All in all the trip was fun.. The weather kinda sucked and listening to people from other countries complain about America got old pretty fast. In the end I realized that most of the people complaining were hypocrites and the weather was just a minor thing to worry about. I met a lot of nice people though and saw a lot of beautiful places.. The experience was well worth it.
Anyway, this took almost a full day to get up so I hope you people like it. Sorry its so long..
I managed to convince my sister to drive me to Newark airport to begin my journey. Going out with my friends to Hoboken the night before meant starting my trip with a hangover. Obviously that wasn't my original intention but what can ya do?
Arriving in London at 7am was less than pleasant what with the mobs of commuters, rain showers and general confusion of being in a new city (a feeling I was about to get very used to).
I befriended this family from Spain on the bus. Turns out we were both going to the British Museum (I was actually killing time until I could drop off my stuff at the dorm).. One of the daughters sort of spoke English. I managed to explain that I thought they were all sisters. The mother loved me after that. Guess that line works through all cultures. Haha..
Waterloo station in London taking the Eurostar to Paris. The chunnel was less exciting than I expected. I did however sit next to a British ex-pat who is a teacher in Alabama. The last thing he said to me was "I iz a teacher".
My Paris hotel ended being over an hour outside of the city which meant that there was no going back and forth to the city. During the first rain storm I found myself under a tree that acted as a shelter. It was actually really peaceful sitting there.. Watching people scatter or huddle up under trees. Maybe I just liked watching parisians get soaked..
I quickly discovered that getting lost in paris was just fine since it was such a beautiful city.
Something funny about Americans hosting tours in foreign countries. It was really fun but the Parisian motorists didn't quite like us.
Reflections of the city off of the subway.
This girl put on her poncho whenever she thought it might start raining.
I met this girl on the way to Brussels while sitting in a smokey train stop in Lille, France waiting for the connecting train. She likes to spend her time listening to french music, reading french novels, watching french cinema and chain smoking.
Sassy canadians at the comic strip museum in brussels.
The next 2 weeks or so I would being a lot more of this type of amazing old architecture as I made my way across Europe.
I've read a lot about the up and coming arts in Belgium and was curious to see what was going on there.. Aside from some exhibitions there wasn't much visibly happening (that I saw in my 2 days there).
"Give me your change!" some begging gypsies would say.. Not in a 'I'm robbing you' sense. They were just rude and always in your face about it. Either alone or with a baby. Sometimes while breast feeding.
Some cities have monthly critical masses on bicycle. Brussels has rollerbladers with disco music.
I took a day off in Antwerp to attempt to catch up on sleep since my clock was all screwy. I booked myself at a cute B&B and slept like 7 hours that night. From what I saw this city was quite nice and could be worth spending a few days in.
The stairs at my Amsterdam Hotel (hotel being a very loose term) were half the length of my feet. Pierre the hotel manager smelled of liquor and when he came up the stairs I thought his lungs were going to give out on him.
In museum park
I wasn't really sure what to expect from Amsterdam and almost skipped it. Had I known it was a really cute city with old brownstone buildings, canals and art everywhere I probably wouldn't have been so worried. Definitely in the top 5 places I visited.
She was a stoned slovenian I met at a 'coffeeshop' who found it interesting that my name was Adam. She could speak 7 languages but couldn't remember where she parked her rented bike. I ended up sitting with her for 2 hours while it poured outside. Quite possibly the most amusing 2 hours I had in Amsterdam.. and I didn't even smoke. Though I should've. No wait, pot is for hippies. haha
The first of many human statues I'd see in Europe.
On top of Nemo (http://www.e-nemo.nl)
Mohawk haircuts, especially when the hair is longer in the back was reaaaally popular in northern europe and some of spain. Atleast in london they keep the back short.
Outside the Jewish museum in Berlin.. The pillars were part of an outdoor installation that you walk through on a slant which was supposed to be disorienting.
This wasn't even a part of a park.. Just random futuristic see-saws in between 2 roads.. Just another fun thing in Berlin
Supposedly a squat but officially it wasn't. This building housed floors of art galleries and studios as well live event space. It was dirty/smelly enough to be a squat though.
Something about no grilling allowed in the Tiergarden
The Siegessaule.. The 285 graffiti covered steps to the top were quite dizzying
The east side gallery is basically the longest section of the berlin wall still standing
My contribution to the berlin wall.. It was the first thing that came to mind!
In prague, leg spoons you!
Not only do the czech not smile, their statues are way more violent than other cities I was in.. Ahh heritage
My uber modern pun hostel
When people talk about Pragues architecture, I imagine this what they are referring to.
Pragues tv tower.. note the weird little babies crawling up the side
The simpsons bar in prague.. Which was actually pretty lame. Note the WC on the bathroom door. I didnt find out for a few weeks that it meant wash closet. Or was it water closet?
So long czech republic!
Hello Naples.. I basically ran from my b&b to the first museum I could get to only to find it was closed. I was on a streak of missing museums due to having a cold, heat and laziness/exhaustion.. I thought I'd make it up quickly when I got to naples but I was wrong.. So I just kept walking (I realllly wanted to goto pompeii.. doh!)
When I walked into this pizza place based on the recommendation of my book, I noticed the people across from me also had the same book. For a moment it was almost embarassing. Then this guy started playing the sax.. Thats when it dawned on me: tourist trap. Atleast the pizza was good (and thats all I ate for the rest of my stay in italy.. more or less)
I suppose the needle I saw on these steps was a telling sign because off to the side on these steps was a man shooting heroin.
Eventually after walking up what seemed like hundreds of steps I ended up at this art museum (which was closed).. The view was beautiful. It made the chaos of scooters, cars and druggies below seem much further away.
Not that I was expecting a big breakfast at the b&b in naples but a microwaved croissant and crappy espresso wasn't what I had in mind.. but my hosts were so nice about it I kind of had to laugh. Naples was such a crazy city I basically darted from the b&b to the train station first thing in the morning to goto Rome.
On the way to Rome I met the girl on the right. She barely spoke english but as she explained- Italians like to talk. Her and friend tried to show me around that night via the bus system and an english italian translation book.
At the coliseum..
Another human statue
Worship panasonic.
How they beg in Rome. They never move..
Inside the Vatican museum
Hordes of people heading to the sistine chapel (no photography or talking in the sistine chapel was allowed)
The vatican museum exit
Typical street scene in Rome.. which looks similar to naples. Except I loved Rome
More human statues. This one bows if you give it money.. Then kids start screaming
Mobs of people gather in Pisa to see a tower and a chapel. Our flamboyant Pro-Pisa Anti-Florence tour guide Ricardo was pretty amusing. All the tour guides I saw in Europe carried something to let people know where they were.. Flowers, Sticks, Umbrellas (mostly asian groups used these).. etc
The leaning tower of..
Italy actually had good/safe tap water. These things were all over Rome (except this one was in Pisa)
Trenitalia was often slow and dirty.. Eurostar was defintely the way to go. Both however stick you in either compartments with people or in seats of 4 so theres no way to recline resulting in no sleep for me.
Surprisingly I didn't see much good graffiti outside of London, Berlin and Barcelona. This train was in Florence but I dont know where the art was done.
Glad I brought a deck of cards afterall as I played some Korean game with this family from Toronto on the way to Venice.
This is how streets dead end in Venice.
Some of the coolest "local" stuff I saw the whole trip were these face mask stores in Venice.
And some people wondered why I was going to Venice for 3 days..
There was a lot of hammer and sickle graffiti in Italy.. and the occasional swastika.
The sun was blistering ever since Prague.
San Marco Piazza, Venice - where pigeons will (remarkably) eat out of your hand.
This cost $5 US dollars.
At the Biennale in Venice. artartartart
Not every boat stop in Venice was like this.. but it was cool to see
At the US exhibit at the bienalle.. I had nearly forgotten how little I cared for 'modern art' until I went to the international exhibition there. I mean, conceptual art is so hit or miss but I was surprised at how much was miss. Good thing I do graphic design I suppose.
Some eastern european country's contribution to the bienalle..
Of course Brazils contributions were the best. There was also a video to go with this that showed little toys they made arguing with the artists saying they wanted to go with them to Venice for the show and the artists were saying "No! You're just toys, you cant come".. It was pretty funny
The colorful island of Burano. I believe they had special laws where they could paint their buildings whatever they wanted.. So they did
There are no sales in europe.. Just stores with signs that read SALES SALDES REBAJAS etc etc.. Welcome to Barcelona
On the Rambla in Barcelona. Watch human statues and check out street artists while people steal your wallet.
The call was the old jewish neighborhood. They estimate the synagogue there dates back to 3rd century AD due to the roman ruins found inside.
I honestly love train stations
Like many european cities, Barcelona had copies of some famous landmarks.
Another thing I admired about Europe was their pro-green stance. Barcelona had a citywide bike rental system where you just pick up and drop off at various points all around the city.
I don't really think human statues are supposed to jump off their posts and swing their 'weapons' at spectators.. but what do I know
On the way to the top of montjuic I suddenly remembered I don't like heights.
At the castle on top of montjuic
Fairly stunning view of the port from said mountain. Not sure if its captured properly though..
My last night in Barcelona.. Didnt get to take any pics during my one night in London. It was pretty hard to believe the trip was basically over at this point but at the same time quite exciting.
On my way back to my moms house in new jersey we got stuck in rubbernecking traffic because someones car caught fire on the parkway. On the way back we stopped at a supermarket and I was more than happy to see all the selection available. The next night I went to a bowling alley/bar/pizza place for my friends bday.. The place was very townie/blue collar and probably hasn't changed since 1982 but amazing nonetheless. Some people goto europe and never want to come back but I appreciate home.. Maybe even more so now. What can I say?
