Paris, France

After Queen's Day it was off to the City of Lights to round out the weekend. Somehow, I managed to get a first-class train down there.

Siobhan and I ended up staying near all of the touristy areas that inflate the price of everything known to man. The good part about this was that we could see the Arc de Triomphe and Eiffel Tower from the hotel room.

Paris is a nice city with alot to see and is best explored on foot...alas it is alot of walking. All in all, I think I walked about 10-12 km in two days of being there (lost count somewhere in there). Site highlights include (no particular order): The Arc of Triomphe, Musee de l'Armee in the Hotel National Des Invalides (Napolean's resting place), Sacre Couer Basilica (highest point in the city--good views) and the Montmartre District that is as French as you can get, Notre Dame Cathedral, The Louvre, Ecole Militaire, Avenue Champs Elysses, street-performers, a little bit of the Latin Quarter, Me (yeah, thats right, I said it), Le Grand and Le Petit Palais, other cool buildings, interesting French food, parks, gardens, pretty flowers, and of course The Eiffel Tower.

Along the way, I found some grass that looked good to lay on. I didn't think twice.


People in France are exactly how we think they are: they smell terrible, the men are douchey (is that a word?) and the women... well, the women I have encountered are gorgeous. Some of which annoy the hell out of you when they talk, but hey, they're still gorgeous.

Paris Pics

Too bad I caught a pretty nasty cold in the middle of it all or it could have been better. For those who wonder, I have don't know when I am leaving Holland, so don't ask me. I do,however, think it will be soon.

Amsterdam, Netherlands

On April 30th of every year (April 29 if on a Sunday) there is a big celebration for the Queen's Birthday in The Netherlands. The Dutch call it, 'Koninginnedag', but I can’t pronounce it half of the time. Queen's Day is known for its "freemarket (vrijmarkt)," where everybody is allowed to sell things in the streets. It's basically one big country-wide, drunken garage sale. They have the market and party all night the night before the Queen's birthday in the streets of many major Dutch cities. All of this time in this country, and I had not been to Amsterdam, so my friend Siobhan and I decided to go.

Amsterdam is like everyone says it is. Anything (or almost anything) goes. Ten year old boys will try and sell you alcohol, prostitution being rampant, and marijuana is readily and publically available. Come to think of it, sex is pretty much everywhere in this city. Sex museums, normal-looking women that come up to you asking for sex (I think they are more discreet prostitutes), blow-up sex dolls all over the city, banana shows, cigarette shows, I can go on. The interesting part is that this all even happens in the day time, making Queen’s Day quite the experience for some and a disaster for others. Alas, there were a lot of people....




...and a few arrests. One of which I caught on camera:

Apart from the madness, Amsterdam has a nice atmosphere and has many canalways and sites to see. However, we couldn’t go into any of the museums or major attractions since everything was closed due to the holiday. This will call for a trip back. Side-note: There was an attempted suicide attack on the Dutch Queen that day during festivities in Appeldorn which halted celebrations in most Dutch cities...Amsterdam, however, kept going strong.

I started getting a cold that day as well (I hoped it wasn't the swine flu scare) so the day ended early in preparation for the next day.

More from Amsterdam/ Queen's Day

Madrid, Spain

Once I left Barcelona, I took the high-speed train to meet up my parents and their friends in Madrid. Madrid is little less touristy than Barcelona, thus my Spanish skills of a retarded 10-year old came in a little more handy here. Madrid is a nice city much like Barcelona in regard to the architecture and culture. I did enjoy some more patatas bravas (tapas) mostly by myself since old Indian parents tend to shy away from food that is not in their comfort zone. It was good to see my parents and people I rarely see, so I couldn’t complain about how tired I was from the previous days’ events. Teehee.

People in Madrid, Madrileños, speak with a distinctive lisp. They even make words that have non-‘s’ sounds all lispy (word?). Conclusion: The women sound ok, but the men sound a tad homo. The nightlife is raging along the areas of Gran Via and Puerta del Sol. I didn’t get to really go out since I was babysitting old Indian parents most of the time. That is not a conflicting statement.

We also were able to tour the Real Madrid Football stadium. Personally I think it was nicer for the reason that the people on the tours get to sit in the players seats on the field. I couldn’t buy any memorabilia as I would be doing the better English team a disservice as a fan. One thing we did not do was tour ‘Plaza de Toros de Las Ventas’ which is known for its Bullfighting events. What is not appealing about a 500 kg bull getting gored to death by a human less than half it’s size? Guffaw.

Pics from Madrid

Barcelona, Spain

So for the first part of my trip to Spain, I decided to meet up with my co-workers, Andrew and Tom, in Barcelona (Barca), for a raging good time. Barcelona is located in the region of Catalunya, where they consider themselves a separate country from Spain. They love their region so much that some natives actually get mad if you speak to them in Spanish. All in all, the city is beautiful in that it is has a really nice beach areas along with alot of history and architecture. The sights are some of the best in the world and the nightlife is renowned near the areas of Olympic Port and La Rambla, the site of our hotel. Be advised if you do happen to visit Barca: There are pick-pockets everywhere, especially on La Rambla since it is the most crowded and filled with many tourists and shoppers. Come night time, the street will swarm with large black prostitutes, drug salesmen, and lone beer vendors who are trying to make some money. Each group looks relatively harmless but are very experienced at what they do. The prostitutes are very strong and will aggressively try to earn their day's pay. I made the mistake of talking to one of them. This was a bad call. And no, I didn't do what you may think I did. That's just dirty.

In the city there is alot of architecture that is inspired by Antonio Gaudi, such as the temple, La Sagrada Familia, shown below. Personally, I think Gaudi was a flamer who liked making art about trees and insects.

Spanish people are very intimate with each other (what Europeans aren't?) and also very lazy. Pretty much all of the buildings you see are under construction with various cranes around it (picture above). I assumed they just used the time to work to go on extended siestas in the day. Spain does have some really good food as well. Tapas, paella, and sangria are very common for everyday meals. I had the vegeterian paella below:

We had the opportunity to visit the FC Barcelona football stadium as well. Football is king in Europe and Spain is no exception. They love their football club there and pride their team especially against their arch-rivals, Real Madrid. Barcelona was definitely a highlight of my time in Europe.

Barcelona

London, UK and An Interesting Story

So there I am today walking down the street minding my own when a douche Dutch bike cop comes up and screeches his tires in front of me. Yeah, as if that didn't piss me off enough.

Then, two other cops come from behind and on the side surrounding me so I can't pass. The head douche rambles something in Dutch where I interrupt and respond 'Sorry can you speak in English?' He says 'Can I see some identification? And empty your pockets.' I comply with 'Ok, What is the problem?' With no answer, he then starts talking on his walkie talkie to another cop in Dutch... probably giving them my description or whatever. At this point I was somewhere between 'wtf' and 'What is the deal?' Then I asked him again, 'What is the trouble?' Finally he answers by saying that they had a pickpocket in the area and I matched the description with what I was wearing. As filler, the cop behind me starts asking me where I'm from and what I do. I obligingly answer, with really just wanting to say, 'What does it matter to you, doucheface?'

Then they started to searched me. Oh joy. I'd always wanted hot women to take notice of me on the street, but definitely not in this manner. I estimated around 100-150 people with a blank stare on their faces contemplating the same thing I was. So then the original douche then took down my information and ends with a 'Thank you for your cooperation.' In the back of my mind I say 'Yeah, thanks dickhead, go find a murderer or rapist and stop wasting your time on me.' Honestly, I think it was just "Screw The Foreigner Day because after they left me, they stopped an honest looking asian man a few minutes later. Talk about profiling. Oh how I love this place.

In other news, I went to London again this past weekend to see family and my niece. Europeans take days off for Good Friday and the Monday after...Not bad for me since I really don't know the significance of Easter and got some time off for it. There weren't too many pics from either time I went to London, but here are the links.

London-March '09
London-April '09

Next stop: Barcelona and Madrid, Spain. I'll update when the shenanigans cease. ¡Vamonos!

Out.

Belgium... again

So during the first weekend of April, I decided to meet up with Novotny once again in Brussels. This was a good call. I got there Friday night and it was directly out for dinner and a well-known American bar in Brussels called 'Delirium'. They have over 400 kinds of European beer. Nuff said. The next day it was off to Antwerp to meet up a few friends of his at a nightclub. Even better call. European women are ridiculously gorgeous.. too bad my French, Dutch, and German are pretty non-existent. Oh yeah, and these places make trance and electronic house music so much fun to jive to. Got back to Brussels in time for the sun to rise. Baller status:check.

Mayhem

Spreekt U het Engels?

It's been a while since I last posted and alot has happened since. I got the chance to fly a plane in St. Croix prior to leaving there. It's pretty thrilling to be in control of a plane. I didn't pee in my pants nor crash.

Flying a Plane is baller

In mid-January, I came to Rotterdam, Netherlands (Holland), for another assignment. Talk about a drastic change in climate. After leaving St. Croix and a brief stop in the states, it was time for my own EuroTrip. This post will be a bit lengthy as I have been to alot of places. The cities visited are in order:

Rotterdam, Netherlands
I got here at the end of January in the middle of winter. Not the greatest temperature change. So for my first weekend in Europe, I toured the city. There isn't that much to see in this town and the city center is overrun by fairly young people, ample shopping areas, a few museums, and "coffee" houses. It does make home to one of the classiest bridges in the world called 'Erasmusbrug.'

It's very diverse, and people from as far as Suriname and Australia live here. The drinking age here is 16+ but you don't see teenagers out wasted on the streets. The people of the city ride bicycles... ALOT, even when its freezing cold, rainy, and windy outside (which is almost everyday). The bike lanes next to the roads are almost the size of a road lane itself. Alas, you need to watch out for pedestrians and bikes equally when you drive here... believe me, I almost hit someone on several occasions. Oh yeah, and did I mention the weather isn't the greatest?

The same weekend I went to this town called Kinderdijk (Kinder-dike) in Holland. Literal translation: Child dike. Ha. It is a windmill far from back in the day where people still live. The land lies below sea-level and they needed the windmills then and even now apparently.

Rotterdam Pics
Kinderdijk Pics

It was a really cold weekend. Really. Effing. Cold.

Antwerp (Antwerpen), Belgium
Antwerpen is a nice little town in Belgium with alot of history in it... so I decided to go, and walk...alot. If you're not into alot of historic museum-going (like me) there are only a few things to come to Belgium for: waffles, chocolate, beer, fries, and mussels (wouldn't know about the last one). Belgian beers are some of the best in the world. De Koninck, Duvel, Westmalle, Chimay.. to name a few. Get one, try one, but watch out. These bad boys have up to 9-10% alcohol.

Antwerp Pics

Brussels, Belgium
Cool city and probably double the size of Antwerp. Again, lots of walking, Lots of little bars and shops to go into and alot of the same story with the waffles, chocolate, beer, etc.

That is the city hall, in the Grand Plaza of Brussels. The story is that the guy who built it way back when killed himself right after. Apparently, he built it wrong. Can you notice what he did?
There is this statue of a mannequin taking a leak, appropriately called Mannekin Pis. Apparently the legend is that he peed on a bomb during WWII to defuse it. They dress it up most times when the city is busy. Somehow, it became a tourist attraction in Brussels. His sister is in another part of the town and her name is 'Jannekin Pis.' Yes of course, statues of baby girls peeing is totally normal.


On this trip, I met up with Andrew Novotny, one of my UOP co-workers. Cool guy, good fun, another story.

To the states for a bit...
The next weekend I came back to the states for a week to attend two weddings. Typical indian wedding mayhem and good to see friends and family. Back to the road.

Bruges (Brugge), Belgium
Neat, clean little city that is a staple and popular attraction in Belgium. Good chocolate, beer, and waffles once again. I visited the De Halve Maan Brewery while I was there and did a lot of walking. One of the beer rooms of Belgian beers is below. This was a good call.

Brugge

I wish I would have stayed here for another day because there was a chocolate museum and diamond factory that I didn't get to tour. That would have been cool. What is a nice Belgian city like this without canalways?

London, UK
The following weekend I went to hang out with family in the UK. It's always fun coming here, even though I was just here in October ('08). I got see my niece, Sienna, and hang out with my cousins Rahoul and Parus. Good food, good times.... that you don't really recall. I plan on going back sometime very soon.

Stuttgart/Boeblingen, Germany
The next weekend's agenda was to take Germany by storm. Mission accomplished. This has been one of the brightest spots so far of my European tour. I went to see my old roomate, friend, and excellent beer drinker, Sebastian.

Southern Germany is very clean, and very generally very posh. I got to drive on the world famous German Autobahn. I hit some pretty high speeds, and topped my little car out. It was by far the greatest driving experience I have had in my life. I just had to get a picture of the glory:


I got to visit the Porsche Museum which is headquartered in Stuttgart. By night, the debauchery started and unfortunately ended. Let's just say that the stories told of Germans, their parties, and drinking capabilities are very true. Alas, I will go back hopefully soon. There is a BeerFest coming up in April :)

More of Stuttgart

That is all for now. I am not sure how much longer I will be on this assignment, but hey... I don't mind. Future trips will hopefully be somewhere in Belgium again, the UK, France, and Germany if I get time. I will try and keep the updates coming more regularly.