Taylor Vafiades

Well it’s been about almost a month since I got back from Europe and I have to say its really good to be home. Although I enjoyed my time away it really made me appreciate being back in the USA. I will take the California sun over England’s constant rain and clouds any day! My only regret was not having time to say goodbye to all the great people I met along the way. Hopefully some of you will come out to visit! In the short time I was back in California I was able to go fishing with Glen a few times and make it to Nocturnal Wonderland with Brian and Shelly before jumping on a plane to New York. I’m going to be here for at least another week or two handling some business with my Mom and should have the opportunity to take some great photos. The air is remarkably clear here so I’ve used the past week to cough Europe out and get back to exercising. I ran two miles last night which isn’t much but after 3 months of partying you got to start somewhere.  Some notable pictures so far are this grocery store in Queens that looks like a prison, this egg at Wholefoods and a line of 50 people outside of Trader Joes Manhattan.

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”.

The weather here has been typical for a summer in England but has been driving me nuts. Sunny outside one minute raining harder than you’ve ever seen sideways the next then sunny 30 minutes after that. Because of this I wasn’t able to iron out a beach trip to Cornwall. I was able to work with Eric and get the website for one of the businesses (www.mediamedic.org) we are going to be working on in the states. It’s live but still needs minor corrections and additions.  If you see any errors please send them to Taylor@mediamedic.org.  Eric’s dad has already let us know about a few things we might want to look at and those should be corrected shortly.

Back to my trip.  I decided to take a train up to Inverness in the highlands of Scotland for a few nights. It was tough for me to find a place to stay in such short notice but I was able to after a few hours on the phone. I’m excited about seeing the castles and William Wallace exhibit.  Maybe I’ll even catch a glimpse of our underwater ally. I should be able to take some amazing pictures there assuming the weather is somewhat decent.

A side note before I leave. My power adapter I brought from the states for my laptop melted tonight. I have 1 hour or so until my computer is dead for the rest of the trip unless I go and try to find another one. I’m bummed because it just happened but won’t worry about it until I get back.

So I’ve been trying to get a few websites up before I leave to the beach because lately the weather has been shitty here in England. It’s given me time to dust off my HTML skills and think about new ways to generate traffic. I was thinking Spain but might just go down to Cornwall and chill out for a few days before I begin the last stretch of my trip.  I have also been trying to keep up on emails and getting pictures up. I was able to get a few for DOTS that Eric took but I have tons more for it as well as Brighton , Ghent and Rotterdam. I will do my best to get this done before I leave in the next few days. I wasn’t sure if anyone actually read this blog for the first month or two but it’s worth all the time I put into it knowing that some people do even though they might be busy with other stuff. I have been listening to a lot of good music out here in the UK as well and wanted to make a video section on this blog but it didn’t work out. I can’t link most of the stuff I want to from youtube. Sam Sparro - Black and Gold is the first song I really heard in the UK. I dig that new Weezer video Pork and Beans and Perfect Situation too. Euro late night MTV is unmatched. Time for me to go upload some more pictures.

Eric got his .mobi address for his http://www.pixelfactor.org website which is really great because it can be accessed via cellphone now. Below is a blurb from his new http://pixelfactor.mobi address. To the right is a few other blogs I enjoy reading from different people I know.

These past few weeks in England have been great! I’ve had a chance to really clear my head and see what’s important. I am very lucky to be alive and in the position I am in. Although we made it to D.O.T.S. and the Brighton birthday bash for Celina Eric and I have mainly been getting businesses started to have ready for when I arrive to the states. I have really enjoyed this Europe trip and will be headed to the beach somewhere soon for a week or two to hash out some of the ideas we’ve come up with. I also have a number of personal projects I need to get started. This trip has made me realize I don’t ever want to go back to a 9-5 for the man. I’ve been blessed with the money that I was able to earn when I was younger and have enjoyed not working for several years now. The hard times are way behind me and the past few years reconnecting with people have been great. I am eager to put my money into a few ideas and see if it grows now. The life of being care free and traveling is certainly the life for me. I am ready to put my creativity to the test and technical skills at hand to work. It’s been fun paying 2-4x more for everything for the past two months but I am ready to get back to the states. After my time at the beach it should be around the time Tiffany and a few of her friends arrive here in England from the states and we rage again in London and Holland and wherever else this crazy trip takes us.

Pictures to follow for D.O.T.S. and Brighton and others that are missing. Its 2am here and I haven’t been able to get to my laptop much. I have TONS of photos to post.

Also if anyone has a website out there please link me and I will do the same if I haven’t already. I want to build my link popularity in order to keep a good Google ranking. Cheers!

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.

I left Tulse Hill in London around 1am to pick up my flight to Holland which was leaving at 6:55am and still almost missed it. I took the correct bus going the wrong way and wound up on the wrong side of London. I ended up taking a cab which cost me $100 and still took an hour to get where I was going. When I arrived into Holland that was the first time so far that I really felt like I was traveling. Although everyone for the most part speaks English everything is in Dutch. Plus the accent for both ends is much harder to understand. To make matters worse when I arrived I was informed that the buses were on strike so I had to take another cab. Fortunately I met a fellow from South Korea named Alin who split the cab ( another $60) with me to the central train station. I got a great picture of him before we parted but can’t post anything until I get back to London.

In fact that’s basically the only picture I’ve taken so far since I got into Amsterdam yesterday. Because I didnt sleep the night prior by the time I arrived I was beat by 2pm and got a room at a hotel named old quarter in the red light district and went to bed. I woke up at 10pm and went out a bit to check things out. By that time most stores were closing but coffee shops and pubs were still open. I didnt really like the feel of the red light district too many people trying to sell you cocaine and such. It was pretty neat seeing half naked girls attempting to sell thier services behind a window on every corner. I had a pint or two, ate a pita with falafel, checked out a few shops and ended up going back to bed at about 1am.

This morning I made my way to the hostel I intended to go to in the first place which Eric reccomended named the Flying Pig. Its about $20-25 cheaper a night and it is a much better atmosphere plus it is on the other side of town. I am sharing a room with 5 other people but I dont expect to spend much time in there anyway. There is free wireless, computers to use, a pool table and a small bar with drinks and food.

It’s was raining here this morning which is one of the reasons I left my camera in the room. I also want to wander around a bit more and get a feel for navigating this area so I dont take my camera down the wrong alley. I ate a toasted sandwich with cheese, olives, peppers and pesto this morning. I know I dont normally eat dairy but I saw a number of people eating these sandwiches with copious amounts of ketchup on top and had to try it. To be honest it was pretty good.

I think the rain has stopped and I’m about to venture out. Someone told me today that the Hieniken brewery tour isnt going on right now because they are rennovating or something which is a drag. Also, my phone doesnt work very well here. I have a plan for minutes locally and internationally while I’m in England but traveling its a pay as you go thing. From what I can gather it cost me $20 to talk to Donnie in the USA last night for roughly 10 minutes and that was all the ëxtra’” money I had on that phone. I have to figure out a way to top it up but because its so expensive I’m just going to use it as an emergency thing. On the bright side the computers here have skype and even have a skype phone attached. I can log in to chat and even make calls if I put a little money onto it. Alright then I”m off.