Back when I was 26 I traveled around Europe solo for about five or six weeks. It was awesome trip, complete sensory overload. The history, art, architecture, food music and the people I met are indelibly etched in my memory. If you aren't settled down and have an opportunity to go solo, do it. Because nothing will make you open up to strangers more than being alone in a foreign city. So much happened and is so easily remembered, I hesitate to even touch on the subject because I could easily get carried away. So here's a snapshot.
Mid-trip, after stops in London, Oostende, and Amsterdam, I headed to Biefeld, Germany to hook up with a woman I met in the states. We hitched to Berlin, and the first night there went to a club I'd read about in The Face. The next night we went to an all night bar, where the bartender was Blixa Bargeld, who I found out later, after I returned to the states, was the singer from Einstürzende Neubauten, a band I'd never heard of. He was a nice guy, a nice enough impression that I later recognized him when I saw his mug on the cover of a magazine in San Francisco. Anyway, Berlin was all dreary and shit and I wanted to get to a warmer climate, so I made the executive decision to get to Florence, Italy. (Easy to do when you ride alone.)
Mid-trip, after stops in London, Oostende, and Amsterdam, I headed to Biefeld, Germany to hook up with a woman I met in the states. We hitched to Berlin, and the first night there went to a club I'd read about in The Face. The next night we went to an all night bar, where the bartender was Blixa Bargeld, who I found out later, after I returned to the states, was the singer from Einstürzende Neubauten, a band I'd never heard of. He was a nice guy, a nice enough impression that I later recognized him when I saw his mug on the cover of a magazine in San Francisco. Anyway, Berlin was all dreary and shit and I wanted to get to a warmer climate, so I made the executive decision to get to Florence, Italy. (Easy to do when you ride alone.)
I rode the train for
twenty four hours to get to Florence. Between the train station and the
pensione where I'd planned to stay (thank you Let's Go Europe!) I
got lost. I ended up walking miles further than I needed to, had a
slice of shitty "real" pizza and made the mistake of sampling Italian
beer (insider's tip: stick to chianti), When I finally got to the
pensione, I'd been on the train for a whole day and then walked for a
couple hours with a heavy stuffed backpack. I was beat to shit. I went
to my room and got cleaned up and then went to a common room and started
chatting with a couple people from Australia. I found out that one of
them worked in a record store back at home. We started talking music and
she asked me what I'd been listening to. I lifted up the front of my
sweatshirt and showed her my PiL T-shirt. She then lifted up her
sweatshirt and she was wearing a Pil T-shirt. I nearly proposed to her
on the spot. She was a sweetheart to boot. Harriet. I still have a crush
on her to this day.
What did I say about getting carried away
with the subject? I could have just related the PiL T-shirt part and
left it at that, but noooo, I had to blab incessantly. That's why you
should travel for a few weeks in Europe on your own. Here's some PiL.
~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~
Listen:Public Image Limited - Public Image mp3 at Warped Reality
Public Image Limited - Rise mp3 at Punk Rock Karl
Public Image Limited - Go Back mp3 at Tumblr
Public Image Limited - This Is Not A Love Song mp3 at In Bed With Dactylo
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