Friday, June 26, 2009

Traveling Solo

Hey,

It has been three weeks after my last post. Three weeks is a long time and too many things happened that I cannot possibly put into words. I will tell you that we left Amsterdam and traveled to Bruges. Bruges is a medieval city and is home to wonderful belgium beer, and if your dan, wonderful belgium ladies. It is arguably the best tasting beer in the world. As of now, I am under that impression. Try it and maybe you will agree with me and others. From there we stayed a night in Lille, France. We got stuck there on our way to Bordeaux. Lille is a place I would never travel to if I had a choice. To put it into perspective, it's a dump and it is full of gypsies that want to take your money. Everyone I talk to since, has a similar impression of the place. I had a first-hand experience with these gypsy people and they do not waste any time going into your pocket. Fortunately for me, they went for the wrong side (they went for the right pocket, my wallet was in the left) and I escaped unharmed. I found that running is helpful in this situation;) On the other hand, Bordeaux is a beautiful city. It is famous for wine and has a lot of medieval architecture. There is a lot to do there and if you get sick of the city it is only 1 hour away from a beach! If you get the chance, go there! You will not be disappointed.

I am not going to talk about the separation because I do not want to get into it. What is done is done. Dan and I are still friends. I will tell you though it was me that separated from the traveling duo (Dan). It just wasn't working out for me, so I left. Pretty much that is it.

I am great and doing well. I had a great time in Paris for three days, and am now in the great land of the Swiss. They do some things around here that the U.S. should look into. For instance, if your on welfare in Switzerland, you cannot just get the money. You have to work for it. What I mean is you have to clean telephone booths, pick up trash around the park, or other public services. I think its a lot better than just having people just sitting on there butts, doing nothing and getting pay checks. Anyways, that's just one example of the many great policies I have found here that I agree with.
This will be my last post. I have made a lot of plans for the next coming days, so I will not be around any internet. So no blog. Besides, it really is no longer josh and dan traveling europe;) The rest of my stories you just have to wait for. I promise you I won't forget the important parts. Cya soon, everyone. May God bless everyone! Enjoy your summer!

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Dan : Hey everyone again!  Very, very sorry to keep you all hanging for a little while, but there has been quite the change with our trip and we have been reorganizing since.  To put it to you straight, Josh and I have decided that due to some differences in interests that we'd be better off traveling separately for the remainder of the trip.  We're both still having a great time, and have met up with different people and friends who are great company as well.  We've both made our way to different parts of Switzerland, and have seen lots of sights and cities during our adventures.  So all is well and you'll be sure to hear from us soon!

Friday, June 05, 2009

Josh:  Hey.  We are in Amsterdam today.  We got in this morning off a ferry and then took a train to Amsterdam.  A very friendly dutchman, by the name of Harry, told us all about Holland on the train.  It was cool.  For example, the country of Holland (the Netherlands) is all below sea level.  And the fact that Amsterdam is the capitol, however all of its government officials are in another city called Dan Haag.  If anyone wants to travel to Amsterdam, here is one thing you should know:  The Red Light district is very close to the train station.  You will definitely come across it, or be like us and stumble into it.  Danny and I found ourselves in the center of the Red Light District before we actually realized where we were.   We are checked in at the Anna Marie and they provide a free breakfast and free wifi.  I already love this place.  We are secure and fine for the most part.  I will say dutch is an interesting language and I have no way of figuring out what anyone is saying.  Fortunately in this hostel, its all in english.  We're staying in Amsterdam for three days and we'll probably rent some bikes tomorrow.  I give everyone my best.  Cheers!
Dan :  Finally made it over!  As Josh said, everything is all and well and we are now unpacked in our hostel in Amsterdam.  And about the Red light district (RLD) Josh was commenting on: we actually walked through it during the day, when most of the shops are closed and there aren't too many people walking through, so we actually had a chance to see what else it has to offer - 14th century architecture and restaurants offering many different types of food.  During the day, unless you were actively looking for it, it's not absurd to think you could walk right through without noticing it at all, because all of the glitz and glam has been closed up and something other than just the RDL can show through.  But aside from that there are some other interesting aspects like the theatre we are rooming behind and other museums we are sure to check out.  And there are many, many, bicyclists here.  Often, we're dodging two-wheeled bullets more than cars.  But it's a great city and we're sure to have plenty to share when you hear from us next.  (picture is of the train station in Amsterdam)

Thursday, June 04, 2009

Last day in the UK

Hello all again! Sadly, today is the last day we'll be in the amazing UK. Sorry to have kept you hanging for a few days, but we've been travelling so much and been going from place to place so much that it's been hard to stick around long enough to get a post in. But we have had quite the time! The last place we put a post was in Bath, and since then we've bussed from there to Oxford, where we stayed for two nights and then to Cambridge, where we have also stayed for two nights. Oxford was quite the town, and I must comment on the museum of natural history, which had amazing exhibits from ancient tools humans used to use to statues and totem poles to complete dinosaur skeletons. (we'll get those pictures posted as soon as we load them onto the computer). The universities were also very nice, from the outside, because the exams had just begun that week and we really weren't allowed into most campuses. And about Cambridge, it was also a very nice university town, and there were again many students attending the school who were our age, although we didn't have much chance to interact. We stayed at another campground just southeast of the city center and either walked or bussed into town during the day. The highlight of the stay here was having the opportunity to go "Punting", or as I like to put it, becoming a gondolier for an hour. For about 12 pounds we could pilot our own vessel up and down the river whilst trying not to fall off. That was very fun and I would do it again in a heartbeat. So now we're off to Harwich to catch a ferry to the hook of Holland and we hope to get in touch again soon!

Hey everybody. Danny and I are doing good. We've been traveling in England for two weeks and tonight we leave the UK for continental Europe! Cambridge University is very beautiful. 
I like how it is set-up. The people are more friendly than in Oxford. For two nights we stayed at the Cherry Hinton, which is a clean campground that is due East of the city center. I loved the place. It actually was the best campground I've ever been in. The only bad thing i can think of is the fact that there is rabbit poo in the tenting area. On the positive side, there are many rabbits you can look at. The grounds of the RVs and caravans were kept much nicer. The best thing we did in Cambridge was punting along the Granata River. Now when I say punting, I do not mean kicking a football on a field. Instead, picture yourself on a long-boat like the ones in Italy (gondolier). Now, instead of sitting and being a passenger of the boat, you are the dude standing with a very long pole, driving the vessel. That is what the English call punting, and that is what Danny and I did for an hour. He manned for half the time and I did the latter half. In fact, we filmed the whole thing. It does have some intense moments. Maybe later on we'll show you a clip of it. Tonight, we will be going to Harwich and then to Amsterdam. We'll be taking a ferry over to Holland and that is where we start the Continental stretch of our european journey. Cheers!