Long Overdue. With the family visit and trips nonstop, November has been a hectic month. This is why my post about Fall Break is coming to you now. I will start this entry off with a picture of our travel group waiting to board our first flight with our brand new backpacks:

Milan

Attempting to travel for as cheap as possible landed us in Milan for one day on our way to Spain. I had less than high hopes for this city from what I was told by other people. Surprisingly, we had a really good day. The main attraction was the Duomo di Milano (click to view full size):

No picture really does this piece of architecture justice. It was one of the most intricate Gothic structures I had ever seen. The great thing about churches and cathedrals is that they are almost always free to go inside (click to view full size):

The rest of the day we spent roaming around the city center. We attempted to go see the Last Supper, but the ticket lady laughed in our faces and told us that you have to make a reservation at least two months in advance. We were slightly disappointed, but continued on. Oh, and I got attacked by birds and then was forced to pay 1 euro for getting swarmed.

Madrid

After leaving for the airport at 4am and another easyJet flight later, we were in Spain. The sun was shining, it was gorgeous and, best of all, I could understand the language! Bienvenidos a Espana!

My overall impression of Spain was that it was a more laid back Italy. I am sure that our great experience in Madrid was helped by the fact that our hostel was fantastic. The Hostel Sant Jordi was situated in the very city center, right off of Puerta Del Sol and we paid only 17 euros per night per bed. Here we are hanging out the window of our 8 bed room, warm nights are a wonderful thing:

Meghan showed up a day after we got there and she convinced us to go on a Free Tour of Madrid, they are offered in several European cities and since then I have gone on 2 of their other tours. It was really great. We learned all the history we needed to really appreciate Madrid. Our tour guide:

Meghan and I seeing the sites (photo by dave):

The food was also really great in Spain. Tapas is just a really fun dining experience because everyone is sharing and you get a little taste of everything. Also it is really simple to split the bill. We also drank a lot of sangria. It is so much better there than anywhere I have had it in the states, not to mention it is a lot cheaper! We paid 10 euros for 2 litre pitchers.

Amsterdam

Our last stop was Amsterdam, Netherlands and I have to say I was less than impressed. We arrived to a disgusting hostel complete with loud 18-yr-old Swedish hippies chugging whisky out of the bottle and smoking cigarettes in our room that had no windows. I decided that I could not sleep there for 3 nights after seeing the communal showers. So we forfeited our deposit and went out and found a hotel. Now, the hotel we ended up at was nothing nice either, but it was a private room with a private bathroom and that was all I could ask for. Here was one of our rooms, welcome to the 70s:

The weather was not too good during our visit. After being in Spain, the rain and cold of northern europe was less than welcoming. Some people call Amsterdam the “venice of the north” because they have canals, but I don’t think they even compare (click to view larger):

We took another free tour of Amsterdam, but it wasn’t as interesting as the tour of Madrid. We learned a few things, but everything was focused on the main features of the city: marijuana and prostitution of the Red Light District. Prostitution was big in Amsterdam because when the sailors would come in, all they would want was to spend the evening with a woman and then after they would proceed to purchase indulgences to forgive their sins. This way, the church and the prostitutes worked well together. We also learned that in Amsterdam, marijuana was one of the main herbs that were shipped in through their port and now they just keep it around for all of the tourists. Amsterdam is a really strange place. Here is Max in a “coffee shop” called Dampkring where they filmed part of Ocean’s 12 (yes, we are tourists after all):

One of Holland’s redeeming qualities were their pancakes:

Summary. Living out of a backpack for 10 days was quite a task. I enjoyed being a jet-setter, but after a while, I craved my own bed and my own desk and my computer. It has something to do with the lack of personal space you have while traveling. Also, the many hours spent traveling to and from airports and then waiting in terminals… it gets a bit tiring after 5 flights in 10 days. Flying on budget airlines is definitely the way to go in Europe, but we were constantly trying to convince the check-in people that our bags met the requirements for carry-on luggage.

Next Time. Since then I have traveled to Germany and Switzerland, so expect another entry in the near future. Also, HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!