- USA
- Ireland
- France
- Belgium
- Back in France
- May 30, 2005Mexican Princesses
- May 31, 2005Versaille
- June 1, 2005Last Day in Paris
- June 2, 2005Coast of Marseille
- May 3, 2005Callanques of Marseille
- June 4, 2005Leaving Marseille
- June 5, 2005Busted Ankle
- June 6, 2005Healing in St. Raphael
- June 7, 2005Bongos on the Beach
- June 8, 2005Goodbye, St. Raphael - Hello Cannes
- June 9, 2005Antibes Daytrip
- June 10, 2005Chilling in Cannes
- June 11, 2005To Nice with the Finns
- Monaco
- Switzerland
- Germany
- Austria
- Hungary
- Poland Fun
- June 29, 2005Zakopane
- June 30, 2005Hiking in the Tatry Mountains
- July 1, 2005Trail of Wooden Architecture
- July 2, 2005Krakow Jazz Festival
- July 3, 2005Kazimierz
- July 4, 2005Goral Burger
- July 5, 2005Ciupagi
- July 6, 2005Czestochowa
- July 7, 2005Trainhopping
- July 8, 2005Happy Birthday Mom!!!
- July 9, 2005Happy Birthday Jack
- July 10, 2005Banana Riding
- July 11, 2005First Russian Embassy Visit
- Poland Family
- July 12, 2005Family, at Last
- July 13, 2005Mom's Schoolfriends
- July 14, 2005Muddy Ponds
- July 15, 2005Partying in Poznan
- July 16, 2005A Relaxing Day
- July 17, 2005Sheeshah Bar
- July 18, 2005Five Souvereign Lands
- July 19, 2005The Good News
- July 20, 2005Another Family Function
- July 21, 2005Just Chilling
- July 22, 2005The Best Bike Ever
- July 23, 2005Looking for a Home by the Baltic Sea
- July 24, 2005Copernicus and the Boyscouts
- July 25, 2005Visas are Set to Go
- July 26, 2005Luxury
- July 27, 2005A Day at Work
- Russia
- July 28, 2005Back in St. P Looking for 1UP
- July 29, 2005Peter's Pimpin' Palace and the Neverending Nights
- July 30, 2005Big Bad Moscow
- July 31, 2005Beating Birches
- August 1, 2005Off to Siberia
- August 2, 2005Drinking with the Guards
- August 3, 2005Big, Rolling Trans-Siberian Party
- August 4, 2005Pack up, Only Six Hours Left
- August 5, 2005Irkutsk
- August 6, 2005Swimming in Lake Baikal
- August 7, 2005Drenched
- August 8, 2005Partying with Uzbeks
- August 9, 2005I Love You Omul, I Heart Baikal
- August 10, 2005Pushed out of Russia
- Mongolia
- China
- August 26, 2005Chasing Buses
- August 27, 2005Looking for the Opera
- August 28, 2005Sleeping on a Wall
- August 29, 2005Trying to Find the Opera Once Again
- August 30, 2005Forbidden City and Searching for the Opera
- August 31, 2005The Opera Sucks
- September 1, 2005Hutongs and Strange Food
- September 2, 2005The Peking Ducks Incident
- September 3, 2005Beijing Shopping
- September 4, 2005The Dirt Market and Tiger Penis Vodka
- September 5, 2005Temples, Temples, and More Temples
- September 6, 2005The Amazing Summer Palace
- September 7, 2005Goodbye Asia
- Back in the USA
World Trip
Paris
Woke up today and I were not careful, I could have fallen out of the window. Getting ready was easy since we had a shower in the room.
My plan for the day was to get Mike's phone activated, and my tripod fixed, since because of a lost tiny little screw it is currently a bipod. No luck on the phone as I called the company and they needed to be paid 3 euro to unlock the code, which I had no way of getting to them. No luck on the bipod either.
I got some bread and cheese and ate some. I left it in the room (this is relevant). I really wanted to see the Paris catacombs, so I made my way down there by metro. Unfortunately, the catacombs are closed until late June. Apparently they are dusting off the skulls.
After this I walked. Walked a lot. I walked to the Eiffel tower, along the river, to the Leuvre, to Notre Dame. I didn't go into anywhere because the Eiffel tower had long lines, and the Notre Dame closed fifteen minutes before I got there. So after having spent the day walking, I grabbed two bottles of wine and a tomato for my cheese sandwich and went home. When I walked into the room it stank. At first I thought it was just the hostel funk, but the windows were open. So I did not mention anything because it must have been one of the other guys who just arrived. I grabbed my bread and cheese, and then realized that it was the cheese. It was quite ripe, and probably ripened more during the day on the windowsill. I was embarrassed when I walked by people because they probably thought I was very smelly. I ended up eating outside in order to spare the others.
Started drinking the wine with a guy named Dylan (Aussie) and Sherman (US). We went through the two bottles, and they ran out and got a few more. The group grew and we sat around the hostel drinking wine. Finally, we decided to go out to a club or bar, but instead of going somewhere close, we went all the way down to the Eiffel tower.
We found out that the last metro train leaves at 12:45 in the direction we needed to go. We had 20 minutes to get a beer. The six of us ducked into the first bar we could find, and got ourselves the biggest German beer steins. Unfortunately it is tough to drink that much beer in less than 20 minutes, but we mostly managed. Afterwards it was a literal sprint back to the metro. We got there winded and caught the train. We did not do too well on the connection though as it already stopped running.
The six of us now needed to decide how to get back to the hostel. There was hope that busses may still run but we did not know the schedule. We could walk, but it would be at least six miles.
We stood a bit deliberating, and decided to find out how much a taxi would be. It ended up being about 12 euro, so the two Aussie guys and I jumped in. Dillon free styled to French hip-hop as we made it through the city. It was one of those random situations you can't imagine until it happens. Riding in a cab past the Leuvre, with an Aussie rapping freestyle to French hip-hop beats.
The others apparently hopped into a cab right behind us and we got to the hostel in time for the 2 am curfew, where we drank more wine with all the other people who came back and eventually had to disperse to sleep.
