| Day 10: What do you think of all this about Paris being the City of Love? |
[30 Aug 2009|03:42am] |
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Kept it pretty low-key today. Got up in time for breakfast by putting off my shower until afterward. Saw off Cam & Matt as they headed off to their next destination. Got a late start and rode the Metro to La Tour near Rue Cler. Rick Steves recommended Rue Cler as an example of a Parisian's natural environment, so I went and assembled a picnic lunch from a boulangerie, a fromagerie, and a wine shop, and also picked up some toothpaste from a pharmacy. Ate lunch and drank wine from the bottle like a hobo in the Parc Champs de Mars, which contains the peace monument at one end and leads to the Eiffel Tower at the other. I snapped a bunch of pictures of the tower from different distnces, including right underneath the center. Truly, I've been wanting to stand underneath the tower for a long time, but I didn't really care so much about waiting in the huge line to go up the elevator. I went around scouting to see if there was a place playing the Arsenal vs Manchester United match, but the best I found was a local kind of place screening French soccer matches. Got a glacé from a place around the corner from Rue Cler. Don't know the street or the name of the place offhand, but Kim the server behind the counter was bubbly and adorable. Noticing this as a pattern, that the actual French people I meet are friendly and agreeable while all the Americans over here are standoffish. Saw that a place in the shadow of the Tower had boeuf bourguignon on the specials board so I sat down and had one forJulia Child. Kind of disappointed in it, really; the beef was a bit dry snd the tagliatelle were obviously fluffy egg noodles so i couldn't eat them. Asked the waiter whether there was a place to go for live rock. He recommended some neighborhoods but La Marais, where I ended up going to scout, was devoid of both live music and rock. Got back on the metro to the hostelso here I am thinking ahead to the train ride to Amsterdam in the morning. Curious to see how I feel about it now that I've been to all these other places on this trip.
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| Day 9: Paris is the Texas of European cities. |
[29 Aug 2009|03:14pm] |
1:45pm
Paris, in case I wasn't clear before, is fucking enormous.
Left my hostel around 10:30, walking on foot, have yet to see a major sight. Did have an inexpensive lunch on the way, though.
7:15pm
Walked along the Promenade Plantée, a really nice skywalk that is one long garden path. That took me to Bastille Square where the trendy modern opera house is. Lots of teenagers in alt fashion hanging around the exterior. Skateboarders across the circle.
As I was walking along the Seine an Australian lady approached me asking for directions to the Novotel. Neither one of our maps was showing the street name she was looking for, and I still couldn't get any WiFi, so I just pointed her in roughly the direction of Bastille square and Gare du Lyon.
Saw Notre Dame and its breathtaking windows. Lit a candle for the family and gota nice rosary for Mom. Took a break at the little park past Cité and talked to some Polish girls who sat at my bench, then headed down Rue de Rivoli to the Louvre... I now have a "greatest thing ever seen." Been here at the Louvre close to three hours (it's Friday so the Louvre is open late). My feet are killing me. I've hit my limit of how much I can tour through the halls of paintings, of which there are over 100. I'm not even sure I saw all the paintings but I am completely overwhelmed by the scope of it all. I'm at the Starbucks on the ground floor now, having an herbal tea Frappucchino. The WiFi doesn't seem to work here. WTF?! This place should be ashamed to call itself Starbucks.
Day's end
The cute Italians I was trying to strike up conversation with in Starbucks left, so I packed up the remainder of my bottled water and took the escalators out. Walked out of the Louvre and passed through the Jardin des Tuileries, a gorgeous park of sculpture and fountains. It was getting late, but I was determined to make it to the Arc de Triomphe and get a few pictures in before the battery drained (and while I was in the area), so I went on foot all the way up the Champs-Elysées. Lots of trendy retail on this stretch, and a McDonalds or a Quick (European fast food joint) on every block. I snapped some gorgeous pictures of the Arc with the lights on and twilight sky in the background. By then it was well after 9, and I needed to find a good place to have dinner, so I headed up one of the other eleven streets extending from the Place Charles de Gaulle, and eventually found myself walking along Rue du Faubourg Saint Honoré, a street that runs parallel to the C-E two blocks to the north. It's a hotel and embassy sort of neighborhood, but I did manage to find Ante Prima, a place with the day's menu on a chalkboard (good sign) and hours until 10:45.
The waitstaff, Vanessa the hostess and Aurélie the server, were absolute darlings, spoke English, doted on me, and talked about having been to America. Vanessa in particular had lived for a year and a half in Miami and New York, and lamented all of the English skill that she had lost since then. Dinner consisted of the perfect antipasto buffet (€19) and a plate of penne pasta with smoked octopus and a delicate pan sauce (€16). Pricey, but excellent.
I hopped the Metro back to the hostel and spent some time catching up on Internet things, having been denied WiFi all day. Some shirtless Irish guys came in around 1AM talking about how they had come here to see Oasis at a big festival concert on the Seine, and Oasis bailed after making them wait 3 hours. They were rightfully angry. One of them also talked about being an extra on The Tudors and the strange imbalance of getting paid to do nothing -- his extra role was as a dead body.
Around 2:30 I decided that I was overdue for bed, and right as I was heading for the elevator Matt & Cam arrived. We talked for a bit and it seems like we won't get to travel as a group at all since they are meeting up with a large group outside the city tomorrow.
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| Day 8: Brad's on TV! |
[29 Aug 2009|03:37am] |
8:45pm
Checked out of the hostel in the morning but waited around for Ken, Cam, and Matt. C&M disappeared to brunch while I was talking with an extremely distant relative -- a descendant of the Brennan clan of Ireland who grew up in York.
Ken and I went to a few places in town looking for a replacement Mac laptop for him. First to an Apple reseller two blocks away from the hostel. Unfortunately they only had ones with AZERTY keyboads, for quite a bit more money than MacMall even when the VAT refund was figured in. We headed down one stop past Gare du Midi on the Metro to a used computer retailer but almost all of his Mac stock was G4s, also with AZERTY.
We walked around the nearby open air market for a bit and Ken bought a pair of €10 jeans to replace his rather threadbare pair. We sat down at a corner cafe for a last meal of Trappist ales and burgers. The burgers were excellent -- the meat mix reminded me of my recipe, and definitely had garlic, onion, and cayenne pepper. We parted ways after lunch so I could get tothe train station and Ken could get to the embassy.
After getting directions to the Gare du Midi (South Station) in Brussels from a pair of attractiveyoung women on a strret corner, I hightailed it to the station knowing that I could only make so many wrong turns before I'd be late for the train. I madeiton time, but it took a bit of walking around in the station to find the ticket machines for Thalys. I made it up to the platform right when the train arrived, and hopped in the first class coach as my discount ticket reserved a seat for me there. My seat was taken by someone else when I got there, but I didn't want to cause a fuss, especially with the language barrier, so I took the first empty seat I could find, then the second one when I got kicked out of the first, then the third one when I got kicked out of the second. Serendipitously, the third seat had a table, though the other three young men around it knew no or very little English.
Still full from the bar burgers, I declined the meal but accepted a Coke. I'm actually going to miss soda over here -- it is all made with cane sugar instead of HFCS. While all of this was going on, three men in suits were standing behind the lunch server, and they all perked up when they heard me speak English to her. The one in front introduced himself to me as Sung-Woong Kang from YTN, a Korean analogue to CNN. He asked me a few questions about my use of Wi-Fi on the train. I said that I was familiar with the difficult problems of keeping a connection going in a moving environment from my grad studies, and I was glad I didn't have to worry about that part of it while I was using it; also I was using the Internet to book lodging at my destination while traveling there, something that I thought was a great use of the tech.
When I arrived at Paris, I realized that the map contained in my hostel guide did not extend all the way to the street my hostel was on. However, I knew the genral direction to go and what to look for, so I knew that getting there was just a matter of orienting myself properly. Since it was overcast at the time, I misjudged the location of the sun and made a big loop to Gare du Est (East Station) before actually getting on the right way. Paris... is... HUGE. I walked for two hours today but I'm still in the same corner of the map that I started in. Somehow I found a 1.25L bottle of sparkling water for €0.50 at a grocery store, a grand deal when you consider that the bar on the ground floor of the hostel makes weak mixed drinks for €5 during happy hour and a poor man's black velvet costs €6 (prices include "service charge", i.e. mandatory tip).
Took a rest when I got here to the hostel. This is the first of three hostels where I don't have a top bunk. In fact, there are no bunk beds: we're all on really low to the floor beds with loose slats that I keep causing to pop out.
I went to the hostel bar after this respite and ordered the aforementioned poor man's black velvet when I saw that they had both Guinness and cider on tap. Sat down with my beer & laptop next to a redhead from Chicago named Lindsay. Somehow I pulled out of my ass an uncharacteristically confident "Hey, do you mind if I join you?" I ended up eating the rest of her dip plate wherein she got taraba instead of guacamole -- I misidentified it as salmon spread and she's a veg -- and got tapenade which she thought was supposed to bethe guacamole. The tapenade was tasty but full of pits, the taraba too fishy. I haven't left the bar except for a quick outing to take pictures of the bridge. Just about to eat a croque monsieur and finish thispint of vastly-inferior-to-everything-Belgian beer.
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| Day 7: How about I buy you a drink today, and you buy me a drink tomorrow? |
[29 Aug 2009|03:23am] |
Had a good night's sleep in the hostel bed. Since I had found a nearby laundromat while scoutingthe area yesterday, I reserved a portionn of today for doing laundry. Matt & Cam got up at abput the same time I did with a mission of sights, chocolae, and beer, and went off to execute on their plans. Meanwhile, Ken and I returned to Le Drink for morning beverages, eventually ordering lunch since we stayed so long. I had Toast Mediterenéen (€6) which was ham, tomato, mozzarella, and oregano on toast.
Like clockwork, every 20 minutes a kid of about 10 would come up to our table and ask for money. Ken was quick to invent new ways of telling them to get stuffed. A local couple at the table next to us explained that they are tasked to do this by their fathers and are all Romanians -- I wonder if he meant to say Rromany (gypsies).
Mid-afternoon rolled around and I took my dirty-clothes-laden pack to thde laundromat. Despite there being no private corner of the laundromat -- the walls at each end had large picture windows -- since nobody else was there initially I got as secluded as I could and dropped trou to exchange my jeans for shorts. When my laundry cycles were finished, though, there were half a dozon people sitting around and I instead walked back out to he street with the unenviable fashion statement of a red polo shirt, blue athletic shorts, and brown shoes.
When I returned, Ken was sitting on a bench outside the hostel, chatting up a tall, slender Canadian named Calais. Ken was about to leave to go off to the Alps, so I offered to fund dinner for the somewhat impoverished traveler Calais, when an appropriate dinner hour aproached. I wished Ken well after he collected his baggage, including a massive backpack containing his paraglider and his clothing.
After a short hydration break, I went on a little tourist's excusrion, not for all the big stuff necessarily, but I walked around the skyscraper blocks to get some pictures ofthem and of the sculptures between them. I then heaed the opposite direction because there was a park on the map called Place de Jeu de Balls, and I was curoius to see if it was a big sand pit where old men gathered to play jeu de boules or pétanque. Walking though miles of ghetto and finding some murals along the way, I was somewhat disappointed that my destination was just a plaza of brickwork with a tiny statue in the center. The statue itself was neat, though.
On my way back, I found a skatepark at the point where the trains go underground, and tried to cross the language barrier enough to give a kid a sticker to mug for the camera. I walked back past the Mannekin Pis (possibly the most inexplicable tourist attraction in Europe) and through Grand Place during the day for different views.
Returning to the hostel, I went to the break room and saw Calais there eating tomato soup. She stated disinterest in beer and implied disinterest in being in my company on the town overall. Not long after, I heard Ken's voice at reception and walked over to find him there when he was supposed to be on a train to Germany. He never got on the train because his bag containing his passport, tickets, laptop, and journal was stolen at the train station when an accomplice of the thief approached him to bum a cigarette. This prompted him to quit smoking effective immediately.
We headed back to Le Drink to have a few beers; through context we figured out that the waitress who has been serving us every time we were here knows more English than she's letting on. As Ken is ranting about theill effects of smoking, we notice a guy sitting alone at another table listening to our conversation. We invite him to our table, and discover that he is not just a local but an interesting person overall. Bilul (his name) is from Brussels but ethnically Moroccan. He speaks Arabic, English, French, Flemish, and I think Spanish but my meory is hazy on the last one. He has a degree in hotel management but is basically a bartender in his current position.
Trying to keep Ken's mind off of nicotine, the three of us went back to Grand Place in search of Calais and her friend. We didn't find her but we got to see the light show again -- Bilul said that he has seen a different show in the past, and this is the first time he's seen this one -- then go get kebabs from one of the kebab places on every block. Bilul explained to us that the prevalence of beggars (and they are everywhere) is because immigration is not strongly enforced in Belgium. Plenty of the people in Brussels are there without papers.
Finally we hit a bar on a nice square full of places with sidewalk tables. I found an open access point and booked my ticket to Paris on Thalys while people with no English skills are asking me about my laptop. Fortunately I met Quentin, a bilingual guy with a guitar stapped to his back, who was able to interpret for me. The bar closed soon thereafter and we all headed off to our respective beds.
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| Day 6: These people seem like they're waiting for something |
[26 Aug 2009|06:31pm] |
11:45am
Nearing Brussels on the train. I cut my left index finger while fishing for the last €10 I owed the B&B and their walking tour book in my bag. Writing is now difficult. For some reason this trip is making me bleed a lot.
Hada nice breakfast but got a bout of turistas right as I was finishing. Glad Ipacked some Imodium tablets, but if they work as usual I won't shit for 2 days or more.
This morning it was raining in Bruges, less than ideal weatherto walk to the train station. I was trying to navigate the most direct route but ended up touring the yacht club and RV park instead. Trains from Brussels to Bruges depart twice per hour, and the train ride takes just over an hour if your Brussels stop is the south station (Zuid/Midi), so you're never really far away between the two. I'll getoff at the central station because I don't know where it is I'm going yet. I need to get a map to find Emile Jacqmainlaan.
11:54pm
After buying a map at a souvenir shop (€3.50) I wasable to find and book two nights at 2GO4. I was exhausted so I took a restin my room for a bit. Met three of my roommates on first entry: Martin from somewhere Francophonic; Nicole from New York; and Ken from San Francisco. Ken and I talked a bit about software and alternative currencies, and he showed me coins made from recycled silver that were backed by carbon credits. He had to leave shortly thereafter to meet a former banker and discuss his plans to create currency marketsthat were not backed by governments.
I decided to scope the area and find a snack. This neighborhood is an interesting mix -- there's an up;scale outdoor mall two blocksover from the hostel, butbwetween here and there is a block of strip clubs and sex shops. Every block has at least one kebab shack, and sidewalk cafes are plentiful.
After a quick rest when I returned to my hostel room, I decided to go have a beer atLe Drink, a place nextto the local cinema where Malheur is the flagship beer. I left a note for Ken to find me at the there and also askedthe cute French Canadian girl who was standing in line behind me at checkin to join me when she was done eating. He showed up; she didn't. It became apparent when I went to orer the beer that I was really out of Anglophoneland. Any words of French I know now aregoing to be very helpful.
Ken and I decided to foragefor dinner. afterbeer and some conversation, and that's when we came across a nice Italian place not far from Grand Place where the waitress spoke no English at all. With belabored french we got what we expected; for me ut was osso buco Marseillaise. (€15) I had one moment of awesome when Ken's gesture of shaking a bottle over his pizzafailed to effect recognition but I knew to ask for "sauce piquant."
Attthis time we met up with Matt and Cam, the remaining twoof my roommates. Matt and Cam are Canadian, both originally from Vancouver, though Cam lives in Calgary now. The four of us headed to Grand Place when our dinner wasover, andfound it to be unexpectedly busy for 10:45 at night. As soon as 11pm hit, though, we discovered the reason for the crowds: a light show and music draped the state house for 10 minutes, and I captured a video of it.
We parted company and I attempted to find Sherlock's, a place that was reported on theInternet to be a karaoke bar near grand place. It was gone; only the sign and a graffiti-covered, boarded-up storefront remained. Headed to bed, citing the lateness.
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| Day 5: Curried ketchup (a local favorite) |
[26 Aug 2009|05:56pm] |
Had set my alarm for 7:30 and rolled out of bed just before 8. After a failed attempt to book a hostel in Brussels due to my computer locking up, I determined that I could not wait any longer, and went down to the ground floor for breakfast. Jean-Pierre, the proprietor of Het Wit Beertje B&B, is a kindly old man and soft spoken. The bottom floor of his B&B is a gift shop of sorts, selling all manner of trinkets and housewares.
I had a fantastic breakfast of nutty whole grain bread, butter from an abbey, some sort of speckled deli meat, fruit gel, stewed plums, orange juice, tea, and two cheeses. There was also a large roll, a pastry, and cereal and yogurt either laid out in front of me or available from a separate table. I bought a hand-made greeting card for Christian & Renita's wedding (€2.50), and Jean-Pierre informed me that the DeCrop, where I will be staying tonight, is a good place. We said our goodbyes and I walked some 2km to check in at DeCrop B&B on Colletijnhof.
Jaak DeCrop, proprietor of DeCrop, showed me all the highlights to see today by penning them on a map, and lent me a book of Bruges walking tours. Colletijnhof is one of the entrances to Minnewaterpark which, as explained by Jaak, is known as Bruges' lovers' park. Both Colletijnhof and Minnewater are serene places, off the beaten path except for being near one of the southern gates of the city.
I walked the inner and outer Eastern perimeter of Bruges and snapped some pictures of the old windmills. Sadly, the blades of the windmills are tethered so as to not turn. I walked back through town from a northerly gate, and found myself at Jan Van Eyckplein, with the famous statue of the famous painter. Then I traipsed around town looking for cold beverages and Marlene's chocolate shop. Along the way met Keith from Melbourne after he greeted me in English on a side street. Keith was in Boston for six weeks this year and said positive things about it.
A little covered alleyway/hallway that extends off one corner of Burg turned out to be the location of the chocolatier Marlene, or Emenem as she calls herself. I listened to her tell her story of creating her chocolates and describe her collection and the passion she puts in to it. She is fiercely passionate about her work and her voice resonates with it. I bought a 500g assortment of her finest artisinal chocolates (€21.25) to ship back home. The orange/fleur-de-sel and the 78% dark truffle are worth noting here.
Now I'm in Mamma & Co., a modern cafe with cheap lunch (€3 pizza), and I'm thinking ahead to finding a WiFi hotspot, maybe buying some Belgian lace, finding the post office, and getting frites.
[Late]
Checked outsome of the lace shops near Begijnhof as well as the interior of Begijnhof itself No pictures there, as they have signs everywhere which symbolically say "no cameras" though the captions below them state that taking professional pictures requires aprior meeting with the head of the Order. My quest to get a good deal on lace came to an end a little later when I found a place in a narrow side street with a €5 clearance basket outside. These were nontrivial discounts, too. The original street values were up to €19.
With lace and chocolate in tow I found the Bruges post office with some effort, because Erik from Lokkedize had marked the wrong location on my map, and I was wandering sidestreets around a cathedral when I really just needed to go to Markt. I was able to find this out before closing, and got to the post office with time to spare. The post office on Markt smartly has a packing supply store right inside, so I bought a medium shipping box and some bubble wrap and addressed the box to ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) dontcallmemolly. Then I wasn't sure if I had to fill out another form; the US post office has little forms for just about every type of mail service they perform, and they're often required. But when my numberwas called, I found out that nonesuch was necessary, and airmail would only cost me about €12. Good deal, though I had to pay in casgh because the Belgian postal service only accepts Belgian Maestro cards. After leaving the post office I sat down on Markt and found an open AP, so I was able to lookm up whether Bruges had any internet cafes.
After stopping for a small frites with curried ketchup, described as a local favorite on the map I had gotten the first day, I found probably the world's only Internet cafe in a 14th century hospital. Rented a computer capable of running Webex so I could get in on my company conference call. I could not get the sound to work, though, until 20 minutes in when I discovered that the Thinkpads at the cafe had volume buttons just above the keyboard that directly manipulated the sound output irrespective of the volume settings in Windows. Everyone got a good laugh when I asked John to sum up the first 15 minutes becaused I missed it. John will hopefully be sending a status update email, since I had to deny Oanh's requests to call my phone (not reading SIMs) or Skype me later (computer not powerful enough).
Earlier this morning, Jaak had recommendeddinner at Salade Folle, so I thought I'd try it. As the name implies, the menu is mainly made up of salads. I ordered a serrano ham salad, but the size of it, coupled with the bloatedness I was feeling, meant that I had to call it quits after eating only half. Struck up conversation with two couples from North England at the table next to mine after I overheard one of the women mention her vegetarianism. At first they thought I was Canadian; I took that as a compliment.
I walked back to 't Zand for a bit more free Internet, but unlike last night, the lights and the fountain were off. It was getting chilly so I headed back to DeCrop. On the way, though, a van pulled up next to me and asked wheretheycould find parking. They didn't understand English but it turned out that Spanish was one of their native languages, so I was able to give them directions since I still remembered that part of my Spanish education (izquierda/derecho/derecha). That was the end of the fun for the day, though Minnewater Park and Colletijnhof feel equally placid at night as they do in the day.
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| Day 4: Even my blisters have blisters |
[24 Aug 2009|11:22pm] |
Ended last night talking to a Portuguese Web developer. Got back to my room to discover that I had five new roommates. The two who were there were Italian, but we didn't converse much more; their English wasn't good. Changed the dressing on my finger and got a shower, then hit the hay and actually got some sleep.
10:07am
Woke up at 8, packed up, got info from the Web about my travel and lodging. Hoofed it to Centraal Station, arrived atabout 9:45. From there I was essentially lost. I walked to one end of the station where therewas a ticket desk. I showed the clerk my reservation info and he said "You have to go to the international desk. Walk out of here, turn right, and it's at the other end." So I got my ticket but it did not specify at all track or time. The one clue was a line in the lower row that read "VIA [1184]*ROOSENDAAL(FR)[1088]******" There were trains to Roosendaal listed in the posted timetables, but I didn't know where to go from there. So I went to Information and the desk clerk punched some data into his Blackberry and wrote me an itinerary that had nothing to do with what was on the ticket. He explained that I had four minutes to get on the first train, which changed to three minutes after I thanked him. So now I'm riding a train to Hertoegenbosch, where I'll pick one up to Antwerp, where I'll have to ask again where to go.
3:35pm
Found my way toBrugesas if by a miracle. I knew that I would be late arriving at the B&B once I got to Antwerp and reviewed the timetables, but I couldnot find a pay phone anywhere in the train station. Hopped aboard the train which listed Bruges as a call, but forgot to ask whether I was supposed to change trains on the way -- fortunately the answer turned out to be no, though I only asked around right before arriving at Bruges. At the beginnning of this train trip, I asked several people if I could use their mobile phones, to announce my lateness to the B&B, but did not get a positive response. Once I got to Bruges, it was 3:15 and my reservation was for 2:00, so I hopped in a cab to get to the B&B as quickly as possible, rather than just walk like I wanted to, and got ripped off by the cabbie to the tune of €12 for one mile. The owner of another B&B down the street, Magda, said that it shouldn't be any more than €8-10. I met Magda because she had been waiting for a guest of her own, scheduled for 1:00, and got her hoped up when she saw the taxi pull up on the street. This house is a five minute walk from the old city.
It's a gorgeous day. It's warm and the sun is bright. All in all it was a fantastic day to take the train. Benelux is beautiful when you get out of the cities; though flat, it is full of trees and pastures and cornfields, even the occasional windmill or modern wind farm.
7:50pm
Have been walking around since just past 4, when I had paid for my room and gotten the key to get on the WiFi. Seen many of the side streets, and some of the big bar/restaurant/retail drags. Using the map that was provided to me at the B&B, I found my way to a few of the parks. They all feel secluded and cozy, and quite serene.
Met a few locals who were having a street party on Rodestraat, and drank what is most likely the cheapest beer I will find in Bruges, at €1.40 per draft. I was looking for a bar called 't Risico, said by my map to be a chill spot to hang out, but apparently this bar is no more. One local to this street, named Agnes ("ahn-hyess"), was willing to converse in English for the combined cost of a beer and a promise to not talk too fast. Agnes was born in Rwanda but has lived in Bruges for a long time. All the locals were surprised when I told them that I had walked all the way to the east side of Bruges from being lodged outside of the west gate.
11:00pm
Had a pretty good moussaka at Lokkedize, a little out of the way place not far from 't Zand. The owner, Erik, showed me an available room he had in the back and pointed out to me the locations of the post offices and where I could find the best chocolates in all of Bruges. This shop, run by a woman by the name of Marlene, has two countersof chocolate in her shop, one regular and one artisinal.
Leaving Lokkedize, I heard a blaring beat coming from blocks away. Turns out that there was a mobile stage set up at the bars on 't Zand and a DJ set was going on in full swing. I sat down, had a beer, and found an open WiFi access point with which I signed on to Facebook to torment my friends with the knowledge that I was in Bruges.
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| Day 3: Roy Lichtenstein makes me feel like I'm home |
[23 Aug 2009|02:14am] |
Last night I headed out to Leidseplein and found the biggest party I will ever see. the large open air part of it is a sea of tables under umbrellas with heat lamps in them. Walked the circumference of the area and ended up having a pint of Murphy's (stout; they also have Murphy's Red on tap) at Dan Murphy's Irish Pub, essentially the first bar you come to if you get off the tram and follow the left hand rule. Met a motley bunch of locals, half of whom were emigrants from the British Isles and Czech Republic, when somebody in the group was asking about Chris Elliot while I was sitting right behind her. Got into a lively conversation with an Irish expat about things, leading to some confusion when I started using the word "brogue," which I was surprised to discover means "shoe" in Gaelic (probably spelt "bróag" or something akin) and which the other participant in the conversation was surprised to learn means "Celtic accent" in English. Did finally get some sleep last night after reading some game reviews in the latest issue of GAMES, though fitful and not lasting much past 8:30. All of my roommates checked out this morning.
12:30pm
Decided to stand in the ticket line at the Van Gogh museum to see if anyone around me was conversing in English. No such luck, but the line is moving pretty well even though one of the "All Tickets" lines is closed. I really should have come yesterday, when there were late hours and live entertainment, but I didn't know about that latter feature until this morning. After I got moving this morning I spent more than an hour and a half trying to coordinate travels. Got lodging in Bruges at two different B&Bs on consecutive nights, but axed plans to go to Lisse when I found out that the tulip gardens only bloom in spring.
No photography is allowed in the museum, flash or otherwise, so I brought the sketchbook along in case I decide to sit and draw something. I have a migraine though currently I'm only feeling it at the periphery.
2:40pm
At the museum cafe, after wandering the permanent exhibitions for a while, & having had a spot of lunch (caprese sandwich with pesto, strawberries & whipped cream, Bounty bar) I'm looking toward going downstairs for the current special exhibition. The cafe has a great view of the grassy part of Museumplein, adjacent to the stones and playground park behind the Rijksmuseum. Also in the cafe are NYC/Amsterdam/Moscow/Tokyo clocks informing me that normally I wouldn't be out of bed right now. Even though I am tired, evidenced by my sleepiness when I sat down on the third-floor benches to rest my feet, I don't feel time displaced. Somehow I already think it should be morning when itis morning, and think it should be evening when it is evening -- either that or I'm too exhausted to have a functioning internal clock at all.
I have been finding some peace in the Van Gogh works and those of the other artists in the collection, combatting the stress I'm feeling from the overall experience of this trip. My goal for thee rest of the afternoon is to get the camera and take pictures of stuff. Today, I am a tourist.
Quick Update
The special exhibition has works by Mondrian and Malevitch (the latter being a standout from my art history classes, the former being Mondrian). I have heard tell that the real beauty of Mondrian's works lies in the elimination of brushstrokes and painting artifacts, but these early pieces (from 1920 and 1922) still have them in some quantity. The smoothness is eclisped by a piece by Theo van Doesburg from 1924 which was intended to emulate Mondrian's style. However, based on this material I cannot infer whether Mondrian in 1924 also had this level of skill.
Quick Update
Eva Besnyö's hair looks startlingly like mine (photo by Cas Oorthuys).
Walked out to Vondelpark 4:30ish after collecting my camera and started shooting photos. In the park met Riccardo, Martijn, Robberts, and Sander, four locals. Sander was wearing a Steelers T-shirt and I complimented him on his taste and explained that I was from the city where the Steelers call home. We joked around for a while and Robberts recommended a Surinamese restaurant called Albina's on Albert Cuijpmasict. I saw four guys playing pétanque on Museumplein and was quite amused. Got pictures of the museum facades, the canals, places up Leidsestraat and beyond.
8:00pm
Touring around citycenter. Saw the buskers performing at the main square, the blocks which are saturated with hashhouses, lots of side streets with bars & cafes, and a large Irish pub which has outdoor seating in both the front andthe back. Sitting at one of those sidestreet bars now (De Engelse Reet), watching a Public Works sort of fellow power wash the street with a hose pumped from his van.
8:45 pm
Two young Finnish women sat down next to me. I found out they were Finnish after asking if they were locals, because I still need a place to dine. They stopped here for a cider on their way to the Red Light District. With the waiter's help we figured out our location and their directions. Waiter has recommended a place called Haesje Claes for authentic Dutch food.
11:35pm
Sitting at an Irish pub on Leidseplein again, a different one than last night. This one, Hoopman, is part of a megabar that spans three street addresses (the other wings of this establishment being the Hole In The Wall and Reynder's). The bar staff represent Ireland well.
Dinner at Haesje Claes was amazing! I had a Dutch traditional dish called stomppot. It had a sausage which tasted like Hickory Farms Beef Stick, only about a thousand times better; mashed vegetables on top of sauteed onions with a gravy indentation; beef cubes slow cooked until they were beyond fork tender, again with gravy; and cubed bacon with pickle slices and pickled pearl onions. Dessert was semolina pudding with almonds and brandy-soaked raisins, surrounded with berry sauce, fresh berries, and little mounds of whipped cream topped with miniature gingersnaps. To top it off, I mined the knowledge of the waiter to find out that the "g" in Afflingem (a 900-plus-year-old Belgian brewery) has a sound like you're clearing your throat.
I feel pretty good now, since I've had a few conversations, some quality photo-snapping time, fantastic dinner, and a bit of sightseeing. Ready to turn in when this Guinness turns into an empty glass. All of my previous roommates checked out this morning; won't know if more have checked in until I return.
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| Day 2: Ambition hits the wall |
[22 Aug 2009|01:34am] |
12:45pm
I'm way off the map, when the map is the one provided by the hostel. Yesterday I had found what I confidently concluded to be a long commercial drag. After discussing the OLPC project and both European and American travel with Germans Jan and Johannes this morning, I headed further down the drag than yesterday and started finding shops that sold useful things. I found a digital camera store and got a universal battery charger (€60), then bought lunch at "De Kaaswaag" ("Specialist in Kaas, Noten, Wijn, en Delicatessen"). Got some leverworst and a ridiculously good cheese: Oud Snijdwase, I think it was. Every cheese on the shelf looked good anyway. Most of them were in giant wheels. Kept walking, out of the kaaswaag, until I found a park. Up until a few minutes ago it was teeming with kids and flying soccer balls. Now it's a quaint setting with a few picnicking families and the usual assortment of city park dwellers. There's a fantastic fountain in the center of the park.
This is the real Amsterdam I came to see. Shopkeepers greet me in Dutch here and I still feel weird with either asking them to speak English to me, or greeting them back using unmistakeable English.
The weather is cool today, while the Sun is warm. This is much nicer than yesterday when it was scorching until it rained. It's a gorgeous day overall.
1:20pm
A small group is doing Chinese sword forms on the park grass.
2:45pm
Found a bench outside an apartment building on Gerard Dou Straat. Found an open air market consisting mainly of extended storefronts from the stores on the street. In this way it is much like Portobello market, London, but bigger, denser, and more varied. Found a headset so I can get on the conference call tonight, (€7.50) and a tea/spice/fragrance/kitchenware shop that had dried rose petals for sale. (€1.50) Naturally I picked up a packet. Have been wandering around aimlessly since finding both ends of the market. Am currently rehydrating with 1.5L of Spa Reine water. (€3.50)
I notice a lack of two things; one: convenience stores in the London style, i.e. tiny groceries with an emphasis on ready to eat food and chilled beer; two: the presence of uniformed police officers. I'm starting to get a bit brain-tired from all the Dutch that I'm constantly parsing (shop signs, etc.) and body-tired from walking everywhere.
9:30pm
I managed to lose my key card walking around town. The whole shopping excursion was nearly a bust. My phone won't recognize the SIM i bought to get €0.06/min international calls. The next Sorriso conference call was pushed to Monday, nullifying my need for a headset. At least the battery charger was worthwhile. The rose petals should be too.
I started negotiating the next leg of my trip. I ordered a train ticket to Bruges. I hear that the cleanliness of the online-bookable HI-affiliated hostel is lacking, so I'm seeing about getting a room at a B&B.
Lack of sleep, lack of real relaxation, lack of fun, too much walking, too much BS. I'm starting to feel like I'm not getting much of anything worthwhile out of this trip. Locals at cafes and other places I've been are still hard to talk to. They don't seem interested in conversing even when I start. Free wi-fi is nonexistent everywhere I've been so far. I think I've hit a plateau in the amount of Dutch words and phrases I can roughly interpret. I'm really starting to miss speaking the majority langauge, flushable toilet paper, less confusing road lane schemes, and free parking. Not that I am driving here, but there doesn't seem to be any street on which the corner chipknip (like an ancient version of the digital parking meter) doesn't exist.
Going to get a beer or two somewhere in Leidseplein tonight before I write this place off. Mediocre satay skewers with a loaf of bread at a local cafe for dinner did not help.
In addition to the bodily cuts, my left ear is still recoiling from the altitude adjustment. It feels and sounds like water in the ear.
|
|
| Day 1 Part 2 |
[21 Aug 2009|03:23am] |
8:00pm
Got dinner at a tapas bar. I think nowitmustbe a near-universal thing for tapas bars to not bother to have beer kegs and taps. After all, bottles are good enough for wine. Why not beer?
Ate serrano ham & manchego, plus souvlaki skewers (1 lamb & green pepper, 1 chicken & bacon) with rice that turned out to be a paella of sorts -- it was yellow rice and had mussels and calamari rings. The menus are all in Dutch but I get what "manchegokaas" and "lamsouvlaki" mean. Cognates are great!
The rain came again, 3 or so times, while I was eating at a sidewalk table, but I had the driest spot under the awning so I stayed outdoors.
Had a double cappuccino on the way to dinner but it still may be a struggletostay awake until late tonight. Saw the exterior of the Rijksmuseum; beautiful building, and also the location of the giant "I amsterdam" letters.
My big toes hurt. I anticipate finding blisters on them when I remove my socks. Will needto change the dressing on my finger tomorrow after a shower. Need to ask around about cheap international phone plans, and just buck up and buy one of the "vouchers" to get WiFi here. Can't find a local Starbucks here.
This is the first journal update to be staged on paper. Conserving my laptop battery a bit. Don't know how to charge the camera if not through powered USB.
Bikes rule the road here, and the demarcations between sidewalk, bike lane, road, and tram line are extremely blurred. I keep wandering into the brick bike lanes because they look like the sidewalk and adjoin the road. Bicyclists usually _have_ bells but you're lucky if you get "pardon" in a raised voiceto alert you that you, as a pedestrian, are about to unwittingly cause a collision.
They get away with a lot of shit here that would get American moral guardians' panties in a knot. To my right is a poster promoting the "Ultimate Pub Crawl" and my free guide and map picked up here at the hostel proudly advertises the Red Light District group tour, ostensibly so people traveling alone and get a tour and a look-see safely.
9:45pm
Met Brendan from Toronto at the hostel bar. We discussed city planning and he recommended that I rent a bike during the day. Played Wii bowling with the bar staff. Bought a WiFi access card: €10 for 5 hours.
12:00am
More beer, more bowling, this time with German youth who barely spoke Enjglish at all. Typing up day's journal, time for bed about now.
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| Day 1: Culture Sticker shock |
[21 Aug 2009|01:07am] |
Even with the exchange rate being softened by the collapsing Icelandic economy, ISK300 for 16.9oz of 7up is not a good deal. I got just over ISK2400 for $20 at the bank. Wi-fi isn't free at Keflavik -- not bothering for the 15 minutes I can sit here. With my thirst partially quenched I'm saving the rest of the money so I can eat here during my return flight. It's 7:10AM local so boarding should commence soon.
3:15pm Amsterdam time
Sitting at a sidewalk pub near a canal. Streets are not well marked around here and I don't have a map yet. Waiting for a glass of water and a Delirium Tremens Trippel to quench my thirst. Found my way to Centraal and disembarked but decided not to take the bus (tram, actually) to Vondelpark so I could walk past the tourist traps. Seen the façade of Mme. Tussaud's and other miscellany. Stopped at the T-mobile to inquire about local SIM -- calls to US are €1.25/min. Must keep looking. Geldautomaat (ATM) dispenses two €50 notes when you withdraw 100. I'm looking around and I can't f***ing believe that I'm here. Lots of beautiful women on bicycles.
Sat next to two 18-y/os on the plane from KEF. Aaron is from Ohio and coming here to train for missionary work, after which he will be living on a ship. Kirsten is from around here but was visiting her grandparents in Minneapolis -- she starts college in less than a week. We played as many card games as whose rules we could effectively communicate -- no single game was known by all three of us. Aaron's luggage didn't arrive yet; poor guy didn't even know what address to send it to.
There are 40+ wi-fi APs in range here; three of them are open but the only one that actually connects has a pay scheme. TANSTAAFL, I guess.
5:15pm Amsterdam time
Found hostel. The street it's on seems more like a causeway around the park. Lots of beautiful gardens here. Can't get Wi-fi in my room either. Met one roommate, Peter from San Francisco. He's going all around Europe and has been to Prague and Hungary, among other places. Peter is rolling a huge fattie right now and I'm listening to him talk about the music and the radio stations in Europe.
More of Day 1 as I digitize the paper journal.
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| Day 0: This! This is why we cant have nice things. |
[21 Aug 2009|01:06am] |
Had lobster bisque and a turkey club at Dine Boston at Logan Terminal E, before security, because there was no security line when I arrived. Of course the security line backed up significantly while I was eating, making me wonder if I was going to make the first boarding call. I was fine until the incident wherein I grazed my razor with my finger in the security line and started bleeding everywhere.
So far, before touching down in any foreign country, I've managed to cut my finger badly enough to require EMTs, bleed all over the security line prep counter, get blood on my pants, rip my pants at the pocket, fail security once, spill the top of a stack of cups. Some days I wonder why I'm not confined to a padded cell to curb the risk of self inflicted wounds.
Can't use wi-fi in Boston with my T-mobile account because I have a gifted account and using it there requires a roaming surcharge, which costs almost as much as a day pass.
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| Fly me to the moon |
[09 Mar 2009|04:37pm] |
So I've been thinking lately about getting away, and it turns out that I've just gotten to the point where all the flying I've done in my twenties is finally about to pay off. Two distinct airlines are poised to give me free stuff for loyalty:
USAirways: Right now my USAirways account is set at just over 24,000 miles. The most restrictive free ticket costs 25,000, but I can buy up to this level by spending $30 plus 2.5¢ per mile, about $53 for my current total. However, my first flight to London, back in November, actually qualified for miles in the Star Alliance (USAirways is a member of same) but I didn't see the box to add it in when booking. If I can find the receipts and the boarding pass for that flight, I can get 3000+ more miles in about 45 days, and it should be a good 2 years before there's even a chance that they'll expire.
Southwest: SWA has a sliding window of 24 months. If you have 16 flights (8 round-trips) within that period, then ka-ching, you get an "award." Between 8/2006 and next month, I'll have 13 (factoring in 2 for just having signed up for rapid rewards). I should have had 14, but see a few posts back about how Southwest failed to get me home last Thanksgiving. If I don't have the 16 by the time August rolls around, I forfeit the points that those flights in 2006 were worth. However, I can buy these points for 1500 American Express rewards points each. I have more than enough AmEx points to cover the 4500 that I need. So if I do that, I can book a flight by August to go somewhere.
So this works out to two free plane tickets, one I have to use soon, and one that I have to use when the airline isn't busy. The real question is, where should I go? I've been thinking about going back to Baltimore/DC to see my college friends, but that would be a cheap ticket so I should just buy that one. California and places in the Southwest are possibilities. Florida when my mom and aunts/uncles are at their timeshares are also possible. Suggestions are welcomed.
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| The Steelers Jersey Conversion Kit Project |
[02 Feb 2009|02:29pm] |
Problem: Your team made it to the Super Bowl. You want to pull out all the stops and wear as much team paraphernalia as humanly possible. However, what would normally be the centerpiece of your clothing is a remnant of a forgotten era.
Materials
3 sheets of 8.5x11" paper
2 Sharpie markers
1 pair scissors
Safety pins
From the bottommost recesses of my dusty, unused athletic clothing drawer, I pulled out the source material for the project.
This jersey came into my possession after the 2002 season when Tommy Maddox set a bunch of team passing records but ultimately lost to the Titans in the playoffs on a game-ending field goal. Maddox has become something of a punchline in Pittsburgh football lore, probably undeservedly so, as he was to date the last QB to lead a losing season for the Steelers. Either way, after being injured early in the 2004 season and thereby spearheading Roethlisberger's remarkable rookie season, he has not made a blip on the NFL radar.
Because of the scarcity of Hines Ward jerseys -- Ward just signed a contract all but guaranteeing that he will retire as a Steeler, massively spiking sales of his jerseys -- the mission here is to convert this #8 (Maddox) jersey to a #86 (Ward).
The size of the black field on this jersey makes it easy to add more "printing" to. After one unsuccessful attempt at freehand cutting a 6 the size of the existing 8, subsequent attempts came out much closer to the intended.
This is using most of the length of one sheet of letter-size paper. The second number, for the back, requires a separate sheet. Both of the 6s are shown below, side by side.
Cutting out a name plate takes all 11" of letter paper length to cover "Maddox" on the back. Luckily, I didn't have to cover over "Fuamatu-Ma'afala" which would have required multiple strips taped together. This plate started with the lettering (done in orange as it was the closest shade to Steeler gold on hand) and later had the black filled in. Here's the plate in progress....
and complete.
The final remaining piece is two 6s to go on the shoulders alongside the 8s. This would require more scissor skill to cut out with the same precision as the large 6s, but since the results are less noticeable in their variation, less effort went into these.
In order to minimize creases in the final product, the holes were cut out of the 6s by poking a hole in the middle of the round part with one blade of the scissors, then making a radial and circular cut in succession.
Here's the final kit, ready to be applied to the jersey.
And the results when pinned to the jersey with safety pins.
The large pieces tore by game's end, and the small pieces wouldn't sit flush on the shoulders, but it more or less lasted long enough to have been worthwhile.
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| Your official invitation to Brad's Flavor Country Birthday Bash! |
[06 Jan 2009|07:53pm] |
Brad is turning 29, and he wants to celebrate it with you!
The skivvies (since time and place have been requested):
Date: February 14, 2009
Time: 5PM to whenever, probably 2AM or so.
Place: Flavor Country. 101 Newton St., Marlboro, MA 01752
Host: ME!
The grill in Flavor Country is going to be fired up with hot dogs and sausage and barbecued chicken. There will be cold beer, good food, games, and lots of fun people.
What to bring:
All you really _need_ to bring is yourself. But if you want to help with the party, you can bring one of these things:
* Bring people you know that I know. Despite my best intentions, this invitation isn't going to get to everyone I know. Nobody is explicitly off the invite list. But please declare it so I have an estimated headcount.
* Bring your significant others, even if I don't know them. It's Valentine's Day, ferchrissakes.
* Bring a snack, or beer, or liquor, or mixers.
* Bring a silly random birthday gift.
As this is a Flavor Country party, the standard Flavor Country Party Rules are in effect:
1. Leave your illegal items at home, including certain recently decriminalized substances.
2. All persons under 21 must be clearly marked as such.
3. Do not go into our private bedrooms without prior permission.
4. Please only smoke outside. We have a nice screened in porch for this.
As an additional guideline, the Marlboro winter parking ban is in effect. If you plan on staying past 11, please park in the municipal garage off of Granger Blvd to avoid being ticketed.
If you don't want to cut yourself off early or nominate a designated driver, please make arrangements with Brad for crash space as soon as possible.
Looking forward to seeing you all there!
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| Obligatory milestones post. |
[02 Jan 2009|04:35pm] |
| [ |
music |
| |
Squad-E -- Lost Without You |
] |
Everyone else is doing it, so why can't I?
Notable things about 2008:
Personal life
--------------
-Started eating real food again.
-Gained 40 pounds. This is generally an improvement.
-Rediscovered dating after a ten-year hiatus.
-Significant number of new friends.
Location
--------
-Moved away from family on a permanent basis for the first time ever.
-Moved into a house after 5+ years of apartments.
-Moved to be closer to my job.
(These were all covered in the same move)
Travel
------
-Saw two new time zones (Pacific and Greenwich).
-Spent time on a different continent for the first time ever.
-Spent time in a place that does not border or reside within the U.S.
-Vowed to stop taking public transportation to Cape May during family vacation.
-Formed an ad hoc traveler's cabal in order to actually make it home after Thanksgiving.
-Saw sunlight at 9:30pm, and darkness at 3:30pm.
Wealth
------
-Joined a credit union.
-Bought a new car after three-plus weeks of research.
-Made more money than I did between 1993 and 2006 (total).
-Talked to a financial planner for the first time.
-Actually had a 401(k) to shrink with the market instability.
Career
------
-Worked a steady job for an entire year; subsequently for a whole calendar year.
-Went on my first business trip; subsequently three more.
-Received my first ever performance bonus.
-Created a Tree widget implementation in the Persona engine from scratch.
-Mastered XSLT for creating HTML layouts.
Food
----
-Discovered falafel, Branston pickle, aerated Cadbury chocolate bars, pasties, Chambord margaritas, potato farls, bacon chocolate, espresso-grind rooibos, Tazo lemon yerba mate, Trader Joe's fire-roasted tomato salsa, and more things too numberous to remember.
-Invented Lemonhead candy shooters with Dr. Gonzo's Buffalo Balm
-Made at least three pies: two apple, one pecan caramel, all with hand-made crust.
-Successfully mulled a rosé wine.
-Got two superior quality knives: a cleaver and a santoku.
-Did more shopping at farmstands during the summer and fall. Bought zucchini -- made zucchini parmesan. Picked my own apples for apple pie, eating whole, and soaking in mulled wine.
-Went to a barbecue competition and ate myself silly.
Games
-----
-Finished Katamari Damacy, Sonic Adventure DX, Story mode in Super Smash Brothers Brawl.
-Mastered the fifth fret button in Guitar Hero.
-Got all the gold trophies in Mario Kart Wii.
Misc.
-----
-First speeding ticket.
-Sang more karaoke than any previous year
-Operated a vendor table at a festival.
-Spent my birthday dressed to the nines.
-Caught the flu early in the year, had a fever for a week.
-Evangelized the OLPC project by taking my XO laptop traveling with me.
Prescriptions for the upcoming year (I don't make resolutions)
--------------------------------------------------------------
-Find a form of exercise that you actually find fun. Try regular walking and mixed martial arts training.
-Get back on the bike.
-Get lost (i.e. find your way around more places in Massachusetts)
-Spend more time in Boston discovering its hidden gems.
-Go to the beach more often
-Take more day trips
-Continue to be fun.
-Do a creative project.
-Do a short film and a Channel 101 pilot.
-Decorate my walls.
-Organize my room such that I can sit at my desk.
-Put more effort/gusto/fortitude into networking.
-Make an honest effort to improve my career.
-Buy a new laptop.
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|
[05 Dec 2008|11:00pm] |
| [ |
mood |
| |
 ditzy |
] |
| [ |
music |
| |
R. Stevie Moore -- Let's |
] |
So as many of you know, my journey home from Pittsburgh, where I had been staying this past weekend for Thanksgiving dinner with my family and my high school reunion, took over 15 hours. According to the original schedule, traveling this route on this particular day should have taken eight hours door to door: one hour travel across Pittsburgh, two hours pre-boarding, four hours a combination of flight and stopover in Philadelphia, and one hour back to somewhere in Massachusetts. I should have been home just before midnight, plenty of time to drop my baggage and get some shut-eye before work the next day. So why did I get home at 6AM with just enough time to sleep half a night and stagger into work ridiculously late instead? Let's examine the conditions that led to this debacle.
3:30pm
Packed up and ready to go, we piled in the car with Dad driving and Mom riding shotgun, destination airport. It was about five minutes into our journey, just getting on 28 south,1 when Mom made the surprisingly accurate recommendation that I should check to see whether my flight would be on time. So I pulled out my trusty ACE2 and pointed Opera Mini to the Southwest website to check the time for the first leg of my trip. At first I thought that I wasn't reading the table correctly, but my tabular data parsing abilities were not in error; my 6:35 flight out of Pittsburgh had been pushed back to 10:30, arriving in Philadelphia minutes after the 12:20am departure of my also-pushed-back flight out to Providence. The revelation of this delay so disturbed my parents that Dad immediately pulled off to the shoulder of the highway and idled while I called Southwest customer support for travel recommendations. Fortunately, the representative informed me that the connecting flight would be held for me if I announced to the gate staff that I needed to make the connection. Placated, we continued on our crosstown trek.
4:15pm
Nearing the airport while riding on the Parkway West, I made a recheck of the flight times, and was immensely put off to find that, while the flight from Pittsburgh hadn't changed its departure time, the flight from Philadelphia to Providence was now scheduled for 11:15pm. This would make connecting impossible, but since we were so near the airport, it did not make sense to simply turn back and try to reschedule. Here, at least, we could get some answers.
4:30pm
Standing in line at the Southwest ticket counter, we were treated to an advance showing of what our turn at the counter would be like, as other travelers with Providence as their destination were told to wait an hour until a consensus had been reached regarding whether the connection in Philadelphia could be made. Sure enough, we were given the same spiel when our turn arrived. I was willing to wait it out, so we adjourned and took the nearest escalator down to the City of Bridges Cafe, where Yuengling Traditional Lager was being served and the Steeler game was on all the TVs. Finding seats at the bar, I sated myself with both while Mom and Dad were content with the game and Cokes. In hopes that I could monitor flight times while sitting at the bar, I pulled my XO-1 laptop3 and connected to FlyPittsburgh, the free Wi-Fi service provided by the airport. Unfortunately, the routing on the access point side would not cooperate and all websites were inaccessible.
5pm
Continuing a recent chain of what the Robot Devil calls "Stupid hands," I knocked my beer glass over and broke it. The barmaids were exceedingly nice about it, and cleaned up the mess without grumbling. Meanwhile, my trusty OLPC continued to be denied Internet service. From my phone, I Tweeted, "it's looking like I won't get home tonight"
5:20pm
The Steelers had just capped a drive down the field with a touchdown at 2:00 left in the first half. Despite the New England Patriots' known proficiency with the two-minute offense, we decided that it was the appropriate time to go back to the ticket counter. A quick trip back up the escalators later, we were greeted with news that the connection to Providence could be made. I checked my large duffel bag, received my claim ticket, and hugged Mom and Dad good-bye, left with the assurance that if things went sour again, I could call and be picked up at the airport to try again the next day.
5:25pm
While in the line to go through security, I could see a TV in the City of Bridges at quite an oblique angle. I wondered aloud "How did the Patriots get to where they can be taking shots at the end zone already?"
5:45pm
Safely arrived at my departure gate A1, I moved immediately across the terminal's width to T.G.I. Friday's, the closest location wherein I could continue my consumption of beer and football. The OLPC continued to be denied Internet access. I proceeded to scarf down an order of mozzarella sticks, a bacon cheeseburger with pretty decent fries, two more Yuenglings, and an approximation of Irish Coffee (with coffee liqueur but no actual coffee).
7:30pm
The Steelers defense was in fine form, causing some six turnovers and leaving a bar full of happy and satisfied patrons by game's end. I paid my tab and went back across the width of the terminal to Gate A1. Finding a section of floor near the unused handicap-level workstation table, I plugged in my phone and my XO. With the XO still having trouble getting anything from FlyPittsburgh, I did what little I could with Facebook while it crashed my phone's browser every third page load. Facebook is the browser killer when you're not on a desktop, and sometimes even when you are. At 7:24, I Tweeted, "now it's looking like I will get home tonight, albeit late. Late, I say!"
9:30pm
Having moved to the comfy leather seats next to power sockets, I performed my second impromptu XO demonstration of the weekend, showing off the unique features and commenting on the wireless capabilities and mostly-sealed shell.
10:00pm
Boarding commenced. Having gotten my boarding passes printed by Mom the previous day, I was placed in the A-30s, a cake position for getting a seat near the door in order to make my connection quickly. About 12 rows back, I found an aisle seat next to a cute blonde in the window seat. She was, unfortunately, not continuing to Providence with me.
10:20pm
I called Mom to let her know that I was going to make it after all. This proved to be foolishly forward-looking, though, as events turned tide against my favor almost immediately after.
10:40pm
After not closing the cabin door far beyond the time that would be considered normal for a 10:35 departure, the flight crew announced the further delay of the very plane on which I was seated. This delay would prevent any Providence connections from being made, since by the time we landed in Philadelphia, the flight crew on the Providence flight would have fun afoul of FAA exhaustion regulations. The following options were presented to those of us needing to make a connection.
1. Return the next day for a 9:00pm flight. This was the first flight that could put us on the way to Providence, while not being completely booked.
2. Collect a refund for the flight without rescheduling; buy a ticket from JetBlue for their 1:00am flight to Boston. That would then be the end result; I would be in Boston, arriving when not even the T was running.
Both options, to be frank, sucked. When they asked who would need to deplane and have their bags extracted from cargo, I was first to announce my name, grab my carry-on bag, and exit the plane at double speed on a beeline for the gate counter.
10:45pm
It was at this time that I met Ashley, Lindsey, and Kerry4. The three of them, yours truly, and a fifth person made up one group interested in shipping off to Boston and securing a rental car there. It was only because of a quick discussion on the topic of rental cars that I elected to shoot for Boston instead of packing it up and pulling Dad out of bed to take me back to Rural Ridge for another night. The remaining four people taking this course, which ended up operating completely independently of our own, were the two sets of fiancees who were ahead of me in the ticket counter line at 4:30.
11:15pm
Lindsey and Kerry were the first two to get their refund vouchers. I got mine and quickly walked toward Terminal C just so that I could keep them within my line of vision. I wanted to believe that it was not all some elaborate mirage brought about by fatigue, and also I wanted to keep track of where they sat down to better coordinate later.
Mysterious Fifth Guy never made it to the JetBlue gate; we surmised later that he must have booked on the 9pm flight instead. Fortunately, after a delay, Ashley and her rental car reservation did. She had changed the location of her reservation to Logan Airport over the phone, which at this point pretty much meant that we had a sure path back to Providence and our cars parked at the T.F. Green economy lot.
12:00 midnight
Around this time I went over to where Ashley had seated herself, to check on her mood, and made a declaration that I refused to be angry because it wouldn't serve any purpose. Then we shared a few of my spice chocolates which I had picked up in the Strip, while I listened to her tales of how her career had taken her around the country.
12:40am
Boarding commenced for a second time for me. At the start of boarding, I hopped over to the donation box and paid the recommended $1 for a pair of headphones, as my usual pair was still in a state of disrepair. I was nearer the front, row 12 or 13, so it took me a good ten minutes to get on the plane. But I found my seat and buckled in.
12:52am
I Tweeted, "Who's ready to actually fly on a plane? I am!" And I certainly meant it.
1:15am
I settled into an hour and a half or so of Adult Swim. This is one way in which flying overland is nicer than going trans-Atlantic: live DirecTV feed instead of loops of the same content hosted on the plane itself.
3:00am
Departing the plane, we all made beelines to the baggage claim, not really bothering to regroup right off the plane as we'd almost all be waiting for our bags in the same place. Mine was the first or second one out on the conveyor belt but everyone else in the party had to wait 10 minutes or so. Go figure. There were two or three National shuttles waiting to take us to the car rental counter as soon as we got out of baggage claim, preventing us from needing to wait in the cold. As soon as we all boarded one, it departed.
3:15am
Ashley checked in for her rental at an electronic kiosk. The instructions boiled down tothe following: - Go to the "Emerald Isle" section of the lot
- Pick any vehicle there
- Hand the tag to the gate attendant
- Drive on
So we found a big ol' Dodge SUV with enough room in the back for all of our bags, packed up, and exited the rental car lot with Ashley drivign and me riding shotgun.
4:40am
We made it! Ashley dropped the three of us off, I got her phone number, and we hopped on the shuttle to take us to our respective loccations. Due to some prompting from Lindsey, I exclaimed. "Even though we've had some setbacks tonight" -- she chortled at the word "setbacks" -- "Look around you. Even if the bus breaks down, your car is witin walking distance and nothing can stand in your way of getting there and heading home!"
4:45am
A dead battery ended up standing in my way, though. I found the nearest security guard on patrol, tapped on his driver window, and said "Hi, I, uh, need a jump. I left my dome light on." It was at this time that I decided to call Ashley for the first time so as to give her my number. I figured hey, she's not asleep yet.
5:05am
After the maintenance truck came around to jump my battery, I departed. This is the end of my story, really. I got home at 6:05 and got back upat 10 to head to work.
1PA Route 28 is the Allegheny Valley Expressway, for those of you who aren't from here
2a.k.a. the Samsung SPH-i325 cellular telephone
3The small wonder from the One Laptop Per Child project; get yours today at http://www.amazon.com/xo!
4Names have not been changed, but it hardly matters since the transcription of the aforementioned is not entirely accurate to begin with.
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[30 Oct 2008|05:07pm] |
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Freezepop - Parlez-vous Freezepop? |
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I'm archiving this conversation here because I've got a feeling that it will be removed from its original forum in short order. But man do I love calling out liars on their bullshit.
"Kori checkn out MOG and new music I am finding. iTunes is evil!!! buying too much music lately! hehe... gonna go eat some lunch now.via Twitter - 3:44pm - 7 Comments"
Bradley Momberger at 4:32pm October 30
"You should take a break from buying music and go to some sites where they give it away for free (legally, I mean) so you can keep consuming without breaking the piggy bank. OCRemix, Magnatune, SectionZ, myspace, individual band websites... there's lots out there."
Nicholas Gunn at 4:49pm October 30
"Hey Bradley, Nicholas Gunn here from Gemini Sun Records. Once in a while I feel the need to comment on these types of things. There is actually no such thing as "free music" via sites that are legit unless it is a giveaway as an incentive bundled with another product or a subscription based site. You can also stream music for free on MySpace etc, but that is not downloading or buying music! There are no sites that offer free music without the aforementioned - if they say it is free and you have not paid in some way, they are being deceptive! If for any reason you or anyone has access to free music and are taking the opportunity to download it, you are contributing to the decline of the music industry and taking money from the very artists you admire and appreciate!"
Bradley Momberger at 5:05pm October 30
"Nicholas, what you just wrote is not only a whole-cloth fabrication, but insulting to every artist who licenses their music via Creative Commons or puts it up on the web on his or her own site at his or her own cost to give something to fans new and old. Every site I listed in my reply offers downloads of files uploaded exclusively by the artists who have created the tracks, at no cost, with no obligation, no subscription, and no bundling. Artists *can* allow downloads of their own tracks on Myspace music, and yes, downloading is the same as downloading. Thanks to that little tirade of prattle you've just naively copypasted in front of the overeducated consumer that I am, I'll be sure to exclude you from the ever shrinking list of labels that I'll actually trust with my music purchases. Good day!"
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