The trip thus far:
1. Landed in London, few hours there, chunnel train to Paris
2. Paris for some time
3. Train to Amsterdam
4. Amsterdam for some time
5. Overnight train to Munich
6. Munich for some time (provided our drunkest night yet thanks to liters of beer)
7. Missed desired train (see note on #6), caught train later for Prague
8. Prague for some time
9. Overnight train to Budapest (sketchy conductor, shitty train)
10. Currently on Pest side of Budapest in hostel
11(?). Probably overnight to Venice
To go from Czech crowns to Hungarian Foriants just add a zero ... yeah, only helpful if your brain works in crowns.
Hungary is expensive for Hungarians. They had a 6.25% decrease in standard of living and inflation was 9% last year according to our tour guide, Nora, who's not very happy with her government.
Everyone in Europe knows about American politics .... EVERYONE! They know who our candidates are. They know most of the major names in our government. I couldn't tell you who the queen of the Netherlands is (or that they even had a queen before this trip).
The Dutch speak better English than I do thanks to an up-brining in New Orleans ... Lemme axe you a question, who dat?
We hit Prague on a holiday, thus no Czechs. We went on a pub crawl led by a dude from Ohio and his girlfriend from LSU who were living in Prague.
English is really my only language, thus everything's a jumble thanks to our short stays in cities. Some times a french excuse me comes out when it should be german. Sometimes a dutch thank you comes out when it should be Czech. Hungarian is hard as hell, but our tour guide really helped us out with some hints (please, thank you, good day).
I'm dropping weight and losing muscle like a madman thanks to tons of walking and very small food portions. The only upper-body exercise I've gotten was arm wrestling a dutch bartender in Amsterdam. He wanted to, don't ask.
I've taken over 400 pictures, which I wouldn't have fathomed. At 400 pics every 10 days, I'll be at 1200 by the end of this trip, and the strongest muscles in my body will be located in my right index finger. Anyone got a paper football?
Foreigners ask how is it that all the Americans they meet hate Bush yet he got in office. Rednecks don't go to Europe...
They have shows in Norway where people go to the US and show Americans a mis-labeled map (France is marked as Australia), then tell them they're the king of Australia. The Americans say stuff like, "Yeah, that's right, I've seen you on TV." They should try it with Iraq ... "War is God's way of teaching Americans geography." --A. Bierce
In the Haufbrauhaus (sp) in Munich, there are still swastikas tiled into the floor. It's not obvious, but creepy once you see it. This group of people has to grapple with an ugly pass. Do we destroy all signs of this past and pretend it didn't happen? Do we preserve it as history and risk it becoming a neo-nazi shrine?
A great monument was the White Rose Monument in Munich. There is a movie about it, and I'll probably rent it when I get back. I'll post pics soon. It's some of the opposition to the Nazi movement in Munich (Hitler started in Munich). The monument is subtle, but could not be more fitting ...
The smokers in Prague and Budapest are killing my throat and causing me tons of congestion. Austin's got me spoiled. Smokers are jackasses.
Ok, I've dumped as much as I care to for the moment. I need to shower and sleep a bit to recharge for tonight.
1 comment:
Interesting about the swastikas in Munich. Is it possible they were there before Hitler?
It sucks that their country has to live with the sins of their parents and grandparents. Of course, we have the same problem here in the U.S. too, don't we?
Can't wait to see the photos...
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