This is (for now) just one of my pictures from Berlin.

It’s my fav.

The story behind this sucker as follows: It is the underbelly of the roof of the Sony Center in Postdamer Platz (my favorite local in Berlin).

At night time, it begins to change colors… but I didn’t know when.

SO, I stood outside… in the cold… around 12 degrees… for 1 hour, just for this one shot.

However, if pink isn’t your color, you may also view it in blue.

I will be in Londontown from today until my flight leaves at 12 noon on Tursday.

It will be nice to once again be surrounded by the English language… even if it is with a funny accent.

By the way. Bruges overtook Prague for the most amazing location visited on eurosix.

If you have not yet been, plan a trip.

Simply amazing.

In my last stop before heading back to London, I’ll spend 24 hours in the land of chocolate while tucked away in the supposedly wonderful, quaint little city of Bruges, Belgium.

That’s all. Sunday is a fun day.

Webster’s Dictionary defines shock as:

An over-response of the body that leads to extremely reduced blood pressure that can threaten essential bodily functions.

I’m out, kids. Have a good one. If all else fails, just be glad you won’t fall asleep to the aroma of Marijuana tonight.

John Byars has been encouraging me to post on the food I’ve been eating while abroad.

I thought I’d kick things off with the hugest hot dog in the land. This big mama can be found on the main cobblestone shopping lane in Vienna, Austria. Keep in mind that I did not zoom-in for this shot. The people in the background are actually standing right being the hot dog.

Also… my hands are 4 feet wide.

Sooo good. They take a piece of toasted sub sandwich bread. Chop off the tip. Slip it over a heated metal “thingy” to hollow it out. Then pour some ketchup inside, and slide the huge dog right in.

All of you have very dirty minds. I just wanted you to know that.

In all seriousness, it is absolutlely delicious.

Snag one next time you’re in Austria.

Prague is the most beautiful city I have ever been to, hands down.

Granted, I’m not the “world traveller” as some of you are. But after 37 states and 10 countries… this city wins easily.

Ironically, it’s extremely hard to photograph.

Why? Because you just can’t fit it all into one shot… the streets, the buildings, the landscape.

Too much.

However, I tried.

Photos from Prague.

Most of my photos from Rome are stored on my iPod… but I’ll dig ‘em up later.

Rome is amazing. History, literally around every corner. You can feel it in the air, and can touch it along the way.

Mass at St. Peter’s Bascilica, the Vatican, the Sistine Chapel, and seeing the Pope himself kicked off the first 24 hours in Rome.

But there’s a whole lot more to Rome than old stuff and pointy-hats… I think.

Some favorite shots are here… here… here… and here.

Photos from Rome.

An unplanned location for my trip, but a pleasant surprise nontheless.

Vienna is a lovely town with old buildings, broad streets, and very efficient and clean public transportation system.

I got spoiled though, as it snowed 9 inches on the day of my arrival.

However, this made for some good photos. But snow, as beautiful as it appears, is so dang hard to photograph.

Photos from Vienna, Austria.

A must-see on any European vacation.

Venice, Italy was, and is everything you think it will be.

You really do have to use boats to get to wherever you want to go. There are no cars, not even the smallest golf cart. Just sidewalks and canals.

Everything on the island is hand-trucked from one location to another. Therefore, everything is expensive.

However, it’s worth every dime.

Photos from Venice.

Welcome to photo day…

This is kinda like in Elementary school when the teacher would show movies all day because he/she was in a good mood and the class was ahead of the lesson plan.

So… most, but not all of the photos from the last few locations will be posted every couple hours today.

Enjoy.

…how cold was it?

It is this cold.

However, the temperatures here are slightly misleading. Remember… I’m walking through snow and ice, which makes my boots cold, which makes me cold. Also, half of the time I’m walking directly into the wind.

But, there’s plenty to see… so it’s all good.

After I checked into my hostel on Monday, I hopped the U-Bahn to go see the famous Brandenburg Gate.

After a couple of minutes on the train, I dug into my bag to snag a couple of Haribo gummie bears, a constant source of nutrtion throughout my European jaunt. As I did this, some grizzly fellow across from me said something in German. I responded my stating that I didn’t speak German… in German (kind of ironic, don’t you think?). So… he goes into this whole conversation with me, in German, and from what I could understand, he was saying one of two things:

“This guy has gummie bears and he won’t give me one!”

…or

“This stupid American came to our country and doesn’t know the language!”

After about 3 minutes of this ranting, four other German men who were sitting around me began to yell at him.

One of them looks at me, smiles and gives me a gesture to relax. I wasn’t at all nervous, just confused. But basically… from what I picked up, the four German guys sitting around me told the guy to go screw himself and to quit bothering me bcause I was handsome and had sky-blue eyes… ok, but they did tell him to go screw himself… which only made him talk more.

At my stop, I hopped off the train and in German, thanked the guy sitting next to me… and then I smirked at the guy who wanted the gummie bear.

I love Berlin. Love it. History, architecture, and some good, good food. A few tid-bits from the last 24+ hours.

Sorry I did so little posting from Prague… so I figured I’d give you a round up.

No… this is not a joke. But there’s more to the story than this title might imply.

Background: For my train transportation around Europe, I bought a Eurail Pass. Basically, I paid a flat fee and can hop on any train at anytime. Also, I accidentally bought a 1st Class ticket… which turned out to be the best mistake I ever made.

So, I hop on the train this morning headed from Prague (located in the Czech Republic) to Berlin (located in Germany). We are about 20 minutes into the train ride when the ticket taker comes by and asks for my tickets. I hand him my Eurail Pass.

“No.” says the ticket taker.

“I’m sorry?” I reply.

“No good in Czech Republic.” he says.

Oh crap… I had forgotten that my pass isn’t valid in this country.

“You just pay for ticket here. You pay now with Euros or Czech.” he stumbles through in broken… oh-so-broken English.

I freeze, because I know that I haven’t carried any Euros with me in a week, and I spent all my Czech money before leaving Prague because I knew I wouldn’t use it anymore.

As I explain this, a not-so-good look comes across his face. “2nd Class.” he says.

So I’m thinkin’ this is all good. I’ll just chill in 2nd Class for 4 hours to Berlin, and we’ll pretend this thing never happened.

So he leads me through the cars en route to 2nd Class. (It almost felt like I was being walked to the principals office.) He finds me a private cabin in 2nd Class and asks me to sit down. I do so… with a big smile… until…

“100 kilimeters… next stop.” he says.

“Pardon.” I respond… in a very, very nervous tone.

“Next stop… 1 hour, you get off.” he says.

Then I get nervous.

I had been on trains in Europe enough over the last 5 weeks to know that a “stop” can mean a giant city, or a lowly cow pasture.

Long-story-short, I was dropped off in a city that appeared to be about the size of Birmingham, Alabama. I snagged a train ticket, relaxed for a couple hours in the McDonald’s with a cappucino (that wasn’t too bad, I might add), and waited for the next train to Berlin.

I still have actually no idea what the name of the town was… so I made up my own: Smökin-Gürlzen

Why? Because one out of every two girls was absolutely gorgegous (or… “smoking hot”). It was almost too weird.

The craziestest part of this whole story? When I hopped on my new train, sitting in the first cabin that I entered were my roomates from the night before in Prague. Some nice Chicago college students who had been involved in train trouble of their own

Happy Friday everyone.

I’ve spent the better part of my day on trains from Budapest to Vienna to Prague… and now I’m here, the place that everyone told me I “had to go.”

I’m pumped, but it’s late… 11:30 PM here.

I’ve got a classic story from the train today, but I’ll have to share it later.

I’m exhausted. I’m out.

At a crosswalk today away from the city center, I was 1 of 10 people standing, and there wasn’t a car in sight for at least 3 blocks in either direction. So, I stepped of the curb to jolt 12 feet to the other side. The other 9 individuals looked at me as if I had just kicked a small child.

About 1 out of every 4 girls I see has a piercing in the oddest of locations. To find this location, take your left index finger and point to the left corner of your mouth. Now, go up one-quarter of an inch, now go in towards your nose one-quarter of an inch. Yeah, told you it was weird.

I thought I was just seeing things at first, but after I passed 10 people within 45 minutes, all carrying their flowes upside down… I took notice. It kinda makes sense though… nevermind, no it doesn’t.

After my last statement, it’s obvious that Hungarians love their floral arrangements. 10 people in 1 hour, all toting flowers? There’s something weird in the water in Budapest.

Wanna go shopping? Grab something for dinner? Better do so before 7:00 PM when around 80% of all businesses shutdown for the day. At first I couldn’t figue out why… that is, until the 5 degree wind hit my face just as the sun was going down.

In another random maneuver, I am headed to Hungary tomorrow… namely, Budapest.

I am really pumped about this city for two reasons. One, everything is sooo cheap. Two, I had not originally planned on going, yet have heard so many great things about this city.

Drew, I know you are a little jealous… I will take some notes for you from what should be a fabulous 72 hours in a new location.

I took a truck-load of pictures in Florence, Italy. These are most, but not all.

This one is my favorite. But you can enjoy them all.