Countries Visited

Travel Goals

I Amsterdam

November 21, 2006

Wow! My last post got a lot of responses. Just to make one thing clear though- I don’t eat McDonald’s for every meal. I think some of you might have got that impression. I did like ow everyone had there own McDonald’s stories too. Another thing about McDonald’s in Holland is that you can smoke inside.

Anyways, I have awful news- worse than Bush still being president! I’m leaving Amsterdam. After about a month here, I have to get moving on. The job search has been less than fruitful. Everything that I would want requires multiple languages and gives preference to EU citizens first. I might have more luck if I wanted to work in a hostel or bar or some other minimum wage job but I’m not going to put my travels on hold for that, especially during the winter. (And you all know how much I HATE the winter.)

So here are my final thoughts on Amsterdam.

Amsterdam…

…gets really cold in November. I had to buy new clothes because I was totally unprepared for spending time in a place that wasn’t at least 65 degrees.

…gets lots of rain in November. This week I saw the sun for the first time since I came back to the dam. In fact, I was going to go for a walk this morning but, surprisingly, it was raining. Again.

….has my favorite church- St. Nicholas. The new Baroque style combined with a simpleness and great art makes this church way cooler than any duomo I saw in Italy.

…..doesn’t feel like capital city. The city is so small, walkable, and historic that you would never realize your in a nation’s capital. It doesn’t have that modern feel or quick pace that most capitals or big cities have. In this way, it reminds me a lot of Boston- a low skyline, historic buildings, walkable, cozy. It feels like a big town. Maybe that is why I love it here- reminds me of home.

….changes rapidly outside the central area. Since I’ve been here for so long, I’ve become pretty familiar with the city. (I can give directions to tourists now!) I even ventured like an hour walk to the east and west parts of the city where there are no signs for tourists and all english signs become Dutch. In both sections of the city, you had modern apartment complexes, housing projects, more cars, modern architecture, less coffeeshops, and no tourists. It was stepping into a modern city- I even saw a few small skyscrapers. The area to the west was a lot more industrial and rundown. I’d even use the word ghetto. It was a pretty shit area really but the bakeries were better!

….is the first city where I didn’t make any real backpacker friends- I made local friends instead. Most of the hostelers here are pretty much hard core stoners who never want to do much besides hit a coffeeshop. It’s pretty cool but after 3 weeks, it starts to get old so I ventured out on my own. I’ve made a bunch of Dutch friends and hang out with them more than the backpackers. It’s a complete change from the norm- but equally as good. Now, I have people I can visit next time I am here and two of them are even coming to the states next summer.

….is the home of Amstel beer but it turns out, Amstel is really owned by Heineken.

….has crappy food. The Dutch simply have bad food. Besides chocolate and some good pastries, everything is crap. Most Dutch admit it too. If it wasn’t for falafel and kebabs, I’d have eaten nothing here! (Though, I found this one good sushi place in Neuwmarket.) If you plan on visiting Amsterdam, don’t expect a culinary wonderland.

….is a city where vice is a legal business. Anything you want is in Amsterdam and I do mean ANYTHING!

….gets lots of English tourists. It must be a right of passage or something because it seems every day a new group of Brits rolls into town. The hostel is always packed, especially on the weekends, with huge groups away for the week/end. You’d think they go to London. It was especially intense during the England vs. Netherlands game last Wednesday. There were so many English in town the riot police were out in full force. The even sectioned off my street since where I’m staying is where all the English pubs are.

….is really expensive. Even for Europe, this is an expensive city. Once you get to the far out places it gets a little better but anywhere in the city that would appear on a map, is going to be expensive.

….is pretty small. I’ve walk much of this city and found it quite small. It doesn’t take long to get anywhere and when you look on the map and by the time you think “wow that’s far away” you end up being there. I keep finding new things in old places though. Like how I found a gym today two streets over from my hostel. I could have been working out all month I’ve been here! I mean fuck! I need to get in shape for the beach next week. I might go for like a day to get muscles doing something but man, I’m pissed a missed that.

….is my second home. I love Amsterdam. I’m sad to leave but I fully plan on my coming back. In my month here, I didn’t see much of Holland so when the weather turns nice, I’ll come back. There is the rest of the country to see.

Next week, I’ll be on a plane to Thailand. I can’t believe its already time to leave. I booked this flight before I left for Europe because it was so cheap. I was told I could change the dates but it turns out that was only until the end of November. I wish I never booked the ticket or could have changed the ticket into December….

…because I am not ready to leave here yet.

-Matt

Posted by NomadicMatt | Filed Under First RTW | 4 Comments

McDonalds

November 17, 2006

Traveling around a continent you notice a lot of the differences…..between the McDonalds of Europe. Wait..isn’t McDonald’s supposed to be the same everywhere? It more or less is but there are some minor differences such as…

Norway: The fries in Norway are awful. Something about the oil they use kills the taste of the fries. My guess is that since they are all food and environmental nuts, the oil is probably not the same as in the US. Maybe some super healthy oil. I’m not sure but god I hated the fries more than I hated paying 10 dollars for a number one.

Prague: Just like back at home except they don’t give you napkins. You have to ask….and all the locals eat McFlurry’s.

Italy: With all the good food here you might think McDonalds wouldn’t be big here but you would be wrong. McDonald’s is huge in Italy! The Rome train station has a McDonalds on each floor plus one at each side entrance!! Just in case one isn’t enough, you have four. In every train station in Italy, no matter how small the town is either, there is a McDonalds. (or in the case of Rome, four!) Most of the McDonald’s here look like trendy bars. The one in Siena looked like it might try to charge a cover and I saw a business meeting at one in Florence. McDonald’s are pretty quick here- you have your meal by the time you just finished talking. Italians love McFlurry’s too. I wasn’t a big fan of the food here- the fries were always too salted…wherever I went…salt salt salt. The ketchup here tastes like tomato sauce too. Come to think of it- I think it was. Overall, Italy was a little better than other places but not the best I had.

Spain: Best McDonald’s in Europe. The burgers were dripping with grease and actually tasted like a real burger. The fries are amazing and they have these deluxe fries there which are like steak fries. They had the a little bit more of a selection there and they didn’t carbonate the iced tea.

Austria: Nothing special about the McDonalds here. Cheaper than in Italy but pretty average. The 100% Austrian french fries were yummy though. They do have this like 700 calorie sandwhich. Never saw it before and didn’t realize it was 700 calories until after I had two….with a large fry.

Amsterdam: McDonald’s here is pretty much the same everywhere except the service is pretty slow. All over the place- slow slow service. I don’t think they realize this is meant to be fast food. There burgers are pretty crappy too but the cheese is good. Doesn’t taste like the normal pasteurized stuff.

General thoughts: McDonalds in Europe doesn’t give you ketchup unless you ask….and pay. except in Spain, where they gave you real ketchup for free. Also, the menu is tiny. In the states, you can choose from like ten choices but here just get the basic staples. To make up for the sheer lack of selection, in each country they do like specials. In Italy, it was the “Road to America” where you could get a NYC burger (Reuben) or a Colorado burger (with ranch dressing). In Austria, they had like Asian burgers (with teriyaki sauce). It was quite unoriginal really. Where is a grilled chicken when you need one? O and everyone here orders the fish sandwich. I don’t understand why- it’s really nasty. I mean who eat’s fish from McDonalds?!! While I don’t know much about McDonald’s back home, the McDonald’s here was pretty good, especially in Spain. It was bomb.

Ciao,

Matt

Posted by NomadicMatt | Filed Under First RTW | 3 Comments

Back in the dam

November 13, 2006

Well, I’m back in Amsterdam after a long and tiring weekend in Barcelona. Four days felt like four weeks. For my friends who have been in Barcelona for 4 weeks, I can only what it must feel like for them. The football game was a blast. Valencia and Espanola tied though…that was a little disappointing. I wanted someone to win. Apparently they only do penalty shots during championship matches. With my limited knowledge of football, I had no idea. It was really fun though to get into it with the locals. They taught me some swears, I taught them some…it was cultural exchange at its finest. They are some seriously hardcore fans too. I thought some were going to run down the field and punch the ref. The game was good and so was buying three beers with my friends only for us to realize that…wait…these are non-alcoholic beers. No wonder no one is drinking.

So now I’m in Amsterdam waiting for a few friends to arrive. Some more also come tomorrow. I’ll get a chance to see all the sights I was too “tired” to see last time and get more of a feel for the city. I didn’t do any first two days I got back because I figured I might as well do it all then. I did go to the casino though. There is a major European poker event here for the next two weeks. I saw some guy last night win 200,000 dollars. Not bad huh? I stuck to the cash games. It’s tough gambling when you are on a budget and have no real income because if I lose, I cross off places I can see. Luckily, I had some winnings to play with. Had being the past tense because what I won on Monday got lost on Tuesday. I won’t bore you with the details but I’m in a dry spell. Everyone has them….Monday was a struggle to even make anything, and I was card dead on Tuesday(The best I was up was 70 euros).. It’s not all bad though- before I lost my extra money I was able to go shopping for winter clothes since Amsterdam is freezing and the heavy Espanola shirt I bought in Barcelona just won’t cut it soon, got better hostel rooms, paid for lots of fun, a football game, and some really expensive but good dinners. Now its back to my savings and so back to no more casinos. Amsterdam casino, I knew ye well.

Posted by NomadicMatt | Filed Under First RTW | 2 Comments

You came back at what time!!!??

November 5, 2006

Italy has nothing on Spain when it comes to time. Italians are famous for doing things at a slower pace and doing things much later in the day- late lunches, late dinners, late arrivals. However, Spaniards take it to a whole new level. They take lateness to levels Italians, and everybody else for that matter, couldn´t even dream of and Barcelonans take this to even higher levels. Lunches at 3, dinners at 11, and parties until dawn. I don´t know how they do it. Clubs in Barcelona don´t even open until 2 am!!! Last night, people were sitting down to dinner at midnight. I´ve been calling it an early night at like 4am. It´s hard to fathom that as an “early” night. Back in the states, that´s a late night. In Barcelona, people get to the clubs at 4! It wouldn´t be so bad but the hostel happy hour is at 7pm so, unlike all the locals who start at 12, we start drinking at 7 and, being the lightweight I am, I just can´t drink from 7pm to 6am. Because of all the late night parties and everyone´s sheer ability to seemingly function without any sleep, Barcelona has a rightly earned reputation as a lively, wild, crazy, party city. To be honest, I think people hear party harder than places like NYC, LA, or Rome. Those cities maybe busy and fast but the lack the constant feel of life, party, and energy that Barcelona has. I think the Full Moon Rave or Carnival might be the only time people around the world party harder than Barcelona. The city is going at all hours and the historic downtown area is packed with people 24/7.

Barcelona though has a lot more to offer than just parties. It´s pretty beautiful, or so I hear. I´ve been here two days already and the only thing I´ve seen is the main cathedral. I did walk around for a few hours too but mostly my time has been spent hanging out in the hostel or hanging out at the bars and then sleeping until 1. It´s a tough life but with two days left I need to do something besides drink. What I have seen of Barcelona is amazing. I really do like it. The small winding streets, the Gothic architecture, the feel of the city- I´ve enjoyed the small part I´ve seen. I just need to see more of it. Today I´m going to see all the famous Gaudia stuff and then tomorrow a few museums before I leave to head back to Amsterdam. I meet a few people who actually live there so now I know some locals there which is pretty awesome. (and I am finally going for sushi today with some French people I meet last night. It´s been so long since I´ve had sushi…I am going to pig out with my casino winnings.)

The hostel I am at, Kabul, is pretty awesome. It reminds me a lot of the Clown and Bard in Prague. Lots of people, huge common area, happy hour, and, of course, lots of partying. The people hear have been awesome. Like in Prague, I´ve meet awesome people who I´ll probably stay in touch with for a while after this. There´s a ton of interesting characters. There´s two Canadians, Rich and Scott, who will be moving to NZ so we´ll be meeting up there. Dan, the only other American in our group. Miguel, the Costa Rican, who is our defacto tour guide. Anyone asks what we are doing, we just turn to Miguel. He´s the man with the plan and it always ends up getting us wasted! John, his Brazilian friend, who drinks harder than anyone I´ve known. Bjorn, the local from Amsterdam, who is just a crazy guy. Two girl from Scotland who will be joining me in Amsterdam next week and the French couple who are quite but love sushi!! That´s our crazy group. Best part? All the guys play poker and yesterday instead of doing anything, we all sat in the hostel and played a little tournament. I lost.

Tonight, I´m going to go to a football game- Espana v.. Valencia. Should be interesting. I´ll let you know who wins.

Cheers,
Matt

Posted by NomadicMatt | Filed Under First RTW | Leave a Comment

Guilt tripped

November 1, 2006

Right now, I’m in Malaga Spain. I left Amsterdam on Sunday and after a 3 hour delayed flight, I finally made it into Spain. It was then I realized one thing- I wanted to go back to Amsterdam. I really liked the city. There is just something about that made me want to stay longer and, now that I am a little richer because poker players in Amsterdam are awful, I have some extra cash to go back there. I decided that I regretted not staying longer in a number of cities so far and that I wouldn’t do that again. Too much of a schedule has cut my time short in Prague, Florence, and Charleston. That is why I cut a week out of Spain so I can go back to Amsterdam. After this weekend in Barcelona, I am back in Amsterdam for at least another week but chances are I will just stay there a lot longer. I’m debating on staying there for about a month or maybe trying to find some short term contract work. That is all very very up in the air but I know I’ll be in Amsterdam for awhil, especially since I know a few people going thhere. I’m very eager to go back. Is it the 6th yet?

Spain has been quite nice. The weather here is way better than it is in Amsterdam. As much as I want to go back to Amsterdam, I don’t know how I will deal with the cold. I mean I wanted to avoid winter for 2 years! Looks like I’ll have to hit an H&M and get some cold weather clothes in Barcelona. Bu, right now, back to Spain….

Two years ago I went to Costa Rica and I tell you that because it has a lot to do with why I came to Spain in the first place. Out of all the places I’ve been and all the people I have meet, some of my best travel friends came from that trip to Costa Rica and one of them lives in Malaga, Spain. Originally, I was going to visit her, some people in Barcelona, and Valencia but plans change and now I just am visiting her and that my friend’s is the exciting story of why I came to Spain.

Malaga is a nice an OK place. It reminds me a lot of Mexico and San Jose, Costa Rica. It has that grimy, edgy feel you find in a lot of places in Mexico and in San Jose. It also has the same bad architecture. It appears the Spanish exported many things overseas, including a taste for bad architecture and awful paint colors. The downtown of Malaga is very beautiful though and provides a nice place for a stroll and to get lost in the maze of old streets. The city has this nice Moorish fortress and a beautiful cathedral. I can see why people didn’t like the opulence of the Catholic Church now- this place is massive and really ornate. The fortress, though being half closed, was pretty cool- it was filled with beautiful gardens and every room seemed to empty into a courtyard- The Moors knew how to live. There was also a castle and after like a 30 minute hike up the hill to the castle, I arrived to utter disappointment. There were no rooms, no castlely things to explore- just a wall that you could walk around and a restaurant to eat in. The Alcazaba (fortress) was way better. The castle did provide a chance to get some great pictures but sadly that was it. At least when I go down. Last thing about Malaga- If you are ever there, make sure you go to Le Teteria across from the Picasso museum. It’s this wonderful tea shop that has cheap, great teas and some pretty cool pastries. mmmmm yummy.

Today, I went to Seville but didn’t see much. Apparently, All Saint’s Day is a national holiday here in Spain and all the major attractions closed at 2 pm. I guess people wanted an extra long siesta today. So my friend and I just spent the entire day walking around the city. Seville is much much nicer than Malaga but shhh don’t tell my friend that. It’s a little bit more upscale and with nicer looking houses and cleaner streets, though you can totally tell when you get out of the tourist/downtown area. The windy, narrow streets of the Barrio de Santa Cruz remind me a lot of Italy and, just like there, I enjoyed getting lost. Many of the streets there have Jewish names because before the Inquisition, that was the Jewish area. At some point I would like to return to the city so I can see all the attractions and spend more than day there. It seems like a quite a nice place to relax in.