The Final Post

Back in the states now…….Its been a week since I have left Europe and thanks to the help of family and friends I haven’t had the shock of returning to my life until today.  All alone I sit pondering the wonders that I have seen over the last 2 months and grasp feverishly to retain that feeling of wonderment that became apart of my everyday existence.  I also find it hard to resist the old ways of thinking as the onslaught of our culture is relentless and do see why others seek to resist the change as well.  After reading a short article on reverse culture shock I found some solace.  I was told not to judge my fellow Americans harshly and not to expect many to really care about your profound experience as most likely they will never get a chance in life to have the same sensations brought only through travel.  After only a brief stint I am changed forever and have concluded this trip was the best thing that has ever happened in my life.  And, if this struggle for mental repatriation is as hard as it is on me after only two months I cannot even begin to comprehend the hardships of those who go for many more months, and years,  in even more foreign cultures. 

I saw many differences in comparison between distinct cultures.  But, more than anything I saw the likenesses and that we are not so different from each other.  These parallels have had a distinct impact on me and have helped tear down more preconceived notions of people who are different from me.  I wish that within my lifetime I can wholly rid myself of these burdens; they tend to cloud my vision and  hamper me in my pursuit to know people for who they are.  I will no longer pay any mind to the propaganda, b.s. rhetoric and racist statements of those who seek to condemn entire cultures and ethnicity’s based on a few insignificant facts.  I would now hope to fight against it.

I felt ashamed.  After a month or so I saw the fabled “Ugly American” in all its glory.  I was in a pub in Istanbul and a group of AAmericans came in and I overheard them condemning the Muslims and touting their own superiority in a not so quiet fashion.  They were loud, obnoxious, rude and carried an air of entitlement that made my stomach turn.  In a foreign land you are the representative of the rest of your brethren and should always put your best foot forward.  I undoubtedly have carried out similar actions in my travels, but became more aware of them as I went along.  I too wish to eradicate others preconceived notions of Americans.  Brilliance and great fervor for life can be found in some of us even when the veil of “we are the best” is thick.  I didn’t make it a personal priority to show this to other people, but may have changed a few peoples thoughts on us.  The U.S. has a few great ideas and should expound on those, but not accept the notion that we are always right.  We have the unfortunate distinction of being mostly isolated, physically and culturally, from the rest of the planet which feeds into this way of thinking.  We must make steps to overcome this barrier. 

I felt uneducated and uninformed.  After traveling for a while I started to realize that I really new nothing of the rest of the world.  Only tidbits here and there or something I heard on t.v. once upon a time.  I would say at least 80% of the people I talked to could pick out on a map where Arizona is and I could barely tell you where entire countries may lie.  It is also belittling when people who live in a different country know more about the political structure, policies and issues of my own government than I do.  Coupled with the fact that I really don’t know anything about the history of five thousand years of empires that rose and fell that ultimately shaped my current place of residence.  I want to read more on history now.   Also, equally frustrating, the fact that non-native english speakers tend to speak 3 or 4 different languages on average.  This is more so out of utility it seemed than curiosity.  I now wish to learn how to speak Spanish as this would currently be the only language of use for me.  I condemn our education system for that, but more so I condemn myself for not caring enough.

I felt loved and enlightened.  It is a strange sensation when after meeting someone for only a few hours that they would invite you into their home and offer you a place to stay.  I couldn’t say whether or not this was generally normal, but it happened several time throughout the journey or maybe it is my own fear of inviting strangers to my house that made if feel somewhat odd.  It is a glorious sensation when people would take the time out of their own travels to get to know you and did generally care what you had to say.  They really listened and that made me listen.  I am thankful to those who made me feel a part of a larger group and not so alone.  Half of long term holiday is about the people that you meet along the way.  Building and museums are lovely, but they are only shadows of culture and do not make for good conversationalists.  Even with that being said the other half is still reveling in those shadows.  I am still in complete awe of the sites I have seen.  Being at Parliament, Tower of London, The Colosseum, The Roman Senate, The Acropolis, The Blue Mosque, Aya Sofia, The Citadel, Old Town Square of Prague, Auschwitz, The Jewish Ghettos, The Streets of Amsterdam, The Grand Market place and the countless museums and art galleries just to name a few put me in my place.  I saw some of the great heights of men and the lowest lows.  Being their in person is something that cannot in anyway, shape or fashion be replaced by reading about it or looking at some flat dimensionless picture.  To revel in the view was a truly sensational experience which I will never forget.

Lastly, I felt humbled.  If you have read my previous post I commented, briefly, of two encounters that really shook me:  Auschwitz and an encounter with a young Serbian man who personally lived through an American military campaign.  These encounters led me to question if humanity deservesto continue on.  We kill each other, this is an unfortunate reality of our existence.  The question is for what.  The Nazis believed that if they killed all of the Jews, gypsies, homosexuals and political dissidents amongst others that their world would be perfect.  When you see someones concept of perfection it is chilling.  I will never be able to put into words appropriately the feeling of being at the camps and the deep sadness that chokes my heart when thinking about the atrocities and the evil that we are capable.  Even now a month later it makes my eyes well up with tears.  It wasn’t just Hitler it was also those who bought in to the propaganda and those who knew it was wrong and did nothing.  http://edhelper.com/poetry/The_Hangman_by_Maurice_Ogden.htm.  I would challenge you to stand up for the rights of the oppressed and take aim against those who would limit the rights of marginalized and minority groups for seemingly righteous causes.  In the end they only serve malevolence, fear and hate.  Stand up to yourself and don’t give into to your own status quo of stereotypes and occasional racist thought.  We are all people and one day you may be on the receiving end.

I hope that you have enjoyed reading my blog as much as I did writing it.  I wish that I was skilled enough to have better drawn out a picture of what I was lucky enough to see.  The best piece of advice given to me and I will give it in return for travelling is to not make it a list of sites to see, but take the time to get wrapped up in it and take it all in.  I met people from all walks of life and many conceivable fiscal situations and family situations.  There will never be an opportune time to make the jump to another country.  Chances do not coalesce out of the chaos in your life, you need to be active and pick a time to make it happen.  I had to sacrifice a job and a small bit of money to make it happen and others had to sacrifice much more.  In the end it was worth everything; the sacrifices I made were returned to me a thousand fold and I have never been more grateful to be alive.

 

p.s.  All of the pictures and videos will be posted by the end of the week.

The end of days

Well then……..The pressures of reality have begun to set in and I have had to cut my trip a little shorter than expected.  I am currently in Brussels at an internet shop close to the Grand Market.  This will be my last blogpost from abroad, but will post one more time back in the states as well as uploading 14 gigs worth of pictures and videos for your viewing pleasure.

So I survived Amsterdam barely touched.  This city was so much more than I had expected.  All you ever hear about is drugs, sex and heineken.  There is such a rich culture of artists, writers, musicians etc.  Every corner you turn there is something new and wonderful to be found.  I uneasily rented a bike and successfully conquered the streets of Amsterdam after a day of touring the city.  I went as far as my legs could take me and at the end of the day found myslef at the Van Gogh museum.  He said that he didntwant his art to come from any particular style, but to be derived from nature.  At first his painting are dark an earthy, but then as he progresses as an artist they become more light and beautiful in a different way.  There was one painting, which is supposedly his last, named crows in the cornfield (something like that) which struck me in particular.  It is a scene of crows flying into the ominous looking horizon and is more like his earlier works with the choice of colors.  I will say that before my journey that I was never much of an art lover, but I think that i have learned to appreciate it a little more and hope to continue this interest when I get home.

When I left amsterdam I was attempting to catch a train to london.  I was however thwarted by the fact that london is apparently a popular destination and all the seats were full.  So stuck in Brussels I hfound a hostel just by the City Mall 2.  After a few hours of touring around I decided to make a second night out of my journey here.  it is quite a lovely city and can see why it has earned the title of Capitol of Europe.  i roam the streets in search of spectacular Belgian beer and confections.  I found myslef at the royal palace which was not all that great except for one room.  The interior is called “heaven of delight” and is decorated in the shells of 1.4 million jewel beetles.  A splendid example of natures beauty in an iridescent hue.

I am out of internet time agian so i will wrap this up shortly.  i will be in Glasgow on the 4th and then toTampa for a few days, then on to Minnesota for a short stay.  Then back to the valley.

The Communist to the Liberals

I extended my stay in Krakow much further than I had expected, 9 days in total.  This however was beneficial to making my way back over to the western countries.  On my last day there I visited the Jewish Ghetto where was the round up point for the Jewish people until being carted off to Auschwitz.  It used to be surrounded by a wall of which only a small portion remains.  I try to imagine packing 4 families into tiny flats intended for one. 

The second part of the day I visited the Nowa Huta district of Krakow.  After the war the Communists wanted to break up the culture of the people living in Krakow.  They created an entire district and shipped in radicals from all over their greater territory.  This was intended to disrupt their current life styles and become more like the “New Man” they had idolized.  The streets are lined with bloc housing and has an entirely different feel to it than the other parts of the city.  To this day it remains a socially isolated section of town as the ways of the old still have not washed away.  Two huge sites to tour and I have left the camera back at the hostel. 

I hopped on a train the other morning at 10 am to make it back to Prague.  Of course my train was two hours delayed and was forced to stay the night there.  I finally made it on the 6:30a train to Amsterdam and then 16 hours later, with a few stops on the way, I make it.  Greeted with an ocean of bicycles and the intense smell of herb I make my way to the hostel.  Sitting back with my overpriced heineken I sit back a meet a few Americans and can tell the distinct difference between the vacationer and the backpacker.  We have a few beers and head out for the Red Light District.  Anything one desires can be found on these streets.  The women come out of their apartments and demand that you talk to them in the hopes of just 50 more euros.  Its pretty quiet this evening, but the weekend is supposed to be one of the biggest festivals this party city has to offer:  Gay Pride Festival.  They Parade, then hit the streets and then finally end with a canal festival.  This should be an awesome time.  Today I am off to do some substance free touring of the city to find out its history and will also go to the Van Gogh Museum and Anne Franks house.

The Tragedy

I went to see the darkness in mens’ hearts today…..  First to Auschwitz and then to Birkenau.  When you walk the grounds its hard to imagine that 1.5 million people were slaughtered here.  The tourists walk around solemnly and avoid eye contact with each other.  I walked the  grounds of the graveyard and chose not to let it get to me even when entering the gas chamber.  Then there were a display of camp photos.  You see before the Nazis tattooed people they took there pictures for identification and a few of them were on display. Of those one was a particularly poignant picture of a young girl maybe 13 named Chrystlana.  You can taste the  fear in her face.  I stare at her eyes and can see that she is crying which,  in turn, makes me cry.  She lived for only 3 months after the photo was taken.  Sharing that moment with her finally made it real and I let it in.

The Stay

Well its been a while since my last update……  I have been in Krakow now since the 20th and can say that I have not done much since I have been here.  Krakow is an important cultural and educational center here in Poland. I am told that the population swells by over 150,000 when school is in session  It is a strange feel here.  On the one hand I am in walking distance from the Jewish ghettos,  Schindlers enamelware factory and loads of historical sites (over 6000 in old town).  On the other there are probably over 200 bars and night clubs in the old town center.   Auschwitz sits only about 45 minutes away, but I still have not been there as it has been either raining or blistering hot.  Also, I am suffering from culture overload, dwindling funds and lack of inspiration.  However, it is very cheap here so I am inclined to stay for a bit.  On average I think I am spending about 35 dollars per day with lodging included.

I will write again when I have visited the concentrations camps.

Im sitting in a laundromat taking a rest day here in Prague.  Two men sit in the front  smoking a joint on this beautiful day.   My intent today was to go about an hour outside of the city to see a church decorated with bones from the catacombs.  It is a well needed rest.  I had to switch hostels today because of my current place of residence is entirely booked.

I went out to a pub crawl last night and organized about 35 people to go to it.  The trick is to talk to the organizer and tell them that you have put this all together and they will let you drink all night for free.  I drank copious amounts of Czech absyinth which is disgusting and I did not feel very enlightened.  The group that I brought was subdivided into small bands of 4-8 groups.

It has been difficult to find a travel buddy here.  Infiltrating group’s that have been traveling together for a while is extremely difficult.  I did manage to find some people, but they were very young and were more concerned with which college they were going to apply to in the fall.  I felt that it was better to hang with them and see the castle than to spend more time reflecting on my journey so far.  On our tour to Prague Castle it started raining like crazy.  I was fully prepared with my pos umbrella purchased in Rome, but the others stood in the rain in flip flops and shorts.  We had to wait 45 minutes to get into the cathedral which lies inside.  That was my first time in a gothic style cathedral. Amazing.

I eventually got tired of waiting for the larger group to make any movements and we parted ways.  Solo travel, from what I have seen, is a far superior way of doing this.  You never have to worry about what your group wants to do or see.  It is very liberating to do what you wish.  Also I think that you tend to meet a greater variety of people as you are open to talk to anyone.  I would like to see a familiar face though.  Im also do get tired of telling the same backpacker stories of where are you going and how long have you been on holiday.

Laundry done will write tomorrow

The House Boat

Well its been a busy few days.  I left Budapest in search of more adventure.  My last night their was very chill and just sat to watch the sunset over prague from the citadel.  They have a giant statue their dedicated to liberty that was built by the communists.  Having destroyed all of the other statues built by their former oppressors they wanted to destroy it as well.  However, it was decided she was to beautiful and they did a purification ritual that consisted of placing a sheet over her for three days and then she was again pure. 

Off to Vienna—  I arrived in the city at about 3 oclock and ran around the city for about 5 hours before it started raining.  I managed to make it to Mozarts grave, Shonnbrunner Castle (stunning), museum quarter and the city center.  This is quite a bit more spectacular than budapest, but it is highly commercialized.  It is also quite expensive as they are on the Euro and is hard to find a place that doesnt have some recognizable logo or doesnt cater specifically to tourists. 

Im currently in Prague.  I have been highly suprised at this place much the same as the rest.  I visited old town square, Prague Castle and the Metronome (I could not find how many bpm it was going, but its pretty goddamn slow).  In the evening I befriended quite a large group of people throughout the day and we somehow found our selves on a house boat with two dj’s from cologne.  The german fellow said that they are huge underground hits in Germany, but no one really cared as we made our way down the river.  We got off the boat at about 2 am and stumbled home.  It poured and everyone got completely drenched.

The next day I went walking about the city and found some spectacular views a beer garden just down the way from here.  I think we should adopt having pubs in the park more often in the states.

I should be in Krakow in a few days since every morning I have to check out of my room put my bag in a locker and hope that they have more availability the next day.  Being on the razors edge is quite tedious. 

 

Ill update in a few days.

Budapest

After 26 or so hours on the train I finally arrived in Budapest.  After being here for several days now I have concluded that this is my favorite one so far.  I finally picked up a lonely planet and read a little about its history.  This is the second city of the Austrian-Hungarian empire.  Its pretty evident in the grand architecture of the city.  I am right in the middle of everything currently.  I walked down to the Parliament building which if you didnt know is the second largest in Europe.  Its just amazing to walk around this place and every corner has something new to offer.  The entire Buda side of the city is probably the most picturesque I have seen so far in my travels.  I ate at a small cafe overlooking the pest side of the city and it is an amazing site.  The food is good and everyone is very friendly so far.  Everything is pretty cheap and I have only been spending about 50 dollars a day though including lodging.  The monopoly like money is a bit of a wierd deal though and I never really know how much i am spending on something but the ration is something like 200:1 I believe.  Beers range from 200 to 800 and a good meal can run around 1500-2000. 

I had a late night last night as all the hostels get together on mondays to go to pubs together so Im not feeling very much like writing a bunch today. 

Tomorrow I am going to what is left of the monuments of the USSR about an hour outside of the city and then I will be off to Vienna in the afternoon   another crappy train to take.  I am only spending one night and then off to Prague, Krakow, Berlin, Amsterdam Then to London again.

I cant wait to plan my next long term vacation!

 

Budapest ROX!

The Communist Bloc

Well I have officially been everywhere I wanted to see in Istanbul times 3.  I probably been to the blue mosque more times than I have been to church in the last five years.  The last day I was there was on Friday, which is Sunday for muslims.  I sat in its courtyard and listened to the call to prayer that makes for a highly surreal sensation.  The men carefully wash their feet outside making sure not to dirty there feet before entering the mosque.  The blue mosque is for lack a better phrase symmetrically perfect.  Every angle you look at it you can find perfection.  I also visited the ayosofia, but was slightly jaded on the empire thing.  There are so many other sites that I have seen such as the Topapki castle, Basilica Cistern, new mosque, spice bazaar, the tower……..

As far as the night life has been in Istanbul it was a bit of a bust.  At the hostel where i stayed it was about 5 lira a beer and not such a great deal since the going rate is about 1.5:1 in American dollars.  Now that I am more crafty I have recruited most of my fellow hostel mates to drinking super market beer on the streets just across the way from an ancient prison house which now contains the four seasons.  One night however we made the attempt to go out.  There is a district here called Taxcism or some variation of that spelling.  Two Irish boys and two Americans were dead set on finding the pub going heart of this 15 million plus city.  We went out on a Wednesday to find almost everyplace completely abandoned till the weekend.  The irishmen stopped by an irish pub and asked for the name of an establishment that would still be hopping.  Our inquiry led us to a spot called The Mask.  This place was phenomenal.  It was a live karaoke bar where you sing with a live band, but it was all turkish pop.  One could still appreciate the universality of a good riff however.  We met a group of Turkish women and the irish boys took a huge liking to them.  All spoke for a while and the irish began to dance with them.  After an hour I began to feel paranoid for several reasons.  First this being a muslim culture touching women, even in this modern city, can be frowned upon.  Second, there are scams about that fit this particular scenario where drunken tourists are charged 750 euro for dancing with local girls.  After looking around and realizing out of 400 people we were the only ones dancing.  Exit left.  We made it out unscathed by the heathens.

The last night was uneventful as well except for the fact that two finnish guys that I had met 2 weeks before had sent me and email and were going to be in istanbul.  We met up and toured then exchanged emails with there promise to visit the states in the next few years. 

I left the city at 10 oclock at night headed for Sofia in Bulgaria.  I had heard from 1 or 2 that there are some good places to stay here.  I hopped on the train and got a 6 bed cabin all to myself.  I sweat, tossed and turned all night.  I was asked for my ticket and passport at least 6 times before making it close to the city center.  Sofia……with out any research you can tell that this was once an industrial hub of the USSR.  Hulking skeletons of the communist dream are everywhere.  Giant 50 track rail systems now defunct lay and rot as there is no money to remove them.  Massive industrial buildings now serve as terrariums and reminders of the superpowers fall.  I look out over the remnants of the city and see a row of block housing serving as what I could see as the city center.  Without a partner in crime or a freakin clue of where to go I decided to skip this place. 

I made the next train to Belgrade, Serbia in the hopes that I would make it to Budapest by today.  The signs of war are still evident all along the countryside with bombed out buildings, some burned military vehicles and the slight sense of tension in the air.  I was given a short history lesson on the Kosovo region and told not to bring it up to the local serbs as it is a point of tension.

My eurail pass failed me again.  I was required to pay for this leg of the journey yet again!  I nervously inquired what was the cost of this 10 hour train ride from Sophia to belgrade.  1116 dinars to be exact which thankfully worked out to be 12 euros.  I did have euros on me thankfully.  Not that I would necessarily be inclined to pay any more as this shit box stunk, had no toilet paper, water food or anything of sorts.  Its a cattle trailer.

Not to spoil the view of communist efficiency or anything (ha) we arrived 3 hours late to belgrade and my train to budapest had past its departure time.  From the view of the train belgrade is actually quite lovely and modern.  Everything appeared to be clean and in working order, so I was not afraid to go have a look about for  a hostel.  I did inquire about the train to budapest and found that it also was running behind!  A mad dash to platform 1 with at least 3 minutes to spare.

A local Serbian spoke with me on the train, an animator by trade he was on his way to something called exit fest?  It is a giant 4 day concert where the bands play almost 24 hours a day pretty much everyone that you can think of on the radio plays there.  He gave me two things: a friendly piece of advice to not say that I am american and a short history lesson from the Serbian side of the Kosovo conflict.  I wont go into great detail here but for him we started it by destabilizing and taking away the heart of their culture which the turks had done for 500 years.  They even have a museum with scraps of american planes that were shot down during the conflict.  He said he didn’t really give a shit on a person to person basis, but could tell he was not happy with our politics.  You see his family survived the onslaught of American style shock and awe that happened only 11 years ago which many of his friends were killed.  I was humbled by our conversation and we parted was with a hearty handshake.

I have arrived in Budapest and will write more tomorrow, but I can already say that like most of the cities I have been it is amazing.  There money seems pretty worthless though as I am carrying 30000 units of i dont know what they are called, but a pack of smokes is like 150 of them and that seems okay.

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The East

Sorry its been so many days since my last post.  I took the overnight train from Thessoloniki to Istanbul after getting stuck in Athens.  The cars were small but I had a sleeper bunk all to myself.  I met the two neighbors in either room and we talked for most of the evening.  Northern Greece is quite pretty lots of mountains and streams.  We all stick our heads out of the windows to feel the exhiliration of the speed of the train.  Some of us take branches to the face.  Our engineer has seen fit to make several stops along the way to get things such as dinner, which he had ordered ahead.  He has also stopped along the way to speak with another train for about 20 minutes or so.

At last we reach the border of Turkey at about 4 am.  Everyone out.  We are in the middle of no where in the dark at what looks like a run down farm building.   The Americans are the greatest in number and they try to work through them first.  20 us dollars will get you in, but for the poor canadians its running a cool 60.  I never thought there wouldnt be a benefit to being a canadian.  We had some of our countries other neighbors on the bus as well, a couple from mexico.  There were not allowed to enter the country because of fear of the swine flue and were forced to sleep in customs overnight only to be taken back to greece in the morning.

We arrived three hours late no doubt do to our incompetent driver.  Finally my longed for Istanbul.  The first thing I hear is the call to prayer permeating the city.  I get a cab with a new american friend we negotiate a shit deal to take us to the hostel.  The city is amazing and coming from Athens the streets are immaculate.  The neighborhood I am in is quaint and squat in the middle of everything.  I am approximately 5 minutes from the Ayasofia and Blue mosque.  From the rooftop bar I can see the city sprawling off into the horizon it is an amazing place.

I have been roaming the streets for days now and have technically been to asia now having taken the ferry boat from the other side.  I have found the Grand Bazaar to be the most entertaining so far.  4000 shops in cramped and narrow streets with tens of thousands looking for a good deal.  I hate to haggle however because no matter how good of a deal I think I get I am still getting ripped off. 

I will go out for more touring today and will update more effectively tomorrow as to the sites specifically.  After Istanbul is Budapest as I have decided to skip bucharest.