Paris

The first evening I was in Paris I saw the Pantheon, which was very interesting because I didn't know they had one in Paris. I don't know what makes it a Pantheon, however the inside was beautifully decorated with paintings of saints covering the walls. There were also many famous people buried in the crypt in the Pantheon. Notably, Victor Hugo, Marie and Pierre Curie and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. That evening I also saw the cathedral of Notre Dame, however it was a Friday night and they was a service happening. So along with the crazy amount of tourists, the seating was completely full for the service, and it was very very crowded inside. The cathedral wasn't what I expected but I think my expectations were a bit skewed because it was the only cathedral I knew about before going to Europe. But it was a nice cathedral, the usual so to speak, with paintings of Christ or other biblical figures and ornate everything.

The following day I walked around Paris. I walked through a lovely park with marble statues aligned down the middle. I saw the Palace of Luxembourg, I am not sure what it was for exactly. I saw the Army Museum, which is where Napoleon's Tomb is. I didn't see the tomb, I just didn't care enough. I saw the Eiffel tower and I went to the very top, though it was a little foggy I still got a good view. I walked to the Arc de Triomphe, which is not that spectacular by the way, and I walked down the Champs de Elysse. I saw the pink obelisk, which is gray and 3000 years old, in the Place de la Concorde. The obelisk is fascinating, it is an actual Egyptian obelisk and it has those crazy hieroglyphics.

The next day was the first Sunday of the month and all the museums in Paris were free. So I went to the Louvre for 7 hours. Though I think it may have been better to have gone to two museums that day because the Musee D'Orsay was closed the next day so I didn't get to go.
The Louvre was insane, don't just because of the art but because of the volume of people the can fit in there. I did see the Mona Lisa, has everyone should. I walked through I lot of places and saw a lot of art there, the Louvre is massive. I particularly liked the painting of Napoleon's Coronation because of the grand scale of it. I also saw the Venus de Milo, though I am not sure why that one is famous. There were dozens of works that were famous, you can tell the famous works because there will be crowds of people and/or glass around the work.

My last day in Paris I didn't do much of anything because I was planning on going out during the night to see the City of Lights. I spent the day milling around the Latin Quarter, famous for its shops, cafes and bohemian vibe and it was the area where I was staying. Then as I had planned when it was dark I went for a walk. I pretty much did the same walk I did on my second day but in reverse. I started at the Pantheon, then to the Notre Dame, the Louvre, Place de la Concorde, Champs de Elysse, Arc de Triomphe and the Eiffel tower. Paris is quite spectacular at night, especially the Eiffel tower. I didn't get to see the lights along the Champs de Elysse, I guess they don't turn them on in the off season.

I loved Paris.

San Sebastian

San Sebastian does not have a lot going on. It has two incredibly beautiful beaches, quite perfect in fact, but it certainly wasn't the beach season when I was there. I walked round the promenade, from end to end. I stuck my hand in the Atlantic, now I have touched both sides of the Atlantic. I saw the Cathedral but it was pretty plain as Cathedrals go. There is a very large statue, of Jesus, on a small moutain at the mouth of the bay. It didn't look to be on the same scale as the one in Brazil. I didn't climb up the mountain because the only thing up there was the statue, which I could see pretty good from the streets. That is pretty much all I did in terms of sight seeing. I did have a relaxing time there.

I am off to Paris, which is my final stop before coming home.

Barcelona & Madrid

My first day in Barcelona I spent walking around for a few hours. I saw the cathedral, not the Gaudi one but the normal one that has been there for a few hundred years. It was hard to see because it is no longer tourist season so they put up scaffolding everywhere to do restorations and renovations. I walkd down Las Ramblas, which is like the main tourist drag in Barcelona. It has all these performers dressed up in costumes, there are people selling small animals in cages, there are artists doing sketches of people and of course there are the souvenir stands. Just off of Las Ramblas was a market where I had some fresh fruit juice and it was bright pink but it tasted like coconut. The next day I spent on the beach. The weather was quite nice by Vancouver standards but you could see the locals in their heavy winter coats and still looking cold. It was very nice taking the day off to just lounge on the beach.

The following day I went and saw Gaudi's Temple de la Sagrada Familia which is a spectacle, no doubt about it. It has spires sticking out all over the place and the detail is quite ... odd. There are skeletons and all kinds of crazy stuff you don't normally see on a cathedral. It looked like a cross between Dr. Suess and Tim Burton. That is all I really did during the day. But that night I went to see FC Barcelona, the major soccer team in Barcelona, play Almeria. It was pretty exciting being at a game like that. They know how to celebrate a goal in Barcelona let me tell you. Otherwise it was much like any major sporting event, they jeered when the ref made a bad call. I think if they had been playing a better team the intensity if the arena would have been higher but also I probably wouldn't have been able to get a ticket.

There was some strike on in Barcelona and I had to take a bus, for an hour and a half, from the train station to the other train station were the trains were to get to Madrid. It was kinda fun. I am not spending much time in Madrid because there isn't much there. I walked around for a few hours and saw some of the sights. I saw the statue that is the symbol of the city. It is a bear standing on its hind legs leaning against a tree trying to eat the fruit. I walked through a park that had a small lake where people were rowing around. I thought it wouldn't be to much fun to do it by myself so I passed.

I am going to San Sebastian next.

Nice

I spent a few days in Nice. The beach there is amazing except the weather really wasn't warm enough to lay on the beach or go for a swim. Most of the town is quite new, there is a small old town that only takes a half an hour to walk around. In the old town there is a hill with an old castle. There isn't much of the castle left but there were some great views from the top. There isn't much to see in Nice so it only took me about 2 hours to see everything.

After walking around Nice I took a bus to a place called Eze which is a tiny medieval village perched on top of a small mountain. It is tiny, it only took me 10 mintues to walk around the entire town. But it is very medieval, the streets are very narrow and everything looks like it is from the medieval period. There was a viewing platform at the top were a castle use to be but they were charging 5 euros just to go up there.

I then spent some time in Monte-Carlo, Monaco. It is one of those places that makes you feel poor when you walk around. There were a lot of Bentley's and Ferrari's. I saw the famous Monte Carlo Casino but I wasn't aloud in because of some dress code, plus there is a 10 euro cover. I didn't spend much time in Monaco because I felt like I couldn't afford to stay.

I am spending time in Barcelona after Nice.

Naples & Pompei

I went to Naples so I could see Pompei. Naples itself does have some stuff to see, for instance there are a French and a Spanish castles, the Basilica in Naples is quite grand and there is a section of town that has 6 or 7 old churches in a few block radius. I saw most things though I just walked around them but didn't go into any. Naples isn't very clean, there is garbage everywhere and a lot more street vendors per area than anywhere else I have been. The Sunday I was in Naples the Pope was doing a ceremony. I didn't go to see him but a few people at the hostel did and they said it was crazy, he flew in in a helicopter and then rode the Popemobile to the Basilica and everywhere he went there were masses of people following him. The Pope is a rockstar.

Again, the reason I went to Naples was so I could see Pompei and I did. It was incredible. I saw Roman ruins in Rome but it really doesn't compare to this. Most of the structures are mostly destroyed but then there are some houses where the marble is still intact on the counters or the floor. There are other structures that still have roofs or incredible mosaics. And Pompei is huge. I walked around for 3 hours and I only saw a quarter of it, most of it you don't really need to see because it is mostly destroyed. I also saw some plaster castings of the people they found there. It was eerie and strange but interesting to see these people.

Picture of me in Berlin

I had a request to upload a picture of me so here is one of me in Berlin. I have other photos of me but I haven't had time to upload them yet.

Rome

I was only in Pisa a few hours before I travelled to Rome. There isn't much in Pisa besides the leaning tower. I had a great time in Rome. The first day I was there I went on a tour of the Vatican and it is massive, apparently the museum there has a total length of seven kilometres. It also has the world's largest collection of pagan art, kinda makes you think. Well, the reason they have so much pagan art is because there was a pope during the Renisannce, the Renisannce is the rebirth of classical ideas, so he bought all the classical art he coulde gets his hands on. I saw the Sistine Chapel, Saint Peters Basilica and Michelangelo's famous first statue that he carved his name into. I also saw the old pope apartments that were painted by Rapheal.

The next day I saw the Colosseum, which isn't in the greatest shape. The reason being when they were building Saint Peter's Basilica they took all the marble from the Colosseum and used it to build the Basilica. So no all you see today is the internal structure, but if you use your imagination a little you can get a good visual. I also saw the Palatine Hill which is one of the two hills where Rome was founded and where the imperial palace for the Roman emperor was built and now you can see the ruins.

I spent the next day walking around and I saw many of the sights that I hadn't seen yet like the Patheon, Tomb of the Unknown Solider and the ruins of the Roman forum. There is so much to see in Rome I would need a lot more time to see everything but I think I saw all the important sights this time around.

I am on to Naples, specifically to see Pompei

Florence & Pisa

After my stay in Venice I went to Florence. Florence was very cool, I have definitely saw the best art there so far on my trip. The first day I saw Michelangelo's David, which was incredible. It is a massive statue, it must stand 20 feet high and it is raised about 6 feet off the ground so it really towers over you. Additionally, as a piece of art it is amazing, the detail of it is unbelievable, it is so good you can see veins in his arms but you need to remember that this statue was carved out of a solid piece of marble. Also on my first day I went to the museum in Florence and I saw two painting by Da Vinci and several by Michelangelo and Botticelli. It was a very impressive city for its art.

The next day I went to the Duomo, which is a cathedral with a dome, it was very sparse inside and they had a huge area blocked off which didn't allow you to get a good view of the dome. I didn't have to pay to get in but there were roman ruins, which the church is built on top of, that I paid 3 euros to see, it wasn't worth it because it was badly lit, an over all underwhelming experience. I recently read a book on Machiavelli and I went to the building where he worked for the government. Again it was kinda sparse and not really that interesting. I spent some time walking around the city and it really looks how I imagined Italy to look.

I was on my way to Rome and I decided to stop in Pisa to see the leaning tower. Pisa isn't exactly on the way to Rome but I thought it was a worthy side trip. The leaning tower was very interesting. It was leaning quite a bit and when I saw it I was surprised that it hadn't fallen over. It is very tall but not that wide; the perportionality of those dimensions may have something to do with the lean. But there isn't much else to see in Pisa, at least not that I read, so I saw the tower and went on to Rome.

Venice

Venice is everything you expect it to be and slightly more. It has canals, just like you see in the movies or on tv, but no one tells you that the canals smell really bad. Luckily, when I was wandering around the city there was a strong breeze and the breeze smelled like ocean so it was all good. There is quite a bit to do on such a small island, or islands.

I went to the island of Murano which is where all the Venician glass comes from. I saw two demonstrations on how they make glass. I was amazed at how quickly they can produce a vase or a little horse, which they made in both demonstrations. Essentially the only thing on Murano is the glass stores and the glass blowing workshops and of course eateries for the tourists. There are some incredibly expensive pieces of glass on that island.

I want to an art gallery on the main island, it didn't house famous works, it was more of a historical progression of art in Venice. It was interesting but not only did they not provide english commentary the commentary was few and far between.

Walking in Venice is as confusing as everyone says it is. It is not hard to go from one major plaza to the next because there are signs pointing the way. It is hard when you try to take a short cut and every street you try ends in either a wall or a canal.

Now on to Florence.

Austria

After Zurich I made my way to Innsbruck, Austria. I was warned that Austria looks a lot like western Canada and they were right. At least Innsbruck does, though it is completely surrounded by moutains and there is only a narrow river alongside the city and of course much of the old town is older than Canada. But the newer, more modern, parts of town are very recognizable. I didn't really do much in Innsbruck, I only was there one night and I left early for Vienna.

I had a good time in Vienna, again I didn't do much. I walked around for quite awhile, I did go to an art gallery and it had an interesting array of artists, I haven't really seen any famous works yet, I have seen many famous artists, but that could be because I haven't gone to any famous art galleries. I also went to a museum in the Kurt Godel Research Centre for Mathmatical Logic, as you all know Kurt Godel is my favorite logician, but it was a medical museum and I wasn't at all interested.

Austria was fun but I am excited about Italy which is the next country on my tour.

Switzerland

I spent two nights in Switzerland, I feel like that is not the way to spell Switzerland. I spent a night in Bern and a night in Zurich. It all started after I took the night train from Berlin to Basel. I had a nice time walking around Basel. However, the best part was the art museum. It had many Picasso's with a few works of Dali, Monet, Rembrandt, Pizarro, Van Gogh and a slew of other artists, I don't know a great deal about art. There is definitely something different about seeing the original work of art live and in colour.

I moved on to Bern and it reminded me alot of Luxembourg. There is a river that runs around three sides of the old town and it is kinda on a hilly mound though not quite as pronounced as Luxembourg. I saw Einstein's house where he wrote is now famous theories. I didn't go in because it was closed but I don't really think his house would be that interesting. There are a lot of fountains in Bern.

On to Zurich then. There is a lake, Lake Zurich in fact, and there is a spectacular view if you stand by the lake, of the Alps. I didn't get to see it because it was cloudy but I saw a postcard and it was breathtaking. I did have a great time at an Irish bar, throwing darts with two Irishmen and a American who went to a boarding school in Mill Bay, which is on Vancouver Island for those unfamiliar. I meet the American at the hostel I was staying at and the two Irishmen were already drunk at the bar, throwing darts, when we got there. It was an honorable match though they beat us three legs to one.

Now for a quick stint in Austria then I am on to Italy!

Berlin

I spent a few days in Berlin after travelling from Copenhagen. I went to a museum there, it had an impressive exhibit on Babalyon, I don't think I spelt that right but the spell checker here is in German or French, I am currently in Zurich, so it shows just about every word as incorrect and the only suggestion for Babalyon is Battaillon. Other than that the city is quite modern.

There is a lot of World War II and Cold War history here, that is pretty much the only history you will find in Berlin. I am not complaining, I am not that interested in that period. There are statues for Marx and Engels, there is a massive soviet memorial for the troops from World War II, there is a open-air exhibit on the Nazi secret police, their name eludes me now, which was built on the site of their prison and headquarters, you can still see some of the foundations of the buildings. Just about everything to do with the Nazi's has been destroyed, however there is still alot of the Berlin Wall still standing around Berlin. It was kinda funny because I was looking for the Wall but I couldn't find it only to realize I had walked right passed it, not three feet from it.

Copenhagen & Denmark

So my trips in Denmark were not too successful except in Copenhagen. As you all know I had a little trouble when I first went to Denmark and was planning on staying in Arhus but ended up spending two extra days in Copenhagen. I then tried to go to the city in Denmark where Shakespeare's Hamlet is suppose to be set and see the castle in which the King of Denmark was suppose to have lived. However, I got the name of the town mixed up and I ended up in a small, quaint town that really had nothing going on.

Copenhagen on the other hand was excellent and is my favorite city by far, thus far on the trip. I was able to meet a relative here that almost no one in my family has met and I had a great time with him. He showed me around Copenhagen, he took me to see the Little Mermaid, the statue not the movie, he took me out to lunch twice for old fashion Danish food, which I am quite fond of and he also took me to the opera. There is a new opera house in Copenhagen that was built by the richest man in Denmark and then was given to the state. This however didn't work out too well beacuse the opera house is situated in a place in Copenhaen where there is little parking and the only way to get to it by foot is by a ferry that comes once every twenty minutes. Anyway, the opera I saw was Offenbach's The Tales of Hoffman, which is a french opera and is very lovely. My great uncle Kjeld lent me a book on the opera and I was able to read the story before hand so I knew what was going on. I won't go into the details of the opera because it is actually a complex story that would take too much space and time to recount.

Copenhagen the city is very beautiful, unlike most major cities in Europe it was not completely destoryed in World War II and many of the older buildings still remain. I was able to see the National Museum which is suppose to have magnificent collection of prehistoric viking artifacts but the exhibit was close until May 2008 for renovations. It did have a very interesting exhibit on medival Denmark. I was also able to see, for free, the Glyptotek which contained thousands of acient Roman, Greek and Egyptian statues. I even took a picture of Pompey the great friend of Juilius Caesar, but I didn't find one of Caeser himself. Apparently, the Glyptotek was the house of Carlsberg, the man of brewery fame, and he had purchased many of the statues on his many trips to Italy. I had a wonderful time on Copenhagen.

I am now in Berlin and plan on going to Switzerland, then Austria then on to Italy.

Hamburg

Hamburg wasn't exactly exciting but it was a nice change because I didn't really want to do anything. I have felt like I have been rushing to see as much of Europe as possible because that, really, is why I am here. However, this is not the attitude to take if you don't want to burn out.

Anyway, after Oktoberfest I took a much deserved day off and had a nice nap and read my book, which happened to be Ghandi's autobiography, I have since finished it.

The following day I wandered about Hamburg, according to my guide book Hamburg doesn't have a museum or large art gallery, it was wrong on both accounts but I found out too late. This was fine because I didn't really want to go to either anyway. It was quite a nice day the sun shown for part of the day at least. I was able to see the monument to Bismark though I am not sure who this is but the name sounds familiar. The city is surrounded on three sides by water, two lakes and a river if I am not mistaken, I probably am because I read that 36 to 48 hours ago and I have been remembering a lot of new information and forgetting a lot as well. The town hall in Hamburg was called Rathuis and apparently it is quite the spectacule inside but I missed the tour by a few minutes and I wasn't prepared to wait another hour for the next tour because it was near the end of my day and I wanted to go back to the hostel, kick up my feet and have a beer.

I am now in Copenhagen after a long day of travelling. I had orignalled planned to be in Arhus tonight but I had booked a hotel not a hostel and I wasn't prepared to spend 150 euros for two nights accomodation. So I came to Copenhagen earlier than expected but I will be spending 5 days in Copenhagen so I will get to see a lot.

Oktoberfest

I wanted to go to Oktoberfest but there are absolutley no accomadations in or around Munich, which is where Oktoberfest is held every year. So I spent a day travelling around on the train, I took a train from Koblenz to Mainz which was a lovely trip along the Rhine. There were a few fortifications on the moutains along the Rhine and quaint villages along the river side, it was very scenic. I eventually wound up in Dusseldorf where I was catching a night train to Munich. I had a few hours to kill in Dusseldorf so I walked around, it was a nice city nothing really particular struck me about this city. It did have a interesting statue of Neptune killing some sort of fish. All in all, I had a fine time in Dusseldorf, I would probably have more to say if I spent more time there. Finally, the night train to Munich came and I was off.

It is not restful to sleep on a train, much like an airplane.

I made it to Munich and a spent some time looking around. There is a cathedral there with domes, instead of spires, on the two towers which was the fashion when it was built in the 1400's. It was cool because you could go up to the top of one of the towers and have a wonderful few of Munich, you could see Oktoberfest from there. I also saw the Residence and the Residence's Treasury. The Residence was the residence of the royal family of Bavaria, this family ruled Bavaria for more than 800 consecutive years, I don't know how long this place has been their residence. It is what you expect of a royal living quarters, very opulent as all the tours describe it. However, almost everything in the Residence has been reconstructed because it was destroyed during World War 2, some of the furniture and paintings had survived. I would have been impressed if I had to go to the Court there.

Then I made it to Oktoberfest, which is essentially a carnival with a lot of beer. I walked through some of the beer tents and there were a lot of people drinking and being drunk and it was only 4 in the afternoon. It was a cold, rainy day so I thought the crowds wouldn't be that large but I guess the rain just pushed them into the beer tents, it was standing room only if you were lucky enough to get in. After wandering through a few beer tents I bought a few beers and stood and watched, thats what you do when you can't sit down. There are large bands playing German folk music in each tent and in most there are people dancing around in their lederhosen, everyone wears lederhosen. I had a few beers and I stumbled upon some canadians, and luckily for me there were meeting some other canadians at a table they had acquired, so I joined them. It was a rowdy time full of litre beer stiens and pretzels. It is hard to go into detail because how do you describe beer drinking anymore throughly. There were by far more Germans there than I expected. I thought this was an international festival and there would be representation from all over the world, this was not the case and it is really a German celebration, originally for the marriage of their King but it soon became about beer. I should probably spend more time there before I make broad claims about the festival. It was a particularly fun time.

I had to leave relatively early, though I had spent four and a half hours there, because I had to catch the night train to Hamburg otherwise I would end up sleeping somewhere in the streets of Munich.

I slept like a log on the train.

Luxembourg

After I had my fill with Brussels I decided to move on to Luxembourg. Luxembourg is a small country and the city, also called Luxembourg, is relatively small as well; I walked around the Old town in about 30 mintues. The city does extend beyhond the old portion but it is mainly residential. Luxembourg, the city, is very interesting. I was able to go to a museum dedicated entirely to the history of the city.

The legend of Luxembourg is that a King was walking along the river when he spotted the most beautful princess he had ever seen. The King approached the princess and requested her hand in marriage, as was appropriate in those days. The princess agreed but with one condition that one day a week would be her's alone and the King could not know what she was doing or enquiry to her whereabouts or she would disappear. The King agreed and they lived happily for many years and the King built the city of Luxembourg in her honor. However, on one of the princesses personal days the King had to know what she was doing; so he snuck to her room and looked through the keyhole. And to his surprise she was a mermaid, go figure. When the King saw what she was he let out a moan that gave him away and the princess disappeared forever. Some still look for the princess along the river banks. This story is all well and good but apparently it wasn't created until the middle of the 19th century, and in France, and was only later used by Luxembourg.

I also had the chance to go to the national museum and it was incredible, I highly recommend it. They have exhibits for both prehistory, tools, pottery and even 8000 year old human remains and protohistory, bronze and iron ages. There is also an extensive Roman exhibit. All the pieces in the musuem were discovered in Luxembourg. In the roman exhibit there was a giagantic mosaic floor, it was stunning the size of the floor given that they used tiles that are a centimeter by a centimeter. Also, the museum it self was quite the spectical. It was built into the ground and the walls are glass and you can see the rock they dug into.

The city itself is very interesting, it was original built on the Bock, which is a plateau surrounded on three sides by valleys. It was quite difficult to walk around the perimeter but in the centre it was quite flat.

I highly recommend Luxembourg.

Top Photo: A view of one of the 3 valleys surrounding Luxembourg
Bottom Photo: A glimpse into every-day city life

Brussels & Han-sur-Lesse

Photo: The streets of Brussels are lined with Gothic architecture.



I had a fun time in Brussels. I was able to see the fine art museum here, and they have a fine collection of art indeed. Though they don't have any of those famous pieces that we see so often. Also, to my surprise they were having an exhibition on none other than Peter Paul Rubens. I didn't go to the exhibition but I did enjoy the art in the rest of the museum. I ate Belgian chocolate, and waffles, and both were above anything I have had before. In the case of the waffle, it was the best waffle I have eaten from a street vendor. Brussels is quite a bit hill-ier than any of the other cities I have been too, though being in Luxembourg it was not at all hilly, more on Luxembourg later. As for Brussels, I didn't do much else besides the museum and walk around the city. The city is quite nice and there is a lovely park near the centre. It was also the hardest to find my way around at first, they certainly didn't have a plan when they built this city.


I did a day trip to Han-sur-Lesse to see the caves that they have there. The caves were as I expected, dark, damp and a little creepy. They had a pretty cool light show about half way through that played off of the natural formations of the rocks. However, I was quite disappointed to learn that, at this time of year, they only offers tours in Dutch or French. I chose Dutch because they went into the cave first. I can only expected that what was being said was both interesting and educational. I tried to take photos but it was dark and I am not very good with a camera.

Photo: a massive stalactite column in the Han-sur-Lesse grotto

Antwerp & Ghent

Top photo: interior of "Cathedral of Our Lady" in Antwerp, featuring work by Rubens
Bottom Photo: exterior of "Cathedral of Our Lady"

So I spent a couple of days in Antwerp. It is quite the fashion centre. Every designer I have ever heard of is represented here and hundreds more that I haven't heard of. I saw Belgium's largest, and most splendid, cathedral, it was quite the sight. The amount of money and effort required to build such things is incredible. It took them over two hundred years to build the cathederal as it is now, not to mention the vast amount of art that goes into the inside. It was also the first time I had seen classic works of art and they are very impressive in person. You don't really get a sense of size and scale when you see the paintings in a book or on a television show. I am excited to see some of the more impressive european art collections in Paris, London and Rome. Also, in Antwerp, I went to Rubenshuis which was the home and studio of Peter Paul Rubens; who, if you don't know is northern europe's most famous baroque artist. Even though the house is quite ornate the rooms are really quite small. They didn't have many of Rubens paintings, which is not surprising considering it was his house, what they did have was Rubens collection of art. Which included busts of Roman philosophers brought from Italy, paintings done by his contemporaries in Antwerp and quite a few from his students. They also had his bed, which was very small but they slept in a half-seated position, and some of his clothes.

It was interesting to understand that after a painter becomes a master he pretty much stops painting. What happens is the master, whom has serveral assistants and one apprentice, creates an oil sketch of the painting he wishes to have created. An oil sketch is a drawing but instead of a pencil they use oil paint to create the effect of a painting with less work. The assistant then does most of the work of creating the painting and the master comes in at the end to provide the finishing touches, this gives the painting the masters touch or signature. In this way, masters were able to produce many more pieces of art then they otherwise could have.

I then spent half a day in Ghent, which I did on my way to Brussels, though Ghent is not on the way to Brussels per se. Ghent is a very small, and still, very medieval. I went to another cathedral there, while impressive it wasn't on the same scale as the one in Antwerp. It did have a treasury, which contained serveral chalices, a few very old music books and many candal stands. My main focus in Ghent was an 800 year old castle in the middle of the city. It was fairly small, as castles go, but it did have a torture museum and a weapons museum. It is absolutely insane the things they did to extract confessions. For instance, the would put a collar around your neck that had a lot of spikes pressed against your neck then tie ropes from the collar to the walls and then you would stand there until you confessed. Or, they would have you straddling, what looks like a dog house, and tie weights to your legs. I certaintly would rather confess to a crime I didn't commit then have my thumbs screwed, and then shattered with a hammer. The weapons were also interesting there was one sword that was taller that I am and there were a few guns, if you can call them that, from the 16th century.

I am learing quite a bit on this trip. ;)

Den Haag & Rotterdam

Photo: The Hague International Court

When I left Amsterdam it was clear and sunny
and it was going to be a beautiful day. However,
when I reached Den Hague (Den Hague is mixing
Dutch and English) it was greay and wet. Den
Haag is the seat of government in the Netherlands
but Amsterdam is the capital of the nation. I dont
know how that works exactly. I was quite excited to
see the government buildings because I expected them
to be extremely old and ornate. This, however was
not the case. The government buildings are brand new
and, in their own right, quite architecturally
stunning, but not what I was expecting. I walked
around Den Haag for an hour or so but it was
getting continuously colder and wetter, so I
stopped for a brunch. I don't know if it is me but
European cites are extremely quite before 12pm.
I continued to walk but the rain broke my spirit
and I moved on to Rotterdam.

Although it was still raining in Rotterdam it
wasn't nearly as torrential.Rotterdam is quite
a modern city and has one of the largest ports in the
world. Apparently, Rotterdam was completely
destroyed during World War II and was rebuilt.
There wasn't much to see in Rotterdam on a Monday,
all the museums are closed. They do have a museumpark
which is not really a park,but a few museums
close together. I only spent one night in Rotterdam and
the morning I was to leave I decide to go to the
Euromast, which is essential a lookout tower.
When I left the hostel, it was quite a nice day,
at least the sun was shining but when I got to
the Euromast it was raining hard and the wind
was quite ferocious. I tried to wait it out on the
Euromast, I waited 30 minutes, but it didn't
look like it was going to subside so I left.
Quite literally 10 minutes later it was beautifully
sunny again, I guess I was not meant to see
Rotterdam from 150 meters in the air.
After my disappointing trip to the Euromast
I moved on to Antwerp.

Next on the itinerary is Antwerp, where I will be
spending two nights, then on to Brussels for
2 or 3 nights. I hope to see Ghent or Bruges and
Han-sur-Lesse while I am in Belgium.

After a few nights of partying in Amsterdam, I decided to take it easy by doing a little outing to a couple of smaller towns in the Netherlands.

My first stop was Eindhoven, which is about an hour and a half train ride from Amsterdam. It had plenty of old medieval churches, and plenty of amazingly unique architecture. I wandered around for two hours, taking in the sights and also pictures. I arrived at 8:30 am and it was particularly quiet, but this can be explained as it was Sunday morning. I enjoyed myself there, but it was very similar to Amsterdam, without the canals or the people.

My next stop was going to be Maastricht but the trained labelled Maastricht ended in Heerlen and I was forced to get of. This turned out alright as there was a smaller, commuter train that went from Heerlen to Maastricht. I enjoyed my time far more in Maastricht then in Eindhoven. Maastricht is a quaint and quiet european city. It has cobbled streets, tiny alleys and more street side cafes than you can shake a stick at. The churches there are incredible, however even Eindhoven had some spectacular churches. There was one statue outside a church that held a torch that was actually on fire, I don't know what the statue was for (everything being in dutch) but I am sure it was to warn people against something. There were also old Roman ruins in Maasticht but they are a bit out of town thus quite hard to get to by foot. I did, however, see the ruins from the train but as it was a high speed train and there isn't much left from roman times anyway, it was hard to get an idea of what they might be from. I slept on the way back to Amsterdam.

I am going to Den Hague tomorrow, the seat of Dutch government and I will be spending the night in Rotterdam.

See ya round the bend.

First Few Days

So here I am in Amsterdam. This is my first time travelling abroad and it is a very interesting, and exciting, experience. It all started with the flight which was fine, as 10 hour flights go. I did get to watch 3 movies which helped the time pass much faster. I walked from the train station to the hostel that I am staying at, and as is customary I got lost but I found my way eventually and what I estimate to only have been an hour and a half detour around Amsterdam.

Hostels are what everyone says they are, dirty but with a certain charm. I am staying at the Hans Brinker hostel and I am enjoying my stay thoroughly. The bed is comfy and that's all that really matters because the only thing you really do at a hostel is sleep. This hostel does have a bar and if you go sit and have a pint you will be talking to someone you have never meet before within 20 minutes. So far the most interesting thing has been the people I have met.

Amsterdam is a beautiful city. The history here is in every building which is something I have never really seen. I have walked around Amsterdam for two days now and I think I have seen most of it. It is very difficult to take pictures here because everything is so close together and there are, surprisingly, a lot of trees; though I have only seen grass once and it was a small plot in front of a Rembrandt statue.

I would recommend Amsterdam to anyone looking for a beautiful place to see, or if they are looking for a really good party. I still haven't decided where I am going next but I need to decide soon, I am thinking Belgium.

Talk to ya soon.

First Post

I am leaving for Europe on Wednesday, Sept 12th and I will be returning on Tuesday, Nov 6th. I will be flying into Amsterdam and from there I have no idea where I am going; though I hope to visit relatives in England and Denmark. I have a Eurail Global pass which allows me to travel to 18 countries and I hope to visit as many as time will allow.

Instead of sending postcards, and emails, to keep people updated about where I've been I have created this blog to document my trip around Europe. I will try to update it whenever I can though I will be quite busy having fun so you will need to forgive me if I don't post regularly.