Taylor Vafiades

I like to think of myself as a pretty open minded guy but this I just couldn’t get my head around black pudding. And because of that I wanted to try it and came pretty close to doing so. Eventually I realized that there is really no reason these days to eat such a thing. Organs I understand in rough times but I can’t imagine the situation that would come up where you would need to eat blood. That’s super rough. At least I found my limit which I don’t think is too bad.  My trip to Scotland was great except the hotel I stayed at was in the middle of nowhere and was about 20 miles from town. Plus they didn’t have any food really except breakfast where I could get some lovely black pudding. I had one really good day of weather there so I did manage to take a boat out on the Loch, go to the Foyer and see the Eilean Donan Castle where Highlander was filmed. I was also able to snap a pretty good shot of Nessie below.

I met a pretty cool cab driver who took some pictures of me also. I didn’t eat much while I was there and ended up catching the Scotch Flu as Toenails put it. It’s basically just a really horrible cold and I ended up passing it to Eric and Mark when I got back. In fact I have been in England for a few days now just trying to get geared up for driving up to Holland with Eric and TIffany tonight. Copious amounts of rest combined with Trailer Park Boys and Futurama over the past few days and I feel great today and ready to take the ferry to France! Waste of time? Nope. I am, after all, on vacation.

Tiffany just got here and we’re getting ready to leave when Eric gets home from work.  Only two more weeks in Europe and then its back to California. I’m only in California 6 days and then I’m off to New York for a month with my Mom. Originally I intended to keep this blog just for my Europe trip but I think I’m going to continue to keep it for my trip to New York and travel beyond. I can’t wait to get back to California and work on Media Medic with much support from friends like Brian and Shelly and Jurgen. Working for myself should allow me to continue to do the things I like to do and travel and still be in “the system”.

When I arrived into England from my last trip to Amsterdam and Berlin I decided to go and meet Eric at the airport since his flight was landing in just a few more hours. When he arrived he told me that his uncle had past away and that he wanted to make it to the funeral which was the following day. We rushed home, repacked and were on our way to France via ferry that night. We drove through Belgium and made it to Holland sometime around 4am. Although the circumstances were tragic once Eric paid his respects we had the rest of the weekend to burn. We were able wander around Holland a bit while he showed me where he used to hang out as a kid in Rotterdam. It was interesting traveling with someone that actually knew the language. He was also able to show me all the authentic things to eat. One notable item was fries that you order as “oorlogstijd” which means “wartime” in Dutch. It was basically fries with onion, peanut butter, mayo, some hot sauce and ketchup. The stroop waffles were also incredible. We checked out Den Haag before we left Holland and made our way to Ghent. The old churches and castles were amazing and so were the pancakes! I also saw some of the most attractive girls I have ever seen in Ghent. We pretty much just drove through France to get to the Ferry back to England but not before customs gave me a really hard time about getting back in. I eventually convinced her that I was in fact leaving next month and she let us go. I have tons of pictures to post and have been lagging badly since all I wanted to do once I got back after that 3 weeks was relax. I am in the process of posting them right now but wont be finished for a couple of days because I’m headed to London in about half an hour to party for the rest of the weekend. Huzzah!

One more thing. A picture of Eric, Brian, Shelly and I at Stonehenge made it onto the Ohio University website. Check it out!

I´ve never been much of a sports fan but the passion Europe has for thier soccer (eer…football?) kind of rubs off on you while youre here. I was in Holland for the semi finals when they lost to Russia. I was coming into Germany on a train when they won against Turkey. And for the finals, I just happened to be in Germany. Somehow we managed to sneak into Brandenburg Gate to watch it even though it was blocked off for a mile in each direction around it. At first we hopped a fence at a memorial but the cops quickly saw us and started blowing thier whistles at us. After walking around the entire blockade the group I was with found a breach and snuck in through the park. It was worth it because there were thousands of Germans screaming for thier team and it was amazing to be a part of. Half of the group we were with ended up staying at the hostel because we heard from several people that it was so packed that nobody else was being let in. Ha! In the end, Germany pretty much got thier ass handed to them by Spain.

As far as my time in Berlin I have gone to see most of the basic sights. The Berlin Wall, Reichstag, Checkpoint Charlie, Potsdamer Platz, Hitlers Bunker, SS headquarters, The Holocaust Memorial, The TV tower and of course Brandenburg Gate. I wanted to go to Sachsenhausen today but I didnt look closely at my information and the concentration camp is closed on Mondays. It was raining the other day and I spent most of the day looking for a Jägermeister T-shirt. Germany does have a pretty cool nightlife and I have gone out almost every night to a different bar or club with people I either met here or some that I met in Amsterdam. The first night here at the Wombat hostel a group of us went out with a young Italian writer named Melissa Panarello that we met at the Skybar. After seeing her work I understood why she didnt really get into specifics about what she wrote when we were out.

I did try a bratwurst and yes it was good but I am leaving that when I leave Germany. I got it from a guy in a wheelchair that had a BBQ built into it. I thought this was so cool until I saw about 3 other people around the mall like this a few days later. I have been trying to hook up with someone I know from the states who just happens to be out here also for the past few days and am acually going to meet them around the corner in a minute. This trip has been great but I am eager to get back to England and regroup. The hardest thing besides all the drinking is all the eating out. My next trip I will bring a small bag just for food stuffs.

I am getting on a train to go back to Holland and taking a flight to England in about 12 hours. My phone will work again too once I land which will be nice. My flight gets into London at about 8pm so I am planning on staying there and taking a taxi back to Milton Keynes when Eric gets back the following day into Heathrow. Ive been burning it at both ends and cant wait to rest!

I just got off a night train from Amsterdam to Berlin and am waiting a few hours to check into the hostel I am staying at on the east side. As the fog clears I can finally reflect on my experience in Amsterdam. I really wanted to do a day by day post while I was there but as soon as I got into the groove of things there I quickly realized that wasnt going to happen. I really believe that I got the true Amsterdam experience though. At first I was eager to go see this or that museum simply because it was there and I felt like I needed to since I was there. After the second day I stopped beating myself up for not making it to any of the sights I intended to and began to really dive into the heart of the city. What Amsterdam is really about in my opinion is this.

- Meeting new interesting people going to and from all around the world
- Taking yourself to new heights never before been reached
- Being in the most relaxed social setting of like minded people imaginable

I think me staying at the flying pig hostel had a lot to do with the outcome of my experience. The staff there are great and the setting unmatched. I met more people in the past week than I have ever met in my entire life. This trip really forced me to be social which was tough at first but very rewarding in the end. The great thing about traveling around Europe is that you always have an instant icebreaker. “Where are coming from?” and “Where are you going after this?”.

Besides the fantastic atmosphere what else does Amsterdam offer that nowhere else does?Convenience. Where else can you stumble out in the middle of the night worry free and get booze, munchies, weed and a woman all on the same block? And while the states offer all these things individually Amsterdam packages them up nicely for you and puts a bow on top by turning a blind eye. Nayesayers to the legalization of marijuana and prostitution might lead you to believe that this type of setup would surely cause mayhem when in fact its just the opposite. I didnt see one fight or one person out of control. Plus you have to love the fact that everyone rides a bike! They even have separate lanes just for the bikes. I didnt ride the tram there but to anyone planning on going to Amsterdam be mindful of them for sure. They are so quiet that you can turn around and see one about to hit you if you arent paying attention when you are crossing. Also bike and cars have the right of way.

*I just saw this guy Phil I met in Amsterdam in the lobby. Pub Crawl Berlin style tonight maybe*

If I have one regret its not taking as many pictures as I could’ve while in Amsterdam. The first day I went out I didnt take my camera and ended up seeing a guy on a 10 foot unicycle blindfolded juggling flaming torches in Dam square. Besides the few photos of the city I was able to take I did manage to get one or two photos of myself with other people. Finding someone who could actually operate my camera properly proved difficult. Yes I know pushing a button down half way until it focuses and then pressing it down all the way seems simple to you and I now but explaining this in a smoke filled room over music never seemed to work out well. The shots I did get I should be able to post in about a week.

Oh and mayo on fries is the bomb. ;D

Yes I am alive and well! These past few days in Amsterdam have been surreal. I have tons to post but my computer time is up in 2 minutes here and I have to meet someone in Dam square to go to a museum I’ve been trying to make it to for 3 days now. Amsterdam has a way of placing you into a bit of a timewarp. I will amend this post later tonight.