Back in Dublin for the third time this trip, and I'm about to head back to the states in a little over 24 hours. I've thourghly enjoyed my time here, and it's really hard to believe I've been here almost three months.
Just as another fill in, Whit and I did make our way to Barcelona which was fantastic. The weather was nice, the food was cheap, and we went to a soccer game which was awesome. We tried meeting up with my bud Arnau from the Wicklow experiecne, but since our nightmare overnight train was late by two hours, we didn't cross paths. Barcelona has a very funky, artistic sense to it that is second to none. You can see Gaudy's influence in just about every building there. After that we made our way up to Angers where Whit studied abroad. We had lunch with her host parents and Lindsay which was a lot of fun, and I impressed them with my french speaking ability so that was nice. I took a 700 AM flight out of Charles le Roi in Belgium this morning to Dublin to ensure I would be here tomorrow for my flight.
There are certain things you learn, or come to appreciate about the place you're visiting and home that you might not other wise come to grips with. I figured the best way to wrap up these three months was by listing some of them off:
-God bless the Aussies and Kiwis. You guys were the most spirited, and consistently fun people on the trip. It takes a lot of stones to travel for around a years time, and it seemed as if everyone of you were wandering around for at least 9 months.
-Not being able to speak the local language sucks. No need for expansion on that, it just sucks.
-I think of all the places I've visited, the place I'd most want to live would be Amsterdam. I don't know why, but there's something about ridding around on your bike every where, and the Portland vibe funkyness that I loved there.
-Florence and Dublin are close seconds. Florence simply for the food, and there's quite a homey feeling walking the streets of Dublin on an October morning and smelling the bitter smell of the barley at the Guinness factory being boiled for the whort.
-The Brussels train station is a place I never want to go back to. Somehow, it seemed to get dirtier, less organized, and filled with more scary transients every time I went there.
-Americans, or at least where I am from, aren't THAT much fatter than the Europeans. France and Italy, ok, you guys are all in pretty good shape, but every where else I went I saw a fair share of over weight people on par with Oregon.
-I miss home. Yes Europe is wonderful, but I miss the McKenzie river. I miss Ninkasi beer. I miss Monday Night Bingos. I miss football, oh Good Lord how I miss football. I miss the outdoors (Switzerland did up the standard however). I guess you just can't take the Northwest out of a kid.
John
Monday, October 5, 2009
Monday, September 28, 2009
Florence and further
Alrighty I know it's been a while, and my last post was mediocre at best due to time limits, but this shall be a doozy since I have a fair amount to up date.
We went to Venice for three nights, which was a lot of fun and very romantic. The cannals were very cool, along with the layout of the city. Since you have to walk everywhere, and you never know when you will turn a corner and be looking down at water, the whole time it felt like a bit of a giant maze which I found incredibly entertaining because I'm just weird like that. The "metro" system in Venice was also very unique in that it was boats. Yes, the public transportation is water based as well, but again, very unique and very fun. The nice thing about those boats is that you could purposefully take a long route to your final destination and see a bunch of the city by water, instead of paying 100 Euros for a gondalla ride, and you pretty much got the same effect as the majority of the boat drivers would sing in their driver space. The food was very good, and I ate too much in our three days there, but we walked a lot so no big deal I guess.
In some respects I liken Florence to Amsterdam, in that while it's fun to visit, I feel that it would be even more fun to live in. There's a lot of touristy stuff you can do here, but you get the vibe that the really good stuff is for locals only. We stood in line for an hour and a half to get into the Accademia where the statue of David calls home, and it was totally worth it. While David is quite a famous statue, and I'm sure just about everyone knows what it looks like as there are pictures a plenty, when you turn the corner to see him hanging out at the end of the hall way, it does blow you back a bit. The statue is absolutely massive, and while you circle the master piece, you really can't believe that one man created this with as little technology as he had.
The food here in Florence has been absolutely fantastic, and while I am not much of a food snob, I have been enjoying way too much here. The first run I go on back home is going to be a bit of a struggle. We hiked to the top of a hill with the view of the main part of the city right below us, which was fantastic, but in a small world situation, we ran into a family that had stayed in the condo next to us the last time we were in Kaui about four years ago. I saw them, and they saw me, and there was a second of disbelief and then a "holy shit (sorry grandma)" on my part. Quite funny, and a little crazy at the same time.
We're heading off to Milan, then taking an over night train to Barcelona before we head back up to France for our last days. We are planning on seeing a Barça game tuesday night, so that should be fun, and I've contacted Arnau who worked with me in Ireland who we're going to meet up with, and hopefully he can show us some cool places.
John
We went to Venice for three nights, which was a lot of fun and very romantic. The cannals were very cool, along with the layout of the city. Since you have to walk everywhere, and you never know when you will turn a corner and be looking down at water, the whole time it felt like a bit of a giant maze which I found incredibly entertaining because I'm just weird like that. The "metro" system in Venice was also very unique in that it was boats. Yes, the public transportation is water based as well, but again, very unique and very fun. The nice thing about those boats is that you could purposefully take a long route to your final destination and see a bunch of the city by water, instead of paying 100 Euros for a gondalla ride, and you pretty much got the same effect as the majority of the boat drivers would sing in their driver space. The food was very good, and I ate too much in our three days there, but we walked a lot so no big deal I guess.
In some respects I liken Florence to Amsterdam, in that while it's fun to visit, I feel that it would be even more fun to live in. There's a lot of touristy stuff you can do here, but you get the vibe that the really good stuff is for locals only. We stood in line for an hour and a half to get into the Accademia where the statue of David calls home, and it was totally worth it. While David is quite a famous statue, and I'm sure just about everyone knows what it looks like as there are pictures a plenty, when you turn the corner to see him hanging out at the end of the hall way, it does blow you back a bit. The statue is absolutely massive, and while you circle the master piece, you really can't believe that one man created this with as little technology as he had.
The food here in Florence has been absolutely fantastic, and while I am not much of a food snob, I have been enjoying way too much here. The first run I go on back home is going to be a bit of a struggle. We hiked to the top of a hill with the view of the main part of the city right below us, which was fantastic, but in a small world situation, we ran into a family that had stayed in the condo next to us the last time we were in Kaui about four years ago. I saw them, and they saw me, and there was a second of disbelief and then a "holy shit (sorry grandma)" on my part. Quite funny, and a little crazy at the same time.
We're heading off to Milan, then taking an over night train to Barcelona before we head back up to France for our last days. We are planning on seeing a Barça game tuesday night, so that should be fun, and I've contacted Arnau who worked with me in Ireland who we're going to meet up with, and hopefully he can show us some cool places.
John
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Amsterdam
Currently in a bagel shop in lovely Amsterdam, but I do have to make it quick because Whit is waiting to use the free computer here as well. Been in Amsterdam for two days now and it's absolutely lovely. While from a city construction sense, it's very unique and something I've never seen before, it has a bit of a Portland vibe in the sense that it's a big city, but not too big, and everybody seems pretty nice and laid back.
Paris was awesome, thanks to Keith and Lezlie Whit and I had a very nice apartment/hotel room for two nights in the 16eme arrodisement. We did the usual stuff, go to the top of the Eiffel Tower, went to the artist colony on top of the hill that I can't remember what the name is, and had a drink on the Champs Elysees at night.
Before I met Whit in Paris, I did make my way to Dusseldorf to see Rett, Carla and their relatively new little girl Erin. It was great fun, Rett and I went out on the town in Dusseldorf one night, we played wiffle ball in the street with the neighbor girls, and had a grand old time taking Erin for walks. I really appreciated them putting me up.
Gotta go, got to give Whit a chance to write!
John
Paris was awesome, thanks to Keith and Lezlie Whit and I had a very nice apartment/hotel room for two nights in the 16eme arrodisement. We did the usual stuff, go to the top of the Eiffel Tower, went to the artist colony on top of the hill that I can't remember what the name is, and had a drink on the Champs Elysees at night.
Before I met Whit in Paris, I did make my way to Dusseldorf to see Rett, Carla and their relatively new little girl Erin. It was great fun, Rett and I went out on the town in Dusseldorf one night, we played wiffle ball in the street with the neighbor girls, and had a grand old time taking Erin for walks. I really appreciated them putting me up.
Gotta go, got to give Whit a chance to write!
John
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Luxembourg
I am sitting in the public library in Luxwmbourg City at the moment, free internet by the way, and figured I´d throw in an update.
For those of you who do not know, I was recently crowned the Beer Challenge Champion on my second night in Munich. As to those who might be wondering what I had to do to become the Champ, all it came down to was dancing on the stage of the Hauf Brauhaus with classically dressed Bavarians (I´m guessing I have a picture printed out at the front of the haus saying something along the lines of "don´t let this jackass in," but it was totally worth it), and singing a German drinking song they taught us while doing a shirtless head stand that, of course, had someone holding my legs.
I´ve walked around Luxembourg a bit already and it´s quite the charming little town. There´s a big garden that seperates the high part of the town with the lower part that I think I will take some lunch to and wonder. I have been surprised how expensive, and chique the city center is so I think I´m going to be in the old town for most of the day. Tomorrow I will take a bus out to the country side and do some hiking, I´ve just got to find out where to go.
I believe my next town will be Düsseldorf as I have gotten a hold of Rett and actually need to e-mail him now to let him know of my plans.
John
For those of you who do not know, I was recently crowned the Beer Challenge Champion on my second night in Munich. As to those who might be wondering what I had to do to become the Champ, all it came down to was dancing on the stage of the Hauf Brauhaus with classically dressed Bavarians (I´m guessing I have a picture printed out at the front of the haus saying something along the lines of "don´t let this jackass in," but it was totally worth it), and singing a German drinking song they taught us while doing a shirtless head stand that, of course, had someone holding my legs.
I´ve walked around Luxembourg a bit already and it´s quite the charming little town. There´s a big garden that seperates the high part of the town with the lower part that I think I will take some lunch to and wonder. I have been surprised how expensive, and chique the city center is so I think I´m going to be in the old town for most of the day. Tomorrow I will take a bus out to the country side and do some hiking, I´ve just got to find out where to go.
I believe my next town will be Düsseldorf as I have gotten a hold of Rett and actually need to e-mail him now to let him know of my plans.
John
Friday, September 4, 2009
Munich
I arrived in Munich today after a lovely six hour train ride with no book, and with the bitter taste of defeat to top that off (I´ll comment on that later) to find a lovely city here in the south of Germany. The place I'm staying at is very nice, it seems like a bit of a party hostel, but I'm only staying here one night so it shouldn't bother me much. After I had checked in I was in search for some dinner, and I was trying to find the Weiss Brauhaus. Well, while I didn't know any Spanish, at least it was some what similar to French so the street names weren't that crazy; that is not the case here. I had to take a picture of one of the streets because it's name is Dreifaltigkeitsplatz. No joke. I did find the Brauhaus eventually, but it was packed, so I settled on another fine establishment where I got sausages over sauercrout and potatoes. Naturally, I finished it all off with a fine pilsner and it was a great way to start my German days.
There are some castles around the area that I'll check out here in the next couple of days, along with other beer gardens because I've been seriously deprived of good beer on this trip.
As for the whole football thing, we all know how much I loved to play, and how much I love watching, coaching, and commentating on the game. However, in the past couple weeks I've been almost embarassed of my game of choice. It seems to me that the days of self monitoring and responsibility, sportsmanship, and honesty have disappeared. The entire Brett Favre saga has been a damn shame, and an example of a lack of chivalry that should be shown by one of the greatest players at the ultimate leadership position. I realize that retiring is a difficult choice to make, but if you say you are retired, don't go on a one man crusade to revenge the GM that wouldn't let you come back a month after your first retirment ceremony.
Last night was another great example of a lack of sportsmanship. I didn't get a chance to watch the Oregon-Boise State game, however I have seen the Legarrete Blount punch to the BSU player's face on youtube. While in Blount's defense, from the replay the BSU player seemed to mouth off and deserve to get his clock cleaned, but show a little more restraint. If you say in a nationally published, and well known magazine, "we owe them (Boise State) an ass-whoopin'" you better damn well back that up, and if you don't, then you better expect plenty of trash talk back your way.
Then to top it all off, I'm going after the fans. The amount of trash talk on the internet these days is childish at best. You have grown men, assumingly, writting on blog posts here and there about all this and that, and then come up with a moniker of some sort to completely erase any reprocussions from their voice. I don't particularly care about shit talk back and fourth about teams, but when it comes to criticizing a coach, player, or front office person, you better damn well own up to it. To go by some sort of alter ego, and write anything you want regardless of how juvenile or false it may be, in my opinion, is pissing on the First Amendment. We as Americans have the wonderful right to be able to express ourselves without being censored, including on the internet, and there are millions of people who hide behind fake names, taking advantage of a faceless forum. If it's something you believe in, you shouldn't have to refer to yourself as "Duckguy8," or some other name, own up to it, because you can in this country without reprocussion and to not do so is offensive to those who don't have the luxuary of freedom of speech.
John Fredrick Stokes
There are some castles around the area that I'll check out here in the next couple of days, along with other beer gardens because I've been seriously deprived of good beer on this trip.
As for the whole football thing, we all know how much I loved to play, and how much I love watching, coaching, and commentating on the game. However, in the past couple weeks I've been almost embarassed of my game of choice. It seems to me that the days of self monitoring and responsibility, sportsmanship, and honesty have disappeared. The entire Brett Favre saga has been a damn shame, and an example of a lack of chivalry that should be shown by one of the greatest players at the ultimate leadership position. I realize that retiring is a difficult choice to make, but if you say you are retired, don't go on a one man crusade to revenge the GM that wouldn't let you come back a month after your first retirment ceremony.
Last night was another great example of a lack of sportsmanship. I didn't get a chance to watch the Oregon-Boise State game, however I have seen the Legarrete Blount punch to the BSU player's face on youtube. While in Blount's defense, from the replay the BSU player seemed to mouth off and deserve to get his clock cleaned, but show a little more restraint. If you say in a nationally published, and well known magazine, "we owe them (Boise State) an ass-whoopin'" you better damn well back that up, and if you don't, then you better expect plenty of trash talk back your way.
Then to top it all off, I'm going after the fans. The amount of trash talk on the internet these days is childish at best. You have grown men, assumingly, writting on blog posts here and there about all this and that, and then come up with a moniker of some sort to completely erase any reprocussions from their voice. I don't particularly care about shit talk back and fourth about teams, but when it comes to criticizing a coach, player, or front office person, you better damn well own up to it. To go by some sort of alter ego, and write anything you want regardless of how juvenile or false it may be, in my opinion, is pissing on the First Amendment. We as Americans have the wonderful right to be able to express ourselves without being censored, including on the internet, and there are millions of people who hide behind fake names, taking advantage of a faceless forum. If it's something you believe in, you shouldn't have to refer to yourself as "Duckguy8," or some other name, own up to it, because you can in this country without reprocussion and to not do so is offensive to those who don't have the luxuary of freedom of speech.
John Fredrick Stokes
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Interlaken
I'm currently hanging in my second Swiss city, and I think it will be my last. I'm possibly heading to Munich in a couple of days, but I don't want to jump the gun for the moment. Any way, Interlaken is a very nice little city, it's quite small, but you can tell it does well on the tourism side. There are tons of hotels, and tons of adventure companies to hire to go river rafting, parasailing, bungee jumping, and just about anything you can think of. While I would love to do some of these activities, they tend to be on the priceyer side, so I decided today that I would head up the mountain to do some hiking instead.
I had been suggested to do an activity called Via Ferrata, and I think I may have found a new outdoors activity mistress. It's a hybrid of hiking and rock climbing, and definitely had my legs shaking at moments. They tend to take you on trails that normally, wouldn't be a good idea to go on because of the steepness and narrow paths. However, there is a steel cable that runs along the whole trail where you clip into with two carabeaners that are attached to a climbing harness you are wearing.
On this particular trail there were two cable tight wire bridges, a suspension bridge that was about 100 yards long, and one terrifying wrap around a rock where there is only steel rebar sticking out of the rock with a 1000 foot fall beneath you. There was no escaping looking down, because I wanted to look and see where I was stepping. Once I had maneuvered my way around, I had sweated so much the ten minutes it took me to get around, for a second I thought I had peed my pants.
It was a fantastic day today, but I think I'll take it easy tomorrow as I'm still getting over a cold and don't want to be too beat for my train ride the next day, wherever it may go.
John
P.S. Go Ducks!
I had been suggested to do an activity called Via Ferrata, and I think I may have found a new outdoors activity mistress. It's a hybrid of hiking and rock climbing, and definitely had my legs shaking at moments. They tend to take you on trails that normally, wouldn't be a good idea to go on because of the steepness and narrow paths. However, there is a steel cable that runs along the whole trail where you clip into with two carabeaners that are attached to a climbing harness you are wearing.
On this particular trail there were two cable tight wire bridges, a suspension bridge that was about 100 yards long, and one terrifying wrap around a rock where there is only steel rebar sticking out of the rock with a 1000 foot fall beneath you. There was no escaping looking down, because I wanted to look and see where I was stepping. Once I had maneuvered my way around, I had sweated so much the ten minutes it took me to get around, for a second I thought I had peed my pants.
It was a fantastic day today, but I think I'll take it easy tomorrow as I'm still getting over a cold and don't want to be too beat for my train ride the next day, wherever it may go.
John
P.S. Go Ducks!
Monday, August 31, 2009
Gryon
This shall be a short and quick entry because I've only got a little time left on my internet usage. Getting here was quite interessting because I had to take about five different trains from Avignon where I had spent the night before. The last of which reminded me of the Enchanted Forrest's rip off of Splash Mountain, Doug you remember. Regardless of how slow it was, I could never complain about the view; valley's with little towns nestled in them, surrounded by the Alps is not something I see everyday.
The view from my hostel is fantastic, and I greatly appreciate the recomendation from Pat, because it's been fantastic here. I'm in an eight person dorm, all by myself due to the slowing down of the travel season. I went on a four hour hike yesterday that's made my joints a little sore, and tired me out a bit. I did live a little bit by the Jon Jaqua mantra of indecision (If the Indians were chasing you, would you do it?) and did a little bit of rock climbing on my hike (Sorry mom). I think I'll head back up later tonight to watch the sunset from one of the more populated spots, so that I will be able to see where I'm walking on my way back down.
I'm heading to Interlaken tomorrow and am going to try to stay at a hostel with a Bouldering wall. I've been fairly frugle here in Gryon because apparently there are amazing options of activites in Interlaken, including parasailing, white water rapids, and all other kinds of fun stuff.
The view from my hostel is fantastic, and I greatly appreciate the recomendation from Pat, because it's been fantastic here. I'm in an eight person dorm, all by myself due to the slowing down of the travel season. I went on a four hour hike yesterday that's made my joints a little sore, and tired me out a bit. I did live a little bit by the Jon Jaqua mantra of indecision (If the Indians were chasing you, would you do it?) and did a little bit of rock climbing on my hike (Sorry mom). I think I'll head back up later tonight to watch the sunset from one of the more populated spots, so that I will be able to see where I'm walking on my way back down.
I'm heading to Interlaken tomorrow and am going to try to stay at a hostel with a Bouldering wall. I've been fairly frugle here in Gryon because apparently there are amazing options of activites in Interlaken, including parasailing, white water rapids, and all other kinds of fun stuff.
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