Thoughts of a Nomadic One

At the great market situated nearby, there hung a few shirts for sale: Polish football jerseys, "Polska" and ones with Pope John Paul II's face.

Poland is a devoutly catholic country (even reflected by the relatively conservative dress of most women going out at night) and I had heard about their pride in their native son, Karol Józef Wojtyla, more comonly known as Pope John Paul II. I considered buying the shirt for novelty sake just as I considered buying a "Free Winona" shirt. In the end, I decided to save the money for food and beer.

Dan, Gordon and I found a place in Kazimierz (old Jewish district of Krakow) that had awesome food at great prices. In fact, I had the same exact meal for lunch on my last day in Krakow!

On Poland, my friend Lukasz and I have had a lot of discussions about the massive amount of investments put into its infrastructures and its economical resurgence since joining the EU. It clearly shows in Krakow where medieval streets meld with boutique shops and you can feel the city's looking to better times ahead. I found the people in Poland warm and very welcoming and extremely willing to practice their English!

My train ride from Prague to Krakow on the other hand was a less pleasant experience. I took the overnight train and had a compartment where people would come in, sit, take a look to see if you were guarding your stuff or whether you were awake, then leave. Sometime in the early morning, I even saw some people peaking in to check.

Poland has been a gastronomical paradise. The grilled Kielbasa with onions and mustard was absolutely gold! While I didn't have the chance to visit Warsaw and Wroclaw like I wanted, it is definitely something I'd like to do next time I'm in the region!

And so, on my last afternoon in Krakow as I'm admiring Wawel castle, two well dressed men approach me and start talking to me in English. Since the Polish people have been so nice I decided not to use my customary dismissal.

"Hello, we're with the Jehova's Witness and we'd like to talk to you about ..."

Damn. Maybe I should have bought that Pope shirt.

"Your girlfriend is lost", said the old man with a heavy German accent. Andrew and I had been drinking together awaiting Dana (Andrew's girlfriend and my friend from Queen's) to get back from the washroom. We were engrossed in a discussion when the man mentioned above approached Andrew and spoke to him in German.

"Oh, I'm sorry I don't speak any German", Andrew said.

The old man then said, "My English is bad", pause, "Your girlfriend is lost", as he pointed to Dana who was confusedly talking to some people diagonally across the Augustiner beer garden from us.

Like a dutyful boyfriend, Andrew went over to collect her and we moved the party back to the hostel.

After spending 2 days in Berlin, I was anxious to meet up with Martin & Dandrew (which according to Dana sounds like 'Dandruff' and they prefer 'Andna'). Berlin was a great city; diverse, metropolitan, warm and in possession of cheap donairs. Some of my favourite places included the Olympiastadion and the Brandenburg gate.

A very moving and sobering experience was my visit to the Holocaust Victim Memorial. Berlin is the 3rd most constructed city in the world. After those projects are completed, it really could be the capital of Europe. However, upon some observation, I felt a certain level of doubt and hesitancy. Even 62 years after the end of the war, there is a "wall in the head". You could see it painfully in their eyes when I was at the Holocaust museum. Some Brits who I met in Prague told me when they shared a bottle of alcoholic eggnog with a German boy and his father, the father started apologizing profusely for their actions during the war. Some people may remember that it was only last summer during the World Cup when waving German flag stopped being a taboo due to nationalism's association with the Nazi in their historical context. I hope it won't take another 62 years for the Germans to step up and take a lead in the EU which it so desperately needs.

Back to my time in Munich, Andna and I visited the wonderful Augustiner Beer garden and the Neuschwanstein Castle which is what Walt Disney's is based on. I then got to stay with Martin and have an authentic Bavarian breakfast composed of white veal sausages, bretz'l with mustard, hams and cheeses. I've got to say, I'm a big fan of German and Bavarian cuisines.

Unfortunately, Martin and I couldn't meet up with Andrew and Dana on their last day and we visited Bayern Munich's stadium; one that was used during the World Cup last summer.

It was definitely special to have spent time with friends like Martin, Andrew and Dana. The best thing about beer gardens aren't the food, beer or leiderhosen, it's the camaderie. Thanks a lot to Martin for letting me stay with him and his awesome housemates Nicolas and Romy.

Prost and Auf Wiedersehen!

Walking down Las Ramblas, one can see endless rows of tall trees with rich green leaves standing guard on either side of the street. The streetlamps at the Passig Gracia resemble vines reaching up to the sky and the aquamarine Gaudi-inspired tiles on the pedestrian area help make this city feel very organic and earthy.

The world renowned Barcelona architect, Gaudi, was the inspiration of the amazing city planning and design for many of this city's most famous buildings. He designed numerous schools, churches/cathedrals, residences and even a Park! Some of his most famous works include La Pedrera, Casa Batlla, Park Guell and La Sagrada Familia (World's most visited construction site).

His design philosophy: Full integration of engineering, architecture and aesthetic design.
His works are truly a marvellous mix of functionality, innovation and beauty. Many of my friends in Engineering (esp. Civil) would be amazed by the methods developed and used by Gaudi.

I arrived to Barcelona and met up with Rhett, whom I had met in Granada, after spending half a day in Cordoba visiting mosque-turned-cathedral Mezquita. Together, we explored the city and sat on the World's Longest Bench in Park Guell.

My last sight in Barcelona was FC Barcelona's home stadium, Camp Nou. However, as I was leaving the stadium, I got hit by green bird poop and had to get wiped down by a Portuguese couple who were right behind me and wash my shirt in the Park. Some people would say I was lucky, but since this is the 4th time it's happened to me in my life, I would say otherwise.

And now, I'm off to take the overnight to Madrid and then flight to Hamburg through Munich. (i.e. No beds for 2.5 days!)

It was around 8 AM when I woke to the sound of moaning and m bunk bed rocking. Memories of last night flooded back. In an attempt to save money and still satisfied from an excellent Menu de Dia (Paella Marinara, Tortilla Espanola con Ensalada, Flan, Fanta, 8 Euros), I skipped dinner. However, my efforts were futile since upon being spotted by members of Team Right-O, I was roped into the hostel bar for celebratory drinks.

Earlier during the day, the 4 of us had climbed up and visited la Alhambra, a marvelous palace built by the Moorish rulers of al-Andalus (Andalucia). After a 4 hour visit of the Palacias de Nasirids, the Alcazar and the beautiful garden we grabbed lunch at a table outside. Then the sheesha came out and it was downhill from there. Several drinks of 'Nutty Housewife', Gin and Sin, shots of 'Buttery Nipple' and we were all on our way.

But then someone had the bright idea of hitting the bottle of absinthe. I am sure it was that Irish barman named Tony who kept playing funky underground hip-hop mixed with classical piano music from the Richard Clayderman collection.
How was absinthe?

'It burns the Soul!' - Adrian

After the bar closed, the responsible thing would have been sleep, but that would not happen until several mojitos later and a visit to Granada's gay bar. Thankfully, either I'm not pretty enough or my gaydar signature was working properly. And so I returned to bed only to find my friend hopping on to the top bunk with a girl. I instantly knew this was going to be a repeat of Amsterdam 2003 when a French couple copulated in the lower bunk of m bed. The awkwardness of such an experience cannot be described, it must be felt.

Why do I always get the sex bed?

Other than my escapades in the hostel (Oasis Granada, best hostel ever), I also really loved Granada. On my first day, I walked about town and had a bocadillo con Jamon and then hiked up the Abaicin. From there you could get a great view of the Alhambra and the city of Granada.

One incident to note: While I'm trying to appear as little as a tourist as possible, it's pretty impossible since there are barely any Asian people in Espana. On my way to the bus station in Granada, an old man started crowding me. I grew suspicious so I checked that my camera was still in my daypack pocket and then I noticed his fingers inching towards my right pocket for my money clip. Looking back, I really wish I had yelled, grabbed his arm or something, but instead, I stared at him straight in the eyes. He sighed and moved towards the exit with his partner to get off the bus. I hope this experience makes me even more vigilant as I travel through other parts of the world. Although, according to a friend of mine, I've got to watch out for carpet salesmen in Turkey.

What would I do with a carpet?

First of all, for those who mistakenly came to my site and want to go back to Dana and Andrew's European escapades, visit: http://acollard.blogspot.com

Now, this is my last post before leaving for Europe and my RTW adventure. I can't really explain what I'm feeling except that it is a mixture of anxiety and excitement. The fact that I don't have concrete plans scares me and excites me.

I'll be starting off to London first for half a day to meet up with Andrew and Dana before taking off to Granada where I will start my Tour of Espana. After that, who knows?

I'm not sure what I hope to learn or gain from these 4 months. It will be interesting to see how I feel at the end of this trip.

Thanks a lot for reading, if you wish to hear more from my trip, click on the subscribe link on the top right.
I'd be really happy to stay in touch through email or comments and take care everyone!

Wei Tseng