A picture is worth a thousand words…
so here is a quick sampling of what I’ve been up to. I’ll write more soon, but for now I need to drink some beers with Andreas (my couch surfing host) and help him clean his house. We’ve been discussing geeks vs. nerds, work ethics, and why German beer is the only beverage that really deserves to be called “beer”.
http://picasaweb.google.com/eurodave2008/FirstTwoWeeks
Quick update… Just arrived in Berlin last night, and I’m couchsurfing with a cool guy named Andreas, who is also hosting two guys from Chicago. We’re going to take a bike tour of the city today while Andreas is at work.
Amsterdam was great. Did all the touristy stuff the first couple days, wandered the twisting and turning streets, and went for a 30 km bike ride outside the city on the last day.
More updates soon. Oh, also send me your address if you want a post card!
The past three days have been a great start to my trip. I lucked out and was able to stay with some gracious hosts all three nights, so I didn’t even have to spring for a pricey hotel/hostel. The first night, I took the train outside of London to a town called Egham to visit my friend Billy. He had stayed on our couch for a few days after we met at a music festival, and he promised me a place to stay if I ever visited London. Little did he know that I’d take him up on it!
Egham was quite nice. I met several of Billy’s friends, and he cooked us all a delicious beef and pepper stew. On Saturday, I returned to London and did some sightseeing, exploring the city by meandering around, getting lost, and finding my way again. I had plans on Sunday to meet up with my friend Ellie who just moved to San Francisco but happened to be back in England for a friend’s wedding. She was still outside of London on Saturday night, but she arranged for me to stay at her parents’ house so I wouldn’t have to go all the way back to Egham, which was a relief. They gave me a warm welcome and a comfy bed to come back to.
Sunday, Ellie showed me all her favorite places in the city. Highlights included a nice walk along the river Thames, a visit to the Tate Modern museum where her friend was curating an exhibit on graffiti, and an introduction to the best Indian food I’d ever eaten at a restaurant by her university. This morning, before her flight back to the states, she took me to a local nook for a proper English breakfast of sausage, beans, tomatoes, eggs, and blood pudding. Mmm.
Overall, I found London to be a very welcoming place. Everything is so well organized for how large and confusing the city is, and the people here are quite friendly. I don’t think I could ever live here though, as I’d surely get run-over from looking the wrong way one too many times when crossing the street.
I was originally planning on heading north to Scotland or Ireland next, but all of the last-minute travel options (both rail and air) were ridiculously expensive. Unfortunately, my EuroRail pass is not valid in the UK. So I booked a cheap flight to Amsterdam which leaves in a few hours! I caught Debbie online last night and she recommended a hostel where she had stayed a few years ago. Luckily they had space available, so I booked three nights there.
I’m really looking forward to exploring Amsterdam by bike. Supposedly, there is actual bike “traffic” there because it’s such a popular mode of transportation. Sounds right up my alley.
-d
I’m currently in NYC, writing from my friend Anna’s apartment. Turns out that it was cheaper to take a separate flight from SF to NYC and then NYC to London than just to fly directly from SF to London. It’s been great to have some downtime in between my SF routine and the start of the trip.
Nothing about my trip is set in stone yet, other than attending JB’s wedding in the south of France at the end of July. However, I’ve come up with the following list of “like to see” places.
It’s an ambitious list, and I probably won’t see everything since I want to take the trip at a relaxed pace. If you have any suggestions of things to see or places to go, please let me know!
Now I’m off to pack up my bag and get to the airport. I’m flying on “Kuwait Airways” and I’m not sure how they run things so I’m getting there plenty early. For some reason, they were the cheapest flight to London, yet they only accept American Express and Diners Club cards as payment. Weird.