Europe 2002 Trip Reports Part 30 Brussels London Vancouver Victoria

This is the 30^th (and final) of a series of posts recalling my trip to Europe, using e-mails sent at the time.  Unlike later trips, I didn’t e-mail people everyday.  Trip reports are largely as I wrote them at the time with two exceptions: I was usually pretty rushed due to Internet fees in Europe, so I’ve cleaned up my e-mails to make them more coherent, which wasn’t a priority at the time.  Also, in some blog posts I’ll add additional thoughts with the hindsight of nine years later or to add further clarification.  I’ll use “NOW” in such cases.

This final report covers my Eurostar ride from Brussels to London, my flight to Vancouver, and my ferry ride to Victoria.

Got up early at Brussels and went to the Midi station to catch the Eurostar.  I actually arrived just in time for an earlier train but unfortunately could not change my reservation.  The train ride itself ran smoothly; unlike my arrival in France, I did not go into brief system shock upon exiting the Chunnel.

[NOW: Many people think of the Chunnel as being strictly London to France but there’s also a London to Brussels route.]

Accidently left my London map on the train so had to buy a new one; London charges more than other places for tourist maps: L1.85 (most tourist bureaus just give you one or charge a tiny amount).  Got price quotes for the bus and for Gatwick Express train but not regular train so walked from Waterloo Station to London Bridge Station (near where I had stayed) to find out the amount.  Turns out that all prices are fairly similar and my remaining pounds would not cover both lunch and a ticket.

[NOW: The Eurostar train now arrives in London at St. Pancras rather than Waterloo Station.]

Since I hadn't really eaten yet I opted for a L40 withdraw and, after completing the circuit described in the rest of this paragraph, grabbed a lunch at a restaurant which I had bought two dinners from last month (they charge less for take-out than eat in so I did that).  I checked about leaving my bag at the station.  No baggage storage there but there was one at the place I had just been to. 

Sigh.  I finally decided against it because it was not where I wanted to go.  Walked to the Tower of London where I was considering visiting, passing the HMS Belfast and crossing the Tower Bridge. Cost was L12 (about $25 Can) so I decided against it again.  I'm not *that* curious to see the Crown Jewels.

Crossing the London Bridge and had the aforementioned lunch, then grabbed the metro to Westminster (Big Ben).  I had forgotten how pricey the metro is here (L1.60 or about $3.50) but it at least let me get rid of some coins from earlier on in the trip that had gotten stained when a ketchup package broke.

[NOW: Nearly accidently left behind my map again by the Tower of London. A couple was looking at it when I double backed. At first they didn’t back the connection between the map they found and the one I was looking for, but I finally got it back.]

Took more pics of Big Ben (you can never get enough pics of Big Ben) then headed to Buckingham Palace.  People kept asking me during the trip to take their picture for them so when one did so near Big Ben I asked her to return the favour.  Hopefully she got the clock in the picture.

[NOW: The photo turned out fine. Around this time I also got a great photo of a goose looking prim and proper.]

I walked to Piccadilly Circus, which is listed as a tourist attraction but really isn't that interesting, just another shopping street, albeit a slightly wealthier one.  On the way to Victoria Station as security van was stopped, and a message kept repeating over and over from it: "Help, help! [Unintelligible] Please call the police!"  I would have liked to help but didn't know where a pay phone was or what the police's number was.

At Victoria Station caught the Gatwick Express to the airport.  At the airport they actually weigh carry on baggage so the "put your heavy stuff in your carry-on" trick didn't work.  However, even after moving some hardcovers to my storage baggage, the weight was still low enough to avoid a fee.  Given how much pain I was in from carrying the stuff, I was happily surprising.

[I also got a photo of a strange sign with different combinations of gate numbers, but with all the arrows pointed in the same direction.]

My boarding pass coupon fell out of the boarding pass itself at a book store, but managed to recover it.

Nearly ate at a pizza place but McDonald's had a special deal involving their Smarties dessert (McFlurry) so my sweet tooth activated.

[NOW: I may have eaten at the pizza place before the boarding pass incident; I seem to recall that happening just before boarding the plane.]

The plane ride was okay for a nine hours non-stop flight.  I had requested a window seat not near the wing and there were fewer clouds than usual so hopefully I got some decent shots.  Only picture problems were sun shining right into window, and most of Vancouver upon landing being on the other side of the plane.  I chatted a bit with an old lady near me.

[NOW: If memory serves we politely disagreed on a number of things, nbut it helped to pass the time.]

I didn't bother with the in flight movies, though I'll probably see them eventually back here, maybe via the library.  I noticed that the movies blocked the "current location screens" at about the same points as on the way there, so I suspect that the intervening locations aren't even programmed in.

Deliberately drank a lot of caffeine (Coke, coffee, tea) on the plane because I knew it would be evening upon arriving and didn't want to be sleepy prematurely.

At Customs the declaration occurred even before recovering our storage baggage. It would seem to make it difficult if they need to search your baggage but that was not my problem.

Arranged to meet friend downtown Vancouver, a tricky process:

First find a bank machine, then wait a while at information to find out where you can get change for bus (already had money for phone), follow somewhat faulty directions, repack bag when contents spill on ground, get change, find bus stop, transfer at mid-stop (a bit confusing itself: they now have a stop at Airport Station which is not actually located at the airport; it took me a moment or so to figure that one out), take B-Line to Granville Station.

[NOW: Vancouver has since changed their transit system and closed Airport Station. To get to downtown Vancouver from the airport now, you now take a Canada Line Skytrain from the airport straight to there. By the way, the Vancouver airport is in Richmond, now Vancouver.]

The friend lives at West Vancouver but Lion's Gate Bridge was closed so we took the scenic route.  The friend was going to Tsawwassen next morning so got a lift to ferry.  Unfortunately no 8 am ferry or else would have arrived home an hour sooner, but finally made it.

[NOW: I’ve since lost track of the friend unfortunately.]

I forgot to mention before: in Amsterdam they have what are called smart shops, as in if you're smart, you won't shop there.  They specialize in the kind of drugs that take half an hour, and then really kick in.  As with coffee shops didn't feel the need for this particular experience.

So ends the trip e-mails.  I'm amending a previous comment:

I am willing to talk about the trip, particularly the facts.  They may be some emotional aspects that I won't want to get into, but we can take those on a case by case basis.  Otherwise, it is okay to ask questions about the trip.

[NOW: Of course after all these years I can now talk pretty freely about the trip without getting upset.]

Europe 2002 Trip Reports Part 29 Brussels Day 2

This is the 29^th of a series of posts recalling my trip to Europe, using e-mails sent at the time.  Unlike later trips, I didn’t e-mail people everyday.  Trip reports are largely as I wrote them at the time with two exceptions: I was usually pretty rushed due to Internet fees in Europe, so I’ve cleaned up my e-mails to make them more coherent, which wasn’t a priority at the time.  Also, in some blog posts I’ll add additional thoughts with the hindsight of nine years later or to add further clarification.  I’ll use “NOW” in such cases.

This 29^th report covers my second day in Brussels and last full day in the mainland of Europe.

Walking around various parks this morn I stumbled quite by accident onto a free military museum (hey, using bad keyboard and avoiding typos!). Quite the place; not supposed to use flash photos there but sneaked a few; highlight was plane area: you could actually enter a US transport plane, plus part of another plane (front seat, the ejection seat); museum was closed for lunch so returned in an hour; I’m glad I did; I found a passage to the roof and got some great shots; I didn't even break the no flash rule there.

Also went to a E5 musical instrument museum; also no flash, and harder to be inconspicuous, so sorry no pics; nice to see though; headphones that I nearly left with by mistake played music as you approached the corresponding instrument.

[NOW: Apparently I’m not the first person to leave the museum with the headphones still on, as the security guard was laughing as he ran out to retrieve them.]

I don't think there's an easy way to get Euros converted back to Can $ so I treated myself to an E36 hardcover (in French) of my favourite comic series, Watchmen; my English. My copy is badly worn so this will let me better enjoy the art (the French hardcover is also larger); plus I'm curious to compare the English to the French and see where the meaning has changed a bit in the translation.

[NOW: I was able to convert the Euro dollar bills in Victoria but not the coins. I’ll probably tell the story of how my English language copy of Watchmen got damaged in a later blog post. The French language hardcover omits the original covers of the comics collected in the volume, which is unfortunately because they are actually the opening shot of each chapter of the story.]

Europe 2002 Trip Reports Part 28 Brussels Day 1

This is the 28^th of a series of posts recalling my trip to Europe, using e-mails sent at the time.  Unlike later trips, I didn’t e-mail people everyday.  Trip reports are largely as I wrote them at the time with two exceptions: I was usually pretty rushed due to Internet fees in Europe, so I’ve cleaned up my e-mails to make them more coherent, which wasn’t a priority at the time.  Also, in some blog posts I’ll add additional thoughts with the hindsight of nine years later or to add further clarification.  I’ll use “NOW” in such cases.

This 28^th report covers leaving Amsterdam and my first day in Brussels.

[NOW:  On my way to the train to leave Amsterdam for Brussels my bag spilled open in a run down, black area of the city (at least as far as I could tell). A group of guys suddenly came over and swiftly re-packed my bag in record time. One asked for change, but I think that was part of an act; it seemed more like the group of them were actually protecting me from some of the less safe elements of the area and being a bit forward aggressive was probably a way of not seeming too nice in the eyes of the more dangerous people who might be seeing this.  Without their help I’m not sure if I’d have made it to the terminal in time, with all my stuff accounted for. Upon arrival in Brussels I went to the hostel. They didn’t have any record of me so I might have accidently booked one hostel and walked to another, but got a room there anyway.]

I'll probably describe this town in more detail when I get back home. Hostel terminal is expensive and easyEverything, aside from not letting me use the Amsterdam pass, uses the crappy Luxembourg keyboards.

[NOW: By that I mean that the keyboards in Brussels and Luxembourg used a different character pattern than the ones in North America and much of the rest of Europe.]

I went to the Comic Strip Museum.  Pretty dull actually as it focussed only on a few European creators rather than comics as a whole.  Might still be worth your while if you're a big fan of Dogspanker, er Tintin, or maybe the Smurfs.

[NOW: The only reference to Superman even was in a timeline of cartoons.]

Checked out some comics and saw the peeing boy statue.

[NOW: I know on the second day I visited some regular comic shops and may have done so on the first day as well. The above though was probably referring to a shop at the museum. They didn’t understand my search for a French comic book price guide, so I went back to the hostel and grabbed the German one I bought in Munich, which solved the communication barrier. I didn’t end up getting one though.]

Otherwise this is a pretty dull and boring place.  Would leave prematurely but this is where I catch Eurostar back to London and I’ve already reserved a seat. Not much to eat at the hostel so found a place that served dull but filling pizza.

Film expensive here but bought enough for rest of trip I hope.  I should have bought a lot more before leaving Victoria.

Take care.  May wait until later and then read replies at easyEverything as reading doesn't really require a good keyboard.

[NOW: Can’t recall if I did so or not now.]

Europe 2002 Trip Reports Part 27 Amsterdam Day 4 Evening

This is the 27^th of a series of posts recalling my trip to Europe, using e-mails sent at the time.  Unlike later trips, I didn’t e-mail people everyday.  Trip reports are largely as I wrote them at the time with two exceptions: I was usually pretty rushed due to Internet fees in Europe, so I’ve cleaned up my e-mails to make them more coherent, which wasn’t a priority at the time.  Also, in some blog posts I’ll add additional thoughts with the hindsight of nine years later or to add further clarification.  I’ll use “NOW” in such cases.

This 27^th report covers the end of my fourth (and last full) day in Amsterdam.

Well, it's hard to believe, but my time's almost up in Amsterdam.  But while I'm anxious to get back, I plan to give the two days in Brussels as thorough an examination as other places.  I checked today at a second easyEverything and my internet password worked there, so since there's an easyEverything in Brussels, I may get to access the internet there at no extra charge.

[NOW: I’m pretty I did have to pay for new tickets at Brussels. The one there isn’t 24 hours.]

Took pictures of the Homomonument.  What my guide didn't mention is that there are three separate components, all three different sorts of pink triangles (alluding to their World War II treatment).

[NOW: I was referring to the treatment of gays and lesbians in concentration camps of course.]

Went to a bible museum.  Not as interesting as it sounds, especially for what you pay.  Info in Dutch so I wasn't sure what made the various texts special. Also no flash photos so I'm not sure as my photos turned out.  Tried to go for close-ups but indoors without flash are still worse than night time with flash.

[NOW: The proper name for the museum is the Bijbels Museum.]

There was a war memorial place nearby (related to the Holocaust somehow) but I think it charged money and I had two other pay places to go so I passed.

I went to a book store and got some US comic book related stuff (including how to write comics), then I went to another museum devoted to that greatest of all house pets.  I am, of course, referring to the cat. Lots of artwork and sculptures and, yes, actual (sleeping) cats. And okay to take photos.

[NOW: Some of the book stores catered to English speaking people. The storekeeper and (if memory serves) another customer (maybe another staff member) spoke Dutch until I put my stuff on the counter at which point they switched to perfect English. The cat museum is called KattenKabinet, or Cat Cabinet.]

Went to a Dutch place recommended in a guide book but it was closed.

[NOW: Sorry, no idea now what I was referring to unless I got confused and was referring to the Jews memorial described below.]

Instead went to the train station and as with day of arrival had a fast food meal, with the Amsterdam tradition of hot mayo on fries.  Actually tastes pretty good that way.

Went to another religious place, an attic where a Protestant clergyman held services "underground" at a time when such services were not permitted.  Some photo deal unfortunately so I stopped taking pictures when my roll ran out half way.  However, just for the memories alone I'd recommend this one anyway.  It's actually more elaborate than some regular cathedrals, albeit divided into different rooms.

[NOW: I’m referring above to Museum Amstelkring, or Our Lady in the Attic.]

Went to one grocery store and was charged tax separately on a pop (still only E0.64 for 50 cL).  Very rare occurrence in Europe; normally, as it should be, tax is already factored into the cost. (Does anyone really care what the price of something is before tax?)

[NOW: I might have the size off as the above mo longer makes sense to me; 500 mL maybe.]

I went to a free tribute place to Jews, a theatre that was converted into a way station to send Jews to concentration camps.  It is now a memorial. This was the place I meant to go to yesterday.    Got a little lost but along the way found a building where one of the outer walls was a waterfall.  Just to show you can't judge a book by its cover, a very scruffy looking Good Samaritan helped me get back on track.

Went to a place where a palace was that I had gone to earlier.  Bother times it was closed but there were some brothers (jugglers/comedians) doing a decent street show.

[NOW: I saw they do their act twice. The first time things were great. The second time things went wrong; see below.]

Went to a ribs buffet place that was mentioned in the guide book as E10. Actually the cost was now about E13 before drinks.  Also looked crowded and smoky. I decided to have my usual macaroni Bolognese at the hostel instead, though only after catching a couple more street performer acts, including the previous brothers.  The brothers had a harder time the second time: threatening to rain, windy (so one dropped the pins a few times), kid they chose chickened out mid act, a few crashers including some drunk young adults.  Still they do a good job of hamming it up.  I actually think they could go somewhere if "discovered".  Both they and the other performer performed in English.

[NOW: I don’t think they ever got discovered, sadly, though it’s true that I haven’t been tracking their career and no longer recall their names. I wish I could recall when in the trip this happened, but at one point I saw a Batman and Robin poster from the 1960s TV movie (or maybe the movie tie-in] and then a few blocks later saw a street sign that said, A’dam-West. Not a misspelled tribute to the former Batman but rather short for the west end of Amsterdam.]

Europe 2002 Trip Reports Part 26 Amsterdam Day 4 Morning

This is the 26^th of a series of posts recalling my trip to Europe, using e-mails sent at the time.  Unlike later trips, I didn’t e-mail people everyday.  Trip reports are largely as I wrote them at the time with two exceptions: I was usually pretty rushed due to Internet fees in Europe, so I’ve cleaned up my e-mails to make them more coherent, which wasn’t a priority at the time.  Also, in some blog posts I’ll add additional thoughts with the hindsight of nine years later or to add further clarification.  I’ll use “NOW” in such cases.

This 26^th report covers the start of my fourth (and last full) day in Amsterdam.

Last full day here.  Luckily less snoring this time around than usual.  I found a little bit of my medication so that may have helped me sleep through it, but there was a noticeable lack of a chorus when I woke up the next morning.

Last night went for a walk (this being Amsterdam I put everything but my locker key in my locker first before going out).

Some not very bright kid took a close-up picture of one of the women in the windows in the red light district.  The women flipped him off.  He may have gotten lucky, though it's also possible that when he left there was someone waiting on a nearby street.  Not very bright to take a close-up of one of those women.  You're just asking for a world of pain doing that.

For my own part I did take a picture a couple of days ago, but much farther away (well down a side street) so that I'd be less likely to be noticed, and in my pic you can probably only barely make anyone out if at all.  My picture was more to show that I'd been there and that it was as advertised than to get a memory of someone specific.  I wish to stay alive a little longer.

[NOW: I never actually saw an incident while there, but apparently it’s not unknown for the women in the windows to have men outside protecting them from photographers.]

I did see something really touching yesterday night, probably the most touching thing I've seen on this trip: there was a tire on a rope at the canal near my place partly dipping into the water.  I heard a sound from it and noticed that a duck at turned this into a nest and seemed to be using it to keep warm.  I didn't take a picture because it was getting dark and didn't want to disrupt the mood with a flashing light.  I did take a pic this morning of the tire sans duck.  Just goes to show that life can adapt anywhere any place to any sorts of conditions.

Raining today.  Disappointing but not unexpected because it's been overcast these last couple of days.

[NOW: Sadly I never did get to see Amsterdam on a sunny day.]

Europe 2002 Trip Reports Part 25 Amsterdam Day 3 Evening

This is the 25^th of a series of posts recalling my trip to Europe, using e-mails sent at the time.  Unlike later trips, I didn’t e-mail people everyday.  Trip reports are largely as I wrote them at the time with two exceptions: I was usually pretty rushed due to Internet fees in Europe, so I’ve cleaned up my e-mails to make them more coherent, which wasn’t a priority at the time.  Also, in some blog posts I’ll add additional thoughts with the hindsight of nine years later or to add further clarification.  I’ll use “NOW” in such cases.

This 25^th report covers the rest of my third day in Amsterdam.

Went on a day trip (okay, so it was only three hours or so; it went smoothly nevertheless) to a commercial village called Zaanse Schans. There I saw windmills (I was understandably determined to fit windmills into a trip to the Netherlands somewhere, and even spent E2 to go in one, a dye windmill), as well as:

* a cheese cottage, which offers free samples; cheese was actually quite good and would have bought some, but its a bit pricey and I wasn't sure what the Canada Customs’ rules on cheese are;

* a wooden shoes workshop; again considered buying; however, some were too pricey though okay looking, others were okay priced but would look weird to wear in Victoria;

* (my favourite) a clock museum; real nice antiques, a good argument against mass production; the curator there is very proud of his collection, so if you praise a clock, he will show you extra things some of the clocks can do; this little extra bit of personal touch was what made that museum a particularly fun experience.  He mentioned his photo policy: any pictures for personal use, none for commercial use; I have no problem with this as I'm not trying to make money at his expense.

I returned to Amsterdam and went in search of something I noted on my map; a bit of a challenge because I had misplaced my Amsterdam guide (this time I found it later) and even now I'm not sure what I had noted down.  Still got some nice photos of parks, etc., and made friends with a golden retriever, which of course is one of the friendlier breeds of dogs.

Afterwards, having largely exhausted my interested in R/X rated bizarre museums (I'm not really curious about the marijuana museum because it sounds a lot like propaganda aimed at Americans), I decided to tackle a bizarre G-rated museum: a glasses museum.  Only two floors and hard to tell about at first, but if you're patient and wait a few moments for your eyes to get used to a variety of small objects, the variety of different eyeglasses becomes quite interesting.  Still pricey for what you get, but undeniably a unique collection.

[NOW: This actual name for this museum is Brilmuseum.]

I reserved a room in Brussels.  Went for another YHI place at the last minute (thankfully with smaller dorms) because it was really cheap, and I want to be able to splurge on bizarre museums, etc. and still not withdraw any more money before leaving Europe (I should have enough pounds from before to cover a half day in London).  I'm okay for cash but want to avoid the international ATM fee.

[NOW: This reminds me: too many ATMs in Europe, if you asked for E100, actually gave you a single E100 bill. I tried to cash those sooner than later because all kinds of things can go wrong with that much money in one bill.]

Europe 2002 Trip Reports Part 24 Amsterdam Day 3 Morning

This is the 24^th of a series of posts recalling my trip to Europe, using e-mails sent at the time.  Unlike later trips, I didn’t e-mail people everyday.  Trip reports are largely as I wrote them at the time with two exceptions: I was usually pretty rushed due to Internet fees in Europe, so I’ve cleaned up my e-mails to make them more coherent, which wasn’t a priority at the time.  Also, in some blog posts I’ll add additional thoughts with the hindsight of nine years later or to add further clarification.  I’ll use “NOW” in such cases.

This 24^th report covers the early part of my third day in Amsterdam.

The seven day pass is great.  Ican log on any time.  It helps that easyEverything has hundreds of seats so I never have to wait.

Usual snorning chorus last night.  At least it forces me out of bed sooner to start the day.

Arm still hurts slightly from yesterday, possibly due to physically weakened state.  Find I've been standing still on escalators and using handrails on stairs more than I normally do.  I think when I get back to a more regular diet at home my strength will improve.

[NOW: The pain from the punch at Anne Frank’s House did of course subside eventually.]

I did laundry last night.  Should probably be the last laundry before heading home.  I will probably need to discard most socks upon arriving home.  Too many holes.

[NOW: I can no longer recall if I did any further laundry trips or if I did in fact discard most of the socks from the trip.]

.

One other thing that probably hasn't helped my trip is my broken glasses (you might recall that one ear broke off in London).  If the lenses are a bit off I start to get physical symptoms such as headaches.  The hostel let me use some scotch tape which seems to be working better than the masking tape I'd been using (and lost en route to Zurich, which is making labelling new film purchases a bit difficult).

This trip may oddly help me in one point.  One of my fictional characters has an angry streak to him and since I've been relatively relaxed previously I've had trouble writing him.  I think I can start writing his adventures again.

[NOW: I’m pretty sure I know which character I was referring to but won’t go into details because I don’t want anyone to swipe my ideas. I really need to get back to writing those stories.]

Take care and sorry about the mood swings.  On top of everything else I keep forgetting to take my medication (no joke; I really do take medication) and while my health isn't too affected my moods do get exaggerated.

[NOW: I’ve been on again, off again with anti-anxiety medications. I don’t currently need to take any, however, as the side-effects of the medications are greater than the effects of not taking them.]

Europe 2002 Trip Reports Part 23 Amsterdam Day 2

This is the 23^rd of a series of posts recalling my trip to Europe, using e-mails sent at the time.  Unlike later trips, I didn’t e-mail people everyday.  Trip reports are largely as I wrote them at the time with two exceptions: I was usually pretty rushed due to Internet fees in Europe, so I’ve cleaned up my e-mails to make them more coherent, which wasn’t a priority at the time.  Also, in some blog posts I’ll add additional thoughts with the hindsight of nine years later or to add further clarification.  I’ll use “NOW” in such cases.

This 23^rd report covers my second day in Amsterdam.

[IMPORTANT NOTE: This report comes at a time when everything came bubbling to the surface and is extremely negative. In fact I nearly edited this one for content. So this might be one for people to skip unless you can handle a particularly negative commentary, typed however long ago. However, I made a promise to only edit for typos and similar minor corrections and thus am presenting my rant from nine years ago as originally typed.  Remember, many years have passed so I’m a lot calmer now. I’ve also included at the end a calmer post addressing this one.]

I'll start with the last thing first.  Checked a few times at the Anne Frank House; found lines a bit long so went and did something else; finally got in.  I took a few pictures of a display.  Unfortunately my psychic powers were not working so I was unaware that no photography was allowed.  I found out where one of the ladies working there hit me hard on the shoulder.  Not sure if it's going to bruise but there's definitely a lot of heat coming from where I was hit so it wasn't a light tap.  Guess I got to work on those psychic abilities a bit more.

[NOW: The other thing might have been the “World’s Smallest Museum” – probably a misnomer even at the time, but can’t recall for sure.]

Unfortunately this ruined the whole experience for me of that monument.  I was so upset that I couldn't really concentrate on the tragedy of the displays and got through everything and back outside in record time.  I don't like being hit and coupled with previous experiences my emotional state did not allow me to calm down enough to get back in the moment.

To address something that others have referred to repeatedly:  For me this trip was not worth it, is not worth it, will not be worth it.  I recognize that for others in the similar or perhaps the same situation it would be. I would like you to all respect the fact that this is not the case for me. Please don't try to turn this into the wonderful experience of a lifetime because the reality is that while there have in fact been good moments, this trip has been one of the more unpleasant traumatic times of my life. Except for maybe in parts I will not look back on it and laugh.  I will look back on it in the forms of traumatic flashbacks.

[NOW: I was of course, addressing responses to previous e-mails above and not to anything on this blog. The anticipated traumatic flashbacks happily haven’t really happened.  I still maintain that the trip wasn’t worth it, but my line now is, it wasn’t worth it but it did have some positive aspects to it despite this.]

When I get home I am putting the film in storage.  When I've put a bit of time past things I will either have the film developed or destroy it.  In the meantime, when I get back (not now, when I get back) I ask that you do not bring up the trip unless I do first, at least initially.  I may not want to talk about it. I regret that this is not the trip that it should have been and that I am not reacting to it the way some of you wish I would be.  But this is not for me.  It is at best an educational experience.  For an educational experience I could have spent less money at the university and had more fun.  Please respect my feelings on this.

[NOW: This was before I got a digital camera. I developed and looked at the photos sooner than expected. I think looking at the photos and showing them to people sped up the healing aspects than might otherwise have been the case.]

Now that that's off my chest other things today: went to the Heineken Experience, the former location of the factory.  Mostly a lengthy ad, but a fun one.  You get three beers (or soda) and a souvenir glass as part of your admission costs.  Highlight is a motion simulator duplicating the process the beer goes through in being bottled.

I also visited the Torture Museum.  Not huge, but quite throughout. Illustrations are relatively tasteful (more so than the Sex and Erotic Museums) so I would actually recommend this to the squeamish, unlike the other two museums.  It has lots of actual devices (though the chastity belt was missing from its display case).  A few items not intended as torture but similarly nasty are present (I actually touched a guillotine)

All the best.  Hope you weren't too bothered by the rant.  A lot of people I think are still underestimating how upsetting this has been to me, so I wanted to use what just happened to clarify where this trip stands with me.

[NOW: Again, referring to the people who were responding to my e-mails at the time.]

Off to dinner now but will probably log on again before the end of the day.

[NOW: Here’s what I later sent people addressing the above, sent the next day after a few other e-mails that will be tackled next:]

A general note since this came up: just wanted to clarify that I was not targeting any one person yesterday and was mainly trying to make sure everyone realized that something serious was really happening to me during this trip.

By no means do I want to deter any e-mails.  In fact the e-mails that I have been getting, even the ones I disagree with, have been a big comfort to me during this trip and have been critical to getting me through the rough spots during the trip.

Or in other words, GROUP HUG! :)

Europe 2002 Trip Reports Part 22 Amsterdam Day 1

This is the 22^nd of a series of posts recalling my trip to Europe, using e-mails sent at the time.  Unlike later trips, I didn’t e-mail people everyday.  Trip reports are largely as I wrote them at the time with two exceptions: I was usually pretty rushed due to Internet fees in Europe, so I’ve cleaned up my e-mails to make them more coherent, which wasn’t a priority at the time.  Also, in some blog posts I’ll add additional thoughts with the hindsight of nine years later or to add further clarification.  I’ll use “NOW” in such cases.

This 22^nd report covers my first day in Amsterdam.

I'm here at Amsterdam for four days.  Using the same discount internet chain I found at Munich (easyEverything).  Bought a 7 day pass even though I'm only here for four nights because it only cost E6 and since it's paid for, it doesn't matter if I arrive during peak hours and stay for a while.

And as you can tell they use normal keyboards here :) More things I forgot to mention before: Zurich is also unique in that even its Sunday markets cost money to visit (from the outside you only see the back of the tents).

[NOW: I’ve since referenced that in one of these updates sections. As previously noted, any report using a bad keyboard has been cleaned up for these blogs.]

I arrived slightly late in Amsterdam because they moved everyone off the train that should have arrived sooner.  I mistakenly entered a smoking area thinking it was non-smoking.  Turns out that actually referred to two seats just outside the main seating area. 

Upon arrival had to wait a while to get a map.  Tourist places really need some sort of express system for people with no pressing questions who just want maps.

Hostel turns out to be YHI (Youth Hostel International again).  Hopefully I'll meet people in this place.  The YHI in Luxemburg was the first that I didn't talk to anyone. But as with Luxemburg they serve decent inexpensive dinners there and probably closer to what people in the area might eat.

I visited a few of the kinkier places today.  Both the Sex Museum and the Erotic Museum (which costs twice as much) are not for the faint of heart. One was supposed to be more tongue in cheek than the other, but I found both pretty tongue in cheek ... and pretty hardcore.  I took photos pretty selectively in both places.  Both had phones for phone sex and multi-language documentaries.  The latter also had mind boggling cartoons.

I don't think any amount of guide book reading could possibly prepare anyone for seeing the Red Light District windows directly.  Truly an amazing sight.  Mainly because of the women themselves but...well, there's this fountain and...some day I'll show you the photo.

I must say I'm kind of glad now that I chose one of the tamer hostels.  I do find the sexual elements rather amusing, but at the same time it's nice to be able to take them in small dosages.

[NOW: Uh, the fountain base is the shape of a penis pointing upward. Water comes out of the tip.]

I also saw but didn't go into coffeehouses.  Amsterdam residents, you see are avid coffee drinkers. ...  You were wondering about that plant symbol?  Oh, that's just the coffee bean plant.  Really.  Er, that sign that says, "Please smoke your joint inside?"  Um, nothing to see here, folks. Seriously, I haven't been in one yet, though it's somewhat tempting to go in and actually order coffee to get their reaction.  Probably not though, partly for the one of the reasons I've never tried pot, other than the moral aspect: it smells not unlike diarrhea to me. BTW that sign I mentioned above really does exist.  I think Amsterdam used up all its subtlety in the name "coffeehouse".

This time next week I'll be in Canada.  Not yet sure if I'll be on the ferry yet after time zone is taken into account, but there's a good chance I will get back to Victoria early.  But it depends on how long I get talking with the friend in Vancouver I'm visiting.

I bought a couple of books today.  Ironically, I lost the page of attractions in Amsterdam I had just checked off, and then found a 2002 guide from the same source for all of Amsterdam.

Since I can e-mail any time in the next four days, I'll have more at random times later.

Europe 2002 Trip Reports Part 21 Luxemburg Day 2 and Other Random Thoughts

This is the 21^st of a series of posts recalling my trip to Europe, using e-mails sent at the time.  Unlike later trips, I didn’t e-mail people everyday.  Trip reports are largely as I wrote them at the time with two exceptions: I was usually pretty rushed due to Internet fees in Europe, so I’ve cleaned up my e-mails to make them more coherent, which wasn’t a priority at the time.  Also, in some blog posts I’ll add additional thoughts with the hindsight of nine years later or to add further clarification.  I’ll use “NOW” in such cases.

This 21^st report covers my second (and only full day) at Luxemburg.

I found another terminal but it was too smoky to use; Luxemburg was interesting at first since much of the area was once a fortress but I got bored soon.

I reserved place in Amsterdam that costs more than I thought at the time but will use it anyway as the place is secured which is important... I tried for a cheaper place with free internet but it was hard to reach and I think they want online reservations which usually mean a credit card.

[NOW: A street card wanted to use my phone card but I wouldn’t let him, as I wanted to ensure I still had it in case I needed it later.  This particular trip report was a bit stream of consciousness, hence my referring back to Innsbruck in the next paragraph.]

In Innsbruck I saw pigeons chase smaller birds. But not the pigeon that only had one foot due to an old injury.  Europe is pigeon central.

Legoland injury is acting up.

[NOW: I’ve since fully recovered from that Legoland ride.]

Zurich may be most useless city in Europe.  Most innovative stuff was the temporary spider museum the size of one hall and a plastic Spider-Man model tied into the film; Spidey is a great character but not should be the best of a European city.   It was still interesting to see Switzerland at last since my main prior knowledge was from a children’s show called George, about a St Bernard.

[NOW: It would be interesting to revisit Zurich and se if my initial harsh option of it held.]

A bird I saw today was meditating by a water fountain.

I allotted nearly 4 days in Amsterdam, then 2 for Brussels before London, then home; by random chance, Venice to Salzburg was last night train for this trip.

[NOW: I also seem to recall visiting the castle grounds in Luxemburg. I definitely visited the Notre Dame church there.]

Europe 2002 Trip Reports Part 17 Vaduz, Zurich, and Luxemburg

This is the 17^th of a series of posts recalling my trip to Europe, using e-mails sent at the time.  Unlike later trips, I didn’t e-mail people everyday.  Trip reports are largely as I wrote them at the time with two exceptions: I was usually pretty rushed due to Internet fees in Europe, so I’ve cleaned up my e-mails to make them more coherent, which wasn’t a priority at the time.  Also, in some blog posts I’ll add additional thoughts with the hindsight of nine years later or to add further clarification.  I’ll use “NOW” in such cases.

This 19^h report covers Vaduz, Zurich, and the first part of Luxemburg.

Pardon the extra typos: this keyboard has a very different configuration.

[NOW:  I corrected all the typos, but there were indeed quite a number of them as a result of the different style keyboard. I took a train from Innsbruck to Buchs and grabbed a bus from there.]

Went to Vaduz Liechtenstein; I was charmed at first; the street map is hand lettered; at first the only disappointment was that the stamp museum was closed.

Then I got hungry enough to dare a pizzeria there; I noticed drinks started at SFr 4.50 (the Canadian dollar is about the same as a Swiss franc); I asked for tap water; the waitress agreed "normal water not mineral water", then gave me some not very good mineral water anyway and charged me the full SFr 4.50; since she repeated my order, there was no misunderstanding; this was deliberate.

[NOW: after exploring Vaduz I took a bus back to Buchs and got on another train.]

Arrived in Zurich; I was going to stay 2 nights but it’s very expensive there: a large McDonald’s meal was SFr 12. 

[NOW: I didn‘t actually eat at McDonald’s, but you can get a sense of how expensive a city is from the price of a large McDonald’s meal.  I did like their light rail system which offers a 24 hour pass; the time only starts when you start using the transportation.  As part of a promotion of the Spider-Man movie, the train station had a spider exhibit.  The second day there I would have liked to have visited an outdoor market, but you had to pay to get in and from outside you could only see the backs of the tent.  I also recall going up a field to get an aerial view of the city.]

Decided to take the night train today, only the night train was full so I left at 3pm instead No loss:  Zurich scenery unspectacular and prices again are ridiculous; got to Luxembourg at 8pm.  I got a real nice meal at the hostel.

Showers are same sex but otherwise no barriers; glad I brought short sleeve pants; I don’t feel like “comparing notes” with other guys.

Signing off now; probably more to tell but this keyboard is really hard to use; as you have no doubt noticed the letter q is where the a should be.

[NOW: Or rather you would have noticed had I not completely cleaned up this report.]

Europe 2002 Trip Reports Part 18 Innsbruck Day 2

This is the 18^th of a series of posts recalling my trip to Europe, using e-mails sent at the time.  Unlike later trips, I didn’t e-mail people everyday.  Trip reports are largely as I wrote them at the time with two exceptions: 1. I was usually pretty rushed due to Internet fees in Europe, so I’ve cleaned up my e-mails to make them more coherent, which wasn’t a priority at the time.  Also, in some blog posts I’ll add additional thoughts with the hindsight of nine years later or to add further clarification.  I’ll use “NOW” in such cases.

This 18^th report covers my second of two days Innsbruck.

Hope this works, as the hostel computer is temperamental. Meant to mention re Munich is that squirrels there have big ears.  They’re photo shy unfortunately so no pics.

Best way to imagine Innsbruck: imagine you’re at the bottom of a bowl, and the edges are made of mountains.

I didn’t find is quite so interesting today walking around so tomorrow I definitely head out.  I went to a castle (Schlös Ambras) which is really more of a museum. Not worth the price but as a vampire fan had to see the painting of Vlad the Impaler (while not really related to vampires for half the painting’s existence, it has become so because Vlad, though in some ways more interesting for his real life adventures, is best known as Dracula).

Figured out the Zurich problem: my guidebook said 01 prefix for the city and people insisted no prefix; actually a prefix of 1. I reserved a place there.  Might not have needed to, but may do so more often just in case now that June is approaching.

[NOW: I can’t really add much to this particular report beyond that I did indeed become more conscientious about reserving hostel rooms in advance.]

Europe 2002 Trip Reports Part 17 Munich to Innsbruck

This is the 17^th of a series of posts recalling my trip to Europe, using e-mails sent at the time.  Unlike later trips, I didn’t e-mail people everyday.  Trip reports are largely as I wrote them at the time with two exceptions:  I was usually pretty rushed due to Internet fees in Europe, so I’ve cleaned up my e-mails to make them more coherent, which wasn’t a priority at the time.  Also, in some blog posts I’ll add additional thoughts with the hindsight of nine years later or to add further clarification.  I’ll use “NOW” in such cases.

This 17^th report again merges two smaller posts: a brief post with final comments on Munich (still day 4) followed by my first report from Innsbruck.

Logged in briefly before train leaves as unsure of prices in Innsbruck. I should’ve thought of this sooner as could have gotten up to 1h34m with time paid for at this time of day.

[NOW: I don’t recall for sure, but I was probably logging in from the franchise EasyEverything, which gives you more or less time depending on the time of day.]

Aussie roomates came back from the pub and one starting farting; this had the others in hysterics for around 10 minutes.  BTW these people are in fact old enough to have graduated high school; unsure if they actually did.

I still plan to go to Innsbruck; small towns generally don't give much trouble for finding hostels and there’s lots there so a late arrival (11am) should still be safe.

LATER, IN INNSBRUCK

This is quick because the terminal at hostel is not working well so am using a backup terminal that is more expensive.

I like Innsbruk enough to stay extra day.  Mountains all around the city.

[NOW: You got a cheaper rate if you stayed an extra day at the hostel I picked. As with Salzburg, I watched people playing chess outside using giant pieces. There were lots of pigeons in the area, one with one leg. This particular day was a  national holiday, but I don’t recall what it was called.]

More later once I find cheaper access.

[NOW: I didn’t manage to log in again until the next day.]