Oh sigh. It's that time again. I'm flying back to LA. It's been a fun couple of weeks. Honestly I don't remember the last time I wrote anything. I have a feeling it was in Paris or after leaving it.
I know that after I met up with Anna I was too busy running around Europe and having fun. Oh such joy. I'd forgotten how good it feels to have a companion with me on my travels. We were inseparable and saw Milan and Amsterdam together. I was fine leaving her at the airport but when I got on my flight it was like usual again, lonely and I was filled with longing for something different.
There's not that much that we did. We walked around a lot in Milan, saw Duomo di Milano, one of their old cathedrals and we saw The Last Supper. That was fun. In Amsterdam we walked around through parks, went to the Van Gogh museum and enjoyed the red lights district. We played pool in a couple of places and had a good amount to drink. Enough to feel good and get home sober.
On our last day together (full day, because the next day we woke up and headed for the airport), we went on a picnic. We got a ton of food, ate it in this beautiful park and fell asleep on the grass. We rode bikes there. Anna was terrified of using the bike lanes and riding on the road. And I couldn't figure out why the whole city doesn't have any post offices. That aside, the afternoon was splendid. We didn't do much of anything else after. Just walked around and killed time.
I spent the last couple of days in London. Thursday I went with my brother to an MIT alum meetup. I drank a lot but didn't get drunk. I think they dilute their vodka, or something. I had 3 double-shots and got home sober. 0o. Then Friday, my mom and I went to museums. I went to the National Gallery and then her and I went to the Victoria and Albert museum. It was so cool. And FREE! As was the National Gallery! Ooh, and we went on the London Eye! Such a full day. In the evening we had dinner together with my brother's family. Family. I miss family. I want more family. I want my own family. Le sigh.
On Saturday my mom, brother and I went to the Hampton Court Palace where some royals lived from 16th century on. Cool history. Very beautiful gardens. Too bad it was raining the entire time, but it was cool nonetheless. Then, of course, dinner at home with the family. Oh how lovely. And then today they're celebrating one of my nephew's birthdays. I'm not there for it. :( All I got was my mom getting me to the train station. Which is more than I had hoped for. Thank you, mom!
I should be sleeping on this flight, but it's not late enough yet given my Circadian rhythm. That's going to suck. I'll have to try to stay up until midnight by LA time. Oh joy. I did get invited to a party. So maybe I'll go and that will help. In the meantime I still have like 6 hours on this flight and there's nothing to watch except Big Bang Theory. It's a fun show, but it reminds me too much of Cate. Nothing too personal. Just makes me feel nostalgic for companionship.
Sunday, September 11, 2016
Monday, September 5, 2016
Milan
Getting back on the horse of writing often. Yesterday I spent the day in Milan. What a pretty city. I looked it up, Italy is a poorer country, but the city has a lot of history. And that was enjoyable to witness. I met up with Anna here and we've travelling together. Turns out Milan is a small city. And even better than in Paris, all of the cool stuff is walking distance from each other.
We went to the Duomo di Milano Cathedral. It's so huge and pretty. Not as gothic as Notre Dame, but it doesn't have compartments. It's just one giant space. So that was cool. We went to see the Last Supper. The security around it is pretty great. It's so fragile. Mostly gone, I see. Still it was interesting to read all the history about it. And then in the evening we went to the canals. Well.. one canal. It was sponsored by Martini, the brand. They were everywhere. And then in the evening we found what looked like an american bar where the guy let me try all of their vodkas before pouring me the one I liked. :) Tipped that bartender 20%.
We went to the Duomo di Milano Cathedral. It's so huge and pretty. Not as gothic as Notre Dame, but it doesn't have compartments. It's just one giant space. So that was cool. We went to see the Last Supper. The security around it is pretty great. It's so fragile. Mostly gone, I see. Still it was interesting to read all the history about it. And then in the evening we went to the canals. Well.. one canal. It was sponsored by Martini, the brand. They were everywhere. And then in the evening we found what looked like an american bar where the guy let me try all of their vodkas before pouring me the one I liked. :) Tipped that bartender 20%.
Saturday, September 3, 2016
Paris
Well this sucks. There’s no WiFi. The good news is that this is the worst thing that has happened to me on my travels so far. But, still. I just landed in Milan. I’m sitting on a train heading for the central station. I have so much to be happy about, like that there’s still charge in my laptop so I can type, and the lady at the ticket booth spoke enough english to tell me which train to hop on. But that being said this is the first airport that didn’t have WiFi nor an information desk. I almost asked the armed guards for directions. At least they would have been entertained.
So, lets see. I remember I wanted to write a little when I was in Paris, but honestly I didn’t have time. I spent of all of time trying to be out and seeing what it had to offer. It was pretty. The only thing that kept coming back was that some people really smelled. Like normally-dressed people. I’ve gotten so occustomed to only bums smelling bad, I forgot they don’t always shower in the rest of the world. There were days when I took showers twice a day. Well, my train isn’t departing for another 20 minuts or so and it’s going to take like an hour, so I have time.
On Wednesday night when I landed in Paris I walk. I walked a lot. I went from the station East past Louvre where I left the train to the apartment, climbed 5 flights of stairs up. Then set out to find the Eiffel Tower, which I could see from the train, but lost it the closer I got. Building angles and all that. I found it eventually and went up. Then I walked to the Triumph Arc and then walked home, back to Louvre. I was trying to find somewhere to eat, but everything seemed too slow, or everything had ham in it. Now I don’t eat meat and I really don’t appreciate when nothing on the menu is vegetarian. I hate it even more when all the salads have arugala. I hate arugala. I hate it more than some meats. And it was everywhere. French food sucks! I ended up going to a restaurant and getting an $18 salad that had arugala and was gauzed in mayonnaise. Now don’t get me wrong. Nothing wrong with dressing. I just don’t like it. The waitress didn’t speak enough English to understand me when I asked for tea, much less that I had specific tastes. Gah. Oh well. At least I had some food in me. And the tea only cost $8.50 (sarcasm).
Thursday I went to the Louvre. I was a little woried that I would miss something cool. But honestly, I went through the whole thing except for Roman artifacts 0-500 in like 3h30. I learned to use “h” as a delimiter between hours and minutes. I like it. It’s descriptive and easier to type than “:”. In the museum I didn’t find anything super spectacular. But I did love being in Napoleon’s chambers. Damn that dude loved luxury. I saw some kids kicking the ball around outside in the vast Louvre Gardens. I would rather be playing with them. But I didn’t have time for that. I headed back home to get ready for work. I did pick up a sandwich on the way buck inside a rustic baguette with cheese and tomatoes. It was bland and hard to chew. French food sucks. At work I worked surprisingly well. I was concentrated. It was quiet. Nobody spoke to me. Damn Frenchies speak English but would rather stay silent than use it. That was disappointing. There I kept snacking in the kichen. They had pre-packaged falafel sandwiches. I had a bunch. That and nuts. The sandwiches were pretty bad. Poorly made, soggy, and unfilling. And I had an allergic reaction to the nuts. French. Food. Sucks.
So, lets see. I remember I wanted to write a little when I was in Paris, but honestly I didn’t have time. I spent of all of time trying to be out and seeing what it had to offer. It was pretty. The only thing that kept coming back was that some people really smelled. Like normally-dressed people. I’ve gotten so occustomed to only bums smelling bad, I forgot they don’t always shower in the rest of the world. There were days when I took showers twice a day. Well, my train isn’t departing for another 20 minuts or so and it’s going to take like an hour, so I have time.
On Wednesday night when I landed in Paris I walk. I walked a lot. I went from the station East past Louvre where I left the train to the apartment, climbed 5 flights of stairs up. Then set out to find the Eiffel Tower, which I could see from the train, but lost it the closer I got. Building angles and all that. I found it eventually and went up. Then I walked to the Triumph Arc and then walked home, back to Louvre. I was trying to find somewhere to eat, but everything seemed too slow, or everything had ham in it. Now I don’t eat meat and I really don’t appreciate when nothing on the menu is vegetarian. I hate it even more when all the salads have arugala. I hate arugala. I hate it more than some meats. And it was everywhere. French food sucks! I ended up going to a restaurant and getting an $18 salad that had arugala and was gauzed in mayonnaise. Now don’t get me wrong. Nothing wrong with dressing. I just don’t like it. The waitress didn’t speak enough English to understand me when I asked for tea, much less that I had specific tastes. Gah. Oh well. At least I had some food in me. And the tea only cost $8.50 (sarcasm).
Thursday I went to the Louvre. I was a little woried that I would miss something cool. But honestly, I went through the whole thing except for Roman artifacts 0-500 in like 3h30. I learned to use “h” as a delimiter between hours and minutes. I like it. It’s descriptive and easier to type than “:”. In the museum I didn’t find anything super spectacular. But I did love being in Napoleon’s chambers. Damn that dude loved luxury. I saw some kids kicking the ball around outside in the vast Louvre Gardens. I would rather be playing with them. But I didn’t have time for that. I headed back home to get ready for work. I did pick up a sandwich on the way buck inside a rustic baguette with cheese and tomatoes. It was bland and hard to chew. French food sucks. At work I worked surprisingly well. I was concentrated. It was quiet. Nobody spoke to me. Damn Frenchies speak English but would rather stay silent than use it. That was disappointing. There I kept snacking in the kichen. They had pre-packaged falafel sandwiches. I had a bunch. That and nuts. The sandwiches were pretty bad. Poorly made, soggy, and unfilling. And I had an allergic reaction to the nuts. French. Food. Sucks.
The next day I went to the Notre Dame Cathedral. It was pretty. It’s located on an island in the middle of the river next to an expensive neighbourhood. It’s kind of like being in mini San Francisco, but much prettier. I liked it there. I liked it there very much. I got inside at a good time. I’ve just been avoiding any lines whatsoever, and here I got lucky because I made it in immediately to the Cathedral. It was everything I thought it would be. A good, dark place with pretty gothic things inside and out. I absolutely adored the gargoyles and the the gothic windows and statues everywhere. So awesome. I took a bunch of pictures there. And thsoe who know me know that I don’t take tours or fill my head with useless facts. Well, there, I stopped and read the whole history of the building. I even paid money to go see their treasury. Cool stuff. I almost felt spiritual. I went into the prayer section and prayed a little. Just for shits and giggles. No religious experience for me. :( Oh well. I guess I’ll continue to be an atheist without doubting my beliefs.
My train started moving! :)
I had a lot more time to do things but I didn’t feel like walking anymore so I got a boat tour. It took an hour and we went from Notre Dame, to Louvre to Eiffel Tower and back. The tour guide sucks. I couldn’t understand his accent. And he maybe shared 20 facts about everything altogether. It was disappointing. It was cheap, but oh well. One other thing to note was that nobody spoke freaking English. I couldn’t spark conversations with strangers. It was just a bother to talk to anyone at all. At first all the French sort-of sounded like Russian so I was hopeful, but ultimately I just gave up. The was true on the boat. I came up to some people in hopes of joining their conversations, but then I realized they were talking in French and I turned away. Yeah, I didn’t like it there very much. Not by myself. Either way, after the boat tour I bought a water from a dude on the corner and went home to get ready for work. Then I realized it was tap water filled into a bottle he probably found on the street. Oh FML. I took a sip and threw the rest away. Then right before I got home, by the Louvre, this girl came up to me asking for donations for the dead. Sounds like a scam, but she knew how to work a sucker like myself. So I gave her $10 (Euros… $ is the currency symbol on the keyboard). She pointed to a sign on her paper that said $20 minimum. HA. I got angry and walked away. Someone with the same sign came up to me today, but I didn’t even bother acknoledging them. :( Bad experience.
That’s about it for France. Today I walked through Louvre gardens again. Went on the Ferris wheel. Had an expensive lunch. Actually it wasn’t that expensive. I had a big salad with potatoes and hard-boiled eggs. It was delicious. I had a sandwich with Norwegian Salmon. Yes, I got 2 entres (or courses, how they call them here). It came with an arugala salad. And I had a shot of Vodka. All together it came out to $33. I even tipped. I’m not sure if it’s okay in France, but I did anyway. Then I walked to the Eiffel Tower again because that’s where the direct bus to the airport was. And now I’m in Milan. Hoping to post more later.
My train started moving! :)
I had a lot more time to do things but I didn’t feel like walking anymore so I got a boat tour. It took an hour and we went from Notre Dame, to Louvre to Eiffel Tower and back. The tour guide sucks. I couldn’t understand his accent. And he maybe shared 20 facts about everything altogether. It was disappointing. It was cheap, but oh well. One other thing to note was that nobody spoke freaking English. I couldn’t spark conversations with strangers. It was just a bother to talk to anyone at all. At first all the French sort-of sounded like Russian so I was hopeful, but ultimately I just gave up. The was true on the boat. I came up to some people in hopes of joining their conversations, but then I realized they were talking in French and I turned away. Yeah, I didn’t like it there very much. Not by myself. Either way, after the boat tour I bought a water from a dude on the corner and went home to get ready for work. Then I realized it was tap water filled into a bottle he probably found on the street. Oh FML. I took a sip and threw the rest away. Then right before I got home, by the Louvre, this girl came up to me asking for donations for the dead. Sounds like a scam, but she knew how to work a sucker like myself. So I gave her $10 (Euros… $ is the currency symbol on the keyboard). She pointed to a sign on her paper that said $20 minimum. HA. I got angry and walked away. Someone with the same sign came up to me today, but I didn’t even bother acknoledging them. :( Bad experience.
That’s about it for France. Today I walked through Louvre gardens again. Went on the Ferris wheel. Had an expensive lunch. Actually it wasn’t that expensive. I had a big salad with potatoes and hard-boiled eggs. It was delicious. I had a sandwich with Norwegian Salmon. Yes, I got 2 entres (or courses, how they call them here). It came with an arugala salad. And I had a shot of Vodka. All together it came out to $33. I even tipped. I’m not sure if it’s okay in France, but I did anyway. Then I walked to the Eiffel Tower again because that’s where the direct bus to the airport was. And now I’m in Milan. Hoping to post more later.
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