Back in Germany

From Ljubljana we began our drive north to Munich, passing through Austria. It signaled the final phase of the trip, we returned to Germany where the three of us met and began our adventure. The drive was fine, we left Ljubljana pretty early and hit no traffic. Arriving back in Germany was a bittersweet experience. I love Germany and it was nice to be back in a country where I speak the language, my Slovene, Croatian, Italian, Czech, French, and Flemish are nonexistent. However this also meant the trip was nearing its end.

Munich is a city quite unlike any other I've been to. It is steeped in traditional Bavarian culture, which they will remind you of every chance they get. The food is mainly wurst and schnitzel, every sign says "Bayern"(Bavaria) or "Suddeutschland"(Southern Germany), and the Bavarian flag along with the jerseys of FC Bayern Munchen are found all over. It's almost as if the Bavarians wish they were still an independent country, Germany's Texas of sorts. We spent quite a bit of time at the Haufbrahaus, which is the most famous biergarten or bar in the world. Much of the Oktoberfest festivities happen there. Sarah and I also took another New Europe tour which showed us some incredible sites. The street the Nazi party marched down in an attempt to overthrow the German government, the Rathaus and Glockenspiel, and a church rebuilt to exact specifications after World War II were quite impressive to see.

We left Munich after three days. You could spend a week or two there, especially if you like to drink and have the money to do so, but we experienced a lot and had to move on. The next stop was Frankfurt, where we stayed in a hostel right in the middle of the red light district. Hilarious is the best word to describe that neighborhood, it was not like the classic image of a red light district. We met up with my friend Ben who lives in Frankfurt and was my room mate at TCNJ for a semester. He had us over his place for awhile and we had a great time watching late night German "sexy" commercials. Ben took us around the city a bit, showing us the multitude of clubs, but we ended up at our hostel and hung out until 4:30 AM. Ben was a partyer at TCNJ too haha.

Yesterday we made it to the final stop on our road trip and returned the car in Dusseldorf. Dusseldorf is crazy city on the Rhine river. People were all over the streets wasted out of their minds. Chants, cheers, and songs filled the streets during the world cup games, and Germany wasn't even playing! There were also tons of bachelor and bachelorette parties going on. This morning Randall got on his flight home, and then there were two. Sarah and I will be back at Peter's house tonight, and the trip will wind itself down.

Dalmatia, Italia, and Slovenia

Again, I'm behind on my blog posting. Terrible internet connections and a lack of free time are to blame, but to accommodate I'll cover three stops in one post. As with all of this entire blog, there is much more to tell when I get home.

We spent two days on Croatia's Dalmatian coast, there weren't 101 puppies there though. The coast is what Croatia is known for, and countless empires have fought over it. It was very easy to see why once we got to Bibinje from Zagreb. I live very near the Jersey Shore, so I now a bit about beautiful coasts, but we have nothing on Dalmatia. Other than a short trip to the nearby city of Zadar to go out to eat and see the Roman ruins, most of the time was spent just relaxing. The beach was great and the water cool and clear, no sand on the beaches though just rocks.

From Zadar the journey led us to Trieste, Italy. I had initially planned on stopping there if time permitted, if for nothing else than to add another country to the list. Trieste is a small but charming city by day, and a roaring party town by night. It was really amazing how many people were out on the streets. The city is on the Adriatic coast, but has no beach. We found out later that the beaches are just outside the city, which apparently everyone goes to. At this point we had made very good time throughout the whole trip, and out of curiosity looked up the distance to Venice. It turned out to be only two hours, nothing for us expert road trippers. Venice was crazy, the city on the canals is quite unique and intriguing. We made it to Saint Mark's square after much searching, Venetian streets are impossible to navigate. The Germany vs. Australia world cup game was pretty awesome to watch in a really cool Venetian bar as well. Venice is not the nicest city in the world though, and I wouldn't have wanted to spend a lot more time there.

Slovenia began our journey back north. We stayed in Ljubljana, which is a really cool little city( only about 300,00 people) and capital. Our hostel that we booked in advance was not the one we ended up staying at, and this story is inappropriate for the blog as I'll use far too many naughty words. Anyway, Ljubljanski Grad(Castle) was awesome, and tiny compared to Prague Castle. Square of the Republic was very underwhleming, it's really just a parking lot. Heading north from Ljubljana, we stopped in Bled(awesome name for a town btw). The town is on Lake Bled and is incredibly beautiful. Pictures will do it more justice than my description can.

We're in Munich now, which has been great so far. I like being back in Germany. Next post will cover the happenings in Bavaria.

Zagreb: the forgotten European city

The first day in Zagreb after the crazy drive to the city was an eventful one. Ante met us at our hostel and took us on a tour of city. Having a local act as your free tour guide is really cool by the way. We saw the main square, which like all the other cities I've been to in Europe, is where the people congregate. It also has a statue of Ban Jelačić, which used to point toward the enemy Hungarians but now points out into the sea. The central Zagreb museum was really cool, it gave a quick summary of the entire history of the city. I learned a lot, and was very impressed with the millennium of foreign occupation Croatia suffered under yet still managed to pull through. Croatian food is really good, the meat eaters in the group had some kind of burger thing that isn't really a burger. I could eat that every day until I have a heart attack.

Day two saw us go outside the city and climb the mountain. Most of it was by car thankfully, but the walking part was still quite difficult. Ante kept apologizing for the strenuous activity, which I thought was hilarious. The hike was worth it though, we saw beautiful views of Zagreb, a clean natural water source(that tastes good), and Medvedgrad. Medvedgrad is a medieval ruin which at one time was a fortress overlooking Zagreb, really awe inspiring. Before leaving the city for the Adriatic coast, Ante took us to the Mirogoj central cemetery. Croatians don't bury their dead and cover them with soil, instead a large stone seals off a room in which all of the family coffins are kept intact. It was interesting to see the cultural differences. A final dinner with Ante was our last stop in Zagreb and then we took the drive to the coastal town of Bibinje, a story which will be told in the next post.

The long road to Zagreb

I thought the drive to Prague was bad, but had no idea what I was in for on the way to Zagreb. All of the driving in Austria was painless, and actually quite nice. We bought some "heavy metal" compliation in Vienna which provided a nice soundtrack to the drive. Unfortunately only about half of the album is actually metal, but it's so cheesy it works. Once we hit the border with Slovenia, things started to get ugly. A side note about border crossings within the EU, they suck. EU borders are nonexistent, there is no passport check, no car searches, no visas, and worst of all no stamps! The welcome to New Jersey sign from Pennsylvania is at least 4 times larger than those of the border crossings in the EU, if you're not looking you will miss it. Anyway, after crossing into Slovenia we came upon what looked like a toll booth. It turned out to be a station where you buy a pass to drive in Slovenia, called a "vinjetta" or something like that. The women at the window said in heavily accented English, "You need vinjetta for drive Slovenia!". About halfway through the country, which is tiny, I needed to urinate really really badly. We stopped at some gas station, I went in and looked around and didn't find anything. The cashier yelled something in Slovenian at me and pointed to the next building. So I then walked over to the next building, a bar full of people who didn't speak English. Couldn't find a bathroom, or anyone who could tell me where it was. I tried "Toilet?", "WC?", "Bad?", and "Bano"! I ended up just peeing in some bushes on the side of the road hahaha.

Crossing into Croatia was awesome. The only non-EU country on the itinerary, is also the only one with a real border crossing. We had to wait in line for about 15 minutes, but got our passports checked and stamped with no problem. Next was security, which was a bit nerve racking. The guy in front of us had his whole car searched, bags taken out and everything. When our turn came we were asked something In Croatian, which we obviously didn't understand. The woman saw American passports and switched to English, asked us if we had anything to declare to customs(we said no), and let us through without any search. Apparently Croats like Americans, finally found someone! Across the border we hit all kinds of problems. The GPS couldn't find our hostel, the main highway to Zagreb was closed, and the route we were detoured to led us to a road that was unfinished. We asked a cop for directions and one spoke English and told us, which was very helpful. The other spoke to us in German, which Sarah and I understood but Randall was very confused. The car we rented has German plates, and a ton of Germans vacation in Croatia, so he thought we were Germans. We stopped to get gas and I paid, the woman spoke some Croatian to me and then switched to German. I responded in broken German and she clearly thought I was retarded. Her German was better than mine, and I'm driving a German car, which means I'm a really stupid German. We did eventually make it the Hostel with the help of Sarah's Croat friend, Ante. Ridculous drive is ridculous.

Wiener schnitzel in Wien

A common theme on this trip, the arrival in Vienna was very late. The people at the hostel thought we were crazy for showing up at 2:30 in the morning. That place was really nice, it had a bar, a cafeteria type place, and TV in the room. It was also a few blocks from an U-Bahn, very convenient. I watched a bit of CNN international before falling asleep, it was nice as I hadn't watched TV since the plane to Belgium.

The next day we spent sleeping in, which was much needed, and casually exploring Vienna. The city center is really cool, with historic buildings intermingled with newer architecture. The history in that city is pretty incredible, it was the capital of empires ruled by the Hapsburg Dynasty for many centuries. Today, a laid back atmosphere is the most notable thing about Vienna. Small bars and cafes are to be found all over the city, with staff that are more than happy to have you hang out there all day long. Austrians have the shortest work week in Europe and the longest lifespan, not a coincidence I'd say. The coolest thing I saw that day was the Mozart Wohnung(Mozart's apartment). I stood in the room where "The Marriage of Figaro" was written. For dinner I had an expensive Wiener Schnitzel, almost everything in Vienna is expensive though. I couldn't pass up having Wiener Schnitzel in Wien(the German name for Vienna), the dish is named after the city!

Yesterday was spent mostly in the Hapsburg Palace. The luxury and wealth the people had that lived there is mind blowing. The palace is huge, there was a concert in the "backyard" that night. It also has large garden, massive sculptures, and a labyrinth. The history in the building was impressive to me, one of the most powerful empires in Europe was governed from inside its walls.

I liked Vienna quite a bit. The relaxed pace of the city is very nice, and a change of pace from Prague and Berlin. The food is great, especially if you love meat like me. Cultural and history make up a big part of the city's character too. Oh, and they speak German so I could communicate a bit. That said, I don't think I could ever live there.

Prague

In the last post I alluded to the drive to Prague from Berlin, which is only 4 hours and seems relatively simple when looking at a map. We found out that it definitely is not simple. The distance is actually very short, and if the trip was on the autobahn the whole way it would probably take only 3 hours. Nothing is ever that easy though, about half of the drive is on one lane winding mountain roads. The speed at which it is possible to drive on these roads is really low, and that adds a lot of time to the trip. At one point Randall coasted in neutral for 15 minutes straight, all downhill. For miles and miles there was nothing to be seen but fields, forests, and mountains; it's really a pretty ridiculous drive.

We arrived in Prague late, and the area our hotel was in looked really shady. The guy at the desk didn't help matters, he was watching an adult movie haha. After checking in with no Czech currency, they don't use the Euro, we crashed. The next morning we hit the city center of Prague for another New Europe tour(I really recommend these tours to anyone that will be in cities they operate). It was very cool and we saw a lot, for the sake of brevity I'll not get into it but Prague has some really great sites(when I get home I'll elaborate with a ton of stories). My favorite place by far in the city was Wenceslas Square. 20 years ago Vaclav Havel led the protests which brought about the Velvet Revolution up and down those streets, today it is filled with bars, shops, and casinos. The place where the Czech people demanded their freedom is now where they go to enjoy them.

The next day was taken up mainly by Prague Castle. The castle is the largest medieval castle in the world, and I can't even accurately convey how huge it is. We only did a small portion of it, and could have spent several days within the walls. Fans of history, architecture, and government will surely not be disappointed there. The entire Czech government is run from within the castle, something I find very cool. Oh by the way, the clock tower in the main square in Prague is rightfully called "the most disappointing attraction in Europe", I have a video of it which is very underwhelming.

Berlin: a city that has overcome so much

Sorry everyone, blogging takes a bit of time and regular computer access. I haven't had a ton of each in recent days. This will be brief, but I'll cover the important things.

Randall, Sarah, and I left Peter's house to make the drive to Berlin, all the way across the country. It took us 8 hours because we hit a ton of traffic. The Autobahn going from west to east was under a lot of construction, however the radio stations we picked up along the way played far better music than those of the south to north. We arrived pretty late and just ate dinner and saw some stuff along the way, the Brandenburg Gate ate night is really cool. We also stumbled upon an "international bar" run by some crazy Irish dude. There are pictures of us standing behind the bar haha.

The following day we took the New Europe walking tour through Berlin, which was free and really great. The tour started in Pariser Platz, named for German victory over the French which is a common theme, in the shadow of the Brandenburg Gate. The gate is such an impressive structure, very dominant and imperial, one of my favorite parts of Berlin. The tour also took us to the Reichstag, Museum Island, the Berlin Wall(parts of which still stand), the TV tower, and the former Luftwaffe headquarters. The bunker in which Hitler committed suicide is covered up by a parking lot, sort of weird to see. Some of the buildings still had bullet holes from the battle of Berlin at the end of World War II! 90% of the city was destroyed during the war so the fact that nearly 70 years later some of them still stand and display the scars is mind blowing.

Waking up early to get to the Reichstag before the crowds didn't work out so well. When we did get there, it was a long, long wait(about 3 hours). The building is really cool though, as most of the business of government goes on inside its walls. Additionally, the roof gives some of the best views of the city and contains a dome made of mirrors and solar panels. The dome helps to power the building and allow the citizens(and tourists) to see inside and the members of parliament to see the people. Transparency in government is the the theme, one we could learn from. Waiting in line to get in was a ridiculous experience though. Some guy in a 18th century style suit with a top hat brought some kind of pipe organ type thing and sang a horrible song. It was complaining about the government and he really couldn't sing. I got a video of it, which does a much better job than I could to describe it. It was to say the least, hilarious.

After the Reichstag the next stop was about 30 minutes north of Berlin, a town called Oranienburg. Sachsenhausen concentration camp is located right in the town, which says something about the complicit nature if the average person in the horrors committed there. The site was overwhelming, emotional, but also very well done as a memorial to the victims. I won't go into the details, but it was not a fun experience by any means. I'm very happy I got to see it though, as a reminder of the atrocities man is capable of, and to pay my respects to the victims.

Upon our return to Berlin from Oranienburg, we saw the east side gallery. This section of the Berlin Wall was painted by artists starting in 1990. Some of the artwork is really incredible, and all quite different from each other. We had dinner and then began our drive to Prague, a ridiculous story which will be told in the next post.

The first few days in Germany

Monday morning Peter, my uncle for those of you that don't know, picked me up from my hostel in Brussels. We then went to Charleroi to pick up Randall who flew in from Sweden. Charleroi claims to be Brussels south, but it is nowhere near Brussels. A good 40 minute drive from the outskirts of Brussels puts you in Charleroi. After picking Randall up, we headed to Peter's house in Gransdorf, Germany. The drive was a decent distance, took about three hours. Gransdorf is a tiny rural town, I've been referring to it as "cow country". The area is really beautiful though, and a real change from everywhere else I've been so far. That day we hung out at the house, and it was really good to see everyone. For dinner we hit up a German restaurant in the next town over and I had my first schnitzel, I love German food.

Yesterday I drove up to Bremen to pick Sarah up. Randall was my faithful navigator for the whole 5 hour trip, and was very helpful. Driving on the Autobahn is not at all what people make it out to be. Sure in some areas there is no speed limit, but Germans are very good drivers and it forces you to become a good driver. Bremen is very cool city, we saw the city square and the river. It's very northern European. Then we turned around and drove the 5 hours back, arriving at 2 am haha. It was a pretty long day.

My last full day in the Belgian capital

Four days in Brussels was probably too much time. Had I not gone to Ghent and Bruges, and just spent the entire four days here I'd have been very bored. Don't get me wrong, Brussels is a nice place and I'm happy I got to see it but two days would have been enough.



Yesterday I slept late, until about 10:30. Now that would not be late at home, but ever since I got off the plane I've been getting up early and heading out almost immediately. I had no plans yesterday, and nothing really to do. After hanging around the hostel for a bit I went out in the city and decided to hit some of the major landmarks that I hadn't yet. These included the European Parliament, the Belgian Parliament, and the Congress pole(that can't be what it is actually called). These were all a serious walk from my hostel, and it just happened to be cold, raning, and windy today. I must be crazy. The European parliament was so underwhelming I didn't even take a picture, and I couldn't get in. The rest of what I saw was cool in it's own right, very reminiscent of images in my head of 18th century Europe.

The day wasn't so great, but last night was a different story. I met some cool Americans who invited me to out with them. A bunch of us met in the common room of the hostel and went to Celtica and the Delirium Cafe, both really cool bars. It was a virtual meeting of the Anglosphere(if such a thing exists). Americans, Canadians, Irish, Australian, and a Croatian thrown in for good measure. The mood was great, I laughed pretty much the whole time. Most fun was the hating on our neighbors; the Australian laughed at the idea of anyone wanting to New Zealand, the Irish spent the whole night trashing the English, and we took shots at the Canadians with them coming back at us after each one. I also impressed the Canadians and Australian by being able to name all of the states, provinces, and territories of their countries. I became the breaker of American stereotypes, a role I happily play.

Despite what Collin Ferrel may say Bruge is incredible

If anyone has seen the movie "In Bruges" you've heard the famous quote that goes; "If I grew up on a farm, and was retarded Bruges might impress me. I didn't, and I'm not, so it doesn't". Nothing could be farther from the truth. Bruge is my favorite city I've been to so far, it really is like a "fairytale town" as other characters describe it in the movie.

I woke up this morning with no plan and toying with the idea of going to Amsterdam, which I'm still somewhat considering. Getting there is rather expensive though, so I chose to go to Bruges instead. It was much closer and much cheaper, I guess that's what happens when you stay domestic. I left Brussels around 11am, and the hour train ride was quite interesting. The train conductor collected tickets and gave mine a puzzling look. He said something in French, to which I gave no response. He than asked "Espanol?", I guess my Chilean relatives were right and I look more like a Chilean than American. He switched to English, and told me I was in first class with a second class ticket. I was kicked out and made to go to the back of the bus, somewhat embarrasing haha. Some dude asked me something in French and pointed to my ticket and then to the conductor, he seemed angry. I assumed he was mad I got kicked out of first class when there was virtually no one there. Once I sat down in second class, some guy sat next to me, and sat way too close the whole time. It was weird.

Stepping out of the train in Bruges was like stepping into a time warp. The modern, ugly look of Brussels was nowhere to be found, in its place a fully intact mediveal city. Cobbled streets, brick buildings, narrow winding footpaths, massive churches, and a large city square made me jealous of Europe. The US has no such cities, and in most of the American cities I've been a central public space is nonexistent. I saw many fascinating landmarks, most notably the clock tower and the Holy Blood Chapel. The clock tower is part of a larger administrative complex that housed all of the economic reserves of the city as well as documents and records. 366 steps to the top, and not for the faint of heart. The steps get more narrow as you get higher, in addition to getting steeper. A real claustrophobic or fear of heights nightmare, it was totally worth it though. The view of the city from the top of the tower is incredible, and the bell at the top is larger than I thought possible. In the movie the tower features prominently, and it is rather dominant in the city aesthetics. The Holy Blood Chapel was very strange but also extremely interesting. According to legend a vile of Jesus' blood, his actual blood, was taken from the Church of the Holy Sepulcure by crusaders. In this church there is a vile of blood that claims to be the literal blood of Christ. The custom is to give a small donation to the church in exchange for touching the vile of blood. I did this of course. At a certain time each day the vile is displayed and apparently it turns to liquid, displaying the true power of Christ. Unfortunately I missed that ceremony. The whole experience was weird, but also really cool.

After Bruges I returned to Brussels and just took it easy. I've been walking a ton the last few days. Three cities in three days will do that to you. I've also not eaten much, been too busy, I guess that contributes as well. I still have not decided if I'll go to Amsterdam tomorrow, but leaning toward not. An easy day in Brussels might be nice before I continue into Germany.

Adventures with Arthur

Waking up at 8am is usually not an enjoyable activity for me, but today I did just that. I had planned the night before to meet up with my friend Arthur in Ghent in the morning and needed to catch a train. Finding the train station was quite the challenge, in fact I still have no idea where the main entrance is. An elderly Australian couple approached me on the street while I was looking at my map and asked where Brussel Centraal station was, which is the same one that I couldn't find. They eventually spotted the metro part of the station, which I thought was the train station. A cashier at the ticket counter told me he didn't speak English, but he called over a co-woker who laughed at me and pointed me in the direction of the train station. At first I thought he was an asshole, but then I realized I was trying to get to a city 45 minutes away...on the subway. Waiting for the train I met a bunch of British guys who were cool and recommended the Jazz Festival to me upon return to Brussels.

I got off the train in Ghent and took very little time to find Arthur. Apparently that was fortunate because I would not have been able to call him, as his phone was out of minutes. Arthur and I hadn't seen each other for two years, when he was in New York. It was great to see him, and have someone with me who knew at least a little bit about the city. We walked around what seems like the whole city, often going in circles(Ghent is pretty small both in physical size and population). I had never seen a city like that before, well intact mediveal architecture, canals, and small winding streets make for a really beautiful urban space. The construction going on only detracted slightly from the aesthetics. We sat at this cool cafe on the canal and enjoyed some delicious Belgian water, which I had to pay two Euros for. Who charges for water, seriously what the hell. Belgian waffles were next, and everything you've heard about them is true. I could eat nothing but waffles the rest of the time I'm here. After much persuasion, Arthur convinced me that I could not come to Belgium and not at least try Belgian beer. It was horrible, I doubt I'll ever do that again. Oh and apparently Stella Artois is the cheap shitty beer in Belgium haha. Ghent is in my opinion much nicer than Brussels; the city is beautiful, has more history(the treaty that ended the War of 1812 was signed there, among others), and the Flemish people are generally more approachable and more willing to speak English.

When I returned to Brussels I checked out the Jazz Festival. It took place all over the city, but the biggest part was of course in Grand Place. Free outdoor music is always great, so it was nice for sure. However, the crowds were crazy and it took a long time in between bands. I found a place that claimed to be New York style pizza and it was pretty good, and I guess about as close to New York as I will find in Belgium. All in all it was another good day in Belgium.

Brussels: The city that encourages its citizens to urinate on churches

This is my first update from the other side of the Atlantic. I flew out of Newark yesterday, at least I think it was yesterday, on a JetAirways flight to Brussels. JetAirways is an Indian airline and the plane was continuing on to Mumbai after Brussels, I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to stay on and go India haha. The flight was an interesting experience to say the least. When I first walked on I saw spacious seats, TVs, a Super Nintendo ripoff controller, and a pillow and blanket at each seat. Apparently American airline companies are cheap as hell because I've never seen a plane this nice, not to mention it was the cheapest ticket I found. The personal TV kept me occupied most of the flight. By the way Avatar was such a piece of shit, so glad I didn't see it in the theaters. The vast majority of the passangers were Indian, or of Indian descent, I only noticed one other American and a few Europeans. All of the signs and announcements were in Hindi first, English second if I was lucky. The meals were Indian too, I had some very spicy chicken and that was even the least spicy meal option hahaha. A side note: I don't know where they recruit the flight attendants but I need to go there. All of the women were goregous.

After touching down in Brussels and gettting out of the airport I got a taxi to my hostel. The taxi driver was really cool, and told me to get the hell out of Brussels. He also spoke perfect English and laughed at my French pronounciation, which in reality is laughable. The hostel's check in time is 4pm, I got there at 9am. Fortunately I was allowed to leave my luggage there, which later turned out to be hilarious. With nothing really to do and no room for many hours, I just started walking around. The map in pocket served no purpose until I tried to get back to the Hostel, I just wandered around. It was really fun actually, I stumbled upon some major tourist attractions like Grand Place/Grote Markt and Mannekin Pis. I also found the Royal Palace and some other slightly less known attractions, I found out later that the square in front of the Royal Palace at night becomes a haven for public gay sex! My favorite place I saw today though was the St. Katelijne church. It is clealy old, I'd guess early modern period but I don't really have any idea, and quite nice inside. However, on the outside wall there is a public urinal set up! The wall of the church is meant to be pissed on, I've never seen anything like that before. Yes, I did use it. When I finally checked into the Hostel I crashed for like 4 hours, I didn't get much sleep on the plane and was beat from walking all day. Just now I had dinner at a Belgian fast food place simply called "Quick". It was surprisingly good, and I managed to order without using English. Pointing is universal, and I somehow know how to count to 10 or so in French.

A few things I've learned about Brussels in just one day:
Most people speak French, but Flemish and Arabic believe it or not were also commonly heard by me.

Cars always have the right of way, I was nearly run over more times than I care to count.

Brussels is not a beautiful city, in fact much of the design looks like it was thrown together with no plan. It does have a certain charm though.

American culture is rather pervasive, Chi Chi's, Subway, and Mcdonalds are within 5 minutes walking from my hostel. Hollywood movies featured promintently in store fronts. American music was heard among the local stuff.

Tomorrow the plan is to go to Ghent, I have no idea what to expect.

P.S. I can't upload pictures on the Hostel's computers, but I'll get them up as soon as I can.

Europe or bust!

It's now a few hours past midnight, which means I leave for Europe in just over two days. The fact that this trip is so close is starting to sink in, it feels real for the first time since I began planning this trip in December. To think that I'll be in Brussels eating Belgian waffles Thursday morning is exciting and maybe a little nerve racking. However, I really can't wait. This should be one of the most memorable experiences of my life.

This brings me to the subject of the blog, which I've decided to call the Average Yank Travel Blog. My trip to Europe, which will last about a month and take me through multiple countries, will be a set of experiences of a 20-something American tourist, hence the name. I go not as a student or for work; I go without a rigid itinerary or sizable amount of money to spend; essentially I will be a less than noteworthy American in Europe. I don't know if my travel stories will be particularly interesting, but the purpose of this blog is to document my experiences for anyone interested in following my travels as well as for myself.

While in Europe, it is not entirely clear how readily internet access will be. I'll try to update this blog as often as I can, but it will not likely be every day. So check back during the coming weeks for sporadic tales of travel, cuisine, intrigue, culture, and humor; with a large amount of pictures accompanying.