MPD

Monday morning, I packed up at the hotel and headed over to the B&B on the Metro. Younghee met me at the station to help me move my stuff to Mr. Lee’s house. My bed was one of ten six-foot-long bunkbeds in the basement. After we filled up our waterbottles, we left for the city.

The same company that runs the free Berlin walking tours also organizes free NewParis walking tours starting at St. Michel Plaza, so we wanted to go on it. Again, the tour guide was very eloquent and excited about her city. We saw Notre Dame, the Louvre, the Seine (we smelled it, too), more churches, the Champs d’Elysee, and more museums. Unfortunately, the weather didn’t cooperate this time, so partway through, the rand became unbearable and everyone was soaked. Soon after the tour was over, though, the sun came out again. We decided to walk to the Eiffel tower, since we were so close. Read the rest of this entry »

It’s been a while since I wrote in my journal, so bear with me if I forget a few details.  Right now, I’m sitting in a park in Barcelona feeling quite sick, but I suppose we’ll get there in time…

Last Sunday, Sam, Younghee, Eunhee, and I agreed to meet at the Louvre again at 1:00.  I arrived a few minutes early because I didn’t want to appear to be perpetually late.  Sam soon found me, and we started to wait together for the girls.  This time, they were the ones who were an hour late.  Turns out, they had some trouble moving from the hotel to the B&B where they planned to stay for a while.  However, they did say that the B&B was nice, and the owner had beds available for 18 Euro/night including breakfast, internet, etc.  It sounded too good to be true, so I said I’d check it out. Read the rest of this entry »

On Saturday, I planned to meet my friends Younghee, Eunhee, and Sam at the Louvre pyramid at 4pm for Bastille day. I thought I would take the 10:40 direct train, get to Paris at 12:08, and check in to my hotel with plenty of time. Naturally, by the time I arrived at the train station at 10:00, all the trains were booked until 2:40, meaning I could not make it to Paris before 4:08. Oh well, this was the best I could do, so I sent an email saying I’d be late and started the long wait. Read the rest of this entry »

Today started out great. As I walked to the laundrymat, I passed Thai Coffee (the restaurant next door), and Nam came out to yell “Hi, Michael!” I said, “Good morning!” and headed off to my day.

After washing my clothes, I had a bit of trouble getting the dryer to work. Luckily, two friendly French-speaking men decided to help me out. I bought the wrong token for the dryer – the 3.50 Euro one, not the 0.60 Euro. After I bought the right one, they were even nice enough to buy the other off of me, when I offered it to them for free (since I won’t be coming back).

Next, I went sightseeing. First, I saw Manneken Pis, a famous statue of a boy urinating into a fountain. I was fairly surprised by the size of the statue; pictures make it look huge, but in reality, it’s tiny. I must say, I’m glad I’m going to be getting out of the Conner 3 environment next year; my exact thoughts at the statue went, “Woah, it’s so small; I thought it would be much bigger… That’s what she said.”

Nearby is a famous courtyard, the Grand Place. The architecture is all 1700s, so it looked very scenic. I also wanted to see the Royal Palace and the European Parliament, so I started to walk that way.

One of the best things about Brussels is the fact that they have signs everywhere explaining the sights nearby, so as I walked, I could tell what I was passing. In front of the Royal Palace, there is a large garden where I decided to eat a waffle with cream and relax in the shade next to a fountain. The street vender’s waffle was absolutely delicious. I don’t know how they made it sweet, crispy, and tender all at the same time, but it worked. In fact, I think I’m going to stop writing for a little while to go find one (I’m currently in a train station)…

Well, that one wasn’t as good as the last, but I did get to put Belgian chocolate ice cream on top, which was quite a bonus. Anyway, after the park, I continued on to the European Parliament complex, but only saw it from the outside. I couldn’t tell if there was a tour/guest entrance, but I was alright with that.

Actually, I just realized that I missed a stop. In between Grand Place and the park, I went to the Museum of Ancient Through Modern Art. Personally, I think that just makes it a general art museum, but who am I to say? I decided to only see the modern (19th Century – Present) sections this time, both to save on time and because I haven’t seen much of it yet on this trip. Really, even though I’ve grown to appreciate art much more than when I was younger, I still didn’t see a large percentage of the works that impressed me. Only three or four even made me want to stop and think.

Finally, I wanted to see the Atomium and Mini-Europe, but because they were on the last Metro stop, I also didn’t think I had time at 4:00 to go and see much. Instead, I took a short nap at the hotel, then walked around the city and took photos in the botanical gardens.

For dinner, I decided to go with Thai again; it really was delicious before, plus they were really friendly. This time, I ordered without Nam’s help, and ended up with rice, green curry, beef, coconut milk, and peppers. Nam told me that it would be too spicy for my sensitive Western palate, but I insisted. Yes, it was spicy; the coconut milk, however, calmed the peppers a little and made the whole dish bearably delicious. At the end of dinner, it was 9:30. I took a picture of the sunset and went to bed.

Thursday morning, I woke up in time to have breakfast, which ended up being four dry pieces of toast. I really wouldn’t recommend this hotel to anyone. After breakfast, I started my journey to Brussels, which was pretty eventful overall… Just lots of crying babies on a crowded train. Read the rest of this entry »

Right now, I am traveling from Amsterdam to Brussels, and to be honest, I’m sort of glad to be leaving.  Amsterdam really wasn’t very fun.  I’m not sure what I was expecting, but it really wasn’t a fun and happening place. Read the rest of this entry »

On the way to Berlin, I met two Korean girls, Younghee and Eunhee, because none of us were sure about which train to board. The two of them are sisters who live together in Seoul, and now they are travelling through Europe for a few weeks. Neither one speaks English perfectly, but Younghee lived in Canada for a year, so she does alright and helps Eunhee out if she has trouble.

They were not planning on coming to Berlin until Sunday, but because the B&B in Praha had so many unreasonable rules (about noise, hours, internet, etc.) they decided to leave a day early. Thus, when we arrived, the first item on the agenda was finding a hostel. As luck would have it, the hostel at which I am staying had an extra twin room available, so they decided to stay there. Read the rest of this entry »

I’m currently on the train from Prague to Berlin and have a chance to write in my journal.  In Prague, I stayed with my friend, David, at his family’s house.  The first two days, I saw the sights by myself, but Thursday and Friday were holidays, so David didn’t have to work, and we went out together.

On Tuesday, David recommended seeing the castle and cathedral area, so I started there.  The architecture in Prague is interesting because the influences were different and later than in the other cities I’ve seen so far.  The height of Prague’s power was in the 9-14th centuries, plus, the Renaissance arrived later than in Italy, so there are some great examples of really late gothic.  For example, the entrance to the castle is the largest Gothic hall built without inner supporting pillars.  Even without ornate ceiling or wall frescoes, it was pretty astounding.For a while, they held jousting contests inside. Read the rest of this entry »

Of course, not all went well… Even though I didn’t need a reservation in Munich, in Nurnberg, I did. Then, I had to get off the train and a get a reservation for the 5:40 train. Nurnberg sounds like it might be an interesting place to stop for a few hours, but because it was a Monday, all the tourist sights were closed. I could still see the walk of human rights (concrete pillars, each with one statement in German engraved), and see a big wall with guard towers. I think it must have been around a Jewish ghetto or something at one time. Now, it just encompasses shopping and museums. Read the rest of this entry »

Soon after I wrote my last entry, I decided to get lunch in the dining car (actually a pretty tasty plate of currywurst), and when I came back I started talking with the man across the table. he was from Lichtenstein, but worked managing hotels in other cities. He has been to Washington DC and New Mexico/Arizon. Mostly, though, we talked about travelling in Europe, the differences in Eastern Europe, how to learn languages, etc. Apparently, he visited Prague four days after the Berlin Wall fell. Before he left, he had to go through an intensive process to get a visa, etc but by the time he got there, it wasn’t necessary anymore. He exchanged 20 German Marks and couldn’t find ways to get rid of the money. Unfortunately, it’s not quite like that anymore. Instead, he says now Russians and Eastern Europeans are coming West and buying Swiss companies. Read the rest of this entry »