Backpacking Europe - faeryp

Thursday June 21, 2007
Charlottesville, United States
the purpose in life is to feel as often as possible that you are alive.
REALLY alive. you know, that feeling that you get when you do something truly incredible. where you look around and realize you're alive. and the thought of it takes your breath away. yeah, THAT.
written by  faeryp on June 21, 2007 from Charlottesville, United States
from the travel blog: Backpacking Europe

Friday June 15, 2007
Charlottesville, United States
Products: Eurail Global Pass 3 month - 2nd Class
Ms Elizabeth Davis, Youth, USA $1,235.00
Product Total $1,235.00
Shipping Cost: $0.00
Amount Paid: $1,235.00
done :)
written by  faeryp on June 15, 2007 from Charlottesville, United States
from the travel blog: Backpacking Europe

Thursday July 12, 2007
Berlin, Germany
seems like maybe i never really am leaving Berlin
i was supposed to leave yesterday,
but kai invited me to stay longer
so i was going to stay 2 more nights
but last night
jonas pretty much convinced me to stay the weekend
soo..
looks like i'll be here until saturday
or sunday
then 2 nights in Rotterdam
1 night in Brussels
(i've heard thats really as long as its worth going for)
and then to amsterdam
dunno how long yet
i doubt i'll stay anywhere as long as i have stayed here
Berlin is just that amazing :)
written by  faeryp on July 12, 2007 from Berlin, Germany
from the travel blog: Backpacking Europe

Tuesday July 10, 2007
Berlin, Germany
if you ever come to europe
allow me to recommend the pub crawl
11 euros =
free keg to start
free entry to 5 clubs/bars
free public transportation
drink specials at every place
bar 1 & 3 = free shot with every beer you buy
bar 2 = 1 euro jager shots
(i don't even know what 4 was, i was cut off long before)
free shots all night between bars
as many as you can drink
they were pouring alcohol directly from the bottle into my mouth
who could turn that down
luckily i had my 5 canadian roommates with me
thank god for paul
he was my life line
he took good care of me
and julian, the guy with the liquor
he's my new fiance
i have lots of pictures
it was fucking wild
like really..
ooh man
but this hangover :(
written by  faeryp on July 10, 2007 from Berlin, Germany

Friday July 06, 2007
Berlin, Germany
well, i got to Berlin with no problems.. thanks in part to the super nice military man i sat with from Chicago to dublin. he and i worked together to manage our way through the dublin airport to our connecting flights in the short amount of time we had between planes. i realized halfway to Berlin that my black hoodie wasn't so lucky.
so here i am, in Germany. all alone with no idea what to do with myself. the city is beautiful. so clean, and easy to get around. english hasn't been too hard to come by so far, with the exception of the train i was trapped on alone with the conductor lady that was yelling at me in german. eventually we managed to communicate well enough for her to understand the mixup wasn't entirely my fault (my directions from the airport to the hostel didn't mention i needed to switch from the S45 to the S41 train) and she helped get me on the right train.
written by  faeryp on July 6, 2007 from Berlin, Germany

Saturday July 7, 2007
the first day was pretty rough. i was fine until the train incident, then i started to get really lonely. but today has been better. i met this really nice french guy that spoke english fluently and intermediate german. he and i walked around Berlin for a few hours. we went in search of the free bike tour of Berlin, but it began to rain just before it was supposed to start. we did see some interesting graffti/art display. i almost got eaten by a scary dog, but after he stopped chasing me it was pretty funny. we wandered through some free art galleries and a very short stop in the mall to avoid the rain. all in all, it was a good day. until he tried to kiss me.. thats when i decided it was time to come back to the hostel for a nap.

Saturday July 8, 2007
i met a group of 5 boys from california in the kitchen downstairs. they gave me free food and beer and we hung out in the game room at the hostel all night. then Axel walked me back to my room and i slept for about 4 hours until the loud ass boys i was sharing a room with woke me up. i think they were getting me back for coming in at 5am
i met up with kai from couchsurfing. he has a really nice apartment in east Berlin with a beautiful balcony. the weather was perfect today. i met a bunch of his friends that were still awake from the night before. Berlin really is a party city. but at the same time its so peaceful. he took me to a flea market. it was really crowded, but he wanted me to experience the atmosphere. it was really busy, but everyone was so relaxed. then we went to this really neat place decorated in graffiti with an old tower from the war where people were rock climbing up the sides. then we went to this huge park and we all layed in the grass and drank beer and talked for a while then headed to this little place for pizza. eventually we headed back to his apartment to listen to music and he showed me some of the pictures from his trips.

Monday July 09, 2007
i feel so at home walking around Berlin.
seriously fucking love this place
like really, i need to learn german so i can move here <3
i walked around for a few hours today by myself
it was awesome
such beautiful buildings everywhere

Sunday July 8, 2007
Jul 8 Libra: You're really enjoying yourself. Drop any thought that doesn't support that easygoing attitude. As for people who don't seem to be able to enjoy you, drop them, too.

Sunday July 8, 2007
Berlin is beautiful today.
no more rain.
the weather is perfect.
in fact, all of today has been.
kai is really amazing.
and so are his friends
all of which speak english very well.
i'm sitting on his balcony
drinking a beer.. like a real one
i love this city.
i just wish i could speak german

Friday July 6, 2007
i made it
no wireless yet though
hadda pay for internet
3€ for 60 minutes
at least i can say i'm alive
and have only freaked out a few times

Thursday July 05, 2007
Richmond, United States
Total duration: 15hr 13min
Total miles: 5114 miles
another hour in this airport
then no more america for a while
written by  faeryp on July 5, 2007 from Richmond, United States

Tuesday July 3, 2007
Charlottesville, United States
last minute emergencies arise, as always.
the laptop i had for europe died.
so.. a frantic hour or 2 of comparison shopping later
and i have a brand new $600 laptop for my trip.
i feel a lot better knowing i have a reliable computer
especially since i intend on using my laptop to find places to stay
new computers make me happy :)
written by  faeryp on July 3, 2007 from Charlottesville, United States

Wednesday July 11, 2007
i took a 4 hour free tour of Berlin
this company does them in like 5 european cities
they work for tips so that everyone can afford to see Berlin
it was fucking amazing
they gave the entire history of Berlin
but they were really funny about it
and made it very interesting
at first i thought 4 hours of walking would be too long
but i was dissappointed when it was over
the history here is really a story to hear
they showed us a lot of the major sites
i stood on the ground 10 ft above where hitler killed himself
in his underground bunker
they showed us nazi buildings
and the holocaust memorial
and so many other buildings and memorials
and told about their significance in history
it was really really good.
i was way impressed

Thursday July 12, 2007
we got another couchsurfer.
a really sweet girl named melissa from mexico.
so now there are 3 of us in kai's 1 room apartment.
she got here yesterday afternoon
for dinner one of kai's friend marie came over
and we made the best spagetti ever
and we all 4 sat on the living room floor
and had a picnic
then we went to the bar and met jonas
jonas and i took a few shots
as we tend to do
kai and melissa went back to his place for bed
and i stayed at the bar with jonas
we stayed there for a while
then walked aboue 20 minutes
to an old abandoned beer brewery
we climbed in through a window and walked to the top
we sat on the roof of the factory
and talked while overlooking all of Berlin
we were there at 6am
but unfortunately there wasn't much of a Sunrise
because of the weather
but the view alone was beautiful
we finally went to bed around 7am

Friday July 13, 2007
melissa and i ended up walking around Berlin for a few hours together then stumbled upon a really cute place where we got smoked shisha. then we bought a cheap bottle of wine and drank the whole bottle in 20 minutes at kai's house while we wore the burger king crowns we picked up on our walk. we met up with jonas and went to a pizza shop where we stopped earlier to open our wine and the owner made us all free screwdrivers with fresh Orange juice he sqeezed from real Oranges. we went to aleanderplatz to meet Jordan from the hostel, but he never showed. apparently, his plane was 2 hours late getting into Berlin. we hung out there for an hour and met curt from oklahoma. a group of his friends showed up and we spent almost an hour there drinking and being loud until the police came and told us we were making too much noise, so then we went to a party where i met a lot of really cool people and we fought over posession of the "microphone", or, broken shower head and the pizza guy showed up with free pizza for the whole party. after the party jonas and i headed for a few bars, but they wouldn't let us in. apparently, in Berlin, they have "selection" where they will only let you in if they think you fit the look they want. so, we hung outside the club with the other rejected people for a while, then we left and climbed to the roof of a supermarket and talked and overlooked the city.

Saturday July 15-Sunday July 16, 2007
my last night in Berlin
jonas, steffan, and i went to 2 parties
then tried to get into a club
but the line was too long to risk "selection"
so we ended up going to this other club
the dance floor was really small
in a little hut
and the music wasn't very loud
but most of the club was outdoors on the river
we got there as the sun was rising
so we spent the morning talking on the water
and dancing a little
i went to sleep knowing i needed to leave Berlin
but no idea where i was going
so i woke up late today
and decided to go to Rotterdam for 2 nights
then Brussels for one night
then amsterdam
my train didn't leave until 9:30
so we went swimming at this pool that is built in the river
then he took me to the train

Monday July 16, 2007
Rotterdam, Netherlands
i left Berlin at 9pm
i was hoping to sleep on the train
but a little girl, about 3 years old
decided she liked my hair
and wouldn't stop pulling it and flipping it
and she kept fucking with my bag
soo there was no sleeping on that train
then i had a 2 hour lay over
where i met a really cool german girl
we talked for a while
then a group of 5 guys started hitting on me
they made her translate for us
finally, they left and we both got on the train
but she was too awesome not to talk to
so no sleeping on that train either
then on the next train i met an australlian guy
he was really interested in my trip
he said he wanted to backpack one day as well
so i talked to him for a while, hoping to inpspire him
i gave him the "vagabonding" book alex sent me
since i finished it on the plane over here
so i didn't sleep then either
finally on the last train
i slept for about 30 minutes
then they woke me up to check tickets
and the train started to fill up
so i couldn't sleep then either
finally, i arrived in Rotterdam at 8am
having not slept at all
and no idea where to stay
as soon as i arrived it started raining
like really pouring
i found a kind of dry spot where i sat hoping to wait out the rain
but i started getting really tired so i searched out a hostel
i finally found one, but i couldn't check in til 5:30
so i went outside where i met lucien
he was leaving Rotterdam to go home to Brussels
which happened to be my next destination
so, i hung out with him and some of his friends
David from barcelona and alex from france
they were all jazz musicians that were in Rotterdam for a music festival
we took a nap in the park
then went to the supermarket and bought bread and cheese
and had a picnic
then lucien and i caught the train to Brussels
he let me stay with him
and i had dinner with his family
then we went to a party with a group of his friends
written by  faeryp on July 16, 2007 from Rotterdam, Netherlands

Tuesday July 17, 2007
Brussels, Belgium
today lucien showed me around Brussels for a little while
then he had to go home and do some work so i wandered the city alone
around 6 i headed back to his place and got my things and came to stef's house
there are 2 other couch surfers here
a girl from italy and a guy fron argentina
francesta cooked us real spagetti
and the 4 of us ate outside by candle light and drank wine
written by  faeryp on July 17, 2007 from Brussels, Belgium

Monday July 23, 2007
Amsterdam, Netherlands
i got into amsterdam wednesday night. christian met me at the train station and we went and had dinner. after dinner we went to the park with 2 bottles of wine and sat by a lake and talked for a few hours. apparently the park closed at dark and we got locked in and had to jump the gate to get out. thursday i slept in late after having a whole bottle of wine to myself the night before and only have a little while to walk around the city while christian was at work. the only thing i accomplished was buying some legal mushrooms at a smart shop. they had so many choices and each were labeled with a chart that graded each effect (visuals, mental, body, energy, etc). i went with the colobian, nice and balanced. after that we met back at his place and he cooked me dinner and we just watched a movie and relaxed for once. unfortunately, he got an email that night from his parents saying his mother was sick, so he had to leave on friday to go home for the weekend. i walked around the centre and finally found a hostel that had a bed. so i got my stuff locked up and headed back out. i met 8 guys from denmark and we all went to the pub crawl. i met so many awesome (drunk) people. the staff was particularly incredible (and hott, omg): kyle from south africa, jerimiah from cali, and cat from ireland. soo naturally, i got quite drunk - free vodka and beer all night - and danced my ass off for hours. after the pub crawl i went back to kyle's apartment and we talked for a while, but i had to go back to my hostel so i could wake up in time to check out. walking the 3 blocks back to my hostel through dam square at 6am was the scariest part of my trip yet. but, i made it back to my hostel just fine and slept for 3 hours before i had to wake up. at breakfast i met sebastian and sat and chatted with him for a long time. we went on the 3 hour free walking tour of amsterdam. it wasn't quite as impressive as the one in berlin, but it was still really interesting. after the tour i went in search of westerpark for the couchsurfing meeting. i found it much easier than i expected to, i ended up getting there an hour early. so i sat in the cafe for a drink while i waited. two guys, jos and hylke, saw me sitting alone with my bag in the chair across from me and decided i needed someone more interesting to talk to than a backpack. we spent a long time in the cafe, they bought me beer and food and i never found the couchsurfers. so i ended up staying with them saturday night. jos took my bag, and hylke took me - i had to ride on the back of his bicycle back to their place. its normal in amsterdam, but it was my first experience. (its actually much scarier than it looks.) at their place we ate pizza and drank beer by candlelight. it was hylke's birthday so we made mushroom tea with my beautiful LEGAL shrooms. we didn't actually have any tea bags, so we just boiled them and added a little sugar, which tasted surprisingly like tea. we watched creature comforts, hilarious clay animation series (which i do recommend). at first i wasn't sure how i was going to handle the shrooms since i didn't know the guys well, but we ended up having a great time. sunday i had to leave their house, so i was going to jump on a train to copenhagen, but i found out one i got to the station that i needed to reserve a seat (only some of the trains require you to do that), and the office was closed until 6 am, so i was stuck in amsterdam for an extra night (not that i mind really). so i went back to the pub crawl to see my new friends. it wasn't AS much fun since my denmark friends weren't there, but i met a few people and got to hang out with the staff more - who, again, are AWESOME. since i didn't have a place to stay i was doing the pub crawl with my backpack which most people were quite impressed with - apparenly, i'm a badass :). halfway through, cat let me put my stuff in his apartment since it was close to the club we were going to. i didn't really feel like drinking anymore so jerimiah and i went and sat on a bench by the canal and talked instead of dancing in the hot ass club (it was a pirate club and the bartenders were breathing fire). at the end of the pub crawl i went back to cat's house to get my things and we hung out and listened to music and talked for a while and i ended up staying at his place, which was really nice because i got lots of sleep and a shower, neither of which i expected to get that night. this afternoon i got to the train station to get my reservation. waiting in that office is equivalent to the DMV. literally. jesus. finally, i got my ticket, and 2 hours later i'm on my way to copenhagen. i survived amsterdam, and didn't even have to smoke pot. :)
written by  faeryp on July 23, 2007 from Amsterdam, Netherlands

Copenhagen, Denmark
it was raining when i got to copenhagen. no surpise there really, its rained almost everyday i've been in europe. i walked around for a while with my backpack, in the rain, with no shower, after having slept on the floor of a train all night (or rather, TRYING to sleep). so after a few failed attempts to contact the boys i met in amsterdam that i was supposed to stay with, i found a hostel. i felt much better after a shower, and took advantage of the free wireless. as soon as i got online, i found a place to stay. so, even though i'd already paid 110 dkk (= $20) for a room, he had a spare bedroom for me. with a bed. the hostel had like 60 beds in one room, and only 3 showers in the building, plus i'd need to check out by 10 am. so i checked out 4 hour after i checked in. worked out for me though, because guido cooked me dinner. another italian :) i ate 3 times as much pasta as he did. plus, i got to wash (and dry, OMG) my clothes. it was the first dryer i'd come across since my hostel in berlin. he had work to do, so i just spent some time online, made a few phone calls, and went to bed pretty early. good thing i did, he woke me up at 9:30 to kick me out for the day so he could work. i didn't even have time for a shower. he did give me breakfast and a bike. so i decided to go see johannes that i met on couchsurfing. guido lives all the way south, and johannes lives all the way north. i finally got to his house, rang the bell, and no one was home. so i turned around and headed back. it wasn't a complete waste though. i stopped in several parks on the way. there are some really beautiful places in copenhagen. i saw the little mermaid statue. that was the one tourist spot i was determined to hit. i ended up riding that bike for 7-8 hours. no joke. it hurt to sit down at the end of the day. once i got back to guido's house, i got back online and got in touch with johannes. he came and picked me up, then we got his friend shawn and went to christiana. i had heard so much about that place from everyone, that i really wanted to go. its a small community in copenhagen that is self governed. they legalized hash in their community, but are all very much against hard drugs. but the town itself was absolutely incredible. many artists live there, so all of the buildings were covered with amazing graffiti and there were dogs running around everywhere. there was a spot with a few cafes where they were playing music and everyone was just hanging out drinking and talking. the atmosphere was really laid back. then we walked through the woods on a path along the water. we saw the houses of the people that live there. they all live in tents or little shacks that they built themselves. it really is a hippie town. i really loved it. unfortunately, you aren't allowed to take pictures there, so i didn't get many. i did manage to take two of the murals. after that, i went and got my things from guido's house since he was still there working and i went to stay with johannes. he made me dinner and we hung out and listened to music and finally fell asleep at like 5 am. then he walked me to the train station, and i'm on the train to stockholm.
written by  faeryp on July 26, 2007 from Copenhagen, Denmark