Backpacking Around Europe

June 3, 1995 Saturday

Yesterday we arrived in Malmo hoping to get on the 21:30 train to Berlin but unfortunately it was full so we had to wait for the next train which wasn't till 07:00 in the morning. We didn't have enough Swedish crowns for a youth hostel so we just threw our bags in a locker and wandered around all night. We hung out in McDonald’s, and then a movie theatre waiting for our 24:00 movie to start. We went to see The Legends of the Fall then went back to McDonald’s in an attempt to kill more time. The train station didn't open till 05:30 so we had a total of 12 hrs to kill. God, how boring Malmo is. It’s like being stuck in Parksville on the brink of an exciting vacation. Finally, we got onto our train to Berlin. We slept, or tried to any ways, on the train. Arrived at our friends Udo and Trixie’s place at about 16:30. We had told them that we would be there in the morning. Oh well. When we got there, we didn't do much--just relaxed, I was pretty whacked.

Lana and I went around and did some sightseeing. We saw the Berlin Dom, but only the outside because there was a service going on. We attempted to go to the Altes Museum with the Granite Bowl but we didn't know what kind of museum it was and didn't wish to pay for it. Today and tomorrow a lot of the museums were free because of the long weekend. So we went Museumsinsel (Museum Island). Went to the Museum of German History, that was a quick one because everything was in either German or Russian, like everything in that area. Most of the museums are in East Berlin, so that is where we spent most of our time. You could still see the after effects of the war: buildings were in bad shape, some even still had bullet holes in them. Very few of the locals spoke English, even those in the tourist areas. Lana and I enjoyed wandering around the flea market and food stands--lots of good food--at Alexanderplatz. Then we went back to Udo’s and watched Sisiter Act in German, or at least until Trixie came home and turned off the translater so we could watch it in English. I have discovered that Lana either remembers movies word-for-word or not at all because she just sat there and translated the whole thing.

Today we went to Schloss Charlottenburg, a castle that contains several museums. First we went to the Egyptian Museum and saw the original 3300 year old Queen Nefertiti. It was incredibly beautiful; even now the colours are still so vibrant and alive. Lana traumatized a poor German today when she asked him to take a picture of us in front of a statue, but her flash went off and the security guard came over and started ragging on the poor guy. So he gave the camera back and ran off. He’ll probably never take another picture for a tourist again. Anyways, then we went to the castle and spent quite a bit of time trying to get inside. We wandered the Antikensammlung (Antique Collection), and the Galerie der Romantik. There was an incredibly bitchy woman who didn't speak English but kept telling us where to go. Later that evening, we went to this pub with Udo and Trixie and two of her friends showed up. We had dinner, drinks and played a lot of pool. I won, of course.

Lana and I went over to West Berlin today to do some shopping. There is a huge difference between the East and the West. Everything was so much newer and commercial in West Berlin, whereas East Berlin still looks the same since the ‘40’s, much poorer. There were a lot of interesting stores in the west side. We also saw the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedachtniskirche. This church, even though heavily damaged by the WWII bombing, is still standing. It was a strange and interesting sight: a building with all these holes in it, part of the top missing, windows gone. We had also seen what was left of the Berlin Wall, with all its ugly graffiti, and the Brandenburger Tor.

We arrived in Paris today and got a room in this disgusting hostel. Dumped our bags and headed towards the Eiffel Tower. We went up to the top. What an incredible view; you could see all of Paris. Of all the significant landmarks, the hardest thing to find was Notre Dame. It wasn't till we reached the 2nd floor that we finally found it. It was just so amazing to be able to see everything at that height. Afterwards, we went to see the Opera House but unfortunately it was closing in 1/2 hour so we couldn't see the museum but we got to wander around extensively and look at all the costumes of past performances. They were just stunning; the work that was put into them was incredible. Then we went for dinner and attempted to find a French restaurant that we could afford. How hard could that be, being in Paris and all. Well after an hour of looking we gave up and went for Chinese.

Today we headed to Notre Dame--what an incredible cathedral. The stained glass windows were absolutely amazing. They just painted the floor with colours. We went up the tower and had this incredible view of Paris from a different perspective and I was able to see the gargoyles up close. Then we proceeded to the bell tower to see the 500 year old bell; it was huge. Later that day we went over to the Arc de Triomph and spent some time trying to figure out how to get through the traffic in the roundabout. We weren't willing to take our lives into our hands and dart across the traffic, but then we found an underground tunnel, so it was all good.

The Louvre was our destination today; we knew that would take a whole day to check out so we saved it til’ last. It was insanely huge. I got to see the Mona Lisa among other things; it was quite packed and after 3 hrs of quickly walking through the place even I was tired and ready to leave.

Now we are in Florence. This is the place I've been waiting to see. It was the center of the Renaissance and after taking two years of art history I couldn't wait to get here. Lana and I went to the Cappelle Medici (Medici Chapel); it was really overly ornate--a little too much if you ask me. There were a lot of urns of the members of the Medici family, and you were able to see their ashes and bones along with some pieces of jewelry. Then we headed towards the Duomo and the Basilica next to it with the Gates of Paradise by Ghiberti. I was impressed at how polished it was compared to all the other bronze and copper accessories on buildings. Not green at all. The cathedral was being renovated so there wasn't much to see there unfortunately. Mostly during our stay here we just went to several churches, museums and ate good Italian food.

Lana and I have arrived in Rome. It was apparent we wouldn't be here for long so we took full advantage of the time that we had here. We saw the Colosseum first; it was actually quite eerie. If you stood there and just stared at the arena you could actually hear the cries of the crowd, the screams of the gladiators and slaves, and the roars of the lions and tigers. It was really quite haunting. Then we went to the Forum, which was bigger than we thought because we spent over 4 hrs there. It was really kind of neat walking on the same roads that people like Julius Caesar walked on almost 2,000 years ago.

Vatican City was our destination today. We spent two hours in line and then were packed in like sardines into the museums. It was so crowded that we were barely able to walk around freely; we were just herded like cattle through the halls. Finally, we reached the Sistine Chapel and I got to see the infamous ceiling. It was incredible: so big, so detailed, so high. What a pain it must have been for Michelangelo to paint it. Unfortunately, we never made it to St. Peter's due to the time, I was really looking forward to seeing it.

We are now in Greece and I realize what scoundrels Italians are when I was charged double for my ferry ticket when I should have gotten on for free. Not to mention my wallet being stolen in Rome. I'm just glad to get out of that country. I'm low on funds so I can't stay in Corfu for long but Lana will stay longer. We are so tired of doing the tourist thing that we decided to just relax for the next few days. We hooked up with six Norwegian girls and spent our time with them. Basically, all we did was hang out on the beaches, eat and go to the clubs all night long.

It was time for me to go home to Copenhagen and I only had $8 to do it. It was going to take me 3 1/2 days to do it because I could only take certain trains that I didn't have to pay extra on. It started from Brindisi, Italy where the ferry terminal was. I took a night train to Milano. That was interesting. It was hot, and the train was literally packed with people. There were three guys in the compartment who hadn't had a shower in over three weeks so they were pretty rancid. I arrived in Milano at 06:00 and my next train for Amsterdam didn't leave til 21:30. 15 1/2 hrs in Milano and no money-- that sucks. So I just wandered around with my big bag on my back. From Amsterdam, I left for Berlin to catch a train back to Malmo so that I could catch a ferry to Copenhagen. By then, I was so broke that I wasn't sure I’d have enough money to pay for the ferry. I thought I would have to call my sister in Copenhagen and tell her to come to Sweden and pick me up. Luckily that wasn't the case. However, when I arrived in Copenhagen, I couldn't afford the bus home so I started an hour hike back to my apartment.