Wipe the Smile Off Your Face

Chicken pox sucks. The worst thing is you don't want to go outside. There are several reasons:

1) You've got sores on your feet so it hurts to walk.

2) You've got sores in other lower regions so it really hurts to walk.

3) You've got sores on your head, face, and neck so you're too embarassed to go outside.

4) You have a fever or nausea.

Since everyone has already had chickenpox except me, I guess I should limit my preaching to the choir. But I do have to say that the itching was not a terrible problem for me. At one point, all of my skin felt like it was burning on fire, but there was no desire to itch at least.

Anyway, I spent all of my time in Copenhagen inside hotel rooms watching television. The first hotel was a nice ~40 sq ft. three-bed single (???) for the low, low price of 550 kroner ($110). I finally figured out how to use a phone, and after dialing 24 digits, I was able to get a hold of my mom. Later on I'll find out this 5 minute collect call will cost me $7.85, hopefully the price for my parents is more reasonable.

Back to the point: since I watched 50 hours of television, I should at least leave a brief mention about it. A lot of the shows in Denmark seemed to be a mix of American/British/Australian shows in English, so apparently they're really into that there. Even many of the commercials were in English. I could usually only find one English show on at a time, so I watched a lot of things I would not normally watch. I watched two hours of Australia's Next Top Model, to name one example.

I was too embarassed to go outside and find food for the first two nights, so I had to get myself to survive off the small amount of food I bought in Berlin. For the first two nights, I had a total of 6 orange juice boxes, 1 apple, 1 banana, a strange bread roll, and 4-5 British cookies (which are more like crackers). After the second night, I knew I had to move out and find a cheaper room and something to eat.

I found another hotel relatively close by that offered a bigger, better room for the price of $80. I threw my bags down, and ran off to a 7-11 I saw on the way to the hotel. Inside, I purchased a 1.5 liter of Sprite ($5.30) and a beef-flavored cup of noodles ($3.50). Not the best food but I needed calories and something savory and these looked to be the cheapest way to get it. After coming back to the hotel - which was behind central station - something jarred my memory. I remember reading something about the area behind central station in a book. I assumed it was the tourist book my brother gave me, so I took it out to check. Sure enough, the book warns not to go on streets behind central station, especially at night. Oh well. I had my Sprite, and I was indoors.

I don't know how many broken bottles, yelling, and fighting noises I heard, but there were a lot. In the middle of the night, there was a woman outside screaching about something in a wretched voice; I wish I knew what that was about.

To my surprise, I learned in the morning that there was a free breakfast. I ate yogurt, bread with cheese and turkey, honey (the honey in Denmark was already crystallized), pastries, coffee, apple and orange juice. That made my day, so I took off to the airport and made my flight no problem.

And now, two days in London and then I come home!

Hi from Berlin!

Chicken Pox

My trip stalled in Berlin, where I was suffering from some sort of flu. I stayed in bed for a couple days, and when I finally got up and looked at myself in the mirror, I was covered in sores. I checked myself into a hospital, with the help of the hostel managers, and I was diagnosed with having chicken pox.

The worst thing that I didn't know about chicken pox is that you get them all over your body. Luckily I have some medication now that will make me feel better, but I'm worried about my chances of traveling internationally.

More Random Photos

Here's some more photos of my trip:

A view of Fussen from above

A zoom of the canals of Versailles Palace. Perspective is difficult to capture.

A room inside the Louvre. The room itself is on display.
Below the Eiffel Tower
The Arch de Trioumphe
Sacre Coeur, a basilica on a hill near the center of Paris

Random Picture Update

I've managed to stay at a hostel that has limited ability to upload images, but it's a little difficult and takes time. I've decided to upload a bunch of random photos just so I could get some visuals up. The photos are not in chronological order.
Trying to take a photo of myself in Versailles. Although the attempt is questionable, it is able to capture the scene well: another portrait photographer behind me, and someone else kneeling to take a photo yet even further in the background. The gardens of Versailles were an endless maze of trimmed shrubs ands clicking cameras.
The Hall of Mirrors in Versailles Palace. Some of the first modern mirrors were built for this room.
A photo looking down onto the L'Orangerie of Versailles (a garden that was used to provide tropical fruit for the royalty).
The small street that I lived on for several days during my stay in Paris.
A photo taken at the Glockenspiel clock in Munich. This was a failed attempt due to low light levels, but the building in the back looks rather nice at night, so I kept it.
Jared, Chris, and I on a bridge above Neuswanstein Castle in Fussen, Germany.

Munich

The train trip to Munich was quite beautiful. The countryside of Germany is very green, even this late in the summer. I was very surprised about the transition from France to Germany, in terms of city design and architecture. There are solar panels on a large amount of the buildings, and often a large wind turbines could be seen in the distance. Germany appears to be very heavy on alternative energy, and it is interesting to see how commonplace it is being applied.

The hostel was called Wombat's, a hostel chain that caters to Australians. It was very clean, friendly, and definitely made me feel comfortable and safe.

Munich is a rich, beautiful city. It was surprising to learn that the city is only sixty years old. It was heavily bombed during World War II - in part due to the fact that it was the birthplace and headquarters of the Nazi movement. Germans kept the city meticulously documented so that it could be rebuilt after the war for the satisfaction of Hitler, and that documentation was used to restore the town after Nazi Germany lost. Even though most buildings have a hidden feeling of newness, much effort was done to make new buildings appear older.

One of the highlights of the trip was going to Fussen, and from there to a castle nearby called Neuschwanstein. I joined a British guy I had met in my hostel dorm, along with an Austrialian named Jared. There were both very interesting guys, and despite the horribly-difficult train ride we had a great time. Facing hardship while traveling is always easier in a group.

On the second day, I went on a "free tour" of Munich. I learned quite a bit of history about the city, most of which I would have never learned due to Munich's attempt to forget its past Nazi identity. Ozzie, the tour guide, spend four hours with us and I ended up giving him $20 Euros at the end, partly because I did not have the change and partly because he deserved it.

I was really hoping to visit the largest beer garden in the world, located in Munich, but in my last day I did not have the time to go check it out. Oh well.

One thing that I have to mention is that despite my train trouble going to Fussen, the train system in Germany is outstanding. Unlike France, where I had to reserve and pay extra to get tickets on trains using my Eurail pass, in Germany I would just show up and easily find a nice spot on the train. I had no problems whatsoever getting between major cities, and the train stations were easy to navigate.

France

I have not been devoting much time to writing down my adventure. Fortunately my second night in Vienna is going to be easy, so now is the time to catch up. Because I am so far behind on the blog, I will devote each entry to a country visited so far.

France

Taking the plane to Paris was not my first choice: I was originally planning to take the Eurostar (a train that goes through the Chunnel). Unfortunately, waiting the day before to purchase tickets is never going to be easy on the wallet. Booking my return flight from Copenhagen lowered the price of a plane ticket, so I chose that route.

Jean-Paul's parents, Nina and Jean-Marie, were extremely generous for letting me stay with them while in Paris. Their sister-in-law, Janna, even let me stay in her apartment while she was away. On top of that, Nina cooks amazing dinners. If what I was eating was not Parisian food, I do not care what is. It was great, and their generosity saved me lots of time, money, and hassle while in Paris.

I did have the opportunity to try some French pastries every morning. They were incredible. One particular pastry - called a chasson aux pommes - became my favorite. It was a flake-melting pastry with apple filling. Delicious.

Paris was just as gorgeous as London. Many of the streets were as picturesque as everyone says, and if I could post my photos, I would. And yet both cities also had quite a bit of povery hidden in the corners. I had one depressing moment while walking through a corridor of the subway. A woman covered head-to-toe in robes lay lowly-knelt, pressed to the side of the wall. With head down and hands cupped upwards, she sat there motionless, waiting for an offering of spare change from the bustling pedestrians flowing by. If I could take a photo of anything that day it would have been this, but I did not.

The language barrier was a major problem. There were far fewer people who spoke English than I was led to believe. Perhaps it was because I spent much of my time in a district away from the tourist crowds, but even some adventuring into the heart of the city ran into trouble. My French is poor, and the only trace of accessible knowledge in my head were a mix of nouns. This was useful, but not knowing how to communicate to people caused trouble in a supermarket and some restaurants. I recommend buying from markets and shops, since it is easy to resort to pointing in order to get what you want.

I was able to see most of the sights one would expect to see in Paris: The Louvre, The Arc de Trioumphe, The Eiffel Tower, The Champs-Élysées, and many cathedrals (Notre Dame, Sacre Coeur, Supice, and a few others). However, the most memorable sight I saw was not in Paris. A daytrip brought me to the Palace of Versailles, one of the most extravagent palaces of the world. Exploring just part of the three square mile garden was unbelievable. The backyard of a French King's house easily spans the horizon.

For being a bit sick, I was able to see a lot in Paris. I even got the chance to see a Jazz concert, with a French singer doing classic American jazz tunes with a ridiculous accent. Other than that accent, she sounded quite good. Paris was nice.