catapult magazine

Hey folks. I’m taking off for Europe next week Tuesday, for a few months, and I know there are a bunch of you that have done Europe. I’ve been there before, but haven’t travelled extensively. Yet.

So. Anyone have any advice/stuff not to miss/etc.?

NOTE: I don’t have much cash, so I can’t see Phantom of the Opera in downtown London. Or even Prague. Even if it’s not Phantom, but just a stand-up comedian. Or even if it’s a street performer in a Romanian slum.

I’m starting in London, with vague ideas of drifting South as it gets colder, getting as far as Spain or perhaps jumping down to Morocco. But I was thinking I should hit Germany. I’m not going to try to get to Greece, even though I know it rocks. Generally I’m not looking for the incredibly engaging stuff, because most of that costs money. I’m looking for the out-of-the-way stuff, maybe off the beaten path . . .

So if anyone would like to help a poor vagabond with a plane ticket, please enlighten.

Sounds great! The best part is finding stuff nobody told you about. Just go nuts. When you get sick of cathedrals and castles go to a small town and get to know some folks. Oh yeah, hitchiking is a good way to get to know people and it doesn’t cost anything. Sometimes people even buy you lunch!

Because London is so darned expensive, the best thing to do there is go to museums! All the museums are free in London, and the Tate Modern is MARVELOUS, as well as the Victoria & Albert Museum.

For theatre, Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre has tickets for 5 pounds if you don’t mind standing in the yard.

Another favorite of mine was the Royal Courts of Justice. You might not like it as much as I did, but it’s not only a beautiful building, you get to see actual hearings. They are all open to the public and you can watch the British justice system, ratty wigs and all. (Yes! The judges and attorneys all still wear those funny Louis IX type wigs and black robes) And of course, it’s free.

One more suggestion if you are poor— get an all day bus pass (2 pounds). As fun as the tube may be, it costs almost twice as much as the bus for an all day pass. And on top of those double deckers is a great way to see a lot of London. I can’t describe the delight of sitting in the front of the bus on the second story. And nothing beats the feeling of conquering the bus system in London. It’s pretty challenging.

When I was there this summer, one hundred pounds lasted me four whole days not including lodging (which I found at the Generator for 25 bucks a night). And I had a blast. So have fun.

Since you did the N-SPICE thing too I’m sure you know about this, but it never hurts to repeat it: The Belgian waffles are a must. I know a few others would back me up on this.

Some of my other favorite places/things in Europe: There’s a fun walled-in city in Germany, Rothenburg I believe. If you want a beach with Germans that’s not in Germany go to Mallorca. Another cool place is Grindewald, Switzerland. When I went backpacking after high school, we stopped in Grindewald and stayed at the youth hostel there. I think it was probably one of our favorite places on the trip—there’s lots of natural beauty that doesn’t cost anything.

It’s so cool that you’re going alone. Traveling with friends is overrated. You never think about all the squabbles and tension there’ll be. I hope you have a great time. Keep us updated when you can. :)

adam, your plan sounds remarkably similar to the plan that me and my brother had before we left a few years ago. we started in london and planned to drift south as it got colder, and end in morocco. (we never got there—but a number of the travelers we met on the way told us of a bunch of nomads that take backpackers out into the sahara desert for a few nights—which sounded kind of neat). some of the things i remember best were probably just the atmospheres of a particular time, so bear that in mind.

for you budget: drink milk in london—it’s by far the cheapest beverage in the grocery store (45 p for a pint, i think). we liked tinagel for atmosphere—sat on the cliff for a while and just watched. we didn’t see much of what people traditionally see in scotland, but it was fun to explore the northeast coast—there’s all kinds of undocumented ruins (you have to talk to the locals to get some of those stories) and some great natural landscapes.

it’s too bad you’re not going to greece, because i was going to suggest the meteora as a natural visual spectacle not to be missed. it’s northwest of athens and is quite incredible (rock formations with monasteries built on the tops here and there where monks used to climb up the rock face and live in cracks in the rock).

we also found poland and the c.r. to be great. (by the way, these will help your small budget go further—one of the hostels we stayed in—in gdansk—ended up being about $4 per night.) if you’re interested in wierdness, see the ossuary in kutna hora (outside prague) which is a church completely decorated with human skulls and bones. we missed the salt mines near krakow but regretted it after hearing other travelers rave about them.

we thought turkey was pretty impressive, as well. (capadocia with the churches carved out of rocks and the underground cities; pamukale looked like it used to be beautiful—it’s still cool but the grunge on it from all the tourists definitely takes away from the effect)

germany—berlin was interesting just because of the amazing intersection of important events that occured there. the city itself is very ecclectic. we liked the castles in the south and the stretch along the rhine—but we weren’t sick of castles and cathedrals yet at that point. :)

as far as spain—we didn’t get to see much of it, but we liked barcelona and granada more than madrid. even if it’s a perenial tourist draw, temple de la sagrada familia is pretty darn cool.

have a great trip!

for germany-berlin is probably the best city in germany. you could spend hours just walking around. if you do go to berlin, definitely check out the former east berlin and check out the remains of the berlin wall.

in southern germany, stay away from munich. it is over rated tourist destination. instead go to stuttgart or esslingen (15 minutes by train away). stuttgart has a really interesting and free museum all about mercedes benz and you can sit in the newest models. esslingen has a great fussgangerzone (pedestrian mall) to wander around in. the ice cream shop in the tower is a must-especially the angel blue and strawberry flavors.

if you really want cheap, head to turkey or further into the middle east. all kinds of cheap things to do and eat.

Thanks people. I leave in 1 1/2 days. Poop, I’m excited. I’ll be checking from time to time so any other suggestions are welcome. Wooo, no more American media for 3 months!!!

PS. Why “the land of sin”?

Yeah, I was wondering the same thing.

Adam, I hope you have a great experience. I second Bridget’s recommendation of Grindewold, Switzerland. I don’t know if you’ll make your way to Scotland, but I really enjoyed that a lot. Have a blast and don’t trust whitey.

Maybe I’m just reading into this because of recent discussions, but some of Adam’s comments and the topic title seems to confirm the feeling I got when I talked with him a few weeks ago. Is this an “Escape from the evils of America” trip?

To be honest, there wasn’t a whole lot of thought that went into the title. Usually I just use a title someone could take more than one way. What is the land of sin? America? Europe? Airplane restrooms? I’m so clever.

As for the evils of America, well . . . I realize that Europe has a set of evils all its own, but those aren’t the ones that are choking my brain right now. The American ones are, and I want out. I don’t give a crap about Kobe Bryant and the California recall election, and I’m tired of being told about the “comfort I deserve in a full-size.” I don’t want to turn on the box and see Paradise Hotel, and I’m sick of conversing with people whose worldview sounds like “Africa? What the fuck’s in Africa?! AIDS and sand!” (I’m not making that up. That’s a quote from work.) I’m tired of hearing all the arguments why the President is such a reasonable man and none of the explanations why the rest of the world doesn’t seem to think so.

Self righteous? Defeatist? Sure. But I know there’s more out there than I’m being fed here and I need to at least start looking for it. If it takes a faulty premise and an idyllic notion, so be it.

Probably more info than anyone wanted, but perhaps a can of worms there . . .