Boaty Boat

Hello world.

Here is the fastest summary every of our trip so far -

1. 24 Hours in London, National Gallery, British Musuem, Local bars
2. 4 days in Ireland, island of Galway with forts and cliffs, Guinness tour, great hostel and local bars, little poker
3. 2 days in Hamburg - stayed with couchsurfers who were members of a leftist resistance group, checked out local culture, took a boat tour of the port, went to the beach, played some poker
4. 2 days in Berlin - JC and I broke it down germantechnoindustrial style in this weird venue and got our grrove on. Pub crawl and great walking tour with focus on history of germany and berlin
5. 3 days in Istanbul - crazy taxi cab drivers that wanted to steal all of our money, great hostel with an even greater front desk lady (Burgu), beautiful views and the Hagia Sofia (1400 year old cathedral). Cool bazaar, and GREAT dance club for me and JC. Met a lot of cool friends, but also feared for our lives (sort of haha)
6. 1 day in Thessilonica - Checked out the local sites and eateries, cool city
7. 1 day in Athens - Saw the Acropolis, ie; the Parthenon, Temple of Dionysus, couple museums, and sheer awesomeness
8. 2 days in Aegina, Greek island - scooters and too much fun. Nothing like renting scooters for 15 euro each and booking it around a medium sized island. Great vacation from our vacations. Mad beach time and good sunburns
9. Crazy ride to get on this boat - 1 hour boat to a 3 hour bus to this 31 hour boat to Venice
10. We are ON A BOAT! haha

I've had a lot of very stimulating thoughts from this trip. I will not go into detail, but here are some things that have affected me -

1. History has been transformed in a product that is sold, and has become an activity that every tourist demands and consumes. Part of me is disgusted by this, and part of me appreciates that people are willing to pay to educate themselves about the past.

2. There are sometimes abnormal tendencies of other tourists to seek out "old things" and "city sites" even when the things and sites are mundane and boring. While some of the things we have visited have been extremely stimulating and thought-provoking, some of the sites and musuems have been less interesting than playing chess with a 6-year old.

3. This vacation is absolutely wonderful, despite the fact that I have no idea where I am going to be in 3 monthes.

4. The guys that I am with are outstanding dudes. John Bninski knows the entire dictionary and political situations of most countries. Terry Wang has seen every musuem in every city and also met every person in each city we visited. Matt continues to amaze me with random knowledge about varied things from the Old to Middle to New Kingdoms in Egypt to expansive knowledge of film. Josh Carroll seemingly has a great grasp on what's hot in music, with a specific focus on electronica. Josh Veit has been a amazing social glue and regenerative spirit so that, even with inevitable conflict, he maintains a cool demeanor and helps us cool down. I've been able to get a more detailed grasp of the character of these men, and while they are obviously not perfect, they are certainly extraordinary and if you don't know these guys in depth, you should pursue it because they are worth it. Also - they've had a lot of patience with me on this trip as sometimes I can be a bit unbearable and I appreciate it a lot.

5. I miss home a lot. I've eaten tons of American food and dishes while I'm over here, but it isn't the same.

6. It's stupid how many people speak English in these countries. If you know English and not a lick of another language, you could easily do 90-95% of Europe with only little disadvantage. We have been continually blessed (albeit sometimes shafted in hilarious ways) with people who speak English that help us find bus stations, hostels, restaurants, and ticket counters. Awesome.

7. The dollar isn't doing well against the Euro, especially when the minimum wage in some of these countries is 8.75 euro/hour. Goodbye, recent poker winnings.
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8. Italy will be cool. Did I mention I can't wait to get back to Philly?