what were we thinking?

After they pass, most people chase after them, so in my adrenaline rush, I followed them down the path and into the bull ring. All the participants then jump around and celebrate in the ring. I thought that was it, so I was just taking in the whole atmosphere when I realized they let another bull loose in the ring. There are no doors either, so you're kinda stuck unless you can climb over the fence. I was like...uh...i don't remember hearing about this part. The bull they let loose is a smaller one, and the tips of its horns are covered in something so it can't gore you. I didn't stay too long though, and soon climbed the fence.

It was an incredible experience and really just cool to be a part of. If anyone wants to go in coming years, I'd be more than happy to accompany you. I read that if you have cameras, you can get kicked out, so I didn't bring mine. I was kind of bummed, because a lot of people had them and they weren't kicked out. The doctors had cameras too, so they took a picture of me and will hopefully email it to me, but I'm relying on their memory of my email address, so we'll see.

Afterwards, I went back to the hotel and took a long nap. I also got tickets to the bullfight, which were rather expensive, but it's just something you have to do. It started at 6:30, but I got there early to watch them set up:

The lighting is bad, but oh well.

They watered down the infield like in baseball, and the last guy off swept away his tracks, like he was coming out of a sandtrap in golf. The crowds were fun and rowdy, it was a great atmosphere. For some reason, I didn't know they actually kill the bull, I guess I just thought they dodged it for awhile, but I was very wrong. I also didn't expect the Spanish Inquisition, so I guess I'm just dumb. It was pretty gruesome, I have video of one killing but won't post it on here.

The concierge at the hotel who got me the tickets was kind enough to explain that I should have a sandwich, because after the 3rd bull is killed, everyone gets out sandwiches and eats them. Sure enough, this was the case and I was prepared. Here are some more pics of the fighting:

This is at the beginning

Note that the matador's hat has been thrown in the ring.

Do I hear swooning from my female readers?

It was just cool being in the arena, it was like Roman times and we were cheering on the gladiator.

I wasn't too sure about Pamplona when I got here, but I couldn't be happier with my decision to come. It would have been more fun with others, but I still had a great time. All I can say is wow to this day, seeing those bulls run up that street at me will be one of those images forever ingrained in my memory, thank you Pamplona.

Foux du fa fa

2008-07-13T13:28:00.000-07:00

Yes, I know this revolutionary etude was written for the attempted Polish revolution and not the French Revolution, but I like it, and I'm pretty sure Chopin wrote it in Paris, so deal with it:

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Paris is such a great city, it's hard to compare it to the others, it's like it is in the BCS, along with London, Rome, and New York, so I can't make any comparison to the other cities I visited, although I must say Prague is the next BCS buster. If you're going to Europe for the first time, Paris is a must, plain and simple. I know some people hate it, but that's usually because they went once and something bad happened so they associate it with that. Also, I think it makes a big difference if you speak French, I've found the locals to be extremely cordial, but probably a lot of that has to do with my French.

In Amsterdam, everyone speaks English, literally, I think the animals even take commands in two languages, but in Paris that's definitely not the case. If weed is what you smell upon arriving in Amsterdam, then BO would be the scent you get in Paris, at least in the metro, ugh... I got to my hotel at about 3, located in the south part of Paris, near the Montparnasse train station. The neighborhood is really cool, not touristy at all. I love how there are stores for everything, like a bread store, a meat store, fish store, fruit store, just lining the street. When I went out to get breakfast the next morning, I felt like singing the Beauty and the Best intro as I walked down the street, "There goes the baker with his tray as always!"

Jumping back to Friday...I went to the place where I had hoped to rent rollerblades but nothing was there. I asked the guy working at the flower shop next door and he said they closed 4 years ago...great. At that point (~5pm) I started to think all was lost since I didn't know where another store was and figured they'd all close at 5:30 or 6 anyway. He directed me to an internet cafe, fortunately right down the street, and I looked up another place near the Eiffel Tower. I went there and got my blades, very exciting. I rollerbladed back to my hotel and was pretty tired. I started having second thoughts about the 15 mile trek I was about to do. Nevertheless, I went to the meeting spot at 10pm and joined about 3-4K others. They say 10K do it but I doubt that ever happens. It's a holiday weekend though so maybe that's why we were relatively few in number. When we started, I couldn't stop smiling, it was just hilarious and crazy at the same time. We had a police escort and went down the major boulevards of Paris. There were often people lining the streets taking pictures and cheering us on. Here's me at the beginning, still with lots of energy:

We would stop every few miles so that we weren't too long and wouldn't tie up too much traffic. These breaks were annoying at first but adored by the end. They say you should be an experienced rollerblader to do it and this is very true. I'm in pretty good shape, certainly no Eric Rawlings (Iron Man) but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone in worse shape than me. Your cardio abilities are more important than your skating skills, although there are times when that helps. We were going down a hill, probably about 30 mph (which is pretty dang fast on blades) and I had about 30 people all around me, I was in the middle of a rollerblading peloton, it was awesome, we were all hunched over, no more than a foot between each person. If someone fell, it would have been disastrous, but fortunately that didn't happen (in my group at least).

The coolest part had to be rollerblading around the Place de la Bastille where, almost exactly 219 years earlier (on July 14), a mob of Parisians, not unlike ourselves (although probably on skates instead of rollerblades), stormed the jail that was there and then went to Versailles, starting the French Revolution and leading to the beheadings of many thousands of people, including the King and Queen. Fortunately, we didn't head to Versailles, as I was starting to get exhausted. Here's me towards the end, by Notre Dame:

Afterwards, my feet/ankles were destroyed with blisters and such. It was so worth it though, I had an excellent time.

I got up the next morning and had a delicious breakfast of croissants and pain au chocolat. I then went to the catacombs of Paris. During the late 1700s, they were running out of room to bury people. There were lots of bodies just rotting above ground, spreading disease and obviously smelling quite badly (even worse than usual). So, they decided to relocate a lot of the dead people to an old quarry in the southern part of Paris. They also arranged the bones in a rather artistic way. Here are some pics:

It was huge, the pics are just a very small part of the entire thing. It was cool to think when some of those people lived and how they were just normal everday Jos, or Jeans.

I grabbed lunch and ate in front of the Notre Dame. As an aspiring architect, I love Notre Dame, not because of any engineering feat, but because it has flying buttresses, and it's fun to say that.

Also, people watching is very underrated. I love watching different cultures take pictures. Americans are always bubbly and take funny or goofy pictures, whereas Asians are always rather stoic in their pictures, it just looks awkward.

I did one of those free tours again even though I know about most of the sites. I learned some new things but will have to double check if they are indeed true as the guide made some very obvious errors. She mentioned something about Charlemage doing something in 975, but as we all know from my post "Put Another Shrimp on the Barbie," he dined at that restaurant in Salzburg in the early 800s. Then she mentioned the Allies landing in Normandy in August of '44...it was June 6th. The kicker was at the Place de la Conchorde where she was talking about the beheadings during the Revolution and said Cardianl Richelieu was executed here...he died a relatively peaceful death about 150 years before the Parisians skated to the Bastille. So, I left the tour (it was almost over anyway) without paying a tip.

I think on my next trip to Europe I'm going to tour more of rural France, I love the food and talking to the locals. I'm about an hour from Pamplona, and I'll admit I'm a little nervous about the bull run tomorrow. Not because I could get gored, but because I'm not sure where to go exactly and don't speak the language. So, hopefully I'll at least get to see it and possibly get in.

As we went through the western Pyrenees, I was surprised at how green and lush it was. I had always imagined the Pyrenees (since I do that a lot) as being arid, but it was very beautiful. My aunt Nancy is going on a trip through there later this year and should enjoy it quite a bit. The red tiled roofs of the villages were a nice contrast to the green landscape. Perhaps it is drier towards the east, but along the coast it is gorgeous.

I had a nice conversation with a Frenchman from Bordeaux on the last train. We talked a lot about politics, including the upcoming US elections and Sarkozy. At the end he said it's too bad that French people always think Americans are all like Bush, and that if they're all like me, the French would like Americans more. Of course, I had to explain how we don't all have chiseled abs and stunning features, but we're good people. Yes, I am kidding, just in case you don't know me and take that last part seriously. As long as I'm clarifying things, please note that the czech and checking thing is not true (from my Prague post), I made that up (but pretty clever still I think), but the rest of that defenestration is true, or at least I wasn't intentionally telling falsehoods.

Ok, I'm in Pamplona, got my red scarf, Ole!!!

Dikes 'n Bikes

2008-07-11T06:50:00.000-07:00

7/11/08 12:50 pm - For the music, I couldn't find anything classical so this is obviously a joke. There are explicit lyrics so you might want to skip it. I think only like 3 people would get it anyway, but my jokes are rarely for the masses.

I just left the Brussels train station about 20 minutes ago and am now slicing through the Ardennes at a pace that would make Hitler blush. The top speed of this Thalys train is said to be 180 mph, although we're probably only doing 150 mph thanks to the rather rotund American tourists a few rows ahead of me. I love these fast trains though, you have to experience it to realize just how fast it is. I'm traveling backwards though since seats are assigned, so instead of pretending like I'm running 150 mph, I pretend like I'm moonwalking that fast, which is even cooler.

Let's talk about Amsterdam. I'm not exaggerating, the second I stepped out of the train station, I got a huge whiff of weed. I imagine it was rather coincidental as that wasnt always the case, but still, it was funny.

I didn't get there until 7pm; it was raining and didnt stop raining til I left basically, which was rather annoying, so I didn't take many photos. I didn't get a bike either but there were still tons in the streets, hence the title. Amsterdam is pretty confusing since all the buildings and canals look the same. I went out the first night to just wander and I got lost, which is very unlike me. I usually know generally where I am but I had no clue this time, plus there was no sun to even give me cardinal directions. I eventually found the Rijksmuseum and found my way back. I stayed at a crappy hotel since all the hostels were booked. I had my own room and bathroom but I think I actually prefer hostels since there are people to talk to.

The next day I did another one of those 'free' tours, which was good except for the rain. We saw a lot of cool buildings and the guide was informative, yet rather weird. Here are some pics:

Of course he took us by the red light district and 'coffee' houses, which were obviously interesting to say the least. I can say that I resisted all temptation in both places. At the coffee house I just ate some brownies and they were delicious. I bought a lot and will bring them home in my bags for everyone. After the tour I went to the Van Gogh museum. It was either that or the Rijksmuseum and since I'm no art connoisseur I went to the one with a shorter line. I actually liked it a lot, I didn't know Van Gogh didn't decide to be an artist until he was 27, which happens to be my age. I was feeling a connection with him until I read about how he shot himself 10 years later, so maybe not. I got to see the Sunflowers painting, amongst many others, but my favorite was the wheatfield and crows one:

Afterwards I just wandered around, Amsterdam is pretty cool, but probably more fun for those more open to other things, if you will. Also, the weather kind of made it hard, but still a cool city.

From Prussia with Love

2008-07-09T00:58:00.000-07:00

I feel bad snubbing Bach for my Germany post, but technically Germany didn't exist when he was alive, and he wasn't from Prussia, so I have to go with another favorite and predictable choice:

Going to Berlin after Prague is much like going on a date with a valedictorian after a night out with the head cheerleader (not that I've experienced either). Sure, you have a great conversation with the valedictorian, but you just can't stop thinking about last night. But Berlin has been a great learning experience and a great city for those interested in history.

When I got here, the walk to my hostel was quite long, I passed a river or creek and noticed some bricks on the ground after it, running parallel to the river. I later learned that's where the wall used to be. I had absolutely no clean clothes left so I went to do laundry right away. I wouldn't mention this except for the fact that there was this old guy at the laundromat that must've been out of clean clothes as well. He was walking around in just his tighty whities and sandals, it was hilarious.

After that, I walked to the Brandenburg Gate and took some pics, here's one:

The next day I did a free tour (guides paid on tips) and it was great, I highly recommend it (NewEurope free tours). We started at the Brandenburg Gate, saw the Reichstag, Holocaust Memorial:

Berlin Wall:

(Am I the first Ostler to touch it?)

Hitler's Bunker:

Just a parking lot now, which is cool. The site of death of one of the most influential (obviously in a bad way) men to ever live and now it's just an ugly parking lot. Take that gingerballs.

The luftwaffe HQ, Checkpoint Charlie:

The site of the book burnings, some buildings built by Frederick the Great, and my personal favorite, the hotel where Michael Jackson dangled his baby out the window (second floor, er third for americans):

Needless to say, the tour had it all. Like I said in my opening post, it was cool to imagine the events that happened there. Like the Soviets closing in on Hitler's bunker or Indiana Jones being near those book burnings. I loved it all and found the last 100 years of history in Berlin fascinating.

Feeling smart, I went to the Pergamon Museum where they have a Babylon exhibit. Unfortunately, it was for the civilization and not Babylon 5, so I felt a little awkward in my space suit. It was very cool though and they had lots of artifacts and reconstructed entire buildings inside the museum. The coolest thing I saw, perhaps on this entire trip, was the Ishtar Gate, which I had seen in history books and stuff before but had no idea it was here. I couldn't take a picture, but here's one from the web:

As many of you know (except Ben), this was one of the gates of Babylon built by Nebuchadnezzar. To think of all the people that walked through that gate was just incredible. Amongst many others, thousands of Jews would've walked through this gate when Jerusalem was captured not long after 600 BC. I was reading about the economy of Babylon and how they recorded all their business transactions in cuneiform. It was an accountant's dream!!

What a great day and what better way to cap off this feast of knowledge then by watching Hancock at the main cinema complex. It was showing at the recently constructed Potsdam Platz, which also has PwC's offices that I just stumbled upon. Movies are actually pretty cheap (5.5 euro) and you have assigned seats! Anyway, great city, if this is the valedictorian and Prague was the cheerleader, I can't wait to see what Amsterdam will be...

Czech Please

2008-07-07T11:35:00.000-07:00

Ok, I'm in Berlin now where I got to walk past the Berlin wall to get to my hostel (I'm on the east side now!). Here's the music (crank it up):

If you didn't get that joke, then listen to the more natural choice, and equally good:

7/6/07 9:28pm - Well I wasn't going to start writing this til tomorrow in the train, but a summer storm rolled in this evening so I have nothing else to do. Fortunately, it didn't start raining until I got back from seeing everything. Like I said, Prague is incredible. I know it's kind of a trendy pick, but there's a reason everyone likes it. Let me just shut up and let the video show what I'm talking about:

Cool, right? My hostel is right on the river, a nice 10 minute walk from the St. Charles Bridge:

You might remember some of this stuff from the 1st Mission Impossible or, more embarrassingly, Chasing Liberty. After getting settled I went for a walk and snapped the photo in the last post, as well as many others. Tell me that's not awesome, I love that picture. I walked all around and was just blown away. I went back to the hostel and hung out with my roomies, two guys from New Zealand. They were cool, I even asked if they had penguins in their hometown (Flight of the Conchords reference). They said, 'oh yis, my cat would chase the pinguins out of our backyard.' For some reason I thought that was hilarious. I got 8 hours of sleep, which was awesome and a first on the trip. I went to the Old Town Square (filmed in video) and climbed the tower:

Then I went to a museum of medieval art from Bohemia, which was really interesting. After that, I headed up to Prague Castle, which you see on the hill:

St. Vitus cathedral is the biggest church in the Czech Republic. The grounds include the President's offices and the Old Royal Palace:

You could say I'd been waiting to see this site ever since I got an illustrative book on the most significant battles in history. In the early 1600s, the Hapsburgs had two governors here who were Catholic. One day, some unhappy protestant nobles came to the palace and performed a defenestration. Note 'fenestra' or window in the word, as it means 'to throw out the window.' It was actually a Czech custom to do this with underperforming politicians. Sometimes the victim met his death, but often not, which I imagine would provide for an awkward situation at the next day's meetings. In this case, the governors did not die (landed in horse manure), but the act pissed off the Hapsburgs and Catholics and sparked the 30 Years War. The Battle of White Mountain was the one hilighted in the book I had and resulted in the Protestants being expelled from Prague. The 30 Years War is often thought of as the first world war, which is also interesting b/c the real WWI started by Archduke Ferdinand being killed and the 30 Years War started by an Archduke Ferdinand's governors being attacked. Lesson? Don't mess with anyone named Ferdinand.

Defenestration was no longer practiced after the war, although it wasn't completely abandoned by the Czechs. Hockey, one of the main sports of the country, often has players throwing or hitting their opponents against the rink's windows, so to speak. This isn't called defenestration, but checking, or czeching, in honor of the people who made it popular.

Back on track...I walked a lot, taking over 100 pictures during the day. I went to a park with a smaller version of the Eiffel tower. It had a great view of the city and I enjoyed a czech sausage. Here's a pic of just a random street. I liked how the buildings had arched bottoms such that the sidewalks were covered. I'm sure there is a technical term for this, but my architectural knowledge is indeed that of George Costanza and not Art Vandelay:

7/7/08 11:15am - So the rain stopped and I went for another walk to the Old Town and St. Charles bridge at about 10:30. I need a nicer camera, one that works at night. I thought this one was good though:

I can't recommend a trip to this city enough and wish I could've stayed longer. It's pretty cheap too, at least compared to the Euro countries. I'm excited to go to Berlin though, just because they speak a language I kind of understand. Plus, I know several phrases like 'Das ist gut' and 'Mein Vater ist David Hasselhof,' both of which should get me on the good side of most Germans. I just gotta be careful not to mention the war. (Fawlty Towers reference)

One last thing, did anyone get that mozarthaus and animalhaus joke? Tom Hulce played Mozart in Amadeus, and he was also in Animal House. I guess it wasn't that funny anyway, oh well.

I swear I'm done after this, here's a pic of a cool building right next to the hostel, it's nickname is the Fred and Ginger building:

Czech this out

2008-07-05T15:11:00.000-07:00

I'll do a full post after I leave, but I just got back from walking around and took some awesome pics. Unfortunately my camera isn't that great, but I tried my best. The sunset was gorgeous. Prague is INCREDIBLE, it is officially my favorite city now. There, I said it.

Buda < Pest

2008-07-05T09:16:00.000-07:00

I'm in Prague now, here's my entry for yesterday, written on the train this morning:

7/5/07 - 11:04AM - Wow, that was a quick stop, but still fun. As many of you know, Buda and Pest were, until the 19th century two different cities on opposite sides of the Danube. I stayed in Pest, just up the street from the really cool Parlaiment building:

It was kinda scary going to a country whose language I knew nothing about. With German, at least I knew the very basics, but I didn't even know 'thank you' in Hungarian. One thing I learned though was that not only do they say 'hello', they say it both upon greeting and leaving. Also, the 'S' is pronounced 'sh' but 'sz' is our normal s so Budapest is Budapesht. A lot of borrowed english words obviously need that sz, like busz and szex (I stayed near a seedy area).

Anyway, after getting settled, I headed out at 1 to accomplish an ambitious agenda in less than a day. I started by getting food and wanted something authentic. The hostel owner recommended a nearby restaurant that had goulash for about 6 bucks. Wow. I had my reservations about goulash, maybe because it sounds like goulags or ghouls, I don't know, but this was very delicious. It's basically a big bowl of soup with potatoes, meat, and some veggies, but it was soooo good. I highly recommend that Sarah, who enjoys making new/experimental stuff, try to find a traditional Hungarian goulash, I'd fly to Denver for a bowl.

I then walked to the main area of the city, explored, then took a bus to Statue Park. Again, as many of you know/remember, after the Soviets liberated Hungary from the Nazis, they didn't leave. Communist leaders were put into place and statues were erected (standard commy affaire). After communism fell, many of thesee statues were put in this park. It was very cool, certainly something that'd make any John Birch Society cardholder shiver. This statue previously stood on a hill over Budapest:

The whole design of the park was symbolic, too. The front gate was big and nice, but nothing was behind it really, pomp with no circumstance, much like communism. Here's another one (I'd do more but the internet is really slow here):

I really enjoyed the visit and although I had already learned communism doesn't work thanks to Sid Meier's Civiliation computer games, the thought was certainly reinforced by the exhibits of Statue Park.

Back in the city, I walked around again and got dinner at McDonald's and ate it by the river. I know, it's McDonald's but I'm trying to not spend so much. The fries were really good though. I was told later by a guide that when the first McDonald's opened after the fall of communism, people thought you needed a passport to get in, they didn't really know what it was.

At 8, I did a night tour, there were only 3 of us and the guide, so that was cool. We walked all around and then took a cruise on the Danube. The city is very modern, helped by the fact that most of it was destroyed by WWII or the 1956 revolution. They call it the Paris of the East, but I don't know if I'd go that far, but certainly the nicest formerly communist city I've ever been to. Here's a couple pics from the tour:

Vienna Vidi Vici

2008-07-04T10:07:00.000-07:00

4:24pm 7/3/08- The trip from Salzburg to Vienna was uneventful but pleasant. My hostel is located very close to Westbahnhof (train station), which was really nice. I'm sharing a room and one bathroom with 7 people, including 3 girls, so it's interesting to say the least. I kinda like it though, and it's fun meeting people from all over as only one other person is American.

I set out on foot right away towards the Schonbrunn and explored. I walked around the side and came around this one corner to a beautiful view and a gust of wind hit me at the same time. No chorus of angels, but it was still pretty cool, I then took a picture:

I really liked the gardens:

I hiked up to the Gloriette and noticed they had tables out for a cafe. As my new thing is eating with cool views, I sat down and had a little cake and apple juice with this view:

When I walked down and out my feet were kinda hurting. I had been wearing flip flops for the past two days and it was taking its toll. I noticed a sort of bike rack vending machine nearby where you can rent bikes and they have locations all over where you can return them. The bikes just lock into these stalls and you use your credit card to get them out. They're free for the first hour, 1 euro for the 2nd, and 2 euros for each subsequent hour. So i got one and just started riding. I had no idea where i was going but rode the cruiser in my plaid shorts and t-shirt like some beach bum. The Viennese hadn't seen an Ostler on a bicycle in over 30 years.

Before I knew it, I was riding alongside a student demonstration with police escort. I sped ahead where they were clearing the streets of traffic and had the roads to myself. I figured I'd just play the dumb tourist but at least have plenty of room to mosey. All of a sudden I came upon the main cathedral of Vienna, Stephansdom:

-PICTURE REMOVED-

For some reason I forgot to take a picture of the church, so this one is borrowed, nice Jeff.

I continued on to the Danube, went down a ways and found a station to lock up the bike. I ended up using it for 55 minutes, so it was free. I walked around the inner city and did some people watching.

Today I did the self-guided tour that Dad outlined. I started at the Belvedere Palace:

Then continued to some other sites, stopping by Stadtpark, where Dad had spent a lot of time as a missionary. I tried to think of what unfinished business my Dad would have me do in an area where he had worked so hard and diligently. I thought for a moment and realized it is something all missionaries would want, a nap. So I found a park bench and snoozed for about an hour in the warm sun. Then I went to the old city again, got lunch and continued exploring.

9:35 AM 7/4/08- I'm somewhere in western Magyarorszag, the anglicized version obviously being Hungary. After my entry yesterday I went to call the tour I'll be going on tonight in Budapest. You're supposed to call 24 hours in advance to confirm, which is retarded since the tour is nonrefundable anyway. So, I had to buy a stupid phone card just for that purpose and went to a pay phone. I called and said that I'd like to confirm, to which the lady said, "ok, you're confirmed." Puzzled, I responded, "um do you know who I am? As in who is confirming?" She says, "Oh, right, what is your name?" Yikes.

I headed back to the hostel to see the plans of some people I met and we were talking for about 20 minutes when I realized I couldn't find my wallet. For some reason, I can remember the most obscure dates and other trivial things, but the whereabouts of my belongings always seem to be my Achilles heel. I couldn't find it in the room and realized I must have left it at the pay phone. I ran to the pay phone, and as you have probably anticipated by the lack of curse words in this post, it was still there. This wasn't a pay phone on some small street either, this was Mariahilfstrasse, one of the busiest streets in Vienna. But sure enough, the good people of Vienna let my wallet be, so thank you Wieners, you will not be forgotten.

So, back on track, I headed back to the old city and went to dinner at the Griechenbeisl, which Mom and Dad recommended, as it dates back several hundred years and hosted the likes of Beethoven, Wagner, and Strauss, to name a few. The food was very good, and once again I imagined a conversation with the past patrons, perhaps getting Wagner's thoughts on the use of his music in Bugs Bunny cartoons.

Afterwards, I walked to the Hofbrau and surrounding areas, here are a couple pics:

All in all, a great city, although I know I missed a lot of things. I just got really tired after the first day there and need to start pacing myself or else I'll have no energy to run with the bulls in Pamplona, rollerblade in Paris, or barter with the ladies of the night in Amsterdam.

Put Another Shrimp on the Barbie!

2008-07-02T00:30:00.000-07:00

Welcome

Salzburg is absolutely beautiful, it's every postcard maker's dream, as well as travel blogger's for that matter. I feel like one of those critics that just raves about every movie, even if they suck, but I must say, so far these have been awesome places. I suppose if I did a random sample of world cities I'd be able to show a range of critiques, but it's as if I'm a movie critic for 'Citizen Kane' or 'Bill and Teds Excellent Adventure', what can I fault?

I started the day at 9AM by heading to Mirabell gardens:

Then I went to the old town where Mozart was born:

Mozart Geburtshaus, which is coincidentally and conveniently located right down the street from Animalhaus:

I then toured all the churches in the area, which were quite ornate. I had my iPod on the Best of Mozart, and that was really cool. The quality is great on my iPod, it seemed like there was an echo as I listened to the songs inside the chapels. I liked the architecture a lot, more baroque compared to the gothic ones I was used to in France. Plus, it was hot outside, so it felt really good inside. After that I just wandered around, eating a wurst here, a strudel there, and trying on some liederhosen. I was incredibly hungry for some reason, I ended up eating like 5 meals yesterday plus snacks, and I dont want to go into this too much, but a major shout out to my body who realizes my disdain for public toilets and cooperated accordingly.

At about noon I headed up to the Festung by foot, which was a nice workout. It was quite impressive, reminding me of the Citadel in Besancon:

The Festung is the fortress on the hill, I'm standing in the cemetary below that I'm told is where the VonTrapps hid in 'The Sound of Music' from the Nazis.

At the top, looking down.

A new thing of mine on this trip is to eat in the coolest places possible. My budget doesn't really allow for that, but who cares right? There was a restaurant at the Festung overlooking the city and I couldn't pass that up:

So now I've eaten overlooking the Spiez and the Thunersee, the Lauterbrunnen Valley, and Salzburg...just wait until dinner though... After lunch I decided to do the 'Sound of Music' tour since I had seen almost everything in the main area of Salzburg. It was a great idea and I enjoyed it quite a bit as we traveled out to the Lakes district and other beautiful areas. Here are some shots from the trip:

Amazing

Eat your heart out Epcot Center!

Church from Sound of Music, in Hapsburg yellow, renamed pee yellow after the Treaty of Versailles.

The tour guide was quite good actually, I liked him because he sounded a lot like Jon Lovitz, but with a little more twinkle in his eyes. But what would you expect from a guy whose job exists because of Julie Andrews.

After the tour, I walked up the hill overlooking Salzburg from another angle and took these pics:

The wrath of Jeff descends upon the unsuspecting Salzburgers.

So, how do you outdo a meal overlooking Salzburg? How about dinner at the oldest restaurant in Europe, the Stiftskeller St. Peters, opened in 803. You would think from these meals I've been having that I'm some visiting dignitary, not a lone hostel backpacker. It turned out my room was 19 euros a night instead of 29, so I figured a splurge of this sort was justifiable. Also, Charlemagne ate there, so how can I pass that up? As I ate my salad and looked around at the stony arches, I imagined what it would be like to dine with Charlemagne some 1200 years earlier. I imagined our conversation would involve his recent conquests of Saxony or Lombardy. I'd then crack a joke about a Moor, a Magyar, and a Byzantine walking into a bar and we'd have a good laugh. Good ole Charlie, a man of the people.

Speaking of delusions, I'd like to take this moment to thank you for your viewership, I feel as if this blog is my 'Wilson' that I can talk to while I see the sites.

One last thing, I thought I'd share my thoughts on the hostel world. So far, it's not as bad as I was fearing, but certainly nothing to write home about (even though I am). My room has 4 beds in it, and the other three travelers are by themselves as well. This place is pretty nice, and I could see it getting pretty ugly, but the beds are long enough for me, the showers are hot, and the breakfast is pretty darn good. For sleeping, I just go 'Helen Keller' style with my earplugs and facemask and I sleep pretty good. Without those, there's no way as there is a ton of noise from the street or from snorers. I doubt I'll ever do hostels again after this trip, but for a young person, they're pretty good. Ok, time to go to Vienna, my train fahrts in 20 minuten.

Train-ing Day

2008-06-30T12:30:00.000-07:00

Music:

6/30/08 1:29- I love riding trains in German speaking areas because they always wish you a gute fahrt! Why thank you! Yes, I did just turn 27.

I think there are few things in life more enjoyable than passing through the Austrian Alps in first class (zweitzer klasse is für idioten!), listening to one of Mozart's symphonies. I just left Bludenz and will arrive in Salzburg at 5:30, but I'm looking forward to going through Innsbruck and other Austrian towns along the way. This morning I left at 6:30 so I could go to Luzern before continuing on to Zurich. Yes, I know, going to Zurich via Bern is quicker, but I wanted to see Luzern quite badly and I wasn't disappointed. Here are some pics:

I love pain au chocolat, which is basically a chocolate filled croissant, but I found this place that took it one step further: chocolate filled croissants with nuts on top. Wow. I then picked up some lunch for the train ride: fresh bread and appenzeller cheese, an apple, and some Torino chocolate to wash it all down. By the way, I found some Suchard Double Creme at the hostel in Lauterbrunnen, but only one bar. I didn't find any in Geneva, so none will be sent home since I'm only mortal and devoured the Double Creme last night during the EuroCup. Anyways, Luzern was great, very charming.

2:10- I'm obviously listening to a lot of Mozart off my iPod. Listen to the Lacrymosa part of his Requiem. While you listen, think of the major events of your life or of someone important to you:

If you do it without getting choked up or even goosebumps then you have no soul. I think the Requiem, Adagio for Strings by Samuel Barber, and Everyday by Carly Comando are the 3 saddest songs I know.

As if my iPod's shuffle is mocking me, I'm now listening to 'Big Girls Dont Cry', well played.

9:30- I'm at a local internet cafe because the wireless doesnt work at the hostel, uggg! Tonight is the first night that I'll be sharing a room with strangers...great. Tomorrow I'll do Dad's tour of Salzburg but probably won't write about it until Vienna, we'll see.

An Incredible Fahrt

2008-06-30T10:19:00.000-07:00

So I'm posting twice from Salzburg because of the stupid internet in Switzerland. Here's the music:

6/28/08 1:34pm- I'm sitting at the Interlaken Ost Station waiting for the train to Lauterbrunnen, where I'll stay the next two nights. The train ride here, as you can tell from the title of this post, was fantastic. We went along Lake Geneva, up through Valais and across to Spiez. I got out in Spiez for lunch at the local Migros and this was the view from my seat:

The photo doesn't even do it justice, it was incredible. The train from Spiez to Interlaken was equally impressive. the music was chosen because it conjures up thoughts of grandeur and amazement. I wouldn't be surprised to see a T-Rex come around the corner any second now, or Julie Andrews, although I'm not sure which would scare me more.

6/29/08 5:55pm- The good fahrts just keep on coming. I arrived at the Jungfrau camping hostel, located almost directly under a waterfall (Ben, I'm sure you know) at about 2:30 yesterday. I checked in and got my own little cabin, which is probably about 7 feet by 10 feet, perfect. The wireless internet isn't working here, so I'll have to post this from Salzburg. I headed out right away and went to Trummelbach falls. Here's some photos from the valley floor (cue Jurassic Park music):

Here's the Jungfrau:

The Jungfrau- Forbidding, aloof, terrifying. The mountain with the... if you dont know the joke already, then continuing would just make it awkward.

And of Trummelbach falls:

You didn't think that just because I'm by myself, I'd pass up golden opportunities like this one, did you?

After that, I hiked up to a cable car that took me to Gimmelwald, as shown here:

From there, I hiked up to Mürren, where I was originally going to stay. The day could not have been more beautiful. I found a restaurant that overlooked the valley and ate some sausage and rosti:

Then I took cable cars back down to the valley floor and walked home. I was basically smiling the entire time, I just couldn't get over it. It's like Saint Peter's Basilica, in that you just have to be there to understand how big and impressive it is. Any testimony that I lacked in a divine creator from my many drives across Nevada has been compensated for by the beauty of this valley.

This morning, I woke up at 6:30 and took a train back down to Interlaken, where I met the canyoning tour. I met a guy from the University of Florida and two girls from SDSU and we kinda stuck together. I must say I dig canyoning. For me, it's just the way I live my life. I grip it and I rip it. I live it with a lot of flair. I live it on the edge, where I gotta be.

I've always felt that if you can take a picture of something, it's not extreme enough, so I dont have any. Well, they had a guy taking some but you had to pay 48 francs for them...and I never look good wearing a helmet, so I passed. The two girls bought pics, so if I'm in one of theirs, I assume I'll be tagged on Facebook, we'll see.

It was so fun though. You can see in the video below what we did, it was basically that. My favorite was the one where you jump out to the side, land on a rock, and slide down. We also got to hang out at this one rock and do flips and stuff off of it. The slides were cool too, it was amazing how everything was natural. The water was freezing, obviously, but the day was warm and it felt great.

UPDATE- When I took a shower that night (dont worry, this will be the only time I talk about my showers, i hope), I noticed a large bruise on my hip, but other than that, no injuries so that's good considering they get 'a lot of dislocated shoulders' and my shoulder is prone to that.

Swiss Mister

2008-06-27T11:46:00.000-07:00

Stop 1- Geneva, Switzerland

12:15 - Wow, good thing I'll be typing this up or else you'd be deciphering my writing through the sweat droplets on this page. I am quite sure I just set the record for a mile run inside Charles DeGaulle airport. My first flight (I'll get to that in a second) was to arrive at 11am, with this flight to Geneva leaving at noon. However, we didn't land until 11:20 and by the time we got to the gate and got out (I was in the back) it was 11:40. So, within the first 12 hours of my trip, it's already a good idea I did this alone. I was running at a very unsustainable pace but I didn't want to look weak in front of the French, so I kept going all out. I'm being serious, I really got the energy to run b/c of that thought. I'm sure there were a couple old people who, when seeing me run, had flashbacks to operation overlord...or not. Also, the 15 minutes of sleep I got on the plane didn't help. There were two stops along the way in the airport, one to check passports and another to check bags. For passports, the line was very long and would've taken at least 30 minutes, but I sweet talked some cute french girls into letting me get in front. By sweet talk, I mean panting and mumbling something in french, pointing to my ticket. And by cute french girls, I mean some 50-year old roundabouts, if you will. At the x-ray area, I foolishly took off my shoes, which I guess isn't required, but the security people seemed to enjoy it. Anyway, I made it, just barely.

The first flight started out bad, there was turbulence and the plane had NO personal entertainment screens for each seat like Virgin Atlantic. This turned out to be good as it forced me to talk to the Polish girl next to me, and we ended up talking for almost the entire flight about everything from Chopin to Polish dogs (although she'd never been to Costco...the horror!). She's an Au Pair in San Francisco but was heading home for a couple weeks. Other than that, the flight was uneventful and like I said, I didn't really get much sleep.

6:56 pm Why am I not staying more than one night in Geneva? This city is great and I was originally going to skip it altogether. Good thing I didn't as my bags weren't as nimble as I, so they have yet to arrive. No biggie, in fact that's better b/c I didn't have to lug them to the hotel. After checking in, I went down to the lake and ate a Kebab. They closed the Burger King, but I don't care, Kebabs are great. Everyone I've talked to so far has been incredibly nice and kept speaking in French even after hearing my accent. It's amazing how differently people treat you when you're not a missionary. Don't get me wrong, people who knew us treated us like demi-gods, but strangers were often very cautious. Everyone at the stores, the post office (sent 70 bucks worth of chocolate home, I'll distribute it when I get back), and train station have gone out of there way to help me. I know where things are, but I still enjoy people telling me, I like playing the naive tourist.

I walked around the old town, stopping at the cathedral where John Calvin preached, leading to the protestant group named after him, the Lutherans (I think Luther was his nickname). I love sitting in cathedrals, the architecture just blows my mind given the period of their construction. At the risk of sounding like George Costanza, I kinda wish I would’ve studied architecture in college. After the old town (or Olde Towne?), I headed to Meyrin where I lived at the beginning of my mission. It’s a dump, but there are a lot of memories there. I guess they were mostly bad ones, but that’s where I met Nick, so I guess it was worth it, for his sake, not mine.

9:30pm Now I’m at Starbucks getting ready to post this, I’ll head to bed right after. Here are some photos from the day:

Kebab by the Lake? Heaven.

The Jet D'eau was right beneath the ball moments before this picture, they turned it off to spite me. Anyway, the ball is there for the EuroCup.

I know, this is the typical setup for a missionary photo, but I still couldn't resist.

My first missionary residence.

Looking to save money on marketing costs, Meyrin Fitness decided to use the logo of the building's former tenant, Michel's Kama Sutra Center.
I remember this place from when I was a missionary, but tried to stay above such jokes and didn't take a picture. I've since recovered.

I’ll post again on Sunday night, if I’m still alive from canyoning.

Bisous, Ciao!!!

2008-06-23T16:55:00.000-07:00

Eurail pass: check. Passport: check. Purell hand sanitizer: check. This should be my last post before Europe, barring a shocker on The Bachelorette tonight that would require commenting. I will usually write my entries on the train, and then post them when I get to an internet connection. As some trips may be long, or internet may be hard to come by, I may have multiple entries in one post. Also, I hope to have music with each entry for you to listen to while you read. I'll just post a YouTube video, but don't watch it, it's just there for the music. Of course, my choices will be applicable to the areas I'm visiting. I'm still not sure what to do for Amsterdam as I don't know any Dutch composers, anyone?

In case you forgot when I will be where, check my Exodus post below. My only amendment thus far is that I'll be in Geneva on Friday, not Murren since I'll be exhausted and probably not up for the train ride on the same day as a 12 hour flight. Anyway, my next post will be from Europe!!!

Oh, I almost forgot, here's the music for this post:

PS- I found my old In-N-Out shirt, the one I wore when I worked there. Tomorrow I'll go get a paper hat and wear the whole combo (with white pants, red apron) for the running of the bulls. I'll still fit in with the colors, but add a little California flare to the mix. Sort of reminiscent of the scene in Space Balls when all sorts of people are running for the escape hatches before the ship explodes.

Everywhere like Such As

2008-06-21T16:10:00.000-07:00

Ok, so we all remember Miss South Carolina and her stirring call for better geography education in the United States. In the annals of history, I expect it to be alongside Roosevelt's address to congress about Pearl Harbor or Reagan's Tear Down This Wall speech. In case you forgot, here it is:

I grew up in Fremont and went to school with a lot of Asians. I don't think it'd be insensitive to say that Asian children are often very advanced in academics. I think I was fairly bright as a child, yet I was overshadowed by the intelligence of my oriental friends. But I had a secret weapon: Geography. In my fifth grade class we had a challenge to learn all the state capitals. I distinctly remember spending an entire weekend going through our encyclopedias and memorizing the capitals of the US and most of the world (including South Africa and the Iraq).

In class, we had a competition where two students would have their backs to a map. The teacher would call out a capital, and we would turn around and the first person to find it would win. The championship came down to Pannyun Yiu and yours truly. Pannyun was a math whiz, she won all the spelling bees, and per Facebook, graduated from Stanford and got her medical degree from UCSF. Nonetheless, with my knowledge of the exact location of Pierre, South Dakota (basically in the middle), I won the competition.

And so, I throw down the gauntlet at your feet. I've been playing this geography game and believe my score of 619K is untouchable. Well, there's been a lot of people that have beaten it, but no one I know, so here it is. The map is kinda small, but it's really fun if you like geography. If you don't, go try out for the next Miss Teen USA.

brought to you by TravelPod, the Web's First Travel Blog ( Member of the TripAdvisor Media Network )

I hope to have only 1, if any, more posts before I leave, as the trip is the point of this blog. Just bear with me for a little longer, and then you can bare with me as I visit European beaches.

Words cannot describe...

2008-06-18T21:49:00.000-07:00

Today I'd like to talk to you about a serious topic. There's been a little joking around on this blog, and that's all well and good, but it's time we quit screwing around and get personal. Now those who know me are aware that I don't open up very much, I don't share my feelings, I don't just let my emotions be seen. But I think in order to connect with my audience, I need to do just that. So, let's talk about something that is really important to me, something that's always been in my life, and something my family taught me about from a very young age. It helped me through my most harrowing moments of my life, and enabled me to see the bigger picture, to know I have a purpose. Of course, I'm talking about chocolate.

Growing up, I enjoyed chocolate quite a bit, from the chocolate in Snickers and Cookies, to plain old Hershey bars. However, going to Switzerland and tasting the real chocolate of this world was not unlike a farm boy seeing the big city lights for the first time. M&M's slogan used to be, and perhaps still is, "Melts in your mouth, not in your hand." What an abomination this is to chocolate! That's like Ruth's Chris Steakhouse advertising it's Filets Mignons by saying "You'll Need a Really Sharp Knife to Cut our Meat". A simple test of a chocolate's worth is how quickly it melts in your fingers. Keep in mind, I'm not talking about dark chocolate, that's a whole different blog entry. Also, if you were to break off a piece, the chocolate bar should bend, any snapping or breaking action should not be tolerated.

Now everyone is going to be biased to their favorite chocolate, and that's fine, but this entry isn't about biases, it's about the truth, and here are the 3 most delicious chocolates in the entire world:

1. Torino Baton au chocolat au lait fourre-praline - A somewhat ostentatious name, I know, but I seriously get emotional thinking about this one. I feel as if no mortal language is worthy of describing this type of perfection. I knew a lady in Biel, Switzerland, who had been married to a member of the Bloch family, and she often provided us missionaries with our fix. I served for 6 months in that city during winter, perhaps seeing the sun twice during my stay. It was sooooo worth it. I'd commit to solitary confinement for the rest of my life with the promise of this chocolate.

2. Favarger Aveline - When you grow up near Milpitas, CA, as well as the Bay itself, you can often catch a whiff of something putridly pungent when outside. So, as I walked the streets of Versoix, Switzerland at the commencement of my mission, the smell from the Favarger Chocolate factory was such an extreme opposite, my knees would literally buckle. The high walls of the factory added to the mystery, like it was Willy Wonka's chocolate factory and I was just steps away from the Oompa Loompas themselves. The best kind, Aveline, has little slivers of almonds in it, adding to the flavor and providing a nice texture.

3. Suchard Double Crème - Cream is good, when it is 'Crème' it is better, and when you double that? It's over. This one was nearly outlawed in my mission due to its…how do I put this nicely…enlarging effect on sister missionaries. We were even told that we could eat but one chocolate bar a week. I admit I did not follow this rule, but as it helped me stay on my mission, I think it was a worthy violation.

So, in about 9 days I'll be loading a box with these at some store in Geneva, like a crazed supermarket sweep contestant. Requests can be sent to my email if you have it, or if you don't, just contact someone who does. Also, the 500th visitor to this site (currently sitting at about 150) will get a box of chocolate on me!! A little incentive to keep coming back. :)

The Bourne Stupidity

2008-06-14T22:08:00.000-07:00

I was thinking about my trip and how Nancy mentioned a comparison to Odysseus and his trip back from the Trojan Wars. I think that may be fitting (would the Sirens be the red light district in Amsterdam?), but I'd also like to think of myself as Jason Bourne. I always wanted to be a spy in Europe, having my funds and directions deposited in a bank lockbox and sitting in cafes watching my target. The only problem would be that if I were ever caught and tortured, I'd squeal about as quickly as you could scratch a chalkboard or dangle the extra hair from a brush over my head ("okay okay!! I'll talk…you animals!!").

In preparation to become Bourne, I was researching where my trains would pass through in case I were ambushed and needed to know where to go. I was looking at my trip from Interlaken to Salzburg, and noticed that I'll be stopping in Vaduz, Liechtenstein!!! Needless to say, as I put exclamation points, I'm very excited about this. I'll have about 3 minutes in Liechtenstein, so I'll be getting off the train and doing something that I can talk about later. Maybe I'll 'lose' something there, like a pair of socks so I can tell people at a cocktail party, "hahaha, I laugh because that reminds me of this one time…oh, this was classic…I was in Liechtenstein and I lost a pair of socks!" You see, if people hear you've lost socks in places, they'll think you spent a lot of time there, certainly more than 3 minutes. If they ask what the country is like, you nod your head a little, looking off in the distance, and whisper, "Amazing." Finally, if they end up asking how long you were there, just say, "I spent a month there one night." A little ambiguous humor to break up the conversation. Yes, I know, I'm a poor man's Richard King.

Also, I booked an activity in Interlaken that I'm having some reservations about (that was an unintentional, yet brilliant pun if I do say so myself). It's called canyoning, and although I think it looks awesome, it is extremely dangerous. Now, I don't fear being mortally wounded, I just don't want it to happen this early in the trip, that'll be saved for my bovine friends in Iberia. Anyway, here's a video from YouTube showing what'll be done (skip the first minute of intro):

So I see the video and book the tour for like $150. There'll be only 4 of us, with I believe 2 guides, so it should be cool, but then I read this article:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/405497.stm

"The police said it would take "days or weeks" until all the victims were identified.
"Most of the fatalities suffered injuries to the head and the canyonists were all wearing identical protective gear - so dental records will have to be used for identification."

Dental records!?!? That's an aka for it wasn't pretty. At least with the bulls my funeral can still be an open casket, just not open shirt as I was originally planning. Anyways, I look forward to posting about it afterwards, and if not, I'm the one with the big underbite.

Exodus

2008-06-12T15:08:00.001-07:00

Ok, I promise not all my titles will be books from the Bible, but so far they've been fitting. Exactly two weeks from now, I'll be learning how to fasten my seatbelt on Air France flight 83 with nonstop service to Paris. From there, I will catch a connecting flight to Geneva, arriving at about 1 pm local time. I've designed this trip in order to go places I've never been. I loved Italy and England, and I know there are plenty of places in those countries that I could still discover, but I wanted to mix it up a little more than that. Concerning the Middle East, Allison…intriguing but I think I'd like to go there with a friend so if there's an attempted kidnapping, I have someone to outrun.

So here it is:

June 27th- Arrive in Geneva, eat Burger King by the lake (sentimental value in this) Take afternoon train to Murren:

June 28th- Murren
June 29th- Murren (find place to watch Eurocup finale with locals)
June 30th- Train to Salzburg. This will be long but I'm excited as it goes through the Swiss and Austrian alps (with a stop in Innsbruck) and the train has extended windows over the roof for better viewing.
July 1- Salzburg (staying at a hostel that shows Sound of Music everyday at 10:30am)
July 2- Train to Vienna
July 3- Vienna
July 4- Train to Budapest (I'll only have an afternoon and evening here, but it's jam packed with a city tour, statue park where old communist relics were dumped, and a Danube river cruise at night while listening to classical music)

July 5- Train to Prague
July 6- Prague
July 7- Train to Berlin
July 8- Berlin
July 9- Train to Amsterdam
July 10- Amsterdam (I'm staying at a dive here by the red light district, should be interesting)
July 11- Train to Paris (Will do the Friday night rollerblading through Paris with thousands of others)
July 12- Paris
July 13- Train to Pamplona
July 14- Pamplona (Running of the Bulls, will buy white pants and red scarf the day before, that'll be me with the big hair:)

July 15- Train to Barcelona
July 16- Barcelona
July 17-Train to Granada
July 18- Granada (One of the places I'm most excited for)

July 19- Train to Madrid
July 20- Madrid
July 21- Madrid/Segovia (google it, looks like a really cool town):

July 22- Flight to SFO

So it seems like half my time will be spent in a train, and indeed half my days will consist of some time in a train, but most of the rides are less than 4 hours, so it's really just the morning. Plus, I love taking trains and looking out the window. I know I've been to Paris before, but I had to stop by there for the rollerblading. Each Friday night, 10-15K people meet at the Montparnasse train station and rollerblade around the city. I'm very excited to do this, and there's a possibility they'll let us go down the Champs-Elysees, which happens every few months. Also, I need to get a Kebab and speak some French, so voila.

I know these are places that most of you haven't been to, but when I ask for suggestions, that doesn't necessarily mean you've done it and want me to try it. It could also mean something you would like to vicariously do through me.

I've always enjoyed using the following line when talking to people, "Oh, that reminds me of the time I was [verb]ing in [place]." So, if you can think of a cool activity, let me know. Something like, "Oh, that reminds of the time I was eating at this cafe in Prague..." Not bad eh?

Genesis

2008-06-10T16:22:00.000-07:00

There are so many ways to start this blog, from "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..." or "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a [European trip]" or perhaps "A few miles north of Soledad…" (all applicable on many different levels). In any case, here it is, the long-awaited* blog of Jeff. I was originally hoping that this blog would contain pictures of my kids and cute little stories about their bodily functions, but hey, I was also hoping that bastard Brad Womack from The Bachelor would have asked DeAnna to marry him but we all know how that ended!!! Sorry, I got carried away there for a second. So, here I am, no kids and a little money that I could either invest responsibly or blow on a trip to Europe. Contrary to what many would think, I am choosing the latter, and here you will find the result.

Given the fact that I don't drink, solicit prostitutes, or enjoy streaking (at least not often), my trip might not be that interesting (did I mention I'm an accountant?). This is then compounded by the fact that I'll be traveling alone. Now, some of you may be thinking as you read this, "Wow, alone?? What a loser!!" or maybe "Why would I ever read about a guy traveling by himself in Europe" or perhaps "Man, this guys is really really ridiculously good looking*", but to all of you I say…Well yes, you're right (especially those in group 3), but let's face it, you're bored at work or the kids are napping and no one else has updated their blog so you're stuck here. Plus, I'm sure people made fun of Thoreau when he went to live by himself, but who's laughing now??? I'd like to think of this blog as my own "Walden", and perhaps in a hundred years, high school students will be required to read this blog and forced to write some report on it (and they'll subsequently, as this author can attest, forget everything except the title), we can only hope.

As with most hip things, I have come to the blogging world quite late. I just barely got a Facebook account and didn't have a cell phone until I was 21 (I thought they'd be a fad…who knew?!?!) So here I am at a pivotal time in my life and on the cusp of a journey across Europe.

First things first, a little introduction: Although I imagine the only ones reading this will be my mom, a couple sisters, and those poor souls who google "pasty white skinny guys", I will tell you about myself, since this is my blog and my rules. I was born in Hayward and raised in Fremont, CA. I have 4 sisters, 1 brother, and currently live in Mountain View, CA. I served an LDS mission to Geneva, Switzerland, which will serve as the launching site of this trip. I graduated summa cum ignominious from BYU in Accounting, yet still got a job with PricewaterhouseCoopers in San Jose.

I can't imagine there are many people out there that get equally excited for a Tupac song as a Tchaikovsky piano concerto. Or watch college football religiously yet enjoy Gossip Girl, which I suppose is just as vicious. Someone who can play a Chopin Nocturne on the piano, and hit a grand slam in his city's softball league. Yes, I suppose I'd like to think of myself as somewhat of a renaissance man, minus the homosexuality.

A couple more interesting facts about me: I love the world, and not in some greeny tree hugger way, or philanthropic/Bono way, but in the geography/maps/scenery way. I know almost every capital of the world, including Srinagar (capital of Kashmir, as I have officially recognized them as a country now, I'm trying to get ahead of the game on this one). I love traveling anywhere and imagining the historical events that occurred there. Whether it be the beaches of Normandy, the Forum in Rome, or the BART station in Union City, I love to feel the history of those places. So that is why I can do this trip alone, my imagination will keep me company. Side note on that, I've always thought the difference between a crazy and a normal person is the crazy one verbalizes their thoughts…discuss.

I was living in France when the Euros (currency, not people) were first distributed. My mission companion and I got to the bank very early on the day they were released. There were a lot of people there, eager to get their first bag of Euros. Although we were not at the front of the line (I hope you enjoyed that unnecessarily long shower Elder Collins!), we were still towards the front and got our bags quickly. I noticed the vast majority of people wouldn't even break the seal as it would be a collector's item someday. Those who did just poked around at the coins cautiously, like they were some sort of mystical treasure. As soon as I got mine it hit me, "I will buy as many Euros as possible as I predict the dollar will eventually drop dramatically due to trade deficits and other economic factors!!!" Oh no wait, that's what would have happened to an inspired missionary, my reaction was, "I will be the first person to win a coin toss with a Euro!" And so, my companion and I squared off, first designating what the heads would be (the side with the number), and the result was a Jeff win. Although I have no certificate, I believe I'm the first winner of a coin toss with a Euro, as I can't imagine that was the first thought of any other European at 8 in the morning, but this is debatable (editor's note: actually it's not).

Never one to limit my resume's bullet points, I quickly thought of another first. As we headed back to the apartment with our booty (I can't believe it's taken me even this long to use that word in my blog), I saw a homeless man playing some sort of self constructed stringed instrument in the metro station (say that 10 times, fast). I reached into my bag and dropped a Euro into his hat. He was rather perplexed by the odd looking coinage, but I think it was a slow morning for him, so he'd take anything. Thusly, I'm also the first person to give a Euro to a bum, as I highly doubt anyone else did the same, since most would not even open their bag, and come on, they're French.

To get back to the point of this blog, I will be leaving for Europe on the 26th of June. I'll post the itinerary in a few days, and would love to get feedback on things to do in the cities. I'll have all the logistics planned to the minute, but the daily activities will be open to your help, so please let me know, even if you stumbled upon this blog and don't know me. Also, if you want a souvenir, let me know, although this does require knowing me (but not in the biblical sense).

Ok, so this is starting to get a bit long and in order not scare my sparse readers away, I will end. And for those of you looking for the skinny pasty white guy, enjoy:

*Author reserves the right to take liberties with others' opinions of him and his blog, they may or may not be factual.