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Rain is Falling
2002-08-25 09:12:31
21.08.02
08.40
This ELO song is currently going through my head.
It's appropriately melancholy for the occasion, and yes, if one looked outside they would see that rain is indeed falling.
Yesterday is a bit of a blur. A lot happened and it's early enough now that not all of my memory is awake and functioning. I could go back to the room and sleep for a couple hours, but 1)I already checked out, though that's not a problem as other people should still be sleeping there and 2)the room reeks like hell for reasons to be explained later...
I have about 2.5-3 hours before I need to leave for the airport, and about four hours before I need to be there and six before they board my flight. I SHOULD use this time to see one last sighht or visit one last attraction, but a lack of cash (I have €20, 8 is needed for the train, and the last bakery run will have to have substance), and the weather has put a damper on things. I also don't want to have to get another rail card for today, which rules out a trip to Easy Everything, as well as the fact that I lost my last login card which still had half a euro left on it.
I COULD just bu my pass to get to the airport and then use that to get around twn, but the lines of S-Bahn going to and from the airport are the most heavily patrolled, and the rail cards here stamp with originating date and time and location.
So I end my vacation the same way I end so many other things: Wasting the time that should be cherished and treasured. Damn I suck.
Anyhow, let's try and piece yesterday together. Got up, got breakfast, and hit the road. First stop was EasyEverything. I got 81 min. for my Euro, but the connection sucked ass - almost all of the sites I wanted to go to weren't working with the proxy and how keep-alive is rigged. These included Animenation (so no email), BBC, CNN, and the official website for Kelly Osbourne. Major suckage. AMV was up and running OK, but typing backlog didn't seem appealing, so I took off for the Marienplatz. At the Marienplatz I saw the Viktualienmarkt and got some passable but not great French Aprocots and went to find the Frauenkirche.
On the way, though, I kept getting distracted by stores - this is a heavily commercial district, and while I made it out of the bookstore OK, the CD and DVD store did net some finds. They didn't have the Das Expreiment DVD, but they DID have the european Quadrophenia CD and the german RENT cast recording. While Quadrophenia was a no-brainer, I really had to struggle to not buy RENT - I've had my burns for a while, and should replace them, but the extra €35 was more than I felt like I wanted to spend - which is damn stupid of me because I know i'll never get it cheaper. Well, storesopen in about an hour and I guess I could risk the train conductor. Actually I wouldn't have to if i took my bags with me as it's at the Marienplatz which is on the way the the airport, but...
I should take a page out of what I listen to: No Day But Today...
After the music store yesterday, I got to the Frauenkirche. I walked through its incredibyle intereior and sat down for a couple minutes. The stained glass was great, but I still didn't stay too long for some reason.
Following the church I went to NeoTokyo and got my manga. They didn't have everything I ordered, but it was still enough. If I find a couple of specific books at the airport, though, I'm going to buy.
Manga in hand I came back to the hostel, dumped it off, and went back out. Lunch was from a bakery in the local U-Bahn station and followed by a visit to the spielzeug museum. It was still tiny, but in a cstle tower, which earns points, and had a great exhibit on teddy bears.
I also went grocery shopping afterwards and got the chocolate and gum for everyone. I was on my way out when I couldn't believe what I saw - ALMDUDLER! it was just what I neded at the time, and I was quit5e happy to have found it, not having seen it since leaving Austria. Great stuff, I'm going to miss it.
Got back and dropped off the groceries. There were new people coming in - 2 Australians, 2 Americans, and a Londoner. We all hit it off well enough and went to a restaurant together for dinner. I had spicy tortellini (truly spicy! yay!) and a hellesbier, which was amazing. I'm going to miss this...
After the restaurant we decided to find a beer garden. Unfortunately, an hour of U-Bahn and walking netting nothing so me, one of the Australians, and his girlfriend headed back, having nice conversation all the way.
I took a munch needed shower, and packed a bit, and went to bed around 10:30ish. At 12:30ish, though, we were awoken by the other four guysx coming back loud, drunk, and throwing up in the in-room sinks. Joy. Apparently they found the beer garden about 10 min. after we left them and got totally smashed on 2L glasses of some of Munich's finest.
Went back to sleep (if you can call the dozing with frequent wakeups I had sleep) and got up around 7ish. Had breakfast with the Austrailian and his girlfriend, then tehy left for a tour. I finished packing, and now I'm here, writing. I think I'm going to brave the rain and go buy that CD. The opportunity doesn't come often, even if I HAVE spent so much already. I really shouldn't get this, and I know it. Buying stuff just to go legit isn't the best reason to buy - it's almost a waste of money, but I've listened to and enjoyed my not so great quality rent copies enough that I should go legit with it. Now buying that Hannes Wader CD with it...I can't justify €20 for a single disc just for one track. This will have to wait for WinMX for when I get home, and then a search for a discount or used copy afterwards. I think I'll ask the guy at the desk where I can find used CD's - maybe I can get RENT there (they only had new CD's at the store yesterday.)
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That was the last post I'd made before leaving. What I ended up doing afterwards was going on the U-Bahn, and getting paranoid about whether or not my plain left at 3:05 or 13:05. Big difference. While I kept telling myself that it was 3:05, the paranoia and stress wasn't worth it (because that little voice kept saying 13:05) just to buy a CD, so I came back and headed to the airport. Munich airport has some fun stores including a real supermarket. No customs problems on the way back, and Anne was waiting for me just past customs.
So I'm back. Journals are up to date.
I miss Europe. I miss the food, I miss the history and culture and people and weather that's not so humid so much of the time and the sights and the U-Bahn and the trains and...
The last couple days have very much been along the lines of "Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore..." Things here just don't seem as nice as they'd used to have been, and, well, I don't like it. I'm already back in the old rut, though, which is way too damn scary for my tastes.
As far as AMVs go, the project I was working on before leaving is on hold, I'm trying something else instead for AnimeUSA, hopefully it'll come out OK.
I miss Europe. -
München, Take 2
2002-08-24 20:12:19
19.08.02
21.13
it is incredibly hot in here right now. Maybe I just got spoiled by having A/C on the trains today or by the cooler eweather in the north, but it is really fucking hot in here right now. And humid. Really fucking humid.
The train arrived within 5 minutes of schedule, which is enough to consider it on-time as far as I am concerned. My biggest problem when getting off the train was dehydration. I had only the half liter bottle of water that I bought on the ICE train to drink...all day. Fortunately the walk to the hostel was only 10 min. despite being weighed down, but the train pattern given by Let's Go leaves a little to be desired. First they route it solely on u-Bahn which has less frequent trains. Secondly, it's hard to figure out all the Ubahn lines at Hauptbahnhof for first timers (Which I'm not and knew where I was going but still...). My recommendation would have been to S-Bahn to Marienplatz (train every 1-3 min) and then the U-3 here, but that's just me...
Check-in was OK but there's one very big suck about this room: 13 people are sharing it. Yup, my last hostel gives me a megaroom, and it's at least 11 people full (11 beds made...there's a handful of unused lockers...people are either short the €2 coin to use the keys, lazy, trusting, or just really fucking stupid.) I should get an extra €2 coin and locker everything (well, at least the camping backpack) in the basement so that it's not here. The locker would be big enough for it, but there's drop-down cubby holes that cut off possible height. It saves space, but the lockers in Rothenburg were much more practical and made my life a hell of a lot easier.
Dinner. Kept it under €7,50. Not bad, since the only other food I had all day was a roll and a chocolate bar. LG had a place listed that was fast food with a mean veggie burrito. I found it, but barely. It was more walking than planned (and included one of those infamous european streets that changes names with the curves) but it was indeed good and they had Tabasco so the flavorful (if small by the standards of being used to chipotle) burritos could be spicy. Also got 1?2L of water, meaning fizzy water with minerals in it. One of the few things I miss (besides grocery stores being open late or on Sundays, but more on that later) is getting large amounts of plain water with your food. Even if you luck out and get un-sparkled water it still tastes mineral, and all I want is cool, refreshing water! But back on topic...
Got done with dinner and hopped the S-Bahn from Isartor to HBF and went to EasyEverything. At the time I went it was €3 = 33 min. Got online and the IM flood happened - apparently my absence was noticed! Forgot to email Anne or see if mother emailed, will do in the morning. Did talk to Mikhail though and found out the EE secret: the more people there the less minutes you get. To test this philosophy I'm going to come back tomorrow morning at like 8AM to see if this is the case here.
I was still thirsty after leaving EE, so I started looking for somewhere at least a block away from the HBF to buy something so the prices would be lower. As it turns out I DID find a Turkish supermarket and bought 2L of Juice, but getting there made me feel like I was in lower Manhatten again with the dirt, crowds, construction, and sex shops (well, video rooms and live shows) along the way. The journey was worth it, though, not just for the juice, but also for the fact that as I was walking, I saw a church to my right, just a few blocks down. Not wanting to act totally tourist where I was (especially since I had just pulled cash this evening), I got closer, took some pictures, looked around, figured it would be closed, and was lucky enough to see a U4/5 station right there.
I drank one of the 2 juices )each 1L) that I bought between the Hauptbahnhof and when the U3 came to the Marienplatz. I felt a little bloated after doing so much liquid but also still extremely thirsty. The second box is almost gone too. In the words of a certain loveable scamp from "Rhoda," "There's been rumors going around that I drink a lot. Well, I want to put an end to all those rumors: I drink a lot." Unlike Carlton Your Doorman, though, most of what I drink is non-alcoholic. But this HAS been a trend, one that sucks: I've been at least mildly dehydrated for my entire time in Europe...which sucks seeing as how I drain my Brita constantly at home. Must get used to this for the future...
Anyways, it's time to change and get to bed. I'm tired and tomorrow is a long day, with the revised plan starting at 7:30AM for Frühstuck followed by EE and seeing the Frauenkirche before going DVD shopping (one disc...) and then getting the ungodly amount of Manga at NeoTokyo. That fills the morning, maybe hit the Spielzeug museum after lunch and then get the gum and chocolate to take home, dinner, pack, and sleep. Checkout has to be before 9, which kinda sucks, mebbe an EE run Wednesday is in order, will see after tomorrow. Either way the adventure is, sadly, coming to an end. I'm going to miss it over here, but there's a bunch of stuff I'm looking forward to at home as well. Until next time...
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Seat not Guaranteed
2002-08-24 09:35:08
19.08.02
14.30
I'm currently sitting on the ICE train in Nuremburg Station. I'm in a chair now, which is nice, as for the last 2,5 hours I was standing/sitting (depending on the time) on the floor in the hallway area at the end of the train car. The train was full - FULL full. It was also home to, you guess ed it, a pair of noisy school groups.
Anyhow, let's set the wayback machine to Staurday night...
Got into Fürstenwalde OK, the train went direct after Frankfurt (Oder), and some more people got on there, but night trains aren't something I really want to do again on thsi type of system.
Made dinner. Paprika here ins't really spicy - it's wussy as hell but it does have some nice flavor, so dinner wasn't so great. Angel Sanctuary (yes, that Angel Sanctuary) was on TV (yes, uncut, yes poorly dubbed), and we watched that, goofed off a bit, and went to bed. Mad and Xeno have a pretty big and nice apartment which is cool, as it meant they had a couch for me to crash on.
Got up around 10ish Sunday Morning, then around 10:30 we had breakfast, watched some TV, and then Mad and I went into Berlin for the afternoon while Xeno stayed home since she wasn't feeling well. We saw the Brandenburger Tor (gate), which was under rennovation, as well as a church/memorial, the POtzdammer Platz, and the Reichstag. Also did a fast EasyEverything run, which was nice except that now I'm getting so much fucking spam now on my main email accounts...and more than usual on the animenation acocunt as well. At least I got the email allowing an RMA on the RioVolt, which I'll read in more detail tonight.
We debated going to Potsdam, as the Berlin S-Bahn runs a train there, but there were conductors near the train and Mad's 2 hour pass had run out so he dind't want to risk it. We walked over to the RE station and went home, this time with cayenne in hand.
Dinner (also made by me) was red beans with mushrooms, green peppers, and tomatoes over rice. Good stuff. Must make this at home. We watched the Osbournes and Anatomie, a German movie with Franka Potente (Lola Rennt) in it. It was a suspense/thriller film and pretty good. I think it's out in the USA too, as it was the German branch of Columbia Pictures that made it.
After the film (1AM) I took a fast shower, repacked so that the dirty laundry (more of it now than clean) was packing things and got to bed at around 2, to get up at 7 so Mad could direct me to the train station on his way to work. Said my thank-yous and goodbyes to him and Sandra, and promptly failed to sleep on a train so far today, especially as people with reserved seats on the first ICE stretch kept coming on and bumping me around and then the floor thing now.
The plan upon arrival in München is to go straight to the hostel, check in, then find an Imbiss, get dinner, and try to get some cheap time at EasyEverything before crashing fairly early. Tomorrow isf or buying Manga, DVDs, Candy, and a possible visit to the Toy Museum (which isn't supposed to suck in München). Then it's the final packing 'cuz Wednesday is the long, dreaded flight home.
This reminds me, must email Anne. A reminder is always good for this sort of thing. Right now, though, jotting hostel directions in the small notebook and trying to nap sound good. Till later... -
Paranoia 190
2002-08-23 20:11:12
(this is the 2nd or 3rd entry for today...just keep reading the pink)
17.08.02
19.41
I know we're supposed to be close, but I'm writing anyways. I know I'm being blindly paranoid right now, but the fact that all the station signs are now bilingual with Polish isn't exactly comforting. I know that Poland is relatively peaceful, but I don't think they're very Auslander friendly, especially to americans, and especially since Russian is the secondary language of choice and not English. I know I haven't gone too far as it's supposed to be about 3 hrs. to Frankfurt and we're at 2,5 now, but the fact that there's only one other person in the car isn't helping, nor the fact that it's been a good while since I've seen the DB lady, nor the fact that we just had to stop for 5 min. for some reason...I hope i still make my connection and that I don't get stuck on the border or deep in Ossi land - tourists ain't popular to begin with here and i'm screaming "money!" right now because of the secondly, mostly still monogrammed bag. I'm ready to get to the apartment and cook now. Sigh, at least I'm armed. Airport security may not think so, but a cable lock CAN be used as a weapon in at least two ways, and mine is very close at hand...
(Ed notes: Mad later informed me that I went through Sorb territory. The sorbs are an ethnic minority who enjoy some protected rights such as the right to have their language on things in their areas...and their language closely resembles poland. Secondly, this entry was almost exactly one page handwritten to give you an idea of how much there is to type. 12 to go.) -
OK, So I Lied...
2002-08-23 20:01:08
(Fast note from the present: Including this entry I have 16 more pages to type in. I haven't written ANYTHING since the last entry in München before I left on Wednesday. Updates of the present will continue after finishing the past.)
17.08.02
18.34
I'm on a train right now, this one to Frankfurt an der Oder. Yes, there's two Frankfurts. This train isn't as smooth as the ICE trains, which is making writing a bit hard.
The flooding in Dresden is pretty bad - the Elbe, which bisects the city, is usually lower than 2 meters. This morning it was up to 9,40 meters. I made it to the City, though. The RB from Leipzig was nasty, though. It had crack windows (they only onpen a crack unlike the RE ones which drop halfway), packed, and with generally unfriendly looking people. no one dangerous, but a lot of unfriendly looks. The connection from Leipzig was thankfully late leaving because the ICE was 15 min. late getting in.
The arrival in Dresden was 30 min. late, after which I found Mad and we began to walk to Xeno's place. Yes, walk. No, she isn't around the corner, but the flooding was bad enough that he dind't know if the city busses or trains were running, and streets were blocked off preventing his car from being useful. We walked for about 30 min. and got by the Elbe, including a point with a great view where I took a picture.
About 5-10 min. later he found an intersection with a tram station and a Konsum. I got some flowers for Xeno's mother and drinks for me while Mad phoned Xeno and delivered the news that her father was coming to pick us up.
After a short ride we got ot her house. What little I saw of it was lovely, with a huge garden and we settled in, watched a little TV, mostly about the flooding, and went for a bit of a walk. We went to a big hill that you can go through as well as the top of by train as well as to a lookout point. I'm going to have to get ephotos sent to me of this, as I forgot my camera but we had Xeno's digi.
Following this excursion, we went back to the house, watched more TV, this time about the flood only becuse nothign else was on, and eventually crashed. As far as flood coverage here is concerned, think back to American TV in September. At least here regular programming ran most of the time.
This morning, Mad and I went out to do a little sightseeing (keyword: little) and examine the flooded district. Some foto fun ensued, and I did my infamous flood jumping routine (an encore from Otakon 2001) but where I did it was deeper than it looked and now I have a rolled up pair of jeans in my bag which are soaked below the knee. So it goes, but the pair I changed to is a bit stinky. Then again, so am I right now.
We got back after a run to the open train station to get some schedules and hung around for a while. Sandra's pets all seem scared of me, which is a pity because she has so many (2 guinea pigs - schnitzel and twix, five birds, and a tank of fish.)
Oh, another thing Mad and I did while out was to buy some stuff for dinner - I'm cooking. I keep forgetting that peppers here in fresh and powdered form = paprika. Anyhow we bought what SHOULD make a good veggie dinner (forgot the soy sauce tho) and when I get to their place in Fürstenwalde, I get to cook. Hopefully it'll come out OK.
It's very cloudy right now. it actually rained for about 5 minutes. Hopefully it'll be clear near Berlin and all lines will be open direct to Munich on Monday.
I'm up to 20+ pages of material to type in. Joy. No net in Dresden, and maybe not today (prolly not) or tomorrow either - Mad and Xeno just started settling and haven't gotten DSL activated for their new place yet.
Xeno did lend me some manga to read, though. I read Exaxdxion 1, and I think I may have to pick it up in München. I also read Angelic layer 2 first half and in my bag but unread are the last volume of Dragonball and the first volume of Wish. I think that by now, though, we're close enough to Frankfurt that I'm going to just watch scenery, daydream music, and listen for announcements. We were announced at 1 hr. 20 left when I was getting ready to start, so we're just under an hour now. Of course, Angelic Layer is fast reading. I think that I'll finish that first...either way this entry is over.
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