jotsheet

If you visit my website regularly, you’ve noticed that the pickings here have been slim lately. I haven’t felt like writing. I haven’t had anything to say. And to tell you the truth, I find this malaise a bit disconcerting.

Less than a week ago, I returned from a two week trip; the first week was spent working in London, the second on holiday in Germany. You’d think I’d have something profound, insightful, or at least interesting to say about my trip. I really don’t. I can’t even summarize it well. What I can tell you is that traveling for two weeks by oneself makes for a lonely time.

I did enjoy my trip. I do think it was worthwhile. I’m a little disappointed that I didn’t meet more people, despite the fact that was more outgoing and friendlier than usual, but I wasn’t too excited about bonding with the rich, suburban college kids in the hostels. Frankly, I had enough of them in my time at NU. Unlike many of my fellow Americans, I wasn’t in Germany to sightsee and meet other Americans. I had some vague idea of living a dirty, ratty hostel life for a week, which I basically succeeded in doing. (I did this by repeatedly failing to shower.) Still, the experience was missing something, and that was probably a companion.

While in London, I stayed in Islington, which was an odd little borough. It was a mix of commercial and residential and not far from the financial district but just a bit rough around the edges. London was extraordinarily confusing. I got lost four times, three of them with a map in my right pocket. After the worst episode, I analyzed the confusing qualities of East London and decided that it comes down to (1) narrow streets, (2) too many advertisements and stimuli, (3) poorly labeled streets/tiny street signs/no street signs (see this picture), (4) street names that change every few hundred yards, (5) streets at crazy angles that curve constantly, and (6) that driving-on-the-left crap. The situation is slightly ameliorated by London’s excellent cabbies. The ones in the black cabs have to study for two years to take The Knowledge, so you can be guaranteed those guys know their shit.

Although I was in London for work, I did get to see some of the usual sights: Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, Parliament, Big Ben, the London Eye, and so on. But the place that amazed me more than any other was South Bank. I stumbled upon this place while strolling along the banks of the Thames. It is a pulsing, living organism of sweaty, drunk, stoned skaters careening off steps and rails in a spray-painted concrete cave just off the Thames. I took a couple of pictures. If you check out the second clip of the independent film Rollin’ Through the Decades and skip to about 2/3 of the way through, they have a bit on South Bank.

Following London, I visited Germany for a full week, opting for the very collegiate rucksack, trains, ‘n hostel approach to things. It was fairly enjoyable. My best time was spent in Nuremberg, where I met some good people and visited a good biergarten. Regensburg was exceptionally German, and I felt like the only native English speaker in the place. It’s a good thing I could get by with my (not as good as advertised) skills in German. And my stay in Munich was a bit too long, but the Euro Youth Hotel (rated one of Europe’s 10 best hostels) was cool. I couldn’t have asked for better weather than the 85° stuff we had in Munich.

Some people say that a trip to Europe will change your life, or your worldview, or something. (I don’t know, maybe I imagined that people say that.) This trip did not change my life, my worldview, or really even modify my opinions. It actually confirmed a lot of things for me. But that’s not to say I didn’t learn a few things…

• I learned that German is a good thing to speak to Germans—they’re nicer to you when you do that. I did that, so everyone was pretty nice to me.
• I confirmed that Germans are not particularly outgoing, but that doesn’t mean they’re unfriendly. They won’t make the first move, though.
• I learned that Europe has a crapload of grafitti.
• I learned that that the German rail system is a fabulous thing and makes the “L” here in Chicago look like some shit out of the 1800s.
• I learned that European bathrooms are just not as nice as American bathrooms, and paying to pee is some serious, bushleague bullshit.
• I learned that I have an easier time finding my way around German cities, reading German, than I do in London, reading English.
• I learned that Eurorestaurants don’t have a concept of a personal-sized pizza, so when you order one in a cafe, the damn thing is HUGE. This is probably the only example of a food portion in Euroland being larger than in the States.
• I learned that people in Munich love to ride their bikes. Everywhere. Also, this seems to have a generally positive effect on the fitness level of Münchner females.
• I learned that sometimes, tough German guys drink beer through a straw in a train station at 1:00 p.m. on a Sunday afternoon. Drinking beer through a straw is absolutely inexcusable.
• I learned why Germans drink so much. If beer is as cheap as a soft drink, why not?!
• I learned that beer+Sprite and beer+Pepsi is pretty darn good. I may have to restrict consumption of these drinks (Radler and Somethingelseler, respectively) to times when I am in Euroland, however, as I believe I lower my sperm count each time I drink them.
• I learned that soccer isn’t that bad—provided you’re watching the edited, 20 minute version shown the next day, not the live-action, 90 minute thing. Yes, I’m a little ashamed to write this.

I had been a bit wary of the eight hours on the plane, but the service and food on transatlantic flights made it more enjoyable than a budget four hour flight from Chicago to LA. On the way back, I was prudent and stretched out quite a bit, watched Starsky and Hutch twice or thrice through, and generally enjoyed myself. It was good to get back to Chicago. In two weeks the loneliness had crept in.

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