Barcelona (3/24 to 3/28)

Barcelona was a blast. I was hoping for beach weather, a possibility but not a given for late March. Unfortunately, it was too cold for the beach, but that didn’t keep me from enjoying the last stop on my trip.

The city is very cosmopolitan and had some amazing and unique architecture, the most notable being the works by Gaudi. The Casa Batllo was my favorite, a house that literally had no corners or edges in any room- all of the doors and walls and railings were organic curves that flowed from one element to the next. It was as if the walls and rooms were living things growing out of the ground.

I definitely made the most of the last few days of my trip. The nightlife was awesome, with tons of nightclubs and more than enough revelers to fill them on all nights of the week. I sampled a cross section of the bar scene, from pseudo-Irish bars, to multi-level clubs, to sleek lounge bars, meeting all sorts from all places- a hipster Swede who declared his love for me several times throughout the night, a group of 20-something Europeans that came to Barcelona for a language program in 2006 and never left, and some English soccer hooligans who hassled me for a good 15 minutes, much to my obvious dismay and the amusement of other English speakers within earshot (Me, angry: “No, all four of you MAY NOT have ‘a go’ at me at the same time!!” Him, slurring: “No, we can, one goes here, and one here….”). There was one unfortunate night when I drunkenly decided to ignore the 4AM lockout and wait until my hostel reopened at 7AM, disappointed when the club closed at just 4:30 and I had to kill two and a half hours before going home.

I ran into a slight mishap on my way back to the States, when my train out of Barcelona was cancelled due to a French rail workers’ strike. I had to catch a later, more expensive train, which then required me to catch a cab from the rail station to the airport in order to catch my flight. I caught my flight, luckily, and am now safely back home although 100€ poorer thanks to the French rail workers.

Lisbon (3/19 to 3/23)

Overall, I loved Portugal. I had some of the best seafood I´ve ever tasted (if only mussels were all that fresh, instead of the rubbery salt lumps served elsewhere), enjoyed the castles in Lisbon and Sintra, which were straight out of a fairy tale, and to top it off the neighborhood of Bairro Alto was full of hip boutique shops and tons of trendy bars.

The city is built on a bunch of tall steep hills, which have cute bee-yellow trans snaking up and down the narrow streets. The sidewalks and squares are a work of art, black and white stones set into the ground by hand to form patterns and designs. The church and monastery in Belem is unlike anything I´ve ever seen The cloister had beautiful intricate stone work with unique central figures topping each arch, and the church had a high stone ceiling with a spiderweb like design supported by slender tall columns that spread out at the top like trees.

The nightlife was something else, the clubs don´t open till 2 and party into the morning. I met 3 girls at Lux, the big nightclub on the waterfront, two sisters from New Zealand and their German friend. We stuck together for support against the aggressive and brutish men who tried to hook up with girls regardless of age difference and despite a lack of a common language to converse in. A couple of the charmers I met were an Algerian who knew almost no English and followed me until I escaped to the bathroom, and an Aussie who claimed to work for Goldman Sachs in London. He said he caught a train to Lisbon for the weekend without any luggage or place to stay, and called me a "Lying American, Just Like George Bush" when I refused to make out with him after talking to him for 5 minutes.

All in all, an enjoyable and memorable stop.

San Sebastián (3/16 to 3/18)

I stopped here to break up the long Paris-Lisbon train ride. The hostel which I stayed at was great, except for it´s proximity to the local church which rings it’s out of tune bells every half hour, day and night (luckily, I packed ear plugs for my trip).

The city is contained in a small area, but densely packed and lively at all hours. The bar snacks here are filling, cheap, and delicious, a dangerous combination if you’re trying to eat healthy while travelling. When I first arrived I was intimidated by the bar/restaurant scene, since I was unsure of how to order, whether to stand at the bar or sit at a table, and how to pay for the meal. Unlike restaurants in the states, you order drinks and food continuously and it’s on your honor to tell the wait staff what you owe at the end of the meal. Luckily, the bartenders and waiters are tolerant of ignorant tourists like myself and were helpful in directing me on the customs despite the language barrier (I only know a few Spanish phrases, and most people here don’t speak English).

The hostel was booked solid last night, due to a rowdy group of about 30 English visiting to celebrate a 30^th birthday. I can now say I’ve witnessed hard drug use, which they used excessively in the hostel’s common areas. The birthday boy claimed it was the last night he was going to use drugs, but I doubt his commitment to that claim based on the amount of his consumption last night.

I accidentally ordered a whole bottle of wine with my lunch (I thought that at 6 euros I would get a glass!), and ended up exceeding my expectations by polishing off almost 2/3´rds of it over the 3 course meal. Needless to say, I was quite tipsy by the time the bill arrived and I spent the afternoon walking it off, contemplating whether I can extend my trip another month- I am supposed to start work, and file my taxes, but I’m not sure when I’ll be in Europe again so the prospect of staying is quite attractive right now.

Paris (3/13 to 3/16)

Matt and I continued onto Paris to finish off his spring break. We hit almost all the big attractions- the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, Arc De Triumph, Jardin de Tuileries, and the Centre Pompidou. We ate like there was no tomorrow, and planned to go out to some bars on the last night but I somehow managed to get food poisoning and spent the whole evening in bed. I always love visiting Paris, but it empties the wallet really quick so it’s probably a good thing we were only there for a few nights. Matt and I parted ways this morning, he headed back to Pittsburgh and I continued south to San Sebastian.

Amsterdam (3/9 to 3/13)

Met up with Matt and Justin in Europe’s Sin City. Matt wasted no time before visiting a coffee shop to purchase more weed than we were able to consume. During the day, we wandered the canals and visited the Van Gough Museum, which was particularly well organized and laid out. We also strolled through the Red Light District at night, entertained by the loud groups of drunken young guys and the over the top prostitutes in the windows. Although the Dutch aren’t known for their food, we managed to eat well and found a café that had apple pie that was to die for. The abundance of French fry stands was amusing, especially in the evenings when long lines of high tourists with bloodshot eyes would line up to get their munchies. It was nice to see some familiar faces, and to have conversations that got past the basic backpacker questions of where you’re from, where you’re going, and why you’re travelling.

Berlin (3/5 to 3/9)

Next I headed east to Berlin. My Hostel was in Mitte, a hip area of town with lots of restaurants and shops. I did a lot of sightseeing, the highlights being the Reichstag and the Checkpoint Charlie Museum. The Reichstag is a government building that has a classical stone exterior with a large modern glass dome added to the top. The dome has a spiril walkway along the interior that gives great views of the entire city. The blend of old and new architecture was interesting and really well implemented. The Checkpoint Charlie Museum had exhibits about the Cold War, in particular the different ways people tried to escape from East to West Berlin- through, over, or under the wall. The museum was pretty cramped and the English info posted wasn’t well translated or coherent all the time, but the stories about home made hot air balloons and people hiding in fuel tanks of cars (that were modified to run off of separate spare fuel tanks) was entertaining even though the whole subject is very depressing.

Düsseldorf (3/3 to 3/5)

The first Europe stop on my trip was to Düsseldorf to visit family from my dad’s side- Uncle Bill, Aunt Anya, and cousins Jack, 13, and Charlie, 6. Jack is now taller than me, and his English has improved a lot since I last saw him two years ago. He was very excited that >I knew a little bit about the new video game consoles, and spent most of my visit telling me about the PS3 he’ll get in two weeks which he pre-ordered 5 months ago. He has a countdown to the PS3 release next to his bed, and he has a list of all the games he wants and when he’ll have enough money saved up to buy each one. Charlie is full of energy and always singing or dancing around. His constant attempt to be the center of attention would be annoying, but he’s so charming no one seems to mind. Bill rented Snakes On A Plane, which was much more enjoyable than I thought it would be. It was nice to see the family, the boys change so much even over just a year or two.

I spoke too soon about managing to stay healthy in Thailand- right after I left I was hit with persistent stomach aches, cramps, and associated aliments that need not be mentioned in detail for about 6 days. It wasn’t bad enough to keep me bedridden, but annoying and uncomfortable nonetheless.