Genova

I went to Genoa without knowing anything about it. It is a very big city and it is on the Mediterranean. Well, actually it is on the Ligurian Sea, all this time I have been calling all the water around Italy the Mediterranean, I am learning.

I met some Italian guys one night. I was walking around looking for a place to eat and I wandered into this place where some people were spending their evening chatting away like old pals (well actually they probably were old pals). Only one of them spoke English, his name was Pino. I had a lot of fun hanging out with them. To go with my dinner I ordered milk and they kept laughing that I ordered milk, they would say, "Vino! Vino!" They wanted to know how my dinner was and even though it was obvious by the plastic container and lid that it was a microwavable dinner, I said, "Magnifico!" And I told Pino to give my compliments to the chef. They laughed.

Pino wanted me to meet his friend Chichi who has traveled all over the world and is proud that he only knows how to speak Italian. We were outside when Chichi was approaching and Pino told me to say, "Ciao, Chichi! Como estai?" When I did, Chichi was very befuddled and just stared for awhile. Then Pino started laughing and Chichi could tell we were joking with him. Pino told him I was Americano and then we talked about traveling for quite a while.

I saw my Italian friends the next day and they gave me their email addresses and the address of the bar so I could send a postcard from Greece and America. I also had dinner again and this time instead of milk I had Vino! :)

By the way, I cut my hair recently.

Como

Como was the first city in Italy I visited. I stayed a night in Lucerne the night before but there is no point in writing a blog because I left my camera in a locker even though I had a picturesque morning walk along the lake. Well, back to Como. It was a beautiful train ride from Switzerland to Italy, right through the alps. I was glad I did it in the daytime to see it all, instead of a night train like my original plan.

Como was right on the lake. I pretty much did nothing but relax by the lake my whole visit in Como. I was reading a book my friend Jana loaned me when I saw her in Paris. The book is called Three Cups of Tea and it is about a man, Greg Mortenson, who after trying to climb K2 decided to start building schools in impoverished villages of northern Pakistan and Afghanistan. It took me awhile to get going on the book, but I pretty much read the whole thing on the train ride to Como and then in Como. It is a very inspiring and informative book!

Como was a great place to stay for a first time in Italy. I had pizza, gelato, wine, grapes... It is nice to be somewhere that all the food I love is so common!

Antwerp

In Antwerp I stayed with my cousin Kathy's friend Mia and Jos in their apartment on the waterfront. It was very nice since earlier that week I had camped out in Bruges, Minden, and had two nights on the train.

I was excited to see the magnificent cathedral in Antwerp, the Cathedral of Our Lady. I had previously learned about it through the Dutch painter Neeffs paintings of the beautiful interior. Also, inside the cathedral they had some impressive paintings by the famous painter from Antwerp, Pieter Paul Reubens. I also visited Reubens house in Antwerp.

Antwerp had some of the most bizzarre activites going on I had seen yet in any city. There were pub trolleys going through town, where it looked like an actual pub on wheels, and people were all sitting at the bar just enjoying the ride. There were groups of people all dressed up and seemingly trying to accomplish strange tasks; for instance one group of males were trying to get signatures on their friend who was wearing nothing but a diaper. It was quite strange.

There were lots of tempting waffles being sold on nearly every corner in Antwerp, and at first I was reluctant to give in. When I was in London the smell in the air from the waffles was overwhelmingly tempting, so I gave in and had one. The taste of that waffle did not come close to as good as it smelled. Well, completely forgetting the fact that in Antwerp, Belgium a waffle would not just be an ordinary waffle it would be a world-famous Belgain waffle, I gave in once again to the smell and was expecting a similar experience to London's. This time, however, the waffle tasted just as amazing as it smelled. It was a few days later when I was thinking about how good that waffle was that I realized, oh right a Belgain waffle, that's why it was so good.

Thank you to Mia and Jos for letting me stay with you in Antwerp! Thank you, Kathy for contacting them for me!

To Brussels or... Minden?

As I left Germany, there were still a few towns I would've liked to have visited, but since I felt I needed to venture on towards Italy and Greece they were moved to later in my itinerary. Minden was one of them.

A benefit of traveling alone is that I don't have to feel responsible enough to stick to any plans. I knew of one hostel in Brussels but to my surprise they were booked for the night. The first thought I had: I'll go to Minden. So, after a night's sleep on the train traveling from Belgium through Germany and then a pretty lucky guess of taking the train from Hannover, I arrived in Minden, Germany.

My Grandpa Loris's grandparents were from Minden and I am very glad I took the chance to go visit because it was a lovely city. I enjoyed the charm of the old German houses and the many German shops in the center of town. Also, early the next morning I took a very nice and long walk along the river. Then I left in time to take a connecting night train to Brussels and see what I had missed just the day before.

Amsterdam

In Amsterdam I saw the house in which Rembrandt lived. They had many of his drawings and even had a demonstration on how he made prints from his etchings. Rembrandt is one of my very favorites. They also had a painting of his that is somewhat controversial on whether or not it can officially be attributed to him. It was a self portrait of Rembrandt laughing. I liked it very much and I would feel safe in betting that is his painting.

I also saw the Anne Frank house and the Van Gogh museum. I really enjoyed the Van Gogh museum and much of the background of his life. I was surprised to find out how short his career as a painter was. Not just the fact that he died young, but he started so late! Also, he loved Japanese art so much.

And the things Amsterdam is notorious for:

I walked through the Red light district in the middle of the day. It seemed like the middle of the day would not be appropriate for that type of business, but I think Amsterdam does not distinguish between appropriate and inappropriate. There did not seem to be any internet cafes in town. Well, there were not any shops that were only internet cafes. I walked in one place to use the internet, but it was also a "coffee shop." It was so smoky inside I decided I did not need to use the internet after all. Just in case you are unaware of what Amsterdam's coffee shops are, I will give you an idea: the shops are almost always playing Bob Marley music and you can smell them from a block away. They seem to be the only shops other than McDonald's that are included in the street signs that point you to places of interest. Well, McDonald's has its own signs, but it is funny to see arrows pointing you to: <-- Anne Frank house, or --> Rijks-museum, and then <--coffee shop. It just seemed kind of strange.

Hamburg and the beginning realities of the trip

When I first began to plan out my trip to Europe, I noticed that Bruce Springsteen was going to be on tour through Europe during the same time. I grew up listening to Springsteen and had always wanted to go to one of his shows.

It was way back a little before Thanksgiving when I told my parents I was definitely going to go to Europe. At the time, I didn't know how I was going to tell them. Because it was more than just a trip, I was going to go away for quite a while in addition to leaving my job. Also, there was a lot of discussion about the possibility of me going on an organized tour, but I was determined I would be happier to do it on my own. Well, I bought a ticket for the Bruce Springsteen concert in Hamburg, Germany in June. At the same time I bought a ticket to Dublin, Ireland in April. I didn't know how it was going to happen or what would happen from the time I got to Ireland to the time of the concert, but it settled any doubts I had of going or whether or not I would do a tour.

I was excited to tell my parents I bought a concert ticket to see Bruce Springsteen. And I knew it would be shocking to tell them it was to see him in Germany.

So I finally saw Bruce Springsteen. Now that was a couple weeks ago since I am not up to date on my blog anymore. It was such a good concert. Some of my very favorite songs were played.

In addition to the concert, I enjoyed Hamburg a lot. I hung out with my friend, Catherine, and we rode bicycles all over town. I wrote bicycles instead of bikes just to be sure no one is thinking I am riding a Harley ever. Harley Davidson was having a big event that weekend in Hamburg. So, just in case you knew that. :P

In Bruges

Bruges was a charming little city. Even though it was noticeably a touristy city in the daytime, by nightfall it was one of the quietest cities I've been to. Since Bruges was my first city in Belgim I had to try some Belgian chocolate because I have read that it is the best in the world. It was pretty good to be honest! I also bought some 1/2 chocolate 1/2 white chocolate asparagus sticks. Those were good, too, and I ate them very quickly even though the cool weather would've permitted me to carry them around for a while.

Later, I walked up the 366-staired clock tower, which gave a great view of the city. And I went to the cathedral that houses the only known Michelangelo outside of Italy. The statue was the Madonna and Child. It was so tiny but yet so magnificent. I am excited to see more Michelangelos in Italy.

The day I left it was pouring down rain! I guess that is typical of Belgium's weather. It was actually a lot of fun. Very often I enjoy rainy weather. The only downside was that I didn't want to get my camera out and I passed up a gorgeous picture of swans swimming on water of a million ripples from the falling rain through the lushest lillies of lala-land. It was quite a moment. I'll have to draw you a picture later. :)

This is what I sleep in when I camp out. I am not in it, btw, my backpack and sleeping bag are in there.