Traveling to Venice... Amsterdam plans

So before leaving Roma, one has to see the Sistine Chapel.. which is the most beautiful thing I have seen since arriving in Europe.. women included. It has survived hundreds of years, and still looks prestine.. although you dont get to look at it to closely, the colors are very vibrant, and alive. It was definitely worth the price of admission.

The only thing left to do on Wednesday was make it to the train station in order to catch the train to Venice. Well, it took some time, including an hour and half searching for parking so we could eat lunch.. but by the time I made it to Venice, I had missed the last one going to my Venice stop. But of course not completely understanding the language left me not knowing this. So I jumped on the next train to Venice<.. the other station.. one very far away from my hostel. By the time I realized, I was half way to Bologna and there was no turning back. Also, this train got in to Venice at 11:30pm.. very fun. In the end, it turns out there are trains connecting the station every 20 mins round the clock, so I was okay, but desperately in need of some sleep and a warm bed, both of which my hostel gladdly provided after I forked over 70 euro.. DAMN Venice is expensive.

Other then the pricing, Venice is an absolutely beautiful city, and the people of Italy are amazing. Both beautiful, nice, and friendly, Italy has been both the warmest temperature and welcoming of all my stops. I did find a lack of things to do for a solo guy.. there is a lot of window shopping, but the night life is a little bit tame, things shut down around midnight.. and there was much to shut down.. but there are some great archtecture, and the streets can keep you a mixture of lost and busy all day and night long if you want to. The pizza here was not as good as in Roma, but the fafel wasnt to bad and the women were amazing to look at.

I can see why people say this city is Romatic, the gondal rides although expenisive are an amazing site, although I only saw Asian tourist taking them, if I ever came back with a girlfriend or the such, I would def gladly fork over the dough for it.

Now for my fatal mistake, I have been thinking the entire trip, that I should book my hostel in Amsterdam for my last 2 nights from the begining, so when I went to do it.. everything is full.. I have one for tonight, but nothing for tomorrow.. which could be a problem.. So if you hear stories about a dead homeless indian.. that was me..

Only time will tell I guess....

One last comment... Europeans love their dogs. In my travels, I have seen dogs on planes, trains, metros, buses, trams, on gondalas, water buses, and bridges.. both on leashes, off leashes and in their owners arms.. I have also noticed that the dogs are much more well behaved then anyones I have seen in the states.

Oh Emily Schulz got Frank's phone call last night..

Past couple Roman Days

So.. its true.. Rome is absolutely beautiful. Esp. to me for 2 very specific reasons. One I met my family (an aunt, uncle, two cousins, and my grandpa) and been living rent free with them for the past 3 days. Its been real nice communicating in English and freely once again.

Secondly, I finally got some very awesome weather.. past 2 days have been 50 degrees and warm. Sun and some really old very ancient buildings have been great for my mindset and health.

So Rome is an absolute fun place, yesterday, we saw the Pope, saw about 7 different famous fountains, and about 15 different pillars that were either stolen or made in Egypt form to represent great men/conquests. We also went for an authentic Italian meal, but in reality it was very tourist, but they had opera singers that sang for everyone, so it was a good time.

Today, my uncle, grandpa and myself went to go investigate the Coloseum, Palint Hill and the Victor Emmanuel Monunment. It was pretty cool hanging out with my grandpa and uncle taking in some of the oldest buildings in Roman. The size of these things are insane!! We basically spent most of the time trying to figure out how they managed to assemble these buildings..

Also we took in the Pantheon, Trevi fountain and the main railroad station. It was cool, but tickets to Paris were sold out.. so I guess on to choice two.. Venice.

Raj, my kuz, and I went out to get some pizza, which was insane and had a couple italian beers.. it was fun to chill out with him and catch up on each others lives and learn some pretty interesting details about things we do/ have done.

I am heading there tomorrow after we go and see the Sistine Chapel which should be pretty awesome.

Rome

So traveling to Rome was an incredible blast... 3 hour train ride to Vienna from Budapest.. and then 14 hour train ride to Rome..

Now everything was going fine on my ride until, the heat in the train went out.. let me tell you not a very fun place to be. Very cold.. bout 3 degrees C. very cold. but when I got to Rome, I was pleased to find 55 degree weather, and sun. First European sun I have seen since I arrived. Let me tell Rome is abs. beautiful.

Anyway.. tomorrow I will update more.. Merry Xmas All.. And to All a Good Night.

Budapest...

It is damn cold!!!

But Budapest isnt to bad.. people are really friendly.. and the city is pretty small.. very walkable. The Budapest Castle is pretty fun and historic, there is a lot of great vantage points to see all around the Pest side of Budapest.

Budapest didnt quite suit me all that well.. it kinda sucked kuz I am starting to get a little sick..

more details later

Vienna.. Bratislavia and first impressions of Budapest

So after I finished updating.. I went to go check out my favorite place to grab food.. a fafel stand just down the way form my hostel. As I approached the stand I saw a weird sheet hung just across from it. As I closer, I saw that a movie was playing on it, as it turns out in the middle of one of the busiest shopping districts in Vienna.. they were playing a movie on how cattle are slaughtered... of course this is in front of my fafel, an all veggie option, stand.. however what normally had a 5 or 6 person line, the stand was empty for obvious reasons.. now, I know I really wanted one of his sandwiches, but there was no way I was approaching the stand under these circumstances, so I high tailed it out of there.. hopping the fafel stand one block down was just as good. It was decent.. but maybe I have become a fafel snob... who knows..

So last night I decided to hang out at the WomBar.. the bar inside the Wombats Hostel I was staying.. a pretty lively joint, met a couple very cute Aussie women from Melbourne... damn sharing a room, a cool guy from Brazil, and a couple Aussie men from Sydney.. and had some relatively cheap beer, 2 euro a piece for a decent size bier..

So today, I fulfilled Buttrams only request from me while I m in Europe.. GO TO BRATISLAVIA!!! So I spent today walking around the Slovakian captial with no idea what I was seeing and what the language meant. I had to buy some lunch so I took out some money from the ATM, which turned out to be 120 dollars worth, which I was quickly informed would buy me a weeks worth of accomendations in a 5 star hotel.. brilliant!

I also noticed a very different level of accomendations as far as trains go.. as I have headed East the trains have gotten rougher, dirtier, and older.. no longer are they the stylish newer looking ones.. but rather the old models, still run well and on time, but just older and harder on the eyes and butt. Although the women actually tend to be more pleasing to the eye. So i guess everything has it upsides and downsides. My next movement will be West.. so we will see how it goes..

So I arrived this afternoon in Budapest, it was cold, and dark.. kinda scary not knowing anything, also my hostel seemed like it was going to be a bit scary, kuz its pretty far down a dark alley, and after riding the metro the wrong way twice, I did not want any suprises, but it was okay, no major problems and the staff and other travelers, the proper term for backpackers, seem pretty cool. The metro is labeled quite funny.. it has the stops the train has been to, not the ones it going.. and rather then the name of the last stop.. it has the name of the first stop.. so if its going from A to B.. the side of the platform will be named A not B.. which is different the normal convention... but it is also the oldest subway/metro in Europe.. little known fact huh...

Spent some time planing for tomorrow and talking to people at the hostel, our receptionist from Columbus, OH.. went to OSU.. but not a buckeye fan, and she taught herself Hungarian while living in Hungary.. kinda crazy but very cool... Also one of the other travelers is from you guessed it ... Austrailia.. she is from Aldelaide.. near Kanagroo Island and is hitting all the same places as me, but in a different order.. weird huh? I think she maybe trying to stalk me.. but just really bad at it.

Plans for tomorrow...

1. More Castles.. love them to death.. this time the Buda Castle
2. Terror Musemum.. not much of a musemum buff.. but it sounds so cool
3. Clubs in Hungary.. def the highlight.. details for later..
4. Checkout a Hungarian Christmas Market.... yippee!

Quick thoughts on Bratislavia..

Definetly the most Eastern European looking city I have seen.. kinda of dingy and dirty, but then all of a suddent will have some amazing archatecture and expensive stores.. kinda weird.

People were pretty mean at first, but my smile and cash warmed them up, they have a gigantic palace and castle in the middle of the city.

Eurotrip does not do the city justice, but at the same point, probably is a decent representation of Eastern Europe as awhole at times.. especially smaller towns, not the captials.

2 days in Vienna

So I am a little behind.. so I will fast forward and give you a 2 day update.. today and yesterday.. bot spent mostly in Vienna..

I almost missed my train to Vienna kuz I over slept and woke up at 815 for mz 830 train.. so needless to say no shower was had, and I know I reaked of booze.. the people around me for the 5 hour trip had it rough.. esp the good looking Austrian woman I kept on tryin to talk to...

I reallz like Vienna.. its very differnt and similar to Munich.. besides everything being in German.. which I have no idea what anything means (orderin food is very interesting.. it involves a lot of pointing and hoping that everything is fully cooked), the people are very nice.

I think I like Vienna better then Munich. The citz seems much older and there is more history.. a lot of churches liket this one: Which are pretty cool both on the inside and outside. I also saw what seems like mz 100th holiday market.. which after awhile.. they all seem exactly the same. THey are very nice, but get quite old.. for those that need a visual here is one:

Besides that Vienna has a ton of shopping, and a lot of cafe's or coffe houses.. since I am mortally against coffe, I have put a complete Indian boycott on theses places..although I feel that I am the only one following this rule.. the power of one right?

I saw a couple more palaces, and really really old buildings.. also Vienna has the most kick butt metro ever.. it is one of the most well connected and easz to use metros I have been on. In addition to every notable site having a metro (Ubahn or Sbahn) stop.. they all conviently are surrounded by shopping.. very smart Austrians..

One last note for the group.. especially Eric.. I will be making the trek to Bratisalvia tomorrow just so I can fulfill a Mr. Bertram's request.

Last Night in Munich

So this post is costing me 5 euro an hour.. can you believe that.. what a rip off.. but thats my dedication to keeping all my peps out there in the loop and to prove to my parents I have not died or overdosed on some crazy narcotic.

So last night in Munich was my first really letting loose in Europe and it was pretty fun. I got back from a long day of walking around Munich and getting lost out by Olympiapark, where the Munich Olympics games were held(See the movie Munich..) to find I have two new hostel mates.. both much cooler then the previous two. The previous ones were conviently left out of the blog.. I really forget their names, but they were two Asian guys from Australia.. and yes they do refer to themselves as Aussies.. Anzwaz we just hung out at the hostel bar and got lit up drinking one of each of the beers the bar had..not as wide a selection as most American bars.. but a much better tasting one.. ie no Bud products whatsoever!

Here is a picture of one of them an two japanese women we managed to pick up... and when I saw we.. I mean me :) All I really remember about them is that they go to school in York, UK and were visiting Munich on their way to Nuerumberg(sp??)





Oh and Eric was the lucking reciever of call number 2

Oh and one last picture to prove that I am actually.. although it does look a little bit photoshopped.. its at Olympic Gardens..

Bier is Better in Munich

So I am in Munich now.. just finished having a bier and a bratwurst.. both were excellent.. It def is true that bier and brats are better in Germany.. at least Baveria.

Things are going okay.. have a lil tough time with the language barrier.. its tough because you are completly dependent on other people knowing English. the little german I know is def not sufficient to even start a conversation. You would think it would actually be a good thing.. a power trip as it were making people speak your language.. communicate on your level.. but I actually have found it embarssing.. I mean most of Europe is bi if not tri lingual and for the most part I struggle with English.. America needs to get it together :)

So when I travel I am a fiend for reading.. I am pretty much complete with my third book.. thank you long flights and train rides.. but the problem is where do I find a English book in Germany?? I had to look in 5 stores b4 i was able to find something.. I am stuck with Eragon.. that stupid book about dragons.. we will see..

Other highlights.. wow.. women are smoking here.. i would upload a picture.. but stupid computer cafe's... but they are one of those great inventions.. where else do you have 100 people paying 2 euro an hour to use the internet. Raking in the money.. raking it in..

Update 1:


Also found my personal slogan in German... What can brown do for you?


I also snapped a picture of Mandy's fiesta's german cousin... classic if you ask me.


I also had a very hot hostel mate last night.. she was absolutly gorgeous.. and you know me and international relations.. however it was not to be.. she was married.. I responded.. if I were your husband.. she cut me off there and told me I was not.. that pretty much put a cold freeze on any plans I had started to think about..

No one got a call last night I was too exhausted.. although I did enjoy some great German beer.. if ya'll get a chance you have to try: Ausgustinerbräu... its very good..

Last.. anyone got the reciept for "Simply Go Naked"?? email or post here please..

4...3...2...1... Europe thus far

So here is the quick summary of the trip so far:

4 cities, 3 countries, 2 continents, 1 set of clothes :) Disgusting I know.

So the true full story is, on my way to JFK from DCA I ran into a slight problem, FOG... now I never really minded fog until then, because it never kept me from leaving on vacation before. It was so bad in DC that they actually shut down the airport, and wouldnt let any flights in or out..

However, that was not the end of my troubles, having stood in line for 5 hours to rebook my flight, I was told the earliest thez could get me out was on Saturday.. which meant my vacation was to start in DC... So I made the exectutive decision that if vaca was starting in DC then I was not heading home.. so I headed over to Eric's to crash for Thursday and Friday. I spent Fridaz doing some sight seeing I had meant to do.. ie White House, Capital, Chinatown, and the rest.. which was actually pretty fun...

Know this next part of my journey was a little bit ridculous if you know me.. I got two phone numbers on my trip to Amsterdam.. both good looking ladies.. one is a senior at Georgetown I sat next to on mz flight from DC to JFK. The other is from a girl here in Munich that I will try to call tonight. To be honest.. its a little bit strange.. but I may just be more attractive at 30,000 ft in the air then at ground level.. who knew??

So the other unfortunate part about not getting to Amsterdam until Sunday morning was I only got to hang out with Tim and Matt for a couple hours and get some quick does and donts for Amsterdam night life... and I also had to make a quick stop in AMS, kuz I was due in Munich this morning.

This post is gone on for a while.. I will hit you up with stories and pics from Amsterdam and Munich tomorrow.

fyi.. Dave was the first to recieve a phone call from me..

Goodbye USA

Well...

Today is my last night in the USA for the next couple weeks.. I simply cannot wait.. kuz vaca has offically started.. I will do my best to respond to comments and posts as well as post here frequently enough to keep you all abrested on what I am doing every day..

Pictures will be included.. so you can not only read what I am doing, but also see it as well..

Best wishes to everyone.. have a happy holidays.. and get ready for an adventure.. starting now...

Saturday Night Festivities...

So when we last left off, myself and my downtrodden Golden Eagle Backers were heading to CCR.. for those not familiar with Northern Virginia and the gloriousness that is CCR here is the scoop...

CCR otherwise now as Crystal City Restaurant, is not your average dining establishment, with a Thursday Night special of $10.99 Rib-eye, baked potato and side meal. Instead it offers such a special, but in addition it offers a side of flesh as well. For those who have not been inside the hallowed halls of the CCR is its a man's dream.. a good meal, cold beer and some good ole fashion strippers... All for the amazing cover price of absolutely zero dollars!

Now you may ask.. how do you ever find a seat in this joint.. well in fact it is kinda tough some nights, but there are all so down sides to the place.. first the dancers only dance on stage.. there are no lappers, no VIP room and especially no champagne room.. However, if you like to watch the ladies dance, and not feel pressured to buy a lapper (most guys) or make sure you don't get to drunk and buy the house a lapper (me) its a safe alternative... and in general to my friends and I has some amazingly hot women.

To me this is the part I just don’t get.. for all of you who have ever frequented an establishment of this type.. we all know that dancers make their money off of the premium product.. not off of dancing on stage, but rather lappers, VIP room and the such.. so how does CCR attract good looking women when they do not have the benefit of such offerings.. I would like to suggest CCR be named the 8th great Wonder of the World.

So as you can probably guess, by the time we left, we were a bunch of drunk, turned on group of guys that needed more beer. So we decided to head over to the 4th Holiday Party of the year for me... (see previous blog for my Holiday Party Challenge)..

We realize pretty quickly once we got to the party.. that we were early.. when I say early, I mean the first ones there.. but normally that’s cool because first in the for the keg :) As we continued to get drunker, the PACO in my started to come out.. for those that are unfamiliar with that story.. I'll have to write it later.. but I am pretty sure you may at times have seen me act this way..

I began to throw my smooth ways all around the party, unfortunately as always, the female population just wasn’t very into a drunk brown man slurring his words and spilling his Simply Go Naked all over them, but oh well, its mostly about the effort.

Anyway.. thanks to Buttram 3, Eric and myself managed to extricate ourselves from the Holiday festivities and I was able to head on back to the homestead, to prepare for a day of one continuous headache, and water.

Busy Weekend.. last in the States for 06

So I had a pretty busy weekend.. a couple holiday parties.. lifting my season total to 4.. which from my extensive survey is the most of anyone I know.. If you have been to more please leave a comment so I can ammend my statement of being the most festive person I know!

The Bomhack Bash was pretty fun... a lot of cute girls and a barrel.. pretty much my defination of fun... One thing I have noticed about DC is there is a very particular conversation flow that is involved in all multisex social environment. After the Hey, followed by hows it going and what is your concoction of choice, is what are you doing in DC... This is kinda funny, kuz asking a girl her major in college never got me laid, but askin her what she is doing in DC is a great way to score!

Now I am not by any stretch of mine or your imagination suggesting that getting drunk with a member of the opposite sex and then going home with her is what I support and/or suggest.. but if the shoe fits where it ya know.. Oh and I did not go with anyone that night :) But the dicotomy of what graduating from college changes what a good pick up line is, is rather humorous to me.

Only an hour after being rudely awaken at 12:30 by Justin Timberlake - "Sexy Back" (dont ask), only to find out it was Eric.. telling me to get my ass to Virginia to start drinking in pre-game for the Badgers Golden Eagles, I was once again back on the alcohol bandwagen drinking 12 dollar (yes 12 dollar and we were excited bout it) Miller Lite pitchers.. By the time we closed the tab, it was about 180 bucks and Marquette had lost by 4.. SUCKS! My Wisconsin friends still havent stopped calling me...

So what do a group of 6 guys do after watching their hopes be dashed by shitty outside shooting.. hit CCR.. And it is NOT Cleerance, Cleawater Revial...

But thats for another story..

Driving to PA... and Holdiay Season

So its finally Friday... t-minus less then one week til Europe and I collide in an epic battle of Man versus nature... no no no.. that just isnt right.. til Europe and I meet in a neverending struggle of a Indian's comming of age story.. no that is it either.. but maybe I am making to much out of this... all possible.

Anyway, yesterday for work, I got to drive through Maryland, through Delware and up into Pennsylvania to pick up some parts from one of our many deliquent suppliers that couldnt ship parts to us on time. In case you want to know, I am in a training program with GE Healthcare focused on operations and manufacturing, I get to switch jobs every 6 months for 2 years and this role happens to be a little bit of everything. Anyway I digress, from the point of the story. I finally find the company's shop (which also happens to double as the owners house) and as I am driving up, I see two kids walking ahead of me, now to me, this is no big deal, but apparently to them I was a potential kidnapper or worse... I have never seen to kids start to cry and run so quickly in my entire life... and theres me just trying to figure out what then hell just happened.

When I get to the shop... ie his front door... the owner of both the company and house answers and he has the parts ready for me. We start to talk and I explain, I may have frightened his children, he says no worries, he will explain it to them later.. I think what a dad! But I dont say that, because I am in the country.. he probably has a gun. Can you see the headline now..

Indian Man attempts to Abduct Kids, Father Slays Him

So I take my parts and run.. driving as fast as I can back to civilization... As I am getting close to the freeway, I realize I need to get cash to pay the 15 dollars worth of Tolls between PA and MD.. yes 15 dollars to drive 115 miles.. RIDICULOUS.. and I used to complain about Illnonis's buck fifty toll.

Anyway after fighting the tolls, 2 hours of traffic through the 95 corridor of Hell as I like to call it (imagine the same stretch on Friday afternoons because its the to Atlantic City), I finally arrive back at the office to deliver the parts. Only 6 hours after I left, for this 230 mile jaunt. Wonderful :)

However, my day still is not done, I still have the 30 to 90 minute commute down 95 into DC fighting traffic all the way... I wish there was a better public transportation connection... I hate to drive.

Anyway you maybe wondering, what does Holiday season have to do with my trip to Europe.. well nothing, other then I am heading to my third holiday party of the season, none of which are work related :) ... Normally I am not a very Holiday cheery kinda guy, but I do love the occasionaly holiday party, where you drink egg nog, listen to crappy holiday music that has been on the radio since Black Friday (day after thanksgiving). But most of all I do love that fact, that people seem much happier, and that makes for a good party.

So tonight I am heading to Bomhack's Well Mannored Frivolity.. which I believe will be a top 5 drunkiness night for me this year.. I am ready to finally let loose on the District of Columbia, like I haven't yet... So Ill have to fill ya'll in tomorrow on more details on how it goes.. but be ready...

Its December...

So its December 5th.. 9 days and counting.. and I guess its starting to hit me both how close and how real the trip is. Feeling a little bit uneasy, and at the same time the excitment is building.. Its getting pretty tough to stay focused on work at work, especially when all I can think about is how great 2 weeks bumming all over Europe is going to be.

The trip is only becoming more tangible with the arrival of my backpacking gear! For those that know me, I am a techno nut, I love technology, and love being connected, but over this past year of moving around frequently for work, I have learned the value of traveling light, but still love the technology.

Came/Had

Backpack - actually I have 3 of them, not sure which I will keep, but I have two internal frame traditional backpacks, and one more lightweight hiking bag (def for those traveling light people).
Fast Drying Towel - a must from what I can tell, dries in under 15 mins, trust me I already tested it (used it this morning before heading off to work).
Water Bottle - had this one, one of those indestructable GE Lexan ones (gotta support my company)
Travel Locks - TSA approved locks, but also got a cable lock on the way, this one is for my zippers.
Digital Camera & MP3 player - Techno nut, cant live without my iPod or my Canon.. got an extra battery, plug convertors.
North Face Apex Jacket - good up to -10 degrees Celisus below, water resistant. Good for keeping me warm and dry.
Tickets - both Eurail Pass (15 day consectutive) and plane tickets (DCA to JFK, JFK to AMS, VCE to AMS, AMS to JFK, JFK to DCA). I didnt know they still did paper tickets, but I guess for international journies they are a must.
Cheap Messenger Bag - cheap to hold on to my stuff during the day
Travel Guide Book - it will be slaughtered tonight, so I can bind it and make it smaller

Still Waiting on

Cell Phone - cheaply purchased off ebay for 30 bucks.. quadband GSM.. so be prepared for drunk lunch time phone calls from your friendly neighborhood big indian.
SIM card - international sim card to make phone calls with, should arrive today
Packing Cubes - to help organize my crazy trip
Money Belt/Man Purse - help conceal my valuables from theives

Still Need to Find

Swiss Army Knife - something with knife, and cork screw
Journal - just incase I dont get to this wonderful site, want to remember everything I see and do..
Key Chains - a bunch of DC items that I can trade/give to people I met, some measure of Good Will from the dirty ugly american
Target Clean Stick - for those dirty spills.

Actions I still need to do

Reserve Hostels - I have my Amsterdam Hostel reserved thanks to Mr. Tim Burroughs ( Staying at the Bulldog, www.bulldog.nl) but other then that, need to make some choices.

Other Packing List items

So here are the other things I am taking:
2 pairs of jeans
1 pair of cargos
1 brown shoes (steve madden look a likes -- gotta love sketchers)
5 boxers
5 shirts
1 polo
1 dress shirt
5 pairs of socks
1 hat
1 pair of gloves
1 baseball hat
I am going to stick to a brown theme for the trip.. mostly kuz I am brown.
More to come soon.. but remember..

Once You Go Brown
You Can Only Go Down
~Mike Schmidt