London, England
Friday, May 8th
The day started out in London and we needed to get to Paris. I visited the station and found out that the cheapest EuroStar train left at 5:30 pm. We locked our luggage up in the Generator hostel. We walked around and visited the library and prepared to say goodbye to London. We were just starting to understand and fall in love with this city and we had to leave it. The train ride to Paris was very smooth and we met a very colorful lady, Gigi Salem, who sat right next to us. She was an anchorwoman for the Chelsea futbol team! She is on TV all the time doing her sports commentaries. Her boyfriend lives in Paris and they take the EuroStar to see each other every weekend. We had an awesome conversation about everything from the cold weather to men being paid by Omish groups to impregnate their women.
Paris, France
We arrived at the heart of Paris and had a culture shock, there were several guards patroling the station with automatic weapons. We soon learned how few people actually spoke English, and that the ones that do pretend not to so that they won't have to deal with us. We figured out how the metro works and bought tickets to get close to the hostel. We arrived at our metro stop, Hoche. The first thing we noticed was the bars on all the windows. A kind old Asian lady who knew some English helped us find the hostel. Our roommate spoke very little English and we tried, with little success, to speak in Spanglish. We slept very well.
Saturday, May 9th
We woke up and ate the complimentary breakfast (bread and cereal with warm goats milk). We went to the metro and bought 10 tickets that can get you anywhere for only €11.60. We hopped on the metro and visited Notre Dame where we ran into Zane and Kevin! We went all the way to the top and took some very nice pictures of gargoyles. After that we went to Saint Chapelle's Cathedral, a place with all the stories from the bible depicted in stained glass. I had some hot cross buns left from London and we fed them to the pigeons. There was a very interesting battle for the bread between the pigeons and some very tiny birds who would swoop in very fast and grab bread before the pigeons could pick it up. We went to the Louve and went down and saw the crazy long lines for tickets and left. We later found out that it is free for students. We met some interesting people back at the hostel. We came across a grandpa-grandson pair who were from Orlando. Don and
Mitchell.
Sunday, May 10th
On sunday the big shops close and all the locals come out and sell things. I bought some nice jeans, a dress shirt and some much needed socks. We took the metro to southern Paris and split up for the day. Mark went to the louve and I followed my silver dollar. Heads meant right and tails was left. I met some interesting people and learned some more French. I ran into two ladies from NYC and became their tour guide for half an hour. I took them to Notre Dame and saw a man with about 65 pigeons on him eating from his beard and hands. I met two girls who spoke no English and had a nice conversation using grunts and gestures. They seemed my age until they smiled with their braces shining brightly. I happened upon an alleyway with closed shops on both sides and housing above. I heard a whistle and looked up to see a lady of the street smiling at me. I met up with Mark at the hostel and we went to the mall where I bought chocolate and a power adapter. We also
bought some cheese, sausage, bread, and 5 liters of wine (only €4.50). We got back and slept.
Monday, May 11th
On Monday we tried to go to the catacombs but they are closed on Monday. We took the metro to the Eiffel Tower and climbed all the way to the top. We went out on Monday night after drinking 2.5L of wine. We met some fun people, Lauren and Johnathan. We sprinted to the metro to make it home before it closed at 1.
Tuesday, May 12th
The next morning we went to the catacombs and saw millions of human bones stacked decoratively. That night we polished of the last 2.5 liters and went to see the Eiffel tower all lit up at night. At 1am we saw it sparkle and then shut off. It was too late to take a metro or bus so we took taxis back.
Wednesday, May 13th
We woke up Wednesday morning and took a highspeed train to Amsterdam for €33. The trip was very scenic and we spent most of it sleeping.
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
We got to our hostel and got ready for the crazy night ahead of us. We did the Pub Crawl and went to six different clubs. We met a lot of people and had way too much fun. We couldn't navigate very well afterwards and we took a taxi only 2.9 kilometers home.
Thursday, May 14th
We strolled around Amsterdam and Mark visited the Anne Frank House, €8.50 was too much for me. I stayed outside and waited for an hour talking to other people who were waiting for their friends. I have met many Canadians on this trip. Mark finished up and we went to the Centre where everyone hangs out. We saw a very funny man who was good with the Chinese Yo-Yo. He did some cool tricks and swallowed a "sword" (a ballon tied like a sword). He pulled a empty balloon out when he finished. He finished his routine by juggling a torch, sword, and apple while taking bites of the apple at the same time. We also saw some break dancers. We left the Centre and visited the Sex Museum. The museum was crazy with some very interesting things. We went next door to the cheese shop and sampled some of the worlds best. We went back to the hostel and we enjoyed the Bami Meal and Burger Deal. We slept for 4 hours and woke up with the sunset and headed off to the Red Light
District. This was a crazy experience! There were women standing in doorways trying to entice us to purchase 20 minutes for €50. As we walked by I would, out of habit, occationally nod at them when they smiled at me as we walked by. They would jump out thinking that they had a customer and Mark would bear the brunt of their anger when they realized that I was accidentally leading them on with the head nod. We were offered all sorts of drugs on our walk through the district. We got home late and slept.
Friday, May 15th
The following day we spent mostly enjoying the company of the staff and other visitors of the hostel. I had an interview and they want me to come back anytime to help clean the rooms in exchange for free room and board. Mark went to the library and I stayed near the hostel looking for free Wi-Fi I found some and made some Skype calls. Mark and I had been the only people living in the room until now. Everyone wants to visit Amsterdam during the weekend. Our four new roommates gradually checked in and I met them all. They all seemed really great except for the last one. He was about 6'6" and native to Amsterdam. When he heard that I was in college, he said that he was studying criminalogy. He started to talk about the drugs and the Red Light District. He found out that I didn't get involved with drugs or prostitutes. He said that I was going to Disney World and not riding any rides. He was trying to pressure me to have sex with a prostitute and asked me if
I was a man. I told him that I was and that a real man should never have to pay for sex. He got a little ticked and reached into his bag and pulled out a giant ziplock bag full of cocaine as if to show me how much of a "man" he was. This is what he meant by criminalogy. He quickly seperated the cocaine into smaller bags and left to go sell them and have sex with prostitutes. I went down to the cafe to talk with the locals. We all ate dinner together when Mark came back. The homemade Dutch meal had beef, potatoes, apples, and peppers. We had fruit for desert. After the meal we went to a church with our new friends. It was a gospel worship service called the Fire Choir. It was new and different with unneccesary Dutch translation because everyone in Amsterdam understands English. We took the tram back and I ate speghetti, made more skype calls, and went to bed.
Saturday, May 16th
We woke up, ate French toast, showered, and checked out of the hostel. I can't wait to come back for free for a month! We went to the cheese shop and bought 4 wheels of different cheeses. We took a train to Brussels and enjoyed the beautiful Belgium contryside along the way.
Brussels, Belgium
In Brussels we stumbled upon a Gay Pride parade. People came from everywhere and filled the streets. We bought some good beer and Belgium chocolate. We enjoyed some fries (they originated in Belgium, not France). We ate Belgium Waffles. I found a wireless connection and called Stephanie. It was really great to hear her voice. We had already found out that the best beer in the world, the Westvleteren Abt 12, was 40 miles from the closest train stop and it would be impossible to get outside of Belgium. We had just about given up on our quest for the best beer in the world. While we still had free wireless, I searched for the beer in Brussels and found a blog of a story of a man who had found a small bottle for €12 at De Bier Tempel. We found the place on google maps and luckily, my GPS works without wireless connection. We got to the dot that we were looking for and it was the burnt remains of an old building. We walked a little further and came to the
new location. We entered the shop and went straight the the beers that were brewed by these Belgium monks. Deep in the back of the shelf were the last two Westvleteren Abt 12s! And... They were only €7! We went around Brussels with high spirits, taking pictures of ourselves holding our precious beers. We now have everything we came for! We took a train back to Amsterdam.
Amsterdam... Again
Once we got back to Amsterdam, we tried to take an overnight train to Berlin. The last international train left at 7:00 and we arrived hours after that. The locker room is closed from 10 pm until 7 am. We found out that the earliest train left at 6:30 and would take us to the airport to get on another train. We took a train to the airport and considered sleeping on the train as it went back and forth all night. We got off at the airport and noted the time for the Berlin departure and set an alarm to wake up in time. We enjoyed the #7 beer in the world, the Trappistes Rochefort 10. This beer is the best that I have ever tasted. It was so full of flavor and felt amazing as it covered my tongue. I enjoyed the flavor so much that I felt like it would be a waste to swallow. Once I finally did swallow I experienced a tingling sensation that swept over my tongue and continued to cover my entire body. I savored every drop. I was feeling quite tipsy after
finishing the beer. I went upstairs and found the only bathroom. It had a metal gate pulled down and was closed for the night. I got an empty cup from Burger King. We filled the cup twice each and dumped the drainage into the train tracks where it would evaporate. We became quite tired and pulled out our linens and slept on a cold metal bench. It was cold when we fell asleep and it was freezing when we woke up.
Berlin, Germany
Sunday, May 17th
After being forced awake by the cold, we waited in the terminal for our train to arrive. The scenery along the way was amazing! We slept most of the trip and finally arrived here in Berlin. This is the most luxurious and inexpensive hostel we have stayed in. We walked around town and ate some great food for not much money. With full stomachs, we caught up on much needed sleep. We woke at 10 and ate again. Mark went back to bed while I stayed up and drank with a Viking from Sweden and his girlfriend. I showed them some magic that they really enjoyed. The bar closed and I went to bed.
- Stefan
