Clouds

Posted on 2006-07-21 by Curt Gilman

I’m in Krakow for another day because my train to my next destination doesn’t leave until 10:30 pm. I looked into other ways of traveling or breaking the trip into smaller trips, but nothing seemed reasonable.

I don’t like night trains. They always smell like death and they stop at every station. If you do get to sleep, a conductor wakes you up for your ticket or a policeman wakes you up for your passport. I don’t even try.

I got to see a few more sights in Krakow, but now I’m passing time. I’m done to my last eight zloty, and I need four to get my luggage out of storage at the train station. I don’t feel like exchanging any more, and I’ve already mentioned my ATM woes. I’ll put a nice dinner on a credit card.

The good news is that it has suddenly become cloudy here, and with a light breeze, the weather is almost tolerable. If it rains, I’m likely to strip off my shirt and twirl it over my head like I just kicked the winning goal in a World Cup match.

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Arbeit macht frei: Day trip to the Auschwitz concentration camps

Posted on 2006-07-20 by Curt Gilman

I took a day trip to Auschwitz today, the site of several of the most important German Nazi concentration camps. Day trip to Auschwitz →

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Polish beer

Posted on 2006-07-19 by Curt Gilman

I’ve had some really good beer here in Poland. I don’t know why no one ever told me about Polish beer, or why it doesn’t find its way to the US. I’ve had Żywiec and Tyskie both in Warsaw and here in Krakow, and right now I’m drinking Okocim. All have been very good. I’ve been enjoying them in moderation, of course.

If you’re beginning to wonder if beer is becoming a theme of this trip, relax. Beer is a theme of every trip I take.

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Improvising to deal with language issues in Poland

Posted on 2006-07-19 by Curt Gilman

Until I arrived in Poland, I didn’t really have any language issues. In England, of course, they speak English. In Iceland, the Netherlands, and Denmark, nearly everyone speaks English in addition to his mother tongue, and most signs are also in English. In Germany, this is less the case, but I speak German well enough to get by. However, here in Poland, very few people, except young people, speak English well, and there are very few signs in English. Continue reading →

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Warsaw, Poland: Local currency, done with camping

Posted on 2006-07-18 by Curt Gilman

I don’t like walking around a city without local currency, but my minor debit card crisis was resolved quite easily last night. I just took some dollars from my backup and exchanged them at a bureau, old school. Now I remember why I bring backup cash when I travel. Walking around Warsaw →

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First glance at Warsaw

Posted on 2006-07-17 by Curt Gilman

I arrived in Warsaw about 90 minutes ago, and already I’m out sightseeing. I got a room in a private residence for the night. The owner approached me as I came off the train, walked me to her place, talked my ear off for a while, had a glass of wine with me, and suggested that maybe I was looking for a nice Polish girl at least twice. I escaped for a walk around the city before the sun goes down, since I may move on in the morning. On the other hand, the city seems interesting, so I could stay another night.

I tried getting some money from an ATM here, and after several attempts at several ATMs, I made a very expensive phone call to my credit union. It turns out that there are four countries where members’ cards won’t work, and Poland is one of them. Apparently there has been an unusually high incidence of ATM card fraud here. The rest of my itinerary will be okay. Fortunately I brought some dollars with me. I hope my credit cards work.

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Digital camera failure near beginning of trip

Posted on 2006-07-17 by Curt Gilman

Unfortunately, my digital camera died a few days into my trip. I’m not sure what’s wrong with it, but I put four fresh batteries in it, and it still shows low battery and won’t power up. I suspected something was wrong with it before I left and almost bought a new one. If I see one I can afford while I’m traveling, I may splurge.

Otherwise, I’ve been taking pictures with my phone, which may have disappointing results. The only good news is that it will hold about 10,000 photos, so I can attempt to substitute quantity for quality. It also takes video, which has been fun for shooting fountains, waterfalls, and so forth.

I probably won’t put any pictures online until I get home, but if I get an opportunity, I may do it sooner.

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Another border crossing, and two more stamps in my passport. I’m now in Poland, bound for Warsaw. I actually bought a ticket for Krakow, but since there is a connection in Warsaw, and since the second ticket is full-fare, I thought I might stick around Warsaw for a night or two and continue the journey later.

Posted on 2006-07-17 by Curt Gilman | Leave a comment

Berlin Hauptbahnhof

Posted on 2006-07-17 by Curt Gilman

Those of you who have been to Berlin before may remember that, unlike most German cities, it didn’t have a “Hauptbahnhof”, a main train station. Most tourists coming from the west arrived at the Berlin Zoologischer Garten station, often simply called “Berlin Zoo”, which was a small, crowded, overworked station in a very seedy part of the former West Berlin. It wasn’t a pleasant welcome, and it was unbefitting a capital city.

Last month, Berlin Hauptbahnhof opened, probably just in time for the World Cup, if I had to guess. This is where I’m sitting now. It’s an impressive structure, with two criss-crossing levels of train tracks and three additional levels of shopping and services. It’s actually a fairly pleasant place to spend a couple hours waiting for a train. I haven’t even seen a drug dealer yet!

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Berlin, Germany: Keeping properly hydrated

Posted on 2006-07-17 by Curt Gilman

Having lived in Arizona for almost two years, I should be keenly aware of how important proper hydration is. However, it’s easy to forget here in Europe where the climate is so much milder. Earlier this morning, I bought a 1.5-liter bottle of mineral water while waiting for a train. I was a little surprised that I was able to drink it in about ten minutes. Mostly I’ve been drinking coffee and beer the past couple weeks, and I’ve been sweating a lot as I walk around cities or haul my pack around train stations, so I was probably poorly hydrated. From here on, I’m going to make it a goal to drink three liters of water per day, or more if necessary. I’m just over two weeks into my trip, and it would be a lousy time to get sick.

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I’m in Berlin for the night. I’ve been here before, so I’m not really visiting, but I got a great rail fare from Copenhagen to here. I plan to hole up for the night, watch a little CNN, and continue east in the morning. I found a reasonably cheap hotel room in a quiet part of the city, and I’m ready to chill.

Posted on 2006-07-16 by Curt Gilman | Leave a comment

I wanna give a shout-out to my family. They’re keeping an eye on my place while I’m away and e-mailing me updates from home. They’re also taking care of some small chores for me, and it’s making my trip a lot easier. Thanks, y’all! Peace out.

Posted on 2006-07-16 by Curt Gilman | Leave a comment

Beer in Denmark

Posted on 2006-07-16 by Curt Gilman

After a few days in Copenhagen, I can say that I’m absolutely amazed by the quantity of beer people drink here.

I learned during my tour of the Carlsberg brewery that historically the water was unsafe to drink here, so people drank beer instead. During the Renaissance, Danes began importing new foods from all over the world, but they were very salty, so the average person would drink upwards of ten liters of beer a day. As recently as the late 19th century, the daily beer ration per worker at the Carlsberg brewery was four liters per day. That’s over a gallon of beer per worker per day. What a perk!

Nowadays, they still drink quite heavily here. I saw people on the street drinking as early as 10 am. Kids hanging out by the harbor in the evening settled in with entire cases of beer. I assume they were sharing among several friends, but it’s still a lot of beer when you’re hanging out in a public place.

Being one to do as the Romans do, I had an early beer this morning before I boarded the train. I’m heading to Germany today. Does anyone know if they serve beer there?

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More Copenhagen

Posted on 2006-07-15 by Curt Gilman

I’m still in Copenhagen, sitting by the one of the canals, enjoying a cold beer in the shade. The weather today is absolutely perfect. The temperature is about 80 degrees, there’s hardly a cloud in the sky, and there’s a nice breeze to keep everything pleasant. I just finished an hour-long harbor cruise, which was delightful.

I did meet up with my friend here yesterday. We got together in the afternoon for drinks and a late lunch. She took me to the part of the city where she lives, where there were no tourists, just locals enjoying a leisurely summer Friday afternoon with friends and beers along the lake. It was very relaxing. In the evening, I saw the Tivoli Gardens for a couple hours, and then turned in. Today, more sightseeing. Tomorrow, I move on.

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Danish beer: Carlsberg and Jacobsen at the brewery in Copenhagen

Posted on 2006-07-14 by Curt Gilman

I just finished the Carlsberg brewery tour, which naturally included a couple tastings. The beer here is very good. I had a Tuborg last night, and a Carlsberg Pilsner and a Jacobsen Brown Ale here at the brewery. Continue reading →

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Clean laundry at last

Posted on 2006-07-13 by Curt Gilman

I arrived in Copenhagen this morning, and after an overnight train, I took a shower and crashed for a couple hours. Then, while wearing the last of my clean clothes and a bathing suit as underwear, I found a laundry near my hotel, which took some doing, because the front desk clerk’s directions were somewhat vague. However, when I found the laundromat, the woman who worked there pointed out that she offered full-service laundry, so for the equivalent of about $11, I let her do my laundry while I got a couple more hours sleep back at the hotel. A few hours later, I picked up a trash bag full of nice, clean, folded laundry.

As I now, I have US dollars, Icelandic kronurs, British pounds, euros, and Danish kroners with me. My document pouch is getting crowded.

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On the rails

Posted on 2006-07-12 by Curt Gilman

I’ve had several great days in Amsterdam, but it’s time to move on. I decided to go to Copenhagen next, which is a long train ride from Amsterdam. I bought tickets this morning, and I could have left almost right away, but the idea of arriving in a city at midnight didn’t appeal to me. I’d rather spend the night on the train, so I’m leaving around 7 pm.

Of course, that left the problem of what to do with seven hours. I had lunch. Then I did a canal cruise through old Amsterdam. That was pretty cool. Now I’m just catching up on e-mail and enjoying a pint.

Speaking of pints, I went to “The Heineken Experience” yesterday, which was not unlike an Anheuser-Busch brewery tour, minus the brewery part. It was more of a museum filled with company history and shameless self-promotion …. and free beer, of course. Three half-pints, to be precise. You also got a Heineken souvenir bottle opener when you leave, which was actually a decent gift, since I forgot to bring one along.

While sitting here waiting for time to pass, I finally heard from my friend in Copenhagen … not a moment too soon! She said she’d like to show me around when I get there, so I have something new to look forward to.

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More Amsterdam, more rain

Posted on 2006-07-11 by Curt Gilman

Rain seems to follow me everywhere I go. This morning I woke up to thunder and rain pouring down on my little tent. I’ve managed to keep dry, somehow.

Last night was a late night. I was told to check out the red-light district after dark. However, it doesn’t get dark here until around 11 pm. While I was in a bar waiting for it to get dark, I ran into four other backpackers from all over the US, two guys and two girls, plus one guy from Australia. After another round at that bar, we did some bar-hopping together.

Of course, being in the red-light district, we had to have a look at the offerings in the windows. There seems to be something for every taste there. All the guys in the group thought the girl with the glasses was quite hot. At first I thought maybe it was just me because, well, I’ve got a thing for glasses. It appeared that the more attractive girls worked the main street, and as you got further away, they became, shall we say, uglier.

One of the girls in our little group thought we should all go see a sex show, so we found one and went inside for a half-hour. I think we were all a little disappointed. I think I had an image in my mind of Amsterdam before I got here, and so it was a letdown to discover it isn’t really as depraved as I thought it would be.

I had some city plans for today, but I’m going to wait for the rain to let up a little, and maybe get a little more sleep. I also have a critical laundry shortage, so I need to do some wash soon. I’m down to my last pair of undies, and they’re starting to get ripe.

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Amsterdam: Arrival and camping

Posted on 2006-07-10 by Curt Gilman

Just a quick update. I’m in Amsterdam, and I’m camping once again. I arrived Saturday night very late, so I had to spend one night in a hotel, but I’ll spend three nights at the campground. The campground is just three bus stops from the central train station, so it’s in a really great location. Camping in Amsterdam →

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Docked in Holland

Posted on 2006-07-08 by Curt Gilman

It’s just now midnight, and I’m safely in Holland. We docked in a place called Hoek von Holland. It took less than five minutes to disembark and clear passport control. Now I have to wait a half-hour for my train. They let you buy train tickets on the ship, which is really cool.

Unfortunately, the station is really empty. There are vending machines, but I have no change in euros, and there are no attendants at this hour. I hope the train has a cafe, but I’ll bet it doesn’t.

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