Category: Travel

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Home, sweet home

I am finally home after what was literally an entire day of traveling.

In Washington I was literally a zombie. A coffee from Starbucks helped, but that last flight seemed longer than my two previous flights combined.

I immediately cheered up when I reached the Dayton International Airport and got to see my mother for the first time in nearly seven weeks. Originally I did not think that being gone only seven weeks would be a big deal. It really wasn’t until the last week when I started thinking about coming home.

Europe was really a life-changing experience for me, but in the end I am glad to be home again. It’s not that I missed the United States of America, but rather that I missed seeing friends and family. If I ever wanted to live in Europe, I would definitely have to bring my friends and family along for the ride.

That may be possible for the next trip. A few years from now my parents will be celebrating their 35th wedding anniversary, and they are already kicking around some ideas about a trip through Europe. (I would have to come along to be the translator and guide naturally.) I’m really excited that they are even considering it. I wouldn’t have to worry about homesickness since I would essentially be traveling with the home.

Wow. It’s late!

Although I am very tired, I have been looking through photos from the trip on my laptop for about the past three hours. Really I need to sleep, but I am just amazed by how great the photos look.

I ended up taking only 1,090 photos. The end total will be much smaller than this because many of the photos will be stitched together to create panoramic photos. There are also a few shots that came out a bit out of focus that won’t make the final set.

It will probably take me a good week to get all of them edited and put up online. I am in the process of putting up a portfolio website that will include the cream of the photos. However, all the photos will be on my Picasa web album account.

Stay posted for an announcement on that sometime next week.

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Waiting

I’m finally back in the states after two flights, but now the long wait begins. Apparently my travel agent thought that I needed nearly six hours between flights. I can understand two hours tops, but six hours?

I took my time getting off the plane and going through Customs and Immigration knowing that I had all day. When I got into the terminal, I saw there was a flight leaving in 3o minutes for Dayton … my destination. I could have made that flight! Oh well, what can I do? Right now what I want to do is sleep. I have been literally traveling all day, and I am very tempted to just go take a nap in front of the gate. After all, I’ve got about five hours.

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Reservations?

I have my train reservations made for Venice and back … finally. I have been putting it off for weeks, which is really sad considering I have been through the train station five times in the past two weeks.

Since I am traveling with a Eurail Pass, I also got it verified at the ticket counter today.

Just my luck, I happened to pick the lady at the ticket counter who was having a case of the “Mondays.” She was not rude, but I could tell that she was not happy about something. Also, she seemed as though she was mad at me for asking for something.

The whole experience rattled my cage a bit since the well-known stereotype for Austrians is friendliness. I definitely did not see that today.

As far as the friendliness stereotype goes, I have not seen it. It’s not that everyone is mean here, but rather that Austrians don’t sing merry songs while skipping to work everyday like the stereotype implies.

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Booked

Today I didn’t have school because it is the Austrian national holiday of Fronleichnam. Although I had been dreading it, I finally sat down and finalized by itinerary.

I ended up switching a couple things around more or less for logical reasons. For example, I decided to go to Berchtesgaden after Venice since I would be going past Berchtesgaden to get to my friends home in Southern Germany.

Also, I added another day to my Berlin visit so that I can see more of the city.

Saturday, June 23: Graz to Venice
Sunday, June 24: Sightseeing in Venice
Monday, June 25: Venice to Berchtesgaden
Tuesday, June 26: Sightseeing in Berchtesgaden
Wednesday, June 27: Berchtesgaden to Kaufbeuren
Thursday, June 28: Visit with friend in Kaufbeuren
Friday, June 29: Kaufbeuren to Leipzig
Saturday, June 30: Sightseeing in Leipzig / Leipzig to Berlin
Sunday, July 1: Sightseeing in Berlin
Monday, July 2: Sightseeing in Berlin
Tuesday, July 3: Fly home from Berlin

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Budddaaa

I am in Budapest … finally. My never-ending journey started at 3:30 a.m. this morning when I got up to get ready to go. My train left at 6:12 a.m., but I had to be at the station at 5:30 a.m. to meet the group.

Twelve of the fifteen students from the Graz program are here. On the train we ended up setting together in second class, but we later had to split up and go to first class. I guess that the second class car was not going all the way to Budapest.

A fellow student and I ended up in a compartment with a few rowdy Hungarian kids.

During the train ride it seemed that the further east that we traveled, the more economically depressed the landscape got. Just before we got to Graz, it looked like a scene from the beginning of “Borat” where he was supposed to be in Kazakhstan. (It was actually Romania.) I have also noticed a lot of U.S.S.R. architecture (blocky, colorless buildings).

The first thing that I noticed in the city is how grungy the buildings look. It looks as though they get a lot of acid rain here each year that destroys the stone buildings. Also, there is graffiti everywhere. I even saw a bus that was “taged.”

Besides Hungary, I am getting my first youth hostel experience. Our hostel is in a building that looks pretty shady, but inside the hostel itself is actually pretty nice. Since we have such a huge group, we have two entire rooms to ourselves.

This evening we are planning to take a river cruise on the Danube followed by a “pub crawl.” It sounds like fun so I am really looking forward to it.

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Stuck in D.C.

Okay, I’m not literally stuck in Washington D.C. My flight has not been cancelled or delayed, but it sure feels like I have been here for eternity.

Right now I am waiting for my 4:20 p.m. flight to Frankfurt, Germany. I have been here (Dulles International Airport) since 11 a.m.

My first flight this morning was at 10:11 a.m. from Dayton, Ohio (a.k.a. Middle of Nowhere International). The flight was only 50 minutes, and now I am basically looking for something to do for another couple hours.

I am very tempted to light up the iPod right now, but I am afraid that if I start too early, I won’t have battery life for the seven-hour flight to Frankfurt.

So far I have hit up a coffee shop, Fuddruckers and a newspaper stand to pick up a copy of today’s New York Times. I am currently squeezed into a very uncomfortable “internet kiosk” thing that is draining my bank account by the second.

Crap, looks as though I have been on this kiosk thing for over 13 minutes now … got to go. The next time I post, I should be in either Germany or Austria.

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Musik!

Wir haben Musik!

Today I finalized my iPod playlist for the trip to Graz. This will be the list for seven and a half weeks since I will not have my computer with me to change it.

Quite frankly, this is kind of scary because I am the type of person who often changes musical tastes. One day I will be jamming non-stop to The Doors, and the next day I will be rocking out to Rammstein.

Since this playlist will have to endure such a long period without changes, I took a longer than usual time to weed out songs that I am constantly skipping over, and add a few that I always manually find by looking up the album or the artist.

Here is my finalized playlist:

“The Road I’m On” – 3 Doors Down
“Loser” – 3 Doors Down
“Hells Bells” – AC/DC
“For Those About To Rock” – AC/DC
“Thunderstruck” – AC/DC
“Sweet Emotion” – Aerosmith
“Walk This Way” – Aerosmith
“Ventura Highway” – America
“Something” – The Beatles
“Octopus’s Garden” – The Beatles
“Here Comes the Sun” – The Beatles
“I Am The Walrus” – The Beatles
“Glass Onion” – The Beatles
“The Continuing Story Of Bungalow Bill” – The Beatles
“While My Guitar Gently Weeps” – The Beatles
“I’m Only Sleeping” – The Beatles
“Drive My Car” – The Beatles
“Girl” – The Beatles
“I’m Looking Through You” – The Beatles
“If I Needed Someone” – The Beatles
“Lovely Rita” – The Beatles
“A Day In The Life” – The Beatles
“Godzilla” – Blue Öyster Cult
“Glycerine” – Bush
“Crossroads” – Cream
“Tales of Brave Ulysses” – Cream
“Swlabr” – Cream
“Strange Brew” – Cream
“I Feel Free” – Cream
“White Room” – Cream
“Ziggy Stardust” – David Bowie
“Misirlou” – Dick Dale
“Yer Blues” – The Dirty Mac
“Light My Fire” – The Doors
“People Are Strange” – The Doors
“Riders On The Storm” – The Doors
“Hello, I Love You” – The Doors
“Layla” – Eric Clapton
“Cocaine” – Eric Clapton
“Wonderful Tonight” – Eric Clapton
“Blues Before Sunrise” – Eric Clapton
“Tears In Heaven” – Eric Clapton
“Times Like These” – Foo Fighters
“Learn To Fly” – Foo Fighters
“The Best I’ve Ever Had” – Gary Allan
“Mad World” – Gary Jules
“While My Guitar Gently Weeps” – George Harrison
“When I Come Around” – Green Day
“Good Riddance” – Green Day
“Sweet Child O’ Mine” – Guns N’ Roses
“November Rain” – Guns N’ Roses
“Don’t Cry” – Guns N’ Roses
“Knockin’ on Heavens Doors” – Guns N’ Roses
“Let Her Cry” – Hootie & The Blowfish
“Summertime” – Janis Joplin
“Look What You’ve Done” – Jet
“Spanish Castle Magic” – Jimi Hendrix
“Purple Haze” – Jimi Hendrix
“Hey Joe” – Jimi Hendrix
“All Along The Watchtower” – Jimi Hendrix
“Little Wing” – Jimi Hendrix
“Angel” – Jimi Hendrix
“Cocaine Blues” – Johnny Cash
“Wheel in the Sky” – Journey
“Carry On My Wayward Son” – Kansas
“You Really Got Me” – The Kinks
“All Day And All Of The Night” – The Kinks
“Lola” – The Kinks
“Where Have All The Good Times Gone” – The Kinks
“Dazed and Confused” – Led Zeppelin
“Whole Lotta Love” – Led Zeppelin
“When The Levee Breaks” – Led Zeppelin
“Stairway To Heaven” – Led Zeppelin
“The Ocean” – Led Zeppelin
“Kashmir” – Led Zeppelin
“In The Evening” – Led Zeppelin
“Ramble On” – Led Zeppelin
“Lonely World” – Limp Bizkit
“No Sex” – Limp Bizkit
“One Step Closer” – Linkin Park
“In The End” – Linkin Park
“A Place For My Head” – Linkin Park
“Papercut [Live] ” – Linkin Park
“Runaway [Live] ” – Linkin Park
“From The Inside [Live] ” – Linkin Park
“Don’t Stay” – Linkin Park
“Krwlng” – Linkin Park
“Free Bird” – Lynyrd Skynyrd
“Sex and Candy” – Marcy Playground
“3 AM” – Matchbox Twenty
“Push” – Matchbox Twenty
“Back 2 Good” – Matchbox Twenty
“Nothing Else Matters” – Metallica
“Wherever I May Roam” – Metallica
“The Unforgiven” – Metallica
“Shout At The Devil” – Mötley Crüe
“Home Sweet Home” – Mötley Crüe
“Afraid”- Mötley Crüe
“99 Luftballons” – Nena
“Savin’ Me” – Nickelback
“Heart Shaped Box” – Nirvana
“Jesus Doesn’t Want Me For A Sunbeam” – Nirvana
“Dumb” – Nirvana
“Plateau” – Nirvana
“Lake Of Fire” – Nirvana
“All Apologies” – Nirvana
“Come As You Are” – Nirvana
“Lithium” – Nirvana
“Rape Me” – Nirvana
“Another Brick In The Wall” – Pink Floyd
“Wish You Were Here” – Pink Floyd
“Message In A Bottle” – The Police
“Level” – The Raconteurs
“Ohne Dich” – Rammstein
“Amerika” – Rammstein
“The Zephyr Song” – Red Hot Chili Peppers
“Scar Tissue” – Red Hot Chili Peppers
“Otherside” – Red Hot Chili Peppers
“Stadium Arcadium” – Red Hot Chili Peppers
“Torture Me” – Red Hot Chili Peppers
“Especially In Michigan” – Red Hot Chili Peppers
“Jumpin’ Jack Flash” – The Rolling Stones
“Fine Again” – Seether
“Broken” – Seether
“Closing Time” – Semisonic
“Outside” – Staind
“Texas Flood” – Stevie Ray Vaughan
“Interstate Love Song” – Stone Temple Pilots
“Come Sail Away” – Styx
“Jumper” – Third Eye Blind
“How’s It Going To Be” – Third Eye Blind
“Fragments” – The Who
“My Generation” – The Who
“Behind Blue Eyes” – The Who
“Who Are You” – The Who

I also added a few YouTube videos to my iPod including:

“Tales of Brave Ulysses” – Cream
“Misirlou” – Dick Dale
“The Star Spangled Banner” – Jimi Hendrix
“Little Wing” – Stevie Ray Vaughan

Finally, I added a few movies to watch during the plane ride in case the in-flight movies suck:

“Das Leben der Anderen” (known as “The Lives of Others” in America)
“Lola Rennt” (known as “Run Lola Run” in America)
“Cars“
“The Good Shepherd“

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Not ready

On Thursday I leave for Graz, and so far I am not ready.

Luggage
I still have boxes of stuff from college that have not yet been unpacked, and I still need to start packing for my trip. Luggage has been my biggest worry thus far. I still have not decided how many pieces of luggage I will be taking. Ideally I want to take only two bags: a backpack and my camera bag. However, it looks as though it will end up being three with an additional suitcase on rollers.

I would much rather not take the suitcase because I will be traveling after the trip, and the additional bag will be a pain to lug around everywhere.

Reservations
I really need to start making reservations for hotels and youth hostiles after the program … but I still have not done that. I am a little uneasy about chiseling my post-program itinerary into stone although I already know I have to make it to Berlin by a certain date to catch a plane home.

Gifts
The most worrying pre-exchange program activity is choosing gifts for the host family. During my last two exchange programs to Japan (Summer 2005) and Germany (Spring 2006) I spent countless hours looking for the perfect gift for the host family.

I always stress out on this because I feel like it should the perfect gift since the host family is putting up with me for an extended period usually at their own expense. I have a few gifts in mind for the family I will be staying with, but now I just need find them before Thursday.