LONDON- Money shot #1: Big Ben, Parliment, and the London Eye--all in one photo. Taken from across the Thames.
Inside the British Museum. I think the ceiling was as/more interesting than the priceless antiquities therein.
The entrance to the British Library, which was possibly one of the highlights of my trip. Yes, I'm a literary nerd. Whatofit?
My new favorite joint in the world (I like that I can use that phrase with a certain authority now), Troubador. I'm considering moving to London just to be near it. As a side note: the British know how to do a muthafuckin breakfast.
Inside the Troubador...an impressive collection of beverage brewers.
PARIS-The Sacre-Coeur in Montmartre, my favorite of all of the churches I saw in Europe, I think. (And that's not just because it's prominently featured in Amelie.)
The view of all of Paris from the top of Montmartre. (The big structure in the middle of the frame is the Notre Dame.)
A street performance given by a group of strings students that I happened upon one day when I was wandering around the Marais distric of Paris, tired, wet, and nearly despondent.
Money shot #2- Yup, the Eiffel Tower.
A random yet perfect side street in the Latin Quarter, which is definately my favorite district in Paris.
My mecca: Shakespeare and Company--the best of all crowded, disorganized, musty bookstores. I spent large portions of my vacation stalking literary landmarks, and this one was tops.
Cathedrale de Notre-Dame, where I was accosted twice in twenty minutes by weird men. (This, however, was not the sight of my molestation. That was near my hotel...I got a lot of unwanted play in Paris.)
Les Deux Magots--the cafe of Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir. Note the asshat tourists sitting out front. It's sad how these great places that were once interesting and underground turn into photo ops (yes, for asshat tourists like me...)
I like a city makes use of its street names to honor its great and slightly subversive minds.
The view from outside my room at my Paris hostel. Note the fantastic view of the Sacre-Coeur.
The cafe from Amelie!
New friend Bhupindar posing outside the Moulin Rouge, conveniently located mere blocks from our hostel.
My photographic proof that I was indeed in Paris--Me next to one of the famous Metro signs at the stop closest to our hostel (Anvers).
BRUSSELS- Nice, cozy streets, and that's about all.
Grand-Place--Pictures cannot do justice to the imposing architecture here. It's a massive square, and these unbelievable buildings confront you each way you turn. I felt very small.
Grand-Place
More Grand-Place
What I like to call the "Little Boy Peeing statue"--ask me about my corresponding bottle opener souvenir.
AMSTERDAM--A city of bicycles, canals, and pot.
It makes for some pretty pictures. Unfortunately, I didn't see anyone fall into the canals. (One of the few things that didn't get checked off of my "Europe to do" list.)
The two girls with whom I spent my time in Amsterdam. I met them on the train from Brussels and never actually learned their names in the three days I spent with them. Yes, I'm awful, but after a certain point it feels ridiculous to ask.
I think probably 40% of the world's bicycles are located in Amsterdam, and they all have to be parked somewhere.
Amsterdam serves all your "coffeeshop" needs, even a 7am wake and bake session. (Note the opening hour.)
Photographic proof that I was in Amsterdam.
"My" coffeeshop (Kadinsky) was located in this charming and completely sketchy little back alley.
BERLIN- The Brandenburg Gates-the main landmark of the point where East and West Berlin met. It's also noteworthy for being just across the square from the hotel where Michael Jackson hung his baby out the window. Such history in Berlin!
Friedrichstadtkirche- one of my favorite buildings from my trip (though I couldn't explain why if I wanted to...). One my walking tour, the guide told us all about it, then mentioned, almost as an afterthought, "And it was completely destroyed during WWII." This, apparently, is the restored version. I felt a little gypped.
The small spots on this column are bullet holes. You see these alot around the city.
Best. Street. Musician. Ever.
What's left of the Berlin Wall. (Or, if you believe my guide, there's tons of it just dumped in a field in the German countryside somewhere. It's concrete gold, people. This is one of my financial back-up plans. Before winning the lottery and after 'You Tube superstar')
Inside the Jewish Memorial. One of the most interesting things about Berlin was seeing how they've tried to make reperations for their history. General opinion, however, feels that this is a pretty disappointing memorial.
Photographic evidence that I was in Berlin. And that my eyes are blue.
This is what I looked like while traveling. Photo taken into the elevator mirror in my hostel in Prague.
PRAGUE- The famous Charles Bridge, from afar.
The castle and Old Town, sight of my major antique store score. (How do you say "happy dance" in Czech?)
The aforementioned antique store. I wanted this typewriter, but I thought it might be a bit bulky for my backpack.
The Czech language is _so_ foreign for English speakers. And the pronunciation doesn't match the spelling in any way that seems Anglo-logical, which caused some major confusion, let me tell you.
Prague, Old town. The 'hood.
The view from the castle, the highest point in Prague. I ended up walking up that steep-ass incline twice in one day (not intentionally, let me assure you). Once for the moneyshot photo op, and once for my convictions, as you'll see.
Does this maybe say "Warning: Blue, aura-ed, funny-hatted man and Sesame Street character crossing"? I'm not sure, but I'm completely in love with all things Czech.
Tessa, a friend made by chance (by luck!) at my hostel, holding the flyer I found for the Bush protest.
Anti-Bush (and anti-American, really) protest that I attended at the top of the aforementioned Prague Castle hill. It's always a slightly bizarre experience to attend a political rally, let alone one in an unfamiliar language
Anarchists are scary in every country, I found.
Protest signs in Czech, with the slightly surreal backdrop of these gorgeous, twee Czech homes.
The outdoor courtyard of my hostel in Prague. I spent a good amount of time here.
Czech ingenuity-turning an old sewing machine into a table. I am determined to do this for myself.
VIENNA- Sai (who I met in Prague and who traveled with me to Vienna and Venice), me, and Lauren (who I met in Paris and who happened to be hitting Vienna at the same time). All in our mid-20s, we're an architect, a professor, and a scientist, respectively. I love the people I met on this trip.
Stephansdom-the central landmark of Vienna. Happened upon it on Corpus Christi, which is apparently a national holiday in Vienna.
Stephansdom- Yeah, it's pretty spectacular, but I still think my favorite aspects of Vienna were its Kaffeehauses (some of the best coffee I'll ever have, no matter the cost) and art museums, of which I unfortunately don't have any pictures.
Vienna is imposing with its architecture.
I took a picture of this sign because I somehow ended up spending a large amount of my time in Vienna walking up and down this random sidestreet.
Photographic evidence that I done seen Vienna. In front of the Rathaus.
I spent some time watching this man painting his copy. As fascinating as anything else I saw while in Europe.
Sai, in our sweet nighttrain compartment (which was supposed to hold six people but which we somehow ended up having to ourselves.)
VENICE- I went a little photo-crazy in Venice, so you'll have to bear with me. Can't you see why, though?
Unmanufactured perfection--some random window on some random building.
I suspect the blue and white poles are just placed sporadically for the tourists. I don't think they serve any real function but to evoke the image of Venice that we expect.
Everything in Venice feels slightly off-kilter.
Sai strolls down a Venetian fondementa (The temperature was only bearable in the shade.)
We ate lunch in the courtyard of a restaurant with someone's laundry hanging over our heads.
Sai does Venice.
More perfect Venetian imperfection.
On the grand canal. Didn't see anyone fall in here either, unfortunately.
Also on the Grand Canal (the Guggenheim is the tiny white building on the right. It's known as "the unfinished palace" 'cuz even Peggy freakin' Guggenheim couldn't affored to finish building her home in Venice.)
Sai and Pietro in Piazzo San Marco. (Note the infamous pigeons. I got shit on by one the next day.)
Piazzo San Marco
Me in front of Florian, noteworthy for bringing coffee to the West and for Hemingway's having often imbibed there.
A Pietro-staged photo op.
Pietro makes a traditional Italian hand gesture.
Pietro makes a traditional Italian bird call to shoo away the pigeon looming overhead.
All sorts of gorgeous.
A residential bulding--note the back door that allows residents to pull their boats directly up to their doorstep.
It really does look too pretty to be real, but I can personally verify that it was. Because it smelled.
Sign to denote a gondola crossing?
A shot from the train en route from Venice to Gryon, Switzerland. Europe is lousy with castles.
SWITZERLAND-The view from outside my hostel. (Once again, I went a little crazy with the photos here.)
Pretty.
Pretty, pretty.
Mad pretty.
My hostel.
Chalets and such.
I kept thinking of the Austen quote from _Pride and Prejudice_. "What are men to rocks and mountains?"
A good place for taking a break from the frenetic travel pace I'd been maintaining. (Despite the fact that I had to take five trains to get there and four trains to get out...)
The view from my room's window. I woke up and saw this, basically.
sigh
The porch outside my room, where I could finally get some quiet.
STRASBOURG, FRANCE- The St. Odeille Monastary outside of Strasbourg, set on a cliff.
Tommy makes a picturesque scene in Colmar, France even more pretty.
The Strasbourg Cathedral, or, as I liked to call it, "God's little gimp." Note how only one tower hs been finished.
Tommy laid flat on his back in the middle of the square to attempt to get this shot. Too bad the flash couldn't get the church.
Tommy and I bond because we share the burden of being unbearably adorable.
Sizable Belgian beers at the foot of the cathedral. It's easier to contemplate the grandeur of God while drunk, I think.
Tommy, through the looking glass.
Perfect.
Some French school children enjoy the impromptu LPC concert in front of the cathedral. I plopped myself down at the end of the line and made some friends.
LPC represents.
Solo time. God's eyes are watching them this time, I think.
DUBLIN-I was there for Bloomsday! I do love a city that celebrates a literary-themed holiday as if it were a religious one.
I think you can tell a lot about a city by the landmark with which it choses to represent itself. What do YOU think this particular tall, pointy metalic phallus says about Dublin?
Bloomsday crowds at the Joyce statue.
See, here's a lesson kids--It doesn't matter what you're really like during the course of your life. You too can be made to seem much more dapper, handsome, and self-confidant in death.
Davy Byrne's--only literary nerds will know what this is. (Holla!)
Bloomsday performances outside of the James Joyce Center.
Bloom himself.
I think I liked Dublin so much because, at least according to the prevalence of such establishments, the things they value most are: whiskey, coffee, books, and breakfast.
Along the Liffey.
More Liffey--where I sat and had coffee early one morning.
James Joyce's piano, at the Dublin Writers' Museum. Anyone else excited? Anyone?
Stained glass window at the Dublin Writers' Museum honoring Irish writers.
Emma salutes with a pint of Guinness at The Temple Bar.
What luck--we accidently happened upon the World Street Performance Championship. Yes, apparently such an event really does exist.
Another surprise- festive decorations at the Championships.
The lewdest literary-themed statue I've seen. Oscar Wilde wants YOU.
The Temple Bar, where I drank twice in one day. (Did I mention that I love Dublin?)
A "whiskey sampler," or as I like to call it, "a great excuse to drink hard liquor in the afternoon."
