London, Basel, Erfurt. Next Stop: Paris!

Seeing as this is my first post in over a week, considering a weeks worth of travel in Europe is rather densely packed with stories, I will first give an update and then tell of the latest news.

As you know, I was in London for a week, staying with a family that lives in Primrose Hill (one of the highest points in the city and was used for anti-aircraft guns during the second World War) I made every moment of my short stay count. I saw many sites and attractions, such as the London Bridge, the Tower of London, the British, Tate, Tate Modern, National Gallery and National Portrait Gallery Museums, to name a few. I also attmepted to explore all the little nooks and crannies of the town, finding hundred-year-old market places and narrow passageways, I really enjoyed myself.

On the 21st of January I hopped a plane from London's Luton Airport to Basel, Switzerland. This airport, by the way, is a Tri-National Airport. It has three exits and three customs officers, and each leads to a different country. Seeing as I wanted to get to Reinach, Switzerland, I took the Switzerland exit. After finally arriving in Reinach at roughly 12am (24:00), I thought it best to stay in Reinach for Saturday and postpone our trip to Luzern to early Sunday morning. Taking Saturday as a mildly lazy day (I had to find a new strap for my shoulder bag as my 60-year-old WWII medic bag's original strap decided to break only three generations into its carreer) I left early Sunday morning for Luzern and had enough daylight to see a good majority of the city. And what a gorgeous city it was. Luzern is just as you would picture a winter wonderland, or a Swiss get-away. If I spoke the language, and had the money, I would probably move there.

After a wonderful weekend in Reinach and Luzern, I hopped four trains back North, through Frankfurt until I arrived at Erfurt. Ben was kind enough to meet me at the train station. Of course, when I lept from the train I was startled to find a man of roughly 6'5", and I did not remember Ben being so tall. Indeed it was him, however. We left the station, he a full head over myself, and caught the next tram back to his apartment.

Clearly, much has happened even during my stay here in Erfurt, which is comming up on almost 5 days now. Ben has given me a complete tour of the city along, we have gone bar-hopping (including a bar constructed in a 500-year-old basement), spent the day in Weimar (the cultural capital of Germany), and even today we had a lovely trip to Buchenwald. I guess lovely might not be the best choice of words. The point is, however, if you have never visited a concentratio camp, I highly suggest you do because there are few experiences capable of opening one's eyes to the human capacity of immorality. While I have been rather beaten down with pictures, stories and videos of the Holocaust, I am very glad to have had the opportunity to witness one first hand.

As for future plans: tonight Ben and I will attend a going-away party for a friend of his, as well as a birthday party tomorrow night, and then Sunday I will be hopping a few trains to Paris, where I will be staying for the week. I wish you all the best, and keep checking my site for updates and new photos.

Funny Story... From London

I was sitting at Charing Cross tube station, chatting with my new friend Tara about what we had just seen at the Tate Museum of Modern Art, and she taps me on the shoulder and points out a very cute child of roughly 4 years. We heard a few words come out of his mouth and just took it for children's gibberish, when a slightly more aged voice started to respond in the same language. Then we noticed it was quite clearly some Middle Eastern family, as the older boy was probably only 12 years old.

I turned back to Tara and we picked up our conversation from where we left off: the Millenium Bridge, the Tate Modern, and the Globe Theatre. I had the sudden urge to take a sip of water and reached into my bag for the bottle I had been carrying around for at least 2 days now. I took a couple sips and then returned to holding up my side of the conversation, without replacing the bottle in my bag. After only a short time, maybe 2 minutes, we see that little boy again. Only this time he's standing in front of me. He points to my bottle of water and mumbles something I could not possibly have understood but took to mean he wanted it. I handed him the bottle, and he ran off.

I wondered if I should try to get the bottle back, and then decided against it because there wasn't much water left and the bottle my feet hurt too much to move. We him watched from about 30ft away, and before I even considered the consequences, the boy started licking every inch of that plastic bottle while struggling to get it open. Obviously he doesn't understand what it means to lick the outside of a container that has been inside of WWII medic bag. Who knows what's been in there. Tara asked me jokingly if I had a cold. I told her there are far worse things to have, and yet I'm quite sure that child will soon be getting one of them.

I hope not, but you never know. Alright, that's enough for now. Yes of course there are more stories, how could there not be? Unfortunately I cannot tell them all right now, they will have to wait for a later date.

Critical Damage in the IQ Sector

I dont' know what it is, but I can actually feel myself getting dumber. Honestly, I have these odd sensations originating from the deepest parts of my brain. Two to three time a day, roughly, I even hear the faintest of screams, like a thousand cells within my brain cry out in horror. I don't get it. I'm reading, obviously not the same amount as while I was in school, but reading none the less. Besides, shouldn't I get more out of each book when I enjoy them? Shouldn't every sentence have a substantially larger impact on my mind due to the fact that I actually care for the subject? Am I wrong?

Clearly I'm wrong. It's either that or there's something else lacking in my intellectual life right now. Like stimulation beyond books, or the news at that. Don't worry, I don't actually watch the news, only read. There's nothing on TV worth watching, unless it's the history channel, PBS or discovery. And even then it gets a bit iffy sometimes. I try not to watch TV unless it's necessary, such as when I want to know what level the terror alert is at. I should get a rainbow magnet with an arm attached to it and stick it to my fridge. Everymorning, when I wake up, I'll check out the alert level and be sure to inform my family by just dialing the correct color on the fridge. Just thing, if it's well accepted I could consider producing them professionally, and then sell them on ebay. I could make millions. Whoa there, I shouldn't get so far ahead of myself. I think billions is more like it.

I went to the library today to do some research. That's right, the man who abhors research papers actually took time out of his own busy schedule to do some fact-finding about the top places to visit in Europe. Also checking into the costs of a Eurail pass. Tickets are cheap, we'll see what happens. It's a good thing they're cheap though, the Eurail pass is $600-$800, good god. Obviously it's not subsidiezed by the government... or governments... well then, I think I just explained to myself why it wouldn't be subsidiezed. IN OTHER NEWS... yeah, see what I mean? Dumber and dumber...

I need to get out of here. I feel like moving to Switzerland for the winter. I'll do as my aunt did; find an under the table job at some ski resort, board during the day and work at night? Sounds good to me. I'll just sleep on the train. I'll hop on the 12am to Paris and then the 4am back. Sleep both ways, don't pay for lodging and then I'm back on the slopes when the mountains open. Excellent idea. Why thank you.