Starrys in Europe

Two Starry boys in Europe... watch out!

After taking Jenny back, I had a few days in Trier alone, and then I was off again to get Bryon. I was there about 6 hours early, so I drank a lot of espresso and watched soccer on TV with some Italians.

Bryon got here fine, and without delay, so we were off!

We didn't stay in Frankfurt, as I had with Jenny, because we had other plans. We headed to Trier for a couple days, and although the weather wasn't as nice as a couple of weeks previous, it was still good.

We rested the first day, as Bryon was pretty knackered from jet lag, but the next day, we tooled around Trier a bit, and that night, went to a bar. As a bartender, you get to know a lot of the other bartenders in town, so we went to one I know well. We had a good time chatting with the bartender and just hanging out.

We went to Luxembourg the next day, looking around and seeing stuff. We ate at Pizza Hut, where I impressed Bryon with my massive French skills.

Next day was more hanging out, eating at McDonalds a lot.

We flew to London from the local airport. London was great. We had a small, yet charming hotel in London, Earl's Court. I had been there before, so I had a pretty good idea of how to get around. We weren't able to check in right away, but were able to leave our bags, so we went to find some food, and lo and behold, there's a McDonald's right around the corner! It saved us from starving on a couple of occasions, so we were quite grateful for that. We saw all the sights of London, breaking things down day by day. We saw Trafalgar Square, Picadilly Circus, the Tower of London, Westminster Abbey, Tower Bridge, everything you see in postcards, including H.R.M. the Queen herself, live in person. We saw the premier for the new film, "Wild Hogs" starring Tim Allen and John Travolta, and we saw John Travolta himself, as well.

We saw a film in town, a brititsh one, called Hot Fuzz. It was a funny movie about english police.

We stayed three nights in England, and came home a few days before Bryon had to go home. We toured Trier when we got back, and had some good food too.

It was a fun trip, but once again, it wasn't much fun watching my buddy walk away through the gates.

A few months and I'm home.

Bryon in a square in Luxembourg.

In front of Tower Bridge on the Thames River.

A couple brothers wreacking havoc in Europe!!

From Dylon With Love

Jenny comes to Europe

I went to get her the night before, my excitement quite apparent. I was fidgeting the whole trip there and even moreso in the seat where I waited in the airport. The trip to Frankfurt was one that I'd get used to, being there every weekend for a month, picking up and dropping off my guests.
When she finally walked through the gates, I hugged her for the first time in six months. It was, needless to say, good.
Our trip was nice. We checked into our hotel in Frankfurt a bit early and toured Frankfurt a small bit. The hotel was great. A five star across the street from the main trainstation, it even came with a multi-lingual doorman complete with coat and tails and a top hat. Quite the setup! We went to a fancy bar in Frankfurt called the 22nd. It was on the 22nd floor of a skyscraper and served fancy cocktails amongst live soft jazz music. We ordered a weird green drink apiece, and 24 Euros later, left the place for something a bit cheaper and a bit less posh. The hotel sounded good, with its private atmosphere and cheaper wine.
We returned to Trier in weather as beautiful as one could dream. The trip gets so much nicer when the weather improves.
In Trier, we toured around, seeing some of the old sights and sampling some of the bars and cafes.
After a couple of days in Trier, we packed up and headed for Luxembourg City, Luxembourg.
I found a modest hotel near the train station and we made it our home-base.
Luxembourg was nice, but there were some things I learned about it on this trip that I didn't know before. For example, the times that meals are served are quite strict. Dinner is only served between 7 pm and 8:30. If you don't eat during this timeframe, you don't eat dinner! Other than that, it was another city to show Jenny and another chance to better my French. We ended up eating our favorite meal at Pizza Hut! We saw a film in English each night. We saw The Painted Veil and Blood Diamond, both of which were very good. We had to get a taxi both nights back into town, as the cinema is rather out of town, and the buses had stopped running. However, the taxi drivers were both nice, and we made it to hit the hay after a long day. We returned to Trier after a couple of nights in Luxembourg.
We spent the rest of our time just enjoying each others' companies, and relaxing in the short time that we had left together. I took her back to the airport and saw her off. It was very difficult to do.
But, even though all good things must end, there are still good things. I will be home in 92 days from today, and it will feel like I just left. Until then,
From Dylon With Love

France

The trip to France was a very quickly-enacted one. My friend, Tristan, and I decided one Wednesday night that we wanted to take a quick trip somewhere. Not tell anyone, nothing big or expensive, just a quick trip. We decided in a class that we'd head down to southern France, to the port city of Marseilles. Owning a Eurail Train Pass, I still had a few days left valid on it, so the fares would cost me nothing. I booked a cheap hotel one night in the city that night, and Friday afternoon, we left Trier for the weekend. The train we took was one that flew through the night. We had reservations in the car with reclining chairs. They were not the best or most comfortable, but they were better than sleeping on the floor of a train (which I have done before).
We arrived in Marseilles around 5 in the morning, Saturday. It was still too early to do anything, and we still needed to book the tickets home for Sunday. So we waited in the train station for a while, and later, when things started to open, headed into town to get our bearings, a bit of food, and some idea of where our hotel was. We found a little internet cafe along the way, near the McDonalds (which saved us from hunger and cold!) and got the address to our hotel. It took 45 minutes to walk to the hotel, and by the time we got there, we were able to check in. We decided to watch some French TV and have a nap, as the journey through the night was not the best rest to be had.
After a nap, we headed into the port. Marseilles has been a very famous port city for hundreds of years. We found the main part of the harbor, where one could find boats as small as a two-man wooded raft to a 2800 person luxury cruise ship. We found a restaurant, a bit expensive, but real French food. I ordered seafood, and got fresh crab, lobster, prawns, shrimp, and mussels. It was pretty good, but all cold, and surprisingly, more than I could eat. It was also a good chance for me to try out my French, which I came to find rather quickly, was horrible.
We took the city train back to our hotel, used the free internet, and slept off our long day.
We woke up again the next morning looking for something to do, so again, we went to the harbor. We walked around the beach area and watched some people fish for a while. Then we walked back to the harbor, and for one Euro, you can take two ferry rides across the short part of the harbor. I have always loved boats and water, so this was a great deal for me. As we walked around the busy harbor, I noticed a few tour boats driving around the bay. We looked for a while, and found that there was a tour boat that took passengers around the sea a bit. For only 10 Euros, it was a great deal. We ferried out to the Chateau d'If, the island where Alexander Dumas based his book, The Count of Monte Cristo upon. It looks just like Dumas describes it: tall, rocky, and alone. The boat continued on to another island, where there were more shops and things, but as it was a Sunday, they were starting to close, and as it was getting to be evening, it was getting cold, so we stayed on the boat and headed back to Marseilles.
We grabbed dinner at a pizza restaurant, where the extra-large pizzas lived up to their names, as two pizzas couldn't fit on our small table.
Our night train left at 11 pm Sunday and arrived in Trier with just enough time for me to grab a McDonalds cheeseburger and head to work.
All in all, it was a nice weekend, with a lot to see, but next time, I would probably opt for a little more time in one place, and go for the extra money for the sleeping coaches. :)

Here's a view of the harbor, from the harbor. We took a 50 cent boat ride across the water.

Me in front of my favorite ship. It's an old sailing ship (I don't know if it's a REAL sailing ship) but it's cool. It's a restaurant now. Neat though!

A sunset view of the sea. Very calming and serene.

Me on the boat into the sea. Looking at something cool, probably.

The Chateau d'If. The prison where the Count of Monte Cristo stayed. I don't know if it was ever really a prison or not, but it's not nearly as far out from the land as they made it out in the moive. Took us less than 10 minutes to get there! It's visible from Marseilles!

A view of the harbor at a different island. Not d'If, but one near it. There are shops there, and lots and lots of boats. Neat shot.

From Dylon With Love

London

Quite a while ago, a group of us decided to arrange a trip to London. I had all but forgotten about it, until someone reminded me to get ready. After a quick flight and dealing with immigration, we waited about two hours for a bus to take us into town. We got there, finally, found our hostel, and rested a bit. After a short rest, we found the bar in the hostel and had some cheap drinks there. We walked to the underground station and took the tube to the downtown area, along the River Thames. It was quite nice out, and we saw he Big Ben tower and the London Eye ferris wheel all lit up. I also found a football shop where I bought a scarf of West Ham United (see a couple paragaphs down about the team). We had a traditional English dinner, of fish and chips to end the evening.

The next day we took a free tour of the whole city. We swa the place where the Great Fire started along with all the sights you think of when you think of London. We saw Big Ben by day, Westminster Abbey, The Houses of Parliament, 10 Downing Street (where the Prime Minister lives), Buckingham Palace, along with other things like the Millenium Bridge and the bridge built entirely by women.

That evening, we went to a comedy club show. It was quite funny, even for a very small venue.

Next day was the Tower of London. I found out that it's not really a tower at all, but a castle/fortress. We saw the places where the Kings of England lived and worked. We also saw the armouries and prison chambers.

Also on display at the Tower of London are the Royal Crown Jewels of the Royal Family. These things are pretty incredible. Centuries old, and under the tightest security I've ever encountered. You basically walk into a safe, with a door over a foot thick. Qute impressive.

That same day, Klaus and I took the tube to East London (the not-so-nice area) to a place called East Ham. East Ham is the place where Upton Park is. Upton Park is the place where my favorite soccer team, West Ham United Football Club, plays. Unfortunately, there was something going on inside, famous people and that kind of stuff... so we were unable to tour it. But, the guy at the front desk felt sorry for us travelling all that way not to be able to see the grounds. So he gave us an email address to email for a tour and some free stuff.

That night we saw a movie at one of the huge cinemas in Leicester (pronounced Lester) Square. It is one of the movie houses where world premiers are shown. 1300 seats. That same night was the premier for the new movie Dreamgirls. So Beyonce Knowles, Eddie Murphey, Jay-Z... all those famous people, were there. I didn't see any of them, but they were there.

Next morning, we headed back to Germany. It was a very nice weekend, and the weather (which was terrible in Germany) was great in London. We kind of escaped that big storm, so we were more than happy.

The bar inside the hostel. They had "Pint for a Pound" from 6-9 pm. Cheap drinks!

The London Eye by night. It's really cool looking. It's one piece of a three-part project. It's the only one that had any success.

St. Stephen's tower. It's more famously known as Big Ben. This is actually false, as Big Ben is actually only the big bell inside the tower. But it doesn't really matter. :)

On the River Thames by night. (Pronounced "Temms") Really cool boats and stuff. The boat there in the foreground is actually permanently there, as a night club/bar/restaurant.

The Tower Bridge. Easily one of the most famous bridges in the entire world.

Me in front of Upton Park, where West Ham United play their home games. You can also see the scarf I'm wearing--it matches the emblems on the stadium. Also, I'm wearing two coats (to match better). I'm not that huge. :)

From Dylon With Love

The Swiss Experience

Here, if you look in the top left corner, you'll see what looks like a small rise in the valley between mountains. See it? It's just a spec right before the picture ends on the left side. The very top of the valley there... That is a train station: the highest in Europe... and I think maybe the world. It's called the Jungfraujoch, and the mountain you see, is the world-famous Jungfrau.

-We finished our school the 21st of December with a short lecture. Rather unexpected, really, as we usually finish a class with a party of some sort... or at least a cookie for everyone... But, to no avail. We had class.

The next morning, Anna, Corrina and myself went to the train station at 6 am to catch the 6:30 train to Koblenz. I stayed up too late, and found myself awake at 5 am, unpacked. So I quickly packed some clothes and by the time I was finished, it was time to leave. From Koblenz, we took a train to Nuernburg, Germany. The train was not a fun one, as it was a bit of a nicer one, so reservations took reign, and we had none. My two companions took seats in the smoking car, and I, left with no options, took refuge in the refuse. :) Yeah, I sat on the trash bins in the back of the train next to the toilet. It was brilliant. I thought, maybe when the conductor comes by to take tickets, he'd find me a seat... no. "Ticket please." I couldn't believe it! So I basically had to pay full price for the ticket for no seat! Oh well, the rest of the trip was great.

We found Nuernburg a bit cold, but nice enough overall. We toured the Christmas market there, which wasn't a whole lot different than the one here in Trier. We eventually found refuge in the shops and Starbucks Coffee House nearby. I did spoil myself with a coffee, though I was trying to travel on a budget.

We continued on our journey towards Switzerland on a couple of the high-speed ICE trains Germany offers for a higher price. Luckily for us, we had the pass for foreigners, allowing us travel on almost any train in Europe. We made reservations for ourselves, as well, so the trip ended up being quite luxurious. Big seats and a dining car.. It was really something.

We arrived in Interlaken, Switzerland around 2 am. It was quite cold, as the town was under an inversion. We found our ways to the hostel with the help of a drunk girl at a cash machine in the town center. The hostel was a little bare, at least in the room, but we found that it grows on a person, and by the end, we thought we might want to own it.

The hostel itself is the oldest independent hostel in all of Switzerland. It's made entirely of wood and the room I was in was more or less the attic. However, there were some big windows and a small heater. I grabbed an extra blanket, and it became a fairly decent place to sleep. Unfortunately, where the hostel had charm, it lacked in technology. We were under the influence that it was equipped with wireless internet. Now normally, that wouldn't be so much of a problem, but the fact that it was our Christmas, calling home became significantly more difficult without that vital connection. Eventually, I turned to the comfort of international cell phone rates, and although they could never be described as cheap, they did forge a connection between myself and the people I love.

The next day we woke up early for the free breakfast, which consisted of Muesli (oats of sorts with milk), an orange, glass of water, and coffee. Not too bad, being free. We toured the town a bit, and found dinner at... Hooters Interlaken. :D It's a huge tourist town, and the first language spoken is English. At least it was everywhere we were.

Next day, Christmas Eve, we met a couple military guys who were stationed in Germany. I found out later that they were officers, one of whom had graduated from West Point. Nice guys, too. The girls and the other two Americans went skiing, and I stayed behind, and caught up on some sleep, as I had been lacking it. I tooled around the hostel, watched some CNN and played pool with some other American tourists and the front desk clerk. That night we found a Swiss restaurant in a hotel, the only place open in the city. They celebrate the night of the 24th here, and in Switzerland, so everyone was in for the night. The hotel restaurant ended up being really cool, with a manager who we decided must have been crazy, because he danced around singing the entire time. He also showed some tourists how the Swiss properly eat fondue. :) It was quite the spectacle.

Christmas day was actually pretty strange, namely for the fact that I met a guy with whom I went to high school in the line for breakfast. I met his friends, and we decided to go sledding together that afternoon.

I expected something a little different from sledding. I expected to walk up a hill, sled down it, walk back up, repeat. NO. This was a half hour's drive in a van up into the Alps. Then it was another ride further up via cable car. The views were spectacular. The sledding was more like extreme ice sledding, as the snow conditions weren't ideal for "frolic-sledding" but suited my slightly-idiotic, adrenaline and speed fixations just fine. I had a great time. We ended the sledding with free dinner at a Swiss restaurant high in the Alps. I had real fondue and white wine. It was really good, and I met quite a few nice people.

The next day we had to head home, but rather than just take the express back to Trier, we found some scenic routes through Switzerland. They were stunning. From Interlaken to Montreaux, there to Basel, Basel to Lucerne, there to Bern, Bern to Trier. Two of them were specifically scenic routes, and so the cars were luxurious and had lots of big windows. It was just cool.

We finally made it back to Trier around 2 am, and went to sleep immediately.

A glimpse of the Alps. Also visible are the inversion and a car antennae. :D

Swiss houses are just so pretty. They can be new and still retain that "Old Swiss" style. They are nicer to look at than German houses, because they aren't pink on one half and blue on the other...

An example of a Swiss house (though I think this one has been converted into a restaurant).

One last shot of the Alps. They really are something, aren't they?

One with me in it! This is our sledding group minus the leader. On the far right, red coat, is the guy with whom I went to high school. We actually took German together.

From Dylon With Love

Stronger Than You

There only come a few people in life that have the ability to change it. Only a very select few. Over a decade ago, I happened upon one of these rare people. His name is Matt, and he's the first best friend I ever made. That makes him the one I've known longest, and know best. While we have been away for quite some time, there still exists that connection that true buds can't lose, and those memories that are never forgotten... no matter how badly you try...

A decade has past and we remain solid friends. Fart jokes, talking into the night about God-knows-what, and growing up in a new, complex world have shaped the two of us into the men we are now and who we each will become.

We have endured more than I could have imagined. So many memories, and more to come, it is truly a friendship that will never grow old.

Innocence, simplicity of youth. My best friend.

From Dylon With Love

"Quick" Trip to FC Koeln

We decided earlier on that we wanted to return to Cologne to check out a football match (soccer game) in the second league Germany. It was FC Koeln (Cologne) versus FC Kaiserslautern. It was a good game, ended up tied 2-2 (a draw). The stadium was packed--there were 49,500 fans there, in a stadium that held probably 50,000. It was absolutely massive. Awesome. And cheap too. We got good seats, rather high up, but a good view of things.

Unfortunately a little blurry, but it was dark, so it's good enough, right?

50,000 people!!

Well the game ended and we had to get back to the station to catch the train home. Only problem was, the train was a little late and the time table had changed. SO... we got stuck in Koblenz, a German city about an hour and a half from Trier for seven hours in a McDonalds. It was the only place we could find near the train station that was warm. It was actually a lot of fun, drinking a lot of tea and coffee and just generally bonding with the closest friends I've got here. We got back around 9 am. Not really a bad time. Just a little sleepy. :)

From Dylon With Love