Today - April 30 - marks the 50th day of my trip!
Side note: No I did not forget about the Germany entry, I still have Munich to visit, so once I make that visit, the Germany blog entry will be up in one part not two!
After the blink before my eyes that was Berlin, I got on a train to Prague, Czech Republic to my CS host Elisa. When we arrived, she already had plans for me - going straight to a CS gathering at a generous man's house. His name was Rolf, and he was with the Swedish Embassy living in Prague. Rolf was hosting (he hosts occasional gatherings) a soup party and it was vegetarian/vegan, which was really healthy and delicious! I met several people from Prague and some other fellow CSers at the party, chatting with them by notebook and pen which was quickly filled out!
At that same party, I met four Italians - Valeria, Lorenzo, Robert and Anita, who invited me to join them in exploring the Jewish Quarter of Prague the next day - I said sure (Couldn't say no to a visit to Jewish Museums/Synagouges) and so we agreed to meet at noon.
We looked around the Jewish Cemetary, four Synagogues and a hall - it was nice to see more history as it was about my 8th different Jewish museum in Europe, all of them were different and has great history of their own - and I always see/learn something new every place. Jewish history really is strong and has deep roots in Europe before, up to and after the 1940's.
After looking around, we went to eat dinner, Robert was a vegetarian, so we had to find a vegetarian place. (Yes, I became a vegetarian just for 24 hours, i survived!) the food was good at a cafeteria-style restaurant.
Afterwards, they wanted to go to a museum, and I wanted to explore more of the city so we said farewell and parted ways. They were so friendly, and taught me some Italian gestures which were funny and some similar to sign language! Hopefully when I am in Milano, we could meet up again!
So I walked around the old town Prague and some sights were the Astronomical Clock, Tyn Cathedral, St. Nicholas Church and the Powder Tower before meeting up with Elisa and going to another CS meeting. This time it was at the Hrom De Police bar which brewed its own delicious Czech beers! There was a CS meeting regularly on Thursday evenings along with more notebook conversations and some sign teaching.
The next day I took a day trip to nearby Kutna Hora where there was the famed Kostnice Sedlec Ossuary - http://www.kostnice.cz/ - which turned out to be my most favorite visit of the entire trip. Worth the trip! I also saw the St. Barbory church and ate at a local resturant with their own beer - Gambrinus but my mind was still at the Ossuary. Over 40,000 to 70,000 skulls & bones! Truly was an awesome sight to see.
Later that evening, I arrived back to Elisa's place and saw on the internet about the royal wedding.... oh, didn't notice. That night we went back to the old town at night for some walking around.
Today I went to the Prazsky Hrad - Prague Castle - and walked around the gardens, courtyards and castle. At noon, there was the changing of the guards with swords, guns, flags and the usual guard changing stuff. Not as spectacular as the Buckingham Guards in London but still nice to watch.
From the Castle, I went down to the Old Town and walked across the famed Karluv Most - Charles Bridge - which had 30 statues, 15 on each side on the bridge to the western side of Prague. There, I walked to the John Lennon Wall which had cool graffiti art.
After that, I went to another CS meeting at Kinskeho Zahrada (garden) where we were celebrating a guy's birthday with a nice picnic. The weather was getting gloomy so it ended earlier than we would like but I still enjoyed the break at the park.
On the final evening, we went to Carodejnice, a witch burning festival to signal the end of winter and the witch's spell. There were music, beers, food and lots of fire and fire spinning. There were also fireworks, but the fireworks' shit was weak compared to Independence Day fireworks in USA, sorry :)
It was all fun until it rained and everyone rushed back home, I guess the witches weren't too happy about the festival!
Prague treated me well, and so did my CS host Elisa, but it was time to move on. Tomorrow, I will be going to Vienna, Austria and continuing the trip!
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Sunday, April 24, 2011
France Part Un
So I left off at Cerbere, where I had enjoyed the city by the mediterranean sea and finally got on my connecting train to Nimes from where I would go to Lyon.
Remember that the original train to cerbere was 5 minutes late, so I had to catch the next train to Nimes three hours later. When I arrived at nimes, it was almost midnight, and the last train to lyon left hours ago so I was stuck in Nimes and the next train was eight in the morning.
So basically, I had nowhere to go and everything was closed. I wasn't gonna buy a hotel room for seven hours of sleep, and the train station was locking up, they don't allow people to stay in overnight so I along with four other people who missed their rides settled down and slept outside the train station
It was a fun experience sleeping like a homeless dude (I definitely looked the part) and the sleep wasn't good because I had to sleep on my backpack in an awkward position but hey gotta do what I had to do to protect my bag!
So when the morning came, i awoke to find out that A - almost all the trains were delayed by one or two hours so the train to Lyon was at 10 not 8 am and B - the train to lyon was full. oh, f me.
After consulting my eurail guide, train schedule and map, I found that i could go to marseilles and catch the train to Lyon there. So I finally left Nimes around 9 30 or 10 and arrived Marseiles at 11.05. The express train to lyon was full.
BUT there was another regional (slower train, more stops) IC train to Lyon. The original departure time was at 11, so i missed it?? Nope, it was delayed for ten minutes.
Guess I got lucky this time... that was enough train mania in less than 24 hours for me.
Finally at Lyon, I met up with Aurelein, my host who found me through a post I made on Deaf Couchsurfing group and welcomed me to his place. Aurelein was hearing but he has a Deaf boyfriend, works at a Deaf School and uses LSF very well!
Aurel was a great host and we spent many hours chatting about language, connection with French and American education (Clerc, ASL from LSF, schools), signs, how people are welcome in others' houses guests/friends etc etc and of course, food! Lyon is well known for gourmet and I tried Andouille it was delicious too.
Aurel also showed me around for a couple of hours because the next two days he would not be home - sleeping at Bourg En bresse near the Deaf school where he worked. So he left me his keys and trusted me to his house... wow! I told him that this probably would never happen in America, but that is a big difference between welcoming guests in America and Europe even though we never met before this. The trust was very high, and I was not used to it being as an American but i learned the European - and french - way quickly.
That was a small part of one of our many chats!
So home alone, i stayed in all day... of course not, I explored Lyon and first went to the fourviere and roman theatre, the centre, st jean area, la gullotine and others.
I got around in Lyon by tram, it was operated by TCL and before boarding the tram you had to buy a ticket from a machine which I had no idea how to operate. Usually in other trams, you could buy a ticket from the driver or a conductor inside the tram, so I got in hoping to do the same. Then a TCL officer came down the aisle asking people to show their tickets as validation (I later found out they do this occasionally, during rush hour usually) so they requested my ticket and I told them I didnt have any.
The guy had a face that said "oh really well no you cannot do that" but his words was french so I had no idea what he really said. I wrote down "I no french, I english" and he didnt understand what i wrote... ok so I told him i would buy "pour tous" (One hour ticket) and he said no, and held up 4 then 3 fingers. huh? Was it seven? I wrote down 7 and he looked at me like i was stupid and wrote 43 euros. The ticket was 2, and I had to pay 43? No way, i took out 5 euros and told him I pay this for ticket and he said no I had to go to the machine so FINEE we got off at the next stop and went to the machine.
Somewhere there was a button that could change the language to english (which I couldnt find before) so allright man. One problem, the machine took coins not cash and I didnt have anz coins on me. I tried my credit card but the screen read strange french word rejectez more strange french words but i guess rejectez means... rejected?
I turned around to the guy and told him how do i do this? I give him money for coins and buy ticket? He was like no you pay 43 and would not let me leave... such an a-hole seems he wanted to take advantage since I was an american (I showed my passport after he requested it) and deaf and - to him, dumb too - but I wouldn't give in. I told him forget it I will go walk and he was all no you must pay ticket. we argued for almost 5 minutes and there was a lady behind us listening to the whole thing (The train officer kept on speaking even though I told him 50 times that I couldn't hear OR understand french) and I stepped aside to let her purchase her ticket.
The lady turned around, said something to the officer and gave me a pour tous ticket! My face lighted up and the train officer's face clearly was in shock - I had a ticket now, I wasnt gonna pay 43 euros and he had no choice but to let me go. I couldnt say thanks enough to that woman she said it was ok and didnt understand english but a smile was more than enough for her to understand.
Later that day at 18:00 I was to meet Sandra, Aurel's friend who lived 5 minues away. Sandra was deaf and contacted me on CouchSurfing too, but she was supposed to host a girl from Japan but at the last minute she could not make it so she was free to have me as company. She is part of 10 deaf french theatre group that will have a play in June (What is it? Sorry, I promised not to tell)
So I watched their practice for two hours and chatting with some people during short breaks it was nice to see French Deaf people in a theatre environment also their theatre style is a bit different from america's.
After the theatre, we were hungry so sandra took me to her home which was 5 minutes away from Aurel's place and had dinner salad with tuna, quiches and then strawberries, whipped cream and sugar for dessert oh boy was i stuffed, the french sure know how to feed/welcome their guests :)
Then we chatted until we yawned so I went back and agreed to meet again tomorrow after I visited IJS school in Bourg en Bresse - the school link http://www.afis01.fr/ijs.html
The visit was very enjoyable Aurel showed me around, I met some teachers, passed by students and finally got to a classroom full of kids ready to receive me!
They were excited to meet an Deaf American from Gallaudet so I told them about myself in ASL (I tried my best because I almost havent used asl in weeks so it was a different feeling as I had totally shifted to International Sign and bit of Irish, Netherland and French signs) To show the difference between ASL and LSF, but they still could follow me.
I switched to International after that and talked about my experiences on the trip so far, the difference between America/Europe, Deaf life in America, ADA, rights, laws, videophones, Deaf Schools, why we have that signs, why in ASL we spell so much instead of signing - even i caught mzself and wondered why too - just a bit of what we talked about with an open Q & A, it was fun for both of us.
After the school we walked to the kitchen where the Home Ecomonic class had prepared mousse and since it was tuesday, they made enough for the whole school and a visitor: the chocolate mousse... amie.
So Aurel and I went back to his house then met up with Sandra at her place after getting pizzas from a truck (Kind of like hot dogs, ice cream, tacos from a truck) and dropping me off as he had dance class for two hours and joined up with our chat (Another long one again) afterwards.
That concludes part Un of France, as the next day I went to Mannheim, Germany via Strasbourg (No crazy train stories this time whew). Part Deux will come when I visit Nice and Paris for real later!
Remember that the original train to cerbere was 5 minutes late, so I had to catch the next train to Nimes three hours later. When I arrived at nimes, it was almost midnight, and the last train to lyon left hours ago so I was stuck in Nimes and the next train was eight in the morning.
So basically, I had nowhere to go and everything was closed. I wasn't gonna buy a hotel room for seven hours of sleep, and the train station was locking up, they don't allow people to stay in overnight so I along with four other people who missed their rides settled down and slept outside the train station
It was a fun experience sleeping like a homeless dude (I definitely looked the part) and the sleep wasn't good because I had to sleep on my backpack in an awkward position but hey gotta do what I had to do to protect my bag!
So when the morning came, i awoke to find out that A - almost all the trains were delayed by one or two hours so the train to Lyon was at 10 not 8 am and B - the train to lyon was full. oh, f me.
After consulting my eurail guide, train schedule and map, I found that i could go to marseilles and catch the train to Lyon there. So I finally left Nimes around 9 30 or 10 and arrived Marseiles at 11.05. The express train to lyon was full.
BUT there was another regional (slower train, more stops) IC train to Lyon. The original departure time was at 11, so i missed it?? Nope, it was delayed for ten minutes.
Guess I got lucky this time... that was enough train mania in less than 24 hours for me.
Finally at Lyon, I met up with Aurelein, my host who found me through a post I made on Deaf Couchsurfing group and welcomed me to his place. Aurelein was hearing but he has a Deaf boyfriend, works at a Deaf School and uses LSF very well!
Aurel was a great host and we spent many hours chatting about language, connection with French and American education (Clerc, ASL from LSF, schools), signs, how people are welcome in others' houses guests/friends etc etc and of course, food! Lyon is well known for gourmet and I tried Andouille it was delicious too.
Aurel also showed me around for a couple of hours because the next two days he would not be home - sleeping at Bourg En bresse near the Deaf school where he worked. So he left me his keys and trusted me to his house... wow! I told him that this probably would never happen in America, but that is a big difference between welcoming guests in America and Europe even though we never met before this. The trust was very high, and I was not used to it being as an American but i learned the European - and french - way quickly.
That was a small part of one of our many chats!
So home alone, i stayed in all day... of course not, I explored Lyon and first went to the fourviere and roman theatre, the centre, st jean area, la gullotine and others.
I got around in Lyon by tram, it was operated by TCL and before boarding the tram you had to buy a ticket from a machine which I had no idea how to operate. Usually in other trams, you could buy a ticket from the driver or a conductor inside the tram, so I got in hoping to do the same. Then a TCL officer came down the aisle asking people to show their tickets as validation (I later found out they do this occasionally, during rush hour usually) so they requested my ticket and I told them I didnt have any.
The guy had a face that said "oh really well no you cannot do that" but his words was french so I had no idea what he really said. I wrote down "I no french, I english" and he didnt understand what i wrote... ok so I told him i would buy "pour tous" (One hour ticket) and he said no, and held up 4 then 3 fingers. huh? Was it seven? I wrote down 7 and he looked at me like i was stupid and wrote 43 euros. The ticket was 2, and I had to pay 43? No way, i took out 5 euros and told him I pay this for ticket and he said no I had to go to the machine so FINEE we got off at the next stop and went to the machine.
Somewhere there was a button that could change the language to english (which I couldnt find before) so allright man. One problem, the machine took coins not cash and I didnt have anz coins on me. I tried my credit card but the screen read strange french word rejectez more strange french words but i guess rejectez means... rejected?
I turned around to the guy and told him how do i do this? I give him money for coins and buy ticket? He was like no you pay 43 and would not let me leave... such an a-hole seems he wanted to take advantage since I was an american (I showed my passport after he requested it) and deaf and - to him, dumb too - but I wouldn't give in. I told him forget it I will go walk and he was all no you must pay ticket. we argued for almost 5 minutes and there was a lady behind us listening to the whole thing (The train officer kept on speaking even though I told him 50 times that I couldn't hear OR understand french) and I stepped aside to let her purchase her ticket.
The lady turned around, said something to the officer and gave me a pour tous ticket! My face lighted up and the train officer's face clearly was in shock - I had a ticket now, I wasnt gonna pay 43 euros and he had no choice but to let me go. I couldnt say thanks enough to that woman she said it was ok and didnt understand english but a smile was more than enough for her to understand.
Later that day at 18:00 I was to meet Sandra, Aurel's friend who lived 5 minues away. Sandra was deaf and contacted me on CouchSurfing too, but she was supposed to host a girl from Japan but at the last minute she could not make it so she was free to have me as company. She is part of 10 deaf french theatre group that will have a play in June (What is it? Sorry, I promised not to tell)
So I watched their practice for two hours and chatting with some people during short breaks it was nice to see French Deaf people in a theatre environment also their theatre style is a bit different from america's.
After the theatre, we were hungry so sandra took me to her home which was 5 minutes away from Aurel's place and had dinner salad with tuna, quiches and then strawberries, whipped cream and sugar for dessert oh boy was i stuffed, the french sure know how to feed/welcome their guests :)
Then we chatted until we yawned so I went back and agreed to meet again tomorrow after I visited IJS school in Bourg en Bresse - the school link http://www.afis01.fr/ijs.html
The visit was very enjoyable Aurel showed me around, I met some teachers, passed by students and finally got to a classroom full of kids ready to receive me!
They were excited to meet an Deaf American from Gallaudet so I told them about myself in ASL (I tried my best because I almost havent used asl in weeks so it was a different feeling as I had totally shifted to International Sign and bit of Irish, Netherland and French signs) To show the difference between ASL and LSF, but they still could follow me.
I switched to International after that and talked about my experiences on the trip so far, the difference between America/Europe, Deaf life in America, ADA, rights, laws, videophones, Deaf Schools, why we have that signs, why in ASL we spell so much instead of signing - even i caught mzself and wondered why too - just a bit of what we talked about with an open Q & A, it was fun for both of us.
After the school we walked to the kitchen where the Home Ecomonic class had prepared mousse and since it was tuesday, they made enough for the whole school and a visitor: the chocolate mousse... amie.
So Aurel and I went back to his house then met up with Sandra at her place after getting pizzas from a truck (Kind of like hot dogs, ice cream, tacos from a truck) and dropping me off as he had dance class for two hours and joined up with our chat (Another long one again) afterwards.
That concludes part Un of France, as the next day I went to Mannheim, Germany via Strasbourg (No crazy train stories this time whew). Part Deux will come when I visit Nice and Paris for real later!
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Espana
Before getting started on Spain, two things:
1 - The most amazing thing about Espana is that the people here does not make me want to punch them in the face like I want to punch Pau Gasol.
2 - Most of the ladies look like they can fit right in a Shakira music video. Plenty of junk in that trunk, boys.
After finding myself in Madrid, I waited at the Atocha Train Station for my BFF Jessica (Who I met at Israel through the Birthright trip) to pick me up, she lived only 5 minutes away with her wonderful stereotypical spanish neighbors - two guys who listen to Katy Perry, Lady Gaga and Techno music all day; and another neighborS who seemed to have 15 people living in an apartment :)
As I got settled in, Jessica had to go to work, so that gave me free time to explore Madrid, and I did. I went and saw the typical European sights around the city: the Plaza Centre (Plaza Mayor), the spot everyone goes to (Sol), the major street (Gran Via) and the cathedrals (there were several).
I enjoyed walking around Madrid; I felt like it was a different place compared to most Western European cities which felt similar in some ways. The spanish words on buildings and streets contributed to that too.
The museums and sights in Madrid was spectacular, a great Museo Nacional del Prado with various collections of Spanish Artists: Goya, Velazquez and El Greco, the Caixa Forum with the Jardin Colgate (Hanging Garden), Temple de Oebod and Reina Sofia where Picasso' Guernica rests, also trippy paintings by Dali.
One park I enjoyed was the Parque del Buen Retiro. If you ever go to Madrid, be sure to go to that park. Great tanning spot even though I only come in two colors: white and red. W
e went there a second time with Jillian (Jessica's friend) who was babysitting two kids and two of their friends; so 4 kids in all. We went to the park and played soccer. Yes; even though they were somewhere 10 to 13, I kicked their butts in futbol (that's soccer if you didn't know) AND before you start scolding me that they are just kids and I should have went easy on them... well they won the world cup last year. THE WORLD CUP. Everyone in Spain knows how to play football even the old folks and the junk in the trunk ladies!
One side note: they're pretty humble in that, no big signs flyers banners of World Cup Champions or something like that, good for you spain; good for you. Or maybe they all were destroyed in the riots after winning?
In between one of those days; I made a day trip to Toledo based on Jessica's suggestion. It was worth it! Toledo is a lovely town on a top of the hill, the sights were great overlooking the surroundings including the Rio Tajo river. The museums were great too, I enjoyed the Museo de Santa Cruz and Museo Sefari in Sinagoga del Transito - a 14th century Jewish Temple - both free! (thanks Gallaudet Student ID)
Also based on Lonely Planet's suggestion, I went to a local bar named Santa Fe, good food and good beer. Speaking of food; I loved chorizo, olives and fried calimari... those three are quite tasty!
Don't worry; I enjoyed the Sangria, but it will NEVER jump over beer in the beverage rankings. NEVER.
After it was all said and done; it was time to leave Madrid: Many thanks to Jessica and Ricardo for hosting me in their new apartment and the late night spanish dinners!
So I went to Barcelona for a day, after walking around a few hours without a map, I realized I left my camera and book in the other backpack that I stored in the train lockers, so basically I had no "evidence" that I went to Barcelona and I have no idea what were the sights I saw. But I still enjoyed wandering around the city.
From Barcelona, I was ready to go to my next destination which was Lyon, France and caught a regional train to Cerbere, which in turn will take me to Nimes then to Lyon.
Upon arriving Cerbere in France, the border station between Spain/France, I found out that the train arrived 10 minutes late, and 5 minutes after the last train left for Nimes. I had to wait for three more hours at Cerbere where its main attraction was an unused hotel that looked like a ship. It had a lovely view though; check out their wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerbère
I enjoyed the small quiet town scene there, and gave me time to think. One simple question stayed with me for awhile and often was from Dirk, a person on CouchSurfing who I will stay at in Germany:
Traveller or Tourist?
I'd keep on going but since Cerbere's in France, you'll have to wait for the France blog post!
1 - The most amazing thing about Espana is that the people here does not make me want to punch them in the face like I want to punch Pau Gasol.
2 - Most of the ladies look like they can fit right in a Shakira music video. Plenty of junk in that trunk, boys.
After finding myself in Madrid, I waited at the Atocha Train Station for my BFF Jessica (Who I met at Israel through the Birthright trip) to pick me up, she lived only 5 minutes away with her wonderful stereotypical spanish neighbors - two guys who listen to Katy Perry, Lady Gaga and Techno music all day; and another neighborS who seemed to have 15 people living in an apartment :)
As I got settled in, Jessica had to go to work, so that gave me free time to explore Madrid, and I did. I went and saw the typical European sights around the city: the Plaza Centre (Plaza Mayor), the spot everyone goes to (Sol), the major street (Gran Via) and the cathedrals (there were several).
I enjoyed walking around Madrid; I felt like it was a different place compared to most Western European cities which felt similar in some ways. The spanish words on buildings and streets contributed to that too.
The museums and sights in Madrid was spectacular, a great Museo Nacional del Prado with various collections of Spanish Artists: Goya, Velazquez and El Greco, the Caixa Forum with the Jardin Colgate (Hanging Garden), Temple de Oebod and Reina Sofia where Picasso' Guernica rests, also trippy paintings by Dali.
One park I enjoyed was the Parque del Buen Retiro. If you ever go to Madrid, be sure to go to that park. Great tanning spot even though I only come in two colors: white and red. W
e went there a second time with Jillian (Jessica's friend) who was babysitting two kids and two of their friends; so 4 kids in all. We went to the park and played soccer. Yes; even though they were somewhere 10 to 13, I kicked their butts in futbol (that's soccer if you didn't know) AND before you start scolding me that they are just kids and I should have went easy on them... well they won the world cup last year. THE WORLD CUP. Everyone in Spain knows how to play football even the old folks and the junk in the trunk ladies!
One side note: they're pretty humble in that, no big signs flyers banners of World Cup Champions or something like that, good for you spain; good for you. Or maybe they all were destroyed in the riots after winning?
In between one of those days; I made a day trip to Toledo based on Jessica's suggestion. It was worth it! Toledo is a lovely town on a top of the hill, the sights were great overlooking the surroundings including the Rio Tajo river. The museums were great too, I enjoyed the Museo de Santa Cruz and Museo Sefari in Sinagoga del Transito - a 14th century Jewish Temple - both free! (thanks Gallaudet Student ID)
Also based on Lonely Planet's suggestion, I went to a local bar named Santa Fe, good food and good beer. Speaking of food; I loved chorizo, olives and fried calimari... those three are quite tasty!
Don't worry; I enjoyed the Sangria, but it will NEVER jump over beer in the beverage rankings. NEVER.
After it was all said and done; it was time to leave Madrid: Many thanks to Jessica and Ricardo for hosting me in their new apartment and the late night spanish dinners!
So I went to Barcelona for a day, after walking around a few hours without a map, I realized I left my camera and book in the other backpack that I stored in the train lockers, so basically I had no "evidence" that I went to Barcelona and I have no idea what were the sights I saw. But I still enjoyed wandering around the city.
From Barcelona, I was ready to go to my next destination which was Lyon, France and caught a regional train to Cerbere, which in turn will take me to Nimes then to Lyon.
Upon arriving Cerbere in France, the border station between Spain/France, I found out that the train arrived 10 minutes late, and 5 minutes after the last train left for Nimes. I had to wait for three more hours at Cerbere where its main attraction was an unused hotel that looked like a ship. It had a lovely view though; check out their wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerbère
I enjoyed the small quiet town scene there, and gave me time to think. One simple question stayed with me for awhile and often was from Dirk, a person on CouchSurfing who I will stay at in Germany:
Traveller or Tourist?
I'd keep on going but since Cerbere's in France, you'll have to wait for the France blog post!
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Luxembourg
Just like Luxembourg, this probably will be my smallest entry!
After leaving my "Belgian Family" from CouchSurfing, at 7 in the morning, I took a 3-hour train ride to the capital of Luxembourg, Luxembourg City. Originally, I thought about maybe staying there for two days.
After listening to my friends' advice who travelled to Luxembourg, less than one day was enough. I promised myself I would stay there for at least more than 6 hours
I ended up staying there for two hours.
Yes, There was not much going on in Luxembourg City, and it was on a sunday, so most of the stores were closed. In the tourist map, there were 74 attractions to see, and I saw about 40 of them in a hour of time near the city centre. The centre had about 9 streets horizontally and 6 streets vertically from the map's vantage point.
Some highlights from Luxembourg were the the Palace of Grand Dukes, Trois Tours (Three Towers) - I have no idea how that is an attraction but it just is - and chemin de la cornide road where there was an excellent view of the city and palace d'Armes, the square in the middle of the city where there was a McDonald. That McDonald actually had a outside sitting area with waiters... yes, you read that right: WAITERS SERVING PEOPLE MCDONALDS AND CLEANING UP AFTER PEOPLE WERE DONE EATING A ROYALE OR A BIG MAC AND PEOPLE WERE ENJOYING IT.
So after only two hours I was done with Luxembourg City already walking around the city.
After walking around big cities like London, Amsterdam, Brussels, I now have the endurance to walk around cities for 5-6 hours without getting tired, so it's great to see cities on foot for a day or two and be satsified with it.
Done with Luxembourg, I caught a connecting train to Paris, for my destination was at Madrid, Spain. The night train to Madrid was at 23:30, and it was only 19:00, so with only four hours to kill, I asked myself the question: "If you had only four hours in Paris, where would you go?"
So yeah, I made my way to the Eiffel Tower (DUH) But I took my time taking in Paris and when I was about 30 minutes away, I realized I didn't have much time left to make the return trip to catch my train stopping at the Louvre area.
You may have the last laugh, Eiffel Tower, but I'll see you again one day!
Long story short, I hopped on the train, slept in a couchette and found myself in Madrid, Spain the next day (After connecting trains from Irun)!
By the way, as of today April 14, it is my 34th day of traveling, already a month has gone by! Time goes fast!
After leaving my "Belgian Family" from CouchSurfing, at 7 in the morning, I took a 3-hour train ride to the capital of Luxembourg, Luxembourg City. Originally, I thought about maybe staying there for two days.
After listening to my friends' advice who travelled to Luxembourg, less than one day was enough. I promised myself I would stay there for at least more than 6 hours
I ended up staying there for two hours.
Yes, There was not much going on in Luxembourg City, and it was on a sunday, so most of the stores were closed. In the tourist map, there were 74 attractions to see, and I saw about 40 of them in a hour of time near the city centre. The centre had about 9 streets horizontally and 6 streets vertically from the map's vantage point.
Some highlights from Luxembourg were the the Palace of Grand Dukes, Trois Tours (Three Towers) - I have no idea how that is an attraction but it just is - and chemin de la cornide road where there was an excellent view of the city and palace d'Armes, the square in the middle of the city where there was a McDonald. That McDonald actually had a outside sitting area with waiters... yes, you read that right: WAITERS SERVING PEOPLE MCDONALDS AND CLEANING UP AFTER PEOPLE WERE DONE EATING A ROYALE OR A BIG MAC AND PEOPLE WERE ENJOYING IT.
So after only two hours I was done with Luxembourg City already walking around the city.
After walking around big cities like London, Amsterdam, Brussels, I now have the endurance to walk around cities for 5-6 hours without getting tired, so it's great to see cities on foot for a day or two and be satsified with it.
Done with Luxembourg, I caught a connecting train to Paris, for my destination was at Madrid, Spain. The night train to Madrid was at 23:30, and it was only 19:00, so with only four hours to kill, I asked myself the question: "If you had only four hours in Paris, where would you go?"
So yeah, I made my way to the Eiffel Tower (DUH) But I took my time taking in Paris and when I was about 30 minutes away, I realized I didn't have much time left to make the return trip to catch my train stopping at the Louvre area.
You may have the last laugh, Eiffel Tower, but I'll see you again one day!
Long story short, I hopped on the train, slept in a couchette and found myself in Madrid, Spain the next day (After connecting trains from Irun)!
By the way, as of today April 14, it is my 34th day of traveling, already a month has gone by! Time goes fast!
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Operation Deaf Orphans
Later on my trip, I will go to Romania, and I will meet up with Alex and Alexa. They are doing a blog too, and they are traveling for a great cause (unlike me who is traveling for pleasure) so check out their link! I enjoy reading their adventures, and you should too!
www.odeafo.blogspot.com/
www.odeafo.blogspot.com/
Belgium
I left off the last Netherlands entry when I was at Rotterdam - catching a train to Brussels - I wanted to find an internet cafe to see if I got any CouchSurfing replies, so I asked the front desk attendant at the tourist office near the Rotterdam train station. He said the nearby free internet for tourists was closed just 20 minutes ago (darn!) but he suggested I go to a road (forgot the name of it) and he wrote down and I quote him "there are lot of arabs there" ... uh okay. Gotta love Europeans.
So I wandered down that road 5 minutes away and couldn't find anything. A painting in another road to the right caught my eye and I found out it was the Muse Mile, the Muse is a music group and I'm familiar with some of their songs so it was cool to wander down the road and see graffiti and quotes on side of buildings.
Oh, that reminds me, I updated about 180 pictures (Ireland, UK, Netherlands) on my facebook, so check out my page. If you aren't friends with me you can view them through this public link:
After the Muse Mile, I turned left and walked maybe two blocks and guess what I found? An Arab internet cafe! But no CouchSurfing replies, only declines. With no place to stay, I headed to Brussels, Belgium and hoped to find a hostel nearby the central train station.
Upon arrival after a 3-hour train ride, I walked around and saw a hotel lobby with computers. I kindly asked the lady at the front desk If I could use the computer to find a friend's house address (yay for white lies) she said sure go ahead! So I checked and I got an e-mail from Lieke, Peter & Kids on CouchSurfing saying I could stay at their place at Dendermonde! I couldn't believe my luck! The email was sent about a hour after I left the internet cafe in Rotterdam, and I read it at 22:00 it was late but it was better than nothing.
In case you're wondering, Dendermonde is a small town right in middle of the "Big 3" - Brussels, Antwerp and Bruges - go google it up.
So with directions, I found their place around 23:30 and Lieke welcomed me in even though it was late, but it was no big deal. I later found out that I was their 451th guest! This was nothing new for them.
For the next six days, I explored Ghent, Bruges (on bike), Dendermonde, Antwerp, Brussels and Mechelen for a day each traveling by train from the home base Dendermonde. I saw a lot in those towns and sometimes the towns, places and events started to blur in with each other. I was warned that sometimes going city to city can feel all the same thing after a couple of days and I'm feeling that already,
Some of the sights I saw: Basilica of the Holy Blood, Choco-Museum, The smallest chinatown in the world (Only 2 streets!), tons of vintage stores, Manneken Pis, Grote Markts, cathedrals, cathedrals and more cathedrals.
I have to give a shout-out to USE-IT! their maps truly are champs made by locals with local tips. I saw a lot I would have not seen without their map. THANK YOU USE-IT! I stopped by their headquarters in Brussels, they were very welcoming and gave me some coffee and a point-it picture book. It was really neat to visit.
I mentioned on my twitter that "I can't decide what's better in Belgium: the frites, the chocolate or the beer" Seriously, the frites are great here with stoofvleesaus & mayo. The chocolate truly is amazing, I cannot describe the sensation it has to be tasted by yourself to comprehend. And the beers... oh the beers, there's a 1,568 page book on Belgian Beers alone with A to Z listing!
And I haven't gotten to the Belgian Waffles!
My favorite town of Belgium was Bruges. It was so lovely, I felt like I was back in the medieval times with the house designs, churches, cobblestone streets, narrow alleys, windmills and tons of bridges over canals. I rented a bicycle and went through Bruges in four hours and saw a lot I would not see from just walking. I (like many other tourists) was drawn to Bruges after seeing the movie "In Bruges" and the town was more charming in person than in the movie. So that does it, Bruges is my favorite town of this trip... SO FAR.
On Friday evening, I went to the Bozar Theatre in Brussels - there was a Deaf theatre called "L' Intrige De Intrige" by Hand In't Oog (I think it's translated: Hand For Eye). It was different from American/Gallaudet theatre I was used to seeing, lots of gesture, dancing and live guitar music on the stage with out of the ordinary stuff - people walking backwards, sitting and embracing their suitcases and hanging from the ceiling attached to a chandelier. There wasn't much talking, maybe only 5 minutes out of the 1:15 long theatre. I enjoyed myself and had quite a cultural experience with Deaf Belgians.
After Belgium on the 10th, I have decided with the committee of one (It's different to have freedom to decide what I want to do by myself) that I will go to Luxembourg for a day, then go to Madrid, Spain, skipping France. I'll go to France as my last country before catching my flight to Ireland much later in June.
I would like to express my gratitude to Lieke, Peter and their four kids: Nina, Arne, Bavo and Enea for their wonderful hospitality! I really enjoyed staying almost a week with a Belgian family. They showed me around their town, gave me some tips, shared lunch/dinner with me and got to know them well through our chats on miscrosoft word with our nightly glass of beer before bed. They truly were champs and a perfect example of what CouchSurfing should be! Thanks!
I would like to express my gratitude to Lieke, Peter and their four kids: Nina, Arne, Bavo and Enea for their wonderful hospitality! I really enjoyed staying almost a week with a Belgian family. They showed me around their town, gave me some tips, shared lunch/dinner with me and got to know them well through our chats on miscrosoft word with our nightly glass of beer before bed. They truly were champs and a perfect example of what CouchSurfing should be! Thanks!
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Netherlands
What happens in the Netherlands stays in the Netherlands. end blog.
just kidding!
Sabina had a friend who also was in town, so she went to meet them at the train station and brought them to meet us at Trafalagar square - It was three and a half people from Poland, we were thrilled to meet more deaf people and spent the afternoon walking around and chatting even though we have never met each other or knew who we were, we quickly became good friends and exchanged names for facebook :)
As time night came, it was time to say goodbye, and we caught our bus to Amstel station in Amsterdam, Netherlands. (Yes, the same Amstel as the Amstel beer) we immediately went straight to the city centre and began to explore Amsterdam. Now, if you know what amsterdam looks like (if you don't google map it) it is kind of U-shaped and basically, one wrong turn and you can go around in circles... that's what happened to us we saw the familiar sights and we were like "how did we get here again?" then went to another direction, and went back to the same place! So touristic of us!
Thanks to the Lonely Planet book, we stopped at a local frites shop where they served fries with mayo, and it was delicious (Next time you see me in america you'll see me dipping fries in mayo not ketchup).
We eventually found an internet cafe and looked to google maps to Iris' place - Iris was the person who was willing to host us through couchsurfing - she's hearing but took Dutch sign language classes (and some ASL) for two years, so she was eager to meet people who used ASL because people don't use ASL in Europe.
She was our first couchsurfing host, and we were her first guests, so it was a good experience for both of us! We arrived at night and chatted a bit, and then Iris was in the mood to go out, I was too but Tyler was tired and stayed in. So Iris took me to Leidsplein, a tourist hotspot with a bunch of bars, It was nice, but I asked her to take me to something local - so we went to the minds. It was less crowded and full of locals with Brand beer. I'll just say it - Brand > Heineken. End discussion.
A friend of Iris texted her and asked if she wanted to go to a rigoord (Squatting party) and sure we were up to it. It was so much fun there, full of "left" people and they were very cool with everything. We partied and danced until six in the morning!
On the next day, we woke up at 2 in the afternoon feeling quite blah. Iris contacted some Deaf friends of hers to meet up, so sure we were up for it at SoHo location where it is a strong gay area (Like Dupont Circle in D.C.) because they had happy hour specials 2 for 1 drinks, can't complain! There we met Rico (Tyler's former staff at YLC) and our fellow american Jason Lamberton who was staying with Rico. We had a blast chatting and buying rounds of drinks! Later we moved on to another bar with a fresh happy hour then went to FEBO for some munchies. FEBO IS THE BEST! after that we went to the watering hole and met about 10 Deaf people for a good time!
On the next day, we planned to meet Jason at the Anne Frank Huis, so before we went into the tram from iris' place, somehow, tyler had the door shut in his face and I was already inside. The tram left and we only could look at each other through the window. At arrival, we got lost, so I went ahead to the Anne Frank museum and waited for a hour and Jason showed up but no tyler... so we went ahead and went into the museum - TWO THUMBS UP - then went to the dam where we agreed to meet Iris at 18:00, Tyler was there and he was waiting for us for almost three hours! We got together for the night and enjoyed some drinks.
For the next two days, we bought the "Amsterdam Card" for 48 euros for 48 hours, it allowed us admission to any museum in Amsterdam, free gifts from places, free tram and discounts at restaurants/bars. We went to 20 places and enjoyed all of them. Some highlights: Rijksmuseum, The Heineken Experience, Van Gogh Museum (On his birthday March 30!) Jewish History (Joods Historich) museum, Rembrandt Huis and a canal boat tour.
After the card expired on March 31, we met up with Iris and her sign language class at the University of Amsterdam, they were thrilled to have Deaf Americans from Gallaudet attending their class. I was a bit lost with the Dutch signing but caught some of it. It was an enjoyable experience seeing a sign language class in a different environment.
Later that night, we went to an authentic dutch restaurant, the food was delicious and our bellies were stuffed! I had mashed potatoes with endive and a giant meatball. Tyler and Iris had sausage with mashed potatoes.
On april 1st, we went out to explore amsterdam one last time, Tyler wanted to visit the Anne Frank Huis, so as he went, I went and explored the Jordan and Nieuwmarkt area of Amsterdam. Later we strolled down a street and spotted a lovely skull right in the window! We haven't saw any since, and went in the store. I love to collect skulls from different countries I visit and got to have one, so I did. We also ate Turkey Pizza, it was so good, I can't believe it's not that common in america! If you have a chance to do so, eat some turkey pizza!
Turkey as in the country, not the bird.
The next day was Tyler's last day in Europe, we said goodbye to each other and I was on my own, but had a new travel partner in Iris. We visited Den Bosch which was southeast from Amsterdam for the SENCITY party!
First, we went to Sonja, Iris' sister's house. It was so cool! An example of what her neighborhood looks like: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kapturer/5361780174/ we had a barbecue with burgers, sausages, chicken wings, kabobs and of course, brand beer!
After the BBQ, we went to sencity, it was a blast! Iris introduced me to the organizer, and I told him that SENCITY NEEDS TO BE IN AMERICA. He gave me his business card, so... hope it will happen. Sencity was a blast, and the best party environment I have went to. Better than any Gallaudet homecoming or rockfest/brickfest party!
The day after, it was time to say goodbye to Iris. THANK YOU IRIS (and her roommate) SOPHIE FOR HOSTING US! You were great!
I took a day trip to a lovely small town Delft, which is the birthplace for famous dutch blue and white pottery for a couple of hours. After that, I then took a train to Rotterdam en-route to Belgium!
And yes, you will have to wait for the Belgium blog :) thanks for reading!
One last note: Sorry to disappoint some of you for not mentioning coffeeshops, but coffeeshops aren't as popular in the netherlands with the locals as you would think. Most tourists, especially people from london, paris, brussels go to holland for a weekend to get drunk, stoned and go back home. I could go on and on about this but that's another topic for another time in person.
One last note: Sorry to disappoint some of you for not mentioning coffeeshops, but coffeeshops aren't as popular in the netherlands with the locals as you would think. Most tourists, especially people from london, paris, brussels go to holland for a weekend to get drunk, stoned and go back home. I could go on and on about this but that's another topic for another time in person.
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Sad news
It feels like we are leaving our lives behind when we travel, but we still have reality, and our lives back home. Due to a personal family matter, Tyler will have to take his talents back to America. Joshua will continue traveling Europe on his own.
I ask you to support and respect Tyler and his family during this time. Thank you.
(expect an entry about the Netherlands within the next 2-3 days. Belgium is next!)
I ask you to support and respect Tyler and his family during this time. Thank you.
(expect an entry about the Netherlands within the next 2-3 days. Belgium is next!)
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