Amsterdam

I must have put off writing this post at least fifty times.
Amsterdam is a complicated city. It really is. You can look at it from so many different angles and perspectives it's insane. All in all, I think Amsterdam is the bomb diggity. This is the part where all of you nod with knowing smiles and accuse me of debauchery. Sure, I saw the coffee shops and the prostitutes, but you really have to in order to get a feel for the city. They on their own are an attraction, like a circus freak show.
It was definitely an experience coming here, but my time here left me wanting more. The city is great, but you can only do so much in a day.
Anyway, Amsterdam, 9/10.

Oof.... Continued

WEDNESDAY

Wednesday morning I awoke to the sound of church bells. Said bells lasted five minutes. Hello 7 O'Clock in Germany. I ended up sleeping for like three more hours however. I wasn't pleased with that, but whatever. Sleep is usually pretty good. I write this entry sitting in a lavish parlor that belongs to my Mom's friend Billy. I am seated and an antique desk across the room from an upholstered table and chair set. The entire room is perfect, elegant, and stylish.

Staring at me is a skull shaped bottle of Absinthe.

Billy is an incredibly talented singer who performs regularly with various operas and the like. His surroundings match him perfectly. Overall he is a great host.

I spent the day by myself in Cologne. About halfway there I realized I had forgotten my camera, so I apologize for the lack of pictures. My first stop was the Kölnerdom, a giant cathedral of great historical and architectural significance. It was, as cathedrals are, absolutely astounding. It has the bones of the three wise men from the Bible in it, along with a bunch of other treasures. (Don't tell the Germans, I thought Westminster Abbey was better). I spent the better part of the day wandering the streets and checking out shops. The highlight of the day was my time wandering the Christmas markets after dark. For those who have never seen one, they are a madhouse. It is set up like a normal market, with shops selling winter clothes, Christmas knick knacks, holiday treats, sausage, and Gluhwein (It's...Warm wine?). The shops are usually covered in a ceiling of lights, and drowned in a sea of pine. It smells just like Grandma's house right after the Christmas ham has been I ended up buying a brotwurst, a bockwurst, and a beer. I was all content and expecting to have some delicious sausage and beer when I realized that they don't have twist tops in Germany. The sausage was downed dry, and I had to wait to consume the beer later.

Oof....

So first off I would like to apologize for the lack of posts for the last few days. On Tuesday I spent the entire day on trains and I couldn't get the Wifi to work in the place I'm in until today.

Oh yeah! Happy Thanksgiving!

TUESDAY

As you know, I was stuck in a small French town called Tourcoing. Probably wasn't actually that small but I like to think it was at least small enough to be considered quaint. I woke up feeling the initial hunger pains associated with lack of caloric ingestion for a period of time and a gleam in my eye. Just kidding, I was mostly just hungry. After packing up I made my way downstairs to face my first full day alone. It was raining outside and not a really nice rain. It was hard, cold, and coming in sideways with the wind. At least I got to make sure my rain cover worked. It turned out that the next train was due in exactly an hour from when I made it to the station. Seeing this as an opportunity to find an ATM or a bank or something, I went back into the elements. The town was actually very nice. It screamed a charm that can only be deemed "French". Quiet, streets, Loud streets right next to them, and beautiful houses right next door. Along with French charm comes the absence of ATM's you see.

I hopped on to my train to Antwerp soon after. Throughout the entire time I felt a slight pang in my gut. I realized there that I was in an area that I spoke none of the language of, and had no way of getting out if in trouble. This feeling was soon replaced by a feeling of equal intensity known only as "Hey, that's actually pretty cool". In Antwerp did a quick sweep and found the station to be barren of ATM's. I realized I had the choice of missing my train to the Netherlands or going outside to panhandle.
I choose the later.
As I went outside to find a sufficient corner, I found an ATM. Another day on the streets averted. My first purchases were a sandwich, some Pringles of a flavor we don't have in the US, a can of cheap beer, and a waffle (Cause, you know, I had to. It was Belgium).

The rest of the day was basically me getting on a train, getting off of that train, and then getting on to the next train. Not very exciting. I arrived at my destination, Gelsenkirchen Germany, Way too late. Nevertheless, my host (A friend of my mom's) was awake and happy to see me. I'll be staying with him until Friday.

France

Okaaay, so yesterday I spent most of the day in transit in hopes of making Germany to go visit a friend of my mom's. That plan did not happen.
It all started when I arrived in Dover by train. I had to walk a bit to get to the ferry dock, no problem. but when I got there it turned out I had booked a spot on a non foot passenger ferry. Again, not a real problem, besides the fact that my tickets were non-refundable. That sucked. You know, cause I'm poor. The ferry was pretty cool actually. It's almost like the Canadian buses back home. Elderly British take the ferry for cheap and exploit pounds in France. I actually met up with a retired Brit named Ken who showed me the city of Calais on a walking tour and most importantly, where the train station was. I liked Ken, very lively, very nice.
So, at the station I validated my train pass, which means I can go wherever the hell I want for the next three months. I took a train from Calais to Lille and that's where the fun began. I decided to take a route through Belgium (Just found out about the Brussels deal, oh boy!) and then took a train to a city called Tourcoing or something to get a train to Antwerp. On arrival to this fine place, I sat and waited for the next train. Only a half hour wait, not bad even if you're cold like I was. I noticed a large, bold red word that looked like "Supprime", or something, next to all of the incoming trains on the departures board. Turns out that word meant canceled as the regional train crew decided to go on strike. Seeing as how it was dark, cold, and relatively late, I opted to just stay in this town until morning. I took a short lap around the city and could not find a hostel, which sucked, and opted instead to go to the cheapest hotel I could find, which also sucked. Hotels are by definition, too expensive for young, basically homeless, romantic types. To make the situation worse I couldn't find an ATM for food money so I had to suffice with some of the peace offering American candy I brought with.
It can't get worse now!

To the mainland!

Today was my last day in the U.K. I feel a little like I have left some unfinished business as I took the running tour of London in two days. It was like I saw everything, but not in as much detail as I would like. A lot of the cool old churches and cathedrals were closed to tourism today as it was Sunday. I couldn't take a tour of Westminster Abbey or Saint Paul's, but I was able to go in to the evensong service at the Abbey and an organ recital at Saint Paul's. So yeah, I'm basically a criminal in the U.K. now. In all seriousness both of the services were amazing. I plan to come back to visit those two spots at the end of my three months just because they were so awesome. I have a strong feeling that Saint Paul's will take the number one spot for ornate religious building in my personal list.
I saw Buckingham palace, Trafalgar square and most of the other landmarks today as well, but as I said earlier, running tour of London.

And now I would like to enter into a segment I call Anarchy in the U.K.

"Hey Max, is that kind of a historic monument you're defacing?"

"Uhhh, no comment..."

Yeah, I sat on one of the Sphinxes by Cleopatra's Needle. It was pretty cool. I'm Pretty cool.

Tomorrow I bid England adieu and set off to the mainland. I really wanted to take the Chunnel so I could have a massive claustrophobia attack underneath the English Channel but that was way too expensive. I opted to take a ferry instead. I think that will be pretty neat, or as the Brits say, "OI LUV THA'S KOMPLETELY MENTAL INNIT?" 

I need a hat, and a scarf. Nobody here is seen without those two things. I look all American with my Columbia jacket and stupid grin and it bothers me. Grr...

Jaffa cake and fresh clothes

My bag finally arrived today. I will never take clean clothes for granted in my life ever again.

This morning Rob, Daniel, and I went to Canterbury to see the cathedral. Not a very long drive from Ashford. In my travels I have been to a few cathedrals but this one was definitely the best I have seen. It was HUGE! It is probably what people think about when they think of when they are imagining a large, majestic church.

A chapel dedicated to posh sounding Kent military units such as the Buffs

...and the  LORD  said "Yea, even in death, let there be swag"

Massive.

Another massive section. 

On closer inspection the graffiti was actually really old. 

The best part is that this really old one was put there like six centuries after the cathedral was built. 

If you're ever in Kent, go here. Truly breathtaking, and if you're into the macabre, the walls are literally lined with dead people. Not it a gruesome sense, but like the tomb with swag dude in picture two. Also, a guy was martyred there named Thomas Becket. I'm going to watch a movie in a few minutes about him and the cathedral I went to just this morning. Neat. 

Day two: Oh hey, My luggage still isn't here.

Today began around six o'clock.
I had slept around twelve hours by that point so I mean, I can't complain. Actually, I can. So I will. Jet lag is the worst. It strikes just when you just start to have fun.

Around eight thirty I went on a walk around Ashford. I think the locals may have been slightly put off by my large, stupid grin. I said excuse me to an old lady to let her pass by me and she carried the expression that I had committed a mortal sin of the highest degree. On that walk I ended up walking into a supermarket. I wanted to find something to buy but the fact that every Pound is like two Dollars was a little off-putting. I actually have yet to buy anything that will not be refunded by Delta because of my bag arriving late. Yeah, it's still not here. I want nothing more at this point then to be able to wear clean clothes.

After the eventful walk Rob and I took the train into London. We emerged from the tube onto Oxford Street. The massive amount of people that instantly surrounded me was one of the most unnerving things I think I have ever experienced. My short time there may have effectively planted the seeds of severe agoraphobia. I'll let you know later. We started the day with the British museum. It was awesome, although I think I could spend a week there and still have more to see. I'd recommend the mummies and the clock exhibit, cause I mean, dude, clocks and mummies.

The other museum we checked out was called the Imperial War Museum. I would recommend it based solely on it's name. I mean, it's a relic from when kings actually had tons of power. Anyway, if you know me, you know that I love me some military history. My feelings of intense joy were confirmed when I was greeted at the front gate by two gigantic battleship guns. The inside was just your typical conglomeration of machines of death, but British. God save the Queen. It was all I could muster to keep myself from giggling at random intervals in front of various posh Europeans. I may have a few times. I have no shame. I saw a v2 rocket and a tank.

It sets in

Alright! So a lot has happened since the last time I checked in. Reality has shown it's face and has revealed itself to be quite annoying. My flight from Winnipeg was forty minutes late. I quickly realized this was a problem when I noticed my layover in Minneapolis was only fifty minutes. While voicing my concern to my current traveling companions, they all looked at me with an air of sadness like people glimpsing at a man wrongly marked for death. As I stepped out of the gate I tightened my backpack straps, clutched my coat with the vigor of a man with nothing else to his name, and started sprinting to my gate. Said gate was at like the exact opposite side of the airport. A slew of desperate prayers to really any god that would listen (I'm looking at you Ishkur) crossed my mind in the gauntlet that followed. I did actually make it to the gate. Last call had been called five minutes ago and the flight attendants were walking to the ramp door to shut it.

So yeah, relatively normal transatlantic flight other than that. I watched like four movies, shoulda probably slept. However, the real fun started when I landed at London Heathrow.

As I was going through the border the lady at the counter said I needed the address of place of stay on the travel card they make you fill out. So, off to a corner of the room and the back of the line I went. I sent a desperate email to my cousin and waited like five minutes. . . No answer. So I uh . . . Kind of wrote down a random hotel in the town I'm staying in. But hey it worked

After that mishap It also turned out my bag was still in North America. So yeah, at the moment it's five in the morning (curse you jet lag) in beautiful Ashford England and I literally only have the clothes on my back. My Cousin Robert and his wife Lorna have been really accommodating though.

Today it looks like Rob and I are going to go on a museum crawl in London. Super excited about that. On Sunday It looks like we'll be back for more of the traditional sights.

In this picture are literally all of my possessions at the moment except my camera and laptop. 

Also, Stonehenge!  

D-DAY GOGOGOGOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

This is it! As I write this I am sitting in the Winnipeg airport waiting for my flight. I made sure to get here like two hours early to beat the crowd. I've been here for like half an hour and there is yet to be a rush. All in all like ten people in the area I'm in.

I'm sitting like twenty feet from this airport's duty free store, and let me tell you, it has crossed my mind to go inside and find the cheapest bottle of vaguely alcoholic substance just for shits and giggles. Still, my American upbringing has held firm. I am fairly confident the only reason I have not acted on this purchase is that buying it at the store seems weird.

 Also it would be taken from me in Minneapolis. :(

Anyway, my itinerary is Winnipeg - Minneapolis, Minneapolis - London. In Lundon I will be met by a cousin that I have never met. Neat. True story: I didn't know he existed until a few weeks ago when my dad offhandedly brought up cousin Rob that lives in London, works at the airport I'm flying into, and would love to meet me. It's almost like everything is kind of set up for me...

TLDR: I live in the Truman show.