Sorry for not being able to update the blog in a while. I have been pretty busy over the past week while traveling through Paris, Prague, and Berlin. On October 21st, Claire, Christine and I embarked on the first leg of our adventure. We picked up the Eurostar in London and when I woke up we had arrived in Paris. After stopping by the hostel we went to see the Eiffel Tower in all its glory lit up at night. It looked spectacular. However it was not exactly what I had envisioned. In person it was significantly more industrialized, almost like a labyrinth of conduits from an alien civilization. The hundreds of light up Eiffel Towers being sold 5 for 1 Euro complimented the grandeur of the tower itself, at least until the police showed up and ambushed vendors. Luckily nobody was arrested. The only arrest was actually that of Nicholas Cage who was apprehended trying to steal “the real statue of liberty. The one in Paris.”
The next day our group wandered into the Jardin du Luxemborg to see some beautiful flowers as well as interesting statues, such as one supposed elf prancing about with a short, stubby tail. Although it was a bit nippy, overcast, and rainy the lovely flowers helped to brighten our spirits while the rain attempted to dampen them. After getting in tune with nature and our environmental sides, we headed over to Notre Dame to show our appreciation for the accomplishments of our fellow homo-sapiens. The cathedral was spectacular and one of the most impressive edifices I have ever seen. The high-vaulting ceilings, monolithic stained-glass windows, enormous organ, and rows of seemingly endless sanctuaries made for quite an unbelievable sight. Unfortunately it cost quite a few euros to venture to the top of the cathedral and the line was long. Turned out that some hunchbacked guy in the belfry was holding everybody up.
By the time we came out of Notre Dame the sun had emulated our behavior. After seeing an ill-placed monument to the Bastille (in the middle of a traffic circle surrounded by a fence? Really?), we decided to have a picnic nearby in some gardens with a baguette and a bottle of wine. Apparently we blended in with the Parisians quite well. On the way to our picnic a Frenchman on a bicycle stopped and asked me “where is your beret?” He commented that I had a bottle of wine and a baguette, and that all I needed was a beret to be a true Parisian. [Please note that the aforementioned is paraphrased seeing as I speak no French. Mainly I relied on hand motions and my understanding of the words “wine,” “baguette,” and “beret.”] It was quite nice to just relax and catch some sun while enjoying a true French meal and getting my daily allotment of vitamin D. The sun was shining, the birds were eating out of our palms, the lush green grass felt like a mattress of warm, soft earth underneath me. It was like a Disney movie. Then the sprinklers went off. I guess that is how they keep the grass so green. Or maybe it is a deterrent for pesky tourists who like to plop on Parisian lawns. The sprinklers did manage to motivate the three of us to get up and go purchase some delicious macaroons from a nearby candy store. I did not feel classy enough to enter but did anyways. That seemed to be a recurring theme throughout the entirety of our trip in Paris.
Although it felt as though we had just arrived, the next day was our last day in Paris. Seeing as Paris is a global city, along with a handful of others such as London, New York, and Tokyo, it seemed appropriate to visit an art museum. Of the countless art museums in Paris we decided upon one recommended to us, Musee d'Orsay. When I was younger my mother would always give me various books on artists and take my sister and me to art museums to see some of their works. That was before she decided that “As The World Turns” counted as art and that we could become cultured by watching her favorite soap opera with her. Thus I was familiar with almost all of the painters whose works I saw. Visiting Musee d'Orsay turned out to be something of a pilgrimage for me. The permanent collection and exhibitions included works by Van Ghoh, Cassatt, Monet, Mante, Cezannes, Gaugain, Degas, Renois, Vlamnick, and Signac. The impressionist works were definitely my favorite. I have a sort of bias towards them as it is my preferred style of painting. In a way I relate to it. Like me it is imperfect, with blotches and streaks rather than a falsified perception of reality in which everything is perfect-too perfect that is. Thankfully Claire and Christine were both patient and wanted to stay for a few hours as well. Often when my peers accompany me to museums they tell me that I am too slow and methodical in my examinations of the exhibitions.
What better way to compliment art than with death? After all, graveyards, like paintings, exist long after the owners and creators have passed from the earth. The Père Lachaise Cemetery in all its impressiveness warranted a visit. The cemetery is so extensive that is requires a map for navigational purposes. While it was not specifically stated, I believe a requirement of being buried in the graveyard, besides of course dying, was a substantial amount of money and/or fame. Notable figures such as Gertrude Stein, Chopin, Oscar Wilde, and Jim Morrison have the privilege of residing in this plot. We stopped by Wilde’s grave, Chopin’s and of course Jim Morrison’s to pay homage. However, then a storm started rolling in, but luckily there were no riders on it. So we headed back to the hostel to get out of the rain and also devour some delicious free crepes upon presentation of our sign-in card from the front desk.
The next morning we bid goodbye to Paris and hopped on a plane to Prague. There we met up with Alyssa and Jordan. The five of us set out to view Prague castle and the Astronomical clock at night before embarking on an epic pub crawl. The castle looked like something out of a Disney film, and the clock was rather Harry Potteresque. With its revolving moons, stars, assorted planets, and gears and dials, it can only be rivaled by the cricket clock in Cambridge and my beloved “Mickey Mao” watch. The bar crawl was a great opportunity for us to make some friends, like a group of Swiss teenagers who invited us to come stay with them sometime. I think we politely declined the offer. It was also a great time to try absinthe because, seeing as I am completely within my rights here to partake of alcohol consumption, I figured I would take advantage of the ability to try the green, licorice-flavored beverage.
Along the lines of alcoholic beverages, the next day’s excursion was to the Pilsner Urquell Brewery in Pilzen. Jordan and I left for the brewery expecting a small town, easily navigable, with an obnoxiously large industrial site which would undoubtedly be the destination. At least that is the impression we were given from everyone to whom we talked. Instead we were greeted with a bustling city with 12 tram and bus lines and no map. We also had little to no English speaking comrades to give us directions. After traveling on a few different tram lines we decided to ask for directions in a bar. My attempt at saying “where is Pilsner Brewery” in Czech failed miserably as the bartender pointed at the Pilsner tap, believing that I wanted a pint. It took the entire pub all congregating to point us in the right direction. Finally we got to the brewery. It was worth getting lost. At this brewery the techniques of bottom brewing and using triple hops were first conceived. This was the second pilgrimage of the trip for me. At the conclusion of the tour we were given complimentary glasses of non-pasteurized, unfiltered Pilsner Urquell. The way back was just as memorable as the journey to the brewery. First we took the tram to the end of the line, in the completely opposite direction of the bus station. This caused us to miss our bus and necessitated the purchase of two more bus tickets. While waiting in the bus station an elderly Czech woman attempted to force a bag of parmesan cheese on me. I have no idea what she was saying as it was in Czech, but she proceeded to become annoyed that I didn’t take the packet. Then she and the elderly man next to her began burning the top of the plastic cheese packet with a lighter, then eating plain parmesan. It was at this point that I suggested we migrate out of the bus station before inhaling toxic fumes or further irritating the old Czech couple and their parmesan. However at the bus stop a group people waiting for our bus were passing around a large sausage. No wonder Pilzen is known for its beer, not its food. At least we got free hot chocolate on the bus and got to watch bootleg episodes of Friends. As we were rather worn out from the pub crawl and the trip to Pilzen, after regrouping the five of us took it easy and chilled at a Communist bar, officially sponsored by the Communist Museum just down the street. Here I became known as the Chairman Moe.
Amidst the fun break we were having, we were again reminded of the horror and tragedy of the Holocaust, which really gave us all some perspective. Day trip number two was to a concentration camp, Terezin. The museum was very informative and there was also a fascinating art exhibition of paintings, sketches, music, and poetry by people who had been imprisoned at Terezin. One of the weirdest aspects of the trip to me was that the entire town was converted into a concentration camp. Now it is still a town with certain historical landmarks. However I feel like it would be bizarre to live there in the present considering the Terezins past. Being our last day in Prague we decided to try out the nightlife which we had heard about extensively. The club we found featured 5 levels including house music, oldies, and the self-proclaimed and not very politically correct “black music” level. There were also some fascinating light up dance floors.
Berlin was the last destination of our journey. As we only had a few hours, we prioritized and hit the Wall and Checkpoint Charlie first. Here I successfully fulfilled my fix of amazing graffiti and ran down the battery on my camera. I was just glad it made it as far as it did. After walking around these two historic landmarks we were pretty much worn out seeing as we got up (barely…) at 6:30am and then took a five hour or so train ride from Prague to Berlin. Then it was back to London, and recuperating from an amazing and crazy break. After all, Halloween required a few festivities. These included watching an wonderful adaptation of Sleepy Hollow in which Christopher Walken portrayed the headless horseman, a pumpkin bucket full of Hobgoblin and chocolate eyeballs, and a Halloween party at King’s College. After a fun break and Halloween celebrations, I suppose it is time to get ready for class this week. Maybe that means I should stop blogging, get out of bed, get dressed, and have lunch. But I am really comfortable right now…until next time be responsible and be safe.