In Bruges. Literally!

So, this is my second night in Bruges after arriving last night from Amsterdam. I should say that Amsterdam was a lot of fun and I even got to perform improv at Boom Chicago with my friend James Kirkland. It was great! But now, I am in Bruges and nursing a slight cold that has rendered me a little weak. I walked around today, went up to the belfry to get a great view of the place. Had some cherry beer and am drinking a Hoegaarden now. Had a terrible nights sleeop at the Charlie Rocket Hostel. Don't ever stay there. I am at Snuffels right now, about to do my laundry, drink some more Belgian beer and take a little nap before I walk around and drink more beer and maybe eat a pizza or try some french fries. Ah, after this, it's a ferry to Dover and then I could either go north to Scotland, or up into London. We'll see what happens.

Berlin Now

I am staying in the Helter Skelter hostel and I can tell you, it lives up to the name. Rock music so loud it is shaking the beer on this small computer terminal. Oh man, I had 6 great days in Prague and believe it or not, only went into the city, 2 out of the 6 days. The rest were filled on the outskirts in Radotin and Tocnik. Went horseback riding, played Johnny Cash on the guitar for a Czech who was a big fan of old American country/western singers. Had a great time with my old pal Andy and his wife Jana and their 5 year old son Alfie. I will post pics of Prague and of Berlin where I will be for at least 2 nights before I head to either Hamburg or Amsterdam. Prost!

Oktoberfest! Prost!

Wow, what do I include in this Oktoberfest post? I will say it was a lot of fun thanks to some nice girls that I met in one of the beer halls. We went on rides, ate food I couldn`t pronounce and all in all, did some other fun things. I will have to write more later because I am actually going back to the Wiesn right now and also to the Hoffbrauhaus tonight! Prost!

Ljubljana, Slovenia. One day is plenty!

I am at the Hostel Celica, a nice place just on the outskirts of the main part of town. I spent the whole day in this town, went to three galleries/museums, walked through a large festival and slept in the grass at the Tivoli gardens. All in all, I can say I've done a lot here. Not all of it of course. But enough to say I won't ever have to come back to this place and do that one thing they all say I have to do. I did not go to the castle. Shoot me. I walked among the locals and laughed with kids in the park. It is colder than I thought here. Yikes. Okay, no photo this time, I don't have my connection cord for the camera. Oh well, google the word ljubljana and that is where I am. Next time I write, I will be in Munich for Oktoberfest. I am taking the night train here at midnight so I won't have to get a hostel room. Smart, I know. I was lucky enough to share a couchette with three Swedish high-school girls on my way from Zagreb to here, so we'll see how this one goes. Ahoy!

Hvar & Dubrovnik, Croatia

I am in a small internet cafe in Dubrovnik, just after midnight. I can hear the drunkards wail from the small but frequent bars on my busy little side street apartment. It can make going to bed hard. Otherwise, we had a great day today on our fish picnic. We went to the Helaphiti Islands. A small bunch of islands about an hours boat ride away from Dubrovnik. Not much to do on the islands but drink coffee and have old ladies try to sell you lavander and doilies. Seriously. It rained a little but we got to swim in a small bay that was unoccupied. In the summer I bet it is packed. Days before we had some nice times in Hvar hiking up to the castle walls, drinking and dancing at the Kiva Bar and just enjoying the peaceful surroundings. I am heading up to Split tomorrow and from there I will take a train to Munich for Oktoberfest. I will be sure to update the blog as well as add photos when I can. You can see lots more pics on facebook. Find me there or wait here for updates and photos. Oh, we had 'mexican food' tonight and needless to say, I've never had so much corn in my life! I think they think that's what is in mexican food. Some nice pinto beans would've been too much to ask!

Bol, Croatia

Wow! This was our reward for the last few days of some grueling uphill climbs. Bol is a gorgeous place with crystal waters. I have been away from the internet for some time and wish I could write about the other places we have been to. Among them, Plitvice National Park, Split, Krka National Park, Trogir, Shibenik, Skradin, Postira. I will have to save them for when I get home and can gather my thoughts better. So far, we have been having a great trip with awesome weather! Had a rough climb today and yesterday here on the island of Brać. Tomorrow we will go to Hvar and finish the biking then. I wish the tour could last a few more days, if only because now I am getting my cycling legs. This island is known for limestone and some of it was used to build the White House in Washington D.C. The waters are cool and refreshing. Not as warm as in Hawaii but a lot clearer. The bike group is a great bunch of people and we are all getting along great! It is 1am here and I should get to bed because we have to have our bags packed and waiting for the van at 7,45am. I have been eating a lot of gelato, drinking lots of wine and raki and cosuming cheese and bread at an alarming rate. But, I keep telling myself I can work it off on the bike! We will see if I come back to the states as the same shape as when I left. Žvili!

Zagreb! It's like one large high school!

Whew! Had a nice flight from Gatwick to Zagreb. My large backpack was taking a long time being unloaded and I, along with another gent who was missing a bag thought our bags didn't make the flight. I filled out a lost and found form and fretted about not ever seeing my underwear and old swimsuit ever again. But, just as we were leaving, we saw a man taking my bag to the lost and found and we snatched it up before it could say Pozor!!

Zagreb is a nice if mostly flat and spread out city. We are staying one night in the Hotel Dubrovnik. If you're not staying at the Hotel Dubrovnik, you're just sleeping in some strange room for the night. After we checked in, my Mom and I walked to the main cathedrals and said our Hail Mary's and then walked around the town a little. I was struck by how young a majority of the people are here. It's also very sceney. It's like Dig Me Beach everywhere you look. If you are not familiar with that term, ask your dad or nearest older gent. We sat and watched the people, drank some nice Croatian beer and then later ate some pizza with corn on it. Yummm!

For desert we walked around to this gelato place called Millenium. It's good, if not very flat and a bit too creamy gelato. I like a little ice in mine. But that's just me. It's raining as I type, we retired to our room and proceeded to watch some very Croatian television, Pretty Woman and Tommy Boy. Saturday we are headed to Plitvice National Park. A beautiful sight I am told with lots of hiking to do. I can't wait. Here's afew pics of Zagreb to keep you satiated until next time.

London in a Day

London is very manageable by foot. I don't know if you know this or not. The main parts can be reached by walking briskly and foregoing the pedestrian walking signals. Let's see, I woke up and from where I'm staying off of Tavistock Square, I walked down Southampton Row until I got to the River Thames. From there I walked South to Big Ben, Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey. Didn't feel like going inside the Abbey, so I walked thru St. James Park and up to Buckingham Palace. The guards were not changing today, so, I thumbed my nose at that and headed to Saville Row to pick out a suit, which much to my surprise, they didn't have my color. FYI: It's mauve with teal pinstripes. From there I went to the Royal Academy and walked in thru the back entrance and pretended to be a student, that is until a security guard asked me what I was doing and I said I was just following the kid in front of me. Which I was. I then went to the regualr entrance and saw some art from old English Masters. There was some nice work from John Medjeski as well. After that I went to Piccadilly Circus. Not really the circus I was hoping for. Although I did notice a Starbucks or two. After that I walked back to my place of rest off of Tavistock Square and began to read Choke by Chuck Palahniuk. I got 17 pages in until I met up with my Mom. She took a nap and I went back out to check out the Tate Modern Museum and the Globe Theatre. I'll have to go back to both in October to really get a better feel of them. On my way there I walked down Fleet Street and after the Tate I crossed the Millenium Bridge and stopped off at St. Paul's Cathedral. London is great for walking. I took pictures of a lot of junk that I'll be sure to post and that no one will look at but me in 4 months. I guess that's how traveling goes. It's only interesting for the traveller. That is unless you are Leigh Fermor. The greatest travel writer since Homer.

Good day all. Whence next I'll post, I'll be in a waterside town in Croatia.

Europe Anew

It's been almost two years to the date that I'll be returning back to Europe. The last time I went to Greece and Italy for my brother's wedding and this time I'm going on a bike trip in Croatia with my Mom. I'll be on my own for a majority of the trip, but the main reason for going was to spend some time with my Mom. After the trip I'll be going to, among other places: Munich, Prague, Vienna, Budapest, London, Romania, Bulgaria, and Istanbul.

If you've been to any of those places and there are things there you think I should see, please let me know!

Okay, this is just an introductory post to set up the rest of my travels. Oh, I forgot to mention that I'll be taking my ukulele with me to busk on the streets of Europe for money. I don't expect to get rich, but I do expect some interesting times.

Here's to interesting times.

Josh