Plane flight sucked ass. 10 straight hours. I swear Goph and I were the only people not sleeping on the plane. Dude sitting next to me was an old, rude, British guy. He kept hitting the buttons that controlled my TV. Anyways, we met this chick at the airport. Lauren, from Chicago. She's been studying in Dublin the last couple months. She's on her way home for the summer. Had a massive layover, so she hung out with us. She's way cool. We ate dinner at a shitty Italian joint. Then went bar hopping. These people were playing jumbo Jenga at the bar. It was pretty cool. We drank some Absinth. That shit is rank. Dude, everything here is just like in the movies: small, fast and weird. Anyways, I'm drunk and cold. I'm going to bed.


Date: 5-23-04
Location: South Kensington - London, England

Dude, we saw so much shit today. First we hopped the Underground (subway) to Westminster. Westminster is way cool. We saw Big Ben, Abbey, the Parliament House, the palaces, and Trafalgar Square. Then we wandered over to St. James Park and Buckingham Palace. Buckingham Palace was a major letdown. So whatever. We hopped the Underground a couple miles down the river to the London Bridge. That's pretty gay too. Then we walked down to the Tower Bridge and Tower of London. Tower of London is a dope little castle. I so wanna live in there. I'd fill the moat back up and shoot anyone that came near my castle in the head with an arrow. We then wandered all over London north of the Thames. I love all the little alley ways between buildings. A lot of them have little hidden shops and pubs. Pimp shit. Next, we walked to St. Paul's Cathedral. It was probably the biggest and coolest cathedral we have seen yet. But it's under rennovation, so that kinda sucked. So we just kept wandering along the north side of the Thames checking out cool buildings and weird people. Oh yeah, where do these people get gas? I haven't seen one gas staion since we've been here. Anyways, we're back at the hostel now just chillin'. We're gonna go party tonight at Piccadilly Circus (kinda like Time Square). If I'm not to drunk, I'll write some more when we get back. Oh, and have I mentioned the guy that runs this hostel? He's a total smoker. Lay off the crack buddy.

OK, so we just got back and I'm not drunk at all. But there's a good reason for that. WE GOT FUCKING JACKED!! 400 POUNDS (thats somewhere around $700-$750 USD). Well I guess it wasn't like a straight jack... it was more like a scam. But who gives a fuck. Either way we're out $700. Fuck Piccadilly Circus. All I can say is avoid the little red light district at all costs. I don't care how drunk you are and how hot the chicks look... avoid that place like the plague. I don't even wanna talk about it I'm so pissed. Oh, but one of the bouncers at the place that jacked us totally thought he was that guy from Snatch. LOL. Anyways, our roomate is finally here. He's pretty cool. This dude has been everywhere. Right now he's telling Goph about Paris. He said there are hella hot chicks there. Should be interesting. Well, I'm going to bed now so I can forget about this entire night.


Date: 5-24-04
Location: Hyde Park - London, England

We're just chillin' at this park. I just ate this sausage something or another. It had the spiciest mustard I've ever had on it. Anyways, we're gonna shove off to the Eurostar station now. Goodbye London, hello Amsterdam! CHEERIO Oh yeah, there are hella hot chicks picnicing at this park in PAIRS. I mean tons... more then just a coincidence. Makes you wonder. :P


Date: 5-24-04
Location: Brussels, Belgium

So ok, first, I'm a little intoxicated. We hopped a train from London to Brussels. It was way cool. Our first international train ride. It was pretty quick and smooth. And the middle car was a food and beverage car. So Goph and I pounded some beers (1664, a French beer) while we cruised the England, France and Belgium countrysides. Every single little town in the country had an old church as a central/focal point. Oh, and we met these guys from Zona. They've been/are going all over this freakin' continent. I'm so jealous. They gave us the address to the hostel they're staying at in Amsterdam. So we're gonna try to meet up and party. Anyways, the train from Brussels to Amsterdam is about to bounce, so I'm outtie.


Date: 5-25-04
Location: Rotterdam, Netherlands

Check this shit out. So Goph and I get off the train in Amsterdam last night. First thing when we got off the train we are greeted by some kids trying to sell us shit. Welcome to Amsterdam, right? Wrong. Lemme continue. So we give a cab driver the address to that hostel those Zona dudes are staying at. He's like, "That street doesn't exist, but I know where that hostel is." We're like, "OK, whatever." So he takes us to the hostel. We check in, put our stuff down, and decide to get something to eat and maybe hit up a strip joint. We ate at this Turkish place. Damn tasty. So we go looking for a strip club. We found like 4 or 5 of them right next to each other. We ask the guy at the door of one of them where the red light district is. He's like, "You mean with girls in the windows and stuff? We don't have one. You have to go to Amsterdam. 70 kilometers away." We're like, "What the fuck? We're not in Amsterdam?" They started laughing at us. So anyways, we need to pay more attention to the train stops. Dude, there was this little old guy in our room at the hostel. I woke up this morning and he's walking around butt naked. Anyways, we just caught a train to Amsterdam. Time to get stoned.


Date: 5-25-04
Location: Amsterdam, Netherlands

We found a pretty cool hostel in Amsterdam. It's like 3 blocks from the red light district. This place is insane. It's just like you'd imagine. Sex shops, coffee shops, and bars on every corner. We saw some cool stuff today. We went to the Anne Frank house. That was way cool. After reading the book, it really puts into perspective what these people actually went through. Then we wandered around some more and came across a sex museum. It covered sex through the ages. I mean, they had hardcore porn pics from like 125 years ago. They had all kinds of sex stuff from various tribes and cultures from the past 1000 years. It was a trip. 2.50 euro well spent. After that, we found our way to the red light district. We had a couple beers at a bar. Then we found a cool little smoke shop (coffee shop) called The Greenhouse Effect. We stopped in there and ordered a fatty of Northern Lights and a stein of Heineken. Now, neither Goph or myself are smokers, so we got totally stoned. We walked around the district a little more, then headed back to the hostel. I threw on my iPod and passed out for a couple hours. So now it's about 10:00pm. It's still freakin' light out. I'm gonna jump in the shower now and get ready to go out. TOTAL DEBAUCHERY!! Oh, and I forgot to mention. Heineken here tasts so much better then in the states. It goes down so smooth. We're gonna go to the Heineken brewery tomorrow.


Date: 5-27-04
Location: Amsterdam, Netherlands

I guess technically it's the 27th, but it's still night time from the 26th. It's like 3:00am and I just got back to the hostel. I have no idea where Goph is. So we went to the Van Gogh museum and the Heineken brewery today. The Van Gogh museum was pretty cool. It was the first real art museum I've ever been to. Goph said that alot of his real famous paintings weren't even there. Then this dude told us that alot of his best work is in New York. So after that we went to the Heineken brewery. It's like a self guided tour through their original brewery which was in use until 1988. Then another brewery (outside of Rotterdam I think) took over major production. Anyways, it was pretty cool. And the admission included 3 drinks and a free gift which was a Heineken glass. I met some dude and two girls from Zona there. Then we met this other kid (Josh) from the University of Minnesota. He was cool. He came back to our area with us. We partied in the red light district again. We got way wasted. Josh and I went to the Casa Rossa Theater, which is the most popular live sex show in the district. Now, I must say, it was a major let down. I mean, it was way tamer then I thought it would be. I thought I would see some raunchy shit. I mean, it was way less then I can see on the internet for free. But it was still cool. People up on stage fucking and doing some weird shit. So while we were in the show, Goph was "window shopping". Now I think I forgot to mention that Goph went window shopping last night as well. I swear to god he went in at 12:59am and came out at 1:05am. I fucking timed it. LOL. Anyways, the three of us went over to the Grasshopper, a pretty popular bar/smoke shop. We did some dancing and boozing. Goph and I were talking to these girls at the bar, while Josh was talking to these girls at a table. So I went over with Josh. These girls wanted us to strip. So I started getting naked and dancing. They were laughing, blah blah blah. They were stupid broads anyways. They got annoying quick. So we told them to piss off and went on our merry way. That was the last time we saw Goph. Josh and I wandered around the district looking for him with no luck. So I showed Josh where the central station thing was and gave him the last couple punches on my metro card so he could get back to his hostel. Then I got something to eat and drink. And here I am. It's like 3:30am now and Goph is still MIA. I'm gonna throw on my iPod and chill for awhile. We're supposed to catch the first train to Brugge tomorrow. We'll see what happens. Oh, and I'm way wasted right now. So if I'm babbling and not making any sense, I don't care.


Date: 5-27-04
Location: Brugge, Belgium

So we hopped a train from Amsterdam to Brugge this morning. It didn't take us long to find a hostel. 12 euro. Can't beat that. This town is way cool. Mom, you'd love this place. It's beautiful. We wandered around all day. I got some good pics. We're sharing a room with this guy (Nathan) from Colorado. He's been studying Spanish in Barcelona for the last couple months. He's cool. We all went out boozing tonight. The nightlife in Brugge aint like Amsterdam, that's for sure. But this was definitly a nice break from Amsterdam. I mean, Ithought I felt dirty after a couple days in Vegas. Multiply that by 50 and that's how I felt after a couple days in Amsterdam. So Goph and I can't decide on whether or not to try to squeeze Barcelona in. I guess we'll decide tomorrow morning.

Alright, Goph and I were just talking and we're gonna try to squeeze Barcelona in between Paris and Madrid. It'll be tight, but I think we can do it.


Date: 5-28-04
Location: Paris, France

So we took a train from Brugge to Brussels this morning. Then caught the Thalys (high speed train) from Brussels to Paris. It was pretty cool. The train goes like 180mph. The metro system in Paris is confusing as hell. We tried for like 30 minutes to figure out how to get to our hotel with no luck. So we hopped a cab. We took showers then went out wandering. Of course, like every city thus far, we ended up on a street lined with sex shops, whore houses, and peep shows. And right in the middle of it was the Moulin Rouge. I wasn't expecting to see that, so that was pretty cool. We chilled at a bar for awhile, then wandered some more. I'm back at the hotel now. Tomorrow, we're gonna head out to Versailles and try to make it back early enough to go up to Sacre Coeur. Then we're gonna catch a night train to Barcelona. Well, that's the plan anyways. We haven't really stuck to our original plan thus far, so we'll see.


Date: 5-29-04
Location: Paris, France

So today we saw more then expected. First, we caught the metro out to Versailles. It's on the outskirts of Paris. It was originally a hunting lodge for King Louis VIII. Then, when his son took over, he added on to it and made it his permanent residence. This mother fucker was about as vain as they come. The entire place was like a shrine of himself. Anyways, the gardens were absolutely amazing. It's huge. It would be an awesome place to go with a chick. To bad I'm with Goph. LOL. So after Versailles, we caught the metro to the Eiffel Tower. That thing is pretty fat. It's huge. Way bigger then it looks in pictures and movies. It was chaos at the bottom. People everywhere. You could take elevators to the top, but the lines were like 2 miles long. So, we jumped back on the metro and headed for the Notre Dame. It was pretty cool. It wasn't as big as I thought it was gonna be. But still very cool. After that, we jumped the metro to the main intercity train station. We got our tickets to Barcelona there, but the train we're taking actually leaves from a different station. Anyways, we're on the train to Barcelona now. It's an overnight train. We won't be there until 10:00am tomorrow morning. So I'm gonna throw on the iPod and get some sleep.

OK, so it's like 3:00am in the morning now and I'm bored as hell. I forgot to charge my iPod at the hotel this morning, so it's already dead. I don't have any magazines to read since all of them at the train station were in French. I guess I could have bought some porn, then the language barrier wouln't have mattered. But then I would feel lonelier and hornier then I already do. Oh, and yes Tammy, I'm behaving myself. :P I was talking to this kid sitting next to me for like the last hour, but he got off at the last stop. He was cool. He's been studying all over Europe for the last couple years. Lucky bastard. So I swear I'm the only person not sleeping on this train. I can't sleep on these things for some reason. I saw a power outlet in the bathroom. I'm thinking about busting out the power converter and charging my iPod in there. If anyone tries jacking it, I'll smash their face in. I love that thing. Alright, well I'm outtie.


Date: 5-30-04
Location: Barcelona, Spain

So we got off the train in Barcelona and couldn't find anyone who spoke english. We were trying to find an internet cafe so we could find some hostels. Finally we just said screw it and booked a pretty nice hotel room for the next two nights. So we went up to the room, showered and changed, then went out wandering as usual. I swear we covered the entire southwestern corner of this city by foot today. There is a huge park up on a hill that has tons of stuff in it. It's got this old museum on one side. Then behind that is the Barcelona Olympic Park. And behind that is this old fort overlooking the ocean. It's now a military museum. We took a cable car thing (like a ski lift) up to that. Then we walked back to the hotel. I was freakin' beat. I didn't get any sleep last night on the train and my feet are killing me. So we got something to eat and called it a night. Now I'm laying in bed and there is loud ass music outside. And you can totally hear the people in the room next to us having sex. They have their balcony door open and Goph is outside smoking a cigarette. He's prolly trying to catch a peek. OMG, I just heard the guy finish. He was louder then the girl. LOL. Where the hell is this music coming from? Right now it's a bank holiday. I'm not quite sure what that is exactly, but I know it means they don't have to work. That sucks for us cause we need to do laundry really bad. We were just gonna use the hotel's laundry service, but they don't work tomorrow because of the holiday. So now we gotta try to find a laundry mat. Dude, their way of life is totally different over here. They work WAY less then we do. And they do everything later. Most restaurants don't even open for dinner until like 8:00pm. So anyways, our plan was to go to Madrid after this. Then train it back to London to catch our flight home. But we haven't exactly stuck to our plan thus far. I mean, Barcelona wasn't on our original plan, but here we are. So we're thinking about skipping Madrid and heading over to northern Italy for our last couple days. Then catching a flight from Venice back to London. I really wanted to see Glenn, so skipping Madrid would suck. But we really wanted to go to Milan and Venice but didn't think we'd have time. I guess we'll decide tomorrow. I'm gonna try to drown this music out and go to bed.


Date: 5-31-04
Location: Barcelona, Spain

This morning we started out at the temple Sagrada Familia. It's a huge crown looking cathedral. It was built in the late 1800's by Gaudi. Gaudi is a famous Spanish architect. He built most of the famous shit in this city. Sagrada Familia is way cool. It's under rennovation right now, which sucks. There is scaffolding and cranes and crap everywhere. I went up to the top. You had to climb this narrow, steep staircase like 75 meters. Once you get to the top, all the towers are connected by various walkways. Next, we went to the Park Geull, which was also built by Gaudi. It's a huge park up on a hill. It was originally supposed to be a garden city, but Gaudi ran out of money before he could finish it. The Spanish government bought it and turned it into a national landmark. Next, we wanted to go to this big castle thing up on the hill. It's called Tibadabo. We're not even sure what it is, but it looked cool and it was on our map. So we hopped the metro to the Tibadabo stop. Then climbed this big hill trying to find the cable cars that take you up there. After walking around for like 10 minutes, we gave up. We were dirty as hell and had already walked like 857 miles today. Plus we had to get to the internet cafe before it closed so we could figure out where we were going next. We wanted to head over to northern Italy, but a plane ticket from Milan or Venice to London was to much money. So I think we're gonna go to Madrid tomorrow and hang there for a day or two. Then head back to London a little early. That way we can go out to Stonehenge and catch some other stuff there before we leave. We need to do laundry real bad. We just cleaned our socks in the bathroom sink. Dude, we had to switch rooms earlier. There was a nasty ass sewage smell coming from our bathroom. I'm gonna go to bed now.


Date: 6-1-04
Location: Madrid, Spain

So we woke up this morning and went straight to the train station. The guy at the window we went to didn't speak any english. Now maybe we misunderstood him, but he made it seem like there were no openings on the next couple trains to Madrid and we'd have to make reservations in advance. So we were like, "What the fuck?!?!" So we waited in line at a different window hoping to get someone who spoke english. When we get up to the window, the guy gets up like he's going on break or something. Guess who his replacement was? Yup, the guy from our first window. LOL. I don't know if he just wanted to get rid of us or what, but he gave us two tickets on the next train to Madrid. On the train, we met this couple from Canada. They were in the middle of a 3 month trek around Europe. Once they were done with Europe, they were off to Australia. Oh, and get this. We were talking about the Sagrada Familia and I had mentioned that it sucked that it was under rennovation. She was like, "What do you mean? They are still building it." LOL. We thought they were already rennovating it. Gaudi had never finished it. So they are using his original plans to complete it. I guess next time we should spring for the audio guides. LOL. This couple was cool, but they stank. They needed to wash their clothes and bathe themselves. We got off the train and didn't really know where our hotel was. All we know was that it was by the Real Madrid stadium. So I called Glenn and asked him what the best way to get there was. He said the metro to the Cuzco stop. Then the phone died (my time was up) and I was outta change. So we jumped the metro. Once we got to the Cuzco stop, we took a cab to the hotel. The hotel screwed up our reservation and booked it for tomorrow night. But they had a room available at one of their other hotels. So they put us up there. We checked in then went out looking for food. We couldn't find anything right away so we went back to the hotel and ate at their restaurant. Now, we're supposed to be on a pretty tight budget. Right now we're staying at a four star hotel and treating ourselves to a dope ass meal. LOL. So we just got done doing some laundry in the sink. Doing laundry in the sink totally sucks. But I guess it's better then smelling like that couple on the train. So we're supposed to meet up with Glenn for lunch tomorrow, but I can't find his number. I think I might have thrown it away when I cleaned out my bag earlier. So I don't know what the fuck we're gonna do now. I'm going to bed.


Date: 6-2-04
Location: Greenwich - London England

So we hopped a flight from Madrid to London on an airline called EasyJet. We didn't feel like training it all the way back up to London. We booked one night at a shitty little hostel. It's kinda on the outskirts. Everyone staying here is stupid except this dude from Virginia. He's pretty cool. Goph almost got in a fight with this old dude in our room. I'm already done with this hostel and living out of a bag shit. It was fun for a week, but now it's just annoying. At least this hostel has a washer and dryer. It's like 2:00am and I'm sitting in the "chill out" room at the hostel. Goph went down the street to this bar/club thing. I might go down there and check it out. I have no idea what we're gonna do for the next 3 days. I think we're gonna go out to Stonehenge, and maybe try to find some castles or something.


Date: 6-3-04
Location: Harrow - London England

So we left that shitty hostel this morning. We booked a room at a Comfort Inn on the outskirts of London for the next three nights. Once we got off the metro we walked around for an hour trying to find the place. Finally, these people at a motor sports shop busted out a map and showed us where the street was. After we checked in, we showered and went down to the town center for a bite to eat. After that, we went to this bar/club thing. This is a pretty cool little suburb. Quiet. A nice break from the chaotic city. Right now we're watching Pet Semetary. LOL. We're in total lounge mode for our last couple days here. Tomorrow we're gonna try to find our way out to Stonehenge. We gotta take a train to Salisbury. Then a bus from there to Stonehenge. Then on Saturday we're gonna hit up Hampton Court Palace and Windsor castle (time permitting). The gardens at Hampton Palace look dope. Better then Versailles (at least in the pictures). We'll see. So all the chicks in Europe wear these damn shoes with a huge point at the toes. They look so freakin stupid. I can't stand them. Something else I noticed in Europe is fake tits. Nobody has them. Seriously, I think I have seen one or two sets of fake titties since we've been in Europe. That's way cool. Chicks just seem to be more real here, unlike Scottsdale, land of silicone. Well I'm gonna watch the rest of this movie then hit the sack.


Date: 6-4-04
Location: Harrow - London England

Today we went out to Stonehenge. We had to take an hour and a half train ride from Waterloo station out to Salisbury. Then a 30 minute bus ride to Stonehenge. It was way cool. Out of all the theories on what it is, the calendar theory makes the most sense to me. Basically, it marks the winter and summer solstices and all the months in between. Now, why they used blue stone from South Wales for the inner stones, I dunno. Maybe that showed some sort of power/authority. Now as amazing as stonehenge is, I learned today that it was built around the same time as the great pyramids of Egypt (around 2500-3000 BC). As far as how they were built, I'd have to say the pyramids are a litte more jaw dropping. I guess a big part of Stonehenge is the mystery. Nobody knows for sure who built it and for what. I got some good pics though. The commute there and back pretty much killed our entire day. Tomorrow we're gonna hit up Hampton Court Palace and Windsor Castle. I'm so sick of trains. I can't wait to get home so I can go back to bumming rides and taking the bus.


Date: 6-5-04
Location: Harrow - London England

We just got done stuffing our faces. I'm so full. Anyways, today we went out to Hampton Court Palace. It was beautiful. We took the metro to Richmond, then like a 30 minute bus ride out to the palace. It was built in the 16th century. The gardens were amazing. They have a 250 year old grape vine. It is supposed to be the oldest in the world. It still produces around 700lbs of grapes a year. The king's and Queen's apartments were decorated alot like those at Versailles. The gardens lead down to the river Thames. There is a canal from the river through the gardens that fills this long, narrow pool lined on both sides by trees. There were swans and geese swimming down it. It was beautiful. Welp, we're outta here tomorrow morning. We've only been gone two weeks, but I'm totally home sick. I'm watching England and Iceland on TV right now. It's their last game before Euro 2004. I wish we had the same love for soccer in America as the rest of the world. These people are so proud of their teams. Everyone is wearing shirts and hats. People have the flags waving from their cars and balconies. Anyways, I'm gonnna go to bed now. Thanks for getting me this journal Tammy. It was cool jotting down the days festivities every night. When I get home, I'll put it online with all the pictures. Peace out yo.