May
1
2009
Today was the time to do the normal touristy things. I started out by taking a stroll along the familiar path down to Museumplein. To my surprise, a lot of the trash from the day before was already gone but there was still a plenty of urine all over the place, but we digress. The Van Gogh museum was the first on my list. After waiting in line for half an hour I finally got in and started from the top floor as suggested.
There were not many Van Gogh pieces up there so I was pretty disappointed. There were more on the first floor and then I made my way to the special exhibit - Van Gogh and the Colors of the Night with my favorite painting, the Starry Night itself, on loan from New York’s Museum of Modern Art. There was also many other of his impressionism masterpieces there. In the end it was really worth the admission fee. Not sure if I would recommend it once the special exhibit is over though.
After grabbing a couple overpriced hot dogs by the museum I walked over to the original Heineken brewery. They no longer brew beer there, instead, it has been turned into a touristy spot completed with Brew U, a thrilling motion ride. Not really. Still it was much better than the “read all the stuff on the walls” so called tour at the Coor’s brewery in Golden, CO. I also ran into my hostel roommates - the five Italians and two Australians during the tour and we had a good time downing a couple cold ones at the end.
In the evening I went on the Red Light District Exposed tour. It was a lot of fun and our guide was very lively and knowledgeable and we felt pretty safe during the tour. At the end we stopped by for our free shot and continued to hang out there with a couple American guys that were studying in Spain and a couple American girls that were studying in France. Eventually we got out of there, grabbed some Chinese, and went on another tour of our own. Coincidently, it turned out that the girls stayed at a hostel right across from mine.
The rest of my 12 Days in Europe posts:
no comments | posted in Amsterdam, Heineken Experience, Holland, Red Light District, Van Gogh Museum
Apr
28
2009
It was time to say goodbye to Phi and catch the morning train from Torino to Milano. Instead of going all the way to Porta Nuova, I decided to walk and catch the train at Porta Susa and almost made it there before it started to rain. Again. The ride to Milano was in first class and it was actually pretty nice, definitely worth a few more dollars I paid for it.
One day pass is three euros.
The rest of my 12 Days in Europe posts:
no comments | posted in Duomo Cathedral, Italia, Milan Malpensa, Milano, San Siro
Apr
22
2009
I met up with Christopher at Charles de Gaulle and we took a train to get into the city. He is from Iowa and is spending a year studying in France so he took a day off and came to Paris to hang out with me. Our first stop was the famous Notre Dame de Paris. We took some pictures but could not get inside beacuse of my backpack. I also learned quickly that when someone asks you if you speak English, it is a good idea to pretend you do not. Otherwise they show you something scribbled in English basically begging for money. I thought it was kind of weird. At least learn a sentence, do not write it out for me…
Anyways, we walked along the Seine towards the Louvre. We took some pictures with the famous Pyramide de Louvre at the entrance but did not go inside since I only had a day to spend in Paris. From the Louvre, we walked through Jardin des Tuileries and had a quick lunch there. We kept on walking towards the Arc de Triomphe along the Avenue des Champs Elysees where I took the most expensive dump in my life (I think it was two and a half euros…) and also bought a SIM card for my phone at a Virgin store. The arc was ok, but nothing too special, there is a 8 euro charge to get on top so we decided to skip that since we were going to the Eiffel Tower next.
We took a quick ride on the metro and got in line to go up the Eiffel Tower. After waiting in line for half an hour they almost kicked me out since my backpack was pretty large but then let me through anyways. While we were waiting in line, we were watching cops on bikes trying to catch the African kids bugging all the tourists with cheap souveniers. Another half hour later we got on the elevator and went up all the way to the top of the tower. The view was very nice. I liked the old streets and the buildings, all of the same height everywhere with a few skyscrapers in the distance. We went around and took some pictures, then did another round at a lower floor and got back down. We rested for a little bit at Parc du Champs de Mars.
After that we decided to go walk around the streets of Paris, so we crossed Seine and walked toward the Maison de Balzac on Rue Raynouard. It was already closed for the day so we just kept on walking. It was interesting to see chestnut trees blossoming everywhere, it reminded me of Kiev in May time frame… We walked past Maison de Radio France and finally found a metro station. Christopher had to go to catch his train and I jumped on the metro to go meet up with Jonathan.
Jonathan messaged me on couchsurfing when I posted to the pilots group asking if anyone wanted to go to fly with me while I was in Europe. He offered to take me up and so I went out to Cergy Pontoise just outside of Paris to meet up with him. We flew in a Dimond Star out of Aerodrome de Pontoise Cormeilles. As soon as we took off, he offered me to take control and so I did. D40 has a stick instead of a traditional yoke, but it did not take long to get used to it. The plane was very resposive and simply a joy to fly. Outside the window we watched Paris light up at night and the Eiffel Tower lit up in the distance. Simply amazing!
By the time we put the plane away and got out of there, it was almost midnight and since I was in the mood to get some real French food, Jonathan took me to a restaurant close by the Arc de Triomphe. The food was not anything special, the wine was pretty good, but neither justified the price tage - 150 euros for two is probably the most expensive dinner I have ever had. It was followed by a night drive tour of Paris, but I started passing out in the car so we went back to Jonathan’s for the night.
The rest of my 12 Days in Europe posts:
no comments | posted in Arc de Triomphe, Couchsurfing, Eiffel Tower, France, Notre Dame de Paris, Paris, Paris Charles de Gaulle, Seine River, The Louvre
