Bruges .. Shoes?

Hey all...Sitting here in the hotel in Bruges, Belgium and all I have to say for myself (other than Belgian beer being no less than 8%) is that this place has way way too many shoes. It is clear that the shops here are catering to the active tourist, as every other window is strewn with brand after brand and shoe after shoe. It took me about 1/4 of a block before I was completely desensitized from all of the foot shopping here. The brands weren't all that great (the picture above was actually from a store in Amsterdam, a store that I glady spent my time in), the styles didn't wander far (at all) from 'euro', and the prices were nothing to pull the wallet out about. This city is one of the helping factors of making my life a more appreciated and simple thing upon my return. I do not need to leave a place with a pair of sneakers to ensure that I have proper memories of being there. I do not need to exit a city with a certain amount of money spent (wasted?) on clothes to offer me the memory of being there. Rather, all I would choose to hold is the favorite picture I took in my hand proving that the trip acutally happened because while on foot in Europe there is so much more to life than shopping at a store with a (more than capable) website.

Amsterdam by Bike

Walking around Amsterdam has made me miss my bike a lot. This city has more bikes than I have ever seen in a city barnone. All of the bikes are outfitted to ride in the amount of rain this city gets. Short post, I just wish that I had a chance to let my bike visit Amsterdam as well. At the end of the day, it's just great being here regardless. Hey guys!!

Underground

Landed in London early this afternoon at an airport that is miles north of the city. Transit by rail made the progression of grassy fields, sheep farms, and quaint english homes into the factorys and multi-complex housing seem like a timelapse; very very cool. As I mentioned in an earlier post, Berlin had a dope public transit system .. then I arrived in London. The famous London Underground rail system is the most thought out and easy to use line I can even imagine. Other than the fact that this city is SO DAMNED HUGE, once you figure out where you need to go it is effortless. This brings me to needing to give a BIG UP to Rodney!!! If it wasn't for this UK local who literally took me under his wing while he was on his way into London (with his equally as friendly wife) and walked me through what line I were needing to take, standing in line for at least 20 minutes to get my ticket and before all of this guiding me to the right people to ask whether or not we needed a visa to travel to Amsterdam. Thanks again Rodney, hope you are reading this. Anyway, its time to head back into the city for I only have a mere 20 hours to enjoy what will most likely be one of the premier places I visit on the next European vacation...

Back in America

Yesterday was the last day of classes at the Berlin University and instead of going out alone in the city I crashed two day classes. They were both English speaking and entailed a lot of discussion about media, music, film, etc. relating America to International popularity and the root of all of this. In the first class they are focusing on the series 'The Wire' and we watched a full episode on a projection screen. In the middle of the viewing I had the strangest feeling where I forgot that I was even IN Germany and was watching a popular American TV show. Weird things, but damn it felt great to be back in the classroom setting. Thinking is really really nice, I took notes.

Berlin Beer Fest

I ran around the city all day on Wednesday and decided to end the day with a kick-it session of German beer. The market has a beer isle that is all unrefrigerated bottles of German beer than is dirt cheap (0,75 euro/bottle). I was locating some brie and was shopping with a hand basket filled with miscellaneous bottles. Sidenote : I was not wearing contacts or glasses, so my vision was therefore affected but made the selections truely random and fair. Returning to my temporary abode, I started cracking bottles. They were all good. Some smelled like meat and others smelled like wheat; literally, meat and wheat. Berliner Kindyl won my favorite taste and had me sleeping like a baby.

Berlin by Bus

Arriving in Berlin was a nice thing for a lot of reasons. First being that I was obviously over flying in a plane for a total amounting just over 13 hours. Second, I would be in Europe for a few weeks starting in a country I have never been to. Arriving late due to multiple delays, I got my backpack from the baggage claim effortlessly and then walked into the main area of the airport. Taking a few steps, I look around and see buses everywhere. Not a lick of english anywhere, but one of them is bound to be driving back to Berlin. This would shape the next couple of days transportation and luckily I was able to figure out the bus system here quite well. The buses loop multiple (8-10) lines here every 2-8 minutes. It is a shame that Los Angeles doesn't have their bus system on lock like this, for a very high percentage of the people living here ride these buses and don't drive a car. Anyway, Berlin has been great and very nice with its crisp temperatures.

Flying, Not Really Sleeping

A video I made of 160+ stills shot on photobooth then placed in final cut all the while racing a dying computer battery. It worked out. I guess?

Well .. Didn't Take Long .. No Suprises.

Alright, as some exposition for those who don't know I am currently in the middle of the teenage girls' Twilight book series. This is something that I am very careful about when reading in public as the following rules are always followed:
1)When I take the book out my backpack I always make sure it is frontcover faced down.
2)If I, for any reason, must put the book down on a table it is set down (again) frontcover faced down and always has the spine butted up against a stable "blocker" object.
3)If the book I am on is a hardcover, I remove the cover as to cloak the books identity with its crushed black fabric cover with no writing anywhere but the book title on its spine.

The following information is also useful in this quick story:
-I am fiercely close to finishing "New Moon" right now, the second book in the series.
-I am flying from the Burbank airport to Seattle (where one would fly if they were traveling to Forks, the town in which the book takes place).
-I hold a silver elite status card for Northwest Airlines which helps me attain free upgrades to first class seating on domestic flights.

So, running it down; I sit in first class along with the other first classers and begin reading my book (as secretly as possible) before the plane even leaves the ground as I stopped at a very intense part last night when my laundry was done drying at the laundrymat and had to go back to real life. There is a woman with a British accent sitting next to me which puts me in a defensive mood since Harry Potter is British and that book is the leading enemy of the Twilight series. The woman is very friendly, we both drink black coffee as the plane is taking off and I am very into my book until the woman interrupts me. "Are you reading Twilight?", the kind woman asks in her educated accent.
"Um no, I am not. This is New Moon, it's the book after Twilight. Where are you travelling to? London?"
"No, I work and live in Los Angeles and am up in Seattle for the day for work. I will be back in LA this evening.", she rebuts in our quickly competitive conversation then quickly mocks me, "Where are you traveling to? London?"
Oh no you didn't, I think to myself. But quickly find my out and feel that this game is in the bag.
"No, I am actually travelling to a small town in Washington to help with some research for the filming of the movie based on this book I hold in my hands here. You see, I am obviously too old to be reading this book recreationally and unlike you my business in this small town will hold me there far longer than just today. This is a pretty big deal and I need to finish this book before I land. I am on a deadline, do you mind?", I obviously just lied about the reason I am reading the book and my real destination. The woman goes back to her powerpoint presentation that she is working on on her laptop PC and leaves me alone to my dreamworld -!!!SPOILER ALERT!!!- where Bella is (ironically) aboard an airplane to Italy to save her vampire ex-boyfriend who is about to commit social and ultimately literal suicide. This is the first time that a stranger has caught me off guard reading this teen novel and that clearly threw me into a tailspin of lies. I now await re-boarding my plane and finishing the 2nd book to move onto the 3rd as I head to Amsterdam. I really hope that Edward, Bella, and Alice get out of Volterra alive.

Back In Action

It has been since the summer months that I have graced the blog with any kind of words. This lead to some problems immediately. It had been so long since I wrote here that I no longer knew my screen-name or password, but I have obviously figured it out since then. And thank you Bill Gates for holding it down for so long, funny that your release of mosquitoes (as some of you know, they used to be my least favorite thing in the world until I met the car horn in LA..) also opened the gates to my return to the rice and cholo blog. I am back with a reason...reason being is that I am sitting in the Burbank airport right now awaiting a flight that will end in me standing in Berlin, Germany for the remainder of the month of February. I will be travelling to 4-5 different countries, I will encounter 4 different languages of which I speak only one (English), and I will board countless trains, plains, and walk alot of "kilometers" with a backback on my person. With each day I am gone, I would be delighted to share something about the trip or thoughts that enter my consciousness. This month will be an experiment of self and will surely be one of the best experiences I have ever had up to this point in my (already interesting) life. Thanks for coming out again, guys and I hope to hear some comments, suggestions, or pointers during the trip. Much Love but I have to hop aboard this airplane now. Emergency Exits are my only way out for the rest of the month...