I in Spain...: March 2008

I was in six countries over the span of ten days...Que suerte, no? This post will begin with some general information before transitioning into specifics of each area visited. Enjoy!

General:

About two weeks ago I was walking to class and dropped my I-Pod on the street. It seemed to be unaffected and worked the remainder of the trip to the Fundacion, but I was in for a surprise when I would begin my trek home. Particularly, it turned on and worked for around three songs before freezing in the middle of the Doors song titled, "The End". Ironically enough, that was the end of my I-Pod days.

I only bring this up because it relates to my recent trip (albeit indirectly). Without an I-Pod, I packed a book instead. Actually I always pack a book, but usually end up listening to music the majority of the time. This time that was not an option and thus for entertainment between destinations, I reread Vonnegut's "Cat's Cradle". I came across a poem he writes in his book that just seemed kind of fitting to my current position as a traveler. In typical absurd and yet comical Vonnegut fashion, he writes:

"Oh, a sleeping drunkard
Up in Central Park,
And a lion-hunter
In the jungle dark,
And a Chinese dentist,
And a British queen--
All fit together
In the same machine.
Nice, nice, very nice;
Nice, nice, very nice;
Nice, nice, very nice--
So many different people
In the same device."

Like I have said before, people are fundamentally the same wherever you go. They have like aspirations. And they have similar pragmatic approaches towards life...

Just a random thought.

Now for more particular details of my trip:

I traveled for 10 days with three other guys from my program
we were fortunate enough to see Dublin, Copenhagen, Malmo (Southern tip of Sweden), Amsterdam, Brugge, and Paris
since it was a dude trip, no shaving allowed; shower every other day; and of course, spend 10-14 hour days walking and exploring the cities
I brought only a normal sized backpack; minimalist tendencies were definitely embraced, packing only clothes, basic hygiene utensils, travel documents, a camera, and the book previously mentioned.
I miraculously survived on one full camera battery charge before leaving (see previous bullet...no room for my charger and all its parts.)
I felt European by the end of the week and I smelled the part as well
I was frustrated by the fact that with the exception of Ireland, I could not communicate in any of the country's native tongues. It makes one want to spend time learning a lot more languages, or at the very least, understanding the basics of each.
four airplane flights, two trains, and even one super-fast train got us from destination to destination.
one very nice hotel, an airport, a cozy bed and breakfast, three hostels, and a sketchy "hotel" an hour outside of central Paris (one of the last metro stops) became our lodging situation...
it figures: the dollar decreases the whole time I am gone and when withdrawing large sums of money. then by my return it marginally strengthens again.
on to more specific parts...

Dublin and Wicklow, Ireland:

We began our trip taking Ryan Air to Dublin, Ireland. Ryan Air is the super-cheap airline in Europe. And it shows. Now, by no means did I ever fear for my life or anything of that matter--I mean the plane was a Boeing (AMERICA!!! [please read AMERICA line in a mix of truck driver meets Texas pride, which in turn, meets Nascar accent]). The problem with Ryan Air flights refer to the people and the interior of the plane. The people were a shock...it seriously felt like absolute anarchy in the plane. One girl tried to sit next to a lady (no assigned seating) and the lady yelled at her, telling her to find another seat. It was odd. Everything about my Ryan Air experience was odd. I literally felt like the flight crew had no control. As for the plane itself, the seats and main walls were bright yellow. Try sleeping in a plane where even when they turn off the lights--which they only did during our landing--the plane is still incredibly bright. Believe me, it is not doable.

Either way, I made it safely and I had to do it once.

Fly Ryan Air...check!

When we finally got to Dublin, my roommate had put a deposit down on a nice hotel in the middle of the city, under the assumption that four others would be pitching in and joining us on the floor of the room. We thought we were being smart; this would be far cheaper than a hostel for those nights and more comfortable as well. Sadly, they all backed out and stayed at a cheap hotel by the airport, leaving he and I to absorb that extra cost...not cool right? It is something we are still sorting out. I do take consolation in the fact that the hotel was really nice; it was especially nice to have a place where I could take a long, hot shower and go a few days without carrying my passport at every moment.

On Friday, we walked the city most of the day. We saw the familiar sites including Trinity College, the Temple Bar area, a castle or two, St. Stevens Green (i.e. a green park), the Guinness Brewery, government buildings, churches, etc.

That night, we went to dinner at this awesome Italian restaurant where I had a delicious salmon pasta of some kind. Then off to the Temple Bar area for St. Patty's festivities. They were carding and a lot of the bars were exclusively over 21, which is not really a Euro concept. Still not sure if that is a year round thing or just a St. Patty's precaution...regardless, it felt weird to show ID somewhere again. At one bar, we ended meeting up with some other people from our program in Madrid as well as a few of my friends who are studying in Oxford. We enjoyed Guinness and Cider, both of which were a treat to my palate.

*It is for certain that Guinness is much better in Ireland.*

All in all a fun night, but not what I expected. Americans were literally everywhere...I think a lot of Irish people avoid this scene entirely. Still, the ones we encountered were awesome. Literally the nicest people you will meet. Ireland is such a warm and welcoming country.

Furthermore, I am a goal setter and this does not change even in a bar atmosphere. Although I made several that Friday night, my favorite was when I noticed a thirty or so year old guy hovering around our group with his friends. He had been in our vicinity most of the night and at some point, I looked at my friend Sabrina--saying, "New goal: high five creepy old dude in the next three minutes." Then, I patiently waited for my opening. To my surprise, eye contact was quickly made and I went for it. The rest, as they say, was history. Thirty seconds after publicly declaring my goal, my hand was met in the middle with great enthusiasm. He remained in our general area the remainder of the night. And I think its safe to say "our moment" gave him (at least in his eyes) the green light to try and socialize with us, especially those of our number who happened to be female. He can thank me later. Such a hospitable individual...

Saturday, we took a guided day trip through Wicklow County. This is exactly what you think of when thinking of Ireland: sheep, greenery, rolling hills, and the like. In fact the area is beautiful and famous for being the region of many movies, including several scenes from Braveheart. Our guide's name was Terry; he was an old, knowledgeable, and friendly chap.

It poured all day.

Saturday night, we hung out and then eventually took a cab to the airport for our 6:50 AM flight to Copenhagen (no hotel that night because of the early flight; instead the squatter approach was embraced). Specifically, we ended up spending the early hours sleeping in the airport. I slept on the floor in front of Starbucks only to be woken up by an employee at 5 am because they were opening the store. Upon waking up, there were hundreds of others sleeping all around myself and my friends. It was a terrible sleep because my inner core was still cold from all the earlier rain. Still, it was a cool experience--especially to wake up among so many other fellow travelers. A band of brothers per se.

Before moving on to Denmark, let us tell the story of Ireland once more in picture/caption form:

Ireland was cold

and green.

There was a forest,

some ruins (Glendalough Monastery),

a tower,

a cross,

an ancient chapel (St. Kevin's),

and a bridge.

Did I mention it was a holiday where...

the bars were packed,

especially with Americans,

and it's even possible to reunite with some familiar usd faces?

There was a colorful park,

a pony,

and a creepy MySpace-like pic (it was way overdue.)

Finally, Ireland is home to an old tower,

a place of higher learning (Trinity College),

an old church,

a brewery,

and funky trees.

In sum, I liked Ireland. It is my favorite place I have visited thus far. The people are friendly, and from an aesthetic perspective, it is rivaled by few.

Scandinavia (Copenhagen, Denmark and Malmo, Sweden):

Next we headed to Scandinavia. Not as much here to report because our visit was significantly shorter than Dublin. Here, I will begin with the photos and then say a few final remarks.

Wind

communal bikes

pigeons

*typical Europe photo that I had not gotten around to taking yet

tall

Tivoli--i.e. really old amusement park

purple

edificios

roar...

elephants vs. donkeys

*reminding people to watch our debates "because the next US president affects your life."
**it is my optimistic hope that Americans care at least as much about our OWN next president than the Danes...

anybody could make this a good photo

neat

Sweden

*two of my fellow travelers are from Cali and they were so excited to see snow.

There were not a lot of tourist sites to see in Copenhagen, so we spent the most of our time walking around and exploring anything that caught our eye. Besides that, I noticed:

Scandinavians really are better looking than the rest of the world (gender not important). Honestly, everybody is good looking. My flight attendant was even a red head and she was breathtaking. I realized I want to fall in love with a Dane, or generally, with one of Scandinavian roots. My mother is a Dane...maybe Freud was not so crazy?
They have a communal bike system of which most people take advantage, meaning free bikes are positioned all around the city; ride one until you are finished and then let it stand for somebody else's further use. Picture this, since the majority of people tend to ride bikes within the city, this means you have attractive blonds (see bullet one) riding around the town with their bikes in classy business casual outfits and two inch heels. It is a special place.
The Kroner, which is their currency, is weak. You get 5 Kroner for every Dollar. I was excited to be in a place where the Dollar is stronger for once. The problem though was that everything is crazy expensive...you might easily spend 100 Kroner on something only minimally better than fast food (i.e. 20 bucks). I do not know how the Danes live or afford anything.
Danish is an impossible language. We got on wrong trains, were frequently lost, and struggled constantly. I felt illiterate.
Copenhagen to Malmo is a 30 minute train ride across the Baltic Sea. The day we went to Sweden it was snowing very hard and it was weird to see the ocean and snow simultaneously. There was not too much to do in Malmo; it was more one of those "4 corner like moments"--you get to the Colorado/Utah/Arizona/New Mexico border, touch all four states and the have somebody take a picture. Very superficial, but still four states! Similarly, still Sweden!
It snowed very hard on the day we left for Amsterdam. We sat in the plane for an hour while they deiced the plane and runway.

Amsterdam:

Oh the land of Van Gogh, Rembrandt, Anne Frank, canals, the Red Light District, mayonnaise with french fries, and my father's side of the family.

First two stories:

1) anybody who knows me, knows that dairy products and I do not always cooperate. Even if the chances of feeling bad is low, there is definitely a risk involved. In Amsterdam, I took that risk. And I chose poorly...

We went to a pizza shop one night and I inhaled a personal pizza. Immediately, I began to feel nauseous and eventually ended up "redistributing" that pizza among three different canals on the way back to our hostel. Not a good night, but in hindsight a pretty funny story to retell. Again, I am all about the story.

2) We found a really good Argentina Steak house in the city. It had a sign with a "tourist deal" where we could get a steak, various vegetables, and drink for practically nothing. It elevated my mood.

Photos:

"museum square"

central station

canon + canal

more bikes

Anne Frank House

*no pictures inside

flag

~tulips, but cool flowers nonetheless

A couple final observations: I did not find the city to be very photogenic...you can only take so many pictures of canals. We did not get to go to the Van Gogh Museum because we showed up ten minutes after it closed. Who closes a museum before six? Next, the weather was freezing while we there and I rocked my gloves the majority of the time. Actually the weather was freezing in all six countries...which meant a happy return back to Madrid. Furthermore, I thought the Red Light District was trashy and overrated. Here, I imagined it would have been a sketchy area comparable to Tijuana or something, but it was probably the safest place in the city with all the tourists. Pre-Amsterdam, I let my imagination run wild. I envisioned danger and an area where literally everything is fair game. Instead, there was just a permanent stench of pot and hookers dancing in little windows. Either way not really my scene. I was not impressed and I felt dirty, but it was something that needed to be experienced (albeit briefly). We then took a four hour train to:

Brugge, Belgium:

I loved Belgium. The food is delicious, especially their chocolate, beer (close enough to a food), waffles, and their fries. Their fries are seriously incredible. You can get them with catchup if you want to be lame and entirely act like a tourist. I tend to choose adventure. Therefore, I chose the extra spicy sauce which was basically like a spicy version of the Big Mac sauce...but my arteries may not have enjoyed it.

Basically all we did was eat in Belgium. I kid, I lie. We also went to the Church of our Lady, which is the home of Michelangelo's Madonna Statue. We also went on a canal cruise, saw a few towers and windmills, etc., all of which, were pretty cool.

Finally, my roommate and I decided to pitch in the extra 15 Euro each and stay in a little Bed and Breakfast. In hindsight, it was clearly the best decision of the trip. We got picked up at the train station by this nice, retired factory worker named Jack. He took us to his house--in his newly purchased Mercedes--where we sat down and enjoyed a glass of orange juice. During "orange juice time" he whipped out a map and filled us in on the sites, as well as the history of the town. Then he took us two houses down where we actually stayed in some lady's loft. She was nice and she made us delicious breakfast. As a side, she also happened to be very attractive. Seriously though, the B and B was the only way to do Brugge. It was nice to be treated well, being met by such nice and inviting people; it was a great change of pace from impersonal hostels.

from the windmills

*this is not a black and white photo...just an odd sunset

full moon

scenery

common setup

church of our lady

old

tower again

different city...different canal

If I remember right, this bridge was from the 8th century and has never needed to be repaired or restored.

*Brugge is an old town

windmill con cuatro dudes

Paris:

We ended the trip by taking a fast train to Paris (took only two or three hours). Before arriving, I made a goal--again a goal setter--to not speak a word to a French person all weekend. This was derived because of the general and typical attitudes between the French and Americans. However, after about 20 minutes I had encountered about three or four people that were much nicer than I expected. In fact, they were a lot more welcoming to their city than the Brits and I did not even know their language. After that, I stopped being a proud American...

On the whole, French food was delicious but overpriced. I tried delicious crepes, quiche, a tasty roast beef sandwich, and even took a stab at escargot. Our sketchy hotel was literally one of the last stops on a metro line. It was not in the actual Paris city limits and definitely in the ghetto, so we would leave early in the morning and not return until late in the night. This meant we walked all day...and we covered A LOT of ground. I think we saw almost every piece of land in Paris including the Louvre, the Eiffel, arc, a few parks, government buildings, Notre Dame, etc.

One final note: I think this is my best batch of photos yet, but Paris lends itself to make even the most amateur of photographers feel like a pro.

welcome...

*An aside: if I ran for president, I would promise the American people an Arc de Triumph replica at least four times as big as Paris'. McCain, Obama, Hillary, (and I am going to also add Gore and Nader in the mix again) think about it.

over the top?

No Quasi Modo here...

details

while walking

Congress

upscale Paris neighborhood

Louvre

"the masses are asses."

*Anybody who knows me, knows I dislike crowds. Thus I avoid malls, most frat parties, and rush hour traffic at all costs. The Louvre, actually Paris in general, was frustrating at times because of this odd character quirk. I need my space.