In Paris, Wine is Cheaper than Water

I have been debating for some time whether or not to put a good half of my stories from Europe on this blog. I get enough criticism here at home, I'd prefer to not have to face the same criticism from strangers on my blog. These stories though are absolutely priceless, I couldn't make these up if I tried. So, as a duty to myself, to make sure they are remembered, I am writing them down. Understand, I am 18, I was in Europe, and I this was the time to let go, be fearless, and enjoy myself. This goes mainly as a message to other Americans, I'm pretty sure people in any other part of the world aren't going to care, so I guess I will begin! :)

Story #3 - "No worries my friends, I have more in the back!"


It was our second day in Europe. We were in Paris. Alex, Danny, and I had spent our hours in the sunlight visiting the Louvre museum, exploring the Notre Dame Cathedral, climbing her bell towers. We had stood atop the cannons at the Hôtel des Invalides, taken the elevator to the top floor of the Eiffel Tower. Our day was more than successful, and now, we were feeling like kings. We left our hostel late at night on our way to Le Batofar, a night club hosted on a massive red boat.



We looked for a good hour, yet we couldn't find it anywhere. Down, but not out, we grabbed a bottle of wine and headed towards the river. We passed massive groups of kids slightly older than me, playing music, enjoying drinks, dancing, I was feeling it all.



When we arrived back at the hostel, now well after midnight, we had picked up another bottle, and began playing cards. I was downing that wine. I had never used wine to get drunk before, and now I wasn't really holding back. We were laughing so hard at everything, but what did we care? No one was around to bother us! Then the French guy running the hostel approached us. I don't know if it was wine, but he was clearly on something.
"Eyyyy ow're you guys doin'? You like Pari'?" He introduced himself as Kais,
"My name....it is on my...uhh hat. Kais! See? Kais! It is right here.."



Feeling nice and confident we asked him where the best place to get girls was in this city. So he walked us over to front desk and broke out a map.
"Wellll right about hyere they are very nice, this section is good too. Here is the best deal, 100 euro, full package." I was rolling in laughter.



We finally ran out of wine and I was expecting that soon our little night of fun would come to an end, but Kais seemed to have a solution...
"No, no, wait here.... I have more." He stumbled off into some back room and was gone for a good fifteen minutes. We waited, continuing to make completely dumb jokes which were probably never funny to begin with. He appeared with 3 more bottles of wine. We went to town.


Everything after that gets slightly fuzzy. I remember going to bed and feeling fine but apparently I wasn't that fine haha. We were staying in bunk beds, I was on the top bunk, Alex was on the bottom. The next morning I woke up spinning and dizzy. There was all this...purple crap everywhere. I was struggling to understand the feeling I felt, but it was as if the sheets were....damp. I started freaking out! I jumped out of bed and ran to the bathroom, I began washing my hands and noticed more of this textured purple crap all over my arm, I starting rubbing it, trying to get it off, when I finally got my first glance of myself in the mirror, it was all over my face... The struggle to comprehend what was happening, that is what I remember the most. Oh and this picture.



Again. Don't judge, it was an awesome night if only because it was such a weird and interesting experience. Apparently at some point in the night I had started, um, fighting the alcohol by alternative means? Alex was freaking out because he thought it was going to run off my bed and drip down onto his! He was asking me to go into the bathroom, but I couldn't. Now, keep in mind, I had no memory of any of this. The next morning I rolled all my sheets into a ball around my pillow and placed it by the door. What else was I supposed to do! We went to Versailles, and all day I was so scared that I was going to get kicked out of the hostel for messing up the bed, but everything worked out alright!

Moral of the story: I'm not French, therefore, I must respect the wine!

Optical Treasure Hunting?

Story #2 - Bikes and Mountains in Switzerland

It was our first day waking up in Zurich. I was looking at the map to decide where to go that day. Everything was far away and all the best spots were opposite each other, a real pain when you are walking. I was going through our guide book one last time when I spotted a small paragraph talking about free bicycle rentals. Instantly intrigued, I continued reading and learned that near the train station, there was a place where we could indeed rent bicycles for free! We payed them 20 euros and after returning the bike, the money would be returned to us. We were thrilled! It would be the first time in over 2 weeks we had ever not walked somewhere. It took us a long time, and we had to ask many people, but we finally found the place and got our fresh set of wheels. I love biking, and this instantly put a smile on my face. We coasted around the city, through the small streets, under the trees. We whistled through parks bordering the aqua blue lake. We stopped and enjoyed the view in one sitting on some steps by the water. A family of swans swam up to us. The babies had just begun to get their white feathers.


Content with our exploration, we decided to pick a destination. The first thing that came to my eye, the "Dolder Grand", a beautiful building up the side of the mountain. It apparently had an amazing view. Alex and I rode across the town, and then we hit the slope.. We could only pedal for a few minutes before it became too much for us and we had to get off. We begun walking our bikes up the mountain side. We were tired as hell, but tried to stay positive. After an hour we finally reached our destination.


To our great surprise, the Dolder Grand was no tourist attraction, it was a hotel, and very nice one at that, non-residents were not permitted entrance. I glanced back at the map, where I noticed that there were small paths running through the woods that surrounded the Dolder Grand. We decided to follow these paths and to try and get behind the building, and maybe from there we could find the view we had been hunting. We parked our bikes and began trekking through the woods.


It was so quiet in there. There was no one around. The air was cool and crisp. When we finally found the exit, we were standing on a road behind the building. The road ran down and T'd into another road. It was on this road that there were two benches, overlooking the valley. There was a golf course below, so no trees were there to obstruct our view. We sat there for a good half hour, listening to music and taking in the view. I thought about a lot of things on the hillside. My life, my family, the world. Then we moved on. Biking down the mountain took us hardly 3 minutes, I didn't even have to pedal once! I know that I will never forget that view or the way I felt when I cracked the truest smile I had had in a very long time.

Why pay for souvenirs?

Story #1 - The Bone

Alright, on our last day in Paris, we decided to visit the Catacombs. To provide a little background, the Catacombs was initialized at the end of the 18th century because Paris had run out of space to bury its dead people! They bought three old mines that ran under the city, and over the course of the next half-century, began to transfer bodies from the surface down into these caves. Today, you can visit one of these mines. They are stacked on shelving, some of the skulls have been arranged in such a way that they make designs or pictures. They had a lot of building material to work with.. But anyhow, my cousin Danny, my travel partner Alex, and I walking through these narrow corridors joking about how awesome a souvenir one of these bones would make... Catch where I am going?



Of course, there were men and women inside who were being payed to oversee the Catacombs, to ensure nothing was stolen or vandalized. But as our small tour group walked around a certain corner, something to me just felt right. I quickly reached up on top of one of the shelves and without even turning my head, I grabbed a bone, and threw it up under my sweatshirt. Not a single person had seen and for the duration of the walk, I held that bone under my arm, trying to keep it as concealed as possible. We laughed hysterically. I couldn't believe we had actually gotten one. But as we went to exit, we were required to be searched. Now I'm thinking I'm done, they've gotten me, but I noticed they were only checking bags and backpacks and began to think that maybe now, I could get by without losing the bone. I finally walked up and smiled as I took off my backpack and opened it up for him to look inside. He didn't suspect I think. I walked out and burst into laughter the second I saw the sunlight. Keep in mind at this point, I have never actually seen the bone. I wasn't looking at it when I grabbed it, and it has been hidden under my sweatshirt the whole time. We decided the safest place to look at it would be the train since we would no longer be near the Catacombs. Once we had taken our seat, I finally withdrew the bone and got a good look at it. I was holding a 220 year old femur, partially decayed, but fully intact. A couple of Asian girls who were clearly tourists looked up at me with from the seats across from me, their eyes like those of a deer in headlights. We had one more laugh before I put it in my backpack and carried on. Best. Souvenir. Ever.

Intro to EuroTrip 2011

My entire life, I have always wanted to travel. I have been on a number of road trips, and while in middle school, I was fortunate enough to be an exchange student to Barcelona, Spain for two weeks, not once, but twice. After that, my desire to go back to Europe, to see more than just Barcelona, was concrete. I asked my parents year after year about letting me go, but something always came up. "Not enough money", "We have plans this summer" yada yada. By senior year, I had practically lost all hope that I would ever get to go, but I still began bringing up talks for the first time about a EuroTrip, and much to my suprise, my parents were totally on-board. I got a job in November to save up, recruited another friend to go with me, and started planning out the trip for months in advance. Finally, on June 7th, I waved goodbye to my family and boarded a plane for Paris. I would be gone for 35 days and would visit Paris, London, Brussels, Amsterdam, Cologne, Zurich, Venice, Naples, Rome, Florence, Nice, and last but not least, Barcelona. Sitting on the tram, it finally began to sink in what I was about to do. The longest I had been away from my family was a little over two weeks, this was much longer. To be completely on my own though, that I had never done for more than a weekend. It was going to be tough, but I decided that no matter how hard it got, or how tired I was, I wasn't going to quit, I wasn't going to call home for help, and I was always going to leave my bed and go see the world. My next posts will outline some of my adventures and experiences I had over those 35 days. Now, who is ready for some stories? ;)

Hello hello!

I'm not the best when it comes to self-expression. I don't really think I understand who I am, so how could I possibly explain it to someone else? I will just go for the basics then for my introduction!

I am a recent high school graduate and will be attending college in the fall. I live in Florida and have lived here almost all my life. I love water of any kind, beaches, rivers, lakes, pools, you name it. I am never frowning when I am swimming. I have an addiction to adventure of all kinds, this is both a good thing and a bad thing. I LOVE youtube :). I am very close with my family. My constant struggle each day is to find a better way to live than the one I live now. I am not the friendliest person, but I am working on it..

I hope that is good enough for an intro! I'm sure that in time with more posts and through meeting more people, more of my true character will be revealed. If you have stumbled upon this blog and have found any interest in me, my stories, or my posts, feel free to comment me, follow me, talk with me. I love internet friends :).

Sincerely,

J