Backpacking though Europe by the Seat of Our Pants

I'm back. I'm still incredulous that Lawrence and I even pulled this one off. On May 30th, we somehow scored tickets from the FIFA website to the USA vs. Czech Republic World Cup match scheduled for June 12th in Gelsenkirchen, Germany. Buying flights last minute were so expensive that we needed to extend our time in Europe to abot 3 weeks to make it worth the trip. We took off for London on June 6th with 30-40 lbs. backpacks and a rail ticket; we had no reservations and no plans.

We had an absolutely AMAZING trip. Below is a brief synopsis of each of the cities/areas we haphazardly graced with our presence.

Brussels: We went straight to Brussels upon landing in London. The Grand Place was just breathtaking. The buildings were so detailed and old. The Mannekin Pis was just strange. The national symbol of Belgium (or perhaps the city symbol of Brussels- I forget which), the peeing boy is a 1-2 foot fountain statue with water escaping its penis as if it were peeing. Yeah.... We also sampled some goooood and cheap Belgian beer.

Gelsenkirchen/Northwest Germany: We stayed in this area for 5 nights and camped on a random soccer field with other travelers 25 and under. We watched the opening Germany vs Costa Rica game in a public viewing arena at an old football stadium in Gelsenkirchen. The national pride the Germans displayed was simply overwhelming. We also took day trips to Cologne (where we saw the Lindt Chocolate museum with FREE samples and dabbed on the original Eau de Cologne) and Dusseldorf (where we saw random sheep grazing on the city's river banks and one of the largest book fairs in the world- most books were in German, but I got a free balloon, so I was happy). In both cities, everyone was soccer crazed. Not on TV was tuned into anything else but the World Cup. Finally, on the last day we were there, we saw the USA vs. Czech Republic match. WE MANAGED TO GET FRONT ROW SEATS. We had no idea what our seats would be- FIFA apparently randomly assigns seats when it resells tickets. Even though the US lost, watching the US match was the most amazing sporting event I've ever experienced. Lawrence and I were so excited to be in the front row that we painted our faces! We apparently caught attention of several photographers and I posted above one of our pictures on the FIFA website.

Berlin: After the World Cup match, Lawrence and I decided to go to Berlin on a whim. In over 90 degree weather, we walked around Berlin for 4 hours with our backpacks looking for housing. After walking around and making several calls, I found a great pension (Pension Knesebeck) with great rooms, clean bathrooms, and a wonderful breakfast. We stayed in this city for 3 nights and saw the Berlin Wall and many exhibits about it, toured the Reichstag, and explored a very moving exhibit that explores the Nazi regime on the very sight of the former Nazi headquarters. This was one of two of our favorite cities.

Prague: Without a guidebook or a clue, we hopped on a train to Prague. I'm amazed we even found housing there. There we saw the Prague Castle, the atomic clock and the Old Sqaure, and crossed the Charles Bridge. Although the city's buildings and streets were old and beautiful, Lawrence and I felt it was the most touristy and unenjoyable city we visited. The entire city catered to tourists. We were likely let down because of our high expectations from the many people who had hyped Prague up so much, from its beautiful squares to its cheap food. We did very much enjoy the Czech beer, Pilsner Urquel, which was literally cheaper than water and was served as readily as table water is in the US, and found an authentic local Czech restaurant that made our trip to Prague worth it.

Amsterdam: We took an overnighter from Prague to Amsterdam and slept in a cramped car the held six bunk beds. The beds were so close that two people could not stand abreast of each other between! The beds were surprisingly comfortable though! We shared a train with some really cool Canadians and ended up sharing a hotel room with them in Amsterdam. Aside from the normal activities Americans pursue in Amsterdam, we really enjoyed Amsterdam for its culture and character. The city rests on a semi-circle of canals in a grid form. These canals make for some very picturesque streets and bridges throughout the city. Along the canals are wonderful, 400 year old canal houses that share an architecture with the townhouses of the West Village in NY. These houses are so old that they don't even stand straight, but they have so much character and really contribute to Amsterdam's charm. In Amsterdam, more people travelled by (cruiser) bike than by car, so Lawrence and I of course rented bikes. We also saw an amazing concert, toured the Anne Frank House, and visited the Van Gogh Museum. We walked or biked around most of the city and fell in love with it.

London: Lawrence and I had both been to London before, and with the awful USD/GBP rate, we decided to cheap it out. We camped and watched the Wimbledon qualifying rounds in the outskirts of London. The qualifying rounds were the worst run tournament I've ever seen, including ones I've played. The matches were played on an open field of some country club where planes were constantly flying overhead, construction was non-stop about 100 yards away, and rugby and soccer practices were being held simultaneously. Furthermore, the tournament personel were completely unprofessional. The lines judges weren't watching the lines properly and required encouragement from the chair ump everytime they actually made the right call. The ball kids were completely unattentive and often times didn't realize there was a loose ball on the court. Most of the personnel looked hungover. I've seen the French and the US Open qualies, and Wimbledon, the most prestigious of them all, was a complete administrative disappointment. Still, we saw some great matches and even hung out with Cecil Mamiit, a Filipino-American tennis pro. We watched him and his doubles partner, Kevin Kim, qualify for the main draw. Cecil is a legend among Filipino tennis communities in the US, so it was cool to grab a bite with him in the players' lounge and chat for a while. We look forward to cheering him on at the US Open at the end of the summer.

From London, we flew back to Boston. We were of course delayed in our trip and missed our connection to Boston from Philadelphia, but we made it back, unscathed. As I stated earlier, I'm still incredulous that Lawrence and I even pulled this off. One month ago, Europe wasn't even a though on our minds. We had no reservations, except for the World Cup tickets, and barely any money. It was awesome. Stay tuned for pictures. :)