I'm currently sitting in the Hong Kong airport because 3 people are very stupid and missed their flight to Beijing and now have to wait until 3am until the next one. Retards. Someone smack those bastards.
But let's rewind before I get to that point.
Back to Shanghai.
We took the bus from the airport over to the city center of Shanghai to my parents' hotel. The bus was less than $2 for a little bit over an hour ride. We met a French guy on the bus who asked us for directions to his hotel which my mom became the translator between him and the bus driver. Mom's somewhat tri-lingual as she's managed to pick up quite a bit of Mandarin in the past years. Good for her and helpful since Dad doesn't really speak Mandarin (he speaks English to his Shanghai staff). Dad speaks embarassingly loud in English in public but since I haven't seen them in awhile, I let it slide.
The bus ride gave me a chance to gather my first impressions of China. I've been to Hong Kong twice but that was when it was still under British rule (it was returned to the Chinese government in 1997). Right outside the Pudong airport are a bunch of empty high rise apartments which are supposed to fill up within the next few years because of a growing number of international corporations moving into Shanghai. The city was congested as most big cities are so that wasn't a big shocker. There are a ton of high rise buildings, ships, and PEOPLE. And bicycles! Jesus, a shitload of bicycles.
When we got into town, we grabbed some lunch first because Dad needed to get back to the office and mom and I went back to the hotel. It was also HOT and HUMID as a mofo, I'm guessing the pollution hasn't been helping matters. Crossing the street can be hazardous since there are not only a ton of bicycles but scooters, buses and cars as well. Mom and Dad actually got hit by a scooter a few days into their trip but Mom was the one that ended up with the injuries. Poor Mom.
The hotel is designed for long term business residents. I got a cot in the "sitting area." Sigh, still no space of my own. At least the hotel was clean and I didn't have to hear my parents snoring. I was dead tired for jet lag so Mom let me nap a bit before Dad came to pick us up for dinner.
Two of the girls that works for Dad offered to treat us to dinner which was really sweet. I was able to try some typical Shanghai dishes which included a steamed egg dish that was really quite good. It had the consistency of tofu with mushrooms and clams. I don't usually like clams but it was subtle enough for me to enjoy.
One thing that is cheap in Shanghai are the taxis which start at 10RMB which is less than $2 US. It doesn't go up very much during the ride either and they tend to be quite honest. We mostly took taxis everywhere because they're cheap, reliable, and convenient. We did walk quite a few places but due to the heat and humidity, it could be QUITE uncomfortable.
Mom also took me to the open air market a few times. She negotiated her jade necklaces and we shopped around. The market was quite interesting with all the foreigners and sellers. The sellers would type their offer on calculators and the buyer could bargain down (usually more than half off) which the buyer could accept or reject. Most of the time if they rejected it, the buyer would then offer their price to which the buyer would refuse and start to walk away. After a very brief reconsideration, the seller would then chase the buyer down, sometimes even grabbing them by the arm. Quite hilarious. The first time we went, it was god awful hot and I had to wait for mom to do her negotiations for about 45 minutes. I thought I was seriously going to pass out. The second time it was much cooler because there had been a lot of rain (due to the typhoon... I always bring the rain with me) and we bought a few other items. This one seller tried to set an exorbient price for some coin purses to which my mom laughed at him and walked away. He said my mom must have shopped there a lot to know how much she should pay. I think she took a lot of pride in that! Then she told them that I was from America and the guy said, "Give her to me instead!" Ha, ha, ha, very funny.
One day my mom brought me down to the "bund" which is basically the waterfront. Across the water is the city of Pudong where a lot of businesses are. Mom and I went over there to lunch at the Grand Hyatt at this really fancy tea room. You know what the bill ended up being? $20 for both of us! All you can eat dim sum. I mean, you should've seen this place too, super ritzy (as I was in my flood pants and tank top and Reefs).
At lunch I asked my mom, "So, Mom, what are we going to do while I'm here? You know, besides eat and shop."
My mom looked at me blankly. "What do you mean? What else is there to do?"
I kinda laughed. She had to be kidding. She continued. "No, really, there's not really any museums here or anything."
She wasn't kidding. I went to the Shanghai museum with her (while I was inside, it started storming and I thought the museum had sound effects) which took only a few hours. But the people and setting were enough to keep me entertained as well as my fake Burberry scarves. Apparently Shanghai is much more international than most Chinese cities although not as Western as Hong Kong, although they are trying. I did notice there were a lot of baby boys and very few baby girls (I think I saw one the entire time I was there and I was pretty sure they were tourists). Some parts are still very poor and there is a lot of construction going on.
I wanted to take more pictures but I've found it to be difficult because I almost feel ridiculous. One, here I am as a privilaged tourists, oh look taking pictures of the natives. Also because these are my people (in a manner of speaking) so it just feels odd to me. Asia is entirely different than anywhere else I am pretty confident, quite unique as most continents are in their own rights. I suppose what I found to be the most odd was how much globalization and consumerism has hit China. I was surrounded by Burberry, Dior, Chanel, Prada, McDonald's, Starbucks, Omega, and even the Kenny Rogers restaurant chain! Crazy.
The rest of the trip was relatively quiet, our last night we had all you can eat Japanese food with the same girls, one of their boyfriends, and another manager. They were all really sweet and the boyfriend of Gina named Chris will also be in Beijing when I will so he offered to take us out to eat. Which is helpful since he speaks Mandarin and we do not.
We departed Shanghai for Hong Kong on Saturday afternoon and arrived at the YMCA with little problem. The YMCA was quite gross, worse than a Motel 6 I think. It's just really old, run down and not the cleanest of places. The lobby was realy nice though, that's how they rope you in! Thank god we only stayed there for a night. That evening, my aunt (dad's older sister) and her husband took us out to eat vegetarian. We walked to the restaurant so that gave me a chance to see Hong Kong for the first time in 10 years. It seemed less shocking as it did at 12 and 14 years of age but still had that lively night time feel. There are neon lights every which way and shops are open really late. Not to mention wonton restaurants. Hong Kong is quite Western since it was under British rule for a hundred years. It even calls their metro cards "octupus cards" like the UK. Many people in HK also speak English (especially the younger generations), much more than the rest of China. My uncle was really funny when he tried out some English words on me.
The restaurant was the bomb, it was all you can eat buffet but all vegetarian. As expected, my aunt gave me some shit for not speaking Chinese but was pleasant otherwise. I can't imagine living so far away from my siblings and only talking to them a few times a year. I guess that's just how it is with my dad's side of the family. I'm glad I grew up with my mom's side in Oakland. Anyway, we went to my aunt's apartment afterward. Most people in HK go out to dinner at least 3 times a week because their apartments are so small. And usually dirty and old/run down. My aunt and uncle moved into new government subsidized housing about five years ago so their place is actually really clean and new looking. We watched some crazy Hong Kong tv shows which were much funnier than Mandarin shows, probably because I could at least understand what was going on, ha ha. It's really interesting to get to Hong Kong and suddenly understand mostly what's going on after being in Shanghai and not knowing a word of Mandarin. Or being in Europe. I don't speak but I can understand pretty fluently and it amuses me to no end when my ears suddenly perk up when I hear Cantonese.
After we got back, Mom went to hang out with one of her old high school friends and Dad and I walked around the humid evening. We walked over to Temple St. and I could tell Dad was thinking about how much Hong Kong has changed. Kinda nuts but they've now lived in the States longer than they lived in Hong Kong (29 years vs. 31 years). Anyway, Temple St. is an open air night market that sells everything from watches to tshirts to Sanrio stuff. Although I would normally at least least want to browse, I was irritable from the heat and plus my mom is way better to shop with because she bargains. It was interesting to see the market though since I remembered it from 10 years ago and buying food for a cart on the street.
After a restless night at the YMCA, we checked into our new hotel and simply from walking into the hotel and smelling it (it smelled like fresh gardenias), I knew it was going to be about 50,000 times better than the YMCA. Although our room wasn't quite ready yet, my sister and Keith had already checked in so we went up to their room. WOW, talk about plush! King sized bed, flat screen HDTV, bathroom with rainfall shower, full bathtub, robe, slippers... ah. I love nice hotels, such a guilty pleasure. The hotel had every amenity possible including free internet and free DVDs for rent. I could've lived there.
Anyway, after one of the best showers ever, we went out for some dim sum with my aunt, uncle, cousin and his girlfriend. Hong Kong chinese (cantonese) food is THE BEST. I found the food in Shanghai to be quite mediocre as it was pretty greasy and bland. But Hong Kong food? The shit, I tell you.
We went over to the harbor at one point but didn't take the Star Ferry across the way to Hong Kong island. I barely recognized the area, it's been built up a lot. My mom and dad reminisced how it used to be popular place for couples to go on dates. Ew. ha ha, just kidding. It's funny though. Mom and Dad dating, what.
Less than a week in Hong Kong is too little especially when there are so many friends and families that you need to share meals with. Every night but one was booked with people outside our immediate family. Meals and food are an incredible social activity for Chinese people and the often last at least 2 hours for dinner.
We were able to visit my grandfather's property out in New Territory. Three of the units are rented but my grandfather's unit is still the same. We looked through photo albums and took a few to copy. It was trippy to see a photo of me, my sister, and two cousins with my grandfather and (step)grandmother from their trip to the States when I was 6 years old, framed on top of the TV. There was even a blown up version of the photo (which included my dad and uncle) in one of the albums. It was just a bit surprising as I've only my grandfather once in my life and my grandmother twice. But sweet at the same time.
Dinner that night was with my mom's high school friends. She was SO excited to see them, she hasn't seen some of them in years. The food was inconsistent, some dishes were wonderful while some of the others were crap. The ladies were really sweet, one of the Grace, lived in London for awhile so she spoke relatively good English. After dinner, the ladies went out to the coffeeshop, my sister and Keith went off to the bars, and me and dad being tired old poops went back to the hotel. But hey, I can't say no to a hot bath, a DVD and the down pillows on my bed. Lovely I tell you. I haven't had my own space in over two months and my own private room, I was perfectly content maxing and relaxing. And Love Actually!
Before the end of the trip, we headed up to Po Ling Monastery where there is a giant Buddha statue. Although it was deathly hot and the vegetarian restaurant not very good (but hey, we're supporting the monks) the place was very very cool. We were able to see inside some of the temples as well as climb to the top to the base of the Buddha statue. Amazing.
Our last night's dinner (after I had a relaxing massage at the hotel spa, so spoiled) was again with my aunt, uncle, cousin, my other cousin Andy (who's getting married), his wife Tessa, her immediate family (awkward), my cousin Carmen and her daughter Stacey (who's really cute. she wasn't even born the last time I went to Hong Kong!). The atmosphere was quite uncomfortable at first since we were late (my aunt was po'ed at us for a bit) and we didn't all know each other. Family meeting the other family is kinda weird at first. Things loosened up though and afterward, my cousin Andy and his brother (who doesn't have an English name and I have no idea how to spell out his Chinese name) took us out for beer. They were hilarious and kept asking if I could understand what they were saying. I guess the younger cousin (who's actually like almost 40) said that he had been afraid to speak to me because he doesn't speak English and I don't speak Chinese. But at least I can understand what he is saying. They were great fun though, really nice guys and I'm glad we got a chance to go out with them. Too bad they can't visit the States more often, it costs them $100 (american) to get a visa plus it's a difficult application process. Hopefully we can come back soon and see them again.
Now I need to take a nap because our plane takes off at 3:00am. I'm in this hotel lounge right now where you can rent beds, eat food, use the computer, watch TV and stuff. It's for people with long layovers and need a place to sleep. Weird. So weird. We're so stupid. Oh well, what can you do now? There have been points where I just have to bust out laughing because it's so ridiculous.
Anyway, off to Beijing where I doubt there will be any internet service. Maybe limited as it seems our hotel will have one. But alas, it won't be the Langham Place, sigh. Oh well, it's all part of the adventure of traveling! I love it for all it's bumps and bruises! Hope you are all having as funny adventures as I am! More reflections and details later, I've been hogging the computer for way too long.
Much love!
Thursday, September 29, 2005
Monday, September 26, 2005
quick asia check in
testing. testing. 1 2 3 4.
hey all, i'm back again but a little further east this time.
i left on a saturday evening, around 1am on Cathay Pacific headed towards Shanghai. I amused myself on the 14 hour plane ride by sleeping. And watching some pretty bad movies and tv. And playing a little video chess, wow I am no Bobby Fischer that's for sure.
After a short stop over in Hong Kong, I took Dragonair (how cultural) over to Shanghai where I finally left customs after standing in line for 2 hours. I thought my parents would be there to greet me with huge smiles. No, that was not the case. Instead I was greeted with a crowd of Chinese people I have never seen in my life. Nor could I understand them since they were speaking in Mandarin. I wandered around for awhile wondering where the hell my parents were. How the hell was I going to find them?? I didn't know where the hotel we were staying in, I didn't even know the name of it. Finally, I was convinced they just didn't see me because they're old and thus, a little slow (ha ha, kidding!). I went back to look for them in the crowd and there they were, my mom was particularly easy to spot with her deeply knitted eyebrows obviously scanning the crowd for my appearance. I freaked her out when I tapped her on the shoulder but then she recovered quickly and of course, had to yell (literally) over to my Dad who was probably like 5 feet away. Oh, parents.
Anyway, I have to continue this little Shanghai trip later, people are giving me the evil eye so they can use the computers. Free internet can be a bitch! i feel like I'm back in the hostels. Ha ha, I wish. No, not really because this hotel is the fucking shit!
Ok, I have to go to bed because as you can see, I am rambling. Ha ha!
hey all, i'm back again but a little further east this time.
i left on a saturday evening, around 1am on Cathay Pacific headed towards Shanghai. I amused myself on the 14 hour plane ride by sleeping. And watching some pretty bad movies and tv. And playing a little video chess, wow I am no Bobby Fischer that's for sure.
After a short stop over in Hong Kong, I took Dragonair (how cultural) over to Shanghai where I finally left customs after standing in line for 2 hours. I thought my parents would be there to greet me with huge smiles. No, that was not the case. Instead I was greeted with a crowd of Chinese people I have never seen in my life. Nor could I understand them since they were speaking in Mandarin. I wandered around for awhile wondering where the hell my parents were. How the hell was I going to find them?? I didn't know where the hotel we were staying in, I didn't even know the name of it. Finally, I was convinced they just didn't see me because they're old and thus, a little slow (ha ha, kidding!). I went back to look for them in the crowd and there they were, my mom was particularly easy to spot with her deeply knitted eyebrows obviously scanning the crowd for my appearance. I freaked her out when I tapped her on the shoulder but then she recovered quickly and of course, had to yell (literally) over to my Dad who was probably like 5 feet away. Oh, parents.
Anyway, I have to continue this little Shanghai trip later, people are giving me the evil eye so they can use the computers. Free internet can be a bitch! i feel like I'm back in the hostels. Ha ha, I wish. No, not really because this hotel is the fucking shit!
Ok, I have to go to bed because as you can see, I am rambling. Ha ha!
Monday, September 05, 2005
Day 40 & 41: London, England - Luck Be a Lady Tonight
Last post from Europe!
Yesterday (Sunday) started with a lot of trekking around to my new hostel and checking out of the old one. After dropping off my stuff, I headed over to the Tate Modern Gallery and just walked around the area before that. The museum was awesome of course, although I haven't gotten hugely into modern art, I got to see my favorite artist, Rene Magritte (Surrealism) so that was exciting. They had a Frida Kahlo exhibit that cost £10 but I was having problems with my ATM card yesterday plus I was starving plus I was thinking about going to see a show so I decided against it.
Instead I just walked around Picadilly then realized that I had gotten directions to the wrong hostel. Whoops. They are part of the same company, but in different locations. Luckily the tube here is awesome so it wasn't that big of a deal. When i was waiting for a Circle Line train, a boy noticed how heavy my pack seemed to be on me (it's actually hot here in London!!) and started giving me tips but they didn't help much while my pack was ON me. Anyway, I think he was American. There are a lot of foreigners in London... not that I'm getting any ideas or anything...
This hostel is pretty dodgy (my new favorite slang picked up from Brits and Aussies), maybe even more than the Amsterdam one mostly because of the shower. Gross. Plus the people aren't very friendly. But I managed to talk to my dormmates a lot (2 French girls but they didn't talk, 2 Aussie boys.. one of which moved to London to be closer to his German girlfriend of 6 months, whaaaat, and two more German dudes. Germans are nuts, in a funny way)so that was cool. I've heard a lot of London hostels are shit holes so this ranks on the low average scale.
Enough about that, let's move on to today because it was packed! I got up early because on a whim last night, I decided I wanted to see Guys & Dolls. The selling point being that Ewan McGregor was starring in it. London has an awesome theater district, probably second to New York. Anyway so I thought I'd go check out the box office and see if I could get any ticket, apparently its one of the most popular shows in town and every show is sold out for months. I got there before 8am which was TOO early (it's a Monday) so I walked around Trafalger Square for awhile which was nice without all the tourists. It was quiet and around 8:45am they turned on the fountains and all the pigeons flew everywhere. Quite a sight.
I headed back to the half price ticket booth in Leicester Square and found that they didn't have G&D tickets for that day so by chance I thought I'd head back to the box office to see how long the line was. Well, it wasn't too long at all and I ended getting the 14th "day" ticket out of 20. Day tickets mean that they are £20 each for the very first row. Most people would say they are probably the worst seats in the house but I beg to differ, especially when you get to see Ewan that close! I met a couple girls in line from CA who are studying at the Uni at Edinburgh which you all know is my ideal.
After getting my ticket, I went over to the National Gallery so I could check out the art there. See some Caravaggio, you know. I ended up spending 3 hours there. THREE HOURS! So much to see, so stoked. Why don't we have galleries like that?! Grabbed some lunch after that and rushed back to Bayswater to grab a drink with Michelle! So great to see her and catch up over the past month. It's too bad the whole group of us will never see each other as a group ever again, they brought me so many good memories! When i get a chance, I will post some pictures from Paul's wedding which looked so fun. We should've crashed it.
Then I rushed back to the hostel to change, it was nice to actually look a bit nicer than the dirty backpacker style, ha ha. The theater was much smaller than I anticipated, but I guess I shouldn't be surprised, the theaters in NY are the same way. My row was practically in the orchestra pit I was so excited! Most people wouldn't know this about me, but I am such a nerd for musical theater, I absolutely LOVE it. The smile couldn't be wiped off my face for the entire show, which flew by. And yes, Ewan is just as handsome in person as he is on film. So cute, especially in that era clothing, prohibition time. And he has big ears and a birthmark on his cheek (because you know you wanted to know). He doesn't have the strongest voice in the world but he just exudes charm which automatically steals the show. You could hear the Scottish accent creep up every once in awhile through the NY accent. It was a very polished performance, great music, great audience. I need to go to more shows, seriously. Live theater just has a different feel than anything else, I hope it doesn't go out of fashion. Considering so many shows get sold out, I don't think it's a problem.
Sorry if this entry is all over the place, there are people annoying me in here plus this keyboard is WHACK!
See you guys when I get home! Give me a couple days though, I have a dead cell phone and I'm homeless! Reflections reserved for a time when i'm not paying for internet and I can type like a normal person.
Goodbye Europe, I'll miss you! And I'll be back!
Yesterday (Sunday) started with a lot of trekking around to my new hostel and checking out of the old one. After dropping off my stuff, I headed over to the Tate Modern Gallery and just walked around the area before that. The museum was awesome of course, although I haven't gotten hugely into modern art, I got to see my favorite artist, Rene Magritte (Surrealism) so that was exciting. They had a Frida Kahlo exhibit that cost £10 but I was having problems with my ATM card yesterday plus I was starving plus I was thinking about going to see a show so I decided against it.
Instead I just walked around Picadilly then realized that I had gotten directions to the wrong hostel. Whoops. They are part of the same company, but in different locations. Luckily the tube here is awesome so it wasn't that big of a deal. When i was waiting for a Circle Line train, a boy noticed how heavy my pack seemed to be on me (it's actually hot here in London!!) and started giving me tips but they didn't help much while my pack was ON me. Anyway, I think he was American. There are a lot of foreigners in London... not that I'm getting any ideas or anything...
This hostel is pretty dodgy (my new favorite slang picked up from Brits and Aussies), maybe even more than the Amsterdam one mostly because of the shower. Gross. Plus the people aren't very friendly. But I managed to talk to my dormmates a lot (2 French girls but they didn't talk, 2 Aussie boys.. one of which moved to London to be closer to his German girlfriend of 6 months, whaaaat, and two more German dudes. Germans are nuts, in a funny way)so that was cool. I've heard a lot of London hostels are shit holes so this ranks on the low average scale.
Enough about that, let's move on to today because it was packed! I got up early because on a whim last night, I decided I wanted to see Guys & Dolls. The selling point being that Ewan McGregor was starring in it. London has an awesome theater district, probably second to New York. Anyway so I thought I'd go check out the box office and see if I could get any ticket, apparently its one of the most popular shows in town and every show is sold out for months. I got there before 8am which was TOO early (it's a Monday) so I walked around Trafalger Square for awhile which was nice without all the tourists. It was quiet and around 8:45am they turned on the fountains and all the pigeons flew everywhere. Quite a sight.
I headed back to the half price ticket booth in Leicester Square and found that they didn't have G&D tickets for that day so by chance I thought I'd head back to the box office to see how long the line was. Well, it wasn't too long at all and I ended getting the 14th "day" ticket out of 20. Day tickets mean that they are £20 each for the very first row. Most people would say they are probably the worst seats in the house but I beg to differ, especially when you get to see Ewan that close! I met a couple girls in line from CA who are studying at the Uni at Edinburgh which you all know is my ideal.
After getting my ticket, I went over to the National Gallery so I could check out the art there. See some Caravaggio, you know. I ended up spending 3 hours there. THREE HOURS! So much to see, so stoked. Why don't we have galleries like that?! Grabbed some lunch after that and rushed back to Bayswater to grab a drink with Michelle! So great to see her and catch up over the past month. It's too bad the whole group of us will never see each other as a group ever again, they brought me so many good memories! When i get a chance, I will post some pictures from Paul's wedding which looked so fun. We should've crashed it.
Then I rushed back to the hostel to change, it was nice to actually look a bit nicer than the dirty backpacker style, ha ha. The theater was much smaller than I anticipated, but I guess I shouldn't be surprised, the theaters in NY are the same way. My row was practically in the orchestra pit I was so excited! Most people wouldn't know this about me, but I am such a nerd for musical theater, I absolutely LOVE it. The smile couldn't be wiped off my face for the entire show, which flew by. And yes, Ewan is just as handsome in person as he is on film. So cute, especially in that era clothing, prohibition time. And he has big ears and a birthmark on his cheek (because you know you wanted to know). He doesn't have the strongest voice in the world but he just exudes charm which automatically steals the show. You could hear the Scottish accent creep up every once in awhile through the NY accent. It was a very polished performance, great music, great audience. I need to go to more shows, seriously. Live theater just has a different feel than anything else, I hope it doesn't go out of fashion. Considering so many shows get sold out, I don't think it's a problem.
Sorry if this entry is all over the place, there are people annoying me in here plus this keyboard is WHACK!
See you guys when I get home! Give me a couple days though, I have a dead cell phone and I'm homeless! Reflections reserved for a time when i'm not paying for internet and I can type like a normal person.
Goodbye Europe, I'll miss you! And I'll be back!
Sunday, September 04, 2005
Picture break
You should click to see this picture I assure you that it is quite worth it.
Then click here
Tomorrow's my last full day in Europe! Oh no! I can't even talk about it right now.
Adios!
Then click here
Tomorrow's my last full day in Europe! Oh no! I can't even talk about it right now.
Adios!
Saturday, September 03, 2005
Day 39: London, England
Last night, I tried to go to the Anne Frank museum but it was closed by the time I arrived around 7:30pm. I hadn't realized that it was now SEPTEMBER and thus the museum closes at 7pm. Then it hit me that summer is over and how sad it was. End of summer, end of my fabulous 6 week dream, time for reality.
But first, I had to stop at a coffeeshop because that's the thing to do in Amsterdam, yeah? I met this older American fellow who was a hybrid between a left wing hippie and a redneck. He had a mullet for pete's sake. But he hates Bush and plans on sailing his life away from the States for the rest of his life. Good for him.
After leaving the coffeeshop, I headed back to the hostel where I met my 4 new Irish dormmates who ended up being super cool. We played poker with the British couple with matchsticks I had in my bag. It was probably the most whack game of Hold Em I've ever played but it was still fun. Ended up staying up almost all night as I had to catch my train at 7:23am and packing always takes about 30 min before I leave. Amsterdam was lovely though and I can't wait to go back, hopefully with more friends as it seems like a lot of fun that way. Oh, I had gone to an English bookshop earlier in the day and was looking at a Lonely Planet for Hong Kong. I flipped to the language section and couldn't stop laughng at the phonetic spellings for words in Cantonese. Such a nerd.
I slept for most of the time on the train and got into London around 12:30. Unfortunately, I had the most crazy time trying to get to my hostel because a lot of stations (of course the ones I need) are undergoing some construction this weekend. WTF! I had to take a two buses caught in a traffic jam. Plus my hostel is like WAY out in the cuts, outside Kensington. I cancelled my next two nights and will be staying closer to Victoria Station instead. It's further from the airport but when you're taking the tube, it doesn't really matter. Plus it just seems more social out there and it's pretty residential over here. This is a really awesome hostel though and if I was going to be living in London, I'd stay here.
It doesn't look like I'll be seeing my friend Mark this weekend but I have plans to see Michelle who I met in Edinburgh which I am stoked about. It's like bringing the trip full circle.
After checking into my hostel tomorrow, I think I'm going to check out the National Gallery or the Tate Modern as those are the only two things I really want to see while I'm here. Then it's back home Tuesday morning to face homelessness, see my family (the peanut!), and settle back into routine. Joy. But hey Asia, here I come! And you know you'll have to stay tuned for that.
But first, I had to stop at a coffeeshop because that's the thing to do in Amsterdam, yeah? I met this older American fellow who was a hybrid between a left wing hippie and a redneck. He had a mullet for pete's sake. But he hates Bush and plans on sailing his life away from the States for the rest of his life. Good for him.
After leaving the coffeeshop, I headed back to the hostel where I met my 4 new Irish dormmates who ended up being super cool. We played poker with the British couple with matchsticks I had in my bag. It was probably the most whack game of Hold Em I've ever played but it was still fun. Ended up staying up almost all night as I had to catch my train at 7:23am and packing always takes about 30 min before I leave. Amsterdam was lovely though and I can't wait to go back, hopefully with more friends as it seems like a lot of fun that way. Oh, I had gone to an English bookshop earlier in the day and was looking at a Lonely Planet for Hong Kong. I flipped to the language section and couldn't stop laughng at the phonetic spellings for words in Cantonese. Such a nerd.
I slept for most of the time on the train and got into London around 12:30. Unfortunately, I had the most crazy time trying to get to my hostel because a lot of stations (of course the ones I need) are undergoing some construction this weekend. WTF! I had to take a two buses caught in a traffic jam. Plus my hostel is like WAY out in the cuts, outside Kensington. I cancelled my next two nights and will be staying closer to Victoria Station instead. It's further from the airport but when you're taking the tube, it doesn't really matter. Plus it just seems more social out there and it's pretty residential over here. This is a really awesome hostel though and if I was going to be living in London, I'd stay here.
It doesn't look like I'll be seeing my friend Mark this weekend but I have plans to see Michelle who I met in Edinburgh which I am stoked about. It's like bringing the trip full circle.
After checking into my hostel tomorrow, I think I'm going to check out the National Gallery or the Tate Modern as those are the only two things I really want to see while I'm here. Then it's back home Tuesday morning to face homelessness, see my family (the peanut!), and settle back into routine. Joy. But hey Asia, here I come! And you know you'll have to stay tuned for that.
Friday, September 02, 2005
Day 34, 35 and 36: Interlaken, Switzerland and Day 37 & 38: Amsterdam, Netherlands
I haven't been able to get to a computer as often so you're all getting the condensed version of the past week. I've been super tired too, I barely got any sleep in Switerland thanks to paper thin walls and heavy snorers. Damn you snorers! Thank god I get my own room in Asia or I'd never sleep!
Anyway, Day 34
Julie and I wanted to hike hardcore so we talked to a girl in our room who suggested a popular route that isn't too busy. We took the bus up to Lauterbrunnen which is this little town about 20 min up the hill from Interlaken. There were all these crazy Asian tourists (seriously there were SO MANY AzNs, what's up with that?) and old German people... we managed to just jump on without a ticket and because of the mass chaos, I don't think the driver cared.
Everyone else was going to take the bus up but we took the trail towards Schlesberg (sp?) and stopped at Trummelbach Falls on the way which is a collection of caves and glacier waterfalls. Here's a quote about them: "Trummelback alone drains the enormous glacier walls of the Elger, Monch, and Jungfrau with up to a spectacular 20,000 liters of water per second." You can see a picture here: Trummelbach Falls
or here: More Falls
It felt like a ride at Disneyland with the low walled caves, the slippery walls and constant rushing water. I think I fell in love with Switzerland that day, it's like seeing nature at its finest.
After wandering the caves for about half an hour, we continued the trek to Schleschelberg (that's so wrong) to take the Gondola up to Gimmelwald. I don't have the exact measurements on how high we were, but we eventually go up above 12,000 feet! We wandered around Gimmelwald a bit as it is TINY. Staying at the hostel there would be wonderful though because you wake up and there's a fat Swiss Alp in your face. Covered in snow. Check it: http://www.gimmelwald.com/
The hike up to the next town was practically straight up. We could've zigzagged but we found the dirt trail to be that much more challenging so of course we had to be all hardcore and shit. The altitude was apparent as it felt more difficult to breathe the further along we went. It was like someone was pressing on my lungs. Murren was a super cute town though, very touristy, it's all chalets and hotels and hostels. There were a ton of Brits there for some reason but we wandered around for a bit before heading back to Lauterbrunnen.
It took much longer time to get back to Lauterbrunnen than we thought. They have these yellow signs everywhere that tell you which direction to go and there are a billion trails. Well we somehow took the long one I think and eventually came to a fork in the road. They both lead to the same place. One was a dirt trail practically straight downhill while the other one was a paved, zigzagged road. Julie looked at me and said, "Which one do you think Kurt would take?" Of course we both knew the more hardcore downhill one so that was the way we went. It was a bit sketch in parts but it finally brought us back into town. Seriously, we had been hiking for about 2 1/2 hours since Murren and were dog tired. Plus we only had this tiny little water bottle that we kept filling up for the two of us. But on the trail there weren't very many water fountains (in town, they are everywhere and they are the best tasting water you've ever tasted, better than bottled water).
The bus arrived not long after we did at the station. Julie said she was feeling a bit off so she went to get some air. I saw her walking around, thought she was just tired from the hike. All of a sudden, I saw her start to sit down and all of a sudden just looked like she was about to pass out. A whole group of us converged on her and she just looked pale. It was quite scary... although she never passed out completely. The bus driver called an ambulance and the doctor came right away and took us to his medical clinic. I've never been in an ambulance before!
The doctor was super nice, turns out he got his high school diploma from Harbor High in Santa Cruz... see, the more people you meet, the smaller the world gets. He was convinced we had overexerted ourselves and didn't eat right. Julie thinks it was the altitude. He gave her some glucose and we just kinda chilled till she felt good enough to leave. We took a taxi because I didn't think the bus would be too good for her even though it was quite an expensive ride. I put her to bed as soon as we got back, then went to find Dan who had arrived that day and probably were wondering where we were. I found him sitting with some frat like dude who we quickly escaped from to visit with Julie before settling down.
I left for a bit to get some dinner because I hadn't eaten since Murren and was feeling lightheaded myself. Luckily the Thai place next door was still open and after I was waiting for my food, I heard someone say "KFOG and Alice" which I recognized as two SF radio stations. I ended up talking to these three people who were from Lafeyette and I forget where the girl was from. Her fiance had just proposed to her in France, how cute. They had met at Croghans in Walnut Creek! So funny. They were really sweet kids though, especially the girl Lauren (who is my age!). She was telling me about Thailand because hopefully I am going at the end of next year. We all watched the VMAs on the big screen while commentating with two Swiss guys (the restaurant owner and some local), it was very amusing. I think I lost her email but hopefully she'll get in contact with me. Yay new friends!
Some old lady was staying in our room that night and she smelled. And snored really loud. And she was always REALLY passed out by like 9pm. But I liked the hostel a lot, it was like summer camp. Regardless of the paper thin walls and the push button showers (at least they were clean and hot and pressureized), the people who relatively cool. Too many American frat boy types but if you waded through that, there were also some chill peeps. Some of my favorites were the guys from Florida (yeah, cool Floridians!) and the couple from SB. There were also some sleazy Canadians.. as sleazy as Canadians can really get (as in, not really).
Day 35
Julie was feeling a bit better the next day but we decided to take a relatively chill day anyway. We wanted to go out on the lake but due to the floods, no boats were allowed out there. Instead this girl at reception told us about this place where you could go swim in the lake and there was a roap swing and stuff for 4 francs. Her directions were WHACK though and we ended up walking around for so long before we found something we thought she might be talking about. I hadn't planned on hiking that day! It ended up being free though and they had one of those giant blow up things that had a trampoline, a slide and balance beam to run across that reminded me on MXE on Spike TV (you know with the crazy Japanese game shows at they're dubbed over in English.. I love that show). Julie took a nap in the shade while Dan and I swam over there. The water was really awesome, fresh water which I am not used to. I am used to the water tasting to like salt or chlorine when I am swimming. It was cold but not freezing, refreshing really. As we were out there, a group of Swiss boys showed up with an adult with what I assume was a boy scout troop or summer day camp. They didn't speak English and we don't speak German but it was still fun. Everytime someone would try to run across the balance beam, we would all run around on the thing to try and make them fall off.
We left shortly after they did and headed back to the hostel. I really don't remember much, I was still tired from the all day hike. I think Dan and I had dinner in town and walked back to the hostel where I ate a bunch of Ben and Jerry's. The bar was still closed because of the flooding (it was in the basement) so we just bought some beers instead and played hearts with the Florida boys. Before heading to bed, we met a guy and girl who go to UCSB but he's studying in Bologna for the next year. They were like total stoners but really nice and could've talked all night except for that no noise after 10pm law in Switzerland. Such conservative people! But I love them nonetheless.
Day 36
On Wednesday, we had wanted to paragliding and we waited to make sure Julie was feeling better. At breakfast (I actually got some bacon and eggs since the bread only breakfast wasn't cutting it for me) we started talking to one of the guys who works there, he's from Montana but lived in Tahoe for awhile. He's been traveling for a year and just settled down in Interlaken, what a dream job! Apparently it's supposed to be amazing in the winter as well and they all do snow sports 3-4 times a week!
We ran errands after that... bought swiss army knives (sorry, just for me), booked train tickets, etc before going to the place next door to book our paragliding. It was about 150 francs which was the cheapest place we could find in town. They picked us up around 4:30 in this ramshackle van and took us into town to get ready to go.
If you don't know what paragliding is, it's like parasailing without the boat. Here's a picture: http://www.ucanfly2.biz/Paragliding.JPG (seriously, that's what we looked like). And here's the company we went with: www.twinparagliding.com
We drove up to this mountain that's about 2500m high and on the way up, one of the pilots Robi explained the basics to us but nothing really prepares you. He seemed quite knowledgeable (and older) so I kinda hoped he would be my pilot. We got to choose our own and as they were setting up the chutes, I ended up with him! And we were the first to go! YIKES! There I was with all my gear strapped on, my helmet on top, and my camera strapped to one of the hooks. Before I knew it, Robi told me to start jogging, I felt a tug, then he said to start running and within seconds, our feet had left the ground. The parachute took us higher and higher and higher... we flew above the trees and it wasn't scary at all. The thing about paragliding is that there isn't really any free fall because of the parachute so it's quite chill just floating there. Don't get me wrong though, there were times when you realize, "holy shit, it's just me, this dude and a parachute thousands of feet in the air." Following one of the other pilots, Robi saw an updraft and took immediate advantage of it and suddenly, we were the highest up above everyone! Serious flying with the birds mentality. We flew in circles, chatted, took pictures and enjoyed the scenery which included the Swiss Alps, Lake Berineze and the town of Interlaken. Awesome.
We flew for about 20 minutes which they say is longer than average. Robi let me steer for a bit which is a bit unnverving but very cool at the same time. I guess I got too good at the turns because at one point Robi said, "Whoa, you're getting quite good at those turns, you're starting to scare even me!" Ha ha. At the end, we did a bunch of corkscrews and you could feel the Gs pushing against you, it was so fun! The landing was much softer than I anticipated. Julie and Dan were both already on the ground when I landed so hopefully there will be some good pictures.
We were the last flight of the day so the pilots invited us out for a beer which they treated us to, what nice people! They were totally comfortable, speaking mostly in German to each other but occasionally breaking back into English to learn more about us. It was interesting to hear them talk about their homes lives and to realize that paragliding is their profession! Robi's been doing it for 14 years now and we were his 6th flight of the day! I can't even imagine.
Back to the hostel again... had some dinner at the Thai place and the bar was finally open that night! Julie had to get up early for sunrise so I headed down there with the Floridians (who had gone canyoning AND paragliding that day, crazy kids). The scene was VERY weird, it was about 97% dudes and mostly frat dudes at that. The Floridians left really soon after that and I chatted with a few Canadians (two of who I thought were gay.. but apparently are not). One tried to get me to go to Venice and I was like um, I gotta go. No, seriously, Candians are always really nice and kinda dorky. The dudes I mean. There was a funny British dude too that couldn't sit still, Interlaken attracts some interesting people.
Everyone was kind of doing their own thing so I said goodnight to Dan and headed upstairs as I had a train to catch in the morning. I was sad to be leaving as I usually am but I knew than 4 nights was a good amount of time to appreciate a city.
Day 37
The next morning Julie said goodbye to me at 6:15am to try and catch sunrise in Spiez before she headed back to Barcelona. Julie's been such an awesome companion on this trip, I was sad to see her go as I won't see her for awhile. But she's moving back to the States, maybe even to San Francisco in October! We shall be reunited.
I headed down to breakfast and actually ended up seeing one of the Floridians so we chatted before it was time for me to leave for my train. I ran into Dan on the way and wished him happy travels, he was going with the boys to Cinque Terra which is definitely on my itinerary for next time round.
My train to Basel was cancelled which was annoying but I just took the later train. The Swiss are so nice! I got the least attitude from them on the trains. Surprisingly, the Germans were probably the next nicest. This was my first go round on the trains without making reservations and I have to say it was quite easy. They are also less busy on the trains so it's much more chill, I always felt safe. I had to change trains one more time in Koln but then that took me straight into Amsterdam. On the train, I heard some Americans talking before we got off the train and one of them was like, "I bet it just smells like weed as soon as I got off the train." I don't think he was kidding. Needless to say, I avoided that group.
Getting into Amsterdam at night is a little bit intimidating with it's tawdry lights, it's sketchy street dealers, and sparking canals. I felt relatively safe but there's kind of this overall sleazy feeling to the whole city since everything is legal here. I like it though. My hostel is defintely the most dodgy that I've stayed in and it's on the edge of the red light district. A guy was passed out on a top bunk when I got in there, obviously having eaten too much space cake or mushrooms. There was another dude and then the British couple who are really nice and like to talk. They said the passed out guy had taken mushrooms earlier and was sitting in a chair laughing for hours. Oh, Amsterdam.
I walked around the city to get a feel for it and it's quite interesting I have to say. Walked by a few red windows, some coffeeshops, and the whole atmosphere here is unlike anywhere else that I've been.
I was quite tired from the past few days so I just headed back and talked to the British kids for a couple hours about world and US politics. It's nice to talk to meet people who realize that many Americans despise their government. I think it's been a learning experience for both me and them. They are in bewilderment at how we do things, but hey, so am I.
Day 38
Got up early this morning to see the Rijksmuseum which houses a bunch of Rembrandt paintings and things pertaining to Dutch history. Right after that, I went over to the Van Gogh museum which I loved with it's bright colors and 200 Van Goghs. I would look at some of these paintings and be like, wow, I could hang that in my house. Except it's worth more than any house I'd ever live in! I let myself buy some posters here because I've only got one more city to travel to.
Had lunch at an Indonesian place after that because I've heard the food here is amazing. It was quite good as I've never had it before. Kind of a cross between Chinese and Thai. It was a tiny whole in the wall suggested in Lonely Planet, and one of the few that's worked out for me!
After a short nap, I booked my ticket to London (723am train, AHHHH!) and now going to head to the Anne Frank house (closes at 9pm) and maybe stopping at a coffeeshop on the way home. I've seen what I need to see here but I would still like to come back, particularly with friends for another 3 days. Then I'd rent a bike and explore more the parks and stuff. Till then, I'll say goodbye to Amsterdam. And hellooooooo London! Back to the UK where I left my heart, we'll see if I still can find it and bring it home with me.
Till tomorrow or whenever I get to a CPU next, adios! And a huge thank you to those that responded to the email, finally I know some of you guys are alive!
P.S. You know what I am terrified to do when I get home? Drive. I know I haven't forgotten how but it's kinda scary after walking everywhere for the past 6 weeks. And using a cell phone! Scary.
Anyway, Day 34
Julie and I wanted to hike hardcore so we talked to a girl in our room who suggested a popular route that isn't too busy. We took the bus up to Lauterbrunnen which is this little town about 20 min up the hill from Interlaken. There were all these crazy Asian tourists (seriously there were SO MANY AzNs, what's up with that?) and old German people... we managed to just jump on without a ticket and because of the mass chaos, I don't think the driver cared.
Everyone else was going to take the bus up but we took the trail towards Schlesberg (sp?) and stopped at Trummelbach Falls on the way which is a collection of caves and glacier waterfalls. Here's a quote about them: "Trummelback alone drains the enormous glacier walls of the Elger, Monch, and Jungfrau with up to a spectacular 20,000 liters of water per second." You can see a picture here: Trummelbach Falls
or here: More Falls
It felt like a ride at Disneyland with the low walled caves, the slippery walls and constant rushing water. I think I fell in love with Switzerland that day, it's like seeing nature at its finest.
After wandering the caves for about half an hour, we continued the trek to Schleschelberg (that's so wrong) to take the Gondola up to Gimmelwald. I don't have the exact measurements on how high we were, but we eventually go up above 12,000 feet! We wandered around Gimmelwald a bit as it is TINY. Staying at the hostel there would be wonderful though because you wake up and there's a fat Swiss Alp in your face. Covered in snow. Check it: http://www.gimmelwald.com/
The hike up to the next town was practically straight up. We could've zigzagged but we found the dirt trail to be that much more challenging so of course we had to be all hardcore and shit. The altitude was apparent as it felt more difficult to breathe the further along we went. It was like someone was pressing on my lungs. Murren was a super cute town though, very touristy, it's all chalets and hotels and hostels. There were a ton of Brits there for some reason but we wandered around for a bit before heading back to Lauterbrunnen.
It took much longer time to get back to Lauterbrunnen than we thought. They have these yellow signs everywhere that tell you which direction to go and there are a billion trails. Well we somehow took the long one I think and eventually came to a fork in the road. They both lead to the same place. One was a dirt trail practically straight downhill while the other one was a paved, zigzagged road. Julie looked at me and said, "Which one do you think Kurt would take?" Of course we both knew the more hardcore downhill one so that was the way we went. It was a bit sketch in parts but it finally brought us back into town. Seriously, we had been hiking for about 2 1/2 hours since Murren and were dog tired. Plus we only had this tiny little water bottle that we kept filling up for the two of us. But on the trail there weren't very many water fountains (in town, they are everywhere and they are the best tasting water you've ever tasted, better than bottled water).
The bus arrived not long after we did at the station. Julie said she was feeling a bit off so she went to get some air. I saw her walking around, thought she was just tired from the hike. All of a sudden, I saw her start to sit down and all of a sudden just looked like she was about to pass out. A whole group of us converged on her and she just looked pale. It was quite scary... although she never passed out completely. The bus driver called an ambulance and the doctor came right away and took us to his medical clinic. I've never been in an ambulance before!
The doctor was super nice, turns out he got his high school diploma from Harbor High in Santa Cruz... see, the more people you meet, the smaller the world gets. He was convinced we had overexerted ourselves and didn't eat right. Julie thinks it was the altitude. He gave her some glucose and we just kinda chilled till she felt good enough to leave. We took a taxi because I didn't think the bus would be too good for her even though it was quite an expensive ride. I put her to bed as soon as we got back, then went to find Dan who had arrived that day and probably were wondering where we were. I found him sitting with some frat like dude who we quickly escaped from to visit with Julie before settling down.
I left for a bit to get some dinner because I hadn't eaten since Murren and was feeling lightheaded myself. Luckily the Thai place next door was still open and after I was waiting for my food, I heard someone say "KFOG and Alice" which I recognized as two SF radio stations. I ended up talking to these three people who were from Lafeyette and I forget where the girl was from. Her fiance had just proposed to her in France, how cute. They had met at Croghans in Walnut Creek! So funny. They were really sweet kids though, especially the girl Lauren (who is my age!). She was telling me about Thailand because hopefully I am going at the end of next year. We all watched the VMAs on the big screen while commentating with two Swiss guys (the restaurant owner and some local), it was very amusing. I think I lost her email but hopefully she'll get in contact with me. Yay new friends!
Some old lady was staying in our room that night and she smelled. And snored really loud. And she was always REALLY passed out by like 9pm. But I liked the hostel a lot, it was like summer camp. Regardless of the paper thin walls and the push button showers (at least they were clean and hot and pressureized), the people who relatively cool. Too many American frat boy types but if you waded through that, there were also some chill peeps. Some of my favorites were the guys from Florida (yeah, cool Floridians!) and the couple from SB. There were also some sleazy Canadians.. as sleazy as Canadians can really get (as in, not really).
Day 35
Julie was feeling a bit better the next day but we decided to take a relatively chill day anyway. We wanted to go out on the lake but due to the floods, no boats were allowed out there. Instead this girl at reception told us about this place where you could go swim in the lake and there was a roap swing and stuff for 4 francs. Her directions were WHACK though and we ended up walking around for so long before we found something we thought she might be talking about. I hadn't planned on hiking that day! It ended up being free though and they had one of those giant blow up things that had a trampoline, a slide and balance beam to run across that reminded me on MXE on Spike TV (you know with the crazy Japanese game shows at they're dubbed over in English.. I love that show). Julie took a nap in the shade while Dan and I swam over there. The water was really awesome, fresh water which I am not used to. I am used to the water tasting to like salt or chlorine when I am swimming. It was cold but not freezing, refreshing really. As we were out there, a group of Swiss boys showed up with an adult with what I assume was a boy scout troop or summer day camp. They didn't speak English and we don't speak German but it was still fun. Everytime someone would try to run across the balance beam, we would all run around on the thing to try and make them fall off.
We left shortly after they did and headed back to the hostel. I really don't remember much, I was still tired from the all day hike. I think Dan and I had dinner in town and walked back to the hostel where I ate a bunch of Ben and Jerry's. The bar was still closed because of the flooding (it was in the basement) so we just bought some beers instead and played hearts with the Florida boys. Before heading to bed, we met a guy and girl who go to UCSB but he's studying in Bologna for the next year. They were like total stoners but really nice and could've talked all night except for that no noise after 10pm law in Switzerland. Such conservative people! But I love them nonetheless.
Day 36
On Wednesday, we had wanted to paragliding and we waited to make sure Julie was feeling better. At breakfast (I actually got some bacon and eggs since the bread only breakfast wasn't cutting it for me) we started talking to one of the guys who works there, he's from Montana but lived in Tahoe for awhile. He's been traveling for a year and just settled down in Interlaken, what a dream job! Apparently it's supposed to be amazing in the winter as well and they all do snow sports 3-4 times a week!
We ran errands after that... bought swiss army knives (sorry, just for me), booked train tickets, etc before going to the place next door to book our paragliding. It was about 150 francs which was the cheapest place we could find in town. They picked us up around 4:30 in this ramshackle van and took us into town to get ready to go.
If you don't know what paragliding is, it's like parasailing without the boat. Here's a picture: http://www.ucanfly2.biz/Paragliding.JPG (seriously, that's what we looked like). And here's the company we went with: www.twinparagliding.com
We drove up to this mountain that's about 2500m high and on the way up, one of the pilots Robi explained the basics to us but nothing really prepares you. He seemed quite knowledgeable (and older) so I kinda hoped he would be my pilot. We got to choose our own and as they were setting up the chutes, I ended up with him! And we were the first to go! YIKES! There I was with all my gear strapped on, my helmet on top, and my camera strapped to one of the hooks. Before I knew it, Robi told me to start jogging, I felt a tug, then he said to start running and within seconds, our feet had left the ground. The parachute took us higher and higher and higher... we flew above the trees and it wasn't scary at all. The thing about paragliding is that there isn't really any free fall because of the parachute so it's quite chill just floating there. Don't get me wrong though, there were times when you realize, "holy shit, it's just me, this dude and a parachute thousands of feet in the air." Following one of the other pilots, Robi saw an updraft and took immediate advantage of it and suddenly, we were the highest up above everyone! Serious flying with the birds mentality. We flew in circles, chatted, took pictures and enjoyed the scenery which included the Swiss Alps, Lake Berineze and the town of Interlaken. Awesome.
We flew for about 20 minutes which they say is longer than average. Robi let me steer for a bit which is a bit unnverving but very cool at the same time. I guess I got too good at the turns because at one point Robi said, "Whoa, you're getting quite good at those turns, you're starting to scare even me!" Ha ha. At the end, we did a bunch of corkscrews and you could feel the Gs pushing against you, it was so fun! The landing was much softer than I anticipated. Julie and Dan were both already on the ground when I landed so hopefully there will be some good pictures.
We were the last flight of the day so the pilots invited us out for a beer which they treated us to, what nice people! They were totally comfortable, speaking mostly in German to each other but occasionally breaking back into English to learn more about us. It was interesting to hear them talk about their homes lives and to realize that paragliding is their profession! Robi's been doing it for 14 years now and we were his 6th flight of the day! I can't even imagine.
Back to the hostel again... had some dinner at the Thai place and the bar was finally open that night! Julie had to get up early for sunrise so I headed down there with the Floridians (who had gone canyoning AND paragliding that day, crazy kids). The scene was VERY weird, it was about 97% dudes and mostly frat dudes at that. The Floridians left really soon after that and I chatted with a few Canadians (two of who I thought were gay.. but apparently are not). One tried to get me to go to Venice and I was like um, I gotta go. No, seriously, Candians are always really nice and kinda dorky. The dudes I mean. There was a funny British dude too that couldn't sit still, Interlaken attracts some interesting people.
Everyone was kind of doing their own thing so I said goodnight to Dan and headed upstairs as I had a train to catch in the morning. I was sad to be leaving as I usually am but I knew than 4 nights was a good amount of time to appreciate a city.
Day 37
The next morning Julie said goodbye to me at 6:15am to try and catch sunrise in Spiez before she headed back to Barcelona. Julie's been such an awesome companion on this trip, I was sad to see her go as I won't see her for awhile. But she's moving back to the States, maybe even to San Francisco in October! We shall be reunited.
I headed down to breakfast and actually ended up seeing one of the Floridians so we chatted before it was time for me to leave for my train. I ran into Dan on the way and wished him happy travels, he was going with the boys to Cinque Terra which is definitely on my itinerary for next time round.
My train to Basel was cancelled which was annoying but I just took the later train. The Swiss are so nice! I got the least attitude from them on the trains. Surprisingly, the Germans were probably the next nicest. This was my first go round on the trains without making reservations and I have to say it was quite easy. They are also less busy on the trains so it's much more chill, I always felt safe. I had to change trains one more time in Koln but then that took me straight into Amsterdam. On the train, I heard some Americans talking before we got off the train and one of them was like, "I bet it just smells like weed as soon as I got off the train." I don't think he was kidding. Needless to say, I avoided that group.
Getting into Amsterdam at night is a little bit intimidating with it's tawdry lights, it's sketchy street dealers, and sparking canals. I felt relatively safe but there's kind of this overall sleazy feeling to the whole city since everything is legal here. I like it though. My hostel is defintely the most dodgy that I've stayed in and it's on the edge of the red light district. A guy was passed out on a top bunk when I got in there, obviously having eaten too much space cake or mushrooms. There was another dude and then the British couple who are really nice and like to talk. They said the passed out guy had taken mushrooms earlier and was sitting in a chair laughing for hours. Oh, Amsterdam.
I walked around the city to get a feel for it and it's quite interesting I have to say. Walked by a few red windows, some coffeeshops, and the whole atmosphere here is unlike anywhere else that I've been.
I was quite tired from the past few days so I just headed back and talked to the British kids for a couple hours about world and US politics. It's nice to talk to meet people who realize that many Americans despise their government. I think it's been a learning experience for both me and them. They are in bewilderment at how we do things, but hey, so am I.
Day 38
Got up early this morning to see the Rijksmuseum which houses a bunch of Rembrandt paintings and things pertaining to Dutch history. Right after that, I went over to the Van Gogh museum which I loved with it's bright colors and 200 Van Goghs. I would look at some of these paintings and be like, wow, I could hang that in my house. Except it's worth more than any house I'd ever live in! I let myself buy some posters here because I've only got one more city to travel to.
Had lunch at an Indonesian place after that because I've heard the food here is amazing. It was quite good as I've never had it before. Kind of a cross between Chinese and Thai. It was a tiny whole in the wall suggested in Lonely Planet, and one of the few that's worked out for me!
After a short nap, I booked my ticket to London (723am train, AHHHH!) and now going to head to the Anne Frank house (closes at 9pm) and maybe stopping at a coffeeshop on the way home. I've seen what I need to see here but I would still like to come back, particularly with friends for another 3 days. Then I'd rent a bike and explore more the parks and stuff. Till then, I'll say goodbye to Amsterdam. And hellooooooo London! Back to the UK where I left my heart, we'll see if I still can find it and bring it home with me.
Till tomorrow or whenever I get to a CPU next, adios! And a huge thank you to those that responded to the email, finally I know some of you guys are alive!
P.S. You know what I am terrified to do when I get home? Drive. I know I haven't forgotten how but it's kinda scary after walking everywhere for the past 6 weeks. And using a cell phone! Scary.
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