The Great Journey

Mr. Buchanan,

It has been nearly a month since I last wrote to you. Before I left for Europe I was very busy with school. I had two papers, English and International Relations, due a week after I last wrote, so I spent most of the week leading up to my departure working on those. When I finally turned those in, I spent the rest of my time getting ready to leave for Europe. My last night in St. Andrews I had a nice dinner with my friend from Texas, Allison at "The Seafood Restaurant" (yes that's its name). We had a great meal, which is to be expected from what we paid for it.

The next morning (Thursday, November 8th) I set off for the Edinburgh Airport on the Bus, which ended up being faster and cheaper than the train (my original plan). I got on my EasyJet flight to Paris and arrived at 4:30 Paris time. I took the RER from Charles de Galle to Gare d' Nord, where I encountered my first adventure. I somehow managed to lose my ticket so I couldn't get out of the station! Luckily I found one on the ground and walked down Le Rue de Lafayette to my Hostel. Let's just say that after staying at the Peace and Love Hostel in Paris, every hostel afterwards was an improvement. That's not to say that it was an awful hostel, but it certainly wasn't great either. That night I met one of my roomates at the Hostel bar, and just took it easy, because I knew I was going be busy the next day.

The next morning I woke up with pink eye, which was not the best way to start off the trip. But I knew I had a lot to do, and I wasn't going to let it get in my way of having a great time in Paris. So I set off on the Metro (I made sure I kept track of my tickets this time) and got off at the Arc de Triomphe. It was a beautiful morning after an early morning rain shower, and the sun glowed on the Monument. I went to the top and got a great panorama of the city. Then I walked all the way down the Champs Elysees to the Louvre. On the way I stopped to get a Crepe and a baguette sandwich. They were great (of course, I was in Paris) Even the lowest quality street vender food in France is still about twenty times better than the hall food here. A word to the wise while in paris. DO NOT let the nigerians make you a bracelet. In fact, when going to any touristy monument in paris avoid them like the plague, because they will get you. I had to pay 10 Euros for a string bracelet that is supposed to bring me "good luck, akunamatta." I still haven't seen any of that good luck. Anyway, Then I toured the Louvre. The most impressive piece of art was NOT the Mona Lisa, but was probably the huge, "Coronation of Napoleon" or Rodin's amazing horses. It also amazed me that the building itself was not good enough for Louis XIV, so he built Versailles. After spending about 3 hours in the Louvre I walked across the Seine to Notre Dame. I toured the church and went to the top of the tower as the sun was setting on Paris. It was beautiful! The entire city was glowed in the low sun. After that I went to a cafe on the corner of the Boulevard San Michele and the Seine. I had a ham quiche, traditional roasted duck, a glass of wine, an esspresso, and creme brulee. I felt very parisian. I went back to the Hostel that night and just chilled with my roommates in the bar.

The Next morning, Saturday, November 10th, my first stop was the Sacre Cour. Beautiful domes. Then I went to the Museum of Modern Art, but on the way there I walked through an open air market on the Ave. de President Wilson. It was very cool. I saw everything from escargot to skinned rabbits to handbags to paella. Everything was so fresh. The Museum of Modern art was also very interesting. The best part was this section of "video art". It's difficult to explain, but once you see it, its very interesting and thought provoking. Then I walked across the river to the Eiffel Tower, yada yada yada, it's the eifel tower. After that I walked down the Les Invalides and saw Napoleon's grave. To say that the French love Napoleon would be an understatement. Then I got a sandwich and walked to the Musee de Orsay, which was probably my favorite museum in Paris. For those of you who have not been there, its a old train station with a very modern interior design with many famous paintings including lots of the great impressionists like Monet, Manet and Van Goh. I spent such a long time in there that they finally had to kick me out when it was time to close. That night I went to this great Jazz club called Sunrise/Sunset (it's one club with two rooms/stages, one called Sunrise, the other, Sunset.) and I saw a great group called the Ben Sidran quartet. As I drank my wine and listened to amazing jazz, I felt like I was living in an F. Scott Fitzgerald novel. I got back pretty late that night and went to bed.

Sunday morning, I woke up, packed, checked out, and got on my train to Amsterdam. Fortunately that rail company went on strike the next day, so I got very lucky. When I got to Amsterdam I was still pretty tired to I just went to my Hostel (the Flying Pig Hostel, a great Hostel with very good complimentary breakfast) and took it easy. My roommates here were a couple from San Antonio and a guy from Montana, so that was pretty cool. I just went to bed early as I was still recovering from the previous night.

Monday morning I woke up, ate breakfast, and bought an I AMsterdam card (that is not a typo, its a play on words, like I Am Amsterdam, but combined). For 40 Euros it got me free admission to almost all the museums, and a 2 day pass to ride the metro, and various discounts at restaurants and shops. Then I headed to the Rijksmuseum, and saw many Rembrants and other great Dutch artists. I ran into some University of St. Andrews first years there as well, one of which I knew from my IR tutorial. So we went to the Van Goh Museum next door, which was very impressive. You could really tell how his art evolved over his lifetime and see how his mental illness at the end of his life was reflected in his art. Very cool stuff. After that I took the tram to the Anne Frank House, which was totally amazing to see. It was unbelievable thinking about how I was standing where she hid for so long from the Nazis. It made her story very real to me. That night I went out with my friends from St. Andrews on a wine and cheese dinner cruise through the canals.

Tuesday, I woke up and set off to see Amsterdam's churches. First I went to the Museum Amstelkring, a house that has a secret catholic church in the upper floors. It was made because after the reformation Amsterdam's catholics had to to into hiding. Then I went to the Oude Kerk (the Old Church). It's very interesting because now it is in the middle of the red light district in Amsterdam so as you walk down the alley to get the entrance on your left is the church oldest cathedral in Amsterdam and on your right is prostitutes selling themselves in the windows. Needless to say it was a very odd juxtaposition. After that I went to the Museum of Amsterdam's History and ran into my St. Andrews friends again. We went to the Museum's restaurant and had a surprisingly good lunch. Then I walked around and sent my many Paris and Amsterdam guidebooks and souveniers to scotland at the post office. That I night I was supposed to stay at another friend of mine's house in Amsterdam, but she never turned on her phone so I had spend the night at the Flying Pig again. Which actually turned out ok because I had to wake up early to catch the train to Berlin and the Flying Pig was really close to the station.

That morning I woke up at 6:00 and got to the train station at 6:30. I got on my train to Berlin only to realize that I now had a cold and a slight fever (my pink eye had gone away by the time I got to Amsterdam thankfully). So my train ride was not the best, seeing as I had to spend about 7 hours on the train. When I got to Berlin and tried to purchase my ticket to Prague the next day, I found out that the German train line, DB, was going on strike that day, so the only way I could get to Prague was that day. So instead being able to spend the whole day with Niclas, I only had enough to time to meet him for coffee and catch up. But we still had a great time. I got on my train to Prague at 5 PM and got to Prague at 9:30PM. I checked into my Hostel a day early went to bed.

My first day in Prague was great. I went out with some friends that I made at my Hostel and saw many of the sites. We walked to the Old town square, up to the Castle and the Cathedral. On the way we Stopped at the Church of St. Nicolas, which is spectacular on the inside. In front of the Castle we saw this great music group, a upright bassist, an antique flute player, a violinist, and an accordion player (Prague's smallest orchestra, haha). They were great! Then we saw the changing of the guard in front of the castle, which was pretty cool. Then we toured the Cathedral and saw great views of the city from the top of the cathedral's tower. We then walked to Petrin Hill and walked around the park because the observation tower was closed, which was disappointing. We then got lunch in "The oldest pub in Prague." I'm not sure how true that claim was, but it did have a cool atmosphere and good food. Then for dinner we went to what appeared to be the Czech version of Chilis or some chain restaurant like that. But it was good czech food. I had goulash soup, potato dumplings, and this good dish that like a beef stew or mix on a potato pancake. My friends had whole Pork Knees, where they bring you a whole leg of pork in this holders that hold it diagonally so you can cut off the meat easily. Needless to say the main staples of the czech diet are potatoes, beef, pork, and beer. Because of this my friend Jenna likes to call Prague "a man's city". I'd have to agree. That night we went to this club that had five levels, each with a different type of music, but since it was a thursday only 3 of the levels were open, Pop hits, House, and Oldies. It was still pretty fun though.

The next day I was pretty tired so I walked around Prague, across the Beautiful Charles Bridge and then through the Jewish quarter, where I saw the oldest Synagogue in Europe. That night we went out to a nice restaurant and then to U Flecu, an old beer hall. Then I went to the train station to catch my sleeper train to vienna, only to find out it was running 2 hours late! (thanks to the german train strikes!) so I went back to my hostel ( i still had paid for a bed that night, so it wasn't a big deal) and then woke up at 4:30 to catch the 5 AM train to Vienna. I finally arrived in Vienna only to discover that I left my guide book in Prague. After panicking for about 2 hours, I realized that I had turned into my mother, and that contrary to what I had learned, you could still tour a city without a guidebook. So I checked into my hostel and then went to the imperial palace, the Hofberg. I saw the Crown Jewels, which were simply stunning, and then the Imperial Apartments. I then had a late lunch in a cafe outside the palace, which consisted of traditional viennesse soup and chicken and a sachertorte. They sure know how to do tortes in Vienna! It was excellent. I was very tired from my 3 hours of sleep the previous night so I went back to my Hostel. That night I had a craving for american food, so I went one of the more popular chain restaurants in Vienna, KFC. Yes, I know, I stooped very low, but in my defense, I needed some greasy food. Then I went to the Hostel Bar (which was the best hostel I stayed at the whole trip) and played some guitar (they had a guitar that you could borrow) in the hostel. Then I went to bed.

I shall finish this post very soon, (I only have to write about my last full day in vienna, and the return trip to St. Andrews) but right now I have to go out to dinner with Jenna, and then its off to Josh's house for Rasin weekend festivities.

-Tyler

Currently Listening to:
John Butler Trio - "Live at St. Gallen"