So yeah, obviously I have had a crazy few months. After my little visit to the US, I was back for mucho carnival, derby, and Eurotrip madness. So this blog will be about EuroTrip 2007 – ‘cause those are the pictures I finally uploaded last night.
First off, my brother/mom/her boyfriend arrived in London. That was fun, since they got to see where I was living, and I got to introduce Kalon to Europe. We had a few days in London before we took the Eurostar train over to Paris.
Paris was good, but I wasn’t enthralled. I have been there several times before so none of it was new for me. We also had a few annoying encounters with taxi drivers that left me seething and cursing the Parisians as a whole. We got tired of walking around, and ended up doing L’Open Tour bus, which turned out to be great! My French language skills started to come out again, as they always do when I am in France. 5 years of high school and university French and I cant actually speak it….but when I am surrounded by it, I realize I know more than I think. I often end up being the one who has to communicate with the locals for the family.
My mom and Don and Kalon enjoyed seeing the sights…a first for them. We had few amazing meals – with a friend of the family, and also with my Aunt Linda, Aunt Carol, Uncle Brent, and cousin Morgan – who we met in Paris. Kalon and I ended up trawling the streets later in the evenings. We really enjoyed the café culture, although were constantly shocked by how expensive cocktails were.
Highlights of Paris:
Jardin du Luxembourg
Drunk guy on the street (broke a bottle on my foot and made me bleed!)
Cathedral’s by night….then watching the quad skaters do their thing on the bridge
(sadly forgot to take pics)
(sadly forgot to take pics)
And then to the countryside……….
We had a gîte rental in the village of Busserolles in the Dordogne countryside for a week with the whole family. I was woefully inadequate with the pics of people and the actual place we stayed, but I got lots of scenery. We stayed here: http://www.lamaillerie.net/ -- which is the gîte property that my mom’s former computer consultant bought with her partner. Tanya, Lisa, and Cole were great hosts and we had a fun time sitting around the fire pit by the waterfall and drinking lots of wine and ale with them. We sat around a lot, read The Dirt (Motley Crue book), ate some amazing food, and generally relaxed with the family.
Highlights of the Dordogne:
Birthday lunch at the Ferme Auberge “Les Forges de la Valade”
5 courses and champagne for my 34th birthday
5 courses and champagne for my 34th birthday
The AMAZING Go Kart track
The beautiful town of Brantôme
Before the week was up, Kalon and I packed up our bags and headed back to Paris to pick up our friend Paul for the rest of our Eurotrip. Relaxing time was over, and it was back to party mode. We had Eurail passes, which were awesome. When you get a Eurail pass as an adult, it’s automatically first class. You still have to pay for the reservations on each train, but it’s totally worth it. So we picked up Paul at the Gare du Nord in Paris and hopped our Thalys train to Amsterdam. Had a great time on the train, chatting to a French woman and indulging in the free alcohol.
We arrived in Amsterdam and figured out how to take a train to our lovely budget hotel….the infamous Hans Brinker. This place has a bar and nightclub on location and is full of young party seekers. Our room was pretty funny….three single size beds with nothing else except a full size school locker each. Klassy. Beer was cheap though. And they have great ads.
Amsterdam is pretty cool. This is a city I have always wanted to visit, and it didn’t disappoint. The weather, unfortunately, was crap…so I would like another visit in the summer time in the future. I think this is a city that lends itself well to short sleeved shirts and riding bikes in the sun, so that’s how I want to experience it next time. Anyways…the city is quite charming, with the tall old buildings – complete with hooks at the gable tips to haul furniture and goods up into the houses out of the canals.
Kalon and Paul wanted to check out a coffee shop – otherwise known as the place you can buy weed – so we headed to the red light district and a well recommended spot. Can I just say….the red light district of Amsterdam is a surreal experience. The reality of scantily clad women behind glass walls just waiting to be engaged for paid sex is odd at best. Walking around and making eye contact with these ladies gave me a really weird feeling. I can imagine it’s totally different for guys, but for me I was just astounded by the obviousness of it all. Men and woman certainly are different. Anyway, certainly worth a stroll, at the very least…
So we went to the coffee shop and I had a laced cookie which did nothing for me except make me more sleepy. This is why I hate pot – and all drugs to be fair. But yeah, pot is just not for me. Never liked it, never will. Kalon wasn’t too keen either. He didn’t get much out of it that night, and had an experience the next day that really put him off it. I practically had to drag him out of a coffee house before he collapsed. Think I’ll stick to my drugs of choice: sugar and alcohol. Oh we did meet a vacationing couple in the coffee shop that was from Boston. WICKED accents too. Good times.
So the rest of the Amsterdam visit was good. I did a few culture things, including the Anne Frank Huis. That was pretty amazing for me, since I have been wanting to see it for a long long time. In middle school I became slightly obsessed with reading accounts of holocaust survivors, and I think the Anne Frank diary started it. Going through the house was like putting a mental picture into reality. I felt like I knew the people and the house already, because of all the reading. I was affected by it, and I am glad I took the opportunity to go.
I really liked the vibe of Amsterdam. I felt very comfortable there. Even though it’s Europe, and totally different from the US, I felt that as a casual liberal urban west coast girl I really fit in. Everyone seemed really chill and open minded and creative and just nice. I definitely want to go back. Plus, they all speak English.
And so on to Munich…our last stop.
Paul and Kalon and I boarded the ICE train (first class, with our own private cabin, natch) and headed to Munchen via Frankfurt. We were heading to Oktoberfest. Beer and pretzels called.
Scuzzi!
Back when Kalon worked at Accenture, he was on a training course with a great English gal named Victoria. They became friends, and over the years Victoria and her husband Alexander had visited Los Angeles a few times. Luckily for us, Alex is from Munich, and his family still lives there. So we were heading into Oktoberfest with some great local hosts, which proved to be a great benefit. We also met up with Wen, who flew in from Los Angeles to meet us.
We didn’t know what to expect when we arrived, but were immediately taken in by the Hurth family and given the royal guest treatment. A traditional Bavarian welcome dinner, followed by a sleep in a wonderful hotel next door to the family home, and the next morning we were ready to enter the Hippodrom tent for the official opening of Oktoberfest.
I was SO jealous of all the people in traditional costume. It was really impressive to see all the Bavarian pride and culture on display. Next time I am bringing a dirndl for sure! What can I say about Oktoberfest?! It was amazing. We spent the entire day in the beer hall…drinking liters of the good stuff, singing traditional songs, dancing, and just having a grand old time. I would go back any year for sure.
Alex and Vic
the Hippodrome
Beer me!
Hold on, still drinking!
Calf warmers, y’all!
Totally stole this cookie...
Drunk German biker dudes (the fat one tried to pull me…eww)
So if a day in the beer tents wasn’t enough, we had more Bavarian fun! The next day the Hurth family took us out to Lake Chiemsee (aka the Bavarian Sea) and the foot of the Alps. It was absolutely beautiful. We took a ferry to an island on the lake, where mad King Ludwig built a small replica of Versailles.
The Lake
Mini Versailles
Then we drove up into the hills overlooking the lake, and checked out the Hurth family property, where they are building a charming vacation home. The land has a beautiful view of Lake Chiemsee on one side, and the Alps on the other. What a great place…
Our day ended with a sunny spell in a biergarten at the foot of the Alps, drinking some cloudy wheat beer and taking in the Bavarian countryside. I think it’s safe to say that Bavaria and Munich were the highlight of the trip. Alex’s family was amazing, and we just had the best time with them. His mother only speaks German and French, so I found my French language skills getting better and better very rapidly. I could completely follow the conversation, and was able to pipe up every now and then. I think I really want to take French classes again, and become fluent.
I loved Munich, and definitely want to go back and check out more of the city. Also, the Bavarian culture and people were really charming. It felt totally different from the rest of Germany…and I hadn’t realized how much they are their own culture before I had a chance to see it for myself.
And so back to London…..a long day of first class trains and we ended up back at my flat in Notting Hill. The boys were in town for a few days, mainly because Kalon and Paul missed their return flight. (I came home to find them drinking a case of Stella and eating steak and chicken pies….good British day)
And that, my friends, was Eurotrip 2007 in all its glory.
Next blog: Notting Hill Carnival, London Rollergirls Expo Bout, and the new boyfriend…
P.S. if you getting this via email...make sure you check out the pics if they dont come through...just go to the actual blog page
