Without further ado...The last legs of our trip.
I don't know how many people will read this - anyone who used to check our blog regularly will probably have given up by now. It's been a very long time since our last post. Weeks and weeks ago. Our last update was from Hamburg, and now I'm on my flight home. Can you believe that? It's over already. But more about that later; I'm going to pick up where we left off last time. This is going to be a short account of all the places we went; if you want more info and stories, ask me in person. :)
Hamburg! We decided to stop in Germany again simply because we had fun there on our other visits. This meant that Germany was the country we had visited the most - three individual visits! Truthfully, one of the things we liked most about Germany a a whole was the food. As always, we had currywurst as often as we could in Hamburg. The activities weren't spectacular, but we got a day's sightseeing out of the port area, which was huuuuuuge! We watched Gladiator in German at our hostel...David had seen the movie before but I had no idea what was happening. :P
Amsterdam was a beautiful city. I had no idea it had so many canals - it almost felt like we were in Venezia again! Even more surprising was that there was more to it than the infamous red light district and "coffee shops". Don't look at me that way - what have /you/ heard about Amsterdam outside of those categories? (I was also amazed at how bold the coffee shops were. They didn't even bother to disguise the fact that they didn't sell coffee.)
We mostly stuck to walking around the city and admiring the architecture. Ideally, I wanted to rent bikes and ride around, but biking is serious in Amsterdam. They have dedicated bike paths along every street and locals whizz down them. Something told me that breaches of bicycle etiquette would be almost as serious as if you were driving a car. So we walked.
There was a specific type of fast food shop that we thought was very clever. There was a wall of little glass doors with a snack behind it. Hamburger, chicken burger, hot dog, and a few varieties that were alien to us - almost like fried breadsticks filled with meat gravy. Delicious. You just had to insert coins, open a door, and take your snack. It was an awesome concept! Much faster than waiting in line.
Amsterdam also had Oliebollen shops - small temporary stands on the side of the road that sold all sorts of confectionary goodies. My favorite was the applebollen. Very doughy bread, fried, covered in sugar, and filled with apple bits and a sweet syrup. Again...delicious!
David's aunt and uncle welcomed us into their home in Rotterdam. It was a little bit more low key, so we felt safe to go with them on tours of the city. They showed us the city center and the old town (Rotterdam was mostly destroyed during the war, and only the old town survived) and the huge tower that gave us a panoramic view. It seemed to be constantly raining, though, so we got soaked through on a few of our rides! Ah well...that's northern Europe in November for you.
Alexander and Byron, David's cousins, took us to one of their fencing classes. We were intending just to sit and watch them practice, but one of the coaches made it his personal goal for the day to introduce us to the sport. He spent the class drilling us on stances and elementary footwork. Then he gave us padding, masks, and foils [which kind was it?] and told us to go at it. So we spend a quarter hour attempting to stab each other. It was fun, and stress-relieving. :P
We moved on to Belgium, our last unique stop. The main attraction in Brussels was the Atomium, a huge replica of an iron crystal magnified billions of times. It was around 100 metres high. For a fee, you can actually take an elevator all the way to the top and look out one of the "atoms", which were represented by giant steel spheres. The connections between the atoms were lighter steel rods, and they housed the elevators and escalators. So we looked out of the top and then took a series of escalators back through the other atoms to the bottom.
We were fortunate enough to have the opportunity to meet up with Meghan '12 and her family while in Brussels. Meghan is a current student at Olin, the college that we'll be attending next year, and she's been studying abroad for the semester. Not wanting to miss out on the opportunity to meet another Oliner, we had lunch at a local restaurant that served steak frite, a typical Belgian meal. This was basically just steak with a mountain of fries next to it. :D
All of us went to see the "pissing boy", which was a statue that was very famous if the guidebook was to be trusted. So we were expecting something impressive.
~~ This is where I stopped writing on the plane. I'll continue with whatever I can remember. ~~
But it was just a small mannequin on a pedestal - very anticlimactic. Pics are on my Facebook page!
We tried absinthe in Brussels. Not an experience I would recommend. It tastes like fire and poison.
Hm. After Belgium, we took a series of trains back to Versailles and stayed with Helen for a few more days. This was the point at which we were like "well, we're clean out of Eurail trips and bone dry on money" so to the best of my knowledge we didn't do anything worth noting. But it was great to have French pastries again for a few days.
Because of intense pressure by me, we went back to Madrid as our last stop on the Continent. Again, nothing particularly notable since we had already been there. Did some souvenir shopping for friends and family, and got some more churros. Also, I bought tons of meat-flavored chips to bring back home. XD
On our last night before our flight to England, I had an experience that made me really happy. There was a middle-aged Spanish woman in our dorm at Cat's Hostel, and I struck up a conversation with her. She spoke no English. But we were able to communicate just fine despite that - we probably talked for an hour. She lived in Madrid, but her home was being painted. I don't remember her name, but the fact that I was able to carry an intelligent conversation with a Spaniard in Spanish brightened my day.
Early morning flight to London (they took my Nalgene at the checkpoint, and I later found that they had confiscated David's razor blades and my SOLID SOAP from my checked baggage).
In England, we saw a famous tennis match. I wasn't terribly into it, but if David ever does a wrapup post I'm sure he'll talk a lot about it. (David loves tennis.)
Went down to Eastbourne to stay with David's grandparents for a few days. We went for a long walk across the Downs. I chased sheep. The sheep were scared of me. It was a good time.
While we were there, we celebrated David's grandfather's birthday by going out to lunch. It was fantastic food, but the dessert was the notable part. I ordered the spotted dick just for the novelty - it's an English spongy cake with raisins in it and warm custard poured over the top. When it arrived, it wasn't very good. One of David's relatives poked my spotted dick and said "THAT is the SMALLEST and HARDEST spotted dick I have EVER SEEN." Then he asked the waitress to take it back for the above reasons. I almost exploded trying not to laugh. XD
It snowed an inch or so in Eastbourne, but that was enough to delay all the trains going back to London. The English aren't used to snow :P
We saw a real English football game in London, courtesy of Mr. Maiolo back home - his company had season tickets! We were in the third row, practically right on the field. It was intense.
That about sums it up. We spent another day in the city just wandering around, enjoying Europe while it lasted. Then one morning, I got into a taxi and it ended. Just like that, I was on a plane flying over the Atlantic Ocean towards JFK.
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Reunions, etc, etc. I won't go into that here; suffice it to say that it was absolutely wonderful to see my family again. They even brought me root beer! :D
My Eurotrip was over. Looking back, I can safely say that it was the greatest experience of my life. I saw 11 countries with the best companion I could ask for. And I accomplished my main goal for the trip:
No regrets.
That's because when I had the chance to do something, I did it. I explored those catacombs because I knew I'd never have another chance. I stood under the sparks in Barcelona because I'd regret it if I didn't.
If you ever do a trip like this yourself, remember that one rule. When you look back on your memories, you don't want to have that one sour note. Go for it. Seize the day. No looking back. No regrets.
It's been an honor to keep this blog, and I know I'll read it over many years from now and smile. Thanks for reading, and for putting up with our lapses in posting.
But now I'm signing off for good.
The attack of the nerds has only begun!
< Derek Redfern >
My Eurotrip was over. Looking back, I can safely say that it was the greatest experience of my life. I saw 11 countries with the best companion I could ask for. And I accomplished my main goal for the trip:
No regrets.
That's because when I had the chance to do something, I did it. I explored those catacombs because I knew I'd never have another chance. I stood under the sparks in Barcelona because I'd regret it if I didn't.
If you ever do a trip like this yourself, remember that one rule. When you look back on your memories, you don't want to have that one sour note. Go for it. Seize the day. No looking back. No regrets.
It's been an honor to keep this blog, and I know I'll read it over many years from now and smile. Thanks for reading, and for putting up with our lapses in posting.
But now I'm signing off for good.
The attack of the nerds has only begun!
< Derek Redfern >
