It was difficult to leave San Sebastian knowing that we would spend the next two days on the move. We caught a day train to Madrid to meet up with my friend Mark Ayala who could not have been a better host. Having listened to Drew butcher the language for the better part of a week, it was nice to be following someone who knew Spanish. More importantly, his place provided us with a TV and some much needed couch time. Rather than check out Madrid´s legendary nightlife, we decided to indulge ourselves in the favorite American pastime of sitting around while drinking and talking about sports (Read: Mark and Drew talked about sports).
The next day we woke up early in attempts to see everything Madrid had to offer in a span of only 6 hours. In order to make our night train to Paris we would have to pick and choose the important sights...but not on an empty stomach. Now, Spain is well known for its tapas...but its true hidden gem is the two-person meal bucket at KFC. Being the cultured travelers we are, we chose the later in the interest of time and money. If we didn´t feel American enough already, as soon as we each took a mouthful of extra-crispy, Bruce Springstein´s "Born in the USA" came on over the radio. Watching multiple Spanish men mouth the words made it all the more enjoyable.
Now to business. We toured the Palacio Real and its Cathedral which were both spectacular and unlike any buildings we had yet seen. We next moved to the Palacio de Communicados (spelling?) and the adjoining park which boasted several fountains and approximately 15 kodak moments if you are with a spouse. Drew and I just made faces in front of the nude sculptures. We also took enough pictures to convince anyone that we were in Madrid for 7 days instead of 1. And though we wished we could´ve stayed longer, we could not help but look with great anticipation toward meeting up with Bernard and the boys in France the following day.
The overnight train provided a relatively comfortable sleep on the way to Paris. We met a Columbian student travelling by himself, who caused a tremendous uproar with the rail staff when they caught him sleeping up in the baggage overhead. Other than that we slept swimmingly and rolled into the French capital quite early. After locking our bags at the train station, we set out to do in Paris what we had attempted to do in Madrid, check off all the notables...and take plenty of pictures. We started by having breakast next to Notre Dame which apparently adds heavily to the price. We then went to the Louvre to see da Vinci´s Mona Letdown as the horizon in a sea of Asian tourists. Continuing our walking tour, we climbed the Eiffel Tower and then walked to the Champs Elysées to see the Arc de Triomphe. Strangely enough, in this brief amount of time, we ran into: the Columbian from the train, Janic Noah (French Singer/Joakim Noah´s dad), and the two Australian girls we had stayed with in Nice.
Sadly we could not spend more time in the city because we had to meet Bernard at Orly Airport, who was flying in from his trans-Atlantic sailing trip. At Orly, Drew and I were each given a 25 Euro fine for not buying the proper transfer ticket. We tried to argue but the officer, a short man with tightly slicked-back hair (difficult fine to stomach), took his job entirely too seriously. We gave out the only money left in our wallets and jumped on the tram to the main terminal. Waiting patiently on the ground in baggage claim, I was suddenly kicked by a bearded frenchman hovering over me. It had been a long time since I had been kicked by a bearded frenchman so I was quite startled. Looking closer I realized it was Bernard who typically always looks as if he has just shaven. We greeted him and walked quickly toward the rental-car kiosk.
We drove back into the city and had dinner at L´Entrecote, a restaurant famous because it has no menu and only serves steak and fries with a special sauce. After recounting the first leg of our trip to Bernard and filling up on some decent food for a change, we started the four hour drive to his father´s house in Brittany. Bearded Bernard apparently drives like a maniac because we got there in 2 and a half hours and quickly went to bed. We awoke the next day to join Pierre and Heidi (Bernard´s Dad and Stepmother) and their German family friends. Since we only had one day in Brittany, we decided to have a traditional coastal French meal at a crepe and seafood restaurant. Though the food was excellent, it seemed to have an adverse effect on many stomachs at the table. About halfway through dessert, we noticed that Drew had been missing from the table for about a half hour. Naturally, Alex strolled to the bathroom to see if he was having technical difficulties. He returned quickly and announced to the table that he could not be sure if it was Drew, but there was an American man groaning loudly in the bathroom, as a line was forming out the door.
The group finished, paid the bill, and then waited at the car for Drew to make his glorious return. Looking quite pale and worn out, he squeezed into the car for the ride to a local Casino. First, we took a pit stop in a town called La Croisic where the seafood (and Karma for always passing himself off as Canadian) finally caught up to Alex. He ran into the first restaurant he saw which also happened to be the nicest. There are two things you don´t do in Europe, one is shower, and the other is go into a bathroom at a restaurant where you are not a customer. Nevertheless, he reportedly unloaded on this bathroom just as Drew had done earlier. Unfortunately for him, and whoever the new employee was, he only discovered post-wipe that this toilet would not flush. He was escorted out by the female owner and slowly walked over to the group, as we all laughed hysterically. Laughter quickly turned to fear after the restaurant staff discovered what Alex had done. A large chef came out the door weilding a dough roller which was our cue to begin running. Bernard did not run however...he simply walked over to the car, got in, and drove over to pick us up about 100 yards down the road.
We made it to the casino and all sat down at a blackjack table. Usually this story ends with all of us losing money, but, fortunately for us, it must have been amature dealer night. The poor girl dealing us cards could hardly count or shuffle and in total we each made away with 50€. Despite the metro fine, Drew and I were still able to leave with a leg up on France. We bid farewell to the group the next morning and caught a train to Brussels. From then on out, it would just be Drew and I.
We arrived in Belgium and for the first time had to take a cab because we could not find our hostel. The Germans had told us that all there was to do in Belgium was eat and drink. So, Drew and I decided to take it for what it was and do just that. After a traditional meal of mussels and fries in the city center, we wandered over the the city´s most famous bar, Delerium Café. This bar holds the Guiness record for most beers commercially served with nearly 2800 different types from all over the world. Fortunately for us, they were also pretty cheap and all over 6% alcohol volume. We eventually found our way to the strongest Belgian beer, Bush Ale which had a shocking 12% alcohol volume. Drew and I each had three and were both drunker than a 94-pound high-school female after prom.
We stumbled back to our hostel and passed out at 6 only to be awoken by our new roomate around 8. Taylor, a Canadian guy our age that had been travelling for the better part of a year, quickly befriended us and invited us to go watch the Eurocup Final with him and this Scottish guy he had met earlier in the day. I don´t know what it is about Scottish guys, but the one we later met up with was absolutely insane. We walked into a giant sea of Spanish supporters as he screamed Deutschland, after which he proceeded to rip off his shirt and climb a nearby streetlight for a better view. After watching the most anticlimatic final match in the history of the Eurocup, he somehow stole Drew´s shirt and left. Drew then took my shirt to try and go buy another shirt. In typical Drew fashion however, he came back 45 minutes later, still wearing my shirt, having been at a bar the whole time. "I got sidetracked."
We all woke up the next day with healthy hangovers and set out to see the city. Brussels is famous for having a statue of a kid peeing and having a church with a urinal on its side. Both were the most anticlimatic sights we had ever seen...So, Drew, Taylor, and I just decided to grab a quick Belgian waffle and head back to Delerium. While there we ran into Drew´s next door neighbor from school and her boyfriend who happened to be from Annapolis. We talked to them for a bit and continued drinking the strong beer...same outcome. We all went back to the hostel and passed out hoping to wake up for the late night scene. We all awoke just in time for checkout the next morning.
It was clearly time for a change of scenery. Drew and I had planned on going to Brugge for the day...so Taylor decided that he would just tag along. We all took a short train to this medieval town and quickly found a hostel. After putting our bags away, we took a must-see tourist map and started walking. This is supposedly the town where French fries were invented so we had no problem sampling the local cuisine. Afterward we spent multiple hours wandering through the cities many side roads and canals, looking at castle after castle. Brugge was the most interesting looking city we had been to up to that point. Unfotunately, this city is also primarily famous for its romantic spots...and now we were not just two guys, we were three. We left the following morning for Amsterdam and bid farewell to Taylor. We actually just said bye but bid farewell sounds better in writing.
Amsterdam......................was fun.
We left for Copenhagen four days later on an overnight train and arrived on a Sunday morning. We spent the day walking around the city, stopping at the royal palace, the royal observatory, the Tivoli amusement park, and the main shopping strip. We returned to our room to find that our roomates were four beautiful Swedish girls in a room for 6 people. They invited us to go to a jazz club with them, whic we gladly agreed to. Now, if you like jazz, you are lying to yourself...but we had nothing better to do. To make matters worse, we later found out that all these Swedish girls wanted to do was hate on America. Try listening to jazz while people with strange accents bash your country two days after the 4th...its lamer than a Chinese Symbol ankle tattoo. We quickly got wise and left these women to terrorize other men.
The next day we luckily found an opening to stay for another night, which gave us renewed energy to see Copenhagen. One thing about both Amsterdam and Copenhagen that we were astonished by was the amount of people on bikes. So, we took a page out of our Nice book and rented some. These bikes were nothing like your 5th grade Huffy...we´re talking basket up front multiple gears, handle and pedal brakes. We first rode to the Carlsberg Brewery which was about 5 miles outside of town. After talking to the recptionist for a bit, we were given free entry to the brewery tour and received two free beers at the end. The brewery tour was like any other but the free beers at the end were delightful. Drew and I then cycled back to the center square where we paid entirley too much for a small meal. This did not stop us from continuing our unofficial bike tour for another couple of hours. After returning our hogs to the rental place, we attempted to go out but the Monday night club scene was just not happening, especially with the outrageous cover charges at every place. Instead, we walked back to our hostel and fell asleep, anxious for the long trek to Prague the following day.
That is the Cliff´s Notes for the past two weeks...Prague blog soon to follow.
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