Beer Pong in Budapest

After arriving here in Budapest I have asked myself a question.

Is my main goal of this trip to go to a different city, do a free walking tour and then go out at night? Apparently yes.

I did not realize just how much I was going to be partying here. It's crazy. Kinda feels like school again which is fantastic. I miss school.

The hostel I'm in is pretty sweet. Probably the best one I've been in yet. They take you around and introduce you to everyone when you get here. There isn't a front desk or anything ad everyone just sorta hangs out together. It's fantastic. They tell you all the great places to go, and one of the guys makes dinner every night for you to sign up to eat.

My first night here we went caving. How cool is that? I met a couple guys and we went out to the caves that are under Budapest. You spend around 3 hours underground in these ridiculous suits with helmets and headlights climbing and crawling through this cave. It's just amazing. You have to fit through some really tight spaces sometimes. One was called the "birth canal". One guy got stuck for about 4min. Kinda creepy.

We have also done the free tour which is pretty cool. Last night we went out to a traditional Hungarian dinner. 4 courses for 15$. The dinner was fantastic. It included a Hungarian stew, a mincemeat crepe with a thick mushroom sauce, roast duck (love), a home made alcohol shot (death) and the strangest dessert ever made. It was like small thin pasta noodles held together with custard and sugar with phyllo sheets on top. It was very bizarre but pretty tasty.

We were all stuffed after this dinner and then got called down to the party (dinner was at an affiliated hostel, the grandio party hostel, and we had to go down for the rave in cave party.) before we went down to the cave (literally a smallish room that is probably an old bomb shelter) we had to jump on board the jäger-train. This, if you don't know, is where you line up glasses of red bull beside each other in a huge long line and the balance a shot of jäger on top and in between each of the glasses. One person then nudges the first jäger shot into the first glass and this sets off a domino effect to all the other shots into all the other glasses. It's cool, and we had 120 drinks in our jäger train. Just a side-note. The guy who got to start the train is the guy with the best reason as to why he should. Damien this irish guy won. His reasoning was that the previous night he had been hauled out of a cab and mugged of his wallet, passport and camera. Really shitty, but a good reason to let him start.

Then came the beer pong. They had 4 tables set up in the cave to play. I got into one of the first games on a table and held it for 4. Apparently Australians don't play beer pong so there was a lot of rule explaining going on. Me and an Australian buddy, Chris, ended up losing after the 4th game to who else?...2 canadians. There was a party of 14 frat boys there from UofT. They were rather annoying I must say. If I didn't know I would have sworn they were Americans. So loud and obnoxious to everyone. It was really embarrassing for them to be Canadian.

I also need to explain the money system to you. Hungarians haven't yet adopted the euro (later this year) and they use the florin. 200f = 1$cdn. Which makes everything very confusing. Try deciphering how expensive something is when it costs 1450f when your drunk. However, everything here is so crazy cheap that it's not too bad. A tallboy in the store (btw canadians, they laugh at us when they hear about regulated alcohol sales) will cost usually around 170f which seems shocking...and then you realize it's only 0.80 or so. I went to the store walked out with 5 beers a chocolate bar and a 1.5l water (shopping like a champ) and spent 4$. I'm awesome.

I've met so many awesome people here. The Aussie, Susan, who confused us all about her real name and line of work. Sian, Ruby, Kiwi Joe, Bam, Mike, Damo, Scott (little bathing suit and all),  Chris.

Not sure what today holds. I was supposed to be on a train to Prague but I extended my stay here another night so tomorrow myself, Bam and Ruby are heading off to Prague together. From there I have absolutely no clue where I'm headed. Can't wait!

Correction

I lied. The Oktoberfest pints are only 1L not the aforementioned 2. There ya go.

The Oktoberfest entry

I have now reached the pinnacle of my life. I will never surpass where I am now. Or at least where I was last night. That would be standing on a table in the middle of a beer tent with a bunch of random Germans drinking beer and singing along to "99 luftbaloons". It was just amazing. I can't describe it to you really. A huge massive beer tent where there is just row upon row of tables and drunk people. At 630 pm. I'm not talking about slightly tipsy stumbly. I'm talking like face-plant into a pile if their own vomit drunk. Men, women, teens, everyone was hammered. The outside fair part is sort of like the CNE, rides and games and vendors and stuff. Add in like eleven beer halls, each the size of a football field and you might sorta get it.

Each beer is huge. It must be a litre and a half or maybe 2. And it's not coors light here people, I'm talking good real beer. Like out of my price range on a normal day. Each stien is 8.80€ each. Which is about 13$ or so Canadian. But it's like 3-4 pints so it's not that bad. You order from the beer wenches. (seriously, they're called beer wenches!) they carry about 8 or these huge beers. It's crazy. I really can't describe it much more.

They also had a live band playing on a huge stage in the middle of the hall. Full brass section and stuff. I expected the 'Hoff the make an appearance at some point. They play all sorta fun German music that you stand on your bench and dance to. Then they also will play a song that roughly translates to "I'm cheersing" repeated over and over. Then you stand cheers and sing. Then the surreal part happened. All of a sudden I'm standing there on the bench rocking out to "summer of '69"... What?! The sorta had like an English hour where they played everything you would want to hear. Rollin on the river, YMCA, hey Jude, and more. That was very strange.

I'm still in Munich now. Recovering. Here one more night then off to Budapest which I hear is a rockin good time. Should be fun.

Asian bears and lederhosen...

Ok so they have nothing to do with each other, I just picked two random things from the past few days and put them together.

Yesterday I went out to sacsenhausen. That's not the correct spelling but in short it was one of the first Nazi concentration camps. I did a our through it and it was creepy. Like seriously chilling and weird. The guide was great and he managed to really make you feel for what happened. I'm not going to talk about it more.

At night I hung out with a Canadian I met, Peter, as well as a Hawaiian girl, Anna.

Oh yea. I went shopping for lederhosen the other day because some guys wanted it for Oktoberfest. That's where the first part of the entry comes from.

Today I got up early because I had to check out. I'm taking the night train Munich tonight so I had the day to kill. I ended up deciding to go to the Berlin zoo. Apparently its like the second best zoo in the world. I know Toronto has a zoo and I LOVE going there but I felt like checking out this one. It was pretty cool. Definitely a confusing setup and no maps really so I was following German signs everywhere but it was great. Some of the exhibits are a lot smaller than in Toronto. Generally speaking in Toronto some of the big enclosures you someones can't see an animal. Here you always can. They had things I hadn't seen in toronto though. Jackass penguins are a highlight. As was the crazy Asian bear. He was climbing a tree but just looked so funny and uncoordinated. Then he got stuck in a fork of a tree lying on the ground as he was trying to get food. His front paws were crawling towards the food but his hips were wedged in a fork and his legs sorta dangling there. Really funny.

The gorilla got mad at people flashing their cameras. Stupid people. Gorillas are bigger than you (yes even you, you ignorant American fat-ass) and he can no doubt smash that glass and your face in one go.
As it turns out, I'm not in the movie Congo with a bloodthirsty gorilla and he just banged on the glass, made himself really big and walked away. Far less cool.

Asian bear wins the day.

Ps. They also has cows at the zoo, on display. Weird right??

I just bought 3 Harry potter books to satisfy my reading needs. I have read so much since I've been here it's crazy. Like I think 5 books in 3 weeks. Including but not limited to "the long way down" (ewan macgregor and Charlie boormans book about their motorcycle ride through Africa, read it), "the lost symbol" Dan browns new book, and "pirate latitudes" a book by Michael Crichton that was discovered as a complete manuscript after he dies.

So I needed new books. I now have them and am much happier. Yay.

So now it's off to Munich for Oktoberfest. After that I'm going to be in Budapest, Hungary for 2 nights then Prague for 5 then I have no idea. Let's rock.

Zee Germans are coming!!!

Cleaning staff in Germany dont differ from cleaning staff from anywhere else. They are still angry and mean. Moving on.

I'm in Berlin now. First impressions...very efficient. The train station is massive and probably about 6 levels. It was also the easiest place I have ever been in terms of navigating. Even with the signs being in German.

The hostel is pretty cool. Lots of Aussies here. I'm not even surprised any more. They're everywhere. The hostel thing has been great so far. It's been pretty easy to meet people and make new friends. It's tiring though in a way i wasn't expecting. It's hard to get to a new city not knowing anyone an put yourself out there to meet people. It's exhausting really.

I went on the free walking tour of the city yesterday. There is a company that does free tours in a lot of the major European cities. They work off a tips basis so if you like the tour at the end you tip the person. Usually most people throw five bucks or so. It's a 3 hour tour and you get to meet lots of people. I met a couple of Aussies and a Canadian. We went and checked out a museum after the tour where I bumped into a friend from Paris. I was walking past a display when this giant guy with huge hair stepped out from behind a display. Stopped dead in my tracks and just said. "Dave?" How random is that??

Berlin certainly isn't like anybody the other cities I've been to. It's not beautiful or picturesque at all. Weird. I guess most of it did get bombed and rebuilt but most of the rebuilding material seems to have been poured concrete. Not that wonderful.

The graffiti is cool.

Pub crawled last night. The free tours company also runs a pub crawl in all the cities. They all differ but basically at this one you pay 12€ and go to a bar where it's free beers for an hour. Not too bad. Then they take you to another 4 bars and then a club. Every drink you get comes with a shot....of jäger. Kill me. It's fun as hell though. You get to meet a ton of people.

The last place we went had some of the craziest security ever!!! My god! I'll preempt by stating that I wasn't that drunk. You decide whether to believe me or not but we were warned ahead of time that security was strict. The bouncer actually made me stand on one foot and count to ten. Now i may have done sports all my life but this is a difficult chore for me sober let alone after one or two (again you decide) shots and beers. Have you ever had a bouncer say that to you?? I did it but holy he'll (my ipod literally won't let me say hell in that spot but here it's ok).

Anyways just chilling out for a pint now. Early to bed tonight. Realizing that listening to my music is really relaxing. You forget how much music can comfort you sometimes. Not that I currently need comforting but you know what i mean.

Songs I'm enjoying now....don't judge.

Dierks Bently - trying to stop your leaving, feel that fire
John Mayer and T-Swift - half of my heart
Last Antebellum - love this pain, stars tonight
Darius Rucker - alright
Tim McGraw - BBQ stain, last dollar

I am an incompetent blogger

Apparently my blog postings get out of order sometimes. Sorry. Deal with it!

Blonde Bitter Belgian Beers...in Bruges

Say that 5 times fast. I've been hanging out with some new people here in Bruges. One it is Canadian and the rest are Aussies. The Canadian, Marco has been in Bruges for 14 nights now. That is a lot.
Yesterday I went to the belfry with JimmyB and Lozz (lauren, i can't really figure out how to spell her nickname, the one that Sam, her travel buddy, not boyfriend, gives her).

They are awesome and a ton of fun. It's that tall building from the movie. Remember the part where he says "I don't know it you should go up there, it's a lot of stairs and it's really tight and your a big lad." or something like that? They were so small!! Like the it in the movie wouldn't have actually fit up!

We also got fries. Wow. Belgians are known for their fries I guess but these were so good!!! And you eat them with mayo. But it's really good mayo.

We decided to do a beer tasting last night. It was fantastic. The guy who did it, Kai, is really cool and a lot of un. This was Marcos fourth time doing the tasting and my second. We were the veterans of the group. It's a ten euro charge to try 5 Belgian beers and get a free one at the bar. Sounds like a pretty sweet deal to me. It was a lot of fun the beers were amazing.

I have also found my favourite beer i've ever tasted....Straffe Hendrik

I'm sitting in the train station bound for antwerp and then continuing on to Rotterdam.

Turns out I will be meeting up with 4 people from this past week in Amsterdam on Monday! I disappear for 2 days and then meet back up with them again. How great is that??

They actually use red lights!!!

Guess where I am. No ideas? I'll give you a hint. I'm in the only place in the world where I could walk up to a cop with a beer in one hand, a joint in the other and ask "where can I find the prostitutes?" there ya go. I'm in Amsterdam! It's a pretty cool city I must admit. I had no idea what to expect when i got here. It's beautiful though it really is. Canals and old houses with beautiful architecture, bikes everywhere, and small crowded streets. It's weird how the pot culture here isn't as prevalent as I thought it would be. Obviously there are coffee shops all over but they are pretty discreet.

The first night I got here I met up with Sam and Lauren. 2 of the people from Bruges. I just spent 2 days in Rotterdam before coming here, (2 days not worth mentioning really), and it was cool to see them again. Jim showed up a bit later and we went out on the pub crawl. My god. Free vodka shots, a free drink at every bar we go to (6) and a freaking awesome time. There were so many fun things that happened that night and most of them aren't well conveyed over text but one of the highlights was mcdonalds after the bars. A mctasty is the best fast food burger ever. Not even lying. The best. Its freaking huge! Like puts a Big Mac to shame.

Yesterday we did the walking tour which was a lot of fun. Learned some really cool Amsterdam things. Also discovered "Maos". In terms of fast food this sorta wins. Just overall. The falafel for 4$ and you can refill the toppings as many times as you can. You get so bloody full it's amazing.

We also wanted to investigate the red light district. Or go "prossy shopping" as jim likes to call it. It's different than you think. I can't describe how really but it it. Did you know those windows open and the girls will come out and talk to you? I saw one girl steal a guys hat and hold it out of his reach in her room and beckon him in. Very strange. Also one of the things that surprised me was how attractive a lot of the girls were. I don't know what I expected but I guess I didn't expect overly attractive girls, not sure why. I was wrong and they were for the most part really pretty. Weird.

We also went to a live sex show. Tres disappointing I think. Again Amsterdam was proving a hard thing in terms of knowing what I was expecting but it wasn't this. The show was strange. One girl lit a cigar and smoked it while dancing around and striking various positions. She didn't just smoke it with her mouth...another couple had sex onstage but it was sorta like sex/dancing o the music. Very strange. We weren't really huge fans.

I've got one more day in Amsterdam so we will see what that beings and then it's off to Berlin which everyone is telling me is crazy.

Cant wait.

In Bruges

I feel like I've stepped back in time. The town of Bruges is quite amazing I must say. It has beautiful architecture and so much character it's crazy. Like the first day I arrived Annie, a new friend i met in paris and travelled here with, and I went to get food. We passed through the main square of the town and we saw an entire Bruggian themed marching band playing music all in the square. It was fantastic.

Bruges started as a port town in the mid 800s originally settled by the Vikings. Around 1275 i think it became he largest port town in northern Europe. It was the main trading outpost with Spain and Italy.

By 1500 the harbor had closed up due to the forming of a large sandbar at the edge of the harbor restricting access. Bruges sorta went to sleep after that and remained the way it was for the next 400 years. They eventually built a new harbor and began garnering tourist interest thus simulating their economy.

Ps it's in Belgium.

It is a beautiful city which lately I think is popular due to the movie "In Bruges" with Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleason.

It's been fun here so far. Went on a big bike ride to the beach which was great fun, also really far and painful. I was with 4 wonderful ladies, and being the gentleman i am, i took the bike that had the slipping gears. Let me tell you, having slipping gears on a 1.5 hour bike ride is not fun.

The people are nice the weather is ok and I'm still having fun.

Its so easy to meet people I can't believe it.

Anyways I'm falling asleep so ok off.

Il-y a un chat dans mon pantalons???

Agh Paris. City of love. It's actually a really nice place. I arrived on sunday morning after a wonderful bus ride here. I love the bus. I have no idea why. The Chunnel is weird. Turns out the bus drives onto a cargo train. Like it drives into a cargo box and gets shut in. The train then goes through the tunnel and the bus drives off the other side. Strange isn't it?

The hostel made me a bit nervous start. I done know anyone and it's kinda weird. I met one guy and had dinner with him. I went to bed early. I did the walking tour and met a couple people. Ends up doing the Eiffel tower as well. Let me tell you. It is very tall. It's also outdoors (I mean the observation points) chilly and windy but really beautiful view of the city. It was a pretty food arrival in Paris overall.
The hostel is sweet. Cheap bar, food Internet and really cool people. I have met so many people already it's crazy. I got invited by a roomate that night to go on boat cruise with him and some others. I met Pat, Tanya, Natalie, Tex/Al, Seth, Afton and Lucy.

 It was a ton of fun and we got to see Paris lit up at night. It was really beautiful. Natalie, Tanya, and Seth are all from Toronto which is really random and cool. It was really nice to hang out with these people.

Yay Paris,

-Dean

No, you won't beat me. You just won't...

I went to school for 5 years. I also drank in high school. I have played a game called flip-cup for a long time.

Its a drinking relay race. You line up in equal team opposite the table in a line. Each person has about half of a beer in their plastic beer cup. The first two people in each team cheers, touch the cup to the table and chug. Once they drink all their beer they place the cup on the edge of the table. They then take their finger and flip the cup from underneath, the part overhanging the table and try to make their cup land on the table and come to rest upside-down. They keep doing this until they succeed. Then the next person on heir team does the same and so on. First team to finish wins.

I am very good at this game. Generally a one flipper (get my cup upside down first try) people who are new at this just don't understand how hard the game is. We taught the fame to some people that night. One f the English girls, Afton, thought she was getting pretty good and challenged me 3 cups each. I told her it was a bad idea, she wouldn't win. She persisted. She didn't win. I love drinking. I also love it when someone tells another person not to mess with the Canadian about drinking.

I win.

Oh yea. She challenged me again. She still did not win.

Two points Canada.

Aussie, Aussie, Aussie...

Where am I? I could have sworn that I was in Paris. I was pretty positive, I mean for the first few days there was a general lack of communication and more hand gestures than normal. There was a lot of cheese, delicious crepes, cheap wine, and a large tower. This assured me, yes. Paris. Then why the fuck are there so many Aussies? Like seriously!!! My hostel is full of them. I'm talking hundreds here folks. WTF?

On the back of this strange thought I have compiled some more random thoughts on Paris, traveling and of course, Aussies.

- wine here in Paris is ridiculously cheap. Like a half decent bottle for 2 euros. Wow.

- you can drink anywhere really. We went on a river cruise and as we went up the river there were a ton of kids sitting on the edge drinking. Cool.

- boulangeries are the places to eat. Such delicious baked goods and sandwiches.

- a cafe does not mean coffee. It means espresso. Cafe does not mean espresso, it means cappuccino. Cafe does not mean cappuccino, it means some weird hot drink that tastes good but is unrecognizable. Cafe may mean either espresso, cappuccino or some weird hot drink that is unrecognizable, but it never means coffee.

- never cross the street against the little man symbols. You will get run over.

- people in Paris are either amazing at parallel parking or very much enjoy blocking each other in.

- jackhammering is encouraged at 6am outside your window.

- transit in Paris is amazing. However they tell you that 'there has been a severe injury to a passenger" over the speaker when the trains are delayed. Read into that what you will.

- there are a lot of Aussies here

- I need to sightsee in Toronto. I imagine that things here and the beauty of the city wears off on those who live here. I need to appreciate my city.

- it is a very strange feeling to meet people and spend all day with them, and the following days only to have them leave your life forever. Usually accompanied by only a handshake and a "nice to have met you, good luck". It is a very strange feeling.

- I am going to be..."In Brugge" Sunday. That sounds like a really cool thing I think.

- Parisian birds have great aim. One just crapped on my head. No joke. Head, shirt, book.