Coffee on the Keyboard

Deutschland, Deutschland

Next time a German says your spelling of “Czech” is dumb because it has “cz” in it, remind them that they spell it with three, yes three “tsch” clusters.

I stopped on the way from Cinque Terre–great if you want to relax and do nothing for several days, but after the hike and some kayaking I got kind of bored and left the next morning; extremely beautiful, though–to Berlin at Kaiserslautern to be there for the US-Italy match, which I won’t go into here because I could bitch for far too long. Anyway, I ended up being awake for just over 60 hours on my way from Italy to Berlin, 50 of travel and 10 or 12 of seeing Christian for the first time in two years. That was a lot of fun, though. Frankfurt Hbf is apparently the place to spend the night if you have a giant backpack. I’d say there were 200 people sleeping on their packs around the station. I also had to go through Hannover, but didn’t leave the station, so I can’t say much about that.

Yesterday I snagged tickets to the Iran-Angola game in Leipzig tomorrow, which means Leipzig has just been added to my itinerary, and I had to lose a day in Liverpool. (It cost me more to change my flight to the next day than it cost to get the ticket in the first place. But it was still slightly cheaper than buying a new one.) All in all it’s costing me about 250 euro to see the match (115 for the ticket + 10 fee + 125 to change the flight) but that’s a lot less than what I would’ve paid for the US-Italy match (around 400 cheapest) and this ticket comes legit from FIFA. Plus, it’s “Category 1″, which means somewhere along the touchline, between the goals, and only row 6 of the 2nd block up. Look for a lone “Dutchman” in bright orange. That will be me.

It’s hard to get a real taste of Germany with all the tourists. I intend to come back. The Eurail Pass covers all the high-speed ICE trains (up to 330km/h!) without even need of a reservation, so it’s absolutely free (though for a specific seat you can pay a 3 euro reservation fee). So I’ll come back with a new Eurail pass and discover the whole country. It works on so many trains here they’d probably take it on the U-Bahns.

So tomorrow to Leipzig, the next day to Liverpool, a couple days later to Dublin and a bit after that? Home. Really feels like hitting the home stretch. I think that feeling will get more acute once I hit an English speaking country.

Posted in Travel

Another Italian City

This makes my 6th city in Italy, meaning I’ve traveled more extensively here than anywhere else in Europe. I am in Genova at the moment.

I decided to leave Cinque Terre early this morning instead of staying another day. I was very sunburned and I think I would rather go to the beach for an afternoon every weekend than for several days in a row. Michigan, by the way, has better beaches than Cinque Terre. The beaches of Lake Michigan really are world-class, with brilliant yellow sand and fresh, warm water. It’s hard to imagine but in this small way, West Michigan really is top-flight spot.

So I took an early train and ended up talking with a girl from Chicago who missed the earlier train and is right now trying to rearrange a flight to London to take a plane home. She’s leaving for Milan soon, and I’m going to stay here for the day then head to Milan to start (or continue) the most complicated route from Cinque Terre to Berlin ever–and it’s not very easy in the first place.

Normally you would have to go Cinque Terre –> Genova –> Milan –> (Frankfurt or Zurich –> Munich) –> Berlin, or Cinque Terre –> La Spezia –> Florence –> Milan, etc… I, however, am going Cinque Terre –> Genova –> Milan –> Frankfurt –> Mannheim –> Kaiserslautern –> Mannheim –> Frankfurt –> Berlin. Fortunately the trains in Germany are fast.

So now I think I’m going to enjoy some connectivity and chill in an urban area for a few hours, maybe learn a bit about (now honorary) citizen Christopher Columbus. It’s exciting, I know. I just missed the city, so I’m in one now. And why not check out yet another town?

When I get back, I will do several real posts with all sorts of information about all the people I’ve met. In the meantime read Justin LaHart in the Wall Street Journal or on cnnmoney.com. He’s a nice guy.

Posted in Travel

Out of Roma

I went to Ostia yesterday. It’s amazing. If you come for the Roman Empire, go to Ostia, don’t plan to spend too much time in Rome. The Christians have destroyed so much.

Blogger doesn’t work well in Europe, so I’m just saying that I’m off to Florence (Firenze) this afternoon.

Ciao!

Posted in Travel

AC Milan and the Geesinks!

Foremost: Many thanks again to the Geesinks of Zeist! Friends of my family for many years, they put me up for a few nights, took me sailing, fed me: it was a wonderful few days in the middle of Holland! So, if any Geesink should happen to stumble upon this, Thank you again, and you and yours will always be welcome in my home!

I made it to Italy! It was a long, long train ride, but I’m here. (You can go from Amsterdam Centraal to Milano Centrale, with only one change in Basel, but it’s a long trip.) I’m in a metro station cafe in Milan right now. I’m only here for about 18 more hours, before I head to Rome tomorrow afternoon. Milan seems a great city if you want to shop, but being male and poor it doesn’t work for me. And it doesn’t have the massive sense of history that I think Rome will. But, I’m here, so I figured I would stop for a night and check it out. I wandered through Duomo and the P.ta Venezia earlier, both are pretty much just shopping now. There’s some history there but it’s not particularly respected. This city looks kind of like a cross between Paris and Grafton Street. The buildings are old-ish (though a slightly different style of ornamentation) and low, but it’s very much a giant shopping district, or at least what I’ve seen so far. I’m going to head out to the San Siro when I’m done here, since it’s very close to my hostel. I may even check out the tour in the morning, before I leave. I did try the gelato: exceptional. And I picked up a gift for a friend (the last time he was in Europe he brought me back a Real Madrid jersey, so I found him an AC Milan shirt; it’s a knock-off, but he had more money than I do).

So, to dinner and the stadium? Sounds like a plan. I also, of course, need to find a cafe and sit there for a while, as I am wont to do.

Ciao!

Posted in Travel

Ah, Paris

I’m back in Paris for the second time, and now, finally, after more than a week, on my way back to health.

I fell ill last time I was here, after walking back with some cool Americans from the Eiffel Tower to the Bastille and back to Republique, which took around 2 hours in the middle of the night. I went to San Sebastian anyway and wasn’t really able to appreciate it, so I’ll have to go back, since it was a great city. Then on my father’s suggestion I went to Madrid and he put me up in a hotel to get better. That didn’t work, I actually got worse. The hot air didn’t help and the fields of allergens between me and the commuter rail (I had to go from Getafe to Madrid every day, not a great way to recouperate, admittedly) made things pretty bad. So I came back to Paris and spent another three nights in hotels, and went to the American Hospital where they gave me antibiotics and I’m finally feeling a little better. Tonight I’m going to a hostel for the first time in a week. Hopefully it will be less boring than the hotels.

So there’s not much to tell, because I haven’t done anything for a week. But lying out in the sun in the lawns between the Eiffel Tower and the Ecole Militaire is great, by the way. If I manage to find a way to spend next summer here I will definitely waste a good deal of time doing that.

Posted in Travel