Walking and Learning in Paris

I think my feet are officially over this trip! For the last two days I feel like I have been walking around literally all day! On Tuesday I went to look for some shoes at a place that I thought was a mall but was only a walmart-type place...womp. Then I went to the Catacombs which was pretty creepy. Basically it's this long tunnel underground that has about 6million bodies worth of bones and skulls stacked up. It looked pretty neat because they were stacked to look like a wall decoration but at the same time I realized that these are remains of once living people. They didnt allow flash photography so I didn't get very good pictures (but I did touch some of the bones/skulls lol).

After the catacombs I made my way to see the old Moulin Rouge and look around again for shoes. I didnt find any shoes and the Moulin Rouge I guess isn't as cool in the daytime and outside as it probably is at night inside (but my bedget did'nt allow for the $80 it cost to see the show). As I was riding on the train back to the hostel, I saw a lot of stores with "soldes!" signs so I got off of the metro to look around. Again I had no luck with the shoes but I did come across the part of town where a lot of Africans and Middle Easterners lived (or at least shopped). There were tons of stores with formal wear that looked Indian to me but I think might have been North African. There were also a few stores with clothes that looked like gypsie costumes! I'm not sure who actually wore these clothes but I kind of wanted an outfit. The coolest thing was on the streets there were people with shopping carts with someing inside that they were using to roast corn. It was like being at the fair and getting the roasted corn...only you get it on the street corner.

The following day was full of museums. I went to the Musee D'Orsay and of course the Louvre. As it turns out, I'm not as big of an art person as I thought. I saw some classic pieces (including the Mona Lisa and ones by Velasquez, Monet and Van Gogh) but it just was not that exciting. I think I should have gone tothe contemporary museum, as I tend to gravitate to modern and post modern styles the most. By the end of the day, I was exhausted and disappointed that I still haven't got my France shoes but it's ok because I will have another chance when I come back. I knew I had to be up early the next morning so i went to bed early and made sure I set my alarm...bbbbuuuuuuuuutttt....somehow I missed it and every snooze alarm for the next 45 minutes! I missed my train!!!! Even though I was frustrated, I thought about it and I suppose I can't call myself a true backpacker until I have missed a train or had to change plans for some reason or another. So I get to spend the night in Milan and I will be back on schedule tomorrow...hopefully.

On a side note...when I planned this trip my intention was not to 'find myself' because I already had a pretty good idea of who I am. However, traveling and meeting other people from around the world has really taught me about me! I'm learning that in life I really do want to see the world, but not just see it, I want to learn from it and impact it somehow. This trip has been/ is amazing but I don't think that I will do this in the future. When I travel in the future, I don't just want to see the sights, I want to either be working (like volunteering in South America) or learning (like crafts or cooking in Africa). I want to be an active participant in my travels and in the world, not just an observer.

The City of Love...or something like it...

When I first got to Paris I had to take care of some travel business so I headed to get train reservations for other trips I'm going to take. When I got to the counter there was a very cute :) French guy who kept acting like he didn't understand my American accent attempt at pronouncing the French towns. He would ask me to repeat it and then kind of chuckle :-. When he noticed that I was making most of the reservations for one he asked "where is your boyfriend?" Ha! Then he asked for my facebook and just like that I made my first pal on my travels!

After that I checked into my hostel and went out to explore...and of course, I got lost. I found myself by this cool building (that I later found out was the modern art museum) that had these wooden hive-looking structures on the sides...one of the many interesting things I saw on that walk. Since I was feeling particularly French that evening, I decided to have a crepe with 'jambon' for dinner. It was my first time having a crepe without something sweet in it and I have to say it was really good!

The next day I decided to take a walking tour so that I could see some of the sites I planned on at one time. On the tour, not only did I learn ALOT of French/Parisian history, but I really got to see why they call it 'The City of Love'. Everywhere I turned there were couples old and young holding hands and showing PDAs. Aaaaaaaaand on one of the bridges there were hundreds of small locks with initials or names on them. The tour guide explained that lovers will come with a lock and lock it on the bridge and throw the key into the Seine river symbolizing that their love is locked in forever.

After the tour I had my only unhappy experience in this city. I went to the train station because I realized that some of my reservations were wrong. After I waited about 20 minutes in line I walked up to the counter (one of about 7) and asked if I was in the right place to change reservations. He immediately spoke French and I told him I didnt understand. I pointed to the other people behind the counters gesturing and asking if anyone else spoke English and he continued to speak French only, not even gesturing to give me a hint as to what he was saying. So, I took out my translator and began trying to tell him the problem one word at a time but he would keep speaking full sentences while I was looking for the next word. He gave me this kind of blank look and at that point I didnt know what else to do so I just said thank you and walked away. As I was exiting, I noticed that one of the other people had a British flag symbol on her screen (meaning she spoke English) and I asked another lady if there was another place to make reservations and she answered me in English too. I was so frustrated with that guy that I literally almost cried. I mean I understand that this is France but it was inside of an international train stations at a desk specifically for international travelers and I made an honest attempt at using broken French and sign-language to communicate. The least he could have done was to point me to one of his coworkers who spoke English (as there were at least 2 of the 7).

Oh well, now that I've vented, back to lovely Paris. After walking around all day I went back to the hostel and met a guy from Carlsbad! He said I was the first person he's met who actually knows where that is. We went down to the courtyard and joined a group of other people in the hostel. AAAaaaaaaaaaaaaand just like that I made my next 10 or so international pals. After a few hours of chatting we all decided to go to the Eiffel Tower (which was about a 15 minute walk yaaaay). We smuggled a blanket out of the hostel and had an amazing after hours picnic thingy. We got to see the lights show of the tower a few times. We just laughed and talked and took picutures with random homeless guys who were asking for 'fire' (light for a cigarette). It even started to rain so we all huddled under the blanket like it was a huge umbrella until it stopped. I guess the sight of the tower at night or perhaps the general feeling of the city rubbed off on two of the people in our group because by the end of the night they were really close, holding hands ect. (I'll leave the ect part up to your interpretation).

All in all my first two days here have been awesome and I can't wait to see what's next!

Belgium stew lol

Ok so since I was in Belgium for almost one month and I didn't want to bore you with every small detail of everything I did, I'm going to throw different adventures into this one blog and serve you some Belgium stew!

Let us begin with SOLDES (my new favorite French word). Apparently in Belgium the government wants to protect the people from monopolies or something like that so they tell retailers that they can only have 2 sales per year. One of which is in the month of July. My sister took us to the mall and it was like Black friday...the whole mall was on sale! It took everything within me not to spend my backpacking money on clothes and shoes that day. I did allow myself my quota of one pair of Belgium shoes which only cost me 6euro (normally they were around 30 or 40). I just wish I could have bought more but I had to stick to my budget (arent you proud of me??).

Moving on, speaking of stew, lemmie tell you about my eating experiences in Belguim. I did have a few Belgian waffles (called gaufres) and I must admit they were pretty tastey. They aren't served here like they are back home, here they sell them at carts/stands like they would sell churros. Also, they are not topped with butter and syrup but with whipped cream, chocolate or just plain. Another snack that Belgians enjoy are frites (fries) with mayonnaise. I like mayo on my sandwiches but not so much as a ketchup substitute. Speaking of odd, I happened to come across some interesting flavors of chips in my travels. They included Ketchup, Bbq Ham, Pickles and Prawn Cocktail...I wasn't brave enough to try them though.

I finally got to go to Brussels and have an adventure with my nephew. We got lost several times (typical me) and I felt bad for the little guy because he kept complaining that we walked too far. We saw a few of the famous things like the Manniquen Pis (which is this famous statue of a little boy peeing) but we spent most of the time trying to find our way around. It was nice having some one on one time with my nephew and haveing a gaufre together!

Overall, I would say that Belgium is pretty chill; the whole country seemed to have that small village kind of feel, which cobble stone roads and all. It wasn't super exciting but it was nice just to BE in another setting and enjoy a different way of living.

A side note about the title...and more pics from Adam

As most of you who know me well know, I love shoes! If I were to choose between shoes and food, shoes would win everytime!!! My favorite kind of shoes are heels and this journey is like me running into my future and in a way, away from the past (just like Forest Gump). Anyway, since I'm on a very tight budget I decided that the only 'souvenirs' that I'm going to get are one pair of shoes from every country I visit. And as a creative touch, I'm going to attempt to take a picture wearing my shoes with something that represents that country. For instance, my wooden shoes by the windmill. I hope to get this good of pictures in the other countries...

This is the street that my hostel was on (I think its pronounced "spow- strat")

Some randomness on the streets of A-dam...

This was in an open window...I'm not sure what it means but I dig it

Me on my bike adventure...

Nightlife in Leidseplein

A run down house boat lol

One of the most tasteful images in the Sex Museum

A-dam and Me

I'm in love...and his name is Adam...thats short for Amsterdam lol! Right now I'm safely back in Belgium but lemmie tell you about the last two and a half days of my relationship with Adam.

On Monday morning I got up first thing in the morning and headed over to the Anne Frank House (Anne Frank Huis). I had read the book before so it was really cool to see the words actually come to life. Even more than seeing the room, I really appreciated how they talked about injustice in general. It really made me realize how powerful and responsible we each are to prevent something like that from ever happening again.

Afterward I was a little heavy-feeling so I stoped by the cafe that my uncle suggested and had a slice of the world famous apple pie and some espresso. In that half hour I felt so European and so in the moment...it was amazing!!! At the same time I kinda wished I had a traveling buddy to share the experience with but it was still amazing.

Later that day I went on a boat ride along the canals. It was a smaller boat and the tour was done by a volunteer group. I got to meet some fellow travelers from the States and got some cool info about the city. Unfortunately, it started to rain right in the middle of the tour. I'm not a big fan of being out in the rain, but I have to say, it didn't bother me one bit. It was actually kind of cool lol...it added to the experience.

After the ride I braved the rain a little bit longer to visit the Sex Museum. All I can say about that is it was interesting. Most of the stuff was unimpressive. Perhaps if I had a Y-chromosome it might have been more exciting. However I did learn that people have been making pornographic images for way longer than I thought...apparently the ancient Egyptians were painting such images on disks and in the Pompeii remains they found some as well. The most interesting thing I saw there were actual chastity belts! They were metal with a lock and key!

The next day I rented a bike and rode along the Amstel river...south further into the Netherlands. It was amazing! Besides the smell of animal waste, I really enjoyed being in nature, with water and flowers and horses :). I also finally got to see a few real Holland windmills! And I got to take a picture with my real Dutch wooden shoes! But when I got back to the hostel, my butt was soooo sore, I just wasnt ready for that four hour ride I guess.

And finally to end my trip, this morning I got some new ink! Some of you knew, but for those who didnt, I got a tattoo of the globe with a plane flying around it on my foot to represent my travels!

So now, I literally have the world at my feet! More adventures to come!

Hello A-dam!!!

It has been an exciting and exhausting two days! It began on Saturday morning when my mom and I were dropped off at Brussels airport. I said bye bye to her (this will be the last time I see her for over a year) and I was surprised that she didn't cry. After that, I made my way to the train station and off to Amsterdam (the cool people call it A-dam). This train ride was far better than the one coming from Germany! I took a little nap and got to really enjoy some of the Belgian and Dutch scenery.

The city is packed pedestrians! When I first got here, it looked like pictures of New York with masses of people walking the streets, only prettier buildings. Thank God my hostel was only about 5 minutes walking from the station because even though I packed much lighter, my backpack was still pretty heavy. The staff at the hostel was super friendly and helpful, he even gave me a map of A-dam and circled/drew in points of interest for me.

It turns out that the room I'm in wasnt where the reception was but rather on the 5th floor of the next building, which by the way, had no elevator! And the stairs were narrow and spiraling :(.

My room was pretty simple, just a large space with 10 beds and 10 lockers, with a restroom and mini-kitchen. I really loved the open doors that had a view of the street.

After dropping my stuff off, I walked to the market and of course got lost a few times on my way there (lucky for me this is a pretty small city). I didnt have any thing planned so I just kinda strolled along taking pictures of anything that seemed interesting.

When I got back to my hostel, some of the other girls were there so I offered a cheerful "Hello!" and only got a couple of mumbled greetings in return. I'm not sure what exactly is hostel etiquette but I hope to pick it up. What I have figured out is that since there is only one restroom for 10 women, it is used as efficiently as possible; you only take your shower and use the toilet. Anything else, including getting dressed and doing hair is done in the main room. I wasn't prepared to see as much skin as I did...but like I said, I'm learning!

Speaking of being unprepared, the weather in A-dam was crazy! It was blazing hot and humid during the day but poured raining at night! My pants and jacket got soaked!

Also being that I don't follow any sports at all, I was not prepared for World Cup mania that has taken over the city. Everywhere I look there are orange, hats, boas, jerseys and vuvuzelas. I don't have any intention on watching the game so tonight will probably be kind of boring for me lol.

I haven't done anything particularly exciting yet, I have just been walking around the city and taking pictures the past two days. The next couple of days should be more exciting!

Ameri-gium???

I haven't blogged in a while because I have been at my sister's house a majority of the time. A part of me feels like I haven't really been in Europe these past few weeks. I have been eating the regular stuff I eat at home and have been around and speaking English. We have been on a few outings but one of the places I've been to most is the base. There are two of them that I have gone to; one is only American and the other is a NATO military base. On the Fourth of July the NATO base had a mini-carnival celebration for the American soldiers and families. They had a few live bands playing (this one was jazz/blues) and different food booths which had choices ranging from regular ole BBQ to the "Walking Taco" (a snack-sized bag of Doritos with ground beef, cheese and lettuce inside). They also had treats familiar to Belgium like Doner Kabobs and waffles with whipped cream.

For the kiddies, they had games and rides like bumper cars and live ponies. Grammy (aka my mom) rode the cars with Antonio but the poor guy got hurt :(.

I have also gone to church with the family which is perhaps my most Ameri-gium experience. You see, the church pastor is an American who either used to be in the military or is still in the military. I would say about half of the congregation are American military and the other half are Belgian. Some of the Belgians speak English but some of them speak mainly French so for the services they have translators. Imagine, the pastor is preaching and every sentence must pause and wait for it to be translated! It was actually pretty cool and I imagine a good way to pick up some French.

I'm excited to get to see more of Belgium but for now I'm content with chillin with my nephews around the crib and preparing for the rest of my adventures! A part is me is a little nervous about my journey now that I'm here and its all becoming so real but I know this will be an experience of a lifetime!