Mom's Stories

I think I have said before that the inspiration for this summer's European adventure is my mom's own adventure back when she was 18-19. My mom has always been an inspiration for me in many other ways, but after hearing endless tales of her European travels I wanted to try to get a taste of it for myself, even though I know I could never compare to her (and in some ways I don't want to - you'll see why).


My mom started the trip traveling with her aunt, but was eventually left alone to continue the trip by herself. She was armed with only a Eurail pass and a plane ticket home from London, and money that was very quickly running out. Eventually the money ran out entirely, and began seeking sleep on the beaches of Greece. To drink she would find discarded water bottles along the sand. To eat she would work for a day, dragging bricks up a hill in Corfu, and she would be rewarded with a baguette, which she woud save for days at a time, picking beetles out it to get at the bread.

In Greece she faced many difficulties, including an attempted "taking." If you have seen "Taken" with Liam Neeson, then you can get an idea of what would have happened to her. A man came up behind her with a chloroform-soaked rag and covered my moms mouth with it. Unable to fight, my mom was picked up by the man so he could bring her to his prostitution ring. Fortunately, a good-samaritan stopped the evildoer. My mom woke up naked in a Corfu hospital, with an IV coming out of her arm.

Anyone else would have been phased, but my mother gathered her belongings and headed to Germany for a glass of genuine cow's milk. At this point she had lost one shoe, but if you know my mom, then you know she will go to the end of the Earth for a good cup of milk. Throughout the trip she had waited to go to Denmark to see her friend Nicolaj (the very same Nicolaj I will be staying with this summer), as he was vacationing in Sicily with his family. His parents believed my mom was going to steal him away to Los Angeles where they would become actors. When they returned to Denmark she desperately headed North with no money and no shoe.

When she got to Copenhagen, she was warmly greeted by Nicolaj's parents, prominent fur-traders in Scandinavia (don't be mad, it's REALLY cold up there). They housed her, shoed her, fed her, and even let them spend time with their son. One of the most memorable occurences of my mom's visit in Denmark was Nicolaj pushing her in a fountain in front of a bunch of people. So you can get a pretty good idea of my mom: not bothered by attempted kidnapping, but if you make her recall the fountain fiasco, she turns red with embarrassment.

Since her ticket from London could only be used in a certain window of time, my mom eventually had to leave the warm hospitality of Nicolaj's family. With a now expired Eurail pass she hid in the bathrooms of the trains avoiding tickettakers, all the way to Amsterdam. Eventually she needed to make her way onto the British Isle. So my mom, after so much experience hiding on trains, but wanting to try something a little different, decided to stow away on a boat. She boarded the boat, and hid her things, and when they came around asking for a ticket, she burst into tears, claiming a foul fiend had stolen her belongings, including her money and boat ticket. The captain, brimming with empathy, invited her to the captain's table for dinner, and gave her a room for the evening. Once the boat arrived in England, my mom found her plane ticket and made her way back to the USA.



So there you go. Kidnapping, hospitalization, stowing away, working for breadcrumbs - she did it all. Even though I'm sure these experiences were scary, they have made my mother into the strong, courageous woman I know and love. I don't know anyone else who has endured such trials and come out with any psychological issues.

I know my dad would prefer that my trip be NOTHING like hers, and I don't think it will be, but I have to say, if there is someone whose idea of adventure I would like to emulate, it is my mom.

Summer Yummies

One of the things I am most looking forward to this summer is the cuisine. I have very little exposure to food from European countries, besides the Czech restaurant "Little Prague" here in Davis, and random Italian restaurants.

Here are some of the foods I am looking forward to, most of which I have never tried or even heard of!

Tiropitas

Greece:
- Breakfast: tiropitas (flaky cheese filled pastries)
- Lunch: garlic-marinated lamb kabobs or tzatziki (garlicky yogurt and cucumbers)
- Dinner: moussaka (lamb, eggplant and bechamel sauce), pastitsio (lamb or goat meat with macaroni and tomatoes), stifado (braised beef with onions) and paidakia (grilled lamb or goat chops)

Denmark:
- Breakfast (morgenmad): is usually very abundant, based on yogurt, jam, sandwiches, eggs, cold meats, cheeses and fruit juices
- Lunch (frokost): is generally based on canapés (small, prepared and usually decorative food held in the fingers), calls Smørrebrød, which are generally a complete meal made up of a series of slices of buttered bread with all kinds of cold meats, fish, sauces and pâté.
- Dinner (middag), is usually formed from a single dish based on meat or fish.

This especially looks good: Apple- and Prune-Filled Spareribs - Ribbenstykke med Æbler

Since the other places I'd like to visit are not yet confirmed, I won't list their specialties until that happens.

I do solemnly swear not to be that American that goes to France asking for French fries or to Belgium for Belgian waffles. I also promise to try foods that I haven't tried or make me uncomfortable (ie seafood). I want to try a local delicacy in each place I go to, if I can afford it of course. Here's to food!

London Calling

Warning: This post has very little to do with London, I just like the song and its quasi-relevance to what I'm going to say.

I have gone on long enough without actually saying where I'm going (besides Denmark), so here is an itinerary that I can bet you will change almost immediately, as it tends to do.

June 16 - Fly to Europe
June 17 - Arrive in Athens
June 17 - 21 Spend time in Athens
June 22 - June 30 Spend time on Greek Island
July 1 - August 16 - Spend time in Copenhagen
August 17 - Fly to Spain from Copenhagen
August 17 – 20 Spend time in Madrid
August 21 – 22 Spend time in Ibiza
August 23 – 27 Spend time in Barcelona
August 28 – All day traveling to Nice
August 29 – All day traveling to Zurich
August 29 – 31 Spend time in Zurich
September 1 - 3 Spend time in Munich
September 4 – 7 Spend time in Berlin
September 8 – 10 Spend time in Amsterdam
September 11 – 12 Spend time in Brussels/Bruges
September 13 – Take chunnel to London
September 13 – 17 Spend time in London
September 18 - Fly back to US of A

So in a way, London is indeed calling. Also Sicily might be added in there if Nicolaj wants me to go there with his family, or I will just go straight to Copenhagen and begin my month and half of embarrassing myself by trying to speak Danish

Hostel Hell

I kinda just realized that after my trip is over, the title to this blog is too limiting to write about my day to day doings. OR perhaps my dedication to maintaining the nature of this blog will force me to continue my travels. I'm alright with that.

Anywho I have been having quite the time researching European hostels. So far the only place I have actually booked a place to stay is in Athens called the Athens Backpackers Hostel. It is has a roof bar; here is the view! Yup - that's the Acropolis of Ancient Greece just SITTING right there! That's nuts. I'm so excited. I get the feeling I will be saying that a lot.

But finding this hostel was no easy task. I spent days looking at websites like www.hostels.com and www.hostelworld.com to find general ratings, but the website that helped the most was Trip Advisor. While the prior two websites were descriptions of the hostels written by the people who work for the hostels, the latter has really useful examples of why each place is good or bad (usually involves cockroaches).

Of course I could have gone the easy route and ask people who have actually been to Greece where they stayed. As it turns out, my friend Sabrina stayed in this same hostel when she visited Athens after high school, and she loved it, and confirms that it is entirely devoid of cockroaches. Also, as you can tell from the picture above, it is really close to the Acropolis! It was a little more expensive than some of the other places I looked into, but $15 more a night is worth it to not have to worry about cockroaches. Also, I figure since I will have been on a plane for more about 24 hours, I figure I will deserve a safe, clean place to stay while I try to convince myself that flying across the world to a strange, foreign country is not a mistake.